Morning!

It’s been some time since I last posted – I’ve been writing soo much at my entrepreneurial blog BarbaraLing.com that I lost track of my other bazillion sites.

Yesterday was both wonderful beyond description and incredibly sad as well. The good news was I was able to train a bit in martial arts regarding some rather unique moves; I was so sore this morning I asked/begged/pleaded with the husband for a back/shoulder press with Tiger Balm and homemade massage oil (one of the benefits of being a healer, I know how to make great ointments). I’m somewhat more alive now but wow, that lesson ranks as one of the best I’ve had. Great stuff!

The sad part of the day was when my kids woke me up at 7:30pm to tell me that Avenahar, one of our TwitterBudgies, died in his sleep last night. Now, Avenahar was one of our favorites – a very spunky little parakeet who absolutely hated humans, he came to us with two broken wings. Because of this, he couldn’t fly, but would instead fling himself off the top of the cage when he was frightened to land on his back on the floor (utterly un-nerving to watch, so my family made darned certain never to scare him!).

Avenahar never had pity for himself; his personality was so strong he convinced our lead hen, Glyphie, to be his mate. ‘Twas astonishing to see – Glyphie is the TwitterBudgie equivalent of a SuperModel, while Avenahar….wasn’t. But they always preened each other and slept next to each other and really seemed to bond very well.

Yesterday, we found Avenahar on top of our storage unit in the family room (which is also my office). Now, think about this for a sec….he has broken wings, so how on earth did he get up there? We have no ideas. But 2 hours later, he died in his sleep.

Since I was awakened from sleep, I was dressed in my fluffy blue houserobe. I took all the kids with me outside and we crossed the street to the forest (I must looked most unique to the passing motorists) where I buried Avenahar, thus giving him back to nature. Then I had a memorial service for him for the kids, and told them that Avenahar was now traveling across the Rainbow Bridge and will be a guardian angel for our family.

Today, one of my kids told me she dreamed that she went back to the forest and Avenahar had come back to life and wanted to stay with us again. It was a happy dream for her….my kids have been handling it well.

Parakeets can really work their way into your hearts! They’re very special birdies indeed. Prior to building the TwitterBudgie page, I wrote about them at UltimateParakeet.com – I’d for you to visit and tell me what you think.

Large Bird Cage Cockatiel Sugar Glider Finch Parakeet 2484S White

Canary Parakeet Cockatiel Bird 18″x18″x54″ With Stand

PENNANT’S PARAKEET ~ John GOULD Color Bird Art Print

Parakeet Cell Phone and charge pouch

Birdie Golf Polo dress Parakeet Small

Green Parakeet Parrot Budgerigars Bird Iron on Patch

New Zealand B63a-B64a,MNH. Red front.parakeet,​Sadleback

Miniature Brass Birdcage with Parakeet

Morning,

I confess! I did it! I really it, it was all my fault!

I played hooky yesterday from my blogging, took advantage of the fact the kids were in school and (get this!) went to see Prince Caspian…ALONE!

What joy! What pleasure! I brought my latest book that I’m reading (fiction about Ghengis Khan), read for the 20 minutes prior to the picture starting, and really enjoyed the movie. It was darker than the first movie but still overall, quite a good ride. I’ll be taking the kids to see it today.

And karate sparring was lots of fun too! Gosh I’m incompetent…but I really do love the sport. So glad I got my self-confidence back (and my kids are proud of me too).

Today is garage sale say – yay! Hopefully we’ll find more goodies around.

Time to make the coffee,

Barbara

ps – speaking about Prince Caspian:

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Nintendo DS)

Asterius Minotaur Action Figure Narnia Prince Caspian by Play Along Jakks 2007

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN-CD AUDIO-NEW!!

Lot 3 Chronicles of Narnia books 3 4 5 Prince Caspian Horse boy voyage dawn trea

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis (1994, Paperback, Reis…

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis (2008) PB new

Prince Caspian (1994, Paperback, Reissue)

Narnia: Prince Caspian COMPLETE Microsoft XBOX 360 Game

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (DVD, 2008, 3-Disc Set, Includes…

Morning all,

Wow, where do I start?

Let’s start with the Mean Mom. El Meano Mommo (ie, yours truly), caused massive angst to Honorable Son I by making him take responsibility for his actions (ie, missed finishing his homework, and there ain’t no way Mom will reward him by giving him money to the school store!). Very unhappy boy….but hopefully the lesson is learned.

Work-wise, my guest post at John Chow is up! I wrote “Empower Your Children To Out-Earn Their Professors“; it’s a brief description of what I have my kids doing. Nice! Oh, and at 3am, I tweeted a comment to Guy Kawasaki to which he responded regarding adding a Solopreneur category to his wondrous AllTop site. How cool is that? Because 2-3 years ago, it would have been impossible to have such an exchange, but the new Internet makes it easy as pie (in this case, via Twitter).

Today I fear will be most unproductive – I’m going to play hooky and watch Prince Caspian (get this) by MYSELF! YES! AND I WON’T FEEL GUILTY! HA HA! THE KIDS WILL BE IN SCHOOL! WHEEEEEE!

But I digress.

Time to make the coffee,

Barbara

ps – speaking about guesting:

Pre de Provence Wholesale Lot 28 Wild Lilly Scented 25g Guest Hotel Bar Soap

THE GUEST LIST FERN MICHAELS MYSTERY THRILLE​R

BRAM STROKER’S DRACULA’S GUEST – NEW DVD

New Blue Fabric Reception Side Visitor Guest Waiting Room Office Chairs

Wilton Wedding Sweetheart Satin Guest Book Ivory

PETITE PRINCESS DOLLHOUSE FANTASY FURNITURE GUEST DINNIG CHAIRS in ORIGINAL BOX

A GUEST IS A GUEST – John Himmelman – HC – Moving In!

Morning!

Last Friday I wrote how I was hanging up my BJJ gi because I have nobody to teach the magnificent 40+ year old woman that I am. Because of several other issues in my life (pulling my bicep muscle/self-doubts/etc.), I gave myself permission to run away from all martial arts for awhile…until last night.

Last night was so otherworldly it was astonishing. First off was kids advanced karate; I sat and watched and thought to myself, why am I still doing this? Why on earth bother? I’ve lost one form of training; what good would continuing here be?

And then….and then I saw my eldest spar. And wow oh wow, I started to remember…not mentally, but emotionally. I had begun karate with my entire family because I pride myself on always walking the walk I talk…just because I had run into one roadblock, why on earth had I chosen to mentally give up? Oh, my kid was awesome – the concentration, the fire within her, the ability to step up to the plate…it was incredible to witness.

But not as incredible as what followed! During the last demo practice, my eldest was tapped by our shihan to be on the nunchaku demo team….and yesterday she was told to participate in the drill. My eldest had taught herself the demo on her own…and while she has to work out some style kinks and such, she kept up pace tremendously. I could figuratively see the thoughts in her head – “I’m going to excel and there’s NOTHING ANYONE can do about that!!!!”

Almost started crying there, I did. And I realized….if my kids can be so utterly magnificent, you had better damn well believe Mom will be THE SAME WAY…. every step of the way too.

So! After that class, my husband picked up our kids and I participated in Adult sparring (first time in 2 weeks). During the whole warmup, I kept repeating to myself, I can DO this! and when it came time to spar, all self-doubts about myself…vanished. Poof! Sure, I still have lots to learn…but my attitude is back to being:

I am Mom, hear me roar!

Everything happens for a reason. I’ve learned that even I, the all-powerful Mother Unit, requires time off to regroup when I’m hit hardest in my personal assessment of myself…but that’s okay:

There is no shame nor dishonor to giving oneself permission for time to decide on one’s future course….because the journey for those answers end up teaching you deep inside and leaving their mark on your soul.

After class, I wanted to hug everyone but being the calm, dignified person I am (plus, only one other person there knew of my angst anyways), satisfied myself with thanking the folks with whom I sparred and telling the others, you escaped this time!

After class, I couldn’t stop thinking about my eldest and how she rose to the occasion…so I went to Barnes and Noble and bought her the book she has been craving now for quite awhile. Turns out…. she was waiting up for me in the evening, so we had some special time together in which I reiterated just how proud of her I was.

What an evening worth treasuring, on so many levels.

Today! Today I write write write and thank my guardian angel for the experiences I had yesterday. Such things are the gold that makes up life.

Time to start the coffee,

Barbara

ps – speaking about heaven (okay, coffee)….

Donut Shop Classics Gourmet Coffee Pods

GOURMET COFFEE IN YELLOW LETTERS WITH COLORFUL GRAPHIC GENUINE NEON SIGN 32X20

KEURIG (96) Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa K-cups gourmet coffee brew

100% Jamaican Blue Mountain Gourmet Coffee Beans 5 lbs

100% Jamaican Blue Mountain Gourmet Coffee 1 lb -Ground

Ghirardelli Gourmet Coffee

DON PABLO GOURMET COFFEE MEDIUM-DARK ROAST (2 LB. BAG)

3 Sealed Boxes of Black Gourmet Coffee Organo Gold 100% Organic Ganoderma- Cafe

NEW 2 Milani Lipstick Gourmet Coffee 37 Black Cherry 11

Long long ago,

back when the earth’s crust cooled and I was a young lass, I read about the original MIT Model Railroad Club from the super book Hackers. They accomplished some truly brilliant goodies back then, ranging from hacking PDPs to mapping out the subway station and beyond.

Well, MIT is doing it again! To wit:

… What do you want your cell phone to be able to do?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Hal Abelson put that question to about 20 computer science students this semester when he gave them one assignment: Design a software program for cell phones that use Google Inc.’s upcoming Android mobile operating system.

In the process, they revealed the power of an open system like Android to shake up the mobile phone industry, where wireless companies are being pressured to loosen the control they have maintained over what devices do. If the brainstorms of these MIT students are an indication, phones will soon challenge the Internet as a source of innovation ….MORE…

Neat ideas! What do you think?

Owlbert

ps – speaking about open cell phones:

BRAND NEW ARYCA SMART PHONE WATER PROOF CASE BLACK

NEW HTC TOUCH PRO 2 VERIZON CDMA QWERTY SMART PHONE BOX

AT&T Ouku Android 3G WCDMA Smart phone Dual Camera WiFi GPS White

PALM PRO SMART PHONE SNAP HARD PHONE CASE SHINNY BLACK

Pink Marble Straight Talk Nokia E5 3g Smart Phone phone cover case

3.5mm Jack Headphone Adaptor for HTC Pro2 Smart Phone

Heavy Duty Large Vertical Smart Phone Case Pouch Belt clip & Velcro 5.2×2.8x.35

Mini Capsule Speaker for Mp3 , ipod , smart phone W 2 GB memory card

Have your kids

ever wondered how some people can grow killer tomatos? Okay, perhaps not man-eating, but really big huge bleeping tomatos? Ask your kids what they think, and then tell them:

Turns out there’s a specific gene that’s responsible. To wit:

… The secret behind growing large tomatoes lies not in the fertilizer or the perfect soil conditions, but in just a few genetic changes that over time have resulted in tomatoes 1,000 times bigger than their wild ancestors, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.

Without these changes, tomatoes would be little more than berries on a bush.

“The cherry tomato would be considered very large compared to what is found in the wild,” said plant geneticist Steven Tanksley of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Tanksley has been working to understand the genetic changes that allowed humans to transform wild tomatoes — which are naturally about the size of a blueberry — into modern varieties such as the beefsteak tomato, which can weigh …MORE…

What I want to know is the truth about those square watermelons….

Enjoy,

Owlbert

ps – speaking about Tomatos:

Beefsteak Tomato 1000 seed pk.

Watermelon Beefsteak Tomato, Heirloom, SEEDS, (V0017)

Bush Beefsteak Tomato, Real Tasty!!! SEEDS, (V0018)

Spectacular Size and Tasty Novelty LG Beefsteak Tomato

Campbell’s Beefsteak Tomato Soup 125th Anniversary Mug

Beefsteak Tomato 50 seed pk.

ANTIQUE STONEWARE KETCHUP JUG BEEFSTEAK TOMATO CAMDEN NJ NEW JERSEY CAMPBELL

2012 VEGETABLE SEEDS Tomato Watermelon 12 GARDEN SEED VARIETIES to Choose From

Campbell Soup Cup Mug~BEEFSTEAK TOMATO~1994 Westwood

Morning!

Kids want a Blackberry? Heck, YOU want a Blackberry? I’m thinking about a Blackberry as I’m considering getting either that or an iPhone. Well, check this out:

Zee New Blackberry, you can get zee new glimpses! To wit:

…After months of online speculation, rumor, and badly photoshopped innuendo, RIM announced its new BlackBerry Bold today.

RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis stopped by the Wired offices last week and gave us some one-on-one time with an early version of the Bold. It’s, well, kind of awesome. I’m by no means a BlackBerry fanboy, but the Bold has some impressive features.

First off the big news:

* HSDPA We tried it out in G-Lab HQ and were able to load several graphic heavy sites quickly. There were a few hiccups when pulling up Wired.com‘s front page, but keep in mind this was also a beta unit. Mike assured us they were still ironing out all of the bugs and that final units would not have any issues.

* Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/ compatibility No n spec, but that’s no biggie. Unrestricted Wi-Fi access now on a BlackBerry. Oh and 3G compatibility? You betcha.

* Half-VGA 480 x 320 pixel screen The screen itself is gorgeous, bright, and colorful. We watched the colorful, seizure inducing trailer for Speed Racer the and it was gorgeous and glitch free. Too bad we can’t actually say the same for Speed Racer itself.

* Built in GPS Paired with location based services plus BlackBerry Maps, you will also be able to use it while simultaeously making a phone call. Try that while driving and see if you can resist crashing your car ….MORE…

Will it beat out the iPhone? I didn’t just ask that, did I?

Enjoy,

Owlbert

ps – speaking about Blackberries:

UNLOCKED BLACKBERRY 8820 GPS PDA PHONE WIFI ATT TMOBILE

Unlocked BlackBerry Bold 9650 Global Phone Wi-Fi, Full Qwerty Keyboard

New Unlocked BlackBerry Pearl 8120 – Indigo (T-Mobile) Smartphone

MINT UNLOCKED BLACKBERRY BOLD 9000 CITY DECAL QWERTY SMART PHONE +2GB & EXTRAS

Unlocked Blackberry 7100t PDA Cell Phone T-Mobile AT&T

GOOD CONDITION UNLOCKED Blackberry 8820 T MOBILE AT&T WiFi

GOOD CONDITION Unlocked Blackberry 8800 T-Mobile AT&T

Morning all,

Hope you all had a super Mother’s day! I sure did and will be blogging about that soon. Too much other things to write now, however!

There’s a massive wind storm outside and rain and such – it’s perfect weather to go on the 2.4 mile circle walk. Maybe after the kids go to school! I always enjoy rainstorms; it reminds me of my childhood when I’d hike with my dog Buddy thru the forests to the local golf course and splash in all the puddles around. Some pretty deep ones too…I have a vivid memory of when the lake overflowed and I thought it was simply a big puddle – whomp! I fell into 6 feet of water. Oh that was incredible fun (my dog thought so too!). I was 8 years old at the time; I remember this because my math homework was in my pocket (remember those mimeograph sheets?) and the ink had run. I told my teacher that I had jumped in a lake and ruined my homework. Hey, it was the truth!

Anywhos, I have to write up my office inspiration story (motivated by this post at Problogger), get my latest interview done, update my other blogs and build some sites. Wheee!

Time to make the coffee,

Barbara

CARTERS GIRLS 4 LEOPARD PINK HOODED RAIN COAT JACKET FLEECE LINNED SPRING

X32-02 1 6 Dragon WWII Panzer Grenadier – Rain Coat

gap girl 4T polka dot rain coat jacket

Michael Kors Women’s Rain Coat Size M Green

Authentic American Girl Molly Rain Coat Slicker And Hat

Vintage Barbie Dress Length Black Rain Coat with White Rain Hat

Ladies Charles Chang-Lima Cheery Red Rain Coat Dress -size 4

VTG CHIC LONDON FOG IRREDESCENT RAIN COAT JACKET TWO TONE BELTED M-L LILAC BLUE

Morning all,

It’s Mom’s Day! Wheeee!

And let me tell you, my Mom’s Day will be utterly magnificent. Why, I hear you ask?

Couple of reasons. One, I communicated effectively just what I wanted for Mom’s Day – appreciation! I have no need of gifts; I already have everything I want. So my kids wrote up letters/poems/etc. about how they feel about me (one kid even designed an entire book at school), my husband bought the most PERFECT card imaginable:

“Let’s celebrate Mother’s Day by taking the kids to the sitter and coming back to the bedroom for an evening of passion!…..or maybe just a nap. “

Given the insane hours I’ve been keeping, that was the best (most truthful!) card I could imagine!! It really brightened my day.

I took all the things my kids made and clipped them to my Brazilian Jiu-jitsu gi that’s currently decorating my office (you can learn about that here) . And let me tell you – it really makes me smile deep inside whenever I look at it.

In other news, it’s Mother’s Day! I wrote a funny take and titled it

The 12 Days of Mother’s Day

complete with non-gravity defying objects, laundry robots and much more.

Have a great Mom’s Day everyone,

Barbara

ps – speaking about Mother’s Day:

Mother Day Gift Rock SALT Small Heart Tealight Holder

1966 United AirLines Ad John Benson Gift for Mother Day

1977 HUMMEL MOTHER DAY PLATE BY SISTER BERTA HUMMEL

12″ Brand NEW AUTHENTIC Sweeties PILLOW CHUMS Pets Ladybug VALENTINE MOTHE​R DAY

12″ Brand NEW AUTHENTIC Sweeties PILLOW CHUMS Pets Ladybug VALENTINE MOTHE​R DAY

Longaberger 2004 Mother Day Double Protector – NEW

14K HGE RUBY RED QUEEN MOTHER DAY MOM CROWN Brooch Pin

Phillies SGA Mother Day Keychain 2011