Saturday, April 29, 2006

Lady Jan is called to Jury Duty

I got it in the mail today--the dreaded and much feared--Jury duty summons!

I am suppose to appear at the court house on May 16, Which is my birthday! Yeah, happy birthday to me! Read sarcasms here!

It's bad enough to be called to for Jury duty, but it get worse--we currently have
No Parking at the court house! Because they are in the process of building a better and more roomier multi level court house in which to convict and sentence, those pesky criminals that we have so very many of here in Madera. And a multi tiered parking garage to accommodate it. And where may you ask are they building this multi level monstrosity? In the old parking lot! Where else! That's why we have no parking at the court house! And where will the new parking lot be? Where the old court house is(which use to be the old Lincon school 40 years ago)--I assume if they ever get around to flattening it!

So according to the summons I have to drive over to the Wal-mart parking lot and park my car there, and stand around wait for a shuttle that'll take me to the court house, and I'm assuming it'll take me back as well, as I sure would hate to walk all the way back to where I parked my car.

Well, that explains why there is no parking at Wal-mart!

Crap! More standing and waiting, and sitting and waiting, and waiting and waiting--it'll all be for nothing because I have never in my life been called in to a jury trial as a juror. It might be a interesting experience though, but I dread it just the same.

Lady Jan is a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup!

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

Very popular, one of you is not enough.
I took another test and I am this candy--Cool I like Reeses!

Friday, April 28, 2006

E-mail on California Solar Initiative

Hi Janice,

On January 12, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the
Environment California-sponsored California Solar Initiative,
committing a combined $3.2 billion in incentive funds to drive consumers toward
solar power over the next 11 years.

The initiative is the largest boost to solar power in the country, but
to successfully build a million soar roofs in California the
Legislature needs to complete the program by passing The California Solar Roofs
bill (SB 1, Sen. Kevin Murray, and Los Angeles).

Help us pass a strong bill and fulfill the vision of a million solar
roofs in California by urging your assemblymember to vote YES on SB 1.
Then ask all of your friends and family to do the same by forwarding
this e-mail to them.

To take action click on the link below or paste it into your Web
browser:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/energy/solarbill?id4=ES

Background

With oil at $70 a barrel, gasoline at $3.00 a gallon and the price of
electricity on the rise, the economic value of shifting to renewable,
homegrown energy has never been greater. And, with the threat of global
warming looming, not to mention our perennial summer-time battle with
smog fast approaching, there's no better time to tap into California's
abundant sunshine to generate clean, pollution-free electricity.

It is for these very compelling reasons that California's policy makers
have begun to put in place a series of policies needed to make solar
power a mainstream and affordable energy resource. By tapping into the
state's powerful consumer market, California can take what is currently a
boutique and expensive technology and create economies of scale by
putting the power of the sun into the hands of everyday Californians. Doing
so will bring more jobs, cleaner air and greater energy independence
for all of us to enjoy.

Three years ago, Environment California launched a first-in-the-nation
campaign to change the way people thought about solar power. We wanted
people to no longer think about solar as an expensive technology for a
backwoods cabin or Malibu mansion but rather see its potential for
becoming as cost-effective and commonplace as double paned windows.

Over these past three years, we've worked with state Senator Kevin
Murray (D-Los Angeles), Governor Schwarzenegger and other state leaders on
a series of bills aimed at building new homes with solar panels, giving
consumers and businesses the financial incentives they need to invest
in solar power, and ultimately, growing California's solar market to the
point where economies of scale can be reached and prices can drop.

Three years later, we won a major victory when the California Public
Utilities Commission adopted the California Solar Initiative on January
12, 2006. Mirroring legislation authored by Senator Murray and sponsored
by Environment California, the California Solar Initiative created the
nation's biggest program to build a million solar roofs in ten years.

Specifically, the Initiative created a $3.2 billion fund for consumer
rebates to lower the cost of solar and grow the market. The goal of the
Initiative is to install 3,000 MW of solar power--the equivalent of six
giant power plants- on a million rooftops throughout the state.
Achieving such a goal would grow California's solar market 30-fold, lowering
the cost along the way, and ultimately phasing out subsidies altogether.

As historic as this PUC program is, more work needs to be done to
realize the vision of building a million solar roofs. Specifically, there
are a handful of policies that only the state legislature can put in
place. These policies are contained in the California Solar Roofs bill, SB
1, up for a final vote in the weeks ahead.

Many will remember the Million Solar Roofs bill, SB 1 (Murray/Campbell)
of 2005. In its simplest form, the Million Solar Roofs bill sought to
build 3,000 MW of solar panels on a million homes, businesses, farms,
schools, etc., throughout the state over the next ten years. To
accomplish this visionary goal, the bill would have established several key
policies:

1.Order the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to create a multi-year,
multi-billion rebate fund to help lower the cost of solar and grow the
market.
2.Mandate that all new homebuilders offer solar panels just like marble
countertops.
3.Lift the statewide cap on net metering - the policy that allows an
owner of a solar system to get a credit on their electric bill for any
excess energy generated by their solar panels - so that new customers
could benefit from this policy.
4.Require the state's municipal utilities to set up their own Million
Solar Roofs programs locally.

Unfortunately, despite broad, bipartisan support for the bill, SB 1 ran
aground in the final hours of last year's legislative session.
Environment California and our allies were forced to seek one of the four goals
of SB 1 administratively, through the PUC.

On January 12, 2006, the PUC adopted the nation's largest solar
program, creating a $3.2 billion fund over the next ten years to help drive a
million consumers toward solar power and create a self-sufficient,
mainstream solar market in ten years.

The PUC's program, called the California Solar Initiative, is a
gigantic step in the right direction. Now, to fully realize a million solar
roofs in California, we are working to pass the last three critical
pieces of the original Million Solar Roofs legislation: mandate on new
homes, net metering and municipal participation.

Environment California is teaming up with Senator Murray again this
year to pass a version of SB 1, now called the California Solar Roofs
bill, which includes these three pieces. Help us pass a strong bill and
fulfill the vision of a million solar roofs in California by urging your
assemblymember to vote YES on SB 1. Then ask all of your friends and
family to do the same by forwarding this e-mail to them.

To take action click on the link below or paste it into your Web
browser:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/energy/solarbill?id4=ES

Sincerely,

Dan Jacobson
Environment California Legislative Director
DanJ@environmentcalifornia.org
http://www.EnvironmentCalifornia.org

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this
e-mail with your family and friends.

----------

Thursday, April 27, 2006

The Rest of Lady Jan's Flowers

Blogger cooperated, so I was able to post the rest of my picture.
You'll notice that the background is black, that is because I took the pictures right at sundown so the background came out so dark.
~
This flowering small shrub is a bit of a mystery. It just grew-up in my garden late last year, so I don't know if it's something I planted and forgot about, or some little birdie dropped a seed in my garden and it just grew there.
One more close-up of the same flowering shrub.
This flower is called a Inca Lilly, but it is green year round and doesn't die back. It also survived our frost. I was told when I purchased it that it was a reliable bloomer. Also it has nice big fushia colored flowers almost 5 inches across.
I thought this one is the bulb called Paper White, but now I'm not so sure if that's it.
Can you spot the aphid on the blossom?
This flower I got from a mixed box of wild flowers, so I'm not sure what it's called. I keep wanting to call it a Blue Eyed Susan, but I'm not sure if that's it.
This is the earliest blooming flower in with my wild flower patch, which by the way re-seeded it's self from last years patch of wild flowers that I planted. They are suppose to be flowers to attract humming birds and butterflies.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Lady Jan's bi-color Iris

I ordered some bulbs some years ago, and got these bulbs as part of a packaged deal. And I'm surprised every time they bloom, as they are just so pretty and the gophers still haven't eaten then. . . Yet!
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I was trying to post all my flower pictures on one post, but blogger wasn't cooperating. So I'm having to do this through Picasa 2, and I will post more of my pretty flowers tomorrow.

Lady Jan's Jasmine vine

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This is the sweetest, most delicious
scented flowering vine that I have.
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This huge climbing vine started in a little eight inch pot, that was climbing around on a heart shaped mini trellis--which is still in there some where I think. My husband gave me my sweet Jasmine about six or seven years ago as a valentines gift. It stands now at almost fifteen feet, there is a part of this vine you can't see climbing up a crape myrtle that is behind it.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Lady Jan has a Brand New Lawnmower!

My poor husband tried and tried to get our lawmower started yesterday, so he could mow our three foot weeds, that we are calling our lawn.

After tuning it up, and pulling and pulling and pulling for oh like. . . a couple hundred times I said "Honey, do you want to buy a new one?" I remember last year, and I couldn't start the darn thing myself, but my husband could. Well, that was last year, over the winter some times things don't want to work again--especially after all the rain we have had.

He looked at the lawmower then at me, and I knew he was reluctant to give up, and said "a few more pulls."

This is unusual for us, I mean He is usually wanting something new, and I'm the one saying, "Can't we make it work some how?"

One of the things going wrong with it was the pulley wasn't going back in, so I was giving advice like, "Give it a kick."

He said "Oh, no I can't do that."

"Sure you can--kick it." He kicked it and the pulley pulled back in. He gave a funny look then.

Finally after a few dozen more tries and even I was getting winded just watching him, I asked "Have you had enough?"

"Yes."

"So--you want to get a new one?"

"Un huh."

"Okay, off to Home Depot we go." Where we bought a Briggs and Straiton lawmower for under $300.00.

Later I told my daughter and our Young Goth friend he's out there mowing but in his head there is a little man dancing a gig and singing "I got something n-e-w, I got something n-e-w, I got something n-e-w!"

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Is Lady Jan's Blog a Fixer-upper?

These blog we get here for free are pretty basic, but we can treat them like a fixer-upper kinda like renovating a house.

I've changed the font, and then enlarged the font when Ipodmomma said she was having problems reading it, and you can do this too in template section of your blog. I did have to experiment to figure it out, and I don't think I can explain how I did it exactly--sorry.

I also added a weather sprite. I noticed that Ipodmomma had one so I click on hers and sure enough it took me to a sight and I was able to get one for my very own. It's even connected in with our own Madera air port weather station, which is just a couple of miles down and around the corner from my house. If you want your own you can click on my weather sprite, and it's free, and you can even pick out which sprite you want too. I picked out the red headed sprite, with the long bangs parted on the same side I do. (In my profile picture you'll notice I took my picture in a mirror so my part is reversed.)

At the bottom of my blog you will notice a counter, I got it from Merle's blog. I clicked on hers and yes it took me to another sight where I signed up for free for mine. Want your own? Click on mine.

All these renovations are of course free! I love a good bargain and your can't beat free!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

The 1906 San Fransico Earth quake

I set up a link to a sight that has photos and texts about the San Fransico Earth quake, and the fire that came just after.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Golf and Miniature Golf By Lady Jan

The differences between Golf and Miniature Golf
By Lady Jan


In golf you chase a little white ball all over the place on acers and acers of mowed grass called a golf course, and try to get the ball into little holes with long sticks called a golf club.

In miniatures golf you chase a little ball that can be all kinds of bright colors around a smaller place called a miniature golf course. And this kind of course can have lots of small houses, like wind mills, and small castles, and you try to get the ball into little holes with golf clubs too.

In Golf there is only one building and it’s a big building where the players go after they play golf, and lie about how well they did.

In golf you carry a bag that has all kinds of clubs in them that you own, and have a lot of choices in which one to use at each hole. But miniature golf has smaller clubs and you can only use just the one club that you rent.

In golf you can use golf carts so you don’t have to walk, in miniature golf you have to walk because there are no room for golf carts.

In golf you have to hit the golf ball real hard so it can go really far, but if you do that in miniatures golf you will be asked to leave because you have just hit someone or something.

In both games there are water hazards, and that’s usually a pool of water. When that happens in golf the players usually stands there and curse. In miniature golf you can go and ask for another ball, but in golf your kinda stuck because that was your own ball that just got in the water (hence the cursing).

In Golf it is very important to have good form, in miniature golf no one pays any attention to form because they’re usually flirting with their date.

In miniature golf if you win that usually means you got the ball into the clown’s mouth, and you won a free game. In golf when you win your buddies owe you money.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Lady Jan asks Have you had just one of those morning?

Have you ever had one of those morning when everything seemed to go right--only it was wrong? I guess it was kinda like a Charley Brown moment, where he is running at the ball and Lucy yanks it away just at the last possible moment. I kinda felt a little like that.

This is what happened:
My husband and I only have the one car so we share, and I got up at 4:00 in the morning. Well okay, it was more like 4:30 to warm up the car so I could take my husband to work. He has to be there well before 5:00, luckily we live just a couple of miles away. I got dressed, warmed up the car got the dog out to do her thing, and then stared owlishly at the floor trying to stay awake till he was ready to go. The drive was uneventful, there is hardly any traffic that early, then back home and I reset the alarm for 7:00 so I could get up and do it all over again with my daughter this time.

So the alarm went off after I got maybe 45 minutes of sleep, and I turned on my daughters light in her room. If that doesn't work it "honey it's time to wake up now." over and over again. And yeah I get louder! And it was one of those morning trying to get her to wake-up and get ready for school. After 20 minutes of this she is finally up and trying to find something to wear, and I'm letting her. At almost fifteen I don't ever try to dress her anymore because she really resents it, or I get the eye roll, "Oh mom no one wears that anymore."
Me "then why is it still in your closet?"
Her, "because you bought it for me--remember?"
Me, "Oh, well get dressed then--fast, because it's later than you think!"

She was ready by 7:35, make her own breakfast of cup of noodles. It's hard for me to find something she'll eat because she hates just about all breakfast food exempt bacon. And she wont touch an egg to save her life. It's not that she thinks egg of themselves are icky, it's because we have had a very small flock of chickens and she know where the eggs come out of.

8:05 she was in the car most of her breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, make-up on(she's a teen) and warm weather clothes on including jacket all on--check, and make-up homework in back back--check. Off we go them.

I got to the school and. . . .???

Where is everybody?

No cars, no buses, no kids.

Then we looked at the welcome to Howard school sign, Easter vacation is the 10th through. . . the 17th?

Oops. . . . !

So my daughter asked delightedly, "So can we go home and go back to sleep?"

"Um yeah", I say bleary eyed "that sounds like an excellent idea."

So we did, and at noon we got up got dressed again (for me it was for the third time that day) and we went and had lunch at McyD's.

Lady Jan asks is anyone else having problems reading my font?

I've enlarged my font a little, because Ipodmomma was having some trouble reading the font. I think it's the font I use as it's a little fancy and fancy fonts are a little hard to read.

So I was wondering if anyone else is having the same problem reading my font, and has the increase in size helped at all? I can also change the font all together it that would help.

I don't mind the feed back, because I don't know if no one tells me.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Lady Jan and the birthday date meme

I got this from Ann(Granny) who got this from DawnMarie who got it from Northbound.

You look up your birthday minus the year at Wikipedia then copy and paste on your blog the answers-- you post one event, and two births, and three deaths.

And here's mine!



One event--on May 16, 1918 - The Sedition Act is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government a jailable offense. (if that was still true the jails would be bursting at the seams.)

Two births May 16, 1905 - Henry Fonda, American actor (d. 1982)
..................................1953 - Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor

Three deaths May 16, 1984 - Irwin Shaw, American author (b. 1913)
......................................1990 - Sammy Davis, Jr., American singer, actor, and comedian (b. 1925)
......................................1990 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer (b. 1936)
(These last two made me cry when they died back in 1990, and they just had to die on my birthday too. Then I went to church that Sunday and there was an announcement of the birth of someones little baby girl born right on my birthday. Then I felt much better.)



Lady Jan's Avitar is ready for Easter!

This is the way I use to get ready for Easter, all messy and covered in Easter colors.
But my little girl is nearly fifteen, and no longer wants to hunt Easter eggs.
I miss the time when she was still little.

Happy Easter
Everyone!
Enjoy your little ones!
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E-mail on Earth Day is on April 22

Hi Janice,

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans joined together in
demonstrations across the country which placed the environment on the national
political agenda. The widespread environmentalism Earth Day inspired was
the impetus behind the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency
and the passage of landmark legislation such as the Clean Air Act, Clean
Water Act and Endangered Species Act.

But things have changed in the last 36 years. What started as an event
organized by ordinary citizens has now turned into an opportunity for
many of the corporations that pollute our earth and lobby against
environmental protections to falsify their environmental credibility.

Help us celebrate Earth Day the old fashioned way by sharing your
favorite ideas for celebrating the earth without the sponsorship of
polluters. We'll share some of the best ideas on our Web site before Earth Day.
Then, ask your friends and family to share their ideas too by
forwarding them this e-mail.

Follow the link below or paste it into your Web browser to share your
ideas:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/other/earth-day


More on the history of Earth Day:

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans joined together in
demonstrations across the country designed to place the environment on the national
political agenda. Citizens took to the streets to protest the
destruction of the planet at the hands of industry. They filled classrooms and
auditoriums to strategize about cleaning up their communities.
Politicians fanned out from the Capitol, leaving Congress shut down for the day
while they returned to their districts to stump on a novel issue: the
environment.

The demonstrations successfully put the issue of the environment into
the mainstream of American politics. American Heritage Magazine called
the inaugural Earth Day "one of the most remarkable happenings in the
history of democracy." Indeed, its exhibition of widespread
environmentalism was the impetus behind the creation of the Environmental Protection
Agency and the passage of landmark legislation such as the Clean Air
Act, Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act.

Earth Day's 20th anniversary in 1990 drew a record 200 million
participants in 141 countries. It came at a peak of environmental interest in
the country, when books such as 50 Things You Can Do to Save the Earth
and Hints for a Healthy Planet were bestsellers, and one out of every
four new products released at the time were labeled "recyclable,"
"biodegradable," "compostable" or "ozone friendly."

The popularity of green consumerism coinciding with Earth Day 1990
heralded for environmentalism a positive change in degree but a problematic
shift in kind. On one hand, citizens were increasingly aware of the
environmental impact of their lifestyle and eager to alleviate it. On the
other hand, environmental accountability was being passed from
corporations and governments to consumers.

Earth Day 1990 marked the transfer. In contrast with the politicized
citizen engagement that characterized the first Earth Day, Earth Day 1990
was, according to social ecologist Brian Tokar, "a day of polite,
feel-good commemorations with strikingly little social or political content;
many big city events were almost wholly sponsored by major
corporations." Time Magazine was more graphic in its appraisal, calling Earth Day
1990 "a commercial mugging."

Five years later, Earth Day's 25th anniversary demonstrated that the
event had again strayed far from its roots. Earth Day USA, an
organization created by environmental business consultant John Anderson and
inaugural Earth Day co-founder U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson, presumed the role of
umbrella planner and fundraiser for Earth Day events nationwide.

To raise the necessary resources, the organization attempted to turn
Earth Day, the name of which is in the public domain, into a private
commodity. For upwards of $30,000, companies bought exclusive sponsorships
with rights to the Earth Day USA logo.
Companies were not subject to any sort of screening test. Denis Hayes,
who co-founded the first Earth Day with Nelson, complained that many of
the sponsors "didn't pass the giggle test" when it came to their actual
environmental records. Earth Day USA even contemplated forming a second
organization, the "Earth Day Corporate Team," to enhance funding from
corporations.

Earth Day USA's corporate fundraising plans didn't just backfire on the
group itself; they debased the reputation of Earth Day on what was
supposed to be a momentous occasion. In its newsletter The Planet, the
Sierra Club asked, "Earth Day 1995: Celebration or Wake?" Aside from
scandal surrounding Earth Day USA, Earth Day coverage was more likely to be
found on the lifestyle page than the news page. After all, organizers
had disincentive to make news by protesting against global warming if
they accepted sponsorship from an auto manufacturer, or against acid rain
if they took money from the local power plant. Bill Gifford wrote in
Outside magazine, "the overriding 'idea' of Earth Day 25's planners
seemed to be to out-hoopla 1990. And many observers say that, in the rush to
put on the biggest, baddest eco-bash ever, the [environmental] message
got left behind."

The case of Ford Motor Company in 2000 shows the lengths to which
corporations will go to take over the news surrounding Earth Day. In the
week preceding Earth Day, Ford came to San Francisco to honor "Heroes of
the Planet" with a parade, concert and reception. Joshua Karliner and
Kenny Bruno of Corporate Watch asserted, "Ford has no moral authority to
associate itself with environmental heroism." At least two of the
"heroes" agreed and declined Ford's invitation.

Ford lavished its generosity elsewhere as the exclusive sponsor of
Time's "Earth Day 2000 Special Edition: How to Save the Earth and the
Heroes for the Planet Who Are Making It Happen.," and the exclusive
advertiser in two special issues of Time for Kids, with an audience of 2.8
million elementary school students.

Earth Day can be more than an excuse for corporations to act green. We
look forward to a future when the public and political awareness of
environmental issues is again the true aim of Earth Day.

Please let us know how you will celebrate Earth Day 2006 and we'll post
our favorite answers on our Website. Then, ask your friends and family
to share their ideas too by forwarding them this e-mail.

Follow the link below or paste it into your Web browser to share your
ideas:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/other/earth-day


Sincerely,

Dan Jacobson
Environment California Legislative Director
DanJ@environmentcalifornia.org
http://www.EnvironmentCalifornia.org

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this
e-mail with your family and friends.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Lady Jan's Gopher killers

This is Pookey my fifteen year old cat (by next month).
She is my old Gopher killer, now retired.
Every pet we have is old.

This is Sparkles (my daughter's cat) our newer Gopher killer, relatively speaking, she is nine and we've had her for most of that time. But she has taken over the Gopher killing responsibilities from Pookey.
This is a dead Gopher! Proof that Sparkles is doing her job!

Live in fear gophers! And stay the heck out of my garden! Those veggies and flowers are for me, and my family!

I accidentally stepped on the Gopher last night, as I took the dog out. I jumped around and yelled, and cursed, then looked at what I had stepped on. It pays to look where you step around here! Then I looked at the cat who was giving me a indignant look! Like she was saying "look human I killed it, so don't you be stepping all over my dinner!"

Monday, April 10, 2006

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Lady Jan's dog Mitzi

Have you ever felt like this?
No my dog still has her head.
Someone had left the recliner reclined and my dog stuck her head in.
I tip toed around her all morning, then had enough and pulled her out and closed the chair.
How she could sleep for so long with her head in there is beyong me!
~
Oh, I forgot to mention when I posted this earlier, but this is my 200th post!
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Friday, April 07, 2006

Lady Jan's Maintenance day!

Yesterday was my maintenance day! No not on my computer, or my blog. . . .er excuse me blogs. And not my car either, nor even my house.

Oh no, the maintenance was on myself.

Do you know how it is when you’ve been sick for a while--like with the flu, and you haven’t looked in the mirror at yourself for like. . . .I don’t know a week? Then when you do it’s--


“Oh my God! Is that me?”

My roots have grown out and where did the hair come from? My God! I don’t remember being that hairy! And I’m not talking just about my legs! Hell, I’m not even talking about the pits, but let’s be honest a gorilla would be envious. But what happened to my eye brows? I don’t remember having a uni-brow!

I use to just shave the bottom of my shins and then my knees just for good measure, but now e--v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g needs to be shaved and or plucked! And waxing is now an option! All that ooey gooey mess, but one good yank and a new experience in pain! And the hair is mostly gone!

I didn’t use to have a mustache!


That’s not fair I’m a woman I’m not suppose to have a mustache! And the really sad thing is that I have more hair on my upper lip than my husband. But please don’t tell him that! No he doesn’t have a mustache, but if I didn’t wax my upper lip. . . .well maybe I’d better leave that unsaid.

So. . . . I shaved, and plucked, and scrubbed until my skin was sore, and scrubbed my hard cracked tough heals until they were. . .well mostly smooth. And I’ll wax later--that stuff hurts.

Then came the hair dye.


Shhh! Don’t tell anyone this and this is just between you and me, and this is my deep dark secret--I’m not really a red head.

I use to be a dark brunet, but I started getting white hair and I got tired of people saying, “God Jan, dye your hair or something your getting real gray!”

“Oh gee thanks, and I love you too m-o-m.”

No it wasn’t my mom--it was my brother in-law John, Danny and Adam and little sister Becky too, and most of the people I worked with and then my husband too.

Okay, it was most of the people I know!

Okay, I get the message, so I’ll dye it.

So I went um, red.


I do too have red heads in my family. . .er back in Tennessee, and I even had a red headed great grandmother who died long before I was born. So one toss of the genetic dice and I could have been a red head.

Really I could have. . . . .

So that is just what I told myself when I had my hair dyed red. I had it professionally dyed the first time, later I learned to do it myself; hair dressers are can be really nice about couching you on how to dye your own hair. So I got lucky with the hair stylist! And do you believe me now?

Anyway when I still had my natural dark brown hair my skin looked shallow and too pale, and something happened when I had it dyed red! My skin popped! No not in zits! Though that happens too. But my skin had color and you could really see my green eyes, that some how sorta of disappeared with all that dark hair around them. It looked well natrual, and the fun part is pretending that it is natural. Which only works with people who haven't know you all your life. So that pretty much everyone that wasn't born here in my home town of Madera in which I still live. So basically strangers.

And for the first time in a long time I felt beautiful.

Until I looked in the mirror the other day.

Oh dear!

Thursday, April 06, 2006

E-mail on protect California's toddlers from pesticides

Hi Janice,

Children are especially susceptible to the effects of toxics, and
exposure to products like pesticides have been shown to have fatal or
irreversible effects, including the development of asthma or cancer. Despite
this reality, tests show that pesticides are found in higher
concentrations at preschools and day care facilities than in the average home.

To protect California's toddlers from pesticides, Environment
California is working with Asm. Alberto Torrico (Fremont) to pass the Healthy
Day Cares bill (AB 2865). This bill would expand the Healthy Schools Act,
which Environment California helped to pass in 2000, by encouraging day
cares to use alternatives to pesticides and requiring parental
notification when a school is planning to use pesticides.

Help us build support in the Legislature for this bill by asking your
assemblymember to co-author the Healthy Day Cares bill. Then ask your
family and friends to do the same.

To take action, click on the link below or paste it into your web
browser:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/environmentalhealth/healthydaycares


Background

Sixty-five percent of California's children (ages 0 to 5) receive
non-parental child care, the majority in a structured setting such as a day
care or preschool. This is especially true in working families where 83
percent of children regularly spend an average of 35 hours per week in
day care.

Unfortunately, tests conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) show that pesticides are pervasive in day care facilities. The
EPA's tests looked for pesticides in the air, in floor dust samples and on
surfaces. One type of common insecticide, organochlorine pesticides
(the most famous example of this type of pesticide is DDT), was found in
nearly 100 percent of the indoor air samples, over 85 percent of the
floor dust samples and 56 percent of surface wipe samples.

Another common pesticide, pyrethroid pesticide, was found in 100
percent of the floor dust samples, 82 percent of dermal wipe samples and over
69 percent of surface wipe samples. Overall, levels of pesticides found
in dust were significantly higher in day care settings than in
residential homes.

There is particular reason for alarm because children's exposure to
pesticides during critical stages of development may have permanent
effects. Factors such as immature developing body systems, rapid physical
development, hand to mouth behavior, and a reduced ability to detoxify
toxic substances all make children more vulnerable to the toxic effects of
pesticides.

Several studies have confirmed this concern and show a strong link
between pesticide exposure and serious and chronic illness. One California
study found that children exposed to any pesticide or herbicide in
their first year of life were more than twice as likely to suffer from
persistent asthma before the age of five. Another study found that the risk
of childhood leukemia increased more than six times when garden
pesticides were used at least once per month. Other studies have shown that
pesticides can interact with endocrine systems to produce a range of
adverse developmental effects such as altered social skills, learning
disabilities, developmental delays, and hyperactivity.

To protect California's young children, Environment California is
working with Asm. Alberto Torrico (Fremont) to pass the Healthy Day Cares
bill (AB 2865). The bill amends the term "schoolsite" in the Healthy
Schools Act of 2000 to include licensed day cares. The extension of the
Healthy Schools Act to day cares would require such facilities to notify
parents about pesticide applications and to post notices in areas
treated with pesticides. The bill also would provide day care providers
with information and trainings on least-toxic Integrated Pest Management
(IPM) techniques to help them create a safer environment in which to
care for our most vulnerable population.

Help us build support in the Legislature for this bill by asking your
assemblymember to co-author the Healthy Day Cares bill. Then ask your
family and friends to do the same.

To take action, click on the link below or paste it into your web
browser:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/environmentalhealth/healthydaycares


Sincerely,

Dan Jacobson
Environment California Legislative Director
DanJ@environmentcalifornia.org
http://www.EnvironmentCalifornia.org

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this
e-mail with your family and friends.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Lady Jan's daughter has a sinus infection

My daughter has the sinus infection that will not die!

My daughter had a sinus infection and then just finished the course of antibiotic just before she caught the flu last week. Then this week she had the same symptoms of a sinus infection yet again!

This is copied from the article from the link attached to the title above:
A sinus infection can cause a headache or pressure in the eyes, nose, cheek area, or on one side of the head. A person with a sinus infection may also have a cough, a fever, bad breath, and nasal congestion with thick nasal secretions. Sinusitis is categorized as acute (sudden onset) or chronic (long term, the most common type).

My daughter has all the sytoms exempt for the fever and her mucus discharge is green--now isn't that lovely? The doctor proscribed amoxicillin which if I understand it is just penicillin. He wants her to take a double dose of the amoxicillin for two days then regular dose for the next ten days there after. That's pretty strong so I guess she has a bad infection, and I hope this does the trick!

My poor girl--having a sinus infection is very uncomfortable with the head ache and the sinus pressure.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Lady Jan Says--March went out like a Lion too!

Well now I know the answer to my question: March came in like a lion will it leave like a lion too? And Yes it did!

And April shower bring May flowers! And May is the month of my birth!

SO it's all good! Exempt there is such a thing like too much rain!

Don't get me wrong I love the rain, but this is ridiculous! Check the link in the title and it'll take you to the article that explains the rain here in California! Wow! Have we hit the mother load with the amount of rain! I think we have caught up and even pulled ahead of the amount of water we are suppose to have. We're an arid state and we get the drought situations really too often for the amount of people who keep moving here.

The there are the
Levees in Merced that broke and flooded everything! And there's a chance that it could happen here in Madera too. H-mm where did I put my wading boots?

And to all my flu watchers--I am feeling much better, I have just a little residue from the flu; coughing and have a stuffy nose and I am still tired. But I figure a few more days of rest and I'll be all better, and so will my daughter. My daughter went back to school on Monday, so now she has all the make-up for last week. But that's okay because she has all next week which is Easter break to make it all up.