Coucoumellisms

*Cambodia Jesuit Services. Development work in war- torn Cambodia has been taken up by Jesuit Services, a Jesuit-sponsored NGO under the able leadership of Sister Denise Coughlan, which provides direct assistance to the victims of anti-personnel landmines. Through a large number of projects the NGO helps people maimed by war and also addresses the problems of other marginalised people through various programmes. Sister Denise recounts a visit to a blind couple living in very poor surroundings close to Siam Rip. In one of her recent visits to their house she was surprised to find the blind young woman carrying an infant in her arms. She knew of only one girl child, also born blind, who was standing by her side and was worried by the thought that she may have given birth to another blind child. In the course of the conversation she learnt that the blind woman had adopted this new baby. She told Sister "I went to a nearby village a few days ago and I heard that a woman there was goin...

Check out these artists from Moose Factory/Moosonee on myspace: Cree Alias The Shihbastik and Kevin Schofield and CerAmony (which is on Piczo instead)

How anglo-quebecois are you?

You are 100% Canuck! You rock, you are an almighty Canadian through and through. You have proven your worthiness and have won the elite prize of living in a country as awesome as Canada. Yes I know other countries think they are better, but we let them have that cuz we know better than they do, eh? How Canadian Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz Laughing out loud at the reference to Canadian Tire Money... How true.

Your Language Arts Grade: 100% Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes). Are You Gooder at Grammar? Make a Quiz Ok, now you know that I am a grammar freak. When I hear people say "I seen this or that." I shudder. This is proof that I really never did see anything about a hanging whatchmacallit in high school, I'd have remembered. Why am I a grammar freak? God only knows.

Are you an idiot? Your Result: You have some brains... You're not the sharpest knife in the drawer. You take some things for granted and just assume you're right. Over all you're not that bad but pay more attention You're good! You are an idiot Are you an idiot? Create MySpace Quizzes Watch out for trick questions... I know which ones I got wrong, I just couldn't figure out the trick in them... and one of them made no sense whatsoever.

You paid attention during 80% of high school! 68-84% Pretty good, you know that there are libraries and newspapers, and you remember what you've read. You were a child that wasn't left behind! Do you deserve your high school diploma? Create a Quiz Ok so I don't remember how to figure out the area of a right-angle triangle. Grade 12 math is a long way away. I guessed on that one. I also had no idea what a dangling modifier was. I KNOW I've never seen that before. Maybe it's an American thing? But apart from that, it wasn't too hard. Except I must have gotten more than just those two wrong, because I only got 80%. Oh, Cubism... I didn't know what that was either. But I must have had at least one more, and there were a couple I was pretty sure about, but not 100% so it must be one of them.

Gabriel brought home another cold, stuffy nose, fever, etc, and very generously decided to share it with Nicolas, so I've been half-awake all night again. Today was the day I was going to get a bunch of housework done. But where am I going to get the energy to do it?

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Book Snob You like to think you're one of the literati, but actually you're just a snob who can read. You read mostly for the social credit you can get out of it. Literate Good Citizen Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm Dedicated Reader Fad Reader Non-Reader What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz Got this from Peony and Pansy at Two Sleepy Mommies

... half done, so you can see the before and after in one shot. For more pictures (close-ups) go here . That way I don't have to up-load everything twice. In fact, I often upload pictures to flickr , so check up on that often if you like.

five books meme (from Jess at Days Go By ) 1. Take five books off your bookshelf. 2. Book #1 -- first sentence 3. Book #2 -- last sentence on page fifty 4. Book #3 -- second sentence on page one hundred 5. Book #4 -- next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty 6. Book #5 -- final sentence of the book 1. Five books from the bookshelf in the livingroom upstairs. All books either currently reading (#1) or just finished (#2-5) 2. About twelve miles from Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, that country's only international airport was bustling. In Contempt of Fate, The tale of a Sri Lankan sold into servitude, who survived to tell it by Beatrice Fernando. 3. When Giemma left the farm, I did my best to keep out of that woman's way Escape from Slavery, The true story of my ten years in captivity- and my journey to freedom in America by Francis Bok. 4. As William Law says, "If you will consult your heart in all honesty, you will know that there is only one reason why y...

... probably not a very popular take... but whatever... Since the dawn of creation creatures have come and gone, some go extinct, and others replace them right? And all of this has been going on with, except for very recently, little or no influence on the part of mankind. So has climatic change. I don't think you can blame humans for the Ice Ages. We were pretty primitive back then. So while I am all for using renewable ressources, reducing and re-using packaging, finding better solutions fuel-wise, recycling, composting and the like... (I do particiapte in as many of these activities as possible.) I also think that there is a tendancy to exagerate out there. I'm talking about all the concern about climate change and how it is going to affect all the animals and everything. Save the whales, save the seals, save the polar bears... save.... whatever. Note that noone wants to save human beings. We'd rather go instinct ourselves. (Abortion, euthanasia, simply deciding to neve...

... cause I got all these political e-mails and more, (I'll spare you the others). Just ignore them if you want. Oh, except for one more, which I may or may not post later on... Today, I am going to go finish fixing Gabriel's winter coat, now that I am done looking at my e-mails, thank goodness. (I really must try to go and look at them EVERY day...) Instead of buying Gabriel a new one, I decided to do something different with the old (patched-up) one. Will post pics later of that. Should be interesting. For those of you who like that sort of thing. My sister-in-law perhaps? Since apparently you read this thing, according to my brother... :) And you sew better than me.

Wal-Mart Says It Will Not Make Corporate Contributions To Support Or Oppose Controversial Issues Send Wal-Mart a "Thank You" for its statement. You have made a difference! Wal-Mart has announced it "will no longer make corporate contributions to support or oppose controversial issues unless they directly relate to their ability to serve their customers." AFA is pleased with this announcement.Wal-Mart made the announcement Tuesday afternoon.In response to Wal-Mart's statement, AFA has decided to cancel its efforts of encouraging people to not shop at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club this Friday and Saturday.We believe that Wal-Mart will remain neutral in cultural battles. Click here to see the Wal-Mart announcement.Please send Wal-Mart a "Thank You" for its statement. Send Your Letter Now! Not that I will be shopping at Wal-mart until they start considering SOCIAL JUSTICE concerns either... I think both liberals and conservatives had good reasons never to s...

First Nations poverty is the greatest social injustice in Canada. The First Nations Plan for Creating Opportunity is part of a national campaign to Make Poverty History for all Canadians. Sign up today to add your voice to the fight against First Nations poverty. You will join concerned individuals and organizations who are getting involved online and in communities across the country to fight poverty.Failure to act on First Nation issues is the most significant impediment to Canada’s competitiveness in the global economy. The cost of First Nations poverty is carried not only by First Nations but by all Canadian taxpayers.By signing, you are helping to ensure that First Nations poverty is an issue in the next federal budget and election.The First Nations Plan is reasonable, achievable and necessary to ensure a productive and competitive Canada for all Canadians.The AFN has been working hard to press the government for a meaningful response and commitment to move forward. Now we need yo...

Dear friends, I just took an action on the internet calling for a stop to the war in Iraq, and I thought you might be interested… From the Ceasefire Campaign: Dear friends, The winds of political change are sweeping the United States. This month, the American people voted overwhelmingly to reject President Bush’s war in Iraq and the key architect of the war, US military chief Donald Rumsfeld, announced his resignation. This is the perfect time for a global public outcry to finally end this disastrous war. To seize this opportunity, we are running an ad campaign in US and UK papers calling upon the US-led coalition to accept a larger role for the international community in finding a diplomatic solution, and a phased withdrawal of all its troops from Iraq. So far, almost 50,000 citizens from over 100 countries have signed on to the campaign – we need 100,000 signatures THIS WEEK so that our next round of ads can report a rising wave of global support. Please tell all your friends and fam...

Late yesterday afternoon, I suddenly realized; "Hey! I don't have a headache today!" Now, for me to notice that I don't have a headache... What does that say about how things have been going lately? The day before yesterday, I had a very bad headache, which never went away, not even with coffee and advil for migraines, although it did get a bit better. Had the sensitivity to light and noise too...

I was reading the book Angels and Demons by Peter Kreeft awhile back , and he mentioned something about how we are the only creatures created by God who are both spirit and body. Angels have no body , and animals (excluding humans) have no soul. We are the only beings we know of who have both. We can't see angels because they have no bodies. We can't touch them, hear them, smell them, (taste them), because doing all these things would require them to have physical properties. Kind of like our thoughts really. You can't see, hear, smell taste or touch a thought, but you know it is there. In fact, the more I think about the way Peter Kreeft describes angels, the more I think angels are just that. Thoughts personified. They move by thought, they are with you by thought, they only have to think of a place or a person to be there. They can be thinking of more than one thing at once and concentrating on more than one thing at once, so they can be in more than one place a...

... I dreamt last night that I was combing huge lice out of my kids hair, the size of sunflower seeds and I was like; "How did you manage to keep these hidden?" Yuck... Now you all know what is STILL on my mind. My scalp still itches, by the way, but most likely because winter is here, because I combed my hair again with the fine-tooth comb and there was nothing. (Or maybe it is psychological?)

I dreamt I was back on the boat last night, as it was starting to sink. My husband was helping me into the rowboat, when he slipped and fell overboard. I dove in to try to find him, but it was dark and windy and raining, and I kept swimming around in circles and swimming around in circles, calling his name... My husband and I had rented a sailboat so we could go sailing for a month in the gulf of Mexico, visit some of the small uninhabited islands (my dream) and go fishing (his dream). It was supposed to be a second honeymoon, (although technically, we never really went on a first honeymoon) but also it was supposed to be a fun adventure, rest and relaxation after the long illness and death of our daughter. It was supposed to bring us together, not separate us. My husband was trying to get the rowboat untied when he fell overboard. In the dark and cold, with adrenaline rushing through him, he fumbled at the knots and instead of coming esily untied, they became hopelessly knotted. I had...

... I am now the proud first-time owner of a wonderful thing called a crockpot. Since I always seem to have a really hard time getting a good meal ready for supper, since you have to start at around 3:00 or so, and that is always my busiest time, with kids coming home, and homework and Nicolas being more fussy,... supper is never early. So, since a number of ladies on Mothering with Grace seem to have these wonderful things that cook your supper all day so you don't have to, and when it is time to eat, voilà, everything is ready, I decided maybe that would work for me too. (Does require some prep work of course, but not too much, for a delicious, tender meal. Mmmm Mmmm!) I tried it out yesterday, and the results were yummy. No complaints from the kids (and there were vegetables in it), and best of all, it was on time. We were able to eat before leaving for soccer . And now it is time to go and fill it up again for supper tonight.

This is what my hallway and my bathroom looked like two days ago. Toby snuggled right in and slept, but we had to make sure that the kids didn't play in it. We don't want lice coming back!!! Yesterday was better, the pile reduced itself in half and was only just coming out of the bathroom. By last evening, the pile was contained to the bathroom. This morning, I am still doing laundry, but at last, there is only a (relatively) small pile be tween the bathtub and the washing machine/dryer. I have to admit, some of those coats we threw in there were due to be washed anyway, because they came out looking much better than they did before they got thrown in. Next week I will have to re-do the lice treatment, to make sure that we kill anything that may have hatched from any eggs we might have missed. Yes, we are having fun, fun, fun. On a lighter note, this is what happens when you ask your 12 year old to help out with the folding of the clothes, since there is (obviously) so much to ...

If my feet were cars, they would be hummers . Now, I can think of any number of cars that I would rather my feet be, and none of them ressemble hummers in any way. I don't especially like hummers. They're large and they're square. See now? That's the problem with my feet. Maybe not so much square as large, but definitely not delicate. There is nothing more frustrating than visiting every single shoestore in town and not find anything you like in your size. In fact, a good number of stores don't even have anything for women in my size, let alone something I like. Last time I went shoe hunting was two years ago, and I ended up in Montreal, after fruitlessly searching all day in St-Jean. Even my husband was amazed at the lack of anything nice in my size. (And he only accompanied me to Montreal, not to the stores in St-Jean.) If the holes growing in the soles of my shoes are any indication, I will soon be searching once again for shoes that look good, feel good, are the...

Guess what we have in our house! I have just finished treating everyone's head, including my own. I didn't find any in my head, but everyone else had some. Marc is still at work so I don't know if he has any, but I have to do the wash. Pillows, bedding, cushions, coats, hats... everything has to go in... Fun, fun, fun...

I went out and bought myself another teapot with a filter basket in it, to replace the one I had bought before, but that Nicolas decide to grab out of the dishwasher and smash on the floor. The box has been sitting on my counter now for a couple of days and everytime I turn around and catch sight of it with the corner of my eye, this song goes through my head: I'm a little teapot, short and stout Here is my handle, here is my spout...

...the alarm clock went off all too soon this morning, after a restless night, and Marc got up right away, said he'd get the kids ready, and let me sleep in. So I ended up not being as tired as I thought I would be today. How nice is that?

For the third time since fall started, I have had to deal with all (or almost all) the kids falling prey to bad colds. Of course, inevitably, the baby (in spite of still being breastfed) also falls sick. It seems like every other week it's some new thing and my patience is starting to wear thin. Everytime he gets sick, he has a fever, gets all congested, can't breathe to nurse properly, which makes it all that much harder, especially when lying down, which makes nights really hard, because that's when I nurse him lying down. I basically spend half my night with this very restless baby crawling all over me, practically trying to get back into me. He'll finally fall asleep, only to wake a few hours later to do it all over again. He continually kicks me while nursing, latches on, latches off, latches on, latches off, turns over to hit his dad, (which dad really appreciates of course,... so then I have to try to keep him away form dad too). He whimpers, fusses, coughs in my...

OK, something good has happened to some people close to me and I'm happy for them. I had originally posted a slightly different version of this message, but since said people don't want it publically known yet, let's just say that something good has happened, and leave it at that. And if you happened to read the message before I edited it, well, pretend like you didn't. Not that you would know who these people are anyway, since noone reads my blog who knows the people to whom this good thing happened except maybe said persons themselves and you know who you are. I promise I will announce it later. When I have the go ahead. Whenever said person to whom this good thing happened delurks and actually comments on my blog to let me know that I can. Now that I know that you read it. Because I didn't know until You know Who told me. You know who you are and you know what I'm talking about. Ok, enough rambling now.

Je n'aime pas beaucoup la musique "pop", car bien souvent, ce sont des chansons qui ont peut-être beaucoup de rythm, mais qui ne disent pas grand chose. Je pense, par exemple, à quelqu'un comme Enrique Iglesias qui a un style musical que j'aime beaucoup, mais qui n'est bon finalement que pour danser. Et puis, bien souvent après que le premier ait "inventé" un nouveau style, et que tout le monde l'ait copié, on n'a qu'à écouter une chanson pour les avoir toutes entendues. Mais parfois arrive un poète, qui n'a pas besoin de beaucoup d'extras en arrière de sa voix, (batterie qui lui fait compétition par exemple, ou synthétiseur, ou guitar électrique tous plus forts les un que les autres...) parce que les paroles sont autant musique que la mélodie. Un maître poète de ce genre en espagnol est José Luis Perales, que j'ai découvert il y plus de 13 ans. De très belles paroles, des métaphors à en rêver... (si seulement j'avais ce d...

News about the bill to raise the age of consent from 14 to 16: Following 3 hours of heated debate on Monday, October 30, Bill C-22 passed second reading and was referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, despite opposition from the NDP. Read the Hansard debate . Take Action – Provincial Attorney General In 1998, 1999, and 2003 provincial Attorneys General called upon the federal Justice Minister to raise the age of consent from 14 to at least 16 to protect children from predators. It is time for them to speak out again and help make Bill C-22 law. TAKE ACTION: 1 Click Letter Ask your provincial Attorney General to submit a brief to the federal Justice Committee in support of Bill C-22. In addition, ask that a representative from the provincial Attorney General’s office apply to be a witness before the committee to speak in favour of raising the age of consent to at least 16. WRITE A LETTER - To send off your 1 click letter, go to http://www.1clicklobbyist.ca/ind...

CONFESSIONS OF A MODERN WOMAN For those of you who don't speak Spanish, this is actually quite interesting, because this is a woman lamenting that she has to get up at 6:30 in the morning to go to work when she would rather not. She would rather stay home, cook, walk the dog if she had one,... I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHO WAS THE STUPID WITCH, THE ORIGIN OF THE FEMINISTS, WHO HAD THE DAMN IDEA OF REVINDICATING WOMEN'S RIGHTS, AND WHY DID SHE DO IT FOR US WHO WERE BORN AFTER HER? She laments oh WHYYYYY did that feminist have to go and "Liberate" us so we could be slaves to the image of the perfect modern woman? Perfectly made-up, dressed, coiffed, skinny and with the best education, diplomas etc... Why, when we already knew we had a brain and could use it, did we have to go and show THEM that we could? Now we do the same job but are still paid less. And we have to kill ourselves at work, at the gym and at home to keep up the image of the superwoman. She laments the days w...

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