*Update!
Well, silly me. I am so naïve. Apparently people use baby formula to make methamphetamines. Still though, for what he gets for the meth it seems like he could just buy the formula and it would pay for itself. No, I couldn't find a page about this on the web, and even if I could I'm hardly going to post a recipe here.

Or maybe it's all headed to Iraq, or some other place that's been bombed recently.

July 26th:
I found a neat little place (at iVillage) -- compute with your zodiac sign! Yes, of course your zodiac sign will influence how you work with your computer and other technology. Mine (Taurus) came out:
As a Taurus, you are interested in reaping the benefits and enjoying the results of your hard work. This also applies when it comes to technology.

It should say hard work and play. Especially when it comes to technology.

Amelia's (Aquarius) was partially perfect:
Your visionary abilities will lead you to combine your desires to positively affect the world.

Well, I hope so anyway. There's more information with each sign. I just cut a tiny bit.

There's also a section about Best Careers For Your Sign. In that one I got such cool things as: antique dealer, clothing designer, furniture maker, patron of the arts, singer and musician. But nothing about being a writer.

Where do you really belong in the techno world? Well, of course you can take the Clickability Quiz to "find the user community that's best for you." Take the test. It's quick, simple and entertaining. I ended up with:
Technodiva: You can fly between programs with the greatest of ease, leap over computing obstacles in a single bound, and navigate a Website without breaking a sweat.

Okay, while that's true I really think the label is too big for me. I'm nowhere near ready for the real Digital Divas.

So all that free stuff I keep posting about and sending for? Well, I did get my origami paper, the Red Rose tea note cards, a reading comprehension workbook for kids and the jelly-bellies jelly beans. I have not received the blue tea, the ginseng chew, the "top quality" tea, Nescafe coffee, the Momclub chocolates, the skin care kit, the tampax or the monkey. What the hell is going on? Aren't other people getting their stuff? I only fill them out if they say Canadian delivery is okay. Now I'm not so eager to find new freebie sites to send for stuff. Dammit.

Okay, I had a whole lot of fun at the Makeover-o-Matic. You pick a face (with coloring kinda like yours) and then go through and pick out various colors of lipstick, blush, foundation, eyeshadow and eye-liner. You can also add colored contacts in case her eyes aren't the same as yours. You get several (at least) choices for each and they include the brand name and the color. (Like, Loreal's Winky Pink for lips.) I'm 36 years old (!) and and just now trying to learn about make-up, so this site was a nice little starter before I go to The Body Shop and really embarrass myself.

In the news --
Go to church. Get a buck. Pastor Wilbert Gough, of the First Baptist Church (somewhere in New Hampshire), is paying people $1 of his own money if they come to his Sunday services. Okay, at my church we get little envelopes to put in a basket to pay for the privilege. If he were to up this to about $10, I could go to his church, get the money then go to mine and give $5 of it. And like, that'd put money in my pocket and guarantee me a place in Heaven, right?

One more reason why breast-milk kicks formula's ass all over the nursery -- you don't have to steal it! Well, he was just switching the prices, but he may have taken some too, because how could he have possibly ended up with $15,000 worth of the stuff? What was he going to do with it? Maybe he's some sort of pro-breastfeeding crusader who buys it up to hide it away so others won't use it. Or maybe he's a dad who uses the stuff and is too cheap (or too poor) to buy the stuff. (Hmmm, ever heard of WIC?)

I'm afraid that the last Yinzer in Europe column is up. Couscous! Couscous! A Moroccan Adventure, from last week's In PGH. Jojo was supposed to move back to Pittsburgh this month, but maybe she's got one more coming about saying good-bye to her year abroad. I hope so. Though it's good to have her back, of course.

July 21st:
Help me. I'm addicted to Survivor. No, not the show, because that would be too easy. But to the gossip, the inside story, the untold stories, the rumours. I can't get enough of Survivor Sucks. The show summaries there are so funny.... I can't read them without bursting into laughter.

It must be that Mercury being in retrograde thing.

July 15th:
Family reunion today in Toronto. It was great fun and I am seriously making plans to travel to Finland next summer. Kronoby, Finland, is like 26 degrees south of the Arctic Circle. Wow! The days will be awesomely (new word) long and that'll make up for not being able to take a sauna and then jump into a snowbank.

Hockey news, even in the off off-season... Dave Andreychuk, just got signed by Buffalo. That's good news, cuz he's got some experience (he's been around) and the thing about him being "old" doesn't really bother me. He really impressed me in the play-offs this year and, well, it's a long story but I practically know him. ... A few months ago I predicted that Mark Messier would go to Phoenix, to hang out with his best buddy Wayne, but he's off to New York again. The Rangers are going to pay him $10million so that he can have the chance to win won more Cup before he retires. I think his odds would've been better with the Coyotes.

From the archives at No Greater Joy:

Our first book on child training, To Train Up A Child, contained an illustration of how we trained our children not to touch guns by placing an unloaded and broken gun in the living room where the children could reach it. We carefully watched them. If they touched it, we spanked their hand with a little switch.

But if your husband has sexually molested the children, you should approach him with it. If he is willing to seek counseling and repent, then fine and good. If not, then go to the law and have him arrested. Stick by him, but testify against him in court. Have him do about 10 to 20 years, and by the time he gets out, you will have raised the kids, and you can be waiting for him with open arms of forgiveness and restitution.

July 10th:
I survived my great road trip south. Oh, not only survived but had a wonderful time. Good people and good friends make a trip to Arkansas seem like.. well, a trip to see your very best friend.

In the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, I read about Marriage Savers. Apparently some people want to give folks who get certain marriage counseling a special tax break. I couldn't believe it. It's not like I'm pro-divorce, but this is about getting church involved in all of it (that's who runs the marriage savers place) and taking the stance that, "Divorce is the 'root problem' in our country and is the cause of any number of other social ills." is just too simple, ya know? And why is co-habitation such a bad thing?

Anyway, it's not like there is a "root" problem. I wish. If there were one thing we could fix and that would take care of all the rest.. well, I'd be all over that.

Also, while in mid-America, (I think it was Missouri) I saw a billboard that read, "Abortion: Which part of 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' don't you understand?" I seriously wanted to vandalize that sign -- not to something pro-choice, but to, "Capital Punishment: Which part of 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' don't you understand?" The more I thought about it though, the more I thought people would see it and think I meant capital punishment was okay for those who had killed and didn't understand the commandment.

Okay, after three days on the road my brain gets wonky.

I forgot that before I left I started playing at My Virtual Life and I thought my character would've starved or died or been kicked out of her apartment, but it just picks up where you left off. (She's working on a screenplay, wearing new shoes!) Not like what happened to my virtual dog, poor Sparky. The place is fun, and supposedly you win points to get cool stuff, but I'm pretty sure I'm not even eligible cuz of the Canadian thing again...