Stimulating Young Minds

Yesterday my daughter and I went to Barnes and Nobles. We usually make this trip at least once a week. I like to look at the new Sci-Fi books or Beads magazines and she loves to play with the train set and find a book of her own. I try to let her select her own books, to give her a sense of independence. She found a Nickelodeon magazine with Spongebob Squarepants and was overjoyed, I don't mind cartoons but there has to be balance. It is important not to overinduldge but at the same time there is no need to put so many restrictions on children at such a young age. As a parent I want her to be interested in something that would stimulate her mind, but would also be fun. So after looking over magazines she went over to the National Geographics and wanted to know what animal was on the front. YES! I proclaimed in my mind. She found something on her own that peaked her interest. She sat down looked at the pictures and indentfied a ladybug and other insects and animals. Then she found the subscription card and said "now you can get these magazines at you house."

Pretty Hair

Now I have had this conversation time and time again with my family. I LOVE my hair in its natural state. I don't want to have to face the interrogator about my hair everytime we have a get together. My aunt who is from Mississippi always wants to know why would you do that to your hair ? Meaning locing. Or I love her comment before was oh don't ever cut your hair again. I cut my hair about 8 years ago because I hated the way relaxer made my hair feel. My hair was thinning and looked unhealthy. I hated being worried if I was going to have enough money to get some relaxer applied to my hair. I felt like a slave to the industry. The rude Asians at the beauty supply, and the flaky hair stylists. Nobody really cared about my hair they were just all trying to make a buck off me. "Pretty hair" to me is clean maintained hair. I don't look at women different because they choose to relax their hair. But its more the reason why we do things to ourselves, that gets me wondering. As I have grown older I do things to make me happy not to please or try to compare myself to women in magazines. My life is about dreaming, beinging a stay-at-home mom, planting seeds, and raising righteous young.

Random hair pics

Minnie Mouse Birthday Dress

My daughter is turning 3 next month and is in love with Minnie Mouse and Daisy. I was looking around on Etsy.com for a dress. I found this one and thought this was too cute! By the way the sellers name is Amacin. www.etsy.com/amacin.

I'm back

I am so elated that my laptop was able to be repaired! Let's start from the beginning. I bought an HP laptop about 18 months ago from Office Depot. Every was fine and it came with a one year warranty. Now lets fast foward to about four months ago. My laptop starting blinking and acting crazy so I'm researching what could be wrong. I though it might have been the video card, so I uninstalled and reinstalled that. It was okay for a few days and then it starting acting wierd again. I mean you could only view the screen at certain angles, you had to hold to the back of the monitor and type without moviong the crazy screen. Then I got to the point where for days you could only see part of the screen the no screen at all. Then the laptop would go bright again as if nothing was wrong. Then sometimes you had to tap the back. I tried to called HP and after being on hold for 45 minutes was that because my warranty had expired I would have to pay $338.00 + tax and ship the computer back to them. Well that is absurd I could get an brand new computer for $649.00. So I went to this computer guy my mother goes to who has a little closet sized shop about 5 miles from here. He said there was a problem with the inverter. He fixed the computer for $110.00 and had it back to me in three days.

More on Samantha Orobator

http://www.reprieve.org.uk/samantha_alleged_once.htm

There is something very strange going on here... Samantha Orobator story

Now I am no expert on South East Asia, nor am I a doctor. But I do know the mechanics of conception. That being said how is that this woman has been in jail over 8 months and is 5 months pregnant in an all female prison, all the while the Laotian government claims not to know how this woman became pregnant ?

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A pregnant British woman jailed in Laos could be transferred to Britain to serve out her sentence if she is convicted under an agreement signed Thursday between UK and Laotian officials.

Briton Samantha Orobator has been jailed in Laos since August on a drug charge. She is five months' pregnant.

Samantha Orobator, 20, has been jailed since August. She was arrested at a Vientiane, Laos, airport and accused of carrying about a half-kilogram of heroin. Laotian officials and a legal charity working on her case have said she is five months' pregnant.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell met Laotian Deputy Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith on Thursday in London to discuss the case and sign a prisoner transfer agreement between the two countries.

The drug charge can carry the death penalty in Laos, but Laotian officials have said Orobator would escape the sentence because the country's criminal code prevents executing pregnant women.

Orobator's case has drawn attention because of her pregnancy, which may have been the result of rape, according to Reprieve, a London-based legal charity. Reprieve also has said Orobator has not had an attorney since her arrest last year. Watch as Orobator's mother pleads for her »

"I pressed our concerns on behalf of Samantha with the deputy prime minister," Rammell said. "He said the Laotian authorities understood the need for Samantha to receive good medical and nutritional care. I was encouraged that Samantha has now been provided with a local lawyer who is working with the UK barrister from Reprieve."

A Laotian official said his government will wait for British approval of the Laotian lawyer before he can start working on the case.

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The lawyer met with Orobator on Thursday for about 10 minutes to sign power of attorney documents, said Anna Morris, a Reprieve lawyer who traveled to Vientiane to represent the British woman.

Morris said she was told she would not be allowed into the prison to see Orobator but that she could send questions with the lawyer, who is supposed to meet Orobator on Friday.

Morris said she hopes she and the Laotian lawyer will be able to cooperate on the case. Morris said she was told that she would be allowed to be present in court.

"The deputy prime minister told me that the Lao government would consider Samantha eligible for transfer to the UK to serve out any sentence once the prisoner transfer agreement comes into effect," Rammell said. "We will continue to pay close attention to this case as it comes to trial."

Orobator's trial has not been scheduled but likely will happen next week, said Khenthong Nuanthasing, a Laotian Foreign Ministry spokesman.

It is normal in the Laotian justice system for a defendant to get an attorney only days before trial, according to Reprieve.

Reprieve spokeswoman Clare Algar said Wednesday that it may be beneficial for Orobator to be tried quickly in Laos, be convicted and receive a sentence.

"It's quite weird as a human rights organization to say that. But if she is sentenced, the British government could ask for a prisoner transfer agreement so that she could be sent back to Britain to serve here," Algar said. "At a minimum, she would be in better conditions, and it would be better for her baby if she were here."

Algar said there have been complaints from others jailed in Laos that there's not enough water and food provided and that prisoners must sleep on the floor.

The prison is co-ed, Algar said, but Laotian authorities insist that men and women are housed separately.