Okay - I'm a little Freaked.......

My in-laws are in Egypt on a vacation of a lifetime... They are visiting Cairo and taking a cruise along the Nile.... Today 1/28/11 - they are scheduled to check into a hotel on the last leg of their journey in Cairo..... Today in Cairo there is Major Unrest.... Violent protests are happening in Cairo - right now... all week... Per the article I just read - there is a curfew from 6PM - 7 AM...

Today the Egyptian government shut down all internet into the country 0r so says the article I just read.....

What happens to travelers during something like this? What happens to non-citizens? What happens to Americans who are staying in an "American Hotel" in the middle of an Arab country? I do know that we are allies with Egypt.. at least I think we are....

The unrest, protests, and violence is about the current President - President Mubarak. Mubarak who has been in power since 1981 and many of the citizens want him to step down. Their country is suffering and they want a change from "youth unemployment, corrupt government, human-rights abuses, and a leader in power for an entire generation who showed no sign of being ready to leave".

Praying for my in-laws for a safe return home... I'll keep you posted..

Information and photo obtained by Yahoo News.

Getting Ready For Independent Study #1

The past couple of days my daughter has been watching and participating in her on-line orientation for her new on-line/independent high school. She starts this Monday. In the process of the orientation it asked her to take the LASSI-HS Student test. This is a test with multiple questions - many questions are similar - it's a great way to analyze the test takers true tendencies... I have to be honest here... I was not too surprised with the results... She has a long road ahead of her to get back on track and I pray that I will have the knowledge, the patience, and understanding that she will need to help her in a positive and productive way... There are many prayer warriors out here in Bloggy Land - and I am asking you to please pray for her... and for me and for our family during this major transition in our lives...

In the LASSI test she scored extremely low in five areas - Anxiety, Attitude, Concentration, motivation, and time management.... This is what the test advised her to work on in these areas...

Anxiety - needs to develop techniques for coping with anxiety and reducing worry so that attention can be focused on the task at hand.

Attitude - needs to develop a better understanding of how their academic performance relates to their future life goals.

Concentration - needs to learn to monitor their level of concentration and develop techniques to redirect attention and eliminate interfering thoughts or feelings so that they can be more effective and efficient learners.

Motivation - must accept more responsibility for their academic outcomes and learn to set and use goals to help accomplish specific tasks...

Time Management - needs to develop effective scheduling and monitoring techniques in order to assure timely completion of academic tasks and to avoid procrastination while realistically including non-academic activities in their schedule..

I truly believe that this is the right thing for my girl in this season of her life.. I pray that her direction.. her motivation.. her love for learning... her love for herself will come to her... I pray that she will soon realize how precious she really is....

** image from Picasa

Science Project - Making Bread With Yeast

For Science extra credit my daughter had the opportunity to make bread using yeast and I ended up getting a science lesson from my girl.... Which I have to say was really cool.... As she was adding the ingredients -she is quizzing me on the science of making bread with yeast... She asked me - Do you know why the bread rises when you use yeast? My answer - Uhhhh - no...
Well - she knew.... Yeast is ALIVE - yeast is a single-celled organism.. When you add sugar and warm water the yeast wakes up and starts eating - the eating causes the yeast to basically fart pass gas bubbles - releasing carbon dioxide.. These bubbles get trapped in the dough and make the bread rise.. Putting the dough in the oven - kills the live yeast and the bread is ready to eat... Oh and Yeast - is in the family of fungi.....

I am not a scratch baker so I searched the Internet for an easy recipe and found this one on allrecipes.com - Amish White Bread

In a large bowl - dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast - allow to proof until the yeast resembles a creamy foam.





Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time - Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.






Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes - shape into 2 loaves and place into well oiled 9x5 loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above the pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes..

Sea World - Not As Magical As Before...

This past weekend my husband and I took our girls down to San Diego for the weekend..... I have always been a huge fan of Sea World and was very excited to go... It was a beautiful day... The weather was in the high 70's (yes in January) - the sun was shining and the park was not full... In fact - we did not have to stand in line for any event - that was a nice change... But I have to say - the shows - were no longer magical...

The Shamu show was always a favorite of mine... To see these incredibly large mammals jump out of the water 20 feet to touch a white ball was beautiful... To see their trainer riding on their backs made it even more exciting.... In addition to the trainers playing in the water with these killer whales - the show would also invite a guest down to have a meet and greet with Shamu... The meeting would always end with Shamu giving a kiss on the cheek.... Aww - so sweet.....

Now the show is completely a "non-participating" show. The trainers do not go in the water with Shamu and the guest gets to say "hi" through the glass tank (like everyone else)... I feel like I was completely ripped off.... Granted a trainer was killed in a show a while back and I am sorry for that BUT does a race car driver stop racing if a driver gets killed on the track? Or does a jockey stop racing horses because a horse turned around to bite him? Does the circus close down when an elephant decides to push their trainer? No - they don't.. There are risks in this kind of entertainment.... Sea World has been around as long as I can remember and the incidents of injuries - fatal or otherwise is so very low...... To completely change the show around - in my opinion is wrong... And the whales no longer jump out of water 20 feet.... They are no longer personable..... There is no longer any magic.....




The dolphin show was not much better - yes, the trainers interacted with the stars of the show BUT over 50% of the show was acrobatics by HUMANS - hanging from a cord and diving.. The dolphins and pilot whale were not the main attraction and that made me mad... I am definitely writing a letter to Sea World.... I did not pay $70 per person to see HUMANS perform instead of dolphins - If I wanted to see HUMANS - I would have gone to Cirque Du Soleil!!!!


I did enjoy the penguin encounter.... I did enjoy the flamingos.. The flamingos were herded across the park and it was very cool to get up close and personal with them... We even had the opportunity to have them "nibble" on our hair.... That was fun... I loved watching the polar bears AND my girls and husband had fun petting the dolphins... There's a trick I learned many years ago from a trainer to get a dolphin's attention and it still works... It worked so well that many of the people around us were talking about how all the dolphins kept coming to us... (Do you know the secret?)










I have to say I miss the old Sea World.. The beauty and magic of watching "beast" and man in a wonderful entertaining show... I hope to experience it once again someday..

Follow Me Back Tuesday

FOLLOW ME BACK TUESDAY BLOG HOP JANUARY 11, 2011

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I Have Fallen In Love...... With My IPAD!

My husband had asked me what I wanted for Christmas... I told him I wanted a Kindle.. I love to read and thought that a Kindle would be perfect for me... Well... my Sunday school teacher bought himself an IPAD and he made the mistake of showing it to me one morning.... From that moment on - I knew the IPAD and I were destined to be together...

This is what I do....

There's are free IPAD applications for the Kindle AND the Nook.... I can use the gift cards from Amazon and Barnes and Noble that I received for Christmas and buy books for my IPAD.. There is also "Ebooks" that I can get through ITUNES.. What's really cool is that there are over 25,000 books that are completely free... including my NKJV Bible...

My husband and I love games - we have been playing Scrabble, Battleship, and Trivia Pursuit.. I can also play games through Facebook and other on-line ways - Yes, all of this through the IPAD... My girls have gotten me addicted to Doodle Jump... (don't ask) My sister who lives over 3000 miles away has an IPAD too and we plan to play Scrabble soon....

Last night I was playing Doodle Jump and my husband asked me find an quote about multi-tasking or plate spinning for a lecture he was to give the next day... I touched my Google search engine (on the IPAD) and found some great quotes AND a new blog to read... I discovered I can read and comment on my favorite blogs through What???? My IPAD!!!!

My husband was watching his sports last night.... Supposedly there was some big football game... So I went into my office to "multi-task" myself... I was reading Facebook, reading blogs, AND on my IPAD I was watching Season 2 Bones... Yes, you guessed it - I can streamline Netflix through my IPAD... I'm telling you I'M IN LOVE....