Lemon Light...

i am barefoot on our
lineoleum watching the
sun steal across our
lawn listening to the
quiet hum of our
refrigerator knowing
you're asleep deeply
completely warm under
shadows i take a sip of
coffee breathe in the
early morning beauty of
being alive lift up my
arms twirl in the lemon
light of today - e. wierenga

Marion Trip!

The week of Cori's wedding, we took advantage of our location and continued south to attend the N.H.Y.M. graduation in Marion, Indiana. We had good times in the hotel with Sam, Kacie, and my friend Stacie. The ceremony was boring, but we got to see Tarci graduate! YAH! It was so much fun hanging out with my girls in the "real" world... where we could all be ourselves and just SPREAD the LOVE! :o)

Cori's Wedding

On May 20, 2006, our dear Cori got married! I can't believe that this "little girl" we helped raise in the D.R. is now someone's cute little wife! I love her so much, and she made Kris and I so proud. Here are some pictures of her special day, for those of you who know her. Enjoy!

Discrimination

I hate it when I feel discriminated against. When people are saying things about who I am as a person, that aren't true. How do I make people listen to MY voice? The problem is, that I can't. Sometimes it feels like all of the people who were "friends" are just shovelling heaps of dirt onto me until I can't breathe.

- painting by Emily Dow

Think Geek

Dipsticks could check caffeine in your cup
Scientists developing new measuring method, powered by llamas
- By Robert Roy Britt

While it might seem strange scientists would think to develop dipsticks to measure caffeine, how they're making them is even weirder. How about three llamas and two camels. Both types of animals, called camelids by scientists, are among the few whose immune systems produce antibodies that are not destroyed by hot coffee. We did not look into who figured that out, or why. Anyway, the researchers injected proteins linked to caffeine into the five beasts to elicit an immune response. The animals produced antibodies in their blood that were reactive to caffeine. Then in the lab, these antibodies were found to accurately indicate the amount of caffeine in hot coffee and also cold cola.

More work needs to be done to move the technique from the lab, via caffeine dipsticks. But that's the goal. "We believe our test would be the first consumer test for caffeine and would be beneficial for anyone wishing to avoid caffeine for health or personal reasons," said lead researcher Jack Ladenson of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
You would not need camels or llamas to do this at home. The antibodies could be copied in the lab. You could even take the dipsticks into the coffee shop. "Unlike other methods for measuring caffeine, which require large and expensive laboratory equipment, this test is potentially adaptable to a format that people could carry with them," Ladenson said.

The research is detailed in the June 1 issue of the American Chemical Society's journal Analytical Chemistry.
© 2006 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

A Day Without Immigrants

Demonstrator Lubian Piedras holds up a sign while wearing a sombrero at a planned protest in San Diego, California May 1, 2006. In what organizers called 'A Day Without Immigrants,' rallies across the country closed hundreds of restaurants, shops and factories. Construction projects were disrupted, day labor jobs went begging, children stayed home from school and waves of humanity poured through city streets. REUTERS/Fred Greaves - from Riverdell blog

Millionaire Mommies

A woman holds her five-month-old son at the Lowe's movie theater on 34th street in New York in an undated file photo. A full-time stay-at-home mother would earn $134,121 a year if paid for all her work, an amount similar to a top U.S. ad executive, a marketing director or a judge, according to a study released on Wednesday. REUTERS/Chip East - from Riverdell blog

Sarah

This is a picture of my friend, Sarah. I am so happy that we are living nearby each other once again so that we can hang out like we did back in the day. She has a camp on St. Joe's that she and her hubby are living at for the summer, and I am here in the Sault. We have fun painting together at her camp, and she is showing me the in's and out's of oil painting. And we both have rabbits! Her's is a girl named Tutu, and mine is a boy named Fennel, and they are both loppy earred!