They have some great recipes for Homemade Spa Treatments that I can't wait to try. Here are two:

Over on About.com, I found some interesting recipes for homemade facial masks. There's something here for just about everyone, though I tend to prefer the ones that are made from stuff I'm likely to have in the kitchen or pantry. I know me: If I have to hunt down ingredients, it's never going to get made.

Here's one that fits the bill:

On Kaboose, there are several At-Home Beauty Treatments, including exfoliating scrub and masks for different skin types. But I truly hit the motherlode with 50 Pricey Spa Treatments You Can Do at Home. Someone, bless their money-saving soul, went to the time and effort of compiling a list of links to various DIY spa recipes and techniques. It runs the gamut from mani-pedis to massage to aromatherapy to makeup tips.

So, what are you waiting for? Pull out the oatmeal and eggs and yogurt and cucumbers and start spoiling yourself.

I know I'm ready for a little self-pampering.

Internal vs. External Links

Links are links are links - Right? Wrong!

If your links are sending visitors to another page on your site or blog, that's an Internal Link. If you're sending them out into the 'Net somewhere, that's an External Link. How you send them there is important.

I'll use my site as an example, since that's the one I know.

Internal

All of the product images on my site link to the order page for that item. I don't need special coding for these links. When the links open, they open in the same tab or window and overwrite the page that was already open. A simple click on the navigation menu, or the back button, takes visitors back to the page they came from.

It's all good.

External

There are links all over my site and blog that lead away from my pages. I have relationships with other merchants, support causes, and have great blogging friends that, obviously, live elsewhere on the 'Net. While I love to share those sites with my visitors, I don't want to lose my visitors because they clicked on one of those links.

Therefore, I code any links that will jump off my site with target="_blank" . What that does is important. It allows my visitors to visit those other sites -- in a new window or tab, keeping the window or tab with my site open.

They can surf the other pages to their heart's content and, when they're done, the page that they started from - on my site - is still there for them. All they have to do is close the other tab.

The Point

I adopted this method for coding links when I was applying for awards for my site. Internal links must open in same window; external links must open in new window. It's a requirement of every award program I've seen, and just good practice.

This is where I get frustrated with sites I visit. I was looking at a page, just the other day, with a list they had compiled of sites on macrame. I wanted to look at each site they had listed, meaning I would go back and forth between the directory page and the macrame pages.

Except for one problem: When I clicked on a link in the directory, it opened the macrame site on the same tab; obliterating the link to the directory. It took several back-steps to get back to the original page. That didn't work for my purposes and made it a far less useful source.

If each of those links had been coded to open in a new window, it would have been perfect.

Frankly, we all want to keep our visitors on our sites. We want them to love our words, buy our products, and have such a great time visiting with us that they send everyone they know our way.

We send them to pages on our sites and blogs that we hope they will love. We also share great sites and blogs that we have found in our travels. And this is where we can run into trouble.

Think about your links on your blog or site. Are they keeping your visitors linked to you? Or bouncing them away into the ether?

Which is the better way? For you? and for them?

*****

Alexis Austin has troubles. She's fourteen years old, living in a former mortuary with a collection of kooks, misfits, and anti-establishment former (or not so former) protesters.

With her mother unable to run the hotel, Alexis has taken over the cleaning and repairing and afternoon teas. And the care and maintenance of her extremely quirky tenants. The roof leaks, the plumbing's bad; a crow, a snake, and a bathtub full of fish only add to the chaos.

Then, things get worse: There is a plot to sell the hotel.

This is the only home her tenants have; the only home Alexis has ever known. How can a young girl and a sea of lost souls, with widely varying grips on reality, save Hotel Angeline? What about Alexis' missing father? her suddenly militant surrogate dad?

As things continue to go from bad to worse, which almost seems impossible, Alexis learns about herself, her strengths, and who her friends truly are. She also discovers what makes a family and that, sometimes, it's okay to just be fourteen.

*****

Not surprisingly, with 36 minds telling Alexis' story, the novel is a little uneven. The jumps in perspective between some of the chapters is a bit jarring; especially the illustrated chapter. But, oddly enough, when push comes to shove and you turn the last page - it works.

The best advice - taken from the foreword - is to read this book as you would read any novel: Sit down, open the cover (fire-up the ereader), and dig in. Ignore the author names at the beginning of each chapter.

Get to know Alexis, Linda, LJ, Habib. Enjoy the characters who are Ursula, Roberta, Otto, and Mr. Kenji. They are fascinating.

Trust me.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary electronic galley of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com <http://www.netgalley.com/> professional readers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Think about it for a minute. You wouldn't cut up chicken and then, without disinfecting the board and knife, slice up your veggies. But, by not washing your totes between trips, you might well be doing exactly that. Especially if we're talking about foods that are eaten raw - carrots, celery, lettuce, tomatoes.

Researchers ran tests on reusable totes and found that 50% were positive for coliform bacteria - the group that includes E. coli. In fact, 12% of the bags tested actually had E. coli. That's a sobering thought, in these days of contamination scares.

The good news? Hand or machine washing killed over 99% of those bacteria.

So - always wash your bags between uses. We take so much care purchasing, preparing, and cooking our foods. Let's not contaminate it before we even get into the kitchen.

This has been a thrilling (insert sarcastic tone 'here') week.

With our updated and upgraded internet connection, everything has been a lesson in patience. Lesson learned? I have no patience.

I don't think I've been this peeved in a very long time and, trust me, I've been known to get pretty darned peeved.

Then, on Friday, if the week wasn't slapping me around quite enough – our cooler went out. Not a problem in June - in Montana. In Arizona, with triple digits rising higher and higher - it's a problem. So much of a problem that I had to shut down the laptop. Wouldn't work in the 98° that was our living room.

Since then, I've been trying to play catch-up, with limited success.

What got me going again today are the feeds for my blog. They validate, then they don't. They post through to NetworkedBlogs, then they don't. And I have absolutely no idea why.

I can change it to the Feedburner feed – it validates, except when it doesn't.

Frankly, I'm seriously considering moving the blog – and the website – onto WordPress.

Anyone know if they treat feeds better than this piece of … stuff I'm using now? Cuz at this point? Just about anything looks better than Thingamacrap.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post to this week's here.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Timeouts

For the week ending 06/18 (or 06/19, the reports differ), one service indicates no timeouts; the other shows 19, for 06/13 alone. In a way, that's rather easy to explain: If service #2 accesses my site more frequently than service #1, the odds that #2 will hit at a time when the connection times out - before the front page loads - are increased.

Uptime

All 3 reports show 0:00 time on error and/or 100% uptime. Which probably means that they could both reach the domain name servers or host, every time they tried. It's just that, for service #2, on several of those times (36 over the week) my site failed to load in a reasonable amount of time.

Connect Time

This is where it gets interesting. Service #2 doesn't provide daily connect times, only a weekly average. Service #1, however, sends me two separate reports - about an hour and a half apart - that do not have the same information.

Last Tuesday, the first report (sent to an email @jmarkafghans.com) showed:

The second report, 1 hour 33 minutes later, (sent to an email @yahoo.com) showed:

Interesting. Isn't it?

Asbestos Removal

I've written about asbestos before - major health issues, mesothelioma, lung cancer. It's incredibly bad stuff that, thus far, the government hasn't quite managed to out-and-out ban. They have, however, put in place some serious guidelines for dealing with it - especially in renovations and rehabs where removal is legally required before new construction can take place.

Notices must be posted; current occupants/tenants must be told of the findings.

And I quote:

The Clean Air Act requires that owners of public buildings that contain asbestos follow federally established work practice standards to ensure the safe removal of the asbestos. The required standards include providing notice to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before starting asbestos removal, adequately wetting the asbestos during the removal and before disposal, and properly disposing of the asbestos at an EPA-approved disposal site.

From what I've seen, rooms and buildings found to contain asbestos are, virtually, sealed up. Only experts, certified and approved by the government, are allowed to perform removal of this hazardous waste. And, believe me, if you've ever seen a team descend on a home to get the stuff out - it looks like a biohazard SWAT strike.

Violations

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I'll simply present the EPA charges:

[...] while Knapp was overseeing the project, material containing asbestos was removed from the building and disposed of in an uncovered dumpster. [...] demolition work was performed by workers who were not provided with personal protective equipment to reduce exposure to the asbestos. [...] building workers, one of whom was disabled ^[1], and tenants, were exposed to large amounts of dust that resulted from the demolition. A worker testified that the workers were not instructed to wet tiles containing asbestos before and during the demolition process, which increased their exposure to dust.

Mr. Knapp pleaded (pled? plead?) guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of failing to remove all material containing asbestos before beginning renovation of the building. The renovation took place between 2005 and 2008. Which says, to me, lots of violations and lots of exposure for workers and tenants.

Part of the plea agreement (you knew, after all this, that there had to be one, didn't you?), good ol' Bobby Joe admitted that he and Russell Coco, also charged, conspired to get the asbestos out of the building without adhering to government requirements.

Sentencing

In addition to 41 months in prison, the sentence provides for "two years of supervised release and 300 hours of community service. [Mr. Knapp] must also pay a $12,500 fine and $200 crime victim special assessment fee ^[2]."

Bottom Line

I don't mean to pooh-pooh 3 years and 5 months in prison; wouldn't want to do it, myself. But the release doesn't mention whether Bobby Joe will be required to do the full 41 months. And, heaven knows, he won't be doing it in Walla Walla or Corcoran.

Frankly, it's the financial slap on the wrist  that caught my attention. Given the cost of proper (and legal) asbestos removal, especially on a building with more than 10 floors, the fine is small potatoes. As a deterrent to future offenders, it simply doesn't work.

I've been slapping at the EPA for months over their inability or reluctance to P the E. This doesn't do much to improve my opinion of them.

What do you think? Did Mr. Knapp get what he deserved? Did the punishment fit the crime? Or was this a token action, meant to make it appear as though the government and the EPA are actually doing their jobs?

1. There was no clarification as to whether the worker was disabled before, or disabled by, the exposure.
2. "Since 1984, the federal government has collected a small monetary assessment from all convicted defendants for each federal crime committed. This "special assessment on convicted persons" ranges from five to two hundred dollars depending on the seriousness of the crime and the status of the criminal."

   Marie T. Farrelly, Special Assessments and the Origination Clause: A Tax on Crooks?, 58 Fordham L. Rev. 447 (1989), http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol58/iss3/5

Why not learn to make those goodies that are our favorites, when we dine out?

Personally, I'm a hollandaise junkie - I'd eat the stuff on cardboard. Over the years, I've found a couple of recipes. One involves a double boiler and more time (and skills) than I'm willing to invest. The other is a blender-hollandaise that is virtually foolproof.

My other favorite is Chicken Kiev. It's a simple, if somewhat time-consuming, recipe; chicken breasts, stuffed with butter and green onions and a little garlic. They can be pan-fried, oven-fried, or deep-fried.

Following the same process as Kiev, you can easily make Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Hope you enjoy these recipes. Once you get the pounding and browning down pat, you can adapt these chicken recipes to just about any ingredients. Personally, I love adding asparagus spears to the Cordon Bleu - great flavor.

So ... what are your favorite dishes? Have you learned to make them at home? If so, would you share your recipes? We're always looking for something new.

At his first post with the 27th, Prew became a boxer. After a bout that nearly killed a man, he gave up fighting. Constant harassment and abuse, designed to force him back in the ring, instead sent Prew to 'A' Company, home of the bugle corps.

Now, as the novel begins, Prew has been passed over for promotion to First Bugler in favor of a company 'pet.' There are rumors that Prew rejected his commander's advances; he isn't saying. But, once again, he is transferred.

His new home, 'G' Company, is regular infantry with a commander more focused on boxing than war. Since Prew refuses to fight, conflict is inevitable. And, with the help of his second-in-command, Captain Dana E. 'Dynamite' Holmes is determined to teach Prew the error of his ways.

What follows is a portrait of military life on Hawaii in the months leading up to Pearl Harbor, and the shocked and shocking days that came after. A portrait of men just trying to survive the politics, the discrimination, and the brutality of the few who held power over the many. Written by a man who lived it.

*****

I have never read the 1951 version of this novel and it's been many, many years since I saw the 1953 movie. Therefore, when I chose to read the restored edition, I had a vague Army-on-Hawaii-before-Pearl expectation of the book's content. Which is a bit like saying Moby Dick  is about a guy and a big fish.

What grabbed me, and stays with me as I write this, is the language. Not the F-bombs and C-word, expunged in the 50s and common today, but the way that language was used sixty years ago. Language molded in the mind of a remarkable writer.

(A brilliant example can be found - here - at the James Jones Literary Society  site.)

It would take days, and skills I simply lack, to describe even a portion of this work. There are people and places that you can see, and hear, and smell, and feel. The voices and lives of Schofield Barracks will live with you long after you close your e-reader.

Why not carve out a couple of weeks, pick up the ebook, and lose yourself?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary electronic galley of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com <http://www.netgalley.com/> professional readers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Just so we're all on the same page here, we're not talking about a case of nerves. This isn't sweaty palms or butterflies in the stomach over a first date. Although it can begin that way.

The kind of anxiety we're talking about is crippling, all out of proportion to the situation. Most everyone gets a little jumpy over new situations. But when it devolves into heart palpitations, shortness of breath, shaking, dizziness, and fight-or-flight reactions; when the physical and mental manifestations make it impossible to function - then, it's time to get help.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is not, in and of itself, therapy. Rather it is an umbrella term for therapies "based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not external things, like people, situations, and events.^[1]"

Cognitive-behavioral therapy doesn't say thoughts are wrong or tell people how to think. It begins with the premise that people who seek this form of therapy don't like the way they feel and want to do something to change those feelings. CBT therapists teach their clients how to do that. How to unlearn damaging reactions and behaviors.

For Example:

Years ago, I was married to a man who had issues with working every day and paying his portion of the bills. This caused me great anxiety, as we couldn't survive solely on my income. A natural anxiety, all things considered, that imagined starvation and homelessness.

The problem was, in my mind the situation magnified to such a point that spending any money caused intense panic. I simply 'knew' that the minute I paid out anything, something would happen and we'd be out on the street, living in our cars. Those thoughts became so internalized, so completely ingrained, that I couldn't pay bills.

Credit counseling, in this case, wasn't the answer. I had to change my thought process; recognize that I was way over the top and doing myself serious financial damage. It took time, and counseling, but I got there. (Sadly, not before I did some serious damage to my credit rating.)

Medications

There are a number of medications that are effective for anxiety. As with any other condition, not everyone responds to all treatments. Sometimes, the side effects override the benefits.

Rather than attempt to describe all forms of medications that are prescribed for anxiety disorders, let's look at what the medications (when they work) accomplish. In a nutshell, they reduce the physical symptoms of panic attacks. By eliminating or reducing these crippling mental and emotional reactions, medications offer patients time to calmly and rationally assess the situation and manage their response to the trigger.

For Example:

In my I-can't-pay-the-bills-cuz-I'll-end-up-homeless scenario, just opening a credit card bill was enough to make my heart pound, my palms sweat. I'd get dizzy and have trouble catching my breath. Once these symptoms kicked in, there wasn't much I could do but hold on for the ride.

With medication, the extreme physical fight-or-flight didn't happen. This aborted the roller coaster ride, before it even got started. Or, more accurately, lowered the peaks and raised the valleys of the anxiety.

Because I didn't have to deal with the immediate panic, I was able to (literally) take a deep breath and do the right thing. It didn't solve the problem of a husband who was financially irresponsible. But it did keep me from giving in to damaging behavior patterns.

Bottom Line

Anxiety and panic disorders are potentially crippling conditions. They keep people from functioning and, often, lead to additional problems because of the dysfunction. Untreated, life becomes a series of ever more crippling thoughts and irrational behaviors.

Therapy or medication alone is, frequently, insufficient to combat the combination of physical and mental processes that comprise anxiety and/or panic disorders. Reducing physical symptoms and retraining thought patterns is, from my experience, the best management option.

1. Source: National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists, What is CBT?

Father's Day is difficult for me. I have 2 fathers and, at the same time, no father.

As an adopted child, I have one father who gave me up. As the adopted child of a suicide victim, I have one father who gave himself up.

It's difficult not to internalize those two situations. Difficult to not take it personally, especially on the day that celebrates fathers.

I did a post about the surrogate fathers I came to know through my first 2 husbands (wow, that sounds bad) and I truly meant exactly what I wrote. But somewhere in my heart of hearts, I really would have loved to have a father who chose me; who chose to stay.

Maybe in my next life.

For now, I simply have no choice but to try and understand that Father #1 did what he felt was best for me. And, heaven knows, suicide is not about those who are left behind. It is about the incredible emotional pain that seems to have no cure but by ending the life that holds that pain.

That one I understand. And battle with - every day.

God bless our fathers - they do the best they can. Some succeed; all leave a memory.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post to this week's here.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

No matter how famous a father is, he is still, at the end of the day, a child's dad. This Father's Day, children of famous writers discuss special memories of their dads. Funny, quirky, and inspirational, these videos illustrate that the special bond between parent and child exists forever.

As we prepare to celebrate the 45th official  Father's Day, I share with you these touching rememberances** of men who may be more famous than all of my fathers. Yet, they are no less loved, cherished, and celebrated than the men I was lucky enough to call Dad - if only for a season.

* The correct (and original) spelling is Fathers' Day, plural possessive; however, the 1913 bill that first attempted to establish the holiday spelled it Father's Day. Right or wrong, it stuck.

** My sincere thanks to Laura DeSilva at Open Road Media for sharing these amazing videos with me, and allowing me to share them with my readers.

In this, the third book in the series, Patrick and Beth go into the past to find the golden tablet. Carrying gifts from Mr. Whittaker, they barely land in China and are kidnapped by Mongol warriors. At the Mongol camp, they meet Marco Polo and are taken to the palace of Kublai Khan.

Where things only get worse: the Khan doesn't like their gifts or their message of Christianity, Beth challenges the priests' magic, and war breaks out. Kublai Khan locks up the cousins, so they won't escape. Marco Polo leaves.

What are Beth and Patrick to do? How will they find the golden tablet? What will happen to Albert?

*****

This well-written little book is a trip to China in 1621, as seen through the eyes of two 8-year-old children. Evenly paced and beautifully illustrated, it is a fascinating story. The Christian message is presented, but it doesn't overwhelm the short history lesson.

A lesson that readers, caught up in the adventure, won't realize they've been taught.

Recommended for Ages 7 and up
Fleisch-Kincaid Grade Level: 2.1

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through the Tyndale Blog Network <http://mediacenter.tyndale.com/> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Amazon Grocery & Gourmet Food

There are a couple of good reasons to give this section a look: 1.) wide variety of products and 2.) free shipping (orders over $25.00). And one, not so good: many items are only available in bulk - big bulk.

Still, there are some great deals. And if you sign up for regular delivery, i.e., 6pk of Folgers coffee every 2 months, the prices drop even further. (There's supposed to be an 'Add to Shopping List' option on the product detail pages, but I couldn't find it.)

Tea

We go through a lot of tea - a gallon a day, or thereabouts. That works out to about one 100-count box of tea bags, per month. At the grocery store or the corner store, we pay between $4.50 and $5.00 each; about $0.20/gallon†.

On Amazon, there is Lipton Tea Bags Cup Size 100-Count, 4pk for $17.96*, which works out to $0.18/gallon†. Or try the 312-Count Tea Bags option for $8.69*; about $0.11/gallon†.

Coffee

We make a pot of coffee most every day, primarily Folgers. A canister, 27.8 - 29.2 oz, lasts us about 30 days. The last one we bought was $9.88 {ouch} - or ~$0.33/pot†.

On Amazon, there is Folgers Brazilian Blend Ground Coffee 27.8-Ounce Canisters, 2pk for $17.13*, ~$0.29/pot†; and Half Caffeinated Ground Coffee 29.2-Ounce Canisters, 3pk for $25.12*, ~$0.28/pot†; and Classic Roast Ground Coffee 11.3-Ounce Refill Packs, 6pk for $21.65* ~$0.24/pot†.

Miscellaneous Groceries

Not everything we buy (naturally) is available through Amazon's Free Super Saver Shipping. So, I wouldn't order them here. Of the general grocery items we've been known to buy, here are a few items that are part of the free shipping program.

• Maruchan Ramen, 3oz 24ct at $8.56*, ~$0.36/each.
• Hunt's Diced Tomatoes (w/ Green Peppers, Celery & Onion), 14.5oz 12ct for $14.38*, ~$1.20/each.
• Plochman's Yellow Squeeze Mustard, 10.5oz 6ct at $8.44*, ~$1.41/each, $0.13/oz.
• Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise, 64oz 3ct at $22.51*, ~$7.50/each, $0.12/oz.
• Crisco Pure Canola Oil, 16oz 6ct at $13.70*, ~$2.28/each, $0.14/oz.
• La Moderna Spaghetti Pasta, 16oz 20ct at $14.96*, $0.75/lb.
• Frontier Onion Powder, 16oz 2ct at $11.40*, ~$0.36/oz.
• Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, 7.25oz 15ct at $19.38*, ~$1.29/each.

Admittedly, this is not easy shopping. If you're searching for items that you always buy, the deals may not be that much better and you may have to factor in the additional cost of shipping. Hunting down the items that are part of the free shipping program means that you may not be able to find your usual products or brands.

But, for the pantry fillers (bulk flour, sugar, pastas, or oils) or if you're willing to take the time to really look, there are some great deals to be found. And don't forget, you can sign up for regular deliveries of items you use all the time - shipping is always free.

* Prices are valid as of this writing.
† Price per gallon or pot depends on brewing strength; making tea or coffee stronger or weaker will increase or decrease the cost per/gallon or pot.

After traveling ten days through the desert, Cassia and Alexander arrive in Petra, only to be attacked and robbed. Forced to rely on the help of strangers, Cassia seeks Aretas' family and finds that they are the rulers of this city in stone. Her dreams of a happy life are soon dashed, however, when the new queen, Hagiru, takes Alexander and has Cassia thrown from the palace.

Seeking only a peaceful life as a stone carver, Julian is approached by Malik, the leader of Petra's church, who speaks of "the Jew's Messiah" and the future. He resists the message. But when he finds Cassia, battered and bruised on the palace steps, Julian takes her to Malik and becomes entwined in her mission to free her son, as well as the fledgling Christian church in Petra.

*****

I chose this book because of a personal fascination with Petra. I was not disappointed. The descriptions of the city are so incredible, one would expect the author had time-traveled from the ancient Nabataean capital to tell this story. A story that feels old and ... real.

While I might not have picked this title, had I known the underlying theme, a well-written book is still a well-written book. I can easily recommend it to anyone interested in the city or the time period. Or the beginnings of Christianity.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary electronic galley of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com <http://www.netgalley.com/> professional readers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Definitions

Stepping away from the article and into the study itself, there are some basic definitions that impact the understanding of this study.

It is important to note that there are differences between screening and clinical surveillance. With screening, apparently healthy people are targeted to help them make better-informed health care choices. ... Clinical surveillance, on the other hand, involves the targeted use of diagnostic tests and questionnaires to either rule out or rule in a diagnosis among people who have a relatively high probability of having that condition by virtue of having already been identified in some way.

Testing

Another question in the study was the effectiveness of current testing methods.

Some tests are incredibly good at determining children who are not at risk, but frequently fail to diagnose those who are: Checklist for Autism Spectrum Disorders in Toddlers (CHAT). Even with modifications, M-CHAT, the test is unable to diagnose 15% of children with autism.

Other tests generate a number of false positives, in addition to false negatives: Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ). The SCQ, according to the study, suffers from 15% false positives (not identifying children who don't have autism) and 25% false negatives (not identifying children who do have autism).

For routine community-wide testing, the available testing options were deemed insufficient. And, as the accuracy of the results are questionable, the "potential burdens on families of receiving a misdiagnosis (either a false-positive or a false-negative) may be enormous, and there might be labeling effects that can be hard to remove."

Treatment

Along with the question of accurately assessing which children have autism, there is the question of severity and treatment.

There are varying (widely varying) differences in the abilities and disabilities of children with autism. This is not measles or whooping cough, where you either have it or you don't. Each child is unique and must be treated according to his/her needs. Therein lies the problem.

Unlike interventions for phenylketonuria or congenital thyroid disease, there is no strong evidence of the effectiveness of the various autism therapies currently provided. In addition, the availability of these therapies is limited (there are waitlists often as long as >1 year in many therapy centers), and the cost is often prohibitive.

Conclusions

Strictly from the standpoint of testing all children for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), it appears that this study of current literature makes a valid point. Lacking accurate testing and readily available treatment options, arbitrarily subjecting children and families to testing seems pointless.

Ongoing research is certainly needed to assess the effectiveness and acceptability of screening programs for ASDs. ... [B]ecause the implications of instituting a major program without sound research-based evidence are so enormous, we believe that the child health community has an important responsibility to undertake [such] clinical trials as a matter of priority. At this time we recommend careful surveillance and assessment of all preschoolers who present with impairments in their development of language, social function, or cognitive skills that result in activity limitations, but we believe that community screening of all preschoolers is premature.

I repeat: "We recommend careful surveillance and assessment of all preschoolers who present with impairments in their development of language, social function, or cognitive skills that result in activity limitations." No one should, for a moment, take this study to mean that children should never be tested and families should not demand all available support and assistance. That would simply undo all of the progress that has been made.

And that, my friends, would be a crime against our children.

* This link to the full [PDF] article in Pediatrics  is valid as of this posting. Journals frequently limit access to full articles and, subsequent to this writing, access may be removed.

I think I have a problem. And if I don't get a handle on it, there won't be any room left on my blog to ... well ... blog.

I have become addicted to widgets, whats-its, gadgets, and gizmos. Every day, while visiting other bloggers and wandering the WWW, I run across some other 'cool!' tool that I just have to try out. Then, I spend hours getting it to look and work -- just right! -- on my pages.

It's not like I have nothing else I could be doing; or should be doing. It's more that they're so shiny, and pretty, and fun -- I just have to have them.

I did learn something from one of my latest toys - a link I had put on a post had moved. Dozens of visitors (okay 5 or 6) had left the same page on my blog for the same page on another site. I had to find out why, which is how I found out that the page I'd linked to had moved.

It's now fixed; too late for those other visitors. But, anyone who follows can find the information I intended to share in the first place.

I also learned that I get a lot of hits for crochet information. Have to think about that one.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post to this week's here.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

By the afternoon, we had slowed to a crawl that would have left us in the tortoises's dust - had we been foolish enough to actually try to race the little critter. I started, heaven knows how many, projects only to be thwarted by a connection that wouldn't. Kept getting DNS errors - for sites like Google.

Naturally, every bit of work I do (dishes and laundry don't count) relies on a connection to the WWW. The frustration is huge; tempers are flaring.

And there is nothing that can be done until Monday.

What did we do in the old days - the days before Internet access on everything from a computer to a cell phone to a wrist watch? How did we get by; get information; function?

How did we survive ?!

It is January 6, 1965.

Agnes Lampion is in her Bright Beach, California kitchen: in labor and baking pies. Her husband, Joey, is frantic to get her to the hospital. But pies must be baked, and Maria has arrived for her English lesson. By the end of the day, Barty would be born and Joey would be dead.

In the wilds of Oregon, Junior Cain and his wife, Naomi, are hiking along an unpaved fire road. They reach the fire tower in time for lunch. Fifteen stories above the top of the ridge, they shared cheese sandwiches, dried apricots, and the incredible view. By the end of the day, Junior would be hospitalized and Naomi would be dead.

At St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco, Seraphim White is a very pregnant and very sick teenager. With extreme hypertension and pre-eclampsia, she is undergoing a battery of tests and treatments while her sister, Celestina, waits and worries. By the end of the day, Angel would be born and Phimie would be dead.

What follows is the story of how the lives of two unique children, two single mothers, one dedicated cop, and a homicidal maniac are inescapably bound together. The story of a young boy with amazing abilities; of a murderer hunting the child he believes is his mortal enemy and who is, in turn, hunted by the priest-turned-cop determined to end the evil.

It is filled with signs, symbolism, and omens good and bad. By adding quantum theory, the idea of an almost molecular connectedness in the nature of human relationships, Koontz steps beyond the ordinary. And takes his readers with him.

I wasn't certain what to expect from a book that promises to give sight to a boy with no eyes. (This book was loaned to me by a friend, who hadn't read it yet.) It was an interesting ride. But, at over 600 pages, it wasn't a short one.

As far as the characters go, most of the 'good guys' were well-developed. But there are a lot of people in this book and many are given short shrift. The focus is on Barty and his family, and Junior - very nearly polar opposites in every way imaginable - and it shows.

Still, this is an engrossing novel. My only complaint would be that, after living with these characters for seventy-nine chapters and almost four years, the final 50 pages resolve all of their issues and fly them through the next 30+ years.

Oh, the recovering-sight-with-no-eyes thing? You'll love that one. I promise.

If they'd had these great replica sunglasses in those days, I'd have saved a fortune - and could have gotten a couple pair for my little shade-killer, while I was at it.

The purple ones grabbed my attention immediately - it's a personal addiction: anything purple. But the gold ones are absolutely gorgeous, even though I don't think they would offer much sun protection.

Then again - who cares? They're gorgeous.

'Awesome' Products

There are over 25 products on the LA's Totally Awesome website. From oven and grill cleaners, to laundry soap and fabric softener and stain treaters and bleach, to bathroom cleaners, to cleaners with orange or bleach or oxygen, to ammonia with lemon or pine -- there is a product for every job.

I haven't tried all of them, by any stretch of the imagination; but the ones I have used certainly live up to their press. And they're a good size. Each bottle is, depending on product, no smaller than 24 oz; most are 32 oz -- or larger.

One of the first items we tried was the All-Purpose Cleaner (APC), which is just that. Full strength or at various levels of dilution, we have 'undone' some of Mark's more interesting kitchen oopses - no fuss and {poof} no muss. It worked well on painted walls, stove tops, and cabinets with fake veneers.

Another extremely 'Awesome' item that does what it claims is the Window Cleaner. Being smokers, we tend to acquire smoke stains on walls, windows, mirrors, TV screens ... you get the idea. This cleaner takes on all stains and surfaces. (It isn't super wonderful on grease, or we wouldn't need the APC.)

My absolute hands-down favorite product from 'Awesome' is the Mop & Shine. It used to come in a spray bottle -- spray, wipe, and done convenient. We haven't bought it since they changed the packaging and, for some reason, it's not on the LA's Totally Awesome website anymore.

Awesome Benefits

Just a quick line (or two) about the safety of these products:

• No acid
• No ammonia (except ammonia products)
• No bleach (except cleaners w/ bleach)
• Non-flammable
• Safe for septic tanks
• Contains no phosphorous

And they are -- Made in the USA!

Awesome Stores

We used to buy all of our 'Awesome' cleaners at the local dollar store for ... wait for it ... $1.00/bottle. Sadly, they are having a tough time and don't seem to carry most of our favorite goodies. So my mission, should I choose to accept it, is to find a new source.

There are a number of stores listed on the LA's Totally Awesome website. It's difficult to confirm exactly which stores carry which products. The best I could do was:

• Dollar Tree carries (on their website) every single solitary LA's Totally Awesome product - including my beloved Mop & Shine. The price is the same - $1.00/bottle; but they only sell in case lots online. They will ship to a local store, for free; but charge shipping to get it to your door.
• 4sgm.com is a wholesaler that offers by-the-case sales only. They seem to carry virtually all the 'Awesome' products at a lower per-unit cost than Dollar Tree -- with one huge caveat: Minimum order is $250.00. Which would work if one could get several people/families together and combine orders.
• 99¢ Only is supposed to carry LA's Totally Awesome products, but the only online sales are through their 'Club 99' program. Without signing up and logging in, it's impossible to tell what exactly they offer.
• Family Dollar and Dollar General are also listed as retailers. As best I could tell, neither offers online sales and, without visiting a store, there is no way to know exactly which products are available.
• The same holds true for the many little mom-and-pop dollar and discount stores around the country. Not part of a chain, it takes actually going through the cleaning products at the shop to know if and where you can find 'Awesome' cleaners.

I hope I've given you some help with those much-hated, but unavoidable, household jobs. Heaven knows, now that I've found my little cleaning treasures again, I'm going to be stocking up.

I am a huge fan of learning and I'm not overly picky about how. Over the years, I have taught myself to macrame and crochet by buying books and fumbling my way through until I was reasonably proficient. By picking the online-brains of those who know, I've managed to figure out (more or less) how to build a website and create a blog.

It's not, necessarily, the method that's important - it's the learning that counts.

More than the knowledge, however, recruiters and employers look for that piece of paper. Something from an institution, such as Walden University, as proof of learning; as evidence of competency. No recruiter is going to come knocking at my door with a job offer, but they do contact, and work with, colleges and universities to place graduates.

So, there are serious advantages to formal education. (Not to mention, a correspondence course in orthopedic surgery is just too scary to contemplate.) And I do contemplate the benefits, and costs, of going back to school; of getting my degree - frequently.

Being out of the workforce for as long as I have puts me at a serious disadvantage when it comes to marketable skills. But, as a primary stay-at-home caregiver, my time, travel, and financial options are severely limited. Just thinking about tuition expenses at, for example: WaldenU.edu, makes my palms sweat and my heart race.

Nonetheless, it is highly probable that within the next couple of years I'll be forced to find employment and support myself. I can do it with a rusty, outdated skillset. Or I can start investing in my future and see what educational options actually exist.

I'm hoping that the surprises will be pleasant ones.

Tribute

The film fest begins (if you have LMN) with Tribute, published in 2008 and filmed in 2009. I remember, from the synopsis, that I have read an excerpt of this one. (Off to the bookstore for me.)

From myLifetime.com:

Cilla McGowan is a former child star who has found more satisfying work restoring old houses. In search of a normal life, Cilla buys her grandmother’s farmhouse in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley to rescue it from ruin. Her hope for serenity is soon eclipsed by haunting dreams of her famous grandmother, who died of a supposed overdose in the house more than 30 years ago. Cilla soon forges a romantic relationship with Ford Sawyer, her handsome new neighbor, who ultimately comforts and protects her when her dark dreams and family secrets spiral into a real-life nightmare.

Blue Smoke

Next in the line-up (if you get LMN), Blue Smoke was published in 2005 and became a Lifetime movie in 2007. It gets a lot of TV time and, although not my favorite novel-turned-movie, is pretty well done.

I'm actually in the process of revisiting Baltmore and the Hale family. Let me tell you, if you haven't read it (yet), Ms. Roberts packs a lot of action into this one volume.

From myLifetime.com:

The blaze that destroyed her family's pizzeria changed the life of young Reena Hale, forcing her family to start over from scratch. But the fire's brutal beauty and destructive power would seduce her into learning to understand and master its terrible force, leading her to become a fire investigator herself. This line of work proves to be exciting, but also has a dangerous side -- and she soon finds herself caught in a hotbed of trouble!

Carolina Moon

The third movie of the day (first for me) is Carolina Moon. Published in 2001 and filmed in 2007, this is one of Ms. Roberts delicious visits to the South - you can almost smell the magnolias.

I haven't read this one in a very long time, so I'm excited about revisiting the chills and thrills. (If Lifetime keeps this up, I'll be spending a lot more shopping-time at the bookstore.)

From myLifetime.com:

Tory Bodeen returns to her hometown in South Carolina, a place that holds violent memories of her childhood friend Hope Lavelle's murder. Coming back revives Tory's psychic visions of what happened that fateful night, and she becomes determined to unearth the truth, enlisting the help of Hope's hunky older brother. However, the murderer has been waiting all these years for her return -- and it may be someone closer to her than she realizes!

Carnal Innocence

Last in the line-up and published almost 20 years ago, Carnal Innocence is the newest Nora Roberts novel-become-movie. And this is its Lifetime premiere. This may have been, I'll have to check, Ms. Roberts' first trip south of the Mason-Dixon. Happily, it wasn't her last.

I haven't read this one in, at least, a dozen years. How wonderful it will be to 'see' everyone, again. (Just one more trip to the bookstore to replace my copy of this great story.)

From myLifetime.com:

After suffering a professional setback, world-renowned violinist Caroline Waverly decides to head to Innocence, Mississippi, where she spent summers as a child, for some peace and solitude away from the spotlight. Shortly after arriving, Caroline meets the arrogant but charming Tucker Longstreet, a member of one of the town’s most prominent families, who is quickly smitten by her. But Caroline’s dreams for tranquility turn into a nightmare when she discovers the body of a young woman, the possible victim of a serial killer whom the authorities suspect may be Tucker. Caroline soon discovers that even in a town called Innocence, secrets have no place to hide.

Enjoy! I intend to have a great time - just need the popcorn and my favorite afghan!

Wildlife Protection

Hunting is illegal in Kenya. Period. Intending to stop big game hunters, the government's blanket law has been applied at all levels - including traditional tribes. In addition, Ol Kinyei (where the tribe and three lion prides coexist) has recently been set aside by a Maasai community as a wildlife sanctuary.

The Ol Kinyei Conservancy, part of the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, "covers an area of 8,500 acres in the Koyaki Lemek area of the greater Mara ecosystem." A 4-hour trip from Nairobi, it is a pristine wilderness that is home to plains, forests, streams and rivers, and a wide variety of animal species. It deserves to be protected.

Allowing man to slaughter its animals, in this time of ever-decreasing animal populations in the wild, should be aggressively discouraged. And yet ...

Source: BBC Earth

Lifestyle Protection

"In a time when stories about endangered wildlife regularly hit the headlines, few people seem to notice that incredible human cultures are being lost; ‘like swatting a mosquito – no-one seems to notice’." This is the threat to the Dorobo.

This Kenyan tribe has hunted, gathered, and scavenged on these plains for generations. When they were unable to make a kill to feed their families, they bravely (or foolishly) took from the lions. If the hunt was good, they left the excess for the lions.

Living in harmony with the lions, almost symbiotically, they know the Ol Kinyei and they share it, peacefully. But because other humans cannot share, cannot live in peace and harmony with nature, the Dorobo way of life is as threatened as that of the lions.

Choices

Hopefully, there are choices.

Jackson Looseyia, who runs a safari lodge in the Masaai [sic] Mara, has started employing Dorobo men to be spotters and trackers for his tourists. Jackson says, 'If the Dorobo way of life disappears, so too does their knowledge. The Dorobo can spot and name any distant bird or animal, identify any nearby track or noise, and tell the story of hunt through reading the tracks in the sand.'

Only time will tell if an entire culture must be sacrificed to save the animals of the Masai Mara.

* Actually, from what I've been able to determine, there is no specific 'Dorobo' tribe. The term Dorobo "referred to the original forest-dwelling hunters in the Rift Valley of what is now Kenya and Tanzania." Various unrelated groups are called by that name, possibly originating from the Maasai word Torobo which sounds very much like Dorobo and means 'poor people (who do not have cattle)'.

Eight births - all at 2100 on 21 December 2012 and all bearing a birthmark on the right calf - signal the Time of Becoming. One of those children, according to prophecy, has the potential to end the world as we know it. Putting the destiny of the world in the hands of a chosen defender, should Matthew Samael Serafino grow to power.

Jump thirty-six years, to 2048. The Earth is in trouble, after years of man's inhumanity to the planet. Technology has advanced; religion has gone underground. And Paul Binder, a cultural history professor born at the same time as the Eight, receives a mysterious letter, sending him on a quest to find the 2nd-century Diatessaron manuscript and "unlock the future of your world."

What follows is a journey, filled with prophesies and strange events, reaching from one possible future back into ancient traditions and forward again. Travel with Paul and the Eight from the United States to England; to Egypt, the Sahara, Israel, Syria, Italy, France, and the Cave of St. Anne on Patmos - where it is believed John wrote "Revelation." Share Paul's struggle to find and decipher hidden clues, and realize his destiny.

In the end, there is only one possible answer.

I am not a student of "Revelation" or ancient and/or religious symbols and texts. It is, however, with a little thought, not difficult to examine the world around us and imagine where we might be heading. The possibilities in this book are unnerving, a little frightening, and not inconceivable.

If you believe that we are heading "to hell in a handbasket," you should read this book. The 'Alphabet of the Apocalypse' in Part V will make you think; will make you question. It will make you search for answers, before it's too late.

If you don't believe our world is in trouble, you must  read this book. For the very same reasons.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

A parental poll, cited in the article, was specifically asking about Fragile X Syndrome. An incurable genetic condition, FXS is caused by a change in the FMR1 gene which makes a protein that is required for proper growth of the brain. The mutation makes the gene produce little, or none, of this protein.

Symptoms include delayed motor skills (crawling and/or walking), hand clapping or biting, hyperactivity, mental retardation, speech and/or language delay, and avoidance of eye contact. Only about 1 in 4,000 boys and 1 in 6,000 girls develop Fragile X Syndrome.

Yes

There are those who want to know; who want to be prepared for possibilities. All possibilities.

As rare as the syndrome is, parents feel the need to know.

No

Some parents don't believe in testing infants unnecessarily. Others believe, as one mother put it, "Knowing can cause anxiety. The chances of it happening are very small; don't know how it will unfold. Not knowing will not make you treat your child a certain way."

Me (and You?)

Personally, I don't think I'd want to know. Being a chronic worrier, I'd drive myself and my child crazy looking for signs and symptoms that probably weren't there. And, heaven forbid, my child should develop FXS - would knowing sooner have any positive effect?

What about you? Would you want your child tested? Why or why not?

To My Grocery Store:

We purchase your store-brand products because they are less expensive and perform virtually as well as some of the name-brands. It should come as no surprise that we expect those products to continue to be a good value.

Today, my dear store, you disappointed me.

I picked up a box of quart-size freezer bags - the same ones I've been buying for months - only to find that there were now 5 fewer bags in the box. What was $0.0796/per bag is now $0.0995/per bag. Or the equivalent of a 25% increase in price.

In other words, I now have to buy 5 boxes of bags to accomplish what I did with 4 boxes. What I used to get done for $8.00, will now take $10.00 and more trips to the store. This is just bad news, no matter which way you look at it.

Oh, in your defense, dear store, you did add a white field to these fewer bags; a place, theoretically, where I can mark what I bagged and when. Sadly, I was already doing that - with a permanent pen - on the bags that didn't cost me quite so much. So, in all honesty, I'd rather have the missing - plain - freezer bags.

They did the job. At a price that was a decent value. It wasn't broken; you shouldn't have fixed  it.

Signed,

A Not-So-Satisfied Shopper