I'll be away on vacation from 1/29 thru 2/27. Loverboy is taking me away to Manila, Hong Kong and Macau for our Anniversary, Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year!

I'm terrible at taking pics 'cause I get so wrapped up in what's going on around me when I'm away, but I'll do my best to take as many as I can and tell you all about it (until you are sick to death of it) when I get back!

Don't forget about me!!

Here's some photos from my last trip......

The view from inside a water cave in Boracay

The beach at dusk

Lush vegatation at Subic Bay

Mount Fuji from the plane window on our return trip

And as a post script.....

February 9th will be my dear sweet Chewy's second anniversary in Heaven. I miss her terribly. Her passing broke my heart and I still grieve for her to this day.

The following article in Sunday's paper discusses kids and their lack of manners and ettiquette when they are using their cellphones. I am amazed that there should be a discussion concerning this. If a child is using poor manners when using his or her cellphone should it not be the job of the parent to teach the child what is proper behavior, as with any other behavior a parent teaches a child? Table manners, respect for others, good citizenship skills and all those other basic things each parent must and should teach a child to grow up as a member of a community and the community of man.

Cellphones have become new territory in the ever evolving job of raising a child in today's world. But manners are manners. If a child is behaving in a rude or inconsiderate way, then they should be taught, and most especially shown through example, what proper behavior is. But as I have written in a previous post, many adults who use cellphones have very little manners or consideration for the people and the world around them. They hold loud conversations during dinner, on the commuter train, in doctor's offices and just about anywhere, without any thought as to how they are disturbing those around them. I have heard some of the most PERSONAL conversations on the commuter train and in restaurants. I am often embarassed FOR them when I hear some of the things they are publicizing to the world around them. I have heard people give out their private information such as social security numbers and such. Amazing really.

So when an article like this pops up in the papers, I often wonder why we are amazed at children's behavior when children live by example. If you MUST get your 8 or 10 year old child a cellphone, then teach them how to behave when using it. Teach by example. Start with the adults first.

Let's talk about phone etiquette

Here's my song for Bella's Saturday Night Blog Fever!!

Thanks Bella & Great Idea!!

While reading the local newspaper this past week, I came across this article. It blew my mind. I didn't realize how slick the US Military has become when it comes to recruiting our children into this insane war.  I've heard stories from acquaintances about how recruiters come knocking on their door asking to speak with their teenagers, and how persistent they are at brainwashing these kids and filling their heads with lies in order to get them to enlist. It sickens me to hear the stories about unfulfilled promises told to these kids who are now headed for an insane war orchestrated by an insane President. But  how low can they go?

At Lindenhurst High School, a military recruiter showed up at a faculty meeting with refreshments in hand and an offer to help teachers in their classrooms.

At Bellport High School, during homecoming, the Army tossed tiny footballs emblazoned with the words "Go Army" into the crowd.

At Hauppauge High School, a Marine recruiter set up a table in the cafeteria and chatted with students during lunch.

A high school is a military recruiter's dream, a centralized location of hundreds of potential enlistees eager to find their paths in life. But as the war in Iraq nears its fourth anniversary, some Long Island parents have begun voicing concern over recruiter access to their children, and schools have started to tighten their grip.

"A 15- or 16-year-old shouldn't be spoken to regarding their future without their parents there," said Patchogue-Medford High School principal Manuel Sanzone.

Sanzone said recruiters have never had unrestricted access to his school, but that recent parental concern has led to a new, stricter policy this year limiting recruiters to only two evenings on campus a year, during college and career nights.

Marine school visits are not random. On the walls of the Smithtown Marine Corps station hangs a giant map dotted with the locations of high schools and colleges, along with a tally of male seniors. Recruiters look for enlistees at football games and wrestling matches. They stop by pizza parlors, arcades or any other popular student hangouts. Recruiters also attend rock concerts or look for new recruits at the beach, where they hold competitions with free military-inscribed trinkets as prizes.

The Army offers a complete high school recruiting handbook with a month-by-month guideline. Recruiters are encouraged to attend school activities, eat lunch in the cafeteria often, deliver donuts and coffee to faculty and assist coaches and summer school teachers. "Be so helpful and so much a part of the school scene that you are in constant demand," the 2004 handbook advises. "Remember, first to contact, first to contract ... that doesn't just mean seniors or grads. It means having the Army perceived as a positive career choice as soon as young people begin to think about the future. If you wait until they're seniors, it's probably too late."

The 2002 No Child Left Behind Act requires high schools to provide the military with contact information for seniors or risk losing federal funding. A national opt-out form is available, but participation varies among schools, and counter-recruiters have begun asking districts to make the forms more readily available. In a court settlement with the NYCLU last week, the Department of Defense agreed to change some methods of recruiting -- such as collecting student Social Security numbers.

Recruiter access to high schools on Long Island varies widely by district. Some high schools -- such as Bellport and South Side High School in Rockville Centre -- limit their presence to college fairs and career nights and scheduled one-on-one meetings with interested students in the guidance office. Others give more access. At Hauppauge, recruiters are allowed to set up a table in the cafeteria once a month and talk with students during lunch periods.

Limits on recruiting

At Brentwood High School, which has seen four former students killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, recruiters can't eat lunch in the cafeteria, pull students out of class or talk to students in the hallways, according to Principal Thomas O'Brien, citing a longstanding policy.

"Why does it seem to be a more acceptable career option in Brentwood than in Roslyn?" he asked. "In a working-class community like Brentwood, [the salary and college money] is certainly something that sweetens the deal."

Counter-recruiters have asked for equal time in the schools to give presentations about the dangers of war and ways to obtain money for college that doesn't involve the military. "We're not trying to get recruiters out of the schools," said Moriches mom Karen Sackett. "But we feel kids should join the military with knowledge and understanding of what they're getting themselves into."

Sackett began her efforts two years ago, after she opened her front door one day to find two Navy officers in their dress whites asking to speak to her 14-year-old son, Richard. The next day, her 16-year-old daughter, Sara, was at Smith Point Beach when her mother said she was approached by recruiters who told her she could have a singing career in the military.

The group, which includes members of the Long Island chapters of Veterans for Peace and Pax Christi, the international Catholic peace organization, is also trying to form a speakers' bureau. The veterans said they want to talk to students about their experiences in war and warn them they may not get all benefits promised by recruiters.

"We want to come and inform them of what we perceive to be the truth from our experiences," said Vietnam War veteran Mac Bica, of Smithtown. "Then we say, 'OK, now you have all of this material, you decide what you want to do.'"
New York State Council of School Superintendents chief Bob Lowry said districts are reluctant to let anti-war groups on campus to make presentations out of concerns over politics. For some parents, even a JROTC program is considered a military influence and a tool for recruitment, even though federal guidelines forbid using the program for such goals.

Lindenhurst High School principal Dan Giordano said only a handful of about 600 seniors enlist every year, and only some come from their Marine JROTC program.

The good and the bad

Maj. James Sureau, instructor of the JROTC program, said that when students approach him about enlisting, he tries to show the benefits and dangers of military life. "For some of these kids, it changes their entire life," he said. "But I don't want to go to any funerals of my kids."

Lindenhurst faculty ate the donuts, but didn't accept the Army recruiter's offer to help in the classroom. And Bellport principal Lois Etzel got wind of some complaints over the Army's presence at homecoming. She said they have always taken part, and like other groups in the community, were invited. "There are commercials on TV, too," Etzel said. "It's not like we're making students sit at the table and sign recruitment papers."

Recruiters can only meet with students if the student arranges the meeting, and it must be held in the guidance office, Etzel said. About a dozen students enlist each year out of a senior class of roughly 300.

Many school officials around Long Island said recruiters, while persistent, are respectful of limitations. "They do a really good job in pushing kids to go to class and graduate," said Ben Baglio, interim chairman of guidance at Brentwood High School.

Today while making myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich I wondered how many different ways there must be to make the always popular, never tired, PB&J sandwich. Do you use chunky or smooth, grape or some other flavor? Do you use sweetened or unsweetened jelly? Reduced fat or regular peanut butter? What kind of bread do you use? Do you toast your bread? Do you cut off the crust? Do you smear the peanut butter and then the jelly on top of it or do you put the peanut butter on one side and the jelly on the other and smash them together? Do you have a favorite brand of peanut butter and/or jelly or whatever is on sale? Are you a PB&J connoisseur? I myself use potato bread (cause it is a hearty, soft bread), smooth, regular Skippy (always Skippy), and Polaner sugar free grape jelly. I don’t toast the bread. I like the crust.