Have you all heard about the Coalition for Fire-Safe-Cigarettes?

I had no idea!  All I knew what that my cigarettes <yes, I smoke a little> were going out on me all of the time!  I didn’t really mind because there are times when I’m busy and I come back only to find the cigarette burned all the way out but these were going out and leaving enough for me to re-light so it was saving me money!  But, I thought it was just the humidity and my husband told me that it was happening to him, too when a friend of ours pointed out the letters FSC above the bar code on our packs and told us about a new way that they’re manufacturing cigarettes so that if it is not being smoked, it will extinguish itself!
Ingenious!!

It turns out that they’re making cigarettes differently now with two bands placed in the paper so that if the cigarette is not actively being puffed on, these strips will extinguish the cigarette helping to eliminate furniture, bedding or the forests from catching fire!  Of course it will not completely stop house and forest fires caused by cigarettes but it has shown to have greatly decreased smoking-related fire incidents!!

From the site:

The Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes is working to save lives and prevent injuries and devastation from cigarette-ignited fires.The Coalition is calling for manufacturers to immediately produce and market only cigarettes that adhere to an established fire safety performance standard, and is working to see that this standard is required in every state in the country.

Check out the site if you’re interested and find out what you can do if you’re state isn’t one that has adopted this law!  And one final thought for those who think that this doesn’t concern you.

One-quarter of victims of smoking-material fire fatalities are not the smokers whose cigarettes started the fire: 34 percent are children of the smokers; 25 percent are neighbors or friends; 14 percent are spouses or partners; and 13 percent are parents.

Knowledge is Power and yes, smoking is gross but it’s not as gross as alcohol which is also legal but causes A LOT more damage.

I know that many people don’t openly discuss their undergarments…actually, they do but I don’t…normally!  But, I just had to tell you all how I have finally found a bra that I can wear all day long and even though it feels good when I take it off, it’s not one of those that I take off the second I get in the house…or in the car!!  <a hum>

I have always decided what I wear by the price tag, leaving all of the money for clothes to my teen who just had to have this and that!  And although there are some great bras to select from at a low price (under $10) there is not one that costs that little that doesn’t cut you in half regardless of what it’s measurements say or falls apart after a few washing and looses it’s shape. 

Well, recently I started taking better care of myself and I kind of wish that I had done it sooner because if I knew that for $25-$30 I could buy a bra that I didn’t hate, I would have done it sooner!!  I bought 2 of the Playtex Thank Goodness It Fits bras for about $20 a piece and when I got home and washed them <gotta wash everything first> the first thing that I noticed when I put it on was not only that it actually fit well, but that Playtex took the time to pay attention to the back of the bra by making the hook area smooth rather than scratchy like many bras are!!  Ahhh!!  That’ll drive ya nuts!!  Playtex’s stitching is smooth, the size is exactly as it’s advertised even after washing and with the lace sides and cute straps (which matter in the summertime), I don’t think I’ll be wasting any more money on a cheap bra that I’m only going to hate!

So, I give Playtex bras two thumbs up !

Well, last night my baby graduated from BCIT Medford! 
<phew!  WE MADE IT!!>

The ceremony was very cool and there was only one boring speaker.  The Burlington County Times story ”Electrifying Night for BCIT Medford Grads” really said it well although, I would have called it “Silly Night for BCIT Medford Grads” because between the 217 kids on the stage, there must have been at least 400 cans of Silly String!!  It was awesome!!  They also brought inflatable beach balls and during the speeches blew them up <brilliant!>

Whenever Mr. Porter, the most loved principal that I’ve ever seen, finished a sentence the kids broke out in cheers and you’d see little shots of string fly out.  I knew that they had them and I even armed Chris with some confetti poppers before she left the house.  But, handing every kid a few cans of silly string and expecting them to be able to hold onto them until the end is like putting a piece of cake in front of my husband and asking him not to touch it for an hour!!  So, there were a few shots between the all-out blow-outs where you could barely see the kids because of the beach balls and silly string!

From the newspaper:
“I look at other schools as thunder,” said Porter, who is retiring after serving 37 years as the school’s principal. “Thunder is great, but lightning does all the work. Our kids are the lightning.”

Both thunder and lightning could describe the electric atmosphere of the graduation ceremony last night in the new Performing Arts Center.

The students threw confetti, shot silly string and volleyed half a dozen inflatable beach balls behind Porter as he wrapped up his speech.

Read More…

I personally think that they were just getting one last jab at their VP while telling Mr. Porter how much they loved him…and they do!!  I loved it when the Valedictorian gave her speech and then turned around and shot the entire class with silly string!  That was awesome!!  The last thing you want to hear is a bunch of cliche’s, which last night’s speeches covered at least 85% of every cliche ever said but I thought that it was done with flair and all in all, the graduation ceremony, although a little long, was an absolute blast and caps off <ha-ha, get it?  caps off?> the fantastic memories they’ve gathered during their 4 years there. 

I am eternally grateful that we took her out of the township school and got her accepted at BCIT!  It changed her for the better and she graduates with a lot more than a diploma!  She graduates High School with some college credits, work experience and a whole lot of fantastic memories!!  Because they have the same teachers for all 4 years, she also has a much closer relationship with her teachers which is also very cool!!

Our gratitude to the people at that school could never be measured by words but I’ll try…THANK YOU!!!  You all make the kids want to go to school and you can’t say that about many schools!! 

So Anyway…our job is done…at least the hard part!!  I managed to raise Christie in the exact opposite of how I was raised!  She’s experienced everything I wanted to and nothing that I didn’t. 
 

Oh, Baby Baby it’s a wild world
It’s hard to get by just upon just a smile
Oh, Baby Baby it’s a wild world
I’ll always remember you like a child, Girl

I have so many emotions running through me right now and of course it comes at the peak of my hormonal imbalance season!!  It’s okay, I can handle it.  I’ve handled a lot in the past few years and this is a happy occasion but from a mother’s perspective I think it’s bitter-sweet.

I look back at Christie’s first day of school.  How I dropped her off and couldn’t even make it back into the car before I started crying.  And I mean crying!  Slobbering, hyper-ventilating, snotty crying!!  I did that for 4 hours even after I got back to work!  I couldn’t help it!  It was crazy!!

Then, John came home that day and had his long hair covered with his motorcycle helmet in the house which thrilled my curious nature only to find that he had cut off his hair that day so that when we went to school events he would look presentable!  Do you know how much that meant?! 

The field trips that John and I would take turns going on and he’d always bring a pocket full of Bazooka gum and then challenge the teacher when they said “no gum!” just like he did back when he was in school <God, he was defiant!>.  The first dance in 6th grade which she couldn’t wait to be picked up from and I was just as anxious!  Trust me though, by the 8th grade dance she had that whole thing down pat!  From what I heard, she stood in one spot with her boyfriend’s arms around her waist all night!  The Goth stage!  Oh!  That was horrible but she thankfully didn’t do the make-up deal…just those baggy, buckled pants!  And black!  Everything had to be black!! 

High School brought many changes but she wasn’t the same kid that John and I were in our day…THANK GOD!…but she had her defiant stage which she’s still in but that will change when she’s away from High School. 

She’s really been a good kid!  She’s worked summer vacations since she was 15 and landed a job a few months ago that she could keep for life working for the near-by military base.  Her choice of friends has always been a little questionable but they never last too long and she’s only had a few boyfriends.  She’s got a lot of friends and a lot of confidence which I wish I had backin the day!  But, Christie hung out with John and I 90% of the time until she got her license last year which brings out even more for me to be emotional about!  We hardly ever see her but she’ll come back…

Anyway…I love her more than any words or actions can truly say and I’m proud of her beyond belief!  She frustrates me sometimes but I love her so I let it go.  She makes me sad with her decisions sometimes but she makes good ones on the big things, which is what’s important, but she will come home with her hair died pure white and black and pink sometimes and I just sit and shake my head.  And, although there are days when I look at women with young children with pity knowing what is up ahead for them, I would never have done anything differently, including spoiling her beyond recognition!!  <yes, I accept responsibility>  I’ve loved every stage of it deep down inside but I have to say that they’re cuter when they’re puppies!!  I’m just kidding!!

Here’s a picture of my daughter’s and my graduation pictures.  There would be one of John but he didn’t “do” that sort of thing…

 Me and My Baby 
1982                                                  2008

My husband and I stopped at a diner this weekend for a quick bite to eat and I was absolutely stunned by what this girl in her late teens who was sitting across the aisle from us was wearing!  There was only about 2 square feet of cloth between her tank top and her shorts which, of course had the waist band turned down as most of the girls wear them nowadays!  They’re just not short enough as they are!!!  She was cute and she was with her mom and all but she was a little old to be able to pull off the toddler-style summer outfit!! 

I remember a time when people actually cared about how they dressed when they went out.  I don’t expect anyone to dress up but at least get dressed!!  I don’t get dressed up but I still dress respectively yet cool and I’m not showing my stuff and then complaining when someone gawks!   Yes, it was hot but wearing something just short of a bikini out to eat, shop or anything but pool or beach related activities seems over the top to me!!

I’m not a prude…well, I am but I’m not…it’s really not their fault.  The clothing designers seem like a bunch of perverts, forcing people who want to wear the latest fad fashions and the choices in the junior department are rediculous!  It’s cool these days to be promiscuous which really boggles my mind as I’m sure it does the same to the millions of perverts out there who are loving the whole thing!

And then you have the other end of the spectrum.  The people who go out shopping or whatever in things that look like pajamas but I can’t be sure because the material is so worn that I can’t stop looking at the flubber body underneath!  And slippers that I would have thrown out 3 years ago!  Wait…on second thought I wouldn’t be caught dead in them!  This is no slap on the poor because I see what’s in their freaking carts!!!  Overpriced colored sugar water, chips, pretzels, DVD’s and hair dye!  <suddenly I feel like Lewis Black!> 

I don’t know…I do get a kick out of some of the outfits!  The Goth kids, the Scottish (Irish?) rockers with their plaid pants and leather knee-high boots, and the other individuals who are celebrating their individuality by making sure that they will never get a respectable job because they’ve stretched their ear lobes out 2 inches and/or have 60 piercings of which only 40 you can see!  Kids at 16 with “Love” tattooed real big on one hand and “Hate” on the other <my daughter’s friend> ought to really love that when they go to have their wedding photo’s 20 years from now and can’t have the traditional “ring” shot, huh?

Judge not lest ye be judged though…you can label me as BORING!  It’s okay, I’m used to it.  I’m stuck in a Levi’s and white Hanes T-shirt phase which has lasted 43 of my 44 years.  I just recently broke my habit of only wearing white or light colored shirts but as I look down right now I see that I have on light tan but I do try to incorporate color in now and then!  And my husband and I dread formal occasions <but pull it off well> and sometimes the most I really express myself with is a saying on a T-shirt. Bug off! or something! 

I do believe in live and let live, but I guess that my hippiness has aged because when I see people who are showing more skin than a Playboy bunny or so slovenly dressed that you wonder about their mental capacity, I get worried!  I know that from my own experience that my appearance affects how I feel and how I feel affects how I treat others and the world around me!  I know…it’s wrong to think that what works for me will work for others but that’s me!  Basically, I think people should wear what they want to wear but get back to basics.  Be respectful to others and to yourself!

OK, I’m done ranting…I’ll leave you all with a perfect example of both here with a photo of Gisele Bundchen courtesy of Zimbio.com.

Like many other people, I like my house to smell pretty.  Apparently, we all do since the market has skyrocketed over the years!  Shelves everywhere are stocked with ways to make your home smell good.

Many people think that aromatherapy is sort of new but it’s not!  We’ve been doing it for years!  It’s called incense and it used to be associated with people that smoked pot!!  If you were to judge everyone the same way now, I guess we’re all pot-heads, huh?  Hmm…

Anyway, I spent a little bit of money on various potpourri oils and candles and all sorts of things that plug into the electric socket and what I found was that they really weren’t worth the money!  Either they barely smelled at all or don’t smell anything like what they’re supposed to!!  And some of these things are so messy I barely bother and others can be dangerous to use when candles are required! 

So, being the old hippy that I am, I am sticking with my good old-fashioned incense.  They’re very inexpensive, they always smell exactly as they’re supposed to, the selection is way better and when done correctly, don’t pose much danger.  Judge me if you will, but when I want to alter the scent of my home, I’ll light ‘em if I got ‘em.