tattoos

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Sock Theory 101

Today both Ann Underfunded Humanity and I had ridiculously crappy mornings.  We both suffered some setbacks regarding our research agendas and left campus feeling frustrated and forlorn.  Only two things could save our shitty days and turn them around: sharing a chocolate truffle cookie at one of our favorite cafes and Smiley Socks from Sock Theory.

If only we had worn our Smiley Socks to campus in the morning....


Sock Theory, an independent, female owned company based in New York, kindly sent us these socks to review.*  They arrived a day or two ago, and today AUH and I decided to style them and to individually review them based on four criteria for now.  We’ll get back to you about the fifth criterion – durability – after many laundry days.


AUH decided to pair her socks with one of her favorite graphic tees and a knee-length skirt.1  The tee (which is adorable) features a piece of toast exclaiming, “Bonjour!”  She thought the upbeat tee would go well with the smiling socks and the skirt complemented both well.  AUH told me that she also appreciated having another outfit that went well with her gorgeous grey heels.

1. Tee - Urban Outfitters
Skirt - Beneton
Shoes - Kenzie
Necklace - St. Christopher Medallion from St. Patrick’s
Smiley Socks - Sock Theory


I also paired my socks with a graphic tee.  It is my favorite t-shirt and I will wear it until it disintegrates because it proudly proclaims that I am a GEEK.  Since the weather was gorgeous today, I went with capris, my new strappy sandals, and my favorite mustard-colored cardi for the chillier evening temperatures.2

 2. Tee - ??? (remixed)
Cardi - New York & Co. (remixed)
Capris - New York & Co. (remixed)
Sandals - Michael Kors (remixed)
Smiley Socks - Sock Theory

Ann gave the socks the following grades:
Comfort: B+ (They could be silk, but they are not….)
Cuteness: A
Quality: A
Versatility: A
Durability ???
Bonus:  It is pretty neat that these Smiley Socks have eyebrows!


I gave the socks the following grades:
Comfort: A-
Cuteness: A+
Quality: A-
Versatility: B
Durability ???


Although we do not hold PhDs in Sock Theory, we both might be willing to take a few more classes. AUH could see herself wearing these socks to teach in with quirkier shoes.  I could say the same for myself, especially later in the term.  We both agree that these socks provided instant cheer with their cute little smiley faces. 

For those of you not fortunate enough to have these cute Smiley Socks, do you have any item of clothing that instantly comforts you on a bad day?

*Note: Fashionable Academics was not compensated for reviewing this product.  Except with socks….  Smiley socks.

Chemical analysis of a woman



WOMEN - A CHEMICAL ANALYSlS

ELEMENT : Woman
SYMBOL : Wo
DISCOVERER : Adam
ATOMIC MASS : Accepted at 53.6kg, but known to vary from 40 - 200kg
OCCURRENCES : Copious quantities in urban areas



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES :

1. Surface usually covered with painted film.
2. Boils at nothing, freezes without any known reason.
3. Melts if given special treatment.
4. Bitter if incorrectly used.
5. Found in various states ranging from virgin metal to common ore.
6. Yields if pressure applied to correct places.

CHEMlCAL PROPERTIES :

1. Has great affinity for gold, silver and range of precious stones.
2. Absorbs great quantities of expensive substances.
3. May explode spontaneously without prior warning and for no known reason.
4. Insoluble in liquids but activity increases greatly by saturation in alcohol.
5. Most powerful money reducing agent known to man.

COMMON USES :

1. Highly ornamental, especially in sports cars.
2. Can be a great aid to relaxation.
3. Very effective cleaning agent.

TESTS :

1. Pure specimen turns rosy pink when discovered in its natural state.
2. Turns green when placed beside a better specimen.

HAZARDS :

1. Highly dangerous except in experienced hands.
2. Illegal to possess more than one, although several can be maintained
at different locations as long as specimens do not come into contact
with each other.


Fast Earning Tips

If You collect Money Like This
It Will to Late
I want to help you earn fast
Maria!
Blonde girl with money and piggy bank photo
Basic Principles
to earn money!!

First and most
important point to
remember:

A poor man is not the one, who doesn't have a penny in his pocket...But the one with out a dream.
Those days
my earnings were only 2000$ a month, but my expenditures were crossing 2200$. So, every month my debts were
increasing 200$. My parents were forcing me to reduce my expenditures so that I should save at least 200$ a month.
But my idea is always different. If I adjust with my expenditures & start saving from my earnings, I will never become
rich.

Being rich is every ones dream. But only few dreams everyday about it. But only few have the determination to
achieve their goal.
I remember once(1998) my parents were scolding me for my expenditures being beyond my earnings.



Some ways to say focused at work

Lifehacker points to an interesting post with 18 ways to stay focused

at work. OfficeTalk makes it really easy to use some of these tips:

1. Write out a daily task list and plan your day.

You can schedule any OfficeTalk task simply by dragging it onto your diary.

The Activities view is also really useful as it will just show the tasks that

are due on the day, week or month that you are viewing.

2. Allocate time slots colleagues can interrupt you.

This is where OfficeTalk knocks the socks off the competition.

Not only can you easily view colleagues' diaries

(if you've been granted permission)

but you can also create groups and view diaries alongside each other.

Meetings mode will search for free time slots. Makes it really easy to

let people know when you and can't be interrupted.

3. Apply time boxing. This is something I've always done,

but I've never called it time boxing. Working on something and

then switching to something else does keep you fresh and for me

certainly helps me to think better. Using OfficeTalk you can mark

a task as being partially finished so that colleagues can see

where you are on it.

We also use the notes field and time stamp to keep a note of

what's happening, making it easier for colleagues to update

clients if you're not available.

4. Setup filters in your email.

Not only does OfficeTalk let you create all of the rules you

would expect to filter your email you can also set flags for follow-up

or assign a task to yourself or a colleague.

There are 14 other tips to check out - not all of which I would agree with.

For example the 'Do not check personal email in the morning' wouldn't work

for me as all of my email accounts go into into OfficeTalk so

that I can keep track of all of my conversations and tasks.

The history and pending views on contacts are ideal for refreshing your

memory before you speak to friends or business contacts.

9 Tips and Tricks Starting Business

Tips-tricks Starting Business

Every Entrepreneur a new one or expert, always starting from these tips.

No body will be success without implementing some of these tips

1. START WITH A DREAM
Start with a dream. All start from a dream and make sure the product that

we want to offer.

A dream is where it all started: Dreamer always creates and make

a breakthrough in the product, the way of service, or ideas that can be sold successfully.

They do not recognize boundaries and bound, do not recognize

the word “can not” or “not possible”.

2. LOVE THE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES
Love your Products. We must love our product because it will give a confidence

to the customers and make hard work feels light. Make us able

to go through difficult times. Enthusiastism and Persistence:

enthusiasm and tenacity as a sign of love and confidence will be

the backbone of the success of a new business.

3. LEARN THE BUSINESS OF Basics
Learn fundamental business. Beyond THE “BUY LOW, SELL HIGH,

PAY late, collect early”:There would not be successful without a

basic knowledge. Find a good teacher.

4. Willing to TAKE CALCULATED Risks
Take risks. The Gaint that u will be able to achieve is directly proportional

to the risk taken : Dare to take the calculated risk is the early key

in the business world, because the results will be achieved will be proportional

to the risk that will be taken. IF the risk is calculated as good as possible

it will be in great chance. And this is the key factor that distinguishes

“entrepreneur” with the “manager”.

Entrepreneur will be required at the beginning of the development company,

and the manager will be required to set up a company that has been developed.

5. Seek ADVICE, BUT FOLLOW YOUR belief
Seek advice from experts, but we follow the words. Consult Consultants,

ask the experts, but follow your hearts.

Entrepreneur always seek advice from various parties, but the final decision is

always in the hands and can be decided with the six senses to it.

Good communication and selling skill. In the early phases of a business,

skill is the key to successful selling. And the ability to understand and control

the relationship with customers will help develop the business in that phase.

6. WORK HARD, 7 DAY A WEEK, 18 HOURS A DAY
Hard work. Ethics of hard work is often regarded as ancient dream and

should be replaced, but the hard-work and smart-work can not be separated again now.

Almost all successful start-up takes workaholics.

The real Entrepreneur never be separated from work, sleeping at the time

his brain was working and thinking about his bussiness.

7. MAKE FRIENDS AS MUCH AS Possible
We must have friends as much as possible. Friends will help develop

our business, give advice, to help assist in the difficult period.

8. DEAL WITH failures
Face failure. Failure is a vitamin to strengthen and sharpen our intuition

and the ability to be entrepreneur, as long as failure was not “killing”.

Each business will always have a risk of failure and when it happens to,

be prepared and face it!

9. JUST DO IT, NOW!
Do it now. When you are ready, do it now. Manager always do READY-AIM-Shoot,

but the entrepreneur will make a shoot-READY-AIM! Decide and do now, because

tomorrow is not ours.



Love Maria!



Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Intelligent, classy, well-educated women who say F@#! a lot

A few days ago, I noticed a Facebook group called "intelligent, classy, well-educated women who say F*ck a lot" and thought to myself: that is the group for me!  For those who know me in real life this would come as no surprise.  Several years ago, I accidentally let the word fuck slip in a graduate seminar, and ever since I've had a bit of a reputation for swearing.  
Considering the frequency with which I use the word, it may come as no surprise that I have been coveting the Wendy Brandes swear rings for a as long as I have known of their existence.  Indeed I have been plotting to make them mine.   Well, after meeting a couple of goals (one half-marathon down, dissertation submitted to my committee, lots of poetry, shopping ban finished with only one slip-up) that I've been working towards for a while, I decided that it was time to stop fucking coveting and buy the damn things.

I ordered them on Friday (after some difficulty remembering my password, which led to an ironically appropriate bit of swearing and having to set up a new account), and Wendy shipped them to me right away.  They arrived at my front door on Saturday morning, so I wore them around the house with pjs for awhile.  Then, that afternoon, I took them on their first outing to have coffee with a very stylish friend of mine.  For the first public wearing, I wanted the rings to really contrast with the rest of my outfit, so I chose a more classic pattern (houndstooth) and springy pastels (pink and lilac).1 I rather liked the results.

1. Dress - ModCloth (remixed)
Cardi - Say What (remixed)
Tights - HUE (remixed)
Shoes - Fluevog (remixed)
Rings - Wendy Brandes

So, there I was at a coffee shop, just an intelligent, classy, well-educated woman who says f@#! a lot.  Nothing had changed except that I could let my hands do the talking for me.


I admit that I sometimes curse in the classroom.  I find that it shocks students back into paying attention, when used judiciously.  These days I tend to mostly use it in the classroom by finding a choice quote here and there that enable me to swear but attribute it to someone else.  Even so, I probably won't wear these to campus unless I am lecturing about cursing, swearing, piracy, or sailors....  It might be time to make a few changes to my syllabi....


What about you?  Are you an intelligent, classy, well-educated person who says f@#! a lot?  Do you tend to censor your language in the classroom, at work, in front of small children?

Worlds tallest women

Yao Defen ( 7ft 8in - 233 cm)

Yao Defen claims to be the tallest woman in the world, with 7' 8" (233 cm). She weighs 200 kg (440 lbs) and has size 26 (UK) / 78 (EU) feet. Her gigantism is due to a tumor in her pituitary gland.


Sandy Allen (7ft 7¼in - 232 cm)
Sandy Allen appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records since 1976 --and until 2008, when she died-- as the tallest woman in the world. She was 7' 7¼ " (232 cm) in height.


Malgorzata Dydek (7ft 2in - 218 cm)

Malgorzata (aka Margo) Dydek, a basketball player in the US, is 7'2" (218 cm).


Zainab Bibi (7ft 2in - 218 cm)

Zainab Bibi, 7' 2" (218 cm) as well, was recently allowed to stay permanently in Britain because she claims her height has made her a target at home, Pakistan.

Uljana Semjonova (7ft - 213 cm)
Standing at 7'0" (213 cm), Latvian Uljana Semjonova was the leading women's basketball player in the world in the 1970s and 1980s.


Gitika Srivastava (6ft 11in - 211 cm)

Gitika Srivastava, former basketball player from India, is 6' 11" (211 cm).


Malee Duangdee (6ft 10in - 208 cm)

Malee Duangdee is Thailand's tallest woman, with 6' 10" (208cm).

Caroline Welz (6ft 9in - 206 cm)
Germany's tallest girl, Caroline Welz is 20 years old and 6' 9" (206 cm) tall.

Rita Miniva Besa (6ft 8in -203 cm)
Rita Miniva Besa is 6' 8" (203 cm)


Heather Greene (6ft 5½in - 196 cm)

Heather Greene is "only" 6' 5½" (196 cm) and lives in Las Vegas.

ONLINE BUSINESS IS SUCCESSFUL

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Don't wait until your finances take even more of a beating!

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Is There Really A Way To
Earn Extra Money?

The truth is, there are ways to earn extra money,
without having to pay for transportation or childcare.
Thanks to technology, you can use the internet to create your
own business, right from the comfort of your own home.


I know this may sound scary, and you've probably heard
stories about people losing money through online scams,
but there really are legitimate ways to earn money from home!
Online Business Ideas Book Cover

YES! You Can Start Your Own Online Business and
Earn Money From Home!

In order to start a successful business, you need to learn about
the various types of businesses you have the option of starting.
You need to choose the right business, otherwise,
you won't enjoy it, and it will seem like just another j-o-b.

I've just completed a new resource called "Online Business Ideas:

You CAN create your own home-based business using your

computer and the Internet," which gives you a step-by-step guide

for starting more than 15 different businesses!




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Approximately 10 million entrepreneurs consider starting businesses in

the U.S. every year. Only 3 million of these people actually do it.

You could be one of the 3 million if you take advantage of these free online

courses in business entrepreneurship.


Love Maria!




Just do Something at Home

With the Help of Maria's Tips

===> Tip No 1 < ===

First,you must have a strong WHY.

Why MUST you have a successful home business? What is driving you?

What is it that you CAN’T have in your life anymore and/or what is it that

you absolutely MUST HAVE now?

For me, I couldn’t stand working 12+ hours a day anymore and

missing the experience of my children growing up.

I also absolutely HAD TO HAVE the freedom of being able to control my

life and finances through a little box (laptop computer) that I could carry

with me anywhere in the world and not be tied to anyone’s time pressures

or demands but my own. That was my carrot and my stick.

I felt a great pain deep in my gut of missing out on my children’s lives

and the incredible freedom that succeeding in a home based business

would provide for me. I found my why. You MUST find yours.


Confident, successful & mature businessman
Confident, successfull and mature businessman isolated on white

===> Tip No 2 < ===

You must BELIEVE that it is possible.

If you don’t believe that it’s POSSIBLE for you to have a successful

home based business or make your living from home,

you won’t. It’s that simple.

For me, figuring out that it was possible was just a matter of

realizing that many other people were ALREADY making great

money working from home. If they could do it, I could too.

It would just be a matter of figuring out what those people

were doing and then adapting it to my situation.

There is no shortage of undeniable PROOF that people

(millions of them) are making money working from home.

Just get online and do some research and you’ll find countless

testimonials and stories of REAL PEOPLE making real money on the Internet.

Or head to your local bookstore and you’ll find the same documented evidence of this fact. Truth is, it’s getting easier and easier to make money with your own home based business.

I’ve always said that “affiliate marketing” (a simple way to make money from home)

is the job of the future. In the old days, you had to go to a potential employer,

apply for the position and hope for the best.

Now you can simply go to any company you want,

fill out their affiliate application and start work immediately.

Affiliates are the new working class. In fact, making money with affiliate

programs or making your living on the Internet is WAY MORE than possible.

It is pretty much (or will be soon enough) unavoidable now.

Affiliate marketing is the “job” of the future that’s already here TODAY.


You can do many works at a time
busy businessman over a white background - 6 arms showing all the tasks he has to do

===> Tip No 3 < ===

You must be willing to MAKE THE LEAP.

Ready, FIRE, then aim… This is the operating philosophy you MUST

adopt to succeed with a home based business.

That’s backwards for most people who like to aim before they fire.

The fact is that home based business success is a moving target…

The only thing constant about it is change.

You need to stop analyzing the game and simply jump into it.

You can’t learn from the outside… You have to be *IN THE RING* to truly

understand and profit from it. In fact, this is a business where you can

truly be earning WHILE you’re still learning…

The lesson here is that you will never really be READY to start

a home based business.

You simply have to start one. It’s like having children…

You’re never really ready, but when it happens you adapt and

grow and therefore you succeed. This is what I call:


You will be on Top
Ecstatic businessman with his laptop

Love Maria!

Monday, March 29, 2010

A Married Megarita

I got married this past weekend at a zoo with about 75 family and friends, and although I did this very "quick and dirty," I knew from the moment I got engaged in December that I wanted a fabulous dress. I have never been a traditional wedding sort of girl, and I don't look good in white, so I knew I might have some difficulties finding a dress that suited.

I wanted a cocktail dress, because I like my legs.

I wanted something that was a beautiful color, that made me look and feel wonderful, and was not red or purple or something that would give my family coronaries.

I wanted to look good, but not super sexy. I wanted to show skin, but not have some aunt say "whore!"

I wanted something sleeveless, but not strapless, because I like my arms but not my bony sternum, and I knew I'd be sweating like a field hand.

With two of my favorite girlfriends in tow, I scoured the Atlanta retail markets for dresses. Retail people, when they heard that I was getting married at a zoo and that I wanted a non-white cocktail dress, were ecstatic and got very creative. I tried on gold lame skin tight meowzy dresses (BCBG), coral sheathes with matching platform stripper shoes (Karen Millen), black dresses with flowers that seemed most fit for cruise wear (Betsy Johnson), and a LOT of animal prints!

I had no ambitions for the dress I tried on (at Macy's, for those who wonder). It was off white, sort of a pearly color that was pink as much as it was gold. It had a bow in the back, which made me think "Alice in Wonderland" and not in a good way. But when I walked out with it on, feet in the high heels I'd thrown in my purse, my two girlfriends took deep breaths and said, "now you look like a bride.


I hadn't know until then that I wanted to look like a bride. Indeed, I was still very unsure as I bought the dress ($180) and the insanely beautiful gold heels ($60) and the shawl ($24). And yet when I put it all on the day of my wedding, I was blown away. I felt like a golden goddess. I was pretty and feminine in a way that seemed effortless. (My hair was another story, and my expenditures at the MAC counter are probably legendary at corporate headquarters, but this is about dresses.)


The dress mattered. Friends and family stopped dead in their tracks when they saw me, told me I glowed, and everyone fell over themselves to praise my silly pearly cocktail dress. They were pleased, and I was delighted, because the dress was more me than any boufy, sequined, bustled, bodiced madness. Say yes to the dress, professors, but say yes to your dress. You will never regret staying true to your own fashion and style.

SHIT what an origin




An interesting fact?

Manure: In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by ship and it was also before commercial fertilizer's invention, so large shipments of manure were common.

It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, it not only became heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by product is methane gas. As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles you can see what could (and did) happen.

Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM!

Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was determined just what was happening

After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the term 'Ship High In Transit' on them, which meant for the sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane.

Thus evolved the term ' S.H.I.T ' , (Ship High In Transport) which has come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day.

You probably did not know the true history of this word.






I wrote a letter to the President!

I wrote a letter to the President of the United States, Yes I did! I know it seems silly I mean like he is really going to respond let alone read it, but it made me feel better to write it! My oldest Lauren has been having problems in school specifically reading, she seems to be losing ground not gaining it.

Those of you that know me know I am a pretty on top of it type of person. For over a year know I have been doing all I can to get Lauren the help she needs, I have talked with teachers, I have sent her to reading programs, and I have simply spent time reading with her. Yet it is not helping, and I know things are only going to get harder next year. My frustrations honestly is that curriculum is taught to a standard but not the standard that you and I grew up with some state or federal imposed standard which has done relatively nothing to help our schools and our students, if anything it has put us further behind! While I have worked closely with Lauren's teachers and they have tried to do what they can the system has let us down.

Sadly Lauren is one of those slip through the crack kids, she isn't far enough behind to get special testing but she isn't at grade level either but will be passed to the 3rd grade even though she is below current grade level. How on earth is that right?? I am the first to admit I was not a great student I had my share of issues some of which I see my poor daughter reliving and I will do any and everything thing I can to help her not suffer the same humiliation I did as a kid.

So below is my letter, if I should get a response, even if it is generic "thanks for writing" response I will be sure to let you know.


Stephanie Whalen                             March 22, 2010
xxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx




President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500


Dear President Obama,

I would like to thank you for taking on the No Child Left Behind policy. I am the mother of 3 ranging in age from 6 months to 8 years old. My 8 year old, Lauren, is having trouble in school with her reading and spelling and I am a firm believer a large part of her problem is the requirement of teachers to teach to the testing requirements, or as we in the state of Virginia call them, the Standards of Learning (SOL'S).

These SOL's are low to begin with because they want to ensure that everyone performs at or above grade level, so the schools and the school district can show what they deem as excellence in their schools. On more than one occasion, I have noted teachers teaching my children to the SOL standards only, gone are the days of teaching outside the boundaries and letting the teacher set the timetable for learning in his or her classroom based on the make up their class. If a child, such as Lauren, is having difficulty with a concept and she is not able to grasp it in the time allotted by the lesson plan, she is left behind because the teacher is required to move on in order to cover all of the SOL curriculum items which will be tested that year. In the case of my daughter she has not been given the proper amount of time to grasp letter sounds such as long and short vowels and blends of letters such as st, ch etc. These of course are the building blocks for spelling and reading. Her scores are below average yet they do not fall far enough below to warrant special testing or additional help from the school. Why? Because that would mean a child is being left behind and we wouldn't want that because it might reflect poorly on the school! Therefore, my child could become one of those hundreds of thousands of children who slip through the cracks and each year, falling further and further behind with each passing year.

Luckily, we are in a situation where we had the means to have Lauren tested and we have obtained intense tutoring to help get Lauren back on track. This is a financial expense to our family; one which puts a burden on our household budget. Yet, it was the only way we felt we could get Lauren back on track since the additional instruction we were doing at home was not working. However, I can't help but ask if schools weren't teaching to a set of standards at a high rate, would I even need to go down this path?? What would have happened if we didn't have the ability to obtain extra tutoring? Why isn't the school stepping in to help us out since they are the ones who have allowed Lauren to fall so far behind? Furthermore, would my child have been subjected to the teasing she has had to endure in the last 6 months?

I applaud your efforts to get education back on track and I wish you and your Secretary of Education nothing but success as you implement your "Race to the Top" strategy. I was told growing up an education is something no one can ever take away from you. Sadly, I feel the kids of today are in some respects having it taken away from them due to the style of teaching No Child Left Behind has encouraged.

As a mom of 3 and a fierce advocate of children, if there is anything I can do to help get our schools on track I am here to help!

Thank you for your service to our Country and may God Bless you and your family.


Sincerely,
Stephanie Whalen

Sunday, March 28, 2010

LAZY DAYS

Easter holiday= lazy days, chillin with magazines and tea.....Love it...

Weird birth places

Born in a tree

It sounds like the birth story of an ancient goddess, but it's true. Ms Cheindza was near term in 2000 when flood waters raged through her town in Mozambique. She climbed a tree to escape the crocodile-infested waters and stayed there for four days with nothing to drink or eat. Finally on the fourth day, her baby came. Soon after, helicopters arrived to winch the mother and the baby, Rosita, to safety. Her umbilical cord was still attached when she winched to safety by a South African helicopter crew. Her 26-year-old mother, torn by labour pains as she clutched the branches where she had sought refuge, was exhausted and near the end when rescuers discovered her precarious perch.


Born in McDonald's (the mother didn't know she was pregnant)

A baby was born in a Washington State McDonald's restroom and the mother didn't know she was pregnant. Most mothers have months to prepare for a child, but Danille Miller had just minutes.

Miller was working the nightshift at the McDonald's in Vancouver, Washington when she suddenly ran into the restroom feeling ill. Her co-worker, Jaynae Herrera ran in after her. Herrera asked if Miller was okay but something was definitely not normal. Miller was in pain and shaking. And to her shock, she was giving birth to a baby, right over the toilet.

Jaynae called 9-1-1 and with the assistance of a dispatcher, helped deliver the baby. One of the first things the dispatcher said to do when the baby was delivered was to get the baby out of the toilet. Miller had a six-pound baby boy and named him Austin.



Born on a train and slipped through the toilet
As if birth wasn't a hard enough way to enter the world, try surviving, then falling through a toilet and onto moving train tracks. That's the tale mother Bhuri Kalbi of Rajasthan, India, will have to tell her daughter. Kalbi was only seven months pregnant and on a train's toilet when she gave birth early. She fainted before she realized what had happened. "My delivery was so sudden," Bhuri Kalbi told Reuters. "I did not even realize that my child had slipped from the hole in the toilet." According to Reuters, many trains in India have toilets that are just chutes which empty directly on the tracks below.

Once she awoke from her fainting spell, Kalbi told her relatives what happened. The train stopped and staff at a nearby station found the baby girl on the tracks, alive.


Born at 5th Avenue

A woman successfully delivered a baby girl on Fifth Avenue, New York. The baby was greeted by onlookers from Central Park applauding the doctors who delivered the child in the parents SUV. One lady who heard the commotion, Lucille Nassery, said she could hear the pregnant lady screaming from her office. Mother, Elizabeth Brew, 39, was less than a block away from the hospital with her husband when the baby began to crown. She was 33-weeks pregnant. Hospital staff and Physicians rushed to the scene with equipment to help Dr. Anya Kogan deliver the newborn. After delivering a 4 pound and 13 ounce girl, Brew was rushed away to a delivery room at the hospital, where she then delivered a 5 pound, 5 ounce twin boy.



Born in a post office

A healthy baby girl was delivered at a post office in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, before paramedics arrived. Mother Sonia Marina Nascimento (which means birth in Portuguese), who is Portuguese, had visited the shop to buy mobile phone credit when she gave birth to baby Dulce. The baby was weighed on parcel scales. Post master Paul Childs, 58, said: "We put the baby on the scales and she weighed 5lb 15oz (2.34kg)." He added: "We worked out that's the equivalent of an £8.22 first class parcel."



Born at 30,000ft

Nicola Delemere started struggling through the pain of contractions, when she and her husband were 30,000ft in the air on a plane to Crete, she was 25 weeks into her pregnancy - and there were no doctors on board. The jet had been diverted when her waters broke but Mrs Delemere knew that Alfie couldn't wait for landing. Thankfully, flight supervisor Carol Miller was there. The woman used a drinking straw to clear the boy's lungs, before carrying out mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage for half an hour. She relied on her basic medical training, and a retired nurse and ambulance driver were also there to help. The baby was born somewhere above Dusseldorf in Germany. The plane soon arrived at Gatwick Airport and Alfie was taken straight to hospital. First Choice Airways gave the new family a free trip to Cuba once Alfie could fly.


Born at the London Subway Station

A pregnant British woman got off her London Underground subway train at Kingsbury Station, north west London, and all of a sudden, her water broke and she went into labor on the platform. Paramedics were called, who decided that there wasn't enough time to get her to hospital. And 35 minutes later Julia Kowalska gave birth to a healthy baby girl in the station supervisor's office.

Even though millions of people use the London subways every day, she's only the second baby to be born in the London Underground's 125 year history. The only other baby was born way back in 1924 in a south London station.


Born in a shrimp boat

Shrimp boat captain Ed Kiesel had to think fast and put his creativity to the test when the boat's cook went into labor 30 miles at sea. Kiesel did what he could with a brand new package of paper towels, a first aid handbook and some net twine.

The baby boy came out breach (feet first) and had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, but Kiesel managed to deliver him. The only problem was the baby wasn't breathing. Kiesel tried to clear the baby's nose, rub its back and after 25 minutes of CPR, the baby boy breathed on his own.


Born on his mother's front lawn

A Fullerton, Calif., woman gave birth in a very unlikely place: her front lawn. Thirty six year old Jessica Higgins was reportedly on her way home from the shopping mall when she went into labor and gave birth to her daughter Mary Claire, six weeks prior to her due date. Her two-year-old son was sleeping in the backseat of the car.

Higgins dialed 911 when she got home, but when police arrived she had already given birth and was standing in the driveway holding the newborn. Mary Claire was 5 lbs. 11 oz.


Born in an elevator

Ashton Lee Simola's arrival in this world began in a hospital elevator with his mother shouting at his father, "He's here! Catch him!" The 6 pound, 1 ounce baby was delivered in the B Elevator at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center. Heather, two weeks shy of her due date for their second child, had stopped at her husband's job at United Rentals to bring him lunch. As they sat eating in the car together, Heather started having contractions. Rob raced to the hospital down Arrowhead Drive with Heather wailing next to him. Traffic at Arrowhead and Highway 395 was thick. Rob drove into the right turn lane next to a JAC bus going straight. He pantomimed to the driver that his wife was pregnant and he wanted to get in front. The bus driver got the picture and let him in.

Rob didn't slow down on Medical Parkway, nor did he bother with parking. The elevator to the obstetrics department was some 100 yards down the hall. When the doors to the elevator slid open, there sat Heather screaming in pain and a crazed Rob behind her. Somewhere between floors two and three, Heather screamed. Ashton could wait no longer. "She said catch him so I caught him," said Rob. The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. Rob said he tried to unravel it but couldn't and the elevator was coming to a stop.

Rob handed the baby off to Heather, and with the child only partly born, she held the cord off his throat as Rob shoved her off the elevator and into the lobby. Three nurses were waiting for him. They'd gotten three phone calls in the time the couple had raced against fate. Even before they made it into a room, the tiny baby with the coal black hair was nearly all the way out. Nurses quickly cut the umbilical chord, and Ashton let out a wail.

What Should We Do With Odd Shoes?

Ah, Spring! I finally got to wear my first pair of Fluevogs out of the house the other day (they've been huddling for warmth in the closet since late February). It was hard to decide which pair to get. I love the Malibrans too, but only had so much extra editing cash and decided to go for practical (I walk a couple of miles to campus.)


OK, so "practical" in this case is a pair of light blue Mary Janes with yellow trim. It was a little difficult to decide what to pair with these beautiful practicalities. I like the outfit I came up with:
Shirt: Target
Hose: ?
Skirt: Jones New York (thrifted)
Shoes: Fluevog
Jewelry: Freshwater pearls from secondhand jewelry store and Kerin Rose rings

I thought that the darker colors went OK with the chipper blue and yellow and also thought that the fishnets contrasted nicely. I'd love to have more input from you, though, especially on types of hose to wear, shirt colors and styles, etc.

I'm also finding that my style has gotten a little more eclectic now that I'm on administrative duty rather than teaching. Do you experience similar style shifts during those non-teaching months?





And here's another shot of them! Can't wait to wear them out with some floral print skirts....
 

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