Friday is the start of the G8 summit in Huntsville ON. Sat. and Sun. is the G20 in Toronto.
Both areas look like war zones with the fences, barricades and check points. The big herculese type aircraft arrived from the US today carrying the five helicopters Obama will require to travel between the summits.
Over a billion dollars have been spent on security. Police have been brought in from all over the province.
Benches, mail boxes, bus shelters, garbage cans and more have been removed from the security zone in case they will be used as weapons.
Schools, businesses and tourist attractions are being closed.
The protests have already started.
While I understand the need for the precautions this is something I have never seen in areas familiar to me. This is the type of thing I see happening on the news some place far, far away.
I really have been spoiled having lived in peace all of my life and have always been grateful for it but just watching all of the preperations for this have hit home just how lucky I really am. It breaks my heart to think such violence could happen right in my back yard, lets hope it doesn't.
Taking off the rose coloured glasses and hoping for the best,
ju

today was it. I shopped for and was successful in finding grad clothes for k2. He never said he really cared but then he was so proud of how he looked when he tried it all on. They do make a huge issue out of gr 8 grad..
K1 came home with her back pack over flowing, if she follows true to form all the papers, notes, assignments, projects she did this year will end up in the recycle bin. I can't say I would have done any different.
I needed a top for k2's grad I was really pleased with it. Plain simple blouse, sleeveless but kinda form fitting, no collar, it just buttons up. K1 came home saw it and asked me if I was shopping at an old peoples store, she said "It would look good on Grammie but come on Mom!"
The summer has begun, somehow I will weather it as I have done in the past. I really do hate to wish my life away but come onnnnnnn labour day!!
Looking forward to vacation time....
ju

Devastated.
Thank god for a good friend who makes me smile even without saying a word.
Wondering if it is time to just give up,
ju
*edit
make that 3 friends

annoys the fuck outta me!!
Figure out who you are and who you want to be. Grow a spine and be yourself ffs!!
Trying to please others all the time just makes you look like a fool.
Mini rant over. My book is calling.
Sleep well,
ju

The oil "leak" in the Gulf of Mexico is bad enough now but what will happen when hurricane season begins?
NOAA Predicts Above Normal Hurricane Season
NOAA issued its 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook on May 27, 2010. http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/outlooks/hurricane.shtml8 According to the forecast, there is an 85% change of an above-average hurricane season in 2010. We can expect an "active to extremely active" season. http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/hurricanes/2010-05-27-hurricane_N.htm9

A busy hurricane season will be attributable to the presence of weather conditions that have historically been favorable for hurricane formation. For example, the sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea warmer than usual. Also, La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific are becoming increasingly likely, making it less likely that wind shear will tear storms apart. http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100527_hurricaneoutlook.html10


According to NOAA, there is a 70% probability for the following ranges of hurricane activity for 2010:http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=156670&catid=311


14-23 named storms (winds 39 mph or higher) 8-14 hurricanes (winds 74 mph or higher) 3-7 major hurricanes (winds of at least 111 mph)


NOAA does not issue an official seasonal hurricane landfall outlook because predicting the timing and location of hurricane strikes is dependent on daily weather patterns, which are not predictable weeks or months in advance. Given the expected weather conditions, however, comparable historical data would call for multiple hurricane strikes in the U.S. and in the Caribbean.http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/outlooks/hurricane.shtml12
This disaster has already affected too many and now Canadian forecasters are saying that if the hurricanes hit and it is not capped we will be affected, from there it is only a matter of time before this "mistake" affects all of the coastlines of our world.
I don't have a car but when I did it was expensive. Green cars are even more so, initially and aren't widely supported.
What is it going to take for everyone to realize that we need alternatives, safe, affordable and widely available?
Just because it is the way it has always been done doesn't make it the right way. This is a challenge for us all.
Trying to reduce an already small carbon foot print,
ju

To cut salt out of my diet. I have done it before and was shocked at how salty so many so called normal foods are. Then I decided to add it back into my life.
Salt the deliciously, savoury, flavour!!
Well I have been going overboard so I have decided I WILL NOT add salt to anything I am going to eat!!
To prove how well I am doing with my lack of salt I will explain my last few meals.
Sausage, chiabata rolls and caesar salad. No salt there.
Reubens, with sauerkraut, coleslaw and a polish deli pickle. Didn't add salt to that.
Tomorrow is pizza with pepperoni and the double smoked kolbassa from the same polish deli, Nah can't be any salt in any of that even tho I added half a tsp of salt to the dough.
Total insanity!
Really I do generally eat very healthy but I think my salt addiction caught up with me in my menu planning.
Wish me luck,
ju

My daughters hamster died today.
R.I.P lily.
We were just sitting here reminicing about all of our pets, past and present. We were both getting a lil maudulin when I spotted a huge spider on the wall.
She shreeked "KILL IT!"
I got the bug whapper and ground it into the wall.
Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder...
ju

You are a fab bunch of perves and you made this old ladies day. So many of you gave me so much with your good wishes that came in so many forms!
This one was the most recent.



It left me teary because it represents what you have all sent, your time. The time you took to think of me.
Thank you, you crazy, lovely, sexy, friendly, amazing people!!
Sending the love right back atcha!!
ju xxxx

On this site as in life there are always under currents. The little things you share with perhaps one or two or perhaps more, which lead to relationships. The relationship can take as many forms as there are people, the common denominator is honesty.
Undercurrents are probably more prevalent than most people would let on. They aren't to be broadcast because the are appreciated on levels which don't need to be shared.
Then there is the under tow. This is what you read about on a regular basis on the forums, chat and blogs. This is the drama, this is what some aspire to.
There are many who simply want to exist in the "public" mind for their promised 15 minutes of fame. I don't think that is all though. There is something which many of us fail to remember.
The "moment" we all have experienced it. A time when there is no possible way we could have been thinking clearly we were too wraped up in it. The moment is what NN was made for. The moment is what we perv on a regular basis. The moment is what we try to capture in every pic we post whether we care to admit it or not. If the moment isn't ours we hope to inspire it in someone.
The moment is something to be savoured. The under current is something to be treasured and the undertow is something that we all get caught up in from time to time.
philosophical,
ju

and the big con by the toy companies.
I just watched a segment on the news about the latest toys to keep kids busy for the summer. The toy companies were saying kids were always wanting something new when in fact especially with little kids I think it is the parents NOT the kids that are needing to be entertained.
When I was a kid, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth mud pies were something you made in the garden after it rained or maybe in the sand box if you had one. Like most "toys" we played with the main tool was our imagination.
My kids have always been "allowed" to get dirty and wet and in the process have developed great imaginations. New toy? LOOK it rained there is a puddle!!
Now just imagine my look of disgust when this item was featured.
[url]http://www.babyage.com/products/617096_little_tikes_little_tikes_makin_mud_pies.htm?cp=sh85196&utm_source=sh&utm_medium=Default&utm_campaign=85196[/url]
The kid doesn't "need" a plastic kitchen to make "good" mudpies and would infact be happier just playing in the mud, where it doesn't HAVE to go into the bowl or whatever.
Now before I get off of my soap box do I have to mention how much space this mudpie kithen will take up in the landfills when the season is over as opposed to the puddle of mud in the garden just drying up?
Shaking her head at the people who actually fall for crap like this,
ju