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Archive for June, 2010

Opening an Estate in Lake County, Indiana

The amount of time it takes to probate an estate will vary on the complexity of the estate. It can sometimes take years, but an average time is around one year from the date of death, but it is not unusual for the process to take two or more years.


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Request Reservation

December 2017

  • Nights
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Price guide

Per-week prices for this property starting from:

  • Low£840
  • Med£1000
  • High£1260

  • Shared Pool
  • Terrace
  • Satellite TV
  • CD / DVD
  • Dishwasher
  • Air Conditioning
  • Washing Machine
  • BBQ

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Los Altos Villa 3 Bed

La23main7 La23terrace1 La23lounge1 La23dining1 La23bed1 La23bath1

The Los Altos community is conveniently located close to the Tennis Centre and La Plaza at Bellaluz and is therefore within walking distance of many of La Manga’s facilities. The elevated position gives great views over the resort to the Mar Menor beyond.

This refurbished detached villa is fully air conditioned, includes free wireless internet access, and offers excellent value for money. Access is via steps from the parking space, right in front of the villa.

Enter the property into the spacious living/dining area, which is well furnished and complete with satellite flat screen TV, DVD and CD player, plus a ceiling fan. Patio doors lead to an extended terrace with table, chairs and built-in barbeque. From here steps lead to the private rooftop solarium complete with sun loungers with lovely views across the resort to the Mar Menor.

Leading from the living area is the fitted kitchen, which is well equipped with dish washer, microwave, oven, hob and extractor, and fridge freezer. There is also a cloakroom facility on this floor.

Downstairs are the 3 bedrooms, all with air conditioning. The spacious master bedroom has a double bed, and an en-suite shower room with twin wash basins.

The 2nd bedroom has two single beds which can be made into a double bed if preferred and the 3rd bedroom has two single beds. These bedrooms share the use of the separate full bathroom with twin wash basins. The washing machine is also on this floor, being located under the stairs.

Outside: Terrace with table and chairs and barbeque.  Solarium.  Access to both Los Altos 1 swimming pools, one of which is very nearby.

Please note that changeovers during July and August and school holidays are Saturdays only.

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Monday, August 29, 2011

Clark Gable's Grandson Pleads Not Guilty

The grandson of legendary actor Clark Gable has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he pointed a laser at an LAPD helicopter last month.

Officers say the light briefly obstructed the vision of the two officers inside the helicopter. Ground units were called and the light was tracked to a small red car that LAPD officers pulled over at Franklin and Highland.

Prosecutors declined to file charges against the driver citing insufficient evidence.

Free on $250,000 bail, Gable is due back in court on September 8, when a hearing will be scheduled to determine if there is enough evidence to require that he stand trial.

If convicted, he could face up to three years in prison.

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Quad Blogging Reflection

Back in January, I made a commitment to:

walk the path of Action Research…. to find out if blogging:

  • teachers, who are “actively” learning about and participating in the blogging process (beyond attending a workshop or reading “about” blogging), are setting the stage and building a solid platform for their own ongoing professional development and life long learning?
  • educators, who are blogging with their students,  can (are) learn(ing) to teach through a 21st century lens (skills & literacies)?
  • improves students’ writing skills?
  • motivates and engages students?
  • touches on multiple 21st century skills and literacies, as well as contribute and support learning fluency.
  • amplifies curriculum content, objectives and skills?

You can read my train of thought in the following posts:

My reflection is structured on three levels:

  • Student level
  • Classroom teacher level
  • Coach or (Tech) Coordinator level (support for classroom teachers)

The question we posed ourselves at the beginning was, if four weeks of blogging could improve quality student writing. We wanted to see if blogging with an authentic global audience would engage even the “not so motivated” writer. After the quad blogging concluded, students talked about how they  appreciate the time and enjoyed writing at school. They discussed in class how they felt about getting grades for writing, specific writing assignments vs. writing about what they chose and liked. All of them felt (and could see by looking and comparing posts and comments), that they had became better writers over the course of the four weeks.

Picking their own “best work” (comments) and using the rubric,  seemed to help them be confident in their improved accomplishments.

A comment left during the first week of the Quad Blogging month:

The same students wrote this comment at the end of the month:

Here is a blog post from before the Quad Blogging started:

and here is a post after the quad blogging month

Take a peek into the classroom and hear students talking about their blogging experience.

Other student reflection about the quad blogging experience:

After writing, Stepping it Up- Learning to Blog FOR Your Students, I was keen to observe the learning curve of the classroom teacher as a participant in the quad-blogging process. It was, no doubt, an intense four weeks. As a disclaimer, you need to know that I chose the classroom teacher I was going to work with during the Quad Blogging month carefully. I chose our 4th grade teacher, Stephanie Teitelbaum, because of an already established coaching relationship and her willingness and openness to try new methods, projects or “crazy ideas” 🙂

Stephanie was committed to being a student right alongside the children in the classroom. She was willing to try and test on her own, be reflective along the way, tweak when her teacher instinct told her something wasn’t working and ask for help from her students too. She was willing to jump in without “knowing it all”, a quality that seems to become more and more important for a teacher. We are all exploring new frontiers, creating new forms and learning by “failing forward“.

Here is our 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Teitelbaum’s reflection.

This was our final week of “quad blogging” and it was a wonderful learning experience for my class.  Four weeks ago, when we started, my students would comment on somebody’s blog with a sentence or a line saying “Great Post”.  Now they are writing one to two paragraphs and adding information that they either knew already, or that they researched to add to someone else’s post.  They are reflecting, expressing feelings, finding connections and asking great questions. They can instantly recognize a comment that is of poor quality based on the grammar, punctuation or lack of a true reflection.

Their blog posts have been pretty incredible from the start, however, I have only seen an improvement from the quad blogging experience.  They all want to hit the “EXPERT” level on the blog writing RUBRIC so they try to challenge each other to get there.  I saw students researching related links, photos, and other information to add to their posts.  They have all been peer editing and asking each other for advice and/or their opinions.

My only negative reflection would be the timing.  This week was our week to blog, and with it being the week of testing, I was not able to follow the process the way I would have liked to.  I didn’t assign homework all week, due to testing, so all of our blogging was done during the day and most of my students weren’t as inspired, due to being exhausted from testing.  Ultimately, they all wrote some really wonderful posts and I think they will continue to strive to reach expert level based on the rubric we used.

Without a doubt, I see such a difference in their writing abilities since they started blogging in January.  They seemed to really like the quad blogging and are looking forward to continuing the communication with the three other schools.  They were all so delighted to receive the numerous comments during our “blogging” week.  They each wrote back and many exchanged emails so they can continue to correspond.

What did we, as a literacy coach/tech coordinator, learn? How did we support the teacher? What kind of “help” did they need or want?

There is a need for a healthy mixture of teacher led mini lessons and modeling, co-teaching and coaching from the technology/literacy specialist. Teachers cannot rely on the specialist to be in their classroom at all times and “the blogging” cannot be just a an add-on or special project, when the specialist/coach is in the classroom. It was valuable to create and leave a step-by-step guides for the teacher to be able to review and for support as they reinforced skills and concepts and continued blogging  on their own with the students.

The goal in the end is the one of sustainability. What good is it for a teacher to blog with students for a month or only when a “technology teacher” is in the room? Teachers learning to blog FOR their students will be able to continue the learning journey with their students. The blogging platform is a perfect framework for all curriculum connections, 21st century skills and literacies.

There were plenty of opportunities for us to teach students via mini-lessons, but these lessons were also designed with classroom teacher in mind:

In addition to mini-lessons for the teacher in the classroom, the following were important one on one opportunities to make the logistical part of the work load of reading, evaluating and giving feedback to students easier on the teacher:

  • Setting up and managing an RSS feed of all participating blogs (Google Reader)
  • Planning of student auditing of blog posts and individual student/teacher conferences (coach/teacher share workload)
  • How do you document (in different media) the learning process?

I felt that the success of the quad blogging was largely due to the classroom teacher’s commitment to embed reading, commenting, writing and connecting them to the curriculum content. Her ability to seamlessly pick up, continue and build upon lessons learned was crucial to the success in the classroom with the students. It was apparent that Stephanie had taken “ownership” of blogging with her students and their success in improving the quality of writing. What adjustments would have to be made when supporting a less motivated, less self-starting, less tech-savvy or “uncomfortable with technology” teacher?

What has been learned:

The Quad Blogging experience with Chrissy Hellyer, Maggie Hos-McGrane, Nancy von Wahlde and Andrea Hernandez (and the respective classroom teachers), was a successful one. Four years ago, I wrote about my frustration with collaboration projects in a post titled Collaboration Projects- Doomed to Fail. Why was this collaboration any different?

Although each team was located in a different country, all of us had previous connections and we had cultivated virtual  relationships. We knew that all of us were committed to test our theory of improved quality writing, document and share our reflections.

We  learned, that this kind of COMMITMENT was crucial when working together, especially across large distances.

We learned, that learning the TECHNOLOGY SKILLS necessary to “do the blogging” was ALWAYS secondary. Teachers and students did not learn how to:

  • insert a hyperlink for the sake of learning HTML, but to make connections and point their readers to further information.
  • upload a video or image for the sake of embedding it into the post, but to support their writing.
  • create annotated screenshots for the sake of doodling digitally, but to explain something visually.

We learned, that INFORMAL ASSESSMENT of students in the blogging process, is sometimes the most important one:

  • seeing students passionately use their blogs
  • take pride in its appearance
  • the joy of receiving a comment
  • the anticipation of sharing with their global audience their work/experiences/writing
  • feeling a connection with someone from another country

We learned, that blogs can be used as a FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT TOOL.
As Heidi Hayes Jacobs, in Curriulum21, asks: What can be replaced? What can be upgraded? What can be thrown out? For the sake of time when quad blogging, it is important to know when a blog post or comment can replace a traditional method of assessment and become the evidence of learning.

We learned, that participating in a quad blogging experience (and doing it with commitment) TAKES TIME. There is no doubt that the intensity of four weeks of reading, commenting, writing, editing, mini-lessons, evaluating and, and, and… takes time. There is a learning curve, but it is worth it. I am eager to see how subsequent quad blogging sessions will go with teacher and students having the previous experience under their belt.

We learned, that although the quad blogging session did take a large amount of time for the classroom teacher, it did NOT “take away” from “covering” other CURRICULUM CONTENT. The challenge lies in learning how to recognize the connections between  traditionally taught methods and TEACHING THROUGH BLOGS.

We learned, that students IMPROVED their writing skills tremendously. You might say that focusing 4 weeks on writing (without any blogging involved) would have also improved students’ writing skills. Would the engagement and student motivation have been as high? What about the possibility of connecting to all or any curriculum content? What about the global connections and writing specifically for a world wide audience?

We learned, that the blogging platform can be the tool for teaching writing and that quad blogging month can be a CATALYST for an amplified, global and connected writing for your students.

21st Century skills:

  • collaborating
  • communicating
  • connecting
  • creating
  • critical thinking

21st Century Literacies:

  • Global
  • Network
  • Information
  • Media
  • Basic
  • Digital Citizenship

Technology skills:

  • inserting and resizing of images
  • embedding of code
  • widgets
  • hyperlinking
  • formatting

Writing skills:

  • editing
  • peer editing
  • auto-evaluation
  • writing for a specific audience
  • reflective writing
  • transmedia writing
  • writing with a voice
  • informative writing
  • creative writing

  • find better timing for all 4 participating classes
  • not close to standardized testing week
  • be mindful of country/school specific vacation/holiday times

  • too difficult for ELL students
  • language was too high for primary students
  • Needed to deconstruct the rubric for and with students
  • Idea of possibly recording the rubric with audio explanations by teacher
  • we might need three versions of the rubric: teacher, students (native speaker), students (ELL)

ELL- English Language Learners

  • we need to do a better job in keeping ELL students in mind
  • Native speakers need to be prepared and continuously reminded of barriers, limits and necessary accommodations they need to make when reading and writing to/for their blog  buddies.

Privacy Settings

  • Testing privacy settings of all classroom or student blogs to make sure it allows incoming comments to be posted or placed into moderation.

After we debriefed, all participants were eager to express their desire to “do it again”. We are planning to have two quad blogging cycles next school year, one at the beginning of the year and one at the end.

I would really like to bring in more blogging “experts” for the students (as well as classroom teachers) to hear first hand how reading and writing has enhanced, improved and changed their academic lives. I want students to be able to articulate why they blog, what it means to them and how it can and has helped them. In return, I would like the students to take on the role of being the “experts” to others by offering to skype into teacher workshops and presenting at an upcoming conference at our school in April 2013.

We would also like to “recruit” and “groom” parents, grandparents or pre-service teachers to become blogging buddies to students in addition to the four classes involved. These buddies would receive training regarding quality commenting skills in an “International Commenting Mentor Program”.

So…. if you have made it this far in reading this mega long post of my thoughts about quad blogging and quality writing, I am safe to assume that you are at least interested in exploring the options of teaching writing THROUGH blogging . What are your concerns? Have you tested the waters? Have you found ways to recognize and replace traditional methods of teaching and assessing writing with blogging?

Join our reflection by leaving a link in the comment section or sharing your experience directly.


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miércoles, 5 de marzo de 2014

Letra del tema "23" del nuevo album SHAKIRA

Everybody needs an anchor
A little something that makes you stay
An incentive
Someone to fight for
‘Cause no one really needs so much space
A couple years ago I was lonely
I used to think that there was no God
But then you looked at me with your blue eyes
And my agnosticism turned into dust How well you know me
That I don’t care if the rest don’t
It doesn’t matter to me, no
As long as you love me
As long as we still have each other

I knew we had something
From the moment I met you I knew we had something
No one thought it could be true
Hey do you believe
Do you believe in destiny? ‘Cause I do as I did then
When you were only 23
God knows that I’m a good dancer
My feet can move to the music he plays

Fuente: PopLandia

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Sunday, August 07, 2005

A Belated Happy Birthday to Me

let the two-week celebration of latina begin! well, i guess it already began, since my b-day was actually yesterday and the birthday priveleges (such as picking what to eat, what movies to watch, not having to drive anywhere, etc - and all with no complaints from chad) took effect on friday. friday night was simple and spent vegging out at home: picklefish hawiian pizza (pricey but yummy), mike's hard berry (also yummy, btw), ice cream sandwiches, watching tivo...jay leno from thursday night w/ rob schneider and sidney crosby (who shot pucks at a dryer, which he apparently used to do as a bored kid in nova scotia), cheesy horror flicks from the '70's and '80's recorded off AMC and IFC (which i love for some reason; i'm a big fan of the cheesy horror film). yesterday was a little more festive. watched big fish in the morning, then headed out for a bit of shopping (which chad wasn't allowed to complain about, and if i bought something pricey, then so be it) at bel-air mall. we hit books-a-million so i could pick up the 6th book in stephen king's the dark tower series. i started to get the 7th and last book as well, but it is only available in hard back, and even i wasn't willing to fork over close to $40 for it. i'm sure i can find it cheaper elsewhere. i also picked up another dan brown (author of angels & demons and the da vinci code) title, deception point. we actually spent a fair amount of time browsing around the bookstore (which chad didn't hate), and i found at least 5 more books that i want but refrained from purchasing at the moment. chad found a couple of history-related books that he said he wouldn't mind reading, along with a couple he plans to get his dad. after that, we just sort of browsed around the mall doing tons of looking but not much buying. then, it was off to the movie theater, where chad was willing to see must love dogs (which he normally would be perfectly ok with renting off pay-per-view but not viewing in a theater), but we got there super-early and opted for a showing of fantasic four instead. after the movie (which we saw pretty early), we headed back home for a while where we watched big brother 6. for some reason, i'm really addicted to that show. yeah, not much else comes on in the summer, but it's just so easy to really dislike some of these people. i hate james, for example. he would have no problem whatsoever selling out his girlfriend (who is on the show with him) if it meant he could stay in the house another week. and the things he says about her... i would dump his ass so fast if i were her... but of course she doesn't know what he says about her behind her back. anyway, that was totally beside the point. after big brother, we headed for carrabba's where i had a yummy dinner of chicken bryan and garlic mashed potatoes and chad had chicken parmesan. both are quite tasty. chad was feeling generous and didn't have to be prompted into leaving the waitress a fat tip.

so, for today it's off to my mom's house for more birthday festivities. not sure what mom's planning to cook (she said something about baking a ham - yummy), but there will most definitely be cake. for the rest of the week, it's normal work stuff (actually, i might take tomorrow off), then next weekend more celebration with deva and vanessa. not sure what the plan is, but i'm sure it will be fun.

1 comment:

Holly said...

Happy Belated Birthday from Me Too.


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Martes 12 de Diciembre 2017
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Thanks to NAFTA, automotive companies can use an engine from Mexico and a transmission from Canada, and then build the car in the U.S. and still enjoy preferential treatment. Here Ford's Louisville assembly plant. (Photo: Ford)
Before NAFTA, that what was produced in Canada was for sale in Canada. With NAFTA, these plants are integrated. Meanwhile, close to 40 percent of what the U.S. imports from Mexico is derived from U.S. sources, up from 5 percent 20 years ago.  (Photo: Wharton)
Monday, July 25, 2016

NAFTA: Benefits Versus Costs

NAFTA has been big boon for auto sector in US, Mexico and Canada.

In 1992, Independent presidential candidate Ross Perot made opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) the cornerstone of his national campaign, warning voters that because of huge wage differentials between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, “There will be a giant sucking sound going south.”

Even now, 20 years after NAFTA was enacted in 1994, the trade agreement’s legacy remains enshrouded in controversy, not only in the United States, but in Canada and Mexico as well.

How much of Perot’s dire forecast came true? What kinds of benefits, if any, has NAFTA brought to the economies of the U.S. and Mexico? Will it ever be possible to know, for sure, what the world would have been like if NAFTA had never been enacted?

During the heated debate that proceeded its enactment, prominent economists and U.S. government officials predicted that NAFTA – a trade agreement aimed at liberalizing trade between member countries — would lead to growing trade surpluses with Mexico and that hundreds of thousands of jobs would be created. “But the evidence shows that the predicted surpluses in the wake of NAFTA’s enactment in 1994 did not materialize,” notes Robert Scott, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C.

What kind of evidence? “Jobs making cars, electronics, apparel and other goods moved to Mexico, and job losses piled up in the United States, especially in the Midwest where those products used to be made,” says Scott. “By 2010, trade deficits with Mexico had eliminated 682,900 U.S. jobs, mostly (60.8 percent) in manufacturing.”

Claims by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that NAFTA trade has created millions of jobs “are based on disingenuous accounting, which counts only jobs gained by exports but ignores jobs lost due to growing imports,” he adds. “The U.S. economy has grown in the past 20 years despite NAFTA, not because of it. Worse yet, production workers’ wages have suffered in the United States. Likewise, workers in Mexico have not seen wage growth. Job losses and wage stagnation are NAFTA’s real legacy.”

How much of these job losses can be attributed to the impact of NAFTA? Wharton management professor Mauro Guillen has a very different view, suggesting that without NAFTA, many jobs that were lost over this period would probably have gone to China or elsewhere. “Perhaps NAFTA accelerated the process, but it did not make a huge difference. At the same time, a lot of jobs were created in the U.S. that wouldn’t be there without the Mexico trade. I’m not just talking about Texas or California or Arizona…. Many of the products made in Mexico are designed in the United States. So there are a lot of jobs created here.”

Walter Kemmsies, chief economist at Moffatt Nichol, an international infrastructure consultancy, notes that close to 40 percent of what the U.S. imports from Mexico is derived from U.S. sources. “This is the symbol of the success of NAFTA.” Twenty years ago, he estimates, that percentage was less than 5 percent.

Overall, has NAFTA been a good thing? Morris Cohen, Wharton professor of operations and information management, states that for many years, “economists have been arguing about whether global trade is a net benefit or net cost; who are the winners and who are the losers. There has been lots of ink spilled on that issue. The consensus from my perspective is that trade is generally a good thing; it helps to elevate the standard of living and it raises the level of economic activity on both sides. But there’s a net transfer sometimes, and definitely the notion of winners and losers. We don’t have the luxury of being able to have done the experiment [to find out] what would have happened had there been no NAFTA.” Or, he adds, to figure out to what extent the conditions that exist today are a result of NAFTA, or not the result.

Two decades ago, says Guillen, “People knew that trade within NAFTA would increase, so the U.S., Canada and Mexico would trade more with each other. We [also] knew that low-wage manufacturing was going to move to Mexico from Canada and the U.S. And of course, part of this also moved to China and other locations, but Mexico has the advantage of proximity to the U.S.”

He acknowledges that Mexico has a surplus with the U.S. in trade – “and NAFTA accelerated that. But the U.S. runs a trade deficit with 90 percent of the countries in the world. So Mexico is not unique. In fact, the U.S. also runs a deficit with Canada, and that’s mostly because of oil and gas.”

If NAFTA had not been signed, Guillen adds, “the jobs would probably have gone to China or somewhere else; most jobs have relocated to China. The U.S. had a trade deficit with Mexico of $54 billion [in 2013], but with China, it was [a deficit of] $318 billion, so the [U.S.] deficit is five times bigger with China than with Mexico. In other words, you would calculate, maybe for every job we have lost in the U.S. to Mexico, five [jobs] were lost to China.”

While conceding that many U.S. high-wage manufacturing jobs were relocated to Mexico, China and other foreign locations as a result of NAFTA, Cohen argues that NAFTA has, on balance, been a good thing for the U.S. economy and U.S. corporations. “The sucking sound that Ross Perot predicted did not occur; many jobs were created in Canada and Mexico, and [the resulting] economic activity created a somewhat seamless supply chain — a North American supply chain that allowed North American auto companies to be more profitable and more competitive.”

Before NAFTA went into effect in 1994, the automotive sector throughout North America was insular and regional, and most vehicles were developed for the markets in which they were sold, notes Michael Robinet, managing director of IHS Automotive, a consultancy based in Michigan. “The rest of the world didn’t want our vehicles” because they lacked the size and mileage demanded by its consumers. South of the U.S. border, Mexican administrations pursued a policy known as “import substitution,” which is antithetical to free trade. Protected by high import duties, import licenses and quotas, Mexican plants were notorious for producing shoddy goods unpopular even in their domestic market.

As recently as 2008, Japan exported almost twice as many cars to the United States as did Mexico. This year, however, Mexico will export 1.69 million vehicles to the U.S., surpassing the 1.51 million vehicles exported by Japan to the same market. By 2015, Mexico will export 1.9 million vehicles to the U.S., surpassing Canada as the largest exporter to the U.S.

Overall, Mexico’s output of vehicles reached 2.93 million units in 2013. By 2020, almost 25 percent of all North American vehicle production will take place in Mexico, compared with only 10 percent in Canada and 65 percent in the United States. For both the U.S. and Canada, those numbers will represent a considerable decline in their share of the North American production pie. Massive recent foreign investments made by Asian and German brands in Mexico include Mazda’s facility, with an estimated annual production of 185,000 vehicles; Nissan’s, with an annual capacity of 149,000 vehicles, and Audi’s, set to open in 2016, with annual capacity for 150,000 vehicles.

Like Mexico, Canada’s automotive sector has long been dominated by U.S.-owned firms, even before NAFTA. “The U.S.-owned auto industry in Canada has been producing cars for generations,” notes Cohen. “But it used to be, before NAFTA, that what was produced in Canada was for sale in Canada, and it was a much smaller market. Now with NAFTA, these plants are integrated. Some components or sub-assemblies are sent back to the U.S. It is as if there is no border, as if it is one economic zone.” The quality of Canadian-made vehicles is now on the same world-class, highly competitive level as those made in the U.S. and Mexico, he notes.

All this activity has had a predictably negative impact on the U.S. share of all North American automotive jobs, which dropped from 64.5 percent in 2000 to just 53.4 percent in 2012. By 2012, 39.1 percent of all automotive jobs in North America were in Mexico, up from 27.1 percent of such jobs in 2000.

According to Robinet, “NAFTA has driven down our costs,” making it possible for an integrated North America — as a single manufacturing platform — to become a major force in global automotive trade. Thanks to NAFTA trade preferences, automotive companies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico “can use an engine from Mexico and a transmission from Canada, and then build the car in the U.S.” and still enjoy the NAFTA preferential treatment, so long as 62.5 percent of the value of that vehicle comes from within those three countries. Nowadays, the “vast majority” of vehicles built in North America have at least 75 percent (combined) value-added from those three countries, while some have well over 90 percent of North American value-added.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s emergence as an export-focused automotive manufacturing center is having a growing impact on other sectors of Mexico’s economy as well, Guillen notes. “We have seen, since the beginning of NAFTA, that productivity has increased in pretty much all of the export-oriented industries [in Mexico], especially manufacturing, where it has more than doubled.”

That is to be expected for several reasons, he says. Before NAFTA, “there were automobile plants in Mexico, but they were not really oriented toward the U.S. market. They were mostly for the Mexican market, and they were not very efficient. So in anticipation of NAFTA, and during the NAFTA period, American companies, the Japanese and South Korean firms have invested in world-class factories — with the best equipment — for the export market, which is primarily the U.S.” So part of the increase in productivity is due to better equipment in new plants. Another part is training of the labor force, for the same reason. These were cars made for export, so they needed to be well-done cars. The third reason is that Mexico, in general, even without NAFTA, would have made progress. “People have brought in better machinery,” on which workers have been trained, and educational levels, in general, have improved.

Guillen argues that “you see the same things in electronics, especially appliances, automotive parts, furniture” and other sectors such as aerospace and computers. However, the trend is more visible in the automotive sector because there are less than two dozen vehicle assembly plants in Mexico. “That’s why one decision by Nissan or Volkswagen – for example, to set up a world-class factory — makes a big difference. You can more readily see the changes in the automotive industry, but it is happening in the others too….

“Now think of where Mexico would be today without NAFTA,” Guillen adds. “Today, Mexican migration to the U.S. has come to a halt. There are Central Americans coming to the U.S. – but virtually no Mexicans. That’s because Mexico is doing well. So just imagine, without NAFTA and with Mexico not doing that well, we would have had the additional problem of an unstable Mexico with lots of people wanting to come to the United States.”

Robinet identified several factors, beyond comparatively low wages, that are responsible for NAFTA’s impact on North American trade in recent years:

--The stable peso/dollar exchange rate: Before NAFTA, the dollar-peso exchange rate fluctuated widely, but the Mexican government “keeps inflation under control.” If you build a car in Japan, for example, you have no control over the yen/dollar relationship, Robinet noted. Facing that uncertainty, “manufacturers have learned that you need to build where you sell” – or close to it, as in the case of factories along the U.S.-Mexico border.

--The growing availability of Mexican suppliers: Nowadays, “everyone wants suppliers within one hour of the assembly plant,” said Robinet, and they are plentiful in key Mexican clusters of activity. Although it may be less costly to buy some components in China, for example, automotive companies are “beating the drum” to source more and more of their components as close as possible to final assembly. They don’t just ask how much a component costs, but “how much will it cost me to ship it here?”

---Mexican public policy: Mexico’s governments, whether of the conservative PAN party or the more populist PRI party (currently returned to office) are interested in developing a global auto industry, unlike that of China, which has focused its long-term strategy on capturing a dominant share of its (much larger) domestic market. Thus, Mexico’s government has opened the country to multinationals that have increased their scale of production, driving down prices not just for made-in-Mexico car exports, but also for cars sold to Mexico’s burgeoning middle class. To further facilitate this integration outside of North America, Mexico has forged tariff-free or reduced-tariff agreements with 44 countries around the world.

Robinet says that Mexico has become “not only the crossroads of automotive trade in the Western Hemisphere,” but it is “enhancing and augmenting its transportation infrastructure. When it comes to transportation, Mexico is in a sweet spot; you don’t need to go through the [Panama] Canal.” Before NAFTA, Japanese exporters had to go through the Canal, which has bottlenecks and is costly.

Meanwhile, Kansas City Southern Railway’s cross-border intermodal volume in Mexico will continue to expand not just because of Mexican manufacturing growth, but because of the strong advantage rail has over the trucking industry south of the border, says Patrick Ottensmeyer, chief marketing officer at Kansas City Southern. The railroad has seen high double-digit quarterly intermodal growth inside Mexico, as the U.S. and other manufacturers of automotive, white goods and other products have shifted production to Mexico. He agrees that manufacturing in Mexico for export to U.S. consumer markets has become more attractive as a result of the recent rise in Chinese labor and transportation costs.

Has the success of Mexico’s automotive sector accentuated the imbalance between NAFTA’s winners and losers? Some Mexican critics worry about the income inequality between those industrial workers who have benefitted from the country’s globalization and those who have been shut out of those benefits, especially the rural poor.

Guillen says he “completely disagrees with those economists who say this has generated inequality. Whenever there is this kind of growth process, especially when foreign investment comes in, you always get that inequality. Are you better as a country – or worse off? Ask the 30 percent of Mexicans who got well-paying jobs. Without NAFTA, they wouldn’t have those jobs, because those jobs would be in China or somewhere else.” Guillen contrasts the Mexican situation with that of the U.S., where “we are generating inequality because the lower wages are either stagnating or going down. How do they go down? When a factory worker is earning $35 an hour, gets laid off and has to go to the service sector and only makes $12 an hour.”

Overall, Guillen states, “NAFTA has been great for Mexico. The only doubts are about whether it has been good for the United States. I believe it has been, but there is more of a mixed balance between losers and winners [in the U.S.]. For Mexico, it is a total success. The problem in Mexico, though, is that the export industry there has not been big enough to employ everybody in a large population…. Inequality has been produced, not because the wages of low-wage workers got lower, but because a significant number of workers are now receiving higher wages.

“It is obviously good, but it would be even better if, instead of only 30 percent of Mexican workers earning those very high wages for Mexico, you could get 70 percent of the workers.” For that to happen, Mexico will have to overcome its shortage of capital, he adds.

Despite such imperfections, Kemmsies believes that “NAFTA is on the cusp of being a great success,” but he also worries that “Mexico will kill the golden goose before it lays an egg” by imposing export taxes on foreign firms doing business there before those firms are fully convinced they should be in Mexico for the long haul. “Mexico has to worry about overplaying its hand” before the global automakers and other foreign investors have sunk their roots more firmly into Mexican soil.” Given the fragile state of the global economy – and the uncertainties surrounding Mexico’s ambitious reform efforts — many foreign companies “are still scared and risk averse. We are not [yet] past the start-up stage in Mexico.”

Republished with permission from -- the online research and business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Ex-Ambassadors Warn Against NAFTA Changes

Garza: NAFTA Change Would Hurt U.S. Prices

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Martes 12 de Diciembre 2017
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School children in Guatemala. (Photo: IDB)
Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Education for Transformation

A new report from the Inter-American Development Bank spotlights education in Latin America.

There is no doubt that education results in Latin America are not good. But even more importantly, what can be done? What are the strategies, the comprehensive reforms that countries need to improve the quality of their schools? That is exactly what the latest Inter-American Development Bank publication, Education for Transformation, seeks to understand.

The report is edited by Marcelo Cabrol, former head of the Bank’s education division, and Miguel Székely, Mexico’s former Undersecretary for Secondary Education at the Ministry of Education, and combines the insights of a series of education experts. The structure of the book purposely follows the “natural educational cycle,” beginning with early childhood development, then moving to teachers, as well as addressing important factors like infrastructure and technology.

However, that is not to say that the report is student centered. The emphasis, rather, is on teachers, their salaries, and their training. The brief commentary about technology’s ability to put the student at the center of learning via a personalized education is referred to as a novelty. But hasn’t the education system ultimately always been about students? There is unfortunately not much reference to this reality – little is said about the reforms, movement, and institutions that have been struggling to put the student back at the center of the education process.

The report is made up of ten chapters written by a number of advisors, consultants and Bank experts, a group of people that are certainly among the most knowledgeable about education reform in the region, not only from a theoretical perspective, but also from a practical one. The authors have worked with both federal and local governments to develop educational initiatives, and administer educational loans and grants.

Education for Transformation does diagnose the problems facing Latin America quite well, with an array of fresh data. Over the past few decades, access has been growing fast, but early childhood development and high school attendance continue to be the strongest challenges for the region. Access for four and five year olds increased from 36 percent in 1990 to more than 60 percent at the present day – including girls, making Latin America one of the most gender equal regions of the world in terms of access to school.

Distressingly, however, more than 40 percent of students drop out. This is often for economic reasons, but increasingly it’s because they simply don’t find what they are learning to be useful – according to the report, this describes one out of three dropouts. As other Bank research has shown, the skills that the increasingly globalized labor market demands are very different from what schools are teaching.

The book also brings new data that demonstrates the correlation between good school infrastructure with education performance. The way in which they highlight the importance of school management – including empowering school principals with enough autonomy to hire their own teaching team – also adds significant value to the discussion. Students at schools with these elements consistently achieve better results.

Achieving educational quality remains the most important challenge. Quality is strongly correlated to socioeconomic factors, as the authors once again confirmed. It is less clear, however, how the authors propose to deal with these challenges. In the final chapters they include some analysis of initiatives like Teach for America in Chile, Argentina and Peru, and a program to improve the teaching of math in Argentina. But there is not much analysis about broader reforms that are taking place in the region, nor how to achieve them.

Perhaps what is missing is a greater sense of political economy, more about the way in which the political process impacts our ability to achieve reforms. Who are the major stakeholders in the education reform process? There is no mention of teacher unions, one of the most important players in any education system. Only at the conclusion do they address the evident importance of reaching consensus among governments, parents, and other civil society members to achieve reform. A close analysis of these factors is increasingly important for bringing new ideas into the education reform debate. The omission is noticeable, so I asked one of the editors, and former head of the education division at the IDB, Marcelo Cabrol. He told me that in the last few years, education reform has been driven by non-governmental organizations, civic society movements, which is the main reason they focused on them as game changers. Institutions like Teach for America, Empresarios por la Educacion, Mexicanos Primero.

Finally, what is the role of the private sector? Latin American companies have been growing at leaps and bounds; a specific term, “multilatinas” has even been coined to refer to phenomenon of multinational firms based in the region. Multilatinas are taking more relevant roles in advocating for education improvements, financing reform initiatives, and participating in public-private partnerships.

Education for Transformation contains excellent data and makes an important contribution to understanding Latin American education. But it also points to the limits of what we currently know. How can private organizations push for better quality? How can parents develop the skills to become a force that can pressure political leaders? It is unfortunate that we don’t hear about these issues, even though the authors have their experiences to share. In order to move forward, it will be increasingly important to hear about just this kind of concrete, real world experiences. Cabrol assured me that those are the topics of his next book.

Gabriel Sanchez Zinny is managing partner at Blue Star Strategies. He wrote this column for Latinvex.

© Copyright Latinvex

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Friday, March 8, 2013

dragon face mask

So, one of the things that Bear Scouts get to do is make an animal mask.  (Elective 10b) I figure that since it doesn't say that it has to be a real animal that a dragon mask would be fun to do for den meeting.  Here is what I came up with (with some help from a dragon face I found online a long time ago...)

Here's my Bear Scout wearing the dragon mask... = )

 First, the black and white patterns for those who like to color:

and here is the colored one I did:

here is the cutting and folding lines pattern:

for the straight score (folding) lines, use a stylus and a ruler.  For the slightly curby lines (under the lips) just free-hand it with the stylus.

now for the instructions:

 glue the two horn pieces together.  Don't get glue on the bottom tabs.

 insert the horn up through the slit between the nostrils.  I think that the horn should be farther forward that I have it here.... move it up if you want. = )

 Turn it over and glue down the flaps on the horn.

 Fold this flap down then glue it under the right side...

 so now it looks like this:

 glue the top flaps down so that they are overlapping like this:

 Fold the sides down.

Turn the mouth piece over.  Since it was hard to see, I outlined the top and the fold line.  Glue the nose to this piece.

 hopefully you can see the placement.

 Once the glue dries, it looks like this.

 Now glue the mouth over to the side like this.

 Notice how the curve of the mouth is lined up with the fold on the side of the nose...

 Turn it over and fold along the score lines.

 Glue one on top of the other like this:  Trim any overhang if necessary.

 For the eyes, I drew red lines on the picture to show where exactly to cut.  Where the arrows are pointing there are tiny black dots.  You cut along the line to the black dot.

 Slide the eyes into place.  First one side then the other.  Then center the eyes over the nose.

This is what the back side looks like after the eyes are put in place.

 Tape this tab down.  (It's easier than glue)

 Here is the side view of your assembled dragon mask.  The two holes on the side are for string or elastic. Put a piece of tape on the back side to strengthen the hole before using a hand hole punch.

I didn't have elastic handy so I used some string.  It still works. = )  The string goes around the ear.

My sad attempt to fancy it up. = )

This is the picture I used as inspiration for my mask.  (my sister was curious.. )


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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The Great Adventure

Radiation Recovery Update:
  • Fatigue is a tricky thing. One day you feel fine. The next day fatigue hits with full force. Makes it kind of hard to plan anything!
  • Dry, dry, dry skin
  • My digestive system still won't let me eat everything I want to eat - chicken anyone?
I spent the day today working on insurance stuff, medical insurance and travel insurance; making sure all my claims are paid, and that we get reimbursed for the tickets to Africa that we weren't able to use this summer. Fun stuff!

As I was working on these things I was thinking that so much of what we have experienced in the last two and a half months has been new for us, it's kind of like a big adventure.  Granted, not the kind of adventure that you would want to be on or choose to take, but an adventure nonetheless.

Those thoughts brought to mind an old Steven Curtis Chapman song, "The Great Adventure". When Mark and the kids and I left to go live in Mexico City in 1994, this was our theme song! We were heading out on God's great adventure. The chorus says this:

"Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure"

As I think about my life today I realize that I am still on the Great Adventure! How exciting is that?!! I will continue to experience God's amazing grace as I continue to follow Him into the unknown world of cancer treatment and recovery. This IS "a life like no other" and I love it!

  1. i remember that church service at CFBC when you guys were being "sent out". that was such an inspirational time. what a great way to look at your life as you know it right now.

  2. Laura:
    Interesting that you mentioned that song because ever since hearing of your cancer I have thought about that particular song and your family. I remember well Mark sharing that song with us at CFBC when you guys left for Mexico. You/we/all of us are truly on an adventure daily. If only we could always see those adventures as children do...fun, exciting, and thrilling as we wait hopefully and expectantly to see what the Lord is up to.

    Rebecca Patterson

  3. I remember that service too! There is nothing I can add to the other comments! Praying for you always!


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Page 19

A sneaky preview of my latest project… → Read more

I have always struggled somewhat with jewellery photography. Whilst I do have a lightbox, kindly built for me by my lovely former flatmate, it’s not ideal. Nor are my motley collection of spotlights, with their random wattage bulbs, some daylight(ish), some not.

Added to this is the fact that I’ve not a clue what an f-stop is or what it might do, so I usually end up taking around 200 shots to get a couple that are usable after much faffing around with Lightroom. → Read more

I have now finished turning the small pile of weather from my earlier post into actual shiny things, hurrah! → Read more

I am a bit rubbish with plants. Tis a fact. Since moving into the flat at the end of January, I’ve killed three mint plants. Three! Yes, dear readers, I am a mint murderer.

Also, I have watched the depressing demise of two rosemary plants and two basils. To be fair, the second basil was doing really really well, like a smally basily bush, until it was infested by some small and horrid beasties. I really can’t be blamed for beasties, can I? → Read more

Okay, so I haven’t quite been chained to my workbench finishing off my shiny weather, as the small matter of the London Rollergirls season championship bout rather got in the way. I miss roller derby terribly, and it was really lovely to see everyone. Such a close and exciting game! → Read more

Classic BBC weather symbols sketch

Shiny weather! Well, alright, it’s not at all shiny just yet, this is what it comes back from the caster looking like: → Read more

I love cuckoo clocks. I have been coveting one for quite some time and when I saw this lovely walnut timepiece of awesomeness by Diamantini & Domeniconi I knew it must be mine. It’s possibly the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen and therefore perfect! → Read more

This is one of the new, entirely non-roller derby related projects I have been working on over the past couple of months. → Read more

I was having a rummage through my jewellery box before doing a photshoot last weekend and came across some rings I made at college. It appears that my obsession with making things very pointy started a while ago… → Read more

It may appear from my last couple of posts that I’ve not been terribly constructive on the shiny things front. Not so! I’ve been working really hard, honest I have, I’ve just been a bit rubbish recently about blogging work in progress.

I’ve had a few friends ask recently if I’d make them plain roller derby helmet charm, so it can be engraved with skate names and/or numbers, and I’ve finally made one and had it cast. → Read more


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Thursday, 30 December 2010

The Most Perfect Training Time

The last few days a few friends/colleagues/clients and I have been training, remotely at times, but training all the same and it really has been lovely. Sharing ideas and learning and talking to each other. It really has been great fun and I will post some videos of the progress soon. Lovely to have clients/colleagues/friends to develop with - I am very lucky having such great people to link in with and touch base with.

The little ban here at Bowerlands has been a god send, and Newhall too. They have both been great to rely on in this crazy weather and havent stopped play!

Below is a video of Pop and Rhyme - Devongem Dante.

It is great to have the Lakers staying in 'The Hayloft' at 'Bowerlands' as they are just such great friends and we really enjoy not just their company but their lovely dogs too, particularly their two Devongem boys :) G5 Devongem Crystal Method and 12 week old Devongem Dante. It is a real pleasure :)

Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful break :) and I cant wait to share some of these wonderful ideas with you in the new year,

Lauren xxxxx

Monday, 27 December 2010

And the snow....turns to slush and the barn is a godsend!

Am really pleased I am on holiday now - the weather is crazy, first snow now slush puppies!!

Am over the moon with some photos a friend sent me recently - as well as being a very passionate dog trainer I am also a really proud and dedicated breeder. I really want to do my part with breeding 'good' type BCs and agility dogs. Below are pups from my recent two litters and I am so proud - they are not only gorgeous but talented too and I couldnt be happier - their owners are a pleasure and I definately enjoy this part of having puppies :)

What I love about these photos is you can see what a little monkey Ditto is, and how Reef Boss is :)

Lovely :)

Back to training although I am off the barn has been busy - if you would like to book in for an hour email or text me and if there is a gap I am more than happy for you to hire it - it is definately better it gets used as the wet slush snow is not exactly ideal to train on :)

Lauren xx

Wednesday, 22 December 2010

Olympia excitement and more puppies....

So Olympia has come and gone - my god it happens so fast - I need more than one dog there as I just need to be there for a few days - I just love it!

This year, although I had been really quite poorly beforehand - I even managed to get a prescription for an inhaler and antibiotics - I definately felt very confident in Reef at this level. He was just great and although we got elimninated at the very end it was a pretty good E if I do say so myself :) I love that the crowd go ahhhh and that the commentator said he was at 11 seconds just after the seesaw and compared to lots of others that seems pretty fast even with his very eloquent spin before the a frame. I definately felt that I could trust him and that he has grown up alot and feels very ready for grade 7 and the next Olympia he attends he will be up with the big boys. I did call him at the end expecting him to carry on blasting ahead of me in the excitement of that atmosphere and I wasn't quick enough to correct my cue however he really is showing that he is fast, responsive and able to listen to cue at that level - I do love this boy :) Below is his vid - I am having running lessons for Christmas ;)

We also have some great news in that Reef is expecting another litter with the gorgeous merlie girlie Hoax - I really cant wait to see if there is a merlie Reef. I do have to say I am not a massive red merle fan but I do love blue merles - particularly real blue blue merles if you get what I mean - so will be interesting to see what they have - Gem has said they are the Designer litter of pups :) AWWW :)

Above is Reef - he is so proud and I do have to say I couldn't love this dog anymore if I tried - Darleyfalls No Feer - I am so happy you are mine :) lovely lovely boy xx

Wednesday, 8 December 2010

The Devongem boys and winter preparations....

Devon Dogs is definately winding down for Christmas. Olympia is coming up and we have some time to relax and enjoy the festive spirit!

Lesley Huggins, a close friend and customer has taken the pics below. Really nice to see all of the boys looking so healthy.

Devongem Dark Knight - out of Popi x Fen

Darleyfalls No Feer - 3years old

Just Coastin at Devongem

I really adore my dogs, I don't know what it is but there is something so special about these Devongem boys.

Hope you are having a productive day :)

Lauren xx

Saturday, 4 December 2010

Well it was certainly different...

Today Matt and I had a day off, a very unusual phenomenon! Gorgeous Rock left yesterday a VERY spoilt, confident and well adjusted little puppy. He was just gorgeous, very OTT and great at tuggy - just the type of puppy I would pick but I don't regret my decision not to keep one, I have my eye on a pup next year and these pups all had such fantastic homes lined up I could not say no. I am really pleased Jon has him and cant wait to see him progress with DD as a future star.

So Matt and I had a very different day, we both get on so well lately it is really great to have someone like minded to spend time with and have fun with. We have been through thick and thin with the first house move, the caravan and now the new house but finally we are settled and it feels good.

We had lunch in wagamamas - great food, great atmosphere and really, really buzzy! I spent far too much money, my new accessories are amazing (thanks to the help of my personal shopper;);) and came home very happy :)

It was also great knowing that someone was back at the house looking after everything whilst we were out as often having dogs taking a whole day away doesnt sit comfortably but our new lifestyle seems to be sitting very well. We have lots of friends and family to lean on and mutually support when needed. Val has been trying out some work at Bowerlands too and lucky as poor Fern has fallen at home and so Val is able to help cover. It is a great community of friends and support and it just makes life so much more fun.

I am grateful to all of those around us and all of my friends too. I am also grateful to my life coaches - you are fab and you know who you are ;)

"If people around you aren't going anywhere, if their dreams are no bigger than hanging out on the corner, or if they're dragging you down, get rid of them. Negative people can sap your energy so fast, and they can take your dreams from you, too." ~ Earvin Johnson

I am so pleased to have such fab people around, the last few months have been mad but by surrounding myself with people that ooze positive vibes has really made it all much more manageable. I also love it that we have had so many friends at Bowerlands - the cottages, house, spare rooms and even the caravan has been full. I cant wait for Summer bbqs and wine :)

Below is a summer vid - we need to watch these this time of year to remind us that the lovely ground will return. It was taken two years ago and I love the progress that Reef has made but also adore this dog 100000000 times more now and dread to think how much more I will love him in the future - I may burst :) :) Have a good Sunday........

Thursday, 2 December 2010

A brilliant evening....

Well tonight was lovely, the snow set the scene, the people are fab and the atmosphere is great, everyone enjoys everyones company and celebrates everyones success and DD really has team spirit. It is funny as not all groups gel but the Thur night groups just seem to have that feel good factor, I am not sure why all I can say is if I could bottle this feeling I would - I know it is what success is made of - I can just feel it. Long may it continue.
Thursday Night Training - Christmas Drinks & Lovely Food
We must've been mad..... -3.5 degrees, and that was inside!!!

Rock learning VERY naughty habits at his first agility class??? Mulled wine!

This is Dobbie  - sorry - mistaken PC!!!

Ahhhhhhh.........the start of a beautiful relationship!

Jon and his new 'Babe Magnet' puppy Rock

Thankyou to all of the Devon Dogs club for making this year so fantastic. We really hope to continue our success into 2011. Have a fantastic break and we will see you fresh in the new year :)


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motorcycle accident lawyer sydney - An Overview

 investigation to the 1994 murder of Andrea Bradshaw in Brunei has disclosed her spouse is a suspect.

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When ideas come to life | by +Krisandra

As a creative, I am always trying to push the limits of my ideas. I have notebooks with sketches, words, print cut outs. I collect wedding magazines. I have notes on my phone, images saved. I have tons of Pinterest boards. I have IDEAS. But, it’s one thing to have ideas and quite another to have those ideas come to life. It isn’t easy (at least for me). It takes planning, timing, confidence, but mostly it takes me.

Planning my FIRST styled photo shoot was probably almost as stressful as planning a wedding! Months and months and some more months went into this shoot. I had to find a stylist. I had to find a hair and makeup artist. I had to find the location. And I had to coordinate all this on one day that worked for everyone involved, even Mother Nature, for my ideal shoot. I had to make sure my ideas of what I wanted showed and do this in front of fellow photographer and friend, Philitha, all the way down from CT.

From the very first wedding I second shot back in 2006 I have been stuck in awe of the bride on her wedding day. I have yet to photograph a wedding where the bride didn’t make me at least teary eyed at some point during the day.

Hair and Makeup: Hope Ferguson
Wardrobe Stylist: Sarah Hermann
Model: Brittany Berndt

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Monday, April 2, 2012

So Proud...

The day arrived Saturday.
The day I have been training for since last December!

On Saturday March 31, 2012 I ran my first HALF MARATHON.

I finished almost exactly where I thought I would.

Just over 2 hours 44 minutes (sorry I can't seem to remember the seconds count)

And I'm so happy I did it.

It's Monday and I'm still sore, but I did it.

I was super nervous.  Especially on Friday.
But Saturday morning at 8am I hit the pavement and ran.
The longest I have ever run with out stopping.
I made it a little over 11 miles before I stopped to walk.

And learned that next time I won't stop then (trust me for me it's easier not to stop).

And aside from my calves cramping at 12.5 miles all went pretty well.
I'm sure anyone who was close behind me when that happened got quite the show...
I know it had to look hilarious!
Seriously, the way my feet were contorting, it just had to be quite the site.
But I didn't cry when it happened....even though I wanted to.  Even though I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to keep going.
I stopped, got some water, stretched them out and started back again.

And shortly there after I crossed the finish line!

Tired, worn out, sweaty but oh so proud of this accomplishment.

Maybe a marathon will be next...I don't know.
But I'm one happy girl!
at the end of the race after crossing the finish line!

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text:
Tag Archives: prison

God Bless You!

leejohndrowteamYesterday I had an encounter with a person so bitter over Christmas, it offended her.

I shared a bit about it yesterday.

However they got to that place of hurting did not matter. They were there. So much so they would break policy and find themselves constantly on the lookout for their boss to change the music back. Continue reading God Bless You!

Are We In For The Long Haul?

leejohndrowteamThe other night I had a dream. An very unusual dream. (Why do I not watch scifi? Because my dreams are beyond it!)

I found myself wandering the country side. If I had to pick a place, I would say a rural area of New England. I was wandering about a meadow overlooking an orchard. Something shimmered, much like a sheet of Saran Wrap. As I approached it, it was more like a wall of shimmering plastic. I could see movement on the other side. As I wandered close to it, I felt myself pulled up to it by some power. It pulled me against it. In a flash, I was pulled through and found myself in a prison. As I looked behind me, I saw the wall of “plastic” with the bright sun and the blue sky vibrating through it. Continue reading Are We In For The Long Haul?

Come Out! Come Out Wherever You Are!

leejohndrowteamLast night I connected with a friend who I have not spoken to in years. Lives changed. Different paths. Fellow New Englanders we engaged over my article on New England. She wrote back. “Wow. Yes I resonate but I have always felt that it was our time because we live in the eternal now in Him but it does pair up with how God has called me over the past 25 years to release intimate love, boundless expressions of worship and wild creativity in the church, outside of the church, to large groups and individuals. Beautiful words and declarations…He’s always there with the goods willing to release them in and thru us. I don’t believe there is a need for delay or a sense of distance of any kind. At least that’s my theology now after 25 years.” Continue reading Come Out! Come Out Wherever You Are!

Choosing To Go Over

leejohndrowteamLast night a good friend called me. Ironically I was headed to bed, having already fallen asleep earlier, sometime around 7. (It was a l-o-n-g day.) But we had not spoken for a long time. His wife has been dealing with some pretty unusual sickness issues. I wanted to bring comfort and so I stayed up. On some levels it was more for me than for him.

A lot of our conversation was focused on the “next” step. I needed that. Continue reading Choosing To Go Over

A New Season…What Does That Mean…

Ready for God to express Himself.
Ready for God to express Himself.

A new season…

What does that really mean? How do we digest that? What do we do with that? So often we think a new season is going to be great, but what if it isn’t?

For instance I began a new season a few months ago. By my standards (And others…) I failed. For the first time in my life I was “unsuccessful” and did not meet goals or expectations. Was that a good season? Does God look at it and say “you failed” or you had a bad season?

The result of my “bad season” is I have turned inward. I have stayed closer to God. (Further from friends and family.) I don’t have my verve. I am not sure what it looks like to be like Paul and Silas in a prison singing praise. Do not get me wrong. I have praised God. Only yesterday I am sure some folks thought I was “loose” from somewhere as I sang my songs of praise.

Here we are. August.

As I spoke to many people, most were ready for July to end. It had not “panned” out the way they thought. So what are our standards? I had a new grandchild. Made a couple of new friends. What is your thought?

I believe that the “hunger” for the Lord to move has increased. Things often change in a day or a moment. Only last month people wanted Health Care resolved but today it is the fears caused by the border explosion: hungry children, disease and violence.

Down seasons can make you bitter or better. They can reduce you or increase you. Who is your hope tied to?

Lee…where is the word? I believe this is it.

Today is the day of the beginning. The day where you can say “I am going to praise God in my season of downness”. To recognize God with my praise. To look for Him in what I do not see Him doing yet. To review what He did do for me in my season of down, of apparent failure. To recognize He is “now” in my now.

I looked at Joseph. The man who seemed to lose coats. The man who went from the pit to Potiphar’s, to the prison to the palace. How long did he sit in his place of apparent failure, of despair while in the pit? How long did he languish after he gave a “great” word to a baker and a butler? What was his standard? Did he give up? Did he stop giving words or interpreting dreams? Apparently not, because it was an interpretation that set him free.

Will you extend grace in your pit? Will you minister in your prison? Will you not waver in the “house of Potiphar”?

My time in “darkness” has revealed to me what I am good at and what I am not.

August. The dictionary describes the word August, as majestic, imposing, dignified or of noble birth. So, I say to you this day, what will you birth of majesty, of dignity? Will you release that which has been within you all these years?

Regardless of your prison or palace, God is in you, seeking a place to express Himself through you. Whether it is in the work place or in the grocery store. God invested in you. He invested with a return in mind and He is a long term investor. Regardless of the season, the return is coming.

Is It A Cat? A Dog? What Is It?

Pop and Gunter holding me
Pop and Gunter holding me

When I was child my greatest artwork hung at my grandparents and my parents. As life went on new artwork appeared and old art was taken down. The refrigerator door recorded the life of the family. (Which is good because when I was a kid they had some ugly colors. Avocado, burnt orange, chocolate and copper tone!)

And of course like many children, I was asked of the drawing “Is it a cat? A dog?” I am sure like many children I probably shook my head and said “guess again” as they “did not get it.”. As I grew older I probably scrawled what it was on the page. Cat, dog, tree… But at some point my drawing bettered and the questions became fewer. Soon that artwork was replaced with pictures of family outings and sports or perhaps short stories. Continue reading Is It A Cat? A Dog? What Is It?

What Is Really Going On? You Can’t Go Back…

[amazon template=thumbnail&chan=default&asin=B005C6FG0G]The last few days have been different for me. Not sure why. But as I Godsaysnohave been putting together archives and older stories, testimonies and such I have been visited with a renewed sense of purpose. Let me be clear when I say I am not sure “what it is” entirely. Part of me feels like I have been relegated to a cave. With that left on the table…

I have cited the following story and teaching because I find myself back here every now and then. [amazon template=banner easy&chan=default&asin=B008TUE3WE]

Four lepers. Years ago my friend Jack Taylor shared from this passage 2 Kings 7. It is one of those teachings that never left my mind. “Can’t stay here. Can’t go back. Must go on. Got to tell somebody.” You need to read the story. Because the church clearly cannot be impregnated with the DNA of heaven and think it can go back or stay here. Impregnation connotes growth. Growth is a precursor to birth. And birth is a new creation. Your continued growth is because you were “born from above” and have to grow. Now the bigger question upon coming on such a collection of gems and treasures. (Like the lepers, their enemies had been scattered. You have authority as Jesus did over ALL the works of the devil. The devil is not strong but he is a liar. But you my friend are seated high above principality, rulers of darkness and all wickedness. It is time you TELL SOMEBODY.

Today I want to take a moment and talk about “you can’t stay here.” Sometimes when you are “up to your butt in alligators it is hard to remember that the purpose was to drain the swamp.” Too often we are going down the paths of life and interruption appears. It does not need to be the “elephant in the room” traumatic interruption, but sometimes it is just the “shoe string” broke. But depending on your focus and thought process it can stop you dead in your tracks.

Needless to say we have an enemy, but sometimes it is just life. Your car blowing up is not an attack if you never put oil in it. Regardless, you are stuck.

But I have found that often in our lives God changes His method of communication. He might take you from dreams to the word of God. Or from the word to listening for the still small voice. And that is hard. “Is anybody out there?!?!?!”

God never changes His purpose, but I suspect other things including His way of communication may occur. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we are doing He may have to “force” us off the spot. In our “old language” we used to say that “comfortable” season was a mountaintop and now it is time for the “valley” experience. I do not believe moves on us to be uncomfortable but like having a child I think there is a dynamic of being in “one position” too long. Sometimes you may need to move. I am not saying once you were an evangelist and now you are not. But is it not possible God might want to hang out with you a little and allow for things to change or to shift? Now granted that is part of my experience and the experience of others but it may not need to be yours.

So where “can’t” you stay? How about you cannot remain a baby all your life? Or mine? How about the process of growing up is happening, “like it or not”? “Ready or not-here I come!” (Said all unborn children and the expression of God through you!) Perhaps you need to make a geographic? Perhaps the season of your job has met your needs but was but a step in the purposes of God.[amazon template=thumbnail&chan=default&asin=B005C6FG0G]

As a prophetic voice I see lots of words given and received. I also see that there are lots of “wow’s” while it is happening. But let me tell you when a word is “truth” it may mean your life is about to change. Joseph had a dream. He announced it. How many years did it take from the pit to the prison to the palace? How many coats (bearing identity) were lost in the process?

Everyone wants a great God word! I do. But in the process, you might not be able to go back. I am going to share the following story with you. Let me tell you what changed.

  • God’s purpose was being fulfilled in my life.
  • I learned new messages about “leaning to my own understanding”.
  • My “comfortable” life was upset. (I am not saying God “did” this.)
  • Where I was going was different than what I thought.
  • I saw the fulfillment of many words.
  • His language to me changed.
  • I came to the place I could not “stay here”.

As “Nick at night” (Nicodemus) once asked “can a man return to his mother’s womb?” Sometimes you just can’t go back. You got to move on. That is what happened to Tina and I.

dontworryA Quandary

Like so many these days, I feel as my life is a quandary. Perplexing. I read the news. I look at the changing events across nations. I watch economies shift and slide. And in the midst of it, my natural self rebels at the changes I am forced to “go through.” Why? Because I am caught in the issues of the globe! I have watched my business change as other businesses have floundered and gone out of business. I wonder what is going on as so many do. But I trust God.A few years ago, my wife and I were the owners of a home. Two bedrooms up and 3 converted rooms down. The home produced income. A radio station paid for a small portion for their transmitter. We thought we would be there forever. A smaller home, beautiful views.

My then, handicapped son (God has healed him from the traumatic brain injury and given him a great wife!) was living there, as were my daughter and her three children (A newborn baby was one) and my youngest daughter. Family

And then the enemy sneaked in. A contractor had been hired to remove the underground oil tank(Required by our insurance and mortgagor.) With in twelve hours of pulling away, my lower level was flooded. Three months of doing all that I could while I waded (Yes, pun intended!) through paperwork for insurance companies, etc., while I was working 24/7 to keep the water from the $50,000 transmitter. (In retrospect, I should have let the water destroy it. Had I let it be ruined, insurance would have had to kick in.) Finally respite came in the form of winter, drying up the water source. During the winter my wife and I gutted the destroyed living area. (Over $60,000.) That spring we had installed an inside drainage system.) We thought we had it knocked. And while we worked out of pocket waiting for insurance companies to step up to the table and did what we could, one night as I lay in bed I could not breathe. Black mold. The story goes on and on. (You can read about it at this Facebook link if you are interested.) The upshot was we lived off site for the next three years.

We devoted a lot of time and energy to this property. We never received a dime of insurance and spent all our savings trying to recover. We are in a a financial crunch as the result of it. 4 years later we still own the property, are trying to negotiate a way through with the bank, and may or may not lose it.

Why share a story like that? Because God is still Lord over our lives. He has not changed, was not surprised nor worried. And neither should we be.

Paul tells us in Philippians 4: 4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Only last year many lost their homes and their properties in tropical storm Irene. did I have compassion? You bet!

I am reminded of the story of David on the run. 1 Samuel 21 tells us that upon inquiry, he finds the sword of Goliath, wrapped in an ephod. Two chapters later, we see David wrapped in the ephod, while all that is stolen is restored. Sometimes we need to be reminded of a previous victory to get over the hump, the quandary we are in to see the restoration. In David’s case it was the sword that slew Goliath.

My wife and I have had some down days, even some down weeks over our nearly 20 years of marriage.

  •  I did not see my youngest for three years, but as their mother was dying, they were restored to me.
  • Not long after we were married, I was hit by a taxicab and put out of business. 6 weeks later the Lord healed me.
  • We received a call one night that our son had been killed in an accident. Only two years ago we married him off to one of our lovely daughter-in-loves.
  • My youngest grandson had been given up for adoption. 28 days later he was returned to my arms.

Like so many, I could list many, many more. But the Lord is faithful and worthy to be praised. That scripture from Philippians has been worth it’s weight in “gold” to me over the last 20 years.

Some of you have faced death and won. Tell someone! People need to know that the Lord is still Lord over our lives. No matter what.

3 Words For Today You May Want To Consider

flamesNo sooner had I completed my blog entry for today than I found myself hearing and seeing words.

I feel like we are in a season of revival, of awakening and words that encourage and change us are important. I see, as do others, far reaching change of our nation.

With that in mind I share these three words. Continue reading 3 Words For Today You May Want To Consider


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December 12, 2017
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The 2017 Florida Statutes

Title XI
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F.S. 163.3229
163.3229 Duration of a development agreement and relationship to local comprehensive plan.The duration of a development agreement may not exceed 30 years, unless it is extended by mutual consent of the governing body and the developer, subject to a public hearing in accordance with s. 163.3225. No development agreement shall be effective or be implemented by a local government unless the local government’s comprehensive plan and plan amendments implementing or related to the agreement are in compliance with s. 163.3184.
History.s. 24, ch. 86-191; s. 32, ch. 91-45; s. 11, ch. 92-129; s. 5, ch. 2007-204; s. 24, ch. 2011-139.


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Open Access News

News from the open access movement

Friday, July 11, 2008

Personal publication lists to motivate self-archiving

Michael Smith has blogged a testimonial to SelectedWorks from Bepress.

For me, his post is more evidence that the desire for personal publication lists (handsome, comprehensive, up to date) can motivate self-archiving.  This incentive for populating repositories isn't limited to SelectedWorks, and was taken up by PublicationsList in April 2007 and by EM-Loader in June 2008.

Update.  Charles Bailey points out that RePEC offers a related tool for creating Customized Publication Compilations.  These are not lists of one's own publications but lists of publications by selected authors or publications on a topic of interest.


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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Baby Card #3

Yesterday, I was so delighted to learn that I won Jodi's Geometry Challenge over at Pink Cat Studio! When I found out, I did a little barnyard dance with my son and we couldn't stop smiling. Then I celebrated a little more with a big bowl of ice cream. LOL It's a very proud moment for me since I'm so new to the stamping community and it only drives me to continue creating and hopefully inspire others. I'm very honoured to be recognized this early on. Thank you to the PCS design team for choosing my card and to my fellow contestants for your inspiration, too! I'm also very excited about the new release of sporty Billy stamps next Wednesday. Sneak peeks start Monday on the PCS blog! You can also enter for a chance to win the new set by adding this blinkie to your blog.

This brings me to today's card which I made for a colleague's upcoming baby shower. Even though I'm currently on a one-year maternity leave, I like to drop by the office every week or two with my little guy to say hello to everyone. I really miss the social aspect of being at work! Another colleague ordered matching birthday cards for her stylin' twin sisters and I started working on them but ran into a creative rut so I put those aside and made this baby card. The idea for this card actually popped into my head while I was putting my son down for a nap. I didn't end up making it the way I imagined with a 'baby boy' sign hanging from the bottles but it's a nice variation. I really wanted to use a wider alphabet ribbon from Urban Scrapyard but, as hard as I tried, I couldn't tie a decent bow with it. I punched out the stars from the same background paper so the colours would match perfectly. Since the stars are randomly placed, the blue bow completes the bottom opening nicely.

Sources: DCWV and SBD cardstock; Provo Craft paper; Imaginisce giraffe; Memories Artprint Brown ink; Copic markers; Marvy Uchida star and baby bottle punches; Offray ribbon; Fiskars Nostalgia corner edger; Dimension squares

Michelle B. AKA JustPaintingAround said...

Congrats! I your winning creation over on the PCS blog and just had to come over and congratulate you!!!! Woo hoo!

Stacey Schafer said...

so darling!