"I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born." - Ronald Reagan
Real Name: Toni Anne Member Since: January 26, 2006 Last Signed In: August 29, 2008 Profile Views: 2140 Blog Views: 5825 McCain Picks His VP; Hillary Crying Somewhere in America Obama Voted Against Protecting Babies Born Alive Obama Picks Biden for VP Reminder: David Hagan and Allan Ramirez speaking tonight - 6:30 pm - CFL Meeting CFL Meeting Tomorrow w/Guest Speakers: David Hagan & Allan Ramirez Elected Officials Break the Law: Authorities Say OK IRS Celebrates As Congress Takes Away More Privacy Do We Need To Replace Our Elected Officials? (Free Meeting Wed, July 16th, 7PM) You Don’t Have the Right To Remain Silent Seeking Moms in Victoria and the Surrounding Areas January 06 February 06 March 06 April 06 May 06 June 06 July 06 August 06 September 06 October 06 November 06 December 06 January 07 February 07 March 07 April 07 May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08
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Since it is Earth Day 2008, I thought I would do my part.
I am addicted to good deeds because they make me feel better about myself. I know, so vain, but people get help and free stuff in the process, so it isn’t all that bad.
I want to bring attention to a website called Freecycle.
Freecycle was started to prevent landfills from filling so quickly. It is a virtual garage sale, only everything is absolutely free. You join the group (or groups) in your area and post what you want or what you are giving away.
For example (and these are real things I have gotten or given):
The point of these examples is that you can give and ask for anything you want. I have seen some really unreasonable requests. Someone wanted a Tom Tom, and another person asked for a boat. On the flipside of that, I have seen people give away and recieve very nice computers and computer monitors.
The people who give away these "good" items don't want to fill the landfill with things that someone else may want, and they don't have the time or want to sell. There are some people out there that would gladly take your 52" Projection Screen TV that is broken, because they can fix it and use it for themselves.
My mom gave her 52" away and the person who took it fixed it and is using it. I see broken DVD players and such given away all the time. I got a Karaoke Machine thata was broken and my husband found that all it took to fix the problem was a $2 fuse.
Freecycle is not limited to anything, as long as it isn't illegal. So it is a great place to search for a pet, clothes, home and office items, or even computer stuff. It is a virtual Free Wal-Mart.
I see things set out by curbs all the time that other people would love to have. You never know what another person wants or needs that you are throwing away, until you start giving it away.
If you can’t join Freecycle or a reuse group, then at the very least put everything in a central location (not on trash day) and put a big sign up that says, “FREE”.
It sounds a little cliché, but if everyone does a little, it makes the job that much smaller.
Check out Freecycle and use it for a couple of weeks. You never know, you may just find something that you could use. All for Free!
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To join the Victoria Freecycle Group, click HERE.
To join the Edna Freecycle Group, click HERE.
To learn more about Freecycle, click HERE.
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*To those of you following the VISD saga, I have been told that I will have news to report on that by Thursday or Friday. We shall see…
I went to the VISD school board meeting tonight and I wanted to give the people interested an update. I was running late from another meeting, so I got there too late to get my name on the list to talk, but someone who has been working with this issue for over 6 months got his name on the list.
He was called to speak and had five minutes. He was slightly nervous because, unbeknownst to me, when you address the school board, they cannot answer you. They do not comment and they will not answer any questions. This is my fault, as I should have informed myself before attending.
Someone commented a day or so ago that I should email Tami Keeling or Ray Walden (sp) and that they would answer my questions. I will be calling both of those school board members tomorrow. If my phone calls fall upon deaf ears, I will send an email.
I don’t have high hopes, as I have called VISD three times now and no response will be given. Each time I am directed to another person’s voicemail and I leave a message. I was transferred to a Gloria Wearden (sp) one day and her phone line was busy. I was told she was on the phone and to call her back.
I hung up my phone and dialed her back to see if I could get a voicemail. This time, someone answered and told me she was not on campus, which was odd since only 30 seconds before she was on the phone.
I will also be trying to contact the newly formed PTO, but at this point that is all I know to do. I feel so disheartened because this is a major issue and after three calls and a school board meeting, I am still at the same place I was before.
I will apologize again for saying "that a little birdie" told me about this in the beginning. I was only trying to protect my source. This is not a rumor.
My source has been to 3 school board meetings and called the VISD Administration offices more times than he can count. Finally, when he got to speak to the superintendent, he was referred to the VISD’s lawyer.
The lawyer has not been able to answer one question in nearly 6 months because he is “busy.”
Am I the only one that sees VISD is hiding something here?
Am I the only one that thinks it is absolutely atrocious that VISD will not give a single answer to a question that pertains to every single child in the entire school district?
Your children (as young as 11 and 12) can go to a teacher, coach, nurse, or someone of the like and tell them they are scared of getting in trouble with their parents for having sex and they want help to be “protected.” They are then sent to the nurse who refers them to UTMB, who in turn gives them medical treatment and medication, all without your consent or knowledge that such a program even exists.
Furthermore, your children can do this as many times as they wish. Have then been any studies on how the Plan B or birth control pills affect a child as young as 10 or 11 after repeated use?
Not that I know of.
What is the protocol for a child who goes to a superior with this information?
What are the guidelines? What if a young girl approaches an older male teacher and confides this in him? Who protects the teacher and the girl if any problems arise?
There are so many sides to this equation that need to be answered and addressed.
VISD has an OBLIGATION to give the parents answers. They have a right to know what services are offered to their children and give their consent. At the very least, the student handbook needs to include this information, or the parents need to be informed via a letter or something of the like.
I am interested in finding out how the people running for school board feel about this issue and what they plan to do about it.
Aren’t elections only a few weeks away? Maybe one of you will represent the parents of the children of VISD.
I will be updating this blog as I get more information. Maybe someone will talk to me tomorrow, or answer my emails.
Here it is the middle of the week and I have still not been able to get into contact anyone at VISD. Phone calls to the administration office just get bounced around to one person to another. When I do call back, the people that I was told were just on the phone less than 30 seconds before my call, were “off of the campus” at the moment.
I was told by someone that more than a few VISD administration and nurses did read the “article” in the paper, and that some of the commented. Going through the comments, I wonder who is who?
There is a VISD School Board Meeting tomorrow night at 6 p.m., for those of you who are interested in asking your questions in person. The meeting will take place at the Administration Building at 102 Profit Drive.
If I don’t get any answers before then, I may be present at this meeting as well.
I have another blog on the backburner for a few days and I am looking to start writing about locally owned, small businesses in the area that cater to the customer and offer stellar service. I am aiming to write at least two times a week about a business, and post pictures as well (as I did with the Tots-N-Locks blog entry).
If you would like to “nominate” a business you think provides outstanding service and quality, please comment below or email me at toni_marek@yahoo.com.
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A little birdie told me something pretty interesting a couple of days ago. A girl or boy, as young as 13 years old can go to her coach, teacher, counselor, or any school official and tell them that she is sexually active and needs help for a problem, but she doesn’t want her parents to know. The person she speaks with can then refer her to the nurse who then refers her to UTMB. Once at UTMB, your child is able to get a battery of tests done, birth control, and a wealth of information about the “options” she can take for her “problems.” Do you, as parents of students at VISD schools, know about this? Your 13 year old daughter can go to her English teacher and tell her that she thinks she may be pregnant, have an STD, or just wants free birth control. Your daughter can then tell the teacher she doesn’t want her parents to know, and that teacher can’t tell anyone. It has even been said that once referred to UTMB, young girls/boys are told they “should get a P. O. Box” to ensure any communication doesn’t fall into the hands of the parents. SERIOUSLY? I would like to know what you guys think of this. Do you have kids, relatives, friends that go to VISD? Did you know about this? Are you a student that has actually experienced this? If you don’t want to comment publicly, please feel free to email me at toni_marek@yahoo.com The aforementioned birdie told me that most parents have no clue this goes on, and it isn’t listed in the student’s handbook. I have nieces/nephews in VISD right now, and I can tell you one thing: Parents NEED to know what VISD and UTMB are doing. Before I delve into this story, let me explain the letters in place of names. I posted a seemingly innocent blog one day about something or the other and thought nothing of it. Later that day, my husband called me and instructed me to never use his name again in my blogs. Apparently, I used a “pet name” for my husband in the blog entry, without thinking, and someone he worked with read the blog. You can only guess what happened after that. So that, folks, is why I now use letters in place of names in my blogs. Back to the story: My husband, B, always cuts my son, L’s, hair. He gets out the clippers and it doesn’t take more than 10 minutes. No problems ever arise that a lollipop can’t fix. This time, I wanted something different. My little boy is almost 4 years old and he has always had the same haircut. My husband kept it pretty short and neat, but I wanted to see it a little longer and maybe in a bowl/mushroom type cut. My husband didn’t think it would look good, so I decided to take him to an actual salon. Since I don’t have a little girl to dress up, I have to “style” my son’s hair. I am a lot better than I used to be. There was a time when I would color coordinate everything he wore down to his diaper. Seriously… Anyway, a member of the “mommy group” I belong to told me about a place in town called Tots and Locks. Supposedly, they really cater to the kids and make it an easy experience. Once upon a time I took L to a “real” salon and promptly left. I guess they don’t teach stylists how to treat children in beauty school. I ventured to the Tots-N-Locks salon and I have to say, I was very pleased. It looks as if you are walking into a daycare. There were toys in the front area, a large flat screen TV with a movie playing, and another TV to the side with an XBOX attached to it. In the middle was a mock karaoke stage with a microphone and speakers. The lady working must have taken extra classes on how to treat kids, because she was really great with L. She had him hop up into a chair shaped like a car (there was a Hummer next to it) and while she cut his hair, he got to play a video game. It didn’t take long and it was only $12 after tax. Since it was such a painless and nice experience, I thought I would add some pictures and information about the salon. Also, it is a small business and customers are customers. I have had SUCH bad experience with customer service in the past years, I decided that maybe I can focus on the positive with my new comeback to the blogs. I am going to take pictures and write about the good businesses in town, so as to offer an alternative to the places that refuse to treat a customer right or take some kind of pride in their job. Eventually, something has got to give, and in the meantime - these small businesses will get some much needed customers! Jessica (Montano), thanks for a great experience! My son now has “hair like Harry!” For those of you not in the know, he means Harry from Spiderman 3, but he can still shoot some mad webs. I can’t explain it, I only live it people. So - the name of the business is Tots-N-Locks. They are located at 4504 Lilac Lane Suite 3 (across the street from Mac Haik). Their phone number is 570-TOTS (570-8687). Jessica told me that they do “Diva Parties” for the girls which include mini manicures. Another upside is that they will cut your hair (or do waxing), while your child plays! Once my youngest gets old enough to engage himself with toys by himself for more than a millisecond, I might try it out. I have to find a new place to get my hair cut. It is a long story for another blog, but the last time I got my hair “trimmed,” the girl at Regis in the Mall cut NINE INCHES off of my hair before I could say “What the??” Then she got scared and stopped, leaving me with lopsided hair. I crap you not, people. I will elaborate on another night when it isn’t nearing 1 a.m. Until then, go take your kid to Tots-N-Locks, and treat yourself to a haircut too! To any readers I have left: I didn’t forget about the Twizzlers… and I am back.
p.s. - What on earth is the deal with all of this Mingo Mango Major Mom MHS drama? I have been "gone" too long. Maybe I should change the title to "A Post Not About MHS."
Pictures from our adventure...
I met someone a week ago that used to read my blog faithfully. I have been really busy with certain aspects of my life, so I have neglected this little space. I will be back. Give me a few more days. Also - don't forget to show some love to the Twizzlers... I have forgotten about them, too. |
