I really wasn't sure. I was sure that it was very muddy, and that wood-smoke seemed to be constantly drifting from somewhere unknown, mixing with the rain to form a bitter miasma. There were a lot of people milling about the place, all looking rather uncomfortable. I think I knew some of them.

A set of swings stood in the middle of the area, encrusted with mud as if it had been shot at with some kind of mud cannnon. I remember vaguely sneering at it.

And then he attacked. He was tall and gangly, swathed from head to foot in heavy, mud-soaked clothes, his eyes hidden behind the shadowed lenses of some welding goggles, his face lost behind the filthy folds of a mud encrusted scarf. He seemed very irritated with me, and went on to demonstrate this by trying to hit me with the butt of a shotgun; a weapon he then went on to fire at me - fortunately missing.

The details of the fight that ensued are a little hazy. I know it ended when I grabbed a garden fork from somewhere, knocked the man down, and then used the fork to somehow block the muzzle of the gun.

Anyway, soon I was inside a nice, warm, semi-detached house, having a bit of a laugh with some friends (friends who do not actually exist). I remember some fooling about, and one of the people suddenly pointing at my right arm and saying "Eww, what's that?"

I looked, and saw what appeared to be a line of dried snot crusting the inside of my forearm. A little embarrassed, and assuming that I had unconsciously wiped my nose on my arm, I gave some glib explanation of what it was (definitely not snot), and looked at my other arm...

...Loaves of corrupt flesh hung from pulsing, pus dripping pipes like exotic jewels. Rancid disease, all the colours of the decayed rainbow shone in mottled glory along my arms' muscles, the veins etched in necrotic lines against the gangrenous flesh, whilst glistening pods of open sores oozed fetid yellow ichor and glassily shone with tear-bright excretions.

Something was veeeeery wrong, though I was actually overjoyed, for I had my excuse! Hah!

The friends were horrified, and advised me to see a doctor. The seriousness of my decayed self then hit home, and I raised my arm again, thinking that it looked a little better...and noticing the drawing pins apparently stuck in there.

Then I remembered; my best mate had stuck them in as a joke. I bet that's where the rot was coming from. And it was. Out came the pins with a spurt of oily juice, and at once, the disease was reduced to another crusty line of mucusy ooze. Yay!

Thus invigorated, I wandered into the main hotel lounge, where small carved heads floated, glassy eyes flickering, ready to see to the needs of the guests. One came to me, it's LED like eyes gleaming redly. A smooth voice, silk on air, drifted from its static lips; "Would you like drink Mr Redshaw?"

I said I would.

And then the inevitable troubles began. Now I can't comment much on this as I woke soon after; just as the tanks had burst through the wall, and began firing at the gnashing little constructs, but I am sure it was a spectacular battle, with people getting gnawed in the neck, explosions, and finally, the emergence of some horrific spectral gestalt from the shattered heads, leading to another insane battle; technology Vs the supernatural.

But I never managed to dream that far, so I shall never know!

More to come from their visit tomorrow, but for now Adam and I are the only ones not slumbering at this party...must rectify that at once!

I know that we are going to be best friends, I can feel it.  Could you please, I beg of you, just add some elevators to your buildings?

Love Cas.

I can't believe that I'm finally here.  It was a rather pleasant experience being trans-Atlantic, minus the FAA's internal communication air traffic breakdown part.  By the GRACE of God, we only experienced a delay on the runway in the take off pattern, and had no delay with our landing.  Forty five minutes later we were in the air.  I had a lovely French woman sit beside me, (I also had the aisle seat which is another plus!), and she helped me with my French.  It's crazy comparing the flights with 2 years in between; the whole airplane had tv's with great movies might I add, contrary to our flight to Europe before.  I still stand strong with my thought that international flights do in fact have the best food.  Dinner included a filet with mashed potatoes, brie cheese, baguettes, a bottle of white wine (for "sleeping" the stewardess told me), tapioca pudding, and chocolate banana cake.  Tea and coffee followed and in the morning upon waking up I glanced down and saw I had been gifted with breakfast on my tray table, consisting of a muffin avec beurre, OJ, and yogurt, followed by another round of tea and coffee.

We landed at Charles de Gaulle at around 8:50, which isn't bad considering the huge delay we had prior to take off.  Interesting fun fact-Terminal E (where we arrived) is not really a terminal.  You land, the plane moves around, and you then get bussed to the appropriate covered "area" to go through customs.  Very strange.  Going through customs was a breeze.  The guard was impressed with my french compared to the previous Americans he interviewed, smiled and laughed and said, "Bonne chance avec vous cours." How sweet!

Blessing #2:  I was able to find all of my luggage and load all 156 pounds of it onto a dolly in under five minutes.  All 3 of my bags came out in a row-dreamscore.  My taxi driver was extremely courteous, and between the airport and the end of my cab ride I was having full conversations with the driver.  I was able to explain Northeastern's co-op program, in French, which came as a shock to myself!  I have a hard time explaining it in english as is.  I'm already thinking in french more, which is a nice shift in pace.

It really hit me-what I'm doing here-not when we landed (believe me I was a little giddy), but in the cab crossing over the Seine.  I looked up at the Notre Dame and it clicked-I just really moved to a foreign country.  At the moment I am totally alone, with no one I know here right now, with a slight language barrier, and a whole lot of luggage<--understatement. Upon that realization (which I guess is the closest I'll come to culture shock while over here), for that 30 seconds I almost worried about what I had gotten myself into; nothing familiar, and no longer an Acela ride away from my family or a boat ride to extended family should anything happen.

Well that thought dissipated when I looked back at the Notre Dame for a second glance.  I think it's good that I acknowledged mentally and spiritually that this is it, for keeps, but didn't let it put a damper over what I'm about to experience.  Arriving at the hotel I was excited my room was on the 2nd floor, until I remembered that I am in France, and in France the ground floor is not the "first floor" like in the states, but rather a "zero" floor, which means I'm on the 3rd floor American.  156 pounds of luggage and 32 stairs later (yes, I counted), I finally was in my room.  Not for the faint of heart.  College definitely taught me to suck it up and take the cheaper route, hence booking a room where the bathroom is outside in the hallway which made me feel like I was back in Kerr Hall.  My room has a sink though, and a lovely opening window to people watch.  Did I mention the no elevator part?

In true French fashion, right as I was about to cat nap, a protest of around 200 people passed by my hotel.  Already exhausted, I had no clue what they were saying, I'm assuming something about human rights as that's a hot topic these days.  There goes my nap...I got up and went to explore my future neighborhood.

On the way over to the Marais, I found a lot of things that were interesting to my eye.  paris, really, I feel is exactly like Boston in more ways than people realize.  The Seine looks as dirty (or dirtier) than the Charles, with people on boat tours similar to duck boats. Every corner there are multiple languages being spoken, like Boston, and if you replaced the facade of the French buildlings with brownstone and the iron balconies with bay windows, it's just like Newbury Street.  Except every street in Paris would be Newbury St.  All the rues here has restaurants with outdoor seating that would put Stephanie's to shame.  Every corner turned it seems as if a French version of Armami Cafe is pops up, followed by endless retail storefronts.  One can spot an American here easily-they stick out like a sore thumb.  A REALLY sore thumb.  Most of the girls here who are visiting Americans, and I'm not sure why, are walking around in sweat pants and hoodies.  Never been my style, and I guess that works for some people, but it really makes them apparent and easier "traps" I guess.  The Parisians, in stark contrast, are so effortlessly chic.  One thing in particular, they're all wearing converse, from 5 to 55, I've counted over 30 pairs today while strolling.

My neighborhood is tres tres chic. Wow. Corners hold organic eateries and the flagship A.P.C. store, which is right across from the flagship American Apparel (and oxymoron in my eyes to have that here). The prices are ridiculous. Eating lunch today, I also discovered the secret to how french women do not get fat. They take at least an hour to eat a meal. I've read about this eating strategy before, and since I had plenty of time and no responsibilities today, I tried it out. A small portion of penne with mushrooms and creme sauce, a coffee, and 65 minutes later, I was stuffed. It works. Americans should adopt it. I have now decided, after my experiment, that a). I could get used to this, and b). I'm going to try this in other areas while living here. It's odd, walking around Paris and wathcing how others interact, it's as if time is virtually suspended here....on a consistent basis. No one is rushing, everyone saunders, and lingers around a table, which I would find rather annoying in agitating in Boston and most certainly in NYC, but in Paris is just clicks. This might be a nice change of pace.

One change of pace I could really use: a lower exchange rate. And with that, au revoir.

Blossoming in my mind, I see you,

When I am deep in slumber,

You arrive to thrive,

You are void of colour,

Or that’s what they say,

For me, you are the rainbow,

That comes with the rain shower,

And a sprinkle of sunshine to warm,

You are the world of illusion,

Or so to say, a magic trick,

Without the reasoning and the doubt,

Showing me what I want now,

Vanishing the next instant,

 In you lie my happiness,

So do my fears and desires,

Unknown to the universe, unknown to all,

For only I can see and feel you,

My lonely planet of dreams........

Doorbell ?... I thought.  Nope - we don't have one!  (Can't even figure out why I even considered that in the first place - the mind is a funny thing when it is sleepy :)  )

Could be the TV! ... I thought. Our still new LCD TV was just in the living area outside our bedroom,... and yes, it has all sorts of functions that we are yet to fully figure out!  I thought that maybe the boys had inadvertently put on a timer or something and the TV was calling us!  (Again, a weird thought to have!)

Ohh..No...Someone has hacked into my computer!!!  .... That was the last thought I remember having before dozing off again! 

-------------------------------

Morning arrived and the mystery was put to rest.  It was hubby's Blackberry notifying him of an incoming email.  He had changed the notification tone and on top of that .... set the volume at the highest level!  I was NOT HAPPY!!

Being the light sleeper that I am,... I get woken up many times a night for all sorts of reasons, but this was the first time I was awoken by an incoming email!!!  Sometimes I think that technology has gone too far...

What about you?  Have you ever been woken up by anything unusual before?

Alright everybody! The time has come! I am scheduled to be induced tomorrow and I wanted to stress the importance of bringing the best quality pillows. I called to see if the hospital had wireless internet and the nurse said several times that I needed to remember pillows!

This is the one that I'm bringing for myself. It can be adjusted to different shapes to help me feel more comfortable so it's number one on my list! Hopefully it will be a quick process and I can bring my little one home soon!

Moonlight Slumber Serenity Star Transitional Full Length Body Pillow at Bellacroft

Clocky^®

Rolling Alarm Clock

The alarm clock that runs away and hides when you don't wake up. Clocky gives you one chance to get up. But if

you snooze, Clocky will jump off of your nightstand and wheel around your room looking for a place to hide.

Clocky is kind of like a misbehaving pet, only he will get up at the right time.

Set your snooze time, 0-9 min

Snooze once before he runs away

Choose 0 and he runs right away

Can jump from up to 3 feet

Moves on wood and carpet

Press snooze to view time at night

Screen flashes when beeping/running

Alarm beeps in random pattern

Clocky is small: 5.25" x 3.5" x 3.5"

Want him to stay put? Disable wheels.

Early low battery warning

Colors: almond, aqua, mustard, coco, raspberry, and chrome.

Prices $49.99 - $54.99

Not sure about the other colors, but this chrome is beautiful.

Honorable Mention:

"The Sonic Bomb".

We may wonder at our collective willingness to sign over decision-making power to people and groups of people skilled in the art of posing as our caring guardians. We may wonder at how the power that technology gave us almost irresistibly pushed out our own powers of listening and watching, of talking and thinking about things for ourselves, to the point where we no longer much cared what happened in the world so long as all of our needs and most of our wants were seen to. We may wonder at the depth of our loyalty to the myth of individual strength and collective weakness. We may wonder at the time we wasted staring at screens imbibing nonsense designed to make us stare at screens.

And who is this "we", anyway? As for "me", I'm too well forewarned to lie around and snooze the world away. The first ones to wake up sit around, cook a meal, flip through magazines, humming a tune, waiting for the others to emerge from their deep deep slumbers. It's lonely at first, but we can build camaraderie slowly. Last one to wake up has to do the dishes.

Sorry for not writing in such a long time, I'll try to change that now..

I was busy doing some work, enhancing this page, starting my own file server, learning all about ftp, and a lot more of that technical, geeky stuff...

These pill may be addictive, the warning label said.

NO KIDDING, I thought! :)

  Sleep is by far the new sex, a lot of sleep experts are starting to say, it's being advertised all over the place, sex sells is to sleep (aids) sell: Men think about it every seven seconds or so. Women romanticize it. Teenagers yearn for the weekends, when they might get a little of it- that goes for both sex & sleep!

  These days, sleep is just another basic need that Americans can't seem to meet. And though the national sleep deficit is mostly a cultural issue, it's easier to treat as a medical problem than as a symptom of life out of whack. People aren't winding down, they're going to be and their minds are still racing from the days dos' and didn't dos'.

  The National Sleep Foundation releases its annual poll March 28th that confirms what most people already know, if they could escape their groggy haze long enough to form a coherent thought: Nobody gets enough sleep. The reasons are familiar. People spend more hours working and driving, and they raise this children, manage their households and care for aging parents on the fly. They also stay plugged into the grind longer, tapping our e-mails untiljust before hitting the sheets, or they're already in bed, with their laptop propped up in front of them.

Then they expect to screech to a halt and enter REM on demand.

"People feel the need to be very efficient in their sleep," said Heather Hartley, a sociology professor, who studies the links between drug companies and society. "They budget a set amount of time and then get stressed out if they can't go immediately to sleep. There's no cushion. There's where the vicious cycle begins."

  There probably was never a golden age of sleep in this country, as if Americans were well-rested before globalization, the Internet and women's liberation came along and ruined everything. We've always worked hard. Even our old colloquialisms for sleep, such as "hitting the hay" and "sawing logs," are work-related.

  But the collective fatigue is growing. People sleep nearly an hour less each night than they did two generations ago, according to historic estimates of sleep patterns. High-school seniors are among the most sleep-deprived, getting about two hours less each weeknight than the nine hours they need.

  The sleep experts say relax, drink less coffee and booze, eat better, rest more & exercise. The drug companies say take this pill.

These days, a prescription is far easier to acquire than a healthy life.

  American's filled an astounding 42 million prescriptions for sleeping pills last year, up 60 percent since 2000, according to the research company IMS Health. Drug companies spent $300 million marketing sleeping pills such as Lunesta and Ambien last year and grossed $2 billion is sales!\

Meanwhile, coffee consumption keep rising. There's a Starbucks almost every 6 blocks in my city.

  "Somethings' got to give, " says  another psychology professor who has begun to study sleeplessness as a symptom of work stress. Personal coping strategies can only do so much, she added, when the economy and culture are rigged against a good nights' sleep.

  I don't intend to pop a sleeping pill more than once every few years, no matter how many Lunesta ads crowd my favorite television shows. The drug-induced slumber feels to little too much like getting hit in the head. So the little pill beckons, offering instant relief for your Chronic Sleep Disorder, you get on the sleigh and pull the fur robes snug around your hands, and glide through the forest toward the golden pot of coffee shimmering on the horizon.

  It's not a good nights' sleep, but it's the next-best thing.

yet
ocean deep
asleep
peace within
i hold
forgiveness
letting go becos
i love him

nay
no returns
i do not ask
his heart to keep
today
chains of past
bind no more
love has freed

Alright, now I'm not an expert, but I know an excellent mattress when I see one! This All-Foam Mattress by Moonlight Slumber is the first of its kind! One side offers a firmer surface for newborns and the other side is slightly softer for the older babies. Both sides are made within SIDS reduction guidelines!

I did created my baby registry at the local baby stores, but I know THIS wasn't available there! I found it at www.bellacroft.com

Check it out!

Moonlight Slumber Starlight Support Crib Mattress

   Scores of people lost their lives.  The world's mightiest army was forced to abandon a strategic base.  Property damage approached a billion dollars.  All because the sleeping giant, Mount Pinatube in the Philippines, roared back to life after six hundred years of quiet slumber.

   When asked to account for the incredible destruction caused by this volcano, a research scientist from the Philippines Department of Volcano logy observed.  When a volcano is silent for many years, our people forget that it's a volcano and begin to treat it like a mountain.

   Like Mount Pinatube, our sinful nature always has the potential to erupt, bringing great harm both to ourselves and to the others.  The biggest mistake we can make is to ignore the volcano and move back onto what seems like a dormant mountain." (Stephen Schertzinger)

Quote of the day:  Michael P. Green

Like a piece of wood in a pond, a Christian can float on the surface of sin and not get too wet.  But, just as wood that is in the water for too long gets waterlogged and sinks to the bottom, so also does the Christian who spends too much time in sin.

Bible verse of the day:  Romans 3:23

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for loving me so much and for forgiving me of my sins.  Father, help me to put away the desires of my flesh and the temptations that may come along with daily living.  Give me the strength and the wisdom to understand and know that You always give me a way out of sinning and to know that I don't have sin because as Romans so clearly states in 6:14, "sin shall not have dominion over me, for I am not under law but under grace."  I pray for my eyes to stay focused on You, that I may go where You say to go and do what You say to do.  I thank You for this day!

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen

Ilang linggo na din akong natutulog ng maaga. Dati rati kasi umaga na ko kung matulog, inaabot ako ng madaling araw. Kaya naman yung eye bag ko eh pwede ng taniman ng halaman, lolz! Naalala ko pa nga noon dahil sa kakapuyat ko eh pinutakte ako ng mga pimples, nyay!

Gustuhin ko man magpuyat tulad ng dati, gumamit ng internet hanggang sumakit na mata ko at dumoble na tingin ko sa mga nababasa ko, manood ng telenovela hanggang alas kwatro (oo, baduy na. wala kang pakialam!), magbasa ng kung anik-anik, wantusawang makinig ng musika, tumunganga sa kwarto at tumingin sa kisame, maghalungkat ng gamit at magsukat ng trip na damit, humarap sa salamin at mag-astang model, magtelebabad sa telepono hanggang sumakit ang tenga o di kaya'y magtext hanggang mapuno ang inbox, kuhanan ang sarili gamit ang timer ng camera, kumain ng chicha hanggang tamarin ng magtutbras at kung ano-ano pa...

Ngayon di ko na yan magawa. Bakit kamo? Di ko actually alam eh, hahaha! Para kasing may napigil sa akin at nag-uutos na matulog na ako. Basta pagpatak ng alas dies y medya ng gabi para na akong hilong talilong at kailangan eh nasa higaan na ako sa ayaw ko man at sa ayaw. :D

Sabagay, maganda din matulog ng maaga. Mas lumalakas ang katawan, bawas na si eye bag, kumikinis ang mukha at walang sakit ng ulo pag gising. Yun nga lang madami akong namimiss, tulad na lang ng pakikipagchat ko sa mga kaibigan ko na sa gabi ko lang natatagpuan at paggawa ng entry sa blog (ewan ko kasi parang mas ayos sa akin magisip sa gabi kasi tahimik). May ilan na nga akong friend na nagsabing hindi na nila ako nakikita at nakakausap, nagtatago daw ako hehehe. See? Hindi sila sanay na hindi ako nakikitang naka online hanggang madaling araw, ibig sabihin 1st runner-up ako sa pagpupuyat.

Teka lang, bakit parang may nakikita akong mga stars sa paligid??? Naku, hala umabot ako ng 11pm! Hinihila na ako papunta sa bed, ayan na po, sige bukas na lang ulit mga pips. Salamat sa pagbabasa! ;)