Carina met someone. And then the rest of la familia met him and he was very patient - with all of us. He even tolerated my 20-questions-investigation! Not only that - he passed. (And on the way back to his home town he apparently wrecked his car as he hit two deers ...)

No próximo sábado, no Pacaembu, grupo de torcedoras irá entreter o público antes e no intervalo da partida com o Santo André

O grupo Cheerleaders Brasil será responsável pela animação da torcida do Corinthians no próximo jogo do Timão, sábado à tarde, contra o Santo André, no Pacaembu. As garotas ensaiam diariamente numa academia de São Paulo e prometem coreografias especiais para contagiar os corintianos. Recentemente, Vanessa, Carina, Daniele, Ariana e Giovana foram fotografadas para a seção "Mulheres que amamos" da Revista Playboy. Acima, três delas dão uma prévia...

I accidentally told the twins I knew how to sew. Big mistake. Now I´m forced to make tutus and haute cauture for their teddy bears. Damn.

Carina and I are crying and laughing and hoping and feeling and burping and relaxing and talking. Some things might be crappy right now, but we do have each other. And we do have fun.

Carina is full of all kinds of words and phrases that she just can't get out fast enough.  Some that spring to mind immediately are, "Go Way Mommie" (when she's sitting on the pottie), "Let go Now!" (when I'm trying to hold her hand), and "Thank You SOOO MUCH!" (when she has burped or farted - we don't know why).  Last night she staged a full 15 minute dancing and singing performance in the living room comprised of a random series of kicks and spins, wearing a frilly dress 2 sizes too small for her, and wielding a large wooden spoon, all while chanting some sort of "da, da, dee, dee, DEEEEEE" tune, and demanding that we clap for her about every 15 seconds.  We didn't get a chance to take any pictures because audience participation was also required, and we were too out of breath.

She's been going to her "school" two days a week for three weeks now, and seems to really be enjoying it.  It must really wear her out, because she often feels the need to come home and sit on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table:

Callen's personality is really starting to show through, and personally, I'm a little scared.  He does not miss a thing.  He is already commando crawling himself all over the house at quite a click.  He has an insatiable sense of humor, eats like a 12 year old, and sleeps only when absolutely necessary.  He is totally and loyally addicted to MAM pacifiers. He has started to chat us up in what sounds like a mix between R2D2 and Wookie talk (sorry if you're not a Star Wars fan, you might not get that).  You can just see the wheels turning in that melon of his.  Craig caught a couple videos of him over the weekend.  Here they are:

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=269216767670914730&hl=en]

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6523262517148345462&hl=en]

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?  I suppose that is one of the joys of parenthood.  They're little wrecking balls of noisy demands and frightening smells, leaving a wake of cleaning challenges and sleep deprivation wherever they linger, but gosh they're fun.

Pia Sundstedt oli tällä viikolla tutustumassa kilpailureittiin ja radalla olleella jalkautumisosuudella nosti pyöränsä olkapäälleen kantamista varten, jolloin hän loukkasi niskansa. Niskaan tuli paha tulehdusvamma ja hän päätti palata takaisin kotiinsa Saksaan. Hän oli jo lähes varma, että finaali jää hänen osaltaan ajamatta.

Sundstedt sai kuitenkin kolmen päivän ajan kahdesti päivässä fysioterapeutiltaan hoitoa ja vasta kilpailupäivän aamuna hän päätti matkustaa takaisin Ranskaan. Hän starttasi kilpailuun ja se alkoikin kohtuullisesti. Kuitenkin jo kilpailun alkuvaiheessa hänen pyörästään irtosi poljin. Hän sai sen korjattua, mutta putosi joukon viimeiseksi.

Tiukan takaa-ajon ja mutaisella radalla muutaman kaatumisen jälkeen hän nousi neljänneksi. Mutta jälleen kohtalo puuttui peliin. Hänen pyöränsä ketju meni takarattaan ja pinnojen väliin niin, että hän ei saanut pyöräänsä toimimaan. Ketju ei meinannut irrota satimestaan millään. Takaa tuli kuitenkin toinen suomalaisajaja Carina Ketonen, ja sääntöjen puitteissa tapahtuneella yhteistyöllä Sundstedtin pyörä tuli ajokuntoon. Sen jälkeen Pia Sundstedt pääsi Ketosen kanssa maaliin sijoittuen kuudenneksi. Ketonen oli seitsemäs.

- Ilman Carinan apua ja tukea maailmancupin voitto olisi jäänyt saavuttamatta. Olen hänelle erittäin kiitollinen. Hän uhrautui hienosti auttaessaan minua. Kaiken kaikkiaan nyt viimeisten viikkojen ja erityisesti nyt viimeisten päivien aikana on ollut vaikeuksia niin paljon, että usko on meinannut loppua monta kertaa. Olen joutunut taistelemaan itseni kanssa monta kertaa, mutta se kannatti, kertoi Pia Sundstedt.

Tulokset

Naiset 60 km, Ornans, Ranska
1.  Petra Henzi (Sveitsi) 3.38.12
2.  Esther Süss (Sveitsi) + 2.14
3.  Blaza Klemencic (Slovenia) + 2.47
4.  Sabrina Enaux (Ranska) + 4.20
5.  Michela Benzoni (Italia) + 8.45

Tulokset kokonaisuudessaan:
http://62.50.72.82/ftpuci/ftpsportelectronic/ftptouci/
MTB/2008/32914_RiderResult_XCM_WE.pdf
 

Miehet 83 km 
1. Hector Leonardo Paez Leon COL 4:17:22 
2. Lukas Buchli SUI +0:02:04 
3. Karl Platt GER +0:03:13 
4. Alban Lakata AUT +0:04:26 
5. Urs Huber SUI +0:05:58

Tulokset kokonaisuudessaan:
http://62.50.72.82/ftpuci/ftpsportelectronic/ftptouci/
MTB/2008/32914_RiderResult_XCM_ME.pdf

Maailmancupin lopputulokset

Naiset:
1 Pia Sundstedt (Suomi) 380 pistettä
2 Esther Süss (Sveitsi) 360
3 Blaza Klemencic (Slovenia) 310
--- 
6 Carina Ketonen (Suomi) 230

Miehet:
1. Hector Leonardo Paez Leon COL 390 
2. Thomas Dietsch FRA 370 
3. Alban Lakata AUT 350

Tulokset kokonaisuudessaan:
http://62.50.72.82/ftpuci/ftpsportelectronic/ftptouci/
MTB/2008/32914_RiderRanking_XCM_WE.pdf 
http://62.50.72.82/ftpuci/ftpsportelectronic/ftptouci/
MTB/2008/32914_RiderRanking_XCM_ME.pdf

Lisäinfoa:
http://www.piasundstedt.com
http://www.uci.ch/templates/UCI/UCI5/layout.asp?MenuId=MTUzNjE
http://www.extreme-sur-loue.com/

On Friday, we loaded up the kids and headed off to visit the doctor.  Both kids checked out in tip-top shape, with their average sized bodies and still enormous heads.  Both got shots.  Boy, was Carina ticked.  She'll be ticked when she finds out that she's about to finish up her last gallon of whole milk, too (Doctor's orders).  Callen took his shots like a man. In the afternoon, we went to the wellness fair at the Children's Hospital, where I spit on breast cancer.  There is a research team at UAMS that is doing a study on 40,000 women's spit samples to see if they can find an indicator for breast cancer, better treatments, etc.  So, I filled out a questionairre and spit into a test tube.  It's funny to look down a 10 foot table and see four other women dilligently filling in bubble sheets and spitting.

Friday evening Grandma and Papa Melton arrived for a weekend visit on their motorcycle.  We were all so happy to see them and gave them the first official tour of the new dwelling. They helped us get ready for our yard sale before we all went off to bed.

On Saturday morning, we got up at 6am, which is technically before the crack of dawn to get ready for the 7am start.  By 11:30, we were fairly well cleaned out, and a little bit richer for all the work.  Plus, we scored an awesome new double stroller that folds up little like an umbrella stroller from one of the other sales.

After nap time, we headed over to the Clinton Presidential Center and Library to see their current exhibit, called Art of the Chopper.  It was very cool.  The whole place was pretty cool, actually.  It's a LEED Silver Certified green building, which sorta floats my boat. There was a replica of the state room, complete with the president's chair, which is 2 inches taller than all the other cabinet members' chairs.  Carina demanded that she sit in it, and so she did. Afterwards, we headed to The Purple Cow for dinner, where Carina practiced more on perfecting the art of not eating her dinner and then bumming ice cream off of everyone else at the table. Callen, angel baby that he is, waited patiently to eat until the rest of us were finished.  He downed the apple sauce that came with Carina's burger.  I guess that counts as his first official restaurant meal.

Saturday night, Grandma and Papa were nice enough to watch the kids while Craig and I had a date night!  I don't know how long it's been since we've been out by ourselves.  We went to a comedy club, ate dessert at a local restaurant, and went to a movie. What a great time!

On Sunday morning we headed to the park so that Carina could show off her mad playground skills for Grandma, Papa, and Daddy.  They were all impressed with her "trick" of hanging from the bar above the slide each time before she slid down. After that, Grandma and Papa headed home and we relaxed and enjoyed the rest of our Sunday.  We are really enjoying Craig's new 4 day work week.  It's so nice to have him home on Fridays so he can do things with us that we can't do on the weekend (like go to the doctor).

I´ve had salmon and an avocado for lunch.

Cinnamon having her cria the day before National Alpaca Farm Days seemed to start the other pregnant dams thinking about birthing.

Saturday morning as I was telling Bethany, our teenage helper, our plans for the day, I looked across the pasture and could see something was different about Keeva.  Lying in the shade of our large blue shelter, with Carina (also due soon) next to her,  Keeva’s tail was making some funny movements – she was in labor.

Our cria kit was still in the front porch from Friday when Cinnamon delivered, so it was nice and handy, but my collection of towels and blankets that I use at alpaca births was still in the washing machine.  We made a quick raid on the towel cabinet before heading out to the pasture.  (Note – if you are planning on delivering crias at your alpaca farm a large collection of old blankets and towels is a good idea!)

By the time we got to Keeva she had the crias head presented, and shortly afterward two feet appeared.  The delivery went well and with a couple more contractions Keeva presented us with a beige, female cria.  This was such a difference from Keeva’s previous birthing when she had a terrible dystocia (badly presented cria) and had to have veterinary assistance, which ended up with us losing the cria.  This time all went smoothly for Keeva and Keeva was anxious to meet her new baby, sniffing and clucking at the birthing fluids on the ground before she fully delivered her cria.

Keeva’s little girl is about three weeks premature.  Keeva had been showing signs that she was not going to carry her cria to term (See blog entry Doing The Cria Dance, September 10, 2008) so we were not totally surprised at her early labor.  Fortunately the cria’s lungs are well developed and with the exception of her being quite sleepy and wobblier than a full term cria she is doing well.  Keeva’s cria is just a little thing weighing in at 13.3 lbs.  We did end up having to milk Keeva a couple of times and feeding the colostrum to her cria to get the cria started and give her a little strength, but by the early afternoon Keeva’s cria was able to get up on her own and nurse from Keeva without a problem.

Interestingly Keeva’s cria and Cinnamon’s cria are almost identical in looks.  If you part their fleece you can see that they have different fleece styles, but just looking at them in the pasture it is hard to tell them apart.  They do both have the same sire, Tobiano.  We were very careful to make sure that Cinnamon and Keeva recognized which cria was which once we put Keeva and her cria into the pasture for the rest of the day.

So our National Alpaca Farm Day visitors got to see a brand new cria and of course Cinnamons cria who had been born the day before.  They also got to see me looking a filthy mess from taking care of Keeva and her cria but they all understood. 

During the course of the day Carina also started to look uncomfortable, but she did not go into labor.  Probably just that uncomfortable day that alpaca dams have about two weeks before giving birth, which will put Carina close to her due date.  Dutchess is the next girl due to give birth, only time will tell if Cinnamon and Keeva have made her thoughts turn to delivering soon.

Rosemary

Carina is stuck in Göteborg. I kind of wish I was too.

Btw ... I fucking hate it when people talk to me like I´m ten.

Once a minority, muhajabat (women who wear a headscarf) are now an overwhelming majority in Egypt. Understanding that this was a market with huge potential, businesses immediately began to make products to satisfy the needs of their veiled customers.

Perhaps the first company to respond was The Tie Shop, a store dedicated exclusively to providing women with headscarves of all colors, styles and fabrics. From velour to chiffon garnished with sequins or beads, these veils quickly began flying off the shelves.

Previously a piece of cloth wrapped once or twice around the head, the hijab (headscarf) has not been free from the influence of fashion — donning the veil can now take up to an hour. It has also spawned complimentary businesses — magazines such as the local Hijab feature models wearing the garment in a variety of ways and pages dedicated to explaining how to create new styles. Hairdressers have also jumped onto the trend — muhajabat can visit a hairdresser who will tie their veil for them in the desired style (rosette and braid for example) or for prices ranging between LE 100 to LE 700, specialized stylists will visit homes to tie the hijab in private.

And after the hijab? Clothes, of course. Catering to the conservative Muslim woman has become big business, with some shops stocking only ankle length skirts, high-necked shirts and the like. Al-Salam Shopping Center near the Ramses Hilton caters to an almost exclusively veiled clientele, selling everything from hip fashions to abayat (the long Islamic dress that is typically black).

Some shops such as the chain Muhajaba release new designs every few months and use advertising gimmicks such as bringing in well-know actresses that have donned the hijab to advertise their new styles. Like the Islamic revival, the rise in muhajaba wear has extended to all segments of society, with many exclusive designer stores also opening shops where the cost of a basic black abaya starts at LE 1,000.

Perhaps the most successful product created to serve the needs of muhajabat is the seamless long sleeve high-neck top that molds to the body and sells for LE 60. Carina, the major producer of these tops, has been so successful that the company’s name has become synonymous with the style. The company has opened 25 stores around the country in three years — a phenomenal success story, according to Carina Marketing Executive Hana Youssef, who claims the product is worn by at least 90% of women in public universities.

“Before we created the Carina top, muhajabat simply couldn’t wear anything they wanted. So we designed a top with a high neck and sleeves that muhajabat can wear under anything they want, and still be conservative,” says Youssef. Carina uses Lycra from Switzerland that is breathable, elastic, seamless and molds to the shape of the body.

“We’re not only targeting Muslims,” says Youssef, who says that the garment is useful for non-veiled women as well, “It’s a product for any woman who wishes to dress conservatively []. It just so happens that most of our clients are Muslim.”

With the success of the classic long-sleeved top, Carina immediately branched out to other similar products, beginning with the t-shirt cut, long-sleeved top, to the tank tops that are used as outerwear by girls under 14. Its product line now includes over 60 underwear and outerwear products for women, ranging from leggings and corsets to long-sleeved sequined tops and hijabs. Read the full article here.

What do you think about making the religion big business? I mean, it's wonderful to have a lot of different choices when it comes to clothing, but it's very sad that much of the "trendy" clothing for mohagabat is just too exclusive and expensive for normal Egyptian women... Or what?

Jag har fått hälsporre. Och jag ska fundera på den där listan.

Off to bed again. I can hear Carina coughing. Hope she´s not getting a cold.

On Tuesday Carina started at her new PDO program.  She was pretty excited to be going "back to school" and immediately shifted into her old routine of acting like she didn't know me at drop off time in hopes that I would leave faster, and crying when I came to pick her up, as if she was trying to convince her teachers that I was going to take her home and beat her.  When we got out to the parking lot at the end of the day, she turned and pointed to the building and said "More!, More!" One of the nice things about her new program is that the curriculum is online, so I can look up what they've done for the day, we can talk about it, and I can sing the same songs that she sang at school with her. I'm still not convinced I like her new PDO as much as I did her old PDO, but I think Carina will take her social stimulation any way she can get it.  Callen seems to be enjoying his alone time with Mommy too.  When we walked outside after dropping Carina off, he literally cackled, as if he was elated to be an "only" child for a while.

When we got home, I was putting my keys in my purse before I got out of the car, and Carina asked to hold them.  She has held them before, so I didn't think much of it when I handed them back to her.  However, in the time it took me to shut my door and walk around the car to her door, she had locked the car.  She was just sitting in her car seat, fob in hand, grinning out at me as if she had done the coolest trick ever.  For the next few minutes (it felt like 15 minutes, but I think it was more like 3).  I tried to explain to her in toddler terms which button she needed to push to unlock the car.  She just grinned at me and continued to push the lock button.  When I said, "No, push the other button!" She would move her thumb down to the panic button and just laugh as I said, "NO, NO, do NOT push that red button!" and then she would move her thumb back up to the lock button.  All the while, her other thumb was resting on the button she needed to push.  I didn't know what I was going to do, because my phone was locked in the car too, along with a sleeping Callen. Finally, Carina unlocked the car and I got her out.  "You can't hold the keys anymore," I told her.  "I lock," she said.  Yes Carina, you lock.

As much fun and excitement the twins bring to our home, we are also dealing with the downsides of living with two pre teen girls. Yesterday I had to ask Tayler if she had any emotional ties to the carrot and the knife she forgot on the kitchen counter ... and this was right after I had asked her to either get rid of the carrot or put it back in to the fridge, for the fourth time.

At times, I want to rip my hair from my head. Or from someone elses´.

A Sea Turtle named...Carina?
On our last full day in SC, we visited the aquarium in Charleston.  It was wonderful.  Craig and Carina got to feed a horseshoe crab by hand.  We also went to the live feeding show at their ocean tank, which is 42 feet deep! They introduced their resident Loggerhead sea turtle, and we were sure they said her name was Carina (they said it several times).  I asked one of the staff after the show and she explained that the turtle's name was Caretta, because the scientific name for a Loggerhead is Caretta caretta.

Hurri Cane't Get Away
So, we were originally going to vacation in the Gulf, but then Fay came, and we had our doubts.  Then Gustav took aim, and we started looking elsewhere.  Gustav apparently really wanted to see us, because he came all the way to Little Rock and dumped 10 inches of water on us in 3 days, creating leaks in our attic that eventually ran down through a door frame into our kitchen.  In the meantime, we booked a vacation in SC once they forcasted Hanna to hit the gulf.  The next day, they changed Hanna's forecast to land on the Carolinas.  Luckily, Hanna was in a hurry, and was gone by the time we got to the coast.  We arrived home, and exited the airport just in time to hear storm sirens sounding in warning of the onset of Ike, who knocked our power out for about 18 hours.  I've watched more weather channel in the past month than in the rest of my entire life, I think!  I know this is all trivial compared to the suffering that some are experiencing due to these storms, but I just never thought that hurricanes would be a concern to me!

Craig's New Grindstone
Today was Craig's first day at his new job.  It is indeed a "new" job, as in his position is new, his computer is

new, his desk has nothing in it, there are no protocols, etc.  Craig likes to set protocol (and the bar, while he's at it), so it's a good fit so far. In the meantime, I've been all day singing a song that my grandfather used to sing.  I don't know what it's called, but it goes, "We three are all alone, just keeping each other company, my echo, my shadow, and me..." We were all sad not to have daddy around today, but I'm honestly sort of happy to get back to a "real" schedule.

Training for the Boobie Run
The big event for the kids and I today was a visit to the neighborhood park.  We loaded up in the double jog stroller and Carina demanded, "Run! Fast!" as we took off down the trail.  This was my first unofficial run (they're unofficial runs until I can actually do the whole route without stopping to walk) in preparation for the Komen Race for the Cure, which I will be doing on October 11th. One of the great things about our neighborhood is there are tons of trails through the woods to run on, and the double jogger actually fits on the trails that are paved! There were quite a few other kids and mommies at the park, so we all got to socialize a bit.

Puttin' on the Ritz
Two people greeted Craig on his first day at work by telling him what a nice home he has.  He was a little taken aback, as we haven't had any houseguests.  His coworkers informed him that our house was featured in the "high profile" section of the Sunday paper as one of the top six real estate transacations for the week of August 18-22.  So we dug the Sunday paper out of the recycle bin, and low and behold, there was our house, with our names and selling price and all.  I know it's public record, but this seems a little extreme.  We came to three conclusions based on this little surprise: 1. The newspaper here is either really thurough, or doesn't have enough real news to report. 2. The Little Rock housing market must be in a serious slump for our house to make the top six transactions. 3. Being High Profile isn't nearly as glamorous as we had imagined.

http://www.imeem.com/people/jdFv5k1/music/mbVIroJa/carina_interview_part_1wav/

http://www.imeem.com/people/jdFv5k1/music/tTNdJbkA/carina_interview_part_2wav/

 Transcripción de la entrevista con Carina

Pues para mi, ser mexicana es importante porque porque allí nació… allí nació mi hija, nacieron mis padres, hay esta toda mi familia, es mi cultura.

Si, si…  De mexico de F cada yo pienso que cada  generación de jóvenes así  umm… como crean sus propias palabras.

Pues… um.. un ejemplo “no manches.” Los de antes, la gente de antes yo pienso que decía que hiciste y ahora no manches. Y es un ejemplo.

Si entiendo porque son las mismas palabras pero son diferentes los acentos… y algunas palabras si cambian pero muy pocas. Pienso que los mexicanos hablamos mas rápido. Que.. Porque yo tengo amigos de Honduras, amigos de Guatemala…El Salvador y yo escucho mis amigos mexicanos nosotros hablamos mas rápido y ellos hablan mas despacio. O como, como que  cortan las palabras. La gente de las costas, del sur habla diferente. No pronuncia bien el español.

Cochos

Si… todos he escuchado que ellos hablan diferente. Yo no hablo igual que él.  Somos del mismo país pero no somos del mismo estado. Y cada estado tiene su propia forma de pronunciar. Diferentes chistes, diferentes costumbres, todo es  diferente. Aunque vivimos en el mismo país, pero nosotros costumbres son diferentes.  

Los ejemplos fonéticas:

que cada   [ke.ˈka. ða]   00:17

 amigos  [ˈa.mi.ɣos] 1:22

yo  [ ʝo:] 0:04

allí [ aʝi] 0:05

Sus propias palabras: [sus. 'pɾo.pi.as. pa.'la.βɾas]  00:24

Son diferentes, los acentos: ['son. di.feɾ.'en.tes. los. a'sen.tos]  1:11

un ejemplo [uŋ. e'xem.plo]  0:30

Los ejemplos de parte 2:

La silla esta en la cocina.  00:00

Mi padre viven en el estado de Mexico.  00:02

Yo quiero nadar en la playa.  00:05

[la 'si.ʝa. es.ta. en. la. ko'si.na]  00:00

[mi. 'pa.ðɾe. 'vi.ve. en. el. es'ta.ðo. ðe 'me.xi.ko]  00:02

[ʝo. ki. ero. na'ðaɾ. en. la 'pla.ʝa]  00:05