Seeds and Stitches: 27 and Motherhood.

?I've been reflecting back on my recently departed 27th year, and concluding that yes, it was a golden year. Its defining aspect was either pregnancy or new motherhood, so I thought I'd write a bit about that. Actually I've been writing this blog post for 8 months, so I thought i'd finally frickin publish it.?

I'm a mum.?A Mother.?Whoa. I've had this thought at least once a day for the last 8 months.?

My heart literally feels like it explodes daily with love for her. She smiled at me today and I cried. It was probably a fart. (1 month)

Sometimes she shouts so loud, at me, with such intent, that I am genuinely scared of an 8 week old baby. (2 months)

I'm incapable of ?breastfeeding discreetly. Cafe patrons across the south east, baby groups of London, ?delivery drivers, and anyone that's visited us in the last three months know this. Sorry. I literally answered the door with most of a boob out, but I've stopped caring. (3 months)

I fall in love with something new every day. Her gums! Her soft downy hair! her tiny cellulite-dappled bottom! The tiny veins in her hands! I fell in love with her heels yesterday. Her heels. (2 months)

My mister made her laugh for the first time today and we both almost died with the cuteness. (3 months)

It hurts like a bitch (A BITCH) at first, but breastfeeding is so worth the pain. Her new (adorable) conundrum is that she has found that she cant smile at me and breast feed at the same time. (4 months)

Baby farts.?

I love the way she moves her hands, with ever more purpose. At intervals she clasps them, like she's contemplating life's great mysteries.(4 months)
I love going for coffee's and luncheons together with Frankie. She makes a very good date. Apart from the mid meal vomits on the table. (3 months) Sneeze farts are pretty funny. Sneeze sick's are less funny, on account of the splattering. Sneeze sick farts, however, are the holy grail, despite the splattering.?

You kind of get used to being covered in baby bodily secretions. Its become a mark of respect in our house. Cardy smeared with snot? Approving nod. T-shirt covered in poo? High five. (3 months)

After the initial few weeks of pain, breast feeding has gone really well, which I am incredibly grateful for. But I did not expect to experience two niagra falls from each breast. ?I can spurt milk four feet. I kid you not. My mister has measured it. (4 months)

I have accidentally spurted milk at strangers on the bus (not to their knowledge, thank God), and one time, I spurted milk at my brother at the dinner table -"Urgh! Boob juice!".?

My love of chocolate has never been so passionate or so all consuming. A full on addiction. More so than when I was pregnant, even. It's because I'm Breastfeeding, right?! (4 months)

Going to baby groups is like repeatedly experiencing the first day of school. Ugh. But I have made some really lovely new Mum friends.(3 months)

Slightly blurred pic courtesy of Daves aunt. There are?surprisingly?few photo's of Frankie and I together. Must rectify.

I am a champion jiggler. But the thing is, I cant stop. I jiggle at the dinner table, at the train station, whilst making a cuppa. It is pathologically ingrained and makes me look a little unhinged in public, sans baby.(4 months)

Dave sometimes walks into the room holding Frankie-Rose and I look round and my god, thats a baby. It's OURS! We made her! Magic! Miracle! Its still mind boggling in the very very best of ways.(6 months)

She's a public speaker in the making. She delivers passionate and reasoned soliloquys, with well rounded closing arguments. ?She particularly enjoys preaching to an audience- the bigger the better. I often want to shout 'yes!' in response, despite not quite knowing what I'm agreeing with. (5 months)

It a lesson in love. In selflessness. God, I never knew I could love anyone or anything this much. It grew slowly and steadily, from the first time this naked wriggly tiny stranger was plonked on my chest, to the great gorgeous lump of baby she is today. Its crazy deep. Like, deep down beneath the earths crust, sort of deep. All consuming but unchartered and kind of scary too. (6 months)

My mister has been incredible throughout. Better than me at times at reading her and knowing what to do. He is determined to prove that Dads can be equally as capable and present as mums at looking after babies.(7 months)

Up until 4 months I sort of thought this whole baby thing was brilliant and kind of easy. She was sleeping really well- 8 hours then a quick feed then 3 or 4 more hours. But then we hit the 4 month sleep regression and we've never recovered. I know now why people say having a baby is so hard sometimes, because lack of leep stretches everything to its limit. Despite this, she's never been so happy or so ridiculously excited to see me. Even if I return to her after 10 seconds; her face lights up, she?squeals?and giggles and butt shuffles toward me at record pace. And the sleep deprivation fades entirely, if only for a minute. Its a good job they're cute. ?(Yesterday)

P.s If you've stayed with this post until the end, then I salute you!

Source: http://seedsandstitches.blogspot.com/2012/11/27-and-motherhood.html

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Apple iPad mini review

Despite what Steve Jobs so vehemently declared, Apple has just released a smaller version of the iPad. ?Well, I guess technically Steve said Apple would never release a 7″ tablet, and the iPad mini is a 7.9″ tablet, so Apple didn’t quite make a liar out of him. ?I already had the “new iPad”, and [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/11/09/apple-ipad-mini-review/

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Rebel car bombs rock Syrian town of Deraa

BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 20 Syrian security men were killed when two explosives-laden cars drove into a military camp in the southern town of Deraa on Saturday, an opposition watchdog said, in what appeared to be a double suicide attack by rebel forces.

In a conflicting report, state news agency SANA said three bombs had gone off in the town near the border with Jordan, killing seven people in what it described as a series of terrorist attacks.

Suicide bombings by hardline Islamist militant groups have become a regular feature of the 19-month old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, though there were no immediate claims of responsibility for Saturday's attacks in Deraa.

The UK-based opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the first car had driven into a Deraa military camp and exploded. The casualties were caused by the detonation of the second vehicle which followed it, the Observatory said.

The Syrian state media report did not mention a military target.

It said one bomb had gone off in a busy commercial street.

A second - a car packed with anti-tank mines which did not all explode - was set off near a government office, damaging it and nearby commercial and residential buildings, it said.

The Syrian government routinely blames foreign-backed Islamist militants for the anti-Assad revolt, in which the Observatory says about 38,000 people have been killed.

A suicide bomber killed around 50 members of the Syrian security forces in the province of Hama on Monday, the Observatory reported.

(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Sophie Hares)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/car-bombs-kill-syrian-security-forces-deraa-activists-092350675.html

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Eight House races remain unresolved (CNN)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/261631761?client_source=feed&format=rss

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The Weather Channel names its first winter storm

NEW YORK (AP) ? To people who were caught in snarled traffic or had to shovel snow with leaves still on the trees, the storm pulling off the East Coast on Thursday was your basic nor'easter.

To The Weather Channel, it was Athena.

The network has taken to naming winter storms, much like is done for tropical systems. The Weather Channel says it makes the storms easier to identify and will raise awareness among those in their paths.

It also draws attention to The Weather Channel at times of bad weather, when the network's ratings usually soar.

The National Weather Service names hurricanes but isn't recognizing the cable channel's winter storm names. The government agency sent out an advisory to its personnel Wednesday asking them to "please refrain from using the term 'Athena' in any of our products." Many news services, including The Associated Press, aren't recognizing the names in their coverage, either.

The weather service has said it has no opinion about the names but noted that winter storms can end and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one storm ends and another begins.

Oddly enough, it was the weather service that first dubbed Superstorm Sandy "Frankenstorm" many days before it made landfall. That nickname faded, in large part because The Weather Channel would not use it for fear it made light of a serious situation.

At The Weather Channel, a team of meteorologists decides which winter storms get names based on factors like expected snow depth and wind speed, handing them out no more than three days in advance.

Athena was named, in part, for fears that it would add to damage in areas already reeling from Sandy. The winter storm dropped as much as a foot of snow in some parts of New Jersey and knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers.

The Weather Channel has already named another winter storm expected to sock the Northern Plains as Brutus.

Earlier this fall, the network released in advance a list of 26 names it will be using for storms, also like is done for hurricanes. The names, including Helen, Luna, Magnus and Ukko, are primarily based in Greek or Roman mythology, although the storm dubbed simply Q was named for the New York City subway line.

If anyone is digging out from Zeus in a couple of months, you'll know it has been a brutal winter.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/weather-channel-names-first-winter-storm-171558013.html

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China's factory output rises in sign of recovery

BEIJING (AP) ? China's auto sales, consumer spending and factory output improved in October in a new sign of economic recovery as the Communist Party prepared to install a new generation of leaders.

Growth in factory output accelerated to 9.6 percent over a year earlier from the previous month's 9.2 percent, the government reported Friday. Retail sales rose 14.5 percent, up from September's 14.2 percent.

Also in October, inflation eased further, giving Beijing more room to cut interest rates or launch new stimulus measures to speed a recovery with less danger of igniting politically dangerous price rises.

The data are welcome news for the ruling party, which is meeting in Beijing for a once-a-decade handover of power to younger leaders. Coming off the past year's steady declines in economic activity, a rebound might allow the new leaders to benefit from improving public sentiment.

"A modest recovery is under way," said UBS economist Tao Wang in a report.

Investment growth strengthened, rising 25.2 percent over a year earlier, up from the previous month's 25.1 percent.

Auto sales rose 6.4 percent to 1.3 million vehicles, rebounding from September's 0.3 percent contraction, a state-sanctioned industry group, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, reported.

The improvement comes as communist leaders are expected to install Vice President Xi Jinping as party leader and China's next president.

The new leadership faces challenges including slowing growth that the World Bank and Chinese analysts say will require a drastic change in the country's economic strategy. They say Beijing must reduce the dominance of state companies in industries from finance to energy to banking and nurture free-market competition to keep incomes rising.

Economic growth fell to a three and a half year low of 7.4 percent in the quarter ending in September but investment, retail sales and other indicators improved from the previous quarter. The government said last month it saw "steady economic growth," suggesting there was no need for further major stimulus.

The slowdown was due largely to government efforts to crush inflation and prevent economic overheating after the huge stimulus in response to the 2008 global crisis fueled sharp price rises. Beijing reversed course late last year after global demand for Chinese goods plunged, slamming exporters and raising the danger of job losses and unrest.

The abrupt slowdown added to complications for communist leaders as they tried to enforce calm ahead of the leadership change.

Forecasters expect growth to rebound this quarter or early in 2013. They say any recovery is likely to be gradual and too weak to drive global growth without improvement in the United States and Europe.

Beijing launched a mini-stimulus early this year, cutting interest rates twice in June and July and stepping up investment by state companies and spending on building airports and other public works. But authorities avoided bigger measures after their huge spending in response to the 2008 global crisis fueled inflation and a wasteful building boom.

In October, consumer prices rose 1.7 percent, down from the previous month's 1.9 percent. That was driven by a 1.8 percent gain in food prices, which are unusually sensitive in a society where the poorest families spend up to half their incomes to eat, down from September's 2.5 percent.

Auto sales have been hurt both by the slowing economy and by a dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over a group of islands in the East China Sea. Buyers have avoided showrooms of Japanese brands, possibly for fear of being targeted by protesters.

Sales growth might improve in coming months as China's economy starts to pull out of a deep slump and automakers put pressure on dealers to sell a backlog of inventory, said Jia Xinguang, an independent auto industry analyst in Beijing.

"The last two months of this year could be better," Jai said. Next year's sales "might be a bit better than this year" because the economy is improving, he said.

___

AP researcher Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed.

___

Online:

National Bureau of Statistics (in Chinese): www.stats.gov.cn

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-factory-output-rises-sign-recovery-062939877--finance.html

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Jersey Boys - Triangle Arts and Entertainment

The original Four Seasons included (from left) Colby Foytik as Tommy, Brad Weinstock as Frankie, Jason Kappus as Bob, and Brandon Andrus as Nick (photo by Joan Marcus)

It may be pumpkin weather, but Tour 2 of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons? magnificent warts-and-all musical bio, Jersey Boys, lights up the Durham Performing Arts Center stage like the Fourth of July. Broadway Series South first brought this Broadway hit to Raleigh Memorial Auditorium from June 24 to July 18, 2009, but the stellar cast for the second coming of Jersey Boys may boast even more candle power as they trace The Four Seasons? evolution from a cover band, singing on street corners and playing seedy bars in mob-infested Newark, NJ, to an international super-group and one of America?s answers to the British Invasion of the mid-1960s.

Colby Foytik is terrific as the group?s cocky original organizer: part-time hoodlum, part-time lead guitarist, and all-around louse Tommy DeVito. Brandon Andrus is a comic delight as laconic bass guitarist Nick Massi (nee Nicholas Macioci), Brad Weinstock hits all the high notes as lead vocalist Frankie Valli (nee Francesco Stephen Castelluccio), and Jason Kappus adds a personable performance as keyboardist and songwriter Bob Gaudio ? the final ingredient that fueled the group?s meteoric ascension to the top of the charts.

Whether performing The Four Seasons? number-one hits ? including ?Sherry? and ?Big Girls Don?t Cry? (both in 1962), ?Walk Like a Man? (1963), ?Rag Doll? (1964), and ?December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)? (1975) ? with brio or tugging at the audience?s heart strings with Franki Valli?s chart-topper, ?Can?t Take My Eyes Off You? (1967), which peaked at number two, Messrs. Foytik, Andrus, Weinstock, and Kappus give a solid-gold performance, which rocketed DPAC patrons to their feet at the end of last Friday night?s show.

Also creating unforgettable characters are Barry Anderson as The Four Seasons? producer and Bob Gaudio?s songwriting partner Bob Crewe, Christopher Messina as excitable young Four Seasons hanger-on Joe Pesci, Natalie Gallo as Frankie?s fiery first wife Mary Delgado, Rachel Schur as his musically gifted but emotionally troubled daughter Francine, Kaleigh Cronin as his Frankie?s long-suffering girlfriend Lorraine, and Thomas Fiscella as suave gangster chieftain Gyp DeCarlo.

The ?Jersey Boys? are (from left) Jason Kappus as Bob Gaudio, Colby Foytik as Tommy DeVito, Brad Weinstock as Frankie Valli, and Brandon Andrus as Nick Massi (photo by Joan Marcus)

Dodger Theatricals et al.?s rousing rendition of Jersey Boys, with its toe-tapping tunes by Bob Gaudio, lively lyrics by Bob Crewe, and R-rated script by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, is not just another jukebox musical. Nor is it a hagiography of the 2000 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Jersey Boys is a gritty backstage musical, which earns its R rating for ?Sopranos?-like language alone, but also includes violence, sexual situations, and drug and alcohol abuse. Yet even my Fundamentalist friends love Jersey Boys, because it is ? first and foremost ? a superlative show that will send Durham Performing Arts Center patrons out into the surrounding downtown Durham parking lots singing, whistling, and humming the greatest hits of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Don?t miss it!

SECOND OPINION: Nov 5th Raleigh, NC BroadwayWord.com Raleigh review by Larissa Mount: http://raleigh.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Reviews-JERSEY-BOYS-Wows-Durham-20121105 and May 15th interviews with Matt Bay, Alayna Gallo, and Kevin Crewell and Oct. 30th interview with Rick Elice, all conducted by Larissa Mount, click http://raleigh.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interviews-The-JERSEY-BOYS-Talk-Durham-Engagement-this-Fall-20120515 and http://raleigh.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interviews-JERSEY-BOYS-Writer-Rick-Elice-Discusses-the-Shows-Beginnings-20121030, respectively; April 27th Durham, NC Herald-Sun preview and Nov. 3rd review, both by Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan, click http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/18376509/article-?Jersey-Boys?-gives-DPAC-sneak-peek? and http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/20707655/article-?Jersey-Boys?-review?Charisma?grit-and-great-songs?, respectively (Note 1: You must register to read this article); Nov. 1st Raleigh, NC WRAL-TV interview with Brad Weinstock and Colby Foytik, conducted by Bill Leslie: http://www.wral.com/entertainment/video/11726150/#/vid11726150; Oct. 9th Chapel Hill, NC Daily Tar Heel preview by Elizabeth Baker: http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2012/10/jersey-boys-teach-entrepreneurship. (Note 2: To read Triangle Arts & Entertainment?s online version of the Triangle Theater Review?s Oct. 30th preview by Robert W. McDowell, click http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2012/10/oh-what-a-show-jersey-boys-will-rock-durham-performing-arts-center-for-24-shows-oct-30-nov-18/.)

The Durham Performing Arts Center presents JERSEY BOYS at 7: 30 p.m. Nov. 6-8, 8 p.m. Nov. 9, 2 and 8 p.m. Nov. 10, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Nov. 11, 7: 30 p.m. Nov. 13-15, 8 p.m. Nov. 16, and 2 and 8 p.m. Nov. 17, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at DPAC, in the American Tobacco District, 123 Vivian St., Durham, North Carolina 27701.

TICKETS: $24-$153 (including fees), except $24 Student Rush Tickets (sold day of performance) for seats in Row P of the Balcony.

BOX OFFICE:

DPAC Box Office: 919-680-ARTS (2787) and tickets@dpacnc.com.

Ticketmaster: 800-745-3000 or http://www.ticketmaster.com/venueartist/115558/1551009.

GROUP RATES (10+ tickets): 919-281-0587, Groups@DPACnc.com, http://www.dpacnc.com/events/group_services/broadway_group_pricing, or http://www.dpacnc.com/events/group_services/online-groups.

SHOW: http://www.dpacnc.com/events/detail/jersey-boys.

VIDEO PREVIEW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H78l0ArPEiY.

SERIES: http://www.dpacnc.com/events/suntrust_broadway_series.

PRESENTER/VENUE: http://www.dpacnc.com/.

DIRECTIONS: http://www.dpacnc.com/plan_your_visit/getting_here. PARKING: http://www.dpacnc.com/plan_your_visit/parking_guide.

OTHER LINKS:

The Musical: http://www.jerseyboysinfo.com/ (official website), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Boys (Wikipedia), and http://www.ibdb.com/show.php?ID=394780 (Internet Broadway Database).

The Tours: http://www.jerseyboysinfo.com/tour/ (official web page).

Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: http://www.frankievallifourseasons.com/ (official website), http://gilgweb.com/initial.html (official unofficial website), http://rockhall.com/inductees/the-four-seasons (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum), and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Seasons_(band) (Wikipedia).

EDITOR?S NOTE:

Robert W. McDowell is editor and publisher of Triangle Theater Review, a FREE weekly e-mail theatrical newsletter that provides more comprehensive, in-depth coverage of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill theater than all of the other news media combined. This review is reprinted with permission from Triangle Theater Review.

To start your FREE subscription to this newsletter, e-mail RobertM748@aol.com and type SUBSCRIBE TTR in the Subject: line.

To read all of Robert W. McDowell?s Triangle Theater Review previews and reviews online at Triangle Arts & Entertainment, click http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/author/robert-w-mcdowell/.

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Tagged as: Chris Messina, Christopher Messina, DPAC, Durham Performing Arts Center, Frankie Valli, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, JERSEY BOYS, The Four Seasons

Source: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2012/11/the-second-coming-of-jersey-boys-lights-up-the-durham-performing-arts-center-like-july-fourth/

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Don't forget to get free lunch today at Joe's Farm Grill's Free ...

Posted by Jess Harter on November 7, 2012 9:45 am ? 0 comments

Reminder: Today is annual Free Cheeseburger Day at Joe?s Farm Grill?in Gilbert.

From 10 a.m.-3 p.m. today, attendees will get a Farm Burger with cheddar cheese, French fries and a beverage. No purchase is necessary (or even possible, since the Farm Grill is closed to regular business that day).

Last year, the eatery handed out 3,354 free meals ? an average of one meal every 5 seconds. So don?t be turned off by the line. It moves quickly.

Joe?s Farm Grill?s sister restaurant,?Joe?s Real BBQ, gives away free BBQ sandwiches in a similar promotion every May.

Earlier post

Source: http://mouthbysouthwest.com/2012/11/07/dont-forget-to-get-free-lunch-today-at-joes-farm-grills-free-cheeseburger-day/

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