bee pictures

"bees nuts!"

i've uploaded our pictures from the bee instillation. check out the flickr set here.

bees (take 2)

the bees are in! and installed in their hives.

i say "hives" because we have 2 this year. after our failed attempt at one hive last year we figured we'd double our luck this year and hope to have better success.

we took some pictures of the instillation this evening but i'll post them tomorrow, i think. i want to veg out to some dancing with the stars for now.

important (and fun) april events

you may be wondering "what can i do for fun and interest in april?" well, april is sexual assault awareness month (commonly referred to as saam). it also happens to be my birthday month and my wedding anniversary month. so, come out and commemorate all of these things with me at any and all of these events that my work is facilitating.

april 1: yours truly's birthday, holy thursday, and saam kick-off day! thought you couldn't jam all that into one evening? well, think again! join me and other advocates to end sexual violence as we celebrate at gotham bagel cafe on main street. we'll be there starting at 5:00 pm and free music and dancing starts at 7:00. i'll be heading out a little before 7:00 to go to holy thursday mass. if you're so inclined, you're welcome to join me for that too. it's one of my favorite masses of the year!

april 6: i'm facilitating a free child sexual abuse prevention training at newberry county library from 4:00-7:30. this event is free and open to the public so register at our website. it truly is a really great program, if i do say so myself--very important for parents and adults who work or volunteer with children.

april 10: we're partnering with richland county sheriff's department and the ymca to provide a free self defense course for teen girls and women from 9-1:00. this event is also free and is really fun. the teens must be at least 14 years old and have to have a parent's permission. sign up here.

april 14: walk a mile in her shoes. calling all men! we need you for this event! join us in five points at 6:00 pm for this walk to raise awareness about sexual violence against women. we're asking men to literally walk a mile in women's high heal shoes. women are encouraged to join as well, but they don't have to wear heals. the event is only $10 and you get a t-shirt included in registration. it will be a fun and purposeful event, so please join us! register here.

april 21: denim day. encourage your company or office to allow their employees to wear jeans on this day to remember victims of sexual violence. denim day is an international event commemorated around the world. click here to read more about why we wear jeans on this day.

april 24: we have two things going on this day. we're hosting another child sexual abuse prevention training. this one is in lexington from 9-12:30. we're also going to have a booth at lexington kids day. lexington kids day is an amazing and fun event and if you have kids i encourage you to attend. in the park behind the courthouse in lexington they have a big festival with free games, food, and other vendors for children. stop by anytime during the day to see my agency at our booth. we'll be distributing free information about child safety.

happy birthday, david

today would've been baldman's dad's 56th birthday. in honor of that, here's a smooth picture of him with a wee baldman.

dss update

it's been a while since i posted about the fostering process, so i figured i'd just give a little update. last week we handed in the application to our caseworker. from the date that we handed that in (3/15) they have 120 days to get us through the whole process. it could take less time if we move quicker with it, but i have my doubts that it'll be anything less than that.

we have a few things that i know we must work on (i.e. medical reports, fingerprinting, references). but i'm also just waiting for our caseworker to call us with next steps. more likely, i'll be waiting a few weeks for her to call and when she doesn't i'll call her.

ok, last trip down memory lane... for now

we liked birthday parties in my family. this is my sister's 6 birthday as my dad lights her candles. of note in this picture is our long time family friend, robin, to the right. she is now married and has kids.


here's my family eating breakfast. i loved our kitchen when i was a kid. actually, i still love the kitchen. there's a lot i really like about the picture. and i wonder who took it if my mom, dad, brother and sister are all in the shot. did i take it?


look at these cuties in their uniforms. we wore those things from kindergarten till 8th grade. and then traded them out for another set through 12th grade. every year we took a picture of us on our first day of school. this shot must've been before i started school since i'm not in it.


mom and a friend in her bedroom. people say i look a lot like my mom. guess i see it here in this shot. i always loved that wallpaper, by the way. it had cool birds and flowers on it and i remember staring at it whenever i was laying on their bed.


don't know who the dude in this picture is. if any of the family knows, you can post it in the comments. my brother, of course has a cape on. that was quite usual for him as a child. actually, it wouldn't be that unusual for him now as an adult to have a cape on. and the brown corduroy couch! we had that couch until i was in high school and my mom and stepdad moved out of philly. that was the best couch in the world! so big and comfy!


we always used to sell lemonade when we were kids. i don't remember a lot of people buying (it's not like we lived on a busy street), but i do remember a few people having pity on us and purchasing a dixie cup of that sweet goodness. i love my brother's little visor. dork! and i think that might be my grandparent's car in the driveway.

more vintage waldie

here are some more shots of my childhood that the family has been passing around over the past few weeks.


my brother and sister are on either side of my mom as santa and i'm in front. i love that we're all wearing matching IUP outfits. my granddad worked for the university for many years so we often got IUP stuff for christmas. (this might be the only time you see my sister as a child not in a dress;)


me and my sister in front of the fireplace. what was up with the stockings and shorts?
notice on the left side of the mantle there's a glass-domed clock. that clock is famous for being broken at some point after this by my brother. unruly kids!


my 4th ? birthday party. mom always made a cake and decorated it however we wanted. i can't remember how this cake was decorated. one year i remember i had casper the friendly ghost cake.


my sister's 5th or 6th birthday party. i think the dining room is a different color by this time.

blast from the past

my mom sent me these pictures today. how sweet are they?


this is the house i grew up in (until 4th grade). i loved this house. it was big and old but it had some really beautiful things about it - the huge porch, the iron fence, the big trees around it (which gave me plenty of leaves to jump in during the fall). we used to play baseball in the driveway. and (though you can't see it) there were big cement steps that led up to the porch. i used to pretend that the steps were my bathtub and i would take sidewalk chalk and make a spout on the side of the step. even back then i loved baths.

speaking of baths...


AHHH! brilliant! i love that my sister is pretending to sing into the hose. that's classic "rachel." man, that was a great tub! check out the claw feet on that thing! and, gotta love the vintage 1970's towels. we used those things until they were rags.


how sweet are we with our little stuffed toys? my bear didn't have a name but he had a badge like a police bear. my brother's bear's name was geegee (is that how you spell it? correct me, ben). he has kept that bear all these years and now his daughters have it. i don't know if rachel's doll had a name. but she sure is nappy, huh? i think i remember having this picture taken. we pushed mine and rachel's beds together and we were being all goofy. i think mom had to bobby pin my brother's hair to make it stay down.


here's my sister on the swing on our porch. we later replaced this swing with a bench swing. what i love about this shot is the yellow bushes in the background. those bushes were so beautiful when they were in bloom! this shot is looking toward the front of our house onto the street so you can see the catholic school across the street. that's where i attended kindergarten through 8th grade.

ok go did it again!

i posted a while ago about the amazing videos by ok go.

check out this new one:



brilliant! it makes me happy.

free tax returns, anyone?

just finished filing my tax returns. urgh. i hate that process. but it was made all the easier and cheaper this year. beehive.org allows for free online tax preparation for households making less than $58,000/year. it leads you to an h&r block site and it's really easy to use. check it out here:
http://www.thebeehive.org/money/pay-taxes/file-your-taxes-free-online

locally, united way of the midlands also provides free tax preparation, but the income bracket is a little lower ($49,000). click here for more information on that program.