weaponized

making marshmallows fun -- load, fire, fun

Hubley -- Thanks and God be with you.

Specialists in special children

Hubleys to welcome another blind child into their family

By Jennifer L. Boen

of The News-Sentinel

Books fill shelves, toy boxes and colorful plastic bins in Rebecca and Ryan Hubley's two-story home on a tree-lined boulevard in south Fort Wayne. On the coffee table is a cream-colored, pictureless book with heavy paper pages titled “Mr. Wacky is Wacky!” The tiny bumps on each page indicate it is a Braille book. Beside it is a book about Clifford the Big Red Dog's Valentine's Day adventures.

On the living-room walls are large framed photographs of the blond, blue-eyed Hubley children: Hannah, 6, Micah, 4, and Luca, 14 months. One other photo stands out from the rest. It is of a chubby-cheeked black baby with dark curls and chestnut eyes.

“That's Jonas, my brother,” Micah said. He's eagerly anticipating the arrival of Jonas sometime in November.

The 20-month-old lives in an orphanage in Haiti, abandoned five months ago at a social services agency by his parents, who likely felt their son “would have a better life than if they'd kept him,” Rebecca said. The reason? Jonas is blind.

Adopting a special-needs child for the Hubleys seemed the natural thing to do, the couple said. Hannah was born blind. Micah has spina bifida.

“For us, it's no big deal. I mean, this is just normal for us,” Ryan Hubley said. “Looking from the outside in, I can see how people would wonder why we would want to do this, but this is all we know.”

In a toy box, colored blocks with painted numbers mingle with foam-like shapes on which are raised Braille letters. Micah knows Clifford is red. Hannah just as quickly calls out the color of every shape, her small fingers moving over the raised dots.

The cause of Hannah's blindness is a genetic disorder affecting about one in a million people: familial exudative vitrealretinopathy, or FEVR. When the Hubleys were expecting Micah, they knew he had a one in four chance of having the disorder. Another kind of disability was not foremost on their minds.

But an early ultrasound showed Micah had an opening at the base of his spine, the hallmark of spina bifida. They accepted the news, asked for prayer and support from family and friends, and waited until his birth to know how severe the spina bifida would be and whether he also would be blind.

Micah's eyes are fine. His spina bifida is a milder case; he can walk. However, the birth defect affects the nerves to his bladder and bowel, and his gait is somewhat different from other children. Luca has no apparent physical disabilities.

The Hubleys wanted more children, but after Luca's birth decided if they added to the family it would be through adoption. Ryan wanted to do an international adoption.

In September, Rebecca, a professional artist/photographer and adjunct Huntington University instructor, was searching the Web for agencies and countries to consider. Through Bethany Christian Services, the largest adoption agency in the United States, Rebecca found God's Littlest Angels, an orphanage in the mountains of Haiti near a villager called Fermathe.

Jonas' picture appeared. When Rebecca read he is blind, “I just knew he was the one,” she said. The couple prayed over the matter, discussing the challenges of raising a third child with disabilities. But the day after Rebecca saw Jonas' picture, Ryan called her from Blackhawk Middle School, where he is a teacher and coach.

“He said, ‘I can't get (Jonas) off my mind,' ” Rebecca recalled. “Then he said, ‘I can't think of any reason why not to do it.' ”

Rebecca knows Haiti well — she lived there several months each year throughout her childhood. Her father, Dr. David Brown, a family physician with Markle Medical Clinic, took the family along when he did medical mission work at a Haitian clinic. After Rebecca and Ryan married in 1999, they worked alongside her parents at the clinic for several weeks.

By phone, Dixie Bickel, director and founder of God's Littlest Angels, explained that Jonas was developmentally delayed and not walking yet. Rebecca knew that is common for a blind baby. The two chatted about Hannah and what therapies helped her - therapies Jonas has not had access to. Bickel took notes in hopes of implementing some with Jonas.

Because Jonas is a special-needs child, the Haitian government can expedite a medical visa for him. In addition, $5,000 is available through God's Littlest Angels to cover expenses related to getting Jonas to the United States. The caveat? The Hubleys needed written documentation from local doctors and therapists stating they would provide Jonas' care for free prior to Jonas' final adoption. Rebecca had everything signed and delivered within a week.

Now the Hubleys await approval for his visa. Because Jonas' parents are unknown and cannot sign papers, the visa takes a little longer. Rebecca hopes to fly to Haiti by mid-November to bring him to his new home. Initially, they will be his U.S. sponsors, and will proceed with adoption as soon as possible.

Hannah and Micah talk excitedly about the arrival of their new brother, although Hannah said she wishes she was gaining a sister, not another brother. Micah is already learning the role of sighted guide for his older sister. He's happiest when lots of people are around, and one day asked Rebecca, “Could we bring home all the kids who don't have a mommy?”

Hannah is the only child in Fort Wayne Community Schools with 100 percent vision loss, school officials said. Until Jonas is tested, the Hubleys won't know how extensive his loss of vision is or if he has additional problems.

“It doesn't matter,” Rebecca said. “We're not sending him back. We know this is what God wants us to do. We have so much to offer him. Hannah can teach him Braille, and Micah said he will teach Jonas how to play games. We're a team.”

autumn

dump on ya

hurting

I was approached by a student a while ago ... she seemed disinterested when I was no longer subbing or teaching. I inspired another adult to pursue teaching. It never touched me like this before. I guess I did put a little something in of myself ... helped one or two people ...

damn

I don't miss some of it, and I can safely write that my pay was never as much "routinely" as it is now, but I did like what I was doing. If I got that kind of consistent pay for teaching hours for teaching ... I'd be happy to sub for eternity. Only now do I see that I did do something positive in the lives of a few people.

eyes up here

I am a pig, from "men are pigs", for a woman came in and she had a name badge on her chest. She was cute, nice voice and sadly I had to force myself not to look at her chest. I don't mean to say that her name tag got my attention, but rather her chest. I think in my mind, I played out the elevator scene from "Liar, Liar".

Halloween how you like it

This lady here, I would have to remove her utility belt and other "harmful" things ... rowrr -- oo, foxy lady
or you can outfit your lawn in lovely decor
read scary stories -- your woman clenching onto for protection
allow your kids to play dress up and get candy
get candid pictures of your kids wearing your clothes as a costume

"hey y'all, watch this" ending in disaster for yourself -- "it seemed like a good idea at the time."
or pass out candy to the kids calling out, "treat or treat" ... gee, thanks Mister.

working man

N: 2-10
M: 9:30 - 4
T: off
W: 4-10
R: 11-8
F: 2-9
S: 5 - close
N: 2-10
M: 9:30-4; 2-3 Amir

chocolate and innocence

So, I chance today watching TV and I happen along commercials

28 Weeks Later ... looks low-budget like the first, only half the plot this time

Verizon -- 50s Easy Rider rejects 20something waitress for 2" podcasts and movies
WUMA -- Walmart credit union ... half-naked men
Cadillac -- shoes, chocolate, accelerating past two like-aged men; few of her favorite things

Cavemen the ABC new series. I think I'd favor Hanna Barbara's Captain Cavemen reruns.

she kicked my butt

She used to do kickboxing she said, weeks later, she kicks my butt. Okay, ok ... it was in passing by she kicked my butt teasingly, but still ...

butt, kicking, mine


oh, and we (fellows and I) all got our butt kicked working today. It was busy ... we felt understaffed and we didn't like it.

The woman who kicked my butt ... were she older, I'd have plans -- intent, butt alas. In other news, some bloke at work and a woman at work met up for a tryst .... stupid.

Boom, baby!

Well,

MR said...

that car wouldn't make it to the junkyard if it were downhill all the way.

and don't tell me it'll do .5 past light speed.

He was right. I got word today that the car blew apart -- here, I think she meant the engine.

Must see?

Well, I've read and heard many people talk and write about, "must see" shows and TV, but ...
"That don't impress me much."+

First, in order to watch these "grand wonders", I'd have to either buy a DVR or get a messload of tapes. I liked Futurama, but I never knocked myself out to watch it. I liked a few programs on Adult Swim, but I didn't like them enough to tape them. I find sit-coms painful to watch. It's like watching my life, some stupid little thing I do, that I know how it starts, ends, and is in the middle. I don't like the end, so I avoid it. Much of the 3rd grade shows have paper doll characters with laughtracks, so the audience knows when to laugh. Even those shows without laugh tracks have greatly contrived++ situations that, my understanding of reality, are implausible and impossible.

I like non-fiction, and for that part I am boring -- dreadfully so. If I want fiction -- I want all out fiction -- Hulk or some other thing like that where there is ABSOLUTELY no pretense of reality or AlGorisms running like a news ticker. Save planet now ... Ted Turner is your deity ... donate money to scientology today ... don't forget to vote for whom we say ... dah dah dah

An exception to this might be COPS, but you've seen them all, whether it is every episode or that this is 6th cousin doing what 2nd cousin did in season 4.

+ Shania Twain
++ example, mystery shows where an FBI agent happens to be in Cabot Cove and is questioned by Jessica and leads to other red herrings where the perpetrator is, "shocking" some visitor. It's helpful when Jessica can do the autopsy herself (or on CSI) in complete darkness in a poorly lit lab. Thankfully the lab has a computer that can decipher the Joker's riddles, find RNA from two bacterium on two vital samples, and link to and hack into INTERPOL systems to find identities of persons, including their DNA and the fact that they once had a pony and a sheepdog the hairs of which are on collected samples.

ooo, I'm drivin' my life away

While I drive I find the radio -- pitiful, so I have taken to audio books. I last heard Frederick Douglas' "Fugitive Slave" memoirs. I later obtained the pdf. It was quite interesting. I also heard part of Bill Bryson's "History of Just About Everything", but found his style not to my liking. Sadly, his material was interesting, but his narration was not.

I am now with David McCullough's 1776, which is okay, but his "laddy-friggin' dah" parts need removed. I would, if time allows, recommend experiencing Frederick Douglas' work, which really speaks about a slave, boy, and man. How, with being given the taste of reading, he pursued it regardless of the pain it caused him.

There were many things in the life of a slave of I didn't know, as well as the painful to hear, stark reality of slavery. I am going to, again, try to digest Stephen Hawking's works, as the last time, on chapter 3 -- he lost me. I remember going from gravity to gravitational constants and number theories that were as meaningful to me as neaderthal grunts or an language with implied manner and required clicks and visuals signs -- beyond the scope of graphical representation.

So, this fifteen times nested function means what now?

rolling doubles too many times

Well, what might look like a break ... a good streak, a heads-up penny, might very well be a ticket to the pokey. Alas, a man of profound stupidity -- has lucked himself into jail. It is not him to whom my sympathies go, but rather another person who must bear more pain. It isn't a crushing blow. In a fight to have this putz get along in life, this person has chosen to fight for him -- her competition a brutish Tyson fighter with some foxy cunning. Ultimately, either our protagonist will wear out this terror or our protagonist will perish in battle. I find the latter more likely.

The jailed man here is no stranger to me, but I favor the protector over the protected. The protected views life much like a game -- there is no reason for tears or emotional investment. To the destruction of others -- life is emotional investment, devotion and love. This "player" is unmoved by the cries of others. Be he the shoe, ship or hat -- a shit he remains.

Dog vs bear?

Not so deadly

obo car

Well, she wants a bit much for it, so ... offer away...

I'll show you two glaring problems and give you the skinny. In all, it is a car for to-and-fro travel only.

1993 Cutlass Supreme
175,000 miles
driver's side window motor is dead -- missing panel is in trunk
passenger mirror, severed -- kept in car presently
It needs a new headlight bracket

moon roof is operational

Present owner has had car 4.4 years. All accidents are "result of other drivers".

click and be well

An American in an Iranian court

So, I was pulled into a room with a chair. There were no windows and it smelled like death. Under the metal chair was a painting accident or the mess of fifty some people -- blood, feces, urine and who knows what else.

"I thought I was going to court to be tried."

"You are", said the voice behind me.

"The guilty will sit in the seat to begin the...", unnatural pause, "trial process." It wasn't that their English wasn't good, it was that "trial process" was not by barristers and magistrates, but rather by trial, like convicted witches. Innocent and guilty both die here. My heart pounded trying to find a way out.

I am sat in a chair, bound to it and a bright light is cast on me. Unlike police movies, it is not to make me sweat, but rather to allow the inquisitor to see like a dentist at a chair or a surgeon in ER, I am to be dissected and gutted.

Before I die I wonder what was my crime ... my sin ... my guilt ... as my screams begin and my agony starts, I remember.

I asked a question, "why".

Questions are more dangerous than guns here.

Ahmadinejad's next stop ... IHOP

Well, if I did fine at Columbia University, I think I'll stop in at IHOP, get some food and talk some more. Columbia Lunaversity has expressed interest in Somalia leaders and the architects of Apartheid.

Rights and punishments are dolled out in equal measure. Those opposed, die.

I agree with McCain on this one, you don't invite him to speak. Columbia University should relocate to liberal Iran. I hope, in 2008 they get no tax dollars if they want to host this type of person.

IHOP; international house of pancakes refuses to accept Ahmadinejad, so he'll have to find another more liberal and insane venue.

petitioning the court

These "gentlemen" have requested to not be tried as adults. Instead, the courts and America in general have accepted to not treat them as adults.

So you say your computer is "glitchy"

Call me, Wreck Support, and I will solve those pesky issues in a simple stroke. Be that stroke of genius or aggression, no matter -- it will be solved.

cars

At work, several other people have new new cars. One woman had her new car hit, by some fool in the parking lot. To worsen this ... they drove off and the cops didn't initially believe that the new car was unblemished before. I'm waiting to find more replacement cars soon -- I think.

art by Mark Tatulli, "Lio"

Deadbeat Dad Storage

early Halloween special

spider at night

She was busy thinking at the time

What would Snoopy do?

Simpson's follow up book

"I didn't do it, but if I was going to steal my memorabilia, I would do it like this..."

So far, no publishing companies are bidding to produce it.

Set up, sting, lies

You see, that wasn't me. That was some guy who looked like me there, taking my memorabilia. So, there you have it. I am being framed again, for I did not go in there and do those things. I was not even in the area. I was following up a lead on had on the real killer of Nicole and Ron. I mean, there I was, not resting ... still looking, before my tee time I had set, and that's that.

I mean, clearly from the audio, you can tell that ain't me. I don't know why my bodyguards were there with a lookalike. But you see, that's the police trying to get me. It's all a frame up, I am innocent of them charges. Mark Furman must be at the heart of this.

-- OJ Simpson's rough draft of criminal denial in his latest arrest

The more you know

Wackos!
L. Ron Hubbard, Sr. might have be a paranoid schizophrenic. I would have to write that the organization is completely wack, drawing wacks into the cult.

infatuated

Despite obstacles ... she resides in my mind...

I'll have to try some pick up lines, "sleep with me"? "You're so hot!", "Wanna try my new car?", "Wanna get closer"


I surrender to her slap!

once admired, then reviled ...

I'm afraid that I'm well received for only a short time. With the "younglings" I'm a father-figure, but to the others, I'm a whirlwind seemingly know-nothing.

Oh, and I'm in deep space hell, by the way.

Guess the movie

sch-ed-u-ale

starting Sept. 16
N: 2-10
M: 11-4
T: OFF
W: 2-9
R: 2-9
F: 1130-8
S: 11-8
N: 2-10
M: 11-4

Replacement car

It's a good deal larger than the "peanut" I had been driving.

play time

Geo go-go

Alas ...



the peanut has died.

It happened Sunday night ... or scratch that, 4pm Sunday near work. I stopped at an Autozone for oil, but it was too late. When I started my car, it blew out smoke -- burnt oil. I drove the several blocks to work. At the end of work, I drove about four blocks when the sad little thing died.


I called triple A and after 2.5 hours (1:00 am Monday morning), I got back to my town (2:30 am). The mechanic here looked at the car (4:14 pm) and called me that it was time for a good burial for the car.

The tow truck driver was a chatty man ... talking about just about anything. It was a long trip. I'll not have to do that twice, I hope.

driven

I managed to set off a car alarm by driving to close to a parked car and on the same trip saw a kid get hit in the face by a baseball, his bat still in hand, never swung.

click click boom

apparently this teacher-child molester is a common hit for searching, as many find my site for his name. At any time snipers should feel free to snipe him.

Mel Towbridge

Blame errors on

Let's not look at the management ... no ... let's find the usual suspects instead and ask each and every one of them time-wasting questions. The one with the blanket is likely the weakest one, right. Let's make him cry.

At work, punish, punish, punish ... they aren't big on rewards. Because they don't treat their people well, that is why I'm most eager to leave.

Dear work

Though upset on days, I hope I don't resort to this as a final gesture.

Hmmm

I'll accept your plea deal. You won't have to spend 81 years in prison ... trust me. Bailiff, discharge your weapon in the direction of the defendant.

Blam

Thank you.

Now you won't have to spend 81 years in prison ... you are dead.

Convicted child molester assaults, attempts to rape, holds hostage woman, and gets off with 5 year sentence ...

that is bullcrap. That means in 1.8 years, he'll be out, better prepared to not get caught. I say fire!

no more, quoteth Brown, nothing more

Thanks Lio!

Just say, "NO!"

jail up

one man in jail ... who was training at work ... and so, I must be chopped liver, right? Darn my semi-clean life.

let me speak my mind

How political battles usually end.

Why you may want to read, before you go forward

So, let me get this straight ... Coleta, CA to Brooklyn, NY has to do with UK, Germany, USA and ... I'm confused here, why is Texas introduced?

If you follow the bread crumbs, I think you'll see that you don't know who this is ... not to mention that the courier blah blah blah company doesn't send you an email with their address on it. I wonder how many people they netted so far.

Violence of some people

I was at MR's a long time ago when we happened along this particular scene from a series on "getting caught on camera". This sadist needs ... um ... removed from the planet. While he raped an art piece, nonetheless he did "rape" it, and didn't care for the consequences of his actions destroying the pinata's usefulness.

He's statements of, "well, they had it out there, tempting me... got bored while working security there ...", clearly denotes a deranged and criminal mind, with anti-social personality. He had to acknowledge that he did it ... it was clearly him. He, however blamed the company for having the pinata there to "tempt" him.

I wonder how many other things or animals have suffered from him. I say duck season and I say fire!

Snooping around the grill

Reality Check

It hurts to be caught with your pants down

"Sex Sting", who writes this stuff?

I'm readin' it

Well, with McDonald's wonderful ability to write, I wonder what education program they have ...

McMediocrity fer Kidz

"Never let them see you try..."


By the way, the "I" when referring to yourself is always capital. It's nice that a company that caters to families chose to go backward in English comprehension and literacy.

Bear with a tan ... me

Actually, I'm just plain yogurt white as I'm not often in the sun.