ALOHA, KANANI! AMERICAN GIRL’S 2011 GIRL OF THE YEAR HAILS FROM HAWAI‘I!

This January, kicking off American Girl’s 25th birthday celebration, is the debut of Kanani Akina™, the 2011 Girl of the Year®, whose story takes place in the lush tropical paradise of Hawai‘i. A warm and cheerful girl, Kanani loves her town’s beautiful beaches, tropical sunsets, and fun lu‘aus, but most of all, she and her family love sharing the aloha spirit—a desire to welcome and care for others with an open heart. Through Kanani, girls will discover that everyone has something to share that can make life better for someone else.

Kanani is available for one year and will launch with two books that tell her story, a beautiful
18-inch Kanani doll (featuring long, wavy medium-brown hair and hazel eyes), and an array of outfits and accessories such as a paddleboard set, a plush Hawaiian monk seal, and a shave ice stand!

Written by acclaimed author Lisa Yee, the 2011 Girl of the Year books—Aloha, Kanani and Good Job, Kanani—introduce readers to Kanani and her small seaside town on the island of Kaua‘i. Kanani loves working in her family’s shave ice and sweet treats store, as well as sharing the wonders of Hawai‘i with visitors. Whether she’s making her cousin from New York feel welcome on the island, helping rescue a baby Hawaiian monk seal, or assisting older people in her community, Kanani learns that by sharing herself and her home in the true aloha spirit, she is able to make life better for others. The back of each Kanani book features profiles of real girls who, like Kanani, discover the joy of helping others through their gifts and efforts, however small.

To share in the Hawaiian spirit of helping others, American Girl is partnering with the National Wildlife Federation® (NWF) to help raise awareness of endangered animals, like the Hawaiian monk seal featured in Kanani’s stories. With the purchase of every Kanani plush monk seal sold in 2011, American Girl is donating $1 (up to a maximum of $100,000) to NWF’s efforts to help children throughout the United States gain an appreciation and understanding for America’s most vulnerable animals through various educational programs and activities.

To further engage girls in Kanani’s world and her story’s inspirational message, American Girl is introducing the following products and activities in 2011:

 Lend a Hand: Girl-Sized Ways of Helping Others: A nonfiction companion advice book to the Kanani fiction series, Lend a Hand gives girls ideas and tips (both big and small) for making a difference at home, among their friends, in their community, and on the planet.

 Kanani Retail Events: Starting on January 1, girls can take part in Kanani-inspired events at American Girl retail stores nationwide, including demonstrations for dancing hula, free Hawaiian craft activities, and delicious Kanani-themed meals.

 Kanani and Me E-cards: From January 1 through April 15, 2011, girls can create and share their own Kanani-themed postcards at americangirl.com/girloftheyear and can be automatically entered (with parent’s permission) in a drawing to win a Kanani doll and book.

Starting on January 1, 2011, the Kanani doll, books, and accessories will be available for one year or while supplies last through American Girl’s catalogue, at americangirl.com, and at all American Girl retail locations. To request a free American Girl catalogue, call 1-800-845-0005.

Atlas Vs. Goliath Snowman

As you know, we are trying to domesticate Atlas.

Before Atlas came a part of our family he'd gone from puppy mill, to shelter, to Rescue Group, to our home. For two years he'd never had a family who loved him and had never even been on a leash.

He seems to be adapting to life on the other end of the leash to some extent. I say this only because he no longer seems to be seeking to break free.

Atlas likes to take time to smell EVERYTHING. Grass, leaves, trash on the side of the road, it matter not, he wants to bury his nose deep into it all the while making pig snorts.

Christmas Day brought the anomaly of a blanket of snow. Snow was rare enough for Atlanta and Atlas was put off not just be the cold but he didn't like the wet either.

He eventually got past his initial reluctance and we began our walk. I was enjoying the holiday decorations that adorned the neighborhood homes but Atlas of course was obsessed with smell. He tried to bury his nose in a pile of snow and almost immediately withdrew his snout surprised by the chill.

I spied a small snowman on the lawn and it brought back childhood memories. We didn't have gloves so we would often put socks on our hands to help keep them warm. By the time we would come back in our feet and hands would be wet and so cold.

Just as we began to pass the snowman Atlas let out a low growl. He then rises up on his hind legs. This is the stance that Atlas takes when he's getting ready to go on the offense.

Immediately he's snapping and snarling at the snowman which is now a perceived threat.

He pulled and tugged and hopped from foot to foot as he challenged the frozen monolith almost saying, "Yeah come on. Bring it on Suck-ah!"

I had to give his leash several tugs before he could stand down. As he began to trot away, he looked back. I can't help but wonder if in his parting glance he was trying to communicate to his enemy, "You're just lucky my Mom is making me go because if she wasn't....."

Abuse Charges Filed In Sylar Newton Case

Earlier this year I wrote about a tragic case in which a missing two-year old turned up dead after going on a camping trip with Priem and her family near Rimrock in July.

If you remember, the child's birth mother had given the child to Priem because she felt her son would have a better life.

Authorities arrested Priem on Dec. 6 on felony counts of involving a minor in a drug offense. She is accused of giving her children and one of their friends drugs during a camping trip.

Now more charges have been filed against his custodial mother – and her mother.


The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information on Collins to call Detective John McDormett at 928-771-3260, or Yavapai Silent Witness at 800-932-3232.

Do Not Attempt Playing Frogger At Home

My husband and I often have the conversation, "Do you really think that people are so stupid that they have to be told..."

Apparently such warnings must be repeated CONSTANTLY as illustrated by the following story.

A 23-year old man has been hospitalized after police in South Carolina say he was hit by an SUV while playing a real-life version of the video game Frogger.

Ah hello. You are neither a frog nor living in a virtual world.

It turns out that Einstien (or Froggy for short) had been discussing the game with his friends. The man yelled then yelled go and then darted into oncoming traffic in the four-lane highway.

No charges are expected against the driver.

It appears that the name of the man who was struck has not been released. Probably to protect him from his own stupidity. Good news though, he was in stable condition Monday night.

You know what that means don't you? Well he's only lost one virtual life and still has a few more to go.

Missing Child Alert

Jonathan Foster was last seen in the area of N. Shepherd & 43rd on December 24th 2010@ about 1:45 p.m.

Jonathan has a very visible over-bite. He was last known to be wearing a tan-colored T-shirt with musical notes and a guitar printed on it. He was also wearing blue jeans and black & white tennis shoes with a red stripe. If you have seen Jonathan, have information … or know of his whereabouts, please contact the Houston Police Department @ (713) 731-5223 - or Texas EquuSearch @ (281) 309-9500.

Jonathan Foster, 12, was last seen Friday afternoon at the north Houston apartment complex where he lives with his mother and stepfather.

Jonathan was last seen Friday night at his home on Oak Street near Garden Oaks. He had run home from a babysitter's house in the neighborhood. He was home playing video games when his stepfather says he stopped in, but Jonathan was gone just 25 minutes later when his mother came home from work.

It Never Snows In Northern Georgia, But Girl Don't They Warn Ya

Thursday the National Weather Service predicted that 1 to 3 inches of snow could fall across Metro Atlanta.

The last time there was measurable snow on Christmas Day was more than a century earlier, in 1882, when .3 inch accumulated.

Christmas morning was cloudy and snow free until about 10 AM and by the end of the day we had accumulated about two inches.

Atlas, was very frightened of the white stuff falling from the sky. When I took him outside he began pulling me towards the truck parked in our driveway to seek shelter from the snow.

I coaxed and pleaded for him to step out into the great white north but he stood his ground. He was not having any of this. I was eventually forced to crawl under the truck to retrieve him.

The storm is predicted to head North and bring blizzards dropping 15 to 20 inches in eastern Massachusetts. (Note to Yankees: Snow storms are one of the reasons I left the North.)

In the meantime many churches will be closed here tomorrow and we may well get even more snow tomorrow.

Despite the cold weather I did receive two phone calls that warmed the cockles of heart. The first call came from my youngest son who called to wish me a Merry Christmas and inform me that I had accidentally written the wrong name on one of the gifts.

It seems that I had put his name on a printer that I was giving his brother for Christmas. I apologized but my son told me, "That's OK Mom. We figured it out. I told Dan that you're old and you don't know any better." Thanks Mike.

Later in the evening I received a call from Dan, who usually identifies himself as "favorite son." (After the comment his brother made, perhaps he's right.)

Dan put the kids on the phone and I got to talk with them for a little while. It goes so fast and after all what kids really wants to talk on the phone with Grandma when you have a pile of new toys waiting to be played with. Can't say that I blame them.

Christmas always reminds me that our greatest blessings are FREE. Blessings are present in every aspect of your life. You may not be wealthy by the world's standards but if you live with an attitude of gratitude, you will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion.

Merry Christmas and may God bless you and keep you safe.

Unforgiven?

Sometimes a thought will just pop in my mind. At the time, I have no real clue what it means or why the thought came into my head until later. It's like pulling a couple of sentences out of a book without a clue where in the story those sentences belong.

I had such an experience just this weekend. I was in the bathroom and I remember asking myself, "Will you ever forgive her?"

The her was my ex-mother-in-law and the story behind the forgiveness denied goes back decades.

My relationship with her was at best tenuous. Before I had ever met her I had been told how she had neglected my husband when he was a child. The story was that his Dad had died and his mother began dating and her children became a millstone around her neck.

Her daughter wound up getting married at 16 and getting pregnant right away and her son was often at the bottom of her to do list.

At the time I was very young and very in love with her son. He seemed protective of his mom willing to drive hundred of miles to try to help her escape her new husband who was very cruel and abusive.

I wanted to like her. I wanted to reach out to her. All of this went out the window from our first meeting. After some idle chit chat she told me that she was happy that "things worked out" because when she first found out she was pregnant with him she had wanted to have an abortion. It was a sucker punch I was not prepared for and it colored my every encounter with her. I just couldn't imagine a mother sharing this information with someone she barely knew.

Within a year of being married my husband received a phone call from her and he wanted to have her move in with us. This didn't happen but the specter of having to uproot our lives to offer her a place to stay was always there.

Oh there were other snubs and subtle power plays. One of them is a perennial favorite tale that I tell every year when people talk about the WORST Christmas gift EVER.

While certainly not rich, my mother-in-law certainly wasn't so poor she was deciding between buying her meds or having to eat cat food. She shared Imelda Marco's passion for shoes and when she found a pair she liked she'd buy it in every color. She would wear them each less than 10 times and then according to her they just didn't feel right.

Every year she would give me large trash bags filled with shoes. This was fine because my salary seldom stretched far enough for me to buy more than one or two pairs a year. I certainly had no problem with receiving the shoes and I always thanked her for them.

No the insult the bad Christmas gift should have SHOUTED worst gift ever just by the way it was wrapped. It was a big black trash bag with a small red bow and my name on the label.

I eyed it suspiciously and when it came time to open the gift there it was....a vacuum. Oh not a vacuum in a box shiny and new. No. It was a vacuum that had been hers and when she bought herself a new one she gave me hers complete with a canister almost full of dirt. Let's just be honest. What girl wants a vacuum for any gift? I certainly didn't.

My husband on the other hand received a couple of books he'd wanted and a few new shirts and pants. Heck I'd have been happy with one of the books.

This however was not the reason for the rift. No for me the battle lines were drawn during the summer of my pregnancy. Even as I write about it I can't fully explain why or how I was able to hold on to my feelings of betrayal for all these many years. I will try to explain it to you.

My husband began cheating on me within a year. I was pregnant but that made little difference to him. He beat me up, abandoned me, and moved in with this other woman.

I wanted desperately for my husband to come back. I was willing to do anything, say anything, endure anything if he would just come back to me.

During the summer of my pregnancy my husband took his mistress with him down to meet his mother. She allowed them to stay at her house.

This was a woman who made us sleep in separate rooms when we visited and I was engaged but here was my husband, a married man, with a baby on his way and she allowed him to sleep with his mistress in her home.

I was hurt. When I learned about this I told her how upset I was and she told me, "I'm his mother, what else should I do?"

What else? I don't know, talk to him, say, I love you but until you are divorced this really isn't a good situation. Please don't drag me into this. Your child should be your priority.

During the divorce she wanted my husband's attorney to make sure she had access to our son. This despite the fact that our state and many other states were against rights for grandparents.

I did relent and did let our son spend the summers with her but I seldom spoke with her. My son would come back from visits telling me that "Grandma is really proud of you Mom." "Grandma says you are a good Mom" Big deal I thought. You can't make it up to me now. What you did was so wrong.

Sometimes he'd say "Grandma says you're her only daughter-in-law." I'd laugh, when he'd tell me that one. Of course I was her ONLY because my ex didn't marry the little tramp he'd been with while I was pregnant.

Slowly but surely the years rolled on by. She always had health problems and ever since I knew her she was certain that her days on this earth were numbered. I had gotten to the point that I didn't take it seriously anymore.

Instead when I heard she was back on death's door again, I'd mock her by grabbing my heart and saying in my best Fred Sanford voice, "Oh, this is the biggest one I ever had. You hear that Elizabeth? I'm coming to join you honey."

My son is grown now and he still visited her from time to time and I didn't begrudge him that. I didn't spend much time thinking about her but when I did the walls went up immediately.

I had no reason to think of her that day. The thought just came to me out of the blue.

The next day my son called me to tell me that she had died.

I feel a sense of loss. A loss for the fact that I set aside my pride to forgive her despite the fact that she never asked for forgiveness. All those years I wasted angry with her. How different would it have been if I had forgiven her? What lesson about love and forgiveness could I have taught my son. Instead, I kept bashing her because I was right and that meant so much more to me than anything else.