Amazingly, I was not scared off home ownership for life by the house I grew up in. But then, I think my parents conned us kids into helping by making it an adventure we "got" to participate in when: the water heater emptied itself into the hall; the plumbing in the wall had to be replaced; we tore out the wall heaters;the back fence collapsed; the routine yanking of the heating element from the water heater to clean off the mineral build up and scooping out of lime in the bottom of the tank; mom got really sick of the faux brick wall in the kitchen and the red shag in my bedroom; we broke yet another window; jackhammering the back patio to replace it with brick (that was FUN!).... And that's just the stuff I remember. A lot of DIY because honestly, they couldn't afford to hire someone.

I've committed Zappos this morning.

Seymour Hersh claims that the Bush Administration had adopted a policy authorizing the use of summary executions of adversaries as one of its tools, and that the operation reported to Dick Cheney.

Disturbing, but not surprising.

I also came from a tiny, rural school district with a barely-there gifted & talented program. I was encouraged to move ahead of the class on my own, when possible and there was some instances where they tried to provide advanced learning opportunities for small groups. Once I moved up to the consolidated middle school and high school, there were lots of choices for high performing kids in English, Math and Science--my high school physics teacher was a PhD. I count myself especially lucky in my education experience.

To complicate matters, I was small for my age until I was about 15 and one of the youngest kids in my class because I just made the cut-off. To complicate matters, I was socially awkward. So when the school wanted to move me up two grades (from 1st to 3rd), my parents refused to allow it.

This is so similar to Leif. In the discussion of moving him up another grade, a big factor was that he was already small for his age. Another big factor was that his handwriting skills are on par for a six year old which isn't good for skipping grades.

As I was driving this morning I noticed my odometer and realized that I was coming to an important moment for all Civic owners when we have to make a certain commitment. The time for a timing belt and water pump change is approaching rapidly. At this point in our owner-car relationship I'm ready to make the commitment even though it will be painful.

I've committed Zappos this morning.

ooh! Cute und very comfy looking.

I remember being in a G&T one-day a week program in 3rd & 4th grades. The only thing I remember doing in it was mapping the spice route! But I'm sure I loved getting out of regular class for a while both years. I didn't like either of my main teachers those years. I'm sure I did some sort of G&T in 5th & 6th grades but I don't really remember. In 5th grade I was in a special high level reading class where we ended up being unsupervised a lot of the time for some reason. I also did some class in a 6th grad classroom. I remember being the only one in that class who knew what a midwife was.

In 7th grade I went to a special magnet school for 1/2 the year where my dad taught. That was fun/torture! I could have gone back for 1/2 the year in 8th grade but I decided not to. I wanted a whole "normal" year I guess and to be a "normal" kid. Ha! I should have gone back to the magnet school, in retrospect, it was much easier!

I went to a college-prep high school where all the classes were supposed to be academically challenging. I don't remember there being any kind of tracking although I did do a few AP classes.

Caption This Photo, Vote For Wednesday's Best, See Tuesday's Winner!

Original Caption: A model presents a creation by French fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac for his Fall-Winter 2009-2010 ready-to-wear collection.

It's a shirt made entirely of Kermit the Frogs!

I was really really challenged at my magnet middle school. It was the first time I'd been in a school environment where many if not most of the other kids were smarter than me. I got terrible grades, but it was the best school I ever attended.

Unfortunately for my work ethic, high school was a breeze after that, and college even moreso. I've never had to work as hard at anything as I did at geometry/trig in 8th grade.

I don't think my magnet school was easy academically but it was so much smaller than my regular school. Plus my dad was there and I knew all the other teachers pretty well. So, socially it was much easier for me.

Socially the magnet school was better for me because there were proportionately so many more other nerds there! Even the popular kids in the magnet program were nerds!

So this Republican politician was apparently caught with two prostitutes by his wife, who became enraged and attacked him, prompting him to call the police.

He denies he was with prostitutes.

Skoien denies police account

Palatine Township Republican Committeeman Gary Skoien denies he was with two prostitutes when police say his wife attacked him early Sunday morning.

Skoien, the former Cook County GOP chairman, said he was visiting with two female friends at his Inverness home on the 500 block of Fairway Lane when his wife, Eni, became enraged and hit him.

"No money was exchanged. Nobody was naked," Skoien, 55, said. "I'm a politician. You think I'd call police if I weren't afraid for my life?"

Eni Skoien, 36, was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery in the incident and given a March 19 court date in Rolling Meadows. Gary Skoien said he filed a 21-day restraining order against his wife on Tuesday.

He has not charged with any crime in the incident.

His account directly contradicts a report by Barrington-Inverness police.

According to the police report, Gary Skoien "told (police) that he did in fact have prostitutes with him in the playroom when his wife caught him."

Gary Skoien called the report "absolutely wrong" and said he was headed to the Barrington-Inverness police station Wednesday night to speak with the responding officer and fix the discrepancies.

According to police accounts, Eni Skoien, a homemaker, discovered her husband and the two women when she came home around 1:15 a.m. Sunday. She told police she became enraged and hit her husband with a closed fist and several times with a toy guitar.

Skoien said his wife had to be driven home from a fundraiser that night. He called his friends over after she arrived.

"She heard talking and went crazy," Skoien said. "Toy guitar understates it. I thought I was going to die."

Gary Skoien said his 110-pound wife had a history of violence, and that they've been estranged and living in separate parts of their large home. He said he went to the police station March 3 following a similar incident but didn't press charges because "I hoped the situation would correct itself."