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."

Gingrich: Pay Pregnant Teens To Stay Healthy

The Republican also told state senators Wednesday he supports paying poor children to read, and the state should consider paying girls to not get pregnant.

Ooh. A new way to make money!

Something the Fug girls don't have: pictures of the worst-dressed aliens. [link]

My fave is #6, "The High Collar Look." I also love #5: "The Choir-Boy Look," with ST:TOS aliens the Talosians as an example.

So, what's everyone having for lunch today? Me, I've got a big salad and two oranges for dessert (second day in a row). Cafeteria had nothing else that appealed--it was Chinese food today, and their eggrolls and sweet and sour chicken both really suck. They do Indian food much better. The line for the sandwiches was huge compared to the Chinese food line.

I did chat with the chef/register guy who's been really supportive of my dieting over the years. He said he would give me his card when he gets his private cooking business back up--he charges $10/hour to come over to your house, work up a menu for the week with you, and then after you get the groceries, he'll return and cook up the food for the entire week. He said he can usually get it done within six hours. Not a bad price for people like me who don't cook that much at home, but I probably won't do it (too much money going to the diet doctor for now).