Million bucks…..to certain NGO’s this is huge….others, not so much. In Kenya, there is a group trying to provide education to kids who cannot afford even shoes and shirt to attend. The child is kept “away from public schools” at home to do chores and earn dollar a day labor rates. Loldia School Fund out of the UK provides for several hundred kids. Grateful kids. Cost 400 EU a year to house, feed, dress, get books for a year of education for a child needing to board. (school is 50 km away from slums of Nairobi).

The people of Israel has been wary since….well, for the last four thousand years and counting. Family lived in Tel Aviv for four years while posted at US Embassy there. I had pleasure of several week visit. Yes, Arabs and Jews do work together, but as I could see it, do not live together. That makes for a big difference. When a wall separates them literally, they live separately, and good communications is much less likely. Loved Jerusalem, but saddened by small mosque with an Israeli flag draped over the dome. Seemed to sum up the atmosphere. Of all the nations of the world, Israelis do know what it is like to be pushed behind walls. Oh how I pray the wall was not there. The suffering of both the Palestinians and the Israelis must be agredd to be put to an end for there to be no walls or bombs or war there.

Contradictions I have embraced. When in 20’s I told my husband to be that I may not want children. Now, in my fifties, the best moments of my own life has been due to two children.

ahh, This makes sense to me……. You have hads a lifetime of experiences to draw emotions and show to others around you, not family or close friends——but others——a you that is not inward and reflective and uncomfortable. I have no information on his, but it seems that the best actors can live in the moment. The actor feels the experience the character is to feel, and lives the experience momentarily as if it were their own. . Is this somewhat true?

Yes indeedy. My husband, only 55 is going “nuts” over our safe blue chip …..bank stocks ……and worries he may have to return to work or a bread line. He is not happy nor content emotionally or financially. He started his own business, sold it, lost lots on safe stocks and…well……one unhappy man. He plays golf to take things off his mind. Me? I have weathered bad health all the years of my life I can recall—-nothing life threatening, just bad health………and I think “this too shall pass”………..I sure hope emotional depression and financial depression don’t hit our household at the same time. Then the survey will say netiher men nor women happy.

olympic trivia; did you know that athletes consume up to 8000 calories a day!! I wonder how many meals it takes to eat that much?

Enjoy your now adult friendship with your daughter. …..passages……… Maybe you will be the designated driver. :) thanks for sharing.

My daughter Katie just turned 21 on July 22nd. On midnight hubby and I took her out and her brother bought her a drink. Then on her birthday night her friends took her out and there was a designated driver. We try to teach moderation and one drink was all she wanted when we were with her, but I guess letting her hair down for one night is safe. I fear alcohol mixed with driving and drinking to excess. Young people physically become addicted much, much more quickly and can become addicted to alcohol in a matter of months, not years as with “adults”. Meanwhile, I too remember dresses and skirts only, so I wore those leggings that must have been made from wool or cotton since syntheitcs were not available or invented yet. :) In high school, we had to kneel on the floor to prove our skirt length was regulation length: middle of the knee, ( public school.) I had to change once since my dress was too short.My Mom had made the dress for me. yup, home-made dresses. I guess JC Penney and Sears started having clothes section and then we were able to buy some clothes like jeans. My dad was in management in Philly at Bell Telephone (Ma Bell of Penn)- but with five kids we still were cash strapped. Moms with five kids were at-home working Moms. With an average of two children per family, Moms have more options open today. We still have a long way to go in our thinking and our attitudes. Me included. I would love to see a female US President though.

To Senator Obama: Happy Birthday ! Do take a day off, or at least plan time into your coming days for relaxation and “down-time” for you, and with your family. Your will need to be healthy in all ways for the Presidency. I have a question: If Barack was running for President in Kenya, would reporters and folks be questioning whether a white man could run for President of Kenya?

How true. Nancy Pelosi has broken a glass ceiling. Our daughters have experienced a different world than we baby boomers did growing up in the 50’s and early 60’s. I remain hopeful that our next generation will have empowered women.

Cookin Golfer, Laughed out loud at that. Since Dr. won’t prescribe any hormones, I can relate to wondering cats feeling. :) If I start feeling like a wandering dog, maybe I will get even more territorial and be in even bigger hot water. Friends around me are all just trying to keep their individual heads above the high tide of stress of family life:kids, husbands, bills, tiredness, work, housework, more bills, health issues, and now Hot Flashes. ah come-on, the powers almighty,give us a break, would ya? This being a woman is tough.! Women friends cling to one another, push each other away, feel territorial, then have an open friendship……..it is like a roller coaster sometimes here in the burbs…..at least for this lady.

Katie will be working as an olympic waitress for the athletes. :) After her stay at Beijing U. for August she will move to Beijing Normal the Language and Culture Institute for a year of intensive language study to add to her International Relations and Economics. Her college selected her for a full scholarship through the US Chinese Embassy. She has gotten a terrific LSAT score that can carry into choice law schools. I am going to miss her this year. I am off-topic for the book party…so sorry..but I.just know that she will fill a book of information from her experience there. Women of Wow probably can relate to one of the best moment’s life is to share the pleasures of a loved one.

Thanks Frank. It has a special section for explaining the use of various names for each character. I am glad for this help. Next I have an Amy Tan book aince my daughter just landed in Beijing, living in a dorm, and is already loving it and says the sky is blue!!

Wonderful! Previously I had sent in a request for information just like this. Just signed up for your e-mail alerts. As for the reading list Joni, My son bought a suggested book from Wowowow.for my birthday July 27…… Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Certainly had heard of book but now I have it in a larger type I can read! Thanks for this Wowowow!!!!!

Too big.Yes these are huge, ugly snake-infested topics. Comparing lung cancer to skin cancer or brain cancer to colon cancer, does not help understand the story of any one cancer, nor does comparing one sort of bigotry to another sort of bigotry….does it? Sexism and racism both are often under the radar and very difficult to diagnose, pinpoint or reverse. Then there is black racism, Latino, India brown, and on and on with each group having its own story to tell. It does not help to bunch racism into one pot. The CNN 2 night show on Black in America was good at exposing some stories on African American racism. Dialogue, while hot,I think is needed on both topics. Comparison is not needed. That is where Katie Couric has to re-think what she said. Changing the way we think about each other is done partly through our language and partly through exchange of ideas.Laws have helped, but attitude is where change really takes place. Can we try to take on each topic separately Wowow? June, as one of many black women, you will no doubt have many insights. Please do share.