Real World Mom

Uh-huh… “For The Mature Woman Who Has Everything: A Boy Toy.” (Reuters)

“Wanted: rich older women interested in hot younger guys. Applicants must be over 35, earn at least $500,000 a year or have a minimum of $4 million in liquid assets, entrusted assets or divorce settlement.”

This interesting concept was thought up by a New York entrepreneur to bring together older women with younger men. He’s using the website pocketchangenyc.com to promote this fiasco “speed dating” adventure.

Just found it somewhat amusing and kinda sad.

You have to check out this story from CNN, “Dogs Live The High Life.” When their owner died in 2006, they were left $1,000,000. Ah, to live a dog’s life…

“From Fighters to Friends” (CNN)

Hector is a 4-year-old Pit Bull who has been given a new lease on life.

Hector’s previous owner used him as a fighting dog. You know, the freaks sickos that force animals to fight each other, in the name of what they call ‘fun’.

More than 50 American Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes were found along with Hector on a property in Virginia.  Some animals were discovered to be injured, scarred and or chained to buried car axles. It gives even more, horrid details, but I can’t bring myself to type them so you’ll have to read it for yourself.

One of the dogs seized was deemed too aggressive and was euthanized. Fortunately, the rest still have a chance. Almost half were sent to a sanctuary in Utah where they will be worked with. Others were evaluated and are said to be ready to be placed into foster homes to eventually be adopted. Surprisingly, even after all they have probably been through, none of the dogs showed aggression towards people and have a good chance of being adopted out at some point.

A Pit Bull rescue organization in California requested the opportunity to evaluate and rescue as many of the animals as possible, and they were given the go ahead to do so.

Hector is currently enrolled in “Canine Good Citizen Classes”, so that he can be properly socialized. After graduation, he will go on to become a certified therapy dog. How about that?!

I’ve been around dogs all of my life, and I have a great love and respect for them. No matter what you do, they offer you their unconditional love. How a person can take that for granted and go so far as to torture an innocent creature is way beyond my comprehension.

In the time I spent as a volunteer at an animal shelter (Delaware County SPCA), as well as for a German Shepherd Rescue (German Shepherd Rescue of Southeastern Pennsylvania), I saw some of the worst imaginable cases of human ignorance, stupidity and cruelty first-hand. I’ll just never understand it.

Thank goodness there are shelters and rescue groups–and loving, caring people–that are willing to try to save as many animals as they can. They are the advocates–the voices–for the helpless creatures that are all too often abused, taken for granted and neglected. At least a few more Hectors may survive because someone cared.

That’s why I wrote the story about Reign’s surgery and then his update.

Here’s a great site for animal lovers, those looking to adopt a new pet or to find information on just about anything animal-related: Petfinder.

What is believed to be the body of two-year-old Hannah Luong was recovered yesterday morning. All four children who were reportedly thrown from a bridge by their father have now been found.

Lam Luong, the man charged with the children’s deaths, remains in jail without bond.

“New Generation of Homeless Vets Emerge”, Associated Press.

This article states that 336,000 veterans were homeless at some point in 2006. Of that number, 1,500 are veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There is the fear among some that there will be significant increases in these numbers as the wars continue–and not enough is done to prevent it.

The three principal causes given for veterans becoming homeless are mental illness, financial difficulties, and the inability to find affordable housing. It is also mentioned that the Iraq war may accrue even higher figures due to multiple deployments which can prompt the various stress disorders to show up earlier than they are usually seen.

Soldier On is a non-profit corporation that is staffed by homeless veterans and operates a facility at the Veterans Medical Center in Leeds, MA. Soldier On’s president, Jack Downing, is quoted as saying, “It’s a disgrace. You have served your country, you get damaged, and you come back and we don’t take care of you. And we make you prove that you need our services.”

I admit to my ignorance of this topic before reading the article today. Now that I’m aware of it, I’m not sure what–if anything–I can do to help alleviate the problem. My hope is, by making others informed, perhaps then we can make a difference, together.

There’s an update in the tragic case of the father who allegedly threw his four children off a bridge in Alabama. “Searchers Continue Looking For Last Body.”

Three of the four children’s bodies have been recovered, and searchers vow not to give up on finding the fourth.

According to the story “The Science Behind Falling in Love,” from ABC News, falling in love is more about science than luck–and, yes, ‘love at first sight’ is possible! But wait! There is also love at first taste and love at first smell! That’s because our brain and our five senses are really what causes us to fall in love say researchers.

The story goes on to say how the first kiss can be like a “taste test for true love.” Interesting, huh? It gets better! One opinion states that there can be testosterone in a man’s saliva, which can serve as a “chemical mickey that acts as an aphrodisiac on the woman.” Now how about that?!

“Extreme Proposals: Will You Marry Me at 20,000 Feet?”

This story goes on about over-the-top proposals (one couple was skydiving, another man proposed on tv, while another rented a theater!), and how men are spending lots of money (over and above the ring) on pulling-off the ‘perfect proposal’.

Maybe I’m old-fashioned (or just plain old), but are all the theatrics really necessary in order to propose to someone these days? Most of us would probably prefer it to be romantic, but I think it would be fairly difficult for any sincere proposal to be anything else! Not to mention the uncomfortable and embarrassing situation this could turn into if the person being proposed to isn’t prepared to say, “Yes,” right away!

My advice: focus more on being happily married than spending thousands of dollars on asking a question!

“MySpace Agrees to New Safety Measures”– AP

According to this article, MySpace reached an agreement with 49 states to add new ways to help protect our children from online predators. Among these efforts will include new technology, including one to purportedly identify under-aged users. MySpace claims it will share its resources with other companies to help make the internet a safer place. It will be interesting to see how this plays out–and just how long it will take to begin implementing the new practices.

Ok, so it’s been a while since I’ve had a little one (my youngest is almost 13), but this story really took me by surprise!

According to the report this article is based on, teachers with 12 or more children in a class reported an expulsion rate of 12.7%. Compared to teachers with eight or less children per class, that rate dropped to 7.7%.

One of the recommendations of the report is to reduce class size to eight children or less per teacher. They also suggest giving teachers adequate breaks–bet those preschool teachers are happy to have that mentioned!

Read the full story on the Reuters site here: “Smaller Classes Can Cut Pre-K Expulsions: Report”