Adventures with Kurt and Lori

Eat Your Veggies

2012-01-25T22:03:00.003-05:00

My car is home! Super yay. Nothing too major wrong. Two things that has to do with the ignition switch. Both parts were switched out. Glad to have my baby back. I seriously love the Saab more than any car either, and in winter, it may be solely for the heated seats. Yes, raising hand, I am a girl! ;).

Kurt has been in a divorce trial the past two days. I love hearing about Kurt's trials, something amusing always happens and Kurt always seems to piss the other side off a lot. He is amazing to watch in trial, it's like he does not even need to think or look at notes, or anything. Love watching him. Being an attorney really is like acting sometimes and Kurt would be oscar winning, LOL. I really hope we win this trial, of course, the decision comes while we are in St Maarten on Friday. I will have to have Angie email me or something. He got the decision of another hard trial he did where the Mom was trying to terminate our client's rights. Long story, but we won that one too and he gets to start seeing his kid again, so he was thrilled. Super yay.

I saw Million Dollar Quartet at the Fisher last night with my Aunt. part of our season tickets. Anyway, I was not expecting anything uber awesome, but I absolutely loved it. Awesome singers, interesting show and just great all around. I loved the guy who played Jerry Lee Lewis. Anyway, highly suggest this show. We had dinner ahead of time at Carabba's, which was super yummy and a total cheat meal. ;). My new snack idea, which is working out well, is baby carrots. I take them daily to work in a little baggie and eat them throughout the day as a snack. It's making my not snack on anything else, which is awesome. We have been eating a lot of clementine oranges too, and I think I am doing fairly well at my trying to eat more fruits and veggies just by only snacking on those during the day and nothing else.

We are closing the Ypsilanti office this week & I am thrilled. We opened it initially because a former associate lived near there, and it worked better than cuz she did all the appointments out there. Since then, it's been a pain as Kurt has been going there a lot, and that causes back ups in work in Taylor, it's a vicious circle. Im excited to steal the super kewl retro furniture I had there and put it in the Monroe office. So, we are now just going to have Taylor and Monroe, which are the ones I like. Yay. Anything that takes some work off my plate makes me happy.

I found this house listing online in Tarcoles, Costa Rica (right next to jaco) and the place looked perfect and the house was an amazing deal. Wrote the realtor and it was sold. BOO. It's fine cuz we kinda want to wait to buy until closer to our move, but at the same time, I was like HEY, why can't things sit on the market forever like Michigan? I guess it's because people would rather live in paradise, or at least I would.

I need to start planning my March Tampa trip. I am taking my Mom to visit my grandparents in late March for a weekend as her bday trip. We had so much fun last year, I can't wait to go again, and I think I have enough miles to get free tickets, score! and of course, we have a free place to stay. can't wait to sit by the pool there, go shopping and run outside.

Off to bed. Hope all is well with everyone.

Newt Gingrich, Breast Feeding and Healthy Choices

2012-01-22T18:44:00.004-05:00

click here to read this funny article about why Newt Gingrich annoys me. And I am not posting this to say I support Obama in the next election, because I do not. Newt just terrifies me, LOL. Go Ron Paul! Or if I can't have my way with that one, go third party candidate.

And while we are on are things that annoy us and pet peeves, here are some topics that annoy me lately.

1. Societies obsession with breast feeding and breast feeding in public. OK, you are a Mom and you breastfeed. That's awesome if that is what you chose, and what works for you. It is not the ONLY way or the BEST way and it does not make you superior to Moms who do not breastfeed, nor does it make your baby's health superior. Some Moms cannot breast feed for one reason or another and some choose not to. Do yourself a favor and stop judging before you know the facts. I, for one, was not breast fed, and neither was my sister. We are both healthy, intelligent adults. In fact, i rarely get sick and have never been in the hospital for anything, so my Mom's choice to not breast feed did not lead me into an adulthood of being sick all the time like the articles one reads would lead you to think. No idea if I would breast feed or not, but I would make my decision based on what it best for me and my baby, and not because a doctor or moms out there pressured me into anything. Also, babies need to eat, so if a Mom is breast feeding in public, stop staring in disdain or muttering under your breath. It is a natural thing done to feed a child. So, stop acting like mothers are offending you by feeding their child. Just get over it people. Vent over.

2. Working out, different forms of eating. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE PEOPLE. Stop acting like your way of eating or working out is the superior way, or better than someone else's way. I wish everyone could just be happy for everyone else and their way of being healthy. I am a pescatarian. I try to eat healthy, which to me is low fat, high protein, low cal. My workouts consist of a lot of cardio (running, biking), and strength training (light weights, resistance bands , etc). This has worked well for me and has helped me lose 60 pounds and be in the best shape of my life. I wear a smaller size and have more muscle tone than I did in high school when I was in sports year round. MY way would not work for everyone. In fact, it may not work for most people. On the same note, YOUR way may not work for everyone and YOUR way is not better than mine. To each their own, right? The internet has just made it so much easier for everyone to judge everyone else far too harshly. I like to research different ways of living and eating and mixing them into my own. For example, I have friends who eat Paleo/Primal and I find it interesting because I like learning about other's lifestyles. I like how it takes processed foods out of your diet and focuses on being more natural, this is a diet goal of mine too. But, when I try to read up on it, the blogs are soooooo judgmental, almost condescending. People will ask valid questions and get snotty responses from the blog writers. Seriously. i am sure that attitude makes people see things YOUR way. Also, I don't care that your 10 minute video means you are done working out in 10 minutes and in amazing shape. I enjoy working out longer than that. It's a time of the day I get to zone out and not think. So, if I want to run 5 miles, please just let me do it, and don't tell me if I did your workout, I would be done in 10 minutes. less time does not necessarily mean better unless that was your goal to begin with. Not mine and not many others either.

3. How society is so complacent and just accepts everything the government says and does without question, especially if society believes that it is protecting us from alleged 'terrorism'. we now have laws that allow the government to imprison us for no reason. if they think we might maybe be a terrorist. Sigh. Ron Paul is the ONLY person running for president right now that sees a problem with this. well, of course. most politicians love control that is almost dictatorship like. Who wouldn't want to be the ruler of the World, right? Who would want to answer to the House and Senate, those pesky people there to make sure there are checks and balances in place, what a nuisance. LOL.

i think that's enough annoyances for the day. i am going to go work out, and hit my kickboxing bag while thinking of these annoyances, and having a great workout. What is annoying you lately? :). Happy Sunday!

Uggs and Car Probs

2012-01-18T22:14:00.004-05:00

Poor little car.

I was driving home from court today, talking to my Mom on the phone, and suddenly, my car (the Saab) started not accelerating. weird. Hung up with my Mom and pulled almost to the side of the road and it just turned off. Fabulous. I was not quite to the side of the road, on a major highway (the Lodge Freeway) and in a spot right around a corner where people could not see me until turning the corner. Called AAA right away, and got out of the car so I was not sitting there in danger. Of course, it was freezing today, about 27 degrees. So, I am standing on the side of the road, wearing a skirt, nylons, and 4 inch t-strap heels, waiting for my Mom. A bunch of people stopped to see if I needed help, and eventually two guys pushed my car to the side of the road. People are so helpful, truly. One guy stopped, I told him I was fine, and he came back 10 minutes later telling me that he has two sisters, and he would not want them standing on the side of the road in Detroit alone, and he insisted on standing with me. And then, one of my attorney friends stopped, left, then came back and said he could not leave me standing there. The tow truck was there by then, so my attorney friend gave me a ride to the office. Kurt and I met the tow truck at the car mechanic and we left the car there. Not sure what is wrong yet, but apparently, something is wrong with my gas reader thing, as I know I had like 40 miles left until I needed gas, yet the guy said I was out of gas. They did say there is something else going on as well with the ignition or something, so they are checking that out as well. Had to cancel a facial and a nail appointment for this week since I don't know when we will have the car back and both the Porsches are parked for the winter, so we are down to one vehicle now (the jeep).

Was happy to come back to the office to a large box from Ideeli which contained my new Uggs. got an amazing deal on them, and I plan on wearing them for my walk to court then changing into heels for these cold days. They are super cute and comfy. LUV THEM. Cannot believe I waited this long to purchase, however, I could not stomach the retail price on them. I got them for about $100 off retail. Also, this dress arrived. I loved the color, and it is super adorable on. I love the belted dress look.

American Lung Cancer Climb

2012-01-17T22:05:00.001-05:00

I talked Kurt into a charity event with me. We are climbing 70 flights of stairs at the Ren Cen in Detroit, MI, to help raise money for lung cancer research. We both have to raise $100. We started a Haskell Law Firm team, so if anyone in the area would like to join our team and be part of a really kewl experience, please sign up on the site.

Click here to donate to our cause. We would really appreciate it, it's a tax write off, and you will be helping an awesome cause and organization.

Happy Climbing!

Nothing New

2012-01-17T21:33:00.003-05:00

****me and grama, late holiday party Jan 2012. auntie's house.

Nothing major going on, I feel like there is a lack of posting here lately! I think I will do some bullet points, just to post some things that have been going on with us.

Friday night, had dinner with Kurt, Kory and Rebecca at a fav place of mine in downtown Detroit, Fishbones. We were supposed to use a Groupon I had at Detroit Fish Co., but when I called to make a reservation, they were closed for a private party. On a Friday night. How weird is that? Anyway, had soup and crab cakes at Fishbones, both were awesome. Weirdly, I ran into a guy I had met at court once and gave legal advice to. He saw me walking to the restroom when I walked in and says "lawyer!" I did not turn around cuz, yea, there are a lot of lawyers in downtown Detroit. He then came up to me and we ended up requesting to be sat in his section. Got amazing service. Another great experience at Fishbones. We went and walked around Greektown Casino since they had redone some of the interior. Yea, it solidified why I don't like the casinos in downtown Detroit. It was fun to walk around and throw some money in the slots, but it's no Vegas. The clientele in the casinos in Detroit is not of a high caliber for the most part. People seem depressed, not having fun, and totally too serious.
Saturday, had a late Dziegeleski christmas at Auntie's house in Canton. It was nice to see everyone, and we all exchanged gifts. It's getting harder for Grama to get around, so we decided to simply order in from a local Italian place, Antonio's. I had broughtb dessert, which was good as well. I got a chocolate creme pie for my Dad (his fav) and tiramisu, which everyone in my family loves. Overall fun night.
The Detroit Free Press was at the office today to take my picture. weird story, but I have them on Facebook as someone I see statuses too. About a month ago, one of the reporters posted something, asking readers if anyone counted calories on an online program, and had it worked for them. I posted back to tell her about my experience, and that yes, for me, it worked. She ended up calling me, talking to me for a while about the details, and then asking if they could take my pic. So, I may be in the paper. Crazy!
We are getting excited about our St Maarten trip. Still need to rent a cheap car, but other than that, Im ready to get out of here! :).
Work for January has been insanely busy. Generally, January is a pretty average month. We are WAY up money wise for January and slammed, which is odd. Good since we just gave everyone raises, but odd. Usually we kinda know our busy times of the year vs average, so I have no idea why this January is so up. Kurt blames the weather. He may be on to something

**me in my new stuff from grama. warm. great for the colder weather we have coming up! :)
.
Kurt is looking at Greece for my birthday in May. I am a little nervous about booking Greece until closer to my bday because of the back and forth financial issues and turmoil they are having. I guess we will see.........
Im jealous of my friends Lisa and Brian right now, who are in Poland. well, kinda. It's cold there. but, it's still vacay. :)
I talked Kurt into doing this stair climb (70 stories) for lung cancer research $$ at the Ren Cen in Detroit. He may kill me at the end, but that's OK, it's for a good cause. hehe. Our friend, jeff, is going as well. And possibly some people from the office.
One of the things I wanted to do this year was eat less processed food. That goal is not going so well. I think it's much easier for those who don't work the hours I do. Sometimes, I need to grab something quick and I don't have the time to prep my food for the week. I need to make a better effort at this. And no, this does not mean I am going Paleo or Primal, just want to make an effort to eat more natural food. Since there is a frig full of Lean Cuisine meals at the office, this is obviously not going to happen 100% of the time--I still am counting calories on livestrong.com, trying to eat low fat/calorie, and high protein. it's works for me, so I am sticking with it. :).
working out is going great. Have been working in a LOT more free weights, resistance bands, kettle balls, etc. and i am totally noticing the difference in my arm and leg tone. Super yay.

I think that's about it on the posts! :). Like I said, nothing major going on, but wanted to post an update before too much time went by. Hope everyone is doing well in the new year!

*me and kurt at greektown casino.

Jamaica

2012-01-15T16:07:00.000-05:00

****Holiday tree some guests put up from a branch in the jungle the staff found and all natural ornaments, i.e. shells, etc. The same guests have been putting up an all natural tree on the beach the past 5 years.

So, I suppose I should post about Jamaica before too much time has gone by.......

We decided to stay at Couples Sans Souci in Ocho Rios. Left on Dec 20 and came home Dec 26, flying Delta via Atlanta.

Flights went smoothly on the way to Jamaica. No delays at all, which was nice. Got there, and there was a long wait to get through customs. When we got the front of the line, Kurt had to go to a special health area to be asked questions because he had been out of the country in the past 6 weeks (his Costa Rica business trip). I found the luggage while he did that and we headed to the Couples area of the airport. The resort had an area of the airport where you checked in, could use the bathroom, get a drink, relax, and wait for the shuttle to the resort to get there. About 10 minutes in, the shuttle was ready. It was us and two other couples in the van, and they were actually going to another Couples resort. Ride took about 1.45 from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios. We talked to the other couples quite a bit--could not watch more scenery as it was getting dark. Got to the resort and check in was easy, we were the only ones in the lobby. A beach party was going on that night for dinner, so we headed to our room E8 (evergreen building), changed into better hot weather clothing, and headed down to the party. Got down there, found a place to sit and ate. We were starving from not eating very much that day. We were pretty tired, so we did not stay much for the show at dinner. Headed back to the room, threw bathing suits on and headed for the jacuzzi and to check out the resort. Found the gym, all the pools, the hot tubs, restaurants, etc.

The rest of the trip was mostly spent doing one of the next few things--working out (once a day), sitting on the beach (most of the day), drinking (most of the day), playing tennis (most days), and having meals (three times per day). We also read a couple books and RELAXED. It was totally what I needed. I was exhausted going into this trip. Loved lying on the beach all day, napping, walking on the water, using the pool and hot tub. I think I napped more on this trip than any trip I have ever been on, which caused problems with my work productivity the first week back, LOL.

**on our way to the resort after flying to Jamaica.

We ate at all three restaurants while there. My fav was Bella Vista, which was on the beach. This was the only place that did not require a reservation at the resort, but I thought had the best service and food. They had this snapper there that was amazing. The other two places were good as well. We had breakfast at a buffet all mornings but one when we ordered room service (which was included in the price of our room as well).

We went into town one day to shop, and it was not really a fun experience. They took us to this area I think it just for tourists. The people there were realllllly pushy, moreso than anywhere we have been. It made us not want to shop as you could not really browse leisurely without being hounded. At least in nonEnglish speaking countries we can act like we dont understand. :). We ended up hanging out at a little bar and having a snack and drinks. More relaxing than being hounded shopping.

***heading to dinner, night one, the beach party.

Overall, the beaches at the resort and Jamaica, at the resort anyway, was absolutely beautiful. The water was totally blue and gorgeous. We loved our time there, and we spent the trip doing just what we wanted--nothing. I would not recommend Jamaica if you want a place to explore a lot in the country, as I don't think it's really safe to explore a lot on your own and not on tours.

You can click here to see all the pics from the trip.

St Maarten

2012-01-07T12:43:00.002-05:00

I am going to watch this video daily as something to look forward to soon......

The Cliff at Cupecoy in St Maarten from thecliff on Vimeo.

Heading Down to Watch the Underwear Bomber Hearing Tomorrow

2012-01-05T22:27:00.002-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

Although the underwear bomber trial concluded in October with a plea deal, Umar filed a motion on December 12, 2011 to replace stand-by attorney Chambers. This motion is too little too late since the only matter left in the case is sentencing, which will occur on January 19, 2012. A copy of the hand written motion can be viewed here:

http://www.mied.uscourts.gov/hpc/docs/21.Motion%20to%20Appoint%20New%20Stand-By%20Counsel.pdf

When it was filed in December, the press jumped all over it claiming that the crazy Umar wanted to fire his stand-by attorney and replace him with a muslim attorney. To me, this motion is something else. Let me explain. When Umar took his plea deal, it consisted of him pleading guilty to all of the charges, which require a life sentence with no chance of parole. NOBODY ON EARTH TAKES A PLEA SO THAT THEY CAN NEVER GET OUT OF PRISON! Plea deals involve give and take on both sides. Not only that, but stand-by attorney Chambers told me earlier in 2011 that Umar was offered very lenient plea deals because the prosecution "Just wants this case to go away". Umar rejected all of the lenient offers. Therefore, there is more to the plea deal that we will never know about (i.e. that Umar will be secretly released after sentencing for example). What was also an apparent sham to me was the concocted speech that Umar gave when he made made his plea "deal". Umar had written a statement in advance and read it in open court. It can be found on the internet with a little searching. To me, the statement did not seem like it was written by Umar or even in language that I heard Umar use before. It seemed much more likely to be the exact wording that the prosecution or government would want him to say as if they had prepared it themselves. It was a statement that the prosecution and press could blast everywhere to show that Umar is indeed a "crazy Muslin terrorist" and not the mere patsy that he is. I believe that whatever the real plea deal was, it involved not only that Umar read the statement prepared for him, but that he also file this nonsensical motion. The purpose of the motion would be to allow the press to again label Umar a "crazy Muslim terrorist" and continue to spread the government's propaganda. I was in contact with attorney Chambers on multiple occasions during this case. I know that not only did he not ignore Umar, but he tried everything in his power to become Umar's regular attorney and to get him off of the charges. It was Umar that withheld evidence from Chambers and failed to discuss most of the case details with Chambers. It was obvious that Umar was withholding evidence from Chambers because Chambers would often learn of important details of the case from me or from reading my blog. What really is the smoking gun in this motion is the following sentence "I do not intend to have my new attorney to have my discovery materials and things". WHY THE HELL NOT???? Umar again is going to hide evidence from the only person that can help him. Guys, this just doesn't happen in the real world. In my blog post last July, I discussed what would happen if Umar's stand-by attorney obtained the evidence in this case........It could be obtained by subpoena by interested third parties (me for example). Is this why Umar withheld evidence from his stand-by attorney and wants to do it again? This sort of thing just doesn't happen in the real world. Then again, maybe the underwear bomber case is really the government concocted fantasy I've been saying it is. Nevertheless, I am heading down to Judge Edmunds' Courtroom at 11:00 A.M. tomorrow to watch the theatrics.

Sum Up the Year, Yo

2012-01-02T18:40:00.003-05:00

I stole this from Nancy.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

*** Traveled to Germany, Jamaica, San Diego, and Puerto Rico. Wore an all sequined dress. Became obsessed with running and actually placed in my age group in many places. Adopted a stray kitty.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

*** I did not. I failed miserably. I wanted to learn Spanish better. I have already made some more. I want to run a 10K. I want to learn Spanish. I want to eat more fruits and veggies.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

*** Yes.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

*** Yes.

5. What countries did you visit?

*** Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Germany, many places in the US

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

*** More free time.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

***There are really no dates that totally stand out this year. I had a lot of good times, but I am horrible at remembering dates.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

*** I think I would have to say the races I ran and my times continually improving.

9. What was your biggest failure?

*** Not spending as much time with family as I would have liked to.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

*** Yes. I was hit by a car while riding my bike and hurt myself, but not too badly.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

*** My husband's.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

*** Most politicians, like the ones who recently passed a law making it legal to detain a citizen, without cause. Most of the American public, for thinking this is OK and just accepting the BS that happens without question or second thought.

14. Where did most of your money go?

*** Besides office expenses, prob travel.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

*** all of our trips.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?

*** Moves Like Jagger

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Happier!
b) thinner or fatter? thinner
c) richer or poorer? richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

*** spending time with friends and family

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

*** Working

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

*** Spent it in Jamaica with my husband

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?

*** Yes

23. What was your favorite TV program?

*** Girls Next Door

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

*** No. I don’t really hate anyone.

25. What was the best book you read?

***Nothing really stands out. Any travel book is great

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?

***Paul McCartney live was amazing.

27. What did you want and get?

*** Trips, clothes that fit right, a continuing successful law practice

28. What did you want and not get?

*** More free time

29. What was your favorite film of this year?

*** Dont know. I dont really watch movies until they have been out on video for a while

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

*** I was 34. We took a trip to Puerto Rico, which rocked.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

*** Not working as much. Seeing my Mom more.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

*** Great shoes make every outfit.

33. What kept you sane?

*** Running. My husband. Calls with my Mom.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

*** Kate Middleton.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?

*** See above. The law passed to detain citizens with no cause. also, any laws that take our constitutional rights away by lying and telling the US it is to protect us from terrorism.

36. Who did you miss?

*** My Mom.

37. Who was the best new person you met?

*** Well, not new exactly, but new to the office, Angie.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

*** Sometimes I cant do it all and need to ask for help.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

*** I've got the moves like Jagger. hahahahaha.

Christmas Day Two Years Later and the Current State of the U.S.

2011-12-25T08:43:00.002-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

It has now been two years since the Underwear Bomber attack. Once again, Lori and I find ourselves reflecting during the holidays about what happened on Flight 253. The attack, which comprised only two minutes of our lives, continues to shape our thoughts and beliefs. Although the criminal case has ended (except for sentencing which will happen in January 2012), the laws of Michigan allow for a two year period statute of limitations in order for the injured to bring a civil lawsuit. The time period to file such a lawsuit lapses tomorrow. Lori and I have had the plan to file a civil suit at the conclusion of the criminal case, which ended in October 2011. The plan was for me to file the civil case on my own in order to keep her out of the inevitable attacks and aggravation that would come from such a suit. I have talked to several attorneys to represent me in such a case, but none of them were willing to take on the U.S. Government. I made the decision that I would represent myself in such a case. I have spent a great deal of time researching the suit and have worked on writing the complaint to initiate the case. Even though I have spent a great deal of time researching the civil case, I don't feel that I have spent enough time on the case. I have come to the conclusion that becoming involved in such a case would be an overwhelming constraint on my time. As I am a very busy attorney, this would be time that I don't have to give up. I have been willing to give up my nights and weekends in order to work on the case to further expose evidence to prove that the U.S. Government was behind the staged attack.

Over the past few weeks, I have reconsidered my decision to file a civil case, and I will instead, begrudgingly, let the statute of limitations lapse. There are several reasons I have reconsidered my decision. The purpose of my civil lawsuit would not have been to obtain compensation, but would have been to obtain further evidence that the U.S. Government perpetrated the attack. Personally, I don't need any further evidence to prove the matter to myself. I have laid out my case in numerous prior postings on this blog. I have convinced the vast majority of people that have chosen to look at all of the evidence that I've presented. I don't believe I can convince anyone else. Those that choose to deny the obvious will still not be convinced even if they watched the Schiphol airport video and audio showing what I have indicated. What then would be the purpose of my civil suit? I could possibly obtain further evidence, but that would only further convince those that already believe the U.S. Government is behind the attack. I also believe that obtaining such evidence would be nearly impossible. We now have a U.S. Government so drunk with its own power that it believes it is o.k. to kill U.S. citizens without a trial and/or to detain them forever without a hearing before a judge.

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-obama-its-not-okay-to-kill-us-citizens-without-trial

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/15/americans-face-guantanamo-detention-obama

Would the U.S. Government willingly turn over evidence to me to show conclusively that it was behind the Underwear Bombing attack when it believes it can kill or detain American citizens indefinitely? Not a chance in hell. It is much more likely that the U.S. Government would declare me a person that "substantially aided" a terrorist under the new defense authorization bill and detain me indefinitely without a trial. However, that was not really a concern that led to my decision to not file a civil case. What did play a factor was the reaction, or lack thereof, of Americans in relation to the passing of this bill. Why are Americans not outraged and protesting by the millions in Washington over this law? It has just further confirmed to me that the vast majority of Americans just don't care what the U.S. Government does in relation to "terrorism". I can't tell you how many times people have told me that they are o.k. to let the U.S. Government do whatever it wants to do against terrorists in order to make them safe. I have news for these people, if there are terrorists everywhere; there is nothing that can be done to make you entirely safe. I live very close to the largest population of Muslims in the U.S. If terrorism were as bad as the U.S. Government makes it out to be, car and suicide bombings would occur in my area on a regular basis. The fact that they never occur is very telling. It is my belief that the war on terror is nothing but a fraudulent U.S. Government creation designed, in part, to take away all of the rights of Americans and to further enrich and consolidate the power of those in control.

Our Constitutional rights are currently under attack and are being rapidly taken away. In case you haven't been paying attention, the definition of "terrorist" is slowly changing to one that means "a person that doesn't agree with the U.S. Government". When those that have given away all of their rights to combat terrorism suddenly discover that they are in fact terrorists, it will be too late. If I filed and won my lawsuit and proved that the U.S. Government staged the Underwear Bomber attack, would these people care? No they wouldn't. Would it stop the U.S. Government's assault on our Constitutional Rights? No it wouldn't. Would anyone do anything if I was labeled a terrorist and detained indefinitely without a trial? Not a chance. These people comprise the vast majority of the American population. The corruption is so entrenched that 93 out of 100 senators voted for the recent law that allows for the indefinite detention of Americans without a trial. Can anyone think of any recent law that had that had such a vast majority of approval by both Democrats and Republicans? I can't think of any. The question I have is why would this bill obtain such vast approval? The answer to me is an obvious one. The U.S. as we know it is on the edge of complete collapse due to an out of control national debt. This collapse will lead to an economic collapse that will make the Great Depression look like a fun time. The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, an 18 member bi-partisan commission created by President Obama, recently indicated that the financial collapse will occur within two years.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Trinity-speakers-say-U-S-must-share-sacrifice-2400021.php#ixzz1gWTEZC60

Obviously, the vast majority of senators that voted in support of the authorization to detain Americans indefinitely are worried that Americans may turn their anger from a financial collapse onto their political representatives. The approval of such a law was made in order to protect the politicians themselves from unruly mobs of Americans that are angry from the financial collapse. These Americans will be the new "terrorists". The new "terrorists" will find indefinite “housing” in FEMA camps that are being built throughout the U.S.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P-hvPJPTi4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJBxdRIQx7Y

What other explanation could there be for the large bipartisan support for such an unconstitutional law? There is none. It is also shocking that a president that is a supposed Constitutional law expert would approve of a law that is such a direct violation of the Constitution. This is the sad state of affairs that is prevalent in the U.S. today.

What also had an effect on my decision to not file a civil case was the indication by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility that the U.S. economy will collapse within the next two years. Lori and I have had a multi-year plan (Going back to 2006) to retire and move out of the U.S. Our current plan is to move abroad at the end of 2013. Apparently, according to the commission, this would coincide with the U.S. economic collapse. If I were to file a civil suit, the time and money I would need to put into such a case would delay our move out of the U.S. For obvious reasons, we don’t want to be in the U.S. when it collapses and definitely, don’t want to be considered “wealthy” when millions of out of control Americans look for scapegoats for their economic problems.

Make no mistake, my decision to not file a civil case was not due to intimidation. If it was, I never would have spoken out against the U.S. Government in the first place. My decision rests on two conditions that have become increasingly clear over the past two months:

1. The vast majority of Americans don’t care or will never believe that the U.S. Government is staging false terror attacks against its own citizens.

2. The U.S. is facing imminent economic collapse for which I need to devote as much time and save as much money as possible in order to financially prepare to leave the U.S. permanently.

On a side note, I saw that a fellow Underwear Bomber passenger has filed a civil suit.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/23/justice/new-york-underwear-bomber-lawsuit/?hpt=us_c2

Note that Mr. Maranga has sued the airline and not the U.S. Government agents that were behind the attack. I have spoken to Mr. Maranga on several occasions and he is not convinced that the U.S. Government was involved. Don’t expect anything earth shattering to come out of this lawsuit. I originally read this story on the Detroit Free Press website, which I have been unable to locate. The comments section of that article contains many posts attacking Mr. Maranga for wanting compensation for his emotional injuries. Such is the sad state of the mind of the standard American. By the way, in order to sue an airline for an injury received on an international flight, you must have a physical injury and not just emotional trauma. What is interesting to me is that the U.S. was responsible for this provision in the Montreal Convention (the current law on international airline travel). Most nations wanted passengers to be able to sue for strictly emotional injuries, but the U.S. wouldn’t allow it. As I didn’t suffer a physical injury, I am prohibited from suing the airline.

I know that many people will be disappointed in my decision to not sue the members of the U.S. Government that were behind the fraudulent, false, threat known as the Underwear Bomber attack. I understand your feelings. I don’t want to let it go myself, but I have to look at the reality of the situation. The vast majority of Americans are not willing to believe that their government is as corrupt and evil as it is. No significant change will occur until this changes, and likely, even then, won’t occur without an overthrow of the government. Such a time will not occur without prior significant financial hardship happening to the vast majority of Americans. That time is coming, but it is not yet here. A cost benefit analysis regarding the filing of a civil suit indicates that there is no real upside to filing such a case, but there is significant downside. Nonetheless, I will continue to speak out against the corrupt and fraudulent U.S. Government and will continue to support those Americans that are paying attention and want their country to return to the free country that it once was.

Happy Holidays to all.

Racquetball, Kate and land

2011-12-14T22:44:00.007-05:00

So, just to update, I think we have decided against putting a bid in on the property. What's weird is, on paper, the place sounds perfect for us, and really, in person it was as well. But something is telling me not to put a bid in on it, like I have this feeling it's not the perfect fit. Kurt feels the same way, so we are holding off for now. I know we will just know when we find the perfect land/house, and I just do not think this is it. I think we are looking a little bit too early too, since we are still a couple years away from moving. I really don't want to buy and let something sit.

My amazing Kate Spade dress came in the mail! :). I can't believe the deal I got on it and I love it. REALLY high quality and well made, and super cute on. It's so detailed too, I don't even have to wear a necklace or any jewelry with it (besides my wedding ring). Wore it today to the office with my purple and white heels. Love. Yay Neiman Marcus clearance sales.

Had a KFASS dinner tonight, and it was nice to see the girls. I love having this group of girls who I can gossip with, who are in the same career as I am and just understand my job issues, etc.

I have had a bad headache for two days, which is super annoying. I think it's sinus related, the weather here had just been odd, with temps going up and down daily. Today, at one point, it was 53 degrees out! And this is weird since a couple days ago, it was in the 20s. My body hates drastic weather changes like that. I love the 53 degrees in December in Michigan, but my body is not doing well with that. I was proud of myself though, as even with a borderline migraine, I still biked over 11 miles on both days (which is about the only workout I can do with a bad headache).

So, we taught ourselves how to play racquetball this weekend and had a blast! We are just kinda learning at this point, but it seems like a great workout and is a lot of fun. I think we will be playing a lot now, at least on weekends. Here is me in my fancy goggles and racquet! Whoot.

Anyway, got to get to bed. Hope everyone is having a fab week!

BRRRRRR

2011-12-10T20:36:00.006-05:00

Was so happy Kurt got home! :). The pugs were as well. They seemed shocked when he walked in the door, as that is the longest the pugs and I have been at home without Kurt in 15 years!

Anyway, his trip was very busy, but went well. He got 6 veneers on his top teeth while there, in Tamarindo, at the only place he could find that could do the work that quickly. They turned out gorgeous. But, the main point of the trip was looking at the land in Bijagual. Bijagual is near Jaco, which like I have said before, is my fav city in the world. The piece of land we are looking at is 100 acres. Kurt hiked and saw a lot of it on horseback.

There was a portion of it that had been cleared at one point into 5 lots for houses (I think the owners were hoping to turn it into a small subdivision), and the rest of it is mostly primary and secondary rain forest, with some farm land as well. Which is pretty much what we want. Also, the land is part of some government program where we can have them come in and plant any kind of tree we want if we want to reforest any part of the cleared land. We would like to be somewhat self sufficient, so I would love lots of fruit trees for that purpose. I guess there are waterfalls and a lot of really pretty creeks and stuff on the land as well. Sounds pretty perfect. It is about 15 minutes from the ocean and another 10 minutes to Jaco. we are waiting on some other information on the property from our realtor, but it seems great (we would build a house on it, there is no house). Which is fine with me, since most costa rican houses I see are not really built in the style I would prefer. Jaco was having a huge surfing tourney while Kurt was there, and the reservation I made him at a room was not honored. So, he had to find another place, but found one pretty quickly. All went well with his flights, which I was happy about because I was worried about Kurt flying without me since he hates it. A lot of turbulence on one flight, and one small delay, but other than that, all was good.

We have, of course, been super busy since he got home.

We went today and bought racquets, balls, and goggles for playing racquetball at the gym. We are going to teach ourselves soon. I am hoping its a fun way to get cardio in to mix in with running, jumping rope and biking. I just can't make myself like running outdoors, so I am trying to make working out indoors more interesting. It has been under 30 degrees out here, and is crazy cold.

Friday, a Seattle based documentary writer met up with Kurt for most of the afternoon. I had lunch with him and he was a super nice guy, really interested in everything related to Flight 253 and the aftermath. I am curious to see how the film comes out. Anything we can do to open the American people's eyes to the lies and deceit going on behind the scenes, we will take part in.

I finally found a great red winter coat to buy on ideeli.com. Came in the mail today and thankfully, it fits perfectly. Yay. Marked WAY down too, which makes me happy. Kurt says it makes me look *skinny*, so I was even more happy after that! ;).

Also, got another scarf in the mail this week that I got an AMAZING deal on Shopbop.com this week. Scarf is adorable and super soft. I can tell Im cold lately since I am obsessed with scarves.

I started using the weight room part of the gym today. I have decided I want to tone up my arms more. I already see some muscle tone, but I want everything in my arms, chest, shoulders to be rock hard. So, gotta start lifting more. I am thankful for running though, as that in itself has really started the toning process. I need to buy a one piece swimsuit as well, as I want to start swimming in the pool at the gym, since I want to do a tri next summer.

Am counting down the days to Jamaica!!!!

Hope everyone is well!

Update(s)

2011-12-04T23:18:00.003-05:00

OK, don't even know where to start.

Well, Vegas for Thanksgiving 2011 was super fun! We flew out via Delta after work on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Flight was fine, no issues. Picked up our rental car at Alamo and we were off to the Palazzo. The Palazzo is part of the Venetian, just a newer tower they built. Anyway, I got the room at a discount through SniqueAway, an online travel site. The deal also included some coupons for the spa, restaurants, ice skating, etc., but we did not use any of the coupons. Anyway, all of the rooms a Palazzo are suites and super nice. We had a gorgeous view overlooking the entire strip, on the 43rd floor. Room 732 to be exact. Highly recommend that room, as it is away from the elevators and we barely saw another person on our floor while there. My fav part of the room was the remote controls that opened the curtains and shades. Anyway, the room had a separate sleeping area and sitting area, that had two couches, a desk, a frig, etc. The bathroom was huge and shower was nice. Also had a jet tub, which we did not use. Anyway, first night we simply stayed in, as we had eaten a sushi dinner at the airport in Detroit and were tired with the time difference.

Got up and used the hotel gym. There were two gyms we could use, either the one at Palazzo or Venetian (we only use the one at Palazzo the entire trip). I guess the one at Venetian was larger, but the one at Palazzo was plenty big enough for me since I only use the treadmill and bike generally. I worked out every day of the trip, which was good with all the crap we ate. :). After that, we headed out to play some poker. Had Thanksgiving dinner at the Mirage buffet, which was super good. We eat there almost every trip. Then, we saw Peepshow with Holly Madison at Planet Hollywood hotel. Loved the show. Was pleased that Madison was a huge part of the show, did not just make an appearance. Black Friday, I went shopping at my fav outlet mall out there, but did not end up buying anything, weirdly. Kurt watched football, then picked me up after several hours. We then played some more poker and just pretty much gambled the rest of the day. Saturday, Kurt spoke at a function for a friend of his in Vegas, then we had Mexican for lunch and got massages at a place I found online. Played some more poker, and went to dinner, then saw the Cirque Elvis show at Aria. Loved that show as well, but it was kinda more of a musical than your normal Cirque show. Sunday, I went shopping at Fashion Show mall and ended up getting some great deals on things. I bought an all sequined dress at the Limited to wear to a Xmas party, but ended up wearing it out that night in Vegas too. Perfect Vegas dress. Also got a dress for Jamaica there (one shoulder dress), and a cute skirt for work. I was psyched to find a bathing suit I have been coveting marked half off at Betsey Johnson, so I bought that, and I found two really high end bras marked down at Nordstrom's on clearance. Whoot. Went back to the room, and Kurt and I went to dinner, played poker, blackjack, relaxed. Monday, we headed to the airport and home. At the start of the trip, Kurt got plagued with the cold most of the office has had, so he was kinda out of it most of the trip. Boo.

Of course, as soon as we got home, I came down with what Kurt had. Boo. Got up in the morning to take a shower, and had no hot water. Why? Well, Kurt went down to look in the basement, and we had 6 inches of water throughout the basement. While we were gone, both sump pumps in the basement went out, and the water got so high it damaged both of our hot water tanks and almost ruined our furnace. So, Kurt had to stay home from work and call a plumber, who came out and pumped out our basement. Of course, they could not put in new hot water tanks right away. So, I had taken COLD showers all week, with the exception of the showers I took at the gym. UGH. SUCKS. I lost my voice an entire day this week which made working interesting, thank God I had no court that day.

Went to the downriver bar association Xmas party on Friday night. Both Shannon and Angie from the office came, and a lot of the KFASS girls and other lawyer peeps were there, so it was a lot of fun. We went out afterwards and ended up at the American Legion where we surprisingly had a lot of fun! :). Was much cheaper than a trendier place, that's for sure...........

**Judge McNally and I

Went to dinner on Saturday night with my Aunt at Crave. I had a Living Social deal that was about to expire, and I had to use it or lose it. Dinner was amazing, as usual. We split an appetizer of Spring Rolls and I think they were the best spring rolls I have ever had. Tonight, we had a late Thanksgiving dinner at Grama's, where we ordered in pizza and pasta from Buddy's. Food was good but not good for me. That's OK though. :). It was Thanksgiving, right?

Kurt took off to Costa Rica on Friday afternoon to look at some property that sounds awesome that our realtor emailed us about. I could not go as we are too busy with hearings at the office. Boo. He is also getting some dental work done while he is there (at an insane discount compared to the US). He saw the property today, but since we have not talked on the phone (just via text and facebook), I don't know a ton about it yet, but will keep everyone posted. Sounded like he liked the property though, and the dental work is going well. He got to explore the property by horseback today, and it is sunny and 85 degrees there, so needless to say, I am uber jealous right now! :).

Off to bed. Hope everyone has been doing well.

Booked

2011-11-19T23:11:00.003-05:00

**Pic above from the website of the Couples Sans Souci.

Our holiday trip is booked for Christmas! I know I blogged about this before, but we decided to shorten our trip this year since we have new staff starting at the office and I don't really think I should be leaving for two weeks right now. So, we are going to take a longer trip sometime in the beginning of 2012 to make up for the missed time off. Anyway, I wanted to pick someplace where we could both relax and take some little day trips to do things outside where we would be staying.

I started looking at Jamaica (Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Negril) and Mexico (Puerto Vallerta and Cabo). Went back and forth for a while before booking today, and the winner is:

Ocho Rios! :)

Can't wait. My resort requirements were adults only (preferably, couples only), wireless internet in room (preferably for free), gym on premises of hotel (with weights and cardio) and large rooms. Ended up booking at the Couples Sans Souci in Ocho Rios. After searching and pricing things out, ended up getting a Penthouse Suite for the price of a normal room on Travelocity, so I was happy. I had a really hard time picking a place, but this one had everything we were looking for. I like this place too as they pick you up for free at the airport.

There are already a couple tours I know I want to do while there, like this kewl ATV tour up a mountain, and another to a waterfall. There are some with dolphins and sharks............................

First week with Angie at the office has been awesome. She has been SOOO much help with hearings and phone calls and paperwork, and she has only worked one week so far. Everyone else loves her at the office too and she fits in perfectly. So happy about this decision that we made to hire her.

Off to bed, happy weekend! :)

Recipes

2011-11-15T22:04:00.002-05:00

I bought this cookbook that is AWESOME. Rebecca forwarded me a coupon to use when we stopped in a bookstore after lunch the other weekend, for 50% off one book. I ended up buying a cookbook, which is not a normal purchase for me since you can get almost every recipe online these days......Anyway, I bought this one. All the recipes are low fat (which is super important to Kurt and I), as well as vegetarian and a lot of them are even vegan. Also, most of the recipes seem super simple and pretty quick.

So far, I have made two recipes for Kurt (and stole a bite of course), and they were both awesome!

First, yesterday, I made garbanzo bean soup. Decided to make this because Kurt LOVES garbanzo beans. It was very simple. Recipe as follows (I modified the recipe to make 2 servings instead of 4):

1 medium onion, chopped (I used a red onion cuz they were the cheapest at the store and used half a large onion)

1 garlic clove, minced (used a jarred one) and my garlic press

2 cups vegetable stock (I used Kroger brand cans)

1 can garbanzo beans (used organic Kroger brand)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves

salt and pepper, to taste

1/8 cup of sour cream (I eliminated this totally)

paprika or chili powder, as garnish

Saute onion and garlic in lightly greased large saucepan until tender, about 5 minutes. Add stock, beans, cumin, and thyme and heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

Process soup in blender until smooth (could also use food processor according to book); season with salt and pepper. Top each bowl of soup with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with paprika.

This was great. Almost tasted like hummus soup! And we all know how I love hummus.......

Second recipe was Black Bean and Jalapeno Pizza with Cheese Pizza Dough

First, make the cheese pizza dough. Take 1.25 cups of flour and mix with half teaspoon of sugar and 2/3 cup of very hot water. Mix. ADd 2 TBSP of parm cheese and another .5 cup of flour. Knead in .25 cup of cheddar cheese. I used fat free cheddar and parm, kraft for both. Let sit covered for 15 minutes before spreading on 12 inch pizza pan. (I let sit much longer as I worked out before making the pizza, and it was fine sitting for much longer).

Spread .75 cup of salsa on dough (i used a medium salsa). Lightly mash black beans (I used organic) with 1/4 cup of salsa. Spoon over pizza. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of jalapeno chilies (I used banana peppers instead) and 1 cup of fat free cheddar cheese. Bake at 425 degrees until crust is browned, 20 minutes.

This crust was aMAZing and my first attempt ever at pizza crust. I would have never guessed the cheese was fat free, SO GOOD. Kurt ate almost the entire pizza, so I guess it was good! :).

Lack of Posting

2011-11-13T21:53:00.004-05:00

Life has been pretty chaotic. When I do get downtime, I truthfully have not really felt like coming on here and blogging. It takes enough keeping up with everything else with email, facebook, reading friends' blogs, etc.

Good news with the office though! I finally talked Kurt into letting me hire another associate. After Holly left in April 2011, Kurt was kinda thinking he did not want to hire anyone else. Prob was, the associate that works with him was still working, which meant the bulk of the family law was mine and I had no help. I had someone in mind, a friend of mine who actually interviewed with us back in January 2009. Had no idea if she actually wanted a job or not, so once I got the support of Kurt, contacted her, she came in to meet with us, and she took the job the next day. She starts tomorrow, and I am hoping once she gets into the swing of things, I will be working less hours and may have time to do things like post on here. :). We had dinner on Friday night with her and her boyfriend and had a great time. Her boyfriend is strangely similar to Kurt......

Went through my closet last night and cleared out 5 more bags of clothing. I kept wondering why my closet was so full, but I never felt like I had anything to wear. Yea, that's cuz most of the clothes are too big. I still prob have another bag of clothes to bag up, but 5 bags was all that would fit in the car. Took it over to my friend Joni's house today so she could go thru it and keep what she wants before it's donated or trashed. My closet is strangely empty now. Except for shoes, since those are always the same size, pre-63 pound loss and now! :). Headed to NY and Co to use some coupons I had. The store was having buy one item, get one for half off, I had a $20 off coupon, and I had a 50% more off coupon. Amazing deals. I got the following stuff, some for work, some for casual, and some that works both places! I really, really need a new red winter coat. I had to donate mine and was NOT happy as the coat I had was the perfect red coat but it was HUGE on me when I went to put it on and looked bad. Boo. I need a birch run trip for shopping, that's where I found the last one super cheap. Anyway, back to the shopping!

Necklace one: (this one was only $2.66 after all coupons were applied)

Necklace two: (fell in love with this one when I saw it, and ended up with the one above since they had buy one necklace, get one 75% off plus another 50% off with my coupon)

Sweater, in white: Super comfy and can wear with dress pants to work or with jeans on the weekend.

Shirt, in green: prob will wear with suits at work

Sweater in white: cute over tanks at work.

Shirt, in blue: more for work under suits.

Jeans: I think I just liked the rhinestone detail, ;)

Blazer: tried on the matching white skirt and pants, and I just cant bring myself to buy white for skirts and pants. I know I would sit in something or rub against something and ruin them.

Sweater in grey: for casual, wore today, love it

Sweater in green: for casual

Jeans: could not find pic of these, but they are dark wash flare.

Stopped at Lowe's today and bought some plastic divider things to help organize things. I am pretty organized in my closet, except wanted a better way to organize my tights, socks, etc. other than throwing them in a bin. Started working on that, and got all my tights and nylons all organized. Moving on to socks next. Yay.

I am excited to report that Kurt is back to running, and not feeling injured at all! We were supposed to run in a race yesterday, but work got in the way of that, and Im kinda glad as a friend of mine reported the race was chaos and not very well organized. I am supposed to run in one on Tuesday night as well as Saturday.

Still trying to figure out our Xmas trip this year. Because of the new employee, we we are thinking our Xmas trip will not be super long, like usual, and we will take our longer trip of the year in late January and celebrate Kurt's bday then as well. So, I was being boring and looking at all inclusives in Mexico (cabo) and Jamamca. Then, our Costa Rica realtor emailedus a piece of property that looks amazing and is a fabulous deal, so we may be going there to look at property. I think if we go there, we will fly in, look at the property and take a side trip someplace else. leaning towards the Nicoya peninsula, since we have not yet been there, but don't really know. We could also fly to Bocas del Toro for a couple nights, or maybe the Osa? No time to figure it out, but that's most likely where we will be.

Anyway, gotta get to bed, going to have a busy week training Angie and we have a TON of court as well. Hope everyone is doing awesome!

The Penn State Scandal--My Thoughts

2011-11-10T08:54:00.002-05:00

To all the Penn State students who think Joe Pa is a saint and amazing person and did nothing wrong, legally or morally, read the following. It is disturbing and disgusting. Because of Joe Pa and others not reporting this to the proper authorities and acting like this was "no big deals", a lot of kids were molested, raped, etc.

Did Joe Pa commit a crime? No. But because of his desire to protect his image, protect the university's image and protect his precious football program, he decided that kids being raped and molested was *OK*. He weighed the two, and decided that it was more important to protect his school and friend than to protect young kids. So morally and ethically wrong. Especially since he is a father himself, to allow this to continue happening to others is a disgrace.

And the students at Penn State should stop acting like children. I get it, you love Joe Pa. He is a legend there and in college football. I actually feel a little bit badly that after so many years and an amazing career, he had to leave on this note. But, when you are out there rioting and causing stupid scenes, step back for a second and think about the victims here, and have a little bit of respect for them.

http://sbmblog.typepad.com/files/paterno_grand_jury.pdf

Week in Review

2011-10-23T21:19:00.004-05:00

**Post-Race picture. Recognize the hoodie, Mom? :).

Ran a 5K race in Woodhaven this morning called "The Monster Mash". A lot of people dressed up for it, so it was a fun race. Smaller turnout, which was good for me since they only gave out medals to the first person in each age group, and the age groups were 10 year increments. Anyway, I placed first! :). They accidentally put me in the wrong age group at first, but I actually placed first in both so it was OK. Well, except the girl who got knocked down one in my age group when they fixed it was not happy. Whoops. I would have preferred to stay age 24, but alas, I had to add 10. it's hard for me to figure out what to wear to the races these days, as it is too cold for short sleeves, but I get too hot running with long sleeves about half way through the race. Any runners have any ideas? I don't want to stop and take off layers while running.

Had a crazy busy week this week. One highlight was our friend Steve's retirement party. Steve was a co-worker of kurt's at the IRS back in the day (Kurt's first law job). Steve and his wife, Marilyn, are two of the kewlest people ever. They totally remind me of me and Kurt. They never had kids, and you can tell they truly love and admire one another and enjoy one another's company. they met in law school. Anyway, the turnout was crazy huge. you know someone is a nice guy when he is a lawyer for the government and that many people come out to help him celebrate. Very nice party at a country club in Maumee. Congrats Steve!

Also, had a K-Fass meeting/dinner at la Pita in Dearborn. Yum. Next meeting is Thai food at Bangkok 96 in dearborn, can't wait......

Anyway, besides working 8 million hours, those are about the only updates from the week. Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Trial and The Verdict

2011-10-13T16:10:00.004-05:00

Trial for the Underwear Bomber started this week, on Tuesday. Since neither Kurt or I had been contacted about being witnesses or being sequestered from the courtroom, we decided to head down to the trial in the hopes of being able to observe. Seats were reserved for all victims, and we really wanted to be there as much as possible. When going through security on the first floor of the court, we ran into someone who works for Anthony Chambers, who told us a pre-trial Motion had been filed that morning to exclude Kurt and I from being in the courtroom for the trial as we may be potential witnesses. We decided to head up and see what happened anyway, since the Motion was not ExParte and had not yet been granted.

Headed up to Floor 8, where Judge Edmunds is. Had to go through more security and obtain a pass to wear allowing us in the court. Sat down in the spot indicated for victims and waited for things to start. The trial started with the pre-trial motions, which one was filed by the prosecution and two by the defense. The prosecution actually filed a Motion that listed Kurt and I, by name, asking that we not sit in on trial as we may be witnesses for the defense. Judge Edmunds excluded Kurt from the courtroom, but said she was not excluding me since I was not on the witness list. I had to stand, and she told me that she did not want me to discuss anything with Kurt about the trial, which I agreed to.

Kurt left, and the other pre-trial Motions were heard. One Motion was to exclude an Exhibit which was a picture of Umar's genital area and thigh of his burns, and the other Motion was one to stop the prosecution from describing the device Umar had as a bomb or explosive. Both Motions were denied.

After this, there was a sidebar, and a really long meeting was held in a jury room between Chambers and Umar. No idea what was discussed. I could only guess it was about a plea deal or maybe about letting Chambers finally take on the role of his attorney. When they came back, the Judge asked if another sidebar was needed, and Chambers said no, we can proceed. We were all DYING to know what was discussed.

Trial then started with a VERY LONG opening statement by the prosecution (about 1 hour 10 minutes). The opening statement, while very detailed, completely lacked ALL emotion, and I would have approached it differently, but hey, it was not my case to prosecute. The opening statement used the overhead projector and also audio of the pilot calling into the airport during the emergency. SO eerie to hear that, and again, so weird to live through hearing about the incident, once again. Once the opening statement was done, the defense chose to reserve their right to give an opening statement and we moved on to the first witness at about 12:25 PM.

The first witness was a passenger on the plane whom neither Kurt or I have ever met. He was sitting about a row back from Umar and witnessed everything, and helped stop him from doing more damage than he did to our plane. He is a grandfather and former military (Army). His testimony was pretty straightforward, just what he witnessed in regards to Umar and the fire. Court then stopped at 1:00 PM for the day.

It was VERY draining for me to be down there. Hearing the witness talk about the incident all over again, and hearing the audio of the call for emergency, exhausted me and took me back to that day all over again. And not bein able to talk to Kurt about anything and rehash it all was KILLING me. :).

Day two of trial, I could not attend first thing in the morning, but, I guess I did not miss much. Apparently, as soon as court was called to session, another long meeting happened between Chambers and Umar until around 10:50 AM. Once they came into the court, the Judge was informed that Umar was going to plead guilty to all 8 charges against him. I got there at 10:10 AM and walked into the overflow courtroom. I sat down, ready to take notes and watch, and heard the Judge say something to the effect "How do you plead to count 2......." and hear Umar say "Guilty". I think I almost fell over in shock at this point. I stepped back and sat down on a bench and after deciphering between calling Kurt and watching, I started to watch. I watched as he pled guilty on all 8 counts. I watched as he gave him statement to the court. I watched as he was taken away again by probation. I heard the Judge schedule a sentencing for January.

I was floored.

I really never thought he would plead to anything. Or if he did, I thought it would be way before this.

I did not even know how I felt about this. All I felt at first was, a sense of total and complete relief, like some huge weight had been lifted off my chest.

I had a very stressful couple days, coupled with the fact that Kurt being named as a defense witness was making me fearful of his and my safety...........

I walked in the hall and sat on a bench and looked at my phone, which had a bunch of calls from the media on it, and I dialed Kurt.

Me: "Did you hear what happened with Umar"
Kurt: "No, what?"
Me: "He pled guilty on all 8 counts?"
Kurt: "WHAT?? Did he get a sweet plea deal or something?"
Me: "No idea, I don't know what the sentence is, that's not until January"

I then realized I was almost crying as this was all really overwhemling me, and I asked Kurt to come over to deal with the media since I knew they would want to talk to us. He could not leave his hearing. I hung up and was immediately approached by the associated press wanting to ask me some questions. Talked to them, and headed outside to the rest of the press. I was bombarded as soon as I walked outside the court, asked questions about my reaction, how it felt, etc. Kurt called and said he was heading over, so once he got there, I let him talk to the media.

So, how do I feel now about this? A variety of emotions, really. Relief is the biggest one. I am glad this guy is permanently off the streets and not able to harm anyone else. I am glad I don't have to go to trial every day for the next month plus. I am glad I don't have to worry about Kurt's safety. I'm also disappointed. I really wanted Kurt to get to testify, however, neither one of us actually thought he ever would be allowed to. Curious--as to "why" he pled guilty, what was really going on behind the scenes that we may never know. I'm also saddened that the general public is never going to see as part of this trial the lies the government told, covered up and participated in. I'm saddened that people like Umar are allowed to travel to this country and put our lives at risk in order to allow the government to further their own personal agendas.

Anyway, wanted to post my thoughts on everything while they were still fresh in my memory. It's so odd this is all complete now.

Random Updates

2011-10-08T22:21:00.005-05:00

Have not posted in forever--been busy, and I always feel weird posting when so many people I don't know personally are visiting the blog to read Kurt's posts about the trial. But, whatevs. This was initially MY blog and was taken over by Kurt, so people can just skip over this, ;).

Trying to think of anything relevant that has happened recently to blog about since my last post, which was San Fran related......

Went to Manistee to a wedding in late September, one of my sister's best friend's, Tara, from high school got married. I left work early, around noon, and headed to Manistee. Got stuck in stopped traffic on the Zilwaukee bridge for an hour, which sucked, but got to Manistee around dinner time. Got there and was greeted by baby Nick, who RAN out the door to greet me and hugged me! He kept saying "Hi Aunt Lordie!" Too cute. Quite the difference from the super shy little boy I got to hang with last trip! :). Was so happy to see him. My sister had a rehearsel dinner to get to, so Nick, my Mom and I headed to Ludington to have dinner at a Mexican restaurant and stops at Meijer and Maurices. Ended up buying a cute new pair of jeans at Maurices, and after coupons and sales, I paid a grand total of $11.00. Score. Next morning, headed out for a 5 mile run. LOVE that Manistee has sidewalks (which are lacking in Newport). Did a tiny bit of shopping with my Mom, then headed to the wedding. It was gorgeous and took place in the Ramsdell Theatre, which is a historic theatre in Manistee (i was actually in some plays during junior high and high school while living there). Reception was in the ballroom at the theatre and super fun as well. Nick danced with us the entire night, which was super cute. We left kinda early to get Nick home to bed, and stopped and picked up my fav food in the world, Big Al's breadsticks, on my way home. To die for. I forget all about counting calories when those breadsticks are in the room.......I only get them once or twice a year, so whatever. Sunday, took another run, then stopped at some stores and at a coffee shop with my Mom. Left around 2 to come home. Way too quick of a trip. Wanted to see some other people while there, but there was just not time. Need to plan another trip soon.

Tigers are in the playoffs! Whoot! Kurt and I went to both home games. The first we took the office and their significant others and my Dad, and the second, was just us. Had a blast at game one. Awesome. Game two, not as fun, horrible loss. Have tickets to two games this week, and will get them to game three if it goes that far. Who knows. Was so psyched to eliminate the Yankees, who I hate, and was happy to see the Phillies eliminated since they are so talented. Was thinking about going to Monday night football, but decided no as tickets are crazy expensive, and with the Tigers game, I dont want to put too much on my calendar.

Did one run last weekend called the Red October Run in Wayne, MI. I was set to run my first 10K, but ended up doing a 5K since I had a really bad cold and did not want to overdo it. Boo. My goal was simply to get through the race since I could barely breathe, and I did. I really liked the course. There were a TON of people too, I did not even come close to placing. Which I was OK with since I was sick and it was kinda cold out. So, I got to come straight home and rest up for the work week.

Also, went to Lions opening day! Have not been to a Lions game in forever (since we stopped our season tickets many years back). Had awesome seats on the 45 yard line behind the visitors side, row 4 first level. Seats were amazing. Game was incredible. I don't remember being at a better game ever for the Lions. It was crazy and almost unreal........Loved every second. Except for the reallllllly long lines and security to get in. How obnoxious. They had separate lines for men and women, so Kurt and I totally got separated and ended up just meeting at our seats.

Was so happy for some nice weather this weekend! Went running outside both Friday and Saturday, Saturday at the park since it was still light out when I went. I am still really leery running outside on the street. Every car that goes by, I flinch. Wish I could get over this fear. I still have not taken a bike ride since the accident, but I might try that tomorrow. Am slightly terrified though. Boo.

Anyway, Tigers game coming out of rain delay, so I gotta watch......Night!

Looks Like I'll Be A Witness For The Defense In The Underwear Bomber Case

2011-10-06T19:34:00.005-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

Today was the day for final jury selection in the Underwear Bomber case. I watched some of it on Tuesday and I was interested to see which jurors were picked. The final jury was set to be picked today at 1:30. I adjusted my schedule so that I could be down there at 1:30 today. I had a trial a few blocks away that was due to last until around 1:00 today. My plan was to head over there when I finished my trial. As my trial was ending, I got the following text from my brother "I hear that you will be testifying in the underwear bomber case". This was news to me as my status as a witness was undetermined as of Tuesday. I gave my brother a call and he said he heard on the radio, that stand-by Anthony Chambers said in court this morning that I would be testifying. While walking to Federal Court to watch final jury selection, I ran into someone that works with stand-by attorney Chambers. He told me that final jury selection was done as it didn't take as long as expected. He also told me that it was Umar that said he would call me as a witness, not Chambers. He then said Chambers is right there, go talk to him and he pointed across the street. Chambers was standing on the sidewalk across the street. I talked to Chambers for a minute and we agreed to talk again soon. He said I won't be testifying for approximately another month as the trial is supposed to be lengthy. I then headed back to my office and found out that I had messages from Fox National News and the A.P. I talked to Ed White from the A.P. on Tuesday and he misquoted me in the article he wrote. Specifically, Ed White asked what I though about Umar making outbursts in court. I said the following "I saw him before boarding and he never said anything, I've seen him in court several times, and I even saw him when he lit his fake bomb and his crotch was burning and he never makes a peep. This is totally out of character for him." You can see how Ed White did a cut and paste job of my quote here:

http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_19035789

Note that Ed White left out that I saw Umar before boarding and that he lit a fake bomb.

I talked to Ed White again today and told him that I would only talk to him if he didn't twist my words around to mean something else. He agreed, but here is the hatchet job Ed White did to my interview with him today. Note that he says I have a "wild theory" among other things:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/05/2666662/final-jury-pool-settled-in-underwear.html

This is the last straw in my discussions with the media. The media is nothing but a 4th branch of the government. I will no longer talk to any of them except the alternative media that has been supportive all along.

Note, however, in the above article, Chambers indicates that I may be the only defense witness called. How ironic is it that I will have Umar's life in my hands just as Umar had my life in his hands (or underwear) on Christmas Day 2009? I will be up to the task. I realize that some may not agree with me and may attempt to harm me. Nevertheless, I will speak the truth and not be intimidated. I will do this for the common good of all of the citizens of the United States. It is not often that I quote a passage from the bible, but I think it is appropriate here:

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Underwear Bomber Jury Selection Hearing October 4, 2011

2011-10-05T16:54:00.002-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

Yesterday, I went to the first day of jury selection in the underwear bomber case. I was the only passenger from the flight present. Lori could not attend as she had a hearing in Mt. Clemens that she could not get out of. The process involved picking 40 potential jurors to bring back on October 6, 2011. The selection of the jury will be made that day from the remaining 40 potential jurors. The process I witnessed involved the judge asking questions of each juror, then the prosecution asking questions and finally the defense asking questions. The prosecution and the defense were given 6 minutes each to question each juror. Only one juror was allowed in the courtroom at a time. I was in the courtroom when Umar arrived. When he entered he said "Great Mujahideen, Anwar is alive" referring to Anwar Al Awlaki and his reported recent death. He then said "We will wipe out the U.S., the cancer that is the U.S." Judge Edmunds had not yet arrived. When Judge Edmunds got there, she told Umar he should dress better to make a better impression on the jurors. He was dressed in a white t-shirt as he always is. Umar said "I wanted to wear a Yemeni belt with a dagger, but nobody would let me". Judge Edmunds then said "I don't think you'll be bringing a dagger into my courtroom". Umar then said that he wanted to change and the court went into recess. Umar returned shortly thereafter and was dressed in a tan collared shirt and a black suit coat. When he entered the court this time he said "Allah Akbar Anwar is alive". Judge Edmunds again was not in the courtroom. Jury questioning then began. I stayed for 4 hours and watched 18 jurors get questioned. Of the 18 that were questioned, 5 were sent home and 13 told to come back on October 6, 2011. Judge Edmunds indicated that either Umar or stand-by Attorney Chambers could question the jurors, but only one could question each juror. Umar only questioned one juror. He actually did a good job in questioning the one juror. He sounded intelligent and well spoken. The juror Umar questioned was juror #119, a 60 year old white female who stated that "I am concerned about being attacked after the verdict". That is what Umar questioned her about. He wanted to know if she was concerned about being attacked after a guilty verdict or a not guilty verdict. She stated that she was concerned both ways. This juror was told to come back. What was most interesting to me was the type of questions asked by Judge Edmunds and Chambers. The following questions were asked multiple times with slightly different variations:

1. Do you think after listening to the evidence that you will be able to determine whether the Defendant actually possessed a "bomb"?

2. Do you realize that sometimes the media does not always report the truth?

Obviously, each of these questions points directly at what I've been saying for months. Umar was given a fake bomb and put on this plane intentionally to stage a false terrorist attack. Also, the question about the media indicates knowledge that the media has been complicit in the lie. I spoke to several reporters once again. They were from Reuters, AP, UPI, CNN, Detroit News, and a couple of others. Also, the Detroit Free Press reporter asked to talk to me and I said "Why? You never actually report anything that I say". Sadly, the AP was the only one to report anything that I said. Here is a link to the article (The AP is used by several media outlets):

http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2011/10/05/news/doc4e8ba1c8dad56858908674.txt

The CNN reporter did indicate that we would continue our interview on October 6, 2011. This time, as opposed to others, it seemed as if the reporters were starting to realize that my theory of events is indeed correct. I had more of them agreeing with me instead of grilling me over the evidence. This had not previously been the case. Also, I am now seeing a change in the language in regards to how this story is reported. Previously, articles would read, Umar is "being charged with attempting to detonate . . ." Now articles are stating that "The government says" Umar intended to blow up the plane . . ." This is a small but significant change. It shows that the media is now reporting that what the government says may not be what really happened. See this story for an example:

http://www.eagletribune.com/worldnational/x597293726/Airline-attack-suspect-starts-trial-with-outburst/print

Note that none of the major media outlets reported anything in reference to the two questions I listed above, however, except for the live blog from the courthouse running on Freep.com, which only indicated the following:

12:17 p.m.
"The media is taking a beating in juror interviews. The 15th person to be questioned for jury duty – a computer analyst for a major retailer -- agreed with Edmunds that the media doesn’t always get it right. It’s the same response Edmunds got from other jurors, several of whom don’t read or listen to the news. But based on what she has seen and heard, she thinks Abdulmutallab is guilty. “I don’t believe that was an innocent act,” she said in response to Chambers’ questions."

You can look at it here for now, but look quick as the Free Press is known for erasing evidence that supports the real story of events from its website:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011111004013

Lastly, I did have a chance to talk to Chamber's associate attorney for a minute and found out that my status as a witness is currently "undetermined". That's an improvement over what I thought it was. We agreed to meet in Chambers office soon. Final jury selection is tomorrow and I will be going down to watch the festivities. Sadly, this is the only way to find out what is really going on.

A Closer Look at Selected Domestic "Terrorist Attacks" From The Past Decade

2011-10-02T18:55:00.008-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

Over the past 21 months, I have come into contact with many people that fail to even consider the possibility that U.S. intelligence agents could have been involved in the underwear bomber plot. It is with these people in mind that I decided to write the following article. I have noticed that recent terrorist attacks within the United States have many similar characteristics. If you look at these plots together as a series of attacks, the modus operandi of U.S. intelligence agencies begins to develop. For this article, I have decided to look at only "terrorist attacks" from January 1, 2002, to the present.

1. Mohamed Mohamud (The Portland Christmas Tree Bomber)
Date Of Incident: November 26, 2010.

The 2010 Portland car bomb plot involved an incident in which Mohamud, a Somali-American student, was arrested in an FBI sting operation, after attempting to set off what he thought was a car bomb at a Christmas tree lighting in Portland, Oregon.
Mohamud had been monitored by the FBI for months. Prior to Mohamud's arrest, an undercover FBI agent, posing as a terrorist, had been in contact with him since June 2010 (A 5 month period). In preparation for the planned bombing of a public gathering, Mohamud and undercover FBI operatives drove to a remote area of Lincoln County, Oregon, where they conducted a test run on November 4, 2010 by detonating a real bomb Mohamud believed to have been hidden inside a backpack. The fake bomb was in a white van that carried six 55-gallon drums with what appeared to be real detonation cords and plastic caps. Mohamud tried to detonate the bomb by dialing a cell phone that was attached to it. When the device failed to explode, the undercover agent suggested he get out of the car to obtain better reception. When he did so, arresting agents moved in. According to the FBI, the device it provided to Mohamud had no explosive components (even the detonating caps were inert) and the public was never in any danger.

2. Sami Samir Hassoun (Wrigley Field Bomber)
Date of Incident: September 19, 2010

Hassoun placed a backpack authorities say he thought contained a bomb near Chicago's Wrigley Field. The fake but ominous looking device (a paint can fitted with blasting caps and a timer)was given to him by an FBI undercover agent. According to Hassoun's attorney, Hassoun didn't bring anything of his own making to the incident. All materials were given to him by an under cover FBI agent. Hassoun also had no apparent affiliation with extremists. The complaint alleges he raised the specter of terrorist groups only by suggesting it would be helpful to blame them for any attacks he staged. At least two FBI undercover agents got in touch with Hassoun, posing as co-plotters and eventually helped to deliver the bogus bomb.

3. Bronx Terrorism Plot
Date of Incident: May 20, 2009

On May 20, 2009, US law enforcement arrested four black Muslim men in connection with a plot to shoot down military airplanes flying out of an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, New York and blow up two synagogues in the Riverdale community of the Bronx. The events leading up to the attempted attack began in June 2008. Shahed Hussain, an Albany hotel owner and FBI informant, showed up at the Masjid al-Ikhlas mosque under the name "Maqsood", talking of jihad and violence. Hussain, a Pakistani immigrant, agreed to serve as an FBI informant after being arrested in 2002 over a scam involving driver's licenses. Four men expressed interest to Hussain. They planned to both bomb the Riverdale Temple and nearby Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx, and, using Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles, shoot down military planes flying out of a nearby air base. On May 6, 2009, the men traveled to Stamford, Connecticut, to pick up what they believed to be a surface-to-air guided-missile system and three improvised explosive devices, all of which were incapable of actually being used. The men placed fake bombs wired to cell phones in three separate cars outside the Riverdale Temple and nearby Riverdale Jewish Center, both in the Riverdale community of Bronx. The FBI informer also served as the driver of the suspects’ vehicle. Both the car bombs and the missiles were actually fakes given to the plotters with the help of an informant for the FBI. Each of the two homemade bombs was equipped with about 37 pounds of inert material designed to look like C-4 plastic explosive, and "there was no danger to anyone," according to the FBI. The men were returning to their vehicle and heading to attack aircraft at the Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York, with the fake Stinger missiles when law enforcement stopped them.

4. Antonio Martinez
Date of Incident: December 8, 2010

Martinez was arrested in an FBI sting after agents said he tried to detonate a phony bomb outside a Maryland military recruitment center. The FBI began investigating Martinez in early October 2010 after an informant pointed out postings on Martinez's Facebook page. Martinez's attorney said the lack of a recording of the informant's initial three conversations with Martinez is a sign the government was trying to obscure its role in developing the plot. It was in those conversations that Martinez first mentioned attacking the recruiting center, according to a criminal complaint. Also according to his attorney, the government "induced him to be involved in an act which was clearly the design of the government and provided Martinez with the fake bomb".

5. Rezwan Ferdaus
Date of Incident: September 28, 2011

Federal prosecutors allege in court documents that Rezwan Ferdaus outlined an elaborate plan to undercover FBI agents posing as al-Qaeda operatives that involved the use of three drone aircraft carrying deadly payloads to attack and destroy federal government landmarks. Ferdaus was arrested after allegedly accepting delivery of materials, including three grenades, six Ak-47 assault rifles and a quantity of what he believed to be powerful C-4 explosives. U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said all of the weaponry was in the control of undercover agents who were closely monitoring the plot's developments. She said the public was never in danger.
However, some legal organizations and Muslim groups have questioned whether Ferdaus, whose activities were carried out with two undercover FBI agents posing as terrorists, would have been able to carry out such a sophisticated plot if left to his own devices. In numerous previous cases in the US, the FBI has been accused of over-zealousness in its investigations and of entrapping people into terror plots who might otherwise not have carried out an attack. On April 19, 2011, undercover agents met with Ferdaus and questioned the "feasibility" of his plan. That raises the prospect that the FBI agents were somehow goading Ferdaus into more action.
At the same meeting the undercover agents also gave financial assistance for Ferdaus to travel to Washington on a scouting trip: a fact that raises the question of whether he would have made the trip without that financial help. The undercover agents also supplied thousands of dollars in cash for Ferdaus to buy the F-86 Sabre miniature plane to be used in an attack.

Analysis Of These 5 Attacks:

When looking at these plots, the most obvious connection between them (Other than the Muslim male connection) is that the FBI provided each of these "terrorists" with fake weapons, including fake explosives, to carry out the plots. Also, each of the terrorists attempted to carry out the plots with the aid of undercover FBI agents. It is unclear to what extent the FBI agents came up with the initial idea. However, it certainly is questionable whether any of these attacks would have occurred without the aid of the undercover FBI agents. Before meeting up with the undercover FBI agents, most of these men had little to no criminal record and were guilty of no more than random terroristic thoughts. It is also very apparent that the undercover FBI agents allowed the "terrorists" to conclude a significant portion of the plots including attempting to detonate fake bombs. While researching these and other "terrorist" attacks, I could not help but notice the lack of "terrorist" attacks from 2002-2008. I can't help but question whether the increase in these attacks is related to the term of office of President Obama, which began in January 2009. As I chose to not make this article poilitical, I won't delve into such aspect any further. During this same time period, on December 25, 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab,the "Underwear Bomber" attempted to detonate an explosive in his underwear as he sat 8 rows in front of me.

Analysis of the Underwear Bomber Incident:

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab(Umar)allegedly received his bomb from Al Qaeda in Yemen and due to U.S. Intelligence Agencies "failing to connect the dots", was able to board flight 253 with a bomb. The U.S. Intelligence Agencies "failed to connect" the dots despite the fact that they had been warned by Umar's own father several months earlier that Umar was a threat. Further, we are told that it was this "failing to connect the dots" that led to Umar boarding, despite the Congressional testimony of Patrick Kennedy (see his testimony here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN_33ojupTc).
This testimony from Kennedy, the Under Secretary of State, indicated that a yet to be disclosed intelligence agency was tracking Umar, and wanted to track him into the U.S. to catch "bigger fish". Now how would such agency do that if it didn't allow Umar to board a plane heading to the U.S.? What's also troubling is that nearly all of the mainstream U.S. media failed to even report on this Congressional testimony. The one newspaper that did, the Detroit News, has now erased the story from its archives. Of course, I witnessed Umar near the boarding gate of flight 253. He was escorted by a sharp dressed man, that spoke perfect American English without an accent and told the gate agent that Umar didn't have a passport, that he needed to board the plane, that he was from "Sudan, and we do this all the time". My next question is who is the "we" that he was referring to. Obviously, I have to ask what sort of U.S. authority figure in Amsterdam could say that "we" let refugees on planes all of the time without passports and apparently, has the authority to make it happen. It seems that an undercover FBI agent would fit the bill. Although Schiphol Airport has the most security cameras in the world, the airport audio and video remain unreleased under a court protective order. In December 2010, Umar's stand-by attorney, Anthony Chambers reported to the Detroit Free Press that "The Government's own experts have indicated that the bomb was impossibly defective as it lacked a blasting cap". That story has now been erased from the Free Press archives. Although pieces of the bomb laid all over the airline cabin near row 19, law enforcement officers made no effort to remove passengers from such area and passengers trampled through pieces of the bomb as they exited the plane. The NPR interview of Jay Howard, the man who sat next to Umar, is very telling (see below)(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123821351. In this interview, Howard relates that the FBI told him not to talk about what happened and took all of his clothes that were covered with pieces of the bomb. Although the FBI had samples of the bomb all over the airline, it seized all of his clothes to "test the bomb materials". I have to wonder if the FBI actually seized Mr. Howard's clothes in order to not let others test the bomb materials. In his NPR interview, Mr. Howard makes the following curious comment "I don't want to call him a terrorist because he hasn't been treated as a terrorist and it wasn't a national threat". Really Mr. Howard? Why wasn't it a National threat? Is this why the FBI told you not to talk about this too much? Note that I am not saying that Jay Howard was involved in this lot, but only that he knows more than he is letting on. Remember, after we exited the plane, we were taken to a baggage claim area where we stood with our carry on bags for an hour, not knowing if other bombs were located in the carry on bags. Law enforcement was not concerned, however. At this time, Umar had already exited the plane and told officers that "there is another bomb on board". Another man was taken into custody during this time, after a bomb sniffing dog found explosives in his carry on bag. The U.S. Government changed its story on who this man was 5 times before finally deciding to ignore the existence of the man entirely. It's most likely that this man was an FBI undercover agent that provided Umar with his "bomb" and the bomb resideue in his bag alerted the dog. In late 2010, Umar was charged with conspiring with "persons known and unknown" yet none of these persons have ever been named. Their involvement with the plot has never been explained. Shouldn't such persons be on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List? Shouldn't the FBI solicit the public to help identify such individuals, who should be some of the most wanted men in the world? Not if they are FBI agents. There are very few differences between the Underwear Bomber incident and the 5 incidents I listed above. One difference being that this attack occurred on a plane which caused a fire that did indeed threaten lives. The other plots seemingly didn't risk injury to others. We must remember that the U.S. needs legitimate "terrorist attacks" to keep making money for those that benefit from the fraudulent war on terror. Also, a legitimate airline attack was needed to usher in the body scanning machines. Without a failed bomb in a terrorist's clothes, the American public would never stand for the body scanning machines. Lastly, the flight proceeded over Detroit before the "bomb" was lit, on Christmas Day, in order to make the biggest splash in the media. The U.S. Government's modus operandi of setting up these attacks with fake bombs and without risking injury to others was seemingly achieved. This led to Janet Napolitano's explicit comment that "the system worked" when referring to this attack. Janet knows what happened here, and so do I. Hopefully, I have convinced other that read this post that the U.S. Government, via its intelligence agencies, gave Umar a fake bomb and escorted him through security in order to assure a fake "terrorist attack". This "terrorist" attack occurred in order to continue padding the wallets of those that benefit from the war on terror and its repulsive body scanners. Would this plot have happened without the aid of the unnamed U.S. Intelligence Agency that allowed Umar to board, provided Umar with his fake bomb and God knows whatever else? Not a chance. I sit here writing this article a mere 30 minutes from Dearborn, Michigan, which has the largest segment of Muslims in the U.S. I realize that if the U.S. were truly in danger of terrorist attacks from Muslims, this area should be in jeopardy of suicide and car bombings that frequently occur in the middle east. These attacks do not occur here. I know why, and I ask that you also ask yourself why. Those that are hopeful that the upcoming trial will reveal anything of this sort should think again. Umar is representing himself and thereby refusing to let standy-by attorney Chambers use the entrapment defense (that he told me he would) if he was allowed to. This action by Umar is inexplicable, unless of course he is involved in the plot, has been threatened or promised a lenient sentence. I don't know which, but there seemingly is no other explanation. Obviously, there is more to this story than the FBI is telling us.

Forged Passport In Underwear Bomber Case?

2011-09-27T20:27:00.006-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

I spent much of this evening reading court documents from the underwear bomber (Umar) case. For those that are interested, you can read them at:

http://www.mied.uscourts.gov/hpc/

There are many gems in the documents, but I'll only focus on one of them tonight.
While reading the documents, I found what I believe to be another smoking gun. Since day one when Lori and I exited flight 253, I've maintained that Umar boarded flight 253 with the help of a sharp dressed man and WITHOUT A PASSPORT. Early on in this case, Judge Edmunds issued a protective order forbidding either side from discussing any of the evidence in the case. However, that didn't stop the U.S. Government from releasing propaganda pictures into the media. The most famous picture is a picture of Umar with law enforcement on the plane. The two that were the most obvious frauds were the picture of Umar's minimally damaged underwear and the picture of Umar's passport. The passport picture was released for no other reason then to attempt to discredit my eyewitness testimony. In no other case (to my knowledge) has the government released a picture of some one's passport to the media. I have taken great offense to the release of the passport and it is with great pleasure that I now believe I can show it was a fake. Interestingly enough, stand-by attorney Chambers indicated at the July 7, 2011 hearing that he had just received a copy of Umar's passport. Chambers referred to this (and some other evidence) document as "significant evidence". We must now ask why it is considered "significant evidence" by Chambers. I also have to wonder why such a seemingly insignificant document like a passport was withheld for 18 months from the defense (Maybe it took that long to create a good fake?).

When I looked for the picture of Umar's passport tonight, it was not easy to find. I did however, manage to find a copy of it here:

http://www.911oz.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=6651

I encourage everyone to take a very good look at Umar's signature, particularly the "m" and the "a" in Umar. Also note that it doesn't include his last name. Further, the picture doesn't particularly look like Umar and seems to show a man with a receding hairline. At this time, I will leave a discussion of the picture for another day.

Now take a look at this document filed by Umar and written in his own handwriting:

http://www.mied.uscourts.gov/hpc/docs/10.Defendant_Motion_for_Detention_Hearing.pdf

Note that the "a's" are completely different in that the "a" in the passport photo has a closed loop while in the court document, the "a's" are open at the top. Further, note that Umar's "m" is significantly larger than the "a" is in the passport photo. Also, note that the "m's" in the court document look significantly different then the "m" in the passport. Specifically, the "m's" in the court document are the same size as the "a's" are and are significantly more slanted and pointed then the "m's" in the passport. In the court document, you can also see that most of the "m's" contain a side arm while the "m" in the passport photo does not. Lastly, note that the passport appears to have very neat handwriting while the court document has very sloppy handwriting.

Of course, the conclusion is that one of the documents is a fake. It is much more likely that the passport photo is a fake as there would be no legitimate reason to fake the court document. If the passport photo, is in fact a fake, we must ask why the government would release a fake passport photo. The only logical explanation is that a real passport did not exist. Obviously, the U.S. Government felt a need early on to release a fraudulent passport to discredit my eyewitness account. The reason for the attempt to discredit me is obvious and points directly at my theory in this case.

Umar was escorted through security without a passport and with an intentionally defective bomb in order to stage a false flag terrorist attack.

Note that in this court document, Chambers has indicated that U.S. Government agents have given contradictory statements (see item 9):

http://www.mied.uscourts.gov/hpc/docs/05.Motion_for_Disclosure_of_Grand_Jury_Materials.pdf

Surprise, surprise, U.S. Government agents are giving false statements. Why should we be surprised when their employer releases a fraudulent document?

*** I am editing this post this morning (9-28-11) to make one comment about the passport photo. The passport appears to be issued on September 15, 2005. Umar was age 18 on that date. The man in the passport piture clearly has a receding hairline (and to me doesn't look like Umar). The possibility of an 18 year old having a receding hairline is remote at best. It appears that the U.S. Government has once again been exposed in this matter.

*** Second edit: See below for a copy of my fax to Anthony Chambers:

Facsimile Cover Sheet

To: Anthony Chambers, Esq.
Company:
Phone:
Fax: 313-xxx-xxxx
From: Kurt R. Haskell, J.D., L.L.M.
Company: Haskell Law Firm, P.C.
Phone: 734-285-5625
Fax: 734-281-0969
Date: September 28, 2011
Pages including this cover page:
3, RE: Umar Farouk Adbulmutallab

Comments: Tony, I am assuming that since I haven’t heard from you that I will not be testifying. I assume that to mean that Umar has chosen to not use the entrapment/excessive government involvement defense. That is unfortunate and leads me to believe that Umar is complicit with the government for some reason. Nonetheless, I am attaching my recent blog post to make you aware of some passport anomalies. Obviously, I was there when Umar was posed as a Sudanese refugee and boarded without a passport. Thus, I know that he didn’t have a passport. I doubt that you will have enough control in the trial to admit the passport anomalies into evidence. However, I am providing this evidence to you for impeachment purposes on the off chance that you can use it. I know there is a great deal of evidence in this case and I just wanted to make you aware of this information. Good luck with the trial. I am not envious of your position. I will be there whenever my schedule allows.

The Colossal Deceit Known As The Underwear Bomber Case

2011-09-13T21:06:00.000-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

With jury selection set to begin in the Underwear Bomber Trial set to begin tomorrow, I've spent the evening reminiscing about Christmas Day 2009 and the 21 months since. The Underwear Bomber attack has fundamentally changed my life. Not in the way most would think, but it has destroyed any faith I've had in the U.S. Government, the media and this country as a whole. To say that I believe the government is corrupt and the media is complicit doesn't fully explain my beliefs. Not only have I come to those conclusions, but I've witnessed that an ordinary person who sees something important can be silenced despite his efforts to spread the truth. Such is the Underwear Bomber case. I can do nothing but laugh at the TSA's new policy of "If you see something say something." That is exactly what I did, and not only did the U.S. Government not want to hear what I had to say, but it actively lied about it, attempted to get me to change my story, and hid, by withholding (secret government) evidence or putting a protective order on the evidence and nearly everything that would support my eyewitness account.

Where are we now? We now have The Underwear Bomber (Umar) representing himself with the help of standby attorney Chambers. Attorney Chambers has indicated to me that if he were Umar's attorney, that the defense would be entrapment and that I would be a key witness. Of course, such a defense would expose the U.S. Government's involvement in the plot. It is much too convenient to have Umar represent himself and be in charge of what the defense will be, what evidence is presented, what witnesses are called and what questions each witness is asked. A trial with Umar representing himself will leave the relevant facts of this case unknown for generations. I can't help but think that Umar fired his attorneys for a reason other than he is a crazy terrorist. It is much too convenient that the entity that staged the event, also controls the evidence, what information is leaked to the media, who the prosecutors are, and the prison where Umar has sbeen staying at for the last 21 months. Let's not overlook the fact that the U.S. Government has admitted to waterboarding and torturing terrorists. Do you see the pieces of the puzzle forming a clear picture yet?

Make no mistake that Umar did in fact attempt to detonate a device (although it was a defective device) on Flight 253. He is not innocent. It remains to be discovered whether my belief that Umar is complicit with the "theatre" going on before our eyes came about before or after the event of Christmas Day 2009. It really is not important except that you must understand that he is now complicit in covering up the true story of Christmas Day 2009. There is no other explanation as to why Umar is representing himself and rejecting the entrapment defense (Which I have discovered he will do).

For those that are still skeptical of my claims, please realize that I do not make my claims without a great deal of thought and research. My firm belief is that Umar was escorted around security and given an intentionally defective bomb by a U.S. intelligence agent. The bomb was never intended to detonate, but merely intended to create a "simulated terrorist attack" or a "false flag attack" if you will. In December of 2009, the U.S. Government hadn't seen a terrorist attack in 8 years, It was getting more and more difficult to spend hundreds of billions a year on terrorism and to continue to fight two fraudulent wars based on terrorism. Those making their livings off of the war on terror didn't want to lose their cash cow. Enter Umar the Underwear Bomber. A second benefit of a failed bomb being found in Umar's underwear, was to enable body scanning machines to be placed in every airport. How convenient for Michael Chertoff , a former head of the DHS, to have ties to the body scanning companies. I doubt that this was any coincidence. Once again, billions of dollars would flow from the U.S. Government for body scanning machines that were needed to protect us.

What we are now left with are the bits and pieces of the Underwear Bomber case that can form a clear picture of what happened that day. For those of you attempting to put it all together, please take your time and think about the evidence instead of glossing over it and continuing to remain in denial. The truth is that your U.S. Government staged a false terrorist attack in order to steal your tax dollars and your 4th Amendment Rights to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures. Please thoroughly consider the following with an open mind and think about why this sort of behavior must stop now:

My thoughts on this case and the list of anomalies that differ from the official version of events were made through: (a) numerous discussions with other passengers, (b) my own eyewitness account, (c) discussions with Umar's standby attorney, (d) hundreds of articles on the story (e) evidence provided to me by others "in the know" or just other concerned citizens, and (f) from the official record at hearings I attended.

Anomalies of the case in no particular order:

1. In December 2010, Chambers told the Detroit Free Press that the Government's own explosives experts indicate that the bomb was impossibly defective. The Free Press later erased this article from its online site, but did not erase earlier underwear bomber stories.
2. The FBI has admitted to supplying the Portland Christmas Tree Bomber and the Wrigley Field Bomber with intentionally defective bombs shortly after the underwear bomber event.
3. Janet Napolitano's comment that "the system worked" was a Freudian slip.
4. The plane taxied to the gate. The passengers were not allowed off of the plane for 20-30 minutes (Was the bomb still on the plane?). There was bomb material that was supposedly explosive all over the cabin of the plane. Nobody took any action to make sure the passengers were safe or that the "explosives" were of no danger to the passengers. This is evidence of foreknowledge that there was no danger to the passengers.
5. TSA admitted knowledge of the threat while the flight was over Canada/Atlantic Ocean. No measures were taken to notify the pilot or to divert the flight for an emergency landing elsewhere.
6. My eyewitness account of the sharp dressed man and the related evidence as to this man. There is no other likely explanation for this man except for government involvement. The airport video has never been released and remains under protective order of the court.
7. The government's continued release of Umar's passport picture through the media. This was done for no other reason that to attempt to discredit me. Why such an effort to show a passport picture all over the media? In no other case has a passport picture been shown in the media. A copy of the supposed "passport" of Umar, however, was not released to Chambers until June 2011. The release of the passport to standby defense counsel was delayed 19 months in order to limit the amount of time Chambers would need to have experts verify its authenticity.
8. The explanation for the cameraman is near unbelieveable. He started filming the sky just before the attack started and then he turned to film the entire attack from beginning to end. We all thought we were going to die. The last thing on anyone's mind at that time was to film something.
9. On 1-5-10 Breibart posted an article that indicated the Government had viewed over 200 hours of video from the airport and it showed no evidence of an accomplice. This article is contradicted by the 1-22-10 article of ABC News by Brian Ross that indicated that "The government is looking into the identity of a man that helped Umar at Schiphol." The article fails to mention that this "sharp dressed man" escorted Umar through security without a passpot and instead tries to paint this man as Al Qaeda. The government is contradicting itself in both of these stories and is attemptin weak coverups in each story.
10. Umar is charged with conspiracy. The accomplices names or contributions are never mentioned. They are not listed as wanted and they are never discussed. This is because they are U.S. Intelligence agents.
11. Customs spokeperson Ron Smith changed the official story about the 2nd man taken into custody in Detroit 5 times. Then he sent a half hearted apoogetic email to the media. My story as to this man has never changed. Ron Smith eventually gave up lying and quit talking about this man who was witnessed by nearly all of the passengers.
12. Why were pictures of Umar's underwear constantly released to the media? These pictures show Umar's underwear is largely intact. I have information from a credible source that due to this incident, Umar "Will never have any kids". This fact is not in line with undamaged underwear. The continued release of the underwear was used as a propaganda piece to reinforce the deceit.
13. The prosecution has continued to block evidence from Umar's standby attorney and in some cases, has provided it late. Why? If Umar was a terrorist nut, what is it that the government does not want the defense to see? It seems to me that if the official story is true, then this is an open and shut case. It appears that the government feels a need to insulate itself from civil cases filed by the passengers.
14. Why has Chambers repeatedly indicated that Umar has a very valid defense? The answer is the entrapment defense.
15. Portions of the Patriot Act were set to expire just before Christmas Day 2009. The Congressional vote to extend them was delayed until February. Body scanning machines were already built and sitting in warehouses. Michael Chertoff, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security has ties to the body scanning manufacturers. The U.S. had no terrorist attacks from 2001 until Christmas Day 2009. A new terrorist attack was needed to get the body scanning machines in the airports.
16. If flight 253 had crashed, nobody would know that the bomb was in Umar's underwear. An unsuccesful staged attack was necessary to show where the bomb was held. This was needed to sell the American public that body scanners were needed to prevent similar future attacks.
17. The story of Umar obtaining his bomb in another country and wearing it to Schiphol is not logical. It is much more likely that he was given the defective bomb at or near the airport. It is likely that the second man taken into custody in Detroit gave him the bomb at Schiphol. My theory is that the bomb sniffing dog (which we witnessed) in Detroit sniffed bomb residue in his bag after we landed.
18. Umar could have been stopped in Amsterdam after boarding and been charged with various charges that would have resulted in a life sentence. Instead he was allowed to fly into U.S. airspace and light his bomb there, over Detroit, on Christmas Day in order to make this a MUCH large media story to usher in the body scanners.
19. How did Umar pick his window seat over the gas tank when he paid cash for his ticket? (You must buy your ticket with credit in order to pick your seat).
20. Other terrorist attack videos are released within hours. The relevant video in this case has never been released. Note that Schiphol airport has more cameras than any airport in the world.
21. The bomb was lit in the cabin and not in the bathroom so that it could be filmed and make more of a media event than a dud bomb lit in a bathroom.
22. Obama's "failed to connect the dots speech" is discredited by the Congressional testimony of Patrick Kennedy of the State Department. Kennedy indicated that, in so many words, that the government was tracking Umar and did not revoke his visa in order to track him into the U.S. This is almost, but not quite an admission that he was let into the U.S. on purpose.
23. The Congressional testimony of Michael Leiter indicated that the U.S. Government frequently lets terrorists into the U.S.
24. In early 2010, a Mr. Wolf appeared on the Keith Olberman Show and indicated that the Obama administration was looking into the possibility that this was an intentional plot by a U.S. intelligence agency.
25. Watch the Congressional testimony of Patrick Kennedy (available on the internet) and watch how he does vocabulary gymnastics to avoid saying that this was an intentional plot by U.S. intelligence.
26. Dutch military police initially indicated that Umar did not go through normal security measures. This was only reported once.
27. Why did a passenger call me in early January 2010 and attempt to convince me that I did not see Umar being escorted around security, but I instead witnessed a minor child being taken through security. This was untrue. I later found out that such passenger works for a contractor that receives a great deal of business from the Department of Defense.
28. Why does the mainstream media continue to not investigate this story and continue to not report my eyewitness account?
29. A second passenger contacted me and confirmed my acount of the Sharp Dressed Man. She is scared and refuses to come forward.
30. Why have nearly all of the passengers refused to talk about this case?
31. Why were a great deal of the passengers, military personnel, government workers and government contractors?
32. Why did the prosecution indicate at a recent hearing that it was still withholding some evidence that was deemed to be secret (top seret?). What could be so secret if the government was not involved in the plot?
33. Why has the online Detroit Free Press site erased all underwear bomber articles that support my theory on the case, but retained older articles that support the official story?

It is unfortunate that the upcoming trial will be nothing but a farce and deceitful theatre to imbed lies in the minds of the sheeple.

San Fran, Personal Record Run, and Related Stuff

2011-09-11T22:30:00.000-05:00

Ran yesterday in a local race in Flat Rock, which is held every year in memory of a high school senior who died while running cross country for the school (I think he had a heart attack or something?). Anyway, it was a great race. I ran my best time ever, 24:50, and got first in my age group. So, another medal, yay! Anyone have any ideas on how to display the medals in my office? Right now I have them hanging from my bookcase, but would like to do something fun with them.

On Friday night, I decided to run up to the rec center and work out, and while on the way, something flew into my eye. At the time, I stopped, closed and opened my eye, and it seemed fine again, although it was kinda stinging. By the time I got to the gym, I was fine. Worked out, came home. Next morning, eye was kinda bloodshot, but I thought it was go away. Went and ran the race, seemed to be getting worse. So, I took my contacts out and started wearing my glasses, thinking maybe it was my contacts. Still did not get better and this morning, was worse. Found an eye place to go into, and they looked at it and I guess no tears or cuts or anything, it just seemed "irritated" which could be from allergies, could be from the bug that flew in there Friday night, could be from my contacts. Anyway, they gave me some sample drops and called me in a prescription for the drops. So far, the drops seem to be working and my eye already seems slightly less bloodshot, which is good. I HATE wearing my glasses, and the dr wants me to wear them until my next appointment on Friday night. Boo.

So, San Fran! Have not uploaded pics, but thought I would do highlights of the trip, in bullet form! Here goes.......

Flight there was great. Direct via Delta. Grabbed a cab to our hotel, the Omni, which is in the area known as the financial district in San Fran. Emily has told me NOT to stay in certain areas, so I tried to find a place that was in a good location, and had a gym with cardio and weights, as well as free internet. The Omni fit the bill. Our room was on the 13th floor and super nice. The employees at this hotel really went above and beyond with being helpful and friendly. When I bought tix on Stubhub, the front desk printed them for me for free, when really, I should have been charged through the business center. Bed was super comfy, shower was nice. Free safe to use in room. We had room service one night after a game, and the food was yummy as well. Did not eat in their restaurant as well, but that's only because I am anti eating in hotel restaurants. I generally think they are overpriced and not as good as venturing out.

Anyway, first night we ate at this awesome vegetarian place near the hotel called Enjoy Vegetarian. Everything on the menu is vegetarian. No meat whatsoever. I had a faux chicken and fish rice meal, and we split hot and sour soup to start off with. AWEsome. Oh, and I had some kinda of vegan ice cream dessert with bananas. Went to bed after that, since we were still kinda on Detroit time. :).

Day two, decided to wander down to Pier 39. Ended up taking a double decker bus tour, that started at 1030 AM. Thought it would be a good way to see the different areas of town and feel everything out, and it was. There was a stop at the golden gate bridge, which was kewl. Got out there and took some pics. Had lunch at Pier 39 after that, at a place called Neptune, and had a table overlooking the bay which was super nice. Had salad and soup there. Kurt got garlic fries that looked amazing. Wandered around Pier 39 after that, saw the sea lions, stopped and bought a tour to Muir Woods and Sausalito and a tour of Alcartraz for later on in the trip. Headed that night to the Giants baseball game. I was excited to see Lincecum pitch, but he had an off night. Game was super fun. We ended up sitting like a few rows back from Barry Bonds, who was at the game with his family. That was pretty kewl. The stadium is absolutely gorgeous, prob the nicest stadium in baseball. Comerica is my fav, but that's only based on the fact that the Tigers play there! :).

Next day, we had brunch with my friend, Dawn, from high school, and her husband, Todd. We met at a place called Plant Organic, at Pier 3. Brunch was yummy, and we found out Dawn is pregnant and due in February. Super excited for her. After that we went and walked around the shopping at Union Square, and Kurt headed to Chinatown while I shopped some more and he had a massage. Ended up scoring some great deals at White House Black Market, and tried on a dress I loved at Banana, but since it was not on sale, I decided not to buy it yet since everything goes on sale there within weeks. It was from their new Mad Men collection, super retro. That night, we had dinner with Kurt's friend, Dag, at The Stinking Rose in Little Italy. My Mom had suggested the restaurant, and we liked it a lot. The soup was incredible.

***Sausalito

Labor Day! Woke up to catch our bus to Muir Woods and Sausalito. We were taken to the Pier and transferred to a smaller bus to Muir Woods. Got there, and walked around to see the amazing trees and forest there. Totally gorgeous. After that, drove to Sausalito, which is a gorgeous little town on the bay. Walked around there some, then came back to the Pier in San Fran. Once we got back, had lunch at a little hole in the wall Mexican place near the Pier, then headed to get massages in China Town. Great massage. And cheap! :). After that, we met up with Rachael for dinner at an Italian place near where she lives. Super fun night and nice talking to and seeing Rach. We closed the place down! At all of 1000 PM. Heh.

**Me and Rach.

Tuesday, we met up with Emily for lunch at a Thai place. It was awesome to meet her in real life, and I think we could have talked for the entire day. :). We went after that and walked Lombard Street and went to a couple stores on Union Street again. Emily had suggested one called Loehmann's, and I loved walking around the place. High end stuff at lower prices. We bought tickets to an A's game that night, and had amazing seats in the 1st row, visitors side. Game was super fun, and it was easy to get there taking the BART. Ordered room service that night for dinner. Oh, and Kurt caught a foul ball at the game! So that was super kewl.

Wednesday, packed up our stuff. Headed out to Pier 39 for our Alcatraz tour at 1100 AM. Spent several hours there, then had lunch at another place overlooking the bay. Decided to get Thai massages after that at a place called Royal Thai Massage, then got ice cream at a cute local place and went to Ripley's Believe it or Not and wandered around. Had dinner at a really cute Italian place, then headed back to the hotel to grab our stuff and head to the airport.

***Me and Emily.

We worked out every day of this trip at the hotel gym and did a ton of walking in San Fran, so even though I ate like crap, I did get exercise in! :).

The weather in San Fran was not what we expected. Last time I was there, it was in Feb, and MI was freezing so I thought San Fran was fab! This time, the weather in MI was 95 degrees when we left, so San Fran felt freezing to us! So weird. I think it was the first time I have worn pants since May, since I wear so many dresses and skirts to work and shorts at home.

Anyway, we rated this trip as awesome. Loved the city and how much there is to do, loved seeing so many friends and people we knew. Loved getting to see two ballparks and loved how Kurt finally got to see Alcatraz. Only downside was being exhausted since we took the redeye back, we are getting too old for this redeye stuff. :).

We got the bikes back yesterday from the bike shop, good as new. I went running the other night and was terrified with each car that passed me, so I guess Im not totally over the being hit by a car thing, which is annoying, but I guess I should cut myself some slack.

Bought tickets to the Lions season opener at home, and we have awesome seats. cannot wait. Especially after they won today! Whoot! I can't believe they actually looked good. It's a shock. Hopefully, it continues! Can't wait to break my Haskell jersey out to wear to the game!

Kurt went to the dr yesterday morning for follow-up stuff from the accident and in having to get an MRI, go to rehab, and was put on two prescriptions, one for muscle spasms and another for pain. He also was given a shot for pain while there. My bruises are starting to fade, finally, but I still have some pain in my left calf and my hip/back where the car hit me. Ugh.

So, this is getting long...........Will post more soon with more pics. Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

The Crash

2011-09-09T21:45:00.003-05:00

So, I should have posted about this a long time ago, but life has been crazy. Between work, the accident and follow-up, going to San Fran for the holiday, working out.....no spare time to blog. :).

So, two weeks ago, on a Friday night, after I had just psoted a status on facebook about "looking forward to a relaxing bike ride after work with Kurt"......Kurt and I were involved in a bike accident on the street we live on. We were riding our bikes, on the side of the road, and we were about three houses away from ours (feeding into the theory that most accidents occur close to home). All the sudden, I was hit, and falling to the ground. I was watching in front of me, and saw Kurt fall. However, through all of this, I did not really see or know what happened, except I was on the ground.

I finally figured out that a car hit us. I did not even know if the car had hit Kurt or if he had just fallen off his bike.I was hit really hard on the back and hip, and then my handlebars were hit. Later found out that the guy's side mirror hit me and his mirror then flew off his car from the impact and flew about 20 feet away into the ditch on the side of the road. After he hit me, he hit Kurt's handlebars, which caused Kurt to fall. I was REALLY shaken up and kinda shocked. Once i realized what had happened, I slowly stood up, not knowing if anything was broke, and walked to the grassy area of the yard we were near, sat down, and started crying. Some other cars stopped and were coming up to me asking me if I was OK, to which I have no idea what I replied. Kurt then came up to me and asked if I was hit, told him yes, and he then became livid. The guy who hit me circled back and Kurt asked him for his license and registration and he was kinda leery about giving it to Kurt. He had expired insurance, but said it had been renewed.The people who owned the house we were hit in front of made me walk to their front porch and sit there while the ambulance and other rescue people came. The ambulance came, and we declined to go and decided to drive ourselves to the hospital so we had a ride home. We talked to the police for the report, and the fire department.

Through all of this, the guy who hit us (who also had his wife, three kids and dog in his car), NEVER asked once if we were OK, nothing. Towards the end of all this, I noticed him taking pictures of ouri bikes and then of us. I was livid. I wanted to go tell him off, but decided I was not really in the right state of mind to cause a scene, LOL. It's sad what our society has turned in to. I live in a small, rural community where everyone is generally super nice. I could not believe this man was totally selfish and setting such a bad example for his kids, not checking on us or saying he was sorry or ANYTHING. I would feel beyond horrible if I hit someone on their bike, let alone TWO people.

Anyway, I am still hurting from the incident, and Kurt's hamstring/back has been horrible. He had a really hard time while we were in San Fran walking around town. He has a follow-up appointment at the doctor tomorrow and I imagine will be sent for an MRI.We did go the hospital to be on the safe side, and they did xrays, but did not find anything broken, but told us to followup with our normal doctor.So, really, I am happy it was not worse. We are dealing with his insurance now for the cost of the bike repairs, my iPhone being smashed, medical bills, my sunglasses being fixed.

I think I freaked my Mom out when I called her. I keep doing that, whoops. I told her "I was hit by a car". I think she thought I meant while in my car, then I told her, I was literally HIT by a car while on my bike and she was a little more concerned! :). Love you Mom. Sorry I keep being involved in near death incidents.....

Energy Run--Monroe

2011-08-20T21:39:00.002-05:00

Ran this morning in the Energy Run in Monroe, MI. It was a 5K at the local community college and raised funds for adult literacy. Kurt decided to sit this one out since his hamstring is bothering him, so I headed out myself this morning. Got there, and heard the end of the kids 1 Mile run, which is always so cute to see. The little kids running are always adorable. Anyway, got my t-shirt and put it in the car (BRIGHT orange), and pinned on my number, 163. Walked to the start of the race, which was at the back of a field. Race was pretty tough. It was not on cement or roads at all, but instead, was through trails covered with branches, logs, etc., with hills--and through grass that was pretty long. So, mostly trail like running. My time was a lot higher than normal, but I think it's because I have a harder time running on grass and dirt trails. The trails had a lot of really sharp turns as well, which made it interesting and relaxing, but a harder run. Better workout than usual though! :). Anyway, the age group medals were different as well, in that they grouped ages in groups of 10 instead of 5 (meaning I was in the 30-39 age group). Ended up getting 3rd and got a kewl medal. My # was also drawn in a raffle and I won a picture frame, which was kewl. After race food was bagels, bananas, oranges, and water. I drank like 4 little water bottles, the race got pretty hot in the sun. Loved that this race was local!

Had a massage this afternoon with Kurt at Biundo's Salon and Spa in Monroe (they had a $10 off each massage coupon on facebook), and ran some errands this afternoon. Drove to Westland tonight and had dinner out with Auntie, grama, Dad and Kurty at Eastside Mario's, which was super yummy. Hopefully, I can use those carbs at the run in the morning! :). Doing another 5K for the Vietnam Veterans United.

Booked our flights to San Francisco this week. Have not booked the details of the trip or anything, need to kinda figure out how much time we want to spend in San Fran vs the redwoods hiking and stuff like that, but have been too busy to look into it a ton. Need to do that soon.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!

Can't Feel my Arms

2011-08-16T21:06:00.002-05:00

This is a positive statement, however. :).

Tonight, I started working out at a studio again (this does not mean the rest of my workouts will end, I just want something to build and tone muscle more than running and biking do). Before law school started, I worked out at a studio called Animal Instinct. Loved it a TON. Best workout of my life. I started out there doing kickboxing, added in a Core class, did some Pilates, and ended by starting to learn Krav Maga. I got some of my friends at the time to go with me, and the workout made one of my friends actually vomit. My kinda workout! :).

Enter law school and the end of my working out career.

Exit law school, begin insanely busy career, working 80+ hours a week, and still not taking care of myself.

Enter taking care of myself, but by working out at home, running, and biking, and loving summer.

Find studio again, which is now called The Fighting Fit, has two new locations. Same owner, same awesome people. I stopped in yesterday to get pricing, a schedule, and information in general.

Stopped in today at 545 PM to sign up and take my first class! Yay! Tonight, I just took basic kickboxing which, kicked my butt! I cannot feel my arms. Still. 3 hours later. Class was awesome. For those of you who have taken cardio kickboxing, this is entirely different. You wear wraps and gloves, actually HIT pads and bags, and do a lot of other training as well. Training included running outside (around the block), tons of abs, tons of push-ups, burpees, squats, kettle bell workouts, etc. Amazing all over workout. Plus, I ran into a friend of mine from the 5Ks, so that was kewl as well! I knew one person! Can't wait to take the other classes as well, once I can feel my arms again. They have a class that sounds awesome called Cage Rage, another called H.I.I.T., another that does Xtraining, a kickboxing bag class, and combo classes. Anyway, I just know taking classes here is going to improve my running and workouts in general. I was sweating and exhausted the bulk of the class.

We ran in one race this past weekend, in Brownstown, called the Wood Duck Dash, which was on Saturday. Was a very pretty race, through Lake Erie Metro Park, which is not far from our house. Loved running over bridges over the water and through the trails in the woods. Ended up 4th in my age group/female, and Kurt was thrilled I did not place as he hates staying and waiting for the medals, LOL. It was fine though, as I had a lot of plans on Saturday and needed to get going. The run felt really good, and I could tell my 5 Mile runs earlier in the week had helped my 5K time and endurance. Saturday afternoon, I headed to Canton to pick up my Aunt and head to the Milford Art Fair. It has really gotten huge! Prob twice the vendors from when I was last there. Ended up buying a really pretty wire pearl ring, and some drink mixes for fat free, calorie free drinks that are SUPER yummy and a good change from diet soda. Had lunch with my Aunt after that and headed home to get ready for dinner out with Kurt, and our friends Cassie and Ken and Zyon, at Crave in Dearborn. Had awesome sushi and a great time.

Sunday, I got up and the weather was perfect for running, so I ran 6 miles and stopped when it started raining. I worked part of the day as well, and ran some errands.

Work has been insanely busy, as usual. I feel like I am running all day long every day. Tons of court all over the place (mostly Detroit and Monroe for me, but Kurt has been in Detroit, Pontiac, Mt. Clemens, Ann Arbor and other district courts locally). Tons of appointments in all three offices.......Am thrilled Kory had been in all week, love when he has short breaks from school.

The mosquitos have been crazy around here lately. Ugh on mosquito bites.

Oh! We finally joined the Jefferson Rec Center, which is part of the high school I was on the school board for. Anyway, we rode the bikes up there and walked around. It is insanely cheap (like $100 per year per household) and I am looking forward to using the pool (I want to train for a tri, and can swim laps in the pool), racquetball (we are going to learn to play and they have courts), the track (for running NOT on a treadmill in the winter months).....We basically joined because there are a few machines Kurt does not have in the basement and does not want to buy cuz they are really pricey and they have them there (including leg press and a back machine).

Hope everyone is doing well!

You Look Like an Athlete

2011-08-07T22:05:00.004-05:00

Race this weekend was super fun. Put on by the Detroit Lions in Allen Park, near their training facility. Instead of medals, they gave out glasses with Detroit Lions and the race info on it, and there were a lot of Detroit Lions prizes and stuff. Anyway, the race was at 900 AM, and of course, it was gorgeous and sunny and hot and muggy. And, I have not been running as much because of the heat, except on the treadmill (have been biking WAY more). So, I was just hoping to just get through the race without passing out. The course was fun. Neighborhood residents had sprinklers on for us to run through, and there were a lot of spots with water and/or gatorade. Anyway, I did way better than I thought I would, clocking in at 26:01. Got 1st in my age group and 77th overall. Kurt clocked in just less than 30 minutes, which he was OK with since he has not been running at all lately because of injuries to his hamstring and back. Our friend Jeff got first in his age group, and our friend Paul got 2nd in his. Anyway, I really liked this one and will do it again next year for sure.

Had a massage after the race at a place I had booked that I had a Groupon to, and could not believe that the therapist underSTOOD deep tissue. I will be back for sure. I don't even think he was using all his strength with me, but I was kinda sore from the run. My dinner plans that night got postponed, so I decided to stop at the mall to use a coupon I had, and ended up buying nothing. Went home, and Kurt and I decided to go out for sushi, which was super yummy.

Yesterday, went on my sunday morning bike ride. I love these rides. It is generally gorgeous and sunny and I just ride and ride. This morning, I went over 13 miles. I can really tell the difference in my legs/muscles from adding the biking in too. Love that. At weigh in yesterday morning, I was my lowest weight to date, weighing in at 66.2 pounds less than when I started in September. I was thrilled with this, as I kinda stopped tracking my food and have been eating healthy choices, but eating when I am hungry, so I am sure I am eating more than I was previously, but I am still losing, so that rocks! I just kinda want to maintain now though, and make sure my clothes continue to fit. I guess if I gain a lot or my clothes get tight, I will start the tracking again. Speaking of that, I was looking for a particular supplement at GNC, and was kinda annoyed by the lady's reaction who worked there. She basicaly would not even SHOW it to me, because I think she thought I should not use it as I don't need to lose any more weight. I really don't think that's ANY of her business, and then she started lecturing me on eating breakfast, that I should drink protein shakes, etc. Umm, no. Did not ask your advice on my life. I don't eat breakfast because I am not hungry in the morning and food makes me kinda queasy in mornings. If I get hungry, I eat a banana or granola bar or other fruit. Anyway, I will not be going back to that GNC. Or Ill take Kurt with me and tell them the product is for someone else, LOL.

This morning at court, one of our attorney friends stopped me in the hallway and said to me "I just saw Kurt and was telling him that you two seriously look like athletes now, you both look amazing!" That totally meant a lot to me, as that is what I want to look like. I am not into the waif skinny look, and want to look slender, but with muscle tone as well. Apparently, whatever I am doing is working! Or at least it is to that guy. : Kurt even commented on my arm muscles tonight while we were working out, so all those push-ups and kickboxing bag workouts must be showing finally! I'm kinda jealous of my friends who can accomplish the same results in a lot less working out, but since I dont have the time or schedule to do anything more structured, I gotta keep with my own thing, which works (albeit slowly).

Our Labor Day trip is selected by a roll of the dice. I had narrowed it to three places, Kurt added three more, we assigned each place a spot on the dice, and we rolled. Number one came up twice immediately and so San Francisco (focusing on the redwoods and hiking) is it! :). can't wait. Have not booked yet, as I need to finalize dates, but can't wait for our second trip to cali this year! I have always wanted to see the redwoods, so I can't wait. Oh, the 6 choices were San Fran with redwoods, Calgary with Banff national park, glacier national park in Montana, Honduras, Vancouver, and Puerto Vallarta. This is a shorter 5 night trip, so we cannot pick anyplace crazy far. Any recs anyone has for places to stay, hikes to do, would be appreciated.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Welcome Lucie Bella!

2011-07-31T20:44:00.005-05:00

We have a new addition to the family! I would like to welcome Lucie Bella Haskell to our family.

Lucie was a stray kitty. We have tons of stray cats that come to our yard to eat and sleep (Kurt has a kitty house with AC and heat for the strays), but none of them ever come near us. Until Lucie. I was out one night after work and saw her near the front door. She did not run right away like the other strays did, so we called her. She did not come right away, but eventually sauntered over and kinda let us pet her. The next night, same thing. Before long, she was waiting for us at night, asking for canned food. She was also cuddling and demanding attention. Before long, Kurt brought her into the basement and she is now--after being checked at the vet, getting her shots, and getting fixed--living in the house. She is pretty nervous of the pugs and has been hanging out on the kitty condo in the living room, not really coming down, but, she is purring a lot and seems happy. Anyway, I think Lucie is a pretty smart kitty to adopt us! We are great feline parents. :). The only thing wrong with Lucie was that she was a little bit anemic, so she had meds for that. She was also realllllly skinny, almost bony, when she first came to the yard, but I have been working on fattening her up. The pic of Lucie above is when she was still outside and had not adopted us yet, but you can tell I already kinda liked her! :). we had just worked out and came home on the bikes to her waiting for us to get attention......

So, last Sunday was the Paul McCartney concert at Comerica Park. Loved seeing a concert at the baseball stadium outside. Only bad part was a tiny bit of rain right at the start, but other than that, perfect weather and night. The concert was awesome, and Paul sounds the same live as on the radio. He was awesome, and it's hard to believe he can put on a show like, at 69 years old! He was all over the stage and the show was almost 3 hours. We had great floor seats in Row 25 center.

Work week was crazy, as usual. We ran in a 4 Mile race on Friday after work in Southgate. I ended up placing, but the race was HARD. It was over 90 degrees out, even at 630 PM when the race started. I am not good with running in the heat like that, and I had to stop and walk a couple times becuz I felt like I was going to pass out. So, I was not expecting a medal, but I still got 3rd in my age group! I guess a lot of people had a hard time with the heat like I did. Kurt did really well too, and only came in about 1.5 minutes after me. We went and had dinner afterwards in Monroe, which was super yummy. I am getting better with eating out, making healthy choices. We really enjoy relaxing at dinners out, so I am trying to make good choices so I dont feel guilty about it. Saturday, I had lunch with friends, then Kurt met me and we drove to Birch Run for some outlet shopping. Kurt needed some new suits and has gone from wearing a 46L suit and 38/32 pants to a 40L suit and 33/32 pants. Crazy. We stopped at all my fav stores too, and I got a cute white suit coat and black skirt at BCBG (WAY marked down, I think the suit coat was originally $198 and I got it for $45), a dress, two shirts, and a tank at Ann Taylor, running shorts at Reebok, and a suit coat and skirt at Banana. There were a ton of good deals, as the stores are already getting fall stuff in and HELLO, its 95 degrees outside. We had dinner at a really good sushi place I found on Yelp while we were driving, where I had the house soup and a roll called a Firecracker Roll that was incredible. Great service and prices. wish the place was around my house or office! Today, we worked, did stuff around the house and grocery shopped. I got in a 12.25 mile bike ride this summer, which was really nice. The weather was just gorgeous, and I just randomnly picked roads to drive down, and saw some parts of Newport I don't think I have ever seen. Love the bike, although I can't wait for temps to cool down so I can run more outside again instead of on the treadmill. My attention span is really short on the treadmill.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

2011-07-23T21:17:00.003-05:00

So, with the crazy hot weather this week (which I refuse to complain about because I would much rather have this than Michigan winters), I have been a little bit stir-crazy not being able to run outside. Since I am so not a morning person, I have no desire to get up early and run before work, and even later at night, it has been too hot (at least for me) to run outdoors. So, my workouts this week have been biking outdoors or working out in the basement gym. Boo. This morning though, I woke up at like 715 (without an alarm, go figure), so I decided to take advantage of that and go run. It was prob already like high 70s and super muggy, but I was determined. Ended up getting in just over 5 miles, which made me really happy. Followed it with an immediate shower since I was drenched in sweat, but that just means more calories were burned off, right? :). We ran a ton of errands today in Monroe and downriver, and then went on a bike ride today, when we proceeded to get drenched from a storm for about a mile of it, but whatevs! It was still fun.

My husband is an addict. To slushies. I think we have been to the ice cream place on bike rides like an average of three times a week. I think he has tried almost every flavor there. Tonight, he had a flavor called "Graveyard" where they mix several flavors together, which resulted, I guess, in a black cherry like taste.

We bought an inversion table last weekend and have been using it. I think it is actually really helping Kurt's back issue. He is upsidedown in it right now, haha. I have been using it too, and think it is helping with my issue with running and my one nerve in my back. My Mom has one and her and my stepDad love it, and my Mom was telling me she thought it would help Kurt's issues, and she was right! Thanks Mom!

This week was pretty busy and full. I had a ton of court. Had dinner with my lawyer friends on Wednesday night in wyandotte at Solero Cafe and Tequila Bar, which was fun. Got a massage on Tuesday night at Blu Water Spa, which was desperately needed. Then, got my hair done on Friday night at Daybreak Salon, which was WAY overdue as well. Ended up getting like three inches cut off, and instead of simply blonde highlights, got some strawberry blonde highlights mixed in. Really like it, although Kurt said he does not notice a difference at all, LOL. Today, we went to Blu Water for Kurt to get a massage, and I got a mani-pedi, which was also way overdue. I seriously have no time to get anything done and feel like I caught up on everything beauty-related this week alone. At least I am caught up for a while. :).

Tomorrow night, we are seeing Paul McCartney in concert at Comerica, and I can't wait. we have great floor seats, and I have been wanting to see him ever since I had tickets last time he was in town and sold them.

We are trying to figure out our Labor Day trip. I have mostly been looking at Central and South America, but may look at Canada and some american spots as well, since it's a pretty short trip. Nothing is really a front runner yet. And *someone* I know really needs to get on picking out destination for the Christmas trip, which is usually booked WAY before now.

Oh, made a new recipe tonight I have been wanting to try, Quinoa and Black beans. Turned out AWESOME. I used jarred cilantro (1/4 cup) instead of fresh, as I had no fresh, but other than that, followed the recipe exactly. anyway, super easy. I made mine with ahi tuna and Kurt's with tilapia. It would be good though, on it's own, with any fish or meat, or as a side with a mexican meal. Highly recommend.

Oh! One of my favorite high school friends, Becky, had her baby this week! Ended up being a c-section, as the baby was over 9 pounds, she was 12 days past due, and my friend is tiny (only 5'1), so I guess baby Nick was not going to come naturally. Sounds like everyone is recovering and doing well, and baby Nick looks super cute. cannot wait to meet him in real life. Guess I need another quick trip to San Diego? Would love to run on the beach again........

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. Oh, will be posting about an addition to our family soon! (and no, not a human baby addition). Stay tuned......

Wyandotte Run and Updates

2011-07-18T20:52:00.003-05:00

This weekend, Kurt and I ran in the Wyandotte Portofino Art Fair 5K, Saturday at 800 AM in Wyandotte. It was a nice race and I was glad it was early, as it was already super hot at 800 AM! Kurt broke his personal record for time, and I placed second in my age group. Our friend, Paul, was there as well and got 2nd in his age group. So of course, we had to stay so I could get my cute medal. :).

Sunday, I had breakfast at Denny's with two of my school board friends. They had wanted to take me to a goodbye breakfast from the board. It was really nice. I totally cheated with eating and had some amazing pecan banana pancakes. I love pancakes with fruits or nuts baked in.......totally reminded me of the amazing pancakes I had in San Diego in April, at the place overlooking the Bay........worked the rest of the weekend on Saturday and Sunday, boo. Sunday night, we lost power from 730 PM to 106 AM, boo. Some kind of brown out in the area.

Kurt bought a bike rack for the back of the Jeep, so we can now take the bikes to the park and ride, which we have done one time now. It's nice, because of the no cars being there. When we ride around the house, there is some traffic, which I hate watching for. Anyway, we are up to riding about 6-10 miles at a time, and really, I think we could go much further, we just decide to go home at that point. I am so thinking I need to train for a tri. I can totally do the running and I think the biking, and the swimming would not take much for me to get since I pretty much grew up in the water. Something new to think about anyway. Maybe next summer. I have not signed us up for any 5Ks this weekend, and I am a little concerned about the heat and might not do one. We are signed up them a lot of other weekends, including our first 10K in August. That will be interesting. I also found this awesome American Lung Association stair climb, but don't know if anyone will do it with me or not. You climb up and down the 70 flights of stairs at the Renaissance Center in Detroit. Everyone I ask about it thinks I am insane though, LOL. I may *make* Kurt do it with me though. :).

Went to Old Navy this weekend to use a Groupon I had that was about to expire. I got an adorable dress, which is going to be worn a LOT. Also got a cute polka dot tank, a white tank, and a green tank on clearance for working out. I am kinda not happy with Old Navy lately, or maybe my tastes have just outgrown the store. Anytime I go in there, it is VERY limited the selection of what I would even try on. I also think a lot of the stuff just looks poorly made and see through. Stopped at TJ Maxx as well and found a great Calvin Klein bra and a New balance workout shirt.

My dream shoes are Pucci heels. I love the patterns and yea, hate the price. Finally found some for about 80% off and ordered them and of course, don't like them on, so back they go! Hopefully, I find some for that kinda deal in the future that I like on. Super cute shoe, but just did not look right on me. Boo.

Went to the Wyandotte art fair this past Thursday with my Aunt and my friend, Nancy. Ended up buying a really kewl ring, but I had to have it sized and they are mailing it to me. Can't wait to get it! We had dinner at a really cute little place after the fair in downtown Wyandotte that had a HUGE menu. Really great place to take people when everyone is in the mood for something different.

we have been slammed at work, and I so need to get some things done....I need a pedicure, badly. I also need to schedule a massage. And I am so far past due on my hair, but I at least have that scheduled for I think? this Friday. Maybe not doing a run this weekend will allow me to catch up on some of those things? I hope so.

Oh, almost forgot. We finally got word on the property we bid on in costa Rica. I guess the sellers were "offended" by our offer, but made a counter offer basically saying "pay our price". I found it funny because almost nodody has called on their property and only one person besides us has looked at it in over a YEAR. They should be glad they are even getting an offer. And I never understand when people are offended by an offer. If you don't like it, turn it down. Why would you be offended? It's not like we put in the offer and said they personally suck or something, and the offer was not bad anyway. I am not in a hurry to buy, so I will keep looking, and when their property is still on the market in a year, maybe they will negotiate more on the price. At least we are looking and getting out there. Kurt has also started looking in Panama and Ecuador. I guess Ecuador is the new "in" place that Americans are moving to, you can get ocean front property for about half what it is in Costa Rica. So, I guess we will see. We will need to go back there for sure and look around, since our Ecuador experience is solely Quito and the Galapagos.

Anyway, hope everyone had a great weekend. Stay cool in this weather! :).

Runs

2011-07-08T17:43:00.003-05:00

So, have not posted in a while, have been super slammed and still am. Shocker.

Anyway, we have been in Costa Rica for the 4th. More on that later.......

Recent Races
We ran in two races prior to leaving that I have not posted about yet. One was in Taylor and raised money for a local food pantry in Taylor. Our friend, Paul, ran in it as well. It was a nice race through Heritage Park, which is right near our office. Had to be there really early though, so I don't think I even woke up until the race was about over, ;). I decided to start running races slightly differently this weekend. My prior method was starting off at my normal pace and pick up the speed later on. But, I realized that I was having to run pretty fast at the end with this way to beat my prior speeds. So I decided I was going to start off more quickly, and this really improved my times. Pushing myself at the start is more tiring throughout the race, but makes me run the entire race more quickly. Anyway, placed second in my age group in the Taylor race, and Kurt placed third! Our friend, Paul, placed first in his. All in all great race. the one the day before was called the Springswell 5K in Dearborn and was the first race ever for this one. Kinda not organized, very small amount of people, but it as run. They did not list where you came in rank on this one, but they did time it and tell you your time.

Ran in another race today in Taylor at Heritage Park. when I woke up this morning, I was kinda feeling tired, so I had no idea how I would do, plus we ran last night. Anyway, the race had a huge turnout and stiff competition. Kurt was sure he would not do well since he gained 5 pounds on vacay (which he has already lost, LOL), was tired, had been sick this week, etc., but he did really well! His time was close to his personal record, he got 28:33. I ran it in 26:02. I got 4th in my age group and Kurt got 6th in his. I think I could have done better if I was not feeling kinda tired, but I was heppy with my time anyway! :).

Costa Rica Trip
Costa Rice was amazing. As usual. Flights there were perfect, we left very early Friday morning. Got there, got our rental SUV and we were off to Jaco. We booked NOTHING prior to getting there in relation to rooms, tours, etc. and just decided to play it by ear. Got to Jaco and stopped to have lunch at my fav placed in the world to eat, Tacobar, which did not disappoint. Had our normal, ahi tuna tacos. After that, got a massage at Nazareth (walkd in, appointments gotten on the spot) and rented a room via my Expedia app on my iPhone at this placed called Club del Sol, which is actually condos hotel rooms. Anyway, our room was super nice and just outside of downtown Jaco. We had a full kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, laundry room, and the pool was right outside our door. Ended up staying there two nights. We ended up, which in Jaco, cheaking out a piece of property Kurt had been eyeing online. 30 acres, two houses (one regular and one caretaker), a barn. Anyway, loved the property and the ocean view, creek running through it, hiking trails. The caretaker house and barn were total crap, and the house was OK. Plus, we were confused as to "why" the people built the house where they did. If you go up further on the property, you have this amazing ocean view and a perfect spot for a house there. instead, they built the house at the bottom of the property, practically on top of the caretaker house. Weird. The house was also odd as well, the layout--but hey, we are in Costa Rica, they do things differently. The location of this property is pretty much perfect though--about 5 minutes out of downtown Jaco, in the middle of the jungle. so, we would get the jungle and animals, but be like minutes away from my fav city ever. we ended up putting a bid in on the property and we are waiting to hear back. I have a feeling they will not take it, but we will see. You never know. We basically bid not giving much value to the house since we would most likely build a new house higher up with the view, but the people who live there seem to value the house higher than the property (from their comments while we were there). Keep you posted on that, but I am not feeling that the bid will be accepted. Ate at an awesome sushi place that night called Koi. Service was perfect here, and the food and decor awesome. Really modern place.

We drove on day two to Manuel Antonio national park as well. We were there once prior, 5 years ago. We drove there and did two hikes around the park, and ended up seeing howler monkeys, capuchins, agouti, lots of birds. Great ocean views...........Had dinner at a place called i Love sushi that night that was new from last time we were in Jaco. Before we could order, they lost power (huge rainstorm). We still ordered and the food was great. Limited on what we could order due to no power, which was kinda annoying, but hey, it is what it is. I had tuna quesadillas and Kurt had a veggie and california roll with miso soup.

Decided to leave on day three and drive to Tamarindo. another area we were at before 5 years ago on our first trip to Costa Rica. more of an Americanized, uppity area, but we wanted to check it out again. Got there and had lunch, then checked in at the Hotel Diria, right in the centre of downtown Tamarindo. Nice hotel, except for the fact that two days in a row, the electronic part of door stopped working and it was kinda a pain to get it fixed. Ate lunch that day at a place called Copacabana and had hummus with pita bread as well as a tuna taco that was awesome. Breakfast buffet was awesome there as well and included in the room. We had a room literally right on the beach, ocean steps outside the door. Love that. Did some shopping in Tamarindo, had a massage, took a tour to Palo Verde National Park where we took a boat tour and saw lots of animals--iguana, lizard, holwer monkeys, crocodile. Love just sitting on the boat looking for stuff on the shore.......lunch for the tour was AWESOME. All costa Rican food. we had awesome fresh fish, black beans, corn tortillas, fried cheese, fresh guac and fresh veggies. Super yum. Had dinner at an awesome sushi place that night. Second night had dinner at another super good sushi place called Bamboo Club. I was so proud of Kurt there too becuz he ventured off his normal california roll and tried a tuna crunch teriyaki roll that was really good. had a massage in ion Tamarindo and checked into the cost of veneers for Kurt, they are about 1/10 the price of the US. Talk about mark-up in the country.

Fifth morning left there and headed back to Jaco for the night and the casino. Ended up not doing the casino and just relaxing. Looked at another piece of property which was beautiful, but I deemed too far away from jaco and overpriced. had dinner at my fav place again and then relaxed at the hotel for the night. next morning, left for the airport and home, BOOOO. Was proud of myself, got three runs in while there, two in Tamarindo and one in Jaco. It was HOT there, so I had to adjust my speed since I was not wanting to pass out. Went anywhere from 3-4 each time, and I was both proud of myself for running in the heat and not passing out and for working out while on vacay! Ate like crap, so I had to. I don't even want to know what I gained after seeing Kurt gained 5 pounds. Guess I will find out on Sunday when i weigh in.

Click here to see all pics from the trip.

This is totally off topic, but the Lauren Conrad dress I bought at Kohl's prior to leaving? totally great vacay dress for hot weather. Comfy, cool, and adorable.

Getting back on the eating right thing SUCKED once we got home, but I always feel better when I eat right. I made a new goal with eating to try to eat more "natural". I am going to buy fruit and veggies for the office and house and keep them stocked. when I am hungry for a snack, I want to only grab a banana, or a grapple, or carrots, vs my normal rice cake or granola bar. That is step one. I am not going to be anal about it (i.e. I am NOT giving up Skinny Cow or Smart Ones ice cream), but I am slowly going to add more natural stuff into my diet. I am not giving up lean Cuisines for lunch just yet, because they are so easy, but eventually I would like to bring other things i make at home for lunch. First night home I ran 4 miles, and Kurt and I ran 3 miles at the par last night,

Today, ran errands, worked, worked out, took the pugs on a couple walks, and took a short nap. Tomorrow, working all day again, BOOOO, and Oscar and Vito have a vet appointment in the morning. Hope everyone had a nice 4th!

Underwear Bomber Hearing 7-7-11

2011-07-07T21:01:00.002-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

I haven't posted anything regarding the underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (Umar) in awhile. It is not due to a lack of interest on my part. There simply hasn't been much new going on with the story. That changed today. I expect this story to heat up once again as the October 4th trial date approaches.

As always, if anyone needs a background regarding this case and my throery on it, feel free to read this blog from Christmas Day 2009 forward. Please remember that this is my wife's blog and many posts regarding our lives are commingled between underwear bomber postings. This is not exclusively an underwear bomber blog.

I received notice of this hearing last week. It was set for 11:00 A.M. today. Unfortunately for me, I had a trial on one of my cases set for 9:00 A.M. today. I didn't have enough notice to move my trial. I was hoping my trial would settle or get adjourned to this afternoon. Judge Keith was an hour late today for my 9:00 A.M. trial and had several other cases to complete first. By 10:00 A.M., I didn't think there was any chance I would make it to Umar's hearing. At 10:30 A.M. Judge Keith called the two attorneys into his chambers to discuss the case to see if there was a settlement. There wasn't, so I asked him for a one hour adjournment and he granted it (from 10:45 to 11:45). I asked my client to watch my briefcase and I ran 4 blocks to the federal courthouse. Lori was already there. The hearing lasted 45 minutes of which I got to watch approximately 30 minutes of. See below:

This hearing was scheduled for two reasons: 1) The prosecution asked to "define" the role of stand-by attorney Chambers to determine what he can and can't do and 2) Stand-by attorney Chambers request to delay the October 4 trial date due to the prosecution giving him new evidence only one month ago.

The prosecution argued its motion first and asked for ridiculous requests such as Chambers not being able to sit by or talk to Umar while court was in progress. Judge Edmunds appeared to think most of the requests were ridiculous. A couple of the requests she indicated that she would decide after taking the issue under advisement (Judge talk for thinking it over) and would give her decision at another hearing in approximately two weeks. She took these issues under advisement as between Umar and Chambers: 1) Who will do jury selection, 2) Who will do the opening statement, 3) Who will do the closing statement, and 4) Who will question the witnesses. Interestingly enough, Umar told Judge Edmunds that he and Chambers will each question some of the witnesses. Judge Edmunds told Umar that would probably not be acceptable. I wonder if Judge Edmunds forces Umar to question all of his witnesses, if that will scare him into using Chambers as his regular attorney? I can only hope. Judge Edmunds once again tried to get Umar to use an attorney. Umar once again refused and indicated that he has been making progress on his studying to become his own attorney.

The more interesting part of the hearing today centered around Chambers request to adjourn the October 4, 2011, trial date. As part of his argument, Chambers indicated that the prosecution dumped the "Most significant evidence" of the entire case on his office in June after holding it for 18 months. Chambers then went on to describe such evidence as follows:

1) A copy of Umar's passport (Apparently it took 18 months to create it)

2) A disk containing a chemical analysis of the composition of the bomb

3) Airport security video and audio

4) Four disks of DNA analysis

5)A Witness statement from a Dutch, non-law enforcement citizen, government profiler, who talked to Umar during "the time in question"

For those of you following my theory on this case, you can see the obvious tie ins between the evidence that was withheld for 1 1/2 years and what it likely shows. I am, however, very puzzled as to item 5. I am not sure what the shows, who it is, when it was, or how it's relevant. Chambers then requested all other hidden evidence to which the prosectuion indicated it would turn over to Judge Edmunds for her review within two weeks. AS IF IT WAS O.K. TO HIDE MORE EVIDENCE!!!!! Apparently, the further hidden evidence is classified as SECRET (top secret?) and requires judicial review even before it's released to the defense. If I was representing Umar, I would be beyond livid over this conduct by the prosecution. What kind of evidence in this case could be so highly classified? I wonder if it has something to do with providing a "terrorist" an intentionally defective bomb and escorting him around security without a passport?

The hearing ended with Judge Edmunds denying Chambers request to delay the trial. Jury selection will start October 4, 2011.

*Note that some of the above information was provided by Lori as I had to return to my trial before this hearing concluded.

Weekend Recap--Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T20:47:00.004-05:00

**Before the race, at Kurt's Mom's house, photo courtesy of Scott Haskell.

Busy week!

Had a super fun time at the Pinconning Cheesetown Challenge yesterday. Kurt's hometown has had this race and festival for the past 28 years. There is a two mile race and a 5 mile race and you can run one or both races. The 2 mile is first, followed 30 minutes later by the 5 mile. Anyway, Kurt and I decided over Mother's Day weekend when we were visiting his Mom to run the 5 Mile. Drove up there Saturday afternoon and picked up our packets (which included a kewl shoe thing that tracked your time), and waited at his Mom's until race time. Headed out to the race and Scott (Kurt's bro visiting from FL) came as our cheering squad. Anyway, the race was nice. I did not like the parts through grass (which was prob about a mile total two different times), but the rest of it was nice. I was just hoping to finish in under 50 minutes. I always have a hard time at the start becuz I start out running slowly and see everyone speed by me, and I always want to run faster, but stop myself. No different in this race. Kurt and I ran together for about half a mile, then I started to inch ahead. I kept trying to pick out girls in the age group and pass them, LOL. Which is absurd since my age group is only 5 years (30-34) so like I could really pick people out. I started trying to really push myself at 3.5 miles, then more at 4. I know the people who start off really strong get tired at the end, and I am kinda the opposite (wanting to save energy until the end). Ended up finishing in 42:59. Was so super psyched, since I just wanted to come in under 50 minutes! :). Awesome time for me. Kurt finished under his goal as well. He finished in 46:56, and his goal was to finish under 49:08 (his fastest 5 mile time while training). Scott and I got to cheer Kurt on at the end and take his pic, haha. I wanted to see how we did vs everyone else so we went to the little awards thing, and I ended up placing first in my age group and getting a super kewl plaque!

Kurt got 6th in his age group. Went to dinner afterwards at Norm's with Kurt's Mom and Scott, then drove home. My muscles are really sore today, which is rare for me, but I think it was the pushing myself so hard. Love sore muscles....... Next race is next weekend, where we are running to raise money for a local food kitchen/pantry in Taylor, MI. I believe this is the race val, larry and dan are coming to, and our friend, Paul, is running in. can't wait! It's a 5K and a great cause.

Ran a bunch of errands today, and went and got my first, really late, pedi and mani of the summer at Art Nails in Monroe. They did a really great job, and I am feeling much better about my nails right now. They desperately needed some work. We bought a chest freezer today at Lowe's, which I am super excited about. My freezer is sooooooo overfilled, and I can never buy anything in bulk cuz I have no room. Started transferring some stuff to it tonight, but need to finish. It will be great to buy more than one of the foods I like to eat when they are on sale.

Made tofu for the first time tonight. i have been wanting to, but a little nervous. Did not do anything fancy for the first time, simply grilled it in soy sauce, chili pepper, and onion and served it over my spaghetti squash/marinara, with salmon and a bagel thin (for dinner). Speaking of spaghetti squash, I could not find it at ANY of the grocery storess while shopping. Ended up going out of my way to the fruit/veggie stand store, and they, thankfully, had it. I was about to throw a fit over not finding it anywhere! :).

**scott loves taking action shots, which means, when I ask him to take a pic, he takes like 10, and only one is the one I asked him to take in the first place (see top of page, LOL).

Kurt had a bunch of work done on the Jeep, and it is seriously looking brand new, even though we got it in 2002. We took it to a body shop to get the rust spots out of the body, and we replaced some of the chrome accessories. We also ordered new tires and rims, which should be here shortly. We ordered slightly different tires, hoping to make the ride better with the car. Rebecca said something to me the other day about needing to get a new vehicle to replace the Jeep, but Kurt and I are not typical americans. We run our cars into the ground. I do not buy a car unless i know I want it longterm. I have no interest in replacing cars every 2-5 years like a normal American and just becuz a car is from 2002 does not equate to needing a new car, at least in our book. Hate car payments, and love having everything paid off and I am keeping it that way (or alternatively, paying cash if I get another car in the future).

Pugs got baths and nail trims today at the groomer. I don't think we are going to take Vito in anymore. He apparently gets really stressed out while there, and I don't want to subject him to that anymore, so Kurt is going to just give him baths here and have the vet clip his nails. It's weird to me that Vito is the one who has issues with this, as he is the most social of our pets. They said Oscar is the first dog they have ever grommed that LIKED the dryers. No idea why. oscar is such an eccentric dog. LOL.

Booked our 4th of July flights to Costa Rica, can't wait! we were looking at Europe and other places as well, but flights there are SOOOO long, and I have been craving some jungle hiking. We can also look at property while we are there, if we want.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad, stepDad and Bumpa, and all other fathers and soon to be fathers out there, as well as all animal daddies (including my husband, who is an awesome parent to our pets). Thanks to my Dad for teaching me how to play cards, be athletic, and for giving me my sense of sarcasm--and for supporting me in all my crazy adventures in life. Thanks to my stepDad for being so amazing to my Mom, and for always being there for me and supporting me in everything I do, and always believing in me. And thanks to my Bumpa for being the rock of the family and an awesome Dad, grampa and husband. And thanks to my husband for doting on my babies, and for loving animals so much you want to devote your life to saving and caring for them. Thanks for picking spiders up and carrying them outside--one of the top reasons I love you is your love of animals.

Night all!

Happy Weekend

2011-06-12T21:39:00.006-05:00

Had a super busy weekend after my dinner out Friday night meeting Megan, Chris and Nate!

Saturday morning, I ran in the 1st Cabrini High School 5K. This race was held during the Cabrini summer festival. Anyway, I talked Melanie and Todd into running, and Kory took Kurt's spot since Kurt was out of town visiting family. We all got there in time, and there was not a huge turnout. Most of the runners appeared to be high school track and cross country students, so we pretty much knew we were getting our asses kicked, haha. Anyway, it was Mel and kory's first 5K. The race was pretty organized, since it was new. The beginning and end of the race were on grass that needed to be cut, and I had a hard time with that compared to the part of it on the sidewalk and road. Anyway, my time ended up being 27:51. Todd came in shortly after me, then Kory, then Mel. It was a lot of fun. After that, i went home and did some stuff around the house, then headed to Farmington Hills to see my Mom and other family. She had come down from Manistee for a wedding shower on Sunday. Got there, and her, Carolyn and I went to a couple stores (Kohl's, Joann's, and Marshall's). I got a cute black belt at Kohl's. Had lunch made by Lisa next, and then headed out that night to the Tigers game. It was CRAZY downtown as there was a Taylor Swift concert and the Tigers game, right next to one another. Uncle Tim has priority parking in greektown, so he went to go in there. This next part is sad, but they would not let Carolyn (who is 15) or I in the parking garage as we did not have ID and you have to be 21. Yea........seriously. So, we got out with my Mom and waited for them to park. The game was awesome. Our seats were incredible, right behind visitors dugout. Tigers won, and we stayed to watch the aftergame fireworks. Headed home after that.

Today, slept in with Kurt since he did not get home until like 330 in the morning from wisconsin. We went to the park and ran 5.2 miles after that, great run. Perfect weather for it. After that, I went to work to try and organize my desk and ran to NY and Co to use a coupon I had ($40 off $100). Got some great stuff and deals. I needed a white tank for this one suit I have, which I found. Also got a cute shirt for work, another for casual and a casual dress and nicer dress for work (or not).

Have been relaxing at home since (after some grocery shopping). Tried to get Kurt to go for a bike ride with me, but he refused. meanie. I guess he's tired from being outside all day running with me this morning and doing yardwork the rest of the day. :).

Night!

Meeting in Toledo

2011-06-10T22:03:00.003-05:00

So, I have had a long online relationship with Megan and her husband, Chris. They have also become friends with Kurt.....Megan and I met on a now defunct message board for 20 somethings, and have stayed friends, as we have a LOT in common. Megan is a professional successful woman, who loves sports (especially baseball), and has a great sense of humor and positive personality. Chris and Kurt harass one another about their teams (Chris loves the Twins, BOOOOOOOOO, haha). They have a little boy, Nate, who is freaking adorable. If you live in Iowa, you can check Megan out on TV, as she is a meteoroligist and all famous and stuff! :). Yes, I have famous important friends. haha.

Anyway.

They recently took a trip to New York and Toledo was their half way point to stop at a hotel, so I met up with them in Maumee tonight for dinner at PF Chang's. Kurt was supposed to come, but ended up going to Wisconsin to visit his family and his Dad who is in the hospital, so unfortunately, he could not make it. I got there and while we had planned on Granite City for dinner, the wait was longer than PF chang's so we headed over there. Dinner was super yummy and it was awesome chatting with Megan, Chris and Nate. Nate is the most well behaved little boy I have been around in forever! He loves baseball and is beyond adorable.

Can't wait for my next get together with them! :).

Kurt's 2nd 5K--Dexter Ann Arbor

2011-06-09T21:52:00.003-05:00

Sooooo, last Sunday, we did Kurt's 2nd 5K of the year. It was in Dexter Ann Arbor, and supported a local hospital, children's hospital and another medical type charity for the blind. Anyway, parking was a PAIN. they suggested parking in a lot, but when we got there, it was full and street parking in Ann Arbor is IMPOSSIBLE. We ended up parking in a bank parking lot and hoping we did not get towed.........

Took a shuttle from downtown to a local school where the run started. There were 1793 people in the 5K (as well as more people in a 10K and a half marathon. I ran it in 26:42, which was my personal best, WHOOT, and Kurt ran it in 28:41, which was his personal best. I got 7th in my age group! The race was nice, until the end where we had to run up a big hill. Great workout, but I was about ready to throw up when I thought I was done, and then saw the hill........LOL.

Had dinner on Saturday night with our friends, Cliff and Lisa, whom we have not seen in forever. We ate at Fiamma in Plymouth, and it was super yummy. We took a walk through downtown Plymouth after dinner......Super nice night.

Weigh in on Sunday, and I was down another 1.4 pounds from two Sundays ago (since I did not weigh in while out of town). I was pleasantly suprised with this since we ate out Saturday night. :). Down a total of 66 pounds now. My running has been going really well, I have been running further and further with each run, and it is getting easier to go those further distances.

Anyway, I have been sooooo busy and need to get to bed. I will try and post about Puerto Rico soon! :).

World did NOT end

2011-05-21T21:39:00.005-05:00

All this talk about the world ending just made me roll my eyes. Seriously. It's now 10:39 p.m. and we are all still here. :).

Ran in my 2nd 5K of the summer today! Kurt was supposed to go with me, but since he is sidelined with his ACL sprain and fractured tibia, I asked Becca to go with me, and she said yes! :). She met me at the house bright and early and we drove to Adrian, which is in the middle of nowhere. Literally. Plus, the GPS took us there on some weird backroad route, so it really felt like the middle of nowhere. Anyway, the drive gave us time to catch up, so it was not so bad. Got there and Adrian is SUCH a cute little town. Loved it. The run was at a little park. We got there wtih plenty of time to check in, pin on our numbers, and exchange our shirts for smaller sizes. I dont know why I can never figure out what size shirt to order. Anyway, then the race! It was beautiful out, and the run was nice. I kinda wished it would have been through the park, instead of through the streets of Adrian, but it was still a nice run since the town is so cute and nice. I got done in 28:09, which was great for me! :). I ended up getting third in my age division, which was awesome! I got a cute little medal, which is my first at a race. Bec ran it in like 32 something, and ended up with first in her age group! whoot! Runners also raised about $4500 for Special Olympics, so that was awesome as well. Overall, an awesome morning. Oh, we also got a goody bag with our t-shirt, a plastic water bottle, some pens, etc. Came back home, picked up Kurt and headed to work. Came home, ran another 5K (as I could just not stand being inside to workout). So, I basically ran a 10K, but during two different parts of the day, haha.

Had a kinda busy week this week, it just FLEW by. monday, had a board meeting which kept me out kinda late. Wednesday, had the monthly K-Fass meeting with the girls......Friday, had dinner with rebecca and Lauren at Cafe Sushi in Troy, then took a dress back to Banana Republic that was too big. Ended up walking around the mall some, I wanted to stop in The Limited to see what size I wear there, and also walked around Club Monaco and nordstrom's. Did not buy anything and remembered why I dont really like Somerset Mall. No sales really, and the people that shop there are just a little odd. I mean, seriously, who wears 5 inch heels or a suit to shop? people are Somerset, that's who. LOL.

Anyway, off to bed, exhausted after an uber-busy day.....

5K for Kurt

2011-05-15T20:51:00.004-05:00

**please excuse my appearance. TOTALLY drenched, with layers of clothing on and NO make-up. But, excited that Kurt did his first 5K! Yay Kurt!

A few weeks ago, Kurt realized he CAN run further than he thought! :). Over the past few months, he has been running on the treadmill, but the most he has ever gone is 2 miles. he does run pretty fast, so I had no doubt he could run further if he paced himself. I kept trying to talk him into doing a 5K with me, but he was sure he could not run that far, and he also told me "running is not done for fun, it's done to maintain my weight". Anyway, I started running outside a few weeks ago, both near the house and at the local state park. One day, about two weeks ago, I talked Kurt into going to the park with me. the area I run at is gorgeous. It's a loop around this lagoon, with herons, swans, fish, lots of different other birds, and is just pretty in general. plus, I think running outside is just more interesting, fun and relaxing.

So, he decided to go with me one weekend. And, he ran the entire time! Which is a 5K! He was pretty impressed with himself, LOL. So, the next time I went, I took him a different way, which made his run 3.6 miles! he was now convinced he could go run a 5K race and I talked him into it. I actually talked him into a 5 mile race in Pinconning in June, so he is going to start training for that as well, but we may have a bump in the road, as he had an MRI on his knee this weekend. The results may mean surgery for him, so if that's the case, his running will be put on the back burner. BOOOOOOO.

Anyway, his first 5K was today! My first in a long time as well, even though I have been running at least that daily anyway. I picked one about 30 minutes from our house, at the Van Buren Park in Belleville. The race raised money for kids prescription glasses. Woke up to pouring rain. Michigan has just had shit for weather this year. Anyway, it continued raining, but we were not staying home. It's just water, right? yesterday, I ran at the park with it sprinkling and actually enjoyed it, but this was different as it was COLD and raining hard. We drove to the park and checked in, got our super kewl t-shirts and waited for the start. We started running together, but I ran ahead after about a tenth of a mile. I kinda thought we were going to be dead last as everyone at the start RACED off, and since I know myself, I know I have to pace myself. The trail was nice--some dirt road, some paved, up a couple hills, down a couple hills. The hills were pretty brutal, but I enjoyed them. hard on Kurt's knee though. As I was running, I started passing a lot of those people who were going crazy fast at the start, they were now walking. I guess they needed to pace themselves too? Anyway, got to the end and looked at my GPS and this "5K" was really a 2.5 mile race. When they said I ran it is 22.05 I knew it was not a 5K. However, they equates out to about an 8.5 mile, which I was psyched with. When I run on my own, I usually run a 10-11 minute mile, so this was my best running by far. Kurt ran in at 24:47. We were both drenched and freezing, so we grabbed some bananas and a diet coke and left. The hot shower I took felt amazing and I stayed in longer just to warm myself up.........But, he is ready to do another one, so I need to find another soon to go do. :). So glad to have him as a running partner. I have lots of friends who run, but they either live kinda far away, or run MUCH further than I do, i.e. marathons.

Had dinner out on Friday night with law school friends at Fishbones in Detroit. It was awesome to catch up with them. I had seafood gumbo which is like my fav soup ANYWHERE and sushi. Saturday night, we had dinner with our friends, Chris and Michelle, in Plymouth, at Compari's. Dinner was great, then we had drinks at Box Bar. The bar had the largest beer selection I have ever seen in my life. I tried a beer, per Michelle's suggestion, and it was amazing. Framboise Lambic (raspberry). and I dont really even like beer. Yum.

Anyway, after working all weekend on top of everything else, grocery shopping AND doing laundry, I am exhausted! Need to be off to bed, I think! :). Hope everyone else had a nice weekend.

Where To Start......

2011-05-03T20:49:00.002-05:00

This not blogging for long periods has got to stop! I never remember what I wanted to post about as so much time has elapsed since my last post.

Wanted to take a second to rave about New Balance customer service. I always buy Asics, or at least have for like a really long time. I posted a few months back that I bought New Balance last time, as I liked the way they fit? What do I not like? How, after less than 2 months of wear, the tongue RIPPED out of one of the shoes. So, I decided to write customer service to complain, before heading to the store to buy some more Asics and swearing off NB forever. Anyway, I wrote my letter, and within 24 hours, they had written me back, telling me to send the shoes in for them to look at and probably replace. So I did, and then got an email that they are sending me a brand new pair! How awesome! So, I did not buy new Asics, I pulled out an old pair and am wearing those until my New Balance arrive in the mail. Whoot! Go New Balance customer service!

Had late Easter dinner at Auntie's this weekend with the Dziegeleski side of the family, i.e Grama, aunt marlene, carl, Aunt Karen, Dad, Kurt and I. Auntie made lasagna (both meat and meatless), as well as salad and some other veggies and apps. Super yummy. We also played a game (I am blanking on the name)......Oh wait, it was called "Word on the Street". Anyway, it was super fun and the girls won! (we played girls vs boys).

I ordered a new purse with a gift card and coupon and sale on Piperlime.com, and it arrived as is just as cute in person as it is on the site. Yay. Also got a new pair of shoes in the mail today I have been waiting on from ideel.com, and they fit perfect and are exactly what I have been looking for. I have been wanting cobalt blue heels badly to go with several work outfits I have and these are perfect.

I decided, on Friday, to start running outside instead of on the treadmill. I have a program on my iPhone that tracks running outdoors via GPS, and I have Pandora on my phone for music. So, Friday after work, I ran 5 miles! I was super proud of myself, as when I run on the treadmill, I usually only go like 2-4 miles before I get tired or bored and switch to a new workout. Outside is kewl though because there is more to see, and the music really keeps me moving. So, Saturday through today, I have run at least 5 miles on each day! It's crazy to me! And, when I weighed in on Sunday, I had lost another 3.8 pounds, which rocks! Brings my total to 62.4 pounds lost. Yay.

Last weekend, Kurty and I went to Birch Run to replenish his wardrobe. He is up to 29 pounds lost and none of his pants are fitting. He was wearing 36 or 38 waist pants and he is now down to 33 or 34, depending on the brand. So, we got him new jeans, new suits, some new shirts, dress pants, etc. I bought a few things, but nothing major. I fell in love with a suit coat at Banana Republic, but even the outlet price with coupon would have been $96 and that's more than I usually spend on an entire suit, so I will wait until it is marked down more before purchasing. I did get a new suit at Ann Taylor, new skirt there, new shirt......Also, Birch Run now has an Ann Taylor Loft outlet, so I got a skirt there, some capri pants for summer, and a couple shirts........I got some jeans at Calvin Klein, jeans and a jean skirt at Tommy Hilfiger........Great deals at Birch Run. Birch Run also just opened a Lacoste, for those Michagander friends of mine that shop there.

Anyway, I really need to post about our awesome San Diego trip, but I want to take a bath before bed as my muscles are sore and I am zonked. So, I will save that for another post. Hope everyone is doing well!

San Diego

2011-04-21T08:19:00.004-05:00

SOOOOOO, we will be in La Jolla (near San Diego) for the weekend for a wedding. (Thank you Kory for staying at the house and dog/cat sitting).

Anyone have any suggestions on things we have to do, see, places we need to eat, shop?

Thanks! ;).

Scaling Down

2011-04-16T22:13:00.003-05:00

When it rains, it pours! :). Our part-time secretary, Alana, put her two weeks' notice in on Friday. She was offered a full-time job at the probate court, where they pay for your school. We can't offer that benefit at our office, so she is leaving to try and keep her student loans down. We are not replacing her either, so we will be down to one associate, one paralegal and one secretary. Which is fine with us. We kinda want to streamline things and do not want to train anyone new. Training takes so long and requires so much time andd energy, and I just don't have time OR energy right now! :).

Had dinner Saturday at Mitchell's in Livonia with Cassie and Ken and Ken's son, Zyon. It was a fab dinner. We had a reservation, but still had to wait quite a bit of time. We did not complain at all, but they felt bad we had to wait and gave us three free appetizers and free drinks! Crazy! I had a martini (since it was free) and got buzzed off like HALF of it. I am truly pathetic. Had lobster for dinner and it was amazing, as usual. It is my fav meal there.

Got my hair done at Daybreak Saturday, and my brows waxed. It is crazy busy there on the weekends! Last time I went was during the week and it was a lot quieter. Anyway, love the hair! Got a couple inches cut off and new highlights. Stopped at target afterwards, just to browse, as I have not been to a target in like 6 months I think! This target had a ton of food, like an entire frozen food section, which I have never seen in a target before. Anyway, bought some hair stuff on clearance, bought a refill on two vitamins I needed (calcium and valerian root), and got some new clothes. Target had such great deals on clothes--guess I forgot since I rarely go there! I ended up buying a new pair of jeans (which Kurt loves on me, I wore them to dinner tonight), a pair of jean capri pants for summer, a pair of shorts, a skirt for work, and a cute t-shirt.

Skipping Work Makes me Happy and GO Tigers!

2011-04-14T04:52:00.000-05:00

The weather was absolutely gorgeous out on Sunday.........Sunny, warm, surprising weather just makes me happy. I worked part of early afternoon, and by the time I went out to my car again, it was over 80 degrees outside. So, I put the top down on the Saab, turned the music up, and started driving to Kohls.......I needed to look for a dress to wear to the San Diego wedding I am going to pretty soon, and have nothing to wear. Ended up trying on a bunch of dresses and liking a lot of them, but bought this one with these cute sandals which I know I will wear again. Also bought a cute new shirt that can be work or casual, and a pair of shorts for San Diego since I have NONE that fit right now. Also got some new nylons, and a pair of swim trunks for Kurty. Oh, and I finally found a bathing suit top that I like on! Problem is I still don't have the bikini bottom, but that will be easier to find. I am pickier about tops. Plus, I had a 20% off coupon, so I saved a bunch of money on all this stuff as well.

Came home and Kurt had cleaned out the entire garage and was cleaning the cars as well. He had packaged up all the pop cans, which we got back and cashed in for over $45! Crazy! I guess I drink a lot of diet pop, LOL. We ran into town as well to buy a new doorknob (one of ours was needing to be replaced).....I think really we just wanted to drive around with the top down, hehe.

We had an office outing yesterday afternoon to the Tigers game against texas. The weather could not have been more perfect for baseball. Clear skies, around 62 degrees, sunny, really a perfect MI Spring day. I wore jeans and a 3-quarter length sleeve shirt and was not too hot, not too cold. Plus, the Tigers won with a walk off homerun by Inge and that's super fun to be part of as well. I got some great pics, which I need to upload and play around with. We had amazing seats in the third row behind visitors dugout. I went and walked around the Tigers store as well, and OMG, the prices in there are insanely high. I really liked this one retro Tigers hoodie. $100. That is insane. I know the stuff is cheaper on the Tigers website, so I will have to look there or eBay. I dont even spend $100 on suits for work, a hoodie should not cost that much.

Yesterday was Holly's last day at the Firm. She took a job as a clerk for one of the Judge's we are in front of all the time and starts today. We are not planning on hiring anyone else. We are going to stick with three attorneys. I hate the whole hiring and training process, and I do not have the energy to do it again right now. I would rather do more hearings and put more hours in than hire/train again right now. Plus, our crazy busy season just ended, so having three attys should more than cover the work I think.

So, off to an appointment at the Monroe office. I got ready way to early today not realizing I had an appointment there until Kurt told me when I woke up, so I have been sitting here reading blogs and updating my own! :).

Oh, I got two dresses in the mail yesterday from Hautelook.com (a fav site of mine) by Ellen Tracy. I had never heard of the line before, but the stuff is really high quality and adorable and cheap since it was off the discount site. I am wearing one of the dresses today (with a suit coat over it). I would post a pic except Kurt is not here..........

Underwear Bomber, His State of Mind and the Complicity of the Detroit Free Press in the Cover Up

2011-04-09T10:29:00.003-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

Earlier this week Lori and I attended the pretrial conference for the Underwear Bomber (Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab). This was the second hearing we attended and we plan on attending all other future hearings if our schedule allows. The hearing was pretty uneventful. One point of note to indicate Umar's state of mind was made during the hearing. Judge Edmunds asked him if he had any current concerns. His response had nothing to do with him being sentenced to life in prison, evidence, his need for an attorney, etc. His response was that he wasn't being given commissaries that he wanted in prison and also that the prison would not let him have a certain magazine subscription. Does this sound like someone in the right frame of mind to defend himself in a trial of this magnitude?

Secondly, and more importantly, was something that I discovered about the Detroit Free Press. As most of you know, the Free Press is the main newspaper here in Detroit. Before the hearing this week, I went on the Free Press website to check something about the Underwear Bomber case. What I discovered was pretty astounding. The two main articles that support my theory of the real events of this case have been erased from the Free Press website. I have written previously blog posts about each article. The first one can be found here:

http://haskellfamily.blogspot.com/2010/12/prosecutors-trying-to-block-use-of.html

and the second one can be found here:

http://haskellfamily.blogspot.com/2011/01/underwear-bombers-standby-attorney.html

Anyone following this blog knows that my theory on this case is that an agent of the U.S. Government escorted Umar through security without a passport and provided him with an intentionally defective bomb in order to stage a fake terrorist attack on the flight that I was on (Please read previous blog posts for more information and evidence that supports my conclusion). The first erased article talks about how the prosecution requested a hearing to block Umar's stand-by attorney Anthony Chambers from obtaining evidence in the case. I have to ask, why would the prosecution do this? Isn't this an open and shut case with nearly 300 eyewitnesses? Obviously, this article clearly supports my conclusion that the U.S. Government is hiding the real story and the evidence must support this conclusion.

The second erased article talks about how stand-by attorney Anthony Chambers stated that the U.S. Government's own explosives experts indicate that the bomb was defective and could not have blown up. Again, this is another article that has mysteriously been erased by the Free Press. Why would the U.S. Government not want this story out there? Obviously, it would be hard for anyone to believe that Umar went through all the trouble to go to Yemen and have a bomb sewn in his underwear, travel back to Nigeria, then Amsterdam, then Detroit, only to have the bomb have no chance of detonating. It is much easier to believe that the U.S. Government supplied Umar with a fake bomb as it did(admittedly) with the Portland Christmas Tree Bomber and the Wrigley field Bomber.

Strangely enough, all other mundane articles about the Underwear Bomber going back to 2009 remain on the Free Press website. This is not a case of the Free Press erasing old articles. This is a case where the Free Press hand picked explosive articles that go against the official story in an attempt to hide the truth from the American public.

This is not the first problem that I've had with the Free Press. I have done numerous interviews with it only to have the articles, or any mention of anything I stated, not get reported. As a matter of fact, at the hearing in late January 2011, I did a 15 minute interview with a Free Press reported. Despite the fact that her article appeared in the Free Press the next day, she did not mentioned me or her interview with me in any way.

For anyone that believes we have a free press in this country please provide me with a reasonable explanation of what has occurred here with the Detroit Free Press. It certainly appears to me that we have blatant censorship by one of the largest newspapers in the U.S. Sadly, it also appears, that the media is nothing but a 4th branch of the U.S. Government. The sole purpose of the media is obviously to get paid to spew propaganda to the unfortunate U.S. citizens that have yet to awaken.

Only Took Him 2 Months to Listen.....

2011-03-29T20:37:00.005-05:00

I was so excited yesterday when Kurt finally decided to listen to me and buy proper running shoes! When he started working out again, I wanted to buy him. He refused and said his Adidas, which are like fashion tennies, were fine. Yea, not so much. His arches have been bothering him and his knees. Which have been issues in the past, but I am sure are made worse by running in bad shoes. He is running an average of 2 miles per day, 5 days per week. Anyway, we went to my fav place for shoes, Total Runner, in Southgate. They measured his foot, looked at the arch, etc., and had him try on about 5 pairs of shoes, including Asics, Saucony, Brooks and New Balance. He ended up liking a pair of Asics best, the Gel Evolution 6. Hooray! Purchase made. Then, since he was apparently on a shopping shoe roll (which is weird cuz Kurt never steps foot in most stores, LOL), he decided he wanted some more supportive dress shoes for work. So, we stopped at Shoe Carnival in Taylor. They had a deal, buy one pair, get one half off. He could only find one pair. I told him it's pretty much against the Lori Rules of Shopping to not take advantage of that offer, so I found a pair of heels to buy in a color I don't already own. This is sad, since I already purchased a pair of heels online today with ShoeDazzle.

I told Kurt I am going to need another shoe shelving unit built, LOL. Or maybe I should just stop buying shoes........At least I get a lot of use out of all of them with the job I have. I finally found a tailor to help me out. Found them on Craigslist of all places, but they are a legit store in Trenton called Jan's Sewing and Alterations. Took in 6 skirts and a pair of pants and they had be try them all on, pinned them, etc. and will have them back to me shortly. Super nice people. I took all the stuff in that was kinda in between stuff (stuff I have bought since I started losing weight). I was not even going to try taking in stuff from before this weight loss journey began, and will be donating most of it to charity. I kinda picked and chose what would be altered to, as if it was a skirt from Kohl's I paid $8 for, I might as well just head back to Kohl's and buy another one in the right size if I like the skirt that much. I mostly took in skirts that go with suit coats, for the nicer brands, like Tahari, Nine West, etc. I have so much crap to donate to charity now. The woman there suggested I take the stuff into a consignment shop, but, I think the charity deduction would be better for our taxes. I may list a couple things on eBay though.....

Updates

2011-03-27T20:52:00.007-05:00

*******Took the pic above this week for my Mom. She is doing some kind of thing for my Grampa and wanted me to take this pic. I think my finger looks freakishly long in the pic. odd. I still think my name should be above Kurt's, but, since we go in order of when you joined the firm, Kurt was technically a lawyer before me. Ha.

Work hard, play hard.....seems to be our mantra. :). Had a pretty busy weekend, but worked some "fun" in there as well. Friday night, we had tickets to see Sarah Silverman at The Fillmore. I was wondering where The Fillmore was, and then I realized that it is actually the new name of the State Theatre. Never knew the name changed, I guess I don't go out again! :). Anyway, we left work a half hour early so we could go home and work out, eat dinner, and change for the show. Drove to Detroit, got there in record time so we got a drink and Kurt got popcorn and we waited for the show to start. She had two opening acts and then her act. Show was great, and it was nice to get out on a Friday night. Saturday, we worked a few hours, then I ran into town to return a shirt at TJ Maxx that I grabbed the wrong size off the rack of. Of course, the shirt was no longer there, so I just had to return it. Boo. While there, I found a really cute Calvin Klein black sweater shrug, and another black shirt to wear over tanks and stuff. Also, totally scored on the beauty rack, they had a TON of Philosophy body washes for like half off retail, so I stocked up on those. Will take a while to use, but worth it to stock up since I usually pay regular price at sephora or on the philosophy website. I started using lemon angel food cake this morning and it smells heavenly. Stopped at Ciolino's in Monroe and bought some fruits and veggies. I was craving cantaloupe, so i bought one and cut it up. Super yummy. Stopped at the mall cuz I had a coupon for Elder Beerman. Found nothing there, but decided to stop in Maurices and found a ton of stuff there I liked (see below). I also found a great dress on clearance, but cant find a pic. I am going to wear it with a black suit coat to work, but I could also wear it with my cobalt blue or black shrug.

Saturday night, we went to a charity fundraiser for a local Catholic elementary school. One of the clerks at court invited us, as she was helping run it and her kids go there. Anyway, we had a really nice time. The dress was casual, so I had no clue what to wear. I ended up wearing black dress pants, a new black and white striped short sleeve shirt I bought and my new CK sweater shrug, with red heels and cute jewelry. Was glad I did not wear jeans, as most people were dressed similar to me. There was a buffet, a silent auction, and a live auction. They also had music and dancing later on, but we left before that started as we were both kinda tired. Great night out though. Made a great new recipe tonight. Click here to see how to make the fabulous Chipotle Bean Burritoes (found in Food Network magazine). I slightly modified Kurt's and added mild pepper rings. I also used low fat sour cream. For mine, I used a wheat tortilla and no sour cream or cheese. Anyway, these were a hit in our household! I made mine with ahi tuna and spaghetti squash, Kurt had his with miso soup. Weird combos, I know, but we are weird with what we eat. I made Kurt two, and me one, and we had lots of leftovers for another night as I made the entire recipe instead of halving it. One of my favorite attorneys is now a Referee at the Friend of the Court where I practice all the time. I stopped in to see her on the bench this week, wearing her robe, looking all powerful and important! :). Talked her into a pic and stayed and talked for a while. Holly and I went to a Welcome Judge Hubbard party this week. Was actually pretty fun. They had a spread of food in the courtroom, decorations, etc. and we got to talk to a lot of the Judges/referees/local attys/court staff, etc. Had a nice time and Judge Mccarthy did us a favor and took a pic of us standing behind the bench. We can never take pics during court, so it was kinda fun to get the pic! :). Statrted cleaning out my closet and it's kinda embarassing how many pairs of pants i have to get rid of. I will prob donate to Good Will, unless I can figure out another good use. I also have several suits coats, and some shirts. Ugh. I mean, I am glad I lost the weight, but replenishing a huge wardrobe kinda sucks financially. I will just keep clearance and outlet shopping. Lost another 1.6 pounds this week, so still not sure if I am done losing or not. Kurt lost another 3.6 pounds and is getting really close to his goal weight. He is now thinking he may need to lose 10 more pounds than his goal weight to get his "6 pack" though, so we will see. I will be happy when he is eating meals again every night and not eating only protein shakes, yogurt and fruit/veggies. I actually LIKE cooking dinner.

Anyway, this is getting long.........Hope everyone had a nice week and an even better weekend.

Deals Galore

2011-03-20T20:52:00.003-05:00

I decided to go outlet shopping yesterday, as I desperately need some new clothes. I headed to Birch Run, which is my fav Michigan shopping venue. Not the best outlet mall in the country, but the best in the state of MI. It is about 1 hour 45 minutes from my house. Since I waited until the last minute, none of my shopping buddies were available to go, but I thought it was prob best I went on my own anyway as I really needed to spend some time figuring out my size and trying things on and I did not want to bore anyone. Anyway, the drive there was nice. Perfect weather for driving. Got there, and headed to customer service to pick up a coupon book (free of charge with a coupon I got online and my AAA card). Also had my 30% off coupon for Banana/Old Navy/Gap that I got via email. Score! :).

First purchases were at Ann Taylor. Love the store, hate the retail prices. PERFECT Lori work store though. I find deals here every single time I go to Birch Run, and this time was the same! There were a ton of clearance racks in the back, and I started piling stuff up to try on. Got into the dressing room and all the pants were too big. AARGH. Good, but annoying. Went back out and grabbed the next size down. Ended up buying two suit coats (marked down to $8 each), one pair of pants, and a cute t-shirt, all for $50! In the retail store, just one suit coat would have been like $169! Next purchases were at Calvin Klein. I bought two tanks (purple and pink) to wear under suits, a dressy shirt for work on a clearance rack, and a cute skirt to wear on vacay (too short for court, although maybe I could wear in the office when I dont have court). On to Banana Republic. Found Kurt a sweater marked down to $4. Bought myself a grey pin striped suit and a dress shirt. Next, Dress Barn. Bought a really cute dress with a shrug, and a pair of dress pants. Overall, really productive shopping day. Since I am still dropping weight, I never want to buy a ton, but I think I am getting closer to my goals, so hopefully this stuff lasts.

Speaking of which, lost 3.6 more pounds this week! I could not believe it. And Kurt lost 4.2 pounds. I am up to 54.2 pounds lost now. And, all the skirts I bought were between sizes 4-6, and pants between 4-6 as well. Shirts medium. I love, love, love seeing results from working hard at this since September.

Tonight, Val came over for dinner. Dan is super busy with tax season and could not make it, but it was nice to see her and Lucky! :). We went to dinner at Dolce Vita, and while my meal was healthy enough, I ate way too much bread. I rarely eat out, but I cannot resist that stupid bread basket. Now, my stomach feels like lead. Ugh. Bad bread. I worked out twice today though, so hopefully it does not affect my progress. Worked some today while Kurt cleaned the house, and i got 6 more bankruptcies filed and a bunch of family law stuff done, which is great since I have court all morning tomorrow. I hate coming back to a pile of work on my desk and I cleared most of it off.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Crazy Work Week

2011-03-18T21:07:00.003-05:00

This was a crazy week. Both crazy, and insanely busy. I filed more family law cases (divorce, custody, etc) this week than I think I ever have in one week, as well as a ton of bankruptcies, and I have to file more bankruptcies online this weekend, when we work on Sunday. We had the other side on one of our divorce cases actually drive his wife to our office and sit in the parking lot. He told her to call us and tell us that they were coming in so she could fire us. She did not want to fire us. He told her if she did not, she would never see her child again. He has a lawyer, and had no business even being near my office, as I can't talk to him or deal with him. This guy is a major control freak, and has been dictating everything to her for the years of their marriage. Anyway, I told her he was NOT coming in the office, or I would be calling the Police, so he stayed in the car. I sent Megan out to take pics of him so I could show the Judge what a loon he is. Then I called his lawyer and told him to tell his client to back the hell off. Anyway, client ended up not firing us, and the Judge granted me an emergency hearing date to deal with the crazy person's behavior. we are actually concerned about our client's safety with this guy though. She cannot tear herself away from doing anything and everything the guy says, including letting him keep their baby and she is only seeing the baby if she goes over to his house and he is there. Cannot wait to argue that hearing.

Made an awesome new recipe tonight, that I slightly modified. The recipe is for Chili-Garlic Glazed Salmon. I modified and made it with ahi tuna instead, since that was what I had thawed in the frig. Also, it said to simply broil the fish, but I grilled it first, then broiled, and halved the recipe since it was just me and Kurt eating. Anyway, super good. Made it with low sodium Zatarain's Jambalaya Rice. Super yum. Kurt was a fan as well.

After work, we stopped at Dunham's as Kurt wanted to buy this Ab Coaster machine we saw last time we were there. We both kinda wanted something for our living room that we could use after a workout, while watching TV and throughout the night. I used it a bit tonight and WOW, great workout. PAIN. Great purchase. Oh, and the really nice cashier gave us 10% off, without us even asking for it! Super nice.

So, I am taking a solo trip to Birch Run tomorrow for outlet shopping. Everyone I normally go with is busy, and really, I kinda enjoy aimlessly wandering myself. I desperately need some clothing that FITS. I did get a referral to a tailor who I called today and left a message with because I am hoping some of my skirts can be saved to the suits I really like. I am so thrilled getting back to my pre-law school self and having time to think about eating right and working out again. I want to start running 5Ks again, and found one in late April near the office that I think I am going to do, it raises money for a local guidance center that a lot of our clients take their kids to. oh, and last Sunday's weigh-in, I was up to 50.2 lbs lost, which is so weird to me. I started this journey off wanting to lose like 20 lbs. I did not even know I had 50 lbs to lose.

Anyway, need to get some sleep. Hope everyone had a nice St Patrick's Day!

Long Time

2011-03-10T21:32:00.002-05:00

So, a friend wrote me and told me I needed to update on here......My posts are really rare these days, ones with any kind of substance anyway.

I have been crazy busy with life in general, mostly in relation to WORK life. Tax season gets crazy at the firm. We are working this weekend, yet again, so hopefully, I can clear some stuff off my desk.

My Grama went into the hospital last Saturday night as well, so I spent part of Sunday at the hospital. They don't really know what is wrong with her, first they were thinking pneumonia (which was ruled out, I think), then a hernia, then some kind of issues with her sugar levels (she is diabetic). Hospitals drive me bonkers though, it seems like they never really know what is going on which drives me insane. Anyway, as of yesterday, she was still in there being "figured out", so if she is still there, I will go visit again this weekend in between working. After visiting her, I stopped at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, since I was right near there in Ann Arbor. I had never been to Whole Foods before, and OMG, total Lori store. Kinda pricey though, and coming from someone who never really pays attention to the price of food, this is saying something. It was fun to wander around the store though, and I picked up a few things. One thing I am loving is the mahi burgers I bought. Super good. I eat salmon burgers all the time, but had never seen mahi burgers in a store. I also bought feta spinach sole, and that was super yummy as well. I am liking everything I bought there so far. Oh, a refried black beans thing in a can--super good. Great store. I will be going back for sure when I am in the area of one of their stores.

Went out to eat with friends last Saturday night and had rock lobster tails, which were awesome. I have not had lobster in forever, and it was super good. Had middle eastern food last night with my friend, nancy, and that was awesome as well. Oh how I heart lentil soup............Had dinner with Rebecca last Friday at an awesome hole in the wall mexican place called Angelina's. Awesome food, and chips and salsa were great. I got really sick afterwards though, I think the dairy from the ice cream killed me. Boo. My body is weird lately with all the healthy eating, certain things just affect me. Super nice to see Rebecca though, and she got all dressed up for me! OK, not really, she was going to a party afterwards.....haha. Had lunch the next day with my friends Holly and Angela and ended up not eating because I was still feeling weird from the night before. Was nice to see them and catch up though. :).

Oh, we booked my bday trip! :). I wanted to go someplace super relaxing. That was my one requirement, I wanted a beach I could walk down, relax on, as well as other things to do, and something I could get a good deal on, with not a super long flight. I ended up booking Puerto Rico. Cannot wait. I for sure want to explore and take pics in San Juan, go to the beach, hike in the jungle.........Try some Puerto Rican cuisine. We are staying at this resort called El Conquistador Resort in an ocean view upgraded room. I booked through American Airlines vacations, using air miles, and we paid under $1000 for our airfare AND upgraded room for 5 nights. Score! So weird to be going someplace I don't need my passport for! Cannot wait. Wish it was like tomorrow........Need to get on booking our San Diego flights too for April.

Megan, one of my assistants at work, got engaged! We were all super happy for her. Her ring is gorgeous and she was totally surprised by the proposal. Yay for Megan!

I'm now down 46.8 pounds. It's so awesome having Kurt down there working out with me. He's lost about 10 pounds since he started as well, but he only wants to lose about 12 more. His blood pressure is way down since he started as well, which is AMAZING and why he lost the weight in the first place. I started looking into some classes to take, I would love to incorporate something else into my workouts, but soooo many places have most of their stuff during the day. Seriously, how many people have all this time during the workday to go work out? I am going to call the old studio I worked out at and see if they are still there, I would love to get back into combat kickboxing.

A great new snack I discovered last time at the grocery store: Quaker Caramel Corn Rice Cakes. I did not even think I liked rice cakes, but these are super good. Highly recommend. :).

Anyway, I am exhausted and am thrilled tomorrow is Friday and the end of the workweek. Yay. Off to bed, and I will try to post more often.

Since Everyone Else Is Posting It.....

2011-03-04T22:57:00.002-05:00

A. Age: 33

B. Bed size: King

C. Chore you dislike: Pretty much all of them. The worst? Floors/mopping.

D. Dogs: I have three who I love to pieces.

E. Essential start to your day: Shower

F. Favorite color: cobalt blue

G. Gold or silver: Gold, but I truly like both

H. Height: 5'8

I. Instruments you play(ed): clarinet. some oboe.

J. Job title: Attorney/Business Owner

K. Kids: My pets

L. Live: Every day like it's your last

M. Mom’s name: Terry

N. Nicknames: Lor, counselor, freak, loser, dork

O. Overnight hospital stays: Zero

P. Pet peeves: Oh.....so many. Let's choose one. People who drive in the fast lane, slowly.

Q. Quote from a movie: "Let's ALL go!" (Legally Blonde)
R. Righty or lefty: Righty

S. Siblings: One sister. One stepbrother.

T. Time you wake up: during the week, around 715 AM. Weekends, around 830 AM

U. Underwear: Thongs.

W. What makes you run late: my husband. traffic.

X. X-rays you’ve had: teeth

Y. Yummy food you make: fish tacos

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Monkeys of any sort.

Shrimp Pad Thai--Missing Thailand

2011-02-27T20:12:00.001-05:00

Click here to see recipe

This was amazing. I halved the recipe and it was the perfect amount for Kurt and I to split. I also quartered the shrimp for me, and made Kurt's with ahi tuna grilled since he does not like shrimp. Found the fish sauce and noodles in the Thai section of the grocery store, and the bean sprouts in the organic section of the grocery store (and they were locally grown, bonus). Everything else I had at home. Oh, I also subbed soy nuts for peanuts since I forgot to buy peanuts.

Anyway, highly recommend. I think I was missing Thailand? :).

Germany Trip Report

2011-02-26T21:34:00.002-05:00

Germany was a great trip! :). One of the reasons we chose Germany is that there is a direct flight from Detroit to Frankfurt. After booking the flights (and getting one flight free with miles, one for $300.00 off in price), we realized that there was limited things to do in Frankfurt, and decided to fly to Berlin as well. We were going to take the train, just because we have never taken a train before, but it actually cost MORE than the flight, so we went with the flight via AirBerlin. Speaking of which, AirBerlin was an awesome airline, with really nice, new planes that were very ontime.

So, we left after work on Wednesday, the 16th (also my Momma's bday, Happy Birthday, Mom!). Flight was overnight, arriving in Frankfurt at around 900 AM on the morning of the 17th. Flight was good, I pretty much slept the entire thing. We arrived and were greeted by a driver from the hotel we were staying at, the Flemings Hotel Frankfurt-Messe, which I chose because it was in central Frankfurt. Took about 20 minutes to get there. Checked right in and explored the hotel a little bit. The gym was pretty lame, with equipment that was not even up to par with what I have in my basement at home, but, since we were pretty jet lagged, we had no desire to work out anyway. :). Decided to make it a relaxing day and head to a local spa to use the saunas, pool, hot tubs. We went to Taunus Therme in Bad Homburg. Found it pretty easily, took the subway train, then walked to the Spa. The spa was very relaxing and nice. We used all the different saunas, went in the hot tub, went in the pool, had a drink and pretzel, and relaxed in the meditation room. Love European spas! Had dinner after that at a place called Maredo. I had salmon with wild rice and lobster bisque soup. Went back to the hotel after this and had a lemon white chocolate muffin from the hotel bakery that was aMAZing. The bakeries in Germany were all simply incredible and there were SOOO many of them. Off to bed......

Got up fairly early for a quick flight to Berlin. Same driver picked us up and gave us a little bit of history of the country on our way to the airport. Flight was quick and uneventful and we grabbed a cab to our hotel, the Radisson Blu in the Mitte District of Berlin. Hotel was great--nice room, kewl aquarium in the lobby that went to the ceiling and had tons of pretty fish, nice spa/sauna area with massage and other treatments. Went first to the JFK Museum. Interesting that there is a museum dedicated to JFK in Berlin. On the way there, we saw the Brandenburg Gate. The museum was really well done and classy, with some amazing photos on the history of the Kennedys. Really enjoyed it. Headed to lunch next at Casa Italia, where I had spinach gorgonzola pizza, that was pretty much awesome. Kurt had an onion tuna pizza. We then went to the Judisches Museum, which was a really interesting museum on Jewish history in Germany. Had dinner at Olivia International Kitchen, and stopped to buy an eclair for dessert at a bakery. Yum. You can see my normal diet when out the window while there, but I was on vacation and was not going to miss out on German food! Went to bed.....

Next day, we went to find the concentration camp, Sachsenhausen, which is located just outside of Berlin. After some figuring out of the subway system, which was slightly more confusing with the changing of trains that other places we have been, we found it! :). The concentration camp was one of the most eerie places i have ever been to. It was pretty much in the same form as it was back when it was a camp, with some added musesum like elements and descriptions on signs. We walked around the entire thing, both inside and out. I would highly recommend going here if you are in the area. It was a really educational experience. Had lunch at Antica Roma, and then headed to the Erotik Museum (total opposite end of the spectrum than the camp). The musesum was slightly shocking, but amusing. Some of the signs were only in German, so we did not totally "get" everything, but mostly there were artifacts, pictures and videos, so we could figure out most of it. Def NOT a place to take kids, LOL, and you have to be 18 to get in. Went to another spa that night called Thermen Europa, which was our favorite one we went to on the trip. After that, had dinner at a place called Alex near our hotel where we split appetizers and drinks.

Next day, we did two museums, the Topography of Terror, and the Deutsches Historiches Museum. Botht museums were really educational and I learned a lot about World War II and Hitler. Went to another spa called Liquidrom. Had lunch at an Italian place near the Topography of Terror and dinner again at Alex.

Last day, we went to a museum called The Story of Berlin, and the Neues Museum. We thought Story of Berlin was somewhat elementary, better for school aged kids. The Neues Museum was beautiful though, with really old artifacts from the Egyptian people, Roman people, etc. Really great place. There is normally a wait to get in, but we lucked out and walked right in. Had lunch at Capone Cucina and walked around some stores shopping in the area as well. Had a massage before we left at Mangmi Thai Massage, which was an awesome massage.

Somewhere in there, we also spent some time at the hotel gym, sauna, and got a massage at the hotel.

Back to the airport and off to Frankfurt again, where we stayed at the Carat hotel, which was near the airport. Ate dinner at the Mexican place in the hotel, which was super yummy. Had a tuna nacho. Germans seem to like tuna, it was on every menu, which rocks for me since it helps with protein intake for me. Went to bed, then the hotel took us to the airport in the morning and off to the States we came!

Sadly, when we returned, we had to go into the office for a few hours for appointments and catch up, and we are still kinda jet lagged!

We really, really liked Germany though and would like to go back and explore some other areas, like Munich. The people there were super friendly and polite, very respectful of everyone.

You can see the pics by clicking here.

Updates

2011-02-06T16:25:00.005-05:00

The weather here has been horrible for southern MI! Sometimes, we get almost no snow in the Newport area, so the amount we have gotten in January and now February is crazy. Wednesday, we closed the office as all the courts called and canceled court, and a lot of businesses were shut down as well. I was thrilled to stay home in the middle of the week.

Wednesday was also Kurt's 40th bday, so it was nice to relax and do nothing for the day. We ended up heading out later in the day for massages and I got my nails done as well, while kurt went to Border's and bought a Germany book. Germany is where he selected for his bday trip (no matter how hard I tried to persuade him we need some warm weather and beach time), so we head out later this month for a quick trip there to explore. Should be interesting, and will be kewl to explore both of our heritages, as we are both 50% German. Got one of our tickets flying there free, and the other for $300 off, so we saved quite a bit using miles. Yay. Have planned nothing yet, but will start looking into it soon.

Another positive thing this week, Kurt started working out with me again! Yay! So glad he is working out again and I am not alone in our gym every night. Weighed in today, and I am down another 2.2 pounds, making my total since Sept 12, 2010, 44 pounds! So psyched. And telling everyone who asks me about my weight loss about the daily plate, which I give all the credit to. Amazing, free site. I was curious about how i have done each month, so I went back and tracked how much I lost each month thus far, and here it is:

Sept 2010: lost 11.5 pounds (began on 9/12)
October 2010: lost 7.5 pounds
November 2010: lost 9.2 pounds
December 2010: lost 5.4 pounds (less due to not tracking and being on vacay for 17 days I think)January 2011: lost 8.2 pounds
February 2011 so far: lost 2.2 pounds

21 weeks, average of 2.09 pounds per week (which is more than what i put into the daily plate to lose, I put "2 pounds per week", but the site is pretty right on).

Gave Kurty his surprise bday gift as well, a Porsche watch. It's super nice and I got an amazing deal on it. it looks even better on him than on the website i bought it from. :). I wanted to buy him a nice watch and while researching, I found that Porsche makes watches and since Kurt is obsessed with Porsches, I knew I had to buy him that brand. I really like Cartier watches, but spending $15000 on a watch is NOT happening. I can buy a kickass trip for that amount of money! :).

Got a great deal on two new suits this week from ruelala.com (one of my fav discount sites). One is Tahari, one Nine West. Hopefully, they fit well, but shipping to return is free if they do not. I have no idea why anyone would ever pay full price for a suit with all these designer discount sites out there! Yay for sales.

Very proud of myself for not eating standard Super Bowl foods today! I usually make an awesome chili cheese dip, and eat a ton of tortilla chips. none of that today and life totally went on. I did buy corn on the cob which tasted awesome. It's better in winter for some reason......Was thrilled that the Packers won as well. And the Puppy Bowl was wonderful. :).

Hope everyone had a nice Super Bowl sunday weekend!

Fox News Interview Part 2

2011-02-01T21:42:00.004-05:00

After we interviewed at the courthouse, Fox called Kurt the next day to see if they could come to the office to continue the conversation. I really don't like being on TV, but they wanted us both, so I participated and let Kurt do the bulk of the talking. Glad someone mainstream media is FINALLY reporting this. Go Amy Lange!

Happy In Court

2011-01-30T23:11:00.001-05:00

Court

Updates........

2011-01-30T22:37:00.002-05:00

Kurt and I went to Umar's status conference this week. Being in a court room, not being the "attorney" for one of the parties, is weird in itself. Sitting in the back watching the proceedings is odd to me. Kurt and I got there early and sat in the hallway until the doors opened. Once the doors opened, we went in and took a seat. From what I could tell, the only other people there besides us were the media, attorneys for the other side, and I believe, some CIA agents. Kurt was asked by a reporter who he was with (I think they thought we were reporters) and he told her that we were passengers, which sparked her interest. She was from The Free Press and talked to us a lot before the hearing, during it, and in the hall afterwards. nothing we said to her was reported in the Free Press, which did not surprise us since mainstream media seems to steer clear of reporting our story. I don't blame the reporters though, I think they are truly interested, but when they give the story to their higherups, the stories are shot down because we are speaking out against the government, who helps fund them/controls them.........Anyway, we walked outside and it was kinda crazy. Cameras flashing, video cameras everywhere. We talked to a bunch of TV stations, and Fox News was the only one to actually report having talked to us. I imagine Fox is able to report as they are a republican based station, and since we are speaking out against the government and the current administration is democrat, this makes it OK for Fox to show this stuff, and they are probably encouraged to do so. Fox also contacted us the next day asking to come to the office, and filmed us for an hour talking about our different ideas and theories. This was aired as well, two days in a row, however, I cannot find this video online anywhere for some reason. Was Fox told not to air it online by someone? Hmmmm.

Anyway, back to the hearing. When Umar came out, it was really eerie. He was wearing a white t-shirt, just like the last time I saw him. Seeing him was really odd. I almost felt like I was taken back to that day, all the memories of how horrible I felt for months came rushing back to me. I think Kurt felt the same, as I looked at him and said "this is creepy" and he agreed. One result of the PTSD was nightmares and flashbacks to the event, and that night, I had a nightmare and a flashback again. Luckily, it was just the one night though and has not happened since.

We had drinks after work with a friend this week who knew nothing about all of this, and when telling her about the flight, I almost started crying, especially when I saw my telling the story was making Kurt slightly upset. It's so strange to me that what I went through still affects me so much. I remember Kurt sitting back down in his seat, after walking up the aisle saying "we are going to die" and how all I could think about was how upset my Mom would be and how I thought I was living in some bad horror movie.

Had dinner with my friend Nancy this week at Roman Village, half off pasta on Tuesdays! Super good meal not following The Daily Plate! LOL. The bread there is incredible, service is exceptional. Wish it was closer to the office. Also had dinner on Saturday for Grama's bday at an Italian place in Plymouth. Food was below average, but the tiramisu was to die for. Even with the bad meals this week, I still am down another 1 pound, so I have now lost 41.8! I am expecting things to slow down at this point though, so I am happy with that! I worked out extra that night because I felt guilty about the dessert, haha.

Went to a different Kroger's today grocery shopping, and loved the fresh sushi! Kurt tried it tonight for dinner and said it was good! Grocery store sushi, how awesome! This Kroger's also had a much better fresh fish selection than the one I normally go to by the house, so I may be heading there more often.

Anyway, hope everyone had a nice week. Not looking forward to the forecasted snow later in the week, but am looking forward to Kurt turning 40! I will, of course, be harassing him endlessly............

USA Guilty: Underwear Bomber NOT Guilty Haskell Explains

2011-01-30T21:42:00.000-05:00

Underwear Bomber Poll

2011-01-30T20:54:00.004-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

It seems to me that the U.S. Government is in a difficult position right now. After all, the Underwear Bomber Trial is set for October 4, 2011. This trial could expose the entire false flag plot. I can't see that happening. My question is this, what will happen between now and October 4 that will cause the truth to be suppressed?

a. A plea deal is reached

b. Umar dies mysteriously in prison

c. Umar represents himself and puts on an incompetent defense

d. A bigger event occurs that takes the focus off of the trial

e. A legitimate trial will occur and the false flag plot will be exposed

f. Other (Explain)

Seven Things

2011-01-29T22:31:00.002-05:00

I've been awarded the Stylish Blogger Award by Nancy at Crazymrsnancy.com!

Rules of the award are as follows:

1. Make this post and link back to the person who gave the award to me.

2. Share 7 things about myself.

3. Award 5 great bloggers.

4. Contact the bloggers to tell them they’ve won!

So, 7 things about me, will try to make them things you may not know yet, although some of you know me so well this may not be possible........

1. I just recently found out what my exact heritage is. I am 50% German, 25% Polish, 12.5% French Canadian, and 12.5% English. I have no idea why I have never known this before. I always knew the German and Polish (HELLO, I have the most complicated maiden name ever), but I did not know the English and French Canadian. Maybe it was the French in me that stupidly made me take French in high school instead of Spanish. I so wish I could go back in time and take Spanish instead of struggling with it now.....

2. I had totally gotten over the post-traumatic stress stuff from Flight 253. We went to a hearing last week for umar, and I had a nightmare that night with flashbacks to the fire on the plane. No more yet, but I am hoping I did not trigger something by seeing Umar again.

3. On that note, we were telling the entire story to a friend of mine last night who did not know we were on the flight. When I was talking about seeing the fire on the plane, the thoughts that went through my head, I almost started crying it upset me so much. I did not realize it all still affected me so much.

4. I am really proud of myself for being a great attorney and being respected by others in the legal field, without having to do the "behind the scenes" stuff that so many lawyers do. I don't hold judge fundraisers, I don't suck up, I don't ask the Judges to lunch. I do my job, I am nice to people, and it gets me the same results as those that try and work the system.

5. I feel like I was put on this Earth to do something in relation to helping animals. I actually like most animals better than most people. I don't know exactly what my purpose in life is yet, but I know it's not divorcing people. Once I retire from this job, I hope to pursue whatever it is I was put on this Earth to do.

6. I am not running for school board again. I feel like I am not making the difference that I used to anymore and I feel like I need to move on. I plan on volunteering at the high school instead, perhaps speaking to kids/classes or mentoring or something of that nature. I want to feel that I am directly helping kids more, vs attending meetings and voting.

7. Unless I know the person personally, I will never vote for either of the two major parties ever again. Which is odd, after a lifetime of voting straight democratic.

OK, so now the tagging. Here goes! Let me know if you post.

1. Colleen at Life Beings at 39 1/2
2. Natalie at Texas Cowleys
3. Emily at Law For a Living
4. Alex at Dirt. Juice. Details
5. Joanna at just A peek.

Thoughts on Umar's Hearing This Week and a Look Ahead to the October 4th Trial

2011-01-28T19:36:00.002-05:00

by Kurt Haskell:

Lori and I attended Umar's status conference this week. The proceedings were extremely interesting to me. First of all, Umar walked into the courtroom in a white t-shirt. He turned and stood about 20 feet in front of me. I kind of had a deja vu moment as when I saw him in Amsterdam, he stood about 10 feet in front of me with a white t-shirt on. I finally got to hear Umar speak. I've never heard him speak until this hearing. His English seemed pretty good, although he had a fairly heavy accent. He did have a Nigerian translator present and he did consult with him a few times. Most of the hearing was spent in a back and forth discussion between Judge Edmunds and Umar. The discussion centered around the need for Umar to accept standby attorney Chambers as his regular attorney. Umar refused over and over again. Everyone in the court room seemed to just want to stand up and say "LET HIM BE YOUR ATTORNEY!". Judge Edmunds finally gave up. Another part of the hearing discussed the fact that Chambers is not Umar's attorney right now, and therefore, Umar and Chambers don't have the attorney client privilege. Thus, anything Umar tells or shows Chambers can be found out by third parties. The U.S. Attorneys seemed particularly troubled with the fact that some of the information they turned over to Umar, could be obtained by third parties and used in a civil case. I wonder why? The hearing then proceeded with a discussion of if and how the evidence held by Umar's previously fired attorney (given to her by the prosecution) would be turned over to Chambers. The result was that it would only be turned over to Umar at Milan Prison and Umar could show Chambers only what he wants to. Note that Chambers, during this discussion, indicated that Milan prison had not been providing faxes or messages of his to Umar or being helpful in scheduling appointments. He went on to state that it was his belief that Milan prison was doing this intentionally, and he suspected that it had received a call from "higher up" to do this. Note that I had a similar experience with Milan prison last year. The hearing concluded with Judge Edmunds setting a trial date. She first suggested June 23, but Chambers wasn't available. She then suggested September 10, but Chambers again wasn't available. She then suggested October 4 and noted that she wouldn't likely reschedule that date. When she set that date, Umar stated that he needed more time than that to read up on how to do the trial. He then asked for a trial date in 2012. Judge Edmunds immediately refused. I was shocked at how adamant Umar was that he was going to represent himself. I now strongly believe that this matter will proceed to trial. What I am concerned about is that Umar will likely represent himself at the trial. If he does so, he may not know how to get the important evidence admitted into the record. If I am correct and Umar does not use Chambers in the trial, I fear that the facts will never be known. I was very impressed with Chambers and Judge Edmunds. I did not get the impression that either is biased towards the prosecution and the "official" story. I talked to Chambers for a few minutes after the hearing and we will be having a conference soon. It was strangely odd that no other passengers were present. This fact put Lori and I back in the crosshairs of the media crunch. We talked to at least 7 reporters, but only Fox 2 Detroit reported the interview. What is also strange is that nearly all of the passengers seem to have disappeared. I no longer have a valid email address or phone number for any other passenger. I am not sure what to make of this.

Attempted Plane Attack: Trial Date Set for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

2011-01-25T22:43:00.000-05:00

Attempted Plane Attack: Trial Date Set for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Kurt on the News.......

Inspiration

2011-01-24T22:01:00.003-05:00

Kids can really be pretty inspiring and amazing.

I had a board meeting tonight, where three high school seniors spoke about a program that they started at the school this year, to educate other students about bullying and what can happen if you do so (i.e. suicide, depression, etc.) They talked about taking a stand, and not caring what others think, and doing the right thing no matter what, and helping others.

Their message meant a lot--we just dealt with 4 kids last week being suspended long term because of bullying on their sports team, so it's an issue high on our list of importance.

It's also something that really strikes close to my heart........Just two weeks ago, I posted a quote by Albert Einstein on my facebook, as follows: "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing". Someone sent this quote to Kurt and I, thanking us for our efforts in standing up against the US government, the body scanners, etc.

I spoke at the board meeting, when it was time for board comment. I rarely say much at meetings, but these kids were so impressive at the meeting and the parallel between them and adults was so blatant to me. We, as adults, do not set examples for the kids, IMO. I go to court every day and see ADULTS bullying one another, hear attorneys talking in a rude way to one another or judges, and basic bullying in general. I hear about domestic violence, adults hitting kids, so many things and I realize our kids are bullying because they are being taught the behavior and being taught it's acceptable. We as an adult society set SUCH a bad example for our kids. They learn through our example, not by being told what to do.

I am 33 years old. I just learned this lesson, REALLY learned this lesson, after Flight 253. I realized that, even when our opinion is not popular, and not widely accepted by society, that "Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it."- William Penn. The kids who spoke at my meeting? They get it at age 17, which is just amazing to me. They should be commended, and will do well in life learning such a valuable thing at such a young age.

I just want adults to get that the world is never going to change if we don't ALL change. If we don't all set an example, and try to make this country a better place. If we don't all open our eyes, and realize that there are problems out there with this country, with society........Be an example. Don't sit back and do nothing if there is something you are concerned about. Stand up for what is right. Stick up for someone who is wronged. Don't worry about the consequences or what anyone else thinks about it. If we don't, we are just setting our kids up for a horrible world to live in.

We need to care about what is going on in our government. Most people just don't care and sit back and just accept what is going on around them. Be brave, vote third party. Try to get people into office who will make a difference, and not just do what their party tells them to do. Ask questions. Don't just accept things as they are. Stop allowing our rights to be slowly taken away.

Kudos to the Jefferson kids who already get it. Let's hope the rest of the country gets it soon as well, before this country is run into the ground by the US government, who is taking advantage of all of us being lemmings.

Alana Turns 21!

2011-01-23T22:39:00.004-05:00

Had a weekend mostly filled with.....work. But, did have a great time on Saturday night celebrating Alana's 21st bday! The entire office made it, and the event was held at a bar in Livonia called Slingers. Although not the standard place I would choose to hang out (think around 21 year old crowd, everyone trashed, crowded, LOUD, obnoxious DJ), but since we had a great group there, we had a blast anyway. We were convinced the DJ is normally a DJ in a strip club with the variety of music he played.........Above is a blurry pic my drunk husband took of Holly, Shannon and I (they are two of my co-worker attorneys) Kurt cannot take a clear pic for anything.........

Kurt and I got a ton of work done this weekend, which ROCKS. We started looking at which weekend we want to go out of town for Kurt's 40th, and I think it may be the weekend of President's Day since we know we have no court on that day. This is such a hard time of the year for us to getaway, but we can't do nothing for Kurt's 40th, and he does NOT want a party.

On another positive note, I weighed myself today, after not doing so last Sunday since I was out of town without my trusty scale. And, I am down another 4.2 pounds, bringing my grand total lost to 40.8 pounds, which is insane to me!

Exciting food finds of the past few weeks: World Catch Salmon Burgers from Sam's Club--quick to make and super yummy, low cal. Chocolate chip Special K bars--YUM. I found Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches in BULK at Kroger's. awesome.

I am trying a new hair salon this Friday, recommended by a lawyer friend of mine, Kara. It is located near the office, and while I have never found a place I liked downriver, I am hoping this one is awesome. I am really sick of driving to Royal Oak or Toledo to get my hair done and it would be nice to drive 5 minutes from the office. Finers crossed. :).

anyway, busy court morning, so I am off to bed. Hope everyone had an awesome weekend. :).

Wrestlers from Jefferson High School in Monroe punished by the school board for hazing

2011-01-22T12:49:00.000-05:00

Wrestlers from Jefferson High School in Monroe punished by the school board for hazing

You can see me on the right hand of the screen a couple times when they show the school board. What a night.....we were there from 530 PM-115 PM. Horrible to have to spend so much time on something like this, but hopefully, the school can take care of this issue which appears to have been going on for a really long time unknown to anyone by the team....

New Posts

2011-01-21T22:28:00.002-05:00

Click here.

Tampa

2011-01-21T21:47:00.003-05:00

Flew to Tampa last weekend with my Mom. I had a free companion ticket, and could finally use it, so I decided to take my Mom there for her bday! :). We flew out Friday morning and came back Monday night.

Got there and picked up the rental car from Alamo. We rented a compact since all we were really using it for was driving to my grandparents and back, and when we got there, they were out of compacts, so they upgraded us for free to a Nissan Altima in dark grey which we loved. It was way cheaper to rent a car then get a shuttle to my grandparents in Port Richey. Total for rental for the time, $41.00. Drove to Port Richey (after getting lost at the airport for a few minutes). Stopped for a quick lunch and then arrived. Went and watched my grampa play the harmonica in his club, then we all headed back to their place. I decided to run outside, since the weather was in the 60s and being outside is awesome to me since it is currently 5 degrees in MI. Ate dinner and played cards.....Next morning, met my Great-Aunt Louise for breakfast and then went shopping. I got to walk around Dilliard's (love that store and there are none in MI). Found awesome clearance deals, got a suit marked down from $280 to $50 (Tahari) and a dress marked down from $120 to $30. Bought my Grama a winter coat for her bday with my Mom....It's sad they actually get cold in FL. haha. Had dinner out that night and went running again. Third day we did some more shopping and I found some awesome tights on clearance (pink and purple) and a pair of awesome green Converse on clearance. Went running again and had dinner at home and played cards. Learned some new fun card games as well. Day four we woke up to rain, so no running, BOO. Had breakfast, then relaxed at the house. Did some stuff on my Grampa's computer (set him up a facebook account, changed his printer ink, showed him how to do some different things like save bookmarks). Off to the airport, then home! Had an awesome time, and it was so nice to get out of MI weather for a few days.

Work has been crazy busy and exhausting. Had a really late board meeting last night, did not get home until 11:15 PM, which is crazy. Tonight, had a fun dinner out with Rebecca, Kurt, and Kory at Crave in Dearborn. Had a spicy california roll with spicy botan shrimp and rice, and hot and sour soup. aMAZing meal. They had a live musician there too, and he was great! Played a huge variety of music, just him and his guitar.......Have to work all weekend, but hopefully, will get somewhat caught up.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

UNDERWEAR BOMBER'S (STANDBY) ATTORNEY "ATTEMPT MAY HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE"

2011-01-11T19:39:00.004-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

I almost fell out of my chair when I saw this story today. Umar's standby attorney now claims that his bombing attempt was impossible! There is only one explanation why this could be true. HE WAS PLANTED WITH A FAKE BOMB! Please take a look at My Christmas Day 2010 post where I claim that this was in fact what happened:

http://haskellfamily.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-day-one-year-later-underwear.html

Furthermore, Attorney Chambers gives us this bombshell quote:

"The file contains expert information which disputes the government’s allegations"

No wonder the prosecution has been attempting to hide evidence from the defense (see below):

http://haskellfamily.blogspot.com/2010/12/prosecutors-trying-to-block-use-of.html

This may not mean much to most of you, but to me this is a late Christmas present (no pun intended). After 13 months of hearing the U.S. Government's propaganda, the fog is starting to lift and I will soon be completely vindicated.

I am heading down to Umar's status conference tomorrow afternoon. This will be the first hearing of Umars that I've attended. While there, I will attempt to have a discussion with "Standby" Attorney Chambers concerning the necessity of having myself testify as a witness for the DEFENSE. The U.S. Government, the real terrorist in this matter, will not get away with this as long as I am alive.

Short Update

2011-01-09T22:00:00.002-05:00

Life has been pretty hectic, lots going on, work is busy, social life has a lot going on, kurt working on starting his radio show, me getting rready for a long weekend in Florida with my Mom......

Anyway, had a nice dinner tonight in Canton at my Aunt's house for a late holiday dinner with the family. My Aunt made my favorite salmon patties from Holiday Market, and I basically ate way more calories than I generally do in a day, but I allow myself some cheating on holidays. :). We also exchanged holiday gifts and I think everyone loved what I got them, so yay! Yesterday, I had to shop for the holiday (I never buy gifts until like the day before), and I stopped at Macy's while out because I desperately need clothes that fit me. I have like ONE pair of dress pants for work that fit right for suits, and like one suit that fits me right. So, I looked thru the clearance racks at Macy's and found three cute suits (one a Tahari, I love that brand), another skirt, and a pair of dress pants. Also, bought a pair of jeans since I have zero that fit me. And I needed something to wear this coming up weekend in Florida. LOVE the jeans I bought, they fit perfectly. Great brand that I have never tried on at Macy's before, but really like.

Bought Kurt a book at Border's while I was there buying grama a new dictionary. it is so funny for me to sit and watch Kurt read a book because most of his reading is online or in law books, LOL. He is totally loving this one though. I may read it when he is done, just because he is making it seem to interesting! :).

While working out, have been watching this show called Conviction on Netflix and just read it was not renewed for a second season! boo! Sad that I am watching it 4 years after it actually aired, LOL.

Lots of car issues going on. After it finally totally broke down, we donated my poor little Saturn to Purple Heart this week. RIP little Saturn, it was nice having you for 165,000 plus miles and 10 years, 2 months. Fabulous car with almost no issues. Also, took the jeep in to be fixed (needed a new battery as well as an entirely new heating system). Back and running great. Saab is also in the shop, from my incident prior to leaving for vacay that I dont think I posted about. I was driving down the highway and a tire literally flew off the car in front of me. I could not swerve as cars were on both sides of me, so the tire hit the front of my car, causing the bumper to partially fall off. I drove the car home, then realized I could not drive it anymore until it was fixed. Took it in, and the damage is enough for insurance to be called. So, i called, and the insurance person is going out to the shop on Monday to look at it and write a check. Boo.

My working out and weight loss is still going fabulously. Over vacay, I gained 0.2 of a pound. So, while I was bummed I did not continue losing, I was thrilled I did not really gain either. The following weeks, I continued to lose and I am now up to 36.4 pounds, whoot. I am so happy to be almost to my pre-law school self and to enjoy the ways clothes fall on me again.

There are so many things that need to be done around the house and office, and like zero extra time in my days. My laundry is really backed up (although I did get several loads done this weekend), the pantry light fixture has an issue so until Kurt has time to fix it, i have no light in my pantry, my master bath toilet has a broken part, so again, until Kurt can buy the part, I cannot use that toilet. Need to clean before my Mom comes later this week, need to pack for my long weekend in Tampa. I would like to start researching for flights for our Feb Costa Rica trip, but we need to decide when we are going. Kurt needs to get everything ready for his radio show, which starts later this week. Much more as well, just can't recall everything.....

Anyway, wanted to post a quick update, since I know this week is going to be super busy. I am still working on Thailand pics and a report, and will do that when i have time.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

LISTEN TO THE KURT HASKELL SHOW........

2011-01-08T09:05:00.002-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

Due to my continued frustration with the U.S. Government and the media, I have created a blog talk radio show. It will air, with myself as the host, every Thursday and Friday at 4:00PM EST, on blogtalkradio.com. All topics will include some aspect of government corruption or fraud. I fully intend to ask the hard questions and discuss the topics that the mainstream media will not touch. The show will include legal commentary from myself and my co-host, Kory Shimek. Kory is a law student and an aspiring attorney. Listeners will be encouraged to call in with questions and comments.

2010 Netflix List

2011-01-03T17:48:00.002-05:00

What I watched in 2010 via Netflix (every year I post this)

Sex and the City 2

Conviction: The Complete Series: Disc 1-2

Rock of Love: Season 1: Disc 1-2

Obsessed

The Real Housewives of O.C.:Ssn 1:Disc 1-2

The Secret Life of...: Vol. 4: Disc 1-3

I Love You, Man

Happy Endings

Housewives of New Jersey: Season 1: Disc 1-2

Dance with Me

Spread

90210: Season 2: Disc 1-5

The Invention of Lying

Every Little Step

Popular: Season 2: Disc 1-6

Step Up 2 the Streets

When in Rome

21 Jump Street: Season 4: Disc 5

My Sister's Keeper

Bring It On: Fight to the Finish

The Hills: Season 5: Part 2: Disc 2

The Hills: Season 5: Part 2: Disc 1

Weeds: Season 5: Disc 1-3

Popular: Season 1: Disc 1-6

The Secret Life of...: Vol. 3: Disc 1-3

Couples Retreat

The Secret Life of...: Vol. 2: Disc 1-3

Jillian Michaels: No More Trouble Zones

The Nanny Diaries

The Secret Life of...: Vol. 1: Disc 1-3

Bring It On: In It to Win It

Fame

Karen Voight: Burn & Firm Circuit Training

Post Grad

Glee: Season 1: Disc 1-4

The L Word: Season 6: Disc 1-3

Very Young Girls

Big Love: Season 3: Disc 1-4

90210: Season 1: Disc 5-6

Weeds: Season 4: Disc 2-3

Camp Out

Any suggestions for future TV show viewing? What were your fav things you watched this year? :).

New Blog Name

2011-01-01T14:28:00.002-05:00

New Year, New Blog Name!

When I started this blog, many years ago, it was started as my own personal space to fill my friends and family in on what is going on in my and Kurt's life.

At that point in my life, I was a pretty hardcore liberal democrat and was really into politics, and so, "lori's liberal realm" was born. Really, I just liked the way the blog name flowed when I said it.....;).

Things have changed, and thus, the blog name is changing.

I notice comments sometimes that talk about the fact that my blog name contains 'liberal', and thus I must be a democrat and must support all views of the democrats--not so.

Since Flight 253, this blog has changed quite a bit......Kurt now posts on here quite often, and I no longer affiliate myself with any political party, in fact, my opinion now is that we should all support third parties, as I think both the Dems and Repubs are corrupt. i no longer feel that the old blog name fits the purpose of this blog, and so I just randomly chose a new one.

Welcome to "Adventures with Kurt and Lori". Our lives--which always seem to have something crazy, interesting, fun or annoying going on--will continue to be chronicled on this site.

Happy New Year!

SENATOR CARL LEVIN=ASS

2010-12-29T02:14:00.003-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

Carl Levin is a senator from my state. I tried to contact him on numerous occasions after I almost died during Flight 253 on Christmas Day 2009. Despite Flight 253 being the biggest (staged) terrorist event in the history of my state, Carl never responded. Yet, he took my email address and used it to send me the following email a few days ago:

Dear Kurt,

As 2010 draws to a close, Barbara and I want to extend our very best wishes for the holidays and the coming new year to you and your loved ones.

We hope you'll also take a moment during the holidays to remember and honor the brave and women in our armed forces who will be spending their holidays a long way from home and separated from the ones they love.

With all good wishes.

Sincerely,

Carl Levin

This is nothing but a slap in the face to me. Not only did you ignore me, but then on the one year anniversary you respond, use the email address from my email that you ignored, discuss the holiday season and the military that is being abused due to the fraudulent war on terror. Carl, you are exactly what is wrong with the U.S.S.A. Reply sent to Carl Levin.

Stay Tuned for the Kurt Haskell Radio Show in Early 2011

2010-12-28T22:19:00.002-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

In case anyone hasn't noticed, I am fed up with the fraud and corruption of the U.S. Government. I am also very fed up with the complicity of the mainstream media in the corruption. Therefore, I have decided to host a bi-weekly radio show to discuss various topics of government corruption and fraud. I will ask the hard questions and not hold back or be intimidated from discussing anything. The show will be entirely non-profit and paid for entirely by myself. As I've stated on many occasions, I seek only to expose the truth and nothing else. Fame and fortune can be had by others who are more desirous of obtaining them than I am. Stay tuned for details in the very near future.

Prosecutor's Trying To Block Use Of Evidence By Umar's Standby Attorney

2010-12-28T21:42:00.005-05:00

by Kurt Haskell

Ho-hum, just another story that supports my version of Flight 253 with Umar as a patsy:

http://www.freep.com/article/20101122/NEWS05/101122060/Feud-rages-over-underwear-bombing-evidence#ixzz17kENrZf0

This story just keeps getting better and better. First of all, what the heck is a standby attorney? You either have an attorney or you don't. Having an attorney allows you to have the attorney client privilege apply to all of your communications between the client and attorney. Under no circumstances can those communications be discovered by anyone or held against you in court. Does that apply to a standby attorney? Does that mean that Umar has an attorney or he doesn't? Why do I ask? A few weeks ago I went to visit Umar in prison to discuss his case. I was denied access because Umar had a "standby attorney" listed on his visitor sheet. Without that listing, I (allegedly) could have met with Umar and discussed his case.

Now to a discussion of this article. Judge Edmunds previously ordered that Umar's standby attorney, Anthony Chambers, could have access to all of the discovery materials for the case. For non-lawyers, discovery is the pre-trial process in which both sides obtain all of the evidence that might be used at trial. Logically, if an attorney is getting ready for a trial, his staff will help him with that preparation, and consequently, will have access to all of the discovery materials. The prosecutors are now attempting to block the request of Attorney Chambers to give his staff and various experts (who may testify for Umar) access to such materials. A denial of such a request would greatly damage any help Attorney Chambers may be able to provide Umar.

A question I have is, why try and block such a request if you have nothing to hide? Wasn't that the excuse the U.S. Government used when it started using illegal wiretaps? If you have nothing to hide, then don't worry about it. Again, this is just another tell to the truth that I've been repeating over the last year. I caught the U.S. Government with their hand in the cookie jar and it knows it. Now it must take every unjustified step to ensure that Umar doesn't receive a fair trial. For those of you that ask if it really matters, yes it does. A person can commit a crime and still be found not guilty. Umar could be found not guilty based on a defense of entrapment. Umar could also get off on the Outrageous Government Conduct Defense. Such a defense came into existence in the 1971 case of Greene v. United State, 454 F.2d 783. In ruling for the Defendant in that case, the court stated that "we do not believe that the Government may involve itself so directly and continuously over such a long period of time in the creation and maintenance of criminal operations, and yet prosecute its collaborators".

Hidden in this article is also this gem: Anthony Chambers needs to discuss the evidence with experts. Hmmm, I have to wonder what kind of experts? Anthony Chambers is apparently an expert in criminal law with 25 years experience. Thus, I don't see that he would have a need to consult with other attorneys to discuss the issues. The only other possibility, is that he needs to discuss evidence with experts in chemical composition, explosives and plane construction. Each being tied to the question of whether Umar's bomb was viable. As I stated in my post on 12-25-10, this question is the only question that matters. Apparently, after looking at the evidence and/or discussing the matter with Umar, Anthony Chambers questions exactly what I do about the bomb. He apparently feels the viability of the bomb is the entire case. Obviously, he must be questioning some sort of shady government evidence as to its viability. I am almost feeling sorry for the man that nearly killed me (via fire from a fake bomb). On deck for me this week will be a personal visit to the office of Attorney Anthony Chambers.

Back to Reality

2010-12-28T17:42:00.005-05:00

Wanted to let everyone know that we made it back, safe and sound, from our adventures in Thailand. Thankful that there was nothing on our flight that caused us to be on the news again, LOL.

Anyway, we had an amazing time. I started to put some pics up on Facebook (click here), but there are about 900 more to go through. I tried to put up a lot of them with us in there so you could see those first.

Hope everyone is having a nice holiday season. When I am not exhausted and have time, I will work on a trip report to post.

Hugs, Lori