Hailee turned 12!

Here's a video of Hailee and her Birthday cake!

Basketball

Well the girls have started their playoff finals in Basketball. Yesterday was really good. Both Hailee and Anna were very aggressive while playing. Now I know that as a father I shouldn't be condoning this but both the girls got fouls against them! One girl on the team that Hailee was playing is very tall and dominates the court, so Hailee grabbed the ball from her and made her get a traveling violation. Hailee's team lost, but man did they play their hearts out! Anna got a foul when she was pushing with the body to block a shot. Anna's team won.

Today is Hailee's Birthday. 12 years old! WOW! It seems just like yesterday I met Lynne. Time flies when you are watching the kids grow.

The academic quarter is over and the girls did really good on their report cards. Hailee got all As and Anna got As and B+s.

Economic Slowdown?

Last night we went to Dave and Busters in Providence Place Mall for Hailee's Birthday. It was Saturday night and we thought it would be a little busy, but not that busy. Well the mall was PACKED! no seats in the food court. Dave and Busters said it was going to be a 3 hour wait to eat! All of the other restaurants was a 1.5-2 hour wait! We ended up eating at subway in the mall. I couldn't eat. I actually had more room to move around on a submarine than there.

We did go gaming at Dave and Busters after we ate. The girls got all of their prizes for winning tickets. Hailee got pillows from playing the CLAW. She is one with the claw, she wins at those all the time. Jaiden got a stuffed frog. Anna got a frog and some other small stuff.

I was just so surprised after hearing all this bad news about the economy on the news and watching our stocks go down, to see so many people blowing money.

stuff

Well- It's winter and of I've been suffering from a cold. I went to the Doctor last night and received a strong talking to about letting my asthma meds run out. Doctor said I would be allot better if I was taking my Asthma meds. Oh well, hopefully I'll learn.

On Monday the girls and I met with my sister Elaine. We had a great time. It was really nice to see her. She is living in Florida now so we don't get to see each other as often as we would like. Colleen and Meghan met us for lunch. Good times.

Tomorrow is Hailee's birthday we are going to Dave and Busters. Anna's birthday is the next weekend so we decided to go to IMAX for hers. The weekend after that is my anniversary, I have to figure something out for that. I don't think Lynne and I have gone out alone in years! Hopefully I can schedule a babysitter for us.

When you think you've seen everything!

Yes this is a pigeon on a leash! We got a special bird leash to take snowy outside since there are so many Hawks and Falcons during this time of year, and she already survived one attack. Well Snowy hated the leash and 5 seconds after this picture was taken, she wiggled her way out of it.

Tooth Fairy

Jaiden lost her first tooth last night after her basketball game. She was so excited she wanted to call everyone she knew. She was dancing around and singing. At 0400 this morning she had to wake us up to let us know that the tooth fairy came while we were asleep.

Basketball Saturday

Well its basketball Saturday. The girls had their photos today. Anna and Hailee have already had theirs done prior to their game this morning. When we get them in I'll be sure to post them. Jaiden's is later this afternoon before her game. I think I have to coach Jaiden's team this afternoon. Which should be fun because at 5 years old, it just like moving chess pieces around a board. Anna and Hailee are going to help coach her team also.

Anna and Hailee's team played each other this morning. Anna's team won. Hailee got a basket for her team and Anna got two. Both of the girls are getting much better at basketball. They really enjoy playing and meeting new kids.

I didn't take any video this morning but did take some photos.

Castle Law

Yesterday an elderly couple was assaulted and robbed in their own house in Stonington CT. The couple answered the door to a man who asked if he could use their bathroom. I guess the story was that he was walking and needed to relieve himself. The elderly couple let him in out of the kindness of their heart. Once inside he beat them up and robbed them.

Stonington is a nice somewhat quiet town. It boarders Pawcatuck CT and my Town in Rhode Island. The home where the assault happened is right down the road from where our daughter is going to daycare!

I'm not sure the solution to this problem. About a year ago there was a violent break in the Chesher CT, where the wife and two daughters of a Doctor were raped and killed by two people released on parole.

One would think that we would learn from our liberal court system. The State of CT needs a Castle law much like RI and FL. If someone enters your castle (home) and threatens you, you have to right to defend your family and lively hood. It really boggles my mind that we do not have the right to defend ourselves! I wish the old man in this house in Stonington whipped out a .38 and shot this robber in the face. Call my sick, but I want the good guys to win. I don't want the criminals to win. I don't think that someone who is defending themselves in their own house should worry about the legal consequences of some liberal lawyers, or that they should wait 5 minutes after calling 911 for the police to arrive and save them.

I remember the LA riots where the shop owners had to protect themselves from the crowds because the police could not (would not) get to them. The same was true with Hurricane Katrina. We can not rely on the police to protect us. It takes the average 911 call 5 minutes to have the police at our door after the call, allot can happen in 5 minutes. Protect yourself, there are some truly evil people out there that want to harm you.

Enough of my rambling.

Christmas video

I tried to get this video on the blog before. I thought Eric and Ginger would like to see the girls reactions when they opened their presents from them. I got the video now, however, it came out choppy. Well you know, those dastardly computers! It also has Jaiden playing with her Dora Vanity.

Basketball Saturday

Well its basketball day! Both Anna's and Hailee's team lost. It was too bad, the team Hailee played didn't have enough players to start playing, so instead of throwing in the towel, Hailee played for a little bit for the opposing team. It only lasted for a short while. Hailee did get a basket for her team. Anna did very well. She didn't get a basket but she got lots of assists.

parenting

There are times it is really difficult being a parent. It is the hardest most important job in the world. It has been done since the beginning of time, and still the human being is so complex, that we can't get it right.

The hardest thing is to remember that we are all human and emotional creatures. We always forget, children and parents, that things we say and do may hurt. This is especially hard for someone that spent 20 years in the naval submarine force.

Cookie sales

It's that time of year again, Girl Scout Cookie sales time. If you would like some please email me at djplouffe@cox.net They are $3.50 a box in Rhode Island. Every girl scout troop (by state) dictates their own price, kind of interesting concept.

They still have some of the cookies we all know:

• Carmel delights (Somoas)
• Peanut butter patties
• Shortbread
• Thin Mints (my father's favorite)
• Peanut butter sandwich
• Thanks-a-lots
• Lemonades (my favorite)
• and new this year cinna-spins (tastes like Cinnamon buns)

Basketball Sunday

It's Saturday and it's basketball! Anna's team won. Anna did get any baskets but she did get allot of assists. Hailee's team lost; however, Hailee got 10 points! She got her teams first 4 baskets and was on fire! All you could see on the court was how happy she was! I didn't get any of her baskets on video though. She is currently having her celebration Diet Coke.

Elections

We are so in need of election reforms. I think it should be illegal for a politician that is currently holding office, running for another office. Senator Chris Dodd from CT announced that he is dropping out of the presidential race. While he was running he did not participate in any CT votes. He even moved his family to Iowa, while still being the CT senator. He raised approximately 7 million dollars for his presidential run. If he only spent 5 million in his efforts, he PROFITED 2 million dollars. All while maintaining his salary from the people of CT to be senator for a job he did not do!

I wish I could work a second job, during the time I am getting paid to do my primary job!

Here an article discussing the campaign funds and how they pad thier retirements with comtributions: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2D7143AF931A15752C0A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Stuff

I've been writing allot. I don't know, maybe its a way to vent some creative influence. Maybe its just a way to vent. Nobody likes to sit around with someone and get a lecture all the time. Since I have allot to say most of the time, I suppose writing it down is a better way to vent. You can easily just turn me off. And writing is forever, nothing is more powerful than the written word. I also have allot of articles on this associated content website. I'm actually getting addicted to it. However, no one wants to read my stuff. Too much educational and historical articles. The articles that have received the most hits have been "The best Christmas lights in New England."

I started my statistics class on the first. We were speaking in my office about stereotypes yesterday and an interesting stereotype came up. What do you think if someone stated they got their education through distance learning? The most common assumption people make is "diploma mills." Distance learning does not equal diploma mills. But this is a common assumption that some people make. Northcentral University (where I go) is fully regionally accredited and much more difficult than anything I did with the University of Oklahoma, etc. It's just an interesting stereotype that I never thought off.

Anyone looking into college or sending their kids should check out this blog: http://diplomamills.blogspot.com This website is a great resource that exposes not only diploma mills, but accreditation mills. That's right phony accreditation mills! It is scary when you look at how close these fake colleges name are so close to real colleges. Of course another great website is the US Department of Education http://www.ed.gov

Read my stuff about college, examinations and other stuff at http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/121316/david_plouffe.html

The Grind

Well it's back to work today after the long break. The kids are back to school today also. We hope everyone has had a safe New Years.

We had a bit of a scare New Years eve. My mother got admitted to the hospital. She had internal bleeding and they were not sure where it was. Come to find out she has four ulcers that might be causing the lose of blood. She is still at Sturdy Hospital in Attleboro, but the ulcers were actually good news. At 83 years old, it could have been much worse.