Here is a warning from someone on a discussion forum that I think we would all do well to heed:

I am a nurse and working on a certification as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. We had a police officer from our local sex crimes unit speak to our class today. He said something that I found very interesting. He said that Xanga is a favorite place for pedophiles to get leads on their victims.

He told us a story of a local 12 or 13 year old girl. She posted her picture on her blog and her first name. She thought she was fine since she didn't include her last name. Somewhere on her blog she did mention the city she lived in.

This pedophile went to her city and went to the library and looked through yearbooks until he found her and her last name. It was an unusual last name so all he had to do was check the phone book for her address. He was stalking her when he was picked up by the police for another crime he had committed.

I thought I would mention this here and encourage everyone to be safe online. It is really easy to post identifying info on a site like this one since it feels so safe.

If you think this sounds paranoid, fine, I understand. I'm posting this especially for those who would be more vulnerable.

After the pics that I saw today of crimes committed in my own city, I'm inclined to be a bit hypervigilant. Yes, I'm removing family pics from my Xanga blog and doing a few other things like making sure I don't post identifying info.

Currently Reading Captivating : Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul By John Eldredge, Stasi Eldredge see related

Seems like there is something in the proverbial air the last year. People are starting to date, getting engaged, or having the possibility looming on the horizon.

lets see one of my closer girl cousins got married in may

another I found out in June is dating

at least two friends have  possible relationships that they see might could be happening

Merv and Dawn got engaged

two people from Tapestry just started dating

Darrell and Naomi, you guys look like you could be headed "altar direction" though i dont know anything  (pardon me if i step out of line)

Merry's friend Crystal started dating last october (i think)

then there are friends who kinda have special friends but arent officially dating or anything

I t seems I am always hearing of another person who is getting married/got engaged/started dating.

It seems kinda wierd!!

Currently Reading The Jungle Book (Tor Classics) By Rudyard Kipling see related

Sat -

This morning I went Yard Sailing with Nina, Trippy, and Janet we had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories. It was a great time for me I was able to get allot of stuff and not pay a lot which is a major blessing cause i am running a little tight lately. I found a couple of real good "bargains" a wrought iron eight candle, candle holder for $1 a Tupperware lettuce crisper for $0.50 and a really nice glass (merry says it's Crystal) candy dish for $1 oh and a nice glass lid for FREE (now you ask why do I need a glass lid that doesn’t fit anything? well because it will be handy for use in the microwave).

On our way home we stopped at Heritage Home Center and wow that place looks so different and nice no more crowded "aisles" of furniture. It is divided into room like place and looks so homey. Oh and a big PLUS they sell wax melts and for only $0.80 so cool!

Janet dropped me off at my house about 12 or 12:30 I went in unloaded my purchases ate some lunch and was starting to pack my things for the night when suddenly Merry comes into my room and says that we have to leave sooner than planned she is supposed to be in Stuarts Draft for a "Tap" practice at 3:30.  Well she rushed around like "a chicken with it's head chopped off" while I calmly finished my packing and then started on the dishes. All of a sudden she is ready and "lets go"! So out the door I go and get settled in the car with a cup of water and a cup of fresh blueberries. Suddenly she comes out and says

"WELL CAN YOU HELP ME??!!!"

I was like Wha....? So I got out and went in and helped her carry all her stuff out then went back in turned out all the lights and locked the door.

Well a little over two hours later we finally reached my Aunt Alice's place and Merry tears up the drive and as we rush pass my uncle she orders him to right down directions to "Eric Hershebergers house" he is like "who?" she's like "Eric Hersherberger umm his parents are oh I cant think of their names umm umm they also have a son Lavern"

 "Oh you mean 'so and so' "

"Yeah"

"Well are you familiar with the roads around here?"

"Umm well yeah kind of just write the directions down and I can get there"

By this time we are already almost in the house and Merry is hollering over her shoulder.

My aunt met us at the door and welcomed us in and told us where to take our stuff so we went up and unloaded our stuff then went down and merry got the directions and she rushed off tearing out the lane again.

After that I enjoyed a nice quiet afternoon and evening with my aunt and uncle. Aunt Alice made a wonderful meal for supper Corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes, fresh cantaloupe, and noodles. yum yum!!

Well around ten merry came back and came in and was full of talk about her practice and she kept on until finally she all of a sudden stopped and said "If I am talking to much you will just have to tell me;" Ha yeah right! .We finally did get to bed around 11

Sun -

We had to leave for Church at eight thirty as church was forty minutes away and my uncle likes to be early. There church is interesting Huge ol church building and just a few people scattered throughout and you know it seems they have the same problem we have of people sitting in the back

On the way home from church my aunt was telling my cousin (her daughter) Janice - who is a nurse - about one of the ladies in the church. She said the lady was acting really weird and asking her questions like were you a Troyer and are you related to Joe Troyer (not Dar's husband another Joe Troyer - my uncle) she was like yeah but she couldn’t figure out why she was asking those question because she knew this lady already knew all that. She said the lady's eyes looked kind of glazed and funny. So she decided to just get out of there she wasn’t sure what the lady was going to do. Janice said "momma why didn’t you tell me, now what if she has a stroke or something" Aunt Alice was like well she didn’t think about it or something and she just thought if the lady was going to have stroked or go funny or something she didn’t want to be there to watch! We all laughed but  Janice said well that’s not very  nice. But it was so funny cause it reminded me of my Mom. Well all afternoon then this bugged Janice and she would say well maybe we should call and make sure she is okay. But no one ever did soo .. .

My cousin Nancy her husband Steve and their three children Dana, Audrey and Shawn came over for lunch on Sunday as well. We had a fun time hanging out together taking pictures except my digi wouldn’t work for some reason ergh!!! So merry took all the pics on her camera.

Later then for supper we went down to Steve and Nancy's place it was great fun. After supper they went out and got us some fresh produce form their garden, which was a great blessing because then we don’t have to buy more stuff like that for a while. Then merry said we had to go but kept on talking to Steve and Nancy till finally I got tired of standing and sat down in the grass. The children joined me and we played "riddles" which is basically I spy except you don’t just use colors you say something like it's soft it's brown its hard and its red (a flowerbed with bricks around it and red flowers in it).

We finally left around quarter till eight. We got home around quarter till ten.

I was so tired last night and was sleeping so hard when all of a sudden I kind of woke up and felt something MAJORLY wet at my feet. Here I had the iron at the end of my bed and had knocked it down and all the water inside of it spilled out, so I got up and got a towel and dried things the best I could with that. Well the bedspread and top sheet still weren’t dry so I got up and hung the spread over my closet door with the fan on it! Then tried going back to bed and just not letting the wet part of the sheet touch me. That didn’t work either so I got up and took it and spread it over a clothesbasket to dry. Well then I needed a sheet and blanket so I stumbled into the bathroom and got another top sheet out of the sheet tote. I came back and settled down with that and a throw only to find now I needed to go to the bathroom so up I got again and trotted to the bathroom. Then back to bed again. ahhh! Finally! Morning came all to quick! Then I was dreaming such weird stuff too!