Mike- It is on Tuesdays at 10:00. Tonight will be the 2nd episode. The patriarch of the family finds out he has 6 months to live (cancer) and his natural sun is not bright or strong enough to take over the family business so he gives control to his adopted sun (Jimmy Smits). Jimmy Smits also happens to be married to the Patriarch's daughter so he is is adopted sun and sun in law. It's a combination of "The Godfather" and the Hatfields and McCoys. The Cuban family's sugar plantation is next to a rich sugar family of red necks who have been trying to drive Jimmy Smit's family off of their land for 40 years. There were a couple of cheasy seens but on the whole it was good.

kiki...you are using the tapes as something different than the meditation practice that I am referring to. What you are doing isn't meditation but guided relaxation. There is a significant difference. Meditation is a very active alert process. One doesn't sleep or relax in the way you seem to be referring to. In order to meditate as Vipassana teaches ,you sit in an upright position and concentrate on the breath and the sensations in the body. You return your thoughts to the breath when they stray. It is a very concentrated practice. It is not a relaxation technique. As a matter of fact Goenka refers to it as work . He is right. It is something that takes intense effort . I also want to touch on the difference of "thoughting" and "thinking" as far as meditation is concerned. When you are sitting ,quiet and alert, you will have thoughts pass in to and out of your conscious. Let them go. If you pursue a particular thought then ...then..you are thinking. Do not follow the thought. You can't stop the thoughts but you can gently move your mind back to the breath and not begin the thinking. An ex :1) I have to pay my electric bill on Friday. - this is a thought . 2) I have to pay my electric bill on Friday. I don't think I have enough money to cover it . I wonder if I can borrow it from my Dad, or maybe I can get extra hours at work...or....- you see the difference ...this is thinking..following the initial thought with all the myriad details. In meditation you let the initial thought pass on...don't get trapped in the thinking. It happens easily and to all of us. it is why we practice. I have linked to the Vipassana web site before and will do so again. There is lots to recommend what you are doing to assist you with sleep...but it isn't meditation of the sort that I am familiar with. Take a look at the link and listen to some of the dharma talks at the link above. There are many and with different topics. At the Insight Meditation link there are also talks about getting started with meditation. getting started with meditation : http://www.dharma.org/resources/audio Here is a link that might be useful: Vipassana meditation link

the drying rack for hand washables: I've never liked them so I have always either put a towel on the counter and let things dry b/f putting them away or (now) use the sink with the items on the grid. The other option is to dry them as you wash them...that's what my DH usually does! (Not me, I hate doing dishes so every step I eliminate, the happier I am!) the paper towel roll: I bought two counter paper towel holders from BB&B, one for each side of the kitchen. It's OXO and it's the one that has an arm that "holds" the roll so you can rip off one sheet with one hand (with a 20% off coupon...sign up for emails and you'll start getting them). It's portable, more convenient than having to open a cab to get it, and when I have wet or "yucky" hands, I don't get my cabinets & knobs dirty when I need a paper towel. [Oxo Good Grips(R) One-Handed Simply Tear Paper Towel Holder] the kitchen towel: I hang it on the handle of the freezer door of my refrigerator. It's convenient to both the Cleanup Zone and Prep Zone, so it's an ideal location. I don't like those narrow towel cabinets...they get musty (at least my grandmother's used to). I prefer to have them air drying in the open. BTW...I successfully trained my family not to hang it on the oven doors b/c my ovens are front and center when coming in the front door! If I need a place for an extra towel, I will sometimes use the Warming Drawer handle. (Each night, the towel is tossed into the basement with the dirty clothes and clean one is brought out.) the phone: In my Message Center Niche. It contains the phone + answering machine, calendar, key hooks, sticky notes, pens/pencils/markers, and phone charger. It's centrally located so it's across from the garage (family) entrance, b/w the FR and Kitchen, and easily seen/accessed from the front door. This way, no matter what door we come in/go out... We can immediately see if we have messages The calendar can be checked b/f leaving or any other time Keys go right to the hooks b/c it's so easy (no more putting them down somewhere else and not being able to find them later!) Notes can be seen immediately when coming home, coming downstairs, just b/f leaving, etc. I don't forget my phone! (I have to see my phone or I forget it. Everyone else uses the charging center b/c they rarely forget their phones & iPods...I'm the only one that forgets if I don't see my phone when leaving (no iPod, I'm also the only that has no iPod)!) Here's a pic: We have a new, black phone that's smaller. The cords go through a hole in the wall behind the phone and into the pantry where we have electrical outlets & a phone jack. The phone charger cord also goes through that hole and is connected to a toggle switch that I can turn off when not charging my phone (to help cut down on the "electricity vampire"...

We watch it every week have since it began, I love Grey's anatomy and it also. I agree Charlotte made a big mistake in not having the rape kit done, that evidence is so badly needed. That nutcase will end up killing someone just like it usually happens in real life. Most intense episode ever last night.