From IMPACT Personal Safety

Are you familiar with IMPACT Personal Safety? If not, you should be. Check them out at www.impactpersonalsafety.org Look for them at the 2010 SLAM Conference !

In the meantime, I received an email from their Executive Director this week highlighting the suggestions to consider for keeping safe. Follow these no-nonsense words of wisdom from an organization that is truly invested in the safety and well-being of New Mexicans.

IMPACT Personal Safety's SAFETY CHOICES

General Awareness

1. Trust your intuition. Believe yourself in the moment about whether a situation is safe or not.
2. Be aware of the people around you and how you are feeling about them.
3. Use all your sensese to be aware of what is going on around you.

Awareness in your Home

1. Think befoer you give out personal information or information about your daily routine.
2. When you go somewhere outside of your daily routine, consider letting someone know where you are going and when you expect to return.
3. If you are going to arrive home after dark, consider keeping an outside light on.
4. Note that people can see in through windows, especially at night when lights are on. Consider closing the blinds or curtains.
5. Decide how you want to answer the door. (Do you check the peephole? Should children be allowed to answer? Do you ask service personnel for ID?)
6. Do not depend on your dog for more than an alarm.
7. If you hear a prowler, turn on your outside lights and call the police. Alert your neighbors.

Awareness in your Car

1. Locate your keys before you go outside of your car.
2. Lock your car when you leave it.
3. Be aware of your gas tank level; refill it before you risk running out.
4. Keep all valuable out of sight and avoid leaving personal information in open view.
5. If you have car trouble, don't accept help from anyone you have a bad feeling about.
6. If you discover you are being followed, drive to an open business or a public place. Wait to go home until you are not being followed or have received help.
7. If anyone demands your car from you, it is safest to cooperate. Keep the assailant informed as you move quickly and deliberately. ("Okay, let me unbuckle my seat belt" and "My child is in the back seat, please let me get him out.)
8. If you are driving someone home, offer to wait until s/he has entered the house before leaving.

Want more SAFETY CHOICES.... visit www.impactpersonalsafety.org/tips.html

This is perfect!

"Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That's what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice. " -- Bethany Hamilton, greatest female surfer of our time!

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her finger through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone." -- Audrey Hepburn

These thoughts are truly a gift. Our beauty comes from our actions, not the store.

The Power of Friendship

"There's not a word yet for old friends who've just met. Part heaven, part space, or have I found my place? You can just visit, but I plan to stay. I'm going to go back there someday." - I'm Going to Go Back There Someday

I just read a book called "Before You Leap: A Frog's-Eye View of Life's Greatest Lesson" by Kermit the Frog. Sure, laugh. He's a muppet for goodness sakes! But he had some wise words to pass along.. including the 14 steps of Friendship. And yes, the truth is, friends ARE easy to make once you know the rules. And it takes more than just a click on the Facebook screen to have a friend!

The rules are:
1) Be Happy with Who YOU Are.
2) Begin EVERY Interaction in a Friendly Manner
3) Be Genuinely Interested in OTHERS
4) Let the OTHER Person Do Most of the Talking
5) Show Respect to EVERYONE
6) Expect the BEST from Others
7) Appeal to Others' HIGHER Motives
8) Be Open to NEW Things
9) Have a Sense of HUMOR
10) Be HONEST
11) AVOID Arguments.
12) ADMIT Mistakes
13) Be Quick to FORGIVE
14) Give FREELY of Yourself and Your Talents

And in the end, the little green frog says, "When you can give your time and your talent to others without expecting anything in return, you're the best kind of friend."

Who knew someone's who breath smelled like flies would be so wise?

Get Outside Day! 2010 – Youth Nationwide Get Outside and Celebrate Nature - Children

Get Outside Day! 2010 – Youth Nationwide Get Outside and Celebrate Nature - Children & Nature Network (C&NN)

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Whale or a Mermaid?

Recently, in a large city in Australia, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said: "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

"To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans)
They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales.
They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp.
They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea,
and the coral reefs of Polynesia.
Whales are wonderful singers and have been recorded for CDs.
They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators, other than humans.
They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist.
If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentiean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human?
They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get too close to them.
Therefore, they don't have kids either.
Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads that idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends.

With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror, I will think, "Good grief, look how smart I am!"

Celebrate Women's History Month

New Mexico has some amazing women in our history!

Soledad Chavez de Chacon (1890-1936) From 1923-1927, Soledad Chavez de Chacon served two terms as the NM Secretary of State. She was the first woman to hold that office in New Mexico. In 1924 she served as acting Governor in the absence of Governor Hinkle. This was especially notable in that New Mexico was the first state in the Union to acknowledge a woman as its chief executive. From 1935-36, she served a term in the NM House of Representatives.

Dr. Meta Christy (unknown) Dr. Christy, a daughter of slave parents, was the first Black osteopath in the world. She practiced in Las Vegas, New Mexico, beginning a lifetime of noteworthy service in the early 1900s.

Lula Mildred Smith Greer Click (1879-1973) Lula Click, also known as Mother Click, an African American woman, was one of the founders of God's House Church in Albuquerque (c. 1950), which is still active today.

Florence Hawley Ellis (1917-1991) Florence Hawley Ellis was a world-renowned anthropologist and a Professor at the University of New Mexico. She was one of the first anthopologists to date Southwest pottery through the study of three rings. The technique first applied extensively at Chaco Canyon. She established the Department of Dendrochronology at the University of New Mexico and the University of Chicago. In 1980 the Ghost Ranch Anthropology Museum was dedicated in her name.

Christine Gonzales was the first woman locomotive engineer of the Santa Fe Railway, and the third generation of a railroad family. Her first job as engineer was dumping ore cars at the Hurley smelter.

Emily Harwood (1842-1902) In 1869 she came with her husband, Reverand Thomas Harwood, to work among the Spanish-speaking girls in New Mexico. She was a pioneer in bilingual education and established the Harwood School and Home for girls in Albuquerque.

Marquita Largo (unknown) In 1974, Marquita Largo became the first female commissioned police officer on a Navajo Indian Reservation. She was commissioned by the New Mexico State Police.

Lozen (unknown) Lozen was a Chiricahua Apache warrior, named "Warrior Woman" by Geronimo. The Chiricahua Apaches have a strong tradition of women warriors, including Lozen and Cochise's sister, who's name is not known. They sat in council with men.

Georgia Lee Lusk (1893-1970) Georgia Lusk was the state's first Congresswoman; she served as the United States Representative from New Mexico to the 80th Congress. She was Lea County Superintendent of Schools from 1924-1928 and became State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1930.

Patricia Madrid was elected in 1998 as the first woman Attorney General in New Mexico. In 1978 she was one of the first two Hispanics to earn a law degree from the University of New Mexico Law School and was the first woman elected District Court Judge in 1983.

Reba Mera (unknown) Reba Mera sewed the first New Mexico State Flag in 1923. She is nicknamed "Mrs. Betsy Ross of New Mexico."

Graciela Olivarez (1928-1987) Graciela Olivarez was the first woman to graduate from Notre Dame Law School. She was a professor at the University of New Mexico Law School and head of the State Planning Commission under Governor Apodaca. President Lyndon Johnson appointed her Vice Chair of the US Commission on Population Growth and American Future. President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the Community Services Administration. She received many awards, including "Outstanding Mexican American Women in the Southwest Award."

Maria Adelina Isabel Emelia Otero-Warren (1881-1951) Nina Otero-Warren was an educator, businesswoman, and one of the first women born in New Mexico to become professionally and politically active. She was appointed school superintendent of Santa Fe. She was state chairperson of the Women's Republican Organization and long time chairperson of the State's Federation of Women's Clubs' legislative committee. Much credit for New Mexico having obtained suffrage is due to Nina Otero-Warren.

Verna Olguin Williamson was elected the first female Governor of Isleta Pueblo in 1987.

HPV Vaccine: Is It For You?

There is a new vaccine that helps prevent cervical cancer and other conditions caused by certain types of Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Maybe you have heard about the HPV vaccine from a friend, parent, or your health care provider. So why is it such a big deal? It is the first vaccine that helps prevent a major type of cervical cancer! Not sure if the vaccine is right for you? Here is some information so you can decide.

What is HPV?

There are many different types of HPV. There are about 100 different types and more than 30 are sexually transmitted. Researchers keep track of the different types of HPV by identifying them with numbers — such as 6, 11, 16 and 18.
Some types cause genital warts, others cause pre-cancerous changes (cellular changes that can lead to cancer in the cervix later).

Are you at risk to get HPV?

If you have had sexual contact or plan to have sexual contact in your lifetime, you are potentially at risk for getting HPV. Any sexually active person — no matter what color, race, gender or sexual orientation — can get HPV. In fact, at least 1 in every 2 sexually active young women has had a genital HPV infection. About 20 million Americans of all ages know they have the HPV virus because they have had genital warts or an abnormal Pap test or have tested positive for HPV. However, most people do not know they have HPV because they have not had symptoms.
HPV and genital warts spread by skin-to-skin contact during any sexual contact with someone who is infected with HPV. This includes oral sex. Condoms can help protect against HPV but they aren’t perfect because HPV can be found on skin that isn’t covered by a condom. HPV can be in the skin and genital organs without any symptoms.

What is the HPV vaccine?

There is a new vaccine called Gardasil that protects young women against four types of HPV. The vaccine works to prevent two types of HPV (# 16 and #18), which have been linked to cervical cancer — and two other types — #6 and #11, which cause genital warts. The vaccine works best in young girls/women who have not yet come in contact with these viruses. That is why the vaccine is recommended for all 11 and 12 year old girls as a routine vaccination and for all young women 13-26 who have not yet had the vaccine. The HPV vaccine is given in a series of three shots over 6 months. The first shot is given at a time of your choice. The second shot should be given two months after the first shot, and the third shot should be given six months after the first shot.

Is the HPV vaccine effective?

When tested in girls who had not been exposed to HPV 6, 11, 16 and 18, the HPV vaccine was 100% effective in preventing infection. The vaccine is less effective in young women who have already come into contact with HPV. However, if a girl has been exposed to only type 6, the vaccine still gives protection against the others. So, even girls who have had sexual contact should get immunized.

The research is only 5-years old so studies don’t know what the long term effects are yet.

Are there any side effects with the vaccine?

Side effects are rare; however, some young women who get the vaccine may complain of pain, or have swelling or redness where they got the shot (arm or thigh). These discomforts are temporary but may last a couple of days. In very few cases, people may get a fever, feel dizzy, or feel sick to their stomach.

Is there any reason you should NOT get the vaccine?

The vaccine is not recommended if you’re pregnant, have certain blood conditions, an immune disorder or certain other medical problems. If you’re thinking of getting the vaccine, ask your health care provider if it’s a good idea for you to get it.

How do you know if you SHOULD get the vaccine?

Talk it over with your health care provider. Most people will become sexually active at some point in their lives and the vaccine is very effective in preventing the spread of HPV.
Should you get the vaccine if you’ve already had sex and don’t know if you have been exposed?
Yes. Girls and women should receive the vaccine even if they have already had sex. It is not necessary to have the HPV test before getting the vaccine.

Flirting or Sexual Harassment?

Some people confuse flirting with sexual harassment. They say or do something to another person, that person doesn’t like it, and they think, “What’s the big deal?” or “She/he is overreacting.” In fact, flirting and sexual harassment are very different.

1. Flirting makes the other person feel good, happy, flattered, attractive and in control. Sexual harassment makes the other person feel bad, angry, demeaned, ugly and powerless.

2. Flirting boosts the other person’s self-esteem. Sexual harassment hurts.

3. Flirting is reciprocal and complimentary. Sexual harassment is often one-sided and degrading.

4. Flirting is wanted. Sexual harassment is unwanted and done in a way so that one person has power over another.

5. Flirting is legal. Sexual harassment is illegal. In schools, it’s illegal according to the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, Federal Education Amendment.