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Have questions about Patent law?

Allan Niemerg, of Niemerg Patent Law (http://www.niemergpatentlaw.com), is answering questions about patent law. I have a question for him:

When is it advisable to secure a trademark as well as a patent?

On the twelth game of the season Coach Peyton gave to me 12 Romped Redskins, 11 Punked Patriots, 10 Battered Bucs, 9 Ragged Rams, 8 Pounced Panthers, 7 Dirty Birds, 6 Dunked Dolphins, 5 Shrunk-en Giants, 4 Wrecked Jets, 3 Beat up Bills, 2 Tame Eagles, and a Lion Sauce Picante!

That time again!

It is that time of year once again. The house is filled with the sounds of power tools whirring and the sewing machine humming. Smells fill the house as the hot glue gun heats up, "stuff" bubbles on the stove, and the paint cans spray. Ok so to be perfectly 100 percent honest, some of the activity is on the patio, but the smells and sounds still make their way into the kitchen!

About 2 years ago, our oldest daughter sent out emails requesting our family go to a Buy Nothing Christmas. She was thinking about what she wanted to instill into our granddaughter about Christmas and what it is really all about. In theory, I applauded her sentiments. In reality, I groaned because I feel my creativity is just not up to snuff with the rest of the family's. Since that time though, it has been my great joy to participate.

So here we are at it again!

May this season be one of thanks, reflection, praise, and joy for you and your family!

Welcome Skyler!

Skyler Wilson Assevedo was born a little after 6 pm on 07/08/09. Mom had a few complications and had to stay in the hospital a long 6 days, but both are doing fine now. I am still running on limited sleep from taking care of mama and baby, but my new grandson is indeed a joy! Vivian and Andrea came in for a few days and were a great help!

His Marvelous Grace

I cannot stop meditating upon His grace. I cannot express in words how humbling this situation with my youngest daughter has been.

You see, I realize I have been a spoiled brat in my relationship with God. I thanked Him for His blessings and praised Him in the trials. But in my heart of hearts, which the Lord knows and searches,there was always this feeling that I somehow deserved the blessings for being His faithful child. There was always this bit of "why me?" in the trials and losses. The enemy always waiting to whisper in my ear how God had let these things happen to me when I had done everything He had ever asked of me.

I confess I have always been a goody two shoes. Never smoked. Drank very little. Never did drugs. Always went to church, prayed, read my Bible. From a child, I loved God and church. I was supposed to have been born dead, but God spared me, and though my father did not live right at the time, he asked God to spare me and he would give me to Him. That story has always had a profound impact on my entire life.

I cannot tell you now how much I see that my righteousness is indeed as filthy rags. That there are no big sins and no little sins. There is just sin. And the marvelous grace of God.

If I got what I deserved, I would have nothing. Grace: UNMERITED/UNDESERVED favor!

I truly know deep inside now that I deserved death and punishment. His grace gives me life and blessings. Praise Him for his marvelous grace!

Heart Overflowing with Praise

My heart is overflowing with praise today toward our Heavenly Father. I have been in an attitude of praise and worship all day.

My youngest daughter is unmarried and expecting a baby boy July 1st. Her fiance put her through a lot before calling off the engagement. First off, let me say that I recognize the sin in what she did. However, I also forgive her freely and refuse to make an innocent baby suffer any more than he will have to because of this situation. I also recognize that her sin is no blacker or more evil than the ones I find myself having to repent of every day.

Our Father has been reminding me today of this is how He loves us. I sin daily and make so many mistakes, yet He never stops loving me and He never stops blessing me. I am in awe of the profound depth of His love. Once again I rejoice that I do not have to be perfect for Him to love me. There is nothing I can do to make Him love me any more than He does right now. There is nothing I can do to make Him love me any less than He does right now. His love is constant, perfect, and unconditional. I pray for a heart to love others as He does and for His eyes of compassion and mercy.

Grace is unmerited favor. With this baby, I am learning a lesson in grace in such a powerful way. My daughter has been looking at baby items and furniture that she would love to have for Skyler. She never asks us to buy it for her, but she just shares what she thinks is adorable with me in mother/daughter way of sharing. I look at the prices and just commit it to the Father. Every item she has selected in the exact pattern she has admired has been provided to us through the grace of God!

For example, on a particular Monday she admired a $200 stroller system in Toys R Us. On Wednesday, I was out picking up my medicine, when I felt a whisper to go by the Thrift Store. I obeyed, and there was the exact stroller she had admired in excellent condition for $19.95 When I took it to the register, they informed me it was Sr. Citizen's Day and 55+ get everything in the store for half price! What a blessing!!

The blessings have not stopped there either! The convertible bassinet she admired that was $100 was provided for $30. The lady had only used it to take photos with her real baby baby dolls. That $1000 round crib with a canopy and mattress was provided for $350, and when UPS broke it in transit, they paid the damages for the replacement part, which is now on the way! The $159 high chair that went on sale at Target for $99 plus shipping? No problem for our great God! Here it is for $60, brand new because it is a floor sample! The $99 walker? Here you go for $40!

I was a bit reticent about posting this as I did not want people to think I was glorifying sin. I am not! I am glorifying our Great and Loving and Merciful God! He has provided more abundantly than I could even ask or think in this time of need. Was it deserved? Nope. But that is why it is called Grace!

Little over 1/3 of me is gone!

Although it is not as fast as I would like, and I have to keep reminding myself that it took a long time to put this weight on so it will take a while of living a healthy lifestyle change to take it off, I have lost 64 of the 174 pounds I want to lose. I still look and am obese, which is why it is hard to notice the loss.

I have to celebrate the victories as I find them, though. My dresses drag the ground now there is not as much width of me me spreading them out. My seat belt fits with ease and comfort now in my car, and is no longer a fight to get it buckled. I also was able to go down to a Large instead of an Extra Large in a product I use for health reasons!

I am so glad I do not have to be perfect!

Boy! Am I ever! Because then I would have a long, long, long, long....you get the idea...way to go!!

Over Easter, while visiting with Steven, Andrea, and Vivian, I had brought a kit to make an Easter bunny house out of cookies, candies, and icing. I forgot my icing bag and tips, so when Vivi and I went to make it, my lines came out crooked and thick in some places. My darling granddaughter patted my arm and said,"It's ok, Nanny! We do not have to be perfect! Jesus loves us just like we are! This is OUR bunny house! We can make it how we want. Just do our best! It does not have to look just like the picture on the box!"

Then she happily proceeded to decorate the house the way she wanted. Every time I would make an oops, she would laugh and say it was ok! It was our house and we did not have to be all "perfecty perfecty!"

Such wisdom from a 4 year old. I am so glad her mother does not require perfection from her but just requires her best effort. And she judges her best effort by 4 year old standards not adult ones.

We have extended our "buy nothing Christmas" to include birthdays and other occasions. For Andrea's birthday, I decided to give her the gift of a shiny sink. Of course, Vivi had to help! She was so cute with an old toothbrush scrubbing around the edges and scrubbing the faucet. What a joy this little one is as she grows up knowing she does not have to be perfect, that Jesus loves her just as she is, that all she has to do is her best, and it is not money or stuff that brings happiness but time and love!

Happy Birthday to an American Hero!

Happy 28th Birthday, James Douglas Wilson! Each year on his birthday I light a candle, say a prayer, and wish him lots of love and happiness.

Against tremendous odds, this young man made it to adulthood, joined the Army, served this country in the first tours in Afghanistan, and on 2 tours of Iraq, being injured in Afghanistan and in the last tour of Iraq. He now has a Traumatic Brain Injury from that last injury and fights daily not just to survive but to get the treatment he needs from the government.

I love my country. I just wish we treated our veterans better. A friend of mine who served during Vietnam was so bitter when I told him about my son's enlistment. He said the government would just use him up and throw him away when they were done. Still naive, I believed he was wrong and just old and bitter. Now I have seen it happen not only to my son but to other veterans, I am saddened to my core.

Happy Birthday, son! I love you with all my heart!

The Day the World Changed Forever

Thirty years ago I became a mother for the first time. I was to make this journey another 5 times; each one special and wonderful except for the one time where my little girl went to heaven instead of into my arms.

Andrea Lynn Wilson was her name and she made her appearance at 6 pounds 14.5 ounces and 19 inches long at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia, on a Tuesday, March 27, 1979 at about 1 pm. She was 3 weeks early. She was born with a head full of her signature blonde hair and had the fairest skin. So fair that it was translucent and you could see her veins.

From the day she entered this world, she always had her own unique way of doing things. She rolled over early, pushed herself to standing in your lap, or would wiggle her head between your legs to view her world upside down like a bat.

And my world changed forever on that day. I had joined the ranks of the elite society of mothers! Still not sure I belonged in that society, I struggled along and did the best I could, making many mistakes along the way.

Still and all her birth one of the 8 best things that ever happened in my life! Now she is 30 years old, she is still my pride and joy and one of the 7 loves of my life!

Tooth Extraction Owie!

I find it remarkable that I have had 6 children all through natural childbirth, yet dental work can still turn me into a baby! I had a molar pulled last Monday and it knocked me flat on my keister for a week! It seems out of my several illnesses and diseases, about 3 or 4 make me more prone to tooth abscesses. This time they had to pull the tooth that was abscessed. It has already had a root canal, but there was just no saving the tooth this time.

By the way, Vivian, your mommy's memory is flukey! We did make her brush her teeth! Every night, Poppy would say, "Brush your teeth, and go to bed!" She also had a chart and would get stickers when she brushed her teeth!

Women's Conference in Tioga in April

I was wondering if any of my blogging buddies will be at Women's Conference in Tioga next month? A couple of the ladies from our church and I are coming up for it and staying with Andrea. We are looking forward to it. For many years when our kids were growing up, we made several trips up that way for Women's Conference. Now we all 3 have adult children and 2 of us are grandmothers.

We are all 3 first generation Pentecostals. In fact, much of our church in Marrero was first generation during our childraising years. Now that generation of first generations have raised up our own 3rd and 4th generations. Vivian Abigail Warren is my little 3rd generation Pentecostal, and Regan Michal is Lauren's. In both our cases, our daughters moved away from home. Kathy's daughter married and moved away from home as well.

In fact at Emily Baudean's wedding, pastor Mike Sartin said he was getting a bit tired of sending his girls off to do "missionary work." He said it was about time some of our boys went off and fetched home some brides.

Oh well! Hope to see some of you next month!

Skylar's Heart is fine

Skylar Ryan Wilson.

His heart is fine the pediatric cardiologist assured us yesterday afternoon.

It's a Boy!

My youngest child is now carrying my first grandson. He is about 23 weeks along and weighs about a pound and 4 ounces the doctors told us today. After spending all day at Ochsner, they informed us they wanted to send her across the street to see the pediatric cardiologist. Evidently, they could not get a good enough picture to say with 100% certainty that there is not a hole in his heart. The doctor explained she saw some blood flow between the left and right chambers, which could indicate a hole or it could mean he was squirming around so much it made the image appear to have blood flow.

She was very reassuring that it was probably nothing, however since she could not say with 100% certainty there was nothing, she wanted the specialist to take a look. Please be in prayers for this wee one.

Update on Ann

She came through the long surgeries just fine. We will know in a week or so if they got all the cancer, but they are hopeful.

And she has 9 grandchildren.

Her daughters plan to take her out of state to a quiet place to recuperate.

Thank you for all the prayers and thoughts for this family.

My Sister In Law's valiant struggle

My Sister-in-law Ann will be 52 on Feb 28, and I on March 24. On Monday, she is scheduled to have a double mastectomy for her breast cancer. I know this must be very frightening for her as her mother had a mastectomy about the same age, and died at 58 years of age.

Ann and I went to the same elementary school in the 4th grade. We were friends, and I always treasure her sweet ways and kind heart.

My husband has gone to SC to be with his sister at this time as both of their parents have passed on now, and their stepmother is in the end stages of brain cancer. Please keep them all in your prayers. Ann is the mother of 4 children and a grandmother of 3.

Legend of the Refrigerator

Well, today is Friday, and my fridge is gleaming except for the very bottom of it. I bent down to scrub it and only got one swish in as my knees, hips and back popped loudly and excrutiating pain shot through me. Cleaner is still soaking in there so maybe my husband will scrub that one part out when he comes home.

It took a week, but I am proud of it!

The Power of 15 Minutes

One thing the Fly Lady system is big on is teaching you the power of 15 minutes. You set a timer for 15 minutes and accomplish what you can in that time on a focused goal. This is really a great concept for me, and one I heard before on my invisible disabilities support list. After 15 minutes or so, my knees or hands or back or something usually give out on me.

The other thing she tries to teach you is the power of baby steps. To break every thing down into baby steps and take one step at a time. This is a hard one for the Perfectionist brat who I am convinced lives inside every woman. We want to start something and finish it all in one fell swoop! Consequently, Perfectionist's sister Procrastinator rears her head and tells us if we cannot finish a task today, then why start it? So we put it off, becoming more and more anxious/depressed and fretful as the undone task keeps growing before our eyes.

When you have little ones, sometimes all you can grab are 15 minutes at any one time!

Today I set my timer for 15 minutes, donned my lovely new gloves that Andrea and Vivian sent me for my birthday and tackled the top shelf and top door compartment of my refrigerator. I have been doing a good job of keeping the outside shiny, but as soon as I opened it, I would be depressed at the sight that greeted me. The thought of cleaning the whole thing at once was enough to tire me out just thinking about it.

I resolved today to do what I could in 15 minutes, and then make myself stop. Consequently, now I smile when I open the refrigerator because I also had time to wipe down the entire outer rim of the inside compartment in addition to cleaning the top shelf, top *ceiling*, and top door compartment. I know another 15 minutes from now very soon I will have 2 more clean shleves and in another 15 minutes, a clean drawer, and in still another 15 a second clean drawer, while also cleaning the shelves in the door one at a time each 15 minutes. So with 45 more minutes of work broken down into 15 minute segments, I will soon have my gleaming refrigerator.

My gloves the girls sent me are so adorable with little pink bows and a ruffled trim! They are almost too pretty to use, but Andrea has been teaching me the power of blessing myself and using my pretty things, not saving them for a day that may never come. How many ladies have you heard of, perhaps your own mothers or grandmothers, who died with entire sets of handkerchiefs, nightgowns, sheets, towels, dishes, decorative soaps, what have you, all stored away brand new and never touched, waiting for that elusive day to be used and enjoyed?

That is a concept my generation got from our mothers and grandmothers because they survived the World Wars and the Great Depression. When decluttering my kitchen, it was hard to throw out the butter bowls and whipped topping bowls. Of course, the greener me should have saved those and stopped buying nice plastic containers with lids. So maybe Granny has something to teach us younger folks after all. :-) I am old enough to remember the junk drawer at home filled to the max with rubber bands from newspapers and bread twist ties.

Of course, now we have zippy bags and it is hard to find bread with twist ties. Now they put those little plastic tabbies on it, which I despise as no one ever puts them back on around here. They either tie a knot in the bag, making it more complicated to open later without ripping it, or they just leave the bag open for the bread to go stale.

Anyway, love yourself today and use something special you may be saving for that elusive someday. Tackle a big job in 15 minutes, only doing as much as you can during that 15 minutes. Then treat yourself to a cup of a special tea or coffee blend in your prettiest mug or cup. go on! You deserve it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I guess it is the elementary school teacher in me, but I adore holidays...all of them! When we homeschooled, each child got an age-appropriate monthly booklet of activities. February, for the shortest month, was so jam packed...Groundhog Day, usually Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday, Valentine's Day, President's Day, Black History month, Dental Hygiene Month, Heart Awareness Month, and some others I am sure I am forgetting. I had rented a copy machine that stood in the kitchen. I ran off those booklets and put them together with such joy, using teacher resources I had collected over the years.

One wall held a giant bulletin board from when the church school downsized and had leftovers. I still remember the year Andrea made that bulletin board an undersea world. She made it an aquarium, complete with a taped tour describing the many "creatures" we saw.

I made sure Daddy remembered to stop and get Valentine candy for each of his valentines and bring it home. We made pretty cards for Daddy. We still send the kids Valentine candy. Steven and Andrea were married Feb 1, and their first "fight" was over her Daddy Valentine's Candy. Seems she put it in the refrigerator, and he viewed it as community property, while she was emphatic that it said "TO ANDREA from Daddy."

This year I made sure to send Tiffany a king cake in Alaska. She loves those things for some reason.

To all my Valentines, both near and far, have a good one! And Vivian, I love you more than GREASY GOPHER GRAVY with a side of Grits!!!