I read a book of sixteen essays on the choice to not have children. It was pretty interesting, although some of the voices kind of blended together. I obviously made the opposite choice, and I'd bristle at the identity of "breeder" or that having a family is my way of perpetuating the white race (!!). It's a biological imprint and a social construct that really works for me. But man, I'm so tired and some of the arguments laid out for why these writers chose to remain child-free had me nodding my head. (But never doubting my decision for a second of course!)
Anyway, here are few things I highlighted in the Kindle book -- getting them out before I return the e-book to the library.
Perhaps I was kind of a human geode: sparkly and hollow. - Courtney Hodell, "Babes in the Woods" (I just liked this.)
There is nothing more boring for an intelligent woman than to spend endless amounts of time with small children. -Sigrid Nunez, "The Most Important Thing" (I think it might be more boring to spend endless amounts of time with mansplainers, but I certainly get the point!)
I suspect that my commitment to and delight in parenting would be so formidable that it would take precedence over anything and everything else in my life; that my mastery of motherhood would eclipse my need for -- or ability to achieve -- success in any other arena. Basically, I'm afraid of my own competence. -Anna Holmes, "Mommy Fearest" (I've copied down previous Anna Holmes quotes -- she founded Jezebel -- and I think this is true for my approach to motherhood. It's all consuming, and I'm not ALWAYS sure that's a good thing.)
...while life may not have a purpose, it certainly has consequences, one of which is the accumulation of a vast, coastal shelf of uncut, 100-percent-pure regret. -Geoff Dyer, "Over and Out" (a super valid response to the idea that "you'll regret it later" if you don't have kids now/when you're young/whatever)
Birkenstock Repairs
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| Well-loved, ~5-year-old Birkenstock sandals in need of repair |
I bought my Gizeh-style Birkenstock sandals almost five years ago in Berlin, when Jane was just 9-months-old. What an adventure. These were my main souvenir (in addition to some wooden toys and Christmas decorations). They'd started to hurt my feet, with the cork cracked and parts of the soles rubbed flat. The part that touched my feet was disintegrating, or at least it felt that way.
I was torn between buying a replacement pair (the sparkly, blue-looking "snakeskin" style continues to haunt me across the Internet ... thanks, cookies) and paying for them to be re-soled. The cost was essentially the same. But if I didn't get them repaired what would I do -- throw them out? I've worn them so often and for so long. And the tops are still fine -- nice purple leather that just needs a little cleaning. And shiny, purple leather doesn't seem to be an option anymore, not even in purple-crazy LSU country!
I looked around online and found iBirks.com, which had been written about in the New York Times a couple years ago. There were good reviews, and I decided to take a chance. I sent my shoes off on a Tuesday. They arrived at iBirks (in Cincinnati) on Thursday and were back to me on Monday! So the whole thing, including shipping, took less than a week!
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| Birkenstock sandals repaired |
I had ordered "The Package," which included an upgraded/longer lasting heel, leather conditioner and cork sealer. They didn't arrive with my shoes, so I wrote to ask about them. I don't think the heel can be added now (and I'm not sure if it actually is on or not, since I didn't fully understand that). The iBirks.com guy said he'd ship me the missing conditioner and sealer, so they should be here soon.
I can certainly tell a difference in the shoes, and it's taking a while for me to break them in. I'm wearing them as much as I dare. I think I read just 2 hours a day until you've worn them a few hours. At first they felt so tight because my feet were back up so close to the straps and I was used to them being very loose and floppy (realizing now I can adjust the buckles to keep them tight as the soles wear down). The new soles look great -- the cork and the nonslip base part. The leather uppers weren't actually cleaned (another thing listed in the package), but I have wiped them down and they feel like mine anyway.
Soon enough these will be my most comfortable shoes again!
Tales of a Preschool Room Mom
When Jane started preschool three years ago I signed up to be one of
her class room moms because the teacher said something like "it's really
easy to do it now when they're small" ... and that was true. The
time/energy input was very minimal. I can't remember anything I did
except the teacher gave me an orchid plant at the end as a thank you
(which promptly died because I have black thumbs).
We switched schools after that year, just because Jane became old enough and got accepted into the university's preschool program. I was pregnant so didn't act as room mom last year, but this year, her second in the program I did volunteer.
There was not a whole lot to do, because the teachers manage most everything. But the teacher appreciation stuff led to some work, not so much in time investment but stress and annoyance (and money). The school's parent committee did a center-wide effort to give the teachers' lunches during the week, but they needed money for that. I also needed to ask for money for our class teacher gifts (the whole school decided to just do the same thing -- Visa gift cards -- which is smart and surely more appreciated than tchotckes). The mom in charge of that center-wide effort certainly had more work to do than me, but my part with our class was certainly enough for me.
In reality it was just a few emails, accepting the money from people and then buying the cards and gift cards. I also took a class picture because the center didn't do photo day this year. A couple things I learned that could be helpful for other room parents:
We had almost 100% participation in the teacher gift. I put all the kids' names on the card of course though! The amount of money varied from $10 up to $65! The one family that didn't give was surprising to me, and it was hard to restrain myself from directly asking that mom to be sure she'd received my emails asking for the donations! In the end we collected $400, to be split between our two teachers. Not a bad thank you gift!
We switched schools after that year, just because Jane became old enough and got accepted into the university's preschool program. I was pregnant so didn't act as room mom last year, but this year, her second in the program I did volunteer.
There was not a whole lot to do, because the teachers manage most everything. But the teacher appreciation stuff led to some work, not so much in time investment but stress and annoyance (and money). The school's parent committee did a center-wide effort to give the teachers' lunches during the week, but they needed money for that. I also needed to ask for money for our class teacher gifts (the whole school decided to just do the same thing -- Visa gift cards -- which is smart and surely more appreciated than tchotckes). The mom in charge of that center-wide effort certainly had more work to do than me, but my part with our class was certainly enough for me.
In reality it was just a few emails, accepting the money from people and then buying the cards and gift cards. I also took a class picture because the center didn't do photo day this year. A couple things I learned that could be helpful for other room parents:
- PayPal does not take a percentage of money when it's marked as a gift. This was a gift for our teachers, so no ethical concerns either. I had assumed PayPal would reduce the money for the teachers and discouraged people from using that (just give me cash or check directly). But some did anyway and there was no problem. It was much easier for all involved, since I could just transfer it into my bank account. If I ever do that again I will definitely ask people to just do PayPal!
- The bank sells Visa gift cards, at least our credit union does. And they only cost $2.50 each. At a store, where I intended to buy them, they'd be at least $6 each! That was a good tip from another mom who had been room mom before, and I'm glad she told me that!
We had almost 100% participation in the teacher gift. I put all the kids' names on the card of course though! The amount of money varied from $10 up to $65! The one family that didn't give was surprising to me, and it was hard to restrain myself from directly asking that mom to be sure she'd received my emails asking for the donations! In the end we collected $400, to be split between our two teachers. Not a bad thank you gift!
A Day Without A Woman: What is Labor?
I'm "on strike" today, although I can't fully release myself from child care. Partly because I'm a nursing mom and partly because someone's gotta do it and it might as well be me. Shawn is leaning into housework and child care otherwise though. And we're all wearing red! And not spending any money today.
It's made me think about what labor is, since some things I do for myself, just general self care. I'd make a meal for myself if I didn't have the family to labor for. (To get around it I made a casserole yesterday that we can just heat and eat.) I'd also make my bed, so I made my half and Shawn made his half - LOL!
Does blogging count as labor? You could say I'm a small, woman-owned business, which is one of the exceptions for where strikers can shop. Even if it does count as labor, I'm still writing because I want to mark this day.
When talking about it with Jane (and fighting with her about wearing red instead of her favorite Avenger's shirt), I explained that boys and girls are equal, and we deserve equal pay for equal work. She quickly asked about Donald Trump, and I explained that this particular issue existed before him and will after him too.
Crochet: White Baby Blanket
I finished this blanket just before its intended baby was born, but I didn't get it in the mail quickly enough. Today it will be on its way to the new baby boy! (We didn't know he was a boy before he's born.)
This is kind of a mishmash blanket. I did the ripple/chevron pattern from a baby pattern book, and I didn't like the number so set it at seven on the up, seven on the down. This has ridges created by front-post and back-post double crochets. I did the pattern of which rows have which stitches based on this Red Heart afghan.
After I finished the sizing was off -- it wasn't wide enough for a real baby blanket. SO I added some border stitches, using the same front/back post stitches to make the ridges. And I finished off with reverse single crochet that makes a similar ridge/rope-like edge.
So it's a little wonky but is one of a kind. And it was made with love and prayer for the life of this special boy.
Taking Up Space
I've been watching Roseanne reruns on this over-the-air channel called Laff. I really like the show -- something I watched as a kid and probably didn't "get" most of it. I laugh during every episode and some of the "viewer discretion advised" storylines are relevant still (abortion, racism, abuse, gay marriage).
One thing I like too is the daughters -- Darlene and Becky -- and how they're not wearing skimpy clothes or lots of make up. They look like regular people, and at least at the start of the series before plastic surgery so does Roseanne. Part of the clothing choices was due to the 90s I guess, when flannel and jeans were in, but I'm sure it was also a conscious decision on the part of the creators. One guest star was the opposite of "regular" when Traci Lords played a waitress for a few episodes. In one she wore a tight blue dress and looked so thin relative to the other characters that I took notice. It made me start thinking about what it would be like be so small and to take up so little space.
Within a couple days this post, The Trash Heap Has Spoken, came up in an email newsletter I read. It was really speaking to some of the thoughts I was having -- what does it mean to be in a body that's "too" big. I've been living in a big body as long as I can remember. Even when it's smaller it always feels big -- I felt big as young as maybe 10. But maybe it would be OK to be fat like this:
One thing I like too is the daughters -- Darlene and Becky -- and how they're not wearing skimpy clothes or lots of make up. They look like regular people, and at least at the start of the series before plastic surgery so does Roseanne. Part of the clothing choices was due to the 90s I guess, when flannel and jeans were in, but I'm sure it was also a conscious decision on the part of the creators. One guest star was the opposite of "regular" when Traci Lords played a waitress for a few episodes. In one she wore a tight blue dress and looked so thin relative to the other characters that I took notice. It made me start thinking about what it would be like be so small and to take up so little space.
Within a couple days this post, The Trash Heap Has Spoken, came up in an email newsletter I read. It was really speaking to some of the thoughts I was having -- what does it mean to be in a body that's "too" big. I've been living in a big body as long as I can remember. Even when it's smaller it always feels big -- I felt big as young as maybe 10. But maybe it would be OK to be fat like this:
Unapologetic fat women embrace the philosophy of displacement. They manifest the audacity of space-taking. They cleave the very air. This is not just fatness of the body, it is fatness of the mind. If you have a fat body, you take up room by default. If you have a fat mind, you choose to take up room.In high school I was a perfectly fine size, and as an athlete I was the healthiest I could ever hope to be. But I was still bigger than a lot of the girls. One was size 5 -- not sure how that came up, but you know everyone knows everything in locker rooms. I was size 11, and I looked at her and at me and said "even if I lost a ton of weight I doubt my bones would even be that small for me to be a size 5." She said "oh I'm sure you could." She meant it as a kind thing, and in the moment/actual conversation that's how I took it. But obviously remembering it across twenty (20!) years it hasn't settled as something good.
Mardi Gras Mambo
Heard this for the first time today, and Jane and I can't stop singing it! It was perfect, on the way to her Trike-a-thon at school. Really need to replace my regular camera lens, as I didn't get too many good photos with my longer lens!
Nightmare Scenario: Parade Danger
From The Advocate, our local newspaper, Child dies after being struck by float in Abbeville's Martin Luther King Day parade:
I watched a story about it on one of our local TV stations last night. It was not the lead story (that went to a rash of break ins at our university's football stadium -- WTF/who cares), and it was just as short. There was a picture of the child and a bit of interview with a grieving relative. But nothing about taking steps to ensure safety of other children at future parades (we have parades so often in Louisiana it is ridiculous). There was basically no real reporting at all (in either media).
If this child were white the reporting would have been different. Lead story, more complex reporting with an eye to stopping this type of tragedy in the future. The distance of the town from Baton Rouge doesn't matter. They do huge packages about little towns when there's a sensational crime So I can only surmise that this coverage is light because of the child's race.
There's no reporting even on the number of other children/people who have died at parades (and you know there have been others). Asking parade organizers at the upcoming Mardi Gras parades for their take on the loss and how they'll be improving safety to avoid that at their parades. That kind of thing.
I didn't think I had the capacity to care about things that aren't strictly national politics with the dumpster fire that's going on in Washington, but obviously I do. And this is awful and scary. I hate that a family has to deal with the loss of a child over candy.
A child struck by a float during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade Monday in Abbeville has died.
...
Witnesses say the child was struck by the vehicle pulling the float after entering the roadway for a piece of candy or throw. No barricades were placed along the roadway during the parade.There's a bit more to the story, with a little shaming of the mom (she was watching other children in addition to this one), but basically five paragraphs about this nightmare scenario.
I watched a story about it on one of our local TV stations last night. It was not the lead story (that went to a rash of break ins at our university's football stadium -- WTF/who cares), and it was just as short. There was a picture of the child and a bit of interview with a grieving relative. But nothing about taking steps to ensure safety of other children at future parades (we have parades so often in Louisiana it is ridiculous). There was basically no real reporting at all (in either media).
If this child were white the reporting would have been different. Lead story, more complex reporting with an eye to stopping this type of tragedy in the future. The distance of the town from Baton Rouge doesn't matter. They do huge packages about little towns when there's a sensational crime So I can only surmise that this coverage is light because of the child's race.
There's no reporting even on the number of other children/people who have died at parades (and you know there have been others). Asking parade organizers at the upcoming Mardi Gras parades for their take on the loss and how they'll be improving safety to avoid that at their parades. That kind of thing.
I didn't think I had the capacity to care about things that aren't strictly national politics with the dumpster fire that's going on in Washington, but obviously I do. And this is awful and scary. I hate that a family has to deal with the loss of a child over candy.
Second Verse, Same as the First
Jane is still not a dancer.
She has done much better in this new dance class we tried out at our local recreation park system. But there have been problems of a different sort.
Basically the teacher has a conflict in her regular job, and with traffic she can't arrive to the class on time at 5 p.m. So she moved the class start time to 5:15 p.m. She often doesn't arrive until 5:30 p.m. And then class still ends around 6 p.m. because there's an older girls' class that starts then (although she said she moved that class start time to 6:15 p.m. too). Some of the older girls start arriving at 5:45, which means Jane's class can be as short as 15 minutes without any distraction.
Jane's unable to show me too much of what she's learned. She enjoyed the class though. There was supposed to be a parent watch evening, but we never even got to do that because the teacher was THAT disorganized. I'm disappointed to have put more time and effort into this and still have no photos or recital experience to show for it. But we're moving on.
(And of course I'd already paid for the recital/costume fee, but they said it can be refunded ... if nothing else they could pass it along to another student I think as a scholarship. It's not ideal, but I deserve some consequence for the mistake of paying in advance!)
Jane's going to try a theater program instead. She's in basketball too this season, so she has an athletic activity and an arts activity. Soon she can start piano lessons, which she's interested in. There's just so much we'd like her to do and not enough time to do it all!
Can our lives really continue like this? Will our world still keep turning after inauguration day? What about after the first nuclear bomb is sent? Does it matter if America crumbles around us? I am so worried and sick about it ... but I still have a preschooler who has activities, a baby who is developing gorgeously and my usual gripes, physical problems (wrist/carpal tunnel lately as the sinus stuff finally clears out I hope) and TV TV TV to watch (OMG Sherlock!). These are my golden days, and they are almost over...
She has done much better in this new dance class we tried out at our local recreation park system. But there have been problems of a different sort.
Basically the teacher has a conflict in her regular job, and with traffic she can't arrive to the class on time at 5 p.m. So she moved the class start time to 5:15 p.m. She often doesn't arrive until 5:30 p.m. And then class still ends around 6 p.m. because there's an older girls' class that starts then (although she said she moved that class start time to 6:15 p.m. too). Some of the older girls start arriving at 5:45, which means Jane's class can be as short as 15 minutes without any distraction.
Jane's unable to show me too much of what she's learned. She enjoyed the class though. There was supposed to be a parent watch evening, but we never even got to do that because the teacher was THAT disorganized. I'm disappointed to have put more time and effort into this and still have no photos or recital experience to show for it. But we're moving on.
(And of course I'd already paid for the recital/costume fee, but they said it can be refunded ... if nothing else they could pass it along to another student I think as a scholarship. It's not ideal, but I deserve some consequence for the mistake of paying in advance!)
Jane's going to try a theater program instead. She's in basketball too this season, so she has an athletic activity and an arts activity. Soon she can start piano lessons, which she's interested in. There's just so much we'd like her to do and not enough time to do it all!
Can our lives really continue like this? Will our world still keep turning after inauguration day? What about after the first nuclear bomb is sent? Does it matter if America crumbles around us? I am so worried and sick about it ... but I still have a preschooler who has activities, a baby who is developing gorgeously and my usual gripes, physical problems (wrist/carpal tunnel lately as the sinus stuff finally clears out I hope) and TV TV TV to watch (OMG Sherlock!). These are my golden days, and they are almost over...
Messy Bun Hat
My sister talked about a coworker who knits these, and I said I could make her one. I just started the hat around a hair rubber band and added a flower. There are endless possibilities -- including the vertical stripe hat that starts as a tube and is finished with single crochet at the top. This was just the quickest way to get it done since she was just visiting for a couple days. Now she'll have warm ears when she's doing carpool duty at school.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
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| Messy Bun Hat Front |
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| Messy Bun Hat Side |
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| Messy Bun Hat Back |
Church Service without Worship
Our church had a "Lessons & Carols" service this past Sunday, and something about it has irked me ever since. It took me a couple days to realize what bothered me.
It was a well-attended service. There were extra chairs added to our gym-turned-sanctuary (while construction is under way in the actual sanctuary), and with only one service instead of two it was definitely packed even with regulars. There were also lots of guests.
The music and readings were beautiful and meaningful.
But my complaint (?) was that there was no congregational response. There was one line of response after the lighting of the Advent wreath candles, but we didn't even sing "Emmanuel" as response as we have all of this Advent (and Advents past, if memory serves).
The congregation sang no carols. We did no responsive reading. There was no communion. (I go to 8:30 service and we have communion every week.) There wasn't even a formal prayer. (I do understand music can be a form of prayer though.)
Basically it was a performance in the strictest sense of the word. We didn't even stand up the entire service.
So I've felt a little off this week. I didn't have a communal worship experience. And I guess it shows me that I've come to rely on that grounding, especially in times like these. I haven't said anything to the people who plan worship, but hopefully someone else will and they'll realize that next year's service like this needs more participation. Last year's "Lessons & Carols" did include congregational responses, prayers, etc.
I'll be glad to get back to regularly scheduled programming in the new year.
It was a well-attended service. There were extra chairs added to our gym-turned-sanctuary (while construction is under way in the actual sanctuary), and with only one service instead of two it was definitely packed even with regulars. There were also lots of guests.
The music and readings were beautiful and meaningful.
But my complaint (?) was that there was no congregational response. There was one line of response after the lighting of the Advent wreath candles, but we didn't even sing "Emmanuel" as response as we have all of this Advent (and Advents past, if memory serves).
The congregation sang no carols. We did no responsive reading. There was no communion. (I go to 8:30 service and we have communion every week.) There wasn't even a formal prayer. (I do understand music can be a form of prayer though.)
Basically it was a performance in the strictest sense of the word. We didn't even stand up the entire service.
So I've felt a little off this week. I didn't have a communal worship experience. And I guess it shows me that I've come to rely on that grounding, especially in times like these. I haven't said anything to the people who plan worship, but hopefully someone else will and they'll realize that next year's service like this needs more participation. Last year's "Lessons & Carols" did include congregational responses, prayers, etc.
I'll be glad to get back to regularly scheduled programming in the new year.
Ketchup
Living in a post-truth world... Silly Mari edition.
On Saturday I burned the roof of my mouth. REALLY badly -- like blisters badly. On some caramel I made for candy for church coffee time. Among the stupidest things I've ever done ... and that is saying something.
So, I happened to have a dentist appointment this week and my mouth is still all messed up. Healing but painful. I explained to the hygienist that I'd burned my mouth before she got to work. She asked "did you burn it on pizza?" And I said YES! Like, what is wrong with me?!?!
AND THEN when the dentist came in later I had to tell him, and I had to SAY the word pizza. And he asked me if it was homemade (and I said YES, because the caramel was???). Gah!
So, fake news from me. Totally not the same as pizza gate (although OMG pizza is a connecting factor!), but good grief.
This served NO purpose other than me being completely awkward. Is caramel somehow more embarrassing than pizza? I am the dumbest.
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I ordered way too few Christmas cards, as I was so mad and still am. But I decided to send out more than the 40 cards I bought. So ... conundrum. It's too late to order more photo cards. So I just bought some Hallmark cards at Walgreen's and some wallet size pictures of the girls to slip in. Ca-CHING. That's $15, so at least as much as it would have cost to buy 40 more cards (in the first place/during the Cyber Monday sales). Maybe next year I'll be back to myself?
I have addressed all the envelopes but need to sign the cards and stuff them, then stamp them. Oh, and I don't have enough stamps so I'll have to go to the post office AGAIN and buy even more. Meh.
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After getting well from the flu during my birthday I promptly got a stomach bug and was throwing up (and more) the following weekend. It took several days to feel back to normal after that. And then less than a week later Jane got a cold, then Livia got sick (she'd just gotten over a double ear infection) and her eye was all messed up. She had conjunctivitis, but drops have helped that go away. Jane is still fighting her virus or whatever. And wouldn't you know it, I am getting sick too. Shawn has a sore throat too. I don't think it's going to be as bad, but we'll see. That's THREE illnesses in about three weeks (since Thanksgiving). My poor body.
On Saturday I burned the roof of my mouth. REALLY badly -- like blisters badly. On some caramel I made for candy for church coffee time. Among the stupidest things I've ever done ... and that is saying something.
So, I happened to have a dentist appointment this week and my mouth is still all messed up. Healing but painful. I explained to the hygienist that I'd burned my mouth before she got to work. She asked "did you burn it on pizza?" And I said YES! Like, what is wrong with me?!?!
AND THEN when the dentist came in later I had to tell him, and I had to SAY the word pizza. And he asked me if it was homemade (and I said YES, because the caramel was???). Gah!
So, fake news from me. Totally not the same as pizza gate (although OMG pizza is a connecting factor!), but good grief.
This served NO purpose other than me being completely awkward. Is caramel somehow more embarrassing than pizza? I am the dumbest.
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I ordered way too few Christmas cards, as I was so mad and still am. But I decided to send out more than the 40 cards I bought. So ... conundrum. It's too late to order more photo cards. So I just bought some Hallmark cards at Walgreen's and some wallet size pictures of the girls to slip in. Ca-CHING. That's $15, so at least as much as it would have cost to buy 40 more cards (in the first place/during the Cyber Monday sales). Maybe next year I'll be back to myself?
I have addressed all the envelopes but need to sign the cards and stuff them, then stamp them. Oh, and I don't have enough stamps so I'll have to go to the post office AGAIN and buy even more. Meh.
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After getting well from the flu during my birthday I promptly got a stomach bug and was throwing up (and more) the following weekend. It took several days to feel back to normal after that. And then less than a week later Jane got a cold, then Livia got sick (she'd just gotten over a double ear infection) and her eye was all messed up. She had conjunctivitis, but drops have helped that go away. Jane is still fighting her virus or whatever. And wouldn't you know it, I am getting sick too. Shawn has a sore throat too. I don't think it's going to be as bad, but we'll see. That's THREE illnesses in about three weeks (since Thanksgiving). My poor body.
Three Little Monkeys in Crochet
Jane liked them so much that she said she'd like a monkey hat too. She also looked at my book and said she'd like a snow man one. I should look through my completed hats and see if I have one of those done already!
Livia's been rocking Jane's pumpkin hat, but I should make her something more seasonal. We only "need" hats around here occasionally. Yesterday was one of those days. We'll be traveling in December/January to Shawn's family's town and it will be colder there so she'll definitely need something warm.
Nine Years of NaBloPoMo
I looked at my NaBloPoMo tag on my blog and realized I had 299 posts with that tag. Today's makes 300. Divide 30 days in November and that would mean I've been doing it for 10 years? I just checked and nope. I must have tagged more than just the first post of the day, because I started in 2008, so this makes the ninth year completed. Weird to have completed exactly 30 extra posts. (Here's my first NaBloPoMo tagged post.)
This may have been the hardest year to do NaBloPoMo. Everything is just so awful and terrible. I say that knowing full well 2017 will bring even bigger, more awful challenges. I hope I'm still able to write next year!
I also realize in some of my ranting posts I don't cite or link sources. My journalistic muscle is rusty maybe, or I'm also realizing that no one cares about facts or the truth or more information. NO ONE CARES.
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I have been on two big vacations with my inlaws. We went to Dollywood in Tennessee and to the Outer Banks in North Carolina in summer 2014 and 2015 respectively. This year the area we stayed in North Carolina received a major flood, and just this week the area we stayed in Gatlinburg is burning.
I think for the sake of the places we'd go visit I should never go on vacation with my inlaws again???
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My health is improving. I still cough a bit in the night, but not as much. There's hacking up junk in the morning, but it's not green anymore. (TMI?) My back is still sore, but the pain isn't debilitating anymore. I should still see a chiropractor.
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When I was in college a friend from church called me "Governor" a lot. I was a smart kid and just all around promising I guess. I certainly had a superiority complex (mixed with an inferiority one!) and this surely fed into it. I've been thinking about it recently, whether running for office is something I could consider doing. I'd be a terrible direct-ask fundraiser, and I am not the best at talking to people. I hate giving speeches or being in front of a crowd. Probably a behind-the-scenes job would be better. And my communications skills and journalism training should be useful in a political situation. Basically I am thinking by typing ... considering what I might do after my girls are in school or otherwise cared for enough that I could jump back into the working world. I know I don't want a "normal" job anymore. There's going to have to be political meaning, and frankly I'm going to want to spend my time RESISTING what's coming (and which by that time will be fully entrenched).
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Hold me!
This may have been the hardest year to do NaBloPoMo. Everything is just so awful and terrible. I say that knowing full well 2017 will bring even bigger, more awful challenges. I hope I'm still able to write next year!
I also realize in some of my ranting posts I don't cite or link sources. My journalistic muscle is rusty maybe, or I'm also realizing that no one cares about facts or the truth or more information. NO ONE CARES.
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I have been on two big vacations with my inlaws. We went to Dollywood in Tennessee and to the Outer Banks in North Carolina in summer 2014 and 2015 respectively. This year the area we stayed in North Carolina received a major flood, and just this week the area we stayed in Gatlinburg is burning.
I think for the sake of the places we'd go visit I should never go on vacation with my inlaws again???
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My health is improving. I still cough a bit in the night, but not as much. There's hacking up junk in the morning, but it's not green anymore. (TMI?) My back is still sore, but the pain isn't debilitating anymore. I should still see a chiropractor.
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When I was in college a friend from church called me "Governor" a lot. I was a smart kid and just all around promising I guess. I certainly had a superiority complex (mixed with an inferiority one!) and this surely fed into it. I've been thinking about it recently, whether running for office is something I could consider doing. I'd be a terrible direct-ask fundraiser, and I am not the best at talking to people. I hate giving speeches or being in front of a crowd. Probably a behind-the-scenes job would be better. And my communications skills and journalism training should be useful in a political situation. Basically I am thinking by typing ... considering what I might do after my girls are in school or otherwise cared for enough that I could jump back into the working world. I know I don't want a "normal" job anymore. There's going to have to be political meaning, and frankly I'm going to want to spend my time RESISTING what's coming (and which by that time will be fully entrenched).
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Hold me!
Not Ready to Make Nice.
I really liked this post, No, We Don't Have to "Get Over" Anything.
(The Secretary of Education is particularly troubling, and we need to call and write our members of Congress to express our displeasure. She has no experience and is anti-public schools. If you have kids who go to school or did go to school, if you are a public school teacher or love a public school teacher, or if you just care about how we educate our kids in the U.S. this should matter to you!)
We also learn more about the admitted corruption in DT's past -- the foundation, the Trump University settlement -- and they pile on so fast that they get glossed over and kind of disappear in the mist. And we are seeing the corruption and wrongheadedness coming on our future. The future wherein our president uses his office and our nation to make himself, his family and his loyalists even richer at the expense of our nation's interests and safety. I still can't get over people voting for this. Even more baffling is people STILL insisting this will be a good thing. Nope. Nope. Nope.
Also the weird tweets and retweets. Are they sign of instability? Sign of regret (because doing this kind of thing with ANY OTHER JOB would get a person fired)? I certainly question the random tweets about flag burning becoming punishable by a year in jail or LOSING YOUR CITIZENSHIP?!?!?! (Supreme Court ruled it's a form of protected free speech, see the First Amendment.) That's wrong and scary. And the tweets came about after a segment on Fox News about flag burning -- this is what our country has come to. The president-elect watching cable news and tweeting while turning away actual national intelligence briefers.
What's ironic to me is that the correct way to retire a flag that is tattered and torn is to ... BURN IT in a special ceremony. I know that's not what protestors are doing and they're giving the finger to America by burning our flag. It's not something I would do myself, and I go around chasing Jane with her little flags from school making sure they don't stay on the ground once dropped (Girl Scout training alert!!!). But I still believe it's just a flag and it isn't magic.
So I'm still boiling over with anger about the election results. With terror. And trying to come up with actions and to gear myself up to actually call my representative and senators, all of whom are white, Republican men who vocally support DT and his policies. I am sure the staff would be polite, but I don't like using the phone for anything ... let alone something this big and important. It's anxiety leveling up.
I assume DT supporters aren't getting the same information or are choosing to interpret things differently? I just don't understand how support doesn't waver in a rational person's mind? But then I didn't think rational people could actually vote for him in the first place, as they voted against their own interests (unless their interest is white supremacy and/or no material support for poor people).
I hate everything about this.
I’m not okay with this.
I’m not getting over it.
I’m not going to accept it.
I’m not going to move on.
I’m not going to shut up.
I’m not going to make nice or give the benefit of the doubt or hold my tongue or fake unity or pretend that my eyes don’t see what they see. They see clearly, and that of course is the source of my burden. I don’t want to see this, but I do.Day by day new crazy things happen. Each new appointment brings a new awfulness to the scene.
(The Secretary of Education is particularly troubling, and we need to call and write our members of Congress to express our displeasure. She has no experience and is anti-public schools. If you have kids who go to school or did go to school, if you are a public school teacher or love a public school teacher, or if you just care about how we educate our kids in the U.S. this should matter to you!)
We also learn more about the admitted corruption in DT's past -- the foundation, the Trump University settlement -- and they pile on so fast that they get glossed over and kind of disappear in the mist. And we are seeing the corruption and wrongheadedness coming on our future. The future wherein our president uses his office and our nation to make himself, his family and his loyalists even richer at the expense of our nation's interests and safety. I still can't get over people voting for this. Even more baffling is people STILL insisting this will be a good thing. Nope. Nope. Nope.
Also the weird tweets and retweets. Are they sign of instability? Sign of regret (because doing this kind of thing with ANY OTHER JOB would get a person fired)? I certainly question the random tweets about flag burning becoming punishable by a year in jail or LOSING YOUR CITIZENSHIP?!?!?! (Supreme Court ruled it's a form of protected free speech, see the First Amendment.) That's wrong and scary. And the tweets came about after a segment on Fox News about flag burning -- this is what our country has come to. The president-elect watching cable news and tweeting while turning away actual national intelligence briefers.
What's ironic to me is that the correct way to retire a flag that is tattered and torn is to ... BURN IT in a special ceremony. I know that's not what protestors are doing and they're giving the finger to America by burning our flag. It's not something I would do myself, and I go around chasing Jane with her little flags from school making sure they don't stay on the ground once dropped (Girl Scout training alert!!!). But I still believe it's just a flag and it isn't magic.
So I'm still boiling over with anger about the election results. With terror. And trying to come up with actions and to gear myself up to actually call my representative and senators, all of whom are white, Republican men who vocally support DT and his policies. I am sure the staff would be polite, but I don't like using the phone for anything ... let alone something this big and important. It's anxiety leveling up.
I assume DT supporters aren't getting the same information or are choosing to interpret things differently? I just don't understand how support doesn't waver in a rational person's mind? But then I didn't think rational people could actually vote for him in the first place, as they voted against their own interests (unless their interest is white supremacy and/or no material support for poor people).
I hate everything about this.
Read: Murder in the Bayou
Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8? by Ethan BrownThis book is kind of terrifying, chronicling the unchecked power held by parish sheriffs. I'm sure not all are corrupt, but the author has revealed illegal actions in this parish's department. This isn't close to where I live in Louisiana, but then it's not a very big state.
As far as the book itself I could have used more details about the victims. I read another reviewer say something similar. There was just nothing personal about them. So they were drug users and sex workers, that was certainly repeated frequently. But what else? In most cases we didn't even know their races. I found this troubling throughout the book to not know the races of most of the people being discussed. Pictures of the victims would have been helpful too. And thinking about some of them left children behind ... maybe a count of how many motherless children there now are thanks to the criminal enterprise that, if not run by was at least condoned by the law enforcement of the parish. Just because the killings have stopped doesn't mean the illegal behavior has -- dope for sex, etc.
And woah, Boustany's involvement. I'm so glad he didn't make the run off, although I'm none too thrilled about creepy John Neely Kennedy. I'm a Foster Campbell voter, even though he doesn't align with my political ideals perfectly either. The allegation of Boustany's visits to prostitutes who were later killed was damning. I'm not sure I heard anything about it while he was in the primary. But I tuned out a lot of it. Yuck.
Anyway, a timely read even if it did make me feel bad.
View all my reviews
Edit to add: wow, this is my 1600th post.
Crocheted Blue & Orange Dino Hat
Yesterday I finished a dinosaur hat for a friend. It's his birthday today -- he is 3! I still might add braided ties to the ear flaps, although Jane says they aren't needed and I kind of like the hat how it is. I still need to wash it to rid it of any lingering cold germs.
I hope I'll get to see the friend later this week to give him the present. Last month I'd babysat for him and his siblings (I had five kids for about an hour -- including two babies -- and I survived!), and I'd asked him if he'd like a dino hat and if yes what color. He chose blue with orange spikes.
We weren't invited to his party even though his mom told me about it -- it was weird because we always come to his older brother's (he and Jane are the same age/long time friends). We met at the park a couple weeks ago and were comparing notes on renting bounce houses. She told me they were getting one for little brother's party, where they were having it but not exactly when/what time. So I didn't push it or ask anything else. Kind of a delicate social awkwardness that I find myself in plenty...
Excuse the mess in the background -- good grief.
I hope I'll get to see the friend later this week to give him the present. Last month I'd babysat for him and his siblings (I had five kids for about an hour -- including two babies -- and I survived!), and I'd asked him if he'd like a dino hat and if yes what color. He chose blue with orange spikes.
We weren't invited to his party even though his mom told me about it -- it was weird because we always come to his older brother's (he and Jane are the same age/long time friends). We met at the park a couple weeks ago and were comparing notes on renting bounce houses. She told me they were getting one for little brother's party, where they were having it but not exactly when/what time. So I didn't push it or ask anything else. Kind of a delicate social awkwardness that I find myself in plenty...
Excuse the mess in the background -- good grief.
This is 36
I had a rough night with chills and hot flashes. I feel some better this morning, but not great. I need to be healthy tomorrow to go to church. I'm reading the Scripture. D'oh.
I've lived away from Indiahoma as long as I lived there (approximately). I moved away when 18, and it's 18 years later. That includes living in Stillwater for school and coming home for summers. I guess it's not fully true until the same time I left, which would be next August. But the symmetry of 18 and 18 feels significant anyway.
We don't have plans today. Not sure if we'll do anything. I don't have a present to open, although Jane has been drawing me pictures and Shawn made me a card with pictures of the girls. I didn't even buy myself anything this year!
Edit to add: My mom DID leave me a present to open! I just didn't know it was there. xoxoxo
Phoning it in
I finally got a hair cut today -- just before I turn 36. My back is a little better, but I'm still pretty sick with my flu symptoms. I have aches and shift from chills to hot flashes. My head hasn't stopped hurting and I have a fever. Can't imagine how I'd be feeling if I weren't taking ibuprofen at every chance I can.
Thank goodness for the world's best husband picking up the slack. The house may be crumbing around us, because I was behind on cleaning anyway. I can't imagine getting out the Christmas stuff or dealing with that, but I hope when I feel physically better I will.
Ugh.
Generation Catalano
I have the flu or something. And I hurt my back while making Thanksgiving lunch. I moved my heavy Kitchen-Aid, but didn't notice anything. A bit later I was hunched over rifling through a drawer of our dining room hutch for a gravy spoon and OUCH. I stayed hunched. I powered through lunch and then fed Livi, took a rest with her until the sun woke us up. Then Gingie (thank the Lord for Gingie) watched the girls while I laid on a heating pad for an hour. (Shawn was out of town/coming home from a family funeral.)
I'm still pretty sick and my fever has spiked to 102. Advil should bring it down ... I hope? I don't know. I feel like crap. And my back still hurts.
Hey - I wrote about wanting my insides to match my outsides ... but I guess this is more like my insides matching my other insides (physical and emotional)? Ugh.
One good thing I read on Twitter today: The Agony & The Angst: An Oral History of My So-Called Life.
Proud to be generation Catalano, but I was sad that the interview didn't include Claire Danes, Jared Leto or A.J. Langer. The first two are too popular now I guess to talk about something they did so way back, and Langer married someone in another country and is out of the public eye basically.
SO - NaBloPoMo complete for today. Really hoping I get well enough to get a hair cut tomorrow afternoon.
I'm still pretty sick and my fever has spiked to 102. Advil should bring it down ... I hope? I don't know. I feel like crap. And my back still hurts.
Hey - I wrote about wanting my insides to match my outsides ... but I guess this is more like my insides matching my other insides (physical and emotional)? Ugh.
One good thing I read on Twitter today: The Agony & The Angst: An Oral History of My So-Called Life.
Proud to be generation Catalano, but I was sad that the interview didn't include Claire Danes, Jared Leto or A.J. Langer. The first two are too popular now I guess to talk about something they did so way back, and Langer married someone in another country and is out of the public eye basically.
SO - NaBloPoMo complete for today. Really hoping I get well enough to get a hair cut tomorrow afternoon.
Thanksgiving Prep
Last year I wrote detailed posts about my Thanksgiving menu and the cooking/prep process. Today has been a busy day with prep and cooking. I didn't take any pictures of the food. The menu is basically the same, although I'm not making the broccoli salad (it's never been as good as it was the first year I made it), and I'm giving up on homemade rolls. They're amazing, but store-bought brown-n-serve will be just fine too.
I'm tired. Was on my feet a lot. Last year I was pregnant and had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes for about a month while I was doing the Thanksgiving cooking. I was on my feet and busy all morning. I'd had my snack but I still felt weird. That's the only scary episode I had during the pregnancy, and I kind of blacked out -- not fully but everything went black/I lost vision while I stumbled to the table and sat down. I couldn't stop laughing after I recovered. But it scared Shawn. I was very pale too. Nothing like that happened today, of course. I'm healthy-ish.
I am not in a cheery, holiday mood. I don't know how I'm going to celebrate Christmas. It's not going to be the same. I am looking forward to Advent -- sitting in the dark, waiting for the light. And I hope and pray the the miracle comes to me again anew. At the very least I'll be going through the motions for my girls -- Jane's sixth Christmas season and Livia's first. My precious baby girls.
There's something to be learned here, even though I would give almost anything to not be learning it.
I'm tired. Was on my feet a lot. Last year I was pregnant and had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes for about a month while I was doing the Thanksgiving cooking. I was on my feet and busy all morning. I'd had my snack but I still felt weird. That's the only scary episode I had during the pregnancy, and I kind of blacked out -- not fully but everything went black/I lost vision while I stumbled to the table and sat down. I couldn't stop laughing after I recovered. But it scared Shawn. I was very pale too. Nothing like that happened today, of course. I'm healthy-ish.
I am not in a cheery, holiday mood. I don't know how I'm going to celebrate Christmas. It's not going to be the same. I am looking forward to Advent -- sitting in the dark, waiting for the light. And I hope and pray the the miracle comes to me again anew. At the very least I'll be going through the motions for my girls -- Jane's sixth Christmas season and Livia's first. My precious baby girls.
There's something to be learned here, even though I would give almost anything to not be learning it.
Make My Outsides Match My Insides
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| My face and left hand |
I still feel terrible. I am not reeling any longer, and I can stand my ground.
My outsides match that internal upset. But I need to start something to keep myself together.
That means exercise. That means a hair cut (scheduled for this Friday). That *might* mean wearing makeup more often.
What else should it mean? More rest? (Once Liv and I are better that should come) More reading? More movies?
I've got to keep myself together. I do not want to feel "better" or OK with the situation, but I do want to be able to live my life and be ready for whatever comes our way.
Volunteering with Gritted Teeth
I'm a volunteer at my church. It's become a bigger "position" than I expected at first, and I just kind of fell into it. There wasn't a time when someone asked "will you do X, Y and Z." It was more like "we need help with our website," and I lunged at the chance.
The responsibilities morphed as I kept seeing more things that could be done and took on additional responsibilities when asked. When I was going to be out for maternity leave I suggested the church hire an intern to take over for a few months. That morphed into something entirely, and I've been told jokingly (perhaps?) that I've been fired because ...
The church hired a communications director, which really is great. She has zero communications experience, which is not so great.
She'll work out fine, and I've been spending even more time training her. And of course NOTHING is being done to my liking. I'm biting my tongue and sitting on my hands a lot. (Or bitching about it to anyone who will listen and on my blog here...)
There are still places I can contribute, and I'm still leading the communications "team" of volunteers, although I'm hoping that responsibility will eventually fade away if this new hire can be a true leader. I vacillate from wanting to control everything to wanting to completely wash my hands of the whole thing and only attend church as a "visitor" of sorts or to somehow contribute in other, non-communications ways.
And as much as my Type A personality clashes, I know what I want to do -- either option, all or nothing -- is not the right thing.
Recently our pastor prayed before a leadership meeting, and a line stuck out to me enough that I wrote it down: "Our relationships are more important than the work."
That's so the truth, and it's also a very hard truth to deal with, at least for me. I want the work done flawlessly (or at least to my liking!) and on time. But what I should really want is to cultivate a relationship with this new friend and let the work sort itself out. (I think?)
Also if I had a regular job of my own this would all be moot as I wouldn't have time or energy to be upset about any of the church communications. (Maybe?) Being a stay-at-home mom and taking care of the girls is a full-time job, but it definitely leaves space for me to fret about stuff like this.
I'll never change myself or my feelings about it, but I CAN change how I react to things and temper what I actually say. Maybe if I fake it I'll make it?
The responsibilities morphed as I kept seeing more things that could be done and took on additional responsibilities when asked. When I was going to be out for maternity leave I suggested the church hire an intern to take over for a few months. That morphed into something entirely, and I've been told jokingly (perhaps?) that I've been fired because ...
The church hired a communications director, which really is great. She has zero communications experience, which is not so great.
She'll work out fine, and I've been spending even more time training her. And of course NOTHING is being done to my liking. I'm biting my tongue and sitting on my hands a lot. (Or bitching about it to anyone who will listen and on my blog here...)
There are still places I can contribute, and I'm still leading the communications "team" of volunteers, although I'm hoping that responsibility will eventually fade away if this new hire can be a true leader. I vacillate from wanting to control everything to wanting to completely wash my hands of the whole thing and only attend church as a "visitor" of sorts or to somehow contribute in other, non-communications ways.
And as much as my Type A personality clashes, I know what I want to do -- either option, all or nothing -- is not the right thing.
Recently our pastor prayed before a leadership meeting, and a line stuck out to me enough that I wrote it down: "Our relationships are more important than the work."
That's so the truth, and it's also a very hard truth to deal with, at least for me. I want the work done flawlessly (or at least to my liking!) and on time. But what I should really want is to cultivate a relationship with this new friend and let the work sort itself out. (I think?)
Also if I had a regular job of my own this would all be moot as I wouldn't have time or energy to be upset about any of the church communications. (Maybe?) Being a stay-at-home mom and taking care of the girls is a full-time job, but it definitely leaves space for me to fret about stuff like this.
I'll never change myself or my feelings about it, but I CAN change how I react to things and temper what I actually say. Maybe if I fake it I'll make it?
The Grace of Grandparents
I was in front of someone in line at Target this week and she was on the phone (people are always on the phone). She was talking about her toddler daughter and how she'd been a handful that morning. The mom had to get groceries and didn't feel like dealing with her. So she called her dad and asked if she could drop off her girl, so that's where the daughter was. (Apparently the person on the other end of the line had asked.)
I wonder if she understands the privilege of that -- having family so close? Of having a safety valve like that whenever you feel like it.
I felt so jealous eavesdropping, even though I only had one of my two children with me, and she was sitting happily in the cart. I would love that option of spontaneous drop off.
I could probably build relationships with some people at church to the point I'd feel comfortable dropping off one or both girls for a few hours at a time. But I'm so uptight, I don't know that I ever will. I also have a weird sense of not wanting to be a burden on ANYONE. I don't even like asking Shawn for help, and he's their dad!
I'm lucky in other ways, I know. And I'm grateful my girls are so loved. (And that their Gingie is here for Thanksgiving week!)
I wonder if she understands the privilege of that -- having family so close? Of having a safety valve like that whenever you feel like it.
I felt so jealous eavesdropping, even though I only had one of my two children with me, and she was sitting happily in the cart. I would love that option of spontaneous drop off.
I could probably build relationships with some people at church to the point I'd feel comfortable dropping off one or both girls for a few hours at a time. But I'm so uptight, I don't know that I ever will. I also have a weird sense of not wanting to be a burden on ANYONE. I don't even like asking Shawn for help, and he's their dad!
I'm lucky in other ways, I know. And I'm grateful my girls are so loved. (And that their Gingie is here for Thanksgiving week!)
Filler Post
One week until my birthday... Better get shopping!
(Or donate in my name to the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, Together Baton Rouge or similar.)
My mom made it here for a Thanksgiving visit. The girls are playing with her in the living room.
Livia has been sick. Jane had a short-lived ear ache and cold last Sunday. By Monday, when she had her 5-year checkup, she was completely healthy. I asked the doctor about her ear, but it was fine. Livia didn't start feeling bad until Thursday or so. Not sure if it's the same virus or something else. Shawn has been battling a sore throat for a couple days too. My chest congestion started last night. Pathetic family. Jane is still raring to go.
When Livia coughs sometimes she throws up, so that's fun and messy. She's been in bed with us when it happens. And I've gotten a shirt-full a few times. Lovely. Grateful for laundry room that works so well and time to get it all done. Livia's had a mild fever too, so we've given her Tylenol for the first time -- going 7.5 months without a true illness is pretty good. Hooray for breast milk! (And imagine how sick she might be without it!)
I took a bike ride around our neighborhood today. I only (only?) saw one Trump sign, and it was nailed high on a tree. I'd like to think it's because the rest of the neighbors would have taken it down otherwise. I know I'm a blue dot in a red state, although cities are often blue havens, and Baton Rouge is no different. (Probably it's more purple, as I know plenty of people who are pro-Trump, even in the face of all the revelations and craziness since his win.)
The weather is cooler today -- the "cold" front came through. And although the weather said these are "winter-like" temperatures, I'm still roasting inside my house a bit with the sun beating down. It's definitely cool -- in the 60s -- outside so I can just open the windows and/or run fans to cool myself off. But with company and sick kids ... it's back to shorts for me!
Orange juice all around ... slip a little vodka in it perhaps? Or not.
(Or donate in my name to the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, Together Baton Rouge or similar.)
My mom made it here for a Thanksgiving visit. The girls are playing with her in the living room.
Livia has been sick. Jane had a short-lived ear ache and cold last Sunday. By Monday, when she had her 5-year checkup, she was completely healthy. I asked the doctor about her ear, but it was fine. Livia didn't start feeling bad until Thursday or so. Not sure if it's the same virus or something else. Shawn has been battling a sore throat for a couple days too. My chest congestion started last night. Pathetic family. Jane is still raring to go.
When Livia coughs sometimes she throws up, so that's fun and messy. She's been in bed with us when it happens. And I've gotten a shirt-full a few times. Lovely. Grateful for laundry room that works so well and time to get it all done. Livia's had a mild fever too, so we've given her Tylenol for the first time -- going 7.5 months without a true illness is pretty good. Hooray for breast milk! (And imagine how sick she might be without it!)
I took a bike ride around our neighborhood today. I only (only?) saw one Trump sign, and it was nailed high on a tree. I'd like to think it's because the rest of the neighbors would have taken it down otherwise. I know I'm a blue dot in a red state, although cities are often blue havens, and Baton Rouge is no different. (Probably it's more purple, as I know plenty of people who are pro-Trump, even in the face of all the revelations and craziness since his win.)
The weather is cooler today -- the "cold" front came through. And although the weather said these are "winter-like" temperatures, I'm still roasting inside my house a bit with the sun beating down. It's definitely cool -- in the 60s -- outside so I can just open the windows and/or run fans to cool myself off. But with company and sick kids ... it's back to shorts for me!
Orange juice all around ... slip a little vodka in it perhaps? Or not.
Iron Man ... not Iron Girl!
Jane dressed as Iron Man this year for Halloween, part of her ongoing love for the Avengers (thanks, Gingie!). I didn't put a lot of thought into it -- she chose it, I double checked (maybe triple checked) with her before buying the costume on Amazon. She LOVED it, and I probably didn't let her wear it enough, although she got to wear it to the Halloween parade, Trunk-or-Treat and Trick-or-Treating, although she left the mask off most of the time because it made it hard to breathe and look around. She was also adamant that she was Iron Man, not Iron Woman or Iron Girl like some people said when they saw her dressed up.I read a great post right around Halloween about boy choices vs. girl choices and how parents/society can be overwhelmingly proud of girls choosing a typically boy activity or costume. I admit a smug sense of pride that my girl isn't constrained by gender norms at this point as far as her Halloween choice was concerned. But the point of the article, which really resonated, is how girl choices -- a princess, Elsa, whatever -- are not inherently bad or worth less than a boy choice.
Here's what the author had to say:
It implies that breaking from the pack automatically makes you superior in some way. Sometimes the pack likes awesome shit because it’s awesome, you know? And it’s fine if you – or your kid – wants to like that awesome stuff, too. It’s like shaming someone for liking pop music because it’s popular. Shut the fuck up. It’s popular because people like it. You’re a people. Do the math, jerk.
It also implies that choosing a superhero is superior to choosing a princess, and that is some bullshit internalized misogyny to stick on your four year old. “Boy” stuff is not inherently better than girl stuff. Girls who are into “boy” stuff are not “cooler” than girls who are into “girl” stuff.Hammer meet nail head. (And the rest of her rant is good too.)
It is really what feminism is. Not tearing down the male, but building up the female. Demanding that they be seen as equal, which they intrinsically are. THIS is what I want to teach Jane and Livia ... all the subtleties and ultimately being a good, strong woman who likes what she likes.
(Another post that could use more consideration I'm sure...but hopefully you catch my drift.)
More Terrifying Reading ... I refuse to look away.
Some articles about how to talk to people/persuade them, although I don't think anything will persuade white supremacists from their core beliefs, I have to hope that some of his supporters are open to dialogue:
Using Strategies to Persuade
And in Storify/Tweet form: Rhetorical Theory for the Dinner Table
From the Southern Poverty Law Center: Responding to Every Day Bigotry
An incomplete list of reasons why supporting Trump was such a bad idea:
Edit to add: I just realized from a Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweet that DT's positions are key for ISIS recruitment (i.e., he plays into their idea of big, bad America and they can radicalize more young men and women to their cause because of his rhetoric).
Using Strategies to Persuade
And in Storify/Tweet form: Rhetorical Theory for the Dinner Table
From the Southern Poverty Law Center: Responding to Every Day Bigotry
An incomplete list of reasons why supporting Trump was such a bad idea:
- Misogyny: Trump and his supporters don't treat women as full equals. WOMEN ARE EQUAL TO MEN. This is more about just me being equal. This is also about my daughters being equal to your sons.
- Racism: Trump is supported by the KKK and the American Nazi Party. His supporters are violent and awful to people of color and a particular faith. His rhetoric has incited violence and continues to do so even more now.
- Media: Trump bashes the media and threatens reporters. Diminishing the Fourth Estate is absolutely a fascist government step. We're on our way to having a state-run media and no outside watchdog, which is what the news media is tasked with doing as part of our democracy.
- Inexperience/Incompetence: Trump literally doesn't understand how the government works. He's the least competent person for the job, far and away the worse choice of candidate. You may think "change is good," but when the change is this unqualified you've just created a power vacuum and the darkest, slimiest Washington insiders are the ones who will fill the void.
- Rhetoric: Drain the Swamp, America First and Keep Trains Running on Time are all catch phrases from authoritarian regimes (like the Nazis and Mussolini). THIS IS BAD.
- ISIS: They endorsed Trump's candidacy and celebrated when he won. YOU ARE ON THE SIDE OF THE VERY THING YOU ARE AFRAID OF. (The only way I understand this is that they expect to fight and kill more Americans, and a president as thin-skinned and volatile as him will be more likely to make that happen ... not to mention Republicans are hawk-like re: war and more likely to want to send in troops.)
- Ties to Russia. You want a foreign government pulling the strings? You got it...
The one thing authoritarians want you to do is to accept that their conduct is normal, even when it is not. They do not want you to yearn for a freer, less oppressive and less corrupt time, and they do not want you to think it odd when, say, a government agency is purged or a bunch of protesters are arrested and vanish into the prisons without ever seeing trial. They want you to think it is normal when the President is openly selling your interests out to a foreign power, or when he is using the levers of government to materially enrich and empower his family. The presumption of normality during abnormal times is one of the most powerful weapons the authoritarian has, and that is why it is so important to recognize how profoundly abnormal Donald J. Trump will be as president.I refuse! And although I feel awful and expect I'll continue to feel awful as long as we're faced with this reality I don't want to let it slide or get back to my regular emotional state. This is insanity.
Edit to add: I just realized from a Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweet that DT's positions are key for ISIS recruitment (i.e., he plays into their idea of big, bad America and they can radicalize more young men and women to their cause because of his rhetoric).
Registering & tracking Americans based on race or religion is idiotic. Disgusting. Unconstitutional. And it’s a recruiting bonanza for ISIS.— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 17, 2016
What a Darling Boy ... Gender Norms in Dressing My Baby Daughter
One of the first reactions I had when learning we were having a daughter was a negative feeling about the bows and glitter and girly-ness of dressing her. (I was also terrified of the patriarchal system we brought her into, and that fear is more deeply rooted now in the start of her sixth year, but you know what I mean...)
My fears of "girlie" clothes have been pretty much unfounded, and I've found plenty of clothes I'm fine with Jane wearing. And she gets to choose what to wear from what I've bought and has been handed down to us. I help with appropriateness -- always shorts/leggings under dresses for school, always tennis shoes at school for safety and dressing for the weather -- and I probably "help" a little too much to get my favorite tops or pants worn. But Jane's learning to be confident in her style and clothes choices. (Her latest is Avengers, thanks to my mom -- and she wears her sparkly Captain America shield shirt at least once a week ... marketing geniuses, I tell ya.)
I didn't have the same "OMYGOD" reaction to finding out Livia is a girl. We'd been there, done that and were up to the challenge of doubling the fun (and stress) by raising two daughters. But her babyhood has been very different.
Where Jane had tons of hair and very early had to have hair clips to hold it back Livia came out with much less hair, some of it fell out and it's just now coming in. Technically it could hold a light hair bow or I could always make her wear a headband with a bow, but I reject that style in favor of her comfort!
But combined with her somewhat gender neutral baby clothes this means Livia is often mistaken for a boy.
I can only remember that happening once with Jane, and it was our first visit to the doctor's office after her birth. She was wearing gray sweatpants and a blue UC t-shirt. I'm pretty sure it didn't happen again, and not because I dressed her in pink or frills. I avoided those for a while. (Jane's love for pink and seeing how cute she looks in and how much she likes some frilly, sparkly things made me relent.)
Usually I don't correct strangers if they mistake Livia for a boy, just say thanks because it's usually a complement and move on. One of the guys who delivered Jane's bounce castle told Livia, "It'll be your first birthday before you know it, little man." (And I'm pretty sure she was wearing pink!)
But of course this last week I've been pissed at everything and everyone and will absolutely let anyone know "Oh, she's a girl." And it's grated me enough to write about it.
The default baby is a boy. Short hair equals boy, even when literally this hair is all that's ever grown on her head.
This is a quick take on something that's been on my mind, so it needs work and more thought. Filling up the NaBloPoMo challenge I've set for myself and keeping up that momentum. Over halfway there...
My fears of "girlie" clothes have been pretty much unfounded, and I've found plenty of clothes I'm fine with Jane wearing. And she gets to choose what to wear from what I've bought and has been handed down to us. I help with appropriateness -- always shorts/leggings under dresses for school, always tennis shoes at school for safety and dressing for the weather -- and I probably "help" a little too much to get my favorite tops or pants worn. But Jane's learning to be confident in her style and clothes choices. (Her latest is Avengers, thanks to my mom -- and she wears her sparkly Captain America shield shirt at least once a week ... marketing geniuses, I tell ya.)
I didn't have the same "OMYGOD" reaction to finding out Livia is a girl. We'd been there, done that and were up to the challenge of doubling the fun (and stress) by raising two daughters. But her babyhood has been very different.
Where Jane had tons of hair and very early had to have hair clips to hold it back Livia came out with much less hair, some of it fell out and it's just now coming in. Technically it could hold a light hair bow or I could always make her wear a headband with a bow, but I reject that style in favor of her comfort!
But combined with her somewhat gender neutral baby clothes this means Livia is often mistaken for a boy.
I can only remember that happening once with Jane, and it was our first visit to the doctor's office after her birth. She was wearing gray sweatpants and a blue UC t-shirt. I'm pretty sure it didn't happen again, and not because I dressed her in pink or frills. I avoided those for a while. (Jane's love for pink and seeing how cute she looks in and how much she likes some frilly, sparkly things made me relent.)
Usually I don't correct strangers if they mistake Livia for a boy, just say thanks because it's usually a complement and move on. One of the guys who delivered Jane's bounce castle told Livia, "It'll be your first birthday before you know it, little man." (And I'm pretty sure she was wearing pink!)
But of course this last week I've been pissed at everything and everyone and will absolutely let anyone know "Oh, she's a girl." And it's grated me enough to write about it.
The default baby is a boy. Short hair equals boy, even when literally this hair is all that's ever grown on her head.
This is a quick take on something that's been on my mind, so it needs work and more thought. Filling up the NaBloPoMo challenge I've set for myself and keeping up that momentum. Over halfway there...
Crafting to a Story: Hot Air Balloon
Over the summer I looked forward to taking her (and Livia) to it again. But for whatever reason they didn't meet in June and July. Of course I didn't realize that in June and got Jane all excited to go.
When we realized they weren't having the program I put my thinking cap on and my Pinterest fingers to work and we came up with this craft and reading a Curious George book we had checked out of the library.
We were able to use supplies we had on hand - construction paper, yarn and a toilet paper roll (for the basket). Jane was a happy camper, I didn't have to battle downtown traffic and it passed some time.
The balloon itself didn't last and has long since ended up in the trash can, but at one point I put this on my "to blog" list and I figure this is a way to get through NaBloPoMo without EVERY post being apocalyptic ranting. (If you want that visit me on Twitter.)
Bullet Journal Update - Mixed Book
I've been using my bullet journal as a planner for a little over a year. I haven't been consistent with it, and when the baby came things kind of fell apart in the scheduling/planning department.
I'm in my second notebook, and this time I went with a hardback version similar to what's recommended by "real" bullet journalists. I got mine from Target on clearance though, and it's off-brand.
I've found that I much preferred the spiral-bound book that I used at first, because I like leaving the book open and turning it to the current page. That's not possible with the hardcover, and even with the ribbon bookmark it's not as quick access for me. So I have a spiral-bound to move to when I finish this one up. I'm only halfway done with it though ... probably because I don't use it as much because it's slightly less useful to me!
My favorite thing about my bullet journal is the making lists. I love-love-love lists (in fact I want to make a list of all the reasons Americans, particularly white Americans, made such a mistake last week, but I digress...).
I also really like saving things like stickers or small drawings Jane makes. I don't do anything fancy. I can't draw and my lettering is sloppy at best. I'm just scribbling things in.
The index is still a key feature that I like. I just haven't been making as many lists/notes sections that need to be indexed!
My work ebbs and flows, and when things are hectic the bullet journal is useful. I've had a few projects and busy days where I needed to write out everything I need to do. There's something so satisfying about crossing off something from a list -- whether a load of laundry, an email blast or article written.
I don't really journal anymore in a regular way, and that's something I wish I did. I am a writer and I need to really write more. (NaBloPoMo is proving that again to me this year... When will I find my year-round dedication to posting something daily?!) Sometimes it's inconvenient to have a pen and paper in hand or to type it out. But I wonder if having one book makes me less likely to write out longhand. Probably not -- probably just a factor of this stage in life.
One thing I wish I were better at recording is Livia's milestones. I think I was more meticulous about Jane's -- in her baby book and in her weekly emails. I still do the weekly emails but don't write as much about Liv's development. It's not the end of the world that specifics are lost to time I guess. But a bullet journal would be a good place to record that kind of thing.
I'm in my second notebook, and this time I went with a hardback version similar to what's recommended by "real" bullet journalists. I got mine from Target on clearance though, and it's off-brand.
I've found that I much preferred the spiral-bound book that I used at first, because I like leaving the book open and turning it to the current page. That's not possible with the hardcover, and even with the ribbon bookmark it's not as quick access for me. So I have a spiral-bound to move to when I finish this one up. I'm only halfway done with it though ... probably because I don't use it as much because it's slightly less useful to me!
My favorite thing about my bullet journal is the making lists. I love-love-love lists (in fact I want to make a list of all the reasons Americans, particularly white Americans, made such a mistake last week, but I digress...).
I also really like saving things like stickers or small drawings Jane makes. I don't do anything fancy. I can't draw and my lettering is sloppy at best. I'm just scribbling things in.
The index is still a key feature that I like. I just haven't been making as many lists/notes sections that need to be indexed!
My work ebbs and flows, and when things are hectic the bullet journal is useful. I've had a few projects and busy days where I needed to write out everything I need to do. There's something so satisfying about crossing off something from a list -- whether a load of laundry, an email blast or article written.
I don't really journal anymore in a regular way, and that's something I wish I did. I am a writer and I need to really write more. (NaBloPoMo is proving that again to me this year... When will I find my year-round dedication to posting something daily?!) Sometimes it's inconvenient to have a pen and paper in hand or to type it out. But I wonder if having one book makes me less likely to write out longhand. Probably not -- probably just a factor of this stage in life.
One thing I wish I were better at recording is Livia's milestones. I think I was more meticulous about Jane's -- in her baby book and in her weekly emails. I still do the weekly emails but don't write as much about Liv's development. It's not the end of the world that specifics are lost to time I guess. But a bullet journal would be a good place to record that kind of thing.
Hallelujah
This SNL cold open was powerful and, if not healing at least comforting, to me. I watched it live last night, and I was grateful I had decided to. I wasn't sure I could stand watching Alec Baldwin's Trump now that there's nothing at all funny about it. I definitely cried during the song. (And woah - Dave Chappelle was funny af.)
(FYI: Leonard Cohen's "Ain't No Cure For Love" was the song Shawn and I danced to at our wedding reception.)
Church this morning made me feel a little better and a little worse.
The sermon was good, although there was nothing condemning hate crimes, racism or vulnerable people. There was some mention of the "hurricane of a week," and the point was made ... I think. But I'm sure people of the opposite persuasion as me could read their own meaning into it.
Communion is always good. And a way to help me look at the bigger picture beyond just a nation falling.
BUT I also felt a little crazy ... because no one else seemed upset. Maybe no one could tell I'm upset either though, as I continued with me "just fine" answer while juggling the girls. Maybe things really won't impact the people I know. Maybe I'm overreacting.
But I don't think so.
How are you?
At the grocery store today I ran into a Sunday school classmate. She's easily 30 (40?) years older than me, and very kind. I like her so much.
But I also think she supports Trump. (6/10 white voters did, and that's probably higher here in blood red Louisiana so odds are...)
When she said hello and spoke to Livia, who was riding in the cart she asked "How are you?" and the automatic "Oh, we're fine" came out involuntarily.
I AM NOT FINE.
I didn't feel immediate anger toward her, and I guess I don't really feel that now. But I am not OK, I am hurt and mystified. And even in the moment I realized I should answer differently and tell her the truth. But instead I kept on with my shopping.
I'm reading a lot more than I should. Listening to bits and bobs of NPR when I can stand it. (On the way to the grocery store heard a story about how Planned Parenthood defunding would work and what it would mean to low income women ... and I got so upset. I still am, because taking away access to birth control and reproductive health care is the worst way to reduce the number of abortions, which is so important to an anti-choice/pro-life person.)
I guess I'm still kind of walking around in a fog.
But should I find the strength to be honest with people I KNOW have different opinions than me? Who love me and with whom I have Jesus in common? I am sure she would have responded in kindness ... maybe? I don't know. Some of the other classmates -- whom I'll see tomorrow -- would definitely be hateful and condescending. But she is my friend and has demonstrated her love for me and my family in the past.
It's so hard for me to imagine a rational person choosing Trump and this draconian policies he's promised. And if you think he's going to change his ways in office ... you're fooling yourself.
Some reading:
Perhaps the right question is "Are you OK?" And my answer is "No, but I think someday I will be." (Right???)
But I also think she supports Trump. (6/10 white voters did, and that's probably higher here in blood red Louisiana so odds are...)
When she said hello and spoke to Livia, who was riding in the cart she asked "How are you?" and the automatic "Oh, we're fine" came out involuntarily.
I AM NOT FINE.
I didn't feel immediate anger toward her, and I guess I don't really feel that now. But I am not OK, I am hurt and mystified. And even in the moment I realized I should answer differently and tell her the truth. But instead I kept on with my shopping.
I'm reading a lot more than I should. Listening to bits and bobs of NPR when I can stand it. (On the way to the grocery store heard a story about how Planned Parenthood defunding would work and what it would mean to low income women ... and I got so upset. I still am, because taking away access to birth control and reproductive health care is the worst way to reduce the number of abortions, which is so important to an anti-choice/pro-life person.)
I guess I'm still kind of walking around in a fog.
But should I find the strength to be honest with people I KNOW have different opinions than me? Who love me and with whom I have Jesus in common? I am sure she would have responded in kindness ... maybe? I don't know. Some of the other classmates -- whom I'll see tomorrow -- would definitely be hateful and condescending. But she is my friend and has demonstrated her love for me and my family in the past.
It's so hard for me to imagine a rational person choosing Trump and this draconian policies he's promised. And if you think he's going to change his ways in office ... you're fooling yourself.
Some reading:
Perhaps the right question is "Are you OK?" And my answer is "No, but I think someday I will be." (Right???)
Self Care and Nursing Shirts
I've been reading some about "self care," which might just be "basic care," as in eating, moving your body, sleeping ... going through the motions of day-to-day living until you feel better. Part fake it til you make it and part genuine survival.
I've also seen a tweet that said "enough with the self care - this is why they think we can't be president" (or something like that). So yeah, there's that. Also an article about a harder kind of self care.
One thing I found mildly helpful was making a list of things that comfort me. I guess ways I can care for myself. That's somewhat trending on Twitter, at least I've seen a few similar lists. But I'm really not feeling much better.
Here's my list so far:
Today I wore my favorite nursing shirt, even though it is falling apart at the seams, especially the neckline. It's got a cool crochet inlay in the back, but after 2+ years wearing it with Jane it is a bit torn and tattered. But it's long, has pockets and is comfortable. So I save it for "special" occasions. (I've tried to find a replacement -- but Motherhood doesn't sell anything like it anymore and searches online for "nursing shirt with pockets" haven't been any more successful. I should be willing to pay $50 for a shirt I'd wear every week, but so far I'm not ... I digress.)
I don't know what right I have to feel so bad. It's the fear of the impending tyranny and stripping of rights -- for humans, for women and specifically for me. For my daughters. My disappointment over not seeing the first woman president may be subsiding slightly, but my abject terror of what's still to come only seems to ramp up.
And wearing a comfortable, useful shirt isn't really cutting it as far as successful self care, I'd say.
Also this, "a time to heal:"
I've also seen a tweet that said "enough with the self care - this is why they think we can't be president" (or something like that). So yeah, there's that. Also an article about a harder kind of self care.
One thing I found mildly helpful was making a list of things that comfort me. I guess ways I can care for myself. That's somewhat trending on Twitter, at least I've seen a few similar lists. But I'm really not feeling much better.
Here's my list so far:
- My babies & husband
- Cool air ... finally
- Cake making videos
- Crochet
- Offline reading
- Voyager (mid 7th season)
- Sleep
- Dixie Chicks music
- Consignment shopping
 |
| My favorite nursing shirt is on its last legs... |
I don't know what right I have to feel so bad. It's the fear of the impending tyranny and stripping of rights -- for humans, for women and specifically for me. For my daughters. My disappointment over not seeing the first woman president may be subsiding slightly, but my abject terror of what's still to come only seems to ramp up.
And wearing a comfortable, useful shirt isn't really cutting it as far as successful self care, I'd say.
Also this, "a time to heal:"
Breastfeeding Reading & Yeast Infection Update
I am cautiously optimistic that my deep breast duct yeast infection is under control. I'm still taking grapefruit seed extract twice a day and keeping up with the increased laundry with vinegar rinse, but my pain is gone. (The fear of pain is not, but that's to be expected I think.)
(Read about the cost of fighting this infection here.)
The search for answers led me to a wonderful book, Dr. Jack Newman's Guide to Breastfeeding. (I also found it in Barnes & Noble's "scratch and dent" for $5, but of course I paid full price!)
I'd recommend this book to any breastfeeding mom and actually any mom considering breastfeeding. It has the science behind breastfeeding well beyond just "breast is best." It explains the tricks and techniques formula companies use to get new customers, including enlisting doctors' help via free samples, office artwork, etc. (Criminal, in my opinion, since at the expense of babies' optimal health!) But even more it has best practices for breastfeeding -- getting started, troubleshooting, etc.
I bought it for the section about thrush/yeast of course. And although the candida protocol information is available on his website there's something about a book that provided me comfort. Reading the other sections have been good for informing my "lactivism," and I've come to believe even more in the power of breastmilk and the perfection of it as a baby food.
Backing up this belief: I have the chubby baby who so far is a somewhat reluctant eater of "real" food but a champion nurser who is big, strong and developing gorgeously.
(Read about the cost of fighting this infection here.)
The search for answers led me to a wonderful book, Dr. Jack Newman's Guide to Breastfeeding. (I also found it in Barnes & Noble's "scratch and dent" for $5, but of course I paid full price!)
I'd recommend this book to any breastfeeding mom and actually any mom considering breastfeeding. It has the science behind breastfeeding well beyond just "breast is best." It explains the tricks and techniques formula companies use to get new customers, including enlisting doctors' help via free samples, office artwork, etc. (Criminal, in my opinion, since at the expense of babies' optimal health!) But even more it has best practices for breastfeeding -- getting started, troubleshooting, etc.
I bought it for the section about thrush/yeast of course. And although the candida protocol information is available on his website there's something about a book that provided me comfort. Reading the other sections have been good for informing my "lactivism," and I've come to believe even more in the power of breastmilk and the perfection of it as a baby food.
Backing up this belief: I have the chubby baby who so far is a somewhat reluctant eater of "real" food but a champion nurser who is big, strong and developing gorgeously.
The DayAfter
Telling Jane that Hillary lost was a hard thing to do. She took it better than I expected, probably because she's five and it doesn't really mean anything to her.
But it meant a lot to me.
And someday it will to her too.
Because a vote for him was a vote for misogyny, sexism, racism, xenophobia and hate.
I honestly don't know how I'm going to face people knowing their support for the president elect and delight in his election when his policies are in direct opposition of my daughters' best interests.
I am hurting today, like so many others.
I am afraid for the future, but there's not as big a risk to me, being a white woman married to a white man with a professional career. But I am even more afraid for others whom the president elect has threatened with his rhetoric.
Today I got to work with the new communications director at church to film our pastor -- he did a new welcome video and some short Advent-series promos. (I was there just to train her on using the camera.) Advent season is so needed -- and the topics we'll be covering and he'll be preaching on sound like the balm my soul needs.
May we survive...
"To all the little girls watching...never doubt that you are valuable and powerful & deserving of every chance & opportunity in the world."— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 9, 2016
On Five and a Historic Vote
Jane is five today - hip, hip hooray!This always feels like a free space for NaBloPoMo. I can write about Jane's quirks -- stubborn as anyone I've ever met, strong and fierce, smart and beautiful -- and funny expressions -- "can you take me a bath?" (instead of give me a bath). I love her deep to my bones. She can push my buttons like no one else can, but she's also someone I feel happy to help even in the middle of the night when tummy aches strike after too much cake and too much bouncing at her birthday party!
Jane is my treasure!
Today is also election day, and there's plenty to say about that too!
We made our plan and got up early to go to the polls. We've never hard very long lines at our polling place. I'm not sure if that's white privilege, suburban privilege or just dumb luck. We vote at the local elementary school (where NONE of the local children actually attend, but that's another post).
I wore a pantsuit, of sorts. I don't own a colorful one or a white one, so black had to suffice. It's also too hot here for a jacket (STILL), but I rocked it to vote anyway. Once at the polls we didn't wait at all. Shawn was holding Livia and I took Jane with me. I made my selections on the electronic ballot, and Jane and I pushed the "cast ballot" button together.
I'm so grateful to be able to vote in this historic election! To do it on Jane's birthday makes it even better. Still terribly nervous about the election results, and I'll be glad when all of this is truly behind us!
Accepting Help (My bags are heavy.)
I carry too much.
On Sundays I carry a diaper bag, a Sunday school bag for me, a Sunday school bag for Jane and her church backpack full of stuff for her to look at/use during worship (although we've been having her carry it on the way home I usually have it in my hands). On the first Sundays of the month I'm also carrying a tote bag of groceries to donate to The Shepherd's Market food pantry. If I'm helping with video I carry the church's Mac laptop in another bag too. And of course carrying/wearing the baby, although Shawn handles that when he's with me.
People usually ask me if I want help, especially if Shawn isn't with me. My answer is an automatic, "I got it, thanks."
Because I do.
But sometimes help would be welcome. Help is needed. The bags are too heavy.
This is true for my metaphorical bags. They are heavy.
I'd like to get a hair cut, but arranging child care with an appointment has been tricky, and after one attempt I gave up.
I have some side work to do, and it's hard to concentrate. I need a couple hours to sit alone with my computer and get it done.
My house is messy and the piles of papers and magazines are stacking up. We just had a birthday party and I cleaned like a madwoman and hid even more junk. But the mess still mocks me. You're a stay-at-home mom and your house looks like this. Failure.
These bags are so heavy.
I am averse to asking for help. So averse. Because often I will be disappointed.
A church example -- I filled in for the video recorder a couple weeks ago and filmed/processed the sermon video. I plugged in the extra camera battery to charge, but I forgot to put it back in the bag after Sunday school. I emailed and asked the new communications director, who is at the church every day, if she could just go get it and put it back in the bag. (Instead of me making a special trip to church just to unplug a battery.) She emailed back to say she was on her way to do it and I let it go, assuming it was taken care of. When the regular video guy asked me about it I told him she should know where it is. But yesterday he told me they finally found the battery plugged into the wall -- she had no idea what he was talking about when he asked her.
Basically the lesson from that and the way I feel about A LOT of stuff is if you want something done you HAVE to do it yourself. People will disappoint you everywhere you turn.
But does that really apply to my heavy bags?
So Tired. So Embarrassed.
Humiliating incident, and it hasn't actually happened yet (because she won't read her email until tomorrow).
I got an auto email from the secretary at Jane's school about the bill. She sent it to the whole school but it was personalized with the attachment specific to us. The formatting was bad and I replied, meaning to just send it to Shawn, with some snark about the formatting (basically "should I critique the formatting, which is bad? Not my circus or just LET IT BURN"). I realized it SECONDS after hitting send, but I hadn't *yet* turned on the unsend feature for gmail. I quickly googled and set it up, but not in time to make it work.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Well, I quickly replied again and apologized, asking her to disregard it and how embarrassed I am.
Maybe she won't even reply, because the last couple times I've emailed the school it's been a black hole. Somehow I doubt that will be true with this snark.
GOOD GRIEF. I shouldn't even be emailing. I shouldn't even be on my computer. I am so wiped out from the party, the time change and a full day of church and other obligations. But I had to blog today.
AND I have a work project to start, but I'm so tired and hot (thanks, Louisiana November) that I am just looking at a blank screen with a blinking cursor. (Cursing myself over that stupid, stupid email.)
Well, if that's the worst thing I do this week I'll be OK. Urgh. I just wish I could crank out this email article project as easily as a silly little blog post. (I really need to get back to writing from my list of ideas...)
I got an auto email from the secretary at Jane's school about the bill. She sent it to the whole school but it was personalized with the attachment specific to us. The formatting was bad and I replied, meaning to just send it to Shawn, with some snark about the formatting (basically "should I critique the formatting, which is bad? Not my circus or just LET IT BURN"). I realized it SECONDS after hitting send, but I hadn't *yet* turned on the unsend feature for gmail. I quickly googled and set it up, but not in time to make it work.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Well, I quickly replied again and apologized, asking her to disregard it and how embarrassed I am.
Maybe she won't even reply, because the last couple times I've emailed the school it's been a black hole. Somehow I doubt that will be true with this snark.
GOOD GRIEF. I shouldn't even be emailing. I shouldn't even be on my computer. I am so wiped out from the party, the time change and a full day of church and other obligations. But I had to blog today.
AND I have a work project to start, but I'm so tired and hot (thanks, Louisiana November) that I am just looking at a blank screen with a blinking cursor. (Cursing myself over that stupid, stupid email.)
Well, if that's the worst thing I do this week I'll be OK. Urgh. I just wish I could crank out this email article project as easily as a silly little blog post. (I really need to get back to writing from my list of ideas...)
Survived the Party
We ate about half the cake, and only a few cupcakes were eaten. I was surprised that some of the kids really did say they didn't like chocolate!
Jane got some nice presents, but about three of them didn't have "from" tags on them, and she started opening them after some people had already left. Ugh. I am very into Thank You notes, so it's going to be difficult. I don't think everyone brought a present, which is perfectly fine, but I won't know who to thank and for the people who didn't put their name I'll have to say "thanks for coming to my party" instead. Them's the breaks.
My feet hurt so bad, even though I didn't leave our house today. I was on them for hours doing things during the party, helping kids, etc. And for at least half of the party I had Livia strapped to my back. She actually really likes it and fell asleep for a while. It's much easier on my back than carrying her on the front for some reason.
The bounce house was a huge success, and Jane loved it. She was sad when the guys came to pick it up. It was huge and had a slide and basketball hoop (we took her ball from her Little Tikes goal and it worked great). Some friends stayed after the party, so she had friends to bounce with for a couple more hours. I'd say she bounced at least 4 of the 6 hours we had the bounce house, so she is completely wiped out.
MAYBE she'll actually sleep the extra hour from DST ending? One can hope. (Well, two can hope actually since I'm sure Shawn would like that too.) There's probably no help for the baby, and we'll be up at 5 instead of 6 tomorrow.
I'm still going to stay up and watch Benedict Cumberbatch on SNL tonight. Zzzzzz...
A Baker I am NOT
My sister has a cake decorating business on the side. This is decidedly NOT in my skill set.
When I looked at buying Jane's birthday cake I balked at the price -- about $70 for a cake from a nice bakery that would have enough to feed as many people that *might* come. (That's another issue -- I'm getting RSVPs today for a party that's tomorrow!) This is the first year we've invited her entire class, so we have the potential for a few dozen people in our backyard. (Thank God for gorgeous weather!)
Anyway, I decided "I can do that" and planned to make the cake myself. I did do a test cake, and I picked the Pioneer Woman's "best chocolate sheet cake ever" because I wanted something to feed a crowd. I also bought a sheet pan to make it in! The cake was delicious, and my Sunday school class agreed. But it was thin and didn't seem very BIRTHDAY-y to me.
So my plan was to bake the cake twice and stack it up, using the fudgy frosting from the recipe, although without nuts, as a filling/on top of the first cake. Sounds good to me/easy enough, right? I even bought a box so that I could easily move the finished cake in and out of the fridge.
My first attempt at the cake was fine this morning, but I didn't put a lot of thought into how I would get it from the pan to the cake "platter," which ended up being a piece of cardboard wrapped in foil. And I tried to move the cake immediately/while it was still warm. FAIL. I had a broken cake, a crying baby (from being neglected) and serious agitation.
I threw the cake into a bowl and set it aside. I took care of Livia and tried again once she was napping. I was smarter and able to flip the cake onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and then flipped again onto the foil cardboard. I put the fudgy, warm frosting on top of that layer then made the second cake. It also turned out fine and I put it in the fridge because I read layers are easier to work with when cold.
YEAH, they are, if they're out of the pan. D'oh. I didn't take this one out of the pan and it was impossible to get it out. And I'd used the last of my sugar on the third cake. Being the clever, clever girl I am I first tried using my iron to heat up the bottom of the pan and get the cake to release. It didn't work -- possibly because of lack of patience. I was baking cupcakes at the time (because what if someone doesn't like chocolate?), so I slipped the pan in for a couple minutes to warm it up. That worked and the cake released.
Back into the fridge to cool off some more. Good grief. The cake was still mostly cold, just wanted to chill it back as much as possible. The cake is so big it won't fit in my freezer, since we have a side-by-side and the freezer is smaller. ANYWAY.
My prayers worked because the cake layer did NOT crumble and I was able to place it on top of the fudgy frosting layer. I made a Mark Bittman chocolate buttercream recipe from a library book, and it technically wasn't enough. I got the top frosted really well and most of the sides, but it definitely doesn't look professional. I'm hoping the fudgy middle party will make up for that. Argh.
I also made vanilla buttercream and piped on Jane's name using letter cookie cutters to make an outline. It worked OK, but my star tip was crummy and it was just easier to draw a line. I also put sprinkles on and they migrated much farther across the cake than I intended. And in a dumb move I put sprinkles on the letters, kind of obscuring them. Hopefully people will think Jane helped and did that. (HA! She helped with the cupcakes, but not the cake itself.)
We'll see how it tastes tomorrow. I'll keep it in the fridge overnight and then pull it out in the morning so it can be room temperature for the party. I have ice cream to serve with it, and I'm making cake balls with the first destroyed cake. We'll see how those turn out. I'm not that hopeful, and honestly don't really feel like doing much more work tonight...
The moral of the story is that next time I am absolutely going to BUY a birthday cake. (And if someone doesn't like chocolate/whatever Jane chooses for her cake they can settle for ice cream!)
When I looked at buying Jane's birthday cake I balked at the price -- about $70 for a cake from a nice bakery that would have enough to feed as many people that *might* come. (That's another issue -- I'm getting RSVPs today for a party that's tomorrow!) This is the first year we've invited her entire class, so we have the potential for a few dozen people in our backyard. (Thank God for gorgeous weather!)
Anyway, I decided "I can do that" and planned to make the cake myself. I did do a test cake, and I picked the Pioneer Woman's "best chocolate sheet cake ever" because I wanted something to feed a crowd. I also bought a sheet pan to make it in! The cake was delicious, and my Sunday school class agreed. But it was thin and didn't seem very BIRTHDAY-y to me.
So my plan was to bake the cake twice and stack it up, using the fudgy frosting from the recipe, although without nuts, as a filling/on top of the first cake. Sounds good to me/easy enough, right? I even bought a box so that I could easily move the finished cake in and out of the fridge.
My first attempt at the cake was fine this morning, but I didn't put a lot of thought into how I would get it from the pan to the cake "platter," which ended up being a piece of cardboard wrapped in foil. And I tried to move the cake immediately/while it was still warm. FAIL. I had a broken cake, a crying baby (from being neglected) and serious agitation.
I threw the cake into a bowl and set it aside. I took care of Livia and tried again once she was napping. I was smarter and able to flip the cake onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and then flipped again onto the foil cardboard. I put the fudgy, warm frosting on top of that layer then made the second cake. It also turned out fine and I put it in the fridge because I read layers are easier to work with when cold.
YEAH, they are, if they're out of the pan. D'oh. I didn't take this one out of the pan and it was impossible to get it out. And I'd used the last of my sugar on the third cake. Being the clever, clever girl I am I first tried using my iron to heat up the bottom of the pan and get the cake to release. It didn't work -- possibly because of lack of patience. I was baking cupcakes at the time (because what if someone doesn't like chocolate?), so I slipped the pan in for a couple minutes to warm it up. That worked and the cake released.
Back into the fridge to cool off some more. Good grief. The cake was still mostly cold, just wanted to chill it back as much as possible. The cake is so big it won't fit in my freezer, since we have a side-by-side and the freezer is smaller. ANYWAY.
My prayers worked because the cake layer did NOT crumble and I was able to place it on top of the fudgy frosting layer. I made a Mark Bittman chocolate buttercream recipe from a library book, and it technically wasn't enough. I got the top frosted really well and most of the sides, but it definitely doesn't look professional. I'm hoping the fudgy middle party will make up for that. Argh.
I also made vanilla buttercream and piped on Jane's name using letter cookie cutters to make an outline. It worked OK, but my star tip was crummy and it was just easier to draw a line. I also put sprinkles on and they migrated much farther across the cake than I intended. And in a dumb move I put sprinkles on the letters, kind of obscuring them. Hopefully people will think Jane helped and did that. (HA! She helped with the cupcakes, but not the cake itself.)
We'll see how it tastes tomorrow. I'll keep it in the fridge overnight and then pull it out in the morning so it can be room temperature for the party. I have ice cream to serve with it, and I'm making cake balls with the first destroyed cake. We'll see how those turn out. I'm not that hopeful, and honestly don't really feel like doing much more work tonight...
The moral of the story is that next time I am absolutely going to BUY a birthday cake. (And if someone doesn't like chocolate/whatever Jane chooses for her cake they can settle for ice cream!)
Book: Bad Feminism
I read this book last month, but I keep thinking about it and wanted to record the things I highlighted.
When I read the title I start singing "Bad Medicine" in my head, but of course with Feminism.
I loved most of this book, and the parts that weren't my favorites were just because I'd never read or heard of the material she was talking about so it was less relevant to me. (I am not an English Lit person, so while I'm fairly well read I am not as well read as the author!)
From my Kindle Notebook, which I learned about with this book. I can highlight things in an ebook (even a library ebook) and then export and email the notebook with the highlights.
When I read the title I start singing "Bad Medicine" in my head, but of course with Feminism.
I loved most of this book, and the parts that weren't my favorites were just because I'd never read or heard of the material she was talking about so it was less relevant to me. (I am not an English Lit person, so while I'm fairly well read I am not as well read as the author!)
From my Kindle Notebook, which I learned about with this book. I can highlight things in an ebook (even a library ebook) and then export and email the notebook with the highlights.
"The notion that I should be fine with the status quo even if I am not wholly affected by the status quo is repulsive"
"To have privilege in one or more areas does not mean you are wholly
privileged. Surrendering to the acceptance of privilege is difficult,
but it is really all that is expected. What I remind myself, regularly,
is this: the acknowledgment of my privilege is not a denial of the ways I
have been and am marginalized, the ways I have suffered"
"Men invented nepotism and practically live by it. It’s okay for women to do it too."
Can't wait for Roxane Gay's next book to come out! I'm certainly a bad feminist but getting better all the time...
Can't wait for Roxane Gay's next book to come out! I'm certainly a bad feminist but getting better all the time...
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