A Main Event Party

After friends had left she got her free gelato,
which the host never brought during party

A new "entertainment venue" opened near the mall, and we decided to have Jane's birthday party there. It was today, and I'm over-peopled and wiped out. We had about 12 kids show up, plus Jane and Liv, so it was a lot to keep up with. More parents stayed than I expected.

The party host was new, only her second party, so some things didn't happen the way they should. The experienced host who helped dragged things out (opening presents?!) and we ended up feeling rushed out of our space because the gravity ropes started late. Kids were wandering around wanting to play games and parents wanted to leave to get home for the LSU game.

Because of when I scheduled the party it was over the lunch hour, and there really wasn't food included for parents -- and a LOT of parents stayed, more than I would have expected. By 3 pm when our family finally left (over an hour after the party was supposed to have ended) I was dehydrated and hangry. I kept it together mostly, but it was difficult. The loudness and bright lights of the arcades didn't help matters.

We bowled for an hour, then we fed the kids pizza and cookie cake. There were a few pieces of pizza left, so some parents did eat. I like being extravagantly generous and a good host, but it wasn't something I could pull off in this situation. I kept saying "I'm not in control of the schedule - I just paid for the party" when the kids said they were hungry or wanted to go do the arcade now. After the cookie cake there was supposed to be a scavenger hunt for Jane with pictures, dance off and more. But that didn't happen because of how slow it was for the pizza and drinks to get doled out.

The kids loved the gravity ropes, although one kid was too short, one kid freaked out and changed her mind and another kid freaked out ON THE TOP and came back down without really doing it. Livia was definitely too small. There were "shorty cards" that they were supposed to give with $10 extra for game play, but they were only $5 extra on top of the $5 cards I had for all the kids. Jane's VIP card didn't have any game play on it either. We ended up having enough to do a few games, which was fine, but it was a let down to me. Jane and the other kids didn't know any different so were fine.

We stopped at Sonic on the way home, got the wrong drink and only one water (the girls were dying of thirst), so were meaner than necessary to the car hop. That got sorted out and we came home to watch some TV -- screen time at last for the birthday girl.

I'm glad we did it once, and we might go hang out there sometime just for a day of family fun, but I don't think we'll spring for another party there. It was more than $400 all in I think, which is a bit more than a backyard bounce house was to rent. But I didn't have to clean my house (seriously it's in shambled right now), so that saved me some work. Maybe we could take three friends to the movies next year?! LOL.

Visiting a Temple

By Dmm1169 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Baton Rouge temple of the Church of Latter Day Saints was renovated and they had an open house, inviting members of the community to come visit it. Once the temple is re-consecrated non-Mormons won't be able to go inside and there aren't temples in every city, so when our pastor mentioned it as something worth seeing I thought I'd check it out. This temple services people in Louisiana and Mississippi.

I went with a friend, and we had to go when we each had a kid with us. Hers is a newborn, and mine was a 3-year-old, who I carried on my back. I've recently lost some weight, but she weighs more than what I've lost, so I definitely was feeling it for the hour she was back there and we were on our feet the whole time. Livia did really well despite it being really boring for her. She got many compliments on her behavior. My seven-year-old would have been a disaster.

I came away with way more questions than answers, and they weren't really encouraging questions. I was surprised there was no central meeting space and that the rooms were all very small, although finely appointed in rich styles. Wild to me that it was renovated after being less than 20 years old. They didn't talk about their missions or outreach to the world's needy, but that may not mean they don't spend money on those things (?). I am also very confused about how their church can grow when you have to be a member before entering. I guess you become a member at the other buildings/smaller churches before being cleared for the temple. It was weird to hear people using Jesus' name and God the Father but in such incongruous ways to my theology and faith. Being baptized in the place of people who have died was a new one to me, and because of the "marriage is eternal" thing it's unclear about re-marriage, although I guess it's a polygamy religion in its history so maybe that's explained that way.

Anyway, an interesting thing I'll never do again, and hopefully my questions aren't offensive if anyone ever reads them!

2019 Maker Faire

I will be at the Baton Rouge Mini Maker Faire this Saturday at the Goodwood main branch of the library. At my crochet hat booth people can pick up cards that will have this URL, so I thought I'd put something crochet-related up top! I've crocheted a lot this last month, once the booth was confirmed. Will take pictures and update my crochet hat album on Flickr.

Flickr has changed its policy to not allow unlimited number of photos for free account (fair), so I may find something else. Perhaps I can make an album in Blogger itself -- I have about 50 styles of hats I've done so it wouldn't be a huge album. Will keep pondering.

I can make custom hats to order -- I need to know a few measurements (or at least the general age of the recipient) and style selections. $20 for hats with a face (the characters) and $15 otherwise. Shipping will be extra.

Thanks for taking a look, and hope to see you at the faire!

What to Expect: Downtown Baton Rouge Fourth of July Fireworks

I am of the Swistle camp, wherein new experiences make me anxious and I like to know exactly what to expect, or at least as exactly as is possible. First-person descriptions of experiences are invaluable to that. And I could find NONE online for the downtown Baton Rouge Fourth of July fireworks display.  I even asked a few people I know who have lived in Baton Rouge for a while, and no one had actually been to this.

Online there were a few vague ads for the event, which was sponsored by the USS Kidd, a museum/monument on the Mississippi River. But they mostly focused on the daytime Independence Day activities, and I'm not interested in hauling kids to a full day of things AND staying up late for fireworks (plus the heat, my God, the heat). No information about parking and its cost, traffic plans, bathrooms.

But last night we went anyway.

We left our house just before 7 p.m. -- two hours before the fireworks began. The drive downtown takes about 15 minutes, and we were parked by 7:30 I think. We didn't run into traffic but we did take a couple loops trying to decide on parking. There's a choice -- park far away, maybe pay a little less or park closer and pay $10. We picked the "throw money at it" route and forked over the tenner. No problem. We were a block and a half away from the riverfront, making for an easy walk. There were still plenty of spots, although as we got closer to 9 the lots did fill up. (Jane said "That guy's getting rich!" about the parking lot attendant with his fat roll of cash for making change.)

Some people had parked tail-gate style, with their truck beds facing the river, in a lot just across River Road, the street that runs alongside the river. They could see the fireworks from their trucks and then more quickly get going to beat the crush of traffic after the show ... in theory at least.

When we got downtown in advance of the fireworks display, plenty of people were on the levee, and some had definitely been there for a while. But it wasn't crowded really yet. We were able to get a spot on some grass on the non-river side of the levee's sidewalk, and we were a few blocks north of the USS Kidd where all the days' activities had been.

Jane passed some time climbing down the sloped side of the levee toward the river -- it has big metal letters spelling out Baton Rouge. She did get her shoes completely muddy and gross, even though Shawn told her to stay away from the edge of the river, but that and some ant bites she got were the worst things, and neither was so bad. Livia was a little harder to control, since it was past bedtime and she likes to walk around but it wasn't really safe to let her do so, since the ground slopes on both sides of the sidewalk. It's a more gentle slope on the grassy side toward the road, but it's still a slope.

The weather was pretty much perfect. It was hot, sure, but low 80s probably. There is humidity, yes, but it wasn't super oppressive. There was wind that kept things comfortable. I was expecting to be super hot, but I was much more comfortable than I was the night before at the Kenilworth Independence Day parade. So we were lucky in that aspect.

The crowd thickened after sunset, and there were people constantly strolling along the sidewalk -- even during the show, which began just before 9 p.m. and was about 20 minutes long. We stayed on the grassy side of the sidewalk, since people filled in front of us, but we were all able to see because the fireworks go up so high. We maybe missed seeing some of the water reflections because of the people in front of us, but we still enjoyed the show. (It was the first fireworks for Jane and Livia both!)

Because we timed our coming and going (and because we were lucky I guess) we didn't need a bathroom, and that's a good thing. At the downtown Baton Rouge fireworks display THERE ARE NO BATHROOMS. According to the ads, you could pay $5 for a bathroom pass to the USS Kidd, which seems insane. There are a few restaurants and hotels that were open, and that's where police directed a woman who asked for a bathroom. (Their exact words were first "Good luck" while shrugging their shoulders.) It doesn't seem safe/right/legal to have a huge crowd without some sort of public bathroom facilities. But welcome to Louisiana I suppose.

We took glow bracelets I had left over from Halloween and a light-up toy she got at Mardi Gras. I had bubbles in my pocket but forgot about them. There were people selling waters, and probably closer to the USS Kidd there were more food options. We ate supper at home and brought waters for the girls. There were no bag checks or food police, so having a picnic or snacks would have been fine I'm sure, although a little awkward in the proximity of the sidewalk.

The show was good -- not as good as the DC or NYC shows we've seen in the past -- but still worth the trip. The girls liked it, although the booms scared Jane a little. We'd brought noise dampening headphones for both of them, but only Jane wore hers.

Getting back to the car was fine -- I wore Livia and pushed Jane in the stroller while Shawn carried our blanket and stadium seats. (In retrospect, because we parked so close I would have brought the lawn chairs just for the wait -- standing during the show was fine.) We had to maneuver a bit through the crowd, but it was doable.

Once in the car it took a while to exit our spot and then the parking lot. We went one way hoping to exit toward our house and avoid the interstate. We tried three different times and kept hitting road blocks with police funneling people toward the interstate. I get keeping people from coming into the congested area with contraflow, but why would you not let them out in every possible way?!?! Finally we got to Government Street and took that to Park to Perkins and home. It was about 10:20 when we got home, so about 40 minute travel home I think. Livia cried the second half of it, so that wasn't fun.

We got the girls in bed. Jane slept late, but Liv was up at her usual time. She just had a good long nap though, so hopefully we can get back into a regular sleep pattern. I'd advise people without kids, or with kids who can stay up later, to just hang out downtown a little bit to let the traffic thin before heading out.

TLDR; The downtown Baton Rouge fireworks display is worth the hassle. Parking is available -- for a cost. No bathrooms. Some food for purchase, but it seems fine to bring your own. Traffic is congested as expected after the show.

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:

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.

Flood Recovery

Nothing happened to me because of the Louisiana flood. But it could have. There's nothing about my character or where I chose to live that exempted me from the flood waters. It just happened that the mega rain did not fall over my house. But others in our community were not so lucky, if luck is even the right word.

Together Baton Rouge is an organization that was started several years ago to address issues of social justice and bringing the community together in rational ways to solve problems. Boy have they stepped up and been incredible in their efforts for this flood recovery. I'm proud to support them financially, and I hope you'll consider a donation too.

As a Methodist I'm proud that no matter where the disaster we are always on the ground. UMCOR is another great option for your donation dollars, and for the Louisiana flood going through the Louisiana Annual Conference is a good idea too. Our church did a lot of work in the initial week after the flood, and we continue to house "second responders," or those teams of volunteers who have expertise in gutting houses and came out to do just that.

I still feel out of sorts -- I should be DOING something -- I am experiencing no negative outcomes to this flood that hits SO CLOSE to home. My life is uninterrupted, while those so nearby are still shattered. (Although I still have the "excuse" of nursing mother to keep me out of heavy work ... although if I look at myself I'm so weak I doubt I could do the physical labor required even without the need to remain with my baby almost all the time...)

The national media coverage -- rather the lack thereof -- is problematic for getting recovery dollars and private donations flowing into the community. It's also understandable if infuriating. There's no one to "blame" in the flood scenario is something I've read often, and really that means there is no villain other than mother nature. And we can pound our heads against the wall all we want there's no changing that.

But I also don't think the national media scoffs at stories of the Cajun Navy or people saving each other. It's just less compelling perhaps the farther you are from the tragedy. That's true as human nature I guess or at least the way our media system is set up now. I didn't give a lot of thought to Superstorm Sandy even though we'd recently moved from the area hit when it happened in 2012 and even though it got A LOT more national coverage.

A lot of donations have come directly to families via GoFundMe accounts that have been set up. I've donated to one for my friend. But the awful part of that is GoFundMe takes 8% off the top. I knew it was a bad idea and I should have bought a gift card or just sent her a check directly. Blurgh. 


The other instinct that has kicked in during this time "after" is the desire to clean out all my crap. For several days I looked around and thought about the things on the floor/low shelves would just be gone should water come in. And how that would probably be OK for most of the stuff. And should I take steps to eliminate excess material goods? (Yes, a thousand times, yes.)

I've also been cutting way back on spending on non-consumables. We're still doing grocery shopping and getting medicines (wait for the post on how much fighting the breast infection is costing me to see that math...), but I haven't been shopping for new clothes or shoes or anything, even as back-to-school sales are in full swing. (I did buckle today at Target during the back-to-school clearance items, so I'm sure it won't be long before I'm back to my regular type of spending habit.) We have plenty and there's no need. We should put that money toward helping others rebuild their lives. What else is there to do?

These are the main thoughts that have been on repeat in the last few weeks. In addition to the deep sense of gratitude for remaining high and dry.

On an Island

We live in Baton Rouge, which has seen its share of tragedies this summer. The latest is a flood of epic proportions.

All around us there is devastation.

Our home is fine. We are fine. We have power, Internet and plenty of food and water.

There's no threat to our home now. We're in a high spot and away from where the biggest rains fell. We are also far enough away from bodies of water that we shouldn't suffer flooding from the backflow (which I still don't understand).

But I'm still unsettled, anxious and often find myself on the brink of tears.

We are so lucky. But what are we to do?

Our church is a short-term shelter for now, and I've been helping out with the communications/social media aspect of that as I can. I haven't brought myself to go to church and volunteer directly (although the way is clear and we went for worship on Sunday). Having the girls and being a nursing mom makes that much harder, and I can't tell if they're overwhelmed with volunteers already and an extra three people (since that's what I really am) would be more in the way than helpful. But that adds a level of guilt. I should be giving up some of my things and more of my time in constructive ways more than anxiety stressing.

We haven't been out of the house since Sunday. The roads around us are clear, but where is there to go? I got groceries on Sunday afternoon, and it was a madhouse and scary with a half-flooded parking lot that I later heard had an alligator in it (hopefully a false rumor, but certainly not unbelievable). We're a little stir crazy too. TBD on when Jane's school will actually start.

On Facebook I've seen a lot of complaints about how the flood isn't receiving national news coverage. I guess the cable news networks aren't covering it too much. I've read a few stories about "disaster porn" and maybe we're not important since it's an unknown city and Louisiana floods all the time so we should be ready for it. I don't know what national coverage would do to help things. Would people donate more? I don't know. But the disaster is staggering.

Oh, and my breast infection is definitely yeast and hasn't fully healed yet. I have been taking medication for several weeks that helps but hasn't been able to completely eliminate it. I am due for a refill tomorrow, but I don't know if I can reach my doctor OR if she'll agree to give me more (it's not a narcotic, but it is expensive and not usually used for so long). I was off it for two days last week and the pains came roaring back so she gave me another week. That's a personal anxiety but it hums in the background, increasing my general unease, malaise and ennui...

Around Baton Rouge in ~Seven Hours

Yesterday Jane and I had to be out of the house all day because some plumbers were working. There was a lot of noise, and it wasn't a safe place for a 4-year-old. It was a holiday, since Jane's school is closed Monday - Wednesday this week for Mardi Gras (such a weird place we live). We left around 9:30 and came home around 4:30, so seven hours away from the house. Here's what we did to keep ourselves "entertained" around the Red Stick:

• After a swing through the bank drive thru to deposit a freelance check (hooray for banks not being closed for Mardi Gras!) we went to Old Navy to spend my Super Cash. It's such a racket, but I was able to get some things for Jane -- and she picked out a summer outfit that is super cute. I didn't fully peruse the clearance racks, but I did get a new black T-shirt for myself for $2 and an exercise bra for about the same.
  
• Then we scooted over to Target for a quick buzz around and use some coupons I had. I almost walked out without paying for the TP that was riding in the bottom of the cart. So that meant two trips through the check out line. D'oh.
  
• Went across the street to McAllister's Deli for lunch. YUM.
  
• I had Googled "movies in Baton Rouge" to see what kid movie might be playing to kill a few hours in one go. (Answer: Kung Fu Panda ... NO THANK YOU.) But Google also reminded me that the butterfly movie plays at the planetarium at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum downtown. We wanted to see it when we went last time, but we did a morning trip and it didn't play until 1. Since Google said it would play Monday at 1 I oriented our time to getting to the museum by 12:30.
  
  Long story short(er) - LASM is closed on Mondays. ALWAYS is, and this is not the first time I've tried to go on a Monday (and I HATE going downtown -- parking is the worst). And I had parked in a garage, so we did a big 20 minute round-trip walk in the cold windy weather for nothing. Jane was disappointed but OK with the alternate plan, which was to...
  
• Head to the mall. We went to JC Penney's because I had a $10 off a $10 purchase coupon, and we found a few things for Jane (of course!). She isn't the BEST shopper, but she is getting better and enjoyed picking things out a little bit. She loved looking at herself in the mirror once I showed her that. I was carrying a bag with her picture on it, and a cashier asked me if that was a picture of my daughter/she's so beautiful! I said, yes, thanks - she's right over there. HA. After Penney's we did a few coin operated rides, played at the play area for 45 minutes then got a snack at Starbucks. I was exhausted and really needed to sit down (and could not face the carousel). Back in the car I got one more burst of power so we went...
  
• To the library to play on the computer and read books. We didn't have our books to return so we just played and read but didn't check out anything new. The librarians were surprised to see us (we're such regulars they know we'll always be there Wednesdays around 1 p.m. after school).

If you're counting that's SIX times in and out of the car seat, which is about five too many. OMG. Even thought the plumbers weren't completely finished it was safe to come home and wait it out in Jane's room for another hour or so. It was an exhausting day, but Jane was a trooper with only a bit of fussing and crabbiness. I was probably more irritated by the whole thing, but what are you going to do? 

Free TV is Not Frustration-Free TV

We've been without cable and DVR for more than a year, but we still had regular cable because the company never turned it off (we're still Internet and phone customers and overpay for that so I didn't feel too bad about that, although maybe I should?). It was just the basic 60 or so channels, and I'd watch the networks and maybe one or two others on occasion (big fan of Hallmark and Lifetime for Christmas movies, and I watched the heck out of Big Bang on TBS).

But now the cable company has started "transitioning to digital," which means if I were going to keep even the basic level of cable we'd have to get a digital converter box to somehow change the signal. I'd obviously have to start paying, and when I looked it up it's like $33/month. Well, I like TV, but not $400 per year without the ability to time shift programming. (See: cheapness in all my latest posts!)

The cable company is also in a fight with the local NBC affiliate, so that signal is blocked through our remaining wall cable channels. My mom had given us an indoor antenna to try when we initially canceled cable (I forget why she bought it - maybe for herself and it didn't work in Indy?). Last week The Black List (on NBC) was new, so I used that as a reason to give the antenna a try.

It works, and NBC is very clear as is Fox. I've been able to try a few times and get ABC, which is good because we like their weather guy (and making fun of their local news coverage - OMG). But for the life of me I cannot get CBS. All the stations are within 10-15 miles of us, and we can get some that are even farther away from the local CBS affiliate (WAFB if anyone is doing a search for "WAFB signal not working over the air" or something -- not that I have a solution yet). It has something to do with UHF vs VHF signal (VHF being weaker apparently, although the ABC station is that type too and I was able to eventually get it to work OK).

I want CBS for Big Bang Theory (new episodes) and the weekend news -- LOVE their weekend anchor, probably my favorite local reporter. Obviously I've dramatically cut back on my TV watching and shows I'm involved with - watching more with Amazon or similar. (Remember NaBloPoMo a few years back and I listed every show I watched as its own post -- that schtick lasted me nearly the entire month! Now it would be about three or four posts, so progress (?). )

ANYWAY, back to the actual problem - do we try another antenna, i.e. throw some more money at it? I can try to adjust the antenna a few more times (somewhere I read online that someone was able to get the signal by raising their antenna and the signal stayed even when they lowered it back). I know the channel (9) so I can just keep trying to force the antenna to search for it as I move it around, but so far it hasn't been able to lock on. If you're local and figure it out will you let me know?

For the love - why can't anything just be EASY!?!?!?!?!

Not a Ballerina

image via pixabay

After a lot of thought and many "are you sures?" we've decided to give up on ballet classes, at least for now.

It is just a beginner 3-year-old class -- 45 minutes per week on Tuesday afternoons. But Jane was having such trouble, and I felt like I never got a kind word from the teacher. It was only problems, dirty looks, a couple of lectures and annoyance. Jane was even booted from class once for not cooperating (with five minutes left in the class!) -- and after watching during the parent day it's pretty clear most of the girls don't cooperate that much... (But I don't want to be that parent -- I know Jane can be difficult and not cooperate. I'm the person she drives craziest, with Shawn a close second.)

The traffic getting home after class is always terrible (and includes a scary left turn across Bluebonnet). The bottom line though is that Jane doesn't want to do ballet any more, and I don't want to have to cajole her every week, even if some weeks she has a good time.

But I still feel AWFUL to quit. We are not quitters! (But we are!)

I also had already paid $85 for the "informance" (informal performance) that won't happen until MAY. I wish I had listened to my gut and just waited writing the check, but I didn't and it's non-refundable. When I asked if we could get the money back if we quit they told me she could "take a break" and we could apply those funds to tuition later (but I'm waiting on confirmation of that of course now that we've made our decision to quit). Half of me wants to just apply the $85 to January and February tuition and make a clean break after that, but this holiday break from the ballet class stress has been great and I'd like to continue that.

I HATE the idea of possibly losing money, but we can try again in the fall (or maybe the summer? I'm not sure if they have summer sessions). Maybe we'll choose a Saturday morning class instead of an evening one. Jane is always better in the mornings, but I didn't want to give up our weekends. Maybe for just a couple of months we could swing it though. I really don't see us going long-term with ballet even if we start up again -- I have no problems with that, since this was just something "fun" to do that turned out not so much.

I hate missing the opportunity to record and photograph her showing off what she learned (and she has learned some things), but not enough to keep making her do something she doesn't like. So we've signed up for the much cheaper soccer session -- no team, practices or games, just fun. And that will be our activity for the spring.

At Your Own Risk

Driving on campus is perilous, and I do it at least five times a week to pick up Jane from school. This week I also dropped her off two mornings while Shawn was home with repair-type people.

First are the pedestrians - college students who are paying no attention. I can usually manage to be safe when they're in the crosswalks lollygagging, listening to music and staring dumb-facedly into their phones. But it's when they randomly step off the curb into oncoming traffic that I have panic attacks.

Sometimes you can get caught at a class change, mainly on MWF because we pick up at 12:30 and that's a class start time. Then you can be stuck behind several cars as a flow of seemingly hundreds (probably just dozens) of students ambles along slowly.

Second there are the bikes, and I think they're worse. Some bikers act like vehicles, i.e. obey the law, and others ride on sidewalks, shoot out into cross walks or simply ride in the street going the wrong way. My heart has dropped on many occasions worried about hitting someone.

Because that's the thing -- I don't want to hit anyone with my car! I don't want to be slowed down or inconvenienced, but mainly -- I don't want to hit anyone and want us all to get where we're going safely. I am impatient at the best of times, but I need to start giving myself extra cushion time and being OK if I'm not in the parking lot right at 12:30 -- we have until 12:45 to pick up, and oftentimes they're not even ready until closer to 12:40.

I remember being on the other side of the equation when I was working on campus and had to cross a busy street. State law requires stopping for pedestrians in a crosswalk. I shook my fists OFTEN at cars speeding down Nicholson Extension as I tried to cross, including when I was 9 months pregnant.

I guess the bottom line is people are the worst -- either as pedestrians or drivers. And all I can do is try to NOT be the worst and be a civil and courteous driver. But it sure frazzles my already frayed nerves.

Reactions

In April I read Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans. I cried my contacts out when I finished it, and I took some notes as a response at the time, thinking I would blog about it sometime. NaBloPoMo is a perfect opportunity, right?

My favorite parts were the personal stories - I am nosy and will read minutiae about almost anyone's life. I loved the honesty. I've read Evans' other books and regularly read her blog. She writes some great stuff. I admire her and wish I could be as bold and clear in writing about my faith, not to mention so articulate. She's a great writer.

Although my core beliefs haven't changed the way hers did I can identify with Evans' journey and story so much. I am still United Methodist, but my political leanings have done a 180 as my faith has developed, deepened and my understanding grown. I am so lucky to have grown up in my open denomination and to have had such role models of faith - especially my mom and Gran.

I also read Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart D. Erhman around the same time, so my notes are on the same page.

A lot of that book was kind of duh, big red truck stuff -- obviously the way manuscripts of any kind are passed down and copied down will introduce errors. But I don't doubt that Scripture has God's word. How else would we have it so many years later? God is big enough to speak even through errors and using fallible people.

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I am having another type of reaction -- to mosquito bites. The weather here is humid beyond belief, which is expected in Louisiana but not necessarily in late November. It's also warm -- yesterday we neared 80. After a bunch of rain a couple weeks ago while were in Tulsa tons of dormant mosquitoes rose up from hibernation in the ground and are EVERYWHERE. They're fat and slow but require constant vigilance to kill them if you stand outside at all.

On Sunday afternoon we went to a preschool friend's back yard birthday party. It was fun, and we had gorgeous weather. But I was chewed alive by the bugs (oh, and Jane got quite the shiner/skin abrasion under her eye on the bouncy house -- she's fine though). Two days later and the itching is unbearable at times -- mainly on my arms and hands, but there's also some bites on my B00Bs! The bites flare up -- itch and swell -- and then die down and cycle around. I've been using After Bite (kind of like this), which is basically a baking soda solution, It stings a little but helps. It's just ugh, and certainly sends me back to the bedbug era - oh-em-gee.

(Affiliate links used)

Gotcha Journalism

I'm not an editor, but ... sometimes I play one from my living room couch.

(And I have two journalism degrees so I'm qualified for arm-chair editing, right?)

I watch the 10 pm news a few times a week, and I always get agitated by at least one story. Local TV journalism is always really weak. Even when we were in NYC it was a joke. But Baton Rouge is ridiculous to new degrees.

Recently here there was a story about some football player meeting with an NFL coach. The player didn't live in Baton Rouge anymore but was in town because he was being questioned in connection with a crime. The reporter camped out at the restaurant and got a waiter to give him information about what the player ordered to eat. It was the weirdest thing because 1) WHO CARES and 2) what a weird invasion of privacy. I get that he's a public figure, but how does knowing he ordered steak (or whatever it was) advance the story? They even broke into other news to show (LIVE!) the guy walking out of the restaurant. Crazy.

That's just one example I remember because it's so ridiculous. But I roll my eyes with great frequency if I do watch the news. Usually I just want a weather report, so I should just look online and go to bed earlier!

Fly BTR

At the risk of a security breach we are traveling this weekend. We are flying from Baton Rouge, which is pretty darn convenient.

I recently saw a Facebook thread complaining about BTR not being as good as the New Orleans airport and how much easier it is to get to NoLa.

Uh...

Our house is at least an hour from New Orleans airport, and we can be at BTR in about 20 minutes. Maybe ticket prices are higher for some destinations, but the time saved to me is worth it.

The FB thread also complained about the airport's neighborhood. It's in the northern part of the city, which does have more crime. But what's the alternative? Move the airport? You want it in your backyard? Ticket prices would definitely go up if you move it. Good grief.

Hope our flights are easy and on time. See you on the flip side. Really hope hotel has WiFi so I can blog tomorrow!!

Ballet Annoyances

Crocheted bun cover for ballet

Jane has been going to ballet since August. It's at a relatively affordable place, $45/month for one class per week. They only take checks, and I have forgotten my check more than once, including today. Grrrr... I hate doing stuff like that.

A major ongoing annoyance is the temperature of the waiting room. It is always stifling hot. I don't know why they want to melt the people who write the checks. Theoretically I could leave, but if Jane needed to go potty or if I got caught in traffic that would be bad. So here I sit.

The other little girls also drive me crazy. One today gave Jane a perfect bitch stare while Jane was twirling in the lobby and said "I can do something much more beautiful" then did a jumping lunge type move. So weird and ugly.

A few weeks ago we had trouble with "best friends" and some girls saying they were best friends with each other not Jane. Jane reacted physically with pushing, so she was the one in trouble. I got a serious lecture, as if I had pushed a three-year-old myself!! The teacher also accusingly pointed at Jane and told me I should "talk to her!" The other parents got glowing reports and no mention of the mean girl behavior. Obviously I did talk with Jane and remind her EVERY week not to talk about best friends. And I think she is still separated from those girls during class. It is not ok to push or be physical, and we haven't had other problems yet. I still get a frosty vibe from the teacher, but that may be imagined. I am sensitive, even more so about my J-buggie.

Another stupid incident -- we were all leaving and a girl (of "best friend" fame) said, "Bye, James!" repeatedly. Jane didn't respond, but I said goodbye to the girl by name. While we were still in earshot the girl's grandma said, "She's not a very friendly girl, is she?" I said "we can hear you!" But I'm not sure she heard or noticed -- or would have cared if she did hear. I fumed about that for a good while. It is totally fake southern niceness, which wears on me quite a bit.

So. Maybe we should find another activity. There is gymnastics, but I'm not sure it would be any better. I am a social malcontent. I am making efforts for Jane though.

Dinosaur Hat & FAQs

Even though I have millions of post ideas swirling in my head I'm going to stick to crochet for a while in case any of the Maker Faire attendees check me out and are looking for crochet info. (Also if I were smart I'd write down the ideas in advance of NaBloPoMo coming up in November!)

(See Want to Order a Crochet Hat for more details. Individual photos of other hats I've made are in my silvermari crochet hats Flickr album.)

The week before the faire I cranked out 10 hats, including this really cute dinosaur one. It was among the 17 purchased, and by someone who's in my parenting group. So that was fun. Since it didn't have a face it was only $10, even though those dadgum spikes were as tedious as a face to crochet and sew on (I did them during Heroes: Reborn!). I love how it turned out, and it's even cuter on a kid's head. Someone suggested a pink and purple dino hat ... interesting!

I got asked some questions repeatedly yesterday. I should have written them down/done more than just think I would remember them. I know I gave the same spiel a lot (Gran taught me to crochet when I was a teenager, I started making hats once Jane was born, it got out of control because we live in Baton Rouge and she can only wear one hat at a time, etc.).

How long does it take you to make one of these?

I started paying attention this week, in anticipation of that question. And I would say a straightforward, simple beanie takes about 1.5 hours. Something more complex, like Grumpy Cat or even the dino, could be up to 3 hours. Lambie was even more, and that's one I made for Jane that I don't intend to repeat (at least not for $15!).

Can I have one of these for free?

Of course this was asked by kids, but I was surprised by how many did -- and not little toddlers or anything. Hrm. (The answer is NO.)

Do you make up your own patterns?

Not really. I've made up one, which was really just a variation on an established pattern. I can recreate hats with faces just from pictures, because it's just crocheting shapes in the right colors and sewing them on a base hat. (There are a gazillion blog posts for making the perfect sized hat -- once you understand the basics of increasing in the round it's straightforward to make a good double-crochet base hat.) For patterns I recommend Moogly Blog (probably my favorite crochet blog right now), and a search on Pinterest will come up with patterns. I also have used library books to learn new stitches and patterns. Usually the pattern will say whether you can sell the finished product and if you need to cite them as the pattern maker (I attach a handwritten tag to each hat with hat name, yarn content, care instructions and any pattern info like that if needed).

Can you teach me to crochet?

I could, but I don't do lessons or classes. I just referred people to the library's crochet groups. They're listed in The Source, the library system's monthly newsletter. They even have groups geared to teens, which I think is so cool. YouTube has lots of learn-to-crochet videos, and I'm sure there are other ways to learn too.

Did I miss a question, or is there something you'd like to know about my crochet craft? Drop me a comment or send me an email. I'd love to hear from you.

Also, here's a picture of my booth yesterday. I had a much less space than last year, but I actually sold one or two more hats (and not having a credit card reader wasn't as big of an obstacle ... although I did order one that will be here this week - d'oh - so maybe next year or if I start doing other sales or something, which is doubtful):

Baton Rouge Mini Maker Faire 2015

I'll have a booth again at this year's Mini Maker Faire at the East Baton Rouge Public Library's main branch at Goodwood. It's this Saturday, Sept. 26 from 10 am to 4 pm. (I'm missing the hot air balloon festival for this, thanks to multiple big events scheduled at the same time to avoid LSU home football games!)

Please see the Want to Order a Crochet Hat? post for details about how to place a custom crochet order. Also, more photos of hats I have made are in my silvermari crochet hats Flickr album. 

Tailgating Maniacs

I just got back from a quick jaunt to the post office. I have to drive down College, which is pretty heavily congested. Today I had someone right on my tail from just after I turned onto Lee from our street until past Perkins. She was SO CLOSE to my bumper, it was scary. I was going the speed limit and didn't think much of it. People here love to tailgate -- ALL KINDS of tailgating. Geez.

Then as soon as we cross the railroad tracks I notice how close she's getting AND that the lane next to me is stopping. There's a one-legged man in a wheelchair crossing the street in the middle of the road. (This is a four-lane, busy busy road!) I honk my horn, mainly to alert this lunatic behind me to slow the EFF down and not hit me, as I slam my brakes to keep from running into the pedestrian. (Are you a pedestrian in a wheelchair?)

Then my adrenaline was running and I was so upset I just stayed stopped until this woman would go around me. She had ample opportunities, but she just sat there, inches behind me. If I inched up to give her space to get around she just creeped behind me. SO AWFUL.

I was terrible too, in that I was backing up traffic. But it was a crazy thing. FINALLY she went around me, and she was racing to get to ... STARBUCKS! She had her LSU stickers and stuff on her giant silver SUV. Typical typical typical. (She was still in line in the drive through when I came out of the post office.)

My heart has pretty much stopped racing now that I'm back home and everything is OK. I wish I'd thought to get her license plate number or something because she was really driving recklessly (I guess I was too by stopping in the road and impeding traffic).

I should probably just stay home!

A Stranger in the South

I'm not from the South. So I don't understand the value of making our kids say "yes, ma'am" and "no, sir" in every interaction with an adult. That's the style at Jane's school though. She doesn't bring it home or call me that, although she does tell me her teacher tells her to say it. Will she be in big trouble if I don't drill her in that social nicety? I do find myself falling prey to the "Ms./Mr. First Name" with people at church. That seems expected, although still weird to me.

We had her Easter party at school this week, and I got to observe the other moms of kids in the 2-year-old classes. Most knew each other, and knew each other well. Basically I got the impression that the typical mom fits the cliche "good Christian woman." It was the same recipe -- blown out hair, cute matching ensembles and multiple children in their arms also dressed up in smocked outfits and giant hair bows for the girls. And they all speak so sweetly, even though I could feel the undercurrent of "bless your heart" pulsing in that sweet talk. I didn't feel totally out of place, since Jane was there and she fits in great despite her decidedly un-smocked wardrobe and lack of giant hair bows, but it is very obvious that I am different. That may always be so...

I Survived Holly Days 2014

I paid $16 for the privilege of walking into a convention center to shop for cute, expensive gifts. Many were handmade and worth the price. Others seemed less reasonable. The ticket price was $11, but I also had to pay $5 for parking. Kind of ridiculous all around.

It's "for a good cause," whatever that cause is. The Junior League does outreach in the community, so spending money to go isn't something I feel bad about (although the parking fee just goes to that garage).

I carried Jane around on my back in the Ergo, since strollers were not allowed. (And a good thing too. It was crowded enough without the addition of strollers.) We made a loop, methodically, around the outside and then zigzagging in and out of the shorter aisles and middle aisle. There wasn't a clear flow to the aisles, so there were always people going both ways and clumps of people stopping to chat "Oh hi, I haven't seen you in forever."

(No surprise: I didn't see ANYONE I knew.)

I bought about five Christmas presents -- I had to feel like I was getting my entry fee money's worth. Just before we left Jane got down from my back to try out these expensive horse toys. They were more than $200, and the sales guy was weird about which ponies were for demonstration. I did not like him -- or the toy -- at all, but we'd walked past it and she'd asked to play on them. It was a small reward for not crying and bucking while riding on "mama horse" through the shops.

All together we were only there for a bit more than an hour. I could have spent more time methodically going through each shop and looking at pieces individually. There was a lot of great jewelry, although it's such a personal item it's hard to buy something like that for other people. (Hey, I have a birthday coming up though!) I couldn't last much longer than an hour with the 35 extra pounds on my back. And once she was down it would have been a matter of time before she wandered off -- or pulled my arm out of the socket by going limp/dragging me down.

Ideally I would go to a thing like that alone, with headphones, to shop in stealth, leave-me-alone mode, which is much more efficient although anti-social. I don't think I'll ever go to the Holly Days again, unless someone had free tickets or otherwise invited me specifically. But it was worth it to see what it was all about this once.

I didn't find out how much the booth rental was, although if I ever got serious about my crochet hats that would be an obvious place to sell. (I saw two booths that had crochet hats, but they were afterthoughts/not the main thing being sold and didn't have much selection -- they were also MUCH more expensive than mine.)

An idea for an entrepreneurial junior junior leaguer -- a child care service like they have at Ikea -- just a room or area where parents could drop off their kids and shop, for a charge of course. Could offer activities and crafts, games, etc. I definitely would have been down for using a service like that (at least in theory). It's probably a nightmare legally though.

Carry on.