Lots of birthdays

Two of the kids in one of the playgroups we regularly hang out with had birthdays over the weekend -- both girls, both turning two. And both moms are pregnant, and due with their third babies in the spring (one of them was planned, one unplanned and unexpected because the mom had had to use IVF for her previous pregnancy). We went to a birthday party at Gymboree on Saturday, and the other party was just a playgroup this morning. What fun! And just last week we went to another one for another little boy turning two, and we have invites for one dad's birthday party and at least one other toddler turning two.

Whew! It's hard to keep up with all this. I'm thinking I have got to start learning a craft just so I don't have to got to Half Price Books and look for a nice-looking book so often (some of them we've just regifted some of of C's old books, but we are running out of toddler books of his that are in good condition). I get so jealous, too of all the moms I know who are pregnant (three at least).

However, I have met one other mom who has only one and will not be able to have another (not only does she have PCOS, but she also has *two* blood clotting disorders). Her son is almost a year older than C, but he's about the same size. He's in daycare all day, so we only see him in the evening and on weekends. Things go fine as long as either we are outside or at the other boy's home, but if we're here, C gets all possessive of his toys and mad about the other boy having fun with them. I hope he learns to share better soon. I don't like the way he gets all bent out of shape about it. He went and closed himself in his room about it last night. Bleh!

Costa Ricans are long-lived

Pretty cool story about how people in Costa Rica live a very long time. Always knew it was an awesome place. I really want to go back to visit. It's so beautiful!

Hidden Ingredients

If you didn't make it yourself, really you have no idea what is in it. It could have gluten, MSG, or many other ingredients not on the label, or not listed. Ugh!

Dear Kitty

No time to write much, just a link to ponder.

Dean and Delucca

If I wanted to pay almost eleven dollars for a pint of ice cream, it would have to be organic, pastured cream with just a tiny bit of organic sugar with some other natural sweeteners like honey. Exotic flavors might be nice, although I don't know about a goat cheese flavor. Oh, and it should be made by hand, as in stirred by hand in a bowl set in a bowl of ice. Seriously folks, who spends money like this? Talk about conspicuous consumption!
It's amazing what people will pay for if it's presented the right way!

Seattle Waterfront photos

Just got a link to photos of the Seattle Waterfront from 1907 and 2002, showing how much it has changed. One thing that struck me was how tiny the buildings from then looked compared to how huge they look now. What is with this gigantic building thing? Is it that we have to dwarf ourselves more? Or just an economic thing -- make more money from the same amount of land? The water is much less used in the 2002 photo, which kind of makes sense since we now have a lot more cars and trucks and such. But you'd think people would at least do recreational sailing? Then again, nobody has any free time these days, do they? Workaholism has practically become institutionalized.

Plastic Bags Are Killing Us?

According to this article in Salon's website, plastic grocery bags are the worst type of litter in the world. They are choking waterways and killing wildlife. They don't break down, pretty much ever, and they are generally not recycled (our local grocery stores do have bins for them, but you have to remember to bring them it regularly).
It's better to use the cloth totes, or at least the reusable bags made from recycled plastic. Although the latter aren't really washable. You can buy cloth totes at a craft store and decorate them yourself. Or even make your own totes if you have a sewing machine and a bit of talent for that sort of thing.

reusablebags.com has a wide selection of cloth bags, even ones for bagging produce (you can't store the produce in the fridge in them, though).

Why I stay away from restaurants

I had what should have been a fairly innocuous meal yesterday at a Mexican restaurant -- refried beans and grilled chicken with mole sauce. Wrong. I have got to remember that most restaurants use MSG liberally, and sauce = extra MSG. I should have just gone home to eat, we had food. I was just tired. But now, I am beyond tired because I woke up about 4 am and just could not get back to sleep, and I'm convinced it was the food. I am going to do what I can to purge it from my system -- lots of fruits and veggies to detox it, I think. Ugh.

Headscratching moment

I decided to try to read an article that was the transcription of a channeler. Part of it addressed how global warming may not be so bad after all. I was intrigued, given that they've been predicting all kinds of dire consequences for the past 25 years or so. That somehow the global warming phenomenon will trigger us to take better care of the earth.
Then I read about micro-magic, and about how you can possibly merge with a tree. Wow, how cool, I've always loved trees! Who doesn't -- they are so wise and so green! Anyway this is what the channeled spirit said:

For example, how do you know that a part of you may actually not be, or be, the tree that is near your home? Or is it possible that a portion of who and what you are is also experiencing tree, and how would that possibly add to the language of your Being, and thus, add to the definition of who and what you are. You also make a very clear distinction between who and what you are and your dream self. But what if the apparently distinct separateness is not as distinct or separate as you've assumed? Does this make sense?

It was about language more than magic, but I just had to share. I am so sleep-deprived it isn't funny, so maybe tomorrow, I will see it differently. But right now it seems really cool.

Ashwin's Blog contest

Over at Ashwin’s blog, you will find one crazy blog owner!! You can win $2500!! To enter just copy this text and paste it in your blog!! But hurry, this competition will not last long! So get posting!

Be the Change

There is a movement, called "Be the Change" that was inspired by Mahatma Ghandi's statement, "we must be the change we wish to see in the world.” It is a movement of people who try to do something every day to improve things, to change things for the better. Their principles are:
* Identify and pursue your life's passion and purpose
* Aspire to be your greatest self
* Make at least one conscious, positive contribution or act of change each day

Here's a link
Here's another one (apparently there is more than one "be the change" movement)

Peace Pilgrim

From January 1, 1953 until her death in 1981, a silver haired woman calling herself only "Peace Pilgrim" walked the streets of this country, spreading her message asking for peace, both inner and outer. She gave up all her possessions and lived completely without money (when people sent her money, she spent it on postage for letters she sent to people who wrote to her -- this was back when snail mail was pretty much it).
She said:

This is the way of peace: overcome evil with good,
and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.

NEGATIVE vs. POSITIVE: I have chosen the positive approach - instead of stressing the bad things which I am against, I stress the good things which I am for. Those who choose the negative approach dwell on what is wrong, resorting to judgement and criticism, and sometimes even to name-calling. Naturally, the negative approach has a detrimental effect on the person who uses it, while the positive approach has a good effect. When evil is attacked, it mobilizes, although it may have been weak and unorganized before, and therefore the attack gives it validity and strength. When there is no attack but instead good influences are brought to bear upon the situation, not only does the evil tend to fade away, but the evil-doer tends to be transformed. The positive approach inspires - the negative approach makes angry. When you make people angry they act in accordance with their baser instincts, often violently and irrationally. When you inspire people they act in accordance with their higher instincts, sensibly and rationally. Anger is transient, whereas inspiration sometimes has a lifelong effect.

Here is a link.

Cancer New Moon

We're in a Cancer New Moon now. For those of you who are interested in astrology that is.
My dad, were he still alive, would be turning 88 in a couple of days. The 18th to be exact.

Chakra test

You can do a questionnaire about your chakra health. Cool, eh?

Mutant (?) Fish baby

The Newborn Baby Fish (comic)
www.NewsTarget.com
I have to add: this guy can scare the dickens out of you if you read a lot of his site.

Child Labor Awareness

I think this site is tracking some very important information, like how to buy chocolate that wasn't produced with child labor. Rock on, dude.

Do your own Tarot readings

This is pretty cool. You can do your own tarot readings online, from several different decks. See: http://www.consciousone.com/c1Cards/

Nigeria's "Lady Mechanics"

This is a pretty cool story. Interesting how things around the world are so similar to what they were when I was in college. Back then they kept saying to help developing countries, help the women.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0126/p01s03-woaf.html

Autistic Savant draws from Memory

What a cool video! Amazing!

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/content/view/2198/35/

The immortal hamburger

This is kind of funny and kind of scary:


Note: I wouldn't bother going to the url mentioned in the video -- it's a raw foods guy selling access to his site for some outrageous fee.

The neighbor's poor baby

The neighbors' baby cries. A lot. And they are obviously of the "let them cry it out" philosophy. I even knocked on their door once at around 11:30 PM to "see if everything was OK" and tell them that their baby's crying was waking up my son, and they explained they were "Ferberizing" the baby. Ugh. This has been going on for several months now, so it's obviously not working, if their goal was to teach the baby not to cry. The poor thing cries off and on much of the day and a lot at night, too. The cries vary, from screaming disturbed cries to repetitive rhythmic cries. He woke me up this morning with his cries at around 6:30 am, what with everyone's windows open from the heat. He's cried on and off this morning. It was so nice and peaceful when they were out of town last week, I had forgotten how obnoxious the crying was. I don't know what else to say except I feel bad for him.

Too much sun again!

So, we have been out in the sun a couple of times in the past few days, and I find that I'm extremely sun sensitive. I get a rash from the sun going through my clothes! Sure, the summer sun here is very intense, but this didn't happen last summer. My low blood pressure may be a part of it, or it could be some of the supplements I've been taking. I have got to read up on them! This is ridiculous. I have been having a hard time with the sun for several years now (I recall feeling really woozy after riding on the back of a friend's motorcycle for the Dykes On Bikes contingent of the San Francisco Gay Lesbian Transgender Pride Parade over ten years ago), but this year it's the worst. I don't like having to stay inside all day! Ack!

On the beauty of the Pacific Northwest

I can't really explain the ways I have come to love it here, other than to say that it's gorgeous here and so open.

Decisions, decisions

Up until now, I have always been really bad at making decisions. I get a quick blast of a thought about what I want, and then later on I get other ideas that contradict that. Fears? I don't know...not wanting to be wrong? I guess fear of making a mistake can be paralyzing. Wanting to do more than one thing at once? Is that a fear? Not wanting to work at something -- is that also a fear? Maybe of putting a lot into something and failing? Fear of failure is a big one for me that I have to get over. Also though, I am convinced that living in three or four places at once will be possible some day, I just have to figure out the trick to bending time and space enough to be able to do it. Ha ha!

I do love living here in a lot of ways -- partly because I am here. Partly because the trees are all so green all year. The air smells so clean. There are so many parks. The library is great. People are very friendly and helpful. Puget Sound is so smooth. Riding a ferry on it is so different from any other ferry I've been on, because the ride is smoother than being on a car. Lake Washington turns a certain shade of blue on a sunny day. It's so very deep. Almost primeval. There are so many farms. And farmer's markets. There are a ton of natural foods stores. And supplements store. Traffic is not as bad as it was in California. My wonderful Aunt Janet lives a few hours' drive away, and she is a grower of fruit. My Uncle Walt lives in Seattle (though we don't see him much). My friend Becka and her wonderful daughter who is C's best friend. My friend Faye whose sons are fun and who always has great food to eat. The playgroups. The Seattle Center. Our apartment complex, which has suddenly become full of families with kids of all ages. Even our Ferberizing neighbors seem to be getting better after I tacked a La Leche League magazine to their door. The malls with the play areas. The homeschooling groups. The museum of Flight. The Children's museums. The beaches in Seattle that we've been to, particularly Discovery Park. The South 47 Farm. Minea Farm. The Berke Museum. The Sammammish River.

What I miss about California: San Francisco. San Rafael. My friends. Alameda. BART. The La Leche League Leaders who made me feel so welcome there (the ones here never did). The warm September/October Indian summers. The beaches. The dunes. The grazing cows at Pt Reyes National Seashore. The campus at UC Berkeley. The Castro District. The Mission. Berkeley. Orinda. Redwood Regional Park. The art museums. The J Church. The N Judah. Coffee shops everywhere. The Palace of the Legion of Honor museum. Golden Gate Park.

What I miss about Tennessee: my friend Stacy and her wonderful family. My brother Charlie. Being relatively near my other brother Stan. The warm spring weather. The Appalachian mountains. The local festivals. The creeks. The memories I have (although many involve leaving to go on trips, to places like The Blue Ridge Parkway, The Outer Banks, Washington, DC). The slower pace of life.

Messages of Love for autistic children

This is a short excerpt from a message of love from Amris:

Do you know that the writer was autistic? In a time when this illness was not so widespread, she experienced it, she lived it. A forerunner of the ones of tomorrow, she was. And today, is her tomorrow. Today, these children are everywhere.

These children are so much more sensitive on every level. And they all carry gifts as grand, or greater than the one you witnessed unfolding in the writer. The difficulty that you have is watching in this time before the unfolding. In doing the daily work of reminding this little one that he is perfect, just as he is.

See: Messages of Love

What's up on Planet Earth

Hm.

Living off the land

Cool site: Link

The Maya National Council of Elders of Guatemala asked us to pray for our world on May 22

I just found out about this, a bit too late:

Date: May 11, 2007

From:

Don Alejandro Oxlaj, Guatemala de la Asuncion

Don Alejandro is charged as the primary keeper of the teachings, visions and prophecies of the Mayan people. He is head of the National Mayan Council of Elders of Guatemala, Day Keeper of the Mayan Calendar, a 13th generation Quiche Mayan High Priest and a Grand Elder of the Continental Council of Elders and Spiritual Guides of the Americas. He is also an international lecturer on Mayan Culture.

Don Alejandro gives us this timely message: a call to action, a call to come together and be as one. Don Alejandro Hill be performing a Sacred Maya FIRE Ceremony in Guatemala , and be joining the thousands of others around the planet during the Break through Celebration.

“Brothers and Sisters of all colors, holding hands around the planet on May 22nd 2007, let us reflect on this, let us meditate in our own way, in our own language, according to our own culture or religion, because we have only one Sun to shine upon us equally, one air that we breath and gives us life, one water that we drink and becomes blood in our veins and all live on Mother Earth. She feeds us, she holds us. Brothers and Sisters of all colors, together united in meditation to make conscience to the men in power, governors, politicians, business people: no more war, no more contaminating bombs, no more death. Together we can make a difference.”

Dear Brothers Joseph and Carl (Giove and Calleman):

In the name of the Heart of the Heavens and the Heart of the Earth, greetings to you. In the name of the Maya National Council of Elders, Spiritual Guides of Guatemala, we address the following to you for your great magnetic connections at the global level:

The Spirit of the Maya Nation and the Spirit of Mother Earth make us look for ties of friendship with all peoples of the world. The Maya Prophecy tells us “ …We will meet for we are one like the fingers of the hand”. We all are children of the Earth, we are flowers of the garden of our Creator coming in different colors, in different shapes, in different sizes, with different aromas; speaking different languages, and each one worshiping and meditating in their own way to the same Creator who has different names according to their own culture.

We hope this communiqué reaches all institutions, in private sectors as well as governmental ones; landowners, scientists, and all people in general. Brothers and sisters, there has been over 500 years of extermination in the face of the earth, extermination of humans, extermination of our brother animals and ancient trees, every day at a faster speed. The elders from the National Council of Elders and Spiritual Guides of Guatemala are keepers of mystical and millenary knowledge. Like the birds, tirelessly in their flight, they live to see the prophecies fulfilled. We want to make all people and governments in the world conscientious, and have them analyze and reflect at the situation of the planet in the present time. Let us start by remembering that the Americas were a paradise 500 years ago. Virgin forests, cities of beautiful animals, cities to an innumerable variety of colorful birds, flying in freedom; they provided food for everyone. The waters were abundant and pure; and the people, they lived in their own traditions, guarding their cultures and conserving the beauty of Mother Earth. Our ancestors lived to be over 100 years old, free from contagion and illnesses. They were respectful and obedient to the laws of our Creator.

Let us talk now about our present times. We enjoy new advances in technology, inventions that make everyday life easier for us, we all use them, but the negative side is that we are finishing up our forests, and contributing to the contamination of the planet, the rivers are drying out, the waters are being contaminated. Our crops are affected by plagues as well as plagues killing our animals. We are threatened by contagious illnesses, incurable illnesses unknown in the past. Very harmful are the use of chemicals, the insecticides, transgenic seeds, etc. And most of all, these days, the nuclear testing: nuclear bombs and a great deal of war weapons, and the war in itself sterilizing or killing the planet Earth and affecting all living beings. Many people are homeless, children begging in the streets, others are involved in prostitution. Predators are on the rise. Dead people appearing daily in the streets, kidnappings, extortion, shootings in the schools, parents killing children, children killing children, parents raping their own kids. All this is a direct result of the contamination. There is no respect; no respect for life. The authorities sell themselves. The justice can be bought or sold.

Now lets speak about the future. We, the traditional Mayan elders, and all indigenous peoples in the world, meditate on the future. We don’t think only for today, the present, we think for tomorrow, for our children, grand children and future generations. We see a dark shadow approaching, a shadow that will cause a lot of harm. It is the great contamination. All this is due to man’s creation. We are digging our own graves. Wars are being transported to other countries; they reason in their speeches it is on behalf of freedom, but the result is more slavery. They speak that it will bring new development, but the result is more hunger for the underdeveloped countries. If we continue like this, the time will come when there are no more soldiers to form battalions. The Maya National Council of Elders of Guatemala ask all nations of the world – their governors and the governed ones – to put a stop to the contamination; and to the big and small enterprises, to find alternatives. We don’t want any more wars, no more death, no more nuclear testing, no more chemicals, because the warming up of the planet is unbearable to Mother Earth. If we don’t change, sooner or later, she will strike back with millions of lives lost.

Our Creator created us here over the face of the earth to worship him, to love and respect each other. We all are equal, we are flowers of the earth, in different sizes, of different colors, with different songs, with different smell, but all looking at our Creator, honoring him with different dances, different music, different ceremonies. We all plead to him,
we are his children, he is the creator of all that exist, all that we see and all which is beyond our senses. He has given us our life with an intelligence to do well. Brothers and Sisters of all colors, holding hands around the planet on May 22nd 2007, let us reflect on this, let us meditate in our own way, in our own language, according to our own culture or religion, because we have only one Sun to shine upon us equally, one air that we breath and gives us life, one water that we drink and becomes blood in our veins and all live on Mother Earth. She feeds us, she holds us. Brothers and Sisters of all colors, together united in meditation to make conscience to the men in power, governors, politicians, business people: no more war, no more contaminating bombs, no more death. Together we can make a difference.

May 22nd 2007 is 5 Ajpu, the Day of Grand Father Sun, he shines upon all of us equally, he doesn’t know discrimination, he doesn’t get lost on his path, he doesn’t get ahead or behind of himself. He gives us warmth, he gives us life. One Sun, one Air, one Water, One Mother Earth. May 22nd 2007 day of Grand Father Sun, Grand Mother Moon.

The Maya Prophecy says: “Arise, all arise, not one nor two groups be left behind, together we will see once again the place from where we have come from”

Alejandro Cirilo Perez Oxlaj/ Wandering Wolf
Grand Elder of the National Council of Elders Mayas,
Xincas and Garifunas of Guatemala

Unconditionality

So, Scott Noelle talks about letting in unconditionality. Being unconditional not just with your kids but with yourself. I think that's an admirable goal, but it just sounds like so much an out-there concept. He says:

Unconditionality is a state of mind in which you are willing to allow well-being into your experience... NO MATTER WHAT

This definition implies that the experience of well-being is always available to you — that you can have more well-being simply by letting it in. There are many people in this world — perhaps you know some of them — whose lives seem to prove this point. They have a high level of well-being despite poverty, disabilities, an abusive childhood, or other circumstances about which most people would feel quite unwell. But it’s not that well-being is somehow more available to them, it’s that they are more skilled at achieving the state of unconditionality that lets it in.

Unconditionality is selfish in the best sense of the word, because your own well-being becomes your top priority. You give to your child only what you can give happily, and that sets in motion a pattern of giving that continually increases your well-being instead of feeling like a drain. This leads to more generosity, not less.

Hm, something to think about. Sure sounds cool.

Camping, just mama and son

Two weeks ago, C and I went camping together, just the two of us. I had worried that it would be too hard with just me and a four year old boy, but really it wasn't too bad. His main motivation was that I had said that he could have marshmallows when he was four and we went camping -- last fall! He has an amazing memory for such things. Anyway, we found a close by state park with a campground, Kanaskat-Palmer State Park.

Since it was the middle of the week and before Memorial Day weekend, there were plenty of spots, so we didn't need a reservation (otherwise we would have had to reserve it a year in advance or something). All we had to do was get everything we needed to bring packed into the car and go. Which would be a much bigger job than I had realized. As you will come to see as I relate the crazy tale.

On Tuesday evening (or was it Monday?), we went to the local big box store, Fred Meyer, and bought a tend. We needed a new tent, because our old one, a Target brand tent, had lost a "shock cord" -- the elastic cord that holds the pieces of pole together. Who invented this style of tent pole must have known that this would happen, particularly if you have to camp in a damp environment a lot and don't have a chance to take the tent home and put it up in your yard to dry out on a sunny day after you come back from your trip - which we can't do being that we live in an apartment.

C enjoyed the little pull-out description of all the tents they had to offer. He kept insisting we get a tent right then and there; I wanted to ponder things a bit more, given how short-lived our last tent was (less than two years). Anyway, we ended up getting a four-person Coleman brand tent (I wasn't so sure about the store brand). Bill showed up at the store around then, having walked there from work on his way home (thank goodness for cell phones), so he helped carry the tent to the checkout.

Then, the next morning, C was still very determined to go camping right that minute (I wasn't so sure at that point, although the idea of just packing up and going did seem kind of cool). I realized we also needed some more fuel for our camp stove, and maybe also a propane lantern. So we went to Target and got their cheapest propane lantern along with some fuel for it and the stove (they had their own brand of propane, two canisters connected together, which was cool, almost like an omen telling me yes, buy a propane lantern, not one of those battery ones).

We have a tiny battery powered lantern, and about a dozen flashlights, you see (C loves flashlights and went through a period where he had to buy one every time he saw one), so we really didn't *need* a propane lantern, but somehow, it just doesn't seem like camping without one.

At that point, it was probably around noon or so, and I was hoping to leave soon. But somehow, between going shopping, cooking, packing, the afternoon just passed. We had had to go back to Fred Meyer for some ice for the cooler and some snacks, and by the time we got home, Bill was coming home from work! He gets home early compared with a lot of my friends' husbands, but still it was nearly 5 pm! I had hoped to leave by 2 pm at the latest, but I am notoriously slow anyway, and with all the last-minute things to do it just got past me. So we had a big snack to tide us over, finished packing the car, and left around 5:30. PM. On a weekday. Boy, did I not look forward to a drive to a new place through rush hour traffic!

I hadn't even known how bad it would get. It took us over half an hour just to get through Issaquah. Lots of people live down there, or further south, and go that way on their way home from work. It was quite warm, and we were sitting in traffic with all kinds of people on their way home to their overpriced condos and McMansions in Issaquah. Not to mention all the people on their way to places like Maple Valley and Black Diamond, which are slightly more affordable, if you consider affordable anything under half a million dollars.

I was pretty mad at the traffic, but also at myself for taking so long to get ready to go on our first camping trip of the year, which also happened to be our first camping trip without Daddy ever. He couldn't have taken the time off on such short notice, but also it was something I'd wanted to try, just to see if we could do it so that maybe we could do longer trips later on.

We finally got through Issaquah, passing over a dozen paragliders on the way -- apparently there is a big site there they use for that -- and began to get into the semi-rural area. I say semi-rural because this area is known for trying to preserve the rural qualities while still allowing some, very exclusive, development. So you will pass an old, broken down farmhouse with rusting assorted farm equipment in front of it, then a sign for a gated community or some such right next to it. It's very odd.

By limiting development, the housing that is built is kept very expensive, yet it is intermixed with very trashy looking old places from before Microsoft and all its money and before the population started to expand outwards. Kind of surreal. Like, if you happened to have been a farmer type twenty or thirty years ago, and fell asleep, and woke up now, you'd think someone had played a joke on you by randomly turning half your neighbors' farms into subdivisions filled with these weird super shiny SUVs and houses almost as big as their lots.

Anyway, we drove through a bunch of this, until we got to an old run-down country store on a corner. My directions, which were printed out from one of those online websites, said to turn left on a particular road, but I couldn't see a street sign. I pulled into the parking lot of the store, noting a Sheriff's car parked next to it. Before I could get out, a woman holding a paper walked out of the store.

C, being conscious of delays to getting his marshmallow fix, said, "ask her what the street name is," and I, ever obliging, leaned my head out and, when she greeted me with that ever so Seattle friendliness, asked. Sure enough, she knew the name of the street, even telling me to take the left fork at the Y. When I seemed hesitant, she asked me where I was going, and when I told her, she gave me directions all the way there. She said "I know that's how to get there because my delivery route takes me there -- wouldn't have known last year how to get there."

I can relate to that -- I know most of the Bay Area based on my bread delivery routes that I had many years ago. Chris asked me what she delivered, but I was at a loss. She had a paper, so I said "maybe newspapers" and he said "but then why was she buying a paper?" I had no idea.

Anyway, we made our way there, and found a spot to camp at. I had brought cash, but not the right amount. You were supposed to pay by putting money in an envelope and putting it in a box, but you had to have exact change, and the price had gone up from the published $15.00 (which I had) to an awkward $19.00.

How many people just put in a twenty and left it at that? I'm sure they count on that happening. I am ever so conscious of paying no more than the right amount, so we drive back to the entrance, where I'd seen a light on in the little hut there, although the blinds were drawn. We went in, and asked the ranger for change. He seemed a bit confused about what to do, as if nobody ever asked that of him. He thought about it for a minute, then said, "let me see what I can do."

He didn't actually have change for a twenty, but he did have a single one dollar bill, along with a twenty. So I said, "why don't I just pay you and you can give me the dollar as change?" This seemed to be quite a revelation for him. Again, I don't think many people try to get change from him. In order for me to pay him, he need to put it into the computer. It took him a while to figure out how to do it without logging back into some special area of the computer. He said he'd just logged out and didn't want to log back in again. Anyway, eventually he figured it out and we were out of there.

We went back to our site, and I started dinner, which consisted of some frozen stir-fry veggies and hot dogs. Remember, I had very little time to plan, and we aren't really eating much in the way of processed foods, so couldn't just buy a bunch of canned stuff (I really don't like most canned stuff anyway). I used the camp stove we brought. I discovered I'd forgotten to pack any sort of oil or butter, so the stir fry had to be cooked in water (tap water, no less, since I hadn't brought bottled). Not exactly a gourmet meal, but it had to do. Oh, and lots of miniature marshmallows for C. Lots. He had no interest in trying to toast them, which was fine since we had no wood for a fire anyway (the ranger didn't sell any, and our trunk had been too full to bring any from home).

As we were getting ready to set up the tent, a man came into our camping spot to ask for matches. I was a bit creeped out by having a strange man approach me in the middle of a nearly deserted campground, but he seemed ok. I found my large box of strike-anywhere matches, and began to get it out. He said, "are they..." and I finished the sentence, "yes, they're strike anywhere," so he just said, "great, I'll just take a few then." And smiled. I was glad to have my wedding ring and engagement ring on (which I was to lose later, see the post about Bainbridge Island). I hoped he'd assume my husband was just in the bathroom or something. But I figured if my mom could take us kids camping for weeks every summer without any incident, we were fine.

So, we set up the tent (which I didn't really like -- it didn't really sit right on the ground -- I much prefer our old Target brand tent over this new Coleman tent), and then I filled the air mattress. At this point it was getting dark, so we started up our new propane lantern. I didn't read the instructions first, so I just tied on the mantles and then tried to light it.

I didn't realize you were supposed to burn them first before starting it up, so the combination of the mantles doing their first burn along with a generous amount of propane nearly singed my eyebrows off. I quickly turned off the fuel. At this point, I decided to read the instructions. Why did I think that growing up with one would make me a natural at this? Anyway, we got it started, and found it very bright. It was also a perfect magnet for mosquitoes, apparently. We sprayed each other with some all natural DEET-free mosquito repellent (which smells nasty, by the way -- eucalyptus mint does not combine well in a bug spray).

We went to bed, after I'd gotten the all-important air mattress inflated (I have a battery operated pump, which works way better than blowing it up with your mouth). It was freezing cold. The two of us snuggled into one sleeping bag was quite a snug fit. Also, it turned out the air mattress had a slow leak in it. So, between the air mattress losing its air, the cold air, and being tightly packed into a sleeping bag with a four year old, I got very little sleep. I woke up with a nasty sore throat. I a was also very tired.

The next morning, we had turkey bacon and eggs for breakfast, again cooked without any butter or oil. They stuck, of course. We brushed our teeth with the water from the spigot (which looked kind of orange in the water container -- yikes), deflated the already mostly deflated air mattress, and took down the tent. C really wanted to go home at this point. He had eaten almost the entire bag of marshmallows at that point, and I think he was tired of them.

I really wanted to at least look at the local river (I think it was the green river), so we drove down there. There wasn't a lot to see at first, because the banks of the river were well covered with trees. But then we hiked down to the water, and it was beautiful. The water was clear and cold and it was so quiet. All you could hear was the sound of rushing water. It's a big whitewater rafting river, and they have signs giving the ratings of the rapids. We were at the point where beginners were supposed to get out, because it becomes a Class IV river after that (only experts can handle that). We walked down to the edge and put our fingers in the water. It was freezing. It is melted glacier water, so you'd expect such, but wow, was it cold.

Then, we headed home. We drove back through Issaquah, stopping to eat lunch there. We lost C's jacket there, I think, because I haven't seen it since. Why do I lose so many things, anyway?

Anyway, we had a good trip for a first shot early in the season. It felt good to be outside. Next time, though, I'm bringing a new air mattress and a bigger sleeping bag!

Our Trip to Bainbridge Island

We took the ferry to Bainbridge Island on Memorial day, and then rented canoes and paddled around the marina there. It was pretty cool. I hadn't paddled a canoe since I was a kid, yet I could still do it pretty well. We saw sea life, and got to peek into places that were homes of the leisure set. Lots of cool boats, including old tugboats, too. It was very relaxing, and serene.

The only bad thing was that I lost my wedding ring and diamond engagement ring. I am now ring-less! My hand feels kind of naked without them. We haven't gotten around to shopping for a replacement -- we kind of decided that I should probably just get a wedding band, since the engagement ring was so darned expensive, and since most diamonds are used to fund war (blood diamonds). Besides, diamonds are overrated. Their prices are kept inflated artificially by a cartel, a lot like oil. If I had the coloring, I'd wear 18 carat gold like the Indian women I've known, but it washes out my pinkness.

Visualize World Peace -- how would it look?

You know the bumper sticker, "Visualize World Peace"? My mom probably had it on her car, at least at some point. Anyway, what do you think it would look like? What would a world without war be like? Where would we be spending our time, energy, and money? Would countries use just the United Nations (expanded greatly, to deal with the increased use), or would there be smaller bodies around the world for conflict resolution? What would the groups that are currently at war with another do with their time? How would they relate to one another?

What would our government look like if it weren't constantly fighting wars around the world? Where would the money be going instead? Would we be coming up with alternatives to fossil fuels? Inventing new ways to communicate? Open up your imagination and set up some expectations to demand of our government. We have to start somewhere, and it makes sense to me that we should be solving our problems, like health issues (increasing allergies and developmental disabilities, illnesses like AIDS), energy sources, food sources, and clean air and water.

The next Manhattan Project should be about creating a better world.

The President is just one step from being a dictator

So, in case you haven't heard (and even if you do watch the news on TV which I don't do you probably won't have), there is a new law in effect that gives the Unites States President, who is currently George W, essentially dictatorial powers. You can read about it here if you want. It's a presidential "directive" (something that didn't even exist until recently) , which is basically a law that the US president can create without the approval of congress or the Supreme Court (whatever happened to checks and balances?). The directive states that if there is a catastrophic emergency, which could be one of many things, the president of the United States, along with a separately selected group that he chooses (and is not elected) the power to take over and run the country.

Does this make sense? I don't think so. What can a person do to work on having it revoked? Can only the president revoke it? Can we impeach him if this is in effect?

They're trying to mess with our chocolate! Mockolate is real!

So, there is an industry lobby group that is pretending to be made up of concerned citizens who want to "modernize" the definition of chocolate to allow it to be made with transfat, artificial sweeteners, and just a bit of chocolate flavoring. That's not exactly what they made it with on "Friends" when the guy who used to play Lenny had Monica make a bunch of things with "mockolate", but not far off. Yuck! I don't want chocolate like that. And this at a time when they're starting to say that a bit of dark chocolate can be good for the heart, because of all the antioxidants in it (tea, too, supposedly). Why on earth would they do it? To make more money, of course! Supposedly there may be a shortage of the real stuff, so in order to keep the populace supplied with cheap chocolate (marked up of course), they think they need to make fake chocolate and pass it off as real. Why not use that other fake chocolate, carob? It's actually not that bad, as long as you don't think of it as chocolate. It's brown, it's sweet, and depending on how it's made, it can actually melt in your mouth.

Anyway, let's tell them we'd rather have expensive real chocolate or even carob that the junk they are trying to get the government let them pass off as real. Where do I sign up to do this?

Baby carrots -- they aren't really baby carrots

OK, so I knew this already, but still. Ugh~
http://www.wisebread.com/baby-carrots-the-frugal-idea-that-isnt

Cheney's lesbian daughter has a baby

So, Cheney's lesbian daughter recently had a baby with her lesbian partner. He's gotten his photo take with their child, his grandchild, but the baby's moms were not in the picture. Wonder why? According to this site it's because they are trying to play both sides of it, getting points from lesbians for acknowledging their lesbian daugther's baby, but leaving the lesbian daughter and her wife out to keep from angering the religious fundamentalists who support the Republican party. Boy, what a mess!

One Hour no power

To help spread the word about global warming, a group of people have decided to ask everyone out there to unplug and turn off everything -- TVs, cars, etc. -- for one hour at noon on Sunday July 1, 2007. Since everyone would use their local time, not everyone everywhere would have everything off all at the same time, but it would be all the same day, which would still be quite effective.

How much impact would all of this have? Has anyone calculated it?

http://www.onehournopower.com/

Alki/Seacrest beach in Seattle

We went to the beach in West Seattle, and the weather was perfect. We saw sea anenomes, lots of barnacles, some mussels, seaweed, and seagulls. He chased some seagulls, and interacted with a toddler boy who came by for a few minutes. Lately he's really been wanting to play with other kids, like every single day! Totally opposite of the way he used to be. It's amazing how much they can change. I'm sure the trip to see Stacy had an impact. I'm so glad we went to see her. I know it did him a lot of good.
It was such a beautiful view of the Seattle skyline and waterfront, and ferries and other boat traffic going by. The area looks a lot like the coastal areas of the Bay Area, particularly bits of Alameda and Berkeley. Kind of quaint. I forgot my camera or I'd add some pictures. On the way, and on the way back, we got to see the Port of Seattle, with all the Container ships being unloaded and loaded and moved by tugboat and such. Pretty cool.
We didn't stay that long because C wanted to see the lighthouse out that way, but when we got there it was closed. An elderly man sitting in front of his garage told us about another one north of there, which we tried to get to but got lost. I think next time we'll just stay at the beach we start out at. Carkeek park next time, because they have a playground there, and a train goes by right there.

C fell asleep on the way home. So it was harder for him to get to sleep tonight. But I'm still up! I should go to bed!

No more corn for us!

Well, I had hoped that at least ds could have some corn in his life, since he loves it so much, but after some major intake of corn, he got nosebleeds each time -- once only a few minutes after eating it! He had kettle corn two Saturdays in a row, and each night, he woke up in the middle of the night with a nosebleed - the second time both nostrils bled. Then the next day, we had Mexican food, and he ate half a fried corn tortilla, a bunch of tortilla chips, and part of a steamed corn tortilla, and on the way home his nose started bleeding. And later on, and this is one of those too much information things, he passed bloody mucus on the potty. Mind you, that day he'd also had a chocolate covered ice cream bar and a bunch of Xylitol gum (and Xylitol is usually made from corn), but I think it was the corn. Since he hasn't been having it, he hasn't had any more bloody noses (or bowel movements). Sigh. I already knew it can give me a migraine when I eat it too much, but I had hoped he could at least have it.

He has had nosebleeds in the past, especially if he eats a ton of fruit and nothing else. I'm thinking it's the salicylates. I hope not because he loves things that are high in salicylates! But really, he had gone a while there with very few nosebleeds and now all of a sudden, when he's eating lots of corn, he gets lots of them. And this was the first time he had passed blood as well, even counting other days when he had ice cream.

Maybe some day. Maybe just whole kernal corn.

Wow, the weather has been great!

The weather here has been really nice -- in the upper 60s during the day, but cooler at night. The sun has been out just about all day every day for most of the week, which is such a nice change! I love this weather! Can we please have more of it? I would love to have it like this for the rest of the summer!

Cute dogs

This is too cute:

Funny Dogs & Even Some Cute Ones!!!

the honey chicken

OK, so I made the chicken. Now, it didn't cook as long, and I had it on high to compensate, so I can't say for sure, but I didn't like what turned out. It was entirely too sweet for my taste. Then again, I only put in six chicken thighs instead of eight, but still...I kind of had a feeling it would be too sweet, but wanted to try it anyway since it's made from 100% SCD legal (allowed on the specific carbohydrate diet) ingredients and since lately it seems like most of my cooking has depended on tomatoes for flavor. Maybe if it were to cook more the chicken would soften up. And maybe the fact that I left the skin on and the bones in changed it a bit. But the main problem was the sweetness - the honey plus all those dried fruits just made it taste like candy. Not my favorite. This one will be going in the recycle bin! Sigh.

Crockpot honey chicken with dried fruit

So I think I'm going to give this a try but with bone in skin on thighs because they are much cheaper:
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup mixed dried fruit pieces
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
Cook for 8-9 hours on low in a slow cooker
http://busycooks.about.com/od/chickenrecipe1/r/chixdriedfruit.htm?p=1
It's basically cooked chicken with honey and dried fruit. I think the recipe needs to explain what goes where in the crockpot -- I know usually you put the veggies on the bottom, but what about the honey and the chicken broth? Do you pour them in on top of everything? Should the fruit go on top of the chicken so as to flavor it, or underneath so it gets moist?

You Tube

This was done 15 years ago. I wonder what this girl is doing now?

Our trip to TN

This is ds sitting on a canon that is in front of my old elementary school. The school is gone now, torn down, and they say they will be building some condos there (this is in an old neighborhood with very expensive houses most of which are old and antebellum style). We went to Tennessee to see family and also drove over to North Carolina to see my Aunt Fran, who is 85 years old and still going strong.

We did too much in too short of a time. I am still burnt and it's been several days since we got back. I had fun to some extent, but it was exhausting. We were staying with my friend Stacy and her husband Paul and their two daughters, who are 3 and 6. The kids played a lot while we were there, and I think it was tiring for all of us. Also, we tried to squeeze in seeing my two brothers, and we went out to eat a lot, so we ate food that wasn't the best for us, and it affected us. I got a migraine, ds had a bad temper (and even hit the six year old). I get so frustrated with him, but when away from home, I have a hard time getting him to behave. I sort of drop my guard or just give in a lot because I don't want to fight him. And he gets more stubborn -- and he already is that. Not a good combination, especially not with exhaustion and jet lag on top of it.

I did enjoy the warm weather, the green trees, and getting to see my family and friends. I hadn't seen my older brother Stan or Aunt Fran since my mom died back in 1996. My older brother's wife and I had a falling out not long after my mom died (and really we never were all that close), so I just hadn't seen him even when I went back to visit and saw my other brother in 1998 and again in 2001. Boy, Stan looks different! He's got glasses now, and is going gray. He will be 50 in June, and while he has a somewhat youthful face, he is definitely older than he was the last time I saw him. But a lot changes in 11 years.

I liked the weather and while I was there and right after I got home, I was thinking again (for the like millionth time) about moving back there, but later had second thoughts. I get so attached to my place. I like how liberal it is here, how the evergreens are everywhere, how the ocean isn't that far away, how you can see Mt Rainier from any hill just about, how you can get pastured milk at a corner store, how low the crime rate is, how many many jobs there are here...I could go on. I know it would be nice to see my family more often, and the cost of living is a lot lower there (although it's coming up lately). I do much prefer 80 degree days to 56 degree days -- I think. Or do I? I think I have less tolerance for heat than I used to, but I also don't like cold either. Give me a place where the high is somewhere between 60 and 80 most of the year, or at least a half of it, and I will be happy. TN gets way too hot, this place is too chilly for my taste. I like to go around in short sleeves, not in layers, LOL.

Anyway, I'm glad to be home to sleep in my own bed again (really ds's but that's what I always sleep in).

the haircut

So, C cut his own hair (with some help cleaning up from mama), and now has very short hair. I think he got tired of being mistaken for a girl, although it never seemed to bother him until he was around a friend's daughters and got mistaken for one of them. He would always correct people, and say "I am a boy, I just have long hair."
You can see his eyes now! One problem is now he's getting sunburned! Have to use sunblock, LOL.

Arsenic in chicken feed

It's ridiculous that they would put arsenic in chicken feed as a growth promoter. Factory farming has always disturbed me -- for years I was a vegetarian at least in part because I wasn't happy with the way meat is produced in this country. Adding arsenic, antibiotics, and hormones to animal feed is polluting our water supply, creating antibiotic resistent bacteria, and raising unhealthy animals that have nutritionally inferior meat, eggs, and milk. I think just about everyone agrees it's bad for us and the environment. A chicken's natural diet is grass, bugs, slugs and snails, caterpillars, and some seeds. Feeding them a monotonous diet of corn, soy and additives is not good for them. Keeping them enclosed, either in tiny cages or in a large coop, may protect them from preditors and make their meat more tender, but it also causes them to be stressed out. Same with cattle -- they are grazers, and naturally eat grass, weeds, and other leafy greens but they are fed in this country tubers, corn, and soybean meal and kept in pens. Their meat may be more mild tasting and tender, but they are stressed and unhealthy, and must be treated with antibotics, etc. That doesn't even begin to go into the environmental cost involved in transporting these animals to huge slaughterhouses (which I don't want to even get into -- not pretty).

What's the answer? Everyone who eats animals should try to eat most of it as grass fed, free range beef and poultry or wild caught fish. Unfortunately, that's often not available, or extremely expensive. The food production system makes it very difficult to obtain, in an affordable manner, healthy food. That has got to change. Each little bit that everyone can do -- like finding locally produced eggs by someone who has some chickens in their back yard or by hunting for wild game or fishing for wild fish -- can help. It's good to eat lower on the food chain if possible -- like eating vegetables instead of animals that eat vegetables -- but many of us need animal protein to be healthy. I know I do! I used to be a vegetarian and was quite sick often, and was also rather depressed (although the latter seems to still be a problem for me).

If I had a house, I would buy a deep freeze and buy my meat from a local rancher, or even maybe game from a local hunter. I would grow as many of my own veggies and beans as I could fit into my yard. Those of in apartments could band together and buy a whole, grass fed free range cow and divide it up among us like people used to do. If I had a bigger storage closet, I'd get a plot in a local community garden, but I don't have anywhere to store the shovels and such, at least not without getting rid of my Christmas and camping stuff.

To sum up, eat locally, eat low on the food chain, and try to get the best stuff you can find for your budget.

Here are some links:
http://www.eatwild.com/
http://www.localharvest.org/
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/localfood_dir.php
http://www.realmilk.com/where.html
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/whywildfood.html
http://www.eatwellguide.org/
http://www.realfoods.org/
http://find.mapmuse.com/re1/interest.php?brandID=FARMER_MARKETS
http://www.beyondorganic.com/

Alfie Kohn

Alfie Kohn believes that children should neither be punished for bad behavior nor rewarded for good behavior, because it's coercive. He also believes that the current school system is not good for them, but I think his kids are in it, because he and his wife both work (at least that's what I hear), and I'm assuming their kids have been either in daycare or with a nanny since infancy. Kind of odd, don't you think? I know in our case, ds being in daycare would be coercive because he won't even stay with a friend for five minutes while I go to the bathroom! I would think it would be a lot easier to be tolerant with your kids if you spent that much less time with them, don't you? Give me 40+ hours a week away from ds and I would bet I would treat him a lot differently. Although getting him to bed would probably be a lot worse of a problem, since he would be wanting to spend more time with me.
I do like more the stuff that Marshall Rosenburg says about non-coercion. http://www.cnvc.org/raisekds.htm

Happy New Year to you!

I heard that April 1 used to be new Years. Sounds good to me! I sure wish it would get above 60 degrees -- the high here today was 48, and it's supposed to snow tonight! I really would like to live in a place that has a real spring! Cold weather for a couple of months is one thing, but half a year -- please!
That's it for today.

How do I fit yoga in with a four year old?

I have got to do my Yoga 4 Fertility video today, but ds is using the VCR. I have the VHS version from the library, they don't have it on DVD.
I think I'll buy the DVD, unless there is a better one. I'd like one that has both short and long workouts. This one is about an hour or more, depending on whether you pause the tape.

gratitude entry for today, 3/28/07

Things I'm grateful for: my friend Becka and her wonderful daugher Amelie, who met me and ds at the park today and played. Playgroups like the Eastside AP, where I can talk to other moms. Message boards, where I can post and read other posts from other moms and people. Books from the library that I can read. Being able to read books. Reading to ds tonight. Holding him as he fell asleep. Watching him play with his friend Amelie, and then another girl later on tonight in our apartment complex. Cleaning up the kitchen and having it not be too bad. I need sleep!

gratitude and joy entry for today, 3/24/07

Things I am grateful for:
1. Having a mommys group to meet other moms -- I actually ran into one of them today and enjoyed talking with her a bit. 2. Having a wonderful son who lives well 3. Having a loving husband with endless patience 4. My health, which is improving 5. the fact that ds's health seems to be impoving as well 6. being able to buy food at the food court at crossroads mall 7. Being able to go to Redmond Town Center and see the new sensory garden and get a backpack with free stuff in it for ds
Things that brought me joy:
1. Sleeping in this morning 2. Playing games with ds 3. eating dinner 4. making yogurt with mango for ds 5. Posting on MDC 6 reading to ds tonight

gratitude and joy entry for today, 3/19/07

I am so grateful to my loving, patient, kind husband, who did the dishes tonight without being asked or reminded. I am grateful for a sweet, loving, happy, funny son who did really well last night, not waking much at all. I am grateful for my yoga video, which is helpful and makes me feel good. I am grateful for my wonderful friend, Stacy, whom I will be visiting and staying with in less than a month. I am grateful for the flowering trees and milder weather -- even went without a sweater today! I am grateful for our warm dry apartment, which is getting cleaner and more orderly all the time.

Things that brought me joy: going to 321 Bounce today with ds and playing with him on the equipment. Doing yoga and having it relax me and help the crick in my neck. Reading to ds. Seeing dh walk in the door, having walked through the rain on his way home from work (I keep the car so we can go places, he walks nearly 2 miles each way to and from work). Breathing.

what do you think of this?

http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=409

gratitude and joy entry for today, 3/1/07

Gratitude:
I am so grateful for my loving husband who did the dishes for me tonight, and also got ds ready for bed (except the teeth brushing, book, and nursing, LOL).
I am endlessly grateful for my wonderful, imaginitive, intelligent, sweet little son.
I am very grateful for my friend Becka, who came over today with her beautiful daughter.
I am grateful for my brothers, who have been there for me over the years.
I am grateful for the sun that came out today.
I am grateful for my Aunt Janet, recently returned from a trip to the South Pacific, who emailed me today. I am picturing her grandson, my cousin, healing from some illnesses that he has had recently.
I am grateful to the earth, for providing us with delicious food.
I am grateful for having a computer to write this on.
Joy:
Cooking black bean soup brought me great joy, as did eating it.
Seeing ds playing with his friend brought me joy.
Holding ds in my lap brought me joy.
Kissing dh when he came home brought me joy.
Seeing dh and ds play together brought joy to my heart. They have so much fun together!

Messages of Love

Messages of Love
This is a website by a really cool mama who sends out messages of love to people. They are way cool.

Isn't this a cool drawing?

My friend Chasmyn introduced me to this artist, William M Perry, who is selling his drawings on Ebay. He's selling them every week so if you sign up to see his new stuff, you will get a new image in your email every week. Pretty cool, huh? And he also sold a cool love poem called "Until Bananas Turn to Ink" which he wrote and illustrated and self-published, and it's really awesome. I bought a copy for DH for Valentine's day and he loved it. I just wish I'd left more positive feedback -- I was stressed and rushed so it was a bit terse: "item in good condition" was all. Oops!

Save money going to college Video!

I don't have the patience to listen to this guy, but the idea sounds cool -- go to college for $11 per day!

gratitude entry for today, 2/14/07

I am grateful for a loving, handsome husband, and wonderful, attached son, great friends, and a healthy, sound body. I am grateful to have a nice place to call home, lots of good food, and fun things to do. I am grateful to be able to stay home with my son full time, and to be able to get around with him in our car regularly. I am grateful to have a mommy's group that meets regularly relatively close by, and to be able to spend time with them and their kids. I love kids!
Things that brought me joy today included going to a mommy's group Valentine's party and seeing C play with the other kids and eat whatever they were serving without any unusual reactions (sure, he was hyper, but so would any kid who ate the sugar and stuff they had). Being with my husband and son brought me a great deal of joy in different ways. I really enjoy seeing C laugh and smile, and playing magic tricks with him really makes him excited, which I love to see. Loving DH and celebrating Valentine's Day as a couple really brought me joy too.

I love Hanna Andersson!

Here is a bid I missed on ebay for C's favorite jammies, Hanna Andersson -- his favorite are the striped ones. They make cute prints, too, but they aren't as soft or durable as the striped ones. That is especially important when you buy them used -- the prints are usually at least slightly faded and definitely don't last as long. Anyway, I need to figure out the best way to win an ebay auction without driving up the price, because these things can get pretty spendy if you keep bidding on them. I can get them new at the outlet store for $28.00, although they aren't always available in the size we want. So I don't want to spend more than say, 20 bucks, shipping included, on them on ebay, but often the bids get way high on the popular ones. I intend to have good jammies for a decent price.

We love Hanna's long johns!

Reiki - long distance healing

Reiki healing
So, this blogger can do long-distance healing with Reiki via instant messenger. What an interesting idea, using modern technology to use an ancient healing technique. Reiki is supposed to be really good for pregnant women and for childbirth. Supposed to help a woman get in touch with her feminine energy.

This is a strange thought: I wonder if that's why I have infertility? I sure have had a hard time getting in touch with my feminine energy. I was kind of a tomboy growing up, but mainly in the sense that I didn't like my hair long or to wear dresses. I didn't like my hair long because I had a sensitive scalp, and I didn't like dresses because I felt exposed in them. I did like to climb trees, and I did play with trucks, but I think that was at least in part because I didn't like dolls (they scared me) and I wasn't left with much else to play with. I wasn't into sports, and I didn't take to things like car repair or woodworking. But I never fit in with the girls with all their gossip and such. At least in part because I didn't have any early friends who were girls, so I never learned to relate to them.
Does that explain my infertility? That I just never felt like a girl? I doubt it, there are plenty of butch or tomboy women, lesbians and otherwise, who get regular periods and ovulate. It could be the endocrine system problems I have are a result of toxins, which also caused my scalp sensitivity and maybe even my fear of dolls. Who knows?
Now, to try to turn all this musing stuff around: I would like to put more energy into directing my mind at what I want from life, rather than what I'm not getting.

the Lactivist

The Lactivist -- a website by a mom who is a lactivist -- an activist for breastfeeding. Her latest post is about how she got sued by the National Pork Board for selling a shirt with the slogan: "Breastmilk: the other white milk" (because they were saying it made pork look bad somehow! Anyway, she changed the slogan to "Breast: the original white milk" and the pork board apologized and donated money to a mother's milk bank.

Pretty crazy stuff.

What I think is cool is that not only is she a lactivist for breastfeeding, but she's also a work-at-home mom. To do that takes a lot of organizational skill and energy. How does one do it? I'd like to watch her one day just to see how she copes.

Gratitude and joy, dude!

I keep typing "gratidute" or "gratidude" so I thought I'd just make a silly joke. I am tired, so it's easy to entertain me.
Here are some things I noted today to be grateful for:
1. Having the sun come out today -- in winter, sun is a rarity up here, so you need to enjoy every bit you get of it.
2. Being able to brush my teeth and get them clean.
3. The smell of soapy water as I wash dishes.
4. My friends, who are so supportive and helpful.
5. C, my wonderful son, who teaches me something new every day
6. My wonderful husband, who will play with C in a different way than I do.
7. Having a washer and dryer in our apartment! Yes! I grew up going to laundry mats, and hated it. Never had a washer/dryer until moving in with DH. No more dragging baskets of laundry down the street!
8. Having a car that can get us where we need to go. I only bought my first car a little over 10 years ago. Before that, it was bus, bike, and/or walking. Of course, when I lived in San Francisco, that was fine, but it made it hard to get out of town.

Things I did today that brought me joy:
1. Going to Farrel McWhirter Park to see the animals. There are baby chicks there now, and C just loved watching them peck and scratch and huddle under the heat lamp.
2. Washing dishes and getting them clean.
3. Holding C while he slept
4. Reading to C
5. Seeing Dh come in the door tonight.
6. Watching videos with C sitting next to me. Or lying next to me nursing. Yes, he's almost 4 and still a nursling!

gratitude and joy for 1/30/07

(I'm actually writing this on the 31st, but that's because I couldn't get on the computer last night)
Things I'm grateful for:
1. Having DH, who went into work late and left early to help out while ds and I were sick, for a husband.
2. Having Chasmyn, who is sending me "The Secret" video and another CD whose title escape me, for a friend.
3. Becka calling me to talk even though she doesn't like to use the phone.
4. DS's birth, which was a miracle in more ways than one.
Things from 1/30/07 that brought me joy:
1. Holding my son in my lap while we read a book together
2. Seeing the blue sky and sun shining
3. Feeding ds frozen blueberries
4. Eating yogurt with frozen blueberries

joy for today, 1/28/07

Things I did today that brought me joy: eating porrige, reading the Sunday paper, holding my son in my lap, drinking clean water, reading email from friends.

gratitude entry for today, 1/28/07

I am grateful for my patient, loving, handsome husband, and my sweet, gentle, handsome, healthy son. I am grateful for the sun today, and being able to comfort my son when he was ill. I am grateful for my brother Charlie, who is really smart, and my other brother Stan, even if I never hear from him. I am grateful for my friend Stacy, whom I meant to call today, and my friend Vashti. I'm grateful for the evergreen trees all around and my friend Becka who emailed me today.

 

I will try to keep up this blog

OK, so I just realized I don't keep up my blog. I should enter something new every other day, at least. I should have made it a new years' resolution.

I need to do this:
1. Make a list of the things I'm grateful for each day
2. Make a list of the things that brought me joy each day.

Maybe I could combine the two and blog about it?

Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters

Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters

What a cool blog. I wish I were as good a writer, and as good about updating my blog as this woman. I love her post with "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou. It's about how femininity is something other than the ability to reproduce, or any other stereotypical thing.

Infertility definitely makes you feel less than female, especially if you had always assumed you could reproduce on your own without medical intervention, and especially if you were brought up to believe that part of being female is to be a mother (which is generally the case). I often feel inferior to women who get pregnant without trying, or who try for awhile and then get pregnant. I know a woman who just had her third baby in three years, and while I don't really think that's for me, I still envy her fecundity. Sure, she's in her twenties, but I could never have done that, even at 20.

However, it's important to remember that not all women can or want to give birth to children. Many women choose to be child free, and many others are never able to get pregnant and carry to term a child. Does that make them less than female? I don't think so. Being a woman is so much more than that. In addition, in our ever more crowded world, the ability to reproduce in large numbers is not really considered by many to be an asset.

It also connects to the idea of same sex marriage -- if a heterosexual woman who is infertile, either by choice or circumstances, wants to marry a man, she can, but if she wants to marry a woman she can't. In either case, no biological child will issue forth from her loins no matter how often she consummates her marriage (unless, as an infertile, she uses advanced reproductive technology -- and unless she is young enough and rich enough to do so). Why should it matter than in one case the other person has a penis? With me, my pregnancy was induced the same way a lesbian woman's in my La Leche League meeting in Richmond, CA was -- at the Kaiser fertility clinic in Oakland, on a doctor's table. Sure, my husband's sperm was involved, but it could easily have been donor sperm, for all my husband was involved in getting it into me. And in my case, I have been with women in the past, so it's doubly odd for me that my choice of a man as a partner has such impact on our ability to raise a child together. It doesn't seem fair to me, but then again, neither is infertility, and nobody has a law about that (yet) that creates it. Other than, perhaps, the lack of laws protecting us from toxins and stress, which no doubt created infertility.

Back to being a woman. What is it? Having a vagina? Two X chromosomes? Lots of estrogen? I have lots of estrogen, but for a time I also had lots of testosterone (due to my PCOS), and I probably will again once C stops nursing (breastfeeding has really given my body a break from much of the PCOS). Am I less female? I'm still a woman, aren't I?

Anyway, you go girl!

Inanimate Alice -- what a trip!

WOW! Inanimate Alice


OK, so the people who put this set of stories are a but odd. Or what? Take a peek at the first one and tell me what it means, please? It definitely draws one in and makes one think. I don't want to put too many words into describing it, because I don't think I can do it justice. Just go there.

Another view of war and peace

December 10, 2006, 9:38 pm Sugar-Sweet Memories By Jeremie Lucia

This post in another blog talks about the poster's experiences in Afghanistan. I haven't been there myself, but it sounds like quite a different life from the States. I think it's a bit controversial. Have you read it?

C has grown so much

C has grown so much, I can hardly believe it. He's 3 3/4 now, and is 43 inches tall. He's about 37 pounds or so, although it's not the same twice. He eats a lot for such a little kid. He can eat a whole cantelope himself in a couple of hours, which is more than I could do. He has taken to eating for breakfast the following combination: a one-egg omelet with cheese on it, a turkey dog (eaten like sausage), and homemade frozen yogurt (we call it ice cream). He also ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich this morning. He seems to be able to handle rye sourdough bread -- too bad it's like $5.00 for a quarter of a loaf at the health food store! Regular bread makes him wet his pants, due to the gluten in it. But at least I can buy bread instead of having to make it from cashew butter like I was doing (he can't stand that because it requires the use of the food processor, which is too noisy for him).

Anyway, he is so strong, and so helpful around the house. He likes to put away laundry in the dresser drawers. Any excuse to run from room to room, really.

More later...

Looking for Longleaf

This sounds interesting: Looking for Longleaf: The Fall and Rise of an American Forest . This book is on my brother's wishlist. It's about how the longleaf pine forest is basically extinct. Yet another victim of progress. If I had a few extra hours, I might take a peek at it. Maybe I'll put it on hold at the library! Any light reading in your wishlist, bro? What about a nice copy of Randy Travis Platinum Collection or Dangerous Man by Trace Adkins?

Omaha Steaks: grain fed steaks

Omaha Steaks
So, Omaha Steaks is what we get every year from some relatives. They are very much grain fed, which makes them fattier and more tender, and much less healthy. What about Niman Ranch beef instead? Is it any more healthy? It sure is a LOT more expensive! No hormones, no antibiotics, and traditionally raised, so it is over $100 for just 5 flank steaks. Wow! And these cows are still not fully grass fed, so their fat is still low in the healthy omega 3 fatty acids that make grass fed beef healthier. If this is what there is, I'll just have beans, thank you!

Might as well say that we may or may not get some of these steaks in the mail for Christmas this year. We have gotten them every year for several years from some relatives of Bill's, but there is a bit of a problem going on between his mom and them, so I'm wondering what will happen. He never calls them because he's so uncomfortable with it all. Every family has its oddities, of course. It's just too bad that Chris is in the middle of it all (and Bill as well, really). Why can't people just get along?

It snowed!

Finally getting around to posting: it snowed here last week, and it even stayed on the ground here for a couple of days. And out farther, it was still on the ground yesterday! Isn't that cool? We got about two inches, but only about half an inch stuck to the ground. The car got all two inches on it. I should have taken photos, but we need a new camera battery. Anyway, we had some fun cleaning off the car and made some snowballs. Not really enough for a snowman/person. Bill went in to work anyway, and was one of the only ones there. Microsoft was closed! Those folks are spoiled in some ways, although they also work insane hours many times.

Hope you all are having a wonderful winter!

celiac disease -- whatever happened to the old cure for it?

This is in regard to the Wikipedia entry for Celiac disease, which states, "At this time no medication will prevent damage, nor prevent the body from attacking the gut when gluten is present. The disease is controlled by strict adherence to a gluten-free diet, which allows the intestines to heal and resolves all symptoms in the vast majority of cases..."
It contradicts itself later, however, by stating. "Even while on a diet, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is decreased in people with coeliac disease. Some have persisting digestive symptoms or dermatitis herpetiformis, mouth ulcers, osteoporosis and fractures." (there is more, too, but you get the point. I'm amazed that mainstream medicine still stands by this, despites lots of doubts about what really causes celiac disease and what can be done about it.

There is an alternative diet to the gluten free diet, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (TM), which restricts not only gluten containing grains such as wheat, rye, and barley, but also all grains (including rice and corn) and most complex carbohydrates including potatoes, most beans (including soy and pinto), and other starchy vegetables and all sweeteners except for honey and saccharine. This diet is based on the idea that the gut is damaged by an imbalance of intestinal flora, and that the unfriendly flora must be starved off by depriving them of food. The diet only allows carbohydrates that are monosaccharides such as those in fruits, sweet vegetables such as squash, non-starchy veggies such as broccoli and zucchini, and honey. All fermentable carbohydrates are removed from the diet to allow the gut to rest and heal. This diet was first developed to treat celiac disease, but fell out of favor because of its difficulty to maintain and further studies that pointed to gluten, a protein, rather than starch, as the culprit in celiac.

There is a small minority of people who believe that celiac disease, irritable bowel disease, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and even perhaps autism, are all caused by carbohydrate intolerance rather than gluten intolerance. This is because only monosaccarides can be digested completely by the human digestive system and absorbed properly. All other carbohydrates cause problems, particularly if there is intestinal damage such as that caused by coeliac disease. The complex carbohydrates, disaccharides and polysaccharides, are not properly digested in the stomach, and go on to feed unfriendly intestinal flora such as Candida albicans, which in turn cause more intestinal damage. Thus, this vicious cycle causes increasing damage to the intestines and an out of control imbalance of intestinal microflora.

It turns out humans never really were meant to be eating starches, especially in the huge quantities most modern diets -- not just the US diet, but most around the world (other than traditional Arctic people and a few other isolated groups). It was less than 10,000 years ago that humans started to live settled enough and farm enough that they could grow large quantities of crops, including grains. Before that, most humans ate meat, fruit, vegetables, some tubers and a few grains gathered a few weeks a year, doled out very frugally throughout the year. And only a thousand or so more years before that were we regularly cooking our foods, so we really couldn't eat grains or tubers. Many people's bodies have adapted to this new diet, but many have not, and celiac disease is just one sign that it's an ill-suited diet.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet(TM) solves this problem. It does not restrict protein foods such as meats, and allows some beans, such as lentils and navy beans once healing is well under way. It includes dairy, although in cases where dairy is not tolerated it can be excluded as well. This diet was developed in the early 20th Century, and was commonly used as recently as the 1950s to treat Celiac disease. (Haas SV and Haas MP: Management of celiac disease, p x. J B Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1951)

What did we do today? What should we have done?

Often, right before he goes to sleep, ds will ask me, "what did we do today?" He likes to hear about what we did, maybe because he finds it comforting, maybe because he forgets. Anyway, today, it felt like "what did I do today?" or "what should we have done today" because we had kind of a lousy day. It's raining, ds had a tantrum, we didn't really do much fun stuff. I feel like a bad mommy for not doing more fun stuff with ds. I feel like he's using his DVD player for a replacement mommy.
Today started out like many days. I made breakfast, almond flour porrige (which ds asked for and used to eat). He refused to eat it, and only ate an apple. He is a very picky eater, by the way. Anyway, we went to my doctor's office for my cranial sacral therapy appointment (he had some goat milk yogurt in the waiting room), then we stopped at a supplements store for cod liver oil. DS got a raw vegan energy bar, which he devoured. When we got home, he had a tantrum. Was it the energy bar on basically an empty stomach? Going to the doctor's office (where he watched his DVD player while I got my treatment)? Was it something else? Well, he ended up falling asleep, which is not something he usually does anymore. He had been running around at the doctor's office in the waiting room, and one of the receptionists said "I wish I had his energy." Little did they know it was being hyper. And that he would collapse a short while later.
Why won't he eat better? Why does he ask for food that he then doesn't eat? Why does he eat so many sweets? Well, it's the candida, duh! But why can't we kick it? Why does a kid have to go through this? Why can't he be healthy? I am so tired of these worries. I don't know what to do.

Probiotics are cool

What don't probiotics do? It would seem nothing! They help with many things, including digestion of oxalates (in many things such as most veggies and nuts), which helps with mineral absorbtion. They help digest carbohydrates. They fight yeast infections. They help absorbtion of other nutrients. They are just so cool. How do you get them? Naturally fermented foods are the best sources, like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut (homemade without vinegar), and other similar foods. There are plenty of pills and powders, too, but they are usually less effective. Some people are very allergic to dairy, and have to take extra precaustions in finding fermented foods or probiotic supplements they can handle. I am fairly reactive to cow's milk dairy, although goat's milk yogurt doesn't seem to be a problem for me, fortunately. I didn't like goat's milk yogurt until I got fresh goat's milk. I prefer it raw, if possible, but it is very expensive. It's almost $9.00 for half a gallon. I would love to have my own goats to milk so I could save a bit, but then that would be a lot of work. Not to mention the land for them would be pricey, at least around here. See why I call this my ramblings :=?
Here are some links:
http://www.natren.com/pages/natashart2.asp
http://www.natren.com/pages/baby.html
http://www.wildfermentation.com
http://www.healingcrow.com/ferfun/ferfun.html
http://www.natren.com/pages/natashart3.asp
http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefir-faq.html#alternatekefir
http://www.merc-buyers.com/FS-microorganisms.htm
http://www.victusinc.com/Enterales/Reuteri/Probiotics.htm


More later! I am needed to get ds ready for bed.

Jokes about congress I've gotten in my inbox

I got an email the other day with these jokes about congress, apparently related to the Tom Foley fiasco:

Q:Why don't members of congress need bookmarks?

A: They bend over the pages

Q. What is the difference between Congress and the Library of Congress?
A. At the Library of Congress, you aren't allowed to lick the pages.

This was from a church email list, by the way. But it was a Unitarian church group, and in Washington state. tee hee.

The rains are here! Is this 50 days and 50 nights or what?

So, it's the second week of November, and it's been raining nearly constantly for over a week, I think, and is supposed to rain every day for the next two weeks or so at least. See: http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USWA0395.html Oh, and it's supposed to get colder, too! There are flooded basements, flooded rivers, and even some cancelled schools. Sure, this is the Seattle area, known for its rainy weather, but this is ridiculous! I lived in Northern California, which does get a winter rainy season although it's shorter and drier, but it did not prepare me for this thing of days and days going by without any dry days. And for such a rainy place, it really doesn't have a lot of things to do with kids that are indoors. Sure, towns have recreation centers with some periods of indoor play, but they are for toddlers mostly. Oh, wait, that's right, most kids over two are in daycare or school now, so their parents don't have to take them to the park. No wonder! Yet another problem with being a homeschooler (sort of) in a world where school is starting younger and younger.
I don't like the extremely dry air in places like Tucson, AZ http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USAZ0247.html but envy them their sun and warmth. I would like the warm and the sun without the incredibly dry air or the unbearably hot summers. Is ther such a place? I'd like the humidity to be about 50% all year, with a variation of temperature from about 55 degrees in the winter to about 85 degrees in the summer, with a long warm spring and fall. Sigh. Rain isn't all bad, it's just when that's all there is that it gets to be a downer. It would be nice to have some sun every once in awhile. Even just an hour a day, sheesh!

World On Fire

$5,000 could cover the cost of hair and make-up for one day on set in LA or pay for one year’s schooling for 145 girls in Afghanistan. Sarah McLachlan does the math and encourages you to join her.