So, as some of you may or may not know, 2011 was a big year for me. I passed the 30 year mark in my life, I came into the year with a 6month old child, and since the beginning of the year I have started 3 business ventures. Or business adventures if you will.
I have a dream in mind that will no doubt take no less than about 15 years to come to fruition if I'm being honest about my abilities and my financial situation. Never the less: I believe in my ability to make SOMETHING happen.
All three ventures have their selfish reasons: Mamo's Books & Handmade Goods is the spark in my dream and the most selfish for sure. I want to make things, I want to make money from making things, pretty and useful. I want to see and read all the books I possibly can (I love books!), and I want to make money while giving myself this opportunity. I want to own a shop someday where people can come hang out, drink coffee and juice and water and talk. They can buy books or not buy books, just so long as they talk about them and also talk about the world and how it can be made a nicer place for us all.
Melaleuca is for sure middle of the road. It's a selfish venture because I hope I can make a little money from it. It's not really that selfish though in that I can feel good about using most of their products in my home. I don't need to worry about the endocrine disrupting power of bleach while I disinfect my kitchen, bathroom, floors and whatever, Melaleuca products use tea tree oil (melaleuca oil) and thyme and good ole fashioned herbal chemistry. Even the vitamins are made from organic compounds, so I know I'm doing the better thing by my body (selfish, sure).
Finally, I'm brought to my venturing in Doula work. A doula, for those of you who do not know, is a woman who helps other women in childbirth. This job hopefully begins during pregnancy and climaxes during actual labor but does not end after the new person is brought into the world. I started doing this for lots of reasons. The world surrounding pregnancy and childbirth in our American culture is clouded with fear, uncertainty, drugs and greed. Unfortunately. This unfortunate development has led to growing uses of formula instead of breastmilk and thus childhood obesity, a lack of bonding and trust between mother and child, an overall unhealthy attitude towards true nutrition of the mind, body and spirit. One could argue that these developments in our history since the 30's have contributed to the lack of moral scope in Americans: why our crime rate is higher, why there is so much violence here. But I don't want to go there. I don't downplay anyone's experience as a parent: it is such an immense job with such overwhelming emotion and love. I could never pretend that my experience is better or more fulfilling than anyone else's. It wouldn't be right and it wouldn't be fair. I just maintain that in my opinion the overall feelings and thoughts towards childbirth, pregnancy and neonatal care could be better, could be different. The other countries that have a different perspective on childbirth and neonatal care; the countries that use doulas, that embrace pregnancy and childbirth as both natural and beautiful, the ones that have societies who understand that a woman (a mother) is more often than not (by about 87%) very capable of birthing without medical intervention and also more capable than any medical professional to care for her newborn: have lower birth defects, lower infant and maternal mortality rates (excluding 3rd world countries where overall nutrition is a daily struggle), lower violent crime rates, higher breastfeeding rates, less accounts of severe postpartum depression and psychosis AND lower SIDS rates. I even found studies showing an overall decrease in labor time (some claimed only half an hour on average decrease, some claimed as much as 8 hours in an average decrease). Anyway, this last venture is all about doing my part to change the world... For the better.
In any case, all three are an attempt at creating jobs in my local community - even if it's just 3 jobs for ME!
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
Just playin. Sort of.
Love ya'll!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Day 92: A strange day indeed...
Today was one of those days where I just felt like I was living inside a glass bowl watching everything around me get weirder and weirder. Even the completely normal things seemed strange to me today! I don't really know how to explain it all, well, I CAN'T explain it all, so I'll just list everything:
A woman sitting angrily at a picnic table (don't ask me why, but she just looked angry)
A mother carrying a toddler (maybe around Mira's age) in a sling and also carrying flowers
A remarkably overweight woman walking with a utility cart FULL of empty garbage bags
News reports of an earthquake felt from Atlanta to Boston and originating in Virginia near a nuclear plant
News reports of yet another mob outbreak
News reports of an earthquake about to hit the lower East coast
I would also like to say that I don't usually watch the news, but it was somehow inevitable today as
it was on everywhere I went - and I only committed to watching an accumulative 10-15min total.
A grocery clerk asking me if I knew I picked up organic broccoli and then scoffing at me when it rang up at 3.99 for the bunch
6 different cars pull in to 6 different parking lots, park, immediately pull out, turn around and go back out (okay, I was one of those, but even still; 5 is a lot of that to see in one afternoon)
My phone giving error messages that consisted of one single ! and then the OK button (never seen that one before)
Later, at dinner, discussion moved on to an environmental discussion about the world water shortage (seriously people, it is beginning) and how desertification is becoming a reality in many places the world over:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/issues/desertification.htm
and also see:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/us-desert-50-years.htm
I was surprised to be explaining that yes, there really is a threat to our water sources. The entire world is facing a potential disastrous water shortage. I wasn't surprised because it's something that everyone knows, I can face the facts, and the facts are that very few people know or understand this. I was surprised because I honestly thought this particular person already knew... I'm really happy it came up! It's the kind of thing people just don't understand when they can't relate it to their every day lives and their ability to just go to the tap and turn on the faucet. But it is a real threat, mostly due to pollution, drainage without replenishment and pollution. Yeah, I said pollution twice because it is such a big problem: once you put certain things in the water, you can't get just water back!
There are lots of resources out there in modern society bringing it up: a children's cartoon called Rango, National Geographic printed an entire issue related directly to water shortage and pollution, I've seen documentaries, and even news reports and commercials.
Unfortunately it's like my good friend Mac says: "People don't care or pay attention until their hair is on fire"
Hmmmm
So yeah, today was indeed a strange day.
I hope you were enjoying your day wherever you were today. I hope you were noticing all the weirder than normal stuff going on around you too.
A woman sitting angrily at a picnic table (don't ask me why, but she just looked angry)
A mother carrying a toddler (maybe around Mira's age) in a sling and also carrying flowers
A remarkably overweight woman walking with a utility cart FULL of empty garbage bags
News reports of an earthquake felt from Atlanta to Boston and originating in Virginia near a nuclear plant
News reports of yet another mob outbreak
News reports of an earthquake about to hit the lower East coast
I would also like to say that I don't usually watch the news, but it was somehow inevitable today as
it was on everywhere I went - and I only committed to watching an accumulative 10-15min total.
A grocery clerk asking me if I knew I picked up organic broccoli and then scoffing at me when it rang up at 3.99 for the bunch
6 different cars pull in to 6 different parking lots, park, immediately pull out, turn around and go back out (okay, I was one of those, but even still; 5 is a lot of that to see in one afternoon)
My phone giving error messages that consisted of one single ! and then the OK button (never seen that one before)
Later, at dinner, discussion moved on to an environmental discussion about the world water shortage (seriously people, it is beginning) and how desertification is becoming a reality in many places the world over:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/issues/desertification.htm
and also see:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/us-desert-50-years.htm
I was surprised to be explaining that yes, there really is a threat to our water sources. The entire world is facing a potential disastrous water shortage. I wasn't surprised because it's something that everyone knows, I can face the facts, and the facts are that very few people know or understand this. I was surprised because I honestly thought this particular person already knew... I'm really happy it came up! It's the kind of thing people just don't understand when they can't relate it to their every day lives and their ability to just go to the tap and turn on the faucet. But it is a real threat, mostly due to pollution, drainage without replenishment and pollution. Yeah, I said pollution twice because it is such a big problem: once you put certain things in the water, you can't get just water back!
There are lots of resources out there in modern society bringing it up: a children's cartoon called Rango, National Geographic printed an entire issue related directly to water shortage and pollution, I've seen documentaries, and even news reports and commercials.
Unfortunately it's like my good friend Mac says: "People don't care or pay attention until their hair is on fire"
Hmmmm
So yeah, today was indeed a strange day.
I hope you were enjoying your day wherever you were today. I hope you were noticing all the weirder than normal stuff going on around you too.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Day 87: Happy Birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRENDAN!
Birthdays are funny creatures aren't they? Especially as you get older... When you're young, birthdays are so important and you sort of expect things, or you hope for things and even if you don't expect them: you're severely disappointing if they don't happen. I remember a few times when I was a kid, I had expectations that weren't met and I was heartbroken.
This isn't a woes me post, it happens to everyone at least once.
My last birthday was a roller coaster for sure: We got literally 2 feet of snow on the ground and I shoveled for almost an hour without getting much of anywhere. The only car we had last year was the Civic which is about as high off the ground as a gocart. Anyway, long story short, I had to call in to work which was both a blessing and a curse. Then we got a much needed new fridge from our neighbors which was also a blessing and a curse because we had some things we needed to do in addition to cleaning out the old fridge, finding a cooler to put the stuff in, shoveling out and moving cars so the snow plow could clean the parking lot. Through all the frustrations, Brendan and I got into a terrible fight. It happens, but it was really a terrible fight made worse by happening on my birthday. So I was let down, picked up, let down, picked up, let down, picked up all day long.
It was memorable!
Anyway, so I always want to try and make up for those little short comings for the people in my life... It doesn't usually work, but I put a lot of thought into it! For Brendan's birthday, for instance, today, I was going to get him a video capable MP3, then I was going to get him a tablet THEN I was going to get him a non-motorized boat!
Needless to say, none of that could fulfill my want for him, so I ended up with some clothes and a pair of shoes instead. He seemed happy.
Maybe next year I can do something really special.
Who knows, maybe this year was extra special because of nothing I did... Maybe this year was extra special because this year he got a card from Mira with her very first writing ever on it.
Who wouldn't love that?
Birthdays are funny creatures aren't they? Especially as you get older... When you're young, birthdays are so important and you sort of expect things, or you hope for things and even if you don't expect them: you're severely disappointing if they don't happen. I remember a few times when I was a kid, I had expectations that weren't met and I was heartbroken.
This isn't a woes me post, it happens to everyone at least once.
My last birthday was a roller coaster for sure: We got literally 2 feet of snow on the ground and I shoveled for almost an hour without getting much of anywhere. The only car we had last year was the Civic which is about as high off the ground as a gocart. Anyway, long story short, I had to call in to work which was both a blessing and a curse. Then we got a much needed new fridge from our neighbors which was also a blessing and a curse because we had some things we needed to do in addition to cleaning out the old fridge, finding a cooler to put the stuff in, shoveling out and moving cars so the snow plow could clean the parking lot. Through all the frustrations, Brendan and I got into a terrible fight. It happens, but it was really a terrible fight made worse by happening on my birthday. So I was let down, picked up, let down, picked up, let down, picked up all day long.
It was memorable!
Anyway, so I always want to try and make up for those little short comings for the people in my life... It doesn't usually work, but I put a lot of thought into it! For Brendan's birthday, for instance, today, I was going to get him a video capable MP3, then I was going to get him a tablet THEN I was going to get him a non-motorized boat!
Needless to say, none of that could fulfill my want for him, so I ended up with some clothes and a pair of shoes instead. He seemed happy.
Maybe next year I can do something really special.
Who knows, maybe this year was extra special because of nothing I did... Maybe this year was extra special because this year he got a card from Mira with her very first writing ever on it.
Who wouldn't love that?
Monday, August 15, 2011
Day 84: Oh to spin a yarn
Oh to spin a yarn and then weave a napkin with it. I say "napkin" because this is only a short story. If it were more, well then, it would be more. A novel, for instance could be a sheet or a blanket; depending on the thickness. A series of novels would be an entire sheet and comforter set.
But this is only a short story. By me.
Today on her ride in she thought of how things used to be. As the air flowed around her, she reminisced cool, clear water flowing from the taps at home whenever she wished. It was like magic in her mind now, the way the liquid came out sparkling and crisp and clean and ready. She usually made a point of not thinking of these things, it made the world feel sad to her, and she had a day to get through.
She usually played a game of chess in her mind with her grandfather on the rides to work. He never played chess in real life that she knew of, but that made it all the more exciting and a never ending source of surprise and wonder when she would imagine the final scene in any game and the words "check" or "check mate" would come out of her mouth or out of his eternal unmoving ever so slightly smiling lips in her mind. She never really knew that much about her grandfather. It made her feel closer to him when she imagined these games they played. She had almost an hour of a ride to work each day. Imagining the chess games from start to finish made the ride seem quicker and took her mind off the fatigue and hunger and thirst. She could mull over each move for whole minutes at a time and contemplate what the next moves might be if she moved the rook here or had her grandfather jump the knight to over there. Playing chess made things as simple as the spokes turning round and round.
In the beginning, when things really started to go bad, when she started riding the bike to work in warm weather, she found herself obsessing over what went wrong and when and how and shame on those people. It was driving her insane and she was taking it out on everyone else. Her health was starting to deteriorate. At first she contributed it solely to the contamination, but then she started to realize her own role in the demise of her mental and physical health. A friend of hers recommended recreational thinking and meditating during downtime. The way he recommended it made her feel like she were in a prison and there was a special amount of time allotted to each day for thinking and such. This, in turn, brought her to a memory of school when her history teacher had brought in a guest; a Vietnam war vet. He told of how the other men around him went insane with nothing to do in a dirty cell everyday except pay attention to the dirty cell and all the other inane men around them. He explained that he came out virtually sane only because he imagined building a fence around his lawn back home. He would imagine going out every morning and measuring out the distance to the next post, get a shovel from the shed, start digging. Sometimes he'd hit a rock and have to dig it out with his hands after which he would study the rock then place it in a pile. He said that at the end, when they let him free, he had a whole pile of rocks to part with. He had explained how doing this exercise everyday gave him something to do with his mind and creating new circumstances to deal with kept his reasoning skills active and focused on more normal circumstances. Aubry found that to be truly inspirational and when she realized she was spending two whole hours of everyday focusing on the dirty cell and the other insane men around her. She'd better start building a fence. So she made her fence be chess, and the lawn, the uncontrollable force in this fantasy, her grandfather. She loved how their relationship had grown since she'd started imagining these games. She'd never had much of a chance to know him in real life, these imagined games let him be everything she ever wanted him to be and even more. She bet he never knew he had a Japanese pen pal in grammar school, back when air mail was a really big deal. She bet he never enjoyed playing any game as much as he enjoyed their games of chess as she rode her bike in to work.
That's usually what she did with her thoughts on the ride to work, but today was different. Today she felt the full force of the unfairness that is sometimes life. Today she wanted to be angry. Today she needed to feel angry and see the awfulness that had become modern day life. Today she wanted to reminisce on all the things she had seen in her life and connect them to the downfall of civilization. Today she was glad she had an hour on the bike in the cool and biting morning air to set fire to her soul and let the anger drive her. Today was the anniversary of his death.
She thought, today, about how things had changed in her life, in everyone's life. There had been an amazing moment in society when the technological advances had become so remarkable. People were ACTUALLY changing the world with words. But with all the money going into advertising and people losing time to ruminate over what is actually happening around them: communication eventually caused their demise. All the ads saying that we need we need we need this and we need we need we need that, we never had a chance to see for ourselves if we even wanted much less needed to have what they told us. We ran out of time every day, listening to the ads just made life easier. Slowly, trickle by trickle, almost all the clean water ran out. It all went down over the course of one decade. As they spewed waves of information, entertainment and opinion over us to wash our brains of all the worry, we lost sight of how to pay attention. Now there was hardly any usable water anywhere. The animals were dying, the plants were dying, the people... the people are dying. Now they're trying to figure out ways to clean the water or ways to survive without.
But he went first, he went before all of that. His death marked the turning point for the world. Her son, her truly magnificent son, lost to Death, that asshole! Oh, but what a wonder he was, her son. He could weave a smile on a fresh widow's face. His innocence bared honesty from even the best liars. If only he had lived past 11... What had it been, 10 years? 15? More? She had no idea, she was just angry.
He could have saved them all. He could have saved the world. He would have been able to crack the earth open with his bare hands and find clean water. He could have done it, he could have found magical, sparkling, beautiful, clean water - enough for everyone. He would have been able to protect it against all harm, keep it clean and replenished and safe without violence. That's how amazing he was. That's how amazing he had been. She reeled in fury over and over again as her feet pumped, letting the fire and brimstone curse everything along her path. Even her grandfather couldn't stop her from destroying her sanity today. No one could.
But this is only a short story. By me.
Today on her ride in she thought of how things used to be. As the air flowed around her, she reminisced cool, clear water flowing from the taps at home whenever she wished. It was like magic in her mind now, the way the liquid came out sparkling and crisp and clean and ready. She usually made a point of not thinking of these things, it made the world feel sad to her, and she had a day to get through.
She usually played a game of chess in her mind with her grandfather on the rides to work. He never played chess in real life that she knew of, but that made it all the more exciting and a never ending source of surprise and wonder when she would imagine the final scene in any game and the words "check" or "check mate" would come out of her mouth or out of his eternal unmoving ever so slightly smiling lips in her mind. She never really knew that much about her grandfather. It made her feel closer to him when she imagined these games they played. She had almost an hour of a ride to work each day. Imagining the chess games from start to finish made the ride seem quicker and took her mind off the fatigue and hunger and thirst. She could mull over each move for whole minutes at a time and contemplate what the next moves might be if she moved the rook here or had her grandfather jump the knight to over there. Playing chess made things as simple as the spokes turning round and round.
In the beginning, when things really started to go bad, when she started riding the bike to work in warm weather, she found herself obsessing over what went wrong and when and how and shame on those people. It was driving her insane and she was taking it out on everyone else. Her health was starting to deteriorate. At first she contributed it solely to the contamination, but then she started to realize her own role in the demise of her mental and physical health. A friend of hers recommended recreational thinking and meditating during downtime. The way he recommended it made her feel like she were in a prison and there was a special amount of time allotted to each day for thinking and such. This, in turn, brought her to a memory of school when her history teacher had brought in a guest; a Vietnam war vet. He told of how the other men around him went insane with nothing to do in a dirty cell everyday except pay attention to the dirty cell and all the other inane men around them. He explained that he came out virtually sane only because he imagined building a fence around his lawn back home. He would imagine going out every morning and measuring out the distance to the next post, get a shovel from the shed, start digging. Sometimes he'd hit a rock and have to dig it out with his hands after which he would study the rock then place it in a pile. He said that at the end, when they let him free, he had a whole pile of rocks to part with. He had explained how doing this exercise everyday gave him something to do with his mind and creating new circumstances to deal with kept his reasoning skills active and focused on more normal circumstances. Aubry found that to be truly inspirational and when she realized she was spending two whole hours of everyday focusing on the dirty cell and the other insane men around her. She'd better start building a fence. So she made her fence be chess, and the lawn, the uncontrollable force in this fantasy, her grandfather. She loved how their relationship had grown since she'd started imagining these games. She'd never had much of a chance to know him in real life, these imagined games let him be everything she ever wanted him to be and even more. She bet he never knew he had a Japanese pen pal in grammar school, back when air mail was a really big deal. She bet he never enjoyed playing any game as much as he enjoyed their games of chess as she rode her bike in to work.
That's usually what she did with her thoughts on the ride to work, but today was different. Today she felt the full force of the unfairness that is sometimes life. Today she wanted to be angry. Today she needed to feel angry and see the awfulness that had become modern day life. Today she wanted to reminisce on all the things she had seen in her life and connect them to the downfall of civilization. Today she was glad she had an hour on the bike in the cool and biting morning air to set fire to her soul and let the anger drive her. Today was the anniversary of his death.
She thought, today, about how things had changed in her life, in everyone's life. There had been an amazing moment in society when the technological advances had become so remarkable. People were ACTUALLY changing the world with words. But with all the money going into advertising and people losing time to ruminate over what is actually happening around them: communication eventually caused their demise. All the ads saying that we need we need we need this and we need we need we need that, we never had a chance to see for ourselves if we even wanted much less needed to have what they told us. We ran out of time every day, listening to the ads just made life easier. Slowly, trickle by trickle, almost all the clean water ran out. It all went down over the course of one decade. As they spewed waves of information, entertainment and opinion over us to wash our brains of all the worry, we lost sight of how to pay attention. Now there was hardly any usable water anywhere. The animals were dying, the plants were dying, the people... the people are dying. Now they're trying to figure out ways to clean the water or ways to survive without.
But he went first, he went before all of that. His death marked the turning point for the world. Her son, her truly magnificent son, lost to Death, that asshole! Oh, but what a wonder he was, her son. He could weave a smile on a fresh widow's face. His innocence bared honesty from even the best liars. If only he had lived past 11... What had it been, 10 years? 15? More? She had no idea, she was just angry.
He could have saved them all. He could have saved the world. He would have been able to crack the earth open with his bare hands and find clean water. He could have done it, he could have found magical, sparkling, beautiful, clean water - enough for everyone. He would have been able to protect it against all harm, keep it clean and replenished and safe without violence. That's how amazing he was. That's how amazing he had been. She reeled in fury over and over again as her feet pumped, letting the fire and brimstone curse everything along her path. Even her grandfather couldn't stop her from destroying her sanity today. No one could.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Day 80:
I'd like to take this opportunity to say first that I have faith in humanity. I am not a negative person, I try to see the good in every situation and I am most certainly the type of individual who can laugh through a surprising inconvenience. What, CRY over spilled milk? Oh hell, let's just laugh about it then work on cleaning the shit up. Let us definitely not get ANGRY about it - that gets on my nerves; the milk is ALREADY SPILLED, do you think your ANGER is going to magically clean it up and make it unspillable milk?
I mean, really...
But I will tell you one thing that makes me angry: People who blatantly make rude comments about others without regard to their feelings OR what they may have been through in their life previous to their rude and thoughtless behavior.
What is the point of that exactly, anyway? Does it really make someone feel GOOD to call someone else FAT in a parking lot? Really? I just don't understand it, and it totally pisses me off. So what if you think he's fat or she's fat: so what if he really IS FAT?!? What's it to you? You think they don't know? You think they really have no idea? Like it's not shoved in their face every single day. Give me a break, it's just stupid.
It's not just when they say the word "Fat" either, it's all kinds of stuff that sets me off.
You think it's a good idea to make fun of someone for what they're wearing? Maybe THEY think they look great and MAYBE it's not up to YOU to RUIN THEIR FUCKING DAY BY OPENING YOUR RIDICULOUS MOUTH!
Oh yeah, and how about those flamboyant personalities who can't help but be noticed from several feet away, you think it's doing anyone any good to call out the "F" word on them? Like they've gotten through their whole life so far without noticing they have a flamboyant way of being? Maybe they like who they are and maybe they don't but who the hell are YOU to go pinning stereotypes on people anyway? You think you're so freaking wonderful you get to call the shots? You're just showing your ignorance, self pity and stupidity, but for some reason it also affects others, usually negatively. What, misery loves company? How about you just try to buck up and do the right thing and make your own life better instead of dragging all these other nice people down with you in your little stenchy pool of stagnant piss.
I hope you, my reader aren't really that type. I just use the word "you" because it's easier that trying to find some other way to describe the person who partakes in this kind of awful activity.
Anyway, I still believe in the best of the human race, just getting a little aggression out.
On another note, anyone else enjoying the delicious apricots this season has had to offer? I don't recall them ever being so delicious as this before. Yesterday, I literally ate 8 of them. If you haven't tried any, I suggest you do. The US grown organic variety to be specific.
I mean, really...
But I will tell you one thing that makes me angry: People who blatantly make rude comments about others without regard to their feelings OR what they may have been through in their life previous to their rude and thoughtless behavior.
What is the point of that exactly, anyway? Does it really make someone feel GOOD to call someone else FAT in a parking lot? Really? I just don't understand it, and it totally pisses me off. So what if you think he's fat or she's fat: so what if he really IS FAT?!? What's it to you? You think they don't know? You think they really have no idea? Like it's not shoved in their face every single day. Give me a break, it's just stupid.
It's not just when they say the word "Fat" either, it's all kinds of stuff that sets me off.
You think it's a good idea to make fun of someone for what they're wearing? Maybe THEY think they look great and MAYBE it's not up to YOU to RUIN THEIR FUCKING DAY BY OPENING YOUR RIDICULOUS MOUTH!
Oh yeah, and how about those flamboyant personalities who can't help but be noticed from several feet away, you think it's doing anyone any good to call out the "F" word on them? Like they've gotten through their whole life so far without noticing they have a flamboyant way of being? Maybe they like who they are and maybe they don't but who the hell are YOU to go pinning stereotypes on people anyway? You think you're so freaking wonderful you get to call the shots? You're just showing your ignorance, self pity and stupidity, but for some reason it also affects others, usually negatively. What, misery loves company? How about you just try to buck up and do the right thing and make your own life better instead of dragging all these other nice people down with you in your little stenchy pool of stagnant piss.
I hope you, my reader aren't really that type. I just use the word "you" because it's easier that trying to find some other way to describe the person who partakes in this kind of awful activity.
Anyway, I still believe in the best of the human race, just getting a little aggression out.
On another note, anyone else enjoying the delicious apricots this season has had to offer? I don't recall them ever being so delicious as this before. Yesterday, I literally ate 8 of them. If you haven't tried any, I suggest you do. The US grown organic variety to be specific.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Day 79: Oh Syracuse... Part II
I apologize that it took 2 days to get this out, but we had a full day yesterday. Anyway, ON WITH THE SHOW!
So after our lovely little stay in Sunset Park about 25mi outside of Syracuse in Memphis, NY, we packed up our wet tent, our wet blankets and sleeping backs and our wet chairs and umbrellas and headed on into the 'Cuse.
Where we got lost. Repeatedly.
Yes, we had TWO GPS's, and there was really good signage, but for some reason or another, we just kept going round and round and round the same area of town. As with any other 'getting lost' kind of story, we weren't in the best part of town, but it wasn't especially scary because it was like 9:30am. We did get lots of interesting looks from the people we passed on the street. My guess is that they don't see many green Subaru Wagons around there.
It probably didn't help that we were either arguing excitedly (it's how we roll) or laughing hysterically (also how we roll).
Anyway, with some luck we found a nice little diner, GEM read the sign: where the eggs were perfectly poached, the hollandaise sauce was grainy, the home fries had no taste and the pineapple pancakes were pretty good. And we hadn't had warm food in 2 days, so it was a real treat. Funny thing: the parking lot was PACKED. I think it might have some kind of specialty, but we didn't know what it was and since we were the LEAST manicured people there, I don't think they wanted us hanging around. Who really knows.
Anyway, then it was time for the Rosamond Gifford Zoo which was a great time, worth the $ and got lots and lots of "Hiiiii Keeeteeee"s from Mira. Oh, yes and there were also "Hi KeeeKAT!"s, which is new, so we'll see.
The elephant was by far her favorite, she stared in awe at a creature so big and awesome. We didn't get to see the tiger, he was passed out and panting way down his hill - not accepting visitors. We did see the lions and the monkeys who put on quite a nice show right at the end of our visit. And I got to see a peacock completely feathered out for the first time. True, he kept his back to us the entire time, but I'd say it still counts.
So we left the zoo in search of a WalMart via GPS and we STILL got lost again! This was only momentary though and soon we saw across the underside of an overpass "NOTHING TO DO HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH YOU" and on the other side the four seasons with various adjectives, the only two of which I can remember are "FALL LEAVES WINTER LONGS"
I found a little more out about that here:
http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/A-Love-Letter-to-Syracuse-artist-paints-downtown/7zWcfS5lJkelY4UqqMAx-A.cspx
Pretty cool. I love art, but art for the masses AND their brains is the BEST!
So on the way to WalMart, we throw Brendan's shoes in the garbage because between never drying out from camping and then walking around the hot zoo all day, the smell like a dead animal and they need to be thrown away. Not two minutes after discussing a plan of action for me to go in, get Brendan a pair of shoes, bring them out and then we can all go into Wal Mart... MY SHOES BREAK! Okay, well, one shoe, but still, the signs don't say "No shoes No service, but One shoe is Okay". Now we needed a new plan of action. Which in the end included minor flip flop surgery, gorilla glue and running added to the first plan. Except I can't run, so the plan was amended in action.
In the end, we all got new shoes (Mira's were also soaked) and air conditioned relief from the heat and we left WalMart refreshed for the remaining 2 and a half hour drive home. Except it was longer than that because we stopped and ate lunch at the Cazenovia waterfront stop along the way.
Home again Home again, jiggity jig.
So after our lovely little stay in Sunset Park about 25mi outside of Syracuse in Memphis, NY, we packed up our wet tent, our wet blankets and sleeping backs and our wet chairs and umbrellas and headed on into the 'Cuse.
Where we got lost. Repeatedly.
Yes, we had TWO GPS's, and there was really good signage, but for some reason or another, we just kept going round and round and round the same area of town. As with any other 'getting lost' kind of story, we weren't in the best part of town, but it wasn't especially scary because it was like 9:30am. We did get lots of interesting looks from the people we passed on the street. My guess is that they don't see many green Subaru Wagons around there.
It probably didn't help that we were either arguing excitedly (it's how we roll) or laughing hysterically (also how we roll).
Anyway, with some luck we found a nice little diner, GEM read the sign: where the eggs were perfectly poached, the hollandaise sauce was grainy, the home fries had no taste and the pineapple pancakes were pretty good. And we hadn't had warm food in 2 days, so it was a real treat. Funny thing: the parking lot was PACKED. I think it might have some kind of specialty, but we didn't know what it was and since we were the LEAST manicured people there, I don't think they wanted us hanging around. Who really knows.
Anyway, then it was time for the Rosamond Gifford Zoo which was a great time, worth the $ and got lots and lots of "Hiiiii Keeeteeee"s from Mira. Oh, yes and there were also "Hi KeeeKAT!"s, which is new, so we'll see.
The elephant was by far her favorite, she stared in awe at a creature so big and awesome. We didn't get to see the tiger, he was passed out and panting way down his hill - not accepting visitors. We did see the lions and the monkeys who put on quite a nice show right at the end of our visit. And I got to see a peacock completely feathered out for the first time. True, he kept his back to us the entire time, but I'd say it still counts.
So we left the zoo in search of a WalMart via GPS and we STILL got lost again! This was only momentary though and soon we saw across the underside of an overpass "NOTHING TO DO HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH YOU" and on the other side the four seasons with various adjectives, the only two of which I can remember are "FALL LEAVES WINTER LONGS"
I found a little more out about that here:
http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/A-Love-Letter-to-Syracuse-artist-paints-downtown/7zWcfS5lJkelY4UqqMAx-A.cspx
Pretty cool. I love art, but art for the masses AND their brains is the BEST!
So on the way to WalMart, we throw Brendan's shoes in the garbage because between never drying out from camping and then walking around the hot zoo all day, the smell like a dead animal and they need to be thrown away. Not two minutes after discussing a plan of action for me to go in, get Brendan a pair of shoes, bring them out and then we can all go into Wal Mart... MY SHOES BREAK! Okay, well, one shoe, but still, the signs don't say "No shoes No service, but One shoe is Okay". Now we needed a new plan of action. Which in the end included minor flip flop surgery, gorilla glue and running added to the first plan. Except I can't run, so the plan was amended in action.
In the end, we all got new shoes (Mira's were also soaked) and air conditioned relief from the heat and we left WalMart refreshed for the remaining 2 and a half hour drive home. Except it was longer than that because we stopped and ate lunch at the Cazenovia waterfront stop along the way.
Home again Home again, jiggity jig.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Day 77: Oh Syracuse...
Well, the camping excursion we had planned was not exactly what we thought it would be. Lovely as Sunset Park is on Cross Lake, it is mostly a summer vacation spot for people who pay a small amount year round to keep a lot there. These lots are all VERY close together and set up with RV's, and mobile homes with decks and flower gardens and whimsical signs and various doodads to make it look summery, vacationy and enjoyable. One thing's for sure: they enjoy it! Because all the sites are so close together and also because they have the tent sites right in the middle of all of them (it sort of felt like we were on display), we got to enjoy their partying until well after 1am. I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining, I don't judge or want to take away from anybody's good time, but for all the noise, Mira thought SHE was at their party too! So WE were up until about 1am, and up pretty early (you know how tent camping is!).
Anyway, between all that, all the rain and the fact that Mira sustained her first big injury Friday night as I was packing - we ended our camping excursion early.
Let me just stop right there: Yep, Mira has her first big injury. I'm not making a big deal of it because if she's anything like me, my brother or MOST of the kids in the world: it won't be her last. She apparently found some glass with her foot and took a nice little chunk right off the bottom of her big toe. It's not a big deal though it looks pretty gruesome, and since she's been walking for 6months now I was just waiting for SOMETHING to happen. Anyway, with the wetness outside, we didn't feel comfortable letting her traipse around with her bandaged foot getting it all wet. The thing with that is that it just wouldn't ever dry staying in the bandage like that and that's bad news. Also, she loves to be cuddled, but DOES NOT want to be HELD CONSTANTLY and also got real tired of the tent real quick. So after much screaming and protesting on Saturday, we decided we'd leave Sunday, head for the Zoo and come on home afterward.
Which is what we did.
And if you want to know more about it, you're gonna have to check in tomorrow...
Anyway, between all that, all the rain and the fact that Mira sustained her first big injury Friday night as I was packing - we ended our camping excursion early.
Let me just stop right there: Yep, Mira has her first big injury. I'm not making a big deal of it because if she's anything like me, my brother or MOST of the kids in the world: it won't be her last. She apparently found some glass with her foot and took a nice little chunk right off the bottom of her big toe. It's not a big deal though it looks pretty gruesome, and since she's been walking for 6months now I was just waiting for SOMETHING to happen. Anyway, with the wetness outside, we didn't feel comfortable letting her traipse around with her bandaged foot getting it all wet. The thing with that is that it just wouldn't ever dry staying in the bandage like that and that's bad news. Also, she loves to be cuddled, but DOES NOT want to be HELD CONSTANTLY and also got real tired of the tent real quick. So after much screaming and protesting on Saturday, we decided we'd leave Sunday, head for the Zoo and come on home afterward.
Which is what we did.
And if you want to know more about it, you're gonna have to check in tomorrow...
Friday, August 5, 2011
Day 74: Lions and Tigers and Bears OH MY!
Okay, so we're not even camping yet and I'm already afraid of the wildlife... I had to dig out our camping gear from the big closet. This was no easy task as I had buried it and buried it and buried it since we moved into this apartment over a year and a half ago. Digging through layers of boxes 3 deep, I was afraid there might be a critter in there, holing up to keep cool from the heat. A silly thought, yeah, I admit that - irrational, absolutely, but no less real in my mind as I picked up, bent backwards, twisted into unrecognizable forms to clear one row, retrieve camping mats, pillows, backpack full of useful goods, and I don't even know what else WITHOUT attracting the attention of one 14mo old who can be very "helpful".
Whew! After all that, I sure hope I picked a good spot for us! It's our only getaway for the summer, three days in the wiles outside of Syracuse. In the midst of about 4 parks and forests, I'm hoping we can squeeze about a week's worth of vacation. Our summer so far seems to have been packed with hard work, rinse, repeat.
So yeah, I'm not sure what I thought was gonna come out of the dark cracks between boxes in the closet: a raccoon, a tiger, a bat or a rat, but I was terrified. I'm sure it'll be worth it come Tuesday morning when I have to put it all back again... Maybe I'll stack it a little closer to the front - that other crap's not going anywhere anytime soon.
Whew! After all that, I sure hope I picked a good spot for us! It's our only getaway for the summer, three days in the wiles outside of Syracuse. In the midst of about 4 parks and forests, I'm hoping we can squeeze about a week's worth of vacation. Our summer so far seems to have been packed with hard work, rinse, repeat.
So yeah, I'm not sure what I thought was gonna come out of the dark cracks between boxes in the closet: a raccoon, a tiger, a bat or a rat, but I was terrified. I'm sure it'll be worth it come Tuesday morning when I have to put it all back again... Maybe I'll stack it a little closer to the front - that other crap's not going anywhere anytime soon.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Day 71: Babies, Babies, BABIES!
You know, about two years before I had a pregnancy of my own, I looked around and saw ALL THESE PREGNANT WOMEN! At first I thought my biological clock was ticking... but then I checked and it wasn't. There really were so many pregnant women all over the place.
Then there were more.
Then there were more.
Then there were women with babies who were pregnant again.
Then there I was pregnant.
And I looked around and I saw even more pregnant women!
While I was pregnant!
Now I have a toddler (she's just over a year old, but, hey, she's walking so it counts!) and I look around and there are STILL all these pregnant women!
Hell, two of the men I work with (that's two out of about 40) are expecting in a few weeks.
Anyway, all these babies. And it's NOT my imagination just because I'm a 30something female and all that jazz. I know that because me, in all my paranoia and nosieness asks around "Is it me, or are there a LOT of pregnant women and babies walking around lately?" So far, everyone agrees "Yes, Misty, there are a LOT of pregnant women and babies around these days. More so than in years past."
Are we in the midst of another baby boom?
Then there were more.
Then there were more.
Then there were women with babies who were pregnant again.
Then there I was pregnant.
And I looked around and I saw even more pregnant women!
While I was pregnant!
Now I have a toddler (she's just over a year old, but, hey, she's walking so it counts!) and I look around and there are STILL all these pregnant women!
Hell, two of the men I work with (that's two out of about 40) are expecting in a few weeks.
Anyway, all these babies. And it's NOT my imagination just because I'm a 30something female and all that jazz. I know that because me, in all my paranoia and nosieness asks around "Is it me, or are there a LOT of pregnant women and babies walking around lately?" So far, everyone agrees "Yes, Misty, there are a LOT of pregnant women and babies around these days. More so than in years past."
Are we in the midst of another baby boom?
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