Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Blogger
I’m on vacation so I took the time to do something I don’t have time for in the “real world” – researching new cool functions on Blogger. Turns out one that I’m interested in, Google Gadgets, I don’t even have access to. Perhaps it’s because my layout is from like 2005 or something but it’s all HTML, right? Why should that matter? Confused…. Intrigued…. Frustrated.
Monday, September 01, 2008
vacation
Day 1: The zoo. this is probably the largest zoo I've ever been to. We only saw half and that took 4 hours. Thing of note: the biggest grizzly bear ever. This thing was a downright monstrosity! When we got home we walked down to Jack Astor's for dinner and then took Nicole swimming that night. 2/3 on the boardgame front and then off to bed.
Day 2: Nicole again wakes up at 6:30am. HELLO - sleep in child! A nice complimentary hotel breakfast, Nic nap, and some H-O-R-S-E and we head over to Tim Horton's (they're frickin' everywhere) for lunch which was below par. This afternoon we caught the CN tower, the Hockey Hall of Fame (waaaayyyy too much information in general, much less for mediocre hockey fans), and then briefly up to the Easton Mall. Dad fed Nicole a strawberry milkshake which she could not get enough of.
We think we might head the hour and a half to Niagara Falls tomorrow as Jim's never seen it and we're so close.
Have a good week at WORK, friends! ha!
Day 2: Nicole again wakes up at 6:30am. HELLO - sleep in child! A nice complimentary hotel breakfast, Nic nap, and some H-O-R-S-E and we head over to Tim Horton's (they're frickin' everywhere) for lunch which was below par. This afternoon we caught the CN tower, the Hockey Hall of Fame (waaaayyyy too much information in general, much less for mediocre hockey fans), and then briefly up to the Easton Mall. Dad fed Nicole a strawberry milkshake which she could not get enough of.
We think we might head the hour and a half to Niagara Falls tomorrow as Jim's never seen it and we're so close.
Have a good week at WORK, friends! ha!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Toronto, Day 1
I’m here. In canada! It took us about 10 total hours including stops but as the kid was good and the ride was in a minivan where we could spread out it wasn’t so bad.
So far what’s weird is that Nicole went to bed at 10 (hour and a half late) and got up at 6:20 (40 min early) so I didn’t get to sleep in….. however, she’s now napping so we’re all here hanging out in the hotel room. We’re off to the zoo this afternoon and will be going to Los Lomos, the CN tower, a Blue Jays game, and the hockey hall of fame all by Wednesday.
More fun on the horizon and I’ll write if I get time.
So far what’s weird is that Nicole went to bed at 10 (hour and a half late) and got up at 6:20 (40 min early) so I didn’t get to sleep in….. however, she’s now napping so we’re all here hanging out in the hotel room. We’re off to the zoo this afternoon and will be going to Los Lomos, the CN tower, a Blue Jays game, and the hockey hall of fame all by Wednesday.
More fun on the horizon and I’ll write if I get time.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
What's Up
I started teaching on Tuesday - another full class of 30. It went pretty well except I misread the clock (thought it said 8:30 when really it only said 7:30) so I moved through my teaching quicker than normal and skipped an activity I really wanted to do because we were short on time. Turns out I planned right and we had plenty of time to do it. It was too late to call them back though and probably not a good impression on the first night. Ah well, now they have homework.
Jim and Nicole were at home that night and he actually got a few snaps of her which was great! Below is a shot of her preparing to give a real kiss (versus just putting your mouth on someone's cheek and making the sound). She hasn't grasped that you don't need to suction quite so hard before the "release".
- I have 2 problems with my outfit today. 1) I broke out a pair of my new $12 ON jeans and one leg is cut a little smaller in the thigh than the other. It’s not a huge difference but noticeable enough on a full-time basis when I sit or walk. 2) I do not understand side zippers on shirts. I get back zippers that totally open at the neck thus making the shirt/dress/whatever much looser to initially put on, but this zipper connects at the top and bottom so at no point is it really open. Most of the time I don’t even bother unzipping it at all because I don’t think they actually provide any functionality.
- I read People faithfully every week and feel that it keeps me relatively “in tune” with the "real" world. However, though I know of and have opinions about Amy Winehouse and the Jonas Brothers I’ve never actually heard a note of their music, which is of course what their careers are in. Today a radio station was giving away Cheetah Girls concert tickets. Who in the hell are they!?
- Lastly, Nicole can say a handful of words, one of which is shoe. It actually comes out more like “choo”, but she’s always holding or moving towards a shoe when she says it so I get it. I broke out slippers yesterday for the first time in a long time and she was very interested in touching them because they were fuzzy. I let her try them on and from there out she was quite content to walk around in her new “choos”.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Weekend of 8/22/08
After jam-packed schedules for the last few weeks, Jim insisted on a weekend of no plans. We watched movies, hung out with the kid, ran errands, finished some house stuff. Some highlights:
1) Friday I took off work because our babysitter took a long weekend and the Gardners and I traded sitting services. I had 3 kids ages 1, 2, and 4 all day and not on the same nap schedule. I was worn out and had a huge headache by the end of the day. The kids were very very good all day, it’s just that I felt the need to entertain them with movies, painting, swimming, bubbles, pizza-making and paper dolls instead of just letting them hang out. I deserved the hot bath with jets that evening.
2) At 9:05am I arrived at Old Navy behind about 20 other, eager but polite women and their very patient husbands to buy $12 jeans. I got 3 pair for me, 2 for Nicole and 1 for Ryann (for Christmas).
3) Dad and I had our second of three ice skating lessons on Saturday afternoon. He won them at a blind auction held at his office and kindly split them with me for some father-daughter bonding time. The first lesson we learned stopping, swizzels (making figure eights with our ankles) forward and back, skating on one foot, turning and two-footed spins. On Saturday we did more backwards skating, practiced spinning and learned cross-overs. Wow do my feet hurt by the end of our lesson.
There is this super cute little girl, who I'm guessing is about 5, who has a lesson at the same time we do. I’ve determined that ice skaters have no future unless you’re really good. While she’s adorable to watch, at least gymnastics lessons have a practical bridge to cheerleading in the future. Ice skating – not something that lends itself to making you readily available to break out your skills in an emergency/talent competition/etc.
4) TMI Warning! The fam headed to the mall to use my VS free panty coupon and I decided I was going to actually use another coupon for $10 off a bra. In my whole life I’ve never bought a full-price, non-semi-annual-clearance bra from Victoria’s Secret. After going up to a 38DD while pregnant and then losing weight I’d noticed that my pre-prego bras weren’t fitting as nicely as they probably should. I had the saleslady measure me and I was shocked when she told me I was a 38B. A B!? I haven’t been a B since my sophomore year of high school! So I had her measure again… 36B. Yeahhhhhhhhh….. So I tried one of the new BioFit bras on and to my amazement I'm a B (at least in VS bras). "$37 is the sale price for a bra?!" Jim exclaimed as soon as we left the store. After I explained my new size he proceeded to tease me that he didn’t buy “this” (as he spun my engagement ring) to have a B cup wife.
5) Vantage Point was an interesting movie though I only give it a B. It follows the viewpoint of six different people involved in an event and lets you see all the angles so that you can piece together the “real” story.
6) Mark and I toured our neighborhood (he’s moving in in December) and gave our unsolicited opinions on homebuilding/decorating to each other. I can’t believe Ryan homes doesn’t consult with us on every floorplan they design.
1) Friday I took off work because our babysitter took a long weekend and the Gardners and I traded sitting services. I had 3 kids ages 1, 2, and 4 all day and not on the same nap schedule. I was worn out and had a huge headache by the end of the day. The kids were very very good all day, it’s just that I felt the need to entertain them with movies, painting, swimming, bubbles, pizza-making and paper dolls instead of just letting them hang out. I deserved the hot bath with jets that evening.
2) At 9:05am I arrived at Old Navy behind about 20 other, eager but polite women and their very patient husbands to buy $12 jeans. I got 3 pair for me, 2 for Nicole and 1 for Ryann (for Christmas).
3) Dad and I had our second of three ice skating lessons on Saturday afternoon. He won them at a blind auction held at his office and kindly split them with me for some father-daughter bonding time. The first lesson we learned stopping, swizzels (making figure eights with our ankles) forward and back, skating on one foot, turning and two-footed spins. On Saturday we did more backwards skating, practiced spinning and learned cross-overs. Wow do my feet hurt by the end of our lesson.
There is this super cute little girl, who I'm guessing is about 5, who has a lesson at the same time we do. I’ve determined that ice skaters have no future unless you’re really good. While she’s adorable to watch, at least gymnastics lessons have a practical bridge to cheerleading in the future. Ice skating – not something that lends itself to making you readily available to break out your skills in an emergency/talent competition/etc.
4) TMI Warning! The fam headed to the mall to use my VS free panty coupon and I decided I was going to actually use another coupon for $10 off a bra. In my whole life I’ve never bought a full-price, non-semi-annual-clearance bra from Victoria’s Secret. After going up to a 38DD while pregnant and then losing weight I’d noticed that my pre-prego bras weren’t fitting as nicely as they probably should. I had the saleslady measure me and I was shocked when she told me I was a 38B. A B!? I haven’t been a B since my sophomore year of high school! So I had her measure again… 36B. Yeahhhhhhhhh….. So I tried one of the new BioFit bras on and to my amazement I'm a B (at least in VS bras). "$37 is the sale price for a bra?!" Jim exclaimed as soon as we left the store. After I explained my new size he proceeded to tease me that he didn’t buy “this” (as he spun my engagement ring) to have a B cup wife.
5) Vantage Point was an interesting movie though I only give it a B. It follows the viewpoint of six different people involved in an event and lets you see all the angles so that you can piece together the “real” story.
6) Mark and I toured our neighborhood (he’s moving in in December) and gave our unsolicited opinions on homebuilding/decorating to each other. I can’t believe Ryan homes doesn’t consult with us on every floorplan they design.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Goodnight, Nicole
Tonight when I tucked Nicole in she was all smiley while I sang to her and started to join in. When we were done she sat sideways on my lap with her head on my chest. I stroked her legs and she held my other hand. We rocked for a long while together. I told her out loud, “The world isn’t perfect, but you’re going to make it a better place,” and though it might sound cheesy, it was one of the perfect moments where I had a lot of faith that I’ll be right.
Nicole's Activities as of late
Nicole has taken to climbing lately- stairs of course, but now her rocking horse and window sills. The ones in our family room work out quite conveniently for sitting, squatting and standing.
We have several animals that come to call- deer, cardinals, and butterflies are most common. The other day though we had a flock of 16 Canadian geese that landed and stayed for about an hour. Nic's watching them eat the neighbor's grass seed from our living room.
She doesn't maneuver the stroller well yet and gets a bit feisty when things get in her way...
With one of her birthday gift certificates I bought her her first baby doll this morning. I sprung for the "upgrade" model that came with a stroller and pajamas. It was a hit!
She doesn't maneuver the stroller well yet and gets a bit feisty when things get in her way...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Thursday 13
First, a note from our sponsors....
I was QUITE happy to see Andy Martini’s return and to find out I have a new reader, Mark J, who googled himself and my blog came up as the third hit. He was surprised to see I even had a blog much less with him in it! :)
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Thirteen things I've changed in my "everyday" life in the last month
1) Decaf coffee
2) 1 dessert/day
3) TV Watching (Olympics)
4) Painting my fingernails
5) Not doing the dishes (Jim does them now almost all the time)
6) Entering vacation mode (leaving in a week and a half for Toronto)
7) Keeping REALLY busy at work
8) Staying in touch better with my new Blackberry
9) Evening work doing lesson plans
10) Exclusive Pandora listening at work ALL day
11) House projects (ok, maybe it’s not a change that I'm working on the house, but I’ve been working on different projects)
12) Chasing Nicole (she’s learning to “run”)
13) Slight change in the morning routine to shower before getting Nicole up
I was QUITE happy to see Andy Martini’s return and to find out I have a new reader, Mark J, who googled himself and my blog came up as the third hit. He was surprised to see I even had a blog much less with him in it! :)
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Thirteen things I've changed in my "everyday" life in the last month
1) Decaf coffee
2) 1 dessert/day
3) TV Watching (Olympics)
4) Painting my fingernails
5) Not doing the dishes (Jim does them now almost all the time)
6) Entering vacation mode (leaving in a week and a half for Toronto)
7) Keeping REALLY busy at work
8) Staying in touch better with my new Blackberry
9) Evening work doing lesson plans
10) Exclusive Pandora listening at work ALL day
11) House projects (ok, maybe it’s not a change that I'm working on the house, but I’ve been working on different projects)
12) Chasing Nicole (she’s learning to “run”)
13) Slight change in the morning routine to shower before getting Nicole up
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Bus Adventures
I wish I had a cute picture of me from 1985 to kick off this post, but I'm at work so a bit limited.
Yesterday and today are the first days back for most of the schools in our area. Half the kids at Nicole’s daycare will disappear to Pre-School through 6th grade so when I visited yesterday it was so quiet it was almost eerie (granted the most of little ones were taking a nap). This morning as I passed the high school on the way to work the lights were flashing and students were waiting at the street corner to head into school. Made me a bit nostalgic so I thought I’d jot down a few school bus memories of my own:
- Now I don’t actually remember this but my mom turns into my grandfather and starts repeating herself when it comes to this story…. Apparently my first day of kindergarten (which would have been August 1983, age 4) was my first experience riding a bus to school. I apparently firmly announced that I was very grown up and was going to go to the bus-stop alone, without my mother. She just as clearly told her that there was no way she wasn’t going to the bus-stop with me but she would let me walk ahead of her up the street.
- In gradeschool the bus-stop was at the foot of my aunt and uncle’s driveway which was 4 houses up the street on the opposite side. We’d watch out our family room window for the bus to pull in and then we’d start our walk up to the corner as the bus looped around the neighborhood on it’s way to us. This normally worked out okay but there were times we missed seeing it pull in and were startled by it’s journey up our length of the street. Those times we sprinted out the door and up Chagrin to the corner. The bus driver normally slowed way down so our little legs kept us ahead of her and allow us to “make it in time.”
- In the winter my dad would drive us the block and let us sit in the warm, running car until the bus came. He always had a cup of coffee “to go” but for some reason it made him salivate so inevitably he’d crack the window and spit out of it. I firmly remember the morning he didn’t roll the window down far enough and ended up putting a huge “loogey” on the glass.
- All the little kids “had to” sit up front as dictated by seniority rules. By the time I hit 7th grade I was in the second last row and thinking I was cool as shit. When spring hit Jonathan Baker started bringing his boom box on the bus and we’d jam out to Boys II Men’s Motownphilly.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Olympics
In the past week I have logged more television viewing hours on my TV than I think we did in the entire year of 2007. The Olympics go on the minute I get home and turn off last thing before I go to bed. Between Saturday and Sunday I think they were playing for about 15 hours which is an amazingly long amount of time for us to watch TV.
I’ve also determined that Nicole is going to take up diving. I figure she can train on the platform and springboard, individual and synchro. That way she has a lot of medal opportunities. She’ll probably be too tall for gymnastics and too short to be an excellent swimmer. Diving also has the advantage of being indoors so no bad weather soccer games to deal with! :) now if she’ll just cooperate….
I’ve also determined that Nicole is going to take up diving. I figure she can train on the platform and springboard, individual and synchro. That way she has a lot of medal opportunities. She’ll probably be too tall for gymnastics and too short to be an excellent swimmer. Diving also has the advantage of being indoors so no bad weather soccer games to deal with! :) now if she’ll just cooperate….
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Front Teeth
I would think it's hard for Nicole to eat a variety of food with only 6 teeth (4 front top, 2 bottom center) but she's more than willing to try just about anything. We hit the jackpot though the other night by feeding her corn on the cob - front teeth are the only things required to enjoy! You have to turn it up pretty loud to hear her crunch it off the cob...
In case you're wondering, the other stuff she's eating is part of a pork chop.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Soundtrack to Life
After nearly 3 decades of listening to the radio, especially pop and country in the past few years, I’ve come to the conclusion that you could write an entire life script through songs. I started one below and I know there are dozens more that could be added to the storyline, I just don’t have the time or energy at 8am to be creative with it.
So here goes:
Girl likes boy who doesn’t know she likes him: Teardrops on my Guitar by Taylor Swift
Boy and girl eventually get together: Next time I Fall by Peter Cetera
Boy and Girl Date: Come on Over by Jessica Simpson
Boy and Girl finally “do it”: I’ll Make Love to You by Boys 2 Men
Boy cheats on girl: Take a Bow by Rihanna
Boy is sorry he cheated on the girl: Best of Intentions by Travis Tritt
Girl tries to get over boy: Time, Love and Tenderness by Michael Bolton
Girl finds a new love interest: The First Cut is the Deepest by Sheryl Crow
Girl and New Boy get married: I Swear by All For One
Couple has a baby: A New Day has Come by Celine Dion
Daddy loves his daughter: Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle
Marriage lasts: Still the One by Shania Twain
And they lived happily ever after!
I could go on a whole other saga about their kid. I could do it in country songs alone, especially if the daughter and her love interests have a lot of fights!
Yeah, I listen to the radio an awful lot…
So here goes:
Girl likes boy who doesn’t know she likes him: Teardrops on my Guitar by Taylor Swift
Boy and girl eventually get together: Next time I Fall by Peter Cetera
Boy and Girl Date: Come on Over by Jessica Simpson
Boy and Girl finally “do it”: I’ll Make Love to You by Boys 2 Men
Boy cheats on girl: Take a Bow by Rihanna
Boy is sorry he cheated on the girl: Best of Intentions by Travis Tritt
Girl tries to get over boy: Time, Love and Tenderness by Michael Bolton
Girl finds a new love interest: The First Cut is the Deepest by Sheryl Crow
Girl and New Boy get married: I Swear by All For One
Couple has a baby: A New Day has Come by Celine Dion
Daddy loves his daughter: Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle
Marriage lasts: Still the One by Shania Twain
And they lived happily ever after!
I could go on a whole other saga about their kid. I could do it in country songs alone, especially if the daughter and her love interests have a lot of fights!
Yeah, I listen to the radio an awful lot…
Monday, August 11, 2008
Weekend of 8-9-08
This weekend was EXHAUSTING. On Friday night 12 of Jim’s family members arrived at our house for the weekend. Friday wasn’t anything exciting, mostly wii playing, but Saturday came too early when Nicole woke up at her normal time, 6:45am to start the day. And what a full day it was.
Most of the clan headed to the zoo which was ½ off this weekend. I went with Jessica, Colton and my dad to the ice rink where Dad and I were supposed to be having an ice skating lesson. Turns out there was some hockey tournament thing going on and we couldn’t skate. Colton, 6, was so upset he started crying in the lobby and one of the parents (from NC no less) asked him if he wanted to meet a real hockey player which, with tears running down his cheek he nodded, he did. So, we met some 17 year old goalie who had his picture taken with Colton and gave him a real hockey puck. We stood at the glass for a while and watched them all play which was fun, but not as fun as…
The arcade that we went to in lieu of ice skating. Dad suggested that we hit up the Sports Plex which is a kid mecca with video games galore, a inline hockey rink and an ice rink. Colton got a $20 card to play and while we were watching him ride an indoor roller coaster a worker told the ride operator that the wifi was down and all the kids were playing for free (cards weren’t being charged). Tickets were pouring out of these machines as kids played and played and workers were trying to get to each game and empty them of tickets before the kids went too haywire. Colton had so much fun he told his mom he was going to take a bus to Cincinnati and come to the arcade all day, sleep at our house and play wii, and then come back the next day. She could pick him up at the bus station when he was ready to come home.
That night we had a big family dinner which everyone devoured and complimented me on (thank god, it’s hard to please 14 people). All the “kids” in our generation stayed up playing games and drinking until 2:30am.
They all left the next afternoon, Jim cleaned, and that night we hit up the Taste of Colerain with Mark and Caitlin which was nice.
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I did take about an hour and a half on Sunday to watch the Olympics (swimming and gymnastics). I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Olympics. I love the basic concept and I love all the elements: peaceful world interaction, national pride, competition, the pushing of the human body and spirit. In my short watching tenure I saw about 5 world records broken. It’s awesome to think I witness that in general- someone doing their sport better than anyone in the world EVER has. Absolutely amazing.
I just watched the 4X100 men's freestyle relay online (I went to bed before it aired) and literally, it gave me chills. The US won in an unbelievable bout and made up almost a half body-length to win. I feel so overwhelmed and proud it's pulsing through me. WOW.
I need to start training Nicole for the 2024 games - those are the first she'd be permitted to participate in.
In case you were wondering, my favorite summer Olympic sports are: swimming, gymnastics, and diving. Contrary to Jim’s desire, the Olympics are on my “bucket list”.
Most of the clan headed to the zoo which was ½ off this weekend. I went with Jessica, Colton and my dad to the ice rink where Dad and I were supposed to be having an ice skating lesson. Turns out there was some hockey tournament thing going on and we couldn’t skate. Colton, 6, was so upset he started crying in the lobby and one of the parents (from NC no less) asked him if he wanted to meet a real hockey player which, with tears running down his cheek he nodded, he did. So, we met some 17 year old goalie who had his picture taken with Colton and gave him a real hockey puck. We stood at the glass for a while and watched them all play which was fun, but not as fun as…
The arcade that we went to in lieu of ice skating. Dad suggested that we hit up the Sports Plex which is a kid mecca with video games galore, a inline hockey rink and an ice rink. Colton got a $20 card to play and while we were watching him ride an indoor roller coaster a worker told the ride operator that the wifi was down and all the kids were playing for free (cards weren’t being charged). Tickets were pouring out of these machines as kids played and played and workers were trying to get to each game and empty them of tickets before the kids went too haywire. Colton had so much fun he told his mom he was going to take a bus to Cincinnati and come to the arcade all day, sleep at our house and play wii, and then come back the next day. She could pick him up at the bus station when he was ready to come home.
That night we had a big family dinner which everyone devoured and complimented me on (thank god, it’s hard to please 14 people). All the “kids” in our generation stayed up playing games and drinking until 2:30am.
They all left the next afternoon, Jim cleaned, and that night we hit up the Taste of Colerain with Mark and Caitlin which was nice.
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I did take about an hour and a half on Sunday to watch the Olympics (swimming and gymnastics). I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Olympics. I love the basic concept and I love all the elements: peaceful world interaction, national pride, competition, the pushing of the human body and spirit. In my short watching tenure I saw about 5 world records broken. It’s awesome to think I witness that in general- someone doing their sport better than anyone in the world EVER has. Absolutely amazing.
I just watched the 4X100 men's freestyle relay online (I went to bed before it aired) and literally, it gave me chills. The US won in an unbelievable bout and made up almost a half body-length to win. I feel so overwhelmed and proud it's pulsing through me. WOW.
I need to start training Nicole for the 2024 games - those are the first she'd be permitted to participate in.
In case you were wondering, my favorite summer Olympic sports are: swimming, gymnastics, and diving. Contrary to Jim’s desire, the Olympics are on my “bucket list”.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Sugar Baby
Generally speaking, I eat healthy. I won’t say “very healthy” because I have a nearly uncontrollable sweet tooth. In college I had a 3 dessert a day policy. That policy worked my waistline up to a size 12 (for reference I'm 5”6’) and ultimately made me embarrassed to take my cover-up off for long periods of time when I was in Daytona with my skinny classmates (including Viki who went the opposite direction of me in the months leading up to the trip).
Work is terrible because we have an ENTIRE CABINET dedicated to candy and inevitably there are some of my favorite things stashed in there – Take 5s, Twizzlers, Smarties, Hershey’s Cherry Cordial Kisses, etc. I normally allow myself 2 pieces when I get back from lunch and try to limit my sugar intake to that while I'm at work. 2 pieces might sound like a lot but if you’ve bought miniature candy bars lately it’s really not too bad because they’ve shrunk those suckers down to practically less than 1 bite’s worth each.
Some times, when I get home from work, like last night, I’ll have a little bowl of ice cream on top of my two afternoon treats. I feel sort of guilty about doing that but chocolate chip is so good it is hard to resist!!
I gained 37lbs. in my 9 months carrying Nicole which is only 2 lbs. higher than “average”. I was a size 8 or 10 before I got pregnant and now, a year after, I'm a typically a size 6, sometimes an 8. I had no qualms about walking without a cover-up in front of my co-workers a month ago. I actually LOST 2 lbs. on the cruise.
My eating (in general) policy is that if I don’t like something I won’t eat it. I will not take on extra calories of something I don’t even enjoy consuming. Therefore, on the cruise where dessert options were plentiful but bland, I ate less sugar than I do in Ohio. I think that my weight is consistent because even though I have dessert every day I eat very healthy breakfasts every day, and normally eat healthy lunches/dinners to make up for the sugar.
This is where Jim would say “just think what would happen if you worked out a little”. Bleh.
Work is terrible because we have an ENTIRE CABINET dedicated to candy and inevitably there are some of my favorite things stashed in there – Take 5s, Twizzlers, Smarties, Hershey’s Cherry Cordial Kisses, etc. I normally allow myself 2 pieces when I get back from lunch and try to limit my sugar intake to that while I'm at work. 2 pieces might sound like a lot but if you’ve bought miniature candy bars lately it’s really not too bad because they’ve shrunk those suckers down to practically less than 1 bite’s worth each.
Some times, when I get home from work, like last night, I’ll have a little bowl of ice cream on top of my two afternoon treats. I feel sort of guilty about doing that but chocolate chip is so good it is hard to resist!!
I gained 37lbs. in my 9 months carrying Nicole which is only 2 lbs. higher than “average”. I was a size 8 or 10 before I got pregnant and now, a year after, I'm a typically a size 6, sometimes an 8. I had no qualms about walking without a cover-up in front of my co-workers a month ago. I actually LOST 2 lbs. on the cruise.
My eating (in general) policy is that if I don’t like something I won’t eat it. I will not take on extra calories of something I don’t even enjoy consuming. Therefore, on the cruise where dessert options were plentiful but bland, I ate less sugar than I do in Ohio. I think that my weight is consistent because even though I have dessert every day I eat very healthy breakfasts every day, and normally eat healthy lunches/dinners to make up for the sugar.
This is where Jim would say “just think what would happen if you worked out a little”. Bleh.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
The DMB
The Dave Matthews Band is coming to Cincinnati today which is unfortunate as it’s pouring down rain and over half the seating is on the lawn.
Dave was actually the very first concert I ever attended. Susannah knew they were coming and bought a group of us tickets to go. When she called me up to say she’d gotten them my first thought was “who’s Dave Matthews?” So as not to be the loser who doesn’t even know who the frickin’ band whose concert I'm attending, I promptly went out and bought Under the Table and Dreaming and listened to songs on repeat on my brother's CD player so that I could sing along like everyone else. I remember sitting and studying that little lyric book from the case for hours. I don’t remember much about the actual concert at all.
But I still like the band.
In celebration of their concert tonight, 94.1 has turned into “Dave Radio”- they’ve only been playing DMB and will through the concert tonight, which makes 48 straight hours of only DMB. So I’ve tuned in. Eleven years after I attended that concert I know a surprising amount of the songs that they’re playing. Granted I heard “Satellite” both on the way and the way back from seeing Nicole yesterday at lunch so they aren’t playing too many “off” tracks, but overall the past day has confirmed that I still, really like the Dave Matthews Band. Enough to pay $80/ticket…. Maybe not. But they are one of only 5 artists noted on my Pandora to track.
Dave was actually the very first concert I ever attended. Susannah knew they were coming and bought a group of us tickets to go. When she called me up to say she’d gotten them my first thought was “who’s Dave Matthews?” So as not to be the loser who doesn’t even know who the frickin’ band whose concert I'm attending, I promptly went out and bought Under the Table and Dreaming and listened to songs on repeat on my brother's CD player so that I could sing along like everyone else. I remember sitting and studying that little lyric book from the case for hours. I don’t remember much about the actual concert at all.
But I still like the band.
In celebration of their concert tonight, 94.1 has turned into “Dave Radio”- they’ve only been playing DMB and will through the concert tonight, which makes 48 straight hours of only DMB. So I’ve tuned in. Eleven years after I attended that concert I know a surprising amount of the songs that they’re playing. Granted I heard “Satellite” both on the way and the way back from seeing Nicole yesterday at lunch so they aren’t playing too many “off” tracks, but overall the past day has confirmed that I still, really like the Dave Matthews Band. Enough to pay $80/ticket…. Maybe not. But they are one of only 5 artists noted on my Pandora to track.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Weekend of 8-1-08
Friday: After getting home from work, eating, taking Nicole to the park and putting her to bed, we watched The Bucket List (B+) which I enjoyed. There was more than one scene that I said to Jim “why wouldn’t you want to go there!?” as it’s my life ambition to thoroughly travel the world and his to stay in our time zone.
Saturday: Ignoring all the work around the house that we did in the afternoon, the highlight was, by far, the much-anticipated date night that we had. M, L & R gave us a gift card and babysitting for Christmas so Jim and I got all pretty (I wore my new dress with tasteful amounts of cleavage- it was a date afterall!) and headed to the #3 restaurant in Cincinnati, Nicola’s. We had overpriced haddock and ravioli and after entertainment coupon and gift card we escaped with a $34 bill including tip. Goettafest wrecked havoc on my Newport after-dinner plans so we headed to Fairfield to have Dairy Queen (bogo sundae coupon) and to watch The Dark Knight (A-). This was a good activity as it’s been over a year since my last first run movie, it was a hyped-up one that I wanted to see, and we used our Entertainment book to get tickets for $7/ea (regular price = $9.25). The movie was great but was a half hour too long (plot would have been better if they had stopped filming earlier). All in all we spent about $55 which I thought was TERRIFIC for 6 hours of QT with the hubby.
Sunday: Even though Nicole fell asleep at 7pm (an hour and a half early) at Lindsay’s, she slept in until 8:30am the next day. WA-HOO!!!!!!! Post church and errand running, she went down for what turned out to be a 4 hour nap (what the!?) and I sewed curtains. Meijer shopping was followed by tacos for dinner, school work, and then the first hour of Lean on Me which I have never seen. Jim helped me paint the white for my French manicure and though the quality wasn’t the greatest (sorry, dear) I liked watching him work so intently on my fingernails.
I had such a good 3 days I didn’t even mind coming back to the office!
Saturday: Ignoring all the work around the house that we did in the afternoon, the highlight was, by far, the much-anticipated date night that we had. M, L & R gave us a gift card and babysitting for Christmas so Jim and I got all pretty (I wore my new dress with tasteful amounts of cleavage- it was a date afterall!) and headed to the #3 restaurant in Cincinnati, Nicola’s. We had overpriced haddock and ravioli and after entertainment coupon and gift card we escaped with a $34 bill including tip. Goettafest wrecked havoc on my Newport after-dinner plans so we headed to Fairfield to have Dairy Queen (bogo sundae coupon) and to watch The Dark Knight (A-). This was a good activity as it’s been over a year since my last first run movie, it was a hyped-up one that I wanted to see, and we used our Entertainment book to get tickets for $7/ea (regular price = $9.25). The movie was great but was a half hour too long (plot would have been better if they had stopped filming earlier). All in all we spent about $55 which I thought was TERRIFIC for 6 hours of QT with the hubby.
Sunday: Even though Nicole fell asleep at 7pm (an hour and a half early) at Lindsay’s, she slept in until 8:30am the next day. WA-HOO!!!!!!! Post church and errand running, she went down for what turned out to be a 4 hour nap (what the!?) and I sewed curtains. Meijer shopping was followed by tacos for dinner, school work, and then the first hour of Lean on Me which I have never seen. Jim helped me paint the white for my French manicure and though the quality wasn’t the greatest (sorry, dear) I liked watching him work so intently on my fingernails.
I had such a good 3 days I didn’t even mind coming back to the office!
Friday, August 01, 2008
Freaky Friday 4- Pot
Jim asked me the other night why marijuana is illegal.
My answer was “because it’s a mind-altering drug.”
His reply was, “how is that different than alcohol?”
I guess perhaps the logic here is that it’s a gateway drug. But then again, isn’t alcohol for many people?
I don’t know if I actually have a problem with marijuana being legal if there was a designated “appropriate” age (ie 21) for us all to ignore. I suspect the regulations around legalized marijuana would be similar to alcohol – no smoking on the job, no smoking and driving, scornful looks to those who smoke up before noon, etc.
Perhaps this could help Obama’s national healthcare plight- the government could fund our insurance by taxing the hell out of pot. ; )
Being more serious… Let’s face reality, if most of us wanted to get it illegally now we could with some amount of effort- everyone knows someone who knows someone. For those who want to try it I'm not sure the legal status of the plant is keeping them at bay.
I am admittedly critical about adults who smoke pot – in my mind it’s very much a high school / college thing to do. I went to a party a few years ago (host was ~35yo) where a guy I was talking to invited me outside. I didn’t realize “outside” was code for smoking up and was quite surprised to see the paraphernalia being pulled out once we sat down on the retaining wall. I think Jim was even more surprised to see his girlfriend sitting on the wall with some other guy, joint in hand (his, not mine, for the record). We left and had the "would you now?" talk.
If it was legal and people my parents’ age were just rolling joints on the living room table that’d be a big mental hurdle for me to jump.
After this little diddy I’ll admit that I'm “old school” in thinking that if I had to vote right this second I’d still keep it illegal based on the interpretation that it has to be illegal now for some good reason based on arguments and logic of people who’ve thought longer and harder on the issue than me. Before I could make an educated vote on this I’d need to do more research but I wouldn’t be close-minded to the possibility.
My answer was “because it’s a mind-altering drug.”
His reply was, “how is that different than alcohol?”
I guess perhaps the logic here is that it’s a gateway drug. But then again, isn’t alcohol for many people?
I don’t know if I actually have a problem with marijuana being legal if there was a designated “appropriate” age (ie 21) for us all to ignore. I suspect the regulations around legalized marijuana would be similar to alcohol – no smoking on the job, no smoking and driving, scornful looks to those who smoke up before noon, etc.
Perhaps this could help Obama’s national healthcare plight- the government could fund our insurance by taxing the hell out of pot. ; )
Being more serious… Let’s face reality, if most of us wanted to get it illegally now we could with some amount of effort- everyone knows someone who knows someone. For those who want to try it I'm not sure the legal status of the plant is keeping them at bay.
I am admittedly critical about adults who smoke pot – in my mind it’s very much a high school / college thing to do. I went to a party a few years ago (host was ~35yo) where a guy I was talking to invited me outside. I didn’t realize “outside” was code for smoking up and was quite surprised to see the paraphernalia being pulled out once we sat down on the retaining wall. I think Jim was even more surprised to see his girlfriend sitting on the wall with some other guy, joint in hand (his, not mine, for the record). We left and had the "would you now?" talk.
If it was legal and people my parents’ age were just rolling joints on the living room table that’d be a big mental hurdle for me to jump.
After this little diddy I’ll admit that I'm “old school” in thinking that if I had to vote right this second I’d still keep it illegal based on the interpretation that it has to be illegal now for some good reason based on arguments and logic of people who’ve thought longer and harder on the issue than me. Before I could make an educated vote on this I’d need to do more research but I wouldn’t be close-minded to the possibility.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Jerry Report
On Friday Jim put a mouse trap (the electric shock kind) with peanut butter bait in the space above the garage (adjacent to our bedroom). We said we'd hold out until Sunday to check if the light was blinking. I was so anxious to see the results because that night and the next there was no mouse sounds at all.
And so, on Sunday, Jim crawled back up into the attic.
He crept carefully to the box on the edge of the wall.
And saw nothing.
Strangely, there have been absolutely no signs of a mouse at all - no droppings, no scratching noises, no sightings. Maybe it died in my walls. Maybe it was smart and saw the trap and said "I've got to get the heck out of here." Maybe we're just not good mouse hosts.
In the back of my mind though I'm wondering if it's just made its way to a less inhabited room and we no longer notice it....
And so, on Sunday, Jim crawled back up into the attic.
He crept carefully to the box on the edge of the wall.
And saw nothing.
Strangely, there have been absolutely no signs of a mouse at all - no droppings, no scratching noises, no sightings. Maybe it died in my walls. Maybe it was smart and saw the trap and said "I've got to get the heck out of here." Maybe we're just not good mouse hosts.
In the back of my mind though I'm wondering if it's just made its way to a less inhabited room and we no longer notice it....
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Recession Rant
On the radio I’ve been hearing lots of news and general commentary about the “recession” we’re in (according to Tom S. this is not the case officially). Some things I’ve heard recently:
1) Bob (of the Bob and Tom Morning Show) asked: “How is it that if we’re in a recession a movie [Dark Knight] can make more money than any in history?”
2) Spam and other “low cost meats” are making a comeback. There will never be a time that I stoop so low as to eat Spam on purpose.
3) People are apparently going out to eat less frequently to save money. I agree with the experts who suggest that while this is a good idea, cutting portion size on all meals to save money will not only reduce overall cost but would be good for your waistline as well as wallet.
So what is my family doing to save money? Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
We are already avid coupon and sale shoppers- this weekend we spent $102 on groceries/general items at Meijer and between coupons and sales we saved $58.60; I also bought Nicole several $.97 clothing items in sizes 2-4T for the next several years of growth. We watch gas prices and try to buy when prices are more reasonable (this weekend I filled up $56 worth of $3.68/gallon). We do not go to first run movies hardly ever (~2/year) but opt for Tuesdays at the dollar theatre ($2 special).
Sure, I’ll admit that we earn more than most of the people in the country but that’s because we BOTH work full-time at good jobs and we are smart with how we spend. It’s not hard to have money when you [have it in the first place and] make an effort to keep it. I have little sympathy for people who could but don't intentionally have full-time jobs but complain that they can't afford things.
---------------
As a side note, during the conversation on #3 it was stated that the average American eats 3800 calories a day (highest in the world). Why don’t they change the labels on food sold in America to accommodate this average? Everything I eat has a label that gives percentages based on a 2000 calorie diet which is apparently FAR from the norm.
1) Bob (of the Bob and Tom Morning Show) asked: “How is it that if we’re in a recession a movie [Dark Knight] can make more money than any in history?”
2) Spam and other “low cost meats” are making a comeback. There will never be a time that I stoop so low as to eat Spam on purpose.
3) People are apparently going out to eat less frequently to save money. I agree with the experts who suggest that while this is a good idea, cutting portion size on all meals to save money will not only reduce overall cost but would be good for your waistline as well as wallet.
So what is my family doing to save money? Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
We are already avid coupon and sale shoppers- this weekend we spent $102 on groceries/general items at Meijer and between coupons and sales we saved $58.60; I also bought Nicole several $.97 clothing items in sizes 2-4T for the next several years of growth. We watch gas prices and try to buy when prices are more reasonable (this weekend I filled up $56 worth of $3.68/gallon). We do not go to first run movies hardly ever (~2/year) but opt for Tuesdays at the dollar theatre ($2 special).
Sure, I’ll admit that we earn more than most of the people in the country but that’s because we BOTH work full-time at good jobs and we are smart with how we spend. It’s not hard to have money when you [have it in the first place and] make an effort to keep it. I have little sympathy for people who could but don't intentionally have full-time jobs but complain that they can't afford things.
---------------
As a side note, during the conversation on #3 it was stated that the average American eats 3800 calories a day (highest in the world). Why don’t they change the labels on food sold in America to accommodate this average? Everything I eat has a label that gives percentages based on a 2000 calorie diet which is apparently FAR from the norm.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Nicole had some spaghetti and peaches for lunch- this is the first time it's been captured on camera!
After lunch there was more than Nicole that needed cleaning up; we were hosting Geoff and Roswitha for some afternoon Euchre. Like her friend Ella, Nicole likes to help when vacuuming is involved. Her dad prefers messing with her though...
After lunch there was more than Nicole that needed cleaning up; we were hosting Geoff and Roswitha for some afternoon Euchre. Like her friend Ella, Nicole likes to help when vacuuming is involved. Her dad prefers messing with her though...
Friday, July 25, 2008
Mickey's Moved In
The other night I was upstairs reading when I heard this munching sound and then a scamper over my head. Now in 28 years I’ve never seen a mouse in any house I've lived in but there was little doubt in my mind what this was. We have mouse in our bedroom wall.
This morning I was thoroughly enjoying a very pleasant sex dream when the damn thing got so loud it woke me up. Now I'm not only irritated that it exists at all, I'm po’ed that it disrupted what could have been a very good ending to a very good dream.
So where the hell did this thing come from? Jim’s suspicion is that it somehow snuck through the garage and into the wall. From my research, mice can enter through a hole the size of a US dime. Since he’s finishing the garage AND it’s often open AND we are surrounded on two sides by woods this theory seems plausible.
How’s it surviving in our bedroom wall? Jim said that from his past experience they (mice) eat the paper off insulation and chew on wires. That’s not enough to physically sustain a mouse though, is it? Doesn’t it need real food?
Plan of Attack: As I mentioned, I don’t know the first thing about mice. I figured I’d ask the Erdahls what they did but I'm unsure if they ever actually solved the problem or not… So, I started Yahoo!’ing and the first article I came across was a cute blog-esque synopsis of a guy who found a baby mouse, became friends but then became infested when that mouse (who became hand-fed) brought all his family to join him. NOT what I want to happen here.
The second article I found freaked me out because it started like this:
Mouse identification
Baits for wild mice are slightly different than those used for common house mice so you should make an effort to figure out which you have. Use the following two lists to determine the origin of your visitors. Wild mice prefer seeds, oats and unprocessed foods while house mice will eat nearly anything. If your rodents are larger than 5-6 inches in length (tail included) it’s likely that they are rats, not mice. If this is the case, read How to get rid of rats.
Uh, I can’t even see this mouse. I don’t even want to think of the concept that it could be a RAT.
Advice?? So far, the thing is only in one wall in our bedroom. And I think there’s only one…
This morning I was thoroughly enjoying a very pleasant sex dream when the damn thing got so loud it woke me up. Now I'm not only irritated that it exists at all, I'm po’ed that it disrupted what could have been a very good ending to a very good dream.
So where the hell did this thing come from? Jim’s suspicion is that it somehow snuck through the garage and into the wall. From my research, mice can enter through a hole the size of a US dime. Since he’s finishing the garage AND it’s often open AND we are surrounded on two sides by woods this theory seems plausible.
How’s it surviving in our bedroom wall? Jim said that from his past experience they (mice) eat the paper off insulation and chew on wires. That’s not enough to physically sustain a mouse though, is it? Doesn’t it need real food?
Plan of Attack: As I mentioned, I don’t know the first thing about mice. I figured I’d ask the Erdahls what they did but I'm unsure if they ever actually solved the problem or not… So, I started Yahoo!’ing and the first article I came across was a cute blog-esque synopsis of a guy who found a baby mouse, became friends but then became infested when that mouse (who became hand-fed) brought all his family to join him. NOT what I want to happen here.
The second article I found freaked me out because it started like this:
Mouse identification
Baits for wild mice are slightly different than those used for common house mice so you should make an effort to figure out which you have. Use the following two lists to determine the origin of your visitors. Wild mice prefer seeds, oats and unprocessed foods while house mice will eat nearly anything. If your rodents are larger than 5-6 inches in length (tail included) it’s likely that they are rats, not mice. If this is the case, read How to get rid of rats.
Uh, I can’t even see this mouse. I don’t even want to think of the concept that it could be a RAT.
Advice?? So far, the thing is only in one wall in our bedroom. And I think there’s only one…
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Outfits, Deer, & Lyrics
1. I’ve dressed up for work every day this week. Doesn’t sound important (and it’s not really) except that I'm doing so when I don’t have to. If no clients are coming in or I'm not out to see them, jeans, sneakers and a polo are perfectly acceptable attire for the office. Know what though? It takes no more effort to put on a pair of dress pants than it does jeans. I’d argue that my dress pants are more comfortable than jeans. Heels versus gym shoes, no comparison, but stilettos look so much better! Further, I feel more confident in a skirt and I might just be more productive wearing one.
2. I mentioned that the developer mowed down our “meadow” and I lost well-over half of my butterfly population. Well, what the trim has done is bring back the deer. We watched a doe this morning have breakfast in “our” back “yard”.
3. I don’t like the song “Waiting for the World to Change” by John Mayer. Here are some of the lyrics:
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
IRRATATING. How the heck can you validate that it’s okay to sit around and do nothing but WAIT? Why isn’t the concept of “get off your ass and do something about it” being encouraged? This reminds me of the idiots who’ll blindly vote for Obama because of his campaign slogans of “It’s Time For a Change!”, even if they don’t know what he stands for. (That isn’t a slam against Obama, just the general public.)
2. I mentioned that the developer mowed down our “meadow” and I lost well-over half of my butterfly population. Well, what the trim has done is bring back the deer. We watched a doe this morning have breakfast in “our” back “yard”.
3. I don’t like the song “Waiting for the World to Change” by John Mayer. Here are some of the lyrics:
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
IRRATATING. How the heck can you validate that it’s okay to sit around and do nothing but WAIT? Why isn’t the concept of “get off your ass and do something about it” being encouraged? This reminds me of the idiots who’ll blindly vote for Obama because of his campaign slogans of “It’s Time For a Change!”, even if they don’t know what he stands for. (That isn’t a slam against Obama, just the general public.)
Monday, July 21, 2008
Movie Reviews
We got the chance to watch a few movies lately (for the first time in what feels like FOREVER):
Beowulf (C-): In the age of heroes comes the mightiest warrior of them all, Beowulf.
After destroying the overpowering demon Grendel, he incurs the undying wrath of the beast's ruthlessly seductive mother, who will use any means possible to ensure revenge. The ensuing epic battle resonates throughout the ages, immortalizing the name of Beowulf. What I liked about it was the really great animation. What I didn’t like was feeling of wanting to shut the movie off in the first 10 minutes it was on. It picked up in the middle, then got boring and predictable again at the end.21 (A-): The true story of the very brightest young minds in the country - and how they took
Vegas for millions. Ben Campbell is a shy, brilliant M.I.T. student who -- needing to pay school tuition -- finds the answers in the cards. He is recruited to join a group of the school's most gifted students that heads to Vegas every weekend armed with fake identities and the know-how to turn the odds at blackjack... This was a very fun story to watch – both the general plot and the character development throughout. The – comes from the somewhat poor script writing (scenes that were a bit awkward at times). Reminded me of a Ocean’s 11 or Gone in 60 Seconds. National Treasure 2, Book of Secrets (A-): Treasure hunter Benjamin
Franklin Gates looks to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by uncovering the mystery within the 18 pages missing from assassin John Wilkes Booth's diary. Good continuation of such likable characters. The plot wasn’t as engaging or thrilling as the first movie, but as far as sequels go, this one was a keeper. Friday, July 18, 2008
Freaky Friday 3 - Politics
This post is prompted by Jim and I watching National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets last night (B+). One of the concepts in the movie is that there is a book that each President passes down to the next that is for-President-eyes-only. In this book are the true answers behind things like the JFK assassination, Area 51, etc. With this information, the President is truly all-knowing.
In contrast, I once had a conversation with someone (I’d love to give credit to this person’s great thinking but I don’t remember who it was!) who was of the opinion that even the President doesn’t know a lot of the answers to the national conspiracies we have. Their thought was that the President has too many current issues to contend with that adding to the mix whether or not we're doing tests on aliens is too much for them to handle from both a managerial and security standpoint.
I can see both sides. Personally, I have the firm assumption that I don’t know a tenth of what’s really going on with the majority of our government. There are strategic things going on in Iraq way above my head. There are government funded studies my tax dollars are funding that I couldn't dream of. Even the stuff I do conceptually get I don’t feel educated enough to have a firm opinion. For example, the economy is “bad” according to a lot of people, including our chairman of the federal reserve. How do we fix it? Hell if I know. I’ve taken macro- and micro-economics but that is a bat of the eye compared to the amazing breath and understanding of global markets and commerce that would be needed to answer a question of “how do we fix it”. So if I blindly follow what Ben Bernanke says I feel pretty justified in doing so.
That’s why the President has advisors – because s/he can’t fully understand everything either. So, if people smarter than the President in said areas deem that certain information is beyond his/her expertise, safety or capacity for decision-making, I don’t have a problem with the President being kept in the dark to an extent.
So, if we assume just for a moment that the reigning President of the United States doesn’t know everything, it’s pretty arrogant to think that any Presidential candidate NOT IN OFFICE with MUCH more limited scope of everything can presume to make too many promises. They have their own advisors too, of course, but I doubt that McCain/Obama’s military advisor knows everything the Joint Chiefs of Staff know. So to say that the best course of action is ____ is really making a best guess. I suppose we can’t expect anything more than this at this stage. And we’d all feel less confident in the candidate if they put in caveats of “based on what I know” before every political statement, even if it would be more accurate…
In contrast, I once had a conversation with someone (I’d love to give credit to this person’s great thinking but I don’t remember who it was!) who was of the opinion that even the President doesn’t know a lot of the answers to the national conspiracies we have. Their thought was that the President has too many current issues to contend with that adding to the mix whether or not we're doing tests on aliens is too much for them to handle from both a managerial and security standpoint.
I can see both sides. Personally, I have the firm assumption that I don’t know a tenth of what’s really going on with the majority of our government. There are strategic things going on in Iraq way above my head. There are government funded studies my tax dollars are funding that I couldn't dream of. Even the stuff I do conceptually get I don’t feel educated enough to have a firm opinion. For example, the economy is “bad” according to a lot of people, including our chairman of the federal reserve. How do we fix it? Hell if I know. I’ve taken macro- and micro-economics but that is a bat of the eye compared to the amazing breath and understanding of global markets and commerce that would be needed to answer a question of “how do we fix it”. So if I blindly follow what Ben Bernanke says I feel pretty justified in doing so.
That’s why the President has advisors – because s/he can’t fully understand everything either. So, if people smarter than the President in said areas deem that certain information is beyond his/her expertise, safety or capacity for decision-making, I don’t have a problem with the President being kept in the dark to an extent.
So, if we assume just for a moment that the reigning President of the United States doesn’t know everything, it’s pretty arrogant to think that any Presidential candidate NOT IN OFFICE with MUCH more limited scope of everything can presume to make too many promises. They have their own advisors too, of course, but I doubt that McCain/Obama’s military advisor knows everything the Joint Chiefs of Staff know. So to say that the best course of action is ____ is really making a best guess. I suppose we can’t expect anything more than this at this stage. And we’d all feel less confident in the candidate if they put in caveats of “based on what I know” before every political statement, even if it would be more accurate…
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Spending
The numbers below represent the most I'm willing to pay without feeling irritated or remorseful at the end of the transaction:
Haircut: $40
Highlight: $75
Candy Bar: $.65
Oil Change: $22
Lunch: $10
Cocktail: $7
Pizza: $13
Speeding Ticket: $80
Shoes: $50
Boots: $75
Sheet of Professional Photograph(s): $10
Glass of Coke at a restaurant: $2
Gallon of Paint: $35
Haircut: $40
Highlight: $75
Candy Bar: $.65
Oil Change: $22
Lunch: $10
Cocktail: $7
Pizza: $13
Speeding Ticket: $80
Shoes: $50
Boots: $75
Sheet of Professional Photograph(s): $10
Glass of Coke at a restaurant: $2
Gallon of Paint: $35
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Random thoughts
1. I’ve commented that Nicole knows more than she can say but I don’t think Jim fully believed me. Last night before we put Nicole to bed, I quizzed her. “Where’s your Sleepy Bear?” I asked. She went to her crib and tried to pull it through the bars. “Where’s your bunny pillow?” She toddled right to it and pointed. “What about your elephant? Where’s your elephant?” Scanning the room, she found it near her bed and went to it for a hug. Jim’s eyes were huge and impressed, “One thing would be a fluke, but she looked for that elephant specifically. She does know what they are!” Told ya.
2. My face is broken out and that really annoys me. It’s always in the same spot on my chin. Shouldn’t I be too old for this?!
3. I'm a HUGE Nora Roberts fan (she writes romantic mysteries) and the new novel I picked up at the airport, High Noon, is different than her others, in a good way. She normally writes in a modern tone but doesn’t call out world events or popular news so the story could have been written in the 80’s or in the 00’s and you wouldn’t know. This one mentions things by name like Sex & The City, Project Runway, etc. It also has more “dialog” on the characters thoughts; and the thoughts they have are very true to life. For example, the main character is headed for a date she’s pretty sure will lead to sex. She’ll be talking to her mother and suddenly think “Should I buy new underwear?”. HA! I'm really enjoying this new style.
4. Trey said it, but it bears repeating – I'm bored of this election. I blame the fact that they started the primaries so frickin’ early this year.
2. My face is broken out and that really annoys me. It’s always in the same spot on my chin. Shouldn’t I be too old for this?!
3. I'm a HUGE Nora Roberts fan (she writes romantic mysteries) and the new novel I picked up at the airport, High Noon, is different than her others, in a good way. She normally writes in a modern tone but doesn’t call out world events or popular news so the story could have been written in the 80’s or in the 00’s and you wouldn’t know. This one mentions things by name like Sex & The City, Project Runway, etc. It also has more “dialog” on the characters thoughts; and the thoughts they have are very true to life. For example, the main character is headed for a date she’s pretty sure will lead to sex. She’ll be talking to her mother and suddenly think “Should I buy new underwear?”. HA! I'm really enjoying this new style.
4. Trey said it, but it bears repeating – I'm bored of this election. I blame the fact that they started the primaries so frickin’ early this year.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Nicole's Birthday Party
Nicole had a great birthday party on Saturday afternoon. There were about 22 people, all family, in attendance, and she was in great spirits.
I had a book for everyone to sign when they came in, a tradition I think I’ll keep for each of her birthday parties. Vickie (Jim’s mom) and I decorated the house with a dozen balloons and 300 feet of streamers. It looked very festive! I served Italian bar-style for everyone - two types of pasta, marinara and alfredo, chicken and shrimp, lasagna, pizza, plain and garlic bread, and fruit. It's hard to plan food for that many people, I'm hoping everyone got enough. No one complained, but I doubt they would anyway...
She had her first cake after dinner – a marble creation made by Aunt Diane which was brought all the way from Spencerville. There was a specific Nicole cake and then a larger one for the adults. She was a bit tentative at first but then dug in somewhat politely. I eventually cut her a piece out and let her tackle it.
At the end of the night we played one game: I set out a Bible, a bottle of liquor and a $5 bill and let her walk towards the one that she preferred. This was supposed to represent the course we can expect the rest of her life to follow. See below for what she picked!
I had a book for everyone to sign when they came in, a tradition I think I’ll keep for each of her birthday parties. Vickie (Jim’s mom) and I decorated the house with a dozen balloons and 300 feet of streamers. It looked very festive! I served Italian bar-style for everyone - two types of pasta, marinara and alfredo, chicken and shrimp, lasagna, pizza, plain and garlic bread, and fruit. It's hard to plan food for that many people, I'm hoping everyone got enough. No one complained, but I doubt they would anyway...
She had her first cake after dinner – a marble creation made by Aunt Diane which was brought all the way from Spencerville. There was a specific Nicole cake and then a larger one for the adults. She was a bit tentative at first but then dug in somewhat politely. I eventually cut her a piece out and let her tackle it.
During dessert we had our guests watch a 20 minute “Nicole’s First Year” compilation of pictures and videos from the past 12 months. Everyone really liked it which is good as I was worried that maybe it'd be an overkill. Nicole got bored about 1/3 of the way through though and started opening her presents.
One of her favorite gifts was the homemade rocking horse that Uncle Rusty brought for her. It came complete with a hat and cowgirl outfit!
One of her favorite gifts was the homemade rocking horse that Uncle Rusty brought for her. It came complete with a hat and cowgirl outfit!
At the end of the night we played one game: I set out a Bible, a bottle of liquor and a $5 bill and let her walk towards the one that she preferred. This was supposed to represent the course we can expect the rest of her life to follow. See below for what she picked!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Nicole can walk!
I had an even better video but her outfit is cuter in this one and I let her crawl up the stairs in the other one, something I shouldn't admit to letting her do... ; )
In general...
1. A few folks asked how Nicole was when we saw her for the first time after our trip. My parents brought her to the airport to greet us which was a surprise. I saw her as we walked down the terminal but she caught my uncle's eye first and was all about him for the first minute. I got a glance but she went right back to looking at him. I'll admit it - after a week of our "old life" it was WEIRD to hold a baby again. She looked different - taller, more hair, longer face. One week and she looked different! My parents, well at least mom, was sad to see her go (or so she said).
2. The bathing suit was very suitable and I was in the mid-range of looking good in it compared to others in our party (several size <4's...). I was confident enough to walk around without a cover-up though! I don't think there was a single picture taken with me in my bikini...
3. Tom introduced me to Pandora Radio which is now my most favorite website to listen to at work. It's based off of the music genome project which I think, in general, is super cool.
4. I agreed to teach my first MBA class this fall - intro to marketing. Greg is waived out of it though so there's no chance of having my little brother in my class.
5. As Nicole nears her first birthday several people have asked about weaning her. This was already accomplished the week I returned from Akron (about a month ago) and was painless (physically and emotionally) for both of us. After seeing so many fake boobs on the cruise Jim is eager to get the next kid's possession of my breasts out of the way so he can have them touched up and back in his control. I look forward to this too! :)
2. The bathing suit was very suitable and I was in the mid-range of looking good in it compared to others in our party (several size <4's...). I was confident enough to walk around without a cover-up though! I don't think there was a single picture taken with me in my bikini...
3. Tom introduced me to Pandora Radio which is now my most favorite website to listen to at work. It's based off of the music genome project which I think, in general, is super cool.
4. I agreed to teach my first MBA class this fall - intro to marketing. Greg is waived out of it though so there's no chance of having my little brother in my class.
5. As Nicole nears her first birthday several people have asked about weaning her. This was already accomplished the week I returned from Akron (about a month ago) and was painless (physically and emotionally) for both of us. After seeing so many fake boobs on the cruise Jim is eager to get the next kid's possession of my breasts out of the way so he can have them touched up and back in his control. I look forward to this too! :)
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Our Cruise in Pictures
Our Ship, the Carnival Valor. I went to the galley tour so I can spit off all kinds of random facts about it should you care.
Our porthole room on deck 2
Typical street sellers in Nassau, our first port (Monday)
Jim and I in Nassau
Karen in the Bahamas
Jim & Tom won the cornhole tournament and got a medal!
Jim at Blackbeard's Castle overlooking St. Thomas (second port). This was taken shortly after Jim bought a new Movado watch (on his right wrist) in town.
Magen's Bay - rated one of the top 10 beaches in the world. Jim stayed in the room so I went alone - LONG story of me getting dumped by a cab, walking a mile to catch another one, and then, once I was enjoying the beach I witnessed the ship-local topless sunbather (no picture).Performers from one of our shows! This is 1 of 6 videos I took of them.
Elephant!
Towel Monkey (for Trey) -it's hanging from our curtains!
Downtown St. Maarten
Karen & Jim at our second formal night
Midnight Buffet Desserts (Note that this spread in general paled in comparison to the RC cruise to Alaska)
Midnight Buffet Ice Sculptures Sunday, June 29, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Moving back up-hill
Special call-out to Tom for his “Life on Mars” blog series – made me think and brought some cool facts to the surface that I didn’t know.
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I feel like things have been picking up for me lately.
- Nicole took some steps before my trip
- I'm getting a mostly-funded trip to the Caribbean and am leaving in less than 3 days
- Work is stable and not too stressful
- I got to talk to Lisa 2X during her trip
- I got to see Martha AND Kathy AND Angie who I NEVER see on Saturday
- We’re making some small steps on the house – the garage might wrap up this week, I painted most of the living room, I'm about 80% done with my picture project, I have the paint AND art bought for the spare room and already know what I'm making curtain-wise
- We’re setting in at church and I got a call to be a grade-school mentor yesterday (which I'm not sure if I’ll do)
- We’re selling the Sentra this week!
Exhale….
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
One of the three "off limits" subjects - Politics
The election is obviously a big deal and it's been both cautiously and eagerly brought up in conversation with me recently. I'm a registered Independent and have voted both Democratically and Republican in the past. In general though, there's no doubt I'm more Republican (especially on issues such as welfare, affirmative action, taxes, gun control, death penalty, and typically national security).
I read an article on Yahoo! this morning that summarized Independent view on the two candidates, Obama and McCain, regarding their views on national security and the war. The
article concluded that more people in the general public, across all party lines, feel McCain would do a better job, even some Democrats. A quote:
Republican pollster Neil Newhouse calls these voters "nose holders."
"They don't like the fact that were over there, they don't think the decision was the right one, but they understand that if we simply withdraw our troops, it would leave things worse off," he said.
This is pretty much how I feel too.
I don't recall if I've mentioned it in this blog or not, but Lisa (very Democratic) and I had what i considered a great conversation about this on our way back from Akron. I explained that i have a lot of reservations about Obama as our head military leader because he has no military experience at all versus McCain who has. I justified this by stating that the world is becoming less peaceful and having someone with a strong background in this area is more and more important. She agreed with my logic but commented back that expecting our President to have military experience is a nice hope but she suspects this will be one of the last elections where a military leader is even running. With no draft, an aging generation of people who have gone to war (WW2, Vietnam, etc.) and, compared to the size of the general population, not many have been to Iraq, the pool of military people is small in general and those in that group political aspirations is even smaller.
She's right.
That makes me worried.
I read an article on Yahoo! this morning that summarized Independent view on the two candidates, Obama and McCain, regarding their views on national security and the war. The
article concluded that more people in the general public, across all party lines, feel McCain would do a better job, even some Democrats. A quote:Republican pollster Neil Newhouse calls these voters "nose holders."
"They don't like the fact that were over there, they don't think the decision was the right one, but they understand that if we simply withdraw our troops, it would leave things worse off," he said.
This is pretty much how I feel too.
I don't recall if I've mentioned it in this blog or not, but Lisa (very Democratic) and I had what i considered a great conversation about this on our way back from Akron. I explained that i have a lot of reservations about Obama as our head military leader because he has no military experience at all versus McCain who has. I justified this by stating that the world is becoming less peaceful and having someone with a strong background in this area is more and more important. She agreed with my logic but commented back that expecting our President to have military experience is a nice hope but she suspects this will be one of the last elections where a military leader is even running. With no draft, an aging generation of people who have gone to war (WW2, Vietnam, etc.) and, compared to the size of the general population, not many have been to Iraq, the pool of military people is small in general and those in that group political aspirations is even smaller.
She's right.
That makes me worried.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Big News!
Nicole took 5 steps over lunch!
I went to see Nic over lunch like normal and they said she took a step that morning. I was a bit skeptical as picking up a foot and putting it down is hardly walking, but after coaxing her with a cup of water and a straw (which she also mastered over lunch by the way!) she took not one but 5 steps towards me to get it.
Of course she wouldn't cooperate for the camera once we pulled it out.... : )
Friday, June 20, 2008
These are a few of my favorite things
In case you were wondering, here are a few of my favorite things in general:
Book: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
Song: Sway by Bic Runga
Holiday: Christmas
Number: 5
Color: Midnight Blue
Day: Saturday
Season: Autumn
City: Cincinnati, OH
Animal: Elephant
Leisure Activity: Reading
Gemstone: Sapphire
Alcoholic Drink: Lava Flow
NA Drink: Root Beer
Clothing: Pajamas
Food: Turkey with Mashed Potatoes and gravy on everything
Fruit: Raspberries
Movie: Ocean’s 11
Person: Jim
Job: Waitressing
Website: BabyCenter.com (for advice)
If I had a million dollars – Trade my stressful job for a fun one, invest the money and live off the interest
Book: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
Song: Sway by Bic Runga
Holiday: Christmas
Number: 5
Color: Midnight Blue
Day: Saturday
Season: Autumn
City: Cincinnati, OH
Animal: Elephant
Leisure Activity: Reading
Gemstone: Sapphire
Alcoholic Drink: Lava Flow
NA Drink: Root Beer
Clothing: Pajamas
Food: Turkey with Mashed Potatoes and gravy on everything
Fruit: Raspberries
Movie: Ocean’s 11
Person: Jim
Job: Waitressing
Website: BabyCenter.com (for advice)
If I had a million dollars – Trade my stressful job for a fun one, invest the money and live off the interest
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Yeah, he's pretty cool
I'm really lucky to have Jim. We talked about another “million dollar idea” of mine (a board game) and he made some good suggestions/improvements and then did some research on how we could get it in a toy manufacturer’s hands. Some people have a significant other (husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/best friend) that would say “oh that’s nice” but Jim always makes me feel like my ideas have merit and are worthwhile. I never feel embarrassed about brainstorming with him as a result. I really love him for that.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Weekend of 6/14/08
This weekend was one of those that feels like it went by fast because it was full but then I think, “what in the heck did I do the last 2.5 days?”
A few highlights:
1) Friday night we went to Kettering to meet Mackenzie who was very little, has a FULL head of hair, and was quite content to sleep through our visit. Nic was very interested in her and kept trying to touch her. Sarah, who went all natural and had the kid within the hour she arrived at the hospital, looked amazing.
2) we watched Tom P get his black belt in Kung Fu (same test and belt Jim got 2 years ago) – it was neat to see the moves that I watched so many times being practiced in my living room or front yard. Jim, who would know, said Tom’s weapon kata was the best in the class!
3) on Sunday, while I ate my lunch, I watched dozens of butterflies flutter through my back yard. The unsold lot behind us is overgrown with weeds and wildflowers and attracts the little critters like crazy. It is very meadow-like and very relaxing.
4) we went to the fire station and had Nicole’s car seat installed in Jim’s new ride. She seems pretty indifferent to the new seat but rear-facing it’s able to be in a very good position for sleeping (she’s too vertical and her head drops far forward).
5) father’s day was nice – Jim bought himself a ping-pong paddle and Nicole gave him a card. We had a picnic at my aunt and uncle’s and Nicole had fun crawling through a tube.
OH, and completely unrelated to the weekend... I'm going to do some research on the religious views of the Methodist church as a few folks have asked questions I don't yet know the answers to. More on that when I get to it!
A few highlights:
1) Friday night we went to Kettering to meet Mackenzie who was very little, has a FULL head of hair, and was quite content to sleep through our visit. Nic was very interested in her and kept trying to touch her. Sarah, who went all natural and had the kid within the hour she arrived at the hospital, looked amazing.
2) we watched Tom P get his black belt in Kung Fu (same test and belt Jim got 2 years ago) – it was neat to see the moves that I watched so many times being practiced in my living room or front yard. Jim, who would know, said Tom’s weapon kata was the best in the class!
3) on Sunday, while I ate my lunch, I watched dozens of butterflies flutter through my back yard. The unsold lot behind us is overgrown with weeds and wildflowers and attracts the little critters like crazy. It is very meadow-like and very relaxing.
4) we went to the fire station and had Nicole’s car seat installed in Jim’s new ride. She seems pretty indifferent to the new seat but rear-facing it’s able to be in a very good position for sleeping (she’s too vertical and her head drops far forward).
5) father’s day was nice – Jim bought himself a ping-pong paddle and Nicole gave him a card. We had a picnic at my aunt and uncle’s and Nicole had fun crawling through a tube.
OH, and completely unrelated to the weekend... I'm going to do some research on the religious views of the Methodist church as a few folks have asked questions I don't yet know the answers to. More on that when I get to it!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Mackenzie Nina
This is the picture Sarah W. sent to my phone this morning!
Mackenzie Nina
Friday, June 13, 2008 @ 2:56AM
6.75lbs. 19.5in.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
News!
My new plant from IKEA. I named him David. He was $7.99 and well worth it! He has a knot in his trunk!
Our house at night with the new landscape lighting. I really need a night mode on my camera...
Jim's new Altima in "pebble beach". We bought it tonight!Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Nicole is 11 months old!
Nicole is quite the busy these days. Since last month most of her accomplishments have been physical – she’s learning to associate activities with names and her hand-eye coordination is getting much more exact.
Some cute things she can do upon request (or randomly whenever she wants attention):
- Wave bye-bye
- Blow kisses complete with the “Mmm-ahh” sound effect
- Clap
- Respond to “how big is Nicole?” by raising her hands over her head (“so big!”)
- Give kisses
- Dance (by holding on and bopping up and down)
And some things she does because she likes to be in control
- Push dribbled food into her mouth
- Point at what she wants
- Shake her head “no”
- Take the brush away and comb her own hair
- Rub the toothbrush on her 4 teeth
- Turn light switches on (but not off)
- Open lids (like on this bobble-head toy)
I look forward to next month perhaps getting a word other than “mama”, “dada” or “no” out of her!
United Methodism
Now that I’ve completed the “Social Principles of the United Methodist Church”, here is a summary of the positions the religion takes on social (not religious) issues:
The Natural World – I was pleased to see this was the very first subject mentioned in the book. As you can imagine, the Methodist stance is that God created all things and therefore all things deserve respect and care including our water, air, soil, minerals, plants, energy resources, animal life, and space (all specifically referenced in detail). Special mention was made that food safety should be encouraged with proper handling and labeling.
Family- marriage and the ideal of raising children with a mother and father is held in high regard. Divorce is stated as an unfortunate byproduct of society and while counceling is encouraged, the Church recognizes that permanent separation is sometimes necessary. All divorced persons are to be supported and can marry again in the Methodist church.
Gender- women and men are equal. Though not mentioned in this book, women are open to be religious leaders, including pastors.
Human Sexuality- a) This book is very candid that sexuality is “God’s good gift to all persons” and their official stance on extra-marital activity is that “sex is only clearly affirmed in the marriage bond.” b) As you can imagine, they are strongly against violence, harassment, abuse, pornography, exploitation, and trafficking of anything sexually related. c) Homosexuality is not condoned in the Methodist fait and they consider the practice of it “incompatible with Christian teaching.” HOWEVER, God’s grace is available to all persons and they will not reject or condemn any gay or lesbian persons. Note that there is an openly lesbian bishop in the Church that has been accepted and continues to hold her stature.
Abortion- “Our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve abortion. But we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother, for whom devastating damage may result from an unacceptable pregnancy. In continuity with past Christian teaching, we recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify and abortion, and in such cases we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures. We cannot affirm abortion as an acceptable means of birth control, and we unconditionally reject it as a means of gender selection. We oppose the use of late-term abortion… and call for the end of this practice except within the physical life of the mother is in danger and no other medical procedure is available, or in the case of severe fetal anomalies incompatible with life.” They also make special mention that they are called to minister and support women and men whose lives have been touched by this difficult decision.
Dying Persons- In summary, they support the individual’s decision to proceed with medical treatments or the decision not to. Suicide, assisted suicide and euthanasia are opposed, as is the condemnation of the victims and families of suicide. No mention of the deceased’s “permission” to enter heaven is mentioned.
Differences- people of different cultures, handicaps, races, ages, religions, genders, and sexual orientation are to be respected. There are separate sections that call out the good that both rural and urban life can bring.
Drugs, Tobacco and Alcohol- not good.
Birth Control – All methods, including voluntary sterilization are supported. Interestingly enough, they justify this by talking about the strain on “the world’s supply of food, minerals and water and sharpening international tensions.”
Science- Highly respected. This includes voluntary medical experimentation, organ donation, treatment and research of AIDS (and support of those inflicted).
Politics- an average sized paragraph affirming that state and church should be separate. Another note that it is the responsibility of elected officials to protect those they’ve sworn to serve.
Education – Highly supported with 2 call-outs that persons deserve sex education. Continued learning throughout life is encouraged.
Death Penalty – Though they recognize that in America over 2/3 of the community support the death penalty, the Church feels that to do so prohibits any chance of rehabilitation and that the sanctity of life in general is not valued in the action.
War- The church respects those that have chosen to be pacifists, however, they are realistic enough to recognize that some times war is an unfortunate necessity. They only support war after all other peaceful means of resolution have been attempted and failed. Further, they state that the goal of war should be peace and not destruction.
The Natural World – I was pleased to see this was the very first subject mentioned in the book. As you can imagine, the Methodist stance is that God created all things and therefore all things deserve respect and care including our water, air, soil, minerals, plants, energy resources, animal life, and space (all specifically referenced in detail). Special mention was made that food safety should be encouraged with proper handling and labeling.
Family- marriage and the ideal of raising children with a mother and father is held in high regard. Divorce is stated as an unfortunate byproduct of society and while counceling is encouraged, the Church recognizes that permanent separation is sometimes necessary. All divorced persons are to be supported and can marry again in the Methodist church.
Gender- women and men are equal. Though not mentioned in this book, women are open to be religious leaders, including pastors.
Human Sexuality- a) This book is very candid that sexuality is “God’s good gift to all persons” and their official stance on extra-marital activity is that “sex is only clearly affirmed in the marriage bond.” b) As you can imagine, they are strongly against violence, harassment, abuse, pornography, exploitation, and trafficking of anything sexually related. c) Homosexuality is not condoned in the Methodist fait and they consider the practice of it “incompatible with Christian teaching.” HOWEVER, God’s grace is available to all persons and they will not reject or condemn any gay or lesbian persons. Note that there is an openly lesbian bishop in the Church that has been accepted and continues to hold her stature.
Abortion- “Our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve abortion. But we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother, for whom devastating damage may result from an unacceptable pregnancy. In continuity with past Christian teaching, we recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify and abortion, and in such cases we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures. We cannot affirm abortion as an acceptable means of birth control, and we unconditionally reject it as a means of gender selection. We oppose the use of late-term abortion… and call for the end of this practice except within the physical life of the mother is in danger and no other medical procedure is available, or in the case of severe fetal anomalies incompatible with life.” They also make special mention that they are called to minister and support women and men whose lives have been touched by this difficult decision.
Dying Persons- In summary, they support the individual’s decision to proceed with medical treatments or the decision not to. Suicide, assisted suicide and euthanasia are opposed, as is the condemnation of the victims and families of suicide. No mention of the deceased’s “permission” to enter heaven is mentioned.
Differences- people of different cultures, handicaps, races, ages, religions, genders, and sexual orientation are to be respected. There are separate sections that call out the good that both rural and urban life can bring.
Drugs, Tobacco and Alcohol- not good.
Birth Control – All methods, including voluntary sterilization are supported. Interestingly enough, they justify this by talking about the strain on “the world’s supply of food, minerals and water and sharpening international tensions.”
Science- Highly respected. This includes voluntary medical experimentation, organ donation, treatment and research of AIDS (and support of those inflicted).
Politics- an average sized paragraph affirming that state and church should be separate. Another note that it is the responsibility of elected officials to protect those they’ve sworn to serve.
Education – Highly supported with 2 call-outs that persons deserve sex education. Continued learning throughout life is encouraged.
Death Penalty – Though they recognize that in America over 2/3 of the community support the death penalty, the Church feels that to do so prohibits any chance of rehabilitation and that the sanctity of life in general is not valued in the action.
War- The church respects those that have chosen to be pacifists, however, they are realistic enough to recognize that some times war is an unfortunate necessity. They only support war after all other peaceful means of resolution have been attempted and failed. Further, they state that the goal of war should be peace and not destruction.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Weekend of 6/6/08
Nicole's doctor visit yeilded a diagnosis of croup and an ear infection- #5). I’ve determined that having plans on a Friday night instead of just hanging out at home like any other weekday night makes the weekend feel longer. Nicole was feeling much better by the evening after a steroid dose around 4:00pm so we kept our initial plans and had a full house of my high school friends over for a game night. The last group didn’t leave until 2am!
Saturday Nic was back to her normal self, playing and exploring. We ran a bunch of errands and Jim brought the Murano home for me to see/drive. He drove an Altima while he was at the dealership and combined with giving my mom’s a whirl that night I think that’s now his front-runner.
Our neighbor stopped by to tell us how unreasonable the land developer was in negotiating the purchase of the lot behind him. A few months back he offered $25K and the developer countered at $50K. They reached and impasse and tabled the conversation. This time around the developer offered to sell for $62,000. David’s response – “remember when I wouldn’t buy at $50,000? What makes you think I’ll be interested in paying $62,000?” I'm sitting tight on “our” lot – not nearly as worried about it going as our neighbors should be about “theirs”.
We got to babysit Ryann on Saturday and she and Nicole played and got an impromptu visit from my parents. After the girls went to bed I introduced the Wii to Mom and Dad who bowled like champs and got very into it.
Sunday Nicole was back to coughing so she got a second steroid dose in the morning. I took her to the Girls Lunch and then to Brandy’s baby shower were she was clearly allergic to something as she sneezed up a storm. The first part of the evening was rough sleeping for Nicky as she continued to cough and hack. By 10:00 she was sound asleep and hasn’t coughed since, so hopefully this thing is fully kicked.
I finished my Methodist Social Principles book as well as the pleasure-reading book I had been going through. I’ll post on the religion book this week.
Saturday Nic was back to her normal self, playing and exploring. We ran a bunch of errands and Jim brought the Murano home for me to see/drive. He drove an Altima while he was at the dealership and combined with giving my mom’s a whirl that night I think that’s now his front-runner.
Our neighbor stopped by to tell us how unreasonable the land developer was in negotiating the purchase of the lot behind him. A few months back he offered $25K and the developer countered at $50K. They reached and impasse and tabled the conversation. This time around the developer offered to sell for $62,000. David’s response – “remember when I wouldn’t buy at $50,000? What makes you think I’ll be interested in paying $62,000?” I'm sitting tight on “our” lot – not nearly as worried about it going as our neighbors should be about “theirs”.
We got to babysit Ryann on Saturday and she and Nicole played and got an impromptu visit from my parents. After the girls went to bed I introduced the Wii to Mom and Dad who bowled like champs and got very into it.
Sunday Nicole was back to coughing so she got a second steroid dose in the morning. I took her to the Girls Lunch and then to Brandy’s baby shower were she was clearly allergic to something as she sneezed up a storm. The first part of the evening was rough sleeping for Nicky as she continued to cough and hack. By 10:00 she was sound asleep and hasn’t coughed since, so hopefully this thing is fully kicked.
I finished my Methodist Social Principles book as well as the pleasure-reading book I had been going through. I’ll post on the religion book this week.
Friday, June 06, 2008
All about Nicole
I leave her alone with Uncle Greg for a car ride and this is what happens... Nicole stayed home sick from daycare today. Last night she was okay during dinner with Jenny, but had a cough that sounded questionable. When I got her home she had a 100.7 fever and went to bed. This morning the fever was still here and the croup-y cough had set in. Poor girl laid in bed with her dad most of the morning and would only willingly eat 10 cheerios and 2 oz of formula from 6:30 on. Jim forced her to eat 1 cube of banana and I got 3 more oz. in her when I got home at 12:30 to switch off child-care responsibilities. She’s headed to the doctor at 2:40. After some Dr. Suess I put her down for a nap and she was out in about 2 minutes cuddling with her "Sleepy Bear".
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Last night I started creating her first birthday party invitations! It’ll be a family-only event and probably doesn’t merit invites, but I thought they were cute and I got them on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $1.60.
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I lost a month off my life on Wednesday night. Kid was eating green beans in her high chair and I got up to go get her some pineapple. 30 seconds of being gone and when I return she had climbed out of her chair and was crawling across the adjacent kitchen table. OH MY GOD. I yelled “HEY!” and startled her. One leg dropped off the edge and I was certain she was going to fall. She just froze and I picked her up but my breathing didn’t return to normal for about 10 minutes.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Another model in the running...
So the Enclave was all but bought. Literally we were going to pick up the phone and tell them to order one for us, until I looked around a parking lot and saw lots of other cars and thought “all these people got here safely and didn’t spend $37,000”.
And so began our search for a used car.
Strangely it didn’t take too much convincing Jim even though I’d agreed to the Buick and it’s his car. My key logic in getting a used car this time around is mainly that we don’t need the space or the luxury that the Enclave provides right now. For the next 6 years we’ll have at least one kid in a car seat who can’t physically (or legally) use the space a full-sized SUV would provide.
Our new goal is to find something that is still an SUV but has less than 10,000 miles on it (basically we want a newer car (2007+) where the depreciation adjustment is already built into the price). We went to the Toyota dealership first and since they didn’t have anything that met our specs we agreed to look at a RAV 4 that was new. $22,000 bought you cloth seats and 2 measly airbags. Not the safety we had in mind.
We next headed to Nissan where I bought the Sentra we’re replacing and we met the Murano. They had a ’07 demo (there was
no Murano in ’08) with under 5000 miles selling at $6500 below the invoice cost. We looked at it, an ’05, and checked out the ’09 for good measure. Jim seems to really like it and he’s going back to drive it tonight (it was in the showroom and we were short on time by this point) provided his softball game is cancelled.
We will see!!
And so began our search for a used car.
Strangely it didn’t take too much convincing Jim even though I’d agreed to the Buick and it’s his car. My key logic in getting a used car this time around is mainly that we don’t need the space or the luxury that the Enclave provides right now. For the next 6 years we’ll have at least one kid in a car seat who can’t physically (or legally) use the space a full-sized SUV would provide.
Our new goal is to find something that is still an SUV but has less than 10,000 miles on it (basically we want a newer car (2007+) where the depreciation adjustment is already built into the price). We went to the Toyota dealership first and since they didn’t have anything that met our specs we agreed to look at a RAV 4 that was new. $22,000 bought you cloth seats and 2 measly airbags. Not the safety we had in mind.
We next headed to Nissan where I bought the Sentra we’re replacing and we met the Murano. They had a ’07 demo (there was
no Murano in ’08) with under 5000 miles selling at $6500 below the invoice cost. We looked at it, an ’05, and checked out the ’09 for good measure. Jim seems to really like it and he’s going back to drive it tonight (it was in the showroom and we were short on time by this point) provided his softball game is cancelled.We will see!!
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
UD's Future
Watching the video of what my alma mater is planning for the future of campus makes me excited, nostalgic, and jealous. This video shows current and future campus and WOW the plans it shows.
Makes me wish, for yet another reason, that I was 17 years old and ready to start college. Sincerely, why would anyone want to go to school any place other than UD?!
Makes me wish, for yet another reason, that I was 17 years old and ready to start college. Sincerely, why would anyone want to go to school any place other than UD?!
Monday, June 02, 2008
Weekend of 5/30/08
Friday: I had the most beautiful picture sent to me- it was black and white and Erdahl all over. That night I dropped Nicole off at my aunt’s while I went to the Reds baseball game (thank you, Cincinnati Bell for the box seats!) with my co-workers. Free food! + Free beer! + We won! = GREAT night!
Saturday: Jim and I started the process of becoming church people. As I have mentioned, we decided to make HPCUMC our new “home” and signed up for the official new member class. It went from 9-3 and I found it both interesting and educational. Jim and another member in our class were baptized in the morning (Jim has already been confirmed Methodist but somehow skipped over this first step), and we learned about the history of Methodism and HPCUMC specifically. There are over 100 groups to join and they are very eager for you to become an active member, not just an attending member, of the Church.
Following church class we went to go see the Saturn Outlook again and decided that due to the close cost of it and the Enclave we’re going the Buick route. (Note that my previous post said that the Saturn was significantly less, turns out that it was a lot less after a $5K down-payment that the salesguy factored in already. So, in reality, it’s only $1500 less, not $6500 less. IRRATATING). We aim to have this new purchase wrapped up this week!
I also went to IKEA for the first time – 3 hour trip. All the same general stuff/style, but I can see how it’d be ideal for apartment dwellers. It was WEIRD to look into their displays and think that everything I saw was for sale.
Sunday: I became an official Methodist! Not the original intention, but that’s okay. They gave us a book to read about the Methodist position on social issues and I started reading through a bit and in general I like what I see. Only thing so far that I didn’t care for was their position on homosexuality (I wish they were more open-minded), HOWEVER, this specific church (versus the religion) IS so that makes me happy. I'm going to read the whole pamphlet cover to cover and I'm eager to see what other things I'm encouraged to believe in. If you’re interested I’ll compile a short summary of the faith’s position on these (and more) issues.
Saturday: Jim and I started the process of becoming church people. As I have mentioned, we decided to make HPCUMC our new “home” and signed up for the official new member class. It went from 9-3 and I found it both interesting and educational. Jim and another member in our class were baptized in the morning (Jim has already been confirmed Methodist but somehow skipped over this first step), and we learned about the history of Methodism and HPCUMC specifically. There are over 100 groups to join and they are very eager for you to become an active member, not just an attending member, of the Church.
Following church class we went to go see the Saturn Outlook again and decided that due to the close cost of it and the Enclave we’re going the Buick route. (Note that my previous post said that the Saturn was significantly less, turns out that it was a lot less after a $5K down-payment that the salesguy factored in already. So, in reality, it’s only $1500 less, not $6500 less. IRRATATING). We aim to have this new purchase wrapped up this week!
I also went to IKEA for the first time – 3 hour trip. All the same general stuff/style, but I can see how it’d be ideal for apartment dwellers. It was WEIRD to look into their displays and think that everything I saw was for sale.
Sunday: I became an official Methodist! Not the original intention, but that’s okay. They gave us a book to read about the Methodist position on social issues and I started reading through a bit and in general I like what I see. Only thing so far that I didn’t care for was their position on homosexuality (I wish they were more open-minded), HOWEVER, this specific church (versus the religion) IS so that makes me happy. I'm going to read the whole pamphlet cover to cover and I'm eager to see what other things I'm encouraged to believe in. If you’re interested I’ll compile a short summary of the faith’s position on these (and more) issues.
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