If that Ain't Country...

Earlier this summer my husband and I were driving in Northern Michigan. If you've been there you know it's a whole lotta country. I was thinking about how the country freaks me out more than the city. Maybe it's because I've seen too many horror movies about people who wander out into the country only to be chained up in some remote shack somewhere and tortured to death. I mean, in the city people will shoot you for your sneakers or your car or something logical like that. In the country, someone will chop you into pieces just because they can.
I live in an urban area, it's not a big city and it's really not a scary place, in my opinion. We've had our share of robberies (one in the middle of the day on a Sunday - what the fuck is that about) and some random shootings - but overall I feel safer walker in my neighborhood at night than I do wandering the country side during the day. Too much open space gives me the willies.
So I was sharing all this with my husband who started to take offense to my mostly stereotypical observations. I tried to defend myself and we ended getting into a somewhat heated discussion about city versus country life and which one was actually more dangerous. At the height of this debate we suddenly passed a man, sitting in his front yard with a shot gun slung across his lap for no apparent reason. I REST MY CASE.

Hm.

Sad when you can't figure out if your belly is the pregnancy starting to show or just gas.

Blogging SCANDALS Revealed

This is a crazy story of a blogger stealing someone else's identity. I first found the link in a post by SweetJupiter here:
http://www.sweet-juniper.com/
Which took me here (the victim):
http://www.sweetsalty.com/sweetsalty/2008/7/23/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery-in-coopernico-land.html
To here (a misguided apology):
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2008/05/apology-to-cooper.html
And finally - to the real scoop here:
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2008/07/apology-revoked-and-munchausen-by-blog.html

wow.

OK to be...lactose free!

I'm taking a holistic health practitioner class and this is one little nugget of info we got in class that I thought was interesting.
People lose the enzyme that digests at 18 months. It's natures way of getting babies to rely on food instead of mothers milk. So, people who are lactose intolerant are NORMAL. We're not supposed to be able to digest milk, we don't have the enzymes for it. And people who have no problems with milk are those that have MUTATED over time because their ancestors were probably exposed to so much dairy that their bodies adapted.
So all you milk drinkers are WEIRD!

In Whence I talk about Personal Things for the 2 or 3 People that Might Happen to Run Across this Blog

I've dealt with fairly severe anxiety issues since high school, and lately they've been out of control. I'll pretend I'm addressing actual readers here. If YOU (yes you) have ever had anxiety issues, you know what it's like. For those of you (all the rest of you) who haven't; it's like if you were a machine. Imagine with me for a moment. And you have a low, medium, and high gear. And medium is kind of average, low is when you're resting and high is the fight or flight response that kicks in and makes your heart race, and eyes go kind of blurry, and stomach knot all up. Anxiety is like that high gear kicks in and you can't turn it off. Your switch gets jammed. It's bloody exhausting.
I'm not a really religious person, I have my beliefs but I generally question organized religion. More on that later, if you're lucky. But this past week my anxiety was so bad that I prayed for a tool that I could use to decrease it. Some physical or mental thing I could to control it. Here's what I got:
On Sunday, the priest at my church gave a homily on worry. He gave this image of a deep forest. He talked about people who go skiing through forests like this and how they have to look between the tress because whatever you look at is what you hit. This image has been helpful to me when my anxiety kicks on. If trees are fear, than staring at my fear will make me run straight into it. But looking at the spaces between the tress - faith, I suppose - will steer us toward the light.

Are you totally gagging? I know.

In my class today I got another reinforcement. She gave us a little motto to say to ourselves when we get anxious.

-Can you do anything about it?
-Yes? Then do it.
-No? Let it go.

So if you're ever at the store and you see a frazzled person breathing deep and kind of crouching down and ducking to avoid imaginary trees while muttering "no, let it go" to herself - come say hi.

I am Out of Control

My dear husband took the little girl out of town for the night. Do you know what that means? Of course you do, it means I am home alone.
IT MEANS I SHAVED MY LEGS WITH SHAVING CREAM.
That's right. And as soon as I did I remembered why I never do. It takes FOREVER. I haven't looked at my legs for that long since my stretch mark hunting days when I was pregnant two years ago. It takes so much effort and really, my legs will only be smooth until that new layer stubble starts sprouting in about four hours.
The best part about the whole experience was that I was naked the entire time without an audience. No one announcing, "Look! Mama nakie!" No one ogling my droopy boobs. Now what should I do with the rest of my day? Who knows, maybe I'll be really daring and take a nap.

Witnessing the Toddler Losing Her Shit

The title of this entry is pretty flippant compared to the literal happening of the losing of the shit. My daughter wanted to watch TV, or TI, as she calls it. She never watches TV but we do have videos that we put in once in awhile and rather than explain the difference we just call it TV. Since she has been sick the past THREE DAYS she has been watching more TI than usual. Today I decided it was time to cut it off and thence began the losing of the shit. She cried for at least a half hour. First I tried to reason with her, then I tried to be firm, then I tried to distract, then I tried to walk away. After I walked away the losing of the shit increased ten fold and she started screaming MAMA! When that didn't work she tried my name, AUDREY!, which is so stinkin cute. So I walked in again and tried various other bargaining and negotiation. I picked her up to walk away from the looming TI but she just screamed OTHER ROOM! Eventually I set her down again and went to run her bath. Suddenly she got very quiet and started saying milk? milk? So I walked into the kitchen and said, "Do you want some milk?" and she said, "Yes." And I said, "Will you calm down?" And she said, "Yes," and wiped her face. So I said, just to push my luck, "No TV Ok?" And she said, "Ok."
WHAT THE FUCK.
I dont understand kids. I would write more but my brain is still spinning from the screaming and the crying and more screaming.

A Good Way to Unwind

Fools Day

I forgot it was April Fools Day. So when I walked in my bedroom to find my husband sprawled out on the floor, naturally I said, "What the hell are you doing?" He said, "Nothing." I said, "Did you fall off the bed?" He said, "Yes." I said, "No you didnt." He stopped talking.
Later, after my husband had left to do work at a coffee shop I got an email from him:

you know how i have that google thing that searches our names? Random stuff comes and I have been getting a lot of past melaleuca stuff. But look at this one that came today. It was only a clip but I was able to find a partial scan of it on mlive.com. Did you know about this or was it a joke mallory played and you didn't tell me? What the heck? See the attached....

This was the attached:



Mallory is my best friend and this "article" would've come out two years ago, after my daughter was born. At first I was confused, but I figured this was something my husband had somehow schemed. He denied it at first:

Me - WHAT?? did you do this?? seriously frank. you did this. i know it.

Him - dude. stop it. you have to know about this. are you messing with me?
but if you really are serious, call mallory now. She has got to know. if not, this is fucked up.

Me - i think YOU are messing with ME

Him - i got it in my e-mail under the usual google web search thing. where did you search for it? it took me a while to find it. you sound serious so i think you should call mallory.

Finally, he admitted it.

Him - happy april fools day

Later he explained that falling on the floor was his first attempt at an April Fools day prank, but it didnt work out like he'd hopped it would. Apparently he told our daughter to go get me. She came and told my several times "papa fall" but I wasnt listening. Then she went back in to the room and proceeded to step on him. So there he was, passed out on the ground, our daughter stepping on him, and me on the computer. Poor guy.

Happy April Fools Day.

PS You cant read the article well, so here's what it says:

Traditionally, names for children were chosen on the basis of favored family members within the family's respected culture and when they did venture outside the culture, it was to use the name of a historical figure or biblical character. Time was spent on the name meaning and its impact on the child's life. The trend now is to pick a name randomly from an assortment of places. There is easy access to "baby name" books with thousands of names. Many parents simply choose on the basis of what sounds good or looks cool.

One parent who used this method is Audrey Mahlie who just had a girl in June out of wedlock. According to her friend Mallory, who we interviewed, Audrey chose the name randomly. Audrey reads many books and likes a certain liberal, French author, Colette. She looked up the name to find its meaning and saw next to it, the name Cosette. She liked the sound of it and had had made her decision.

Mallory told Tom Edgars, who interviewed her last week, that she initially disliked the name and thinks a better one could have been chosen, but she would never tell Audrey. The reason she dislikes the name is because it was chosen the name out of the blue, "It doesn't matter anymore what a name means and where it comes from," she told Tom. Mallory also says that many are "annoyed" when Audrey introduces Cosette because they cannot understand the name at first. When Mallory has been with Audrey as she is introduces Cosette, she is annoyed, too. "Its always the same. We have to sit there and repeat the name a few times and then explain where it came from and why Audrey picked it. I get embarrassed and really tired of it."

Unfortunately, Audrey is not alone in this new trend. And so many of us might have to go through the same problems Mallory does in the future.

If you have any similar stories, please write the press or email Tom Edgars at TEdgars@grp.com

This is NOT for the faint of heart

Haunting site - photos of people in life and death. Do not click if you think will upset you.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/gallery/2008/mar/31/lifebeforedeath?picture=333325433

This is NOT for the faint of heart

Bizarre English Metaphors

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two
sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances
like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience,
like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse
without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around
the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking
at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli, and he was
room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog
makes just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated
because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a
surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a
bowling ball wouldn't.

10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag
filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an
eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another
city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when
you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced
across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains,
one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the
other from Topeka at
4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket
fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds
who had also never met.

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was
the East River.

18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap,
only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike
Phil, this plan just might work.

21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not
eating for a while.

22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck,
either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping
on a land mine or something.

23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one
slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around
with power tools.

25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard
bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

taken from http://www.english-blog.com/archives/2006/06/really_bad_metaphors.php

AND

These little pants are to die for

Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Ok maybe just snails. What am I talking about? My newest Etsy listing, of course!




Here's a close up

I'm SO Moving to Canada

phone conversation with woman from toronto midwives collective:
March 11th, 2008

kate: “hi, we’ve looked over the information you gave us yesterday and we do have an available midwife for your due date - nicole. if you’re still interested, we can set up a time for you to meet her this week or next week.”

emily: “great, but i have a question first that you may or may not be able to answer. i tried to call my insurance provider yesterday and they hit a computer snag and couldn’t help me: we’re covered under UHIP (readers: university health insurance plan for international students), and i’m not sure if it covers midwife care for americans or other international students.”

kate: “okay, here’s the deal: you don’t have to have UHIP or OHIP (readers: ontario health insurance plan, which ontario residents have) or anything at all to receive care from us. you just have to live in ontario.”

emily: “no insurance?”

kate: ”no… you only have to live here for us to provide care. we don’t need to bill an insurance company.”

emily: “but you don’t bill me, either?”

kate: *pause* “no… we bill the ministry of health. you would only need to provide coverage or be billed for any ultrasounds and lab tests that you might need or want done (readers: which UHIP does completely). the rest is taken care of.”

emily: *silence*

kate: *laughs* “i just blew your mind, didn’t i?”

so… mikey and i are going to meet nicole next wednesday. and she’s free. FREE. thanks, ontario ministry of health.


Taken from http://www.catholicanarchy.org/papyrophobia/?p=377

Didn't Hear This on the Ten O'clock News?

Combo vaccine more likely to cause bad reactions
Thu, Feb 28, 2008 (HealthDay) —A Merck & Co. combination vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox caused higher rates of fever-related convulsions in children than two separate injections (one for chickenpox and another for the three other diseases), according to a U.S. study released Wednesday.

As a result of the finding about the combination vaccine ProQuad, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices moderated its preference for the vaccine, which received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2005, the Associated Press reported.

The study of children ages 12 months to 23 months found the rate of seizures was twice as high in children who received ProQuad, compared to those who received the two injections. That works out to about one extra case of convulsions for every 2,000 doses of ProQuad given to children, said researchers who presented the findings Wednesday at a meeting of the advisory committee.

Until Wednesday, the panel had said the ProQuad vaccine was preferable to giving children separate shots. But the new findings prompted the panel to amend its position and state that it no longer has a preference for the combo vaccine over the separate shots, the AP reported.

I Can't BELIEVE I'm Doing This

I'm writing about American Idol. Shit. I've always pretended like I don't actually watch American Idol, like, the TV just happens to be on at 8 o'clock on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. But this kid is just so awesome, I decided to post a couple of his videos. And I'll even admit publicly, I watch American Idol. And I like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d4U2KLNwGE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2SCxlqR8RU

Annie Waits

If you listen to Ben Folds at all this might mean something to you. A few years ago I decided to try and write a "story" to go with every song on Rockin the Suburbs. Again, if you listen to Ben Folds you probably understand why. His songs all tell some sort of crazy, convoluted, aging hippies and bi polar girls, kind of story. So I wrote one for Annie Waits - and that was the only one. But I stumbled on it today and it's kind of funny. SO - just for you blogger world.
Annie Waits
8:15 on the dot. I’m sitting at the table by the window, my back turned casually toward the window as I keep one eye on the door and one on the paper spread too neatly in front of me. People around me are eating their breakfast in silence or speaking in low harsh voices to friends or to the air. They wander in and out of the dining room aimlessly, sometimes not even bothering to finish their breakfast or conversation. One woman is sitting across the room from me, staring out the window as streams of orangey light make their way through cloudy glass. She seems to be warming her face in the dim light as every once in awhile she tips her head back and closes her eyes, imagining, maybe, that she were somewhere else. A different time, a different place. Someone coughs; a wheezing sort of cough that grabs a hold of you and makes everyone else wince with the effort. An orderly is walking around asking if anyone wants more coffee, I duck my head to avoid eye contact. When I look up again she’s there, entering the dining room slowly, both hands placed firmly on her walker. I let out a breath slowly as my heart skips just a little bit faster. She’s surveying the room for a place to sit, “Sit here, sit here,” I silently will as my eyes stay trained on her every move. She sees me, smiles with relief of recognition. She’s coming over here. She will sit with me. I smile casually when she gets closer, as if I just now realized she was coming over to my table.
“Good morning,” she says as she slowly backs up into the chair I have moved out for her. She eases down, inch by inch, holding on to the walker until the final moment when she sits back and releases. Sinking into the wood chair as if it were a doughy recliner.
“Good morning,” I answer back, trying to hide my trembling hands. “How are you this morning, Annie?” I ask formally.
“Oh,” she says and flutters her hands, “I’m fine I suppose.” She pats her hair distractedly.
“Is anything the matter?”
“Oh no, nothing’s the matter, I’m waiting for a phone call and it hasn’t come yet is all.”
“Oh?” I try to sound vaguely uninterested. “What sort of phone call?”
She looks at me and then the table and smiles that timid smile of hers that means she feels childish. When she smiles this way the creases around her eyes deepen, making her sapphire eyes bright and secretive. Her skin is smooth like creamy butterscotch. She looks up at me and I quickly shift my gaze; feeling suddenly exposed.
“Well there’s this man I’ve been hoping to hear from – a friend of mine.” Her hands twitch unconsciously at the word “friend.” “I’ve been waiting for him for quite some time now.” She laughs awkwardly, “I know him in high school even, when I was a girl, a young thing maybe sixteen or so, I used to imagine him and me, growing old together. I would imagine us traipsing around the park together, feeding pigeons and talking about our grandchildren and how quickly they’ve grown. Friday night would be bingo night of course; we would go religiously even though neither of us ever won. We would laugh and say we must’ve used up all our good luck on our three kids.” She shook her head. “Well it seems I’ve accomplished the old part of that scenario and nothing much else.” We were both silent for a moment.
“But you’re expecting a phone call from him?” I finally asked, my voice breaking slightly. This question caused another flurry of activity as her hands smoother her skirt and then once again patted her hair. “Well, yes, I hope so. The funny thing is,” she smiled again that timid smile, “All those years ago we were supposed to go on a date together. We were going to meet at this hamburger place just down the hill from the high school and have a milkshake together or something silly like that.” She tried to dismiss the thought with a wave of her hand but I could see from the way her shoulders sort of drooped and the corners of her mouth turned down that it was not silly to her; not silly in the slightest. “Anyway,” she continued, “He never showed. I waited for five hours that night, my parents were terrible mad when I came home late, but he never showed up. The funny thing is, the next day in my locker I found a note, it said, “Annie, I could be the one forevermore if we’re still lonely when we’re old.”
I started to say something and then decided against it. “I realized then this was his way of telling me that it just wasn’t right for us to be together now. So here I am, waiting still, but I know it will be soon. Any day now he’ll call me up and invite me out for a cup of coffee and it will be like we’ve been together all these years.” Her smile was forced this time, causing the crinkles by her eyes to form harsh ridges – giving the expression of someone who life has somehow managed to pass completely by.
“What if….” I begin and then stop, unsure of how to ask her.
“What if he doesn’t call?” she finished. I nodded my head. “Well, funny you should ask, I decided just this morning that this was my last day of waiting. If he doesn’t call today, why, then I’d say I’ve had enough.” She leans in conspiringly and whispered, “To be honest, there’s a man up in 3B that I’ve had my eye on for a little while now. If he doesn’t call today, I may just have to move on.” She lifted her chin defiantly though it quivered slightly.
“Well,” I answered, “I wish you the best of luck. I stood up abruptly and she smiled the straight mouth smile that means she feels like she’s been talking too much. “Thank you,” She replied. “Have a lovely day.”
“You too.”
Back in my room, I shut the door and lean against it, feeling the safety of darkness and refreshing coolness against my skin. I sigh and walk slowly to my bed, as I sink into the mattress the scene flashes before my eyes as it has a million times before. Annie is sitting there, back straight, alert in her seat – a table for two. She’s wearing a red dress with purple flowers on it, the sleeves stick out just a little and her knees poke out from beneath. Her brown straight hair blows faintly in the sweet April air. Her hands flit mindlessly, dabbing at her lipstick and then smoothing her skirt over her knees. She is nervous. Waiting. I am sitting just a few tables behind her. Alone and watching every move. Headlights crest the hill and she stands up quickly. The car passes by and out of sight. She plops back into her seat, twirling her hair around her first finger and biting her lip. She checks her watch and then sits up again. A shadow of someone falls over the table, Annie looks up, eyes full and brimming, the shadow moves on. I wonder to myself if maybe something happened to him, whoever it is she is waiting for. Would it be worse, I muse silently, to be stood up, or to find out something happened to him. At least if something happened to him it would be possible to hold on to what could have been. Memories of what could have been are remembered warmly, while the sharp edged truth of a person in all their details and flaws can be disappointing and bittersweet. What never was may be a warm fantasy to hold on to, what really is can leave you feeling cold.
I watch as she shifts to her feet, looking at her watch one last time she turns, head bowed in defeat, and walks slowly away from the table. As she passes me without so much as a glance I smell the faintest hint of peppermint, feel the wake of the wind she stirred with her body as it blows by my face. The next day at school I leave an anonymous note in her locker, “Annie, I could be the one forevermore if we’re still lonely when we’re old.” I’ve treated that note like a sacred covenant, a promise I made and will always keep. I will wait for Annie just as she waits. But not for me.

Maybe a Hundred, What?

Cracks me up, every time.

Also, I just discovered this "embed" thing. It's really cool.

Quilt Picture Frame

I posted a new item on Etsy and unfortunately it hasn't gotten many views. I thought it would be kind of a cool and unique thing but *shrug* If you wanna check it out and give me some feedback that would be great. Here's the link:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9575880

If You Know What's GOOD for you.....

You will go to this link:
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/audio_library/sos_04audio.asp
and scroll down to “Letter to the Lady of the House” under August 21 and 29.

Here Comes the Sun

I took one of those stupid quizzes, "what beatles song are you?" and came out with Here Comes the Sun. Then a tribute video popped up and it was really beautiful. It made me nostalgic and I wasn't even alive when the Beatles were around. Anyway, here it is:

Verdict

Verdict came in. Guilty. Son of a bitch.

The Disgruntled Juror

I was called in for jury duty. I didn't really want to go - heard mostly bad things about jury duty. I heard I would wait all day, be bored out of my mind, and to bring a lot books. For the most part, it wasn't like this at all. The process of signing in and getting assigned to a case was kind of tedious and fraught with multiple explanations because no matter how simple the task or how clear the instructions, someone was always messing up. I mean, really, how difficult is it to park in the correct lot?
My favorite example of herd mentality was when we were required to fill out a survey. No one told us what to do with the survey once filled out so most of us thinking people just decided to hold on to them. Unfortunately for the human race, one person, overwhelmed by the lack of direction, put their survey in the closest "basket" they could find. This turned out to be a waste basket. And it didn't just turn out to be a waste basket, it was a waste basket. There was no mistaking it. It wasn't a waste basket disguised as a small tray for turning in survey, it was just a trash can. For trash. And after one person made this seemingly obvious mistake, OTHER PEOPLE FOLLOWED.
Seriously.
So yesterday I was chosen for a jury and heard a little bit about the case and then we were dismissed for the day. This morning we were back bright and early to start the trial. It took about three hours and was actually very interesting. I won't get into the details but it was a criminal charge of possession of marijuana with the intent to sell. By the end of the trial I was keyed up. I mean, the judge was falling asleep, but I was TOTALLY ready to go throw down in deliberation. I was pretty sure my opinions would not be popular because I was convinced he was not guilty considering the only evidence was the circumstantial evidence presented by the cop who didn't actually see anything. And basically the prosecutor was asking the jury to just listen to the cop because...he's a cop. And this kid was a teenage African American boy so of course he was lying. The cops that testified were so frickin arrogant it made my fists clench. They don't even give a damn that what they "think" they know about drug dealers and users could ruin this kids life. They don't give a damn that what they saw may or may not be the truth. They just want to be right, they want us to justify their prejudice by rendering a guilty verdict.
All throughout the trial I had that Feist song "I Feel it All" stuck in my head with the poignant line "The truth lies...." suddenly taking on a whole new meaning for me.
And then.
They had to release two people because a jury is actually only made up of 12 plus 2 alternatives in case someone gets sick. And without any notice, my name was randomly pulled...and I was dismissed. Just like that, I don't matter anymore. My vote no longer counts. I have to sit for two days and listen to this, get emotionally involved, believe I am a part of this process that I did NOT volunteer for...and then I'm out. I just have to leave.
I was livid. I still am, actually. I'll get a phone call when a verdict is reached. It's been about four hours now and still no phone call.
I guess there's more I could say about this but, really, what's the point?

SNOW!

My little one (19 months) has a hard time with new situations. So she's been pretty slow to warm up to this snow business. We took her sledding once and it was a disaster. So we were pleasantly surprised when we took her out the other day, and suddenly, she couldn't get enough snow.



And now she loves it. We had to pull her, kicking and screaming, wet and cold, into the house when it was bedtime because she wanted more snow. I'm pretty sure she would've stayed out all all night - freezing to death; and her last words would've been....more.....snow......

And of course she loves eating it. Why is it that our instinct is to eat snow? Why do people open their mouths and look up in order to catch one or two flakes on their tongues? Why do we grab it by the fistful and shove in our mouths? My little one has never seen anyone else do this - it was an instinct. Why? I'll admit there is something distinctly satisfying about the way to crunches and melts in the mouth. It even tastes good in it's own way.

We went skiing yesterday, my husband and I, to celebrate our two year anniversary. Two years! Woot! I thought cross country skiing was just glorified walking, but it turns out that when hills are involved, it's more glorified fall on your ass every two minutes. I would highly recommend it.



That's me. Ready for anything.

Too Funny

I got both of these from my favorite blogger Heather Armstrong at www.dooce.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUJ4es4cY

Also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo1XFz0kac0

FREE Lip Gloss!

I am now including free Nicole Miller lip gloss with the purchase of a make up travel carrier.
Check it out:
www.naturalmomma.etsy.com

Just a little political

My husband and I have been following the primaries and he has become a strong Ron Paul supporter. I think his ideas are interesting but I haven't totally jumped on that band wagon. BUT I think as far as Republicans go - he is by far the best candidate. If you watched verbal wrestling match (CNN debates) between McCain and Romney, you know what I mean. Here's a little tid bit that I just can't resist posting. Romney and McCain had just been going at it about who said what about timetables when Ron Paul finally got a word in:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fhAokoMgSDc

About Etsy

Someone asked me what Etsy is. Good question. Etsy is an online community where people open up their own "shops" and sell all handmade products. Everything on Etsy was handmade by someone - this is the charm of Etsy. It is a very tight community and I have LOVED the support I have found in forums and personal conversations. It really is a great site and I am so glad to be a part of it. As a friend of mine once said, "Stick it to corporate America! Shop local!"

New Etsy

I spent ALL DAY revamping my Etsy site; taking new pictures, writing new descriptions etc.
The pictures look much better, if I do say so myself.

Wonderful

You can't possibly have a bad day when it begins with this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Z-DIAthbM

Mamasource.com

I wanted to take a minute and talk about this great site called mamasource.com. I discovered this site when my daughter was just born and cannot express how much it has helped me this past year and a half. First of all, let me tell you a little bit about it. It's a community site for local moms. The local part is awesome because if I want advice about a store to go to or a new doctor, these women can give me their personal experiences because they all live near me. I've also gotten advice about local play groups and other meet up groups for moms. It's also a place to go to for advice. You post a request at any time and I guarantee within just a few hours you will have 4 or 5 responses. Every morning an email comes with recently posted requests that more people then respond to. So now you're getting even more advice from women all over the board. New moms, moms with lost of children, single moms, working moms, stay at home moms, mixed family moms...the list is endless. The advice is priceless because it's based on experience. Many people also take the time to refer books or specific studies depending on what type of problem you are having. I have highly recommended it to all of my pregnant friends and family. The main reason I think mamasource is different from other communities is that your post isn't lost in a sea of posts on an obscure message board hidden in a forum. You post a question and everyone will get an email with your question. You are guaranteed that everyone with something to say about your question will see it and be able to respond. And you get an email every time you get a response. It's a very intimate community that I am happy to be a part of.

SHALI

I've been trying to work with this company called Staying Home and Lovin It. If you've heard of it I'd love to hear any stories about working with this company. It's been...interesting. That's all I'll say for now. Here's the website:
www.healthyathomepro.com

Make Up Kit

Here's my latest addition - a sewing travel kit. Here's the description and picture:
This handy little kit has four slots for makeup and other toiletries needed while traveling. Instead of a bulky bag or plastic bag, all you need to do is roll up and tie your make up for easy and convenient travel and storage. Once arrived at your destination, use the buckle to hang from a hook so you don't use up counter space.

Etsy

I started selling homemade products on Etsy. I focus on toys and clothes for kiddie's and bath and body treats for their hardworking mommas. I'll be posting pictures and such, and maybe add some non-Etsy related stuff once in awhile. Just for fun.
www.naturalmomma.etsy.com