Car Accident

I was involved in a car accident yesterday.  Iris and I have no injuries (Thank the Lord!) and the driver of the other car appeared to be unhurt but his passenger did go to the hospital with the paramedics.  I was fully stopped at a red light (in fact, I had arrived at the red light just as it had turned from yellow so I was there for the full cycle) and when it turned green I pulled out to make a left-hand turn to go and collect B3 from preschool.  The other driver chose to not stop at the red light he had and so hit us going fairly fast.  I am completely guessing how fast he was going but the road he was driving on is 35mph and I would wager he was going at least 30.  He did swerve away from us at the very last moment and I believe his last second swerve is why we escaped the accident without injury because it allowed the front corner of the car to bear the full force of the impact.  When he got out of the car he immediately began to wave his arms about and was yelling at me for running a red light.  In the moment, I was upset and his yelling caused me to doubt myself which, in turn, caused me to apologize to him!  In retrospect, I am really mad at myself for letting him cause me to doubt my actions.  I am not saying I am a perfect driver or that I have never in my life run a red light.  I am saying, though, that I could not have "run a red light" that I had been stopped at for a full cycle and I also would not have run a red light with my child (or children) in the car.  Again, thank the Lord that Iris was unhurt!  In any case, the car who was at the light behind me stepped up and insisted I take his information so he could speak with the police because he saw the other driver crash into us and he knows I did not run a red light because I was actually sitting at the green without moving long enough that he was a second away from beeping his horn to get me to move.  When the police arrived, we called that kind, honest witness and he came from his house to speak directly with the officer to tell him what he saw.  Thank the Lord for good people!  Right now, we do not know if the police determined fault.  If the police claim fault is undetermined I think we will both be cited for a moving traffic violation.  I am praying the other driver is rightfully declared at fault but as the police officer told us - right now, it's going to come down to a fight between the insurance companies and we have to hope it comes down in our favor.  (SIGH)  Here is what our car looks like right now:

** Update 1/28/14** It turns out I do have a small injury - my shoulder muscles are "strained" from when the seat belt locked me into place when our cars collided and I did have to go to the doctor and am currently on a prescription anti-inflammatory.  (side note: the literature that came with the prescription is kind-of scary with all the side effects and don't do this & that ... I hope I am not on it for very long!).  Also, the driver of the other car has a history of car accidents and has been investigated, but never prosecuted, for insurance fraud relating to several of this car accidents.  Of course, I am not a born cynic like Book and I kept trying to give the driver a break.  But, now, Book is proven right again - he's a better judge of who not to trust in this world than I am.  So, that's where we stand.  It really is going to be a battle of the insurances and we're waiting for the adjuster to let us know what needs to be done to our car so we can get it fixed.

Husband + Plumbing = New Decorating Opportunity (maybe)

Thanks to our house being 74 years old, Book has had the pleasure (and pain!) of learning how to be a handyman around the house.  Of course, that includes developing some plumbing skills with the help of a useful book on house repairs, a great friend who has mad skills with all things around the house, and youtube videos (lol).  On Monday, Book had the day off work for MLK Jr. day and we vacated the premises so he could work on repairing a leaky pipe that was causing our basement bathroom ceiling to disintegrate.  He fixed the leak in record time (yea!) but not the ceiling because he didn't fix the pipe that fast.  The result?  Now, when we use the basement facilities, we look up and see a hole in the ceiling and newly fixed pipe.  Additionally, the unfinished ceiling has inspired me to consider new looks for the bathroom (looks within a small budget, of course) and now I'm trying to convince Book to entertain the idea of a galvanized steel ceiling and a fun new color on the walls and maybe even a couple funky accents to round it all out.  Right now, I am definitely having difficulty persuading Book to seriously consider the galvanized steel and, I think, unless the new paint color is free (or close to free-haha) that I am going to be out of luck and it's not likely my vision will become reality. I can keep hoping, though.  Here are a couple of pictures of his handy work:

If we did install a galvanized steel ceiling, I think we would have to change out the traditional-style window trim.  Maybe strips of sheet metal?  I don't know I haven't thought that all the way through yet and would need to research cost.  With that hole in the ceiling, now is a perfect time to consider how we might want to change the space and since the previous owners built this bathroom, it could be the perfect time to really make the space ours versus theirs. 

I wish I new how to make the awesome design boards Emily at Jones Design Company or Nicole at Making it Lovely create for their projects...

Last Week

B3 & Iris performing in a rock concert - they're singing "Party Every Day" by KISS.   We taught it to them for NYE and now it seems to be a favorite in the rotation.  They also love to sing "I Love Rock n Roll" by Joan Jett.  hahaha

Iris is potty training!  Check out the awesome sticker chart in the background. Our very talented and very dear friend obliged my request and created it for Iris.  Thanks, Lisa!

One day last week I was trapped on the couch with B3 as he took a slightly unexpected nap. I had a blissful hour snuggled up with my little man and reading a lovely chick lit novel that was both clever and entertaining.

B3 was invited to a friend's birthday party (his first without me or Daddy!) and he drew this card for his friend.

He wrote "Happy Birthday Nora! Love" with is left hand and then he wrote "Bohdan" with his right.  His teacher tells us he does this all the time on all of his school papers.  She said not to worry about it and to actually encourage it.

B3 is definitely an emerging reader; he loves to "read" books by himself now and has begun to actually read various sight words and misc. vocabulary.  He is largely unaware that he can read but it's exciting to watch him learn!

Sunday Afternoon

Yesterday I chose to cook soup for our supper and I chose a recipe called "Peasant Soup" by Rachael Ray. I like a lot of Rachel's recipes because they don't take too long to prepare and she largely uses ingredients I have handy but the food tastes like I slaved over it.  Her Peasant Soup recipe was true to it's name - definitely a poor man's soup packed full of low-cost veggies like cabbage and carrots and onions - (Note: I did not have leek on-hand so that was omitted this time and I also wanted it to be vegan so I skipped the ham and used veggie broth instead of chicken broth but I added frozen yellow beans from our garden harvest and increased the onion and black pepper plus added about 1/8 cup of dry red wine) and after I began to make it, I realized her recommendation of a crusty bread to accompany the soup was absolutely not a recommendation but a requirement.
Thus, I chose to conquer my fear of bread baking because the only bread we had in the house was soft(ish) sandwich bread from the grocery (don't judge us, we didn't have time to make all our various shopping stops this week!).  I chose a recipe I had saved on my Pinterest cooking board for a "quick" yeast French Baguette style bread and set to work.  Mid-way through making the dough I ran out of white flour (the flour listed in the recipe) and had to finish up with whole-wheat flour which I suspect impacted the end result.  Also, the recipe proclaimed to be quick and it was but I suspect the quickness combined with the flour combo caused the bread to be a little off.  The end result was definitely a tasty French Baguette style bread with a crusty outer shell but the combination of the whole-wheat flour and reduced proof time possibly caused it to be significantly denser than a true French Baguette style loaf.  Regardless, we ate it and enjoyed it.  And, truthfully, this small foray into bread baking me has given me just enough confidence to try another bread recipe in the very near future.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, the soup turned out great even with the omissions and changes I made to make it vegan and when it was cooking while the bread was baking my house smelled amazing.

Before & After

Welcome 2014

We woke up today and saw lots and lots of snow.

B3 requested to go to the zoo. The drive was treacherous and we were the only visitors there for the first 1/2 hour.

We ran around and up and down and finally had to sit to take a short rest.

We saw this guy.  A capybara.

And while Iris napped B3 and I spent the afternoon working on a new puzzle.

Welcome 2014!

Sharing a PIN from a FRIEND

Unemployed

I am no longer employed.  I resigned from my part-time job.  A lot of heartache, gut-wrenching soul searching, prayer, and seeking others advice finally resulted in me choosing to take time out of the traditional professional work place and focus on my babies.  The week after I submitted my resignation, I was fairly depressed and wholly doubtful I made the correct decision.  Now, 2 weeks after my resignation, I am mostly at peace with my choice and have noticed a definite calming of my soul and uplift of my spirit.  Each day Little Man and Urban Cowbaby do something so amazing or so entertaining or so endearing that I marvel at my good fortune to be at home with them.  Yes, at least once I day I ask myself how I gave up a "perfect" situation - I was only working 22.5 hours a week, right - but then I remember that everyone has a different vision of perfect and we all manage our lives and individual situations in our own ways.  I was not contributing at work in the manner I wanted to, nor was I contributing at home to the capacity I wanted and, therefore, I was barely holding on to each world and barely doing enough to keep each world in some kind of order.  My new shift of priorities and focus has allowed me to release a tremendous amount of anxiety I was constantly feeling and has allowed me to feel really accomplished at the end of each day.

Of course, one thing I have noticed about myself each summer I have had off from work is that I sorely lack discipline and time management.  That said, I have a goal to be better (like, be more mindful of keeping up with the on-line life) and I know the fall will force me to manage our time better because we will be juggling pre-school with music class with eurythmics class, play dates, etc.  Soon to come?  Pictures of the kids and more frequent posts.

Oh, and I should mention...I'm not going to truly be out of the professional realm because I have been referred by a colleague to a independent consulting opportunity and am currently in the process of on-boarding with that organization.

And you say he's just a friend...

I was reading a social media advice column today and one of the columnists made this statement:
"And the fact is Facebook has destroyed the meaning of the word 'friend.' 'Friend' used to mean ... I'll   take a bullet for you, I'll take care of your kid or, you know, things with meaning — and now it just means 'connected to'."
This statement really struck me.  I am one of those old-fashioned people who still thinks of "friend" in the traditional sense - as in, I like a person, enjoy conversing with them, care about their lives and events within their lives.  So, my FB friend list is actually fairly small and there are even a few people on there that I need to "purge" because they once had the potential to be my friend but due to whatever reasons are no longer someone I want to put energy & effort into.  In contrast, Urban Cowboy's FB friend list has a gazillion people on it and we are always having a conversation about why he has so many FB friends and if he even actually physically knows these people.  I guess he's more modern than me. 
The reason I think this new definition of friend really unsettles me, though, is because we (society) have not yet come up with a word to replace "friend" to more properly define the difference between actual friend vs. FB connection (or name any other social media device).  How long, I wonder, will it take for us to come up with a new vocabulary to teach our children that a virtual connection to an individual does not translate to a person you have a relationship with that you can share your joys/sorrows with or someone that can come to you and seek your help or advice or someone who, darnit, you just enjoy hanging out with (gasp!) in-person?  I want Little Man and Urban Cowbaby to know that there is a difference and that the difference is very important when when they are conducting themselves on-line & in-person and as they navigate the world on ever changing terms. 

Seriously? Grad School...

Ok, so this was in my work inbox today:

In response to an email message I received from my adviser, XXX, I am requesting assistance from Career Services.
I am nearing the end of my senior year and would like assistance with making application to graduate school.

At first I thought this person was an international student but looked up their information and they are not. I am concerned that this person wants to go to graduate school when they cannot a) spell advisor correctly and cannot form grammatically correct sentences.  I can only imagine what other errors I will encounter if this individual has to continue to communicate with me through writing and I cannot fathom how this person is even successfully earning a bachelor's degree with such poor writing skills.  This is an example of how society appears to reward mediocrity.

Chronos & Kairos

Out Of a New Habit sent me a link to a specific blog post for a blog called Momastery.  You should read the whole post but here are my favorite paragraphs:

  There are two different types of time. Chronos time is what we live in. It’s regular time, it’s one minute at a time, it’s staring down the clock till bedtime time, it’s ten excruciating minutes in the Target line time, it’s four screaming minutes in time out time, it’s two hours till daddy gets home time. Chronos is the hard, slow passing time we parents often live in.
  Then there’s Kairos time. Kairos is God’s time. It’s time outside of time. It’s metaphysical time. Kairos is those magical moments in which time stands still. I have a few of those moments each day, and I cherish them.
  Like when I actually stop what I’m doing and really look at Tish. I notice how perfectly smooth and brownish her skin is. I notice the perfect curves of her teeny elf mouth and her asianish brown eyes, and I breathe in her soft Tishy smell. In these moments, I see that her mouth is moving but I can’t hear her because all I can think is – This is the first time I’ve really seen Tish all day, and my God – she is so beautiful. Kairos.
  Like when I’m stuck in chronos time in the grocery line and I’m haggard and annoyed and angry at the slow check-out clerk. And then I look at my cart and I’m transported out of chronos. And suddenly I notice the piles of healthy food I’ll feed my children to grow their bodies and minds and I remember that most of the world’s mamas would kill for this opportunity. This chance to stand in a grocery line with enough money to pay. And I just stare at my cart. At the abundance. The bounty. Thank you, God. Kairos.

This couldn't have come at a better time (and Out Of a New Habit knows this) because I've been struggling with a lot of personal and professional doubts and Little Man has been testing me every day with a new set of behaviors that we, as a family, are not very pleased to be on the receiving end of.  But, mostly, Out Of a New Habit knows how I need to be reminded that it's ok to be less than perfect and it's ok to doubt but that I need to trust in God's life plan for me and my family and need to be strong enough to live it. 

Clutter, Compost, & Kids

Small Notebook, one of my favorite blogs, is frequently posting about how to manage and clear clutter from our homes and, ultimately, from our lives.  Recently she posted about "tupperware" clutter and about pantry  clutter.  If you're interested in simplifying, I recommend the read.  I am constantly struggling with clutter but, recently, have finally accepted it is ok to have fewer storage containers, especially plastic, and welcome the extra space in my cabinets.  On the other hand, when it comes to my pantry ... well, let's just say that I have a bit of a "squirell" complex.  I seem to derive true satisfaction from a full pantry and sometimes even get nervous when I use the last (or almost last) item from the pantry.  Example?  Beans.  If there is only 1 can of black beans in the pantry, I will likely choose to cook something without beans so that my supply is not wholly depleted.  That's crazy, right.  I mean, even admitting it to you I know it's crazy.  Luckily, Urban Cowboy has been helping me to get over this "squirell" complex but I don't find it easy and I'm definitely a work in progress.

Did you know it's National Compost Week?  Do you compost?  No?  We do and it's pretty easy and yields good results.  It truly helps keep our landfill waste down and we have begun to use our compost in our garden to supplement the soil and help our plants grow more happily.  If you can and have in an interest, I encourage you to try composting.

Urban Cowbaby showed us her newest trick this weekend.  If you say to her (or Little Man, or anyone else) "wash your hands" or "clean your hands" she actually does the sign for it!  It's hilarious!  And, as far as we know, this is something she just picked up in every day life because no one deliberately taught her to sign "wash your hands".  She's so amazing!  Little Man continues to amaze, too!  He has recently begun to have alphabet conversations with us in which he wants us to ask him what letter "fish" (for example) begins with and then he replies "dog" or something else equally silly.  The reason this is amazing, though, is not because he actually thinks fish begins with the letter d but because he knows, as he's saying dog, that d is wrong (and if pressed he'll confess it's f) and he believes he is telling us a very silly joke.  So, isn't that amazing?  My almost 3 year old is already telling me jokes!

Crunchy Clean & A Happy Green Life

Recently, I found a great sale on an all-natural, grey water safe, laundry detergent called A Happy Green Life.  Typically, I use Crunchy Clean but Green Baby Bargains was selling A Happy Green Life for dirt cheap and shipping was completely reasonable so I decided to give it a go.  That said, I really like it.  It works as well as Crunchy Clean does which is the part I like because, frankly, Crunchy Clean is the best damn laundry detergent I've ever used.  So, both Crunchy Clean & A Happy Green Life do a fantastic job cleaning our clothes without leaving any chemical residue and without irritating our sensitive skin.  With Little Man, I was pretty viligant about removing food stains, dirt stains, etc. from his clothes but with Urban Cowbaby I haven't had as much time or energy to devote to stain removal.  Good thing Crunchy Clean and A Happy Green Life take care of all but the worst stains for me!  What the detergent doesn't get out, the sun does!  So, all in all, I would happily recommend either detergent for use in any home. ** I should mention, however, that I have not used A Happy Green Life for diapers.  I continue to loyally use only Crunchy Clean for our diapers for 2 reasons: 1) it works and works well, and 2) using the same detergent exclusively could potentially increase the resell value of the diapers.**

I'd like to share a few more thoughts on both detergents:
- Crunchy Clean is expensive BUT it's a great product, buying it supports a working from home mama, and just recently they announced a new $5 flat rate shipping fee which signficantly helps with cost management.  Oh, and you get a ton of loads out of each purchase!  I mean, A TON!  We buy laundry detergent approximately once every 4-5 months and that's with doing 2 loads of diapers a week & lots of clothes/towels/etc. loads.
- A Happy Green Life also supports 2 working from home mamas and BOTH detergents were created to provide an alternative to chemical laden, corporate, mass produced detergents and follows in Crunchy Clean's path in terms of tons of loads per purchase.
- Upon beginning use of an all-natural laundry detergent I have noticed our colors stay bright longer, our clothes need replaced less, and I use less detergent per load than I would with a conventional detergent.

If you haven't tried these products or any type of all-natural detergent, I heartily recommend that you do so!  You will be pleased with the results and the quality of the product!

PS This post was NOT sponsored by either Crunchy Clean or A Happy Green Life

Pet Peeve!

                                                                                                       

I hate the way the fashion industry/marketers/society expects me to dress my sweet baby girl.  They want me to dress her like a grown up.  They want me to put her in skin-tight leggings and spaghetti straps and even in little bikinis!  They want me to invite the world to view her body as a showpiece, as something to be looked at and admired.  They want me to put her in clothing that forces people to objectify her as a specimen for examination to be judged and sorted into some societal category of acceptance. I hate the way they do not do this to baby boy clothing.  Baby boy clothing, cut with generous backsides and legs and cut with room for undershirts and socks. 

I  hate the way the expect me to just be ok with this, as a mother and a fellow woman. I hate the way society is seemingly "forcing" me to encourage my daughter to subscribe to their objectification of her body by simply assuming I will dress her in the manner they dictate. I also hate the way that I sometimes succumb and put my daughter in outfits similar to those I described in my above rant and how it always makes me feel so hypocritical when I do this.  Isn't there time enough when my daughter gets older to be shaped to care about how she looks to other people in certain outfits?  Shouldn't that be something that comes with early adolescence and not now, not when she is not even 1 year old?

 

Urban Cowbaby Update

Urban Cowbaby will be 10  months old on April 20.  Yes, I said 10 months!  It's nearly impossible to believe so much time has gone by from when she joined us in the outside world.  Already, even though she's still so little, I'm beginning to get a bit nostalgic for her tiny baby days and wishing I had done more to make better memories of it.  (SIGH)  So, you wonder what she's up to at 10 months?  Here it is, folks, an update of Urban Cowbaby's current talents;

- around 9 months she started saying Hi & waving hello!  It's adorable and it's especially adorable when you leave the room for only a second because when you come back into the room she lights up and says HI! & waves.  Her Hi is actually very soft and kind-of drawn-out - like, Hi-iii (but with a breathy quality to it)

- she stands for short periods of time without supporting herself with her hands

- she signs "all done" and "more"

- she loves, loves, loves to play "Pat-A-Cake"

- she enjoys dunking her face into the bath water over and over

- we play a little game where she pats both her hands on the floor in front of her, we do it back, and we "volley" the floor pats for minutes at a time

- her face simply explodes with light when her brother plays with her

- she takes naps by herself in her crib, twice a day

- she prefers finger food to puree food and prefers non-green food to other colors

- she blows raspberries on us; any time she has access to bare skin, she blows a raspberry on you!  LOL
She still has a lot less hair than her brother did at this stage in life but she makes up for it with the adorable little pudge rolls she has that he never did.  Her hair is a very light brown with a very red-cast to it.  Her eyes are a very deep, smokey blue and are simply stunning.  I keep trying to get a good picture to capture the color but seem to miss the mark every time.  She has 8 teeth.  She has a dimple on her right cheek that shows up far more frequently than Little Man's dimple did/does.  I was in love with her the day she arrived but with each passing day, month, phase of growth I fall more and more in love with her.

Sirius Radio

Y'all know about my Sirius Radio subscription, right?  I posted about it awhile back.  Anyhoo, I really, really like it but sometimes it makes me feel really, really old.  Like, there's the 90s channel where it not only gives the name/artist of the song but also lists the debut year.  I swear, at least 8 times out of 10 I see the year for a particular song and I am genuinely surprised because it doesn't seem (to me) like the song came out then.  A good example?  Hotstepper - 1994.  Really? I mean, it doesn't seem possible that the song came out in 1994 - it seems so much more recent than that but I guess I can't count being a sophomore in high school as a very recent life occurrence anymore, right.  Hahaha

Add that 90s station to my general life outlook right now and you should just put me in a nursing home.  Where did all these wrinkles on my face come from?  Why do my hands look like dried paper all the time?  When did I acquire a few spots of varicose veins?  Will my stomach ever be in a state that doesn't make me want to vomit when I see it in the mirror?  (this, I believe, is more due to kids than age but still!)  The list goes on!  I was telling my girlfriends the other week that 5 years ago I totally did not believe in cosmetic plastic surgery.  Now?  I'm not so sure.  I mean, if I had the money would I get some things "fixed"?  Yes.  If I'm truthful with myself, the answer is yes. 

I do enjoy my subscription and the music choices available.  Sometimes, though, I don't enjoy the reminder that I am (inevitably and unstoppably) getting older.  Hahaha

More Laundry, Please

Today I let Little Man watch about 15 minutes of Sesame Street to give myself a little time to fold some laundry.  When I was done folding the laundry, Sesame Street was just ending and so I turned off the TV.  Little Man jumped up and yelled, "Mama, more laundry, please!" and then proceeded to spend a few minutes trying to convince me of all the things up in his room that could be qualified as dirty laundry.  Man, this kid cracks me up.

Brain Clutter

Whenever I have a lot of anxiety in one area of my life, I find myself filled with a large number of completely random thoughts that seem to distract me from the source of my anxiety.  Case in point?  Our babysitter (whom the kids & Urban Cowboy & I adore!) announced she is quitting for a much better opportunity.  The new job is so much better than what we can offer her that I can't even be mad at her for giving me 2 weeks to find someone new.  Grrr.  Am I upset about it?  Yes.  But I'm not such a bad person that I can't see the value of what she will be doing and how it will help her professionally.  Here is a quick list of random thoughts I've been thinking:
- The song TORN (N. Ambruglia) has been stuck in my head (thanks, Sirius) and the date the radio listed it as coming out was sometime in 1997 - I'm shocked by this because I seem to feel as though I have distinct memory of watching this video on MTV (do they still make/play music videos anymore, I don't even know) while I was getting ready to go to school in 1996.  But then after I obsessed over this for a few days I think I must be getting TORN's video slightly jumbled with STAY (by L. Loeb). 
- watched a documentary about Whales/Dolphins and can't stop thinking about how cool it would be to have a conversation with a dolphin
- Really want to set up a sewing area in my bedroom so I wouldn't have to take down the machine each time I needed to take a break (usually kid induced) from a project
- Was at aerobics and did a routine I used to do when I first started Jazzercise and totally rocked it living in a nostalgic cloud of memories of the good 'ol days of L & Me.
- Mad as a hornet about a new Wal-Mart shopping center going into the East side - total waste of green space (144 acres of it!) to add more retail to an already retail-saturated strip of the world!  Ri-donk-u-less!
- Wondering where I can find a "No CLE Incinerator" sign to put in my front yard
- Etc.
Finally, today I said something kind of funny and if you're still reading this you'll laugh, too:
"Sometimes I forget myself and I'm me".  Maybe you don't get it but I bet you do.  We all have those moments and some of us more than others.  Me?  More than others, yep.

Genius? Nah.

I cannot tell you how many times I interact with Little Man and think, "wow, he's a genius!"  Case in point: The other day he was telling me about being an astronaut and how there is no gravity in his rocketship.  Wha? Ok, I know he doesn't know what gravity is so conceptually, it falls a little short but he knows that gravity is something and there isn't any in space!  Hello, genius much?  Don't worry folks, I'm quickly crash-landed back to earth and reminded he isn't a genius when the very next day he stands, literally, 4 inches from his potty seat & proceeds to pee his pants and pee all over the floor - all the while calling upstairs to me (where I'm changing Urban Cowbaby's diaper) "Mama, I'm peeing my pants!"  (SIGH)

Speaking of Urban Cowbaby, she's officially crawling now and seems to have simultaneously taught herself to cruise furniture, too.  Eep!  She's not just mobile, she's horizontally & laterally mobile!  Double trouble!  Add to that her super-adventerous, exploratory nature (so unlike Little Man was) and we have a lot of head bumps, chewed paper, illegal toy chewing, etc.  Good thing she's so damned cute and is fairly easy-going because it lessens the stress of managing her mobility while also managing Little Man's play. 

She also learned to do all of the following within 1week: crawl, cruise, wave, clap, and blow raspberries.  Whew.  She should be exhausted but her 2 newest teeth have kept her (and us) up at nights and she seems to scoff at the idea of naps unless we work really hard at it.  We, as parents, wholly believe in and selfishly appreciate naps, though, so we really do work hard to get her to regularly nap.  On good days, I can even get her nap at the same time as Little Man which allows me a bit of time to clean or do laundry or read or whatever.

Urban Cowboy has begun training for his next major running endeavor.  He's going to run an Ultra-Marathon in September.  What is that, you ask?  He's going to run for 24 hours (straight) and the idea is to run the most possible miles in that amount of time.  Yes, I did marry a crazy man.

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding Myths - DeBunked (again!)

http://blog.nurturedchild.ca/index.php/2011/01/30/the-truth-behind-common-breastfeeding-myths/

Should there be a 4th R?

I just read a blog post on Seventh Generation's website in which is was proposed that there should be a 4th R in the REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE campaign.  The proposed 4th R would be REPAIR.  I have to say, I completely agree with this.  Recently, our washer & dyer both went caput on us (in the same week, in fact) and between the 2 appliances it only cost us approximately $75 to REPAIR versus buying new.  Now, the cost was kept down soely because Urban Cowboy did the work himself, thanks to the internet and other DIYers sharing their knowledge.  If he had not repaired them himself or if we had not been willing to pay a repair person to do it, it would have resulted in 2 perfectly good appliances in a landfill.  How sad.  In fact, I even get shoes repaired when the wear out.  Now, in all honesty, I do have to confess that I get shoes repaired more because I like those specific pairs more than because it helps the earth to do so ... but, still.  Anyway, I just thought I would spread the whole idea of the need for a 4th R out there - we can all think about it and decide or act accordingly.