Gaia Girl

Happy New Year

2009-01-06T23:26:00.002-06:00

I didn't actually make resolutions this year. I thought about it, but couldn't come up with anything that 1) I thought I could keep and 2) actually described what I want and need to do.

The idea for this year is to use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without until credit card, personal loan and student loan debt is paid off. Now this totals around $25,000 (which is pretty much what I bring home) so this year will be a lean year. I have plenty of yarn, so I don't need to buy more (want isn't allowed to be considered), we do have some gift cards that we got for gifts so we can have a little splurge now and again.

A long while ago, I posted about using my shampoo samples instead of buying new shampoo. Guess what? I'm still using shampoo samples. Mr. Gaia is traveling regularly for work, so I get new bottles every few weeks. I am getting low, I'm down to only 3-4 bottles and will probably have to buy shampoo this year. I've thought about using baking soda and vinegar ala "no-poo" but I'm afraid it will strip the henna from my hair.

I'm having a hard time adjusting to the cold this year. The house stays no cooler than 65 and I'm constantly freezing. We used to keep our house at 62 and I didn't notice being especially cold. This could have a negative effect on our utility bills, so I'm bundling up and wearing blankets. I just wish I could figure out how to keep my hands from being too cold.

End of Year Update

2008-12-31T22:37:00.002-06:00

(So pretend this actually posted NYE, humor me)

This was a big year for Mr. Gaia and me. Which is why things have been so quiet.

In April we found out the economy was hitting Mr. Gaia's company and that the company would be closing its doors in June. Eek!! I hated my job, so I was not opposed to moving (although I love Bug Hill and loved my house), so, with my encouragement, Mr. Gaia applied with another company in Big City. And he got the job starting June 1. So, whew!, no interruption in paycheck for him. Mine was a different matter, but I was only without a paycheck for about 9 weeks.

The cool thing about living in Big City is that there is usable public transportation. So with the purchase of a monthly pass, I can take any bus I want. I work downtown, and am able to park at the park and ride (which means a slightly longer drive than I had in Bug Hill, but not much) and ride the bus to right outside my office. I find that I can knit on the bus fairly easily and I've gotten to know my fellow passengers fairly well. The bad thing is that my commute ends up taking almost an hour, so I usually leave the house at 7am and get home at 6pm. Which is a huge difference from Bug Hill where I worked part time.

We found a nice house that was well within our price range and not too far from shopping and the library. But the economy means that we still own our house in Bug Hill. We took the advice of all the real estate mavens and found a property management company to lease it. I can't believe the amount of rent people are willing to pay, but since it's so hard to qualify for a loan, people are willing to dig deep. We hope our renters will eventually be able to qualify for a mortgage and will buy the house from us - rent to own is not an option in Texas (nor is it a viable option for me). Right now the house isn't costing us anything, but taxes should be interesting when it comes time to file.

Historic Day

2008-11-05T23:11:00.003-06:00

I cannot express how proud I am of my country today, nor can I express how full of hope I am.

Oceanus is 10 and is in 5th grade. When I was 10 and in 5th grade, we had a class discussion about the presidential primaries. This was 1984 and Jesse Jackson was one of the democratic candidates. I remember the utter disdain I suffered from my classmates because I wouldn't consider Mr. Jackson a nutcase for thinking he should run for president. Why did they think he was a nutcase? Well, we were 10, so we weren't paying attention to the issues (I don't even remember what the issues were in 1984). They thought he was a nutcase to run because he was black. No other reason than that.

It took 24 years and a generation, but we finally broke the color barrier in the white house. As Oceanus says "it's the end of a tradition" and it's about time. I have increased faith that we will see the first woman president within my lifetime.

Small town values

2008-09-07T22:32:00.003-06:00

Hello again from Bug Hill. It's been a long time since I posted (not quite 6 months, though, so it could be worse, right?). I have no excuses - I miss a few weeks because of too much going on, a little bit of the blues, etc and then each day it's just harder and harder to come back.

Bug Hill is a small town. And I mean a small town - smaller than Wasilla (which is not, in fact, the 2nd largest city in Alaska - what the heck is Karl Rove smoking?). I've lived in many small towns, some that are fairly liberal (or at least less conservative) and some that are really conservative. So imagine my surprise when the RNC was all about "small town values". How do you define small town values? Well, it seems that most people at the convention weren't able to define it, either. But people have been asking me and once I got over my knee jerk reaction of "bigotry", I decided to put some thought into it.

I finally decided that small town values can be summed up in one phrase - "We've never done it that way before". As I said, I've lived in many small towns and some have been more "home" than others. I no longer fit in in my "home town", but Bug Hill works for me, and here's why - in my home town, I am different from everyone there - I don't go to the Catholic or Baptist church (or any church for that matter); I believe that Christ truly wants us to: "do for the least of these", "turn the other cheek" and "be peacemakers"; I believe that "love is of God" and I don't care who a person loves, etc. In short, I'm a liberal. Now, it isn't that the people I grew up with don't believe these things, it's just that they've never lived those beliefs and "We've never done it that way before".

Small towns are incredibly resistant to change. They can change, but they have to be dragged into change kicking and screaming. Change scares them. I have a part of this in me - I found out this week that my office will be switching to Macs in the near future and I'm terrified, I don't deal well with change, I dropped yahoo because they had too many changes, I'm freaking out because my work computer uses IE 7 and I HATE it - so I understand the physical reaction to change. It's visceral. It's often overwhelming. Change is never seen as good - things are working fine now, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Now, small town people know that things don't work well for everyone but they feel those people should either change to fit in or move out. It's why you'll see very few mixed race couples and gay and lesbian couples in most of the small towns in the US (not all the small towns, just most).

Back to Bug Hill - school is back in session. The town council decided to try a pilot program - the elementary school zone is now a cell phone free zone. You can talk on a hands free phone, but no hand held or texting is allowed while driving. If you are caught, you will be fined $200. Parents can still park and call their kids, it's just while driving. Now for me, I'll just avoid the school zone (like I didn't already as much as possible). I do drive while talking on my phone - usually for directions or to find out where I need to be. I've tried handsfree devices and they don't work for me - they won't stay on/in my ear and I end up trying to feel around for the earpiece - which is not safe - while yelling "hold on, the stupid thing fell again, don't hang up".

Also at Bug Hill, we're trying a new idea of having a parade every month possible. We just had our labor day parade - that was a lot of fun. In October we'll have a "Fall Carnival" carnival and costume parade, November will be a Thanksgiving parade and December will be a "Winter Carnival" parade. The town council has asked for a permanent volunteer to coordinate the parades - there will be no pay for this, but it is hoped you'll have lots of fun. So if anyone wants to volunteer, they should call the city manager and let her know.

Finally, I've been asked to request that people donate any extra school supplies they can. There are still quite a few students who don't have all the supplies they need. Remember, with the cost of gas, electricity, and food rising, many of our people are finding that they just can't stretch a dollar as well as they need to. We'd also like to ask that you donate any extra clothing you have to the clothing bank, all clothes - even stained and torn. The plan is that volunteers will sort the clothing by condition - pristine, good, okay, and needs work. Then there will be work days to work on the clothing that needs work - ideas are still being formed but currently the plan is to dye clothing that is stained, sew patches, use clothing that is past mending to "frankenstein" into something new, etc. The local 4H and FHA chapters have volunteered to remake clothing as possible - this will be a new skill for them and the teachers are very excited.

Bug Hill update

2008-03-27T23:41:00.002-06:00

Megan, my coworker who had the baby New Year's day is back at work. The bosses are nice enough to let her bring the baby to work with her. The baby had jaundice that lasted longer than 6 weeks, so they had her move the baby to formula. The idea, apparently, was to see if it was breastmilk jaundice, but they didn't test the bilirubin levels after 48 hours on formula, they just had her pump and dump for 48 hours and then start nursing again. Which seems bizarre.

Happily, Megan did continue to nurse after that 48 hours. I told her I was proud of her, so many women I know would have stopped at the first sign of problems.

Our receptionist, however, is not doing well. I don't remember if I've mentioned her here. She has a failing kidney and needs another kidney transplant. Part of the problem with her kidney is that her periods are lasting 2-3 weeks so she becomes anemic. But she can't get the hysterectomy she needs because she can't pay the co-pay. She looks awful - her skin is much darker and bruised looking. I'm really worried about her. She has a little girl.

Adventures in reclaiming yarn

2008-03-18T23:19:00.003-06:00

So, it's spring break which means I don't have to rush home after work to go get the boys from school. I decided to use that "leisure time" to go to a thrift store and look for sweaters to unravel for yarn.

I hit a great deal - 3 sweaters for $1. So I bought 6. I bought another one at the other thrift store for $2.50. Beautiful yarn, not so beautiful sweaters.

I came home and threw them in the washer. Now Mr. Gaia swore to me that there was no hot water hooked to the washer, so maybe I wasn't as careful as I should have been (okay, I wasn't at all). I threw all the sweaters in together along with some kitchen towels. I pushed the button to make it a cold cycle. Then I decided "you know what, these sweaters have been in thrift stores and who knows where else, why don't I use this stain cycle?" and then didn't notice that that changed the temp setting from cold to hot. Sigh. And one sweater was red. Yeah, the white cashmere and cotton sweaters? Are now pink. The kitchen towels? Also pink. No hot water hooked up my ass. Oh well, the kitchen towels actually look better pink (hides the stains) and now I have an excuse to dye the other sweaters and the pink is actually kind of a nice color (if I decide not to dye).

So then I decide to take a sweater apart and frog it. I bought it because it was only 33 cents (I wanted an even 6 to make the math easier and had found 4 I really liked) and it is 70% silk, 14% rayon, 11% alpaca and 5% cashmere. I didn't pay attention to the fact that it was something like 40 stitches to the inch (that may be an exaggeration, but it's tiny). Yeah, I start getting it apart and this isn't even thread weight yarn. And it breaks every few yards. But it is gorgeous. I guess this will be my excuse to learn to ply on a drop spindle.

The good thing I did, though, was I figured out that my barstools make a perfect swift when turned upside down. The legs are straight and I can just spin it around to wrap the yarn. Of course, at the rate I'm going, it will take about 3 weeks just to frog this sweater.

Otherwise, I'm plowing away at studying for my certified arborist exam. I applied for my test date on April 18. The application scared me a little, my experience is so old and they didn't give enough room to list both colleges I attended, so I could only show 2 years of school.

So here's what's keeping me

2008-03-09T21:56:00.002-06:00

I seem to only be able to have so many "obsessions" in my life at a time. Blogging has suffered for this.

Right now I'm:
1) in the middle of my Master Naturalist class. I'm loving it. Most of it is review from college (my forestry degree was exceptionally well rounded) but there's been enough new that it's been very cool and interesting. I've also met some other great people, so it's a nice outlet that way;
2) busily tracking my eating and exercising through sparkpeople.com. I don't like it quite as well as fitday.com for food tracking, but I definitely prefer their exercise support. I've been concentrating on getting at least 30 minutes of cardio each day, more when I my cable is working properly;
3) studying for my Certified Arborist. My testing date is April 18, so I've got 5 weeks (give or take) to get prepared. Right now, I'm doing a portion of my CD-ROM each night - coincidentally, the time I always used for blogging.

I'm also almost done with knitting a sweater, I combined 2 patterns and did some other modifications so I'm using cheap, cheap yarn. If it works out, I'll use cheap yarn (lion wool) to make it. But I've also found the sweater I want to make with my alpaca, so I'm trying to hurry and finish this sweater so I can start on my alpaca sweater. I've just got the sleeves to go.

I'm going to do my best to carve out blogging time at least once each week. And of course, after April 18, I hope to have more time. I hope I pass and don't have to worry about retaking any "domains".

Of course, there's a chance that we might be moving in June, so if that happens, my posting time will be taken up with packing and cleaning and doing minor repairs to the house to get it ready to sell.

I'm back

2008-03-02T00:17:00.002-06:00

Sorry to be gone so long.

I don't have a good reason - mother-in-law visit, february blues (I really thought moving to the subtropics would fix this issue, but it hasn't) and Mr. Gaia was traveling.

I've just felt overwhelmed. I hope to be back on track by the middle of the week - I'm hoping to be caught up on my sleep, etc by then.

One really cool thing I did, though, was I went to see Obama speak. That man is the most amazing speaker I've ever heard. We had less than 24 hours notice that he was coming (we were hoping and plans were being made, but no one knew for sure he would come or when) and there were thousands of people who turned out. He could win the election. And frankly, I think we could do worse, and have done worse.

The line he said that got the biggest applause? "No matter what happens in the primaries, the name George W. Bush will not be on the ballot"

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 20

2008-02-12T00:32:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 20: Evaluating Your Expenses - Food

Eat out less. We've been really good about this lately. We're averaging less than 2 times/month.

Learn to cook. Mr. Gaia is the cook in the family but I've been working on developing a few meals of my own. I need to get Hyperion and Oceanus in the kitchen with me.

Eat leftovers. Ugh. We were doing so well, but I don't know what happened. We cleaned out the fridge this weekend and it was sooo gross. We are doing better again, though. We've started using glass jars to store food in the fridge and they just really draw your eye. We're also working on "planned leftovers". When we cook, we have an idea of what meal we can make with the leftovers, or when we can eat the leftovers as they are.

Buy a freezer. We have an upright freezer. A chest freezer is more energy efficient but with my hand issues, we never dug in the freezer and a lot of food sat in there for 5 years or more.

Organize potluck dinners. We don't yet have a group of friends to do this with. Maybe soon, though.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 19

2008-02-11T00:26:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 19: Evaluating Your Expenses - Automobiles

Today is ways to save automobile expenses.

1) Coast to a stop. I always do this. If I see a "stale green" light (a light that has been green for several blocks), I take my foot off the brake so I don't have to slam on my brakes when it turns yellow. Doing this got me significantly more mileage on my brakes.

2) Don't speed. I'm so guilty of this. Although, I almost never drive on the highway anymore, so I don't get the chance to speed. Most of my commute is through school zones and I don't EVER speed through those.

3) Clean out your air filter. I never thought of this one - just shake or blow out the dirt.

4) Properly inflate your tires. I need to do this more regularly. I do check on it every other month or so, but that's not really enough.

5) Keep your car clean to reduce the weight. Another thing I'm guilty about. The kids dump their stuff in there and never take it out.

6) Keep an eye on gas station prices. This one really doesn't fit me. I only fill up once/month and only have 2 stations along my commute and both are the same company.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 18

2008-02-10T00:19:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 18: Evaluating Your Expenses - Energy

Another good article.

1) Replace your lights with CFLs. We did this long ago and they move with us from house to house (because our realtor insisted that you have to have incandescents to sell a house and because I didn't want to leave a lot of CFLs in a rental house after they threw away all my nice finished compost).

2) Get a programmable thermostat. Our house came with one and it is marvelous. The only problem is that in the summer you can't turn the AC higher than 87.

3) Install surge protectors. I have a UPS for my computer and everything else is plugged into power strips that provide some protection. I'll have Mr. Gaia check to see if they're enough.

4) Turn off your home computer. My computer is never left on. At the least, I put it to sleep if I know I'm going to be doing something else for 5 minutes or more.

5) Air seal your home. This is one we haven't done, but need to look into it. Our house leaks like a sieve. It's not a big deal NOW when it's 69 outside, but it could really save us some money in the summer.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 17

2008-02-09T00:07:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 17: Evaluating Your Expenses - Life Insurance

This is a fairly interesting entry. I'll admit I know waaaaay too little about life insurance, so I can't say if the figures presented here are correct or not. Right now, we all have life insurance through Mr. Gaia's employer. The kids' policy is just enough for burial expenses and some therapy for the rest of us (as a child, one of my brothers died after a car accident and that's exactly what his small policy was used for and it was a good thing we had it, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to afford the help we needed).

I'll definitely keep this bookmark for when we get our next social security statement. Basically, his math is such: 90% of your salary, subtract your dependent Social Security benefit, then divide that amount by 0.08.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 16

2008-02-08T00:01:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 16: Evaluating Your Expenses - Home and Auto Insurance

This one is self explanatory. I'll admit I haven't priced homeowners insurance since I bought the house. At the time I called all the agents in town and checked online and this was the best deal.

Same with auto insurance.

Now, I should probably shop around again, but I don't want to have my credit score pulled right now. There's a chance we'll be moving in the summer, which would mean buying a new house and we're in major "credit score" mode. All credit cards are being paid down (we had some with 0% interest while the money was in the bank earning interest) and we're taking care not to do anything that would have any kind of negative impact on our score.

I've not heard of any insurance company that doesn't do a hard pull on your credit.

Now, Mr. Gaia's car is paid off this month, so we need to figure out if we're going to keep full coverage or not.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 15

2008-02-06T23:21:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 15: Coming In Under Budget And An Emergency Fund

Today's discussion was what to do about the money leftover each month. The idea is to put this money in a separate, high interest account until you've built up an emergency fund that contains at least 6 months' salary.

I do agree with this, but think it leaves a little bit out. It forgets that some of our "monthly expenses are actually annual or semi-annual expenses that were prorated to a monthly amount. So when you do this, be prepared to leave those amounts in the bank until the bill comes due. My examples would be home insurance, car insurance, property taxes, and car tag and inspection.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 14

2008-02-06T00:08:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 14: Get Rid Of Debts (Slowly But Surely)

Today we're looking at our debts and making plans for paying them off. The amount in our budget that is supposed to go to debt payments is EXTRA debt payments, not the minimum.

I agree with him in theory, but right now I can make more money on investments than I can save by paying off my debts early. BUT, Mr. Gaia and I have our spreadsheet worked out and know exactly what our break even point is for interest rates. We know exactly what interest rate we need to get to make money over paying off debts. As interest rates are dropping, we're carefully weighing it all again.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 13

2008-02-04T23:07:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 13: Pay For Your Dreams First

The advice for today is to open a new bank account. In theory, I agree whole heartedly with this advice, however we have several accounts now and I don't think Mr. Gaia would be easily convinced to open a new account.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 12

2008-02-03T23:00:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 12: A Flexible “Budget” That Reflects Your Reality

Today, we take the list we made yesterday and multiple the hours by 52 (to get the yearly amount) and then divide by 12 (to get the monthly amount). We then multiply those numbers by our hourly wage to get a true budget.

Mortgage__________ 43.68___$549.93
Phone _____________5.55___ $ 69.83
Electricity___________5.94___$ 74.74
Gas________________1.17__ $ 14.73
Fuel_______________ 3.2___ $174.58
Water/Trash_________3.94___$ 49.65
Student Loan________14.26___$179.49
Car Insurance________6.33___ $ 79.65
Car Tags____________1.26___$ 15.82
Inspection Stickers_____0.13__ $ 1.64
Car maintenance______ 0.95___$ 12.00
Home Insurance______ 3.94___$ 49.65
Property Taxes______11.87___ $149.49
Maintenance Fee______2.34___$ 29.46
Groceries__________23.79___ $299.52
Kids' Activities_______1.56___ $ 19.64
School Lunches______ 2.3_____$ 28.92
Car Payment _______1.17_____$ 14.73 (notice, this is prorated for the 1 payment)
Paper Products _____0.78_____$ 9.82
Gifts_____________9.92_____$124.93
Cable ____________10.31____$129.84
Entertainment ______0.39____$ 4.91
Clothing ___________1.3_____$ 16.37
Eating Out _________4.72____$ 59.47
Medical ___________1.95____$ 24.55
Incidentals________17.42____$219.32
Credit Card_______82.18___$1,034.67
TX Master Naturalist_4.33____$ 54.56
Certified Arborist____6.5____$ 81.84
529 plan_________64.85____$816.44
organic foods______4.33____$ 54.56
Grow a garden_____2.17____$ 27.28

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 11

2008-02-02T23:00:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 11: Dividing Up The Rest and Finishing Our “Time Budget”

Okay, today's exercise ...

A) List the 5 short term goals and our debts
1) Complete the Texas Master Naturalist course.
2) Complete Certified Arborist certification.
3) Start a 529 plan for each of the boys.
4) Continue to eat healthful and organic foods and lose this extra 20 pounds.
5) Grow a garden to provide at least 50% of our vegetables this year.
Car - $182.69 Student Loan - $10,425.96 House - $64,684.95 CC (0%) - $615.94

B) Take the leftover hours from yesterday and divide that by 2
Total hours each week = 81.97, hours leftover = 37.93 divided by 2 = 18.965

Half of these hours go to debts (as extra payments) and half go to short term goals.

C) Assemble a big picture to show where all of our hours go:

Mortgage__________ 10.08
Phone ______________1.28
Electricity____________1.37
Gas_________________ 0.27
Fuel________________ 3.20
Water/Trash__________ 0.91
Student Loan_________ 3.29
Car Insurance_________1.46
Car Tags_____________0.29
Inspection Stickers______0.03
Car maintenance_______0.22
Home Insurance_______0.91
Property Taxes________2.74
Maintenance Fee_______0.54
Groceries____________5.49
Kids' Activities_________0.36
School Lunches________0.53
Car Payment __________0.27
Paper Products ________0.18
Gifts________________2.29
Cable _______________2.38
Entertainment ________0.09
Clothing _____________0.30
Eating Out ___________1.09
Medical _____________0.45
Incidentals___________4.02
Credit Card__________18.965
Texas Master Naturalist__1.0
Certified Arborist_______1.5
529 plan____________14.965
organic foods__________1.0
Grow a garden__________.5

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 10

2008-02-02T01:26:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 10: Fitting Your Expenses Into The Bigger Picture

By the steps again:

1) Make 3 columns and list as follows:
1) each expense from day 8
2) amount per week from day 8
3) calculate true hourly wage for each item

Mortgage_______126.9231___ 10.08
Phone __________16.1538 ____1.28
Electricity________17.3076 ____1.37
Gas_____________3.4615____ 0.27
Fuel____________40.3846____ 3.20
Water/Trash______11.5384____ 0.91
Student Loan_____41.5384____ 3.29
Car Insurance_____18.4615____1.46
Car Tags_________ 3.6538____0.29
Inspection Stickers__0.3846____0.03
Car maintenance___ 2.8846____0.22
Home Insurance____11.5384 ___0.91
Property Taxes____34.6153____2.74
Maintenance Fee___ 6.9230____0.54
Groceries________69.2307____5.49
Kids' Activities______4.6153___0.36
School Lunches_____6.7307___0.53
Car Payment _______3.4615___0.27
Paper Products _____2.3076___0.18
Gifts_____________28.8461___2.29
Cable___________ 30 _______2.38
Entertainment______1.1538____0.09
Clothing __________3.8461____0.30
Eating Out________13.8461____1.09
Medical___________5.7692____0.45
Incidentals________50.6730____4.02

2) Total the number of hours spent each week for these items = 44.04 (there's a difference in rounding between this and Day 8). Together we spend 81.97 hours working. So we're at 54% of our hours each week are spent on these items. Which is lower than I thought. I suspect I'm still leaving something out.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 9

2008-01-31T23:09:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 9: Cleaning Up Your Expenses
Today we are supposed to evaluate our expenses with an eye toward cutting them down.

Honestly, there is nothing I'm willing to cut down or out. We've cut to the bone on most items. The only thing that is significant is our cable bill with is cable and internet and we got so much out of it, I can't see cutting it out and there's no real way to cut it down (darn packages that make you pay for channels you won't watch just because you want to get another channel).

The examples are:

Conserve energy by installing energy efficient items like CFLs, programmable thermostats, and intelligent power strips.
Buy fewer books by spending more time at your local library.
Buy less music by listening to music in your collection that you’ve never spent the time to appreciate.
Buy fewer clothes by selecting items that go well with much of the rest of your wardrobe.
Eat out less by buying a good cookbook that starts out at a beginner’s level and stocking your kitchen well.
Reduce insurance by calling your insurance carrier and looking at raising your deductible.
Reduce your credit card payments by calling your credit card company and requesting a reduction in your interest rate.
Reduce your bank fees by looking into no-fee or low-fee options at your bank - or at other banks.
Reduce your cable bill by eliminating unwatched premium channels or looking at other basic package options - or even consider eliminating it altogether.
Reduce your car payments by ending the leasing cycle and buying late model used cars instead.

We've already done all of this, a long time ago. I think they're good tips, they just don't apply to us right now.

Update on Day 3

2008-01-31T22:50:00.001-06:00

Previously on Day 3 I set up a time line that included things to be done in the next 3 days. Umm, yeah, I kind of forgot about it, but here's my update:

1) Complete the Texas Master Naturalist course.
In the next 3 days I will confirm that they received my background check form. This is done, I've received my confirmation and even got the class list. It's 27 people - 14 women, 13 men.
In the next week I will find the schedule and get it added to my calendar. This is done as well, although it's Mr. Gaia that added it to the calendar.
Every week I will plan our family schedule to allow me to have the evening free. I've checked for conflicts so far and only have one conflict that will require either hiring a babysitter or taking the kids with me (with their DSs they should be fine)
Next month I will actually start the classes (yay!) Classes start February 6, I can't wait
In the next six months I will complete the classes and figure out the schedule to complete the necessary volunteer hours.

2) Complete Certified Arborist certification.
In the next 3 days I will find gather all of my study materials together. This is done
In the next week I will find a test date that works for me and register. My test date is April 18. I'm not registered yet because they don't have the registration forms available.
Every week I will study planning my time to study and have review before the test. I need to set up a schedule but haven't done it yet. Sigh.
Next month I will evaluate my study plan and make sure that I am studying the material as quickly as necessary to be ready for the exam.
In the next six months I will complete the exam and become certified (yay!)

3) Start a 529 plan for each of the boys.
In the next 3 days I will research the plan that will work for us (with an emphasis on social responsibility investments) and determine how much we will need to save for their education. Mr. Gaia has been researching plans (he's a wonderful man) and has decided that since Texas has no income tax, there's no real benefit to us if we keep the investment in Texas, but since the grandparents all live in Oklahoma, if they choose to contribute, they'd be better off if we set it up in Oklahoma. There's no social responsibility fund, but we can do community bonds.
In the next week I will evaluate the budget to figure out how much we can save. Mr. Gaia and I are working on this, I did get a small raise and his car is paid off next month. The plan is to figure out how much we will want to save for them (he believes strongly that they should have to use some of their own money) and how much we are willing to divert from debt repayment.
Every week I will put aside money to invest.
Next month I will evaluate if we are saving enough to actually cover most of their needs.
In the next six months I will have the plan started and have saved at least $1,000.

4) Continue to eat healthful and organic foods and lose this extra 20 pounds.
In the next 3 days I will list the vegetables and fruits I like. I haven't done this yet.
In the next week I will buy one new vegetable to add to my diet. Nor have I done this. Mr. Gaia has been doing the shopping
Every week I will track my calorie intake and nutritional value of my diet. I'm using fitday.com for this and so far it's going really well.
Next month I will figure out if I've managed to cut enough calories to lose weight.
In the next six months I will lose 10 pounds.

5) Grow a garden to provide at least 50% of our vegetables this year.
In the next 3 days I will make an inventory of my current seeds. Not done at all
In the next week I will clear a small area and plant one variety. Mr. Gaia suggests using containers and he's supposed to help me pick which ones and the potting soil.
Every week I will clear another small area and plant another variety.
Next month I will figure out a plan to grow all year round (yay! subtropics).
In the next 6 months I will supply at least 25% of our vegetables for our table.

Those are the short term goals. And now for the long term goals:

1) To work full time as a naturalist in a state or national park.
In the next week I will explore spanish lessons. I really need to do this. Mr. Gaia and I had talked about buying a program but we didn't and I don't know why we didn't. I'd rather do something at home than a formal class.
In the next month I will start working on my Master Naturalist and Certified Arborist certifications.
Every month I will learn about a new bird, animal, plant or tree and give mini lessons to my kids and any other kids around.
In the next year I will complete my Master Naturalist and Certified Arborist Certifications.
In the next 3 years I will learn spanish and at least be moderately conversant in it.

2) To provide financial and emotional support to my boys as they complete their college education.
In the next week I will work evaluate my budget with an eye to saving for college. We are working on this.
In the next month I will start funding their 529 plans.
Every month I will invest money in their plans.
In the next year I will invest $1,000 for each child.
In the next 3 years, I will make sure that each child has enough money saved to pay for at least one year of college (including books and housing expenses).

3) To find a meaningful and effective organization to work with as a volunteer and donor to work to achieve social justice.
In the next week I will seek to educate myself about the pressing issues in my area. Right now the most pressing issue is the border wall. I've found out that my work is apparently representing one of the landowners so I may have a chance to get involved in the lawsuit.
In the next month I will figure out what skills I can provide.
Every month I will donate at least a token amount to a worthy charity.
In the next year I will begin volunteer work with a worthy charity.
In the next 3 years I will involve my family in volunteering.

4) To maintain and healthy and active lifestyle including hiking and biking regularly.
In the next week I will figure out an exercise routine I can maintain. Other than walking to the school, I haven't figured this out. I'm making a conscious effort to have good posture which pulls in the abdominal muscles and speed walking.
In the next month I will start biking again.
Every month I will bike at least 10 miles.
In the next year I will figure out a way to bike to work.
In the next 3 years I will join a biking group.

5) To be financially independent and only work when and where we want.
In the next week I will make a list of all of our debts and liabilities. This is done
In the next month I will make a "snowball" schedule. Figuring this out - Mr. Gaia suggests we might want to invest while the stock market is low and our only debts are low interest.
Every month I will evaluate our expenditures versus our investment income.
In the next year I will figure out how much money we need to have invested to provide enough income to meet our current needs.
In the next 3 years I will pay off all debts except my mortgage and pay enough on my mortgage to have 75% equity.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 8

2008-01-31T00:44:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 8: Breaking Down Your Expenses

Today we're listing expenses that are not related to work. So my list:

Mortgage - $6,660
Phone - $840
Electricity - $900
Gas - $180
Fuel - $2,100
Water/Trash - $600
Student Loan - $2,160
Car Insurance (not actually monthly) - $960
Car Tags - $190
Inspection stickers - $20
Car Maintenance - $150
Home Insurance - $600
Property Taxes - $1,800
Maintenance Fee - $360
Groceries - $3,600
Kids' activities - $240
School lunches - $350
Car Payment (February is last payment!!) - $180
Paper products/cleaning supplies - $120
Gifts - $1,500
Cable - $1,560
Entertainment - $60
Clothing - $200
Eating out - $720
Medical costs - $300

Total - $26,350

I feel like I must have left something out because that doesn't seem high enough. If I figure it out, I'll edit this.

Next step is to add 10% to that number for incidentals. New total = $28,985Weekly total = $557.40

Final step is to divide that by our true hourly wage to figure out how much we work just to pay the standard bills - $557.40/$12.59/hour = 44.27 hours

Of course, this is double counting the fuel, so it's not perfect.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 7

2008-01-30T00:15:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 7: Work For Your Dreams, Not Your Money

Forgive me - I'm really tired tonight. We had some amazingly strong south winds last night and they kept me awake. I would never have survived on the plains in the pioneer days - strong winds make me restless and irritable. And I awoke today with a scratchy throat and not much voice (a smooth, mellow voice though, it's not unpleasant to my ear), I'm wondering what kind of pollutants blew in on the wind - so much agriculture to the south and then Mexico beyond with its American factories that moved there so they wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up their pollutants.

That said, on with the exercise. Okay, this one is confusing for me in my sleep deprived state. So, I'll take it step by step:

1) list your ten goals
1) To work full time as a naturalist in a state or national park.
2) To provide financial and emotional support to my boys as they complete their college education.
3) To find a meaningful and effective organization to work with as a volunteer and donor to work to achieve social justice.
4) To maintain and healthy and active lifestyle including hiking and biking regularly.
5) To be financially independent and only work when and where we want.
6) Complete the Texas Master Naturalist course.
7) Complete Certified Arborist certification.
8) Start a 529 plan for each of the boys.
9) Continue to eat healthful and organic foods and lose this extra 20 pounds.
10) Grow a garden to provide at least 50% of our vegetables this year.

2) Under these goals, make a list of each of your debts as well
Car - $182.69
Student Loan - $10,425.96
House - $64,684.95
CC (0%) - $615.94

3) add one last item: living expenses
$3500/month (average includes car payment, etc)

4) At the very bottom, write TOTAL and then over on the far right, write the total amount of hours you work in a week
Total - 82 hours

5) First thing, until you’re sure how your life will be rebalanced, include 60% of the total hours under the item “living expenses.”
Living Expenses - 49.2

6) If you have debts, you should spend 25% of your hours on paying off the debts. Note that this is extra debt payments; your basic minimum debt payments are included in the living expenses. When (or if) you have no debts, all of the time going into your debts can go straight to your dreams.
20.5 hours

7) The remaining 15% should be assigned in equal pieces to your dreams.
12.3 hours - total 1.23 each

I'm thinking this is not going to go so well in the next few days. Our living expenses are going to be more than the 60%.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 6

2008-01-28T23:19:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 6: Your True Hourly Wage

Okay, today we take the last 2 days and use them to figure our true hourly wage.

So mine is - $21,905/1,700.5 hours = $12.88/hour

Mr. Gaia's is - $31,740/2,562 hours = $12.39/hour

I find it interesting that our wages work out the way they do. A lot of it is his commute and the fact that he takes an hour long lunch. I'm not sure that I think the hour long lunch should necessarily be included since he uses his lunch hour to do shopping and run errands, stuff one of us would have to do anyway, but for the purposes of this exercise, I'll leave it as it is.

Our combined hourly wage is - $53,645/4,262.5 = $12.59/hour

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 5

2008-01-27T23:06:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 5: How Much Did You Work Last Year?

Today we're figuring out how much time we spend at work and on work related activities. This will include our lunch breaks, overtime, commute, business travel, business dinners/parties, etc.

This is fairly easy for me. I have no business travel and no business dinners. I also don't take a lunch break or work overtime (much).

So mine looks like this:
6.5 hours/day for 46 weeks of the year.
8 hours/day for 4 weeks of the year.
Total time paid work - 1,655 hours/year.

My commute is 20 minutes per day.
Total time spent commuting - 83 hours

Lunch - 1 hour/day for 4 weeks = 20 hours.

Comp time. This is a bit harder, but basically has worked out to about 10 hours this year.

I need to subract out the 9 holidays I get each year - so that's 61.5 hours (regular work days and commute)

So my total time spent at work is 1,700.5 hours/year.

Now, Mr. Gaia's is much harder to figure out. He works odd hours and does have some business travel, but generally his odd hours are worked out with comp time. He also gets more vacation than I do, but I'm not sure how much - 3 weeks I think.

So here we go
8 hours/day for 49 weeks each year - 1,960

Commute - one hour/day - 245 hours

Travel (figuring that he averages travel one night/month) 16 hours *12 = 192 hours

Lunch - 245 hours

Minus his 10 holidays = 80 hours

Total time he worked this year - 2,562 hours.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 4

2008-01-27T00:49:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 4: How Much Did You Earn Last Year?

Okay, first we are supposed to state how much we made last year at all of our jobs. I have no record of how much I made at mystery shopping - I think it was around $100, but I don't know so I won't count it. So I have the one job.

Part time I made $26,000 with withholdings of $3,800 for a grand total of $22,200.

Next, we are supposed to list the costs associated with working:
Childcare - $10/year (Boys and Girls Club rocks!)
Driving to work, gas - $150 (figuring 2.80/gallon)
Driving to work, maintenance - $0
Wardrobe - $100 (this is probably an overestimate, I rarely buy clothes, my mom gives me so much)
Meals - $10 (rare occasions do I buy meals)
Gifts - $25

My salary after all expenses - $21,905

Mr. Gaia makes $36,600 with withholdings of $3,160 for a total of $33,440
Childcare (already accounted for in mine)
Driving to work, gas - $1,050
Driving to work, maintenance - $500 (an overestimation but the best I can do)
Wardrobe - $0 (uniforms are great!)
Meals - $150 (again, a guess, it's probably less)
Gifts - $0

His salary after all expenses - $31,740

Our total together - $53,645

We're in great shape since we are careful with our money. If I were to work full time, I wouldn't clear much more than I do now because of additional childcare expenses, that and the opportunity to shop over a lunch hour.

Editing posts

2008-01-26T01:36:00.001-06:00

I thought of another value, so I'm editing my posts so far to reflect that value.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 3

2008-01-25T23:11:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 3: Create A Plan For Each Goal

Today we are defining 5 specific actions for each goal.

For the short term goals our action plan should follow this format:
I will do this in the next three days.
I will do this in the next week.
I will do this every week.
I will do this in the next month.
I will do this in the next six months.

For our long term goals our action plan should follow this format:
I will do this in the next week.
I will do this in the next month.
I will do this every month.
I will do this in the next year.
I will do this in three years.

And awaaaaay we go ...

1) Complete the Texas Master Naturalist course.

In the next 3 days I will confirm that they received my background check form.
In the next week I will find the schedule and get it added to my calendar.
Every week I will plan our family schedule to allow me to have the evening free.
Next month I will actually start the classes (yay!)
In the next six months I will complete the classes and figure out the schedule to complete the necessary volunteer hours.

2) Complete Certified Arborist certification.

In the next 3 days I will find gather all of my study materials together.
In the next week I will find a test date that works for me and register.
Every week I will study planning my time to study and have review before the test.
Next month I will evaluate my study plan and make sure that I am studying the material as quickly as necessary to be ready for the exam.
In the next six months I will complete the exam and become certified (yay!)

3) Start a 529 plan for each of the boys.

In the next 3 days I will research the plan that will work for us (with an emphasis on social responsibility investments) and determine how much we will need to save for their education.
In the next week I will evaluate the budget to figure out how much we can save.
Every week I will put aside money to invest.
Next month I will evaluate if we are saving enough to actually cover most of their needs.
In the next six months I will have the plan started and have saved at least $1,000.

4) Continue to eat healthful and organic foods and lose this extra 20 pounds.

In the next 3 days I will list the vegetables and fruits I like.
In the next week I will buy one new vegetable to add to my diet.
Every week I will track my calorie intake and nutritional value of my diet.
Next month I will figure out if I've managed to cut enough calories to lose weight.
In the next six months I will lose 10 pounds.

5) Grow a garden to provide at least 50% of our vegetables this year.

In the next 3 days I will make an inventory of my current seeds.
In the next week I will clear a small area and plant one variety.
Every week I will clear another small area and plant another variety.
Next month I will figure out a plan to grow all year round (yay! subtropics).
In the next 6 months I will supply at least 25% of our vegetables for our table.

Long Term Goals

1) To work full time as a naturalist in a state or national park.

In the next week I will explore spanish lessons.
In the next month I will start working on my Master Naturalist and Certified Arborist certifications.
Every month I will learn about a new bird, animal, plant or tree and give mini lessons to my kids and any other kids around.
In the next year I will complete my Master Naturalist and Certified Arborist Certifications.
In the next 3 years I will learn spanish and at least be moderately conversant in it.

2) To provide financial and emotional support to my boys as they complete their college education.

In the next week I will work evaluate my budget with an eye to saving for college.
In the next month I will start funding their 529 plans.
Every month I will invest money in their plans.
In the next year I will invest $1,000 for each child.
In the next 3 years, I will make sure that each child has enough money saved to pay for at least one year of college (including books and housing expenses).

3) To find a meaningful and effective organization to work with as a volunteer and donor to work to achieve social justice.

In the next week I will seek to educate myself about the pressing issues in my area.
In the next month I will figure out what skills I can provide.
Every month I will donate at least a token amount to a worthy charity.
In the next year I will begin volunteer work with a worthy charity.
In the next 3 years I will involve my family in volunteering.

4) To maintain and healthy and active lifestyle including hiking and biking regularly.

In the next week I will figure out an exercise routine I can maintain.
In the next month I will start biking again.
Every month I will bike at least 10 miles.
In the next year I will figure out a way to bike to work.
In the next 3 years I will join a biking group.

5) To be financially independent and only work when and where we want.

In the next week I will make a list of all of our debts and liabilities.
In the next month I will make a "snowball" schedule.
Every month I will evaluate our expenditures versus our investment income.
In the next year I will figure out how much money we need to have invested to provide enough income to meet our current needs.
In the next 3 years I will pay off all debts except my mortgage and pay enough on my mortgage to have 75% equity.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 2

2008-01-24T23:24:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 2: Defining Your Goals From Your Values

Today's exercise is to figure out our goals in life based on our personal values.

Recap of my personal values:
1) The environment
2) Family
3) Social Justice
4) Health
5) Self Sufficiency/Financial Independence
First we are supposed to define our goals for the next twenty-five years.

Longterm Goals:

1) To work full time as a naturalist in a state or national park.
2) To provide financial and emotional support to my boys as they complete their college education.
3) To find a meaningful and effective organization to work with as a volunteer and donor to work to achieve social justice.
4) To maintain and healthy and active lifestyle including hiking and biking regularly.
5) To be financially independent and only work when and where we want.

Then we are supposed to define our goals for the next year.

Shortterm Goals:
1) Complete the Texas Master Naturalist course.
2) Complete Certified Arborist certification.
3) Start a 529 plan for each of the boys.
4) Continue to eat healthful and organic foods and lose this extra 20 pounds.
5) Grow a garden to provide at least 50% of our vegetables this year.

31 Days To Fix Your Finances - Day 1

2008-01-23T23:06:00.000-06:00

31 Days To Fix Your Finances, Day 1: Your Five Main Values

Define the values by which we live our lives. This step challenges us to name and define the 4-6 main values that guide our lives.

1) The environment. It is very important to my family to consider the environment and live in a way to have the least impact on the environment and hopefully allow us to leave a better world for our children and grandchildren.

2) Family. Mr. Gaia and I are committed to raising educated and socially aware children. We are interested in them having the standard knowledge set but we are also very interested in making sure they have a deeper understanding of the shades of gray in life.

3) Social justice. I think this and our commitment to the environment go hand in hand. We desperately want to make this world more even and fair (I don't want to hear "no one ever said life was fair" I know that but can't see any reason why we can't work toward making it more fair).

4) Health. We work hard to make sure that what we eat is as healthful as possible and that our kids are being brought up to get enough exercise. We do this by trying to be the best models possible. We're human, though, so we do fail. But we are trying.

5) Self Sufficiency/Financially Independent. The plan is to be debt free and to be able to survive no matter what the economy does.

New year, new financial you?

2008-01-23T22:58:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I posted. Largely because when I diet I hate life and don't want to do anything. Sigh. But I'm close to being back in some of my clothes I outgrew over the last year and a half. I realized it was either lose 20-30 pounds or go buy new clothes. But I have clothes that are classic styles and aren't outdated, so it seemed like such a waste to buy new clothes. Plus, if I lose weight the clothes I knit will use less fiber and with fiber prices, that's a good thing!

Mr. Gaia and I also ended up having a crisis. We got into a fight about the kitten (still not 100% on his litterbox, but he's getting fixed tomorrow) and we both ended up being fully open about our disappointments in life. He's disappointed because he wants to go to grad school at Cornell, but I won't move where it's that cold. I'm disappointed because I desperately want to have a baby girl but he won't have another child (which I do understand and get) or consider adoption (which I don't get). I've been having a hard time with the whole thing lately because several girls have given birth to baby girls lately - girls that didn't want to be pregnant and aren't that happy about having a kid at all. So I have had a bit of depression lately.

Anyway ... I've decided to funnel some of my energy into focusing on something I can change and make better. Our finances. An online community posted this article 31 Days To Fix Your Finances and then challenged us to try to follow the steps. So I thought I would do that here.

Adventures in knitting

2008-01-12T01:35:00.000-06:00

I got some amazing yarn for christmas. Mr. Gaia got me some 100% alpaca wool and organic cotton from Diva Knitting and my mom got me some lionbrand wool.

So, I'm searching ravelry for the perfect pattern to show off my new yarns. Meanwhile, I decide I need to work on my skills so I decided entrelac was just the thing. I grabbed a ball of some kind of dk acrylic in pastel variegated and cast on for Quant.

Mr. Gaia was offended. He couldn't understand why I would use crap from my stash rather than my wonderful new yarn. He doesn't get the idea of searching for that perfect pattern. Besides, I'm waiting for Drops to release some of their new patterns. There are some that might be perfect.

That and I'm going to work on losing some weight so I'll use less yarn and have enough to make a (fitted) sweater.

Childbirth in the US

2008-01-10T23:58:00.000-06:00

Amanda at Pandagon has a post up about a review of a childbirth video: Midwives and the cult of perfection.

She mentions that the review is very defensive and how sad it is that it has to be so.

As someone who has had a natural childbirth I find myself constantly being put in the position of defending my choice - no, I'm not crazy, no, I don't like pain, no, I'm not a masochist. Yes, it hurt but not as much as I thought, etc. I also hear rude things like "you don't get a medal, you know!".

It's very frustrating to me that women feel I'm going to attack their hospital birth just because I had an unmedicated birth so they attack me first. At one point, I knew a lot of women with unmedicated births and they all said all they had to do was say they'd had one and people started attacking them. None of them attacked the women or their choices, but they were attacked for theirs.

I hear a lot of people say they're just attacking first because they're always attacked. Hmm, can I use that as an excuse? No? I know, I won't sink to that level, but if they're "always attacked" I have to wonder what they said first. I've known some very rabid natural childbirthers and none of them attacked women. They told them the information they had been given was in error and peer reviewed studies have proven it and I guess that was attacking them.

Still having kitty problems

2008-01-10T00:22:00.001-06:00

So Ronnie is still peeing outside of his litterbox. Sigh. He does great for a few days and then slips.

From what I can tell, I might have too much litter in his litter box, so I emptied it down to just about an inch to an inch and a half deep. I also added a liberal amount of baking soda to help neutralize any odor. Then I mopped the floor he tends to use the most and moved the box over it.

Now, he is going to spend most of his time locked in the bathroom with his food and water bowls and his litter box. It's not my first choice, by any means, but Mr. Gaia is really fed up. I'm going to give him liberal praise every time I hear him scratch in his box and will put him in his box and praise him while he's there.

I did switch litters and it helped for a time, so I'll stick with it for now.

Grapefruit!!

2008-01-09T00:50:00.000-06:00

In case you are trying to eat in season and don't know - citrus is in season now. Oranges are starting to get a little past their season, it started about November. Grapefruit, though, are in full prime right now. They start in late November and really come into their own in early January.

Our tree is COVERED. Yummy grapefruit!

I'm back to tracking my eating on fitday.com. And while I knew I wasn't eating much, I didn't realize that most days I wasn't breaking 1200cal if you left out the candy (which I didn't each much of in the first place). So, it appears I've totally screwed up my metabolism by not eating enough and exercising too much (not this year, this is past damage). Sigh.

One week update

2008-01-07T23:57:00.000-06:00

I'm happy to say that so far I've flossed every night and have been making the pitcher of tea last 3 days (I suspect Hyperion is drinking some of my tea, so this is an especially big victory).

I've been sucking at getting to sleep by 2am. Saturday night/Sunday morning it was almost 6am (yeah, exactly). Last night, Mr. Gaia woke up whimpering right at 2 - right as I was about to turn the light off. He managed to pull a muscle or something Friday night while sleeping and has had a horrible week. Last night was apparently the worst yet (of course, he refused to take the pain killer like I told him to). So, I got up and found the heating pad and got him set up out in the living room. I finally turned the light out at 3. At 3:20 I thought I smelled smoke and got worried about the heating pad (it's really, really old) so I had to check on him, it wasn't the heating pad, probably somebody burned trash or they're burning the fields or it was just my imagination. I think I probably got to sleep around 3:45.

Spring day

2008-01-06T23:17:00.000-06:00

Today was one of those wonderful spring days that most people get in April or May. It was around 80F and breezy as all get out.

Perfect day to do laundry. I did one load, hung it on the line and it was dry long before the other load was finished washing. I only did the 2 loads and really should have done a couple more to take full advantage of the weather, but I have laundry on my couch from before Christmas (I, apparently, am the only one capable of sorting it for putting it away - yes, my kids are spoiled).

Some time back, Sally spoke of her adventures with sour dough bread. At the time I was working with amish friendship bread - which I've since killed. Yeah, I suck that way. But, I got a sourdough starter from a friend and decided to try it. I've kept it alive for well over a month (divided it once) and today I baked my first loaf. I was really afraid it would be VERY sour because it traveled to Oklahoma and back with me and wasn't refrigerated during the trip. But it turned out really well. Next time I do it, I'll plan to let it rise overnight and put it in the solar oven. I half wanted to do that last night, but we were out of flour and Mr. Gaia didn't want to drag out the grain mill while we were trying to get the kids settled down for the night (it is rather loud). I feel like we really wasted the sun today.

Hopefully tomorrow will be as sunny and breezy and I can get another load of laundry done. I'm not sure if I have anything to be cooked in the solar oven or not, but I'll ask Mr. Gaia to think to see if there is anything we can do.

Cool site

2008-01-06T01:43:00.000-06:00

"The Most Comprehensive Carbon and Lifestyle Calculator Available."
You can make different pledges and it will recalculate your carbon footprint automatically. It also offers lots of information to reduce your footprint as low as possible. But only up to 20/month. What sucks is that I'm already doing a lot of these things, but they don't have an option to just say "already doing it".

Mine is 245 with a carbon output of 9.3 right now. It will go down as soon as I can confirm some of my pledges for things I've been doing for years. It also compares your usage to your city, state, etc. So mine looks like this:

MY SCORE 245 9.3
MY CITY 362 16.3
TEXAS* 381 17.2
UNITED STATES 351 15.1
WORLD 335 13.9

It helps me see how far I've come (comparatively speaking) and how far I still have to go. The cool thing is that it provides information to help you get even better numbers.

Totally missing the point department

2008-01-05T01:40:00.000-06:00

Mayor Mick Cornett of OKC has decided OKC needs to go on a diet. Full story is here.

Okay, if you read the story you'll see that they came up with their rankings by looking at: "lifestyle factors in each city, including fast-food restaurants per capita and availability of city parks, gyms and bike paths".

I doubt they are going to close any fast-food restaurants (and there are a TON in OKC).

Bike paths are almost non-existent, there's one (I think it's probably completed since it was close to being done when I lived there 3 years ago) that goes from "Hotel Row" on Meridian to Bricktown, I didn't know of any others and it wasn't exactly useful for anything other than going to Bass Pro Shop. But even if there were bikepaths, none of the stores have bike racks and even a lot of the libraries and schools don't have bike racks - so there's no place to park a bike when you take one. Motorists are downright hostile to bikers (driving as close behind as possible and honking and yelling at them - even when they could go around).

Sidewalks are almost nonexistent in most of the city. And you can't walk ANYWHERE. Most roads have no shoulder/breakdown lane and many are along unmown fields that probably have venomous snakes and certainly have ticks (so it's not safe to walk in the field).

Mayor Cornett would do better to plan and implement some bike paths, add sidewalks and bike racks and do a public campaign encouraging biking and educating motorists about bike safety (and ticketing the idiots that are hostile to bikers). Going on a diet will not address the things that got them on the fattest city list. It's another example of placing the blame solely on the individual and refusing to look at the community's culpability.

Iowa caucuses

2008-01-03T23:19:00.000-06:00

Can I say that the whole caucus process looks like pure hell to me? I HATE crowds. I can't stand the noise and the lack of space. I got itchy just watching it on TV and Mr. Gaia had to turn the sound off because I was going nuts.

If that was the process in my state, there is no way I could participate which would really bug me. I think I much, much, much prefer the way Oklahoma and Texas do it - just wander in and vote - seldom any crowds and NO noise.

I'm conflicted about my choices this term. I like Obama, but I'm not sure he's ready. I'm not sure I know enough about him, either. Hillary is simply not liberal enough AND she voted for the damned war. Edwards I liked until he rolled over and fired his bloggers just because of one little scandal - that is NOT a sign of a strong person, IMO.

In other news, Megan had her baby. She had her at 12:16am New Year's Day. The first baby born in the county in 2008. I'm still not sure about the whole "bedrest" thing. I am surprised that she wasn't induced by 12/20 but I wonder how much of what Megan said was actually truly what her OB said.

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T23:45:00.000-06:00

Our New Year started with a fight. Sigh.

My new dishwasher got here! Yay! But Mr. Gaia read the directions to say NO plastic at all on the bottom rack and was mad at me for putting them there and refusing to handwash the ones that wouldn't fit in the top rack. I read the directions, read them to him and he still refused to believe me. So I ran it anyway and of course the plastic is fine. Sigh.

New Years Night we walked around the neighborhood watching the fireworks and then decided to have our own countdown (since the only time pieces we had were our cellphones) when we saw the fireworks increase.

So today was a better day. LOL.

So resolutions. I like Sally's take on resolutions. Goals are a much better term. I also like her idea of taking it month by month and just starting a plan. I've combined that with the idea that you should add one good habit and drop one bad habit. The problem is, I long ago gave up the bad habits I am willing to give up. So I'm modifying that one a bit.

January:
Good habit - floss every night. I rarely floss and I should really start doing it. I have to go to the dentist this year (I'm paying for the freakin' insurance, I need to make sure I use it) and I would love to be able to say "Every night" when asked whether I floss or not. Being that this is a big change, I will give myself a break if I'm not perfect. No thinking I already blew it so don't worry about it.

Bad habit - one less glass of sweet tea/day (give or take). Right now my half gallon pitcher lasts me 2 days. I want it to last 3 days. And instead of replacing the tea with juice or milk, I'm replacing it with water.

February:
Good habit - Go to bed earlier

Bad habit - Stop staying up late

So this is the same thing. This is huge for me. I haven't gotten to sleep earlier than midnight in years. The only time I've done it since high school were the months when I was pregnant. I'm going to start slow. I've already set a goal of being in bed, lights out, by 2:00am. I'm going to work on that through January and in February I will work on refiguring my nightly routine to be in bed, lights out by 1:30. I will continue this and by the end of February I will be aiming for 1:00. It's still not enough sleep, but it's a start.

March:
Good habit - At least one vegetarian meal each week

Bad habit - stop eating out because it is convenient.

March is the month when soccer season is in full swing. Plus we have spring break (Mr. Gaia and the boys are talking about traveling to Oklahoma for this time, so it will be very tempting for me to eat out).

The family goal for January is to not eat out. We're recovering financially from traveling and the new dishwasher and presents.

Finally home

2007-12-30T23:42:00.000-06:00

I wanted to do a post "Christmas by the numbers" but really, I'm too tired for that.

It was going to be something like:

1800 - miles driven

253 - emails unread

5 - presents that hit

15 - presents that missed

1 - call from work, missed as the phone went dead in the low cell service area

5 - consecutive days without internet access

4 - beds slept in

2 - maximum number of nights spent in the same bed

4 - generations visited

3000 - times a child said "I'm bored"

5000 - times a child asked "where are we?" or the altnerative "how much longer 'til we get there?"

17 - family members visited

But with numbers that are more accurate. But then I read the emails and promptly forgot the beginning number. And I have no idea how many miles we traveled except that it's approximately 750 miles to MIL's house and we did some traveling back and forth. The real number is probably closer to 1900 miles.

I'd forgotten how much I hated the cold. I mean I remembered I hated the cold, but forgot why, beyond the fact that it's cold. I'd forgotten the static-y hair thing and how much I HATED it. Nevermind the fact that my hair goes straight and loses any natural curl (seriously, all the teen and preteen girls in the family got hair straighteners and I couldn't even imagine why they would want that). The allergies from the wood smoke which are exacerbated by the EXTREMELY dry air (which caused the static in the hair). The dry skin. Etc. Suffice it to say, I'm happy to be back in humid South Texas. My hair has curl again and is staying in place rather than defying gravity. My sinuses are slowly clearing.

I had coping options when I lived there, but they weren't options I wanted to use for a short visit. Things like a humidifier weren't appropriate for the situation - my mother refuses to use a humidifier and in fact, has to be physically restrained from using a dehumidifier because her windows "sweat" and ruin the woodwork (heaven forbid she research some weatherproofing for her windows). And while leave-in conditioners or hair spray tame the static, I HATE products in my hair, I put up with it while I lived there but always hated it. Now I couldn't imagine going to buy something like that (throw away good money?) and then figure out what to do with it when I head back home (Mr. Gaia would not be happy at transporting any additional "liquid" items).

Christmas memories

2007-12-22T01:33:00.000-06:00

We had our work gift exchange this week. Due to Megan's maternity leave and Carrie's firing, we were going to be two gifts short. I decided I needed to knit something so I could take an extra gift so no one would be without a gift. I couldn't figure out why it was so important to me and then I remember a Christmas when I was 12.

This was the first Christmas after my brother died, so my parents naturally didn't want to spend much time at home. They were trying to keep busy and their friends were trying to help. So my mom's friend Cynthia invited us down to Dallas to visit with them - she called Friday night and we went Saturday. We spent the morning going to craft stores and buying materials to bring home and craft. They wanted to make a honey bear - a poseable bear with two manufactured birds' nests and fake bees. The whole thing was tied together with honey colored hot glue dripped all over it to look like the bear was breaking into a bee hive (the 2 birds' nest) - to me it looked like someone had snotted all over it.

Cynthia hadn't explained to my mom that they were having their extended family celebration/gift exchange that night. So we didn't know until we got there. When they told us, I started psyching myself up so that I wouldn't be upset when I didn't get a gift. I wasn't a family member, the other people didn't know we were coming in time to shop. Most of them had never even met me, etc.

But when it came time to open gifts, they all had a gift for me. It touched me so much I've never forgotten it. Since they didn't know me, most of the stuff wasn't my taste, but I kept it anyway and wore the jewelry (I still have some of it) because it made me feel so good when I saw it.

It was especially wonderful for me because our family celebrations have always been dysfunctional at best. My dad's uncle never bought a gift for me and my brothers, even though he did for the other cousins. Okay, he was single and saw my other cousins a lot more than he saw us, but he didn't have to come to family celebration or he could have thought that maybe, just maybe, it'd be a good idea to have at least something small for all the kids. Of course, you'd also have thought one of the other adults would have said something.

Ready for Christmas?

2007-12-22T01:24:00.000-06:00

Not quite.

Here's my checklist:

Gingerbread men - done! Mixed up the dough last night and refrigerated it overnight. The boys and I cut them out and baked them tonight.

Reindeer haystack cookies - done!

Potholders - done! The boys worked on those when they got home from school today. They both turned out really well.

Packing - done! I hope we'll be able to do laundry while visiting, otherwise I'm going to run out of warm clothes (frickin' frackin cold fronts).

Knitting projects for car - done!

Last gift for Mr. Gaia ... Well. Yeah. I planned to buy him a kill-a-watt. I saw one in a local store a few months ago. I thought I'd find it again and then got lazy and started thinking it was just a simple matter. Not so much. Thank goodness I have some back-up ideas and we're stopping at the outlet mall in San Marcos (like that won't be a madhouse the Saturday before Christmas).

I spoke to my boss today and told him that when we ran the numbers with actual childcare costs we couldn't make it work. He told me that we'd just stick with my current hours but I could keep the raise (so generous - but I've always known they were cheapskates, which includes to not billing enough, if they'd let me bill more what our work is worth, we'd bring it a lot more revenue).

Crafting with kids

2007-12-20T23:32:00.000-06:00

Several years ago, I bought my boys potholder looms. They tried it once and immediately gave it up. I made myself two potholders - one in cool colors and one in warm colors.

When my inlaws were in town, my father-in-law saw them and asked the boys to make him some.

So we pulled it out last night. One was set up with a mix of colors, so I finished it off to have the looms ready for them today.

To start I told them to pick out 2-3 colors of loops (the multicolor one doesn't look that great). Hyperion picked navy blue, baby blue, pink and red. Surprisingly, it looks pretty good. He did blue for the warp and the pink and red for the weft. He's used mostly light blue and pink with the red and dark blue scattered randomly.

Oceanus picked the two blues and white. He did a little more placing of colors to try to get a specific effect. It's turning out well.

I predict that they'll finish these in 2 days. They are slow! They aren't used to crafting so they just don't have the dexterity they need.

After we got that started, I finished cleaning the kitchen so that we could make haystack cookies. I'm not sure what I think of these - chocolate chips, peanut butter and chow mein noodles. But it's a good project for the kids. I melted the chips and peanut butter in my microwave safe bowl, letting the boys mix them as they melted. They added the chow mein noodles and mixed them up, then spooned out a few cookies each. Then they were bored with it and went back to weaving.

Work News

2007-12-19T23:57:00.000-06:00

Megan, at 39 weeks, is apparently on bedrest. I have no idea why she is on bedrest, you'd think they'd either induce or section at this point. Of course, I said she'd have the baby by induction leading to section by tomorrow. So we'll see what happens.

My bosses have asked me to go to fulltime work through at least February. I told them I needed a raise. So they offered about $114 more per month (which would be prorated to fit my shorter hours). This doesn't fully cover childcare costs. The extra money I would make by working more hours would result in about $300 extra per month. Mr. Gaia is pissed that I would even consider it for less than an extra $300 per month. I didn't get a raise last year at all and the one the previous year was pretty small. I don't want to work full time and I explained that to them. I told them that I was willing to help out but that I needed to talk it all over with Mr. Gaia.

I think it's a foregone conclusion that I will work fulltime until Megan and my other coworker are back from their medical leaves (other coworker is having a hysterectomy January 10). The only question is will they pay me enough to make Mr. Gaia get off my back.

I'm in a better position than they are right now. I don't *need* this job. It enables us to do more fun things and to actually have some retirement and college savings, but we live off of Mr. Gaia's salary now. But I have that socialized female guilt. Sigh.

I did not get the Parks job. I finally got my letter yesterday. However, the park I really want to work at has reopened their job posting (same position), so I made sure they still have my application.

I hate shopping

2007-12-10T23:30:00.000-06:00

Mr. Gaia is impossible to shop for.

We were talking about possible gifts for him. I mentioned an enameled cast iron dutch oven but said La Creuset would be too expensive. He said "the no name brands would be fine". I made a face and he insisted they were fine.

So yesterday Oceanus and I went to Target. To shop for him. He knew I was going to Target. He knew one of the things on my list for him was an enameled cast iron dutch oven. Did he say "but not the Target brand"? Of course not.

So Oceanus and I shop and I find a dutch oven that looks very nice. I checked it over carefully to make sure it was cast iron and not enameled stoneware (apparently this is common with the knockoffs). It was a decent price so I bought it.

I get home and he says "oh, BTW, the enameled cast iron at Target is NOT acceptable".

So, I have to go back and return the damn thing. I am so pissed. And so hurt. He told me the knockoffs were fine. And all that time wasted.

And I'm embarrassed - for not knowing it wouldn't be acceptable. So I feel the need to do this in secret. With, oh, 30 minutes of free time in a day. I have 30 minutes from the time I get off work to when I have to pick up the kids. Somehow I don't think I can drive to Target, get into the store, return the pot, and drive home (or to the school) within 30 minutes.

So, I'm pissed but I can't tell him why I'm pissed. So he's pissy that I'm pissy.

That was yesterday.

Today, I get to work to find out that they had apparently fired one of my coworkers. The one that has been most accepting of me and nicest to me. I don't know why they fired her and I'm not about to ask (I suspect it has to do with missing too many days for illnesses - hers and her son's).

She was the only one else in the office that knew how to set up corporations and write wills. So there's now no one else to help me with that.

So, to recap - 1 going on maternity leave at xmas, one having a hysterectomy 1/10 and now one fired. Leaving ... 2 real estate ladies, me, a receptionist and our bookkeeper.

I still haven't heard an official no about the parks job, so that's up in the air. If I do get offered the job I'm going to feel like a real shit but god help me, I'm going to jump on it.

They haven't asked, but I get the feeling I need to line up after school care for the boys so that I can start working full time. I'm not doing it without a raise. I work for much less than I'm worth so that I could get the hours I need.

Waiting to hear

2007-12-07T01:16:00.000-06:00

So, I was supposed to hear about the job in 2 weeks. It's now been almost 3. Just send me my rejection letter already.

Mr. Gaia says he thinks this means I'm second choice. They're waiting to be sure their first choice works out before telling me no.

We got bonuses at work and they were talking about how nice it was to have such a loyal staff, etc. and I felt about this big.

We also had Megan's baby shower at work. I gave her diapers and wipes and made 2 hats. I realized I didn't have wrapping big enough for the package of diapers, so I hastily grabbed all the pink and pink toned yarn I could find and knitted a blanket to cover it. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn and the blanket is much wider than it is long. I also ran out of time, so it's just as well. AND that's more crappy yarn out of my stash. I'm almost out of yarn in my stash so maybe I can convince Mr. Gaia it's time to buy some GOOD yarn.

Menu planning

2007-12-01T23:22:00.000-06:00

So the first week's menu planning was, well, less than successful.

Tuesday we planned chicken soup, but I got sick, so we had leftover ham (which was good because I didn't realize we had some left and they definitely needed to be eaten).

Wednesday had no plan, so we had chicken soup.

Thursday was planned to be grilled pork, but it wasn't defrosted (yes, I forgot to take it out of the freezer) so we had leftover tamales (another leftover I'd forgotten we had).

Friday is frozen pizza night for the kids (we can get a good frozen organic pizza at our local grocery store) and Mr. Gaia and I had leftover soup (no plan for that night).

Tonight we had planned to go to the Island and have seafood, but I slept in (I'm still just a tad bit sick), so we had the grilled pork that was now thawed.

Tomorrow we want to go to the Island, but have a birthday party in the afternoon, so I'm not sure it will happen. I hope so because I would dearly love to have seafood again.

New Cat woes

2007-12-01T00:17:00.000-06:00

So Ron. Cute as all get out.

But the boy will not use the litterbox to pee. He'll poop there consistently, but seems to pee where ever he wants. I have no idea what to do. I've never had to housetrain a cat - I've always just put them in the litterbox and that was it.

Any tips?

Oceanus

2007-11-29T23:48:00.000-06:00

Oceanus is 9. We had a rough start with Oceanus. He had all the classic signs of a "spirited child". Life with him was difficult from the start.

He wasn't content to be born "normally", no, my child had to come out sunny side up and with a telephone hand.

Once born, the child didn't want to nurse. The nurse gave him a pacifier - against my wishes, the witch - and there we had nipple confusion. He ended up jaundiced (probably at least in part due to the vitamin K shot which is mostly unnecessary when you let the cord stop pulsing before you cut it) and I ended up crying and begging him to nurse. I refused to let any chance for him to nurse to pass by - at the fair, at the doctor's office for heel sticks, at restaurants, you name it.

Then the child refused to sleep unless someone was holding him. Against every thing I had ever said and believed, I brought the child into my bed so that we could get ANY sleep.

Then he walked early - just to make my life difficult, I'm sure (j/k, I think).

School was a fun hell. I wanted him in preschool so he could socialize with other kids because I was not the playgroup kind of mom (although I did try, but M.O.P.S. has very specific geographical requirements and I didn't live in the right area). How fun was that?

We started 1st grade at a Montessori school. Except Montessori was not the right name for this school - the teacher was a bitch and expected way too much out of 6 and 7 year olds and then didn't expect enough. Oceanus spent every day in trouble because he couldn't find his homework within the two minute time limit. This went on through 2nd grade.

So we moved to public school. Suddenly life was better. Now he was getting in trouble, but it was "normal" trouble - talking and horsing around with other kids. Other kids! Can I tell you how relieved that made me?

This year? The kid had an unbroken record of stickers on his behavior chart. I was beginning to wonder if he was normal. A kid of mine that NEVER gets into trouble? "Are you enjoying school? Do you have any fun?" (I know, I'm a bad mother thinking you can't have fun and be good all the time).

Well today? Today he proved he's normal. He got into trouble for horseplay in the boys' room. I made a semi big deal out of it, not realizing how sensitive he was about it. Poor kid. I had him in tears. He just knew his dad and I were going to freak out (please, Hyperion got sent to the office twice last year and we didn't freak out, what was he afraid of?).

Oceanus is NORMAL!!!

I got nothin'

2007-11-28T23:19:00.000-06:00

My muse has left. So how about a Bug Hill update?

Megan is still pregnant. She's due Christmas day, but thinks she'll have the baby 2 weeks early. That's what she says her OB says. I predict an induction and a c-section around the 20th. I hope I'm wrong, but experience has taught me that this is the "natural" order of things anymore.

Bug Hill is planning their Winter Parade. Anyone who wants to enter a float needs to contact Leslie Johnson and she'll get you the specifications and guidelines for the float contest. She's advertised that there's very few floats entered so far, so chances of winning a prize are really good. Also, any merchants out there who would like to donate goods, etc for prizes are encouraged to contact Leslie ASAP so she can get their names and donations in the paper as soon as possible. Remember, the earlier your name is in the paper, the greater your advertising exposure is!

The Bug Hill Elementary Glee Club is performing at the December PTA meeting. Glee Club members need to have either a red or green t-shirt (I pushed for blue and white but was overruled) and jeans or tan pants. The meeting is open to all members of the general public. If you wish to join PTA it isn't too late. Dues are $5/family and all the money raised is being used to provide a shade structure for the playground equipment. You can join at the meeting.

"Do you celebrate Christmas as a Religious Holiday?"

2007-11-27T22:21:00.001-06:00

We had our soccer team party last night. One of the mothers I've come to really like asked me "Do you celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday?". She knows we're fairly secular so I wasn't sure what she was asking.

I said "well, we read the Christmas story each year and I guess the kids know the religious aspects, but we don't really stress it."

She's 7th day adventist and this year they've decided to completely divorce the religious aspect from what is, in all reality, a cultural holiday. She said she just couldn't make it square up anymore. The idea that we're throwing this huge holiday in celebration of a man who was so humble.

And then there's the aspect of "Jesus is the Reason for the Season, now get out of my way so I can get that last " with elbows being thrown.

I've become more and more scrooge like over the last few years. The more I hear about the "War on Christmas" (get a grip people, Happy Holidays has been a song and a movie for YEARS) the more weary I get of the whole thing. Spend, spend, spend.

And then there's the travel. We're expected to travel back to Oklahoma for xmas every year. It's too expensive to fly 4 people to Oklahoma and there's no airport within 1.5 hours of our families' houses, so we'd still need to drive once we got there. So we drive for 12 hours just for a celebration. Forced cheeriness. And I'm miserable the whole time I'm there - I'm cold and my allergies are killing me because everyone is using their fireplaces and woodburning stoves (it's the most affordable and reliable source of heat for people in rural and semi-rural areas).

Of course, traveling does have its benefits. We are forced, by necessity, to restrict the gifts we buy and so are our families. We can only haul so much. The car does allow us to transport more than we would in an airplane, but not much more. My mother tells me every year that I need to buy a minivan or an SUV. I remind her that gas prices are climbing and we couldn't afford the extra gas even if we wanted to waste the extra resources.

Cool New Site

2007-11-26T23:31:00.000-06:00

Via Jenny comes The Nourished Kitchen.

I haven't spent much time there, but so far I'm impressed and excited. I recently set up a shared calendar for Mr. Gaia and I with the idea that we would plan our menus along with shopping lists, etc. So far we haven't really done much with it, but it's only been a couple of days.

It's chilly here in the subtropics, so I dug around in the freezer and pulled out the chicken carcass saved from the last roasted chicken and the chicken wing tips saved from our party. I threw them in my pasta insert and put that in my pot full of water with garlic and pepper and sea salt. I'm making broth now. Tomorrow after everything has cooled, I'll pull out the pasta insert and pull some meat off the bones and add celery, carrots, onions and kale. It'll be sooo yummy!

Mother in Law Rant

2007-11-25T22:42:00.000-06:00

Okay, first let me say that I love my mother in law. I know I'm very lucky that she is as wonderful as she is, but I'm human. She does things that drive me crazy. Especially when she's in my house (I don't mind when I'm in her house - after all it's her space, she can do what she wants).

#1 - I've told you my dishwasher sucks. You've seen dishes come out of it not clean - dishes that were cleaner when they went in (I basically use it as an autoclave these days). So for the love of God, don't just throw things in that aren't even wiped off. I swear - clumps of mashed potatoes are not going to wash off, they're just going to get distributed to everything else in the dishwasher. Same for pie crust. And dried on garlic cream cheese.

#2 - the dishwasher sucks. So don't put in things that are easy to handwash - like mixing bowls and pie plates.

#3 - your wrists are weak. We all know that. Please, please, please don't attempt to wash my heavy pottery mixing bowls. Yes, I know it's only a chip and it's on the outside and won't affect the use of it. Yes, I know it didn't crack through and it's still safe. I don't care. I've had it less than a year and it was a birthday present. I was already pissed with your son for using it to serve food but didn't say anything because that's why we got them.

#4 - your son and I don't drink coffee. We provide a coffee maker and coffee for you because we love you and know you need it. Please clean the grounds out of the maker before you leave. We don't drink coffee and I find it vomit inducing to have to mess with used grounds (I have no idea why, but I do).

My inlaws are gone and I just had to clean out the inside of my dishwasher because there were clumps of food in it. Have you ever taken the racks out and washed out your dishwasher? Yeah, it sucks great big donkey dicks.

Yes, my beautiful blue mixing bowl now has a HUGE chip out of it. Yes, we have part of the chip and can glue it in place but really, it's only part of the chip and looks worse with that in than out.

I'm so glad they're gone. I really prefer to visit people in their homes rather than mine. I'm very catlike in that manner.

Brrr

2007-11-24T23:40:00.001-06:00

It's cold in the subtropics.

I've caught my cat under the covers of the bed several times (you can't force her under the covers normally.

My trick for heating the house without turning on the heat it to cook a big pot of soup or beans. Tonight it was beans for beans and cornbread.

The other trick is to heat a kettle of water and pour it into my thermos and then have hot cocoa or hot tea all evening. If you're like me and in need of a little bit of relaxing - a little bit of amaretto and coconut rum is wonderful (I had this in Crested Butte one year - they called it a German Chocolate and it was just the thing after a day of skiing).

And then my fuzzy socks and fleece blankets. So far, we haven't turned on heat and I'd like to wait until at least January. It's still 69 in the house - so plenty warm, just difficult to handle when it was 80 in the house only 3 days ago.

Buy Nothing Day

2007-11-23T23:09:00.000-06:00

Today was Buy Nothing Day in the US. And, I bought nothing in the US today.

I went to Mexico.

I bought alcohol - always a necessity and the tequila is just so much cheaper there.

And, I bought handmade christmas ornaments. I feel guilty about these. They were fifteen cents each, which, I'm sure, means that the person who made them was paid pennies. I'm just hoping they were made by someone who was doing this at home or outside and not in a sweatshop.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T22:46:00.000-06:00

My in-laws made it in about 12:00 last night (which would be why there was no post yesterday, I do all my posting late at night and last night was spent getting ready for them).

We had a lovely day today. Sitting around talking and eating. And eating. And playing games. And playing with the kitten. Watching the kitten and mother-in-law's dog face off over and over and over again (dog wants to play, kitten is having none of it). Miss Maya (my first baby) spent the day hunkered down in our room.

New kitty

2007-11-20T23:08:00.001-06:00

After 12 years of wanting a second kitty, we went to the animal shelter and picked out a kitten today.

We looked at lots of kitties. Friendly ones, loud ones, quiet ones, needy ones. I wanted to adopt them all. I would have liked to adopt some of the adult kitties, but with a 12 yo cat at home it seemed best to get her something she could dominate.

After much thought, I decided I wanted a boy kitty because they seem to be more cuddly and I want a cuddly kitty.

So we found the prettiest cream tabby kitty I've seen in a long time. He's about 10-14 weeks old and playful and cuddly.

The boys named him Ron Weasley (after wanting to name him OJ which made Mr. Gaia and I cringe).

He's currently confined in the boys' bedroom with a food bowl and a water bowl and his own litter box.

While we were there, some coward dropped off a box of baby kittens (barely had their eyes open, I'll bet) and then ran. There were about 6 kittens in there. I wanted to say "I'll foster them and give them their formula and raise them to be big and strong" but Mr. Gaia pulled me away fast.

So... the job interview

2007-11-19T23:19:00.000-06:00

Okay - going into this I knew there was no way I would get the job. I don't speak Spanish.

But, I think the interview went pretty well. I was calm and relaxed and chatted with the interviewers before and after. I think I gave good answers to the questions and did a fairly good job tying in past jobs with this job.

Some of the questions threw me completely and I felt like a blathering idiot. Questions I can totally think of much better answers for now. I was expecting questions about birding, etc and was prepared to talk about my favorite birds (sparrows are #1, believe it or not).

I was very upfront about having kids - I mean I have to be, the questions were about school groups and kids, so I had to somewhat talk about my kids and how being around them and their friends has helped me to develop my skills in this area.

Then came the spanish question. They asked me to translate 2 sentences to spanish. I couldn't remember more than "me llamo es" - sigh. I explained that I was working on learning it and that I was in the "decoding" phase. That I knew enough to say "mas despacio, por favor" and pick out key words to "put through my decoder ring in my brain" (DORK!!).

I did tell them that I really wanted the job. They told me that the process would take 2 weeks and at the end of the time, the person they hire will get a call, the rest of us will get letters. I said "well, I would like a call, not a letter, please." (again DORK!!!)

So, in 2 weeks I guess I'll know for sure what I already know. But you know, this is a process. I know now what I need to know. I need to get my Master Naturalist certification, my Certified Arborist certification (officially working on that now!! Yay me!!), and get the spanish. Mr. Gaia and I are going to buy the Rosetta stone latin american version.

Tournament is Over!

2007-11-18T23:03:00.000-06:00

They played 3 games - they tied 0-0, lost 1-0 and won 2-0. If the team they lost to had beat the team they tied, they'd have made the semi-finals. I was just glad to get to come home and take a long nap.

My interview is tomorrow and once again, I'm caught up on what to wear. Skirt or slacks? Tailored blouse with a jacket? Tailored blouse without a jacket?

What do I carry? They said I didn't need to bring anything. I didn't use a resume to apply - I filled out a state application. They didn't ask for references. Do I take a list of references and a resume? I haven't updated my resume since I got this new job, but it wouldn't be that difficult, necessarily. 3 references are somewhat of a problem. I have a professor from my night classes, a co-worker from a previous job and that's it. I would use another professor, but she didn't hire me when she had the chance, so why should I trust her to give me a good reference? I don't want to use to my current boss even though I know he would be honest and give me a good reference.

Sigh, this is always so stressful.

Heartbreaking day

2007-11-17T21:38:00.000-06:00

Tiring day.

First game at 9:00. The other team had the most amazing footwork I've ever seen in a group of 9 and unders. We tied 0-0.

Then a game for Hyperion at 10:15. Lots of shoving and pushing that wasn't seen by the ref. Then our boys decided to shove and push and were seen by the ref. Sigh. Lost 5-1.

Then another game for Oceanus at 1:00 (which was delayed until 2:00). And it just wasn't our day with refs. Whenever the ball was kicked out the ref decided our team kicked it out, even when we were nowhere near the ball (we're not talking things that might be close calls). I'm tempted to send the video of this game to the tournament organizers - it was that bad. We lost 1-0 which will count as a shut out and get extra points for the opposing team. Now it wasn't all the ref, our team kept kicking the ball right in front of the net and our midfield players kept holding back. Our poor scorers had no help at all.

We have one more game tomorrow morning at 10:00. That should be it.

Thank God it's Friday

2007-11-16T23:47:00.000-06:00

I haven't done a thankfulness post in a while, so here goes:

1) I'm very thankful my boss is gone until Monday, November 26. I hope to get quite a bit done, if the other boss doesn't decide to give me a major project.

2) I'm very thankful for our health. I'm thankful that so far any cold we've gotten hasn't been this bad.

3) I'm thankful Oceanus made the playoffs, even if it is inconvenient.

4) I'm thankful MIL and FIL decided to put off their visit for the holiday - from getting here today to getting her Wednesday (more time to clean which is desperately needed).

Good news post

2007-11-15T22:54:00.000-06:00

First item of good news - I have an interview for my dream job. It's actually not the same one I posted about, rather it is but it's at a different park. There were 3 parks in our area with this position open, so I applied for all 3 even though one is too far away to be feasible over the long term.

Second item of good news - Oceanus' team made the tournament. Actually they didn't exactly, but another team pulled out at the last minute and so they are in. This is one of those things that is good news for Oceanus and his team but not so good news for me. I need to go check out the park for my interview (which is Monday) and this weekend was the only time I could go. Now we'll be at soccer games all weekend. Sigh.

Texas Pledge of Allegiance

2007-11-14T23:07:00.000-06:00

I went to a PTA meeting Monday night. The student council did a presentation on the flag. So of course we started with the US Pledge of Allegiance and then went to the Texas Pledge of Allegiance. Wha? TEXAS Pledge of Allegiance? So, for all of us non-Texans (and I will always be a non-Texan no longer how long I live in Texas) here is the pledge:

Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible

Okay, WTF? What does allegiance to TEXAS mean? That I will defend the state if Oklahoma attacks from the North? That I will fight to the death to defend their sports teams?

I performed the pledge of allegiance despite my current issues with the state of our country (justice and liberty for all? Tell that to the people in Gitmo). After the pledge, I do what I always do which is drop my hand from my heart and put my arms behind my back. When they announced the Texas pledge, I thought about moving my hand back and then decided not to and shrugged my shoulders. I DON'T pledge allegiance to Texas, I won't even act like I do.

A lot has been made of all the reactionary patriotism since 9/11. People suddenly wearing flag clothes all the time. Having every item they own covered in stars and/or stripes. Yeah, move to Texas and you'll see symbolic patriotism (state-ism?) taken to a whole new level. More houses than not display either the Texas flag or multiple "Lone Stars". You go to Home Depot and you can buy benches, ceiling fans, chandeliers, wall paper and probably dozens of other items I haven't seen yet covered in a Lone Star.

As an Oklahoman (until the day I die, no matter where I live) it makes me very uncomfortable to be around such outward displays of zealotry. I'm beginning to get used to it, but it's still very weird.

I'm so old

2007-11-13T22:24:00.000-06:00

"Mom, back in the olden days, did women do more of the housework?"

"What do you mean by olden days?"

"You know, back when you were a kid. Back in the 1900s."

That was bad enough. Now I'm watching "Folks!". Okay the movie was made in 1992 - that was the year after I graduated High School. Not that long ago, really. But the fashions!! And the technology. There's a computer using floppy disks (at least they're 3.5"). And gas pumps that had dials that weren't pay at the pump.

Seriously, the movie looks like it was made in the 80s. Or what I remember as the 80s.

Eye candy

2007-11-12T23:06:00.000-06:00

Sooo dreamy.

I could totally get lost in here.

Seriously, you have to go check it out. Every time I look at them I think I've found my favorite and then another one catches my eye and IT'S my favorite.

Coolest Earrings Ever

2007-11-11T23:34:00.000-06:00

Okay, you knitters out there have to check out these earrings - they're too wonderful.

Can I admit to being more than a little jealous of the creativity that inspired these? I am so not creative at all.

Here's a link to her Etsy shop - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5154009

Eek!

2007-11-11T22:08:00.000-06:00

Remember my post about the emergency room visit?

So, after the insurance finished their negotiations we owe ... wait for it ... $1,282.07. This is 2 mortgage payments. A year's worth of property taxes. A year's worth of auto insurance. Guess what just came due in the last 2 months? Property taxes and auto insurance. Guess who doesn't have any free money right now? Yep, me. Of course we haven't gotten an actual bill from the hospital yet so we should have time to gather some money from our long term savings.

Now before insurance negotiated it was $3,225, so we're paying approximately 40% of the bill. And Oceanus has now met his deductible for the year.

I thought we had better insurance than this and I'm rather pissed. I know we did last year and assumed the insurance was the same this year. Apparently there was a change in the policy this year (and an increase in premium!). Last year we had an emergency room co-pay and that was it (or so said the insurance policy we were given). This year, we pay all up to the deductible and then 30% of the remaining. Of course, we benefit from the negotiation power. A family without insurance would be expected to pay the full amount and would probably have their paycheck garnished to cover it all, plus interest and attorneys' fees.

Soccer games

2007-11-10T22:48:00.000-06:00

I mentioned in one of my comments that Hyperion gets really bothered by people straying from what he perceives as the correct path. This really plays out in soccer games. Last year it wasn't a problem because he was new to the game and didn't understand the strategy and ideas.

This year it's a HUGE problem. He's not on a very good team, they haven't won a game - EVER (his coach from last year didn't come back so the team was split up). He knows (or thinks he knows) what everyone is supposed to be doing. So when one of his teammates doesn't do what Hyperion thinks he is supposed to do, Hyperion fixates on it. To the point of actually refusing to continue to fully participate in the game.

Today when we got to the game, the parents didn't know what field they were supposed to play on. I'll admit I didn't check, I assumed it was the same field as always, but there were already 2 teams warming up on that field, so clearly not. I met the parents and they told me the field number but didn't know what field that was. I did because Oceanus spent most of the season last year playing on that field. Hyperion and I had brought two balls with us because we knew that the rest of the team never brought balls to the games and consequently we often didn't have a ball for warming up. So, the team kicked the balls over to the correct field. I reminded them to stay off the other fields because teams were warming up. A couple of the kids didn't pay attention and lost control, kicking it onto the other field. No big deal, just go ahead and kick it off the field and continue to the right field. Except they didn't. They continued to mess around on the field, I reminded them we needed to get out of the way and when they didn't immediately comply, Hyperion lost it. Sigh.

So he gets it contained, but I can tell it's still simmering under the surface. We get to the right field and his coach shows up. Hyperion is not happy with the drills coach is running (mainly because he's still upset from the ball incident) and pitches a fit. I ask him if he wants to leave and he says yes. Sigh. So we have a "come to Jesus" meeting. I tell him if we leave now, there will be no TV and no gameboy for a week and that doesn't include the consequence his dad hands down. I told him "forget everyone else, live your own path. Pretend you are having a good time - fake it 'til you make it". So he goes back over to coach and tells him he's not leaving.

After the game (a tie so it's not a loss, yay! AND Hyperion made the only goal for his team - his first this year) he tells me that he did fake it and then he found he was having a good time. He said "I faked it 'til I made it and I liked it!".

He has another game next week, the last until spring. So send fuzzy thoughts that this week's epiphany will hold out.

Oceanus' team won their final game. Giving them a final stat of 4 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie - which puts them in 3rd place, I believe. I missed the game because both boys were scheduled to play at the same time about 5 miles apart (different sports parks).

Hyperion

2007-11-10T00:00:00.000-06:00

Hyperion in so many ways is a complete reincarnation of me.

He tested for G&T this semester and didn't quite make it. His teacher says he did amazingly well on the problem solving section, but he just missed making the cut. I wouldn't have made G&T in second grade either. Second grade was my year. It was the year I was able to really come into my own in school. Kindy was spent in the naughty corner (well, I was an outside girl, I didn't make the adjustment at all well). First grade was spent in a power struggle with my teacher over my name (I don't go by my first name and it really, really, REALLY bugged her) and trying to learn to read.

I learned to read midway through first grade. So did Hyperion. I had an instinctive grasp of numbers, but if I learned something wrong, I had a very difficult time relearning it (I still have trouble with left and right). Hyperion has gotten into his head that 8+4=11 and 7+4=12. When we have him stop and look at it of course he knows he's wrong, but his first reaction is 11 and 12.

His teacher assured me that if she continued to see improvement she would recommend he be tested again next year.

Writers' Block

2007-11-08T23:58:00.000-06:00

So stealing from Cranium:

12 Thanksgiving Questions

1. If you could stuff a turkey with anything, what would it be?

I'm a traditionalist, I'll admit it. I don't like turkey, but my mom's cornbread dressing (don't hold back on the sage, yes, it's SUPPOSED to be gray-ish green, tyvm) is about as good as it gets.

2. If you designed a giant balloon for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, what would it look like?

This one is hard. I've never actually seen the parade, I mean, I've seen PICTURES, but I've never even seen TV coverage - that's part of being the youngest child in a house full of football fanatics (seriously, I once asked, DURING Thanksgiving dinner, if anyone cared who won and when they said no, I asked "WHY are we watching this during DINNER?!" and the answer was "we like football") the parade was never on the TV in my house.

I guess maybe a really cool sweater carefully showing all the stitches along with the ball of yarn and needles (I'm telling you Ravelry - the pull is strong)

3. You can pick anyone to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for you, who would you choose?

Wait a minute, *I* have to cook this dinner? Ummm, no thanks! Next question, please!

Now, if I'm sharing this meal with someone, let me see. Al Gore, Grace, Tanya, Rani, Jenny, KCB, Sally, Jules, Colin Beavan, Sara, Robert Redford, Ed Begley, Jr., Bill Nye, Paul McCartney - well that gets me started.

4. What invention are you most thankful for?

Toilet paper

5. What’s the best part about sitting at the kids’ table?

The corny elementary school jokes.

6. If you had to eat only one kind of Thanksgiving food for an entire week, what would it be?

Ummm, were you listening? My mom's cornbread stuffing!

7. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving memory or tradition?

I don't really have one. Thanksgiving as a kid meant the day at my dad's aunt's house with all his siblings and their kids plus the cousins and their kids in a 900 sqft house. The only good thing was that the weather was always good and we could go for a walk on the farm.

We're working on making our own traditions. Now we live too far to be expected to go home (I am so NOT complaining) so it's ours for the making.

8. What’s the one thing that could make you brave day-after-Thanksgiving shopping?

Pretty much nothing. Maybe an amazing sell on organic cotton yarn (I'm telling you, Ravelry!)

9. This fall, instead of a pile of raked-up leaves, I’d like to jump into a pile of _______________.

Hmm, how about a walk on the beach and jumping into waves? That sounds about right!

10. A Thanksgiving food I wouldn’t want thrown at me in a food fight is _______________.

Definitely the cranberry sauce - the whole berry kind (since I don't like that kind and it wouldn't feel like a waste).

11. Next Thanksgiving, everyone should wear _______________ to the dinner table!

Crowns!

12. How many times can you say the word “cornucopia” in ten seconds?

I have no idea. There's no one around to time me.

Ravelry

2007-11-07T22:52:00.001-06:00

I have discovered the addiction that is Ravelry.com. Sigh. I have so much in my queue right not. I'm dreaming of very nice, expensive fibers for Christmas.

I've stepped up my knitting lately though. And the good thing? More knitting means less eating. I'm working on training my body to want to knit rather than eat. I don't think it will work, but even if I just train myself to do it 50% of the time, I hope to lose a bit of weight before family pictures at Christmas.

Proving I have no sense of humor

2007-11-05T23:25:00.000-06:00

I'm reading Scientific American and came across an article by Michael Shermer - Weirdonomics and Quirkology. In it he reports on the "world's funniest joke". I'm sure you've heard it by now. It's this one:

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to
be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy takes out his phone and
calls the emergency services.
He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I
do?"
The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's
dead."
There is a silence, then a gunshot is heard. Back on the phone, the
guy says:
"OK, now what?"

Now, I'll admit it was funnier when I heard it the first time and the men were specified as being from Jersey (read: mobster) but even then I didn't find it more than mildly amusing.

Seriously? World's funniest joke? Still? I think these people should read a few Janet Evanovich novels.

I'm not doing nanoblomo (or whatever it is) because I know that there is no way I could keep it up once the holidays start. But out of solidarity for my friends who are doing it, I'm doing my best to keep my posting going. I apologize in advance that my postings will probably suck a little.

Miss

2007-11-04T21:21:00.000-06:00

I've noticed lately that my kids call their teachers "Miss" not "Miss Lastname" but just "Miss". It vaguely bothered me but I couldn't quite put my finger on why it bothered me.

Then one day I was with them and they greeted their music teacher with "Mr. Lastname" and it finally hit me. Women, you see, are generic and can be referred to by a generica name. Men, on the other hand, are deserving of the courtesy of their identification and name. Even their coaches are not called "coach" but called "Coach Lastname".

I finally told my kids that if I was their teachers I'd call them "kid" every time they called me "Miss". They didn't quite get it so I explained that everyone deserved the courtesy of being given their proper identification. I asked them how they'd feel if they were called "kid" all the time. Of course they responded that they wouldn't mind, but I've noticed they do it a lot less lately.

Amazing how the patriarchy has infected every part of our world, even elementary school.

Wasting Food

2007-11-03T22:32:00.000-06:00

A discussion board I frequent recently had this article up for discussion.

The lost art of leftovers

"We waste too much food and should return to the way we lived during the
war, says a new campaign. It would save us money and help save the
planet."

......

"A third of all the food we buy is now thrown into the bin and half of it is
still perfectly edible, according to the government's waste reduction agency,
Wrap. You're throwing away one bag of shopping in three, it says."

......

"This wanton wastage is not only costing us money - up to £400 a year - but is
hurting the environment: the methane released by decomposing food in landfills
is the most potent of greenhouse gases. Cutting it out would be the same as
taking one fifth of cars off the road, says Wrap."

......

MOST DUMPED FOODS

Bags of
salad
Fruit
Bread
Pasta
Cheese

I can't say that the Gaia household is blameless here. We do let more consumable food turn to non-consumables largely through laziness. We do compost it, though, so it's not fully wasted.

Water saving epiphany

2007-11-02T22:12:00.001-06:00

We have a leaky faucet. It's one of the hazards of living in the valley - the water is so salty and so hard that it just destroys all metals including the ones that make the faucets. Seriously, our faucets disintegrate after about 5 years.

Clearly we need to replace it, but meanwhile, I've shoved a cup under it with the plan of using that water in the toilet. This has prompted me to make another change.

We've all heard to turn the water off while we brush. So most of us have stopped doing that.

Lately the news has been all about washing hands well and lathering them for the time it takes to sing the alphabet song through twice. With cold and flu season coming on, I've found that my kids really are washing their hands better. So I'm hearing the water running constantly. The cup overflows before it's time to flush the toilet. What a waste!

My epiphany? Turn the faucet on to wet your hands (keeping a little cupped in one hand) then turn it off. Lather your hands and scrub them for the requisite time, then turn the faucet back on to rinse your hands. Much less water used!

In which I grow a spine

2007-11-01T21:36:00.000-06:00

I talked to my mom this afternoon. She asked if I knew what our christmas plans were yet. I told her I didn't for sure other than that we were going to be in Oklahoma. She asked me if we thought we could make it to family christmas (bear in mind, this is my father's extended family). I screwed up my nerve and told her that I didn't really want to attend, even if it worked with our schedule. I explained that I didn't like how mean they were to me and that they weren't exactly nice to my kids.

She said "I never noticed that they were mean to you - what are they mean about?"* "Oh, pretty much everything". It segued into me being different and I said "well, I'm not going to hide that I'm a liberal". She told me that I just had to accept that they were all conservative. I agreed and told her that I didn't start the arguments and didn't answer back when they made fun of my beliefs. *I* don't perpetuate the shit.

I'm sure she'll call me up with a guilt trip in a couple of weeks and the guilt will continue until christmas. But I just don't care. I've re-read my letter and I've decided I'm taking a stand this year. They won't reject me because I'm not going to put myself up for their rejection.

*When I told Mr. Gaia that she said she'd never noticed it he said "That's the problem! *I've* noticed it and it's worse than you will even admit."

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T22:28:00.001-06:00

I'm tired and tipsy (the tipsy came after the T-or-T'ing, I swear).

We walked up and down 4 streets (about 3 blocks long each) and each child had their container filled. I now have about 100,000 calories in my house.

The good news is that I not only gave away all the candy we bought, but even some of the candy that's been taking up freezer space since last year (yes, I not only saved the candy but "re-gifted" it - so sue me, I tasted it, it was fine). Of course, now I have a huge bowl of candy my kids won't eat. Would it be bad if I put some of it in the treat bags for after the soccer game (in addition to the standard healthy snacks I would provide).

The kids looked cute in their costumes and Hyperion's thrifted/recycled costume turned out well.

Buying organic is a social justice issue

2007-10-30T22:03:00.000-06:00

Kids in agricultural areas or who have parents who work agricultural jobs face greater risks than kids in non-agricultural areas.

Source

In a San Francisco Bay Area study, children whose fathers were occupationally exposed to pesticides were found to be six times more likely than other children to develop Ewing's sarcoma, a rare bone tumor. Having fathers with agricultural occupations was found to increase a child's risk of contracting this cancer by ninefold.[49] A study of children diagnosed with cancer in the Denver area found a strong association between parents' application of pesticides in the yard and the development of soft tissue sarcomas. This same study found that children with lymphomas (cancer of the lymph system) were twice as likely to have been exposed to insecticides during household exterminations compared to healthy children.[50] In a study of Wilms' tumor (malignant tumor of the kidney) among children in Brazil, consistently elevated risks of Wilms' tumor were associated with parental exposure to pesticides through farm work.[51]

Source The Organic Manifesto of a Biologist Mother:

FARMERS have higher rates of certain cancers than the general population. So do farmers’ children.7 An emerging body of evidence suggests that exposure to pesticides on farms may be partof the reason.Other studies have revealed possible links between agricultural use of pesticides and birth defects. For example, according toa recent California study, living near agricultural fields where pesticides are sprayed raises the risk of stillbirths due to birth defects. Researchers found the largest risk among babies whose mothers lived within one mile of such areas during their first trimester of pregnancy. Similarly, a Minnesota study found that the children of farmers, as well as those born to families living in agricultural areas, have elevated rates of birth defects. Similar findings come from Iowa.8

Studies quoted -
7. Cancers found in excess among U.S. farmers include blood and nervous system cancers. Cancers found in excess among their children include brain cancers, leukemias, Wilms’ tumor, Ewing’s sarcoma, and germ cell tumors. L.E. Fleming et al., “National Health Interview Survey Mortality Among US Farmers and Pesticide Applicators,” American Journal of Industrial Medicine 43(2003): 227-33; L.M. O’Leary et al., “Parental Occupational Exposures and Risk of Childhood Cancer: A Review,” American Journal of Industrial Medicine 20 (1991):17-35; J.L. Daniels et al., “Pesticides and Childhood Cancers,” Environmental Health Perspectives 105(1997): 1068-77.
8. E.M. Bell et al., “A Case-Control Study of Pesticides and Fetal Death Due to Congenital Anomalies,” Epidemiology 12(2001): 148-156; V.F. Garry et al,“Pesticide Appliers, Biocides, and Birth Defects in Rural Minnesota,” Environmental Health Perspectives 104(1996): 394-99; R. Munger et al., “Birth Defects and Pesticide-Contaminated Water Supplies in Iowa,” American Journal of Epidemiology136(1992): 959. Birth defects associated with pesticide exposure include cleft lip and palate, limb defects, heart malformations, spina bifida, hydocephaly, undescended testicles, and hypospadias. See also G. Solomon et al., Pesticides andHuman Health: A Resource for Health Care Professionals (San Francisco: Physicians forSocial Responsibility, 2000), pp. 40-42.

For us, buying organic is not just about protecting our children it's about protecting all the children of farm workers. We live in an area that is sprayed regularly. They'll tell you it won't hurt you, but I have a friend on disability as a direct result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time - she was in a field doing an inspection with US Customs when it was sprayed with pesticide (boll weevil killer, most likely) and her lungs - 3 years later - are still so damaged she can't lead a normal life. She was a marathon runner before the pesticides. Now most people are not going to breath in that much at one time, but it is constantly in the air in agricultural areas.

Further reading

Breastfeeding Does Not Create Sagging Breasts; Study Throws Out Old Wives' Tale

2007-10-29T21:41:00.000-06:00

Breastfeeding Does Not Create Sagging Breasts; Study Throws Out Old Wives' Tale

Myth Dispelled at American Society of Plastic Surgeons Annual Meeting
For Immediate Release: October 28, 2007
BALTIMORE – While the benefits of breastfeeding are unquestionable, many new mothers choose not to for fear of sagging breasts. However, breastfeeding alone has no impact on a woman’s breast shape, according to a first-of-its-kind study presented today at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Plastic Surgery 2007 conference in Baltimore.
“Many women who come in for breast surgery tell us their breasts are sagging, drooping or are less full because they breastfed,” said Brian Rinker, MD, ASPS Member Surgeon and study author. “Although the amount of sagging in the breasts appears to increase with each pregnancy, we’ve found that breastfeeding does not worsen the effect.”
The study examined 93 women who were pregnant one or more times prior to having cosmetic breast surgery. Fifty-eight percent of patients reported breastfeeding one or more of their children. The duration of breastfeeding ranged from 2 to 25 months, with an average of nine months. Fifty-five percent of respondents reported an adverse change in the shape of their breasts following pregnancy.
As the first study to examine what impacts breast shape in connection to pregnancy, plastic surgeons found that a history of breastfeeding, the number of children breastfed, the duration of each child’s breastfeeding, or the amount of weight gained during pregnancy were not significant predictors for losing breast shape. However, body mass index (BMI), the number of pregnancies, a larger pre-pregnancy bra size, smoking history, and age were significant risk factors for an increased degree of breast sagging.
Nearly 104,000 women had breast lifts in 2006, up 96 percent since 2000, according to the ASPS. In addition, more than 329,000 women had breast augmentation, making it the top surgical cosmetic procedure in 2006.
“Women may be reluctant to breastfeed because of this unfounded myth that doing so means the end of youthful breasts,” said Dr. Rinker. “Now, expectant mothers can relax knowing breastfeeding does not change the appearance of their breasts.”
Breast milk provides indisputable health benefits to infants. Research has shown breastfed infants have improved general health, growth and development as well as a lower risk of many acute and chronic illnesses than bottle-fed infants.
Visit www.plasticsurgery.org for referrals to ASPS Member Surgeons and to learn more about cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons is the largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons in the world. With more than 6,000 members, the Society is recognized as a leading authority and information source on cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. ASPS comprises 90 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States. Founded in 1931, the Society represents physicians certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery or The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Note: The study “The Effect of Breastfeeding Upon Breast Aesthetics” is being presented in electronic format, Sunday, Oct. 28 – Tuesday, Oct. 30, at the Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore.
Reporters can register to attend Plastic Surgery 2007 and arrange interviews with presenters by registering for the meeting online or by contacting ASPS Public Relations at (847) 228-9900 or in Baltimore, Oct. 27-31 at (410) 649-6205.

This makes a lot of sense, really. No matter whether you breastfeed or not, your breasts still make milk and still get engorged. And in fact, it would seem breastfeeding (on demand) would reduce sagging because you don't allow the breasts to get fully engorged.

Baking Day

2007-10-28T21:45:00.000-06:00

It was baking day at the Gaia household today. Unfortunately, not in the solar oven, a combination of soccer game (to make up for a rain day) and clouds prevented any solar oven cooking.

But, I made 2 loaves of whole wheat bread. It rose more than I've ever seen it rise and Mr. Gaia forgot to turn the oven to "bake" from "preheat" so the tops got pretty toasty. I think it will be okay, though.

Then, I made banana nut muffins from my amish friendship bread starter. I used 3 cups of starter (and then fed the remaining starter with more milk, flour and sugar), and then the following recipe (adjusted for the massive amount of starter I used):
2 overripe bananas, mashed
1/3 vegetable oil
1 c whole wheat flour (fresh ground)
1/3 c turbinado sugar
2 eggs
3/4 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 c starter
nuts
vanilla
milk

I only used 6 eggs and 1 1/3 c oil then I added milk and vanilla by feel. I didn't use many pecans because I just didn't have many (this is when I miss living in Oklahoma, we used to ALWAYS have pecans because we'd pick them up ourselves).

I ended up with 4 dozen mini muffins and 2 dozen - 2 regular sized muffins. I baked the mini muffins for 10 minutes and the regular sized muffins for 20-22 minutes on 350F.

I didn't have any starter left to share, but it's been passed around so much that I'm not sure who I would share with anyway.

I find that the freshly ground wheat flour makes for a softer, tastier product.

Pseudo-suitable

2007-10-27T00:42:00.000-06:00

Bug Hill News

Marcia Jackson is available again. Bob turned out to be "pseudo-suitable - on paper he was perfect to take home to meet mom, in truth he had none of the substance to sustain a relationships". I directed Marcia to this post at Feministe and told her it was good and right to increase her expectations.

But she made me think about all the things in life that are "pseudo-suitable". The things that on paper look perfect, but once you really examine them you find they lack substance. And she added a new word to my vocabulary. Pseudo-suitable, what a perfect word.

Refashioning

2007-10-25T23:36:00.000-06:00

Hyperion wants to be a king for halloween. I asked Mr. Gaia to check Target for a costume because I'm lazy - but no go.

So, off to the thrift stores I went. Looking for something red and silky that could be fashioned into a cape.

I've written about Wardrobe Refashion before and now I find myself in thrift stores looking at items figuring out how they could be reused. I spent a lot of time fingering the cotton sweaters, looking for extra large sweaters in a thick weight yarn, before deciding I needed to use up my stash before considering buying a sweater to frog for yarn. Besides, they were all white. Which has lead to me spending a ton of time searching out how to dye cotton yarn (too bad kool-aid doesn't work on plant fibers).

Anyway, back to the costume. I ended up with a red graduation robe. I figure I can take it apart and get a kids' sized cape out of it. I looked for some kind of fake fur, but didn't find anything, so I'm going to have to work on that one. Maybe some white felt? I have a red sash that I'll pin to a dress shirt for him, pin on a few medals (I have a few and I think I have trappings to fake a few others), put him in dress trousers and he's done. My only issue now is I'm not sure how to wash the acetate graduation gown.

Oceanus is going to be Harry Potter again. This is the 3rd year in a row. I can go along with it. It's easy and cheap and it's what he wants to be.

Halloween costumes has always been the only time my creativity has emerged. I once made a triceratops costume out of styrofoam cones, fun foam, a head band and glue. A bat costume was made from cheap black remnant fabric and a black sweatsuit. An incredible hulk costume from green knit pants and shirt with a pair of girl's knit purple pants (cut to look like they were torn - with the cut off ends pushed into the sleeves to make muscles). And a Link (from Zelda) costume made from an adult's long sleeved green shirt, white tights, felt and brown paper bags. No one knew who he was (everyone guessed Robin Hood) but he was happy. I'm hoping I can pull off a similar success this year.

"May you live in interesting times"

2007-10-19T00:12:00.000-06:00

Eventful night in the Gaia household tonight.

Oceanus and Hyperion take showers together. It saves water, time and, frankly, energy. There has, of course, been horsing around in the shower which leads to mom and dad stomping in to the bathroom yelling at them to calm down. There have been slips and falls which have not been a big deal and not sufficiently scary enough for them.

Tonight it was a big deal and I think (hope) sufficiently scary enough for them.

Oceanus slipped and banged the back of his head really hard. Hyperion was already out of the shower and drying off. Mr. Gaia, his mom and I were all sitting out in the living room talking. We heard the fall but, like I said, he's fallen before and it's never been a big deal. For the first time tonight we didn't say "are you okay" we sighed and said "quit horsing around".

Hyperion came out of the bathroom hysterical. We go in to find Oceanus curled in the fetal position in a swirling pool of blood. I certainly freaked out. I gathered myself together realized Gaga could comfort Oceanus better than I could (it's a good thing I'm not a jealous woman, the bond between those two is extremely strong) left Mr. Gaia and Gaga in charge of Oceanus and took Hyperion into his room to dry off and get some clothes on.

Hyperion was really freaked. He kept saying "he's losing all his blood" and "I'm not ready to be an only child". I kept reassuring him that it really wasn't that much blood - the running shower water made it look like a lot and that head wounds just bleed a lot, but that there's a lot of blood in the body. It was somewhat easier to reassure him because Oceanus did not lose consciousness and was crying.

I settled into my forced, unnatural calm, called the insurance company to make sure where I could go and what kind of preauthorization I needed. And then leaving Hyperion with Gaga, Mr. Gaia and I took Oceanus to the ER (using the term "ER" so that they didn't freak out more at "emergency room" or "hospital").

We got there at 8:13 and checked in at 8:18 (really, they should be signed better, there were a bunch of signs telling us what not to do, but not what to do and there was way too few staff to direct patients). We were finally seen at 8:53 (yes, 35 minutes with a head wound) by which time Oceanus had thrown up in the waiting room (luckily we brought a bucket).

One CT scan (normal) and 4 staples later, we're home and mostly calm. We were finished at about 10:30. It took a little longer than it had to because Oceanus opted for the numbing gel over the numbing shot (30 minutes v 3 minutes). Oceanus won't be playing in the soccer game on Saturday, but other than that we expect a full recovery.

Dream Job

2007-10-15T23:15:00.000-06:00

My dream job is open. A naturalist in a birding center. I really want this job. But I don't speak Spanish. I'm applying anyway, but I don't have the most hope.

The application is difficult. They want a complete job history, including contact information, supervisor name and supervisor title. Several of my jobs were with companies who have since relocated. And I'm not putting my restaurant jobs on there - they're simply not relevant.

The fact that this is my dream job doesn't mean it will be without stress. It will require some travelling. It will require hours other than M-F 8-5. It will require that we find after school care for our boys. It will require that I likely miss soccer games. It will require a 40 mile round-trip commute (which will require a new car). The salary won't be much more than I currently make, so the money for a new car will be a stretch.

But the chance to work outside and in nature? Priceless

Some people are just nuts!

2007-10-11T21:19:00.000-06:00

I swear, you try to do something nice and it just pisses people off.

I walk the kids home from school every day. So today we hear a dog barking what sounds like a distress call. I look over and see a small dog right up against a fence and realize that it looks like it's trapped.

So, we cross the (busy) road to go check on the dog. It is trapped - it's on a lead and has squeezed through a small opening in the fence.

I'm looking at it (still about 5 feet away in case it's not so nice and isn't as trapped as it looks) and trying to figure out how to fix the issue when a woman pulls up (on the wrong side of the road - which is, as I said, very busy) and YELLS at me "That's MY dog, so don't even think about taking her".

I tell her that I wasn't going to take it, I was just checking to make sure it was okay because it was obviously in a bad situation and she again YELLS "Well, that's MY dog, you can just forget about taking her".

I wanted to yell "Lady, I don't want your stupid dog, I'm a cat person, I just wanted to make sure it didn't strangle itself". But I just took my kids and walked off.

I swear. I'm trying to tell myself she's had dogs taken in the past, but damn. After I explained that I was checking to make sure it was okay, you'd think she'd calm down, but if anything it seemed to make her more upset.

I swear, I'm going to program the animal control number into my cell phone and call them next time I see a dog outside her fence. Maybe they'll fine her for not taking care of her animals.

Poor dog could have died - either from strangulation or from dehydration (it's still really, really hot here and there was no shade).

Old Married Couple

2007-10-09T20:34:00.000-06:00

You know you've been married a long time and aren't listening to your spouse as much as you used to when:

1) You read through a brochure for a conference that looks interesting and look through the talks and the speakers. One of the names seems familiar and it takes you a few minutes to realize, "oh DUH! That's my husband!". Yep, Mr. Gaia is going to be speaking at a conference and I'm sure he told me, but I didn't hear it.

2) His schedule goes in one ear and out the other - "you're speaking to who, when?". "Okay, you have a meeting Monday night - where is that and for what?"

3) Your wife explains the great confluence of events that will lead to her actually getting to see a dear friend and you have no memory of any part of the conversation.

4) Your wife tells you she really likes one of the new shows you're taping and you watch it and erase it while she's at work.

Mr. Gaia and I have hit that stage. Sigh.

Of course, on the other hand, we understand each other's rhythms better than ever.

Faith the size of a mustard seed

2007-10-07T22:24:00.000-06:00

I have sitemeter on this blog. It's really cool, it tells me how people got here and if they got here through a search engine, what term they used.

The most searched term is "faith the size of a mustard seed" from this post. The post was about gathering bok choy seeds. Bok choy being in the mustard family.

But all these searches (which have picked up in the last month making me wonder what that's all about) have gotten me thinking about faith. A few months ago I dreamed that someone gave me a winning lottery ticket. Now this is a recurring dream because it is the only way I'm going to win the lottery, I'm not about to buy a ticket. This week I stepped over a lottery receipt on my way to pick up the kids from school. I walked on and then remembered my dream and went back and picked up the ticket. It was, of course, not a winning ticket. But it occurred to me that the deity above might choose to bless me in this way, so now I pick up all the lottery tickets I see. I figure even if they're losers, I've helped by picking up trash.

Right now I feel like I'm hanging my clothes on the line in faith. My new neighbors, who have to come through my backyard to get to their backyard - yeah that was great planning on the part of the developer - have displayed some hostile behaviors. Tonight it was a yard full of small, unripe citrus fruits (I'm not sure if they're valley lemons or oranges, I just know they're citrus, small, and unripe). Other days have had them trimming the trees that are clearly on our side of the property line and scalping the grass on our side of the property line. Dudes! The survey stakes are still in place, how hard can it be to see that you are clearly NOT on your own property? So, I take care only to hang things I don't really care about on that end of the line. And forget getting a dog anytime soon. Clearly they cannot be trusted to not let a dog out of the yard (they often forget to close the gate). Oh, and don't get me started on the night they were messing with the gate (which is right under our bedroom window) at 2am. Yeah, that doesn't disturb a person AT ALL.

Baking

2007-10-05T22:34:00.000-06:00

I made fresh bread last week. I couldn't use the solar oven because there were too many clouds, so I made 2 loaves. Would you believe it's all gone already? Sigh. So it's time to bake again.

Oceanus loves my bread, which thrills me because it is such a healthy food. Last week he said "there's nothing better than fresh bread".

I was also given a start for Amish friendship bread this week. I'm looking for a good recipe that doesn't use vanilla pudding because I'm not about to buy pudding for it. I'm thinking a good banana bread recipe would work (we have lots of frozen bananas in the freezer). So if you have one, let me know, pretty please?!

How to make a mom's head explode

2007-10-04T23:45:00.001-06:00

My 9 year old is a good kid. I have to remind myself of this often. Very often.

Lately he's not been paying any attention to me at all. It isn't that I'm not consistent. It isn't that I don't dole out punishments. It's just that he doesn't care enough to listen to me.

I spoke to Mr. Gaia about this and we both agreed that this has to stop NOW. It will only get worse as he gets older. So Mr. Gaia talked to him today. Apparently he listens to Mr. Gaia because he's scared of Mr. Gaia (which does not thrill Mr. Gaia at all), he listens to his grandmother because she's so nice. But I'm not scary enough or nice enough so he ignores me.

Sigh.

Yes my head just exploded.

I'm at a loss. Short of beating him*, I'm not sure how I can scare him. I think the playroom tv may have to go away for a while. They can start doing chores and work in the yard in the time they would normally watch TV.

*For the record, Mr. Gaia does NOT beat the kids, I'm not sure why they're scared of him and not me, unless it's just that they've seen my breaking point and know that even when I've completely lost it, I'm not going to do more than yell at them.

Oklahoma is turning 100!

2007-10-02T22:43:00.000-06:00

I got this email from my mom (with some additions from me):

Oklahoma Centennial

Oklahoma is celebrating its 100th anniversary of Statehood this year. Because most people think of the Stage play " Oklahoma!" when they hear the state's name mentioned, citizens are attempting to update the state's image by sharing Interesting state facts with others as we celebrate our Centennial.

Oklahoma is not only the home of Ado Annie and AuntEller from " Oklahoma!" but of the parking meter(invented in OKC) and the shopping cart (invented inArdmore).

The electric guitar also was invented in Oklahoma, by a Beggs musician named Bob Dunn. The first "Yield" sign was installed in Tulsa.

**Environmental Protection Agency recognizes Oklahoma as having the most diverse terrain of any state in the nation. The state, according to EPA, boasts 11 distinct eco-regions. The state has more man-made lakes than any other state, which give us more than a million surface-acres of water and 2,000 more miles of shoreline than the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined.

Oklahoma has produced more astronauts than any other state in the union. Owen Garriott is an Enid boy, of course, while Tom Stafford is from Weatherford, Shannon Lucid from Oklahoma City, William Pogue from Okemah and the late Gordon Cooper from Shawnee. Oklahoma is home to the Amateur Softball Association and Hall of Fame, a world class zoo in OKC, the Cowboy Hall of Fame, Gilcrease Museam (cowboy art) and more F4 and F5 tornadoes than any other state.

Oklahoma is the third-largest gas-producing state in the nation and ranks fourth in the production of wheat, cattle and calves, fifth in the production of pecans, sixth in peanuts and eighth in peaches.

The state's colors are neither OU's crimson and cream nor the orange and black of OSU but green and white.

Oklahomans practice 73 major religions. The largest is the Southern Baptist Convention, with nearly 1,600 churches and more than 960,000 members (pretty large percentage considering the population of Oklahoma is only about 3.5 million or so).

Oklahoma gave birth to Dick Tracy (cartoonist Chester Gould is a native of Pawnee) and Donald Duck (Clarence"Ducky" Nash, the original voice of Walt Disney's Donald, grew up in Watonga). Not to mention, Garth, Reba, Toby (well, you know, even a good state produces some bad apples), Ron Howard, Troy Aikman, Vince Gill, Carrie Underwood, Jeanne Tripplehorn (Big Love), James Garner, Gene Autry, Johnny Bench, Gary Busey, Lon Chaney and Lon Chaney, Jr, Roy Clark, Bart Connor (now married to Nadia Comaneche), Joan Crawford, Walter Cronkite, Dizzy Dean, John Denver, Ronnie Dunn (Brooks & Dunn), Ralph Ellison (author of Invisible Man), Pretty Boy Floyd, Woody Guthrie, The Hansons, Carolyn Hart (wonderful mystery writer), Paul Harvey, Tony Hillerman, S.E. Hinton, Ben Johnson, Louis L'Amour, "Pawnee Bill", Mickey Mantle, Rue McLanahan, Mel McDaniel, Dr. Phil, Tom Mix, N. Scott Momaday, Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), Carrie Nation, Patti Page, Wiley Post, Will Rogers, Jim Thorpe, Tony Randall, Wilson Rawls (Where the Red Fern Grows), Donna Reed, Conway Twitty, and Brad Pitt(and a lot more I'm leaving off - source is here).

Oklahomans have survived the Dust Bowl, any number of killer tornadoes, the 1995 bombing of Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and various oil booms and busts.

Oklahoma is populated by people who are caring, giving, hard-working, patriotic and fiercely independent. Oklahoma is a good place to live, work and play.

The challenge in this, our centennial year, is to make the rest of America aware of what Oklahoma has to offer, besides "beautiful mornings," "fringe-laden surreys" and "a girl who cain't say no."

The official statehood celebration will be in November. In the meantime, individual cities are restaging various events associated with statehood and the settling of Indian Territory which eventually became our state. It's a great time to be an Oklahoman and I wanted to share this with you!

People tell me I can't be a Texan because I wasn't born here and I respond "that's okay, I don't want to be a Texan, I'm an Oklahoman".

Update on Goals

2007-10-01T22:55:00.000-06:00

In April I posted that I wanted to become a Certified Arborist and the first step was to get the study guide.

Guess what I got in the mail today? My study guides. Guess what's even better!!! I got them for free. Wonderful Mr. Gaia noticed a little announcement about a research study on the different study guides (CD-ROM and book) and they were giving free guides to participants. You'd better believe I had my name in post-haste.

In April, I also posted a goal to use up my samples. Can you believe I'm still working on using those samples? Granted, Mr. Gaia has traveled for business multiple times and we have traveled as a family so I've gotten more hotel shampoos. But based on current usage plus current additions, I'm good through December, at least.

Unfortunately those are the only goals I can report progress on. I've not maintained the clean house I wanted. It's not bad, but it's not great. MIL comes in 3 weeks, so I need to step it up a little each day so that I'm not going nuts the last week before she gets here. My exercise goals didn't stick after the kids came back home. Soccer isn't helping. But it's my fault. I need to start really getting serious about it.

Ravelry

2007-09-30T01:53:00.000-06:00

I finally got my invite to Ravelry. I can't remember when I applied, before school started, so more than a month ago. I haven't done much yet. So far, I'm just looking around.

I think it's going to be a good thing and I hope to find some good ideas.

I need to load my stash into it and then I need to go search patterns. I'm not sure what I want to make next. I need something to take with me to soccer games, something that looks cool, but isn't hard to do.

Something that doesn't require $100 worth of yarn.

Financial Team

2007-09-28T23:57:00.000-06:00

One year ago, Mr. Gaia was not my partner in the family finances. He abdicated that responsibility to me prior to our marriage.

I spent the first 11 years of our marriage feeling like the finance cop. Always feeling like I couldn't spend anything, because I knew he was and I felt like I needed to balance him. His constant phrase was "it's only $10/$20 per month".

Finally one day he stumbled upon a blog I had at another site where I was chronicling our financial life. I didn't write anything I hadn't said to him (multiple times), but seeing it written out like that was too much for him. We had a huge blow up fight and then he started getting involved, really involved.

Now I should say, in his defense, he has always been the best shopper I know. He finds the best deals. It was just that he couldn't pass up a good deal, so we often bought things we didn't need or particularly want because they were 90% off. Some of this stuff, I should say, was perfect for gifts for family and friends. It's just that a lot of it became clutter and a reminder to me of where all our money was going.

NOT that I was innocent, you understand. I encouraged him in some of his shopping and I would no sooner give up my high speed internet than I would give up breathing. Same with cable.

All that said, starting just about a year ago, Mr. Gaia came on as my full financial partner, and then some. He turned his skills at finding great deals to finding great bank accounts, great credit card rewards, good investment opportunities, a good refinance rate (at very little cost).

I am now much more relaxed about finances. I no longer check the bank balance every day. In fact, I logged on earlier today and almost couldn't remember my log on. Now, I'm in danger of fully abdicating my financial responsibilities to Mr. Gaia. Sigh.

This came clear to me tonight. We use rewards credit cards (always paying the balance in full each month). This enables us to earn interest on the money we spend for a few days/weeks longer and we get some cash back. It's never much, but it does add up over time. We realized that my credit card available credit isn't as high as it could be without hurting my credit score (and needed to be a bit higher so I'd have a lower utilization ratio), so we (he, remember I abdicated my responsibilities, sigh) decided I needed to apply for some more cards.

He directed me to www.app-o-rama.com. We went through the list of cards they recommend, compared them with bonuses we could get through our current companies and picked 3 cards. Plus one with my credit union.

We're what credit card companies refer to as "deadbeats". We use their cards, pay off the balances and collect our rewards. How are they supposed to make money off of us (you know, besides what they charge the retailers)?

So my goal for October is to take back my partnership interest in our finances.

Sad day in Bug Hill

2007-09-25T23:51:00.000-06:00

So Humberto Leal has been deported. Who knew he wasn't here legally? He's legally married to Karen (Johnson) a legal marriage performed here in the US. They have a 4 year old girl, Claudia.

He was dumped across the border from Laredo. INS took his belt and his new boots. They took his ID. He was dumped with nothing but the clothes on his back (I'm not sure if it was his own clothes or a government issued outfit). He was able to borrow a phone to call Karen to wire him money, but without ID he couldn't pick it up.

He was finally able to get in touch with his family in Mexico and they were able to cobble together enough transportation to get him to their home. If he'd had his new boots, he could have traded those for some money and it would have been easier.

So now Claudia has pretty much lost her father. For at least a year, maybe longer. It's not like Karen makes enough money to pay for his transportation back, if he even manages to be allowed to come back. A 4 year old Daddy's girl is going to have to give up her father.

Sigh.

Please keep Claudia, Karen and Beto in your thoughts.

Well, isn't this surprising?

2007-09-24T22:40:00.000-06:00

That it's reported, not what it is reporting. What it's reporting has been patently obvious to those of us who have followed birth trends for the last few years.

The C-section epidemic

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month released 2004 data
showing a rate of 13.1 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. For a country
that considers itself a leader in medical technology, this figure should be a
wake-up call. In Scandinavian countries, about 3 per 100,000 women die, which is
thought to be the irreducible minimum. The U.S. remains far from that. Even more
disturbing is the racial disparity: Black women are nearly four times as likely
to die during childbirth than white women, with a staggering rate of 34.7 deaths
per 100,000.

What's amazing about this report (other than that it's being reported at all) is the lengths people will go through to excuse the differences. Stuff like "new reporting measures" "advanced maternal age" etc. Because apparently only the US has advanced maternal age and new reporting methods really make that much diffrerence (especially in light of this bit from the article "Other reports by CDC epidemiologists have acknowledged that deaths related to childbirth are probably underreported by a factor of two to three.").

Birth in the US is a war zone. The OBs are terrified they will be sued and so they operate (no pun intended) under the idea that "you only get sued for the c-section you DIDN'T do". Patients just want time to talk to their OBs and feel like they're on an assembly line (because they are). So many people have said they just want to feel like their OB listens to them and takes the time to explain what is going on. There's a reason midwives are rarely sued for malpractice - even when they have the same outcomes. Midwives take the time to talk to their clients (and there's a difference - clients v patients) and schedule 30 minutes to an hour with each patient. They limit their patients each month to be sure they will be able to be at the births.

Breastfeeding while working

2007-09-20T21:55:00.000-06:00

A commenter in the Feministe thread on Bill Maher doesn't think she will be able to exclusively nurse and work full time.

I thought I'd open a post for people to post their tips for working and nursing.

I worked from when Oceanus was 5.5 weeks old until he was 2. He was nursed exclusively - no formula whatsoever. I'll admit that I had an edge - Mr. Gaia was a SAHD and was able to bring the baby to me during lunch hours and occasional breaks. But a mother who has childcare reasonably close to her office could accomplish the lunch hour fairly easily. And I ended up dumping over 200 ounces of breastmilk by the end of our nursing relationship.

Here's how I did it. I realized that pumping was difficult and sucked, so I turned to my LLL friends for tips. The BEST tip I got was to pump while the baby was nursing. Nurse on one side and pump on the other. And to start this fairly early (about 3 weeks for me) so the baby would get used to the sound of the pump.

When I pumped at work to relieve engorgement, I would get maybe 1 ounce in 15 minutes. When I pumped while nursing, I would get 5 ounces in about 10 minutes. The letdown caused by the baby worked in my favor. So, I would pump a couple of times a day at work to relieve engorgement and then pump a couple of times at home and have enough to carry him for the 2 feedings he would need while I was at work.

I also took advantage of a natural tendency of some babies to "reverse-cycle". He cut way back on his feedings during the day (2 or so for 8 hours) and increased them when I was home (every 1-2 hours for the first part of the night).

I also co-slept. I know this is considered controversial and I understand the controversy - but let me point out that most adults know where the edge of the bed is even while they are asleep and don't roll out of bed. If you do roll out of bed - DON'T co-sleep without safety gear (a bassinet for the bed or a side-car, for instance). And it should go without saying that you should never co-sleep without safety gear if you are taking sleeping pills or drinking. What co-sleeping did for me was to allow me to nurse the baby while I slept with no worries about falling asleep in the chair and dropping him.

I know a lot of people who have worked and exclusively nursed. Please share your tips so we can help wishy-washy.

So much to blog about

2007-09-19T23:43:00.000-06:00

So little gray matter left.

First, feministe reports that Bill Maher is a misogynistic asshole who thinks that breastfeeding in public is somehow special treatment for women. Nevermind that men go topless all the time. Nevermind that it's about feeding a baby. It's about tits being used for something other than turning him on.

Apparently this is in response to the nurse-in at Applebee's. I'm so ashamed, I knew about this nurse-in and failed to report it. My old LLL group had a nurse-in in Oklahoma City.

I'm so pissed. I nursed for years and never had a nurse-in - unless you count my own private nurse-ins. I was that woman who nursed in public all the time and without using a blanket. I figured the only way to have nursing viewed as normal would be for more people to see it.

Then out of Australian comes this story about a woman who went through IVF to have a child with her partner. Her story is she told them all along she only wanted one child, period. She was advised to put "up to two" on the form and that she couldn't tell them until the procedure based on quality issues. Sounds like she got extremely bad advice from the nurse and was pretty candid all along that she only wanted one child.

It's probably no surprise to most people who know me that I'm on her side on this. Doctors are in too big of a rush and have stopped listening to their patients. Patients are told to sign documents they don't agree with or told they will have the doctor-patient relationship severed. My birth was much more stressful than it had to be because I refused to sign a blanket consent form and marked it up. They didn't want to accept the form and threatened me with child services for putting my baby in danger.

And that's all the brain matter I can squeeze out today.

I'm a mean mom

2007-09-19T00:47:00.000-06:00

Oceanus is now old enough to join the Nature Club at his school. He's been a little lukewarm about the idea, while Mr. Gaia and I have been pushing him to get more information.

Well, he finally brought home the information and has to write an essay. The essay he wrote showed he clearly didn't want to be in the Club. Being the mean mom I am, I asked why. Apparently it's because it is after school on Friday and that would mean he would miss TV for a part of that time.

Oooh. Yeah. That brought on the TV lecture. "If TV is so important to you that you're giving up activities you would find interesting, then it's time for the TV to go away" (expand from there).

So, they all went to soccer practice and I took a much needed nap (my jaw stopped hurting for 2 full hours after my nap!!!). When I woke up, they were back and Oceanus had had a change of attitude and re-written his essay.

I don't know that he will get in, his essay still isn't as good as it could be (it's clearly half-hearted to anyone who knows how smart this kid is) but he did at least make an effort. I hope he gets in because I know he will really enjoy this club. The kid says he wants to be a scientist, after all.

But Mr. Gaia and I are going to have to have some long discussions with them and work on limiting TV time.