live from sublurbia

[Think Of A Something Thursday!]

I had a plan when it came to breast feeding and traveling for business. Don’t.

It didn’t quite work out that way, though, as an unexpected trip came my way before my youngest was on cow milk in any substantial amount.

My supply has always been sporadic at best, and she wasn’t helping the situation by refusing formula. I kept up as best I could for as long as I could, but was relieved when she finally took to solid foods. Even then, I pumped at work and home, and slowly built a little freezer stash.

Once I found out I’d be traveling in the middle of the transition to more cow milk, I burned through my stash as quickly as possible and started up a new one. Continue Reading »

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I don’t know how the conversation started, but I know how it ended.

“I don’t eat animals*.”

Sure you do, honey. Chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, meatballs. Those are from animals.

“Really?”

Yes.

“Are we talking animal crackers here?”

No, dear, real animals.

“Are you sure?”

I don’t remember much of the rest of it but I was laughing too hard internally to pursue it further with a straight face; I changed the subject to something else entirely, instead.

_{*This from the kid that used to make clucking noises as chicken tenders moved from plate to mouth}

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PS, happy Earth Day.

But when did it turn into earth week? Are we going to see countdown signs for Earth Day and Arbor Day? Mixing it with Mother’s Day? “Tell mom you love her with the gift of planting 100 seedlings in former Amazon rainforest.” Or fashion? “Get this years hot new reusable bag and repurposed shoes!”

On the one hand = spreading the radical idea of buying less crap, keeping it for longer than a millibleen, and recycling our reduced consumption is good. On the other hand, the first “R” is reduce, too. We don’t need to go buy six million new things. And some of the ideas are better than others: ending the distribution and use of plastic shopping bags at some stores, or the suspect advice to “sweep fertilizer off of the driveway”.

Maybe I’m biased, but that advice from Scott’s smells more of greenwashing to me. “Hey, look, we have an environmental campaign!” Or you could use fertilizers (not from Scott) that are more environmentally friendly in the first place.

Then again, maybe we need a little ammonium phosphate in the water supply to offset all the prozac in the water.

But whether you celebrate Earth Day, Week, Month, or life, Happy Earth Day! I’ve been swamped at work and home lately and haven’t had a change to give my diapers a good line dry in ages, so I snapped a shot of a couple that needed a little sun the other day. I’m a bit wistful about it, as this is probably the last diaper line I’ll post on Earth Day. This time next year I expect we’ll be diaper-free. Ah well, more room on my line for other things!

We’ll be spending/celebrating tonight eating some green spinach tortilla wraps I prepared last night, along with snacky foods, out back on a picnic blanket. Should keep the kids happy while I tend the weeds without Monsanto’s help.

How did you/ will you celebrate this year?

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I made sure I greeted the the Working Girl first: a little brown and white whippet, about waist high on Wolfie. I was ready in the way I’d told Wolfie to approach dogs: hand palm down and limp, wrist out. She sniffed it, and moved on to Wolfie. Wolfie started a bit (we’re working on that - that’s what got me bitten - someone else starting as the dog sniffed me) and when the dog sniffed him and moved on, he was fine. He even walked around a bit, watching the Working Dog on her rounds, fascinated.

Actually, we meet lots of nice dogs, all the time. The last time I was bitten, well, I was following the rules, and the dog, when spooked, bit me (prior to spooking he was sniffing my wrist).

But Wolfie is a bit scared of dogs. We’re working on it. Cats are getting better; he’ll pet them and they’ll accept it, everyone goes their own way. This working dog is a sweety, though, and just right for him, so we’ll visit her when we’re in the area.

Some of our family, friends, and neighbors have pets, mostly dogs. We’ve been using the pups as object lessons on how to “talk to dogs” and work with them: Let them smell you and get to know you, then you guys go your own ways. Some dogs love being loved, though, and are quite loveable, but are a little Too Much for him yet.

But like hair cuts and swimming lessons, we’re Getting There.

Little steps. Little steps.

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Sorry my foray back into blogging has been so quiet lately; I had grand plans to actually write that have been knocked about by four weeks of Super Virus Pinball 2008 at home. First one kid, then the other, bringing and sharing coughs and sniffles and other viral delights. At least this year I was armed with the dark-chocolate-aid-for-coughs at the start of this deluge and didn’t suffer too horribly.

This last bout may be from other sources, though; according to the PA who diagnosed me with The Flu (second time since moving here) there has been a large uptick of cases in the last couple of weeks locally. I’ve noticed sniffles among workfriends and their offspring, too, so it might all just still be Going Around. Continue Reading »

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I remember as a teenager hearing confirmation that an elephant’s large ears weren’t mere decoration, but part of a sophisticated communication system that allowed them to speak and hear at long distances. They exchanged complex bursts of information, much like bees dancing to give directions to new nectar sources. A few weeks ago, I found out that the cartoons I grew up with were right, too: mice do laugh.

But anyone who has spent time grouping kids together know they have their own languages and ways to transfer information. From the obvious ones we see, like shared play and story telling, to lightning fast data transfers that move faster than a Vulcan mind meld. Now that the youngest has figured out both how to defeat the baby gate and manage the stairs quietly enough that her sudden appearance where she should not be has provokes more than a few startled screams, we know we’re doomed. Continue Reading »

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I wondered when this stage would arrive. I’d read my friends blogs, envious of their kids’ imaginations - imaginary friends, imaginary names … he did a little bit of that but not a lot. But his imagination is getting broader and broader; thank you Galaxy Trio!! Continue Reading »

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Yes, I’m back and feeling all bloggy again. And it was a bit of a rough winter, unexpectedly weaning my toddler, holiday madness and all kinds of things. But I’m back and will be reworking the site into another bloggy format, incorporating all the pak-mam posts (Amanda, I know, I suk, I’m so sorry! I have your new address, and again, very sorry about your contest prize!) and tweaking a few other things. But I need to beta the new software first before I decide to roll it out or just do with what I have here.

No TOASTS this week; still getting back into the swing of things. Spent a hilarious amount of time trying to explain to the kiddo what Leap Year Day is; between that, the music critiques, and trying to get him to understand the concept of Sarcasam and why it’s rather inappropriate in a child his age, I’m pretty wiped this week. But more soon.

So, how are you going to celebrate Leap Year Day with your kiddos?

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You read it in most parenting books, or hear it in amazed hushed tones from friends and family: “Shh! They soak it up like a sponge! Keep your voice down!”

But they don’t just hear things, they see them, too. On a recent business trip, I observed a 15 month old girl keeping herself amused in the air port, walking around, playing with her purse, holding her mother’s phone to her ear and jabbering at it. Hands free. She had the perfect shoulder tilt to hold it in place while walking and rummaging through her little purse.

My youngest still looks alert and says, “Hello, Ish me” whenever she hears “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell on my 80’s station. Which really amazed me when I realized I had stopped using that as a cell phone ring tone when I was eight months pregnant with her.

But the eldest … he’s been exposed to my musical tastes a bit longer, and it’s starting to show. Continue Reading »

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We used to have a cat named William. She was a sweet fluffy black and white cat, but woe to anything you owned that was colored red. She’d take it and it would be hers. Full stop, end of record.

We found this out one year we had room for a Christmas tree in the “new” part of the house (granted, the first part of the home was built in the late 1800s, so the “newest” part of the house may be a more accurate description). We put up the tree, knowing that cats love trees, as we did most years - but this was William’s first tree experience. Continue Reading »

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