My Neck of the Woods...

Funny or Not?

2009-06-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Is it wrong that I actually laughed when reading this?

see more Fail Blog

In Memory of Tuck

2009-05-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

After a year and a half battle, and 4 surgeries for removal of the mast cell tumors that kept coming back, worse and quicker each time, the cancer finally got the upper hand. Less than 2 weeks after his last surgery, the masses were back and bigger than ever. By this weekend, Tucker could hardly get up, and when he did, would only take a few steps before laying back down. He stopped eating, refusing even hotdogs and steak. So on Tuesday afternoon, our beloved vet made the 25 mile trip out to our house to help Tucker through his last moments. It was a peaceful and quick, but terribly sad ending.

We have had Tucker since he was a 2 month old puppy, getting him the week we moved into our first house in October 1998. He was a sweet, loyal, eager to please pup. He had a great life, but the roughest of our menagerie, winning a battle with Parvo at 8 months, replacement of a "knee" ligament at 6 years, and terrible itchy skin problems from spring to fall for the last 7 years. We spent an incredible amount of time and money at various vets over the years, but never regretted a single dollar.

He will be missed terribly and never replaced or forgotten. Our hearts are heavy with the loss but our lives richer and blessed for having almost 11 great years with our boy.

We hope that everyone is blessed with a Tucker at least once in their lives.

Obama Tax Cuts

2009-03-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

So unless you get the daily emails from Move On you may not have seen this. I found it very interesting and thought I'd share. This comes from Daniel Mintz,

Dear MoveOn member,
This is ridiculous. The media has been obsessing about President Obama's plan to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans—from 35% to 39.6%—even asking if that makes him a socialist.1

But do you know what tax rate the wealthiest Americans paid on the top portion of their earnings at the end of Ronald Reagan's first term? 50%.
Under Richard Nixon? 70%. Under Dwight Eisenhower? 91%!
Shocking, right?

And for all the whining about rolling back Bush's irresponsible tax cuts, the truth is that Obama's plan cuts taxes for 95% of working Americans. Further, it closes huge tax loopholes for oil companies, hedge funds and corporations that ship jobs overseas so that we can invest in the priorities that will get our economy back on track.2
We saw a great chart in The Washington Monthly3 that shows just how absurd Republican complaints about Obama's budget are. Check it out and pass it on:

Becoming an Investor

2009-03-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

John and I are still somewhat worried about our job security although having survived 3 rounds of layoffs (me) and his hours cut by 2 days a month, we think we will probably be ok.

Additionally, we are in the middle of refinancing to take advantage of the lower rates. With a 2.675 point buy down, we can get 4.375% as of yesterday. We are all approved to go but have yet to lock in - I will probably do so soon but I'm nervous wondering if there will be another rate drop.

Anyway, with the refinance, we are also taking a cashout to pay off ALL our other debt - our new car loan, creditcards (all of which have always been at 0% but those 0% offers are disappearing fast!) and student loan. This will lower our monthly payments by a little more than $800. At first I had just planned to use the surplus to aggressively pay down the principal and get the house paid off in 10 years or so, until I started running the numbers of what investing that same amount would get us. I was blown away! We would be idiots to pay down the principal at a cost savings of 4.375% when investing the money over time can get us a return of 8% conservatively and more likely in the range of 12-16%. Not to mention, the money would be there if we needed it, whereas cashing in on equity in your house is much more difficult. And with 25-30 years until we retire, we will still have the house paid off by then anyway.

So, for the first time in our lives, we are finding ourselves with a monthly budget surplus. We have been doing pretty well month to month and have even managed to save some money over the last year while still making some decent retail purchases.

So for the first time in our lives, we are in a position to start some serious savings. As a public employee with Oregon pers benefits, I will have a pretty decent retirement already. Add to that the fact I have been contributing over the years to other retirement accounts as well, not alot, but currently about $200/month, and we are not in bad shape for retirement without the additional money. We still plan to increase our retirement contributions significantly, but even if we did an additional $400/month ($600 total) that leaves us with a MINIMUM of $400/month to savings. I am actually thinking we will be able to swing an additional $800 or more most months.

While we want to increase our liquid savings, it is obvious that within a year we will have more than we really need in liquidity and with current interest rates at a maximum of 1.75% (traditional CD) it doesn't make sense to just put it all in savings. So I think we are going to be opening an investment savings account for the first time. I feel like over the last 48 hours I have been cramming for finals, trying to learn the basics of investing! Up until now, I have just done the standard retirement accounts, not having to really worry about how it works. Savings investments are a whole different ball game. I am leaning toward Hartford which the investment advisor at our bank suggested. The individual who runs the account has an excellent track record. I am still nervous as this is brand new territory for us, but I am excited about the prospect as well. Particularly with the markets so low right now, I feel like this is the perfect time to get started.

So, do you have any investment savings other than a retirement account? What has worked for you? Any advice or good reading suggestions would be appreciated!

Vacation Planning

2009-02-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

So we have our plane tickets and are getting ready to book another vacation to Disney World for the end of August. Just wish it wasn't 6 months out! We are planning on staying at Pop Century again and are banking on Disney offering the free dining plan again at the end of August as they have done for the past few years. We did the dining plan last year (a year ago today as a matter of fact!) and loved it. But at around $90 a day for the three of us, getting it free means we will save around $800 in food costs over a 9 day vacation - well worth the wait! Plus it is the off season and we save on the package rates as well.

The really cool thing is that Gunfighter will be there the same time! Hoping to get a chance to meet up with him and his family. That would be really cool.

Catching Up

2009-01-28T11:38:00.001-08:00

So Jaxon had his colonoscopy last week (yes he's not even 5 yet!) and it went smooth as silk. They gave him and oral sedative before wheeling him in to "surgery" so he doesn't even remember anything about it, not even getting his anesthesia. He recovered just fine. Took a couple hours for the anesthesia to wear off, but once he started to wake up, he was back to his normal self, eating lunch in the cafeteria with Grammie and I a half hour later.

The doctor found one polyp which he removed. Couldn't have asked for a better outcome. One polyp explains where the blood was coming from but isn't otherwise anything to be concerned about, so it looks like we can put this year long ordeal to rest finally! And so far, no more blood in is stool since then. Yay!

A Brilliant Idea?

2008-12-10T12:45:00.000-08:00

So John's been playing M.I.A.'s Paper Planes a lot the last few days. It's one of those songs that really sticks with you for a long list of reasons, not the least of which is that it is so catchy. But the lyrics at first glance are a bit disturbing. After reading through them a few times, I started to grasp that they are heavy with satire and irony as well as double meanings. Listening to a few interviews with her she certainly seems to have a depth and intelligence about her that further support the likelihood of that rather than just some disturbing gangsta rap song.

Anyway - I was just thinking about how different her background is, having grown up in Sri Lanka and experiencing the early years of Tamil fighting. Hearing her speak and then listening to the lyrics of her music takes you out of your comfort zone, shouting hey - there are a lot bigger things going on in the world.

Which got me thinking...
1. We have an over-population problem in our jails. Many of these criminals are repeat offenders. Many come from a small world where they not only lack education but any sense of a world beyond their neighborhood or group of loser "friends".

2. There are many programs out there all over the world that need volunteer help.

Why not give some of the less dangerous offenders the choice of serving some of their time in some sort of relief program in a 3rd world country? Somewhere totally away from the influences that got them in trouble to begin with, somewhere that will broaden their horizons, somewhere where they can accomplish something to be proud of and give them a chance to see what they have to contribute, and a chance to see what else there is to experience in the world beyond their small horizon. I think this could be a very powerful rehabilitiation tool, with benefits for both sides.

Or, how about troubled kids? Same context, but get them out of their element before they get into serious trouble. Everyone I know who has gone to third world countries to help with relief efforts has been changed for life. Why not provide those kind of life altering experiences to sectors of the population most in need of a positive life changing experience?

Speed Racer Marketing - Missed the Boat

2008-12-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

Boy did the marketers for Speed Racer miss the boat big time. Jaxon wants a speed racer outfit for Christmas. Not the new version, the 60's version with the blue shirt with the white collar and cuffs and the red ascot. Seems simple right? Make and sell blue polo shirts with white collars and cuffs and the big yellow G. Hell, add in a red ascot and yellow gloves and they'd be selling like hot cakes! All I can find is this sad number.

Now I am just trying to find a plain white non-cuffed polo and blue v-neck t-shirt that I can layer and add the G myself. Do you think I can even find that? Hell no.
At least we found this

which Grandma is getting for him.

HALLELUJA!!!!!

2008-11-04T20:09:00.000-08:00

I can once again feel proud to be an American!

Boost Your Credit Score and Get a Free Vacation

2008-10-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

I take great advantage of credit card offers. We do have a couple of cards that we carry a balance on and over the years the balance has gone up and down but never completely away. That said, I have also never paid interest on those balances. On average I open and close about 5-6 credit cards a year, taking advantage of 0% APR on balance transfers and purchases. I try to get only cards with this offer good for at least 12 months to minimize balance transfer fees. The fee to transfer a balance is usually 3% but it is a one time fee and some cards cap it at $75-$99 per transfer. So that is 3% (or less) APR for the year. Can't beat those rates. And it has not seemed to affect my credit rating - if anything it has probably improved it over the years as I have many examples of cards with a relatively high balance being paid off each year. I have done this for more than 10 years and my credit score is very good.

Another way I take advantage of credit cards is with rewards. I have a shell card which I pay off each month and only use for gas. At 5% credit toward shell gas purchases, I can figure $.15 to $.21 a gallon off at 5% - well worth it! My last two statements have had $33 and $26 credits from gas purchases. No yearly fee on this card.

Both my husband and I got American Express gold cards this year and received 100,000 AE points, (50,000 each account) enough for 4 domestic airline tickets (at least for Alaska Airlines flights). And yes I have checked and I can pretty much choose my dates and times for Alaska Airlines flights right now using those points. The first year membership fees are waived. I am coming up on my membership fee being due this spring, so to get the most out of the offer I will have to book a flight by then and cancel the card. But even if I don't, I can transfer the points to my Priority Club account, although 50,000 AE points only gets me 10,000 PC points.

So that brings me to Priority Club. If you don't have a membership and you do ANY traveling, you need to sign up for one. It's free. Use it when booking and checking into hotels and get points. Points can be used for a free night stay at participating hotels (usually starting at around 10,000 points per night) or converted to airline miles for a variety of airlines. Right now, you can also sign up for a Priority Club credit card through Chase with 0% purchases and balance transfers for 6 months and get 30,000 bonus points to your Priority Club account. That is 3 nights of hotel stay. Just make one purchase, (no small print as to the size of the purchase) to get your points. Then you can cancel the card at any time. Yearly fee for the card is waived for the first year.

So - for FREE you can get 2 domestic airline tickets and 3 nights stay in a hotel. If both you and your spouse sign up separately, that would be 4 airline tickets and 6 nights hotel!

Does it work? I haven't tried using priority club points yet but I have taken two vacations in the past year and a half with free airline tickets. Last year we used 25,000 capital one points to purchase one ticket from Portland to Orlando, and 40,000 Alaska Airlines miles to purchase the other two so the three of us flew to Disneyworld for free. No problem at all getting the reservations booked. The previous summer we flew to Disneyland using 25,000 capital one miles to book one ticket, and buying the second ticket so we could use Alaska Airlines kids fly free to get Jaxon's ticket free. So again, 3 airline tickets for the price of one and no problem at all booking the flights we wanted.

If you fly Alaska Air, you can also get 20,000 bonus miles by signing up for a Bank of America Alaska Airlines credit card. We did that last year and again, no problem getting and using our points. This card also gives you one voucher per year for a $50 companion fare ticket. Used that when Jaxon and I flew home to Seattle last fall.

The caveat if you are doing balance transfers - you have to be responsible if you expect to keep your 0%APR. Generally, when you first set up the credit card, you can select your billing date. I get paid on the 15th and 30th of each month. My end of the month check pays the mortgage so I try to keep all other bills after the 15th. I usually pick the 20th of the month for a payment due date. As SOON AS I GET PAID on the 15th I go online and schedule a payment for each credit card. Sometimes, I even set the credit card account to auto pay the minimum balance each month on the 20th. If you are late on your minimum payment by even ONE DAY the APR will default, often to an extremely high rate, 20-29%. I am ABSOLUTELY SURE TO NEVER be late on a credit card payment. EVER.

Another thing to consider, although I always transfer my balances before the 0% APR expires, I make sure that if I were not able to transfer again, the rate would not be horrendous. Most of my cards would be 9.9-12.9% if the 0% ended. When I get the card, I write in permanent marker on the front the month that the 0% will end to remind me to transfer the balance and close the card before the offer ends. With these tips in mind, I have never had a problem doing this.

I recently worried that with the lending crunch I would not get approval on a new 0% card, or that if I did the credit limit would be so low that it wouldn't matter. This is not the case. I have recently applied for a few with no problem.

And anyone thinking I may be a good target for identity theft? Forget it. I religiously watch my accounts and my credit reports.

Bailout

2008-10-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

Whew - it passed! (Weird isn't it that this article is from Zimbabwe News? It was the first on a google search for "house vote bailout")

I also found this article which I think is extremely informative and hopeful. I am not much into economics or the market so I haven't really formed opinions about the players, but this article put Warren Buffet in a good light in my mind.

Scathing But Right On

2008-10-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

I thought this summary of the debate by Robert Shrum was really good....

And They're Already On Top of It!

2008-10-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

Huh, as you can tell from my last post this is a BIG issue for me. Looks like Obama already has an add out capturing most of the points I made.

The Debate

2008-10-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

Watched the debate last night at a bar right next to the Obama headquarters. They had a room set up upstairs with the debate on a big screen and a packed room. It was like watching a sporting event (which John and I never do) with the cheering, laughing, groaning, and excited commentary. I thought Biden was fantastic. I thought a couple of times that he looked a bit like he wanted to shove a pencil through his eye, but who could blame him? However, he remained calm, cool, poised, and eloquent through the whole thing. Even when he felt the need to retaliate at the implication that he didn't understand what it was like to wonder whether or not a child would "make it" in recovering from a life-threatening medical situation, he held it together and it didn't come off like a grasp for sympathy. It was simply an 'ok, you went there and I am going to make a brief but pointed response and move on'.

I thought AriannaH. comments summed it up well...
"Watching Biden and Palin on the same stage was like watching a tennis champion walk onto Centre Court at Wimbledon only to find himself facing an over-eager amateur from the local high school."

And this quote from Sam Stein was pretty much right on target "...while Sarah Palin exceeded the exceedingly low expectations set for her, Joe Biden won the night." I think I used a bit more forcefull language though.

Did you see her blow a kiss to the crowd as she walked out? Yeah, very vice presidential. And the winking? Good lord woman! That's what we need, charm and flirting! Who needs to sit down and talk and talk through complex issues with world leaders? Just blow 'em a kiss and wink!

And did you yell "what the hell???" along with us when they were talking about foreign policy and the wars and she suddenly switched to talking about energy?

Ok - enough about Palin. I could go on for quite a while.

I loved how despite her sprinting in the opposite direction of half of the questions asked, when the camera turned to Biden, he would promptly and precisely answer the original question (without having to re-ask what the question was) and go on to also address whatever tanget she had gone off on, all well within his allotted 2 minutes.

I thought this post by Leah McElrath Renna was spot on. It's short - take a minute to read it. Joe's Tears: the Political Power of Paternal Love Yeah, he got choked up. But it was real, and he wouldn't have gone there had Palen not dragged him there. I think most of the room teared up with him.

So which issue fired me up? Well, many did, but I think the health care issue is one of the most important to me and I get frustrated that it is never covered in more depth.

I cannot understand how anyone thinks a $5,000 tax credit for health care is any sort of solution.

The average cost for a family health care plan per year is $12,000. Most who can afford that already have coverage through their job. Those that don't have coverage are lucky if they make $30,000 a year. They probably don't. Most of them could not afford to spend $12,000 a year on a house much less adding health care on top of that. And that is if they could even GET coverage in the first place. When you get coverage through an employer, the insurance company HAS to cover you and your family, pre-existing conditions and all. When John and I first moved, there were a few months before we got jobs that we weren't covered. I tried to go and get basic coverage (you know, for major health issues/accidents, etc) and we got DENIED. We were 29 and 31 and VERY healthy at the time. Why did we get denied? Because I had pulled a muscle in my neck while packing for the move and made the mistake of getting some muscle relaxants from my Dr. - therefore, I had a "pre-existing condition" so they wouldn't cover us. Despite the fact that the muscle pull was all better the next week.

Back to the $5,000 credit. Remeber - coverage cost is $12,000/year IF YOU CAN GET IT and this means you have to pay the other $7,000 out of pocket. Oh, and by the way, the premiums would no longer be tax deductable. See, right now, even though my employer covers most of the cost of my insurance, that cost is not factored into my salary, and therefore, I don't pay any taxes on that portion of my "income". If I had to pay taxes on an additional $12,000 a year that would be roughly $3,600 (including medicare and social security and state income taxes)so bottom line I would pay an additional $12,000 out of pocket and net $1,400 less in tax payments. Yup. Biden called it - the McCain/Palin health care plan is a "bridge to nowhere."

Great. So with McCain, my taxable income just went up 20%. I make around $60,000 a year. Not bad, but definitely a mid to lower middle class income. Pretty much the low side of average. So here's some further food for thought currently I "pay" 20% of my "income" in health care. It just doesn't come to me first and I don't have to pay taxes on it. Any yet we balk at the thought of our taxes going up to cover the cost of health care? People, individually, those of us with coverage are ALREADY PAYING MORE THAN WE WOULD if we had national health care coverage for everyone. Let's just do it already ok? It will ultimately cost less and EVERYONE gets covered.

And talk about trying to support the creation of more small businesses? Well let me tell you, a HUGE reason more people don't start their own business is they either can't get, or could not afford health insurance on their own. And even if they could afford their own, they usually cannot offer it for their employees.

Ok - enough about that...

People, if this country elects McCain/Palin not only are we in serious trouble, the rest of the world is going to write us off. Most of the world was already incredulous that we elected GW the first time, and flabergasted (along with the rest of us democrats) that he actually got re-elected. Now we have a ticket with McSame and Cariboo Barbie? (I can't take credit for those names but I have wholeheartedly adopted them) Our reputation with the rest of the world is hanging by a thread - if they get elected I can pretty much guarantee that thread is going to SNAP!!!

Should McCain ditch Palin?

2008-10-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hell no! (Of course if the election goes the wrong way I may feel differently!) She's the best thing that could have happened for Obama's campaign...

McCain Campain Lies

2008-10-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

Ok - just have to spread this around some more....

Jack Cafferty Tells Us How He Really Feels About Sarah Palin

2008-10-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

I LOVE his response at the end. I just don't understand why everyone doesn't agree.

On a side note though, Katie? Do YOU understand this issue AT ALL either? Once again, this is NOT about getting money into the economy. This is about getting lending back on track. I think part of the problem was Katie didn't ask the right question. Oh god-that sounded like I just defended Palin... I wholeheartedly agree with Jack on that, "That is one of the most pathetic pieces of tape I have ever seen for someone aspiring to one of the highest offices in this country....There's no excuse for that she's supposed to know a little bit of this. Don't make excuses for her. That's pathetic."

Go Jack!

Do the Math

2008-10-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

I am sure you have all received an email about "The Birk Plan" by now, and hopefully have either "done the math" or did a search to counter it and found out the glaring error in the "plan". If not see this post ... then continue - be sure to read the other links in that post to get the background.

Ok, aside from the math, there is one other glaring problem. This "plan" even if the math was right, wouldn't solve anything. This is a major part of the problem. People do NOT understand what the problem really is, how it was caused, or why a "bailout" (which is really NOT what is on the table) is needed. Now I am not claiming that I understand any of this either, but I DO understand that there is a LOT of misunderstanding and misinformation floating around out there.

Here is a link that I think gives a pretty good explaination of where we are and how we got here. How it all happened.

Scared & Stressed

2008-09-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry - just haven't been in the blogging mood lately. Just got news of who got hit with our third round of layoffs this year. I can breath a bit easier for now personally but my heart aches for my friends/collegues who got bad news today. This 11 makes 44 for the year and we aren't THAT big a city.

John's job will probably see layoff soon too. He's in the IT at the local daily paper. He thinks his job is safe *for now* but with no upturn in sight our jobs still hang in the balance. I am of two minds over the bailout. I can see it directly affecting my job. We have developers waiting in the wings with projects ready to go but they can't get financing. We are seeing reputable development firms going out of business because they can't finance new projects. And this isn't just the housing market I am talking about - this is commercial development too. And I am hearing stories about people trying to start up their own businesses (there are NO career oriented jobs here in Central Oregon right now) not able to get loans to buy start up. I have friends trying to sell houses who have had offer after offer fall through because buyers can't get loans. Even well qualified buyers. I am not for bailing out banks but we need something to get fixed because our economy and lives are too dependent on being able to get loans to buy things. I can't imaging having to save up cash to buy a new car. But guess what? That may be where we are heading. I just hope we don't have to sell our house and move which is what we would have to do if we get hit with layoffs.

To further stress us out, Tuckers cancer is back. Last week a huge lump popped up overnight in the same spot the last one was removed back in April. The good news is he is otherwise healthy, and no signs that it has spread to any organs. But now we are faced with the choice of having it debulked again at a cost of around $1000. He is ten, so he is old, but otherwise healthy, and minus the cancer, could easily live another 4 years. I love him dearly but John and Jaxon are going to be devistatingly heartbroken when his time comes. I am not really balking at doing the surgery again this time, but what if it comes back in a few months? We can't keep up those kind of bills forever, especially with the uncertainty of our jobs hanging over our heads. At the same time, I hate to not do it.

Jaxon has been doing well on his dairy free diet. I was never much of a milk drinker but now I am addicted to vanilla soy milk. Luckily Costco has it for about 1/2 the price of regular grocery story sale price. I have found soy "cheese" slices and tofutti ice cream - even ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches. So he is doing ok. I have seen little to no blood in his stool lately. We are still going to consult with a pediatric gastroenterologist to be sure and to get more advice. Unfortunately that means a trip to Portland (160 miles each way!) and his appointment is not until Dec 1. At least none of the Dr.'s seem to think it is anything to be overly concerned about which is somewhat of a relief for now.

So, yeah - not much blogging lately. Just too depressing and stressful! Hope all my blogosphere buds are fairing ok if not well.
-A

Not a Meckel Diverticulum

2008-08-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

So the Meckel scan came back clear as did the stool samples and blood work. Having been off dairy for more than 2 weeks now, we have very little to no blood. Which leads our Dr. and us to believe that the blood we have seen is directly related to dairy intake. Apparently this is not an uncommon occurrence. How scary is that? In doing a little searching I came across this post which is enough to make me think twice about even trying to reintroduce any dairy into his diet. I think we could all live without milk except for cooking, but cheese? We LOVE cheese! Anyway, for now we are continuing for a few weeks with no dairy and Jaxon has been very understanding about it for a kid whose diet previously consisted of about 80% dairy! He still sometimes asks for cheese or sour cream but when promted as to "what did the Dr. say?" he responds "No milk, no cheese, and no yogurt!" We have been creative with ice cream replacements though, sorbet at Baskin Robbins, tofutti ice cream sandwiches and bars, popsicles, etc. Tried some soy milk which John and I liked but Jaxon hated. I think when we start to reintroduce small amounts of dairy, we will try some goat cheeses to see how he does on those. We love mizithra on pasta.

Any other ideas for substitutions? I think there is a sour cream substitute as well but I need to see if that would work too. He loves burritos with sour cream. Poor kid, his burritos lately have been just beans. The only other stuff he likes on them are cheese and sour cream!

Meckel Scan

2008-08-20T12:52:00.001-07:00

So I took Jaxon into St. Charles Redmond today for a Meckel Scan.
He did fantastic. He cried a lot when they injected the dye but held his arm still even though it hurt and otherwise did great. He had to lay pretty still on his side for about an hour. He got a bit wiggly at the end but they got the scans done. The techs were great, so patient with him. I got him a new movie (Spiderman 3) to watch on his DVD player while he was laying there which he was very excited about.

Now to just wait for the results.

Here is a little about what a Meckels Diverticulum is if this is what is causing the blood in his stool....

and about the scan...

I Never Thought I Would...

2008-08-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

...be standing at a register at Bed Bath & Beyond holding a wine glass full of my sons poop.

Yeah - you read that right.

We have been seeing some blood in Jaxon's stool for awhile now. I took him in a few months back but we have just been monitoring it. The doctors don't think it is anything serious since there are no other symptoms. No pain, regular, otherwise normal poops, etc. But recently we really started noticing it again so I took him back in on Monday and the doctor ordered some routine type tests. He had to get his blood drawn and he was FANTASTIC for that. Didn't even flinch. He just sat on my lap and watched with interest. Amazing considering what a struggle last years flu shot was and that was just a quick poke.

Anyway, she wanted to get some stool samples too, but he hadn't had any evening poos this week. Until last night. Right in the middle of trying to shop for a wedding gift at Bed Bath & Beyond. And he had to go BAD - like RIGHT NOW MOM!

Great - of all of the moments this week to choose, he couldn't have chosen *better*. So I frantically look around for something I can use to catch it and get it home. The only thing I can find nearby is a rack of clearance wine glasses. I didn't even have time to purchase it first (there was a line at the one register open) so I just grabbed it and took it in the restroom with us and yes - caught his poo in the wine glass. So then I have the quandry of how to tactfully get it out through the store and back to the car, and I still have to buy the thing. So I wrapped the glass in paper towels and grabbed another glass to take to the register.

Much to my consternation, the girl at the register is young and just totally confused. I try to tactfully explain that I need to pay for the glass in my hand but that she really does not want to touch it and here is another identical glass to use to ring it up. She still is not understanding, and winds up ringing up both glasses. She asks if I want them wrapped. ***crickets*** No - I really just want to get this glass of poop I am holding in the middle of your store OUT of the store as quickly as possible. Good Lord! You should have seen me flustered, trying to explain without too much detail and her just blankly staring at me.

Anyway, I run out to put it in the car and still have to go BACK in the store and get the gift which I did as quickly as possible. Then I went back to the car to get the glass. Luckily I had Jaxon's lunch bag in there and put the glass in the bag and went and got ice from the burrito joint across the way (using a cup to get the ice - not directly into the bag of course!) after first having to purchase the beverage and our dinner. So then back to the car, fill bag, and back in to eat our food (after first washing hands in the bathroom again of course!) ALL OF THIS WITH JAXON IN TOW.

I can't remember the last time I was so exhausted, embarrassed, and flustered. I knew I was in for some interesting times being a mom but I never would have imagined I would one day have to stand in line at a register to pay for a glass with poop in it.

And let me tell you, that was a stinky half hour drive back home!

The Animals (?) at the Fair

2008-08-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

So Jaxon was on the phone the other night telling his grandparents all about the county fair. About the "spinnis wheel" (ferris wheel) and how he and Mommy, and Daddy, and Grammie (other grandma) rode on it but not Ogie (grandpa) because he was eating popcorn and you can't eat popcorn on the spinnis wheel. So then he went on to talk about the animals. "We saw horses, and pigs, and bunnies, and chickens, and ducks, and poop..." at this point I start laughing and am soon doing the silent shaking laugh, barely able to gasp for breath, shoulders aching. Apparently my parents were laughing too and Jaxon was just DELIGHTED that he had made a funny joke. So then he kept repeating it over and over and "laughing" - each laugh becoming more and more fake, making me laugh all the harder.

Ok - it's somewhat funny in the telling but I guess you probably had to be there to get the full effect ;P

A Jaxon Tattoo

2008-08-01T10:19:00.001-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago John was working on his laptop in the living room and Jaxon was hanging out with him. Jaxon got hold of a sharpie (permanent marker) and was drawing on paper and John was worried he would get it on the couch. Since he was busy on the computer and too distracted to keep a close eye on the marker he told Jaxon to draw on his back, effectively keeping Jaxon busy where John could feel the marker rather than having to watch where it was going.

And guess what? Shampoo took it right off!

Plugged Toilet?

2008-07-25T14:27:00.001-07:00

I was reading this post from Joeprah today which reminded me of the times I have flushed Jaxon's underwear down the toilet. Yup - I did. Twice.

So if anyone out there is as dumb and careless as I am, here is a tip to save some major $$$ and embarassment from having to call a plumber. If you have a toddler or young child, go out and get yourself one of these right away. Best $3 you will invest for your tool kit.

The Nerve

2008-07-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

So I am at work and my cell phone rings. This rarely happens since the only people who call my cell are family and they usually call my work # during the day. The only cell calls I get are doctors/dentists confirming appointments.

But no, I look at the caller ID and it is an 800#. I answer and get an automatic message from Target. "Hi - this is Target we've been trying to reach you. Please stay on the line and we'll be right with you."

Say what? Your automated system calls me and puts ME on hold for 3 minutes.

Turns out when I set up a Target debit card last week somehow the charge that went through got returned from my bank. Now I don't know what is going on with my bank but this is the THIRD incident around that time that things have gone screwy. The money was there. In fact, my on-line statement shows that it cleared quite normally on the 18th.

This is really starting to worry me. The bank swears there is nothing going on but the evidence sure says otherwise!

Phone Polls

2008-07-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

So I get a call today for a VERY quick poll. As in one question. I can't remember who was doing the poll but I didn't recognize the name and I was at work so I was a bit distracted. At first I said sure since it was just one question.

The question? Are you pro-life or pro-choice. I declined to answer. I felt a bit bad as I am pretty much pro-choice. But I am also personally pro-life. I remain unjudgmental of those who choose an abortion route. That is one of the hardest choices that person will ever make and it is not mine to judge. I am ever thankful I was never put in the position myself. I never had an unwanted pregnancy to be forced into even considering it.

I would never vote or support the right to choose being taken away. EVER.

HOWEVER... I am personally pro-life as well. Not in the sense of working to ban abortion or make it more difficult to attain an abortion, but in the sense of supporting programs that help to reduce the need for abortion or offer alternatives to abortion and better support systems and incentives to choose not to abort.

I support better education, and availability of birth control with a wide range of choices. I think birth control should be free for everyone, regardless of income status or health care coverage. I am certain it would cost far less than what this country spends as a result of unplanned pregnancies. Far less in health care costs, insured or uninsured, far less in welfare and other assistance costs. Far less to kids born to people who are not ready, financially, psychologically, or physically, to be parents.

So I just couldn't answer that question. My answer is far from either or. A vote for either side could be used for one extreme or the other. And while I am both pro-choice and pro-life, I am also neither.

Blurb

2008-07-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

I have used Blurb Booksmart a few times now to make photo books. It is easy to use, very reasonably priced, and once I create a book I can order multiple copies for the Grandparents with no extra work. Check it out if you are looking for an easy and relatively inexpensive option to scrapbooking. They make great gifts.

I usually order an 80 page, 8 x 10 book in softcover. The hardcover are really nice but a lot pricier ($35.95 for 80 pages). I find the 80 page to be a great deal. They were $24.95 each ($19.95 for up to 40 pages) and shipping is about the same whether you order 1 book or 10. Shipping for six 80 page books came to $11.27 to Oregon.

You can view the first 15 pages of my two recent books here.
Jaxon's Fourth Year

Jaxon's First Visit to Disneyland

Family Time

2008-07-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

As long as John and I have been together he has never had a true Monday through Friday 9-5 type job. There was a 6 month stint just after Jaxon was born where he did but it was contract and didn't last. The last 3 years, he has been working M-F but first he worked late nights Mondays and Tuesdays and some of the rest of the week when he was doing the layout design for the Redmond Spokesman. Then the past 2 years he has worked a 3-midnight shift.

Well the last 3 weeks he has worked days and it looks like the move to days may become permanent (fingers crossed!) and the bonus is that for once we are working near each other and able to carpool. This is important since we live 25 miles out of town and our gas bill has topped $500 a month recently. This will cut that by more than half. But the best part is having John home in the evening. He actually cooks dinner for us and we can finally sit down and have dinner as a family most nights. We are getting more stuff done around the house and when the weekend rolls around, he doesn't spend half of it catching up on sleep. We even went to church on Sunday morning, something we really have been wanting to be more regular doing, but when 9am is the middle of the night for your body clock, most weekends you just don't feel like getting up that early.

So, for the first time we are experiencing what most families take for granted, quality time together on a regular basis - and let me tell you, nothing could be better!

The Green Mega City

2008-07-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

This has some really cool and innovative technology designs for greener cities. Hopefully many will come to fruition sooner rather than later. Check it out.

Wall*E

2008-06-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

Took Jaxon to his first movie at a theater this weekend to see Wall*E. He really enjoyed it and did great.

So even Pixar is sending the message that we need to do something about all the waste we are producing. John and I were talking later that night that we need to be more committed to recycling. We are pretty good about 80% of the time but we could do better. Especially with composting. Now that we have our vegetable garden going, we really need to build an actual set of compost bins and work harder to get stuff composting.

I still hope that this becomes more of a front and center issue. Everyone these days is so concerned about carbon footprints. How about trash generation? I would like to see more accountability for corporations to reduce their trash or at least some sort of mandate that all packaging be 100% recyclable. How hard would that be?

And McDonalds and the like...we go to McDonald's ocassionally. We went on Saturday evening. After seeing Wall*E I was accutely aware of the enormouse pile of trash sitting on our table from just the three of us. Most of it was recyclable. But guess what? There are no recycle bins at McDonalds. Why not? If they are going to produce such a disproportionate share of waste, the least they can do is recycle it! They have made a pretty decent effort to improve their image in the last few years, this seems like a simple way to go a step further.

Goodnight Bush

2008-06-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of MOMocrats....

Enjoy!

Processing recyclables

2008-06-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

Ok - I am being a bit prolific today but I wanted to share this video that will help make your recycling efforts more effective. It is from Australia but my understanding is that my local recycling plant operates much the same, and I imagine the same is true in most places. Worth a watch.

Theres No Such Thing as Away (part 1)

There's No Such Thing as Away (part 2)

And much more good stuff here at SustainaBundy and their YouTube videos too.

The other thing is this particular disposal operation runs a shop where they pull out ANYTHING that looks resellable - HOW COOL IS THAT!!! They keep a free timber pile too! And parts for appliances too! Like the saying goes, one person's trash is another person's treasure. Seems like every transfer station should maintain an area where people could drop stuff off that is reusable and would be open to anyone to scavenge. Less for them to pay to haul and easy recycling. What a no brainer....hmmm maybe I need to write a letter to our county commissioners and garbage service....

PS - this one on composting is good too - the guy is pretty funny.

Projectors

2008-06-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

So with my last post, I have been thinking more about what things I own that are recycled and what I personally do to reduce waste.

Much of our furniture is hand me downs. Our kitchen table was John's parents, and before that belonged to his grandparents. Two of the beds in our house were handed down from his parents as well. Our piano is also third generation and beautiful. So are several other side tables and desks. One of the desks in my office looks to be from the 40's. I refinished it with the help of my Dad after finding it by the dumpster (!) at my college apartment. Jaxons dresser and end table were made for me as a child by my Dad. Our bedroom dresser belonged to John's parents, passed down from his grandparents. We used salvage lumber to construct our raised vegetable bed, planter boxes, and a chicken coop. And the list goes on.

I also buy probably around 50% of our other stuff on ebay and craigslist, much of it used. Most of the furnishings in Jaxon's room and many of his toys came from those sites or second hand stores.

And even though it wasn't the reason we bought it, our projector will ultimately produce far less non-recyclable waste than a big screen LCD or plasma would. It also has a much bigger screen (7.5 feet across!) and takes up almost no room since the screen pulls down from the ceiling, flat against the living room wall.

What do you do to reduce your waste? What kinds of things do you buy that are reused or recycled?

The Story of Stuff

2008-06-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

This is depressing but a very important message. A little heavy on propaganda but a lot of truth and boy is it loaded on food for thought and the ultimatel message is exactly the issue that is on top of my list of concerns...

It is 20 minutes but so worth the watch. Pass it along. Maybe if enough people watch it our mindsets will start to collectively change. This really is probably one of the biggest problems our country faces.

At the very end, there is a short up note on work and progress toward solving the problem. And most important, I really couldn't agree with her message more.

And this quote by Victor Lebow?

"Our enormously productive economy ... demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption.... we need things consumed, burned up, replaced, and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate."

According to wikipedia,
"Victor Lebow was a 20th century economist, widely known for his quotation regarding the formulation of American consumer capitalism found in his paper "Price Competition in 1955" (Journal of Retailing, Spring 1955) and more recently publicized in the short film Story of Stuff. In the film it is implied that Lebow's quote was a prescription for the economy to come, but when taken in context, it is contended as to whether his intents were prescription or critique."

But I found an even better post by Steve, with some really in depth contributing comments on Victor Lebow here. Seems Mr. Lebow was quite the prophet of consumerism, predicting the long term problems it would produce. 60 years later his predictions seem pretty much right on target.

From what one of the commenters on the above referenced post says, Victor Lebow was one of the early small retailers to get hit by a "big box" retailer (Woolworths), and went on to write articles and books on subjects related to consumerism. One of the "anonymous" comments on this post (why anonymous? this person did a lot of research and should get credit for it!) has quite a lot of back story on Mr. Lebow.

Anyway, read the post and comments too if you have time!

Optimum Speeds for Fuel Efficiency

2008-06-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

I thought this listing of gas saving tips was somewhat interesting and informative, but I was especially surprised to read #27. Everything I have read lately still touts 55 mph as the optimum fuel efficient speed. I have had my doubts. I tend to drive 65-70 on the highway, mostly with cruise control on since I drive most of the way to work on a rural highway.
27. Do you need to slow down to 55 mph to save fuel?
Not really... every vehicle has its most efficient speed in the highest gear. It differs depending on the design of the car, and things like tire pressure, open windows, bike racks, etc. The 55 mph speed limits come from the 1970s, when a nationwide speed limit was established in an attempt to reduce gas consumption at the time of an energy crisis. This attempt failed miserably by the way, but that's another story. Which does not mean speed does not matter... it does. For modern aerodynamically enhanced cars, the most efficient average speed is more in the range of 65 mph or even higher. You don't want to exceed that speed if you are trying to maximize gas mileage. At higher speeds, the main gas eater is aerodynamic drag, which is proportional to the square of your speed. That means your car needs four times more fuel to overcome the drag when you double your speed.

Baby Chicks

2008-06-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

Did you know you can order baby chicks on-line and have them delivered through the mail? Yes, you can.

We tried for 2 months to get some more chicks here in Central Oregon and finally gave up. They were sold almost the second they arrived at the feed stores and no one would let us order them in advance. They were all first come first serve and since they always arrived midday on weekdays, we kept missing out.

So I started searching on-line. Problem is, most hatcheries have a minimum 25-50 chick order. We only wanted 6 or 8. I finally found Cackle Hatchery who had a 15 chick minimum order. We figured we could handle 15 and quickly found a taker for 8. So I placed an order. A week or so later (as they noted on their website) I got a call saying our chicks were being shipped and to expect a phone call from the Sisters Post Office Friday morning. Sure enough, we got a call at 7:00 am (long before the post office opens) letting us know the chicks were there waiting for us. So John headed over to pick them up.

We actually wound up with an extra chick, 11 rather than 10 buff orpingtons and 5 barred rocks. My friend took all 5 barred rocks (which I ordered for her) and 3 of the orpingtons so we are left with 8 orpingtons which we have decided to keep.

They are so cute and doing great! Last year we had one buff orpington, one rhode island red and one that I can't remember that was black and white - might have been a barred rock. Anyway, their names were Ethel (the buff which we still have), Gertie (the red) and Henrietta (the black). A coyote got Gertie, and Henrietta got sick and died (while we were on vacation - poor neighbors!)

So I asked Jaxon what we should name the new chicks. He promptly responded that the yellow ones (all 11 of them!) were Ethels and the black ones are Henriettas. Well, the Henriettas are gone now so we don't have to worry about them but I suggested the chicks might each want their own names. Jaxon was ok with that as long as at least one is Ethel. So far we have "Little Ethel" "Junior" "Sunny" and "Daisy". We are trying to keep with *yellow* names for the rest. Any ideas?

Your Opinion Does Count

2008-06-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

Dave had an insightful response to my post yesterday about excess packaging. His is the first comment on the post. Take a minute to read what he had to say...

I also added to what I had to say as well and here is an excerpt..

It is unfortunate that the size of the package is dictated by the amount of print or advertising needed rather than the size of the product. It seems like a single display box for the shelf with multiple smaller bottles still might suffice. I guess ultimately it comes down to marketing. At least with the Robitussin I bought (in generic form) the bottle was full, and the box was only as big as the bottle.

I know that companies who make an effort to be more environmentally friendly weigh heavily in my decision on which products to choose but ultimately my choice usually boils down to price and value. With drugs, which item is most effective, then secondly which of the most effective choices is cheapest. It certainly doesn't help that company though if upon opening a package, my impression is that they have been wasteful in their packaging. It shadows my opinion of that company as a whole and makes it less likely that I will be a repeat buyer. On the flip side, when I am pleasantly surprised to see a company making efforts to be environmentally conscious in their decisions, I am left with a positive impression and am more likely to seek out that company or brand in the future.

I do see that some of it is dictated by law though.

For the mucinex, it wasn't a blister pack (for travel I like blister packs actually) and the bottle was huge compared to the amount of pills in it. The pills took up maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the space in the bottle, and the bottle only took up about a 1/3 of the box! But guess what? Those boxes took up more shelf space and were highly visible compared to other cough supressants so I think in this case, the answer was pretty clearly marketing driven.

I think this is the reason it is important for consumers to keep harping on companies to change this way of thinking, and to try to use our buying power to encourage more eco-friendly choices in "marketing". Until it is proven to do more harm than good to the bottom line companies will continue to make choices based on monetary rather than environmental impacts.

I try to leave feedback with companies objecting to packaging waste when I can - which I did with the mucinex yesterday. I sent an email to the distributor. Unless it becomes clear to companies that their consumers really do care about stuff like this, they are unlikely to change their practices. Generally though, most companies value consumer feedback, whether it is positive or negative. After all, many spend millions soliciting that type of input through surveys, so it is pretty clear that they do ultimately listen to consumers and it is important (and generally easy) to log onto their websites and use the "contact us" option to voice our opinions!

Sick

2008-06-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry - no posts lately. I've been sick for the past week and am still battling the dry unproductive cough that will not let me sleep at night.

I have long been irritated by excessive packaging of goods, especially with the current heightened focus on recycling and reducing waste. Why is it taking so long for companies to embrace a philosophy of aggressively reducing packaging? I am glad to see Walmart stepping up to the plate to make a concerted effort to become a greener corporation. We'll see how well they continue to follow through. Costco often falls short on packaging, despite selling bulk items, things are often double or even triple packaged.

For instance, yesterday I bought a package of maximum strength Mucinex expectorant. The bottle that contained 14 tablets was at least 4 times the size it needed to be, and that bottle was inside a box that was 2-3 times bigger than the bottle. Not only is this excess package waste, but excess shipping space which equals more gas to ship the item. And for what purpose? I just really don't get it.

Help Feed Shelter Animals With A Click

2008-05-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

Mimi Ausland, an 11 year old girl from Bend, Oregon, wanted to help feed the hungry dogs at her local animal shelter. "There are 10's of thousands of dogs in animal shelters across the country, all needing to be fed a good meal." Say hello to Say hello to freekibble.com!

freekibble.com's primary mission is to provide good, healthy dog food to these shelters who are working so hard to see that no dog goes hungry - they need our help. Our goal is to start with providing free kibble to our local Humane Society, and to expand from there - from one shelter to the next...The generous advertisers on freekibble.com make this possible!

We also want to make it easy and fun for you to help provide free kibble through playing the Bow Wow Trivia game - and we hope you learn a few interesting things about dogs along the way. Thanks and enjoy!

So help Mimi out! Not only can you contribute by visiting each day to answer the trivia question, but you can also post a banner on your blog to help spread the word.

Mercury in CFLs

2008-05-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

Jennifer left a comment to yesterdays post that brought up a good point. Although CFLs are highly energy efficient, they must be disposed of and handled carefully as they contain mercury.

Here is what energy star has to say about the mercury in CFLs.

Do CFLs contain mercury?
CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing – an average of 5 milligrams – about the amount that would cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. By comparison, older thermometers contain about 500 milligrams of mercury. It would take 100 CFLs to equal that amount. Mercury currently is an essential component of CFLs and is what allows the bulb to be an efficient light source. No mercury is released when the bulbs are intact or in use. Many manufacturers have taken significant steps to reduce mercury used in their fluorescent lighting products. In fact, the average amount of mercury in a CFL is anticipated to drop by the end of 2007thanks to technology advances and a commitment from members of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

What precautions should I take when using CFLs in my home?
CFLs are made of glass and can break if dropped or roughly handled. Be careful when removing the bulb from its packaging, installing it, or replacing it. Always screw and unscrew the lamp by its base (not the glass), and never forcefully twist the CFL into a light socket. If a CFL breaks in your home, follow the clean-up recommendations below. Used CFLs should be disposed of properly (see below).

What should I do with a CFL when it burns out?
EPA recommends that consumers take advantage of available local recycling options for compact fluorescent light bulbs. EPA is working with CFL manufacturers and major U.S. retailers to expand recycling and disposal options. Consumers can contact their local municipal solid waste agency directly, or go to www.epa.gov/bulbrecycling or www.earth911.org to identify local recycling options.

If every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified CFL, in one year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 800,000 cars.

Energy Savings

2008-05-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

Still not sure about those flourescent low wattage energy efficient light bulbs? Consider this...

Total savings over the life of one bulb: $83

Read on... and for more energy efficiency and cost savings read the whole article.

One of the easiest ways to slash your electric bill is to change your light bulbs. Compact fluorescent light bulbs (those funny-looking spiral ones) use 75 percent less energy than incandescent light bulbs of similar brightness. As the bulbs grow in popularity, prices are falling dramatically. Wal-Mart now sells 4-packs of their “Great Values” 23-watt CFLs (the equivalent of 100-watt incandescents) for roughly $8, or $2 per bulb.

While that’s double the price you’d pay for comparable incandescent bulbs, the CFLs will last 8 to 10 times longer because they can burn for up to 10,000 hours. That alone makes them worth the extra price, even before considering the significant energy savings.

If you’re put off by the slightly greater up-front cost, start by replacing the bulbs in the light fixtures you use most commonly. Here’s a breakdown of the math:

Action step: Replace one 100-watt incandescent bulb with one 100-watt CFL

Up-front cost: $1 (more per bulb than an incandescent)

Time to pay off: 17 days

Potential annual savings in electricity: $22

Lifetime Savings in Light Bulb Purchases: $6

Lifetime Electrical Savings: $77

Total Lifetime Savings: $83

* Assumptions: Calculations assume CFL bulb cost of $2 vs. $1 for an incandescent; the bulb is on an average of 8 hours per day; an electrical cost of 10 cents/kWh (kilowatt hour); the CFL bulb lasts 8 times as long as an incandescent. Note: To calculate your potential electrical savings, multiply 770 x your local electrical rate per kilowatt hour

Source: http://green.msn.com/galleries/photos/photos.aspx?gid=193>1=45002&page=2

Het Koffiemoment

2008-05-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Isabella to post 6 random things about me.

So here goes...

1. I rarely wear skirts. Like maybe 2-3 times of year. I like cute clothes but not particularly clothes shopping. My idea of shopping is passing by a store and stopping by for a few minutes to see what I can score off the clearance rack. But I get a lot of compliments on my clothes and people are always surprised at the bargains I find. I NEVER pay full retail price for anything!

2. Along those lines, I do probably 70% or more of my shopping on line. Even a lot of shoes and clothes. Sometimes I will pre-shop online for places like Payless Shoes, Target, JCPeneny, Sears, Bed Bath & Beyond, Linens & Things. I love places that let you buy on-line and get free in store pick up. I just like the convenience of finding exactly what I am looking for without having to search all through the store for it! And search engines like froogle.com even let you find who has the cheapest price for a particular item. No running all over town!

3. My favorite vacations are either to Disneyland or Disney World, or travelling (so far most of my travels have been in Europe). I am not one to camp out in a hotel laying by a pool or on the beach. I have never been to Mexico (other than a day in Tijuana) or Hawaii. I wouldn't mind going but they just are never my first choice for a vacation.

4. I never really had a boyfriend. I dated a bit, but was far too picky until I met John. We were best friends before we ever started going out and we just kind of "decided" one day that we were officially "together". I never really thought of him as a boyfriend. I just always knew he was more than that to me. He did break up with me for almost a year after we had officially been together for more than a year and a half. He played the field a bit. I went off to Europe. It wasn't until I got back that I was finally resigned to start dating again and it took him seeing me with another guy to figure out that he didn't really want to loose me and he wanted to get back to gether. So we did. It was another 5 years before we got married but we knew long before we did that we would. We just weren't in a hurry. Now we have been married for 9 years and together (not counting our "break") for 16 1/2 years!

5. Ya'all are going to curse me on this one and probably hate me from here on out: I have *never* had to diet. I pretty much eat what I want when I want. I suppose it helps that I prefer nachos and diet coke (I can't STAND regular sodas!) to sweets and I am not a huge snacker. But it is rare for me to gain or lose more than 5 pounds. I have weighed between 130 and 135 most of my life, with an average weight of 132 (I am 5' 8") The one exception was after moving to Central Oregon. You really have to drive all over here, especially living out in the country like we do. The change in lifestyle combined with turning 30 slowed my metabolism for the first time in my life and over the next year I gained 10-15 pounds. All of a sudden I couldn't get under 140 and averaged 145. I wrote it off to getting older and didn't worry about it too much. I still wasn't "overweight" by any stretch of the imagination. I was 147 when I got pregnant with Jaxon at 32 and 178 by the end of my pregnancy. The weight dropped slowly but steadily after having him in March, and then I got sick in October and rapidly dropped the rest of my pregnancy weight. To my surprise, I had dropped down to 130 without really trying (other than getting sick which just dropped the last few). I was sure once I was feeling better that I would gain back up around 140 but to my even greater suprise, I held at my old 130-135 range which is where I still am 4 years later. I don't get any *regular* exercise beyond keeping up with a 4 year old, cleaning house, gardening, etc.

6. I am not big into music. I like it but rarely turn on music on my own accord. I am still stuck in the 80's for the most part but luckily John keeps me up to date with newer stuff although I am horrible at being able to match an artist with a song. Mostly I listen to Kidd Kraddick on my morning commute from 7 -7:30 am and NPR (OPB in Oregon) on the way home. I get most of my news from NPR and follow up on line for particular stories I am interested in.

So that's it for now.

Here are the rules: Link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Write six random things about yourself. Tag six people at the end of your post linking to their blog. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

And I hereby tag my husband John who started a blog then left it without further posting, Leslie at My Mommy's Place, Tasha at La Bella Noire, Dave at Random Walks in the Low Countries, Textual Healer, and Jake at Utterly Boring because although I enjoy lurking on his blog daily to get the Bend gossip, I don't think he has ever posted one of these surveys or seen my site.

I chose these particular blogs to tag to give you a wide range of demographic and geographic locations!

The Value of Money

2008-05-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we were shopping at Target and Jaxon saw a baseball bat and decided that he just HAD to have that bat. Black, aluminum, just like the ones he saw the big kids were using at the park earlier that week.

Well, it is certainly not something he needs, he is only 4 after all! But man, I tell you, I have never seen that kid want something so bad. He was actually sobbing when I didn't buy it after he carried it all through the store and to the cash register. So we had a little talk and I decided this was the perfect opportunity to teach him about the value of money. Oh, he knew we had to pay for things, but he didn't yet understand the concept of where the money comes from, or how much things cost.

So I made a deal with him right there in Target. He could help me out doing things around the house, weeding, cleaning, etc. to earn his own money and when he saved up enough money he could buy the bat himself. He was still a bit disappointed at having to wait but perked up when I told him he could buy it. He seemed to grasp what I had told him about earning the money and saving it until he had enough, and sure enough, he has continued to remember the convesation and has shown a surprising understanding of our discussion.

So for the past couple of weeks he has been helping by cleaning his room, getting dressed by himself and a variety of other things, as well as helping with bigger stuff beyond the standard everyday expectations, such as helping to pull weeds at both our house and Grammie's house. While he doesn't get money for the everyday stuff, he does get money for pulling weeds. Each time we have thanked him for helping and presented him with a dollar or two (well, ok Grammie gave him $4!) which he has put in his treasure chest. Each time he added to it, he would count to see how much he had, and I would tell him how many more dollars he needed.

Well, this weekend he reached his goal so today after I pick him up from day care we are going to Target to buy his ball and bat!

On a side note, he had quite a collection of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies in his treasure chest too, and we showed him how to "trade" those for dollar bills. So he also is learning about different coins, and how much they are worth too. It has been quite an effective learning experience all around!

Sweetiegate

2008-05-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

Ooops. Obama, man this is one bad habit you have GOT to kick immediately!!

*Edited to clarify: I do not consider using words like sweetie or honey to be sexual harassment, or even really sexist.*

I will admit that when men use this term it grates on me more so than when women do it. Older women, not so bad. I do an internal eye roll and move on. Younger women or women of equal age/status with me - it comes across as demeaning and derogatory. It suggests that they don't regard me as an equal or are assuming a greater familiarity or intimacy with me than they are entitled to. When a man does it, especially an older man or one with more status or authority it is definitely derogatory, whether they intend it to be or not, for the same reasons. It is just not respectful. It implies that they do not see me as an equal. It's belittling and gives the impression that I am being written off, disregarded - like I'm 13 or something. (And just try calling a 13 year old sweetie!)

Does it change my opinion of him? No. But he really needs to be more aware of this bad habit and stop doing it immediately.

I am glad that I live in a time and place where the feminist movement accomplished its goals and can stay in retirement - at least in My Neck of the Woods. I have equal status, respect, and pay to that of my male counterparts. I can have a career and be a mom and do not feel judged on either front. I don't feel like I have to fight any battles related to being a woman.

However, two instances stand out in my mind where this was not the case. One was back in 1999. I was 27 at the time and newly married. John and I were in Circuit City in Concord, CA (East Bay SF) looking to spend our wedding money on some electronics. We had $2,000 to spend and were looking to buy a home theater system, DVD player, stereo, speakers, the works. I hovered around the area for a couple of minutes becoming more and more irritated with the two middle aged, male sales associates standing a few feet away, ignoring me while chatting it up. That was bad enough. Sent me a message that they had already written me off as a young (no money) female (obviously not the one to be buying the sound system right?) who wasn't worth wasting their time on. Finally, I got fed up and interrupted them asking if there was anyone who could answer some questions about the features/benefits of the various models. Their response? I'll be with you in a minute sweetie. I promptly turned and walked out. After all, there were 3 other electronics stores within a couple of blocks. I wasn't going to waste my time there, only to get upsold on a piece of junk, which was probably their next move.

The other time? Car shopping of course. I always do the car buying. I bought my first car at 23 (not counting the old Ford Escort my Dad and I bought from the want ads when I was 17). I initially brought my Dad along for back up but after a couple of stops he said I was doing better than he could anyway. So off I went by myself. Sheesh!!! I have to say, most of those salesmen saw me as an easy target when I walked in but were suitably impressed by the time I left, shaking my hand and their heads, telling me I was a tough negotiator, chuckling and wishing me good luck. But I came across at least one that shook his head and said I was being unrealistic, proceeding to end the conversation with me and turning to my Dad. Who of course, shook his head and told him he needed to talk to me as I was the one buying the car. The guy continued to try to go around me through my Dad until we finally got up and walked out.

*Sidetrack*

Have to brag a little on my car buying negotiation skills - here's what they got me:

1995 - 6 month old Eagle Summit (same as a Mitsubishi Mirage - Mitsu engine) with 6,000 miles for $9,995. Sticker price over $14,500 new. I never did a THING to that car in the 10 years I owned it besides routine maintenance. When I sold it it had 168,000 miles on it.

1998 - '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport. I had been watching prices on these and knew that if I was diligent I could find one less than 2 years old for around $17,000. I called all over the Bay Area and spent an average of 30 seconds per call, stating what I was looking for and for how much. Some dealers just said sorry, no dice, some told me I was crazy and counter offered. But on about the 15th call I hit pay dirt. I went in 3 hours later to sign the papers. $16,999.

2005 - '03 Subaru Forester. I had narrowed it down to 2. One at a dealership for $13,500 which was truly a good deal and one from a private owner for $12,500. I tried to get the dealer to match the price or at least drop it a bit. I would have paid cash right then and there but no dice. I still considered it since the dealership would be easier to deal with than a private seller if I had any problems with the car, but ultimately the other car was nicer and I liked the color better on top of the $1,000 savings.

*Back to the main subject*

So, yeah, the use of the word sweetie rubs me the wrong way. If you call me sweetie, I probably won't make a big deal out of it. I certainly won't be offended, but I will write you off as quickly as you just did to me. Don't take me seriously and I will return the favor or find someone else who does.

Bottom line, it's not just the word, but the implication behind it, intended or not. Even if it is not intentional, it has the same effect, and leaves the person on the receiving end wondering not only what was meant by it, but in doubt as to whether or not they are being taken seriously. Obama is NOT in a position right now to give the impression that he is writing off someone's questions or concerns, or not taking them seriously. He still has my vote - I'm just sayin'.

Google Searches That Bring People Here

2008-05-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

Some of the google searches that brought people to my blog made me snort and just about choke laughing.

poop in eyes dutch phrase - someone googled this? And my blog came up as the first result???

My blog comes up second right now when you google oregon presidential primary and sixth on AOL. I am not sure what to think about that. Is there really so little news about the Oregon primaries that my measly little blog posting reminding people to vote comes up second?

And someone actually googled Jaxon's dictionary. I guess I have the official one since my post was again #1.

Why Obama?

2008-05-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

Read his Blueprint For Change and find out for yourself. The following is his introduction letter in the BFC.

"Thank you for taking a look at this booklet. I believe it’s critically important that those of us who want to lead this nation be open, candid, and clear with the American people about how we will move forward. So I hope this booklet gives you a good sense about where I stand on the fundamental issues facing our country.

But I also hope that this booklet sparks a dialogue and that after you’ve finished reading it, you get in touch with our campaign and give us your thoughts on the policies you find here. It’s time to put government back in your hands, where it belongs. If we want to have policies that are good for the American people, then we need the American people to help shape those policies.

We all know what’s at stake. This is a defining moment in our history. Our nation is at war. The planet is in peril. The dream that so many generations fought for feels as if it’s slowly slipping away. We’ve never paid more for health care or for college. It’s harder to save and retire. And most of all, we’ve lost faith that our leaders can or will do anything about it.

But it is because of their failures that this moment of challenge is also a moment of opportunity. We have a chance to bring the country together in a new majority - to finally tackle problems that Washington has ignored for too long. And that is why the same old Washington textbook campaigns just won’t do in this election.

The Democratic Party has always made the biggest difference in the lives of the American people when we’ve led not by polls, but by principle; not by calculation, but by conviction; when we summoned the entire nation to a common purpose - a higher purpose. And I run for the presidency because that’s the party America needs us to be right now. I run to offer this country change that we can believe in.

I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I’m in this race because I want to stop talking about the outrage of 47 million Americans without health care and start actually doing something about it. I’m in this race to end our dependence on Middle East oil and save our planet from the crisis of climate change so we can give our children a planet that’s cleaner and safer than we found it.

As president, I will end the war in Iraq, a war that I opposed from the beginning and that should never have been authorized. I will finish the fight against Al Qaeda. And I will lead the world to combat the common threats of the 21st century - nuclear weapons and terrorism; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.

America, our moment is now. I don’t want to spend the next year or the next four years re-fighting the same fights that we had in the 1990s. I don’t want to pit Red America against Blue America, I want to be the President of the United States of America.

That’s why I’m asking you to stand with me, that’s why I’m asking you to caucus for me, that’s why I’m asking you to stop settling for what the cynics say we have to accept. In this election - in this moment - let us reach for what we know is possible. A nation healed. A world repaired. An America that believes again.

So thank you for taking the time to read this booklet, which lays out very clearly how I will achieve these goals for the people of Iowa. And if you have any questions or want to get involved or want to offer your ideas about how we can make our policies stronger, I hope you’ll visit http://iowa.barackobama.com, call 515-883-2008 or drop into one of our more than 37 offices across the state.

Sincerely,
Barack Obama"

Never Put an Egg in Your Pocket

2008-05-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

So you are probably reading the title of this post and thinking "Duh!"

But I learned this lesson the hard way today.

I put on my coat to head out for lunch and reached into my coat pocket to grab my keys, but found my pocket full of liquid. Full. At first I thought to myself, how did I spill this much liquid without realizing it, where did it come from, and *wow* my coat pocket is pretty water proof. Still confused, I opened the pocket and looked down into it, mistified to see broken egg shell in the pocket amidst the mysterious liquid. I was caught so off guard my brain spun for about 3 seconds before it all fell into place and I started laughing maniacally in the office corridor.

See, each morning, I get up and get dressed and ready for work, then head outside to feed the chicken (we only have one left of the 3 we started with last year) and gather her egg and bring it in the house before getting Jaxon up to get him ready to go. The gate latch requires two hands to latch, so I put the (rather large) egg in my pocket for a *moment*. Unfortunately, this morning Jaxon woke up while I was outside so while I was in the process of latching the gate I heard my husband yell sleepily out the door that Jaxon was crying and calling for me. This made all other thoughts promptly flee my brain, as 6:30 am for John is like 2:00 am for a normal sleep schedule since he doesn't get home from work until after midnight so he was a bit cranky at having to get up to come get me.

So I ran back in the house and got Jaxon ready to go and off we went - egg in pocket long forgotten. Until I reached into my pocket this afternoon on my way to lunch!

Type Racer

2008-05-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

This is fun typing game that you can play online - you can race against other people online and it tracks your wpm. Try it out!

My Time in the Netherlands

2008-05-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

A Touch of Dutch recently returned a comment I made on one of her posts and asked if I visit The Netherlands often. I can't say that I do, but I have probably spent more time there than the average traveler, and more time there than in any other foreign country.

Fy first visit to a foreign country (not counting day trips to Tijuana and Vancouver B.C.) was to the NL in 1994 as a college student on exchange. I spent 3 months living in Groningen (although I didn't do much in the way of school while I was there) in an international "dorm" (Albertine Agnesplein) which was about a mile from the Zernike complex where the spatial sciences classes were held and about a mile from the center of town. I developed a love for the Dutch in those few months and returned for a visit to both Amsterdam and Groningen in 2001.

Actually, we arrived in Amsterdam on September 10, 2001 and spent the day September 11, 2001 in Groningen, returning to Centraal Station in Amsterdam around midnight that night. I remember seeing a crowd of people at the cafe/bar in the station gathered around the television watching the news. Unfortunately it was in Dutch and we were tired and just wanting to get back to our room to sleep and didn't pay it much attention beyond wondering what was going on. The next morning, no one said anything to us on our way out, or as we boarded a train to head on to Germany. It wasn't until later that day on a boat on the Rhine that we realized something big was happening, but again, the bartenders on the boat were watching a German news broadcast and at first we thought it was just a plane crash. They tried to explain what was happening in limited English and we got the jist of it, but it wasn't until that night when we logged onto CNN in an internet cafe that we learned the full extent of what had happened back home. It was surreal to be abroad while it was all happening. We visited several countries that visit, and everyone was shook up by it, astounded that something like that could happen in America. There was a lot of fear as to what the events would mean for not just America, but the rest of the world.

On a side note, I was also in the NL when I heard the news of Kurt Cobain death in 1994. Being that home was Seattle, this was really big news - lots of stuff going on back home that I completely missed.

So then my third trip to the NL was in 2003 when we had friends living in Leiden who we stayed with for a week. I have to say, I am so glad to have had the perspective of living in the NL as opposed to just the typical tourist experience for two of my three visits. This is a country that just has such a uniqueness to daily life. At first I was irritated and confounded by the closure of stores from 6:00 pm on Saturday until 9:00 or 10:00 am Monday mornings (1:00 pm Mondays for some shops!) but afterwhile came to appreciate it. As a tourist you don't really get the feel of what Dutch life is all about. I am sure there are many experiences I did not get to, but I felt lucky to really get to taste Dutch life.

So what are some of my likes and dislikes?

It is the perfect balance of unique and comfortable, old and modern. You get to experience a change of culture while still feeling comfortable without too much adjustment or culture shock. Lots of fun. And the Dutch are for the most part so easy going and welcoming. And where else can you be in a foreign country with a different language but not have a problem with language barriers? (Well, maybe Ireland but you still hear English spoken in the streets for the most part.) Anyone under 60 is pretty much fluent in English and doesn't think twice about switching to English. And I love the Dutch accent. Crystal clear perfect English but I like the Dutch accent even better than British or Irish or Australian.

And I found the Dutch people on the whole to be extremely well educated and worldly, in the sense that not only are they almost universally multi-ligual (beyond Dutch and English many speak fluent French, and often German, Italian and or Spanish as well!!!) but they tend to be very knowledgeable on world politics, events, and pop-culture. It is very easy to strike up an engaging coversation on a myriad of topics at a cafe or pub or on the train with the person next to you.

Rail travel. I loved walking to the station and traveling by rail, to the next town, or the next country, sometimes spur of the moment. And being able to stop by the local market or the central open air markets in town on the way home.

Biking everywhere! So fast and cheap and no parking worries.

I love going to "the local" pub in the evenings. Since they are usually only patronized by locals from that particular neighborhood, everyone in the pub knows each other and being a visitor you get a lot of attention and great conversation over cheap beer with a cozy atmosphere. And you can walk to and from so you don't have to worry about how much you have to drink!

I love going to the store and trying to find stuff in another language, thinking you have found what you are looking for but finding something new and slightly different, sometimes better, sometimes frustratingly not at all what you were hoping for (like laundry detergent!!!) My favorites, Cassis (black currant)soda and those snack chips that are like a cheeto covered peanut with spicy coating, yogurt (I love the liquidy kind, the stuff you get here is just not the same) and lunch at HEMA! They have the best broodjes (the wheat bread with seeds filled with that herbed cream cheese I can only find in the NL) and their cream of mushroom soup is the best I've ever had. Plus I love the view, (at least at the ones in Groningen and Leiden which are the only two I have been to.)Koffie served the Dutch way, strong, in a little cup and saucer with a biscuit, at a table outside at the edge of the market. I love the little individually wrapped sugar cubes (or should I say sugar rectangles?) even though I don't drink my koffie with sugar.

Crystal clean windows, with minimal drapes right up against the sidewalk, inviting you to peek in the windows. Trying to peek in windows without looking too obvious. And all the plants in the windows!

Things I dislike

Dutch customer service (oxymoron cause for the most part there is no such thing except in small sole-proprietor shops) - especially when the answer is "its impossible" when what is really meant is "no, what you are asking is too much trouble and I don't want to be bothered." No bending the rules in the Netherlands! The Dutch bring new meaning to the phrase "by the book." And yet, on the opposite end of that spectrum, there is an extreme tolerance of breaking the law or bending the rules(squatters, prostitution, drugs - drugs are still not "legal" and yet you can buy a myriad of pot and hash at any number of coffeshops.) It's funny because it seems like the Dutch sweat the small stuff and turn a blind eye to the "big" stuff.

Dog poop. Nothing worse than a nice walk along the canals or in the shopping district only to have you foot slip in the tell-tale mush of a fresh pile of dog doo.

Too much rain and wind!!

Trying to ask about something in Dutch (like a recommendation for rijstafel) that is a name brand or non-translatable and not being understood no matter how sure you are that you have said it correctly. We Americans can understand most English words spoken in even the heaviest of accents but the Dutch cannot seem to understand Dutch spoken with an accent! (Although I am sure my accent is worse than most!)

Overall though, I love the NL and would not at all mind living there!

How Cool is This?

2008-05-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the Kindle yet? A bit pricey but I know what my husband is going to want for his birthday (if he can wait that long!

MOMocrats EXCLUSIVE: Obama Answers Readers' Questions

2008-05-01T11:32:00.000-07:00

What sets Obama apart, making him one of the best presidential candidates we've had in a long time, if not ever? He has plans. REAL PLANS. Other candidates confuse goals with plans. Goals are all well and good, but without a PLAN to implement them, they are just a bunch of hot air. Like what we have heard for the past 8 years from out current administration.

Yes we can? Well, Obama has plans that say we can.

So click on the title of this post to see the questions Obama answered on MOMocrats. Definitely worth the read.

Cool Dude

2008-05-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Tuesdays at Munckin Manor are show and tell day. Jaxon LOVES show and tell and always has to have SOMETHING to bring. Days that are not show and tell days we often have to go through a long dialogue of why he can't bring something in with him.

Today as we were getting out of the car he noticed that one of the girls in his class had her doll with her and he immediately began demanding that he be allowed to bring something in too, despite the fact that it was not show and tell day, and we had NOTHING in the car for him to bring in (he had already brought his Bear Tunes CD on Tuesday.) No ammount of reasoning was going to deter him though as he scrambled back into the car and began tearing it apart in search of something, ANYTHING that he might be able to bring in with him, deaf ears to Mommy's protestations.

And find something he did. His sunglasses. So in we came with sunglasses in hand which he immediately had to show each and every kid in the room, with offers to let them try them on, which of course they each wanted to do - even the older kids. I had to intervene after he almost poked someones eye out in his exuberance to share, reminding him to let the kids put them on themselves.

Score 1 for Jaxon, Mommy -1. So far, I seem to be on the losing side of most battles with the Negotiator.

Republicans for Obama

2008-04-25T11:47:00.001-07:00

See? Gunfighter saw this on his way to work. Read about it here.

Words Defined by Jaxon

2008-04-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

Dictionary: squish (skwĭsh)
v., squished, squish·ing, squish·es.
v.tr.
To squeeze or crush together or into a flat mass; squash.

Dictionary: squishy (skwĭsh'ē)
adj., squish·i·er, squish·i·est.
Soft and wet; spongy.
Sloppily sentimental.

Jaxon's dictionary: squishy
adj.
Something hard which can be used to squish something.

Conversation in car this morning:

Jaxon: "My shoe is squishy. Right Mommy?" (every comment these days ends in "right Mommy?" Which will be repeated until Mommy responds in the following expected manner)

Mommy:"Right".

Jaxon: "Bones are squishy, right Mommy?"
(Mommy's brain pauses momentarily to process how he came to this conclusion)

Mommy:"Noooooo. Bones are hard."

Jaxon:"My bones can squish bugs."
(Lightbulb goes off over Mommy's head)

Mommy:"Yes they can!"

So apparently in Jaxon's dictionary, squishy means an object which can be used to squish something rather than an object which can be squished.

Oregon Presidential Primary

2008-04-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder...

The deadline to register to vote in the Oregon primaries is Tuesday April 29 to vote in the Oregon primary on May 20.

You must be registered AS A DEMOCRAT to vote in the democratic primary.

For more information go here.

You can even fill out the registration papers on-line and print them.

And here is a list of the Oregon Obama campaign headquarters nearest you.

Funny Things Kids Say

2008-04-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

So on the way into work today Jaxon wanted to listen to his new Bear Tunes CD from Grandma and Bapa. For the last year and a half, the Moose Tunes CD from Grammie and Ogie has been his favorite so he is excited to have a new one just like it.

We have listened to it a couple of times so I started singing along with one of the catchier tunes but Jaxon would have none of it. He screeched at me to stop singing. So I stopped...for a minute and then started in again. This time he said in a very stern voice "Why don't you just keep your eyes on the road!" which resulted in me busting up laughing. He of course thought that it was very funny that he had made me laugh so for the next few minutes he delighted in saying it over and over until I finally had to tell him that was enough.

He still wouldn't let me sing though. He just wanted to listen. Guess I am not the worlds best singer.

Catching Up

2008-04-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

So Tucker is a trooper and recovering well from his surgery. The bad news is that it is an agressive cancer and they were not able to get it all. We have switched him to a homemade diet of hamburger, spinach and carrots with a hard boiled egg which he seems to like. I am on the fence as to whether or not to add rice and or potato as cancer diets are recommended to have low to no carbs. I am playing phone tag with the alternative care vet to get the details of the diet worked out. We are just hoping to slow its growth. For now, Tucker is ready to go out and play!

And for some cute entertainment, here is a short video of my niece and nephew. Too cute! Can't wait to see them again although we won't be going to visit until Memorial Day weekend.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our Poor Tucker

2008-04-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

I can't really go into detail without tearing up (ok breaking down in sobs) so I will just post this link to my husbands post about our dear Tucker.

For now Tuck is doing well and I will maybe post a picture of the horror that is the incision (if you can call the ragged stitched up split down his side an "incision".) He is quite the trooper but it breaks the heart to see him so cut up. He NEVER lets on that he is in pain. Not even a wimper.

Just awaiting the biopsy results to tell us what kind of tumor it was that she removed (an no, she was not able to get all of it.) Hopefully it is slow growing and not agressive.

Lurkers

2008-03-28T22:52:00.000-07:00

I had no idea I had so many people visiting my blog. And you guys are from all over the world! Sometimes I can tell how you got here (from another blog I commented on) but other times I have no clue!

So, come out and tell me who you are and how you got here! Please? I would love to know who you are! I would love to check out your blogs too.

Kids and Alcohol

2008-03-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

I was perusing my blog favs today and followed a link from this post to this one, finding the following excerpt that just rang so true with me.

"Dr. Vaillant compared 136 men who were alcoholics with men who were not. Those who grew up in families where alcohol was forbidden at the table, but was consumed away from the home, apart from food, were seven times more likely to be alcoholics that those who came from families where wine was served with meals but drunkenness was not tolerated.

He concluded that teenagers should be taught to enjoy wine with family meals, and 25 years later Dr. Vaillant stands by his recommendation. “The theoretical position is: driving a car, shooting a rifle, using alcohol are all dangerous activities,” he told me, “and the way you teach responsibility is to let parents teach appropriate use.”

“If you are taught to drink in a ceremonial way with food, then the purpose of alcohol is taste and celebration, not inebriation,” he added. “If you are forbidden to use it until college then you drink to get drunk.”

I am pretty sure that when the time comes we will follow this approach. My parents never drank any alcoholic beverages when I was growing up other than the very rare coctail at a restaurant if we had a long wait for a table or a glass of wine or hot buttered rum at a holiday gathering. I was allowed a *sip* but never more. I remember the first Christmas after turning 21. I brought a bottle of peppermint schnapps to my Aunt's house to make peppermint cocoa or coffee and my mom was less than thrilled. It took her a few years before being comfortable with seeing me drink a beer or two or glass of wine.

But worse, I was a college (and a bit in high school too) partier. It was new, it was fun. I think I would have been less interested if I had been allowed to do some drinking (a small glass of wine, beer, hot buttered rum, etc) at times at home when I was a teenager. It would have demistified it a bit. Made it less a big deal.

Or maybe it wouldn't have. But I don't think it would have made me drink more. Less maybe, but not more. I am quite certain of that. I had more of a message of "don't drink at all" growing up than "drink responsibly and enjoy it" growing up. But I really don't fault my parents for it. My Mom grew up with alcoholic parents and as one of the oldest kids had to deal with being a pseudo parent to younger siblings. And neither of my parents really like alcoholic beverages. John and I do though, as do his parents, so I think when the time comes (maybe 16?) we will let our kids have the occassion glass of wine or microbrew at family dinners.

What are your thoughts?

Tough Kitty

2008-03-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

I miss my Spanky kitty. He used to go for walks with us and the dogs just like Nengaku's Kitty. One of my cats Astro still does on occassion but usually she just follows from a distance.

And I totally know the kitty slap! I was laughing at kitty antics just last night. Our older cat Buster (the grey one who you'd think was about 5 instead of going on 13) was hogging the water bowl. All the pets in the house, even our 4 dogs know that Buster is the Alpha of the pack. Don't mess with Buster. He may be little but he is one tough kitty.

So our latest addition to the pack, little girl kitty Chai was trying to get a drink but Buster was having none of it. They were sitting one on each side of the bowl and every time she would lean over to try to get a drink he would slap her upside the head. Then he would just sit there for a few minutes, maybe dip a paw in and lick off the water. But mostly he was just guarding the bowl and hogging it so no one else could have any. Our older lab was laying on the floor a few feet away, watching and also patiently waiting for his turn at the communal well. He knows better than to come anywhere near the kitties though. He learned that lesson when he was just a couple of months old.

I remember it distinctly. He came running over to me when I was laying on the couch (futon) for some loves only to get a claw swipe across the nose from under the couch. I didn't see it happen but I heard a yelp and the next thing I knew he was pawing at his nose and eyes and making bloody paw prints all over the hardwood floor. Poor puppy. He learned early to watch out for Buster. To this day, Buster tortures him by calmly sitting in the middle of doorways. Tucker will just sit on the other side of the open door and whine until we make Buster move to let him through. Some time I will have to take pictures of that. Those big black dogs respect that little grey cat!

Buster

Chai

Tucker

Telly

Tipper

Unfortunately I don't have pictures handy of Auskar or Astro and only one (badly cropped) picture of Spanky

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-03-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

36 - Not just a new year but a new demographic. No longer in the 25-35 category but the 36-44. *Sigh*

John is doing really well this year. First there was Valentine's Day morning. Then for maybe the first time in our 16 YEARS together I woke up to a card and gift on the kitchen table as well as a nice clean kitchen. He always does such a great job cleaning the kitchen. I just can't seem to figure out what to do with all the clutter that accumulates there. But this morning it looked great. And the gift, (although I suspect a bit last minute?) was given a lot of thought and very personal. A creme brulee chocolate bar (he knows creme brulee is my fav dessert) and some other goodies, a really nice book with photo project ideas in it, kind of a scrapbooking and beyond (I really need to find myself some time to do scrapbooking again - I still haven't finished Jaxon's 2006 book!) and an egg timer LOL. I like hard boiled eggs and so does Jaxon but I never seem to make them except at Easter. I pretty much suck at it. So this timer looks like an egg and you drop it in with the eggs and it tells you when they are done. Pretty cool. Hope it actually works. Anyone tried one before?

Oh - and the bigger part of my present was this high definition digital video camera which he got for me last month just before our trip to Disney World.

So all in all a good start to my Birthday, even if the weather didn't cooperate. Looks like we are in for some more snow today.

Whiz Kids

2008-03-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Saw this link when I logged onto my hotmail this morning. All I can say is wow - the things these kids have accomplished in their teens!

Torturous Tuesdays

2008-03-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

Since Jaxon usually spends Sunday night and Monday at his grandparents, Tuesday mornings are the first day of the week that I have to wake him up early so he is usually a bit on the crankier/whinier side on Tuesdays. Yesterday however, I thought his head was going to start spinning.

It was nice out when we got home around 6:00 yesterday and I had planned to let him play outside while I got dinner ready. However, he headed down to the field almost immediately, which he knows is off-limits. We have 10 acres (fenced) and of that he has 2-3 acres right around the house which comprises his "play area". The rest is out of view and earshot so he is not allowed to go to the more remote areas without one of us with him. My request that he please come back up to the play area was stubbornly ignored. I told him I was going to count to 3 and he'd better be back up out of the field or he was going to have to come in the house. This received an indignant squack and protest that he "had to get these rocks" (our property is covered with rocks, there was nothing unique that I could see about the rocks in the field.) I started counting and hit 3 with no compliance so I proceeded to chase him down and pick him up to take him in the house. This was met with not only kicking but hitting which promptly (as he knows) earned him a time out on top of going in the house.

Now usually he will sit in the time out chair(chair in the middle of kitchen where I can see him but he can't reach stuff to play with) although he may be crying while he does it. Not last night. He was being deliberately defiant jumping back out of the chair and continuing the protest all through my making dinner. He knows that time outs last only as long as he continues to act out. All he has to do is calm down and apologize and confirm that he understands what part of his behaviour was unacceptable, what he should have done in the circumstance, and that he will not continue said behaviour next time. No dice. He was NOT going to apologize.

We finally took a break to eat with me telling him he was going back in time out after dinner. (I do not withold food as punishment although let me tell you how much I wanted to send him straight to bed at that point!) Once he sat down for dinner he seemed to calm down and be willing to act more civilized. We had our conversation after dinner and he apologized and promised to listen tomorrow.

So it finally worked out but I was worn out! I am so tired of coming home from work and having to immediately do battle with a 4 year old.

So what do you all do when time outs are refused? I hate to spank (even a light swat to the butt) but seriously, how do you break the cycle? Just ignore it? In this case I felt like I was giving in even letting him out of time out for dinner. Like he "won" that round. I guess I just need to keep off the mentality of "winning" these battles. I guess ulitmately I won, since he showed at the end that he understood, even if he didn't comply with the time out at the time. I guess I just have to realize that when he is that worked up he is not going to listen or do anything I say and just let it go until he has a chance to cool off. That deliberate, defiant disobedience is really hard to ignore though.

The Negotiator

2008-03-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

My term of endearment for my 4 year old son is "The Negotiator". I am sure he will wind up being a lawyer or some other similar profession when he grows up. The boy never takes No for an answer, although he usually finds a way to do so without being outright defiant about it. For well over a year, when asked to do something, or stop doing something, his response usually begins with "How 'bout..."

So he is taking it to a new level in the last week or so. A story from my MIL from last night illustrates Jaxon's creativity. He knows that when playing with toy cars they are not allowed on wood tables (coffee table, kitchen table, etc.) because they will scratch the wood. He is welcome to play with them on the floor, the train table, etc. So when she asked him not to run the cars on the table last night and reminded him that he knows this, he responded that his hand doesn't know that because it doesn't have eyes or ears.

So if you need to find that loophole in a contract, I have a 4 year old here ready to fight on your behalf. He doesn't give up easily and usually ends up with a decent settlement compromise...

Behind Every Man...

2008-03-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

Is a great woman? Apparently this holds true for Obama. What a fantastic couple.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid353515028/bctid490400930

Still on the Fence?

2008-03-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

How can you not want this man as our next president when you hear him speak so eloquently and with such conviction and common sense?

Superman

2008-03-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

Jaxon's Grammie has a friend who makes Superman capes for her grandkids and she had one made for Jaxon for his birthday, along with some Superman underwear and pjs. Although Jaxon knows Spiderman, he wasn't yet familiar with Superman. Since Grammie was having a hard time finding the original (Christopher Reeve) movie, she checked it out from the library. He got to watch it at her house on Monday and we brought it home that night so of course he wanted to watch it again last night. This was good as it gave me leverage in our nightly negotiations of the bedtime ritual. He got ready for bed and teeth brushed with minimal herding and we settled in on the couch with blankets to watch. He of course wanted to watch the "whole fing" but being only 4 there was no way I was going to let him stay up that late to watch it so we had an agreement (under protest) to watch until after Superman came on for the first time.

Well, it has been at least 20 years since I watched this movie and didn't realize what I had agreed too as we see only Clark Kent for the first hour plus of the movie. So by the time Superman appeared it was 9:30! Ooops. And he was not happy about watching for an hour only to see Superman for 2 minutes and have to turn it off.

Quality Time

2008-03-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

I spend time with my Jaxon but I feel like I am not spending enough truly quality time with him. Time he will remember when he is older. Sure I get him ready in the morning and we have a half hour drive in the morning. Sure we have the evening together but that is mostly spent getting him fed, bathed, ready for bed, maybe a story or two or we watch a movie together but I feel like I am not spending enough time really playing with him and shaping his childhood.

So I vow to start trying at least a few days a week and on the weekend to spend some real Jaxon level time with him. I have been wanting to start doing yoga (just at home with a DVD) again for a long time and I am guessing he would have fun doing that together once or twice a week. I want to bring out games more often to play with him, especially learning-but-fun type games as he is ready to start learning more about letters and pre-reading and counting now (he's 4 and definitely showing interest.) He loves to do craft stuff with me, like painting wood stuff. I made train name sets and growth charts for all of the new babies in the extended family and he loved it when I gave him some blocks and letters to paint too. We sat at the kitchen table and painted together for more than an hour at a stretch.

So what do you Mom's like to do one on one with your kiddos? Or as a family? Or for those of you who don't have kids yet, how about stuff you remember doing with your parents as kids?

Wow....

2008-03-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

Check out this site. The video testimonies are heartfelt and compelling from those who have actually fought in Iraq. The following is just a short excerpt from one testimony but it was so well spoken I could feel my blood boiling as I listened. I can't seem to find a written transcript of his whole testimony though.

Prysner: "When I first joined the army we were told that racism no longer existed in the military. A legacy of inequality and discrimination was suddenly washed away by something called the ‘Equal Opportunity Program. We would sit through mandatory classes and every unit had this EO representative to ensure that no elements of racism could resurface. The Army seemed firmly dedicated to smashing any hint of racism. And then September 11th happened and I began to hear new words like ‘towel head’ and ‘camel jockey’ and the most disturbing: ’sand nigger.’ And these words did not initially come from my fellow soldiers but from my superiors: my platoon sergeant, my company first sergeant, battalion commander. All the way up the chain of command these terms, these viciously racist terms were suddenly acceptable. […]

We were told we were fighting terrorists, but the real terrorist was me and the real terrorism is this occupation. Racism within the military has long been an important tool to justify the destruction and occupation of another country. It has long been used to justify the killing, subjugation, and torture of another people. Racism is a vital weapon deployed by this government. It is a more important weapon than a rifle, a tank, a bomber or a battleship. It is more destructive than an artillery shell, or a bunker buster, or a tomahawk missile. While all of those weapons are created and owned by this government, they are harmless without people willing to use them.

Those who send us to war do not have to pull a trigger or lob a mortar round. They do not have to fight the war. They merely have to sell the war. They need a public who is willing to send their soldiers into harm’s way and they need soldiers who are willing to kill or be killed without question. They can spend millions on a single bomb, but that bomb only becomes a weapon when the ranks in the military are willing to follow orders to use it. They can send every last soldier anywhere on earth, but there will only be a war if soldiers are willing to fight, and the ruling class: the billionaires who profit from human suffering care only about expanding their wealth, controlling the world economy, understand that their power lies only in their ability to convince us that war, oppression, and exploitation is in our interests. They understand that their wealth is dependent on their ability to convince the working class to die to control the market of another country. And convincing us to kill and die is based on their ability to make us think that we are somehow superior. Soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, have nothing to gain from this occupation.

The vast majority of people living in the US have nothing to gain from this occupation. In fact, not only do we have nothing to gain, but we suffer more because of it. We lose limbs, endure trauma, and give our lives. Our families have to watch flag draped coffins lowered into the earth. Millions in this country without healthcare, jobs, or access to education must watch this government squander over $450 million a day on this occupation. Poor and working people in this country are sent to kill poor and working people in another country to make the rich richer, and without racism soldiers would realize that they have more in common with the Iraqi people than they do with the billionaires who send us to war."

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

So I sent Jaxon off to his grandparents last night with his kelly green sweater but woke up this morning and totally spaced that it was St. Pat's Day. Yeah, I am wearing khaki and black, not a hint of green on me.

But I'm still celebrating the Irish wearing black and tan right? ;p

New Funny

2008-03-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

Stumbled on this blog while reading another favorite Bend blogger. Pretty funny stuff. Check them both out.

Dinosaur Dig Pit

2008-03-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

So one of the things Jaxon loved at Disney World was the Bone Yard dig pit at Animal Kingdom. It was a great place to let him have some time to himself to just play. He loved unearthing the bones so much we thought we might try to build one for him at home. Problem is, I have searched and searched the internet and cannot find any sort of dinosaur bones or skeleton molds (under $900) other than this one which is kind of lame.

Anyone have any ideas?

Jaxon's 4th Birthday

2008-03-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

We had a birthday party at Pappy's Pizza in Bend for Jaxon on Saturday. He had lots of fun but when it came time for everyone to sing Happy Birthday to him he wasn't going to have it. Here's the video. It captures his personality of late pretty well. A streak of stubborn, the need to direct everyone on just how the event should go down, and a good loud objection and pout if it doesn't!

Bossy's Coming to Visit Us!

2008-03-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

So it looks like Bossy is making us a stop on Bossy's Excellent Road Trip in April! Woo-hoo! We get to meet Bossy and hang out!

Back to the Old Grind

2008-03-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

So we're back. Can't believe how fast that week flew. We had a blast though and can't wait to do it again. I'll try to post some recaps of our days once we get a chance to go through our pictures.

Leaving Tonight!

2008-02-26T12:44:00.001-08:00

So excited! We head straight to the airport after work! I'll post some pics when we get back!

2 Days to Go!

2008-02-25T11:27:00.000-08:00

Pretty much packed and ready for our trip. And I made contact with my childhood friend from my block growing up who I almost forgot lives in the Orlando area and she and her husband are going to try to meet up with us for dinner one night which will be fun! I haven't seen her for YEARS (like probably since high school?) It was actually a blog post that sparked my memory.

Anyway, the acupuncture on Thursday really helped move my cold along. My sinus pressure and runny nose are gone and I am hardly coughing at all. And the coughing I am doing is much looser and more effective. This is the second bad cold/sinus infection that I have had good results from acupuncture. I highly recommend it!!!!

Sick

2008-02-21T08:01:00.001-08:00

Going to have some accupuncture done today to hopefully alleviate the sinus pressure, lessen the drippy nose, and loosen up my chest so I am not just dry hacking. At least I got sick more than a week before vacation this time. I should be feeling mostly better by next Tuesday night before we leave. I can't believe our vacation is almost here already!

Last weekend with my folks in town was pretty nice. We have been getting some spring like weather, sunny and in the 50s so they took Jaxon outside a lot to play which he LOVED. He really is an outdoors kind of kid. Give him a truck to push around and he will play outside for an hour or more, digging, running, climbing on rocks, whatever. He hardly touches a toy (other than his tonka trucks) once the weather gets nice.

Anyway, probably won't post much before we leave town. Too busy getting ready to go!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T09:25:00.000-08:00

So when I went to bed last night the kitchen was still a bit of a mess. John said he would clean it when he got home as my parents are coming for the weekend and arriving tonight.

So this is what I saw when I walked into the kitchen this morning!

Not only a spotless kitchen but look at that table! Flowers and chocolates and a beautiful card that made me cry. I barely got through reading it once. Wanted to read it again but if I had I would definitely have had to redo my makeup. Soooo sweet.

Thank you my Sweetheart! Best Valentine's Day morning ever!

"Charlie Bit Me!"

2008-02-11T11:41:00.000-08:00

Stole this from the Milk Maid. Too funny!

Catching up

2008-02-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

So we stood in line for an hour and a half yesterday at the Mini Pet Mart in Bend waiting our turn for the mobile vet to give 3 of our dogs their rabies shots. Jaxon was so well behaved I could hardly believe it. He waited with me most of the time and I had two of the dogs and John waited a few people back with the other dog. Jaxon kept himself busy stacking and restacking merchandise on the shelf but was very good about putting it back the way he found it each time. Can't believe he didn't loose it waiting so long. He was soooo patient!

So the next step is to get our licenses up to date and get copies to the Sheriff. He was pretty laid back about the whole incident. As long as we got them all updated on licenses and vaccines we won't be cited. We did post some signs at the gate as a precaution to warn people to keep away from the dogs. Unlikely that it would happen again but certainly don't want to take any chances.

Our Chicken Thinks She's a Goose

2008-02-10T17:02:00.001-08:00

Really - just check out this egg she laid the other day...

And the pictures just don't do it justice. Her regular eggs (compared in the pictures) are already on the large side compared to large eggs you get at the grocery store. I really cannot comprehend that a normal size chicken actually laid this egg! I am betting it is a double yolk.

More Drama

2008-01-29T08:40:00.000-08:00

So I got a call yesterday afternoon from the Post Office that our dog had bit our mail carrier. I was in total shock. I NEVER thought any of our dogs would bite someone. Sure they bark a lot when people drive by our house or approach our gate. Some of them even may occassionally growl. But none of them have EVER bitten anyone. And we have had strangers come on our property without any problems many times.

I still don't have the details yet. All I know is the postal carrier was placing a package on the gate post like they often do. I remember them asking a long time ago where we would prefer packages to be left and we always tell people by the gate. It is out of the way and not highly visible except to our immediate neighbors (3 other houses) who share the gravel road. By this we meant leave it near the gate, not necessarily "on" the gate or "inside" the gate, although that was fine by us too. Basically, we were cool with wherever they wanted to leave it in the general vicinity of the gate. NEVER were we informed that there were any problems. NEVER did they ask if there was an alternative location to leave stuff. Until yesterday when we were informed one of our dogs bit her on the hand when she reached OVER the fence to place the package on top of the rock basket which braces the gate.

All I know so far is the other postal carrier said the dogs often growl at her. This is the first I have heard about the growling. So my question is this; if a dog is growling at you, WHY would you reach over a fence? Doesn't common sense dictate to leave the dog alone and not put yourself in a position that it might bite you? Obviously the dog is giving you warnings if it is growling. I feel TERRIBLE that my dog bit her but at the same time I am angry that she allowed it to happen. Was I somehow negligent here? Am I at fault for this? I thought they trained postal carriers about how to deal with dogs. It's not as though the dog was loose. Apparently they have observed this behavior (growling) before but never brought it to our attention. It seems that most of the negligence has been on their part. Of course now we will have to be extra careful. We are considering building a large fenced enclosure for him internal to our property away from the fence lines but in the mean time, should we be posting signs?

Anyway, to further complicate things, this particular dog (and three of our 4 others to my dismay) are out of date on their rabies vaccines and not up to date (because we haven't gotten the rabies updated) on their licenses. I have no excuse for that other than the usual busy schedule, hard to get into town on the weekend when I am not working, multiple animals=multiple trips etc. which are not very good excuses. Getting at least some of them in this weekend if I can find a place that does just the vaccine (Vets charge you an office visit on top of the vaccine $$$$).

So what do you think? What could/should I have done differently? What should I do now? Help please!

Winter Blues

2008-01-23T15:08:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it's been almost a week without posting. Just got the blahs this week. Had a nice visit with my Sister, Brother-in-law, 3 year old niece and 7 month old nephew this weekend. Too cold to do much though. Sis and I scrapbooked a bit which was good cause it's probably been almost a year since I broke out my SB stuff and I am WAY behind. Got 4 (2 page) layouts done.

It has been below zero the last couple of mornings and barely above freezing here at midday. Then there is this and this that have me a bit depressed too (don't click if you don't want to read depressing stuff about people dying.)

So yeah, I am ready for a vacation in sunny Florida at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Car Seats

2008-01-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

So this post from Daddyology reminded me that I needed to start looking for a new car seat or booster seat for Jaxon, now that he is almost 4, almost 40 lbs and 40" tall. So I began my on-line research and found this and this(grab a tissue but do at least try to watch.)

I also found this on rear facing seats which made me think that next time around we will probably do rear facing for quite a bit longer.

Apparently, the latest recommendations are that you keep your child in a 5-point harness type car seat as long as possible. Although at least one of our car seats (Cosco Alpha Omega) is designed for kids up to 80 lbs., once they hit 40 lbs. it is supposed to be used with a seat belt rather than the 5-point harness. Jaxon is almost to tall now for the harness at its highest point to fit but I tell you, I am just not ready to use just the seat belt on the car seat. So I started looking for other options. Let me tell you, there aren't many models out there to choose from and most are $200 or more. I did find the Cosco/Safety 1st Apex 65 for $79 with $5 shipping so I think that is what we are going to get.

To save some of you some research, here is a review on the seat.

Turning a Corner?

2008-01-17T07:49:00.000-08:00

Well, the last couple of days Jaxon has been just as sweet as can be. I have hardly heard a single whine out of him and it has been sooooo nice! I have tried to compliment him without making too big a deal about it (see previous post on compliments). I hope this is a sign of things to come. 3 has been no picnic so I am hoping 4 will be a bit more enjoyable age.

Also, it is exciting to see him finally taking an interest in letters. Around Christmas he was starting to find his name on his own, recognizing letters "J-A-X-O-N that spells Jaxon!" It was cute because he located all the presents with his name on them from under the tree. The problem was trying to explain that some said "to Jaxon" and others were to someone else "from Jaxon". To him, they all had his name on them!

When we drive around town now his new game is to point out all the J's, A's, X's, O's and N's he sees. Very cute. "Look! O for Jaxon!" We have also been working on learning some other letters lately too and he is just starting to pick out a few others as well. It is so fun to see him excited about learning new things.

Chip off the Old Block

2008-01-15T14:22:00.000-08:00

I forgot how when I was a kid I could NOT take a compliment. Hated them. Really. They made me squirm.

I almost laughed the first time I heard Jaxon respond with a "stop it" and a pouty frown and crossed arms to someone saying "thank you" to him recently. It's his new response to anyone being nice to him lately, whether it's "good job" "thank you" whatever. And where did he get this unusual response? All I can say is it must be genetic. I outgrew it long before he was born but I remember reacting the exact same way when I was little.

Sometimes it is like looking back in time at myself. Sometimes I think I must be the only person who truly understands what he is thinking or feeling, especially at times like these where his reaction is so unusual. When I tell people, I used to be the same way they look at me like I'm nuts. It is so wild though to see that some of this stuff, particularly personality traits, likes and dislikes, reactions that I thought were uniquely my own, are actually genetic! Not learned behaviours, as they were long forgotten by me, much less practiced. It's really pretty bizarre.

More on Disney Plans

2008-01-11T20:42:00.001-08:00

So we decided to stay at the Pop Culture value resort. Great convenience and perks staying on property at a Disney resort hotel. You get the dining plan which gives you one counter service meal and one table service meal each day as well as a snack for about $85 a day for the 3 of us. The table service meal alone would cost close to that much so it is a really good deal. The only problem is many of the restaurants get booked up so you have to kind of plan out your trip in advance to figure out where you will be on what days to pick where you want to eat. The other perk of staying at the resorts is that each day different parks have either early or late hours just for those staying at the resorts. So that helped determine which park to go to on which day.

So here are the restaurants we decided on:

For our days at Epcot we will be eating at The Coral Reef and Marrakesh.

For the Magic Kingdom we decided on The Liberty Tree Character Dining and Ohana at The Polynesian (just a quick monorail ride from the Magic Kingdom).

For Animal Kingdom we will be eating at Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

For Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) we will take the boat over to The Beach Club for the seafood buffet at Cape May.

Other perks of staying at a Disney resort hotel:

Free airport shuttle and they take care of picking up your luggage and deliver it to your room so you can head straight to the parks rather than waiting until check in at 3:00.

You get a free photopass picture

You get $15 certificate for Planet Hollywood (no biggie but hey, its a free meal)

So yeah, we are getting really excited!

We're Going to Disney World!

2008-01-11T18:11:00.000-08:00

So it's official. The airfair and vacation package are booked and deposits paid. Dinner reservations (yes you actually need them for the table dining restaurants) are made for each night. We will be there Feb 27 to March 5. Wooo-hooo! I'll post more later since my little guy just woke from his nap and wants some Mommy time.

Vacation Planning

2008-01-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

Well, got the bug to start planning another Disney vacation, this time for just the three of us. It was great to have Grandma and Bapa along on Jaxon's very first Disneyland visit last May, but this time we want to do just the three of us. We very seldom do stuff just the three of us. We are fortunate to live close to John's parents and my parents come to visit frequently so when we do fun stuff we often have at least one set of Grandparents along. Which is great - but sometimes it is nice to spend quality fun time just the three of us.

So, what we are debating now is whether to go back to Disneyland for 5 days (Using our airline miles this would cost $990-$1096 for either the Howard Johnson or Candy Cane Inn) or do Disneyworld this time and stay at one of the value resorts and do 6 or 7 nights. This would cost $1500-1635. Plus food for either of course. We usually estimate around $100 a day for food for the three of us.

Keeping in mind that Jaxon will just be turning 4 in March, do you think Disneyworld is too big for him? I remember things being so spread out there. The themeparks there are so much bigger (at least it seemed that way) than the California parks. We haven't been to Disneyworld since our honeymoon in 1999. Also, we have never stayed at one of the value resorts. Are they as awful as they look? Why can't they have a nicely themed value resort? Why do they have to have the giant crap all over the value resort hotels?

And if we do stay at a value resort, any recommendations on which of the 4 is best/worst? Of the 4, the All-star music looks the least evil, with maybe all-star movie coming in second. Any thoughts? Ease of transport from the hotel is a BIG factor too.

I'm excited! Share your thoughts and advice freely! (Gunfighter - I am looking at you specifically since I KNOW you go every year!)

2008-01-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

A New Year

2008-01-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

So I find myself in a contemplative mood today. Reflecting on another year completed and an open blank slate ahead, waiting to be filled with new memories. Wondering what is in store for us as our baby turns four the beginning of March, no longer a baby, or even a toddler, but becoming a full fledged "little kid." Wow. Hoping to start the process all over again soon.

Thought I'd share some of my favorite pics from last year. And yeah, since the highlight of 2007 was taking Jaxon to Disneyland for the first time, the majority are Disney pics.

Giving loves to Mickey

Jaxon & Bapa on the much loved Dumbo

One of the few pics in which Jaxon is wearing his ears

Bapa (my Dad)- the biggest Mouseketeer of them all

Meeting Captain Jack

My fav - giving Woody a high five

Heimlich's chew chew train

One of his favorites at California Adventure

With his beloved Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster

At the Sisters Rodeo

Going for a ride out camping

Jaxon and cousin Maddy

Jaxon with cousin Maddy at the Pumpkin Patch

Jaxon and Mommy at the pumpkin patch

Jaxon (a.k.a. Captain Jax) showing his "ticket to ride"

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T16:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Going over to the in-laws for a dinner and some games with John's long time family friends (NYE tradition) but probably sneaking out after Jaxon falls asleep and driving into Bend to go to an actual party (which we don't get to do much anymore) with our generation. And since Jaxon will be staying at Grammie's, we will get to sleep in in the morning!

And what have I been doing today? Well it was another slow day at work so I spent a bit of time reading Pioneer Woman's blog. Just stumbled on it today. Fun reading.

Crow and Kitten are Friends

2007-12-27T15:18:00.001-08:00

Found this link on Nengaku's blog.

Check this out - pretty amazing story.

So Tired of Reactionaries

2007-12-27T08:32:00.000-08:00

I posted part of this as a response on another blog but thought I would post it on my own as well.

I feel weary of all the controversy we are creating in our lives today. I am tired of trying so hard to find "good" foods, organic, etc. I have stopped worrying about whether or not a toy is plastic or wooden. Here is a thought for those concerned about lead. Many of the recalled toys were WOOD. The only things we had on the recall lists were a couple of Thomas the Tank Engine pieces. Wood is painted; with plastics the colors are often a part of the plastic itself. I just don't think there is any magic answer. So I try not to worry about it too much. I have enough things to worry about as a parent. Sure, I will be a bit more worried about what I let a baby play with (since they put stuff in their mouths more often) but my 3 year old? Haven't seen him sucking on a toy for awhile. If he happens to get a toy with lead paint, I hope I will be told so I can return it, but I somehow doubt it would be the end of the world. But hell, I wonder how many of the toys we grew up with had lead paint in them? And our parents? Houses back then had lead in the paint. Whole rooms. And lead pipes?

Don't get me wrong. Lead has no business being in anything I can think of today. Xrays are done digitally now so we don't even need to wear the lead aprons at the dentist, but I think everone has just gone over the top with this.

You know what really burns me when I shop? All the packaging. And what to do with items that have outlived their usefulness or no longer work. I have 3 huge old monitors, 3 old TVs, old VCRs, old bicycles not worth fixing, old cell phones, far more yogurt containers than I will EVER be able to reuse taking up space in my cupboards. I am thankful many of our Christmas gifts came in cardboard packaging but my LAND we have a lot of recycling that needs to go to the transfer station now! (Although we have garbage pick up, we have to haul our recycling separately to the transfer station ourselves.) And our transfer station doesn't take a lot of stuff that other recycling programs do. Like plastic that is not a bottle with a NECK. Plastic toys? We have bought a lot of toys from Craig's list and ebay and we have and will continue to relist them. But some get faded and broken and then where do they go? They are plastic. They SHOULD be recycleable!

My great hope is that this time around we elect a REAL president and that we finally start regulating this stuff. Let's create some incentives for manufacturers and retailers to reduce packaging. Let's start penalizing those who don't. Let's start making retailers accept merchandise back and be responsible for recycling it. And I am not just talking about electronics here. EVERYTHING.

Until then? I am not going to be overly worried about whether a toy Jaxon gets is plastic or wood, or whether or not it comes from China. Ok, I will worry some, but I am not going to let it take front and center. When I am presented with a choice at the store? Yes, 9 times out of 10 packaging and recyclability will factor into my choice. The "made in" label? Notsomuch. "Made in" means "assembled in". Doesn't mean that the paint used on the product, or the fabric used to make the shirt was not made in an entirely different place.

And food? We are hoping to get more and more of our food fresh and local. THAT I buy into whole heartedly!

Counter to the Feminist Movement

2007-12-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

So as the mother of an almost 4 year old boy, I was thinking the other day about why it is that there hasn't been a counter movement for boys to the feminist movement. My mother's generation, and even generations before hers fought hard for equality for women. So now-a-days, it is quite common that girls can wear the same clothes that boys do, play with the same toys, and do the same activities without a second thought. Hell, I rarely wear dresses.

So what about boys? You still never see a little boy dressed in pink or purple. Boys get funny looks if they want to push a stroller around the neighborhood. And all that princess stuff for girls? Nope. At least they can play with the Cars character stuff. Hey, my guy likes the Disney princesses too! But you won't catch us having a Disney princess theme for his 4th birthday (luckily I don't think it will be an issue.) And as open minded as his Dad is, he still raised his eyebrows at the "lipstick" (chapstick) Jaxon got in his stocking from Santa. Hey, at least one of the three varieties was green (kiwi) even if the other two were pink and purple. Jaxon loves all three and was excited to have his own "lipstick."

For the most part, it's not a big deal. Jaxon and his cousin Maddy are just a few months apart and although my sister and I have never directed their play, it always amazes us how naturally they gravitate toward traditionally gender based play. They both love to "cook" in their "kitchens" and vacuum, and they equally like painting and play-doh and puzzels and games, and Thomas wooden trains but where Maddy loves playing with her dolls, Jaxon could care less about dressing a doll or putting it to bed. And Maddy has little interest in digging, or playing with cars or scooper trucks where Jaxon could play with his trucks in the dirt all day.

But I continue to wonder at the fact that little girls can do anything, play with anything, where for little boys, many things are still discouraged. So what do you think? With there ever be a counter feminist movement for boys? And if so, what would we call it?

Christmas Camp Out on the Coffee Table

2007-12-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

Why can't I post video? Am I doing something wrong?

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T10:06:00.000-08:00

Hope you all enjoy your Holiday! May they be merry and bright and full of relaxing fun with your families and friends.

We will be heading to church at 4:00 followed by dinner at the in-laws and presents with them. We will do our presents and Santa presents just the three of us in the morning, and the in-laws will be coming over later in the day for Christmas dinner. We spent the weekend cleaning the house. I almost broke down in tears yesterday after about the FIFTH present I found from the dogs. Seemed like every surface I went to dust had a puddle of dried dog pee. WHY must our dogs mark all over the house? It is SOOO GROSSSS. They even got Jaxon's overnight bag. Had to send his clothes to Grammie's in a shopping bag so I could throw his bag in the washer. So, since I have talked a bit about our menagerie of pets, I thought I would post some pictures of the rascals.

Didn't notice until after posting this just how hang dog the dogs look in these pictures. Not sure why they look so glum. Guess they just don't like getting their pictures taken. Especially Tipper. Look at his body language. You'd think I was trying to give him a bath or something...

Tucker 9 years old

Telly 10? years old

Tipper (the one who makes my life hell)

Didn't catch a picture of Auskar my Aussie

Sweet baby girl (2 years) Chai

Buster 12 years old - eldest of the pack and the accepted alpha male of the household. Really, the dogs will sit and whine if he is blocking their path rather than mess with Buster.

Didn't catch the fat cat Astro either. Astro is named after the gas station we found her at. Someone had abandoned her there so we took her in. She is about 8 years old.

I tried to upload a video clip of them that included Auskar and Astro but it doesn't seem to want to work.