Unblogged

Well, I didn't win that food dehydrator, darnit.

And I feel entirely terrible that I haven't written much on here in some time. I have some ideas; posts about my shoes (contain your excitement, I know), hobbies (ha, ha), books I'm reading (oh, I'm loving that library card), the funny stuff (Organique [presumably] scribbling in the toilet - below the waterline - with a pencil), funny-but-also-not stuff (Baby suddenly shrieking and wailing, and my rush to examine her - finding a pokey cheat-grass seed in her cloth diaper), Hubby's new old diet, my homeschool room almost-redo, my updated wish-list, household fun (the pellet stove emitted ash one day through it's chimney pipe - which is full of more ash and needs swept [will happen tomorrow], and a day later the furnace broke), and more.

There's always a reason, you know? I'm nursing Baby and don't have 2 hands free, or I need to take a picture of [whatever] before I can post about it, I need to upload the picture of [whatever] before I can post about it, I nearly removed half the nail (and flesh to go with) from my left index finger and if I type, I'll squirt blood all over (well, not really, but almost).

BUT - at least now I've written this idea list, and can refer back to it, letting guilt hammer me into cooperation with my efforts to document this crazy life. Oh, and if you're just on the edge of your seat to hear more about any of the above sooner rather than later, feel free to guilt me into it leave a comment with your requests. :)

I'm Not Dead

...And I'll blog again shortly, I'm sure. :)

But I MIGHT just keel over if I won this. Check it out!

Ecstatic!

So. I've been wanting something for a long time now.

I used to have one, but these days they'd make me pay through the nose for it.

Other people can still get it at no cost, and I've been harassing friends and family to get one and - since they don't feel the need for it - pass it along to us.

I think I started asking around last Christmastime or so. And while I got lots of "yes" answers whenever I mentioned it, people often forgot or just never got around to it.

But I had an epiphany (ok, so someone suggested it). I called up my mother-in-law and said, "would you like to see this fat baby today? It's been half her life since she's seen you..." She obviously said sure, and so we made arrangements to meet in Town...


...at the library.

That's right! The library. Can I tell you how excited I am? SHE gave US the little key-chain version of the library card I made her get. Which they don't charge HER for. Of course, I'd assembled a list of books to look for, and found some of them available. Little Artist basically pulled anything from the shelves and started a stack (that needed serious paring-down), and Big Sister sat down to read. Grandma loved the baby while I looked up numbers and locations, armed with Books Children Love by Elizabeth Wilson. We left armed with James Herriot's Treasury for Children, The 5000 Year Leap, and 16 others. The apron book I've been drooling over since January was *still* checked out (I'd piggy-backed a couple times with a cousin when she made her library trip, wanting a particular maternity apron pattern from said book), and I completely forgot about the computer-printed list next to my handwritten one. But that's okay!!! Do you know why??? Because I can go back anytime I want.

At least until they start checking IDs...

Homeschool Testimonial

This is one of those great moments that you read about and wish you could've seen. I wonder if anything more will come of it?

See here.

Cheeky Girls

Blogger put these in reverse order, but I couldn't resist comparing pics of my girls at this age. Though when Little Artist was a wee one, I was using an old SLR camera, and don't have her cheekiest photos in digital format.

Here's the Recent One:

Here's Organiqe about the same age, give or take. She was the largest at birth, but looks pretty trim here!


This is Little Artist, younger than the rest. This was a crummy Kiddie Kandids shot. But oh, the cheeks she had!! I really need a scanner.


Tell me, doesn't Big Sister bear strong resemblance to the top photo?

That Says Something.

In this article by Mercola, discussing the hazards of some meat suppliers (specifically ground beef), there's this:

One retailer that does test their trimmings for E. coli before grinding is Costco, and according to The New York Times, Tyson will not supply them because they don’t want their product tested.

Wow. While I don't buy meat from retailers, typically, if I had to I think I'd go to Costco. And stay the heck away from Tyson brand!

Those for whom buying an entire beef (or parts thereof, ordered a-la-hoof) isn't reasonable, there are still ways to curb your risk. Obviously, shopping at Costco seems one step in the right direction. Grass-fed beef is the best choice; it's often also organic, but if I had to choose from a feed-lot animal steeped in antibiotics, chemicals, hormones, and belly-deep excrement and one steeped in antibiotics, chemicals, hormones and placidly wandering among green pastures, I'd choose the latter. Although most of the interventions used to prop up the health of a feed lot animal just aren't even necessary in a pastured one.

Also, cows eating grain (feed lot) have a change in their digestive pH, which causes E. coli to run rampant through their entire system. Not so with the bovine on grass and hay. Even IF the processor inadvertently drug the carcass through spilled manure on the slaughterhouse floor (and I BET that happens), your risk is far less if the cow wasn't eating lots of grain.

Oh, and ground beef comes from who-knows-how-many-animals, upping the chances for contamination, and every last little bit is exposed to everything, which is why you should cook your burger well. Save the 'rare' for the interior of a T-bone which hasn't had the same exposure.

Paranoid.

Yes, me, and not for what might be expected. :)

I just want to reiterate here (because here is the only place I can imagine having done something recently enough to have offended anyone) that I am not against anyone having their child routinely vaccinated, or getting the flu or swine flu shots for themselves or their children. I am against MY children having the flu or swine flu shot, and remain decidedly undecided about the rest of the program. And uphold the freedom we still enjoy (even if it is hanging by a thread) to CHOOSE one way or another.

So - in case the offended/hurt person/people were offended/hurt by my Swine Flu Questions post, I wish to assure them that it most certainly has nothing to do with their decisions on such (I don't even know if they have made decisions on such). It has far more to do with my suspicion of all things bureaucratic and my relatively weak blogging of late. :)

Wow, and I am so ashamed at how long it took me to figure out how to spell 'bureaucratic' up there. How the mighty have fallen... :(