Showing posts with label musings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label musings. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Just once
Just once, I'd like to leave the house wearing my bra correctly. Perhaps when I stop breast feeding.
Friday, February 14, 2014
A little late
Warning: Thoughts on a tragic event.
Last week I went to the information session for the school that Oliver will most likely go to in the fall. It is a good school and I think that he'll be fine there.
One of the very first things after the introduction of the principal was a discussion of safety during the school day. For the most part, it was there are badges and the principal usually knows the people in the school and pretty much everybody will stop and ask you who/why you are there from a "friendly" standpoint. But sitting there in the school library I just felt the magnitude of Newtown in a way that I hadn't before. And I know that there has been plenty of real and virtual words that talk about it, but it hit home soo much clearer than before. And my heart broke again for the teachers who risked their lives, the students and teachers who lost their lives, and the parents who will never watch their children go into second graders, tweens, adults. And I almost started bawling right there.
Intellectually, I know that Newtown is an isolated event. I know that in the course of the 15 years that my sons will be part of the public school system, the only reason they will (most likely) on "lockdown" is because of over-zealous principals and police. But I can imagine the fear and worry that some principals must have because of these events.
May our children be safe.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Moving In
We have a (rental) house! And we are moved in! Now if I could get the kids bedroom and the playroom organized, fixed up and tidy we'd be all set!
It's nice to be in a bigger place with more room, but I really hate the toy explosion and the crap explosion. I know that most of it IS stuff that we use, but it generally feels like things that we don't need. Just stuff everywhere! And I haven't figured out where to put it yet. And when I do put it away somewhere, it gets pulled out like 5 minutes later!. It is pretty annoying. This annoyance goes back to the idea that maybe I should have purged everything before we moved except what we got for Christmas and Fred's birthday.
I think once we get used to the house and really have everything figured out to where it goes it will be nice to be here.
It's nice to be in a bigger place with more room, but I really hate the toy explosion and the crap explosion. I know that most of it IS stuff that we use, but it generally feels like things that we don't need. Just stuff everywhere! And I haven't figured out where to put it yet. And when I do put it away somewhere, it gets pulled out like 5 minutes later!. It is pretty annoying. This annoyance goes back to the idea that maybe I should have purged everything before we moved except what we got for Christmas and Fred's birthday.
I think once we get used to the house and really have everything figured out to where it goes it will be nice to be here.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Not dead
But the blog sure is.
It's not really a New Year's Resolution to work on this again, more like really committing to the time and writing and publishing what is going on. Again, it is hard because as soon as I go near the computer, Fred starts crying. And yes I know that most people would tell me to suck it up and let him cry, but at least for me it doesn't work that way. I do when it is really important to use the computer.
At any rate, we've moved!!! We're no longer in the Atlanta suburbs but have moved out to Seattle for a new job with Amazon. Yay! (or something). I know that I was the one who pushed Matt into to taking the job, not that he really needed the pushing but needed the reassurance that it would be okay. It will be, but again right now is stressful.
I should probably detail it out, but honestly it has been an adventure with hopefully a good outcome maybe not all of the treasure in world like Bilbo, but a positive outcome. The kids have mostly seemed to adjusted to the time shift and that is good. The first night they went to bed at 9pm Seattle time and woke up 3;30 Seattle time, so not enough sleep and then they were cranky. But I think that they're finally on the right time. Thank goodness!
I have pictures and will post them soon. I think once I get settled into a real house with my stuff, I will either start to love Seattle or I'll have a really strong episode of homesickness. I was sad when we drove to the Atlanta airport, and I had to tell myself that I can do this. Once we got here (after the day of travel) it's been fine. Mostly. Thursday, I got my car back and I re-did my presets on the radio. I almost cried over that, it makes it seem so much realer than just having the kids and even the cats here. It's acknowledging that it is unlikely that my car will go back to Atlanta, and certainly not anytime soon. I know that we'll visit every year, but still it won't be the same.
Let's not let this die again.
It's not really a New Year's Resolution to work on this again, more like really committing to the time and writing and publishing what is going on. Again, it is hard because as soon as I go near the computer, Fred starts crying. And yes I know that most people would tell me to suck it up and let him cry, but at least for me it doesn't work that way. I do when it is really important to use the computer.
At any rate, we've moved!!! We're no longer in the Atlanta suburbs but have moved out to Seattle for a new job with Amazon. Yay! (or something). I know that I was the one who pushed Matt into to taking the job, not that he really needed the pushing but needed the reassurance that it would be okay. It will be, but again right now is stressful.
I should probably detail it out, but honestly it has been an adventure with hopefully a good outcome maybe not all of the treasure in world like Bilbo, but a positive outcome. The kids have mostly seemed to adjusted to the time shift and that is good. The first night they went to bed at 9pm Seattle time and woke up 3;30 Seattle time, so not enough sleep and then they were cranky. But I think that they're finally on the right time. Thank goodness!
I have pictures and will post them soon. I think once I get settled into a real house with my stuff, I will either start to love Seattle or I'll have a really strong episode of homesickness. I was sad when we drove to the Atlanta airport, and I had to tell myself that I can do this. Once we got here (after the day of travel) it's been fine. Mostly. Thursday, I got my car back and I re-did my presets on the radio. I almost cried over that, it makes it seem so much realer than just having the kids and even the cats here. It's acknowledging that it is unlikely that my car will go back to Atlanta, and certainly not anytime soon. I know that we'll visit every year, but still it won't be the same.
Let's not let this die again.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Goals
My birthday was last month and I've adjust and add to my current 5 year plan.
Financial:
1. A fully funded emergency fund. I think we'll have one once Matt's bonus comes in from his new job.
2. Pay off my student loans. At our current rate of repayment, we should be done by in about 3 years,
3. Increase Matt's retirement contribution.
4. When I go back to work, (assuming we don't need the money in the budget), use most of the money for retirement.
5.Start college funds for the kids.
6. Have enough money for a decent cash car in 3-4 years.
Fitness:
1. Run a 10k
2. Run a sub 30 5k
3. Run a half-marathon
4. Have abs again
5. Be at the weight I was when I go married. That one isn't too hard, I've only got about 4lbs to go. If I really work on my running and making sure that the crap food levels aren't too high, this one should be pretty easy.
Family Life:
1. Get everybody sleeping in their own beds.
2. Find an activity that all of us are willing to do, and do it. Bonus points if it is something outside.
3. Settle into Seattle reasonably well.
4. See family and friends back in Atlanta regularly.
Lifestyle:
1. Continue blogging.
2. Find a pair of jeans that fit really really well.
3. Start crafting again. The internet is way too interesting and I know I need to stop reading it on my phone after the kids go to bed.
4. Work towards a diet that is mostly fruit and vegetable with meat as flavoring and starches are lightly used.
5. Work on my sugar addiction.
Financial:
1. A fully funded emergency fund. I think we'll have one once Matt's bonus comes in from his new job.
2. Pay off my student loans. At our current rate of repayment, we should be done by in about 3 years,
3. Increase Matt's retirement contribution.
4. When I go back to work, (assuming we don't need the money in the budget), use most of the money for retirement.
5.Start college funds for the kids.
6. Have enough money for a decent cash car in 3-4 years.
Fitness:
1. Run a 10k
2. Run a sub 30 5k
3. Run a half-marathon
4. Have abs again
5. Be at the weight I was when I go married. That one isn't too hard, I've only got about 4lbs to go. If I really work on my running and making sure that the crap food levels aren't too high, this one should be pretty easy.
Family Life:
1. Get everybody sleeping in their own beds.
2. Find an activity that all of us are willing to do, and do it. Bonus points if it is something outside.
3. Settle into Seattle reasonably well.
4. See family and friends back in Atlanta regularly.
Lifestyle:
1. Continue blogging.
2. Find a pair of jeans that fit really really well.
3. Start crafting again. The internet is way too interesting and I know I need to stop reading it on my phone after the kids go to bed.
4. Work towards a diet that is mostly fruit and vegetable with meat as flavoring and starches are lightly used.
5. Work on my sugar addiction.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Some Musings
The kids have distracted me while writing, so I can share my thoughts about my garden.
First the garden. I've been reading blogs/news sites/facebook/pinterest for years about home gardening. I realize that it is nothing new, but in the past few years it has become quite trendy and hip. And since I like to pretend that I am trendy and hip, I've wanted to plant a garden for years. Unfortunately, our previous house was too shaded to really have a decent summer garden, and I wasn't really aware of all that I could plant in the fall. When we were looking for a rental house, one of the things that made us really like this house was the backyard. It is both big enough for the boys and it gets great sunlight. I knew that I would be able to have my garden. I spent quite a bit of time going through the web and finding information about square foot gardening and I wanted to try it.
I started my garden after Easter and the first month it did really well. I think we had the right about rain, and I planted the right things for the time of year. I did a mix of plantings from seeds (arugula, carrots, zucchini, lettuce, cucumber, okra and eggplant) and seedlings (yellow squash, hot and sweet peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, and a few herbs). At first everything turned out really well. The arugula grew quickly and I liked to eat it fresh. I honestly have no idea how to cook with it, but I sure did like watching it grow. The carrots also did well. And the squash started out amazing. The seedlings also did very well. The best were the jalapeno pepper and the grape tomato plants. And then our lack of seasonal summer happened starting in May.
This year has been extremely wet which caused a lot of problems for me in the garden. First, the cooler weather made it difficult to get anything to grow for our zone. Our zone is much hotter than it was this year and the plants weren't able to do really well. Second, we got too much rain. Since we frequently had cool (for the time of year) rainy days nothing did very well. My squash caught a fungus that screwed up one plant and the other two got bugs that decided to eat it. I did pure organic gardening. I realize that if I don't bugs to eat my plant, I should spray it with something. However, I really wanted to it naturally and not put literally poison into my body*. I know that washing the plants would rinse away the chemicals, but I didn't want the chemicals on them in the first place. (I might get on a moral high horse at some point about this). I also knew the kids would pick plants and eat them before the vegetables would be washed so that was another consideration on not using chemicals. I think if I had done a better job of mulching the plants some of the fungus wouldn't have happened and some of the bugs would have been discouraged to eat the squash. I also don't think I did a good job of planting plants that should be together. I've got better ideas for the future, so hopefully I'll be able to make it better.
I think next year will be better and the hopefully the plants will produce better. I'm hoping to put in at least one more container and maybe two. I also want to give the kids a place to plant things so especially Phil won't be as likely to pick my tomatoes before they're ripe!
* I only sometimes buy organic at the grocery though. I know I really should for the dirty dozen and sometimes I manage too. I'm trying to both justify the cost and realize that I should eat like a gallon of strawberries in a week!
First the garden. I've been reading blogs/news sites/facebook/pinterest for years about home gardening. I realize that it is nothing new, but in the past few years it has become quite trendy and hip. And since I like to pretend that I am trendy and hip, I've wanted to plant a garden for years. Unfortunately, our previous house was too shaded to really have a decent summer garden, and I wasn't really aware of all that I could plant in the fall. When we were looking for a rental house, one of the things that made us really like this house was the backyard. It is both big enough for the boys and it gets great sunlight. I knew that I would be able to have my garden. I spent quite a bit of time going through the web and finding information about square foot gardening and I wanted to try it.
I started my garden after Easter and the first month it did really well. I think we had the right about rain, and I planted the right things for the time of year. I did a mix of plantings from seeds (arugula, carrots, zucchini, lettuce, cucumber, okra and eggplant) and seedlings (yellow squash, hot and sweet peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, and a few herbs). At first everything turned out really well. The arugula grew quickly and I liked to eat it fresh. I honestly have no idea how to cook with it, but I sure did like watching it grow. The carrots also did well. And the squash started out amazing. The seedlings also did very well. The best were the jalapeno pepper and the grape tomato plants. And then our lack of seasonal summer happened starting in May.
This year has been extremely wet which caused a lot of problems for me in the garden. First, the cooler weather made it difficult to get anything to grow for our zone. Our zone is much hotter than it was this year and the plants weren't able to do really well. Second, we got too much rain. Since we frequently had cool (for the time of year) rainy days nothing did very well. My squash caught a fungus that screwed up one plant and the other two got bugs that decided to eat it. I did pure organic gardening. I realize that if I don't bugs to eat my plant, I should spray it with something. However, I really wanted to it naturally and not put literally poison into my body*. I know that washing the plants would rinse away the chemicals, but I didn't want the chemicals on them in the first place. (I might get on a moral high horse at some point about this). I also knew the kids would pick plants and eat them before the vegetables would be washed so that was another consideration on not using chemicals. I think if I had done a better job of mulching the plants some of the fungus wouldn't have happened and some of the bugs would have been discouraged to eat the squash. I also don't think I did a good job of planting plants that should be together. I've got better ideas for the future, so hopefully I'll be able to make it better.
I think next year will be better and the hopefully the plants will produce better. I'm hoping to put in at least one more container and maybe two. I also want to give the kids a place to plant things so especially Phil won't be as likely to pick my tomatoes before they're ripe!
* I only sometimes buy organic at the grocery though. I know I really should for the dirty dozen and sometimes I manage too. I'm trying to both justify the cost and realize that I should eat like a gallon of strawberries in a week!
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