Wow

I just spent 40 minutes teaching a woman how to "Google". Are there really people out there who still can't do that?? This might not be as awesome as the time I spent an hour on the "copy-pasting" lesson.

In other news, our storm of the century (!!!) was barely a flurry. I wasn't looking forward to snow, so I was pleasantly surprised by this turn of events.

In two hours, I'll be off for four days. Hallelujah.

I am sick of working. Seriously. I'm developing a hatred for all things internet.

I've been going to a chiropractor and I love it. Apparently my lower back pain is caused by seriously out of whack hips. I could even tell just by looking at the x-ray. They are all twisted funky.

I've slept for probably a total of 9 hours the last two nights. I'm barely functioning today. Sick babies are the WORRRRSSSSSTTT. You would think with all this breastfeeding he would have a more solid immune system.

I despise voice mail messages where the person says... "Hello? Hello?!" UGHHHHHHHH. Grow up.

I had to ride my bike to campus this morning at 7 am to catch the bus since I missed the 830 that runs by our house. Oh. my. gosh. I thought my lungs were going to freeze and then burst. It was SO COLD. And uphill. Killer. I kept repeating to myself "whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger, whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger..." I did make it though, and arrived at work 20 minutes early, instead of 30 minutes late which was the norm last week.

Life is good. Even with sick babies and missed buses and immature customers.

14.5 month update

Amazon: $5 off

Do you ever buy stuff from Amazon?

Mamapedia has a deal today (you have to go to Houston for the deal**) for a $10 giftcard to Amazon.com for only $5! We buy SO much from Amazon... and you all know how much we love them.

Anyways, sign up through my link



... and out.




** You don't actually have to GO to Houston, just type it in.

Car-free

We've been car-free for a few weeks now, and I personally am enjoying myself. I forgot how much I love riding a bike, since I haven't had one since Theodore was born. Even going to the grocery store is a breeze as long as I take a backpack along to put my food in for the ride home. The weather is getting frigid, but nothing gloves and a hat can't solve (though I probably need a warmer coat, I don't really have a thick one). And saving money! I love saving money! We got a refund of $220 for canceling our car insurance and we are saving in gas/oil changes for now and then registration come the new year. And we got two nice road bikes for $200, a trailer for $77, and three helmets for about $60. I wanted to get a nice Chariot, but I couldn't find one used and I don't want to fork out ten times as much for a bike trailer. We'll start out with this and go from there. One day though... I really, REALLY want a Chariot (but y'all have probably figured that out by now).

So far, so good. I don't mind riding the bus home from work and we don't really go anywhere else that we can't walk to already, so bikes will make it even more convenient. I can't wait to tote Theodore around in the trailer... I think he is going to love it.

My conclusions thusfar: cars=overrated, dangerous, and expensive. It's liberating to not have to worry about maintenance, gas, or getting in a wreck. Going car-free has definitely simplified things.

Free at last

Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from house arrest by the military junta in Burma! Listen to her interview with BBC. What a woman!

Obsession

I have been getting the best deals on groceries. Mostly by couponing, but also following blogs that show you the best deals and how to combine coupons, etc. Yesterday I spent $18 and got $60 worth of groceries (two boxes of Barbara's cereal, one thing of Wholly Guacamole, a CPK pizza, two jars of Muir Glen spaghetti sauce, Reach dental floss, 2 lbs of Kraft shredded cheese, etc etc because I can't remember the rest). After the $4/off for the Wholly Guacamole (it was $2.99 so I got a dollar overage!), the BOGO Barbara's ("Like" Barbara's Bakery on Facebook, click on coupons and then go to the website to print it out!) and coupons for the rest, I got some pretty sweet deals. Hint: if you press the back button on your browser, you can print most coupons twice!

I've also been chasing down the Annie's Mac and Cheese at Smith's. It's on special for 49 cents a box but they've been running out, so every time a new shipment has come in I've tried to go and get some. Of course, they keep telling me they'll have a new shipment almost every day and I go and then they're like... no, tomorrow, we'll have a shipment! Very frustrating, but probably worth it considering it's usually $2.49 a box.

Is attachment parenting a prison?

According to writer Erica Jong, yes. Wall Street Journal published this controversial article wherein Jong equates attachment parenting to a prison for women (and men, in some respects but she notes that women do the majority of the self-sacrificing). It's the antithesis of feminism, ties down women to their own bodies and their own struggles for perfection.

I disagree wholeheartedly! For me, natural birth/breastfeeding/co-sleeping is my culmination of feminism! It's an ultimate expression of both femininity combined with choice. And also, at least to me, attachment parenting is easier in some respects. It fits into our lifestyle. Breastfeeding = wayyyyy easier than bottle-feeding. I personally hate washing bottles, worrying about if the milk has been sitting out too long, etc. during the few times Theodore gets a bottle during the day. Once you get the hang of it, breastfeeding lends itself to a much simpler approach to feeding baby. And making your own baby food? We didn't really, but we fed him from whatever we were eating. Again, simple. Easy. Even easier than opening a jar of baby food and carefully spooning it into his mouth. We handed him a chuck of cooked vegetables or pasta and let him go crazy. He's now an excellent eater (and no allergies), not due to our diligence of carefully introducing vegetables before fruit or testing each food for three days and watching for reactions (I'm not saying these things are bad, I'm just saying I'm lazy). And as far as co-sleeping, it has been the path of least resistance! Sure we get less sleep on some nights, but isn't that the way with most babies?

Is parenting a prison? A deep dungeon of servitude?

Nah. It's not so bad. Even for us hippie, granolie-type parents.




And I do not think most women breastfeed out of eco-guilt. To suggest this seems utterly ridiculous! Helping the environment is a nice perk, but it's the bonding and the healthiness and the naturalness that appeals to me.

Healthy does not equal skinny

I think about my weight a lot, especially since coming back from Egypt. Both Cait and I lost a lot of weight there, and while she looks great, I am grotesquely skinny. I would like to say I only worry about being skinny because of the health issues, but that's not true, because I do care about what people think of how I look. But my identity problems aren't at the core of this post. This is:

Here's a CNN report about a Kansas State professor who lost 27 pounds on Twinkie and Swiss Role based diet, which is funny because that almost mirrors my experience in Egypt (where Twinkies cost 5 cents and are on every corner). The conclusion the article draws is that to lose weight, calorie input vs output is pretty much the only factor, which is true as far as I can tell. My conclusion is different: Losing weight does not make you healthy. It might make you healthier, if obesity related health problems are serious for you. They're not for me. Like the article says (or should say) healthy varies from person to person. I just like this article because it confirms my belief (which is always nice) that the common description of healthy foods as low-fat and low-calorie is not a universal description of healthy and that overall, skinny does not equal healthy.

Breastfeeding... it's what your knockers are for?

Glad we're getting awareness out there - but this seems demeaning to me. Any thoughts?

Sleep/walking

But not sleep-walking.

We've recently rededicated ourselves to co-sleeping. After trying to settle Atticus into a routine and have him sleep at night in his crib, I've simply both given up and decided I actually LIKE co-sleeping and don't know why I was so set on the idea of getting him out of our bed. We are sleeping pretty well at night, he does 2-4 hour stretches and the nursing part is nice after a day away from him at work. I'm not as exhausted as I thought I would be if I went back to work and still woke up with him at night. And one day, he'll sleep on through the night and that'll be great, but for now, I'm happy with the way things are. We did move his crib mattress to the floor next to ours for a little more room. And I'm contemplating adding a twin bed to our full bed because I'm feeling a little claustrophobic at night. Or maybe I could win this organic cotton mattress and sleep on it myself :)

Atticus took his first independent steps today! We tried to capture it on video, but it didn't work too well because then he just wanted to crawl towards the camera instead of focusing on walking. It was adorable though. He was laughing hysterically the whole time he was so proud of himself. It was the perfect start to my day.