I looked up and found this.
And these were in it!
Looks like we'll have baby birds soon!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Babies
Noticed a robin hanging around the house lately. Then I caught her flying away from the back door the minute I opened it.
I looked up and found this.
And these were in it!
Looks like we'll have baby birds soon!
I looked up and found this.
And these were in it!
Looks like we'll have baby birds soon!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Shirley Temple
When I was little, my mom would put my hair in those sponge rollers at night and in the morning, I'd wake up looking like orphan Annie (my hair was practically orange when I was a kid.) Grandma gave Miss Zoe a pack of sponge rollers when we were over there for Mother's Day, and of course she insisted we try them out. So, after a bath, I rolled her all up. And warned her: "They aren't fun to sleep in!"
But she thought the results were worth it!
I thought she looked like Shirley Temple!
Her brother remarked, "How come girls always want the sort of hair they don't already have?"
"What do you mean?"
"Curly haired girls want straight hair, straight haired girls want curly hair. Why can't they be happy with the hair they already have?"
Ha. Good point. From a five-year-old, yet.
Beauty is confusing and painful, kid.
What can I say? :)
But she thought the results were worth it!
I thought she looked like Shirley Temple!
Her brother remarked, "How come girls always want the sort of hair they don't already have?"
"What do you mean?"
"Curly haired girls want straight hair, straight haired girls want curly hair. Why can't they be happy with the hair they already have?"
Ha. Good point. From a five-year-old, yet.
Beauty is confusing and painful, kid.
What can I say? :)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Gridlock
We've got grids on the garden beds! I can see why creating the square foot grids are really going to help with planting. I'm glad we went through the work to do them.
It was a perfect day for it, not windy, about seventy degrees, and Dmitri and Zoe helped a lot!
We drilled holes, screwed in eyelets, and then threaded twine through the holes and tied it off. The eyelets were Michael's idea - so no one would scrape themselves on nails or screws. And they worked out brilliantly! He also gave me the idea to thread the twine through instead of tying each individual piece of twine off. I love being married to such a smart man. ;)
Turned out pretty good!
I can handle this sort of gridlock!
Tomorrow, we plant... weather permitting.
It was a perfect day for it, not windy, about seventy degrees, and Dmitri and Zoe helped a lot!
We drilled holes, screwed in eyelets, and then threaded twine through the holes and tied it off. The eyelets were Michael's idea - so no one would scrape themselves on nails or screws. And they worked out brilliantly! He also gave me the idea to thread the twine through instead of tying each individual piece of twine off. I love being married to such a smart man. ;)
Turned out pretty good!
I can handle this sort of gridlock!
Tomorrow, we plant... weather permitting.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Business of the Month
This yellow sign is found hanging on our little town's designated "Business of the Month." I think every business gets one chance a year to be the "Business of the Month," and it's pretty much done on a rotating basis... ;)
Friday, May 9, 2008
Drugged Popcorn
This is an actual bag of popcorn my husband brought home, left for the psychiatrist at his work by the drug rep. Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeez. Now I've seen everything! Note the "Contains No Active Drug" written on the package.
The popcorn was good, though. :)
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Robin's Egg Blue
Dmitri came into the house cradling this the other day. Gives a solid definition to "robin's egg blue" doesn't it? There's still baby bird-gunk on it and everything! I put it away for him, so he can take it in for show and tell on his day. Very chagrined at first, Zoe went out determined to find her own. And look at that - she did!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
We Have Garden Beds!
I wanted six, and got seven! Yay!
That stump you see in the forefront is a little crabapple tree we cut down, so it wouldn't shade our growing veggies.
Look at all that rich soil just waiting for my transplants! It's Mel's Mix, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 compost. I just have to create the grids, harden off my babies and get them used to the outside, and start planting!
WOOT!
We still have to build the vertical frames for our tomatoes and cucumbers and pole beans... but one step closer!
Monday, May 5, 2008
Happy Birthday, Dad!
My father is a Taurus – and he’s definitely as stubborn as a bull! Of course, I’m Aquarian, and just as stubborn, so perhaps it’s in the genes?
He’s also incredibly intuitive, with a very strong sense of justice (and injustice) both of which I got from him.
He was born in 1946, which makes him sixty-two today. He was named after his father, William Lee Ladd. My middle name comes from his (Sherilee … they couldn’t decide between Dawn and Sheri, and decided to combine them all!)
What I remember my father telling me about his childhood:
He had two older sisters who took up a great deal of his care-taking. He also had a younger brother who stole a lot of his thunder. The boys got into a lot of trouble together—including using their brand new Christmas air rifles to shoot the ornaments off the tree. His father worked in a factory, and died of brain cancer when my father was about twelve. My grandmother was a single mother for the rest of her life—she never remarried. My father had a lot of trouble in school. Nowadays, he’d be easily treatable as a dyslexic, given all sorts of accommodations, etc. But back then, he was just labeled stupid and was given looms and weaving to do. He didn’t finish much past the fifth grade, and still has problems reading and writing to this day.
My grandmother said the girls came to the house for my dad "in droves." He was sorta handsome, huh? He met my mother in his early twenties. She was nine years older, and since he believed he couldn’t have children, and she came with a ready-made family of two girls and a boy, it was a perfect match. I was a surprise – surprise! Their only biological child together. My father wanted a boy, but my mother says she was grateful I was a girl – because 1) he and I probably would have killed each other when I hit my teen years if I was a boy and 2) it gave my father the opportunity to see how the world is for girls and women.
I think both are probably true!
When I think about my father, I remember:
* The time he climbed into my crib when I was about three and told him, “You can’t come in here! You’re too big!”
* Making a snowman with him and using leftover brake light covers for eyes.
* Holding the flashlight when he was working on the car.
* He took my training wheels off and helped me learn to ride a two-wheeler
* He asked me what color I wanted to paint my room when I was five, and when I said, “Red, white and blue” he didn’t even flinch. My room was painted like an American flag, including stripes and stars.
* We joined a father/daughter bowling league – and I won most improved bowler (which wasn’t hard, when I started with a “9”… that’s not a typo. Nine pins, the whole first game.)
* He loved Elvis Presley and played 2001 The Space Odyssey soundtrack over and over. Later, it was Queen’s soundtrack from The Highlander.
* In spite of, or because of, his dyslexia, he valued education and never stopped reinforcing college – it was never a question that I was going to go. Which I did. I’m the first person in my family to attend college, let alone finish, and the only one with a Masters degree.
* When I doubted the existence of Santa Claus, he had his friend, Bob, play Santa for me – the on CB radio.
* He bought me my first car - $400 for a rusty 1968 Signet – and spent the summer repairing it when it broke down. And it broke down a lot.
* He initiated the idea of putting up all of the Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve, while I was sleeping. So I went to bed with nothing Christmas-y around, and woke up to the magic of not only the decoration and the tree, but presents, too!
My father and I - 1978ish.
My mother and father 2007
My Father Christmas 2007
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!
He’s also incredibly intuitive, with a very strong sense of justice (and injustice) both of which I got from him.
He was born in 1946, which makes him sixty-two today. He was named after his father, William Lee Ladd. My middle name comes from his (Sherilee … they couldn’t decide between Dawn and Sheri, and decided to combine them all!)
What I remember my father telling me about his childhood:
He had two older sisters who took up a great deal of his care-taking. He also had a younger brother who stole a lot of his thunder. The boys got into a lot of trouble together—including using their brand new Christmas air rifles to shoot the ornaments off the tree. His father worked in a factory, and died of brain cancer when my father was about twelve. My grandmother was a single mother for the rest of her life—she never remarried. My father had a lot of trouble in school. Nowadays, he’d be easily treatable as a dyslexic, given all sorts of accommodations, etc. But back then, he was just labeled stupid and was given looms and weaving to do. He didn’t finish much past the fifth grade, and still has problems reading and writing to this day.
My grandmother said the girls came to the house for my dad "in droves." He was sorta handsome, huh? He met my mother in his early twenties. She was nine years older, and since he believed he couldn’t have children, and she came with a ready-made family of two girls and a boy, it was a perfect match. I was a surprise – surprise! Their only biological child together. My father wanted a boy, but my mother says she was grateful I was a girl – because 1) he and I probably would have killed each other when I hit my teen years if I was a boy and 2) it gave my father the opportunity to see how the world is for girls and women. I think both are probably true!
When I think about my father, I remember:
* The time he climbed into my crib when I was about three and told him, “You can’t come in here! You’re too big!”* Making a snowman with him and using leftover brake light covers for eyes.
* Holding the flashlight when he was working on the car.
* He took my training wheels off and helped me learn to ride a two-wheeler
* He asked me what color I wanted to paint my room when I was five, and when I said, “Red, white and blue” he didn’t even flinch. My room was painted like an American flag, including stripes and stars.
* We joined a father/daughter bowling league – and I won most improved bowler (which wasn’t hard, when I started with a “9”… that’s not a typo. Nine pins, the whole first game.)
* He loved Elvis Presley and played 2001 The Space Odyssey soundtrack over and over. Later, it was Queen’s soundtrack from The Highlander. * In spite of, or because of, his dyslexia, he valued education and never stopped reinforcing college – it was never a question that I was going to go. Which I did. I’m the first person in my family to attend college, let alone finish, and the only one with a Masters degree.
* When I doubted the existence of Santa Claus, he had his friend, Bob, play Santa for me – the on CB radio.
* He bought me my first car - $400 for a rusty 1968 Signet – and spent the summer repairing it when it broke down. And it broke down a lot.
* He initiated the idea of putting up all of the Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve, while I was sleeping. So I went to bed with nothing Christmas-y around, and woke up to the magic of not only the decoration and the tree, but presents, too!
My father and I - 1978ish.
My mother and father 2007
My Father Christmas 2007
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Letter to the NY Times
This lawsuit inspired the following letter to the NY Times from Michael:
Stefanie,
I read your article of 4-29-08 about Sandra Madero online. I'm a father of 2 biological children.
I didn't know Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spas were in the birth control business. I was outraged when I read your story. How could anyone continue to patronize a company who caters to women when the company treats a pregnant woman employee the way they did? You'd think it would give them the great marketing idea of developing a spa program, or line of spa home products, for pregnant women. But, no, a pregnant employee gave them the idea that the very essence for their existence - women - are to be abused and denigrated when they become pregnant.
I have already returned the Elizabeth Arden products that I bought my wife, mother and mother-in-law for Mother's Day. And I am encouraging all I know to do the same and to not buy from Elizabeth Arden. I will make certain that my wife spreads your article far and wide throughout her mothering groups, forums and blogs and our parenting and birth communities, groups, forums and blogs.
Stefanie,
I read your article of 4-29-08 about Sandra Madero online. I'm a father of 2 biological children.
I didn't know Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spas were in the birth control business. I was outraged when I read your story. How could anyone continue to patronize a company who caters to women when the company treats a pregnant woman employee the way they did? You'd think it would give them the great marketing idea of developing a spa program, or line of spa home products, for pregnant women. But, no, a pregnant employee gave them the idea that the very essence for their existence - women - are to be abused and denigrated when they become pregnant.
I have already returned the Elizabeth Arden products that I bought my wife, mother and mother-in-law for Mother's Day. And I am encouraging all I know to do the same and to not buy from Elizabeth Arden. I will make certain that my wife spreads your article far and wide throughout her mothering groups, forums and blogs and our parenting and birth communities, groups, forums and blogs.
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