Dear Neglected Blog

I love you, I really do. But this whole full time employment thing is really putting a damper on my recreational time, and my employer doesn't see the benefit in permitting employees to access Twitter or Facebook, so I haven't even tried Blogger.

Nadine and Nathan got married and we took advantage of their photographer, who took this beautiful shot of the little girls.

Things I'm doing...

- pre-washing and cutting veggies - Kristen, I store them in glass lidded containers. I find vegetables get really gross in ziplock bags, and I don't like my food sitting in plastic in any event. P.S. Sorry for rejecting your comment. I'm a spaz.

- NOT WORKING OUT which really sucks - I'm so tired in the mornings that I just can't get my ass out of bed and into the gym. Mostly because I'm staying up late doing the stuff I like.

- strangely, losing weight anyway. Getting out of the house for 35 hours a week is great for me - less boredom and less snacking. I'm down a couple of sizes and actually stepping up my calories a little bit because I don't want to get too skinny.

- organizing my house! Yay! We got new furniture for the living room and I looked around at the clutter and had a meltdown. Got rid of 3 massive garbage bags of clothing as well as a couple of boxes of garbage and a ton of recyclables. The girls' dresser has been emptied of outgrown clothes, inventoried and re-organized. All the yarn (mostly) is downstairs. In other developments, I'm now only allowed to knit one project at a time. Until I finish it. Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts because

- Yarn on the way!! Laines Magnifiques, cestari trim for my Mosaic Moon yarn that came in, and also some really cool Montreal Canadiens sock yarn for a surprise for Dan.

- God I need to start Christmas knitting.

- I ordered these for christmas gifts for the kids, along with tutus for Katja and Amelia. Christmas shopping for the little kids is complete, save for a even-up gift for Levi. Piece o' cake

- Got my knitting needles all organized. Then lost them. I am seriously worried they're in the autobin (dumpster). In which case I am out like $400 worth of needles. ARGH.

- next project is organizing my yarn. I can't wait - I love my yarn so much. I adore going through my stash. Although it is alarming how many hours I need in order to work it all up vs. how many hours I'm actually going to have to knit. I need a job where I can knit and work.

- pumping milk for Anika - she just turned 6 months old and is just tasting a few solids, but is not really ready (although she is sitting up quite nicely for 10-15 seconds at a time now. And has two teeth. They grow up so fast! Anyway, coming home at lunch won't be enough for her for a few more months when she's actually eating. Right now I have to make about 12 oz a day to keep up with her (we nurse at lunch too) - she's a pretty big eater. She eats a lot at night still too - (see paragraph on weight loss)

That's about it. I'm sure I'm missing a zillion things, but that's mostly it.

Hmm - random - meal plan this week - Mon roast beef (crockpot), Tues pork chops, applesauce, mashed potatoes and gravy (broccoli for veg), Wed shepherd's pie, Thurs pad thai (I think).

To do list

Week two of back to work is coming up, and I'm excited to get back out there - I've got my meal plan done and veggies ready to go. I'm really enjoying my new position, so it's just super-exciting and fun. (Also, I got new clothes. Lots of them. Definitely excited to wear grown-up clothes daily!)

Here's what I had left to do as of 8 p.m.

- hem pants

- finish longies (casting off ridiculous ruffled edges at 160 stitches each, in rib (gah).

- blog

- finish laundry and get diapers folded and into bassinet (they're clean & dry, doing the folding tomorrow morning)

- chat with Max about school and make sure he's ok

- chat with Meredy and promise her we will start reading at bedtime again tomorrow

- chop veggies for the week (I have a raw veggie tray that is always stocked with washed, cut, bite-sized organic veggies. No excuses that way - it's probably tripled our veggie intake)

- find sewing needles in order to hem pants

- put photos on new usb drive to bring to work

- find usb drive

- hope to stumble across camera, MIA since Saturday

- do chore chart

These are actually the important things that kind of need to be done for me to stay sane enough that I can fall asleep. Now it's 11:49 and the pants are waiting, so I'd better get to it.

Lucky babies

From mashable.com

"Whole Foods has a very active social media presence. They boast over 1.2 million followers on Twitter and more than 100,000 fans on Facebook. It’s a true big brand social media success story; or is it?

Comments made by the company’s chief executive, John M

ackey, in an opinion piece about Obama’s health-care reform initiatives published in the Wall Street Journal are stirring up controversy on the Web and showing the company the other side of social media. Case in point, a user-generated Boycott Whole Foods movement attracting more than 22,000 Facebook supporters in one week.

In the controversial piece, Mackey denounces the government’s involvement in health-care, expounds on the benefits of Whole Foods approach, and even suggests that a multitude of health problems can be prevented with healthier diets. " (my emphasis)

Seriously. People are up in arms about this.

OK here's the deal:

The people who surround us are sick because they're fat, they're sedentary, they're stressed out, they're eating toxic crap, drinking fluoride, u

sing bleached paper next to their babies' skin, bathing in parabens, and otherwise polluting themselves in so many ways it's a wonder we don't all die of poisoning as teens.

Cancer, heart disease, parkinson's, alzheimer's, stroke, MS, autism, ADHD. These are all directly attributable to the above, along with smoking cigarettes.

These are happening because we're fat, we're sedentary, and we're stressed out. So get moving, put down the donut, and change your life. Live simpler. Get rid of debt. Drive a used car. Work less. That's the key, folks. That's all. It's so simple, and everyone is ignoring it because it's not as easy or as sexy.

Here's someone who has a pretty good shot at never being seriously ill, G-d willing. She's so perfect, so healthy, and we haven't interfered with that. We've just let her grow, eat, move, play, and learn. Everything she's meant to. Sure, there's disease out there that isn't due to lifestyle, but they're not half as common as these killers. I'm glad I learned this now, though I fear the damage has already been done. I just hope and pray that I've regenerated enough to make a difference.

This baby is so lucky.

We haven't subjected her to assaults on her immune system. She's perfect, and we are just keeping her that way. We're trusting that her body knows what it is doing. I feel pretty good about our decision.

It's not like me to complain about the weather, I'm pretty easygoing (and I'm not one of those people who says they are easygoing when they totally are NOT), but this has been a bummer of a summer (heh). It's my last summer off ever in my entire life, and we can't even go to the lake because the weather sucks (kids plug your ears) shit.

I can count on one hand the number of summer sunny days over 25 we've had. I lose count when I add up the rainy days. We had major water damage because of the rain. My rain barrel is literally overflowing, and nothing needs watering. The dehumidifier in the basement runs 24/7 (that thing's a workhorse, we got it in the buy and sell 2 years ago for like 40 bucks, it's run for 2 years almost constantly and still works awesome. Unbelievable.

My garden does look fab, on the plus side :) I have thyme and lavendar to dry, but my basil got eaten by some criter so no pesto :( - tomatoes need a few sunny days but they're coming along. And we also put in a bunch of indigenous prairie plants this year, and they hate dry conditions so they're actualy doing awesome. Was out there today, playing in the mud. Doing my first transplants ever - pretty exciting stuff (if you're a nerd like me). My daughter 'helped' and we were covered in mud but it was fun. Really fun, actually. I didn't want to come in.

And a lily bloomed, right in my garden. It smelled just like it should. Katja and I both spent a few minutes admiring it and smelling it. That was something else. I'll post a photo soon. Just have to take one tomorrow.

Jam

Best jam I've ever made. Going to make changes to the next batch.

Bumbleberry Jam - strawberries, raspberries, and saskatoons, all local.

I used a cup less sugar than the recipe called for, because I wanted a softer jam. Next ti

me I will use a little bit less and add some lemon juice.

Every jar of this is spoken for, and then some - need to do a second batch this week.

Yum.

Katja Woke up just now asking for mama. She's only been asleep a couple of hours, and she typically sleeps through the night (she is 30 mos old) so this was kind of surprising.

I asked her if she wanted me to turn the fan off. "Non". I asked if she wanted a drink of water. "Non" asked what she wanted..."bubbies" (to nurse).
I knew this, but had tried to distract her with other options. Nothing doing, unsurprisingly.

I said ok (she was all red-eyed and pitiful, I couldn't say no), and said "un petit peu de bubbies." (Just a little bit) She snuggles into me, all happy, "non....beaucoup de bubbies!"
(Non lots of bubbies!). Then settled in to nurse happily.

She's so goddamned cute. One of the advantages of nursing a toddler is that you get to learn how wonderful nursing really is to a child. It is so important to Katja. She is very verbal, so it's so much fun to talk to her about nursing.

She describes nursing as being like cake or candy. Both of these are rare treats for her, so are pretty special.

She also tells me a lot about nursing by *when* she is nursing. If we're home and I'm trying to get stuff done, and she's whining to nurse, she probably needs me to set aside the work and give her some quality time. If she suddenly starts needing to nurse at night, she is likely fighting a virus or teething. If she is hungry. Tired. Sad. Bored. Nursing is the cure for what ails her. I mean, come on - how can you just cut that off?
I certainly did with my oldest, at just 16 months. I still feel like a jerk for doing it, but I was stretched really thin at that point in my life for lots of legitimate reasons, and this had to give.
I think he's secretly jealous the girls got to nurse longer.

Anika's been up to nurse 3x already, guessing growth spurt, but come to think of it, she didn't nurse much today - not for long periods. Too enthralled by her sister's antics to be bothered to eat. That means reverse-cycling. To be honest, I'm relieved. If she nurses very little during the day then nurses all night that would be perfect - my milk would be a bit regulated during the day so I might not have to pump daily (logistical fucking nightmare). And I would know she wasn't upset by lack of feeding.

I'm missing Sock Summit

I am missing SS09 And I'm ok with it, because at the time registrations were taking place, I didn't think I would even really want to go. But I've knit a few socks since then, joined the Rockin' Sock Club, and have finally gotten the bug for sock knitting.

I made socks for the midwives' gifts, and honestly, I think it was probably the coolest gift they ever got - a sock is an awesome gift, because most people just marvel that you can make such a thing (which is funny if you are also reading Little House on the Prairie when knitting socks). The other great thing about socks is that each pattern is a bit different, so it remains challenging.

An average sock is solidly a 5 hour to 8 hour project for me, depending on complexity and whether I get extended knitting periods. I have two socks on the go right now, a super plain navy for my father in law (and wonderful babysitter) and a fancy pair, probably for a gift.

Our midwives' gift - pair of handknit socks, a pound of organic fair trade coffee, and a gourmet chocolate bar.

And of course a birth announcement with a very heartfelt "thank you". I haven't posted my birth story for either home-birthed girl, so I should really get on that. There's just so much to tell, and I don't often get a lot of time at the computer. Maybe I will start chipping away at it.