#1
So, I should probably start with:
Waxor and I are buying a house.
No, wait, I should start with THIS, actually:
The reason I haven't sent one of these out in ages is because we've been freaking BUSY this summer. We're very rarely home for four days consecutively. We've been to Northampton, Maine, Nicaragua, Maine again, and we're headed back to Northampton in a few weeks. Then, when we HAVE been home, we've had lots of company. It's been awesome and totally social, but, y' know, busy.
And, on top of all that (segueing back to that first item) we're buying a house.
Exciting, yes?
Waxor and I are buying 709 River St, Haverhill, MA 01830 (now you all have our address). It's an old cottage that got expanded into a three bedroom home, it's got a giant wood stove and a huge yard, and I'm pretty happy with the whole idea of living there.
At least, when I'm not terrified by the idea of buying a house.
It needs a little bit of work done, but all in all I've very satisfied with what will be our new home. Anyone who wants can feel free to come by and check it out once we're all moved in.
Bravo has decided to chicken out for the summer - instead of running an actual season of Top Chef they are, instead, running a season of "Top Chef Masters" in which they get a bunch of well known chefs to come in to compete for charity. But, because they're well known chefs, it lacks the cut throat quality of the original, not to mention the spectacular disasters. Anyway, the most recent challenge was to make a five course lunch for Zoey Deschanel (actress and singer, for those of you that don't know). The catch was that she's vegan, gluten intolerant, and doesn't eat soy. This captured my fancy, and before I watched the episode I came up with my own, five course menu for ZD. Next time I have vegans over for dinner I am totally trying it out. Anyway, the only REALLY interesting one was that I thought, for dessert, I'd make mexican hot chocolate fondue with fresh fruit and homemade cake donuts made with corn flour for dipping.
Yeah, I'd eat that.
Waxor and I have been watching Boston Legal on DVD. I got hooked on the show by my family, who told me for years how brilliant it was, and then last Christmas they tied me down to a chair and taped my eyeballs open, forcing me to watch episode after episode until I could no more NOT watch Boston Legal then I could stop breathing. Okay, so that's not really true, but seriously, it is all their fault that I watch this totally brilliant show.
Thanks, by the way. :)
Anyway, we borrowed season one from them, and already had season two at our house, and we've been making our way through them. Early in season two Alan Shore and Denny Crane are having a conversation about the aquatic lice that are migrating from farm salmon to wild salmon and killing them. Alan says "they call the lice Klingons" and Denny, aka William Shatner, aka JAMES T FREAKING KIRK, says "did you say, Klingons?"
It was a moment of television brilliance.
And that's all I have to say about that.
Callie has started to develop some maternal instincts, I think. Elliot tends to complain when he rolls over in his sleep, and when we hear his little squeak over the monitor Callie gets up and runs to his room. It's like she feels the urge to check on him. It's cute, but it would be cuter if "running to his room" didn't involve barreling over, around, under, or through any person that gets in her way. I swear, sometimes I don't know if she's trying to save the baby or kill me.
Chimbasa is getting fed up with all the hoopla around the house. He likes Elliot and Callie, but he doesn't care for their rambunctious puppy behavior. He has his dignance, and he wants to sit in the sun and exude said dignance, not be molested by puppies that have the clear misfortune of being bigger then him. It's almost ridiculous watching Callie try to give him her belly, since he's barely taller then her even when she's lying flat on the ground. Elliot thinks it's hilarious when Chimbasa growls at him over pulled tails, and Chimbasa, being, really, a gentle little guy, has yet to actually snap at him. So instead of saving the baby from the dog I mostly end up saving the dog from the baby.
Waxor loves his job, loves our new house, loves the dogs, loves our baby, and I'm pretty sure loves me. In fact, he seems pretty content with life in general at the moment. If any of you want greater detail then that I would suggest you badger him to tell you personally. I know I would find it no end of hilarious if you would. :)
Elliot is growing by leaps and bounds. He's taller, for one thing, I think he's grown almost an inch since his last doctor's appt. I can tell he's growing because at night he has growing pains. A few nights ago I had to stay awake and massage his legs so he could go back to sleep. He's also developing cognitively. More and more he is understanding the details of what I say, instead of just the general gist. I would be really impressed, except that I have always known he is the cleverest baby ever, so it's more like my expectations are being realized. :) With his growing sense of things, however, he has also developed a growing sense of wanting things his way or no way. It used to be that he would hardly ever have a meltdown. Now he hardly ever has a day without one. Some days I handle it better then others. Some days I'm not even sure what handling it well means. But I try my best to be calm. Sometimes I find myself taking a step back, repeating to myself "YOU are the adult. You have to act like it," and then reentering the fray. It's hard not to react angrily when someone is mean to you, even if that someone is tiny and doesn't know any better. It's even harder when they DO know better, but just haven't learned to control themselves yet. I think I'm getting better, though. And Elliot and I are still best buddies, despite his periodic attempts to (as far as I can judge) completely murder me. Maybe it's better for him that I do have such a temper. I know what it's like to be totally angry and utterly miserable all at the same time, and I know what it's like to need the person you're screaming at to just let it go and tell you they love you, anyway. So I do my best. When all else fails - when I'm holding a child that's trying to hit, bite, and head butt me all at the same time - I put him on the bed and walk away, and then listen to him wail. And when his wail turns from "I'm so angry, I'm gonna kill you" into "Mommy, why did you leave me in here?" I walk back in and hold out my arms, and he runs over and throws his arms around me and sobs penitently. And I give him a big hug and tell him I love him.
I wish you could be progress reports on parenting, instead of having to wait for finals to see how you're doing.
I wish I could give you all an update on me, but I'm not sure that I can. I'm feeling... dunno. Terrified of buying a house, excited to own our own home, proud of my son for his achievements, exasperated with my son for turning into a typical toddler, tired of all the work I have to do to get us moved, glad to be doing something that isn't childcare, happy and content with Waxor, worried that my hormones seem to make that a variable state, raring to go, overcome with inertia, and withdrawn. I've been reading a lot, I call it stress reading. I know some people stress eat, that isn't my problem. I mean, I eat all the time, stress or no stress. But reading - I've been reading a lot, and I think I'm hiding in my books. It's the only way to get my mind to stop obsessing over things I have no control over - like when we're finally going to be able to close on the house, and if I'll be able to get everything done that needs to get done before we move in, and what if I (heaven forfend) forget something important. I lie awake at night and think about things. I've made tons of lists. And, at the moment, I can't DO anything about it. So I read. I read a lot. I've been glued to a book ever since our offer on the house got approved by the bank. It's making poor Waxor a little crazy, but I actually think Elliot has been enjoying it. We go for long walks and stuff, and I keep on eye on him and one eye on my page, and he's been delighted to explore at his own pace.
So, now I'm off to NOT read, I've got some cleaning up to do and then I'm going to see if there's anything else I can pack (I've been packing everything non-essential. Packing also helps me calm down, because I feel like I'm doing something productive.) Oh, by the by, if anyone out there is getting rid of any old quilts (I know, it's a long shot, but I figured I'd check) I would be happy to pay for shipping if you'd send them to me instead tossing them or giving them to the salvation army.
#2
At Been's suggestion I've been reading Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner. I highly recommend it to anyone who liked Buffy and is a mom. Even if you AREN'T a suburban mom, you will still enjoy it. Something about the passage where she describes the last minute cocktail party she's throwing at her husband's request, and how she's got only 20 minutes to clean up the house, but "that's okay, because [the two year old] was helping. In case anyone doesn't know, that was SARCASM." just won me over completely.
I want to learn to shoot a gun. I know, this may shock some of you who spent years hearing me claim I was a pacifist, but I've realized I was lying all along. I am not a pacifist, I don't know if I ever was or if I just liked the idea that I could be. It's not that I've changed my base belief that, for the most part, violence is not a good idea. However, I also think that, human nature being what it is, sometimes it's really the only way to keep from getting deaded. (Deaded means being killed, but is way more fun to say. Thought I'd update non-MMO players) And a real pacifist would say it's preferable to get deaded than to hurt or kill someone else. So, see, I'm really not a pacifist. So, anyway, I keep reading these disaster novels in which the end of society arrives in a sometimes fiery, sometimes not so fiery cataclysm. Technology falls apart, government goes into hiding, and most of the people in the world are suddenly without the basic societal cushioning to which we are all accustomed. These novels have driven home to me a couple things; (A) there are a lot of different ways that society could break down. Stephen King is scared of disease, and in Dies the fire S.M. Stirling explores a fascinating technology failure caused by... who knows. God? Aliens? Then there's nuclear holocaust, a very popular worry, failure of energy technologies, and global ice age issues. So, yeah, lots of ways we could suddenly be screwed. (B) I really need to learn the basics of farming. This one is also driven home by the TV show Lost, Robinson Crusoe, and the Swiss Family Robinson. If the structure of our lives ends OR I end up stranded on a deserted island I better know how to grow/harvest my own food. And, of course, (C), I really need to learn to shoot a gun. Not to own one. I don't want one in my house. But if the world ends or the revolution comes (or, come to think of it, if I'm stranded on a deserted island and happen to be lucky enough to have a gun) I better know how to shoot one. Plus, I will admit, I've always thought it might be kinda fun. I like blowing things up, too, and lighting stuff on fire.
We will now take time out of our regularly scheduled babble to bring you a public service announcement:
As all of you know (some with more familiarity than others) my family runs an NGO in Nicaragua. If you're one of the less familiar and would like some of the specifics of what they work on I suggest you skip over to http://www.jhc-cdca.org. That's their website and it's full of interesting information.
I'm not going to talk about what they do. I'm going to talk about who they are, and what they need. As people they're a lot like the rest of us. I think a lot of people assume it takes some kind of saint to do the kind of work they do. It doesn't. Instead, it takes someone with more tenacity than common sense; someone with a greater sense of responsibility to humanity than a sense of self preservation; someone who needs to stand up for what is right more than they need money, security, vacations, or even a solid night's sleep.
I'm not one of those people. Most of you aren't either. What I want to say here is that it's okay; that we all have to be the kind of people we are, but honestly I'm not sure it IS okay, it's certainly a guilt I've carried around for a long time. I try to make up for it somewhat by supporting them as I can, which can be a greatly varying job. Unfortunately, at the moment, the thing they need the most is something that I can't give them.
They've been working like this for literally my entire life, coming up on 31 years now. Some of their projects have been greater successes than others, and that's to be expected in a 30 year career. For the past 10 years now one of their largest projects has been the attempt to get a working model of a worker owned fair trade co-op off the ground, first with a sewing co-op and now, hopefully, with a spinning co-op. This model is important, not just to them, but to the world at large. Fair trade improves lives and economies, thus growing the global economy and making us all more stable. Worker owned co-ops are a beautiful blend of the capitalist system with communist ideals of solidarity and working for the betterment of all. And there's even still a place in them for the large money contributor as an investor. It's a really, really good idea, and it's not a very controversial one. It's been a struggle to set up for the basic reason that the only people willing to give it a try are the incredibly poor, and for the most part they have absolutely, 100% NO business training, and, as you might guess, that's a bit of a damper when trying to work out a new business model.
But everyone is learning, the sewing co-op is still going, the spinning co-op looks to be an even better group and positive things are happening. It's hoped that before long these co-ops will become part of a whole chain that is certified fair trade for a whole garment - and it will be the only chain like that in the WORLD! I know that exclamation points are cheesy, but seriously, think about it. The only one in the world.
I promise I'm getting to the point.
The spinning plant is at a critical juncture. They need to finish their building and they need to buy their spinning equipment. They've even found a great deal on the things they need. The problem is that the economic downturn took their backers out one by one, and if they can't get the money they can't finish. As simple as that.
And my family needs them to finish.
There's a lot of ways that the JHC/CDCA is trying to get the money together for the co-op. The one that scares me the most is the one where they've scraped together every cent of their personal savings to guarantee a loan at a huge interest rate.
The one that you can help with is called the Stone Soup Fund.
The Stone Soup Fund asks that you give $10, and get ten of your friends to do the same. That's all. Ten dollars is nothing to a US Citizen. You spend more on a movie ticket, or on buying pizza. Eat soup one night, or rent from Redbox instead of going to the theater, and you'll have broken even.
The thing is, my family is above using guilt. I'm not. This is such a little thing, and we can all afford it. Every single one of us. So don't think "oh, I ought to do that" and then make a mental note and forget. Go do it now. I'm not kidding. They take online donations through Network for Good. Here's the link: https://www.networkforgood.
Click it. If it doesn't work go to http://www.jhc-cdca.org and follow their donation links. Make the donation. You can use a credit card, or even paypal. Then get ten of your friends to do the same thing. I hate to sound like Sally Struthers, but this is so little, it is NOTHING to you. Give it to a good cause. I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I just made a $30 donation, $10 for every person in my household.
Now you.
Back to our regularly scheduled nonsense:
I seem to have cause some sort of damage to my knee. I'm not sure what kind of damage exactly, only that it hurts. This happened a while back, and the doctor sent me to an orthopedic guy and the ortho guy said "nope, nothing wrong with you" and now it hurts again. I mean, it hurts a LOT. I have a hard time going down stairs, and I can't lift anything heavy cause I can't lift with my legs. I guess this means I'll be headed back to the doctor after we get back from Fuzzy and Dante's wedding.
Fuzzy and Dante are getting married this weekend! I'm making the wedding cake, and I m very excited about that. I hope it turns out well. At the moment I have a whole extra refridgerator in the basement full of cake and buttercream. I've got one more batch of caramel buttercream to make, and then I have to start assembly.
High ho, High ho, it's icing we will go
Okay, I'm done for the day. I gotta go feed the baby again and then get my kitchen stuff cranking.
TTFN!
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