a tale of a sling

Before:

After... part 1:

I had my original wrap sent away and part was turned into a ring sling. The other part is currently being turned into a Mei Tai as Gwen has outgrown the one we currently have.

It feels so great to re-purpose this wrap in a way that lets me still use it. It was just too long for me to wrap with comfortably, and I love my Zara so! But it was my first wrap, and a gift from Trav, so I'm happy to give it new life.

why I'm a liberal.

I think maybe I shouldn't read facebook first thing in the morning, because maybe I take things too seriously. But, I was bummed when a friend posted a video of "talking to a liberal", not once or twice, but in at least three different places. Its a joke, but I think some people actually believe this stuff, and it sucks. I'm not a liberal because I'm a brainless twit who thinks that everything can be solved with puppies and rainbows and baskets of hugs. (I only wish they could... LOL.)  Just because I'm a earth loving, babywearing, breastfeeding, positive parenting mama, doesn't mean that I unintelligent or uninformed. It doesn't mean that I'm pandering for handouts.

Here's what it does mean.


I am a liberal:
Because I think America should still cry out, "Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free..."
Because Jesus told us to take care of the poor.
Because I think that everyone should be able to marry their one true love, no matter the sex of that person.
Because people who work 70 hours a week just to put food on their family's table shouldn't be put under by one bought of illness.
Because yes, there are some who are lazy or bad, and that's why they aren't wealthy, but they are the exception, not the rule and I don't feel like throwing everyone to the wolves to punish the few.
Because "I don’t believe life begins at conception and ends at birth." (source, great article, better then I can put it)
Because I think war should be a last resort, and that it shouldn't be a vehicle for impressing our ideals on other nations.


In no way, shape, or form am I saying that if you aren't a liberal, you don't believe these things. What I am saying, is that if you believe them too... then we have more in common then you might have thought, and that maybe we can find some middle ground. And if you do believe them, maybe you should look at who you are voting for, and what they are really pushing.


For the record, I'm a gainfully employed, fully insured member of society; who worked two, sometimes three jobs while attending school full time, in order to pay for my own bills, food, housing, and school supplies. I still have thousands in student loans. I have a mortgage on a house worth thousands less then what it was worth when we bought it, but we still have enough in savings to keep us going for just under a year if one of us lost a job, or five-ish months if both lost a job. We got their by skimping and saving, staying in and not going out to dinners or movies except for special occasions. We have no credit card debt.

I think all that has proven me responsible enough to chose my own religion, decide what happens to my own body, marry whomever I fall in love with. I think all that should make me want to give back to those who haven't been as fortunate as I have, those who work longer and harder for less, those whom I can help, without hurting myself. And that is why I'm a liberal.


I'll step off my soapbox now.

house party

Friday was busy and productive... it makes me look back at pre-kid days and wonder why I didn't get a ton more done!! Lol. Now any day without a toddler attached to me is taken advantage of! Friday was no exception: the kitchen floor was washed, the counters cleaned, the bathroom cleaned from top to bottom, the laundry put away, the office cleaned and decluttered, and my bedroom straightened. Plus I put together beef stew, cut the veggies into matchsticks for my root veggie slaw, roasted pumpkin seeds, and baked pumpkin muffins from scratch. Oh, and I made us chicken salad for dinner. This was with taking the time to shower, and eat both breakfast and lunch.

It was worth it too. Our "open house" party was a success... and a ton of fun.

First, the food!

Beef Stew

Happy Table...

Rustic Fruit Tartlette/Pizza

Pumpkin Muffins

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Dried Figs

Root Veggie Slaw

Made with Carrots, Parsnips, and Rutabaga... with a Dijon and Shallot Vinaigrette

People:

One of my lovely ladies I've known since HS!

Another lovely.

So great to have a house full of babies!

Kerry, Ro, and my Casey (baptism next weekend!)

My silly bean loving her Nonnie!

She was loving the company and attention!

Aftermath!

A mess well worth it!

A great weekend. 

if I tweeted

I don't do Twitter... but if I did, here's recent things I would have said:

• Dear Skin, Get your act together... Thx!
  
  
• Just updated to i OS 5 for my iPhone, love it. But lost all my apps in the process... WTF. Help?!
  
  
• Coworker lost his best friend. So sad for him. Only in his late 20s.
  
  
• Love this:
  
  
  
  
• One person thought their pregnancy was over, doing great. Another thought theirs was fine, lost the babe. Life is twisty...
  
  
• Another coworker got me my apps back... YAY. But now I noticed all the reminders are gone from my calendar... grr. 
  
  
• Gwen has been sleeping so well lately! Going down easy, and not waking until 5:30 or later! Yay! ::knocks on wood frantically::
  
  
• Um, this picture... with caption:
  

  

  Stop clubbing, baby seals!  (Punctuation makes all the difference)

As an aside, I have off tomorrow to prep for Saturday. So my morning will be washing the kitchen floor, extensively cleaning the bathroom, and putting away laundry; and my afternoon will be baking pumpkin mini-loaf/muffins, roasting pumpkin seeds, slicing and dicing veggies, and prepping the beef stew (plus anything else I can think to do beforehand for the food stuffs). If I can fit it in I'll do more straightening, and if I am really productive and need a break, maybe I'll run out to pick up Daisy's dog bed. I'll definitely take house pictures then... so look for a house tour post next week! Have a great weekend all!

wordless wednesday {flashback}

One year ago:

::sigh:: My baby is getting so big.

whirlwind weekend wrap-up

Can I tell you something a little embarrassing. I was frantically trying to write Gwen's 21 month letter, not finding the time and being all upset with myself for not getting it up on the 16th... um, she just turned 20 months, not 21. Opps. Apparently I'm pulled in so many directions that I can't even count.

At least I have a jump on when I actually go to do the letter next month! (Oy vey.)

To explain myself though, let me tell you about my weekend, to give you a little sneak peak at why I'm so distracted. We have lots going on.

Saturday was our quieter day. Trav had to get up and head to Willy's to meet a repairman. Gwen and I decided to relax at home and have some down time together. I popped her on my back and we walked to the local playground.

(I firemen came to visit her daycare class last week... she loved it and keeps wearing the hat!)

It was a beautiful fall day, and we definitely enjoyed the sun and colors.

Stopped to say Hi to a train friend of mine, home for lunch, then it was nap time. As soon as Gwen went down for her nap, I went to work.
This footlocker has been in our bedroom since we moved in:

Its mine from high school/college, and was my mom's before that. We wanted to move it down to the basement to make room for a nice dog bed for Daisy (right now she's sleeping on a body pillow by Trav's side of the bed), but I really needed to clean it out some first.

It was a goldmine of memories!! 

My group of high school friends... my beautiful mama at 18.

Hilarious cards from my ridiculous friends.

A sweet, sweet project my little brother made (when he was in first grade maybe?). 

It was so fun to go through, I found so much stuff that I'd forgotten about. Not to mention 2 empty picture frames, some jewelry, and a few things that I've passed down to Gwen. I was also able to throw away a bunch of stuff, which gave me plenty of room to add my old yearbooks, and make more (desperately needed) room on our bookshelf.

I also took some pictures of the top to put on facebook and tag my friends. It was fun.

Once Gwen woke up we had a snack, I snuck a quick shower, and we were off to Smith's Place Place for a "Friend's of the Birth Center" picnic! It was for all family of Birth Center clients. That place is amazing!

Its huge, and every room has something different.

Books, trucks, kitchens, etc. But the outside is just as good, if not better...

Its just as much fun for the adults, as for the kids!
All of our favorite though, was the huge wooden slide that you rode down on a burlap sack!

Gwen couldn't get enough of it and would take off for the top again before Trav or I could even stand up at the bottom!

It was a really nice time.
(As an aside, it was awesome to see so much babywearing and breastfeeding in one place!)

When we got home, after putting Gwen down, we hung more pictures. I also FINALLY broke out the canvas that I've had in the back of my closet for ages, but never got around to painting. I was intimidated to try, but I figured I would just go for it. So Saturday night I painted the background.

Sunday I had to work, unfortunately. The event itself though went well, and it was pretty easy on my part; but still tiring. I got home and put Gwen down for a late nap, and we went to work hanging the last of the pictures and sorting more stuff.

Around 4:30, Miss Megan (Gwen's old teacher) came over to watch the babe so Trav and I could go out for our anniversary dinner:

We had an awesome relaxed meal... good food, lots of courses, and no little ones to entertain! Ahhh... We finished and still had a little time before we had to be back, so we stopped at a playground on our way home and played on the swings! It was fun to be silly together without having to be a parent.

We walked around the park a bit too, to enjoy the pretty colors.

Lovely!

Then it was home to put Gwen to bed. She did great with Miss Megan... who was, incidentally, the first non-grandparent to babysit Gwen. After getting Gwen down, I went to work in the office, sorting out 3 grocery bags full of books to donate. It allowed us to consolidate all our books onto the one (still overstuffed, but...) bookshelf.

So the weekend... wonderful! fun! but so so full.

Yesterday... well I had hopes of popping in here at some point, but instead I ran around like a crazy woman, with multiple work items needing to be taken care of at the same time. It was a bit much. I ran out the door about 5 minutes later then normal and just made my train.

I worked on my painting some more though, and here's what I have so far:

 Nothing to write home about, but I'm pretty pleased with it so far. Especially for my freshman effort. Not sure what I'm going to do next... should I leave it as is? Or build the tree up to be completely full? Thoughts?

Well, that's where I am now. Things are a bit slower and quieter today, which is nice. But still plenty to do... so back to work I go.