rodney got a bike trailer for jubal--our early christmas gift to ourselves and our main tool of survival during the making of this years christmas gifts for others. whenever he takes jubal out for a long spin, i sew and sew and sew. i'm learning so much about what i thought i knew. heh. it's fun and hard and necessitates the changing of plans and ideas...which is okay. i'm enjoying the process, though i do wish i could get one of those bike rides to last two days straight so i could just finish everything already!
i am planning to make a pair of pajama style pants for vesta...i make little pants for jubal with some frequency, but i'm starting to have a niggle of fear that it won't be quite so easy and i'll wreck my chance at 4 yards of virgin flannel. eek. the flannel is so cute! a warm browny color with tons of little owls in different positions all saying "hoo hoo". i hope she loves them. i'm contemplating making hazel an apron, so that she, too, will have something mommy-made. i'll be making jubal a softy book with clear vinyl windows to hold photographs--he LOVES looking at pictures, especially of him and daddy. i'm really looking forward to the completion of that one, it's gonna be awesome. plus, i'm making some other stuff...ahem.
so. the assembly meeting is tonight, at which, hopefully, the fate of blue mountain will be decided. at least for the rest of the school year (if there is one for us...cross your fingers!). i'll let you know what i learn.
i hope you're enjoying the days leading up to thanksgiving and the planning of your winter holiday gifts and adventures. i love you!
at this moment i am grateful for:
love
hope
change
rootedness
family
creation
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
it's been a crazy few weeks (isn't it always a crazy few weeks? add them together and it's life, eh?) jubal is in the office with me, examining some rubber stamps i have of the alphabet, and otherwise tormenting my workspace. he's very much into everything these days. exploring, taking apart, opening and closing, etc. also trying to type and climbing onto things (like desks). i'll do my best to write this, despite his crazy antics.
hazel had her birthday, she is now officially 8, with her own swiss army style pocket knife to prove it. she went ice skating for her birthday--rodney took her, vesta, ronan, and another friend to the skating rink...can you imagine?! jubal and i stayed home and did the party dishes. dad's friend chuck came to celebrate with us--he was visiting dad. it was wonderful to see him, he's always been one of my favorite people. he said to me, " i like your house! your dad said it was a hippie house, but i like it." he went on to praise the party and the soup (hazel requested my *famous* "yellow chicken soup"--ground turmeric makes it yellow), which he ate approximately a million bowls of, voraciously and with obvious pleasure. that felt good. it was slightly annoying that dad called my house a "hippie house". i'm not entirely sure what that means...something like not martha stewarty cuz we make an effort to live within our means, so we don't have big fancy matching furniture sets that we bought on credit and we put a garden in the front yard and we hang the kids' art on the walls? i wasn't even born when the hippies thrived, so obviously i can't be one...i dunno, anyways the hippie thing annoys me. i'm not a hippie! living sustainably just MAKES SENSE, it doesn't make you some new age weirdo. is dad a hippie because he used to save up our recycling for months at a time and then pack the station wagon full of it on our trips to portland? or did it just make sense to recycle instead of throw it away? i digress. (dad--i'm not a hippie!)...hazel is 8 and great. she loved the ice skating and a good time was had by all.
i've been doing lots and lots and lots of crafting, including sewing--and i can't go into the details, as christmas gifts MAY BE INVOLVED. shhh. but it's been: fun, challenging, frustrating, awesome, pretty, more fun, happy, cussy, and generally badass. i'm getting pretty decent with that sewing machine these days. the hard part is getting the time--especially lately with jubal's recent step up in the getting-into-everything phase. it's almost impossible to sew or knit if he is in the house (knitting i can do if he's asleep). so i have to rely on rodney to take him out for bike rides or walks or something. rodney is not great at that, but i'm guessing he'll vastly improve in the next few weeks. heh.
onto the blue mountain update...we lost our appeal to ODE and the school board basically plans to shut us down over winter break. we do have some options and maybe even a trick up our collective sleeve, so this doesn't mean it's the end of us...there is an assembly meeting on monday to figure out what we want to do. i pretty firmly believe that we'll figure something out. i'll let you know.
final note...my cat juna died in the night. it was not unexpected, she's deteriorated a lot over the past year. it's a blessing, as she was getting more feeble and weak, and we were all feeling bad for her and trying to make her comfortable, but mostly powerless to help, other than making a bed for her in the office bathroom and frequently changing her bedding, as she lost bladder control over the last couple of weeks (another place where those famed "pee mats" we used for every child's birth and subsequent non-potty-trained life came in super handy). we'll bury her this afternoon when the girls get home from school. i intended to tell them when they got home, so as not to ruin their day, but vesta found her in the office bathroom this morning. she was sad, but okay since it was obviously coming and she was so old. i asked her not to say anything to hazel until they got home. i can never predict how hazel will react to pet deaths...sometimes she's just like "oh" and on to the next thing, other times it is a huge tragically sad scene with tons of crying and swollen nostrils and the need for lots of cuddling and rocking and comforting. i'm expecting it to be one of those days, so i wanted her to at least have a good day at school first. juna was an awesome cat, she was completely loyal to me no matter what happened--she stuck by me with the introduction of new pets...the horrible and wonderful kitten saga, and even through wyatt wyane's arrival. she loved to cuddle and could literally sit on your lap for hours at a time (during those sessions she would often drool a bit, which i loved about her). she's getting a spot in the front flower bed by my rose, so she can rest on my lap forever. best. cat. ever.
gratitudes:
my sewing machine!
creativity
fun
chicken soup
the waxing and waning of life in the cycle of all that is
hazel had her birthday, she is now officially 8, with her own swiss army style pocket knife to prove it. she went ice skating for her birthday--rodney took her, vesta, ronan, and another friend to the skating rink...can you imagine?! jubal and i stayed home and did the party dishes. dad's friend chuck came to celebrate with us--he was visiting dad. it was wonderful to see him, he's always been one of my favorite people. he said to me, " i like your house! your dad said it was a hippie house, but i like it." he went on to praise the party and the soup (hazel requested my *famous* "yellow chicken soup"--ground turmeric makes it yellow), which he ate approximately a million bowls of, voraciously and with obvious pleasure. that felt good. it was slightly annoying that dad called my house a "hippie house". i'm not entirely sure what that means...something like not martha stewarty cuz we make an effort to live within our means, so we don't have big fancy matching furniture sets that we bought on credit and we put a garden in the front yard and we hang the kids' art on the walls? i wasn't even born when the hippies thrived, so obviously i can't be one...i dunno, anyways the hippie thing annoys me. i'm not a hippie! living sustainably just MAKES SENSE, it doesn't make you some new age weirdo. is dad a hippie because he used to save up our recycling for months at a time and then pack the station wagon full of it on our trips to portland? or did it just make sense to recycle instead of throw it away? i digress. (dad--i'm not a hippie!)...hazel is 8 and great. she loved the ice skating and a good time was had by all.
i've been doing lots and lots and lots of crafting, including sewing--and i can't go into the details, as christmas gifts MAY BE INVOLVED. shhh. but it's been: fun, challenging, frustrating, awesome, pretty, more fun, happy, cussy, and generally badass. i'm getting pretty decent with that sewing machine these days. the hard part is getting the time--especially lately with jubal's recent step up in the getting-into-everything phase. it's almost impossible to sew or knit if he is in the house (knitting i can do if he's asleep). so i have to rely on rodney to take him out for bike rides or walks or something. rodney is not great at that, but i'm guessing he'll vastly improve in the next few weeks. heh.
onto the blue mountain update...we lost our appeal to ODE and the school board basically plans to shut us down over winter break. we do have some options and maybe even a trick up our collective sleeve, so this doesn't mean it's the end of us...there is an assembly meeting on monday to figure out what we want to do. i pretty firmly believe that we'll figure something out. i'll let you know.
final note...my cat juna died in the night. it was not unexpected, she's deteriorated a lot over the past year. it's a blessing, as she was getting more feeble and weak, and we were all feeling bad for her and trying to make her comfortable, but mostly powerless to help, other than making a bed for her in the office bathroom and frequently changing her bedding, as she lost bladder control over the last couple of weeks (another place where those famed "pee mats" we used for every child's birth and subsequent non-potty-trained life came in super handy). we'll bury her this afternoon when the girls get home from school. i intended to tell them when they got home, so as not to ruin their day, but vesta found her in the office bathroom this morning. she was sad, but okay since it was obviously coming and she was so old. i asked her not to say anything to hazel until they got home. i can never predict how hazel will react to pet deaths...sometimes she's just like "oh" and on to the next thing, other times it is a huge tragically sad scene with tons of crying and swollen nostrils and the need for lots of cuddling and rocking and comforting. i'm expecting it to be one of those days, so i wanted her to at least have a good day at school first. juna was an awesome cat, she was completely loyal to me no matter what happened--she stuck by me with the introduction of new pets...the horrible and wonderful kitten saga, and even through wyatt wyane's arrival. she loved to cuddle and could literally sit on your lap for hours at a time (during those sessions she would often drool a bit, which i loved about her). she's getting a spot in the front flower bed by my rose, so she can rest on my lap forever. best. cat. ever.
gratitudes:
my sewing machine!
creativity
fun
chicken soup
the waxing and waning of life in the cycle of all that is
Thursday, November 6, 2008
t-t-t-t-t-twitch update
for any of you who don't yet know, the neurologist said i just have a "simple tic"--tics being, i guess, on a spectrum, like so many other things--and if you have A LOT of tics, they call it tourette's...one lil tic like mine is "simple". if you say so, man! (haha) so that explains the shoulder rolling and twitching and arm flailing. the shaking, i think is different, and is explained by my mild "orthostatic intolerance" (having to do with regulating my blood pressure when moving from sitting or lying to standing)...my thyroid medicine has yet to be increased--i'm about to hit the streets for it! i saw the naturopath yesterday and she wants to test my levels again, then if they indicate it, she'll up it. come on!!! i never got a good explanation of why i would suddenly and randomly develop a tic...maybe he said something and it washed over me, or maybe he didn't. research will be done!
anyways, i don't really mind having a tic, i'm just glad he was able to rule out crazy rare diseases and degenerative horrible conditions. so, yay! now watch out. heh.
gratitudes:
obama!
relative physical health
hazel (she turned 8 yesterday!!!)
vesta
jubal
anyways, i don't really mind having a tic, i'm just glad he was able to rule out crazy rare diseases and degenerative horrible conditions. so, yay! now watch out. heh.
gratitudes:
obama!
relative physical health
hazel (she turned 8 yesterday!!!)
vesta
jubal
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
yes!!!
all i can say is: yesssss!!!! thank you, america! last night was an awesome night and i look forward to the days and years to come. YES!!!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
the pleasing taste of anxiousness
it's election day!!! i woke up this morning with the feeling of childhood christmases past. it's finally here! election day!!! i voted weeks ago in oregon's across the board absentee-style voting method, casting my super-excited vote for barack obama, and today we will finally know if he won! this is the most exciting election of my life, and i think the most exciting election in recent history, in general. as well as one of THE most important elections ever. we are on a precipice here--socially, environmentally, economically...i cannot contain myself, i want to jump up and down squealing "election day! election day!"--this is our chance for real change, this is our chance to change america--the way it is and the way it is viewed world-wide, this is our chance to unite as a nation and really step up to our duties as humans on this planet...our chance for a leader that will encourage sane, healthy environmental choices...our chance for the lower and middle classes to THRIVE, rather than just survive...our chance to bring our troops home and let iraq get to their own business to figuring out how they want their democracy to be. i am SO DAMN EXCITED at the prospect of having obama as the leader of our nation that i am all aflutter inside, wired with energy and passion and eagerness. i have never felt this way before, and i love it. it's so important! i am so proud of our country that we even made it this far, that the democratic choices boiled down to a totally capable woman and a totally capable black man--it's exciting!!! it feels like equality--the gender and race didn't matter, for reals! and we'll finally know, tonight! who our next leader will be. it's awesome!
so if you haven't voted, go vote now!
when i was little my dad always took me to the polling place with him, and i was in love with the mystery and the grown-upness of it, the democracy-in-action. i always knew that it was a responsibility and a joyous right of adults, to inform themselves and to make thier selections. i couldn't wait to turn 18 so i could vote. i miss being able to do that with my kids, but they've picked up on the excitement anyways. when i came out this morning shouting "it's election day!" they, too, were excited, casting their sympathetic votes with obama (i admit i don't know exactly how they came to that choice, but i'm happy for it). vesta has been looking forward to the election day themed opb cartoons for two weeks!
yay! it's election day! go vote!
i am grateful for:
democracy
choice
hope
opportunity
grace
(and...the end of those horrible ads!)
so if you haven't voted, go vote now!
when i was little my dad always took me to the polling place with him, and i was in love with the mystery and the grown-upness of it, the democracy-in-action. i always knew that it was a responsibility and a joyous right of adults, to inform themselves and to make thier selections. i couldn't wait to turn 18 so i could vote. i miss being able to do that with my kids, but they've picked up on the excitement anyways. when i came out this morning shouting "it's election day!" they, too, were excited, casting their sympathetic votes with obama (i admit i don't know exactly how they came to that choice, but i'm happy for it). vesta has been looking forward to the election day themed opb cartoons for two weeks!
yay! it's election day! go vote!
i am grateful for:
democracy
choice
hope
opportunity
grace
(and...the end of those horrible ads!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
