Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The Feminist Movement...

has done me no favors the last few months.

The initial feminist movement (I believe it is normally referred to as the "first wave"), I have no problem with. The fight for political equality and voting rights, etc I'm all in favor of. There are even a few of the ideals that were fought during the second wave that I don't have any beef with. However, there are other portions of that wave (and basically the entirety of the third wave) that continue to show up and play havoc in society that really infuriate me.

For example, the emasculation of men. Excuse me for being old-fashioned, but I like a man who will offer to carry my heavy bags, open doors, and watch his language in front of me. I don't mind being considered "the weaker sex" because, in reality, any man with half a brain recognizes and values the work and abilities that the majority of women bring to their worlds. And those men who are lacking that half of the brain, well, I hate to say it but the feminist movement will never be able to eradicate certain attitudes--no matter how hard they scream and rant.

Then there's the denigration of the housewife and stay-at-home moms--because obviously a woman without a career is worthless. And then, of course, there is the whole abortion issues--which I won't even begin to rant about at this particular time (got to keep the blood pressure down!).

And although I have felt strongly about many of these issues and have seen the impact they have had on our society for years, it has been the last five months of being pregnant in which I have really begun to be irritated with the actual effects of these philosophies. When I sit at my computer at work, craving a nap, and go home barely able to do anything in the evenings because of how tired I am, and then be at home on the weekends and crash and find my to-do list growing longer by the day and my "done" list not increasing as quickly as I would prefer because I'm so exhausted from having worked all week, I'm tempted to find every feminist I can and give them all a good shaking, yelling at them the whole time, "You have helped cause this!"

We live in a society in which the cost of living makes it more and more difficult, every day, for women to stay home. And the rapidly rising costs of health care and the threats of government for jail-time for those who don't pay for health care, is complicating matters even more. And the thought of day care and someone else raising my Blueberry while I become a half-parent just so I can move up the corporate ladder and become a "success" simply turns my stomach.

And since when did "choice" get turned into "believe only in what I tell you to believe otherwise you're ignorant, racist, sexist, etc and are playing into the hands of the male population"?

Just my rant for the day.

Apparently I need a nap.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Random Thought

I find it simultaneously amusing and disturbing that ever since we got pregnant and have been using the name Blueberry, I keep getting random junk email in my inbox advertising things related to growing blueberries.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Updates in Gluten Free Foods

So I've met with a few more pre-packaged GF/SF products the last few months that I was really impressed with. Thought I'd throw them up here for thecurious.

1. Hillery introduced me to a succulent item that is melt-in-your-mouth light and delicious. Pamela's is a GF company. Now for some reason her prebaked cookies and such items make me sick--never have been able to figure out why because the ingredient list is fine (and some of them have soy in them which is obviously a problem). So I never bothered trying her baking mixes because I was concerning about getting sick from them. Then Hillery made me scones using one of Pamela's mixes. And I didn't get sick. And they are amazingly good. For the curious or likewise GF, here's a link to the website. Pamela's mixes are pretty common at most places you can buy GF mixes (including some of our Walmart's now!).

2. On a whim, I decided to try a frozen burrito I ran across at one of our health food stores. Yummmy. There are various options for these, and a few do have soy in them, but the one I had is by a company I'd never heard of before--glutenFreeda. It's their Vegetarian Bean & Cheese burrito.
In looking at some of their other products, I believe I've seen their granola around in a few stores. Maybe I'll try that one of these days--although I really do just want to find a good granola recipe that I can make for myself. Suggestions anyone? Doesn't have to be GF. I can adapt and modify.

3. This one is kind of funny, but I'll admit to it. For whatever reason, I am a sometimes-fan of fish sticks (and apparently this might be one of Blueberry's to-be loves given the times I've really wanted this the last few months). I ran across Ian's fish sticks the other day. And they are fantastic! Not cheap, but I do get at least three or four meals out of a box, so they're not radically expensive either. And if you're craving fish sticks and you can't have normal ones--these are perfect!

4. I know I mentioned it in an earlier Quick Takes post, but I made them again and they are so yummy, I thought I'd throw it in with this list. The GF cinnamon rolls recipe I found is yummy. And really easy (for a cinnamon roll). In fact (sorry Mummy dearest), my husband actually likes my GF cinnamon rolls better than he liked my old cinnamon roll recipe! One of the things I really love about this recipe is how it tastes almost like a wheat bread. The only flours used in it is corn starch and sorghum--and sorghum definitely has that wheat texture to it. She has a post that replaces half of the sorghum with half millet and I really want to try that as she said her family gave her the vote of approval (always an important vote to have), and she really likes them.

5. And in a grand finale--I think I've got another restaurant I can eat at! Going to have to try it out a few more times (when I can afford to get sick) to really be sure, but so far, so good. I've been hearing a lot of people rave about the Yum Yum Bowl here. Chinese food but they make it fresh. Seems to be a step up from your usual chinese restaurant (which, in this town, there are so many of). Because they make it fresh and are willing to work with what you can/can't eat, but it's also relatively basic options, a few people suggested that I might be able to eat there. Last Friday we tried it out and had success! Like I said, I'll want to approach it with caution a few more times, just in case they turn out to not be quite as careful as they did this last time, but so far so good.

So there you have it. A more recent list into my GF experiments.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Chicken Pox

I look like I just had a run in with a really bad-tempered pincushion.

No, I don't actually have the chicken pox. Nor have I suddenly broken out in a really bad case of acne. The current state of my face makes either of those options look like a possibility. But in reality, the mess of red spots all over my face is burst blood vessels. And how did I manage to burst blood vessels all over my face? By being dumb and attempting (for the last time!!!!!!!) taking a vitamin. Apparently my stomach disagreed with this experiment and decided to make me pay rather violently, thus bursting blood vessels all over my face.

I look charming, let me tell you!

In other, less "attack of the porcupine" news, I did have my most recent doctor's appointment on Wednesday and was told that I'm exactly where I should be in all things Blueberry related. Which is always nice to know.

And Blueberry does have a name now (we're pretty sure, any ways). But, sorry, we won't be sharing said name until after she decides to make her grand entrance in life. So for the curious, sorry, you have 18 weeks (give or take a week or so) to find out! In the meantime, she will continue to be called Blueberry.

Below are my most recent preggo pics from Easter when I was exactly 20 weeks (for real this time!).





Monday, April 5, 2010

Our Dogs of Disrepute

Saturday started out as a beautiful day. The dogs definitely needed a bath, and we decided to try taking them to this gas station near us that has a doggy wash attached to it. Basically it's got a timed sprayer through which shampoo, conditioner, etc come through with water (you just have to indicate which ones you want). Then it's also got an air hose to help dry the dogs off (neither dog liked that at all!).

Other than us winding up sopping wet as well as the dogs, it worked pretty well.

And then the rain started.

And I let the dogs out for their last trip to the backyard in the late evening.

And this is what they looked like when they finally came in.

Mara Jade knew they were in trouble. She wouldn't even look at me when I took a picture of her. Instead, she decided to start licking Calista to get some of the mud off--as if that was going to help at that point!







Add this to the recent discovery we made that at some point in time Calista has apparently learned how to smoke cigars, and I'm beginning to be very concerned about the character of our dogs!





Saturday, April 3, 2010

Housework

So here are some pictures of the fun times we've been having the last few weeks with the work on the house. Current status--we're almost done. Just a few more bits and bobs to get finished up, need to finish putting away things in the study (waiting on shelves), and this project will be about done. Phew.


Big Brother hard at work.





Painting-Party! We have been blessed several times now with a number of people being willing to come over on a Saturday and help us out with this project. We have awesome friends.






The disaster areas.

Lunch! People like food. It's a good motivator.


We have normal friends (and relatives). And then we have our weirder friends (and relatives). That or the paint fumes was causing people to just be weird (and high).




Our orangy-yellow-peach-sandy room.


The crib and dresser set we scored from Craigslist recently.



Literary themed nursery--I know, I know. She's going to come out with a book in hand!
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Thursday, April 1, 2010

A Strolling We Will Go

If I can make up my mind on a stroller that is! That has been the big question the last few days--what stroller to get?

Originally I had thought of just registering for one of those travel system things with the infant car seat that attaches. But then after considering it some more I don't think that's the best idea. For one, they're really heavy. Two, they take up a lot of room, and we have cars on the smaller side and we're not particularly planning on buying a new car in the near future. I just question how beneficial they will really be in the long run. Besides, a lot of mom posts I've seen lately have been all about how they would not recommend buying one. Only downfall, buying some of the options below actually cost total more than just buying one of the big travel systems.

So, that left me back on square one--what do we get? Obviously I want a stroller, even though I do plan on registering for a carrier and/or wrap as well. But there are places and circumstances where strollers are very much needed. Also, we obviously need a car seat. I like the infant carriers for their carrying versatility, so I would prefer to get something along those lines to begin with.

Basically I've narrowed it down to one of two options. (still waiting for my husband dearest to weigh in on these as well)!

Option 1:

Get an infant carrier/carseat. Register for something that seems to be mostly called a Snap and Go that basically is a frame for hooking an infant carrier into and that acts as a stroller until Blueberry is big enough to fit in a regular, lighter umbrella stroller (the kind that are much more compact and lighter). Here's a pic of the frame I'm talking about. This one is the Jeep Universal Car Seat Stroller.



Option 2:

I did find one of the umbrella strollers that I was looking at that actually can fit an infant carrier on the front of it. So basically it acts like one of the travel systems, has a lot of their amenities, and will even recline (which not all umbrella strollers will), but it's much lighter and smaller to begin with. Downside: it's also a bit more expensive.

Peg Perego Si Stroller

And then to top it all off, there are so many brands and kinds of strollers to actually choose from! Again, it's been a lot of reading reviews, evaluating what I want, etc, etc, etc. And the prices! Oh my goodness. They range from $20 to $800! For a stroller!!!!! I'm thinking that stroller better come with a maid who will do the grocery shopping for me if I'm going to pay $800!


Any ways, for those who are interested or who might actually have some information that I could weigh into all of this, these are the options of strollers and car seats to which I've narrowed it down.

Obviously the ones above are included in this mix. Click on the links if you actually want to see what they look like. They range in price from $130 for the Keekarro one to $220 for the Mclaren Quest to $250 for the Peg Perego one I mentioned earlier.

And that's the other question I have. What if we get one and then we hate it?! Strollers aren't cheap! But it also seems that you get what you pay for to a certain extent.

KeeKaroo Karoo Lightweight Stroller

Maclaren Triumph Stroller

Maclaren Quest Stroller

Here's the infant seats I've been looking at. These run in range from $80 to $170. And honestly, on the stroller front, I would have no problem buying a stroller that is used but seems to still be in good condition, as long as it would suit our needs. But obviously the car seat is something I want to buy new. And yet at the same time (not to seem like someone who isn't going to care about my child's safety), are the more expensive ones really that much better than the cheaper ones in an accident?

Graco SungRide

Graco SnugRide 35
Thoughts?

Six More Months of Shuffle and Change

The last post I wrote was July 2018. We were settling into routine, finding a groove, and trying to fit our family of five into a two-bedroo...