Mittens!

Thumb in the thumb place,
Fingers all together,
This is the song
We sing in mitten weather.

Basic Mitten pattern from Knitting for Peace. Knit in Noro Kureyon using US 5/3.75mm Brittany dpns. Cast on 9 days ago. The mitten string is about half done.

I am a crazy lady

Ok, so last night I started watching the second season of Dexter on Netflix. I kept watching, and watching, and watching, and finished the whole season just after 6 this morning. I am not 20 living in a dorm somewhere. At almost 40 years old with child and other responsibilities, what was I thinking? I wasn't, I was just really enjoying getting wrapped up in something.

Father's Day Interview

I was reading the blog Wisdom of the Moon and saw that she had interviewed her child about her parents. I thought it might be fun for Father's Day to interview Fiona.

1. What is something your dad always says to you?

I love you.

2. What makes your dad happy?

When I hug him and kiss him.

3. What makes your dad sad?

When I hit him.

4. How does your dad make you laugh?

Tickles me.

5. What did your dad like to do when she was a child?

Play.

6. How old is your dad?

I don't know.

7. How tall is your dad?

Stand up. He can touch the ceiling.

8. What is your dad's favorite thing to do?

Be silly.

9. What does your dad do when you're not around?

Watch movies.

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for?

Painting.

11. What is your dad really good at?

Being silly.

12. What is your dad not very good at?

Being serious.

13. What does your dad do for his job?

He works.

14. What is your dad's favorite food?

Doughnuts.

15. What do you and your dad do together?

Go places with him.

16. How are you and your dad the same?

My hair is kind of blondish.

17. How are you and your dad different?

I'm not as tall as him.

18. How do you know your dad loves you?

Because he hugs me.

19. Where is your dad's favorite place to go?

The zoo!

20. What is your favorite game to play with your dad?

Puzzles.

Peony

My first peony blossom.

Crabby

Building near the elephants at the Woodland Park Zoo

Today I am feeling crabby. I have that pushed and pulled in many directions feeling. Part of it is because I want to "accomplish" things and having a child at home works against that. Look at this, look at me, what is this, I'm done, mom, look it disappeared, why aren't you getting me my snack.

I yelled.

It is all about my expectations and setting the expectations of those around me. That is cognitive behavioral therapy, my friends

Twenty-Five Random Things

I'm cheating and reposting a Facebook meme.

Everyone who reads this is tagged!

1. I attended 14 schools between Kindergarten and high school. I went to the one high school for 3 years.

2. The longest that I have lived in any one house has been 5 years. I was an adult.

3. I hope to soon surpass that in Aug 2009.

4. Some day I want to wear a dress like Marie Antoinette wore, and I mean the real deal with the crazy corset, hoop skirt and goodness knows how many layers of petticoats etc.

5. I am never one hundred percent sure if I really want something because I like it or because someone else does.

6. I love cats. They are one of the very best things in the world. (Yes, one is sitting on my arm as I type this.)

7. When I die, I want to be buried in the earth wrapped in cloth, no coffin, no embalming, just breaking down back into the soil.

8. When I lose an eyelash, I blow it out of my hand and wish for happiness.

9. I've always thought of Orion as "my" constellation.

10. I want to do things perfectly. If I can't do them perfectly then I don't want to try.

11. I'm working on changing number 10.

12. I love the smell of horses.

13. I am a world-class procrastinator.

14. I talk out loud to birds, cats, dogs, plants, inanimate objects and occasionally myself.

15. My daughter loves me and it blows my mind.

16. I can't cook in a messy kitchen and my kitchen is always messy.

17. I love hosting and providing everything anyone might want or need.

18. I often make myself re-invent the wheel. I know someone else has figured out a way, but I want to try it myself, then I get bogged down.

19. I believe that everything natural is alive or has life in it and deserves respect and love.

20. I still remember very clearly what meat tastes like and occasionally the taste of prime rib sounds good.

21. Death does not scare me.

22. Don't get me wrong though, pain, long drawn out illness etc, those things all suck.

23. Practicing is hard.

24. I wish I had a mom.

25. I love color. Some reds almost hurt my eyes they are so amazing.

Crafty Crow is very cool!

Crafty Crow is fun to read. Go comment and you can have a chance to win a subscription to this cute Book of Days published by the family at Blue Yonder Ranch.

The Louvre

It was so beautiful.

Palais de Justice - Paris

We went to Paris in 2002. I've been looking through old pictures. The picture of the sculpture Winged Victory of Samothrace was also taken by me. I wish we had had our good camera back then.

Your whole self

I was talking with someone the other day about the health of a close, aging relative who has actively ignored his mental health resulting in, I believe, a greater number of physical problems. "If only he had taken care of his mental health and his physical health, he wouldn't be where he is today." The next day, I was replaying this in my head, when I realized I am not practicing what I preach at all.

I do take care of my mental health, and to some extent my physical health, but I have some big illnesses looming in my future if I don't actively work on my physical health (type 2 diabetes, heart disease and diverticular disease). This got me thinking about what a whole person is, and what would one have to do to take care of my whole self. What does that mean and how is it defined? Some would say taking care of your emotional and physical self and some would include spiritual as well. Then I feel like I fall down the rabbit hole finding all sorts of little niches to take care of to prevent a precipitous decline. Of course I'm just running away from the fear of what changes I need to make in my life.

I need exercise. I need to eat more fiber, more vegetables and fruits, and fewer pastries, lattés and pints of Ben & Jerry's. I need to get more consistent rest.

I've started working on the fiber by eating more oats, adding flax seed meal to things and remembering that the fruit on the table isn't just for Fiona's benefit. I haven't been to a Starbuck's for five days (and before that it had been weeks since the last time). I've practically bankrupted my family with my stupid latté and pastry habit. Really. I'm just throwing this out to the world that I am thinking about this and trying.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

One of the gifts I gave Fiona for Christmas was a book of poems by Langston Hughes. It is called Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes.



The poems are powerful. Fiona keeps coming back to this book over and over again. It is difficult though, because the book has made me have to explain segregation to my five year old, to talk about the pain that people feel because someone thinks they are different. My husband explained what the word "negro" means and why we don't use that word. She is just five years old, and yet the son of one blogger I read was called the n-word when he was five.

Barack Obama has called for a national day of service on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In the morning, Fiona and I are going to go and buy some groceries to donate to HopeLink. There will probably be several boxes of mac and cheese that will go in, because that is Fiona's favorite thing to donate. We are also going to each go through our clothes, books, etc, and find items to donate to a shelter or Goodwill. I asked Fiona to think of something we could do to help people or to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. She thought for a moment and then said, "I know, we could draw a bus, and in the front would be a person with a dark face and a person with a light face and in the back we could draw a person with a dark face and dark hair and a person with a light face."