taking it all in stride

So I'm walking down the stairs and Julius, who is standing by the bathroom door, looks at me and laughs before running into the bathroom and slams the door behind him.
Curious, I open the door, and there, before my eyes... Julius has squirted Arnica (it's a first aid ointment that I had left out a few hours earlier when Julius ran his bike into a tree) all over the sink and counter.
Shaking my head, I ask, "I can't leave anything out, can I?"
Julius answers me very seriously, "Mommy, it's my job."
"Oh?" I ask, "What's your job?"
"To do naughty things," he replies, and I can tell he's trying hard not to smile.
"Really?" I ask as I turn around to get the towel.
"Yes," he nods, "See?" Picking up his glass of water, he turns it upside down and spills all the water out onto the counter (mixing it so nicely with the splattered ointment). Laughing, he then quickly runs out the bathroom.

Shaking my head. That's my Julius! LOL

Happy Holidays

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season: whatever holiday it is that you celebrate!

Hugs,

me.

Sabrina's Law

Sabrina's Law documentary

The things that kids say

the other day Julius was running all around the house pretending to be a race car. We both were. It's a game we play. We're both race cars and after "1, 2, 3 Go!" we run all around the main floor. It's a lot of fun. Often we try to bang into each other (gently of course!) and then fall onto the floor. I try to get up and Julius manages to crawl on top of me to take the lead... it's amazing excerise. LOL
Anyway, after the fifth or sixth time I comment, "How much energy do you have!"
He stops running for a moment and is deep in thought. Looking up at me, he says, "At least two mommy. I have a lot." LOL!!!!

About twenty minutes ago Julius woke up. I went to check on him and he's mumbling something to me. I say, "what?" He repeats it, "theresahca....mmm..." again, I say, "Pardon?" He repeats again,"ca....mmm.." I say, "What???" Yawning, he repeats, "There's a car in here, Mommy." Then rolls over and goes back to sleep. ROFLOL

He just cracks me up.

Oh! About a week ago Julius and my mother-in-law were playing with playdoh (making hockey guys: no surprise there!), and Julius stated that he was God. My mother-in-law asked if he knew who God was. He said "Yes, God made us." When she told me this, I thought, "wow, how awesome. He's making people out of play doh, so he's God in play doh world. It makes so much sense." Three year olds are so smart.

Hmmm... what other cute things has he said? I love when he says comments with the words, "Actually..." in it. It's just the most adorable thing. Someone says something and then, ever the diplomat, Julius responds with an, "Actually,...."

He is sooo cute!! LOL :)

going to see a specialist on monday

So I'm off to see a specialist on monday to discuss my endo and what my next steps are since the first surgery didn't help me as much as I would've liked.

True, the pain is less, but it's still there. My now-former obgyn suggested that I do another surgery or try to get pregnant.

Josh and I have been contemplating having a second child. So this might be Fate telling us to get on with it. I dunno, I guess I want to wait and hear what the specialist has to say. I think I'd rather go in for another laproscopy before attempting to conceive. But again, I'll wait until Monday when I talk to this Dr.

old post from Bill Clinton

From Bill Clinton
www.clintonfoundation.org

Late last night, I arrived in Johannesburg, where I began my six-day tour of Africa to see my Foundation's efforts firsthand, learn from those who are making a difference, and hear the amazing stories of hope from the people we are touching through our work. I know many of you have been following the preparations for my journey at www.ClintonFoundation.org/Africa. If you haven't, I invite you to visit our site, where you can pledge your support, tell your friends about what we're doing, and read stories from the field on our blog. I just posted my first entry, and I look forward to reading your comments when I get back to New York.

The language of Nelson Mandela's tribe, Xhosa, has a word that perfectly sums up our work in Africa: Ubuntu. In English, it translates as "I am because you are." In this increasingly interdependent world, our fate is inextricably linked with the fate of young people of modest means who are eager to serve their community in South Africa, struggling farmers in Malawi, and Tanzanians who require life-saving AIDS medicine to survive. We have an obligation to help those in need and an unprecedented opportunity to do good in this world, but we can't do it without your support. Join our journey at www.ClintonFoundation.org/Africa

Sincerely,

Bill Clinton

P.S. How will you partner with us to make change in Africa? Leave your thoughts and comments on our blog.

pollyticks.com

pollyticks.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTGMlRX-dH4&mode=related&search=

well I feel like a fool

I must have missed the memo that said Pluto isn't really a planet. Wikepdia says, "Originally classified as a planet, Pluto is now recognised as the largest member of a distinct region called the Kuiper belt. Like other members of the belt, it is primarily composed of rock and ice and is relatively small." So, like I said, I feel like a fool! LOL When I was really young, I had this book called "Planets," and each page gave a summary of the nine planets. I loved that book because the pictures were so beautiful and the book itself was easy to read. I was like, in first grade or something I think, so it was very child-friendly. I wonder what the science books say now. I can only imagine how many times they need to change things regarding astronomy. In college, I attempted to take an astronomy course. I failed. But I did try!! It's just so overwhelming... I loved the class, but I had the hardest time remembering the names of all the moons and the different bodies in space.... it was so confusing! But I would love to sit down one day and just have someone explain it all to me. :)

allergies

wow. So I'm a member of allergymoms.com and received my newsletter containing a lot of really interesting info in it.
On area of interest that seriously made my heart skip several beats was this blog:

Peanut Allergy (over) Reactions
Filed under: Uncategorized — Gina Clowes | August 28, 2007 @ 2:19 pm (Views: 786)
I thought some of you might be interested in this bloggers view of peanut bans. For what its worth, I find the allergy parent community pretty evenly divided on bans, some supporting, others not. Some of us have other children who can and do eat peanut products. Others have children with multiple food allergies so that food bans cannot be the answer to keeping them safe.


Here’s a quote:
“I immediately contacted the school to find the name and addresses of the student(s) with the wayward genetics. They declined to give me that information citing something about privacy. But I wanted to know how many people could die if I fed my daughter peanut butter as part of her nutritious lunch. “

OMG!!! So then I strat reading the responses and they vary from

am a loving and caring mother and kindergarten teacher. There is a child entering my school with a severe allergy to peanuts. My daughter will be in this students class. My child loves peanut butter and eats it probably twice a day. To change is more than a minor inconvience.

I don’t want another child to get sick or die but someday we are going to have to draw a line when banning foods. My daughter is allergic to milk. My husband has a severe allergy to wheat and glutens. Wheat allergies are becoming more and more prevailent in the population. Will we eventually ban it too?

If I send a peanut butter sandwhich to school with my daughter, most likely she will be the one sitting by herself or singled out and she isn’t the one with the problem. This is a cold statement, but at what point is the allergy so severe that the parents say (or should say) I will keep them at home and make other arrangements, rather than inconviencing everyone else? Could schools offer tutors to go to the home?

to heartbreaking ones such as

A nut ban at school will lower and just about eliminate a schools risk of having an unfortunate death from anaphalaxis.

My 13 year old daughter died last year from her peanut allergy. The menu of the restaurant she ate at is 99.61% peanut free and guess what– the careless food preparer still cross contaminated her sandwich with trace amounts of peanut butter cookie. We miss her dearly every day.

Granted my perspective is tainted but why aren’t we doing all we can to protect our precious children? A ban is just one of the tools in the toolbox to protect our children. Education, raising awareness, emergency plans, training, etc. should also be part of every school’s plans. With education and awareness, maybe then we can eliminate careless food preparers because they understand the dangers.

The number of children with food allergies and multiple food allergies continues to rise. Change will come. I pray it is sometime soon.

So, being that I am a parent with a child that has life-threatening food allergies, I just feel like we're being pushed out to sea.

And I've MET people who don't take the allergies seriously. I've spoken to people who don't see what the big deal is. People who think that Josh and I are just hysterical parents...

They've never had to witness their small child swell up like a balloon, break out into hives, have his tongue swell up and wheezing all from barely licking something that he was allergic to!

I am thankful every day that Julius is no longer allergic to wheat and milk, but he is still severely allergic to legumes, nuts and eggs. Ingesting any of those could very well kill him.

And then to read about these people who suggest that MY child, along will all other children with severe food allergies, stay HOME and be TUTORED???? That THEIR child shouldn't have to 'punished' by not being allowed to eat foods that might KILL MY CHILD??? Holy crap, expand your child's food repertoire! There is more to life than peanut butter sandwiches!!!

I'm just completely baffled, stunned, angry, hurt, confused and pissed off about this.

crosses among other things

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/14/AR2007091402501.html

I read this article today and the guy in it sounded so much like me. I found it ironic that I had just mentioned this personal topic to Josh a few days ago.

I grew up in a very religious household. I went to CCD (continuing catholic...development? I dunno, something like that), had all my sacraments, etc. etc.... and as I got older and began to question the Church, I began having this silent struggle within myself, but continued going to church because my mom made me. And when I realized that I did not believe in so many things that the priests were saying that I was suppose to believe it, then I told myself that I could still go to church because what those "men behind the pulpit" were saying were just men. It wasn't God's words. God wasn't saying that birth control, abortion, homosexuality, premarital sex and later, stem cell research, was wrong. It was the guys running the show that was saying all those stuff.

I got married and continued going to Church. I prayed often. I was probably fairly religious. But slowly it changed. Not because my husband is Jewish. Not because a lot of my friends came from different faiths... but because I began to realize that I was tuning things out when I went to church. I was making excuses for things priests were saying that I didn't agree with... and when I became pregnant, my visits to church became less frequent. And when Julius was born, I pretty much only attended for Easter and Christmas. And that has remained.

For awhile I thought I could find a liberal catholic church. But when I googled it, all I got back was episcopalian.

My eyes were opened. So many extremists were killing people "in the name of God." People were judging others "in the name of God." People were HATING people, "in the name of God."

And that disgusted me.

So many hypocrites. So much politics. It was disgusting.

I believe in so many things that the Church says NO to. And I can no longer make excuses or tune out the things I want to tune out.

ANd I don't want to put Julius in a position where some guy in a robe who says he is preaching God's word, tell him about what he can and can't believe in and follow. I will not have some guy tell Julius that it's wrong to do this and believe in that and question this, etc. etc. NO!

So I'm at a point in my life where I'm feeling like the man in the above article from England. I feel loathing, I feel anger... I feel my blood boil when someone starts to talk about religion.

I'm not atheist. I still believe in God and somewhere in me I still believe in religion as a personal belief (and not as an organizational group that promotes judging others and living in a bubble).

I'm not envious of the people I know who are religious. I think I might be more envious of those who are not. Those who can easily shrug their shoulders when asked about God and heaven. I stare at awe at those people because they don't have to feel this burden.

So many years of having Catholicism shoved down my throat has made me jumpy and defensive.

Maybe when Julius is older, we might join an interfaith community. Who knows what the future brings? Julius knows about God. I've told him that much. He knows a bit about Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Josh has told him some about the Jewish faith. I think our son is pretty well-rounded. He's not like one of my friend's kid who can probably recite passages of the Bible.. but I would NEVER want that from my son.

One night when Julius was lying in our bed, we began talking about God and decided to 'pray.' And I made it a point not to just regurgitate a prayer. We talked. Julius talked to God. I talked to God. Josh talked to God. And it was nice.

That was nice.

That I can do.

you know what sucks?

I just typed up a very lengthy blog about music and dancing and videos and had links and... and... when I went to upload a photo of Julius playing his guitar, the whole freakin' screen closed. GONE! Poof!!!
I can't figure out when and how this happened, but for some reason, whenever a window closes (like when I'm uploading something and the upload is complete, or while in Outlook and the message sends and thus the window automatically closes), all the windows close!!
I've tried re-booting my computer and it doesn't do any good. I've looked through the settings and I just can't figure it out!!
Does anyone know what on earth I'm supposed to do to fix this?? It's seriously going to drive me insane.

pink

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/858884.html

Isn't this great? Though in my high school we never had any issues about bullying students who were homosexual (no one really cared who you prefered to sleep with... it was just amazing that you were actually fucking someone) But I know there must have been schools that did have those problems, which is just awful.

So how nice it was to read this about two high schoolers in Nova Scotia. http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/858884.html I hope more kids are like them. I would love to hear more about kids like these, or Marc Hall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Hall) .... kids making a difference in this world by teaching tolerance, understanding and most of all, acceptance.

I do remember something from my first year in high school: we got word that a new 6th grader male student, (high school and junior high were in different buildings, miles apart) came to school wearing a dress. No one was fazed by it all. I think most of my friends just shrugged. It wasn't a big deal to us, which I suppose wasn't the same within other schools.

Geesh, it's hard to type when my three year old is singing in the top of his lungs... I hope this makes sense. LOL

art works

I remember in one of my courses at GWU we had a segment on art & children. It was really interesting because it spoke about how a child views him or herself in a self-portrait. It starts with a scribble, then as the child gets older, it's pretty much just a head, and then slowly more and more body parts start to appear and slowly it all becomes proportional.

Ken, my wonderful brother-in-law (http://www.kenflett.com/)once suggested that I have Julius draw a picture of me (when I had dyed my hair and my camera wasn't working and therefore couldn't share my new look with anyone via online). So yesterday I took it a step further and asked Julius if he could draw a family picture.

The black is our house. The orange is Julius (which is so amusing because when he was an infant he had wisps of red hair and we would call him Orange Julius), the red is me, and the green is Josh.

I found it fascinating just to watch Julius scribble the house, and then make mostly a head for each of us and more scribbles around it for the rest of the body.

Anywho, I wanted to share the picture with everyone :)

night terrors

When I was a little girl, I used to have nightmares and night terrors. As I got older, they decreased, but I still get them from time to time.

Last night I had one. Since I remember it, I guess it would be a nightmare and not a terror,... it was awful! I don't remember all of it...but what I do remember was that there was a monster.

I had to spend the night somewhere...and there was someone with me, but I can't remember who... and I think we fell asleep... or were about to fall asleep... when someone runs by and announces that the number to keep the monster away is two.

And then it gets really dark and cold, and then I suddenly feel something sharp scraping against my neck. So I quickly put my hand on my neck and I'm gasping out the number two between breath because I suddenly can't breathe very well, and the person next to me is grabbing onto me for dear life and we're both screaming "two!" and trying to breath quickly before shouting out the number again, and the teeth are so sharp and I suddenly feel sharp nails on my back and I feel my skin being ripped open and suddenly...

I hear Josh shouting for me to wake up because I'm screaming and thrashing around in the bed.

I open my eyes and I don't remember much of what happened immediately afterwards, but I remember that Julius was sitting on the bed just staring at me, and then he asked, "Did you have a bad dream, Mommy?"

And I said, "Yes, I did."

And then Julius gave me hug and said, "It's okay now, Mommy."

And I don't think anything could have made me feel better than his sweet hug.

And thinking back, I just have to sit back and watch my little boy in awe. What an awesome kid.

August...wait, almost September...wha?

okay, this month has truly breezed by. Maybe it's because I'm still in vacation-mode, even though I returned to work this past Monday, or maybe it's just too much fresh air... but is it really nearing the end of August? Holy crap, how did that happen?!

In any case, things are going great. Julius is officially potty trained (yes, applauds are welcomed). He pretty much was ready for it. He started sitting on the potty before we left to Quebec, and continued using the portable potty I bought for the drive up to Canada, and again, continued when we were in Mont Tremblant!! Returning home: not a problem.

It's fabulous. No more diapers. It's a fantastic feeling.

My little boy is growing up!!!!

pascale picard

Picard Pascale was performing in Mont Tremblant this evening. They were great! Julius LOVED them. The singer has such a great voice and the music was really awesome.
Julius was dancing wildly and even made a new friend. The two little boys were dancing around and having a great time!!! One of the roadies gave Julius a paper coaster with the band name and singer's picture on it, and Julius ran around the area with it in his hand and dancing with it. After awhile, he came back to get another coaster for his friend.
The performance was great, the songs were great, and everyone had a super time!

rewind

special thanks to Amy's old lap top...I am now able to access my photos from my digital camera!! So.... here is a photo of my new hair 'do!

We're actually in Canada right now: Mont-Tremblant to be exact. We're having a great time!! We drove, and let me tell you: Julius was an absolute angel!!!!

before I post some pics from where we are right now, I need to post a couple of pics that I wasn't able to upload before...

1. Julius on his big boy bike!


2. Julius at the Air & Space Museum



Okay... I think we're up to date now... LOL

And now we're having a fabulous time in Mont-Tremblant!! Below is a photo of the view from our deck

I don't get it

I know I should be sleeping. It's after midnight, we're leaving to Canada in less than seven hours... yeah, I should be sleeping.

But I can't sleep because I can't stop thinking of a conversation I had with a friend of mine today, er, yesterday.

So my friend tells me that her friend just left her husband because he confessed to watching porn.

Okay, now are you as baffled as me? Because when she told me this, I was pretty grateful I had my sunglasses on because I'm sure my expression was "What the fuck?"

This woman iss married to this guy.. they have two kids together.. she thinks he's watching porn on the internet.. he denies it. She persists. They end up going to a priest and he confesses in front of the priest that he's been watching porn on the internet. So she takes the kids and leaves him.

WTF?

So I'm trying to take the conservative perspective here, since obviously that's the side of the fence this woman is on, and I still can't comprehend how this can end a marriage.

And the craziest thing, is that MY friend agrees with this woman.

Yes, I know. I'm baffled.

Not only does she agree with this woman, but she is revolted by this man. Outraged that he did this. Horrified because he's watched her children before.

Yes, I know. I don't get it.

And now my friend's husband is worried and wants to disconnect their computer. Why, you ask? Because of the tempation. Like the big, bad, voodoo porn demon is going to get them.

So I have to ask, what's so bad with porn? Okay, so in this particular family, porn is bad. And therefore, in a strict, religious household, by engaging in watching porn, the sancity of marriage is voided? Doesn't sound very Christian-like.

But I'm trying not to judge. I want to understand. How can this ruin a marriage? Were they ever in love to begin with?

I'm thinking. If I was against porn, and I found out my husband was watching it...would I leave him? No.

What would I do if my husband was watching porn? Well, I'd either see what he's watching for some fabulous new ideas, or decide, "hey, whatever floats the boat." I mean, really, it's not like he's having an affair. What's the freakin' big deal about porn?

I'm trying to get it...but I just don't. And it's past midnight... and I can't sleep because I'm racking my brain trying to figure out how my friend can agree with this logic.

Berry Fun

Today we went berry picking! I've never been berry picking before, so I was pretty excited about the thought. Julius and I had a great time. The rasberries weren't ripe, so we picked blackberries and blueberries instead...and I realized something. Not only had Julius never eated a blackberry or blueberry before...but I never had a blackberry before either!And quite honestly, I don't think I ever tried a blueberry either. Something or someone told me once that I didn't like them, so I avoided them. Well let me tell you... THEY ARE YUMMY!!! I think I prefer blackberries though. Julius liked them better too.

Oh he was so cute! This boy was covered in berry juice. He gobbled so many berries up! I never had offered him any berries before because the child hates strawberries, and Josh is allergic to black cherries... so I thought, with all the allergies my son has, let's try to avoid the berries for awhile But then my friend Nicole told me that black cherries were in a totally different category than berries, so I went ahead and drove over to the orchard and we HAD SO MUCH FUN!

I wish my camera was working. There would have been some great pics.

RED

Yesterday I finally did it. I dyed my hair red and had it cut. IT LOOKS GREAT!!!! I love it. Sadly, my Kodak Easyshare was disconnected from my comp, and when I tried to reconnect it, it wouldn't work! It doesn't use a standard USB cable, so I'm pretty flustered on what to do. LOL But I'll continue brainstorming and hopefully will have a pic of me up soon.

Oh, another funny Julius story:

** Whenever we're trying to get Julius' attention and he isn't listening, we ask, "Are your listening ears on?" or "Where are your listening ears?" So.... this evening, Josh was asking Julius a question, and Julius was not responding. So Josh asked him, "Where are your listening ears?" Julius replied without missing a beat, "I lost them." **

HAHAHA!! He just cracks me up.

Oh, and being that I named this post "Red," it makes perfect sense for me to add
RED here.
If you haven't registered, you really should...

out of the mouth of...

so yesterday we go see Julius' allergist. I love this guy. He is the best doctor I've ever met. He is unbelievably amazing with kids and adults. Whenever Julius and I go see him, I spend so much time just LAUGHING!!! He cracks me up. And moreso, he knows what he's talking about. He is so calm one minute and then making Julius and I laugh the next. He rocks.

Anywho, so the doctor and Julius are conversing and then he asks my son, "Where are you from?" And of course, we are both expecting him to say the city that we live in... but instead he replies, "My mommy's tummy."

HAHAHAHA!! I never expected that answer. Julius is so awesome.

Live Earth 7-7-07

http://www.liveearth.org/

monday monday

we had a nice weekend...ending up going to the zoo. I know, I know, I had said that I hated the whole idea keeping animals in captivity and how horrible it is that people go there and gawk at these poor animals... BUT, Julius wanted to see a real monkey. How can I say 'no' to that? Of course when we finally see the monkeys, Julius exclaims, "That monkey is scratching his butt!" And that was the highlight of the entire trip for my son...and husband for that matter. I don't think I can decide who was more amused by the monkey: Julius or Josh.

I don't think I'll ever understand
MALE HUMOR

But nonetheless, everyone had fun.

stitch

it's been almost two weeks since I've had my lil' surgery. I'm feeling good. Sure I'm sore every night because I refuse to rest unless absolutely necessary, but I'm doing well... much better than my past five months of pain.

I've been told I have endometriosis. Surprisingly, there are so many myths surrounding this label. It seems to be quite an enigma to many people. And then there are others in the 'these women are just hysterical and weak' camp and therefore don't believe that the pain is actually real, or that if it is real, isn't as terrible as their patients claim. In other words, the medical field has an overwhelming amount of assholes working within them.

Endometriosis isn't an 'infertility' thing. Though many people do have fertility problems.. that's usually not the reason a woman goes to the doctor for. The woman goes to the doctor because she's in pain that doesn't seem to end. Funny that most people only know the label as "oh, so you can't get pregnant?"

One thing I've really been focusing on is alternative treatments...because being cut open (no matter how small the incisions are) fucking hurts. And though the pain is different than the chronic 5 months duration of pain I had previous...I wouldn't wish the new kind of pain of anyone either. Pain is bad. Very bad.

So I'm looking into acupuncture as well as an "alkaline" type diet that will promote a healthy chemical balance.

If anyone reading this knows someone with endometriosis, I really suggest they visit the Endometriosis Association website. It's very informative.

More celebrations

So on Saturday we had Julius' birthday party. It was a lot of fun: Julius had a great time!! And then on Sunday we had Josh's company picnic... more fun!! And lastly, Sunday evening we went to my in-laws house and Julius was given his birthday present from them... a race car of his very own. LOL!!!! The car even has a working radio! LOL I just can't believe the things Fisher Price makes. Anywho, I've attached a picture of my little racer boy.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Julius turned three today!!!
He woke up to presents, then went to school (summer camp) where I brought cupcakes and everyone sang Happy Birthday and then went out for water play.... afterwards he went right to sleep in the car ;) When he woke up, we ran a few quick errands (I bought him another present) and then later Josh, Julius and I had dinner at his favorite resturant!
Tomorrow is his birthday party... hooray!

My Yaris

I got a car!! It's so cute... it's a little Yaris: pacific blue in color. LOVE IT!

okay... ow!

So for about five months, I've been in pain. Somedays it's been good, and somedays it's been really bad, but overall I'm functional. I'm supposedly scheduled for a follow-up sonogram mid-June, but I think I might have to change it to an earlier date because the past few days have been hell... and I know the signs: it's going to get worse before it settles down to a dull ache.

I told myself I would call to schedule the sonogram for this Wednesday... but I didn't. I took a nap instead. And so now, I'm downing Motrin and thinking to myself "okay Moron, call tomorrow!" But I'm sure I'll come up with another excuse. I'm so good at making them.

It's like, I want to get it done, but then I think: if I wait just a little longer... then maybe they'll see how much pain I'm in and agree to do surgery? It's stupid, I know. It makes little sense, I know. Everyone knows that if I bitch long enough my doctor will remove the cyst just to shut me up.

I think part of me wants to wait until I'm on my 2 week vacation... it would just be easier. I wouldn't have to find a substitute to teach my class, I wouldn't have to call and reschedule visits with families I work with... and I wouldn't have to take any sick leave!

So I guess I'll just see what happens tomorrow.

hola!

It's been a while since I've posted... and it's not because I've been away from the computer. Hardly!! Turns out my car is ready to 'visit the other side' and it will take more than the actual car's worth to get it fixed. So, yeah... Josh and I have been searching online for cars.

I'm not as picky as he is though. I just want something that will be safe for Julius to be in. And of course, it has to be good for the environment!

Oh, and since I am my parents' daughter,
I'm looking for the best deals too (wink!)

You have no idea what kind of restraint I had to muster NOT to tell some sales guy at a car place where he could stick his lousy appraisal for my car. I mean, dude, I know my car is falling apart, but even I know that the price he suggested to pay for my car was below it's actual worth. No, my car and I have more dignity that that. Hmfph!

ANYWAYS...!!

Tomorrow is Monday, and on Friday...Julius turns three!! OMG I cannot believe it, he's going to be three!!! It's just insane to fathom.

Snark

So today I've been in total bitch-mode. It's not very pretty. I was even snarky to my boss, which really wasn't a good idea, but I couldn't help it. And then when I finally decided to email her a 'thank you for the heads up' (since she 'reminded' me that I forgot to do something...which really wasn't my responsibility to do in the first place: like I don't have enough crap to balance?!!? But I digress...) so then she emails me a reply, that I dunno.. in my snarky mood sounded a little...holier than thou, and it took all my energy not to email her a bitchy response. GRRRRRRR!!! But I DID respond. I don't think I was bitchy in it. At least I tried to restrain myself. That has to count for something, right? LOL

I've never been good with authority. The whole concept causes me to have serious anger issues. Take that however you want to, but it's the truth. LOL

In any case, today is Friday: THANK GAWD!!!!!!!!!!!!

funny, isn't it?

In my last blog I complained that the week was going to slow, and now suddenly it's Tuesday again. See? There was a point for my bitching, really.


So I'm feeling crappy again. When don't I? Seriously it seems like I just can't catch a break. One of these days I will be 100% healthy and feeling fine for like... a month! That would be awesome. I'm sick and tired of feeling like crap. It's been, like, five months! Sure, I get a day or two when I'm actually feeling like myself again... and then BAM! I wake up feeling like shit once again. And the doctors? All sadists, I tell you. Each and every one of them: sadists.

Oh well, enough complaining.
I can't turn this blog into one huge rant-fest.

So in other news... Mother's Day weekend was wonderful!!! And to top it off, my mum-in-law, dad-in-law and both my parents actually hung out together with Josh and I! I know, I was just as shocked about it. LOL They haven't shared breathing space in...wow...a really, really, really long time. So that was pretty monumental.

Umm...what else to say? Julius loves ice skating. I'm so proud of his persistence in learning how to skate on the ice. He totally rocks. And his vocabulary is phenomenal! I mean, he easily switches tenses, uses -ing and -ed endings appropriatly, used he/she/him/her/they/them/me/I/mine appropriately... and no one sat him down and taught it to him. He just got it. I've met three year olds who still confuse the he/she/her/him, but Julius was doing it when he was like, 26 months old or something.

We got his progress report back from his nursery school. The report checks off all different areas of development, and Julius reached all his developmental goals... in December. Seriously, this kid is completing 24 piece interlocking puzzles right now. I have no concerns about his cognitive abilities.

So yeah, he rocks.

And speaking of rock. I totally need to get a video of him singing at the top of his lungs, "I am iron toddler!!!" It is hilarious!

is it really only Tuesday?

this has been the slowest week ever. How can it only be Tuesday? I'm flabbergasted. It's not like I'm dragging my feet or anything... I've been busy; I've been productive... so what the hell? LOL I can't believe it's only Tuesday.

...I've been busy; I've been productive... so what the hell?

There is so much construction going on right now. Every road I take has either a lane closed or there's a detour, or it's just incredibly slow to drive on because of all the construction trucks everywhere.

This county is over-populated. I just can't get over how many people keep moving in. New homes, townhomes and apartments are constantly being built: and the prices are just ridiculous! But people keep buying and therefore more trees are being cut down, more pollution is being brought out into our air... it's just crazy. And though I don't live in California, this article really hit home: 'Pollution from diesel construction equipment has been taking a heavy toll on the health and economic well-being of California residents. The equipments contribute to particulate and ozone pollution that can cause severe cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, asthma attacks, acute bronchitis, and even premature death. Lagging emission standards and very old equipment have made construction equipment one of the largest sources of toxic diesel particulate matter pollution in the state, necessitating an accelerated cleanup program to protect the health of all Californians.' (The Health Risks of Construction Pollution in California: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/california_driving/digging-up-trouble.html)

I try to do my part for the environment, and then I see all these construction trucks and the dust, noise, etc. ... it's just so frustrating.

So anyways, thank you, Gillian, for showing me Madarian Design. I'm going to have a lot of fun with that site!

what a fun day!

Today Julius skated on the ice FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!! He had a blast, it was awesome! And I was so proud of how persistent he was! He kept wanting to try again and again. He would fall and get right back up... he was never discouraged or even the slightest bit frustrated! In fact, he didn't want to LEAVE the ice rink *LOL* But after an hour on the ice, we knew he was exhausted... the little boy ended up falling asleep on the car ride home... but woke up very upset because he wanted to go back to the rink! LOL

Yummy

I'm not a big fan of ice cream, but sometimes I get sooo in the mood for that yummy, sweet goodness... like today.

Chocolate syrup, sprinkles, ice cream and a chocolate chip cookie on top. SIGH. If I had a sliced up banana it would be perfect... but this is pretty close to perfection. :)

It's the little things that make life so worthwhile....

Pain

Pain: Pain is a feeling triggered in the nervous system. Pain may be sharp or dull. It may come and go, or it may be constant.
The word "pain" comes from the Latin poena meaning punishment, a fine, a penalty. Pain is an unpleasant sensation; nociception or nociperception is a measurable physiological event of a type usually associated with pain and agony and suffering.
Pain may range in intensity from slight through severe to agonizing. It is experienced as having qualities such as sharp, throbbing, dull, nauseating, burning and shooting. It often has both an emotional quality and a sensed bodily location. Medical professionals will sometimes ask patients to rate their pain on a scale of zero through ten, where ten is consistent with screaming and thrashing about.
Pain can be classified as acute or chronic. The distinction between acute and chronic pain is not based on its duration of sensation, but rather the nature of the pain itself. The primary distinction is this: acute pain serves to protect one after an injury. Chronic pain does not serve this or any other purpose. Acute pain is the symptom of pain. Chronic pain is the disease of pain.

The concept of pain has played an important part in the study of philosophy, particularly in the philosphy of mind. The question of what pain actually consists in is still open since any evaluation is dependent upon what subject one approaches the question from. Identity theorists assert that the mental state of pain is completely identical with some physical state caused by various physiological causes. Functionalist consider pain to be defined completely by its causual role (ie in the role it has in bringing about various effects) and nothing else. Some theologians and other spiritual traditions have much to say about the nature of pain and its various spiritual consequences, especially its role in growth, understanding, compassion, and in providing an aspect of life to be overcome.

Welcome to Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

His first pair of hockey skates

na na na na na

I have the Kaiser Chiefs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u43GGHjLyYo "Na na na na na" song in my head.... You should hear Julius sing it: it's awesome... I'll have to videotape him sometime. He dances and jumps around as he sings "Na na na na na!!!" It's pretty awesome.

So today was crazy busy. We woke up and went to get Julius' passport done. We got lost... I'm terrible at directions LOL But we figured it out and made it to the appointment (only four minutes late!). Then we went to visit the train station because Julius LOVES watching the train zoom by... dude, those trains are FAST and LOUD. Yikes.

Then after lunch and a supposed nap (30 minutes is not a nap!) we went to his nursery school to see the art work. I was very impressed by all the great art pieces that were showcased. Julius' art was very cool. He tends to use more of the modern art approach to drawing and painting... Mommy's favorite ;) We were all very proud of him, and he was pretty proud of himself too :)

Afterwards we played in the school playground, went to the store to buy him new shoes, then out to dinner and finally back home... whew!!! Now he's asleep and I'm pretty wiped out too!

Happy Friday

Happy Friday, Everyone! I am so thrilled that the week is over. I AM EXHAUSTED!!!!!! Of course this weekend is going to be pretty busy, but I don't mind because it'll be fun.

Tomorrow Julius' nursery school is having an art show. I can't wait to see the art work that will be displayed. What a fantastic idea to collect some art pieces from students and displaying them on the walls like an art gallery! I am so excited.

Today Julius was so funny. He is so good at making me laugh. I've been feeling pretty lousy the past couple of days (weeks, okay, maybe months) and he can always make me smile and laugh. He is such a great kid!!!

I'd write more but I am being called upon... LOL Good night, everyone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWnuGcI8QwU

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter and Passover, everyone! Things have been going great. Yesterday we had an Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood...and can you believe it? It snowed!!! Crazy weather.

Today Julius woke up to a big basket full of trucks and cars (and then he proceeded to ask me where this Easter bunny lived... LOL). Afterwards, we went to my parents' house, and then to church... and let me just tell you: Julius, being only 34 months old, was an angel!!! Sure he squirmed and at one point started to sing some made up 'dee-dop' song during the blessing of the Eucharist, but hey, it's a long service and the kid is only two and half. So all in all, he did spectacular!!!

Later, we returned to my parents' house for lunch. Julius was exhausted and we ended up leaving shortly afterwards.

I hope everyone has had a nice Sedar and Easter holiday :)

Spring Break!

I've been having such a fantastic spring break! Julius and I have been having a ton of fun together. He's at such a great age (2 1/2 years... technically 33 months.. almost 34 months old) and we've been having picnics, playing at the park, playing cars, pretending to be race cars or trains, baking cookies, cooking, dancing, playing hockey, baseball, riding his bike....Sigh, going back to work is going to be such a drag! :(

But I'm focusing on the present right now, and we're just having a blast!

Theme me

I've come to the conclusion that I am rather disappointed in my blog. It has no theme! I am a creature of theme. It provides me with structure. I crave themes! Every party I ever threw had a theme, even if it was so subtle that only a select few noticed... it was there.

So my blog needs a theme. At the moment, this so-called theme appears to be chaos. *eye roll* which isn't such a bad thing, but I'm becoming bored with it and need to move on.

There are some great blogs out there, like PINK IS THE NEW BLOG http://trent.blogspot.com/ and then there is POSTSECRET http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/ My sister-in-law has an awesome blog too http://iamaloverofchaos.blogspot.com/ Now I'm not saying that I want my blog to be up there in the list of awesome blogs.... but I want a purpose!!! The Realist http://realist.liberalsonly.net/ had purpose... Shakespeare's Sister has a purpose http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/

So what should my focus be on? Motherhood? Politics? Art? General hobbies? .... sigh...

I think I'll stick to chaos for a little while longer.

La la la

I am so tired. I have so much to do, but I'm just too tired to do anything productive. LOL I've been fighting a cold for over a week, and I'm feeling a little on the lazy side.

I have reports to write, service coordinations to complete... a closet to clean before it swallows me one day... magazine articles to read that remain sitting on the table, covered with more articles, books and magazines that I would love to one day read... maybe during Spring Break.

Yes... spring break can't come soon enough! Maybe I might actually return to drawing or painting even... HA. Yeah, I know, that was funny... LOL

Above is a photo of Julius, snoozing in our bed... he usually joins us with his pillow around three or four in the morning...

Hi there!

It's been a little while since i've updated. Let's see... work has been draining the life out of me. I have a yucky cold... oh, and I just recently had a birthday! Yay Me. I'm 28 :)

So we've been working on Best Practices for children with autism spectrum disorders. That's been very exciting. I'm really happy to be a part of this decision making process. I presented what we've done thus far at a teacher meeting a few weeks ago. I got a lot of nice feedback.

Do you know that 1 in 150 children under the age of 8 in the USA have a diagnosis of autism? And that in New Jersey that number is 1 in 94?

For more information, you can check out:

The autism society of america http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer

cure autism now http://www.cureautismnow.org/site/c.bhLOK2PILuF/b.1021889/k.BFD8/Home.htm

NIMH's brochure on ASD http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/autism.cfm

Autism Speaks http://www.autismspeaks.org/

Tenple Grandin http://www.templegrandin.com/

some much to say...but thankfully I don't have to

LOL. I have so much to say, but there are people better equiped than me, so I'm just going to post the links LOL

1. http://liberalsonly.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=417&sid=ec2847e0141439a18e73df1612396f7e Basically, an Arabic linguistic was discharged because he's gay. Seriously, read the whole thread.... it'll make you want to scream.

2. http://www.pollyticks.com/item/2027 Bush Cuts Off Diplomatic Relations With Congress. This is a really funny site, BTW... you should check it out.

3. http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2007/01/30th-carnival-of-liberals.html Carnival of the liberals. It's a light-hearted read (sometimes)

4. http://www.theblindphotographer.com/main.asp?CL=ENG A happier note. I think this is really awesome and just wanted to share it.

So.. that's what's going on. I mean, wow. What a wild world we live in. But I suppose there has to be bad with the good, right? But if you don't believe in complete BAD and complete GOOD... then what? Where is the balance in the world? People like to make believe that everything is so simple, but it is and it isn't... and somewhere you just have to choose where you stand. I think balance is really a "personal perspective".: just like so many other things in life.

I think it should be a requirement that every individual take a class on sociology of social psychology. The world might actually start to make sense, even if it is sometimes rather fucked up. And don't think that because I'm saying this that I'm actually agreeing with the nonsense that is going on right now in the world. No way in hell! I'm just saying that it helps to understand why people are doing and saying what they're doing and saying, and all it all interconnects. We all mesh someway or another whether we like it or not.

What else to talk about? Hmmm..well I have been loving the show "Bad Girls" on logo. OMG, it is really intense. I love it. http://www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/bad_girls/series.jhtml

I just wish that Logo didn't censor so much. I mean, they have awesome movies and series, but, (holy crap!) they censor so much, that sometimes they actually ruin really important scenes. But I can't complain too much, because at least they have the balls to show stuff that other networks won't.

So, as a shout out to logo, here is their website: http://www.logoonline.com/news/ I've linked you to their NEWS page because it can really open your eyes.

Have you guys heard of NEED magazine? It's incredible. http://www.needmagazine.com/index.htm It's the most beautiful humanitarian magazine I've ever seen. After reading it, you just have to sigh and be grateful that there are still some really incredible, wonderful and compassionate people out there in this world that we live in. And thank goodness for that because we would be in a terrible state without them.

I heard about NEED from (RED). http://www.joinred.com/home.asp Which, is another one of those beautiful organizations that people should really get to know and be a part of.

I haven't written in awhile. I've been overwhelmed at work. As much as I love my job, it can be incredibly emotionally draining and often downright frustrating... but the reward is immesurable. So it does balance out in some way: but I'm tired, and sometimes I feel like I'm cheating out on spending time with my own child... and then that Mommy Guilt rears it's ugly head and I get all sad and mopey... but then I just have to shake it off and "keep on swimming," and hope that it all works out: and it usually does.

Julius is so awesome. I sometimes just sit back and watch him in utter amazement. I mean, he just blows my mind sometimes. He's creative, smart, sensitive, funny... he's his own person, and it wows me on a daily basis. I can't believe he's going to be 32 months... he'll be three in about four months?!?! I can't believe it! Time has really flown by.

TGIF

I'm so glad it's Friday!! Even better, it's a three day weekend :)

It's not that I dislike my job or anything, but some of the people I have to work with are so arrogant and snarky and have an incredible talent of PISSING ME OFF.

So, like I said, I'm glad it's Friday.

gender roles

Today Julius, my two year old son, astonished me with his observation of gender roles.
I mean, before he was even born, Josh and I knew we would expose him to all toys and not fall into the trap of gender specific toys and "this is for boys" and "this is for girls."
Julius has played with dolls, pushed toy strollers, owns a kitchen set, and enjoys painting, singing and dancing. He also loves rough-housing, playing hockey, ball games and playing with cars/trucks/trains.
So to me, I felt we were doing a good job raising Julius to not believe in gender specific toys, etc.
But then today, Julius blew me away with a comment he said:

We were in the car. I was driving and he was in the back in his carseat. I hear his voice ask, "Mommy, are you a boy?"
Now I thought that was a silly question since Julius was able to identify boys vs. girls since he was 18 months old. So I figure he's being silly. I answer, "No, silly goose. Mommy's a girl."
He pauses, then says, "No, Mommy. You're a boy."
I'm baffled. So I ask, "Why do you think Mommy is a boy?"
He replies, "Because you play with my toys."
"Yes, I play with your toys with you."
It makes so much sense in his two year old mind, "You're a boy."
So I ask, "What would make me a girl?"
Again, his logic astounds me. "Claire (his neighborhood friend) plays with girl toys. She's a girl."
So I explain to him that boys can play with boy toys and girl toys. And that girls can play with girl toys and boy toys. And that it's okay to play with whatever toy you want to play with.

So now I sit here wondering how he had come to that previous conclusion about Mommy being a boy because I would play with his toys with him? Did someone tell him in school that he had to play with certain "boy" toys or else he was a girl? And if so, what two year old says that? Did he see it on television? And I think about what shows he watches, and none of them are gender specific. In fact, he barely watches television. But he does love watching Little Bear before dinner, and that is rather conservative IMO. Though I like the idea of Little Bear using his imagination and flying to the moon, blah blah blah... the roles do seem a bit gender specific (mother bear stays at home: cooks and cleans. father bear is a fisherman and often at work. Emily plays with dolls and has tea parties.... hmmm, could that be it?)

How can a two year old (okay, he's 31 months, but that's still a two year old) conclude that boys must play with boy toys and girls must play with girl toys? Is this an example of the Social Learning Theory at work? But I always thought that children didn't notice gender roles until the age of four or five....
Julius is TWO!!

Blows my mind. Totally blows my mind.

It's a new year!

A new year. I can't believe it's already 2007. So, let's start this blog off right with some really funny videos!
http://break.com/index/effect_of_drugs_and_alcohol_on_spider_webs.html My friend Jen sent me this and I was LMAO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8x14cLGh5o&eurl= This one has caused some controversy over at YouTube... but I think it's funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NINJQ5LRh-0 Just a really fun video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHPS6do13V8&eurl= Sweet video from one of my favorite bands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE6UOHJcyjE&eurl= My other favorite band performing an old song based on a story I remember hearing when I was younger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yEOjcU4ZtI&eurl= Just a really cool video with a great beat
And lastly, for any QAF fans out there, this video will definitely make you laugh, or at least smile http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9Jof9zf2vo&eurl=



HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY :) :)