LOL

Most Sunday nights we listen to the Moth Radio Hour. It is fantastic. My love of radio programs knows no bounds, and I'm sure I'll blog about that later.

But for the time being, listen to this story from the Moth. We heard it tonight. It's a repeat. It's pretty great.

http://odeo.com/episodes/22023288-The-Moth-LOL

friday's fascinations

We've begun. The house is now full of boxes. And today I'm fascinated with a few things.

 First, how empty bookshelves are so not us.

Second, how much I'm going to miss our tree here.

 (I know these are poor pictures. I forgot how fast the sun goes down now.)

The leaves on this tree are some of the last to fall in the neighborhood. But they turn the most brilliant yellow (my favorite color). Almost a blond color.

My little camera can't do it justice. But it's really pretty, trust me.

And, finally, I'm fascinated by my daughter's innate fascination with dogs. I love it.

She saw our neighbor dog and squealed and high-tailed it over there.

 She had a good chat with him, but then the owner came and brought him inside.

She remained.

And waited and watched. But he never came back. I know for certain we'll have many more dogs-on-the-other-side-of-the-fence at our new house. :)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Thank You, Veterans

I really like the Vietnam memorial. I think it's cool how you can go and make rubbings of the names. Plus, it's so beautifully simple.

My husband was off work today (yay!), and we all spent the day keeping busy with all sorts of November event preparations (brother's upcoming wedding, our move, our friends' move). But we didn't forget to take some time to remember the sacrifices people have made for us. Our little family can live in safety and with so much freedom. I'm grateful for that.

something you may not know about me

I am enamored with libraries. Every library trip I've been on, from the time I was too young to remember up until yesterday, thrills me.


And I'm already getting excited about this:

It says all ages are welcome. :) Pulling out my "Books to Read" list! Any suggestions?

Oh, and to go along with my previous children's television theme, you all should listen to this 7 minute story about Sesame Street, in honor of its 40th anniversary. Interesting! Gotta' love old school tv shows.

what monday brings

sewed a few more wool diaper covers from old sweaters

patterns at katrinassqs.blogspot.com/

crocheted this hat (don't mind the yawning model!)

It took me about 20 minutes. That's how thick the yarn is :) But I kind of like the goofy-chunky look of it.

Baked this bread and finally dried and crushed the rest of all my sage and parsley from the garden. That's what those little jars are full of. The bread was delicious this time--one was a mix of white, wheat, and buckwheat flour. And on the other I drizzled honey and cinnamon on the top. Mmmm . . .

But I still didn't rake any leaves . . .

Ehh, it's okay.


Tonight at the library I found a new bluegrass band I really like. Uncle Earl.

I recommend it. Nice blog-updating music.

I've been trying to decide what to say about the health care bill. This weekend it narrowly made it through the House, with 39 democrats voting against it. NPR did a pretty informative breakdown of those 39 here.  I'm sure if you keep reading this blog in the future, you'll find out where I stand on a lot of political issues. For the most part, I'm a freshman trying to understand a lot of views. But, while inexperienced in most arenas of politics, I am experienced in being uninsured, Medicaid insured, and gouging-our-already-pitiful-wallets insured. My husband and I are both educated, trying to do our part in our communities. And while we should never put aside our principals, I can say it sucks to not have health insurance. And to be struggling to make ends meet as a new family starting out in life, I will take all the help I can get. Seriously. Because we're doing everything we can think of, and there have been times when it still hasn't been enough to get by.

It seems like a lot of the protestations over health care reform are based on principles. No one likes the idea of more taxes or of more government spending. Many are against any government involvement in what has up to now been a mostly private sector. And some are especially wary of government-run health care. But, along with principles, I think we need to think about what people need. Now. America will never be the Soviet Union. Those 39 democrats and all but 1 of the republican members of Congress proved that representatives are trying to listen to their constituents. And, heck, all the members who voted yes to the bill proved it too. At least it seems that way to me. I'm glad the bill passed. I'm glad government money won't be used for abortions. I would love to see competition in the insurance market. I don't know if that will happen or not, but I think tort reform could help.

I'm still confused about a lot of it, and I want to hear every opinion from every side. I try my best to hear what some conservatives are trying to say through all the frustrated, contention they yell. And I watch Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and try to hear what they're not saying as they smile and nod. So I don't know much. But, like I said, I do know how it feels to be in really scary financial situations, to feel like a lot of that has to do with inflated costs of health insurance, and to see a bill like this one succeeding makes me feel like our little family isn't alone. Obviously there are a few more little families out there that would love to not  see all the money they've worked so hard to save and earn thrown to insurance companies. I'm okay paying for health care and insurance. But I don't want to feel like I'm wasting money because things have gotten out of hand. And, no, I didn't live through communist scares, but I'm also okay letting the government regulate these things a little. We'll see.

friday's fascinations

I couldn't stand being in the house one moment longer. Once my daughter woke up from her nap, we headed out on a walk into the chilly, chilly sunset.



Today I'm fascinated by how fast fall has progressed here! The briskness is an absolute now, every time I step outside. The leaves are almost completely gone from the trees. And the chimney smoke! I smelled some today on our walk, and it thrilled my soul. The only wish I have for our new house is that it had a wood burning stove.


Ah, well. Next time.

I was having sort of a frumpy day up until then. Totally demotivated. (I don't know if that's a word, but it describes how I felt.) I wrote a piece for Embodying Womanhood, this inspiring online journal that's all about the incredible roles and gifts of women. Anyway, I got my piece back with edits, and I just didn't feel up to attacking it today. When something is so personal (as my narrative is), it's really hard to come up with new words to say how you feel, or to cater to someone else's opinion of what you should say. Not that I shouldn't change it--it could use a lot of work--I just didn't have the energy. But, when it gets published online, I'll post it here, so you all can read it too!

One more fascination to end the Friday:



Know what this is? Look a little familiar? A little bit like make-believe? Well, if I could go anywhere on a roadtrip this weekend, I would get in my car and head to Pittsburgh, where "The set is being rebuilt and opened to the public . . . giving generations of Americans who grew up with Fred Rogers and his mother's hand-knit cardigans — as well as their children who watch his reruns — a real-life look at one of TV's most famous neighborhoods." (Associated Press)

Oh me, oh my. How fun would it be to walk around the Neighborhood of Make Believe? I remember a recurring dream I had as a kid when I was in the Neighborhood and could explore it myself, going beyond the normal boundaries and see what lay beyond Lady Elaine's Museum Go-Round and Daniel Tiger's clock. This is the stuff of my childhood here.

To be honest, it's the stuff of my adulthood, too. I still love to explore unseen places in my mind, to muse about places I've never been. Since Pittsburgh is a little too far away, maybe I'll just leave the Neighborhood of Make Believe in my imagination for now. Hey, that's always been enough for me.

let's get things started

If I don't just dive in, I will continue to procrastinate writing my first post until I get the absolute perfect idea. But I don't want to wait any longer, so, here's what's on my mind right now.




I will win Hearts one day with a score of zero. It will happen; there's not a doubt in my mind. Even though I haven't made it yet, I will keep pushing F2 every time I get the Queen of spades. And one time I'll get on a roll and stay there.