Battlefield Earth

I recently finished reading Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard, and I thought I'd make a few comments here. This isn't a "review" and I'm not going to summarize or explain the book. I'm just going to say what I liked and didn't like. I thought this was a great scifi novel, full of action and adventure. It took me nearly 6 months to read! (It takes me longer to read most books because I don't spend very much time at it.) I enjoyed all the action, and also how the book was split into small chapters, which made it very easy to read in short bursts. All the essential events and characters were easy to remember, and everything made sense throughout the book. There wasn't too much characterization in the book, all the characters were fairly simple. The plot was much more focused on the action and the flow towards the climax. The story was easy to follow throughout and the conflicts and resolutions were clear.

I didn't like how the book slowed at the very end. After the second climax I was sure the book would be over! I also didn't like how Hubbard sometimes invented a new thing seemingly at random to explain something (e.g. the Psychlo doctors at the end of the book). These things would have been more believable had he hinted about them earlier in the story.

Overall I thought it was an excellent book.

Too young?

This morning on NPR, Morning Edition featured a story about "Generation Next". Basically, people within the 18-25 year age range do not consider themselves adults and are not usually considered adults by their own parents. Many want to have careers and want to wait to get married and settle down to have a family.

When I hear things like this it stirs up some interesting emotions. I was 18 when I got engaged to my now-husband. We got married two days before my 21st birthday. I had my baby girl about a month before I turned 24. I've heard it said that we were too young, especially for marriage. Well, we've been together for over 7 years total and we're still enjoying each other. I have met a couple of people my age who are astonished at my "way of life" and family, and say "My gosh, I can't even imagine being married/having a kid at my age!" This reaction has always made me feel like an outsider.

So this morning's program got me thinking. Z's friends in school are all going to have older parents. Probably most will be 8 or 10 years older than my husband and I. I have a friend who is 34 and her son is now almost 8 months old. My best friend is 26 and her kids (she's not having any yet) will be at least 3 years younger than Z.

I feel it's great if 18-25 year olds don't need to take on the real responsibilities of the world, so they don't yet feel like adults. I'm sure we'll still be helping Z if she needs it, and I don't want her to feel like she's being pushed into being a "grown-up". Yet I also feel like an outsider when I think about how many people out there my age are so different from me. I always felt compelled to settle down and have a family. Not from the outside, but from the inside. I wanted it.

My own father was 36 when I was born. My mom was 30. Growing up, I felt like my mom could understand my situation better, maybe because she was younger. So I wanted to be closer in age to my own children. Thinking about that now, I can look at things in another way. My father was born in 1946. His parents were "traditional". He was raised differently than my mom. Now I think he was less approachable and understood me less when I was growing up because he had a different perspective of me. He thought "children should be this way" and "growing up should be this way" and it wasn't the same for me. My mom had a more open mind and could see more things my way. I bet that many more parents of 18-25 year olds now have more open minds and in that way can remain closer to their children. And their children don't feel the need to push away.

All that said, I am very happy with my life and my family. I wouldn't trade any of it for a career or a chance to travel more or whatever. I like it just the way it is.

This is the stuff dreams are made of

We got our Christmas tree yesterday! The first time we've ever gotten it before December. We put it up and put the lights on it last night and Z helped me decorate it this morning. She had so much fun at the tree place yesterday afternoon. She was running around and playing with everyone there and she helped pick out the tree. It was so wonderful to see her enjoying herself. I love it.

Potato soup even my toddler likes!

Caution: this is not necessarily a toddler-friendly recipe! My girl isn't a very picky eater. But we all think this soup is yummy. And it's filling!

Saute in a heavy pot:
1 medium onion
3 stalks celery, finely chopped (include leaves)

Add and cook until tender:
3 medium potatoes (or 2 large), peeled and diced
3-4 cups water or stock
salt and pepper to taste
1 small bay leaf

Let cool briefly. While stirring with a wire whisk, add:
1 cup instant dry milk
1-2 tablespoons butter

Reheat but do not boil. Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with parsley or green onions.

Yoga is awesome!

I started doing yoga seriously about a month ago. I'd been wanting a "fitness program" that fit into my life better than my "weight loss program". I just couldn't see waking up at 6am almost every day for the rest of my life and popping in a workout DVD. So, I decided to try the yoga.

At first I was pretty inflexible and stiff. But now, even just a month after starting, I can do an *almost* perfect shoulderstand! And in just a couple of weeks I've gotten so much better at the plough and the forward bends. After a session I feel renewed and energized. And so far at least it has fit into my life very well, much better than the workouts I lost the motivation to do.

Happy belated Halloween

I know all the Halloween posting is through, but I didn't get a chance to get in on it! My little Z was a bunny this year. Her costume was made by my mother, who used to make me an awesome costume every year. We went to the Emerson and got some candy and had a good time.

Gifty Meme!

In continuing a tradition from Amelie, I have joined in the gifting circle. If you are in the first 5 to comment on this blog post I will send you a gift by the end of the year! And if you are one of the 5, you must offer the same to your readers.

Approaching the pre-pregnancy weight!

Finally, 16 months after Z was born, I am approaching my pre-pregnancy weight. Since July I've passed over into the "healthy weights" on the BMI charts. Basically for my height any weight under 155 is considered healthy. And, since August I've been fitting into ALL (or almost all) of my clothes! I'm still aiming to lose another 10 pounds, and I'm still exercising and trying to be fit, but I'm pleased with my success.

I have this neato chart I made after tracking my weight since January. In January both my husband and I kept meticulous track of our weight several times a day, to see the natural "error" in the measurement (1). The variation is up to 5 pounds in any given day. Then I started weighing myself only once or twice a day. There is a break of a couple of weeks during July (2) when we went on vacation, and (3) marks exactly 1 year after Z was born. I was just over 155 pounds - 10 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight, which was 145. Since September I've plateaued around 150, but I think I'm still losing weight more slowly, although I haven't been keeping track as well the last few weeks.

Wine Tasting and Chocolate Truffles

We were invited to a wine tasting on Friday night. It was a trip through French and Californian Pinot Noir's - our host said he was serving the best in the world. They were very tasty. We started with a 1998 and finished with a 2005. My husband has a list but it's not here so I won't tell you the exact wines. It was a fun party. We even got to bring home a bit of wine.

Everyone was requested to bring an appetizer of sorts. Many people brought cheeses and that sort of thing. I was addicted to the Champagne Cheddar. We decided to make chocolate truffles! What an experience. Very messy. But lots of fun! We started on Wednesday evening by making the chocolate, and we rolled the truffle balls on Friday afternoon. Please enjoy the recipe and the pictures...

1/2 lb semisweet chocolate
1/2 lb bittersweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder

• Coarsely chop both chocolates and set aside.
  
• Heat the cream and instant coffee in a large saucepan, stirring to blend. When bubbles start to form along the edge of the pan, remove from heat. Scatter the chocolate over the cream, stirring gently until melted. Set aside for 8-10 minutes.
• Add the liqueur and vanilla. Stir gently, just until evenly blended. Scrape the chocolate into a shallow bowl. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours and up to 1 week.
  
• Take chocolate out of the refrigerator a few hours before you plan on making the truffle balls. (We didn't do this and had to figure out how to get the chocolate to room temperature quickly. A difficult task! But it is much easier to make balls with warmer chocolate).
• Using a teaspoon or melon baller, scoop up enough chocolate to make balls approximately 1-inch in diameter. Place balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
  
• Roll the balls in cocoa, shaking off excess, and transfer to wax paper until ready. Best when served at room temperature.

We made some truffles in simply cocoa powder, some in a mixture of cinnamon and cocoa powder and some in a mixture of cayenne pepper and cocoa powder. All were very good but the spicy ones had quite a kick! My favorite were the cinnamon.


MMM, chocolate tastes yummy!

My legs hurt!

I appreciate flat shoes. I'm not a heels kind of girl. I hadn't worn shoes with a higher heel in months, until yesterday. I wore my Doc Martens with a 1.5-inch heel. I walked to and from work like I usually do. Now my calves hurt. Bummer.

Well, here I am

From June to October... Quite a hiatus. During my "time off" I thought about starting an entirely new blog, and maybe quitting blogging altogether. I got more involved in the "friends" sites, especially Facebook. I considered writing in my old blog a few times, when I was particularly moved by something. But I would always think, "Is blogging THAT important to me? Do I NEED it?"

So what now? I've decided to keep blogging as much as I can/want to. I am kept pretty busy by my family and all that of course. Blogging to me takes a secondary role to the rest of my life. I've tried to change things around so my blog is more "me" and also more indefinite. For example, we won't live in Montana forever. In fact, we won't be living in Montana at this time next year(hopefully)! My blog should easily move with me or I won't write in it. And the purpose is to write. I'm also not an academic anymore, at least at the moment. I'm a full-time mom with a job that pays the rent. I don't know if I will go back into academia. It all depends on a myriad of things that happen in the future.

Retooling the blog

I haven't been able to blog about anything. Some things I thought about seemed out of place on my blog. Then I couldn't think of anything that would fit in! Now, this is stupid. I mean, a blog should be a place you're comfortable writing whatever you want to write about. If you specifically want to write about a certain subject, then you base your blog on that. Some people write about everything. Well, I didn't feel like I could write about *anything*. I felt that my blog didn't belong anywhere. It used to be a mostly academic blog. Now I'm not a grad student anymore. It could be a mommy blog, but sometimes I don't want to blog about mommy stuff. Although that is my life. I just don't want to be pigeonholed into a space where I don't feel I can write anything!

So I'm trying to put another new face on my blog. One I can be happy with. I apologize to those of you who may still read my blog from the academic days. I'm trying to find myself a bit right now, so my blog is going through that with me I guess.

Goodbye Grandma!

My grandmother passed away on Monday.  She was 96 years old.  She lived quite a full life and died peacefully.

I'm taking Z down to the funeral.  It involves a 2-leg flight there and another to get back home.  We're leaving Saturday afternoon, getting in at about 8:30, the funeral is Monday morning, and we're coming home on Wednesday afternoon.  A quick trip.  We will see my parents, my cousin, my aunt and uncle, and maybe my other aunt and cousin.  My husband and I had a long discussion last night about whether or not I should go, and take Z.  I feel like it is a good thing to do.  He said he couldn't physically or mentally do it.  Taking Z is too much trouble for him.  Heck, he has problems taking her to the grocery store!  So he wouldn't.  She and I have an easier time doing things like that together.  I've traveled with her alone before and it was no big deal.  She is more interactive now, and the flights may be a bit more of a hassle, but I bet it will all work out fine. 

The best reason though, for all this rushing around and hubbub, is that gram would have liked to know that the family was getting together.  All of us, especially Z.  So here's to my grammie, I hope you have fun in heaven with gramps again.

New me

I got a haircut yesterday.  It's short.  I like short hair.  Especially on me.  I think I've realized that my hair is meant to be short.  It will grow out, but it takes FOREVER.  And my hair is very fine, so when it is long, it doesn't do much.  It won't hold long layers, so mostly I wear it back.  What's the point?  I had short hair in high school, and I was kind of punkrock.  I cut my hair short again right before I got pregnant, and I decided to let it grow when a little girl at a museum didn't know I was a woman ("what lady?").  But it had been taking forever and ever to grow.  I've had it with limp boring hair!  So it is much shorter again, and I can put the putty stuff in it and spike it up and all!  I love it. 

The last time I had short hair (just over a year ago) I also wasn't wearing any makeup.  Now I think short hair looks great on girls with dark hair, but blondes need a bit of help.  I'm very blond.  You can't see my eyebrows or lashes on my face, they match very well with my skin tone.  Lately I have been getting into wearing eye makeup again, like I did in high school.  I went through this phase in college where I thought makeup was annoying and stupid.  Now I see it as an accent to my features.  I like wearing a bit of eye makeup because it makes me feel girlie.  I am enjoying the more girlie feeling lately.  So, short hair and eyes that stand out... the new me.

Work leads to babysitting!

I'm very busy right now with work and baby and family!  I am almost busier now than I ever was in grad school.  Almost.  But it's a good kind of busy.  Not so many deadlines and I get to play with my kid!

Work is really picking up.  I'm getting more and more tasks and organizing the lab more.  It is really quite exciting!  I enjoy my job.  Especially when I see my name in a forwarded email from my boss, and it says "K is my part-time administrative assistant.  She has taken on part of this project and has done a great job so far."  The summer is always the busiest time around the lab, and summer starts in a month or so.  We're planning a few new events this summer, and I'll be a part of it all. 

And for work I have to attend a meeting on Tuesday, and my husband has to be there as well, so it will be the first time we've left Z with a sitter (that wasn't family) when she was not asleep!  She's 9.5 months old and I don't know if I'm ready for this!  I know she probably is.  Her sitter is my good friend, and we've all hung out a lot so Z knows her already.  They've played a bit together.  But she'll have to get her snack and play, all while mommy AND daddy aren't there!  Goodness!  (When I visited my parents this February I left Z with them for a couple of hours and she was fine.  So I know I'm worried about nothing.  It's one of those mommy things.)

Garden planning, cloth diapers, etc.

Today we got together with our buddies with whom we are going to garden this summer. We're looking forward to having a garden plot and fresh veggies all summer! Our friends have done it before and know something about the tricks of the trade, so we're planning with them, and we're going to get two 20'x20' plots next to one another, so we'll have a real small kitchen garden going! Z and I are going to be out there weeding with Mar practically every day. It'll be great experience for all of us. And, yes, daddy is going to garden too. It's actually mostly his pet project. Z and I are kind of "hired help". We're going to even try to grow a couple of watermelons specifically bred for colder climes! I'll keep you posted on that once summer starts.

We've been using cloth diapers for a little more than a month now, and it's going great! Yes we still have some leaks. It is a bit difficult to switch from disposable to cloth, but we still think it's the best thing. We bought some bigger hemp inserts for at night because Z was soaking through all the others. She still pretty much soaks the bigger ones, but at least she doesn't over soak them and leak out, most of the time. Most of our leak problems happen during the day now, and I think it's a fit problem actually. Or just the fact that we may not change her quite often enough. You do have to change cloth diapers significantly more often than disposables. But it is so much better for baby's skin. We just have to get used to that. We've seen many more changing tables at stores and restaurants than we had seen previously. Thankfully it's easy to change Z. Even with all the leaks, wetness, and crying in the morning every once in a while, I love cloth diapers. It doesn't use too much water, and we have had significantly less trash since we switched. I would recommend it to anyone! And if we have another baby, we'll definitely start them in cloth.

Tomorrow we're planning an exciting outing to the hotsprings! We've been before, but the last few times Z wasn't very into playing or anything. She just sat and stared. Last time we went daddy dunked her, and she did fine with that, but she still was pretty passive. This was in January. Now that she's 9 months old (!) she is much more interactive and awake for longer periods of time. I really think she'll have lots of fun in the pool this time. Hopefully all goes well.

The Amazing Crawling Baby!

Z just got the hang of moving forward on all fours a couple of days ago. It's so cool! Yes, we have to childproof stuff still and we have to watch her like a hawk to make sure she doesn't get into something, but it is still so awesome.

Sugar in baby food

I get a newsletter by email from BabyCenter, and this week there was a short bit about feeding your baby foods with added sugar. You're not supposed to! This didn't come as a surprise to me. But I have been upset in the past at the availability of certain baby foods without added sugar!

I've spent quite a bit of time staring at the baby food at the grocery store, trying to find something new to feed Z. I decided I wouldn't feed her strained meat, so all the chickens, turkeys and lambs were out. She had tried nearly all of the rest of the available fruits and veggies, and all that was left was desserts! DESSERTS! Why does an 8- or 9-month-old need to eat dessert? And I did check the ingredients, and many of these desserts contained added sugar. I have no idea why anyone would want to give their baby extra sugar.

This all lead me to begin making my own baby food. I make most of the food that Z eats - my own sweet potatoes, yams, green beans, apricots, prunes, peas, black beans, applesauce... I feel good that she's not getting any refined sugar, and that I know the steps that her food has gone through (to a certain degree... I didn't grow it myself... yet. This summer I will be giving her some fresh garden food).

By the way, high nitrate foods shouldn't be home prepared before your baby's about 8-months old. High-nitrate vegetables include beets, carrots, green beans, squash, turnips, spinach and collard greens.

Books we've read

Since I was pregnant with Z, my husband and I have been reading books together, and once Z was born we read with her. I'm talking about novels, not kids books. When I was pregnant we'd read at bedtime. Once Z was born, we'd read just about every time I was breastfeeding. We are continuing to read, now only during the bedtime breastfeeding. We've read quite a few books that way, and I wanted to note them all so I will never forget.

While I was pregnant we read some Sherlock Holmes stories, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and From the Earth to the Moon (both by Jules Verne). Then we started David Copperfield, which we were reading when Z was born.

We've read The Great Train Robbery (Crichton), The Wizard of Oz (Baum), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain), Robinson Crusoe (Defoe), A Christmas Carol (Dickens), and Around the World in 80 Days (Verne) with Z, since she was born. We're in the middle of Wuthering Heights (Bronte). We may stop after this one, but probably not. I'm not sure what's up next though.

email blog test

I would enjoy not having to rely on the speediness of blogger, so I am testing this email for posting.