Tiny hiney

Our sweet baby slept for 11 hours last night. She loves us!

Violet chooses some interesting positions to sleep in...

She's a big smiler now!

Here's the beautiful retaining wall that Jim built.

Santa Barbara on fire

Santa Barbara is in manditory evacuation mode. Only a few dozen homes have burned so far, but the town is seriously threatened. Manditory evacuation is ordered just a couple of blocks from where we lived. http://www.keyt.com/ for pics and updates. Currently, it's 0% contained.

Violet's 2 month stats

Violet had her 2 month check up today. She was 11 pounds 9.5 ounces, which is 75th percentile, height was 23 1/2 inches, which is 85th percentile, and head circumference was 16 inches, which is 90th percentile. She's grown 3 pounds and 3 inches since birth.

So, basically all of her weight is in her giant noggin!

She's holding her head pretty steady on her own, is jabbering quite a bit, smiles a ton, and seems generally happy. She's still sleeping well, although she needs to be swaddled in her car seat to get a full night's sleep.

Go, Violet, go!

Finally, we've decided to get a second car. We're buying an '04 Honda Accord with 50k miles on it. We would prefer to have a European style car, like our Saab, but the #s didn't add up since repairs are so expensive. We'll drive the Honda all of time, except when we have to cart the dog somewhere or are in need of a second vehicle, which isn't very often. We should be getting it tomorrow.

losing life

A good friend of ours (who will remain anonymous here) lost a child to a miscarriage this weekend. This is a tragedy that struck our family last august. Though I could never imagine the pain felt by my sister or my friend at this sort of lose my sympathies and thoughts remain with them in times like these. This sort of event does take me back to the realization of the how fragile our balance really is. Further we need to keep our eye on the prize and make sure our priorities really are just that.

Swing

 

This is one of Vi's favorite activities.  She just goes back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and, well, you get the idea. 

Baby gym

Violet is starting to interact with the world around her.  She responds really well to the activity mat that Aunt Kim & Uncle Scott got for her.  Thank you!

Finally, some pictures!

More recent photos to come...

V asleep and swaddled in the rocker at 5 weeks, 2 weeks ago.  Look at the cheeks!

 Grandma Carol giving Violet her 2nd bath.

 Carol's going to kill me for posting this... :)

Jim is starting to put in a low stone wall in our front yard, which will extend across the front of our neighbors' yard.  (I'm so lucky that he has energy that he loves to burn on these projects!) The white tipped post in the ground is the end of our front yard and the start of our neighbors'.  You can catch a tiny bit of our front porch on the far left.

6 week update

I guess 9 months of misery was enough and Violet is willing to be nice to us as an infant.  She slept for 7 hours straight on Saturday night and Sunday night.  My body hasn't yet adjusted to her ever-changing schedule, so I'm still getting up at about 3am to pump before she wakes a couple of hours later.  I'm still tired, but it's not that bad.

V now can smile, coo, and is starting to interact.  We had a conversation on Friday for a few minutes, which was a lot of fun.  We've also figured out the bath.  It turns out that she prefers warm water over kinda warm.

Violet weighs in at 11 pounds, which is 25% more than she weighed at birth.  I feel great, have only 13 pounds of baby weight left to lose (plus 5 more to get to my goal weight), and have all of my old energy back.

Plumbing

We're back in our house.  The good news is that it was about 1/2 to 1/3 as expensive to fix as we expected.  The bad, or rather odd, news is that the problem ended up being in the FRONT of the house.  Apparently the pipe that the plumber found in the back went nowhere.  That's why the camera and snake hit a block and Jim dismantled the deck.  The real problem was solved by a quick snake in the front yard...  Maddy has gotten good at jumping in and out of our back door. Again, I promise to take a picture and post it.

updates

Last week, a sewage pipe collapsed on our property. So, we have no water in our house. Jim's still working from home, but we are spending a lot of time at his parents' house, which is just 2 miles away from us. There's a possibility that it will be fixed tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath.

Also last week Violet began smiling and sleeping longer at night. She's developing like a baby 2 weeks older than her, which makes sense since she was 2 weeks late. She's had a few shifts of 5 hours between feedings and typically has at least 4 hours once per day. Since our sleeping arrangements have changed, I've gotten determined to get V to sleep in a crib. It's been working, with help from infant anti-gas drops.

Finally, I've given up on the cloth diapers. I'm sad to do it, but using them means V is wet and a little red all of the time. Newborns pee 20 times a day and the cloth diapers don't keep the wetness away from her skin. When I change her, she's wet and therefore cold, so screaming session ensues.

It's a relief that I'm starting to get a little more sleep and that she's becoming more interactive. Parenting is starting to become a little more rewarding.

I've been taking pics and video and will post them when I have a little more time.

Segal photos

Grandma Segal with baby Violet and our nephew Adam.

My sister-in-law, Kim, holding Violet at 2 weeks.

Us with nephews Zach & Adam. Adam no longer smiles for the camera...

Cousins, all in a row.

Thanks for taking the pics, Kim!

Boob tube

I spend half of my waking hours holding the baby, leaving me plenty of opportunity to stare into space.  Not having cable or TV reception, I haven't watched much television in a long time.  Put these 2 ingredients together and add free online episodes via hulu.com and I'm now watching a good bit of TV.  Here's what I've been enjoying.  Please let me know if there is something brilliant that I'm missing.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - witty comedy starring Danny DeVito

Californication - who knew that David Duchovny could act?  Very well written and executed

House - always waiting for the next episode of this formulaic yet entertaining hospital show

30 Rock - gotta love that Tina Fey

Arrested Development - amusing in its idiocy

Other favorites that I have watched via blockbuster and highly recommend:

Dexter - watch out, this is very gory!

Carnivale (season 1 only)

Weeds (season 3 is a bit weak, but picks up again in 4) - adult humor in every way

Six Feet Under (earlier seasons are better)

Entourage

Freaks & Geeks  - probably best enjoyed by my generation since it's set in high school in the 80s

Intake and outflow

My life now revolves around bodily fluids.  All of them.  In and out.  So when one of the fluids isn't flowing, I start to wonder.  Now I know that it's not completely abnormal for a very small human to go an entire week without pooping.  A little help from the pediatrician proves that all of her functions do indeed work and she can be inspired to take action.  

I guess you learn something new every day.

Baby Violet on Saturday, being held by my co-worker, Jen.

Overachiever

Violet had her 2 week doctor appointment on Wednesday. The big milestone goal was for the baby to be back at her birthweight. Lo and behold, she's nearly a pound heavier at 9 pounds 9 ounces.

Violet's umbilical cord stump fell off, so she now has a belly button!

Here's Violet's first video, taken on our new camera.

today's pics

And people were worried that Maddy would be jealous and neglected. She's still spoiled rotten.



I've become a piece of furniture.

A benefit of working from home.

Week 1

Grandma Carol holding Violet on her first day home from the hospital.

On day 5 Violet began sleeping in her crib and on the changing table. Up until then she wouldn't sleep unless someone was holding her. We are very grateful to be able to get lot more sleep already. She's been such an easy baby so far. I wonder if she'll become more difficult over the next few weeks when she's fully out of her haze.

Batman has claimed his new favorite spot.

Houdini has escaped from the baby straight-jacket. This thing is super velcroed. I don't think I'd be able to get out of this on my own. I'm hoping that I accidentally didn't fasten her in properly. If not, we're in for real trouble.

Fat baby

We saw the pediatrician today. Yes, on Sunday. (This is an awesome practice!) She's already gained an ounce since leaving the hospital. She's an overachiever like her perfectly brilliant mother, if I do say so myself. So far Violet has passed every single test that she's faced.

Great discovery of the day, she is quiet in the sling. Up until now, in her very long experience, she needed to be held all the time. Now we can put her in the sling and do dishes (Jim), take out the trash (Jim), read (Jim), talk on the phone (Jim again), and sleep (Jodi).

Baby Violet

Here she is! Baby Violet was born on Wednesday, March 4th at 8am. She weighed in at 8 pounds 12.7 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Labor was very long at 23 hours including 2.5 hours of pushing. Call if you want the gory details... Here's a photo from day 2, March 5th.

We are all well, catching up on sleep, and recovering from our very big day!

Techmology

You may remember a little HBO show called "Da Ali G Show" which was the genesis of his Borat character. He pulled the same stunt on a former co-worker of mine from PIRG, Jeremiah, who is featured in this clip. He's the young guy with the look of complete disbelief throughout the interview.

Ali G Science Roundtable - watch more funny videos

no baby update

You may have noticed that we don't have a baby. We noticed that, too. We're one week past the "due date." I now believe that doctors shouldn't give you an actual date. Full term is anything from 37 weeks to 42 weeks. First time births are typically 7-9 days past the due date. Then why in the world do you get a due date that is a full week before they actually expect the baby to arrive?

So, we wait. No, we don't have plans to induce any time soon. We will only do that if it becomes medically necessary. We haven't seen any signs that this is currently the case - her heartbeat is strong and I'm healthy and feeling well.

I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for 2 weeks and every day they are just a tiny bit different. (BH contractions are abdominal tightening that don't lead to labor, but typically increase as you approach labor) Signs point towards progressing to labor, but there's no way to predict when the big event will commence.

More news and pics as soon as we have any!

Adam's work

My long time friend Adam put together a video of his work, it's available on YouTube

Baby time?

Just a little update - I'm due on Tuesday, but the doctor (and Jim and I) think I'll be about a week late. And here I thought Friday would be my last day at work!

I love Ellen

Poop scoop

I was so excited about the diaper service. Well, it's going out of business. Big bummer. The owner said it's considered a luxery. I thought disposables were the luxery.

The good news is that she explained step-by-step how we can wash our own cloth diapers and it's very easy. All you have to do is dump the diapers in the laundry every other day, run them on cold rinse with no detergent, then run them on hot with detergent. It's OK to add white vinegar, oxybleach, or borax to help keep them white. Hang them in the sun to really bleach them.

The better news is that it doesn't sound disgusting or very difficult. So, we're going to give it a shot; at least while she's exclusivey breast-fed. After that it gets a little bit grosser. It's definitely a lot cheaper, especially since we have a front-loading high efficiency washer that doesn't use that much water and gets everything super dry before it heads for the dryer.

Hospital pick

Today I decided on a hospital for delivery. We had 2 choices - Riverside or Dublin - because they are both associated with my doctor. We planned to go to Riverside because it's a little closer and we were impressed with the place when Susie delivered there. However, Dublin opened just a year ago and people kept getting a glazed over look in their eye when describing it. One friend said, "Go to the glory." So, we decided to check it out.

We had a tour scheduled for Tuesday, but a blizzard started and the telephone receptionist said we could come on Saturday, so we decided not to then. I called back to reschedule and was informed that the tour was full and I couldn't go. The only obvious solution was to crash the tour, which I did.

The place is really small, it's bright, quiet, and comfortable. They have sleeper sofas in every room, and your primary care in maternity is done by a nurse-midwife. The labor & delivery rooms are a little bigger and nicer than the average patient room shown in the virtual tour video. Gone are the days of shared, cramped rooms!

Gooooaaaallll!

I was so bummed to have missed a fundraising goal for the first time. I kept telling myself that it wasn't that big of a deal. We got 99% of the goal, it's still an increase over 2007, the economy sucks... but I was still very bummed.

On Tuesday I found a missed entry in our fundraising database. So, you guessed it, we made the goal! Now I have to hope that there aren't other errors that push it back the other way, which I dreamt happened last night. I have less than a $500 buffer.

2009 isn't going to be easy, either, but I'm stubborn so charging ahead full steam.

New pics as promised

Hot times

So, we need a new furnace. It turns out that the old furnace, which we just tuned up and paid boucoup bucks to repair, is ruining the bricks in our house. It's venting through the chimney, cooling on it's way up, and then condensing moisture on the bricks. As a result, they are literally crumbling. This mostly happens on the second floor which is, you guessed it, the baby's room. So, we have to replace the furnace ASAP. The good news is that our new, more efficient furnace will pay for itself in efficiencies over a period of 4 years. We might be able to recoupe a little bit of the cost by selling the old one, since it still works perfectly well.

By the way, I'm 3 weeks and 2 days from d-day, which means 2 days from "full term." Pics to come soon.

Farewell humor

1 month left

My due date is less than a month away, on February 17th. First time births are typically 9 days late, so have a pretty wide window of when to expect the kid. Today we interviewed our first, and fortunately our last, pediatrician. He was perfect so we need to look no further. He's honest, straight-forward, listens, educates his patients, doesn't act like he knows all of the answers, has opinions, knows and likes my obstetrician (who I love), and comes highly recommended by someone I trust. What more do you need?

He answered our critical newborn questions, so I now feel like we're ready for the little one.

Jim and company (thank you Adam, Stacey, Chris, and Carol!) just finished repainting our house, so it no longer looks like a circus tent. We'll post pics once we have the furniture moved back to the walls.

A love song

The things no one tells you about pregnancy

When mothers talk about pregnancy to women who are expecting or contemplating getting pregnant they tend to use terms like magical, wonderful, instinctual. For some reason when people talk in public about pregnancy they neglect to mention a few minor details about the 9 months before the birth. Mind you what I'm talking about here is not the actual birth but gestation.

So here goes:

1.) Morning sickness is a total misnomer, it's not restricted to morning. Further it's not limited to vomiting, it entails the whole body experience.

2.) As it turns out your arms do not grow with your belly hence you will struggle to complete basic tasks when your belly is an extra foot further out. (i.e. you cannot reach the sink, try squeezing into a tight bathroom stall).

3.)You will need two extra sets of clothes (maternity clothes). You need one set for the first couple of months when you are only slightly larger and then another for when you are really big.

4.)Okay now lets talk about sleeping. First you have to get up every couple hours to use the toilet (much less room for your organs in there). What people neglect to mention is the hip pain. You will be shocked to learn that when your hips are spreading out (a natural process when you are preparing to give birth) you will have hip pain. Further, what may not be so obvious is this will cause you a ton of discomfort when you sleep at night. You need to turn over every hour or so. Turning over when you have another human in your belly turns out to be quite a process. You have to move your body pillows, your partner, the family pets, and then you get to try to fall back asleep.

5.) No one tells you about stretching the perenium, enough said!

6.) Everyone has experienced late night lag cramps. Now imagine trying to jump out of bed in the middle of the night when you are 30 lbs heavier.

Seriously I have no idea how single moms do it! And I'm even the pregnant one!

Unlce jay explains the news

Reverend Jim

So at age 35 I have finally entered the world of alphabet soup. Though unlike most who have earned the right to put an acronym behind their name I simply had to click a button on a web page. As of a month ago I became a reverend with the Universal Church of Life. I joined the ranks of the clergy in order to marry one of my closet friends. Last weekend I spent the weekend in NYC performing the marriage of my good friends Molly Findlay and Steve Perez. An act I could not have been more nervous for. If it wasn't for the ceremony being broken up by readings my shaking hands might have made the balcony we were standing on vibrate.

The ceremony was quite fun at the end of the day, not to mention it was my first public speaking gig since working on Das's failed County Supervisor campaign. I always like public speaking, and I have to admit given the opportunity I would do another ceremony. I wonder if it would be as fun if I didn't know the bride and groom for more than 5 years?

Molly and Steve deserve a lot of props for pulling this wedding off on short notice. The combination of Steve taking forever to propose and an unexpected terminal illness in their family they only had 2 months to put the wedding together (Can you imagine!). The ceremony was held at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe at 126 Crosby St on the Lower East Side (I may have neighborhood wrong?), a store which donates 100% of it's profits to AIDS research. Other than the Jagermeister at the Bachelor/Bahelorette party everything went smoothly.

Shipwrecks

This is where we used to go surfing every spring (haven't been in a few years)

The name game

Since holiday and baby season are upon us, I thought I'd take a moment to answer the various name questions that have come up recently.

My name is still Jodi Segal. I did not change it when we got married. Jim is also still Jim Taylor. If you want to address a formal letter, I recommend Mr. Jim Taylor and Ms. Jodi Segal.

The baby will take Jim's last name. Segal will be her middle name. So, her full name will be Violet Segal Taylor. It's not likely, but still possible, that she is actually a he. In that case, we'll have to come up with something beside Violet pretty quickly!

Bathroom Ceiling

After 6 months of carefully tiptoeing on ceiling joists, Jim finally put his foot through the brand new bathroom ceiling...

Now it matches the new downstairs hallway ceiling. We had to hire an electrician to fix a boo boo and he ended up cutting a hole in the ceiling that we actually paid someone to replace.

At least you can see the newly refinished wood frames around the windows. The kitchen will have the same wood around the 1 window and 4 doors. What you can't see very well is that the primer didn't stick to the walls, so the pait is peeling off in big chunks.

29 weeks down, 11 to go

I made Jim take a couple of photos, so I wouldn't have crazy person hair like the previous pic!

Maddyisms

You can frequently find our 60 pound dog barking and growling at her basket of toys. For some reason she is afraid of the basket and afraid of the air return next to the basket. If you move the basket or dump out the toys, then she digs through them until she finds what she wants and goes about her merry way. I can't imagine what is going through her head!

Her other amusing habit these days is sticking her head in the corner by the kitchen sink in hopes that food will appear there. It doesn't matter if we are doing dishes, preparing food, or just standing around. If we are near that spot, her face is buried in the corner.

The Great Flydidni

Santa Barbara on fire

Huge forest fire rages in Santa Barbara and Montecito.

100 houses burned so far and 5,400 people evacuated.  We know a couple of people who have lost their homes.  As far as we know, none of our friends have lost their homes yet.

Edit:
As it turns out at least one friend's house burnt down, Jeremy Lindaman lost his entire house. This photo was on the cover of the New York Times.

And then there were 3

Today is a very sad day at the Segal-Taylor household. Today we lost Kitty. He was 16 years old. He was born in either Massachusetts or Rhode Island, I can't remember. Either way, he ended up living in both states. I got him in November 1996 in Boston. We moved to California in 1999 where we were joined by Sweetie. The two of them were my companions through the divorce. Jim & I doped up the cats for a week and drove them, with our moms, to Ohio two years ago. Maddy came along last August and then we got Batman in June to perk up Kitty. We thought that a kitten would give him something to keep him busy, which it did.

He had the same looks and personality as Garfield - fat orange tabby, surly, pushy, and lovable. Just this morning he was trying to claim my breakfast as his own.

He had lost more two-thirds of his body weight, so the kindest thing we could do for him was to put him down. The vet said that there's no way that he's not in pain. It's just like an adult human weighing 60 pounds.

This picture was taken in March. Sweetie is on the left and Kitty is on the right. They are enjoying their second favorite activity, after food, which is laying on the heat register.

I miss you already, Kitty.

Daycare

We registered for daycare this week at a place called Little Dreamers, Big Believers.  We toured 3 diferent places and knew as soon as we walked in that this was the place for us.

They are very small and have 3 infants per teacher.  They teach baby yoga, baby sign language, feed organic food, and seem to really engage with the kids in a personal way that wasn't apparent at the other sites.

Being a small facility they are more flexible to tailor the care to the child than the corporate chains or larger places.   For example, we asked about cloth diapers at the first place and they said that they require disposables.  The second place said they can do it, but really, really don't want to because it's a big hassle.  This place said, half of our kids use cloth. It's easy - all we have to do is have a separate pail and the parents take them home.  Woo hoo!

Election

It's no secret that I'm an Obama supporter, so you can imagine that I'm quite happy that he was elected.  It will probably sink in after he's been in office for a year or two.

However, that's tempered by a few points:

1) He's a politician and I don't trust them as far as I can throw them.  I hope he will do as he says.  I'm a bigger fan of "primary Obama" than I am "general election Obama," so I hope he follows his original ideals instead of becoming a sell-out.

2) I don't agree with everything he believes, but think he is the best choice we have seen in a long time.  His position on equal marriage, the environment, and separation of church & state have a way to go for my taste.

Finally, I'm deeply saddened by the propositions that passed in a couple of states, namely Prop 8 in California which amends the constitution to limit the rights of adults to marry.  It's a sad day when our civil liberties are curtailed based on demographics.

Latest from SNL

McCain is a natural on SNL.  Maybe he should join the cast? :)

Carly - is this better?

Finally - pregnant pictures!

Finally, two pictures of me pregnant. I'm 5 months right now. Sorry for the camouflage, it doesn't really do it justice. I'll work on some more.

Debate spoof

This is one of the funniest SNL skit I've ever. I literaly hurt laughing. It's probably only hilarious to those of us who suffered through the last debate.

Domestic goddess

I've recent discovered a few products that nobody should have to live without. I thought I'd share the good word.

First is the Shark Steam Mop. This hand-dandy little tool steam cleans your floors. That means you don't have to buy any toxic, smelly, weird stuff. The only down side is that the terrycloths that do the cleaning get dirty pretty quickly before they need to be thrown in the laundry. Maybe if I mopped more frequently this wouldn't be an issue... Buy it at Bed, Bath, & Beyond.

Next is Melaleuca’s Healthy Dish Washing Detergent. You have to special order this stuff from an Amway type person (or maybe online?). We've seriously been using the same regular sized bottle since early May. That includes using it to wash hands. It's non-toxic, biodegradable, etc.

Finally, also from BBB is Cuisinart Green Gourmet nonstick pan. This nonstick pan is made from enamel, not from Teflon. So it's actually non-toxic. If you didn't know, Teflon and other nonstick surfaces are carcinogenic. Birds literally drop dead if you have this stuff in your home and most people aren't disciplined enough to avoid using metal cutlery on the pans to prevent major scratching or to throw them out after signs of peeling. Jim has been making us eggs every morning on the Cuisinart pans and they are turning out great. Be sure to add a little butter anyway or your eggs will taste a bit rubbery. Nobody likes rubbery eggs.

How big am I?

We still need to get some photos of me, but to give you an idea, people are surprised when I tell them how far along I am. The lady at Giant Eagle today said she didn't think I'd be able to stand up at 8 months...

I did gain quite a bit of weight last month, but I'm not sure where it's going. I don't look fatter and the baby weighs less than a pound. Maybe I'm growing a big cushion in preparation for a giant child?

On the other hand, being petite and having an arched back probably makes me look bigger than I am. The nurse at my doctor's office nailed it at 20 weeks just by looking at me, which seems like a better gauge than the deli lady!

The Great Schlep

Sarah Silverman in all her glory. Be forewarned, she's got a potty mouth.

I figure that I can at least post a muted version of my perspecive on the election with humor without getting in too much trouble.

It's a Girl!

The big round blob on the left is her head. The big round blob on the right is her body. The small circles between the round blobs are her hands. On her head you can make out eye sockets and her chin.

The tech who did the ultrasound says she has long legs and is very active. She weighs just less than a pound and is still due mid-February.

Finally, I can feel her moving around now! I have a feeling that I'm growing a kickboxer!

Penis day!

Tomorrow, October 2nd, is the day that we hopefully find out if our baby is a boy or a girl. We're calling it "penis day" because at this stage in the game we are looking for the existence or absence of a penis. Hopefully the baby will be in a position where we will be able to tell.

More people are guessing it's going to be a boy. I think it's a boy, and Jim think it's a girl. Who is going to be right???

Jon Stewart on the bailout

Why I'm proud to be a professional community organizer

Raising money for grassroots organizations isn't glamorous, but I'm proud to be in the same profession as these folks.

Oh, and a little political commentary :)

Pregnancy Update

On October 2nd we get our second ultrasound. Hopefully we'll be able to tell the baby's sex at that time. We already have a girl name picked out and have a good candidate for a boy name.

Thanks to many friends, we have a ton of baby stuff and maternity clothes! Thank you so much to Meadow & Jody, Kelley, Michelle, Rachel, Susie, and Mrs. Guervitz for all of the stuff we have so far. Many friends with young 'uns have offered additional stuff once we know the sex or their kids are done with them. Please keep your eye out for a maternity winter coat. I haven't seen one yet.

Things have been going really well for the last month. I eat constantly to keep my blood sugar steady. That keeps me functioning pretty much like a normal person. I'm big enough now that people are comfortable saying "Your're pregnant!" instead of just looking me up and down and wondering. Lucky for me that the weight so far has been all baby. Hopefully it will stay that way!

SNL hilarity

Two gems from Tina Fey.

16 Weeks

First, the generic update on pregnancy at 16 weeks.

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length . Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too.

Personally, the last few days have been much better than the last few weeks. My blood sugar was OUT of control. Hypoglycemia (blood sugar factor #1) is compounded by pregnancy hormones (#2), my nutritional needs have increased (#3), I'm stressed at work because of the loss of a coworker (#4) which all adds up to me wanting to hide under my desk until March. I started testing my blood sugar and found that I was mostly in the 70s and 80s when I should be in the 100-120 range. This adds up to anxiety, vertigo, exhaustion and other unfun stuff. With the help of a fabulous dietitian, I have just figured out that I was eating pretty much what I needed, with some exceptions, but only eating about HALF of what I need. No wonder I wasn't getting fat! It's possible that I'll start putting on a few extra pounds, which is fine wiht me as long as I feel better. It will come off later.

From the Onion

I have no idea why this is so funny, but it clearly is!

War On String May Be Unwinnable, Says Cat General

15 week update

I'm a total blog slacker. I'm 15 weeks pregnant tomorrow (aka about 3 months to those of you who don't speak pregnant) and this is my first entry...

First, here's a description of what's happening with the little one right now.

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position.)

Pregnancy has definitely been challenging, even though everything has been textbook so far. I had nausea from weeks 6-10 and have been very tired the whole time. At least I'm not sleeping 12 hours a day like I was a few weeks ago! Now I'm at about 9.5 hours at night, plus the occassional nap. My blood sugar has been very difficult to control, which causes a variety of different symptoms like anxiety and dizzyness. However, compared to what others go through, this has been a walk in the park.

My belly has grown enough that I'm now fully wearing maternity clothes, althoug they make me look larger than I am. They are almost all hand-me-downs, so most of them don't fit perfectly, also causing me to look a bit bigger. I see no reason to buy stuff I'll only use for a few months, so I'm happy to have all of the donations.

Wedding Photos

A bit late, but here they are. It takes a while to load, and they are out of order because they are from so many cameras, and... there are a ton.

Jodi & Jim's Wedding

JibJab

In case you haven't seen the latest JibJab video...

Me with Jack Johnson!

Check out my new BFF!

Ira Glass on the Creative Process

Fairy Shrimp

This video was taken by my colleague, David Celebrezze. They are one of the many species that thrive in vernal pools, which are seasonal wetlands.

Summer Movies at the Ohio Theater

One of my favorite summer events in Columbus is the Summer Movie Series at the Ohio Theatre. The 2008 series runs from June 6 – July 27.

2008 highlights include 12 series premieres, one double feature, one silent film, two Saturday morning features, and one late night showing. With 22 movies, there’s something for everyone—action (Thunderball, 1965, and Back to the Future, 1985), suspense (Notorious, 1946), film noir (The Third Man, 1949), romance (Sabrina, 1954), comedy (His Girl Friday, 1940), drama (The Color Purple, 1985), sci-fi (Planet of the Apes, 1968), and musicals (Oklahoma!, 1955, and Shall We Dance, 1937).

I plan to go to a ton of these, so please let me know if you want to join me. They are $3.50 at the door. Discounts in advance and for buying a strip of tickets. Here's the full schedule.

How well can you pay attention?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

redneck family tree

We've created a monster

We love our darling puppy. However, she has started to walk all over us. Literally.

At first we said that she wouldn't sleep in the bed. She's pretty big at 60 pounds. Then Jim caved. We compromised and let her on the bed, but she had to give us a little bit of space to sleep ourselves. Usually she curls up at the bottom of the bed, so it's not so bad. Well, yesterday she decided that the foot of the bed wasn't good enough. At about 2am, Miss Maddy walked to the top of the bed and promptly laid across our heads. Since we are reasonable people, we decided she could sleep on our pillows, as long as she would share with us. It's hard to sleep with giant dog butt on your head.

Spit and vinegar

A Couple of years ago I worked on a political campaign, after 8 years of working for a political lobbyist. After what was a pretty brutal experience I finally came to the conclusion that working 80+ hours a week for a cause, no matter how much I believed in it, was not helping me or the cause. I noticed I was becoming a mean person without provocation, the whole political process necessitates you villanize your opponent and their supporters. On more than one occasion I found my friends the target of my, or my campaign's, attacks. Consequently, I gave up working for campaigns and campaign style organizations. To date this year I had been enjoying watching the presidential race unfold from the sidelines, it's the first year I didn't know who I was going to vote for and I was kind of enjoying prognosticating from an impartial sideline.

Recently, I settled on a candidate, I was originally a Biden supporter, who shall remain nameless for this post. Since making a decision I have noticed a bit of a change in my own orientation to the opposition candidate. Every accusation they make about my candidate I find myself uttering a bitter response under my breath. Every time I hear the opposition candidate talk about how they do one thing or another better or have a better plan for some other thing I find myself rationalizing how that doesn't matter. I'm not sure if it is left over instincts from campaigning or my own competitive instinct coming through but either way I'm not terribly happy with it.

More importantly I'm not terribly happy with the way campaigns have created a world where we can't talk about politics without knock down drag out dogma wars. I want to talk politics freely without someone having to be right at the end of the conversation. Why do we have to win political battles based on who has the most successful branding and who comes out on the correct side of each sound bite war?

Not that I have any grand solutions but there are a couple of things I think could help tame all the spit and vinegar coming out of campaigns. I would like to see each candidate give a couple 30 minute, nationally televised, speeches on the most important issues, as voted on by all of us. Of course I think the debates are an important gauge of how they deal with confrontation, so we should keep those around. Finally, I would like to see us take a lesson from the French and tell them all to shut up and let us think for a little bit by putting a media ban on political campaign for 30 days before the election.

I know this post doesn't hold together from beginning to end, but I just needed to get that off my chest.

Ava Pictures

Recent pictures of Ava, Jim's niece, at 6 months

Bonnaroo, Baby!

We finally figured out how to spend our honeymoon... at Bonnaroo! I know that all of you are into the hip music scene and I don't need to explain this, but Bonnaroo is a hugemongous music festival in Tennessee. We'll certainly be meeting a ton of friends there, so let me know if you want to join. It's from June 12-15.

Here's a selection on the lineup SO FAR:

Pearl Jam
Metallica
Jack Johnson
Kanye West
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss featuring T Bone Burnette
The Allman Brothers Band
Willie Nelson
Death Cab for Cutie
B.B. King
Ben Folds
Aimee Mann
Jakob Dylan
Janeane Garofalo

C'est Fini

So the main part of the staircase is finished, that is to say you can walk up and down the stairs to the attic.

StumbleUpon

Stumbleupon This is a fun way to surf the web for random stuff that other people like. All you do is download the toolbar and answer a couple of quick preference questions. Then you can click the stumble button and it will guide you to random stuff you might enjoy. So far, I've liked 75% of what I've seen like a website where you mark what you have in your fridge and it tells you what to make for dinner.

If you sign up, then make me your "friend" and we can share the ridiculous stuff we find.

Why Can't I Own a Canadian?

Published in the Utah Humanist, October 2002

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a east coast resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:19- 24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted fan,
Jim (not THE Jim)

Men Invented Everything

Call me Reverend (did I spell that right?)

Wanna be a priest, and perform marriages, it's easy just follow this link

http://www.themonastery.org/?destination=ordination

Sunflower

I finally found a grocery store in Columbus that I like. It's called Sunflower, and there are only 3 in the city. It's like a mini Whole Foods, but with the prices of Trader Joes. They taste all of the food that they sell, and there aren't any trans-fats in the whole store. It's worth the drive.

By the way, here's some petty torture you may enjoy. If you can't figure out the 15th floor, you can cheat by looking at the hints written below the starting screen.

Freecycle

In Columbus, and cities across the country, there is now a group called Freecycle where you can get rid of stuff you don't want and take up other people on their offers of free stuff. It's amazing and simple. All you do is post an email saying you have something free to offer or that you are looking for something free. About 1000 people read it every day and someone is bound to offer. I got rid of a couple of small kitchen items and gained a box of kids books for my niece. It's a Yahoo group, so just go to http://groups.yahoo.com and search for your city.

Another great source of free/cheap stuff is Craigslist. They are in most cities across the country. You can also sell stuff here or look for jobs, etc.

Both of these resources are a lot of fun to play with!

Almost stairs!

The framing is done most of the external drywall!!! The upstairs is 10 degrees warmer than it was this morning.

Here you can see the drywall in 3 stages - latheboard, insulation over the frame, and drywall on the underside (which is over the 1st floor stairs).

Next we will add drywall to the inside of the stairs and place the actual steps.

Who put a tail there?

We take her to puppy school and here's what she learned.

Stairs moving right along

I didn't realize how long it had been since one of us last put up a post. Though it is not as if nothing has been going on. For example we have made a ton of progress on the new stairs.

The only things left to do are to dry wall and nail in the actually stairs (treads and risers for you carpenter types)

Honeymoon ideas

Okay so we need honeymoon ideas that are within 24 hours driving distance from Columbus Ohio.

So far we have:

Key West (Southern Tip of Florida)
Maine
Adirondack Mountains (upstate New York)
Great Smokey Mountains (Eastern Tennessee)
Massachusetts (Probably Western Mass. or the Cape)
Savannah, Ga
Canada
Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Basically somewhere resort like or middle of nowhere, the Keys are on the outside range of the 24 hour drive (for reference).

Flying is out, not a negotiable point.

Thank you BBB!

On a recommendation, I took Maddy to Columbus All Breed for Beginning Obedience. The instructors were terrible and used aggressive methods that seemed counterproductive to building a relationship of trust and learning. For example, the teacher told us that if your dog jumps on people as they come in the door, lock the dog in the closet. She also said that if your dog is sniffing the ground when you want to walk, then you should walk faster. Neither of these problems are solved by ignoring them! They also use a choke collar which they call a "training collar." It would be nice if they explain that on the website.

Anyway, I asked them for a refund and they refused. The Training Director called me and offered to put me in a new class. Had he agreed that there was a problem with my class, then I would have gladly agreed. However, I didn't want to continue with the same methods.

I finally filed a complaint with the BBB. It's not a surprise that they are now willing to refund my $75. Thank you!

This is the second time I've used the BBB, and it's been a great tool. It's one of the only ways that a consumer has recourse. The other time I used them was when I paid for a magazine subscription through a 3rd party that never came. They had a fake customer service phone # and a bouncing email address. There was no way to leave a message, so this was my only option.

We start positive/clicker training with Civil Obedience on December 10th (Jim's birthday!). I've heard rave reviews about them, including from my vet.

Save the date!

We have finally set a date for our wedding - May 25, 2008. It's the Sunday before Memorial Day. We are holding it at a place called, I kid you not, the Taylor Mansion. Here are photos of the wedding site.

Gobble Gobble

Kitty Wake Up Call

Rant of the day

I'm dressing up as a melting polar ice cap

Because that's scary. Almost as scary as the possible reelection of the party of the scaremonger in chief.

By Bill Maher

Oct. 27, 2007 | New Rule: This Halloween, every time you see something that's supposed to scare you, like a skeleton or a severed head or the ingredients in diet pudding ... take a moment and think about fear: What are you afraid of; what should you be afraid of. What's really scary this Halloween is that the same group of idea-free losers who won the last presidential election could win the next one by making us afraid of the wrong things. Which is why this year for Halloween, I'm going as something truly horrifying: a melting polar ice cap.

This week -- as every week -- all the Republican candidates talked about was who was toughest in the war on terror. While the country's most populous state literally burned. The Democrats, as usual, said nothing, because they didn't want to offend fire.

The Republicans, including the scaremonger in chief, sell themselves as protectors of our safety. But since they're all, except for McCain, armchair warriors, they're only comfortable protecting us from fears they made up. Like the way Iran is itching for a war with the United States now. Ahmadinejad is pure evil! Terror has a new name, and it's nearly unpronounceable.

At the Republican debate this week, Mike Huckabee said, "Islamofascism is the greatest threat we ever faced." Really? More than the Nazis? And the Russians? And the Redcoats?

In his latest ad, Mitt Romney warns eerily that Muslim jihadists want to establish an Islamic caliphate covering the whole world, including America.

And I thought the people scared of gays and Mexicans were paranoid. Islamic terrorists taking over America? They can barely get across the monkey bars. Our defense budget is 600 billion a year, they're using guns they took off a dead Soviet in 1981 -- I think we can hold Charleston.

We're the most powerful nation on earth with the largest economy and the best military, and we're made to act the fool by a few thousand cave dwellers who still put out their video on VHS.

And that's because over the last seven years, because of the incompetence that goes by the name George Bush, we've become the most insecure, paranoid superpower ever. We don't think we can get anything right anymore. We can't take care of our own citizens after a hurricane, or plan for our wars, or maintain our infrastructure, and our celebrity rehab facilities obviously aren't working at all.

Some people looked at this fire and saw not a dangerous phenomenon brought on by man's activities and requiring a scientific solution, but a cleansing catharsis sent by God to punish liberals. Even though it mostly burned Orange County.

As a species, we're failing at survival trick No. 1: prioritize the threats. Environmental catastrophe will visit all of us in the coming decades, in one way or another, and when it does I hope people like ... oh, I don't know, Lou Dobbs, says to himself, "Hmmm, maybe if I was going to spend my whole career obsessing about one issue -- it should have been global warming. The skin just fell off my face, and it turns out that really wasn't the fault of a Mexican."

From Ava to Jack

Below is the letter my sister read at a small memorial for Jack, her son. It's written from the voice of Ava, her daughter, who survived Jack.


My sister's intro: Ava and I talk about Jack every day. She asked me if I would read this letter from her at Jack’s service.

Dear Friends and Family,

Please join me in saying goodbye to my first and best friend, Jack Taylor Walton, who was born into heaven on August 2, 2007 at 7:33pm. Shortly before our birthday, Jack received a personal invitation from God to join her in heaven so that he could help watch over and guide our lives on Earth. Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I know this to be true because I was ease dropping from the room next door.

Jack’s job in Heaven is perhaps the most prestigious and honorable job one could ever hold. It requires unimaginable sacrifice, exceptional maturity and profound insight.

Jack was not alone when he left Earth. I was by his side to hug him goodbye and see him off. Jack was not alone when he arrived in heaven. With open arms and much anticipation, he was welcomed by: his Great Grandparents, his Great Aunts and Uncles, and his cousins Dillon and Cole each of whom is well-prepared with a complete supply of diapers, onesies, burp clothes, receiving blankets, exersaucers, swings, bouncy chairs, etc. In fact, Jack’s “Sip n’ See” also takes place today at 1:00pm, in Heaven, hosted by the loving family members who greeted him upon his arrival.

In Heaven, Jack will be swaddled, soothed and swayed. He will be cuddled and cooed. He will learn, laugh and love. He will be loved.

Although I will not ask you to ignore deep sadness for Jack’s early departure, I will ask you to join me in feeling extraordinary pride; pride that one so young and innocent, in harmony with God, will guide and influence our daily decisions, quietly comfort us during difficult times, and magnify our happiness during joyous times.

I will miss him in life, but I am comforted by the knowledge that Jack is not gone. He is simply waiting in heaven. And, when the time is right, I will have eternity to play with Jack, and our parents will have eternity to hug him, hold him and kiss him good night.

With much love,

Ava Rose Walton

Save your newspapers

I'm now volunteering for the Franklin County Dog Shelter. They need so much help - the facilities are dirty, it stinks, and the dogs barely get out of their cages for walks. So, I'm stepping in and volunteering with the shelter and with their fundraising "Friends" group.

I'm going to start pestering everyone I know in Columbus to help in some way, even if it's just saving your newspapers. So, here's the start:

Please save your newspapers for me. They are used to line the dogs' cages. They can use the full-sized pages from papers like the Dispatch. They can't use glossy pages or smaller pages like in the Other Paper. They also need old blankets and towels. Give them to me instead of throwing them out!

Thanks on behalf of the sad puppies!

Pollworkers needed

Franklin County (and probably ever other county in the US) needs poll workers to help ensure fair elections on Tuesday, November 6th. If you would like to volunteer, call the County Board of Elections. You must volunteer via either the Democratic or Republican parties, depending on how you are registered.

Franklin County Democratic Desk 462-3819
Franklin County Republican Desk 462-5209

I encourage you to join me!

I hate Vista

don't have much time.

I just want to say if you a looking in to a new computer. Avoid vista like the plague!

Had it one week so far, on a brand new computer, it has crashed 4 times, additionally I have seen the blue screen 4 times. It is a pain in the rear about everything, those Mac commercials are true, every word of them. Especially this one about Vista's over-achieving firewall.

Red sox squash Angels

So it's official, the Red Sox are in the Pennant game.

After eliminating the Anaheim Angels last night they move on to play the winner of the Cleveland/New York Yankees series. The Indians and the Yankees have the only Division series that is going beyond 3 games. Which is great news for the Red Sox, because who ever comes out of that grudge match is going to have up to 3 days less rest than the Red Sox. As much as I would love to see the Yankees go down, I really want them to see them use up their entire pitching roster just to get past the Indians. that way the Red Sox can stomp on them.

Go Sox!
Yankees suck!