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July 25, 2005
Girly Girl Deluxe
Why is Iris smiling?
Because she got new shoes.
And she is wearing her first ever ponytail.
Posted by Julee at 09:52 PM | Comments (10)
July 24, 2005
Blogging Nanny
If you haven't read The New Nanny Diaries Are Online from the New York Times, you should. (The login I used is: greenpolicy, password: gr4een. If those do not work you can get another set from bugmenot.com)
After you finish that, read the nanny's excellent response.
Word of advice: Don't use the written word to abuse someone who is planning to earn a PhD in English Literature, even if you do write for the New York Times.
Posted by Julee at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)
July 23, 2005
A Picture for Today
They are hot and sweaty because they were doing this...
Posted by Julee at 11:54 PM | Comments (2)
July 20, 2005
Hiroshima
The 60th anniversary of Hiroshima is just around the corner(August 6). My friend and former Ikebana teacher, Miki, is working as a volunteer interpreter at the commemoration next month. She sent me a link to The Worldwide Internet Art Project. A friend of hers is involved with putting on the exhibit and Miki is helping them out.
Posted by Julee at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)
Little Things
After four trips to the Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Office I am finally sportin' Texas plates on my minivan.
Theo had a run-in with some fire ants at the pool on Monday. He got a handful of bites on his feet and ankles. But he was actually more upset by the fact that his light-up sandals stopped working after the lifeguard put his feet in the water to wash the ants away.
My iPod and the cd player in my car decided to both break within 3 days of eachother. While in the car I've been reduced to listening to the only cassette I have left: an 8 year old mixed tape of Japanese pop songs. Kore ga watashi no ikiru michi.
Posted by Julee at 09:30 PM | Comments (3)
July 17, 2005
Links
From 10 million light years away to the subatomic universe:
Molecular Expressions
Who would have ever thought hard boiled eggs could be so cute?
Now that we have a yard I need some outdoor furniture.
Posted by Julee at 09:05 PM | Comments (2)
July 15, 2005
Our Amphibian Visitor
I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye this morning. When I turned around to take a look it scurried under a cabinet. I was a little freaked because I thought it was a giant, Texas-sized millipede. After much screaming and jumping around by me and the kids we managed to corner and catch the little guy. It turned out to be a very cute Barred Tiger Salamander. It was lucky it was so cute becuase it would have ended up in San Antonio's sewer system if it had been a millipede. Instead we kindly escorted our visitor out the front door.
I am still a little freaked: I want to know how something that large got into my house. And who knows what will show up next!
Posted by Julee at 10:44 PM | Comments (5)
Friday Random Ten
Shuffle Those MP3s
1. Appalachian Memories - Dolly Parton
2. Summer Soft - Stevie Wonder
3. Gold Dust Woman - Fleetwood Mac
4. Dead - Pixies
5. (In My) Wildest Dreams - Jayhawks
6. Sister - Sufjan Stevens
7. Like Dylan in the Movies - Belle & Sebastian
8. The Slow Song - Luna
9. U Plavu Zoru - Pink Martini
10. I Will Not Die - Jude
Posted by Julee at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)
The Book Meme
KCB, The Redneck Mother tagged me for the latest book meme that is going around.
So here it is...
Number of books I own: Not so many anymore, maybe about a hundred. We used to have hundreds but we got tired of packing up and moving books we rarely used. So we took them to a used book store and with the credit we exchanged them for books for the kids. Now they have several hundred books. Now, I don't mind packing and moving the kids' books because they are constantly being read and reread and then read some more. (Plus now that Eric is in the Air Force we no longer do our own packing and moving)
Last book I bought: We just bought books 11-14 of the Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne. For myself I just bought Birds of Texas Field Guide by Stan Tekiela.
I get most of the books I read from the library. Most public libraries have their entire catalog online. So not only can you search from home but you can request to have the book delivered to your local branch and then receive an email notification when it's ready for pick up. I like to browse at Powells for interesting titles.
Last book I read: Transmission by Hari Kunzru. A hilarious book about an Indian computer programmer who is laid off from his Silicon Valley job.
Books that Mean a Lot to me:
Just like KCB, I have to say The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto.
The Politics of Breastfeeding by Gabrielle Palmer
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Anyone else want to play?
Posted by Julee at 11:14 AM | Comments (3)
July 12, 2005
Water Without Waste
The past two weeks the temperature has hovered near 100 degrees and apparently it's going to stay this way for about another 2 months. I do have to say since it hasn't been that humid the heat is much more manageable and I think I have also gotten used to it.
However this weather does create the need to drink a lot of water. Whenever we go out I will fill water bottles for myself and the kids, but it never seems to be enough. Plus I forget sometimes. So invariably I must stop and buy water. We have curbside recycling here but I do wonder if all of those plastic bottles really do get recycled.
I guess there is an alternative to regular plastic. It's corn. I read this about Biota Spring Water in this month's issue of Breathe:
It was the 95 billion nonrenewable plastic bottles dumped in US landfills last year that inspired Biota founder and chairman David Zutler to develop a recyclable packaging alternative. Made of corn resin, Biota's containers degrade into water, carbon dioxide and organic material after 80 days in a compost enviroment (standard plastic can take thousands of years).
If this water were available in San Antonio (it's not) I probably wouldn't buy it just because I imagine it to be more expensive. But what I have learned from the 95 million bottles put in landfills just in the last year is that I need to be more conscientious about making sure I have enough water packed in nondisposable containers in the first place.
Posted by Julee at 10:44 PM | Comments (3)
Jumping Right In
As sad as we are about leaving Boston, it won't do us any good to mope around the house. So we joined a club, a playgroup and I signed the boys up for a couple of classes. The first time we went to the playgroup I knew it was a right fit when I saw a pack of boys, about 8 of them, ranging in ages 4 to 7. Henry and Theo jumped right in and never looked back at me once. There is another Henry and he is also 5 and a half. It was a very exciting coincidence.
Today we went back for our second time and as I was talking to one of the moms, we discovered that we have a mutual friend who happens to live in California. Small world!
The boys are currently taking a class called "Munchkin Multisports." (One of the benefits of having kids so close in age is that they can often do things together, and you get a sibling discount) Each week they cover the basics of a different sport. Last week my sons had their first experience with basketball and it was pretty cute watching them attempt to dribble.
Posted by Julee at 10:15 PM | Comments (4)
July 10, 2005
A Picture for Today
Posted by Julee at 09:04 PM | Comments (3)
July 05, 2005
Little Things
Henry has his first loose tooth. He’s getting so big.
Having spent most of childhood in Kansas I have taken certain things for granted. But my city boys were absolutely thrilled by the sight of cows and a freight train today.
Texas has got to have some of the largest supermarkets ever.
I don’t think I have ever seen so much roadkill in my life.
Posted by Julee at 09:57 PM | Comments (4)
July 02, 2005
Links
Check out this highchair.
This one is for Eric:
Here is some serious teeth bling.
Posted by Julee at 09:11 PM | Comments (4)