so it's jim wallis...i'm still intrigued.

http://blog.sojo.net/2009/06/24/jon-stewart-and-mike-huckabee-on-abortion/

i really love making stuff

databases
meals
subject lists
mix cds
bread
babies (ha! laugh!)
friends
conversations
cards (especially when i get to use scissors and tape)
when i was little i used to love to sew, even though it was really pretend sewing

on the flip side,
i also love reading, eating, and facebook.

i'm really interested in health care right now:

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1905340-1,00.html

i want this book a lot.

http://byfaithonline.com/page/in-the-church/seeing-women-through-gods-eyes

I like this article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/opinion/14ehrenreich.html?pagewanted=1

i want to play balderdash

who's with me? i can't remember if we own that game, but I think we
do. it might be my favorite board game, not counting scrabble, which
has sentimental associations which make it unrankable (yarnroon).

game night, our house, pending roy's approval, tbd?

so sad that this is a need being met

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/06/04/cnnheroes.betty.makoni/index.html?eref=time_world

i didn't know this existed! crazy!

Burning town

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/06/even_fewer_residents_remain_in.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_PA

Jackson.......4 lyfe???? ( a really long post )

Well, friends, it seems like God wants us to stay in Jackson. The
church we were (me especially) really interested in decided not to
hire us, and Tougaloo has opened its doors to RUF. Long story short,
we're staying. Short story long, RUF at Tougaloo as an entity doesn't
exist anymore, and given these "troubling economic times," and the
slowness of committees, won't for at least a year.

This means Roy will have to find another job, most likely teaching
somewhere. I am working full time for the summer (if you ever want to
keep Iris and give Roy a break, let us know!). Also, we have to move
in July so the church can have their internship back. None of this
was remotely in my plans. Hurray. But I guess God knows better than us
what we need. Also, I am usually against people leaving Mississippi
when there's so much work to be done here...but I was very ready to
make excuses for us. [I think Iris might be having a BM...she looks
VERY serious.] So I guess I'll just have to practice what I
preach.....but man, there's still a lot of disappointment.

To compensate, I'm trying to have the best summer ever. My plans
include a lot of socializing. (If you don't have kids or medical
problems, please come to our house...it's so much easier!) I'm also
planning on learning to cook like a Louisianian by cooking through the
books "You are Where You Eat" and "New Orleans Cuisine" (both
published by my employer). I would also like to watch a lot of sports
with Roy. And put a brick on Iris's head to stop her from growing! And
making a wonderful summer soundtrack.

She can now cruise a little bit--definitely all around her crib. Her
eating Cheerios is the cutest thing I've ever seen. She's so serious
about it...and still has a little bit of problem picking them up. Also
she is "scooting" with an occasional real crawl. Her hair is getting
even longer. Basically, you just need to come her to know what's going
on...it seems like major changes keep happening every week.
Unbelievable.

On the food note, I'm going to brag a little bit. I don't really like
it when people say what they ate or cooked. It either makes me feel
inferior OR hungry and sometimes both. However, when Roy affirms
something by saying "This tastes like it does in New Orleans!" it
makes me feel so happy I have to share. When I went to Kroger, I
bought a super-long loaf of "poor boy" bread (that's what it was
labeled). Also a lil andouille, though I'm sorry to say that it was the
Johnsonville kind instead of a local kind because all the regional
ones had MSG in them. And so I thought I'd make him a sausage po' boy.
THEN, I remembered that we had some frozen fried shrimp, so I cooked
those. And then I remembered reading about a remoulade sauce in "New
Orleans Cuisine" that seemed easy to make, so I whipped that up.
(mayo, ketchup, mustard, worcestershire sauce + tabasco). We didn't
have lettuce or tomatoes, so I skipped that part, but I did add some
cheese. I toasted the bread...he really liked it. I felt so cool.

Also, I think Iris, given how much she likes cheerios, might be ready
for more finger foods. Do you just give regular food cooked for a LONG
time and cut up...not too small, but small? I am such a total amateur
at this baby feeding business. I have decided not to feel bad about
buying baby food if I want to...especially this summer if I'm working
so much. I'm pretty sure I'll want to be spending time with my baby,
not just cooking for her. We'll see.

And now to the music. Roy recently got me an Othar Turner cd. It's
fife and drum blues, from the Mississippi Delta. Almost no one plays
this kinda music anymore. The CD he got me, whose name I don't
remember, is basically the soundtrack from a picnic. It's freaking
amazing. Iris and I both love it. Roy, my sister, and my mom don't.
Their loss.

So, maybe I'll pick a day of the week to cook my food and you, dear
reader, can come over and be my guinea pigs. (pending Roy's approval).
You can play with Iris and visit and help me be glad God's stuck us in
Jackson.

The End.

[p.s. bowels definitely moved....]

hope deferred makes the heart sick

but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

Iris can pull up on the crib now. She's so big that she can have her
whole head over the rail. And yes, the mattress is as low as it can
go. How is my baby as big as a toddler?

The end.

goal: blog more, facebook less

I am really bad at being patient.

much more fun than dick cheney:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090418/ap_on_fe_st/odd_head_shot_survivor

i *do not* like political discussions or arguments

But i can't believe that Dick Cheney is saying that torture is okay,
because "look at the good information we got!" Holy crap.

accidental snipe-age

Some one asked me If I was a fulltime mother.

I said "yes, and I work 30 hours a week."

April showers?

May flowers? that's me...I used to be so excited about my birthday
coming, but now I'm too tired. But it is, in fact, less than a month
until my 25th birthday. God has kept me.

My work laid someone off from our staff of around 18 today. They laid
off someone who'd been working there for twenty years. It's kinda
bizarre. I don't even know what to say.

Aptly, I saw white things floating down from the sky when I went home
for baby-feeding...it looked like a special effect in a movie or
something. As they got closer, I could see that they were little downy
feathers--later I could see some longer, grey ones. When I left the
house to go back to work, there was this odd electrical burning smell.
At first I thought that maybe something...a bigger bird, I guess, was
eating the bird whose feathers were falling (it looked like a
mockingbird, maybe), but now I'm wondering if it was a stupid young
bird who somehow fried him/herself on a power line. Feel free to use
this in your next novel. I know I will!

We now have a 21 pound six month old. She's eating solids, and I've
found that I really enjoy making babyfood. It's really fun, grinding
things up! She's had sweet potatoes, carrots, and tastes of pineapple,
apple, and banana. The apple she actually pulled out of my hand and
started gumming, so I gave her a piece in the little mesh bag thing to
chew on, so she couldn't get anything to choke on. As I was doing
this, I realized I'm not exactly sure what to do if she was choking,
besides hit her really hard in the back. Yikes! Maybe Roy knows. We
are also planning on weaning her from momma's milk soon... I keep
putting it off because I'm really grossed out by formula, but it's
time. Our life is about to have too much upheaval to be pumping all
the time. I'm already not making as much milk, so hopefully it will
be a smooth transition...but I think it might be harder on me than it
is on her. We haven't tried giving her formula yet, though, so I hope
she does take it. When do babies not need bottles? She also has a
lil ear infection, probably caused by a plane ride to a city in New
England. But we're giving her medicine and hopefully she'll get well
soon--and not wake up in the night screaming and clutching her ear!
It's kinda scary how often my hopes for her health and well being are
ultimately for mine--I want her to sleep through the night mostly
because I want to sleep through the night, not because she needs her
sleep. We are still very unscheduled, but she doesn't seem to mind, so
far. It's so hard to tell because baby things always change. When she
was right at six months, she was having sleep interruptions--my
favorite answer was because she was growing and needed more food. Then
we traveled and she got sick, and we're about to travel again! so,
poor baby, I don't know when we'll get back to normal...by that time
it'll almost be seven months normal, not six months. It's getting so
joyful to have a kid, now...she smiles when she sees me and reaches
out for me! And I love snuggle time with her...depending on which
method you are dogmatic about, I'm probably spoiling her, but I love
it. Sorry.

Um...coming up we have some big final decisions to make about where we
live for the rest of our lives...hopefully. I think Roy said by the
end of april, we would know where we are going. At that point, I will
probably make a blog with the title "[chosen location] 4 lyfe!" I'm
debating about whether I should use a "f" or a "ph" LYPHE! Anyway, I
am cautiously excited about the direction it seems we are heading. I
know that whereever we end up, Roy will be preaching the gospel and
I'll get to help him, serve others, and have babies and make
bread...and hopefully not go crazy. And maybe have a little job
outside the home.

Okay. I'm going to go now. Have a nice night!

amen!

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1888985,00.html

i should probably be doing like six other things

But I'm listening to Iris make up her mind to go to bed. It's more a
moan than a cry.... so far.

Turning into a cry...ooh! I hear Roy getting up to investigate. Hurray.

We went to Renaissance today, me 'n' Iris. The shopping center place.
I struggled to take apart her stroller and put it back together (maybe
we should have read that pdf of the manual Ets sent us). But I put her
in it and we strolled around. Went to all my favorite catalog stores,
and got lots of good stuff--I think all of it was on sale. I really
enjoyed myself. It's much nicer to shop with someone, even if they
can't really talk. Too bad I couldn't get fashion advice from her.
Initially, I've been against that shopping place...since it's just
more urban sprawl, more moving tax dollars away from the place that
needs it the most, and it's so consumeristic. But since I've gone
there, I have to admit, the outdoor classical music and the fountains
were pretty enjoyable and calming. It was fun to tootle around the
place with Iris. Even though it did make me a bit unhappy with my lot
in life when I went into the store and could only look at the sale
racks. But it was so very pleasant.

Sometimes I forget that I can get out of the house--even take Iris
with me to places. It was so good to get away...and fun to have her
along. I did get lost, but that's another story.

I went shopping because, ahem, we're going to boston this weekend!!!!
and I wanted to have clothes to wear. I got a tank top (green) from
Jcrew and a sweatery-cardigan thingy also from there, and a grown up
t-shirt from jjill, and some more long sleeve t-shirts and leggings
from Target. Pretty sweet additions to my wardrobe.

I also got a highchair at target! Hurray! now it can be normal to feed
Iris grown-up food, instead of having to prop up her bouncy seat. and
blank onesies. Nothing is on them.

Okay. It's probably time for me to be diligent. But I just wanted to
say, "I had a good night."

babies.............

1) i hope that iris's nighttime waking (two in a row, folks!) is a
growth spurt and not a habit.
2) looking at other people's newborns on facebook makes me want to
have another one. soon. am i crazy?

This is kinda fun!

Subject: Announcing the Free Book Stimulus Plan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2009

Contact:
Wanda Jewell, Executive Director
Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance
3806 Yale Avenue
Columbia, SC 29205
803.779.0118
wanda@sibaweb.com

Announcing FreeBookStimulusPlan.com
Increase Your Karmic Footprint

Wanda Jewell has a problem. After serving nearly 20 years as Executive Director of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) she is overrun with books. All kind of books; finished copies and galleys, advance reading copies, advance reader editions, paperback and hardbound, slip-covered and not, limited editions, signed and unsigned, personalized and not. Books here, books there, books, books, everywhere…and each publishing season brings more. It was while she was contemplating the management of her extensive personal library, (with the television news on in the background) that Wanda had her “Aha!” moment: How to weed her collection and support her southern indie bookstores at the same time? In a flash of Obama-induced inspiration, Wanda created her own Free Book Stimulus Plan.

Books can be purchased anywhere. So why shop at indie bookstores? Because buying a book at your local indie bookstore doesn’t just stimulate your reading, it stimulates your local economy. Shopping local is an investment in your own neighborhood and good karma all around. And because you can get a free book!

Hoping to stimulate sales at indie bookstores, Wanda is dismantling her personal library and offering it to shoppers one free book at a time. Beginning April 2nd, readers who purchase a book at a SIBA-member indie store and send her a copy of the receipt will receive book from her collection completely free of charge. Visit FreeBookStimulusPlan.com for details and a list of participating bookstores. Print out the request form on the site and mail it in with a copy of your store receipt (the receipt must include the name of the store). That is all you have to do to get a free book from Wanda’s personal library.

This offer is open only to consumers living in the contiguous United States. Completed form with receipt must be mailed to Free Book, 3806 Yale Ave., Columbia, SC 29205 and only while supplies last. Consider this a challenge to deplete Wanda’s library – she doubts it can be done!

Here is all that Wanda asks in return. Visit FreeBookStimulusPlan.com; Pass it on. Post to blog. Pay it forward. Print to press. Play the 411. Shout it out. Share the news. Spread the word. Soapbox it up. Tweet & Retweet. Facebook & Myspace. Get the word out. Free Book for Shopping Southern Indie Bookstores! Increase your karmic footprint!

 

 

i'd buy it....would you?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/26/uk.village.sale/index.html?iref=mpstoryview