yeah, because i need another hobby

As I may have mentioned, I seriously LOVE making paper snowflakes. Every night this week I've come home, poured a glass of wine, and sat down with my paper and little scissors. I've got to get my freak on while it's still snow-flake season, ya know?

And then today...today I discovered this: it's called scherenschnitte, the old German tradition of paper-cutting! You take some paper, an exacto knife and you start cutting!! Holy mother-of-crocheted-kleenex-box-covers! Where has this BEEN all my life?

Really. What would I DO with all of my scherenschitte??

Well, let's see...there are birthdays, Christmas, Valentine's Day....Arbor Day...Water Potato Day....

nevermind the corgie, i want a baby coyote

I just found this little blog by a young woman who adopted an orphaned coyote. She says "I don't want to own him, I just want us to live together in harmony."

I'm moving to Wyoming.

instruction manual

In case you run out of ideas, you might need this. From the "self-hurt series"! *snort!*

This site has some truly hilarious things.

Like this.

and this.

and this.

and my favorite: this.

These could just save you so much time having to communicate.

snowflake how-to

Here is the link to directions for folding and cutting the snowflakes. We string ours from fishing line and hang them from the ceiling. They flutter when the heater comes on and make cool shadows when the fireplace is lit. It' so pretty. If I could have them up year round, I would.

Go forth and create!!

HATES to have her picture taken

unless, of course, you don't WANT her in the picture. Then, good luck getting her out of it.



We have an annual tradition of making paper snowflakes, which we then hang from the ceiling or windows. David humored us and made one. Anna made two (and spent the rest of the time making something she calls "Sodwahs" which, apparently in other countries, fend off bad spirits. But only when hung about the house in groups of threes. I swear she comes from another planet.) Since my assistants are so LAME, I'm going to have to make a whole bunch more this week. But I don't mind: I swear it's addictive. I love it. I'm particularly proud of the "toadstool and hearts" snowflake.

We had a lovely holiday weekend, although our trip to Boise was too short and the drive too long. Next time, we'll fly.

But then, of course, we'll have to cut back on the number of animals we bring. Here's the "peace train", waiting patiently in Grandma's entry-way to be put in the car for the long drive home.

*stepping up on to soap box*

(note to my sisters: this affects you and your children and every one you love. read it.)

We finally saw the Michael Moore movie Sicko this weekend. Have you seen it? If not, you should go rent it (or buy it) RIGHT NOW.

I've long felt that our nation's health care system is shamefully flawed. I don't know why we waited so long to see this movie as I'm a huge Michael Moore fan and here he is tackling one of my issues. Anyway. Here are some points:

Did you know that there are over 50 MILLION people in this country without health insurance?

Did you know that exorbitant medical expenses are the number 1 reason people file for bankruptcy in America?

Did you know that an insurance company can deny you new coverage if you've had so much as a YEAST INFECTION??

Did you know that the health care coverage in the United States is ranked #37 (#37?? Who the hell is ahead of us??) in the world by the World Health Organization and yet we spend almost twice as much as any other country, enough to cover everybody with excellent comprehensive health care?

And how about this: in France (those evil, non-war-supporting monsters), when a woman has a child, she gets SIX MONTHS off, paid fully by the government, to be with her child. If she wants an additional 6 months off (that's one year of maternity leave, ya'll), she gets paid 65% of her salary. And THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT SENDS SOMEONE TO YOUR HOUSE 2-4 TIMES A WEEK to answer questions about your child, DO YOUR LAUNDRY, or just babysit so that the new mother can run errands, go to appointments, have coffee with a friend or even, say, a massage!!

Did you know that in Canada, if you find out you have a brain-tumor (or breast cancer or anything else) you can have it taken care of, immediately and AT NO COST WHATSOEVER TO YOU?

Now. Let's talk about America. In just my own family, one of my sisters had breast cancer and she and her husband will be paying for JUST THEIR PORTION of her health-care for the rest of their lives. My mother, who raised 4 children and has worked her entire life paying into "the system" can not find a doctor who will accept Medicare. How is this legal??? They simply won't accept it because "it's too much trouble." I also have a niece who recently had a baby; she had to return to work while he was still in ICU because they couldn't afford for her to take more time off work. (see above about France's maternity-leave policy.) Are we, in action, a country of "family values"??

People argue that in Canada or France, you do pay for your health care in the form of higher taxes. So what??? Wouldn't you rather pay higher taxes and be able to walk into any doctor's office, for any ailment and be seen and treated immediately (NO, THEY DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT MONTHS TO SEE A DOCTOR. That is what the American government WANTS you to believe) AT NO COST TO YOU?

Ok, now for a really mind-blowing fact: in countries like England, DOCTORS ARE REWARDED FINANCIALLY FOR HELPING THEIR PATIENTS GET BETTER. Help someone stop smoking? Here's a bonus! Help a patient get better so that he needs LESS medication? Here's a bonus!

That's right, countries much poorer than ours believe that health care is a RIGHT, not a privelege.

The fact is, America's health-care system isn't working for us and it's not even working for the doctors. They hate it because there is too much red-tape and it eats away at their profit. The ONLY people it's benefiting is the CEOs of the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies.

Why is every single American NOT PISSED ABOUT THIS??? Why are we not rallying in the streets for change? Because, as someone in the movie pointed out, we are afraid and we have forgotten that our government is supposed to WORK FOR US. Not the other way around.

We deserve a national NON-PROFIT health care system that serves everyone.

There is a bill (H.R. 676) that has been proposed in Congress, to provide non-profit Medicare for All. It outlines a national health care program that will provide guaranteed affordable health care and prescription drugs to everyone in the country.


What can you do? Start by seeing the movie. Get pissed. Write your congressmen and urge them to support H.R. 676. Visit this web site: http://www.healthcare-now.org/

And vote accordingly.

This morning I had an argument with my daughter that went something like this:

"Anna, what are you doing? You can't wear shorts today. It's 40 degrees out."

"But I WANT to wear shorts!!!"

"Why do you want to wear shorts? Are these pants uncomfortable?"

"No!! I just want to wear shorts!!!!"

"Well, I'm sorry. It's winter. Short-season is over. No shorts."

"WWWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" (insert copious amount of tears, dramatic melt-down and weird unreasonable behavior here) "You're mean!!! Sydney's mom let's her wear shorts to school every day!!" (I manage to resist the urge to point out that Sydney's mom works full time and has three daughters between the ages of 6 and 9 and therefore has no energy to give a shit what any of them are wearing to school.)

"Anna, what is this about? Why do you want to wear shorts today?"

"I want to wear shorts BECAUSE THEY SHOW OFF MY LONG LEGS!!!"

OH. MY. GOD. It's starting.

And as further proof why I LOVE David, when I told him about this conversation and how much trouble we are going to be in when she is a teenager, his response was "I'll weld up a chastity belt with two broken hearts on it. We should also teach her bad hygiene."

I definitely have the right partner to get through this with.

i'm a grown up!!!

No, it wasn't getting married, or buying my first home. Or starting my own business, or giving birth or even being a mother.

I'm a grown up because I have a "real" bedroom with real furniture and real bedding!! And it all matches!! Behold:



And you know what else I have now? My very own little sewing/crafting area:



I love our house. I love my little family. Life is GOOD.

can someone please tell me

WHY THERE ARE GRAY PUBIC HAIRS GROWING OUT OF MY SCALP???

Seriously, what the fuck? If there was a God, why would he/she not create us so that when gray hair came in, it was soft and shiney and lovely?? Huh? Answer me THAT, people.





I'm not bitter.

did I ever tell you about the time....

The "Hooked On Phonics" headline down below got me thinking about a funny experience I had years ago.

When Eric and I were first together, back when we had jobs that allowed us to do so, we'd take off every Spring and go down to the Southwest desert to hike and camp. One year we took a side trip to visit Eric's best friend from college, who was then living in Albuquerque NM. He took us exploring to all his favorite NM spots. It was memorable for so many reasons; there are so many amazing places down there. One of the spots he took us was the Jemez Mountains. We spent the day hiking and afterwards decided to stop in a little town for something to eat. We went into a tavern-type place and enjoyed some dinner and beer. The place was hoppin'....juke-box playing and dancing and singing. There is a huge Native American population in the area, and many of the revelers were Indian. Pretty soon, one guy came over and asked us if we were headed back toward Albuerque, and if so, could we give his friend a ride? He lived at one of the pueblos on the way. We said "sure!". Rick, aside from being an English Professor at UNM, was pretty fluent in Navajo. After awhile, we all packed into Rick's very tiny car. Eric and I were in back with the Indian guy, who was wildly drunk, he was just singing and laughing, hanging out the window. Then, suddenly, as if a lightbulb went off in his head, he realized he was in a car with a bunch of people who were fluent in ENGLISH!! He could practice on us! Prior to that moment, we'd not understood a single word he said. Now, he proudly trotted out every single English phrase he knew, obviously every bit of it from television. He'd say "Tastes just like real butter!", "I'd like to give the world a Coke!" and "Who shot JR?" He'd try something out on us, we'd laugh, and he'd just BEAM with pride that we understood him and we were having a succssful conversation. It was so cute. He pointed us off the highway to his pueblo, and got out of the car. As we pulled away into the warm New Mexico night, windows down, he waved wildly and yelled "Thank you! I'M HOOKED ON PHONICS!!"

it's too bad they don't love each other...

The other day, after Anna had been at her dad's for several days, she was particularly excited to see "Davy". They just "get" each other so amazingly well. He was in the TV room setting things up, and she was in the dining room, and I can't remember what they were saying, but they were teasing each other. And she said "That's it. I'm coming to LOVE and TORMENT. Hmmm...what should I do first??"

Which pretty much sums up his life with us.

This is like winning the lottery in my world

See that? Do you know what that is? Do you?! That, my friends, is a DINING ROOM TABLE. The last time I saw it was approximately 10 months ago, the day we set it up. Very shortly after that, it was fully covered with computer equipment, tennis gear and EVERY. SINGLE. RECEIPT that David has ever been handed. That's right, if you want to know what David ate for lunch on, say, June 6th, 2007, I CAN TELL YOU because we have the receipt from Subway to prove it.

Anway, with the completion of the upstairs bedrooms, David was able to set up his office in Anna's old room and now the computer, the tennis gear and all 12,463 pieces of paper are in his Man Room. So it won't be quite as convenient if, say, I suddenly need to know what we paid for that box of screws at Lowe's last February, but I'd say it's worth it. Because we, we can now use our dining room table for it's intended purpose. I get all verclempt just thinking about it. Anna decided to commemorate the occassion with a lovely fruit arrangement.

hooked on phonics

Today is both PE and picuture day, so Anna left some reminders for me on her lunch box. Have I mentioned how much I love SEVEN??

we need a punch line

"What do you get when you have a badger going through menopause?"*




*David's response, when I told him I've been having night sweats.

what will I talk about once our house is done??

Yesterday morning, Anna and I had a blast setting up her new bedroom. She carried up her 2,642 stuffed animals and her 1,864 Schleich horses and then spent the next two hours arranging them all just so. While I hauled up the bookcase, the toy chest, the dresser AND her bunkbed. It was so fun seeing her room transformed and needless to say, she's CRAZY about it. Hopefully she'll even SLEEP there. What a concept.


It's pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself. I bought, last week, a nice old desk off Craigslist; this weekend (I hope) I'll sand and repaint it, and it will go in front of the window, overlooking the back yard. To do that homework she wakes up thinking about.



Completely unrelated, here's a picture I took this morning on the way to work. I also saw a coyote, but couldn't get a photo of it. I love my commute.