Secular Confessions

[daylilies]

Is a paranormal job like doing a ghost themed tour? I know here in Atlanta they have the "Haunted Atlanta" tours and they have tours like this in Savannah GA which is supposedly the most haunted city in the country (don't know how they come up with that!).

Yeah, ghost tours, or going on investigations with all that equipment that supposedly detects paranormal activity. I think I wouldn't want to do ghost tours because I'm not really good at presenting things to a group of people like that. I'd rather work behind the scenes, like studying paranormal findings to see what they could possibly be.

Good deal on the glass coverage Erin.

I wouldn't know the first thing about working with paranormal stuff. I watched a program on it once and I thought they were all volunteers? But it would be neat if you could get into one that's featured on tv...if for nothing else than the adventure. I don't believe in that stuff, but at the same time one of my favorite past times was going out at night to visit abandoned houses just for the spoke factor...or traveling down seasonal highways (really rural roads that are not maintained Oct-May and are usually just wide enough for 1 car). Even a non-believer like me has 'seen' things that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I still don't believe I actually saw anything paranormal, but it's fun to experience.

Yes, someone else I was discussing this stuff with pointed out that a lot of it is volunteer.

I myself have never seen anything paranormal and that's why I don't fully believe in it. A few times I have experienced odd things that may or may not be able to be explained away.

[Smplyme89]

So I gotta say it, the Bodhi clothes panties are awesome

Erin thats awesome you only have to pay $25!!! I think with my Insurance (as crappy as it is) it's only $75 or something like that.

I think if your interested in the paranormal than you should do it!!! I'm all about following your passion!! Wish I had one

[Bridget]

Ack, y'all were chatty! I can't keep up today. I do want to say that I love the panties. Also that I too, Katy, feel like I have a social disfunction sometimes because I really never go anywhere either but once I get out there I always enjoy myself.
I loved dancing when I had a good buzz and my family and friends call the ol' one arm in the air the "bridget dance" because I that's what I always did.
The curriculum I am doing with Savana and Kai is art based so I'm learning to knit, sew, and paint right along with them.

I am enjoying a Guiness right now.

[Smplyme89]

I hate this. My first week in this class and the whole thing is about 9/11. Can you get anymore depressing than that??? I just finished 3 pages of writing about 9/11 and am completely bummed now. Did you ladies know that over 3,000 babies lost a parent that day

[3andMe]

Mylah, your panties rock!

I feel like I have a decent amount of skill so that I can apply myself to artistic endeavors, but don't necessarily have the soul to be truly talented. I'm pretty decent at copying things, for example. Like, when I was in college in Boulder, my best friend and I would write each other long letters (pre-internet and we couldn't afford long distance phone calls) and I would watercolor intricate designs and paintings on the back of the envelopes for her. She saved one of them for me, a Henri Rousseau envelope, and I framed it and it's hanging in my bathroom. The black mark on it near the sun is some ink from the post office. I don't have time to do stuff like that anymore.

Or the guy I almost married was Jewish, and I had to do all this stuff for a Jewish wedding ceremony, so I painted a Ketubah and wrote all the text in English and Aramaic.

I can sew but don't really enjoy it and don't use patterns. My sewing machine is doubling as a plant stand. I had a lot more fun being creative before kids. Now I feel completely overwhelmed with chores and errands and projects. I broke down in front of dh the other day when he asked me why I didn't stop and converse with him when I came home and he was trying to be friendly. Um, because the birthday party ran late and because I got home and I was a load of laundry behind and I had to put the groceries away and take the trash out and put the wash in the dryer and then cook dinner and feed the kids and sweep and mop the floors and get the hopefully-dry sheets on the bed before bedtime in two hours. And then I still had to make reservations for my sister's birthday and pay bills. He told me it was even more vital that I slow down and make an attempt. I should have been, but I was just so unhappy about all the things I had to do. It ends up that on the days I am alone with Baby S. I spend almost all my time running errands and doing chores and hardly any time taking him out to do anything fun.

Anyway, shoot, I was going to talk about being creative, and then ended up whining. I am feeling particularly overwhelmed. DH asked what he could do to help, and I asked him to replace the kitty litter every two weeks (we used to take turns before I got pregnant the first time, and then after my first pregnancy he stopped doing it entirely) and I asked him to please do whatever tasks he needs to do without me having to ask him multiple times. I have spent hours of my life in the past 3 months asking him to find out the remaining balance on his student loan, for fear that we've already paid it off and we're just automatically sending payments needlessly. Every five days or so I ask him, and he sets up a reminder on his calendar and assures me that he'll call that day, and then he doesn't. I hate it. It's such a waste of my time, and I hate that it puts me in the position of feeling like a nag. I've been reminding him about getting his passport replaced for the past 4 months too, and time is getting short.

[Gwenn]

, L. I understand about having to ask multiple times. My DH particularly dislikes being asked repeatedly to do things, so I have made the choice that if he doesn't do them after I ask him one or two times, I stop asking. This often results in things either not getting done, or getting done on his schedule, but it makes our interactions easier. It's a hard choice, though, and one I don't know that I could continue to make if we had three children. I doesn't do me much good when I do ask repeatedly, though, so I just take the good with the bad. DH could easily say the same of me so I try not to get upset about it.

ETA: That made no sense, I know.

Also, your watercolors are gorgeous!

Oh, and Myles - the panties cracked me up. Thanks for the smile.

[AbbeysMom]

I used to be an artist. I taught computer driven art practices as a professor, and did public art projects. My favorite was a mural I did, 32 ft x 7 ft. It was kind of difficult to get a picture, because it's a on a curved wall:




My job burnt me out to the point where I was no longer interested in doing anything artistic again. I kind of white washed my walls at home too, they have prints of flowers or whatever but no more "real" art. I think the process of writing my thesis drove me a little nuts, then diving into the self-righteous atmosphere of higher learning and all the narcissistic people who work there helped drive me over the edge.

So I quit everything, making art and being tenure-track both. I'm not as successful or whatever, but I sew pretty quilts and talk long walks and generally think of myself as retired. I know other SAHMs would flame me for implying it's like retirement, but that's where I'm coming from. Maybe because limbo feels like heaven when you used to live in hell.

[AmeriBrit]

Myles, I, too, think that your panties are awesome!

L, those paintings are gorgeous. I always wished I could paint like that.

Molly, yours is impressive, too! You are very talented.

My talent is writing. I've had a few poems published in the past. I have not written much since having kids. All my energy goes to them and the house chores. By the time evenings roll around, my brain is too tired to do much. I have been trying to write again because it is good therapy for me.

[Smplyme89]

L I can't see the pictures at work, but I will look when I get home-I'm sure they are magnificient. I can only imagine how exhausted you must be with 3 LO's to chase after! I hope that your DH takes that as a sign that he really needs to help you out more DH also has to be asked multiple times to do things and it drives me I always thought it was just a man thing I've gotten to the point where I take care of the more 'important' or 'time sensitive' things because he really stinks at being on a deadline

Molly that is absolutey beautiful

[missychrissy]

wow-you ladies are truly impressive. It made me sad to read that family life has taken away from your artistic time. And that you were burned out of something you love by being in what sounds like an almost toxic environment. Were they really narcissistic? Is that a typical artist trait? (I know not all would be, but computer geeks tend to be night owls. I only know 1 guy at work that isn't, and all my friends/family/classmates that were into computers like me were night owls). And most are socially awkward. In that, I'm the exception. That stuff interests me anyway.

I've been bummed for a few days now. I have a busy weekend planned and I just want to stay in bed and hide my head instead.

[Bridget]

Lydia, I also wanted to give you empathy. It is mind boggling to me when dbf walks in the door and is just bursting with all the things he wants to tell me and then acts annoyed that I don't give him my undivided attention. It's as if he cannot see what's going on around him. Sometimes he talks to me when I'm in the middle of reading a story!

[missychrissy]

Oh goodness! I don't know how you keep your cool Bridget.

I've been slacking a lot at home and it's mostly because I know Rich will pick up my slack. I'm taking advantage I guess.

[3andMe]

Molly!!! That is beautiful. There is the same kind of attitude in science in academia, too. DH was really reluctant to get out of academia because he thought it would be so different, and it was--pleasantly different. I do not think there is any reason to flame you for calling what you have done (becoming a SAHM) retirement. Plenty of very driven people retire from their high-pressure jobs and become just as busy with projects or philanthropy or learning new skills, and it's still considered retirement. It doesn't mean it's easy or that it's a vacation or that you eat bon-bons every day.

I look back on the projects I used to do, art or sewing or writing or whatever, and I think about how I enjoyed doing them or how I was satisfied with the finished project, but I also think about how long everything took. I think that envelope must have taken me at least 5 solid hours, maybe more. I wouldn't even be able to enjoy that anymore, I don't think. Plus I don't have anywhere safe to leave something unmolested to come back to. That was back in the days when I lived alone and had a ton of time.

I realized I was exaggerating when I talked about how much I have been telling dh to do things. I let periods of time go by when I don't remind him at all. Every five days x 3 months would be excruciating for both of us. The thing is, we both hate it. And he wants to do it - he knows it needs to be done. If it's something I can possibly do, or if it can possibly be left undone, that will be the solution. However, the student loan company won't talk to me because I'm not him, and I can't be him at the passport application office. Everything else I just do.

I've been trying to deal with kindergartens lately. Does anyone else have to do this? On December 6th, I need to put in our applications with our choices of kindergarten for next Fall, ranked in order from 1-6. It is a lottery style of choosing, with top choice going to students with a sibling in the school already, second being in that neighborhood, and then there are further criteria down the list. We actually live in a so-so neighborhood with a good school, so people from other neighborhoods might try to request our school. I have a feeling for our top 3 choices, but I'm going to some kindergarten information meetings at different schools in the next several weeks. The application process is fairly cumbersome and it is stressing me out too, although I hear it's not as difficult as San Francisco.

Kate, I've been thinking about you because I've been reading a steampunk romance I got for free on my kindle. This is my first exposure to steampunk and I'm really enjoying it.

DD just woke up and is sitting on my lap and points out the red wiggly lines under words spellcheck thinks is wrong and tells me to fix them.

[Bridget]

That is so cute, Lydia. Kai watches me and everytime he sees me type a question mark he says, "What question did you ask?"

I am a little envious of all the artistic talent you all have. It's one thing I've always wished I'd cultivated in my younger years. I hope to keep that alive in my children because I think we all have it, it's just whether or not we use it.

Sawyer's first tooth popped through on the bottom! He hasn't been fussy at all. I wonder if the amber necklace really works?

Christine I keep meaning to ask you what sort of cloth diapers you use and if you need anything. I am going through my stash trying to scale down. Some of it I will sell but i'd be happy to pass some along to you for shipping if there is something you need.

[missychrissy]

We don't have anything like that here L. It's the public school district you live in, or choose a private one...and all the private ones around me are religious.

[Cosmosmom]

Yikes, that description of academic life makes me glad I went where I did. After undergrad I was really trying to decide between two different lifes...one was going on for a PhD in Philosophy and teaching....the other was masters of library science and being a children's librarian. Went the route mainly because it was shorter, didn't have to learn to read ancient Greek and well I just do not really enjoy writing long papers. Didn't end up as a children's librarian though!

I don't live in a big city...we maybe have around 65K so our child will go to the grade school that is down the road about .8 miles. I know sometimes they have to redistrict but there isn't another one anywhere close so I don't see that happening.

[daylilies]

Cool Lydia, what's it called?

I was thinking about steampunk just this morning. There's a guy who used to come to the store DH and I owned who was um, rather easy on the eyes. He was in the Navy so on those holidays he'd come in in full uniform *swoon*

Well I was on FB this morning and it recommended him to me as a friend because I have some of his friends on there. Just for giggles I went and looked at his pics and there are a couple of him in steampunk gear. Oh my.

We don't have our choice of kindergartens-he just goes to the school we're districted for.

I'm jealous of everyone's talents-I'm not really good at anything except cooking which I think is one of the most basic skills a person can have.

[Suja]

Ladies, you have amazing talent. I hope that one day you can both return to it. The world will be richer for it.

I loved being in academia. That's where I've always felt I fit in the best. One of my biggest regrets in life is leaving my PhD about one year short of completion (DH and I started a business together and it started taking off, and the choice had to be made - I chose the more safe/stable route).

As for sharing chores with DH, that doesn't happen around here. I do everything I possibly can, and the rest, he can deal with it. When I do remind him, I'm asked not to nag, and when I don't, I'm asked why I didn't remind him - no win situation. Now, I'll give him a reminder, no more, and if asked why I didn't remind him more, I just tell him that I'm not his mommy and as a grown up, he needs to remember to deal with his affairs himself.

[missychrissy]

Rich is really good about doing the basic chores...cooking dinner, dishes, garbage, Conner's laundry as well as his own. But when it comes to other stuff...he'll talk about it for weeks, if not months, and never do it. Some of it isn't very important...like putting the lattice up on the porch. Other stuff drives me to distractions...like fixing the drain in our one and only bathtub/shower. One morning I had to stand in the water from Jesi's shower. I needed a shower-there was no skipping it that day. I flipped out because it was something that needed to be taken care of for weeks. I hate nagging, but when it comes to stuff like that I have to explode before it gets done. Or so it seems to me.

I'm in a crabby mood so I'm sure I'm not seeing things clearly. still...one would think fixing a drain would be a priority that wouldn't have to be constantly brought up.

[missychrissy]

dp

[Ky'sMom]

I used to be an artist. I taught computer driven art practices as a professor, and did public art projects. My favorite was a mural I did, 32 ft x 7 ft. It was kind of difficult to get a picture, because it's a on a curved wall:

Wow Molly that piece is amazing!!! Very beautiful. It looks VERY intricate too and I can see how working on it would make one burn out. But it has a wonderful WOW factor and you should be proud!

I've been trying to deal with kindergartens lately. Does anyone else have to do this? On December 6th, I need to put in our applications with our choices of kindergarten for next Fall, ranked in order from 1-6. It is a lottery style of choosing, with top choice going to students with a sibling in the school already, second being in that neighborhood, and then there are further criteria down the list. We actually live in a so-so neighborhood with a good school, so people from other neighborhoods might try to request our school. I have a feeling for our top 3 choices, but I'm going to some kindergarten information meetings at different schools in the next several weeks. The application process is fairly cumbersome and it is stressing me out too, although I hear it's not as difficult as San Francisco.

This is actually similar to our school since we are a public charter. Ky initially did not get into the school after the lottery. He was like 11th on the waiting list but still go in. Luckily though we have a lot of lazy parents around here so many who got in did not fill out the paperwork and get the medical stuff done one time and that is how Ky got his spot in the school. If we stay here and don't move to Chicago, Elle will automatically be admitted since she is a sibling but I still will have to submit all the paperwork (which is lengthy here for kindergarten and when you transfer from another school) and get all of her medical exams, vaccines, and forms submitted before deadline or they will give her space to someone on the waiting list.

In Chicago they have a similar system as well. They have Charter schools, Classic schools, Gifted/Magnet schools, Small Classroom schools, and neighborhood schools. Just reading about it is overwhelming. But in that system you also have to list your choice in numerical order and they will go down the list to see if you can get into the school. I also think it is pretty crazy being that people from outside of the neighborhood have the same criteria as someone who lives across the street from the school. DH's old school is a Classical school and is one of the only ones near his mom's neighborhood that is any good. It is actually one of the best in the city. But just us moving into the neighborhood will do not good since it is a lottery based school and people can apply from all over the city. If we end up moving there I am going to do my best to find a good neighborhood school zone just in case we cannot get into the school of our choice with the lottery choices. I would rather Ky go to a Small Classroom school since he is used to being in a small class now.

I forgot to mention that my DH got called to do the physical abilities test in Chicago. So he got chosen in a lottery for that. He is very lucky with lotteries and contest and I knew he would get chosen. I still do not want to move to Chicago though and am hoping he doesn't do well on the physical portion but I know he will so I am trying to find bright spots about moving to Chicago. DH is very good at physical things and goes to the extreme to go above and beyond on any challenges in sports or running or anything like that so I know he'll do well.

Erin

[Cosmosmom]

Kate, cooking is definitely a talent! Some people really truly cannot do it. I think that I'm decent at it but don't do fancy things or have a huge variety and will do things like used jarred pasta sauces.

A couple of book suggestions for you since I know you liked hunger games and matched (and the next one in that series just came out called closer). Delirium and Divergent. Both are pretty good and remind me in many ways of hunger games and matched.

[daylilies]

The sequel to Matched came out? Cool! Thanks for those other recs, I'll add them to my list

[AmeriBrit]

Our school situation is a lot like yours, L. We have to put 3 choices down and submit an application. We won't be told which school he'll be going to until April next year. Then, we can appeal if we want. My top 2 schools aren't as close to us as the our third choice.

We went to the Krispy Kreme drive-thru today and got a dozen....I really have been comfort eating a lot lately and not going to zumba as much! I guess I feel like it's winter and I need more bodyfat to stay warm, right? And then we have our cruise to go on in April next year, so that will give me 4 months to diet if I need to, yeah? LOL.

[demigraf]

Kate, have you read Ender’s Game, or anything else in that series by Orson Scott Card? It’s very disappointing that the author is quite an influential homophobe (http://www.salon.com/2000/02/03/card/), but I really can’t deny that Ender’s Game, Ender’s Shadow, and the rest of the series are all fine pieces of sci-fi (never read books 2 &3, though). Yesterday, some friends were discussing yet another announcement that they are going to make the book into a movie. I remember yrs back when that “I see dead people” kid was going to play Ender.

I've always wanted to live an artists life but I also like having money and food so don't like the idea of a "starving artist" which is the main reason why I haven't made writing more of a priority in my life even though that is all I wanted to be when I was a girl, an author and maybe a college professor so that I could pass along all the useless information I know LOL. I remember thinking that when I was around 10 or 11 in 5th grade!

Erin

Erin, I totally agree with your perspective here and think it’s perfectly reasonable to put your financial needs before your artistic impulses. I wish I could dig up that essay/book – I can’t even remember if it was a whole book – about all sorts of famous artists who had day jobs. Anyway, point is, it doesn't matter what your talents are; at the end of the day, you still have to be self-reliant.

Living in that artists’ warehouse was eye-opening in some respects because it exposed me to the ugly side of this mindset I'd romanticized before I got a good look at it: More than a few artists living there felt that their artistic abilities and passions exempted them from having to make a living. They looked down or pitied anyone who worked for a living, and yet didn’t take any responsibility for feeding themselves (never have I met more mooches in my life). Nor were they bothered by the fact that they drew on taxpayer resources to subsidize their efforts to MAKE! ART! (not that I'm against all forms of public art). It was self-entitlement lala land, where all that mattered was Creativity and conventional folks who held jobs were suckers or oppressors. It seemed to me like it was their set of impoverished circumstances that created their political views that everything should belong to everybody. I still can’t really sympathize with the characters in "Rent" to this day (though I can sing a lot of the songs) because they remind me so much of the obnoxious neighbors I had in that warehouse.

I feel like I have a decent amount of skill so that I can apply myself to artistic endeavors, but don't necessarily have the soul to be truly talented.

L, I know what you mean about not having the soul of an artist. First of all, let me say, your paintings are beautiful and you (and Katy & Molly too) have a care and craftsmanship to your work that is absent from my own. I wouldn’t call myself an artist at all. I make crafts. And my enthusiasm comes mostly from a D-I-Y spirit. I like to “hack” creations to find out the way things are made, wanting to try for myself e.g. how people get their gardens to look a certain way, how furniture is built, the anatomy of a panty, “can I sing that note too?”. I’ve gone thru clock-making stages, periods of time where I fall asleep imagining things I can make out of clay, jewelry making, copper enameling, etc. I am also drawn to giving something a story, which I why I like repurposing old objects to give them a second life. It’s a good thing that I enjoy the process more than the outcome because I don’t often finish something I like, and I am not good at any one thing. Plus, I ditch my obsessions almost as abruptly as they come on.

BTW, L, I'm sorry that you were frustrated again with your DH. I think we're all there from time to time.

My job burnt me out to the point where I was no longer interested in doing anything artistic again. I kind of white washed my walls at home too, they have prints of flowers or whatever but no more "real" art. I think the process of writing my thesis drove me a little nuts, then diving into the self-righteous atmosphere of higher learning and all the narcissistic people who work there helped drive me over the edge.

So I quit everything, making art and being tenure-track both. I'm not as successful or whatever, but I sew pretty quilts and talk long walks and generally think of myself as retired. I know other SAHMs would flame me for implying it's like retirement, but that's where I'm coming from. Maybe because limbo feels like heaven when you used to live in hell.

Moll, you know I always loved your work, and wished I had, like, a b’zillion bucks so I could commission you to do an installation on the side of my house, right? And the b’zillion bucks would help me have a house that’s grand enough to be worthy of one of your pieces. (Although I have to admit, some of the art you said you were a fan of was completely over my head. And your thesis was a bit of a difficult read for me too.)

But I also wanted to chime in that burning out and consequently dropping out/fading back... SIMPLIFYING... applies to us schlubbs in corporate America too. I feel like I made a conscious choice in my mid 20s to not be tempted by that ladder, when I'd been promoted into management and had a number of upper-level leadership jobs dangled in front of me. I just knew deep down that the nature of that kind of work held no value to me, so I quit the job I was just promoted to, started consulting and never looked back. Even today, I feel like I'm often ducking and weaving "opportunities" to act in a leadership capacity. I start at a company and people think, "ooh, she sees the big picture, can lead meetings and build consensus, let's give her all this responsibility." It's in our culture or something, that people expect everybody to want to be a general. You're supposed to want to advance in your career. I don't.I just like being a really good soldier.

So, as much as I complain about what I do for a living as uninspiring, and it doesn’t give me all the time I want to be with Bodhi, I have to admit it’s possible I’m living in the best of all possible worlds. I like the challenge of my work enough, it lets me keep my family comfortable and happy the best way I know how, and the nature of the work is commitment-free enough for me to leave my worries at the office and have the time and energy to explore other goofy pursuits.

Ash , I thought of you while I was in Zumba class yesterday while making up new names for the dance moves. (thanks, ladies, for talking about Zumba because it reminded me about that class). OMG. So much playing of the air bongos. And I’d love to see them retire “Ol’ Snake Hips Jeeves”. LOL. The talent of the teachers varies so widely from class to class. The one I used to take near my old job was taught by this professional dancer who wore a porkpie hat and all you wanted to do was look at his abs while he moved. The one I took last night is taught by this guy who’s sort of out of shape, so he tries to make the moves more “angry”, so it’s all about stomping and a lot less about jumping up and down. Not a good workout. I’ll never forget the class I took while we were still living in So Cal. It was taught to a group that was mainly senior citizens. So the teacher focused a lot of the belly-dance type of numbers with tricky hand movements to exercise their coordination. At one point, the tricky hand movement was to have us all make the sign of the cross while wiggling our bottoms to the Egyptian music playing in the background. Needless to say, that felt very strange to me.

We had another earthquake last night. I was with Bodhi, and maybe he was dreaming, but he giggled and said “that tickles!” I had been in the middle of a dream where I was producing an all-mime version of ‘Mamma Mia’ and it was going to be called ‘Mime-a-Mia’.

[demigraf]

L, we have a lottery system in Pacifica too. I was disappointed to find out about it because we live up the road from a cute little school, but I went to a talk given by the district super and she made a decent case for it. She also admits it's an imperfects system. It's basically their instituted version of bussing to keep diversity in both the student and parent body. I can somewhat get behind that, although I'll be a bit unhappy if I have to drive 15 minutes to get B to school. Pacifica is shaped like Chile, it's long and narrow. It can take a very long time to get from end to end.

Were you affected by any of the Oakland school closures? My friends in Maxwell Park are very unhappy with the board's decision to go forward.

[3andMe]

I did not feel last night's earthquake.

You just reminded me to check about the school closures, and we are not affected. I did not think we would be, because it's a good school and serves a big, diverse area, but whew! Plus I didn't think they'd be confirming the kindergarten info night for next week if they were going to be closed next year.

I just found dh's drill, which has been missing since early summer. He thought maybe I cleaned too much and put it somewhere or maybe he left it at my mom's house whilst doing repairs. We've looked all over for it. I denied having seen it, and so did my mom. I just found it inside the box his greenhouse came in. You know, the one he got secretly without talking to me about because he thought I would eventually say yes but didn't want to deal with the conversation? So he just left the box in a big mess in the studio behind our house, and I was cleaning up in there. I decided, after seeing this box all summer, and more stuff getting piled on top of it, to finally dismantle it and put it in the recycling container. There was the drill, inside of it, along with a battery-powered saw. That greenhouse has caused a lot of grief.

The studio does look cleaner.

[raspberry]

Molly, your work is amazing, so beautiful. If I had a talent, I wish it were writing. I love to read, but I seem to fall asleep 10 minutes after I open the book lately. I have this book about Queen Elizabeth I, but I have had to renew it twice. It's thick and it seems to put me to sleep.

Now I want donuts, we used to have Krispy Kreme in the grocery stores, but I never see them anymore. I crave a good old maple bar, but they don't have them here. Or a good homemade cinnamon roll with raisins. Not a cinnabon, but homemade, like my grandma used to make. drool.

As you can tell I have a sweet tooth. It's tamed down a lot since I was a kid. Last night we went to a fall festival, we had fun, G loved it. After G went to bed, I threw away the crappy candy like candy corn *gag*, and replaced it with organic lollipops. I was proud of him last night, he choose the apple slices over the potato chips.

[daylilies]

I have not read Ender's Game, but I belong to a paranormal/other creepy stuff community on livejournal that talks about it a lot.

Right now I'm still in the middle of that book called Stiff, about what cadavers that are donated to science are used for. It's interesting that you can't designate what your body is used for if you donate it to science. The bit I'm reading now is about how they're used to test the effects of car crashes, and how you can tell from corpses what caused planes to crash. It's all pretty interesting.

[3andMe]

I've heard really good things about Stiff. I think she wrote another book that was well-received, too. I loved Ender's Game as well, and have to second my look of disapproval for Orson Scott Card's philosophy. ಠ_ಠ I have some friends who named their son Orson, and I had actually suggested it as a name for Baby S. and dh was horrified. Kate, the steampunk romance I'm reading is called Viridis. Apparently this genre (which I'd never read before) is very up-and-coming. If you're looking for a new occupation and you have talent at writing, you could probably bust right into this!