Monday, April 28, 2008
Quiche
As a side note, here is a good quiche recipie. We just tried it tonight and it turned out great.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
E in April
E has been up to a lot this month. She has perfected signing "please" when she needs (aka wants) something. Parents are VERY pleased.
Playing DressUp
E has also enjoyed playing dress up.
She has tried being a prophetess on for size..
Let's face it, (for better or worse) she has tried a LOT of things on for size.Being outdoors is the BEST!
Picnic with Daddy.
E has climbed to new heights (She still has no idea how to get down once she's up, though).
She has soared like an eagle.She has had a good month.
Free the eggs!
Last week sometime, L decided to purchase some morally superior eggs. Having dismissed the $4.00 per dozen eggs at the local farmers market as "too expensive" she then went to the local hippie food mart and spent "something less than $4.00." The eggs she came home were in packaging worth at least 20 cents more than that of our regular eggs, and each one had the words "BORN FREE" tattooed on the side, along with a code number and expiration date.
This got me to thinking. What does it mean for an egg to be "born free?" Has an egg actually been born? Can an egg be free? How can an egg be both free and cost $4.00 a dozen? Does the higher price for these eggs reflect the higher opportunity cost for an egg that has been born free? Did this free egg choose to sell itself back into slavery and consumption? For that matter, how can I buy an egg that has been emancipated? Should I feel guilty for trading in potential chicken life? Shouldn't I feel more guilty about eating one?
Well the last question was answered for me when we tasted these special eggs. They were delicious. Delicious enough to assuage all guilty feelings about egg trafficking. Why do these eggs taste better? Is it because the egg is happier? A quick look at the eggs' website (http://www.bornfreeeggs.com/) answered this query:
Since our hens are Cage Free, they have the freedom to select a comfortable
place to nest and lay their eggs. Along with being Cage Free, our hens are also
fed a premium vegetarian diet enriched with whole grains and soy protein. This
feed is Antibiotic Free, Pesticide Free and Free of Growth Hormones. We feed our
hens only premium vegetarian feed. It’s made from whole grains and enriched with
soy protein. Better feed for our hens gives you better eggs for your family.
No, I did not make a mistake, this repetitive text is from their webpage. Did you catch that the hen's diet is vegetarian, enriched with whole grains and protein?
So it is technically the hen that is happy, fit, and free. Apparently happy, fit, free hens make happy eggs. Tasty eggs.
Labels: free eggs, liberty equality fraternity, tasty eggs
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Supporting the supporter
As you probably know, chaos hit my sister's university on February 14th.
April 16th marks the anniversary of when a similar chaos hit VT.
As a result, little sis jumped on a bus and drove 12 hours overnight to support VT students she'd never met, but with whom she had a sad bond. It was the least she could do. These students had supported her school in so many ways just two months before.
Her story is here.
I went to support her. (Only a 3.5 hour drive, the least I could do. And beautiful mountains to greet me there and back.) I felt a little out of place at first, but was so glad to be there with her. I found out things about her tragedy that I hadn't known before. We talked about the insanity of it all. And I cried. About two dozen markers into the massacre, something in me snapped. I counted those I'd passed. Only two thirds of the way through. "STOP HERE!" I screamed to a man a year gone. You don't need to do this anymore! JUST STOP! These people have loved ones, family. They'll miss them if they go. You don't need to do this anymore. You didn't need to do this in the first place. But to do it, then to take a break, and go back and do it again... Insane.
I'm glad I went. I understand my sis's world a bit more now. Her hallowed ground, her safe place of learning -- raped. And no understanding as to why. What-ifs abounding. Her community shaken. I am grateful for her and amazed at all she did to try to piece back her broken community. It was so appropriate for VT to reach out to her. And so appropriate for her and her community to reach back and support VT. Who else would understand?
Wednesday was a good day. A very emotional, very hard, very good day.
There were still many signs around campus showing VT's support for the tragedy that happened nearly half a continent away from them.
NIU told NIU students they shouldn't advertise their presence on campus. No wearing NIU gear. This was about VT, after all. Then they sent them to Virginia in this bus. Gee. Not at all conspicuous.
The memorial. Too many stones. Too much insanity.
My sis at VT.
P.S. Please do not use text or photos from this blog without written permission from the owner (me).
P.S.S. Hokies or Huskies, if you come across this blog, please, feel free to give your thoughts/comments (annonomously or not, as you choose). I'd love to hear more from you.
April 16th marks the anniversary of when a similar chaos hit VT.
As a result, little sis jumped on a bus and drove 12 hours overnight to support VT students she'd never met, but with whom she had a sad bond. It was the least she could do. These students had supported her school in so many ways just two months before.
Her story is here.
I went to support her. (Only a 3.5 hour drive, the least I could do. And beautiful mountains to greet me there and back.) I felt a little out of place at first, but was so glad to be there with her. I found out things about her tragedy that I hadn't known before. We talked about the insanity of it all. And I cried. About two dozen markers into the massacre, something in me snapped. I counted those I'd passed. Only two thirds of the way through. "STOP HERE!" I screamed to a man a year gone. You don't need to do this anymore! JUST STOP! These people have loved ones, family. They'll miss them if they go. You don't need to do this anymore. You didn't need to do this in the first place. But to do it, then to take a break, and go back and do it again... Insane.
I'm glad I went. I understand my sis's world a bit more now. Her hallowed ground, her safe place of learning -- raped. And no understanding as to why. What-ifs abounding. Her community shaken. I am grateful for her and amazed at all she did to try to piece back her broken community. It was so appropriate for VT to reach out to her. And so appropriate for her and her community to reach back and support VT. Who else would understand?
Wednesday was a good day. A very emotional, very hard, very good day.
There were still many signs around campus showing VT's support for the tragedy that happened nearly half a continent away from them.
NIU told NIU students they shouldn't advertise their presence on campus. No wearing NIU gear. This was about VT, after all. Then they sent them to Virginia in this bus. Gee. Not at all conspicuous.
The memorial. Too many stones. Too much insanity.
My sis at VT.
P.S. Please do not use text or photos from this blog without written permission from the owner (me).
P.S.S. Hokies or Huskies, if you come across this blog, please, feel free to give your thoughts/comments (annonomously or not, as you choose). I'd love to hear more from you.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Ambitious Reader with a Blue Hat
Today E decided it was high time she did some serious reading. After madly tearing as many books off the bookshelf as possible, she came up to me with Simple Gifts: Lessons in Living from a Shaker Village. Despite the riveting title, she found the book not to her liking when after flipping through, 20 pages at a time, she realized there were no pictures. After that she decided a shorter book was in order, and came up to me with Oedipus the King and Antigone. High quality literature indeed. Alas even my 4 sentence summaries of these plays were too long-winded for her, and before she found out whether or not Antigone and Ismene's brother gets buried, she was already diving into My Big Animal Book, with exclamations of "da-da" and pointing at what she thought was a dog.
Still, I am encouraged by my daughter's ambitious literary tastes, even if they were a little above her.
In other news, E found that one of our bowls made a very nice hat.
Labels: Bowl-hat party, cute girl, greek tragedies, reading
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
New Due Date (or -- let's jump back a month)
I am thankful to report that I am NOT due on September 4th, which means I will NOT be having our next baby the same week as Steve starts teaching.
The ultrasound this morning confirmed that I am due on October 6th (or 8th) instead. I am very glad. I will not be a big watermelon at li'l sis's wedding, I will be more like a ... smaller watermelon. (I'm great with analogies, eh?)
Steve has some great shots of a fire-breathing baby ("it's an ARM, hun") which he is proudly displaying at work, if you want to see a picture of our little (littler than we thought) one.
This also means no gender news for another month. And it means it's still "normal" for me to not like food or smelling -- anything -- anywhere -- ever. I'm only 13 weeks. WOOT!
Finally, this means that the OTHER L. and I will be neck-and-neck for the next grandkid. She may actually beat me (although my due date is still about a week before hers).
Who knew?
The ultrasound this morning confirmed that I am due on October 6th (or 8th) instead. I am very glad. I will not be a big watermelon at li'l sis's wedding, I will be more like a ... smaller watermelon. (I'm great with analogies, eh?)
Steve has some great shots of a fire-breathing baby ("it's an ARM, hun") which he is proudly displaying at work, if you want to see a picture of our little (littler than we thought) one.
This also means no gender news for another month. And it means it's still "normal" for me to not like food or smelling -- anything -- anywhere -- ever. I'm only 13 weeks. WOOT!
Finally, this means that the OTHER L. and I will be neck-and-neck for the next grandkid. She may actually beat me (although my due date is still about a week before hers).
Who knew?
