Sunday...windy, cold but the sun's out or was
Wild Sunday...UU stuff...I watched the kids and they played and had fun. I'm getting better at this and not stressing myself out. Or else I'm actually feeling better from the surgery and it's relieving my nasal pressure. I hope to God it's true because I'm shaking in my boots when I think of Spring/Summer. This will be the ultimate test. I'm still going to get the allergy shots...ugh.
I missed the service but it was about same sex marriage. I wish I could have at least heard it...I think in some other churchs they piped in the service (or even record it!)...may have to reccomend this. Anyway, one bit was interesting that Jon related to me: Apparently, in this one state (Indiana?) they were not going to allow same sex couples to adopt and tried to pass this on a bill. So, the democrats got together and proposed a bill saying "Republicans should not be allowed to adopt". That was pretty funny and shows how absurd it is to not allow people to adopt.
I have to stop here for a moment and say, I'm so proud of Jon, I really am. I have to mention something...when Jon was a young college guy working on his thesis, he wrote about how California (around the 1920's)would force people to have sterilization for being Hispanic or of some ethnicity or African American, poor, "retarded", gay, mentally ill, etc. He did an excellent paper on how if you were labeled one of the above you lost ALL your rights to reproduce. Very scary times and unfortunately, we're starting to see a bit of this again with recent laws saying women (who are not married) won't be allowed to use sperm banks. This is wrong because it's saying you can't reproduce because of Big Governments ideas of what makes a family a family. This is so wrong and this is why so many women and men are against limiting choice as well. It's about saying "Hey! This is my body. My Family. My life. You can't force me to have an abortion like China, you can't take away my choice either. You can't say whether or not I should have children." It's about saying you are in control of you. Choice and having control over your body is like having control over your bank account. If you want to withdraw some money and spend it on books and groceries, you can. Or if you want to save your money and buy a house, you can. Also, having someone else be in control of your body or say your bank account or say your living quarters is reminiscent of a much darker period of time in Europe and the US...namely what started WWII and killed millions of people for no reason then the leader didn't like their culture/religion. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look up WWII at the library and you can read about it.
Also, why is it most women who use sperm banks get demonized but men who donate sperm are looked upon as bettering society? It's the same old story, isn't it?
~~~~~~~~~~
Anyway, after church we went home and got ready for a driving trip to State College. It was so nice to see the country side even with bare trees and a somewhat steel gray clouds cast upon the land. We even took Mr. Nelson. He sat on my lap the entire time and looked just like the phrase "gun shot". We slowed down to look at some cows near a fence and Lydia, Norrie and Mr. Nelson got a good look. Nelson even started to growl at the cows. Silly dog.
Then we drove on and saw what looked like turkey or giant crows but were some sort of vultures (four) feasting on a carcass of a deer. Kind of gross and kind of interesting. I'm glad Jon didn't turn the car around to see it again, however.
We drove on and found the landscape turning from rural farms to yuppie homes on what once were farms to pretentious housing developments or McMansions as we call them (sorry, if I offended anyone...but it's true). I hope some Amish buy the land around there instead of land developers...Apparently, the Amish go in and buy up old rundown farms and rejuvenate the place up. I like that.
We then went to Wegmans, a trendy organic market and "oooed" and "ahh-ed" over various gourmet delights, organic dreams and "wowed" at the candy display. Still, it's not as great as the specialty stuff found at Trader Joe's and it's not as refined as Mother's Market or Wild Oats, but it will definitely do. I liked that it's a combo of both and the prices weren't horrible or anything. They didn't have Bulgarian cheese (Jon asked previously), so that's a few points off! ;) I got some brie cheese, lots of crackers, sour dough bread (it was STILL warm to the touch), California rolls (Jon grabbed that) and even a donut shaped chewy for Nelson. I think the cat litter was actually cheaper there and bigger, so that's a plus. I’m ashamed to admit I stuffed my face full of rosemary/thyme potato chips…they were SO good. Thankfully, I bought two bags...but they are not big bags.
I wish they had a sit down area to eat and relax. They had patio stuff in front but it was only a display. It would be a nice touch to have something like that. I wanted to try their soups but they were freaking expensive...still, they looked good.
I have to admit I was amazed to see things I've been hunting for right there...like this lavender soap I read about in Bust magazine...right on the shelves! And rice paper for Spring rolls, right there in the Asian food section. I was amazed. I've been hunting for that probably for six months. So, I grabbed two packages.
I started feeling a bit out of place...or a bit overwhelmed...I don't know what. I had to laugh at the carts with coffee cup holders and there were lots of cutesy signs to drive 25 and keep kids alive (very valid by the way) or wind advisory stuff and putting carts back in place. I saw a mix of lovely people, couples of all varieties and grumpy looking people eyeing my basket full of plastic and they were holding cotton/canvas bags with their precious items. It was nice to go into the parking lot and see not one but about 10 Kerry for president bumper stickers. That's when I felt a bit better. We were getting hungry and spent a bit more then we intended but at least it's going to a store that seems to be on the up and up.
I even got a tea pot...why? It was really cute and white. It has a tea strainer built in and is so pretty. Plus, I've been thinking about teapots and wanted one besides my metal stove tea pot. I'm going to have to make a tea cozy for it.
I cannot believe it, but I woke up at 6:30am today. I had to make a bean bag toss game. I feel a bit guilty as I promised to have this game for another event but didn't make it. So, today I made it, quilted it and made the bean bags all before church. It's really cute and the kids liked it too. I actually had fun making it and am thinking of an alternative with flaps and little prizes under the flaps for kids to win at Lydia's b-day party. It's basically a match the color game (no competition) of two colors red and white. I think the next one will have five colors and matching bean bags to toss.
Lydia's birthday is April 5th and I have to think up what to do for her party. She loves pirates and something else (but I forgot). So, I'm thinking of making it a pirate combo party. I don't like the idea of swords so, I might use Captain feather sword of the Wiggles for inspiration.
Everyone is sleeping right now. We have to get ready in about twenty minutes to go to grandparents for the evening. What a long day...
I'm nervous about Spring but I relish the thought of planting and gardening and, goodness, humidity. The wind is so cold right now and my winter coat is in the wash. I'm shivering at the thought of going up to the grandparents house...I hope soup is on the menu. Also, my hands have started cracking on the fingers, like my mom's. Darn cold weather!
~~~~~~~~
A part of me wants to move closer to State College...another part of me likes where I am just fine. I guess I'm in the honeymoon faze of Jon's new job at Penn State...but even the UU church has an actual building, preschool, etc! Oh, if only we could have that movement down here! sigh, sigh, sigh...
I missed the service but it was about same sex marriage. I wish I could have at least heard it...I think in some other churchs they piped in the service (or even record it!)...may have to reccomend this. Anyway, one bit was interesting that Jon related to me: Apparently, in this one state (Indiana?) they were not going to allow same sex couples to adopt and tried to pass this on a bill. So, the democrats got together and proposed a bill saying "Republicans should not be allowed to adopt". That was pretty funny and shows how absurd it is to not allow people to adopt.
I have to stop here for a moment and say, I'm so proud of Jon, I really am. I have to mention something...when Jon was a young college guy working on his thesis, he wrote about how California (around the 1920's)would force people to have sterilization for being Hispanic or of some ethnicity or African American, poor, "retarded", gay, mentally ill, etc. He did an excellent paper on how if you were labeled one of the above you lost ALL your rights to reproduce. Very scary times and unfortunately, we're starting to see a bit of this again with recent laws saying women (who are not married) won't be allowed to use sperm banks. This is wrong because it's saying you can't reproduce because of Big Governments ideas of what makes a family a family. This is so wrong and this is why so many women and men are against limiting choice as well. It's about saying "Hey! This is my body. My Family. My life. You can't force me to have an abortion like China, you can't take away my choice either. You can't say whether or not I should have children." It's about saying you are in control of you. Choice and having control over your body is like having control over your bank account. If you want to withdraw some money and spend it on books and groceries, you can. Or if you want to save your money and buy a house, you can. Also, having someone else be in control of your body or say your bank account or say your living quarters is reminiscent of a much darker period of time in Europe and the US...namely what started WWII and killed millions of people for no reason then the leader didn't like their culture/religion. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look up WWII at the library and you can read about it.
Also, why is it most women who use sperm banks get demonized but men who donate sperm are looked upon as bettering society? It's the same old story, isn't it?
~~~~~~~~~~
Anyway, after church we went home and got ready for a driving trip to State College. It was so nice to see the country side even with bare trees and a somewhat steel gray clouds cast upon the land. We even took Mr. Nelson. He sat on my lap the entire time and looked just like the phrase "gun shot". We slowed down to look at some cows near a fence and Lydia, Norrie and Mr. Nelson got a good look. Nelson even started to growl at the cows. Silly dog.
Then we drove on and saw what looked like turkey or giant crows but were some sort of vultures (four) feasting on a carcass of a deer. Kind of gross and kind of interesting. I'm glad Jon didn't turn the car around to see it again, however.
We drove on and found the landscape turning from rural farms to yuppie homes on what once were farms to pretentious housing developments or McMansions as we call them (sorry, if I offended anyone...but it's true). I hope some Amish buy the land around there instead of land developers...Apparently, the Amish go in and buy up old rundown farms and rejuvenate the place up. I like that.
We then went to Wegmans, a trendy organic market and "oooed" and "ahh-ed" over various gourmet delights, organic dreams and "wowed" at the candy display. Still, it's not as great as the specialty stuff found at Trader Joe's and it's not as refined as Mother's Market or Wild Oats, but it will definitely do. I liked that it's a combo of both and the prices weren't horrible or anything. They didn't have Bulgarian cheese (Jon asked previously), so that's a few points off! ;) I got some brie cheese, lots of crackers, sour dough bread (it was STILL warm to the touch), California rolls (Jon grabbed that) and even a donut shaped chewy for Nelson. I think the cat litter was actually cheaper there and bigger, so that's a plus. I’m ashamed to admit I stuffed my face full of rosemary/thyme potato chips…they were SO good. Thankfully, I bought two bags...but they are not big bags.
I wish they had a sit down area to eat and relax. They had patio stuff in front but it was only a display. It would be a nice touch to have something like that. I wanted to try their soups but they were freaking expensive...still, they looked good.
I have to admit I was amazed to see things I've been hunting for right there...like this lavender soap I read about in Bust magazine...right on the shelves! And rice paper for Spring rolls, right there in the Asian food section. I was amazed. I've been hunting for that probably for six months. So, I grabbed two packages.
I started feeling a bit out of place...or a bit overwhelmed...I don't know what. I had to laugh at the carts with coffee cup holders and there were lots of cutesy signs to drive 25 and keep kids alive (very valid by the way) or wind advisory stuff and putting carts back in place. I saw a mix of lovely people, couples of all varieties and grumpy looking people eyeing my basket full of plastic and they were holding cotton/canvas bags with their precious items. It was nice to go into the parking lot and see not one but about 10 Kerry for president bumper stickers. That's when I felt a bit better. We were getting hungry and spent a bit more then we intended but at least it's going to a store that seems to be on the up and up.
I even got a tea pot...why? It was really cute and white. It has a tea strainer built in and is so pretty. Plus, I've been thinking about teapots and wanted one besides my metal stove tea pot. I'm going to have to make a tea cozy for it.
I cannot believe it, but I woke up at 6:30am today. I had to make a bean bag toss game. I feel a bit guilty as I promised to have this game for another event but didn't make it. So, today I made it, quilted it and made the bean bags all before church. It's really cute and the kids liked it too. I actually had fun making it and am thinking of an alternative with flaps and little prizes under the flaps for kids to win at Lydia's b-day party. It's basically a match the color game (no competition) of two colors red and white. I think the next one will have five colors and matching bean bags to toss.
Lydia's birthday is April 5th and I have to think up what to do for her party. She loves pirates and something else (but I forgot). So, I'm thinking of making it a pirate combo party. I don't like the idea of swords so, I might use Captain feather sword of the Wiggles for inspiration.
Everyone is sleeping right now. We have to get ready in about twenty minutes to go to grandparents for the evening. What a long day...
I'm nervous about Spring but I relish the thought of planting and gardening and, goodness, humidity. The wind is so cold right now and my winter coat is in the wash. I'm shivering at the thought of going up to the grandparents house...I hope soup is on the menu. Also, my hands have started cracking on the fingers, like my mom's. Darn cold weather!
~~~~~~~~
A part of me wants to move closer to State College...another part of me likes where I am just fine. I guess I'm in the honeymoon faze of Jon's new job at Penn State...but even the UU church has an actual building, preschool, etc! Oh, if only we could have that movement down here! sigh, sigh, sigh...
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