Welcome to whoever finds this journal. The vast majority of posts are filtered - as an educator and a parent, I have to be careful as to what information I allow out there. If you would like to be added, please comment and I will happily take a look at who your LJ presence says you are and see if we're compatible. I don't always comment much, but I read all personal LJ entries on my FL.

Conversation and debate is welcome, but I insist on politeness and an acceptance of diversity. This journal is GLBT-friendly, liberal, and while I am spiritual I am cynical of organised religion. That said, some of my best friends are church-going Christians, so it doesn't stop me from enjoying people's company. :-)

For the most part, I'm pretty boring. Being a new mum, much of what I write focuses around my family and my work. This journal is, and always has been, a means for me to record my activities and responses to things. Entertaining people is secondary to that, although I do have my moments. :-D I also horribly abuse the ellipse and the emoticon. :-P

There is something evil smelling in my fridge... and I CAN'T FIND IT!

Argh!

There's nothing in there that should smell like this. I've checked every piece of food, every container... nothing!

Next step... completely empty the fridge and decontaminate it with bleach.

Evil, evil stench!

I may not always agree to where you've been sent, or why, but I will always respect and honour your willingness to put life, limb, and peace of mind on the line. Thank you for the sacrifices you make to safeguard our peace, and for trying to bring the safety and security we can take for granted to those for whom it's a distant dream.

Thank you.

I am torn between believing that telepathic/telempathic communication between individuals would solve so many problems and that it would totally destroy mankind.

Ok, so I know several people who use Etsy to sell their wares.

Enter the "parody" site: http://www.regretsy.com/

Actual Etsy postings which are then mocked... mostly for good reason.

Who in their right mind MAKES a fish in a squirrel suit taxidermy, let alone expects people to buy it?

Warning... some of the images/commentary are NSFW.

*shamelessly ganked from mockingbirdq*

Oh for heaven's sake!

I had really not intended for my busy week to be streamlined quite this much!

Sick Wednesday through Friday myself, leading to the cancellation of one of my courses, then the boy sick today leading to me rushing home to get him from daycare and thus missing another one of my courses.

Bah.

Poor sproglet. Fever and chills. He's bundled on the couch with a hot pack and a movie. Hopefully he feels better soon.

These kids were inspired. This was a lot of work and practice and it's Monty Python worthy.

Please read this LJ Security Post. My account was one of the affected, which means that it was probably something I viewed from my friends list.

This means that it's likely that at least some of you have the same issue.

http://news.livejournal.com/117957.html

I have deleted the embedded code... and have a support ticket in to LJ to find out if there's anything else I need to do... any other damage I need to repair. I'll let you know when I find out.

Indecision. I am starting a new Sourdough Starter... and I don't know what to name it! My last two starters were "Bob" and "Bob Mark II"... what shall I call #3? By all means add names I haven't thought of in the comments. :-D

Poll #1456206 What to Name my Starter.
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

What should I name my Sourdough Starter?

You know you're a mother when...

...while you are at the car dealership waiting for them to check your brakes you are sitting working on a kid's cross-stitch Christmas stocking, pulling your thread out of a re-purposed Robeez bag, and cutting your thread with a pair of Crayola scissors.

Incidentally, the Robeez bags are AWESOME for packaging up your thread for a travel project. Small, clear, heavy-duty, flexible, zippered plastic case... yay!

For those of you with:

a) bread machines (or make bread the old-fashioned way)
b) children who need lunches for school
c) picky husbands who need things for lunches

I have a really easy, yummy lunch you can make for them.

Make dough. Let it rise the requisite number of times before the final rise/bake.

Shape dough into small balls to make buns. Spread top with Prego pasta sauce, or any other marinara sauce of your choice (crushed tomatoes with some herbs and garlic added works too). Let rise until doubled. Spread top with some more marinara sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan and/or grated cheddar, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

You can also add some various bits and pieces like some shredded ham or well chopped veggies.

Both the Whelpling and the Husband adore these. You can also roll the dough out into a rectangle, spread the center with the sauce, sprinkle with the cheese, roll it up like a jelly roll and put it into a loaf pan, rise and bake as per a normal loaf. Let cool completely before removing from pan.

The Whelpling is sobbing and hiccuping in his room:

"It's not sleep time yet, it's not sleep time yet!"

Yes, dear child, it is. You didn't nap today, were falling asleep in your high chair at dinner time, and were up at 530 this morning.

I'm sorry to leave you in bed so upset... but I know from experience that my staying in the room means you will not sleep. I am feeling so incredibly lucky right now that your outrage and sense of how terribly unjust the world is hinges on something so benign as your mother putting you to bed when you'd rather not go.

I wish I could say that all your tears will be from so harmless a cause. But for right now, it is enough for me that I can keep real fear, real harm from you. And when you do end up with hurts that are from more than denied childhood wishes, you will always have sympathy and a pair of loving arms to turn to.

I love you, little boy.

Now shut the hell up and go to sleep.

So... split second decision time.

Your grandmother is lifting her 2.5 year old great-grandchild down an 8" step onto a concrete walkway. Bending over like that (she's on top of the step), she overbalances and starts to fall. Do you grab a) your 83-year-old grandmother or b) your child?

I grabbed for my grandmother, since 2.5 year olds are hardy creatures and the worst would be a skinned knee or goose-egg, as opposed to broken bones, but damn...

How to gently tell my grandmother to stop trying to lift her great-grandkids? Luckily my sister and I are really laid back about bonks and bruises on our children, so we don't worry TOO much on that front, but her balance is so poor that she really shouldn't be carrying them. Which makes her really upset because she wants to hold and cuddle them, and doesn't want to admit that her balance is going and she's falling far too much.

This is the text from the back of my package of elastics...

"TPU band made of Urethane. This band world famous poly urethane made band. Specification none toxic, none abrasion, none break and more, beautiful color 50's more. Anywhere useful bandage for clean & beautiful life feeling. Specially, Hair styles various kind changeable with beautiful color. Details under & more by your purpose."

Yummy steak marinade:

Balsamic vinegar
Apple cider vinegar
Oil
Montreal Steak spice
Brown Sugar
Sun Dried Tomato and Oregano salad dressing.

Just found about $200 worth of gift cards, and $150 worth of birthday money from my birthday LAST year...

Gods, I'm bad at doing/getting things for myself.

I now have a medium sized chest freezer plugged into the outdoor outlet on my back deck. It is white and shiny and will do a good job at reducing the food bill for this house as I can buy meat in bulk when it's cheap and freeze the damn stuff.

I may even be persuaded to keep ice cream in the house now that it won't be taking up 1/3 of a drawer.

Happy birthday to me! Thank you to my MIL, my FIL and my Grandfather.

Rhys has been waking up with nightmares the past few nights. I am not really able to sooth him... he's been dreaming about "bugs" in the bed with him (which is interesting, as he likes bugs during the day). The only thing that's been helping has been Frazer coming into the room, saying "is there another bug, budddy?" to which there's a sobbing "yes" and then Frazer makes a quick grab into the bed saying "got it!", after which Rhys can go back to sleep.

Frazer loves that his son responds like that for him.