Artemis

I don't know how many of you watch the television show Related. I enjoy it. It isn't the best show out there, but it is good none the less. And with the WB combing with the UPN next year and it being in its first year, I am not sure it will make the cut. But it makes me laugh and reminds me of my sisters. It is a show about 4 sisters (Ginny, Ann, Margie and Rose) that lost their mother about 14 years ago and are dealing with their father's new marriage, their love lives and now, as last night's show was about, the loss of the oldest sister's unborn child. Being me, I, of course, cried through most of last night's show. First because Ginny lost the baby. Then because she didn't know how to deal with it, or more so didn't deal with it at all. Then because she took it out on her sister Ann for having an abortion years before and told her that she at least had a choice, but she wanted this baby and didn't have a choice. But in the end, what made me cry t...

I have a new exercise for everyone. It's called the Crib Sheet Challenge. As a baby, S2 (who turned 5 months yesterday) spits up a lot, so her sheet was covered in spit up and needed to be changed. Here is how my thought process went yesterday as I did this exercise. "Time to change the sheet. First take off the dirty sheet and crib liner (aka mattress pad). Done. Next put on the clean crib liner. Sounds easy enough. I got on 3 of the corners, now the 4th. Does this even fit the mattress? Pull harder. Damn, my hand doesn't fit in these slots, how do I do this? Lift the mattress. Can't do it, I'm too short. Pull harder, almost there. Got it! Great. Whew! Damn, that was just the liner. Now the clean sheet. Okay, I can do this. Pull out the crib from the wall, that will make it easier. 3 corners down, now the 4th. Damn, this one doesn't fit either. Okay, here we go again. Ease it on. Pull the sheet. Little by little, okay, almost there. I got it on the corner, now...

I bought a digital camera today. It is a simple point and shoot digital camera, nothing fancy. I wanted something to use for taking snapshots and to email my family and friends. I am unsure about the purchase. And not for the usual reasons etiher. I don't have buyer's remorse because the price was right. I don't think it was a bad choice, I think it was perfect for what I want to use it for. The reason I am unsure is because I feel guilty. I feel like I am abandoning my camera. My old faithful. My love. I know that I have a problem with becoming attached to inanimate objects. But this is different. For one thing, I am a film girl and I am pretty sure I always will be. I was taught all about digital cameras and I know there are many pros to them, but I love film. They make beautiful quality pictures and I love the excitement of picking up my film or developing it myself and viewing my photograph for the first time. Another thing is that my camera is my first real camera. It ...

I just finished reading jm's blog. It was just what I needed to hear. She made me realize that the only person I need to like me is me. I am who I am. And to be quite honest, I like me. Hell, I love me. So why don't I stand up for myself and what I believe? Because I have always been too scared of what others will think of me. But I need to change that, starting right now. I am not going to worry about others, if they can't love and respect me for who I am, my beliefs and all, then that is their problem, not mine. So going back to something I said two entries ago ("I am sorry that I struck a nerve in some people..."), I am not sorry. I wasn't sorry then and I am not sorry now. Everything else I said in that entry still holds true, but the fact is that I said what I believe and I am not taking it back. I am not apologizing for my beliefs. I am embracing them and finally standing up for myself. I still welcome the controversy. I love debating issues and hearing ...

I went to Vermont over the weekend with the family I work for, which is the reason for my absence from my blog. It was an okay time. The best part about it was that I got to see Bdoc and though it was brief, it was wonderful. And the worst part... well, first let me explain something. I have been sick more often since I have worked for this family than I have ever been before in a 4 month period. It started with a stomache virus while in Florida on my first Thanksgiving away from home. Then it was a terrible cold, then the actual flu. I am much healthier than ever before (exercising 3-4 times a week; eating healthy; cutting out sweets; etc.) and yet I still keep getting sick. I think living with a child that brings home every sickness possible has something to do with it. Anyway, back to the point. I got food poisoning while in Vermont. And not just me, first it hit me and the mother I work for before going to bed (at 8 pm), then the father and his brother in the middle of the night an...

Another news article on the topic of selling land. My entry yesterday recieved much more attention than I anticipated. I use my blog as a way to say what is on my mind, which is often venting. Since I am in a strange place, I spend much of my time brushing up on news, especially environmental news, which is why it so often ends up the topic of my entries. I am sorry that I struck a nerve in some people, it was a much bitchier blog than usual, however, it is my blog, so I will continue to use it to say whatever seems important at the time. As for the war, I understand that our administration is trying to supply our demand for oil, but that does not make war okay. I will always view war as pointless, not matter what the reason. And as for what we can do, there is so much we can do. It worries me when people think there is nothing we can do for our environment. It is all about the little things. If every person in the world, or even just in the U.S. for that matter, did one little thing ...

"Things are pretty bad when, instead of fearing that our government is lying to us, we hope that it is."-- Editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune. Last Friday the Bush administration announced 300,000 acres of national forest (85,000 acres in California alone) that could potentially be sold to make up for logging cutbacks on public lands. This is ridiculous. Once again shithead's administration is trying to do something to benefit themselves, shocking, I know! Maybe if we wouldn't have spent all of our money fighting a war that had no point to begin with, we wouldn't need to come up with stupid proposals. The administration actually said, "In general, these are not areas used frequently by the public and valuable in terms of wildlife." Oh, so that makes it okay for us to destroy natural beauty? And if any wildlife lives there at all (and obviously there is), then it is "valuable in terms of wildlife." And what about plant life, does it mean nothing...

I could use Valentine's Day as a reason to bitch about being single; I have been single for every Valentine's Day in my life. But instead I like to use this day as what it is meant for, a day of love. And I love many people in many different ways, so it doesn't matter if I am single. So Happy Valentine's Day to all. And to all my friends and family, I love you. Have a great day!

We got slammed with snow and lots of it. I am not sure how much is out there, but I know there is about 3 feet on the patio furniture. We probably have about a foot and a half, but with the way the wind blew it around, it is much deeper in some areas. And the problem we are facing is leaving the house. We are not sure we will be able to, not even tomorrow. The father is out of town and will not return until late tomorrow night. The mother and I are wondering what we can do. They have a snow blower, but we don't know how to use it. If we do use it and break it, the father will be furious. We can shovel the snow, but with it being as deep as I am tall in some spots, that will be quite the task, especially with their huge driveway. The snow is really wet and heavy, it is bringing down tree branches and I simply don't have enough upper arm strength for this kind of snow. So when the mother and I try to tackle the task, I don't know how far we can get. I strongly believe that a ...

1 am. I can't sleep. I am not sure why. Maybe its because it is storming outside, the wind is howling and when I wake there will be a foot of fresh snow on the ground. Maybe it is because I have a lot of people on my mind, ones I haven't seen in months, years. Or maybe it is because I don't want to sleep. I am having a lot of dreams lately, not bad ones, but ones that make me get lost in the thought the next day. And sleeping is lonely. I turn off the lights, it is dark and I lay there thinking of all that I am missing out on this far away. And when I don't have to wake up at 6 am the next morning and work a 12.5 hour day, it is nice to stay up late simply because I can. And at 1 am, the house is quiet, no crying baby or whining 5 year old, it is almost like I am here alone. I know if I read a book or turn on the tv and lay down, I will eventually fall asleep. But I am trying to keep myself busy, hence the entry about nothing. Sometimes I feel like I have something to s...

The Bush administration is reviewing whether polar bears should be listed as a threatened species due to habitat degredation caused by global warming. Their homes are melting away because of humans. This is the first consideration of its kind and it makes me sad. I think that the bears need to be put on the list so we don't cause their extinction, but the fact that global warming is now so bad that we need to start protecting animals from what we are doing to them is disappointing. It is sad that we didn't do something sooner so it wouldn't have to come to this. But here we are. We have made things so bad. And now we are left with the consequences. U.S. eyes protecting polar bears from warming

I got a shock on Friday. My employer said "I have been meaning to talk to you about something" (a version of the words "we need to talk" which usually means nothing good). I had no clue what she was going to say. I thought it would be bad, but could think of nothing that I had done wrong. They (she and the father) had a discussion and decided that I deserved a raise. This was not expected at all. When I was hired for the job, it was agreed that after 6 months they would consider giving me a raise and then another after a year if I decided to stay longer. I have only been working for 4 months and they are now paying me what they agreed to pay me after a year. Which makes me wonder what they will pay me if I stay for longer than a year? Hmmm.... They said that since I do so much they felt I should be making more, but this is what they want to do for now. Part of me is thinking, "oh my god, this is too much money." But when I think about all I do and all the ...

When I started working as a nanny I had to get a flu shot. Doctor's orders for anyone around a newborn baby. Great. Last time I got a flu shot, I got the flu. I worked with children for 4 years and one year I decided I should get one. They say for some people, when you get the flu shot, you may still get the flu, it just won't be as severe. What do they know? They can't tell how bad it will be. Well, I think I have the flu again. And I am not talking about the stomache flu that everyone thinks the flu really is (it's not, although I had that since the shot too). I am talking about the real flu, influenza. I had all the symptoms, the aches, cough, headache, stomache ache, had every single one of them. It is suppose to last 7-10 days. Yep, that seems right. Today is the tenth day and I am finally feeling better. Still a little congested (in the nose and chest) but I am feeling about 99% better. So I don't know about all of you, but I think the flu shot is a hoax. Mayb...