Saturday, June 19, 2010
One of the best days of my life :D
LB started his Saturday teaching gig again today, 12.30p-11pm. He left this morning at 9 to do recycling, then finally at 11.30 to get to campus. This has pretty much been the most amount of one-on-one time I've had with NMTB, ever! LB has been w/o steady work since 2008 and just recently got a job, pending the pre-employment physical (a military injury might prevent him getting the job, even though the military just denied him increased disability). With me already working FT, this would mean NMTB would end up in daycare. He's so social and all that, only the little things worry me (will he handle the new environment, is the place clean, will they cloth diaper...). I did put in for a new job that is strictly work from home (it's legit) and my stuff is in HR with them. If I get that, I'll take it, because it'll pay ~$10-15K more, which is sorely needed to pay off debts and get us on the road to #2. But today has been such a fantastic day with NMTB that I'm really really jealous of people who can afford to be SAHPs. It's just been so fantastic being with him, seeing how he plays, seeing him learn things the first or second time I show him and the snuggle time :) Ah....
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Sunday afternoon with the boys and FIFA
Wow, 4 months since my last post. I guess I'm not that good at keeping the WWW abreast of my life. Well, outside of Facebook ... those privacy-stealing buggers.
Let's see ... what's new...
NMTB is gigantic and consuming more food than we are growing. Not too big of a surprise since we only get 3-4 cherry tomatoes and up to 5 string beans a week. He's off the goat milk and was drinking a local, big dairy's organic milk. One day though we all got really sick and figured out it had to have been that Alta Dena milk. I've had milk allergies since I was young, coming and going depending on the milk quality (i.e., hormones, antibiotics, etc). Let me tell you how much I hate the FDA and their claims that no significant difference in the milk from cows treated with or without rBST/rBGH has been found. I know there is within 12h of consuming the former and would be happy to testify about the minimum 72h lingering aftereffects of that milk. Our local nutrition store, as it turns out, was sued successfully for $10M (that's million) for selling raw milk. Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that one out. And, unlike our co-op market in Washington, they no longer sell unhomogenized milk in glass bottles since customers found it to be a hassle and weren't returning the bottles. *eye roll* Since we joined a group here that has organized cooperative buying (buying club) for organic produce from a wholesale distributor, I figured I'd ask them if they knew of any local dairies selling their milk straight from the farm. Despite CA's progressive nature, laws here are pretty stringent regarding the sale of milk. Some raw milk farms have gone under due to campaigning by industrial dairies in this area. The only farm-direct source now would be to buy a share of a dairy cow. We're not exactly rolling in the dough these days, what with my meager scientist salary (pitiful) and LB's continued unemployment. To make an already long digressing story short, we found a grocer near the university (not the one I work for) that sells both raw milk AND unhomogenized milk in glass bottles. Jackpot! Sure this stuff is pricey ($7/half-gal and $4/half-gal, respectively), but for the nutrition that hasn't been filtered and cooked out, it is well worth it. LB calls it NMTB's liquid buttah.
Some more good news ... LB finally got work! He'll be an engineering tech for the county. This is great news and really comes at a good time. We're both kind of in a funk, him having not worked in over 1.5y, me in a job that was supposed to be the segue into industry that is totally flopping. I struggle nearly every day with whether I should just tough it out or find something more satisfying that doesn't involve the kind of things I do (i.e., move away from research but stay in science, like education). California isn't exactly the state you want to be in if you want to be a teacher, unfortunately. Anyway, we're on the road to some freedom with his newfound job, even if it means that NTMB has to go into daycare. For now.
Let's see ... what's new...
NMTB is gigantic and consuming more food than we are growing. Not too big of a surprise since we only get 3-4 cherry tomatoes and up to 5 string beans a week. He's off the goat milk and was drinking a local, big dairy's organic milk. One day though we all got really sick and figured out it had to have been that Alta Dena milk. I've had milk allergies since I was young, coming and going depending on the milk quality (i.e., hormones, antibiotics, etc). Let me tell you how much I hate the FDA and their claims that no significant difference in the milk from cows treated with or without rBST/rBGH has been found. I know there is within 12h of consuming the former and would be happy to testify about the minimum 72h lingering aftereffects of that milk. Our local nutrition store, as it turns out, was sued successfully for $10M (that's million) for selling raw milk. Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that one out. And, unlike our co-op market in Washington, they no longer sell unhomogenized milk in glass bottles since customers found it to be a hassle and weren't returning the bottles. *eye roll* Since we joined a group here that has organized cooperative buying (buying club) for organic produce from a wholesale distributor, I figured I'd ask them if they knew of any local dairies selling their milk straight from the farm. Despite CA's progressive nature, laws here are pretty stringent regarding the sale of milk. Some raw milk farms have gone under due to campaigning by industrial dairies in this area. The only farm-direct source now would be to buy a share of a dairy cow. We're not exactly rolling in the dough these days, what with my meager scientist salary (pitiful) and LB's continued unemployment. To make an already long digressing story short, we found a grocer near the university (not the one I work for) that sells both raw milk AND unhomogenized milk in glass bottles. Jackpot! Sure this stuff is pricey ($7/half-gal and $4/half-gal, respectively), but for the nutrition that hasn't been filtered and cooked out, it is well worth it. LB calls it NMTB's liquid buttah.
Some more good news ... LB finally got work! He'll be an engineering tech for the county. This is great news and really comes at a good time. We're both kind of in a funk, him having not worked in over 1.5y, me in a job that was supposed to be the segue into industry that is totally flopping. I struggle nearly every day with whether I should just tough it out or find something more satisfying that doesn't involve the kind of things I do (i.e., move away from research but stay in science, like education). California isn't exactly the state you want to be in if you want to be a teacher, unfortunately. Anyway, we're on the road to some freedom with his newfound job, even if it means that NTMB has to go into daycare. For now.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Tuesday posting
Another random posting...
LB and I have settled in nicely and have a good rhythm for our daily routine. NMTB has grown a ton, is eating a great diversity of foods and runs a round like the wind, chasing the dogs and getting into all sorts of trouble. We've recently found ourselves "lost" on the weekends... we recall all the good times we would have Sunday mornings at church, setting aside that day for being outside, taking the dogs to the park, picking berries while they covered the scents left by other dogs. Hopefully in a few months, NMTB will be able to walk well enough that we won't have to take him in the stroller and then can let the dogs go crazy on our walks in the canyons. Of course, by then, it'll be a million degrees here ... not the most pleasant weather to go hiking. But, maybe that'll open up an avenue to exploring other places :)
LB and I have settled in nicely and have a good rhythm for our daily routine. NMTB has grown a ton, is eating a great diversity of foods and runs a round like the wind, chasing the dogs and getting into all sorts of trouble. We've recently found ourselves "lost" on the weekends... we recall all the good times we would have Sunday mornings at church, setting aside that day for being outside, taking the dogs to the park, picking berries while they covered the scents left by other dogs. Hopefully in a few months, NMTB will be able to walk well enough that we won't have to take him in the stroller and then can let the dogs go crazy on our walks in the canyons. Of course, by then, it'll be a million degrees here ... not the most pleasant weather to go hiking. But, maybe that'll open up an avenue to exploring other places :)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Countdown to a New Decade
Four hours to go until we reached 2010. The kid and the man are both sick, and I'll have to work the weekend. But, on the upside, I'll have some explosively awesome data to show at Monday's meeting. This is pretty much how my life is ... take care of what I can in the home between approximately 6pm and 8am and generate sweet data and make magical images between 8am and 6pm. Of course, these hours vary ... sometimes it's 8am to 10pm that the magic of data acquisition, figure development, grant writing, ideation, etc occurs. Thinking about all this goes on just about 24h a day. I dream this. I drive and do not see the road (my subconscious is clearly responsible for getting me from A to B safely) but instead picture how to improve technically or how to best write the goals of specific aims, I walk the hallways, head down, thinking just how to interpret that data set. The relief I get from this usually comes from cooking or sitting in a playpen with the kid. I do get the occasional chase to race a cow or shoot alien space craft attempting to whisk my Mii away, and I do make time for the family. There's only one chance at this family, at watching the kid grow and to foster my relationship with the man. For grants, data and all that, there's always tomorrow. Sure, according to the German saying "Morgen, morgen, nur nicht Heute, sagen alle faule Leute" (tomorrow, tomorrow, just not today say all the lazy people), I should not delay this work. But I value my growing value and want it to be stronger than anything. This desire for a strong family needs to be balanced with work, naturally, so that I can provide for them by getting a kick ass faculty position in a few years. For now, I'll just be happy with what I've got and say Adieu to 2009 and Ciao to writing any more! Happy New Year!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Chilling in Napa
It's been slightly over a week since our rendezvous in Napa, so it's probably about time I write about it! We met up with our friends, whom we'll call Cindy & Brandon. After dropping their kids off with their grandparents, we took a drive out to the wineries. The landscape of Napa is bewildering and beautiful. Grapevines neatly set in rows as far as the eye can see, wineries every few hundred feet, selling their specialties and advertising tastings and crushings. We stopped at a little deli that, we were told, is at or near 100 years old, and makes and sells all sorts of yummy treats. After browsing the selection, our party got two sandwiches and two little sides to take with us to another winery to dine under some shade trees. Although this was 'strictly' forbidden by the signage at the winery, we and others still brought in food from outside. It was not the price that kept our friends from purchasing food at the winery's deli, but rather the folklore that, at an event years ago, a customer was (somehow) served a rat carcass. What must the kitchen staff who placed the carcass upon the bread have thought... "Ah, this piece of roast beef is oddly chunkier than the others I have prepared..." Scary. (This surely sets the stage for another blog post, one where I discuss the realities of dining out and not knowing where your food comes from or who (or what) has handled it.)
After this delicious meal, the wine began to pour. I, as always, was the unspoken designated driver for my caravan of three. On a daily basis it does not really occur to me that I must abstain from alcohol, but having to miss out on things like wine tasting in Napa, Oktoberfest in Munich, celebrating the coming of the Super Bowl or the glass of beer or wine that accompanies a well-prepared meal ... these things pain me. I suppose, though, that I'm lucky enough to be able to enjoy these things by proxy and always encouraging Lucas to try an interesting drink so that I may sniff of the aroma. This digression aside, the wine tasting went off without a hitch and I took Nikko to explore the property. He, of course, found the one thing in all of a winery he might be able to enjoy. At first, I thought what an odd thing it was to have these rounded infant flip flops in the gift shop. What it is, though, is a coaster for your stemware that merely looks like a misshapen flip-flop. Nikko picked out his favorite (green/blue with a bow and mini seashells) and off we went, leaving our friends and Lucas to enjoy their purveying. We happened upon a fountain that captivated the attention of my tired and no doubt confused and over-stimulated little man. The novelty and inherent tranquility put Nikko at ease, as he just studied the stone shape spitting water out that top that landed below making splashy sounds. And there, he drifted off into a short but sweet slumber...
We packed up and, due to the continued slumbering of the underage attendee, we drove around wine country to allow for a 'proper' nap. Boy, what a sight! But what work it must be, the experience that one must have to run such a business, and how sweet the rewards are when you find success. Visiting such a place must be done in person, as no description or individual's point of view would suffice to convey the complexity, vastness, diversity and beauty of the landscape, nevermind the variety of wines one might enjoy! We came upon another winery, this one smaller than the previous and having sentimental importance to our friends, who had their post-Hawaiian wedding reception in the garden here. Despite his nap, Nikko was just not having this, even though he got some much needed exercise on (what turned out to be wet) grass just outside the tasting room. The visit was short, but certainly provided sufficient wine to accurately judge the harvest and concocting of infusions. As is the case in the mid-afternoon, the "I must be in my crib, on my sheepskin, for my nap, NOW" tantrum began and we made our way back to the grandparents house.
Surprise, surprise, a new environment and Nikko suddenly has all sorts of sprightly energy. We met Brandon's parents and were greeted by Logan and Makedah. It was really neat and cute to see how Logan played with little 6 month old Nikko and the duplo/lego blocks. Makedah was quite active, bouncing between sitting on a speaker (haha) and garnishing attention from her grandfather. She did eventually concede to put clothes on in order to go home. After a very relaxing finish to a wonderful day, we headed back to our hotel to prepare for another trip further into the Southland.
After this delicious meal, the wine began to pour. I, as always, was the unspoken designated driver for my caravan of three. On a daily basis it does not really occur to me that I must abstain from alcohol, but having to miss out on things like wine tasting in Napa, Oktoberfest in Munich, celebrating the coming of the Super Bowl or the glass of beer or wine that accompanies a well-prepared meal ... these things pain me. I suppose, though, that I'm lucky enough to be able to enjoy these things by proxy and always encouraging Lucas to try an interesting drink so that I may sniff of the aroma. This digression aside, the wine tasting went off without a hitch and I took Nikko to explore the property. He, of course, found the one thing in all of a winery he might be able to enjoy. At first, I thought what an odd thing it was to have these rounded infant flip flops in the gift shop. What it is, though, is a coaster for your stemware that merely looks like a misshapen flip-flop. Nikko picked out his favorite (green/blue with a bow and mini seashells) and off we went, leaving our friends and Lucas to enjoy their purveying. We happened upon a fountain that captivated the attention of my tired and no doubt confused and over-stimulated little man. The novelty and inherent tranquility put Nikko at ease, as he just studied the stone shape spitting water out that top that landed below making splashy sounds. And there, he drifted off into a short but sweet slumber...
We packed up and, due to the continued slumbering of the underage attendee, we drove around wine country to allow for a 'proper' nap. Boy, what a sight! But what work it must be, the experience that one must have to run such a business, and how sweet the rewards are when you find success. Visiting such a place must be done in person, as no description or individual's point of view would suffice to convey the complexity, vastness, diversity and beauty of the landscape, nevermind the variety of wines one might enjoy! We came upon another winery, this one smaller than the previous and having sentimental importance to our friends, who had their post-Hawaiian wedding reception in the garden here. Despite his nap, Nikko was just not having this, even though he got some much needed exercise on (what turned out to be wet) grass just outside the tasting room. The visit was short, but certainly provided sufficient wine to accurately judge the harvest and concocting of infusions. As is the case in the mid-afternoon, the "I must be in my crib, on my sheepskin, for my nap, NOW" tantrum began and we made our way back to the grandparents house.
Surprise, surprise, a new environment and Nikko suddenly has all sorts of sprightly energy. We met Brandon's parents and were greeted by Logan and Makedah. It was really neat and cute to see how Logan played with little 6 month old Nikko and the duplo/lego blocks. Makedah was quite active, bouncing between sitting on a speaker (haha) and garnishing attention from her grandfather. She did eventually concede to put clothes on in order to go home. After a very relaxing finish to a wonderful day, we headed back to our hotel to prepare for another trip further into the Southland.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Over the valley and through the woods
CAUTION: This one contains some colorful language...
Today was our last major driving day before three relaxing days in the mountains. The day started with Baja barking and waking us all up, after a tough night with Nikko, who ended up sleeping in bed with us instead of his new love, the pack n’ play with lambskin blanket/cover-thing-a-majig. The dogs were taken out while Lucas fedNikko Nikko
Today was our last major driving day before three relaxing days in the mountains. The day started with Baja barking and waking us all up, after a tough night with Nikko, who ended up sleeping in bed with us instead of his new love, the pack n’ play with lambskin blanket/cover-thing-a-majig. The dogs were taken out while Lucas fed
Unfortunately, this was not the end of our experience with crap today. As I sat feeding Nikko
After packing the car and changing Nikko Nikko slept most of the way, until we got to Upland Montana
And for now, that’s it! We’ve had a great time during our trip from WA to CA, despite the baby tantrums and the adult issues. We loved visiting friends in Napa
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Scary times on I-5 in California.
9-26-2009
We set out this morning from Yreka, smuggling one of the dogs out of the room so as not to have to pay the additional overnight pet fee, which I was overcharged for anyway with the other dog. On our merry way we went, Nikko falling asleep shortly after we filled up the cars and we were making good time. We were about one hour away from Vacaville, the next stop on our journey, when Nikko started stirring, wanting food. So we pulled into a very nice rest area and set up lunch. Peanut butter and jelly on oat-nut bread, soup (-in-hand), hard-boiled (baked, actually) eggs, apples and some cool, fresh water. Nikko loved being under the tree, seeing and hearing new things. The dogs finally had some time to wander, drink water and beg for food. Of course, since they'd rejected their food for the last two days, I handed over two eggs to each of them and they gobbled them up effortlessly. At one point, I had heard a bird, which in and of itself is not unusual, but it was the call itself that struck me. And there, on the barbed wire fence separating a grove of fruit trees from the rest area was a cockatiel! Lucas, on my request, went to offer it the apple core, which it was not up for, and a piece of the bread which it chowed down on rather quickly. I was stunned that someone would just let a bird free like that at a rest stop or that they might have lost it during their trip. I wondered how it would survive, undoubtedly having little to no natural survival instinct left and likely clipped wings. Would a cat or predatory bird take it? What was life like with no one of your kind around? No sooner had I shared my thoughts about this that it came swooping over to us, with its long white wings, and perched itself in the tree that provided us shade in the 107 degree heat. And there it sat, not begging, and looking very healthy, clean, young, and content. I tossed up another piece of bread, or rather bits of a whole piece, then went back to our table, ready to make our way to our next and final stop for the day. On our way to the cars, another group of travelers sat at another table under a tree. They had discovered their own exotic bird in that tree! Amazing! It was a treat indeed. And off we went, knowing that just 70 miles away lay our destination ... just 1h.
As we drove down I-5, Nikko snoozing happily (which makes the chauffeur very happy), I pulled out from behind a big rig to pass him on the left. Suddenly, as though from out of nowhere, is a Toyota 4 Runner going what seemed, and likely was, just 35mph! Outrageous! I luckily had already gotten sufficiently ahead of the big rig to pull in to the right lane, and the Ram250 conversion van behind me lucked out similarly. Unfortunately, Lucas was not nearly as lucky, being pinned in behind this nutcase of a driver, cars behind him and the big rig next to him. His only outlet was the gravel median to his left. But at 80mph this is not the best route. I was in the shoulder by then, watching in horror as his Jeep skidded and fishtailed on the sloped median. His car came close to hitting the nearly 10ft high weeds that separated the northbound from the southbound highway. Thankfully, he managed to avoid a totally disastrous accident, one that would likely have been fatal for the dogs. As he attempted to merge back in to the left lane (he still had decent forward motion), the driver of the 4 Runner stared blankly at him as though he were crazy. Lucas stopped and I had him on the walkie talkie, asking if he were ok. Thank heavens, everything was alright. After a couple of minutes to collect ourselves (mostly myself), we headed on. About a half mile down, there was the woman, pulled over on the left, hunched over the steering wheel. I did call 911 after the initial event and then after seeing that to inform them to send out medical services. I think that the big rig managed to get her to pull over, since, before passing me as I sat on the shoulder, he had witnessed what happened to Lucas and was honking his horn at the woman. Who knows what happened to her in the end. But, Nikko was now thoroughly agitated, and thus began the 10min trips.
Around 2pm everyday, Nikko has his moments. These moments consist of extreme fussiness if his demands (play, food, nap) are not met. Something about going more than 20-30mph and driving on a freeway sets off his "get me the hell out of here" instinct and so the hysteria begins. I tell Lucas over the walkie talkie that I need to take the next exit, not so easy since it's a good 10-15mi between exits in this neck of the woods. Nikko meanwhile takes no consolation in me telling him that we're almost there. Once we get there, the bottle and toys come out and all is quite. This kid makes me look like a loon, insisting that he's crying only to pull over and have him be full of smiles. But the tears on his eyelashes give him away. We calm him down and return to the freeway .... but it happens again. And again, and again. By the time we'd made it the 70mi to the hotel, it'd been three hours since our lovely impromptu picnic. And, of course, by that time, Nikko was asleep in the car. Go figure.
But the night was not awash. Nikko got to play on the jumbo king bed for a couple of hours, we had our dinner and now Nikko is asleep on his lambskin inside the pack n play. What a life. Tomorrow is a day off for us but we'll get to visit with friends!
We set out this morning from Yreka, smuggling one of the dogs out of the room so as not to have to pay the additional overnight pet fee, which I was overcharged for anyway with the other dog. On our merry way we went, Nikko falling asleep shortly after we filled up the cars and we were making good time. We were about one hour away from Vacaville, the next stop on our journey, when Nikko started stirring, wanting food. So we pulled into a very nice rest area and set up lunch. Peanut butter and jelly on oat-nut bread, soup (-in-hand), hard-boiled (baked, actually) eggs, apples and some cool, fresh water. Nikko loved being under the tree, seeing and hearing new things. The dogs finally had some time to wander, drink water and beg for food. Of course, since they'd rejected their food for the last two days, I handed over two eggs to each of them and they gobbled them up effortlessly. At one point, I had heard a bird, which in and of itself is not unusual, but it was the call itself that struck me. And there, on the barbed wire fence separating a grove of fruit trees from the rest area was a cockatiel! Lucas, on my request, went to offer it the apple core, which it was not up for, and a piece of the bread which it chowed down on rather quickly. I was stunned that someone would just let a bird free like that at a rest stop or that they might have lost it during their trip. I wondered how it would survive, undoubtedly having little to no natural survival instinct left and likely clipped wings. Would a cat or predatory bird take it? What was life like with no one of your kind around? No sooner had I shared my thoughts about this that it came swooping over to us, with its long white wings, and perched itself in the tree that provided us shade in the 107 degree heat. And there it sat, not begging, and looking very healthy, clean, young, and content. I tossed up another piece of bread, or rather bits of a whole piece, then went back to our table, ready to make our way to our next and final stop for the day. On our way to the cars, another group of travelers sat at another table under a tree. They had discovered their own exotic bird in that tree! Amazing! It was a treat indeed. And off we went, knowing that just 70 miles away lay our destination ... just 1h.
As we drove down I-5, Nikko snoozing happily (which makes the chauffeur very happy), I pulled out from behind a big rig to pass him on the left. Suddenly, as though from out of nowhere, is a Toyota 4 Runner going what seemed, and likely was, just 35mph! Outrageous! I luckily had already gotten sufficiently ahead of the big rig to pull in to the right lane, and the Ram250 conversion van behind me lucked out similarly. Unfortunately, Lucas was not nearly as lucky, being pinned in behind this nutcase of a driver, cars behind him and the big rig next to him. His only outlet was the gravel median to his left. But at 80mph this is not the best route. I was in the shoulder by then, watching in horror as his Jeep skidded and fishtailed on the sloped median. His car came close to hitting the nearly 10ft high weeds that separated the northbound from the southbound highway. Thankfully, he managed to avoid a totally disastrous accident, one that would likely have been fatal for the dogs. As he attempted to merge back in to the left lane (he still had decent forward motion), the driver of the 4 Runner stared blankly at him as though he were crazy. Lucas stopped and I had him on the walkie talkie, asking if he were ok. Thank heavens, everything was alright. After a couple of minutes to collect ourselves (mostly myself), we headed on. About a half mile down, there was the woman, pulled over on the left, hunched over the steering wheel. I did call 911 after the initial event and then after seeing that to inform them to send out medical services. I think that the big rig managed to get her to pull over, since, before passing me as I sat on the shoulder, he had witnessed what happened to Lucas and was honking his horn at the woman. Who knows what happened to her in the end. But, Nikko was now thoroughly agitated, and thus began the 10min trips.
Around 2pm everyday, Nikko has his moments. These moments consist of extreme fussiness if his demands (play, food, nap) are not met. Something about going more than 20-30mph and driving on a freeway sets off his "get me the hell out of here" instinct and so the hysteria begins. I tell Lucas over the walkie talkie that I need to take the next exit, not so easy since it's a good 10-15mi between exits in this neck of the woods. Nikko meanwhile takes no consolation in me telling him that we're almost there. Once we get there, the bottle and toys come out and all is quite. This kid makes me look like a loon, insisting that he's crying only to pull over and have him be full of smiles. But the tears on his eyelashes give him away. We calm him down and return to the freeway .... but it happens again. And again, and again. By the time we'd made it the 70mi to the hotel, it'd been three hours since our lovely impromptu picnic. And, of course, by that time, Nikko was asleep in the car. Go figure.
But the night was not awash. Nikko got to play on the jumbo king bed for a couple of hours, we had our dinner and now Nikko is asleep on his lambskin inside the pack n play. What a life. Tomorrow is a day off for us but we'll get to visit with friends!
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