Occupy Wall Street Violence

I talked with a relative on the phone the other day who didn't really know anything about the protests going on. This set of pictures makes me sick to my stomach. If I had just eaten I probably could vomit.

Police Brutality at Occupy Wall Street Protests.

No Pictures=No Posts

For some reason, I feel obligated to put up a picture when I post (it makes the flipcard view much more attractive and even to me). But that's no reason not to blog, is it!?

This week I start my Unknowns project in microbiology. We are all given two test tubes; one has one bacteria in it and the other is mixed. We have to culture them, keep them alive, and do enough tests on them to determine which bacteria we've been given. It seems like fun, so far, but certain things make it stressful. The bacteria can die, get contaminated, etc, and you can only get a replacement at expense of points off your grade. Also, there are THREE that need to be worked on. Some tests take overnight or a few days to do. Some tests are harder to interpret or get to work right.

So...fun in the end, as long as it works out :)

Also, tomorrow we get rid of our internet! I'm so excited. I'll have to take my computer to school once in a while, and I will be blogging whenever I can.

It Was Sheer Mistake...

The other day I started off for school. It was a beautiful day. The air was crisp, the sky was blue (which is very unlike Willamette Valley autumn), and I was going to arrive at class on time. The sidewalk was empty, and I was just enjoying my morning. Then I crossed the street and walked about 50 feet behind another person. At first, I thought my eyes must be betraying me. Then I looked, and looked (eep!), and realized her skirt was literally 4-5 inches too short in the back, and since her tights were a little small and stretched to their limits (and then some), there was, um, let me just say there was very little coverage. At first I laughed. I laughed! It was horrible. Lots of things ran through my mind - Is she wearing tights as leggings? Is her skirt tucked into her waistband? Does she know? Should I tell her? How do you tell someone about this? "Excuse me, but your skirt is too short. Excuse me, check your backside in the mirror sometime. Excuse me, I can see the bottom of your bottom." 


Since I didn't know how to say it, and because I think there's a chance she planned to dress this way and possibly even looked at it in the mirror, I said not a thing. Though I felt a twinge of "But I would want to be told!!!"

So instead of telling her, since it's obviously too late now, and I'm not sure it's appropriate anyway, consider yourself warned. Do yourself a favor and check if your skirt is tucked into your waistband, and that you are not suffering from overexposure.

Moroccan Bow Lathe

This is a super-cool video!!

After a year and a half...

I got an acceptance letter into the nursing program this morning!! I am so excited. SO excited :D The program starts January 9th and I'll be starting right off doing clinicals once a week. I've worked a year and a half for this letter!

My First Dumpster Food

It's really quite delicious! In a rare open-dumpster moment at a store in the area I saw there was lots of produce and a few bags of oranges. I squeezed an orange and it felt ok. I saw one orange was moldy. So I grabbed it and when I got home I realized they were all OK except that one orange. So I had free, fresh orange juice this morning. The best I've had in years! I'll be checking the dumpster more often! I wish I had grabbed more bags of oranges but I didn't know what they'd be like.

This site and my friend Kaleb are what got me thinking about dumpster diving. Free food!

Yummy!

Hiking in the Gorge

Today we slept in (!) and had a beautiful afternoon hike at the Colombia Gorge, about an hour away from where we live. This time it was Angel's Rest, which is a new hike for us, and it is definitely a do-again-er. It's was 5 miles round trip, and I think 1500 feet of elevation change. It took us to a lookout over the river. We didn't have time to fully explore the top. It was so neat! Pictures do not do it justice at all, but here are a few pictures.

The way it often is in the car. She really doesn't like her car seat!

Sometimes it gets quieter and calmer (or sleepier!!)

In the lovely new backpack carrier a friend sent. It is awesome.

There's a car in this picture. See it? It's hard to capture what a drop it is, but there are cliffs that are quite steep. I didn't venture close enough to the edge to show how far down it goes ;) 

Looking westward. The sunset, though occluded by trees most of the time on the hike down, was gorgeous! (No pun intended! :) 

Looking east. 

Looking east.

See, we eat anywhere! (Mom and Pop ate apples, Aftasie nursed :) This was sitting in a little "cave" of rock a good 4 feet above the trail to get out of the wind. 

My littlest sweetheart :) 

Couch

We haven't owned a couch all of our married life till now, which just passed the two-and-a-half-year mark. We had one, briefly at a trailer we rented in Florida. I have had a couch on my wishlist (my LIFE wish list, you know, of long term goals) for quite a while. I grew up with at least two full sized couches in the living room, plus various other stuffed chairs. It was wonderful to curl up on one in the winter because of the wood stove being close by.

So, on this slow, school-less day (we get today off instead of last Monday for Columbus day. Don't ask me why!), I'm curled up on the couch before Aftasie wakes up. I really want to sleep later, but she keeps stirring and I know she'll be up at any moment and I won't have time except to get comfy in bed and she'll want to be up.

Rain Gear

Aftasie has a winter rain jacket. Two, in fact (one is bigger, and came with waterproof pants). This is pretty much an essential in the Willamette Valley, where it rains and rains and rains. I know I seem to harp on it, but it's a big deal to an Easterner who's used to sunshine during most of the winter (and extra bright sunshine when fresh snow is on the ground).

I bought nice waterproof shoes. I cannot tell you how much more pleasant it is to wear waterproof shoes than sneakers, which seem to absorb water almost instantly upon stepping outside. I can actually walk across the lawn at school (it's muddy and wet all winter), and I think I've mentioned this fact to my classmate half a dozen times. It is so exciting to me as someone who constantly had wet feet last winter.

So far, my rain gear is a hat and waterproof shoes. A wool jacket is coming soon. This is super exciting. I may actually arrive at classes DRY!

Aftasie, on her 16th week birthday

Aftasie is quite expressive! Pardon the mess behind her. I'm moving some shelves around and since I have limited time on my hands I've been working on it in steps. This is the I'm-not-quite-finished step.

She gets serious as soon as she sees the camera. :) 

Deadlines

Deadlines have always stressed me out. Taxes have always been a struggle for me, because for months before I have everything together that I need to file I feel them looming over me. It starts out small - I feel a little nag in the back of my mind. I console myself that I don't have my W2, or something like that and push it away. But it comes back. After the W2 comes, then I find some excuse that is not so valid. And before you know if I'm pretty stressed.

I had an assignment that I was supposed to finish Friday night. But we had planned to go to a movie at the drive in. So we did! And it was a lot of fun. Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day. For an Oregon October day when the rain has already started, that is kind of unusual. Instead of rainy and 50 degrees, it was sunny and 70! So we packed up sandwiches and went to the park for the day. Sunday we had a nice breakfast and did some shopping that we needed to do. We bought a new shelf, which is the final installment in my series of shelves, a COUCH! and some lamps and a few other things like bigger socks for Aftasie (she's outgrown all we'd been given!). It was great. So I finished my two pieces of homework Sunday night, which, yes, will be a bit late, but do I really care?

Naaaaah.


And how can I sit here and blog when there are a million other things to do? I'm pumping :) Good ol' breastpump makes it possible for me to just take off and go to class while Porter has Aftasie.

Quitter, II

Maybe a good site to start would be Quittr, for those who have chosen to distance themselves a little from mainstream social networking sites.

A second step is to get rid of the internet. There's plenty of internet available publicly. Do I really need to be wired 24/7? Do I *really* need to? Is it good for me? If I lived in a rural area, I would probably be rethinking this, but this is how I feel here.

I couldn't imagine living without the internet before we lived without it. Then we did fine. I was happy without it. I took my computer to school when I needed to get homework files, or something of the sort. And there are computers at school, so if I don't want to lug my computer with me I can bring a thumb drive and get/send files.

We got internet here a few months ago after being without it for a while. I want to go back to being internet-less at home. I didn't have any problems being bored without the internet. If anything, I'm more bored now. I do much less.

So, Porter bought me a Kindle for my birthday (!). It has the capability to browse (though not fantastically) which means we can read wikipedia, check mail, and even do forums. Also, the device comes with free 3G. It definitely is not a replacement for a computer, but if I need to look something up, I don't have to drive to school. I'm compromising, and I won't be totally offline. But I think it might be a better device for what I want to do, which is partially disconnect from the online world and live a little more life.

I know some people feel more comfortable connected as much as they can, but I don't.

OP: Nipples Vs. Lips

This is an OP - Old Post from a former blog, or a note from Facebook.

Lips:

• are functional
• are sensitive
• can be attractive
• are a different color than other skin
• can be enjoyed in a sexual way
• can be used in printed and online material in such a way designed to excite a sexual response

Nipples:

• are functional
• are sensitive
• can be attractive
• are a different color than other skin
• can be enjoyed in a sexual way
• can be used in printed and online material in such a way designed to excite a sexual response

So what's the difference between you stuffing your mouth full of food in public and your baby getting his fill of mommy's milk? Most of the people I know are fine with breastfeeding. They know it's good for the baby and they think it's a good thing to do. But.But nipples must not be seen at any time. Discreetness is a must.

Why? I don't think there really is a difference. I enjoyed living in a town like Eugene, the laws of which do not treat the breast in a hyper-sexualized way, just as I enjoy the aspect of living in this town being able to freely show my lips without being reprimanded for being a slut or immodest.

But I'm curious as to why people feel as they do - and if you know why you believe what you do about it.

The Little Queen of the House

(There is no big queen, so she's not exactly a princess ;) 

In her royal robe, ready to be bathed by her servant

Seasons

I'm experimenting with layouts because I don't really like how I have it. Change to come in the future.

The rain has come. It's raining today, and it rained yesterday. I kind of like it. (I hate to admit it). It's nice and cozy to get out of it. Maybe summers are for getting out, and winters are for coming in. I made a little couch out of our old bed (which was a piece of memory foam) and covered it with my red tartan wool blanket. It's pretty! I can't wait to go couch shopping. There's a thrift store around here run by the Portland Mission that is full of furniture. Comfy is the main thing. I don't really care what color it is because we can cover it up.

I have always loved the change of the seasons. It's so refreshing. I really miss the dramatic changes in the northeast. Winter was snowy and white, and COLD, spring was full of melting snow, and beautiful, warm feeling air (I love balmy breezes), summer was full of sweat, green, and thunderstorms, and fall was full of crisp, cool air, blue skies, and bright leaves on the trees.

I guess you must always miss where you grew up. Even if it's not your favorite place to be, it still holds so many memories. I really do enjoy living in the northwest, but it's not home.

Not only do you leave places as you grow up, you leave time behind. It'll never be yesterday. Maybe I'm thinking about this because it's my birthday tomorrow. I keep forgetting, but I remembered this morning in class. I'll be 24. Life is so different these days!

New Clothes

When I was about 15 I counted teeshirts and they numbered in the neighborhood of 75. I had at least 20 pairs of jeans. I had at least 40 pairs of shoes. I had about 24 sweatshirts. I had probably 7 jackets/coats. I had a whole closet full of dresses/dress tops/skirts. Why? I had access to pretty much unlimited, free clothing at a thrift store that I volunteered at (I didn't steal it! ;) They had a deal where if you worked there for a reasonable amount of time, you could take home what you wanted.) Did I wear it all? No!! I could end up with a massive pile of laundry, though, and I had the hardest time keeping it all in my drawers/closets/on shelves. Now I have three pairs of pants, and about 7 tops that work all the time, several jackets, and a number of clothes that I don't really wear much. At 15, I gasped and couldn't imagine only having one pair of jeans. And I don't even have access to laundry all that much, but I try to alternate my pants so they don't get worn all week (not that I didn't do that when I was 15, I often wore one of my favorite jeans for a week, which doesn't make any sense). Less is more ;)

I'm not sure how to go about changing this, but I'm really tired of wearing jeans and a tee shirt. Why? Several reasons:

• it's boring because everyone does it
• it's not pretty
• jeans cut into my belly, which I expect to have for a long time (sure, maybe it'll come off eventually, but why torture my guts in the meantime? Dresses seem more womanly and fit me better
• it's modern and so uniform and uncreative 

Now, before I go further, and tell the first things I've done to change, I have to explain a little more. I found a blog called The Fiercest Lilliputian that has awesome vintage outfits. I'm sure I'll be going back to look at it many times. But as I looked at it, and other fashion blogs that the author links to, I realized I really don't want to get into a huge collection of clothes. Maybe it is inevitable, but what I envision is a simple, pretty, and pared-down wardrobe. I've never been into clothes that much, except eschewing what I felt was awful (and let me tell you, I wore a lot of what I'd now consider awful, but I was comfortable in them!). I don't want to dress in high fashion, either, or wear 4 inch heels. 

I'm thinking something like this: 

• necessary underwear, including sturdy tights for winter
• 7 everyday medium weight dresses worn year-round so I can do laundry once a week (maybe 8)
• 2-3 light sundresses for summer
• 2-3 cardigans for winter
• 2 fancy dresses for dress-up occasions; full-length and below knee
• 1 winter jacket
• 1 spring jacket
• 1 pair waterproof shoes for all around walking (winter)
• 1 pair waterproof boots/hiking shoes
• 1 pair black pumps (low heel!)
• 1 pair tan/white pumps (again, must be low heeled)

The only must for the shoes is that they are comfortable and suited to the weather. It rains 9 months out of the year here, so I really have to find something that works. I've been here two winters and still haven't spent the money or come up with a solution to arriving places very soggy (especially feet!).

Unfortunately, when I start nursing school this is going to go out of the window for most of my work. Clinicals have strict dress code, and you all have to buy the same clothes at the same place. I'm fine with that. It'll be simple. When I become a nurse, I wonder if I can wear white dresses. I'd love to wear white dresses and white lace-up oxfords (depending on how comfortable I could find them). 

So, now that that's out of the way, and I've explained that I don't want to become a fashionista, but just want to get clothing that's simple and attractive, classic, and works for me, I might post some pictures. I'm not a model, so maybe I'll show them on the hangers ;) The first thing I did was buy a new dress via mail order, but it was the wrong size so I returned it and there weren't any in my size. The second thing (much smarter!) was to visit the thrift store and look through the entire dress rack. I found three button-up dresses, which are a must right now because I'm nursing. One fits, the other two are just a little small. I bought them because they were beautiful dresses and I'm planning on not keeping the 40 pounds I have gained after pregnancy forever. Maybe they'll fit in a year, maybe not. I'm keeping them :) 

I Knew It!

I shouldn't have had a refill on that coffee at 6pm. Here I am, wide awake, and it's almost 1am. Aftasie and Porter are sound asleep. My goodness, I so am going to pay for this tomorrow. :(

Aftasie and Me

Aftasie is 12 weeks!!

Things to Do

• blog
• write journal entry (over)due for CF class
• write summaries (over)due for CF class, which I've just been informed I've been doing wrong (but the new way should be easier!)
• copy lab notes (include results) 
• copy micro lecture notes
• type interview (can't do here because I forgot my headphones)

I'm sitting in a coffee place, soaked through to the socks, and I have a window seat so I can see cars driving by and people walking by. 

I need to take a break. I have several tasks that are due via computer. I want to stay to only them and blogging for a week (how much blogging could I do?!). And a youtube project, if I get around to it. Otherwise, I need to spend my time online doing something. If I'm too mind-blanked to do something, I need to do nothing. NOTHING. Not surf, not check up on beer stuff. I also need to keep a list of easy things to do in times of mental crisis.

I also need to keep the kitchen clean. It boggles my mind to have things all over the counter, even though I'm so good at filling it up. I brewed yesterday and the counters (all three) are full of things. 

We kind of keep the house split up by responsiblities. I need to work majorly on my part. I'm going to go insane if I don't. There are so many hard things going on right now. I have to have someplace to go that's inviting. Right now it's just another source of stress. 

As soon as I get home, I'm going to get rid of 10 things. Porter can give Aftasie a bottle if she's hungry.

I want to go outside for a run and get soaked and come home and have a hot shower and drink something hot. I'm already soaked, and I'm sure I'll get more soaked on the way home, so this is pretty muck taken care of :) 

Tanya, I would normally tag you on facebook, but maybe you'll read this anyway. I saw two ladies going by on bikes in the rain, with saddlebags and other gear, and the one in back looked at me and smiled - if I was a swearing lady, I could have sworn it was you. But of course, it wasn't. But it made me really miss you and Eugene :) 

I have to remember that I'll only be a nurse if I learn how to deal with everything and don't get overwhelmed before I finish. It's not too much to do - it's just disorganization that makes me so stressed. 

I'm going to see a friend on Friday for coffee. I have only met someone for coffee three or four times in my life. It would be nice to happen more often :) 

I really need a good cry, but it's so hard to do. I don't like to cry around Aftasie, and she's usually around. Bless her heart, the little sweetheart. She sure makes me happy all morning :) 

Oh yeah, and I went to the dentist's this morning and I need to have what they quoted as $670 worth of work done, and that's only three teeth! One needs to be pulled (very back molar, so not so bad) one is on the verge of needing to be pulled but we're going to try a filling, and one needs a filling. 

Gahhhh. 

Alright. I feel much better now. On to homework tasks before I have to get home and empty the milkers! :) 

A Toothache is Horrible

But once you get to sleep (if you do!), then you might sleep through the pain and hopefully the pain is a little less in the morning. However, if you're nursing? :roll eyes: Awful.

Thankfully last night was not so bad as the night before. And today I'm going in to see a dentist for the first time in years, except for the visit I made just over a year or so ago to get one pulled.

I am really saddened by all of the people who I've been seeing posts and remarks from online (from googling) who have toothaches and no money or insurance to get any work done. That is AWFUL! Tell me, anyone who's had a toothache - would you wish that pain on anyone? I really think that poor people need better access to dental care. And I'm saying this as someone who fortunately will probably be able to afford to get it pulled/filled whatever it needs to get rid of the pain.

I'm terribly, terribly grateful for all of the dental work the Commonwealth of Massachusetts paid for when I was a child/teenager. Thank you, fellow citizens, for keeping my mouth from being toothless today. (And sans massive amounts of pain). I seriously would be toothless today without any dental work done, I'm pretty sure of that.

On the interesting biology note, did you know that cavities are caused by bacteria pooping acid on your teeth? Streptococcus mutans is responsible (partly) for a biofilm on your teeth.

SAHM

I seriously think I would go insane if I was home 24/7.

A lady tried to talk me out of nursing school with a baby because I needed to be home. Seriously?

I find it incredibly pleasant to come home to Porter and Aftasie. I find it pleasant to come home and to be home most of the time.

I really would have a hard time if I never left Aftasie with Porter. That's just the way it is. I don't know if it's bad or not.

Withdrawal

I'm pretty sure I'm suffering from withdrawal from facebook. I've been hanging out at several forums today and I've been waiting to see replies. When there aren't any, and there aren't any directed at me, I feel down.

Would you like some snot with that order?

This is disgusting, especially considering my grandparents used to live here and I'm pretty sure I've been to that Dunkin' Donuts. Police officers ordering coffee see a guy put snot in their coffees through the surveillance camera that is in the front of the store (obviously the guy didn't realize they could see him!) It also makes me wonder about all of the food I don't see prepared!