Happy TGIF all! What’s up?
Here are two pluses for the pro-circumcision side. Circumcision not only protects straight men against HIV transmission, but also helps them avoid getting HPV, or the human papillomavirus, and herpes, according to a story by the Associated Press. The study was conducted in three African countries, including Uganda, a region ravaged by HIV-AIDS. I still say teach all our boys basic hygiene and how to wear a condom.
ParentDish ran a trend story in how even women in family-friendly countries are taking shorter maternity leaves to keep their jobs during the economic downturn. Ugh.
The prestigious Boston Latin School has been trying to quell rumors that vampires roam its campus, according to Salon Wires. The rumors have disrupted classes, the headmaster told the media.
I have too many shows to watch, but this new ABC series called In the Motherhood sounds good. Did any of you catch it last night?
What else is in the news? What’s up with you?
circumcision doesn’t offer enough protection
from STDs to warrant circumcising boys routinely, in my opinion. This is from the article you linked:
It’s not as if circumcising eliminates the risk of infection. Either way, as you say, we need to educate boys and men on the importance of using condoms.
Uncircumsized son here
I’m glad he can get the HPV vaccine though with those numbers in the study!
I would have liked to see the new show but I
have run a class for the past twenty weeks on Thursday nights. And we are not in OUR house so we don’t control the digital recorder. Can’t wait to get back to our house! But class ended last night WAHOOOOOO!! I have my Thursday nights back so I’ll try and catch it next week. I may need a reminder though (and happy to hear any reviews).
BTW, my son is not circ’ed, but yes, reminders to teach hygiene always appreciated (without delving too much into THAT debate LOL).
I got out and let my voice be heard
last night. The school board was proposing the elimination of 20 bus routes across the district, including the one that takes my kids to middle school. I walked the route they would have to walk without a bus and it is not safe for a variety of reasons. Parents were up in arms, we showed up at the public hearings and wrote letters to the school board, and I and three others spoke at the school board meeting last night. They voted to strike our routes from the elimination schedule. YAY! And I was on two different local news broadcasts.
Perhaps most importantly, I was able to tell my kids at breakfast today that I spoke up, my voice was heard, and someone’s mind was changed. And I was able to show them with something very tangible to them — so I think they “got it” — that they should always speak up for what they think is right, and know that it’s possible to make changes in the world!
And I’m trying not to feel too smug today.
Happy Friday everyone!
Awesome!
So you’re prepping for your run for office as well…hint, hint, hint…. Governor Lisa….
Yes!
I Lonestar has a great idea there
Yay!
Great work, Lisa. You should be so proud of yourself and your kids had best be, too!
Smug all you want, girlfriend. You earned it!!!
Hooray and I am a big believer of carting the
kids around (when possible) so they can see voices in action.
And I’m glad you were successful in your efforts.
way to go! nt
Smug away!!
You deserve it. That’s some great public service work, and great mom work as well. Congrats!
good for you!!
and there are often state and federal guidelines they try to ignore- like if there’s no sidewalk, if there are problems w/ line of vision, etc
problem here
is the state guidelines are really vague and open to much interpretation. And of course they are trying to cut costs wherever they can. But the amt of money this would have saved is not worth the risk to the kids if they walked or worse, tried to bike, this path.
You rock!
Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortenson will be on ABC News tonight. He’ll be the Person of the Week. How cool! I’ve been hoping for months that President Obama will read this book – maybe if it gets some national play, it could affect policy?!
I just read that!
And, oddly for a non-fiction book and me, I couldn’t put it down!
Thankless
So DD and I are sitting at breakfast this morning and I am gently feeding her berries and I say, “Can you say Mama? Mama. Mama.” And she looks around the room and says, “Dad!”
Of course.
DD#1′s first word was puppy. Just can’t win.
LOL
Little Miss Ungrateful! Check with your hubby though. DH got this idea from a friend of his. The friend would offer to feed the babies in the middle of the night, and would coo to them “say dada, say dada.” Of course, both kids’ first word was “dada.” His wife never realized they were being brainwashed at night!
DaDa
is easier to say which is why they say it first…or so I kept telling myself back when my babies were little.
i think so too-
and that’s why dads high jacked that word for their name
did you try
peeling the berries? I’ve heard they’ll say “mama” if you do that.
snort
HAhahahaha!! nt
classic
In our house the rule is that Dh teaches “mama” and I teach “dada”. So when they say “dada” first, (and they do), I can be assured it was my superior teaching skills that did it.
–R
Ungrateful!
Jeez. Avery dais Dada first, so I naturally wanted to make sure Toby said Mama first. When I caught DH coaching Toby on Dada I was SERIOUSLY livid. He was forbidden to ever say it until Mama was established! It worked!
dais = said
My brain needs to be rewired.
yup
Had that happen, too. Blagh.
Not the same, but
both my DD started off by saying mamamamama as a way of complaining/whining. I’ve decided that does not count at Mama. So, DD2 has not said Mama yet
Perhaps Papa is more difficult than Dada? I can’t remember people saying their kids said Papa before they said Mama; but that just be my Mama-brain
And can you believe last year’s April babies are almost 1??
Baby slept 13 hours last night
That won’t last, right? Of course, I didn’t get to enjoy it because I woke up leaking at 4.
I DVR’d that new show, mostly because I saw Megan Mullally was in it.
I got that once
DD1 pulled off a 12 hour night at about 13 weeks, and we thought we were geniuses. Although like you, I woke up painfully engorged at about 4 and just kept waiting for her to wake up.
In our case it didn’t happen again until about 16 months, but I hope you’re experience is different!
–R
you’re = your
I hate that typo and am mortified to have committed it. 1000 lashes with a wet noodle.
–R
Love Megan Mulally!!
Caught the last few minutes and was not impressed. I’ll still try it again though!
Just…wow.
I think I’ve just had an epiphany & I don’t like it. DH & I are originally from North Dakota, & we have many friends & family in the Fargo area going through a tough, scary time right now with the impending flood. Many have posted on Facebook about the incredible volunteers: thousands have come, working 24 hours a day, in freezing temperatures. It’s just amazing to see.
But in the last day or so, some have started posting things to the effect of “Yeah, that’s what we’re all about…not like those lazy bums in New Orleans who wait until it’s too late & then whine for the government to help them.” I’m stunned, sick, embarrassed, depressed that people would actually think that. So NO deserved to suffer because they wouldn’t sandbag fast enough? Besides a bunch of water coming quickly, these two cities and situations could not be more different.
Fargo is much smaller, and way whiter, than New Orleans. There are no large pockets of poverty. For these people to have the hubris to suggest that somehow they are better than other people facing natural disasters is infuriating me. I’m not proud of several of my fellow homestate citizens right now. And that’s my epiphany: perhaps this is the reason why NO was ignored. There’s still way too many people who believe they might have deserved it.
wow, that is depressing
I’m sorry you’re being exposed to that stuff.
Haven’t the NoDak folks had a lot more warning than the NO folks? Not to mention resources, like vehicles, and government coordination of volunteer efforts, to assist them in preparing? Sheesh.
Exactly
If “they” don’t want the government’s help, I guess the Corps of Engineers and the National Guard are free to go somewhere they’ll be welcomed.
Can you even sandbag against a hurricane???
They both involve water, but the similarity seems to end there. A rising river is not a hurricane.
and NO had
both a hurricane and a failure of the levies (levys?). Two disasters in one. And very low sea level which caused the water to stay once it got there.
Yuck
I’m having a blah day and this is just sad to me… It may be time for me to take a news break for a bit. So much heartache in the world, you know?
That’s sad
I think, though, that they should realize that the circumstances are very different. Even though the waters are rising fast, we’re talking days, not hours or minutes. I imagine they still have police and fire stations above the water line, and if they don’t, there are still roads that can get in to them from places that do.
The whole STATE of Lousiana was affected, and because of the geography (low lying areas, surrounded by water on 3 sides), the situation was far more difficult.
Also, for example
Even if you have bags and shovels and volunteers, you just can’t do much sandbagging without sand.
Motherhood
I thought the online series of “In the Motherhood” with Leah Remini and Jenny McCarthy was about a ZILLION times better (it’s still available on Youtube). I recognized some of the jokes (particularly the whole bit about the kid ruining Santa for the preschool class – which has some real life parents who watched it with their kids as ticked off as those fictional preschoolers were!) from the online series. I wonder why the original cast didn’t stay with it.
I liked Megan Mullalley’s character. It’s weird to see her without the voice she used on Will and Grace. Horatio Sanz looks great – we didn’t recognize him from SNL, due to all the weight he’s lost.
There were a couple good lines. I’ll Tivo it, but if it doesn’t improve quite a bit in short order, I’m not going to bother.
I’m really glad we watched it after the kids went to bed. I would’ve been po’d about the Santa thing, too, if they’d watched it with me. There was also a lot more sexual content (the whole bit about the third date – who started that?? It must be a Hollywood phenomenon, because here in Indiana we date a LOT longer than that before sex – or at least I did!) than I would’ve been comfortable with my kids seeing, anyway.
Knock-offs
I would have rather seen the original cast, too. I’ll watch a couple of episodes online (the new ones) to see how I like it. I do remember HATING the new Office when it came on, too. Same jokes, different, bad cast. Withing a few weeks I loved it as much as the original!
I didn’t watch the Office
the first year or two, because the first two episodes I saw were exactly like the British Office but with people I didn’t know. And no fun accents!
I watched In the Motherhood last night
and that’s a 1/2 hour of my life that I’ll never get back.
I wanted to like it, I even DVRed it, but I don’t think I even cracked a smile.
Then we watched 30 Rock, which was funny as usual, and one scene in particular had us convulsing with laughter. Good times!
Can do no wrong!
I’m Lizzing! Even 30 Rock’s “misses” are quickly made up for throughout any given episode. Did you notice the picture of Jack and “Sarah Palin” behind his desk? I was wondering if it was the real Palin from the SNL visit, since they were there together, or Tina playing Palin. Either way, right there is the reason I love that show.
didn’t notice the pic
I’ll have to rewatch the episode. It is always jam-packed with funny details, some of which I miss.
did you see
in the episode where Liz and Kenneth go to retrieve her phone from the cabbie — when they are coming up out of the subway, there is a movie poster for “Janie Jimplin” above the stairs. Such great details!
“A synonym is another word
for a word you want to use…”
first time through
on that episode, I thought she sang “Cinnamon is just another word” and it made no sense. Then my kids told me “synonym.”
Palin pic
that was awesome! DH pointed it out or I would have missed it. For some reason the part where they’re watching Liz’s old video and Jack pukes had us howling!!
was it
seeing the world through Kenneth’s eyes? Or Liz’s commercial?
it was when
Jack hired the deaf woman to read his lips in that old home movie. Her delivery was pitch-perfect, we were laughing so hard!
I was looking at your mouth!! nt
another line I loved
that I didn’t understand the first time, was when Pete said “One DUI in high school.” SO funny.
I’ll have to go back
and watch for that one. I have no problem watching the whole show over again!
it’s right after
Pete says that when he was younger he dreamed of being a congressman like his father…..
I always watch the show 2 or 3 times at least.
Here’s hoping Friday is better
I had a crummy day yesterday — nothing serious, but enough irksome things that, when combined with ovulation day (since Toby was born I’ve been in a wicked mood every month on ovulation day!), had me fantasizing about living in the woods ALONE. Let’s see, Toby threw my favorite headband (fabric-covered no less) into the toilet, then I managed to run on the treadmill at the gym for the first time in weeks due to his colds — for a whole 5 minutes. I had to go back to the child care room because he was inconsolably crying. Later DH informs me that his mother told him that the reason Toby keeps getting sick is because he’s never dressed properly — it’s not “100 degrees outside” after all. So, I just suck at that, too I guess.
Here’s to Friday!
Your DH needs to learn that
his wife doesn’t want to hear his mother’s criticisms. Bad form!
Yep
There’s a reason I’m not fluent in Polish — what I already understand is enough to know I don’t want to understand any more.
And to think
you’ve been sending Toby out into the snow in just a diaper! You’re lucky you have such a wise MIL to inform you that it’s not 100 degrees. You already knew this, but germs cause viruses, not temperature?
Anyway, I hope today is better.
Oh please
I guess you better not tell MIL that you plan on making Toby get a job as a child laborer in a coal mine to make money to pay for the headband…although it is plenty warm in a coal mine.
Just tell her
it’s not the weather it’s all that playing in the toilet…
Ha!
That’s perfect.
ugh
I constantly get the “you’re not dressing Jess enough” meme. I dread what’s coming this winter with baby2. Gah. Hate that!
I’m hoping we’re on an upswing
Milo’s been very sick for the last two days (high fever and miserable), and I haven’t been too well myself, although I don’t know if it’s illness or lack of sleep. I’m feeling unbelievably fat and in a general rut. I don’t know if Milo is better (he seems to be, but he’s on tylenol–he was still burning up at six this morning), but if he is perhaps I can leave the house today, exercise or take my camera for a walk. I’ll feel a lot better if I can.
I hope so
Hope you can get out today, and surely do hope Milo is feeling better. Take care!!
OK, I am bursting
PD is away at a meeting and I really need to tell someone.
I just got off the phone with the clerk – they have all our paperwork and we are scheduled for our adoption on Tuesday, May 5!
I will now resume my emotional freak out.
YAY!!
Wonderful news, so happy for you and your family!
Awesome!
Congratulations to you all! Yea!
Awesome!
Great news!
I’ll be thinking of you with a smile on my face.
at last!
Woo hoo!
Congrats!
Oooooooh, I’m tearing up
Really I am
That’s so exciting!!!!!!!!!!!! Our finalization day was really cool…..
That’s wonderful!
It’ll be like your family’s birthday. And it’s Cinco de Mayo, so there’ll always be a party. Congratulations!
oh, wow
fabulous news! Will you tell the kids when they come home, or wait until PD is at home?
Congrats to you all!
PD is home now
No surprising that man – he knew right away.
We will tell the kids when they get home from school today. I think we may need a paper chain to mark the days, like we do for Christmas.
Woot!
Great news!! Thanks for sharing with us.
AWESOME!
Congratulations!!!
YEEEEEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!
Congratulations Pastor family!!
Great news!
Congratulations!
hooooooorah!!!!!
I’m so excited for all of you! You have to change your sig line soon!
Kale story and a diary idea
I should have told this in the recipe thread, but those are my kryptonite, so I avoided it…
I craved green veg when I was preg w/DD but I’m bad at cooking such (usually get em then then rot in frig). My friend cooked a lot, esp. kale in this wonderful dish w/ sausage & rice… So she was all joking that the baby should be named Kayla or Kaleb.
Well, from the beginning, we were considering a bunch of names, and we didn’t want to tell anybody til we picked the name, and the one we like best was decided from pretty early on, but we were kind of wondering if there was another more perfect name out there we hadn’t come across yet.
So then when we gave DD her name in the hospital and it’s…Kaylee Ann, Friend went (somewhat) apeshit and insists on telling the whole joke and maintaining that she’s named after a vegetable, which is kinda funny but kind of also really annoying. At least she’s told everyone we mutually know, so I don’t have to hear it anymore. Blah. And she’s not named for Firefly either, although that assumption doesn’t bother me quite so much.
Diary idea
I want to write a diary called “When I am Queen,” about the ways in which the world shall be run when my whims become law, as is right and just. First one related to birth & young kids, but maybe more later. Hopefully I will have time to do fun blogging this weekend and post, and others will post ideas too. I know someone (droogie?) did a similar diary on kos a while ago that was hilarious, and I don’t aspire to that level of awesome, but I think it will be cathartic.
Awww…you shoulda gone with Cynthia!
Just kidding, that’s a pretty and simple name, which is great in my book. Next time your friend decides to be annoying, you can say what my grandma used to say when we thought repeating stuff was proving our cleverness: one time is funny, two times is silly, three times is a spanking. I’ve said this to people, and they usually think it’s weird enough that they stop being annoying and start thinking I’m really annoying.
We love Cynthia
but DH was paranoid that she would end up with the nickname Cindy, which we both hate. Kaylee is an easier name to fit to a kid, but Cynthia fits a grownup better, IMO. Well, maybe they’ll both hate their names and change them, who knows?
(Big brother makes it “Kay-ee.” Cynthia probably would be even trickier on that count. Not sure what’s up with the lack of consonants in the middle of words, but it’s consistent these days, with Daddy being “Da-ee,” too.)
I hear that
I’m not fond of Cindy either, although that is my nickname. I never introduce myself like that anymore, but I don’t mind if people I know call me that. Apparently that was my parents’ intention; they thought Cynthia was too much for a little baby. I still wish they’d gone with their original name, Amy. But I went to school with a Cynthia and she was NEVER called Cindy. I guess it’s like me making sure Susanna is never called Susie.
I do wonder about the popularity of Sydney…it’s only switching two letters around. When I hear moms yelling “Sydney” at McDonald’s or wherever, I always turn around because I think they’re saying “Cindy.”
I have my own issues with nicknames
since my full name is a nickname.
Amy is great. For kids and adults.
Straight up Kale
I knew a guy named Kale in college. He worked with me in the salad bar at our dining hall.
My mother’s maiden name is Cale.
Nothing vegetable related though.