The one in which I give a short ramble about fungi & parasites

Sunday Rob & I got up, played with dogs, and made a grocery list. We went for a hike before the grocery store. I forgot to bring my bag for goodies I find. & there were so many goodies. I'm really digging different fungi right now. Yesterday I was thinking about the little puffy mushrooms, when you touch them they expel spores, what I was thinking is that plants/animals/parasites evolve... and like people they have a plan- to survive obviously that's why they evolve so as we were scrambling up this rock & I made the terrible mistake of looking up from my fungi and down off the side of the rock... I started thinking how these puffing mushrooms could puff their spores into my lungs which would cause me to cough and possibly fall, starting sliding down this rock and then tumble off the side to my death. That could be the most bad ass fungus of all time. Who knows?

I'm really interested in parasites and the way we can harbor this little world inside ourselves. Plus it is one of the creepiest freakiest things ever! I listen to a lot of talk radio stories during the work day. I feel like I'm using every second of my day to expand my mind... anyway. I'm going to be listening to these stories today Parasites on Radio Lab & Enemy Camp on This American Life. I am also planning to get my hands on this book in the sometime near future... maybe for that week I have off after Christmas?

First cold day in a while and I am hibernating. The weekend couldn't come fast enough this week it seemed. I think I've picked up something, yesterday I was feeling puny. I came home and cuddled up... ended up wrapping some presents. I'm sorta achy today. But I did manage to try a couple DIY cleaners this morning. white vinegar and regular Dawn dish washing liquid is the most magical cleaner I have ever used. I swear my tub & shower are sparkling. I picked up the trail on pinterest.

We also had a clogged drain in the shower...Baking soda & white vinegar have a neat trick. I swear I don't think I will ever buy draino again. Baking soda down the drain, add the vinegar, & plug the drain. Of course I was always a sucker for the volcano science project... depending on the artistic ability of the kid it can really look professional. I built an electromagnet. It involved screws, batteries, magnets, & a 1"x4"x12" ...... anyway. Use it because it's fun & amazing!

Now I must get back to hibernating the rest of this day. Christmas is next week... tomorrow morning my Christmas Week to do list kicks off. This is also my last work week before I take the rest of my vacation time. Woo hoo!

Oh Christmas

Are you friend or foe this year? This year has no doubt been tough. It started off with my dear aunt passing and though nothing has happened quite so bad since it still has no redeeming qualities. Speaking of Sister, she is filling my thoughts more than ever these days. I think of her every day, but lately the frequency has reached an almost constant. I suppose the holidays remind us of those we have lost because holidays don't seem quite right with out them. Mine do not anyway...

Sister shined wherever she went, but it seems like she prepared for Christmas year round. A champion shopper, every sale was/is always an opportunity to mark a name off your list. For the past twenty some years I have received a Barbie Christmas ornament from her. I love getting them out. I take them all out and arrange them by type & then evenly distribute them on the tree. It is incredibly dorky, but I love them. I haven't put them on the tree in the past 2 years, mainly because we cut down our own trees & there are just not enough branches. I haven't been able to even get them out this year. I am really tired of being sad about this, but the pain is lodged in my chest with no chance of dislodging any time soon. fart.

Some things are looking up though. Rob's brother, sister-in-law, & niece are coming up for Christmas & I am so STOKED. Christmas gifts are purchased and wrapped!!

Rob selected and cut the Christmas tree for the last two Christmases, so this year my brother, Chloe, Jack & I found the tree. I took Chloe & Jack to my parents and we took a short walk to this tree. Chloe even posed proudly for a photo over the weekend- she "smiled" with her teeth showing!

Both dogs ran like wild animals out in the field at my parents' while we cut down the tree... Chloe did roll in some sort of poop though... it was both terrible and funny. She had it on her head down to her curly tail and had to be sprayed down with the hose. She smiled the entire time. Ha.

Christmas Shopping & other bits

This will be the first year ever that I complete my Christmas shopping early. Come Black Friday and I will be snuggled up in my bed with each & everyone crossed off my list. So far so good. I wish I was more anonymous so that I could share the gifts I have recently purchased.... I am about to bust wanting to tell someone... anyone...

I made an excel spreadsheet and set a budget. Thankfully a few gifts were purchased this summer and put away. Having the spending months apart helps my budget work. Having everything purchased ahead of time also frees my schedule for baking items for the guys I work with that repeatedly make my life easier.

Pretty much everything has came from online shopping. Etsy & Amazon are both truly amazing when it comes to finding something for everyone. I didn't really realize how many gifts I purchase from Amazon until I started using the gift organizer. After I add my recipients I am able to add personality traits & sort through past purchases by person. Then Amazon starts recommending items the people on my list may enjoy.

I feel like a pretty good gift giver most of the time. There are people who just flat out stump me, and I try my best to purchase or make something that best represents their personality to me. And after listening to a This American Life broadcast about Christmas gift returns, it turns out everyone thinks they're good at gift giving. Ha. But it's Christmas ... in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. I am happy with whatever token I receive from someone & I would hope that others feel the same way. It's supposed to be fun. Though I do enjoy receiving things I need, I really like opening something that I don't need and would not normally spend money on.

I never got around to taking my last week of vacation this year. So I'm taking the week after Christmas. I will end up with 11 days off! I am really looking forward to spending time with my family & the dogs. This will be my family's first Christmas since my aunt passed away in January. I have already came to terms with the fact that Christmas will forever be altered, but I will not give up on making this coming and every Christmas from this point great.

I had a nice discussion yesterday about education with a boss. It started with discussing how much garbage a mutual acquaintance has... I said I should talk him into letting me put a compost bin at his house since they prepare a lot of food.... And my boss said I might as well starting digging in the dumpster at City school since they throw out all kinds of food.

I am not a dumpster diver. But this did get me thinking. They should set up composters and have the students plant some sort of garden edible or otherwise. My boss started to ridicule this idea... "yeah they'll learn a lot etc.." But my point was this, I did really well in science and I remember specifically learning about plant parts, and how plants function. It really stuck with me because at home my mom had flowers everywhere. Planting & watering the garden was something I've done since a very young age. Learning about something & then coming home to see it up close makes it real. When you make lessons tangible they're easier to understand.

A lot of children in this county have little parental guidance. I work across from low income housing and a lot of what I see is really sad. Kids are barefoot (on asphalt) all the time- cold or hot weather. One morning about 6:30 some of our guys saw a little girl out by the very busy road. Turns out she was about 4 and had locked herself out and couldn't get her parents to wake up & let her in. The guys called the police. I know those kids were not raised like I was. My parents talked & taught me since before I could speak. They encouraged me and put a lot of weight on good grades and reading. I know this had a lot to do with my development.

Schools are more fast paced now- they have a lot for you to learn in little time. But they're geared towards being able to learn from books & lectures... I don't think the majority of the public school system successfully learns this way. They're not nurtured in a way that helps their cognitive development. No child left behind doesn't address the teaching problem--- & it's not the teachers. I fully believe people become teachers because they want to encourage the thought process. But when is everyone going to wake up & see that education needs to be made more efficient & in order to do that they need to think outside the box.

Show students how they'll use math & science- build a robot, make solar panels, invent a game... ask what they want to be & see how these subjects come into play in that role. Knowledge makes your job easier & it's not hard to gain knowledge if you have a goal. You have 13 years to prepare for college, that's your goal.... & from there you have 4-8 years to prepare for your career... how you use this time is up to you.

I enjoyed this ted talk by John Hunter. I think his game is truly inspiring.

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html

Attempted Family Photos

Rob & I decided to make a family photo for his grandparents. Today was a failure.

The first try Chloe did not look at the camera, Lobster is laying down in fear of Whiskey, and Jack is AWOL.


The second is worse. My face-straining... ha! Whiskey is biting Lobster who is trying to flee the scene entirely, Chloe is watching them, but Jack is smiling at the camera. ahh, but honestly I think it sums up our family in its true form.



This one is going to the grandparents. At least they'll get a laugh out of it.

Chatty Crafty went really well. We had seriously amazing vendors & Rob I loaded up with tons and tons of amazing stuff.

Now I'm back to the real world and concentrating full time on work. Winter is upon us, which for Rob and I means we have to do something about heating our home more efficiently. I'm sure a lot of you find yourselves in the same situation as Rob & I are in. We save save save money and don't really spend on anything other than needs. And yet everything is going out. Winter is upon us heating costs are ridiculous! We have talked about installing a wood burning stove to save some money. I think it would pay for itself this winter. When hard times find us, we need to find ourselves innovative instead of defeated. Think about how we became Americans to begin with... It wasn't easy; it was hard and people died. But the population survived. We should build a steam punk pioneer village. I will wear flannel and denim to chop wood and tiny hats and sequined dresses to attend dinner and shop at the market. We'll produce our own energy with solar panels we built ourselves, reuse our rain water, grow our own food, & be content. One day furry men on bicycles will pull our carriage made of salvaged computers. We're going to be bigger than the Amish.

If you invested a little now to cut your energy costs how much extra money would it put in your pocket? My electric and water run around $200 or more in the winter. It is stupid. My house is tiny and we turn the heat off in 2 rooms entirely. If I have the heat on from November to March that's $1000 bucks... where I could invest about half of that in a wood burning stove and have free heat every winter... $200 extra in my bank account every month... hello yes please. However, a wood burning stove was Rob's only source of heat when he lived in Blue Ridge and I'm not positive I can talk him into chopping that much wood on such short notice. When in Blue Ridge he chopped wood every day year round.

I love hearing tips for saving if anyone has them. I constantly try to cut expense & increase revenue. This year we cut out a lot of our garbage consumption. Almost everything can be recycled in Dayton now & it's as easy as dropping it off. I made a compost barrel all of our organic material goes there... extra paper and cardboard go to the recycle center. Our glass is collecting, but I think I can take it now? We have little garbage that actually makes it to the landfill. Less garbage bags & less trips to the convenience center = more $ on the bottom line. I wish I tracked our household expenses the way I track expenses for companies... It would really help determine what really works expense wise.

I'm headed home for lunch to and I think I'll get my broccoli cheddar soup started. Yum.