Tuesday, July 5, 2011

4th of July weekend adventures

Happy 4th of July everyone! Hope you had a great weekend. Josh and I were going to go to PA for the weekend, but decided at the last minute to stay home. Since we were stuck at home, we decided to go exploring and see what we have within a half hour of our apartment (in the direction opposite of DC, hence the open space :)
Friday night, after driving around for awhile, we happened about this wooded area.



I'm not sure why I was making the pretend angry face - maybe I was ready to go home?


Saturday afternoon (yep, we slept all morning, and it was wonderful!) we headed out again, and we found this really cool farm with a trail though the woods:





This little gem is right down the street from our apartment. Its behind a couple office building - how fun would it be to have your lunch break here?


On Monday, we found this park - this might be my new favorite place!
I was hoping to see a frog...


The significance of the yellow bug is that it was there, and I LOVE yellow bugs!


We didn't cross here, too much expensive camera equipment. Maybe next time.



Josh wanted me to be inside the tree for the picture - are you nuts? There are most likely spiders in there!

Ellanor C. Lawrence park, I will be back to visit again!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Worn out

Lately, I've been in a funk. The best way to describe it is WORN OUT. I'm tired. My brain is tired. My body is tired. I've been stressed at work for months, with lots of pressure and lots of projects. I was hoping it would get better soon and in a way it has, but in a way things have just gotten more stressful.

Last Friday, I had a board meeting at work (we are a non-profit, and we have quarterly meetings with our board of directors). I was supposed to get a raise, benefits - things I have been waiting for - and the wait has been long. Instead, it was decided that we might not even exist as an organization by the end of the summer. So not what I was expecting, for sure (well, this option has been on the table for a year now, to be fair, but some things happened that lead me to believe that it might NOT happen. That will teach me to be optimistic.) So now I'm faced with the reality that the projects that have worn me out in the first place might mean NOTHING by the end of the summer. That the job I've worked at for 4 years will soon be gone.

I'm trying to see this as an opportunity to find a better job - one that doesn't make me wait 4 years for health insurance. A job where I can contribute in a meaningful way to causes I really care about. A job that is challenging but does not have unrealistic expectations or insurmountable budgetary issues. Does such a job exist in this economy? I don't know, but I better start looking!!

Till then, I'll keep making these and reading this. I think I'll be feeling better in no time.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Rlease the photos?

News about Bin Laden's death is every where these days. While I have many conflicting emotions (some are posted here) one thing I know for certain - we should release the photos. Why you might ask? I'll let Jon Stewart speak for me (since he does it so well) when he says: "We've been fighting this war for nearly ten years. Thousands of US deaths, tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghans have died and we've seen nearly zero photographic evidence of it... Maybe we should always show pictures: Bin Laden, pictures of our wounded service people, pictures of maimed innocent civilians. We can only make decisions about war if we see what war actually is."

Monday, April 25, 2011

How do I know when I'm a "grownup"??

In college, my roommates and I would discuss this issue (I'm looking at you Rebec and Sunny!). While I don't quite remember our whole list of what being "grown up" entailed, I seem to remember it involved having a job, married, kids, or owing a house. So in theory one could be considered a grownup if they had a house and a job. Or, if you didn't have a house or a job, you could still be a grownup if you had a husband and/or kids. Even though I've had a husband, a house (does it count if I HATED the house??), and a job for a few years now, I still don't feel quite grownup at times.

In an effort to remedy this, this year I've been trying to do more "grown up" things - have an decorated apartment (still a work in progress - I have ideas, but lack motivation), real furniture (TV! Couch! KITCHEN TABLE!!!), holiday decorations (love my pink Christmas tree), and celebrating holidays with celebrations of food. Yesterday for Easter, I made my first ham, and we had friends over for dinner. It was a really awesome, and a lot of fun to know I was cooking for a purpose.

Maybe I'm starting to grow up after all :)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Neurotic?

Yes, maybe a little. Ok, a lot. I am terrified of spiders. COMPLETELY freaked out by them. I don't, as a rule, like bugs or anything too creepy, but my fear of spiders is getting out of control. This morning, while drying off from my shower, I started to have these horrible thoughts that maybe a spider had ended up in my towel and I'm now squishing it in my hair. I *briefly* thought about waking up my sweet hubby to check for me, but since he was working late last night and it was too early for him to get up, I tried to tell myself that these thoughts were just crazy and I should get on with my morning. Took awhile, but I managed to do that.

This morning's episode is probably the result of a bad spider encounter I had last week - when there actually was a spider in my bathroom. ICK! I've been pretty lucky - in our new apartment, I've probably only seen one other spider (I know there have been some I didn't see!!). Which is a welcome change from our last apartment where I saw a few more than that (being on the first floor and all) and an even more welcome change from our house in NY were I saw spiders all the time (and big ones too!!). Early in our marriage, Josh learned that if I'm screaming like there is an intruder in the house, come quickly (VERY quickly) and kill it. I don't like being this helpless, but I am paralyzed by fear. If you have suggestions, please share - except if you recommend exposure therapy or any solution that involves me actually looking at spiders, no way will I do that!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Why do we hate women?

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my anger over proposed cuts to Planned Parenthood. Since then, as I read the news, it has become increasing clear that we hate women. Here are just a few examples:

Apparently thinking about having an abortion is a crime.
From the article: Ms. Taylor became light-headed and fell down a flight of stairs in her home. Paramedics rushed to the scene and ultimately declared her healthy. However, since she was pregnant with her third child at the time, Taylor thought it would be best to be seen at the local ER to make sure her fetus was unharmed.
That's when things got really bad and really crazy. Alone, distraught, and frightened, Taylor confided in the nurse treating her that she hadn't always been sure she'd wanted this baby, now that she was single and unemployed. She'd considered both adoption and abortion before ultimately deciding to keep the child. The nurse then summoned a doctor, who questioned her further about her thoughts on ending the pregnancy. Next thing Taylor knew, she was being arrested for attempted feticide. Apparently the nurse and doctor thought that Taylor threw herself down the stairs on purpose.


Didn't you know feminist can cause natural disasters?!
 While I would like to laugh at the absuridy of this, its just too frightening since so many PEOPLE listen to them.

Greedy? 
I get that its expensive to develop and manufacture drugs, but that does not explain the jump in price from $20 to $1500. This drug prevents preterm labor (which seems like a good thing!) but as the article explains:
"Doctors estimate the drug could help 130,000 women a year, but only a fraction use it. Now even fewer will. In response to public outrage over the cost of the drug, Ther-Rx Corp., the KV subsidiary marketing Makena, announced a patient assistant program that will help low-income and uninsured women get the drug at a low cost. However, someone is still going to be paying $1,500 per dose, whether it's individuals, government programs, or health insurance companies. For example, the health insurance company Aetna says it will continue to cover the drug for the 1,000 members who use it, but that will cost an addition $30 million per year. And, of course, when expenses go up, health insurance companies will pass the cost on to clients." Great, just great.

I really like Lauren 
Glee has been frustrating me this year. I can't get into any of the story lines, not to mention being disappointed in Rachel for posing half naked on magazine covers. The latest story line about Lauren and Puck has been equally frustrating, since it seems that "Some people can't wrap their minds around the idea that a fat person can be sexy." I would go so far as to say that some people can't wrap their minds around the idea that a "fat" woman can be sexy. We assume its normal when an overweight man gets the hot girl on tv, but when a overweight girl is being pursued by a football player, thats not something we want to see?! No wonder girls as young as 8 are developing eating disorders.

And finally, the gang rape of an 11 year old, and the offensive coverge. Eighteen men and teenagers have been charged with participating in the gang rape on an 11 year old girl. Horrible. Completing disgusting. The reporting of this in the media has been shameful. The NYT supplies this quote: “It’s just destroyed our community,” said Sheila Harrison, 48, a hospital worker who says she knows several of the defendants. “These boys have to live with this the rest of their lives.” Yes, the boys have to live with the CONSEQUENCES of what they did, but what about this 11 year old girl? Well, apparently  "she dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s." Unfortunately, its customary to blame rape victims for what happened to them - she was drinking too much, she was dressed like a slut, etc. But the accountability belongs with the rapist. He is responsible for his actions. Not to mention this girl is 11.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Oh Jon......

Jon Stewart is how I manage to not go crazy reading the news. He always seems to put things in perspective, and his scathing wit makes difficult news (or stupid people) easier to digest.


Here is another good one: "None of this stuff is working, there are still muslims" What?!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Angry

I've found my self angry this week. This isn't a new state for me, I seem to feel pain and injustices deeply. But I've been dwelling on them more lately. Here, in no particular order, are things that make me so very angry:

1. Congress voting to take away funding to Planned Parenthood. Seriously?! This NYT article give the facts: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/us/politics/18parenthood.html?ref=politics and the fact of the matter is that Federal Funds are NOT paying for abortions, they are paying for health care, screenings, counseling, and birth control to low income women.Go do something useful Congress. I hear unemployment is a problem.
2. Along the lines of #1 - why are we trying to take funding from public broadcasting? Its much much better than the crap we are fed on FOX and MSNBC.
3. And why are peaceful protesters (and mourners) being shot at by police?! We need to do more than urge the leaders of Bahrain to show restraint. Are we for democracy or not?
4. The ever popular "blame the rape victim", guaranteed to raise my blood pressure. Let examine our own shortcomings before we point at others: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/us/politics/18parenthood.html?ref=politics


This is a short list of things that have been keeping me up at night. I think I need to focus on relaxing next week, or I'll go insane!

Good bye winter - and good riddance!

This year, winter dragged on for far too long. It's probably that my non-existent immune system kept me sick for all of January and most of February that made it seem so long. But, there is hope! Today its 75 degrees out. Come on Spring! I need an excuse to paint my toes. And buy new sandals.