Forest of the Plains

Quite a while back I wrote about lagoons and the need to use correct toilet paper in order to promote positive lagoon health. Last week I was going through some papers and found my list of "good" and "bad" toilet paper brands. The list was provided by a plumber who was out to unclog a line from our house to the lagoon. Just so that I don't loose my list again, I'm positing it here.

Good Toilet Paper:
Nice N' Soft
Angel Soft
Soft N' Gentle


Bad Toilet Paper:
Charmin
Northern
Cottonelle

There are so many bits of knowledge necessary for successful living in the country!

I would like to clarify that although this was a non-too-subtle reminder for those who already knew what was on the baby registries (I had sent out a shameless email a couple weeks ago), the main point was that I am laughing at myself. I can't quite believe I would be happy with a stroller or diapers for Christmas. I mean, come on! There just shouldn't be any excitement in either of those items!

Let me tell you, it sure was exciting when I did get a stroller Friday night. Yea! I immediately assembled it myself in the middle of everyone else's presents. (I did make sure to avoid smashing anything.)

Jacob and I ventured to the mall on The Saturday Before Christmas to test drive the stroller. The stroller was wonderful. I could steer with one hand as I happily sipped my mocha from the new Mokas branch at the mall. Jacob could recline while I tried on clothes that actually fit my oddly shaped post-pregnancy body. My shoulders didn't ache from balancing a diaper bag and baby carrier. And I didn't have to carry my bags since they balanced very nicely on the stroller's handles.

Poor little Jacob was a little freaked out by the stroller experience. Since he was already extremely extra overstimulated from the Christmas gathering where we acquired the stroller, taking him to the overcrowded mall probably wasn't the best parenting choice that I could have made. By the time we got from the parking lot into the mall, he was staring as if he had seen a ghost! Initially we stopped every 5 minutes for me to talk to him and he did eventually calm down. Do you think it helped that I promised he could Build-A-Bear as soon as he was old enough?

I am used to being at the mall during a weekday when you can park right beside an entrance, the only other people there are white soccer moms, there are 50 mall employees per customer, and you can hear a pin drop in the food court. This was not the case during this visit. I really enjoyed how it was a cultural experience. You could hear so many ethnicities speaking different languages. Families were there. Men were present and a decent percentage were carrying bags from Victoria's! The sales people were busy helping people who wanted help, so we were free to shop without being bombarded by bored sales people 50 million times per minute. And I thought of Cliff as I considered counting the number of baggy pants that were about to fall off so many males.

I was very encouraged by the humanity and good will that was at the mall. I witnessed several happy reunions of people who had not seen each other in a long time. Each time I went through a non-handicap accessible door with the stroller, someone held the door for me. People waited patiently in line for the elevators, helping each other and joking about how many people squeezed into the elevator.

Merry Christmas!

I always maintain a gift list of things that I want to receive. That way when I'm asked what I want, I don't forget about anything! This year John asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I pulled up my trusty list. I went through the list and eliminated about half the things – I just didn't want them any more. Since my list is always a long one, there were still plenty of things for John to choose.

And while I would like the things on my list, I keep thinking about one thing that I really want. It's initially a surprising thing, but it's something that will enable me to more easily go shopping and other places with Jacob. Jacob gets bored easily, so entertaining him can be frustrating some days. What I really want is a stroller, though I wouldn't mind getting diapers (see "economy package") either!

This weekend I ate my first Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes of the season. Sure, they're no Cadbury Creme Egg, but they're still yummy! Now I just need to find time to make the Carmel Dessert and then the festivities can really begin!

I have now completed three loads of laundry with my new non-sorting system and have experienced no ill affects. Yea!

From a cnn.com article on Dick Cheney's daughter's pregnancy:

"Carrie Gordon Earll, a policy analyst for the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family, expressed empathy for the Cheney family but depicted the pregnancy as unwise. 'Just because you can conceive a child outside a one-woman, one-man marriage doesn't mean it's a good idea,' Earll said. 'Love can't replace a mother and a father.'"

Okay, I get the point that Earll finds any conception outside of a monogamous heterosexual Christian marriage to be immoral. And I won't argue about that here. (That means don't leave me mean comments. They will not be left up. I don't write this blog to be yelled at.)

The part of the quote that caught my attention is that "Love can't replace a mother and a father". Having a traditional family does not guarantee love, stability, or even safety within the family. Love can and does replace a mother and a father all the time. Love even replaced a mother and a father before the availability of fertility technologies. (Ever heard of grandparents, aunts, uncles, or family friends helping to raise children? What about a teacher or church member providing support to a child in need?)

I would choose for every child to be loved. Period.

Over the past two months I have been doing an extra 2-3 loads of laundry each week, 1 load of baby clothes and 1-2 of cloth diapers. Since we're in an apartment and our washer and dryer are in storage, I use the apartment complex's pay machines. The situation is not the greatest, but it's working out okay.

Yesterday as I was sorting the dark and light clothes I wondered why I was wasting my time. I can understand why sorting was necessary years ago when fabric & dye qualities weren't the best and fabrics needed to be washed in different temperatures. But why do we keep sorting the clothes? Because we always have? If a white sock gets washed with a black shirt, the sock still comes out white. And I always wash everything in warm water, no matter what the lable says!

I think that I'll stop sorting the clothes. (Diapers still get their own load!) That frees up three more minutes of my day!

During the winter months I tend to shock myself and others a lot. I hate doing things like turning on lights because I get a jolt each time. Yesterday I lightly brushed a houseplant as I passed by, and got a shock from the plant! Is it dry in here, or is it just my sense of humor?