Forest of the Plains

"Bathroom scandal senator: 'I'm not gay'" Just the fact that cnn.com ran that headline (I notice they have since changed it) is an interesting commentary on American society.

On a related note, I heard an interview with a researcher from the Kinsey Institute on Tuesday. Turns out that I have most likely been missing all kinds of subtle things happening around me. I wonder, how does one learn to tap your foot in a public restroom stall?

Also, if you have never seen the movie Kinsey, I recommend it. It was uncomfortable for me to watch sometimes, but the movie stretched my brain.

I recently read a story of a young child who was afraid of having a humidifier in their room because they thought it would make them burn up. Once they understood that it was a different kind of "fire", they were okay with the humidi-fier.

Yesterday I overheard a mom saying that every time her toddler saw coffee he would start coughing. Turns out he was thinking the coffee was "cough-ee".

You just never know how your words will be interpreted!

Jacob's party supplies arrived! The best thing is the High Chair Decoration Kit - a product targeted directly at moms like me!

We also have his presents. I feel a little bad that he was with me when I purchased them. At least he was asleep for most of the time, so he didn't even see what I got.

The party is still four weeks away! The suspense is killing me!

Summer took a while to get here, but when it did, the heat hit us full force. I had noticed that my car's air conditioner seemed to have trouble cooling me when the afternoon temperatures got above 100F. I considered mentioning it to John, but decided not to. Surely the problem would resolve itself soon enough.

Then John drove my car. Once we got onto the paved road, I told him to turn off the recirculate.

"Why?" he asked.
"Because the Saturn lady told me not to use it very much."
"Why?" he asked again.
"I don't know. She said something about the vents needing to be open or else they'd get musty."
"Is that why you've been so hot when you get home after work?"
"Huh? What does that have to do with recirculating?"

Then I was enlightened about some of the finer points of using recirculate in my car. Turns out the car can get cooler if you keep cooling and re-cooling the same air.

The next day at work my boss walked in and was obviously hot. "My car's air conditioner just can't keep up when it's so hot outside. It sure feels good in here!"

After I stopped laughing, I recounted my conversation with John. She and I both use recirculate now when it's hot outside.

So, I'm researching themes for Jacob's First Birthday. I came across lots of sites with good advice on party length, numbers of guests, and how to minimize your child being over-stimulated. Then I found a site that was totally honest. I wish I could find it again so I could give them credit. Essentially it said:

Your one-year-old will not enjoy the party and will not even remember the party. The party is for Mom's benefit. Therefore, Mom should live it up and have a great time. Plan the party so that Mom will not have to worry about food or coordinating games for older children. Mom should treat herself because she is a Mom. Also, Mom should spend lots of money on decorations and party favors (preferably from said website) because they're cute.

That's right! I'm a mom and I deserve a party that meets my needs. I should ignore the needs of everyone around me and live vicariously through my one-year-old because chances are I didn't have an adequate first birthday party myself.

Hopefully Jacob won't be scared for life when he learns that his first birthday party was not at the zoo and was not hosted by a dozen clowns, but rather it was in his own boring house...

As someone who has had year-round allergies for as long as I can remember, I have gone through quite a few Kleenexes. Kleenex to wipe my watery eyes. Kleenex to blow my nose. Kleenex to cover my mouth while hacking up more gunk from my lungs. Kleenex to wipe off whatever got in the way of a sneeze. I know not to mess around with the thin store brand stuff, I need good quality tissue!

Each morning as I got dressed, I would put a couple Kleenex in each pocket because I knew they'd be needed later. There are travel packs of Kleenex in my purse, and boxes of Kleenex in my car and almost every room of the house. (I don't believe there are any in the dining room.) When arranging a room, I think in terms of where to put the box of Kleenex before I consider anything else!

There have been several times recently when I have reached into my pocket for a Kleenex to use on Jacob and haven't found one. I just realized that my allergies must be getting better because I no longer remember to have a Kleenex in my pocket at all times. Fifteen years of allergy shots may have paid off!

But, there is no time to celebrate because it looks like Jacob has allergies, too. Now I have to carry around Kleenex to clean up Jacob's runny nose and productive sneezes. The fun just never ends!

John sent me a link to one article about infant cognitive development, and the Child Development major in me just couldn't stop reading. Very interesting stuff!

A very interesting article about recent research on infant cognitive abilities. My favorite quote: "Babies know squat." Read more here.

And another article telling you how to make sure your baby knows less than other babies is also interesting, though the punch line wasn't a shock to me. What did surprise me is that 90% of 2 year olds are spending 2-3 hours in front of a screen each day! Scary quote: "with every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants learned six to eight fewer new vocabulary words than babies who never watched the videos". The summary: Don't park your baby in front of the television. Read more here.

Read the findings from another study here. Scary quote: "for each additional hour of daily TV viewing before age 3, a child's chances of later developing problems paying attention increased 10%".

It's all about coordination. Usually only one of us has time to look for a product, but we want the other's input before we actually make the purchase. So one looks, gets distracted, looks some more, and finally remembers to email a link to the other one. They look, both forget about it, and eventually a purchase is made - two months later.

Hence, Jacob's Wish List. This way I can keep track of what he needs or we want for him easier. I really like how I can rank products from lowest to highest. And, when people ask what to get him, I can just say, "Hey, you know that neat Amazon button on my blog? Just click on it!"

There will be a neat button as soon as I figure out how to do that. In the meantime, here's a link.

UPDATE: The neat button is now on the left side, under the links to other blogs that I like. It will probably stay there until Jacob's old enough to make his own lists, so you can count on current items always being there!

My office is located in the county seat of a very rural county. The entire county had a population of 13,299 in 2003. The nearest superstore is about 40 miles away. There is a Pizza Hut, but you have to drive another 15 miles to get to the next chain restaurant (a Sonic - is that really a restaurant?).

These small towns know that it wouldn't take much for them to completely die off. So many of them are bedroom communities already, with people commuting 45-60 miles each way to work. If you took away the schools or a major employer (like a nursing home)... Civic leaders would have trouble finishing that thought.

Because of this reality, the board of directors that issues my paycheck insists that we buy everything locally that we possibly can. They understand the value of supporting local business and keeping the local economy afloat. They know that our agency would not exist if there were not local businesses and residents to support us.

Today I went to the local Duckwalls and purchased 15 folders with metal fasteners for our volunteer training manuals. This purchase cost $7.82. If I had made the same purchase at the 40-miles-away WalMart where I was anyway yesterday, the exact same product would have cost $1.61.

How should we be good stewards to our community and to our donors? Should we pay five times the cost for products so we can keep local businesses open? Should we conserve dollars spent on office costs so those dollars can be spent providing services to the local children?

It seems that stewardship is always complicated.

I like to read BoilerStation to keep up with current events in Purdue Sports. It's also fun to read the reader's comments attached to each story. People love to tear their beloved Boilers to shreds, no matter if they're winning or loosing! They're currently beating up Selwyn Lymon.

Reminds me of the season when Brad Miller was booed by the Purdue crowd each time he came on the court. Despite what Keady kept saying about Brad's potential, Brad seemed to only make horridly embarrassing plays. It's still a shock to me that Brad actually plays in the NBA.

In keeping with my fellow Boilers' attitudes, I'm also shocked that my favorite Boiler is also playing in the NBA.

I guess we have a lot of pessimism in West Lafayette.