Whoops

Here's something I wrote mid-November and forgot to actually post.


So the whole blogging-every-day-in-November didn't pan out for me. Between the pregnancy sleepies and the daily care of a not-yet toddlering toddler, I was too tired at night to write. I did have a lot to say though, so I'll try to get caught up.


Frying

I couldn't find it on his website, but Alton Brown did a show on deep frying where he said basically the same thing that Wikipedia did:

If performed properly, deep frying does not make food excessively greasy because the moisture in the food repels the oil. The hot oil heats the water within the food, and steams it from the inside out. As long as the oil is hot enough and the food is not immersed in the oil too long, oil penetration will be confined to the outer surface layer and none will actually reach the center of the food.

He also demonstrated that, properly done, that there was only a teeny amount of oil that did not remain in the pan. It was insane like a tablespoon or something for a batch of fried chicken. I wish I could have found the exact quote, but whatever. So, take that, know-it-all people who think I'm a horrible mother for feeding my son some wok-fried chicken (it was NOT deep fried or battered!!!) on a special occasion when we went out to a restaurant.


Horace and Doris Beans

I can't remember why, but I wanted to blog about this recipe that's been in my family since my grandparents' time. When they were a young couple they had some friends that were called Horace and Doris after characters on a radio show. I think the wife may have been my grandma's cousin, but I'm not sure anymore. At any rate, I thought that my grandpa considered it a big secret so was afraid he wouldn't want to share the recipe. It turned out he was thrilled that someone else in the family wanted to make it. I started taking them to company bbq's and then making them for family occasions so Grandpa could have a break (there's a lot of mincing/dicing involved). It is the special food that will always make me think of him and what he and Grandma must have been like as a young couple.

Sewing

First, we are back from the hospital and The Biscuit is doing well. It was an interesting trip. We only expected to be there overnight at the most and he had to stay 3 nights. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who let his pregnant wife come home and sleep in our bed while he slept at the hospital. That part of this scary experience was wonderful.

What I really wanted to take a second to write about was sewing machines. Very Mom / Kerflop had a discussion about sewing machines and sergers and I missed out on making a comment. Since it's not a topic I want to keep quiet about I thought I'd just write my own post. Feel free to go and read the discussion for yourself if you'd like.

Being from a family that sells and repairs sewing machines and vacuums means I have a fairly strong opinion on this. I wouldn't want anything but a Singer from back when they were actually made in the US and had some weight to them. As far as sergers go, my mom got me one exactly like hers -- a White BabyLock -- and I would be totally chicken to use something that I couldn't call and ask her a question about.

Didn't take much room, but I had to get it out there. Oh, and if Kerflop herself comes over to see who linked to her entry I have one more idea. Why not look for a shop that does repairs and not just a dealer? You would be amazed at what some manufacturers require of a small shop in order for the shop to call themselves a dealer. Very high sales volume and sometimes exclusively selling their products. My uncle's shop started out as my grandpa's Singer dealership, but I'm not even sure if they are able to call themselves that anymore, because of the volume required. And frankly, people want to buy their machines at Wal-Mart and then throw them away instead of have them repaired. It's more of a problem with vacuums, but still, that's the mind-set out there so it's really hard for a small family business to sell enough product to be called a "dealer" -- and I'm guessing that the same is true in Idaho as it is here in Northern California.

Hi!

We're at the hospital right now. If you leave a message we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks.

I'm tired

It's been an day again. We had a home visit from The Biscuit's teacher, which is always wonderful. He thinks she's great. Today she brought a stacking ring toy, something simple that he has only seen once at his cousin's house. And oh does he love it! In fact, he only napped because I put it in his play yard with him. He passed out with the red one in his hand. I could move the others away from his head so he could roll over in his sleep, but he wouldn't give that one up.

Sadly, he woke up very demanding, not happy, and the weather matched his mood. At least after a diaper change and some dancing his mood improved, but the weather is still foul.

I sat down to finish reading today's blog roll and came across this entry from Mom on a Wire. She really hit home today. I so relate to wanting some time off, or at least getting paid minimum wage! She made me cry. I think we'll go have a snack and see if we can't get in better moods before GrandmaP gets here to go grocery shopping with us.

Hope your day is better than we've had.

The Biscuit's second Halloween

Halloween was an interesting day. We took The Biscuit to his cardiologist and got good news/bad news. The good news is that he doesn't have to take meds any more. This means that I don't have to get up at 1am, which usually meant trying to stay up since I had slept through medicine time once or twice. The bad news is that [blah, blah, blah about private medical details] they are going to do an angiogram. Yes, back to the hospital and under general anesthesia.

So how was your afternoon yesterday? All in all, our evening was much better than our afternoon.

We didn't go out trick or treating. We stayed home to hand out candy. Sadly, my husband had to work late to make up for the time we were at the doctor's, so I was home alone with The Biscuit. We ate Joe's O's (Trader Joe's version of Cheerios -- which I think taste exactly the same) and yogurt and waited for the doorbell to ring. The Biscuit apparently thought it was quite funny that I was giving people stuff and not letting them in because he laughed almost every time I closed the door.

Today was pretty good. I'm absolutely sure that this whole going back to the hospital thing has not even begun to sink into my brain. We had a fairly normal day, including The Biscuit falling asleep for his nap by himself. It doesn't happen often, and is so wonderful when it does. He was yawning but feeling rambunctious, and would not sit still in the glider with me. I was exhausted. So I put him in his play yard and laid down next to it with my pillow and blanket and went to sleep. One of the times I woke to check on him he was out too. Sometimes I think he needs to see an example.

After our nap we went down to have tuna sandwiches for lunch and then I tried an experiment. I attempted to eat a Kit-Kat the "proper" way per Daring Young Mom's instructions. It didn't work. Maybe it's because it was the little treat size, or it's just because I don't like milk chocolate enough to eat it without the wafer. Either way the experiment was called off in the middle of the second part of the Kit-Kat. Mom and Biscuit celebrated with a banana and milk and then we went to play in the living room.

National Blog Posting Month

I've decided to participate in National Blog Posting Month. I hope I can do it.

I read about it on Kerflop and got the instructions here. I hope I win a prize! Since it's a random drawing, not talent dependent, I think I have a chance.

What's new

I'm trying out Google Docs & Spreadsheets because I need a place to compose my blog entries that isn't solely on my computer until we get our bedrooms moved around and my computer downstairs. Right now my computer is completely inaccessible when The Biscuit is taking a nap. Very annoying sometimes, but admittedly most of his naps I spend napping. Ah, the joys of pregnancy.

I guess I should mention that I'm pregnant again. My husband claims that he didn't plan this, but I find it suspicious that he-who-knows-my-cycle-better-than-I picked ovulation week for our first vacation since our honeymoon. We got back from vacation and I have felt like crap ever since. I cannot get enough sleep, my nausea is worse than it was the first time (which was baaaaaad), and I am grumpy. I stifle it during the day because I don't want The Biscuit to think I'm annoyed with him, but man am I no fun to be around. I know I certainly don't feel like being around me.

Also, for the past 2 or 3 days I haven't turned on the TV. Hubby found an article on Slate.com that talks about a possible link between TV viewing in very young children and autism. Well, if the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is going to recommend no TV viewing until the age of 2 then I guess I have to get behind it. I don't exactly consider them to be on the bleeding edge of parenting issues; any large body that is full of medical professionals is going to take awhile to get behind a new idea. So, my logic goes, if they are behind it then it's pretty much a mainstream idea -- or it should be. Like the whole breastfeeding until the kid is at least one idea.

Speaking of which, the other big event is that The Biscuit his weaned himself. Yesterday was the first day of his life that he didn't nurse at all. And he just didn't care. I think he was ready 2 days before, but I didn't get the clue. There were 2 days of "yeah, I see you sitting on the sofa, but I'm over here playing, ok?" instead of his usual scooting over to be picked up and nursed. This is the only reason I'm thankful for the nausea. Instead of bawling my eyes out because this special bond is over, I'm just happy that he's not pinning me down by laying across my lap and making the nausea worse.

That's it for now -- I need my nap.


-----------------------------------

Looks like Google's stuff worked. Maybe next time I'll try their publishing feature instead of cutting and pasting myself. Although I'm not too comfortable with giving my Blogger password to Google.

Aggression in Kids

I'm back from vacation and trying to get caught up on all the blogging that I didn't get to read. One of them was the above entry about aggressive kids and tips on how to deal with them. There were great ideas, but I'd like to ask a slightly different question:

How do you deal with a kid that truly doesn't understand? Maybe this kid is the aggressee and doesn't even seem to get that what is happening to them is mean. In that case does Mom's perception that her kid is being picked on right? Or does it only count if the pickee recognizes the picking?

Or maybe it's the other way around and the kid that's showing aggressive behavior really has no clue that what they are doing is mean? How do you apply parenting strategies to a kid that has, say, the body of a 6-year-old but the developmental level of a 3-year-old? Obviously just disciplining the way you would a typical 6-year-old probably won't be right, but you can't just discipline the way you would the 3-year-old because that ignores the physical component.

What with The Biscuit only being 14-months-old, this is all hypothetical for me now, but I'm very curious about what other parents would do. Maybe your child has a playmate with developmental disabilities and you've had to deal with this issue from the other side. Please post your comments, even if you don't stumble upon this post for 5 years.

Stop Global Warming

I got an email from a friend today about this online "virtual march" to help stop global warming. Usually I would think that an online march isn't going to do much, but they aren't asking for money so I decided to sign up. Turns out they have some really cool ideas about how individuals can be making a difference in their everyday lives. I was surprised to see how many of their suggestions are things I already do. Made me feel pretty good.

Go check them out... sign up... and look for the carbon calculator to see how you can change how much CO2 you release into the atmosphere. I tried to put their random action item banner on this page, but blogger won't let me. If anyone knows how I can do it I would love to learn. Here is the link and this is the html that blogger won't let me use (I removed the <> characters around the tags):

script src="http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/syndication/assets.asp?uid=597568&sel=action"

/script

Humorlessness, Part 2

Thanks, ladies, for your comments. I thought I would have a clearer, more calm perspective this morning, but instead I cried while I cooked breakfast. Pbbbt.

I realized that the problem isn't that someone used the word "retard" about me. It's that I haven't really accepted the idea that The Biscuit isn't a brilliant little boy. He certainly seems like it. If someone was just telling us today that he has Down syndrome, I wouldn't believe them. He's just too darn smart. Well, at his age maybe it's more clever than smart.

He got a toy for his birthday that's an activity center kind of thing. (I'll have to snap a photo and edit this post.) It has completely different things to do on the bottom, so he will turn it over when he's bored with one side. I realized a few days ago that he is turning lots of his toys over after playing with them for awhile, looking to see if there is another way to play with it. I think that's an example of his cleverness.

But who is going to see that if they first see his mouth open and his little tongue hanging out? I don't want someone writing him and his abilities off because of his appearance or because they happen to know his diagnosis. I've yet to meet someone who hasn't said what a cute baby he is; they don't say, "Aw, he has Down syndrome." Grocery store cashiers especially seem to like him. I only know one person who has mistaken his occasional shyness for the typical "Buddha Baby" -- a baby with Down syndrome who just sits there and isn't phased by anything. But she knew the diagnosis before she met him and must have known other kids who were that way. Believe me, he has opinions and expresses them! He is not always happy. But if this woman is going to make assumptions about him, so will others. I can feel myself tensing up for a fight just thinking about having to protect him from the limiting assumptions of others.

So much work. I knew that having a child would change my life, but this is not what I was expecting!

Jon Stewart's graphic explaining the Internet

I subscribe to a newsletter called Bonehead of the Day. Today there was a link to this video clip of Jon Stewart explaining Senator Ted Stevens' comment about the Internet being a series of tubes. It's a little long and the big funny is at the end.

Humorlessness

So, it turns out that I have no sense of humor. At least when it comes to the word "retard." The Biscuit has Down syndrome and, therefore, will have some degree of mental retardation. To have someone just off and call me a retard was like getting punched in the gut. Well, maybe not; I've never been punched in the gut that hard. It was like getting hit in the stomach with the ball when you are playing 4-square hard enough to have your feet knocked out from under you so that you hit the ground chin first, then sliding down the driveway you are playing on so that your jawbone cuts its way out of your body from the inside. That I have lived through. When I was 9. I just didn't realize I was back on a playground. At least not with that guy.

I thought that my post was clear enough that I was aware I might be falling for some sarcasm. Apparently not clear enough for one person though, since it was proof for him that I'm a retard.

But see for yourself.

Oh, and then he's got nothing to comment on about the next post, except for this? Ah, what a literary contribution! Playground bully. And I didn't say I was going away, just that I wasn't going to comment anymore.

Feel free to tell me that I have no sense of humor, but as you can see from the title I already know that.

The Spider Bite, Part 1

We think I got a spider bite. I thought that I got a splinter from our dining room table, but there was nothing sticking out above the surface of my skin. This was the first night that we used The Biscuit's new seat so that we could all sit at the table for a meal. I had wanted to put him on the side of the table for stability's sake but this chair hooks to the table and the mechanism for adding the leaf was in the way. All I can think about is how horrible it would be if this had happened to a 1-year-old who wouldn't be able to tell Mom & Dad what's wrong. I'm so glad that this place ended up being my seat and not his!




Here's my spider bite right after it happened. Very tadpole-like swelling.





After 45 minutes it was very red, especially to the left of the bite site, which was weird because that was opposite from the direction it looked like the poison had gone.



This was also 45 minutes after I felt the bite. This angle was to show that the swelling has increased and is more round.

Sharing

This popped up today and I felt like sharing:

Quote of the Day - Winston Churchill - "History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."


Here's something else to share. Wish I had the text of what he said.

New title: Biscuit Raising

I hated this blog's old title, Kath has too many blogs. It was something that I just thought of off the top of my head and it was not good.

There is nothing in my life now that isn't touched on by having become a mom. So, anything I comment on here will be influenced by my son, The Biscuit. (It's his title.)

I hope he doesn't hate that nickname when he gets older. I thought it was cute that my husband came up with something other than me having a "bun" in the oven.

Phishing Meme

I'm calling this the Phishing Meme. Obviously, I didn't fill it out because I couldn't think of funnier answers than this.

What is your full name?

What is your date of birth?

What four cities have you lived in?

What four TV shows do you love?

What four credit cards do you currently use?

What are four credit account numbers assigned you, and when (month/year) do they expire?

Do you have four credit card pin numbers, and if so, what are they?

What does your mother's maiden name look like if you type it four times in a row?

What are the first four digits of your social security number?

What are the last four digits of your social security number?

What number did you leave out of your nine-digit social security number? (That's your lucky number!)

What are the first four lines of your mailing address?

What are your four favorite banks?

What are your four favorite bean dishes?

What four people do you wish to tag with this meme?

Meme?

I guess that this is like a meme. I got it from a message board that I regularly post to.

A game for Anne

Accent: California with a little Texas once in awhile and an almost imperceptible lisp

Book I Like: Too many! How about Child of My Heart by Alice McDermott. Beautiful happy/sad story.

Chore I Hate: Cleaning anything in the bathroom -- vile.

Dog or Cat: Dog, although I don't have one right now.

Essential Electronics: cell phone -- I don't even nurse my son without it; TV -- same.

Favorite Flower: lavender

Gold or Silver: silver (and black )

Handbag I Carry Most Often: tan Save the Back bag

Insomnia: hahaha! I'm the one that posts at 2am!

Job Title: Sign Language Interpreter on extended maternity leave; Mommy & CT for short

Kids: 1 DS, hoping for 2 more

Living Arrangements: 3 of us renting the house I grew up in from my Mom

Most Admirable Trait: Loyal (ranging from being like a mama bear to protect my friends to keeping their secrets)

Naughtiest Childhood Behavior: Not being nicer to my mom. I still struggle not to act like a 13-year-old when I feel she's manipulating me. But the naughtiest thing I thought about doing was to consider throwing my brother through a plate glass window. I was 5 and he was 2 and he called our step-dad "Daddy." Pissed me off something fierce. The only thing that stopped me was that I knew grown-ups were close enough to grab him from me before I could actually toss him, so I didn't try. I still feel guilty for thinking it though.

Overnight Hospital Stays: 4 days when DS was born because of c-section, 1 night when
DS was 1 month old (stayed in his room), 5 days in April for his heart surgery (stayed in his room again). Hospitals seem so "normal" now, it's odd that I was barely in them before last year.

Phobias: Ants. I hate their hive brain.

Quote: Mark Twain quoting Benjamin Disraeli: "There are three kinds of lies - lies, damned lies and statistics."

Religion: Presbyterian? Not a practicing anything. I have a dread of religion and a love of faith.

Siblings: 1 younger brother, 37

Time I Wake Up: When my Biscuit Alarm goes off. My alarm clock is set for 8:00 so we don't miss morning meds, but I can't remember the last time I heard it.

Unusual Talent/Skill: Fluent in ASL, but I don't know if that's unusual. Maybe my uncanny ability to recognize voices, esp voice-overs on TV and in movies.

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: cooked mushrooms

Worst Habit: staying up late instead of going to bed

X-Rays: all dental related -- the little bite-wings every once in a while and a full head one before having my wisdom teeth removed.

Yummy Stuff I Cook: Mostly chocolate dessert items (I worked at a bakery), but I can also make a mean Cioppino (Rachel Ray's recipe)

Zoo Animal I Like: Giraffes, I think because they seemed the friendliest and least discontent at the local zoo when I was a kid.

Very Mom

Oooh! Oooh! I found a blogger who lives in Rigby, Idaho.

Every summer (well, almost) we make the drive from Northern California to Southwestern Montana to a cabin that my family owns. It is our sanctuary and the place where we can recharge our batteries for another year. Without it I don't know how we would stand "civilization" here in CA. On the drive up we go through Idaho and there is a place where it starts to look and feel more Montana-ish. I start to feel vacation is really happening. The first time I heard the Dixie Chicks' "Wide Open Spaces" I envisioned this place. The first time I saw the video to the song I thought that they had filmed it there. And that place is right around Rigby, Idaho. I've never lived there, I've only driven through, but it has a special place in my heart.

That's it for now as I have made myself cry. What week is this?

Bummer

My Blogroll and "This blogs readers also read" lists are virtually identical. I need more readers who have Blogarithm accounts!

Heck, I just need more readers.

I also need to know how to change my default font to Verdana small. This is a hassle to change each time.

Tutu Boutique

OMG! If I knew anyone who had a girl I would send them a link to this page! As I don't, I just have to share with the world.

I was not necessarily the kind of little girl who wanted to be in a tutu, but if I had been given a dress-up outfit from these people I soooo would have worn these princess clothes!

I found them thru a blog I read called "Daring Young Mom" at http://daringyoungmom.blogspot.com/.

The Muppet Personality Test

Just a little something fun to start off the apres-surgery posts.

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know.You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems.Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green.Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

Ack

Between taxes and prepping for my son's surgery on Monday, I have no time to write. But I'm here. Hopefully I will have net access while we are at the hospital next week. I have to do something besides sit next to his bed and stare at him, right?

Obsession

Lordy, I've found another site that I can't stop looking at: http://www.foundmagazine.com/

Get Your Web License | PBS KIDS GO!

Get Your Web License PBS KIDS GO!

This is a cool little site where you answer some questions and then, if you pass, you get an official Web License. It's got some really basic tips that all kids (and adults) should remember when they are online.

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

I love PostSecret. I had put an item in my Yahoo calendar to check it every single Sunday, but then I found this cool Blogarithm tool, so now I use that. I get an email every time it has changed so that I don't miss a thing.

This week's posting I found especially touching. There were several that really struck me. I don't want to influence anyone else's experience so that is all I will say.

Ji Lee's "PleaseEnjoy" site

My husband sent me a newsletter he gets that had an interview with Ji Lee and his Bubble Project. Very interesting idea. I'm fascinated with advertising. The idea of someone giving people a standard format to alter it, which is still "defacing" and "vandalism," is pretty cool. Too bad I live way too far away from NYC to ever participate.

Going to the Bubble Project website (http://thebubbleproject.com) then led me to this guy's main site with all his other projects. I am now a big fan. I downloaded the Univers Revolved font (http://universrevolved.com/) though I have no idea what I would do with it. Then I started looking at his work. Wow. Check it out yourself.

Game addiction

I get addicted to the dumbest games. Go check this out yourself. You can even get a coupon for a Baskin-Robbins Blast.

Oh, what the hell

Why do this? Why start up yet another place where I won't have time to write? Because it's required in order for me to add a comment to my friend's blog. That's why.