I'm not quite to the point where I'm blocking anyone yet, because I believe that the comments I received yesterday were meant to be helpful, even if they were quite convoluted and involved a twisting of my words and actions. But I'm not going to publish any more comments on this topic from that particular source, because I do believe it could be a) a near occasion of sin for other readers and b) isn't reflective of the love or charitable kindness that I've found in the Church that leads us to strive to be better than we are.
And that's all I'm going to say about that! Moving on...
Me: "Look at that squirrel Paul! I mean look at it! It's huge! I mean, it can hardly run. Look! No seriously look! Did you see it?"
Paul: "Honestly, I don't care about the squirrels. They're evil, but really I don't care about how fat they are. Why don't you go home and write a blog about it and then you can find someone who cares about squirrels." (Can you tell, this was during finals week? Although his tone did have me laughing hysterically for about a minute...)
Eye roll. It might be one of those conversations you had to be there for. But...
I have never seen squirrels like the squirrels here in Michigan (and not just because one broke into our house three months ago). They have definitely been putting on the pounds for winter. I've seen two squirrels this week that were so fat they could hardly walk. They waddled, slowly, down the sidewalk in front of me.
I have no idea how they're not getting picked off by predators. Or maybe they are and there's just so many of them that it doesn't matter...
 |
| The only picture of a squirrel on my computer... A California baby squirrel... Imagine this squirrel with 20x more fat and you can imagine the squirrels I have lounging in the backyard. |
It's finally snowing here!
When we moved to Michigan we expected a long cold winter. And while it's been fairly cold, and we've regularly had "high of 34 low of 24" days, it definitely hasn't been, "Oh my goodness, I can't survive here" cold.
I was pretty jealous when I heard that my friends and family in California got a foot of snow yesterday (actually, that reminds me, Maria took pictures of the town in California that I grew up in, while driving north on interstate 5, and posted them on her blog! I haven't been back in around 4 years, so I really loved looking at them!). So I was thrilled when I woke up to a winter wonderland.
Which is why I need to speed up my typing because Sadie is downstairs impatient to go out and play.
I do have to say that this snow is different than the snow back home. When the snow back home would slide off the roof it would be in giant, dangerous, fast moving masses. The snow that's been falling this morning is light and fluffy and actually blows upward in the wind. I've never seen snow this fluffy!
 |
| I'm hoping we get at least a few more inches for the girls to play in! |
I cannot believe that in six months my baby will be five!
 |
| Oh the silliness that makes getting a good picture nearly impossible! |
I believe that the people who make rude comments comparing your child to a dog in the grocery store and berating your parenting choices, have likely never had a runner.
You might recognize this term if you've ever had a runner. It's the child that takes off at a sprint, giggling, knowing you're hot on their trail. They're the child that doesn't even look back to be sure that you're chasing after them, and even if they did and saw that you hadn't noticed yet, they'd keep going because they're confident you'd figure it out eventually.
Mae Bae has been blessed with a double dose of toddler-ness, in that she's both a runner and a climber.
And the leash? She actually loves it. Because it means she can be two feet away from me and not holding my hand every second when we go on walks. It also means that she's not locked down in a stroller.
We arrived and the sleek silver model was gone. But they did have... hot pink.
I said I was okay with pink and ohhed and ahhed over how teeny tiny it is (it's so tiny it doesn't have a memory card, although it's internal memory is more than the memory card in my former cameras). Paul paid the $8 for the insurance plan after watching how Mae started cooing and pointing and trying to grab the camera the second she saw it.
And now I don't have to worry about having horrible pictures for etsy, or having to redo photo shoots with the same snoods over and over again. This should make running my businesses quite a bit easier!
 |
| Photo from http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-COOLPIX-Digital-Camera-NIKKOR/dp/B0090SLJXA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1356101389&sr=8-3&keywords=nikon+s01 |
Cuddling with Patrick!
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
It was snowing quite a lot when we went through northern California. Brrr, and we don't even have a heater in our car...Should be an interesting ride back.
ReplyDeleteIt basically snowed a little bit here in Portland, then melted. But the temp is just hovering above freezing...
Congrats on the new camera!
ReplyDeleteMy 4.5 year old explains that she is now half 4 and half 5.
We have a little snow in the Central California mountains, but not much. Supposedly more is coming on Sunday. I'm so excited for you - having a new camera. I want one so badly!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, my 2yo is a runner and a climber, too! I have refrained from the backpack leash thingy (what are they called?), only because I am both afraid of the giant backlash I will get and hoping that my preschooler will outgrow it sooner rather than later. My new little one is due in February, and so I am and will be more homebound in this season of my life, so that has helped a bit. But I literally cannot take her ANYWHERE, because she will wait innocently for the first opportunity (like getting my keys out of my purse to open the car) and then she will do the 100yd dash in any direction, giggling the whole way. I have to strap her down to the stroller or cart to keep her safe. And she has even figured out how to outsmart the buckles. Thank goodness there is a Mother's Day Out program available to me, or I would never get to run any errands! Knowing she is safe and playing happily while I run my errands is a huge relief. But I have told my inlaws already that this particular child might just end up with the backpack leash before her preschool period is over.
ReplyDeleteRandi
Hi Randi-
ReplyDeleteI think the backlash depends a lot on where you are. In California when Sadie wore hers we got a huge amount of comments. In Michigan, I've had people smile and do double takes, but no one has said anything! Maybe more midwestern manners? So depending on where you are it might not be too bad, if you decide to do it! It's such a relief to me! And she's sooooo proud of it!
Joy- We just discovered that 4 and a half is "basically five" according to Sadie. :0)
ReplyDeleteMichelle- And your business is such a good excuse to get a new one! Mine was starting to skew the colors towards grey more and more often and so that was it! I haven't tried it out yet, because I need to charge it, but I'm super excited too!
ReplyDeleteMaria-
ReplyDeleteI feel you on the heater! Ours works in the very, very back of the mini van, but the front and middle vents don't work about 90% of the time. It's making defrosting rather awkward.
Be careful on your drive back! I heard that Dunsmuir got 2 feet of snow yesterday and another 2 feet last night. Schools are out! And I'm a little bit jealous! I miss big snows like that!
I do understand about "runners" and the need for a baby "leash".
ReplyDeleteOur younger daughter was a runner... and a hider. After one especially terrifying episode at the local mall, where she first hid in a rack of clothes and then hid from me in a dressing room, ignoring my increasingly frantic calls (the exit out to the mall was very close by and we thought she had taken off out there) I decided that the leash was a necessity.
God clearly has a sense of humor and fair play, as her little Ben is also a runner, as we discovered last week in a department store. He is FAST! So, I perfectly understand. Sometimes it is an absolutely necessary safety measure.
Marie
The backpack-with-a-leash things are great. My Goddaughter still has one I think. Her mum also researched a changing mat which had a 5 point harness...I *think* it was in jest, but knowing the littl'un, it mightn't have been
ReplyDelete