"Think something of beauty..."
3 years ago
Romance.
Monday, Tom had to walk to work because the buses were closed (stopped? inoperational?) for MLK Jr Day. Since he has to walk by my work to get to his, he stopped in early to surprise me.
This time, he brought me flowers - a potted purple hyacinth. He wanted something that would last longer than the rose he got me for my birthday and he thought they smelled nice for my office.
What was adorable was that he didn't know what kind of flower he had gotten me. When I got all excited that he brought me my favorite flower, he looks at me, puzzled and says "That's hyacinth?!"
They are beautiful and fragance my small office nicely. My only dilemma is that I work in the basement, and there is no sunlight near my office. I've been taking the plant out for a half hour each morning, but I think I'm going to need to take him (don't ask about the pronoun) out for lunch, and I'll probably take him home over the weekend.
I love my husband!
Snow Day!
When I went to work this morning, it was in the mid 40's and sprinkling. By 10 am, it had begun to snow. Just flurries, but enough to send this coastal North Carolina town into hysterics. By 11:30am, an official email was sent stating that work would be closed by 12:00pm. We were paid for the rest of the day, so I was happy for the time off to rest. But I couldn't help but laugh. As soon as I got home, I took a picture of the "inclement weather" that caused work to shut down early.You know, I think I like snow a lot better here in North Carolina.
When saving the animals goes too far...
I'm all for treating animals with decency, but this may be the stupidest thing I've ever heard -
PETA Attempts To Make Fish More Adorable
by Anne Hillman
"Sea kittens" is the new term being used by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, for the creatures they believe are in dire need of an image makeover: fish.
"PETA thought that by renaming fish sea kittens, compassionate people who would never dream of hurting a dog or a cat might extend that sympathy to fish, or sea kittens," PETA campaign coordinator Ashley Byrne says.
Byrne says that rebranding fish as sea kittens was obvious.
"Fish not only have the same ability to feel pain as a dog or a cat, but they also communicate with one another," she says. "They have complex social interactions; they form bonds; they express affection by gently rubbing against one another."
The PETA campaign boasts a colorful, interactive Web site aimed at children and their parents. It offers sea kitten bedtime stories and a design-your-own sea kitten in hopes it will build compassion in families.
"Most parents would never dream of spending a weekend torturing kittens for fun with their families, but hooking a sea kitten through the mouth and dragging her through the water is the same as hooking a kitten through the mouth and dragging her behind your car," Byrne says.
Alaskan Resistance
PETA has so far only promoted the campaign in North Carolina but plans to take it nationwide, even to Alaska — a state where fishing is both a source of recreation and many families' livelihoods.
In the small fishing town of Unalaska, population just under 4,000, some people see the campaign differently.
"I don't see fish as sea kittens; I see them as food," says 12-year-old Chastity Haskins.
Haskins is looking at the PETA site with her friend, Harmony Wayner, 11.
"It just doesn't look right," Harmony says. Harmony, the fourth generation of a commercial fishing family, looks at the cartoon fish and reads through the information on the site. "They say that they're intelligent, but they're not really," Harmony says. "They have tiny, tiny little brains. Very miniature."
The girls also take issue with the claims that sea kittens are unhealthy to eat.
"They only talk about farm fish — it's not wild Alaskan, which is very good for you," Harmony says.
Sea-Kitten-Friendly Environments
"I don't understand how it makes sense," says fisheries observer Mary Powers, who works on fishing boats to collect data on the catches. She thinks the campaign, which encourages people to petition the Fish and Wildlife Service to stop the hunting of sea kittens, is misguided. "It seems like it's discouraging Americans to buy our product, which I think is unpatriotic."
But Byrne says that even if people lose jobs in the fishing industry through the success of the campaign, they could find work in more sea-kitten-friendly environments.
"So as there is less of a demand for foods like fish, there is more of a demand for other foods, and jobs open up in those industries," Byrne says.
National Marine Fisheries Service management biologist Brian Dixon doesn't see the change coming anytime soon.
"Well, it may raise some money for PETA, but I don't think it'll change the way we manage the fisheries," Dixon says. "I think I may eat some sea kittens tonight."
Anne Hillman reports for member station KUCB in Unalaska, Alaska.
Is it ever too early to start reading to your child?
Tom and I have each taken to reading to baby everyday. Tom found an old fairy tale book I got when I was 5 and so every other day he reads baby a story. Last night was 'The Goose Girl,' from the brothers Grimm. It was indeed, fairly grim and included talking drops of blood, wicked maidservants, talking decapitated horse heads and being drug naked down the street in a barrel of knives.
Maybe we shouldn't be reading fairy tales until baby is an adult!!
I have been reading from 'Le petit Nicolas,' a French children's story (or collection of little stories) told by Nicolas about his school, family and friends. Though I am not fluent, I think that maybe a little exposure to the French language now (and throughout childhood) should make it easier to learn a foreign language later in life. We'll see. Either way I get to practice my french, and I always enjoy that!
Bump!
I put this shirt on the other day and I saw a little Bump - baby Bump! I was excited ~ At 23 weeks you think I'd be showing more! Unfortunately, I only bump in this shirt, I still just look... plushy in all the others. But it's happening!And this Thursday, we have another chance to find out the baby's gender. Let's see if my mother's intuition (read: BOY) is correct!!
Thanks, mom!
This is easy. Just mark the things you've done in bold. You try too!
1. Started your own blog – This is a no brainer
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band – if 5th grade counts
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world – 3 times I think.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped – never have, never will…
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea – If you count Lake Michigan; we were sleeping in a tent on the beach. Sounds safe, no?
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty – I think (?)
18. Grown your own vegetables – when I was very little.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France – it’s much smaller than you would expect.
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill – I know, tsk-tsk
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping – at my great grandma’s lake when I was little.
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors – where are they even from?!
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied – if you’re not happy with what you have now, you will never be.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke – a pastime for Tom and I
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight – most recently this March in Myrtle Beach
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris – we didn’t have time to wait in line, but my mom convinced a nice pair of older women who were in our tour group to let me go up with them so that I could; she had been on her honeymoon.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater – but what movie? I couldn’t tell you, except that it was a double feature.
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving – see Bungee Jumping
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp – it was... amazing, in a very intense way.
67 Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy – Bunky the Monkey!
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job – and hired the next day :)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone – only my toes
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle – I was only 8, so it may not have been speeding, but it sure seemed like it!
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person – I’ve been there; I have pictures; I was 3 or 4; I don’t remember it at all.
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House – just the outside, right?
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous – only local celebrity famous.
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby – Give me four months…
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
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