This weekend we’re hosting a wedding shower for my spectacular cousin Maggie and her so-so fiancé Bryan (kidding. Or am I?). Anyway, I hope it’s fun, I hope the spouses-to-be enjoy themselves and I hope my shortbread cookies turn out ok.
Archive for the 'bling blog' Category
These days, Bear is getting up criminally early. If we were able to get her to sleep until 7 am, I would probably break down in tears of happiness. And confusion. Usually, she gets up sometime in the 5 am to 5:45 am zone. I recently discovered that if I give her a bottle, and tell her to go back down to sleep, she will sleep (or at least lie down) until anywhere between 6:15 and 6:45. Oy. And yes – I know she’s not supposed to have a bottle in bed (and maybe not even a bottle at all at her age. Her age! Can you imagine?!) – but when the clock is screaming 5 something, and I can barely make my eyes adjust to the world – a bottle she gets. [Sometimes the bottle has milk, sometimes it has water.] UPDATE: We are experimenting with not going to her until the first number on the clock is a 6. She has been strong-willed in her crying, but with the amazing video monitor we can see that she lies back down. And then gets up again. Very Chumbawamba of her.
When it’s a week day, whoever gets up with her just sort of lazily hangs out in the living room, reading old sections of the Sunday Times or watching whatever is on the telly at that hour. Earlier this week, AO read the US Weekly on getting ready for the royal baby. I’ve been watching some Tour de France, adding the word pelaton to my vocabulary. When it’s a weekend morning, we try to get out of the house so that (a) it’s something more fun than our living room and (b) the other person can get some much-needed sleep. On Saturday, AO took her to the westside farmers’ market and for breakfast at HyVee. [Sidenote: Aaron recently asked me, “Do you think because we had Molly last year, the opening of the HyVee is the most exciting thing to happen to us this year?”] Because it’s summer, there’s a lot of options on the weekends. Even with lots of options, though, there’s still a limit to what time those options start. In taking the Sunday shift this week, I worried I’d be at a disadvantage. What opens at 7 on a Sunday? Bear and I headed out the door shortly before 7, saying goodbye to a sleeping Grace-a-fur, to see what we could see.
I decided to drive to Hubbard Avenue because I thought they might be open and I thought they might tolerate us and because I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. I first noticed that there are a lot of people who walk their dogs at 7 am on a Sunday. I mean, maybe not a LOT, but a lot more than I would have thought. It turns out Hubbard doesn’t open until 7:30 on Sundays, so Bear and I took a few laps around downtown Middleton, checking in with Trulia on the few houses we noticed for sale. At 7:33, I parked the car in front of the restaurant and released Bear from her five-point harness. A grandpa-looking figure was walking towards the front doors with a toddler beside him. I immediately felt I’d made the right choice. After Bear finally decided to make her way through the doors, we were seated at a table and given a basket of crayons and a paper coloring menu. I think a lightbulb actually appeared over my head: this place is ok with kids. I mean, I know the staff is made up of individuals – some of whom may love kids, others maybe not so much – but as a whole, I felt welcomed. I’m sure I sound like a dunderhead talking about this, and I’m certainly not articulating it well, but I want to be conscious of where I take Bear and make sure we’re not unduly annoying people while, at the same time, getting out and about in the world. Alright, so, anyway, we settle in and Bear orders the one egger, which is one egg (didn’t see that coming, did you?), a piece of bacon, hash browns and a biscuit. Yes, it’s a ridiculous amount of food for a 16-month old, but I like that she had choices on her plate.
Bear with her breakfast
She really enjoyed the bacon and the biscuit, preferring to chomp right into it instead of letting me break it apart. I don’t really blame her. I’m sure I’m going to sound like whatever is worse than a dunderhead when I say that I was shocked by how many people were at the restaurant. I mean, when we walked in, I was certain we would be only the second group of people there (after the grandpa + granddaughter duo), but no – there were probably at least five other tables with peeps enjoying coffee and conversation, or maybe the morning paper. Or both! There was no stopping these early birds. And people kept coming in. I even saw a young, 20-something couple and the woman was fully made up. A couple of groups of five or six friends were getting together in what seemed like mini-reunions. Some couples came in and chatted with other couples they knew.
It seemed like we had inadvertently stumbled upon the happiest place on earth.* I’m pretty sure we’ll be back soon.
After breakfast, we drove downtown and parked by The Plaza. We walked down State Street to the Terrace where I thought we would see some ducks. Nope, no ducks. Were they still sleeping? We walked back up State Street to the Square. I sort of felt like we were seeing what happens in the theater as they’re getting ready for the play to start in a couple of hours. I felt like I was seeing behind the scenes, into a world that is obviously always there, but one which I was never aware of. I’ve lived here my whole life. I worked on State Street for years. I’ve worked on the Square for almost nine years. I don’t think, though, that I’ve ever been downtown on a stiflingly hot, Sunday at 8:30 am. It was fascinating.
This weekend it’ll be Up Too Early: the Saturday edition.
*Bear broke that spell, though, when I dared to change her in the bathroom. I tried to tell her, “There’s no crying at Hubbard Avenue! Didn’t you see all those smiles out there?” She calmed down once the changing was over and made herself happy again by touching every stool on her way out the door.
Goodness, he continues to amaze.
Let’s try this whole blog thing again, shall we?
I know, where to begin, right? In taking Bear to school this morning, I was listening to the local public radio station, which was hosting a discussion of Walker’s new abortion law. Among other things, the new law requires a woman who seeks an abortion to be shown an ultrasound of the fetus. I didn’t catch the guest’s name, but she was affiliated with Planned Parenthood in some way. The host asked her, “Don’t most providers do an ultrasound in order to determine the location of the fetus in order to provide the best care? If so, why is this part of the law a big deal?” The guest confirmed that PP does perform ultrasounds before the abortion, but the issue is about the government compelling certain medical treatment, which isn’t its place. Anyway, I was just bouncing thoughts about that around in my mind, and thinking about how the bigger issue – as I understand it – is the new law’s mandate that providers have hospital admissions privileges. That requirement might force the closure of some of the state’s few abortion clinics. I get it: that is the point. So, Scott Walker and the Republican legislature of Wisconsin want to restrict access to safe abortions. I don’t like that. I think it’s a huge mistake. I am even more convinced of the necessity of having access to safe medical treatment for women who wish to terminate their pregnancies now that I have my own baby bear. I believe no one should be forced to give birth when they would choose not to do so. In addition, of course, abortions will continue to happen. This law, indeed no law, will stop abortions. Placing restrictions on access to safe abortions does only that: makes abortions more dangerous.
In any event, I get that people feel differently than I do on this issue and it seems as if it’s one this country is never going to agree upon. I think that’s too bad, but I suppose it’s not surprising. What I do find surprising, though, is Salon’s story on the Top 10 Most Dangerous Places to Be a Woman (in America). It’s all based on abortion services, so I’m not sure the title is completely accurate, but the headline got my attention and I’m glad (for lack of a better word) I read it. There are CRAZY laws out there! Forget not being able to drink beer and eat a pretzel in North Dakota! Kansas has upped the ante times a billion. According to Salon,
In April, Kansas lawmakers approved their own antiabortion omnibus bill. The measure contains more than a dozen provisions to deny services to women seeking abortions, two of which are currently being held up in court.
The first is a troubling provision to redefine what constitutes a medical emergency so that pregnant women experiencing life-threatening complications — including hemorrhaging, infection and ruptured ectopic pregnancies – would be forced to wait at least 24 hours before obtaining an emergency abortion. After signing the legislation that would imperil the lives of pregnant women in medical emergencies, Republican Gov. Sam Brownback remarked: ”All human life is sacred. It’s beautiful. With this, we continue to build this culture of life in our state.”
A second provision of the law mandates that doctors inform women seeking abortions that fetuses can experience pain after 20 weeks, a scientifically disputed claim, and that “the abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being.” Under the same law, doctors are also required to tell women that abortion puts them at greater risk for breast cancer, despite the fact that this is a medically unsubstantiated claim that has been refuted by medical experts, including the National Cancer Institute.
Assuming Salon’s report is true … What the what? Yes, let’s make a woman hemorrhaging in a life-threatening condition wait 24 hours before we save her life. That seems prudent. And yes, let’s also make sure the little lady is informed about things that may not even be true. And, in one case, is probably most likely not even remotely true. Why let the truth get in the way when there is a woman seeking to terminate her pregnancy? Let’s just tell docs to lie to her in an effort to get her to change her mind. I’m just appalled. I get it: people hate the idea of legal abortion. Fine. I hate the idea of capital punishment. It doesn’t make it right to pass laws that are based in lies and deceit. And it is abhorrent to put a woman’s life at risk for twenty-four hours because…Well, just because. Shame on those involved in the passage of this law.
life and puppies 