And I nominate. . .

Lynn C. Thompson for the World's Biggest Scum-bag Award.

My husband was very excited to receive his machete in the mail a few months ago. Do we need a machete? Not until the Zombies invade, but that's beside the point. The point is that when I opened the Cold Steel catalog that came with the aforementioned HUGE knife, I was greeted with a photo of an absolutely gorgeous leopard being tugged along by a red-faced, chubby, middle-aged man who looked absolutely thrilled to have just killed the majestic creature with a HANDGUN. On the catalog's reverse side, there is a video listing of Lynn's hunting expeditions. Oh yes, this hulk of a manly man managed to take down lions, elephants,hippos, and many many more. Furthermore, the lone ninja has several videos of himself beating up his younger staff members who were forced to stand still for his "demonstrations". That takes prowess, my friends. So he has earned my nomination for Biggest Scum-bag. Here's a link so that you can drool over his many hunting and cultural conquests:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WseQcaiy8V4

Seriously, if you ever buy a knife and have any principles whatsoever, please don't buy from Cold Steel. This guy is nauseating.

Well, poop

I have been on the fence about cloth diapering for some time now, and I think that I'm finally going to take the plunge and invest in a startup stash. It all started with Noah getting a diaper rash. Brand switching has proven useless and zinc products aren't helping and seem to be making things worse because my kids have very sensitive skin and don't handle fragrance well. I figure that with cloth diapers, I'll know exactly what is up against their skin. The article that Zookeeper posted about chemical burns and Pampers kind of cinched the deal.
I've been Ebay-ing trying to find some good deals on AIOs, because my time is a bit eaten up as it is between kids, school, housekeeping, and hanging out with Miles. Not that I'm complaining-- I just don't have a lot of time and energy to deal in folding and, truth be told, I am overcoming something that I'm intimidated by in simply starting to cloth diaper. In a country where you are alloted 100 liters of trash for every 2 weeks (not that much) I think that this will cut our trash in half, which is nice.
I've also been researching hand washing laundry. I've started line drying clothes, and I like the whole process and smell of sunshine that they hold after a few hours of hanging. I ordered a Rapid Washer DIY Washing Machine. It was pretty inexpensive and I think that doing this could be a fun and productive way to pass time while watching Lea play in the yard.
Things have been going well. I am endlessly thankful for the fact that I get to stay home with my children. I know so many women who simply don't have the options that I try not to take for granted. Breastfeeding has also been going without a hitch. Noah's a chubby boy and has grown into a jolly little fella. He's very content and usually just wants to be cuddled.
Lea's shifting out of her unreasonable stage and has been a lot easier to talk to and calm down. She hasn't hit or scratched in months and she's a great big sister. She's given up one of her favorite toys because Noah likes to suck on it and that was a big deal for her. She loves him so much.
Miles and I are talking about him getting out of the military after this enlistment period. We have a few acres in Vermont and we want to build a house and settle down there. I love the area and my stomach actually hurts when I think of how badly I want a permanent home. This will take years to hash out, so I'll leave it at that.

I have been a bad blogger lately. I've been feeling like the days just blend together. Miss Lea wakes me up first thing in the morning and the next thing I know, I am noticing that it's past midnight and I should catch a few hours of sleep. Everything in between has been going really well, though. Just fast. Miles and I celebrated four years of marriage. Lea's got me caught between frustration and infatuation (with love underlying it all). Noah's transformed into quite the jolly fellow. Nursing is going very well, which is a relief. He's huge!

I had to Old Yeller a friendship that was based on a lot of falseness. I hate it when I invest time and energy into someone only to find that they're not at all what I've thought. I won't air someone else's dirty laundry, but I do wish that I could make some friends around here who don't have any huge skeletons in their closets. I'm bummed about that one. It left me feeling confused and more than a little naive.

I think that we're going to try to move to upstate NY next. We have a little over a year before that can happen, but I am excited about the idea of going back to Ft Drum. They have great rock climbing, the Adirondack mountains, and most importantly, it's in between our families. We won't have to miss weddings because of ridiculous plane ticket prices. I'll be able to hang out with my brother and watch my niece grow up. I won't have to live in constant fear that something will happen to Shell's parents and I won't be able to say goodbye or even pay my respects.

Roscoe was placed a few weeks ago. I'm happy for him but I hope I never see him out and about because I don't think I would do so well at holding myself together.

I've been trying to get into shape. I'm not out to lose any weight but I think it would be super duper if I could tone up. I have been especially fond of our little rebounder. It's really fun and it'll leave you sore for days if you're not careful. I discovered that one morning after I overdid my workout. I could barely walk.

That about sums things up.

What's been up

We've been doing alright. Lea and I miss Roscoe, but she's been asking for him less and less. Such is the loyalty of a two year old, right? A German police officer came by the other day to ticket us because it turns out the man did want to press charges. Upon finding out that we no longer have him, the police officer left without giving us a citation. It made me feel a little better about the way things went.
We've been working in the garden every chance we get. I have made three new beds and extended another. Poor Miles did something terrible to his lower back while weeding. We've planted tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, several types of peppers, lavender, strawberries, raspberries, and a few shrubs. I planted mint and mushroom rosemary last year and they both conspired and took over an entire bed this spring! We FINALLY finished Lea's playhouse and bought her a little slide.
I'm trying to get a referral to a neurologist because of these daily killer headaches that I'm getting. I think they're migraines because they feel like pressure and my vision is doing some crazy things (straight lines twitching, blind spots, light flashes, etc). They're getting to the point where I have trouble functioning during their peak hour (around noon or 1) so I'm caving and getting an appointment. I am just hesitant to go because. . . well, I hate going to the doctors. It seems like I never get out of there without an extended hospital stay.
I've been walking a lot. We have these amazing woods that start two blocks away from our house and with the weather as nice as it's been, I can't get enough of them. It's a good thing that Lea's a tomboy and that Noah likes his baby sling because we've been having a blast tromping around.
Lastly, I am going to start selling Pampered Chef. Starting up was too good a deal to pass by and there are no obligations involved. On top of that, I love to cook and I love their stuff. I'm probably only going to do like one party every month or two, but I plan on having fun. If it doesn't work out, I still got $500 worth of cooking supplies for $150. Yay!

bye, friend

Last week, I had brought Roscoe outside to brush him because he was blowing his coat with the onset of spring. I had him by the scruff with his collar off so that I could brush there, too. He saw something that caught his eye, twisted away from me, and took off down the street. I grabbed his leash in the usual ruse that sometimes works in getting him back. He sees the leash and thinks it's walk time! Anyways, it didn't work and he foiled any and all attempts to get him. I went back into the house and fed Noah because Ros usually comes back after his tour de neighborhood (and the boy was hungry), but I had a bad feeling and sent Miles out to look again. I soon got a call from him saying that Ros was across the street. As I got up to look out the window, I saw a little girl riding bikes with her dad. Then I heard snarling. I got outside just in time to see Roscoe knock the girl's bike over and jump at her. The man kicked him away and Ros attached to his shoe. When he saw Miles coming, Roscoe ran back down the street. Miles left me to chase after him, and the man chewed me out, screaming "hund kaput" and motioning to where Ros had knocked down the girl and bitten his shoe.
I have mentioned a few times that something like this was a worst nightmare concerning Roscoe. According to German law, a dog that even bites clothing should be put down. We could have been sued by that girl's family (even though she wasn't physically hurt) for emotional damages. The man would have been within his rights to call the polizei. Miles could lose rank.
I found a shelter that is not only no kill, but that doesn't accept dogs once it's reached capacity, meaning they never transfer animals. I had to pay them a few hundred dollars to get Ros in there, but I think it was the best I could do for him. Glossing over what happened, I told them that he could be very aggressive and that he should go only to experienced pet owners. He has his own kennel which is huge and is indoor/outdoor. He'll be walked every day and let into a yard for two hours a day. They also put their dogs through obedience training before they go to new homes. It was the best that I could do for my old friend because we absolutely couldn't keep him any longer. Miles and I have has this argument for long enough and I knew it was time for me to let it go.
I feel like maybe I am bad at training dogs. I've housebroken quite a few dogs, and I am good at teaching them basic commands, but I think that a better trainer would have been able to do something with Roscoe. I feel like a failure and I miss my dog. I have had him for five years and I base entire periods of my life on our time together. Of my two years in DC, he is what I think of because he was where I focused all of my energy. When Miles was deployed, Roscoe rode shotgun wherever I went. Each time I was pregnant, it was Roscoe who curled up against my stomach. He is in a vast majority of family photos. I can't even look at them right now.

goings on

Yesterday Miles and I were getting back from the store when we heard screaming down the road. The german shepherd that lives a few houses down had attacked a preteen girl and mauled her face. I helped her home and, being that I speak no German, there was little else I could do. In the end, the dog was put down and the girl is okay. I haven't been able to get it out of my head, though. It's a day later and I still feel sick to my stomach over the whole situation. I think that it's at least partially because I am so scared that Ros will do something like that since he decides to randomly hate people. Though I feel horribly for the girl and the people who lost their pet, on a personal level, I also feel warned. . . I don't know. I'm just rambling.

For years, I have wanted my own little craft/painting area. I finally got the inspiration and motivation to go out and get the materials needed to build a craft table in my dining room. It's a pretty large room and our furniture is white-washed pine(you can still see the knots and wood grain through a very light white paint wash). I went to the hardware store and found pre-cut pine counter tops and legs (with the leg holder things, for lack of a better term), and I made a corner table in just a few minutes. It was so inexpensive and easy that I don't know why I didn't do it a long time ago. I just have to get some white paint to white wash the table with, and it will fit right in. In a few weeks, I am going to get a sewing machine and storage for my materials. I am so excited!!

Other than that, Noah's colic is all but gone and lo and behold, there was a smiling, happy baby under all that belly gas!! Lea has been especially rambunctious lately. I took a shower with her yesterday on the recommendation from my MIL. I was sitting there thinking about how beautiful and bonding the experience was when Lea pipes up with "um. . . Lea peed? On mommy?" Oh yea, she did. Gotta love it!

Little Noah's first shot was yesterday. I'm not going to delve deeply into my views of vaccines or my reasons for doing what I do because that would call for a post that I am just too lazy to write. I am putting Noah on a very spaced out immunization schedule. This means more visits to the clinic, but only one vaccine at a time, once a month. I am omitting Hep B until he's older because I've yet to hear a valid argument as to why it's necessary for an infant to have this if he or she isn't living in a 3rd world country OR getting regular blood transfusions.
He got the HIB vaccine, and his little leg ended up swelling and he was VERY fussy for about 4 hours. I holed up with him in his room and rocked him until we both fell asleep for the night (thank goodness for comfy rocking chairs). He awoke this morning smiling and babbeling with no further symptoms. I am relieved.
I am painting Lea's room in the next couple of days. Two walls will be a light purple that I picked yesterday. I am only doing the "easy" walls facing opposite of each other since I'll have to paint it back before we leave. I am excited to make this place feel a little more like a home. I have had my doubts about living here, but it looks like we will for the next two years, so I want to make it cozy. I guess it's time to get to work!!
I started running, and while I can't say that I am very fast at all, it hurts in that oh so nice way. I get an endorphin rush every time I head out, and that's important to me since I tend to lull during the dreary months. I have to at least have a walk a day or I am almost impossible to deal with. . . like a puppy (or Roscoe for that matter).
I am going to take the kids upstairs now and see if they'll actually let me shower this morning.