This is horrifying!!

I just came across this article. Basically, a two-month-old baby was mauled to death by a dog while he was in a play swing in the backyard. The baby's parents were in the house at the time, and while the police aren't sure which of two dogs that were removed from the premises is the killer (a pug or a black lab puppy), the black lab was already euthanized. This news is disturbing to me for a few reasons:

1. The baby was left unsupervised in the yard. In a swing. A two. month. old. baby.

2. If the cops don't know which dog did it, why did they kill the lab puppy?

3. I love my dogs to death and trust them with kids. Savannah in particular is especially careful around kids and seems to understand that babies and toddlers need to be treated gently. She puts up with all the ear pulling, pinching, tailing grabbing, etc. beautifully. Besides the fact that the baby was left alone, what went wrong in this case? Are any readers who have kids and dogs concerned as well?

So sad.

Back to the grind....

So going back to work this week after last week's amazing beach vacation has been really rough. I ended up dropping one of my master's classes due (mostly) to the incredibly asinine nature of my professor (I won't mention his name here- but if you're taking intelligence classes through AMU let me know, and I'll fill you in.) I feel better (i.e. less stressed) already! However, between preparing for a deployment, keeping the house/garden in order, my dogs, work, an upcoming trip to PA, and my remaining master's class, I still feel really overwhelmed at times. Hopefully I will get up the ambition to put up some jalapeno peppers this week (still debating drying them vs. freezing.) My garden went kind of nuts while I was gone, and now I'm loaded down with veggies. If you have experience in this area please feel free to fill me in on what's worked for you. I'm especially looking for ways to use up cucumbers (besides pickles!)

Here's one of my favorite pictures from the beach, featuring Brett, my parents, and I. More pictures are posted on my Facebook if you're interested. 

This week I will also work on a review of Eat, Pray, Love, assuming I finish it in the next few days. So far I think the author reaffirms many of my beliefs concerning the relationships connecting the major world religions, as well as the similarities between them. OH- and in super exciting news- I received my packet from the National Midwifery Institute with the application, paperwork, course descriptions, schedules, etc. etc. As soon as I get caught up I plan on sitting down and reading through it thoroughly. It will have to wait until I get some, well, less exciting but more necessary stuff down around the house- I'm sort of saving it as a treat.

More later- when I have more ambition and less "actual work" to do......

Wordless Wednesday.

Note: Boooo to blogger for not letting me upload my picture so this could be on time!

Video goodness.

I am SUPER far behind in terms of homework, and if I want to have a good time at the beach this weekend/next week, I need to be really productive. So, instead of posting anything in-depth, I'm going to leave you with the link for an awesome video. Weezer's video for "Pork and Beans" features cameos from a bunch of people of YouTube fame and is amazing. Enjoy!

Coming soon: A review of "Eat, Pray, Love" and my view of "Atlas Shrugged."

I'm adopting "wordless Wednesdays!"

A productive day

Don't you just love the kind of day in which you get a lot done? I just wanted to post this as a reminder to myself that I CAN be this productive. Things accomplished today:

1. Canned more dill pickles (thanks to a prolific cucumber crop)- mental note (??) to start with the bread and butter pickles next week.

2. Preserved green beans (blanched, then frozen). If you want to try this yourself, check out the technique here. It's super easy, and a great way to save all your beans for the fall/winter.

3. Watered/weeded garden, refilled bird feeder and hummingbird feeder, got a load of dishes done, cleaned kitchen/mopped floors.

4. Paid bills for the month, got a good deal of homework done, started with my research paper.

BIG THING that happened today- sent away for application to/more info about the midwife course I want to start! Basically, I am hoping to start taking class with the National Midwifery Institute as soon as I finish my master's up, and get the academics out of the way (the classes are virtual.) Then I can work on finding someone to apprentice with! The whole CNM vs. CPM vs. CM etc. etc. is super complicated, so I will follow this up with a post explaining what exactly I want to do. Basically, I want to be able to take women from fertility awareness/natural family planning through pregnancy and delivery, as well as being knowledgeable (lactation consultant, maybe?) on breast feeding. Big goals, I know, but what a relief to finally know what I want to do! 

Peaches/weekend/announcement of a coming announcement

What a great weekend we had! On Thursday I headed up to Clemson with the dogs, and that night I actually made Spiced Pickled Peaches for the first time.  My grandma used to make them every year, and she would always serve them with cottage cheese. YUM! Most of the recipe was easy- the only pain-in-the-butt part was peeling the peaches; the boiling-then-ice water technique helped, but there's no getting around the idea that peeling 40+ peaches sucks. I'll have a better update when we actually EAT some of the ones I canned! I would definitely recommend trying it, though. There's nothing like putting up cans of your own food.  I'm really making the effort to preserve fresh food (especially the stuff I grow). Incidentally, the dill pickles I made a couple weeks ago turned out delicious. Brett's grandma gave them the stamp of approval- and that's a huge deal! I may have to make another batch this week with the way my cucumbers are growing. 

On Friday we headed up to Charleston. Between the beach, being on a catamaran when it capsized, lots of time spent with good friends, shopping, and good food, I had an awesome time! We got back in Clemson on Sunday, so yesterday (while Brett was working in Athens- damn bees) we had Mommy-Savannah-Charleston day. I took the dogs over to Bowman to play catch for a while, then for ice cream. And man, do my dogs love ice cream! I think they get it from their mom :0)  Aren't they adorable? We finished off the day on the lake.  It was sooooo hard to go back to work today! At least our week-long beach vacay is coming up in 10 DAYS!

An update on last post: I happened to be in CVS the day after I posted, and happened to be checking out the deodorant aisle, and not only was Crystal there, but it was ON SALE! Yippee! I have been using it all week (including laying out on the beach) and I have no complaints so far. It's pretty cool that you can smell good without smelling all perfume-y. Consider this my endorsement!

Finally, I have a sort of big announcement regarding my post-military career. However, it will take a really long time to explain what I want to do and why, so I'm saving that post for later tonight or tomorrow. Suffice it to say, I will have to go back to school for a couple years. But I am so excited about the prospect and can't wait to share my plans! 

Lost things/something funny/advice needed!

So my keys have been missing since the Buffett concert. I have torn the house/car/garage apart, and I found all of this:

- earring backs

- tennis balls

- random hoop earring

- a key to Heather's old apartment (think I'll save that for the next time I'm in ol' San Angelo)

- dead batteries

- winter gloves

- too many tubes of lip gloss and chapstick to count

NO KEYS! 

KEY GNOMES, wherever you are, I would like my keychain back. It is the first thing I ever got in a little blue box from Tiffany's, and it is engraved with my name on it. My bridesmaids and friends gave it to me at my bachelorette party in Austin. Take all the discount card thingys, take my car keys, give the Tiffany's back! 

..............GUYS STOP READING HERE..............

I was reading Kimya Dawson's myspace page today (if you don't know, she is the genius behind most of the Juno soundtrack- she is awesome and amazing and cracks me up in a weird sort of way) and came across these. She mentions that she owns some in the tie-dyed style and I couldn't help but laugh. To each their own, right? I don't think I'm ready for the wash-and-reuse bit. I do give her props for doing her part in cutting down her use of disposable items, and she is a big proponent for cloth diapers (btw- her daughter's name is Panda- had to throw that in).  I am excited, though, because I ordered my first DivaCup today. I am anxious to see how it works out. I have used Instead before, but I wasn't pleased with them. Hopefully better luck this time! 

Oh, and I also found a super-cool site for natural products for your home. NancyBoy sells a variety of products that look and (according to testimonials) work great. I am going to try the laundry detergent first, then probably the linen water (lemon verbana- yum!). I have really sensitive skin, and I generally use All Free and Clear for laundry, followed by fragrance-free dryer sheets. I will follow up and let you know how it works! I'm also curious to know- those of you who cloth diaper- what detergents you use to launder them. Maybe this would be a good choice? Just wondering. 

Final thought. Does anyone out there use a natural deodorant (no antiperspirant)? I remember reading that in someone's blog, I think. Anyways, I've been reading up about the potential dangers in commercial deodorant/antiperspirant (mainly concerning aluminum) and I'm thinking about switching to a natural brand, maybe Crystal? CrunchyChicken recommends that one. I'm just worried about the sweat factor- even if I don't smell, I don't want underarm circles! Advice anyone?