i know i have been absent for...a year and a half now? but last night all i could think of was my fellow mamas and what an awesome time it is to be alive.
WE DID IT!
how are you all? i've been absent.........big changes 'round here.
john and i split up for good at the end of january. max, stella, and i are moving into an apartment in the next city over on march first. i am starting school in the fall. so, big changes here. i've missed you all, and wish i could get a group hug from you all, 'cause hell knows i need it.
xoxoxoxoxoxxoxo
alright, in the heated blog o' the day, sisterstu had the idea of making a recommended reading list for hipmamas. i am all about educating myself, especially lately, and am looking for good books. i've read a a lot of really great ones, and was wondering if you mamas would like to post your favorite race/class/womens issues/human issues books on this thread for future(or present) reference. i would hate to have a really great one slip through the cracks...you know the book that you read and then say "why did i only find this book now!?!?!?!"
and i'm going crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
someone, and i'm pretty sure it was leighanastasia, posted a recipe for enchiladas with a tomatillo sauce, that is the recipe of some friends who own a restaurant. i've been dying to make this, but can't find the recipe. i've been looking on here for 3 DAYS for it. i can't find it in the recipe section, or any blogs. i'm in a hurry too, tomatillos are on sale *super cheap* this week. can anyone direct me to the right place?
Huntington Beach Newland Humane Society is closing! Please read!
Please be advised that Huntington Beach Humane Society is closing down for good on January 8 and ALL DOGS MUST BE ADOPTED OR THEY WILL BE EUTHANIZED. The shelter is not publicizing this very well (probably for fear of the bad publicity) so we need to spread the word. Please share this information with other animal lovers in the hopes that more animals will be adopted from there. If nothing else, maybe your funds can help move them to another humane facility....like in Irvine or San Clemente. The shelter is 'selling' the dogs for 50% off to move them out.
from utah. we had a really good time(seriously, thats not even sarcastic)!!!!!
(warning, vent ahead)
SO and stepdaughter did not go........all because stepdaughter and ds were playing tag and stepdaughter fell down. apparently my 30 pound kid pushed 80 pound stepdaughter down- even though she later said he didn't push her, she fell. SO said all ds does is lie and bully her....please. anyhow, we all know how this story goes since its the same shit i vent about all the time.
for another vent- my mom called me while i was in utah. she wanted one of my older brothers to drive back to phoenix with me, because we all know girls can't drive for 7 hours alone. this wouldn't have been a problem, but it was my brother who molested me for 9 months when i was 12. i don't really talk to him, i don't want to. i know he was only 15 when it happened and i've forgiven his actions, but i'm not over it. the last thing i want is to be in a car alone with him and my kids for 7 hours. so i called my mom and told her i would be driving back without him. her response? "get over it amanda, its not a big deal. he's your brother. just get over it already". it was all i could do to hang up on her without giving her a big "fuck you".
on my list of things to bring on our trip to utah, i have included bottled water and making sure that the sole grocer there sales food that is not grown or raised locally.
i was laying in bed last night, feeling guilty that i've never felt it was safe for my kids to go to my hometown, to meet their cousins, my sisters. being mad at the governments denial that nothing is wrong there.
so this year, we're going, but we're taking precautions, despite the claim of safety.
"Is cancer Utah mill's legacy?"
Deseret News (Salt Lake City), May 24, 2006 by Elaine Jarvik
MONTICELLO -- The children called them "sand hills," a name that in retrospect is one of the heartbreaking details about this town's not-too-distant past.
1. SO's parents bought me a kick-ass espresso machine for xmas. one that i've been pining for but would never ever ever be able to afford. he let me open it early so i can start saving money immediately(by not going to starbucks).
2. SO. combined families are hard, and we have some rough patches, but we're doing it.
3. hipmamas. the advice on combined families is amazing(thank you especially, selahsmom). it helps me step away from the situation and get to the source of the problem.
4. taking my kids to my hometown in utah after xmas.
4a. it will be their first time seeing snow and doing all snow related activities
Circumcision Halves H.I.V. Risk, U.S. Agency Finds
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: December 14, 2006
Circumcision appears to reduce a man’s risk of contracting AIDS from heterosexual sex by half, United States government health officials said yesterday, and the directors of the two largest funds for fighting the disease said they would consider paying for circumcisions in high-risk countries.
The announcement was made by officials of the National Institutes of Health as they halted two clinical trials, in Kenya and Uganda, on the ground that not offering circumcision to all the men taking part would be unethical. The success of the trials confirmed a study done last year in South Africa.
so as soon as i posted that SO and i had been doing wonderful, shit hit the fan. this only happens when stepdaughter is here, because she and ds DO NOT get along. everytime ds says somthing, asks something, even if its not to her, she argues about ti and tells him he's wrong, and bosses him around. if he's not being left out of dd's and stepdaughters play, they are picking on him or bossing him around. several times this weekend stepdaughter was bossing him around or antagonizing him, he would ask her to leave him alone repeatedly, she wouldn't, and he'd hit her(i witnessed it every time, but didn't step in in hopes that he would walk away on his own). i explained to him over and over that if she is bothering him, to come tell me, that hitting is not ok. ds does not have any other behavioral issues with any other kids, and he goes to preschool/daycare and we have lots of playdates.
i need help!!!!
this year i have no idea what to get SO. i was going to get him a book of a collection of paintings by his favorite artist, but the art museum is sold out.
i have a list of photography books he wants, but he gave the list to his mom and i'm sure shes bought him all of them (big spender).
his interests are old punk rock, cafe racer vintage motorcycles, beer, art/photography. i was thinking of getting him some new motorcycle gloves:
yay!!!!!
WASHINGTON (AP) - Unable to win Senate confirmation, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton will step down when his temporary appointment expires within weeks, the White House said Monday.
Bolton's nomination has languished in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for more than a year, blocked by Democrats and several Republicans. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a moderate Republican who lost in the midterm elections Nov. 7 that swept Democrats to power in both houses of Congress, was adamantly opposed to Bolton.
Critics have questioned Bolton's brusque style and whether he could be an effective public servant who could help bring reform to the U.N.
http://www.myspace.com/pauljamesremixes
listen to "sexual favours". the best part is that he's not even going to charge me for them. yep, he will give me sexual favours, for FREE.
(i cannot stop laughing. i am definitely putting that song on my next mixed cd.)
i woke up this morning, my head a bit clearer than yesterday. less emotional, still feel yucky about the whole sitch friday night- yucky about my reaction, yucky about my reactions to the racism blogs, yucky about my ignorance to racism, yucky about what was said. it doesn't help that i am pms'ing.
so i stayed in bed or on the couch all day yesterday. my poor puppy was antsy for someone to play with him, since the kids are at fax's he's been severely neglected by me. i promised him that i would take him to the dog park today.
i woke up this morning, got dressed, and threw him in the car. our first stop was starbucks. i pulled up in a space right in front of the door. it was the only space in the parking lot. there was a guy and girl in business attire sititng at the table in fornt of my car. their was a porsche right next to me, parked over the line, so that it was partially in my space.
i apologize in advance- i am drunk. its 4am. the kids are at fax's, and SO is in england.
i went out tonight with two gf's i really adore and love. we went to a bar with dancing, then another, and finally a third near the state university. it was here i ran into an ex. an ex i had prior to kids.
he asked how the kids were. he then asked if they were members of the taliban yet.
i know i am ignorant to race issues. i am starting to pursue my unlearning of racism. i have books ordered. i am really excited to be woking on this.
so, i decked him. i had a belly full of whiskey, and i am a mama, first and foremost. i hope he wakes tomorrow with a black eye. i know its not right, but its what i did. i was kicked out of the bar, permanently. 86'd. i screamed how it was ok that he was making racist comments but not ok for me to defend my children, my fellow human beings.
in honor of my 3 year hipmama anniversary, i have vowed to spend less time on the computer, and more time wit my family or myself. so i though i'd check in this morning to say hi.
it was a very busy weekend. stepdaughter was here and we celebrated her birthday early(since she will be at her moms on the actual day). we went to the fair, went to build a bear(what a racket.....), and had a little family party. it was nice.
SO and i have been having a lot of good talks and making a point to spend time together and go on dates almost weekly. things have really been good for us lately. like really really good...and i have the most hideous hickey to prove it.
10/17/2006
Today, 135 years to the day after the last American President (Ulysses S. Grant) suspended habeas corpus, President Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006. At its worst, the legislation allows President Bush or Donald Rumsfeld to declare anyone — US citizen or not — an enemy combatant, lock them up and throw away the key without a chance to prove their innocence in a court of law. In other words, every thing the Founding Fathers fought the British empire to free themselves of was reversed and nullified with the stroke of a pen, all under the guise of the War on Terror.
While the media were busy obsessing over rumours of a budding romance between Condoleezza Rice and Peter MacKay last week, a more significant relationship was developing behind closed doors.
Away from the spotlight, from Sept. 12 to 14, in Banff Springs, Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor met with U.S. and Mexican government officials and business leaders to discuss North American integration at the second North American Forum.
Baltimore Sun (Maryland), August 31, 2006
A PLAN TO SAVE THE COUNTRY
By Garrison Keillor
It's the best part of summer, the long, lovely passage into fall. A procession of lazy, golden days that my sandy-haired, gap-toothed little girl has been painting, small abstract masterpieces in tempera and crayon and glitter, reminiscent of Franz Kline or Willem de Kooning (his early glitter period). She put a sign out front, "Art for Sale," and charged 25 cents per painting. Cheap at the price.
A teacher gave her this freedom to sit un-self-consciously and put paint on paper. A gentle, 6-foot-8 guy named Matt who taught art at her preschool. Her swimming teachers gave her freedom from fear of water. So much that has made this summer a pleasure for her, I trace to specific teachers, and so it's painful to hear about public education sinking all around us.
comes here a lot. he always stays at the same place, and they always close down the same freeway for him to travel down. its a freeway that runs north and south, through a crowded, busy part of town. a portion of the freeway is below ground level, so that you can stand next to a fence, and be looking down about 3-4 stories to the freeway. it is surrounded by tall bulidings, offices and shopping, etc. this morning it was closed and i was driving by. people were standing next to the fence with cameras, waiting for him to drive by so they can take pictures.
so, hypothetically of course, what if one were to stand up there, and instead of taking pictures, throw stewed tomatoes?
my new mama friend's little 2 year old boy was tested for cystic fibrosis today. they won't have results until friday, but please send some vibes their way for good results.
i have decided on a career change....there goes my "i will never work for someone again" mantra, goodbye self employment!
after an especailly slow summer, where i was lucky to have $50 leftover for gas and food after bills were paid (and i have very minimum bills: rent, car insurance, and utilities), i have decided i need a change. i hate the advertising world, even if i am in the photography side of it. i hate pissy art directorss, i hate clients low balling jobs, i hate working on photoshoots for products/ideas that i despise. i really, really hate that film is a foreign word, and everything is digital. i hate my lowering rates because everyone wants more, but they want it cheaper than before.
holy fuck. i'm dying without spinach over here, i'm a daily eater of it, and i haven't had any in.........i don't even know how long its been. by the time wqe made it to the farmers market this past saturday, it was already closed down.
save me.
