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Dear Whom Ever Is In Charge,

Starting as soon as possible, I request that my full  time position become a part time one (and have all those things in place to make it happen successfully for us).

Your admirer,

Allison

Things I like to do

• Shopping for 2-3 hours, but no more than that.
• Going to a coffee shop, reading, journaling, and people watching
• Walking in neighborhoods with interesting architecture
• Going to Jean Talon Market in Montreal
• Watching good TV shows like: Mad Men, Rubicon and The Wire
• Eating chocolate cake
• Exploding laughter
• Kayaking
• Hanging out at Unirondack and smelling the super fresh, pine air
• Exploring
• Planning creative solutions
• Cooking tasty food
• Eating more tasty food and trying new things

and, of course spending time with Shawn and June Bug.l

New post

It's time to post again. I've held back from writing since having Juniper because I just didn't think that I would have the time for it. Also, frequently what is on my mind is work-related stuff that I don't necessarily want to put onto the internets. But, I feel inspired after checking out my friend's blogs (Bianca and Miss. Dewey D.). You'll see that I've even put some effort into change the look and photo on the page.  Whee!

So, today was pretty quiet; in a good way.  We went to church, then I needed to head to my job for a bit, then came back home.  Juniper and I just played on the living room floor, I read on the couch while half watching her and just taking it easy.  Having a baby has given the the mental space (or rather personal permission) to just hang out and not feel like I have to be doing something productive all of the time.  Then, Juniper needed a nap at 5:45, and is now pretty much out for the night... giving me a free evening to troll about on the internets.

At church there is another baby that is only 4 days younger than June-Bug.  I am very amused seeing the babies together and seeing how their personalities are already showing.  Juniper is certainly an extrovert.  When we arrived in the nursery room, she got right to business with playing with the many different toys around.  Zoe, though, took a long time to get adjusted to the room.  But, in taking her time she was very friendly with tons of smiles.  Juniper doesn't come out with the smiles as often as she is more serious and has things to do.  It also looks like Juniper will be one of those kids that you have to constantly remind to be kind and mindful of others.  She was frequently taking Zoe's things or grabbing onto her in semi-rough ways.  Thankfully, little Zoe has an older sister and is more used the the man-handling.

This past week Shawn had an appointment with Laura.  She was talking up how we should have another baby because it helps lazy parents to have more than one child as they look after each other.  There may have been other reasons for why she was encouraging more children, but this is the reason that Shawn came home and told me about.  Since having that conversation, Shawn has become much more keen on having another baby.  It is amusing to me to see how Laura's opinions carry so much weight in our home.  But, many times Laura is right.  Right, Miss Dewey?  I think that Laura could do very well in having a call in radio show.

Baking Soda and Vinegar

We have a re-occurring drainage issue with our bathroom tub. This past weekend water was at a complete stand still. So, I sopped up the standing water to empty the tub. Then I put as much baking soda as I could possibly fit into the drain and then poured vinegar in. After sitting for about 24 hours the drain is now working like wonders.

It is just awesome that simple ingredients that are inexpensive and not caustic to the environment do such great work. Don't you think?

Crunch

That's my '97 Altima after I got rear-ended a few weeks ago. I had that car since August 1999; nearly 10 years that car was with me. It's seen me through a lot. I recall taking it over the Mid-Hudson bridge daily on my commute through Poughkeepsie to get to my job at the home for people with developmental disabilities. It took my to various people's homes in Ulster County when I was a Family Educator, and then it was my ride to Albany in 2003.

Before I got crunched it had just reached 202,000 miles and was still going strong... despite that the driver side lock didn't work, there was no visor for the driver, among a number of other quirks it started to accumulate.

So, as you may guess it was "totalled" even though I drove it from the scene of the accident and the engine was working just fine.

I have to say, I did shed a few tears to see my car have to get totalled - and to not have it anymore.

Yet, my man and I were able to get a great new car, a 2008 Honda Fit. See:


We like her lots. She's fun to drive and is lots more comfortable than my old Altima had become. And, over the last two tanks of gas we've averaged 30 mpg... not bad for pretty much all city driving.

SUV's

The trouble with SUV's is that you can't tell when there is a human body caught underneath it.

From the NY Post 2/11:

A Queens pedestrian was struck by an SUV this morning and thrown into the path of a van, which dragged his mangled body a gruesome 20 miles before the driver discovered it, cops said today.

The grisly journey left a trail of clothes and blood scattered along the Long Island Expressway, the Grand Central Parkway, the Van Wyck Expressway and the Belt Parkway as drivers desperately tried to flag down the unsuspecting motorist.

Manuel Lituma, 52, told cops he actually pulled over and checked under the hood of his maroon Chevy cargo van because it wasn't handling well - but hit the road again after seeing nothing wrong.

"I looked and I didn't see anything," he said outside his Corona home this afternoon. "I didn't know what happened. I didn't feel anything, I didn't hear anything.

"You can't imagine the shock I felt when I saw the body. I'm just so nervous and very sad."

The victim, who cops have been unable to identify, was hit by the SUV at 6.15 a.m. as he walked across 108th Street at 51st Avenue in Corona, said cops.

The SUV driver stopped to dial 911, and didn't see Lituma's van hit the pedestrian, cops said.

Mystified first responders thought the driver had been mistaken when they failed to find a body or see any damage to the SUV.

Lituma, 52, a freelance deliveryman originally from Ecuador, was already miles away with the body hooked face up on to a metal plate underneath his vehicle.

Cops said the body was only partially clothed - and badly scraped from its heels to the back of its head. Lituma only stopped after noticing shocked people pointing at his van on Brighton 10th Terrace in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, an hour after the accident.

They are trying to identify the victim from a broken iPhone, a business card and a receipt for cash recently wired to Mexico that was found in his pockets

Look what I made today...

a bed-skirt!

For years I've been using this black and white tapestry as a bedskirt by positioning it just the right way to give the impression that it really was a bed-skirt. But, no more. I made the real thing with it by cutting it up and sewing it to a twin sized sheet that we don't use.

Hurray, it's done after being in the back of my mind to do for ages.