Archives for Misc Ramblings category
Posted on Nov 22nd, 09 at
5:43 pm under Misc Ramblings
22
Nov
In the last few months I have found a renewed interest for Facebook… Not as the reunion site that I was using it for when I started using it first became popular, but as a way to communicate and share with like-minded people.
Of course, I still use it to keep in contact with old friends, but I have also been decluttering my friends list of those that I may have once know but with whom I have nothing in common with anymore… and instead, I am friending new people that I might not know IRL, but with whom I have things in common with…
I have disabled all the apps and games that used to clutter my page and that I don’t use anyway, and I have found that it has been an amazing place to find and share articles and news, especially in certain circles. On my friends list there are now other UCers, midwives and doulas, unschoolers, homeschoolers and other likeminded moms…doing so also of course spreads the word not only to those like minded people, but others on our friends list, and it has sparked a few good conversations or even debates…
In the last few days here are a few articles that I have seen/shared…
There is so much information out there and I find that Facebook it is a great medium to share and spread the word…
Are you on Facebook? what do you use it for?
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Posted on Nov 18th, 09 at
8:32 pm under Misc Ramblings
18
Nov
I mentioned on my NaBloPoMo post that I blog for myself, as a journal of sorts, and I wanted to expand on that thought.
Blogging can be a lot of things for a lot of people. Some blog for money, some want a lot of readership and some sort of fame on the net, some have a specific theme and just talk about that, some write reviews for products and some like me just blog about their lives and what they are thinking…. The latter is what I do and is the format of the blogs I read. I am just turned off by many blogs these days that seem to be in it only for the money or fame… the posts never feel genuine, like they are coming from the person writing, but are just aiming to please everyone in order to not lose readership…
I started blogging because I needed a place that was my own, to speak my mind without needing to really watch what I say, to rant about things that I don’t agree with, talk about things that I do and to share in the way that I choose to parent. I knew when I started that there would be many who didn’t agree with me, since I was used to that and I was so surprised at the first comments I got from complete strangers, but it showed me that I was not alone in my thinking.
Over the years there have been a few controversial topics that have come up, and because I am not blogging to make money, or have the largest readership, or make everyone happy, I haven’t hesitated in speaking my mind. I have had some awful comments over the years and some heated debates, but I have had more people leave positive comments and I have never felt like I wanted to do anything less than write what is on my mind. Because, when it comes to the end of the discussion, this is my blog, this is a place were I can be myself and really share the way I feel.
That is the beauty of blogging for yourself.
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Posted on Nov 15th, 09 at
9:28 pm under Misc Ramblings
15
Nov
If you follow my blog, you will notice that I have been blogging every day since the first of November.
It is of course NaBloPoMo, a time when, for a whole month, the goal is to post every day.
I started this blog, my first blog, in May of 2005. I can’t believe that it has been so long!
I did it because I was tired of being places that I was not able to have a voice without it becoming a debate. I was, at that time, Moderator of the AP board on BabyCenter. It seems like a lifetime ago, and because BabyCenter was and is still a very mainstream board, the AP board was much of the same. I needed a place to be able to rant and rage and say what I felt without having to put a moderator hat on and “be nice”…I also needed to be able to finally talk about positive things (like breastfeeding milestones etc) without people taking it as an attack on their choices. (well, at times, since that has happened here too)
I have tried many times in my life to keep a journal and I have always failed. I would start, keep it up for a while and then I just stopped so I never thought when I started this blog that I would still be blogging more than 4 years later. Blogging turned out to be exactly what I needed at the time and soon after I started I stepped down from my position as moderator and never went back.
My Blog has transformed since that time, and I have grown also… going from “Paxye’s Rant” on Blogger, to “a hippie with a minivan” on WordPress here on my own domain name. The change came after I decided that I wanted this blog to be more than about rants, I wanted it to be about all the things that I am passionate about. I don’t blog for money, or to have the most readers, I blog because I want to share about my family, photography, cooking, sewing, unschooling and just being a parent.
But, as my journal experiences showed me, when I slow down it becomes harder to start up again. Last year, I was slowing down considerably and in some ways I was ready to let the blog fizzle when I heard about NaBloPoMo, and thought that it might just help me get in the beat again and it did. Though at times I find it hard to find things to post, I am glad that I have kept it up, if only it is for me to be able to look back and remember what I have been though, what my thoughts have been and see how I evolved in that time.
So, I am again using NaBloPoMo this year to give me another boost, to get back in the habit so that I don’t let the blog fizzle any time soon. 15 days in, half way through, and it hasn’t been that bad to think about what to write… I have a good feeling that I will make it for the second year which will give me another boost for the time ahead..
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Posted on Nov 13th, 09 at
6:26 pm under Family Life, Food, Misc Ramblings
13
Nov
It’s Day 2 without an oven and I have no clue when we will have it working again.
The Sears guy was supposed to come today but then called yesterday and was able to figure out the problem over the phone with the Error code. He checked with the pieces and they are on order and he expects them for the 30th. I can’t believe it, I can’t go that long without a working oven!
I asked him if there was anything else that could be done and he did say that he would try. He called this morning saying that he would get back to me with news but then never called. It is so frustrating!!!
There are many things in the house that I wouldn’t have a problem without, but this is not one of them… especially since we no longer have a microwave or a toaster oven. Though I don’t like the results much, I remembered that we still have the breadmaker stashed somewhere down stairs, so I might get that out in the meantime…
The next weeks meal plans are sure going to be interesting to make though…
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Posted on Nov 12th, 09 at
3:49 pm under Family Life, Food, Misc Ramblings
12
Nov
My oven is broken!
I made some breakfast cookies this morning, pre-heated the oven, put them in and then soo after I started to smell food burning… I ran to kitchen at about the same time as the alarm on the oven went off flashing ERR:F10 over and over… I got the stuff out of the oven noticing that the cookies on the top shelf were burnt completely but the bottom ones were perfect… The broiler element was on and wouldn’t turn off…
The only way that I got it to turn off was to pull the oven out and unplug it.. then I called Sears (it is not even a year old) and they will be coming to repair it soon…
I have no idea what could have happened for it to break so suddenly. Looking around on the net though it looks like this Error code is because the heat was going too high, meaning that the heat sensor is most likely broken so the oven wasn’t cycling off and on like it should.
This really sucks! I use the oven pretty much everyday.
For breakfast we often rotate between Baked oatmeal, apple pancake, breakfast cookies, etc… For lunch we use the oven to reheat food since we don’t have a microwave, I made bread sometimes on a daily basis, muffins or other desserts and of course supper…
Tonight we are having sandwiches, so I’ll have to go out and buy some bread for tonight…
At least the stove top is working but depending on when the oven will be fixed I’ll have to plan meals around using the stove top exclusively which honestly is quite a challenge. Of course since this is taking away many of our breakfast options we will most likely be relying on the toaster a lot more which means that I will have to buy bread since I can’t make it.
This really sucks!
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Posted on Nov 3rd, 09 at
11:50 am under Food, Misc Ramblings, Raw feeding
3
Nov
Sometimes, the weekly specials at the grocery store just work for you…
I make my weekly menu according to the specials from the grocery stores in my area and I am also trying to stay within budget. I was not being careful for a while and the amount we were spending on groceries was going up a bit more than I would have hoped… So I have been being careful of using what we have in the freezer and pantry and stocking up on things that are on special…
Now that I also have Nala to feed I am really keeping my eye out on cheaper cuts of meat…
I felt I hit the Jackpot this week… Turkey was .99 a pound and so were chickens at another store. I bought two turkeys, one that has been put away in the fridge to defrost for the weekend (which will make a great turkey meal, pot pie, stock and soup along with leftovers) and one for freezer for a later date. I also bought 4 chickens and a 4 bone in chicken breasts. Along with other food to complete the menu plan, including 8lbs of apples and a box of clementines, I managed to keep the cost at about 100$ which I find to be quite remarkable…
The 4 chickens were not the nicest looking or the best quality but Nala won’t mind… I took the time yesterday morning to cut them up and separate them into baggies for about 3-4 weeks worth of Nala’s meals… I am hoping to do the same whenever I see that special so that we have a good stock of food for her in the freezer at all times.
(Ready for the Freezer)
At the same time I was cutting up the whole chickens and was in the groove, I also cut up the chicken breasts that I used in last nights supper which was Fried chicken Sandwiches (recipe to come)…
The bones of course did not go to waste and got thrown into a pot with a few onions, carrots and celery stalks and will become the broth for tonight’s soup and there should be broth left over to freeze for other meals…
(Chicken stock before and after about 20 hours of simmering)
So for about 100$ I will be getting weeks worth of food for the whole family…
Planning meals and stocking up on specials can really be quite rewarding…
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Posted on Sep 30th, 09 at
11:40 am under Misc Ramblings, The Kids, Unschooling
30
Sep
Took a while to get this post up but I guess it is better late than never…
Last Thursday we went apple picking at an orchard on Mont-St-Gregoire, south of Montreal. It was an activity with the Homeschooling group but it was supposed to be on Wednesday and was cancelled because of rain and then put for Thursday as a non-official outing which ended up being nice because we were a smaller group then intended and it was nice to be able to talk to people more…
The day turned out to be gorgeous and the kids got to play in the park and eat their lunch while us mom talked and shared until we decided to buy our bags and head out to the Orchard on the tractor ride…
We were let off of the tractor in the orchard where there was another park and we were able to go pick apples and the kids played and we talked more…
Xavier didn’t stay long to pick apples.. but he did pick a few…
Colin and Khéna though loved it and I sat on the ground and they filled up the bag completely…
When it was time to go the kids didn’t mind at all because it meant another tractor ride and they were getting tired from a day full of playing and fresh air… a quick stop in the shop and a few purchases and we headed back home…
This is what we ended up with…
A BIG bag of apples… I don’t know how much exactly but at least 30 lbs, probably more… A few pounds of plums, Local Blueberry blossom honey and some Apple Ice Cider for Simon…
Over the weekend a few pounds of the plums and apples got made into some yummy treats… and I still have a lot to do…
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Posted on Aug 2nd, 09 at
5:18 pm under Alternative Parenting, Family Life, just cool!
2
Aug
Today is the last day of Simon’s vacation, it is raining so we are having a quiet day at home…
I am really happy with the time that was spent while he was home.. we got out often, did quite a few things but didn’t wear ourselves out… Of course it would be great if he could have a little more time off but he is keeping two of his weeks to take a bit later in the year or add to his parental leave when the new babe comes…
On Thursday night Amy left a message on the post I wrote about 6TZEN saying that she had contacted them in Montreal and that they would be meeting her for a picnic on Friday… I couldn’t pass up on the possibility of meeting the family again so on Friday morning we went to Montreal t meet up with all of them…
I am so happy that we did… the kids played, the parents talked and it was amazing to find out how much we all have in common.. In Normandy, Estelle gives workshops on Nonviolent Communication, teaches babywearing, is a homebirther and helps moms breastfeed, … though the system is set up differently there and there is less educational freedom they believe in life learning and non-coersive parenting and are in no way helicopter parents… Arnaud commented to Simon that it is amazing to things that we come from half a world away but that we have so much in common…
After a few hours of talking and get to know each other and the kids playing in the park and the water feature it was time to say good bye… It is probably the last time that we will meet but I don’t think it will be the end of communication…
Here is the family (taken in Jeanne Mance Park in Montreal)
Saying goodbye!
After we said goodbye we did a few more things in Montreal…and I loved seeing in what ways they are making the city a bit greener…
The BIXI bikes are good example… with a subscription you can grab a bike from any BIXI station to ride to your destination… then you just park it again at any BIXI station… the first 30 min are free and then there is a small fee after… not only is it a great idea but it is also widely used based on the amount of people I saw on them…
Another little thing that I saw while walking were lane ways that used to look all dingy now making people smile…sometimes it is the little things that make a difference…
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