I’m not good at all with video blogging. What a dork. There’s a reason or two I write rather than talk, and this video sums those reasons up. I also have a hard time with the video software. Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to vlog my garden progress throughout the summer. We’ll see how much of a dork I can be over the next few months! 
Posted by: stepherz | 03-30-2009 | 12:03 PM
Posted in: Homesteading Wannabe | Comments (7)
It’s weird. Sometimes I have these little flashbacks of childhood. I’m sure everyone does. And I love it! I hope that my babies will have those and remember us fondly for helping to give those memories to them. Most of my memories are of both my mom and grandmother, which is understandable. They were together a lot. They were two peas in a pod that mixed like oil and water…
The other day I had a Ginger Ale with Cheezits while sitting on the deck in the warm sun. I obviously hadn’t had those two flavors together in a very long time because the taste suddenly took me somewhere else, to another time. I closed my eyes and let myself remember sitting by the backyard pool with my grandma and mom at a family friend’s house. There was a bar attached to the pool that had a well stocked pantry and little fridge. The grown-ups drank margs and gin and tonics while I grubbed out on Ginger Ale and Cheezits. Fifteen minutes and another sunscreen lathering before I could get back in the pool– that was always the hard part. I could just smell my mom’s tanning oil- coconuts. She never, ever burned. I could hear some random 80’s music on the outdoor speakers. Surely it had to be mom’s Phil Collins tape playing. The sun was soooo nice, if you closed your eyes for a second, when you opened them everything would be dark and hard to see. Where’s my pink strawberry shortcake sunglasses? Ever stubbed your toe on the concrete with bare feet? Ouch! I always loved having to go pee because the air conditioning was sooooo cold inside. Back in the pool with my barbies and a float– yippeee! Hmmm. Love those memories.
Mom and Nana were always bar hopping. Not nasty bars or anything. It might be hard to tell from these dated old pictures, but these women were Hot to Trot! They had lots of friends and Nana always loved to show us off when we were in town. We regulared Chi-Chis Restaurant on McPherson Church Rd in Fayetteville. Yummm! They had this little snack buffet with this amazing queso, bean dip, tortilla chips… There were always a bunch of grown-ups with mom and nana. Mom and Nan both liked to drink the same thing: frozen margs (not on ice, not with salt which is how I like mine as an adult). The grown ups would keep giving me quarters so that I’d go away and quit inhibiting their dirty joke telling. I would play PacMan for hours, stuffing myself sick with queso and chips and Shirley Temple sodas… I loved it!
Then there’s the beach memories. Those were amazing. Those are my favorite ones. Mom spent the entire summer on the beach. She was so so dark. I was so freckle faced and pale skinned. But back then, the best SPF was like an 8! So I was always burned up by the end of the day. You know how that burn feels right before it really surfaces? When the salt water and sand are stuck to the irritated redness? Your skin feels so tight it could get up and walk around all by itself like over starched jeans. Yikes! I loved the beach though. I could hardly get mom to play in the water with me, but when she did she would take me far, far out. She taught me to duck under the waves when a big one would come, rather than letting it hit me. She could always find sandbars out in the middle of no where, I don’t know how she knew where they were. But we’d collect sand dollars with our toes. Sometimes I’d scoot my toes across the bottom trying to find a sand dollar and instead I’d swipe up against a nasty grouchy crab who would clamp my toe. After a full day, when the sun was starting to settle, mom would holler at me to help her pack up. We’d load into the hot car with sticky skin and wet hair. YUCK! I loved the beach but I dreaded the ride home– those were always the best showers of my life, the one’s I’d take after a day on the beach! But mom always rewarded me for toughing it out and not whining on the way home. She’d stop at the quick stop and buy me a bag of boiled peanuts or a coconut ice pop. We’d get home and get cleaned up. Then mom would clean the shells and sand dollars we’d found that day. What an amazing place to grow up, I’ll tell ya. The beach is just so magical…
I’m so grateful for those women who loved me and gave me such beautiful memories…
If you have a blog, how about sharing a few stories/pictures of your childhood. What it tasted like, what it smelled like, what is fond to you now that maybe wasn’t back then (like sand in your crotch at the beach, or crab pinches on your toes)? If you do post something, come back and let me know!
Posted by: stepherz | 03-25-2009 | 07:03 PM
Posted in: General | Just Me | Susan | Comments (7)
Chicken butt.
Jeremy always says that when I say, “Guess what?” It drives me bonkers. So I went ahead and said it to get it out of the way…
Anyways. Guess what? I went to the doctor today. He took me off of bedrest! Yahoooo! I’m not 100% sure that he did it because he thought 100% that the hematoma is 100% healed. But I think he thinks it’s small enough now, and 1 month is long enough, to at least get it to a place where it isn’t a threat to the pregnancy. It may still be there, but it’s not likely to cause a loss. So that’s a relief! A relief because my poor husband reached his boiling point. We all have those, ya know. It took a month to push him to the edge, he was a champ, but it was time. No one likes parenting alone. And I can tell you, I’d rather spend a month in a Torture Camp than to be the single parent of little Noah Nooskers for one month. OMG. The child REQUIRES two parents.
I have been cramping today. I jumped right off the mattress and started back to life. I mean, the doc didn’t mention gradually getting back into it and there’s nothing gradual about motherhood.
The only thing that bothered me about the doctor appointment today was some of the dialogue I had with the doctor who is a non-sugar-coating-kind-of-guy. I was telling him how I joined this discussion board for women with hematomas. I told him how all the women are mostly upset that they are always in this constant state of limbo with the prengancy. They want to celebrate the pregnancy and be excited, but they are afraid to get their hopes up.
He said,
“Well, Steph. With you we’re not going to celebrate anything. We’re going to wait until the baby is born healthy in September before we celebrate a thing. How about if you just celebrate each day?”
Huh? Wha? Well aren’t we just the voice of doom and gloom? That’s just great mental medicine, Doctor. Thanks a whole fucking bunch!
Anyhow, the baby agrees whole heartedly that the doctor is 100% Polyester Punk. When the doctor finally shut up and I laid down to do the doppler dance with him, he pushed the doppler wand so hard against my belly trying to find the heartbeat. Well, the baby didn’t like the poking one bit. Normally I can’t feel the baby’s movements yet. But when Doc got to the baby, she/he kicked the doppler so hard it made a big noise. I felt it strongly! Wow! I’ve got a spunky one in there, I can already tell. And there’s no doubt in my mind that with attitude like that, she/he is determined not to do anything less than join our family in September. I don’t need a doctor to tell me what’s meant to be.
That’s my story! So I guess I’m still going to be keeping it easy when the family is away at school/work because I do think I need the rest and continued healing. But perhaps now that I can actually leave my bed, I might start photo blogging a bit. That might make the blog more interesting for you. Or just as boring but boring with pictures. 
Until next time…
Posted by: stepherz | 03-24-2009 | 04:03 AM
Posted in: A Broken Womb | Baby Number 4 | Just Me | Wife | Comments (7)
So it came up in conversation yesterday… What is the difference between Communism and Socialism? I know there is a difference, but I’m not sure I know enough to explain it properly. My belief is that if you don’t understand something, shut up about it. So, rather than argue that YES, there IS a difference. Well, I would like to be able to explain that difference. And no, I’m neither in support of America becoming Socialist or Communist. Please don’t misinterpret my intentions. I just figure that there is a lot of talk of America going from a Democracy to a Socialist or Communist type Nation. And, if that is true, and if it’s not true, I want to understand WTF everyone is talking about. Personally I think we’re going to continue being a Democracy which operates with a Capitalistic economy and adopts some of the Socialist healthcare characteristics. But the way Obama shuns the big wig media conferences and has always spit in the eyes of the lobbyists, well, that kind of makes me curious. He’s a different kind of President. I’m not sure that means he’s a Socialist though! Dang. The guy obviously has morals and is different. But if you’re different that means you’re an anti-American or a Communist?
Instead of getting frustrated with Obama, shouldn’t we give him longer than 2 months before we figure he’s screwed it all up, or that he’s the Anti-Christ, or that he’s a Commie? Two months? And we’re all getting a little antsy about his stimulus packages, but honestly: What did this war, that was all about weapons of mass destruction that we never found, cost us in comparison? One guy dug our hole with a trillion dollar 14 kt gold shovel dipped in oil. The other guy? Well, he’s trying to climb us out. Let’s give him more than 2 months, shall we?
I’m rambling. Speaking of rambling, check this out… I joined the pregnancy discussion group and we’re all talking about the economy and baby-making in a bad economy, blah, blah. I told the group that I had started preparing a bit for rainier days. I told them it wasn’t just because of the economy, but also because emergency preparedness is smart for many different scenarios. I said I saw seed saving, getting canning equipment, buying some chickens, planning a really great garden, stocking up on meds, soap, vitamins, food, etc… There was like 25 women who were like, “Wow, great idea. Maybe I should do that too. Why the heck not?” And then there were like 5 women who were calling me a crazy farm lady, saying I was paranoid and delusional, insisting I was living in fear, and I was “Apocalyptic”. WTF!? Have people lost their minds!? What is apocalyptic about seed saving!? I mean, I picture the apocalypse being fire and brimstone and shit. Not great conditions for planting gardens, wouldn’t you say? Screw ‘em. See if I share with them any of my zucchini bread baked in my dutch oven when the shit hits the fan!
Speaking of Farm women? I have an apron with hens on it. Yeyyyyah! Don’t be haterz.
Ok, back to the original point of this post. Explaining the difference between Communism and Socialism. Of course, you would probably need more than one source to be edumacated about the subject. But this is better than nothing…
WiseGeek defines Communism vs. Socialism:
“Socialism and communism are ideological doctrines that have many similarities as well as many differences. It is difficult to discern the true differences between socialism and communism, as various societies have tried different types of both systems in myriad forms, and many ideologues with different agendas have defined both systems in biased terms. Some general points distinguishing the two concepts, however, can still be identified.
One point that is frequently raised to distinguish socialism from communism is that socialism generally refers to an economic system, while communism generally refers to both an economic and a political system. As an economic system, socialism seeks to manage the economy through deliberate and collective social control. Communism, however, seeks to manage both the economy and the society by ensuring that property is owned collectively and that control over the distribution of property is centralized in order to achieve both classlessness and statelessness. Both socialism and communism are similar in that they seek to prevent the ill effects that are sometimes produced by capitalism.
Both socialism and communism are based on the principle that the goods and services produced in an economy should be owned publicly and controlled and planned by a centralized organization. However, socialism asserts that the distribution should take place according to the amount of individuals’ production efforts, while communism asserts that that goods and services should be distributed among the populace according to individuals’ needs.
Another difference between socialism and communism is that communists assert that both capitalism and private ownership of means of production must be done away with as soon as possible in order to make sure a classless society, the communist ideal, is formed. Socialists, however, see capitalism as a possible part of the ideal state and believe that socialism can exist in a capitalist society. In fact, one of the ideas of socialism is that everyone within the society will benefit from capitalism as much as possible as long as the capitalism is controlled somehow by a centralized planning system.
Finally, another difference between socialism and communism is centered on who controls the structure of economy. Where socialism generally aims to have as many people as possible influence how the economy works, communism seeks to concentrate that number into a smaller amount.”
So there’s some reading material for ya. As if you all are living life like you’re on bedrest and have nothing to do but read my babbling posts. Thanks for humoring me anyways!
Posted by: stepherz | 03-22-2009 | 07:03 PM
Posted in: Just Me | Comments (8)
"She fearlessly defeats monsters hiding in closets and under beds. She bravely conquers vast worlds of laundry on weekends. And she painstakingly protects her young with her nurturing love and her mighty mommy muscles..."
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