Fall 2016

Wow a lot has happened- as it usually does when I disappear from my blog for an extended amount of time...

We are in our new home! It's a lovely house and I couldn't be happier. Most of the boxes are unpacked and for the most part we are settled in. I still have to occasionally hunt things down in the garage or miscellaneous boxes shoved into various closets, but that's just part of moving.

Natalia is flourishing as a toddler (nearly a preschooler!). She dances ballet and tap once a week. She has a best friend named Amelia that she adores. We have finally gotten answers to her ear problems and have scheduled a surgery to have tubes put in and repair her right ear drum. She is a little bit behind verbally, but we are hoping that with the surgery to fix her ears she will catch up quite quickly.

At the end of the month we are having our first party here at the house for Halloween! I'm so excited! I'm putting together all kinds of games and snacks for the kids. I hope everyone has fun, we will see!

Natalia decided that she is being Anna from Frozen for Halloween, so being a good sport I went and found an Elsa dress for me. David is going to be Olaf the snowman (costume in progress). Its going to be a lot of fun to trick or treat in our own neighborhood this year! Hopefully the rain holds off.

Speaking of rain we are supposed to get an insane storm here in the Pacific Northwest over the next few days. The city of Vancouver is prepping sand bag pick up areas and has sent out city workers all day to make sure drains are clear. We've had two in our neighborhood today to check to make sure our development is ready for the storm that's coming! Tonight, David and I are going to go get a few things in preparation for the storm. Mostly just batteries for the fireplace and some snacks I think. I'm not too worried about our area. I'm hoping everyone is just being overly cautious and we'll just see a lot of rain.

Well, I'm off to prep for the storm!

I was on a roll....

And then nap times became a fight and so the blogging stopped.
I'm currently getting 10 minutes of quiet thanks to snack and play dough time.

So quick update-
We're headed to Montana for a long weekend to see our good friend (Natalia's god dad) marry the most amazing woman.
The house is nearing completion and we will hopefully be closing the week of the 20th and moving ASAP!
My parent's visited last week and we had a blast and half and can't wait to see them again.
I got a seasonal job at Spirit Halloween to bring in some Christmas/Fun money and I'm pretty excited! Maybe we can take a weekend away as a family to the seashore soon.

That pretty much covers it. I'm running around like my head is chopped off packing for the trip and packing boxes with books and trinkets. I've run out of boxes... I will have to hunt more down on our return from Montana.

Let's Talk About Ruining other people's fun

And why it is stupid to do so.

You've all seen or heard about the new mobile game "Pokemon Go".
Its a lot of fun, and has been quite the adventure to play.
And then you've also probably seen the articles, comments, heard the radio hosts, etc that are talking about what a stupid fad this is.

Why? Why be negative about something so silly? Our world is so full of negative already, we don't need to add to it with something so trivial!

LET PEOPLE HAVE THEIR FUN!

This isn't just about Pokemon Go. Its about every game/fandom/group/etc that is just for fun. If they aren't hurting you or anyone else leave them alone. If you think it's silly, that's okay! But you don't need to be negative and hurtful.

I can't tell you the number of people I have now talked to about this game who say they are out moving, and doing stuff outside their home because of the game. Our local park is busy now- lots of kids of all ages playing while their parents joke and hunt Pokemon together. Its created a community in our area that wasn't there before.

Sometimes we need a distraction for just a few minutes to take us away from the worries of the world. Between the problems with our police departments and our political system to the everyday worries of paying bills and making dinner sometimes an escape is what we need to keep our heads on straight to deal with the rest of it.

Let people have fun. Join in, see if you like it or do your own thing.

I'm not judging.

I Just Don't Understand

I was in the middle of writing a post about Pokemon Go over the last few days (sometimes it takes a few days to get a post done) but I can't bring myself to finish it after the events of last night in Nice, France.

We live in what is statistically the safest time in human history.

We have more information at our finger tips than anyone else has ever had.

Science and medicine have extended our lives to ages previously unheard of.

And yet there are those who instead of living, and letting live, feel the need to wreak destruction upon others.

I can't wrap my head around it. I don't have a lot to say about it either.

My heart aches for the families torn apart by senseless violence.

"My god is better than your god" is probably one of the most pointless arguments I can think of. If your religion/god can't handle a few non-believers then you need a new religion/god.

I'm angry.
I'm upset.

I can't protect my little girl from all the evil of the world, or those who would hurt her for the reason of being female, or not of a certain religion or race, or some other totally stupid and irrelevant reason.

Right now, I am just thankful that she is too young to understand the horrible things that happen in our world, and that at least for a few more years her innocence will prevail and continue to give me hope for the future.

Writing Prompt: Who’s dancing and why are they tapping those toes?

Source: http://thinkwritten.com/365-creative-writing-prompts/

She taps her toes. 1, 2, 3, 4. The music isn't right. Not this song. It's just not right.
Her fingers skitter across the glass screen of her phone to try another song. Nope, not right either.
Again she taps for a new song. Not this one.
One more time.
Yes. This is the one.

The slow ebb and flow of the music pulls her from her stool onto the hardwood floor. Her faded pink toe shoes thump against the oak slats of the dance studio floor as she whirls around the studio. She feels the music deep inside her, guiding her feet and arms into beautiful, elegant shapes. Years of practice has led her to be this comfortable in her movement. The light fabric of her skirt flowed behind her with every step.

She faces the mirror, chest heaving as the music ends. Her reflection smiles back at her, and a movement catches her eye. Behind her in the studio window is a little girl, gray eyes twinkling with glee.

The little girl raises herself up and tiptoes in front of the window, hands high above her head, attempting to mimic the dancer's elegance. She trips, but smiles, looking at the dancer with the hope and inspiration of one day dancing too. The little girl's mom pulls her away, arms filled with shopping bags, to the next storefront. Her little hand waves to the dancer as she disappears from view.

The next song begins and she looks at where the little girl had stood, tapping her heel gently to the beat of a youthful and rapidly flowing piece.

Lets talk about Mommy blogs

The worst thing to hit the internet in a long time.
Also one of the best for other moms.

"but Kirsten, this is a mommy blog"... well no not really. I don't dispense advice, or monetize my blog (although I've considered it, not gonna lie), I don't post cute craft ideas, or stupid pseudoscience ideas with no logical backing to them. Although I'd love to be like Scarrymommy or some of those blogs that write humor, I'm just not that funny on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong, I have my moments of gold, but its usually in the car or in bed with David rolling his eyes at me while I laugh until I can't breathe. Surprisingly, this doesn't transfer to a blog very well.

Mommy blogs... for some reason they have a lot of really bad advice. Probably because a lot of moms have a lot of really bad advice. But through the power of the internet, these horrible or unsafe ideas are able to travel farther and wider than ever before. Oh, you need examples?

Yesterday, a mommy was looking for an "all natural sunscreen with no chemicals". Okay... well lets break this down. 

"All natural" sunscreen doesn't actually have any definition by governing standards. Technically they can put "All natural" on a bottle of anything and sell it. Seriously- it's not like "organic" which has federal standards. "All natural" sunscreen has also failed test after test when put to the test against other sunscreens. They don't work as well, which puts you at risk for burning. I will concede that we are finding some possible problems with some of the synthetics used in current sunscreen, including possible hormonal problems. I understand that this is worrisome. I'm more worried about something that is "all natural" that was able to slip past FDA guidelines, with no guarantee of its ingredients and what their effects might be. 

"Chemicals" I hate come to absolutely hate this term. Let's look to the dictionary for a quick definition to get us started, shall we? " of, relating to, used in, or produced by chemistry" Thanks, Miriam-Webster! Chemicals are literally everything.... Our bodies are made of thousands of chemicals, our food, water! Di-hydrogen monoxide! You'd die without this chemical compound! You can also die because of it. Chemicals are not inherently bad, sure it sounds scary, because chemistry is scary... failed it twice, its terrifying. That said, this huge push back against "chemicals" is ridiculous and anti-progress. Without "chemicals" we'd all be dying off at a young age still, we'd most likely be starving and have no clean water. We've reached a point in human history where all our progress now scares us. We shouldn't be scared, we should be cautious and optimistic. Yes, mistakes happen, we find out that certain chemicals are bad for us- there's just as many things in nature that are bad for us too! Arsenic, anyone?

How about the anti-vaccine insanity? Mommy blogs continue to perpetuate this anti-science, anti-logic thought process over a study that has been proven wrong over and over. Unfortunately much like tooth paste, once its out it can't be put back! Vaccines are so important to public health, and choosing not to vaccinate you or your child for any reason other than "I'm allergic to eggs" or other actual valid medical reason is absurd. Vaccines don't just protect you, they protect those who can't be vaccinated for legitimate reasons. It's okay to be scared, sometimes things go wrong, but those chances are so tiny that its ridiculous to use them as an excuse. On top of that, can we talk about how incredibly messed up it is that parents out there are saying, "I'd rather my child be dead, than have autism". No parent wants their child to suffer from autism, but I'd rather my child have autism than be killed by a completely preventable illness. 

The variety of anti-science, anti-logic mommy blogs out there is almost painful. Attempting to search anything with medical validity is made difficult by having to sift through a million different blogs that have the same credentials, "mom". These credentials hold up for crafts, mom to mom talk, some behavioral questions. Doesn't hold up for anything that has to do with medicine or science- for that I want at least a bachelor's degree in the field, if not a PhD or MD for outrageous claims. I want studies backing everything you claim. 

I have high standards for information, I wish everyone did. 

New Posting Style

I've decided to expand this blog a little and add some stuff outside of my personal life and more just writing and getting it all out there.
So now I'm going to have
Lets Talk About...
and
Writing Prompt:
posts. I made add on to that but for now that is what I'm starting with. I love writing about more than my boring life, and hopefully people will enjoy reading them!