My Fiery Little King

01 February 2012

It Gets Better

Just because this is a cause dear to my heart, and I've been remiss not to share these links in the past...

It Gets Better: http://www.itgetsbetter.org

Trevor Project: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/

One could argue, especially considering where I live, that I'm lucky to be who I am: white, Christian, straight, and married, living in a home that I own, and essentially being a stay-at-home mom. We are the epitome of the conventional middle-American household. But, that doesn't mean I haven't seen how difficult it is for those men and women who walk a different path. Yes, it does get better...but it could be SO MUCH MORE SO if the people in this country had the courage to stand up for what's right, or at the very least, keep their noses and their legislation out of other people's private business (and bedrooms). Did you know it's legal to marry your own cousin in Wisconsin (provided one of you is sterile - ha!) but illegal to marry someone of the same gender? Could it get any more ridiculous?

A wise woman once told me, "Be who you are, because you're awesome." She probably doesn't remember the exchange, but I do. And, at the time, it made all the difference.

And for her, and for everyone who has ever accepted me for who I am - socially incompetent and often resentful as I am - I promise that I will never remain silent in the presence of any sort of bullying. Whether by fists or by legislation, it's still wrong...and I'll not tolerate it.

29 January 2012

Happy 7th Birthday, Jazzy Jasmine!

Love you, sweet kitten.

26 January 2012

Chuck SERIES finale

Part of the Chuck cast on the final day of filming.

Photo Credit: (C) Warner Brothers Television, 2011 obtained by http://www.examiner.com/tv-insider-in-los-angeles/the-chuck-cast-on-finale-day-photo.

After five wonderful years, my favorite TV show of all time is coming to a close. Tomorrow night, NBC will air the finale two episodes of the series. I will be watching, ~~hopefully with friends and family~~ at home alone* at 8pm EST / 7pm CT. Thank you to the cast, crew, writers, WB, and NBC for 91 glorious episodes.

What's next for the cast? Here are twitter/imdb links to keep updated.

Mark Christopher Lawrence

Don't forget to watch the 2hr finale live!

*Alone, because we all got the stomach flu this week, and are thus under quarantine.

21 January 2012

Circus Juventas Updates

Now that Aidan has been taking classes at Circus Juventas in St. Paul for a year, I thought I'd post some updates on his progress. He LOVES going to class and is getting bolder and much more willing to try new things. He's also much stronger and has much better balance than when he first started.
Here is a video of a recent go on the trampoline - he's really perfecting "stick it!"

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And, some photos!
Aidan is perfecting his bear walk during warm-up.

The tumble track is always a big hit.

Lately, so has the silks!

As we head off from circus class to our weekly trip to Coldstone, Aidan shows off his wild hair (and new car seat - thanks Auntie Lola!).

Fridays are awesome!

19 January 2012

Winter in Wisconsin

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from living 7 years in Wisconsin (9 in the Midwest), it’s that here, more than any place else I’ve lived, the weather is always unpredictable, often extreme, and very fleeting. Temperature swings of 60+ degrees over the course of 4 days are par for the course here, as are floods, snow storms, tornados, frigid temperatures, and blistering, baking heat. I've seen them all here, with photos to prove it! The hottest temperature to date (per what I've seen on the bank thermometer) has been 101F, and the coldest (air temp), -30F. I don't really want to think about what the wind chill was that day.

Up until the last couple of weeks, we've actually had quite a mild winter. Some days in December saw 50 degree beautiful, sunny days. The trouble is, when we don’t get snow in December, there’s nothing to keep the ground warm in January when the inevitable arctic air descends upon us.

Like today, when the temperatures crawled up to -12F by 8:30am, with barely a dusting of snow on the ground.

Unlike most years, when the snow just keeps coming (December 2010).

Sometimes, the temperatures swing upwards just long enough to give us some fabulous looking icicles...

...before dipping back down to frigid temperatures (January 2009).

One thing is for certain: regardless of the snow storm, the snow will drift at least 4-5ft in front of my front door, making shovelling a royal pain. This drift was over my head before I went to bed. I'm not sure how high it got because, by the time I got up in the morning, my friendly neighbors had already dug me out with their snow blowers (February 2007).

I suppose I've (mostly) gotten used to the intricacies of our crazy weather. The only thing that really bothers me, year after year, is being cold and still seeing grass. In my mind, if I'm going to be cold, I shouldn't be able to see my grass. Most years, Wisconsin is quite accommodating on the snow front, but we're seriously lacking this year. So, anybody want to send over some snow, I'm ready for it!