Unlearning Something....

So, Pluto is not a planet anymore. All those years of having to learn the nine planets and now I have to unlearn one of them. How do you just unlearn something?

Ok - done!

I'm not exactly sad that Pluto is not a planet. It means less complications for this new mom. Because when my child talks about Pluto, I will know she is referring to Mickey's dog. And later when she has to make a solar system for school -- well, that's one less planet we have to make. But I suppose we could go for some extra credit and throw it in there and label it the Trans-Neptunian Object that was formerly Planet Pluto.

Maybe Pluto will make it's debut on email forwards when we start seeing ones that are titled "You Know You're a 90's Child If...."

It will say, "you were taught that Pluto was a planet" right after it says "you wore grunge."

Amazingly Simple Home Remedies

****My mom sent me this forward and I liked it, so I thought I would post it.

1. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.
2. Clumsy? Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.
3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat by simply using the sink.
4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer.
5. If you are choking on an ice cube, don't panic! Simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat and presto! The blockage will be almost instantly removed.
6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, after which you'll be afraid to cough.
7. Have a bad toothache? Smash your thumb with a hammer and you will forget all about that toothache.
8. Sometimes, we just need to remember what the rules of life really are: You only need two tools - WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.
9. Remember: everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
10. Never pass up an opportunity to go to the bathroom.

Cucumber Beetle?

I think this is what is attacking my garden -- a cucumber beetle. They are UGLY! And annoying. I wasn't in the garden for a few days and when I went out there yesterday I found hundreds of these things. They had pretty much destroyed my zucchini & pumpkins and were working on my yellow squash & acorn squash. Ironalilcally, they were not touchinag the green cucumbers or yellow cucumbers.

I was trying not to use any chemicals, but I don't want to lose everything, so I put on some Bug-B-Gon. But I need more because it was stuff I had leftover and I only had enough to put on the squashes and just a tiny dusting on the cucumbers.

I have a very good cucumber crop and my tomatoes are ripening nicely. Also, my jalepeno peppers look good, but not sure I will have any use for them as I usually make salsa with zucchini (which I have no more of). Maybe I will have to try a new recipe. Or maybe I should try making some hot pickles. Although I am not sure when I will find the time to do any canning this year. I babrely have time to keep up with dishes & laundry.

Fair Food

This week is the SCFF fair. It is the largest county fair in Minnesota. Andy & I took Isabel with us on Tuesday night (first night). We really wanted to go together and try some of the food (that way we can try each others and get to sample more), but we don't like to go on the weekends when it gets super busy and basically impossible to navigate through.

So, Tuesday night we shared some Deep-Fried Oreos and some Nitro Ice Cream. Andy also had a corn dog and this really lame BBQ sandwich. I had a Gyro that you get to add your own toppings too (which is great, because you can pile on what you want). Oh! And we had samples of a SPAM burger.

On Wednesday I had to go for work during the day. So there I had a Greek Shish-kabob and a Cherry Snow Cone.

Not sure if we'll get there again during the rest of the week. It supposed to be rainy today & tomorrow, so maybe not. And we don't care to go on Saturday or Sunday.

Isabel did just fine and slept quite a bit both time I took her. I carried her in the Snugli, which is a smart thing to do, because it's really too busy to be pusing a big stroller around. Next year we'll have the nice big back carrier to carry her around in.

New Place to Shop

Well, Andy found a new place to shop. It is called Steve & Barry's. We both heard about it from other people, but he finally decided to stop there after work one day. Nothing there costs over $7, even jeans and embroidered hoodies and a fall jacket. There is one in the Burnsville Mall. He's pretty proud that he was able to ge so many nice clothes for himself for so cheap. He didn't always used to be that way. When I first met him he was a die-hard Levi's Silvertab fan....and if you ever buy those you know they never get lower than $40/pair. But he's a tall guy and they made pants that fit him and he just stuck with what worked. I think he believed that because he was such a big guy he was just going to have to pay big prices and was not going to have a lot of options or sale/clearance prices. But over the 9 years we have been together he has certainly changed his attitude about clothes shopping. I was so proud of him for his recent purchase (I know he was pretty proud he did such a good job saving money.)

I haven't been there yet. Hopefully I will get there soon.

Jury Duty

I got a summons to be "considered" for jury duty. I had to fill out this survey and also send them a list of vacations plans and doctor appointments for the NEXT 2 MONTHS! So, I did. And I let them also know that I am breastfeeding an infant and she needs to eat every 3-4 hours (& so far it looks like I'll have to come back at lunchtime to feed her when I go back to work -- good thing I work relatively close.) So, maybe she will be my ticket out of jury duty.

It seems like every county does it differently. The way they do it here is that it is a 2-month appointment (if you qualify, hopefully I won't - I really have no desire to do jury duty, but my appoinment would be September - October.) But you don't have to report to the courthouse unless they call you and they will call you 2-3 days in advance.

There isn't any interesting cases coming up that I know of (it's hard not to stay on top of things in this area.) The big things were these chiropractors that did bad things to their clients. Two separate chiropractors working independently. One of those is already in jail (but gets ot daily for work release - last I heard he was managing a massage office in the Cities - who the hell lets someone who lost his chirporactic license & is in jail for the bad things he did manage a massage clinic?) The other one is currently in court. There was a couple of other people who did bad things to kids that happened around the same time as that last chiropractor, but I think they were both in neighboring counties or maybe they admitted their guilt and they didn't need a trial by jury (which if I recall, I think that is what happened.) Historically, ther ehave not been a lot of jury trials in our area. Seems like once people get busted here they plead guilty and just have court, no trial.

So, I guess we'll see what happens for me & jury duty.

Frog @ The Cabin

This frog is on the outside of the window. I have never seen a frog in MN or WI that was on the side of a building.

I just tought it was interesting so I took a picture.

The cabin vacation was nice. Got to do a little swimming, floating on tubes, went to Carlos Creek Winery (you should go there if you are in that area - a very nice & impressive winery, lots of activities), went to the library in Perham (impressive kids section), read some magazines (Gourmet, Marie Claire, Natural Home & Garden, Allure, & Ladies Home Journal), and read a book (Catcher in the Rye).

It was good to read stuff that had nothing to do with babies. I have a whole other post in mind (if I get to it) about Catcher in the Rye.

I hope we'll be able to take a cabin vacation again next year. You can see more pics & comments about the vacation on the baby blog.