Wee Goaty

I like goats. I think my adoration for them stems from a culmination of reasons including: my friend Emily's love for goats rubbed off on me; I thoroughly enjoyed an outing to Grumpy's Goat Shack in Victor Idaho where I had a delicious hot dog awhile back; they make the cutest noises; I love goat cheese; my general championing for under-appreciated things. Any way, this last weekend I took part in a service project at Camp Twin Lakes in Winder Georgia-it is a summer camp for children with special needs. I laid sod all day Saturday but I took a journey to a small, wonderful corner of the camp where I met my new best friend. I named him Wee Goaty, because he is so cute and small. He even seemed to have a slight cold and we bonded over the fact that we were both congested. However, mine is a chronic disease, I hope that Wee Goaty just has a cold because I would never wish on him the debilitating condition from which I suffer from daily and that brings upon me ridicule and despair from unfeeling people.

However, this is not just a post to introduce you to my friend but he needs my help. He is stuck in pen with a huge rooster, and when I say huge I am not exaggerating. Plus the rooster seems like a bully. He bullies Wee Goaty, the bunnies in the pen and the other chickens. I am trying to get Wee Goaty a companion/lifepartner. He needs a fellow goat to help him work out his differences with the rooster. I am having a friend talk to the camp about it and hopefully they agree. I'll try and keep you all updated about very important cause.

Snowed In: Day 2

For those who do not watch the news or follow weather, Atlanta had a snow storm Sunday night followed by a lovely frosting of rain. While this combination made for fun tromping noises as I emerged from my cozy house on Day 2 of no work, it also resulted in dire driving conditions. A word to the wise, if you need a pick-me -up do not tune into local Atlanta News after a storm, or any event really, as they have a knack for turning inconvenient occurrences into apocalyptic events.

Today I made the 1/2 mile trek to the main road to see if it had been cleared. Unfortunately, it had not but was in better condition than my road which ends in a culdesac. The only non-TV, non-Netflix entertainment we've had in the last two days is observing the ingenuity of our neighbors to either deal with or enjoy the snow. My neighbors are using a big plank board to shovel their driveway; I'm pretty sure the kids next door were sledding on cookie sheets; and I passed a boy sledding on what I think was a garbage can lid.

Snow days can be fun for a day but I am ready for my routine to start again. I can only watch so many episodes of Psych and answer work emails before I start to feel really lazy and a little guilty. Sadly I just heard school is closed again tomorrow and perhaps the rest of the week. Help!

O Tannenbaum

I bought my very own Christmas Tree this year. I have been fortunate to enjoy various Christmas Trees throughout the years since leaving home, a few of these include: many elaborately decorated twigs, a real tree when I lived with my brother and sister-in-law in Cheyenne, and a fake, but elegantly decorated tree compliments of my roommates in Michigan. I have in no way been lacking in trees over the years, but I never had one of my own.

I contemplated a real tree but had too many personal and practical objections and went instead with a fake tree that I could live with. I found my pre-lit tree-mate at Target. It is a four foot spruce look alike and is perfectly framed by the front window. On it's stand the tree and I are about the same height, thus no Elf-like scenes necessary to put decoration on the upper branches. I really like the lighter color it takes on when it is lit up, it has a slightly flocked look. A special thanks to Warren for helping me pick out the color scheme.

Thanksgiving pat down

I really enjoyed this article, but was sad that so few of the topics in it came up over Thanksgiving break, with the exception of the new TSA body scanners. Everyone had something to say and opinions did not necessarily fall along traditional political lines. While I am not going to argue whether these scans actually heighten security or not I would like to direct you to Lewis Black's take on the issue. I think he offers a valuable perspective one the issue. As for me, the next time I fly I'll take into account the attractiveness of the person doing the "patting down" and then decide. If I do decide to go through the machine I think I will ask for a copy of my scan as a keepsake.

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Halloween: a break in slogging

I have been a lazy blogger long enough and this week forces combined to bring about enough momentum that resulted in a blog post. First my sister in law knitted me a lovely beanie which adorns my head in the picture. Second, my disgust that "teen advocate" and "worst dancer ever in her age group" Bristol Palin has not yet been voted off Dancing With the Stars- yes I am a little ashamed to admit I watch it almost weekly. I justify it as room mate bonding time- nonetheless I needed to showcase the beanie and channel my Bristol frustration in a more productive manner, hence my Halloween costume: me trying to look like a pregnant teen indicated by the leggings and Ugg boots.

Fortunately, I don't look like Bristol Palin and have about twice as much rhythm than her, which isn't saying much. (I think my Bishop might have an incriminating video of pregnant Jessica dancing to the song "Dancing with Yourself," I am astounded by the number of people who fought the urge to bust a move during that song, its so danceable.) Any ways, at the Halloween Party I went to Friday night I had to put Juno on my name tag and Future Breastfeeder for anyone to figure out that I wasn't just looking for an excuse to walk around knocked up.

In conclusion, I love my beanie, I hope Bristol gets voted off DWTS soon, but fear the conservative conspiracy that is keeping her on will last at least through the elections this week, and can only imagine how hard it is to get around when one is really pregnant. It was hard enough to bend over and such with just a pillow duct taped to my abdomen.

My weekend as a hipster

What better way to describe my weekend as a hipster then by rekindling one of my long lost hipster-like habits: blogging. While I did not go to NYC for the express purpose of being a hipster it quickly became the theme of the trip.

This weekend was as much about understanding the meaning of the word hipster as being one myself. In addition to discussion of the word with various people throughout the weekend I also defered to two reliable web sources on the subject: urban dictionary and wikipedia.

Regardless of the definition it is how one uses the word, either to disparage or flatter that matters. In order to be the best hipster possible I brought along Brooke, my hipster coach, who unabashedly embraces her inner hipster. With Brooke's help and some consultation from Carissa--who claims she is not a hipster but if being a hipster is all about being cool she is inherently one-- you would think I couldn’t mess it up.

I even bought a hipster purse and aviator glasses. Unfortunately, as hard as I tried to be ironic and look cool and unconcerned about everything around me, my wonder of NYC and love of pop culture media references won out and I found myself saying things like, “Hey, where’s Fox books and the Little Shop Around the Corner?” "isn’t that where they filmed (insert any number of NYC based films here)" and "where's Woody Allen or John Stewart?"

Though I don't consider myself a hipster (though many disagree) I had a great time in NYC and am perplexed that many things I enjoy such as listening to indy rock, gardening, recycling, long boarding, rebuilding old bikes and riding said bike to work have been co-opted by hipster culture. My only consolation is I perhaps am less apathetic.

Hipster consultant, Carissa (center) and Hipster Coach, Brooke (right)

Us crossing the Brooklyn bridge, Brooklyn being a hipster haven.

Brooklyn bridge from the Brooklyn side. I recommend going across to anyone. I hear it is even more amazing at night.

Much to my delight there was an actual hipster exhibit going on at the Met.

More Pictures:

Hot Chocolate at Max Brenner's, or more appropriately describe- a melted chocolate bar. So thick and delicious.

Nice Policeman who saw me struggling with a self take and offered to take our picture but after one person in our party refused to be photographed he agreed to be in our picture instead. Then gave us a NYC police patch, although I like to refer to is as a NYC badge of honor.

Time Square

Brooke on Wall Street in front of the NY stock exchange

I bet you can guess the topic...Gardening!

I swear some day I will find another topic to blog about, but until I receive the necessary creative inspiration I will continue to blog about my garden. Kirsten and I planted our little garden about 6 weeks ago. At that time our "children" looked like this:

Now they look like this:

We have many blossoms and even small fruits forming, however we are realizing how unprepared we are for our "children" to grow up. Thus, like any good parents we will be hitting the books (or wikipedia) again to figure out when one should pick Kale or Collards or just how often does one need to cut back cilantro?

Here's a pictures our of Zucchini and Butternut squash the two plants that in a few short weeks may grow so big that small children will become lost in my back yard.

Zucchini blossom

Roma tomatoes