I'm ready to offer a big "amen" to most of the sentiments in this article.
When we went shopping for costumes, it was super easy to find something for J, who walked into the first aisle, had his eye caught almost instantly, pointed and said "BUUUUUUUZZZZZ!!!!" We promptly pulled down the costume and he hugged it to his chest until the checkout line.
B was more of a struggle. We wandered around the aisles again and again....she had talked for a long time about being Dash from the Incredibles (an idea I totally loved). But she didn't like the fake muscles the costume had, so we had to find something else. Most of the Disney princess-type dresses she didn't go for (though she REALLY liked the Cinderella one)....but I'd have said no anyway, because the skirts were of the barely-cover-your-butt type with a little bouncy petticoat underneath that would have guaranteed some flashing of Dora panties. The more generic costumes (witch, devil, fairy) had all sorts of glaring flaws - hooker boots, lace-up bodices, skin-tight neon-colored leotards as the base - I could go on and on.
Finally we decided to buy a frilly little knee-length skirt with a matching pair of very large blue wings so that she can be "Tinker Bell's friend that wears blue, because Tinker Bell is not very modest!" That's right, I couldn't convince her to be a modified, modest Tinker Bell even though I tried (The exchange was something like ME: "We can get the green skirt and wings, and we can put your hair up in a bun! With your leotard under the skirt you'd have sleeves and still be modest." BEE: "I don't want to be her! She's not modest and not nice!" ME: "Fair enough!"). I was pretty proud of her.
I'm glad that she wasn't drawn to the short-and-sexy ones. But I hate that they're around, and I'm sure it's a discussion that we'll have at some point.
Friday, October 28, 2011
WAHOOOOOOOO!
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/28/world/europe/uk-monarchy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Honestly, so many women have ruled in England already (and done a credible job at it), I'm glad that they changed the pecking order.
That way they won't have to go all Isabella of France on people and use her son as a puppet to be able to get anything done herself! (If you don't know her story, look it up....it's pretty amazing; I recommend Alison Weir's "Queen Isabella." I read it during my "summer of medieval queens" for-fun reading).
Honestly, so many women have ruled in England already (and done a credible job at it), I'm glad that they changed the pecking order.
That way they won't have to go all Isabella of France on people and use her son as a puppet to be able to get anything done herself! (If you don't know her story, look it up....it's pretty amazing; I recommend Alison Weir's "Queen Isabella." I read it during my "summer of medieval queens" for-fun reading).
Thursday, October 20, 2011
So, what have you been doing lately?
Last weekend Ben and I went backpacking. We drove down to Red River Gorge and camped two nights, hiking about 15 miles over two days (Friday didn't really count, we didn't get in til after dark).
I have two product reviews from the trip:
Vibram 5 fingers Bikila - EXCELLENT for walking; until this weekend I had only ever run in them. Cold dew in the morning made my feet cold until they dried off, but it wasn't too bad. And I didn't get blisters, which I almost ALWAYS do when I'm hiking.
Osprey Aura 50 backpack - LOVED IT. Now granted, I've always just used Ben's little CamelBak daypack when we've gone out before - this is the first real frame pack I've ever had, so I don't have a lot to compare it to. BUT. The weight distribution was perfect for my small frame. And despite my being short but still long in the torso, I could adjust the pack to fit the way it should. I feel like it would hold about 3 times as much weight as I would ever want to carry, but if we ever get out to Glacier and I need to pack more warm layers, I'm sure it will be great.
Overall it was very peaceful, and the trails were nicely blazed (not so much that you felt like somebody was holding your hand the whole time, but also easy enough to follow). We only saw a lot of people when we were near Grey's Arch and the trailheads. The rest of the time it was just us....lots of me rambling. :-) Ben's nice to me though, he always makes me feel like I'm not just talking into the air. The whole time I felt a little like a runner masquerading as a backpacker - between my running clothes (which work fine for hiking but are definitely running clothes) and my frustration at not running up hills, I felt out of my element! But it was VERY fun, I absolutely want to go again. Once we got home I was doing a little bit of that "Let's do this EVERY DAY" thing that kids do when they find something new and cool.
We also went to Muir Valley to climb (well for Ben to climb and me to tag along - I did climb, but he's the climber!). It was fun but we both were REALLY tired from the hiking....next time we'll have to do the climbs on the FRONT end of the trip instead of when we're weak and shaky from sore muscles.
Pictures to come, once I get two minutes together.
Unrelated miscellaneous stuff:
Some less-than-physical stuff, too - we cooked Korean food last night. Bulgogi, Sam Gyup Sal, Mandu,....the kimchi we bought. I'm not that cool. :-) Turned out pretty good!
And I have a whole half a chapter of the dissertation done. Wahoo!
And, last of all, (going back to the physical stuff, I guess) - I'm thinking about doing the Tecumseh Trail marathon again this year. I must be nuts, but it was SUCH a great run....it's not everywhere in the Midwest that you find a 3500' elevation gain, and multiple 300' hills....in the snow....with 700 people...and yummy homemade bread and soup at the end...and I'm still sort of trained up from the Nashville half....we'll see.
I have two product reviews from the trip:
Vibram 5 fingers Bikila - EXCELLENT for walking; until this weekend I had only ever run in them. Cold dew in the morning made my feet cold until they dried off, but it wasn't too bad. And I didn't get blisters, which I almost ALWAYS do when I'm hiking.
Osprey Aura 50 backpack - LOVED IT. Now granted, I've always just used Ben's little CamelBak daypack when we've gone out before - this is the first real frame pack I've ever had, so I don't have a lot to compare it to. BUT. The weight distribution was perfect for my small frame. And despite my being short but still long in the torso, I could adjust the pack to fit the way it should. I feel like it would hold about 3 times as much weight as I would ever want to carry, but if we ever get out to Glacier and I need to pack more warm layers, I'm sure it will be great.
Overall it was very peaceful, and the trails were nicely blazed (not so much that you felt like somebody was holding your hand the whole time, but also easy enough to follow). We only saw a lot of people when we were near Grey's Arch and the trailheads. The rest of the time it was just us....lots of me rambling. :-) Ben's nice to me though, he always makes me feel like I'm not just talking into the air. The whole time I felt a little like a runner masquerading as a backpacker - between my running clothes (which work fine for hiking but are definitely running clothes) and my frustration at not running up hills, I felt out of my element! But it was VERY fun, I absolutely want to go again. Once we got home I was doing a little bit of that "Let's do this EVERY DAY" thing that kids do when they find something new and cool.
We also went to Muir Valley to climb (well for Ben to climb and me to tag along - I did climb, but he's the climber!). It was fun but we both were REALLY tired from the hiking....next time we'll have to do the climbs on the FRONT end of the trip instead of when we're weak and shaky from sore muscles.
Pictures to come, once I get two minutes together.
Unrelated miscellaneous stuff:
Some less-than-physical stuff, too - we cooked Korean food last night. Bulgogi, Sam Gyup Sal, Mandu,....the kimchi we bought. I'm not that cool. :-) Turned out pretty good!
And I have a whole half a chapter of the dissertation done. Wahoo!
And, last of all, (going back to the physical stuff, I guess) - I'm thinking about doing the Tecumseh Trail marathon again this year. I must be nuts, but it was SUCH a great run....it's not everywhere in the Midwest that you find a 3500' elevation gain, and multiple 300' hills....in the snow....with 700 people...and yummy homemade bread and soup at the end...and I'm still sort of trained up from the Nashville half....we'll see.
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