Beef...It's What We Want for Dinner

A couple of weeks ago Eric and I bought a chest freezer. We've been wanting one for awhile, for various reasons. The biggest being that none of the refrigerators that come with our apartments have spacious freezers, and we more than occasionally run into space issues. Which leads us to not buy much frozen food, which in turn leads us to have difficulty planning ahead for meals because we don't keep that much food in the house. Also, we want to buy a cow, or rather, a 1/4 of a cow, because we love red meat. Sorry to my vegetarian/vegan readers, but we love meat. So we've been wanting a chest freezer for awhile. Every year at Cub they have a deal in the late winter where if you buy a chest freezer you get an equal amount of free food (mostly frozen, but not all). It's pretty awesome, even if we don't eat some of the food that we got and probably wouldn't buy a lot of it otherwise. But it was nice to try new stuff. Except for the lasagna...

Anyway, we put most of the food from our freezer into the chest freezer, and we've been planning on stocking up on meat and other frozen foods when there are good deals. I kindof figured we'd at least partially fill up the freezer, but as of right now the only food that is in it is the rest of the free stuff that we haven't eaten yet, plus 1/2 a pack of sausage, and a loaf of bread. Awww. The beef is probably not in our near future, unfortunately, but seriously, nothing else that is actually feasible to purchase has been added either. We are definitely due for some grocery shopping.

I think chicken is on sale this week...

The Bird is the Word

When I was a student at St. Kate's, there was this bird that would constantly chirp in the mornings during the fall and spring. I don't know what kind of bird it is (that's definitely not my area of expertise) but it had a two-tone chirp, almost like a whistle, "doo-doo", with one of the 'doos' higher in pitch than the other. It started early in the morning, and just kept going. Same 2 notes, over and over again. I would lay in bed some mornings and wish so hard that it would go find another student to wake up. I swear, it just sat in the tree outside of my window tweeting until I finally got out of bed and got going with my day. When I got married and moved into an apartment close by, I could still hear it. I figured it had its own territory that covered where I was living or maybe it was a different bird that lived in the same area. After moving into a different apartment and still hearing this bird, I became convinced that I have a bird stalker. It has followed me to every apartment I have lived in. Including my current one. I first heard it a couple of weeks ago, back from its winter away in some tropical location, taunting me that it found me once again and letting me know it's back and not going anywhere.

Now, I know what you are thinking, "ok Emily, maybe you are a little crazy, don't you think it could be a different bird of the same species"? Sure, that sounds reasonable, only it's not. This bird makes the exact same noise, same 2 notes, same pitch, same exact sound. Now, like I said, I'm not a bird expert, but don't birds of the same species sound even a little bit different? I would suspect the answer is yes. No, the only reasonable conclusion is that this bird found me at St. Kate's, developed an unreasonable fondness (or hatred, more likely) for me, and has since followed me from apartment to apartment. The worst part is, I've never even seen this bird. I have no idea what kind of bird it is, what it looks like, how big it is, or anything. I only know what it sounds like. It's an experienced stalker, obviously, getting close but not too close to its victim. And there's nothing I can do about it. Clearly, moving does not help.

I suppose there are worse things to have stalking me (a person, for starters) and luckily I now rise early enough in the morning that it doesn't wake me up or annoy me as I'm trying to fall back asleep. Maybe now that it knows that it can go find someone else to bother.

Update to the Top 10 Travel Destinations

Here is a more specific list of my top 10 travel destinations, including cities or sites I'd like to see.

Germany: basically anywhere, but especially Neuschwanstein Castle. I would at least try some beer, even though I'm not a big beer drinker, and try out my rusty German as much as possible.
Ireland: Dublin, anywhere really green and scenic.
Tropical island: don't have a huge preference, not Hawaii
France: Paris, the Louvre
Greece: seriously, this one is hard to narrow down. Everywhere! Anywhere/everywhere that Paul traveled, and basically any historic site there is, and also, the coast. I would love to spend time on the coast.
China: the Great Wall, obviously. I know, super touristy, but that's what I want to see there
Japan: hmm, I'm not too sure. I more just want to experience the whole culture and history
Egypt: Cairo, the Sphinx, the Pyramids, also, Alexandria
England: London and everything in it; I would love to stare down a palace guard
Australia: Sydney. Or, if I can change my destination, I would actually make it New Zealand and walk the route to Mordor and visit all the Lord of the Rings sites from the movies. Oh yeah.

There are just too many places I want to go and things I want to see and do to even list them all. I have the traveling bug big time! I only hope I am lucky enough to be able to go to some of these places.

Another Top 10

Top 10 places I would love to visit:
Germany
Ireland
Somewhere tropical (I don't have an exact location, but somewhere like Bora Bora, Tahiti, the Bahamas, etc.)
France
Greece
China
Japan
Egypt
England
Australia

Italy used to be my number one, but since I traveled there a couple of years ago it no longer qualifies, although I'd love to go back at some point!

Sniffle Sniffle

Charlotte and I both have colds. The kind where you are constantly blowing your nose and it just keeps on running. I can't take a lot of medicine because I am nursing, and Charlotte hates to have her nose wiped, so it is just a lot of sniffling on both our parts and I'm hoping it doesn't last long. I haven't really been sick all winter, which is kindof amazing, considering I generally have at least a cold most of the time. I think the change in weather is what brought on the cold; this has happened to me many times in the past with the changes of seasons. I frequently get colds in the summer months too if there are drastic changes in the weather. I think that happens to a lot of people. I don't know exactly why, but I'm guessing somehow our bodies just can't handle such a major change so fast? Or with a change of weather comes new germs into the air? Like I said, I don't know exactly, maybe one of my science-minded family members can fill me in on why.

Top 10 TV Seasons

The Challenge: Rank your top 10 television seasons ever. If they don't seem quality to you, don't judge. I could put just Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel on here and be done in 2 minutes, but I'm taking slightly more time than that. And I don't watch a lot of tv so a lot of what I like could be seen as guilty pleasures (i.e., Charmed). So again, don't judge.

10. Charmed season 4
9. Angel season 2
8. Friends season 5
7. Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2
6. Firefly
5. Angel season 1
4. Lost season 1 or 6 (1 got me into the show, and I liked almost all of the series, and I don't want to split it up into 2 of my 10 so I'm cheating)
3. Castle season 2
2. Castle season 1
1. Castle season 3 (current, I hope it still counts)

Basically, if you can't tell, I like a lot of Joss Whedon shows, and currently Castle. Other shows I like but didn't include are the Office, and Bones.

I'm not going to list my favorite episodes, because I don't think I could, although that was part of the original challenge. If you want to know my favorite episodes, pick randomly from the shows I listed and that would probably be close enough.

Castle

Eric and I don't watch a lot of tv. Or rather, we don't watch a lot of tv when it actually airs. Usually we watch reruns of shows, or Netflix them and watch them after they are off the air, or we start them a couple of seasons in. I've really only ever kept up with a couple of shows while they've been airing, and one of them is Castle. Even that we don't watch at its regular air time, because 9:00 on a Monday just gets too late for us with a baby. A little pathetic, I know, but when you have to get up at the crack of dawn, and in the middle of the night to take care of a baby, you go to bed much earlier. So we usually end up watching Castle online during the weekends, but we watch it the weekend after it airs so we can still be considered up to date with it.

Castle is a great show. The entire cast is excellent, and I really like that they have been doing a little bit more each season with some of the other characters. But the show really revolves around the title character, Richard Castle, a msytery novelist, and his muse, homicide detective Kate Beckett of the NYPD. The first season Castle shadowed Beckett to get inspiration for his books, and while he still shadows her, it doesn't have the same purpose. In fact, I'm starting to wonder how long that excuse is going to be valid and what other ideas the writers could come up with to keep these two together solving cases. It's a funny show, but also serious sometimes, but it's still lighter than most crime shows.

The character Castle is played by Nathan Fillion, who starred in the short-lived but enjoyable "Firefly" series, and that's part of the reason Eric and I started watching this show. That, and a chance encounter with a Castle first season re-run. (We actually only started watching it regularly after the first season because the first episode we saw was one of the last episodes of the season airing after the season's ending, so we Netflixed the whole first season.) Fillion plays, in my opinion, a much more likeable character. And of course there is the romantic tension between Castle and Beckett which I'm hoping they won't drag out so long that it becomes boring and stupid like every other television show. I think and hope the writers can creatively get them together and keep them together so that it is still entertaining. I'm not even a writer and I can think of a few good ideas after they become a couple.

I'm not really doing the show justice in my description, but it's an excellent show. Very funny, with likeable characters. I hope they continue to build up some of the supporting cast, especially Castle's family. They did a lot with his family the first season or so, but now have been giving some of the other characters, especially the other two major detectives in the show, more background and characterization. It really makes the show more enjoyable to have not only 2 strong main characters but also a good cast of supporting characters that seem more like real people and not just static characters who are playing cookie cutter roles. So I hope they keep building them up over the course of the series.

The worst part about watching a show when it actually airs is the breaks between airings. They'll do a 4 week stretch, and then nothing for 2 or 3 weeks, then a 2 week stretch, then another break. I hate it. I wish they wouldn't do it, and I'm not entirely sure why they do. It really makes it frustrating because I don't want to have to wait that long! I'm not patient. That's why I do better with movies, I can get an entire plot all in one shot without having to wonder (most of the time) what happens next and how they are going to resolve certain issues or bring characters together, etc. But Castle is worth it.

Home Sweet Home...For Now

We've been doing a lot of rearranging and adding things to our apartment to make it more conducive to having a baby and also to make it more homelike. This is our 3rd apartment, and it seems like with every move each place feels more and more like home. It maybe be because we have been slowly finding nicer places to live, or because we have slightly more and nicer things at each place, or because we now have a child and there are things that a child brings into your life that just make a place feel very homey. Most likely it's a combination of all of these factors.

Eric and I would love to be able to move into a house, and when we do we want a place that we can stay at for the rest of our lives. We don't want a starter home, we want a forever home. Especially with all of the moves we've had in the past few years. 3 apartments in 4 years isn't terrible, especially with transitioning from undergrad to grad school to new jobs and a baby, but moving is a pain and it's hard to consider a place truly home unless you know you don't have to move, or at least if you can't forsee moving for a good long while. Plus, we want to have a stable, permanent home for Charlotte and any other kids we might have. So the next time we move will be our last move. What that means, however, is that we have to wait a little longer to be ready to purchase a house. There are a lot of factors to consider (lease length, saving enough to purchase the house and furnish it, location, etc) and we just won't be able to buy a house for probably at least a year.
It's a little disappointing not to be able to buy a house sooner, but we've accepted it and are trying to make our current living situation as home-like as possible for ourselves and Charlotte. So we rearranged our bedroom and living room recently to make them more conducive to living. Our living room is now more divided into a living room and an office area, and it's very comfortable and cozy and has a good feel to it. Also, our bedroom is set up to take more advantage of the amount of space and I set up a table for scrapbooking so hopefully I'll have the time and motivation to work on that. We also rearranged Charlotte's room to have a better space for playing. Right now her closet is pretty much where we stick everything that we don't know where to put it, and that is the next goal, but overall her room is really great for her needs right now. Today we bought a small chest freezer and rearranged our dining room area to make room for that, and we put down a rug that we've had in storage, and it's added a nice touch to the room. It's fun doing little "projects" like this since we don't have a house where we can do bigger projects, and it really does make it feel more home-like. It definitely suits our needs for the time being, and hopefully by the time Charlotte is bigger and really needs more space we'll be in a house and a permanent home.

Problems with Posting

I'm already running into the same problems I had with my old blog. Namely, I have a difficult time coming up with topics. Most of my life right now is revolving around being a mom, and of course I am trying to read a lot of books, but I have 2 pages devoted to those things plus to my other love, theology, so it's sometimes difficult to write new, interesting, and thoughtful things. Maybe I shouldn't have created those pages. But it's fun to have them.

So today I will just write a random thought. I like pickles. That's probably not that random if you know me, but it's random for this blog.

Boy? Girl? Boy? Boy...oops, Girl

Why do people always assume, if they can't tell, that babies are boys? I understand that a lot of times babies look genderless, but in that case, why don't some people guess it's a girl? I've rarely had people ask "is your baby a girl?" but frequently have people ask "is your baby a boy?" or refer to Charlotte as a he. Now, I'm not offended that they are confused, I admit to being unsure myself a time or two (not about Charlotte, but about other children). What does bother me, however, is that they automatically choose boy instead of girl, like it is less offense to call a girl a boy than it is to call a boy a girl. Why is that the case? Is it really worse to think your little boy looks feminine than your little girl masculine? Not that babies really look one way or the other.

And therein lies my point: for babies and even to some extent very young toddlers, where physical characteristics of gender are not yet well defined, no one should be be insulted if their child is called the wrong gender, and people shouldn't worry about offending people if they accidentally get a child's gender wrong. So why do most people pick boy over girl most of the time? I find it more offensive that people assume that babies are boys instead of girls if they can't tell. And really people, if a kid is wearing something with pink on it, why would you think that kid is a boy? Sure, sometimes Charlotte wears neutral color clothes, but if a baby looks genderless but has other hints as to their gender, why would you assume boy? I really think it has something to do with the fact that people are more concerned about messing up and calling a boy a girl than calling a girl a boy. It is somehow easier to forgive people for calling a girl a boy, and more offensive to assume that a little boy is a little girl.

 Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of it, and again I repeat that no one should really be that offended either way because most babies look rather genderless (unless they have some clear cultural indicator of gender, such as color of clothes or style of clothes), but more often than not people err on the side of calling a girl a boy rather than risk the possibility of mistakenly calling a boy a girl. I am not the only one to be in this situation; one of my sisters has a little girl who for a long time was often called a boy despite having a girl's name and wearing very feminine clothes. Are people really that afraid of accidentally assuming that a boy is a girl that even when there are obvious indicators they still err on the side of calling a little girl a boy? Sometimes babies look like the opposite gender, or rather, they have no clear gender, and it is or at least should be ok to assume either way, girl or boy, until told or corrected by the parents. No one should have to worry about offending parents or their children by accidentally picking the wrong gender. And if you are really unsure and don't want to risk offending someone one way or the other, just say "the baby", "your child", etc. until you are told a name which will hopefully give a clue (although it happens more often in these days that that doesn't help) or the specific gender. I actually called a toddler on a playground a girl once because he had longish curly hair, which apparently was the mother's way of having a "stylish" child, but really made him look like a her, and so what? No one was offended, I realized my mistake after the mom said "he" and said his name out loud, and no one was any worse for the wear. I just think it's a little bit sad that people would rather assume boy just in case they are wrong about thinking it's a girl.

And that's my rant for the day.