Love is

spending time with your cousins. One thing I like about being back in Texas is that the kids can know their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I never had that growing up.
Happy Love Thursday!

Once upon a time there was a sweet lion named Bodhi. Bodhi was an active little lion and often got into sticky situations. Now he wasn't a troublesome lion, yet trouble found him.


One day Bodhi was foraging for food when he stumbled across a sleeping monkey.

Desmina, the monkey, was under a deep spell. Desmina had a voracious appetite and ate everything in sight including sleep inducing berries. One bite was all it took.

When Bodhi saw the sleeping monkey, he went to investigate. As soon as Bodhi approached Desmina he was hit by a great force. No matter how hard he tried, he could not go near the monkey.

Then he heard a booming voice. "Stay away!"
Bodhi ignored the voice and rushed at Desmina.
Woosh! Once again, Bodhi found himself on the floor.
"I said stay away! Desmina belongs to me!"
Bodhi looked around for the voice.
"Hahahah. You won't find me. And you will not rouse my Desmina!"
"Why is she sleeping?" Bodhi said bravely.
"Because I want to keep her! She is mine!" screamed the voice.
"I just wanted to play with her," Bodhi whimpered.
"Play?" The voice sounded perplexed.
"Yes, play. Don't you know what that is?" Bodhi answered.
There was a pause. Then a soft whisper, "I never played before. Is it fun?"
"Yes!" Bodhi roared excitedly. "Can I show you?"
"Well," The voice hesitated. "Okay."
"But you have to let Desmina play too. The more people the better!"

The wind blew and the leaves rustled. Desmina, the monkey woke.
"Hinkle hinkle." This was monkey talk for, "What happened?"
"I wanted to keep you as mine so I tricked you with sleeping berries."
"Hinkle hinkle."
"Sooo what is this thing called play you both keep talking about?" asked the voice.
"Let's show him!" roared Bodhi.


Bodhi and Desmina played ring a round the rosie, tag, London Bridge.
"What fun! Desmina, I'm sorry I tricked you. I just wanted to keep you."
"Hinkle. hinkle. "
"You two can go now. But will you promise to come back and play some more?"
"We will! Hinkle. Hinkle." Bodhi and Desmina said in unison.

The end

How to make a pumpkin pie

adapted from this: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/9598
Pick the perfect pumpkin.


Decorate your pumpkin.


Slice pumpkin in half. Bake faced down in pan with a bit of oil on 400 for 30 to 40 minutes. Don't forget to wash the paint!


While you are waiting for pumpkins to cook. Prepare crust.
Crust
2/3 cup unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons soymilk plus 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
3 to 4 tablespoons water
In medium bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. In small bowl, mix oil and soymilk mixture. Pour liquid mixture into dry ingredients and mix with a fork until it holds together in a ball. If it is too dry, add some water, a little at a time, until dough is moist enough to roll. (If time allows, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.)

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin forming an 11-inch circle. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the dough. Flute or crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
Puree




Make sure you have eyes on the back of your head or else this can happen



Add pumpkin and all this:
1 cup low-fat soymilk or rice milk (I used half coconut milk. Next time I'm going to use all coconut milk.
3/4 cup granulated sugar cane syrup or corn syrup
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tablespoon dark molasses/maple syrup or to taste
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice



Bake on 450 for 10 minutes. Turn down to 350 and continue to bake for 50 minutes or until it sets.

Let cool then put it in the fridge overnight.

Pumpkin time (Wordless Wendesday)

Good for the milk soup

My good friend Wendy made a variation of this soup after I had Bodhi. I passed it onto to my friend who just had her baby girl. It was a big hit for the family!

1 butternut squash
3 or 4 sweet potatoes
onions
garlic
2 yellow squash
2 green zucchinis
1 big can of tomatoes
1/2 c of peanut butter
1 cup uncooked barley
handful of peanuts
paprika
pepper
salt
lemon
one can of coconut milk

Saute onions, garlic and butternut squash. Add sweet potatoes and vegetables. Add tomatoes. Add 2 canfuls of water. Let cook until everything is almost soft then add barley. Cook for 15 more minutes. Add PB, coconut milk and peanuts. Spice it up!

You can also use quiona or rice in place of barley.

I stand up against corporal punishment in Texas schools

I may be homeschooling so this law does not effect my children. But I still would like to stand up and make a difference and try to change the law. Studies have shown that more African American children are getting paddled in school. I also have dug up some numbers and I don't think it's a coincidence that the states that permit corpol punishment in school have the lowest graduation rates. Perhaps if teachers didn't have to take time away to spank then they could utilize their time in the classroom better for their students. Sorry if that sounds abrasive, but it just hurts my heart that our state still allows spanking. Whether I homeschool or not, sign a piece of paper does not stop this from happening to other children in school. I may not be able to protect them in the home, but at least I can try to protect them in the school .

If you oppose whether or not you are a parent, home schooling or even doing private school your voice still can be heard! Join
my group and spread the word. I will update you on the status of the current bill in motion. We can share the letters we write to our state legislators.

Another politcal piece

As a feminist, I raise my hand in agreement. I listen to Ms. Ensler's plea and will vote to save the road that our sisters have paved for us.

Eve Ensler on Sarah Palin

Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist best known for "The Vagina Monologues", wrote the following about Sarah Palin:

Drill, Drill, Drill

I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice.

Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.

I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.

But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.

I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves an d the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."

Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and in cested and ri pped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.

She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.

Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States . She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.

Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.

Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.

I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S. , but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction.

It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.

If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.

Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?

Caught red handed

or should I just call him sticky fingers?

They Call it Puppy Love

They are so sweet...




when they are sleeping.

For my husband

You are my muse, my rock, my best friend.
You fulfill my dreams, you sate my soul.
I need nothing more but share my life with you.

Happy Six Year Anniversary, my Cuddlemonkey. I love you!

It breathes

It's amazing the powering effect of music. It vibrates throughout my whole body. My soul hums along. I can even feel it on every single nerve. Reminds me of the rain dripping down your back or a lover's breath sleeping next to you. This is how I felt last night.

We saw Amos Lee perform. He was amazing. He sang about politics, life, children, and love. He closed with this song last night and I was left fluttering on air. A nice calming effect, but with a slight buzz of desire.

Check him out!

I don't know

Silence. It's never quiet. "Mina, what are you doing?" She replies back with, "I don't know." I don't know my ass. I'm too scared to look to see what she has destroyed.

An article

I usually don't mention politics on my blog. But this article is so right on. I am so tired of hearing remarks made about Obama formulated from fear, hate and racism. Don't like his policies is one thing. Like the other guy better? I respect that. But to fear/hate him because of his race, his name, who he was raised by, or his church just screams of bigotry. W want to add not Voting for Obama/Biden doesn't make you a racist. Just as if I don't vote for McCain/Palin doesn't make me a sexist.

Sep 13, 2008 By Tim Wise

Tim Wise's ZSpace Page / ZSpace

For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

* White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
* White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
* White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
* White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."
* White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
* White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.
* White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.
* White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."
* White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
* White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
* White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
* White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden.
* And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull. For review copies or interview requests, please reply to publicity@softskull.com

So tell me how long should I take advantage?

Reverse child psychology. It works.
M: I don't want to go potty!
Me: Please go potty.
M: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
walking to potty because I have to go
Me: Don't you dare go potty at the store! No. I won't let you go.
M: I have to go potty.

Works for putting on pajamas too. Is it manipulative? Yes! But I am going to run with this tactic for as long as I can. Sooo tell it to me straight. How long do I have to play this strategy?

September 11th Remembered

Classes were canceled. No reason was given. I heard people buzzing something about a bomb, a plane? An attack? I called Fred for a ride. It was hard to get through. At the time I assumed it was because everyone on the UNT campus was calling for a ride. How small my world was then. When Fred came he was listening to the radio. It was confirmed. Two planes had hit the Twin Towers.

Recalling the story, I still get shivers. Tears still come to my eyes. Feelings of guilt still come because at the time I didn't know how massive this attack was. How much it would change the US. In days to come we would be bombarded by the media with the planes hitting the towers over and over again. We would be led to believe that people were dancing on the streets, although the children dancing was old footage of a celebration. A classmate would be pulled to the side on her honeymoon, her bags searched. All because she had an accent and was dark skinned. She would be grilled on the contents of her makeup bag. Lots of lives were lost. Many feared for their loved ones.

The attack on the US killed over 2000 people. Let's keep these people and their families in our hearts, thoughts and prayers.

Take this quiz!

The Quiz

The following are your scores. They are based on a gradual range of 0 to 12. For instance, a Conservative/Progressive score of 3 and 0 will both yield a result of social conservative, yet 0 would be an extreme conservative and 3 a moderate conservative

Conservative/Progressive score: 12
You are a social progressive. You generally consider yourself a humanist first. You probably think that religion and patriotism go too far in society. You probably consider yourself to be a citizen of Earth first rather than a citizen of your country.

Capitalist Purist/Social Capitalist score: 12
You're a Social Capitalist, you think that, left to its own, Capitalism leaves a lot of people behind. You think that Health Care should be free to all, that the minimum wage should be raised, and that the government should provide jobs to all that are capable of having them. You likely hated the Bush tax cuts, and believe that the middle class has gotten poorer, and the rich have gotten richer over the past several years. The far extreme of social capitalism is socialism.

Libertarian/Authoritarian score: 1
You are libertarian. You think that the government is making way too many unnecessary laws that are taking away our innate rights. You believe that the government's job is primarily to protect people from harming other people, but after that they should mind their own business, and if we give the government too much power in controlling our lives, it can lead to fascism.

Pacifist/Militarist score: 0
You're a Pacifist. You are angered that the United States thinks it should dominate the world through its military force. You think that the only time war is necessary is when we are in direct danger of being attacked. You also believe the US spends way too much of its money on defense, as we can practically cut it in half and still easily defend ourselves, and use that money to fix all our economic problems.

Overall, you are a hardcore democrat.

Anyone surprised? LOL

Sooo everyone take the test and let me know what you scored! I bet I'm the polar opposite of my SILs, and my sister. Well we might score the same on the libertarian aspect.

It figures

Why must they poop in their diaper after you changed them? And right before naptime.

Birthday girl

Four years ago at 1:02 PM, Desmina Suzette entered into the world (not so gracefully). After over 30 hours of labour Desmina was born via C-section.

We often tease her that she was even stubborn coming out of the womb.
I was not able to share her first hours with her. But fortunately, Daddy was there with her.


Family came to visit too. They waited all night in the waiting room to meet their little girl.



Here is the birthday girl now.

I love swimming! If I had my way, I would have a swimming pool in my backyard. Texas is perfect weather for swimming almost year round. Alas, we didn't get a house with a pool as I hoped. And because of school, the public pools shut down the pools early. So swim season is just as short as it is in New Hampshire despite the fact that it is in the high 90s here.

It's moments like these that makes me love having two. At times they can be so sweet to each other. Today, Desmina got a plate for Bodhi and sat him in her new Dora chair. She wanted to make sure he had enough to eat. It was just so much I did not suppress an "Awwwwww."

What is a party without a pinata? Now I love these pinatas these days. Instead of blindfolding the kids and have them blindly try to whack a doll with a stick and hoping that someone does not lose a tooth (or family jewels) they have these strings that you pull. Each child takes a turn pulling a color. It worked out beautifully as Desmina happened to choose the winning one!

The carnage, or as Fred so maturely pointed out, "Look Curious George is pooping out candy." Kids didn't seem to mind.

How come we spend hours making such beautiful cakes only to get destroyed?


Just to hear this song and see that smile on her face. It never fails, every year, when they sing the song I still get tears in my eyes. My baby girl is getting older.




Cake Time!!! Num Num Num!



Bodhi taking advantage of the situation

Eventually he decided to double fist the soy ice cream.

Happy Birthday, baby girl!