Riot Mama

Baaaa, I need Wool!!

donotadopt@aol.com — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:36:16 GMT

No, I don't need it, but I'd like to look at it anyway.

I have four skeins of peace fleece left from an MDC co-op, but I'd like to know where else you knitters buy nice wool. We have a couple local yarn stores that I plan to check out next time I have cash, but I should have paypal soon and wouldn't mind spending it on yarn.

My mom gave me the Zoe Mellor Knitted Toys book for Mother's Day (she didn't even know it was the exact book I wanted), and I'm excited to start using the patterns.

donotadopt@aol.com — Sat, 10 May 2008 11:02:08 GMT

Ronin fell off the bed not once but twice last night. I have no idea what that was about . . . every once in awhile he falls out of bed (he's in his own now), but twice in a row seems excessive. I hate stuff like that at night -- it makes me think he might be going back to sleep with a concussion or something. I'm such a non-worrier during the day, but at night, stupid little things like that just throw me off.

He decided to wake up at 5am, so here I am. No, no, this is a good thing. It means I have a chance to share pictures!

There are my most recent projects. The gnomes were Easter presents for Rylie and Ronin (Ronin's is the one on the left, Rylie's is on the right), and the owl is the most complicated thing I've ever made. That's not saying much, but it was really fun to do. I made a second one for my mom and need to make another for a friend's daughter since she is into owls.

Rylie being cute and hanging in our door the other day . . .

Our new baby, Rudolph (see the red nose?) born on Wednesday afternoon. You can see more of her in our blog.

I just love this picture . . . it looks like it should be in a magazine or something!

Oh, and Rylie would like it if I told you all that she has email now. Her address is RylieKukal@aol.com and she is looking for pen pals. She's been emailing my mom from my account for awhile, and I always forget to give her the messages my mom sends back, so I finally got her set up with her own account yesterday. She wrote to her other grandma, my mom, and my Nana. She needs kid pen pals!

donotadopt@aol.com — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:08:37 GMT

I'm starting a political parenting blog. I finally got around to it today . . . just a place to ramble about politics and parenting . . . probably stealing topics that come up on MDC and booju. Maybe it'll take off. I'm going to try and make use of it a few times a week at least.

donotadopt@aol.com — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:23:48 GMT

I am so sick of being stuffy and sneezy. We spent hours and hours outside last week, and I've been paying for it for the past three days. I even considered taking Zyrtec or Claritin . . . but the pharmacist said they were a no-no for nursing (not what kellymom says . . . I may cave in and try something if this goes on much longer).

On a more positive note, I finished knitting this owl and just need to add it's eyes. It came out great -- my most complicated project so far and I just love him. I'm going to make one for my mom, too. I also have to post pics of the gnomes I knitted (knitted? is that right?) for the kids for Easter. They are much loved, but were very simple to make so I don't feel very impressed by them.

I have been googling for free stuffed animal patterns lately, and finding quite a bit . . . but if you know of any good sites, please comment with them so I can check them out. Even if they're not for stuffed animals . . . I'd try other stuff too, knit shorts or skirts for the kids, whatever. I'm going to need another week on my mom's owl, and then I'll be looking for something else to make.

I need to go fold laundry now since we're going to Mike's parents' house in a little while.

Maybe my head will unstuff at some point today.

donotadopt@aol.com — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:14:02 GMT

Anyone in Canada want to receive a package for me? And then send it on? I'll reimburse you or pay you beforehand if needed.

When I was in Montreal, I bought this cute stuffed owl at the Biodome. He was really cute and cuddly, but Mike ripped his leg off in a playful pillow fight . . . not so bad, right? While we continued to play, Rylie (helpful little being that she is) took him and went at his leg with the nano glue. He quickly turned into a sticky, now crusty and hard, mess.

The Biodome won't send anything to the US, and I cannot find this guy anywhere. If you can find it in your heart to help, I'll love you forever . . . and so will Mike. He feels terrible about my owl.

donotadopt@aol.com — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:18:59 GMT

In the midst of trying to pack up the house and get ready to move, we're also trying to get a paintball field up and running on our property. We've had quite a few inquiries since we first put that page up, so I guess it's working . . . I'm not at all into paintball, but I'm proud of that site. I think it's the most professional-looking one I've done so far.

Aside from the guy who was running games off our field (who has been inconsistent and stood people up a few times in addition to owing us money), we will be the only paintball game in Flemington, NJ. We're hoping to get a good group of players assembled so that we can afford insurance and proper referees (part of having/keeping the insurance), and then we'll run games a couple weekends a month. There are a ton of people around here who play, so coming up with a crowd shouldn't be too hard.

i am hoping this doesn't turn out to be just another one of our crazy plans to make a little money, and that we don't end up doing a crazy amount of work for nothing. Personally, I'd rather concentrate on breeding the goats and pigs.

My weekend funny

donotadopt@aol.com — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:05:11 GMT

Last night, on the way back from Blockbuster and the Japanese restaurant, we drove past McDonalds. The sign out front, which previously read "TRY AN ANGUS BURGER" had been edited . . . someone more clever than I had changed it to say:

TRY AN ANUS BURGER.

Aren't you in the mood for McDonald's now?

I brought my camera back there this morning to take a pic, but they had already fixed it. The sign is so low to the ground that I've little doubt it will happen again. Regardless, that was just what I needed yesterday, after I spent something like 8 hours working on my presentation for McGill.

And now I leave you with a cool pic of my farm, from above. The property extends into the woods, too, but this is the main chunk, where we do most of our living:

ETA: Some slightly outdated close up house pics and indoor pics are here: http://www.motoxfarms.com/houseforrent.html.

donotadopt@aol.com — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:44:28 GMT

OMG this cracked me up -- no easy feat at 4:30 in the morning. I must find out who is behind it.

Medical Adoption -- Adopt an Orphan to Get an Organ

donotadopt@aol.com — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 01:09:11 GMT

Going to see Obama tomorrow at the Meadowlands. I really hope we get in and that Ronin isn't too crazy. I am dragging my mom . . . she finally says she is going to vote for him in the primaries, so she might as well see that he's a good guy, too.

donotadopt@aol.com — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:08:10 GMT

Ronin peed in the potty!!!

Also, farting without a diaper on is the funniest thing ever, according to him.

Finally, damn this kid can talk!

Sorry for being so posty lately . . .

donotadopt@aol.com — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:56:55 GMT

But if anyone would like to check in on our babies, I've set up a blog for them: Fantastic Fainters Myotonic Goats.

We are sending in the forms to join the Myotonic Goat Registry, and we needed a website so that people could view the goats and contact us online. Hopefully we can think about selling the babies in a few months. And now I don't have to clog up my journal with goat pictures!

funny stuff

donotadopt@aol.com — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:31:24 GMT

This actually made Mike laugh out loud, and he is not a joke person at all.

On a trip to Great Britain while he was President of the United
States, Bill Clinton had a meeting with Queen Elizabeth. During that meeting
he asked her, "How does one manage to run a country so smoothly?"

"That's easy," the Queen replied, "You surround yourself with
intelligent ministers and advisors."

"But how can I tell whether they are intelligent or not?", asked Bill.

You ask them a riddle," she replied, and with that she pressed a
button and said, "Would you please send Tony Blair in." When Blair arrived,
the Queen said, "I have a riddle for you to answer for me."

" Your parents had a child and it was not your sister and it was not
your brother. Who was this child?"

Blair replied, "That's easy. The child was me."

"Very good," said the Queen. "You may go now."

Sizing up his wife's chances in her presidential bid, and thinking
back on that meeting, Bill Clinton spoke to Hillary. He said to her, "I have a
riddle for you, and the answer is very important. Your parents had a
child and it was not your sister and it was not your brother. Who was that
child?"

Hillary replied, "Yes, it is clearly very important that we determine
the answer. Can I deliberate on this for awhile?"

"Yes," said Bill, "I'll give you four hours to come up with the
answer."

So Hillary called a meeting of her campaign team, from top to
bottom, and asked them the riddle. But after much discussion and many suggestions,
none of them had a satisfactory answer. She was quite upset, not
knowing what she would tell her husband, the former President. As Hillary was
leaving her meeting she ran into her most formable challenger to her
presidential nomination, Barack Obama.

So she said, "Mr. Obama, can you answer this riddle for me? Your
parents had a child and it was not your sister and it was not your
brother. Who was the child?"

"That's seems pretty easy," said Obama, "I think the child would be
me."

"Oh thank you," said Hillary. "You may just have ensured my nomination
for the democratic candidate for the Presidency of the United States!"
So Hillary went back to Bill and said, "I think I know the answer to your
riddle. The child was Barack Obama.!"

"No, you Dumb Shit !" shouted Bill. "The child was Tony Blair"

The bottom line.... guess where we're headed with the two of them again
running the Country!

My son has manners!

donotadopt@aol.com — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:36:05 GMT

Proud mama moment . . .

I brought home dirt cake from my mom's today -- she made it for me for my birthday and I didn't want to lug it home last night. So it was sitting on the counter after we walked in, and I ran to the bathroom and did a few other things before Ronin called my attention to it being there. He was standing in the kitchen, pointing up at it, saying SOMETHING I couldn't decipher over and over. I told him no, it was almost dinner time and he could have a little after, and I put it in the fridge. He opened the fridge door, continued saying the same word, and I finally got it . . .

PLEASE.

"Pleesh."
"Are you saying 'please' Ronin?"
"Uh-huh" (said with emphatic nod)

Yeah, the kid had dirt cake before dinner tonight.

donotadopt@aol.com — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:23:15 GMT

We went to see Ani in Philadelphia last night. She is so fucking awesome!!! I really can't even put it into words, but the crowd was great . . . I guess because she is so political, it's a good feeling knowing that you likely have a ton in common with everyone else there. I had Mike take a couple pictures on my phone . . . not the greatest. We were about three rows back. Not having seats was hard on Rylie and Mike, so Rylie and I are going to try and go again when she performs at a venue that has actual reserved seating -- it's one thing to stand during the music but standing there for an hour and a half before it started was rough on the kid.

Anyway, pics:

Rylie at Ani:

Stolen Meme

donotadopt@aol.com — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:24:59 GMT

When you walk in your front door, which room do you enter?
The living room, once you wade through the mess we call a porch. It needs to be redone, but is storage right now. We use our back door.

Do you have a dishwasher?
Yes. Ronin slammed my hand in it tonight and I jumped around cussing and bleeding for awhile.

Is your living room carpeted or does it have hardwood floors?
Hardwood . . . we tore out the carpet a couple years ago.

Do you keep your kitchen knives on the counter or in a drawer?
On the counter.

House, apartment, duplex or trailer?
House

How many bedrooms is it?
Three sorta, really two.

Gas stove or electric?
Gas

Do you have a yard?
I'll say

What size TV is in the living room?
32", or 29", I don't know.

Are your plates in the same cupboard as your cups?
Yes

Is there a coffee maker sitting on your kitchen counter?
No, we don't drink coffee.

What room is your computer in?
Mine is in the living room (a laptop), Mike's is in the rec room, and Rylie's is in Ronin's room/the walkthrough sorta bedroom with no bed in it.

Are there pictures hanging in your living room?
Yes . . , one moose pic, one snowman and moose pic, and one winter plaque with . . . you guessed it, a moose on it.

Are there any themes found in your home?
Ummm, that would be moose. And ducks in the bathroom.

What kind of laundry detergent do you use?
7th generation

Do you use dryer sheets?
No. I've got balls, though.

Curtains in your home?
In the living room -- I made them.

What color is your fridge?
White

Is your house clean?
Clean enough.

What room is the most neglected?
The rec room, and Rylie's room.

Are the dishes in your sink/dishwasher clean or dirty?
Dirty in the dishwasher, but there aren't any in the sink.

How long have you lived in your home?
six years this month/this weekend.

Where did you live before?
Martinsville. Snooty rich people ville. Don't miss it.

Do you have one of those fluffy toilet lid covers on your toilet?
No, but there is a duck one I want to match our theme.

Do you have a scale anywhere in your house?
Yes, in the bathroom.

How many mirrors are in your house?
Two in the main bathroom, one in the downstairs bath, one in our bedroom, and one set of mirrored closet doors.

Look up. What do you see?
My ceiling fan with a fish Rylie made three years ago hanging from it.

Do you have a garage?
Detached, yes. We rent it out to a guy who parts out cars and sells them on ebay.

That's it? Damn . . . I'm still bored.

donotadopt@aol.com — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:46:57 GMT

More twins!! Two boys this time . . . much bigger than Sassy's. We named them Hagrid (the biggest one) and Dumbledore. They're both brown; Hagrid has white splotches on his hips.

I'll take pics tomorrow . . . I was too tired tonight to mess with the camera.

I am relieved, two births and no complications.

Fluffy pics

donotadopt@aol.com — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:02:05 GMT

The babies fluffed up a lot over night, and they are even cuter now. I can't wait til Lola has hers (any day now)!

Spaghettio:

Sassy, the mama:

Rylie and Ronin a few weeks ago:

I made Rylie this skirt (she picked the prints):

And Ronin under the sink. He has this fake posing for the camera smile going on lately:

donotadopt@aol.com — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:42:19 GMT

Babies!!!! Rylie named the first one, I named the second.

Presenting Spaghettio:

And Meatball:

donotadopt@aol.com — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:01:20 GMT

It 's twins!!!

Sassy gave birth while we were out at dinner tonight . . . two beautiful baby girls (I think, I'm no vet). They are amazing. Pics to follow . . . we are just in to get bundled up and go back out.

donotadopt@aol.com — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:45:26 GMT

Knitting sucks less than I thought. Hooray!

Turns out, I was doing it backwards. My mom laughed at me and then showed me what I was supposed to be doing, and I am finding it much easier now. My fingers won't be sore tomorrow the way they were on Sunday.

donotadopt@aol.com — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 01:09:04 GMT

I am teaching myself to knit.

As of right now, I can't believe any of you all think this is fun.

Planning to post non-knitting pics later. I actually made Rylie a skirt, sort of like these today. Not patchwork, though . . . Ry picked pink with green polka dots.

donotadopt@aol.com — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:44:56 GMT

Rylie and I had such a great day yesterday! We got into the city at 1pm, an hour before the show was set to start, so we got our tickets for "Rent" from the will-call booth and took a walk up to the massive Times Square Toys 'R Us. I hadn't been there since before the kids were born, and Rylie was very impressed with the indoor ferris wheel and the moving, roaring dinosaur. We didn't have time to ride the ferris wheel (by my estimation . . . in hindsight we probably did have more than enough time), but we walked through all three levels, saw all the toys, and got to wave at Geoffrey Giraffe posing for pictures.  I didn't have my camera and wasn't terribly interested in having a picture with a big box toy store mascot, but Rylie was excited to wave at him.

At 1:30pm, we walked back to the theater and waited outside for ten minutes to get in.  Rylie was impressed with the photos and graffiti outside the theater, and even more impressed with the decorations inside. THEN, we got to our seats and she saw the set and was even MORE impressed.  She asked me why they had all that junk piled up there -- the set is designed to look like a "bad" area of NYC -- but then she just sat there taking it all in. I think we were both so excited we were ready to burst when it finally started.

Our seats were terrific. When Mark walked out to the edge of the state to start the show, we were both shocked at how close he was (and yeah, the "Rent" guys are two of the very small group of men I find attractive). I was worried that the actor playing Roger didn't look "right" from his head shot in the program, but he was totally transformed for the stage and he was perfect after all. Rylie was transfixed by the whole show, between the set and the dancing and the songs.  She knew all the music and the storyline well enough to keep up, and kept smiling at me throughout the whole thing.

It was just such a great experience. I hated spending the money, but I am so glad we went. She is going to remember this for a long time, and it was a perfect day for both of us.

donotadopt@aol.com — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:32:55 GMT

Rylie and I are going to see Rent on Broadway, on Wednesday. I just bought 5th row center seats -- best seats I've ever had for a show like that. It's going to be amazing, and I am so excited to share it with her. The last show I saw was with Mike, and he just doesn't appreciate that stuff.

My mom also bought me tickets to see Ani in Philadelphia on the 26th. Mike, Rylie, and I are going for my birthday (which is the 27th). I'm psyched for that, too.

We need to do this stuff more often. I would like to start bringing Ronin as well, but I guess we'll see how he does at the children's show at the library this month before we shell out for something pricey. Last year, Rylie looooved doing the audience participation, and I bet she'll be happy to know that's coming up soon. We have a busy month ahead of us -- just the way I like it.

donotadopt@aol.com — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:01:24 GMT

The kids are hiding easter eggs right now. Weirdos.

We went grocery shopping yesterday, and Rylie went into scrunchy's playhouse, which is sort of a baby-sitting thing for kids 3+ whose parents are shopping in the store. She *loves* going there, and always comes out having made a new friend.  Anyway, last night out of the blue, she tells me that her new friend's parents believe in god.  Buh?!

So I asked her how she knew that, and she said the little girl told her her birthday was on god's birthday. I told Rylie that probably meant xmas, since some people believe that jesus is god, and those people celebrate xmas as jesus' birthday. I asked what Rylie said to her, and she said she told her that her mom and dad don't believe in god. Then she said the lady who worked at scrunchy's told her that the little girl's mom and dad do believe.

I wish I had been a fly on the wall . . . though I'm gathering that Rylie told me all there was to tell. It is so strange to think of her being big enough to have these kinds of talks with other kids, but it makes me feel like I'm doing my job at home, too. Like she is aware of issues and not taken by surprise by them, and like she has a good understanding of what we believe.  She is such a cool kid.

donotadopt@aol.com — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 16:56:56 GMT

Picnik.com rocks. I actually made an icon . . . with text and everything . . . and it was easy.

Now I've got to make a Rylie one or she'll be jealous.