Towns

Kelly's Korner blog is hosting "hometowns" this week. I am tweaking that a bit to write a post on dream hometowns, where would I like to be from if I could pick.

Here are the top ten (in no specific order)

1.Portland, Oregon
2.Franklin, Pennsylvania
3.Sarasota, Florida
4.San Diego,California
5.Ojai, California
6.Santa Barbara, California
7.San Luis Obispo, California
8.Fort Myers/Naples, Florida
9.Vancouver (Canada)
10.Boulder, Colorado
bonus: Barcelona (Spain)

hmmm.

I am thinking that with a little more traveling I might alter this list just a bit. Especially seeing as how I haven't been to two of the cities listed. (Portland and Vancouver)

Media/Tech fast update

I went forward with a second fast starting Friday morning and ending now(ish). It was a two day fast this time, and was just great. Knowing that I wouldn't be distracted by the siren call of the iphone or laptop allowed me to really focus and enjoy the day. O. and I went to a great concert in the morning, spent time with my parents and their friends during the afternoon, and spent the evening with friends and their new five-week old baby. I will say that I woke up rather early this morning, itching to read some facebook updates and blogs. but overall the fast was a great success, and my plan is to pick a media/tech hour each day, and stick to that. It could be split into two half-hours (morning and evening) or all in one lump. Of course this doesn't include work emails, but I will only check those at work. Here's to more face to face interactions.

Media/Technology Fast

Double posted at my culture and modern American society blog, St. George Street.

My latest Facebook status, posted at 6:12 A.M. yesterday, reads something like this:

I am feeling the need for a media/technology fast. I am finding it a bit harder to kickstart than I expected. How about starting with a 24 hour fast? Ready, Set, Go!

I feel like the media are manipulative, and that my son is apt to grow up thinking his parents are attached to their iphones at the palm. I watch families out for dinner with children glued to small devices and zero interaction with their families. Sometimes even out with friends this happens. My mind balks at first; not believing this could actually be reality. Then my mind always goes next to the young adult novel "Feed", by M.T. Tobin, in which teenagers of a certain age are implanted with a direct internet feed in their brain. Creepy. Propaganda reaches a new high with pop-up ads that just appear in your mind and there is even M-chat, a form of telepathy where you can communicate with others on "closed channels" without actually speaking. In any case, I was viewing the three mothers of the prisoners in Iran (the young hikers have been held for quite a long time) and something snapped. I needed to break my habit. I decided to start small.

The rules:

The first fast would be 24 hours long, 6:12 A.M. Thursday, May 20, 2010 to 6:12 A.M. Friday, May 21, 2010.
No facebook, internet surfing, iphone apps, texting, email, tv, or unnceccessary phone calls.

The easy part:

I picked a day when I would be very busy with open house at school so I would be less likely to break the fast.

The Challenges:

I wanted to let my hubs know that the bike techs put air in my tires on the way to school, but decided I could just tell him when I saw him.
I needed one piece of information from an iphone app. It took 2 minutes to get it and that was it.
I wanted to research some information on toddler feeding and find some nutrition related charts but decided to wait until the fast was over.

What I did with all the extra time:

Biked to work instead of driving
went to bed early
got extra paperwork done at school
spent my break at school socializing


Breaking the rules:

I woke up in the middle of the night (4:30 A.M.) and wanted to compose this blog post. I decided that it was ok because I wouldn't be able to do it later (if Owen wakes up) and I could just set the post option for after 6:12 A,M. (cheating? probably
Was the fast still worth it? Definitely!)

I plan to break the fast around 6:15 A.M. with a facebook and email check and a dose of morning news. Then I will probably up the ante with a 48 hour fast from 7 am Friday to 7 am Sunday! whoo-hoo!

Bike to Work Day

I participated in Bike to Work Day this week and it felt great! There was a hospitality station set up on the bike trail along the way, so they pumped up my tires a bit and gave me a goodie bag too! That was lucky since it was a last minute decision to participate. It's only a 2.5 mile trip each way, so it gives you a good cardio workout and fresh air too. The kids at school had fun checking out my bike and ringing my new yellow electra bell with the pink lotus on it. :) yeah, I'm still seven inside.

The Wisdom of a Cat

For years, our cat Luna Bella has been waking us each day using a variety of feline strategies. First, it was scratching the side of the mattress. Then, clawing at the electrcial outlets (This got a quick response, thus became a favorite technique. Needless to say, we employed the use of outlet covers way before baby made his appearance.) Thus foiled, Luna began to jump on the nightstand and knock everything off one by one. Glasses, books, lamp. On the surface, she seems to be indicating she wants breakfast. However, in my heart of hearts, I think she is one of my gurus, telling me to take advantage of the early morning.

I am not a typical sleeper. My best schedule would be sleep by 10, up around 8. I need a little more shuteye than the average bear. So you can understand my fear of sleep loss when I became a mom. Luckily, we have a pretty great sleeper, and as long as I hit the hay soon after O, we do ok. Now the one area which is lacking is "quiet time". Whether it's for reading, blogging, meditating or whatever it just isn't happening. Until I started tuning in to Luna. Why not get up on her schedule? So, last night, I fell asleep around 8, right after putting O. down. And lo and behold, my eyes opened at 4 am. I would have two solid hours before Owen awoke. The gift of time!

Here is what I accomplished:

cleaned kitchen
packed a salad for lunch
coffee and blogging
shower and ready before O. wakes up!

The other advantage is that when O. does wake up, I can spend the time focusing on him since I'm already ready for work.
Of course we are blessed in that I don't have to dress him or pack him up for the day either. How do you manage the morning at your house?

Marketing

In my twenties, one of my favorite weekly activities was grocery shopping. Maybe it was the newfound feeling of power that I could take a cart and fill it up with whatever I wanted. I would add a bouquet of fresh gerber daisies or sunflowers and the latest issue of Instyle to my cart and feel "oh so modern". I spent about $60.00 a week. I did most of my shopping at Publix and more infrequently at Albertson's. I would go to Whole Foods Market once every couple of months as a fun splurge. It was an adventure.

Cut to today. I abhor marketing. I avoid it whenever possible. It is cold in there. And there are TOO many DECISIONS to make. Plus you have to:

1. remember your reusable bags (which I've been using since the days when you had to tell the cashier really fast so they wouldn't start bagging things.)
2. bring your club card.
3. remember what long lost phone number you registered for said club card with so you can use it if you (gasp) can't find your club card or brought the other keychain without the beloved club card.
4. bring your coupons.
5. have a meal plan or a semblance of one.
6. bring a baby.
a.this means going at the right time and avoiding nap and/or meal time.
b.this also means bringing extra diapers, clothes, food, and/or entertainment items for said (beautiful) baby

Up until about a year and a half ago, I was very very lucky. My husband likes (!) shopping. He takes his time, goes down every aisle, and generally makes an event out of it. His preferred marketing time is (was) Sunday night. I would go along for "together" time sometimes, except:

1. I don't go down every aisle.
2.It is cold.
3. I like to read and relax (preferable in a bubble bath with a glass of pinot grigio) on sunday night.

But he has been so busy with his side project that the chore is mine. Yesterday I had an amazing shopping experience with O.
We went after nap and lunch, primetime for babies. We had a weekly meal plan, a menu, a shopping list, and COUPONS! We even had the club card and the reusable bags. We had spare diapers. We were done in 75 minutes. It was great. How did I manage it? With all the extra energy I garnered by sleeping in til 8 for mother's day. YAY!

Owen Nathaniel

Adding to the weekly blog carnival at Kelly's Korner I am adding the story of our baby's name.

Just like so many of you, I have played with names and especially potential baby names ever since I can remember. One reason I grew to love writing fiction was the possibilities that came with the naming of characters. So when it came time to name a baby for real I had no idea what to do. We had had a girl's name but once we found out we were having a boy we had to start from scratch. I kept lists everywhere. I loved lots of names. My husband, not so much. My one caveat was that I wanted the initials to spell something positive. That actually helped rule out several names, but also added it's own challenge. We settled on Owen (young warrior) as a first name and Nathaniel (gift of God) for a middle name. The initals spell ONR (Honor). His nickname is short and sweet- "O"!

We will keep the girl's name under our hat just in case!