weekending

Posted in familyness, let me let me update ya, Run Da House, yum yum eat good by

other than seeing A Birth Story, my weekend was pretty much contained in my household. i am fine with this because it grossly rained all weekend. i did attend another kickbutt boot camp that has left me sore even today. this is good. sore is the new sexy. pinterest told me that. a few projects from the weekend:
food colorwatermelonmixer

headbands

1.  a food color and coffee filter bunting project hubster and darla came up with  2.  more water infusions. i’ve been experimenting and so far i like cucumber and watermelon the best. wonderfully delicious  3. bread baking attempts. it’s taken me a year to make good on my bread baking resolution but i’m getting in the swing of it. my yeast creations { yes, i just said that } need help, though. anyone have any good recipes?  4.  a little project i’m working on for an upcoming weekend.

yeah, that’s pretty much it other than lots of pretending to be harry potter and dance parties.

thanks for catching up with us.

birth story

Posted in doula work by

i went to see A Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin & The Farm Midwives last night with a bunch of birthy folk here in Columbus. I just wanna put it out there how grateful I am to the women of CHOICE for making that screening possible. we are very lucky indeed. If you’re interested in learning about what these women did for the modern natural birth movement then i highly recommend the film. as a person who dreams of living communally, it really tugged at my wish strings.

i’ve included the trailer here. just as a fair warning, if you consider a woman’s exposed breast for nursing purposes not suitable for work, then this trailer is NSFW. if you consider a woman’s naked body during birth not suitable for work then this is probably NSFW. really, it’s got moments NSFW but maybe they shouldn’t be is what i’m saying.

also, little factoid, Robin Pecknold was the composer for the film so, yeah, there’s some of that indie music cred in there. Robby P, just when i thought I could not love you more.

if you’re lucky enough to live near one of these screenings go see it!

tribal

Posted in Run Da House by

i’ve come to be at peace with the fact that i can’t be social and have on orderly, clean house at the same time. if i spend time running about meeting and making friends i often come home to a house in chaos which then impedes my ability to think in a linear fashion while nestled in said messy abode.

if i stay home and clean, organize, purge and spiff i’m left very satisfied at the end of the day but feel lonely and cooped up.

i read an article recently about building your tribe. the difference between a tribe and a friend circle is that a tribe accomplishes things together. be it community parenting or tackling projects or say…raising barns. i’m really interested in building my tribe here. i am lucky enough to have a small number of people who are MY PEOPLE. i will not let them go.

oh no.

but i’d like to broaden those horizons. i’d like to engage friends in my projects and dreams. i’d like to be engaged in theirs. i’m going to work on making myself more open and available for lending a hand this year.

you know this is just a fancy warning to you columbus folk that i’m going to be calling you to help me clean my house, right? because it is. but think about it.

let me know if you want to get tribal.

biz

Posted in doula work by

bidnessi worked on some self-made business cards yesterday. i’m hoping to get some spread out around town this weekend. building a doula business is different than building other clientele. I’m not pitching, say, “let me work on your website” or “yeah, i can do your taxes. getcha bigger refund too!”  i’m saying “yeah, i totally want to see you push something out of your yoni” which can be a bit awkward. not for me because i have very few social boundaries but i’m sure it’s a bit squirmy for mommas to be looking at my face and saying “is this the lady i want to see my lady bits stretch open roughly the size of a large grapefruit?”

i’ve strayed off topic a bit because really what i wanted to say was:

look at what i made! aren’t they cute???

ps. and the answer is yes. i am the lady you want to see your lady bits all stretched out. love you. mean it.

weeksie

Posted in advantageous adventures, familyness, let me let me update ya, yum yum eat good by

i felt kinda like getting back to posting some weekly familyness shots. i really miss so many of you friends and i’m sorry i don’t get my correspondence on as often as i’d like. just view our lives broadcasted on the interwebs instead of getting a call form me like normal. right? sarcasm but sadly true. sorry. here’s a bit of our week:

firefly2blue bath

two headspuppets

doodle 2grumpy doodle

wall

1.  mountain instrument concert  2. someone can’t take a bath unless it has food coloring in it. blue bath.  3. two-headed dimple monster  4. mike made some really rad puppets. #hidden talents  5 & 6. a gifted Grumpy Doodle Book saved us at lunchtime. 7. I figure that since the placement of this sign was in an alley { an alley that transports you to a whole different city, beeteedubs } it’s actually referring to heroin instead of refuse. tax dollars well spent.

wishing you a splendid weekend. go get a little funky.

winningz

Posted in doula work, giveaway by

managrabbag

midwife bag

my MANA prize package came yesterday. Woot Woot! lots of good stuff in there that made me very stoked. I’m looking forward to adding some of these to my doula bag. i haven’t watched Penny Simkin’s Comfort Measures for Childbirth since my training weekend so i’ve got some new and old study materials to visit. I’m very thankful to MANA for holding such a great giveaway and thankful to the universe that i was the recipient.

view

Posted in Momma Needs a minute... by

morning view

these are more or less my surroundings when i wake up in the morning. i woke today feeling sore from my first gymnastics lesson in 15 years. that is a long time out from tumbling and my body is feeling it. i decided the last-minute to sign up for it. i don’t know why it struck me now as a great idea but i think it has something to do with my desire to reconnect with some of the things i grew up doing that made me really happy that i don’t do as often as an adult. i mean singing, dancing and gymnastics. i really miss it. really miss it. A LOT. i even still identify these things, actually.

i guess i’m just experimenting on how my inner person will be affected if i bring these activities that are core to my self-identity back into my everyday {more like weekly in the gymnastics case} life. already i feel a little more in touch with myself. and a little bit less in touch with my toes or any other extremity that i can’t reach today because i’m too sore to bend over. but it was worth it. it really was. not to mention it was a great workout.

not seeing the correlation with this photo? well, i thought this was going to be my view all day. i thought i wouldn’t be able to move from my bed and would have to stare at the wall and enlist darla’s help to roll me out of the bed. BUT i’m ok. I did get up even if it was a little late.

in short, engaging myself in an activity i love has helped me feel really, pretty fantastically good about life this morning. maybe this old dog still has a few tricks to learn.

snow eater

Posted in kiddie-do, yum yum eat good by

ice eater

will someone please explain to me why i have to force feed my child meals like pancakes with syrup but she wants to eat icicles and snow balls the entirety of the time we are outside. does she not understand it’s just frozen water? dirty frozen water? i’ve tried to intervene but when mike made a snowman darla’s first reaction was to start gnawing on his midsection. it’s weird and i think it’s here to stay…at least for this snowfall. luckily she knows about yellow snow. she pointed some out and said “that means pee.” whew…

do you have a snow eater? try this: i made hot chocolate and then we poured it over snowballs { from fresh snow } and dropped in some smaller snowballs. it was actually pretty fun. i recommend it for those of you who have the if-you-can’t-beat-’em-join-’em attitude.

less

Posted in love and happiness by

a year of less:

less attention to the things that don’t matter. less expectations. less plastic. less time spent with people i find to be unsupportive, judgemental, and uninspiring. less laundry. less time in stores buying things i don’t need. less things i don’t need. less { fewer, i know, but we have a theme going on } lights left on. less hurried walks. less worry over things out of my control. less doubt. less time stuck in traffic. less red meat. less naysaying. less comparisons. less yelling. less time spent in my future and past mental lifescapes. less sugar {artificial sweetners included}. less time spent on my hair…which will be big for me. less frustration about where I THINK my path should take me. less facebook rabbit hole. less frustration, period. less mental re-hash. less alcohol. less caffeine, maybe.  less pinching of that fat around my stomach wishing it would go away. less procrastination. less freak out over turning 30. less fear.

a lot less fear.