Hello out there

I’ll bet you guys though that when I lost my job that I’d be blogging more often.  Well, so did I.  But instead I’ve been spending more time playing with my son, hanging out with the Holistic Moms and pursuing some of my hobbies, such as cooking, crafting, reading and spending time outdoors.  Its been a very fulfilling lifestyle, and I wish it could last forever.

But, I know its not going to.  As we speak, I’m applying for a seasonal night time job and applying to go back to college next semester to finish my bachelors in environmental science.  Or I might change my major, considering that I don’t really intend to make a career out of anything I can major in at the Metropolitan State College of Denver.

I also really want to keep this blog active so I can share with the world what I’m doing now in my newer, better life.  I am probably getting out of the Army in January and I’m moving on to bigger and better things.  I am grateful for everything that the Army has given to me, but for this Soldier, it is time to move on.

I’m working very hard on a home made Christmas.  I have to be even more strict about it this year because my income has dropped so dramatically.  I’m also scouring Freecycle, and hopefully putting to good use what I learned last year in my first attempt at a Freecycle Christmas.

I’m trying to get more involved in community activities and I’m doing a lot of interviews for doula work.  I expect to be certified within the next six months.  I’m moving forward with my midwifery training, and feeling really good about the present.

I look forward to sharing all of this with you again!

Results of used Christmas

I promised I’d post them, then I didn’t.  But here they are now!

Elijah examines his Christmas haul

 See that fire truck behind the stockings, the toy train in front of that red and white striped package, and the bench with Elmo on it?  All of that was Freecycle haul (in fact, they were all from one stop!).  That boat toy just barely visible behind Elijah there, along with a few other toys in his stocking and scattered around were used toys my mom picked up from a friend at work.  That rocking chair is the one I got on Craigslist for $25.  That little white car with the red spot on top of the silver package is a wooden ambulance toy I found at Thornton Winterfest.  It was hand carved by a local craftsman, I fell in love with it on the spot, and bought it even though I vowed no new toys.

Here’s what went well:

• I spent far less than previous years.  Actually, I spent very little on Elijah, about $100 total.
• What I bought new for Elijah was organic, handmade, local and/or natural, with the exception of some Tonka cars.
• My home made spa products were a big hit with my mom and sister.
• Elijah was totally overwhelmed with all his toys, and is still thrilled with all of them and plays with them regularly.  He particularly loves the train.
• What I bought new for my mom was pretty inexpensive, and mostly useful (I got her a cutting board – useful – and a box of petifours – not useful, but yummy).

Here’s what didn’t go so great:

• I still feel like I spent too much.  Total spending for Christmas was a little over $120.
• I should have started looking on Freecycle and Craigslist sooner.  On Freecycle, you pretty much have to take what you can get.  Did I go out looking for a fire truck, train, Sesame Street tool bench and a Bumble Ball?  No, I just got lucky and found them there.  Will I always be so lucky?  Who’s to say.  That’s why I should start looking earlier next year.  This year I started looking in November.  Next year, I might start looking as early as October.
• I turned down offers on Freecycle because they were too far away to pick up in a reasonable amount of time.  Everything I ended up getting off of Freecycle was close to home or on my way to work, so I didn’t do too much driving out of the way, but I can see how driving could quickly cancel out all the savings you’re doing by using Freecycle if you’re not careful.
• Speaking of a lot of driving, I drove for an hour and a half in the snow to get that rocking chair, and got stuck in a ditch at one point along the way.  Was it worth it?  Yes.  But I should evaluate that better in the future.  On the bright side, the guy who stopped to pull me out of the ditch was kind of cute.  That’s one reason why I’m glad some people still drive gas guzzling trucks.
• The toys I got off of Freecycle were a little dusty.  Not a big deal, but cleaning time should be factored into the convenience.
• I wanted to do more crafting for the holiday season, but I just didn’t have enough time, because I wasn’t thinking about Christmas early enough.
• My mom still bought a lot of new presents.  I’m glad I got An Inconvenient Truth, and I think all of Elijah’s new toys are pretty cool, but with some more planning next year, I think we can all do better with buying used.  We just didn’t plan enough (and my mom’s broken ankle threw a big wrench in things).

Confessions of a Christmas dork

I love Christmas time.

Actually, I’m just in love with life starting the beginning of October, which is the build up to Halloween, which I feel is the kickoff party to the best time of the year, the holiday season!

I love Halloween!  I love Thanksgiving!  And I love Christmas!

Part of loving the Holiday season is loving the thing about Christmas that most people loathe … Christmas music!  Oh my god, I love Christmas music.  I used to have a rule that I couldn’t listen to Christmas music until Thanksgiving day, but I have found that its just not enough to satisfy my LUST for Christmas music, so this year I changed my rule to no Christmas music until the day after Halloween.

I used to have the worlds biggest collection of Christmas music downloaded (illegally, cough cough, erm) on my computer, and I was happy as a clam during the Holiday season.  Unfortunately, all of that (illegally) downloaded music led to a (MASSIVE) virus on my computer, and I lost everything!  Lesson learned (I suppose its not exactly in the holiday spirit to go around stealing Christmas music anyhow) and now I buy CDs.  Also, there is a radio station here in Denver that plays continuous Christmas music, and I can get down with that (even though most of what they play is the “classic” and “soft rock” variety, and I really love the more alternative and rock varieties).

There’s been a lot of talk in my Holistic Moms Group about how to simplify Christmas.  We all pretty much agree that we’d like more traditional, family focused, less consumerist holiday seasons.  I want these things for Elijah.  I want him to feel, like I do, that Christmas is about much more than gifts.  But I’m not ready to give up gifts entirely.  I like gifts.  I actually like shopping for Christmas gifts (its the only time of the year I enjoy shopping, in fact).  I could give up wrapping paper – in fact, I wish we would, but my mom loves it – and I can certainly get down with less gifts, but I can’t part with them entirely.

This year, Elijah is going to get pretty much just stuff I would have to buy him anyhow.  New clothes, new bath products, and a few new toys and books (because toys and books are good for growing babies).  Because his birthday is so close to Christmas (bummer!) I’ll be spreading his need gifts out.  I’m just doing one gift for my mom from Elijah and one gift from me.  Actually, I can’t make that promise either.  She might get a few from each of us.  But its not going to be a ton.

I want to focus on doing more holiday activities.  I’m thinking about signing up for the Turkey Trot and the Jingle Bell walk, two holiday 5ks.   Also, we like seeing the lights at the Botanic Garden, and this year the Botanic Garden is also doing a lighted nature walk down at Chatfield Reservoir we want to check out.  I might take Elijah to Zoo Lights at the Denver Zoo too.  There’s a candle light walk in downtown Golden on the 5th I think I want to go to, and my mom and I like to go up for the Georgetown festival.  I think getting out and participating in stuff like this also contributes to my goal of getting more deeply immersed in my local community.

I hope to craft more gifts this year too.  I’m working on making a digital cookbook for my friends (its just a Word document, shhhhh), and I found a number of really cool crafts on Make Baby Stuff that I’m wanting to try out.  What I do buy, I hope to buy green.  Here is a cool article with some great green gift ideas!

What do you do for the holidays?  How do you make things simpler and greener?  What’s your stance on presents?  Any fun activities you’re doing?  Do you know of any in Denver that I’m missing?  Let me know!

Oh, and whats your favorite Christmas song/music/album?  Let me, the Christmas music expert, recommend a few.

Maybe This Christmas

Maybe This Christmas Too

Maybe This Christmas Tree

Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas Album

A Santa Cause

Any of the Very Special Christmas Albums

Because you might be doing this stuff anyhow

I’m a crafty, crafty person.  I knit (though not as well as I’d like), sew, paint, make jewelry, decopauge, do mosaics, embroider, and I’m always thinking of how I can make something I want but don’t have.  I’m not always successful in my attempts, I start more crafts than I finish, but hell, I love to craft.  I love to have something unique.  I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with saying “I made it” when someone asks where I got something.

If I were a better crafter, I’d sell my stuff here

Etsy

If I were rich, I’d buy stuff there too.

Now, if you are a single mom, god knows you could use a little extra income every now and again.  If you are a crafty single mom, Etsy might be the place for you to earn that little extra income.  If you are a rich single mom, Etsy might be the place for you to spend some of your money on some totally unique, fashionable and expensive merchandise.  But how many of us are actually rich single moms?

As for me, I can barely finish knitting a hat in time for my son to wear it (and the last one I knitted him didn’t even fit), so I doubt if I’ll be peddling my goods on Etsy anytime soon, but if you’re doing a lot of crafting anyway, it might be worth looking into.

Ripping off other publications (with credit, so its not plagerism, right?)

I read this today on the Yes Magazine website.  I think it is worth reposting and spreading around.

Has the cash economy swallowed up your life? Here are some ways to extract some of your time and “life energy” from the cash economy.

Reduce debt. If you can’t pay cash, don’t buy it. Practice being mindful about what you buy and why.

Do it yourself. Grow food, pick berries, can and preserve food, make wine, bake bread. Make or repair clothes, furniture, and gifts. Create your own entertainment. Walk, bike, run, or play basketball instead of joining a fitness club.

Share & Exchange. Take care of neighbor kids and elders. Play music, sing, act in local theater, write poems, hold art shows. Exchange haircuts for applesauce, bike repair for massage, language tutoring for babysitting.

Reduce waste & pollution. Weatherize your home or apartment. Reduce your car usage, or get rid of a car.

Buy local. Run buy-local campaigns, print stickers, publish or post a directory of local businesses. Acknowledge business owners who foster the well-being of the environment, employees, and the whole community. Convert public funds from luring outside corporations to supporting local businesses.

Start a new local business. Start a food market, credit union, wifi network, or even an electricity co-op. Explore ownership options like cooperatives, nonprofits, for-profits, or single proprietorships.

Buy Fair Traded when you buy imports. Vote with your dollar for a better world for all.

For all of you crafty single moms out there

Here is a site that gives you instructions for turning your old bras into nursing bras.  I am totally doing this.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Drill Weekend Post

I’m eating blackberries, and they are sour yummy!

We put an offer down on a house today.  I am happy with our decision.  Cross your fingers that they accept it.  I’m already mentally planning our garden, although we won’t really be able to plant much this year.  I can’t wait to start throwing parties!

I spend a lot of time thinking up subjects to blog about, mostly when I’m driving, but then I forget them when I get to work.  Elijah won’t let me blog when I’m at home.  Once he’s mobile he probably won’t want to be held so much, but right now …

Ah, here’s something for you single moms.  I’ve mentioned attachment parenting on this blog before.  While I think I prefer that “method” to others I’ve heard about, simply because the most of it is what I feel naturally inclined to do, I’m learning as I read some attachment parenting literature that I have to take a lot of it with a grain of salt.  The attachment parenting experts of the world don’t seem to have much consideration for single moms.  In fact, in one book I read it claimed that because I got pregnant in a bad relationship that there is going to be something wrong with my baby emotionally.  I’m sure there’s no intent to exclude or insult, but the author is clearly not considering the different circumstances people live and find themselves in.  Its not like I wanted to get pregnant in a bad situation, and I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got now.  How about a little support?

I’m considering writing the author, care of the publisher.

People just forget about the single mom.  We really are totally neglected by society.  I would have killed for a pregnancy book in the style of What to Expect or The Pregnancy Bible, that didn’t mention “daddy” or “your partner” every other paragraph.  In my pregnancy journal, I crossed out all the places it said “daddy” and wrote “grammy” in.  And my mom spent a long time looking for a baby book for me that had the least mentions of daddy in it.  Now, eventually I found the book The Single Woman’s Guide to a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy, which was AWESOME and I highly recommend it to every single mom and single pregnant woman, but it didn’t fill all my needs, and from what I can tell its the only book of its kind on the market.

Maybe I should write these books I wanted to find.  What do you think?

Anyway, when it comes to attachment parenting, and any other parenting method, take what you need and forget the rest.  If something you read offends you, write to a publisher or author.  We’re never going to be recognized as a valid parenting force if we don’t start speaking up for ourselves, I suppose.

I think Elijah is teething.  He’s been drooly and chewy for about a month now, and then the last couple of days he’s been really fussy and a little feverish.  Tomorrow, my only day off this weekend, we’re just going to chill at home.  Just relax and do some laundry and maybe cuddle a little.  Maybe he’ll take a nap and let me clean or sew a little.  I doubt it, he never takes a nap unless I’m holding him, but maybe.

Cross your fingers for me.

As I pump my breasts at work

Yesterday morning, after a relatively sleepless night, I cried and cried and freaked out and cried and yelled a little and cried some more.  Then I took the day off of work because I was in no shape to go in.  After letting all of it out, I feel much better.  I think I’m going to head in a new direction from here.

I’m going to stop buying crap.  I buy a lot of crap.  I don’t need to do that anymore.  I am currently suffering from buyers remorse for having bought an iPhone with my tax refund, for example.  I realize that owning an iPhone has made me no happier.  I could have spent that 500 dollars paying off bills and eliminated some stress in my life instead.  That would make me happier.

But I still want crap, so my solution, I suppose, is to make crap, because I like crafting, and that will make me happy.  Its hard to squeeze in time to craft with my son, but I will be able to do it, if only slowly.  Currently I’m working on making a few slings for my sister and a friend at work who are both having babies.  I am also embroidering some burp cloths for my sister, hopefully she will like those.  Today I downloaded some patterns to make different kinds of slings, so I think I’m going to try those out next.  I want to enhance both my sewing skills, and my baby wearing skills.

I also found a pattern for knitting the international breastfeeding symbol.

Pretty sweet, huh?  I don’t know what I’m going to put it on yet but watch out! (Thats not the actual pattern, of course, its just the symbol, if you want the pattern – which is also good for cross stitch and beading – just let me know and I’ll send it to you)

For my own sanity, I’m going to move even further in the direction of natural and attachment parenting.  What I’m doing now just isn’t working for me, and the more I read about attachment parenting, the more it seems to make sense for me.  Last night, for example, my son and I slept much better in the same bed.  We coslept the whole time I was on maternity leave, but when I went back to work my mom suggested I start putting him in the crib.  That’s just not working out for us, so he’s coming back into my bed.

Now if only I could pump more breast milk in a day and eliminate the formula usage …