Ethan had two of his wisdom teeth out on Wednesday and the office prescribed him (among several other things) some antibiotics. I don’t have enough time to get into my problem with antibiotics right now, but I decided that it would be best to buy some yogurt to counteract some of their more unpleasant side effects. Since I work at a natural foods co-op, this was no problem. I picked a brand that looked good and bought a bunch. Yesterday, we needed some more, and didn’t feel like driving all the way to the Wedge to buy some, so we went to a closer Rainbow Foods. Continue reading →
Well, it’s official. I’m ashamed to be part of the human race. Since living with Ethan’s brother, I occasionally walk into the living room and am forced to witness the evening news, which he watches… Today I had the unfortunate experience of having to hear that someone (for no known reason) shot two horses in the face. IN THE FACE! This is not a fatal blow to a horse. It is just insufferably cruel. The owner was describing how she found her two horses, and it was enough to make me feel like throwing up, and crying. It also makes me hope that the person responsible is brutalized before they are safely in police custody.
I choose not to watch the news for a reason. I also try to avoid any stories in the online news that make me feel this way. Humanity is just too gross to have to read about every day. To think there are some people who think that we aren’t animals. Maybe they’re right… most animals don’t go around mutilating each other for fun.
I’m watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas… I’ve always liked this movie. It’s so cute. I think it’s the dog with the branch tied to his head that gets me.
Anyway, I discovered this website (that I should have known about earlier because MetaSteph ordered things from there almost every week) and they have shoes in my size!!! I don’t know about most people, but I have always hated shoe shopping. It always turns out disappointing and depressing.
I guess it was okay until I was in fifth grade and everyone else could buy those cool shoes with lights in them. I wanted a pair so badly, but at the time they only came in kids’ sizes, and I was wearing women’s size 6. It only got worse from there. It finally reached the point when I was in seventh grade when I couldn’t walk into a shoe store and find shoes that fit. I wore my mom’s old birkenstock sandals and hand-me-down size 10 converse high-tops. Except for birkenstocks, I didn’t have another pair of shoes that really fit me until I was 19.
Whenever a fancy occasion came along where I needed to wear dress shoes, I dreaded the trip to the shoe store where I would end up getting shoes that were way too long so that they were wide enough. I would wear them for that one event and then banish them to my closet, because shoes that are several sizes too large and have the obligatory pointed toe are about a foot long. It probably doesn’t help that any shoes with high heels make me tower above everyone around me.
This evening I took stock of my shoe situation… two pairs of birkenstock sandals, one pair of birkenstock clogs, and one butt ugly pair of new balance tennis shoes, the only pair of women’s in the store that came in my size. The total cost of my 4 pairs of shoes: about $500. If you add in my prescription shoe inserts, it comes to about $900. It would actually be higher, but one of the birkenstock sandals was on sale. Is it any surprise that I cringe at the thought of new shoes?
Well, I may have turned a new leaf. You see, Zappos.com has shoes in 9 EEEE. They don’t have any dress shoes in that size, but it’s a huge step. They have more than one pair of shoes in that size. For the first time since fifth grade, I have a variety of footwear options that fit and COST LESS THAN $100 A PAIR!
Maybe someday I’ll actually look at shoes and be happy.
This year the Winter Solstice will be shortly after 6 PM (here in the central time zone) on the 22nd. We in the northern hemisphere will be tilted as far away from the sun as we get, and then the days will get longer again… Maybe someday when we have our own house again, we can celebrate in old pagan traditions, dancing and merrymaking all night to make sure that the sun comes back up in the morning, after the longest night of the year. Not this year though…
I’m starting to believe that Minnesota is experiencing an identity crisis. Yesterday it was raining. Down pouring actually. It got up to fifty degrees. If all of Winter was like that, I would be a happier person, believe me. Today it never got above freezing. The puddles of yesterday were frozen solid. It was so cold when I got done with work that I shivered uncontrollably for the first 10 minutes or so of my drive. Yuck. I think if this happened more gradually it might be easier to take.
Ethan and I have been working a little bit every day trying to clean up and prepare for Saturday. We now have a small number of people who said they are coming for sure, and several maybes, so it looks like we won’t be alone eating a mound of food. We haven’t actually done any shopping yet, but we did plan what we’ll be making. Sadly there is a lot of cleaning yet to do, and plenty of cooking and prep work. I’m sure we’re going to have a busy few days ahead of us, but it will all be worth it when we sit down to a feast.
I’m sorry to report that the post Thanksgiving vegan feast we have been planning will be shy a few people. Jessi and Chris can’t make it at all… they’ll be stuck in Morris apparently. Steph “will probably have to work,” but if not could only make it for half a day. Ethan has failed to contact the Reverend to confirm plans. Sigh. Anyone else out there who wants to come?? It’s not worth making tons of food if no one is around to eat it, and I’ve been looking forward to this for like 4 months.
As long as I’m posting about others’ blog entries on my lunch hour, I might as well comment on this ignorant definition of atheism. Admittedly I didn’t even read it in full, short as it is, but still, I have to disagree with it. My biggest problem with it:
“What distinguishes the atheist from the agnostic is his belief that religion ought to be eliminated, that the world would be radically better off without it”
I am an atheist. I don’t think that religion should be eliminated. I don’t believe in a higher power. That is what divides me from agnostics. They just don’t know. They haven’t drawn a conclusion one way or the other. They are straddling the proverbial fence. And that is just fine. I don’t have a problem with believers, or with the majority of religions, so long as they aren’t actively harmful to those not even practicing that religion. I think that a lot of people, for one reason or another, need religion to live their lives. It is a great comfort to them and sweeping the rug out from under them would likely be devastating. I’m out of time, so that will have to be all for now.
I’ve recently been reading a blog called Violent Acres and find myself extremely able to relate to this person. In a lot of ways she reminds me of myself.
In a recent post she talks about how a friendship went sour in her youth because her overweight friend had some deep-seated jealousy. For whatever reason I find it extremely thought-provoking. I have to wonder if any of my relationships are like this. I do have quite a few friends with qualities I envy. It never occurs to me that they might feel the same way…