more from my neighbor’s yard

When we last visited my neighbor’s magnolia it was flowering. Here is a shot of the unopened fruit that developed from that flower. I just love how ancient magnolias are and that they are native to the SE.

no child left behind

In case you were worrying, the Bean is already preparing for the future onslaught of standardized testing (which some refer to as her formal public education). I have a hella lot to say on the topic of NCLB (better known as No Child Left Untested) but right now I am running late for my actual [...]

feeding baby

I’ve been following the advice in the book Simply Natural Baby Food by Cathy Olson since the Bean started on solids and absolutely love it (recommended by a woman who posts on my cloth diapering forum and whose blog I love to read).
I had borrowed several other nutrition/baby food books from the library (and have [...]

and then there were three

I was 30 when I married after an adventurous (sometimes lonely, sometimes challenging, often super fun) decade filled with lots of group housing, jobs, school, more school, cross country moves, being really broke, and numerous (mostly forgettable) boyfriends. Even though at times I yearned for a real relationship I realize now that I took my [...]

hazel

i’ve decided on hillary

On the way home today from the food co-op (with some prepared awesome local hummus and quinoa tabouli in my bag for lunch–definitely not tightwad approved) I decided that I am going to support Hillary Clinton for president. Don’t get me wrong. I understand that she is a shrewd politician who has no [...]

stating the obvious

I am one those people that loves to state the obvious so here I go again: I absolutely love the fall. And after our somewhat oppressively hot August (3 weeks+ over 95 degrees, although secretly I kind of dug it) I am really into the cooling temps. I love everything about this season but this [...]

smoothie science

When I was pregnant I couldn’t really stomach taking vitamins. Being little miss type-A, I started making smoothies almost daily which has morphed into what I see as my personal nutrient science project. Over the past year it has evolved into quite the production including ingredients purchased from 3 separate health food stores [...]

semantics

I recently heard a rumor (which appears to be true) that Tennessee has removed the term ‘Evolution’ from the standard heading in the state science curriculum. My source (another science teacher) suggested that the indicators will remain (i.e. no content changes) but now will be listed under the title ‘Biological Change’ instead [...]

car karma

This recent post by Unfit Mother got me thinking about all the relative good car karma I have had since moving to my suburban kingdom. I lived in Portland for 8 years and was involved in 3 automobile accidents, 7 B&Es and one (almost) theft.
For a few years, my SE neighborhood was plagued with [...]