Here's my new home blog:
http://homepage.mac.com/luckylamb/iblog/B777116307/index.html--nope it's gone. You're at the right place.

So I took this little quiz, and here were my results:


You're just the woman (or man?!) Boromir ever
wanted. GO YOU! (But watch out that you'll
never get in my way! :})


Are you the perfect mate for Boromir (LOTR)? (not finished)
brought to you by Quizilla

I'm in hell. I'm trying to finish a aper on nursing implications on care of the heroin user, and it's like my brain is constipated. I know what i need to say, but it's just not coming out.
Such has been my semester. Like I said. I'm in hell. Just wanted to touch base for all the people who read this. Although I don't think anyone reads it. It's a nice thought though.
See you after December 18th

http://www.jesus21.com I haven't looked into it enought to comment, but it looks quite refreshing from here.
Watched Jesus Christ Superstar this weekend. Bought a Thomas Merton book. Spoke with a patient who was a born again multisubstance addict, with Schizo affect. Nice guy. Tough life. God love him.

i love psych nursing. i want to be a pysch nurse.

I know it's been a while. School has started. I finished my dress--well, it's functional. Went to another SCA event, learned how to operate a ballista. glad to be back in school. More later.

Bought the underdress material today. Blue velveteen, cotton. I bid and won an auction for a lot of 12 fur collars which I will use for trim on the surcote. The collars are mink, fox, coyote, rabbit, and something else I can't remember. Recycled and old but real. I have stayed true to my word of not using synthetic materials. But then there's the cotton issue. Cotton production is polluting. And I think my thread is cotton coated polyester. One can never win.

This week I started on the shift, which I'm sloppily making out of off white cotton muslin that I used to use for a turban for the Italian Ren dress, but it was so heavy (all 5 yards of it) it gave me a migraine the one day I wore it. But it looked really good. Now I use a smaller one that wraps just as nicely. It's a good thing I'll be using this dress as an undergarment. It's a good thing to practice with, too. I'm learning from my mistakes. It's pretty fun, but it doesn't compare to knitting. I don't think anything really does, though. Cross stitch was fun, but I really need magnifying glasses to do it. I could use a pair for using the sewing machine, too, that's for sure. I might make a little trip to CVS tomorrow...

So the overdress will lace up the back, so it will have a snugger fit. The surcoat will defineitely have a train. Now I have to think of headgear. A simple circlet and a white or blue silk sheer veil is what I have in mind. A cord or braided belt. Maybe a leather one.

I know it's been a long time. Very busy. Trying to cram in as much fun, crafting and family time as possible before school starts and I have no time for fun, crafts or family. But I did make some stuff. And I am about to embark on yet another making stuff endeavor: my very own medieval garb. (GASP!) It was bound to happen sooner or later. I'm going to make a complete 14th century French woman's outfit with shift, underdress (kirtle-type thing, I think) and sideless surcoat. I'm using rocking horse farm's pattern #140. I just bought the fabric for the surcoat: burgundy colored lightweight wool, and the lining, which I think I'll use for something else because the colors clash in a wrong way. I'm bidding on ebay for recycled mink or rabbit fur for trim (yes, the real stuff--philosophical/moral quandary aside). Next week before we go to Maine I'm going to get the underdress material. I'm thinking linen or silk, maybe more wool. I can't decide. I might go for a synthetic damask, I'm still debating. I'd like to go all natural in the material, especially since I justified using real animal hides rather than synthetic nylon/plastic-derived/chem-fabric whose byproducts are probably bad for the environment. This is going to be my non-summer garb, since I have a perfectly wonderful summer outfit.

The goal is to make the outfit while we're in Maine. This means I probably won't take any knitting. What am I saying? I can't commit to leaving my needles at home. So many crafts, and the clock is ticking.

made a hemp crown this weekend. Actually two. The first one was a prototype, which I gave to Towner to wear at Starwood this week. The next one I added beads. Pictures, well, you know. Either when I get around to it or when hell freezes over.

I went to the Robin Hood Faire at Hammond Castle this weekend. Lot's of fun, lots of people in garb.

LLL is bleating at me, and I must go.

Saw Pirates of the Caribbean this weekend. Twice. The first time we went to the drive-in and some jerk refused to lower his hatch on his SUV (asshole! you know who you are. May your SUV sink in the mud), so I didn't have a very good view. I then saw it at the local little theatre. I loved it!
There's a grumpy Little Lamb on my lap, so I guess I'll have to write more stuff later. Not that there's anything to write. I do have some crafts to report on, but that will have to wait.

Went to Memphis for my cousin's wedding. LLL was a flower girl, and very very cute. Picked up cross-stitch. Now I'm hooked. I'm making a hokey little ornamental thingy with a dragonfly on it. I picked up the kit from Jo-Anne's Fabrics. (Ahhh Jo Ann's. A guilty pleasure...) Now I'm looking for other kits. Just what I need. Another craft.

Another thing I needed was another book. I just picked up Whee! We, Wee All the Way Home, by Matthew Fox, a liberation theologian. On of these days I will finish Lord of the Rings. Only 300 pages to go. But too many distractions...

culture is not optionalI really dig this one.

Cool Websites I found while looking up Radical Christianity
TheOoze - Conversation for the journey
Ship of Fools

a case of curiosities - fine art taxidermy & assemblage
If you haven't noticed already, I am at times drawn to the morbid, freakish, bizarre. To me it's all life, and if there weren't so many Walmarts in the world, more people would find some of my interests more mundane. But no, you can't generally find violent or incestuous folk ballads at Media Play, and you can't get a large tattoo at the ear piercing kiosk at the mall. And you still have to find a locally owned taxidermy shop to get a bull's horn to make your gemshorn. And this is a good thing. You have to go to your neighbor's locally owned store to find these things, and you have to talk to people to find out where to find the best of these curiosities. Walmart is not your neighbor. Walmart, no offense to my parents who *love* Sprawlmart, is the enemy of the neighborhood as we know it.

Okay, excuse while I climb off my soapbox. My knees are a little stiff. Anyway...Check out this refreshing and non-morbid taxidermy website. Bring your sense of humor and enjoy!

ha a falling out with my cousin. She's been mad at me for years, so what else is new, I might say. Well she finally told me exactly how she's been feeling about me, dredged up shit that happened (and some stuff that did not happen) when we were teenagers. I hate to say it, but I think I'm done with it. I'm so tired of worrying about whether or not she's going to be friendly to me when I see her at family gatherings. When I asked her to be a maid of honor, apparently she was mad at me because I asked my other cousin to be another maid of honor. Well, the angry cousin never returned my phone calls, was obviously mad at me for half the year. So I asked my not-mad-at-me cousin to do more stuff. Well this made the angry cousin angrier and she filed the incident away in her why Parthenia is so petty, judgemental, and drawn to the negative. That's what she called me. I think it doesn't need to be pointed out just who is being petty, because I guess that would be petty and I'm not gonna go there. Anyway, I'm done for now. I had no quarrel with her, but give me a few minutes and I'm sure I can think of things. Not a good way to patch things up. I've handed this over to God.

The same weekend my cousin was getting more mad at me, I met my friend Heather for our 20 year date. On June 7 1983, when we were 12 and 13 we made a pact to meet each other in front of Bischoff's in Teaneck, NJ on June 7 2003. And we kept our date. It was so cool! Kind of surreal. It was wonderful to see her again. It had been 10 years since I'd seen her. More later on the way we got back in touch after a couple of years (no we didn't get mad at each other.) We then went to the Met. Museum of Art, and walked around with our husbands and LLL. Heather doesn't have kids yet. I looked for an Artemisia painting that I know the Museum has, but I didn't see it. Maybe it was in storage. Saw lots of reliqueries and medieval art, tho. Oh well. My friend Marni met us there, too. Maybe too many people. I'm going to try to go down to New York and spend a weekend with Marni and catch up more with her. Overall it was a really fun trip. We also went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, but they were having a service so I lit a candle, bought some prayer cards and a chaplet, and continued on. I promptly lost 2 of the cards (Joan of Arc and Raphael the Archangel). I hope someone out there (in the Port Authority) will benefit from them. I was going to keep the Nurses' Prayer card I managed to hold onto, but I'm thinking that the signs point to giving that one away, too. I'll keep the chaplet.

jesus radicals

Little Children Pray
So Lucky Little Lamb is learning about God and Jesus (and Muhammad, and the Buddha, and Vishnu, and Krishna....we're Christians and Unitarians, and I majored in Religion in college....) We rad some bible stories and talked about God. Who is God? What does God look like? Those kind of questions. Then we talked about praying. Talking to God. Asking God to show us how we can be better people. I tell her when she prays she can ask God to help her to be able to keep herself out of harm, or to watch over her friends and family, or to give a little peace to others who live in danger or sadness...And Lamb says, "I have an idea." But she has to whisper it. And what's her idea? "Maybe we could ask God to turn the light on."

We have a theologian in our midst.

So the Ram came down with SACOB--severe acute crafting obsession/compulsion. For Lamb's birthday party I decided to make a fish-shaped cake using 2 round cakes. First I struggled with the whole Betty Crocker vs. from scratch thing, and decided Betty was just fine for a gaggle of 2-4 year olds. I used the kind with the pink and blue swirls. I baked two 9" rounds. When they cooled I cut a 3 inch wedge out of one (for the mouth), cut a smaller wedge out of the other and then cut it in half. Then I was stumped. So Ram looked at it, did some more cutting and sculpting, and viola! We had a bulge-eyed goldfish cake with a fancy tail. I started icing it, and Ram asked, "can I do some?" In 5 minutes the project was out of my hands. Ram did the rest of the decorating, although he did let me put the fish shaped sprinkles. It came out wicked cute, and much more detailed than I had planned! My mother (Madame Ewe?) tooka digital photo of it, so I'll post pictures soon. We'll see how long SACOB lasts.

Pirates of the Caribbean I am so looking forward to this movie. Better yet, I'm looking forward to seeing it at local drive-in. The drive-in is a blessing. We can all go out together, and Little Lamb is usually asleep by the time the (usually more adult) second feature starts. There's a playground, really good drive-in food, more fun than you can shake a stick at!

I've passed the climax of post semester. I don't have any homework, or studying or preparation for something. I just don't know what to do with myself. I actually went to a cafe and had breakfast and read a book twice this week, and got to work on time. And all I'm doing at work is filing and checking files and alphabetizing, and organizing and registering and listening to music--what else? oh yeah--and socializing. I have so much work to do at work and it's easy and I can day dream while I do it, and still get stuff done. I've been quite productive. I feel like a little office squirrel. All for $13+/hour plus 403(b), generous benefits, paid vacation (4 weeks/year, plus 4 personal days, holidays, and more sick time than I can shake a stick at. I love my job, my co-workers are all nice, my supervisor is cool, folks order Japanese food for lunch on a weekly and we all chat and eat together on a weekly basis. And it's only 17.5 hours a week. I love my job.

I think this weekend I'm going to find some wood and cut circles to fit in the bull's horns. So project #1 will be Gemshorns! woo hoo!

So I'm driving home yesterday, up 5 & 10, which is a two lane road, and the [asshole] driver in a an 18 wheeler truck coming the other way, spits out the window, and his nasty phlegmball splats on my windshield, most of which I can't wash off because it falls below the reach of the wipers. I was so grossed out I started gagging. I thought I was going to throw up. Just thinking about it makes me gag. You know, I can wipe up the nastiest crap that comes out of anyone's orofice, as long as I'm in a clinical setting with gloves at my disposal. And I've cleaned up my fair share of poopy diapers--gloveless. But in any other circumstance, like driving down the road, I cannot deal with other people's body fluids--not even on my windshield. What a way to start the week, huh?

Lucky Little Lamb was feeling most unlucky today. She had a simple visit with her NP to look at her ears. She refused to let her look into her ears with the otoscope. She only consented to the tympanometer (a painless thing, too) if she could hold the probe in her ears herself. Then on the way to her exam room again we ran into Becka, and she fell apart because she wanted Becka's muffin. She has yet to warm up to the whole health care thing. This weekend she fell and scraped both her knees in two separate incidents. I was surprised she let me take them off today. I did it after she'd bathed and they were pretty much falling off anyway. She is not one to be tricked or bargained or bribed into doing something she doesn't want to do. Frustrating as it is at times, I love her independence and willfullness. It will serve her well one day.

He shaved!
I'm done with exams and classes til the fall!
I can read non-nursing books!
I can stay up late even when I don't have insomnia!
I can go to the gym! I'm taking aerobics two days a week!
I can make gemshorns, knit, sew, and find all kinds of useless but beautiful or functional and beautiful things to make!
We can all go to the drive-in!
Our gas bill will be negligible instead of astronomical!
I can go without socks for weeks on end!

Life is good!

For some reason I get spammed daily by a porn website. Something about farm animals and farmer girls. I can't help but think it came from my blog or my email address. Well, in case anyone there was confused, Lucky Ram is not some bighorn sheep, he's a human man, and we have a human child, Lucky Little Lamb. Their nicknames have nothing to do with an unnatural affection for farm animals. It all began at Ram and my first Christmas together as a couple. We were walking in the woods making up alternative lyrics to Christmas songs. I was singing "The Little Drummer Boy", and when I got to the part about the little lamb, Ram stopped me and said, "I always thought they were saying something about a lucky little lamb." Well, we are easily amused, and found this quite humorous--for a really long time. Lucky Lamb seemed apropro in many aspects of our lives. We both have curly hair (we're "lamby", a phrase coined by another friend of mine). There's a religious connotation, Christ being a shepherd, the is Christian a lucky lamb. And then there's my whole inner conflict with eating meat. Lucky is the lamb who does not wind up on my plate, and I thank the lamb who does. Then there's the whole knitting, spinning, etc. connotation. I sold some knitted tams under the name Lucky Lamb. See? Totally innocent. So when I started this blog, I decided to make up silly nicknames for us. Lucky Ram--you know, he's a guy. Lucky Little Lamb is our little kid--oops, I mean lamb. Parthenia is not a sheep, and I'm not much of a shepherdess, but I just really dig the name. Lucky Ewe just sounded corny.

Anyway, my exam is tomorrow, and tomorrow night I have to hand in my Sociology paper which I will write tomorrow. Then I'm done for the summer, and can start making stuff.

Ram shaved his beard into a lamb chop-like design (another one!). I hate it. He looks like Duane Allman or someone from Lynard Skynard or Foghat. I like the Allman Brothers, but I certainly don't want one in my bed. He looks like a Confederate flag waving redneck, and it gives my flashbacks to some of the shadier folks I knew in Memphis. And Yankee that he is, I don't think he understands why I his facial hair deeply disturbs me. To top it off, for some reason he's taken to wearing one of my snoods, but he tends to push his hair all up to the front so it looks like he's wearing an Andy Capp hat. My otherwise handsome, fine, sexy husband looks like a weird freak. I want my hippie husband back, with his medieval hair and viking beard!

So here's what my Mother's Day was like:
In the morning we reminisced about my first Mother's Day, when I was 9 months preggo and ready to pop (which I did 2 weeks later), and Ram gave me a really cool knitting book. We went to Slyvester's or Jake's for a pancake breakfast. We're too broke this week to do that, but we'll go out next week.
So I laid in bed until my back started to hurt, snuggled with Ram and Lamb, and read (the dirtier) excerpts from Lady Chatterley's Lover. Talked to my mom. Ram went to Dunkin' Donuts and got us bagels and coffee and donuts. I read some of my favorite excerpts from Lady Chatterley's Lover to Ram, and we joked about Mellors' philosphies and my sad attempt to do the Yorkshire accent (gave up quickly). Then we continued our cleaning rampage, which we had begun the day before. I cleaned my drawers out and reorganized my clothes. I need some new clothes. Later that evening I did some homework and compared certain scenes in Lady Chatterley with the book. I fast forwarded the explicit scenes because Lucky Little Lamb was watching.
After Lamb went to sleep Ram and I watched more of the featurettes on the LOTR dvd. This time we watched some of the costume galleries. I was a little confused about why Boromir had chainmail only on his arms, over that nice silk mack daddy shirt. He's actually wearing a leather shirt with chainmail arms under the mack daddy shirt. I just don't get why he wore the chain mail through the whole movie, even when he was chillin' at Rivendell. I am revved up and inspired to do some mad crafting when my exam is over (on Thursday!) And we're going to have a clean house to boot.
After Ram went to bed I had a bad case of insomnia, so I stayed up, folded clothes, listened to music and tried to de-stimulate. John Thomas probably would have spent some quality time with Lady Jane had I gone to bed, but I my mind was in overdrive. I went to bed really late--like 4 am. At least I got some work done. And that was my Mother's Day. Meloow and low key, and too much bad food. We unplugged the oven to use the clothes dryer, so I couldn't cook. Bummer!

I just made a meat pie. I have crossed the vegetarian-meat eater's line. Can I really say I'm a carnivorous vegetarian if I eat a savory pie made mostly of meat? My stews have a significant amount of veggies, but meat pie is mostly meat. And damn good. It's easily made into a vegetarian recipe using tvp or seitan. So here's

The Shepherdess' Franco American Meat Pie

1 small onion chopped (which I didn't have, but would have been nice. I used extra garlic instead)
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp or less salt
1/4 tsp or more fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sage
1 1/4 lbs cubed buffalo, lamb, beef, or other type of meat or meat substitute. Ground meat would work, too, I guess.
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 carrots chopped (over a cup)
1 cup cut green beans
2 pie crusts. One for the top, one for the bottom. I only had one crust and no butter to make another, and it was just fine as an open faced pie.

Prebake 1 crust 8 minutes at 375. In a skillet brown the alliums (garlic and onion) with a little olive oil. Add ingredients and some water (about a cup). Sprinkle spices and simmer 20 minutes. Drain the excess water and oil and spoon filling into the crust. Use the other crust to cover the pie, cut slits in the top to let out the steam.
Bake at 450 for 15 minutes then at 375 for 20-30 minutes.
Say random French like Voila! and Oui! Oui! or make a smarmy "French" snicker and remove pie from oven. Let sit for 10 minues and serve. Optional: continue to pretend to be a snickering French person who can't speak French, and make fun of zee stupeed Americains who cannot cook zee French cuisine correctement. Or pretend to be a snooty American who thinks she's just perfected zee French cuisine. Either way, this recipe might be what we need to mend the rift between our two countries. Make fun of the other and break bread together.

International Association of Forensic Nurses Parthenia's career choice de la semaine: Forensic Nursing. Actually it's one of those lingering career ideas. It ties in well with the whole Women's Health Nurse Practicioner thing. And there's even a Forensic Nursing program in Aberdeen, Scotland. (Place where Ram and I would like to live--of the week). So the idea would be to work a year, get SANE certified (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner), and go to grad school at Fitchburg State, which has the closest Forensic Nursing program. Why forensic nursing? I loved Quincy when I was little. It's multidisciplinary, sounds exciting, helps people in a variety of settings, I'd get some ER experience (last week's career path). I could also do prison nursing, examine suicide, murder, sexual assault, physical abuse.
Well, we're off to the playground.

So I'm trying to write this Godforesaken nursing care plan, which is not about Boromir, but about the 9 year old patient from Tuesday. I'm writing it the way my mom does her work: with the tv on. I'm watching Lady Chatterley, which has a really cool nurse in it, Mrs. Bolton. It's a little distracting during the love scenes, but I'm managing. Watching a young Sean Bean and Joely Fisher go to the broom certainly makes writing post-op adenoidectomy procedures much more fun. Now I know why my mom watched tv while she wrote her dissertation. Although I don't think she was watching the, um, kinda stuff I am. Here's to Mrs. Bolton!

May I make a quick vent and say that writing nursing care plans is one of the most painful, tedious activities I can think of and I love to write? (Obviously I love to write, I'm writing about my blissfully mundane life on-line, for all to read, yet it's doubtful anyone reads, and I still don't care.)
Okay. I vented. I feel better. I'd rather write a mock nursing care plan on a fictional character (see previous post) than about someone I actually took care of.

Went to the Higgins Faire at the Higgins Armory Museum - Worcester, MA I went in my lovely Italian Renaissance working woman's dress. Ram and Little Lamb wore modern clothes. I was one of maybe 5 or 10 people in garb who were *not* part of staff, and many of the staff were not in garb. After my initial horror and humiliation I held my head high and had fun. I love wearing that dress. I'd wear it to work if I wasn't afraid I'd rip it on my chair.

The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers Official Movie Site
I saw The Osbornes for the first time a couple of weeks ago. As my friend Becka put it, it's interesting to watch the family process. How many nursing dianoses can one think of in just one episode? Then I go to thinking about other movies. What kind of nursing dianoses can one come up with for any given character in LOTR? This could be more fun than the Sean Bean Drinking Game I've been working on. So let's start with Boromir, my favorite character...

Anxiety, related to actual or perceived threat to self-concept secondary to ethical dilemma (to take the ring or not).
Outcome: The patient will describe his own anxiety and coping patterns. (Which he kinda did with Aragorn on several occasions)
The patient will use effective coping mechanisms. Which he didn't when he tried to take the ring.
Interventions: Assess level of anxiety, provide reassurance and comfort.
Remove excess stimulation, limit contact with others. Well, that could be a little difficult. Get rid of the ring.
Assist person with anger. I think this is the key intervention.
Powerlessness, related to personal characteristics that highly value control.
[defining characteristic: overt/covert expressions of dissatisfaction about inability to control situation that is negatively affecting outlook, goals, and lifestyle. Ooooh, good one! ]
Pain, acute related to arrow wound.
If they'd been able to bring him to the ED of the local hospital and perhaps helped him...
Outcome: The patient will relate relief after a satisfactory relief, blah blah blah...
Get this man some morphine, and suture him up.

And of course there's Impaired skin integrity, related to arrow wound.
Risk of infection related to open wound.
Fluid volume deficit related to blood loss.

This could be more fun than the Sean Bean Drinking Game, and certainly more educational! Yes, folks, I'm a great big geek.

DigiTrad: SHEATH AND KNIFE 2
I should preface this blog entry by saying that I have no brothers or sisters. Maybe that's why I find this song so fascinating. It's similar to my fascination with parasitic infections. I'm saying "Ewwww" while I'm saying "Wow [that's really nasty], yet terribly interesting."
Anyway, Ewan MacColl's version of this song is quite haunting, and the brother seems to be the real bastard of the story, although he tries to repent by lopping off his "knife". He's the one who says "come babe, let's go to the broom". Granted the sister doesn't put up much of a protest. But brother dutifully obeys when she asks him to kill her while she's in labor. June Tabor does a very touching version of The Bonny Hind. The brother is heartbroken. I'd like to find a horribly violent incest song where the sister lives and the brother dies. Gangsta rap got nothin' on a good Scottish or Irish ballad. Can Eminem top "Sheath and Knife"? I doubt it. Admittedly, square that I am, I don't think I've actually heard an Eminem song start to finish.
Of course I'm talking about the literary device of incest, often found in ballads and folklore and creation myths throughout the world, and NOT child sexual abuse and incest. In stories there is a willing partner. Not so with child sexual abuse. Just needed to clarify that.
Curious about what this square looks like? Look here. Sometime soon I'll put up craft pictures and other stuff. Just don't hold your breath.
I have tons of homework tonight. I think I'm going to skip class tomorrow. I have a presentation on children with HIV and AIDS on Thursday, and a sociology presentation on sociology and religion that night, and a peds test on Friday. I'm a little frazzled right now.

Can you imagine this in buckskin? I can. I think this will be on my summer craft agenda. Along with gemshorns. Jeremy and I started making blasthorns last week. It will be a long time before mine looks like the freakin' Horn of Gondor but it works. So it doesn't alert the Fellowship (Parthenia blows the Horn of Greenfield to get help fending off the orcish OB nursing instructor!), but it makes a nice loud noise....Other projects of late: a class assignment in Human Growth Development--a collage of what "centers us". I'm knitting and sewing a Parthenia voodoo doll, with embroidered tattoos and face, a goldwork necklace with a Khamsa pendant, a crazy quilt dress, muslin chemise (maybe even in Italian Renaissance garb) and either a turban (for the Italian Ren garb) or a knitted tam to cover the felted (or yarn) dreads.....A Renaissance necklace with carnelian beads and a cool silver pendant with a removable sugilite marble. No sugilite isn't period, but it looked pretty cool.....Took out the 1975 Singer Zig Zag sewing machine, cleaned it up, replaced the belt and decided that yes, Parthenia, you can learn to use this thing. This summer....I might have photos of this sometime soon, but I can't promise anything....
The gemshorn project has been shelved til this summer. Drilling horn is very dusty and the dust smells nasty even through the mask. Like burning toenails. But it was soooo fun!

I went to my first SCA event in my Ren dress. I had a blast, but the food did not agree with me. Gav me a bad stomach ache and a migraine, worsened by the heavy turban. I got to satisfy my crafting compulsion over Spring reak, but was not as productive as I'd hoped. Had a little bout with gastroenteritis. Felt like crap for half my vacation. But I did get to sleep, rest, and hang out with Lucky Little Lamb a lot. That made us both happy.

State of the Union
Now I get it.

Hey, Big Brother John Ashcroft, when all is said and done, will we be allowed to shit without government scrutiny?
I keep telling myself that Satan and his minions time in office will be fast and fleeting. All of this is a bad dream. But every morning when I wake up, The Devil still occupies the White House. Not all of the stress in my life is from nursing school, work, family life. Sometimes listening to the news makes my stomach ache.
Ram and I have decided to buy some land and pay on it until financially ready to begin building our dome/earthship dream house. We want a house that is as self sufficient and energy efficient as possible. I'm pushing for the composting toilet. I have always loved composting toilets. I have Lucky Ram just about convinced. Why shit in clean water only to have to disinfect the water? Turn your poop into fertilizer and give back to the earth. And John Ashcroft comes to wield power over our gastro-intestinal systems, we can push him into the toilet (literally if it's nothing but a hole in the ground) and compost him.

Fund Code - 391: Community Partnerships for Children

ECS Literacy Programs -- Profile of Massachusetts - Community Partnerships for Children (CPC) ProgramFor those of you who don't know what CPC is.

Governor Romney's FY2004 Budget Recommendations
"Common Sense for the Commonwealth" my ass! Hey Gov. Romney! If you cut CPC from the state budget, will you provide child care for me while I finish school? I get $40 per week in CPC grant money for Lucky Lamb's day care. $40/week may be a drop in the bucket for you, maybe how much you pay in hairspray per week. But I don't use hairspray, and I don't have cable, I don't drive a fancy car. $40/week is $160-200/month. That's more than my car note. With CPC money, I still pay $440-$550/month in child care. That's more than my rent. Do you see where I'm coming from, Gov. Romney? CPC is the only state assistance our little family qualifies for. We're struggling as it is. I know that's hard to see all the way out east on Beacon Hill, in your fancy mansion. Come on out to Western Mass and see how your country mice cousins live. CPC funds our city preschools, and Lucky Little Lamb will be 4 in May, so we need those preschools, or else you're gonna have to move your HQ out here while you care for all those kids you plan to put out on the street.

Okay. Now Little Lamb likes yogurt, so be sure to have lots of it on hand. She still takes naps, generally without a lovey. She loves to paint, she likes animals, she's very curious, and she's not a biter or a hitter. I know you can do it, Gov'nah. Obviously you want a career in early childhood education, or else you wouldn't take out early childhood education money from the budget. Surely they have early childhood education in your home state of Utah. Oh yeah, you're technically a Massachusetts resident. I forgot. I think you forgot, too.

DON'T CUT CPC!!!! THAT'S NOT COMMON SENSE!

Here's a good little quizzlet for you. I wish I had time to make it up right. Instead, you'll have to do a little internet research. Go to Good Ole Google, type in Judith Holofernes and do an image search. Check out the various interpretations and ask yourself, What's my favorite Judith Beheading Holofernes image? Here's mine.

Now I am far from being a dreary, dark, person into violent and gruesome imagery and symbolism. But just like the next person (especially that next person whose wardrobe has gone through at least one phase of black on black), a little gore really can just reach out and grab me. It's the whole Italian Renaissance thing, really. It has nothing to do with a dislike of men or anything like that.

Tomorrow we celebreate the Ram's birthday. Since he's a leap year baby, he techinically doesn't get a birthday, but we'll let it slide. I made a red velvet cake with pink strawberry frosting, and decorated it with cute candy bugs, spaceships, stars, and planets. I did it in a Bundt cake pan, and I'm going to put fresh strawberries in the hole. I added twice as much butter as I was supposed to, so it should be an interesting cake. I got him a gift certificate for a one hour massage/reiki from Towner. It should go well with the money for lift tickets he's been getting. After he comes home from snowboarding he's all banged up. He took the day off and went up to Okemo today and came back with a nasty hemotoma under his big toenail.
I saw a birth yesterday!!! WoW. It was so beautiful! I got to give my first injecton to a newborn (Vitamin K) I was so nervous I went over every single minute detail with the nurse. He didn't even cry. Anyway so back to the birth. I saw the whole thing. She had no epidural or episiotomy, came in at about 8:15 and the baby was born around 8:46 or 8:53. I didn't realize how much blood there was. And I did not expect to be mesmerized by the placenta. That was so cool!!! It is definitely the kind of nursing I want to do.
Over Spring Break (I'm taking the whole week off to refresh) I think I'm going to get my tattoo finished--and I'm going to make my blast horn and gemshorn. And knit my Human Growth and Development "collage"--a knitted Parthenia. The theme of the collage has to be about what calms, centers us, or something like that. A whole week of crafting. I can't wait!

I'm wiped out. I could barely keep my eyes open at work yesterday. I went upstairs to file and found myself sitting at a desk, sneaking a snooze. It was awful. No time to rest. I had a test today in OB and I think I did pretty good on it. My instructor is still the Devil, though. Thank goodness I have an awesome clinical instructor. More later. Gotta nurse Lucky Little Lamb to sleep.

Well, it's official. If I lived in Medieval times, I'd be a Shepherd. Makes sense, I suppose.
For Valentine's Day/Profit Sharing Check Day the Ram bought a new snowboard, bindings, boots, and pants. I just ordered an Italian Renaissance Day Dress, chemise, and tie on sleeves from Peacock Design Studio I really have to hit some Renaissance Faires this summer. I've committed myself. Maybe I could even test the market for gemshorns....
Actually I got a cute little pendant with a blown glass mushroom in it. That was from Lucky Little Lamb, and Ram. I gave the Ram the drawings that Jeremy did of Ram as a mythical king and me as a green elf (with really big breasts. Well done, Jeremy!), and the really really long poem I wrote. Next Valentine's Day I think I'll do a Highwayman theme. The elf thing is getting old after two years in a row.
I got a 100 on the paper I bitched about. Whew!
My OB instructor is the Devil, but my clinical instructor kicks ass. Too much busy work. Not enough thought required. Such a shame.

Very Very Stressed Out.

This thing just ate my post!!!!!!

So long story short, maybe more details later, I'm missing out on a trip to the in-laws because I have to study. I already miss Ram and Lamb and they've only been gone an hour. I wish I had gone, too, but I have too much homework and studying to do. Woe is me. Maybe Jeremy and I will go to the movies this evening. Towner's in Virginia. We can be sad and lonely together.

Working on a dread tam, super chunky and quick. Almost done. Will post pattern later. Real easy. Must shower and get coffee and start reading.

Google Search: "noble savage" rousseau

I'm revising what I wrote earlier about the book report. I finished it and handed it in, and I'm not grumpy anymore about it....

On a less creative note (movie/TV vegetation) I broke down and got a membership to Blockbuster Video. And had a Sean Bean film fest--the ones I hadn't seen, and couldn't find a the Movie Gallery: Patriot Games (haven't finished it. High vegetation quotient), Essex Boys (nauseating, but entertaining), Anna Karenina (High swoon quotient. Wish I had time to read the book.), Bravo Two Zero (great for a war movie. Eerie given that we're on the brink of war with Iraq again. Totally grossed out when he's forced to clean shit with his hands and lick his fingers.) Which reminds me, I just got word that Frodo Has Failed!

Lucky Little Lamb is a prolific artist. She draws easily 30 pictures a week--and that's just at home. Her people are getting more sophisticated. Some of their faces show distinct emotions. She draws specific people with specific attributes. She draws Lucky Ram with a beard. She draws herself with swirls of curly hair. And she has stories about the things she draws. She drew a little girl with cat ears. She told me the girl was wearing a costume. She draws hermit crabs and turkeys and they look like hermit crabs and turkeys. We're running out of places to keep her work. All of it is so cute (and in our eyes, amazing for a 3 1/2 year old) it's hard to part with it.

During my recent meat craving I made this awesome stew. I think it freaked the Ram out how excited I was when I came home with bison. I chalk the craving up to Aunt Flo who came a few days later. Maybe I needed an iron boost. This time I had no cramps. I wonder if there's a correlation. Bison is awesome. It's much lower in fat than beef, fewer calories, and while my dark vegetarian side would disagree, it's good for ya.
White Buffalo Stew--for a big crock pot, 10-12 servings
1 c. or more carrots chopped
2 c vegetable broth or boullion
4 cans (drained) or 64 oz various white beans (white navy, cannellini, butter etc)
1/2 lb buffalo (bison), ground or stew cut, slightly browned in skillet
1 package (4) Hans All Natural chicken sausage (I used "sonoma"), browned and sliced into 1 in chunks
Broccoli, chopped, as much as you like--don't waste those stalks!
1 1/2-2 c. coarsely chopped onion, (browned, optional)
3-5 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
2 or 3 zucchini. thickly sliced
1-2 T chili powder
1 T ground cumin
2 t dried oregano
2 t paprika

Cook in the crock pot 6 hours on high or 8 hours low. Serve with brown rice, corn bread, etc.
(If you're doing Weight Watchers, this has 3.5-4 points per 1 cup serving)

The bulls' horns arrived from Moscow Hide and Fur today. Jeremy and I split a pair of 12" polished and unfinished, and I got a little 6" one to make a gemshorn for Lucky Little Lamb. I'm going to make a bigger gemshorn out of the polished one. I might make a blast horn out of the unfinished one. The dog, if given a moment alone, would chew them to pulp. The natural one kinda smells like those hooves we used to give her.

Classes start a week Monday. I'm ready to start again, but I'll miss the downtime. I wish I had knit more these past few weeks, or at least made an attempt at the spinning wheel. And there's a bag of fabric and a pattern in my car. I'll be busy this summer!

I am a fantasy knitter. I knit (and felt) things like wizard hats for everyday wear, gauntlet mittens. My hats would look good on faeries and gnomes. I interpret literature with my knitting. Sometimes I take it a little too seriously. Sometimes I don't take it seriously enough. If I wear my hat, scarf, mitten ensemble, I look like an elf--a really tall elf. When I add the green cloak, I just look ridiculous to everyone except maybe elves--elves who live where it's cold. But I'm warm, so who cares? It's 0 degrees F tonight. The elves have the right idea...Last night I finished Lucky Little Lamb's "Ollie's Ski Hat". It looks exactly like the one that Ollie wears in Elsa Beskow'sOllie's Ski Trip . All the lamb's in the flock want one. Lucky Ram even stopped gloating about his new snowboarding helmet and boots to admire the hat.
OLLIE'S SKI HAT
Ingredients: a little more or less than a skein of Lamb's Pride Bulky in Raspberry.
Needles: 10 1/5 US circular 16" and dpn's. I probably could've used 10's, and it would've been tighter but I didn't have any.
Gauge: Sorry, kids, no gauge this go'round.
Fits: Well, made to fit a preschooler who's the size of your average 5 year old, but it's supposed to be big (look at the picture of Ollie) It fits the Shepherdess with my big head o' dreads, fits the Lucky Ram with his big long haired head. One size really does fit all sometimes, I guess.

Cast on 72 sts on circs (In retrospect I could've cast on fewer sts and the hat would've been snugger. Hindsight is 20/20). Join and place marker at beg of row. Knit in 3/3 rib pattern (K3, P3) for 10-11". Decrease as follows: *K3, P3, K1, K2tog, P3, K3, P1, P2tog* rpt from * to the end.
Next round: follow new pattern (*K3, P3, K2, P3, K3, P2*)
Next round: *K3, P3, K2tog, P3, K3, P2tog*.
Next: follow new pattern (*K3, P3, K1, P3, K3, P1*)
Next: *K3, P2, K2tog, P3, K2, P2tog*. Eventually you'll have change to dpns.
For each round keep decreasing in the same manner. Just follow the pattern you're making, till you're K2tog all around. Break yarn, pull tail thru all rem sts. Make and then attach a tassel or a pom. I think Ollie's got a tassel.
Ollie's Ski Pattern copyright Parthenia. Reproduce, share, and enjoy, but please don't sell.