A Killer in Our Midsts

I've been informed repeatedly that now that we're having a baby, I will likely turn into a Republican. I thought it was in jest, but yesterday I had my first inkling that I was turning into a different person.

I murdered a burrow of baby bunnies.

Smartie had uncovered them while mowing the lawn - a weird piece of fluff like cobwebs right in the middle of our backyard. I was planting in the garden when he called me over to ask if I thought the ground was moving. Bringing back a stick, I began poking the area, dislodging more and more fuzz.

And there they were.

Wriggling and tiny, but old enough to have fur, we spent a few minutes debating whether they were mice or rabbits. Although it seemed easier when I thought they were mice, I knew what I had to do...

I sent Smartie to get a trash bag from the garage, and pulled out each baby bunny by the back of the neck - all eight of them. There was no woods nearby we could take them to, and at that age, they wouldn't have lasted very long without the mother.

I tied the bag up and put it in the trash bin, just like I had watched my grandfather do 20 years earlier when he showed me the baby bunny burrow he had found in his yard. As a child I cried, and called him Mr. McGregor. Other than having seen my great grandfather pull the head off a snapping turtle with a pair of pliers because they infested the lake and I happened to be lucky enough to catch one, I had considered the bunny murders to be the greatest single act of animal cruelty I had every experienced.

Now, here I was, doing it for myself.

I'm not proud of my actions, but it was them or me. Or, more correctly, them or my tomatoes. In the end, though I cried as much now as I did when I was a kid, I regret nothing.

Call me Mrs. McGregor.

Christian Rap Group Brings About Bipartisanship

A PLHS teacher said she heard two students - one who typically expresses left wing views and one whose beliefs are usually more right wing - agree about the controversial program. They both felt that, whatever anyone believes, school was not the place for this religion-based discussion on morals.

Read about the whole program...

Of course, now that it's over, no one wants to be associated with it:

Walker, Brainerd, Crosby, Little Falls and Nevis are some of the cities mentioned on the list. When 10 long-time faculty and staff members at Walker-Hackensack-Akeley School in Walker were asked about the program and the band, however, all responded that they've never heard of them before.

Nevis High School administrative assistant Sharon Hadrava said in a phone interview Monday that they had never heard of them either.

"I've been principal for the last five years and taught in the district for 18 years before that," said Jim Christenson, Crosby-Ironton High School principal, said Monday. "I don't remember this program coming to our schools." In fact, Christenson said, because of cost concerns the school looks mostly for free programs.

Hello Ladies

It's been awhile...

"The problem is," says Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Director and Senior Fellow of Concerned Women for America's (CWA) Beverly LaHaye Institute, "warnings about abstinence programs fly in the face of their concern about teens' well-being. During the heyday of condom-based programs, the rates of teen sexual activity, teen births and teen abortions grew. With the wider use of abstinence programs, all the trends have reversed direction and are going down. This reversal of trends in teen sexual activity, births and abortions is a remarkable achievement that the NCPTP ought to be celebrating. Further, the successes of the abstinence programs ought to be acknowledged, and teens should be encouraged to commit to abstinence. Could it be that business goals take precedence over the best interest of the teens they are supposed to serve?"[my bold]

ummm, isn't this the exact opposite of everything the studies have been saying?

I'd Write the Star Tribune a Letter, But Apparently I'm Too Stupid...

The first thing (sometimes the only thing) I read in the Star Tribune every Sunday is the Money and Business section. It's a habit I got into during the days working in outplacement, trying to find companies that were laying off or hiring, or tips for displaced executives. It became even more of a habit once I got into the investment banking industry. Now, I get up on Sunday and my husband gives me the section right away with a, "Here, I know this section makes you happy."

Last week, business writer Kara McGuire wrote an article on women not knowing anything about personal finance. It was an obvious Mother's Day tie in, and I have to assume more of an assignment than honest opinion, based on the posts she runs in her blog, of which I am a huge fan.

But the "why can't women count?" theme seems to be a new one to the Sunday Business section. This week, guest columnist Gene Walden writes an article that I guess he just assumes I, and every other women reader, was just planning on skipping over.

Women who become involved in investing have proved to be very astute. But generally speaking, women are not exactly pounding down the doors.

"In most cases, married women still want to delegate their finances to their husbands," said Paula Kozlowski, a regional vice president of Van Kampen Funds.

"Only about 15 percent of women who are married or live with a significant other feel responsible for planning for their financial future," added Peg Chromy Webb, a senior vice president with Wealth Enhancement Group in Wayzata. "The other 85 percent prefer to have someone else do it for them. It's not a priority for them as it is for men."

So perhaps I'm just part of this 15%. Does that mean that they still think that audience isn't reading the paper?

My guess is yes.

Things to do for your wife

• Find a financial adviser she likes.

• Put together a list of all of your accounts, policies, contact people, phone numbers, Web addresses, PINs and passwords.

• Involve her in the investment process, even if it takes a little arm-twisting.

And, finally, my favorite:

• Ask her to read this article -- but don't be surprised if she won't.

Things are moved

In order to separate my personal life from my political life, all posts about our pregnancy will be moved to this site. All of my family, friends and well-wishers who read this blog are welcome to come and read over there. For those who are instead hoping for fodder to score points, I ask that you please respect this attempt to draw a line between the two and not cross over. My family is quite spread out, and this new site is an attempt to keep them as involved as possible, not a forum for discussing issues of choice. There will be no politics in the new site.

I thank you in advance for allowing the new site to be both private and respectful.

Buddha Update

Just got back from my first real exam, since my clinic won't set you up with a Doctor until you have an actual due date, which for us didn't happen until the ultrasound.

I think that part of the reason they hold off until you're so far along is because of the lovely gifts. I now have my first diaper bag, filled with baby mags, formula, baby wipes, tester diapers and some really gross pregnant woman stuff I don't want to talk about yet. I feel a little guilty that I get all of this for free when I can really go out and get most of it myself, so I might donate the gifts to a woman's shelter, although I may keep the diaper bag, as it's the only black one I've seen, and it comes with a water bottle holder.

My new Doctor makes me feel much better about the clinic, and I have an actual schedule for appointments now that makes me feel less adrift.

Best of all, I got to hear the little dude's heartbeat.

I was told before he brought out the doppler that at this point there was only a 50% chance you could hear it, but once we got the right spot it practically knocked the door open.

So for those who are curious - I'm pretty sure the baby has a heart.

Back to the real world

After days and days where the most difficult thing I had to do was get down to a hut early enough to reserve a good spot on the beach, I'm now back in the real world. Cancun had no cell coverage, and internet was 1.50 US a minute, so I spent the entire time cut off from all news, blogs and people. We woke up, we ate, we lounged on the beach, we read, we swam, we ate. The bartenders started out very confused that I wasn't ordering booze, thinking they were mistranslating me, but by the end I was the club soda and lime girl, and life was good.

Here's what our view was like most of the day.


I will make one small complaint about airlines. Okay, two complaints. 1) Why do they refuse to book people who buy tickets together seats next to each other on the plane? Smartie and I were separate on both flights on the way out, and everyone around us was split up on both flights on the way back. And 2) if you are going to gut your airplanes and remodel them to remove most of the leg room, please replace the seats with ones that don't recline. You already have your legs jammed in the back of their chair, do you really need their head in your chest as well?

At this point, I have now logged 6500 miles of air travel, all in the first trimester. And I only threw up on the plane once. I should get a medal.

Blog closed

in cancun

Odd

and here I always assumed Mitch didn't have a Clu.

(sorry, couldn't resist punning opportunity.)

Hello IowaIndy!

Here's why I've been in Iowa so much the last few months

Welcoming the Buddha

The little one appears to have a big head like daddy, and a propensity for sitting with his/her feet together like s/he's doing the lotus position in yoga. Heartrate is 172, and s/he spent most of his/her time on the monitor wiggling for us.

Already going out to buy this onesie...and likely many more before December 2nd.

Some quotes from the most feminist person he knows

I won’t forget your pic on Match.
I won’t forget you - I’m quite a catch!
I will not eat crow here or there.
I will not eat crow anywhere.
I do not take rejection well,
I won’t forget you, Girl-From-Hell!

or

I was on a panel with a cute-as-a-bug twentysomething named Erica, from some anti-war organization... The message seemed to be “My ends justify my means!”, delivered in a perky chirp with just a tinge of Valleygirl.

or

And has anyone shown that male apples and female apples - people with the same training, experience and time on the job - aren’t paid the same?

No.

and by the way, yes they have...

Washington – New research released today by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation shows that just one year out of college, women working full time already earn less than their male colleagues, even when they work in the same field. Ten years after graduation, the pay gap widens.

In the report, Behind the Pay Gap, the AAUW Educational Foundation found that just one year after college graduation, women earn only 80 percent of what their male counterparts earn. Ten years after graduation, women fall further behind, earning only 69 percent of what men earn. Even after controlling for hours, occupation, parenthood, and other factors known to affect earnings, the research indicates that one-quarter of the pay gap remains unexplained and is likely due to sex discrimination. Over time, the unexplained portion of the pay gap grows.

Happy Mayday

No, this isn't a labor post, it's a personal post. I've been feeling very personal lately, and it's likely going to get worse.

Two years and a day ago, Smartie and I gathered our closest family, wandered out to a cabin in the woods, and got married in the snow at sunset on the wraparound balcony of a cabin. Later, after the clock has struck midnight and pagan fires were burning, we performed a second ceremony with our friends (after all, we figured, you can never have too many gods smiling on your wedding).

Happy Mayday, everyone, and may you all be as happy as we've been.