McCondoms

The blogosphere is abuzz about Planned Parenthood's new John McCain condoms. Planned Parenthood is giving out 700 POUNDS of these condoms at the Democratic National Convention. I think this is awesome. McCain is scarily out of touch when it comes to reproductive health and reproductive rights. More people need to know this. And what better way to get the word out than on the bright pink package of a condom? It's brilliant.

If you're wondering what all "10 things everyone should know about John McCain" are, go here. She has them all listed. Scary stuff. We do not need reproductive health policies like McCain's. We need change.

School's out for summer!

It's true - I'm done with teaching for the summer. No more pencils, no more books, no more students' dirty looks... Okay, I'm done singing. I taught my four lab sections of human reproduction and contraceptives this week - to a receptive audience of a whopping 16 total students. Woohoo! Hey, every bit counts, right? At least I got a lot of practice saying "vaginal" and "cervical" and "intercourse" over and over and over. Good times.

I also had the privilege of proctoring the Human Anatomy final at 7:30 this morning. Ugh. Fortunately I was able to work on grading with the instructor and another TA, and we finished grading all of the exams by noon! Hooray! I really am done...until Aug. 25th when fall semester starts.

Wait. Where did my summer go?!

Yep, it's flying. Such is life.

Tomorrow we're planning on hitting the gardener's market, hoping to score a bigger bed at a friend's yard sale (!!!), and packing up for our trip to the Tetons. Sunday we depart on our trip. Monday J & FunEllen take a climbing class while Doodle and I explore the park (plus a possible trip into Jackson with hopes of some sweet thrift store finds). Tuesday we play. Wednesday more Teton playing, plus probably heading back to Logan. Thursday it's back to the grind, with some political action to boot. It's looking to be a busy week, but a good one. Have a great weekend!

Roundup

Wow, life is busy right now. Here's a quick recap of the past week, and a glimpse into the future:

• My mom came to town on Wednesday last week. We loved having her here. Doodle got to play with her a bunch, and calls her "Gaa". We took mom hiking at Tony Grove (the wildflowers are awesome right now), climbing at Fucoidal Quartzite (OMG, I actually got to climb too!) and climbing at Rock Haus. Throw in a LLL meeting, a trip to the gardener's market, and playing at the park while I had a dress rehearsal and it was a busy few days for all. We had a blast.
• Mom was also here for my bellydance show, in which she got to see my first duet! It went really well. I had fun, my troupe did pretty well, and our duet rocked. I am so happy with how it went. Oh, and Doodle was a big hit - she was dancing with her play silk and getting a lot of attention during the performances. I think she loved it.
  
• This Thursday is Pioneer Day. (sidenote for which J deserves credit: why is Pioneer Day celebrated as such a patriotic holiday now? The Pioneers whom are being celebrated moved out here to get away from the United States gov't. Anyways...) State Holiday = Parades and Fireworks. Which, in J&K(&C) land = riding on floats and conducting voter registration drives. If you are either A) a supporter of the Cache Democrats, B) a supporter of Breastfeeding, or C) just want to ride on a float, let us know. J and I have ins with the Cache Dems and La Leche League, both of whom will have floats in the Logan parade. Yeehaw!
• With the above-mention of floats comes float decoration and prep. Tomorrow night I get to help decorate the LLL float. Sadly, I doubt we'll have giant papier maché boobies on the float, nor will said boobies have fountains pouring from them. We're shooting for modesty here, folks. Yes, the pioneers breastfed. But I doubt they would have flaunted it with big hooters on their wagons. And so, we go simple. It'll still be fun. I'll take pics.
  
• The next big thing in my forseeable future is my sex-ed teaching assignment. This is a visiting-lecturer position I was offered for one week in the Human Physiology class. They have one lab (4 sections) in which they talk about contraceptives, reproduction and birth. I was asked to be the instructor this semester. YAYYYYYYY!!! I know it's weird, but I'm really excited to teach this unit. Most of these students have never had a formal sex-ed class, or if they have it was heavily abstinence-based. Now that a lot of them are married or thinking about it, they NEED this info. And no one gives it to them. Enter...ME! I get to talk about the different forms of contraception on the market, and the risks associated with each. I also get to talk about the female cycle (when ovulation happens, changes related to fertility, that sort of thing), and birth. The #1 thing I'm hoping the students take away is simply to ask questions, and do research. I hope I can instill in them the importance of finding out for themselves what's right for them, and not blindly accepting things without looking at the fine print when it comes to their reproductive health. I'm hoping for the best. Wish me luck!