Season of perpetual motion

This summer seems to be going by at a breakneck pace. GoatFest was a success - we have a freezer full of vacuum sealed goat steaks and roasts, waiting for us to get the hankering to eat meat once again. I may post pictures (nothing gory) once we're back. Yes, back. We are embarking on yet another roadtrip.

This summer seems to be our season of perpetual motion. Sunday we were at the City of Rocks all day. Yesterday we recovered (somewhat). Today we scramble to get last-minute things done around the house because tomorrow we hit the road again, this time for WA.

This trip will be full of family and family events. Not too much bouncing around, but we will have a full 4th of July weekend with wedding festivities galore. I'm looking forward to seeing family, maybe getting in some climbing near Spokane, and finally making the trek back to our wedding location to see if we can find the tree we planted. Good stuff. Photos will be posted sometime...eventually...after things calm down. Say, September?

Never a dull moment

I seem to have a knack for getting myself into big projects. Stuff that I may not necessarily have the time or energy for, but which I'd really like to try - often with the excuse of "if I don't do it now, when will I get the chance again?"

Such is the case with the next impending project: The Great Backyard Goat Butchering of '09.

Yes, you read that right. Sometime soon, possibly this evening, a pair of dead goats will be delivered to our house. I will then butcher them, reducing them to pretty little piles to go in our freezer.

Why is this a big deal? Because I've never really butchered anything before. Neither has J. The closest I've come is either A) cutting up whole chickens, or B) my human anatomy/human dissection teaching experience. I think my prior experiences will be useful, but this will definitely be new for me. So I've been reading books, online articles, blog tutorials... anything I can find to figure out how to do this. I think I know by now, but I guess we'll see once the time comes. Wish me luck!

Waterplay

It began so innocently, just wanting to touch the water.

Sleeves got wet, so the jacket came off. Splashing continued.

Then the sandals came off.

Before we knew it, she was in.

She seemed to be enjoying herself, so we let her play.

One soggy kid and a change of clothes later, no one would know how much fun a toddler had just had in the CalTech Gene Pool.

Nympheaceae (water lilies)

Some photos of water lilies from a pond at CalTech.

Same photo stylized with Photoshop.

Same photo stylized with Photoshop.

Tuckered out

The after-effects of a day spent at the beach playing in sand, listening to music, and eating one messy ice cream cone.


Sometimes it's tough to be a kid.

Cali pics, part 1

In lieu of a post of substance, I present photos from our recent whirlwind trip to California.


Doodle with her Great-Grandma May. Me, 22 weeks pregnant (please ignore the blurriness and double-chin. Those really only happen in photos. Really.).


Doodle, J, and Great-Grandpa playing.


Doodle being cute, with strawberries on her face. Luring in the turtles at CalTech.


Giggling uncontrollably at Auntie H and bubbles. Group photo at the turtle pond.

The Dollar Store Dilemma...

...or, questions that arise when trying to be an ethical consumer (well, as ethical as possible).

J and I tend to put a fair amount of thought into our purchasing habits. We try not to buy cheap, expendable items when a well made, long lasting alternative is available. We consider the packaging, the manufacturing process, and how much we really need/want a given item. We avoid shopping at stores which treat their employees poorly (*cough*Walmart*cough*). We try to buy local, or at least American-made when possible. I've even stopped buying fabric at JoAnn Fabrics, where it's nearly all made in China, and switched over to a local quilting fabric store where the prices are a little higher but the fabrics are American made. I buy less, but feel better knowing more about the source of the fabrics I do buy. We try to buy from companies with good reputations for employee care, environmental concern and overall social consciousness. In short, we think a lot about where we shop, what we buy, and why. (Which makes for long, drawn-out discussions about the merits and drawbacks of gasoline companies. Anyone have insight on which gas companies are the least awful?)

So what is one to do when it comes to simple, cheap, expendable items like stickers? Doodle has started to show an interest in potty learning (primarily because her good buddy A is working on it right now). I suggested she could get a sticker when she uses the potty, as a fun little "hooray!" reward. But where to buy stickers? High quality, expensive ($4+ for 1-2 sheets), American-made stickers can be purchased at one of the big box craft stores in town. Cheaper ($2-3 for 2 sheets), run of the mill made in China stickers can be found at the grocery store down the street. The same cheap, made in China stickers can probably be found at the dollar store for $1. What do I do?

I'd rather buy American, but don't feel like scrapbooky, archival quality stickers are really necessary for potty rewards. Plus we're grad students, so it feels ridiculously frivilous to spend $4+ on some stickers that will be promptly forgotten or discarded. So that leaves made in China, where the work conditions are unknown, and the same goes for environmental concerns (plus the darn stickers came all the way from China. Talk about a carbon footprint!). Do I buy them at the local grocery store for a markup, or go to the Dollar Store?

I know many people have no qualms about the Dollar Store. Maybe I'm just silly or overthinking things. But to me it feels like shopping there is further supporting the exploitation of cheap labor and lax environmental policies for the production of crappy, disposable goods. It makes me feel all icky inside. So I haven't shopped at one in quite a while. BUT back to my question: if the very same stickers are available at the local grocery store and at the Dollar Store, and we're a pair of far-from-rich grad students, what do we do? Do we support the Dollar Store (thereby supporting unfair labor practices abroad) by shopping there, but get a good price on some stickers for Doodle? Or do we support the local grocery store by paying more for the same stickers, and pat ourselves on the back for only kinda supporting cheap labor practices in China?

Or do we bag the sticker idea all together and, being the hippies we are, give her handmade clover-headbands from the front yard instead?

Really, what do you think? I want to know. What would you do?