Plastic World

My cousin showed me this link the other day. I didn't get to watch it until this morning. But oh my, it is scary and it hits home especially for me. I can't talk about why right now, but in February I will explain. If you have a boy, watch this video.

Stinx' New Trick

So this is Stinx favorite new trick. Putting a cracker on his nose. I like it. And surprisingly it doesn't fall off easily. This is because he inherited his Dad's cute round Asian nose and not my sharp pointy British nose.

Zoo outing

The day before last Dad told me it was going to be a balmy 8 degrees Celsius. Right away I knew I wanted to take Stinx to the zoo. When I checked the forecast that night, it said the high was supposed to be -4 instead. I decided we'd still go since we hadn't been in awhile. So yesterday morning I bundled Stinx up very warmly. He wore a pair of babylegs, lined pants, a onsie, a sweater, his jacket, his Robeez boots, his Stonz boots over top, a toque, mitts, and he had his hood up.

For those of you not from my neck of the woods, this is a view of the river from the Zoo bridge.

When we got in the car the news radio said the temperature was -13. Oh my! Well we had a blast being the only people there at 9am. We got to see the elephants swimming in their pool and then having a snack. We got a really nice view of the Gorillas and the baby one playing. Stinx even got to visit 2 tortoises. One of which wanted to sniff his boots (and mine). It was a good time. It had snowed a little bit so I decided to carry Stinx for the first part of the trip. I realized we don't have any pics of him in the ToddlerHawk. And those are fond memories I know I'll want pics of when he is older. So we took a shot while in the Australian exhibit (at least I think that's what its called). Notice the cute little creature on the bottom right. I totally meant to remember it's name but of course my memory is lacking (which is why I will need pics of Stinx in the ToddlerHawk).

Straight Edge

So I thought I'd do a post on Straight Edge. I know some people don't know what it means, or don't understand why someone would choose this "lifestyle", so I thought I'd do some explaining.

Wikipedia defintion: "Straight Edge refers to a lifestyle that started within the hardcore punk subculture whose adherents make a commitment to refrain from drinking alcohol, using tobacco products, and using recreational drugs. The term was coined by the 1980s hardcore punk band Minor Threat in the song "Straight Edge".[1]"

When I was 14 I had a punk rock pen pal named Anna. She was the first person to introduce me to the term "straight edge". I thought it sounded pretty cool, and it was the path I had just recently chosen. In my rough tough junior high school years I liked to smoke cigarettes and tried out pot. I know, what a hooligan. It wasn't until after a really bad Friday night where I had chosen to smoke up like 5 times and made myself incredibly sick, sleeping next to a friend in tiny bed in an acquittance's house, that I decided I would NEVER EVER do drugs again. And so, since that awful night, I have kept my promise to myself. The next morning I even vowed to quit smoking. Because ya know, at 14 I was such a chain smoker. About a month later, after a Rancid concert, I quit smoking. I never seemed to be out with my friends when they'd try drinking. One time, I remember my two best friends going out one night and getting drunk, I was sooo jealous. But soon I realized that wasn't what I wanted.

One of these best friends of mine was actually the child of 2 alcoholics. Fortunately for her, she didn't end up drinking much. In high school I strayed away from the drinking crowd, for the most part, my social life including going to either youth group or punk shows. And the more I went to punk shows, the more I got to know about straight edge. I didn't like labels and I didn't want to be called "straight edge", so when people asked me for smokes I'd jokingly say "I'm Straight Edge, Hahahahaha". It was true, but I didn't want to seriously use the term.

The more I thought about it, the more reasons I had not to drink, smoke or use drugs. Now, before I share them with you, I want you to know that I don't judge other people for their lifestyle choices. I am just simply explaining why I have chosen to be straight edge. I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty or judged. Almost all of my friends drink socially, I have friends who smoke and i have friends who are addicts. To each their own.

One of the reasons was that I had witnessed plenty of peoples lives being ruined by substances. The best friend I spoke of earlier, her Father passed away when I was 14 years old. His liver failed. Her mother, who is recently sober (3 months plus! Whoo hoo!) struggled with this awful addiction for years. She missed so much of her daughters life. Watching my best friend since grade 1 struggle with a parent being an addict taught me a life lesson.

Addictions run in my families(Both sides). This was probably my biggest reason for choosing straight edge. Because this is the Internet and my mom reads this (Hi Mom!) I won't publicly share all the people in my family who are or were addicts (alcohol and drugs). But lets just say I have personally experienced the effects of other peoples substance abuse.

Thirdly, I just couldn't agree to supporting an industry that destroys people and their lives. Even back in high school I thought of it this way. Why should I drink a substance that has destroyed my best friends hope for a happy life? [Just want to say my friend is an amazingly strong person who is living an amazing life! I believe that is God's hand on her]. Or people in my extended family? It destroys people and their families. Now of course I know that not everyone who drinks becomes an alcoholic, and not everyone who uses drugs, like pot, become an addict. But it doesn't matter to me. Why would I purchase and support an industry like that? I just don't think beer companies need my money. I'd rather it go to other places and things.

One other reason does bring in my faith. I just don't feel that living any other way is what God wanted for me personally. I like to think that God chose this for me, maybe protecting me from what could have been my own addiction.

It wasn't until after high school that I actually started calling myself Straight Edge. Maybe it had something to do with all my old pals taking up drinking because they were legal age.. Ya know, all the sober friends I had, turned into party'ers. Maybe it had something to do with my current husband and how he had recently chosen not to drink. Maybe we took up the X together. I don't know.

Dad had joined a punk band and somehow convinced all the guys to be SXE. I laugh about this now, but it really just shows how passionate Dad is about the things he believes. It didn't take much convincing either because all the guys in the band were under 18! haha. Dad was 21-ish. So it became a SXE band. They were terrible! Dad was the singer and I couldn't stand his wanna-be Underoath vocals. But if I get into Dad and his bands I might be here all day. So anyways, after the band broke up and our friends graduated high school, slowly but surely they all broke edge. Our circle of friends became less straight edge. Legal age and college tends to do that. Dad and I didn't care, and still don't care that our friends "broke" edge. It doesn't matter because my edge isn't dependant on anyone else. It's just a choice I've made for myself.

And actually Dad and I were discussing straight edge etiquette last night. When his friends come over they often bring their beer with them (they're usually watching football). I've always been okay with it, and I really don't mind... but I do think that its bad etiquette. And before Stinx was around Dad and I would go to pubs and occasionally bars. It doesn't bother us to be around people drinking. It just seems a little rude to bring beer to a SXE persons home. To me, it's like bringing a hamburger over to a vegan's house. Even though your not offering or making your vegan friend eat the hamburger, it's a little rude, people just don't do that. I don't know, maybe its just me. And like I said, I don't really care. If it bothered me, it wouldn't happen. And I like to think I am a pretty laid back person and that's why I don't care if people drink at my place.

Ok and I know this is long enough already but I just want to add the other major reason for my choice. When I was 20 years old I got a job at a homeless shelter. It was at the shelter where I really saw first hand, the real problems with drugs and alcohol. Sure, I'd seen it in my own life, and my friends lives, but this was just on a whole other level. The shelter job really opened up my eyes. Working with addicts just reinforced why I am straight edge. And the fact is, i am drawn to addicts. Maybe its because my life is so different from theirs, or maybe I am just drawn to their life stories. Most of the time there is a painful experience behind an addiction.

Ok. Sorry this was so drawn out.. Just my thoughts and an explanation to those who were curious.

Still Sleeping

I put Stinx down for a nap at noon. It's 3pm. He's still sleeping. What in the world is going on? Naps like this are very unusual around here. I mean, he was up at 5:30am, but that's not totally uncommon. It's definitely time to wake him up though - otherwise he'll be wanting to go to bed at 10pm. So alas, I am off to wake my sleeping beauty.

The Diaper Sprayer

When Dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas I told him I'd love a diaper sprayer. My friend S. has recommended one to me from the beginning of my cloth diaper journey (summer 2008). She swears by hers. So that was my request to Dad and he fulfilled my wish! He got me the Bum Genius diaper sprayer. Stinx has some nasty diapers once in awhile and this will definitely help getting the "poo" off. I'm also hoping that by spraying the left over poo (the stuff that doesn't drop into the toilet) there will be less chance of stains. I've been able to use the sprayer a couple times so far and I have to say I am really impressed. I was a little concerned with how the pressure would be - but seriously, that thing has power. I have to be careful I don't spray myself. LOL. Now I'm interested to see if this will help tackle any stain issues.

2009 Goals

I've been putting off this first post of 2009. I've been trying to compile my new year's resolutions. Heres what I have come up with so far:

• Treat people the way I would like to be treated
• Go to the gym once a week
• Try to use the cloth diapers 100% of the time
• Blog more
• Bake more often (and cook too)
• Take better care of my plants

Then there was the "I hope this happens" list. Things I hope are accomplished by the end of 2009:

a) Be very very pregnant

b) Have Stinx graduated from diapers

c) Have Stinx weaned

And B and C are mostly because of a A. If I have another baby either at the end of 2009 or begining of 2010, I would really like Stinx to be using the toilet. We've been part time EC'ing for a few months and we've made progress. I figure if I actually put more effort in, and commit to it, Stinx could very well be graduated by the end of the year (and perhaps sooner!). As for C, I am in no rush. Stinx is 22 months currently and I'm happy with our nursing relationship at the moment. But C is on the list because of A. If I'm pregger's, I want to have Stinx weaned by the time baby comes - simply because I don't want to tandem nurse.

So it will be interesting to see what happens with my resolutions/goals. Especially since I have no control conceiving a baby! Meh. If it doesn't happen right when I want it to, it buys Stinx more nursing time! :P

And I just noticed that Sleeping Through The Night is no where to be found. Surely, I have let go of my sleep obsession. LOL. I know that a year ago my biggest hope for 2008 was a whole lot of STTN. Haha. While Stinx did STTN quite a bit in 2008, it wasn't nearly as often as I had hoped for.