Six things they don't tell you:

1) When you become the primary caregiver to a young child, you are no longer allowed to go to the bathroom alone.  It's true, I swear.  Mom and I take care of my one-year-old niece for at least twelve hours a day, four days a week.  As "Gramma" and "Ehn"  (That's her only name for me so far... a point and a "ehn!"  I want a real name.  Really, I do.)  Evie follows us everywhere... including into the bathroom.  Mom knew--she said that she wasn't allowed to pee with the bathroom door closed for years--but nobody ever told me that.  When I worked in daycare, I could usually manage to get away long enough to use the bathroom all by myself... but it doesn't work like that anymore!

2)  When time to cook rolls around, you sometimes feel like telling people that if they want to eat, there are cans of veggies in the cupboard and they can knock themselves out.  Yeah.  You get absolutely fed up with cooking and dishes, so much so that you'd rather skip dinner and every other meal in between, just so that you don't have to do it.

3) If you've been chasing the baby around the house all day, and the baby is currently sitting quietly on the floor and ripping up a book, you'll let them do it for the simple fact that for five minutes, they're quiet and not doing something that can lead to death, dismemberment, and/or other bodily harm.

4) Baby gates are like waving a red flag in front  of a bull.  Last week, our central air conditioner was broken.  Now, this is Georgia, where central aid conditioning is a necessity.  Before we moved in, the carport had been converted into an extra room and a window air conditioner had been installed in it.  To keep the house at a decent temperature, we had it going full blast and both doors open to the kitchen.  Since the room isn't baby proofed, we had the harder-to-get-to door blocked off with a ladder, and the other secured with a baby gate.  Evie spent the majority of the week doing her best to get into that room.  Why?  It was blocked off with a baby gate.  I usually have the hallway leading to the bathroom blocked off by that gate.  Whenever it's up, it becones Evie's favorite place to play.  She hauls her toys and books over there and stations herself right in front of it...

5)  No matter how many times I use a baby wipe to clean off the baby's face, she still has to lick it to see if it tastes better this time.  This holds for food that she doesn't like, too.  The only thing this doesn't hold true for is guacamole.  Anything else, she has to have some just to prove that it still doesn't taste good.

6) What you have is better than what I have.  I should have realized this.  It just didn't occur to me.  Okay, we've just fed the baby.  She's had a whole jar of the stage three organic Gerber baby food (we got a lot of them for $0.40 a jar) and a jar of stage two fruit and half a sippy cup full of whole milk.  She's full.  I know she is.  If I go get a sandwich, she has to have some of it.  Every time.  And some of Mom's.  If I have milk and she has milk, she won't drink hers because she wants mine.  If we're having something like macaroni and cheese for dinner, it doesn't matter that she has some that's just like mine only cooled off, she wants mine because it's apparently better.

I'm sure, that as time marches on, I'll learn more things that I've never been told, but are true.  Sometimes, I wonder who, exactly, is doing the raising here, me, Mom, and her parents, or Evie herself.

Boys, you might wanna turn your heads and forego reading this.  Girls, y'all are gonna think me crazy.  It started yesterday.  My sister put the gas can in the baby's car seat and spilled gas on it, so I had to find out how to remove the cover to wash it. Now, because I bought it at a yard sale, it didn't come with instructions, so I had no idea how to get it off.  I ran an internet search and found a blog with directions on how to remove it.  Well, I liked the writing style, so I surfed the blog a bit and found an entry on... get this.... wait for it... reusable, cloth menstrual pads.

The idea interested me, so I started doing some research.  And the more I've read, the more sense it makes to me.  I mean, why should I shell out the money for something I'm going to use once and throw away?  I don't do it for paper towels, why in the world should I do it for sanitary supplies?  It appeals to my redneck sensibilities--"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."  We try not to waste much of anything.  Can't afford to.  I mean, I live in a household in which we save leftover veggies from dinner, freeze them, and then chuck them into casseroles later on.  I make quilts out of fabric scraps that are too big to get rid of, but too small to use to make clothing.

I checked out all the 'brands' of commercially available ones and tossed my cookies over the price.  No way am I buying them.  I mean, $40 for six?  Sure, I can get years of use out of them, but considering my stash, I can make 'em myself for less!  And, well, if I make them myself, I can easily customize them for my own needs. 

Now, I know some of you are not only thinking that I'm nuts, but are squicked by the idea.  A few years ago, I might've agreed with you.  But, well, lymphatic fluid is yuckier and smells worse.  And I don't have a choice of dealing with that when I have an episode.  I've also heard about the Diva Cup and such (alternatives to tampons) but, well, I'm not all that fond of tampons to start with, so I don't think I'll be trying that. 

The pads, though...  It hasn't escaped my notice that something like them would be absolutely fantastic for 72 hour emergency kits.  And the year's supply that we LDS people are supposed to be accumulating.  (It's for emergency use...  lots of people use it for things like natural disasters, loss of job, etc...)  My younger sister thinks I've lost it.  My mom loves the idea and promised to help make them.  She says that if she still needed such things, she'd want 'em, too.  (She had a complete hysterectomy because of her cancer... which is still in remission.)  My older sister, well...  If this works for me, we're making her some, embroidering her initials on 'em so she can't take mine and says they're hers, and informing her that we're not buying disposable anymore.  See, my older sister is autistic.  She has Asperger's syndrome.  She'll never leave home and we'll always have to take care of her.  So, anyway, as mean as this sounds, if this works, we're taking the decision out of her hands.  I hope it works.  If it does, the whole issue of her flushing tampons and potentially ruining our septic system will be null and void.

Some people use the reusies because they're more environmentally friendly.  Not me.  I mean, it's nice and all that they're not going to take up landfill space.  Me, I found lots of people claiming that they're more comfortable, and I like that.  But what I like more is the idea of saving our scraped-together pennies for other things.  Like craft supplies, maybe.  Who knows?  Maybe I'll make sets for my sister-in-law and my best friend/sister if they like the idea.  I do.  And I can sew.  And I know how to machine quilt.

I haven't posted since February?  Wow.  I am a bad blogger!  I'm writing again, but not much and not fast.  I never realized how hard it would be to find non-exhausted time to write when there's a baby in the house.  My little elephant child is getting into everything since she started walking last month.  I've also been sewing like mad, preparing for the birth of my new niece, who is my best friend's baby-on-the-way.  LeLe, my best friend, has had a difficult pregnancy and been on bed rest for the past three months.  Andrea is due at the end of July, so she could be born at any time now.  I can't wait to meet her!  I made her a quilt and a few dresses, and as soon as I meet her and know how big she is, I'll make more.  I have a lovely pattern (a re-released vintage) of baby clothes that I'm dying to make.  It's Simplicity 2629.  Gorgeous, isn't it?  I also made a shopping cart cover and I'm almost finished slipcovering the cushions on LeLe's glider.  It needed it!  At four to five years old, the cushions are starting to look pretty shabby and a mite stained. I found some pretty butterfly fabric to match the nursery to make the slipcovers out of.  I did the top and seat cushions, now I just need to recover the sides.  No pattern for the sides, unfortunately.

I also made some reversible criss-cross dresses for Evie.  One had two different yellow bumblebee fabrics, and the other has cherries on one side and red, white, and blue stars on the other.  And of course, I made the matching hat and panties, which were reversible, too.  She looks adorable in them!  I'll put up some pictures, later.   That is, if her Mommy sends one of them for her to wear.   And post the beginning of yet another crossover, and hopefully more of Underhill, Overhill.

Evie isn't going to like me for a while, because in general, babies don't like changes in their people.  See, I got my hair cut.  Twelve inches whacked off all at once.  And no, I'm not bald, but going from hair that went a little past my waist to shoulder length is a big change.  I donated all that hair to Locks of Love, too.  I honestly didn't think I had enough, but they asked if I wanted to, and cut my hair for free.  It's odd braiding my hair at the moment, because I'm missing so much of it.  I mean, I got used to wearing braids as an art major, and I've just kept it up.  My braids were Evie's favorite handles and chew toys, but they're not long enough for that anymore.    Hair grows, though.  I mean, I hadn't cut it in three or four years before yesterday.  I hate to think how she's gonna react when I get new glasses...

I know, I know.  Y'all want more of Midnight Watch.  I'm afraid I've posted just about everything I've written.  After spending my days taking care of my adorable niece, I'm afraid I just don't have much energy for writing these days.  So yet again, I present the beginning of a rabid plot bunny that's been biting at my ankles.  Hm... perhaps they're responsible for this latest lymphatic incident! ;)  Yes!  The sores on my legs are the plot bunnies' fault!

Inverted Parallax

by Bratling

 

 

( Read more... )

A Second Chance

by BrightFeather

 

Disclaimer: Not mine.  I own neither Harry Potter nor Lord of the Rings.

 

Author's Note: This won't leave me alone, so I'm writing it down.  Take Harry Potter, cross it with Lord of the Rings, toss in some folklore, and stir well.  I think this mainly came out of the fact that there were few LOTR stories that crossed it so that it made sense.  In most of them, he just magically appears in Middle Earth without a concrete, logical explanation as to why and how.  In a lot of them, he also becomes an elfling, and is deaged, but retains his adult patterns of thinking.  This doesn't really work, simply because children's brains work differently from adults, and a seventeen-year-old (or older) human wouldn't have the same kinds of thought patterns as an elfling of similar age.   I wanted to read one that did make sense, but couldn't find one.  So, a plotbunny jumped up, made itself known, and now won't leave.  I hope you like this... my attempt at a fairly logical, post-war, elfling Harry...

I'm also uncertain if I should continue this.

 

~*~*~*~

 

 

( Read more... )

Thanksgiving wasn't a woman's idea.  I mean, all the men had to do was kill the turkey.  Nowadays, they sit on their butts and watch football.  We women, OTOH, spend the entire week working in drips and drabs on things that can be made ahead of time, and then the whole day of Thanksgiving in the kitchen cooking.  And to top if off, we also spend a good deal of the week doing another spring cleaning so that guests don't find dirt anywhere.  All this so that people can stuff their faces and fall asleep in front of a game that most woment haven't a clue about and couldn't really care less about.

I'm tired.  We've been minding Evie all day, and cooking while she's been asleep.  We still have stuffing, fruit salad, and pies to make, not to mention all the things that have to be crammed into the oven tomorrow.  The turkey is in the brine--I just have to cook it tomorrow after stuffing it full of orange pieces, lemon, garlic, onion, and herbs before dousing it with olive oil and more herbs.  I swear, we mostly do this big production for my grandmother.  If it weren't for her insistence, we'd probably be roasting a couple chickens. Much, much easier and less time consuming.

My left leg is leaking.  I slept in bandaging last night, because I found a scratch that Elaine's dog probably gave me when he jumped up on my legs to lick me.  It's mostly scabbed, but lymph fluid is now leaking out.  Joy of joys.    To make matters worse, I caught my niece's cold, so my nose is all stuffed up.  Not that it's a surprise.  Evie is a sweetie, but being a kid, she's a germ factory.  We have her all the time now, rather than every other week. 

Anyway, I'm going to have to be wrapping at night and compression stockings during the day now.  At least until I heal, and probably the stockings during the day after that.  I've got to restart therapy, too.  I've let it slide in the past few months.  Bad me.  I just kinda get busy and forget, which isn't a good thing.

I've been really busy lately, and haven't been writing.  While I had pictures of Jeron, I didn't have pictures of Evie!  I do now!  So here's a few pictures of the sweetie who's been occupying some of my time lately.  Isn't she adorable?
( Take a look... )

Another idea that came to me and wouldn't leave me be.

Lost Children
By Bratling
 

Disclaimer: Not mine.  I hugged them, squeezed them, called them George, then gave them back like a good girl.  Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Books, and Paramount Pictures.

 

Author's Note:  This is massively AU.  I don't intend for it to be all that long because I have two epic-length WIPs already, but it just won't leave me alone.  I tried to avoid writing it, but the bunnies have been nipping at my heels.  Forget most of canon; this is a world in which the Chamber was never opened, Myrtle grew up, Tom never created any horcruxes, and Voldemort never rose.  Instead, he was rescued from the orphanage by Dumbledore before he learned how to use his magic to hurt people and raised by wizards.  There is no Boy-Who-Lived in this world.  The last great war was WWII with Grindelwald.  In some ways, this is an easier world than the canon universe, but in other ways, it's harder because anything 'dark' is viewed with almost a phobia.  No Slash.  YMMV.

 

 

I don't actually know if I'll continue this.  It's just a plot bunny that reared its ugly head and wouldn't leave me be.

I'm almost an aunt again! My niece will be born either today or tomorrow, as my sister-in-law is in labor and dilated three centimeters.

Once again, I am reminded of why I hate Fiction Alley.  They pointed out about ten errors in a 10,000 word document and sent it back.  Thing is, the "grammatical errors" are only errors using certain systems.  And I've found FA documents that didn't have a grammatically correct sentence in them, so why are they picking on me?  It happened with For Duty and Honor, too!  Heck, I gave up posting there because of differences with their idiotic beta staff!  They're inconsistent and infuriating! 

Here's pictures of Jeran.  Isn't he a cutie?

I'm an Auntie!  My sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy at around 8:30 this morning.  7lbs 4ozs.  His name is Jeran.  I'll post pictures once I take some.  I *really* need to finish his quilt now.  :) In four more weeks, we'll be doing this again, this time for my brother's baby daughter, Evelyn Grace.

Dear Muse,

Yes, I know you want to work on that AU where Tom Riddle was rescued and never became Voldemort.  Yes, it would be interesting to read a story where the majority of the British Wizarding World is pretty much phobic about anything labled "Dark".  Yes, the irony of James Potter still being friends with Sirius and Remus and rejecting Harry for "Dark" talents would be interesting.  I know that exploring the culture without all the Boy-Who-Lived stuff would be fun.  However, I DON'T CARE.  Yes, that's right!

Stop it.  Stop it right now.  We have two epic length WIPs and several short stories gathering dust.  We're working on one of  them!  Got it?  GOOD.

Play nice and I'll let you have a cookie.

Laura

I am working on Midnight Watch, ya'll.  Between illness, lots and lots of it, and the fact that my keyboard is dying, it's been slow going.  The keys on it work... sometimes.  I sent in the first chapter to a PI beta/britpicker and haven't heard back yet.  It's more about the fact that I feel easier writing British characters if I have a British beta give everything a thumbs up than it is that I'm really worried about lots and lots of errors.  Evan has been doing a fabulous job at catching my typoing, but we're both American.  While it doesn't matter so much until Henri goes to Hogwarts, I like to try and be consistent.  With Henri being raised by our dangerous friends, he'll be using a mixture, so I don't worry so much about him as I do the rest of them.

I received The Pretender DVDs for Christmas this year, along with the JAG DVDs, and I've slowly been working my way through them.  And well, after watching about half of The Pretender's season three, I got hankering after the Virtual Seasons.  Thing is, the webpage is gone, except through the wayback machine.  So I, um, went on it and ganked a copy of the entire thing--season five, six, the two movies, and the epilogue.  I mean, of all the virtual seasons I've read, the one for The Pretender is the most comprehensive and detailed.  I honestly think that, as a body of work, it's the best virtual season out there.

I think I'm going to compile it into text files, and maybe make it available to other fans.  It's a shame that the site is gone, and I really think that the stories should still be available.

I know this has taken a long time, but with the holidays and everything, I've been incredibly busy. I'm going to try to start writing every day again.

Just to see where people are reading from...



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