Michael and Jaspenelle

Earth Hour

Don’t forget about Earth Hour tonight, it starts at 8pm!

Michael brought up a point the other day which I want to expand on, how much better would it really be if we burned candles instead of turning on an energy saving bulb?

Well, to start you have a better chance of your electricity coming from renewable energy source then your candles as most people burn paraffin candles, which is a direct byproduct of crude oil. So we are in fact supporting foreign oil but burning them, ironic during Earth Hour. So the choice is obvious burn soy, palm or beeswax right?

Well… Everything that burns puts off soot, which is a pollutant. That means everything from the fire in your fireplace to your candles - even your soy candles, often touted at “soot free”/”smoke free” releases it. I realize saying this may adversely affect my business as I am a candle maker, but it is simply the truth. It annoys me when people say their soy candles, made exactly the same way as I make mine, are soot free. It is a lie, though it is true that a properly made soy candle will release less soot then paraffin. At least when we burn soy, beeswax or palm wax candles though, we are using a renewable resources…

So the question stands are we really helping up turning off the tv, the computer and the lights and lighting a few candles?

I still believe we are, most people (I hope!) stay in the room with their candles, whereas they might leave every light in the house on otherwise and people tend not to light so many candles as to make the room as bright as with electricity.

Also, everyone taking the time to celebrate Earth Hour is celebrating togetherness. In my opinion, we will never grow the movement for energy independence or spread the message of climate change without group effort, so it sends a powerful message when so many people come together under a single cause, like during Earth Hour. Even if it only affects a handful of people to look at their energy usage and invest in ways to reduce it, better the few than the none.

So yes, I think Earth Hour still has its purpose and I will still be celebrating it.

I hope you will too.

(And I do encourage you to burn soy candles as they are a renewable resource.)

Baby Movements

The baby is sooo active, it is so cool! He is getting big enough that my whole stomach moves when he kicks or repositions. It kind of reminds me of Alien! (I realize that is not the most attractive definition but it is pretty true…) He is developing some rather defined awake/sleep cycles, I could set a timer by a lot of them. The most notable of them happens to be around 21:00, when I am trying to go to sleep. If I rub my tummy or hum sometimes he calms, sometimes he gets more active though, but he responds to where I touch in those cases.

Otherwise all is well except for a pet peeve I have developed (I think it is a pet peeve.) I have noticed that when I tell people that it is a boy people say, “I’m sure Michael is pleased!” What? He wouldn’t be pleased or as happy if it were a girl? I know Michael is not a typical “guy” but really are general male expectations that strongly bias as to create that stereotype? I wish people would quit saying that. We are happy it is a healthy baby, period. But like I said this is just a pregnancy pet peeve. (Also, no, Michael and I will not be decorating our little boy’s room with a sports theme, we are doing a neutral celestial one.)

Oh! And the baby really likes when I stand with direct sunlight on my belly, I wonder if he is aware of the light in a visual way or if it is more about the warmth?

Beidh mé leat

Graywolf drew this beautiful picture and dedicated it to me and two more of her pregnant friends, Mearu and Lisa. It is called “Beidh mé leat”, which means “I’ll be with you”. Graywolf says we are amazing and I have to say, I think she is amazing too. She has been through a lot in her life and she is one of the most empowered people I know. Her art is incredible (she made the corset for my handfasting last summer!) and is only rivaled by her compassion for others. Thank you Graywolf for dedicating this piece in part to me, it really made my day.

I am feeling the baby move so much lately, every 3 hours or so I feel flutters. Michael even felt one recently and you should have seen the look on his face, it was so priceless. If I had to pick a moment to realize just how amazing of a father he is going to be, I think it was that one. This baby is such a precious gift and we both want to give it all the love in the world. Sometimes it is hard to believe that my little body is capable of growing a new life, one that Michael and I created together.

I think it is one of the most beautiful feelings in the world. I feel so very blessed.

Routine

Has your body ever been tired while your mind still races at 100 miles an hour? Michael is sound asleep in bed beside me, and here I am, wide awake. My baby belly is really noticeable when I am sitting in bed, I love rubbing it and am eager to feel movement again.

My days almost always begin in a pretty ordinary way. Every weekday morning our alarm clock goes off at 04:45 and Michael always hits snooze. I am so use to it that the 04:45 alarm does not wake me anymore. It does set my mind into the dream stage though and I tend to have very vivid dreams in the 15 minutes before I get up.

I physically wake up at 05:00 and begin the usual morning stuff. I sit on the edge of the bed for a couple minutes, waiting for my eyes to remember how to focus and my leg to work. As soon as that happens I do the bathroom stuff and get dressed. at this point Michael is already downstairs.

I meander downstairs around 05:15, Michael is always laying on the couch, wrapped in this bathrobe and a blanket, he does not work till 09:00, but always comes downstairs while I am getting ready for work. I go to the kitchen and put the kettle on the stove; then I begin to make Michael and my lunch, usually sandwiches or some incarnation of leftovers. Sometimes I forget stuff, but then, I am only physically awake at this point.

When the kettle boils I make myself a cup of Tazo Awake tea in my blue dragonfly mug, I steep it for 6 minutes and then add honey and milk. As soon as I take the first sip my brain suddenly realizes that it can indeed be that cerebral before dawn. At this point I double check the lunches to make sure I didn’t forget lids on the tupperware or bread on the sandwiches…

I eat breakfast, either cereal or a fruit and soymilk smoothie (I am sure my neighbors love when I use my blender at this time of the morning.) Sometimes I get fancy and make a breakfast sandwich with whole-wheat bread, a fried egg and cheese. I watch the morning news while I eat. Then I pack my backpack and brush my hair. If Michael has dozed off I wake him up and get him to sit up, then I brush his hair. Yes, I brush my husband’s hair every morning, and I love doing it (most of the time.)

At 06:25 I put my winter boots on, pet Windigo and Aos and kiss Michael bye. Then I go out to the bus stop and catch the bus at 06:30. I do this four days a week, baring holidays or illness, except for one day when Michael works at 07:00. Then he drives me to work, we still leave at 06:30 though. I only work part time so I am on the bus home by 13:00.

I don’t mind routine, I think it is the only thing that gets me through the dark winter mornings. You should see what happens when I run out of tea mid-week. Total wrench in the morning machine. Actually, I noticed this morning I only have enough to last me till Thursday. Oh noes! The store is only a 10 minute walk away though.

This morning was a little different when I left for. Now that it is January we are now in the Inland Northwest season known as “Fog”, which falls sometime between Winter and Spring. Fog rolls in fast in Spokane and can leave just as quickly, or linger for days on end. This morning it was a lovely little inconvenience known as Freezing Fog, which causes the not so lovely black ice. Freezing fog is also that kind that seems to find the tiniest space through your many layers of clothing so that it can settle its penetrating cold deep in your bones.

Still, I think the fog has a lovely, if somewhat cliche, mystery about it. I can becoming totally enthralled just watching it twirl and dance past me, as if it had a mind of its own. It puts me in a deeply introspective mood, so deep in fact, that when I come out of it, sometimes I do not remember where my consciousness went. Probably somewhere nicer then freezing to the bus bench though…

The bus is always late when the fog comes to town.