Medicine Hat is Canada’s sunniest city.  But the rain rain rain came down down down in rushing, rising riv'lets till the river crept out of its bed and crept right into Piglet's places it totally shouldn’t be.
That’s right. Southern Alberta is flooding. The South Saskatchewan river which runs through town is racing. We’ve watched 30 foot trees just flowing down the river like twigs in a game of “Pooh sticks.” Creeks all over town have flooded. Roads have been closed. Some neighborhoods, parks, golf courses, and storage facilities are flooded. And it’s supposed to rain tonight.
We’re not the only town to be soggy. In fact, part of the Trans Canada highway between here and Maple Creek is simply gone.

There’s not anything we’ve been able to do to help thus far. Though I am keeping an eye on the new Facebook group where people are posting requests for items to replace things they’ve lost to flooding. We still have a lot of baby clothes, a stroller, a sling, and some toys and such that Lucy has outgrown. So hopefully we’ll have a chance to help somebody out, even just a little.
If you’d like to see more photos you can visit the Facebook page {some of my own photos are posted to the group}. Our own home isn’t in any danger. The lab were Adam works may flood if the water levels rise much more but hopefully the worst is over. We’ve been told the levels aren’t rising and have actually gone down but who knows what will happen after the predicted rainfall. So, that’s what’s happening here. I have more {unrelated} things to tell you all about but figured this was a higher priority. Weather man, it’s crazy. I hear there’s epic weather happening all over North America, so if you’re in a bad area stay safe.

This recipe came from an issue of Wild Animal Baby. It’s a fantastic magazine for toddlers.

Here’s the recipe:

• 1 Cup all purpose flour
• 1 Cup water
• 1/2 Cup salt
• 1 Tbl oil
• 3 tsp Cream of Tartar
• food coloring {I used Wilton Teal}

Stir all together in a pot and cook on low heat {stirring occasionally} until dough pulls away from the sides of the pot. Let it cool so it’s safe to handle and then play to your heart’s content!

That’s it! That’s all there is to it. Super easy! And it’s safe for little ones like Lucy because it’s edible {tastes terrible, but it won’t hurt ya}. Lucy got a kick out of watching me use a cookie cutter on it but isn’t quite capable of handling it herself. But older kids will have fun using tools like cookie cutters, rolling pins, straws, anything of which you can think! So enjoy!

PS: I know I’ve been absent for over two weeks. I’ve been {and still am} busy working on various projects. But I am alive. We’re all OK. And I’ll be back in full force soon.

I don’t consider myself a prude. But this video {via Jezebel} made me want to cry:
{sorry if it’s cut off on your screen}
I want to just be awed by these girls, by their skill, by their energy, by the incredible time commitment such a routine must have required. But I just can’t see past their outfits.
I get that dance outfits are not the kinds of clothes worn on a day to day basis. Tight leotards, cut off tanks, and itt-bitty skirts and shorts are common. But these outfits look like something from a Victoria’s Secret catalogue. And these girls look too young to understand the significance of that. If these girls were sixteen even I don’t think I’d care. In my opinion sixteen is old enough to make a choice to wear sexy clothes for a special occasion {hello prom dresses!}, because most sixteen year olds {provided they’re not living in a cave} have had sex-ed, have begun exploring what it means to be “sexy,” and so on. Speaking as a former theatre geek and a mother I don’t think I have a problem with teenagers wearing sexy costumes for a performance if they really want to. And I think a lot of dance, theatre, color guard, and cheerleading moms would agree.
But these aren’t sixteen year olds {or, if they are, they’re the youngest-looking, tiniest teenagers ever}.
These are kids.
These are girls who are too young to dress up in red and black, lacy, satin-y lingerie costumes.
These are girls who do not have the maturity, experience of knowledge to understand what “sexy” really is.
And that is why I had to hold back the tears while watching the video.
There will be time enough to dress sexy later. They’ll spend the vast majority of their lives as adults. They will have many more years of worrying about their looks and their sex-appeal than they will years of worrying about completing their My Little Pony collection. They will, all on their own, start to seek our and explore clothing that appeals to the opposite sex. They certainly do not need a dance instructor thrusting such outfits upon them at their age. Besides which, the shockingly inappropriate outfits committed one of the cardinal sins of the performance arts: they distracted from the performance.
And that brings me to another criticism as far as the theatrics of the number…why these outfits? See, when I say I’m cool with teenagers wearing sexy costumes I don’t mean it should be solely for the hell of it. Costumes need to fit the performance. There should be a purpose to them. And the sexual nature of these costumes seem to serve absolutely no purpose beyond “being hot” {and again, little girls and “being hot” DO NOT MIX}. As one commenter on the Jezebel site pointed out, not even the original music video featured outfits like these. Beyonce and her dancers wore dance leotards. So *why* if simple leotards are good enough for Beyonce did somebody decide that little girls needed to be sexed-up? And *who* is that someone? And if they are a parent *how* could they think those costumes were a good idea? And *where* are they so I can slap some sense into them?
Seriously.
Ridiculous.
What do you think? Would you want your child dressed like this for a dance number {a dance number that, I might add, was uploaded to You Tube}? Speak your mind in the comments.

Well, just in case I wasn’t sure I was really living in Canada, just in case the universal health care and uber-cold winters weren’t enough to convince me…
I saw beavers.
Yup, I saw three beavers while out for an evening stroll with the fam. And let me tell you…those suckers are BIG! We thought they were dogs at first. They were down in the river and we were up on a bridge {without my camera} so we didn’t get a close look. But they were definitely beavers. Maybe they were giving me a belated welcome to the great nation of Canada, kinda like this guy:

{Thanks to our friend Lola for sharing this video.}
I think I prefer my beavers in the river and not on the highway.

Here’s something a little different for the December Photo Challenge {a video is just a series of photos in order, right?}. But first, a little background…
Earlier this month, the 9th I believe, I saw movement out the window out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and WOAH! There was a train covered in Christmas lights! We’re used to trains going by {our new place is across the street from the tracks}. But this was my first encounter with a festive, decorated train. Apparently it’s an annual thing. Well, tonight I saw it again and this time we managed to find the camera before it chugged away. I don’t know if this was the same thing we saw before, as the Holiday Train website doesn’t say any trains are scheduled for our town today. But either way, I like it!
{if you’re wondering what on earth is going on in the background it’s A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All.}

What are some neat holiday attractions in your area?

A client was asking me about how to add watermarks to her blog photos as a way of deterring photo theft. I did my best to explain it, but felt that text just wasn’t the way to describe the process.
So I made a video tutorial.
At four in the morning.
You can thank me later.*
Now, go protect those photos!

ETA: Here are the links for GIMP and for Windows Live Writer.


*Thank me, tell me how crazy I am for staying up that late…whatever.

Are you a mom?

Yes?

Then you know all about “Mommy Brain.” It begins in pregnancy. Brain gets fuzzier, memory takes a vacation. It doesn’t improve much after giving birth because your mental resources are depleted by sleep deprivation and (if you’re a SAHM like me) having a person whose vocabulary consists of “AAAAAAAAH” as your only conversation partner for the majority of your day.

You know what’s even more fun than “Mommy Brain?”

“Mommy Brain” and ADD.

I have always been forgetful. When I was a little kid my mom used to pin notes for my teachers onto my clothes. It was the only way the teachers would get said notes. In fifth grade I got detention {twice} for forgetting to do my homework.* And the distractibility! Let me tell you about the distractibility! Lets say I ask a question. By the time the answer is given I’ve been distracted and totally miss it. Then, like an idiot, I have to ask again. Seriously. It can happen at any moment. I can be mid-sentence and…Oh! Did I tell you we are picking up our digital photo disk from the photographer tomorrow morning?

I’m really happy with how this last photo session went. I’ll be sure to post some pictures over the weekend! I can’t wait to get them printed and in frames so we can hang them all over the house.

Anyway, have a great weekend! We’re headed to Calgary tomorrow to get passports for Bear and Lu. I’ll be back and posting again Saturday!

*Don’t even get me started on what I think of teachers who dish out the same punishment for innocent forgetfulness that they do for fighting/stealing/other rule breaking activities.

My little girl is growing. She's nearly six months old and some of our small size back up diapers (for when the Bum Genius 3.0s* are in the wash) are getting too tight for her wonderfully chubby thighs. Fortunately I won (yes, WON!) a diaper a little while back that is in the next size up. It's AppleCheeks brand. So far I love it. It can be used as a pocket diaper, or as a cover (just fold the insert and lay it on top)! The color selection is even better than the BGs and it feels a lot softer too. The disadvantage is that, since it has snaps instead of velcro, it isn't as adjustable size-wise and you have to get two sets instead of one (because they come in two sizes instead of being a one-size system like the BGs). It also seems to be a little less bulky. If I was starting fresh with a new diaper system I would probably do a mix of these and BG's. But this is the first day we've used the AppleCheeks dipe so I don't know yet how well it prevents leaks. I picked the "St. Lucia" color because, hey, it's really pretty plus it's from "Lucia" that the name "Lucy" was originally derived.

Mama's little diaper model

Speaking of growing. This little one is now capable of sitting up on her own (though only for so long). That means, since she's shown an interest, we'll be letting her try some avocado this week. You'd better believe I'm going to take video of that! In the mean time, here's a video to show you what I mean about the "only for so long" thing.**

*By the way, we LOVE the Bum Genius 3.0s. Way better than 'sposies. So cute and almost no blow outs (as opposed to disposables which blow out all the freakin' time)!

**The pillow is just there in case of backwards falls. She really can sit on her own without it.

I love me a blog giveaway. And when I saw this giveaway for a pair of child's fairy wings I was stoked...until I saw that it was for US residents only. Bummer. But as I was browsing the giveaway sponsor's Etsy shop I fell in love with her products. Check out some of the adorable products she's selling!

Aren't they gorgeous? I especially love the 1st birthday outfit {note to self...Lucy needs a 1st birthday party outfit}! Problem is...I don't have that kind of money to spend on dress up clothes (no matter how much they make me squeal like a little girl breathing helium). So...

I prayed at the altar of Google.

And my prayers have been answered!

I couldn't wait to make a tutu myself so I decided to make one for Lucy to wear at her six month photo session later this month. I recommend getting more tulle than the video suggests. I barely had enough to finish Lucy's, which is smaller than a two-year-old's would be. You really can finish this project in under an hour (unless you have a fussy baby interrupting you constantly--but I wouldn't know anything about that). It should cost just ten dollars or so for all the materials (not including scissors and a ruler which you really should already own).

For my colors I chose purple and tangerine.

And the results for so little effort are amazing!

I'm thinking I should use the scraps to make some sort of hair bow for the photo shoot.

I think Lucy thought it was a little funny!

Make one, or two, or three, or twenty of these for your daughters, nieces, granddaughters, neighbors, you name it! They're cheap. They're easy. And they would make the perfect gift for the little girl you know! Try experimenting with color patterns, tulle length or width, a Bedazzler, or anything else you can think of. Maybe even make one for yourself (Halloween will be here before you know it)! You are going to be the coolest mom!

ETA: If you want to keep the ribbon (not the tulle) from fraying carefully run the end over a lighter or lit candle. The edge will seal itself.

It's never too early to start a blogging career. So, without further ado, here's Lucy!

Hi! My name is Lucy! This is my very first blog post. Mama is blogging all the time, even while feeding me. Now it's my turn!

On Sunday Daddy and Mama took me to the MS Walk. My Grandma has MS. That's why Mama does the walk. {Hi Grandma!} Mama raised $232 for the MS Society. She wanted to raise a lot more. But I think $232 is a LOT. I won't even be able to count that high for a really, really long time!

Well, that does it for my first blog post. I don't get what the fuss is about. I'd rather roll around on the floor.

Well, the California Supreme court has upheld Prop 8. :( But they are also upholding the existing 18,000 marriages as valid. And efforts for change in 2010 are already gearing up.

Please watch this 60 second video. Or you can watch the original 4 minute version below.

I've recently fallen in love with TED.

TED is amazing! TED is entertaining, thought provoking, inspiring, stylish, and funny.

TED is a website. You can get the nitty gritty details of TED (Technology Entertainment Design) here. But the basic concept is that it is an "annual conference [that] now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes)." Those talks are then posted online so they can be viewed free of charge. To me it seems a sort of free "Life University" via the Internet (which is great because I get to go to "class" in my pajamas).

Just when I think I've seen the video that can't be topped, or that I'm running out of talks that look interesting I discover yet another amazing lecture by some genius I've never previously heard of but now am on the verge of worshiping. The talent and intelligence of TED presenters is enough to make anybody feel small, but in a really good way, the way seeing a mountain, or the night sky, or some amazing marvel of engineering or design makes one feel.

This is learning at it's most entertaining!

So it is with great excitement and pleasure that I present some of my favorite talks:

Johnathon Harris: the Web's secret stories Harris has created an amalgamation of art, information, and interactivity that explores the human condition in a creative, and entertaining way. He presents several of his amazing projects in this talk including "We Feel Fine." I feel inspired!

Pattie Maes & Pranav Mistry: Unveiling the "Sixth Sense," game-changing wearable tech Oh boy! I want one of these when they leave the prototype stage! This piece of technology, at the price point at which they're presenting it makes me feel like the world is about to make a great leap into "the future" science fiction has been referencing for years.

Johnny Lee: Creating tech marvels out of a $40 Wii Remote I love a good hack (Ikea Hacks have piqued my interest for some time now). But as an aspiring digital artist these Wii Remote hacks absolutely floored me (and the hacked glasses definitely got video-gaming Adam excited). The doors this opens to starving artists (or wannabes in my case) are numerous considering a tablet can cost hundreds of dollars and limits an artist's gesture room enormously.

Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? Sir Ken Robinson's answer is "yes."

Adam Savage: My quest for the dodo bird, and other obsessions You may know Adam from MythBusters. If this talk is any indication, he's at least as ADHD as I am. He provides an interesting glimpse into the way his (and my) mind often works.

David Merrill: Siftables, the toy blocks that think The educational and therapeutic potential for this invention is immense. I also look forward to seeing this used for purposes other than play.

Anand Agarawala: Bumptop desktop is a beautiful mess This is one of many TED presentations that give an indication of the direction that computer user interfaces are headed. Intuitive, organic movements will likely replace point and click systems within my lifetime.

Adam Grosser: A new vision for refrigeration Here's a TED presenter putting his genius towards making the world a better place for everybody. The product may be simple but the implications are far reaching.

Dean Kamen: New prosthetic arm for veterans This talk is inspiring while also forcing us to consider to what other problems are we not applying our full creative and innovative abilities?

You should know that there were even more I wanted to include. But it seemed prudent to keep this list smaller than other lists I've mentioned. And while this list is definitely heavy on geek innovations TED is certainly not limited to technological topics. Religion, philosophy, even musical performances can be found in abundance. I promise, there is something there that will interest you. And I think regular visits to TED will do you good. A little inspiration now and again keeps the serotonin flowing. And, as "they" say "knowledge is power."

And I'll leave you with this because it's how TED makes me feel.

Here's a conglomeration of links to neat things I've discovered lately (besides no-knead bread and glow in the dark blankets).

Never Judge A "Book" By Its Cover (video)

I Love The Whole World: nothing new, but worth another viewing (video)

Yum

What Does It All Mean? (video)

Draw pictures with words

Tim Minchin: musical comedian (explicit/NSFW)

I'm well aware of the fact that not everyone is a carb junkie like I am. But most people enjoy good bread right? Who doesn't enjoy a soft, chewy loaf of bread right out of the oven? I'm a lucky gal because my mom bought me a bread machine a while back. We use it to make pumpernickel, banana bread, etc. And I plan on continuing to use the bread machine until it is, or I am, dead. That does not mean I was not (perhaps overly) thrilled when I stumbled upon a link to this video.

This is NO KNEAD bread. And the recipe is SUPER easy! We've already made our first loaf and we like it! And, this is possibly the most exciting part, it can be used to make a variety of bread products including (but not limited to) bagels, naan, and pitas! I think I'm in bread heaven folks!*

But, word to the wise, if you don't have a broiler pan you should get one. And whatever you do, don't use your favorite, Pyrex casserole dish as a substitute; that is, unless you want your favorite, Pyrex casserole dish to go all Death Star on you.

*The Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day Blog

For a while I've had only a vague understanding of the financial crisis that's happening. Every time I'd try to read about it my brain would kind of fog up and my eyes would glaze over. The cure? A fancy, animated video of course! Here's an explanation for those of us who are ADD (video from Vimeo via The Consumerist).

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

And of course, when I use the title "You'll Love This!" I mean "You'll love this if you happen to be Lucy's parent or grandparent (or great grandparent); and if you're not you'll likely find it incredibly boring because Lucy performs for the camera about as well as she performed for her ultrasound.*" Hopefully we'll be able to capture some more exciting footage sometime soon (like some shots of her very funny facial expressions).


*That is, not very well. The ultrasound tech really had to work hard for her pay that day.

Last night, as Adam was driving home from the hospital...

What?! Hospital?!

Relax. He's mostly OK. He managed to dislocate his shoulder (again) and chipped a bone in the process. He said it wasn't as painful as usual, in fact he didn't really want to go to the hospital in the first place but needed a doctor's note for disability/work issues. When the doc wanted to do an x-ray he didn't think it was necessary. But, low and behold, a chipped bone. So other than not being able to use his right arm for two weeks (and therefore not being able to work) he's doing fine. He's a little stiff and sore but the sling prevents him from moving it in such a way that would be painful.

Anyhow...he was driving home from the hospital yesterday and suddenly "a bright flash caught [his] attention up ahead. [He] looked up and a streaking fireball hurled out of the clouds towards the ground. It was really a spectacular sight to behold. At first [he] wasn't sure if it was the end of the world. [He] cringed and waited for the shock wave but since the nuke didn't go off [he] assumed it was a meteor instead."

Apparently the celestial light show was seen all over Alberta and Saskatchewan. You can read about it here. As you've probably guessed, the accepted explanation is meteor (though they're hoping it was a meteorite). Of course, there are other theories.

• Wormwood
• Alien spacecraft
• The infamous toolbox
• The Economy crashing and burning

My personal favorite is Wormwood, since it would coincide so nicely with the recent election of the Antichrist (insert eye rolling here).

What are your theories?

ETA:

Well...we returned the keyboard. The lady wasn't very nice about the situation. She would only give us part of our money back. I'm aware that garage sale items aren't always going to be in perfect condition but this was different. She let us know that the speakers didn't work but not that half the features didn't work. So not only did she not disclose how broken it actually was (she says she didn't know) she didn't mark it "as is" or anything either. It's one thing to not check your items before you sell them...it's a totally different thing to refuse to refund someone because you were too lazy to see if the thing worked. If it had been a $5 or maybe even $10 item we probably would have just let it go. But to us $35 is a lot of money. She kept $10 dollars of our money and treated Adam like he was an idiot for expecting to get a functioning keyboard. Maybe if she hadn't acted like the speakers were the only broken thing...maybe if she had let us know she wasn't sure if it was working or not than it would be different. Then she complained to Adam because we brought it back the day after...well that's her fault! We brought it back right away on the same day when Adam discovered it wasn't working but she had left the garage sale and taken all the cash with her so her friend still there couldn't refund us and we had to drive across town (AGAIN) the next day. I would never sell an item if I didn't check it first...or I would at least mark it "as is" and either sell it ridiculously cheap or give it away free. We've had two garage sales since we got married and if anyone had ever wanted to return something we would have gladly refunded them. In fact I recall even letting someone know when they bought something from us that it was working last time we checked but if they got it home and had problems with it to bring it back! Obviously this lady had some idea that she was in the wrong or she wouldn't have even given us a partial refund. I think she was just being difficult and didn't want to admit her mistake, or maybe she just cared more about a few bucks than doing the right thing. Plus she rude to Adam on top of all that.

Tomorrow morning Adam and I are going to my second prenatal appointment. We should finally get to hear the heartbeat!!! It'll still be another month or so before the ultrasound (so feel free to submit your guess on gender - see the poll on the right side of the page). I'm anxious to hear the heartbeat and know everything is OK. I keep having horrible, vivid nightmares about things going wrong so it'll be nice to have confirmation that I'm just crazy. :)

I tried out the lipstick I won. Unlike the eye shadows it's actually a very nice, subtle color. Adam says it's his favorite of all the lipsticks he's ever seen me wear (which believe me isn't many).

Last but not least...check out this great video:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nK5uPBF-s5Y&feature=email