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Weather is here! July 28, 2008

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And so am I!

But life is too busy to write right now!

 

A summer update July 16, 2008

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Another hot day in Boston. This summer is proving to be quite the warm one. I am surprised by how many days are very warm and how sticky the nights are.

Despite my journeys into depression, this summer has been good. I am seeing the transition of little kid to kid in Soleil. I am seeing that Luna, who has always been Daddy’s girl, is now falling in love with mommy. It’s kind of nice. Luna is definately growing up and I like to see it. I know that there will be a day when the girls will want to be with their friends more than with mom and dad, but for now, it is good.

We have new neighbors moving in soon. The old guard neighborhood is moving to a place of kids. We’ll have a full house at the bus stop in the fall.

Our tomato plants are growing well thanks to Grandpa who transplanted them when we were gone in France. Lots of green tomatoes are growing. I don’t know when they will ripen. I think this means we should try this again next year!

Saturday will be Soleil’s birthday party. I made a bunch of bean bags (okay-rice bags) for a bean bag game for the party last night. I have about 4 games to get together. And to run a buy some prizes for people.

Then Jay leaves for Scotland that night. We leave for NC a few days later to visit my parents. Jay and I arrive back in Boston about 1 hour apart, so I’ll drive him home. This means I still need to pack for NC. Take two girls on the plane alone. I hope they don’t fight! :)

And YES, Johnny, I have a house sitter (to water the tomatoes!) so someone will make sure the house is safe! :)

Fall is coming up quickly! I can’t believe it! I plan on getting school stuff LATE AUGUST because I don’t want to think about it! 

Ah- Summer! 

 

Summer time blues July 15, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs, Kids , 1 comment so far

It seemed easy at the time. Sign Soleil up for the same group that does her after school care. Let her enjoy the summer easy and relaxed. Not as relaxed as I did as a kid (my mom was a teacher, so I was just home during the summer), but relaxed.

Unfortunately, it turns out that the group that is GREAT with afterschool care, is not so great with summer care. They aren’t bad, and Soleil loves it, but I think next year will be different.

So, in the heat of July 2008, I am already looking into June 2009 options. One option I love, a camp that Soleil’s friend R goes to. It takes kids going into Kindergarten, which means Luna could go there too! It would actually be cheaper for her to go to a day camp than to go to daycare. Go figure.

We are looking into options now, because in Boston, everything fills up quickly! And I mean EVERYTHING. Crazy but true.

Sigh…

What is your craze of summer? Mine is next year’s camp schedule. 

Getting life back in order July 2, 2008

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There was the day in Marseille when all went wrong. The alarm wet off, but the sound was muted. We missed the two important talks I wanted to see. We caught a ferry on time, but forgot to load the camera with a compact flash. I forgot to reload on sun lotion after lunch and fried.

But, I was calm. I even climbed rocky cliffs with sandals during all of this.

Now that I am back home, the stress is seeping in. I need the world to slow. I need the three hour dinners where someone else did laundry and dishes. I need to have a chauffer for the girls, my work to fix itself and friendships to not be on the rocks.

But that is a fantasy. So in the mean time, I will get back to work and do what I can…when I can…and try to relax my shoulders more often. 

Dudes, I made Jam June 20, 2008

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Seriously! I just made jam! I have 8  jars of fresh strawberry jam on my counter. So far, two have not sealed, but it is still early.

I had the leftovers for my lunch (the stuff that wouldn’t fit in jars)

Soleil went strawberry picking yesterday and MAN, it worked great! Most of them were mushy because the baskets got put ontop of each other. Sigh.

But I made Jam.

Now I need to pack. I have a trip to FRANCE tomorrow for work!
 

Local! June 17, 2008

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Yesterday, our town had our first ever farmers’ market! It was great. We pikced up broccoli, strawberries and lettuce. Yummy!

I am trying to make more salads these days. I am also working on losing weight (when am I not?) but the brownies I made last night didn’t help!

I often look at my friend M’s Blog, Rural Aspirations, and I am amazed because she is able to do so much at home. Granted, she has chosen a simpler life and only her husband works out of the home right now and she can be with the kids and garden and such, but still, I wish I could do it all. I really enjoy work, but I want to do more local stuff. Less driving, more biking (although we should be able to do this when Luna’s in Kindergarten and we don’t have to drive her to daycare too!) We are currently growing tomatoes and 2 green bean plants (from Soleil’s school), but next year? I want a small garden. Just a little bit of broccoli and lettuce and such.

Sigh.

BTW- the party was great, we had an impromptu sleepOVER (we were planning a sleep under, but when it was time for Soleil’s friend to go home, the girls BEGGED for a sleep over. R did great! Her first ever!) The next day, after the rain ended, we celebrated Father’s Day and our anniversary (#12) with a 10 mile bike ride! Soleil did the whole thing! Luna rode in the bike seat.

 

It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity June 10, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs, She Blinded me with Science , 2 comments

I am seeing red. As in severe thunderstorms coming our way! YES! PLEASE!

Today’s high was around 97F. I was a sticky mess. My hair is curlier than Daniel Craig’s Short and curlies. Ugh. I hate the humidity. Tomorrow should be a balmy 87! (or one place claims 85!) But without the humidity.

I spent most of the day grueling away over a computer simulating a proposed observation for an upcoming Peer review. I am pretty sure of the outcome, but the pain of working on this is terrible. I need to finish this tomorrow, but I have a coordinate issue that I failed to document last time. Sigh.

Please let those thunderstorms take some humidity out of the air….I think I speak for the whole North east.

 

Got life? June 9, 2008

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I just submitted that paper from hell. Done Done Done!

I am so glad to have that off my back!

 

Now I need to do some research on a very important X-ray source…..Sigh…

 

Now, if I could just sort out my life! 

Fill in the form June 3, 2008

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Who knew parenthood meant you had to fill out forms?

Bobby’s words– Continued May 29, 2008

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I realized that my time pressures on meetings and other items prevented me from fulling getting out my thoughts yesterday.

Here is the full paragraph from "Double Play" by Robert B. Parker

The culture presented premenopausal women to us as girls. In the movies married men and girls slept in separate beds. In the movies men would fight for these girls, die for their girls. In the movies girls would scream for their men, tremble for them dress their wounds, cry for them, wait for them. Love was everywhere, Passion was everywhere. Devotion was everywhere. Self0sacrifice abounded. Sex was nowhere. Except that the girls were sexy. And they were everywhere, on the radio, in the movies, in the magazines, in the ads. The songs. "To spend one night with you, in our own rendezvous." The lingerie ads, bathing suit ads, stocking ads, car ads, canned ham ads,beer ads, hair tonic ads, aftershave ads. All of them fresh and clean and sweet and perky and crucifyingly desirable. 

You see, it’s not just that woman are called "girls". They are presented as girls. What does "girl" mean to you? To me? I see my children, my girls, young and free. Innocent. Needing guidance. They aren’t ready for the real world where people die in the blink of an eye. The world where the color of your skin, the name of your deity, the language you speak, the form of your genitals matter. They just see people. You treat a person the same no matter what. These girls still need protection, they need love. They need someone to take care of the boo-boos, the physical and the emotional. They need someone to help them explore their self confidence, to teach them that mistakes are okay and that we are all failures at times. And that it is okay.

A woman? To me this is an adult. A person who has learned about the blatant unfairness of life. A person who can care for herself. A Person who can navigate the world and make her own choices.

The issue is not just calling women "girls". The issue is treating women like girls.

Steve (hi Steve!) wrote:

think you’re over-analyzing this.  Men are often referred to as ‘boys’ or ‘guys’ just as women are known as ‘girls’ or ‘gals’.

If there was that much of a problem with equality, Hilary Clinton
wouldn’t be neck and neck with Obama for the Democratic nomination.

Maybe I am over analyzing this. But I think I am not. I work in a field filled with men. A recent Sky and Telescope article discussed a wonderful discovery by a female scientist. She chose to leave the field. Her adviser, one of the great solar system scientists had made it clear to her that woman can not balance a family and science. Where do you get that attitude? Where? You suddenly have children and the science leaves your brain?

I hate to point out the obvious, but Hillary is not going to win the nomination. That is becoming clear. Why are people telling her to quit? Why has NO BODY asked Obama to drop out if this were equal? Why are there questions about Obama’s religion and background and then what Hillary is wearing tonight? Just like voting rights, we will put a minority first, females second.

We only passed Title IX in 1972! this is in my lifetime! This means women of my generation are really the first to truly believe that we have a chance to be considered equally as men for positions. And yet, when I first got hired in my first astronomical job out of college I had a PhD scientist say to me "I hear you got hired because you’re with Jay. I worked to get hired." My jaw dropped at this, especially since I was interviewed separate from Jay and my interviewer had no clue that Jay was coming here. The thoughts are still out there:

Girls aren’t as good as men in some fields

Girls need men to protect them

Girls should be careful to go out alone, it’s too dangerous

Girls can’t fight in combat.

Girls have "monthly problems" that prevent them from doing what a man can.

Think about these. They are out there. They are still out there.  

And Parker is right, women as just as sexual creatures as men are. But that, my friends, is a whole other post.