it’s not about you

New York Times headline:
“Bush, in Meeting on Iraq, Rejects a Quick Pullout”

I’m sorry, but that’s just FUNNY.

The lead gets better:
“President Bush on Thursday rejected the idea of a quick troop withdrawal…”

And:

“I know there’s a lot of speculation that these reports in Washington mean there’s going to be some kind of graceful exit out of Iraq,” the president said. “This business about a graceful exit just simply has no realism to it whatsoever.”

The study group is said to be shying away from recommending a firm timetable, and it envisions a force of 70,000 or more American troops in Iraq for some time to come. And despite a Democratic election victory this month that was strongly based on antiwar sentiment, the idea of a major and rapid withdrawal seems to be fading as a viable option.

I am SO SORRY. But that’s just hysterical. TOO MANY THINGS!!!

(and I’m really sorry for all the exclamation points…)

After the incident (and the resulting, huge, PR nightmare Delta is currently facing) a couple of weeks ago, I REALLY wanted to write something on here in response, but couldn’t without using a lot of letters, if you get my drift. So I found a self-portrait I took at Tracey’s house while we were in Texas, and found someone who’s funnier than I am.

Some parts of the breasts are okay–the cleavage, for instance–but the utilitarian parts are, objectively speaking, abhorrent. Victoria’s Secret employees understand this. They spend their days supporting and lifting the objects in question, so they know. And when a nursing woman was asked to feed her child in the employee bathroom, that’s what they were trying to teach her—that those circles in the middle of the breasts are the dirty bathroom parts.

Nursing women are killers, and they must be stopped.

What I wish I’d written.

We gave our microwave away today. Adam came by and picked it up. Apparently, theirs was smoking…or something. I’ve been thinking about getting rid of the microwave for a long time, mostly inspired by Kyle and Lacey (who REALLY need to blog!), and Daniel and Lee Ann, who have all lived without a microwave.

I did some research on microwaves (read: I googled) and after reading some of the horrible things it does to your food, I decided I couldn’t use it anymore. The only things we used it for anyway was for heating up leftovers and the few and far between bags of popcorn. We could live without it.

Did you know you can - gasp! - heat up leftovers on the stovetop or in the oven? I had no idea! You know, like in the old days. So for a week, we kept it and quit using it, but still had it in the kitchen, just in case. We didn’t use it. I heated up the leftover bread in the oven. The leftover quesadilla in the oven. The leftover chicken, rice and asparagus in a saucepan on the stove. We unplugged the thing and got it off the counter. Then I ordered a toaster oven (convection, even!). This way, we can still heat up food conventionally, but without all the energy use or the longer waiting time in the main oven. And not only can we get rid of our microwave, but we are getting rid of the toaster, too (anybody, anybody?). One appliance, instead of two. Isn’t that beautiful?

It arrived last week. My new toy:

Judah’s new toy:

I also got a toaster oven cookbook, cause hey, free shipping on orders over $50! And the microwave? I don’t even miss it.

Wish I had known this was going on. I SO would have been there.

With babies at their breasts, nursing mothers staged airport protests around the country Tuesday after a woman was ordered off a plane last month for breast-feeding her daughter too openly.

Mothering

SF Gate

Fox News

Perhaps when I’m less angry, I can post some commentary. It might not be wise right now.

The Polly Pocket play sets contain plastic dolls and accessories featuring small magnets measuring 1/8 inch in diameter. The magnets are embedded in the hands and feet of the dolls, plastic clothing, hair pieces and other accessories that attach to the dolls.

The tiny magnets can fall out and be swallowed or inhaled by children. If more than one magnet is swallowed, they can attach to each other and cause intestinal perforation, infection or blockage, which can be fatal.

DETAILS ON PLAY SETS BEING RECALLED:

Polly Pocket Magnetic Play Sets Model
Polly Pocket! Polly Place Hangin’ Out House B2632
Polly Pocket! Polly Place Treetop Clubhouse B3158
Polly Pocket! Spa Day B3201
Polly Totally! Polly Place Totally Tiki Diner B7118
Polly Pocket! Quik-Clik Boutique G8605
Polly Pocket! Quik-Clik City Pretty Playset H1537
Polly Pocket! Quik-Clik Sporty Style Playset H1538
Polly Pocket! Totally Zen Playset H3211

Information above via CBSnews.

Mattel Inc. will recall roughly 4.4 million Polly Pocket doll and accessory sets sold in the United States after three children were reported to be injured when they swallowed magnets from the sets, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Tuesday.

All three suffered intestinal perforations that required surgery, the commission said.

The commission said 2.4 million recalled play sets were sold in the United States, with an additional 2 million sold outside the United States.

The El Segundo, California-based Mattel could not immediately be reached for comment on the recall.

The commission said the recalled play sets were sold at discount department stores and toy stores from May 2003 through September 2006 for between $15 and $30.

It said tiny magnets inside the dolls and accessories can fall out, and the commission is aware of 170 reports of the small magnets coming out of the recalled toys.

The commission said that Polly Pocket magnetic play sets currently on store shelves are not included in the recall.

Consumers should contact Mattel to arrange for the return of the sets and to receive a voucher for a replacement toy of the customer’s choice, up to the value of the returned product, the commission said.

Mattel shares declined 7 cents to $23.25 in late morning trading.

Via Reuters, thanks to Bethany for the heads up.

Does the magnetic knife strip look ominous to anyone else?

I’m FINALLY getting to my trip photos. I’ll probably post them to flickr once I get them all on here and edited. Joshua got a new MacBook Pro (wipe that drool off your mouth) so I got his “old” Powerbook G4, which has significantly more space than my iBook (which I am now in the market to sell.. hint, hint). As in, enough space to put Photoshop on it.

I, of course, am slow to adapt. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Anybody know how to cook a turkey? Call me. I’ve never made one before. I’m pretty excited.

Here’s the menu for next Thursday at the San Francisco Rudd household:

Hors d’oeuvres - bruschetta, spinach artichoke dip, smoked salmon
Soup - jalapeno cream soup
Main course - Turkey
Sides - Stuffing, Corn casserole, spinach souffle, twice-baked potatoes, glazed carrots
Cheese plate - TBD
Dessert - pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, chocolate chip cake
Beverages - tea, wine, and coffee

Everything to be made FROM SCRATCH. Including the bread and the stuffing. Good thing I know how to make bread now. I’m trying to make my grocery store list. Also, if you’re in the city for Thanksgiving and you don’t have dinner plans, let me know. Cause it looks like we’re going to have plenty of food.

Killian turned 13 weeks old yesterday. He is officially three months old today. That means he just finished his fourth trimester!

I’ve tried to capture his favorite thing today lately (besides eat, of course), which is smiling. I wrote last week that he had laughed for the first time. Now he only laughs for his daddy. That’s fine by me. We all know who feeds the kid.

I’ve been trying to figure out what kind of routine he has, so I can plan my day accordingly. This kid does not have one. I thought it went something like this: wake up, be happy and up for a bit, go to sleep, wake up to eat, go to sleep, repeat. stay awake for a bit in the afternoon, sleep. cry while mommy eats dinner. pretend to go to sleep for the next four hours til mommy and daddy are both ready to pass out. wait til mommy and daddy are tired enough to go to bed. coo. be happy. go to sleep.

Now it’s something like: wake up. be happy and up for a while. go to sleep long enough for mommy to attempt to reach for the computer. wake up, eat, stay awake. sleep through lunch. wake up to eat, go to sleep, repeat. wake up while mommy cooks and everyone eats dinner. doze, then go to sleep. next day: stay awake all morning, sleep all afternoon and evening and night. next day: wake up, eat go sleep. repeat.

In other words: NO ROUTINE. But he’s making up for his unpredictability by being, quite possibly, the happiest baby EVER. All he wants is a little love. Really, this kid is a gem. And he doesn’t spit up much anymore. I guess he figured out he doesn’t want to waste his food. I said that to Joshua last night while burping him (Killian, not Joshua), and right after I said it, he let out the wettest burp, as if to say, “you ain’t got a handle on me yet, lady.”

He’s now a pro at grasping things and bringing them to his mouth, so now all his shirts, blankets and toys are perpetually damp. We sit him up in his car seat a lot so he can see us while we eat and whatnot, and anything you put in his lap, he will play with and roll it over and over in his hands.

He’s also starting to wave his arms around all the time, like he’s trying to take off. I’ve started calling him “propeller boy.”

Mostly, I’m getting to know him more and more, and am loving the way Judah will say, “he needs me” or “I hold my Kiwwyian” or “I love my Kiwwyian.” Makes my little stone-cold heart start to melt. I stare at him while he’s sleeping or when he’s staring back at me and I want to squeeze the juice out of him, except that would probably hurt him. So I satisfy myself with smothering him in kisses and sucking on his cheeks and eating his little ears and fingers and toes and rubbing noses with him. I am absolutely falling in love with this little boy.

(note: I did not say domesticated. don’t even go there.)

I present to you: Kristen’s First Loaf of Bread.

I made bread for the first time ever yesterday. That was kind of fun, except for the running out of flour part. This is the pretty loaf. The other loaf? Well, she’s this one’s evil twin. Okay, not really, they actually both came out pretty well, but this is definitely the prettier one.

I’ve also decided to teach myself how to knit:

This one comes with much cussing, unfortunately. Like, I was getting pretty good at it, establishing a rhythm, when all of a sudden half my stitches slipped right off the needle. Yeah. Think of Elmer Fudd. Since I haven’t yet learned how to put them back on, I just had to undo the whole thing. So far, all I know how to do is “cast on” and “knit.” I still don’t know how to “purl” or “bind off” or “pick up dropped stitches” - you know, the important stuff. And I probably couldn’t follow directions to save my life yet. But at the rate I’m going, I might just finish a scarf by the time Killian is walking - I’m taking it slow. I’m not really in a hurry.