Zer Netmouse

Ow

Tue, 29 May 2012 19:56:47 GMT

This has been a physically challenging year for me. A few months ago I sprained my ankle. Then I had allergies so bad I lost my voice. Then I had a cold and lost it again (it's almost fully back, but not quite.) somehere in there I sprained my right wrist. Then I sprained my right ankle again, worse. A week later my stomach hurt and my aPpetite was low so we concluded I was at risk of peptic ulsers so I stopped taking ibuprofen.

(conclusion on my right ankle was microtears in the ligaments. Started physical therapy today.)

Then yesterday, my left knee gave way. It used to do that almot anually but it's been ten years since the last time. Ow.

So today I feel like such a gimp. Rt ankle in a brace. Rt wrist in a brace. Left knee wrapped.

Therapists says as long as I'm breastfeeding, my ligaments will stay loose and I'll be at risk for injury.

In the meantime, well, ow.

Some favorite baby books

Mon, 21 May 2012 04:17:20 GMT

I wanted to highlight some of our favorite books to read to/with Rosie. I feel I should add that we also love anything and everything by Jane Yolen, and most books by Sandra Boynton. But this post is going to focus on some books that Rosie has *particularly* liked, that we highly recommend to the baby in your life.

Peekaboo I Love You
from Lamaze

Peekaboo games with everyone in the family including the pets. An interactive cloth book with flaps to open and peek under. Great book for Rosie to practice her sign language. And her Peek-a-boo. :)

Smile!
Baby Faces Board Book #2, by Roberta Grobel Intrater

This book introduces the common phrases used to coax a smile out of a kid while also expressing love for babies in all moods. Rosie seemed fascinated by the photos.

Grandpa
Talk-about-Books, by Debbie Bailey (Author), Sue Huszar (Photographer)

Basic statements about what kids do with their grandpa, illustrated with great photos and captioned sweetly.

Peekaboo Morning
Text and illustrations by Rachel Isadora

When Rosie points to this book, she says "Daddy", and sure enough the legs on the front cover belong to Daddy. This is a joyous book. At the end when the baby finds "You!", Brian started a tradition of bringing the book up to Rosie's cheek as though the baby in the book is giving her a kiss, and she loves that too.

Everywhere Babies
by Susan Meyers, illustrated by Marla Frazee

Wonderful rhymes, and delightful, easy to understand, yet complex, illustrations, that Rosie has spent more time with as she learns more words and concepts.

Do you have a favorite baby or toddler book to recommend?

The benefits of training

Wed, 09 May 2012 22:22:28 GMT

There's something I've been meaning to post about since I went to the ER last week with a sprained ankle.

We went to the ER because this was the second time I'd sprained the same ankle this year, it hurt a lot, and I wanted an X-Ray to make sure there was no bone damage. And, of course, because it was after hours for doctor's offices or even the local "urgent care" clinic, which closes at six. Lovelace hospital ER was almost empty (our second stop after UNM, which handles all the region's Trauma cases and was mobbed), so they processed me through quickly. All the nurses and the doctor were amazed:

I had sprained my ankle, then iced it immediately for 20 minutes, taken 800 mg of Ibuprofen, then wrapped it with a light compression bandage before heading to the ER. Multiple caretakers complemented the wrap and said they wouldn't change it, though they didn't check how tight it was, just asked to make sure I had no numbness or tingling in my toes.

As one nurse put it, "You did everything perfect. NOBODY does that."

But what was strange to me was, while saying most people did not have the "common sense" to do these things, the nurses focused on the question of what I do for a living. When one nurse asked that, I told her I was a human factors engineer, then shortened that to engineer in response to the blank look on her face. When she clarified the question as to how I knew what to do, Brian commented that I have a history of previous ankle injuries (this is true; through soccer or dance when young or, later in life, simply by walking, I'd sprained each ankle three times previously, the other one badly enough to pull bone away from the joint), and that he was an eagle scout. I added that my father is a biomedical engineer, and he and I have both been first responders at accidents, so we've gotten First Aid training.

When we were leaving, the other nurse was also on her way out. "I heard you're a biomedical engineer," she said.
"I've done some biomedical engineering," I admitted, since it was true.
She nodded as though that explained it. "We were wondering. The way you had it iced and wrapped. Nobody does that. Nobody!" and she left.

In retrospect, though, while my biomedical background informs my understanding of physiology and injury, clearly my occupation ISN'T why I know how to treat a sprained ankle and have those supplies at home. I have that knowledge and equipment due to direct experience, education and a family culture of preparedness.

I updated my first aid training a few years ago via a course offered by the Red Cross.

What everyone else who comes in is missing isn't common sense, or a medically-focused occupation. It's experience and training. New Mexico, and ABQ in particular, are known to have poor educational systems and high drop-out rates, so I don't find this lack of education that surprising. What was surprising was how the nurses misattributed the reason why I knew better, even though we gave the one nurse better answers.

*shakes head* I don't know how education will improve in this country if people continue to fail to give it credit for the differences in how people react in given situations.

Not going to 4th Street Fantasy

Wed, 09 May 2012 04:45:53 GMT

Some people have noticed that my and Rosie's names are on the membership list for 4th Street this year. I bought those memberships the week before I heard second-hand that some dear friends were getting married that same weekend, in Michigan. That rumor has finally been solidly confirmed, and I am now looking to unload one adult and one kid's membership to 4th Street. If you are interested, let me know.

I'm sad not to be going, but it didn't seem destined to be - Brian has two conventions for work right before 4th street so he wasn't up for another one in a row, and I never really wanted to go without him. I'd like to introduce Rosie to my Minneapolis friends and extended family, but I'd rather introduce Brian at the same time.

Hopefully there will be another, better, opportunity to do that.

At this point the only big conventions/events on our radar are the Community High School Reunion June 30th in Michigan, Bubonicon in Albuquerque, August 24-26, 2012, possibly the Browncoat Ball, also in Albuquerque, September 14-16, Immortal Confusion, January 18-20, 2013, and possibly LoneStarCon3, assuming I come up with some part-time source of income next year. That last will also depend on whether or not other friends choose to attend, so do let me know if you're going.

One neat thing about living in the Southwest

Wed, 02 May 2012 20:04:57 GMT

Today a roadrunner crossed my path,
His tail like a dart and his head like a dash.
With a grey speckled back and his neck thrust out,
Fast as a streak he runs about.

Not Enuff Penguicon visits or Playdates but glad for what we got.

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:00:54 GMT

Rosie and I hit Penguicon friday evening and most of Saturday. I feel like we ran into most of the people there I wanted to see, but almost all the visits were too short. The best were probably the ones where people joined me in following Rosie around. But in general I was very glad I went.

We also had a few nice playdates during the week, though again there were people I wanted to see that we didn't get a chance to. In the middle of last week I realized we all needed some down time, and We reserved today and yesterday for unscheduled time with my mom and dad before heading back to New Mexico tomorrow.

If we saw you, it was good to see you. If we didn't, I hope to see you on our next visit, which will be the end of June.

Wish me luck flying with one stopover by myself with a toddler tomorrow...

Do you think the U.S. Personal tax exemption should be raised? (it's capped at just over $3k now)

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:38:04 GMT

View Poll: Increase personal tax exemptions?

In Michigan (yay!) and tired (cough)

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:12:56 GMT

So. I and the family threw my mom a surprise birthday party yesterday that included a surprise visit from me, my sister, Brian, and Rosie.

Both surprises caught her completely off guard. :)

We revealed that we were here right before lunch, which we brought with us. When she realized the item dad had in his arms that he had 'run out to pick up' was Rosie, she was speechless. It was great.

During lunch, we told her we had dinner reservations with our good friends, Mark and Sandy. We pushed a little to be on time. Mark and Sandy met us at the door of Webers and Sarah and I led the way to the back of the restaurant and the waiting party of around 30 of mom's dearest friends, including one who flew in from California. Mom was stunned and happy. Got her again!

This has been a lot of fun, including a great visit with Don and Dustin Wenzel and Anne Evans, who hosted us Wed night so we could show up refreshed and happy instead of dragging from a day's travel. By the end of the night yesterday, though, we were exhausted. Not just from keeping up with a kiddo who preffered running around or hitting the dance floor to staying with the party, but also from the travel the day before, and lack of naps.

Rosie traveled well, but only got an hour's nap on the plane, in my arms. Yesterday and today she's had decent naps, but coughing has prevented me from napping with her. I rest, but if I try to sleep I start coughing. So I stay up and catch up on lj... :)

New Pictures of the kiddo!

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 03:57:34 GMT

I just posted a bunch of additional pictures to Rosie's Hats! album, of Rosie both serious and silly in her hats, our hats, and other items that she temporarily made into hats.

She grew an inch in the last month or so, and learned at least 10 new words in the past week. Someone commented that at this age (19 months), kids are just sponges, and that seems very true. Especially great was at dinner tonight when Brian told her, "Work it," and snapped 3 times in fine RuPaul fashion, and she copied him!

Soooo tired

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 20:18:29 GMT

On Sunday a friend babysat after Rosie went to bed so we could go see John Carter (of Mars) and that was fun and all, but I feel like I've been sleep deprived ever since.

Last night I should have gone to bed at 9 but my allergies were kicking my butt so I stayed up to 10 to take another dose of meds.

While up I uploaded a video of Rosie signing and posted pictures of a recent toddler tea party to my local MOMs club facebook group. Toddlers in tea party hats are pretty cute. I will try to post some pictures of the kiddo to flickr soon too.

Right now I'm going to join her napping though... Have I mentioned that I'm tired? *yawn*

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 03:11:45 GMT

Wrapped my sprained ankle today and it seemed to help. We went for a walk along the rio grande at the Rio Grande State park and visited the nature center. Ankle felt ok at the end of the day.

Still not up to full voice. Really miss singing to Rosie. Croaking just not the same.

Looking for help planning the CHS reunion June 30th. Any help, even motivation.

Rosie climbed on top of the (closed) toilet today all by herself. We're in trouble now. I have already shown her how the mechanisms inside the toilet tank work and she banged on the lid asking for it to be removed, then played with them for a little while, filling and then emptying the tank. Hopefully she does not attempt that climb when an adult is not present. Might have to start keeping bathroom doors closed at all times.

It's lovely out today, high in the 70s, but supposed to be snowing by mid-week. Yay spring.

Oh look, it's 11 o'clock again...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:34:51 GMT

Of course, last week this would only have been ten, but it's still past when I really should get to bed considering a) I stayed up until almost 1 am last night and b) the kiddo is likely to wake up at 5:30 tomorrow and she's been fussy enough lately that yes, I will go to her then (and she might go back to sleep after that, but only after an hour or so of mommy cuddles and some noms).

Anyhoo, though I would post a quick update. Those who follow me on twitter or facebook (at least, if you haven't told facebook not to show you twitter posts) may have seen that I lost my voice last week, apparently due to allergies. That was Brian's theory, and the nurse practitioner concurred and put me on flonase and albuterol. I also started taking my base allergy meds 3X a day instead of just in the morning. And I did the salt water gargling and vitamins just to cover my bases, but in two days my nasal passages were no longer constantly bleeding and in four days my voice had returned to a rough croak. It's almost a voice again but not quite.

I have also mentioned spraining my ankle, which happened Friday morning. Just a light sprain, but not the slightest bit comfortable, and has made it a little bit difficult to keep up with the kiddo. I expect it to take a couple weeks to be up to snuff.

Luckily, on Monday, a visitor arrived! Our friend rikhei came out for a few days, which was really lovely, and yes, we stayed up until 1 chatting last night, getting in last-minute bonding and sharing because she left this morning (*sigh*). It was a great visit and we hope she comes again. We went to the zoo and Tingley Beach and the balloon fiesta museum and had dinner with another Grinnell friend and just generally hung out, and it was good.

In Rosie news, she's doing way more talking in the past week, and it seems to me that her brain is accelerating like it got an extra processor or two. All week I kept telling Laura, "I've never seen her do that before." She already had about 45 signs and I think she started using 5 new ones this week. She also, for the first time, said "nose", "eyes", "shoes", and "down". And all of a sudden she can do the moves for "head, shoulders, knees and toes" in its entirety. At music and movement time at the library on tuesday I could see her doing mimicry in a way I've not seen so obviously before, and she's (yay) getting into drawers and things around the house she's not previously gotten into, and can unzip things with a little help, and unscrew caps that aren't too tight.

It's all very exciting.

New (used) clothes for Rosie

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 04:30:15 GMT

Dresses for Fall
Originally uploaded by netmouse.

I recently picked up a bunch of second-hand clothes for Rosie and thought I'd share on the off chance that someone besides me finds it interesting how we dress our daughter. The sandals in this picture, for instance, are officially boys shoes. We pick from both boys and girls clothes for Rosie, and don't sweat it when strangers think she's a boy.

The whole set is here: on flickr.

We try for a variety of clothes and colors, but avoid most anything that's branded, especially character-branded, unless it's with certain superhero logos. Disney stuff and such, for instance, we don't use - in toys or clothes. These goals make it a little hard to shop for her, but I find it's easier at secondhand sales and thrift stores. Also, we've been really lucky in hand-me-downs from other parents who don't believe There Are Only Two Colors and Pink is for Girls. Which is such a ridiculous trend in marketing.

Also, Kohls. Kohls is great. And the Oshkosh brand, but we get it secondhand 'cause it's not cheap new.

Hugo noms you wish you could make?

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:29:17 GMT

As a member of the last Worldcon, I have the right to nominate for the Hugo awards. I've started scanning the usual lists and publications for pieces I missed during the year, but so far Not the much stuff has struck me as something I must nominate.

How about you? What was your favorite art, fan art, fanwriting, editing, novel, graphic story, artist, dramatic presentation, short story, novella, related book, semiprozine, novelette or fanzine of 2011?

Tell me and I shall seriously consider nominating it.

Thanks!

Rosie is One and a Half!

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 05:00:53 GMT

In about half an hour, Rosie will have spent 18 months with us since her birth. "Where has the time gone?" asked Brian. In part, appropriately, to silliness. Here's a recent example:

You can see the whole hat modeling session on flickr...

Seriously though, I'm kind of amazed that we're here already.

Rosie's TV Debut

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 03:45:31 GMT

Last Thursday I sat down with the KTV 13 Morning Anchor Elizabeth Alvarez and had a nice conversation about being a stay-at-home mom in Albuquerque. That conversation and some extra footage of me playing with Rosie have been boiled down to a few bits of background for their morning show, which ran today.

Stay at home parents may save some cash: krqe.com

My particular quote didn't necessarily fit with the way they were billing the story, since my earning power is much more than what it would cost us to put Rosie in Daycare, but I think I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

My second comment, btw, about having that relationship with Rosie, had to do with breastfeeding. I was trying to fit some messages in there about how much easier it is to breastfeed if you are not working, but alas, that context got cut. In case you don't know, currently only about 15% of American moms exclusively breastfeed for the American Pediatric Association's recommended minimum of 6 months. The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for at least a year. We also talked about what advice I would give stay-at-home parents, and beyond "Get out of the house!" I discussed programs at area libraries, the Explora Museum, and the Zoo. I may do a blog entry later on the "advice" topic, though I still think I could use as much advice as I might have to offer.

Ms. Alvarez was unable to give me a heads-up before the piece ran this morning, so we were unable to have someone DVR it. Does anyone know how to capture and save it from this online clip?

It's Jesus! No, It's Steve Stiles. I mean, it's his trip report.

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:33:03 GMT

Brian and I are working on putting the past TAFF trip report collection in the mail to Jacq Monahan, the next TAFF delegate and incoming administrator, but we are struck by two things:

We have not made any particular effort to sell or auction old TAFF trip reports while they were in our possession, largely because we kept moving and they didn't get unpacked. Until now!
That's a LOT of copies (52) of Steve Stile's trip report, Harrison Country 1968-2006.

We also have 8 copies of Rob Hansen's On the TAFF Trail, about 20 of James Bacon’s Worldconnomicon, 1 of Dave Langford's The Transatlantic Hearing Aid, 3 of the Moffatts' report, 12 of Tobes’ Taff Ting, 15 of Suzle’s Report, 10 copies of a bid zine for Martin Tudor collecting his fanwriting, and a handful of DUFF reports from Janice Gelb.

So! We are offering to send a copy of Steve's long-awaited trip report (he took the trip in 1968 and finished the report 40 years later) to anyone who wants one for a minimum TAFF donation of just $3.

You can see a partial preview of Harrison Country here, but it's barely even a preview, because there are no pictures. And as you know, with Steve Stiles, there will be pictures. Oh yes. (Here's a close-up of the cover, for instance.)

If you donate at least $10 we will also throw in a special sneak preview featurette from our own as-yet-unpublished TAFF report, EITHER:

A more detailed look at the Winchester Castle, with its putative Arthur's Round Table, lovely underground tunnels and aboveground garden, and a statue of Queen Victoria sitting on children's heads (though that might not have been how the sculptor meant it).

OR
A revelatory essay about the alien bushes that have been stalking us since Corflu, illustrated by Steve Stiles, who was there and saw them too.

For every $5 you donate above $3 you may also choose to receive another of the available publications in our collection, except suzle's report, which is $7 (fancy color printing). While supplies last, for those who donate at least $12 I will also throw in a postcard that Bloomsbury used to promote Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book in the UK that is not otherwise available in the U.S.

Write to me at akg.netmouse (at) gmail.com to reserve your copies and send a check (payable to me) to: Anne Gray, 5006 Royene Ave NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110, or paypal your donation to me at the same email address and I will go ahead and put things in the mail. All requests must be received by February 2nd (groundhog day), because after that we will be packing things off to Jacq and it will be up to her to offer them up for the next couple years.

Don't to forget to specify which featurette you want if you donate $10 or more, and what, if any, publications you are ordering besides Steve's. (And if you would rather get just one of the other reports, that's ok, too; drop me a line.)

All requests will be fulfilled using fancy 20th century bleached wood pulp technology.

Baby Pic faves from last year

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:58:17 GMT

Baby noms
Originally uploaded by netmouse.

This picture became the cover of the calendar we made for family this year. Baby noms! Some cuteness a day keeps the doctor away. It also became part of the set of family pictures from when Rosie was 8-9 months old, which now also includes another series that wound up in the calendar, captioned "Where'd the baby go?" Here's how it starts:

What does it mean to be a great teacher (in 6 words)?

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:52:20 GMT

Studentsfirst.org is having an essay contest. A very, very short essay contest. You have until January 27th to enter and prizes are thus: One grand prize winner will be awarded an iPad 2 and a $500 DonorsChoose.org gift certificate. Five finalists will also be awarded a $100 DonorsChoose.org gift certificate.

But I'm more interested in the challenge: Describe what it means to be a great teacher in just six words. (and apparently exactly six words).

Teach according to the students' needs.

Approach each student as an individual.

Understand your subject, then teach it.

Teach beyond your subject; teach learning.

Teach your students to surpass you.

Great teachers share their own curiosity.

Imagination leads, structure guides, knowledge leaps.

Regularly renew your faith in education.

Learn always. Teach along the way.

... How would you describe what it means to be a great teacher in 6 words?

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:49:46 GMT

TAFFline #3, with the full voting statistics for the 2012 race, is now online at http://efanzines.com/TAFF/index.htm and on http://taff.org.uk

Christmas Set

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:06:56 GMT

Christmas Eve Day (no napping)
Originally uploaded by netmouse.

While I was checking flickr for pics of Rusty I realized I really haven't been posting many pictures there lately, especially compared to when Rosie was younger. So here's a set of Christmas pics, mostly of the kiddo of course.

RIP Rusty Hevelin

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:05:55 GMT

and then the laughing
Originally uploaded by netmouse.

I didn't know Rusty Hevelin all that well, but you didn't have to know him well to see the joy he took in the people around him, and vice-versa. He was a positive presence in Cincinatti-area fandom during my brief sojourn in southern Ohio, despite his declining health. A delightful soul who will be missed even by people who did not know him well and missed dearly by those who did.

Catching up; sleep, writing

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:20:29 GMT

Rosie is actually napping for more than an hour today for the first time in four days, which doesn't sound like so long but she also hasn't been sleeping well past midnight or so, so they have been very long, tiring days.

Yes, that was Christmas, and yes we did have some nice moments together including some me-and Brian cuddle time in a living room dark but for the lights of our little tree, spiked eggnog in hand. (I can recommend Krakken spiced rum, btw)

But it's also nice to be starting to re-establish our regular, non-holiday life patterns.

We have much to catch up on, including publishing the final voting mumbers in the TAFF race, and we'll try to get to that soon.

In the meantime, I am pleased to announce we've gotten another segment of our TAFF trip report out the door. It does not follow Chronologically from the Corflu report published in Argentus, however. Instead it jumps to our last full day in London, when we visited the Sherlock Holmes Museum.
It's part of the Holmes Edition of Journey Planet, in which Brian also has a review of the recent comic, The Trial of Sherlock Holmes.

It turns out Brian and I both react rather well to having editors ask us to write things, so thanks very much to James Bacon for poking us on a regular basis. We originally thought he was talking about a Holmes issue of Drink Tank, so that's why the intro to my TAFF piece is in error, but we're pleased to have it published in anycase.

Now to fill in the story of the trip that came between!

Christmasy time is here

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:46:30 GMT

We have our little christmas tree up and decorated, and although it's artificial it's also very cute and pretty and - bonus - up on a table where Rosie mostly cannot reach it, though yesterday I heard jingling and looked to find her shaking the whole table. Whether that was just playing with the noise or hoping something would fall, I don't know.

We've also been working on spreading midwinter festiveness to the rest of the house, and it's starting to show, I think. I might need to get some more white lights to replace the string that died two years ago, and I'm pondering outdoor light options since we have some convenient plug outlets. We've started playing christmas music and we've done some shopping, and we're starting to enjoy seasonal drinks like eggnog and spiced cider (best with rum in them, so we've stocked some of that).

This isn't a religious holiday for us, yet I think it is very much a time to celebrate things we have faith in - each other, friends, family, love and the generosity of the human spirit. And of course there's the recognition of the importance of both Joy and Peace, and our hope that people around the world will have some of both in their lives. These things we will aim to teach Rosie in time. But for the moment there's the music and the decorations, the greetings and news and messages of love shared with others, good food and, eventually, some presents. And that's a good start, I think.

Are you nostalgic about college?

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:34:09 GMT

Jumping off a post by Ben Rosenbaum, I typed up these thoughts about what I miss from college:

Probably the only thing I regularly find myself nostalgic about regarding my college years was regularly seeing my friends and aquaintances on a casual basis, with no pre-plannIng. At the time this was true both of friends in college and friends at home -at home my friends tended to gather at the local Denny's in the evenings, so when I was home from school I could just go see them. I didn't need their phone numbers-heck, I didn't know half of their last names. They were just there. And many friends also hung out at one or two houses in addition to That.

In college, it was the dining halls, computer labs, and sometimes an off-campus house (owned by the college, allocated to a group of students). My friends tended to gather in the back corner of a particular dining hall for meals, so if I felt like being social I could almost always count on having company. We were also computer geeks, so we would run into each other in the dorm computer lounges and the mathlan computer room.

There is no adult equivalent for this. I'm finding with my toddler that the playgrounds and various library storytimes are kind of this way, for stay at home parents, and I've seen people who open their houses on a regular basis for friday night gaming
Or a Sunday night group dinner, but there's not a shared space that is always open (or at least open every day, and late at night), where we might run into each other for a while and just hang out. Nothing like the front porch culture you sometimes read about in small towns or the cafe culture that was idolized in Friends.

I suspect for some people they get that feeling now through online spaces, like WoW, but I'm not inclined toward that. I get a little bit of it through twitter, I guess. But I'd also like to have it for in-person contact.