International Breastfeeding Icon

I'm a big fan of breastfeeding and the promotion thereof.

Wanna vote for an international breastfeeding icon? It seems like theres one for parents room and stuff, but none for showing where there is a breastfeeding friendly place.

So - here ya go. Vote for an icon here.

Thanks to Amy for pointing this one out.

Librarians of old

I just loved this old vocational movie about librarianship. I had to laugh at some of the commentary :-) Have we really changed since then? I think our objectives are the same even if the means by which we deliver them are different.

More on RSS

Janine's post reminded me - I've been meaning to post a link to an explanation of RSS that another librarian, CW, alerted me to:

How to explain RSS the Oprah way

or "how to stay sane in the blogosphere" ;-)

If you are still clicking side bar links to read blogs, then you may find using an RSS reader like Bloglines will make your life easier.

I feel like scrapping tonight!

Looking forward to my little group getting together tonight to scrap. Pity my Tarisota isn't here yet - I know, I know it's too soon but I'm getting anxious to fondle the stash!

Went to a primary school reunion on the weekend. It was actually quite interesting despite my initial misgivings about it. A few of our year turned up. It's funny how people look the same but somehow grow into their adult faces. I have some great memories from that school.

I was thinking about something that happened afterwards and now feel ashamed. One of the people from our year who turned up was someone who used to be a bit of a pariah. You know how cruel kids can be about people who are a little different. Well, this person was a bit different. The family were quite poor so this person didn't always have the nicest clothes, and sometimes cleanliness was a bit of an issue too. The silly thing was we found ourselves reacting to the presence of this person in exactly the same way as when we were 10 year olds. I don't think anyone of us said hello or anything either - not good, I should know better.

Interestingly, this person has obviously found a partner and has a child. If you had asked me if I thought this person would ever find a life partner I would have been sceptical. There's a verse in the Bible (Prov. 30:19) that talks about some things that are hard to understand, and one of them is "the way of a man with a maid"... and it's very true. We don't always understand what attracts one person to another, what other people see in someone else. But I'm glad to be proved wrong, and that they have found someone who can share in that special bond between two people.

eating humble pie....

Things are getting back to normal - Yay!

Thanks for the well wishes folks *heart* I'm happy to report that things seem to be back to normal for DS. He's certainly normal enough to return to ratbag behaviour! I forgot to post about my beanbag saga - heh.

During the course of the week the beanbag got puked on so I naturally wanted to wash the cover. So I filled 3 boxes & 2 nappy buckets with the beans and plonked the cover into the machine... simple you would think. Come to hang out the washing later and I discover that I *should* have zipped up the cover before washing it since there were beans still hiding inside. I hate to think of how many beans are now floating their way through the water ways courtesy of ME! *blush*

Fast forward another day.
DH staying home to look after our poor sick boy.
Witness another puke+beanbag incident.
DH thinking: "Must clean up bean bag again; how to do this efficiently?"
DH carrying bean bag outside. Turning on hose. Squirting beanbag to clean up!!!!
Me coming home: "Why is the beanbag on the back steps all wet?"
DH (sheepishly): "It seemed a good idea at the time!"
Beanbag gets emptied again of the now wet polystyrene beans. Cover goes in wash.
DS getting better. Decides that his Mobilo blocks should be buried in the boxes of beans.....

The result - I spend pretty much all morning cleaning up the mountain of beans that have escaped and coated our loungeroom. The beans are now back in the beanbag and they are staying there!

Need an energy injection

It's been a @%$&# of a week.

DS woke up 2.30am on Sunday morning vomiting, and as the day progressed, developed diarrhoea. This continued on Monday, and Tuesday morning I took him to the dr. A sample was taken and on Thursday the verdict came back... campylobacter. Which is a notifiable disease. So now I feel like the worst mother in the world. I've no idea where he's picked it up - could be daycare, could be some chicken we had, could be some bird poop he's got on his hands etc. DH and I have escaped it so far. Which is just as well. Ministry of Health is supposed to call me, but so far I've not heard from them.

My poor little boy has been lying around the house hardly knowing what to do with himself. He does seem to be on the mend thanks to the antibiotics.

Now I need something for the lethargy thats getting me. Sleepless nights, helping my folks move into their new place, low iron - it's all catching up on me.

Stuff about Blogger Beta

Good Things

• The ability to add labels to my post... saves and extra step since I used del.icio.us before. I know it's the librarian in me to want to categorise!
• The layout editing function is nice, sort of. I can't seem to add my gecko picture to the header yet. Will have to work that one out. Might ask my workmate who knows more about xml than me. But it is easier to add things like javascript etc to the sidebar now.
  
• Dashboard is nicer and tells me how many posts I've made... only 66 so far.
• Comment notifications in my email tell me which post the comment comes from - before I'd have to guess.

Not so good things
Karen tells me she can't comment. Karen - you can still comment by choosing the "other" category and pasting in your Wordpress address I believe.
I thought I had a problem commenting on non-beta-blogs earlier but now it seems fine. According to the Known Issues For Blogger in Beta Blog this bug has been fixed. But I don't know about non-blogger users.

If you're thinking of switching I'd say go for it if you're comfortable playing around with your blog a bit afterwards to customise it. If you're not so comfortable with the "playing" then I'd leave it a bit longer so they can iron out the issues.

NZ Dare #9 Challenge

This is my take on the NZ Dare # 9.

It's fairly simple like most of my layouts! I can't seem to get the scan saturation right - if I get the green the right colour, the orange looks wrong and vice versa!

PP is Basic Grey Oh Baby Boy, cardstock is Bazzill and some mysterious paper I had in my stash. I used some buttons from a RAK Scrappy Girl sent me (thanks Debs), and some clear page pebbles I've had for ages.

Incidentally - has anyone seen those clear page pebbles anywhere? My friend wants some and all we have seen are ones with patterns or writing in them. The ones I have are K&Company but they are ages old. Maybe they don't produce them anymore.

moved to the beta

I've made the move to beta blogger. Hope this doesn't mess up anyone's feed.....

Am off to discover the new things it offers.

Overheard from the kitchen

Today the Fulton Hogan folks have been doing works along our street much to the delight and amusement of DS. Here's what I've been hearing from the kitchen while he watches in the lounge.

"Come here digger!"
"Come to my house my digger!"
"I need you digger"
"Where's you gone digger?"
"He's coming"
"I got a digger in my sandpit"
"Come to my sandpit"

:-)

Crazy Christmas Card Day

My friend Rachel, (who has a little shop at her house and who is a stamper/scrapbooker), is holding an event some of you Aucklanders might be interested in. This is a shameless bit of advertising for her! LOL!

Christmas Card Making Extravaganza
Saturday 4th November 2006, 2-6pm
Mangere Bridge Memorial Hall, Domain Rd

Early Bird by 28 Oct $10.00, after that date $15.00

Basically it's an event where you can spend some time making Christmas cards. Rachel lists the following:

• All afternoon to make your cards
• Bring your own craft gear to try out the ideas
• Lots of Christmas ideas with example cards on display
• Demonstrations
• A goody bag for all
• Christmas Card Competition
• Spot Prizes
• Supplies to purchase for all card making needs with specials on the day
• Christmas Stamps available to use
• Christmas afternoon tea
• Catalogues available for ordering

Rachel is an excellent demonstrator and she does lovely work. I'm hoping to attend to get a head start on my cards, and also to use some other stamps because I only have a few Christmas themed ones. Why not get together a table of friends and come along? :-)

If you'd like more info, or would like to come you can contact Rachel at:
CraftyR
I also have her phone numbers and address if you'd like to contact her that way... let me know.

Waiting for the 15th Oct!

Feeling excited and impatient!
I've finally succumbed and subscribed to this month's collection from Tarisota for the first time. I have been putting it off because of the money thing... trying to justify it to myself until DH came home with a pack of photo paper which cost him a fair sum. As he pointed out, I will use the paper from the kit so it's not like I'm wasting the money. And even with the exchange rate and postage, my package will cost less than his photo paper! heheheh

I didn't sign up for the 3 month/6 month though. I want to see if I will use all the paper in a reasonable time or not. Plus, there are a few other shops around that do this sort of thing, and I'd like to sample them too. Like this one...

I love online shopping! :-)

And I discovered from a friend that Woolworth's Online will give you a free delivery for a month (?) after the baby is born. How great is that!? Must consult their site and see how to set it up.

Bridal Veil Falls

On Saturday (while I was at the craft fair) DH took DS and had a Father-son bonding day. They went to Bridal Veil falls and a few other places. Apparently it all went well, and DS was a really good boy waiting for DH to take photos (of which there were many) and walking along most of the tracks without assistance. Considering he was up at 4am with the rest of us and didn't go back to sleep like I expected him to I was most impressed and relieved. Apart from his nappy falling out his trouser leg on some steep steps, there were no disasters! LOL!

Dh was pretty pleased with his photos too.

Happy husband + Co-operative son = good.

Here is one of the photos DH took.

27 Weeks

27 weeks

The latest belly pictures. Looking at the photos I have of me pregnant with DS I can say I am larger this time. Must be those lax stomach muscles since I was the same weight to start with both times.

Everything is going well. I did the 1 hour glucose test on Friday, and should hear about the results at my midwife appointment this week. I'm not concerned about it as I've not had any problems before with gestational diabetes. I'm meeting the back up midwife this time; hopefully she will be nice. So far I have escaped the constant heartburn I had with DS which is great. Still having problems with sciatica though. Stretching helps.

3rd Birthday

DS turned 3 on Sunday. I just can hardly believe it's been 3 years since he came into our lives. I remember thinking how strange it was to have another being in the house after being just a couple. I spent ages staring at him in his cot just trying to get into my head the fact he existed, that he is a mixture of DH and I.

He's such a precious gift. Oh of course he knows how to stretch my patience to the limit! If there is anyone who can "press my buttons" it is him! But I tell you ... what they say about mother bears and their offspring applies to humans too. If you hurt my kid - be prepared to die. I can't imagine our life without him now.

There is a lot I could write about him. How today he told me he had a puppy at home that was blue and "covered all over with spots". How he thinks the letter "T" belongs to him because his name starts with "T". When I'm typing he tells me, "Don't touch my name!".

I could go on, but instead I'll share some photos of him and his birthday cake. DS is obsessed with power tools. I asked him if he wanted a digger cake or a chainsaw cake. Mistake #1. Of course he chose the more difficult option! Note to self: When giving choices to children, make sure they are reasonable! LOL! Still I think it turned out fine, and it tasted good too. His look of delight when I showed it to him was reward in itself.

Answering my own Library Week challenge

I'm going to answer my own challenge by posting about the books I've read recently or am reading.

Climbing the mango trees : a memoir of a childhood in India / Madhur Jaffrey. London : Ebury, 2005.

This is Ms Jaffrey's autobiography, at least the first volume anyway. I really enjoyed it. She writes in an engaging manner, and I found the differences in her life growing up very interesting. Don't read this one when you're hungry though... I had to make indian food for most of the week while I was reading it. One part of the book covers her experience of the division of India into Pakistan/India. I never thought much about the affect of Partition on the general population in India. It's not something we study at school here so I've not had much exposure to that time in history in that area. That part of the book made me think a little about how effective it is for outside nations to try and solve the problems of anothers.

The last days of Dogtown: a novel/Diamant, Anita.
New York : Scribner, 2005.

From the author of The Red Tent. I found this one harder to engage with. The story is about the characters from a dying town in "the sticks" and their interactions. It's well written in terms of language and all, but I just found I didn't really engage with it. The characters were interesting and there was sufficient conflict to keep my attention, but at the end of the book I was thinking, "So, what was the point?". Perhaps the plot went over my head. Having said that, I'm now reading another of her books called Good Harbour ( Rockland, MA : Wheeler Pub., 2001) which I'm enjoying much more. It's about the relationship between 2 women. One of them has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is undergoing treatment. There's a few other skeletons lurking around her life too. The other is a writer struggling with writing, her teenage daughter and her marriage. I'm finding it a much more engaging read.

It's Library Week! Toot Toot!

Get Connected for Library Week 2006!

It's Library Week (18th Sept-24th Sept). Do you know where your local library is?

If you have small children you might like to take them along to New Zealand's Biggest Storytime. On Wednesday 20 September 2006, award-winning Margaret Mahy's “Down the Back of the Chair” will be read at libraries all across New Zealand. There is a colouring competition associated with it too. Information can be found here.

If you don't have kids then my challenges to you are:
1. Get connected to a new author! Visit the public library and take out a book by an author you've never read before. If you are unsure about which one to try, most public libraries have a Who else writes like: a reader's guide to fiction authors or a publication similar. You could also be guided by the genre stickers on a book's spine. OR - be brave and ask a librarian. You might be pleasantly surprised.
2. Get connected to your library's web presence! Visit your library's online catalogue from the safety of your own home. Did you know you can check your account this way? Or even place a hold on a book that is out or at another branch?
3. Get connected to your community! Libraries aren't just about books. Most public libraries have access to the databases Fundview and Breakout. If you are looking for funding for a community project, or a scholarship for studying then check out these databases. They can help you connect with some very useful sources of funding.
4. Get connected to other people via your reading! Write a review about the book you are reading or have recently read and post about it on your blog. Many people like to read what another has recommended. If you like the sound of someone else's book, then go and get it out of the library. Libraries have more than books though. Visit the video/DVD section, the music selection, the talking book collection too.

My parents have just bought a new house. One of the comments they made about it was

"Those people haven't a book in the house! We're going to put in a wall to floor bookshelf in the family room once we're in".

This made me sad. So many other pursuits and sources of entertainment take up people's time now. Many folks just don't connect with books or their libraries. In our family it has always been a major past time to read. Up until we were in our mid-teens we would regularly go to the library as a family, usually once a week, and often on a Friday night. I don't mean to sound pompous about this. But I do think reading, books and libraries are Good Things.

I'm so glad DS is turning into a keen book fan like myself and DH. Boys are often tricky to "get into books". But I think it is worth persevering with them for a number of reasons.

• Firstly, we're still very much a "reading" culture when it comes to studying at school and most tertiary courses. If you're not able to cope with that, you can be compromised.
• Secondly, as a form of quiet relaxation and escapism, reading is something that can be a lifeline in a busy, noisy world. Sure - boys (and everyone really) need to be active, out and about. Other forms of entertainment have their place and value. But there is value in the skill of taking time to be quiet and read, contemplate and relax. It doesn't have to be fiction. Boys often prefer real life stuff like biographies or non-fiction treatises on travel, technology, animals and so on.

Eventful past few days

This month is normally a busy one for me. Check out the line up:

• Father's Day 3rd Sept
  
• Youngest sister's birthday 3rd Sept
• Middle sister's birthday 10th Sept
• SIL's birthday 14th Sept
• DS's birthday 17th Sept
• 23rd Sept Pirongia Craft show where I'm helping a friend with a stall, and also making some things to sell at it
• KS dessert recipe swap deadline 30th Sept *done, done, done!
  
• plus have to make a tag book for my uber-boss who's retiring (Oct 6, but need to do it this month)

So you see why I didn't want another baby in Sept.

To make life more exciting, DS woke up last Wednesday with a spotty face and torso. He's had a cold and cough but no fever. I immediately went into chicken-pox-alert-mode and made an appointment with the Dr. By the time the appt time came (12 o'clock) the spots had gone, with the exception of one suspicious one under his arm. The poor Dr. of course couldn't definitely say if it was chicky pox. So we went home none the wiser, and I rang daycare to alert them to the potential.

As it turns out, I was worried all for nothing and now feel like the boy who cried wolf. DS buzzed around doing his normal nearly 3-yr-old stuff. No fever. No spots.

The problem is, I've never had it. I've been exposed a number of times, but Mr Varicella hasn't ever caught me. Being pregnant I had no desire to be a victim now so I got sent for a blood test. Just as well it was a false alarm because the results say I have no antibodies. So guess who'll be getting a jab once this baby is born!

Things that make me happy

Plum blossoms on our tree. The absence of bees is a bit of concern though. Might have to get out there with my soft bristle paint brush and pretend I've a stripy abdomen and pollinate some flowers!

More flowers indicating spring - this time broad beans...
















DS's portrait of me!


My picture of him!

Creativity & the myth of talent

DH is a keen photographer, particularly of landscapes. You can see some of his work here.

He is a regular listener of the podcasts produced by Craig M. Tanner of the Radiant Vista website. Recent episodes of the podcasts (#13 & #14) have been discussing a more philosophical aspect of photography and this sparked a conversation with DH and I about creativity. This is something I'm interested in on a number of levels.

1. For myself, I would like to increase my creativity levels in my scrapbooking and ultimately in the form of art. I have plans to take up painting or some form of fine art some time in the future.
2. For my professional life. Creativity in the workplace is something I feel passionate about and would like to see more of, experience more of and initiate more of.
3. To support my husband. DH is a creative person but his natural tendancies to depression and self-criticism often stifle his ability to move or progress.
4. For my son & unborn child. Children are naturally creative and I'd like to encourage it. One of the reasons is that I see it as a great motivator in education and learning, which is something else I'm passionate about.

What is creativity? Is it something we are born with? Is it something we can cultivate?

I think there are people who have a natural talent for certain activities including creative things. But I also think it's possible to cultivate creativity or at least encourage it. I find that I have times when I don't feel creative at all. Sometimes it's because I'm afraid of my own inability to acheive what I see in my mind.

In the podcasts, Tanner goes through a "creativity ritual" that he believes will enable photographers to get more creative. It's interesting to note that one part of the ritual is to create a journal, and to write down a mission statement to guide the photographer through this process. He does get quite evangelical in these podcasts (edited to add: and some of it is IMO a bit woo woo), but they are interesting to listen to, and I think they are quite relevant to people who want to be more creative in their chosen hobby.

He's also written an article called The Myth of Talent.
In it he talks about the process he went through to become a professional photographer. Much of what he says is also relevant to people who want to become more creative.

Long term, committed, practice powered by the purpose of love leads to amazing
transformations. The bumbling beginner becomes the exalted expert. The trapped anddepressed become the liberated and empowered. So why do we so easily buy into thelimiting mythical idea about talent being nothing but a birthright?

I like this concept that by being productive, I will be able to be more creative ultimately.

He also refers to an article from Psychology Today.
I found much of this article useful. One quote I particularly liked was:

People often fall back in their efforts because they are afraid of making mistakes, which can be embarrassing, even humiliating. But if you take no chances and make no mistakes, you fail to learn, let alone do anything unusual or innovative.

Research suggests that creative people make more mistakes than their less imaginative peers. They are less proficient-it's just that they make more attempts than most others. They spin out more ideas, come up with more possibilities, generate more schemes. They win some; they lose some.

Other quotes I like from this article:

Playfulness and humour encourage creativity.

And:

What we see every day becomes ordinary to us. People, sights, sounds, and smells seem to disappear from our awareness. They lose their distinctiveness. One way of dealing with this is to invent a brand-new pattern, a fresh way of seeing the commonplace.

o Begin with something as basic as water. The idea is to notice the number of times a day you come in contact with it and the extraordinary number of ways it appears in your life: from a hot shower or the delicate beads of mist on the leaves outside your window to the ice cubes clinking in your glass.

This technique of taking things out of their ordinary context and creating a new pattern for them is a way of making the familiar strange and opening them to a fresh and creative approach.

What do you think?