In my Bucket List #13 post where I came to the decision to make midwifery my cause, one of the first things I mentioned is that I need to do some more research so I can be educated about the state of birth in our country. That caused me to look at my existing library, pull the books I already have and to finally purchase a new one that’s been on my wish list for awhile. I have more books than the ones photographed, but these are my favorite and most pertinent to my cause. Evaluating all the titles, I wonder if maybe midwifery is a calling for me. It seriously keeps coming up, like, for the last 20 years of my life, and I deny deny deny. So I’m leaving the door open to midwifery for the future, we’ll see if I actually walk through it. Right now, I’ve got some learning to do and #23.
The Midwifes Apprentice by Karen Cushman was possibly the first book I ever read pertaining to midwifery. It’s fiction and a young adult novel. I read it again a few years ago and I still love it.
Birth Matters a midwifre’s manifesta by Ina May Gaskin is my most recent purchase and I’m in the midst of it now. The first birth I ever saw as a child was my hamster, which is why my this is my favorite quote so far, “I repeat: we humans are not inferior to hamsters, rhinoceri, squirrels, or aardvarks in our reproductive design. It’s our minds that sometimes complicate matters for us.”
Ina May’s Guide To Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin. Ina May is big into education through stories and like the rest of her books, this one starts with wonderful birth stories. It then goes on to examine and educate about methods currently used in hospital births vs. midwife assisted out of hospital births. Specifically the births that happen at the The Farm Midwifery Center in Tennessee.
Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin is the original book on midwifery. Written way back in the day when natural births were “groovy”, “deep” and women went with the flow of labor. It has awesome birth stories and incredible documentation on how to deliver a baby naturally. One of the mothers in one of the stories was pregnant while living on a boat, out to sea. She had everyone on the boat read this book in case she went into labor before they could get to land. You know, just in case.
Birth Your Way by Shela Kitzinger is specifically about choosing out of hospital birth. Shelia Kitzinger is an anthropologist that has studied birth around the world.
Birthing From Within by Pam England is the book companion to the popular childbirth education classes. I found the lessons in this book profound and useful, especially as a doula. There are more creative learning experiences in this book for pregnant families than anywhere else I’ve found.
Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
Today Porter and I were hanging out with some friends and we got to discussing finances. One friend shared that her family was out of debt and had enough savings to live for 2.5 years. YEARS! I want that! When asked how she did it she recommended the book Your Money Or Your Life and then explained how she adjusted her relationship with money, stuff and savings. It took them 7 years, but they now have the freedom to figure out the life they want to live in a safe and comfortable way. The book is on my library book wish list and I’m going to start with #22.
Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
Today is summer solstice, the longest day of the year! It’s a bittersweet day for me. I love the sun and have been relishing in the long warm evenings. My garden thanks me for that too. On the other hand, it also means that we are beginning our long decent into darkness, which makes me sad. 6 months until I can really celebrate the 1 day in winter that makes me happy, winter solstice. Since I’m a sun worshiper, my #20 fits perfectly.
Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
Visit Lapland, Finland to celebrate the Solstice with the Midnight Sun.
~If you need to catch up on any of my bucket list items, find the corresponding post # in the June 2012 list at the right hand side of this page.
Big Baby arrived via UPS overnight. We promptly changed her diaper and fresh attire.
She came with us in the car.
And to the Library, where no less than 15 peoples made comments about thinking she was a real baby that I was allowing my toddler to man handle. Really people?!
The most tender part of the day was Porter waiting so patiently to say goodbye to monkey puppet at the library and then giving it a kiss.
Number 19 isn’t anything crazy, just something I’d like to learn. I have a long relationship with blown glass. In Virginia on our 8th grade trip to DC we went to Colonial Williamsburg and a bunch of other colonial places. The part that I remember most is the glass blowing. I bought two pieces of the fragile green glass to bring home. Then there’s all the blown glass that I came across in college at UCSC. My parents also have beautiful glasses to drink from and tiny candy shaped glass trinkets. It’s beautiful and fragile. I’d really like to visit the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit in Seattle.
The parts about blowing glass that interest me are the constant motion you must keep, all the ancient tools and mostly the part where they cradle the hot glass in some version of a wooden spoon or newspaper to shape it. Something about that action seem soft, rhythmic and soothing. Here, like this:
Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
~If you need to catch up on any of my bucket list items, find the corresponding post # in the June 2012 list at the right hand side of this page.
Lookin’ a whole lot like a kid these days. It’s bittersweet.
Today we went to say farewell to the Baby and Me class that we attended weekly for Porter’s first 14 months. There was a lifesize baby doll, which was weighted too. Porter saw all the mommies with their babies and co-opted the doll for himself.
He carried this baby around for 20 minutes and was devastated when we had to give it back to Kitty, the doll’s “mama”.
Fear not, Big Baby is on her way via UPS. She’ll be so happy to have found a second chance with another child.
This is what the yard looks like when it’s being flood irrigated. It would be fun to play in, if it was freezing.
When I was in 5th grade we took an Amtrak train from San Jose, CA to Seattle, WA to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends. It was an overnight experience and, besides my brother getting chicken pox, it was rad. When I lived in Seattle I would take the train down to Portland, a 3 hour ride and the same time as driving. The scenery you get from a train is bigger, rural, and more beautiful than most highways will offer, and that’s why I want to do #18.
Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
As a child I attended a week long day camp called Redwood Grove. It was aptly named, since everyday we would gather at the entrance and walk down into a giant redwood forest in the Los Altos hills. There was a boardwalk that meandered through the trees, open spaces and an old house in the style of a Mexican hacienda, centered around a courtyard. In the house we would learn about the environment, local indigenous tribes, and native wildlife. We played any number of games in the open field and did scavenger hunts through the forest. My favorite part was making fry bread covered with cinnamon and sugar. That was until I was old enough to go to the older kids camp where we got to spend the last night of the week sleeping outdoors in the forest.
After the normal day of camp ended we would eat dinner and then the evening events would commence. This involved stories, chewing mint lifesavers in the dark and watching them light up in each others mouths, and laying out our sleeping bags. The highlight of the night was an unlit walk/hike around the camp and through the woods. It was terrifying and thrilling. We had just spent the week learning about all the native animals and creepy crawlies and then spend 30-45 minutes walking alone in the dark along a rough trail. Scary though it was, I was always happy that I chose to do it.
Today I picked up The Week magazine and turned to the last page, which is usually an excerpt from a current book. It just so happens that the article was from a book that I’m going to read for my book club called Wild: From Lost To Found On The Pacific Crest Trail. It’s about a woman who walks the entirePacific Crest Trail (Mexico to Canada), by herself, with no previous hiking experience. Whoa. Along the same lines is the book Eat, Pray, Love and some of my favorite movies Under The Tuscan Sunand Southbounders. These are all stories of women who have set out for one reason or another, usually because of tragedy, on their own personal walkabouts. And I want to do that too, minus the tragedy. I give you #17.
Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
June is wedding season and 2012 proves to be no different. On Saturday, we attended the wedding of our friends Becky and Gary. It was in the sloping foothills of the Sierra Nevada, on a ranch, in a converted barn. It was beautiful, as was the bride. This was Porter’s first wedding and he was patient, well mannered and friendly. We caught up with some old friends and got to swim in a bonafied pond, with a paddle boat. All in all it was the perfect country weekend, and we have Becky and Gary’s eternal love to thank for giving us a good reason to celebrate.
Luke and I were also married in June, here is Boise. We had been together for 8 years, lived together for 6, and were homeowners together for 4 before the big day arrived. To be honest, it was okay with me if we didn’t have an official ceremony with all the bells and whistles. Luke, however, had a more traditional view on the matter. In the end I’m so glad we made an event of our wedding, and had an amazing honeymoon in France. We’ve been talking about celebrating our anniversary every 5 years with a party, and luckily that falls right into my #16.
Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
