Today

It just got to full dark, and there are firecrackers and sirens going off in the neighborhood. Hard to tell if these are related - we're in such a multicultural place that there's always someone celebrating the independence of somebody from something. The intersection of Thai Town and Little Armenia is a strange conjunction.

Today I babysat a 14 month old for ten hours, as an emergency backup sitter. She was one of my doula babies, and it has been such a pleasure to see her grow (and she still throws herself at the world with the same wide-eyed enthusiasm she was born with). I tried to take a picture, but my camera wasn't fast enough for her and then she started chewing on my phone. I managed to keep her from eating more than a reasonable amount of dirt and we made it through the day with only one major cheerio-flinging meltdown.

Back at home, I'm drinking the results of my first homebrew experience. It was meant to turn out like Fat Tire, but it ended up being darker like a Newcastle, but much more complicated. Definitely a beer-drinker's beer, and I'm loving them. I'm already thinking about the next batch, but trying to take some time off, go easier on myself, and get enough sleep for a change! I signed off caffeine for a few days and I'm hoping that will help me get my groove back, or at least make the coffee start working again when I go back to it.

Termite Farm

Kind of amazing, but mostly creepy. The house was tented before we moved in, so nothing's alive in here. The wood is so gone that I was able to pull it out with my hands.

Lucky for me that they didn't get into the structural supports yet, so I'm replacing the framing around this basement/storage area and building new doors for it.

Cute baby animals you won't see around here

My friends keep asking me what animals I'm going to bring home next, since I seem to have this whole farm thing going on in the backyard. Other than chickens who come and go, and rabbits who should soon be multiplying like rabbits, I think I'm done.

There aren't really any other animals I'm interested in that are suited to city life and can tolerate the kind of schedule I keep! As a doula, I go to about two births a month that can last 24 hours or more, and when I start attending births as an apprentice midwife, I'll be doing that once or twice a week.

It will be hard enough to keep up with the ones I've got, along with a cat who is crying for love all the time and would like to spend several hours a day snuggled in a baby sling, and a husband who thinks if there's nothing to eat if there isn't a big haunch of meat in the fridge, and a pesky mailman who keeps dropping off little pieces of paper that demand my attention every day...

Along with remembering to water the tomatoes and veggies, keep the weeds at bay, and taking time to take care of myself at least as well as I care for my clients and livestock...as well as making time to brew beer and drink beer...how do people do it?