So...I haven't blogged in a while.
Why not, you ask? I got discouraged, I got busy, I picked up more hours at the hospital lab.

I had a baby!
That last one was the hardest one. Lots of people are really good at being pregnant. I am actually really bad at being pregnant. Good at rock climbing, check. Good at running super long distances, check. Good with animals, check. pregnancy is my kryptonite

Lot's of people glow. They spend their time exercising vigorously: going on hikes, jogging, dead lifting. I'm pretty sure the only exercise I did was run to the bathroom in time to throw up. I basically spent my time sleeping for 12 hours a day and puking for the other 12. I sucked at pregnancy the first time, and I sucked at it the third time, too. In fact, if it's possible, I think I get worse at pregnancy every time.

And if that wasn't enough, I can't even manage to push the baby out at the end. My first baby: 24 hours of labor, no progress, c-section. Second baby: 36 hours of labor, head stuck in the birth canal, c-section. Third baby: I didn't even try. C-section.

Luckily I get a cute little magic fat baby at the end. Another little werebear-doomicorn hybrid
AKA a doomibear to eat all my food and make me poor.

But I'm back at it! I got to exercise my smarts so I don't lose my mind!
Also, Phoenix is still rad. It's hot, and rad. HOTRAD.

We're also going on a road trip with toddler, which I am going to intensely blog about. In order to save my sanity.

I'm a Superfresh Candypants Sugarblossom

So I'm going to be lazy today, because I just worked the overnight shift, and I gotta be up at 4 am to work the 12 hour day shift tomorrow. Sick people, they need their blood, you know?

But this, this is a beautiful thing. You should go to this website, you should read all of the captions to the pictures, and you should laugh and laugh.

How to Be a Ladyperson During the Holidays

Marginalia

I do this all of the time, much to the chagrin of some of my snobbier reading friends. At least I'm in good company.

http://simplicity.laserfiche.com/content/scribbled-margins-capturing-knowledge-marginalia

Caterpillars that look like bird poop and an osmetarium

We walked out of the house to explore our new neighborhood last Tuesday and I noticed a pile of what appeared to be a giant pile of bird poop on our little lemon tree. I check on it pretty closely, since we're trying to figure out the best place to plant it in our yard, and I'm watching to see if it's getting enough light water, etc.

I was puzzled as to why a bird would get under our eves to somehow manage to poop on our tree, so I leaned over to look up to see if there was a bird's nest above it, or somewhere convenient to perch, and there wasn't. I leaned in and blew on the pile to assess it's wetness for cleaning purposes and out popped the caterpillar's osmeterium, a red fleshy organ apparently only possessed by swallowtail caterpillars. At least I didn't try to flick it off the lemon tree. Now we check on him every day! He grows really fast, we're waiting for him to turn into a chrysalis and then a butterfly!

Here he is with his osmeterium!

And here is 5 days later!

Finally, here's my amazing family feeding the animals on the farm on 15th avenue carrots the day after Thanksgiving!

Melted Computer

So, No post for a while, but not because I've been overly busy, or no more busy than usual. Certainly not for lack of interesting things to post.

We recently melted our computer. Due to a combination of bad choices and, well, just more bad choices, we first drowned our computer in the bathtub and then melted it inside the oven.

More later, my phone is also broken.

Being Ugly

In the United States we live in a society which values the way women  look entirely too much. I'm actually really hard on myself, and I need to remember the amazing things my body has done.

My body has done wonderful things. It took me to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (and back, which was in doubt for a few miles there). It's run two marathons. It's recovered from 3 concussions. It's grown two marvelous people inside of it. I've put it through two very long labors only to be subjected to two C-sections and it's recovered beautifully. It dances, albeit not very well. It sings. It manages to get up every morning.

I'm so hard on it for not looking like it did 10 years ago, for not being flat where it should be and for being flat where it shouldn't be,  but I should appreciate it for all of the things it still does for me, and for all the experience it's gained thus far. My aches should remind me of all of the things my body has stretched for, my wrinkles the wisdom gained with every new experience.

Here's an interview that Dustin Hoffman did about an epiphany  he had while filming Tootsie.  I think that a lot of men think this way about women, which is unfortunate. I know all of the Mom's I know are doing their best to raise little humans who value women as people first and women second. We also need to start being nicer to ourselves.

Here's why we should be worried about the Ebola Virus

We do have a decent healthcare system in the United States, but if Ebola begins to spread, the health care system will very quickly be overrun.

We don't actually have the resources at 95% of hospitals to deal with an outbreak.

Doctors in the United States are not familiar with Ebola, which is understandable, because they never see it. The symptoms of this disease are very similar to influenza, especially in the beginning phases.

I've been following this outbreak in Africa, and it seemed as though authorities were strangely silent about it in the beginning. I don't think it's some sort of conspiracy, I just think people are in denial about what this disease can do.

We simply don't know enough about it, and the hospitals have no experience dealing with a disease so easily spread and so very deadly.

This disease spreads through contact with bodily fluids, yes, but it doesn't require close contact. It requires exposure to soiled garments, vomit, saliva, breast milk, sweat. Think of all the things you touch every day that have been touched by other people. Duncan did not have to lie about being in contact with an Ebola victim. Honestly, the disease in Africa is spreading so quickly that he could have ridden in a cab someone else had ridden in. He may have used a public restroom immediately after someone infected and shedding the virus.

Our hospital systems will quickly become overwhelmed if there is an outbreak in this country. There really needs to be a global effort to contain and eradicate this virus at it's source. It's not going to stop moving, and it's too hard to isolate everyone in this global society.

This virus kills as many people as the bubonic plague did. We came up with  antibiotics to treat it, finally, but it killed 50-80%  of the people who were infected, just like Ebola.

I don't think we need to be pointing fingers and blaming the Dallas Hospital, I think they did the best they could, but I also think the people at the top of these organizations don't realize how hard it is to get supplies, or the pressure placed upon the staff to do their jobs even when situations aren't ideal. there were a lot of mistakes made, but we need to stop making them. At least now it seems as though the government has a clear plan going forward.

I don't think we should panic, but I also don't think we should stick our heads in the sand.
We really need to focus a bit more on containing this outbreak than on terrorist sects right now. This has the potential to kill so many more of us, just as indiscriminately.