feminism

(My apologies if this cut doesn't work! I'm still getting used to them)
( Excerpts from a debate on feminism on a web community I belong to. )

So... am I just not getting it? Isn't feminism supposed to be about gender equality or does not having a penis make me misunderstand the point?

Current Mood: annoyed

(Your thoughts?)

damned war!

Just got a message from my brother - they want to ship his unit to Afghanistan for a year. If he does, it will be his 2nd tour - the 3rd time, though, that he was away from home for more than his annual training.

(2 thoughts from others... ~ Your thoughts?)

moving

Yesterday, I got a call from my daughter that she and her husband have found an apartment here in Bay City. She told me that it's about the size of our house, the rent is less and includes heat and water. Then she added that they had other apartments opening soon, too, and we should take a look, because they were running a great move-in special.

I called them - they're willing to give a free month's rent with an 18 month lease and almost no security deposit (which means we move in pretty darned cheap!). The apartment right next to my daughter's is empty and can be ready by the time our lease here runs out. She said that we can get in based on only Jas' income, without worrying about the fact that I have no job, and come this winter, when heating costs are so high, we'll be saving several hundred dollars a month.

Downside - no private laundry facility. (They have machines, but we'll have no place in our partment.) We'll have to store our machines and our fridge while we're there. We're thinking we could put the fridge at Jas' mom's, where it can actually stay plugged in and useful, so it doesn't grow science experiments. We may be able to store the washer & dryer there, too. He's going to talk to her about that.

Upside - right next door to Jill and the babies (and Jacob, too, I guess.) So no more driving to Bridgeport every time I want to see them. And lots more picture taking and scrapbooking opportunities.

Downside - right next door to Jill and the babies and Jacob. We've already told her it doesn't mean that we're easy prey for babysitting. But I've missed her and she said she's missed us, too.

Upside - no more arguing over shoveling or paying someone to mow the lawn. We'll keep a shovel, in case of drifts on the walkway in front of the house. (And maybe to build a small hill for the babies to sled on this winter.)

Downside - second floor apartment. But all the stairs are inside closed doors. (It's kind of set up like a motel in that respect.) So at least in the winter, I won't have to worry about icy stairs. And now that G has done all that weight lifting, he can carry all the groceries up the stairs.

Upside - they do have storage cages in the basement. Little chain link lockable things that sort of remind me of kennels. It's big enough for seasonal storage and camping gear.

And best of all - it's a chance to purge even more! As we pull stuff out we can look at it and say "you know, we never used it in this house, I guess we really don't need it".

So we put in our app and are just waiting for a call to confirm that we were accepted. (They took the newlywed 19 year old couple with only one of them working and two babies, so the call is really just a formality. Jas obviously makes more than Jill and we've got solid rent history. She was sure that they would approve us, too.)

Sooo... after telling some friends yesterday that we couldn't afford to move when our lease is up, it appears that we now can't afford not to!

(6 thoughts from others... ~ Your thoughts?)

Jill's hope chest list, just so I don't lose it

I've been filling in her hope chest for a couple of years now - whenever I've found something pink, since she really wanted a pink kitchen (not like Jacob cooks anyway, right? so she might as well get her wish!) This is what we've got stored at our house, until they find a place of their own:

1 real hope chest
1 small dresser (with another larger one at Jas' mom's house)
1 large green plastic tub
1 medium pink transparent plastic tub
1 large pink plastic tub
1 small pink glitter plastic tub

Bathroom -
- small fuzzy green rug
- large fuzzy green rug
- 2 pink bath towels
- 2 green bath towels
- 2 pink washclothes
- 3 white washclothes
- 3 green washclothes with white polka dots
- 4 multi-colored striped hand towels
- 4 green baskets with handles
- 2 small round green totes
- 1 green & white scrub brush
- 2 pair green & pink gloves
- 2 pink cleaning clothes

Kitchen -
- large pink tote (for empty bottles, etc)
- pink mixing bowl
- 4 pink round divided plates
- 4 brown round divided plates
- 3 pink straw dispensers (with pink straws)
- 4 red 15oz tumblers
- 4 red 21oz tumblers
- 1 small orange tupperware bowl with white lid
- 2 pink & white plaid dishclothes
- 1 large pink frying pan
- 2 green ice cube trays
- 1 "super cool" Red Robin glass
- 1 large pink sauce pan with lid
- 2 dark pink potholders
- 1 light pink potholders set (1 square, 1 mitten)
- 2 patterned potholders (pink, brown, green)
- 5 dishtowels (pink, yellow, orange, red squares)
- 1 orange tupperware divided dish with attached lid (rectangular)
- 1 13x9 cakepan with red lid
- 1 large ziplock with assorted silverware (includes ladel & slotted spoon. I wasn't counting the rest!)
- 1 light pink nylon whisk
- 2 light pink silicon spatulas
- 1 set pink/black stone coasters
- 1 pink supergirl plate
- 1 set pink & black cooking utensils
- 1 light pink screwdriver
- 1 blue screwdriver
- 2 pink sundae cups
- 2 orange sundae cups
- 1 light pink spaghetti bowl
- 1 light green spaghetti bowl
- 1 green & pink cow bank
- 1 white & orange tupperware serving bowl (do NOT microwave)
- 1 dark pink trash can (to be filled with cleaning supplies before delivery)


They also got the following as wedding gifts -
- coffee maker (black)
- toaster (black)
- iron
- toaster oven
- microwave
- pitcher & glass set
- stainless steel colander
- spaghetti noodles, oil, spices, etc from his mom

(1 thought from others... ~ Your thoughts?)

cat food suggestion?

Okay, my animal minded friends - I am in need of help.

My friend has a 5 year old male cat with recurring UTI and bladder blockages. They have told her it is because of the magnesium and ash in his food. They are going to do a surgery to enlarge his urethra to minimize the problem going forward, but is looking for a multi-flavored food that has no ash in it. (She said he is a very picky eater and won't eat anything that isn't multi-flavored, because she's tried putting him on "diet food" in the past.)

Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance - you guys are always awesome :)

(Your thoughts?)