Monday, February 4, 2013

Surprise!

So.  I am 6 weeks pregnant.  This was not a part of "the plan" but really what's a plan? We are....excited, nervous, terrified, etc... But mostly excited. I think.   Nothing more on this for now.  Just wanted to share with the interwebs.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Ten Steps to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

1. Take cover: There is absolutely no sense in thinking that out running this disease is even an option.  Your best bet is to get to high ground where access is minimal.  If eliminating access is possible, do so immediately.

2. Barricade your ass inside: If destroying all possible entrances is not an option, which is probably isn't for most, at least not in a manner quick enough to prevent your imminent death, use every heavy thing you can get your hands on to barricade all doors.  The more stuff, the better.

3.  Board up those windows:  If you don't have ply wood laying around just unhinge a door, break it up, and nail it to each window, or at least most of them.  You can also use dresser drawers or cupboard doors for this. Use your imagination.

4. Hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husband cause they're biting everybody out here:  Ensure that one window has a small crack you can see out of so you will know if/when an attack is coming.  Set up a scheduled "watch"(everyone can have a turn) to make sure you are aware of whats going on outside at all times. Make sure everyone else is quietly hidden away, keep the kids away from any windows and/or doors.  No music, no television, and no radio on except on the lowest possible volume level.  If your doors aren't barricaded very well you don't want any zombies hearing you from miles (or inches) away. Of course, depending on where we are in the over-throw of the human race, we may not even have power to worry about things like TV and radio. Unless you have a battery operated radio, in which case you would be smart and fortunate.

5.  Check the food:  If you're going to out last the initial infection and mass chaos you will need a substantial amount of will power and very little food.  A human being can survive on one table spoon of honey a day for a very, very long time.  Take stock of all the food you have in the house.  Divide the list up into perishable and non-perishables.  You and your family will want to eat the things with expiration dates first, obviously, and save canned and dry things for when things start to get really hard. Also, if the water is still working, it may be prudent to take as many empty bottles, pitchers, and buckets you have around the house and fill them.  Store the containers in a safe and clean place.  Begin rationing the water as you ration the food.

6.  Check the supplies:  Next, take stock of the essentials- maps, flashlights, batteries, matches, any other fire starting apparatuses, candles, torches, and weaponry + amo.  Be creative in the weaponry department. Screw drivers make good weapons. Crowbars, tire irons, baseball bats, gardening tools, hammers etc. It doesn't have to be a gun. While they can be helpful, they are also very loud and can draw unwanted attention. Only use the guns in an emergency. Put all the weapons in one central location.

7. Train the young and the weak: If there is time, teach the smaller children (or anyone in your family/group who doesn't know) where to aim when killing a zombie - always the head and more specifically the brain.  If there isn't time, make time. Help them to become comfortable handling a hammer or whatever their weapon of choice is.  It may seem crude and extreme but they'll thank you for it if your hiding place is over run.  Have them practice wielding their weapon on a pillow or something similar.  You can even draw a little face with eyes on it and encourage them to aim through the eyes.  It's unlikely that a child will have the strength to crush a skull but if they have good aim they can still penetrate the zombie's brain through the eye socket. 

8. Wait:  As I mention above, it is highly unlikely that all the morons who run for it will 1. Have any place to run. Soon no where will be safe. 2. Get very far because every one will trying to run some place safe. The roads will be jammed, there will be accidents, mass killings, not many really know what the zombies look like yet, everyone is a suspect, anyone could be bitten, anyone could bite.  Wait for the initial madness to die down.  This may take several weeks or months of utter hysteria. You may notice less and less zombies walking by day after day.  Eventually it may just come down to the fact that you've run out of water or food.  You'll have to see what's left of the world to know if/how long you can survive.

9. Go in groups: You will have to send a small scouting group out to see whats going on in the neighborhood as far as zombie/human activity.  Never let anyone leave your safe place alone UNLESS they are being backed up by some one at the house with a gun with some sort of long distance shooting capabilities. Have the scouts come back after they have checked out the neighbors homes and the surrounding areas. Bring out the map you found in step 6 and plan the quickest but back alliest route to two (if possible) places: 1. A grocery store that also has a gas station and a pharmacy (if places such as these do not exist where you are, that really sucks and you're going to have to plan 4 trips instead) 2. the nearest place that might have copious amounts of weaponry (this could be the fire department, there might be a military base in your town, or an armory but a police station probably the easiest to get into and probably the least likely to be over run as not as many people work there compared to an armory or a military base).  Take the quietest and fastest vehicle you possess and hit the road. Stock up on as many/much antibiotics, bandages, gauze,  triple antibiotic ointment, peroxide, alcohol and things that will mean the difference between dying of a cut and surviving due to the proper meds.  You should be able to find gas cans at the store, fill them up and save as much as you can. 

10.  Staying alive:  Finding the least over run and the most convenient location to make your runs may take a fair amount of trial and error but you'll figure it out.  Make sure to always stay stocked up on the essentials (water, non-perishable food items, a weapon, a source of fire).  It is good to have a "Just in case" plan for emergencies, maybe even a few different plans depending on the emergency (in case the zombies get in, in case we're over run, in case the remaining government starts bombing the city to get rid of the problem, in case one of us is bitten, etc).  You'll want to have an agreed upon location to meet up in case the group gets separated and enough food and water to last you until you can figure out a new plan and a new home. Go over the plan with the group at least once a day to make sure every one is clear on the details. Everyone should also have an emergency bag packed and ready to grab at a moments notice with a week's worth of food, water and weapon in it. 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Options

While it would be very fun indeed to start my own business, in this economy I'm not sure it'd be a good way to start a new life and marriage. Also I would need money to start a business....
I could...
Substitute teach
Work in a parish
Work as some kind of assistant- I can be obnoxiously organized.
Be a nanny
Be a server at a fancy restaurant
Get my bartenders license? :-/

Monday, February 6, 2012

Friday, February 3, 2012

A list of things I want to do in 2012

Hello! I have made it safely, if not a little begrudgingly, back into the arms of Indiana. I have been thinking a lot of things I want to learn how to do. Nothing crazy like, scale a mountain or learn to Sanskrit, but things that I want to know and use to better my self and my life. THis list also includes things that I want to get in the habit of doing but already know how to do. Here we go! (*mario voice*)

1. Learn how to properly plant, grow, harvest and maintain a garden that includes veggies, fruits and herbs.

2. Learn how to make home made salsa, jams and preserves with the afore mentioned home grown delights.

3. Learn how to can the above things and try to eat off of them all winter, only buying things that were not grown locally out of extreme craving or random necessity.

4. I want to use the rest of my shampoo then switch to baking soda and apple cider vinegar for my main source of  haircare.

5. I want to continue making my own bath treats using olive oil and essential oils.

6. I really REALLY REALLY want to start getting up at a realistic hour every day and going to bed at a realistic hour every day.  I don't know why I STILL have a hard time with it but one of these days my internal alarm clock is going to have to be that of a grown up and not that of a 15 year old boy.

7. I want to clean my room more regularly. And by that I mostly mean maintain my rooms cleanliness better. Staying caught up with laundry and that kind of thing.

8. I want to bake more things.  Start baking fresh bread every other weekend and eat it all week long. yum.

9. I would like to lose at least 15-20 pounds.

10.  I would like to get a nice camera and be more intentional about taking photos.

11.  I would like to get a sewing machine and learn how to use it. Maybe take a class or something. It would be lovely to make or at least be able to mend clothes for the kiddies some day.

12.  Marry my best friend. :- )

13.  Get the manager job at LUSH GreenHills in Nashville or at least the MIT position there so I can further my career with the company I appreciate so much.

14. If LUSH doesn't work out, I would like to go to cosmetology school and learn how to cut and style hair and then work out of my home. Along with this goes starting my own Etsy shop where I make bath and beauty products on a very smell level indeed and sell them to whomever would like to have a lovely bath and lovely skin.

15.  Get through my supply of LUSH lotions and use coconut oil instead. Find out if purchasing fair trade organic cocoa butter is an affordable option. Begin to make my own body butters if it is.

Thats all I can really think of at the moment but I'm sure there will be more to come. Enjoy your weekend!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Feb photo challenge

To help me along my blogging way I decided to do this photo challenge. You photograph something each day the month of february and post it.

Right meow I'm in Scottsdale AZ with my company Lush. It's a lively place to work :) it just so happens that my bestie lives here as well so today's photo was taken at the Scottsdale Mall. The subject was 'your view today'. I took a photo of a horse at a furniture shop with a sign on it discouraging passersby to please not ride the white horse. When i took the photo I was thinking a lot about animal rights and how they dont have voices to speak out against cruelty that's often done to them and their kin. We talked a lot about this at one of our meetings today. More profound details when it's less late and I have to get up less early. Til then -- xx

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Sleep is tircksy

There are just some nights when sleep evades me.  I have this weird anxiety all pinned up and I can never put a name on it.  It's not quite insomnia, those of you know me know that I am world champion sleeper.  Once I fall asleep I generally have no troubles staying asleep and it takes a promise of a hot hot shower and nine cups of coffee to get me out of bed in the morning.  I dont know what it is.  I just call it sleep anxiety.  Its almost like I am afraid I am going to miss something if I give in to Brother Sleep...I feel a lot like a kid when these spells come over me.  Remember when Christmas was a little more magical and a little less exhausting? When you use to wonder that, while mother and father said Santa wasn't real....is that the jingle of a sleigh bell? Was that a boot on the roof? I use to get so excited thinking about the prospects of reindeer I'd would nearly make myself sick.  Imaginations are wild and beautiful things.  I only wish mine would silence itself for the night. Nine year old me did not have to be up at 730 in the morning!