Alaska chat for August - Page 5

[mamatoni]

Rocket Launch???

We went opening day since DH didn't have to work that day, it is so much more fun as the kids get bigger. They are more into the rides, animals and looking at things than they were even last year. I love seeing people I don't really see otherwise (penelope! ) and it is fun to look at the artwork and quilts. I've entered a quilt a few times, but didn't get it together soon enough this year. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to do 4H, DH is talking about a COW of all things...sheesh...where would we put a cow! I am thinking more like a bunny...they're awfully cute

I can't believe I go back to work tomorrow, I feel both and : I love teaching and will be the department head this year, kind of exciting and intimidating at the same time. I am looking forward to having more control over what is going on in our little math world at least

Got Z a twin mattress today (I counted last night and he crashed into the edge of his toddler bed over 10 times!!!) and have spent the whole day rearranging their half of our upstairs he is sooooooo excited and has spend the afternoon claiming "I'm so tired, I'm going to go to sleep" promptly to get up 3 seconds later to run around all excited.

Is anybody interested in a toddler bed and mattress? I'd love to give it to someone who could use it...

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by mamatoni

I can't believe I go back to work tomorrow, I feel both and : I love teaching and will be the department head this year, kind of exciting and intimidating at the same time.

What day is your first day of school there? We don't go back until Thursday, so I think we are a few days behind you.. unless you have to go back earlier than most because of dept duties?

I am excited about going back, too.. I am teaching a workshop for the first time EVER! Hoping it goes well..

I ran around and bought Bento items today.. got a Mr. Bento new for $35 from craigslist and a slightly smaller "floor" model one at an Asian market for about $30.. (it was a bit dirty and missing its chopsticks).. I found some cute little dishes for $1.99 that are glass but have snap on lids like locknlocks.. So yeah, I will be bringing in homemade lunches this year.. Usually i would bring in a frozen dinner type thing, but I want to do something a bit healthier (and maybe cheaper, too!) since we are ttc this year..

ETA: My mother has to go back Tuesday I think.. her school is "in crisis" so they have additional planning/meetings they have to attend.

[mamatoni]

Originally Posted by Pinoikoi

What day is your first day of school there? We don't go back until Thursday, so I think we are a few days behind you.. unless you have to go back earlier than most because of dept duties?

I am excited about going back, too.. I am teaching a workshop for the first time EVER! Hoping it goes well..

So yeah, I will be bringing in homemade lunches this year.. Usually i would bring in a frozen dinner type thing, but I want to do something a bit healthier (and maybe cheaper, too!) since we are ttc this year..

The kids go back the 17th, all the teachers go in tomorrow, it will be fun to see my co-workers again.

If you like the frozen dinner type thing, but want to be healthier, you could try making a big batch on the weekend and freezing it in smaller containers. I have done that with things like enchiladas, lasagna, soups, basically anything with a sauce will freeze well. If you took it out the night before it would probably be thawed out enough and you wouldn't have to take the extra time to make something in the morning.

What do you teach?

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by mamatoni

The kids go back the 17th, all the teachers go in tomorrow, it will be fun to see my co-workers again.

If you like the frozen dinner type thing, but want to be healthier, you could try making a big batch on the weekend and freezing it in smaller containers. I have done that with things like enchiladas, lasagna, soups, basically anything with a sauce will freeze well. If you took it out the night before it would probably be thawed out enough and you wouldn't have to take the extra time to make something in the morning.

What do you teach?

English.. and funny thing, I have beens in the crockpot right now, cooking and then freezing.. I buy them dry and then I am always in such a hurry to make dinner I never have time to soak them and cook them, so I thought this might work.. I have been following this blog

http://lunchinabox.net/faq/#FAQ1

and it has been giving me a lot of ideas about reusing leftovers!

[rabrog]

Yeah, there was a launch sponsored by Midnight Sun Martial Arts. There were two issues with it - the main one being that it was done illegally since the fairgrounds are within a certain distance from the airport! The second less important though still annoying thing is that it wasn't done following general safety protocol for a launch. DH flies high power model rockets (his biggest is just over 12 ft. tall) and we've seen much larger ones fly. To see kids getting an ill advised start in rocketry was upsetting to say the least. Whle it's a blast for kids it needs to be done correctly and within the bounds of the federal law.

We brought in 8 pounds of broccoli and a nice head of cauliflower from the garden last night.

Jenn

[spruce]

rabrog, did you check to see if they'd gotten a waiver for the launch from the feds?

If they were unsafe, I could understand your concern, but I don't see a safety issue in your posts (aside from the federal angle). Which "general safety protocol" did they breach, and how? WERE these 12 foot rockets? Or are we talking kid-made ones?

I'm frustrated, to add fuel to the fire, by the eating contests this year. Watermelon eating contest for little kids, pie for adults.

It just disgusts me that we waste so much food in these types of things. If they did the contest with a "donate to X World Hunger Foundation" etc., I wouldn't be so frustrated. There is so much focus on the Food Bank and its needs...why not donate all the raw materials for the eating contests to the Food Bank instead??

sigh.

[spruce]

On another annoying note, I heard that Anderson went ahead with its fireworks display during their BlueGrass festival....yeah, the Anderson that is covered in smoke and supposed to be ready to evacuate any minute. *sigh*

[katiesk]

On another annoying note, I heard that Anderson went ahead with its fireworks display during their BlueGrass festival....yeah, the Anderson that is covered in smoke and supposed to be ready to evacuate any minute. *sigh*

indeed they did. and also other individuals had their own fireworks displays directly over our tent.

also at anderson, they permitted "cooking" fires (ie regular bonfires)...in spite of the burn ban. it was a little weird.

[rabrog]

Penelope, the airport restriction is a federal law - there's no waiver available for it. These were little rockets but they could still go a fair distance. They were launching right underneath airplanes (because planes couldn't get in for two days the flight schedule was thrown out the window just to get people in) and I cannot tell you what a huge NO that is. When we fly, we have FAA waivers to 100K feet for a specific amount of time. Planes know not to fly into the airspace, etc. There was nothing in place like that here and while it didn't put anyone in danger in the planes, it was against the law and was not a good thing to show kids.

They also had kids all over the place - there was nothing to keep kids from getting right next to the rocket that was racked and ready to go. That could have caused a serious injury.

Basically, there aren't rocket launches in town because of the laws. DH would love to launch up here but the state laws are so tight it can't be done. Also, rocketry gets a bad rap anyway so having things done like this doesn't help anything.

Jenn

[roadfamily6now]

Alaska Birth Network

There will be an Alaska Birth Network meeting on the 15th here in Anchorage.

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[Icequeen_in_ak]

Originally Posted by ~Purity♥Lake~

I know I have the non-hormonal IUD, I just didn't remember which name it was, since I've had it for nearly 3 years now. I know it's the non-hormonal because I looked at the two choices offered and selected the one that wouldn't interfere with breastfeeding. So I'm guessing it must be the paraguard. It was supposed to last 8-10 years.

I never heard of Dong Quai Tea. What does that do specifically?

By chance, have you had all of your hormone levels tested? I ask this because I've been having a whole lot of menopausal symptoms lately (I no longer possess my uterus, so I can't judge my menstrual cycles) and comes back that I'm wonky on my numbers. My doc says "it's not menopause... but you are probably headed toward that direction". It's not really surprising, because I'm a candidate for early menopause having lost an ovary at 24. But to give you a shimmer of hope, I'm almost 43 *gasp* and even being predisposed to early menopause, I'm not there yet... so hopefully you have plenty of time left.

[Icequeen_in_ak]

Originally Posted by rabrog

Yeah, there was a launch sponsored by Midnight Sun Martial Arts. There were two issues with it - the main one being that it was done illegally since the fairgrounds are within a certain distance from the airport! The second less important though still annoying thing is that it wasn't done following general safety protocol for a launch. DH flies high power model rockets (his biggest is just over 12 ft. tall) and we've seen much larger ones fly. To see kids getting an ill advised start in rocketry was upsetting to say the least. Whle it's a blast for kids it needs to be done correctly and within the bounds of the federal law.

We brought in 8 pounds of broccoli and a nice head of cauliflower from the garden last night.

Jenn

I'm curious about the regulations, because I've never heard of them before and in our business, we launch rockets quite often. Perhaps it's because we never fly anything larger than a B engine?, but no one has ever told us there were any regulations that were an issue.

[~PurityLake~]

Originally Posted by Icequeen_in_ak

By chance, have you had all of your hormone levels tested? I ask this because I've been having a whole lot of menopausal symptoms lately (I no longer possess my uterus, so I can't judge my menstrual cycles) and comes back that I'm wonky on my numbers. My doc says "it's not menopause... but you are probably headed toward that direction". It's not really surprising, because I'm a candidate for early menopause having lost an ovary at 24. But to give you a shimmer of hope, I'm almost 43 *gasp* and even being predisposed to early menopause, I'm not there yet... so hopefully you have plenty of time left.

Thank you for the words of hope. Sometimes it takes thinking you can never have something in order to realize how much you wanted it.

I've never had my hormone levels tested. I never knew this was even something that can be done. My appointment is at the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Clinic for this Friday morning. I'm seeing an RN who plans to check my IUD and do a pregnancy test. I'm afraid to ask for anything extra since we have no health insurance. I worry I may have fibroid tumors, but not that worried. My mom had them and they made her bleed heavier and more often. My problem is lack of bleeding. So then the only thing I can think of is the IUD is all coated with what should have come out, as though it has created a clog of some sort and that it is quickly becoming a breeding ground for uterine infection.

[rabrog]

It's probably because of where you fly your rockets, actually. My brother can fly his small rockets (I think he can purchase up to a C motor....he's not old enough to be certified) in a neighbors field with no problem which would be comparable to what you do. I think it's awesome that you're exposing kids to rockets! : The big thing is if it's a large organized launch, there has to be waivers in place with the FAA but due to other laws in AK we're not allowed to do the large launches.

Tonight is the only night we don't have something going on...and DD still has karate tonight! She enjoyed doing it again last night, though, after having two months off.

Jenn

[Icequeen_in_ak]

Originally Posted by rabrog

It's probably because of where you fly your rockets, actually. My brother can fly his small rockets (I think he can purchase up to a C motor....he's not old enough to be certified) in a neighbors field with no problem which would be comparable to what you do. I think it's awesome that you're exposing kids to rockets! : The big thing is if it's a large organized launch, there has to be waivers in place with the FAA but due to other laws in AK we're not allowed to do the large launches.

Tonight is the only night we don't have something going on...and DD still has karate tonight! She enjoyed doing it again last night, though, after having two months off.

Jenn

Thanks for the info. I think I'll do some digging, just to make sure we aren't violating any rules or regs. That would be the last thing we need! Given that we launch them EVERYWHERE, I really should make sure we are following the rules.

The funniest thing, when a child chooses a rocket launch, say as a birthday party add on... our statistics thus far have shown that 76% of girls choose it, versus the 24% boys. Hopefully we are encouraging some future female astronauts!

Thanks again!

[spruce]

Originally Posted by rabrog

Tonight is the only night we don't have something going on...and DD still has karate tonight! She enjoyed doing it again last night, though, after having two months off.

Jenn

It's good to hear your DD is enjoying karate. We're back to 3+ days/week, and with the Sept classes starting, we'll have 4 TSD kids. : Iris will be a Tiny Tiger...I'm still trying to find a 000 shirt for her, so for now she has the black World TSD shirt instead. (The TTers aren't really supposed to get their uniforms until after the first month is up, though).

Hard to believe my 8 yo might be a red belt very, very soon, and my 13yo will test for her white stripe on her red belt. M (the 5yo) will get his green belt in the next test session, as well.

Hope everyone covered their gardens (I gave up on mine, it's a disaster), we're supposed to get frost tonight!

love, p

[PaulaJoAnne]

Hi

Just wanted to poke in and say hello.
Things are shaping up nicely around here.
Lots of fun updates in our blog in regards to our little growing farm, if your interested.
Trust everyone is doing well.
Paula

[rabrog]

Originally Posted by Icequeen_in_ak

Thanks for the info. I think I'll do some digging, just to make sure we aren't violating any rules or regs. That would be the last thing we need! Given that we launch them EVERYWHERE, I really should make sure we are following the rules.

The funniest thing, when a child chooses a rocket launch, say as a birthday party add on... our statistics thus far have shown that 76% of girls choose it, versus the 24% boys. Hopefully we are encouraging some future female astronauts!

Thanks again!

That's hilarious! My DD is totally into it - she flew a pencil rocket and a port-a-potty rocket last year.

DH said the code says you can't fly into clouds or within 5 miles of an airport and you don't need a waiver for anything up to 13oz. (rocket weight) so you guys should be fine. Here's a link to the stuff:

Penelope, I don't have to roll DD's karate pants or the sleeves anymore and the jacket is looking like it might be too short - I don't think it even hits her hips! All this growth in 2 months!!

We covered our squash, corn and tomatoes. I can't believe this weather. I'm ready to go to Arizona....

Jenn

[roadfamily6now]

sounds like a great day in Fairbanks!!!

[~PurityLake~]

So guess what started today, just two days before my dr. appointment, with full on back pain and cramping, as usual. Yeah. So should I cancel? I mean, obviously it won't be done within two days and she can't exactly check my IUD when I'm bleeding all over the place. And obviously, I'm not pregnant. Any advice on whether I should even bother going, and if so, what for at this point? What is the hormone testing someone mentioned and other than that, when can I possibly gain from an exam (while on my period)?