Just hormones?

I am studying hormones in preparation for tomorrow's big final (plus a lot more things....) and don't have a whole lot to blog right now. But just now, in a little break from studying, I checked in on Dooce, who just gave birth to her second child. And she writes about what it's like for a new mommy of her second child. Oh, yes, all those raw emotions. If you've given birth to more than one child, you know. If you haven't....well, just go read, no matter.

Family of Four

I'm here...

....but not for long. I am winding down on school work--just about to start on the last bit of homework before the end of term! And there will be a Very Long Test. The final for my core class is 31 pages long. That is not a typo! So, just to let you all know I am fine and busy with school and will (maybe) blog more in the summer. I have July and August off of school.

Lovely Landmark Scooter Ride

Yesterday Maria and I did something we hadn't done yet (but have talked about since the fall)--we went on a long scooter ride just for the sake of taking a long scooter ride. We started out from her house in SW Portland and rode down to Lake Oswego, along highway 43 which is just gorgeous wooded roadway. We rode around the lake, looking for routes that would give us lake views, but also got a Lake Oswego homes tour in the process. (If you're not familiar: Lake Oswego has some gorgeous mansions, but we also stumbled upon shoebox-sized cottages.) We finally found the road where you can cross over the little inlets with lots of docks and it looks kind of like Disneyland.

There were so many good smells on the ride, which of course on scooter one can fully appreciate. Cherry blossoms, the heady scent of the conifers, and on our way back through the area around Tryon State Park, it was the damp cool mossy kind of smell. That was where the sky all of a sudden darkened and I thought we'd get poured on.....

But we made it to Maria's house just before the rain started. And then it poured!

This morning I looked at the speedometer on my scooter and saw that somewhere on our ride, I crossed over to 3000 miles on Dora. I have enjoyed having Dora even more than I thought I would! In March, after getting through most of the winter weather, I sold my car. Dora has been just what I needed to get over the hump of needing a car/wanting to go carless.

Seems like a long time...

...since I posted here. So much has happened--or rather, just a lot of school has happened. I am really loving it, and unsure of how much I'm going to be able to post here, as I'm busy reading and going to school. I am learning a lot already--and I have begun posting on my birth blog about what I'm learning as it pertains to pregnancy, birth, midwifery, etc. So if you are interested in such things, check it out!

It Is Starting...

My midwifery course, that is! I am attending the first day (half day today) of orientation wherein we will learn about non-violent communication, which is the model they use at Birthingway. Tomorrow we'll be learning about the school and how it functions, policies, library use, the citation method used at Birthingway, etc. and will have a community potluck lunch! And on Tuesday I begin classes! Woohoo! I'm looking forward to every minute of it!

And now, I still have a bit of reading to do before Tuesday....and not enough time to do it unless I crack down. Okay, I do have enough time, it just doesn't feel like it.

Rockin' Chickens

Several weeks ago, our hens got scared by a possum in the henhouse. They are very dramatic when this happens--the one who is being chased loses a bunch of feathers and you can see them *everywhere.* It makes it look like someone's a goner for sure....when the hen isn't even as much as scratched. As far as I can find on the internet, a possum won't kill a chicken unless it is exceedingly hungry, but it will eat eggs. But the hens do not like possums and are always nervous around them.

After the possum came to visit they've been not wanting to go in the coop at night. Usually chickens are homebodies--when dusk falls, they are ready to tuck themselves in and go to sleep. They like their home and are creatures of habit. But now they've been roosting in other places: on top the fence and on top the support between the porch canopy and garage. We've had to go out and retrieve them manually and put them inside every night. Sometimes I can get out there right at dusk and lure them in by sweet-talking them and tossing a bit of feed into the coop.

But the other night Carissa and her rock band were practicing in the garage. (Yes, it's true: we have a true garage band in our midst!) And I went out there to try to lure them in....and found four already in and two loitering by the door ready to go in. I had no idea that chickens liked hard rock music! But they went right in without a fuss. :-)

Come see Carissa's band, Pyroclasm play this Friday (March 20) at Audio Cinema, which is located at 226 SE Madison (under the Hawthorne bridge) at 6 pm. The $5 fee goes right to helping more girls make screamy music.

Zac's new blog!

Zachary wants everyone to know that he has a new blog. Zac definitely has a sense of humor. His blog is called Son of a....Priest?

Go visit and say hi!