Doula Stuff

I was going to come up with a catchy title and then I thought to myself, "Self, if you let them know ahead of time it is doula stuff, those who are interested will check in and read and those who don't give a fig about birthing babies will know to leave this alone and not bother and then be disappointed." So that is what I did.

Did I tell you that my Rachel Pie has moved back home?  First time in 7 years that she has been back living at home.  And it's about damn time if you ask me.  Anyhoo, she has been interested in the doula work and has taken the training twice now and was working on her doula career back in CO.  So now that she is back here, she already has the "in" so to speak on getting into the birthing community here. And she has just gone headfirst into the deep end!

So I took her on as my little apprentice/shadow doula to accompany me to all my visits and birth with my client so that she could learn the lay of the land here.  I am sure birth is like everything else and has its little regional differences in how things are done.

And Sunday was my client's day to birth her baby.  She woke up in the wee hours of the night/morning with her waters broken and light contractions.  It was a beautiful birth.  She was so calm, composed and totally willing to try anything I suggested in order to have her labor progress.  She and her husband worked well together, plus she had me and Rachel Pie there to support and help.  There was a lot of trust in that room.

Sixteen hours from the early morning awakening was the birth of a precious baby girl.  She made her entrance to the world at almost 5 p.m.  Her mama did a spectacular job of pushing and working hard and just did her best for that baby.  It was an honor to be there.

It was also a pleasure to have my Rachel Pie there to witness, to help and to learn what it is to birth a baby.  She did an amazing job and I was proud to have her there.  I hope as she grows and moves through her doula career that I will get to continue to watch her work.

I am thankful for my work.  Thankful for my clients.  Thankful for my Rachel Pie.  It was a rewarding day.

I'm Back!!!

I just looked and saw that I have not posted anything in 4 weeks.  It has not been the greatest summer and I have to say that I have been a little on the depressed and morose side.  Nothing that warrants explanation or going on about.  But it seems to have played hell with my creative side.

So, here are a few random pictures from my last downloads to my iphoto.

I went to my sister's graduation from nursing school and afterwards I spotted this fabulous car in the parking lot!  I took several shots of it being careful not to show their license plate.  Tell me that isn't the cutest thing you ever saw!  I should have put a note on the window with my number in case she wants to ever sell it. You know that car is 99% likely being owned and driven by a girl, right?

Then at the graduation party at my mama's house we took some family photos.  Here is one with me, two sisters, one brother and brother's girlfriend.

One of the other quick little trips I have taken this summer was to a wedding.  The bride was gorgeous, the bridesmaid dresses were also very nice.  But then I spied the shoes.  I wish I could convey to you how much I detest these shoes.  They have been popular for a couple years now, and it is seriously time for them to go.  My friend Elaine and I, when we lived in Chile used to go to the mall just to walk around and look in the windows of the all the shoe stores and choose the ugliest shoes in each window. These plastic-y, uncomfortable shoes below that are in that horrid shade of neutral-doesn't-match-anything-on-the-planet beige have just got to go.

A few years ago my small girl-child Miss Rachel Pie went on a Vision Quest and we made her a quilt to take with her.  And this past year the boy-child Sparky made the same commitment to do this and so I have been busy making him a quilt as well.  Here I am on the night before he leaves making the very last stitches to the binding.  Nothing like getting things done at the last flipping minute.

Here I am holding up one side of the quilt. Please to ignore the obviously white bra showing through my dress.

And here is Sparky holding up the other end.

When we lived in Minneapolis I started going to the Senior Center because that's where the little old ladies would hang out and quilt.  And I was determined to learn how.  They used to get donations of books and books and more books of fabric samples.  These sample books would get taken apart, washed and then randomly sewn into long strips and then sewn together to make the cutest quilt tops that were then donated or raffled or whatever.  Anyhoo, they gave me a couple of those books and that is what I used to make both the kids' quilts.  I didn't do an over-all quilting design.  Instead I just quilted each fabric rectangle with a different pattern.  It turned out really cute and obviously very home-made looking.

One day I will learn to piece together a gorgeous quilt top.


That's it for me today.  I am glad to be back blogging and hope to get some good posts together to share with you.  Enjoy this HOT August!

Moon Diet

Yes, you read it right.  The Moon Diet.  According to several different sites I visited to learn more about this

"It's well known that the moon affects the earth's oceans and rivers with its gravitational pull. It is less known that the moon also affects the water contained in the human body. The moon diet takes advantage of the moon's power to help you cleanse your body and lose weight. On certain days you can lose up to 6 lbs in a single 24-hour period!


Human knowledge and mythology throughout time have spoken of the moon's effect on the earth and the human body. The moon's gravitational pull dictates the action of the ocean's tides. A woman's menstrual cycle runs in parallel to the cycle of the moon. Some believe the moon affects the emotions—for example, the full moon stimulates aggressive behavior.

In addition, the moon can affect the water contained in the human body. The human body is 60% water. When the moon reaches its full phase and new phase, its gravitational pull combines with the sun for the greatest gravitational effect. This period of increased effect lasts about 24 hours."


So with this in mind, I set out to find what is meant by The Moon Diet.  It is important to note when the  moon will be full (date and time) to start this regimen.  It seems to me that it is a good monthly detox.


Here is how it lays out if you want to follow along.  And by the by, the full moon starts tomorrow at 6:52 p.m. So if you want to try it this month, you better get to the store!

1. At the onset of the full moon:

    Choose A: 24 hour diet of spring, boiled or distilled water, fresh squeezed fruit and vegetable juices in abundance.

or B: 3 day diet: Day 1 - raw or cooked vegetables. Day 2 - only the liquids listed above. Day 3 - fresh cut up pineapple and fresh mushrooms either steamed or cooked with olive oil and spices.

or C: 6 day diet: Day 1 - raw or cooked vegetables. Days 2, 3, 5, and 6 - the fresh cut up pineapple and mushrooms as above. with Day 4 being the liquid fasting as in the 24 hour hour diet.

2. At 1800 hours (6 p.m.) of the evening before the new moon, begin this diet. Eat these foods for 36 hours. Soups and vegetable broths. Soups made of your favorite vegetables. Take these 4 - 5 times a day. Drink lots of pure spring, boiled or distilled water. To avoid monotony - once a day drink a cup of poultry, meat or fish broth. 

Avoid alcohol, coffee and black tea during these times.  You may drink herbal teas like mint as much as you want. The pineapple is a really good diuretic and the mushrooms are a very low calorie/high water way to consume protein that your muscles will need.

Here are the remaining full moon dates for this year, 2012.

3 July 18:52 (6:52 p.m.)

2 Aug. 3:38 (3:38 a.m.)

31 Aug. 13:59 (1:59 p.m.)

30 Sept. 3:19 (3:19 a.m.)

29 Oct. 19:50 (7:50 p.m.)

28 Nov. 14:47 (2:47 p.m.)

28 Dec. 10:22 (10:22 a.m.)

What do you think? Are you interested in trying a cleansing/detox diet that has ties to Mother Nature?

 

You know those songs that get stuck in your head?

This is one of those videos that gets stuck in your head.

Check it out:

Obit Reading Part 395847395

There were just a little over 2 pages worth of obituaries this week.  That's good.  Typically we have 3 full pages and sometimes more.  There were several who were over 100 years of age who had led nice long, and full lives.  For example, Ms. Carmen Quintanilla Flores (who let me just interject here that I find it unusual for a woman of her age to use the title Ms.  She must be a progressive thinker!)  Ms. Carmen wrote part of her obituary herownself and called it "Los Caminos de la Vida" the roads of life.

Here's some of what she said:

"Who would have thought that one hundred years is a long time but instead feels like a brief moment. Los Caminos de la Vida started in Parras, Coahuila (a state of Mexico just south of TX) with my parents who worked with the Madero family while at the same time working in my grandparent's vinery. All was well until the Mexico Revolution came and my parents were forced to leave and go to Monterrey, Mexico. My father had family in Monterry and stayed with them for a short period, but then decided to come to the United States with nothing but our clothes in a stage coach - my son Fernando would say in a covered wagon - NO, NO NO, Coach. It was very hard leaving your country and having to start over but the Good Lord helped us to have a new beginning in spite of the hard roads of life. I am thankful for meeting my husband at my mother's boarding house. He came to San Antonio to study from Zapata, TX. His family had received land grants way before Texas belonged to the U.S. A very proud traditional ranching family with deep roots in Texas that is maintained today."

Then she goes on to say "I would not have imagined flying in an airplane to go visit my family or flying to a foreign country to go on vacation in a matter of hours. Riding in a car (Model T) for the first time was an adventure beyond belief and in later years riding in cars with lots of comfort and air conditioning - amazing. Thank You Lord for allowing me to have seen and experienced with all my children, granchildren and great grandchildren Los Caminos de la Vida."

Her family did the "before and after" pictures, as I call them.  One when she was a young fashionplate and on as a grandmother.  She was quite the looker!

Then we come to George Guzman who was a handsome Navy man from back in the day.  Because of his love of the sea he is getting a military burial-at-sea and the family was nice enough to give a brief description of that procedure.  I had no idea about this, so of course, I thought I would share it with you.

"It's because of George's love of the Navy and sea that final disposition will occur with a burial-at-sea in the Pacific Ocean. During the ceremony, performed by a U.S. Navy chaplain, the active-duty ship will come to full stop with its colors at half-mast. The officer passes the word "All hands bury the dead." After the sailors are assembled and called to attention, all stand at "parade rest", read scriptures and prayers, and commit George's remains to seas. The officiate reads a benediction, the firing detail fires three volleys and the bugler plays "Taps".

Can you just picture that?  It doesn't say if the family will get to participate in this or not.  But let me tell you, I have attended several military funerals and it is heart-wrenching when they salute them, fold the flag, hand it to the mama, play taps and fire the guns.  Nothing is as moving as that.

I leave you now with a short but very sweet and heart-warming tribute to a man not much older than myself.

"Kevin Jon Johnson

Beloved brother, loving husband, dedicated father and most loyal friend was called home by his Lord. With valiant effors, Kevin continued to epitomize the man of character he was. Quick to smile, fun to be with and a firerce defender of that which is right. Althogh those left behind will deeply miss him, we were blessed by the time we shared with him. Heaven will enjoy his presence. He now joins his dear friends Mel & Joe to fish off God's pier where the fish always bite, the stories always fun and beer cold."  (spelling and grammar are theirs)

Have I ever mentioned that beside being a birth doula one of my fondest wishes is to take the training to be a hospice volunteer?  Essentially it is really being a "death doula".  You provide pretty much the same care, respect and help for this life transition as you would for the other.  I have thought about this for a really long time, and I am now ready to embark on this new adventure.

If any of you have done this and have words of wisdom, please feel free to share.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by and please leave me some comments.  I love to hear from you.

Sunday Night Chit Chat

Okay, my blog friend Sluggy says we who want to play along on the Sunday Night Chit Chat should go here and follow directions.

Here's my answers!

Reading... "Lamb" by Christopher Moore.  This was recommended by a friend recently. I have just started and can NOT put it down!!!  I have never laughed so loud when reading in bed.  You will just adore this book.

Watching... AMC is running the whole previous 4 seasons of Breaking Bad late at night leading up to the Season 5 which starts on July 15.  I have been recording them and watching them and oh boy, it is even better watching a bunch back-to-back.  Season 5 is supposed to be the big finale so you want to be up on your stuff because this will be it.

Listening to...  I have the radio on tuned to an 1970s rock station and they are playing Van Halen "Dance the night away", and just segued in to some AC/DC "Dirty Deeds".

Cooking/Baking... nothing today.  But I just got a new recipe on Pinterest for Okra, Grilled Corn and Goat Cheese Fritters.  I will be going to get those ingredients for this week!  Yum.

Happy you accomplished... Holy Moly!  I finished a quilt I was making for my son that had been in the 70-80% done category for about 2 years. Then I got down an afghan I was 90% done with and finished it.  Right now I am working on a cross stitch project I have wanted to start for YEARS!  It feels really good to clear out some old projects.

Looking forward to next week... It is Mr. Big Ed's birthday on Wednesday, so that should be fun.

Thankful for today... got up early and have been accomplishing things.

*bonus question*

What is the WORST movie you've ever seen & couldn't be paid to watch again?  Hmmm, worst movie ever?  Let me think.  There are so many to choose from.  Right off the top of my head I am gonna have to go with a horrible piece of crap that my kids love and just think is *hilarious*.  The horrific "Freddy Got Fingered" with that moron Tom Green.  Have you seen this?  If not, be thankful.  It is so bad.  There are no redeeming qualities, not the filming, the writing, the acting, nothing.  It is pure crap.


Anyone want to play?  Either post your response in the comments or come comment with a link back to your own page.


Have a great Sunday night!

Favorite New Commercial

Okay, this is short but hilarious.  One of my favorite new commercials.

Check it out.