Changing America

I thought it would be neat to jot down current events and breaking news stories, of every month that I keep a blog so that Chandler might look back in twenty years and see the changes in our world.

The Breaking News for August ... I hope it's obvious ...
Forty-five years later to the day of Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speach Barack Obama, the first African-American presidential nominee, accepts the nomination for the U.S. presidency for the democratic national party on this 28th day of August 2008.
Whether or not you are a Barack Obama fan, history was made today.

We Didn't Start the Fire

Harry Truman, Doris Day, South Pacific, North Pacific, Joe DiMaggio, Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television, North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Eisenhower, vaccines, Liberace, USSR, John Lennon, Juan Peron, Einstein, James Dean, Davy Crockett, Elvis Presley, Disneyland, Budapest, trouble in the Suez, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Sputnik, Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, children of thalidomide, Buddy Holly, "Ben Hur", space monkey, Mafia, hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go, U-2, Syngman Rhee, Chubby Checker, Baby Boomers, Belgians in the Congo, Hemingway, Eichmann, Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion, British Beatlemania, John Glenn, GlaxoSmithKline, Pope Paul, Malcolm X, JFK blown away, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock, cell phone wars, Reagan, honey bees, Palestine, terror on the airlines, Ayatollahs in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan "Wheel of Fortune", Sally Ride, heavy metal, foreign debts, tsunami, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, China's under martial law, MySpace, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Francis Collins and J. Craig, Lance Armstrong, Gorbachev, Mandela and Homer Simpson are everywhere.

I have a friend who emailed me with a title of I Need Your Help. Great I thought, she wants my recipe for chili verde or maybe my Crock Pot Corn Crap recipe. Oh no, she wanted nothing of the sort.
My friend, Katie, is an American, teaching in the Philippines and asked to speak on ... Life as an American in conjunction with current events ... i.e. 9/11 specifically. Our opinion on what we think helped shape the United States and it's role in the World and what it is today. Did 9/11 change the United States?

Definitely not swapping recipes ... She explained to me that she almost did not ask me for my view as I have a very quiet political voice. But then she realized that I, Keena, have an opinion on everything from books and t.v., to child reering, hot dogs, to politics of every avenue. I do in fact have a very large political view that I only share with a select few as the subject can turn a conversation to hot very fast with some people ... point being, I am not the most sensored person so it is easier to just keep mum about certain things in efforts to keep friends.

She asked me to give my opinion and two hours later, I stopped typing. Above are things that I believe helped shape the World into what it is today ... some of those things were before my time but carry enough influence that spilled into my generation of X. Since I invested so much time, and this is my gosh darn blog, I decided to share my opinion with ya'll.

The Abridged Version of My Opinion ...
I believe that prior to 9/11 the U.S. believed we had immunity from attack. In my opinion, the attack of 9/11 was a long time coming ... sort of speak ... I think that many U.S. citizens and organizations, private, public and political had a sense that we as a nation were immune from ruthless rage of any American enemy. I think Americans have been encouraged to feel disconnection between the overseas actions of our politicians, diplomats, CEO's generals and the personal safety of our loved ones ... To summarize, I think we were a bit arrogant yet naive to the possibility of an attack.

Did 9/11 change my life? Oil prices, struggling economy, sure. The events in question did make me more appreciative of what I do have instead of obsessing of what I don't have, as thousands Iraqis are starved and killed by disease due to years of sanctions. It open my eyes to events outside my own small personal environment. It's unfortunate that it took a war on terror for me to notice my blessings. And frankly, I still find myself taking a lot for granted ... I am an American of course.

As far as the lifestyle of the United States is concerned ... The U.S. has the largest military buildup in American history. Things that include Stealth bombers, nuclear warheads, missile systems and laser guided bombs. America was free to involve itself in other nation's troubles without bringing the violence of war home. Some prime lessons that changed the U.S. lifestyle today ....

• Desert Storm - the days just before, America held its breath at the high casualties predicted. By the time CNN panned over the smear of Iraqi bodies on the road out of Kuwait, it was clear, America was able to wage war against the fourth largest army and suffer only a handful of casualties in its own ranks. We were immune.
• World Trade Center blew in 1993 ... the lesson again was that of immunity as the towers, so technologically sound, stood. Security was beefed up and life went on.
  
• Federal Building in Oklahoma blew up ... the lesson again of immunity. After a brief moment of concern that the Jihad had come to the U.S. it was later learned that the perpetrator was one of America's homegrown nuts. He had not attacked from without. Our nation's sleuth's caught him in record time. Life went on.
  

With 9/11 I think that our immunity or nonexistence of immunity is a little more respected than tragedies past. Ultimately, Americans have always adapted to new challenges from the Civil War to the Great Depression to WWII, Americans have risen to confront the monumental events of their times.

How did Bush handle the events of 9/11? His first public statement on 9/11 was that there would be an investigation. Then he dragged his feet. Then when it finally did happen the White House dragged its feet on providing information. They put a time limit and a budget on the process. When the report did come out, no one was to blame. Bush sent the message of fear. Be afraid, be very afraid. But not so afraid that you wont go out shopping or take a vacation to Disney World. I believe Bush "tried" to do his job, but never was on the right track and continued to loose sight of what we were doing. However, an attack of that nature has never happened in our history.

So in the words of Billy Joel ... "We didn't start the fire, but we did ignite it when we tried to fight it."

Grandma's Little Slugger

Thanks Grandma for the baseball jammies.

That'a all!

"It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't" -Barbara Kingsolver

Does my hair look okay?

9 days old ... 3 lbs 12 oz

Can someone please get this tube out of my nose?
19 days old

This darn binki wont stay in place.
5 weeks old

What do you mean it's rude to stick out one's tongue?
11 weeks old

To Infinity and Beyond! 14 weeks old ... 10 lbs flat
I can't believe Chandler is already over three months old. And I am sure I will say the same thing in six months and again in one year and again in three years and so forth.

Question ??

Currently I spend all my free time with Chandler ... but more specifically doing things "around Chandler" Things like staring, taking pictures, and organizing his stuff ... yaddy yaddy.

Let me elaborate ...

Things I Do On My Time Off

• feed Chandler
• take pictures of Chandler
• take Chandler to Jessica's to have picture taken
• edit pictures of Chandler
• cut pictures out for scrapbook of Chandler
• download pics of Chandler
• order prints of pictures of Chandler
• organize prints of pictures of Chandler
• stare at Chandler ... the person ... not a picture
• go through Chandler's little tiny outfits
• take pictures again of Chandler
• snuggle Chandler
• organizing baby supplies

Get the idea ... So my questions is, does this obsession go away or at least fade a bit ... or will I forever be staring at my kid, organizing my kids belongings (his little clothes and diapers and all his little things) cataloguing his pictures ... and "hovering" as Jess says ?? I am completely content to just go through his room and stocking the diaper drawer and his wipey warmer, sort his outfits into the appropriate sizes, go through the apartment and make sure that every room has a clean burp cloth and tissues with in reach of where we hang out, making sure we have clean binkis stratigically placed in the house ... I can spend hours doing this kind of stuff and mind you my apartment is only about 800 square feet, you'd think I would get bored. How much time can one really spend organizing diapers?

I Love This Park

We got winners, we got losers, chain smokers and boozers. We got aviaries, we got yuppies, we got ducks, geese and guppies. We got roller bladers, we got bikers, and wanna be thirsty hikers. I love this park, it's my kind of place. Just strollin' through the gardens puts a big smile on my face.
We got cowboys, we got truckers. Broken-hearted fools and suckers. And we got hustlers, we got fighters, early birds and all-nighters. And the Mommies talk about their children's scars. Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this park.
I've seen short skirts, we got high-techs, blue-collar boys and rednecks. And we got lovers, lots of lookers and I've even seen dancing girls and hookers. And we like to drink our water from a Nalgene bottle. Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this park.
We got b-ball, we got swim pools, tennis courts and leash rules. But I love this park. It's my kind of place. Just trollin' round the duck pond puts a big smile on my face. No entry charge, come as you are. Mmm, I love this park.

Liberty Park has been my summer sanctuary this year. To drive the point home, I love Liberty Park because it attracts such a diverse group of people. Single Dad's with his three identical little humans in a triple seat stroller, seniors on roller skates and exercisers of many various activities. So while I may have my headphones in, I fully absorb my visual surroundings and get some quality people watching in while getting my run on. I always leave with a smile on my face and the words, "What the?" at the tip of my tongue.

Boys Will Be Boys

He has toys and cartoons yet he sits in the corner with the dog. Boys will be boys.

I left my cell phone at Jessica's house last night and I am with Mattie today and she can't call me ... So I have to post multiple blogs about Mattie so she can "hover" ...

So, I keep a pretty clean house but Matthew found the most dirty things and decided to play with them ... items such as ...

• Annabelle's stuffed animal that is full of dried dog slobber


• Annabelle's caller that I just took off this morning that has been on her neck for some 5 years


• the dog water bowl


• and lastly the dust pan

Don't worry Jess ... I have been disinfecting between play sessions.

Best Friends

I am hanging out with Matthew today ... He came into the kitchen where I was making some breakfast, I asked him if he wanted me to come and play with him, he said NO, I play with Annabelle ...

I can't decided if Mattie is helping me with Annabelle or if Annabelle is helping with Mattie. I just checked the clock and these two have been at it now for 35 minutes.

Just Do It

Back in March of this year I was still managing at 24 Hour Fitness. There was a company wide contest going on and the management of the clubs that won get to go to Los Angelas and run in the Nike + Human Race. Our Club won. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Human Race I encourage you to get on the website I linked below a and check it out ... but here is the quick skinny ...

Nike represents fitness for everyone and in another effort to live their brand they launched the Nike + Human Race, an event happening world wide. You can register in the city you live and run with the world, or independently on August 31st. It is the first simultaneous world run. There are organized events and races world wide. Example: I will be running in a 10K in L.A on that day. Portland, has an organized race, Athens Greece, Beijing, New York, Vancouver, London, Chicago and yaddy yaddy. Contestants can log on to Nike.com and register and log their runs ... so virtually you are racing the world. It is Nike's campaign to get the world moving and it seems to be working. It would be cool to know how many non-runners the Human Race motivated to get started. Well what ever the number might be ... they can add one more ... Keena Hemphill.

I am accepting donations ... not for the entry fee and not for charity but so that I might purchase plenty of inhalers to get me through the race. I mentioned it was a 10K right? Part of our winnings is we get to run with some Nike executives ... Um?? are they going to walk with me?? Because my running might be limited ... Should I send them an FYI ...

"Dear Nike Executive, My name is Keena, and we are suppose to be running together it the first ever, world race going on world wide sponsored by your prestigious company. I have asthma and may be walking at least half of the race. Will you be joining me? Because I would really like to get a photo shot of us together for the folks back home in Utah." ... Is that appropriate?

So California here I come, with my inhaler, if they let me on the plane with inhalants.

http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/

Nike: Just Do It

Some Randomness ....

I went into labor driving this thing around ... I had to valet it at the U of U Hospital.

Aaww!! Chase and Shilo, my niece and nephew. Shilo is so good with Chandler.

Scrub-a-dub-dub-Chandler-in the tub


Bed Hog!

Please, Make Yourself at Home

Me and Annabelle have an understanding ... She does not poop in the house and I in return let her out anytime she so desires. I leave the door cracked so she can nudge it open and let herself back in after she takes care of business. This morning I heard the squeak of the door, I said my usually good morning to her. She usually comes and peers in my room with her salutations that almost always are in the form of a foot bath. This morning it did not go quite like that. I shouted out to her and all I heard was ruckus. I got up to see what the source of all the noise pollution was and this is what I discovered .....


She invited a friend over for breakfast ... with out asking. The strange mutt made herself right at home as you can see. Helping herself to Annabelle's breakfast. The nerve.

And the Winner Is ...

So my little Man was up until 1am this morning so I am tired .... I tell you that fact so you, reader, may understand the rest of this entry ...

If there was a contest to see how fast a human can rise out of bed, let the dog out, make breakfast, pack a lunch, brush ones teeth, get dressed, get the baby fed, get the baby dressed, put the baby in car seat, load the car with a breast pump, lunch sack, diaper bag, and work bag, retrieve dog that is walking herself and be in the car driving to work ... I would be the winner, I did it in 25 minutes this morning becasue I slept in as late as possible before I went into panic mode.

I still had 5 minutes to spare when I arrived at work ... had I known I had all that extra time I would have thrown in a load of laundry.

Who's the Boss?

Today Chandler came down with the hick-a-choos* again. At the time that they plagued his little body, Chandler was preoccupied enjoying an afternoon binky. The hick-a-choos would make his little person levitate in his swing an inch or two sending the binky flying across the room. This did not please Chandler. Not accepting the fate of the hick-a-choo Chandler would beckon me to pick up said binky and place in his mouth. I of course was complacent to this about five times until the passing of the hick-a-choos.

It's funny how things work being in charge, or being the Mom, or being the boss ... we train our dogs to poop outside because we are in charge and they are our the pet, yet we follow them with a scoop to catch the poop and dispose of it. I am the Mom, but I drop everything to pick up and sanitize a piece of rubber time and time again at the drop of a squawk. Who is really boss here?

*Hick-a-Choo: The art of hick upping and sneezing simultaneously.
Refer to my July 23rd archives for further info.

My boss, and his bink that keep me employed as Mom.

Hello Landon

My Mother sends her friends the link to my blog ... I must be up to a reading audience of four by now.
So here's a hello back to ya Landon, friend of my mother.

My Ode to Dustin

Dustin Green and I met at 24 Hour Fitness in the parking lot one early morning back in July of 2005. He showed up to work the desk that morning at 6am and came walking out of the building as I was walking in and said," You must be Keena." I replied, "Yep." He responded, "Wish someone would have called when the schedule was changed." I smiled and kept walking. That was the end of our conversation. Three years later we are still friends although neither of us can remember how our friendship grew from those three sentences in the parking lot to what it is today.

The other day I mentioned that I started blogging and Dustin insisted that I post a blurb about him, being that we are friends and all. So here it is Dustin, my ode to you.

Dustin and I have lots of fun memories together ... Like the time I had to drive home from Wyoming at 6am because he no showed at work. That was a treat. No really, we have laughed over lunch many times, he is my Trivial Pursuit rival, once I woke up on my couch after a long night of competitive game board playing with his feet in face as he was asleep at the other end. Eeeww! We spent New Years 2006 together, however, I almost left because with in an hour of arriving at the club Dustin spilled a 32 ounce beer right in my lap. It was either leave or let dry. Later that night my date complained that I reeked of nasty beer. Ah well. Worse things cold happen like, makin' out with your date and falling out of bed ... hypothetical of course. That did not actually happen to me. Okay it did. That story is for a whole other post though.One thing I like about D is that we can have conflicting opinions about things such as, who is better at Trivial Pursuit, or politics and world issues and it never gets heated. Just a conversation amongst friends. I am usually right though but we respect the others opinion none the less. Even though I am right. Did I already mention that? HA.

Dustin is currently in the Air Force doing something I don't understand ... He either works on planes, with planes, or under planes, maybe in planes, or is it with computers? I dunno. He is stationed in Washington state most of the time.

So this blurb is for you ... I miss you Friend.

This picture above was in 2005.


These two pictures, the one above and the one below are from 2006. In 2008 he looks exactly the same. I assure you.

My Little Scooter

This is the picture I said I would post from three blogs back for those of you just tuning in ... I make comments like that as if I have a huge reading audience ... Let me rephrase, Jessica, Erika and Mom, here is the picture ...

How does he get turned like that, inverted and all?

More Sentimental Mumbo Jumbo ...

Dude, it's weird, I knew having a baby would change my life, but I never, ever, thought I would turn sentimental and mushy about stuff ... this stuff in question, until now, has always been yucky to me.

Anyway, so I was chillin' with Jessica in her Fort Union home just talking and laughing and falling, yes, I said falling because Jess fell on her butt (you can link to her blog to get the full story). Back to point, our friend and baby watcher, Merry called and offered to meet me to pick up Chandler tomorrow so I did not have to drive to Sandy, and I really appreciate her and her enthusiasm. So as I was driving home savoring the evening, I just had to smile at how my life is shaping itself right now. Being able to just hang out with good people, being in the Mom Club, and for once in my life being completely satisfied doing nothing, on a couch, in house where my friend lives. I have only a handful of friends as appose to the many I had just last year, but my friendships now are far more fulfilling than anything I have had in along time. I really value what I have and all that other mumbo jumbo. I can't go on about this subject any longer because ... well ... because it's Me, and remember, I am not sappy!

The end.

Welcome to 2008

By the way, this post and the one previous were brought to you via my new computer, courtesy of my Mom, and my high speed Internet access.

I am not very computer savvy so when the Comcast guy arrived to install by Internet and I requested dial up ... he said, Lady, we now have high speed, welcome to 2008 ... okay, that is not exactly what happened but he had to explain to me in elementary terms that I needed a wireless router. Router? Is that like a satellite dish? Those were the words that came out of his mouth but I heard, "Blah blah, blah .... BLAH." Poor guy had to explain it to me twice and my Mom once (I had her at the store buying this magical device they call a router) He looked at me with a look of, oh bless you ignorant one. He ultimately was very professional and patient.

So none the less, the thing-a-ma-bob is installed and the Internet comes magically to my computer via wireless something or other.

The Comcast guy welcomes me to 2008.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

That which we call Chandler by any other name would smell ... as sweet? sometimes sweet, sometimes stink!

Bug, Piglet, Buglet, Bug-a-Boo, Stink Weed, Squirt, Scooter ... all these refer to my sweet Chandler ... I realized I call him these little nicknames more often then his own name.

Some of these names might be obvious of how they came to be ... like Stink Weed or Bug-a-Boo is just an elongated name of Bug which he obtained in the NICU from his nurses. They would wrap him up so tight and snug like a bug in a rug ... Squirt on the other hand came from a memorable diaper change at Grandma's house. Grandma was changing his diaper and in the mere seconds it took to clean him up he let a little squirt (of pee), which has happened to all of us Moms with boys. She cleaned up the mess from that squirt and strategically placed a peepee tepee over the source of ammunition. She waited patiently while orchestrating a new plan of attack. She proceeded to finish her mission and removed the shield and again, SQUIRT, all over the carpet. Assuming the little mongrel was out of ammo she pressed forward like any good soldier. Little did she know that defeat was imminent. SQUIRT, SQUIRT, SQUIRT again ... a total of three squirts soiling the carpet, clean diaper, bassinet and Chandler. My little Squirt was victorious in Project Diaper Change this August day at Grandma's house.

Scooter he got because ... well the kid can scoot. I put him down in his crib every night with a little blankie and position him ever so nice and comfy. When I go to get him out he is in a corner, inverted and all the blankets abandoned at the other end. It's like when you go to the zoo and you have to look all over the enormous cage to find the little tiny lizard in one tiny little corner of a huge cage. That's like looking for Chandler in his crib every morning ... he scoots all over the place.

I am going to take a picture tomorrow morning to post with this. The scooting, not the squirting. So stay tuned ...

Life is not always a song and dance but it should be ...

Tony Robbins says that what you do in the first hour of being awake can set the tone for the rest of your day. He encourages exercise with self affirmations. Since becoming a Mom, I don't have time in the morning to exercise and the self affirmations ... well ... let's just say I don't need to remind myself that I am amazing, beautiful, funny, smart, punctual, good at math, culinary goddess, thin'ish, caring, hard working, thoughtful, creative, and much more if you get my drift ... So i prefer to get ready for my day as usual and save my "tone setting" for the car with a little vehicular art of dance. For those of you that are unfamiliar I will explain so that you may start this practice in your next commute.

First you need to pick some tunes with a beat. My current CD of choice has been the Mamma Mia soundtrack. Next you will need to pull out an imaginary microphone. Add some spirit fingers and jolt your shoulders to the right and your hips to the left. Simple! Don't expect to be as good as me in the beginning but you too can become proficient in this art. I practice every morning and evening and it sets my tone high and mighty. Plus, you get some weird looks on the freeway.

"How wonderful is it that nobody need wait a single moment before beginning to improve the world." -Anne Frank

I am working a graveyard again and I had a rather strong cup of coffee, so the combo of boredom and caffeine kicked my brain into over drive ...
I was thinking about this toaster that I almost bought today. I finally decided not to make the purchase because my toaster, dingy and dull in luster, still toasts bread like I expect it to do. I ultimately opted out of buying the new appliance in a small effort to get out of the cycle of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal of stuff that is killing our planet.
Americans make up 5% of the world's population but we extract, consume and dispose of enough stuff for 30%. I blame the perception of obsolescence. We perceive to need new toasters but really we do not. We buy new shoes simply because the style changed from a skinny heal to a wedge. We buy new computer screens because they made a flat one and it looks cool. We buy new cell phones because the newer model does 987 new things that most of us will never use to its full capacity but it is the latest and greatest so we better buy it. We buy new I-pods because they came out with one that is 1/2 a centimeter smaller. We throw things out that are perfectly good. This is the culture we live in. Even the idea of going green is becoming trendy. I saw a bunch of merchandise from clothing to electronics that have sayings like I love my planet or I recycle. How about not buying a new shirt that says I recycle and go to your local thrift store and actually recycle by buying a perfectly good, slightly used shirt that will cover your back just the same. It is not as trendy but far more affective.

I decided to go and buy five cloth diapers. Even if I only use one cloth diaper a day, by the time my beloved Chandler decides to poop in a toilet, I will have kept close to 1000 diapers out of the dump, and saved about $300. So to the four people that read my blog, if you share my views about healing mother earth and want to be part of the solution, here are some simple ideas ...

1. Use canvas bags for shopping
2. Gardening
3. Buy those curly light bulbs
4. Carpool
5. Start a compost ... this long ass link is one of my favorite in home compost kits for an affordable price ... http://www.gaiam.com/product/eco-home-outdoor/household/kitchen/all+food+recycling+compost+kit+with+bokashi.do
6. Reuse
7. Replace only when prudent
8. Buy used. Buy local.
9. Switch your electricity to renewable, reusable energy (I did this, its really easy just get on line) ... http://www.utahpower.net/Article/Article22009.html
10. Don't buy toasters unless yours is broken.
11. And of course, recycle ... here is a link to get curbside recycling at your home ... http://www.sanitation.slco.org/#recycle
12. Opt for paperless billing whenever possible.
13. Unplug your appliances. They use energy even when off.

Irony: All this coming from a person who drives an SUV that gets 17 miles to the gallon.
Hey, I am going to clean baby poop out of a rag at least once a day for the next three years, give me some slack.

The Mom Club

I was helping my neighbor Ariel move across town yesterday. She has lived in SLC for only a short time as she moved here from Idaho Falls for obvious reasons, to not live in Idaho. Ariel's Mom came down from the potato capital just to help her move as Ariel has few friends here. As I was moving a box full of random things I stopped and cherished how great Mom's are. They come across state lines to help move, they lend money, some times ludicrous amounts of money, they sew things, they have Christmas cards in July just in case you need one, they buy you the expensive soft paper towels because they don't want their children to use cheap, rough Kroger brand ones (my Mom did that one), they drop everything if you need rescuing from a broken down car, they bring you lunch if you forgot yours, they run carpool and a large variety of other things. Mom's are the best and I empathize with anyone who does not have this kind of Mom. Now that I am in the Mom Club I can only hope I can be as resourceful and helpful to my little dude. Lucky for me I have employed the help of three other Moms, two spouses and one obsessed grandma to help with the baby watching and mental support needed for me to parent my child. Ha ... it takes a small herd of people for me to get the job done. So here's a halelujah to the people in my club ... Grandma Carole, Jessica, Erika, Merry and the two spouses Taylor and Craig who give Chandler his boy time.

Here's to the Mom Club.