The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin

I'm sitting here in the brand newest cool building on campus waiting for my class to start and doing several things. 1) Watching the construction workers outside my window... very fun. ::wink-wink:: 2) Thinking about my impending weekend, I think I'm going to Bryce Canyon to watch some friends run a half-marathon. I've never been to Bryce Canyon. 3) Trying to filter out all the things I might find fun to do as a career from those things that I think would be AWESOME to do as a career. I know we've talked about this before, but hey this is my forum so I get to talk about whatever the holy he** I want to right!? So here's what I know: Feminism makes me feel alive and full of purpose. Domestic Violence prevention and support is something I feel I'm pretty knowledgeable about. I love to write and am in the Bachelors of Arts in English program. I want to get a Bachelors in either English or Women's Studies. I want to get a Master's Degree in...

Yesterday I learned about this thing called Periodontal Disease... and really all I have to say is this: Why the HE** hasn't anyone ever mentioned this to me before now!? How did I miss this one? Seriously? My dentists have all failed me. I mean, I've gotten the lectures about flossing just like everyone else, but I seriously thought that was just because flossing prevented cavities. I had no idea it prevented the decay of my jaw! The loss of my teeth?! The prevention of horrible super un-sexy breath! Okay, okay... call me a complete moron. After all I am 31 years old. I should have picked up on this by now. But I didn't! I'm going to lose all my teeth! I'm going to die one of those old miserable people with no chins and gummy lips! Now, I'm not saying that I have Periodontal Disease, I'm just saying... I don't floss (well, I do now!). Never have! I feel like maybe I'm swimming upstream now. Wow, I'm absolutely terrifi...

After much wrangling with schedules my family all managed to be in the same room together (pre-bedtime) for more than an hour. This gave us enough time to put up our Christmas tree and get in a much needed family picture. We haven't had a family picture in a few years. We're not one of those families that's ever paid more than $50 for a photo shoot (although I always wish we would). So a family photo is a big deal for us and I was immensely pleased to only have to click the self-time twice to get this one. It's nice that our kids are at an age where they can appreciate and understand when their mom says, "Smile!" Do you ever look at family pictures of yourselves and think--'Wow. That's all mine.' As I was tweaking this photo I kept thinking about all the Christmas cards we've received over the years with those big families we know and their cute children. I remember being the 'young family,' or the 'new family,' and ne...

via Today begins a torturous fourteen day stretch known locally as Finals Week. In true David Letterman style I thought I'd give you the top ten ways a spouse can recognize Finals Week. Top Ten 10. All the junk food in the house has suddenly gone missing. 9. You've managed to finish that 1000 page book you've been working on for 3 months. 8. The children keep asking where their dad is. 7. You've stopped cooking for anyone but your kids--Macaroni & Cheese anyone? 6.  The front door opens and closes at 1AM and 4AM. 5. Your bed is easier to make than it has been all semester. 4. Text books start piling up in the living room. 3. Your spouse starts forgetting to do things like turning off the car. 2. Conversations degenerate into arguments three sentences after 'Good Morning, my dear.' 1. Yesterday you discovered a neat game online called Bedazzled. Today you passed the all-time highest score.

Warning: This post contains discussions of my inner female organs. I've got this pain in my right side. It's not new... in fact since the Mischievite was born it's been coming more and more frequently and pretty regularly. I'm convinced it's a re-occurring cyst on my ovary. So last night I lay in bed tossing and turning and wondering (not for the first time in my life) why I wasn't taking pain pills. This morning I'm sitting on the recliner, laptop pulled up to my stomach so that I can pull my legs up to my tummy as well (not very good for typing posture, but I don't care right now). As I sat in this protective posture, wondering--again--why I haven't taken an Advil, Ralexwin and our tenant, Elizabeth, walked into the kitchen. "Cannwin is in pain all over in her stomach." Ralexwin announces to the world at large. "She thinks it's Ovarian Cancer." Elizabeth looks up in shock. "No, I don't." I say roll...

As many of you may already know, my dear Ralexwin is in law school. Now I know about the stereotypes (like on seriously-so-blessed ) that say I should be brimming with joy at this time of our lives and glowing with the potential jobs my husband may be able to line up--but let's talk reality here. Law school is expensive. Very expensive. So where does that  money come from? It comes from sacrificing of those things that may be wanted but not needed (and loans... lots and lots of loans). Wanted things like new clothes, new blankets, new carpeting, which are all things you think you need but in reality can survive without. We're on our last year now (only one semester left) and you know what I want to do the second we have money coming in? I want a hair cut. A nice, well  executed hair cut. It's been so long that I can barely remember the feel of all this thick, heavy hair falling to the ground around me. I can't wait for the day that I can lay back and have som...

Two days early and he shows up on my door, ringing the doorbell like a would be suitor. I love it when he does that. I get to walk up to the door and see this soldier standing there smiling at me. It makes me feel like I was 19 years old again leaning out my apartment window to smile at the man I hadn't spoken to for two weeks. It makes me think of being five months pregnant with our first child and him showing up at home, hopping the fence and coming in the back door, which scared me enough to scream for my brother-in-law (and then roommate). Then realizing who it was I jump up and run across the room only to have him hold me back in wonder at how much my belly had changed in those two weeks. Me tying white ribbons on his duffel bags so that he could identify them among the masses. Him driving his motorcycle through the night (and day) from Missouri to Phoenix (stopping only once) to see me before he was deployed to Iraq. Me wearing his second best pair of dog tags as i...

Ralexwin is off to train his fellow soldiers how to be better warriors. And of course as he was leaving something happened that I'll have to deal with on my own. That's always the way it works. When he was in Iraq our condo in Phoenix flooded (I was gone to Idaho). So while he sat there all cozy in the desert, I had to remodel our condo. This time it's a tree in our back yard blown over last night in a storm. ::sigh:: But that's okay. It's the sort of thing us soldier's wives have to deal with in order to see our men in uniforms. Which is a definite perk. Abigail Adams once said " I would not only have submitted to the absence I have endured, painful as it has been; but would not have opposed it, even tho 3 years more should be added to the Number... I feel a pleasure in being able to sacrifice my selfish passions to the general good." I couldn't have said it better myself. Besides, I have a list of chick flicks I wan...

Post SubTitle: Crafting and Men I've finally started making curtains for the front room of our house--a year and a half later. I do have a good excuse though... curtains are pricey! and we have six (yes, 6) windows in our living room. So Wal-Mart has some extra long sheet sets on clearance for $5. Total score in the way of white fabric. I bought some for the purpose of making curtains. One curtain down... five to go. I'm sure my house looks weird from the outside right now. You see, I've run into a little problem. I need strips of wood for the tops and bottoms of the curtain (to secure it to the window) I've got the wood, but have you ever tried to saw BY HAND twelve strips of  3/4in. x 19 1/2in. wood strips? It's not fun. I asked Ralexwin if he'd go get them cut for me, but he gracefully avoided the question by saying something along the lines of "Is dinner ready!?" He wants me to do it myself. I understand that. He doesn't want to ...

I've decided a few things this last week, mainly concerning motherhood...or more appropriately my motherhood. We as women are raised to believe that we are all natural mothers. It's in our nature to just know how to do this. It's in our nature to be good at it. Well... I've got something to say on that matter. I AM NOT GOOD AT THIS! In fact, I find it ridiculous to assume that because I'm a woman I should be good at this. I'm a bit perturbed at the notion that I was born to change poopy diapers. I'm angry that anyone would assume I was born to clean up after others. Furthermore men are taught that if a woman loves them they show it by having a clean house and clean children. Ha! I rarely have a clean house and am less likely to have clean kids. My bathroom smells like pee. My bedroom smells like dirty diapers. My baby is more likely to eat a wrapper off the floor than she is to eat a cheerio off her high chair tray. Dinner is rarely serv...

I think that I hit a turning point in my sewing abilities over the weekend. As if everything before that moment was just practice for the real stuff. I'm so excited! This weekend I made this: (a new carseat cover) click on picture for a fine little tutorial And this: (a repurposed outfit for the Vicbowin) The dress and jacket were made out of a Gap skirt (that I absolutely love and grew ::clears throat:: out of), a tank top, and an Old Navy shirt (the black jacket) that I never wore. I was so surprised at how well both projects came out that I've been gloating about it ever since. It's like I've been trying to learn a new language and all of a sudden it just clicked in my head. Now I can speak Sewingese! I'm so happy with myself that I'm going to shirk all other responsibilities for the day and sew something! You are now reading the blog of a woman who can sew!

I absolutely hate that phrase 'know your role,' just typing it makes my blood boil or as Ralexwin likes to say--it makes my "feminist roar." My sister and I were having a conversation recently about how we differ so significantly in our marriages. She is very much a 'take care of the kids and let him take care of the money' sort of girl (did I get that right dear?). I'm not... at all. In fact I'm so much not that it tends to bother me when I hear about husbands who go off all day and leave their wives to deal with screaming, vomiting, bloodied (or otherwise ailed) children. So after my chat with her I got to thinking about this. Was I a bad wife for expecting Ralexwin to come home from work/school when all four children are screaming and the dinner is burning on the stove? If my reason is I'm not sure I can go another minute without beating some one's bum, does that make me weak? Why is it that my sister seems to be able to handle the role of w...

On one of the forums I frequent, they were discussing bumper stickers and someone posted the one I put in my subject line. I chuckled at this and remembered an experience I had last year. I was in labor with my third child and we we're doing the walking around the hospital thing. On the walls around us hung the entries into an art contest that had been held recently the theme being "Womanhood". As I'm walking through my pain, I had the chance to stop and rest my head near some of these works of art. There were intricately patterned quilts, paintings, sketches, sculptures, all were very well done, some were even impressive but none had been the winner. Finally, after what seemed, at the time, like an eternity, I again stopped to breathe through my agony. I looked up and there above me on the wall was a plain, brown doll with a framed piece of paper posted above it stating it as the winner of the contest. I glanced at the doll again and laughed delightedly. My husband l...