Taryn's Present

Dan had a lot of fun with me this year for Christmas Eve. All year I have wanted an Irobot Scooba, it's like the Roomba vacuum except this robot sweeps, mops, and dries your floor so you don't have too! What a perfect addition to my cleaning supplies and my strong will to forever keep a clean house (this gets tested a lot having a toddler running around!).
The night started out like this, my first present I opened was a bottle of Listerine Mouthwash - how lovely, what the hell are you trying to say? Second gift I open is a electronic toothbrush, what the hell? The third present is a box of push pins, how exciting? Next gift I open is a book and then a DVD that Dan himself wanted, not me. At this point I am watching everyone else opening nice gifts that have thought put into them and everyone liking what they are getting - and I finally say "there had better be a Scooba under that tree somewhere". I had seen a large box under the tree with my name on it, but our DVD player just took a trip to the dump and the box looked suspiciously like a DVD player. So my last gift is the last gift of the night to be opened and low and behold "THE SCOOBA" !! What a good husband! I was never so excited in my life (okay that may be an exaggeration, but still bear with me). I have let my scooba rip around my kitchen and it's fabulous - for anyone who hates to mop the floor I highly recommend this robot. If you want to see this little puppy go or learn more about it here is a link to the web page and then on the right side click on "watch scooba in action".
http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=128

Christmas Eve and Presents

Here is the first post of our Christmas at the Davids' home in Colorado!!

Katelynn was a wonderful little Santa and helped hand out gifts to everyone and even opened her own. She was an appreciative little girl as well, after each gift that was hers she would make a comment on how much she liked it, one gift was stacking cups (one of her favorite things) and after we took them out for her she said "Oh Boy"! and after another gift it was "Oh Wow!" and another was "for the Baby!" She even guessed correctly on the books that we bought her as gifts before she unwrapped them, smart little turkey!

Here are some pictures of her new favorite thing to play with and the great part is mommy can fold it up and put it away when not in use!!

More pictures to come later this week! We are buckling down for another supposed blizzard starting tomorrow - good lord, I thought I left Minnesota!

Take Care,

Taryn, Dan, Katelynn and this weeks special guest - Grandma.

Larry the Cable Guy vs. Native American Women

December 19, 2006

To Whom It May Concern;

On December 4, 2006, Larry the Cable Guy told a "joke" on the Tonight Show using the term "squaw skank." The word "squaw" is a pejorative term that usually translates to something akin to a dirty, sexually expendable, native female object - making the word "skank" fairly redundant. There was no public outcry, no demands for apologies, therapy or consultations with any native national leaders a la Michael Richards. Basically, there was no reaction except for the laughter of the audience.

Sadly, most of us who are Native just shook our heads. Just more of the same. Afterall, we are used to the likes of Disney's sexualization of Pocahantas, Outkast's trivialization and sexual objectification of Native women for entertainment purposes on an awards show, American history's romantizing of the sexual slavery of Sacajawea, the absence or demeaning of Native people in general and Native women in particular. We are used to the lies. Thanksgiving? Is it really an American tradition to invite people to come over and eat and decorate the place with the heads of their leaders on posts? Even Paula Zahn's CNN series on racism - any Indians?

Native women are the most raped, most battered, most stalked, most murdered group of women in America. Check with the Department of Justice report on violence and American Indians. They also report that the perpetrators are not Native 70 % of the time. The "Indian Wars" are not over. Not when at best, one of three Native women continue to be the targets of these crimes.

There are hundreds of missing and murdered Native women in this country. Who knows? Who cares? Amber Alert? News Break? There has to be a couple jokes in here about domestic terrorism and Homeland Security, Larry.

The so-called joke and lack of outrage is a symptom, a sign that Indian woman are still the spoils of a never ending war. The joke can go on the shelf at the Smithsonian that holds a tobacco pouch made from a Native woman's genitals.

And Larry the Cable Guy tells Bob Simon on 60 Minutes, that he gets "more professional" and "better every year." Oh, he also makes upwards of $250,000 per show. There are fewer than 40 shelters for native women who are battered within the USA borders. So how about an apology and funding a couple shelters, Larry?

As a Native woman, like most of the native women I know, I don't have time, the will or energy to deal with the likes of Larry the Cable Guy and all the people that chuckle at his and others' racist commentary. We have work to do getting basic resources, first responders, housing, medical care, safety…We have to talk to our sons, daughters, grandchildren about racism, sexism, genocide and explain why its okay for non-Indians to tell those jokes on national TV. We have to go be with our sisters, aunts, grandmothers, mothers who are raped, battered because they are native women. We need to be with our relatives who are burying and mourning the women in their families, our families who are being murdered at a rate not so different than US military personnel in Iraq.

Larry the Cable Guy did not act alone. Racism and misogyny require passive collusion, if not overt acts by individuals and large groups of society. Jay Leno and NBC each issuing a public apology and funding a native women's shelter would be a powerful precedent in defense of native women and the accountability of men with privilege.

Brenda Hill (Siksika), Education Coordinator / author Karen Artichoker(Oglala/ Ho-Chunk), Director

Snowed In

The Holiday blizzard of 2006. This is what they are calling our storm.

Just to give a quick update on the weather in Colorado, they actually predicted the weather correctly today, snow, snow and a ton more snow. I went to work this morning and it wasn't too bad, just some blowing and the snow hadn't really started yet, but by 10am they were talking about closing roads that I needed to get home, I don't want to live at my job (although some days it would be a nice alternative) so I left at 10:30 and at 1pm they closed our office and we are closed tomorrow now as well (I wouldn't have gotten out of our subdivision anyways). On the way home the snow drifts were already making there way across the interstate, but I made it home and Dan was already busy with his 4-wheeler and attached snowplow and we went and picked up Katelynn at daycare. No plows had come through our subdivision yet and people were already stuck in on the roads, it was crazy. Dan kept on plowing throughout the day and still tonight and you can't tell he did a thing, his van has snow packed around it up the side of the doors, that van isn't moving for a few days for sure. We already have probably a couple feet of snow from today and it is supposed to keep up until noon tomorrow.

After doing some laundry and hanging out Dan & I both realized that the milk man probably isn't coming to our door tomorrow - shit! Dan tried to go out tonight to the gas station and pick up some milk and of course they were closing when he got there - shit! Then he got stuck on his way home after helping pull someone else out - shit! Another realization is that we are getting low on diapers and the daycare lady told me today that she needs diapers too - shit, shit! While I'm at it I'm sure our garbage will be on overload as well if the garbage pick-up doesn't happen tomorrow too!

So pray for us out here in the Holiday blizzard of 2006 (can you imagine if Minnesota and North Dakota named all of their blizzards?)!!

Preparing for a Weekend Away

When a husband leaves for a weekend away for himself and leaves the wife and child behind the following things are done before they leave.

1. Pack bags.
2. Hugs and Kisses

When a wife decides to take a weekend for herself and leave the husband and child behind all of the following things are done before they leave.

1. Clean the entire house because you know it won't get done while you are gone and you hope that it may still resemble your house upon return.
2. Do all the dishes in the house and make sure the dishwasher is open for dirty dishes or your sink may be one big pile of mess when you return.
3. Do 5 loads of laundry the day before you leave so every stitch of clothing is clean and available (this of course does include your laundry as well so you have clothes to pack).
4. Grocery Shop - you must make sure there is food for every meal that is easy to prepare while you are gone to keep the stress level at a minimum.
5. Go over the rules - Rule 1, limited TV and movie time (I know it's easy to put the kid in front of the TV and turn on a movie and they will watch it over and over and over again, but this will not be good for when nap time comes around and they don't want one). Rule 2, only 4 ounces of juice a day (not an hour) and it's okay to dilute it with water. Rule 3, no babysitters while I'm gone - this is your time to bond with your child, not your buddies. Rule 4, attempt to keep the house in some kind of order and don't forget to feed the cats.
6. Let husband off of all duties the day before leaving, he gets as much alone time as necessary, he has a big, responsible weekend ahead!
7. Pack your bags.
8. Hugs and Kisses and continous phone calls throughout the weekend to be sure everything is still okay.

The Ball Pit Incident

Katelynn received a ball pit for her first birthday in September. I do not know what we would do without the "ball pit", we keep it in the basement and she plays in it almost every night, she just loves it. The ball pit had to be moved upstairs to Katelynn's bedroom when it was time for the Christmas tree to come out of hiding for the holiday season. We thought the best place for it would be in her room for awhile so she could play with it before bedtime. A couple of Friday nights ago Dan, Katelynn, and I were doing the family thing and hanging out in her room. We noticed that she had a little diaper rash going on and decided that it would be good to let her run around without a diaper on for a little while (Dan does not let this happen often because he hates it when she pees on the carpet anywhere in the house). Everything was going good and Katelynn was a happy little camper running around without a diaper and playing in her room, she decided it was time to climb into the ball pit and rumble with the balls. All of the sudden I hear a couple of things, something coming from her area and something possibly outside, so I ask Dan if he heard that and he said "just the neighbor bringing up their trash can", but I knew better. I went and took a closer look at Katelynn in her ball pit because she was still sitting so still and yes, she pee'd in the ball pit, not a trickle, a full drainage of the bladder. Dan freaked out of course and couldn't believe it. Into the tub Katelynn went and into the garage the ball pit went. Dan grumbled the entire night about having to wash out the ball pit on his Friday night. Above is the picture of each ball that I washed by hand in the sink. The ball pit is now back in Katelynn's room and she is no longer aloud per Daddy to play in it without a diaper on!

Chapter 3 - The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands

"You're A Nag"

Obviously from the title of this chapter you can see where this is going. I have a hunch that quite a fee of us women fall into the pit.

According to Dr. Laura the #1 complaint of men was that their wives criticize, complain, nag, rarely compliment or express appreciation, are difficult to satisfy, and basically are not as nice to them as they'd be to a stranger ringing their doorbell at 3am.

(I know that I fallen into this category from time to time and have actually thought about this before reading this book, why am I nicer to a friend than my husband at times? Why is he nicer to his friends than me? My opinion is that men / husbands fall into this particular piece as well as us woman, but I'm sure Dr. Laura's comment would be it's because I treat him this way).

Dr. Laura goes on to discuss that we are making an unhappy home for our husbands and are dwindling their egos and those husbands who don't have happy homes may turn to other ventures whether it's alcohol, drugs, or someone who will make them feel worthwhile. One husband writes about how at work he gets evaluated and always comes out with excellent performance, but feels at home he can't do anything right?!

This chapter goes on to different pieces of different marriages and scenarios at home, some examples of us woman behaving badly:

Man comes home and we start complaining about the kids, the house, this and that and do not offer a hug/kiss, how was your day dear, just straight to complaining about the day "can you believe this happened and so and so did this;

When a man tries to help do something around the house (this I assume applies to us wives who usually "do it all") If you do the dishes, can't you do all the dishes, what did you put that there for, I can't believe you did it that way now I have more work to do fixing it than getting help from you, these last comments will eventually lead the husband to do nothing in which return we yell "You never do anything around here!"

Here are 2 scenarios that Dr. Laura wrote and we are to decide which will get the desired result, also I believe we are supposed to figure out which one we fall into as a wife.

The garbage needs to be taken out.

Scenario 1: Yell at him every five minutes to remind him that the garbage has to be taken out. Then berate him for not having done it yet in spite of your reminders and in spite of whatever else he may be doing. Then start escalating things by bringing up everything else he's done to annoy you in the past decade. Then, once he's finally taken the garbage out, tell him, "it's about time"! Then storm off to your room, pout and turn your back in bed.

Scenario 2: Let him know you've wrapped up the trash and that it's sitting by the back door, and ask him if, when he has time, he would please dump it in the trash bin. Don't bring it up again (why bother, because the trash man isn't coming till morning anyway?) Catch him just as he's coming back from tossing the bag in the can. Give him a big kiss and tell him that it was a big help because it's hard for you to hold the can lid with one arm and pitch a very heavy bag with the other hand.

Okay ladies, I have tried this second scenario after reading this chapter, minus the I'm not strong enough crap, and my husband looked at me like I was crazy for thanking him for taking out the garbage after he did it, guys care to comment on this one? It did however save grace from a fight about things that need to get done, so my suggestion would be to mend this to your own however you need to to keep the piece.

The rest of this chapter talks about how men like to be "Our Hero's" and be rewarded for their good deeds. Our job as wives is to let no good dead go unappreciated. It also discusses that we do not build our men's ego's enough, again we criticize and complain and do not tell them the goods and the reasons that we love them. Dr. Laura also discusses how we try to micromanage and if we do this our husbands will eventually give up trying to please us. We need to learn how to speak and be more positive and our marriage will be more joyous all around.

Katelynn's Pretty Red Christmas Dress

Here are a couple of pictures of all of us and Katelynn in her Christmas dress we bought her. We are very excited to have my mom and grandma joining us in Colorado for Christmas this year, it was a last minute thing, but the more the merrier!!

Decorating for Christmas

Here are some pictures of us decorating for Christmas. Most of this was done the day after Thanksgiving (minus all the light mishaps)everything went pretty well and both Katelynn and the cats have left both trees alone! Katelynn has now added "TREE" to her vocabulary. She tried to get into the gifts only once and is now more interested in getting daddy's train and accessories. Also, if you look at the TV in one of the pictures we are watching It's A Charlie Brown Christmas, (this was to keep my brother happy since I got my butt chewed for missing the Halloween Charlie Brown episode).