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Autobiography of an Execution by David R. Dow

"If you have reservations about supporting a racist, classist, unprincipled regime, a regime where white skin is valued far more highly than dark, where prosecutors hide evidence and policemen routinely lie, where judges decide what justice requires by consulting the most recent Gallup poll, where rich people sometimes get away with murder and never end up on death row, then the death-penalty system we have here in America will embarrass you to no end."

"In theory, there is a presumption of innocence in the American legal system, innocent until proven guilty, but in practice, it is just the opposite. Juries trust the police and the prosecutors, especially when the jurors are middle-class white folks. They think that if someone gets arrested and goes on trial, there must be good reasons to believe that he did it."

Squashed by Joan Bauer

"Winning's a fine thing, Ellie, but it's all the months and years before and after that made you who you are."

Cover Me: A Health Insurance Memoir by Sonya Huber

"Poverty and numbers alone had run us up against a last refuge, the generosity of a hospital that could write us off by claiming a donation to the poor. These things are the opposite of a guarantee and so the opposite of a sense of security. They impart the adrenaline rush of a bullet whizzing by one's ear, clipping millimeters of flesh and delivering a narrow margin of safety that emphasizes its own transience. This was my first real sense of us as three, as a family; three was the number that made our combined income not genteel poverty but a bit of an emergency, and three was the number that made the $3,000 disappear. I felt so guilty for putting my son to work in the numbers game in the weeks before he even understood the outlines of this world. He was already working, already helping with too much of the burden, for this thin-stretched family."

Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein

Wall Marks

Those stratchy marks there on the wall,
They show how short I used to be.
They rise until they get this tall,
And Mama keeps reminding me
The way my Dad would take his pen
And as I stood there, stiff and straight,
He'd put a ruler on my head
And mark the spot and write the date.
She says that it's my history,
But I don't understand at all
Just why she cries each time she sees
Those sratchy marks there on the wall.

Yesees and Noees

The Yesees said yes to anything
That anyone suggested.
The Noees said no to everything
Unless it was proven and tested.
So the Yesees all died of much too much
And the Noees all died of fright,
But somehow I think the Thinkforyourselfees
All came out all right.

Ten on Tuesday

1- I went to the Counterpoint Conference I mentioned last week. I really enjoyed it. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my beliefs and issues with the church.
2- I got to go to said conference with a new friend, Miri. We've been commenting on each other's blogs for awhile now. Many of our political beliefs are similar. At least 10+ books on my to-read or recently read lists are because of her. She's a kindred spirit.

3- Yes, I said kindred spirit. I have Anne of Green Gables on my mind. It all started when someone tweeted the quote "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers" by L.M. Montgomery. I decided I finally needed to see the movie. Adam and I watched it last night. Adam actually loved it! He called it a "feel good movie" at least three times and laughed hysterically a couple of times too.

4- I'm pretty annoyed we still celebrate Columbus Day. If you don't know why, this Huffington Post essay is a good place to start  Really, though, if you don't know that Columbus was a bad guy, please read Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen.

5- Hot guys reading. You're welcome.

6- On a related note, check out this hilarious Feminist Ryan Gosling blog.

7- Speaking of Ryan Gosling, I saw The Ides of March today. My wonderful husband could tell I needed a break today. It's a really good movie. Ryan Gosling is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors.

8- The theater aired a preview for a movie called Anonymous, another movie that alleges that Shakespeare didn't write the plays attributed to him. I don't know enough about those theories to have an opinion on them, but the movie looked interesting.

9- You all know I'm a nerd, so you won't be surprised when I tell you I bought both The Bippolo Seed by Dr. Seuss  and Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein this last week. What's even more telling is how giddy I was about it.

10- You know how you get in a routine and do things the same way every time, especially with driving? Well, I drive out to Tooele at least two times a month because my sister lives out there. She's lived there for just over 18 months and I have always driven I-80. Until this week, that is. I drive the 201 freeway out there now. It may take a few more minutes, but it is much more interesting and scenic.

Busy bag exchange

I hosted a busy bag exchange last week and it was a big success.

It all started with Pinterest, as many of my current ideas do. I started seeing busy bag activities getting pinned left and right, especially by a blogger/pinner/tweeter I like- Emily Kate. She posted on her blog that she was going to have a local exchange and was kind enough to share the sign-up list she painstakingly compiled. I decided to have my own. I opened it up to my Facebook friends with kids in the toddler and preschool ages. Then it got a little scary. I also invited people on a new homeschooling board I joined and allowed my friends to invite their friends, people I had never met. All my worry was for naught because everyone came through in a big way.

Bring it, winter! Here are just a few of the 24 toddler and preschool activities I now have on hand to fight winter boredom and television overload.

Reversible felt board and I Spy bottle

Spin and spell

Movable alphabet

Ten on Tuesday

1- I want to write about my job and the things I've learned about politics, but I can't. It drives me nuts!
2- I've also learned a lot about writing. Still learning, in fact. Maybe it's just me, but AP style can be tricky. Plus, the paper I work for mostly follows AP, but not everything.

3- I like using the Oxford comma, but my editor keeps editing it out. I have to really focus on that when I write next month's articles. It reminds me of when I found out a year or two ago I wasn't supposed to use two spaces after a period. It took me a week or two to stop automatically hitting the space bar twice.

4- I am so glad I have an editor. I make the silliest spelling mistakes sometimes that spellcheck doesn't catch because the misspelled word is another real word. I promise I re-read everything before I send it to her, but I miss things.

5- I know all of these have been about my job so far. That is because the deadline for October's paper was on Monday. I got my redlines back today and luckily didn't have any major changes to make. That means other than city council meetings and two events tomorrow, I am free until staff meeting. Staff meeting is always two weeks after deadline, and I always waste those two weeks. I could get things pre-approved and start the articles early. In fact, I probably should. I haven't yet, though, in my seven months writing. From staff meeting until deadline is two weeks usually (three if it's a five week month).

6- My least favorite part of this job is getting people to talk to me. Almost everyone screens their work phone now. Most of the time, I have to call someone around three times before I get the quote or interview I need.

7- I really want to go to this Counterpoint Conference this weekend. Adam even has Saturday off (at least until 5 p.m.) so I think I'm going to go. I wish I didn't have to go alone, but it sounds so interesting that I will anyways.

8- The Occupy Wall Street protests really intrigue me. Mostly because I can't find a solid source of information for it. There is SO much on Twitter, but not verified, of course. Not much of the mainstream media is covering it, for obvious reasons. If an event is organized in SLC, I might take my little man to it. The We Are the 99 Percent message resonates with me.

9- I am going to have a hard time as Brayden gets old, I tell you. We have moved Brayden into his own bed in his own room. After a week, it still makes me sad.

10- In related news, Brayden is 27 months old, or 2 1/4 years old. I guess I should stop saying he's barely 2, huh?

East Canyon

Fall drives are one of my favorite seasonal activities. A fall drive is also one of the few times I will tear myself away from a book or my iPod in the car.

Yesterday, my family took a fall drive up East Canyon. The leaves were not at their prime, but it may very well go down as one of my favorite drives.  We saw huge groups of motorcyclists. We also saw a group of Mustang drivers (that's part of their line of cars in the picture above).

We saw this funny sign. You've got to love Utah and its rural ways.

This, my friends, is a herd of sheep that must have gotten loose from their rancher. We came around a curve as the front of the herd came on the main road from a cutoff. It was amazing to see. Brayden was asleep at this point and that made me so sad. They followed the main road for a bit, then crossed the road and went down into the trees.

It was such a beautiful day and a wonderful start to my favorite month. "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables



Yes I can!

Canning is the quintessential housewife thing to do, at least in my eyes. I don't know that I'll ever be your typical housewife, though I sure do try. Here's my canning story:

My friend Karen and I took a drive in search of peaches one Saturday up Highway 89 near Brigham City. That was fun, although we underestimated what a half bushel would make and bought what seemed like a ton of peaches. We're low-key canners, or at least I am. We also had lunch at the Maddox drive-in. So good!

I went back up to her house in Ogden on Monday. We actually thought we would get it all done then (ha ha). We only got half of it done- making peach jam, peach syrup, and frozen peach slices. Sadly, the jam we made that night never fully set. Honestly, I'm sure I did something wrong, because I was so nervous about what constituted the beginning of a "rolling boil."

We made plans to do the other half later in the week, but life got in the way and I ended up with 1/2 a bushel to do by myself. I realized that I do not like canning by myself. It took so much longer to do anything. I kept asking Adam for help that he did not want to give (to his defense, it's not like this was his idea).

I made peach cobbler one night. It was good, but I am still in search of a better peach cobbler recipe. I've tried two in the last month- one ended up being a peach cake, not a cobbler! (So if you have a good recipe, LET ME KNOW!) The next morning, I made peach vanilla syrup. That afternoon, raspberry peach freezer jam. That evening, frozen peach slices.

All in all, I spent $36 on peaches, $7 on raspberries, and at least $20 on supplies. Two nights and one full day of my time. Here's what I ended up with:

5 quarts of frozen peach slices
7 quarts of peach vanilla syrup (2 of which I have given away already)
4 half pints and 1 pint of freezer jam
7 half pints and 2 quarts of peach jam

And yes, I'll probably do it again. As much as I complain, it's nice to have peaches in the winter.