This could, or might not be, farm related…but it is important to me none-the-less. First a little background:

We had homebirths with both our girls…specifically waterbirths. Both experiences, while vastly different (just as the girls personalities are very different), were the most intense/wonderful/amazing/magical/scary/thrilling experiences of our lives thus far. We used several resources in our quest for the perfect birth for us when pregnant with our older girl, Lola. One of the main resources we used was Waterbirth International. This is an amazing resource for anyone who is interested in waterbirth, or even birth in general. Barbara Harper is one of the most gracious, knowledgable, caring women I’ve had the pleasure to communicate with in this area. She is the author of the book Gentle Birth Choices, a must resource book for anyone interested in birth.

I’m sure you are beginning to wonder what my point is in this post. Well, Waterbirth International was started by Barbara Harper as a way to reach out to the global community and share these gentle birth choices with each other. They host seminars, train men and women in gentle birth practices, including waterbirths…they donate hours of time and emotions to helping families realize the birth of their dreams. They are a non-profit organization which does so much good in this field that I could go on and on. But I am asking that you take a look at them yourself. They are in serious need of help and are in danger of having to close their doors. Please look at their website, share it with others who might be interested. If you can donate even a dollar to them, it will help.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, to see their website and to give even a moment spreading the word about this group. Namaste and peace!

This was a very good film. The acting was decent, but the story was really good. Makes one think about the state of affairs of today in the political arena. We really enjoyed it. We saw it at the Alamo Drafthouse, which, if you are ever in Austin, is a “must go to” place. 🙂 Good food, good beer, good atmosphere! We had a really nice anniversary evening.

I never was one for New Year’s resolutions as I’ve always hated setting myself up for a fall – not that THAT always stopped me in my younger days, but that’s another set of stories for another time. This year I have decided that my goals for 2008 are to become more organized, more self-sustaining (we are definitely getting closer with baby steps), and to try 3 new meals a month. I say monthly as that seems a much more reasonable goal for us and our hectic life. It’s very easy to set up some turkey bones for broth and make soup, but that gets old too (as I check the stovetop where a pot of soup is bubbling away merrily…heh).

For me personally, I’d like to dip my toes back into the music world. Another lifetime ago I had my own production company in Humboldt County, CA. I promoted small, independent bands from all over the world and exposed them to our little mountain town. It was intensly fun and stressful all at once, I loved it! While I don’t see myself diving into the scene that deeply again now that I have my girls, I do miss “the hunt” for new music. And I am living in Austin, which claims the title of “Music Capital.” So I really don’t have any excuses. We’ll see what I find, I’ll let you all know throughout the year..:)

The baby goats are amazing! They are so much fun and so darn cute I can hardly stand it! They bounce around and play. We are holding them everyday and are really feeling bonded to them, especially Mongo who is the one we are keeping. We’ll get our new baby girl in one more week and the other little guy here will go live with his new herd and eventually be one of the main dudes there…he won’t be unhappy. HA!

Christmas was nice. The kids had a blast and it was so wonderful so spend so much time with my sister and her family. I miss them so much. Their little boy is a month younger than our little Xiola, so they are really fun together.

Jason’s birthday is Sunday, so Happy Birthday darling!!!

What are your resolutions? Or non-resolutions as the case may be!