MamAnomolie

I wasn't this smart in my former life. Let me explain. I used to work in the natural resources/environmental health field. The people that surrounded me every day could identify wildflowers, were master composters and were well versed on the pollutants found in our groundwater.

Now I am a stay-at-home mom. The adults I am now surrounded by have come from many different fields. I hang out with former teachers, reading specialists, chemical engineers, vet techs...the list goes on. I sometimes forget that we don't all share a similar work background, and then something will happen that brings it sharply into focus. Recently, for example, I picked up a cicada at a play date and then identified a butterfly that flew past us. Everyone was impressed. I felt like a rock star.

It happened again recently at another play date when some of the moms were talking about their "new to them" cars recently purchased for their expanding families. Somebody lamented that they didn't get to enjoy that new car smell. "True," I said,"but it's not good for you, so there's another plus to buying used."

"It's not good for you?"
"What's not good for you?"
"The new car smell is bad?"

The comments sort of echoed in a circle around the room. Everyone was looking at me. Half of me felt like a rock star. The other half felt like one of those people who watches people eat something and then says, "Do you know what they put in that?"

So, here is the down low on that new car smell. I don't say this to point fingers at people (except perhaps car manufacturers), but rather as an opportunity to inform and perhaps empower ourselves as consumers. We assume that products are tested and deemed to be safe before they are offered in the marketplace, and that if they are found to be potentially harmful they would immediately be removed from the marketplace. This is, unfortunately, not the marketplace in which we live. We live in the marketplace of new car smells.


That smell comes from phthalates and PBDE's. Crazy words, lots of consonants in a row...here's what they mean. Phthalates are used to soften plastics. PBDEs (Polybrominated diphenyl ethers) are flame retardants. What you're smelling are these chemicals off-gassing from your car's interior. Phthalates can cause all sorts of health problems, but most notably are classified as reproductive toxicants and probable carciniogens. PBDEs impair learning, memory and behavior, even at low levels, in lab rats. They have been found in the breast milk of every woman who has ever been tested.

The Ecology Center, based in Ann Arbor, MI, has some great resources for learning more about the new car smell. They even give rankings for some of the best and worst cars on the market based on levels of toxic substances found in the vehicles.

I know, let's be honest, most of us have a long list of preferred features for a new car, and vehicle air quality is probably not on it. Even if you don't choose your car based on which one has the lowest level of new car smell, you can still reduce your exposure. Used cars are a great option since they have likely already offgassed. If you do get a new car, open the windows as much as you can to let fresh air circulate inside. Finally, heat tends to make the problem worse, so be sure to open the windows if your car has been sitting in the sun.

While I would love to say that the "new car smell" phenomenon is an anomaly, unfortunately, it's not. There are a lot of smells that many of us associate with good things - new car, perfume, our favorite soap - that are not good for us. Many of these smells are VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that can be harmful to our health. While it's not a fun topic to think about, as a consumer, and as a mother, I would rather be informed about the products and materials in my home and environment, and try to choose as wisely as I can.

If I really like a book, I tend to become quite attached to it. For me, finishing a good book is kind of like ending a relationship. That's why I'm chowing down on Halloween candy right now. I just broke up with Barbara Kingsolver. I just finished reading The Lacuna. It was the last novel of Ms. Kingsolver's that I had left to read. I basically devoured all of her fiction this summer and fall, so this breakup is particularly rough. We had a long relationship.

I started with Animal Dreams and was instantly hooked. I liked The Poisonwood Bible, devoured The Bean Trees and Pigs In Heaven, and wanted Prodigal Summer to last forever. The Lacuna was last. I have to admit, the subject matter was so out of my realm of knowledge that I was a little intimidated in the beginning. Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, post-revolutionary Mexico, Leon Trotsky...but it sucked me in, and ended up, in all places, in Asheville, NC. It was my favorite, and I'm having a hard time letting go.

I'm moving on to Ms. Kingsolver's non-fiction and maybe some of her short stories and essays, but I only fall in love with novels, so now it's kind of like we're not dating, but still friends. That never really works, does it?

There have been so many things that I've been wanting to write about, but this week we're in serious need of some comic relief, so I've decided to share a Brian Regan clip instead. Of course, there is a story that goes along with it.

A few things are important to know for this story. The first is that Brian Regan is one of Jonathan's and my favorite comedians. We like him so much that if we find out that you have never heard of him and we're near a computer, we consider it our moral obligation to show you clips of his standup routines. He is absolutely hysterical. Really, if you don't watch the clip I've included in this post, you're doing yourself a disservice.

Another fact that's important to know for this story is that my husband Jonathan is the most even-keeled person that I know. He manages to stay calm and level-headed in situations where I would freak out or get angry. It's a quality that I admire and hope rubs off on me.

Having spent so much time with Jonathan, I have realized that in some extremely stressful situations he'll react inappropriately. Not inappropriately in an, "I can't believe you just said that" sort of way, but just in a way that doesn't quite fit the situation. It's probably something that most people wouldn't think twice about, but because I know him so well I've picked up on it.

I first noticed this when I was in labor with Sophie. We had just arrived at the hospital. My contractions were four minutes apart. Every time I had one my legs shook uncontrollably. I had just been told that, despite all of this, I was not dilated any more than I had been a week before. The nurse asks, "On a scale of one to ten with one being no pain and ten being having your arm cut off, how would you rate your pain?"

At this point Jonathan, who has been calmly holding my hand and telling me how great I'm doing, says, "Say eight! Say eight!" He then turns to the nurse and says, "It's a Brian Regan bit."

Here's what I wanted to say: "Seriously, right now quoting comedy skits seems appropriate? I'm in agony, and this woman has no idea who Brian Regan is (seriously, she had absolutely no sense of humor) and no idea what you're talking about. Plus, I was going to say eight, but now I can't because she'll think I'm joking."

Here's what I did say (actually it was really more of a whimper): "Seven."

No, really, it is a sick day. The thing is, sick days look completely different with kids. Sophie has the cold that has been going around, and I have some sort scaled down adult version. While I'm thankful that Sophie doesn't seem to feel that bad, that also means that I have to figure out things for us to do all day. Playdates are a no-go since we don't want to pass our germs around, but staying in the house all day makes us both bonkers. We tried a park and playground yesterday, but there were enough other kids there that I felt like half the time I was corralling her away from them. Today we went to one of our favorite spots - Historic Yates Mill County Park.

We didn't even explore very much of the park, but there was so much to experience. We enjoyed the color of the fall leaves and flowers, the texture of the lambs ear and the cattail leaves tickling our face, and the smell of rosemary and wild onion. Sophie loved feeling the wind blowing her hair and the trees all around us. We watched ants, snails, bees and butterflies. We picked up leaves, sticks, and berries. It was just what the doctor ordered for both of us!

Tada! What do you think of the new design for MamAnomolie? It's funny, in my former life I worked on web sites, and would never have slapped something up so quickly. I used to test things out behind the scenes, look at the site in every browser available, on Macs and PCs, on every possible screen setting. Now? I'll be honest. I've done next to nothing in terms of testing this out.

I had been having some issues with the former template I was using. Text not lining up where it should be, page components floating on top of the blog text. Besides, I was ready for a change. That's when I found "Liquorice," this lovely little number from btemplates. The name alone had be hooked. I like the vintage, simple feel of it.

I am still working out some design issues. I also have some work to do adding more pages along the top navigation bar and other design elements. A HUGE thank you goes out to Freed Design Studios for help with the CSS code! You rock, Elise!

I seriously couldn't fall asleep last night thinking about all of the changes I wanted to make. I was giddy. (If my excitement about caterpillars didn't have you convinced before, surely by now you realize I'm a nerd.)

So, all of this being said, I would LOVE to get feedback. Does is look alright on your browser? Are you able to leave comments? (If not, you can send me a message telepathically or through smoke signals). Do you like it? Do you have suggestions? Are you out there? Mom?

In years past I have planted a butterfly garden in the backyard. The past few years, however, I've done nothing. Seriously, the only thing I've done this year is buy some parsley for the black swallowtail butterflies. The herb guy at the farmers market knew me because there was a period of time this summer when I'd run in every few days with Sophie for more plants. We had so many black swallowtail caterpillars (or "pippas," as Sophie called them) that our parsley supply was continually decimated. What can I say, I'm a sucker for pippas.

I thought we were done with butterflies for the season, so I was pleasantly surprised when Jonathan found a monarch butterfly while mowing the lawn. Unfortunately, that particular guy (yes, it was a guy) wasn't doing well. I think it had formed it's chrysalis too low and didn't have a good place to hang and pump its wings. I moved him to a better hanging spot on our window screen, and that's when I noticed the other chrysalises. It turns out the milkweed I had planted in years past had been enough to attract some monarch moms, unbeknownst to me.

So far, three more monarchs, both females, have successfully emerged. There is one more chrysalis that I'm still waiting on. It was actually hanging on our rain lily, and it was dragging on the ground a little bit. I was afraid that this butterfly would suffer the same fate as the first one that emerged, so I moved this chrysalis so that it's hanging off of a stick on our deck.

Sometime I'll need to share some quick and easy ways to raise local caterpillars. It's really amazing to watch the whole process, for kids and adults! For now, however, I just wanted to share these photos from our backyard butterfly nursery. No matter how many times I see a monarch chrysalis, it just amazes me. It looks like a little jade and gold jewel!

Jonathan and I are not portrait people. As much as I want to capture moments of Sophie's life on film, I feel like having her sit for a portrait would not at all capture the essence of Sophie. Plus there is the fact that Sophie doesn't sit.

The photos I love of myself and loved ones are those that aren't so staged. We may be aware of the camera, but there is a sense of ease and playfulness that is hard to describe but easy to see. Karen Davis Suttles was able to capture our essence as a family beautifully on film, and for that I am so grateful.

Karen is Jonathan's first cousin. I know, how lucky are we to have such a great photographer in the family?! Last week while we were visiting Marion, NC, she offered to come take some pictures. Here is some of Karen's work. It was hard not to post them all on here. Thank you, Karen!