I bet everyone that has been reading my junk in the last few days is just getting bored out of their tree.
I have decided to move all the icky detailed information about my current classes to my personal blog. That way, I don't clutter up things here and we can keep on with talking about the baby and our family!
If you still want to follow what I've been doing, just find my blog at http://dailydodads.blogspot.com/. It is also linked on the sidebar of this page.
-Another great day
18 September 2012
14 September 2012
Her: Do we go organic for baby?
With the days counting down to the arrival of our little one, I've been considering some specifics as to what baby will eat. I am pro-breastfeeding (as long as baby will take!), so I won't have to worry about formula. We do plan on making our own baby food; in fact, we already have some applesauce canned and ready! However, something that I read in "The Eco-nomical Baby Guide" has made me think about where we will be getting the food that baby will eventually ingest. Namely, this is the fact that babies are more vulnerable to the toxins in pesticides than adults just because of the small size of their bodies.
Wow. I never thought of it this way. Purchasing only organic foods has never really been a goal of mine, but when it comes to baby, I may be inspired to reconsider. I don't mind going to Whole Foods a little more often (yay)! Actually, organic produce can be found at most supermarkets now, so we won't have to search hard.
An alternative to buying everything organic is looking at the Environmental Working Group's Guide to Pesticides in Produce, which lists the top 10 or so types of produce with the highest and lowest pesticide residues. For instance, onions, pineapple, and cabbage top the least pesticide list, whereas apples, celery, and peppers are the worst for pesticide residues. This combined with the idea that produce that you peel (e.g. bananas, oranges) don't need to be organic can satisfy any "lazy" organic wannabe. Let's just say that I may be second guessing my non-organic apple, celery, and pepper purchases next time at the grocery store.
Another idea I've been toying with is signing up for weekly delivery of local organic produce, something like Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). This is certainly something worth looking into, and I'm sure knowing where exactly your produce comes from, and the fact that it hasn't travelled thousands of miles to reach you, will make the produce taste even better!
Happy (organic) eating!
Wow. I never thought of it this way. Purchasing only organic foods has never really been a goal of mine, but when it comes to baby, I may be inspired to reconsider. I don't mind going to Whole Foods a little more often (yay)! Actually, organic produce can be found at most supermarkets now, so we won't have to search hard.
An alternative to buying everything organic is looking at the Environmental Working Group's Guide to Pesticides in Produce, which lists the top 10 or so types of produce with the highest and lowest pesticide residues. For instance, onions, pineapple, and cabbage top the least pesticide list, whereas apples, celery, and peppers are the worst for pesticide residues. This combined with the idea that produce that you peel (e.g. bananas, oranges) don't need to be organic can satisfy any "lazy" organic wannabe. Let's just say that I may be second guessing my non-organic apple, celery, and pepper purchases next time at the grocery store.
Another idea I've been toying with is signing up for weekly delivery of local organic produce, something like Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). This is certainly something worth looking into, and I'm sure knowing where exactly your produce comes from, and the fact that it hasn't travelled thousands of miles to reach you, will make the produce taste even better!
Happy (organic) eating!
13 September 2012
Him: TSDM
Almost two hundred pages later, the TSDM Syllabus is jam packed with information.
Let's get to what the course has as a goal for teaching. Briefly stated the overview of the course is gear towards being able to engage in the challenging complexities of the contemporary national security environment. I will be taking this via seminar, once a week, for three hours. Some of the areas of study will be topics such as; National Defense strategies, Regional Knowledge and Cultural Awareness, Clear and Effective writing and briefing skills, and Management techniques and skills that compliment leadership skills, just to name a few.
The course is broken down into three separate sub-courses: Security Strategies, Policy Analysis, and Leadership Concepts.
A few of the objectives are:
Policy Analysis: 18 Sessions, second par of the course. This part will explain the environment within and external to the organisations that I may find myself in. The internal will focus on leadership, structure and products of the organisation as well as the impact of organisational behavior and culture. External, the influence on the organisation of the government, higher authority, and elements in the international community which generate requirements for response and action. This is where I am really going to have to listen closely. Even just reading this description I get confused. I have a long way to do in policy, let alone policy analysis.
Security Strategies: 17 Sessions, last part of the course. This part of the course will look at how national interest, strategies, and the security environment can affect how a commander reacts, plans and executes decisions.
There is also a portion of the course that is call the Final Exercise(FX). This is a group effort and to what I have read will be mostly discussion.
Marking and all those particulars are just like any other course, a few papers to write, participation, attendance, etc. This particular course will end by mid-May and I am sure I will be counting down the days for that.
Other than that, the Syllabus goes into light(150 page) details about what each seminar will consist of as well as the required readings for each week. It is a crazy list of readings, but I will keep my head up and try not to drown in the sea of words.
-Another great day
Let's get to what the course has as a goal for teaching. Briefly stated the overview of the course is gear towards being able to engage in the challenging complexities of the contemporary national security environment. I will be taking this via seminar, once a week, for three hours. Some of the areas of study will be topics such as; National Defense strategies, Regional Knowledge and Cultural Awareness, Clear and Effective writing and briefing skills, and Management techniques and skills that compliment leadership skills, just to name a few.
The course is broken down into three separate sub-courses: Security Strategies, Policy Analysis, and Leadership Concepts.
A few of the objectives are:
- Increase ability to perform effectively as a unit commander or member of a major staff specifically in a theater security decision making environment, and
- Increase understanding of leadership and management concepts that are especially applicable in today’s complex security environment.
Policy Analysis: 18 Sessions, second par of the course. This part will explain the environment within and external to the organisations that I may find myself in. The internal will focus on leadership, structure and products of the organisation as well as the impact of organisational behavior and culture. External, the influence on the organisation of the government, higher authority, and elements in the international community which generate requirements for response and action. This is where I am really going to have to listen closely. Even just reading this description I get confused. I have a long way to do in policy, let alone policy analysis.
Security Strategies: 17 Sessions, last part of the course. This part of the course will look at how national interest, strategies, and the security environment can affect how a commander reacts, plans and executes decisions.
There is also a portion of the course that is call the Final Exercise(FX). This is a group effort and to what I have read will be mostly discussion.
Marking and all those particulars are just like any other course, a few papers to write, participation, attendance, etc. This particular course will end by mid-May and I am sure I will be counting down the days for that.
Other than that, the Syllabus goes into light(150 page) details about what each seminar will consist of as well as the required readings for each week. It is a crazy list of readings, but I will keep my head up and try not to drown in the sea of words.
-Another great day
11 September 2012
Her: One month to go!
Oh my, how the time has flown by. Only one month to go (give or take a week), and baby will be here! Even though I've been pregnant now since mid January, I still get surprised at my profile in the mirror (yup, there definitely is a belly there) and forget that I can't do some things. Take, for example, the fact that the beautiful cooler fall weather we had here yesterday made me want to go for a nice (long) bike ride. This was something we had done last year around this time, and the slight change in weather had made me long to do it again. However, I forgot that biking at this stage in the pregnancy would be uncomfortable, to say the least. My husband very patiently convinced me that going for a walk would be a better, and safer alternative. We still got to enjoy the beautiful afternoon in the end. What surprised me further was the fact that I had to stop or slow down several times during the walk because of the position of the baby.
That's another thing that's changed - the position of the baby! He/she's been finding different positions and areas in there ("Haha... there's your bladder, haha there's your ribs"). We've seen my belly contort into some rather odd shapes lately, and it's all part of the fun! It must be getting kinda squishy in there...soon to run out of room!
I've also had a sudden change in palate concerning the temperature of the copious amount of water I drink everyday. I no longer want the super ice cold water that I've been downing the last few months - it's too cold for me now! I'm not sure if this is weather related or baby related, but it could easily be both.
So far, so good, and counting down the days!
That's another thing that's changed - the position of the baby! He/she's been finding different positions and areas in there ("Haha... there's your bladder, haha there's your ribs"). We've seen my belly contort into some rather odd shapes lately, and it's all part of the fun! It must be getting kinda squishy in there...soon to run out of room!
I've also had a sudden change in palate concerning the temperature of the copious amount of water I drink everyday. I no longer want the super ice cold water that I've been downing the last few months - it's too cold for me now! I'm not sure if this is weather related or baby related, but it could easily be both.
So far, so good, and counting down the days!
10 September 2012
Him: Back to Class?
What does this mean? I have to go back to school now? Well, not exactly, but it is going to be just as demanding or more.
This week I start my classes in the FSP. My first class being TSDM, Theatre Security Decision Making. Tons of reading, immense amounts of learning, and even more note taking so that my brain can comprehend at least half of what I am packing into it. Fortunately, there is someone else from my work that will be taking the class as well. I hope that we will be able to discuss things together a little bit and maybe learn from each other so that it is a little less hard for the both of us.
My classes run once a week, for three hours. Doesn't seem like a lot, but for a course that has a hundred and fifty page syllabus, I'm a little intimidated. Though after going through it, not in its entirety, I can see that the course is superbly organised and as long as I keep up with, at least, what is required, I should be fine.
I believe that one way for me to better understand and absorb the information that I will be learning is to write about it. For one thing, I need to work on my writing skills, and blogging is an awesome way to do that. Plus, if I can put what I've read into words on paper, then I at least can see what I've learned and work towards having a more complete understanding of the subject.
Since the first class will be this week, there were only two required readings to prepare for. The first was to get through the Syllabus, and second was "Levels of Analysis: A Conceptual Approach to Understanding National Security Affairs."
Don't want to bore too many people in one day, so I will leave it at that. But so far, things are going to be crazy busy in the coming few years.
-Another great day
This week I start my classes in the FSP. My first class being TSDM, Theatre Security Decision Making. Tons of reading, immense amounts of learning, and even more note taking so that my brain can comprehend at least half of what I am packing into it. Fortunately, there is someone else from my work that will be taking the class as well. I hope that we will be able to discuss things together a little bit and maybe learn from each other so that it is a little less hard for the both of us.
My classes run once a week, for three hours. Doesn't seem like a lot, but for a course that has a hundred and fifty page syllabus, I'm a little intimidated. Though after going through it, not in its entirety, I can see that the course is superbly organised and as long as I keep up with, at least, what is required, I should be fine.
I believe that one way for me to better understand and absorb the information that I will be learning is to write about it. For one thing, I need to work on my writing skills, and blogging is an awesome way to do that. Plus, if I can put what I've read into words on paper, then I at least can see what I've learned and work towards having a more complete understanding of the subject.
Since the first class will be this week, there were only two required readings to prepare for. The first was to get through the Syllabus, and second was "Levels of Analysis: A Conceptual Approach to Understanding National Security Affairs."
Don't want to bore too many people in one day, so I will leave it at that. But so far, things are going to be crazy busy in the coming few years.
-Another great day
03 September 2012
Him: Newest Vlogs
I know these are a little late, but nonetheless they are here. Been ready for awhile just never got around to putting them up. So please enjoy our newest videos!
Stroller Fun:
Canning Fun:
Crib Fun:
-Another great day
Stroller Fun:
Canning Fun:
Crib Fun:
-Another great day
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