Guess who was at the party Mozilla had last night to celebrate the launch of Firefox 3.6? Yes, me! It was more exciting than it sounds. Continue reading
Author: katiebonn
Apple Fans Need Another Kind of ipad
It has been a while since I’ve written about the joys of living in Silicon Valley and the kind of drama that goes on around here, but with the announcement of Apple’s ipad I guess it’s time to express such virtues of living in a bubble unlike any other once again. Continue reading
Household tip: Save Space with Rectangular Containers!
I read an article recently about how Costco was keeping its prices down despite rising fuel costs by asking manufacturers to switch to rectangular containers from round. That way they were able to fit more product per palette and thereby more product in each truck. Such a simple change to make a big difference is ingenious.
Along a similar vein, Dave and I have always resisted accumulating more stuff that would then require us to to buy a larger home. Out here in Silicon Valley, going up to a much larger place is not only a bad financial decision, but nearly impossible for us. We’re always trying to find ways to be efficient with our space, but without spending a lot of money on handy organizational products or worse, personal organizers to come to our house and tell us how to buy and arrange such products.
Tonight I was pouring Dante’s kitty food into reused containers where I store the food until he’s ready for it and I realized a trickle-down effect of Costco’s change. Since they now sell square plastic cashew and peanut containers I am able to fit more in my closet after filling them from Dante’s gigantic bag of food.
Now I can’t wait for other manufacturers to catch on so I can buy yogurt, cottage cheese, and Smart Balance in boxy containers. We did cave in and buy some Snapware from Costco so we do have BPA-free non-round containers for our food too, but it would be nice to be able to continue reusing food containers simply to be less wasteful.
Do you have any organizational tips that are simple, but also so brilliant they must be shared?
It’s a Secret to Everybody
At twenty weeks we had another routine ultrasound. This one took about an hour, during which time the sonographer took photos of every part of the baby that a baby has. She checked the size of my uterus, size of the baby, looked at the kidneys, limbs, spine, face, and spent quite a while getting different shots of the heart. Actually, she spent an extra long time on the heart because baby wasn’t quite in the best position for viewing that particular organ. She pushed on my belly a bit to try to induce some fetal shifting, but really only got shoved back and produced some wiggles, not a half somersault that I think she was hoping for.
I’m not really sure what exactly they look for in all these pre-natal photos, but apparently we should be getting the results soon. All I knew is that we would likely discover the gender, which we did. Continue reading
Passionate Writing Without Fear
I’ve decided that I’m missing a certain passion in my writing because I’m afraid to write about those things that make me feel passionate. It is a scary feeling, the feeling of passion and I don’t like feeling out of control. I wish I could go back to relinquishing control once in a while. I have built such a fortress of acceptable behavior around myself that I’m not sure when it’s ok to act out. Acting out in writing is probably ok, but even after years of therapy and over one year of weekly therapy specifically focused on recognizing my emotions and letting myself feel them, I am still afraid of them and afraid to let myself act as though I feel.
One of the writing exercises mentioned at the Foothill College writing conference I went to this past summer is to list the things I am passionate about, choose something from the list and write on that topic. I will incorporate this into my therapy by adding my own important requirement, reflection. Continue reading
Me Want Foooood!
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Written on November 9th:
I’m finally feeling better! Yay! It was for about a month that I was feeling sick and extremely exhausted. Even after my dr. prescribed me drugs, the nausea felt better, but I just didn’t feel as though I could do much. I think I was just feeling weak from being so exhausted and from not eating enough.
Even after the nausea mostly went away I didn’t feel as though I could eat. Everything seemed gross or at the very least not at all appetizing. It’s hard to explain how I feel better now because there isn’t much I can specifically put my finger on. I just feel better. I can eat without feeling like I have to choke food down. I guess that does make a big difference. I’m still not super gung ho about eating, but it does feel a little easier and there are more things I can imagine myself eating.
I’ve even started craving a few things, like olives, or apples and bacon. Yes, apples and bacon together. A crisp, tart Granny Smith apple topped with a crunchy salty slice of bacon. My pregnancy tongue has invented a new appetizer! Does it sound tasty?
*Photo by Alan Berman
Pregnancy: The New Weight Loss Drug
Written on October 26th:
It has been about a month since I’ve posted and I have to apologize for leaving my audience hanging. The first week or so after finding out I was pregnant was great considering I didn’t have any symptoms except being a little more tired than usual and irritable once in a while. Then, the nausea hit me and I was sleeping most of the day. In addition to feeling crappy and doing almost nothing but eating, (or more accurately attempting to eat) sleeping and lying in bed watching TV, I found myself dealing with guilt over being completely unproductive. Continue reading
Shopping for a Pee Stick
Written Tuesday, September 15:
I did it! I popped the proverbial cork in my cervix, nourished a healthy nesting ground for a welcome parasite and said, “go to town, little dude”. I couldn’t wait to get to the drugstore after my last entry. Good thing I biked there – it helped with the anxious shakes. I had a $10 off coupon to go towards a $20 purchase so I took an unnecessarily long time shopping. Continue reading
A Band-Aid for My Uterus
Written Monday, September 14th:
28th day of my cycle. The day I’ve been waiting for. “It” is not here yet, but it could come at any moment. Like waiting for someone you don’t like to show up at your door, knowing they’ll stick around for a week and make your life miserable. The only way to try to prevent their arrival is to have lots and lots of sex, relax, and hope for the best. Not bad, I guess. Continue reading
Writing My Passion
As terrifying as it is I think it’s about time I start to share some of my writing. I’m hoping that if I put it out there I will be less afraid and that’ll encourage me to write more. To start I’ll share something I wrote on the fly rather than something I’ve been working on for a while, that way if no one likes it I don’t feel as devastated.
The following was what I wrote for a writing exercise at the Foothill College Writers’ Conference that I went to back in July. The exercise was simply to write about something I’m passionate about. I decided to tear through the fear and to do exactly what the exercise asked. I wrote about what I’m most passionate about despite being attacked for it in the past. The result was a stark naked emotional piece that I wrote without hesitation or fear of attack. I wish I could write like that more often. Please, be gentle… Continue reading
A little bit of wisdom 