Steamboat

One of the silver linings with this new health diagnosis is that I don't feel very guilty about a few indulgences. Since I can't get too far from home for the next few months, one of the indulgences we are looking into are weekend getaways for the family.

Last weekend Firelord got us a condo for a couple of nights in Steamboat Springs. The condo didn't cost very much more than a hotel room, and we got to have an extra bedroom for the kids, two bathrooms, and a kitchen to cook in. We didn't ski. Not only was I not up to it (having had a minor surgery the day before) but they hadn't had new snow for over 2 weeks, and the slopes were icy. Not great for inexperienced skiers.

So if you can't ski in a ski town, what else can you do in Steamboat? If it were summer, we could have had some amazing hikes. If it were summer, we could have camped! But, it's still winter up there, and I'm a weather wuss (no winter camping for me). So we checked out the Old Town Hot Springs. Lots of different pools and hot tubs made this visit worthwhile. Had we had more time and energy we would have come back 4-8 pm when the big slides were open. After swimming (wading for me since I wasn't allowed to get the surgical site wet) we went to lunch at Jonny B Good's. The food was generous servings of basic diner food, but the milkshakes were excellent. Walking around town, our find was the Steamboat Hat Shop.

A camera, kids, and a hat shop make for no end of fun.

When he first saw this hat/scarf combo, Bit Boy exclaimed "Poor Ewok!" :-D

It was lovely to have some family time while I'm still relatively healthy feeling. Steamboat is now associated with fond memories.
Hot Dog cried when we had to leave " Can we come back here again? When can we come back?"
"Yes, sweetheart. We can come back here again, soon."

February's books

• Virals, by Kathy Reichs
• The Price of Privilege, by Madeline Levine Ph.D.
• Cradles of Eminence, by Victor Goertzel and Mildred George Goertzel
• Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book, by Susan Love, M.D.
• Breast Cancer? Breast Health!, by Susan S. Weed
• Cancer 50 Essential Things to Do, by Greg Anderson
  

Wasn't expecting this

I have no idea how to write this post. I thought long and hard about whether I should even have this topic on this blog. But here's the thing. This is my blog. It's about my life, which is all of one piece. I have another blog, where I put recipes, but that's for my convenience. In Blatherings and Bothering I write about what I'm thinking and experiencing, what I care about or get worked up about. Now I've got something new I'll be thinking about and experiencing, caring about, getting worked up about. It'll be affecting all aspects of our lives, including, maybe especially, homeschooling. So. I'm going to share it with you.

(Breath in. Breath out.)

I have been diagnosed with StageIIIA breast cancer.

Let me tell you, it is not something you ever want to hear - a diagnosis of "malignant cancer". I've spent plenty of time crying, even more time planning and preparing for the coming Year of Hell. I'm not ready. I will never be ready for this. But. Ready or not. Here it comes.

January's Books

• Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
• 11/22/63, by Stephen King
• Mocking Bird, by Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
• The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
• Sir Givret the Short, by Gerald Morris

Wow! Finally, a really fun reading month.

I forgot how much I like Terry Pratchett. If you've got kids try reading Wee Free Men with them.

The Hunger Games trilogy is sheer crack. Once Bit Boy convinced me to read it (and I got the library's Nook Simple Touch it was on out of his hands) I blew threw it in days.

If you have a 10 year old boy, Lego Dude highly recommends Sir Givret the Short. I recommend it for any age. :-)

And, by the way, we have entered the 21st century. This year we have e-readers: 2 rooted nooks, 1 Kindle Fire, and 1 Nook Simple Touch. For the money, and as an e-reader, I recommend the Simple Touch. As an android, the Nook is pretty nice. I'm still enjoying my Kindle Fire, but it's the most work to get books on.

Journalism, it's not what it used to be

I got up this morning, let the dog out, did my little exercises, and turned on the computer. I checked my email, the weather, Facebook, checked my favorite blogs for new posts, and activated my Pintrest account. I'll read the local paper with my morning tea, and listen to NPR when I drive into town.

Where do you get your information these days?

Once upon a time there was a countable number of news sources. When I was a kid the entire country watched the same 3 network TV stations. My entire state watched the same local UHF station and the same PBS station. There were 2 newspapers (out of Denver), and a handful of radio stations we could listen to. For local news we called a friend and gossiped.

Today there is cable TV, digital radio, and (cue big voice) The Internet. The internet is a game changer. Absolutely anyone with internet access can get their message out there. You could use a desk top computer, a lap top computer, a hand held android or even just your cell phone to post. If you don't have those, access to a public library will do it.

So how did you choose to get your information this morning? Newspaper? Radio? TV? (cable or broadcast?) WorldWideWeb? If you're on-line, what site did you choose for your sources? BBC? NPR? Washington Post? Washington Times?

There is no longer a countable number of news sources. Every blogger is a journalist. Every person who posts a comment on a site is reporting their experience and opinion. Every person can now be a journalist. What does that mean?

It means that we now have a lot of information to sort through. The good news is that there is no reason to remain ignorant of just about anything. Yet there isn't enough time in the world to follow everything of interest or concern. How we choose, individually, to sort through it will be skewed by our own bias. What we see will skew our bias. We each now have a responsibility to search out information that challenges those biases.

I'd be interested to know - How do you get your news? Are there ways you challenge your own bias or seek out contrary news sources?