I just finished Big in China. (I linked to my review.) I liked it a lot. I guess it's being made into a movie soonish, too, produced and directed by Ivan Reitman.. If you are or were an expat, you might really like it a lot. Now, onto The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk through Japan by Alan Booth. Can't wait!

My mom is a U.S. citizen and has lived in Canada since she married my dad (a Canadian citizen) almost 50 years ago! She has landed immigrant status.

My sister and I, as adults, once stood standing in front of a mirrored wall, waiting for an elevator to come. Our body shapes are so, so different. She has very wide hips and a very slim upper body. I am curvy all over. We got a good laugh out of it.

I have ordered from them twice now, and had a great experience both times. They are so, so helpful on the phone and when they arrive with the truck. I discovered when I ordered the first time that a lot of other people I know (especially those with big families) were ordering too. I ordered 25 lbs of quinoa last time because it was a good deal. Coconut milk yogurt was also on sale, so I ordered a bunch of that. Different things are on sale each month. My friends with big families ordered big bags of dry beans, rice, gallon buckets of coconut oil, etc.

My Japan challenge book arrived today: The Roads to Sata by Alan Booth. I reeeaaaallllllllly want to start reading it now, but I'm only half-way through my current read, which I know I won't finish if I pick up something else. I love the challenges--they get me to seek out things I wouldn't ordinarily have read, and I've found some great books this way!

No, I don't think it's respectful to one's partner. If he poked holes in a prophylactic device and didn't tell her about it until later and she conceived, then she'd (rightly) feel betrayed and violated. It's the same thing if the roles are reversed.

I don't think the Moby is recommended for back carries. I don't remember for sure, though. I personally would not try back carries with it. The easiest way to get started doing back carries is with a soft structured carrier, like the Ergo, Beco Butterfly or Gemini, Boba, etc.

Yes, I wore my 2 year old (but she is a lightweight) when I was pregnant with DS. I used an Ergo most of the time. Like other posters, we gave up on the Moby pretty early on because of the stretch not being supportive enough to be comfortable with a bigger baby.

I did a bit of cooking and baking as a child/teen, but mostly my mom didn't want me messing up her kitchen, so I really learned when I left home to go to college and then lived on my own. I'm not a great cook, but I think it has more to do with my personality than anything else. I don't especially like to cook, and I don't always pay a lot of attention, so I forget ingredients and steps, and figure it will still be ok. I also try to improvise and make a lot of substitutions (because of my dietary choices), and there is a limit on how many different substitutions you can make in one recipe without ending up with something terrible. Overall, I am Jill of all trades, master of none.

I finished Siblings Without Rivalry last night and now to implement the techniques! <insert rueful laughter here> Then I started reading Big in China by Alan Paul. I have this dream of moving [back] to China; maybe this will be a reality check.

:bigear: I really want bamboo, too. Now I want to look at the Lowe's stuff. I'm curious about the different grades--I'm sure that's true, but I don't know much about it.

I think it's kind of funny to take pictures of my kids and make them look like 70s photos of my DH and me. Also, sometimes the filter makes a kind-of-ugly photo of me look better.

My microfiber duster came from Target and the microfiber part snaps onto a handle for use and off to wash. You can get extra microfiber parts, too, so you can have one in the wash and one to use. I know Bed, Bath and Beyond also has them. Doesn't a feather duster just blow the dust around? I like trapping it with the microfiber. When I was a kid, my mom had this big woollen duster that trapped dust and then we would go bang it outside to release the dust when we were done.

I have been reading a lot of biomechanics stuff by Katy Bowman lately, because I'm trying to solve my hip and back problems. She has a post on her blog about gait, and some of the comments address toe walking. Toe walking and positive heeled shoes are not generally good for the body, in her opinion. She doesn't really give great suggestions on how to fix it, but she does have lots of stretches that she suggests, especially for lengthening the hamstrings and calves, which are shortened by modern life (lots of sitting, not squatting, etc.). Here's her post on gait: http://www.alignedandwell.com/?p=3495&option=com_wordpress&Itemid=223

I don't love the disposable aspect of them, either, but we basically don't use disposable anything around here, so that definitely colors my opinion. I have used the wet mopping pads, but I have microfiber cloths that fit on the swiffer thing that work just as well, IMO. I have also knitted mopping pads for the swiffer and I like using those, too. I just wet them with a cleaning solution and off I go. I have a washable microfiber duster that works great. Microfiber cloths work well for dusting.

I finished The Year of Magical Thinking last night. Wow. DH and I have been talking about grieving all day today. (He doesn't read the books; he just has to listen to me yak about them all the time. He's a very good sport. :)) The NYT book review said it was deadpan funny at times--I must have missed those parts because I didn't find anything funny about it. Now I have started Siblings Without Rivalry. I'm sorry to say that I need that advice at this point in my parenting journey. :lol: I love the Japanese author/setting/nonfiction reading challenge. I just need some suggestions. I've been looking around for something. I read The Housekeeper and the Professor a month or so ago. I've read some Kazuo Ishiguro. Anyone have any ideas? I'm glad I gave up on Brothers Karamazov on virtually the first page. I couldn't have handled the descriptions of child deaths either. I was really glad that I found Ludmila Ulitskaya instead; she writes good stuff.

Pretty much if I'm not having the baby that day, I'm volunteering. My pregnancies have been very easy. However, if I have other health problems, I stop volunteering. I have some back problems and there have been a few times lately that I've gotten a substitute because I haven't been mobile enough to be working with kids, or really doing much of anything.

I take B12 when I remember. Perhaps the PP meant she doesn't take any kind of amino acid supplement?

I think if she takes a regular dose of ibuprofen (as in every 6 hours) the day before her period is expected to start and then for the first couple of days, it can really help reduce the cramping.

I think I was expecting it to be uproariously funny--maybe my expectations were too high. It was funny, definitely, but not as funny as I had expected. I did laugh out loud sometimes, though. Here's my review:http://betweenmidnightandbedtime.blogspot.com/2012/04/book-22-year-of-living-biblically.html

I just finished The Year of Living Biblically and really liked it. Then I started The Year of Magical Thinking (not intentionally going for a "year" theme) and it is emotionally difficult to read.

I get holes in the same place on many of my shirts. I assume there is something small on a counter or other edge that I bump against that I snag the shirt on, but I don't know where it is in my house. I don't know how to answer the poll since I'm not really thin or not-so-thin. I'm kind of in the middle.

A two-shouldered carrier is much better for backs, I think. The Beco Butterfly 2 will work for a newb (it has a removable newborn insert to position baby properly) up to a toddler, and you can wear baby front or back. I do like stretchy wraps like the Moby for newborns, but they are hot in the summer and can be intimidating because there is a lot of fabric (though I think they're pretty easy to use). A stretchy wrap is not a good carrier for a larger baby, though--probably around 15 lbs is the upper limit.

Most of the time I think 36 weeks is the limit for how late in pregnancy the airlines want you flying. I think you need a letter from your doctor after a certain point, certifying that you are in good health and cleared to fly. That will vary by airline. It's pretty safe to fly in a normal pregnancy, even up to 36 weeks. You just want to be sure to keep your legs moving to avoid blood clots and so that you don't get too swollen, and you are at greater risk of getting dehydrated. But other than that, there aren't really any serious risks. It may be more uncomfortable than flying when not pregnant, though.

I haven't seen them, but I have seen similar documentaries. I also just recently read Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas Friedman and I was totally panicked about the future for my children and their children. The panic has faded a bit with time, but the problem certainly has not gone away and I don't want to get lulled into security by the status quo. We need a clean energy revolution, IMO. More of us need to get solar panels and sell back the excess to the utilities. The utilities need to invest more in clean energy. It's a really complicated situation with a lot of variables, but something drastic needs to change.