Last Night, we went to the grocery store to get some food for the week.

I put Daphne in the cart where she likes to sit, and started to shop. We went to get bananas first. Daphne is very fond of bananas, but I had no idea how deep that fondness went until this trip. I put the bananas in the cart, and she grabbed onto them and held on. She held on to them for dear life.

There was even a point that she fell over in the cart during a sharp turn and she sacrificed hitting her head so she would not have to let go of the bananas.

When we got back to the checking stand, we had to convince her to let go of the bananas for just a minute so that they could be weighed.

I believe I do have a Monkey Baby on my hands.

Yes, the title of the post says it all.

As I was frantically getting ready to go on our trip to California, it turned out that I was having troubles finding people to help me with the animals. I had things all set up, and then suddenly, it all fell through.

In a moment of frustration and panic I went to make the usual trek down into the chicken pen.

The coop is set up in such a way that it fills up the entire width of one side of the house. You can’t walk by it, so the back side of it is inaccessible, except by going out the window on the side of the house.

The purpose of having it like this is so that the chickens can go from one side to the other side on alternate days without overusing the land. I like having one side be a permanent run. I planted some clover seed on the open side right now, so the chickens have had to stay in the side of the run that does not open while the clover gets old enough to fend for itself. That has meant that I have had to climb in and out of the window ever day to let them out and round them up. It has been a bit of a pain–until it became a big pain.

You see, in my utter frustration yesterday, I completely missed going back in the window, and I fell out the window and landed onto one of the chickens. Miraculously, the chicken is fine, but I am not.

My ENTIRE body is black and blue. I can hardly sit or walk without having a lot of pain and I am feeling it more and more each second. Jared insists I need a new ladder so I don’t do that again, and I think I just need to get half a brain. Come on, how hard is it to not fall out the window, Chris?

This is some interesting information about plastics that I ran into on a discussion board recently.

Get to know your plastics.

Do You Know What Plastic Recycling Symbols Mean?

The Daily Green offers this handy guide on the various types of plastic:

Number 1 Plastics — PET or PETE (polyethylene terephthalate)

Found In: Soft drinks, water and beer bottles; mouthwash bottles;
peanut butter containers; salad dressing and vegetable oil containers;
ovenable food trays.
Recycling: Pick up through most curbside recycling programs.
Recycled Into: Polar fleece, fiber, tote bags, furniture, carpet,
paneling, straps, (occasionally) new containers
It poses low risk of leaching breakdown products. Recycling rates
remain relatively low (around 20 percent), though the material is in
high demand by remanufacturers.

Number 2 Plastics — HDPE (high density polyethylene)

Found In: Milk jugs, juice bottles; bleach, detergent and household
cleaner bottles; shampoo bottles; some trash and shopping bags; motor
oil bottles; butter and yogurt tubs; cereal box liners
Recycling: Pick up through most curbside recycling programs, although
some only allow those containers with necks.
Recycled Into: Laundry detergent bottles, oil bottles, pens, recycling
containers, floor tile, drainage pipe, lumber, benches, doghouses,
picnic tables, fencing
HDPE carries low risk of leaching and is readily recyclable into many goods.

Number 3 Plastics — V (Vinyl) or PVC

Found In: Window cleaner and detergent bottles, shampoo bottles,
cooking oil bottles, clear food packaging, wire jacketing, medical
equipment, siding, windows, piping
Recycling: Rarely recycled; accepted by some plastic lumber makers.
Recycled Into: Decks, paneling, mudflaps, roadway gutters, flooring,
cables, speed bumps, mats
PVC contains chlorine, so its manufacture can release highly dangerous
dioxins. If you must cook with PVC, don’t let the plastic touch food.
Never burn PVC, because it releases toxins.

Number 4 Plastics — LDPE (low density polyethylene)

Found In: Squeezable bottles; bread, frozen food, dry cleaning and
shopping bags; tote bags; clothing; furniture; carpet
Recycling: LDPE is not often recycled through curbside programs, but
some communities will accept it. Plastic shopping bags can be returned
to many stores for recycling.
Recycled Into: Trash can liners and cans, compost bins, shipping
envelopes, paneling, lumber, landscaping ties, floor tile
Historically, LDPE has not been accepted through most American
curbside recycling programs, but more and more communities are
starting to accept it.

Number 5 Plastics — PP (polypropylene)

Found In: Some yogurt containers, syrup bottles, ketchup bottles,
caps, straws, medicine bottles
Recycling: Number 5 plastics can be recycled through some curbside programs.
Recycled Into: Signal lights, battery cables, brooms, brushes, auto
battery cases, ice scrapers, landscape borders, bicycle racks, rakes,
bins, pallets, trays
Polypropylene has a high melting point, and so is often chosen for
containers that must accept hot liquid. It is gradually becoming more
accepted by recyclers.

Number 6 Plastics — PS (polystyrene)

Found In: Disposable plates and cups, meat trays, egg cartons,
carry-out containers, aspirin bottles, compact disc cases
Recycling: Number 6 plastics can be recycled through some curbside programs.
Recycled Into: Insulation, light switch plates, egg cartons, vents,
rulers, foam packing, carry-out containers
Polystyrene can be made into rigid or foam products — in the latter
case it is popularly known as the trademark Styrofoam. Evidence
suggests polystyrene can leach potential toxins into foods. The
material was long on environmentalists’ hit lists for dispersing
widely across the landscape, and for being notoriously difficult to
recycle.

Number 7 Plastics — Miscellaneous

Found In: Three- and five-gallon water bottles, ‘bullet-proof’
materials, sunglasses, DVDs, iPod and computer cases, signs and
displays, certain food containers, nylon
Recycling: Number 7 plastics have traditionally not been recycled,
though some curbside programs now take them.
Recycled Into: Plastic lumber, custom-made products
A wide variety of plastic resins that don’t fit into the previous
categories are lumped into number 7. A few are even made from plants
(polyactide) and are compostable. Polycarbonate is number 7, and is
the hard plastic that has parents worried these days, after studies
have shown it can leach potential hormone disruptors.

I washed my wool covers in the washer the other day, and it turned out that it probably would have been better if I didn’t. They ended up felting up a little bit, and now they are just too darn small for my baby.

Julie and I talked about it, and it turns out that we decided that I just needed to sell them and make some more.

We went to the fabric store yesterday to check out some more wool to buy, and I picked out some lovely colors that I thought were wonderful.

However, just as I was about to go and spend some money on them, I decided against it. I put everything back and walked out. I don’t NEED any more fabric. If we are going to get out of debt, I need to learn to make do with what we have.

This morning, I am inspired, and I plan to cut the diapers apart and make them work. If they end up still being too small, I will sell them on ebay and use the proceeds to make new covers
now that is thinking smart of me.

Neither Daphne nor I were feeling very well today. Lunch was the last thing I wanted to make, so I actually just ended up boiling up some pasta and making a little pesto to put it with. I also tossed in some zucchini. The meal was really great.

After some time spent feeding Daphne, I sat down to eat. She kept indicating that I had missed feeding her something, and after carefully trying to give her “Daphne items” she was still not happy.

It turns out that all she wanted was some pasta. She loves pasta (who knew). She spent a good 15 minutes picking it up and throwing it down and flinging it all over the kitchen. I think this may end up being a common thing because I haven’t seen her more happy with food.

Today, Jared asked me out to work with him at Delphi today. He told me that we were going to go to a meeting and that after it we would go to the beach or go hang out somewhere.

After a lot of insistence that I need not go, he finally convinced me to go with him. I wondered why he cared so much.

When we walked in to his mom’s house to check out their new ducks, all my friends were waiting there with a nice big “Surprise!”

It turned out that Jared had planned a surprise birthday party. The funny thing about the whole thing is that my birthday is not until June 6. Needless to say I was surprised.

I had never had a surprise party before, so it was a lot of fun. We got to chat and have a good time with some good friends, and that was really worth it.

We got to eat strawberry shortcake, which is a traditional meal for my birthday. All in all, we had a lot of fun.

Daphne adores eating peanut butter.

Since the last incident in the car, I left the peanut butter on the table, open of course (the lid was hopelessly lost), and she actually managed to climb up on the table and get into it.

She now prefers that we give it to her by the spoonful.

What a crazy little lady I have on my hands.

Jared’s cousin just had a baby, and it turned out that she needed to have heart surgery just after birth. A few complications later, and they are still not sure if the baby is going to make it.

I feel deeply for this mama and her baby, and I read her blog every day to keep track of what is going on. http://feldmanbaby.blogspot.com/

Keep her in your thoughts and pray or do whatever it is you do that this baby gets to live and that this wonderful little family does not have to bear devastation in such a hard time.

Every night I turn the heater down. The goat is 60-65, but I kind of throw the switch down and not really pay attention to where it goes.

This helps to cut down on our heating bill, and it also keeps me from baking in the night. I tend to get very hot with a little baby crawling all over me.

I am always the first to wake up in the morning, so I turn the heater on to get things going, but I almost always check the temperature to see how cold it got. We hit a record low last night in the house of 59. It was a little cold. The heater was not set any lower than normal, and I was wondering why.

It only took me a few more steps to see the snow on my car. A quick examination outside revealed that there was snow actively falling. I am really glad I didn’t do my vegetable planting yet, this would have wiped them out. I am told we have snow tomorrow as well and then maybe we can get into spring weather.

God must be playing a joke on the global warming experts.

As Daphne gets older, she wants more and more to mimic what we do; not just the small actions, but the big ones as well.

Today, Daphne was following me around as I was cleaning Jared’s desk. She had gotten a hold of a paper towel and she was wiping it down just like mom. It was funny to watch her. She did not get what we were doing, but she knew how we were doing it, and that was the important part.

In other news, I announced to my friend happily yesterday that Daphne will not put anything in her mouth unless it is big and chewable (like for teething).

Of course, I jinxed it, and I spent all day while I was rearranging keeping her from eating screws and Allen wrenches, paper clips and dust bunnies.