Signs of Life : The Brownie Chronicles

I've seen the phrase "the new normal" passed around here and there and believe it's a good fit for what we are going through as March 2020 comes to a close.  The Brown Family is ready to begin week 4 of social distancing, as we started a week before most.  I don't believe this will be over in a few more weeks.  I don't even believe it will be over in a few months.  I think we will see a new normal emerging and will never be the same as we were pre-COVID-19. I'm not a scientist nor statistician.  I have actually avoided reading too much about the virus in order to maintain my own mental health.  I have read, watched, and listened to what I need in order to protect my family and community.  I've traveled down a rabbit hole and read way more than I've wanted to a few times.  Two of the best sources of information for me have been " Science Mike's " streamcast from 11 days ago (So remember when you watch that numbers/data has changed ...

It should be no secret to those of you who have followed this blog from the adoption days that I identify as a Christian.  It might be a secret how much I've struggled with that identity over the past 8 years. I've often felt shut down in my questioning of the Bible, of God, of the various denominations I've been in over my 44 years.  I thought the types of questions I was asking were evidence that my faith wasn't solid, that I should "always be prepared to give an answer" for why I believed what I did. I just finished the recently departed Rachel Held Evans' book Faith Unraveled , previously titled Evolving in Monkey Town .  I identified with her so much, as I know many other readers have for many years. She mentions often being told "God's ways are higher than our ways" when she asked difficult questions.  For me, I think of this verse, which has been used by Christians to dissuade other Christians for choosing to err on the side of ...

Travis had very few communication skills when we first met him .  The adults caring for him communicated with him by poking, prodding, and pointing.  He communicated back with smiles, crying, laughter, and head-banging.  That was about it.  Our first few days with him, he would drool, kick his legs, and even slam his head on the floor, wall, or crib.  When he was happy, he would smile, be silly, and sometimes laugh to the point it was excessive.  These behaviors reduced rapidly and massively within the first few days we had him.  I credit most of this to Ken and to ASL.  When Travis would cry to the point of drooling, Ken would wipe Travis' mouth and sign, "No, you don't need to drool.  Just tell us what you want."  I actually told Ken I felt like it wasn't fair to correct Travis, telling him "no, no" about drooling since he didn't understand anything yet.  Ken rightly pointed out that we'd be speaking English to him if he was heari...

I'm super excited to share our meals and how we saved well over $400 during our vacation! **Check with your hotel to learn what appliances are/are not allowed. These meals can all be made in the microwave if a skillet cannot be used.** Originally, we had booked two standard rooms at Cabana Bay Beach Resort. When they offered us a great upgrade deal, we changed to a tower family suite with a kitchenette.  This ended up offering us a huge savings by allowing me to prepare 5 breakfasts, 4 dinners, and some snacks in our room.  The grands ate a few breakfasts and 3 dinners with us, so we were feeding 7-9 people at an average of $15.55 per meal!  (That's $1.73-$2.22 per person!) Big thanks to Trader Joe's for providing such high-quality, quick-prep foods!  (No, this isn't an ad or sponsored blog!) First of all, if there is any debate about the size of these "mini" fridges at Cabana Bay Beach, see this photo and notice the gallon of milk in the background. T...

If you're unfamiliar with the Fish Extender (FE) phenomenon on Disney Cruises, a simple Google search will quickly get you up to speed, but Dis gives an excellent description and this is one of my favorite blog posts about it. For the past 8 months, we've been a part of an active Facebook group consisting of about 350 of our cruise mates.  It's fun getting to know a bit about our fellow-travelers.  If you are going on a cruise, I highly recommend you join DisBoards or Cruise Critic so you can connect with others.  Our travel group has created tee shirts, booked mixology classes, teamed up for excursions, shared stateroom door decor  designs, and of course, organized a fish extender exchange...and a Halloween candy exchange....and an ornament exchange. (Don't let all this fun overwhelm you. We chose to participate in the FE gift exchange only, so you aren't required to do it all! It's meant to be fun, not stressful.)  We are looking forward to meeting up...

This blog post is the "before" the cruise excursion.  It will be interesting to see how the "after" turns out! Thanks to an excellent review from Joel Barish 's travels Around The World, we knew we couldn't miss The Baths National Park at Virgin Gorda!  (His review of The Baths begins at 04:00) We've never planned a cruise excursion on our own; it's a bit scary!  There are pros and cons to going it alone, the biggest two pros for me being control and money. Money If all goes as planned, it's much cheaper to plan your own excursion than it is to book with your cruise line.  The greatest risk, and probably the main reason most people book with their cruise line, is the possibility of being left behind.  If a shuttle breaks down, if traffic comes to a standstill, if some act of God causes you to be late for "all aboard," the ship will not wait for you.  On the contrary, if you've booked through the cruise line, the ship will wa...

I've only flown first class once in my lifetime.  It was a glorious 13-hour international flight with comfortable seating, personal service, and all the food and drinks we could handle. When considering taking a bus ride, I had never envisioned a first-class setting...until I met  Vonlane . Earlier this month, I was headed to Houston for a professional conference .  My hotel room was reserved and I had even planned out my stops for a road trip .  A day or two before the conference, I learned that parking would be $16-$20 per day!  That added up to $80-100 just to have my SUV sit in a dark garage for 5 days.  With my low MPG, I was also looking at a $60 gas bill. Knowing Greyhound busses would not be my cup of tea, I decided to check out Megabus .  Reading this blog review scared me, though, and I decided not to spend $20 one-way on an iffy experience.  When the author said to "lower your expectations" and "we've never taken a Megabus that ...