Parenting from Scratch

I guess I forgot to mention it. I went to Peru and Ecuador for work, and I blogged a lot about it on the Heifer blog. I’ve actually still got more posts coming, but below are the posts I’ve done so far.

My last day in Ecuador I had the opportunity to take a horseback riding day trip into one of the few (maybe only one of two, I can’t quite remember) inhabited volcanic craters. It was completely amazing.

Sadie, by the way, did just great. She and Trevor fared well without me, but we were all glad to be reunited at last.

Greetings from Lima

Policy Conflicts in Rural Peru

Motivated Farmer in Peru’s Highlands

Allin Kausay

Fun in Peru: Day 1

Lucio of Peru: 1 of 2

Fun in Peru: Day 2

Lucio of Peru: 2 of 2

Pierre Ferrari in the Andes

Ecuador

Agroecological Fair in Loja

Eating in South America

Growing for Market

Ecuador: Banana Republic

I’ve, uh, been blogging somewhere else. And there’s so much more to do over there. Here are links to the Heifer Blog posts I’ve done about my Africa trip so far. (If you make it to the bottom of the list, you’ll be rewarded with the two funniest photos of me from the trip.)

Biogas/Appropriate Technology

Biogas in Uganda–Any Questions?

Biogas is Important for Rural Women

Biogas is Important for the Environment

Biogas is Important for Rural Children (I made a video!)

Appropriate Technology Keeps Your Hands Clean

Uganda

The Storks of Kampala

The Roads of Uganda

Heifer

Pierre Ferrari Samples Local Yogurt

The Casual Conversations

The Top 5 Reasons Heifer Africa Rocks

Energized and Heiferized

Changing the Way We Look at Rural Development

That's a monkey. About to eat a peanut off of my head.

It is shocking. How huge and thick and slimy a giraffe's tongue is. Shocking.

Heifer Blog | The Official Blog of Heifer International: Biogas in Uganda.

Here’s another one, y’all.

Heifer Blog | The Official Blog of Heifer International: The Storks of Kampala.

Hey guys, here’s my first post on Uganda. If you’re interested, please leave comments! Comments are lacking on most of the Heifer Blog posts, but I’d really love it if I could start changing that!

Well, more like 9,000 miles. That’s about how far I’m going to be from my family. For real.

In case I haven’t talked to you lately, the big news is that I am traveling to Kenya and Uganda for work. Wowza would be an appropriate response. I’m accompanying our new CEO on a trip to visit some of our East Africa Dairy Development projects. I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything, and I just finished packing, so I’m going to be brief for the moment.

I may or may not be posting on this blog while I’m there. I’m going to be primarily posting to the Heifer blog and hopefully quite a bit, so keep an eye out there. I’ll also be sending in real-time tweets (@brookeje), if all goes well.

I’m super excited about the trip, but I’m also bummed about being so far away for so long from Trevor and Sadie. I wish they were coming with me. I’ve gotten choked up a couple of times already about leaving Sadie. We had our trial run back in September when I went to Orlando, so I know she’ll be fine. She’s in good hands. I just hope I don’t embarrass myself in front of my colleagues, bawling my eyes out or anything.

It’s been pretty whirlwind getting ready for this trip, too. I only learned I was going right before Thanksgiving. I had to have my passport expedited, get my shots (Oh, and cross your fingers I don’t get yellow fever. They don’t give that vaccine out to nursing mothers, FYI.), do all kinds of other paperwork, round up all the gear I’m taking and who knows what else. I nearly left work Friday without my travel advance; I did forget to deposit it. I stained a (borrowed) pair of pants and two (new-used) white shirts pink; I was totally unsuccessful at attempting to dye them blue. But, I did manage to pack everything I need into a laptop bag and a carry-on suitcase. Ten points for me!

So, I’ll leave you with the best picture I’ve taken of Sadie in a long time. I’ve set it as the background on my laptop. You know, so I can cry every night when I’m trying to get my job done.

Big stuff happening at work, y’all.

Heifer International to announce new top executive – Forbes.com.

I think you can see why Tuesday is my favorite day of the work week.

One thing I LOVE about my job is the moat at the office. Yes, you read that right: a moat. Okay, so it’s not a true moat, because it doesn’t go ALL the way around, but it does go most of the way. And the best thing about the moat is the wildlife, especially right now. So far, I’ve seen heron, geese, turtles, fish and ducks.

Yesterday morning I found a mama duck’s nest, and I’m a little worried (because, you know, I love a good worry) about her eggs. When I first saw the nest, one of the eggs looked a little rough. Maybe the duckling was jus. Taking a break from hatching. But… I don’t know how these things go. It kind of looked a little tampered with to me. Like maybe something had gotten to it. Anyway, when I checked on it later during the day, it looked like it had rolled down the bank of the moat a little.

I think, pre-Sadie, I would have been a little worried about the mama duck and her hatchlings. But I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about this little duck family. Hopefully my worries are unfounded, and the mama duck has tucked her hatched ducklings somewhere other than her egg nest (which is pretty cool looking–I’d never seen one). Maybe one day soon I’ll see the whole gang floating around together.

So I’m on watch: Duck Watch.

Duck Daddy-o.

Nest. You can't see the egg that rolled. There are also some shell fragments in the nest, as well as under the building ledge.

Obviously. So, why am I sitting in the Mother’s Room, way more exposed than usual (not that there’s anybody to see me)? Because today was The Very Important Day. Today was Interview Day! In the space of a few hours I interviewed for, was offered, and accepted a full time position as a writer for Heifer International. I’ve been the temp in this position since last October. But now I’ll get a salary! And health insurance! And paid vacation!

I wasn’t nervous about the interview at all, but I am relieved that it’s over. My start date is next Thursday, so I’m going to take M-W to get some random, personal stuff sorted out–like the fact that Sadie has two Social Security Numbers. And also maybe to sleep.

A good day all around!