The time is right.

The first Apple store in Australia is opening this week in Sydney, and the new iPhone will be available there in just a few short weeks.  Clearly, my destiny is drawing near.  

Are you ready to cry/get your tubes tied/turn lesbian?

The cover story of this week's New York Times Magazine -- "When Mom and Dad Share It All" -- has brought much crying and gnashing of teeth to the Horstmann world. If you haven't already read it (apparently, some people are SO in the know that they read it on Thursday, even though it was in the Sunday Times), go read it now.

Have we all read it? Good. To get back to the roots of the blog, I'll just post my comments to Steven:

Helen: The saddest/scariest part of the article is how patently untrue all the stats are for lesbian couples.

Steven: how much more parity there is?

Helen: Yes. Proving that there is no intrinsic need/benefit to having one parent do the majority of the work.

Steven: ?

Helen: It's not that "that's just the way it needs to be", that, at the end of the day, that responsibility will fall to someone. It's that, as a culture, we've decided that women are "in charge" of that stuff, and you have to fight like hell to end up with something else if you marry a man. And if you marry a woman, it's just a non-issue. Both women see themselves as equally responsible, and behave accordingly.

And that bit about who has the more flexible schedule, the college professor or the doctor? And the answer is, it doesn't matter, people will answer the woman, regardless of which role the woman is in each scenario.

Your profession is irrelevant.
The number of hours you work is irrelevant.
The amount of money you make is irrelevant.
Your sex is the only thing that matters, and if you're a woman, you will end up doing more housework, more childcare, making more sacrifices in your career, just giving up more, no matter who you marry, unless you're willing to fight every single day to make sure that doesn't happen.

Steven: And that's just that, or is there a solution?

Helen: The answer is, men have to step up, and stop acting like they are the assistant parent.

Steven: Obviously, but how do we make it such that that's not their imprinting growing up or will it just take a few generations for this to change.

Helen: Generations, schmenerations. Treat your wife with respect, and do your share of the work, and your sons will get it.  

Next project for menses tech: self-raising babies.  They did it for flour; babies can't be that much harder.

Happy Baby, Jenn and Paul!

The official Favorite Pregnant Person of the Horstmann family has just given birth.  

From Paul's birth announcement:

If you don't know already, Jenn delivered a 6 pound 2 ounce baby boy Monday evening around 5:30.  He measured 19 3/4" long.  We haven't decided on a name for him yet, but we'll let you know when we do.

Congratulations, guys!

New Zealand - There and back again.

3 days in New Zealand, and everywhere we go, a Lord of the Rings site. We've seen mountains, rivers and plains, but Peter Jackson has seen them all first.

New Zealand is spectacular. Anyone who heard about our trip to Hawaii knows how I feel about "scenic drives". (For anyone who did not - sucko.) So, when Steven told me we were going to spend the better part of two days on one, on a BUS, no less, I was not exactly thrilled. But the drive to Milford Sound was teuly amazing. We saw snow covered mountains (and an avalanche), drank out of glacial streams, and saw a chasm that could not be believed. And that was all before we got to our destination! There, we went on a boat, and encountered about 30 dolphins, who swam right up to the boat. Better than the dolphin show at the Baltimore Aquarium, for sure.
And, just to finish off, we popped in to see a glowworm cave on the way back. Incredible.

Oh, and we found a great fudge shop - the Remarkable Candy Company. Their signature flavor? Creme brulee. Yum!

Next stop - Christchurch.

A postcard from the great barrier reef

Dear (insert your name here),

We're having a swimmingly good time on holiday! Steven and I are now certified scuba divers, and though we saw many sharks, none of them tried to take a nibble. Steven took some cool underwater photos, which we'll try to post soon.

We did have some excitement on the dive boat, though. Our mooring line snapped the first night, and we nearly ran aground on the same reef that stranded Captain Cook. And I just thought I was some landlubber who couldn't fall asleep on a boat!

Stay tuned for our next card from NZ, and thanks for taking care of (our place/my orchid/the tivo/baby/the batmobile/those crazy customers/that crazy horstmann of your choice)!

Love,
king and queen prawn

I am a huge nerd

We're prepping to be gone for a month. What do we want? Email. When do we want it? Now would be nice, but I'l settle for on request anywhere I have cell service.

Months ago, Steven noted that every time Kabir came over, I would fiddle with his Treo. He almost even got me one for Christmas. But I said, no, no, what do I need one of those for?

I take it all back. Steven, you know me better than I know myself. I got my Treo Friday, and I can't stop fooling with it. I show it off to people, even though I know they don't care. I'm already getting accessories for it. When I call myself, it says, "treotreotreotreotreotreoTREO!" I even wrote this post on it.

Now I totally know how Anne feels.

Reasons why Valentine's Day is worthless

If I want candy we can go to Wawa together and pick out some goodies
No one likes spending 2 dollars on cards
Figuring out what to say on a homemade card is hard
Flowers die anyway
Mary sends Helen better cards than me
You can't get dinner reservations for birthday parties
People drive around very unlovingly with their hazards on
Necco wafers are gross
The singing stuffed animal population grows too much