"This is a 1099 contracting postion. You will be responsible for your own taxes."

before we found out, I told my husband to pick the theme of the nursery, because 1) I feel like dads get steamrolled in a lot of the decision making where they could otherwise be included, and 2) I trust his judgement entirely

he picked space. it's neutral, it's cool, and he wants to take our baby to science museums and have a shared interest. I love it!!!!

so we started loading our registry with space books and space onesies, and they all say "boy". like are you fucking kidding me it's just got stars on it, calm down oh my god, it's for a baby and a parent who loves stars. I found one (1) book that suggested that girls could be an astronaut. so everyone who saw the list thought that we were having a boy, and we had to keep telling them that we didn't know yet. and like I don't mind that it says "boy" on all the listings, it's literally a piece of fabric, but the comments from other adults are exhausting.

and then last night we found out we're having a girl

we're both thrilled (as we keep saying - no wrong answers there, we're just excited that the rest of the test results came in healthy), but as soon as I called my mom and told her that the registry is misleading because it says boy everywhere she went "don't worry, this happened when I had you, I wanted to keep you out of pink because I hate it and it's not your color, and I wanted you to be into science too, and everything is for boys, it's so dumb, but I'll find you good stuff for her"

ICE agents are cruising areas with immigrant-owned businesses, and kidnapping patrons and employees alike. Yesterday they abducted two US citizen employees at a suburban Target, one who was begging them to allow him to go get his passport to show them.

ICE is going door to door in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods, asking residents where their immigrant neighbors live. Read that again. If it sounds like something out of your high school history textbook, that’s because it is.

ICE is targeting schools and school buses. They pepper sprayed teenagers and abducted two school staff members at the high school up the street from me on Wednesday. Police are literally escorting school buses to ensure children can get to school and home safely. The Minneapolis Public Schools have moved to virtual learning for the next 4 weeks because it’s unsafe for children or teachers to physically come to school.

They are targeting hospitals and clinics. Patients are scared and are cancelling their appointments or just not showing up. Kids are missing their checkups and vaccines, folks aren’t getting their cancer care, etc.

They are smashing windows in cars and homes.

ICE is increasingly picking up Native Americans—again, targeting folks based on skin color alone.

They are arresting and beating legal observers. A friend of a friend had her arm broken yesterday. Folks are showing up at local hospitals, brought in in ICE custody, with severe injuries that are absolutely inconsistent with mechanism of injury reported by ICE. (Think: patient appears to have been beaten unconscious, while ICE agent says he slipped and fell.) I can’t emphasize enough that these ICE agents do not have warrants. There are 2,000+ agents here and they are simply hunting for anyone that’s not white. It doesn’t matter if you’re a citizen or a green card holder, they will kidnap you first and ask questions later. But the community is fighting back.

Protests are happening every day.

Community groups have been leading know-your-rights sessions for months, often to packed venues.

Whistles are being distributed by the thousands, carried on keychains and worn on coat zippers, always at the ready to be blown in warning if ICE is spotted.

Drivers are following ICE vehicles, blaring their horns in warning.

Businesses are locking their doors even while open to keep employees and customers safe. As I type this, I’m standing guard at the locked door of our neighborhood burrito joint while I wait for my takeout order, so the employees can focus on their jobs. The place is packed with neighbors supporting this small business.

Anti-ICE signs are posted everywhere. The community is making it crystal clear that ICE is not welcome here.

Parents and neighbors are standing guard outside schools, organizing carpools, and escorting kids to and from school on foot.

Parents of kids in Spanish-immersion daycare (there are a LOT of these daycares here!) are keeping their kids home so the teachers don’t have to take the risk of coming to work.

Churches and community groups are holding fundraisers to buy and deliver groceries to families who don’t feel safe leaving home.

If you're not local, one of the easiest ways to help is to toss some cash towards the following local resources:

Twin Cities Leather/Smitten Kitten. They have currently suspended regular operations and are serving as a hub for food/supplies/assistance for those who can't leave their homes, and as of like 2 days ago they had about 60 days of capital left. We need to keep them afloat so they can continue on, keep paying their rent and utilities and their people, and pick up again once this is over—and it will be over, y'all. It will.

PowWow Grounds: Native coffee shop doing direct food and supply aid. Venmo: @powwowgrounds

Joyce Uptown Food Shelf - food for people who can't safely leave their homes.

Isuroon is direct support to the Somali community & operates a halal food shelf as well as providing mental health resources and a lot more.

A compendium of many other places:

And lastly, how to prepare when your city is next: