Navigating the World- Julie Yack's Blog

Hello again

For years I blogged a lot.  It’s how many of you got to know me.  Then it became a chore and I let it slide lower and lower on my priority list until it no longer had a place on my to-do.  My last post was nearly 4 years ago, my last tech post, even longer.

I tried to revive my writing at the beginning of the pandemic, but my heart just wasn’t in it.  So, I decided to give myself a break and not feel like I had to exceed at everything all of the time.

With the pandemic I went from travelling more than 100,000 miles per year to nearly no miles per year.  We would go months without putting gas in the car.  Photography has always been a hobby, but without new adventures that slowed down so much that I wasn’t even keeping the batteries charged for my camera.  We couldn’t see our kids.  We couldn’t see our parents. I was in quite a funk like most all of us. 

I love to eat, so I’ve always loved to cook.  But now we were cooking all of our meals. I started documenting more of what we made.  I learned how to make my own wine, I named it Tipsy Traveler.

My random pandemic accomplishment was design school.  I attended, and graduated from, a self-paced online interior design program.  I’ve been putting that to use in designing our new house.

So, here I am trying this writing thing again. 

I split my blog, one for tech, one for the other stuff.

From a tech perspective my role has evolved to more training and curriculum and less hands on keys making things for clients.  I joined the board of directors for a non-profit that helps excite high schoolers in technology. I still share my voice to decision-makers in DC trying to help small tech and app makers.

For the other stuff, I started to document and share some of my cooking and design work.  And it makes me happy to relive the stories behind the photos, so I’ll be including that here.  And who knows, maybe there will be some new travels and new photos, too.

The techy stuff will be here, the non-techy stuff here.  And there will certainly be crossover between the two because that is who I am.

Oh, and I got a puppy.  His name is Lio. 

How you can support the women around you

Full disclosure, you should be doing these things daily.  But if it took a special named day to get your attention, and now that I have your attention, I’m going to tell you how you can support women in your personal and professional orbit. 

1. Support our choices with our bodies. That includes keeping your unwanted hands and opinions to yourself.
2. Pay women what they are worth. 
3. Stop charging more for women’s products.
4. Celebrate the successes of women.
5. Listen to us. We have great ideas.
6. Stop talking over us. Finishing my sentence isn’t even cute if we’re married.
7. Don’t take credit for our ideas and our work.
8. See to it that others see your example, and feel free to tell them to do better when needed.
9. It doesn’t matter if we are feminine, masculine, or somewhere in between, we belong at the table, on the stage, anywhere we want to be.

And if you just can’t do the things above, get out of the way.  You don’t have to help, just stop making it harder.

this is the story of the time that I had an abortion

I’ve recently come to realize that this is the story of the time that I had an abortion. I had never called it that before now. 

“Baby is too small, and we can’t seem to find the heartbeat. Come back Monday and we’ll take it out.”

It was 1996. I was in my 20s, married, had two kids already and was well into my second trimester. This was my first ultrasound for this pregnancy.

I had already felt her move. She was pretty wiggly. I didn’t KNOW it was a girl, but I KNOW it was a girl. I named her Brianna. Brianna Nicole.

I was devastated.

We were days away from getting on a plane from Europe to The States to visit family.

I called my house doctor to see if I could still travel.

He was very matter of fact.

If baby is ok, baby will still be ok.

If baby is dead, baby will still be dead.

Go on the trip.

I told hardly anyone the pending bad news, because what if baby is ok, then she would still be ok. The doctor said so.

First day of our trip I see a doctor who confirms baby is gone. He gives me the second half of the abortion pill combo and sends me home. I wait for the cramps and the bleeding. Turns out my little girl had been dead for weeks; she comes out in pieces and gets flushed down the toilet.

I tell my parents. My mother’s response…”ok”.

Other close family tell me it’s for the best. Three kids is too many anyhow.

The only support I really got was from my sister who came to see us while we were visiting.

On the last night of our visit, everyone gets sick from dinner. Everyone except me.

Then it hits me. At the airport, on the plane. I got sick. Very sick. I don’t remember really any of the flight home beyond lying on the floor of the airplane bathroom crying and vomiting from Texas to Brussels.

I wake up the next morning bleeding. BLEEDING. I’m passing out on the way to the hospital from the blood loss. Apparently sending me off to have my second trimester baby at home wasn’t the best of ideas. The placenta was still partially attached and had torn my uterus, all the vomiting had triggered contractions to rid me of the placenta. Every contraction was shooting a burst of blood.

After emergency surgery I stay for a few days at the hospital receiving blood to make up for all I had lost. And I was sharing a room with a woman and her newborn.

My entire experience was legal and under supervision of medical professionals. And I still almost died. I cannot imagine how many will die when legal and safe abortions are not available.

Custom coffee table

It was time for a new coffee table.  We're moving soon and I may or may not have threatened the current one with a sledgehammer and I said it would not be moving with us.

We looked and looked and looked and found nothing existing that we both liked.

My husband is a smart and handy guy with a workshop.  Why not make one ourselves?  So, I designed our new table.

The table is primarily made from knotty alder, with the slats in zebrawood.  The walnut was stained and treated with a few coats of poly, the slats were well-sanded then waxed.  The feet are little round nubs that are walnut also.

The slats go about halfway around, this is both for function and design.  They make the ends into little cubbies for holding things like small blankets, or even dog toys.

 

Elephant mud bath

When I take a photo it's to capture a memory.  When I share one, it's my hope that you feel the emotions that I felt when I took the photo.

This elephant was magnificent.  She was part of a small group that came to us while we were on safari.  The whole group was rolling and playing in the mud.  Just having so much fun.  The sheen of the mud.  The details of her eyelashes.  Almost takes me back to when I took it.

If you'd like to support any of my photography, you can purchase images here.

Chocolate souffle

Chocolate souffle- makes 2 servings

When you plan to make these souffles, set your eggs out for a little while before you start.  Room temperature eggs work best.

2 large eggs, separated

1 tablespoon of butter (*plus a little for lining the ramekins)

4 ounces dark chocolate

2 tablespoons of sugar (*plus a little for lining the ramekins)

Oven to 375 F

1. In a double-boiler combine butter and chocolate and melt. Remove from heat, add the egg yolks one at a time and mix.  The mixture may be a little lumpy, that’s ok.
2. Put the egg whites in a stand mixer with a whip attachment and whip on high. As soon as it becomes frothy, slowly add the sugar.  Whip until stiff peaks form, and mixture is glossy.
3. While egg whites are whipping, butter and sugar coat the inside of 2 single serving ramekins. (you can do this first if you are using a hand mixer)
4. Gently fold the chocolate mix into the egg white mixture. You want to keep it as fluffy as possible, so be gentle.  You may have a few streaks of white, or lighter brown, and that’s ok as long as the majority is well combined.
5. Bake at 375 F for 15 minutes. Serve immediately.