Yesterday was one of those busy days when every one of the 4 people in my household each had their own place to be at around the same time and only 2 of those people can drive. After careful orchestration on my part, I had it covered. Which means... cue the sick child.
But I got to go where I was supposed to go. yeah me!
Before this year, I had never done a fun run, a walk for anything or even a turkey trot. Yesterday marked my second event for a charity (the first being the danskin.) I walked a 5k for the National Association for Mental Illness (NAMI) on a team urging NAMI to recognize eating disorders as a mental illness, because currently they don't. (okay. so if they aren't a mental illness, what are they? hmm?) Anywho. If you would like to vicariously support me (or my beloved team captain) you can donate here. It's not too late to donate.
Hope ya'lls weekend was swell. A big shout out to my "quasi" high school SV reunion mates in my tiny town in New York. I say quasi because I moved away in 6th grade, which means I knew them before their hair got really big. Maybe I'll make it to the next one and we can recall slumber parties on shag carpets listening to the Bay City Rollers and Billy Joel.
In other news? It rained and I made soup.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Summer of '09 Roundup
Since a few days of rain has transformed us into a spring/fall feeling (green grass out all of a sudden/cool temps and windows open) it is the perfect time to reflect on our summer, aka our "Minnesota winter" (we hole up inside because it is TOO HOT outside.) Who would have thought I'd be HAPPY to see 90 degrees?! Bring out the courderoy!
[Pour yourself a Pimm's Cup, this is a long one.]
Just as my momentous triathlon was complete, thus began my next adventure of having company! Yeah! My cousin D is one of my first cousins (I only have 2) amidst the array of significantly older second and third and once removed cousins that I am blessed with. Sadly, I have no good pictures of D to slide in here for good measure, but know that we swam in Barton Springs, ate bbq, went to our most famous state attraction.
Some were impressed with this:
notice the proud arm draped on the cold metal.
After we sent D back to his moderate-temperature locale, which is utterly lacking in BBQ, we got ready for the Cool House Tour. There was one project that Smith and I wanted to have done before the tour, but it just so happened to be the one thing that we could never agree on. We had been back and forth for the last year about the backsplash for our kitchen. I don't know how we ever agreed on this:
But we did.
Midway through the installation, I realized why the tile looked so familiar: it is the exact same pattern and color from the kitchen backsplash at my grandma's house. Ours is glass tile, while hers was ceramic.
And so we are cruising along to tour day and I think I have everything under control when Smith drops a comment while we are brushing our teeth:
"By the way, I think John Dromgoole will be here tomorrow morning around 8 or so to shoot a segment in our garden for some tour promotion."
spit.
gasp.
choke.
John?
yes.
Dromgoole?
yes.
tomorrow at our house?
yes. he liked the look of our raised beds.
For all of ya'll not from around here, John Dromgoole has what I fondly refer to as garden mecca. He is the go-to guy for organic gardening know-how, products, and all things growing. It's HIS dirt in my beds. It's HIS mulch all over my house. Most of the landscaping plants were from HIS store. And he was going to be at my house. And I hadn't weeded yet (today), because I've been dealing with this weed:
[From my "Texas Gardening The Natural Way," by Howard Garrett:
Nutgrass... There's only one guaranteed way to control nutgrass: Remove all the plants and nutlets by sifting the soil through wire mesh. Put this material in the driveway, soak with kerosene and burn to ash. Put the ash in a sealed concrete container, take it to the coast, ship 200 miles offshore, and dump in the ocean. No other techniques I know will work...]
It's as if Martha was at my house for dinner and I hadn't bothered to vacuum.
He was very nice. And he didn't know what else to do with the nutgrass either.
The tour itself was fine, if not exhausting. I think we had over 700 people in our house, and they were all very very nice. They were curious and asked lots of questions. It's like a pop quiz at times...
Why is there a window here?
How many eggs do you get from your chickens?
How does the solar affect your electric bills?
So how many square feet of bookshelves do you have?
I had to refer him to Smith for that, and he had an answer.
So with it being so unbearably outside, what did we do inside?
We tried to grow tadpoles into toads. Our creek had an abundance of tadpoles and the boys gathered them for rearing. Out of 10, only 1 was released into the wild.
we had fancy sandwiches
a tape project
playmobil! pirates! arrr! sushi?
- let's find some saltier salmon eggs!
- yeah, and crunchy seaweed to wrap around them!
- we have plenty of seaweed, now let's suck up those eggs!
- can you hear me captain?!
piano in pajamas
another instrument...
Smith worked.
made martianmallows
they were wonderfully fun to make! and beautiful! and tasted like. well. Nbear just had one. We built things with the rest before we tossed them.
Took apart a rotary dial telephone
Hey - we made it OUT of the house, all the way to Houston for my 20th high school reunion. which rocked. Here's me avoiding the camera for the "prom-style" photo.
And summer also sees a birthday or two.
Here's the cake of my 4 year old.
And the 40 year old. We even got to reuse the 4. The "0" we had to be a little more creative with.
the greatest show on earth! in glorious black. and white.
It was the boys first circus and they LOVED it. Also the first taste of cotton candy. They had seen it for sale in the grocery store (how wrong is that!) I told them it had to be eaten either a) at a circus b) outside at a fair.
And ah. the First Day of School.
and so far, they are still smiling.
[Pour yourself a Pimm's Cup, this is a long one.]
Just as my momentous triathlon was complete, thus began my next adventure of having company! Yeah! My cousin D is one of my first cousins (I only have 2) amidst the array of significantly older second and third and once removed cousins that I am blessed with. Sadly, I have no good pictures of D to slide in here for good measure, but know that we swam in Barton Springs, ate bbq, went to our most famous state attraction.
Some were impressed with this:
notice the proud arm draped on the cold metal.
After we sent D back to his moderate-temperature locale, which is utterly lacking in BBQ, we got ready for the Cool House Tour. There was one project that Smith and I wanted to have done before the tour, but it just so happened to be the one thing that we could never agree on. We had been back and forth for the last year about the backsplash for our kitchen. I don't know how we ever agreed on this:
But we did.
Midway through the installation, I realized why the tile looked so familiar: it is the exact same pattern and color from the kitchen backsplash at my grandma's house. Ours is glass tile, while hers was ceramic.
And so we are cruising along to tour day and I think I have everything under control when Smith drops a comment while we are brushing our teeth:
"By the way, I think John Dromgoole will be here tomorrow morning around 8 or so to shoot a segment in our garden for some tour promotion."
spit.
gasp.
choke.
John?
yes.
Dromgoole?
yes.
tomorrow at our house?
yes. he liked the look of our raised beds.
For all of ya'll not from around here, John Dromgoole has what I fondly refer to as garden mecca. He is the go-to guy for organic gardening know-how, products, and all things growing. It's HIS dirt in my beds. It's HIS mulch all over my house. Most of the landscaping plants were from HIS store. And he was going to be at my house. And I hadn't weeded yet (today), because I've been dealing with this weed:
[From my "Texas Gardening The Natural Way," by Howard Garrett:
Nutgrass... There's only one guaranteed way to control nutgrass: Remove all the plants and nutlets by sifting the soil through wire mesh. Put this material in the driveway, soak with kerosene and burn to ash. Put the ash in a sealed concrete container, take it to the coast, ship 200 miles offshore, and dump in the ocean. No other techniques I know will work...]
It's as if Martha was at my house for dinner and I hadn't bothered to vacuum.
He was very nice. And he didn't know what else to do with the nutgrass either.
The tour itself was fine, if not exhausting. I think we had over 700 people in our house, and they were all very very nice. They were curious and asked lots of questions. It's like a pop quiz at times...
Why is there a window here?
How many eggs do you get from your chickens?
How does the solar affect your electric bills?
So how many square feet of bookshelves do you have?
I had to refer him to Smith for that, and he had an answer.
So with it being so unbearably outside, what did we do inside?
We tried to grow tadpoles into toads. Our creek had an abundance of tadpoles and the boys gathered them for rearing. Out of 10, only 1 was released into the wild.
we had fancy sandwiches
a tape project
playmobil! pirates! arrr! sushi?
- let's find some saltier salmon eggs!
- yeah, and crunchy seaweed to wrap around them!
- we have plenty of seaweed, now let's suck up those eggs!
- can you hear me captain?!
piano in pajamas
another instrument...
Smith worked.
made martianmallows
they were wonderfully fun to make! and beautiful! and tasted like. well. Nbear just had one. We built things with the rest before we tossed them.
Took apart a rotary dial telephone
Hey - we made it OUT of the house, all the way to Houston for my 20th high school reunion. which rocked. Here's me avoiding the camera for the "prom-style" photo.
And summer also sees a birthday or two.
Here's the cake of my 4 year old.
And the 40 year old. We even got to reuse the 4. The "0" we had to be a little more creative with.
the greatest show on earth! in glorious black. and white.
It was the boys first circus and they LOVED it. Also the first taste of cotton candy. They had seen it for sale in the grocery store (how wrong is that!) I told them it had to be eaten either a) at a circus b) outside at a fair.
And ah. the First Day of School.
and so far, they are still smiling.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Too much of a good thing.
I think it will be a long long long time before Nbear tries this again:
a cinnamon spiked shot of peppermint extract.
whew. took his breath clear away. (but he sure smells nice.)
a cinnamon spiked shot of peppermint extract.
whew. took his breath clear away. (but he sure smells nice.)
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Swimsuits/Spa/Shower/Sling: my weekend in 4 words
Through a strange twist of schedule, I found myself in the car, alone, heading to Houston for a total of 24 hours.
"Six hours alone in a car, with air conditioning and complete control over a CD player? That's like going to the spa!" comments my friend with a 3 year old and a newborn and envy in her eyes.
My dear friend Amy is about to have her own baby and it was time to shower her with gifts. So off I went to attend to the showering, compete with quiche! petit fours! and then some sort of cookie ball that's right up my alley with ground up nilla wafers and lime juice.
Before leaving town I needed to get N a new swimsuit (just one last errand!) The one from last year finally gave up the ghost when his leg popped through where it shouldn't. How hard should it be to find a swimsuit in Texas on the first day of August? Ha. she laughs.
Store #1: NO SUITS LEFT. only backpacks and long sleeve polo shirts.
Store #2: Only cheap cheap cheap movie spinoff grossness available.
Store #3. NOTHING. (but frantic looking back to school shoppers in abundance.)
Store #4: ONE suit left! his size! not heinous!
I'm off! Near about Brenheim, I've got the music blaring and I'm singing at the top of my lungs, nary a care, and my phone rings.
"Do we still have a copy of the kids' insurance cards at home?" says a voice that needs no caller id.
Sigh. This was exactly the type of call that you shouldn't take while driving.
So the kids were splashing on a waterslide at a friend's house and somehow Jbird got tangled up with some big kids going down. Thankfully, he landed on TOP of the heap, but it still B R O K E his collarbone. ouch!
He is mostly fine. Sore. Arm in a sling. It will take some time to heal.
At dinner tonight we noted that neither Smith nor I have ever broken a bone in our bodies (knock on internet wood) and yet BOTH of our children have each broken a bone already. I told them they must have the Uncle Tommy gene. And then I made them guess what part of my brother's body got hurt racing a bike. (you readers at home can play too.)
Bodily injury aside, it was a lovely trip. I was struck by the stillness of time. The quiet to complete my thoughts, (even if those thoughts were nothing greater than "Men In Black" or "Boston Legal.") It did me a world of good.
"Six hours alone in a car, with air conditioning and complete control over a CD player? That's like going to the spa!" comments my friend with a 3 year old and a newborn and envy in her eyes.
My dear friend Amy is about to have her own baby and it was time to shower her with gifts. So off I went to attend to the showering, compete with quiche! petit fours! and then some sort of cookie ball that's right up my alley with ground up nilla wafers and lime juice.
Before leaving town I needed to get N a new swimsuit (just one last errand!) The one from last year finally gave up the ghost when his leg popped through where it shouldn't. How hard should it be to find a swimsuit in Texas on the first day of August? Ha. she laughs.
Store #1: NO SUITS LEFT. only backpacks and long sleeve polo shirts.
Store #2: Only cheap cheap cheap movie spinoff grossness available.
Store #3. NOTHING. (but frantic looking back to school shoppers in abundance.)
Store #4: ONE suit left! his size! not heinous!
I'm off! Near about Brenheim, I've got the music blaring and I'm singing at the top of my lungs, nary a care, and my phone rings.
"Do we still have a copy of the kids' insurance cards at home?" says a voice that needs no caller id.
Sigh. This was exactly the type of call that you shouldn't take while driving.
So the kids were splashing on a waterslide at a friend's house and somehow Jbird got tangled up with some big kids going down. Thankfully, he landed on TOP of the heap, but it still B R O K E his collarbone. ouch!
He is mostly fine. Sore. Arm in a sling. It will take some time to heal.
At dinner tonight we noted that neither Smith nor I have ever broken a bone in our bodies (knock on internet wood) and yet BOTH of our children have each broken a bone already. I told them they must have the Uncle Tommy gene. And then I made them guess what part of my brother's body got hurt racing a bike. (you readers at home can play too.)
Bodily injury aside, it was a lovely trip. I was struck by the stillness of time. The quiet to complete my thoughts, (even if those thoughts were nothing greater than "Men In Black" or "Boston Legal.") It did me a world of good.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
I had a BLAST in the past!
I had myself a flashback '80s blast last night as I treated myself to a double feature at our local summer rerun theatre and saw
9 to 5 (1980)
and
Working Girl (1988)
I'm not even going to bother linking for those because you have all seen those movies right!
I joined gals in action Sinda & neighbor P (Sinda and her neighbors are bookworthy -- they live in the best hood) for an early round of Indian flavored goodness at the Clay Pit before being whisked back to the time where big hair reigned supreme. WOW! Was it fun. I've always had a soft spot for Dolly Parton, but it was Joan Cusack that I had forgotten in Working Girl. I even think her hair (REAL) was bigger than Dolly's wig, if you can even believe it. And such a young Alec Baldwin too.
Paired together, they show a perfect slice of '80s (cinematic) life. Both had female underdogs getting the best of their either dumb or conniving bosses. with lots of aquanet thrown in for good measure.
9 to 5 (1980)
and
Working Girl (1988)
I'm not even going to bother linking for those because you have all seen those movies right!
I joined gals in action Sinda & neighbor P (Sinda and her neighbors are bookworthy -- they live in the best hood) for an early round of Indian flavored goodness at the Clay Pit before being whisked back to the time where big hair reigned supreme. WOW! Was it fun. I've always had a soft spot for Dolly Parton, but it was Joan Cusack that I had forgotten in Working Girl. I even think her hair (REAL) was bigger than Dolly's wig, if you can even believe it. And such a young Alec Baldwin too.
Paired together, they show a perfect slice of '80s (cinematic) life. Both had female underdogs getting the best of their either dumb or conniving bosses. with lots of aquanet thrown in for good measure.
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