Jambuca found e-baby's old ride-on cart and is cruising around the house behind it. I don't see much of him, but I know where he is by the SQUEE-guffaw-Yaaa! noises.
edited to add one more video. Those times when I'm feeling completely overwhelmed and haggared by the demands of 2 demanding children, I just need to watch this:
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Australia Recap, part 1
In order to keep my dad from hacking into my blogger account and writing a recap himself, I'm putting some words to disk and starting out the story of our Big Adventure.
For starters, that was One Fun Trip. Every time we've done vacation with my parents (Colorado, France, Quebec, Marquette, Australia), it has been better than the last. I'm not sure whether it's because we're getting more accustomed to each others' ways, or we're getting better at planning activities we all enjoy, or we're better at making a liveable home-base for eating/sleeping/socializing, or we're getting older and mellower, or the kids are such a distraction that no one has a chance to notice anyone else's quirks. Whatever the reason, we had a better time than the last trip, which I thought was one of the best trips ever.
The trip to Australia was long. But really, we planned for the worst, expected misery, and were pleasantly surprised most of the time. When it was difficult, it was status quo. The only thing seriously stressful was the chance of missing connecting flights (twice).
As a shout-out to the best airline ever, we flew V Austrrlia from LAX to SYD and back. Otherwise we flew American and Virgin Blue. V Australia were awesome. Best airline I've ever flown, and I wish they'd fly everywhere I ever go. If you have a chance to fly them, do it. Don't bother with anyone else. Even if you don't get any points.
We had (expensive) internet access in Melbourne, and so I was able to post during that part of the trip. The hotel there was a 3-br, so the kids had their own room and everyone slept really well. Jet lag wasn't even a problem. To keep our health and our budget, we cooked our meals in for breakfast and dinner, and had lunch out most days. That means we had the best of local produce, lamb, seafood, and even kangaroo. Melbourne is a food destination, whether you shop at the markets or eat out at restaurants or go to the cake shops on Ackland St in St Kilda. Which, by the way, were walking distance from our hotel. Hee.
I assumed we'd have internet in Sydney, it being a modern city and all that, but no. We were at the only million-dolloar-view luxury apartment hotel with no high speed internet access in Sydney. We also only had 2 bedrooms, so the kids were divided among us and no one slept very well. Still, the hotel was terrific and it was worth paying extra for a view of Lavender Bay from the 15th floor. At the bottom of the street our hotel was on was the harbour bridge and a perfect view of the Opera House. Everything was accessible from a ferry that picked up right there and took you to Circular Quay.
I pretty much worked in Sydney all except for a couple of days, but everyone else had a grand time sightseeing. I did get to see some of the key points, though. SNG and I took the kids to Manly, a beautiful peninsual with a popular Pacific surfing beach. We went on the "Manly ferry"-- Go on, say that out loud and try not to laugh. I actually preferred Watson's Bay, which had protected harbour beaches because there was no riptide, shark, croc, or jellyfish threat to worry about. E-baby preferred that beach too, since I actually let her get into the water there.
I think that Sydney was a cleaner city, and strikingly beautiful. Melbourne was a more casual city, with very interesting architecture. It would be more fun to walk Melbourne and more fun to ride the ferries of Sydney. Taxis in Sydney are unreliable. Trams in Melbourne are brilliant. Either city is a great place to take children.
If I have the chance to go back someday, I want more time. I want a kitchen again. I want to go in springtime again. And I want to fly home without children.
Next time: The end of the Sydney trip, and the trip home.
For starters, that was One Fun Trip. Every time we've done vacation with my parents (Colorado, France, Quebec, Marquette, Australia), it has been better than the last. I'm not sure whether it's because we're getting more accustomed to each others' ways, or we're getting better at planning activities we all enjoy, or we're better at making a liveable home-base for eating/sleeping/socializing, or we're getting older and mellower, or the kids are such a distraction that no one has a chance to notice anyone else's quirks. Whatever the reason, we had a better time than the last trip, which I thought was one of the best trips ever.
The trip to Australia was long. But really, we planned for the worst, expected misery, and were pleasantly surprised most of the time. When it was difficult, it was status quo. The only thing seriously stressful was the chance of missing connecting flights (twice).
As a shout-out to the best airline ever, we flew V Austrrlia from LAX to SYD and back. Otherwise we flew American and Virgin Blue. V Australia were awesome. Best airline I've ever flown, and I wish they'd fly everywhere I ever go. If you have a chance to fly them, do it. Don't bother with anyone else. Even if you don't get any points.
We had (expensive) internet access in Melbourne, and so I was able to post during that part of the trip. The hotel there was a 3-br, so the kids had their own room and everyone slept really well. Jet lag wasn't even a problem. To keep our health and our budget, we cooked our meals in for breakfast and dinner, and had lunch out most days. That means we had the best of local produce, lamb, seafood, and even kangaroo. Melbourne is a food destination, whether you shop at the markets or eat out at restaurants or go to the cake shops on Ackland St in St Kilda. Which, by the way, were walking distance from our hotel. Hee.
I assumed we'd have internet in Sydney, it being a modern city and all that, but no. We were at the only million-dolloar-view luxury apartment hotel with no high speed internet access in Sydney. We also only had 2 bedrooms, so the kids were divided among us and no one slept very well. Still, the hotel was terrific and it was worth paying extra for a view of Lavender Bay from the 15th floor. At the bottom of the street our hotel was on was the harbour bridge and a perfect view of the Opera House. Everything was accessible from a ferry that picked up right there and took you to Circular Quay.
I pretty much worked in Sydney all except for a couple of days, but everyone else had a grand time sightseeing. I did get to see some of the key points, though. SNG and I took the kids to Manly, a beautiful peninsual with a popular Pacific surfing beach. We went on the "Manly ferry"-- Go on, say that out loud and try not to laugh. I actually preferred Watson's Bay, which had protected harbour beaches because there was no riptide, shark, croc, or jellyfish threat to worry about. E-baby preferred that beach too, since I actually let her get into the water there.
I think that Sydney was a cleaner city, and strikingly beautiful. Melbourne was a more casual city, with very interesting architecture. It would be more fun to walk Melbourne and more fun to ride the ferries of Sydney. Taxis in Sydney are unreliable. Trams in Melbourne are brilliant. Either city is a great place to take children.
If I have the chance to go back someday, I want more time. I want a kitchen again. I want to go in springtime again. And I want to fly home without children.
Next time: The end of the Sydney trip, and the trip home.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Home Again
We're back from Australia and it was AWESOME. The best part of the trip was Sydney, and our hotel had no internet access. So I have a lot to catch you up on. But first, here's a random find...
Steamed broccoli and baked apples, mixed together to make a lumpy baby food,
is
maybe
the
tastiest
thing
ever.
The kids will be lucky to get any of the leftovers.
Steamed broccoli and baked apples, mixed together to make a lumpy baby food,
is
maybe
the
tastiest
thing
ever.
The kids will be lucky to get any of the leftovers.
Monday, November 23, 2009
I Blog From the Land Down Under
OK, this is just a copy-paste from Facebook, but here's an update on Melbourne so far. First, here are pictures.
The trip here was LONG but uneventful, with a flight from RDU to DFW to LAX to SYD to MEL, with a long layover in LAX (6 hours) and 2 very, very short layovers that made us nearly miss connections (DFW and SYD). The kids were as good as you can expect a 9-mo-old and a 3-year-old to be. Better, really. Each of us got between 4-6 hours of sleep in that 36-hour period. The first day in Melbourne was a walking dream with sea legs.
Melbourne has more interesting architecture than I've seen anywhere. Even Barcelona doesn't really compare. I will take lots of pictures of the buildings and bridges and post them later.
The adult people are outstandingly friendly, and the teenagers are outstandingly surly. Must be some sort of caterpillar-butterfly thing to go from kid to adult here, because it's hard to imagine that these cursing, spray-can wielding, angry-looking people will eventually turn into the jovial and welcoming people who are just a few years older. But that's adolescence for you and that's why someone's teenage record shouldn't be held against them when they run for office someday.
Yesterday (today for you!!) we went to the Healesville wildlife sanctuary and pet some real kangaroos. We saw some of the world's deadliest snakes and got a lecture that made them sound sort of sweet and lovable. We also saw a birds of prey show, allthough I think that the birds of prey in the US are at least as interesting. We saw giant monitor lizards (Goannas, NOT Iguanas) eating giant possums (possums, NOT oppossums) for lunch. We saw platypus eating yabbies (yabbies NOT crawfish). Reptiles here are way cool and creepy.
We also went to the largest open-air market in the southern hemisphere (Queen Victoria market) and I would believe that it is the biggest one in the whole world. The fishmarket section smelled like clean water. It was absolutely gorgeous. So far we've tried local snapper and basso. Australia also has TONS of free-range sheep, so the sheepmilk cheese is cheap and delicious. I hanker for some giant prawns. We will have lamb tonight. I love having a kitchen.
The hotel is a 3-bedroom apartment with 2 bathrooms, a balcony, and lots of space to spread out. Kids share a room. Life is good.
We cooked up giant prawns and a hostile alien species called Moreton Bay Bugs for dinner. Google those. They're delicious, and ugly. No surprise, they don't have Zatarain's crab boil here. We made do with a bunch of salt and green Tabasco sauce.
I am continually surprised at what a foodie's paradise Melbourne is. The food porn here is unreal. E-baby just had some of SNG's almond croissant from the bakery downstairs and said "it's so good, I couldn't believe my mouth!"
The trip here was LONG but uneventful, with a flight from RDU to DFW to LAX to SYD to MEL, with a long layover in LAX (6 hours) and 2 very, very short layovers that made us nearly miss connections (DFW and SYD). The kids were as good as you can expect a 9-mo-old and a 3-year-old to be. Better, really. Each of us got between 4-6 hours of sleep in that 36-hour period. The first day in Melbourne was a walking dream with sea legs.
Melbourne has more interesting architecture than I've seen anywhere. Even Barcelona doesn't really compare. I will take lots of pictures of the buildings and bridges and post them later.
The adult people are outstandingly friendly, and the teenagers are outstandingly surly. Must be some sort of caterpillar-butterfly thing to go from kid to adult here, because it's hard to imagine that these cursing, spray-can wielding, angry-looking people will eventually turn into the jovial and welcoming people who are just a few years older. But that's adolescence for you and that's why someone's teenage record shouldn't be held against them when they run for office someday.
Yesterday (today for you!!) we went to the Healesville wildlife sanctuary and pet some real kangaroos. We saw some of the world's deadliest snakes and got a lecture that made them sound sort of sweet and lovable. We also saw a birds of prey show, allthough I think that the birds of prey in the US are at least as interesting. We saw giant monitor lizards (Goannas, NOT Iguanas) eating giant possums (possums, NOT oppossums) for lunch. We saw platypus eating yabbies (yabbies NOT crawfish). Reptiles here are way cool and creepy.
We also went to the largest open-air market in the southern hemisphere (Queen Victoria market) and I would believe that it is the biggest one in the whole world. The fishmarket section smelled like clean water. It was absolutely gorgeous. So far we've tried local snapper and basso. Australia also has TONS of free-range sheep, so the sheepmilk cheese is cheap and delicious. I hanker for some giant prawns. We will have lamb tonight. I love having a kitchen.
The hotel is a 3-bedroom apartment with 2 bathrooms, a balcony, and lots of space to spread out. Kids share a room. Life is good.
We cooked up giant prawns and a hostile alien species called Moreton Bay Bugs for dinner. Google those. They're delicious, and ugly. No surprise, they don't have Zatarain's crab boil here. We made do with a bunch of salt and green Tabasco sauce.
I am continually surprised at what a foodie's paradise Melbourne is. The food porn here is unreal. E-baby just had some of SNG's almond croissant from the bakery downstairs and said "it's so good, I couldn't believe my mouth!"
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Updates so I don't forget
Jambuca climbed the staircase at home today-- the whole thing, by himself (I was supervising, don't worry). It was hilarious because he, e-baby and I were playing in the foyer when he got this mischief-look on his face and went up the first step and then he really did laugh maniacally and went up the 2nd step, and he guffawed to himself, and then he roared up the next few, laughing his head off, and e-baby ran up the stairs to coax him from above, and he laughed and guffawed and squealed with delight as he made his way up, up, up. When he reached the top he belly-flopped onto the landing.
E-baby had her 2nd-ever dentist visit today and she was a CHAMP! They did the whirly toothcleaning, scraped her molars, everything except x-rays (she's too young for those still). She didn't even flinch. Afterwards we had the traditional celebratory Frosty from Wendy's and there was an excellent hook-and-ladder truck in the parking lot, just like the last time, so she's forever going to associate the dentist's office with Frosties (Frostys?) and fire trucks.
That's all. I just wanted these recorded for posteriority.
E-baby had her 2nd-ever dentist visit today and she was a CHAMP! They did the whirly toothcleaning, scraped her molars, everything except x-rays (she's too young for those still). She didn't even flinch. Afterwards we had the traditional celebratory Frosty from Wendy's and there was an excellent hook-and-ladder truck in the parking lot, just like the last time, so she's forever going to associate the dentist's office with Frosties (Frostys?) and fire trucks.
That's all. I just wanted these recorded for posteriority.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
title
Last Sunday I joined my cousin in doing the Fat Flush diet-- partly out of solidarity, because she wasn't ennjoying it much and partly because I need to lose this baby weight, and heck, I'm game for a new diet.
It was pretty UN-fun the first few days, but once I got into the swing of it, it's been fine. I actually really like the cran-water regimen, but I put stevia in it to make it taste better. I think it has helped to keep my blood sugar in check. The scale has only changed by a pound and a half, but my clothes tell a different story- I'm down one full pants size after a week. That's refreshing. I'm also really glad I went to the state fair last wekend and PIGGED out on all my favorite fair foods, because now I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
This weekend, the fall colors are really getting turned up. I love this time of year- it is my absolute favorite season in North Carolina. Out my back window there's a riot of orange, red, pink, yellow, purple and green. Flowers could never compete just for the sheer visual real-estate those colorful leaves occupy! The weather is nice and cool, too, which makes me more inclined to play outside with the kids. THis morning, e-baby and I practiced riding her pedal bike She still has a long way to go, but there's a mtivating factor-- if she learns to ride it by Christmas, then she can ask Santa Claus for a pink-and-purple princess pedal-bike. Yes, I know, I am the LAST person you'd figure would have a princess for a kid, but there it is. Evidence of the inevitability of princess-infusion. It's OK, she can be a princess and still win the Nobel in Chemistry someday.
Jambuca really wants to walk, really wants to talk, but hasn't got the hang of either. He will be walking soon, but the talking? He does a lot of rhythmic LALALA! but so far, no hard consonants. He did sign "Milk" a few weeks ago, which was cool. He also recognizes a few other signs but I think he'll probably talk on a more "normal" schedule than his sister did. He can pretty much get whatever he wants by smiling at people. Which is just fine with me. My dad calls him Cheerful Charlie, and he really is just that.
SNG is not faring as well as the rest of us. This terrible cough he has is turning into a bear. He seems to have torn a muscle in his ribcage, making it painful to laugh, cough or sneeze. I am trying to make him go to the doctor, but he isn't having it. If he's not better by Wednesday, he'll go.
And me? I feel fabulous. Just getting over another cold, lost my voice, but HEY! I lost a pants size! Nothing's gonna get me down.
It was pretty UN-fun the first few days, but once I got into the swing of it, it's been fine. I actually really like the cran-water regimen, but I put stevia in it to make it taste better. I think it has helped to keep my blood sugar in check. The scale has only changed by a pound and a half, but my clothes tell a different story- I'm down one full pants size after a week. That's refreshing. I'm also really glad I went to the state fair last wekend and PIGGED out on all my favorite fair foods, because now I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
This weekend, the fall colors are really getting turned up. I love this time of year- it is my absolute favorite season in North Carolina. Out my back window there's a riot of orange, red, pink, yellow, purple and green. Flowers could never compete just for the sheer visual real-estate those colorful leaves occupy! The weather is nice and cool, too, which makes me more inclined to play outside with the kids. THis morning, e-baby and I practiced riding her pedal bike She still has a long way to go, but there's a mtivating factor-- if she learns to ride it by Christmas, then she can ask Santa Claus for a pink-and-purple princess pedal-bike. Yes, I know, I am the LAST person you'd figure would have a princess for a kid, but there it is. Evidence of the inevitability of princess-infusion. It's OK, she can be a princess and still win the Nobel in Chemistry someday.
Jambuca really wants to walk, really wants to talk, but hasn't got the hang of either. He will be walking soon, but the talking? He does a lot of rhythmic LALALA! but so far, no hard consonants. He did sign "Milk" a few weeks ago, which was cool. He also recognizes a few other signs but I think he'll probably talk on a more "normal" schedule than his sister did. He can pretty much get whatever he wants by smiling at people. Which is just fine with me. My dad calls him Cheerful Charlie, and he really is just that.
SNG is not faring as well as the rest of us. This terrible cough he has is turning into a bear. He seems to have torn a muscle in his ribcage, making it painful to laugh, cough or sneeze. I am trying to make him go to the doctor, but he isn't having it. If he's not better by Wednesday, he'll go.
And me? I feel fabulous. Just getting over another cold, lost my voice, but HEY! I lost a pants size! Nothing's gonna get me down.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
All About Being Three
e-baby is three. She reminds me at every opportunity. She also reminds the checker at the grocery store, my colleagues, our neighbors, the mail carrier...
Being three means being able to DO IT MYSELF, DAMMIT, SO BACK OFF! (OK, those aren't exactly her words, but they're close) But really, she has a point. There are a lot of things that she can do and should be encouraged to do by herself. It's all good.
With three comes pre-school. She has moved up to the Children's House and within a day or 2, I could see changes. It's as if something clicks in a child's mind when they switch environments and bazillions of new connection form. I saw it when she moved into the 1- and 2- year old classes at daycare as well. The first and most dramatic clue I had was her artwork.
Exhibit A: Original e-baby art created maybe a month ago:
Exhibit B: Original e-baby art created after a week at Children's House:
Um- WTF? Wow, kid. You've been holding on me?
I don't suppose you really need those labels I put on the pictures, but I wanted to be sure I remembered which was whom.
So far, three is fun, but then that's no surprise. Every age has been fun. I'm looking forward to this next year.
I don't suppose you really need those labels I put on the pictures, but I wanted to be sure I remembered which was whom.
So far, three is fun, but then that's no surprise. Every age has been fun. I'm looking forward to this next year.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Angels at the Altar
Today was Baby Wisdom's baptism. I love baptisms. I love the little gowns, I love the Pass-the-Baby-Round-the-Congregation for blessings, but most of all I love the smell of a freshly-baptized baby. Makes me misty, every time. Peace was sweet enough to wipe a little of that anointing oil from Wisdom's head onto a cloth for me to put in my baby keepsake box. Because I was too drunk on baby-high to remember to do it when either of my kids were baptized.
Now, I shouldn't say so aloud, but we haven't been very consistent about taking the kids to church. E-baby pretty much thinks that church is for weddings, funerals and baptisms. Oh, and going to church is a HUGE treat to her. At the beginning of mass today, she caught my sleeve, looked up at me with wide eyes and whispered "Look! There's angels! Mommy, angels up there!" Being a little spook-able, I half-suspected that she was seeing some supernatural vision that only children can see (any of you with babies will KNOW what I mean when I say that it seems like small children see ghosts-- darn imagination makes the hair on your neck stand on end). So I looked at where she was pointing, and saw 2 altar girls, about 10 or 12 years old, flanking the priest. The girls in their robes and sandals made e-baby think she was seeing a heavenly vision.
It was so poignant, a moment of pure belief, from a mind that has no limits on what can be. The super-sentimental in me likes to think that what e-baby saw were, in fact, angels singing for Wisdom on her baptism day. Happy grace-day, Wisdom!!
Now, I shouldn't say so aloud, but we haven't been very consistent about taking the kids to church. E-baby pretty much thinks that church is for weddings, funerals and baptisms. Oh, and going to church is a HUGE treat to her. At the beginning of mass today, she caught my sleeve, looked up at me with wide eyes and whispered "Look! There's angels! Mommy, angels up there!" Being a little spook-able, I half-suspected that she was seeing some supernatural vision that only children can see (any of you with babies will KNOW what I mean when I say that it seems like small children see ghosts-- darn imagination makes the hair on your neck stand on end). So I looked at where she was pointing, and saw 2 altar girls, about 10 or 12 years old, flanking the priest. The girls in their robes and sandals made e-baby think she was seeing a heavenly vision.
It was so poignant, a moment of pure belief, from a mind that has no limits on what can be. The super-sentimental in me likes to think that what e-baby saw were, in fact, angels singing for Wisdom on her baptism day. Happy grace-day, Wisdom!!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Recap
In case I've forgotten to mention it, we're getting ready for a trip to Australia in November. Work is sending me to teach for 2 weeks, so I'm bringing the whole family (the 4 of us plus my parents) to Melbourne and Sydney for 3 weeks. We are all very excited. I told e-baby that we would be going to the land of koalas and kangaroos, and she said "Are we going to the zoo?" and I said, "No, it's better than that!" and she said "We're going to AUSTRALIA?!?!?"
And so those of us with passports got visas and we applied for Jambuca's passport right away. I've been fretting ever since about its timely arrival. Thankfully, I just saw that the State department mailed it to me yesterday, so it should be in my hands next week. I will feel better once all of us have all the paperwork in order. Coolest planning thing-- we will have 2-BR apartments with washer/dryer in both cities. That'll make traveling with small children much easier.
Speaking of small children, Jambuca has been crawling all over Raleigh, and showed us 2 new tricks yesterday:
1. FIRST SIGN! He signed Milk to me yesterday. He was kind of signing to me, kind of to himself, but it was definitely a sign associated with milk. He got very upset with me for not making with the milk fast enough, and signed milk at me as he started to cry. I was so proud and excited that I totally interrupted someone else's friendly conversation to tell them how great it's all gonna be, I mean, to say that he had just signed Milk.
2. Peek-a-boo! Hee has taken to playing peek-a-boo with us. He was hiding behind some long curtains at PIC and LeBon's house last night and playing peek-a-boo, and he was doing it again at home today. E-baby used to play peek-a-boo with blankets on her changing table, but for the life of me I can't remember how old she was. I was thinking around 4 months or so, but I have to be remembering that wrong.
E-baby and SNG went to the international festival this evening while I stayed at home to cram a ton of work. One condition of going to Australia is that I have to wrap up 4 BIG deadlines before I can leave. So I will be putting in some overtime between now and mid-November. Ah well, small price to pay.
Oh, and today was basil-harvesting day. This year we planted 6 basil plants that grew to about 4-feet tall, each very full-and-bushy. I made 2 quarts of pesto, and I still have half a grocery bag of picked leaves, plus about 23 more gallons of on-the-stem basil waiting for someone to cart some of it home. If I can get some more pine nuts and parmesan tomorrow, I'll make another quart or 2 of pesto. And, the bushes in the garden are still reasonably large that I might have a full 2nd harvest before the first hard freeze. Good times.
And so those of us with passports got visas and we applied for Jambuca's passport right away. I've been fretting ever since about its timely arrival. Thankfully, I just saw that the State department mailed it to me yesterday, so it should be in my hands next week. I will feel better once all of us have all the paperwork in order. Coolest planning thing-- we will have 2-BR apartments with washer/dryer in both cities. That'll make traveling with small children much easier.
Speaking of small children, Jambuca has been crawling all over Raleigh, and showed us 2 new tricks yesterday:
1. FIRST SIGN! He signed Milk to me yesterday. He was kind of signing to me, kind of to himself, but it was definitely a sign associated with milk. He got very upset with me for not making with the milk fast enough, and signed milk at me as he started to cry. I was so proud and excited that I totally interrupted someone else's friendly conversation to tell them how great it's all gonna be, I mean, to say that he had just signed Milk.
2. Peek-a-boo! Hee has taken to playing peek-a-boo with us. He was hiding behind some long curtains at PIC and LeBon's house last night and playing peek-a-boo, and he was doing it again at home today. E-baby used to play peek-a-boo with blankets on her changing table, but for the life of me I can't remember how old she was. I was thinking around 4 months or so, but I have to be remembering that wrong.
E-baby and SNG went to the international festival this evening while I stayed at home to cram a ton of work. One condition of going to Australia is that I have to wrap up 4 BIG deadlines before I can leave. So I will be putting in some overtime between now and mid-November. Ah well, small price to pay.
Oh, and today was basil-harvesting day. This year we planted 6 basil plants that grew to about 4-feet tall, each very full-and-bushy. I made 2 quarts of pesto, and I still have half a grocery bag of picked leaves, plus about 23 more gallons of on-the-stem basil waiting for someone to cart some of it home. If I can get some more pine nuts and parmesan tomorrow, I'll make another quart or 2 of pesto. And, the bushes in the garden are still reasonably large that I might have a full 2nd harvest before the first hard freeze. Good times.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Three of the Best Years Ever
Today is e-baby's THIRD BIRTHDAY!
I love you than you can ever imagine, honeybunch!
I will write an update post later. Right now it's bedtime.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Beatles Rock Band, tomato sorbet, "Rosie" from Caillou, sweet pickles, Miracle Whip, the red-headed spokesmodel for Progressive insurance. There are a lot of things I have talked about NOT liking lately. To balance all that negativity, here are some things I like.
The sound of a good glockenspiel
Hugs from tiny children, pretty much any tiny children
Rain without thunder
Pumpkins
Creamed tuna on toast
The first crisp day of fall
The "oyster" in a chicken
Making crafts with pipe cleaners and pliers
Watching George Hincapie in a bike race
OK, that's enough to bring the tao back into balance for now.
The sound of a good glockenspiel
Hugs from tiny children, pretty much any tiny children
Rain without thunder
Pumpkins
Creamed tuna on toast
The first crisp day of fall
The "oyster" in a chicken
Making crafts with pipe cleaners and pliers
Watching George Hincapie in a bike race
OK, that's enough to bring the tao back into balance for now.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Random e-baby Quotes
Yesterday at work, e-baby called me on the phone from daycare. She talked for about 10 minutes straight, and I had a few chances to say "Oh, wow" and "OK, that's nice" while she rambled on. These one-sided conversations always make me laugh, and I had the presence of mind to transcribe about 30 seconds' worth of it for posterity. I'm blogging it here so I will be able to look back at it someday.
Make sure the rattles are clean enough for Austin to play with to introduce his playful mouth Oh. Oh. And make sure the pecils are opened up so I an finish the paperwork. Mommy, can you make sure the lamp at home is off and DOTi [dog we're dogsitting] is in her bed so no one can take her and give her a treat. Something is not defined in the matrix- the matrix is not defined. The matrix is locked up in our door and ice cream is good to eat...
And now I'm siting in the bathroom while e-baby takes a bath and I'm going to transcribe what I can from the current ramble...
Today, Lucy and Bananas the Gorilla are coming over today. Sally cat is sick today. Hmm. So umm, Huckle has to stay home with Sally Cat. But their mother is coming over today, since she's not sick. She's gonna make dinner for us. She loves broccoli mixed up in drinks. Huh. And when she'll put that on our plates, and we'll eat it AAALL UP with a spoon .Oh! She's at the door! Oh. You can be her, if you like, and I can be Huckle. And umm, uh, and after, then Austin can be Sally Cat, if he'd like. Mom! Mom! Something is not right with Lowly. And I think Sally Cay is asleep and I'm done with my bath.
That was so much fun, I might turn this into a Stuff my Toddler Says blog.
Make sure the rattles are clean enough for Austin to play with to introduce his playful mouth Oh. Oh. And make sure the pecils are opened up so I an finish the paperwork. Mommy, can you make sure the lamp at home is off and DOTi [dog we're dogsitting] is in her bed so no one can take her and give her a treat. Something is not defined in the matrix- the matrix is not defined. The matrix is locked up in our door and ice cream is good to eat...
And now I'm siting in the bathroom while e-baby takes a bath and I'm going to transcribe what I can from the current ramble...
Today, Lucy and Bananas the Gorilla are coming over today. Sally cat is sick today. Hmm. So umm, Huckle has to stay home with Sally Cat. But their mother is coming over today, since she's not sick. She's gonna make dinner for us. She loves broccoli mixed up in drinks. Huh. And when she'll put that on our plates, and we'll eat it AAALL UP with a spoon .Oh! She's at the door! Oh. You can be her, if you like, and I can be Huckle. And umm, uh, and after, then Austin can be Sally Cat, if he'd like. Mom! Mom! Something is not right with Lowly. And I think Sally Cay is asleep and I'm done with my bath.
That was so much fun, I might turn this into a Stuff my Toddler Says blog.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Big, Big, Big, Big World
The past few weeks have been a blur- I can hardly think where to begin to talk about what's been going on. I've got three big things going at work, and they all have deadlines during 4th quarter which also happens to be our busiest time of the year for teaching. This week I'm teaching and preparing materials for a new class, so keeping up with anything else is a challenge. Blogging is kind of last on my priority list now.
To help with the heavy lifting, SNG has been picking up the kids from daycare all week, which lets me stay at work until 6pm. It's surprising how much more work can be done in one hour- particularly if that hour happens to be after everyone else has gone home for the day. You don't realize how much those little interruptions get in the way of productivity until there aren't any interruptions. Maybe working from home wouldn't be so bad ater all...Naaah, I like my coworkers too much.
Tuesday was an exciting evening of doing something completely new and different. For you who don't know her, Peace owns a business teaching ASL to children, parents, caregivers, and health care workers. One of her teachers had an Introduction to Sign Language Workshop scheduled and had to cancel, but Peace and Fuzzy are out of town this week. Peace asked if I'd cover and I said OK, and Tuesday night found myself in front of a class of 15 or 20 parents talking about the benefits of signing with babies, and teaching a few of my favorite sing-and-sign songs. At first some of the parents were shy about singing out loud and signing, but by the 2nd song, the whole room was rocking with a cheerful chorus of Old McDonald! When we did Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light, you'd have guessed it was a rave. I haven't had that much fun since the old days of teaching arobics. And I didn't have to wear spandex!
That same night PIC, LeBon and c-baby had a slumber party with us. Due to a scheduliong mix-up, the water and electricity at their new house didn't get turned on in time for move in, and so their misery was our company! The girls had a ball, and I always enjoy PIC and LeBon. It was so much fun I'm thinking we should let the girls have sleepovers more often.
And the news that has been eating at my brain non-stop for over a week is the big trip at Thanksgiving. I got an email that our colleagues in Australia needed someone to come teach a class that I teach, and one thing led to another, and now I'm scheduled to teach 4 days in Melbourne Thanksgiving week, and 5 days in Sydney the week after. SNG, the kids, and my parents will come along and we'll make a vacation of it. Now I'm trying to learn all I can about the where we're going. There are some awesome-looking side trips I want to take. Oooooh we're so excited! Not so much looking forward to that 30-hour trip each way, but the 3 weeks in between should be a blast.
We applied for Jambuca's passport last week. He's such a character! He's quite mobile now with his funny inchworm crawl, and you have to lock up anything edible. The other day he ate e-baby's dinner roll, he has taken waffle fries from SNG, and he will stuff his face with corn puffs. He's still as happy as ever, and a little more fun for his sister to play with.
Aaaaand now, without proofreading, I'm hitting Publish. Good night, blogworld.
To help with the heavy lifting, SNG has been picking up the kids from daycare all week, which lets me stay at work until 6pm. It's surprising how much more work can be done in one hour- particularly if that hour happens to be after everyone else has gone home for the day. You don't realize how much those little interruptions get in the way of productivity until there aren't any interruptions. Maybe working from home wouldn't be so bad ater all...Naaah, I like my coworkers too much.
Tuesday was an exciting evening of doing something completely new and different. For you who don't know her, Peace owns a business teaching ASL to children, parents, caregivers, and health care workers. One of her teachers had an Introduction to Sign Language Workshop scheduled and had to cancel, but Peace and Fuzzy are out of town this week. Peace asked if I'd cover and I said OK, and Tuesday night found myself in front of a class of 15 or 20 parents talking about the benefits of signing with babies, and teaching a few of my favorite sing-and-sign songs. At first some of the parents were shy about singing out loud and signing, but by the 2nd song, the whole room was rocking with a cheerful chorus of Old McDonald! When we did Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light, you'd have guessed it was a rave. I haven't had that much fun since the old days of teaching arobics. And I didn't have to wear spandex!
That same night PIC, LeBon and c-baby had a slumber party with us. Due to a scheduliong mix-up, the water and electricity at their new house didn't get turned on in time for move in, and so their misery was our company! The girls had a ball, and I always enjoy PIC and LeBon. It was so much fun I'm thinking we should let the girls have sleepovers more often.
And the news that has been eating at my brain non-stop for over a week is the big trip at Thanksgiving. I got an email that our colleagues in Australia needed someone to come teach a class that I teach, and one thing led to another, and now I'm scheduled to teach 4 days in Melbourne Thanksgiving week, and 5 days in Sydney the week after. SNG, the kids, and my parents will come along and we'll make a vacation of it. Now I'm trying to learn all I can about the where we're going. There are some awesome-looking side trips I want to take. Oooooh we're so excited! Not so much looking forward to that 30-hour trip each way, but the 3 weeks in between should be a blast.
We applied for Jambuca's passport last week. He's such a character! He's quite mobile now with his funny inchworm crawl, and you have to lock up anything edible. The other day he ate e-baby's dinner roll, he has taken waffle fries from SNG, and he will stuff his face with corn puffs. He's still as happy as ever, and a little more fun for his sister to play with.
Aaaaand now, without proofreading, I'm hitting Publish. Good night, blogworld.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Three Disconnected Blog Topics
1) One of my favorite things to do on a weekend is to do an inventory of our produce and make something that uses as much of it as possible at the same time. Lately SNG’s been doing green curry vegetables, but this week was my turn to do some cooking. And I’m proud to report this recipe, which consists entirely of stuff from our CSA farm and stuff from my front yard. A recipe for Creole Ratatouille from Richard & Rima Collins’ (now out-of-print but still most excellent) cookbook provided the general inspiration. Like most of my cooking, I pulled a lot of it out of the seat of my pants.
4 T butter (aww, come on, do it)
4 shallots, peeled and sliced
4 small green onions, sliced
3c. fresh small okra, sliced
6 bell peppers, seeded and julienned (I told you, I have to use up this stuff and the farmer’s gone nvts with the peppers)
2 tomatoes, sliced
large bunch of fresh basil, chopped rough
a pinch each of Konriko/Tony’s, salt, and sugar to taste, or several drops of Tabasco
In a big pan, sautee everything in the order shown above, 5 min on shallots/onions, 10 min on okra/peppers, 5 more minutes on everything else, then cover and cook low heat 10 or 15 more minutes. Serve over rice (or couscous, which is all I had in the pantry today).
2) I want to get some opinions about Moon Sand, as compared to Play-Doh , Silly Putty, and good ol’ modeling clay. I like Play-Doh as a toy, but it dries and since I keep it outside in the gazebo, even sealed cans of Play-Doh sometimes die out there in the heat. So I decided to get some Moon Sand and try it out. It claims to never dry out and be easy to clean up. I trust they’re right about it never drying out, but easy clean up? We only used it outside and it was messy by backyard standards. I also got some Silly Putty, and it has some excellent tactile properties but it doesn’t mold and it REALLY doesn’t come out of wool carpet. And it doesn’t pick up newspaper cartoons anymore! WTF?
So if you have/are/play with kids, what do you think? Moon Sand? Play-Doh? Other toys of that kind that I don’t know about? I vaguely recall seeing something that was like tiny foam-looking balls that could be shaped and molded. Anyone familiar with those? What do you like best and why? What do you hate most and why?
3) SNG is a magician. E-baby is transfixed. He can make things disappear. His magical reappearing trick uses the incantation “Hey, look over THERE!!”
4 T butter (aww, come on, do it)
4 shallots, peeled and sliced
4 small green onions, sliced
3c. fresh small okra, sliced
6 bell peppers, seeded and julienned (I told you, I have to use up this stuff and the farmer’s gone nvts with the peppers)
2 tomatoes, sliced
large bunch of fresh basil, chopped rough
a pinch each of Konriko/Tony’s, salt, and sugar to taste, or several drops of Tabasco
In a big pan, sautee everything in the order shown above, 5 min on shallots/onions, 10 min on okra/peppers, 5 more minutes on everything else, then cover and cook low heat 10 or 15 more minutes. Serve over rice (or couscous, which is all I had in the pantry today).
2) I want to get some opinions about Moon Sand, as compared to Play-Doh , Silly Putty, and good ol’ modeling clay. I like Play-Doh as a toy, but it dries and since I keep it outside in the gazebo, even sealed cans of Play-Doh sometimes die out there in the heat. So I decided to get some Moon Sand and try it out. It claims to never dry out and be easy to clean up. I trust they’re right about it never drying out, but easy clean up? We only used it outside and it was messy by backyard standards. I also got some Silly Putty, and it has some excellent tactile properties but it doesn’t mold and it REALLY doesn’t come out of wool carpet. And it doesn’t pick up newspaper cartoons anymore! WTF?
So if you have/are/play with kids, what do you think? Moon Sand? Play-Doh? Other toys of that kind that I don’t know about? I vaguely recall seeing something that was like tiny foam-looking balls that could be shaped and molded. Anyone familiar with those? What do you like best and why? What do you hate most and why?
3) SNG is a magician. E-baby is transfixed. He can make things disappear. His magical reappearing trick uses the incantation “Hey, look over THERE!!”
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