Teetering Between

Whole new me

2011-05-08T17:36:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted in awhile because, while I need to get up my tri post,
I don't want Peevish to think I'm a jock, so I was waiting to post on a non-athletic topic first. Obviously, that's taken awhile. But y'all - I totally did a triathlon.

In an effort to create distance between me and my jockiness - jockularity? - I thought I'd tell you about another new interest of mine - cosmetics. Specifically, eye make-up, and more specifically, as in I am wearing it. I know, shocking.

I've never worn make-up, in all my soon-to-be forty years. I mean, lipstick maybe, or powder, and I did put on a face for my wedding. But in general...no.

I was happy with that choice, and I'm happy with my choice now.

I visited the Bobbi Brown counter at Nordstrom's a few weeks ago, and had a terrific sales rep who finessed the my desire to have more going on with my eyes yet not look like a clown / hooker.

I think, anyway. I mean, right?

I did it

2011-03-27T18:04:00.005-05:00

OK, OK, I know I said I wouldn't make this an exercise blog, but I did just run my first race today, so I feel like I need to put that out there before I move on.

Hey! I ran my first race today!

It was fun - super-crowded, what with 22,000 people running alongside me, but once you got past the crush at the starting point, it wasn't too bad.

Jesse and the girls found me during the race to cheer me on, then met me at the end.

As did the Krispy family, because they are awesome like that.

I mugged for the camera in front of the hordes of people - many were still streaming in.

I averaged 11:21 minute miles, which is right where I normally end up. I signed up for the Austin Fit "Run Like a Girl" training program at the beginning of the year, and highly recommend it for any first-time runners. We met for the 10 Saturdays leading up to the race, and they gave us a recommended training program for each week. It really helped me work up to this distance, and introduced me to the "run 5 minutes walk 1 minute" approach which I think makes any distance do-able.

I'm not sure I'd want to run a longer race, but I'd run a 10k again. Next stop: The Rookie Tri. I really need to work on my swimming...

Once more into the fray

2011-03-21T10:44:00.004-05:00

While I don't intend for this to turn into some kind of crazy exercising blog, I do have a follow up entry to the last one before I consider moving back into my regularly unscheduled topics.

Truth is, I don't really consider myself an athlete. However, I'd certainly make use of the adjective form of the word, something I'd never have considered less than a year ago. Athletic. Athlete-ish, if you know what I mean. One who occasionally Athls. Oh no wait, that's the noun again.

Some of you (who have yet to comment here, but with whom I've had conversations) think athletes are people who play professional football or baseball or basketball. Tennis and golf players DO NOT COUNT, according to these people.

Others think that participation in competitive sports is what sets athletes apart from the rest of us, regardless of the type of sport.

I think my own definition has to do with effort - people who participate in their sport full-on, balls-out, without holding back - those are who I think of as athletes. And by that definition, I am definitely NOT one - I'm more of a slow & steady person, rather than a full-tilt give-it-all-you-have one. Hence my preference for nice, 11 minute miles as opposed to heart- and pace-improving sprints when I run, and the joys of downhill flying on my bike rather than uphill slogs.

That said, it is true to say that less than a year ago I'd never have imagined I'd be running or biking or even swimming at any pace, much less giving consideration as to whether or not I was an athlete. It hasn't yet been a year since I signed up for my first boot camp class, thinking I simply had to start moving more than I was naturally inclined to without someone forcing the issue. Given that, who knows what changes the next year will work on me and my preconceptions? Any guesses?

What makes an athlete?

2011-03-17T19:03:00.007-05:00

Have I always been the sort of person who accepts challenges? I'll let those of you who have known me the longest weigh in, but lately I've accepted quite a few.

Kris sent me an email with a link to this Triathlon, and I immediately signed up. Never mind that I have no demonstrable ability to swim well -- I thought I could figure it out in time. A few days later my boss called and asked if I'd like to throw out the first pitch at a UT Baseball game. I'm running the Austin-American Statesman Capital 10k next week because I read about it on Twitter and wondered if I could run over 6 miles, and oh yeah, I accepted a new position at work this year which has proved engrossing, challenging, a lot of work and a ton of fun. So whether it's a new trait or old, this year seems to be my year for trying new things.

The latest gauntlet thrown down was to write here about athleticism. A group of us were out enjoying some Friday evening cocktails recently, the day before the baseball game. One friend was providing reassurances that I would be just fine, I was athletic and I wouldn't make a fool of myself, when another chimed in to say, "She's in shape, but she is NOT athletic." I promptly tweeted her comment, and while we laughed about it (this is the same friend who told me, after I'd lost a few pounds last year, "We didn't realize how bad it had gotten!!" -- thanks, Dawn), her comment made me wonder - what makes a person athletic?

We were talking about it again at dinner the other night (I should say for the record that she's a very good friend), and we looked for the definition of athlete:

I don't know if my traits are natural - but I have certainly acquired them - strength, endurance, and some degree of agility. I've been training in exercises for the past year, and while I may not be gifted, I am certainly a participant. Since I started keeping track in Dailymile in August 2010, I logged 374 miles (running or cycling), an average of 22 miles per week. I've logged close to 200 miles so far this year. I did get that pitch across the plate - albeit a little high and wide - and as it turns out, I can swim 300 meters and run 6 miles and bike for at least 25.

I've been a professional slacker for so long - excellent at lounging about, reading, napping, sitting and talking, reading some more - that thinking of myself as an athlete is as foreign to me as it is to, well, to Dawn. Nonetheless, while I won't be breaking any records anytime soon, I think I just might qualify. What do you think?

Day After Day

2010-11-28T19:06:00.005-06:00

I was just thinking about the difference in quality of those nights when you don't have to work the next day, and those nights when you do. Somehow, your subconscious always seems to know that you have to get up early the next day, even if you aren't actively thinking about it. I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30 last night, yet did so feeling like I had all the time in the world. Tonight it's a completely different feeling, and it's only 7:00.

I had a great day, though. We've been taking care of our neighbors' pets over the holiday, and they let Jesse's mom stay at their house while she was here. I went over early this morning to let the dogs out and make their bed, and was there when they came home, hours earlier than expected. I'd actually dreamed that they got home early, so it was a little eerie when they drove up. The girls had missed their daughter something fierce, and the three of them were inseparable for the remainder of the day.

The rest of my morning was spent running errands - I made it to Target before they opened - and putting away laundry, so that by 11:00 I was free to set off on my bike ride. I'd decided that instead of driving to the Veloway to ride 5X around (it's a 5K track), I'd actually bike there and ride around once. The route I chose included an off-road track that leads to the back side of the Veloway, and I wasn't sure if my road bike would be able to tackle it or not - turns out, not.

I could ride on portions of it, but hopped off and walked for the really bumpy bits - I didn't want to mess up my bike. The surprising part was that I realized that mountain biking would actually be fun - I'd always thought I wouldn't enjoy it at all. Riding and walking through those trails today reminded me of when I was a kid growing up in Arkansas, and I'd head off into the woods and spend the entire day there. Even though I know that other people use the trails, I had a real feeling of solitude and peace out there that I don't feel on streets, and I loved the little bit of riding I did on the trails. So - next stop, MTB. In total I rode 20 miles today, a personal best, and it was a total blast. I went around the track twice, and rode a different, longer route home to add on the miles.

I spent the afternoon catching up with friends and neighbors, and putting away yet more laundry, while Jesse ran, watched tennis and football (at the same time!), and made dinner. A great day, as productive as it needed to be, and completely different from yesterday, when I lounged around on the couch for hour upon hour. I feel pretty lucky to have had them both.

Every day?

2010-11-04T17:54:00.002-05:00

I had every intention to spend November as I usually do - posting every day until around thanksgiving, and then dropping out of site until the first of December. Then I made it all the way to November 2nd and dropped the ball. And wait, look over there! Is it November 4th already? Jeez. I guess that means the pressure is off, and I can just enjoy November they way I used to before Eden dreamed up the insanity that is NaBloPoMo . Love you, Fussy!

Linky Love

I've seen some good stuff out there on the interwebs lately, which you also might want to see.

This political video is so great, I could watch it again and again - and I have a VERY short attention span for videos. I think the robo-voice makes it all the better.

What has Obama done lately? Turns out, lots. I'm not surprised.

Who knew Don Draper said "What?" so often? Wait, you did? Well, good for you, you were paying attention.

I usually say Damn You iPhone, but same thing really.

Even though I don't drink the coffee anymore, it's so cool to see inside my little Moka.

OK, that's it for today - I'll leave you to ponder the question, "When the hell will she be back?"

And, done

2010-11-01T05:43:00.001-05:00

Boo!

2010-10-11T06:57:00.004-05:00

Ya'll, I've found my Halloween costume for this year!

I think I'd make a great Euguene, don't you?

Seriously, that was the best show I've ever seen at ACL. Lisa, they are coming to Boulder on the 27th - go if you can.

Happiness

2010-09-11T10:43:00.007-05:00

I think one of the reasons I haven't been here very frequently is that everything in my life is going so well. To say so smacks of hubris, and invites reprisal from the universe, but I'll take the risk and say it again - my life is great.

The girls are so glad to be back at school, and have a great schedule already - they wake up by 6:15, get dressed and help with their lunches and then leave by 6:45 to walk down the street, where our amazing neighbors feed them a huge breakfast and take them to school every day. They could come home as early as 4:00 most afternoons, courtesy of the same neighbor, but usually choose to stay later because they love their after-school program so much.

Hannah is in choir again this year, and still taking violin. She resents the demands on her time these pursuits entail, but she loves the performance of each so much. Hazel dropped the violin this year in favor of a return to the piano, and has been at the keyboard every day. When I ask Hannah how she likes her new class, a huge smile breaks out over her face - it's a beautiful sight.

Jesse has had a smooth start to his school year too. He's playing tennis as often as he can, swimming a couple of mornings every week, running, and now taking a boot camp at the YMCA as well. He looks great and feels great. Oh, and he's taking dancing lessons so he can spin with the best of them at the Broken Spoke!

I've started taking tennis lessons, so I can eventually play with Jesse (hopefully - he's really good). I'm still going to boot camp, these days at 5:30 two mornings a week, then running the other mornings. Lately I've found myself heading out for a second round of exercise in the evenings. I'm working on adding in biking next - I'm going to the veloway this weekend, and on Monday plan to go for a ride while Hannah is at choir. My work continues to have enough new projects to keep me interested and busy, but still allows for a perfect work/life balance. Oh, and I'm enjoying those nights at the Spoke as well!

The net result of all of this activity is happiness. The girls are happy, Jesse and I are happy, we're all in a really good place these days. Boring, right?

I'll take it.

UPDATED: At Kristina's request. Don't be alarmed if she bursts into uncontrollable laughter.

Twenty Pounds

2010-08-05T15:34:00.010-05:00

Growing up in Arkansas, I stood out for several reasons. My parents were hippies, but worse than that, well-educated hippies who cooked real food (Lamb! Eggplant! Things that weren't breaded and fried!), had antique furniture, drove Volvos, and let their children run wild. In my case, running wild meant one of several options - leaving the house and roaming the streets or woods around our house until I came home for food, leaving the house and riding my horse around the pasture until I got bored, or reading all day until my head hurt and I realized I hadn't eaten anything for hours.

The reading is what really got me into trouble - for Arkansas, at least in my small part of it and at that time, I read TOO MUCH. So much that my teachers gave me grief for it, one of them even saying, "If you don't stop reading that book I'm going to shove it down your throat!" Granted, she was probably trying to teach me something while I was reading, but still...

The library even suspended me from checking out books at one point, because I read too many of them. But best yet was what happened in 1st and 2nd grade if you talked too much: as punishment, you had to sit on "the hill" during recess, and you could NOT play kickball with your friends. This worked out perfectly for me - I would finish my work quickly, talk to my friends, get in trouble, and be forced to read during recess instead of playing kickball -- which I hated, naturally. Eventually the powers that be caught on, and I wasn't allowed to read during recess anymore either - I had to go play some kind of team sport instead, or hang out with the girls by the swing set and decide which boys we would marry that day.

That's probably where my dislike of team sports began, to whatever extent that it wasn't inherent. I didn't participate in sports at all in school - I did band, marching band, theatre, student council, French club -- all those geeky activities -- but no sports. The only time I chose any remotely active pastime was the summer between my sophomore and junior years in high school, when I realized that if I took PE all summer, I wouldn't have to take it EVER AGAIN. So, in the crazy Houston summer heat and humidity, I played tennis, ran track, played volleyball (that was probably inside, as was basketball), and did who knows what else. At the time, my dad said that was the most active he'd ever seen me, and that has held true until very recently.

In April, a friend and I signed up for a twice-weekly Boot/Fit Camp at a nearby park. Actually, it's three days a week, but we didn't realize that when we signed up, and we weren't willing to go on Saturday mornings. Two evenings a week we'd pack our yoga mats, 8# weights, put on our running shoes, and head to the park. The first time we went we were so sore afterward that we had a hard time lifting pint glasses to drink our beers - that's how pathetic we were - or at least, I was. The classes were challenging, and I couldn't do everything, especially the running/sprinting/bounding/jumping stuff the instructors are so fond of, but we kept going. April was nice, the weather cooperated and we kept going. For the the month of May, the weather was still pleasant. June saw warmer temps, and then I left town for two weeks, and that might have been the end of it, EXCEPT - I'd finally begun to see progress. I even missed exercising while we were on vacation.

Fast forward to now, midway through August, and I'm hooked. I've started running two miles on days we don't work out - ME, The Girl Who Doesn't Run (with or without Dragons, Fire or Hornets besetting me). I feel better if I exercise each day. On days when we go to Fit Camp in the morning, people at work comment on my high energy level. And here's the crazy thing - I've lost weight. I didn't really set out to - I knew I could lose a few pounds, but I really didn't want to feel like I had to conform to any arbitrary pop culture body image standard, as long as I was within the norms, which I was. I don't really believe in messing with my body for the sake of vanity, rather than health reasons, which is why my teeth are crooked, I wear glasses, and I have a big blue mole on my forehead right between my eyes.

Wow, that makes me sound attractive, doesn't it? Here, let's see:

Works for me.

So what's the moral to my story? One is my amazing new discovery that - wait for it - if you eat less and exercise more, you lose weight. I know, revolutionary. Another is that the more you move your body, the more you want to. Yet another is that I am vain - I do like how I look these days, even though I didn't set out with that goal in mind. However, I haven't read very much this summer, and as my friend Lisa keeps pointing out, I haven't played Words with Friends in weeks. Less time sitting on my ass, more time moving it, has been my motto. Maybe this winter I'll settle down and fatten up, or maybe I'll run a 5K with some friends and start asking Kris and Jenn probing questions about the Danskin - who knows?

Summer Fun

2010-07-21T06:57:00.007-05:00

I do have a half-completed post about the rest of our trip, but haven't had the mojo to finish it yet. Once you get home from vacation, it's too late, isn't it? Life keeps happening and before you know it another week has gone by.

Life last week, while busy, was quiet - Jesse and the girls went away on Wednesday with a group from the neighborhood, to a cottage at a country club in the Hill Country. There were four adults and four children, and they loved it - swimming, golfing, playing poker, playing tennis (3 games / 7hrs in one day!) and thrifting. I was all set to join them on Friday after work, but their cottage had been double-booked, and all day Friday we scrambled to find alternate lodgings. Our criteria: beautiful and free.

We found it, and had a relaxing weekend, mostly sitting right here.

The pool sits outside a ranch house belonging to friends of friends out near Wimberly, and it's perfect for large groups - we ended up being a group of 14, including two adorable french teenage girls who screamed every time the younger girls showed them a dead bug they'd discovered. Needless to say, that happened a LOT. The main room houses a player piano, with what seems like an infinite array of music for it; nonetheless, the girls chose the Mickey Mouse theme song repeatedly. M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

On Sunday, as we were cleaning up in preparation to go home, as the children were playing La Vie en Rose, a few people were sleeping or reading on the couches, the teens were dancing in lazy circles in the living room, and others were mopping, sweeping, and wiping counters, Paula pointed out that the scene was straight out of an Almodovar film.

No more trips planned for the summer - Jesse starts school in two weeks, Hazel turns 8 (EIGHT!), and then the kids go back mid-August. We'll just have to find our fun closer to home.

In which I am publicly shamed

2010-07-05T20:16:00.014-05:00

Where did we leave off? Just before NYC, right?

I found an apartment in Brooklyn from Homeaway.com, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Owned by a lovely British women, her husband and two young daughters, it's in the heart of Park Slope, just off 7th Avenue. It has 1 bedroom, and a foldout couch in the living room, and is furnished a la Ikea in a simple but pleasant style. We were able to take the F train into Manhattan very easily, and had great grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops and boutiques to ogle on our way to the metro station each day. Most importantly, it came stocked with Illy coffee.

Our first night there we ate at the Thistle Hill Tavern, just a few blocks away. They had a proper cocktail menu, which always pleases me.

And the food was good.

The girls enjoyed it too.

The next day, we headed uptown to stand in the longest line I've EVER stood in, in order to get on a crowded ferry and visit the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. Let me just note that I have no need to ever do this again.

That's my favorite picture, but there are more on Flickr, and even more on my laptop. FYI, The Lady has nothing on Vulcan.

On the boat, Jesse saw on his Twitter stream that Eddie Izzard was also visiting Ellis Island that day. When we got there, we stumbled around for awhile, half-conscious with hunger (me) (the girls) and the sun (me) (the girls). We finally decided to watch the introductory movie, hilariously titled "Tears of Hope, Tears of Sorrow," since we could sit in the cool A/C for 45 minutes. Also, my iPhone battery was running on E all day, and I was excited to find a row of outlets on the wall of the theatre. I turned my phone off, plugged it in, and sat down next to Jesse, who gestured down towards the front of the hall where I'd left my phone and mumbled something. I thought he was telling me to sit closer to my phone, so I got up and moved. Soon after, I realized that Eddie Izzard was sitting directly behind me, complaining about my employer and calling to cancel his car. I'd already been thinking of Antonia when we went through the intense security line, but this sealed the deal.

As I sat there, one ear cocked behind me, an Ellis Island Parks employee began to deliver his talk before the movie started. Looking at him, I didn't expect much, but he soon had the audience laughing out loud and clapping - he was very funny, and had excellent delivery. This only made it worse when, at the end, telling everyone he had to do just one more thing, he walked over to my phone, unplugged it, handed it to me, and told me he "could have had me summoned." Um, thanks? As Peevish pointed out, I can be sure that I caught Eddie's attention. His, and that of everyone else in the room...

After we left the islands, we headed into SoHo, because I wanted to visit Kate's Paperie. On the way, we ate - thank god - and stopped by an AT&T store for a juice pack for my iPhone - thank god - and then the girls spotted Evolution, so we had to stop in there, too. I'd heard about it from a friend, and the girls LOVED it.

Spotted just past the store, was this, which I love:

Errands finally over, we had one more stop. If you're wondering how we fit this all into one day, one in which we didn't even leave the house until almost 11:00, I am too.

The girls HAD to go up the Empire State Building, and I did not have that need, so Jesse took them up and I found a coffee shop with wi-fi AND an available, no-yelling-at-me outlet, and everyone was happy. The end. Of day 1 in NYC.

More Chronicles

2010-06-29T19:38:00.005-05:00

You guys are so kind.

Our adventures continue. We arrived in NoVa Sunday afternoon, and were welcomed warmly.

It was 102 F outside, which is totally unfair because we left Texas in part to escape the heat. Luckly, a brief rainstorm cooled things down enough, and we could sit outside with cocktails like civilized people.

Look - a picture of me I don't hate. I think Hannah took it.

My grandparents' back yard is scenic, abundant with greenery and flowers, and home to countless birds, squirrels, chipmunks & rabbits. I could sit out there all day, and have done so as much as possible.

Yesterday Jesse & my grandfather took the girls to the Air & Space Museum - the new, airplane-focused one near Dulles. He's been taking me to the one downtown every visit for my whole life, so I felt ok sitting yesterday's trip out, and stayed home with my grandmother. The girls had a good time though.

Today we slept in, and lounged around the house all morning, despite having plans to visit Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. I sat outside on the patio, watched the birds squabble over the various feeders, and enjoyed life. We did eventually motivate ourselves to head out around lunchtime, and made our way to the stately grounds.

Hannah nearly knocked me over in this picture, although it looks like we're leaning to make room for the house. We're not; I'm struggling to stay upright.

A kind stranger offered to take one of all of us, whic he did quite well, not even stealing our camera.

Thanks, stranger! This will be our go-to family photo for the next year or so whenever the school asks for one - score!

Tomorrow we catch the train for NYC for the next three days. The girls are as excited about the train ride as they are about the city itself. The last time we rode those rails, Hannah was just 4 months old, and she's been lording it over Hazel ever since.

Here's one final image from today's sites - it's from the slave burial ground at Mount Vernon. You can click on it or any picture to get into my Flickr page and see more photos.

Road Trip - 2010 style

2010-06-26T20:48:00.008-05:00

A cross-country road-trip seems like a good occasion to resuscitate this poor site, doesn't it? We're headed east to visit my grandparents in Northern Virginia, and spend a few days in NYC while we're out there. We're driving out via Louisiana,

(only Hannah would pose)

Mississippi,

(the girls would only pose near the garbage bin)

Alabama,

(Vulcan!)

and South Carolina.

More states tomorrow...

Jesse scouted out some interesting stops on the way, which is how we found ourselves at the Museum of Coca-Cola in Vicksburg, MS.

We went through pretty quickly, but I took pictures for a friend who LOVES all things Coca-Cola (she won't even let me say "Coke").

While Coke (ha!) was invented in Atlanta, it was first bottled in Vicksburg - hence the museum. It was cute and a nice diversion after a day on the road.

Back in the car, we headed to Jackson, state capital of Mississippi. After walking through the abandoned downtown streets for half an hour, we found the brewpub we'd been looking for and finally got to eat excellent seafood gumbo, and fried oysters on a spinach salad. The girls refused everything but salad, until they tasted the gumbo and immediately wanted their own, and ate most of my oysters. After Jesse told us about the urinals here, we made him go back in for a picture.

On the walk home we stopped at the old state capitol, where Hazel refused to pose, again. Let's not talk of Hazel on Day 1.

Today we headed out of Mississippi, and into Alabama, home of a giant statue of Vulcan. Who knew? Did you know? Because I had no idea. I associate B'ham with race riots and MLK, but apparently it was all about iron - and pig iron at that - before the depression and after WWII.

There is an excellent park and small museum located on the hill where Vulcan towers over the city, and while Jesse and the girls rode the elevator to the top, I made a picnic lunch in the shady park below.

Jesse got a nice shot of Vulcan's ass, though - check it:

Tonight we're in Greenville, SC. People, if you are ever within 150 miles of Greenville, go to The Lazy Goat. We had excellent Mediterranean-style mezes and tapas here, a perfect Negroni, and solid service. We ate just up on this terrace -

and didn't even realize there were children cavorting below us. Afterward, we got ice cream for the girls and walked along the river in balmy 80 F weather - heaven.

We'll arrive at my grandparents' tomorrow - we can't wait to see them, it's been too long.

Please leave a comment - I need immediate gratification!

Hey-O!

2010-04-09T06:43:00.003-05:00

I don't know about where you live, but here in Central Texas, it's full-out spring. Not a typical spring, either, where we get one week of balmy temps before we start hitting 80s and 90s each day - no, this year we're having an actual spring. The wildflowers are having a banner year, the nights are still chilly enough for warm blankets, and the days are breezy and temperate.

I've captured a few images of my personal signs of spring, so that once the nights don't dip below 85 F I have something to look back - and forward - to.

Blue Heron at MIL's lakehouse last month.

Hannah getting ready to go boating. The water was too cool for fun, but the sun was out in full force for a few hours, before a spring cold front & thunderstorm moved through.

Hannah is currently gone, on her first school overnight trip (two nights, actually), so here's another one of her sweet face.

One of the bonus results of installing a new invisible fence for the dogs last month is that they no longer have access to the front yard, so my flower beds there are no longer getting trampled daily. I've cleaned them out, replanted them, and mulched them, so they're doing really well.

Blackfoot Daisy - I love these guys. I'm a sucker for a daisy.

Copper Canyon Daisy - see?

I put in some poppy plants, hoping they will reseed in future years.

But I also threw some seeds out last fall, too good effect.

This is Hazel's Lobelia, which she has christened "Lilly."

I love this lavender flower.

Several bluebonnets sprung up in the yard from years past - true signs of a Texas spring.

We planted Coral Honeysuckle behind the garden swing in the backyard, too.

I can't wait until the hummingbirds discover it.

About a million of these hatched overnight last week - it's a Crane Fly, although some call them Mosquito Hawks.

My Thryalis froze back completely this winter, and I cut it down to the roots - I'm so happy to see it coming back.

More new growth - on the Coral Honeysuckle again.

I'm off today, after a quick hour in the office, to drive into the hill country and retrieve Hannah and four of her classmates. I can't wait to hear about her adventures!

Mizz Fixit

2010-03-13T08:34:00.002-06:00

Things I have repaired while Jesse has been gone:

The internet. My 2Wire router/modem went out on Sunday, so I purchased a new modem, wrangled it into cooperating with the Airport Base Station, and now have wi-fi waves coursing through my home again.
The dogs' collars. Long story, but essentially neither was working with our wireless (yes, more EMF) invisible fence. Today, one dog's is working, and one (cough *MOKI* cough) isn't quite strong enough. I'm still working on this one - but improvements have been seen.
Hazel's glasses. The dogs well and truly ate them, so new ones, with a new scrip, have been ordered. The best news? No more amblyopia!
Jesse's car. As is the new tradition, whilst he is out of the country his car goes in the shop. $1000 later we have a new radiator, new plates, new bulbs (thanks, Brian!) and no scary "Check Engine" light. It probably does still smell like gas, though.

Is that it? I think so - but it seemed like more. This last week has passed so very slowly, and I'm sick at the thought that next week - Spring Break! - will fly by.

My Own Mixed Up Files

2010-03-06T08:16:00.003-06:00

~Edited to add photos of doughnut enjoyment!

I'm a solo parent this month, as Jesse accompanies his students on their annual trip to Italy. I find that by being 100% responsible, it actually goes more smoothly then otherwise - just because I know there's no one else to pitch in & help me out. I plan better, I wake up earlier, I make different decisions, because it's just me. Don't get me wrong - this starts to wear soon, so please read consider as read the traditional homage to single parents and the relief I feel at his return.

We've had a good week, getting to school and work on time, eating dinners together, and getting to bed at 7:30 (them; I stayed up as late as 9:30!). One night I made pan-seared, oven-roasted pork center cut chops, and the girls, upon seeing them, exclaimed, " Chops!" I guess we haven't had those lately. That same night they refused to eat the sweet potato oven fries, which were so sweet and caramelized they stuck in my teeth - in an excellent way. More for me.

Yesterday I picked them and our neighbors up from school, and we all went to Changos for dinner, and then on to Gourdough's for dessert. If you live in Austin and haven't been there yet - GO. Unless you're diabetic, in which case, DON'T GO.

These doughnuts are huge, made-to-order, and covered in the delicious goopy topping of your choice. The girls ordered cinnamon and sugar - the only traditional choice - and Razzle Dazzle, which has raspberry filling and Fudge Icing on top (we requested grilled strawberries, too), a Mama Cake, with Yellow Cake Batter Filling with Fudge Icing, and The Black Out - Brownie Batter, Fudge Icing, and Chocolate Covered Brownie Bites.

Are you in a coma yet? Then they all trundled over to our house for an impromptu sleepover, where we argued over movie choices until I finally made an executive decision and we watched From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Two of the girls had read it and loved it, and two (mine) had not and were resistant. I offered to turn it off half-way through, and was roundly chastised. So - they liked it.

Today we'll go to Explore UT! , billed as "The Biggest Open House in Texas." Last time we went we got to touch cows' hearts, lungs & brains, see Little Red Riding Hood on trial, and make ice cream - they had a blast.

It should be a beautiful spring day here in Austin, TX - I'm off to enjoy it.

Snow Day, No Way

2010-02-23T19:31:00.005-06:00

*Tap* *Tap* Is this thing still on?

So, it snowed today. If you live in Austin (or anywhere in Texas), you know this already. If you live in Colorado, you're probably not impressed.

No matter - if you've ever lived in Austin, you know this is a pretty rare event. We knew it was coming, so the girls went to school suited up and ready to party. I went to work. Once it started, my friend and I went down to check it out.

It was hard to see, even if I stuck my head in it.

Even on her dark clothing.

So we went to the back entrance.

A little better. Back to work. I took a few more pictures from my desk, playing with the Camerabag app on my iPhone.

During a quick break, I ran home to get lunch. It was much better there.

Well, maybe the cactus didn't think so.

Back to work - it snowed throughout the day, and with big, fluffy flakes.

It was lovely to watch, especially on a stressful day.

Housekeeping

2010-01-30T18:19:00.003-06:00

First, some physical housekeeping - I was out of town for a few days last week, and will be again next week, so today was a blur of errands. To wit:

Bank
Dry Cleaner's
Strait Music Company
Target
Farmers' Market
Brevita*
Gourdough's**
Hair Salon
Whole Foods
Hair Salon #2
Central Market
Home
Party ***

* for delicious and much needed coffee
** for an outrageous doughnut
*** not quite, but it's our next stop

Are you as tired as I am? Probably more, because I'm still buzzing from the coffee and sugar.

OK, now on to virtual housekeeping - check out the new food site, linked on the top right corner. Come visit me!

things I no longer buy (after having children)

2009-12-29T15:03:00.002-06:00

Update: Actually, Predate:

I wrote this a year ago today, trying out iBlogger from my iPhone. It didn't post, and I forgot about it - until NOW.

1) tissues - the kids use them to stuff too-large shoes, dolls, whatever. They are now a waste of money
2) liquid soap for their bathroom
3) cable / satellite tv
4) make-up, perfume, nice shampoo
5) markers

But I'll add to it, now it's here:

6) Junk food, soda, most prepared foods
7) furniture
8) Anything nice, really

What about you? 'Fess up.

I Wish a Lot of Things

2009-12-27T14:47:00.012-06:00

Yesterday was my friend Mason's 35th birthday. Mason, my friend for whom I asked you for pagan prayers, didn't get to mark it - he died on December 7th.

I've worked with Mason on and off for almost 12 years. We first met when he was fresh out of college - he'd been working part-time in one of our retail locations, and was now ready for a proper, full-time position, preferably not in sales. He interviewed to work for me in Marketing, and I thought he was too young, too cocky, too arrogant to get along with, and didn't hire him. He was all of those things, but as I came to know him better, I came to love his confidence and his passion.

Several years later, I moved back to Austin from my stints abroad (you know, Houston, San Antonio, those foreign lands), and he'd moved here too, and began to report to me in my new position. I had a bunch of people working for me then, but he was unique in that we were in the same office - all the rest were in different locations - and in that he was Mason. He was an improbable liberal who'd graduated from Texas A&M University, a school renowned for its conservative tendencies. In my line of work, just about everyone I work with leans to the right, and the few of us who don't find each other, fast,

Mason also stood out during that time as an individual with a quick wit, a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humor, and an intolerance for those who couldn't keep pace with him. That was most of us.

The years passed, and we took different jobs, and I didn't see him very often - his jobs tended to keep him out of the office, and mine to keep me in. Yet whenever we did meet, we'd talk politics, office & national, and lovingly mock our right-wing friends, and share tips for the best places to eat, drink or visit in Austin or California or New York. We'd also cross paths at ACL every year, and I enjoyed seeing him with his wife, and listening to his strongly-held opinions of the music on offer, as well as the festival food. At some point, I discovered his blog, and got great pleasure from his anecdotes and his perspectives in general. At some point, he discovered mine, and we each let the other know these things discreetly, as we both valued privacy. (Yet we BLOGGED. D'oh.)

Two or three years ago he took a new job, which put him in an office two doors down from mine. I love my little wing - I'm surrounded by good people and good friends, and it was great including him in that number. We spoke much more frequently, and exchanged instant messages or emails daily on current events, the election, the economy, whether or not he should buy a house (he did NOT think he should), whether or not he should contribute to his 401k (he FINALLY set one up, years after we'd told him to), and what new car he should buy or lease. His passion for politics, cars, and music was legendary and contagious.

Sometime last year Angela noticed his wedding ring was missing, and I screwed up my courage to ask him about it-- he was so very private, but we loved him so very much. Sadly, our worries were confirmed, and soon after his divorce became final, an opportunity for a promotion came up in Houston, and he went for it, and got it.

Mason and I held similar viewpoints on Houston - it's a great city for culture, and for food, but there's too much concrete there, too much commercialism and consumerism, and it doesn't hold a candle to Austin. He didn't want to move there, but he wanted a new start, and he hoped he'd be able to get back to Austin sooner than later. I visited our office there around the 4th of July, and he came in from vacation to have lunch with me and catch up. That was the last time I got to ride in his hot hatch, a term which he taught me and hated so much that I loved to tease him about it. He'd blush fiery-red and hotly regret he'd ever mentioned the phrase in my hearing.

Mason didn't make it back to Austin. He contracted a bacterial infection, Lemierre's syndrome, and once hospitalized, was sedated while the toxins attacked his organs and wreaked havoc on his lungs. He fought and he fought and he fought, and in the end, his lungs just couldn't fight anymore.

And so last night, on his birthday, some of us met at one of his old Austin haunts, and shared stories and memories together. We didn't cry - I for one had shed my tears at the beautiful service earlier this month. We laughed, and we remembered.

I miss him. I wish I'd gotten to know him better, spent more time with him socially. I wish he weren't the cause of my learning that yet more of those cliches are true - that we should enjoy our loved ones while we can, that we should keep in touch with friends old and new, that we should seize the day and live each day to its fullest. I wish - I wish a lot of things.*

* Into the Woods, by Stephen Sondheim

No regrets!

2009-11-30T18:21:00.001-06:00

Keeping People Happy

2009-11-20T21:50:00.002-06:00

So, my friend who is sick is still sick. Pagan prayers, please. It's freaking me out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Onward: at dinner one night this week, the girls asked me about my day. In general, they think I sit around on the computer all day, which is pretty accurate. That day, however, I'd had a meeting with a topic general enough that I could explain it to them, and they could understand it.

I'm on a small task force to figure out ways to keep customers from leaving us - a concern all businesses have these days, since a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, etc. They both thought about it, and offered ideas.

Hazel got confused, and suggested we offer higher interest rates. Hannah pointed out that I do NOT work for a bank. Kudos to Hazel though - everyone likes to earn more interest.

Hannah thoughtfully made a list for me, and I share it here for you:

Lower the prices.
Give them [the customers] a coupon once a month.
Give them a free something if they sign up for something.
Make/invent more stuff.

So - one finance whiz, and one marketing whiz!

Crap

2009-11-19T20:06:00.002-06:00

It's really been a crap day. Lots of not-so-good goings on. Really, none of them are happening to me, so I feel bad for even whining, but somehow it helps to moan.

Hug your loved ones, that's what I'm doing.

Also, don't have nice things delivered to my house, because MY DOGS WILL EAT THE PACKAGE. Seriously. We're using an alternate shipping address from here on out.

2009-11-18T22:26:00.001-06:00

Instead of blogging today, I made a Thanksgiving spreadsheet. Also, I listened to violin practice, and I watched House on Hulu. Jealous?

Little Grey Different

2009-11-17T20:00:00.003-06:00

Hannah and I went to the opera this weekend, to Austin Lyric Opera's presentation of La Boheme. Some of her choir colleagues were performing in it, and she was eager to see them.

Because she is my daughter, she decided at the last minute that she had nothing to wear. So off we went to the mall, where she chose a lovely holiday dress. Because I am me, I found something I liked as well.

I tried to find it online so I could show it to you, but apparently, it exists only at my local Nordstrom's and in my closet. Therefore, may I present to you, my new grey sweater-y dress?

It's all grey, and soft, with a little stretchy smocking stuff at the bodice. Ha, I said bodice. And it's a turtleneck.

If I'd drawn this with a pencil it would only be marginally better. My hands, I think, would be better, but that's it.

The opera was great, and Hannah loved every minute of it.

It's Not Fair

2009-11-16T18:55:00.007-06:00

The whole concept of equality between siblings can suck you in like quicksand. Do you treat each child exactly the same, giving to one what you give to the other? What's equal? The dollar amount you spend, the number of items you purchase, the number of trips alone you take with each one? Do you get them the same color/shape/size, or different? Do you get something for child A when you and B are shopping together? If you spend 3 hours, with one, do you owe equal time to the other? I know what I've been taught: to check in with each child individually to see if her needs have been met. "Do you want more milk?" "Would you prefer green or yellow?"

Those of you with more than one child - ha, with even more than one cat, I bet! - are snorting derisively right around now.

Being in the same class at school and running with the same circle of friends at home, H & H can seem much closer than the 2 years apart they actually are. Hannah gets a little extra responsibilities because of her age, but Hazel isn't far behind. Usually they are happy people, at peace with one another. Lately, for whatever reason, they've been bickering like crazy over every little thing.

Hazel wants to be JUST LIKE her big sister - she wants to do the same things, and get the same things, and whines and complains when she doesn't. Hannah DOES NOT want to have the same things as her sister, or for Hazel to get the same thing Hannah already has, and she whines and complains if this happens. "Why did you get that for her? Now I'll never wear mine!" "Why did she get more than me? She always gets more than me!" "I wanted that one, too!" Seriously, these two could argue over dirt these days.

I'm trying to ride it out. Most importantly, I'm trying hard to steer the conversation back to the girl in question, and away from what her sister has/does/says. I'm also throwing in some lessons on gratitude for good measure, because, seriously? Listening to people complain when I proffer a gift does not make me happy.

Chakasaurus

2009-11-15T20:09:00.001-06:00

IMG_0800
Originally uploaded by sinda kate.

My neighbor found this in the creek behind his house - what do you think it is? Animal or vegetable? (Mineral now, obv.)

Hair

2009-11-14T09:40:00.001-06:00

Hair
Originally uploaded by sinda kate.

This was meant to be my cop-out post for yesterday, but I couldn't make it work from my phone and I was too lazy to get out of bed. So there.

For the sake of argument

2009-11-12T19:51:00.005-06:00

Let's just say you have a mortgage. In fact, let's say you have two - one big, one little. Let's also say that your payments are due after the 1st of the month, and no later than the 15th. Are you with me so far?

Ok, so now, let's note that you've paid your mortgages - both of them! - on time, forEVER. I mean, you've never not once ever been late with your payments. And not just these mortgages, but every mortgage you've ever had for the four houses you've owned. NEVER LATE.

Still with me?

So what would you do if, for the last six months or so, your mortgage company has called your home number multiple times a day every day for the first two weeks of every month?

I answered once, when it first started, and didn't get anywhere with the entry-level clerk who was stuck making outbound collection calls after hours. So then I just ignored the calls; but JESUS, PEOPLE, STOP CALLING ME ALREADY.

I was feeling ornery tonight, so I answered, asked for a supervisor, put up with various and sundry pointless talking points and finally got one.

Yes, I agreed, this is my correct home phone number, WE'RE TALKING ON IT NOW.
Yes, he agreed, this was bordering on harassment
No, he said, I wasn't late with my payments
Well, he offered, I can put your work number on the Do Not Call list
No, I declined, you've never called me at work, so...no, not going to help
Well, he demurred, if I really didn't want them to call me at home, I could FAX in a cease & desist letter to them.

People, this is asinine. I need to fax in a request to stop collecting a debt that's not overdue and never has been?

No one could tell me why they were calling me when they agreed that I wasn't overdue, except to say they were calling me to remind me to pay. HELLO, I DON'T NEED A REMINDER, I'M A BIG GIRL. NOTHING in my payment history would make you think I need a reminder.
Since it's late, my manager claimed there was no one senior to escalate to, so I asked for an area manager or director to call me tomorrow. He agreed, then quickly tried to wrap up the conversation.

"Wait," I said, "WHO will call me, WHEN will they call me, at WHAT NUMBER will they call me?"

At this point, he began to think that he might just be able to put my home number on the Do Not Call list. "If they don't call you back," he said, "I've fixed it."

Fine - what's YOUR name, what's your last name, what's your ID number?

What do you think will happen? And can we get out of this recession so I can start answering my phone again?

I had a dog named Bullet once

2009-11-11T23:05:00.003-06:00

I worked at home today.
Partly, because I had to take the dog and kitty to the vet to be neutered
And also, because it's been a crazy week
even though it's only Wednesday, I know, SHUT IT
But my day was still stressful.
I'm out of coffee.
The dog got out of the car AT SCHOOL
Luckily, it's a small school
So someone could move my still-running car for me while I chased the dog
And luckily, he came...eventually.
I didn't eat lunch until 1:30
That's late for me
I was BUSY
Work, work, work
Then I had to run to get the dog and the kitty
They were great
Still are
Then, I came home and worked a little more
So we left for Regina a little late.
Yes, Regina! I know!
But we still had time for cocktails and snack at Annie 's
Maybe several cocktails
Jesse was driving
Blood & Sands and a Sazerac, if you're curious.
YUM
Regina was awesome
Even though it was hard to see
Because she's so leetle
And cute!
But still a great singer.
Look! It's not midnight yet.
BONG BONG BONG BONG
BONG BONG BONG BONG
BONG BONG BONG BONG

Random

2009-11-10T20:02:00.003-06:00

I've been in a conference room all day, sitting down and pushing the "next" key for hours on end. My brain needs candy.

Here's what trusty Google Reader is serving up - you can follow along at home!

The Waffle is splitting and it makes me so very sad. Sh, don't tell her how much I"m hoping it's only temporary.
Badger came to my house and took pictures! OK, not really, but she could have - I just scooped my rotten, fly-filled fruit into the trash last night.
Miss Doxie is back! Again! This time, she wrote two posts in a year! I missed Miss Doxie

Did read that whole Kitteh post? I did, and now my brain is full. Or empty, I really can't tell the difference. No more candy tonight, brain.

Trade Offs

2009-11-09T19:36:00.004-06:00

Change of plan - Jesse took the girls to Hannah's choir practice, so I got a night off to fold laundry, watch 30 Rock re-runs, and relax before my stressful day tomorrow. This totally makes up for the speed with which the weekend passed and the fact that both girls came to our bed last night, kicking, snorting and grinding their teeth all night long.

Well, mostly.

Bright Idea

2009-11-08T19:39:00.002-06:00

"I know," she said brightly, "let's do a dinner post!"

With the heat of summer behind us, and a spectacular fall growing season, I've been interested in eating good food again. I didn't make it to the farmers' market today, but I did sign up for Farmhouse Delivery, and our first batch will come this week. I'm excited to try their model - you pay by the week, rather than up front, although you do commit to 10 weeks at a time. Plus, they deliver - no more forgetting to pick up the basket!

Today was foggy and rainy, very rainly, so Nigel's Pork w/Pears seemed just the ticket. It was a super-easy way to cook the main dish, and we followed his serving suggestions and had mashed potatoes and red cabbage alongside. The kids hated it, Jesse hated the cooked pear, and I loved it. C'est la vie.

Tomorrow is our funky day, when Hannah has choir, and it's going to be extra funky due to VIPs visiting at the office. Jesse will make Leek & Potato soup with a Romaine salad, and Hannah and I will eat out.

Then, Tuesday is a tennis night for Jesse, and I'll sautee salmon fillets with brown rice and broccoli for the rest of us.

Wednesday night we go see Regina - yay us! - so we'll make spaghetti and green beans for the girls and their sitter, it's always a crowd pleaser.

Thursday, we'll have these stuffed bell peppers, and I can't wait.

And Friday, something easy and satisfying - this Japanese Curry sounds just the ticket.

Also on the books for this week: a parent-teacher conference, a haircut, and getting Mimsy and Bo fixed. It's non-stop fun over here.

Grandparents

2009-11-07T20:38:00.002-06:00

P1010078
Originally uploaded by sinda kate.

Another one from the archives, from that same trip to my mother's. These are my grandparents, and I love this picture.

Memory Lane

2009-11-06T21:15:00.005-06:00

I received an invitation today to join a group in Flickr called "My first photo on Flickr.' While this isn't the very first, it's one of the earliest ones I posted. Look at that little face!!

This was taken at my mom's house in January of 2005, according to Flickr. Wow. I think we came home from that trip and decided to move - we sold our house and closed on this one at the end of March of that year. Little Hazel's a whole lot bigger these days, but just as cute.

And look at this one:

Hannah still remembers kneading bread dough with Mama Jane. Priceless.

November 5th ALREADY?

2009-11-05T19:45:00.002-06:00

Or maybe I should say, it's only the 5th of November? I remember, I remember!

It should be later in the month; it should be earlier in the year. I wish it were Friday; I wish it were Thanksgiving.

I realized today that even though Christmas isn't my favorite holiday, it does shine like a beacon to which I look forward every year; it's a little bit of a let down once it's over. Shiny, shiny Christmas.

Hazel is helping me think of what I should tell you next:

Our bunny? Check
Loads of stuff we got for Halloween? Check
How she's not in bed yet even though it's 7:49? NO, NOT THAT!
How about our pediatrician visit? Check

Work is super-worky right now, so instead of dredging my feeble brain for boring topics, I think I'll go tuck some people into bed and then veg out. Ciao.

Everything is Red, Silver & Gold

2009-11-04T19:51:00.004-06:00

I've been a Nigella Lawson fan for years, probably since Lisa gave me my first book of hers - Nigella Bites, maybe - Lisa? Her piece on Morning Edition pimping Nigella Express caused me to immediately log on to Amazon and order several books; one for me, and one each for several friends. So it should come as no surprise that when I heard her on Monday, again on NPR, talking about Nigella Christmas, I promptly put in my order.

It came today, a welcome arrival at the end of a long day. I took the girls to their well-check visit, drove home in peak rush-hour traffic to get a sick, congested Jesse, then back out again for comfort Mexican food at our favorite neighborhood spot. I don't like getting home after dark, even if it's my own doing, so I was happy to sit down and crack open the new book while Jesse helped the girls get ready for bed. Hazel came out to snuggle with me for a bit, so we ooohed and aaahed together at the lovely pictures and descriptions.

At one point, I commented, "Look at that - she takes pork tenderloin, cuts it and rolls it out, puts stuffing on it, rolls it back up, and wraps it in bacon!" and Hazel exclaimed, "Oooh, I love her apron!" That's my girl.

I don't always like her shortcuts, but I love her style and her attitude towards cooking, and I never worry about changing her recipes - they seem meant to be adapted to your own style. I'm also exited about the many and varied holiday gifts, as we tend to make things for the teachers each year, and I'm always on the lookout for new ideas.

Here's her site, if you haven't already been there: I especially love the product promotions she does, in the Nigella Loves section - just things she likes. I just checked, and she's recently promoted both Nigel Slater's new book and Ayelet Waldman's - LOVE indeed.

Bunny

2009-11-03T08:01:00.003-06:00

So Saturday afternoon, we were all set to head to our neighbor's annual weenie-dog kegger to celebrate Halloween. The kids were all dressed up (see Hermione & Sumo Wrestler), I had my balloon, and Jesse had an arrow through his head.

We've been giving the kitty outdoor privileges when we can, so Hannah went outside to bring her in before it got dark and raucous kids began to march up through our yard. Suddenly, she screamed.

If you've spent any time with Hannah at all, you'll know this wasn't alarming. Mix anxiety with a tendency to over-react and a compassion for all living creatures, and you'll scream too if you see your dogs mauling a little furry something.

I was worried it was the cat, but luckily (for the cat, anyway) they'd flushed a baby cottontail from its nest and were eagerly slavering over it. We brought it inside, and were looking for a box for it when we heard the dogs arguing. Running outside, I found Bo with another baby...its back feet hanging out of his cavernous maw. Reader, Baby Bunny #2 did not make it.

But Baby Bunny #1 stayed safe in the box all night, and was well and hopping the next morning. We took it over to Wildlife Rescue, paid the reasonable $20 rehabilitation fee they suggested, and left secure in the knowledge that our little Bunny would be OK.

Because there are not enough Bunnies in the world, right?

Singing

2009-11-02T18:41:00.003-06:00

Hopefully, I just uploaded a video. Try it - does it work?

It's not really a video, in the true sense of the word. I captured some of Hannah's rehearsal a couple of weeks ago, using the Voice Memo on my iPhone, and I took a picture of her from earlier this year and made a movie out of the picture and the voice memo clip. Go me!

I love to hear those children singing - I can't wait for the actual performance.

Day the First. Maybe.

2009-11-01T09:47:00.008-06:00

So apparently, there are rules to this NaBloPoMo thing, and writing here every day is one of them. Well, the only one. Hm. I don't do well with rules and I don't usually write here every day...and yet I sign up, at the last minute, every year. Goofy, much?

Here's what I know, today:

The weather is beautiful - I mean, PERFECT in every way - and is set to remain so for the foreseeable future. Clear, dry, warm during the day and cool at night.
It's possible that I have both a fire going and the windows open.
So sue me.
Halloween was fun. The girls both loved their costumes.

I dressed up too. Can you tell who I am?

We have a new dog. Yes, another one. Shut up, he's actually made the first dog much happier and even given the kitten more freedom. So it's all good. And we're DONE.

His name is Bocephus, but we call him Bo.
Or BoBo.
We did not name him.
But it's too late to change it, so Bo he is. Or BoBo.
He found two baby bunnies yesterday. One didn't make it , but we're waiting on the Wildlife Rescue chick to call us back about the other one.
Baby bunnies are cuuute!
Sorry, no pictures - it seemed cruel. Maybe later.

Inspired

2009-10-26T18:51:00.003-05:00

Emma imagines a new direction her life could take, which reminded me of my own day:

I went home during lunch today to walk the NEW dog I acquired last week, an 85-pound behemoth. It was pouring rain, so I stood outside under an umbrella for 10 minutes while he christened every bush in sight and attempted to wrench my arm out of the socket. I think he succeeded.

Then I went inside, tried to tidy up from breakfast and our hasty - bellowing - departure this morning, traipsing all about the house for the next 20 minutes or so. As I drove back to work, the car heater emphasized the odor I'd caught tantalizing wind of earlier, and I realized I'd stepped in caca du chien. Stepped in it, then apparently made sure every room in my house shared in the bounty.

I tried to wipe my boot with tissues, which didn't help the smell at all, and only made my hands feel dirty. I was still hungry (no food at home, unless you count fifty 2-day old tacos -- I don't), so I stopped at the grocery store, making sure to park near a cart return/corral which had a garbage bin so I could toss the tissues. Stepping out into the rain, I lifted my hood over my head, and blindly walked smack into the metal sign which told me to RETURN CARTS HERE. I almost cried from the pain.

I did finally get to clean my shoes in the ladies' room, and I rewarded myself with a new packet of tea and some Swedish cookies with "healthy oat bran flakes," and nutritional Belgian chocolate. As further reward, Hazel and I stumbled onto the new Nordstrom's Rack this afternoon, where I bought myself some early Christmas presents (it's never too early, right?) and her a holiday dress. Now we're at the coffee shop partaking of yet more chocolate. I am an excellent role model.

What have you made lately?

2009-10-21T18:03:00.003-05:00

I'm too crabby to post proper sentences or even more than a few words, but I do have some pictures to share.

How cute is this person?

This one is cute too, but I didn't make her.

This one scared Antonia, and quite rightly. Hide your children, lock up your wives, it's Giganto Squirrel!

I grew this - they bloom every year, in the spring and the fall, and I love them madly. It's also Hannah's birth-flower.

The coneflower is a new addition, but I love them too.

I grew the melon, pavonia and sage which comprise this creature, but Hannah made it all on her own. That girl has vision.

Know what I made all on my own? Shingles.

Odds and Ends

2009-10-12T18:07:00.004-05:00

Every Monday I drop off Hannah at her choir rehearsal, and head to a coffee shop for two hours of solitude. Pretty blissful - me, a book, some coffee, my MacBook...unfortunately, those last two collided a week ago, and my poor 'puter had to go to the doctor for a few days. Luckily MacTronics in Austin ROCKS and soon put it back to rights. But those were some sad lonely days without it.

I couldn't go back to that fateful coffee shop today, so I went to "the other" one - there are really only two from which to choose - and today I have a sidekick, a knitting seven year old. I recognize a couple sitting next to me from a few weeks ago - I thought they were on a blind date, but they're really studying a foreign language together - Eastern European-sounding. He hates British accents, FYI.

The weather has turned here and is now hovering between fall and winter. Well, Austin's winter. Saturday it was fall, and Jesse fired up the chainsaw and took out lots of unwanted ligustrum from the woods behind out house. I wielded the loppers and dragged limbs out to the curb with him until we were beat - but we got a lot done. Good thing, because Sunday morning we woke up to rain and it didn't really slow down all day.

Saturday afternoon we decided to have some friends over for chili & the UT game. Jesse makes terrific cornbread, I'm fond of my chili, and we have that there TV, so...the party was on. The kids requested Mary Poppins (yes, a long movie!) and so they snuggled up in bed while we watched the game. [This is the the redacted part where I talk about how drunk Angela was.] Saturday was pretty great.

Sunday, however -- Sunday was perfect. Jesse made waffles, Hannah had a playdate, the neighbor girls all came for awhile, played peacefully, and then all left (just as their piano playing was beginning to annoy me), then Hazel knitted and listened to a book on tape while Hannah did some choir homework and then some craft projects. Jesse ran an errand, I did loads of laundry, drank cups of tea, and cleaned the house in preparation for his absence this week. It was chilly and gray and wet and I loved it. Can I have another?

Reality hit today, as it always does - Jesse left to go camping with his students, Hazel had a violin lesson, & Hannah, as mentioned, is at choir. We ate dinner at 4:30 and won't be home until 8:00. I ran home during lunch to wash the breakfast dishes, put out the trash, and buy dog food. A jam-packed day and not at all lazy.

I feel like I need a photo to wrap up this mundane post - so here's my nephew, a total charmer.

Humph

2009-10-01T19:28:00.003-05:00

Things That Are Making Me Cranky

Annoying questions / requests / oversights ALL DAY LONG at work. GAH.
People Who Do Not Pay Attention (see above).
Loud noises.
The dog chasing the cat
The cat flirting with the dog and MAKING Moki chase her.
30 Rock isn't on tonight. When will it start, already?
Rain for ACL weekend. Even though I'm not going, the weather should cooperate. Just because.
The lack of a good book to read - any suggestions? (Ignore the mile-high stack on my bedside table, please).
The game the children are playing with laundry baskets. Laundry baskets which were full when the game started. They said they put everything away, but that can't be as good as it sounds, can it?
The Global Economic Apocalypse -- when will it end?
The Swine Flu - will I get it? Or should it be WHEN will I get it?
Coercing daughter to take the foul-tasting Augmentin for her ear infection, twice a day, for 10 days. See above.
My fall vegetable garden. I planted seeds. I should have planted starts.
The number of hours in a day. Here's what I require: 10 hours sleep, 9 hours work, 12 hours "free" time to parent, cook, clean, plan, read, watch, blog, chat, relax.
Someone made a sequel to Milne's The Hundred Acre Wood. WTF? Not right.
It still isn't Friday. Actually, Friday night. Not.

Why I Should Get Over It

Really, I have it good, I know I do.
It's possible that I indulged in some online therapy today.
Every single thing India likes.
I need to know how this story ends.
The glorious weather.
Watching as this "zoologists gets shagged by an endangered parrot." Yes, really.
Someone else folded all of that laundry.
It's bedtime. Not for me; for the Loud, Laundry-Basket Children.

Happy New Year!

2009-09-19T22:14:00.003-05:00

It's Rosh Hashana, which means that this mixed-marriage family is getting ready to celebrate with the appropriate foodstuffs, albeit a day after everyone else has done so. We had a party to attend tonight, and plans to take advantage of Austin Museum Day tomorrow (all local museums have free admission, & fun events), so we knew we had to celebrate Sunday and that we needed to prepare in advance as much as possible.

Tomorrow morning we'll head down to Zilker Park, have our belated yet heartfelt* Tashlich at the river, and then visit the Umlauf to wander through the trails and try our hands at clay sculpture. Then we'll head home to meet friends and family and enjoy the foods of the season:

Cholent - mine is with Fredricksburg Grassfed Beef short ribs, chuck roast and marrow bones, fresh shelling beans, and pearled barley. I just put it in the oven where it will simmer all night long. (The girls came home on Friday having learned about traditional Rosh Hashana meals at school that day, and were relieved to hear that we would not be serving head, brains or tongue.)
Gefilte fish - those jarred ones are evocative for many people, but not having grown up with them, I don't love them the way some do. So I was happy to read today that in England, Gefilte fish is traditionally fried - fried fish is a dish I can get behind 100%. I made the fish, onion & matzoh mixture earlier today, and Jesse fried the duck egg-sized balls for me.
Duck Liver Crostini - we're lucky that the Countryside Farm folks offer such meats as duck, rabbit, feral hog, & pheasant. I went to Sebastian's booth first thing this morning, and was so excited he had the duck livers I needed for this spread. I used David Tanis' recipe from A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes...I love that book. I also love that duck liver.
Fresh greens from the market - arugula, spinach, and other mixed baby greens.
Orange Salad w/Dates - another Tanis recipe, this is actually sliced Valencia oranges, sprinkled with sugar & cinnamon, and then topped with pomegranate seeds, and served next to a bowl of dates. While he serves it as a desserts, I think I'll put it out early for the children to enjoy.
Apples & Honey - a must at Rosh Hashana, this year I'll serve them with walnuts and fresh chevre with local honey drizzled on top.
Honey Cake - another must-have, which my sister is making for us this year.

Oh, the foods of fall - I'm so excited to enter a new season and to be able to use the oven without worrying about how hot it will make the house. Shana Tova, ya'll!

* Hazel confided in me recently that she was going to need a lot of bread for tashlich! Apparently she's chock full of sins.

Happenings

2009-09-13T09:29:00.005-05:00

What happens when...

... you have children who wake you at 7:30 AM on a Sunday morning:

Your husband makes breakfast - scratch biscuits, local sausage, local scrambled eggs & of course, local honey
You squeeze something like 10 oranges for fresh juice
Your children eat, then clamor to play Monopoly with their father
You clean the kitchen, and run another load of laundry
YOU REALIZE THAT IT IS ONLY 9:30 AM

...it rains in Central Texas for hours on end:

People freak out
Streets flood
Grass sprouts, literally overnight
Rain Lilies form an orange blanket across your lawn
Mud
The view out your windows turns from brown to green

...your daughter crawls into your bed at 4:30 AM with a fever:

You sleep fretfully until morning, listening to her breathe and reaching over to gauge how warm she feels
You head to the store first thing, to pick up Recharge, a fresh chicken for soup, and Rock Star bagels for your Rock Star husband
You marvel at the bagels, and even though you are trying to eat less wheat, eat an entire one - Everything, of course
You ply your daughter with Recharge, and marvel again as she summons the energy to eat two plates of scrambled eggs and a piece of toast
You wish you had a picture of your daughter, quarantined, sitting by the screen door to the patio, playing her new iPod out loud for her friend, who crouches outside.
You realize that you're not going to leave the house again that day, so you clean & reorganize the children's playroom, make the chicken soup, and read a comforting Mary Stewart novel.

...everyone else is in the newly cleaned & organized playroom, playing Monopoly:

You visit your dusty blog, thank Firefox for remembering the password, and try to string more than 140 characters together.

Bleak House

2009-08-30T21:08:00.004-05:00

Earlier in the summer, Hannah auditioned for and was accepted into a children's choir, something she's had her sights on for several years and was finally old enough to attempt. Now that school has started, weekly rehearsals have begun as well. They are preparing for a Winter Recital, so she's come home with sheet music for Rosetti's Midwinter, Faure's Cantique de Jean Racine, and Poe's The Bells, among others. Since rehearsals are two hours long, I don't stick around, but I make it a point to get there early to pick her up, sneaking into the sanctuary to hear the children sing; their combined voices are incredibly beautiful.

The weather here has been so insanely hot - 67 days so far this year with triple-digit temperatures, starting in April - and all the other days in the high 90's, as Badger pointed out. For the last few days, however, the heat has abated ever-so-slightly, and yet it's very noticeable to those of us held captive to it. I've been able to get out and walk around my street, and as I did so on Saturday, I saw neighbors I hadn't seen in months. Some were watering plants (we can only do so with a sprinkler one day a week, now), some were out on their own walks, and children were playing basketball in their drives.

It occurred to me that we're nearing the end of our own bleak midwinter, during which we have sequestered ourselves in our houses, huddled in front of fans and in the air conditioning, while the outdoors was completely inhospitable to life. The grass is dead, innumerable plants are dead or dying, and many trees are barely surviving. Summer in this part of Texas is often compared to winter for that reason - it's difficult to nurse any crops to harvest, and people just stay inside for months.

School is back in session, football is on my TV right this very moment, and Badger's putting out her Autumn candles -- yes, fall is on the way. I'm already looking forward to winter.

New Baby Needs a Name

2009-08-22T05:51:00.004-05:00

UPDATE:

Mimsy

Meet our new kitten, ~~Sandstorm~~, er, ~~Kittypet~~, um, ~~Puss-Puss~~, wait, Mame!

Well, maybe. What do you think?

Goings On

2009-08-19T20:10:00.004-05:00

What a week we've had over here. Hannah started school on Monday - I'd post a picture, only I wasn't allowed to take one. Hazel and I have been home, but thanks to the addition of a friend of hers who also hasn't started yet, I've been able to work. Why the different start dates? Their school groups students into multi-aged groups, three years at a time, and the oldest children return first, then the second years a few days later, and finally the newbies come in last. It helps the class get settled before the new kids come in, so the teacher can focus on them while the rest of the class is already hard at work. And it makes the beginning of every school year a new puzzle in scheduling.

The girls made cookies on Monday, when two other friends were visiting as well, and set up shop at the end of the driveway. Unfortunately, business was slow, it being a weekday, and they only made $3 from one generous customer. Somehow, both batches of cookies disappeared anyway.

Yesterday, the girls pooled their money, and we trolled Craigslist for their must-have item, a used digital camera. Since they are sharing the camera, they came up with several rules governing its ownership:

Each girls gets it for a week at a time, starting Wednesdays.
If one of them is going on vacation, she can take it. If both girls go on vacation at the same time, the one with the coolest destination gets it (according to them, caves trump the Grand Canyon).
If it gets stolen or broken..."It won't, that's why it has a strap."

We found one in their budget, and picked it up last night, and they've been busy taking pictures of our new kitten all day.

Because YES, we also got a cat off Craigslist. O Craig, how I love thee.

She met all of our criteria - young (12 weeks or so), female, and a combination of a grey tabby (Jesse's wish) and a tortoiseshell/calico (mine). We haven't settled on a name yet, but due to the fact that every girl around is reading the Warrior series, they've suggested "Sandstorm," since the description in the book evidently matches our girl's markings. They're also calling her "Kittypet" and "Puss-Puss," so who knows where it will end up.

Puss-Puss - that's a winner, right?

Seven! aka The Cake

2009-08-10T19:18:00.006-05:00

Hazel is a planner, and she started planning for her end-of-July 7th birthday sometime in June. Probably on the car ride home from Colorado, during one of the brief interludes between Harry Potter books. "A Jungle theme, " she announced, "No, wait - Rainforest!"

Once I was ready to start planning too, we pulled out the World Book, #16 Q-R (mysteriously missing from the shelf today, I see), and as I read from the rainforest entry, she jotted down the creatures and plant life she wanted to incorporate into her cake:

Elephants (only her 2nd favorite living creature)
Tigers
Trees
Jaguars
Giraffes (she started getting carried away from the rainforest theme)
Capybara (She caught my interest here. Could I use her cake as my Village Fete entry? I could!)
Ants
Hippos
I'm sure there are more, the list seemed endless.

After enduring days of begging and pleading, I took the girls with me to the toy store and the cake decorating store to see what we could find, and ended up with the makings of a pretty decent rainforest. Once home, Hazel plotted out her design in the empty cake pan, and took pictures as an aide-memoire.

Even the jars of sprinkles were placed just so.

I baked the cake the night before her birthday (Thanks, Deb, this recipe was all you said it would be), adding some cocoa powder to satisfy her demand for a chocolate cake. (I also used Deb's icing, and seriously, sour cream and good chocolate work really well together.)

The next morning, I iced the cake, and then Hazel's super-creative Aunt M helped her execute her plan, while I hovered with the camera. Truly, Hazel did most of the work, from start to finish - she was rightly proud of it. See for yourself:

Don't think I had nothing to do with the design, however. I did ensure that the Playmobil family of Wild Boars were considered Capybara instead, and I also made sure one capybara was swimming, as they do, (that blue bit was a river, could you tell?) and that one was eaten by the vicious alligator. As I'm sure the alligators do.

I'm alive (but just barely)

2009-08-07T06:26:00.006-05:00

This week has seen the beginnings of the return to routine for which I long. In echo of Jennifer's words - I love it when school gets out, and I love it when school starts back again. It's been so damn hot here - what are we at, 47 days of triple digit heat so far this year? - that I've lost the will to cook, the will to blog, even the will to read blogs. Last night, in a desperate attempt to trick myself, I made a cup of tea, got out a delicious (gluten-free!) chocolate cake, and turned on a Miss Marple Mystery, that's how dearly I"m wishing for winter. Or even just a daily high of 85.

Hannah has been attending a kick-off camp for three days for the youth choir to which she was accepted earlier this summer, and Hazel has been a camp at the Children's Museum. Yesterday, I arrived about 10 minutes early to retrieve Hannah, and so got to sit in the sanctuary and listen to the group sing. There are about 60 kids, broken into two singing groups, but they sing together for part of each rehearsal. According to the e-mail I received afterward, here is what I heard: "The choirs also had a beautiful moment with the Cantique de Jean Racine, creating a very well shaped crescendo and phrase." Whatever it was, it was beautiful - I got goosebumps. I'm so happy Hannah gets to be a part of this - she's always loved beautiful music.

Last week we had Hazel's birthday party - she is officially 7 now. She designed and decorated her own amazing Rainforest cake, which I'm going to show you, but it deserves a post of its own, not least because I'll be entering it in the Village Fete.

Hm, the radio voice just informed me that it's 10 minutes past 7 AM, also known as 20 minutes before I should be leaving. Shower, breakfast, wake & feed children...that seems like a lot to do in 20 minutes, doesn't it?

Food, Food and More Food

2009-07-20T20:53:00.012-05:00

Despite the relentless heat sapping the will to live - and cook - from my body, I've been managing to maintain my caloric input quite nicely.

Saturday night we went to the grocery store en famille, and Jesse shopped while the girls and I bellied up to the fish counter. Hannah ordered seafood gazpacho, with shrimp and scallop ceviche, and I had seared scallops on spinach tossed in red onions, capers, a hot bacon dressing, and topped with a balsamic reduction. Hazel took one look at the menu and left for the BBQ counter to get a chopped beef sandwich and a draft Maine root beer. Hannah liked her soup, although it was spiced a little bit too much for her, and we all liked my salad, so I shared. Hazel made short work of her beef.

After all that we had to have gelato, of course - Panna Cotta, Espresso, Strawberry, and Chocolate, in varying combinations.

Sunday morning saw the return of the neighborhood brunch, thanks to the generosity of our friends who agreed, after much begging, to open up their home to the 'hood once again. Jesse made biscuits, and we traipsed down the street with our offerings in tow, meeting up with other friends along the way. Some brought champagne for mimosas, some brought home-grown tomatoes, and everyone pitched in to help one we were there. It was a smaller crowd than it has been, but was just the perfect way to start off a Sunday.

While brunching, I mentioned that I was contemplating attending one of Addie's meet-ups that night, at the Cathedral of Junk. One thing led to another, however, and after a long day cleaning out our utility room and doing laundry, I was napping on the couch, and had decided to stay home. That's when the phone started to ring, each time a different friend saying she wanted to go with us. I could take a hint, and I could wake up, so we called the girls back home from their adventures and set off, stopping three times to pick up our friends. See, that's why we got the mini-van!

Addie organized a terrific evening - in addition to all of the lovely junk, the Tipsy Texans were there pouring cocktails (local Hairston Creek cantaloupes and watermelons, juiced and mixed with Tito's Vodka, Pimm's, and a simple syrup made with celery and parsley) and offering "appropriate" Jarritos to the kids, the Pop-So-Cool folks brought their frozen concoctions, and Jennie from MisoHungry made and brought Lamingtons to share. We saw her again tonight, and I was shocked to hear she had leftover Lamingtons in her refrigerator - how can that be possible, and why didn't I have more than half of one?

On our way home from the Junk, we planned a happy hour at The Clay Pit for tonight, but I hijacked it once I saw that Uchi was hosting a Sake Social, with free sake and free appetizers. Our friend Lisa was a little apprehensive about trying sushi, but she has an adventurous spirit and tried several items.

The kind and generous folks at Uchi were pouring three kinds of Junmai-shu, also known as Very Nice Sake: Sacred Power, Divine Droplets, and Bride of the Fox. Each was an eye-opening experience -- as smooth and mellow as no sake I'd ever tasted before. My favorite was the Sacred Power, in case anyone out there is taking notes.

In addition, excellent appetizers were passed around - chilled cantaloupe dipped in a sweet rice wine syrup, slow-roasted pork belly, tempura eggplant, scallions, onion rings and tiny spring onions - I was happy to stand in their lobby all night. Luckily for me, Paula had other ideas, so I soon found myself seated at a table in the dining room, contemplating their exquisite menu, with Paula, Lisa and Angela.

Our server, Jody, was excellent - she took command of the table, which is what I look for in a good server, and wasn't afraid to steer us towards a good choice or away from a not-so-good choice. After determining that some of us had visited before and some had not, she introduced the newbies to the fine art of ordering at sushi restaurants, a philosophy I like to call "keep ordering until you're full, or broke."

We started with tempura Japanese Pumpkin, which was so good that we ordered four plates before the night was done, and staked our claims to the dipping sauce by whatever means necessary (I'm looking at you, Paula). Paula and I shared the foie gunkam - foie gras on rice, wrapped in nori and topped with celery and avocado - rich, buttery goodness. A table favorite was the Machi Cure, maplewood smoked baby yellowtail with yucca chips, Asian pear, and Marcona almonds - this was the dish that lured Lisa to try raw fish, not once, but twice. The fish was as fresh and sweet as you could hope for, and the yucca and pears were the perfect accompaniment for it.

We also ordered a few hot rocks - the scallops, and the beef - and they didn't disappoint. Angela's favorite, the Hakujin, combined fresh salmon and asparagus, dusted in tempura flakes - the pairing of the fish and vegetable was creamy and classic. The pitchfork paired wagyu beef with avocado, topped with crisp, fried leeks, which could have been a dish on their own.

Oh, and I can't forget the tako pops - everyone's favorite. Those little babies were tasty!

Before too long, Angela and I had to hop into her pumpkin carriage and head home to our responsibilities. Mine were watching Cosmos ("He talks funny, Mom") and offered me the ice cream Jesse mixed up last night, Salted Caramel. Would you believe I'm still too full to have any?

Free! Fun! Blues!

2009-07-10T21:57:00.006-05:00

Austin is full of fun & free activities, and I never feel I take advantage of them as I ought. I generally know about them, but somehow staying home after a week at the office wins out more often then not. Yes, I am lazy.

I'm a total homebody, and we were out of town for almost a week around the 4th, and then we got home late on Sunday and it then was so hot...it was a pretty miserable week. Throw in an intense work project that culminated on Wednesday, and you might be able to see why I was made of jelly all week. Melted jelly. Juice?

At any rate, it got better after Wednesday, and last night I was mostly sane, and today I felt GREAT. So great that I decided to take advantage of one of those fun Austin events.

It was hot - we topped 100 degrees for the 23rd time this summer - but the plaza is on the east side of the building, huge swamp fans were blowing, and we could pop into the lobby whenever we wanted. We picked up our free Harmonicas - actual Hohners, not plastic toys - as well as a couple of booklets of songs and instructions. The instructor was entertaining and an amazing player, and we learned the major scale, train whistles, the wah-wah, and several other fun party tricks.

One child was not pleased that she wasn't immediately able to master her new instrument, so she and I went in to check out one of the exhibits for awhile. When we hooked back up with our family, we got in line for the BBQ, while the girls moaned, "I hate barbecue" and "I can't eat that yellow stuff (potato salad)." I don't know about you, but that's always my favorite part of the day, when the children are starving, and nothing looks good to them. Once we got our food, the girls inhaled it, and the one who hates barbecue asked for seconds.

After we ate our free -FREE! - ice cream, we went back in and toured the museum - Jesse and the girls have been there several times, but I'd never made it. It's a really nice museum; I didn't live in Texas for Texas History (7th grade?), so much of it was new to me.

We went back out and watched the end of the set, while one child begged to go home. Poor thing, forced to hear live music. I wanted to stay for Miss Lavelle, but we finally gave in to the sleepy demands of our children, and brought them home to bed.

Now I'm drinking a Mint Julep - how does anyone finish these things? I didn't even make it as strong as it called for - and Jesse is watching those Weeds episodes I devoured earlier in the week. I'm so freakin' glad it's the weekend.

So tiny

2009-07-02T08:02:00.003-05:00

Our hummingbird feeder has been working overtime this summer, keeping these little guys fueled up. I sat outside on Sunday morning, reading the paper and throwing the ball for Moki (our never-ending activity), and managed to get a few shots I liked. Because there aren't enough pictures of hummingbirds, right?

What happens when I leave my computer open?

2009-07-01T17:47:00.002-05:00

I come home to these beauties, that's what:

Delicious Baby

2009-06-28T09:26:00.002-05:00

Just some gratuitous Ulysses pics.

A couple of things

2009-06-25T20:24:00.004-05:00

First - the weather. It cannot be denied, it's hot, with no improvement in sight.

I took this picture at 8:00 PM:

Jesse is playing tennis because he is INSANE.

Second, Michael Jackson. I haven't really kept up with his shenanigans, but I do remember the first time I heard my friends talking about that great new music video "Gorilla" -- I didn't have MTV, I didn't know! I also remember that my Canadian cousin LOVED him, wanted to marry him, and when she and I visited our grandparents together one summer, I heard a lot of MJ.

Perv, pedophile, irretrievably messed up individual, his music is iconic. RIP.

Sloth, Indolence

2009-06-24T06:53:00.005-05:00

When I got home yesterday, Hazel had made a batch of sugar cookies on which she could paste sugar icing, and our dinner was in the oven. I'd chosen this dinner, but several hours of uninterrupted oven use didn't help out the kitchen very much on a day when we broke a 19-year record and hit 103. I mixed up two of my new favorite drinks for Jesse and me (Gimlets with Tito's vodka, St. Germain Elderflower liquor, and fresh lime juice). Mental note: no more full-strength beverages on hot weekday afternoons!

Luckily, Hannah felt as indolent as we did, so she and I read on the couch and Jesse went off to strum his guitar. Hazel, on the other hand, was full - F U L L ! - of energy and kept coming around looking for something to do with somebody, anybody! I finally suggested a shower - that girl loves to get clean - and went to hide, I mean, to bed.

Here's a sweet bonus shot of Lisa from our trip, taken from the back of our spaceship.

For Emma

2009-06-23T06:52:00.002-05:00

Road Trip!

2009-06-22T21:40:00.002-05:00

Ah, summertime. The girls are in bed, the dog is chewing her bone, the fan is blowing, and Jesse and I are each sitting with a computer in our laps.

It's been warmish since we got home from our road trip, and I've been enjoying it - even though I'm stuck with the non-air-conditioned car over the summer. Nothing compares to that completely saturating heat we have here, especially when you walk out of an over-air-conditioned building. However, it does mean that my veggies are virtually done, and makes me thankful again for the CSA basket we get every week.

We had a great trip - the girls were excellent travelers, and the dog lay down and went to sleep as soon as she got in the car, rising only occasionally to turn and get more comfortable. Lisa, Michael and the girls were excellent hosts, plying us with good food and s'mores from the moment we arrived. We enjoyed three jam-packed days with them in Colorado, then headed out for another three days on the road, stopping to camp in Santa Fe and Balmorhea. We put 2700 miles on our car, and several hundred pictures on our camera. Also, we listened to so much Harry Potter that my dreams are now narrated by Jim Dale.

I put a few of those pictures on Flickr - stop by and check them out.

Mountain Goats

2009-06-17T10:18:00.002-05:00

Future Scientists of America

2009-06-16T08:43:00.001-05:00

RAIN!

2009-06-11T21:41:00.004-05:00

A big thunderstorm has been making its way south and east through Austin tonight. Jesse was off playing tennis, and once I noted the green nature of the twilight, I turned on the weather. The girls were enjoying a long bath (safest place to be during that tornado warning, right?). Once they got out, they snuggled up next to me, so I turned off the weather, opened the sliding glass doors so we could hear the storm, and turned an episode of The Blue Planet. We all enjoyed the rain, and Jesse checked in occasionally to give me his status. The only downside was the unwitting synchronization between the show (Dramatic Music, an Animal in Danger!) and the weather (Lightening! Thunder! Boom!).

Mr. Weather is telling me that this rain will do nothing to abate our drought, but I'm glad for it nonetheless.

At any given moment

2009-06-09T17:57:00.002-05:00

Moki would like to play fetch. Since I sat down at the computer, she's dropped the ball on the keyboard ten times.

Make that twelve.

My new hero

2009-06-07T16:29:00.007-05:00

I'm just a little bit exhausted over here, folks, and I didn't run a triathlon like Kris did. I did wake up at 5:00 and then rode my bike a bit, but then I had to take a nap this afternoon.

The girls also rode their bikes, on mile each way there and back, and were champs.

Kris competed for the first time this year, but Jennifer and Emily are seasoned pros. Angela came with us, and we were able to spot Kris and Jenn coming out of the water, the first event, and even ran into a friend there.

Here's the lake in which they swam, and some shots of the last sprint to the finish line:

Look how Kris has a smile on her face - she didn't even seem winded!

Not my favorite woodland creature

2009-05-30T21:27:00.003-05:00

Lately we've had some fat, juicy toads on our patio, and I've been surprised that Moki hasn't noticed them. They come out at dusk, and hop across the cement in search of moisture, I suppose, and she runs right past them.

When I called her inside just now, I must have peripherally seen this dark object, and assumed it was a toad, at first. But it caught my eye, and it was NOT a toad. No, no it wasn't:

And for scale:
We're wondering if it's the same one we found in our hallway and released, several years ago?

Well, Hello

2009-05-30T08:22:00.009-05:00

While my feelings of relief may pale beside Jesse's - he wrapped up another school year with a lovely commencement ceremony last night - I'm still very glad the last week of school, and indeed the entire month of May, is over. As I contemplate making my menu and shopping list this morning, I realize it's been weeks since we had a quiet weekend and week ahead of us - ah, the bliss!

Not that I haven't enjoyed May - I have, I always do, it's my birthday month and I'm very fond of it for that and many reasons. But it's truly worn me out this year, and I welcome June with open arms and plenty of sunscreen.

We had a terrific trip to the Lakehouse last weekend. Located in Southeast Texas, i.e. the Tropic of Humid, it rained every afternoon - and a proper rain, too, not a weak shower. It really is a perfect idyll - the mornings are cool(ish), we can take our coffee outside and admire the natural beauty surrounding us, the children and the dog can frolic on the lawn and, as the day heats up, in the canoe on the lake (children) or in the water (dog).

(I know this isn't the best picture of Jesse, but I love the contrast of his expression vs. the dog's)

We eat a leisurely lunch (or in my case, extended snack), the children head back outdoors, and as the thunderstorms roll in, we retreat indoors and play Scrabble, or card games, or watch illicit TV (the Disney channel - the horror!). I think that's exactly how holiday weekends with your family should be, in my opinion.

On the way home, we opted for a scenic route, one not taken before. As we meandered through Texas for five hours, we stopped and bought lottery tickets (we doubled our $4 investment!) and road food (Fig Newtons, for me) and enjoyed the scenery. Our meandering drive cemented a notion I'd been forming to take a proper roadtrip this summer, and combine it with the girls' desire to camp, and we're now contemplating a 10-day trip Out West to visit friends and take in The Sites. If you have any camping suggestions for Colorado, New Mexico or West Texas, please share them!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we've played in our Violin Recital, enjoyed a night out to see Wait, Wait, attended the end-of-year class Pool Party, and we're now ready to welcome summer vacation with open arms.

Hello, Summer!

shave & a haircut

2009-05-22T07:20:00.001-05:00

shave & a haircut
Originally uploaded by sinda kate.

We're headed out of town this afternoon, us and our little dog too.

I say little, because Moki got a clip for the summer and she's about a quarter the dog she used to be! I cautioned the girls not to laugh at her and hurt her feelings, but Hannah did almost cry. All night she kept saying, "She still remembers her toys!" as if Moki had been away for a prolonged trip.

Moki is happy to be cool and free of mats and burrs, but she does look pretty goofy. Good thing we already like her so much...

Have a great holiday - see you on the other side!

Good morning, sunshine

2009-05-13T07:56:00.002-05:00

A birthday gift from Lisa.

Paired with fresh flowers from Hazel.

A beautiful start to my morning. Thanks, Lisa! And Hazel!

Found

2009-05-12T19:42:00.001-05:00

IMG_0309
Originally uploaded by sinda kate.

I cleaned out the inner recesses of the couch this weekend.

Happy Day, Moms

2009-05-10T20:49:00.007-05:00

What a weekend!

We kicked it off Friday night at our gym, which has a huge outdoor swimming pool with water slides, ad which was hosting a family pool party. They supplied free, edible food and we supplied excited children. The Krispy family came down to join us, and then the men drove the children to their respective homes while Kris and I hopped it over to a neighborhood Patron Party. You should be grateful that I have no pictures of bad karaoke or worse, recordings.

Saturday, after Moki and I went to the farmer's market, Jesse and I took the girls to Zilker park, to volunteer for this. We sifted soil for an hour in the sun, me channeling my inner Amelia Peabody, Hazel wishing we'd thought ahead and brought our swimsuits so we could visit the Springs afterwards, Hannah hoping for a Find, and Jesse patiently sifting. We did find a few flakes, from arrowheads, so Hannah was mollified.

After we got home, the girls ran down the street to swim, and I prepped a Rhubarb Tart (from this month's Gourmet) for dinner with the Krispys. Dinner there was as pleasant as always, even though Smith still cheats at cards.*

Today the girls woke me up with a latte,** both papers, and their very sweet selves. I just read a post by Finslippy's sister Liz, and she captured this stage of life very well. The girls have been planning their campaign all week, and making gifts for me at school (beaded necklaces), and were just genuinely excited about the holiday. Jesse got me the Bialetti coffeemaker I've wanted for ages, because that's how wonderful he is.

After we ate our breakfast - waffles, fresh strawberries and hand-whipped cream, and bacon, of course - we lounged for what seems like 5 minutes, and then started to get ready for Ballet Austin's Cinderella. I subscribed months ago, and could happily have stayed home, but while it made for a busy weekend, the girls enjoyed it, and it was nicely done. Also, it gave us an excuse to pose for a cheesy family portrait.

Also, being out and about gave us a good excuse to eat at The Clay Pit, to which suggestion both of the girls made sounds of disgust originally, but by the end of the meal were proclaiming their love for all food Indian. The Clay Pit will do that to you. Also, we apparently were there at the same time as Mags, only since we got to eat in the crypt-like basement, I didn't see her.***

A pretty great weekend, I'd say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* OK, so maybe he doesn't cheat, but what other explanation is there for the fact that he always wins???

** I didn't get to drink much of that latte, since Moki brought her nasty tennis ball to me, begging me to throw it for her, and dropped it in my cup.

*** The girls have long wanted to go down those stairs, and have always assumed that it was the actual "clay pit" for which the restaurant was named. They really enjoyed eating down there!

Swingin'

2009-05-06T07:02:00.007-05:00

When Hannah was born, we lived in San Antonio, in a small and adorable Arts & Crafts bungalow not far from The Witte and the Botanical Gardens. It was our second house to own, and the first we were able to furnish with real, "grown-up" furniture. (We still have that furniture, and it looks destined to hang around until it becomes college furniture for the children.)

Hannah was an incredibly easy baby (she really didn't protest abut much until her sister came along), but when she would succumb to the inevitable mewling that strikes even the best babies, we'd take her outside, sit in the porch swing and push off, and she'd instantly quiet.

So when we moved back to Austin less than a year later, we took that porch swing with us, unable to part from it and the memories of that first little girl. We've lugged it to each house we've bought since then, but never again have we had a porch large enough to hold it. Occasionally, we'd make noises about building an A-frame from which to suspend it, but neither of us are particularly handy or fond of taking on construction projects, so nothing happened. When my mother visited in March, she couldn't believe we still had gotten no further with our plans for that poor old porch swing.

All this is to say that when I opened the front door yesterday and saw a big box sitting outside it, a box with a picture of an A-Frame stuck to it, I knew exactly who it was from - thanks, Mom!

We'll get right on that, promise.

Exposition, really

2009-05-03T21:06:00.003-05:00

I came home to work here Friday afternoon, because I needed some quiet solitude for the presentation I was finishing up. Perhaps it's because of those extra hours home that this weekend felt like a proper break, but whatever the cause, I'm glad.

Friday night we held a "Swine Flu Inoculation" party, not my idea but that of a clever guest. I cleaned out my frig and pantry to furnish snacks, and we drank several versions of the inoculation, and laughed at Texts From Last Night, while the children watched HP2. You know it's a good night when several of you refresh your drinks and set off to walk the 1/2 mile around the block...twice.

Saturday we made the rounds of the Farmer's Market, Whole Earth for new summer shoes for Hazel, and then home for the day. Jesse whipped together a wonderful Vietnamese Banh - cold noodles, savoy cabbage, julienned carrots and cucumber and perfectly grilled port tenderloin - and we invited a friend over to savor it with us. Turns out Vietnamese food goes perfectly with XX Lager.

Today we read the papers, I finally got my pancakes, and I headed downtown to the fountain at Butler Park with the neighborhood gang of girls while Jesse went grocery shopping. It was a perfect day for it - sunny and warm, but with a slightly cool breeze. The girls brought scooters and wore swimsuits so they could ride up and down the hill - it has a fabulous paved path which winds around and around it - and then cool off in the sprays of water below. Home again, they all took off down the street where a slip-n-slide awaited them, and I stayed home to prep for dinner and finish my book(s).

Dinner: pizza with the greens again - so good, when faced with a full frig of greens we knew what we wanted right away, this time with feta.

Book(s): The Language of Bees, Laurie King's newest. I"m sorry I finished it already, as I knew I would be. I'd also started Case Histories, by Kate Atkins, earlier this week, so I finished it off as well - it ends almost as unsatisfactorily as King's, but at least I don't have to wait a YEAR for the conclusion. Which isn't to say that I don't recommend them both wholeheartedly because I DO.

Also, we sold one of those bikes, because I also posted the ad on Facebook and some friends from school who also have two daughters called to snatch them up. They only took Hazel's - Hannah's was the same size as the one they had also outgrown - but I was happy to see it go to people we know. Hurrah for social networks, say I.

[And literally, just as I was typing this, Jenn, your FB note came through - see my response, fingers crossed!]

We've made a habit recently of watching Nature on Sunday nights with the girls, and tonight's episode was a great one - Sea Eagles on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. There were also otters - Hannah's current obsession - and whales and dolphins - Hazel's perennial obsessions- so it was perfect.

Now we've watched Friday's Dollhouse episode - WOW - and most of the laundry is put away. But I blogged, so that's got to be worth something, right?

Bikes for sale!

2009-05-03T09:54:00.003-05:00

Hey, I'm selling these bikes - anyone want them? Special discount for blog-readers!

The blue one is 20", one hand brake plus pedal-brakes:

And the purple one is 14":

Seriously, want 'em?

I forgot the elephants!

2009-04-27T19:22:00.004-05:00

I didn't show you those pictures, did I?

So, yeah, we went to the local Mela, the May Fair at the Hindi temple down south.

The girls really wanted to get some mehndi on their hands.

That accomplished, we got in line for the pachyderms.

Those guys are BIG.

Ladies?

Noble beasts, either way.

2009-04-27T06:57:00.003-05:00

It's hard when you have the smallest bikes on the block.

Sure, your bikes are nice, but they can't go as fast as everyone else's.

Plus, you've grown, you're so much bigger than you were.

So you want new bikes.

You beg, you plead, you wheedle.

You promise, you pledge, you swear.

And now, you think you can keep up.

My day in pictures

2009-04-24T21:22:00.006-05:00

There was no school today, so the girls and I headed to Changos for breakfast, then home again to get my wallet, than back to Changos for delicious tacos. We wanted to go to the Beauty School, Hazel for a bang trim, and all of us for pedicures, a brilliant idea I had about five minutes before Hannah walked in carrying my pedicure kit.

I wish I had pictures from the School of Beauty, but suffice it to say that the trainees were all young, had many tattoos and piercings, and wore black clothing exclusively, while the clients were older, blue-haired and permed, and female all. Hannah and Hazel made a welcome diversion for them I think.

Afterward, we went to pick up my sister and the boys, and eventually ended up back here, where my camera awaited me. Look at this smiler!

Mosey had something to smile about, too, but he kept a straight face.

Hazel played with her baby, and posed.

Don't they both look like deer in the headlights?

Much cuter here.

Meanwhile, Mokie got a makeover from Hannah.

Look again.

Would you believe such a sweet creature could be so vicious with a helpless squirrel?

RIP

2009-04-22T15:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I have sad news to report. During my lunch break at home yesterday (in which I noted the dog had dragged out a bike helmet, a knee pad and three cans of ginger ale), I stepped out front to check in on the baby wrens. The plant pot was tipped over, and the nest was shredded. No birds remained, whole or in part.

Better luck next time, momma bird.

Pizza Pie!

2009-04-19T19:06:00.003-05:00

What do you do when you have TOO many greens? Kale, Swiss Chard, Beet, and Spinach greens all made an appearance in our CSA box this week. Luckily, Nancy Harmon Jenkins rose to the occasion, with a recipe for double-crusted pizza from southern Italy, which calls for 3 1/2 pounds of greens.

Just sautee onions and garlic, and add the greens in until they are wilted through. Add some chopped black olives, anchovies, and pine nuts, and let cool until dough is ready to be rolled out. Jesse made a distressed moue when I mentioned that the recipe called for plumped golden raisins, so I omitted them.

Seriously good.

Of Elephants ad Mehndi

2009-04-19T09:00:00.002-05:00

Kristina invited me to attend a lovely event last night, with an Indian theme, which included a candlelit garden scape, delicious food, free-flowing drinks, and Mehndi. The girls are very jealous of my henna'd hand this morning!

The event reminded me that the Mela should be taking place soon, so I looked it up and - next weekend! SO GLAD I checked!

The last time I went was a few years ago, and it fell on the same day I'd planned a party, so I took the girls by myself and Jesse stayed home to cook and clean. I think that was the last party for which we felt we had to divide and conquer - since then, the girls have been old enough that we could get things done without removing them from the premises.

Elephants, Indian food, dancing, elephants, Mehndi, elephants...who's in?

I think they may be growing*

2009-04-18T09:10:00.004-05:00

Jesse had the camera with him all week while he was camping, and I was pining for it to take a picture of those baby wrens.

I have my sister's Macro lens, but I can't make auto-focus work - it's hard to get a good shot.

Every once in a while, however, I do.

* As Lisa says, click on the picture to enbiggen it. Especially that last one. Cute!

You did ask

2009-04-16T18:16:00.003-05:00

How many chins do you see here? I just count one, but I may not be the best judge. Go over here and tell her for yourself.

Open Letter

2009-04-16T12:17:00.002-05:00

Dear C i t i b a n k,

Yes, I'm glad that I signed up for auto-pay on your site. Yes, I'm happy about the environment, etc. Also, thanks for starting it up right away, I was glad to see that payment go through right when I expected it to.

But that late payment fee you charged me the next day was dismaying. And the difficulty I had in trying to contact you to fix it was ridiculous. Guess what - not everyone has their card with that 3 digit verification number handy all the time. I finally found a way to email you my complaint, and felt a little better when I saw you responded within one day.

But was it really necessary to email me to say there was a response, but make me log on to your site to SEE it?

And then, THEN!! Then you had the audacity to tell me that you would apply a courtesy credit, but that the payment had indeed been late. GUESS WHAT? NOT MY PROBLEM! I put the payment in YOUR hands, oh Bank of Cities, and YOU messed it up.

It might not surprise you that I was happy to see this: "click here to provide feedback on this transaction." I clicked with alacrity. And I found a survey. Fine, I thought, I'll respond. But by the 10th question, my responses began to get even less favorable. And by the 20th question, I was seriously annoyed.

Thirty-nine questions, C i t i b a n k? Was that really necessary? Has anyone given you favorable responses after undergoing interrogation comparable to that of the CIA?

I'm watching you, C i t i b a n k. Play nice, and give some consideration to improving your processes.

Annoyed,
Sinda

Little Boidies

2009-04-13T20:10:00.006-05:00

Jesse's gone again, this time camping for a week, and I haven't started this sojourn off as smoothly as I did the last one. I blame the Easter Bunny. And her chocolate.

I saw a bunny tonight, as I was taking out the trash, and was glad Moki didn't catch site of it. Glad, that is, for about a minute, until Moki did see it and took off, out of the yard, past the invisible fence, and across the street into the neighbor's yard. Oops. I saw three more rabbits tonight after that, so apparently the Easter Bunny laid real eggs. Quick-hatching Bunny Eggs.

And, oh! That reminds me that the wren eggs hatched while we were out of town this weekend, and now we have a nest of writhing baby bird beaks. Cute!

I'm all about segues tonight...anyone tried the birdhouseapp yet?

No segue: we went to Houston this weekend for Passover, and had a great time, very restful and fun. We drove down with my sister, her two boys, the dog, all of us, and it was an easy ride there and back, even through a tremendous downpour. Friday morning I got pastries from my favorite bakery, including amazing (whole wheat) Hot Cross Buns - the whole wheat truly was parenthetical. That night we met up with Jesse's dad and his wife for our traditional Vietnamese meal, which Hazel proclaimed "delicious!" while Hannah complained that we eat there too often. Hm, need a new plan for the next trip.

We saw cousins...

And held babies (Uly)...
And played with not-quite cousins...

And loved the introduction of the Kids' Table.

It was a great weekend, marred only by the knowledge that Jesse old have to turn around and repeat the trip today as he headed east.

More with the weather and the season

2009-04-08T19:23:00.006-05:00

I know I've been blathering on about Spring for months, but that's the beauty of Austin weather - it just keeps giving and giving. In February our highest temp was 89 and our lowest 19. In March, our highest was 88 and our lowest was 26. Last weekend we hit 90 degrees and Monday night it froze...so Spring has had a lot of opportunity to shine, in my opinion. Where shine = not too cold, but not too hot, and cold weather is quickly mitigated by warmth.

All of which is to say that, apropos of Spring, I have several nests around the house these days. A family of Titmice found their way, as they do every year, into a birdhouse which hangs from a pole in the back yard. When I hang laundry, I can hear the little babies chirping away. A single mother, a Carolina Wren, built her nest in my geranium pot by my front door.

She's not the brightest of mothers, but she seems to have good intentions.These wrens are some of my favorite birds - I like their songs, and the way they fly off, quick and low, when I startle them by going about my life.

I've stopped watering the plant as frequently as I would like, and when I do, I just trickle water in. She has about 6 eggs in there, and I'd love for them to hatch out. She tolerates me poking my nose in every day - as long as I don't touch the plant, or spray water on her, she stays put. Which is fair.

Want to see her?

Happy Spring!

The First Tooth

2009-04-03T21:08:00.006-05:00

So, it's Friday night, and our newest neighbor is having a happy hour for the whole neighborhood - a "stop by with food and drink and visit with your friends" kind of night.

I had a long week.

We heard the story about that one time our neighbor went across the street, to the other neighbor's house, she who is a Wiccan, and shot his gun across her door step saying, " You think you like the devil? I'll show you the devil, and you're NOT going to like him!!!"

Our Fire-starter neighbor came, and not surprisingly, lit a fire.

My phone rang twice. The first time, it was Hannah, begging me to come home through loud sobs.

The second time, it was Hazel. "Daddy gave me some cholocate, and I lost a TOOTH!"

I came home immediately, of course.

More about the dog

2009-04-02T15:10:00.011-05:00

I didn't really know anything about Golden Doodles when we got Moki.

I knew people were out there making new hybrids every day - Hannah's obsession with the Puggle taught me that, at least. I knew I like Golden Retrievers, and I liked Standard Poodles, and I thought they might make a nice mix.
I imagined they might shed less, or be less allergenic. But I hadn't done any breed research, and I didn't really have any preconceptions about their temperament.

We've been really happy with this new addition to our family. At 9 months, she's enough of a puppy that she plays with us and with the girls, but mature enough that she obeys pretty well and doesn't overwhelm the girls with jumping and general excitedness.

She is definitely smart, and therefore prone to boredom, where boredom = MUST CHEW THINGS, so we've purchased several fancy toys for her, including a Kong into which you can stuff treats and which keeps her busy for hours. She likes squeaky toys, although she quickly dismembers them. We used to buy a lamb's wool gingerbread stuffed toy for George that we called "Isabel," and Moki really likes Isabel too - we've been through two already, and Jesse has decreed a "One Isabel a Month" rule.

She has another rubber squeaky toy he calls "Mike Wazowski," which the girls don't even get since we haven't seen Monsters, Inc. for years. Mike Wazowski is VERY LOUD and must be hidden most of the time. If she can see him, she'll get him.

She's eaten a few non-toy items so far - several paper items, CD cases and even CDs, Jesse's prescription sunglasses and case - luckily, the glasses were salvageable - a paper Chinese umbrella (sh, don't tell Hannah), hamster food, and the container which held the hamster food.

I think there's more, I just can't remember it all. So, we keep her in the utility room while we're gone, and until she's 100% reliable with the invisible fence. I'm thinking about allowing her to sleep in our room or the girls' all night, as she is housebroken, and pathetically sad at night when we shut the door to her room.

She LOVES to play fetch with a tennis ball, and as a tennis widow, I have a LOT of tennis balls available. They're now scattered throughout the house and yard, and as soon as we get home Jesse and I go out back to throw the ball for her.

She's great about bringing it right to you, and if you can't reach it, she'll pick it back up and bring it closer. She looks super-floppity when she runs to get the ball, I love to watch her.

So yeah, we think we'll keep her.

Happy Birthday, Mosey!

2009-03-30T06:07:00.004-05:00

Last week, Young Master Mose turned three years old, so we gathered at the park yesterday to celebrate appropriately: playground equipment, friends, and cake.

J was rocking the park in his shades.

Hannah captured this sweet pic of Mosey's friend O.

And Mosey enjoyed his Chlocolate Cake.

i contrari

2009-03-24T20:58:00.003-05:00

Our new favorite book, which Jesse found in Rome:

I made it!

2009-03-24T19:25:00.005-05:00

Well, not just me, we all did. Jesse is home from his 17-day trip to Italy, after one long, 27-hour day of travel yesterday. The girls woke us up this morning with squeals of excitement, having set their alarms. Jesse passed out the gifts, and we eventually left for school and work. Now we're home again, enjoying our first family night in weeks. Jesse made his perfect Caesar Salad w/ Grilled Chicken, and we're looking at his pictures via the TV. The girls are now anxious to visit Pompeii and climb Mount Vesuvius.

I'm more ready to sit in a sidewalk cafe and have an aperitif, personally. To each her own, I suppose.

Jesse and the dog met and have formed a fast friendship, helped by Jesse's day home today and their mutual affinity for tennis balls.

Jesse has now, I think, revised his opinion and canceled his interdiction on traveling abroad with children. Now all I need is a spare $10K or so and we'll be off. Where should we go first?

Scale

2009-03-19T15:22:00.005-05:00

To give you some perspective. She's not that big - smaller than George, certainly. Although, maybe you don't know how much Hazel has grown recently?

Here she is, in comparison to the door knob. I think she's just the right size, or could be a bit bigger.

Here is her adorably cheerful face...

And, lest we lose sight of the most adorable cutie around here, I give you my mom:

Oh, and Uly!

Meet Posie. Or, Moki. Opinions?

2009-03-18T23:06:00.002-05:00

Linky Love

2009-03-11T20:44:00.006-05:00

I don't know if you pay attention to the Shared items over there on the right column. If it were me, and your blog, I might not even notice them, because I read everything in Reader and only click through to comment. I've been trying to comment more frequently this year, because it's easy not to, and I really do like to make that connection.

Anyway, I'm a single parent for the next couple of weeks, which is neither here nor there but merely a segue into the announcement that I'm just going to share some linky love with you today, in case you haven't seen these:

Dooce was on the today show. Meredith and the other guest were kind of annoying, but I like to see Heather try to encapsulate what she does into short, sound-bite-worthy statements.
Definitely NSFW hilarious Citibank spoof-commercial

The New F***ing Citibank - watch more funny videos

Butter is the key to making puff pastry. Well, and time.
Have you seen these literal videos? Here's White Wedding:

White Wedding: Literal Video Version - watch more funny videos

A great tutorial on building a raised bed. For vegetables.

Thoughts on Obama's thoughts on education

So, I follow Peter Sagal on Twitter, which is what led me here. After reading this post, I held a heated, internal debate as to whether or not I would read the article. Like Peter, I carefully avoid images, stories, anything to do with children and tragedy, but in the end, prompted by Peter, and noting that this was the same journalist who wrote the Pulitzer-prize winning piece about Joshua Bell , I read it. I think you should too, all the way to the end. I'm still thinking about it.

I think that's enough for now. Next up: MI-5!

Not so soft

2009-03-09T20:59:00.003-05:00

You know how when you make a plan, it can sometimes be much easier than the execution of your plan? Or how, once you actually carry out your plan, you run and hide in a corner and hope it works? No? Maybe it's just me.

I conceived of a grand master storage plan recently, with help from a friend, and I ordered this and two of these. I also went out and bought one of these, after talking to another friend. Oh, and did I mention I bought one of these? I know! I've done a lot of buying, and now I must stop.

So anyway, back to the plan. The plan is to hook the mirrored SATA drive to the Extreme Airport and then 1) back the hell up and 2) be able to access all my stuff from the MacBook. The hard drives are 640 GB each, but one mirrors the other so if you lose one, you keep your data. Tonight, all of the parts were finally in place, so I installed the two drives into the enclosure, and right now, I'm initializing the drives. When I say installed, I mean I had to use an actual screwdriver, people.

This is where the running and hiding comes in - I really hope I'm doing it right.

Holy frijole, I think it worked.

Tomorrow: I fugure out how to move all my photos and songs there. Which is both easier and less-straight-forward on an Apple than on a PC.

Not Quite Five

2009-03-08T21:10:00.004-05:00

The good thing about taking your husband to the airport at 8 AM on DST day is that your children, exhausted by the lack of sleep, collapse promptly at 8 PM. For that, I am thankful.

I am also thankful for PhotoBooth, which entertains and delights, and proves that Hannah can control people with her eyebeams.

I am not thankful for the MSM which is freaking the hell out about the economy. Give the man some time, people. You know how a pregnancy takes 9 months to finish a baby, and how it takes at least as many months to get your body back? This country needs more than 6 weeks.

I am quite thankful for the Green & Black's chocolate I found in my frig. I mean, I did put it there, so I knew where to look, but I sure was happy to see it was still there.

Worst Hygienist EVER

2009-03-05T13:07:00.002-06:00

I really like my dentist, and I like his office. The women at the front desk always greet me by name (and I go what, twice a year, three times if I need something done?), they ask about Jesse and the girls, they are fun to talk to. My dentist was in the Navy and has great big Popeye forearms which cracks me up - since dentistry isn't (these days, anyway) a career built on brute strength.

Which is why it was so surprising to have a poor experience today. It started off when the hygienist tried to make conversation, but in a very forced, and unnatural way. "Are you having a hard time waking up?" (I yawned, I'm sorry!) "Are you originally from Austin?" "So, where do you work?" I gave her short answers, indicative of my desire not to start a conversation that could go nowhere, as she was about to disrupt my ability to speak. Why even go there? Just get to work.

Rebuffed, she handed me a remote control and suggested I find something on TV to watch. I obligingly turned it on, which is when she asked me to remove my glasses. I did so, then turned the TV back off again. She looked at it, quizzically, then back at me. "Is it broken?" she asked. "No, I just CAN'T SEE."

Then she started cleaning - finally! - and my heretofore specious complaints solidified. Hygienists, take note - you need to rinse and suction FREQUENTLY. A teaspoon of rinsing water and two or three uninspired suctions aren't going to help your patient at all. Dental people on the whole tend to be extra-cognizant of their patients' comfort, but this one was clueless.

Aside from the lackadaisical sucking, she turned out to be a tentative cleaner at best. I think I could have done a better job with a dull spoon.

As I was checking out, having debated internally and decided not to bring up my dissatisfaction, one of the receptionists asked me how my cleaning was. "It was ok," I responded. "Just OK?' she probed? "Do you want the other tech next time?"

"YES!" I all but shouted. The two women looked at each other meaningfully, and then asked me to share my feedback. This was just the opening I needed. Apparently, I am not alone in my rating of this person's performance.

So the dental office gets A++ ratings for asking for my opinion, and noticing that it needed asking in the first place, and the awkward cleaner chick gets my unending scorn and drool.

Meshugene Men

2009-03-02T19:13:00.002-06:00

"If Harvard, Princeton and Yale aren't letting Jews in any more, why should I?"

NOT a coincidence

2009-03-02T19:09:00.002-06:00

Let the record state:

Hazel fell in love with cornbread tonight. Hannah has long been a devotee, but not the Haze.
Jesse made cornbread in one of new cast iron pans for the first time.

It was incredible.

Trivia

2009-03-01T19:39:00.004-06:00

How did it get to be Sunday night again? I think if we could bottle that magic that speeds Friday after work into Sunday evening, we could sell it to emergency room patrons, people in queues of all sorts, expectant mothers...the list is endless. Instead, we helplessly watch it go by, trying to cram as much activity or stillness into it as possible.

Edited to add: I'll make a mint selling this magic time to people waiting for their computers to perform as desired, when desired. Mac Mini, you know who you are.

Saturday I ran to the Sunset Valley farmer's market and picked up some beautiful beef stew cuts, a bulb of fennel, 2-for-1 french radishes, a small, perfectly-formed head of cauliflower, two heads of read leaf lettuce, some scallions, and a bouquet made up of daffodils, paperwhites, chard, dill and mums of some sort. I ran home to drop off those goodies, the turned around with Hazel in tow to go to Academy and pick up PINK PINK PINK soccer gear, since she starts playing this week. This is going to be cute, folks. Then, back home to drop her off and back down the road to the gym, to rejoin. I was a member last summer solely for the pool, but Jesse and the girls have kept up their membership, and now I have one again as well. We'll see what I do with it.

The minute I got home we all piled into the car and headed to a fabulously well-planned and relaxed birthday party, at which the parents sat around and had actual conversations and the children created fairy houses in portable flower pots with marvelously provided materials. We stayed for six hours, because the hosts were too kind to kick us all out. We had a blast.

AND, since I'd forgotten to get our CSA basket last week because...well, because, that's why, Jesse left the party to go get them and then returned so we could stay another hour. Thanks, Angela, for the reminder!

This morning I woke with the sparrows to shower and make my grocery list before I left for yoga. For this particular teacher, one has to arrive 20 minutes early to ensure a good spot, and by good I mean one that doesn't involve asking 4 strangers to shove over a bit so you can squeeze yourself into a yoga-mat-sized spot. The class was wonderful, and timely as ever, as we were given some advice for cleansing during this crank-inducing period between winter and spring. So, it's not just me! While I can't have just one big meal in the middle of the day, I can drink ginger tea before-hand, as advised, and I can spin in a circle.

Sounds kind of funky out of context, I'll grant you, but I'll make the effort and see what happens.

After yoga, on to Whole Foods to procure the goods for the week, then home to cook THIS. Having just stopped myself from eating the whole thing, I can attest to its wondrousness. Lo, it is wondrous. I'm thinking the ginger tea cancels out the THREE POUNDS OF MEAT. Ahem.

Bou, I set some aside for you, and hereby state in public that I'll try to drop it by tomorrow during lunch. (Hopefully this will stop me from EATING IT).

I've also got vegetables prepped for work-snacks, since the kitchen fairies haven't yet done this for me as hoped, and garbanzo beans soaking with the intent of making work-snack-hummous tomorrrow. Angela, that means you're in charge of cookies this week. Please bring cookies!

If iPhoto weren't evil, I'd have some pictures here to break up the monotony of words, words, words. Sorry about that.

Oh, also, and Lisa, stop reading now (I mean it, stop), MI-5 really do kill a lot of people on their show, don't they?