I get by with a little help from my friends.
I absolutely could not have made it through the last two days without them. Oh, and my mother. Especially her.
Dinner party done.
Handmade finery worn and loved.
Going to collapse into bed.
Pictures tomorrow, on the actual Autumnal Equinox.
<3 Me
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
BREAKING NEWS
Honeybee Stole is off the needles and awaiting its blocking! I absolutely had, had, had to finish it tonight.
And now, off to bed.
Goodnight.
And now, off to bed.
Goodnight.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Soundtrack
Most of my week has been spent in the car. The state of the floor in there is quite despicable. There are coffee mugs and water bottles and a few french fry boxes and mountains of pen-and-ink drawings by Emma containing stories that have been lost to the miles behind us.
It's just been that kind of week.
But the soundtrack of life hasn't let me down. You know how, sometimes, the music you come across just suits where you are? Maybe that only happens to me. Maybe I just have that special kind of magic that conjures up the right song at the right time.
I drive an old car and the tape player doesn't work. No, silly, I wouldn't listen to tapes, but I would use an adapter for my iPod. Those remote ones that tune to radio stations just don't work. And yes, I hear you, voice-from-far-away. You who constantly tell me I should just get satellite radio. But that seems extravagant in a big ol' green Cadillac that is only a set of gold rims away from crossing the Granny-to-Pimp line. And honestly, I'd rather spend that money on shoes.
Music is really important to me, though. I think if you were to look at my cells very closely, they are at least partly made of music. So, the soundtrack of my day seems like it would be too important to be left to chance. But I like surprises. Especially the kind where that song that you didn't even pick was just exactly how you felt that minute. So I listen to the radio.
Tuesday night, heading to the grocery store at nine something, after that awfully long day, I got my weary butt back into the car and heard:
Wait; I'm coming undone; Irate; I'm coming undone (Korn)
Yep. Pretty much. Didn't want to go anywhere else. Pretty angry about my day. Yep. End-of-the-rope.
Thursday night, I had been driving even more and heard my favorite Metallica song:
Anywhere I roam; Where I lay my head is home
Followed by a favorite Led Zeppelin song:
Many times I've gazed; Along the open road.
Yeah. I really have been driving too much.
Somewhere in between Target and my car, though, I took notice of the breeze. It's not often breezy here. Over on the coast, maybe, but not as much inland. And when it happens, I absolutely have to take notice. I stopped in the parking lot and closed my eyes. Probably weirded a few people out.
Got back in my car and heard "Viva la Vida" (Coldplay) and knew I could at least drive back home because that song always makes me want to drive. Preferably in a convertible.
Come to think of it, I may be able to reduce my stress level by tuning in exclusively to the local smooth jazz station.
But I got home and got my packages out of the trunk and stopped in my driveway and let the wind hit me, wishing all the while that I could just follow it some and wander wherever it took me.
Chris must have seen the headlights, because he stepped onto the porch after a while looking for me. And as soon as he saw me, he knew. He said, "What's it telling you, hon?"
'Cause he knows. He knows that I've always felt like if I listened hard enough, the wind might actually be saying something. And I always have to stop and listen to it, just to make sure.
I heard my theme song on the radio this week, too, and lots of happy songs like Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (Crosby, Stills & Nash). Seriously, how can you not smile and sing with all those doo doo doos (even though it's not exactly a happy song)? That's one of those songs where the harmonies are all so good, I never can pick one, and consequently don't even really know the melody. Oh - and I heard Ventura Highway (America) at least twice - talk about a great driving song!
I'm wishing you lots of happy songs this weekend. Even if you have to make most of them up by yourself. Those are some of the very best kinds of songs.
DAILY BLISS: shoe shopping with my baby girl
It's just been that kind of week.
But the soundtrack of life hasn't let me down. You know how, sometimes, the music you come across just suits where you are? Maybe that only happens to me. Maybe I just have that special kind of magic that conjures up the right song at the right time.
I drive an old car and the tape player doesn't work. No, silly, I wouldn't listen to tapes, but I would use an adapter for my iPod. Those remote ones that tune to radio stations just don't work. And yes, I hear you, voice-from-far-away. You who constantly tell me I should just get satellite radio. But that seems extravagant in a big ol' green Cadillac that is only a set of gold rims away from crossing the Granny-to-Pimp line. And honestly, I'd rather spend that money on shoes.
Music is really important to me, though. I think if you were to look at my cells very closely, they are at least partly made of music. So, the soundtrack of my day seems like it would be too important to be left to chance. But I like surprises. Especially the kind where that song that you didn't even pick was just exactly how you felt that minute. So I listen to the radio.
Tuesday night, heading to the grocery store at nine something, after that awfully long day, I got my weary butt back into the car and heard:
Wait; I'm coming undone; Irate; I'm coming undone (Korn)
Yep. Pretty much. Didn't want to go anywhere else. Pretty angry about my day. Yep. End-of-the-rope.
Thursday night, I had been driving even more and heard my favorite Metallica song:
Anywhere I roam; Where I lay my head is home
Followed by a favorite Led Zeppelin song:
Many times I've gazed; Along the open road.
Yeah. I really have been driving too much.
Somewhere in between Target and my car, though, I took notice of the breeze. It's not often breezy here. Over on the coast, maybe, but not as much inland. And when it happens, I absolutely have to take notice. I stopped in the parking lot and closed my eyes. Probably weirded a few people out.
Got back in my car and heard "Viva la Vida" (Coldplay) and knew I could at least drive back home because that song always makes me want to drive. Preferably in a convertible.
Come to think of it, I may be able to reduce my stress level by tuning in exclusively to the local smooth jazz station.
But I got home and got my packages out of the trunk and stopped in my driveway and let the wind hit me, wishing all the while that I could just follow it some and wander wherever it took me.
Chris must have seen the headlights, because he stepped onto the porch after a while looking for me. And as soon as he saw me, he knew. He said, "What's it telling you, hon?"
'Cause he knows. He knows that I've always felt like if I listened hard enough, the wind might actually be saying something. And I always have to stop and listen to it, just to make sure.
I heard my theme song on the radio this week, too, and lots of happy songs like Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (Crosby, Stills & Nash). Seriously, how can you not smile and sing with all those doo doo doos (even though it's not exactly a happy song)? That's one of those songs where the harmonies are all so good, I never can pick one, and consequently don't even really know the melody. Oh - and I heard Ventura Highway (America) at least twice - talk about a great driving song!
I'm wishing you lots of happy songs this weekend. Even if you have to make most of them up by yourself. Those are some of the very best kinds of songs.
DAILY BLISS: shoe shopping with my baby girl
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Redundant
It was pretty fortunate that we had already planned on Blackout Night last night. For reasons we never did decipher, our power flicked on and off several times throughout the evening. There's some road construction going on a couple of blocks up - that's my best guess. The only way we knew what was going on was that the silence was taken to a whole new level when the air filters (kids with allergies!) and air conditioners switched off all at the same time.
Oh, you think it's quiet with no lights and no TV and no computers, but just try turning off all the little fans and things that are "on" even when they're not. It was very quiet.
And very nice.
The kids have begged since the inception of Blackout Night for a snack tray dinner. I usually do this when we're setting up the Christmas tree. It's mainly a summer sausage (I know - particle meat, nitrates, yada yada - but it doesn't happen often), some cheeses, fancy crackers, olives and that kind of stuff. So I went ahead and did that last night and tossed a few slices of Neighbor Tomatoes in with the mix. It was very enjoyable and the kids were so excited for dinner that I had no personal space in the kitchen. They were pressed right up against me on all sides, it seemed, waiting for dinner to be ready. That doesn't happen often, because I force my children to eat things like homemade spaghetti sauce and brussels sprouts sauteed with lemon juice and butter. Oh, the humanity.
As fall is approaching, the sun is setting earlier. Couple that with an impending thunderstorm, and you had an earlier-than-usual need for candles. But the gorgeous soundtrack of celestial rumbling and the prolonged glow of the candles was so soothing.
Our friend Jacob loaned us a fun game to play called Pirate's Cove, with our Blackout Night in mind - thanks, Jacob! We should have looked at it a little earlier in the week, because we pulled out the instruction booklet and it was like a novel. There was no way we could figure it out in the time we'd allotted to gaming. So, we ended up playing a couple hands of rummy instead, once it became entirely too dark for me to knit. The kids were awfully disappointed because it looks like such a cool game. We will have to play it soon, though, or I'll be walkin' the plank, Matey.
Once the kids were tucked in bed, Chris and I played a couple more rounds (best two-of-three is usually how we do it) and I took a candle-lit bath with some peppermint essential oil.
Hopefully, I'll handle today just fine, having been so fortified with peace and silence.
DAILY BLISS: taking care of some nagging paperwork this morning - huge weight off my shoulders, and the hope that maybe, just maybe, I might finish the Honeybee Stole in time to wear it for my party on Sunday
Oh, you think it's quiet with no lights and no TV and no computers, but just try turning off all the little fans and things that are "on" even when they're not. It was very quiet.
And very nice.
The kids have begged since the inception of Blackout Night for a snack tray dinner. I usually do this when we're setting up the Christmas tree. It's mainly a summer sausage (I know - particle meat, nitrates, yada yada - but it doesn't happen often), some cheeses, fancy crackers, olives and that kind of stuff. So I went ahead and did that last night and tossed a few slices of Neighbor Tomatoes in with the mix. It was very enjoyable and the kids were so excited for dinner that I had no personal space in the kitchen. They were pressed right up against me on all sides, it seemed, waiting for dinner to be ready. That doesn't happen often, because I force my children to eat things like homemade spaghetti sauce and brussels sprouts sauteed with lemon juice and butter. Oh, the humanity.
As fall is approaching, the sun is setting earlier. Couple that with an impending thunderstorm, and you had an earlier-than-usual need for candles. But the gorgeous soundtrack of celestial rumbling and the prolonged glow of the candles was so soothing.
Our friend Jacob loaned us a fun game to play called Pirate's Cove, with our Blackout Night in mind - thanks, Jacob! We should have looked at it a little earlier in the week, because we pulled out the instruction booklet and it was like a novel. There was no way we could figure it out in the time we'd allotted to gaming. So, we ended up playing a couple hands of rummy instead, once it became entirely too dark for me to knit. The kids were awfully disappointed because it looks like such a cool game. We will have to play it soon, though, or I'll be walkin' the plank, Matey.
Once the kids were tucked in bed, Chris and I played a couple more rounds (best two-of-three is usually how we do it) and I took a candle-lit bath with some peppermint essential oil.
Hopefully, I'll handle today just fine, having been so fortified with peace and silence.
DAILY BLISS: taking care of some nagging paperwork this morning - huge weight off my shoulders, and the hope that maybe, just maybe, I might finish the Honeybee Stole in time to wear it for my party on Sunday
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Fumble
Sigh.
Yesterday turned out to be one of those days when I found myself dropping the ball.
Things have been going along swimmingly and children have been arriving where they need to be on time and I have picked them up on time. I even contributed to the snack cupboard for Emma's class.
And now Andrew wants to join the tech club at school, which we definitely wanted him to do. They meet on Tuesdays, and I got a flier telling me about a parent meeting on Tuesday (yesterday) at 4:30. So, when I dropped him off, I reminded him to go to technology club. My plan was to stay a few minutes late at work (I have a lot to do in order to be on vacation next week) and then get Emma, spend an hour knitting at my mom's house (where my dog stays during the day), then grab the dog, drop her off at my house, and go to the meeting when Andrew's club was over.
That was the plan, and it was a pretty good one. It required Thinking Ahead and Conserving Gas and Efficiency all those things that moms are supposed to think about.
Before I get into the fiasco, you need to know that, geographically speaking, Emma's school and my mom's house (a.k.a. doggie daycare) are within a few blocks of each other and Drew's school and my house are within a few blocks of each other, and both spots are about 15 minutes apart, give or take a few when you factor in the traffic. So, multiple trips between them really sucks up my car's gas.
And here comes the tale called How My Carbon Footprint Grew to a Size 14:
I picked up Emma and was practically drooling with anticipation over my hour of knitting. We were backing out of the parking space at her school when the phone rang. It was Drew's technology teacher. There actually was no club meeting today, just the parent meeting later. Andrew gets out of school at 2:45. It is now 3:00. My baby is stranded on the other side of town.
Panic.
Looking like an Irresponsible Mother to all observers, I drive (or speed - whichever) to get Andrew. Because I was technically late picking him up, the dog will now have to wait. Once I got him, of course, I had to drive back to the other side of town to pick up my stupid dog. It is now later than it should be and I have a parent meeting at 4:30. I didn't pack an after-school snack, so we drive through for french fries. Don't tell healthy people that we did that, okay? Then we went home.
I've been letting the kids stay by themselves for short periods of time, and decided to do that rather than drag them to the meeting; I grabbed my keys and headed for my meeting and Andrew asked me what I was doing. He said the meeting was at 6:00. I pointed to the flier that said 4:30. He said the teacher told me 6:00 when she called me to remind me I had a son at school. I said I didn't get a piece of paper negating the first, and I was too panicked about getting him to know exactly what the teacher said on the phone. He rolled his eyes and said I shouldn't expect him to be surprised when I had to come straight home.
I met the vice principal in the office and she offered to walk me to the classroom. No teacher was there. She called the office to look for the teacher. And we waited. We made pleasant small talk for 10 minutes while I was either a brilliant or incredibly presumptuous conversationalist (we'll never know which) and it turned out that Andrew was right.
Oh well.
I didn't have supper in the fridge, so I swung by the grocery store. My fabulous neighbor had left us four fat, gorgeous, fresh tomatoes on the porch. BLTs were definitely on the menu.
I got home at around 5:15. This meeting was supposed to start at 6:00. So I started making those sandwiches.
It became apparent that I'd forgotten to buy the "L."
So, we had BTs for supper instead.
The meeting went fine and I found myself on yet another committee. It's not just a school-wide tech club, it's actually a TSA (Technology Student Association) club with competitions and stuff. It should be fun.
And lots of work.
And I still had to get to the grocery store last night, which left me no choice but the super center. Yuck.
When I finally stumbled in my front door last night, I was pretty beat. I hadn't accomplished much for all the running around and driving I had done. But I fell asleep fast and that was good.
Because our alarm didn't go off this morning.
I am having a quiet visit with Earl Grey right now and am looking forward to this evening's Blackout. Oh, how I need it - even if I don't have time for it.
DAILY BLISS: soy yogurt (can I call it soygurt?) and chocolate-covered cherries
Yesterday turned out to be one of those days when I found myself dropping the ball.
Things have been going along swimmingly and children have been arriving where they need to be on time and I have picked them up on time. I even contributed to the snack cupboard for Emma's class.
And now Andrew wants to join the tech club at school, which we definitely wanted him to do. They meet on Tuesdays, and I got a flier telling me about a parent meeting on Tuesday (yesterday) at 4:30. So, when I dropped him off, I reminded him to go to technology club. My plan was to stay a few minutes late at work (I have a lot to do in order to be on vacation next week) and then get Emma, spend an hour knitting at my mom's house (where my dog stays during the day), then grab the dog, drop her off at my house, and go to the meeting when Andrew's club was over.
That was the plan, and it was a pretty good one. It required Thinking Ahead and Conserving Gas and Efficiency all those things that moms are supposed to think about.
Before I get into the fiasco, you need to know that, geographically speaking, Emma's school and my mom's house (a.k.a. doggie daycare) are within a few blocks of each other and Drew's school and my house are within a few blocks of each other, and both spots are about 15 minutes apart, give or take a few when you factor in the traffic. So, multiple trips between them really sucks up my car's gas.
And here comes the tale called How My Carbon Footprint Grew to a Size 14:
I picked up Emma and was practically drooling with anticipation over my hour of knitting. We were backing out of the parking space at her school when the phone rang. It was Drew's technology teacher. There actually was no club meeting today, just the parent meeting later. Andrew gets out of school at 2:45. It is now 3:00. My baby is stranded on the other side of town.
Panic.
Looking like an Irresponsible Mother to all observers, I drive (or speed - whichever) to get Andrew. Because I was technically late picking him up, the dog will now have to wait. Once I got him, of course, I had to drive back to the other side of town to pick up my stupid dog. It is now later than it should be and I have a parent meeting at 4:30. I didn't pack an after-school snack, so we drive through for french fries. Don't tell healthy people that we did that, okay? Then we went home.
I've been letting the kids stay by themselves for short periods of time, and decided to do that rather than drag them to the meeting; I grabbed my keys and headed for my meeting and Andrew asked me what I was doing. He said the meeting was at 6:00. I pointed to the flier that said 4:30. He said the teacher told me 6:00 when she called me to remind me I had a son at school. I said I didn't get a piece of paper negating the first, and I was too panicked about getting him to know exactly what the teacher said on the phone. He rolled his eyes and said I shouldn't expect him to be surprised when I had to come straight home.
I met the vice principal in the office and she offered to walk me to the classroom. No teacher was there. She called the office to look for the teacher. And we waited. We made pleasant small talk for 10 minutes while I was either a brilliant or incredibly presumptuous conversationalist (we'll never know which) and it turned out that Andrew was right.
Oh well.
I didn't have supper in the fridge, so I swung by the grocery store. My fabulous neighbor had left us four fat, gorgeous, fresh tomatoes on the porch. BLTs were definitely on the menu.
I got home at around 5:15. This meeting was supposed to start at 6:00. So I started making those sandwiches.
It became apparent that I'd forgotten to buy the "L."
So, we had BTs for supper instead.
The meeting went fine and I found myself on yet another committee. It's not just a school-wide tech club, it's actually a TSA (Technology Student Association) club with competitions and stuff. It should be fun.
And lots of work.
And I still had to get to the grocery store last night, which left me no choice but the super center. Yuck.
When I finally stumbled in my front door last night, I was pretty beat. I hadn't accomplished much for all the running around and driving I had done. But I fell asleep fast and that was good.
Because our alarm didn't go off this morning.
I am having a quiet visit with Earl Grey right now and am looking forward to this evening's Blackout. Oh, how I need it - even if I don't have time for it.
DAILY BLISS: soy yogurt (can I call it soygurt?) and chocolate-covered cherries
Monday, September 15, 2008
Ketchup
Why is this post called Ketchup?
Because ketchup covers anything and everything, and I plan to cover a lot today. Hopefully, with a fewer-than-expected number of words.
I haven't checked in since Thursday because by Friday, I was pretty sick. Which really made me angry because I was really sick just a few weeks ago. And I just don't "do" sick. I don't like to be weak and needy.
So, I was sick and I had already arranged for each of my kids to have a friend over. I am not good at arranging for friends to come over, so I decided I wouldn't cancel and I'd pretend I wasn't sick in front of their mothers. I hope it worked, but one look at myself told me it probably didn't. My eyes were red-rimmed and glassy and my skin looked pretty clammy and...well, y'know? It just wasn't good. But I soldiered through. Andrew had his buddy overnight and it was really good for him to be with a friend for a while. They went to their first youth group meeting together (youth group! I'm so not ready for this!) and had a really good time, then stayed up all night long playing XBox. Emma's little friend came over and they dressed up and watched Hello Kitty DVDs and giggled and all that good girly stuff. It was pretty cute.
And I crashed at 9:00. That's pretty crazy, if you know me. I have a hard time getting to sleep at night and an especially hard time if it's before 10:30. And in what seemed to be the blink of an eye, it was time to wake up and make waffles for a couple of hungry boys, who had slept just enough to be able to wake up and play more video games.
Then I got to take Emma to a birthday party and pretend not to be sick again. Which was fun. But little girl birthday parties are so sweet - the girls all sit around the table chatting and nobody punches each other. I understand the punching may start around age 15, but for now, that's the case. The party was at a paint-your-own-pottery place with a tea shop attached to it.
(Opera-style singing voice) Heaven! The little tea man in there picked just the right thing for me. I told him I wanted something herbal, with a strong flavor and preferably fruity. Hello cranberry spice tea. It was worth the whole pretending-to-feel-good stuff.
We managed to get home pretty early and I gathered up the fam to head to my brother's new house. Remember the demolition night we had last week? This was just a continuation of that, in a very serious way. I peeled wallpaper, Andrew took up carpet tack strips and Chris chipped tile and lots of it. Emma...well, she meandered around the empty rooms with a fresh notebook, designing and planning. Sarah (sister-in-law) scraped nasty popcorn off the ceiling and Jon (brother) ripped up carpet and threw it out the second-story window. It was a productive day.
Sunday, I woke up feeling a bit better and we celebrated my other brother's birthday with delicious food and lots of laughing. That's pretty much how most things are celebrated around here. Honey-lime-garlic chicken (on the grill), fresh green beans and a new cake recipe. Blackberry Jam Cake, people. Blackberry Jam Cake.
Oh my.
It. Was. Good.
Cloves, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and blackberry jam sounds pretty weird, but you will have to trust me on this. I got this adorable cake book for Christmas one year and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes cakes. Lots of versatility and inspiration in that one. So, I tried making some hypo-allergenic substitutions for the first time instead of looking for a specifically egg-free, dairy-free recipe and it came out pretty tasty. Baking success!
When you put my whole family in one room, it gets a little nutty. I must confess that I laughed so hard last night my eyes were just streaming tears and my cheeks were sore this morning from the workout.
And that brings us to my Making Monday. I am afraid they are endangered. Skipping a day of work puts a dent in my paycheck that is just too much to handle. I aim to squeeze a few more Mondays out before I ditch them in order to check some things off my mental to-make list, though.
And, as usual, my list today was over-ambitious and I only finished one thing. But it was quite a glorious one thing. I made Emma a dress for the Equinox party (next weekend! Aaa!) and it turned out so cute. I found this little download-able, versatile pattern on The Handmade Dress and it was so easy to make. It's the "Miss Madeline" and even I did a decent job with it, which pretty much means that anybody could do this. See?
My, my, what a gorgeous little girl that is.
I pity the foolish boy that wants to date this one in a couple of years.
Have you seen the men he has to go through to get to her?
Yikes.
DAILY BLISS: kitchen helpers (potato washers) and Christmas secrets that are piling up in my head
Because ketchup covers anything and everything, and I plan to cover a lot today. Hopefully, with a fewer-than-expected number of words.
I haven't checked in since Thursday because by Friday, I was pretty sick. Which really made me angry because I was really sick just a few weeks ago. And I just don't "do" sick. I don't like to be weak and needy.
So, I was sick and I had already arranged for each of my kids to have a friend over. I am not good at arranging for friends to come over, so I decided I wouldn't cancel and I'd pretend I wasn't sick in front of their mothers. I hope it worked, but one look at myself told me it probably didn't. My eyes were red-rimmed and glassy and my skin looked pretty clammy and...well, y'know? It just wasn't good. But I soldiered through. Andrew had his buddy overnight and it was really good for him to be with a friend for a while. They went to their first youth group meeting together (youth group! I'm so not ready for this!) and had a really good time, then stayed up all night long playing XBox. Emma's little friend came over and they dressed up and watched Hello Kitty DVDs and giggled and all that good girly stuff. It was pretty cute.
And I crashed at 9:00. That's pretty crazy, if you know me. I have a hard time getting to sleep at night and an especially hard time if it's before 10:30. And in what seemed to be the blink of an eye, it was time to wake up and make waffles for a couple of hungry boys, who had slept just enough to be able to wake up and play more video games.
Then I got to take Emma to a birthday party and pretend not to be sick again. Which was fun. But little girl birthday parties are so sweet - the girls all sit around the table chatting and nobody punches each other. I understand the punching may start around age 15, but for now, that's the case. The party was at a paint-your-own-pottery place with a tea shop attached to it.
(Opera-style singing voice) Heaven! The little tea man in there picked just the right thing for me. I told him I wanted something herbal, with a strong flavor and preferably fruity. Hello cranberry spice tea. It was worth the whole pretending-to-feel-good stuff.
We managed to get home pretty early and I gathered up the fam to head to my brother's new house. Remember the demolition night we had last week? This was just a continuation of that, in a very serious way. I peeled wallpaper, Andrew took up carpet tack strips and Chris chipped tile and lots of it. Emma...well, she meandered around the empty rooms with a fresh notebook, designing and planning. Sarah (sister-in-law) scraped nasty popcorn off the ceiling and Jon (brother) ripped up carpet and threw it out the second-story window. It was a productive day.
Sunday, I woke up feeling a bit better and we celebrated my other brother's birthday with delicious food and lots of laughing. That's pretty much how most things are celebrated around here. Honey-lime-garlic chicken (on the grill), fresh green beans and a new cake recipe. Blackberry Jam Cake, people. Blackberry Jam Cake.
Oh my.
It. Was. Good.
Cloves, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and blackberry jam sounds pretty weird, but you will have to trust me on this. I got this adorable cake book for Christmas one year and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes cakes. Lots of versatility and inspiration in that one. So, I tried making some hypo-allergenic substitutions for the first time instead of looking for a specifically egg-free, dairy-free recipe and it came out pretty tasty. Baking success!
When you put my whole family in one room, it gets a little nutty. I must confess that I laughed so hard last night my eyes were just streaming tears and my cheeks were sore this morning from the workout.
And that brings us to my Making Monday. I am afraid they are endangered. Skipping a day of work puts a dent in my paycheck that is just too much to handle. I aim to squeeze a few more Mondays out before I ditch them in order to check some things off my mental to-make list, though.
And, as usual, my list today was over-ambitious and I only finished one thing. But it was quite a glorious one thing. I made Emma a dress for the Equinox party (next weekend! Aaa!) and it turned out so cute. I found this little download-able, versatile pattern on The Handmade Dress and it was so easy to make. It's the "Miss Madeline" and even I did a decent job with it, which pretty much means that anybody could do this. See?
My, my, what a gorgeous little girl that is.
I pity the foolish boy that wants to date this one in a couple of years.
Have you seen the men he has to go through to get to her?
Yikes.
DAILY BLISS: kitchen helpers (potato washers) and Christmas secrets that are piling up in my head
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Oh My
We seem to be settling into our school year routines pretty well, here. Life is hectic and as our kids get older, it seems to be more and more so, which is never something you consider when they're small. You tend to think of the round-the-clock feedings and sleepless nights as being the ultimate expenditure of your energy, that things will get easier as they get older. And while that's true in some ways, the running around and generally scattered nature of parenting pre-teens (and, I presume, parenting teenagers) just replaces it. I think it's less an expenditure of energy now as it is one of time.
It is really easy to state what you will and won't be as a family when your dear ones are little. It's another thing entirely to live it out. And setting aside face-time, time to really connect with your kids, becomes a real challenge. Not one that you read about in parenting magazines. A real-life, true-for-you-too challenge.
That said, we really enjoyed our Blackout Night yesterday. Once again, we faced down a series of compromises and settled for what we could. Pork chops being the only food in the house and needing to be cooked before they rotted meant that dinner did require electricity, but we ate at the table in the candle light, chips crunching away and mingling with my homemade lime and cilantro salsa. Jokes and conversation abounded and the quiet house made it easier to really see each other in spite of the dim light.
We headed over to my brother's new house after dinner. Jon and Sarah bought a humongous new place that will need a little bit of work but was a great deal. Jon is great at finding deals - always has been. He's a shifty one, that Jon. Some of the work is voluntary. They are knocking out a few walls to open up a really great-big great room. So, the boys all taught my man cub how to wield a rubber mallet and smash things really, really hard. The swells of testosterone could be detected for a five-block radius. There were wall-kicking techniques passed on (the heel - not the toe) and 2x4s to split (hit it at the bottom, Drew), countertops to rip out (I believe my husband handled that single-handedly) and wires to be cautious of (let's take the face plate off before you smash over there, Drew). All of this in the space of an hour.
And that is not to diminish the high-quality work of estrogen surveying the empty rooms. Emma's fingers were snapping as fast as her plans were popping for where to put rugs and where she'd sleep when she got to spend the night at Uncle Jon's house and which room the Guest Room really ought to be, no matter what Aunt Sarah may have in mind.
Then we returned home in silence, salvaging what we could of our Blackout policies. No Nintendos in the car; no radio either. Just bickering children, high on the adrenaline of an hour well spent.
We put them to bed and lit our candles at home. I worked on invitations for my Autumnal Equinox party in the dark. I sent them out (mostly) today and sincerely hope they actually look nice in the light.
I have no idea how this party will turn out. It has been a rousing success in the past (examples here and here), but this year I have virtually no budget and had to move the date to the day before the Equinox due to our flight out to visit Chris' family the day after the Equinox. No way was I throwing a dinner party for 20 and then getting up at 4 AM to catch an airplane. No way, no how.
I am just this evening grasping the reality of what the next two weeks hold for me. It's daunting. And I'm hiding out by ignoring it and making things unrelated to the tasks at hand and sometimes watching Doo-Wop specials on PBS. I do love me some old music.
But there is the Equinox party to be thrown for 20-ish folks, a one-week trip to pack and plan for (and a little something to make for my nephew who I haven't even met yet), two sleepovers this weekend, at least one birthday party to attend every weekend for the next three weekends, and Emma's birthday party plans to have in place. Her birthday will be less than a week after our return home from the trip.
I do so dislike letting people down, but I am quite sure that now, if ever, will the time I step into utter failure as a friend/mom/mom-of-a-friend/wife/daughter/employee/pastor/anything else.
But this is Terrible Thursday. So I haven't time to think of it all. I'm afraid if I do, I will curl up into a ball and not make it to ballet tonight for my Emma. That would be Failure #1, and I'm not quite ready for that. I will save Failure #1 for a more obvious, more vexing moment. Yes. That's just what I'll do.
DAILY BLISS: An Excellent Watermelon.
It is really easy to state what you will and won't be as a family when your dear ones are little. It's another thing entirely to live it out. And setting aside face-time, time to really connect with your kids, becomes a real challenge. Not one that you read about in parenting magazines. A real-life, true-for-you-too challenge.
That said, we really enjoyed our Blackout Night yesterday. Once again, we faced down a series of compromises and settled for what we could. Pork chops being the only food in the house and needing to be cooked before they rotted meant that dinner did require electricity, but we ate at the table in the candle light, chips crunching away and mingling with my homemade lime and cilantro salsa. Jokes and conversation abounded and the quiet house made it easier to really see each other in spite of the dim light.
We headed over to my brother's new house after dinner. Jon and Sarah bought a humongous new place that will need a little bit of work but was a great deal. Jon is great at finding deals - always has been. He's a shifty one, that Jon. Some of the work is voluntary. They are knocking out a few walls to open up a really great-big great room. So, the boys all taught my man cub how to wield a rubber mallet and smash things really, really hard. The swells of testosterone could be detected for a five-block radius. There were wall-kicking techniques passed on (the heel - not the toe) and 2x4s to split (hit it at the bottom, Drew), countertops to rip out (I believe my husband handled that single-handedly) and wires to be cautious of (let's take the face plate off before you smash over there, Drew). All of this in the space of an hour.
And that is not to diminish the high-quality work of estrogen surveying the empty rooms. Emma's fingers were snapping as fast as her plans were popping for where to put rugs and where she'd sleep when she got to spend the night at Uncle Jon's house and which room the Guest Room really ought to be, no matter what Aunt Sarah may have in mind.
Then we returned home in silence, salvaging what we could of our Blackout policies. No Nintendos in the car; no radio either. Just bickering children, high on the adrenaline of an hour well spent.
We put them to bed and lit our candles at home. I worked on invitations for my Autumnal Equinox party in the dark. I sent them out (mostly) today and sincerely hope they actually look nice in the light.
I have no idea how this party will turn out. It has been a rousing success in the past (examples here and here), but this year I have virtually no budget and had to move the date to the day before the Equinox due to our flight out to visit Chris' family the day after the Equinox. No way was I throwing a dinner party for 20 and then getting up at 4 AM to catch an airplane. No way, no how.
I am just this evening grasping the reality of what the next two weeks hold for me. It's daunting. And I'm hiding out by ignoring it and making things unrelated to the tasks at hand and sometimes watching Doo-Wop specials on PBS. I do love me some old music.
But there is the Equinox party to be thrown for 20-ish folks, a one-week trip to pack and plan for (and a little something to make for my nephew who I haven't even met yet), two sleepovers this weekend, at least one birthday party to attend every weekend for the next three weekends, and Emma's birthday party plans to have in place. Her birthday will be less than a week after our return home from the trip.
I do so dislike letting people down, but I am quite sure that now, if ever, will the time I step into utter failure as a friend/mom/mom-of-a-friend/wife/daughter/employee/pastor/anything else.
But this is Terrible Thursday. So I haven't time to think of it all. I'm afraid if I do, I will curl up into a ball and not make it to ballet tonight for my Emma. That would be Failure #1, and I'm not quite ready for that. I will save Failure #1 for a more obvious, more vexing moment. Yes. That's just what I'll do.
DAILY BLISS: An Excellent Watermelon.
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