Playing with food

The recent down shift in cooking has meant:

• way too much eating out (SO rough on the wallet, not to mention the waistline)

• little to no meal planning or sticking to the meal plan

• deterioration in the no-bringing-gluten-into-the-house practice

• less general/overall rhythm to the day

• more stress/anxiety due to all the above

Yet, some clarity.  When I thought about meal planning for this week, I recognized that between Gem's mystery "not feeling well" which I will be hitting head on (done waiting it out) and Cap's hosting-in-every-way-except-they-won't-be-sleeping-here of two Japanese professors (they arrived today and leave next weekend), I needed to balance out nourishment with convenience.  I must assume limited time/energy/attention for cooking.

There will be hot dogs and Alphatots.  Trying my hand at making the meat sauce from Against All Grain (Nom Nom Paleo's photos of the sauce are divine...click the link!) will wait while I serve up good ol' Amy's Family Marinara mixed with ground meat, again.  One of my goals this Fall, to test cook and taste test some grain- and/or gluten-free kid classics like pizza, mac and cheese and pancakes will also wait.

Putting the groceries away today, I noticed the pantry and freezer were bursting at the seams.  Time to declutter/cook down.  I realized they contained some good and interesting stuff.  Inspired, I made a list.  By next week's food shopping, I will devise a meal plan that utilizes most, if not all of these ingredients:

rice vermicelli

dulse flakes

nutritional yeast

beef broth

jasmine rice

kelp noodles

green chiles

sardines

anchovies

ground Mangalitsa pork

pastured turkey sausage

pastured chicken livers

pastured ribeye steak

Peace and love.

Excellent exhale

I have been overtaken by another big push in the decluttery reorg...

I've culled the linens and have a bag of soft old cotton cloth to donate to a local animal shelter.  Those colorful plastic trays were purchased for homeschooling organization a few years ago.  They never quite hit the mark in that regard, but I was reluctant to pass them up because they were not cheap.  Thanks to the label maker, they have been relocated to the linen closet where they hold things of different category in a compact space.

I used to shop at Target a lot, but now only go about once a season.  I was stoked to find this lid organizer on my recent Target trip.  These lids have been the rattling bane of my kitchen existence for months since I shoved the glass lids in the cabinet with the metal ones (which also housed most of our pots and pans).

While we were at Ikea earlier in the week, I came across curtain wires and was intrigued.  Cap liked them, so we picked them up.  The curtain area of Ikea was overwhelming and complicated and we left the store with curtain wires and no curtains.

I found these curtains at Target and brought them home not really knowing what was what...other than that we could make these work with the curtain wires.  Cap and I have never bought and put up curtains in our twenty-plus years together.  Never.  He likes blue and I liked the springy-summery look of these.  They are 100% cotton.  They are machine washable.  They require no sewing.  Project Curtain Hanging will happen in the next few days.  Pics to follow.

I went off-list quite a bit at Target, but these "over-the-door" brushed metal hooks were on my list.  We've had one in the bathroom for years, but while making the final push in the kids' room, I realized we could throw a couple of these up in there to hold odds and ends like their bathrobes, the bow that Sag bought at the craft sale last week, and their backpacks.  I quickly extrapolated that I could also use one in this corner behind the door of the big bed room.

One of the challenges of living in not only a small space, but one that is unconventional in shape, is that we don't have a foyer or coat closet.  We use the closet in the big bed room as a coat closet, but it's in the room, not right by the apartment door.  So, early on, I asked Cap to put up this set of hooks closer to the apartment door to facilitate the kids independently and easily hanging their jackets.

But, then there were the bags.  We have a lot of bags.  I am kind of a bag freak.  I like bags.  So for years, these coat hooks were stressed with not only our fleeces and hoodies, but with bags upon bags.  Not pretty.  Or user-friendly.

I have no idea why it took me so long to figure out this space-expanding measure.  But, I don't care, I am going to spend my energy just loving it.  The corner now breathes.  It exudes peace.  Yay.

The Target shopping and linen closet work triangulated to reorganizing the medicine cabinet.  I wish I had taken a "before" shot, but, well, most of you can probably imagine what an overflowing medicine cabinet of expired/no longer used junk would look like.  While I was at it, I decluttered the cabinet under the sink, as well.  Ahhhhh.

When we put the new dresser in the kids' room, it freed up my very old childhood dresser which had been acting as overflow catcher of kids' clothes.  We have had this dresser...probably since my parents' moved out of the old homestead at the turn of the millenium.  It's kind of clunky and unattractive, but I have hung onto it kind of irrationally.  Today it found yet another new life, this time, as my bedside/crafting dresser.  Yay.

The little red dresser that could.  (Can you see it's missing an eye?)  In repose on my side of the bed.  Sigh.

My sweet little space is coming together.  Those are my cookbooks on the bottom shelf.  Eventually, I would like to dedicate the top shelf to spiritual/personal work books and "stuff".  Right now I have the materials for photography projects stuffed in there.

I'm glad I got to keep my dresser.  There had been some talk of Sag taking it and my getting the new dresser.  Originally I had hoped to pare down my clothes enough to buy a smaller dresser.  But, I wasn't up for the task of going total ascetic...and luckily, Ikea had affordable options in the bigger size.

This is the pile of stuff that still needs tending to...

...not bad considering what the pile looked like for a couple of weeks there.

There is a Japanese turn of phrase that comes to mind: kotsu kotsu to (little by little)...

Peace and love.

Shifting

Tomorrow some beginnings will spring forth...the rebirth of familiar fauna, the arrival of new shoots.

• daily morning Qigong for me.  perhaps with the setting of an alarm clock to nudge me into an earlier to bed/earlier to rise pattern.

• piggybacking on gluten-free, and going sugar-free.  a tweet I saw today said it all: "The key to a healthy diet is to cook or live with someone who does."  the last few weeks I have loosened up on meal planning, which is not good for the budget...but it has been good for taking pressure I wasn't even aware of, off of my shoulders.  removing a component like sugar from one's whole foods leaning diet means making a commitment to cooking/baking more of your own food.  it takes a commitment of true time and energy, in addition to a sense of mission/intent/discipline.  I have recovered enough energy to renew my commitment to cooking more.  and improving the health of myself and our family.

• sigh.  it's that time again.  renewal.  making a list of my tv commitments and cutting down.  I heart watching tv.  but it's the thing that has got to give a bit right now.

Game of Thrones

Mad Men

Amazing Race (ends soon)

The Good Wife

House of Lies (ends this week)

Shameless (ends this week)

Top of the Lake

The Following

Revolution

The Mindy Project

Nashville

The Americans

Southland

The Soup

Project Runway (ends soon)

Parks and Rec

Community 

Legit

Hannibal

Spartacus (ends this week)

Real Time

sheesh.  not including the shows ending this week, that's 15 16 hours a week.  I was going to reduce to 7 hours a week, but I don't think I can...  (wow...in addition to these shows I marathon watched two Cinemax series...Hunted and Banshee...in late winter/early spring!  and Downton Abbey was on for two months there...and The Walking Dead...and Justified!)  I also have the first season of Call The Midwife on my dvr and am recording the second season.  *deep cleansing breath*  yes, I love good tv.  oh my god I just remembered I started watching Hannibal...and it's really good.  and the baseball season just started so we're watching Red Sox games.  the Good Wife...I crossed it out, but dang, two weeks ago they put out a top notch episode.  it was so good.  Nashville is my guilty pleasure.  Amazing Race and Project Runway are ending in the new few weeks.  I could drop Project Runway now except I've given it so much of my time already I kind of want to see who wins.  it has been an interesting season with crazy judging.  a friend on Facebook pointed out that things will slow down with summer, which is true.  it feels good to just take an accounting.  to face the situation.  and looking at this list, yes, it's long, but if I cut The Following and Revolution, there isn't much garbage in there.  I guess what will be culled will be culled organically, as time and new commitments dictate.  (see above, setting morning alarm.)

• new rule pertaining to electronics: no electronics until after day's table activities, cleaning work and outdoor time are done.  this is a biggie and will be tres challenging for the kids and me.  but I think the bump to a different reality will be enlightening.  I have no idea how I am going to deal with checking my e-mail.

Here are some photos that tell other parts of the story of my day/weekend:

the upside to sugar is enjoying a bowl like this: vanilla ice cream with a splash of Pedro Ximenez sherry.  so, so scrumptious.

switched the seasonal shelf to a Spring tableau.  I asked the kids if they were still into it and their response was immediate and unequivocal: yes.

the Japanese corner.  the rock and its stand belonged to my paternal grandfather.  the card came from an aunt.  the card holder is from Japan, too.

the gnomes are from our Waldorf days.  they arrived in Christmas stockings, I think.  the rock was painted by Sag in an art class a few years ago.

decluttered the linen closet and now have a supermarket paper bag full of old linens to donate to our local animal shelter.  these towels on top were a commitment ceremony gift to us...twenty year towels.  special.

some chemical shifting within has already begun.  I eschewed the Chinese food I thought I wanted for lunch for simpler home fare.  the last of the goat Brie with baby spinach in a brown rice wrap with grape tomatoes on the side.  yum.

this is what my corner of the apartment looks like at the moment.  a way station for decluttered stuff from the kids' room and the living room.  some day, hopefully sooner rather than later, this area will be my morning Qigong spot.  visions of Qigong, meditation and yoga dance in my head.  it is a process...always.

Peace and love.

Comma

The kids worked hard today.  We finished the big decluttering/reorganizing push in their room.  Now everything has a place...which will facilitate independence in keeping the room tidy and clean!

My goal is to move on to the next room and accomplish the same.  Declutter/reorganize to the point that clean up becomes more manageable...efficient and pleasant.  The big front room which acts as living room/den/homeschool room/dining room/half foyer, the "big bed" room which acts as bedroom/Cap's office/my Qigong space/half foyer, the eat-in kitchen/pantry, and the bathroom/linen closet.

It's gonna take some time.  But, I tell you, it feels so good to get it done.

(The kids' room is not completely finished.  We are starting to shop around for a second dresser.  As they have grown, their storage needs have, too.)

Peaceful weekend to you.

Thursday things

I took the kids to the local zoo yesterday.  I thought we might see some energetic critters as a storm system moved our way.  We were rewarded with wolves who were eager to commune.

 

Hacking and updating our tired old spaces.  These three new pieces in the bathroom are all from Ikea.  The large bath rug I bought at Amazon started unraveling after the second wash.  That's being returned, it was really nice and expensive.  A shame.

We're still not sure about the new slipcover.  We thought it was going to be padded, but it is not.  It is a 75/25 cotton/poly blend and feels like a stiff linen or hemp (which I don't mind).  Unfortunately, as you can see, it has that easy-to-wrinkle linen quality, too.  It is, also, dry clean only.  And, it was expensive.

 

Two of our older cushion covers are still drying.  I spent an hour watching John Carter and plucking off very small feathers from the inside of these covers.

 

The landlord finally sent over a contractor to patch up the hole in the ceiling.  It needs a coat of paint, but we went ahead and set the desk up in there.

 

Things are coming together nicely in the kids' room...till you get to the pile of stuff with nowhere to go.  We are keeping the red dresser (from my childhood) for now, as well as, the blue egg chair.  But all those other bins/containers need spaces to fit onto somehow somewhere...or there will need to be more vetting of stuff.  Sigh.

Peace and love.

Photo stuff

Got a great shot of Gem while he and Cap and I took a late afternoon stroll around the block.  When I showed it to him tonight to ask him permission to post it, he said, "no".

A further cementing of the changing nature of authorship/ownership when it comes to my art.  Whether it's my photos or my writing, the kids have been involuntary subjects for almost a decade now.

I have allowed myself to believe it's okay by using pseudonyms and setting the blog to "not public" (which is different from the most private setting which would allow a limited number of pre-approved readers).  But, the truth is, they have not known any better.  They could not care about something they could not conceptualize enough to give informed consent about.

In the last year or so I have tried to honor a sense of privacy for them by sharply curtailing shots of them facing the camera and generally posting less photos of them.  Additionally, I started asking their permission for any shot of them that was anything but very generic.

I thought I'd receive permission for the photo today because his eyes were closed in it.  That in it of itself made me feel comfortable about posting it.  But, in retrospect, there is a very "portrait" quality to it, like you are seeing something beyond just the "face" of the "subject".  There was an intimacy captured and it was, for him, a moment of vulnerability (his eyes were closed because the setting sun was blinding him).

Anyway, I wish I could share it with you, but I cannot.  Maybe if I over process it enough...

*    *    *    *

Last month, at a moment where I was up to here with December stuff, Instagram made the announcement that they were going to become the owners of all photos posted via their site.  It was a bold move.  I was in no mood.  So I quit Instagram.

They backed down very quickly because the backlash was immediate and powerful.  I moved on to Photo Studio and Hipstamatic.  But, I kind of missed the Instagram filters.

Tonight Matt Pond tweeted his new Instagram handle.  I may have to rejoin.

*    *    *    *

Gah.  Three days left before getting back into the stride of "homeschooling".  Philosophically, I consider our life homeschooling.  But, there are some practical matters which we've taken a holiday "break" from which we will be getting back to.

I face four jobs: two are major undertakings of time/energy and two don't seem like a big deal but I have been dragging my butt on them for months.  Is there shame in admitting the latter two have to do with cleaning?  (No, but the shaming devil is in the details so I will now gloss over them and move right along.)

The two majors are organizing my (over 5000) digital photos (taken in the last 12 months) and decluttering the kids' room (again).

Three days.  Four jobs.  One movie (The Hobbit).  One trip to Mitsuwa.  *Sigh*

*    *    *    *

Today's photo.  From my walk around the block.  Bracing, sun setting.

*    *    *    *

Peace and love.

Let there be light

While Cap slept (he started feeling crappy last night) and the kids did their chillaxing thing (Gem still feels under the weather, Sag felt good yesterday but less so today), I got out for a bit this morning to holiday shop and errand run.

I appreciated that the town gives free two-hour parking in the shopping districts during the holidays.

I appreciated walking into the butcher to order short ribs for tomorrow morning, crossing the street to the hardware store to pick up a replacement cord for the salt lamp, and quickly finding the last three books I needed at my beloved indie bookstore a block away.

I appreciated not being made to feel a fool when I realized I didn't know where the fuel door opener was in the car...I guess it was my first time getting gas.

I appreciated the warmth of being recognized by the guy who works at the indie sports shop and picking up a gift certificate for a boy who is going to be so appreciative when he opens it.

I appreciated the unexpected delight of being drawn into a shop I'd never been in before.  It was slightly dangerous (to the wallet), but the finds were really fun.

I appreciated my ability to not buy myself a cup of coffee knowing I had good caffeine waiting for me at home.

I appreciated the indie stationery store where, finally, I could buy a roll of wrapping paper.

I appreciated checking everything off my list (and then some).

We did have to cancel common meal tonight (after postponing it on Monday and canceling in November).  This opens up some time, but also means we have a surfeit of awkward foodstuff, again.  Not a biggie.

Also not a biggie, the fact that the above lamp has been non-functional for years...and that, in the end, it was a simple fix.  There was a time, a big chunk of my adult life, when the non-getting done of tasks like this would drive me crazy.  I would feel stupid and hate myself.  Something has really changed.  

When I decluttered last weekend and came across the lamp (there have been many items in my life that I have just tossed because I couldn't deal with the logistics of fixing them...but this lamp is special in many ways and so I've held onto it), my mind had been decluttered enough in the last year that I knew what I could do to try to fix it.

I wrapped the old cord with a rubber band so I could bring it to the hardware store with me.  Put this bundle on the (now decluttered) shoe shelf by the door where I only place high use items (keys) or things that are going "out" (library books to return, mail to send, etc.)  Within a week, I was in the hardware store showing the guy my bundle and in two minutes I had a replacement cord.  That cost $5.

Once I got home, I was excited to see if it would work.  And, of course, it did.  And I only felt happy.

You know what else makes me happy?

Baxter is with us a for a few days.  He's been asleep much of the morning, but just wandered over to the Christmas tree and sniffed at the presents under there.  Now he's curled onto a corner of the Christmas cloth that covers the tree stand.  Sweet.

The cards are not finished and I do have a couple of pounds of pecans to candy.  Plans continue to be made, for Christmas Eve and then our time in MA right after Christmas.  It's all good, actually, it's all wonderful, but a part of me is also looking forward to the very end of the year, a few days with absolutely no obligations.  Of quiet.

Peace.

My space

This weekend was an exhale.  Exhales are such feel-good opportunities.  The often delightful (and somehow unexpected) opening of space and time which invites light and peace to flood in. 

The experience of exhaling cannot, of course, exist without the inhales.  The gathering in and processing, the sitting with and holding, the digesting.

For me, being outside is an exhale.  Practicing Qigong is an exhale.  Photography is an exhale.

On Saturday, over a rare dinner out with Cap, I voiced, among other things, that I had begun thinking again of converting the space adjacent to my side of the bed to a more personally intentional space.  One in which I could practice Qigong, maybe some yoga...my "room of one's own".

The timing was lucky.  Cap is done with classes.  Another exhale.  (Don't get me wrong, he is still busy as all get out.  But when you have a dozen balls in the air and one is removed, that provides a modicum of relief, even if it's mostly mental.)

He was motivated to help me make this little vision come true.  So, on Sunday, he took the kids food shopping (where they had lunch, too) and made their dinner.  (I made scallops for us, yum.  And, wow, expensive.)

It was a bit of a slog and it took me awhile to settle in.  Going through piles of stuff...sorting...making decisions about what to keep and what to let go...being distracted by scraps of thoughts remembering other things to do...

I am not finished, but I made good progress.

One of my all-time favorite photos of the kids, a pre-kids photo of Cap I came across during the decluttering, a wonderful salt crystal light which has been broken for years (my mom bought it for me in Monterey)...hoping to replace the inner light cord soon and have it back in working order.

 

From the left:

• my dresser with its now cleared off top.  I envision the iPad on its stand with a mediation or yoga video on.  or my laptop with the Qigong music.

• that knitting bag hanging off the doorknob...I leave it out as a reminder of an unfinished project which truly does not need much more time/attention to be done...to no avail...yet.

• we have a lot of freaking bags.  the hooks behind the door are laden with bags and there are more in the kids' room.  I have gotten much better with shoes, but clearly, I still have a thing about bags.

• that bookshelf will likely stay.  the red cube on top is something I have to return to Ikea.  the two bags next to it contain hand-me-downs designated for specific households.  the stuff in the shelf has not been decluttered.  there are essentially two projects therein: going through dozens of picture frames, removing the pictures and (probably) getting rid of most of the frames.  part of what makes this project hard to do is that there is the greater "picture" dilemma/project.  I/we have no system of photo organization and it's a monstrous elephant in our hard drives.

the other project is setting up some sort of crafty storage system.  I have held onto some crafting materials for the kids and have some stuff for myself (knitting, decoupage, sewing).  both these projects need to be tackled...the clutter has been distilled to the point where it just needs to be transformed to become part of the new intentional space.

• the tall narrow dresser is Cap's.  it will stay where it is as there is no other place for it.  maybe the big taiko (drum) can be moved somewhere...it's not an eyesore, but it does command attention in a way that may not work for me once the space is fully transformed.

• another project is the coat closet.  I want to get a tension rod and hang a favorite piece of painted linen in front of it.  (the fabric was bought in Japan many moons ago at an art show showcasing artists with developmental disabilities.)  the closet is small and we four have many coats and jackets.  Cap helped me clear out the floor of the closet (that felt so good) and, at present, I have some yoga stuff in there: a bolster, a block, a (deflated) medicine ball and some mats.  the shelf in the closet is jammed with boxes and boxes of photos.  it's a shelf of denial.

• the few bags on the floor here are more hand-me-downs designated for family.  by year's end, all of these will be dispersed and gone from my room.

• the air purifier.  so squat and ugly and loved, it is used every night and sometimes during the day.  there isn't another place for it in the room, really.

• this bedside table may or may not stay.  I picked it up off a curb in town a few years ago.  the stuff on top is, for the most part, stuff I am keeping: jewelry and essential oils.  once we are past the holiday, the space occupied by hidden gifts in my dresser will open up and I anticipate all this minutiae will fit right in.  I may keep the table to create an altar...seasonal and meditative.  it's also nice to have a place for glasses, a book and my lip balm.

• the folding photo frame room divider.  we've had this since Cambridge.  the thing is solid and heavy and wonderful.  we don't have the room to unfold it and use it in the apartment.  we don't have anywhere to store it.  so it occupies this space.  another project: choose and order prints of photos to put into the frames that face out while in this position.

Just last weekend I decluttered the top of the shoe shelves as part of cleaning up for our family party for Sag's birthday.

 

How quickly spaces can fill up.  All this stuff has a place to go, hopefully it will clear out within the week.

Peace.

Friendly inspiration/room to breathe

Kelly recently inspired me two ways:

She walked into our apartment the other day and exclaimed, "it looks so good in here!"  Very enthusiastic and heartfelt.  My immediate internal reaction was to feel a sham.  How could I receive such positive sentiment when I so often have negative niggling at me when it comes to cleaning and decluttering?  It was a good reminder to, first of all, accept joy whenever possible.

She mentioned that she is finding peace by keeping small spaces tidy and working from there.  This morning I have been sluggish of body and jammed of mind.  I started small with no regard for what would happen next.  And, yes, despite a laundry list of cleaning/decluttering tasks yet to be done in this room, the room we spend the most time in, the room we socialize in, the "big room", if you will...to have small spaces within the room "straightened" does bring with it some peace.

Thanks, friend.

Peace.

Got a lot on my head

After a couple of days of feeling on the listless side, I have been like a ping pong ball today.  A seemingly random one.  Going from one thing to another in my mind and with my body.

• how I woke up: weepy child in bed frustrated by my not following "the rules".  when I stated it was confusing (in retrospect, not the best choice of words...honest, but not careful) to have him happy when I break the rules when it benefits him (being flexible) and upset when I break them and the result is not to his advantage (being a jerk...not his word).  I was shocked when my observation sent him into a tailspin of self-loathing ("I'm sorry I'm such a bad son!")  oh my.

• farmer's market run.  dammit.  Anthony had me all psyched when he said he had a small pork shoulder...and then plunked down a huge one.  when I explained, again, that I didn't think it would fit in my slow cooker, he brought out the other shoulder and it did look narrower...so I bought it.  the pork is big.  I hope pulled pork freezes well.  also picked up eggs, ground sirloin and a ribeye steak.  and apple cider from Ginger. 

• after I put the meat, eggs and cider away, I realized I had just enough time to go food shopping.  I took a risk and did not meal plan...I didn't have time.  went a bit over budget, mostly because I bought a number of items for Gem's lunch tomorrow.  we're going to be out and I wanted to make sure he did not feel left out while Sag had fun sampling food from food trucks.  Gem's lunch will include: steak (I got a smaller one, also grass-fed), organic raspberries and chocolate soy pudding.

• while Cap took Sag to swim class, Gem chilled out (he is feeling much better) and I took a semi-hard look at my surroundings.  the decluttering/organizing happens in spurts and there has been a fallow period.  I made a decision and then made two phonecalls to figure out how the decision would play out.  made plans with Danielle to go to Ikea next week.

• cleaned the kitchen.  not top to bottom.  but I did tend to the floor which hadn't been swept in awhile.  moved my body to some tunes.  prepared some grazing food for Gem.  remembered I have to make an appointment for a donation pick-up.  it is amazing how one can become blind to piles in corners.

• Sag bounced in.  he loves his swim class and loved getting a slice of Sicilian on his way home.  he still smelled like chlorine.

• took advantage of Cap being around and went up to the bookstore.  remembered to make a list, but failed to remember everyone I needed to.  four gift cards and two gift books later, as I was opening the car door I realized there's another kid in our life who has a birthday in October.  finally dropped off a pair of pants to the dry cleaners.  they'll be ready in time to wear on vacay.

• called an order of saag paneer in and drove over to pick it up.  such a great restaurant.  a warm space full of irresistible aromas.  the smart manager remembered a mistake had been made last time I ordered and asked to make sure things had been resolved.

• saag paneer lunch with a Starbucks Indivisible coffee follow.  tea with honey for the boys.

• started thinking about my trip.  gifts, devices (think I'll go with the iPad), clothes, etc.

• paid the rent.

• took a look on CraigsList at rentals.  Cap and I had a talk yesterday and have decided we're here for at least four more years (starting this Summer).  part of me would love to move to an apartment more to our liking.  specifically hardwood floors, a bigger kitchen and, ideally, a washer/dryer in the unit.  but, another part of me blanches at the thought of moving.  that's a lot of work before and during.

It's chilly in the apartment today.  I am wearing my colors and keeping cozy.  Big drop in temp the last twenty-four hours.

Yesterday, Vinny exclaimed in delight over my t-shirt.  He loved that it said "be flexible" in green because green is the color associated with the liver, which governs emotions.  He said the blue of the shirt is associated with the kidney and that these were two systems good to have "covered".  I was delighted by his delight.

After reading apartment-for-rent ads, I was spinning a bit.  (You probably can't tell in the pic, but inside I was racing!)  Blogging helped calm me down.  Ahhhh...

Tomorrow, Maker Faire New York and an early dinner with the cousins.  Maybe ices and tortillas, too.

Happy birthday to blog reader and childhood friend, Karen!!!  Hope you are having a wonderful day being celebrated.

Peace and love.

P.S.  The Avengers was fun.  But our kids won't be watching it till they're older (they trusted us to preview it for scary-to-them stuff).

Jagged and jiggy

Egads.  I have no words for this humidity.  110%.  There's low pressure bearing down on us.  And high winds.



I am fortifying myself with leftover slow cooked pork.  It was freaking delicious.  Probably due in no small part to the high quality meat.  I loved the simplicity of Nom Nom Paleo's recipe.  Served the pulled roast with guacamole, salsa verde and sour cream on the table.  Yum.  (Sis and BIL came over last night to pick up my n'er used bicycle.)

I am listening to lots of music.

I am alternately wafting/awash and pinging/ponging.

I am hyper and held still.

Anyway, I have managed, between compulsive online nattering and pollinating, to be productive here and there, too.

I have paid bills.

I have made phone calls.

I have fed children a balanced meal.

I decluttered the coat/bag hooks.  (Clutter on the bookshelf there, your days are numbered...)

And then, I made shore onto the Isle of Knits.  While poking around and setting things to rights I came across two (deeply) hibernating projects and was shocked to see that I had made progress on both that I had completely forgotten about.  (When did that knitting happen?)

On top is a sock for Brian.  He has big feet.  That is not an optical illusion.  I promised him these socks...maybe three years ago.  I had no idea I'd finished one and am now motivated to finish the pair.  I have to dig for my notes to see what size the needles were...

On bottom is a lap throw I started for Gem...years ago.  I bought a lot of ten or so balls of this yarn (Noro Matsuri).  I was stunned to see there were only two balls left.  I could easily finish this in a week if I put my mind to it.

Interestingly, a third project I was expecting to see was nowhere to be found.  I must have frogged it and cannot recall.  Weird, this knitterly Alzheimer's/ADD...

Off to get some sauce on for the kids' dinner.

Peace and Supremes.

The 411

Sleep...good solid complete sleep has been tricky since Williamsburg.  While we were there our bodies were crashing into bed after all the active delights of the days...but the beds were not as comfy as our own.  Then we had three nights at home (the first of which was an exhausted and late one after the day spent traveling home) followed by five nights with houseguests.  We gave them (a family of four) the big bed/room and Cap and I slept on the pullout in the living room.  The boys were not able to make their semi-regular migrations to the big bed.  Our guests left before dawn on Monday.  Four days later we four are struggling to find our sleep mojo.  It'll come, these things can take time.  In the meantime, I gaze upon this photo of a child sleeping soundly in broad daylight...and smile.

Interesting PMS this month.  Some sweet-n-salty type cravings (dinner tonight was a bowl of ruffle chips and homemade ranch-y dip...dessert will be what remains of my pint of Ben & Jerry's Pistachio Pistachio...an ice cream that renders all other ice cream irrelevant).  Some sleep difficulty.  Some mood stuff.  Some "crazy" internal/sensory stuff.  All very manageable and knowable.

But, there's a new sheriff in town and she has caught me off guard.  I bought Gillian Flynn's first novel, Sharp Objects, last week because I could not get it through the library and had been waiting for her third (and highly acclaimed) novel for awhile from the library.  It was a fast, intense and solid read.  And left me wanting more.  I requested her second novel before I finished the first one.  But, there is a wait for that one, too.  In a fit of PMS-y impulsivity, I bought the second novel yesterday.  Last night I sat down and read a page of it.

It was chilling.  And creepy.  And then the chilling, creepy protagonist sounded absolutely "normal"...and I freaked out.  Exponentially chilling and creepy!  I couldn't read anymore I was so freaked.  I can't remember the last time I felt this kind of emotional vulnerability reading a book.  One page of a book.

Oy.  My cycle.  You keep me on my toes.

My latest batch of crap to process is kicking my ass.  This is what it has looked like on the big table for a couple of days now.  Cap invited some gamers over to play Villains and Vigilantes with him and the kids tonight so I was bumping up against a deadline.  In the end, I moved most of this crap right back on top of my dresser (ie. hidden from company) because I spent much of the afternoon doing this...

This has been my jewelry box since elementary school.  It holds a lot.  I went through it today with determination and I am almost done (including the bunch of smaller boxes that contained a further assortment of random jewelry).  I think I reduced my collection by nearly 50%.  It was sweet remembering the (so) many stories that accompany the pieces.

A mood cross.  So funny.  I don't remember how this came in my possession, but I do remember loving it as a kid.  Very sixties, don't you think?  A keeper.

My parents gave this to me in grade school.  My name is engraved on the girl.  Keeper.

I am letting go of a lot of earrings.  I amassed quite a collection, mostly during college and my year in Hiroshima.  My mother has also given me many pairs from her various travels.  I am keeping maybe two dozen pair and getting rid of easily double that.  This lovely handmade pair I am keeping.  Diane made these for me in college.  I have always loved them dearly.

So I guess it could be said that I have a watch collection.  Surprise!  Again, each one has a story.  Each a souvenir of a specific time and/or place in my life (three of them were gifts).  I decided to keep all of them, for now.

Old jewelry/accessories.  Each object has its history...a story to tell.  Junk or treasure depending on the (be)holder.  

I am considering punching through my old pierced ear lobes.  I stopped wearing earrings altogether after Gem was born.  (His birth was preceded by a decade of working with very young kids with special needs where wearing dangle-y jewelry from ears, neck or wrist could invite yanks, twists and breaks...which precipitated a decline in my level of self-adornment.)  Realizing what a trove of pretties I have at my disposal...makes me want to wear them again.

I also made some food today.  I've been tired and PMS-y and I guess a tad overwhelmed.  Not much cooking has been happening.  But the CSA veggies keep coming!  The Jersey toms have been delectable.  Fresh, local mozzarella, red Hawaiian sea salt, a drizzle of olive oil...I barely missed the fresh basil.  (And loved the chives we got this week!)

Peace and love.