Borders

Went to a local Borders book store to meet up with Kelly, Pippa and Mary yesterday. We combined going for coffee with perusing the 40% off all stock before closing sale.

It was strange being in the place and position with my newfound knowledge and understanding of my money. I did have a gift card that Renée gave us for X-mas and had that in hand.

I picked up and put down a few books. D'Aulaire's Norse myths, a David Macauley book (Underground), and a Magic Schoolbus book about famous scientists (which I would have bought if it had been paperback).

I could not resist The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech. Her book, Walk Two Moons, is an amazing book for young (and old) readers and made a big impression on me years ago. I bought Castle Corona for Will for his birthday unable to resist it then. The illustrations are just gorgeous (done by David Diaz).


I ended up picking up two paperback mysteries for myself, Gone Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane and Red Hook by Reggie Nadelson. The funny thing about Red Hook is that a few years ago I had made a note to myself to check out a mystery called Red Hook but I'm pretty sure this is another mystery called Red Hook :-)

I looked for the Michael Chabon book The Yiddish Policeman's Union for Cap, but they were all out of it. As soon as I was on line I wished I had looked or some Neil Gaiman stuff. It was one of those situations where I became fairly overwhelmed and couldn't think very clearly. Feeling like I should find something because it would be a bargain, being jostled by the bodies and murmurs of a crowd.

It was a relief to sit down for some coffee afterwards (the café was closed and we ended up at a Starbucks nearby).

It's almost always good to have a young one around. Nurslings are great for soothing frazzle.

Local celebrity sighting

On Saturday morning I saw Stephen Colbert in the parking lot of Whole Foods. He was wearing sweats (Cap observed) and was with one of his kids. It was funny to see him with a slight frown/serious look on his face. It was very exciting.

Party on

Yesterday, Cap and I went out for a few hours to celebrate his birthday. (Thanks to Danielle and Norb who had the kids for hours, way longer than I anticipated---the kids of course were in heaven.)

We drove out to Jersey City and stopped in to see Cass, Bob and their kids. Cal is talking up a storm and was a total love bug. Helene is mellow, alert and big. She fell asleep in my arms which was such an honor. Cap and Bob bonded over music, film and art (Bob is one of a handful of folks who Cap can really talk to in depth about these things). Cass looked great, adjusting to life with two kids and looking forward to a break in kinder winter climes (good ol' SF).

Then we went to India Square, a long block lined on both sides of the street with Indian restaurants, cafés, markets, cd/video shops, clothing stores, and the like. It was fascinating driving past the Phillipine neighborhood, the lone Polish diner, then the Italian strip, before reaching little India.

We trolled for parking wondering just how far the carloads of families, the strolling friends, the occasional couple walking close, had come on this day to grab a bite to eat, load up on rations, and just soak up the warm-despite-rapidly-falling-temps vibe and bustle.

Cap had done some glancing at online reviews and we opted for a restaurant, more upscale than greasy spoon, that had gotten rave reviews. We were seated next to a happy, boisterous crowd that were filling up before a wedding. We opted for the massive buffet where each dish looked more enticing than the last. The food was fresh, spicy and flavorful and we stuffed ourselves silly.

Afterwards, we went to a market and after leisurely checking out the simple and orderly assemblage of goods, we left with a giant bag of dried lima beans, a bag of spicy snacks and a bottle of tamarind sauce.

Onward to the cd store. Cap adores Indian music. The shopkeeper sang the songs off the various Asha Bhosle cds that she brought out for him to help him know whether the cd had the right era of songs that he was looking for. He ended up choosing two cds and when we were short the cash and Cap had literally emptied out each pocket and placed every last coin he had on the counter, she told us to bring in the last $2 next time we came in (no cards, no checks, and no need to run across the street to the ATM).

I hobbled back to the car. I was so full and felt like my stomach was ballooning as the food sat there with no where to go. It took me hours to recover.

I've been keen on visiting India someday since seeing the movie Darjeeling Express. Yesterday I felt like a got a glimmering glimpse of a mutation of life half a world away.

Visit

Erik M. and his dog, Trudy, came over last night for a visit. This is a nice aspect of moving. When you move, friends from away come to visit and more often than not, will sleep over. When that happens, you get to spend a kind of time with them that you never did when you lived near each other.

After a couple of hours of chatting and catching up (we hadn't actually seen Erik in a few years), Cap made us each a late night cheese quesadilla and we watched a bit of X-Men 3, a bit of Jackass 2, and the latest ep of Bill Maher's show which featured Dan Savage reporting on his time spent interviewing folks in South Carolina about the primary there. We laughed. A lot.

Bean bake

Our dinner tonight was so pretty. So, so pretty. I thought of taking a picture of it while it was baking in the oven looking incredibly enticing. But, I didn't. And then I completely forgot about taking pictures. So, here's me, now, with a look of complete culinary satisfaction on my face. Because not only was dinner pretty, but it kicked ass.


I went to see Dr. Vinny today, so my face looks extra satisfied, doesn't it?

I couldn't get the words on my shirt, now my favorite pajama top, into the picture with my face, so here it is:


My Christmas gift from my sister. I love it.

On to dinner and the reason for my giddiness. Tonight I made a recipe that Kate passed along. She made this for the Fiber Arts holiday potluck and it was tasty. It did go very well with Lucy's homemade, fresh-out-of-the-oven whole wheat bread with butter. Yum.

I adapted the recipe, which is originally from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. Bon appetit!

Bean Bake

2 15 oz. cans organic Great Northern beans
1/4 cup olive oil (I eyeball it)
1 large onion, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into thin half moons (thin is key)
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 14.5 oz. can organic fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 1/4 tsp salt (I eyeball it and probably chucked in more)
black pepper
2-3 Tbs finely chopped fresh parsley
3 Tbs fresh or 1 tsp dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Put oil in a large pan and set over medium/medium-high heat. When hot, add the onion. Stir and cook until the onions are translucent. Put in the carrot and cook soft, stirring now and then. Now put in the tomatoes and heat through. Turn off the heat.

Put the beans and their liquid into a 2 quart baking dish. Add the onion, carrot and tomato. Add the salt, a coating of black pepper, the parsley and oregano. Stir to mix.

Bake uncovered for 2 hours. Serve hot or room temp depending on how you like it.

We had it with brown rice tonight.

Overheard playmo talk

"Are you a professor?"

"No."

"Are you the mayor?"

"No. I'm just a dad."

Also, after collecting the mail from the little mailbox,

"Nothing good. Just a couple of welcome to your new house cards."

And, finally,

"And now showing on Super Station WGN, AFV!"

What i'm knitting

I finished the scarf I've been knitting for Lady X (a belated birthday gift) and jumped right into a scarf for Lady Y.

I used a Noro yarn called "Crayon" for Lady X's scarf. I was happy to be able to complete it using two skeins. I have two skeins left which will be enough for another project, most likely another scarf.

The purple yarn for Lady Y is from a soft, chenille-like (may be true chenille, not sure) skein I bought to make Kinder a scarf ages ago...I think when we lived in MA. Lady Y is a child and I'm not sure I got the width of the scarf right, but if anything it will be too big and she can grow into it.

I have thoughts of decorating Lady Y's scarf with her initial or hearts or dots or birds or something. Getting ambitious. Feels good.

I love my knitting bag. It's a simple, cotton bag Cap brought back for me from Japan last summer with one of those simple, funny messages you can find on t-shirts and the like, over there.

Playmo house

The kids have entered the Playmo phase. Playmo is what they call the Playmobil toys. This morning Kinder and I went out in search of the deluxe Playmo house. We struck out at Marshall's and the local children's consignment shop, but they did have it at the first independent toy store we hit (there are two independents and a Learning Express franchise in our town).

Uncle Mike D. gave the kids big, generous bucks when he visited and they have been saving their money for just the right thing. Today, that perfect something came into their lives and it has been heaven.

It took all day to put together and finally, after dinner, they have settled down to play with it.

I took a few pictures and it's interesting to see that Kinder's expression throughout the series is one of singular concentration. First, on the other hand, is all smiles and dimples, his body darting from one side of the house to another.

I felt a little like I was watching play therapy. I noticed that First was using all sorts of politeness as he took on the roles of his little folk. So he does know how to use manners I growled inwardly....

I learned that this is not a doll house. No. Don't call it a doll house. It's a Playmo house.

Thanks, Mike.

Happy birthday

It was Cap's birthday yesterday. He is now 43. He is a Capricorn (hence the blog nickname). He is so special, I am so lucky,



The kids each made him a puzzle to give him. Kinder used the last of the blank puzzles left over from his birthday party. First made one from paper. Kinder made him a sweet card, too, heart-themed.


I had to include this pic of the three of them. I mean, look at that DNA at work in the set of Cap and First's mouths. I laughed out loud when I saw this and called the kids over. First marveled at it, tickled by the truth.


Cap worked a bit around the house, including laundering the strep bug out of all the bedding (First had his first case of strep with scarlet fever diagnosed on Monday), the kids enjoyed lots of tv, and I spent the afternoon in the kitchen baking a yellow cake, frosting it with chocolate frosting, and whipping up baked scallops with butter and cracker crumbs (his mom's recipe).

We had a lovely dinner and Cap read to the kids from "Little Nemo" before they were sent off to bed. Cap and I watched a Japanese movie called Train Man which was great. A quirky tale of romance. (Cap discovered yesterday that our town library has an amazing foreign film selection.)

Happy birthday my love!

Holiday leftovers

I have some pictures...of moments I didn't have the wherewithal to post about at the time. There were also times that I didn't have the wherewithal to even take pictures. We went up to MA on Christmas morning and spent time with Cap's family, Karen, Brent and the kids, and Jamie. I didn't take a single photo apparently.

An honorable holiday mention goes to (Karen's) Uncle Peter's Christmas bangers and salsa. All you need to know is that they are so sublime, so perfect, that there is no wanting more. Once they are gone for the season, you are happy and sated until next year.

Here are the leftovers:

Some shots taken while we were playing out back.




From the Fiber Arts holiday party.








From the I've-lost-my-mind-and-I'm-going-to-take-a-zillion-shots holiday photo shoot.





Our gingerbread cookies. Kinder is the one who made this happen. They are gluten- and casein-free, were such a pleasure to make, and we have a new tradition in the making, I think.





We paid Cam a birthday visit on his actual birthday. Julie outdid herself with GF pizza and GF birthday cake.


On New Year's day we celebrated Oshougatsu with my family. We feasted on my mom's traditional New Year's dishes, played sudoku, chatted, and ate some more. At the end of the day, my mom pulled the theme ingredient for the Iron Chef competition out of a bag. Apple!

When we got home, Cap and the kids took down the tree.





The first weekend of the new year we gathered with my family again, this time for the Iron Chef competition that Cap had challenged Sandy to. I was too busy eating and having fun to take pictures at Sandy's. Here are some of the pictures from Takai's (where Cap cooked and served).

Sandy made: mulled cider; an apple, Brie, ham and walnut sandwich; apple-butternut squash soup with a swirl of yogurt; apple-potato latkes with applesauce; chicken with apple and carmelized onion with apple-potato torten on the side; and for dessert, apple three ways: apple pie, apple bread and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream.

Cap made: mulled cider with a kebob of apple, smoked gouda, and candied fruit with a drizzle of honey to dip in and slice of candied ginger to chew on; a sushi apple tree (see photo---this was his best dish) comprised of sushi rolls of chicken salad with apple, tuna salad, and peanut butter with apple and a trunk made of brown rice balls with chicken apple sausage; chicken and apple curry with apple chutney and a mini pita with apple butter on the side; and for dessert, apple slices poached with cardomom and brown sugar with vanilla ice cream (unfortunately, his intended dessert, pound cake with the poached apple slices on top was not to be---the pound cake had a mishap in the oven).

It was a blast. The food was great, we all had a good time, the dishes were judged and scored, and Cap won by one point.





The night before Iron Chef, Cap and I went out to hear the symphony. My mom came over to watch the kids and we finished the 600 piece puzzle with her the next morning.

(Last summer, thrilled at the low subscription prices, I went a little crazy and bought three theater subscriptions. Two to the symphony and one to the New Vic. We are reaping the benefits now, especially in the dawn of our new budget. The day after New Year's Day we saw a Chinese acrobatic circus at the New Vic which was amazing. Kinder has been trying his hand at various contortions ever since.)

Quiet, restless

First is sick. Just sick enough that he's been tucked into the living room couch all day. He is snoozing there now. He has mostly been reading comic books, watching some Noggin (my insistence on content having to be "gentle") and nibbling on rice, quinoa and apple sauce. And drinking chamomile tea with honey, and apple juice.

His throat was hurting and when I looked into it this morning it looked swollen. I think it's his tonsils (I had a tonsillectomy in first grade because mine would get repeatedly inflamed and caused me, and my mom no doubt, much trouble.)

Olivia ended up sick last night so Karen and co. canceled their trip down (K&B were supposed to see the Carolina Chocolate Drops tonight in NYC).

I worked on my dresser today. Surprisingly labor intensive for such a finite space. The top of the dresser was like a dusty, old attic overstuffed with generations' worth of treasure and trash. The odd and familiar were both represented. And the dust. Oy vey.

First wanted me close periodically so I read some of the book I started last night, Momo by Michael Ende (well known for penning his other book, The Neverending Story). I'm enjoying it. It has similarities to Stardust, which I loved. Someone posted to one of the Waldorf homeschooling sites about Momo so I got it through the library.

I also read aloud some of the Magic Treehouse book that Kinder got from the library.

Back to the dresser (back and forth went the work today). I ended up going through my clothes because I thought I might be able to make space in one of the drawers for my big, old, vinyl-covered jewelry box from the seventies and my basket of hair things.

I was. But, I need to go through it at some point. There is some old stuff in there. It felt heavy as I placed it in the drawer. I hope the bottom of the drawer doesn't fall out...

The Pats are on tonight. Cap and Kinder went out to the store for supplies. I decided to splurge. Kinder's getting an Amy's frozen pizza and Cap and I will make deluxe nachos with Jack cheese, and guacamole for me. I asked them to get some strawberry applesauce for First.

I realized today that I haven't been outside in days. I do that sometimes. My appt with Dr. Vinny was postponed yesterday so I did not leave the house as planned. It is winter, even if it is 50 degrees out. My instinct is to nest.

But, it explains the restlessness that kicked in last night. Cap and I watched the first two episodes of The Wire's new season and I kept getting up to go to the kitchen. Some cereal here, some nuts there, oh, there's some leftover popcorn. Restless noshing.

Unearth it and they will come

Cap and I have been working on rearranging furniture/shelves, clearing out books, papers, and stuff, and organizing what's left: what we are deeming essential enough (for now) to occupy the precious little space we have in our "cozy" home. It's great to have Cap around during these non-teaching portions of his year (though for him these times come with the challenge of discipline without schedule).

Our financial situation makes things simpler in a way. And that is helpful. Now that I am watching every penny that goes out that door, I am freer to unearth what we have already.

And as it turns out, we have plenty.


This morning I seasoned the chalk board side of the new easel and set out some chalk. After a moment's thought, actually non-thought/instinct, I decided to place the cheap and expensive stuff in the bright red tray. (Interestingly, Kinder reached for the expensive stuff first (I think it is quite visually arresting) but then rejected them immediately---I think it was a tactile reaction.)

Most of the rest of the morning I spent dusting and organizing the shelves that I didn't get to yesterday. I am now done with the living room. I now have a much better idea of what we have and am newly inspired to do some modeling with beeswax and clay, try out some of the experiment kits we have and finally make that dang volcano.

The kids did some rubber stamping with Cap and I enjoyed hearing and observing his gentle and constructivist teaching. They enjoyed making the last of the holiday cards. Cap's are solidly "New Year" this year and they had fun digging out the stamp with the Chinese pictograph for "rat".

Kinder's design was a forest of bare-branched trees with a sun and the "rat" symbol.

First's design was comprised of warm things: a cup of hot tea/coffee, the word "hope", two friends holding hands, a cat, and the symbols for "rat" and "winter".

Cap took them outside for a bit, too. It has been unseasonably mild the last few days and the boys have been enjoying throwing the football around, trying out the new t-ball set and kicking the soccer ball.

After lunch they put their folded laundry away and then came into the living room. The pristine shelves must have beckoned. They swooped in on the math manipulatives (that's my background in elementary ed talking) and set about playing and exploring and asking a question here and there. Those poor materials hadn't felt the warm touch of a child's hand and mind in months.




The bedroom is next. I have a craft area forming in there with my brother's childhood desk upon which sits my virgin sewing machine and a shelf devoted to crafty stuff.

We also want to have a stretching/exercise/meditative space in there.

And my desk. It is covered in piles again (will the piles ever cease their travels from room-to-room?) But, there is lots of hope around here. And promise. And joy.

Sudoku

A few weeks ago, First really enjoyed using an electronic sudoku game at my mom's house. I asked if we could borrow it and she gave it to us. Now First, Kinder and Cap all enjoy a game every day or so.

I've been surprised that Kinder has picked it right up (numeracy has come quite easily to him since he was very young---this is my own "baby" bias popping up).

I've also been surprised that no one has become more obsessed with it.

Putting brush to paper and canvas

Both my kids love to paint. And yet they don't paint very often. Mainly because it was labor intensive for me to set up the wet-on-wet watercolor painting. Which was the only kind of painting the kids did once our easel broke when we moved.

I asked for an easel for Kinder's birthday back in November. When we had one in CA, the kids used it a lot. It was set up in the garage and Sacramento being Sacramento, the garage was a comfortable open-air studio for most of the year.

One of our projects today was putting the new easel together. Of course, as soon as we tightened the last screw they were getting the paints out and starting to mix their colors.


First was finally able to use a canvas he had picked up months ago. He enjoyed mixing colors using the watercolor tubes that Julie sent for Kinder's birthday. He painted for a good half hour and is planning to continue working on it. He filled about half his canvas.


Kinder was eager to use the roll of paper attached to the easel. He was funny---he wanted to sit and paint. He finished his painting. His inspiration was the amazing sunrise sky he observed from the bathroom window this morning. He painted a child doing a sunrise dance in front of a rising sun.

I'm not there and stardust

A couple of weeks ago Cap and I went to see "I'm Not There" directed by Todd Haynes. He reimagines the life of Bob Dylan and uses a variety of wonderful actors to flesh out the many characters of "Bob". I have never been a fan of Dylan or his music, but loved this move. Apparently, you either love it or hate it. Cap didn't like it very much and he had been quite excited to see it. Todd Haynes is a fun director to watch though. His cinematic eye is pristine.

Last night I started "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman. Ooh, I love it. If I hadn't been as tired as I was and determined to try to get eight hours of sleep, I would have stayed up with it for much longer.

I'm in the middle of "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and just finished back-to-back pulpier novels Innocent in Death by J.D. Robb and Echo Park by Michael Connelly. Oh, in between those I read Sherman Alexie's new novel "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" (funny and devastating as usual, that one,...he is one of my favorite writers).

Some catch up

Kinder has coined a term that we're all using. "Fluttering"---which means it is snowing very lightly.

First has concocted some new spins on old faves: ham and Tings sushi rolls and celery and potato chips pizza.

They are playing a lot of board and card games these days. Sorry! (a Christmas gift), Chutes and Ladders, The Cat in the Hat game, I Never Forget A Face, Go Fish, and Uno.

We finished the 600 piece puzzle thanks in part to a surge brought on by mom baby-sitting for us Saturday night.

Last night we had a blast at our first Iron Chef-style family cook-off. Cap challenged my sister to a Battle Apple (drawn from about two dozen suggestions out of a bag). The dishes were varied, interesting and delicious. Cap won by a point. I've challenged my brother for another one to be held possibly over Memorial Day weekend.

Last night I dreamt that I was getting on Cap's case about his wanting to buy a nose hair clipper because of the cost. I'm really trying not to stress about the finances and feel I have been mostly successful. But one cannot control one's dreams (which is a good thing, I say).

"We're going to the closet..."

On the PBS kids' show Zoboomafoo, there's a bit where the Kratt brothers head to their closet to get the gear they need for their next animal adventure. Inevitably, they open the closet door and all the crap they've stuffed in there falls on top and all over them, literally burying them. Mayhem by mirth.

I pulled open my closet door back around Kinder's birthday/Thanksgiving and boy did the crap start tumbling down. Sometime around Christmas and our third trip up to Massachusetts in as many months, I was completely buried.

Today is the second day in a row without any outings planned, with nothing significantly out of the routine in the works. Kinder's got drumming this afternoon. That's it.

So my attention will be turned to sifting through the odds and ends that litter the floor of my mind and my apartment.