Wednesday in the park with kindred spirits

Watching the fish---muddy colored with sudden glints of silver...

Finishing his book (an Encyclopedia Brown)...


Watching them from afar...I enjoyed not knowing what they were talking about.

Sag was hanging with Kelly and the girls in the playground by this point. But, Gem, give him a stream and rocks and he is in his element.

The flag of a very special place.


Baxter loved the grass and kept licking and sucking. The fur under his mouth actually took on a light green hue...

Pippa turned 2 in August and she is suddenly looking and acting like a girl much older.

Shannon started up a park meet up on Wednesdays. The park is wonderful! It's about a 20 minute drive for us, part of the drive is on a road that cuts a swath through a local reservation. It was breathtaking driving under sun dappled green boughs over hanging and framing the road.

We met some new folks and hung out with familiar faces, too.

What I said earlier about being outside really helping with my PMS? It is the truth. I felt some mild cramping now and again, but my mood was refreshed and really good. Thank you Mother Earth and, thank you, Community.

Waaah

It wouldn't be me and my blog if there wasn't some mention of my period or cycle every now and again.

My period is overdue (I think, I don't really keep track anymore like I used to). And it is really affecting me. Sometimes it's the bloating (like when I can't close my jeans that fit just fine last week), sometimes it's the realization that I feel like I'm waiting for Godot (when I'd much rather be humming along living my life), and, sometimes, like now, it's the tingling all over, in a bad way, feeling like I'm going to burst and dissolve...in shimmery waves quieting a burst of sobs or a scream.

OMG. Fracking start already!!

P.S. Going outside really helps. Having Baxter here has forced me to take walks, the kids and I went to our local park yesterday afternoon, and that was great.

Hope burst

Go here if you're at all worried/depressed/nauseated, etc. about the possibility that McCain / Palin are headed to the White House in '09.

Thanks, Sandy.

Pause

Baxter hanging out. The carpet looks so clean to me :-)

Six totes of home made Ben 10 toys. I bought out the store (which was lying in fallow) to get them out of the kids' room. They were taking up way too much shelf space for my rendering of their new and improved room. Our room, in the meantime, remains a walk-in storage facility.

A recent lego creation by Sag.

A recent lego creation by Gem.

My yarn stash. I'm coming clean. That's a lot of yarn.

I'm not buying anymore yarn in 2008 save for the trips here and here I already have planned while I'm in the Bay Area at the end of this month. The second store is in my old stomping grounds and that visit will be rounded out by a burrito from here, no doubt :-)

I've decided not to take a sock class this fall, mostly for financial reasons, but also time. Wendy offered up the gift of walking me through a pair of socks when we visit them between Thanksgiving and Xmas. So, I'll be on the look out for sock yarn while in CA to knit up while in FL :-)

Once I finish my current, mondo, project, I will move onto some smaller ones: two birthday scarves, a hat for Gem, a scarf for Sag, a scarf for Cap, a caliometry for me... All the yarn for those projects already live in the stash.

The new season of House starts tonight!

Free rice

Go here to check it out. Thanks to Wendy for teaching me about it.

It's monday

We were in Massachusetts this weekend.

I've said it before, but I freakin' love MA. At one point this weekend we were driving from Kingston to Plympton (a 10 minute drive), the windows were down, the wind blowing my hair around, and my senses were just soaking in the atmosphere: the trees, the shingled homes, the scents, the ever familiar bends in the road... It's a craving that I don't even know is there most of the time.

Our drive up was from Hades. We left the house before 4pm and straggled into Karen and Brent's at 11:30pm. Oy. Seriously? Frack.

But, once there, there was a visit to a LYS where I bought a skein of Vermont-made yarn, a wonderful extended family gathering/reunion with Cap's dad's side of the family to welcome and meet a couple visiting from Finland (distant cousins of my fil), and Karen and Brent's hospitality which included a full-on South Indian feast for breakfast yesterday morning (dosas!!) and a post-breakfast kids-and-Brent walk to the cemetery in the rain. (And over an hour of knitting for me Sunday morning :-)

The drive home was notable mostly for the number of times we had to stop for the bathroom. Note to Cap: do not ply the boys with fun water bottles on long drives. There was some traffic, as well, and the return trip to Queens to pick up Baxter took almost six hours. Sigh. So ready to not be in the car for awhile.

Sandy and Mike came over and we all had dinner at Takai's house. Takai, Lisa and Ellie are in Aruba for a week. After the lovely repast we packed up Bax and his stuff and came home.

This morning the air is cooler (it was awful 'round these here parts yesterday/last night) and we've got a full schedule which includes the library and swimming. The first homeschoolers library day is today, but the kids usually shy away from that so we'll no doubt end up upstairs looking for Encyclopedia Brown books (and other stuff, says Gem the over-the-shoulder editor.) Polliwogery resumes in the late afternoon :-)

No pics to share from the weekend! I was too busy being present, which is a nice thing, every now and again...

Treasures

This pail of cash has been sitting in a corner of our home for a week or so. I leave it there, forgotten by the children, because it always makes me smile. The pot at the end of our rainbow.

Sag's new toy. A prop that helps him plumb the depths of his soul with sweeping hums.

A recent Gem creation. The leaf was found while at the playground over the weekend. Modeling clay with Saskia in New Hampshire has sparked a trend back home.

Our red chair. This is where I knit. Gem has barely budged from it today between reading and watching tv.

The original trilogy. On loan from Sandy and Mike (my sister and her hubby). They are on high rotation.

My son the Jedi

Sometimes, I will see out of the corner of my eye, Sag practicing his Jedi moves. He stands on the couch and is able to see himself in a mirror that Sandy gave us, years and years ago, that sits on the mantle.

His face and body in full and supple concentration, he is amazing to watch. But, you have to do that in secret and from afar. Pictures? No way in hell, methinks.

Morning table

Out that window reflected in the digestion tea, a crisp beautiful late summer (portending of fall) morning.

Gem and I had some time alone this morning and I read him some Encyclopedia Brown. His grudging blocking of ears soon turned into interest and before long, I could see dimples forming in those cheeks as he listened while looking out the window. A slice of heaven, sharing a book from your childhood with your kid.

Homeschooling stuff

It's all homeschooling to me, but I am trying some new things this fall. So, here's the latest.

This week's "try something new" will be making cups. Sag's idea. I'm thinking origami and modeling clay. We'll see if it leads to further study ;-) I may also take them to the pottery decorating place in town, which would be fun.

I started "Activity Logs", just on Appleworks documents kept in folders on the desk top. Here in NJ we don't have to account to anyone, but I do have some archivist in me, and so will attempt to document. I refuse to call it a "learning" log because there is just no way you could know on any given day what a child has learned!

I'm encouraging the kids to journal once a week. We're starting in notebooks, big, bold, blank books that Cap gave the kids a few years ago.

Swimming starts Thursday. Sag is likely not returning to drumming this fall.

Rounding out the week is learning the songs for the Finnish relatives, writing some thank you cards, playing, reading, drawing, etc. etc.

Tidal tuesday

In and out, forward and back, today I feel like I am going with the flow. It's an old, primal, comforting rhythm, but there's a dash of excitement thrown in due to the act of letting go, shutting off the mind control.

My younger has lost a tooth. One of the big ones, as you can see. It's only been a few weeks since I last posted photos and he already looks older.

The other night, it was the hush of midnight, I opened a box. Inside was my first ever purchase of a whole bag of yarn. Ten skeins of Noro Silk Garden that I bought (way) on sale. It is such an investment, I may never do that again. But it was sweet to dance with the yarn, celebrating fiber and art in the glow of extreme promise.


We bought a Dyson. It's a wonderful vacuum cleaner made in England. Many users love them, some proclaim it's all hype. I did some research and initially bought a Kenmore (way) on sale, but it didn't cut it.

Kelly lent us their Dyson and I was sold. Cap wasn't completely sold, but enough that he agreed to the switch. Kudos to Sears for taking the Kenmore back without charging us a restocking fee. And kudos to Bed, Bath and Beyond and their 20% off coupon. In the end we paid $80 more, but it already feels worth it (with no sales or coupons the Dyson is $50 more than the Kenmore).

I love my machine. It makes one want to vacuum often. It's relatively quiet, easy to handle, and man, does that thing have suction.

Here's to a cleaner home and less compromised immune systems this fall!


Cap had the kids this morning. I went to Target with Danielle and then she drove me over to the garage where I picked up our patched up car. Target, Target. I really have a love/hate relationship with that store. I love some of the designs and graphics, but hate that nearly everything is made in China. I tried on a trench coat that I liked a lot, but at $40 full price, it wasn't worth it.

I tried on some other jackets, but felt like a Project Runway judge as I found flaws here and there, auf'ing them right and left. What made it in the cart and home were some thermal shirts and sweat pants for the boys, a toy light saber for Sag (barely worth the $8, even for him, though in the end he decided to keep it---there's a $120 one he'll be praying he gets for his birthday :-), and some melamine plates and bowls that I could not resist. Monsters with the biggest smiles on their faces on the plates, the word "yum" in the bowls.

Oh, and a box of legos. I had a $5 promotional gift card from our last visit so applied that to the legos. The boys are loving themselves some legos these days.

I got the car back. I love our car. The master switch was replaced so now we can open the driver's side front window again. For over six months we haven't opened that window. Because if you did, you never knew if you'd be able to get it back up again. The left front wheel bearing was replaced, too, so now it doesn't make that weird, trying-too-hard, clunking sound when you turn.

I'm hopeful that we will be able to move forward with our computer purchase despite the bill from the garage today. Hoping is free :-)

I took the kids out to lunch after we dropped off Cap at school. Going with the flow. I had skipped breakfast and was hungry, we didn't have much in the house, it was a rare treat. It is the time of year when, if the kids and I are out and about during the day on a week day, that folks get curious about why they aren't in school. People around here are polite and pretty easy-going, so it's cool.

Gem wanted to walk over to the book store after lunch and I couldn't resist. This book store is so nice. I step into the store and the scent of the place is like nectar to me. It temporarily stuns me and I inhale and gulp as I rock back on my feet. Every time.

The kids browsed and browsed but came away empty-handed which is almost unheard of. I, on the other hand, tapped into the flow and picked up a collection of stories for children by one of my faves, Neil Gaiman, Howl's Moving Castle (the movie was so entertaining), Encyclopedia Brown (with Gem in mind), and The Magician's Boy (with Sag in mind).

The books are so pretty. The covers are so smooth. I love new books. (Of course, I love library books and used books, too, but there's something wonderful about splurging for some new books---you know, it's that back-to-school fall-is-here feeling that is seeping all over and in me).


Off to practice "You Are My Sunshine", "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" and a Finnish children's Christmas song about piggies. We are singing for/with some Finnish relatives we'll be meeting for the first time this weekend up in Plympton.

Lars and the real girl

...was crazy wonderful. Moving, thoughtful, intuitive, funny... I'm so glad I sat down, without any knitting in my hands, to watch it tonight.

Sleight of hand

Cap's taking Giles (our car) into the shop next week before our "meet some Finnish relatives in Plympton" weekend. There's some stuff awry. Like when you press on the brake and it feels like any resistance the pedal should be giving you drops off and that the brakes are failing. Stuff like that.

So, the new computer looks like it may turn into an automotive repair bill with the whoosh of a magician's silk. Dammit.

But there is balance in the universe. Cap and I are going out to dinner tonight before seeing Steve Earle play right in town. I've never seen Steve Earle live and am very excited. Dinner will be at our local, lovely, Ethiopian restaurant.

What, grown-up alone time, dinner and music? I know. Whoosh.

Shared items

I forgot to mention that there's a new feature on my blog. The shared items are sent over from my Google Reader (where I get automatic feeds from my favorite blogs and websites). If I've shared it, it either made me laugh out loud or moved me in some other way (ie. brought a tear to my eye or a happy rumble to my stomach :-)

On the one hand, who needs more stuff to read, but on the other, it's nice to be able to share. Enjoy!

5 things

...I've been loving:

• GF pasta with GF bread crumbs, garlic, veggie(s), and olive oil

• Mad Men and Project Runway

• my Addi Turbos

• the cool nights and early mornings

• decaf green tea on ice with a hit of agave

What are you loving these days?

NBTS

...stands for Not Back To School in homeschooling lingo.

But for this schooled girl, there is something about the beginning of September that pulls for change, promise and anew.

So, we're starting off with doing something new every week. To get us to consider things outside of the box. To push us to just try it, whatever it is. To check things off the list of places to see and things to do instead of letting those slips of paper twirl off towards the horizon of oh-we-never-did-get-to-that-did-we.

This week, the kids are exploring no time limits on the computer. They are able to get deeper into their games by having the time to advance through more levels. They are going back to old games and tripping down memory lane. They are discovering new aspects of familiar websites.

It has been interesting for me that I haven't been able to jump onto the computer as I would normally because of the heavier traffic. This has actually been good for me. I've been redirected to stay the course on my own stuff.

Oh my

A bit ago, I was in the kitchen. At the counter just about finished with the post-dinner clean up. Gem came in and quietly hugged me from behind. With feeling. This is much more of a Sag move and I thought at first it was him.

Then, before I could exhale my swift intake of breath, kisses. He planted kisses along my back horizontally.

Never. Honestly, I think never before has this child done this to me. In his eight-plus years.

I wrapped my arm back and held his arm. "Hey, honey..." was all I could muster before he was gone. As swiftly as he had come, he was gone.

Long weekend

It feels great to be having an unscheduled weekend.

The kids' room is nearly done. Cap did me a big favor by going out to Ikea last night and picking up a shelving unit which he put together this morning. It looks a bit industrial (it's meant for garages and basements), but it uses the space it inhabits perfectly with shelves and storage from floor to ceiling in a 3 foot wide space.

The Poang chair was on sale so I had him pick one up for me. It's great for knitting in and he's always moving his chair about to work in quiet places in the apartment in the evenings, so I decided to go for it. Mine is red.

The kids and I went to Lila and Pippa's birthday party today. It was mellow. As, usual, the company and food were great. Gem started feeling unwell though and we ended up leaving after a couple of hours. Highlights included handling monarch butterflies with gentle wonder and hearing Lila squeal loudly from the next room, "Mom, Playmobil!", as she opened our gift :-)

I watched The English Patient tonight and thought it was very good. I didn't know Juliette Binoche was in it till I was watching already and was excited. I've always enjoyed her craft and had recently seen her in Dan In Real Life (which was also quite enjoyable in its own right).

Got some knitting time in while watching the movie tonight. I am really digging knitting these days. (These projects need to be kept secret for now. The reveals will come when they can :-)

Tomorrow I start two months of no meat, no gluten and no casein. I need to cleanse and break some habits. Not all habits though, I'm leaving the sugar in.

Planning on spending some time either finishing up the living room or getting started on our room.

Hope you're enjoying the three-day weekend wherever you are.

P.S. Had an issue with iPhoto and my New Hampshire pics. So those are not going to be up for awhile. We're pretty close to buying a new computer with our economic stimulus check. The top contender is the iMac with 24-inch screen. As the kids would say: "Sweet! Sexy!" If and when this happens, my photo storage and organization capabilities will change drastically and it will be so...sweet!

Tsk tsk

Shame on me for slacking off here.

New Hampshire was a blast. A whirl of delicious food, stunning views, constant cricket song, kids so cozy, and a kickass pond with a rock perfect for jumps.

We stopped in to join Julie, Mike and Cam for dinner on our way home. The next day, Mike D. came for a visit. Our time together was full of sharing, listening, eating, and laughing.

Yesterday was Christmas in August. Cap and I went to see the Sox lose to the Yanks (a picture perfect day for a game, which was, as predicted, quite the pitcher's duel). The kids spent the day with Takai, Lisa and Ellie. My brother took them out for lunch at a kaiten (revolving) sushi place and they swam in the pool at Lisa's mom building (a sweet heated outdoor pool with views of the Manhattan skyline). Later we all met up at P.F. Chang's for dinner.

In between I've been wrestling with a secret knitting project and let's just say it's been an "opportunity for learning and growth". I think (hope) the steepest of learning curves are behind me and look forward to settling in with this project soon.

Off to pick up Cap from the office and to purchase a new vacuum cleaner. The experience of rearranging the nest and the major dustage that ensued has me rethinking our health and habits. Upright vacuum for our predominantly wall-to-wall carpets, here we come. (This is the first place we've lived in that has WTW carpeting---you live and learn, yes you do.)

Pictures soon.

Overnight

We're hoofing it to New Hampshire after all. Back tomorrow night. It'll be good to drink in some New England country air.

I had a long overdue fit of cooking yesterday powered by Trader Joe's dark choco sea salt covered almonds (I love this store): carrot tofu scramble, potato salad, roasted potatoes, Lady and the Tramp meatballs, a big batch of brown rice... I couldn't get to the banana bread, but that's okay.

I was so tired from my period, but somehow that primal we're- going- somewhere- unfamiliar- in- the- middle- of- nowhere- and- I- don't- know- whether- my- kid- will- have- enough- to- eat thing kicked in and it got me going.

I cast on a special something last night, 146 stitches, and am loving the Addi Turbos.

Watched Dan in Real Life to chill out before bed and enjoyed it.

Oh, the open house for the democratic school was a dud, unfortunately...

Zodiac

Ooh, the thrillingest movie I've seen in a long while, hands down. And shoulders clenched and eyes peeking through a lattice of fingers and heart thump-thump-a-thumpin'. It is about trying to figure out the identity of a serial killer, so Barb needs to have the remote quite handy for this one. But, it is so worth it if you can get past that. The performances were smooth (with one of my top misters, Mark Ruffalo) and the directing, editing and cinematography were sensational.

It was a good day. Cap's back home and I got to go out alone for a bit. I hit the kids' consignment shop and picked up a bunch of pants and Hanna pjs. Also a pair of black rubber boots coolly decorated with skulls and cross bones and grey wings that I told Sag he'd either love or hate. (He hated them...but I think he might grow to like them :-)

Then I went to the yarn store. Mmmmm. I just love going to the yarn store. Can't go into much detail here right now, but I am excited about my purchases and upcoming projects. I bought my first skein of Malabrigo and I love it. Can't wait to see how it knits up. Also my first skeins of Noro Cash Iroha. Same thing, can't wait to get 'em on my needles. Speaking of needles, I also picked up my first set of metal needles. They're a circular pair of Addi Turbos which some claim are the creme de la creme. I'm usually a bamboo girl, so we'll see how the metal works out.

Back home, the kids' room is nearly ready for them. Gem went through his massive collection of Ben 10 store stock (the other three have abandoned this ship and Gem has taken over the whole operation) and now they are neatly stored in five plastic tubs. Tomorrow we work on where these tubs will go. We may be looking at putting up a shelf in the kids' room.

We're all really enjoying the living room set up. It looks cozy and somehow feels more like home than it ever has. Our room needs a lot of attention at this point. General upkeep has fallen a bit by the wayside and Gem voluntarily cleaned the toilet this afternoon.

I got to talk to Barb around dinner time for an hour (it paid to make a phone date).

We finalized our New Hampshire plans and will spend Sunday-Monday with Mary, Nate and Saskia at Nate's mom's place on a lake.

PMS was intense there for much of the day yesterday, but like a fierce storm, it has left clear calm in its wake. I think the Evening Primrose did its job this cycle.

The external hard drives have arrived and Cap began the process of downloading our music files.

Sag and I continued our StarWars film fest (Gem is watching with us for the most part, but this is really Sag's thing). Sandy and Mike sent us the first trilogy on VHS earlier in the week and we've watched A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and are an hour into The Return of the Jedi. We're planning on finishing the trilogy tomorrow.

Also on deck for tomorrow: many loads of laundry, some food planning and prep for our trip, and an Open House for the local democratic school where we are thinking of enrolling Gem for some half days in the fall.

Why no photos

Sigh. Yes, there have been no photos this week.

Our computer is full to the gills and is no longer accepting new files. There are two external hard drives purchased and on their way. I'm looking forward to learning something new about computers and using the hard drives to store photos. This will be yet another to declutter as we have a lot of photos that were lead ups to the "good" shot and are not essential...not keepers.

There's also old crap on the hard drive that I'm sure I can chuck.

(I know I can take and upload photos to the blog bypassing uploading them to the computer, but somehow, I've just paused the process wanting to wait till it's sorted out. Sag is also in the middle of making a Star Wars movie and actively using the camera, uploading into Cap's laptop for now.)

We may buy a new computer sometime in the fall. Apparently it is not advisable to buy a new Mac right now, most of their computers are approaching the end of their cycles. If the hard drives work as well as I am hoping they will, we won't need a new computer.

Ah, the reason I can even contemplate a new computer? The freakin' IRS finally sent us a letter saying we're getting our economic stimulus check!!! This has been a saga which included an IRS employee telling me to my face that though the government makes it seem like everyone eligible is entitled to one of these checks, the truth is that not everyone is and that we would be eligible again next year. Huh?!?

My nerves and soul are clanging with the energy of PMS. I'm gulping breath and riding the waves. Off to make some tea.

Acorns and due south

Heard this morning: tiny baby acorns kerplinking and kerplunking on the roof of the porch which is right outside our second floor window. Another sign of the changing seasons.

I'm watching Due South. Paul Gross, from Slings and Arrows was the main draw, but it was created by Paul Haggis, so it had that going for it, too. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get past the LOUD, thumping, cheesy, early 90s tv soundtrack. It's enough to have to get past the LOUD shirts the American sidekick/partner gets to wear to show...I don't know, something about his character.

No worries tonight though, it's Project Runway night!

Cap's back at Jay and Amy's, Mummu is resting after having a fracking buckle put in her eye to help the retina continue reattaching. Oy.

Gem's got swollen glands now atop the low grade fever. Weekend plans to visit Mary and co. in New Hampshire are starting their slow spiral flow down the drain. I'm hoping to salvage some time with her while she's on the east coast. We'll see.

Comfort

The kids and I watched Star Wars Episode IV (that's the "first" Star Wars to most of us) this afternoon. It actually held up pretty well, and served as a reminder that clunky dialogue has always been part of the mix.

I just let the piles be for a couple of hours (my intention had been to work as they watched).

Another comforting thing? Leaning over the tub as I ran a bath for Sag, the lavender and vanilla filling my nose and soothing my nerves.

Dust

Our place looks like we just moved in. So much stuff out on the floor, on tables, on chairs, on beds, waiting for homes to be found for them. And the dust...it's bad. I'm sensitive to dust and my nose has been running for days, my sneezes voluminous in force and size.

(But it's going to kick ass when it's done.)

Mummu (Cap's mom) has been scheduled for yet another eye surgery. This is wearing the poor woman down. Cap leaves later today to chauffeur her and hold her hand.

Thanks for your comments. I read each one and they often bring a smile to my face and a warm squeeze to my heart. I'm sorry I haven't been able to respond to each one. Know that they matter :-)

I'm not sure how bloggy I'm going to be the rest of this week. My virtual haven here may have to take a back seat to real life for a bit.

Overheard

"Let's declutter clutter mountain!"

We de-bunked the kids' bunk bed a couple of days ago. I think their room is going to look great. They are very excited, especially Gem, who was overheard making the exclamation above referring to a pile of stuff that needs to be sorted, decluttered, and given new homes in the altered configuration of their room. (The boy speaks the truth thanks to Clean House :-)

Paper, string, glue, wind

Our annual kite flying afternoon with Sayoko was yesterday. She visits NYC every summer from her home in Japan with boxes of handmade kites imprinted with love and her message of peace. She gives away kites to anyone who wants one (we supply the markers for decorating and message writing). These outings are so refreshing on many levels.

Sag was a little serious and Gem was a little silly yesterday.

Sandy was delighted towards the end of the afternoon when Gem actually, possibly without even realizing what he was doing (if you know him, you know what I mean), leaned into her and made unguarded physical contact. Oh, she grabbed her moment in his sun and made it last, collecting some giggles and much protest along the way.

A summer night and early morning after

The kids were waiting for Michael Phelps to come on the tube, but bedtime came first, even with an Olympics extension. (We taped the events so they can watch them this morning.)

I woke to Sag's tearful cries at 6:15am when he discovered his in-progress legos x-wing fighter which had been put back together not-quite-right by his father who had knocked it over last night as he dashed to the couch to catch Michael Phelps' IM race right after I finished watching the pilot episode of Due South. (That was a long sentence. Catch your breath.)

Turns out I am an ace legos helper. I've had to hit the ground running he has fallen so in love with this medium. Sag is back to singing and humming Weird Al's Star Wars themed American Pie song. On heavy rotation in his soul these days.

Me, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the quiet hour or so we'll have together while the other two snooze. Maybe get some qi gong in, revel in the cool early morning air, and hope that I find my cell phone charger which has been MIA since returning home Sunday.

Polliwogery rules

The kids are loving the pool at the Y.

Today they tried Youth Swim for the first time. Kids in the pool with life guards on call. Parents and guardians in the observation area. They are so comfortable and confident in the water, what a transformation. Especially for Gem.

Yet another reminder of the need to respect his pace. To not rush him. To decipher what it is that makes him feel the way that he does (and not push him.) Because it's almost always simple, but often times not obvious. (And so many of us, well meaning as we may be, tend to try to understand things via the obvious so much of the time.)

It was interesting to see him flapping his hands away poolside at times during the hour of free swim. He still does that when truly stoked.

Our version of Olympic fever

A nice thing about having cable tv. The kids and I have been catching bits and pieces of the Beijing games since returning home.

This afternoon we saw Becca Ward, a homeschooler, and her women's fencing team win the team bronze. We're watching the Japanese and Chinese men's volleyball game as I type.

We've also caught some swimming, synchronized diving, gymnastics and baseball.

Legos and whittling

Legos have finally "arrived". This last one was the visit that hooked Sag into legos and Star Wars, two of Will's passions.

Gem discovered $20 in their room yesterday, most likely the money left for the kids from the Halloween fairy in exchange for their candy (who is this magical being so flush with cash?)

So with his half, and what was left of his own money and with a little help from us, Sag bought his first Star Wars legos set. He's been building and tinkering ever since.

Gem learned firsthand how to whittle from Will and Brent. I ordered him smooth and serrated edge pocket knives from L.L.Bean. The serrated edge one arrived yesterday and he immediately set about working with it.

Have I mentioned Mad Men here? It's a lot of fun to watch. Season 1 is available on Netflix, season 2 is currently airing on AMC.

The piles of stuff in my home, on floors, on tables, on pretty much every surface, are a drain and a strain, but nothing new there.

The now

Parts of me are shifting gears for fall, while I remain tuned into what is very much August.

The kids have a terrific swimming teacher at the Y. I introduced myself to her yesterday and discovered she is planning on teaching in the fall around her college studies schedule.

We're scheduled for peace kite flying Saturday. Sayoko will be returning from Japan with her wonderful kites.

Mary will be making her annual trip out east with Nate and Saskia. We're driving up for a weekend of New Hampshire lake fun.

For the fall, I am thinking of enrolling Gem in a local free school part-time. He has been "bored" a lot since turning 8 and I think a change of scenery may do him some good. The philosophy is free, but there is tuition, so there will be some figuring going on.

Sag is saying he wants to stop drumming class.

I am facing a couple of new knitting projects, woolly challenges that hint at cooler times.

The car is in middle age, the computer is in middle age...life around here is not feeling so shiny and new. But, not terrible, either.

We're back

Here are photos from our lovely week in Massachusetts. Thank you, so much, to Karen, Brent and the kids for their generous and delicious hospitality.

Knex radar dish movie

Quiet on the blog front

The kids and I will be gone for 9 days. We'll be enjoying some R&R at Karen and Brent's next week. Today will be spent packing and preparing. The cicadas are relentless these days around here. It's hot, muggy, sunny...a true summer.

Cap and I had some alone time in Manhattan this week and spent about an hour browsing here. It was a version of heaven for me.

I caught up on the first season of Mad Men and enjoyed it.

Hosted a lovely co-op dinner Wednesday night: Finnish carrot pancake, purple cabbage cole slaw, African peanut kale-pineapple-peanut stew, brown rice, chocolate chip cookies and iced peppermint tea with agave. Yum.

My first set of DPNs (double pointed needles) are purchased and waiting for me to cast on to knit my first hat (this one's for Gem). Wendy forwarded me the link to the website of the folks who made the needles and it is worth sharing here for this photo.

Travel plans have unexpectedly and quickly coalesced. Barb and Audrey are flying me out to Oakland in September because B's back is not predictably well enough for her to plan to travel east this fall, and Cap and I will use our time share week (a family gift) for a weekend away in Atlantic City of all places, later on in the fall :-)

(I wanted to go somewhere with ocean and good food, that was not more than a couple hours drive and was somewhere we'd never been before. And, of course, had to have a participating hotel.)

What goes around...

Spaghetti with meat sauce was my favorite dinner growing up. Hands down. Spaghetti with or without meat (preferably with meat) is definitely at the top of both of my kids' lists of favorite foods that Äiti makes.

Their dinner tonight looked so good, I had to snap a shot. The meatballs look even better with the red sauce clinging to them, I think.

In the kitchen

From the farm to the board to be made into dippers for hummus.

Karen's Lady and the Tramp meatballs. Gem goes bananas for these with good reason. They are delicious.

Gem's really into baseball and film making at the moment (he's in costume here).

Onigiri are ubiquitous, but they still kick ass.

Sag dove into the bubbles atop the soaking rice cooker bowl.

Blueberry corn bread. I cannot get enough of native blueberries this summer. These are organic and even better. Sweeter and juicier.

Some knits

All possible dysfunction aside, these are so beautiful and give me pleasure (the experience of pleasure does come rushing back once PMS has moved along, I find).

All are pre-blocked and have ends not tucked in (they are artfully hidden for their photo ops).

Dreamy

Sag. (Who has found his first love in Maeve.)

The sketch book he made me.

And the package it came in.

The peach Gem picked up at the Farmer's market.

An active little critter we found in the house who mysteriously expired within the hour of our discovery.

What the kids see too much of. Gotta work on that.

Escape

Oh, I don't know about this. But, I have a touch of insomnia again, so here goes.

Today I knit two scarves. Both for August birthdays (August which is nearly upon us. Yikes.) I had PMS and was feeling down and the knitting gave me something easy and purposeful to do.

But, tonight's episode of "Clean House" I watched off the DVR kind of percolated in my mind, and as I lay awake in the dark I realized that knitting may be more than me being crafty and creative.

Escape.

My cooking binges?

Escape.

My blogging and the dozens of blogs on my Google Reader?

Escape.

My tv shows?

Escape.

Is it possible? All excuses not to declutter and clean and once and for all deal with the piles? It all fits together to form a convenient, deceptively "normal" routine.

Maybe my cyclical feelings of being overwhelmed by the clutter and dustiness don't happen because of PMS...maybe they happen because I can't keep them at bay forever and they naturally wash ashore repeatedly because the situation is something that really bothers me at my core.

Paralysis, not knowing where to start, starting, but never getting anywhere near finished, embarrassment, finding it so difficult to let go of things despite all that, it all resonated for me.

I've thought about this before vis-a-vis the kids and how I spend time with them. With these unsettled and ultimately unresolved feelings I have about our living space, I didn't feel free to just "be" with them.

I realize now that I am requiring a certain level of escape just to stay sane and frack if I am just figuring out just how much of my time, and their time with me, that uses up.

I am PMS-ing. But, I have a feeling there is some truth here amongst the heightened psychodrama. We'll see how it looks and feels in the morning...