Lunch these days

Fall harvest foods like red kuri squash...

grilled cheese is best when the air has a chill in it (that is Sag's sandwich, no, we haven't discovered the world's most amazing casein-free cheese that melts like that)...

apple cider...a seasonal beverage, like Silk Nog, that lifts me and transforms a moment.

Lots of singing and word play inspired by TMBG's ABC dvd we borrowed from the library last week. The Alphabet of Nations is a favorite.

Lots of verbal and physical gags involving penises, poops, farts and pain.

Some talk of the impending parental weekend away. Breaking it down, talking it through, making reassurances, imagining unfamiliar terrain.

Knitting update

Recently off the needles: Cap's 2008 scarf, a scarf for myself (Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun), and a skull cap for Gem (Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hat).

I am too lazy to check and see if I've posted Gem in his cap already. I shortened the hat quite a bit because I was going to run out of yarn and he was chomping at the bit to have it and decided he was fine with it "little".

I'll post a pic of Julie's scarf as soon as I hear she's received it (personally, I love it---it's the first scarf I've made for someone that I wanted to keep for myself :-) Her birthday is this weekend. Happy birthday Jules!

I've started a queue on Ravelry which was fun and clarifying. I now have a working list of projects I want to make, with accompanying photos and suggested yarns.

Things like this, this, this, and this.

Humming with happiness here, hope you're humming, too.

Snark alert

...but it is entertaining. Check out a blog composed of photos snapped on public transportation in Chicago with accompanying (oft snarky) observations.

Team lego

This morning I told Sag to pick something I could work with him on, whatever he wanted. His first choice was carve his pumpkin, which, cringe, I could not do. The pumpkins were immovable at that point for a couple of reasons and were not in a location where carving could take place comfortably.

Unfazed, he then chose working on his costume. So we set about looking in the dress up chest, my closet and dresser, the craft shelves, and the linen closet, for materials which would come together as "ghost". As luck would have it, we came up with some very workable pieces. We're going to test it out tonight after dusk to see whether the effect passes his critical eye.

Then we moved on to legos. He wanted to collaborate on a Star Wars-style fighter jet and the only rule was that we always had to agree :-) I asked him to describe the characteristics of a fighter jet---a deficit in my knowledge base.

• wings
• cockpit
• pilot
• guns

I observed how symmetrical fighter jets are in their construction, how challenging it was for me to build something with legos that was not a building-type structure, and we truly worked together to figure out how to mesh our three (Gem asked to join and Sag graciously agreed) sections together to create a final and stable object.

Pumpkin outing slideshow

It was really a lovely day. Crisp, crisp air, purpose and meaning, those indelible northeastern autumn colors, and family love.

A-ha

If you loved "Take On Me" or if you like funny videos, check this out.

Are you having a laugh?

The weekend is winding down

We just got home from Anna's birthday party. Traditional German cake with raisins and dried lemon, a medieval theme, homemade games, trinkets that included stones from the Baltic Sea, taking the edge off the sugar high dodging balls in the backyard as the light faded. We rocked the autumn afternoon.

It was a busy day for us. We started the day picking pumpkins and apples. My mom came out from Manhattan. I'll post pics tomorrow. The pumpkins the kids chose are HUGE.

Then we drove to the Japanese supermarket and had lunch and shopped. My mom took the shuttle bus back into the city from there.

Other tidbits from the weekend:

• I had an appointment with Vinny that was amazing. I've been practicing qi gong more regularly and felt the difference in our session.

• Made a yummy pumpkin cake with maple frosting.

• Bought some yarn (just can't help it---most of it was on sale). Some Seduce for Barbra, Cascade 220 for Audrey, and sock yarn for Gem, Sag, and myself. Also some secret stuff for Mummu who knows there's something in the works for her, but doesn't know exactly what :-) Also, my first set of sock needles! I was feeling a bit sorry for myself not to be at Rhinebeck, but, man, I will be there next year with Wendy and it's going to kick ass.

• Finished my One Row Handspun scarf and wove in the ends of Julie's and Cap's scarves. Will post pics soon. I've been ambivalent about the scarf I knit for myself. But, I gave it a trial run today and liked the warmth it provided. It was cozy. I'm not wild about the colors for some reason, even though it goes with my basic wardrobe: predominantly dark pink and purple with dashes of red and orange.

• Did some research on Atlantic City and am feeling a charge about our impending weekend away. Cap and I will leave Friday afternoon and return Sunday afternoon. Sandy will come hold down the fort for us. This is our free time share trip. A holiday for the family fell through so I ended up booking us a weekend away. Somewhere not too far, with an ocean view, that we had never been to...and Alantic City is what resulted. Gamblers we are not, but we will enjoy spending time together with no agenda, no schedule, no needs having to be met but our own.

• The Red Sox are providing much entertainment as they defied all sorts of odds by winning on Thursday night and then again last night. We'll be watching them tonight, and trying to watch the Patriots in between.

Have a great start to your week!!

Starry and not warry afternoons

Star Wars continues to be a big theme in the kids' play and imagination.

What I love about this lego ship Gem made is that is modeled after a large lego Star Wars ship called Slave I that is no longer made and now costs about $150. The kids have been longing for this ship and I am pleased for them that this desire morphed into the practical creation of one of their own. (Gem really wants the Millennium Falcon which is still made by Lego and costs $500---I wonder if that'll be his next creation?)


Below is a creation of Sag's. I can't believe how "old" his hand looks in the second shot. Not the hand of a "my baby"!


I recently moved the chalkboard to a more visible and usable space. The kids didn't notice it really until a few minutes ago when I had Gem use it as a background for the photo of his Slave One.

That quickly led to their using it to create their own Star Wars themed backgrounds.




Finally, here's a scene from The Return of the Jedi, courtesy of Sag.


I do think that cutting down significantly on screen time has added some lovely and warm dimension to their play and time. After the requisite and unpleasant detox period, of course.

Julie's muffins

An unexpected series of events led to my walking through the automatic doors of our still-fairly-local super Whole Paycheck this morning. Cap doesn't get paid till tomorrow, but I was in need of certain necessary items of the feminine persuasion.

One good thing about this store is that it tends to inspire me to think outside whatever usual box I'm in (I tend to be a creature of habit). So as I walked in, I dug a little deeper into my mind, past the traction of the last few days.

Soup. Of course. It's fall, but my kitchen habits have remained in summer and I had completely forgotten about soup. Turnips, carrots, and a bunch of fresh spinach (its color a robust green) went into my cart (they were joined in the pot later by Mr. Garlic, Ms. Ginger, a combo of veggie and chicken broth and some leftover tomato sauce).

A Red Kuri squash based on the positive raves garnered it by my sister earlier this week. Some sweet potatoes imagined as oven-baked fries. And grapes. Has anyone else noticed how much cheaper organic grapes are this year?

Then I remembered Julie's muffins. Pineapple coconut. A can of crushed pineapple was added to the cart.

These muffins are great. Mine came out bordering on savory (I was eyeballing the honey and probably got in 1/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup and I eyeballed the vegan butter and probably put in nearly 1/2 cup...and I just noticed I was supposed to melt the butter...oops), but they are so buttery tasting and the pineapple and coconut make them moist and dense---I love them!

Try 'em, I think you'll love 'em too.

Quick note

...for the faithful readers of which I know there are some. I think about you during the days that I don't post.

A bit of a rough landing from PMS yesterday. I felt good and thought I was fine and then some turbulence at the end of the day.

A culprit this time was having expectations, not communicating them (you know those silent expectations that plant themselves with stealth and then bloom, sometimes monstrously in moments?...in a way they feel incommunicable...but that's not helpful for the innocent bystanders...and is ultimately, a cop out), and then getting pissed/seething internally/letting my venom seep out passive aggressively (because direct conflict, seeming like a meanie is not in my m.o.)

Between that, staying up late watching an episode of Bones on Hulu (I kept thinking of Audrey who loves the show :-) and flowing pretty heavily, I am worn out this morning.

Cap proposed I stay home Sunday from our pumpkin patch outing so I can get a few things done in the house in peace. I may take him up on that.

Pathetic

I interrupt this self-imposed break to announce that if you're ever in need of a gift idea for moi, you can get me a gift certificate to here.

I'm sorry. I am PMSing and sitting here drooling over these colorways, dreaming of knitting them into socks, and feeling completely sorry for myself that I can't type in my credit card number right now for some retail therapy.

Bit o'break

All of a sudden I am utterly disgusted with the state of my apartment.

More (blogging) soon, I hope (this process could take awhile).

I started The Days of Abandonment last night and like it so far.

Scary fun addendum

I was in such a rush out the door to VT when I posted the video Sag and Gem made Friday morning, my apologies to those who were confused about what exactly it was.

There is a "ghost" flying about the semi-dark room. It is pretty much "blurry black" as my MIL reported if you don't know what it is you're looking at!

Scary fun

OMFG

I frighten even myself with my utter lack of money sense. And I don't frighten that easily. Maybe that's my problem.

I've been meaning, for a few days, to check the balance in our checking account. There was a shocking receipt at Whole Paycheck earlier this week, I unexpectedly bought the kids sneakers at a going-out-of-business sale (but the sneakers were still more than I thought they'd be---it's been awhile since I bought them sneakers), then, yesterday, I ended up buying a lot of Star Wars toys (pre-emptive birthday and X-mas shopping---if you don't buy these things when you see them at the store, sometimes you never see them again).

But, I never did check the balance.

This morning, I got an e-mail saying a large withdrawal had been made. This is invariably the rent check, but it reminded me to take a gander before heading out for the weekend. Frack me, there was about $60 in the account.

I moved some Benjamins over from the savings account to checking, but clearly, not paying attention daily, like my dad is trying his best to teach me to do, is taking its toll.

No yarn buying at a charming Vermont yarn shop for me this weekend...

The "unoriginal hat"

I finished the hat last night. I decided to cut my losses and knit only as much of the pattern as I had yarn for. Gem was very eager to have it done and on his head. The pattern, once I got used to it, was pretty simple, I am sure I'll be knitting this hat again, in its complete form, at some point.

In the mean time, I present to you, a happy, sleepy Gem with his new hat resting atop his head.


While snapping the hat shots, Sag brought out his latest self-designed Star Wars fighter ship. The kids have been working on many of these lately.

I had some insomnia early this morning. I hear the breathing of the kids shifting from sleeping to waking. Off to do some qi gong before getting ready to head up to VT.

Have a great weekend everyone!

70º mid-Autumn

A warm day in October.

Things here are still quite green. We're heading up to Bennington, VT tomorrow to see Anna and the kids. New England fall foliage, corn mazes, pumpkins and apples, beckon. As do the godkids whom we haven't seen since May.

Photos from our time outside today.

Fire

Last night we had dinner at Max and Yifat's. The food was delicious (a big, organic farm fresh salad, Max's garlic "sauce" --- fresh minced garlic, lemon juice and vegetable oil ---, chicken wings seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika and olive oil, and Yifat's ratatouille with mint), but the fire out back afterwards was the huge cherry on top of the meal.

They have one of those metal, round fire things and Max made a fire for s'mores. Long after every single marshmallow was toasted, and the kids had retreated to the geodesic play structure, I stood by the fire, absolutely mesmerized. Most everything was enveloped in darkness except for the occasional staccato of the children's laughter (a sound that has a power to banish all darkness).

Roger and Yifat and were talking politics (their unique perpsectives include being a professor of history with a specialization in political movements/activism and a career in a NGO (non-governmental organization) specializing in international women's rights movements/activism). Max, Silke and I occasionally spoke to each other about the fire and fire-related memories, but mostly we were each enjoying the fire in our own solitudes.

The moon, a half-moon perhaps on the side of just waxing to gibbous, alternated between crisp and fuzzy as the clouds moved in the sky. The periodic columns of smoke which rose from the fire went straight up, not enough of a deterrent to the (had to be) last of the mosquitos floating around feeding langorously on, who else, me and Gem.

But, the fire, the fire. The embers which looked like coral or some sort of primitive shell from within the sea, the snaps and sparks, the alive orange flame licking at the air and the wood. I could not move my eyes away. Nourisher of life, agent of transformation. Fire.

(Eternal) questions

Sag: Who got to name everything? (This is a question he has asked repeatedly for years.)

Gem: And how did they tell the world?

...murmured and wondered this morning as we snuggled in blankets on the couch

My first hat

Last night I cast on my first hat, The Unoriginal Hat, which I am knitting for Gem. He has been waiting for this promise to come to fruition for months. And, (insert your favorite curse word or phrase of exclamation here), he needed something good to happen for him yesterday in a serious way.

Armed with the pattern and its accompanying chart and my "All About" knitting book, I began not only my first hat, but my first project requiring the knitting of cables (like those you see on Aran/traditional Irish sweaters).

I made some errors getting started, which is how I learn, I'm a great reviser, and by the time my new bedtime (10pm) rolled around, I was itching to knit some more because I was finally on a bit of a roll.




It was a quiet evening. I turned off the tv and computer and after dinner (sugar snap peas and hummus from Trader Joe's and tortilla chips and our favorite salsa as an appie, fresh corn from Silke, and meatloaf sandwiches) the kids and I played games. Checkers for Sag, chess for Gem and Blokus for both.

I actually didn't remember till I woke up this morning that the second debate was on last night. Oh well.

Fall knitting

There is something about knitting and this season. The shadows are visible, sharp and black as can be at just past noon, stepping out into the morning air feels like walking into a deep freeze, and the urge is to grab for something woolen to warm the body and soul.

These are the pics of Danielle's birthday scarf, knit up in simple garter stitch with three colors of Classic Elite Duchesse yarn, a cushy blend of merino, viscose, cashmere, nylon and angora.

Park

After we dropped Cap off at work, we stopped at the park for some walking (forward, backward and a run for Sag) and play.

The meatloaf and qi gong are done, we're heading out to swimming. The clothes are not quite finished...

Agenda

• make a turkey meatloaf...if the ground turkey has not gone bad

• finish taking care of the summer to winter changeover of the boys' clothes including what to keep, what to consign, what to donate, what to hand down, what to chuck

• take the kids to swimming class this afternoon

• do qi gong and actually do all the exercises including the last 2 which I rarely, rarely do

• lights out by 10pm

I know it doesn't sound like much, but you'd be surprised...a short list of 5 goals feels possibly impossible...but possibly possible, too.

Day in NYC

We missed our performance due to heinous traffic at the tunnel. (All is not lost, we should be able to get comped into another performance of something sometime this season.)

So instead:

• Cap and Gem went to the comic book store where Cap spotted Peter Dinklage (Cap's a fan so this was cool).

• Sag, Baba and I took a walk to Central Park and clambered upon some big rocks.

• We all met up at the big Toys R Us in Times Square.

• We dined on Carnegie Deli, Gem on some chirimenjako.

It was a great day in my native city.

Quiet City

I purchased these from an artist in Maine.

Six things on a saturday

1. We're on the road often. Or so it seems. Lately, every time we pull into a rest area I am secretly pleased as punch that I have two boys and a male partner because I get to go to the bathroom all by myself.

2. My iPod mix for my plane flights provides the background music these days (go here to see who's in the mix). I can't remember the last time I listened to so much music. Thumping out of the computer speakers, turning the detritus of our days into a stage amongst which to whirl and smile and rock out.

3. Watching the Red Sox in the post season---always exciting, unnerving and fills us with hope.

4. The knitting needles are working away. The yarn coming together in patterned harmony is so soothing and satisfying.

5. Gobs and gobs of Chinese tea: cold prevention and digestion formulas. With dollops of honey.

6. Turning to poetry. Shyly, yet with determination. This and this entered our home and our lives yesterday.

New Mexico

New Mexico has long, long been a dream destination for me (as in to live, not to visit). Karina, the Gluten-Free Goddess just posted her New Mexico-inspired recipes (all recipes are GF, but not necessarily CF). I added the post to my shared items.

She's a transplant from MA and will likely be moving onto Venice Beach, SoCal, soon. But something in the way she was drawn to NM and the way she describes and shows it through her words and photography grabs at that particular heartstring of mine every time.

VP debate

What the heck is the distinction between "gay marriage" and what Biden was saying he and Obama support? Barbra, is this the same distinction that Jerry Brown made in the wording out in CA to turn the tide of support? I was confused. And dismayed.

Sag kept asking me how to spell words as he worked on something at the computer and Gem kept popping up at my elbow to show me delight after delight as he made symmetrical paper cut-outs using folded up patterned origami paper. It was bustling around here between 9 and 10pm.

I've been gearing up to volunteer for the Obama campaign, and perhaps this is a knee jerk reaction, but I was really turned off by the big "god bless you" at the end. Why, people, why? It's called separation of church and state and I would appreciate having any mention of god being kept out of my face when you are doing something as an elected officer of the state.

Getting off my little soapbox now.

Recipes

When I saw Julia while out west she asked me to keep posting recipes on the blog :-)

These days it's easier (and therefore it's more likely that this I will do) to post others' recipes that come across my virtual desk. You can find these in the green "shared items" box in the left bar of my blog.

I just added some pineapple-coconut muffins which came from my Julie.

Happy eatin'

Have some choc and call me in the morning

For jet lag, or other times when comfort is needed :-)

We're having a second-day-back-honeymoon's-over kind of day. Poor Gem. He missed me most of all, I think. At least that's what his tantrum would have me think. Anger, frustration, craving absolute power in response to absolute powerlessness...he's feeling better now.

October

The month of pumpkins, oranges and reds, and as is true this morning, a fall cold in the air.

Knitters blog about Socktoberfest.

Columbus Day weekend, the first three day weekend in the school year, always a stand out for that reason. This year, a trip to Vermont planned to go see Elsa and Tobias, Anna and Nick. For though the school "year" has diminished in its meaning for us, they go to school.

The kids' imaginations are spinning with costume designs. For Sag the question is Luke or Anakin, for Gem, the palette is still full of possibilities and remains somewhat open ended. Both are eager to get their pumpkins and get carving.

The arts season has started. We have two shows this month. Knucklehead Zoo and Savion Glover.

Still haven't decided on the other things knitters are abuzz about: Rhinebeck. On the one hand, I'm there. But, on the other, that is our one remaining free weekend. On the third hand, it's a once a year festival and I would really love to envelop myself in homemade fibers made locally by small businesses/independent artisans.

Cap and I are looking forward to a weekend getaway at the end of October. We'll be using our timeshare gift, the gift of babysitting, and hitting the road for Atlantic City. We probably won't be spending much time in AC itself. I'd like to do some driving-exploring.

Today, a day of resuming the groove here at home. Yesterday was great, actually, I hit the ground running and we had a very nice co-op meal. I forgot to mention that the salad also included toasted pecans and pear. It was delish. I ran out of time to make the apple clafoutis, but made do with soy ice cream and preserved cherries we had on hand.

But, yeah, today will be slower. My sleep is definitely off and I'll probably be loopy by this afternoon. The kids and I have no plans. We will just go where the day leads us.

Mac tip

Cap got a new computer through work. A sweet new Mac laptop. The first one he got from them was not new and had "issues" from the get go. They finally gave him this new one when he dropped the old one and the screen looked, literally, as if it was torn in half.

The tech who worked with him setting up the new one yesterday warned against buying a new Mac right now. He said to wait till late November, that new models were coming out soon.

It feels like it's going to take me that long to get our bedroom cleared out and organized. Right now, not only could a computer not fit on my desk (its intended home), but you couldn't fit a chair in front of the desk, or, even get to the desk for the moat of crap that surrounds it.

Harmonic convergence.

Motivational timeline.

Oakland: the pictures

Here are the pics.

Time zones

Yesterday's post was actually written and posted on Monday...in California. So I am back.

I got in last night around 9:30pm and was home by 10:4oish. The flight was uneventful. The movies were free so I watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Speed Racer. I liked Speed Racer quite a bit. I had wanted to see it on the big screen and still wish I had. The effects were amazing.

I finished Julie's scarf and started Danielle's. I was sated by a brioche and half a feta, scallion, pine nut bread from La Farine. My seatmates were a twelve-ish girl and her mom or step mom. Very mellow and roomy. Except for the part when the mom was looking for a barf bag because the last time they flew she needed to hurl only to find her seat pocket was bag-less. (She didn't throw up this trip :-)

I'm a bit foggy this morn...oh, it's afternoon now isn't it. Slowly getting ready to host dinner tonight. Which means a lot of picking up, cleaning the bathroom, and cooking. On the menu: bean bake with pinto beans, brown rice, a big salad with mixed baby greens, cuke, cherry toms, hard boiled egg, and scallion, and apple clafoutis for dessert.

I'm hoping to get the photos from my trip online tomorrow. It's good to be home!