Boys out back

#1 "playdate with Owen" today was really mellow and nice.

#2 "playdate with Owen" happening now.

More pics to follow.  Too wiped right now.  (And bummed that I lost a cute pic of Sag and this Owen...dang it, Ether...)

Peek

Finishing kitchen tidying post-common meal.

Angst.

9yo testing out their new protective cup.  (On a related note, baseball accoutrement is tres cher.)

Rainy, cloudy, cold seeping through the walls.

A bit blue.

Boys humming with contentment.

Something(s) keep threading me back to the past.

End of day

Another busy day.

The kids are getting into a work-y rhythm.  They did a fair amount of academic activity independently as I cooked for common meal.  Cleaning and prepping for company was not a big deal because the kids have been contracting their helping out services for extra screen time.  They washed the bathroom floor and sink on Monday.  Today, they made the salad and set the table for common meal.

We saw Vinny this afternoon where Gem and I got tune-ups.

Dinner was low-key and yummy.  Carrot-tofu scramble, brown rice, salad, pickled red onions and braised cabbage.  The kids picked fruit juice jello for dessert (homemade) and, as ever, it was a hit.  (Jello is something I never acquired a taste for, so I don't quite understand it, but I do appreciate the pleasure everyone else derives from it.)

More busy days will follow.  Baseball practice, Anna coming for the weekend, play dates, gift prep for the new baby and the new big sister, visiting said girls on the weekend...

Here's a link to the recipe for the pickled red onions.  It was a hit.  Very clean and mild flavor (Yifat said it reminded her of ceviche) and a wonderful color.  The photo is blurry, I was rushing to get the shot before folks dug in!  (Thanks to Wendy for the cook book from whence the recipe comes, Viva Vegan!)

Springing

Our niece/cousin has arrived!  She was born early this morning (to my sister-in-law and brother) and everyone is well.  Photos and details to follow, we'll meet the sweet pea Saturday.

We also have a new nephew/cousin dog!  His name is Finn, he's all or part border collie, seems like a great fit for Sandy and Mike, and we'll meet him on the weekend, too.  Pics to follow.

Somehow appropos

Rough day today. 

I'm certain there was something happening with pressure systems...when I peered through my waking eyes this morning at 6:30 the window shade was this eerie orange creamsicle color.  You know the one.

It's also a new moon tonight or maybe tomorrow.  And just like the full moon, the new moon has its powers.

I was dizzy all morning.

Then, exhausted in the afternoon.  That bone tiredness I associate with first trimester pregnancy and more recently, ovulation.

I powered through the day, more homeschooling productivity, but then crashed and burned...arguing passionately about a Bodum coffeemaker that Cap picked up this afternoon.  As wrenching as it was, I plowed through the morass of what the heck was going on with me.  And I made Cap stand by me.  (The man deserves much credit for doing so.)

I did figure some stuff out.  And I got some stuff out.  And was grateful that the release valve worked, as rusty as that thing gets.

This picture, taken today, of an experiment that Sag drew me into, somehow sums it all up for me...

Even though it's upside down, the glass remains half full (or "half" full now that I look more closely at the photo :-)  Even when bottled up, what is contained can have light shine right through it.  There is beauty, a simple beauty, in the moment(s) caught between action and reaction, that pregnant stasis where things continue to move in ways not visible to the naked eye.

Phew

This note was written, unbeknownst to me till we returned, by Gem at 8am when we left for the supermarket.  Some of you reading this know that it is highly unusual for me to be going food shopping (ie. leaving the house, which would necessitate my being in street clothes, and hence, no longer in my pajamas) at this early hour.  Beyond that, that one of my kids would be in their street clothes and ready to head out at that hour?! 

You may pick yourself up off the floor now.  (The other two members of our family were still asleep when we returned.)

It's been quite a day.  Food shopping, qigong-ing, soup making (stock was percolating on the stove all day yesterday), dish washer filling/running/emptying, work tray and shelf organizing, hours of school-at-home-ing, chicken salad making, catching up with an old friend phone calling, package opening, dark chocolate egg popping, bathroom cleaning forewoman-ing, laundry folding, blog reading...

It's amazing to me that some people, maybe even most people, are able to be this organized and productive all the time.

For me, there needs to be a harmonic convergence of brain chemicals, reproductive hormones (are those the same things?), atmospheric pressure and environmental calm, in order to have a day, or dare I say it, a chain of days like this.

I'm kind of pooped.  Time for dinner and maybe finishing No Country For Old Men (watched about 2/3 of it before Gem's angst about life and growing up required my undivided attention and care).

Good evening to you.

(Re)new

I went through most of the kids' books today (something that's been on my mind for months).  My intention was to cull as much as I could and donate to the library.  I was surprised to discover that most of the books were still useful (these are not the books that are or have been beloved for one reason or another...those books have a permanent place in our hearts and lives).

I pulled a bunch of these 'worker' books out and sorted them in baskets: Science, Social Studies and Caldecott/Newbery Award winners/honorees.  The Science and Social Studies themed books I plan to use to see what topics excite the kids.  They can then follow their bliss to deeper study and learning.

I'm going to give the kids lists of the award winning books and have them begin to check off the books they've read.  I'm anticipating some interesting conversations around what 'makes' an award-winning book/story/illustration, as well as, discussions on the cultural zeitgeist-y elements which may have helped a particular book win at a particular time in history.

Once the baskets were refilled with 'new' books, it didn't take long for the kids to find them and begin reading.  Tickles me every time.

Una gran notícia

...that's "big news" in Catalan.

I am going to Barcelona in May!!!  All expenses paid!!!  OMG!!!  I am excited...this is so freakin' surreal!

(photo from Frog + Princess blog.)

Morning songs and physics

See that slant board in the corner?  There is a drawing on there.  Sag woke up this morning and started drawing (kind of his usual thing).  What he drew inspired him to look for the marble run which probably hasn't been touched in nearly a year...maybe more.

Lessons learned: asking for assistance (frustrated yelling early on a Saturday morning is not cool) and basic force and motion stuff.  I need to start figuring out some Science curriculum (so I feel more sure about what I am doing and saying)!

Part of the mix, a lovely balance of calming and energizing tunes:

Kid swimming and baseball this weekend (though one kid is down for the count), the Red Sox season has started up and we've got out tv subscription, meal planning and food shopping for me as I revitalize my kitchen domesticity (and renew my GF status)...some of the things that will be happening around here this weekend.

Peace and love and good weekending to you.

Streak of blue

I was blue yesterday.  Still am a bit today, but it is fading.

It's better than it used to be.  I don't turn into myself as much as I used to.  I do turn to the arts, to my loved ones and to food.

I watched The Lovely Bones yesterday in two sittings.  I got sucked into it, which was unexpected...and a small pleasure in its own right.  (I have read the book and knew what I was getting into.)  But, in the end, it put me right where I should have known it would.  In a tight, dark, sad mental space.

Thankfully, I had a Louis CK disc from Netflix waiting in the wings.  It was a performance with its own pockets of darkness, but there was also plenty of laughter.

I slept like the dead after tossing and turning the night before.

Then this morning, there was this:



Thank you, Shannon, this really gave me a lift.

Hope you get an unexpected lift today.  Peace and love.

Tools of the trade

Having grown up in a Japanese household, albeit in NYC, working in pencil was de rigueur.  It was customary to have a set of sharpened pencils (protective caps optional, pencil box with fun magnetic closure required) and a very good eraser by your side when completing any kind of school work.

Now that I am preparing to ease the kids into using more of the D'Nealian while they do other work, and drawing and writing in general, I am readying an army of writing implements.  A good pencil sharpener is key, I think it's worth spending a bit more here to ensure the acquisition of a tool that will last the family a long time.

Quiet morning

I put together the Cole slaw for tonight's potluck common meal (on those rare 'fifth' Wednesdays).  It's supposed to sit in the fridge overnight, but...I didn't make it yesterday.  I tried to keep it quiet as Cap has been on a late to bed, late to rise schedule as he churns out his work into the wee hours.

The kids woke a bit after me and went straight to the Rover books.  They've had these books for years now and revisit them once a year or so.  They are written by Roddy Doyle and are hilarious.  Uproariously so.

Incidentally, children's lit lost author Diana Wynne Jones this month.  I gave away our copy of Howl's Moving Castle last year and am now thinking of picking up another copy to read with the kids to mark the passing of a wonderful writer.

I hope you find a pocket of quiet in your day or evening today.  Peace and love.

Rumi quote

"Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent. Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form." 

 

Brain gym

Listening to Bach yesterday, one thing led to another and I found myself pulling the dust cover off the piano.  I flipped through the dusty old piano books of my childhood and settled on Hanon.  I practiced the first scale exercise and was thrilled with the simple rhythmic fun.  I'm not sure why I decided to turn on the metronome, but I did.

Very interesting.  With the addition of the stimuli of the tick tick tick, my brain, or rather, my attention, started to break apart.  It took some work to maintain integration.  My rhythm slid this way and that as my pace sped up and slowed down unable to remain stable, my fingers lost their footing, so to speak, especially the pinky of my left hand and thumb of my right, and I began hitting wrong notes...

I was fascinated.  And kind of giddy.  Such discovery!

I will continue practicing my Hanon while I wait for my Bach book.

P.S.  I still want to play the cello.  But, I don't have a cello, I have a piano.  So I play the piano...revisiting my long ago childhood and creating a new now.

Beauty-full

Barbra gave me a Simone Dinnerstein's latest Bach cd for my birthday.  I couldn't find Simone's version of this movement on YouTube, but found a version of Glenn Gould's.  Bach creates such moments of utter beauty.

Report

The kids and my sleep schedules are changing and we are waking earlier.

This morning they sat down with their chapter books around 9:30 after a nice breakfast of leftovers.

We moved onto handwriting, which has hit a good groove with muuuuuch less drama.

I ordered a slant board for writing for Sag this morning (as well as, a pencil grip sampler...those things tend to disappear around here).  Gem opted out.  Perhaps a touch of stubbornness, but he may change his mind once he sees the thing live and maybe gives it a test run.

Finally, I taught the kids how to play Mastermind.  I went through an intense Mastermind phase as a kid.  One of my best friends in elementary school, Lauri, had this game and I loved it.  I was tickled to win it through a random comment drawing at a Math blog late last year.  The kids dug it.

A friend has come over so the kids will play for a couple of hours.  We'll get back to "work" this afternoon.

I hope your week is off to a smooth start.  Peace and love.

Quick hand-me-down

I bought the kids rain boots recently and they had the chance to truly test them yesterday in the stream at the cabin.  Last night, Gem said he didn't want these boots because water got in too easily via the "holes" along the tops of the boots (designed to place your fingers through to pull them on).

I couldn't really argue with him.  What is the point of having a new pair of water boots which, in your opinion, didn't do a good job of keeping the water out?  Luckily, the boys have been growing like the proverbial weeds lately and his boots fit me.  It's crazy.  Part of it is my own craziness.  I have this thing about buying shoes and boots on the big side for them.  But, it is undeniable.  They are in a rapid phase of physical growth and suddenly are needing larger sizes all around (or are beginning to actually fit the larger sizes I've bought them in the last year).

Now I can chuck my 20+ year old Bean duck boots (which still look great, but the rubber treads are worn quite smooth) and I will wear these to the ground.  I think Gem will like traditional Wellies, those are very tall (and come to think of it, he has long, thin legs like his Mummu, so they'll fit him well) and should keep the water out as he frolics in streams.  (I did consider for a moment those fly fishing rubber overall thingies as I pondered last night :-)

The Matter of Origins

I saw and participated in a profoundly moving dance performance last night.  Cap acted as a provocateur and so my ticket was free.  If you have the chance to see this, or the dance troupe, I recommend you do.

Candid camaraderie

This very candid shot appeared in my iPhoto.  I love it.  My brother-in-law was the official unofficial photographer at the reception in Japan and this is one of his photos. ETA: I stand corrected, my sister took this great photo :-)

I think it's funny how each of us is looking somewhere different and our bodies/body parts are involved in their own unique dances.

What I really love, though, is how simpatico we are.  There is such an air of unity, of comfort in each others' company, of camaraderie...you can fake that for the camera if you tried, but here, we ain't even remotely trying, it just shines through in our being.

Fire and ice

...and water and trees and leaves and Sardines and family and food and smoke and art and a snooze...

Arms unbound

I heard one of my favorite Decemberists songs while picking up a few items in Whole Paycheck.



(shot at the performance we saw them...great sound quality!)

The line, "and when we die, we will die, with our arms unbound...", makes me teary every single time...

Busy, busy, busy (but arms are unbound :-)  Drove the kids to swimming today, they're doing a short session before their instructors head out into finals and their summer breaks.  Now they are at the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie and I am cooking dinner (meat sauce and pesto) and carrot-tofu scramble for lunch tomorrow.

Tonight Cap performs (as provocateur) in a dance piece up at the University and I will be in the audience.

Tomorrow an early rise to get up to Sandy and Mike's cabin for the day.

In between plenty of errands and chores and whatnot.

Peace and love.  Hope it's a good weekend for you.

Swede songs

First there was jj.  Then Loney Dear.  Now Peter Bjorn and John have my ear.  I like the Swedish pop music.  :-)

The kids and I have been digging this catchy tune lately.

Groove-y

This line from Superchunk's Learned To Surf keeps catching my attention on my March Melodies playlist.

If I drift out in channels way too deep,
It's cause I can't stand the shifting sand and shells under our feet...

I like the line that comes after, too, though I don't usually 'hear' that one.

If I drift out in channels way too deep,
It's cause I can't stand the shifting sand and shells under our feet,
Put your suitcase down, and leave your shoes,
Gently by the door, in a puddle with your blues...

Yes

"I know we live in a highly scheduled world where every nanosecond is charted and often critiqued by others and ourselves. Ours is a results-based society and we oftentimes create a frenzy of “must-dos” and “must haves” that complicate a life that was intended to be a peaceful unfolding of possibilities, lessons and blessings."

For the full piece by "Shirley" from "Community" (whose episode last night was nothing short of brilliant and breathtaking!) go here.

Japan pics catch up #...

 the bakery section of Dad's supermarket.

 surreptitious shot of 'lunching ladies'.

 new since my last visit: Hangul and Chinese in train stations.

 for my biking-with-kids friends.

 can you see me?

man stopped in red.