The Prestige

Wow. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that had me buzzing and wanting to talk about it to sort it out immediately after seeing it. It felt a little long at times, but boy, the payoff is HUGE. I am considering watching it again tonight to revel in the nuances that I am convinced are there for the enjoying...

Snow play and seashells

Kinder woke with a belly ache, but he has soldiered on.

After breakfast and some carpet sweeping we bundled up and ventured outside to the back yard. What a gorgeous snowscape. Bright, bright sun, forties, crisp air. We marveled over some animal tracks including a mysterious single deer track. The kids played with with their Ben 10 toys briefly, but then it was snow biking for First and cuddling for Kinder who wore out quickly and wanted to go back inside.

On our way back in First spent some time in the snow fort he built yesterday with Cap. Kinder and I rocked on the front porch while I had visions of summertime lunches sititng on the porch, looking out on Chestnut Street. First wanted to saw a window into the fort and then wanted to move some furniture in. Some snow bookshelves, he said.

We came inside and sorted and identified some of the many seashells I brought back from Florida. Olive shells, moon shells, worm shells, Venus sunrays... Kinder's got the quick eye for this sort of thing, I noticed. Then we drew our favorite shells. Auger for me, top shell for First and giant heart cockle for Kinder. I read them a poem by Federico García Lorca from Caroline Kennedy's book, "A Family of Poems". (The paintings are by Jon J. Muth whose work I love.)

Seashell (To Natalia Jiménez)

Someone brought me a seashell.

Singing inside
is a sea from a map.
My heart
fills up with water
and little tiny fish,
silvery, shadowy.

Someone brought me a seashell.

Soup

I made some soup this morning. I've resumed making chicken stock about once a month, using the recipe in Nourishing Traditions. Liquid gold, the stuff is.

Today I had an aging cauliflower and some potatoes and carrots that were similarly past their prime. The last onion and four mondo cloves of garlic started the melange. I was a little sad that we were out of fresh ginger. The kids and I, particularly Kinder, are stuffy and sniffly.

I've discovered that I am good at making soup (my other specialty being eggs). I enjoy making it and eating it. And I especially like smelling it as the aroma fills the apartment.

As I sipped some for lunch, a rare lunch alone as the kids played intensely with Lukas and Owen, I thought about my soup and realized that more than anything else that I cook, soup has a hold on me. I take my soup personally. I'm like a proud parent and am protective about how my soup is perceived, how it is enjoyed, and by whom.

Idiocracy

It was funny. Not an excellent movie, but a perfect movie for a steady stream of giggles when you're too tired to do much of anything else.

Dax Shepard did a great job of making a charcter who is essentially, truly, stupid, somehow interesting, in a humane way.

Back in the saddle

I took a vacation, solo, to St. Petersburg to visit Wendy and her family. Stefan's parents were also visiting from Germany and it was a lot of fun and great to meet them. Highlights were playing with Sophia (Olivia, accesories, and Ian; you must pay the rent) and going out to Shell Island on Julie's boat. It was meditative and heavenly to be able to go up and down the beach looking for shells, the clear, relatively warm, gentle salt water licking at my ankles.

I read The History of Love while I was away and loved it. I started The Seven Year Old Wonder Book while there and am on the fence about it. It's a popular book to read to your soon-to-be seven/seven year old in some Waldorf circles. I'm going to read some more before I decided whether to read it with First. I picked up The Time Traveller's Wife for the plane ride home and am reading it now, enjoying it (this is a book that has been recommended to me by Jamie and someone else, I can't remember who).

I looked at the cd of photos that Stefan burned for me last night. A wonderful collection and memento. However, I was embarrassed by how heavy I looked, over and over again. I asked for and got many hugs from Cap afterwards. It's so strange that I don't feel like a "fat" person or see myself as one. But, there was no denying it in those pics.

We stopped in for dinner with Lisa, Sara (Lisa's mom) and Ellie on our way home from the airport. Momoko (my cousin) joined us. It was a nice visit. Sara is warm and effusive. Lisa and Ellie are a wonder to see. Baxter might have taken the cake though. He has very naturally taken on the role of brother and protector with Ellie. It's incredible to think that it hasn't even been a year since he joined Takai and Lisa.

Before I left for Florida, I spent two days working on organizing the kids' work area, which we also call the homeschooling area. It's comprised of the dining table and three shelves. One shelf is full of puzzles and games, another is full of all the stuff that comes in handy to make stuff :-), and the third is sectioned and labeled by subject, and full of learning materials.

Curious George is over and I ended up talking to Sandy on the phone for a few minutes. So I end here for now.

Waldorf and unschooling

I spoke to Karen on the phone this morning.

Olivia was transforming herself with each new t-shirt she was pulling on one over the next, Will strumming on his guitar, Kinder was mixing up water, soap and Sambucol in his new "test tube" (a small soft plastic tube container which has since warped in the microwave during the heating part of the experiment) and First was surfing around the U. S. Mint website where he discovered that gold coins with portraits of "first spouses" will be minted starting this year.

Karen and Brent are preparing to officially begin homeschooling soon. Very exciting.

As our conversation danced and dipped, a thought crystallized for me. A way of making some sense of some of the stuff I've been grappling with recently. I'm attracted to and inspired by two different "schools" of education: Waldorf and unschooling. At the moment I am feeling pulled by the two, but have been unable to put them together..to unify them in a way that feels smooth, day in and day out. Kind of an oil and water thing, though I don't think that's because of anything inherent to the philosophies.

Karen gets me because she is like me in a lot of ways. It's not unusual for us to be in our pajamas past noon. If we could, we'd be snuggled on a couch with a book in hand, our partners bringing us tea with honey, our kids playing around us, all day on a Saturday...or maybe even the whole weekend. Inspiration will suddenly hit us, a specific vision of a particular dish burned in our brains and we will spend the rest of the day shopping for ingredients, chopping and cutting and mixing and stirring, inhaling the luscious aromas and basking.

So, as we talked about meeting other homeschoolers, about group dynamics, about differing personalities, and about fearing rejection and wanting acceptance (for our kids more than for ourselves), I realized something. As I said to Karen, I re-remembered and re-embraced one of the main reasons I wanted to homeschool in the first place: to be at home with my kids.

I like being home and the kids do, too. I think Waldorf thought and practice strongly supports this which is what attracts me to it. It's not only okay, but desireable to spend a lot of time at home, making your home together. Cooking, baking, the arts, the rhythm of the day, of the week, of the season, of the year...to pay attention to these things and to hold them in reverence is something which means a lot to me, not only as a mom, but as a person.

What has drawn me to unschooling thus far, is the people I've met. The unschooling moms I've met since being here are warm, intelligent, enthusiastic and completely lovable. It has been so easy to spend time with them. And the kids are friendly, imaginative and exuberant. The electric undercurrent of no holds barred conversation, play and possibility (that also feels completely safe) at Fiber Arts is intoxicating to me. (Fiber Arts is not limited to unschoolers, but the core group happens to be comprised of them.)

I am both thrilled and cowed by the sheer number of activities that are available to us, that many of our homeschooling friends seem to do: ice sakting, swimming, bowling, regular field trips to the zoo, museums, etc.

For me, the gaps that need to be bridged come in two areas. One is time at home vs. time with others/outside of home and the other has to do with structure, schedules, freedom, and fluidity...

Balance, moderation, discipline...these are all qualities that I recognize as being important, but they don't come easily or naturally to me. I think I've spent some time trying to be more of these things, and feeling badly about myself as a parent because I just couldn't be more like "that". I feel these qualities come in handy when following Waldorf pedagogy.

I'm grateful to be feeling some relief and new energy in reconfiguring my approach (I have always considered myself an eclectic homeschooler and am renweing my connection to that identity). I think I am going to go directly to Donna's site and buy the audio download on Waldorf homeschooling and unschooling. It feels good to allow myself more freedom in truly figuring out what my style is and to give myself the time and space to do that without freaking out that my kids aren't "doing" anything.

As I've been blogging, Kinder has been continuing with his water experiments, moving onto the experiments from the book I Get Wet by Vicki Cobb (thanks Mummu!) and First drew a wonderfully vibrant abstract drawing ("Äiti, doesn't it look like Van Gogh?") for the musuem which still has its wall exhibits up in the living room. He made two color copies, one for Ellie who they will meet for the first time tomorrow, and one for Jiji, whose b-day package I am getting ready a little early.

I love this life of ours and feel hugely lucky.

Bridge to terabithia and the departed

On Saturday I was lucky enough to take Elsa to see Bridge to Terabithia. I was familiar with the title although I had never read the book. When I was at Pierce, the sixth graders were reading it. I knew something sad happened, but was not prepared for the tragic event which sent an audible gasp through the theater audience. Elsa and I both cried on and off for the last quarter of the movie. It was well done, nicely acted (I particularly liked the boy actor) and good family fare bearing in mind the intense emotional impact it will most likely have for any kid who sees it.

Last night I watched The Departed at home, in chunks (along with The Amazing Race and Extras). I'm going to make an effort to rewatch it with Cap who decided he wants to see it after all. In a nutshell, I wasn't particularly impressed. My expectations were high. Leonardo DiCaprio was very good, Matt Damon was solid (but not his best work in my opinion). Mark Wahlberg, as usual, rocked, in a smaller part. I thought the "ode to Boston" aspect was weak. It was fun to see Boston on film, but I didn't feel like the movie deepened Boston for me. I remember being much more thrilled by Goodfellas back when I saw that (though, to be fair, I saw that in a theater in Japan---a special occasion unto itself). More recently, I think Mystic River made better cinematic use of Boston as a "character" and setting, as well.

Presidents day party

First decided he wanted to throw a presidents day party. He was the idea man and suggestions needed to go through him for approval. The party was today so that Anna, Elsa and Tobias could be invited and present before heading back to W-town after our already planned weekend visit.

The party started at 10:50 am. Kids and adults busied themselves with various activities and noshing.

• a 500 piece puzzle of a one dollar bill borrowed from Owen and Lukas (Baba and I could be found there for much of the party)

• a Lincoln logs and kapla blocks building area

• a donation bin where First was accepting bills and coins with either Washington or Lincoln on them

• 24 piece puzzles of a five dollar bill, penny and quarter made by Kinder and First

• Tobias' throw a coin over the river game

• the 50 state quarters computer game

• a book area with books from our own collection and the library with books about money, presidents and Washington D.C.

• the food was primarily brown/orange or green in keeping with the more powerful theme of the party: money

• lettuce, celery, carrots, veggie chips, hummus, guacamole, peanut butter, pretzels, hot dogs ("Lincoln logs"), mini meatloaf muffins ("oversized pennies"), cherries and chestnuts

• a spice cake frosted with white frosting and decorated with green sprinkles to look like a dollar bill

We ended up out back for sledding and snowboarding on the slick, hard packed snow. The kids received new Washington dollar coins as a favor. It was a lot of fun.

First had a good time though it was hard for him to face the unexpected (for him...inevitable in my mind) modifications to the plans and vision he had in his head. For example, he really didn't want Tobias to set up the game he had thought up on his own. In the end, First joined the kids to play it, but his stubbornness around it was intense.

We have been very busy lately and I'm looking forward to a quiet week. I just saw that Fiber Arts is cancelled tomorrow and am not going make other plans.

Our visit with Anna and the kids was special. There is such an amazing closeness that we share despite having lived all of the kids' lives so far apart. The children are true cousins.

xoxoxo

Icy snow skittering against the windows. Our first real snow storm in Montclair, though it's truly more of an ice storm at this point.

The kids and I made Cap's valentines in our pajamas around the table this morning as the world outside turned whiter and Cap snoozed cocooned in bed.

I found my valentine in the kitchen wrapped in pink tissue...my sweetie MADE me truffles. He's the best. Apricot, lingonberry, hazelnut chocolate cream and chestnut cream. Yummmmmm.

The four of us in bed unwrapping gifts and reading cards, marveling at artwork. Chocolate and red hearts and Grey Matter all the rage this Valentine's Day.

I think the kids would have eaten their chocolate bars down to the final licks off of fingers if we had let them, while playing Kid Pix before breakfast.

Elling

A wonderful Norwegian movie. Warm, insightful, moving, funny, realistic and magical, smart.... It's about a man who is about 50 and who has some special needs and what happens to him after his mother, who he had lived with his whole life, dies.

I thought it might be interesting to watch this back-to-back with Mozart and the Whale because that's about adults with disabilities, too, but these two movies were like apples and oranges. I liked them both, but would choose Elling over the other, hands down.

Thanks to Eleanor...I think she sent out a note about Elling via Netflix.

Museum

Danielle and co. came over for dinner last night. It was really nice to spend time both families together. Cap made Japanese curry with katsu-style chicken cutlets and baked cardomom pears drizzled with chocolate. Yum.

First and Kinder had the opportunity to expand on their Museum with the joyful cooperation of Owen and Lukas. The result? We adults were treated to:

• a model building area complete with models sculpted of modeling clay and a set of blocks with which to either copy the models or make our own

• a gallery of masterpieces, two paintings drawn by Kinder, one of which was his rendition of "Starry, Starry Night"

• a drawing by First which was taped onto a frame he made out of K-nex

• a massive gallery of drawings done by all the kids depicting the many characters from the Ben 10 series which our guys have never seen, but are becoming ardent devotees of nonetheless

• a maps and shapes section which included a map of China and Australia and a map of North America complete with the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Greenland drawn by First

We did not have to pay to visit the Museum, but this privilege was forever revoked when each of us parents failed to buy anything from the Museum gift shop. The kids have formed a club like conglomerate called Kid Life and they actually have a joint fund going for the group.

Odds and ends

It's windy out today. I feel like a hibernating bear though I'm not burning as many calories as they do.

• Yesterday we wet-on-wet painted some sheets of paper with red watercolor paint. Today we will make some valentines.

• New Zealand Day at the Paterson Museum monthly gathering sounded like it was a success. The next Country Day will be in March and the country to learn about is Egypt. Cap is going to work with the kids on something since he's been doing geography stuff with them. Everyone picks an aspect of the country to put together a presentation on and also chooses a traditional food to bring. First is very excited about the June country: Madagascar.

• I am getting together some materials and ideas to start a Math block next week. I'll introduce them to Cuisinaire rods and we'll continue playing games and doing activities involving counting, sorting, categorizing, patterns, etc. On the shopping list for this weekend: a good set of wooden blocks with cones, cylinders, and various prism shapes. Our set got left behind in California...

• Waldorf-inspired group get together yielded one guest. Marla and I had a nice time chatting and her adorable kids enjoyed playing with Kinder. First was a bit socially awkward and was intense and rigid about wanting us to buy some of the items he had for sale in his store. Marla ended up buying two things willingly (I hope) which helped. Part of my characterization of him has to do with my own unwillingness to fully support his endeavor (you don't invite people over to your house and then try to make money off them if that's not the intention of the gathering). Anyway, it ended up being a nice afternoon and I came away with two important realizations: 1) I really need to cut down on the time the kids spend watching tv (Marla put it so well: "I want my kids' minds to be their own"); and 2) I want to involve myself with homeschoolers with kids who are 5 or older for the kinds of activities I have in mind. It's not actually the content of the activities that would be different so much as the developmental thrusts of the language and thinking and actions that the kids would display and be inspired by that would be different.

• I am thinking about how to form some sort of co-op for homeschoolers to pool resources and give kids the opportunity for multi-age group learning in specific topic or subject areas. I know I could start up a Japanese language class...maybe I will.

• First is planning a President's Day party. He has an interest in presidents that is an off-shoot of his love of money. He slowly flipped through Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire's book, "Abraham Lincoln", the other day and seemed ultimately disappointed that there wasn't any mention of Lincoln's being on the penny or five dollar bill. Other than the outdated illustrated depictions of black people, it's a great book with a lot of information simply presented, but without talking down to kids. I have a feeling that First is going to come back to the book.

• Tonight Silke and her kids will come over for dinner before we all head out to a performance that the Newark Boys' Choir will be giving at a local elementary school. I'm looking forward to it except that the kids have been awake since about 5:00 am and may very well be basket cases by curtain time. The brown rice is in the rice cooker, the teriyaki chicken marinating in the fridge, the spinach and tofu made and the broccoli steamed. I may make latkes too. And Kinder and I may bake some corn bread. It's been one of those meals where I couldn't decide what I wanted to make so I'm making everything :-) They are bringing a German sweet of pitted cherries in sugar syrup that we are all eager to try.

Peaches in winter

With little fanfare I began my first week of "formal" homeschooling of the new year.

We opened with a verse, a Waldorf classic:

The earth is firm beneath my feet,
The sun shines bright above,
And here stand I so straight and strong,
All things to know and love.

Kinder comes right over and delights in doing the movements with me, First proceeds to run around the house to "hide".

On Monday, I read "Peach Boy" to them from "Japanese Children's Favorite Stories" (published by Charles Tuttle). "Peach Boy", or Momotaro, as he is called in Japanese, is one of the most popular traditional children's folktales of Japan. I started with this because it was familiar and it was a quick way to begin overlaying some Japanese stuff into our homeschooling/life. Waldorf calls for Grimm fairy tales, which I haven't abandoned, but it made sense to start with something that felt more right for me. I also veered from Waldorf practice to read the story from a book rather than tell it orally.

The kids have each drawn a picture in their sketchbooks depicting a character/scene from the story. Today I decided on a whim to retell the story orally which they loved. They added in pieces here and there. We then made beeswax models of the peach (First), spotted dog (Kinder), pheasant (me) and Momotaro (all of us cooperatively). Kinder said he wanted to do a puppet show of the story, so this afternoon we started making some puppets by sewing together felt pieces and stuffing them with roving.


First has been balking at much of what we've been doing and participating somewhat reluctantly and at times under mild threat/pressure. But, the boy likes to sew. I was getting started on sewing the pheasant (Kinder's request, he had fallen in love with the beeswax pheasant) and before I knew it, First jumped right in and began working on the monkey.

He picked out some felt and cut out a monkey outline without using a pattern (which is what I had done for the pheasant). I threaded a needle for him with some thread (embroidery floss) and got him started on a running stitch. Well, before I knew it, he had sewn around about 3/4 of the monkey and stopped to stuff it. The neck of the monkey was too narrow to get the stuffing through to fill the head. I was freaked out that he had worked so quickly and that I had missed opportunities to guide him (comes with the territory of life with two).

I suggested gently that I could take out about half the stitches he had sewn so that he could stuff the head. He glowered and I gave him a minute to think it over. Next thing I knew, he had cut off the monkey's head in order to stuff it. I felt bad, but the kid knew what he wanted and took the initiative to remedy the situation. I liked that.

So, First completed his monkey puppet with very little help from me. The camera is missing, but once it's located, we'll be taking a picture of it. He wants to sell it, of course. Just call him Scrooge McKid.

We played Blokus, Chutes and Ladders, and completed the 360 piece puzzle of the rain forest animals that Wendy gave First for Christmas. First also worked on Form Drawing and recorder. Kinder baked peanut butter cookies with me today for Kate (a fellow homeschooler) and her family who welcomed their fourth child a couple of weeks ago. I abandoned Finn Family Moomintroll for now. We had not read it in weeks and it didn't feel right to pick it up again. We started afresh with "My Father's Dragon", one that we've read before, but has been completely worth revisiting. I'm planning on reading the trilogy back-to-back-to-back.

In other news, we borrowed a bunch of books about money from the library last week, I bought them a book about Washington DC during my birthday date with Cap, we put Kidpix on the computer (thanks, Danielle!), and they have been watching Curious George on PBS. The kids love all of these things and have been very happy and animated.

Next week, I am thinking about doing another Japanese folktale, but haven't completely decided. We'll follow the same schedule of activities continuing Form Drawing and recorder for First and Drawing, Baking and Painting for Kinder. Fiber Arts will be at Lucia and Holly's on Monday and Wednesday I'll be hosting a planning meeting for folks interested in participating in Waldorf-inspired group activities.

Life is good, the boys are great and I can literally smell ripe, white peaches (the kind you can get in Japan).

Mozart and the whale

Wow. A wonderful movie about a 20 something man with Asperger's. So many of the details rang true and the story was rendered beautifully. I read about the movie on the Autism list I'm on. One mom posted that her Aspie daughter wasn't so impressed because the main character wasn't so much like herself :-)

The male lead (Josh Hartnett) was really strong, the female lead (Radha Mitchell) was trickier. I wasn't sure if it was the aim of her performance based on the written part and/or her own instincts, or whether it was a weakness in her performance, but it didn't matter. The whole of the experience was just right.

Make note of the supporting actress who barks out the last line of the movie...something about the gravy. She was pitch perfect in her every line and gesture.

Samson's locks

For the last few weeks I have been thinking about getting my haircut. In the last couple of days it has become nearly an obsession to mull over this seemingly simple decision.

My hair m.o. is to let it grow really long and then to cut it pretty short every few years. The last couple of times I've gotten it cut I've not gone shorter than shoulder length to avoid the repetition of maintenance haircuts needed to keep it very short. My hair grows quickly and it seemed like a lot of money to spend on "hair" to visit my beloved stylist every other month (this was back in Cambridge).

My recent quandary began with discomfort at night because someone or other would be lying on my hair and it would get pulled as I turned over in my sleep. (Both boys usually end up in bed with us by early morning.) Then I started to feel lazy about washing it. I would remember wistfully while showering how quickly I could wash and condition my hair when it was super short.

When my hair is long, I like being able to do things like wearing it in braids or wearing it "up". But, the reality is that I'm not really into spending much time on my hair or giving it much thought, especially in the morning. So, inevitably, it gets pulled back in a barrette. Every day.

I feel that when I have long hair, my identity becomes somewhat entangled (pun intended, I guess) with my hair. I become my hair in a way that doesn't happen when my hair is shorter. And these days that doesn't sit well with me. I'm turning 41 on Sunday and feel renewed in my joy and wonder at who I am and the possibilities for creativity that I am feeling. I really don't want to be thinking about my hair this much at all.

I've thought about asking my sister to chop it all off when she's here tomorrow, but distractions niggle and I may wait and go to a hair salon. I know what I want it to look like at this point, but am convinced that no one will be able to replicate the vision that is me in my fantastical mind. And then I realize I am still cycling pretty vigorously in these mundane thoughts.

De colores

Red

pms fury rejection wanting to hang on half pint of ben and jerry's way too late wanting house getting state of the union

Orange

short ribs bone-in simmering in cast iron nestled with carrot, onion and garlic reminds me of childhood so warming the consuming already begun

Yellow

First delighted by invented spelling which hadn't occurred to him writing a story using the golden path paper I made him

Green

the piece of scrap paper with Mummu's hospital room phone number on it floating around the apartment a testament bearing witness

Blue

the laundry the sky up above washing dishes making phone calls

Indigo

talking with Danielle in her kitchen as the light outside fades the children making money watching the bear old rem the background music

Violet

my hope my joy my strength my self rebooting reconnecting catching up and lingering with El on the phone boys coming in for goodnight kisses Cap waiting to see what he can make me for dinner

The queen

Danielle and I went out today. An unofficial birthday outing. (Cap found out last week that he'll be in Dublin this Thurs-Sun. So, not that much "me" time forecast for b-day weekend.) We had lunch at Lalezar for Turkish/Mediterranean food. It was so good. The decor was lovely, the service nice, and the food, really wonderful. We had a Turkish salad and the appetizer sampler which included some of my favorites: grape leaves and babaghanoush. The bread was a revelation. We had them put our chicken kebob with yogurt entree straight into a doggy bag because we were stuffed by the time it was ready to be brought out.

We then went to Terra for a few minutes (one of my favorite stores in Montclair, the other one being Watchung Books). It's the kind of store that invites lots of handling. All items are fair trade and come from many corners of the world. There's a tea salon in the back and we picked up movie snacks: chocolate for D and a lemon square for me.

We went to see The Queen. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was let down. I thought it was kind of boring, though interesting at the same time if that makes sense. Helen Mirren was indeed wonderful in it. Prince Philip was made out to be a brutish jerk and I wondered what the source material was in general for a movie so based in real people and events. Watching the movie did remind me of how starved of factual and critical information we actually are (most of us) in an era that is hailed as the "information age". There's a point in the movie when Helen Mirren's character, Queen Elizabeth II, says to the Tony Blair character, "you are my tenth prime minister, the first one having been Winston Churchill." It made me go "hmmm" (I know so little and want to know more).

Cap...in part because he is feeling better and in part because I am feeling better (not teaching this semester? check; significant financial worries now past me? check)...he is appearing to me in more color, warmth and glow. I don't know how much of this is due to successful acupuncture and Chinese medicine treatment, as well. But, I am feeling more and more relaxed these days. And juicier.

I have been experiencing that "head in the ground" hibernating thing at night where after the kids go to bed my butt and brain find themselves settling down in front of the tv. I've started watching Season 4 of The Sopranos (very watchable after all these years) and am looking forward to the restarting of the Heroes season tomorrow night. I'll also be watching season 2 of Rome and enjoyed my first episode of Extras last week (though it's all about the Patriots tonight, baby).

We watched The Office and the musical episode of Scrubs last week and then kept watching Thirty Rock because it was so funny and well written.

I have noticed the days are already noticeably longer. Here's hoping that my mind and body adjust and I unplug myself from the box before I fry too many more cells. (Will she tune in for the rest of the Lost season? Will she get sucked into Amazing Race All-Stars? Will she stop watching SNL in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, she can recapture some of that lost glory be it ever so vicarious and seriously hopeless?)

Update

An arctic front is descending on us here in NJ and I wonder, seriously, why I ever complained about the unseasonably mild weather we've been having. Well, at least our tub of water on the front porch, our ice experiment, should yield some ice in the morning.

• Cap is finally back on his feet after his third cold in four weeks had him in bed for a few days. We celebrated his 42nd birthday yesterday. Chana masala, saag paneer, aluu gobi, garlic naan and scrumptious samosas from our local veggie Indian place. Sandy and Mike came over. We had a satisfying yellow cake with chocolate frosting for dessert. Cap did the baking, as he is wont to do. Gluten-free, casein-free, of course. I splurged for the Scharffen-Berger baking chocolate that was used for the frosting. Mmmm.

• Cap did some lesson time with the kids this morning. They sounded like they had a blast while I tinkered away at my desk in the next room. Kinder worked on "---ack" words and enjoyed drawing pictures of the words he came up with. For "lack" he drew an empty box utilizing the 3-D drawing skills he has been exploring lately. First worked on geography and learned, among other things, that the Canadian dollar coin has the nickname "loonie".

• I twisted my foot this morning stepping off our front steps onto a briquette sized rock from the front yard. A drawback to Dansko clogs.... No ice skating this week for me.

• Had a life altering conversation with my mom on the phone over the weekend. Our debt to my parents has been excused, a gift in lieu of help with a down payment. My path has diverged from those of my siblings in a number of ways, home ownership being one. It was amazing to literally feel a weight being lifted from my body. I hadn't quite realized how heavy the burden had been on a day-to-day basis. Our financial situation is seeming SO much more manageable. Getting out from under credit card debt seems possible within 2 years, knock on wood. If we don't have to move again in 2 years, we should actually be able to start saving at that point!

• Watched Everything Is Illuminated which I loved (we both did). Impressive directorial debut by Liev Schreiber. Great acting, funny and immensely sad.

• Watched the Golden Globes. Boooring. Seeing Sascha Baron Cohen as himself was great. Hugh Laurie yum yum as usual. Jennifer Hudson and America Ferrar were both touching to watch as they accepted their awards. As was Forrest Whitaker. Justin Timberlake made my jaw drop when he impersonated Prince in a visual gag. It was funny, but seemingly inadvisable.

• Finished A Cook's Tour which I thoroughly enjoyed. I've started The Woman At The Washington Zoo.

• Nearly done going through and organizing my papers. Put up a bunch of photo frames yesterday making the livingroom/our bedroom in particular feel quite cozy. Pictures that never made it out of boxes in Sacramento are getting dusted off and finding homes here in Montclair.

• Looking forward to seeing JR and Pam this weekend. They are in NYC visiting Jodie.

• Decided not to renew my teaching license after looking into what would be required and discovering that if I ever go back to a job where I would need a license, that I would be able to reapply for renewal at that point. It was still a little hard to let go of yet another part of my professional past. But, mostly, it feels like I am clearing out my closet, making way for new and exciting things.

• Love love love my little niece Lily. We talk on the phone sometimes (she's 1 1/2 :-)

• Go Pats!

My moment of zen

As I gazed at my lunch of cold leftover zucchini pancakes and still warm sweet potato fries, I knew I was getting better. Plus, there was the seven loads of laundry I was in the midst of doing. Another quiet day at home while we recuperate from our various maladies. Unfortunately, Cap came home last night and fell ill (3rd time in 4 weeks).

I'm watching Rome, pretty addictive stuff. HBO is rerunning season 1 before starting season 2 on Sunday.

Watched United 93 the other night. It was harrowing. When it first came out, I thought I would never watch it. Then it made year's best lists and I reconsidered. I'm glad I watched it. It was both a way to feel like bearing witness and a way to support a brave, honest and human work of art.

Am reading and loving A Cook's Tour by Anthony Bourdain. I'd like to make it to Les Halles someday.

I've put together a bit of a schedule for next week. Baking, painting and drawing for Kinder; form drawing and recorder for First. Outdoors time and handwork for everyone. I'm going to make a King Winter doll for the nature table. Also hoping to get to yoga, everyone's health permitting, and getting out for a walk/gentle jog a few times.

We had a few minutes of snow flurries this morning followed by cold air and bright sun. Maybe we will have some winter after all (it was near 70º four days ago as I traipsed through Manhattan with my girls Mary, Jay and Lily).

Dreamz with a z

We watched American Dreamz a couple of nights ago. It was funny. I once had a brief encounter with Paul Weitz, the writer and director of the movie. We went to the same university. In front of Olin library, I saw him crouched over looking at something intently on the ground. I joined him and I don't even remember what it was...a bug maybe? I liked him and the moment, though.

A movie that I loved that he made was About A Boy.

American Dreamz manages to be smart and clever and humane about modern American life and the dilemmas herein.

I finished reading Cell last night. Cap gave it to me for X-mas. I've been a Stephen King fan since high school. The last King novel I read and loved was Insomnia, probably ten years ago. Cell was pretty fracking scary, especially in the beginning. It was both thrilling and unnerving to be scared while reading a book cozily wrapped in an afghan on my own couch.

I am desperately fending off Cap's cold. Trying a new herbal remedy called Umcka, my mom's trusty Kaigen and chugging Synergy, trying all the different flavors. I want to stay healthy for my girl's weekend in Manhattan with Mary! She's in town for a depo and we will be painting the town our own lovely hues, immune system willing.

The end is in sight with my grading. I'm just waiting to see if a few students will revise and resubmit work to push their grades up. By Monday I should only have two students who will be finishing up incompletes this spring.

We're cleaning and organizing and opening our arms up to 2007. Cap and the boys took the tree down yesterday, I've laid out the list of house cleaning chores that need to be done, hopefully before Anna arrives tomorrow night, and you can actually see the apple red surface of my desk!