Milk and Honey

Photo Friday: Blur

2006-02-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Blur. This is a shot of our storage shed -- it came out a bit different than I would have thought on a rainy day a few weeks ago, but it still seems warm and interesting. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 5.7 mm, exposure time 1/320, aperture f/2.8. Hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Delayed Reaction to the SOTU

2006-02-08T15:51:00.000-05:00

From Palinode's site comes the following.

From Harpers Weekly Review:

Bush also announced during his speech that America is "addicted to oil" and vowed to replace "more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025." Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said that this promise was not meant to be taken literally. "This," he said, "was purely an example."

It makes me so angry and irritated to read things like this about Bush, to see the lies that he tells so clearly underlined and yet so ignored by the mainstream media. And the idea that he is criticizing Americans' addiction to oil is so disingenuous it leaves me stunned. To take a quote from the Washington Post, "in truth, few administrations have done more to feed America's oil addiction than this one -- and the same can be said for this Republican Congress." [Washington Post, 2/3/06]

In that State of the Union address Bush asked Congress to pass laws outlawing human/animal hybrids. Readers here had strong reactions to the idea of embryonic hybrids being used for stem cell research, reactions which surprised me quite a bit. If you're still concerned about the idea and don't see any merit to exploring the potential in hybrids for research, you'll love this site. I think this tongue in cheek shirt is wonderful.

With the curtain being pulled back on Bush's illegal domestic spying and his easy dismissal of the laws contained in the Constitution, my irritation and anger are coming to a boil. Why there is not more effective outrage in this country is simply beyond me. MoveOn.org has a fantastic ad about this that is definitely worth a look -- the campaign began Monday and calls for a special prosecutor to investigate the situation. It's a step in the right direction, anyway.

Foolproof Biscuits

2006-02-07T21:47:00.000-05:00

This recipe for biscuits is amazing. Tonight we had friends unexpectedly stop by for dinner and these were quick, easy and perfect to go with our roasted chicken, wild mushroom rice pilaf and salad. I have had terrible luck with biscuit making in the past, and these always turn out perfectly. The longer you let them rise, the better they are, but even putting them in the oven straight after mixing they are delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/3 cup shortening

1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2.	In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3.	Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4.	Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

Where My Time Is Going

2006-02-06T21:45:00.000-05:00

This is part of the sampler I'm making for Gretel's birthday. A full version of the pattern can be seen here, but I'm modifying parts of it to make it more relevant for her. I loved these fish in the pond, though! In a bid not to turn into my mother, who often finished gifts well after the due date (or birthday, as it might more sweetly be known) I am working nonstop to try to get this done before February 25. I'm sorry it's been so quiet around here!

Photo Friday: Disguise

2006-02-03T11:51:00.000-05:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Disguise. I like the way that the identity of many ordinary objects can be disguised by showing them close up (this is a face sponge on a soap dish). Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 5.7 mm, exposure time 1/25, aperture f/2.8. Hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

A Quick One

2006-02-02T22:32:00.000-05:00

Absolutely hilarious.

My First Meme

2006-02-01T21:17:00.000-05:00

Two Things Meme from Celeste (who's since moved her blog to a private site or else I would totally link to her here)

Two Names You Go By
1. Laura
2. Mama

Two Parts of Your Heritage
1. Italian
2. Swedish

Two Things That Scare You
1. House fires (it's never happened to me or anyone I know, but the idea of losing everything is horrifying.)
2. Anything (from a mouse to a pillaging marauder) being in the house without me knowing it

Two of Your Everyday Essentials
1. Kiss My Face moisturizer
2. Diet Coke

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now
1. An old Ann Taylor shirt I got on sale when we lived in Boston
2. The "Candy Pants"

Two of Your Favorite Bands, radio stations,or Musical Artists (at the moment)
1. Damien Rice
2. Postal Service

Two of Your Favorite Songs (at the moment)
1. Such Great Heights--Postal Service (still)
2. Wide River--Steve Miller

Two Truths
1. Love conquers all
2. “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” -- the Buddha

Two Physical Things that Appeal to You
1. Eyes
2. Upper arms

Two of Your Favorite Hobbies
1. Reading on my own, reading to Gretel
2. Crafting (with paper, yarn, anything)

Two Things You Want Really Badly
1. Peace in my extended family
2. A great digital camera

Two Places You Want to go on Vacation
1. Italy
2. South Africa

Two Things You Want to Do Before You Die
1. See Gretel grown and happy
2. World tour on the QE2

Two Ways that you are stereotypically a Dude/Chick
1. I get weepy over commercials for Kodak, USPS, Hallmark, etc.
2. I am very sentimental about just about everything

Two Ways you act like the opposite sex (stereotypes)
1. I could not care less about shoes
2. I still don't understand women's sizes (misses? juniors? What?)

Two Things You Normally Wouldn't Admit
1. The one song that I can always sing to calm Gretel? I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys. Nevermind that it's a totally inappropriate song for a mother and daughter or that it's the Backstreet Boys for god's sake.
2. I cleaned the bathtub today. The last time I remember doing it was at least two months ago. How is that possible? Gretel still gets baths in the sink, Joe and I only take showers. Perhaps this has something to do with the former state of the bathtub.

Two Things You Are Thinking About Now
1. Why is this episode of Lost a rerun? And how did it take me this long to realize I've never seen it?
2. How am I going to finish this cross stitch for Gretel before her birthday at the end of the month?

Two Stores You Shop At
1. Wal-Mart
2. Stop and Shop

Two people I would like to see take this quiz
1. SJ (though it doesn't seem likely as I have never seen her do a meme and she just had a baby)
2. Chris (again, not incredibly likely because of work and his devotion to his family in his free time)

Back in a Second

2006-01-31T23:28:00.000-05:00

I've had no access to Blogger for a week now, and limited access to other things internet. Needless to say, it's been a rough week! I'll be back tomorrow to post an update but for now am reveling in my renewed access.

First Fire

2006-01-24T21:05:00.000-05:00

One of the things we loved about our house when we were deciding whether to buy it or not was that it had a fireplace in the living room. I think we envisioned cozy nights curled up reading books by the fire or having Christmas Eve lit by firelight or something. It really is a beautiful fireplace even without a fire burning, which is lucky for us because tonight is officially the First Fire Night, nearly two years after we bought this place.

I'm thinking of it as a celebration of sorts after the long struggle we went through with the chimney cleaning/relining company. We had a terrible time with them rescheduling and misscheduling the job, the job failing inspection, and a lot of hassle getting them to finish up the stupid job already with some professionalism and grace. I was ready to pull my hair out over them yesterday. Happily, we are now through with that outfit. This was the best picture I could manage of our little fire burning away -- it turns out it's hard (for me, anyway) to take a good photograph of the flames.

The Geranium Sisterhood

2006-01-23T21:48:00.000-05:00

This is a closeup of one of the more attractive parts of the geranium hanging in our dining room. We didn't buy it or choose it, it just came with the house when we bought it. And without ample watering over the past year or so (houseplants really get ignored when you bring a new baby home), giant chunks of it have died. It is now a straggly looking thing, with a few tremendous ropes of lush growth and optimistic blossoms like the one shown above. If you could get a look at the plant as a whole, though, you'd probably wonder why we just don't throw it away and start over.

I can't throw it away, though. I've never been able to toss anything other than a completely dead plant out with the trash. Somehow it just feels like unfairly giving up on life. Obviously one exception had to be when our Christmas tree tried to generate new life three weeks after Christmas... but a houseplant has a longer lease on life here. Even after ignoring it and only sporadically giving it the lucky watering it so needed, I feel committed to it. And with some of the growth so beautiful as what you see above, can you blame me?

One of my sisters and I are going through a particularly rough patch right now. Over the summer she suffered a miscarriage and it's very hard for her to hear about life for me with Gretel. There are many other issues that have cropped up over time that have led to us not having a very genuine relationship and the baby/no baby divide has only made things more difficult. It's hard for me, because she used to be my very closest sister and it is undeniable that is not the case anymore. Our relationship is really a lot like that geranium -- some parts of it that were beautiful are simply not there any longer, it will wilt and fall further into ruin if we ignore it, but there are parts that are still wonderful and worth holding onto. It's tough to see how we'll move forward but with 29 years of sisterhood behind us, it is impossible to see how it would fade altogether, let alone tossing it out and never looking back.

The Remedy

2006-01-22T21:36:00.000-05:00

Joe and have both been ill this weekend. It's such a strange thing, where we have bone and muscle aches, headaches, and extreme fatigue but no fever or cold symptoms. I've never had anything like it -- it hit me hard yesterday and thank god it was Saturday because Joe could take care of Gretel. Today was his turn and he's been in bed just about all day. Extra strength Tylenol barely touches these aches and even turning over in bed feels like a real effort. Pitiful, I'll tell you.

One thing that helped Joe today was this ginger honey lemon tea that I made. I based it on a recipe in February's issue of Living that I'd finished earlier in the week. Put six cups of water in a saucepan. Peel one large piece of ginger, cut it into thin slices and add it to the water. Add 4-5 tablespoons of lemon juice and a sprinkling of ground cloves. Bring it all to a boil and then let it simmer for three minutes. Strain it into a teapot and add some honey. Put the pot on your sad husband's night table and hope that tomorrow looks a little healthier.

Crafting Ideas

2006-01-21T22:11:00.000-05:00

Feeling crafty but not sure where to start or how to start it? This site has a tremendous amount of information on all different kinds of crafts, from beginning to advanced levels. There are basics for everything from paper, photography, sewing, ceramics, jewelry and more miscellaneous projects than you can imagine. It's a great site for inspiration and instruction. If you're thinking of making a gift or something for yourself, this is a wonderful place to begin.

Photo Friday: Pink

2006-01-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Pink. I originally shot this seashell in a much more traditional way, all white and pale pink in the sunlight. When I played around with it in Picasa, though, I found I liked this darkened image better. It reminds me of the chambers of the heart, the pink inside still glowing as if in remembrance of the life it once held. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 5.7 mm, exposure time 1/3, aperture f/2.8. Hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Sex and Television

2006-01-19T21:29:00.000-05:00

This article reveals that having a television in your bedroom reduces the likelihood that you will have sex by 50%. I have to say, this did not exactly come as a huge surprise to me -- before I met Joe, if I shared a bedroom with someone who did have a television there it always felt like it threw the energy off somehow. I don't have any data on whether it reduced the chances that sex was going to happen or not, but either we were watching something on tv or there was this potential for distraction.

We're not perfect about it, but Joe and I both feel strongly about trying to keep our bedroom as relaxed and clear of clutter as possible. We try not to talk about stressful topics there and we've painted and decorated so it's as soothing an environment as possible. And neither of us wants a television in there because we're much more likely to be reading or fooling around than wanting to watch Letterman. Still, there's something about reading this article that makes me wonder why someone would want a tv in the bedroom. Is it to help fall asleep at night? Is it a comfort? A welcome distraction?

Keys

2006-01-18T21:14:00.000-05:00

The key to my mother's apartment is nearly identical to the key to my house. The same shape, size and base, and it's only the placement on my key ring that keeps me from putting her key into my lock. There are certain things in my life that remind me of how similar my mother and I can be, even though I wish it wasn't so. As I've written before, I fight some of these similarities: procrastination, fear, disorganization, etc. There are other traits that I embrace a bit more: her favoring of oldies music, crafting gifts, and her devotion to babies. Every once in a while there is an expression on my face that will remind Joe of my mother or a phrase I will use that just makes him laugh at the similarity. Even though we are so different now in so many ways there are all of these little things that tie us together.

It makes me wonder how it will be with Gretel. She is already such a fierce, independent girl and I don't anticipate her growing to be a clinging type who will turn to me often for advice. But how much of me will imprint onto her? We spend so much of every day together and there are countless hours that we'll have together before she's off on her own. How much time does it take before someone is inextricably a part of you?

Looking For A Good Time?

2006-01-17T21:59:00.000-05:00

Or maybe just a good meal? I love the FoodieView recipe search engine. You can type in a specific dish or search by ingredients you have on hand that you want to use. Or you can browse by type of dish, cuisine, special considerations, famous chefs, or sources. There is an incredible range of recipes here and it includes my must have feature for any recipe site: ratings.

It's so important to read feedback for recipes from people who've actually made them. In all of my time looking for recipes online, there has been only one time when I've gone astray making a well rated and reviewed recipe. My now-infamous diet chicken was supposed to be lovely chicken breasts browned briefly in a pan and then cooked in the oven while I made a sauce on the stove. Unfortunately, when combined on the plate the dish's effects were two-fold -- first, the chicken was inedibly tough and second, the sauce was actually more of a glue that served to lock our jaws into a closed position. Hence the name diet chicken. You could take one bite, but more than that was impossible. Once we could pry our mouths open, Joe and I agreed that we had to toss the remaining dinner and head out for McDonald's. So perhaps not so much a diet chicken as an advertisement for fast food... in any case, you are very unlikely to have an experience like this one using the FoodieView website. Good luck! I think you'll have a great time looking through the recipes here.

Sushi Sushi

2006-01-16T21:16:00.000-05:00

A quick photo of last night's dinner. There are few things that I like to eat better than sushi -- there are two problems with this. First, while we are lucky to have a restaurant here that delivers delicious sushi, we are not in a very populous area and it's unfortunately expensive. Second, since I spent ten of the last twenty months pregnant that means that fully 50% of the time I wasn't even able to consider sushi -- I've been making up for lost time. Let's no one pretend this is a terribly interesting post -- but I'm tired and it's all that I've got tonight.

Fresh Start

2006-01-15T20:17:00.000-05:00

This is a sure sign that your Christmas tree has been around for a while. We got ours at the beginning of December and now these little green shoots are beginning to appear on some of the branches. I think this is a sign that it is resigned to its life in our living room and is adjusting to its new circumstanstances and all-water diet. While I admire the tenacity of our little tennenbaum, the time has come for it to return to nature via the compost pile in the backyard. I must admit that seeing this new life in our tree will make that bittersweet. I would have liked to see just what would have happened if we left it up another month or two.

On a semi-related note (new life, fresh starts, etc.), here is another happy birthday greeting to Joe. May the year ahead be wonderful and filled with beautiful and memorable moments. I love you.

On another semi-related note, this is the 100th entry for Milk and Honey. Happy cent-entry to this little space. And thank you to all of you who have commented here -- it's so encouraging to me.

Pigs and Rabbits

2006-01-14T20:41:00.000-05:00

I read two articles today that astonished me.

The first item detailed how scientists are planning to create rabbit/human hybrid embryos. Stem cells would be harvested to pursue treatments for motor neuron diseases, such as Lou Gehrig's disease, progressive muscular atrophy, primary lateral sclerosis. According to this site:

The motor neuron diseases (MND) are a group of progressive neurological disorders that destroy motor neurons, the cells that control voluntary muscle activity such as speaking, walking, breathing, and swallowing.

Research so far has been hindered due to the lack of availability of human eggs, but these hybrids would get around that obstacle. By injecting human DNA (from patients with MND) into eggs from rabbits, a workable representation of this devastating condition could be created, showing its progress and potential treatment could be developed. I think that this creative solution to a very difficult problem shows a tremendous amount of promise. Even if the effort is only moderately successful, hopefully it will lead to broader, deeper research into cures for other diseases than is possible now.

The other news item also deals with stem cell research. Scientists in Taiwan have created glow in the dark pigs by injecting embryos with fluorescent matter from jelly fish. While the green tinge is most easily seen around the eyes, mouth and feet, every part of the pigs is actually green from their internal organs to their hair. Wu Shinn-Chih, one of the researchers who developed the green pigs, said that:

fluorescent cells would show up during stem cell treatment of diseased organs, allowing physicians to monitor the healing progress.

Since pigs are often used in researching human diseases and the green tint would help observers more easily observe tissue changes over time, it seems to me that there is great potential in this idea as well.

Stem cell research sometimes frightens people -- some simply reject the idea of it without fully understanding the process or the benefits. Or they may jump to the wrong conclusions, perhaps thinking in the case of the first article that scientists are developing rabbit people who will one day walk among us, or in the case of the second article that pork chops will soon be glowing in their butcher's case. I believe that stem cell research is one of the most promising areas of medical research today. Given proper funding and a willingness to see what can be accomplished, amazing leaps in our understanding of the human body and the conditions it may suffer are possible. And even if you are staunchly opposed to the idea, I hope you find these two quirky news items interesting and thought provoking!

Photo Friday: Success

2006-01-13T20:44:00.000-05:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Success. This is another shot from within the Ecosphere pod, a feature which I promise will not be a regular one but that you may recall from this post. Sadly, two of the red shrimp died, leaving the two grey shrimp in control of the pod (and now are turning red -- how strange is that?). Luckily, Brookstone is sending a replacement now. I thought this photo of the grey shrimp perched triumphantly above his deceased red brother was an interesting take on success -- not necessarily how I would define it, but perhaps the way of the Ecosphere. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 5.7 mm, exposure time 1/3, aperture f/2.8. Hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Graphics Generator

2006-01-12T20:23:00.000-05:00

This site will generate buttons and graphics for you for free. There is a startling variety of options from which you may choose and the results appear almost immediately. There may be other ways to create images like this at home but none of them are familiar to me -- I loved this even without knowing exactly how I'd like to use it.

Delayed Alarm

2006-01-11T13:45:00.000-05:00

When I was pregnant with Gretel, I was alarmed at the rate at which I was gaining weight. The professionals at my OB/GYN's office assured me that it was no problem, not to worry about it. This went on from June until November, when I suppose someone took a look at my cumulative weight gain and called attention to it. Then, at the end of my second trimester, was when my 40 pound weight gain seemed somehow off. I went on to gain ten more pounds before the pregnancy, for 50 pounds total. Well out of the range where I should have been but I was so hungry at the beginning and had no idea what types of things I should have been eating.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I begged anyone I could find for a meal plan, a chart of what foods I should be eating, what nutrients I needed and in what quantities. All I found was the hideously restrictive What To Eat When You're Expecting, which I did not find very realistic. I followed my doctor's advice and ate what I pleased, however much I pleased and didn't worry about it. Then I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and was caught up in an alarming time of monitoring glucose levels, reporting all results to my doctor during the weekly nonstress tests that became necessary, worrying about Gretel and how she was handling it -- the baby's pancreas can sometimes kick into overdrive if the mom's isn't working properly.

The one good thing about the GD diagnosis was that I was finally given a meal plan. I was able to see a nutritionist and find out exactly what to eat, what amounts, when, and monitor the results within an hour or so. It was fantastic, and I'm so glad to have it for the next pregnancy. Because my risk of developing GD will be increased because I've already had it once, I'm going on the meal plan from the very beginning. And I think that doing it this way will help reduce that risk and also make me feel more in control about the weight gain.

The reason I'm bringing all of this up now is because at ten and a half months old, Gretel still will not sit up. She won't sit on her own and she will barely consent to sit with us sitting right behind her. She is certainly not trying to pull up on anything, cruise, stand, step on her own, etc. Joe brought up the GD story at the pediatrician's office yesterday, making the connection between no one but me seeing a problem for a long time with the weight gain and the scary results of not addressing that early on, and no one but me seeing a problem with her delayed gross motor skills and what may happen if they are not addressed. I was so surprised to hear this connection, which had not really crossed my mind before, that I just started crying right there in the office.

It's so hard not knowing the best thing to do for your child and not being able to anticipate the results of your action/inaction. I'm not sure what I can do for Gretel, her doctor isn't able to tell us anything, and so now we're waiting for a team of state specialists to give us their input. At least we're able to do something rather than just waiting for things to get really bad and then wonder why no one spotted it earlier and extended their help. Not a particularly fun entry today, but it's what's going on in my life and I figured I'd put the bad with the good on here.

A Birthday Present

2006-01-10T20:49:00.000-05:00

I bought this as a birthday gift for Joe -- it arrived today and it's unbelievably cool.

From the website:

EcoSphere is a calming balance of earth, water, air and life—all parts of a working self-sufficient ecosystem that’s much more than science; it’s an original work of art. Makes a unique gift for those who contemplate the mystery of life on our planet and enjoy the serenity of nature.
The delicate coexistence of animal and plant life (red shrimp, algae and microbes) thrives in the handblown glass sphere of seawater. It’s easy to care for—just provide sufficient light and enjoy the aesthetic blend of science and art, beauty and balance. This technology was developed by NASA scientists as part of a growing initiative to study our planet’s biosphere.

It is all sealed in this hollow 5 inch glass egg and it stays sealed forever. Meanwhile, plants and animals, living and growing before your very eyes. I can't believe you can get a present this cool for less than $100, though there are nine inch ones for $500. What's even more amazing is that they will last from 2-10 years. I never would have imagined such a thing could exist.

Aspiring Writers, Look Here

2006-01-09T20:45:00.000-05:00

I bet you'll love Miss Snark, a literary agent with a fantastic blog. I admire her very much and am also just a little daunted by her what with her clever snarkiness and worldly wisdom. I am generally in awe of pulled together sophisticated ladies. Anyway, Miss Snark analyzes synopses, gives good advice on appearing professional when you're trying to pitch an idea, comments on publishing news, etc. If you're interested in writing, publishing, or snarkiness I absolutely recommend her. After my false start at a book with NaNoWriMo, I am inspired by her helpful suggestions. I know that one day I will finish it but in the meantime I love picking up hints from such a great blog.

Milk and Honey

2006-01-08T23:37:00.000-05:00

I want to share this delicious new breakfast we had today. This morning we topped a baguette slices with softened goat cheese and a piece of honeycomb -- I'd never eaten honeycomb before and the flavors of this combination were unbelievable. It may sound unusual (it did to me) but it's really incredible and makes a wonderful way to start the day.

Scallops and Pears with Fettucine in a Garlic-Ginger Cream Sauce

2006-01-07T22:05:00.000-05:00

Joe and I have a birthday weekend where you get to choose what to eat, what movies to watch, and generally what fun to have. Tonight he chose this scallops and pasta dish and it was delicious. The recipe comes from this site and is as follows:

Scallops and Pears with Fettucine in a Garlic-Ginger Cream Sauce

Yield: 4 Servings (or two if you're as hungry as we were)

1/2 lb Lemon-pepper pasta, cooked

6 Cloves garlic, sliced
4 tb Unsalted butter
1 tb Sesame oil
1 lb Sea scallops, halved
1/2 c Dry white wine
1 tb Lemon juice
1 Whole pear, cored & sliced
1/4 c Heavy cream
4 Sprigs lemon verbena
2 tb Fresh ginger juice
Pepper, to individual taste

--------------------GARNISH-------------------------

Lemon wedges
Lemon verbena sprigs

Saute garlic in butter and sesame oil over medium heat until it just starts to become translucent, about 2 minutes. Add scallop slices and saute, stirring or shaking pan frequently until scallops become white and opaque - about 2-3 minutes. Remove scallops and set aside.

Cook fettucine about 2 minutes. (I used spaghetti, and that took ten minutes. I'm not sure how fettucini is supposed to cook in two minutes).

Meanwhile, using the same pan as for scallops, turn heat to high and add wine and lemon juice. Cook until liquid reduces by about half. Stir in pear, cream, lemon verbena and ginger juice. Cook briefly to thicken sauce slightly and blend flavors. Stir in scallops and heat through. Remove lemon verbena and adjust seasonings.

Pour sauce over fettucine and toss gently, coating pasta evenly and keeping scallops and pears on top. Serve hot.

NOTES :
Garlic: I used the chopped ones from a jar and they were fantastic.
Ginger Root: As the recipe suggested, I peeled ginger root, chopped it in the food processor, and then juiced it with a garlic press.
Lemon Verbena: What? All I remember about LV is that Miss Beadle wore it in Little House on the Prarie. I skipped this.
Pasta: I used plain spaghetti -- the flavor of the sauce was plenty without flavored pasta.

Photo Friday: Panorama

2006-01-06T10:24:00.000-05:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Panorama. This is a view from inside our car as we travelled north on the New York State Thruway in November. I love the feeling of moving through the hills and mountains in upstate New York -- there is nowhere else that feels more like home. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 5.7 mm, exposure time 1/240, aperture f/5.6. Hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Back Again

2006-01-05T21:20:00.000-05:00

There are a whole host of reasons why I stopped posting in November -- I'm hoping that they won't come up again this time around. I've missed writing here, coming up with new ideas about what to post every day. I'm not making this into a resolution, but I will try to be back and be interesting. Thanks for those of you who have stuck around and encouraged me with this -- it really has meant a lot and I'm sorry to have been so out of touch.

And So It Begins

2005-11-01T22:06:00.000-05:00

Today is the official start of NaNoWriMo. I have to admit that when I thought about facing this challenge it seemed incredibly daunting -- 50,000 words in a month's time. But I sat down and figured that even if I only wrote on 25 days out of the month, I'd only need to write 2,000 words a day. I can only write after Gretel goes to bed, but tonight I wrote 2,400 of those words in two hours. That's not too bad -- if I can keep up this pace throughout the month I definitely think I can reach my goal. Time will tell if it remains this doable, but so far, so good. My posts here will definitely be shorter, though, and probably have an awful lot to do with novel writing. Maybe I'll be able to spice it up with other content on the good writing days. Wish me luck!

Trick or Treat

2005-10-31T19:55:00.000-05:00

Gretel and I had a day chock full of trick or treating. I'd never heard of going to a mall for trick or treating before, but my friend Gina and her son Joseph (he was born a day after Gretel) invited us to go. I couldn't believe how many costumed children were there, so apparently this wasn't such a new idea to many of the parents in our area. Stores had signs indicating whether they offered candy, stickers or nothing at all so that you didn't waste your time poking around Fredericks of Hollywood to no avail. I was surprised some maternity clothing stores didn't offer anything -- it seems to me that appealing to women who are about to have more children would work for them. But most of the stores were offering something and it was so sweet to take Gretel around. She loved looking around at all of the lights and interacting with all of the people and they just ate her up. She's is an adorable baby and was dressed as a flower, her chubby cheeks pushing out from the sides of the petaled bonnet she wore. It was a wonderful time.

We came home and after a nap for both of us we headed out into the neighborhood. We haven't met any of our neighbors beside the amazing people next door and I thought this would be a good way to do it. Who could resist Gretel in any state, let alone in her costume? Some of the people in the houses around us weren't home when we headed out at 4:30, but we had some great conversations with the folks that were. We even found a set of twins who are potential babysitters and their brother who offered his services mowing our lawn. She was exhausted by the time we came home but now she's fast asleep and I'm so glad we had the opportunities we had today.

We've been giving out candy by the handful to the children who come to our house in the hopes that it will be gone by the end of the night. We know that we'll just eat it up in some candy bonanza if we don't, but it's 9:30 now and who knows how many more trick or treaters will come by? If we've got some left, though, we'll probably just consider it needed sustenance after this demanding day.

Adventures of a Pockmarked Pumpkin

2005-10-30T22:41:00.000-05:00

I always enjoy Cockeyed.com, especially their How Much Is Inside? feature. Here's one that is timely for this time of year -- How Much Is Inside A Pumpkin? It's the story of the ultimate jack o'lantern, the search for astonishing quantities of pie filling, and the demise and new life of a a flawed but impressive pumpkin. The results surprised me and the story is hilarious. I think the photos may be the best part. Enjoy!

Thrills and Chills

2005-10-29T23:29:00.000-04:00

When I was young I would stay up late into the night reading by whatever light was available (lamp, flashlight, even by the dim glow of my Snugglebum). I could never get enough reading done and then, as now, I would read until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. Mind you, with Gretel on my hands this happens a bit earlier these days, but that is neither here nor there. Back in the day some of my favorite books were ghost stories. I lie there absolutely terrified but I couldn't stop reading -- and once that story was done I couldn't resist jumping into another one.

Today I felt that same kind of thrilling push, and this time it was due to adventure taking me over in real time. Yes, it was another day of practice driving excitement for me. I know this is old hat to you long time drivers but driving is a horrifying experience for a reluctant first timer. Yes, I've had some professional lessons and Joe is very sweet and patient and a great teacher himself, but the roads near our house require speeds from 15 mph (a perfectly reasonable pace for anyone, I say) to 50 mph. Beyond the rate of travel, my terror is threefold:

Curve after curve after curve. Do you remember what it's like trying to learn how to curve to the right? I always feel like I'm going to careen into oncoming traffic. And I swear to god, there are twice as many right curves than there are left no matter which direction I'm heading in.
Crazy drivers who are very familiar with the route. They do not hesitate to let me know that following me is no picnic. Sometimes (good grief) they even pass me. Freaks me right out.
On top of all this, we're driving up and down large hills/small mountains. Help me rhonda, the variations in my speed, but alas I have a terrible tendency to gaze lovingly at my spedometer. And also a tendency to veer while doing so. Joe has forbidden me to check my speed on a curve and discourages it on hillsides, such is my tendency to leave my lane altogether while examining just how quickly I'm accelerating as the car barrels down a slope.

Did I mention Gretel is hanging out in the backseat during these fun filled endeavors? She falls asleep no matter what the state of her parents in the front or the quality of the driving. Talk about adding chills to the whole experience. I tell you this, I have no more need of ghost stories in the dark -- these practice sessions provide as much thrilling, chilling excitement as I can handle. T-20 days until my test. Keep your fingers crossed and please be patient with the terrible driver in front of you the next time you're out driving. She may be doing the (terrible) best she knows how -- she might be me.

Photo Friday: Delicate

2005-10-28T10:51:00.000-04:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Delicate. These figurines were my grandmother's. At her house, they were kept on a curio shelf out of reach of grabby little grandchildren. We admired them at every visit, and when she died they eventually came to me. They are very old, very delicate, and very precious to me. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 5.7 mm, exposure time 1/25, aperture f/2.8. Hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Can't Hold Back The Current

2005-10-27T21:53:00.000-04:00

Gretel stays home with me every day, and every day I am dedicated to her safety, happiness, and development -- in that order. We have my mother/baby group come over every Thursday, we go out shopping every once in a while, but for the most part it is the two of us here on our own day in and day out. There is so much I can control about her environment that sometimes it becomes too easy to believe that I'm completely in control. Well, today certainly threw that idea out the window.

I made an appointment yesterday for Gretel to get her flu shot near the middle of November. I made sure Joe and I had appointments set up so that we could protect her from developing the illness this winter. I think I'm particularly careful about this because my nephew has had such difficulties with his lungs just about from birth ten months ago. It's an extreme situation with him, where he has stopped breathing altogether in my brother's arms. Luckily they were in a hospital at the time and he's been doing much better in the past few months. Anyway -- any kind of lung related illness causes me concern, and I felt confident I was doing the right thing when "arrange flu shots" was checked off my list yesterday.

Parenting being the wild ride that it is, naturally Gretel woke up with raspy, hoarse voice, a cranky attitude, and various other symptoms that caused me worry. I took her to the doctor and she's got... yep, para-influenza (with bonus laryngitis!). I cannot see how this is possible, as we do a lot of hand washing, she hardly goes anywhere, no one in her playgroup has had it... and I feel helpless that I couldn't keep this from her. She's miserable. And I'm a little miserable too, realizing that the current of life and the things that can go wrong is just too strong for me to keep tough times like this away from her. And heaven help me, but she's just a baby -- there's only so much she can get into. How do parents of older children ever cope?

Edited to add: Are you reading Mir's blog? The first sentences of her most recent post seemed so perfect.

There are certain changes that happen to a woman when she becomes a mother. If she gives birth, her body changes; it will likely never be the same again, whether from stretch marks or breast changes or surgical traces. Whether the child comes from her body or not, the mother is transformed. She now has eyes in the back of her head. She has bionic hearing. She has an innate lie detector and an Achilles heel.

And of course, every mother has the highly developed ability to become a martyr at a moment's notice.

She's a fantastic writer who manages to capture the nuances and details of everyday life in a way that amazes me.

Calling Craft Lovers

2005-10-26T22:20:00.000-04:00

Maybe you're looking to buy beautiful and unique handmade items. Or maybe you're a crafty type who's not sure how to sell your stuff. Either way, Etsy is the site for you. The site design is simultaneously cool and helpful, allowing you to search by color, material, time listed, etc. There are very easily affordable things along with more expensive splurges. And they make it so easy for you to set up your own little shop and see if you can move your wares. I'm already thinking about what I could make for this site to sell but I keep getting distracted by the wonderful things they have to purchase. I think that any profits I might make would be quickly plowed back into other crafts on the site. It's incredible to look at the different things that people make that can all be grouped under the umbrella of craft. Honestly, a person could spend hours browsing through this site -- every time I think I'm going to post this, I get lured back!

What Would You Pay For This Site?

2005-10-25T20:14:00.000-04:00

I know most of the people who read this site have blogs of their own. If you're here from Michele's, this won't be news to you. But if you're coming from somewhere else, you may be interested in visiting this Business Opportunities site. They say they will tell you what your blog is worth. The results, needless to say, are a hoot:

My blog is worth $3,951.78.

How much is your blog worth?

I find these results a little hard to believe, but who am I to judge? Michele's site is worth 100 times mine -- and this I don't find so hard to believe. Have some fun putting in your URL and see what value this fine application deems that you have.

Planning to Plan

2005-10-24T22:42:00.000-04:00

Joe and I are in the midst of some extensive estate planning. Luckily, we've got a great lawyer who's helping us consider all aspects of handling our affairs in the event of our death. Our affairs -- it sounds like we're brokering peace with Uzbekistan rather than paying the light bill. Naturally, this involves tons of paperwork and tallying up of what we have and where it will go. And right now we're not completely sure exactly what we want in some areas, so we have to plan a time to plan it all out. It is exhausting though necessary and it will ultimately help those who survive us to assemble all of the pieces of the things for which we're responsible and the things to which they are entitled to. But I am about to fall over from the tiredness of pulling all of our information together. Off to bed now.

Driver In Progress

2005-10-23T22:02:00.000-04:00

As you may have read before, I've never had a driver's license. At thirty years old, this puts me in the minority in this country -- and living in the suburbs it also puts me at quite a disadvantage. I've always been independent and determined, but until recently we lived in an urban setting so it was no big deal that I didn't know how to drive. Not so much anymore.

I tried learning how to drive a car when I was twenty. Things were going okay until I made a right turn that was first too shallow (and therefore sending me like a missile toward the line of cars waiting at the light) and then too sharp, sending me, the car, and my teacher right into a tremendous tree. There were minor injuries and the car was nearly totaled, but the greatest damage may have been to my nerves and my confidence. I haven't really attempted to get behind the wheel again in the intervening ten years.

Today, however, I went out with Joe and Gretel to practice with my new permit. I've taken lessons with a professional and now need to get some time behind the wheel on my own time before my test on November 18. If I can nail the parallel parking, I think I'll be fine -- today I managed to make turns without too much hesitation, drove through my first drive through, and even exceeded 50 mph on some stretches of road. Unfortunately, I still spend too long looking down at the spedometer, causing the car to cross the yellow line. Oh, and I also have a tendency to turn the wheel in whatever direction I'm looking, giving Joe several little heart attacks today. Other than that, I am on track and surely I will be able to exit 2005 with a license in hand, right? It would be a huge accomplishment. Lord help the other drivers out there, though -- Joe found this sign for me to put on the bumper of our car and I am not ashamed to use it.

New Sweater and a Hat

2005-10-22T20:37:00.000-04:00

A little while ago I wrote about starting a sweater for Gretel. Let's no one look at the date on that post, okay? I've been working on it sporadically, I'll admit, but somehow the sweater that is supposed to take three hours to complete has taken me three weeks. I can't believe it's taken me this long, but I am busier than I thought I guess. Or procrastinating and lazy -- it's hard to tell.

I had yarn left over and since I originally wanted a hooded sweater I decided to make a little hat for her too. This was pretty simple, just a rectangle with a seam and then I added the contrasting strip and string to tie it. The back comes back over the neck of the sweater, so it functions as a hooded sweater really, but gives more versatility to the sweater itself. Joe thought of putting the little balls at the end of the ties -- I think it's adorable.

So they might have taken me a while to complete, but I'm happy with how they turned out. And they really didn't need to take quite so long. Gretel loves playing with them and I'm already looking forward to dressing them in them for our next cold outing.

Photo Friday: Retro

2005-10-21T21:57:00.000-04:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Retro. Here's a picture taken at the Wayside Inn in May 2002. We absolutely love walking around the grounds, located in Sudbury, MA. The Grist Mill was built in 1929 and still produces the flour used to prepare the delicious rolls served in the main dining room at the Inn (the inn itself was originally built in 1716). This is another one taken on our old camera, so none of my usual information on the picture is available. Hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

LGF Needs

2005-10-19T19:44:00.000-04:00

I'm not usually a fan of the meme, but tonight I'm feeling lazy and this one cracked me up. Without further ado, the Need Meme (seen at SBFH), from Googling "LGF needs"...

LGF needs to get on FOX's payroll. (this can only help things)
LGF needs to get back to basics. (possibly true, but with a seven month old I think I'm pretty much at the basics)
LGF needs this, Tremors already has a following, its just Universal is jack'n it around. (this seems serious, though I'm not sure exactly why)
LGF needs to be translated to all languages so that the world knows just how dangerous and fascist these neo-cons are. (true, though I'm not sure how helpful a Portuguese M&H would be)
LGF needs to give us a padlock (indeed)
LGF needs some help over there at the 2004 Weblog Awards for Best Overall Blog, where we are currently in third place (clearly not this LGF, since her readership consists of ten people at the most)
LGF needs a chatroom. (lord help me if I find one more thing to occupy my day)
LGF needs to get off the danger drum for a while? (again, sounds serious but what can I do about it?)
LGF needs to let people know. (if people had any idea...)
LGF NEEDS to publish inflammatory pics (this is unlikely to happen, unless it's a picture of too-spicy enchiladas or something)

See what I mean? Pretty funny stuff there. At least I hope so -- that's all I've got for tonight :)

NaNoWriMo

2005-10-18T16:25:00.000-04:00

November is National Novel Writing Month, where the people at NaNoWriMo set the incredible goal of writing a 175 page (500,000 word) novel beginning November 1, ending November 30. Last year, 42,000 people participated and nearly 6,000 reached the goal. The idea of writing at this pace is breathtaking and inspiring, and this year I am going to do it (I actually wrote "try to do it" and then the words of Yoda floated through my head and so enough of that -- I'm just going to do it). I am excited and nervous about this challenge and am thinking about how to approach my topic, whether I'll post sections here in place of blog entries, etc. Either way, I'll post about my progress here. Please send any good luck thoughts you can spare!

Vanilla Cake With Apples

2005-10-17T19:49:00.000-04:00

To continue the fall theme from yesterday, here's a recipe that Joe and I love this time of year. It's so quick and easy to make but it's just perfect when you want a healthy recipe to capture some of the goodness of the season (okay, it's cake -- there are 200 calories per serving, but that's not so bad for a cake this delicious). I use this recipe from Allrecipes.com, one of my favorite recipe sites. It's great because you can search for something to make based on what you have, browse by the type of thing you'd like to make and best of all, read reviews from people who've actually made the recipes.

Anyway, the recipe for the white cake is very simple: cream together 1 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup butter. Beat in 2 eggs and stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Mix 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder. Finally, stir in 1/2 cup milk. Pour this into a greased and floured 9x9 pan and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until the center springs back when you touch it. For the topping I use the applesauce that I wrote about here, but you could put chocolate sauce, honey, frosting, just about anything on top and it would be wonderful. I like it warm, Joe likes it cold, either way you try it I think you'll find it's just right.

Autumn

2005-10-16T22:14:00.000-04:00

As it is for so many people, fall is my favorite season. In the northeast, autumn has been literally dampened this year by all of the rain we've had, but this weekend was just about perfect. We were finally able to experience the beautifully cool temperatures, the vivid colors of the leaves, the palpable change in the air that comes as the seasons shift. Joe took this picture of leaves flying off one of the trees in our backyard on Saturday -- I love it because it captures both the beauty and the elusiveness of these incredible days.

Fall is a time for baked apples and pumpkin pie, fallen leaves crunching underfoot and burning leaves scenting the air. It's a time for turning lamps on early as the darkness surrounds your house, making your home feel like a solitary point of coziness and warmth in the world. I'd been missing that so far this fall, as the rain became my the focal point. Now I can feel myself experiencing fall the way it should be -- wrapped around me, with all five senses, feeling the sun on my face even while bundling up for the winter to come.

My Sweet Pea

2005-10-15T21:24:00.000-04:00

Just a brief post tonight as my sister in law is in town. This is the first time she's been able to come meet Gretel and it is amazing seeing the two of them together. This meeting is especially special, because there is so much that these two have in common and also because R. is Joe's only sibling. Gretel is absolutely R.'s clone -- while my daughter does look like her dad, I think she looks even more like her aunt. And the two of them get along so well. It amazes me and takes my breath away when I see family members respond to her the way that they do. It's just this absolute bond straight away and this complete devotion to a girl that they just met. The family members who've met her get on the floor, give her eskimo kisses, cuddle her up and it is one of the best things I think Gretel's got in her life -- people who just love her and show that love in such amazing ways. She is all smiles and loves all of the attention now, but as she grows older I know that it will be this incredible resource that she can draw from and depend on. I am so grateful that I've been able to bring my daughter into a world where she has so much of this wonderful love.

Photo Friday: Conspicuous

2005-10-14T21:22:00.000-04:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Conspicuous. Tabby is my nemesis, as I am very very allergic to cats and Joe's mother is very very much in love with this one. Taken on our old digital camera in December 2002, so no stats available for this one. I hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

The Times They Are A-changin'

2005-10-13T22:10:00.000-04:00

So remember last month when I wrote about the inevitability of Gretel getting hurt? We've accidentally knocked her ankles into bookcases or bumped her legs against a doorframe or hit heads when a swooping in for a kiss as she was moving her head. These things hardly warrant a mention, as they are so slight and she doesn't bat an eye when they happen.

Joe and I are feeling guilty tonight as Gretel fell off the bed for the first
time.  I say first time because surely this is not her last fall.  At the same
time, we are surely putting steps in place that should have really been
there earlier.  In this case, one of us left the girl on the bed after changing
her diaper, turned around to put the diaper in the Diaper Genie, and
then came the thud.  It was such a terrible sound.  She's fine and was
back to giggling and playing very shortly afterward, her pediatrician's
office thinks there is no problem, and so all we're left with now is
that lingering feeling of guilt that she was scared/hurt because of
our foolishness.

As tough as this is, we're grateful that we learned this lesson without
any serious harm coming to her.  It's still hard to believe she is as
mobile as she is, and she is changing so quickly.  It's hard to predict
what she might be up to even in a week's time.  Of course we'll be as
vigilant as we can be, be as sure as we can to only put her down on
surfaces that are safe, etc.  We're just reeling that our little baby,
who would always stay where we'd put her, is now able to move
around this much.

The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast

The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

Corn Pone

2005-10-12T21:10:00.000-04:00

Joe is from the south and therefore has many food memories that I don't share. His childhood was filled with chicken and dumplings, grits, red eye gravy and sweet tea. Living in the north, it is very hard to find to find these foods prepared the same way they are in Georgia and South Carolina. I'm devoted and sweet and so I try to make them myself, rarely to the effect hoped for, but not without a certain amount of enthusiasm that Joe finds endearing. In fact, we can now laugh heartily at the grits that rolled out of the pan in ball form and bounced out of the bowl, or the biscuits that resembled nothing so much as brittle hockey pucks.

Lately he's been craving what his people called cornbread. I made a recipe for it with chili a couple months ago, and while it was good it was not what he had in mind. It was too thick, cooked in the oven, and a different consistency than what his mother has always made. Naturally, she has no recipe for what she makes -- she just does it by feel and by memory. And then last week he realized that what he has in mind might actually be closer to a cornpone or johnny cake. Armed with this new information, I found this recipe from Emeril for Corn Pone. It was closer to what he wanted. Tonight I added more milk to the recipe to make the consistency of the batter more like pancake batter -- and voila:
Joe got his cornbread and I got another dish on my menu of edible southern fare. No fires, no bouncing, no broken teeth -- it's a minor miracle that it only took three tries to get it this way.

Stacking and Sacking

2005-10-10T21:18:00.000-04:00

Today Joe officially fell ill with the same type of cold that Gretel has. Fortunately, she appears to be on the upswing but in the meantime we are all thrown out of our usual schedules and patterns and pretty much sacking out and doing whatever feels comfortable. Which sounds like fun, and it truly would be if there wasn't the sneezing and aching and whatnot. I am completely shocked at how quickly my house becomes a trash house when we slip into this way of living, though. It's as if the junk and dirty dishes replicate as soon as my back is turned so that when I walk through rooms I am stunned at the chaos we've created. I'm not used to picking up every little thing as soon as it's put down, though apparently that's what's required. Couch cushions are askew, pistachio shells are under the chair, plates from lunch are still lined up on the kitchen counter, joined now by the ones from dinner. And when we're all feeling out of it, there are only pinpoints of shock at the mess that pierce the overall feeling of ambivalence.

Tonight I've been thinking a little bit about messes and how I deal with them. For now, I'm sticking just to the actual physical messes in my life. I grew up in a stacks and sacks family. Photos, bills, important papers, lists, newspaper ads, etc., were all tossed into a pile somewhere. And then another pile, when the first threatened to topple. And finally, when the stacker was fed up with the stacks, the whole mess was thrown into a grocery sack and "put away" somewhere. My mother occasionally goes through these sacks from years ago, finding letters from her grandmother, newspaper clippings from when we were children, immunization records from when I was an infant (all of these have turned up just in the past month). I fight the stacking and sacking tendency nearly every day. I file old bills and important papers, know exactly where to find the deed to our house and all three of our birth certificates. Photos are in albums and I have no problem tossing the things that I truly don't think that I will need in the future.

But the tendency dies hard, especially with miscellaneous items. One of those "Sisters are Great" mugs that my brother gave me, a stone egg I've had for years, a ceramic rabbit I bought at a craft fair when I was nine. I've got boxes of these kinds of things stored under the eaves, which is just another version of throwing everything you don't want to deal with into a grocery sack. A piece of advice I've heard is to take a picture of the items and then get rid of the items -- and maybe I will do that someday. For now, I'll call it a kind of homage in cardboard to the method women in my family have been using for decades.

Rough Patch

2005-10-09T22:51:00.000-04:00

Today's been a pretty rough day, and that's not helped by the fact that it started before 5 a.m. This morning Gretel woke up very early and when I went to see her she just seemed off. She was upset and I brought her back to bed with me to nurse. Right away I was sure there was something wrong with her and she was having such trouble breathing. So much trouble, in fact that she couldn't really nurse at all -- she would try and pull away gasping for air. And it happened over and over again -- I was trying to let Joe sleep in today, but he was sleeping in the room where the aspirator and all of our baby care books are kept. So I went in anyway and together we tried to figure out how to aspirate her tiny nose, tried to figure out what we could do to make her less miserable.

All morning long she kept sneezing, her nose was running, she was so out of sorts that only glimpses of her ebullient personality shone through. In her seven and a half months of life, she has never been sick a day, and we watched her in disbelief. Somehow it felt like she just wouldn't get sick, which is crazy and I know it's crazy but it's just the only thing we've known from her. What struck me was how hard it was for me to watch her struggle, how helpless I felt seeing her unhappy -- and you know, she only has a cold. I cannot imagine what parents who have seriously ill children go through. I read up on RSV and researched how to relieve her symptoms and generally tried to coddle her. There's something about trying to help my ill child that made me feel more like a mother today than I have on perhaps any other day with her. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for her -- I love that girl so much and it is heartbreaking to see her have such a tough time.

Literature Page

2005-10-08T20:18:00.000-04:00

Today I followed a link from the Quotations Page and found the Literature Page. From the description on the site:

The Literature Page is your place to read classic books, plays, stories, poems, essays, and speeches online... Our collection currently includes 233 works from 85 authors. We add new titles regularly.

This site is an incredible resource for complete works by amazing authors. I think it's a great format, because you can read these books anywhere you've got an internet connection. You can pick up and drop off reading through the chapter selections so you can quickly jump back to where you left off. One of the highlights for me was the selection of Grimm's fairy tales. I've read some and found it fascinating to compare these grislier stories to the versions passed down to me when I was a child. Browse through this site and you will be amazed at the variety and depth of this collection of fiction and nonfiction.

Photo Friday: Five

2005-10-07T20:43:00.000-04:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Five. This is another photo from our Japan trip last fall. Himeji Castle, originally built in 1346 and constructed in its current form in 1610. Himeji-jo is one of the few ancient castles in Japan that survived the bombings during World War II. The five story tenshu, the main tower, is massive. You can tour the inside and climb the steep, narrow steps through the five stories (which, coincidentally, I did when I was five months pregnant). Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 5.7 mm, exposure time 1/350, aperture f/2.8. I hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Happy Anniversary

2005-10-06T22:01:00.000-04:00

Joe and I had our first date five years ago today. For a long time we had a fake story about how we met: in a coffee shop while I was on the way to a movie, we were both in line, got talking and exchanged numbers. It was a lie, and we were a little shy to explain how we actually did meet: through an online dating service. I received his first note on a Monday, we talked on the phone throughout the week, and had our first date on Friday. It was October 6, 2000. We had dinner at Giacomo's, walked through Christopher Columbus Park and talked for hours. It was an incredible first date in that we had so much to talk about, had so much in common and were fascinated by the things we didn't.

When I got home after this date it was close to midnight. It had been hard enough to tear myself away from this incredible man and I realized that I still wanted to talk to him. I'd been through all of the Rules advice, practicing what they preached about not actively pursuing people in which I was interested, waiting to draw them to me. But on this night, I threw it all out the window. I still wanted to talk to him, wanted to continue getting to know him. And so I picked up the phone and called. He was just coming through the door and picked up the phone. I made it clear that if he wanted to talk another time that was fine, but if he still wanted to talk I'd love it. And so we ended up talking for another four hours. This was a real turning point for me, realizing that I could act the way I really wanted to act and finding that there was someone else out there who would respond to that. I had to go on a trip out of town that Saturday, and we arranged our second date for Sunday when I returned. And essentially, on that second date, I moved in and we never looked back.

Today is our fourth wedding anniversary. We were engaged within two months of that second date and married on the anniversary of our first date. We've had five wonderful years together and Joe has always been the kind of man that I can call for anything I need, can count on for help and support in whatever life throws my way. We've changed careers, moved to a different state, bought a house, had a baby and have worked hard and had the luck to have a marriage that has changed and grown stronger than ever in that time. Happy anniversary, baby. Thank you for five amazing years.

Magazine Cover

2005-10-04T21:01:00.000-04:00

Only have time for a quick entry tonight, but here's something that looks like fun -- creating your own magazine cover using photos from Flickr (you can use photos hosted at other spots, too). I'm going to give it a try soon, but I really have no time at all tonight! Hope you enjoy it if you give it a try.

Lemon Bars

2005-10-03T19:47:00.000-04:00

I had to come up with something quick and easy for a bake sale this weekend. I modified the recipe for Lemon Bars from Allrecipes and they turned out to be a hit. If you prefer sweeter bars to the more lemony ones I like, you'll definitely want to cut the lemon juice in half (or more!). Here's the recipe:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup softened butter
6 eggs
1 3/4 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup lemon juice
3 drops yellow food coloring
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Combine the flour, 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, and butter. Pat dough into prepared pan.
Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until slightly golden. While the crust is baking, whisk together eggs, white sugar, flour, lemon juice and food coloring until frothy. Pour this lemon mixture over the hot crust.
Return to the preheated oven for an additional 20 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Cut into squares.

The only drawback to these is that you need to refrigerate them. If your bake sale is outside on a cool day, though, you should be fine. Good luck!

Blog Appeal

2005-10-02T22:58:00.000-04:00

I use Bloglines to track updates for blogs that I enjoy and the total number that I now read has reached a stunning 104. I know, can't understand it myself. But really, of all the blogs that you visit in a day, how many update daily? Or even every other day? Bloglines gives me a great way to consolidate all of my blog checking to one click.

Having so many on my list makes me wonder, though -- what is the appeal of reading these stories and observations that this eclectic group of writers puts on the internet? I mean, I know what I'm hoping to find when I click on a new blog: wit, intelligence, humor, honesty, with something interesting to say. These are the same qualities I look for in friends, but here is the thing. I think another level of appeal is having a story or approach that intrigues me, so that I get a window on someone else's life without any real obligation. I can be very lazy about friendships (I sometimes think I have too many friends in real life as I'm often reluctant to actually do anything with them. It's like I want to keep them on standby just in case). But reading someone's blog can make you feel you know that person in real life, that you have a connection with them, and this kind of ersatz friendship appeals to the lazy friendmaker like me.

With Bloglines I'm able to click through my blogs that have been recently updated, check in on the blogfriends who've got something new to say, and when I'm feeling very good click through so that I can comment on their entry. I know that some people think that reading and not commenting on a blog is a kind of rudeness. I see it as enjoying someone's company without the obligation to fully participate. Unless bloggers obsessively track their stats they're not going to know the number of people who read but don't comment. It's a kind of guilt free laziness. I love it when people leave comments here, but hey -- if you come by, enjoy what I've written and then move on that's fine too. I'm happy to be a guilt free stop.

Pork Chops and Applesauce

2005-10-01T19:11:00.000-04:00

Last night I wanted to make some kind of pork chops and applesauce combination. A lot of recipes for pork chops seem to have some kind of brown sugar or mustard sauce on top, but I knew that I wanted something with more zip and crunch to offset the sweetness and smoothness of the applesauce. These recipes turned out to be perfect. The mustard crust has some crunch on top (you can put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes if you want more) but there's enough of it on the meat to have some real body to it. Joe, in his constant pursuit of rice with every meal (apparently it's a southern thing) made a bid for that to be another side, but I was in no mood. I compromised by making these mustard greens from some that we'd frozen after our last visit to South Carolina (in my mind, it counts as a compromise because it's also from the south).

I modified a recipe for the pork chops with mustard crust from Epicurious as follows:

1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon dried parsley
3 tablespoons three peppercorn mustard (we love this kind, but dijon mustard would work here too)
1 cup plain breadcrumbs

2 bone in pork chops (each about 3/4 inch thick)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil 13x9x2-inch pan. Mix melted butter, parsley and the mustard in bowl. Mix in breadcrumbs. Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. Arrange in prepared pan. Press 1/2 of breadcrumb mixture atop each pork chop. Bake pork chops until cooked through, about 35 minutes. The internal temperature of the chops should reach 145° - 150°F.

The applesauce recipe I like is very basic. Take medium sized apples (peel them, slice them into chunks) and put them in a saucepan with a tablespoon of water for each apple. Simmer them for 15 minutes or so, until you can mash them with a slotted spoon. Add the sugar that you like (I used Gala apples and it really didn't need much) and sprinkle in some cinnamon. It's so easy and so delicious.

I love it when things come out of the kitchen like this -- easy to prepare, made with ingredients we had on hand anyway, and tasting really really good. Give these a try -- I think you'll love them.

Photo Friday: Darkness

2005-09-30T17:22:00.000-04:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Darkness. This moonrise photo is from my husband's family farm last November. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 17.1 mm, exposure time 1/27, aperture f/4.8. I hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Swatch

2005-09-29T15:13:00.000-04:00

I decided to make a sweater for Gretel and this time wisely took the traditional advice of making a swatch first. It's a simple set of ten rows of ten single crochets but it's so easy to skip. So much of the time I just want to get on to the project at hand and I choose to believe everything will work out in the end. But creating a swatch will indicate whether my tension is too tight or too loose, if I need a different sized hook and most importantly, whether the finished product will be the correct size. If I'm making a blanket I don't worry about it too much because who cares what size the blanket is at the end? But in this case, the sweater needs to fit. Initially I figured that Gretel will just grow into it if it was too big, but my sister pointed out that the sweater might end up being too small. She knows me well -- I would be all kinds of irritated if that happened. So last night I made the swatch and tonight I'm ready to start the sweater itself.

So all of this swatch talk is making me wish there was a swatch system in place for other things in my life. Instead of a Sweater Swatch what I could really use is a Marriage Swatch, Childrearing Swatch, a Career Swatch. Something to tell me whether my tension is too tight or too loose, if I'm using the right tools, if I am heading toward success or destined for disappointment. So far so good, but that is the case with crocheting any garment and really doesn't indicate what the end result will be. And problems typically so easy to correct if you catch them early on and hopeless if you catch them too late. It's not that I always think of my life in craft terms (seriously, this is just a metaphor of the moment) but you have to admit: there is something appealing about knowing before you start whether things are going to work out, knowing what you need to change to make them ultimately good.

Pesto and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

2005-09-28T20:52:00.000-04:00

Tonight I made pesto and goat cheese stuffed chicken breasts, based on the recipe at Epicurious. I cut the recipe in half and my other modifications are found in the instructions below.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup soft, fresh goat cheese
2 1/2 tablespoons pesto (I used Amore pesto from my grocery store)
2 tablespoons frozen chopped onion (again, from the grocery)

1 tablespoons olive oil
All purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pound chicken breasts between sheets of waxed paper to thickness of 1/4 inch (make sure it's very thin -- mine was a bit thicker than I would have liked by the end). Combine goat cheese, pesto and shallot in small bowl; mix well. Spread boned side of chicken breast with scant 2 tablespoons cheese mixture. Starting at one long side of chicken breast, roll up tightly, jelly roll style. Repeat with remaining chicken and cheese mixture. (I actually rolled from the short end -- it just made more sense to keep the goat cheese mixture exposed to direct heat as little as possible. Perhaps if I'd pounded the breasts a little flatter this would not have been a problem. Also, I had to use toothpicks to hold the whole thing together. I recommend uncolored toothpicks, as the dye may come off on the chicken. Not that I would know this from personal experience or anything.).

Heat olive oil in heavy large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken breasts liberally with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour and shake off excess. Fry chicken breast in olive oil until golden brown on all sides, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes (mine took a little longer, but I have a crazy stove). Place skillet with chicken in oven and bake until chicken is tender and cooked through, about 10 minutes (again, mine took longer, about 25 minutes. Thicker chicken, different rolling direction, etc.). When a meat thermometer registers 170, these are done.

The flavors here are wonderful and using a prepared pesto cuts a lot of time off the Epicurious version. If you make these, I think you'll enjoy this easy and quick to prepare recipe.

More on Katrina

2005-09-27T20:32:00.000-04:00

I am riveted by Operation Eden, a blog by Clayton James Cubitt (also known as siege when he publishes at Nerve). He's a professional photographer and his photos are stunning. Equally powerful is his writing, especially now that he's writing about his family trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina. If you're interested in what's happened in Louisiana and what's happening now, his site provides a frequently updated and strangely beautiful depiction of life there.

I was stunned today when watching the evening news and I saw Michael Brown defending the job he did as head of FEMA during Katrina. He genuinely seems to have had no clear understanding of his role there or the capabilities or responsibilities of his organization. And there are still so many problems getting help to people who need it, the progress is so slow. I think that one of the tragedies of this hurricane that may persist for years is that people lose hope that their government or the people in this country care about them at all. When people are demoralized this way, what happens to their commitment to their fellow man and their obligations to society as a whole? When the next disaster strikes, why should they care?

I love Operation Eden because it provided a way to provide a little relief to a specific family. I could also see how one family and one community was responding to this tragedy. This family is not necessarily more deserving than any other for donations, but I was so motivated to give because of their story and the way it is being told. And the response of this family is not and should not be representative of the response of the survivors as a whole. But both the family and this site are precious and valuable -- they are worthy of admiration and support. I hope you visit. You won't be disappointed.

Food Timeline

2005-09-26T22:40:00.000-04:00

Curious when people first began eating asparagus, domesticating chickens, or preparing sushi? Click over to the Food Timeline for a fascinating way of looking at the order in which foods were introduced to our diets. Dates stretch between 17,000 BC and 2004, so there are plenty of discoveries to be made. Click on any food for a link with more information about it -- in some cases, there are also recipes to prepare the foods. Which would be perfect if you wanted to create a menu from the 1500s for a historical society meeting, or one from the 1800s for a book club, or a 1920s speakeasy evening. Be sure to click to the bottom of the timeline page and look at the Hungry For More section if any of these ideas appeal to you! There are lots of great Halloween ideas up now too.

Fall Weekends

2005-09-25T17:38:00.000-04:00

I love it that fall is finally here again. We bought the first of many paper sacks of apples, a gallon of cider and a block of cheddar and settled in for the weekend. Fall marks the return to comfort cooking, where you can cook up stews and soups and apple pies and not worry too much about what's going to happen to your shape because hell, you're just going to throw a sweater on anyway. And this was a perfect weekend for sweater wearing -- a little chilly but not cold, and certainly not enough to take away any hope of a warm day still coming along once in a while.

Somehow, too, with the windows closed up and the house hushed our warm bed with its down comforter is all the more appealing. I've taken two naps already today and love how cozy and comforting it feels to be curled up with my family, Gretel cuddled up between Joe and me. Winter in the northeast can bring its share of headaches, with ice and snow everywhere and worry about the oil burner and just what it's up to this week. But this weekend provided just a taste of how wonderful the chillier months can also be. The leaves will start changing color very soon now and as they drop I will be counting my blessings that I have this life.

Where I Stand

2005-09-24T21:26:00.000-04:00

Here are my results from a politics survey on OkCupid!

You are a
Social Liberal
(83% permissive)

and an...
Economic Moderate
(43% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Strong Democrat

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

This test was actually really interesting to take and forced me to examine why I stood where I do, especially on economic issues. For example, I am not concerned about keeping jobs here in America if foreign countries can do it cheaper or better. Yet I'm in favor of the government subsidizing low profit industries (such as farm subsidies). Does this even make sense? On one hand, there is a very laissez-faire approach and on the other there is a much more compassionate and people-centered tack. I'm going to be doing a lot of thining about this over the next few days.

Photo Friday: Burn

2005-09-23T19:14:00.000-04:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Burn. These are bottles of habu sake, a clear rice liquor (awamori) in which poisonous habu snakes are soaked during the distillation process. Individual bottles are more expensive when they include the snake, which can be several feet long. It gets its color from the herbs and honey that are added and the snake poison dissolves in the alcohol. With alcohol content of up to 35%, there is surely a burn when you drink it. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 5.7 mm, exposure time 1/60, aperture f/2.8. I hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Not So Itsy Bitsy

2005-09-22T20:39:00.000-04:00

We found this spider outside our back door on a web that is at least two feet across. The stabilizing threads stretch six feet in some places to what used to be a little garden but is now a little weed heap. We blame its return to a natural state on spending more attention to Gretel than to landscaping. Back to the spider -- a few weeks ago we saw the same type of spider build a web that spanned our bedroom window. It stayed for a little while, then seemed to abandon the web altogether.

Does anyone have any idea what kind of spider this is? It seems to choose relatively protected spots for the webs and the diameter including the legs is 1.5-2 inches. The legs are kind of striped and if you click on the photo you'll see some marks on the abdomen that might indicate a specific spider if you knew what you were looking at. Please leave a note in the comments if you have any idea what's lurking around our house!

Edited to add: This afternoon I found an entry on Wildbell's site about this same type of spider -- an orb weaver (Araneus). What a coincidence! See this site for more information if you've got one of your own and scroll down to the 09/11/03 entry.

Eggs and Embroidery

2005-09-21T14:08:00.000-04:00

Celeste had a question about the best way to cook hard boiled eggs so that the shells are easy to peel. Based on my experience and a little online research, here are some key elements to egg cooking perfection:

Don't use eggs that have been sitting in your refrigerator for a while. The pH level in eggs changes as they age (which experts believe affects their peelability), and it is best for hard boiling when they are seven to ten days old. Here, I'm assuming you're getting your eggs from the grocery store and a problem is that it's very difficult to know just how old they are there.
Be sure to put your cooked eggs in an ice bath after taking them off the stove to stop the cooking process. This will also help prevent the green from forming around the yolk, which occurs after overcooking when iron in the yellow part of the egg combines with sulfur in the white part.
Start to finish, the process should run as follows: put the eggs in a pot with cold water (some people believe that putting some salt in the water will ease the peeling process later). Put the pot on the stove and get the water to boil, put a cover on the pot and take it off the heat. When thirteen minutes have passed, put the eggs in an ice bath until they are fully cooled.

Lish wanted to see some free embroidery patterns, which you will not find at my beloved Lion Brand site. You can find them over at DMC, though, whether you're working on linen or Aida. There are also a bunch more over here. Good luck!

Any other questions you think I can answer? I'm flattered to be asked for advice and if you tell me I am smart and pretty I will be especially motivated to find you some answers.

Baby Blanket

2005-09-20T21:22:00.000-04:00

Lion Brand Yarn has lots of free patterns on their site, and whether you crochet or knit (or just want to learn) there is something for every level of expertise. I made this very easy hooded blanket for my niece with a ball of green Pound of Love yarn. There are only a couple of different stitches and it works up so quickly and seriously? Look at how cute that baby looks with the blanket on the LB website. The yarn costs six dollars, the hook costs one, but the value placed by many people on handmade things far exceeds the seven dollars and few hours of time that it takes to make this as a gift. If you're thinking about making a gift for someone, click over to the LB site for a bunch of ideas. If you don't knit or crochet, there is a crafts section where you don't have to do anything but wrap or glue yarn. It's a great resource -- you know, if you're into making things with yarn.

Two Views

2005-09-19T22:15:00.000-04:00

I took these photos last year on my husband's family's farm in South Carolina. They show the same tree from opposite sides, with the sun setting behind it from one perspective and the moon rising above it from the other. They were taken less than twenty minutes apart, in the breathing space between the end of day and the beginning of night. I'll probably post more pictures from the farm sometime -- it is so beautiful, peaceful and relaxing there and I think that feeling is captured in the photographs. I hope you enjoy them.

Emmy Night

2005-09-18T20:19:00.000-04:00

I always watch the Emmys, though the show always make me feel like I do not watch enough television. How I could incorporate more television into my life I really don't know. Anyway, here are my favorite parts of tonight's telecast:

Doris Roberts dancing with Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas. I loved that she was so enthusiastic and uninhibited. She looked like she was having the time of her life.
Donald Trump and Megan Mullally singing the theme from Green Acres. Priceless and also, how unexpected was that? Also Gary Dourdan and Macy Gray's rendition of Movin' On Up was shockingly good and it made me realize how much I miss watching the Jeffersons.
S. Epatha Merkerson accepting for (Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie) Lackawanna Blues. She was just so genuinely and adorably flustered at having dropped her acceptance speech down her dress.
Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw's tribute to Peter Jennings, and also the In Memoriam section which always causes me to tear up. It is stunning that so many wonderful actors died just this year, but this year is no different in that respect than any other.

So I suppose what I liked most were the unexpected, spontaneous and genuine seeming moments. On this broadcast, they were few and far between. Even Ellen, who I just love, seemed a little off. This leads me to wonder why I even bother with these awards shows. After three hours, I wind up feeling like I wasted an evening but I know that if I didn't watch I'd be irritated that I missed something. Maybe the people who put the show together will change things to try to attract more viewers. As the show is now, and with video captures so easily available online, I wonder how long I'll keep tuning in.

Bumps, Scratches and Scrapes

2005-09-17T19:00:00.000-04:00

So far, Gretel has not tumbled from any beds, couches, or chairs. We haven't left her behind by mistake, allowed her to poke herself in the eye with a pen, or given her peanut butter and strawberry jam causing her to choke or blossom into an allergy riddled mess to be reckoned with. Though I often have nightmares involving dropping her or nearly dropping her, so far that hasn't happened yet either.

At the same time, I am not so blind as to think that this is due to my incredible parenting. Any of the above things can happen to even the most fantastic, attentive parents and I realize that it is just a matter of time before something happens to the girl that I will immediately wish I could take back, something that I know without a doubt that I could have prevented. I'm grateful that whatever this mishap may be at least she's getting bigger, tougher, stronger every day and so she'll be better able to endure whatever oversight I may have committed.

Julie is hosting a great confessional in her comments on this entry -- taking a look over there makes me realize that a) bad parenting moments are just par for the course -- I've had plenty of tough times, they just haven't resulted in physical harm. And also b) whatever happens to Gretel, I am sure that it could be worse. At least all of the things that happened to the parents at Julie's site won't happen to her, and all of those babies made it through fine. I need to remember this feeling of being in it together with so many others who are just doing the best they can.

Photo Friday: Divine

2005-09-16T19:39:00.000-04:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Divine. Here's a quote that captures one of the reasons I selected this photo:

To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour.
--William Blake

To be sure, this rose was no wild flower, but I think the sentiment still applies. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 5.7 mm, exposure time 1/45, aperture f/2.8. I hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Google Blog Search

2005-09-15T19:19:00.000-04:00

I am now convinced that for whatever kind of search I can dream up, Google already has it in beta form. The latest one I've discovered is Google Blog Search, which I found through rashbre's site. Google hopes that this site will be advantageous to people searching for specific blog content. The search is conducted on a continuously updated blog index for blogs in many languages that publish site feeds. In the Advanced Search, you can restrict your search based on titles, authors, languages, etc., and choose whether you want the most relevant or the most current results listed first. Click here for more information about this tool -- I think it's fantastic. No, Google is not paying me for all of the exposure they've been getting over here lately.

End of the Day

2005-09-14T13:36:00.000-04:00

While we are committed to raising our daughter together in a spirit of cooperation and all hands pitched in for any task and whatnot, my husband and I each have baby related tasks that we don't particularly enjoy. For Joe, it's bathtime. He hates dealing wtih a slippery squirming baby, warm soapy water, and hard surfaces everywhere for the girl to knock into. I, on the other hand, have no problem with bathtime. In, out, you know what you have to do to complete the task.

No, what I hate is bedtime. Even though Gretel is doing much better at going to bed sleepy but awake and is sleeping through the night reliably, I think I have some residual dread from the early days. She used to be so difficult and I still cringe from the entire process. Joe, on the other hand, is a pro and handles this task with an ease that I cannot imagine. She falls asleep easily and comfortably with him (perhaps in part because he doesn't have all of this tension about it) and I wind up simultaneously jealous and appreciative that he handles this task every night.

Tonight Joe is out of town and the task falls to me. Since I've also been working with the girl on naptime and taking naps on her own in her crib all day every day for the past week and a half it is starting to feel like the sole purpose of my life is to convince another person that she is sleepy and that she can fall asleep on her own. Things are getting better, but how is it that the effort of getting her to bed wears me out so much? By the time she falls asleep, I am ready to collapse in bed right next to her! On most thing we both try to pitch in but on this I'm glad Joe is coming back tomorrow and we can fall back into our natural order of things. Even writing about getting Gretel to sleep about wears me out.

Feeding the Chickens

2005-09-13T19:44:00.000-04:00

When we were young, my parents kept chickens. This was part of their feed-the-family-on-the-cheap (cheep? sorry) plan that I've touched on before. My father did manual labor at a nearby university and was able to get chicks each spring very inexpensively. These little chicks had been part of some kind of psychological experiment -- their heads were tipped to the side, the amount of time it took them to lift it back up was measured and then that was that for their contribution to mankind's trove of psychological knowledge. After that my father brought a few dozen of them home.

We put the chicks in a plastic wading pool in the living room at first and loved to watch them running around in their chirrupy enthusiasm. Sure, there was the occasional bloodthirsty chick or vulnerable weakling and if the two of them managed to find each other across the pool that was a difficult scene to watch. In fact we rarely watched, preferring to screech until one of our parents came in to separate the two and end the carnage. People who haven't seen baby chicks up close would never believe the way they act -- fluffy and viscious at the same time.

We gathered the eggs daily once they started laying and they were incredible. White, brown, even softly pastel from a batch of Araucana. They clucked and poked their way around their fenced patch of yard and here was where we really delighted in these chickens. Though inside the fence the yard was pecked bare the grass outside grew in abundance. And it wasn't long before we came up with a way to communicate with our fowl friends. We'd pull a single blade of grass, hold it up at a chicken's eye level, then the questioning would begin. I would ask if they preferred me to my sisters, if they were feeling happy that day, if they were going to lay an egg that day. Waving the blade of grass up and down or left and right would cause the hens to wave their heads to follow their potential snack and voila, I had my answer. My parents hardly believed we got the chickens to talk when we first told them, but seeing the results cracked them up.

Those chickens went into the stew pot at the end of the season. We loved playing with them in the tub in the living room, loved talking to them in the pen in the yard. And we loved eating them up in a casserole around the table on a dark winter's night when our memories of summer had begun to fade.

Today I am surprisingly unattached to people. Friends come and go, loved ones die, family members fade out of touch. I work hard to maintain relationships, am close to my family and have had some friends for decades. Still, though it sounds silly, I sometimes wonder if seeing and accepting the life cycle of those chickens helped me to accept that all living things will come and go in my life. I try to enjoy them while they are around, but do not grieve very much when they are gone. That, I suppose, is the point of this strange and rambling post: it may sound cold, but I think my approach leads to a fuller appreciation of the people who are around me when they are around me.

Montage-a-google

2005-09-12T20:28:00.000-04:00

Montage-a-google is a clever site that searches Google Images based on keywords and then assembles twenty of the resulting images into a montage like the one shown above. The keyword used above was September (fatigue is keeping me from even slight cleverness of my own). You can use the resulting grid to create desktop wallpaper, posters, etc. Click here to see more examples or click here to play a game called Guess-the-google where you try to guess the theme in the montage. Have fun!

Safety in Numbers

2005-09-11T20:52:00.000-04:00

The world is a different sort of place than it was when I was growing up. That's true for anyone and I don't want to paint too rosy a picture of what it was like growing up in the 1980s because there were certainly plenty of problems then. But it's hard for me to believe that my daughter will grow up in a country where fear of terrorism is at an all time high. In our state, there are now telephones in every classroom, identification badges for students, locked and/or monitored doors. We don't travel on airplanes in part because we don't want to deal with the security headaches with a baby, instead planning fifteen hour drives to visit relatives. My husband and I grew up with only the simple maxim to never talk to strangers -- now we wonder how to instill in her the balance she will need to have between concern for her safety (and the safety of others) and a resistance to an overinflated sense of fear.

The thing is, like many other Americans, I feel less safe than ever in this country. This is due in part to incompetent and corrupt leadership, our policies both domestic and foreign, and the general perception that other countries have of the US. I'm angry that in spite of all of the lip service that's been given to making America more secure we've only achieved a flimsy, ersatz facade. Billions of dollars have been spent in the name of preparing for emergencies but too often that money has been put toward preparing for specific types of crises. This approach simply does not work. Especially in the last two weeks, Americans and the world have seen the results of not being legitimately and adequately prepared for the unexpected crisis that comes to our doorstep.

It's September 11, and the blogosphere is filled with stories of where people were four years ago, reflections on how we got to that point and what has happened since. These are a few thoughts that have been running through my head today. I realize that these are just words to add to the pile, but they are mine. My hope is that the more voices that speak out about this the sooner things in our country will really begin to change.

Which book?

2005-09-10T12:10:00.000-04:00

We have a huge book collection that is only growing larger year by year. It is very difficult to part with them -- we love reading and love having our books all around. There is something that feels comforting and connected in having great stories, advice, and information surrounding us. When we moved to this house we had to have bookshelves installed because the only alternative was to leave towering stacks of books all around the perimeter of the dining room -- not a great way to live, especially with a baby on the way. Our dining table sits in the middle of a library now and it is one of our favorite rooms in the house.

So as you can imagine, we are always on the lookout for our next great book. Today I found a great site that will help you choose your next read. You can select variables like character, plot, setting, or overall tone and characteristics of the book and receive recommendations with brief summaries. For bibliophiles like my husband and me, this site is a great way to find new books whether you choose to buy them or borrow them. I discovered this link on Zeneece's site, which is always a great resource for new (and often funny) information. I hope you enjoy whichbook.net and find something wonderful to read.

Photo Friday: Massive

2005-09-09T15:58:00.000-04:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Massive. I've been posting a lot of photos from our vacation last year in Japan lately, and here's another one. This is the A-Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, the closest building to remain standing after the atomic bomb blast in 1945. It has been preserved as it stood after the massive effects of the bomb to remind people of the incredibly destructive results. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 5.7 mm, exposure time 1/400, aperture f/2.8. I hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Mothers

2005-09-08T19:36:00.000-04:00

Even before I became a mother I felt a kinship with mothers struggling to do the best thing for their children. I knew that I would love my baby and imagined how hard it would be to see my child going through a difficult time or experiencing danger. Now that I have a baby of my own the empathy I feel with other mothers has deepened, which makes watching the news about what is happening in the wake of Katrina heartbreaking and joyful in turn.

Tonight I was watching Anderson Cooper on CNN and there was a story about a woman in labor who was forced to leap from a rooftop to get help as her neighborhood was flooding. In doing so she had to leave behind her five year old son with a friend. For days after she delivered her baby, she had no knowledge of where her son was -- it turned out that he was moved to Houston. The mother was moved to a shelter with her new baby and was overwhelmed by the generosity that people had shown her. What she didn't realize was that her son had been driven in and was waiting on the other side of the door. When she saw him, the raw emotion that washed over her appeared so visibly. She just melted, wrapping her arms around him she would not let him go. As is my way, I just broke down crying, imagining what it would be like to be separated and reunited with my daughter. And I am certain that what I imagine, as deep as that feels, does not even approach what the experience would actually be like.

I took this photo in Hiroshima last fall. Shin Hongo created the statue, which shows a mother clutching an infant in one arm while trying to shield a child with the other. Leaning forward, she is intent on surviving the atomic bomb's that tore apart that city. Motherhood brings out different things in different women and lord knows we've all got our own approaches to raising our children. But however we show it, I believe that we all love our children and care for them the best way we know how. I know there is no count yet for the number of mothers who lost their children in Hurricane Katrina or the troubles afterward but my heart still breaks for them. But stories like the one above fill me with joy and hope. I am so glad that this woman's attempts to do the right thing for her unborn child and her five year old son worked out this way, that they all came through the storm okay. And my fervent hope is that this is the case for the other women who are still looking for their children out there.

A Summer Ends

2005-09-07T13:38:00.000-04:00

Summer while I was growing up always meant a lot of work. To make ends meet, my parents needed to create huge gardens to provide food for all of us. Gardens that size are a tremendous amount of work, and so daily my brothers and sisters and I would be called upon to go out to plant, weed, and pick the fruits and vegetables that we would eat for the rest of the year.

The heat and humidity didn't seem to bother my parents and it was certainly no excuse for us to get out of the fields no matter how much we wearily begged. For some tasks we were able to go out first thing in the cooler mornings and move between the rows, pulling extraneous plants, selecting ripened peas and beans. The newly turned earth would cling to our hems and our shoes, our skin would itch from rubbing against the exasperating weeds and we would jump up every so often as a particularly large insect leaped from its disturbed patch of shade. The buckets of newly picked fruits and vegetables never filled as quickly we would like and when we were through in the garden there was more work back at the house, shelling the peas, cutting the beans, etc.

For all of the work that getting the produce in entailed, there was never any doubting that the quality of the food we had was far above anything that could be bought at the grocery. To this day I long for the crisp new freshness that even the frozen garden vegetables managed to retain. I have never again had such delicious jellies and pickles. And when my mother gave me a jar of her strawberry jam this summer, I was instantly transported back to those earlier times with every mouthful. My husband and I don't have the time, space, inclination or need to create gardens like my parents had, but maybe next summer we'll put in a few plants. He can get a taste of my childhood, my daughter can create flavor memories of her own, and I will have a chance to see what it's like managing a garden of my own.

Go

2005-09-06T12:26:00.000-04:00

My husband and I are learning to play Go, a 4,000 year old game from China. We bought the board when we lived in Boston and decided to look through antique stores in Plymouth, MA. We'd thought about playing for a while, my husband especially, and this set seemed perfect. It was made in the 1950s and is still in great condition. But we were busy people and the game got shelved until we moved to our new house. Even here, it has taken us over a year to really start to learn how to play. Of course, now that we are, we're loving it and wondering why it took us so long to get around to it.

From the American Go Association's website, here are the basics:
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It is said that the rules of Go can be learned in minutes, but that it can take a lifetime to master the game.

Two players alternate in placing black and white stones on a large (19x19 line) ruled board, with the aim of surrounding territory. Stones are never moved, and only removed if they are completely surrounded. The game rewards patience and balance over aggression and greed; the balance of influence and territory may shift many times in the course of a game, and a strong player must be prepared to be flexible but resolute. Like the Eastern martial arts, Go can teach concentration, balance, and discipline. One cannot disguise one's personality on the Go board. The game combines beauty and intellectual challenge.
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I suspect that an experienced Go player may not think much of the way we played the game in the photograph above. It was only our second game, though, and we are learning a lot each time we play. According to another website, there are more than 25 million people worldwide who play the game, most of them in the Far East. It is estimated that 100,000 play in Europe whereas the United States has only around 20,000. Given how crazy our lives are and the way that American culture can sometimes skew our sense of balance, this game may help to restore (or develop) some serenity and discipline. At the very least, we're having fun playing.

Fried Green Tomato Salad

2005-09-05T21:25:00.000-04:00

When I went to New York last week we came back with a paper bag of tomatoes in different states of ripeness. Tonight I made a fried green tomato salad that used green, yellow and red tomatoes along with basil from my mother's garden. I started with a recipe from Epicurious but halved it to make a main dish for the two of us and switched out the bacon for pancetta and salad mix for the arugula. Fresh tomatoes made this dish delicious and I think this would be great to make if you had a lot of tomatoes in various states of ripeness. For vegetarians, I know there are bacon substitutes you may want to try here, though I cannot vouch for their baconey-ness or how they would be in the final product.
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Here's a quick rundown of the recipe as halved and modified from Epicurious:

1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used low fat and it was fine)
1.5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

8 slices of bacon

9 1/4-inch-thick slices green tomatoes (about 3 tomatoes)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
1/2 cup olive oil

4 1/4-inch-thick slices red tomatoes (about 1 tomato)
4 1/4-inch-thick slices yellow tomatoes (about 1 tomato)
3 cups bagged salad

Puree basil, 1/8 cup mayonnaise, lemon juice, and mustard in processor until smooth. Transfer to small bowl; mix in remaining 1/2 cup mayonnaise and season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Cook bacon and put it on a cookie sheet or oven safe plate big enough to hold the bacon and cooked tomatoes. Warm the oven to 200 degrees with the sheet/plate inside.

Sprinkle all green tomato slices with salt and pepper. Place 1/4 cup flour in shallow bowl. Mix remaining 1/4 cup flour with cornmeal in another shallow bowl to blend. Working with 1 green tomato slice at a time, coat with flour, then egg, then flour-cornmeal mixture. Transfer to a plate. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, fry green tomatoes until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side (each successive batch will take less time as the oil heats, though). Using slotted spoon, transfer to baking sheet/plate in the warm oven.

Sprinkle red and yellow tomatoes with salt and pepper. Alternate fried green tomato slices spread with basil mayonnaise, a bit of salad, half a bacon slice, red tomato, yellow tomato around the outside of the plate. Put all remaining lettuce in center of plate, top with a bit of basil mayonnaise, crumbled remaining bacon and the divided extra fried green tomato.
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The textures and tastes of the components comes together so well, and I think this would make a wonderful sandwich if you wanted to assemble it that way. It has all of the essential BLT tastes but goes much further with the improved mayonnaise and fried green tomato tastes. Let me know if you try it!

Thinking Over

2005-09-04T19:26:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking today about how certain smells can bring back a world of memories. Wood pencils in a drawer, the polyester scent of my favorite blue nightgown from childhood, the peonies from my grandmother's garden -- I catch a whiff of any of these and I am instantly transported back to a time in childhood summer when things seemed so pure and days were full to bursting with simple pleasures that were all that we really knew.

I try to fill my days with simple things now that bring me happiness: helping my daughter learn to eat and enjoy food, arranging flowers in a vase, making something delicious that my husband loves. The thing that I can barely realize now is that I am establishing a whole new set of smells that will bring back memories of this time that I will be able to enjoy in the future.

In the end, I don't believe that things that are complex and expensive make that big an impression on my memory. What sticks with me best are the easy times spent with loved ones and the little details of those times. Which makes me feel lucky, to be living in the moment and to know that I'll be able to carry elements of these moments with me for the rest of my life.

Front Pages

2005-09-03T19:24:00.000-04:00

I know that I've mentioned this site before in comments, but thought you might like to see it now if you hadn't noticed it earlier. If you're interested to see how newspapers around the country and around the world are covering the situation in the wake of Katrina, Today's Front Pages is wonderful. You can hover over points on a map to see what the newspaper in that area put on the front page exactly as it looked this morning. Click on the spot to get a larger version, to get a pdf version of the page, or to click to the paper's website. There are 415 newspapers included in the site from 43 different countries. It can be addictive, rolling your mouse over the globe to see how the coverage differs so much.

Photo Friday: Order

2005-09-02T13:01:00.000-04:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Order. Here's a picture I took last fall at Koko-en in Himeji, Japan. There are nine separate gardens here on the site of the samurai houses that formerly served Himeji Castle and they are all distinctly beautiful. There is such peace to be found here. I still find it restful to see this photo of a place where man made objects and natural ones exist in their own quiet order. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 17.1 mm, exposure time 1/60, aperture f/4.8. I hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Traffic

2005-09-01T22:48:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if it's too self-referential to talk about getting traffic to your blog on your blog. It feels a little strange to me. But I have to mention how amazed I am by the flurry of visitors after being chosen as Michele's site of the day today. I write this blog for me first and foremost, but it is very nice to see that other people appreciate the writing and the ideas here. Thanks to everyone who came here via Michele Agnew's wonderful site.

The other traffic that's been on my mind is what's on the road this holiday weekend. We were supposed to drive down the east coast to South Carolina tonight, but instead we find ourselves staying home for the next few days. Stories about increasing gas prices started to trickle in over the past couple of days along with photos of tremendous lines at gas stations. Then we started to hear about gas stations all along Interstate 95 selling only 5-10 gallons of gas at a time and even that after an hour wait. We called AAA and were told that many people are not cancelling their travel plans at all, and so the prices and the waits were likely to get worse. It sounded bad enough if it was just going to be my husband and me going down, but with the baby in the car and 90+ degree temperatures most of the way down, this just seemed like a terrible idea. We're disappointed because this would be the first time my husband's side of the family would have met our daughter, but this just seemed too extreme to risk. We were worried enough about travelling so far with her anyway, and being stranded? Too horrible to think about. So -- we're home with no plans at all... which isn't really such a terrible thing at all right about now.

Katrina Relief

2005-08-31T21:57:00.000-04:00

Tonight we watched part of the NBC special on Hurricane Katrina. I say a part of the special because the images and stories on the screen made me weep. The devastation that hit Mississippi and Louisiana is so deep and intense that it is hard to imagine -- seeing the special was important but it was so effective that it was impossible for me to watch the entire thing. Some people who remained behind in the affected regions may have done so out of personal choice but what struck me today was that without a vehicle of their own and money enough to evacuate, many of these people had no choice at all. They had to stay and accept what fate threw their way. For so many of these people their lives will never be the same, especially since so many of them were starting off at the poverty level or below in the first place.

I know that life is complex and that other areas of the world have situations that are experiencing situations that are even more desperate than this. The effects of this hurricane really bring home the kinds of sorrow that are experienced around the world on a daily basis. They also reveal the kind of kindness that strangers can show to strangers, which is heartwarming and beautiful. If you have anything that you could spare for the people going through this tragedy I encourage you to play a part, even if remotely, in making a stranger's life just a little bit easier during this terrible time.

(Photo above taken from the NY Times website)

Yellow Jackets

2005-08-30T22:55:00.000-04:00

As I've mentioned briefly before, I am terrified of bees. I try to be reasonable about it, though it might not look that way to others around me should I spot an actual bee. I truly do admire honeybees and enjoy reading about them, but any stinging insect that comes near me freaks me right out and I feel powerless against the fear that floods me. Sure, to you it might look like a housefly, but if it came near my face and I was caught off guard I might flip out on the spot.

With this in mind, imagine how thrilled I was when my husband told me that we have a yellow jacket problem. These wasps are among the most aggressive of all and can be very protective of their nest. As luck would have it, this nest was located right outside our garage and not a day before this discovery I had walked right past it with the baby. Eek. These yellow jackets were now all over the outside of the garage and the nest was just getting bigger almost before our eyes. His eyes, really, because there was no way I was leaving the house with these banded menaces lurking outside. I think he was just terrifying me further when he headed out with the camera and returned with photos of the wasps and their nest. For you, I include one of them here.

My husband had read Julia's post about declaring bee-had and after uttering a declaration himself he headed out to wage war on our own specimens. He sprayed them thoroughly with poison (no I am not happy about spraying poison and not crafting a wee homemade trap that would be nonintrusive and nondamaging to the environment. However. That is all fine and good for ants but these were YELLOW JACKETS and there was no way I was going to be able to handle anything outside without assurances of their utter destruction. Yes, I know this is bad and I should just get a grip. No, it does not look like that is going to happen anytime soon.) and today all that remains are their tiny corpses. I am sorry they had to meet such a swift and unpleasant end, but for the love of mike -- yellow jackets here at my very own house. It was just too much to bear. Thank god I had that dear husband of mine around or otherwise I probably would have just moved.

Family Time

2005-08-29T10:19:00.000-04:00

We spent the past weekend in New York with my family. I've got so many siblings, cousins, etc. in the area and a three hour drive to get to them, which means I try to pack as much into the weekend as possible. Which also means that my poor daughter and husband wind up a little stressed out from the whirlwind that ensues. As hard as I try to cram everything in, I add social pressure and knock out naps and family sanity. By the time we got back last night we were all ready to crash into bed to try to recover.

This weekend was particularly crazy since my family is trying to come to terms with some staggering pieces of news. I am certain that somehow, some way my family is going to one day be reading this blog. That is just the nature of these things. And so without going into too much detail I will say that the current drama relates to the unexpected loss of one pregancy and the unexpected arrival of another child. In this case, Unexpected = Life Changing and Heartbreaking.

There is nothing that anyone in my family can do to change the basic facts of these situations, and so there is a flurry of activity and effort in each case about what we can do to help the siblings involved, determine on our own how involved we want to be, how to talk about it to the people involved and each other. And the thing is, there are no easy answers and no end in sight for any of us involved. Both people immediately involved will be wrangling with the fallout of these times in one way or another for the rest of their lives.

I know that all of this is vague but I guess the point is this: it's difficult to tell whether the harder part of family is the physical effort of being with them or the mental attempt to adapt and react to the facts of their lives. Right now I am feeling the effects of both sides wearing me out.

Photo Friday: Chaos

2005-08-26T20:52:00.000-04:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is Chaos. Here's a picture I took this morning of a grasshopper. Right now locusts are posing a significant threat to the already instable Darfur region of the Sudan. More information on locusts from the website linked above can be found below. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 5.7 mm, exposure time 1/160, aperture f/2.8. I hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

Here are some key facts about locusts:
*The desert locust is the single most destructive insect. It is native to Africa, the Middle East and western Asia. A locust measures only 4.5 cm to 6 cm (1.7-2.4 inches) long and weighs two grams but manages to eat its own weight in food every day.
* If an area is unable to support localised populations of locusts they will gather into a single mass, or swarm. This is often precipitated by favourable breeding conditions, which leads to over-crowding and scarcity of food.
* Locust swarms vary from less than one square kilometre to several hundred square kilometres. In each square kilometre there can be between 40 million and 80 million locusts. Swarms can travel 130 kilometres or more per day.

The Competition

2005-08-25T22:05:00.000-04:00

I am a member of one of those infernal baby boards, the kind where women (and a few men) get together starting when they are pregnant and carry on after their babies are born. The one that I am on is organized by the month that we were due. I have been reading and occasionally posting for more than a year now, though I am not sure why I return day after day. Most days I just shake my head at what is written and wonder about the people putting all of this stuff out there.

There are times when this is a very supportive community and people are genuinely happy for each other and offer great advice and generally share stories about how the pregnancy/baby raising is going. And then there are the other times, which seem to me to be in the majority at this point. The board took the tone of a race track soon after we became pregnant, with parents hustling to claim that they knew the sex of their baby already (through ultrasound, symptoms, or prognostication bordering on sorcery), were already showing (unless they had just had too much cake that day), had felt their baby move (or was it gas? HOW COULD THEY KNOW, they demanded). As due dates approached, there was a flurry of homespun methods to induce labor, stories of false labor that sent them sprinting to the hospital to claim their bairn too early, frantic wondering about what would happen if they passed their due dates. After the babies were born, the race continued with progress reports about the babies' size, physical coordination and development, and the mad rush to start feeding them solid foods before they fell behind the pack.

I realize that everyone wants the best for their baby, but does everything really have to be such a competition? There is such a wide range for normal development, especially for children this young. If the constant fretting alternating with boasting does anything it only serves to make for insecure mothers and pressured children. There is plenty of evidence of this on the board, with moms questioning every decision they make with their children and writing in distress that their child is not crawling at six months, should they make an appointment to have him tested? I just wish that there was more support and a better understanding that our children are resilient and more than likely completely normal no matter what they can do at the moment. I know that I can be guilty of this same insecurity, but right now it just seems to me that if you love and play with your child and keep an eye out for obvious medical concerns, your child is going to be fine. And probably a lot happier with a parent that's not so stressed out.

Unsolicited Advice vs. Helpful Information

2005-08-24T21:58:00.000-04:00

Today I received a surprising amount of helpful offers. Generous strangers showed up anonymously to sell me books and contact lenses, advising me how to increase traffic to my site and find games online. This has nothing to do with you, my dear and real commenters, and I encourage you to comment as often and about whatever you would like. The more the merrier... up to a point.

That point would be where spammers enter the picture. I have no idea how they found me already -- it hasn't even been a month yet that this blog has been up and running. How they manage to leave comments is bewildering, too. They can't run around to each actual blog and paste in their comments, right? But this afternoon they came in a flood and I had to activate the authentication code that will now show up in the comment page from now on. I'm sorry if this turns out to be an annoyance and I hope it won't stop those of you who comment on this site from continuing to do so.

Let me know if you have any other ideas how stop spammers. I welcome any advice that you have!

Little Presents

2005-08-23T22:42:00.000-04:00

I love this site. It provides free plans for making all kinds of things. And being a girl who tries to stick to some semblance of a budget, it's great to be able to find things that I can make for nearly free. I made an eye pillow for my sister in law for a not-for-any-particular-reason present. I purchased the fabric from a heap of scraps at a fabric store -- it was beautifully red and silky and seemed perfect for this project. It cost about a dollar for enough fabric to make a rectangular pillow that I filled with rice and the envelope to keep the pillow inside.

The beauty of the site is that you can sort the list of projects based on the material cost, time to complete, difficulty level, material and project type. If you're looking for ways to be creative or make little gifts, this is a great way to go. This was quick, easy, and inexpensive and people always love to receive presents when they are not expecting them!

Somalia

2005-08-22T22:45:00.000-04:00

I like to look through the BBC website to see what news may be reported outside of the American media. It usually gives a very different perspective on the world, and there are stories available there that I do not hear anything about in this country. Today there was a troubling article about violence and a completely different way of life in Somalia. Did you realize that Somalia is the only country in the world without a functioning government, that this has been the case for the past fourteen years? There is no national currency, few national resources, and this country is one of the poorest and least developed in the world. More than 80% of its citizens are illiterate and there are no public schools. With the current anarchy there is little chance of this country getting back on its feet again -- and though a transitional parliament was sworn in a year ago, per the BBC article this has failed to end the anarchy. This is the fourteenth attempt to bring peace to this country. The previous thirteen have failed, and there does not seem to be a great deal of hope for this effort.

Somalis are being shot, stabbed and otherwise assaulted in a country that is not even at war. The victims are typically women and children, contributing to the high infant mortality rate. According to MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders), "More than 10% of children die at birth and 25% of those who survive perish before they are five." The mothers in Somalia love their children the same way that I love my baby. The idea that she would have a one in four chance of dying before she reached the age of five is heartbreaking. To live in a country where there would be no police intervention, no governmental recourse to take... I cannot imagine how it would feel to be so powerless to stop such force against the ones you hold closest to your heart.

UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's Food Security Analysis Unit estimates that 919,000 people in Somalia are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. I keep trying to think of what I can do to help this situation in my own small way. Some food donations appear to be stalled, held hostage in the port. I do not know if this is typical or if some donations are making it through. Donations to MSF will likely help the most, though writing to your senator or representatives in the house is a good habit to adopt. Please consider doing something, even something small, to change the lives of those you may never know. Their experiences are different and more desperate than we can imagine and it seems to me that we have a genuine duty as humans to do what we can wherever we are.

Just For a Laugh

2005-08-21T21:53:00.000-04:00

I am very tired tonight and so will leave you with this photo I found at ZeNeece's World. It cracked me up and I hope it brings a smile to your face too. A real entry is on the way for tomorrow!

Bringing Up Baby

2005-08-20T21:58:00.000-04:00

I started a new mothers group when Baby G was three months old -- I knew it was important for me to be in touch with other moms, to talk about what was happening in my life, ask for advice, have G. exposed to other people on a regular basis, etc. Since I have never had a driver's license (how someone as independent and stubborn as I am has managed to reach thirty without getting a license is a long story) it was much easier to start a group of my own rather than try to get to an already established one. Besides, the women in my group have all just had their first baby within the past nine months, so we have a lot in common right there. And it's great to be able to pick just the women I think would be a good fit in the group. Did I mention I can also be very bossy?

Anyway, this week one of the things we talked about was raising our children. It seems that to be a good mother is to be equal parts physician, physical therapist, cognitive scientist, behavioral specialist, and nutritionist. Probably more that I don't even know about. And, my possibly- still-reading audience, I can tell you that I am none of these things. I worry that the type and quality of play is not right, the toys I buy Baby G. are wanting, that I should be doing more to encourage her to learn to sit up or crawl, etc.

The great thing about it (and this should come as no great surprise, I suppose) is that all of the other moms in my group worry about the same things. The books that we've read are not especially helpful and most typically the guidance we receive is to follow our instincts. We do, and we try to do our best with these babies, but who knows whether one hour of Baby Einstein in a day is better or worse than thirty minutes? What if G never learns how to roll from back to stomach and then back onto her back? Does it matter? I have no idea. The good thing is that she seems to be developing right on track regardless. Somewhere in the comments on Beth's site this idea emerged: maybe it's the worrying and wanting to do the right thing and the dedication to your baby's wellbeing itself that is the most important. The desire to be a good mother creating a good mother. I really like to believe that's true.

Photo Friday: One

2005-08-19T01:22:00.000-04:00

The theme of this Photo Friday is One. Here's a picture of a Queen Anne's Lace -- I love the idea of many tiny blossoms making up one larger flower. Taken on my Fujifilm FinePix A330, focal length 17.1 mm, exposure time 1/85, aperture f/4.8. Hope you like it! Click the image for a larger view.

The Littlest Evictor

2005-08-18T22:02:00.000-04:00

So my two faithful readers (are there more of you? I wonder about you lurkers...) know that sleep has been a big cause of consternation here. I've written about it before here. Things continue to improve, though, I am happy to report. The sleep routine for Baby G. is down to thirty minutes (at 7:00 p.m. one of us gives her a massage, changes her diapers and into pajamas, 8 oz bottle and then a bit of singing and rocking) and we can still put her down awake and leave the room. She might quietly play with a doll for a few minutes but then she just goes to sleep -- there's not even the fussing anymore. And she will stay asleep for hours and hours, now waking only once per night and waking again at 7:00 a.m. or so. It feels like a miracle and the relief from the near-hourly wakings is incredible.

The only problem? We cannot sleep in the same room with her if she is going to keep up this amazing sleep schedule. Apparently we have been waking her up, and here I was thinking we were all getting better sleep because we were in the same room! I am shocked to realize this, really, but the evidence is all there. We've been waiting to put her in her own room because there is no air conditioner there and the windows are a little shaky. We need to get them replaced but put it off because we are a little lazy and a little foolish, I suppose. Anyway, our sleep arrangements now consist of my husband sleeping upstairs on the guest bed, me sleeping on the couch and the baby slumbering away contentedly in our room. It is ridiculous. We're working on it. Things will change soon, right? Well, we are enjoying the newfound sleep so much that we're happy with just this, but I'm sure we'll get around to the windows soon.

My main reason for posting about this is that there are so many people out there who believe they need to leave their babies to cry in order for them to develop good sleep habits. Parents call it helping them learn to soothe themselves, crying it out, or letting them wear themselves out or blow off steam. As I wrote before, to me it is just heartbreaking. And now I feel more certain than ever that it is also unnecessary. I realize this is my first child and I have a relatively easygoing baby, but I hope this will work for subsequent children as well. And if any of you are thinking about going the CIO route because you don't think anything else will work, I am telling you that no crying was necessary to get our child to learn how to get herself to sleep and stay asleep. Of course, we still have to find a way to get back into our own bed... it's not perfect so far, but at least it's quiet.

Human Clock

2005-08-17T21:58:00.000-04:00

I love the Human Clock -- as the site describes, it "shows a photograph of the current time, with the photo changing every minute of the day (all 1,440 occuring minutes on Earth!) Thus you end up with a rotating picture clock sorta deal." You've got to see it to believe it. I like keeping it up in a tab in Firefox all day. I know that it's quicker to just look in the task bar or at a clock on the wall to see what time it is, but there's something about seeing time in ways that are unusual and rarely what I'd expect that makes this site useful and also fun. People contribute photos from around the world, and the collaborative nature of the clock intrigues and charms me. Plus I like it that Craig Giffen has created this clock in his own spare time just for the sake of doing it, rather than for profit.

This has been a day when my head has been spinning with the craziness in the world around me. Cindy Sheehan, a woman brokenhearted over the death of her son, tries to get the president's attention to no avail. Her determination and focus show no sign of flagging, and the anger and cruelty of her critics is breathtaking. There is a stampede in Richmond for cheap used iBooks, where people were trampled, sent to the hospital, where one man felt justified in swinging a chair to strike people who were trying to cut in line and another simply tried to drive his car through the crowd. In the Gaza Strip people are being forcibly removed from their homes, a woman set herself ablaze in protest and one settler took a security guard's gun and proceeded to kill several people. I find myself staring in wonder at my computer screen as I read the news. I realize I am unable to fully understand the motives of the people involved... but it seems to me that some of the attitudes and approaches I see in these stories point to why this world can be so difficult at times. I don't want to critique the choices of a person or group of people whose lives I know I can't fully know or appreciate. I do feel very comfortable when I say that I doubt life has to be this difficult.

The Human Clock puts a different face on the world. Every minute I see the efforts of a person or group of people who want to add to this free service in their own creative and individual way. It shows people having fun, contributing unselfishly and expecting nothing in return. I feel connected temporarily to people around the world, working toward a common goal. It shows new ways to look at the world around me, and there are days like today when I really need that.