Late To The Party

My best friend starting blogging/reading blogs more than five years ago. I started this past year. It has been really fun and I have learned so much! When the first Harry Potter book came out, I was working in a bookstore. I refused to read it because it was too popular. After a while I gave in. It was good too. This past week I sat down and watched The Devil Wears Prada just to see what all the fuss was about. And I liked it. Well, who knew - maybe I'm more like mainstream America than I would like. I guess now the only decision left is what to do next - watch Desperate Housewives or read The DaVinci Code. Eeek!

Winter Break

I really needed this break! The fall semester was difficult and I worked very hard on school stuff. Of course, that means the house suffered and other things were set aside while I focused on those most important subjects of organic chemistry and microbiology.

Christmas was marvelous. Quiet and easy and all at home. This weekend we will travel some.

I finished the striped hat I was knitting for CAP today. Next on the list is to felt the red hat I knit up more than two years ago.

Here's to progress.

"You Can't Treat Jesus Like a Frisbee!"

This is what I've learned at school this semester.

Well, that and many other things already. Like how to prepare a Gram stain and how to use a separatory funnel (like a fat separator for chemists!) and how to spell "desiccate."

My head and my schedule are full, full, full. I know I am getting much more out of school at almost-thirty than I did at almost-eighteen, but it is harder to balance school with spouse and house and children and church and still make time to wash my hair. It all fits into twenty-four hours, but just barely.

On the menu tonight - pancakes, sausage and applesauce. A move inspired by Molly's list of ways to cut your grocery budget. Yum.

First homework due tomorrow and first quiz too. School is truly in session!

Catching Up

My grandfather passed away on the 17th. Even though I know he was ready and willing to go, a loss is still a loss and we are sad here. My grandmother is making some difficult choices now and it is harder now than ever to be far away from her.

Added to this is the happy/sad news that my brother in law finally got his dream job with the US Government. He has waited a very long time for this opportunity and we are thrilled for him. Unfortunately, dream jobs sometimes come with big moves and he will be leaving for the west coast/southwest soon. My daughter is especially sad over that one.

CAP's school supplies are labeled (seriously, every crayon) and were delivered to her new second-grade desk at the school open house tonight. I like her new teacher. She won my heart by asking us to come to a meeting to "tell us what I expect of you and your child this year."

And we went to my school yesterday to pick up textbooks. Hooray for text-rental. $700 some odd dollars worth of books are mine for $ 5.75 a credit. My books are heavy. Heavier than I can reasonably expect to carry every day so there will be some creative car-as-locker use coming up soon. All the books look interesting. There was a good laugh when I noticed that all the books include a version of this sentence in the opening chapter - "It is impossible to over emphasize the importance of insert subject here." Apparently I am studying some REALLY important stuff this term. My other favorite item is from my religion text book. The subtitle is "Readings for a New Approach to Religion." It was printed in 1973.

That's all really. There was some not-knitting (seaming up) on the pink baby sweater and there was a lot of laundry washed, folded and put away. Other than that ...just waiting for that routine to take off. Any day now.

Reinventing the Wheel

The big girl, CAP, is home now. She decided she missed us and Baby A too much to stay with Grandma and Grandpa for two more days and insisted on being brought home last night. I was conflicted about this as they were coming up here anyway on Thursday and gas is so expensive now (not to mention the seven hour round trip someone would have to make). Pablo and I decided that CAP is pretty little yet and we could make allowances for her this time. My brother in-law, more commonly known as house-boy and hired mule, was drafted to be the chauffeur.

So we woke to a house full of laughter as CAP and Baby A played their own version of peek-a-boo (we call it tackle peek-a-boo) and other silly sister games. Everything was peaceful and right. For a while...

Then we got a phone call from my mom telling me my grandfather is dying. He's been in the hospital for a couple of days and now things seem to be shutting down. He is 86 years old. When I called to talk to him, he reminded me that he has been ready for this for a long time. I reminded him that just because he is ready, that doesn't make it any more fun for us. My mom is rushing from out east to see him. We were just there this past Friday and made sure to get our hugs and kisses and I love yous. He is very dear to me. My grandmother is sad, but said today that it was time to face it. I tried to hug her with my heart. We will probably go back down tomorrow or Friday.

Then Miss CAP decided that being home with moms and dads and rules was not nearly as nice as being at grandma's house and totally lost it. Kicking, screaming, yelling. Not fun at all. Pablo reminded me that she hasn't been in a routine at all for about two months. Readjusting might take some time.

On the menu today - baked zucchini and leeks with goat cheese, chili and leftover ribs. And some salt from my tears.

Morning After

The morning after a big thunderstorm always looks different than other mornings. Our alley is covered in water - probably only a couple of inches, but it looks like a brown, mini-Mississippi River out there.

A busy evening with Baby A left no time really for chopping things to make soup, so I opted for something a little easier and made rumaki. I can only eat rumaki when Pablo is out because he really doesn't like chicken livers. I trimmed liver and mixed up the marinade while baby's noodles were cooking and assembled and broiled after bedtime. In between noodles and bedtime there was much tickling and reading - I Spy Little Bunnies is the favorite of the moment - and a good long walk around the block. She is really getting into the walking thing.

My dinner was almost spoiled by the discovery that we were out of toothpicks. I couldn't run out to the store because the baby was asleep already and I am not one of those moms who think "everything will be ok because I'll only be gone for twenty minutes." I felt silly asking a neighbor for fifteen toothpicks. What would they think of me? I got over it and called, but no one was home. It took a while for me to come up with a back up plan (we had no wooden skewers either), but then I remembered the grill skewers. And I couldn't find those either. What had Pablo been up to while I was out east? Joined a scary shish kebab cult and turned all my poky wooden sticks into an altar somewhere? I finally found them in the utensil drawer where they had been made to fit by neatly bending them into L-shapes. Kind of defeats the purpose of having extra-long grill skewers. They worked anyhow and dinner was indeed saved.

There was not much time left after all of this for reading (or tidying up the living room either!), but I managed to sneak in the end of Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome. It was joyful and fun. It was late then, but I couldn't resist the next book in the pile - The Remains of the Day. Am I the only person on the planet who hasn't read this already? It begins quietly and almost sadly and am looking forward to getting deeper into it.

The menu today - because I know where the grill is anyhow - pork ribs with Alton Brown's marvelous dry rub, green salad, and there will be chili to make for tomorrow or my tomatoes will explode on the counter.

Back to the weird I know

I am back from vacation in earnest now. We are getting ready for new routines and busier times. Out summer sabbath is nearly over and I am a little bit sad, although more than ready to return to the weird I know.

In between unpacking from our trip, sorting through the stacks of mail and laundry, and generally settling back into my own house, I have found little time for reading or making anything much. I am missing those things.

Today Baby A and I head to the library to restock, return and pay fines. I have a want-to-read list a mile long and only three weeks until the fall semester begins.

I've fallen in love with a publishing house, David R. Godine, and am hunting some of their titles. When we were in Annapolis, I found two Arthur Ransome books printed by Godine. I'd never read anything by Ransome before and have been totally enchanted by the Swallows and Amazons series. Godine has printed all twelve titles. They are also reprinting The Land of Green Ginger by Noel Langley sometime this year. Does that not look like a marvelous book?

Yesterday we made some delicious chicken and a corn saute with recipes from the new Fine Cooking magazine. Yummy. On the menu today - spicy summer squash soup. If it turns out well, I'll post the recipe tomorrow.