Sara was excited about her Dad coming after a 3 day trip away. She was fantasizing about him taking her to the toy story like the previous Saturday. So she got into her mind she wanted to earn money. During breakfast with my stuttering permission, she cleaned the sink. I was a bit flummoxed about this change in our morning routine. I needed to clean 3 days of dishes and get the kids ready so I could start working on my paper. Setting up a task for money earning wasn’t on my agenda. But love and Sara placed it squarely front and center. So I gave her a nickle for the sink (it looked pretty clean). “Next?”, asked Sara. Dishes, I decided. Back to my agenda. So Sara came to help. Of course, so did Laura. So the whole crew joined me in my task. It was actually fun.
At the end, I had to remind Sara of her payment. We got out the quarter. I explained how it was 5 times the value of the nickle. She said,”That’s a very special coin.” I looked at her and realized it was very precious because Sara had earned it herself.
February 28, 2009
The value of money
February 27, 2009
Horses
Horses are revered in our house. They are also well treated. The horse clientele ranges from a 4 foot stuffed animal that makes a great pillow to a 1 inch figurine horse that Sara painted by hand to the old Breyer horses I played with as a child. The most popular breed are the hand size plastic figurines, Pegasus, Unicorn, Halflingers, Pintos, etc. This morning they got fed, watered, washed in a bath (Sara at the kitchen sink and Laura at the bathroom sink), put to bed, went camping in a tent, got treated to a circus, got fed peas, transported in a carriage (which ironically is usually pulled by horses). So if you’re a horse, this is the household visit!
February 24, 2009
Morning
Sara’s teacher at school saying she’s wonderful with her words but far more deeply with her eyes. It’s fun to see someone love the one I love.
My husband remembering I’d need an umbrella on the way home. Having someone else to worry about me besides me.
A woodpecker drilling into phone pole. Futile? A fat black lab frisking in a long puddle on a walk. Red winter berrys dripping with water on foggy morning. Gardens wet with winter, ready for spring.
A morning. A walk. A blessing. My God.
February 19, 2009
Kitchen Appliances
I have this thing where I expect all appliances to last forever. Unfortunately that is never the case. We just recently replaced our fridge (after spending mucho money to fix it numerous times). We got a new 4 slot toaster (that died after 6 months and got a replacement under warranty). Now our oven randomly complains that it is overheating, when it is off and completely cool to the touch, at 2am in the morning. I replaced the temperature sensor (a $14 part). As soon as I powered it back up it flashed the error code that it was overheating. I wanted to put my foot through the front glass, however I was able to maintain just enough control and did not hack it to bits with an ax.
Now I just purchased a new control computer. Looks like it might be a significant pain to install, but I am going to give it a try anyways, buying a new range is not my idea of fun right now.
–Wayne
February 18, 2009
I decided to jump on the twitter bandwagon. Not sure how long I’ll use it, but for now it looks like a reasonable time waster. Look for me: w00tdude.
–Wayne
February 15, 2009
Birthday II
Wayne and I had a joint birthday today. It was unusual party preparation in that I didn’t do any. I didn’t buy anything for it. We had an abundance of food. I’d made a curried beef stew we still had a big pot of. I’d made a pasta with arugula, smoked mozzarella, prosciutto.
Church today was a treat. I got to listen to Mark Labberton, our old pastor from First Presbyterian of Berkeley. I got to greet him at the beginning of service. He gave an excellent sermon about Daniel.
After church, we went to Fremont to pick up the ice cream cake Cold Stone Creamery. We ate pizza slices from PCC (delicious) outside in the cold.
Then a nice Sabbath nap.
Then whirlwinding.
It was the first time we’d seen Ken and Erica for awhile. House remodeling takes a lot of time. Kimberlee and Doug brought entertainment with Jack and Jane. Jon and Claire brought the twins. It was fun to feed everyone. I just didn’t get to do much visiting. At the end I sat down and talked to Kimberlee. I showed off my paper to Ken and Erica at the end of the evening. They recognized some chemistry words. It was a lovely time. The mint cake with chocolate ganache was amazing. And we have leftovers, Yum!
February 14, 2009
Hallmark Holiday
Valentine’s started way in advance. In my calculation, I had to produce 60 valentines between the two girls and two sets of schools (Mom’s group and day care). Shopping for Valentine’s cards was enlightening. They are really fun now. I bought holograms that converted from a caterpillar to a butterfly, girly ones with butterfly tatoos included, and my favorite, monster bookmarks. I wanted Sara to help me, but I’ve found that my 5 yo doesn’t like doing the same thing over 10 times. I was surprised. One day, Laura was still sleeping and I had to work on writing. Sara brought the Valentine’s up and started labeling them. She did her own and most of her sisters. In past years, we had to put everyone’s name on the cards. I think the teachers at school have given that up. Now you just have to record your name.
Sara had her Valentine’s prepared 3 weeks ahead of time. I had to break the new to her that now, after all her hard work, she had to wait. She continued to work on her Valentine’s, adding stickers, dividing boys and girls valentines, etc. A couple of times she got very anxious, worried that they wouldn’t be pretty enough.
I was still writing pretty intensely this week. I wanted to finish my rough draft to have the time to finesse my paper, so I was looking for any time available. I’ve skipped several Mom’s groups to have the morning to write. This week, I decided to go so Sara could attend her Valentine’s day party. As I was walking into Mom’s group, I mentioned this to a couple other Moms. I got some blank stares and one response, “Oh, a Hallmark holiday.” This remark has some context, which I’ll take as an aside.
A member of our group has broken out of the stay-at-home mold and managed to publish a lovely book called Circle of Seasons. It’s a lovely, thought-provoking book. It talks about how to make the liturgical calendar intersect with real life. Not a stay up till midnight topic, but I’ve found it influencing my life in fun ways. I’ve been looking for ways to make God a daily part of life. There is prayer and Bible reading, but this book gave me some new ideas and perspectives. I’ve seen the power of the cultural calendar in my kids lives. First kids don’t know what the candy at Halloween or the presents at Xmas are about. But by age 5, my Sara is a pro. Valentine’s is a good example. School brings these concepts into sharp focus. So why should culture get all the fun? So I like the idea of following the church calendar. It’s just another way to bring God and Jesus into sharper focus into my family’s life. It doesn’t mean I don’t celebrate my cultural holiday. I’m about to write words about how I did that. But it does mean, I try to place a higher value on the events in the church calendar. So that is where the comment about Valentine’s day came from.
Laura arrived in her class of 1-2 yr olds. I didn’t really expect her to get any Valentine’s. But if she sees her sister do it, she has to bring a bag of Valentine’s. Sara, my pro, started to show her sister how to work the room. It was sweet to see Laura give cards away and receive nothing in return and be glowing. She gave some to her teachers and the expressions were just delightful. Unexpected happiness. Sara’s class had a planned exchange, but not everyone brought cards. It was nice and low-key in that way.
It still wasn’t the real V-day. The girls went to school on Friday so I could write and they could enjoy their V-day parties. In school, they came home with the real swag- CANDY. Holograms be darned. Between my birthday the weekend before, it has felt like a never ending party.
My Valentine’s day came a little early. For my birthday, Wayne gave me a big box of Theo chocolate truffles. They’re designed for couples with little hints of aphrodisiacs like licorice, chili peppers, and saffron. There are two of each truffle so there is not fighting.
Thursday was my grocery day. I didn’t have time to plan a menu ahead of time, but planned to pick up a Real Simple magazine and just buy the ingredients for their menu. It turned out they aren’t sold at Fred Meyer. So I turned to the iPhone. I got a recipe for flank steak with arugula salad and cremini mushroom balsalmic cream sauce. It looked reasonable to do after a day of writing and with screaming kids.
Saturday, Wayne gave me the best V-day gift, real and raw. He gave me the third consecutive Saturday he’s watched the kids and done Saturday chores with little or no input from me. I put in a long 8 hr day of writing. My body was screaming at the end and I was eager to do anything else. The best part was I got the first draft finished.
So, after such a day, I willed myself to have romantic thoughts and started cooking. Wayne grilled the steak and fed the kids. I worked on the sauce and cleaning the kitchen. We lite a candle and turned down the lights. During my romantic meal, I got to blow up a balloon, share my sparkling apple cider with my 2 yo, prevent said 2 yo from dumping over the bottle of red wine that she took for juice, and act as a referee. The steak was excellent. It satisfied my taste buds. Afterwards, Laura, Sara, and I melted chocolate and made chocolate covered strawberries. This is a V-day tradition for us. We cleaned up chocolate the best way I know how, with our tongues. Wayne and I were exhausted. Laura protested being put to bed. We had some vague thoughts about watching Atonement, but just collapsed into bed. Happy V-day with kids!
February 12, 2009
Hot chocolate and happiness
I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I was just upstairs wrestling with the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Then Sara woke up from her nap. Laura is still sleeping. The Mom/Daughter conversation:
Sara,”Can we have hot chocolate?”
Mom, “Sure.”
“Can I have a large marshmellow while it’s cooking?”
Mom, “Sure.”
“Can I make the hot chocolate?”
Mom, “Sure, let’s do it at the table.”
“Can I do it at the counter?”
Mom, “Sure. Do you want popcorn?”
Sara, “Yes!”
Sara, “You get the most marshmellows since you have the largest glass.”
Mom, with a smile, “Sure!”
Popcorn, marshmellows, hot chocolate (Ghiradelli!), and being able to be sure…priceless.
February 10, 2009
Wash wailings
Today I washed Laura’s taggie blankets and her bunny pajamas. I got a good sense of what a banshee wailing sounds like. Laura was in favor of leaving the dirt on them. Laura has 4 taggie blankets. About 6 months ago, they got raised to the status of constant contact. She couldn’t be without one. That’s why it’s good to have multiples. They’ve been dragged everywhere and over everything. So today was the wash day of reckoning. I also washed her beloved bunny pajamas. They’ve developed a hole in the seam along the side at her diaper level. Last night she declared it was a “diaper hole”; all the better for viewing her diaper. We’re awaiting our traveling seamstress to help fix that one in March.
p.s. She’s has glommed onto one in particular recently. One she calls ‘nother taggie. She leaves it willy-nilly everywhere but is sad when it’s not around. One is called big taggie and sometimes can substitute. On ‘nother taggie, there’s one tag that she rubs in particular, just like I used to rub my doll-doll. I’m a little sad that no kids has been attached to doll-dolls. Atleast they make good night shades for sleeping as an adult.
February 8, 2009
Birthday day
I had the following conversation about 5 times this week:
“So it’s your birthday?”
“Happy birthday!”
“What are you doing on your birthday?”
“You’re attending a 3 year olds party?”
“Why?”
Because adult birthdays are different from kids birthdays, but no less fun. If you look at the day before, you’ll note I had a fun date. If you look at 2/15 you’ll note Wayne and I had a fun joint birthday party. And if you ask me, you’ll find out my present is a date to the Lion King in March. While kids birthdays are an intense burst of enthusiasm on one day, adult birthday have more sublety and take more time. I don’t celebrate a day, I celebrate a birth week. That way you can enjoy all the cards as they come in, email greetings, facebook exchanges. It’s a different and no less lovely experience.
The first person who wished me happy birthday was Doug Grant from my residency days via Facebook.
So why go to a kids birthday on my birthday? Because it was awesome Alexandra turning 3. We got to see Garrett and Rachel who I hadn’t seen for 3 months. I also got to see Dave and Eleanor and their sons. It was a blast. I got pizza, cake, and I even got to wear a crown without planning any of it. It took place at Gymboree in Issaquah.