Mother's Day

I hope all the mother's out there had a fantastic day.  Happy Mom's Day mom! (I know you got the card, but a blog shout out can't hurt.)

I had a splendid Mom's day weekend. Smith took part in one of the kid's classroom's dad's camping trips (lots of possessives there.) So the boys were gone from Friday afternoon until Sunday.  So I was home. alone. in my own house. with no one to cook for, clean up after or schedule my day around. (except the cat. We named her Hermione, by the way.)

What I did:
-ran 2 errands for Smith, one of which was get his car inspected - I wasn't feeling lucky.
-bought a pair of shoes.
-went to see Jane Eyre.
-Drank 1 margarita. (it's been close to 5 years since I've had a rita. why? I don't know.)
-Stayed up late watching Downton Abbey.
-Went for an open water swim
-Went for a bike ride
-Painted my toenails
-Bought pre-cut, pre-chilled, perfectly ripe splendid watermelon. and ate it.
-Went to a friend's party with just us camping widow mom's and we tried really hard to not talk about our kids or what our husbands were doing (or not doing) while supervising hoards of children. Stayed up late talking and drinking ginger mojitos.
-Apparently slept in the next day. I woke to feed the cat and lay down again only to wake up what felt like moments later to my people coming in the front door after noon. yawn.

I also had a moment of nostalgia for my very first mother's day, 8 years ago. I walked up the hill to the pool and went for a swim by myself. It was the first time I had gone anywhere without Nbear. (that was a long 4 months.) And it was a great swim. On the walk back down the hill a boy had set out a table and was selling bouquets of lilacs from their lilac bush. I don't think flowers ever smelled sweeter.

Love to all, especially those who make us mothers.

Ode to: My Best Friend's Ex-Girlfriend

Regular readers will note I mention Sinda a lot.

I've known her now as long as Smith. eons. She's been our binary star: when we move, she moves too (our Dallas was her Houston. Our San Diego was her San Antonio...) We graduated the same year. We got married around the same time. We've each had two kids. She's decisive where I'm indecisive.

She's played RISK with Smith and so she knows what I've married. She's my personal adviser - the girl I call from the dressing room on my cell phone (she then pulls up the item I'm trying on online and weighs in.) She knows everything about this town -- I call "austin information" when I can't remember how to get to the old moxie before it moved, or to cafe mundi...  she patiently re-spells the name of that cocktail we tried last night.

She's also my spontaneous friend - one phone call at the last minute and we are off! (and usually she has a suggestion of her own to make whatever it is we are doing more fun or with more people.)


Last year I started keeping a list (she likes lists too) about all the things that she does that have made my day; a small token of thanks. Hopefully this will help make her day a little brighter today.


Here is the list of those days.


January 6th -- Gave me the idea to make green chili stew with our leftover pork loin. It was awesome.

January 10th -- Sent me the CSA newsletter so I could figure out what the heck came in my bin. We still couldn't decide if they were beets? or turnips?

January 24th -- Noted that she had been juicing all the oranges from our CSA bin. The oranges had been rather smallish and ugly. But they made for a tasty treat as juice! Also inadvertently led me to start drinking grapefruit juice. AND liking it.

January 29 -- Brought red wine to pizza night. I thankfully slept like a log.

March 11-- Posted her link-laden blog post with the puff pastry recipes, the literal white wedding video and the incredibly hard to read story about children being left in cars.

April 18 -- Loaned me a fancy spring dress to wear to the fancy Ganesh Gala.

Aprilish -- "Sent me the memo" about the ultrasonic face scrubber. (After a super fun girl's weekend sleepover/Bond film extravaganza I noticed that everyone whipped out their high-tech buzzing ultrasonic cleaning tooth devices. I complained that I didn't "get the memo" that everyone had suddenly switching from the standard manual toothbrush.)

May 28th-- Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me tickets. Haven't laughed that hard in AGES.

June 21th-- Introduced me to the idea of the "shitzer." [to paraphrase: "to reduce the amount you drink, next time add a little club soda to your wine; aka a sprizter. Make the next one without the wine!" that's what we called the "shitzer..."]

July 15 -- Came up with the plan to shop. then have drinks. then go see the Harry Potter movie!

July 29th -- Again, with the great ideas: Clay Pit happy hour before seeing 9 to 5 and Working Girl.

Aug. 1 -- Urged me to at least try one thing on at Nordies. Found the dress I love on the way to the dressing room.

Aug 7 -- Loaned me a fancy frock (again!) to wear to my reunion.

Aug. 11 --- Sent me the blueberry buckle recipe with lemon syrup.

Aug. 30 -- Made crackers for a party that I didn't truly get to enjoy until the morning after. They were the perfect thing for breakfast. [Growing up, I would look forward to raiding the leftovers from the night-before-bowl of popcorn from my parent's grown up parties. It has forged my fond relationship with stale food.]

Sept 10 --- STEAMED okra. then sauteed with ginger and scallions! a revelation.

September 20 -- Finally just gave me that dress that I've been borrowing all year.

September 28 -- Girlie lunch at the 4 seasons followed by shopping.

October 4 -- With a smile sent me sale airfares to Canada.

November 14 -- Bought me a glass of champagne at the opera La Boheme.

January 7 -- Sent me pictures of the basset hound/golden mix ready to come home on craigslist.

January 7 -- Invited me to the community table dinner at uchi.

January 16  -- Hosted a girls sleepover to say hello to Lisa.
Introduced me to my new cocktail -- the Maple Leaf, or as I call it with a shot of cayenne: The Spicy Cannuck.

Ahem. It's 2010.

Yes. Well Thanksgiving is well behind us now, isn't it? Breezed right through the holidays with nary a post. And I've made a small, teeny tiny, resolution to blog weekly. (I can't really call that a resolution because I think a resolution is meant to improve oneself... okay, well, hmm... but blogging inspires reflection, a moment to study the inner workings of my self and my life around me.) Okay. screw it. It's a bona fide resolution. You'll see it in the sidebar.

So!

The kids are back to school today and I was a little sad to see them go. (I know!) We were all getting into a good groove of getting along and doing groovy stuff. I can't even say that I was tired of the Legos (and believe-you-me, there was a heck of a lot of Lego's happening in my world...)

We spent most of the holiday here, seeing the full cycle of our tree from happy new spruce to needle-dropping fire hazard.





Chritmas morning saw the consumption of the annual Welsh cookies (a family tradition of my Polish & German ancestors...)





Here is Smith about to open the first present that I ever rushed out to buy on Christmas Eve, 10 minutes before the store closed. Can you guess what it is?




Nope! Wasn't these. These socks I had for a good month before Christmas.




Dad said dessert required a torch!




Still guessing? A mandolin.





We did head south to see my folks and my brother and his family and we had a splendid time. Even made some pierogis. (ours were the mashed potato and cheese filled variety. with the usual amounts of butter and onions.)

The boys, in their usual upside down position, at my brother's house.




My mom's splendid mantle piece.



Scenes from our hike, where the signs warned us of alligators. I'm sure they were hibernating, (right?) but I still couldn't let Jaybird out of sight. Reminded me too much of one my favorite bumper stickers: "do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."



What's a hike without a stick?





Baba made them work for their gifts.





I'm pretty sure that was an entire spool of curly ribbon.




This one's all net!





To ring in the new year we hosted a completely impromptu, last minute get together. Only 2 families showed up. (okay. maybe we only managed to call 3 families altogether...) but we had splendid time. My friend vetmomma brought me lemon curd and meyer lemons from her tree! When friends give you lemons, make lemon tarts.



Happy New Year Ya'll!
see you next week.

I had a BLAST in the past!

I had myself a flashback '80s blast last night as I treated myself to a double feature at our local summer rerun theatre and saw

9 to 5 (1980)
and
Working Girl (1988)

I'm not even going to bother linking for those because you have all seen those movies right!

I joined gals in action Sinda & neighbor P (Sinda and her neighbors are bookworthy -- they live in the best hood) for an early round of Indian flavored goodness at the Clay Pit before being whisked back to the time where big hair reigned supreme. WOW! Was it fun. I've always had a soft spot for Dolly Parton, but it was Joan Cusack that I had forgotten in Working Girl. I even think her hair (REAL) was bigger than Dolly's wig, if you can even believe it. And such a young Alec Baldwin too.

Paired together, they show a perfect slice of '80s (cinematic) life. Both had female underdogs getting the best of their either dumb or conniving bosses. with lots of aquanet thrown in for good measure.

Books from People

I love to read, but I don't often buy books (yet have untold hundreds on the shelves.) The library is a fabulous idea, but I get overwhelmed. I wish there was a netflix for books, because when I walk into a library or a bookstore the few books I was hoping to look for fly out of my head and I'm lured in by pretty covers. I walk out with nothing.

It is purely by the grace of my friends that I read anything worthwhile. I thank Sinda for introducing me to Laurie King and Jasper Fford, and by way of Lisa, Dorothy Sayers. Just recently I opened a box from far-flung Lisa with books (and a bird because apparently I am drawn to bird objects) inside.



Isn't she the swellest? I thought of her as I went to Recycled Reads today (the second store for the Austin Public Library.) I was scouting out some world book encyclopedias for $100. Apparently another parent at school beat me to it. But the store was LOVELY! SPACIOUS! and it's price point was right up my alley: $2 for hardback and $1 for paperbacks. I walked out with another Dorothy Sayers.

Boo Ya'll!

A little election diversion, posted while the rest of the world is literally glued to media outlets waiting for the news.



Trick or Treatin'
We had a full on police force for the night out, where we went door to door in a friend's grandparent's neighborhood where us anti-candy moms have planted Halloween "goodies" like granola bars! dried fruit! graham crackers! (when Nbear is old enough to read this, I'm SO busted!)




The full lineup. While Jbird seemed to have developed an oral fixation on those cuff-a-links, Nbear seems to be totally enamored with the snow white princess. aw.






and speaking of love, Smith and I also celebrated a stealth anniversary night out. He had free tickets to a book reading (lots of folks in town for the Texas Book Fair.) I didn't feel like forking over the big bucks for a sitter and offered that he should go with Sinda, because she would totally enjoy it and it would be a small token of thanks for the myriad cool things that Sinda does for us. Like this: She opted not to go because "um, isn't that ya'lls anniversary? and can I watch the kids for you while you guys go out?" see? isn't she the coolest ever? Without her, our anniversary may have come and gone unnoticed for our own self-absorption. So she did watch the kids and we saw (and heard) Peter Sagal and Scott Simon read from their latest books. AND! My bonus of the evening is we had a small, teeny tiny, brush with fame. Smith and I popped out for dessert post-reading and the waiter informed me that the person who had been sitting in my exact chair mere moments before we arrived was none other than Claire Danes.

What I did this summer

We are nearing the end of summer and I have to admit with giddy glee that I'm glad that school is soon. GLAD! I'm not counting days or anything, but okay. I am. Jbird starts school too this year and he is SOO ready for it. It is also a wise person who chose the boys to be in different classrooms, if this summer is any indication as to how they get along in the same room. Since we moved to the new house at the start of summer, I allowed some time for settling in, transitions, etc., before the throes of summer camp and running here and playdates there and vacation absorbed all that free time. Well. Note to self: these kids do not need a lick of settling in time. In June I looked longingly at the camps and swim lessons that were earmarked for July and August. And the swim lessons? Totally fell through - all 4 of them. SO. Yeah. School's starting soon.

~~~~~~

The bright spot of our summer ended up being a bit of a surprise. And I feel guilty admitting that it IS the bright spot --- because it was my grandfather's funeral. My amazing grandpa passed away in July at the age of 94. He lived a full life, more able-bodied and able-minded than any person I know. At his memorial service, my aunt reminded me that it was only a year and a half ago that Grandpa was up on the roof, trying to figure out that funny noise (my aunt quips that he probably heard the ghost of my grandma telling him to get off the roof...) To be honest, he was perfectly comfortable up on the roof. He was a telephone pioneer - installing the very first telephone poles and telephone service throughout New York state. I also remembered he they had the first "mobile" phone; sometimes on the way somewhere, Grandpa would get out of the car, climb a pole and "dial in" to phone ahead to let whoever know they were coming.




So we went to my hometown, to say goodbye. And there was room for us to stay out at the lake. This is the lake that I spent many sunny Sunday mornings; the topic of my stories to the boys after lights out and they beg me to tell them stories about when I was little. So it was very cool for them to actually be there. We shared the lake house with a whole gaggle of my relos - from all over. So at any given moment there was at least 3 adults to amuse the children - who needed no amusing since they had a LAKE to conquer from their beloved pirate float - complete with an entire artillary of water weaponry. (shh. don't tell our montessori friends!)

Our day:
Smith would arise at the crack of dawn to kayak around the lake and take pictures like this:





He'd come back and make coffee and eventually the rest of us would drag ourselves from bed and somebody would make breakfast. And here is where I should mention that one of our hosts is a chef. so. yeah. yum! and the eggs? bought from the farm down the street... the carton full of feathers fresh.

And then we would swim for awhile. And then sail for awhile. Or gather wild blueberries for awhile. And then take the boat out and swim in the middle of the lake. And then we would scrounge for lunch from the fabulous leftovers from the night before and swim some more. and play games. fabulous games! because the other host? my cousin? used to have a game shop. And sells boats! so boats out the ying yang. Then we'd make cocktail drinks for "elegant hour" and sip and nibble as we made the rounds of the lake as slowly as possible. Then dinner and up till way late playing games and telling stories by candlelight outside.

We also made a family outing to a place called Salt Springs. I remembered it as being a wonderfully cool place when I was little so I wanted to see if it lived up to grown up splendor. Yup. My first discovery was some jewelweed/silverweed/popweed/touch-me-not. There was no consensus on what we actually called it. I guess I called it popweed because when you touch the tiny pods of these plants, they explode. Nature's bubblewrap. So I found a patch of them and let the kids loose. Next we walked up to the creek and began our hike through the creek and up the 3 waterfalls. My memories are full of the happy feelings of splashing and climbing through waterfalls, they did not disappoint. Everything was so green and lush and I sent the boys off ahead - free from the fears of fire ants, scorpions, snakes and lurking nasties that make me cautious back home. I heard later that my cousin spotted a snake on the trial after us and they high-tailed it out of there. Maybe it was just a little garter snake, because in my gentle mind, that's all there could ever be out there in those beautiful woods.






The trail back is along the banks of the creek where we discovered pennies hammered (?) into the rocks. tons of them. who knows why?



Me and some cheese. Who doesn't love cheese?





So it was good. And all at the same time, so sad. To say goodbye.





The squeaky lounge - in all her uncovered splendor.

Since We Last Spoke (entry #3)

I went to Denver!

You may vaguely remember 2 years ago Sinda, Lisa & I loaded up for a mother's day trip to Houston to eat and shop (for several hours at IKEA) and overall be leisurely. I really like the idea of completely stepping out of the role of mom to celebrate it. And what better way for your spouse and children to really understand all the myriad things you do for them than to leave them?

So off Sinda and I flew to Denver to see our newly transplanted friend, sharing earbuds to watch 30Rock (with Matthew Broderick!) along the way. Those gals took all the pictures and posted almost daily about our exploits. We got little sleep - staying up late eating fabulous food and fancy cocktails (I could go for a little damselfly right now: pear whiskey, plum puree and gingerale) and then waking up early because we are just wired that way. Not even a real nap snuck in anywhere. We got to see Lisa's photo show up at the Boulder coffeehouse and a bona fide chick flick (sadly, SEX I.T.C was not yet out; we happily settled for Baby Mama.) And Sinda says I flirted with the Prahna sales chick from Tyler, but really? it was just leaving her a little note in the dressing room that we had occupied for the entire duration of a parking meter. (They had a white board in there - what else are you supposed to do with it?!)

I also got to catch up with my old buddy Liz (aka the other Liz aka Elizabeth) from high school. We stayed up late talking about all the people we'd stay up late with in high school.

You should look at Lisa's pictures of the trip here and here.
Sinda's account is here.

You will note that both accounts record the green frog wallpaper - which was my startling discovery during a slightly tipsy trip to the restroom. I was uber focused on the plastic changing table directly in front of me. There was like a novel's worth of braille on it. What could they possibly be telling the blind people about the babies? Does a blind person instinctively know where to find the braille or do they have to feel around everything and hope that they don't stumble into something gross? I was deep in the wonder of it when my gaze slowly shifted outward where OH MY GAWD THERE ARE BRIGHT GREEN FROGS EVERYWHERE! How could I have missed the frogs?!?

I wonder what we'll see in the bathroom on Mother's Day 2010!

Month End

January is drawing to a close. It has been a blur. Is it just me? Back from the holidays and then BOOM! It's February. But it has also been productive. (You should see what my christmas gift label maker has been up to in my house! Spices! Laundry room bins! Next stop linen closet?!) To recap:

We were in Angel Fire. Here are the boys enjoying some NanaCakes baked in a VINTAGE easy bake oven.





Nbear went to ski school. Jbird got a taste of snow.



Watching the chair lifts at the ski slopes (I swear they were having more fun than me.)



A lesson of Near and Far... or The Holts, they are a squinty folk




We were in Longmont, CO, visiting Lisa & family. Here is Smith entertaining the children (he's the one in the blue tube...)



Here's J at the very end of his "going for a walk" rope



Foolin' with Lisa's macro lens, 'cause she's all camera-girl-geek now



Then there was a 5th birthday for Nbear. (photos of which are still on the camera.) And Aunt Alex & Uncle Thom came in from the windy city to enjoy our 30 degree weather. A refreshing change from the single digits they said...

I reorganized the laundry room (again) after the complete collapse of a shelving unit on one wall rendered the room an utter pit of despair beyond its usual status of utter pit of despair.

I bought some jeans. Write this one down folks as the last pair of jeans that I actually purchased (Sinda passing on jeans to me doesn't count) was 5 years ago, after Noah was born.

I have succumbed to Sinda's meal planning doctrine; where one actually plans the meals they are going to make BEFORE going to the store. It is changing my life.

And speaking of changing my life, I also reflected on the positive changes in my life from last year at this time. And it feels like most of those changes are going to stick. It's not just a fluke. (and that's good! except for the fact that zero christmas cards got sent. not even to my mother! yeesh.) 2008 has lots of room left for improvement! (someone nudge me in August to get on those Christmas cards. Honestly.)

Halloweenies

Do ya'll wake up to find faces in your fruit? Apparently I do. At least it was smiling. Boo!



Prior to the big trick-or-treat event, every halloween should had a banging loud marching parade. I highly recommend it. Sort of makes the post treat sugar high something to look forward to.







For even more pictures, please see my flickr posting of Halloween pics.