My week

Thanksgiving is my week. After about my first year at the lab I started saving my personal holidays to use during Thanksgiving, whereby I could then supplement these two days with 8 hours of vacation time and wa-la... a full week off with minimal expense on my part.

Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday of the year and one that I really enjoy prepping for. I remember back to 1st or 2nd grade when the neighborhood boys came to get me for sledding one Thanksgiving day and I declined the offer in favor of cooking with my mom.

I enjoy puttering about the house, working on small projects, improving little things, thinking about Christmas presents and prepping for the big meal. Or little meal as the case may be. We always cook more food than we can possibly eat because it is thoroughly impossible to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal for just a few people.

This time around I hadn't taken much time to plan for my week. Many factors playing into this... first the plan to host Thanksgiving for my mom and stepdad and then that not working out. The second is work. I have never been so busy and overwhelmed with work. Third is the kids, they keep me hopping. Fourth is that this year is just moving by so quickly that I am still (despite the fridge full of groceries) having trouble believing that Thanksgiving is really here.

I did think ahead enough when we found out my family wouldn't be visiting to declare it a good time to paint Skadi's room. So we are tackling that. (Pink, green and periwinkle with flowers. The pink is done.)

Aside from that the plans are:
-Make jerky (aka pemmican) with Leif (done and it turned out superbly).
-Clean the fridge (done)
-Dermatologist appt (done and I have the wounds to prove it)
-Cook/bake (will start with cranberry zin sauce tomorrow)
-Entertain children for six days straight.
-Check work e-mail multiple times a day (ongoing)
-Keep checking my phone for signs of work distress (ongoing)
-Empty (and quit paying for) the storage unit (still need to inform AB of this one).
-Christmas shopping started and/or done (good start)
-Photo for the Christmas card (working on tomorrow)
-Abandon town for the snowy hills this weekend for a day of sledding/scouting ski areas/retreating to nature.

You will notice a number of different things on this list from previous years. The work aspect... cannot seem to abandon it all this year. And the Christmas shopping (normally nearly finished by now) and the photo (normally with cards in hand at this point). Also there are fewer projects.

This year there is more simple struggle to stay on top of what is at hand as opposed to undertaking new things.

Skadi McBeaners

Fishies

Every pool of standing water has fishies in it. The sink has fishies. As does the toilet bowl. As does the bathtub.

Fishies, you should know, are any floaty things.

Shreds of toilet paper in the toilet? Fishies.

Strange floaties in the tub? Fishies.

At first it was kind of cute, but now it is bordering on a strange compulsion.

"DON'T FLUSH THE TOILET ANYONE!" she screams. "THERE ARE FISHIES IN THERE!" (And she looks SO serious as she eyes us all directly and points at the bathroom.)

And it is highly traumatic if you ignore her pleadings. So for now we tiptoe around and wait until she is out of earshot to flush the toilet.

"THE FISHIES ARE GOING TO BITE ME!" she screams. "DON'T LET THE FISHIES BITE ME MOMMY!"

And then we fish out every little bit of shmutz out of the tub as she points to each one individually. Specks really.

("Who do you want to ask, the *speck*? There's no one here!")

Not sure where this came from since we just recently went to the aquarium where she saw ACTUAL fish in the water.

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The Witch Costume

Back about mid-September or so I picked out a fabulous (inexpensive) witch costume for Skadi. It was perfect. Purple and pink tulle with stars and I paid a little extra for the matching tights.

Then it arrived and was deemed to be highly offensive.

Would NOT wear it. Would NOT touch it.

She would get a little brave and talk about the witch costume. We would pull it out... and then quickly return it to the hiding place when the screaming hysterics would start.

I gave it up and she wore Leif's bug and tiger costumes on Halloween.

But something happened this morning and not only did she ask to see the witch costume, but she (*gasp*) put it on.

Then she modeled it for pictures.

And wore it to school and proclaimed the entire time that it was Halloween.

Her teacher, Miss Kaitlynn, was the one who broke the news to her that it was no longer Halloween and so right then and there she stripped the costume off and handed it to me to take home.

I got at least one wear out of it!

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Speaking of stripping

I can't keep clothes on this girl.

She comes home and strips down to "nakey bum" status. She and her dolls. No one wears clothes. I have a great picture of Skadi practicing her Mardi Gras greeting at the park the other day.

I thought maybe for awhile this was limited to home, but apparently not. In order to fall asleep Skadi needs to strip herself down to her panties for nap.

I am optimistic that someday the importance of clothes will become apparent.

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Skadi speaks

"her" (Everyone is a her.)

"Papernose" (Kleenex/facial tissue)

"warm legs" (Leg warmers)

"You hurt my feelings." (What it says. This is the standard reply to anything she doesn't want to hear.)

"Weifer" (her brother)

"Not you" (aimed to me most often)

"You are not nice at all." (Again, reply to anything she doesn't want to hear.)

"Chicka maow maow" (??? Frequent statement.)

"Coca" (You are coca. Her name is Coca. My dolly is Coca. Coca is my friend. Etc.)

"GO WAY CAT!" (Ever since Lucky thought Skadi was trying to play with him and batted at her, she no longer trusts him anywhere near her.)

"Freya here." (The chosen animal who should reside next to her at all times. Either chosen or she has learned to keep Freya near to prevent her from chewing on her dollies - who are all named Coca.)

"I share this with Coach Brett, I need a baggie." (Breakfast on Monday morning.)

"Tonia did it!" (4th Branch teacher who is highly coveted for her hair styling skills.)

Back in the saddle in a sense

When I was hired on 7.5 years ago I was told all about the glories of travel.

When I started my team bought me a laptop and an international plugs kit. And I started dreaming about the places I would go with my international plugs kit.

My laptop is a boat anchor somewhere and my international plugs kit is still shrink wrapped.

The team I joined at the time talked real big... but then when it came down to it, the more senior staff got the international trips and got to specify who went along. (And it was never me.) And I got stuck with trips like to DC (a few times) and New Jersey and Bloomington, Indiana and Seattle and Lincoln, Nebraska.

All actually were quite cool with the exception of Lincoln. I was a lone buff awash in a sea of red. I was verbally attacked at lunch as a representative to DOE about my not funding them (I was a junior scientist at the time and completely perplexed). And my host's idea of a good evening was to take me out for Scottish dancing. And I was 3 months pregnant with Leif and still nauseated.

But aside from that trip, all my work trips have been very interesting and good for me. I discovered that I really like Washington DC. I discovered that New Jersey was truly beautiful and that you should always plan to BYOB to dinner as some counties do not serve alcohol in restaurants. Bloomington was a fun little college town and Seattle... I always love going to Seattle. My visit back to Reno was also good in that it grounded me and brought Reno back down to it's proper 4500 foot resting spot instead of remaining high in what once was to me.

I have been lucky that during those periods of time when I don't want to travel, I have easily gotten out of it. Like for the first year and a half to two years after having each child. Skadi is now 2.5 and this stint of no travel is up.

There is something appealing to me about occasional travel. I couldn't do it on a very regular basis. But I like the anonymity of travel. I like escaping to the big cities and eating good food and maybe taking in a show. I even actually enjoy going out to dinner by myself. One time in DC I went to the opera - my only opera - and saw Placido Domingo as lead in Idomeneo. I like the quiet escape of a nice hotel. Of watching whatever I want on TV. Of picking a restaurant without compromise. A quiet serenity.

I don't like leaving my family. I really don't like flying. And I don't like worrying about who will be there if something goes wrong at home.

So, it's good that I don't travel regularly. But every once in awhile? It's a treat.

I am headed back to DC this Sunday. For me it is kind of a neat trip and a first in that I am not representing other people's projects. I am representing my projects.

In taking a tally I have learned that the vast majority of my coworkers under this program will also be going. Not only to the same review, but on the same flight there and in the same hotel and at least one of them is on my same flight back. There will likely be about 10 or 12 of us. And this bums me just a tad because it means I don't get my little bit of anonymity on this trip. And that I may have to compromise on dinner sites. (I was always glad I never had to travel with one coworker on my first project here - his favorite place to eat - every.single.night - was rumored to be Applebees.)

Three nights. I did the good lead scientist thing and contacted another one of my clients to let her know I was going to be visiting the area and she jumped on meeting up. So all in all, I am most excited about day three of my visit where she is taking me to tour around her headquarters and meet her people. Leif hopes I may get to go on a sub. I explained (again) the whole confined space entry thing, but did promise to bring him something back from the Air and Space museum.

Is it just me...

or is foul language making more of an appearance lately?

Actually I know it isn't just me because we had this conversation at book club the other day.

One friend mentioned walking along with her daughter who is practicing her sounding out of words and she notices she is sounding out words in the parking lot. V-a-n and then s-t-op. And then she quickly works to divert her daughters attention when she sees a bumper sticker at eye level with the f-word. See what a prude I am with cursing, I can't even type it on my blog!!

I didn't even scream it when that 8 lb frozen cinder block of a roast fell on my toe the other day.

A coworker a few years back told me that he was in the car with his 8 or so year old daughter who said, "dad, they spelled organs wrong on that bumper sticker!" To his horror it was "orgasm", not organs and all he could do was agree with her that they were silly and had spelled it wrong.

I thought about it today as I was driving home listening to XM radio and was reminded that they are not subject to fcc regulations. Must be better about thinking about what song is on.

Then a few days ago we were out shopping at Costco and the language coming out of the guy behind us in line! I want to say he was oblivious to those around him, but truly, I didn't get the impression he even cared.

Naughty language to Leif and his friends is saying "stupid" or "hate".

And I get busted for "stupid" pretty frequently. Apparently I think a lot of things are stupid.

I am just going to sit and enjoy this stage for a little while...

Reprieve... issued by Daddy

I think it might be something about daddies and their little girls' hair. My mom said that my dad always liked my hair long as a little girl.

I was ready to give Skadi's hair the big chop. A short little bob or something.

Then AB looked at me like I had lost my mind.

And he reminded me how much she loves having the option to do her hair "fancy fancy".

And he mentioned something about the holidays and pictures.

And we compromised at a "good trim".

She lost about an inch.

I think Leif lost about the same despite my asking for a "light trim with longer on the top" and I would have appreciated the front being somewhat straight... but I suppose I can fix that.

To cut or not, that is the question!

I remember my mom's voice so well as she complained about my hair.



"If you don't keep your hair tied back nicely, you will have to cut it off," she would say.



And I would cry.



Because I really, really, really wanted long hair. Short hair would make me look like a boy and I wanted nothing to do with looking like a boy. Ever.



So I would keep my hair pulled back and brushed, until the next time, which was usually just a week at most away. My hair was a long battle with my mom.



Skadi has just recently decided that she doesn't want her hair in "ponies". For awhile there I got away with hauling hair bands into daycare and letting them tackle it since she wouldn't allow me without serious bribery.

(The result of bribery is below... "if you don't let me do your hair, we won't get to go to the pumpkin patch with Cate." I know... I shouldn't threaten anything I am not willing to follow up on, but it works.)





This is contrary to this past year and a half or since she had long enough hair to stick in itty bitty ponies. She loved having her hair done.

And she loved having it done in wacky ways too.



And she has beautiful hair if she would just let me keep it brushed all the time, like this:


But this is a rarity. It is most often coated in some unknown substance (usually yogurt or snot).

And it just looks bad after a day at daycare. Oh who am I kidding, it looks bad after an hour at daycare. Even her school pictures where I braided her hair in French braids, the pictures taken a mere 30 minutes after drop off show a different picture from the neatly groomed little girl I dropped off.

I am thinking the scissors are going to meet the hair this weekend. I am actually taking her in to get it cut and I am angling for a shortish cut. I thought I might have to convince her, but so far she is on the bandwagon to cut her hair.

She even said, "like a boy hair?"

I replied, "no, not that short" envisioning myself at her age and how that would have sent me over the edge.

"Oh," she replied quietly.

"Unless you want it like a boys," I told her reminding myself that boys are wearing their hair longer these days. I let Leif's get pretty long and scraggly between trims and if he didn't inherit AB's AND my fine straight hair, I would let it get longer.

"Ok," she said.

I am taking that as indifference on looking like a boy or not...

Learning in progress

I am certain that as a teenager he won't make a similar mistake.

Leif: (Crawling all over everything in Skadi's daycare room, being highly obnoxious.)

Me: "Leif stop it."

Leif: (Rolling around the floor and taking apart the mats in Skadi's daycare room, being highly obnoxious.)

Me: "Leif, I said stop it. Stand up."

Leif: (Climbing onto a table and standing up. Oh and being highly obnoxious.)

Me: "Get off of that now. The next time I tell you, you are losing your Wii privileges, do you understand?"

Leif: (Sheepishly nods while I talk to another parent.)

Me: "Let's go guys."

Leif: (Walks out of the daycare room and crawls onto a table and jumps off.)

Me: "That's it, you are done. No Wii privileges."

Leif: "But mom! I didn't hear you! I was ignoring you and plugging my ears to you while you were saying no Wii privileges earlier!"

This is Halloween

We are holding our first Halloween party this year!

I expect it will be very different from every other get together we host. I am expecting the same people that usually come over and who we celebrate with. Maybe a few new ones (apparently they like to RSVP at the last minute?).

One main difference is that *I* am dressing up. Yes me. And AB too. I waffled on this. Waffled a lot. I thought about being a witch - easy enough and a black dress is always flattering. Then Leif started selecting costumes for me (Boba Fett anyone?). AB got in the mix too (Slave Princess Leia... thanks for at least the vote of confidence honey). Skadi, sigh, which makes me a touch guilty, thinks I should be a purple witch.


What it finally came down to is that some wee little part of me has always loved Princess Leia. Leif loves Princess Leia. My husband likes her too. I was never Princess Leia as a little girl... nope, I was Gene Simmons instead.

And then I got to thinking that this may be my one and only chance to go as something that matches my son (who is Captain Rex the Clone Trooper). And Leif is digging that thought big time. Leif match mommy? What a great idea! He picked out the Ventress costume for me, but I had fear about pulling it off. We settled on Princess Leia.

AB soon jumped on board and ordered a Jedi robe. And Skadi will likely be a bug. (The witch costume has been nixed and should never return to her sight.)

Our party will have a number of firsts... AB and I in costume. My dad is visiting. And then there is the food.

Yep, you see right. Mummy hot dogs. Hot dogs wrapped in Pillsbury crescent roll strips. Not exactly the fare you might expect to eat upon showing up at my house!

Add to the list cocktail dog spiders (also using Pillsbury crescent roll strips). Witches purses (ok, those will be yummy, though not terribly gourmet). Chicken wings. Sandies that look like witches. (Yes I totally could make sugar cookies... or not - hey take a look at my schedule between now and the party!)

You get the idea. Things that kids will not only eat, but find cool. (Hopefully.)

I guess my reason in posting this is almost a sort of warning to the friends who are attending... don't expect fancy! An apology to the parents for all the mass produced, but very fun, stuff that their kids will eat. And a declaration to the effect of let's just all have fun and forget about calories, high fructose corn syrup, etc. And I should also say that even though my son knows all the words to, and will ask repeatedly for "This is Halloween"... he has not seen "The Nightmare before Christmas". Though it is my favorite Halloween movie and I have been so tempted.



What you get in return? A night with friends. Worn out kids at the end of the night.

And maybe most importantly, one more wear of that Halloween costume!

Have a Happy Halloween!

The purge urge

I don't think I am a packrat. Or I tell myself I am not.

My grandmother, she is a packrat.

My mom is not.

I think I fall somewhere in between the two. I keep a big plastic bin in each of the kids' closet and I put special things in there. Their class pictures, copies of their school pictures, milestone momentos (first name printed for the first time, first shoes, going home outfits...). I toss things in on a not terribly regular basis.

The other day my husband commented that we needed more book shelves. We kind of do. But his idea is to LINE the office.

Umm what? So that all our creased back, mass market books are on exhibit to everyone?

I like having SOME books out. I have a good sized stack that is unread, I want those out. We have a few hardbacks that are nice to display. I have a few that mean something to me (like Hans Blix's book with a nice sentiment to me and his autograph in the front). My favorite books are up there and so are AB's.

But every single book I have ever read? Please don't make me put them out. I could use more bookshelfs for stuff... not books. Not to mention that I want to impart some sense of style into our home and lining one wall with cheap bookshelfs is not my way to achieve that. Sorry honey.

We have been hauling boxes from storage and unpacking them.

You might guess that a recent load was boxes upon boxes of books. I actually started making a stack of books to get rid of through either exchange at the used book store or donating to Goodwill.

It hasn't stopped there.

I wore a pair of shoes to work the other day that I have owned for about a year. They are cute, but kill my feet. I avoid wearing them because they hurt. This has prompted me to put a box in my closet and to start putting stuff in the box for Goodwill.

AB came home the other day with tales of a coworkers highly successful garage sale. That might work too.

The next goal is to put a box in every room of the house, particularly as I unpack boxes. Stuff that doesn't work, we don't like, doesn't have a function? Goes in the box. Those lamps with no lampshades? In the box. Ancient camera equipment? Box. Books that were bad the first time around? See that box over there?

Then the boxes, once full. (Or mostly full.) They will go away in search of new homes.

The professor pedestal

I can never remember what I have and haven't blogged about. I did a quick search and it doesn't appear that I hit on this topic... and it should have been fairly recent.

A few months ago or so I was walking down the hall at work when smack in front of me was a face from a different time and place. I stopped her.

"Are you Mary Blah-Blah-Blah-Blah?" I asked her (she has one of those many syllabic last names that I finally mastered after months of practice).

She looks at me blankly in her very mousey all too familiar way and says yes.

"I was in your Inorganic Chemistry class at CU back about 1993 to 1994," I told her.

"Wow," she replied, "that was a long time ago."

"Yes," I said trying not to say something snarky about making me feel old, "I am sure you don't remember me, it has been awhile."

She admitted that she didn't remind me and then asked what I was doing here. I told her I went on from CU (after she gave me a sucky grade in Inorganic Chemistry) to get my Ph.D. in physical chemistry and then came here for a post-doc and was hired on permanently. She asked me what I did here and I did my best to impress her. Then I asked her what she did - "oh, I am a contractor, just trying to get hired on permanently".

You know how your college professors are up on a type of pedestal? How you admired them from afar... ok, I went to a college where classes of 250-500 people weren't terribly uncommon. They stood up there all knowledgeable and experienced-like and you couldn't help but put them on a pedestal. Even the bad ones.

Or in Mary's case... the really, really bad ones.

Our Inorganic class for majors was six students taught by mousey Mary Blah-Blah-Blah-Blah and much complained about by myself and the five other students. It was an optional class for majors and wow did it suck. Wow.

We learned how to make slime.

I learned how volatile ether is while working in a hood with another girl. She was using a flame and I was using ether. And the entire hood flashed. (Our TA should have known better.)

I remember my final project was to synthesize something and one of my final characterization steps was Phosphorus NMR. Mary Blah-Blah-Blah-Blah asked me why in the world I would use P-NMR to see if my substance had formed. I remember looking at her wondering if this was a joke? "Umm, because if my substance goes from signal to no signal than I will have functionalized the protons next to the P," I remember saying. And she seemed surprised and said, "yes, that would work!"

Of course she had to run it for me because I didn't have access to a P-NMR as a student. She... ahem... was supposed to run it for me.

Still I held my professor up on a pedestal until recently.

That pedestal? Crumbled.

It cracked when she told me she was trying to get hired on permanently. Then it collapsed under its own weight when she started asking me for work.

And I remembered her as a professor. And I remembered how she never ran my sample from my final project. And I remembered how she gave two B's and four C's out to her class of six senior chemistry majors. (I didn't get a B.)

And work?

Really sorry Mary Blah-Blah-Blah-Blah. I am funding myself and I am able to keep my project teams funded through continuing resolution this year, which is a first EVER. (Anyone notice I haven't whined about continuing res this year??) But no, I will not be picking you up on my projects.

And maybe I derive just a wee bit of pleasure from this.

Skadi update

One of the hardest times with many kids is that Terrible Two’s stage. Leif would be the exception to that, the two’s was a fabulous time with him. He just hit the “terrible” time later than normal… he hit the “Terrible Threes”.

We are officially half way through Skadi’s Terrible Twos. She can be terribly trying sometimes. But the flipside to this is that for all the rotten-ness, there is the complete opposite to balance it out i.e., the incredible joy and amazement she brings. Not to mention the giggles.

A Potato?

One of Skadi’s favorite things to do is to style my hair. Of course she usually likes to redo it after I just get done styling it. On those days she asks to do my hair when I am not expected to show up somewhere looking halfway decent I let her at it.

This is a genetic trait… I remember styling my mom’s hair most evenings while sitting in front of the TV. My sister and I would argue over who got to sit behind her on the couch with a brush and rubber bands and barrettes in hand. Hopefully the whole spitting in the hair part (since my mom wouldn’t allow us to use water) is not genetic and Skadi will not read this until she is old enough to know better.

She is a little brutal with the brush. It tends to make a “whack” sound as it connects with my head at the roots. I spend a lot of time saying, “ouch, gentle please!” Oh and should you think that AB escapes this torture because I had very little hair… think again.

Skadi: “Would you like a high pony so you can dance?”

Me: (A high pony tail is a requirement for dancing?) “Umm, ok.”

Skadi: (Pulling my hair all over the place.) “Oh, you have a potato in your hair.”

Me: “A potato?? Is that what you said?”

Skadi: “Yes, you have a potato in your hair.” (She says this so matter of factly.)

Me: “Where Skadi?”

Skadi: (Major pinch to the ear.) “Here.”

Me: “That’s my EAR!”

Skadi: (Giggles.) “Oh, okay!”

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Miss Opinionated

Skadi: “Mommy, I no yike this song!”

Me: (Ok, that’s fine, so Angel Eyes is a touch slow and isn’t her style, I hit to skip song button.)

Skadi: “Mommy, I no yike this song either!”

Me: “What, you don’t like John Hiatt?”

Skadi: “I no yike John Hiatt mommy.”

Me: “Ok.” (Searching the car for anything but that one cd that has been in the cd player nonstop
for a few years because the kids like it. Ah ha! Queen! I pop that in.)

Skadi: “Mommy, I no yike this icky song.”

Me: “Skadi, EVERYONE likes ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.”

Skadi: “I NO YIKE IT MOMMY!”

Me: “Fine.” (I hit the XM Radio button.)

Skadi: “Mommy! I YIKE this song! Crocodiles!”

Me: “Noted, you DO like Elton John’s Crocodile Rock.”

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Uses for boxes

While I am on the Skadi topic I should note that a few weeks ago? Found the binkies. Three of them, stuck in a box in Leif’s closet. You may remember that she had thrown them away herself… or at least I could have sworn she did. Apparently she threw one away and put the others in safe keeping? They hit the trash before she could see them.

Oh and speaking of boxes…

Me: “Skadi do you want Tinkerbell panties?”

Skadi: (Playing and ignoring me.)

Me: “Ok, here’s your Tinkerbell panties, please get dressed now.” (Freaky thing that Skadi and Leif are about at the same ability and willingness to get themselves dressed. Oh wait… wrong. Leif still insists regularly that I dress him, not that it happens. Skadi refuses help.)

Skadi: “NO MOMMY!” (Picking up Tinkerbell panties.) “I NO WANT TINKERBELL PANTIES!”
And with that she walks to her closet, pulls out a shoe box, opens it up and puts the panties in the shoebox and puts the shoebox in the hallway and walks back in her room and resumes playing.

Me: “Ok then, I guess YOU get to pick out your panties.”

The makings of an entrepreneur?

Me: "Leif, you still have money left over from Seattle, we should decide what you are going to do with it. Is there anything you still want?" (Fully expecting him to cite the coveted Batman Lego Wii game.)

Leif: (Thinking for a minute.) "Actually I think I want to buy another piggy bank."

Me: "Another piggy bank? Why, don't you like yours?"

Leif: "I want another piggy bank so I can get more money! I saved enough money for the trip to Seattle, if I have two piggy banks I can save enough money to go to Australia!"

Skadi speak - pronouns

I am raising a feminist.

Everything Skadi refers to is a "her". Her dolls are naturally "her". The dogs are (rightfully) "hers". The cat (wrongfully) is a "her".

Even Leif is a "her". Any unknown person is a "her" as well.

Taking it to another level...

If there is a couple on TV, like say Giselle (the princess) and Edward ("that guy") on Enchanted - it is "that's her daddy". Princesses looking for true love? They are looking for "hers daddy" and it is very disturbing in this path to finding their true loves, I mean "her daddy" because Skadi will lament (with her hands open and face up), "hers can't find her daddy!"

I think I need to ask her about AB and I...

A chilly weekend

It was the perfect weekend to stay in and get stuff done. And that was exactly what we did!

After being gone last week there was a ton of laundry to do, lots of Ikea goodies to assemble and set up somewhere and lots of food to catch up on preparing.

There isn't much need, in this day and age, to "put up food for the winter". But it seems to be a fall ritual that AB and I have fallen into. Every fall we make buckets of spaghetti sauce. The goal is to get about 50 cups prepared and frozen, which gives us about enough for a dinner use every other week. There are a ton of varieties of spaghetti sauce out there, some very inexpensive. So some people probably wonder why we would spend a weekend making spaghetti sauce?

Because it tastes so much better. And I know exactly what I put in it.

Green chili isn't so easy to find. But AB started making green chili every fall long before we even lived together. In fact, I remember his first batch when he lived in Spanish Towers in Boulder with his roommate. It was so freakin' hot.

And I think it gets hotter every year. And every year he swears to control it. And every year I sweat through it. And many unsuspecting green chili tasters have come to despise AB at his annual chili cook off at work.

This weekend was no exception. He swore he was going to make a "medium" and a "hot" version. There was nothing "medium" about the chili that resulted this evening.

I made a big pot of red chili on Saturday night. Mine isn't nearly so involved since this is one staple I make that is based off of cans.

Still on our list for this fall is our second batch of spaghetti sauce, pumpkin breads and chicken pot pies. Nectarine pies have been done, 20 cups of spaghetti sauce complete, a few GALLONS of green chili and a couple dinner servings of red chili.

This weekend has been one of my most productive weekends in a long time. I told AB that I look forward to being moved in and settled so that I don't feel as though I have to work on that every weekend. But he asked me if that would ever happen. Would I ever feel as though my house was decorated and each room complete?

Maybe, but I don't envision it happening terribly soon.

I jumped off course on my monthly tasks to address each room. September was to be the garage. And it has been, and still is. And because the garage isn't terribly fun, I haven't been a rallying force behind AB on this one.

I also had planned to paint Skadi's room. And I really would like to pick out colors in the next week and then maybe tackle that either next weekend or the weekend after that. Skadi is excited for it, she asks for her walls to be painted "pink, pink, pink, pink and blue" (the ceiling is the blue one). The time has just been short though. Still I would like to get to this sooner rather than later as things start amassing in her room.

This morning Leif (since he had lost Wii privileges) spent a good portion of the morning helping me put together our new dining room table. He is getting to that age where he can be a real help. And he even seemes to enjoy it. It took us about an hour and AB's assistance at one point to lift the table tops and flip the table over, but we did it.

The table came from Ikea and addresses me "need" for a table where I can seat more than 4 people. You never know what you are going to get from Ikea. Some stuff is super and some is utter crap. Must to my amazement, the table (despite not being my first choice in stain) is super. AB even likes it and I admitted that ignoring the price, it is probably nearly exactly what I would have aimed to buy had I had 5x this much to spend.

"No tablecloths," AB said. "I like the wood. I want one of those runner things too before you put anything in the middle, I don't want it getting scratched up."

Fully extended it would have to sit diagonal in our dining room. With the leaves it seats "10 people", though I suspect it is more like 12-14. I also bought a bench to go on one side instead of chairs. In fact, I haven't purchased chairs yet because for now I can seat 4 on the bench if need be (ok, four kids or four of my friends with skinny butts), three of anyone else. Then I can walk the four dining room chairs from the other table over. The matching Ikea chairs weren't terribly comfortable and emitted an air of cheapness that the table did not. I hope to buy some chairs that might dress it up a little and blend the style of the table with the rest of the furniture in the front two rooms.

Piles of laundrey done, table put together, a few boxes unpacked, Skadi's room organized and summer clothes put away, food made... it was an eventful weekend!

Walked right into that one

In the car on the way home Leif said something funny.

Me: "I sure am lucky that God gave me you instead of some other kid who isn't nearly so funny!"

Leif: (Silent for a little while.) "God gave me to you?"

Me: "Yes, I believe you were picked just for daddy and me."

Leif: "God put me in your belly? How did God put me in your belly?"

Me: "Umm, well" (Stammering and deciding to ignore the later question.) "Yes and no."

Leif: "Then you lied?"

Me: "No, I didn't lie. I believe that God picked you to be in my belly and to be my little boy."

Leif: "Oh ok. I don't remember being with God. How long was I with God?"

Me: "I don't know." (Wow, this is tough.)

Leif: "Where was I hanging out with God? In the sky?"

Me: "In God's kingdom."

Leif: "So I went from God's kingdom, then he decides I move from his kingdom to your belly and then I come out at the hospital?"

Me: "Umm, yep, I think so."

--------

Me: "I had the weirdest conversation with Leif today."

AB: "What was it?"

Me: (Repeat the above first two lines.)

AB: "You walked right into that one and I cannot help you at all!!"

One of the many reasons I love my son

Leif woke up this morning and there was some change in his bed. I am sure it fell out of AB’s pocket the night before when he read stories. Leif was not so convinced.

Leif: “MOMMY! The tooth fairy came!!”

Me: “What?” (It was still early.)

Leif: “The tooth fairy came, see!” (He holds up the 42 cents he found in his bed.)

Me: “No, I don’t think so. You didn’t lose any teeth yet, I bet it fell out of daddy's pocket last night when he read to you.”

Leif: “Check mom! Look in my mouth and see if I lost any teeth last night!”

Me: “Nope, I don’t see any missing.”

Leif: “Oh, I bet she just decided to check in and prepare me.”

Me: “That’s probably it.”

A Conversation with a Seattle Starbucks Barista

Me: "I would like two kids chocolate milks with ice and whip."

Barista: "Do you want a flavor in those?"

Me: "A flavor?" (Thinking this is unique, I have never been asked about a flavor on chocolate milks before... would Leif drink a raspberry chocolate milk?)

Barista: (Looking at me like I am an idiot.) "Yes, a flavor, do you want a flavor in those."

Me: "Nope, just chocolate milks please."

Barista: "Then yes, you do want a flavor." (Rolls her eyes.)

Me: "You mean chocolate counts as a flavor in chocolate milk?"

Barista: "Yes, it does. Otherwise it would just be milk." (She says as she picks up two hot cups.)

Me: "Chocolate milks please, not hot cocoa."

Barista: (Doesn't pay attention.)

AB: "Why is she starting hot drinks?"

Me: (Shrugs.) "I have no idea."

Barista: (Rings up hot cocoas.)

Me: "If you are going to make those hot, would you make them 100 degrees please."

Barista: "Since it is a kids' drink we don't make them as hot."

Me: "I know that. I order a few a week during the winter, which is why I also know that my kids will whine if they aren't 100 degrees since you never listened to me the first time around when I said CHOCOLATE MILK WITH ICE!"

Barista: (Picks up the cups and writes a HUGE 100F on them and slams them to the counter. HUGE eye roll) "Anything else ma'am?"

Me: "A grande non-fat pumpkin spice please, two oatmeals with brown sugar only, a pumpkin loaf and a brewed coffee."

Any surprise that my latte was super heated, my oatmeals had everything BUT brown sugar? Of course how can you get back at me with pumpkin loaf and brewed coffee? Those were the only things I ordered that came as ordered.

I am a HUGE Starbucks fan. You kind of have to be in Washington state and especially given that we have a number of spots, even in our smallish town, where there are Starbucks in stores and freestanding on the same blocks. My kids know Starbucks and learned about Starbucks long before they ever learned about McDonalds.

Don't act like *I* am the stupid tourist who has no idea what I am ordering.

(Stepping off pedestal now.)

Or maybe this is my favorite...

This one was a complete accident. But so very perfect. Now I will go to bed.

My favorite

I didn't get a ton of great pictures this weekend. And so many of Leif have him with the cheese grin. But I did get this one and it's my favorite from the entire weekend I think. More later, but just this one for now because I am tired.

Q & A with L & S

I dated a guy once whose parents asked he and his brother questions when they were kids and then wrote down what they said. I always thought this was a cool thing and the insight gained from how my kids respond is both hilarious and at times very enlightening!

Me: "Leif why is the sky blue?"

Leif: "Because that's the color it's supposed to be."

Me: "Skadi why is the sky blue?"

Skadi: "It's NOT BLUE, it's YELLOW!" (See what I mean... this says so much.)

Leif: "Did I get it right?"

Me: "Yes, I guess you got it right."

Skadi: "GUYS! I said it's not blue, it's YELLOW!"

Me: "Okay Skadi. Leif, why does it rain?"

Leif: "Well see first the clouds get full of water and so full they are about to burst and then they explode! And when they explode, the water comes out as rain called evaporation."

Me: "You mean condensation, right?"

Leif: (Breaking into song.) "The water travels in a cycle yes it does... the water travels in a cycle yes it does, it goes up in evaporation and comes down in condensation - yes mommy! You are right, condensation!"

Skadi: (Not to be outdone in the singing department...)"Old MacDonald had a farm EIEIO..."

Me: "Leif where are you going to live when you are a grown up?"

Leif: "Is elephant meat a protein? I think it's a protein. Is it a protein mommy?"

Me: "Yes, elephant would be a protein, but I imagine it would be really tough."

Leif: "Well I want to hunt elephants this afternoon and if I catch one you can cook elephant meat for dinner, okay?"

Me: "I think you would have to go a long ways from home to hunt elephants."

Leif: "Nope, just to Antarctica for snow elephants."

Me: "Skadi what is your favorite animal?"

Skadi: "SNOW elephants!"

Me: "Leif, what is your favorite animal?"

Leif: "Bears cause I saw one remember last summer in Alaska."

Me: "Yep, we saw bears."

Leif: "A bear would eat a snow elephant."

Skadi: (Screams.) "NO YOU CAN'T EAT MY FAVORITE ANIMAL!"

Me: "Ok, no one is going to eat a snow elephant."

(Silence.)

Skadi: "I have a baby in my tummy."

Me: "Nope, only mommies get babies in their tummies."

Skadi: "YES! I HAVE A BABY IN MY TUMMY!"

Me: "What's the baby's name?"

Skadi: "Little baby."

Me: "You could name her Skadi Jeanne."

Skadi: "I the ONLY Skadi Jeanne."

Me: "You are right about that."

Leif: "When Niranjana and Cate have my babies, they will have twins like Ms. Amanda and we will all live at our house with our babies."

Me: "Yikes. I guess you finally did answer my question though."