I have a friend named Anna. She is amazing. She is kind, hilarious, fun and complex. She sings, makes art and makes a lot of people laugh. Unfortunately, for her friends, she moved to Germany last summer with her new husband and we miss her terribly. She has a wonderful little blog, she’s taken to finding treasures in Germany and sells them on an Etsy shop. Check her out. I even won something from a giveaway of hers and I never win anything. Besides that, she is somebody everyone should know. (Photo by Anna/Dom)
I can often be in a food rut, cooking the same things and not trying new recipes. So when I have the opportunity to cook for friends, I leap at the opportunity. I love entertaining. But I also have trouble coming up with a good menu. With a helpful tip from here I tried her method, simply cooking what sounds good. I used freshly baked bread from Grand Central Bakery, Ina’s Provencal Vegetable Soup (it was stormy weather), and topped it all off with a french apple cake, which was heavenly. But the star for me was the salad. Champagne vinegar, finely diced shallots, juicy oranges from my sister in law (who got them from her mothers tree!). I made it again two days later with burgers and scallion mashed potatoes. Delightful.
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So, sometimes I get these weird thoughts, for example, that I am being lazy or that I don’t do much in life. Today I was thinking that way, so I decided to do a little experiement. It went a little like this:
0730 Dragged myself out of bed (shoot, I am already running late)
0735 Make breakfast for the kids — HA! cheerios it is.
0740 Make Addy’s lunch
0745 Dress owen, and ask addy 12 times to get dressed
0750 yell at addy to brush her teeth
0755 Quickly brush addy’s hair, put on coats and grab backpack
0800 Load owen in stroller and walk to school, thank god it’s not raining
0810 Arrive at school, walk adds to classroom
0815 Complete form at office
0820 Walk home
0830 Arrive home, make a coffee and toast (ahhh)
0845 Put away laundry (finally)
0915 Talk to SIL on phone
0920 - 0930 Strip addy’s bed, switch the laundry, rewash laundry since I forgot the soap
0940 Make owen PB&J #1
0945 Update bills, yuck
0958 Call a lady about a thing for my mom
1000 balance checking account, leave VM for my dad
1007 call sister, hang up before VM (I have issues)
1015 Start DVD player for owen, good mom!
1040-1115 Dad calls back
1115 Stop doing taxes becuase it is annoying me
1120 ”Help” owen pick up the books he knocked down while he was climbing on the desk
1130 make 2nd cup of coffee (this is gonna hurt)
1135 Make PBJ #2
1145 Pretend to eat Owen to make him giggle endlessly, sigh
1147 Help owen to the bathroom, since recently he’s been peeing ON his pants
1150 Unload the dishwasher, curse the landlord for having a shitty dishwasher
1155 Put owen down for nap, thank god for naps, thank god for little boys who still nap
1200 Finish the dishes, grrr.
1201 Remind Owen that nap time is currently underway
1205 Make a sandwich on the last 2 slices of good bread (it’s the small things really)
1210 Remind Owen, again, that it is nap time — was I saying something about him napping well?
1211 Throw out moldy apple butter, bummer
1215 Regret the decision to have a 2nd cup of coffee
I think you get the drift. The thing is, I’m not complaining. It’s been a great day peaceful, quiet and with a little bit of sunshine. BUT, it is totally ridiculous to think I do nothing. Also, I must thank my husband who does the aforementioned on more days than I. Lub you.
She is now fever free and headed back to school after a bout of sickness, and on a field trip day (score!). Card for her teacher tucked in her backpack, lunch made, and hair brushed with time to spare (shock!) — she put on a tattoo. We asked her, “What’s the Number One rule of school?” She thought for a second and said,
“don’t cough on other kids.”
Actually, I think we were going more for “be kind to others,” but I think what she said falls in to that category. Although I think it’s fair if she wants to cough on the mean kids, you know like cough ‘em with kindness.
I’m sitting in the corner of my kitchen, sipping coffee and soaking in the sunshine, a definite rarity in the northwest winter. It’s one of those moments you feel you could cry, just from the peace of the moment. AA Bondy is playing and Owen told me he likes this song, he has good taste obviously. Life has been full of nothing, and something, of late. Nothing new, or too exciting, but good. A string of lovely moments; watching Adalyn read, hearing Owen thank me for cleaning the bathroom, my lovely husband managing the house and kids. I am thinking, trying to remind myself of my promise to myself this year. My resolution of sorts. It’s not a thing necessarily, but more an idea. I picked one word to live by this year, a difficult and somewhat cheesy task. I read about the idea from the Happiness Project and it sat well with me, despite that I don’t really care for the word happy. I always feel like I am trying to make myself happier just by saying the word. I’m ok with not always being happy, instead focusing on contentment or fulfillment. For now, I will be shy and keep my word to myself. But it is there, ruminating and challenging me in all the right ways.
.
by katherine on January 30, 2011
in books
I am currently reading Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin, I’d recommend it if you’re interested. It makes me want to be in New york right now, just walking around the streets, drinking coffee and watching the snow fall. I realize it is snowy and most likely miserable this time of year, nonethless, I would welcome the flurries, the cold, and the proximity of a few missed friends. For now I will just daydream about our next adventure to new york, whenever that may be.
by katherine on January 14, 2011
in life, owen
I am an admitted neat freak. I realize the hilarity of this, two kids, full time job, messy husband — it’s like an accident waiting to happen. I don’t blame my husband too much though. Growing up in his house they had this thing called “red alert” which simply means run around like crazy and hide the mess. Very productive stuff. While I still get stressed with clutter and try my best to have things neat and clean, overall I feel more tempered now. The dishes will get done, the floor will get swept and the toys will get put away, if only to come out again. In the meantime, I make sure to throw on shoes to avoid the crumbs, kick the toys into piles and put all the dirty laundry in the garage. For now, it works. But, what won’t wait is my kids, their sweetness and youth, their desire to play with me and ask me for hugs. So I try to play more, relax more, and allow things to flex. This morning, I really just wanted to get some stuff done but Owen wanted me to play trains. Begrudgingly I sat down at the little table and the trains started racing. But as all trains do, they got hungry. So we stopped for a lunch break, and what do you know there sat a bunch of crumbs on the table, ready to be gobbled up. So you see, the mess is good, and delicious too.
I am a total weenie. One might think my career path would make me more suitable for this type of process, but I couldn’t even attempt to pull it out. So naturally she and her dad did it. They tied dental floss to it, she did the first tug and he did the second. Out it popped, a tiny little thing really. My big strong girl, full of bravery. Upon receiving her $1 bill this morning, she exclaimed, “A dollar! But I don’t want a dollar, I really wanted a doggy collar.” Uh. Ok, but we don’t have a dog.
I’d just like to state that my keyboard has a broken ”y”. That’s a tragedy. I just copied and pasted like 50 “y’s” to this post, realllllyyyyy annoying. A couple extra, just for emphasis.
I totally gave in this Christmas. I made cookies, marshmallows (three batches!), doughnuts, and cinnamon rolls, twice. And now I feel sick, and in need of a lot of broccoli and exercise. But it was so worth it. And I really needed that (debatable) in the midst of all the dying. Side note, I did some pear canning this winter (think labor intensive and poke your eyes out). Featured above: Bosc vanilla bean pears and a lovely d’Anjou pear juice. Both are wonderful and worth all the work! If you are a canner and want the recipes, let me know.
You know the funny thing is, in the month of December I worked 10 shifts out of 31 days. On the outset, that seems pretty easy, but in reality the month of December kicked my ass. I am so glad it is over. We had a few really nice moments, zoo lights and Christmas Eve dinner with my brother and his family, a quiet Christmas morning with our kids, and lots of family time. Now I find myself exhausted from the events and ready to regroup. I’d like to set out new goals for 2011, but for now I will keep these thoughts swirling in my decongestant infused/throat lozenged brain and hold them for another time. I assume you don’t want to read goals that read, “go back to bed now” and “must find tylenol pm.”
Instead, I extend a heartfelt, Happy New Year. I hope this year holds many things for you, my dear friends and family. I have said it privately, so I will say it publicly, thank you for being there for me last year, either in “reading spirit” or in friendship. I am so very thankful.
