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| Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 | | 6:50 am |
Howl's Moving Castle
We watched Howl's Moving Castle on Monday. It's been out for a while, I don't know why we didn't see it sooner. The previews didn't really do it justice, and although I LOVE the Chrestomanci books and HMC is by the same author, and we really like Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away, and the same guy did the animation for this one...we didn't see it until Monday, what can I say? Anyway, it was rad. Dianne Wynne Jones has a thing for psychedelic bedrooms and I thought it was neat to see that come through in the artist's rendition of Howl's. Charles and I must have said 5 times before/during the movie that it was a book written by the same author as Chrestomanci, but as I tucked Caileen into bed, she asked, "Why did Sophie keep the grey hair after the spell was broken"? I said, "If you read the book, I bet you'll find out." "It's a book?!" heh | | Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 | | 12:07 pm |
Unbread unbread unbread
Well, it's a bit damp and spongey in the middle. I think cooking it in the oven might help this. Trying to get the sort of air holes and lift that wheat bread has is damned tricky though. Bread is serious chemistry. I almost flunked chemistry.... Currently I am wondering if there is a way to combine the instant lift of soda/powder with the slow lift of yeast. The bagels sort of work this way, but I don't plan on boiling all my bread. It doesn't taste bad though. | | Saturday, November 21st, 2009 | | 1:13 pm |
| | Sunday, November 15th, 2009 | | 4:38 pm |
Kitchen Adventures
I usually have a pot of lavender going during the summer, but it always croaks around the end of August when things get really blasted by the sun. This year I planted it all along the walk though, and it's been flowering since Halloween. I love useful plants. It's pretty, but we've been putting it in everything: tea, baths, goat stew...mmmm lavender. As I said, I've never had any before, so I expected it to be more floral, but it's actually quite pine-y, like a mix of sage and rosemary and mint. It's halfway through November, and the jack o'lanterns are going off, so I've started cooking them. I got 4 cups of pumpkin out of one rather small jack o'lantern. I was making pumpkin bread and figured I'd just multiply the recipe by however much pumpkin I wound up with, so now we have a ton of pumpkin bread. I also made another attempt at gluten free bagels. The first time, following the recipe exactly, I wound up with something so dry it wasn't even dough. I had to add rather a lot of water and I still can't figure out how all the reviewers who said "made it just like the recipe!" got it to work. Charles was a good sport and said they were edible toasted. This time I used an all purpose baking flour mix instead and, though I didn't change ANYTHING else, the dough was actually sticky without adding ANY water at all. A strange fact about gluten free breads...the way all mammalian embryos go through a state where they look like fish...all gluten free breads go through a period where they look like matzo balls. It's warm today, and the back door is open. Winter hasn't even gotten here yet, and I'm already looking forward to spring. | | Sunday, November 1st, 2009 | | 4:59 pm |
Happy Halloween
Show us your teeth!  Your teeth!  Max was a dragon:  Roar!  Dada was foxy:  | | Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 | | 6:47 pm |
| | Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 | | 8:08 pm |
Stuff
Daycare can't get Max to take bottles, so after much fighting, during school hours, he is milk free. We will probably be weaned in 6 months. This is acceptable, if not what I was planning. Max has shoes. His Frankenstein walk is ridiculously cute. He likes raspberries. He goes down the slide in the backyard and then checks the raspberry bush to see if it has made more berries. Everything he wants is "Juice?" Caileen has cut her hair. A largish patch in the front is about an inch and a half long. The rest of it my mother had cut in a bob a la Prince Valiant. Caileen doesn't want it any shorter, so we can't just pixie it. She's going into 6th grade. Sixth grade somehow doesn't seem that long ago, while at the same time seeming like forever ago. Life needs to give me a break. I think I'm a pretty good sport, but I'm not a glutten for punishment. I live in a constant state of stress. I cannot relate to normal banter. People post things, and I think of something that pertains to it, and then can't be bothered to post it because I don't care if you know what's on my mind or what my opinion is. Nothing matters. Talk doesn't matter. Action. Action, action action. It's great when you've been broke forever, and you're busting your ass, and someone else tells you how they were making twice your salary by the time they were 21. And not to be an asshole; just as part of a legitimate conversation. Yup. I am okay, but I am also about as depressed as I have ever been. When I was young, and I was depressed, it was because I thought I was missing Life, and Life was a Great Thing. Life lately seems like a rather lousy joke. It doesn't even deserve capital letters, see? There's nothing to look forward to, it doesn't matter what I loved to do or was passionate about or had to say. Seriously, the world doesn't give a fuck. What matters is whether I can support myself. The part that should matter changes several times a day. Individuality should matter; individuality is a past time for jerks with more time and more money than me. | | Sunday, August 2nd, 2009 | | 10:59 am |
| | Monday, July 27th, 2009 | | 4:45 pm |
Can we skip July?
Max will be a year old in two days. Charles and I had a stomach thing all weekend and I stayed home today to take care of various things that didn't get done on the weekend/required being home on a week day. The Essex County College admissions office is fired. None of their email addresses work, I had to wait 10 minutes to talk to someone in admissions, and when they transferred me "to a counselor" - I got a generic mailbox to nowhere and they didn't call me back. Maybe they're owned by PSE&G or something. I like powertools, but using them when it's 90 degrees out = stupid mistakes. I made a replacement window for the garage but managed to break the plexiglass too big. Then there wasn't enough left to just break it neatly again so I had to do lots of little fine tunings. My pilot holes were too small, and I forgot to dry fit the sucker, so it does not slide nicely into the hole (close, but will need some sandpaper or something). Also, I am beat. Husbands who make brownies and arroz con pollo are excellent. I'm beat. | | Saturday, July 18th, 2009 | | 8:10 pm |
And might I add...
Facebook and Myspace don't do it for me. Myspace is just obnoxious to try to read - the only reason to be there is if you're a band. Facebook, my god, it's like a social network JUST for the people who were obnoxious on LJ. Quizzes, what you ate for lunch, and pictures of yourself. If you don't have anything to say, please just don't say it. Granted facebook has been the best for finding people I was out of touch with, but beyond that, it drives me nuts. (Arrgh) Actually, that reminds me, I hear that pirates don't say "ARRRRR" in French. What do they say then? | | Friday, July 10th, 2009 | | 8:26 pm |
update
I took a 3 day Unix/Linux Fundamentals class this week. I didn't get very lost and actually used some of what I learned to make sense of something today, so I'm pleased. Actually, I could probably get really into computer languages if I let myself - trying to make them do what you want is like a puzzle, and my OCD totally kicks in. But, that's not what I do, so, I may not take the next classes on Korn and Bash scripting. Yesterday my insane neighbor (not the one with the radio, but the one who painted a picture of Kimora Lee Simmons in the hopes of getting in to meet her...) turned up in the park with a pit bull which he let run up to Umbra, snapping, while Max was right there in the stroller. I yelled at him, and he got all in my face and told me I should "stay with my husband in my castle because you acted all nice, but now I see you're just a god." Um...okay. Anyway, I made a police report because, while I don't have anything against pit bulls, I do have a problem with dogs that snap at my dog and people who let their dogs do that kind of crap. I love my house, but some of my neighbors, I could seriously do without. Max and I played outside tonight. He pushed his stroller around and got in his wading pool to see if there was any water in it. I put a berry in his bowl (he was carrying it around) and he walked away eating it saying "mmmmm." When it was gone, he came back to the raspberry plant for more berries, and then he'd wander around "mmmm" ing again. Then he tried to pick a tomato. | | Monday, May 25th, 2009 | | 1:59 pm |
Won't you stop being my neighbor?
My neighbor is twice my age. He's got one kid older than Caileen and one younger. They're basically good kids, and he has good intentions for them, but dammit sometimes the guy can be so ghetto. He blasts disco and light rock from his garage ALL DAY even when he's not outside. I like to hear the wind and the birds and maybe my kids playing. I'm not out their blasting Sex Pistols or Slayer, you know? A little fucking consideration? I'm considering burying earth magnets when I put the back garden beds in...they'd work from 15 feet away, right? | | Sunday, May 24th, 2009 | | 7:37 am |
War of the roses.
I have yellow climbing roses (Lemon Meringue) in front of my house. I've never had roses before, and didn't even like them much as cut flowers before I planted these. When I got them, they were dormant twigs of course, and it was hard to know (even having read the description) that they'd blossom into 14 foot monsters with thorns like cat claws. Don't get be wrong, they're wonderful. They're rebloomers and they go all summer with very little attention; they smell wonderful, and they're forgiving of my refusal to spray them and desperate pruning out of season when they grow into something they ought not to (the roof, the mailbox, the walkway, the porch). They have trellises, but I underestimated the plant and didn't secure them well enough. A few weeks ago, the rose on the end simply picked up its trellis and fell over the path. Charles lassoed it with some twine and secured it in a closed window until I could get out there and address things properly. Yesterday, I did battle with the roses - I had to use a hacksaw to get the old trelllis off, and just getting behind the rose bushes was quite an adventure. Then, I had to tie it to the new trellis (which is buried deeper and has bricks on its feet this time), and you can't tie knots in gloves, so I look like I got in a fight with pack of feral cats. The roses look good though ;) We took down the pool last weekend and are putting it out to be taken away bit by bit. The backyard is no longer filled with an unusable rusting pool, which is an improvement, however it is now filled with gravel and ugly fence, which isn't great. I have Grand Plans for this space, and eventually it too will look great (I love my front garden, but I have to sit on my stoop to enjoy it). But first, I have to fix my garage roof, put siding on it, and replace the fences. Being skint, it will be a while before these things happen. In the meantime, of course, I could fill it with potted things, but potted plans in gravel still look pretty ghetto. I have some vines I could let go on the existing fence, but I'm trying not to do anything that will make it harder to fix the things that need fixing. Charles is right: I am stubborn and impulsive. I am wondering how hard it could possibly be to re-roof a garage :P Yesterday, I spray painted the porch door. Now it is white instead of white with scratches and rust. I know it's a little thing, but it was driving me nuts, since we fixed the porch up years ago and the door still looked like heck. Charles says that if you stand in front of the door when the light is just so, you can see that it's been spray painted and it looks lame. I agree the finish isn't perfect, but I never stand in front of our door and scrutinize it that much, so I still think it's an improvement. Caileen is home this weekend - she went to a birthday party yesterday and they played freeze dance to Michael Jackson, so she was very pleased. She played flute in her school concert. She also banged her knee up rather badly, but it'll be okay. Max has THREE top teeth and is doing lots of standing. He can climb up the stairs, although he isn't careful, so mostly this means you have to either follow him or foil him when stairs are present. He is a funny funny little man. | | Sunday, April 26th, 2009 | | 10:52 am |
Is it spring now?
I wore my coat to work beginning of last week - today we had to put the ACs in. Every year we battle the lawn trying to achieve grass. I can grow flowers, but grass is darned tricky stuff. So once again we're pulling up crab grass and reseeding. Yesterday I dug a border along our walk. More flowers; less grass. I've installed some lavender, and will probably add at least some yellow annuals. Charles suggested putting some of the creeping rosemary in there. It's not hardy to our zone, but I have a pot of it by the steps and it does smell really great, so maybe I will. I want some every year anyway - it might as well go there. I love this time of year. Walking around in the sun without a coat - everything is blooming and green. My brother is going to come over and help knock down the pool deck soon and we can start getting the back yard ready for plants. The PSE&G man fixed the washer (baby sock in the pump as we suspected) and today I am doing ALL the laundry. I'm very happy to be doing laundry actually because the alternative (lots of laundry which requires a trip to the laundromat and $20 in quarters) was really crappy. | | Sunday, April 19th, 2009 | | 6:27 pm |
a weekend of many accomplishments...
Caileen passed her first belt test! On Thursday, everyone did their test, and she was upset because she thought she messed up her kata, and Sensei said they had to come back on Saturday and some people would have to try again. When we got there though, he said she and one other kid didn't have to go again at all and she ended up scoring 26 out of 30 points. She's a yellow belt with an orange stripe! (She also asked to do the kata over and they let her at the end after they'd awarded the belts).  Apparently part of getting a belt is getting thumped in the stomach. She didn't like that part so much, but she was a trooper. And... Today was the Cherry Blossom Festival and Charles sold clean out of parasols. There's not one left. The one with the octopus went to a guy in the circus (with rad striped pants) and the one with the oni went to a guy with a matching tattoo! Thanks go to Marc for helping Charles man the stall all day (he was an excellent parasol salesman). Caileen dressed up in her kimono to help hawk parasols and had her picture taken a gajillion times.  Now there is banana bread in the oven. | | Monday, April 6th, 2009 | | 5:44 pm |
Rain
Why does it always rain on days when I have time to garden, and get beautiful on days I have to work? Bah. The washer pump broke last weekend. I cleverly added the washer to my PSE&G worry free contract, but apparently there have been a lot of "clever" people lately so they make you wait 15 days before you can break anything. We go through a lot of laundry. Last week Charles hauled it all across the street to the laundromat and back. Even without drying the stuff it was $20. I waited all winter itching to plant things. Now suddenly it is April and I'm not ready. Max has a cold. He is into everything and really wants to walk. He dances now, which is super cute. We finally got Caileen to a doctor to address the ADD. We have a plan of action, we shall see how it goes. It is murderously difficult to make appointments though. We waited two months for this one after a different doctor flaked. I've been catching up with childhood friends. I didn't make a big effort to catch up with people after NOLA because people were in such a different place. Everyone else was just going to college and moving out of their parents' house, and I was married with a baby. The week before last, I saw a girl I hadn't seen since she was 13 and I was 11. She actually turned out rather gothy. She also went through a metal phase. I wonder what the odds are of two kids raised by classical musicians getting into Slayer? Saturday I caught up with someone I'd not seen since middle school. SHE hasn't changed at all. It's very odd to remember someone as a child and see them as an adult. It's like that game you play where you blindfold someone and have them smell and orange while eating an apple or something. Charles found a place you can download Greek lectures and has kindly put them on my ipod. | | Sunday, March 15th, 2009 | | 9:25 pm |
Out of the mouths of babes...
Max can definitely say "Umbra." He said it about 4 times yesterday, 2 of which were while looking directly at the dog. He also says "boom boom" fairly consistently while banging blocks together, and if you tell him "boom boom" he'll bang whatever he's holding. He can clap. I swear he said "hi" back to me from his highchair Saturday, and Charles is fairly sure he says "dada" occasionally, although it's hard for me to be sure with that one because it sounds so much like the generic babbling that he does when he wants attention. He is very into pulling himself up to shuffle things around in his toy box. He bumps his head a lot on things though, despite our best efforts at catching him, and I'm somewhat concerned he'll have black eyes for the next month until he masters standing. Out of the mouth of great danes comes lots of slobber, a great frothy bit of which has adhered to the computer screen. Ew. | | 9:31 am |
| | Monday, March 9th, 2009 | | 7:39 pm |
The world is not enough...
Crawling forward is not good enough. We must learn to stand. We must learn to jump and dance. We must learn it Right Now! Max is going to be disappointed when he finds out people can't fly. He can also clap and feed himself pieces of things in his seat. Granted lots of the pieces wind up in his shirt, sleeves and seat, but some go in his mouth too. The Bloomfield public access channel has a show produced by the highschoolers called "Madman Ravioli." It is arguably the best thing on television. They aren't on YouTube, but they're on MySpace. "He's got magic maaarbles..." | | Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 | | 7:54 pm |
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