musical monday: take a look

Twenty-eight years ago, PBS's Reading Rainbow debuted. Okay, so the actual date was July 1, so I'm a bit late, but I wanted to save the song for today.


"Old School Reading Rainbow Theme"

Ah, LeVar, how in love I was.

I know that I have posted on this before, but here it is again. The love runs deep here. This and Mister Roger's Neighborhood were my two favorite PBS shows when I was growing up. I always wanted to be one of those kids at the end who got to introduce the books they were currently into.

blog bliss

I often think it might be nice if the some of the bloggers I read stopped blogging. Not "nice" in that I don't thoroughly enjoy reading these blogs, but "nice" in that I'd have a bit more time to do other things (find new blogs?). However, when people do stop writing, I can't help but feel a bit sad.*

Anyhow, a blog I really enjoy recently seemed to come to an end. I kept checking back, just in case, but the blog seemed to have turned into something of a pit of spam. This morning, though? Blankie Chronicles is back in a new incarnation: A Life Like This One! Yea!

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* I'm looking at you, Coach J, although I'm happy for you that you no longer need the outlet -- but I sincerely enjoy your writing.


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Edited to add: Oh, no! It looks like Good Things Catered also no longer exists. I'm glad I saved so many of her recipes. I thought it might be coming as she was posting less and less. I'm sure I have plenty of other food blogs on my blog roll, but I'll miss Katie's posts. [12/7/10]

on united states' public education

I really needed to hear this right now, and thanks to Poke, I did. This speech is awesome. The fact that this student gave this speech in front of her classmates, her teachers and the administrators makes it even better.


"Finest Graduation Speech Ever Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Indoctrination Schooling"

I can so relate to this, even though I was not valedictorian.

I really wonder what her audience got out of this? I wonder if they went home and kept thinking about it?

some bakehouse love

The other day, as we were finishing up our lunch, a news-cameraman came into 5th St. Bakehouse. Here's the result of that filming:


[From KTVN, one of our local news stations. We're not in this video, which is obvious if you know us. Cardo and I are a bit camera shy (although Pic is definitely not) and we left before the cameraman really got down to work.]

The people there, especially Dan and Rosa, have been so awesome each time we've gone in. We're hoping they prosper.

I've still only had the sandwiches and ice cream there, but one day, I'll not be too stuffed to have an empanada or a scone or something.

'who are the people in your neighborhood?'

Yesterday, as I mentioned, Pic and I went on one of our epic treks (we left home, had some adventures, faced some obstacles (maybe), returned home...). The main purpose of our walk was, unsurprisingly if you know me, food-related. As I was skimming through the most recent issue of the Reno News and Review, I saw a small add for the 5th St. Bakehouse. Anything bakery-related catches my eye. I was especially pleased to know that this place is within walking distance for us.

We found this small place with relative ease (I really, really don't have a sense of general geography, or something). The moment we walked in, we were greeted. I'm pretty jaded when it comes to customer/guest service. I'm entirely too used to being ignored or stared at. I really dislike having to initiate conversation when I enter a place of business. This, I believe, comes from my own experience in retail work and restaurant work. I learned that you needed to make sure people were greeted, cordially, in a matter of seconds. Anyhow...

Pic, being very personable, started talking with the chef. We were offered a sample of their homemade sorbet and Pic tried the strawberry lemonade sorbet. She ended up having this, along with a side order or mixed fruit and some greens from my salad. The breakfast and lunch menu is really pretty small: two items, I think, for breakfast, and four for lunch. None of the menu items are suitable for vegetarians, either, as everything includes meat. A couple of notes, though: in addition to the egg dishes and sandwiches, the bakehouse has scones, brownies, cheesecake, cookies, buns and more. There was something that looked like a strawberry shortcake parfait in the case with the mixed fruit. I didn't ask about that, though. The other note: I'm pretty sure that if I wanted just a tomato, mushroom, greens, cheese sandwich, they'd make it for me.

At first, I wasn't sure that I'd want anything from the menu. I'm not much of a meat eater. Also, I'm not a fan of spicy. And, I don't like the taste of eggs (I like eggs baked into things and I even like egg drop soup, but I don't like eggy-tasting things). That left me with either getting a baked good or sorbet or fruit, like Pic. I was really hungry, though, so I figured I'd try something new. I went for the chuck roast sandwich. The sandwich comes with caramelized onions, and I'm also not a fan of onions that aren't green. I've been trying to acquire a taste for onions lately, in an effort to incorporate a wider variety of fruits and vegetables into my life. After discussing the onion issue with the server, R, I opted to have the sauteed mushrooms and onions put on the side of my plate. I ended up eating them on the sandwich anyway and it was a really good sandwich. So good. My sandwich came with a small mixed greens salad. As we were leaving, our server offered Pic another sample of sorbet -- this time the mango. It was a generous sample. (I was offered samples also, but I was pretty full after my sandwich, salad and some of Pic's fruit.)

Pic and I decided that we'd definitely be back. She wanted to bring Papi today, so we did. I had the same sandwich, everything prepared together this time. I probably won't be eating any more red meat for a while, as I don't eat much of it on a regular basis, but I now have an alternative for burgers, which never seems to satisfy me. I'll be having chicken tomorrow, as a friend is generously making a Greek chicken salad that sounds delicious (chicken, feta, tomatoes, onions...I'm not sure what else, we'll see) and sharing with us. Then, I'll be back to beans and such for a few days.

Cardo also enjoyed today's lunch and we'll all be back again. The bakehouse opened just under two months ago. I hope they do well. The people who work there are just awesome. I hope that level of service and friendliness never lapses.

The bakehouse also offer a variety of coffee drinks and they have free wi-fi, so if you're a coffee sipper and/or a mobile 'net surfer, you can hang out there with your coffee and blogs.

Next up (which really means 'eventually'), we are going to try Pierino's, a little Italian restaurant/pizzeria near the bakehouse.

Any other local recommendations for us?

eating simply

I have had about, oh, zero desire to cook or bake in the last few days. I haven't really had much interest in food at all. I despise phases like this. I hope to come out of it soon. I'll have to thumb through my bookmarked cookbook pages and the many, many, many recipes I have saved on the computer. Inspiration...I'm here waiting.

In the meantime, I started today off pretty simply:


My smoothie this morning was spectacularly purple; my camera was not up to capturing the vibrant hue. Ah, well. Today's smoothie: banana, strawberries, cherries, blackberries, spinach, dark chocolate chips, ice.


This bread is the "You Could Call This Sandwich Bread" from Beauty That Moves*. It was so incredibly simple to put together. I love mixing together the foamy yeast mixture with the dry ingredients, kneading the ingredients together until they form a wonderfully smooth lump of dough.

I only had one oven problem with this: my oven cooks everything too quickly. I have an oven thermometer, but that doesn't help (in fact, it often reports the oven at about twenty-five degrees lower than the temperature the dial seems to be pointing at). Uh, this just came to me...perhaps it has something to do with our altitude. I have never once, in the ten-plus years I've lived here, had to adjust a recipe for altitude, but I might need to start. How exactly does that work again? For now, I'll just cook things at a lower temperature for a longer amount of time. (With this bread, the top was browning alarmingly rapidly well before the bread should have been ready.

Anyhow, the bread is tasty. As soon as I get another needle for my sewing machine (one day), I'll be making a bread bag. I hate to put my bread in a plastic zippered bag because it gets weirdly soft. I threw my piece in the oven, under the broiler, today, so it was nice and warm and crispy.

Does anyone else have any go-to, simple, everyday-type bread recipes to share? I think I'll have to find a bread cookbook at the library on my next visit. I'd like to have a few different regular recipes at hand. (I also make Amanda's WHO Bread, but, perhaps because of the cinnamon and oatmeal, I feel like it's not so much a sandwich bread...although it could be...hmm.**)

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* The linked post includes a recipe for homemade chocolate sauce!

** I don't own a bread machine (as if I have room for anything else), so I make the non-bread-machine version of this. There is also a bread-machine version, if you have the necessary equipment.

crafty inspiration

I've seen some truly awe-inspiring uses of imagination in my blog-reading this past week. The first is from The Blankie Chronicles. I have to say that I'd love a room like this.

Also, I've just finished reading through and enjoying all of the archives of Better After and there were some excellent transformations there, too. Actually, there are a lot of excellent transformations, but I definitely have my favorites. They come in the play kitchen variety.

hello, dolly!

I'm currently reading Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. I'm very much enjoying it. I didn't know this book existed until I read about it in an NPR review, and then, about two days later, I found it at Goodwill. That was a while ago, but I'm just now getting to it.

I can hear Parton's voice as I read this book (I'm writing about her actual voice here...but her writing definitely has its own stylistic voice, also). The book was published in 1994 and I'm right now hoping that she'll write again in the coming years.

Reading this makes me want to listen to her music even more. (It also makes me want the money to purchase Dolly, a box set of her music, from my wishlist.) I just read past the part where she ends her professional relationship with Porter Wagoner and sets out on her own. This is when she wrote "Light of a Clear Blue Morning," which I love oh-so-much.


[Dolly Parton "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" (1992)] Why is "STACKED" there on the side? I'm sure there's a reason other than reference to her formidable bosom, right?

In speaking of Wagoner, she also talks about "I Will Always Love You," which she says she wrote about the break-up of their working together, not about a break-up with a lover. I remember singing this song when I was young. For a bit, I only knew it because of Whitney Houston, but then I found out it was a Parton song.

I, along with many, many others, find it funny that so many people choose this song to be played at their weddings. It helps if you listen to the lyrics, no? "Things can't really work out, so I'm going to take off now, but, well, I'll always love you." Not exactly the message one wants to hear at the beginning of a marriage. I especially love that she sings this in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. It just makes it all that much more fun when it's chosen for a wedding.


[Dolly Parton - I will always love you]

Speaking of that movie, makes me want to do a little sidestep, too, so I'll include that.

[Charles Durning in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas] He he he.

'cause she's a wild and wacky child

When it's too cold and dark to walk outside in the evenings, we often walk in the mall. This is definitely not an ideal option, but it works well enough sometimes. For about a month from Thanksgiving until after Christmas, I refuse to go into the mall, though, because I'm anti-mall-Santa (I'll not get into that now, but you might now think I'm some horrible freak...sorry).

So, it'd been a while since we'd visited our local spending palace, but a few days ago, Cardo and I decided to give it a shot. (And, I have to say that at four days after Christmas, they had yet to dismantle the Santa set-up. I didn't see anyone dressed as the jolly old (giant) elf, but, really, the set-up was still there.) For the last several months, there's been a bungee-trampoline-experience set up in one of the many open areas. Basically, there's a giant trampoline and, over that, a structure that suspends many bungee cords. Kids wishing to bounce are strapped into what looks like a climbing harness and connected to a bunch of bungee cords, the number of cords determined by the weight of the child. I'm probably doing a horrible job of explaining this, but I hope you can picture it. After the kid has removed her shoes, she's strapped into the harness, connected to some bungees and begins jumping. The person operating the...ride (?), raises the cords, allowing the child to bounce higher. This is one of Pic's favorite treats ever.

Although the wait was wonderfully long tonight, Pic opted to sit and wait and have a turn to bounce. She was growing very antsy and grumpy near the end of her wait and I was thinking she might melt down and have to miss the ride. She held it together, though, and her demeanor changed the moment she was strapped in and ready to bounce. And, oh my, is my child a ham. That's not a question. She's definitely a little ham, and I love this about her. She was having fun entertaining the crowd of waiting kids and their accompanying guardians. When she struck a very serene-looking tree pose in the middle of a bounce, though, I was lamenting that I stodgily stand by my dinky old phone sans camera. We didn't get a picture of her mid-air yoga pose, but it's an image I probably won't forget anytime soon.

On a related side-note, we love the guy who runs the ride. (I really feel weird calling it a "ride" but I don't know how else to refer to it.) He's great with kids and he's always treated us well. And, if there's no line, as often is the case when we don't happen to hit the mall in the middle of winter break, he lets the kids stay up for much longer than the posted five-minute time limit.

phil and lil

The day before yesterday, I talked to Indie on the phone. It’s been something like forever since we’ve talked, although, really, it’s only been a few months. However, it’s been a long few months. I don’t like to go that long without getting in touch. Every time that happens, I start to worry that maybe our connection will be lost. I worry that maybe our friendship has petered out and I never, ever want that to happen. I don’t believe that it will, it’s just that I become so insecure at times and I am sure that, truly, the sky is falling…or something.

So, Tuesday, we talked. I finally just called her up. And she answered. And we talked. Yes, duh, this is how this works, but I have a somewhat severe phone aversion, so it usually takes a lot for me to call someone, or answer the phone when someone calls.

And, as if to affirm our rightness as friends, even more so than our whole conversation to that point, was something of a sign, if you believe in that kind of thing. (Do I? I’m still contemplating that one. I really don’t need a sign to tell me that Indie is a great, wonderful person I always want to be friends with.) She was telling me she reads on her breaks at work. The people she usually encounters ask her, ‘What are you reading now?’ She says it’s funny because she’s been reading the same book for a while now – it’s not like she’s zipping through book after book. I asked her what books she was reading.

Sense and Sensibility.

I kid you not. Okay, so you might actually be wondering what I might be kidding about, but I am also very slowly making my way through Sense and Sensibility, as I’ve mentioned. We’re both about half-way through the book. I am purposely reading along with some others right now, although I’m sure Ms Kat and everyone else is either finished or close to it, while I’m muddling along, but I had no idea that Indie was also reading the same book until I asked her on Tuesday.

Meant to be? Definitely. We're friends for so many reasons and that just won't change. I just wish we lived closer and could actually hang out more than once every two or three years. (Yes, I’m sappy. I accept that about myself.)

homemades/handmades

I have been meaning to post forever and forever about a few handmade items I’ve acquired in the last eight months. (Why, yes, I do procrastinate.)

First, about the whole not washing my hair for five weeks over the summer. This has to do with that. Before that experiment, I switched over from regular, liquid shampoo to bar shampoo. I read about Blue House Soaps on nature moms blog and started ordering shampoo bars and face soap from them. I was very wary about the shampoo bars because I was convinced they wouldn’t really clean my hair. However, I LOVE them. And, the owners send the soaps wrapped in cute little bits of fabric. Right now, the owners are moving to a new house and they aren’t taking any new orders. I’m not sure when they will begin again, but I hope it’s soon. I have been using Dr Bronner’s All-in-One soap as shampoo for the last few months. I get that over at Whole Foods. I use both the plain one and the rose one. The face soap, though? I love the Blue House Soaps face saver soap. It’s the best face soap I’ve ever used and I’ll be sad if they don’t start making their soaps again.


I was so excited when I got these in the mail all those months ago. Also, I ordered that little wooden soap holder and they sent a free sample of soap.



This picture is from when we went to visit Poke and her family in August. I had just gotten a new order of soap. This time, I also ordered some soap for Pic. I got another free sample, but I don't have a picture.

As for the five weeks over the summer: I went no ‘poo. I used a baking soda paste on my hair, which actually did clean it, but it never felt clean enough. The instructions said it would take between two and eight weeks for my hair/scalp to get used to me no longer using shampoo. I almost made it six. I think I might try it again next summer and see if I can go until my hair feels normal to me again.

More handmade: my new pads. I’ve had them for a few months now, but I’ve had a few weird periods (which I’m sure everyone needs to know), so I still wasn’t sure if the pads were going to work out. Now I know, though, that I love them. I bought them from Crea8tiveMama on etsy, per Poke's suggestion. I’d like to get some more. I bought a starter set and a Pad My Stash set. If only I knew how to sew so much better than I do. I’m trying to talk my mom into opening an etsy shop and I keep giving her ideas about what to sell. I have no plans of ever going back to disposable pads.


(Not to worry: This is a pre-use picture. I just wanted to show off the fun designs.)


Now, just to gross you out (in case you aren’t already grossed out by the thought of cloth pads…because, believe me, Cardo is grossed out), I’m thinking about switching us over to handkerchiefs. I’m not sure how grossed out I myself will be about this prospect, but I’ll give it a go. However, what material are handkerchiefs made from? Cotton, I’m guessing, but there’s every possibility that I’m totally off on this.


Other ideas or suggestions for me?

balls; or, a night of double entendre

Tonight, I went to Furie Queene's, where she hosted a cookie exchange. First of all: Yea, cookies! Second of all: The promise of cookies made by Furie Queene! Not to be turned down, right?

You'd think, but I did hesitate. Well, actually, I immediately accepted the invitation, but as the gathering neared, I got more nervous about it. I'm a worrier. I'm not great in social situations, especially those in which I feel I need to make small-talk with people I don't know. I had many moments this morning, while I was making my own cookies for the exchange, in which I thought I'd just call and beg off. I'm glad I didn't.

I forced myself to talk to people I don't know, and I'm glad I did. I never doubted that the people who would be there would be great people, I just doubted that I'd be able to peel myself away from the wall long enough to talk to them. Let me just say, the people there were great. It helps some that I knew about half of the people there, but the people I was just meeting were so easy-going and open that it was easy to join in a conversation here and there. I'm not saying I really pushed myself, but I did a bit.

Usually, on returning home from an outing, I get this let-down sadness that I hate and that is one of the reasons I don't go out so much. I'm not feeling that sadness right now.

I'm off to watch Friends with Cardo, but, before I do...thanks Furie Queene, for being an awesome host and for getting me out of my hidey-hole.

book love

We currently have nineteen books checked out of the local library system, and two more on hold. I've also got three of a friend's checked-out books. I can't tell you how much I love libraries.

Here are some of the children's books we're particularly enjoying right now:

-- The Quiltmaker's Gift, written by Jeff Brumbeau and illustrated by Gail De Marcken. The overall message is so in-line with how I'd like to live my life (I'm working on it) and the pictures are so intricate and beautiful and we could pore over them for hours. We'll be checking out The Quiltmaker's Journey next.

-- I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, written by Alison Jackson and illustrated by Judy Schachner. Pic has had me read this to her so many times that I'll soon have it by heart. She's fascinated with it. It's wonderfully silly.

-- It's Not the Stork!: A Book about Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends, written by Robie H. Harris and illustrated by Michael Emberley. This has definitely generated much discussion, but it was also much discussion about anatomy and birth and such that led to us checking this out. Actually, the first time I checked this out was for a rhetorical theories seminar presentation. I'm still not exactly sure how we used this in the presentation and I suspect that I must have been pretty close to brain-fried by that point in that semester. However, I was happy that I had come across the book because I knew that I'd want to come back to it when Pic was a bit older.

-- With Love, Little Red Hen, written by Alma Flor Ada and illustrated by Leslie Tryon. Cardo really liked this one. I have to admit that I think I like it, but I'm not exactly sure, as I was reading it aloud with my mind half elsewhere. We still have it and I'll read it again before I turn it in to the library. I think it would be a great book for introducing letter-writing. Also, it would be cool (I just said 'cool' like I'm ten-years-old again) to use it as a basis for a writing project, doing something similar with other children's stories. We might return to it when Pic is a bit older and can better grasp the whole story.

-- Be Glad Your Nose Is on Your Face, and Other Poems: Some of the Best of Jack Prelutsky, written by [of course] Jack Prelustsky and illustrated by Brandon Dorman. I am loving this collection. Prelutsky's poems are fun and use some great vocabulary. I also enjoy Dorman's illustrations. We're having fun with this collection now and I predict we will still be for a long time to come.

And, finally, last and certainly not least:

-- Te Amo, Bebe, Little One, written by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by Maribel Suarez. This is one of Pic's all-time favorites. Cardo's too, actually. I love that it has become such a happy part of our lives. Often, Cardo will start reciting this and then Pic will join in. They do a kind of call-and-response with the verse. Little things like these make me happy.

today

While today wasn't necessarily exciting, it was a good day. First, because my parents are here. We woke up late (Cardo finally went in to check on Pic at 9:30, while I was thinking, 'Yes! She's still asleep! I can still sleep!') and made a vat of oatmeal. I had mine with a bit of maple syrup, some frozen blueberries and some almonds and it was pretty tasty.

After that, off to errands. Although I may not love paying my utility bill, I do so love to have a home with electricity and gas. Actually, I don't really mind paying the bill (with money Cardo earned, of course), I just don't love it. New ink, next, because the 'new' cartridge we put in last time didn't work. We buy recycled cartridges and something must have gone haywire.

Next stop? Lunch with Mr M and Baby K, where Pic had a bit of a weepy meltdown and I had to take her outside for a walk and a cuddle before she calmed down.

Then, our weekly visit with Grandma J (she told Pic that Pic could call her Grandma because Pic has no grandparents in Reno). Yesterday, Grandma J called to let us know she was sick and we might not be able to come over today, but she was considerably better today.

A few more errands, including getting some frozen yogurt. Cardo is the Frozen Yogurt Monster. There's a new place in town and he's obsessed. Moreso than I am with ice cream these days (I must be in an ice cream slump).

Our last outing was a trip to Coach J's new place (which she mentions here). Even before we got inside I liked the place. The patio is cute and would be a nice place for a little table and some chairs. There're a bunch of windows and I'm sure the house gets great light during the day. It was nice to get out a bit and see some good friends, some who I haven't seen in a bit and most who I don't see very often (I'm something of a hermit*). I need to get myself out so much more often and see these wonderful people.

We're settled in for the evening. No Monk last night, but there will be some tonight. What will I watch when this season, the last of the series, is over?

One final note. I almost left Coach J's without getting a piece of Ms B's pumpkin roll and, oh, what a terrible mistake that must have been. Ms B? Homemade snickerdoodle ice cream sandwiches? Homemade pumpkin roll? I'm in love!

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* I've mentioned this before somewhere, but I once went about a semester not being able to remember the word 'hermit.' I could only think 'eremite,' but I was too afraid to use it in conversation or writing because I knew it wasn't quite the word I wanted. Ah, Spenser, how you will forever influence my vocabulary.

nourishment

For the first time in...two years (?), I made bread. I've been wanting to make bread for us, but it always seems like such a chore, even though I love eating freshly baked bread. I've been reading through the SouleMama archives and found an easy-looking, simple bread recipe and, after we bought a bread pan Saturday night, I actually made bread. (Well, I waited until last night to make it, because by the time we got home from gallivanting around, as my Grammie would say, on Saturday, it was too late to make bread.)

The bread is Amanda's (SouleMama's) WHO bread (there's a bread machine version of the recipe also, but we don't have a bread machine). The WHO (wheat, honey, oat) bread is super-easy to make and oh-so-quick too. (It took me maybe twenty minutes to put everything together and I'm a person who has to triple the prep time of most recipes because I'm such a slow cook/baker.) And, most important, it's good. I love it. I will definitely be making this a lot more often. Cardo and I couldn't resist sharing a piece last night, just before midnight, when the bread was ready. Then, this morning, I had two pieces and a apple for breakfast. Pic had a piece toasted with butter and strawberry preserves, and an apple, for breakfast (of course, it took her until almost one o'clock in the afternoon to finish her breakfast). I doubt this bread will last very long. I'm excited about this (if you couldn't tell)!



By the way, I love SouleMama. I have a ton of bookmarks from the blog, saving projects I want to try and foods I want to make and books I want to read. I found SouleMama through another blog I love, The Blankie Chronicles. (Kate also blogs at Cluck and Tweet.) From both The Blankie Chronicles and Cluck and Tweet, I've also bookmarked tons of posts. Each time I create a new bookmark for a new project, I'm more excited about this time I have with Pic before she heads off to school (sometimes, I need to remind myself why I'm doing this year at home).

Anyhow, I just thought I'd share the blog and food love.

In other food nonnews, this is what Pic and I had for lunch the other day:


We're kind of into making popcorn lately. Except, I tend to always burn some of it. The day before this pictured lunch, in fact, I was doing too many things at once and I burnt the first three kernels to disgusting, black bits that billowed smoke and caused our smoke alarm to chirp (but only once...huh). Oops. Any advice? Should I have the heat turned way up so the kernels will pop faster and the already popped pieces will have less time to char? Or, should I have the heat turned down so I won't scald the popcorn?

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Of course, I need to post days seventeen through nineteen for my decluttering:


Birthday paraphernalia that, let's face it, I'll never actually use. And, a book that, let's face it, I'll never read. As much as I don't like to let go of books, sometimes I just have to realize that there are some that will just lay around, unread, until they decompose.


I got this bag when I subscribed to Self. It looks cute enough, but it doesn't have a zipper or or snap to keep the main compartment closed (I prefer a zipper). It's small enough to be a purse, but I like my purses to securely close. Also, it has some weird, crinkly plastic lining that makes me crazy. It has been hanging on a door knob for almost a year now...time to give it up.

high praise, ecc

Thank you all for your recent (and ongoing, also) kind and wonderful words. I don't know how I do it, but I sometimes forget that there is more to me than just one identity. Yeah.

I'm just trying to work through some stuff, here, obviously. And, as I already know, I shouldn't post when I'm exhausted beyond belief. (Actually, I probably shouldn't be exhausted beyond belief.)

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Decluttering anyone?



Two postcards I've had rustling around here since high school. I apparently have a lot of stuff left over from high school.

As Ms K commented, she finds it easier to give away others' belongings than one's own belongings. I completely agree! There are so many times when I want to just go in Pic's room and start giving stuff away from there. However, I've restrained myself relatively well so far, although I do have her choose toys that she no longer plays with to give away. (Cardo, in so many ways my opposite, isn't big on holding onto stuff, so I there isn't much to raid there, even if the temptation took me.)

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Anyhow, tomorrow? A date! (Date number two if you count today's lunch with Ms B!). Cardo and I will try to find Pic's winter gift and then, I hope, we'll spend a little time for just the two of us. I'm envisioning...a walk. I'm definitely a cheap date.

october

Welcome to November, aka National Blog Posting Month, or for the more ambitious, National Novel Writing Month!

Okay, now that the welcome is out of the way, I'd like to look back on October.

What would have been a month of mainly me, on my own, beginning a new programme, securing lodging and child-schooling, ended up being very different. It ended up being a month of semi-hibernation, of sorts, and quiet adventures. I wrote about some yesterday (it doesn't take much to constitute an adventure for La Famiglia B).

Very early in the month, we had a chance encounter with a friend I haven't recently seen and who I haven't heard much from lately (yes, just what everyone else is thinking about me, I know and I apologize). Because of that encounter -- and my own hiding out -- I've been doing a lot of thinking about friendship, but I'll save that rambling for later. Let me just suffice it to say that I have amazing friends. Truly amazing. I thank you all for your patience with me while I attempt to figure things out for myself.

A bit later in the month, we took a short family trip to our western neighbor. The first part of the trip was business-related, but, after that, we made it over to Monterey. We usually go to the aquarium (of course), but we passed on it this time. We had a great (and much-less-expensive) time, nonetheless. (I still am hoping that we will be able to go to the aquarium next time though.)



Recently, we've gone to visit our capital, taking in the Halloween sights as we do every year, playing at a pumpkin patch we happened upon last year and returned to this year.



We also took that Virginia City trip, but I apparently took zero pictures, although I wore the camera so attractively attached to my hip the whole time.

Pic and I made her costume, following a great many of the instructions, ignoring others. We went trick-or-treating for the second year in a row with Coach J and her family. I can't describe how happy I am to see Pic and Destructor together. I love watching Pic grow, but it's been such a treat to also watch Destructor grow and to watch their friendship grow. I feel lucky to have the Coach J family in our lives.



There has been so much more, of course. We've caught up a bit with my godparents. We've made a new family friend who we immediately loved. There has been reading, learning, walking, growing. I've been trying to learn who I am and shape myself into who I want to be. I've been so lucky to be able to watch Pic grow into herself more and more each day.

There have definitely been some rocky times, but overall, I've been soaking up this autumn. It is, after all, my favorite season and I certainly don't want to waste it.

social butterfly or wall flower...

...or a bit of both.

So, today, I socialized. This is not something I do. In fact, just a few days ago, I was invited to go hang out and declined. (Yes, I was out of town, but I was also feeling apprehensive. I wanted to go, but still with the apprehension. Next time, definitely.)

Today, though, was a day to get out, to be a part of conversations, to even have myself as the focus of a few moments of discussion. This is nerve-wracking to me, but I did it and I'm glad I did. (Yes, I realize that I sound like a recluse or someone bordering on agoraphobia, but, well....)

We started the day with family time. Guess how we spent that time. Go on, guess. Did you guess 'walking?' Ding, ding, ding! Yes, we're the Boring Boringtons and we like to take long ambles that occasionally also include roller skating (for a whole ten minutes today...maybe) and retracing several streets in search of lost items (today's was a sun hat).

After that, it was home to change out of sweaty clothes (it was actually quite warm out there) and then on to our social engagements. First, we went to hang out with J and her daughter D. Cardo has been acquainted with J for some time now and she has been asking to meet Pic and myself. Last week, Pic and I accompanied Cardo to J's and we're planning on that being a weekly get-together. Pic has, once again, so wonderfully fallen in love and this makes me happy.

From J's, Cardo, Pic and I headed over to a nearby restaurant to meet up with my godparents, their great-grandaughter and her friend/sister (I'm not sure how the two would define their friendship, so I'll leave it at that). I really can't remember the last time we saw my godparents, and it has to be sometime within the last ten months, but it always feels like forever. These people have been in my life my whole life. They are some of the most loving, warm, accepting, open people I've ever known and I feel so incredibly lucky to have them in my life. I love that they are a part of Cardo's and Pic's lives too. The possibility of being close to them is the only draw for one of the schools I'm thinking of applying to.

I'm not ending this day on a sad comedown that I often feel after spending time in social situations. Rather, I'm happy. It's good to be happy.

grazie mille

Of course, a thousand 'thank you's are not even close to enough, but that's what I have to offer right now in my exhausted haze.

Thank you all so much for sending your kind thoughts on. Thank you for helping me get through this semester and especially through the end.

More later. Must sleep.