Angle of Repose - Coming to rest

Nutrition Overhaul

2012-01-01T14:40:00.000-06:00

They say when you set a goal, one of the things you are supposed to do it be public about it. It's harder to fail if you tell people about it instead of keeping it to yourself.

Well.... I want to lose some weight. No surprise, it's New Year's Day, I'm approaching 50, I love to cook, eat and drink. I don't exercise. Duh! No brainer, and I'm hardly unique.

But it's a little bit more complicated than that. This isn't just a "smoothie for breakfast, salad for lunch, and avoid the pasta at dinner" kind of diet. It's more along the lines of helping my body age more gracefully. Transitioning my palate and cooking habits to the "less meat, more fiber" a woman of my *cough* advanced years should have.

And, it's even more complicated than THAT. I have kids. Very active kids. Growing kids that train hard and have some pretty hefty nutritional requirements that don't necessarily jive with the requirements of the lady that does their cooking.

So. I'm putting it out there to the Universe.

Yes, the challenge is to lose weight. But more than that, the challenge is to make changes and learn something. And not just me - the kids too. If Aidan had his choice, he'd exist on tortillini, cream sauce and garlic bread. Bridget would exist on mashed potatoes. None of which is good for Ray and I. If Ray had his choice, it would be something a little more exotic than the usual "kid-friendly" fare I mindlessly sling to the table each evening. And if I had my way, there would be a lot more vegetables and nobody would grumble about it.

So. Here we go. A new Food Adventure for me where I attempt to keep everyone happy. Dinners that give Ray and I plenty of flavor but also meet the caloric requirements of the kids. More vegetables for everyone, new sources of protein like legumes and quinoa. And acceptance of the notion that what once may have been considered a side dish now serves as an entire meal.

Change is hard. I only hope that I can stand the grumbling of my table mates.

#%$* Elf

2011-12-24T08:17:00.000-06:00

Finally. The last day I have to come up with a clever and unique hiding place for the #%$* Elf. Finally.

Up at 5:45am, trudge upstairs to awaken the kids for Christmas ~~Torture~~ Training. Bridget is so hard to wake up. She growls and whines. She begs and snaps. Unpleasant. Whoops, almost forget about the #%$* Elf, quickly shove him down the front of my robe before she comes fully awake and grumbling.

Back downstairs, where to put the #%^$* Elf this time. Bridget's Christmas stocking is as good a place as any. Must get him out of my robe, he seems extra scratchy this morning.

Maybe it's time. Maybe I should insert a little note with the #$%* Elf, (but Bridget calls him Robin), from Santa, reminding Bridget that next year she will be thirTEEN (gulp), and the #$*^% Elf only visits children. Maybe it's time.

Why is this #%&* Elf extra scratchy in my robe today? Drag him out, and a bright orange sticky flutters to the floor.

In Bridget's neatest writing, I read:

Robin-

Thank you for these many beautiful days of friendship this December. Although I may have an odd way of showing it, I really do love you. And not just because you put in a good word with Santa; you are a truly great elf and I hate to see you go back to the North Pole for almost a year. But I know you miss your friends, family & you have much work to do up there. But I really do hope we've been hospitable this early winter so that you don't feel uncomfortable in this "hot" Texas winter.

Again, thank you very much for your kindness, heart, and long-time-forever-lasting friendship. I love you.

Bridget Glynn

Awwwww.....

Now, I know Bridget has the whole Santa Thang all figured out, but she chooses to play along, and enjoys the mystery and excitement.

So, no. No, I won't tell Bridget she's "too old" for the $#^* Elf. I won't force her to face grown up issues any sooner than she wants to face them. If she chooses to immerse herself in the magic of the season, who am I to deny her?

I am going to jump right in there with her, and enjoy every moment.

Thank you, Bridget, for keeping the magic alive.

Merry Christmas everyone. Let's all take a lesson from Bridget today and embrace it all. Be of good cheer. Find your inner child, open your hearts. Be merry.

Anatomy of a Mum

2011-10-14T09:28:00.000-05:00

It resided in our house for 24 hours, hanging in the entry way in all it's glory. I almost felt as if I ought to give it a name, it seemed to have taken on a personality all it's own.

Aidan had a sheepish expression on his face when he brought it home, I could tell he finds this a bit absurd too.

First of all, props to the "mum lady" who built the thing. My renegade opinion and snarky comments are in no way a reflection on the creativity and workmanship that went into this thing. I consider myself fairly craftie and can readily admit there is no way I would have created such a magnificent specimen. It has been pronounced "beautiful" by my friend Paula, who loves Mums and is a bazillionth-generation Texan. Bridget, who has lived more of her life in Texas than California by now, thinks it's pretty too and can't wait to have a Mum of her own. I only hope that her future dates don't disappoint her.

The Mum weighs in at a whopping four pounds. That is about as much as one of my chickens. It has a harness so the young lady can strap it to her torso and have the ~~chore~~ pleasure of wearing it to school today, the game tonight, and the homecoming evening festivities Saturday.

The Mum has over 40 ribbons attached to it, and what a variety of ribbons! Varying colors, widths, and embossments. Sparkly ribbons, jaguar spotted ribbons, ribbons with their names. Never have I dreamed of such glorious ribbonry.

Apparently, every Mum must also have a braided ribbon, and Mumnifique here (that's her name now), was no exception. A very complicated braid (which I could never have managed without strangling someone), with sparkly bows attached.

Adorning Mumnifique's ribbons are all kinds of blingy charms that signify occasion and the activities of the couple. Aidan's date is a volleyball player. I was surprised that there is swimming bling.

Embedded in the actual chrysyanthemum is a teddy bear. See the chrysyanthemum there, under the teddy bear? It's the white petals? That is the origination of the Mum - an actual mum. This little teddy bear has a silver lame top and a blue sparkly skirt. This teddy bear looks angry at being upstaged by the curlicues and stars that surround it.

And all around the teddy bear and the mum are more gee-gaws symbolizing football, bling, and who knows what.

All along, I've been joking that I wanted to make A Mum that had a water feature and a food dispenser. Well, the "mum lady" beat me half way.... one of the "ribbons" is a tubular structure that is stuffed with Tootsie Rolls.

So, Mumnifique, I will miss you. More than that, though, I am missing the kidney that has funded your existence, your 48 hours in the spotlight, and living out your days hanging on a bedroom wall gathering dust.

Let the money sucking begin.....

2011-09-21T10:26:00.000-05:00

Well, Boy Child started (gulp) high school this year. My usual philosophy with life changes, transitions, etc. has been to face them head on, embrace them, try not to spend too much time grieving for the past, and view it all as a big adventure.

But then, along comes Homecoming.

I find the absurd a bit hard to embrace.

I must admit that much of the absurdity mostly comes from the comedy that surrounds navigating unfamiliar waters with a Boy Child. Mostly, the male species aren't totally observant, and they also don't communicate real well. If it wasn't for the Mommy Network keeping me clued in, I would have no idea about all the processes and rituals surrounding Homecoming.

Talk about putting a lot of stress on people, especially the kids!

So, apparently you just can't ASK a date. There have to be gifts involved. Flowers, teddy bears, candy, I don't know really. We went with the single rose. Twice. Forgetting one's cell phone makes it hard to arrange a suitable between-class meeting place and so the rose languished in the backpack. $5.40.

Another early morning visit to pick up another rose ($5.40 again) and hopefully there will be good news today after school.

Next up are the logistics..... where to eat, who else to go with, where is the after party, coordinating clothing, coordinating transportation. For both the Friday game AND the dance Saturday. It's a money sucking marathon, homecoming.

But here is the most absurd thing. The dreaded MUM. You know that quaint fall tradition of wearing a chrysyanthemum corsage to football games? Well, in Texas, bigger is better, and apparently the lowly mum isn't enough. It has to be A Mum. What is A Mum, you ask? It is a tacky conglomeration of ribbons, sparkles, feathers, charms, mini teddy bears, blinky lights, you name it - if a hot glue gun will hold it on, it can go on A Mum. The bigger, the better. Or maybe not. A freshman Mum shouldn't be too big, but if it's too small, it could be mistaken for a boy's Mum. Yes, boys wear them too.

Now, hold on to your wallets - the price range of A Mum is anywhere from about $60 to a few hundred dollars. One mom I know thought she could make A Mum for less.... not so, she actually wound up spending about $20 more on all the ribbons, etc. and didn't have much in the way of leftovers. Crafty ladies and smart floral shops buy in bulk and crank 'em out during Mum season, but you have to reserve your order early. Was homecoming this stressful back in the '80s? I think not.

I know. It's unbelieveable. Don't believe me? Just do a quick search on "Texas homecoming mums" and check out the photos. I took the liberty of grabbing a few for you to look at - I'm not making this stuff up! Enjoy! Meanwhile, I will be selling a kidney to fund homecoming.

Party, party, party

2011-09-10T12:30:00.001-05:00

Aidan started high school this year. *GULP* He decided to go our for the swim team. They've been in the water two weeks, and already there have been three parties. This is one social group! Later this month, they'll go on a trip together, and next month, the boys will all go camping together. I'm told this is a loosely disguized hazing trip, but hey, the noobs gotta pay their dues.

Last week I received a call from a senior swimmer. He was a charming mix of awkwardness and politeness. "Um, is this Mrs. Glynn? Can you talk somewhere where Aidan can't hear?" Oh, gawd, what did he do?

"Well, um, next weekend, um, we are going to kidnap all the freshmen at like 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning. Do you think you can, like, um, maybe leave a door unlocked?"

Visions of masked marauders entering my home, the dogs going berserk. Hefty seniors dragging an underwear-clad Aidan from his bed with a pillowcase over his head, struggling and screaming.

"And, um, Mrs. Glynn? Maybe if you could put together a bag with clothes and shoes for him?" And his cell phone, money, and maybe a weapon.....

"OK, well, here's my phone number in case you need to call me." And then the comforting phone call from his mother, 20 minutes later, to confirm our address.

Needless to say, sleep was not my friend at 5:30 this morning, so we got up to await the intruders. Several cars pulled up to the curb and 3 figures hurried through the darkness to our door. I let them in, they politely removed their shoes, quietly greeting me good morning. They had masks for themselves, and a blind-fold for Aidan. Given that two of them were girls, we relaxed a little.

I didn't follow upstairs, not wanting to appear to be the dreaded helicopter mommy. But I'm pretty sure I qualify anyway, as I was snapping photos as they came down. Only the fact that Aidan was blind-folded allowed me to do this. For all he knows, it was other kids taking pictures. I made sure to keep quiet, so he wouldn't even know I was witness to his abduction.

They kept him out about four hours. Driving around getting other kids, going out to breakfast, and then team-building activities.

While Aidan already has a pretty nice group of well-rounded kids as friends, I'm glad he's got this new group too. A mix of all ages, and kids that "get" the swimming thing. Now, if we can just navigate homecoming, and the grades, it's going to be a good year.

Camping

2011-07-26T08:19:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since we've gone camping. Aidan goes pretty regularly with the Boy Scouts and Bridget has been bemoaning the fact that she never gets to go camping.

A few weeks ago, the Scouts were going to some place in Oklahoma called Beavers Bend. Ray thought it would be a good idea if we piggy-backed on their trip. The campgrounds don't take reservations, and by heading up mid-week, we'd be able to help the Scouts in securing some campsites.

The first chore of course was locating and dusting off all the old camping gear and inspecting it all to see what was still in good condition. Apparently, somewhere along the line, we have divested ourselves of a stove, but other than that we were in pretty good shape. Having a Very Large Car is a good thing, as we don't have to leave anything at home!

The drive up was interesting and pretty. We went through lots of little towns, which is always intersting in Texas. Small towns in Texas do City Hall really well... beautiful and stately stone buildings, typically right on the town square. Sadly, many of these towns and the surrounding Victorian-style homes were built with now-departed oil money, so what once may have been a charming and thriving town square, surrounded by lovely homes is now desolate and sad. Shuttered businesses, peeling paint, yet the stone edifice of Town Hall still remains, seeming almost.... hopeful.

It's always fun to stop in some small town and try to find a cafe or diner where the "locals" go, and we had burgers on the way up in Paris, TX, and an amazing brunch on the way home in Mena, Arkansas.

Once we got to Hochatown, OK the quest for the Perfect Campsite began. There are lots of sites right on Broken Bow lake, and then down below the dam plenty of river sites as well. After inspecting everything, and evaluating tree cover, bathrooms, site sizes, etc. we selected a gorgeous site right on the river.

The water temperature was cool and lovely! Being so near the water made the heat almost a non-issue (except at night when I was trying to sleep - then I missed the air conditioning!). The river was wide, deep, and while there wasn't a strong current, it moved swiftly enough to keep it clear, clean and fresh.

Directly across from our campsite were some great slate rock formations. Great for climbing on and.... jumping off!

Aidan did quite a bit of fishing and we had delicious fresh trout for dinner. As part of his fishing merit badge, he was required to cook it. Since we had plenty, he cooked two and delivered them to his Scoutmaster's site. His preparation method couldn't be simpler or more delicious..... wrap two trout in a foil pouch with salt, pepper, and about a half a stick of buttah. Set them on a rock in the coals of a very hot fire, and in about 12 minutes the packet puffs up and the fish are done. Delish!

One afternoon, Bridget and I went to the local stables and had a nice trail ride. It was through a densely wooded area and we saw lots of deer. And we were highly entertained by the very vocal woman behind me who hadn't been on a horse in over 50 years and used humor to disguise her nervousness.

We spent one morning on Broken Bow lake. We hit the Redneck Yacht Club and rented a boat and spent a couple of hours tourturing each other on wakeboards and tubes.

In typical "Boy" fashion, Aidan wanted to catch a squirrel. Using the tried and true "box, stick, and string" method, he created a trail of Cheerios and had several squirrels come investigate.

He was rewarded a couple of times by catching either one slow and stupid squirrel, or a couple of different ones.

There were a couple of places nearby to rent kayaks and canoes, and we did that a couple of times. It's such a relaxing way to see the river!

The Boy Scouts also had kayaks and canoes, and after they had done the serious work of specific merit badge skills, they entertained us by playing games like "How Many Boys Can You Fit In A 2-Man Kayak" and other silly activities.

I think my camp cooking skills have grown a little rusty, but the family was forgiving. Bridget invented The Perfect S'more by substituting soft chocolate chip cookies for graham crackers!

On the way home, we took a couple of hours to head in to southwest Arkansas and check out the Ouachita region. Simply gorgeous, with peaks and valleys, beautiful forests, etc. We'll definitely be back!

Summer in a Spoon

2011-07-04T13:19:00.000-05:00

I first tasted this recipe at a neighbor's party. I knew it was a winner when I saw my husband, who does not care for watermelon, gobbling it up and going for seconds.

I've made it several times since, always tweaking the recipe a bit, and every pot luck I bring it to gets the same response - people gobble it up and go back for more. It's a large recipe, but it all gets eaten, every time!

It is so fresh, and refreshing! A little bit of crunch, a tiny bit of heat, slightly tarty background, and sweetness up front.

It takes time to make it - there is lots of slicing and dicing! A good opportunity to practice your knife skills, or teach them to any young cook's helpers hanging around.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Puree:
1/2 watermelon with about 6 cups cranberry juice

Small dice:
1/2 water melon
8 stalks celery
2 english cucumbers (peel & seed them)
1 each: red, orange and yellow bell peppers

Mince:
1 jalepeno
1 cup basil and mint (proprotion to your taste)
1 small red onion

Combine all intredients, salt to taste, chill and serve.

Notes:
Try to get cranberry juice, not cranberry juce "cocktail" which is mostly grape juice
De-seed the jalepenos if you don't like the heat
Make it several hours in advance, so it gets a good chill, and the flavors meld

Chickens, chickens, chickens

2011-06-19T04:59:00.038-05:00

All is well with the chickens. They are growing, healthy, and I expect eggs in another month or so.

The Polish chicken has grown wattles, an attitude, and a crow. Yes, he's a rooster. What're the odds. Well, 50/50, if you want to know. We always said we wouldn't keep a rooster, so Aidan insists he wants to kill it and eat it. He just wants to wait a few more months until he's fully grown. Bridget and Ray want to keep him, thinking the coop is far enough away from the neighbors that the noise won't bother them. I'm still undecided. I don't want him terrorizing the girls, or being aggressive towards humans. We shall see. He is the most interesting bird in the flock, and it would be a shame to see him go.

The Ameraucanas are growing nicely and have these fluffy grey feathers on their cheeks that make me smile. Bossy is still very bossy, and we named the other one Mrs. Flores after a favorite teacher at the middle school. This is the 2nd Mrs. Flores chicken in our neighborhood, and you have to say the name in the high, Spanish-accented voice that the actual Mrs. Flores speaks with. She seems confused as to why anyone would name their chicken after her. She should be flattered.

The Cuckoo Marans are enromous.

Lacey (on the left) is getting her lovely adult feathers from the chest working backwards. Queenie continues to be a rather scrawney but dominant chicken. She is one of my favorites.

Like the finches, these birds are better than TV and it's fun to sit and watch them. Especially at bed time. They will form a line and head up the ramp to the hen house. Whoever is at the front of the line gets in first, and then settles down in the doorway, facing out. The next chicken or two join them, until the doorway is completely blocked, with 4 or 5 chickens still waiting out on the ramp. Impatient chickens at the back of the line try to walk over the top of the chickens in front of them. Impatient chickens at the front of the line go into the coop and push out the ones already in there, usually having a disastrous domino effect on those still lined up on the ramp.

Much pushing and shoving continues until all the chickens are eventually in the henhouse, but it's comedy all the way. Cocktail hour at our house is often spent sitting out at the chicken coop being entertained.

Swim Across America

2011-06-16T04:15:00.022-05:00

Aidan recently had the opportunity to participate in a charity fundraiser by swimming.

There is a national organization that raises money for the fight against cancer, and it is called Swim Across America. They hold open water swims in many locations and this was their first time in the Dallas area.

Aidan has always wanted to try open water swimming, and this was the perfect opportunity. Not only would he get to do it with a bunch of his swimming friends, in a highly organized and safe environment, but he would be required to raise money in order to participate. This would be Aidan's first time raising money for an organization he wasn't directly a member of.

As part of the kick-off ceremony, they let any of the participants come up on stage and talk about "why I swim." While this could have been sappy or gut-wrenching, it was largely inspirational, hopeful and informative. I really hope that Aidan paid enough attention to understand what his fundraising efforts did.

When you arrived, the swimmers were directed to a table where there were rocks and pens. You could write why you were swimming on the rock. Aidan swam for my dad, who survived a nasty form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Before the race began, they gathered all the swimmers on the docks and they all threw their rocks into the water.

Then, it was into the water! Aidan is somewhere in this photo below, I think he's towards the front, on top.

A mile swim took Aidan about 20 or 30 minutes, I don't really know exactly. He said it was hard to see anything, and he got kicked a couple of times until he was able to distance himself from other swimmers.

He exited the water 5th, right behind two team-mates, a collegiate swimmer and a former Olympian. He was proud of his effort.

Happy swimmers after a great swim. It was a lovely venue, a well-run event, and for a good cause. Hopefully we'll be there again next year!

It isn't just chickens anymore!

2011-06-13T16:15:00.000-05:00

Well, if I am the Crazy Chicken Lady of our neighborhood, my husband has become the Crazy Bird Man.

He's always wanted to keep birds, and so when he built me the coop for The Girls, he designed it like an aviary and used very fine mesh to enclose the whole thing. We can stand up inside, and there is plenty of room for my seven hens and his six finches.

Yes,finches! Three pairs (we hope to breed them - BABIES!), each of a different variety. Gouldians (the really colorful ones), Stars (speckly with bright heads), and Owls (black, white & gray with owlish faces).

Just like with the chickens, there is Drama. These guys are better than TV. Turns out, Owl Finches are known escape artists, and within a few days, the female went missing. While Ray spent time trying to find and repair any possible openings she could have used, the remaining male Owl began to set up housekeeping with the male Star. Leaving the poor female Star alone in the corner drinking cosmopolitans and reading magazines about How to Keep Your Man.

Once Ray was sure the enclosure was secure, he went back to the breeder and got another Owl female. She got used to the aviary right away, figured out who Her Man was, and went to work on wooing him. The male Star became jealous and worried he would lose his drinking buddy, so he started pulling out her tail feathers. He probably figured she wouldn't be attractive at last call if she had no tail feathers, and he could be assured of going home to the man cave with his buddy the male Owl.

Meanwhile, the male Star continues to be the most aggressive nest builder in the bunch, and his construction helper is the male Owl, not the female Star. This is definitely a Man Cave they are working on and not a Nursery.

So, we will probably have to capture the Star pair, and isolate them from the rest of the charm (yes, that IS what a group of finches is called, isn't that charming?) so that the Stars can spend some quality time alone together, and the two boys can forget all about their college dorm years, beer pong, and whatever else has been going on in that man cave.

Produce productivity

2011-05-20T04:58:00.023-05:00

Things have been just bustin' out all over at Mansion Farms, where I have a share and get to pick up freshly harvested veggies every week.

I am learning a lot about locavorism. What I am learning is that you have to put what is on hand to use now, or find a way to preserve it for later. This week's haul included broccoli, radishes, beets, and lots of onions.

The broccoli was steamed and enjoyed with dinner. That is a no-brainer.

However, owing to a busy week last week, I still hadn't done anything with last week's radishes, beets and onions and I had a lot on hand.

I spent about three or four hours on my feet in the kitchen, but this is what I accomplished:

Topped all the beets - the freshest I washed and dried, to be sauteed later in the week
The beets all got cleaned and roasted for an hour, then peeled
Some of the beets went into a light vinaigrette, to be enjoyed with lunches this week
Some of the beets were saved to be re-warmed for dinners
The last of the beets, I pickled with a few of the red onions
Some of the radishes were cleaned and saved to be eaten raw in salads
Some of the radishes were cleaned and saved to be roasted - yummy, if you've never tried it
Some of the radishes were pickled with garlic and fennel. The jury is still out on this
The onions were chopped and sauteed in butter and sherry
Once the onions were cooled, they were spread onto pastry and two rustic tarts were made and frozen for later

Gorgeous and delicious onions!

Radishes ready for pickling

Golden and regular beets - ready for pickling

Left: pickled beets and red onions, right: pickled radishes

Two frozen onion tarts, ready for impromptu cocktail gatherings!

It seems like a lot of work, but I think it's worth it. I'm learning more and more about food. I believe our bodies were meant to eat things in cycles. I believe in supporting small farmers. I believe in not eating food that has traveled thousands of miles.

But I have to be a realist - for now, I don't live this creed every day of the week. I hope to gradually get to the point where more and more of my food is grown by myself, or those that I know personally. But for now, I do the best I can.

Chicken Chronicles

2011-05-18T19:57:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's been a while and I know y'all have been just craving another post about my chickens.

Lots has happened with the chickens, but we all sort of got side tracked. We lost a dear friend suddenly a few weeks ago, and it's kind of hard to want to write about any thing trivial. Jim was an awesome man, and he and his family were among those that encouraged us to get chickens, and they have about the cutest chicken coop you've ever seen.

We decided our last two nameless birds would both be named to honor Jim in some way. So, the Cuckoo Marans are now named Tweetie Pie and Ginkball. Not exactly a timeless memorial, but it does make me smile and that is important.

So. The girls have grown up a lot. We finished the coop and moved them in. One got injured (long story), and I was afraid we'd have to break out the axe again, but she seems to be improving steadily.

This is how the coop looks as you approach it from the woods. It's far enough from the house that you can't see it from the house or the yard, so it's kind of nice to walk down the path and see it there under the clubhouse like that.

This is the back of the coop - those cupboard doors open into the back of the laying boxes so I can sneakily gather the eggs.

Here is the front of the hen house, with the ramp and the door.

We physically placed the hens in at dusk and closed the door the first couple of nights, but they've got the routine down and now we don't do anything. Except for those few days when I had to go out after dark and lift Bossy up into the hen house because her injury prevented her from going up the ramp. The night I went out and found her in the house with the rest of the girls gave me such a feeling of relief - I knew she was on the mend!

Happy chickens, with lots of room to roam now.

This is Ginkball, heading up the roost. She and her sister Cuckoo Maran (Tweetie Pie) are the largest in the flock right now.

These are Lacy and Big Bird (Aidan's chicken). Loving the "top hat" that is growing on Big Bird. S/he is a gorgeous chicken, and the only "unsexed" one we have. We are anxiously awaiting further growth and hoping that it is not a rooster!

This one is Queenie. Developing into a very pretty chicken, but she isn't growing as fast as the rest. I am assuming it is a trait of her breed, as she definitely is one of the more dominant hens in the flock and gets her fair share of the food.

Several of the girls enjoying their outdoor roost. There are also roosts in the henhouse.

I can't tell you how much we are all enjoying the chickens. I love seeing a note from Bridget posted on the back door, "Gone to visit the chickens" and we as a family often wander out there together to see what they are up to. I've been known to head out with food for them and just sit and relax for a half an hour, watching their antics.

Anxiously awaiting the eggs......

Stay tuned... we have new residents moving into the coop with The Girls!

Grilled Artichokes

2011-05-14T08:12:00.000-05:00

A few people have asked for this recipe, and I thought I would put it here.

Having grown up in California , where most artichokes are grown, I’ve been eating them all my life. Having recently left California , I am astounded at how many people are intimidated by artichokes!

Preparation is not hard, and good prep makes for a more edible result! Artichokes can be cut, steamed and marinated several hours before you are ready to grill.

Ingredients

4 artichokes – find the ones that are heaviest for their size. This means they’ve retained plenty of moisture in their trip from CA to your state!
½ cup olive oil
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
2T salt
1t ground pepper
1/4c chopped herbs of choice

Preparation

Have ready a large pot with an inch or so of well-salted water. Put your lemon discards into this to acidulate the water which will keep the cut parts of your artichokes from turning brown as you work.
Strip off 2-3 layers of outer leaves
Using a sharp knife, slice of 1 inch of the top, and trim the end of the stem
Using kitchen shears, snip any prickly tips that remain on lower leaves
Slice the artichoke in ½ lengthwise
Using a basic kitchen teaspoon or melon baller, scoop out the “choke” or the fuzzy stuff in the middle.
Drop both halves into the water, making sure that the cut surfaces are well coated w/ the water to prevent browning while you prep the remaining artichokes.

To cook:

Cover the pot and place on stove and bring to a simmer.
Simmer artichokes until they are barely fork tender at the stem – about 15 minutes, depending on size and freshness. Check frequently!
Remove from heat and allow to cool.

To marinate:

Place remaining ingredients (oil, lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper & herbs) in a zip top bag and mix well.
Add artichokes to bag, turning to make sure well coated.
Marinate for 1 hour or all day.

To grill:

Handle artichokes carefully at this point. Since they are nearly completely cooked, they will be fragile.
Using tongs, place artichokes on a medium-high grill with the cut side facing up.
If there is any marinade left, spoon or drizzle this into the cavity of the artichoke.
Cook for approximately 5 minutes or until char marks appear on the leaves.
Carefully turn over (watch out! The excess marinade may cause flare up!), and grill on cut side for another 5 minutes.

Serve immediately or at room temperature. Prepared like this, they generally need no dipping sauce.

Hen down!

2011-04-24T14:53:00.000-05:00

A while back, it was finally warm enough outside to move the chickens out of the corner in the garage by the hot water heaters and into the driveway for an afternoon of sunshine.

One thing I've learned about chickens so far is that when confronted with something new, they completely freak out.

They started squawking fluttering all over the place - trying to hide in the corners. Since I speak chicken now, I could totally hear them saying "The light! The light! Stay away from the light!"

But then, the brave one, Queenie, left the seething mass of squawking feathers and tenatively stepped into the center of the box.

And then she keeled over and died.

"Hen down! We have a hen down!" I yelled. Ray came over to investigate. Queenie's body deflated and she spread out one of her wings as if to display all her grown-up feathers.

Ray and I were perplexed. Queenie and Bossie both started alternating between this strange behavior and running back to the mosh pit where the rest of the girls were continuing to freak out about the glowing orb in the sky.

Eventually, the other chickens started keeling over on the floor, deflating, and spreading out their wings.

As usual, my photography skills were lacking and I didn't realize the camera was focusing on the wire and not the chicken playing possum, but you get the idea.

We figured they must be sunbathing. A quick internet search confirmed that for us. Apparently this is "normal" chicken behavior.

What is NOT "normal" chicken behavior is trembling and weak legs. We really do have a hen down, sadly, and it's Baby Ducky. It started a few days ago, so I've isolated this one from the rest of the flock. It continues to eat and drink, and seems pretty pissed off to be missing the party in the crate next door, but this is the way it has to be until I reach some sort of conclusion about what is wrong with this chicken.

Many less-than-quick internet searches have revealed not much. So, I figure one of three things will happen. It will get better, it will die, or it will be wobbly all it's life. We shall see. Sadly, this is the one chicken that everybody gravitates to. It could be the crazy feathers, or the diminuitive size (it's the only bantam in our flock). Or maybe it's the "pluck" (ha! get it? chicken humor!) that this little runt exhibits. I will keep you posted.

Meanwhile, work has started in earnest on the coop so that we can move the girls out to their own apartment now that they are old enough. Ray and I have been doing our research, talking to other chicken owners, touring local coops and cobbling together a basic plan. Which, of course, changes frequently in the course of construction based on materials available, new ideas, and the odd mistake. It IS just a chicken coop, after all.

But it is a literary chicken coop. Even though the girls can't read, visitors will be able to ponder a short piece of poetry called Home to Roost, by the current Poet Laureate, Kay Ryan. We just won't dwell on the fact that the poem is really a metaphor for one's mistakes clouding one's mind. It's just about chickens!

Bridget has really gotten into the decorative aspects of the coop. She asked Ray to make a couple of rooster-shaped cutouts from wood and she painted them. They will adorn the doors where we gather the eggs.

It's coming along! I will be excited when the girls make their big move. And like that big, bright, orb in the sky - the changes are sure to freak them out.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming....

2011-04-11T11:04:00.000-05:00

... of braggin' on my kids!

We hope you stick with us on this short break from the All Chicken All The Time Blog.

Yesterday was the Caveman Triathlon, and Boy Wonder did it again! As with his previous two triathlons, this was a "sprint distance" race - 275 yard swim, 13 mile bike, 5k run.

Up at o'dark thirty to get to the race site. Then it's time to line up for the swim. Faster swimmers get to go first. That would be Aidan, there near the front of the line in the black Speedo.

He had a great swim, and I'm pretty sure he took first in the swim, even beating a couple of high school swimmers that had also entered the event.

Next up is the bike. We learned our lesson after the first triathlon and now we rent him a nice bike for these races. Doing it on a mountain bike on a windy day is just sheer torture.

He did much better on the bike than in his previous two triathlons, I think. See - being a swimmer, he gets done with the first leg first, and then gets out on the bike course and all the more experienced triathletes are behind him and start whizzing by him pretty quickly. So, my measurement for this leg of the race is how many fewer people passed him. He seemed to hold his own pretty well for a scrawny kid in a race of 600+ adults.

Next up is the bike-to-run transition. Most triathletes say this is a real killer, as your legs don't want to work after biking for so long. I believe it from the awkward way people are running as the exit the transition area.

Ray hollered to Aidan, "You OK? Anything hurt?" Aidan's answer was, "Everything hurts!" as he gamely strode out to the 5k run.

The run looks like sheer torture. At this point, most of the athletes have been going hard for about an hour and some of them are running out of gas. Aidan looked pretty strong, but said he DID take a short break to do a little stretching during the run.

And finally, the "big finish" through the archway where a volunteer places a medal around your neck. Aidan's time was about 1:27 which is about a few minutes faster than the last one - always improving!

Stay tuned for a special upcoming report from the All Chicken All The Time Blog about Chicken Sunbathing!

Awkward Teenagers

2011-04-09T11:27:00.001-05:00

Remember when your babies were small? So cute, so tiny, so cuddly.

Before you know it, they are in that awkward no-man's-land between infancy and adulthood. They are teenagers. All angles and elbows and attitude. All grooming problems and social problems. Harder to control, harder to contain. Needing their own space, experimenting with adult adornments.

Not nearly as pleasant as when they were fluffy little chicks. Wait.... who did you think I was talking about? My kids? Nah..... this is now the All Chicken All The Time Blog, haven't you figured that out yet?

So, we have entered that awkward teenage phase. I recycled an old dog crate into roomier quarters. I've given them little roosts to try out. And fight over. I'm putting their food in to dishes with higher sides so they'll quit spreading it all over the floor and pooping in it. I probably threw out about 1/2 their food each time I cleaned the cage. Live and learn.

Their new home. Thanks, Reba, for the crate!

Up until now, when I would photograph the chickens, I would take them out of their box and set them on an egg crate to snap their photos. First up during this photo shoot was one of the Cuckoo Marans. Who immediately spread her wings and tried to fly away. If it weren't for my lightening fast reflexes, she'd still be hiding behind something in the garage.

Having learned my lesson, I now photograph them in their box.

This one is "Aidan's chicken," the Polish, who will develop a big crest on it's head. You can already see it forming. In true teenager style, it didn't want to have it's photo taken and it looks like a chicken mug shot.

Queenie, the Silver Kraienkoppe is turning into an attractive little chicken.

The Cuckoo Marans are not the most attractive of teenagers.

Baby Ducky always looks angry. I would too if my adult feathers turned out like that. Maybe I should have gotten two Frizzles - I think the other chickens make fun of Baby Ducky's wardrobe.

The Ameraucaunas are still the nicest-looking of the bunch. Bossy is still very bossy.

Just two more weeks and they should be fully-feathered and ready to move full-time into their coop. Hear that Ray? Time to move the coop project to the top of your Honey-Do list! Genius that he is, Ray decided to enclose part of the space under the clubhouse. It'll be a nice, roomy enclosure for them. Stay tuned!

They Grow Up So Fast!

2011-04-03T08:50:00.001-05:00

I took these shots when the chickens were one week old. That was just a few days ago, and already they look different again!

Some of their personalities are starting to emerge, and a few have names. They graduated to a bigger box, and today I will work on yet another bigger box for them until they are ready to live outside.

Ray has started designing their home which is basically a coop within an aviary that will be constructed underneath the clubhouse. Can't wait!

The biggest change, other than size, is that they are growing their mature wing feathers. Check them out!

This is the pair of Ameraucaunas. The one on the right is HUGE! I call her Bossy, because she IS!

These are the Cuckoo Marans.

This is the bantam frizzle. For a variety of reasons to convoluted to go into, we have started calling it Baby Ducky. It's pretty feisty, but likes to hide under the larger chicks when it is scared.

This one is "Aidan's chicken" but still yet unnamed. It is the "Polish" style and will have a large crest of feathers on it's head. It already has some rougher feathers up there. This is the calmest and sweetest of the chickens so far. I hope that means it's a girl - I would hate for Aidan to have to kill his own chicken.

This is the Silver Krainkoppe. One of the least remarkable chicks, but she will probably grow up into the prettiest. I've taken to calling her Queenie.

This one is "Bridget's Chicken" and she has named her Lacy, in honor of her breed, the Silver Laced Wyandotte.

And finally, Flat Stanley is visiting us this week from Long Island, and we are supposed to show him the sights of our neighborhood, then send him back home. I thought a photo with the chickens would be good, but, it turns out, chickens are terrified of Flat Stanley. You learn something new every day.

Meet My Chickens!

2011-03-27T08:00:00.067-05:00

First of all, I apologize for the photos. Photography is not my strong point, and subjects that won't pose or stay still make it even harder! These photos were taken when my babies were two days old.

First up, we have a pair of Ameraucanas. These are the breed that lay blue eggs. I've always known that when I got my own flock, I would have this breed. These two are the biggest (and bossiest) of the bunch so far.

They won't retain those beautiful markings into adulthood. The photo below is a mature Ameraucana pullet (girl chicken). Her legs are blue!

Next up, we have a pair of Cuckoo Marans. The one on the left is a "feather-legged" variety and you can see she is already starting to grow feathers down towards her feet.

This is a mature Cuckoo Maran pullet. While not very remarkable in appearance, they lay the darkest brown eggs. Can't wait to see them!

This little guy is the runt, and we have taken to calling it "the baby." It is a bantam, which means small. The particular breed is a "frizzle" which means it's feathers won't lay down. This chicken is "un-sexed" which means there is no way to figure out whether or not it's a boy or a girl until it grows up. If it is a boy, unless he is really really quiet, and really, really nice, we are eating him. Circle of life, people. Deal with it.

Here is a picture of a grown up frizzle pullet. If it were a rooster, it would have a larger comb on its head.

This chicken is "Aidan's chicken." It is a "Polish" chicken, sometimes also called a "top hat" because it grows a big crest of feathers on it's head. Aidan was attacked by a rooster when he was small, and developed an irrational fear of chickens. As he got older, that fear morphed more into loathing, and he always said if I got chickens he would have NOTHING to do with them. So, being crafty, I let him pick out "his very own" chicken. Old age and treachery trumps youth and beauty every time.

However. This chicken is also "unsexed" and I don't want to think about it's future if it winds up being a rooster. Aidan is already talking about moving "his chicken" into his room.

I really do hope that if it is a rooster, he is very quiet, and very nice. They definitely grow up to be one interesting-looking chicken!

This cute little one is a Silver Kraienkoppe. Like the Ameraucanas, she won't retain her beautiful markings but does grow up to be quite a regal-looking chicken.

And finally, this one is "Bridget's chicken." She picked a Silver Laced Wyandotte and she will grow up to be one beautiful bird!

None of our flock have names yet, we are waiting to see their personalities emerge. They are 3 days old now and already starting to grow mature feathers, so soon they will be in that awkward teenage phase where we wish they were still cute and small.

The Chicken Chronicles

2011-03-26T11:17:00.000-05:00

So, two days ago, I got the much-anticipated call from the post office. "Ma'am, we have a box of live poultry here for you." Woot woot! My chickens have arrived!

I have wanted chickens for a long time. Several of my neighbors have them and while the eggs are delicious, it is also the personalities of the birds that I enjoy. Each one is unique and they definitely have a social structure and I think it will be a lot of fun to have our own small flock.

So, like usual, I started my research. Talked to all the chicken owners, read things on the internet from online poultry dealers to chicken bloggers.

We eat about a dozen eggs a week in my house. So, theoretically, we only need a few birds. I ordered eight. Yes, that is way too many but I doubt they will all make it to laying age (4-5 months). Due to my inexperience, disease, or varmints, I may lost up to half. I've had them 3 days now and I can't bear to think of losing ANY of them!

The birds in the lower right are mine. The rest are Black Indian Runner ducks that "my farmer" ordered to help me fill up the box. They stand a better chance of arriving alive if there are more in the box.

So, I got them home and put them one by one into the cardboard box that will be their home for a few weeks. I had to dip each of their beaks in water to "teach" them how to drink. Each and every one of then figured it out and then headed straight for the food.

I definitely learned that I needed a bigger feed dish!

They are just the cutest little balls of fluff. But only for a few more days. Then they will go through that awkward teenage phase where we all try to remember how cute they used to be.

Check back soon! In a few days, I will intruduce you to each and every one of them!

March Madness

2011-03-12T08:25:00.000-06:00

Well, I exagerate. It's not nearly as busy as last March. But after nearly 14 years of this motherhood gig, I am finally noticing a pattern.

March is where it all starts. March is when I awaken in the middle of the night suddenly remembering 4 events I forgot to load on the calendar, two birthday gifts I forgot to pick up, one outfit that needed ironing for some ceremony or performance, and all of the chores outside that I've neglected all winter.

March is where it all starts. The crocus bulbs remind me spring is coming, and the daffodil bulbs follow closely behind them. Its the iris that I wait for though, with their showy blossoms in unimaginable color combinations. The black, skeletal trees suddenly burst with a sweet green-ness that will darken throughout the summer. I need to start walking again, so that I can observe and enjoy this magical transformation.

March is where it all starts. When I have to prepare the garden beds, get my seeds in the ground, shop for seedlings, and hope that this year will be better. Empty canning jars are piling up in my pantry, waiting to be filled again with this year's produce.

March is where it all starts. I am starting a small flock of chickens this spring and hope to have my own fresh eggs by mid-summer. My baby chicks arrive in just over a week and I love the feeling of anticipation.

March is also the "beginning of the end." Swim season wraps up with championship meets, and we start planning for the end of the school year. That means TAKS testing, final exams, middle school graduation, choir parties, 8th grade dance, three girl scout overnights, the father/daughter prom, middle school swim team, club swim team banquet, a triathlon, a couple of birthdays, and all the planning, cooking, purchasing, taxiing, packing and volunteer work that accompany all those activities.

I've learned something over the years..... yes, it's crazy, but it's a good kind of crazy. And we will all survive even if I forget to iron that shirt, don't have time to spray the weeds, or have to postpone a birthday celebration.

I've learned to take a moment. Enjoy my growing children and revel in the activities they attempt, rather than resent the demands these create. Celebrate both my husband's birthday and another year of being married to him. Take time for a walk in the woods near my house and see the astonishing array of flora quietly announcing spring. Put my hands in the earth and feel it turning. Shed the shell of my winter cocoon and dive into the fresh spring air.

Hello, March!

The chickens are coming! The chickens are coming! The chickens are coming!

2011-02-24T11:41:00.000-06:00

I have wanted chickens for AGES. Several of my neighbors raise them and the eggs are to die for.

Plus, chickens are funny. Really - just find yourself a couple of chickens and sit and watch them for a while.

I found a really good and inexpensive coop design on Mother Earth News. It uses a dog crate, which I have, and welded mesh fencing and hog rings, which I don't have. I am looking forward to going to Tractor Supply to get them.

This isn't a big "structure" and it will be fairly easy to drag around the yard so the chickens and grass can do that mutually beneficial thang that they do so well. Plus, it's "critter proof" so that foxes, etc. can't get into it. No way to keep the snakes out, though.

I have been browsing chicken catalogs and websites for ages, trying to decide what kind of chickens I want. Top of my list are Ameracaunas, which lay the blue tinted eggs. They are so pretty! We barely go through a dozen eggs here at our house, so theoretically, I don't need a whole lot of chickens. A good layer will give you nearly an egg a day.

But the breeds! There are SO MANY interesting breeds! "SO MANY" being the operative words here.... I finally decided to order based on interesting looks, and not on production capacity. Add in the fact that I am sure to lose some to inexperience and snakes (and maybe the dogs), and some will wind up being roosters, I have hedged my bets and ordered seven chicks.

These are some sketches of some of the breeds I selected. I tell you, I canNOT WAIT to see these funny guys walking around my yard, and listen to their gentle, inquisitive clucking.

Except for the roosters. I can wait for those. Generally, they are aggressive and noisy. If some of my fluffy little chickies grow up to be roosters, they are destined for the soup pot, so I can look forward to a new skill: butchering chickens.

So, now I wait. I wait until March 23rd, when I will get a call from the post office that they have a noisy box full of holes for me to come pick up.

Wish me luck!

Garden planning

2011-02-22T10:46:00.000-06:00

It's been in the back of my mind, but so far I've done nothing. Two years of abysmal failure is not a good motivator.

But I've been exchanging emails with Farmer Sandra who DOES know how to garden, and supplies me with the yummiest stuff. We've been planning a "joint chicken order" (more on that later), and she's gotten me excited now. She even sent me pictures.

She says, "FYI, This year I will also have some started seeds that will be transplant size that will be available for sale for any back yard gardens as well. Let me know if you're interested...tomatoes, broccoli, cabbabe, cauliflower, peppers..that sorta thing.

All my seed is from organic sources so that's all good too. I've been using these kewl lil seed plugs...they expand in size when watered and allow for ease of germination. I then pop the whole thing into a 3" jiffy pot, harden them off and plant them directly into the garden when the time is right...very easy. Also, tweezers are the way to go on planting the seeds."

So, now I am excited! Now I don't have to be a "drive by stalker" at the nursery wondering when their delivery truck comes, and then lurk at the back of the place when the truck DOES come, to get the varieties I want, and the healthiest-looking plants. I will have organic, heirloom seedlings to start in my freshly tilled soil.

So - motivation has set in. I think I will go scavenge some horse manure.

Survival

2011-02-04T12:12:00.000-06:00

Cabin fever. The Shining. Not too far off the mark.

Luckily, I have a great bunch of neighbors.

Yesterday, I left the house and walked around the corner. Found Dottie nearly diving for safety behind her mailbox as the neighbor tried in vain to get his truck up his ice encrusted driveway. Repeatedly. Leave the car on the street, fool.

Pass by Kristen's. She sprints out the door as her husband and two small sons stand on the porch saying "Wait! Come back! We still need you!"

"Hurry!" Kristen hisses. "Go, go, go, go!" Down the road we slip and slide, destination Denise's house.

Sanctuary. Warm fire, other women, thankful to be in each other's company rather than texting all day, "Can I duct tape my kids in their rooms?" "Is it too early for vodka?" "Does anyone know if they will ever come take our trash away?" "Whose power is still on?" "Low on dog food - help!"

Besides the fire and the women, there is the World's Largest Crockpot full of delicious chili, several bottles of champagne, and gourmet jello shots.

Yes, gourmet jello shots. If Carolyn were your neighbor, you'd know what I was talking about.

These lovely little nuggets are a layer each of chambourd and vodka lemonade. Yummmmm......

Lunch was delicious, the company and conversation just what a bunch of snow-bound mommies need on a cold winter's day. Thanks, Denise!

Ice Station Zebra

2011-02-03T08:48:00.000-06:00

Greetings from Ice Station Zebra.

I am a scientist engaged in the study of global warming (ha!) and it's affect on moderen suburban families.

In this experiment, we will cut a small cluster of families off from civilization by encrusting their roads in ice and creating a hostile environment. We will monitor the behavior of the trapped subjects.

The suburban offspring began the experiment by spending a lot of time out of doors, attempting to slide down glaciers. While there were varying degrees of success with this behavior, due to the perpetual cycle of returning to the house for warmth and sustenance, and always forgetting to close the doors, their habitats now look like this:

This phenomenon has caused the suburban housewife to consume alcohol.

Seriously though. What a mess! Our roads have been frozen for three days, and it will not get above freezing today either, and then more snow is expected for Friday. At this rate, with the "snow days" piling up, the kids will be in school doing makeup days until the Fourth of July.

I am about to run out of milk and am contemplating walking to the nearest convenience store just for the novelty of it. Note to self, call first to make sure they DO have milk. Rumor has it the grocery stores are running low. Other than the milk (and I do have powdered), I am glad I have a well-stocked pantry.

The only friends the kids see are those within walking distance, and it is a cold, cold, walk! Ray goes out daily to break the ice on the pool. Aidan, obviously, hasn't been able to train at all, so I nag him to spend time on the stationary bike - it's about the only way I can get him away from the TV.

One of the neighborhood mommies kindly invited the rest of the neighborhood mommies over to a chili lunch today. I am certain there will be wine involved, and so I may not be home until the spring thaw.

I am not Wonderwoman

2011-01-14T15:25:00.000-06:00

Today I didn't.....

Clean up the kitchen after breakfast. Thank you, Ray, for doing it for me.
Style my hair. I dragged it back off my face and stuck a sparkly clip in it and hoped nobody would notice.
Cook. Breakfast was packaged oatmeal, dinner will be spaghetti w/ canned sauce and frozen meatballs. I can't even be self-righteous and claim to use my own tomato sauce because I never got around to canning any this season.
See my daughter for more than 20 minutes.

This week I didn't.....

Wash the red sweatshirt my son needs tomorrow.
Fold any of the laundry that I DID manage to get washed. Can I start a "wrinkled look" fashion trend if my whole family participates?
Mop
Clip the mats off Dixie's hindquarters. They're still there, looking like dreadlocks. Maybe I'll rename her "Rasta Dawg" and cultivate the look.
Exercise
Use any coupons

This month I didn't......

Earn any money whatsoever.
Organize my backyard for winter.
Wash my windows and now it's too cold.
Purge my growing pile of magazines, recipes, catalogs, garden seeds, dog collars, nail polish, school memos, electronic chargers and adapters, etc. that is in the kitchen.
Mop
Hang those hooks in Aidan's closet that I got a year ago.

What DID I do? Forgive myself. Not every day can be "that" day where you hair, children and dogs all cooperate. Where your car, kitchen and bathrooms stay clean for more than 27 seconds, and where you find the time to hang that hook, that curtain rod, or that annoying PTA lady.

We do our best. I'll mop before company comes, merely fantasize about hanging the PTA lady, maybe ask one of the kids to clip the dog and try not to stress about the rest. I'd rather leave the dishes and the windows and have a few more moments with my family. I imagine myself as a camera lens, with the F-stop adjusted so that I only focus on what's important, and the PTA lady, unmopped floors and laundry are all blurry and unimportant to the overall composition.

I'll be Home for Christmas

2010-12-28T22:49:00.000-06:00

There is no place like "home" for the holidays. Holidays and "home" just go together. There are songs about it, and we go over the river and through the woods to get there.

This is my sixth Christmas away from "home" and I have come around to a different perspective.

I love my extended family. I love my hometown. These are a given.

But consider this..... those that are "home" for the holidays have a whirlwind of hosting (crazy) relatives, hauling presents, dressing children in itchy clothes, family squables, cooking for crowds or creating "moveable feasts" to contribute to chaotic gatherings. Yes - I have lived all that and it has it's wonderful irreplaceable rewards.

But....

For the last six years, my Christmas events have consisted of bonding with my husband and children. The four of us get a reprieve from school work, spreadsheets, carpool, sports practices, travel, volunteer obligations, conference calls, and even to a fair degree, routine chores (the dog poop can wait!).

Wait for it...... the audible "Aaaahhhhh......."

We hunker down together, turn up the cheesy Christmas music (and sing along with lousy harmony), lay in several days of decadent supplies, and just enjoy being together.

Of course we miss our family and I think wistfully of them all together sharing a boisterous meal, having a mountain of crumpled wrapping paper and total chaos, which I gleefully had hosted in my own home for many years.

But we are far from kith and kid and luckily the four of us (still) truly enjoy each other's company. These few days clarify for me that I am so grateful for the strength and steadfastness of my husband. The adventure and drive of my eldest. The creativity and generousity of my youngest. The unconditional love that they all bear to me. And I know that without these few days of intense attentiveness towards one another, I'd miss the moments that would be lost in the whirlwind.

Peace. Quiet. Love.

That is what the holiday feels like to me.

That is what I think the holiday is supposed to feel like.

I wish you all the best for 2011. And especially a little peace, quiet, and love.

Unbearable Journey

2010-12-13T07:46:00.000-06:00

Shoulders to cry on.

Bread to break with loved ones.

Kind words and remembrances.

Shared pain and grief.

Homes and hearts opened.

Breathe...... just remember to breathe.....

An impossible task completed - borne up on the hearts of family, friends, thoughts, prayers and love.

The sharp knife of a short life

2010-12-08T16:56:00.000-06:00

This picture slays me most of all.

The boy that once was. The man he could have become. A future still yet filled with endless possibilities.

The boundless love and support of a parent with heart full of dreams.

The sharp knife of a short life.
Raymond Patrick Glynn
11-04-87 - 11-27-2010

Namaste

Yes, it's another post about food!

2010-11-23T10:32:00.001-06:00

A while back, when I went to my farm share, I got some really cute 8-ball zuchinni. I just love these little guys and if I ever get any better at gardening, I want to try and grow them for myself.

Someday, when I don't have hungry athletes to feed, just ONE of these, stuffed with random yummy goodness, will be perfectly adequate for a meal for me.

Also at the farm that day were sweet potatoes. It was a logical step to stuff the squash with that! So, dice it finely, and sautee with the ubiquitous onion. And a bit of chili flake, 'cuz you know, I cook in Texas.

Also, the insides of the squash went into the sautee, and then the whole mess got stuffed back into the squash, which had been lightly oiled and well seasoned. Next, they are roasted in the oven for about 40 minutes.

Surely stuffed squash is a perfectly fine mean on it's own! But nooooo! I had to add garlic bread, grilled artichokes, and a bit of steak as well. Bon appetit!

Bridgie's Room

2010-11-21T10:03:00.004-06:00

Once Bridget hit middle school, she decided that it wasn't exactly "cool" to have Barbie stuff strewn about one's room.

With needing to make space for her new desk, the time was right for a major overhaul for Bridget's room.

Fortunately, she has two closets. The smaller one we put in lots of bins and shelves so she can now keep her toys out of sight, and the larger closet is dedicated to clothes.

We took all the artwork off the walls and then Bridget decided how she wanted her furniture arranged. She wanted a lot of space in the middle of the room, her bed set up like a couch for lounging, and a reading area. Since it's her room, I pretty much gave her free reign. Once the furniture was all moved around, the posters and artwork went back up on the walls.

Bridget then photographed her room. I just love her photographs, she's got an unusual way of looking at things. I thought she'd eventually put these pictures up on her blog, but she hasn't been blogging much, so here they are.

Bridget's reading nook. Looks comfy, I think I'll try it out!

Bridget made each of these items at different birthday parties.

She loves the lock and key on her new desk.

It seems like the quintessential "tween" room to me!

Okra

2010-11-19T09:41:00.001-06:00

Something I've never had until moving to the south is okra. Gardeners who grow it say it's one of the easiest things to grow around here. Judging by the overflowing bushels of the stuff every week at Sandra's farm, I would guess that to be no lie!

The classic way to prepare okra is to deep fry it. That's all well and good, but I searched for a healthier way to use it. I tried roasting it in various iterations (with garlic, with cherry tomatoes....) and didn't really come up with a way to use it that my family would eat.

Until..... my neighbor shared a jar of pickled okra with me. It's yummy! And Bridget loves it! Time to pickle my own okra, and teach Missy B in the process!

Into the bottom of each jar goes mustard seed, dill, crushed garlic, one fresh jalepeno and one dried red chili.

The pickling liquid is equal parts cider vinegar and water and a whole bunch of pickling salt. Packing the okra in the jars was a bit of a challenge. I don't like to use wide-mouth jars so that my canning rings are interchangeable amongst my smaller jelly jars. But, by alternating big end and little end, and starting with the largest okra pods first, we got the jars stuffed tightly.

Ladle in the hot pickling liquid, and drop them in boiling water to process for 10 minutes and voila! Pickles! Bridget loves them in her lunch and I hope we've made enough to get through the winter.

Well furnished

2010-11-17T21:22:00.001-06:00

This year, Ray decided to make each of the kids their own desk. They are old enough to do their homework in their rooms independently, and it was time to relcaim the dining room so that it no longer looks like a one-room school house.

Ray looked at a lot of plans, catalogs, etc. and eventually came up with his own design. (Kind of sounds like how I cook!) Lots of storage room, lovely lines with tapered legs, beautiful dovetail joinery. The desks are similar, yet different. Aidan's top is chunkier, more masculine. Bridget's is more elegant, with detail routed into the edges. The legs on Bridget's are slightly slimmer than Aidan's desk as well.

One of my favorite features is the slanted top. It isn't so steep that things slide off, unless you pile the clutter too high. Sort of a self-regulating clean-up reminder!

The wood is maple, and beautifully figured.

I know Ray had a lot of fun building these, and I had fun during the times that I helped. Woodworking is often like a big logic puzzle and I've learned a lot helping Ray.

How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?

2010-11-14T17:19:00.000-06:00

Only one, but the light bulb must really want to be changed.

Our light bulbs are not so open to psychologic enlightenment.

Above our kitchen, we have five niches. Four contain artwork, one contains a clock. All have a spot light above them.

Twice a year, when it's time to change the clocks, we drag the 20' extension ladder in, and Ray goes up to set the proper time on the clock.

This year, we figured we'd replace all five light bulbs as long as he was up there - easy, right? Um, no.

Get the wrong light bulbs from the store.
Go back and get the right light bulbs.
Haul the ladder in, trying hard not to bash it too many times on the walls, or the 120 year old suite of furniture in the breakfast nook.
Reconfigure the ladder to the proper positioning for the job.
Insert finger in the wrong place at the wrong time as telescoping ladder collapses.
Take a first aid break.
Painstakingly wrestle ladder into a position that allows access to the recessed lighting. It is scarily veritcal.
Head up with light bulb in hand.
Drop the light bulb.
Take a cleaning break to deal with shards of glass projected in a 20' radius.
Head up with another light bulb. One down, four to go.
Painstakingly wrestle the ladder into the next niche.
Discover minor electrical problem too high to reach from ladder.
Find a bench that will fit on the ledge and that is high enough, carry it up the ladder.
Three trips up and down and out the garage for the proper tools.
Insert light bulb. It does not work.
Send light blub back down to be tested in another fixture.
Test light bulb in fixture and realize how very dirty the fixture is.
More work on the recessed fixture.
Send light bulb back up.
It works! Two down, three to go.
Painstakingly wrestle the ladder into the next niche.
Remove clock to change time. Decide that it needs cleaning.
Clean clock.
Decide the batteries should be replaced.
Back down to find proper batteries.
Adjust time, change bulb. Three town, two to go.
Painstakingly wrestle the ladder into the next niche.
Have a lot of trouble getting the ladder in the right position.
Bash the wall in the niche a couple of times.
Head back out to the garage to find the special paint the niches were painted with.
Remove socks and put them on the ladder to avoid this problem in the future.
Head back up with light bulb and paint brush.
Change bulb, paint niche. Four down, one to go.
Painstakingly wrestle the ladder into the next nook.
Realize that since one was broken, we are now out of light bulbs.
Take another trip to the store to buy light bulbs.
Head back up and change the light bulb.

Success! Illumination! Cocktails, please!

Then and Now - The Girl

2010-10-27T11:45:00.000-05:00

You know it's coming, yet it still hurts when it happens

2010-10-11T20:22:00.000-05:00

I wish I'd known. I wish I'd known that last year's visit to the local pumpkin patch would yield the last photos of my two children, together, willingly posing by all the cute fall displays.

Apparently, once you hit thirteen, you are now "too cool" to have your picture taken at the pumpkin patch. Even though, for some reason, it's still "OK" to go there - just not have your picture taken. I think FaceBook is to blame..... Even bribery and threats don't work.

Sigh.

Sob.

For a "tween," it's no problem. You don't mind having your photo taken in the window of the Pumpkin House.

If you are thirteen, you run away around the corner and hide.

If you are a tween, you happily pose next to the dried corn stalks.

If you are thirteen, you hide behind your mother and hope that she doesn't realize she can turn the camera around.

If you are a tween, you enjoy having your picture taken next to a giant pumpkin.

If you are thirteen, you run away. Far, far away.

If you are a tween, you suggest an attractive pose for a close-up.

If you are thirteen, you lurk outside of the Pumpkin House, so you can still be close to the action, yet not consenting to provide actual photographic evidence that you were really there.

I can only try console myself with the fact that even though I am losing the milestones of childhood, I am gaining the milestones of adulthood that will present themselves in the coming years. Homecoming, driver's license, and proms. It's a bittersweet position, being at this nexus between childhood and adulthood. Looking forward has always served me well in life's transitions and challenges. But I still can't help looking back and feeling just a little bit sad.

In touch with my food. Literally.

2010-09-15T14:04:00.001-05:00

One thing I've learned in trying to eat more local, less processed foods is how much I have to touch my food now. Whether it's for preservation or just prep for dinner, there is a lot more involved when you quit opening up cans.

Take the purple hull peas. I'd never had them before. Farmer Sandra grows them and I was intrigued. They're a pretty greenish purple and look like beans.

Except they are not. The edible part lies within the hull and must be painstakingly removed.

Shellin' peas - it can either be relaxing or mind-numbingly boring.

The first time, I did them all by myself. What began as relaxing soon became monotonous. It took well over an hour.

I cooked them in sauteed onion and bacon and then boiled them for about 90 minutes. Delicious! The kids LOVED them!

So, I decided they were worth the effort and the next time I brought them home from the farm I made it a Family Project to shell the peas. What began as relaxing soon turned into bickering, adolescent fits, and at least one nameless person leaving the room in tears.

But I digress.

The point is, it took no little while to get all those peas out of their hulls. But they were worth the work. Purple hull peas are not something you'd ever find in the grocery store, in a can, or in the frozen food section. They are wonderful and this is the only way you can enjoy them. By touching every little dang pea.

A few weeks back, when I went to "my farm" to get my veggies, Farmer Sandra had harvested ALL the carrots. They were not going to stand up to the heat, and needed to be used now or they'd be no good at all.

I pretty much filled my bag with carrots that week, intending to find a way to preserve them.

Homegrown carrots are neither as "pretty" or as large as you find in the grocery store. But they have a much more robust flavor, and earthiness that all good root vegetables should have. And a lot more charm in their appearance.

Problem is, before preserving, all of these carrots needed to be vigorously scrubbed. I'm a scrubber, not a peeler. I think peeling is wasteful in both taste and mass and nutritional value. Scrubbing hundreds of little carrots took no little while.

The next challenge is to preserve them in a way that I think enhances their flavor and makes eating them a pleasure rather than a chore.

As usual, I scanned a lot of recipes and decided to go a bit exotic. Star anise, cinnamon, clove all seemed to be good compliments to their earthy flavor, and some lemon (juice and peel) to brighten the overall effect and contract all that earthiness.

They sure look pretty, but I need to give them a few weeks in the jars before trying them. I'll let you know how they taste.

All this prep work gives new meaning to "handmade food."

Aidan's Trip to the Olympic Training Center

2010-09-09T14:37:00.002-05:00

Aidan and several of his teammates were recently invited for some intensive training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. It was an amazing opportunity and he got a lot out of it.

Meet the team at the airport – all the kids are uniformly attired in team t-shirt and jeans. Coach’s orders.

One of his teammates dad is a Southwest pilot, so he bid for the flight. He introduced the kids over the plane PA and they all cheered very loudly. Business travelers just loved that, I’m sure.

They had a couple of hours to kill before they could check in at the OTC, so they went to the zoo. Apparently, Aidan made friends with a giraffe.

The purpose of the OTC is to provide athletes a stress-free environment in which to focus solely on training. The best facilities, equipment, food, comfort, recreation, education and camaraderie a serious athlete needs. Most of them didn't want to come home.

The kids were kept very busy. Every day they trained in the pool twice for 2 hours each workout. They attended educational sessions on nutrition, ethics and doping. They did dryland workouts or worked in the weight room. They ate four meals. They had nightly team meetings with their coaches. They had a little spare time to enjoy the lounges with pool tables, ping pong, etc. and meet other athletes.

Food was amazing; Aidan reportedly ate about four 2000-calorie meals each day. The menu was varied and extremely healthy. Nutritional information was posted by each buffet dish.

There are public tours of the OTC on a regular basis. The public does not have access, but only view the training facilities, dormitories, grounds etc. from the opposite side of glass partitions. This was definitely a surprise to Aidan. Kind of like the primate exhibit at the zoo.

Other athletes on site included Olympic level cyclists and wrestlers. The swimmers would cross paths with these athletes in the dorms, dining areas, recreation areas, etc. These adults were very encouraging to our kids and complemented them on how hard they were training and how much potential they had.

The US Paralympics Swim Team was also in residence training. Aidan was awed by these amazing athletes. He was very indignant that the para-athletes get less attention than the others.

During his final practice, each swimmer was filmed. They filmed each stroke from both sides, head-on and above. This will be an excellent tool to refine his technique this season. Aidan was quite tired when it was his turn, and you can tell watching the video. Not just "I'm a little pooped" tired. More like, "I've been swimming 10,000 yards a day at 7,000 feet" tired.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Of the trip, Aidan said “It was better than I expected. Usually when I imagine things, I am disappointed. I imagined this was going to be great, and it exceeded my expectations.”

The trip has an enormous impact on him. He returned happy, motivated, confident and eager. And tired.

Ready to grab the world by it’s tail. I am looking forward to seeing this experience pay off in big and small ways.

Front row, left side.

Saturday morning farm visits

2010-09-04T12:44:00.000-05:00

This year, I bought a share in a small local farm. I am a big fan of locavorism, and while I am far from perfect, I do what I can. I believe it is good for our bodies, good for our planet, and good for the dying breed of small growers.

My farmer's name is Sandra, and I found her on Local Harvest, a great website that connects consumers with local producers of all manner of food and goods. I was very lucky to have hit the Local Harvest website shortly after she put up her profile, as she only sold 10 shares on her farm this year.

Sandra's farm is called Mansion Farms and it is out in Roanoke, the next town over from me. Let's see if she's reading..... Sandra, why do you call your place Mansion Farms? You can leave a comment. ;-)

So. Every Saturday morning I make the quick drive out to Sandra's place to pick up my share of the produce she has harvested that week. Being a ~~terrible~~ novice gardener myself, I am learning a lot just from chatting with her for a few minutes every week. Maybe someday it will all sink in enough that I can grow some of this stuff successfully myself, but for now I am glad that Sandra is doing it for me.

There is different stuff available every week, and the fun challenge is figuring out how not to let it go to waste. I try to incorporate everything I pick up that week into our meals, and if there is a lot of stuff, I try to preserve it. It has all been a great learning experience.

Sandra has lots of stuff going on besides her 1/2 acre vegetable garden. She keeps a flock of chickens and sells the eggs. I know you've heard me say over and over and over - there is nothing like a farm fresh egg. Once you try one, you will never buy those weak facsimiles from the grocery store again.

She has goats and sheep and is working on expanding her herd to use for meat. She also keeps turkeys. An endangered breed called Midget White. One of these little guys will be my holiday bird this year.

Sandra also trains and rescues "Livestock Guardian Dogs." You send these lovable guys out in the pasture with your goats, turkeys, sheep, etc. and they keep the predators at bay. The turkeys have even figured out to run to the dogs when they sense a threat, such as a large bird overhead, etc.

It's a pleasant errand to run every Saturday. I enjoy hearing Sandra's plans for expansion, learning what can and can't grow in different times of our growing season, and learning how to cook new foods such as okra, and purple hull peas.

As I've said before - Nature can't be wrong. I think it will be worth it to listen to her rhythms and dance her dance.

Tween

2010-08-27T14:04:00.001-05:00

Tween wants to experiment with makeup, but doesn't actually want to wear any out in public.

Tween won't give up the Barbies, but asked for a more discreet storage solution.

Tween is old enough to babysit, but then begs to be taken to the toy store so she can buy a baby doll just like her favorite toddler has.

I love my tween!

Back to School

2010-08-23T14:04:00.001-05:00

You'd think they were getting root canals the way they acted this morning when I brandished the camera. But these milestones must be documented apparently. We are now more than half way done with lower education. Aidan started 8 years ago, Bridget has 7 more to go.

Bridget was just a bit nervous this morning and Aidan was all swagger and confidence. I think back to when they each started kindergarten, and it was the opposite. Bridget had had the run of the school for two years since I officed there, and she was all too ready. Aidan, being first, wasn't so confident on his first day. You can see it in his eyes.

But he survived and went on to be the "President" of the playground, apparently. His self-appointed job was to hire and fire the kids he would play with. He even had a training program for apprentice playmates.

Bridget has some good coping mechanisms for alleviating the stress though. She laid out her outfit last night. She set two alarms even though I was going to wake her up. She packed and re-packed her backpack. And she left me a note on the refrigerator with instructions as to exactly what was to go in her lunch. Never forget: with Bridget, it's all about the food.

Destin..... aaahhhhh......

2010-08-15T09:42:00.001-05:00

Day One
Awake at 1am. Get into the packed and waiting car and drive, drive, drive. It's just me and the truckers. The family are sleeping, the roads are clear. Eventually, the gas tank and everyone's stomachs tell us it's time for breakfast somewhere in Louisiana.

Note: on the drive? It's ALWAYS "somewhere in Louisiana." Crossing Louisiana takes nearly 50% of the road time. I am so glad they have finally fixed their roads!

Time for Ray's conference call, must pull off and find a wi-fi connection. We drop Ray at the public library in Fairhope, Alabama while the kids and I go to explore the town's surprising charms.

Miss a critical turn in Niceville, FL requiring us to drive the whole drag thru Destin instead of helicoptering in from the bridge east of the traffic. My bad. Ooops.

Check in to the hotel and then head to the Bayside Wharf. This is the place where "family vacation" is not an oxymoron. Ray and I can listen to bands that cover Eagles, Buffet, Journey and Zac Brown while the kids play in arcades, human-sized hamster balls, or ropes courses.

Perfect start to the vacation: Eat a large bucket of crustaceans and bivalves while a band plays Zac Brown's "Toes" and drink wine. Go sit on the patio of a martini bar and listen to a pianist and drink ~~a little too much~~ more wine.

Day Two
What? You don't want a blow-by-blow of every moment of our vacation? You don't care what we ate for breakfast? You only want to see photos of the kids? 'Cuz it's only been photos of food for months and months and months?

Awright.... Here ya go.

Aidan driving the boat

Bridget snorkeling. She sings through the snorkel, it's a total hoot to sit in the boat and listen to her.

Aidan fishing. That boy simply cannot be near a body of water and not want to fish.

Not much luck with the fishing....

Bridgie learning to drive the boat

Aidan flying his stunt kite on a really windy day.

Daddy has two guns and big brother has one. Do you think we need more?

No trip to the beach is complete without building a sand castle with Ray

No trip to the beach is complete without burying your child in the sand ~~and then going off for cocktails~~.

Lots of things to amuse the kids (oh, OK, the adults too - I rode the carousel) in the evening.

There you have it! How We Spent Our Summer Vacation minus the stories of nearly 30 hours in the car.

Beach bound!

2010-08-02T11:18:00.000-05:00

Whoopeee! In just a few short days, we will be heading to Destin, our new favorite vacation spot since moving to the south.

This is the beachcam on the beach where we spend all our time. I've been checking it daily to be sure there are still plenty of people playing in the water - a sure sign that it is unaffected by the oil disaster. If you want to check out the beachcam for yourself, click HERE. In fact, if you text me while we are there, and you are looking at the beach cam, I will go stand where the red star is and wave to you.

A few days of packing and organizing, a grueling 14 hour drive, and then it's just me, a stack of books, lots of cold sweet tea, my 3 favorite people and my toes in the sand. Ahhhhh......

The All Food All The Time Blog

2010-07-21T09:02:00.001-05:00

I know. You are just waiting anxiously to find out what I did with all that farm fresh produce! And how were those pickles after all? And what about the jelly?

And I just left you hanging. I am sorry. I've been busy eating.

The word Ray used to describe this creation was "fantasmagoric" I think. Aidan's friend who was here for dinner said "Omigawd, Aidan, can I move in here?" High praise, indeed. Fresh ingredients, simply prepared - nothing more.

More of those vegetables were grilled an thrown into a yummy risotto that Ray made. Leftovers of that will be my lunch today.

The pickles are delicious. The bread and butter chips taste exactly like they are supposed to. The dill that Ray made have a wonderful crunch and are just sour enough.

"But what about the blackberry jelly?" you ask.... Trial and error. Super Confident Me did not do a test batch. Super Confident Me cooked and processed about 30 jars in one marathon session. Super Confident Me was horribly deflated to discover none of it jelled to Super Confident Me's satisfaction.

Ugh.

Deflated Me had to open up every jar. Deflated Me had to clean and re-sterilize everything. Deflated Me had to hubble bubble toil and trouble over the burning fire and bubbling cauldron for another afternoon.

Happy Me got jelly. Happy Me made some cute labels of the cute berry pickers for the lids of the jelly.

Now I am back to Super Confident Me and saw the wild mustang grapes growing by the side of the road. Super Confident Me went and picked a bunch.

Super Confident Me's kitchen looked like a murder scene as I rendered all the lovely, tart juice.

Super Confident Me has a couple of pitchers of juice which will make maybe about ten pints or so of jelly. Should I do a test batch? What do you think?

But dang. I have to go to the boring old tire store. The story of the wild mustang grape jelly will have to wait for another day.

Oh, the suspense! What will you do!?

Meet your meat

2010-07-19T10:46:00.000-05:00

I met my Thanksgiving dinner over the weekend. One of these scrawny little guys will be the centerpiece of my Thanksgiving table come November.

They don't look like much (yet), but hopefully by November will look more like this:

The breed is a "Midget White" and it's one of many endangered breeds that are being revived by small growers throughout the country.

Mine is being grown at "my" farm over in Roanoke - just a few miles from my house. I say "my" farm, because this year I bought a share in the farm and every Saturday I get to fill a bag with the week's harvest.

I'm looking forward to watching my turkey grow and learn interesting tidbits from Farmer Sandra about keeping poultry.

And slaughtering poultry.

Yes, let's just put that out there. Slaughter. Turkeys really don't just magically appear frozen, featherless and shrinkwrapped with the giblets (read: guts) in a little wax bag.

Hungry yet?

This week in Pam's local kitchen

2010-07-18T13:14:00.000-05:00

Top left: potatoes, carrots & beets. I think I'll roast them.
Tom right: zuchinni, yellow squash, banana peppers and some other kind of mild pepper. Salsa? Zuchinni tart? Grilled squash? Risotto with some roasted carrots too?
Bottom left: More peppers, including some really spicy Asian varieties. Currently on the back patio getting sun dried.
Center: Tomatoes of all sizes. Salsa? Freeze for sauce later? Bake the little ones with chicken breasts until they burst and become a sauce?
Bottom right: Purple hull peas. Never had them before but apparently the peas are delicious sauteed with onions, and then you can boil the hulls to make jelly.

Providers: Two different neighbors and my farm share. Everything was grown right near me.

My sincere apologies to those who come here for updates on the kids, or absurd and amusing tales of motherhood. While the crops are bursting, this is now the All Food All The Time Blog. We will get back to our regularly scheduled programming once the kids get around to doing something amusing or absurd.

The wild mustang grapes have ripened and are calling to me. That must mean more jelly making is in my future.

Lazy Lady

2010-06-24T15:32:00.001-05:00

We all have to take shortcuts sometimes. That wall of hermitically sealed packages gave me my veggies and salad for the weekend.

I brought three spare kids home from swim practice yesterday morning, and had several more orbiting in and out of my house all day so I didn't get ot the Wednesday farmer's market. Tomorrow begins a 3-day Very Big Swim Meet so I have to trek to nearly Louisiana and back three times, so no Saturday farmer's market for me either.

Forgive me, Mother Earth, for I have sinned, but a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do.

Possibilities

2010-06-23T18:49:00.000-05:00

It almost always starts like this. Even before my plan is fully formed, the onion gets chopped. Still thinking, "OK, I've got chicken.... some veggies in the fridge.... what else have I got, and who am I feeding tonight?"

Picky kids, best to concoct a sauce with a few hidden things like grated carrots and finely chopped squash.

How to prep the chicken? Grill, sautee? Cut or whole?

What do I have for a side? Bread? Salad? Pasta?

But while I am chopping the onions, the possibilities are only limited by my pantry and my imagination.

What are YOU having for dinner?

Cucumbers are better than.....

2010-06-20T10:39:00.002-05:00

This week at the farmer's market, I bought every cucumber they had. I love cucumbers. After all, they stay hard in the crisper for weeks, you know. I got all sizes, because you know, size doesn't matter - and a cucumber will never try to convince you otherwise. And even thought I bought a LOT of cucumbers, none of them seemed to have a problem with the fact that I could handle ALL those cucumbers.

OK. I'll stop now. My intentions for the cucumbers are purely culinary. Seriously.

Ray even got interested in the cucumbers. Culinarily speaking of course. Seriously.

We both wanted pickles. Dill for Ray, bread-n-butter for me. Ray even got green tomatoes to pickle as well. Hmmm.... are green tomatoes better than women and I missed the joke?

Back to the cucumbers. Seriously.

And this is VERY serious, because I even broke out the French mandolin to slice 'em purty and didn't even lose any of my parts in the process. Tricky things, them mandolins. I also sliced onions and salted the whole mess of 'em and let them drain. A little finely minced sweet red pepper went in there too.

As usual, no particular recipe was followed, but I just tossed in various ingredients that I'd seen listed in the recipes I perused on canning websites. Tumeric, mustard seed, clove, garlic... All simmered in a pot with equal parts cider vinegar and brown sugar.

In go the cucumber slices to heat through, and then fill and process the jars. The hardest part of the whole ordeal is waiting the 3 weeks until they're ready. I hope they're good, because I've already given a few jars away.

Ray is using a fermentation process for his dill pickles, which won't require water bath processing. Being a beer maker, he's more comfortable with that whole fermentation thang than I am. I should have helped him and maybe I'd learn a thing or two about how to properly treat a cucumber. But Bunko the night before, followed by 5:30 wakeup for swim practice and a 9am meeting, and well, I confess I was sleeping in the middle of the day while my husband was in the kitchen having his way with several dozen cucumbers. I know. I missed out.

We'll let you know in a few weeks how good those cucumbers actually are! Or maybe we won't. We're shy that way.

Admonishing the Tooth Fairy

2010-06-10T16:49:00.000-05:00

Bridget lost two teeth yesterday. And one a few days before that. And another a couple of weeks ago.

Besides our Tooth Fairy's gender confusion issues, we also have a certain amount of ~~laziness~~ forgetfulness on the part of the Tooth Fairy. The Fairy still hadn't made it to our house for the tooth lost way back in May sometime.

Three teeth lost in 4 days could not be ignored. This note was left with Bridget's teeth:

The Tooth Fairy is sufficently guilty for its lack of attention to Bridget.

Another Grainy Back of the Auditorium Video....

2010-06-08T11:27:00.000-05:00

... or How to Get Over Stage Fright, Part Deux

Last Friday was Bridget's elementary school talent show. She's too shy to sing for us, but for some reason being on a stage with a crowd is a whole 'nother ball game.

First of all, I just have to say a few things about the show in general.... The kids are amazing. While some of them truly do have talent, the amazing fact is whether they are talented or not, they have the desire to get up on stage and share their stuff. Each and every one got up there and believed they were a superstar and it was awesome. I had a big silly grin on my face the whole evening, I was so proud of every kid.

Secondly, but most importantly, Mrs. Anderson rocks! This dedicated lady is the music teacher at the school and she produces a quality show. There are no sound system mess-ups, no amateurish mistakes. She treats these kids like superstars. There are spotlights, follow-spots, a sound board w/ a great technician, and a stage crew that works like a well-oiled machine.

Bridget sang a song called "Hip to My Heart" by The Band Perry. Kind of a pop-ish country song. She agonized over every bit of her outfit, we argued over make up. She rehearsed in the privacy of her room for hours on end.

So, without further ado..... enjoy!

When Life Gives You Radishes.....

2010-06-06T11:36:00.001-05:00

....make radish sandwiches!

Between my own garden, and "my" farm in Roanoke, it's still mostly spring onions and radishes lately. The tomatoes and green beans are teasing us, as are the cucumbers.

We had another party to go to last night and I had picked up a bunch of produce from my farm share in the morning. The hostess had asked me to bring an hors d'oeuvre. Once again, the challenge was to find a way to use what is local and in season, rather than resorting to the soulless yet abundant produce at the grocery store.

One of my favorite cooking websites is epicurious. I typed "radish" and "scallion" into their recipe search, and voila! Several recipes for radish finger sandwiches. As usual, I scanned the various recipes, as well as the comments sections, and came up with a plan of my own.

First, I made a compound butter using finely chopped spring onions, parsley, anchovy paste and some really nice French sea salt.

Then I sliced the radishes very thinly using a mandolin. These radishes are very spicy, so they got a quick soak in some lime juice.

Finally, assembly! Very thin whole wheat bread, butter both slices, layer the radishes, trim the crusts and cut into little pieces. I thought they were delicious and the sea salt really brought out the flavors.

Sadly, I think my garden is done giving me radishes. Between the heat and the fact that one of the dogs tried to hide a dead bird in the radish section, well, maybe I'll replant in the fall when it's cooler. They only take about 4 weeks from planting to crunchy yumminess!

The "Challenge" of Fresh Produce

2010-05-29T18:59:00.001-05:00

I picked up my first bag of fresh produce from my farm share today. It's early in the season, and judging by my own garden, I was expecting neither an abundance nor a lot of variety. That is the way of in season and local produce.

Available today were green beans, radishes (the spiciest I've ever had!), spring onions, sage, mint, garlic, a few small serrano peppers and eggs.

The challenge now lies in using all this wonderful goodness every week.

I will make a salad tonight that has fresh greens from my own garden, augmented with some from the store, I must admit. I don't have enough yet and awesome gardener lady down the road says hers are too sad to share. Bridget picked and washed the greens, then I taught her how to par-boil and slice the greenbeans, and how to make the perfect hard-cooked eggs. Of course the radishes will be sliced (thin!) for the salad as well.

The sage has been hung in my pantry to dry. The garlic needs to cure another few weeks. The mint awaits this evening's mojito.

I took a bunch of the onions. Onions are usually treated as a background ingredient, starting a dish as the mire poix. I just love onions and often grill, sautee, or roast them as a side dish. Today I made an onion tart.

I blind baked a sheet of puff pastry. Chopped and sauteed most of the onions (and snuck those shy serrano peppers in there as well) in butter, oil and sherry.

I saved some of the onions to braise (in butter and sherry) to top the tart with.

Once the tart filling was cool, I mixed in some grated manchego. Goat cheese would have been a good complement to the onions as well, but manchego was what I had.

Spread it on the tart shell, top with the braised onions and back into the oven. It'll make a nice appetizer to bring to the neighbor's BBQ tonight.

I can't wait to pick up next week's bag!

Time for Change

2010-05-28T08:41:00.000-05:00

I am so ready.

I am so ready to be done packing lunches every day. To be done spending 3-5 hours every single night driving from one activity to another. I am so ready to be done studying for Spanish tests. To be done with having my dining room look like a one-room school house. To be done with flinging together dinner in 15 minutes at 7:45 at night. I am so ready to be done with signing planners and ICARE sheets every single day.

I am ready. Ready for a bit more unstructured time. Kids in the pool. I even think I am ready for arising daily at 5:30 for swim practice. That time slot doesn't conflict with anything, after all. I am ready for trips to water parks and movies. Sleepovers in the clubhouse.

Check back with me mid-August. I'm sure I'll be done with wet towels, 6 meals a day, OPK, the early mornings, the heat. And be pining away for the structure of the school year.

But for now - I say bring it!

Random Musings

2010-05-24T11:49:00.002-05:00

Nothing major going on here.... just lots of life's little joys and challenges. Knock on wood, but I kinda like it that way.

So, in no particular order, I give you:

The Junior Girl Scout troop working on their Bronze Award. Bridget is 2nd from the left in this photo.

The Bronze Award is the highest award they can get at this age and these girls are doing something amazing! They chose a local charity, Spirit Horse, for their community service project. Spirit Horse is quite an operation and gives riding lessons to children who are physically, mentally or socially disadvantaged. So, our girls started off by baking home-made horse treats. They then took these to a horse show and sold them. With the cash they earned, they bought a trailerload of stall shavings which they donated to Spirit Horse. They also are spending their May meetings on site at Spirit Horse doing chores. Last week, they stained the stalls of a recently constructed barn. Yep, a crew of 11-yr old girls stained an entire barn full of horse stalls. In 2 hours. They were a mess, but the stalls looked beauitful. This week, they're painting fences.

This next picture is just plain funny. It's Aidan after a swim meet.

He's pretty tired, eh?

Speaking of Aidan..... not to be outdone by his smartie pants sister, he recently surprised himself by qualifying for the National Junior Honor Society.

Pssst, Aidan! The secret is out! You ARE smart, and you CAN get good grades!

We're proud of you, son!

And now for another photo of Bridget! This was taken at a recent riding lesson by someone with a much better camera (and photography skills) than I.

Pssst! Bridget, the secret is out! You CAN jump a horse!

We are finally beginning to get some fresh local produce around here. My own garden got in late due to running a B and B and L and D for much of March and April, but I have neighbors with mad skillz in the gardening department. They gave me these cute 8-ball zuchinnis and I stuffed 'em w/ turkey sausage. Yummy!

They also gave me a bunch of cucumbers. Which I promptly stuffed in the blender along with some parsley, mint, argula, scallion, chili oil, cayenne and sour cream..... Soup's on! It was delish and I can't wait to make it again. I could LIVE on that kind of stuff!

And now for something completely different.... a photo of Ray! As you may know, his company is in NY, so when he's not on the road, he works from home. While he has a very nice home office where he is sequestered for much of the day, sometimes a change of scenery is nice.

I wonder if the other conference call participants can hear the waterfall?

And now for something completely different - a photo of Pam's brain! Well, not really - but what is occupying a large chunck of my brain lately......

It's a very bad photo of my calendar. The good news is I've recently discovered Cozi, which is an online calendar perfect for families. You can track everyone's separate schedules all on one calendar and have regular emails sent to each family member with the week's activities. The bad news is just like this time last year, it's getting a little bit Out Of Control. The hairy scary details include multiple swim practice changes to accomodate wildly out of synch schedules of 2 different school districts, talent show rehearsals and performances, choir rehearsals and performances, field trips and money and forms needed for all manner of things. End of year pool parties, sleepover parties, water park parties, paint ball parties, and one much needed Mommy Luncheon which may (hopefully) include wine.

Speaking of wine..... we hosted our neighborhood Wine Club this past weekend and had a lot of ~~wine~~ fun. We have a lot of really fun neighbors and we gather on a regular basis to enjoy wine and each other's company. These four were the only ones who allowed me to photograph them. The names have been withheld to protect the innocent.

We ~~drank~~ explored blended wines and then experimented with blending our own.

Ray found these really cool wine blending kits on woot.com They come with several splits of a variety of "pure" wines (cab, syrah, merlot, etc.), tasting notes on each, some "recipe" ideas and measuring devices. We divided our party into 3 groups and each group had to come up with a blend. We then had a blind tasting.

In addition to the splits of pure wines, there was also a bottle of a blend that won a wine competition using these very same ingredients. Two of our groups took a lot of time to explore the various qualities of each bottle and discussed the type of blend they wanted to achieve. They considered bouquet, finish, mouth feel, etc. and were very into it. One of our groups CHEATED and just dumped the "winner" bottle into their decanter. And you will never guess which blend was the resounding winner, getting about twice as many votes as the other two blends combined. That's right, the CHEATER's blend! And they still took the prizes! Harumph! You know who you are! :-)

And finally, I give you..... Dixie. No, you can't HAVE her. She's OURS. All ours, as she seems to be settling in quite well. We're all a little disappointed in Scamp though, as he doesn't deign to play with her, he just walks away aloofly whenever she tries to get him to romp with her. Hopefully he'll come around.

She's learned our house rules, and where the perimeter of the shock fence is. She chases a ball, but hasn't learned to bring it back. Any clues on how to train a dog to do this? She's getting better on my 3 mile walk but still a little nervous when I take her out into the world. And she recently climbed into Ray's lap and spent the better part of an evening there.

We are in the downslope of another school year. 8 years done for Aidan, and 7 more to go for Bridget, so we are more than half way done. It seems strange that I'll be way less involved with school now that we're done with elementary school, but I have to take heart in small things like the fact that my middle schooler still seems to want me to chaperone on field trips, even though he has banned me from coming in to have lunch with him.

Which reminds me. I must go have lunch with Bridget at least one more time before she leaves elementary school. You take what you can, when you can. You never know when those opportunities will no longer be there.

Aidan's First Triathlon

2010-04-25T20:48:00.000-05:00

Aidan did his first triathlon today. He's been wanting to do one for quite a while, and there was one conveniently in our town and of a length that I thought would challenge him, but not be so hard that he'd fail. It was a 275yd swim (snicker snicker - the swim is NEVER a long portion of any tri), 13mi bike, and a 5k run. All in all, I figured it would take him about an hour and forty minutes to complete. His swim workouts are 2 hours long, so this seemed achieveable.

The first leg of the tri is the swim. For this particular tri, the swimmers start one at a time. They assign your number based on your estimated swim time. Since I'd estimated Aidan's swim time at a full 30 seconds faster than anyone completed it last year (and I entered a slow time so as not to appear too cocky), I figured Aidan would be first in the water. He was #25. We thought maybe 24 people lied about their estimated swim time. Turns out, that wasn't the case, there were 24 students from SMU who the race organizers agreed to keep together, and decided the best way to do this was to put them first. Big mistake. Huge.

I thought Ray and I were going to fall over laughing. Aidan hit the water with 24 slow-pokes ahead of him. He proceeded to pick seventeen of them off one by one (or in some cases in clumps of 3) by either swimming right over the top of them or dolphin-kicking underwater off the turn walls beneath them.

Out of the water he heads, the skinny kid in his Speedo, to the cheers of those lining the pool exit area. He was among only about a half dozen kids in this race of 650 athletes.

Then reality hit. Time to do the events that he doesn't train for every day - like biking. There goes the scrappy kid on the big clunky mountain bike. We knew we didn't have to worry about whether or not he'd find his way on the route as we were pretty sure he'd get passed by plenty of people right away. It was a windy morning and he pushed himself hard.

He came in from the bike leg huffing and puffing, but had a big smile on his face. I hollered to him, "Way to go buddy! You having fun?"

"Yes!" he yelled back. Awesome. On to the run. In a pair of old basketball shoes.

He definitely earned back some places on the run as he probably passed more people than passed him from what I could see. But it was a confusing course w/ one part that had to be done twice, and one only once and we think he may have run that part twice as well. So, maybe he ran about 4 miles instead of 3.

He finished the race in just over an hour and a half. Probably somewhere in the middle of the pack which is awesome for a kid his age, for a first triathlon, for just about anybody. We're so proud of him!

When he finished, he said "I've come to the realization that I love swimming. I love biking. I hate running!"

"Yes, but would you do it again?" I asked. "Oh yeah!" he said.

Faithful

2010-04-15T19:19:00.000-05:00

Sweet Dog. Even though you might have had some "issues" in your old age (don't we all?), you probably picked the nicest way to go. Lie down in your favorite spot and leave to the other side. Did you know I called the vet yesterday to discuss something that was probably far more traumatic for everyone than how you decided it would be done?

My kitchen floors will never be as clean again, as when you would lick every stray spill and scrap of food from them. Scamp will wonder where you went when he runs to wake you up to get treats from the UPS lady.

Thank you for being a loyal and faithful part of our family for so many years. We will miss you and remember you always.

Disorganization

2010-04-14T15:36:00.001-05:00

I am a bit disorganized lately. Still recovering from the busy March and I just know that I'll barely get it together by the time I get hit with the End Of The School Year Whammy.

So, in typical disorganized fashion, here are a bunch of odds and ends for amusement and to catch you up on the Glynns.

We had visitors a few weeks ago - Ray's sis & her family from NYC. More photos to follow once I download them from the camera, but meanwhile enjoy this one of our neice, Kailey. She's three and adorable. We went to the rodeo, and being a city kid, she wasn't used to the wonderful aroma of horse and cow poop. Which Bridget and I find delicious, by the way. Kailey held her nose the entire rodeo.

In the midst of the visitors, we had Bridget's (belated) "friend" birthday party, and Aidan's (on time) "family" birthday party. Aidan's "friend" party will be belated too - because I'm disorganized.

For Bridget's party, we took a handful of girls to see Alice in Wonderland. The cake is supposed to be an homage to Johnny Depp's hat. And you'll never guess what Aidan's cake is.

Spring has sprung in Texas, and it is as glorious as ever. On my walk the other day my neighbor and I decided to go down to the lake to see if there were any Texas bluebonnets blooming. There are usually several nice-sized patches, good for the traditional photograph of your children.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I don't know what grand alignment of the Texas bluebonnet planets happened this year, but there are banks and banks of bluebonnets as far as the eye can see. It was stunning.

Since I didn't have a child with me, I photographed my faithful companion, Scamp. Isn't he cute?

Another outing we took when our visitors were here was to the Dallas World Aquarium. I've got a camera full of awesome photos including getting up close and personal with a sloth, but until I get organized, this photo will have to do.

We were awaiting feeding time at the shark tank.

And, because I am in love with TEXAS IN THE SPRING, just a few more photos for your viewing enjoyment. Ciao. I must go get organized.

"It's so tiring being a princess....."

2010-03-29T09:31:00.000-05:00

... is what Bridget said to me when I tucked her into bed Saturday night.

It was the annual Father/Daughter Prom and she and Ray had the time of their lives again.

"There are so many moments!" Ray said. Like when he was slow-dancing with Bridget. She was standing on his feet, leaning her head against him. Ray was looking around at all the other couples, and suddenly he feels Bridget's hands on either cheek pulling his head down and she says "Hey! Eyes down here, buddy!"

She has learned that her dates must be attentive.

As usual, we had our yearly "pre-prom" cocktail party here and it is so much fun to see the girls vibrating with excitement. As each one arrives there is much exclaiming over the dresses, the shoes, the hair.

"You look just like a fairy!" I said to Kimberly, who had on a gorgeous white dress.

"You look just like a fairy!" said Ray, to Kim's dad.

We have just enough time for the girls to snack a little bit, drink some "bubbly" and pose for photos. Then it's out to the cars where the daddies hold the doors for them and they get to ride "shotgun" like ladies.

At the prom, they have formal photos taken, eat dinner, and dance. And run around playing tag behind the curtains - they're still little girls, after all.

Meanwhile, the mommies have a civilized dinner and (mostly) civilized conversation. The brothers run around in the woods shooting each other with pellet guns and have a campfire when it get too dark to shoot.

Ray says Bridget began to wilt about 8:30 but insisted on remaining until the 9pm bitter end. She curled up under his blazer in the car and went promptly to sleep on the way home.

It's such a sweet tradition and a wonderful evening. Ray says that Bridget said "I love you, Daddy!" several times over the course of the evening.

So sweet!

Thirteen

2010-03-17T09:10:00.000-05:00

Could it really have been thirteen years ago that I woke Ray up and said "I dunno, it might be gas, but let's time them, just in case?"

Could it really be thirteen years since I looked at this squirming white baby and said "Um, what now?"

What now, indeed.

Thirteen is supposed to be awkward, surly and defiant. So far, you are anything but that. Something tells me that your old soul, your open heart, your inner smile, all those will conspire against the hormones and you will remain the sunny, happy child that you are.

And there is a river in Egypt called DENIAL. But a mother can hope.

Many cultures consider this age the beginning of manhood. And while I know you are anxious for that to happen, if only to make your swimming times improve, I am not in such a rush. I still see some "Baby Aidan" in the remaining softness of your face, and there is still plenty of Little Boy left in you.

But rather than wallow in the self-pity of losing my baby to manhood, I will do my best to help you meet it head on, with grace, good humor and responsibility. That's my job and I take it very seriously.

As long as you continue to shower regularly, I believe we can all survive this transition.

Happy birthday, baby boy!

Swim Champs

2010-03-15T20:33:00.000-05:00

Deafening. Long days. No time for regular meals. High anxiety. Lots of waiting. Uncomfortable seating. Early mornings. No elbow room. Cheer 'til you're hoarse. Hot and humid. Living on cup-o-noodles and microwave meals. The excitement of a race well-swam. Exhaustion. Worry. Pride. Disappointment. Respect. Pain. Camraderie. Long sigh of relief......

March Madness

2010-03-09T13:40:00.000-06:00

As Ray said when I showed him the calendar for March, "Oh, crap!"

It's a little busy. So, I doubt I'll be posting much, but I'll try. I'll tweet more, so if you want to follow me on Twitter, that's where the info will be.

A few updates.....

Bridget tried out for the school talent show and....... made it! She'll be singing "Forever and Always" by Taylor Swift (who else?). No, like last year, we haven't heard her sing. also, like last year, there was a bit of self-imposed drama surrounding her decision to try out. It's the journey. Repeat.

Aidan's arm is still broken. It still hurts. The Very Big Swim Meet still starts on Thursday as scheduled. We'll do a "test run" with no cast Wednesday afternoon and he'll make a decision on the "pain-to-performance" ratio. Our Good Doctor is a saint to put up with all our cast shenanigans, but he's a former swimmer and knows we're weird. And he knows how to make a cast that will be considered "legal" at the meet and has allowed Aidan to practice AND be able to still swim pretty darn fast. We're hoping he's fast enough to keep his relay spots.

While Ray and I are cheering Aidan on down near Houston, Bridget will be seeing the sights in New York City with Captain and Nonna. Lucky girl, and I am so glad that my little country bumpkin will get the opportunity to be amongst skyscrapers, art, and something other than livestock and wide open spaces. There's a whole 'nother world out there, my little girl!

Open That Bottle Night was a few weeks back. We opened that bottle, and that one, and that one, and.... all in the company of fellow wine enthusiasts. Note to self: Whites do not keep. Duh! Clean out wine collection more often. That 20yr old Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc smelled like feet and tasted worse. Fortunately, there were many more wonderful bottles than lost ones, and it was great to taste some of the older and pricier stuff we usually don't think to.

OK. Next stop, The Woodlands (near Houston). I am looking forward to the drive, as spring seems to have appeared and Texas can be durn purty in the springtime.

Cheers!

Dang

2010-02-25T13:39:00.000-06:00

Yeah, the picture is surprisingly similar to this one that I posted in October. Same arm, different bone.

Dang, dang, dang.

He did it the night before regional swim champs. Where he had the opportunity to make qualifying times in as many as four more events for state champs.

Which starts 3/11. A mere 21 days after he broke it. Doc says that's not enough time to heal. We're still in denial. Aidan says he's swimming cast or no cast, and I'm fine with that but I'm reasonably certain he'll lose his spot on all four relays. And sadly, the relays will likely lose any chance of finishing in the top 8.

However. The doctor "gets it" and is going to regularly x-ray to monitor the healing and see if the cast can come off a bit early. And the cast isn't much of a cast - built thin and light, hopefully to minimize how much it screws up his training like the last cast.

Like the last cast. We're "regulars" now at the orthopedic office.

Dang.

Snow Day!

2010-02-11T15:14:00.000-06:00

Global warming my ~~ass~~ foot! This snow stuff is gettin' to be a regular thing around here!

I just heard a big "thump" from out back. It was our awning (which was on it's last legs) collapsing into a big mangled heap. Well, at least I know that the corner pieces make excellent trelleses for the beans and tomatoes in the garden. Maybe I'll have to build a few more beds.

Aidan left for a nearby friend's house and Missy B was feeling lonesome, so she and I walked the mile down to her friend's house and I pawned her off on them for the day. Thanks Paula! 'Cept I'm going to have to walk that mile again (and it's uphill, both ways) to get her back.

We saw these horses on the way. Don't they look cosy?

Scamp really enjoys the snow.

Aidan and friends are building an igloo. Pretty creative, eh?

Fortunately, Ray's flight home wasn't cancelled and he made it from the airport to home without incident. It will probably freeze solid later tonite, so the streets around here will be like ice-skating rinks. Luckily, we've got plenty of ~~liquor~~ food and don't need to venture out.

Swimming Recap. Or, HE did all the swimming - why am I so exhausted?

2010-02-08T22:02:00.002-06:00

What a weekend!

The Boy was amazing. And he had so much fun! He told me, "swim meets are like a big party!" Glad you think so, sport - that makes me so happy. He puts his heart and guts into each and every race, he deserves for it to be fun, too.

This was a pretty high-level meet for a 12-yr old kid. Only the very fastest qualify, and swimmers come from several surrounding states to swim with the best. He qualified to swim in 7 individual events and two relays.

To recap in painful detail, here is how he did:

50 Free - while he swam amazingly and dropped time, it probably his biggest disappointment of the whole meet. It was the final event for him Sunday afternoon, and he'd already raced in 12 races over the 3 days and 2 nights by then. He dropped about 3/10ths of a second, but it was still 3/100ths from a qualifying time for the state championship meet ("TAGS" - in March). We've got one more meet to go to shave off those few hundredths. "We," like that? Ha!
200 Free - he hates this event. Hasn't yet quite got the knack of pacing a 200. His goal was to just swim it the same as usual, but he wound up taking off over four seconds, getting a "AA" time and being dangerously close to not only qualifying for the state championship meet (TAGS), but is also just a hair over a second away from a 13-yr old A time. Guess he's gonna have to add this to his arsenal!
100 Individual Medley - this is kind of a new event for him. His fly and breaststroke have always been kind of sucky, but "we've" been working on it (my participation is simply arranging for and driving him to private coaching sessions - Hi Taylor! You are an AWESOME technique coach!!!"). So, it wasn't so comical to watch as usual. The order the strokes go is butterfly, back, breast, free. It used to be "He's losing! Oh, wait, now he's winning! Uh-oh, he's losing again! Ohmygoodness, he's fighting his way back!" Now, he was steady-eddie through the whole race and not only did he qualify for TAGS, but he also swam well enough to make the finals, so he got to come back and swim it at evening finals which are a whole 'nother cup of tea. Fancy, even. They introduce all the kids before the event, the judges dress nicer, etc. It's not the usual chaos of a regular meet.
50 Back - this one was sort of a "gimme" for him. He already had his TAGS time and there is no 13yr A time. He dropped enough time to move into the "AAA" status and took 13th in the meet overall.
50 Fly - Again, sort of "new" as he usually hasn't swum this one well enough to qualify at the "A" level. Well, I'm here to tell ya, there is a new butterfly-er in town, and his name is Aidan! He actually qualified for evening finals in this one, surprise surprise! He's still 1/2 second away from qualifying for TAGS, but that'll happen at the next meet (she says hopefully).
100 Free - He was amazing. Amazing enough to swim it twice as he qualified for finals. So amazing, in fact, that over the 2 races, he took off almost two whole seconds. That is a LOT in 100 yards. He got both the TAGS time AND the 13-yr "A" time.
100 Back - Yet another amazing race, but with a slight bitter-sweet outcome. Swam very well, qualified for evening finals, placed 7th overall (HUGE!), achieved "AAA" status, yet he missed the 13yr "A" time by one one-hundredth of a second. Well, he's got regional champsionships and TAGS to get that one, so it'll happen.

So, it total, here's where he's at as far as his goals.

State qualifying times: 4 so far, would like at least 2 more
13yr "A" times: 1 so far, less than a second from 3 more. Needs 3 total by his birthday.
Time standards: "AAA" in 3 events, "AA" in 6 more. Studly!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a taste of swimming. Just a little bit of a couple of his events. He had fun and I hope you do too. Enjoy!

For those that are reading this "note" on Facebook.... I think you'll have to visit my actual blog to see the video. Safe travels!

As I reflect on this MEet and the "ME" that seems to be so invested..... I am reminded of something that I learned over 20 years ago.... I was at a pro golf tournament, following my sister's then-boyfriend around the course. The young man he was paired with had his parents following him. I watched them a lot and spent a little time talking with them. "You live and die with every stroke, don't you?" I realized. "Yes," they said. "We know exactly what he can and can't do. What his weaknesses and strong points are. What he's worked on over the last month to prepare for this." As a twenty-something, I thought they were a bit obsessive. As a mother, I'm thinking not so much. Just supportive. In every way they can try to be.

So, yes. While Aidan is the one that puts in all those hours in the pool, there is a whole village of "we" behind him. His coach (hi Jason!) is the one that carefully planned the workouts to bring him to his peak for this meet (and again for TAGS in March). Ray is the one that works so hard to pay for the club dues (Lakeside is the best!) and that silly expensive bathing suit. And he and always backs me up when I am harping on him about nutrition, hydration & rest. I drive to a lot of practices and help the team out in whatever capacity I am able. His teammates and other parents push him, cheer him on, and we ALL "live and die" with every stroke these amazing kids make.

I guess THAT's why I'm so tired after this weekend.

Swimming Update

2010-02-04T05:14:00.007-06:00

This weekend is a Very Big Swim Meet.

Three full grueling days. Swimmers from several states, fierce competition.

Aidan is a bit behind the eight ball, due to THIS little incident which caused him to miss a few meets, so he hasn't quite attained the goals that he wanted to at this point in the season.

His main goals are qualifying times for state championships, and also the 13-year old "A" level times, so that he'll start next season at the "A" level and won't have to work his way up to it. He'd love to get 4+ state qualifying times (only has one so far), and also at least 3 "A" times at the 13-year old level. None there.

Both are tough goals. Especially in light of the fact that the Texas Swim Association, tired of being referred to as "one of the three fastest states in the country" (the other two being California and Florida), wants to be the fastest state. So they raised the bar. A lot. They lowered all the time goals for qualifying for the state championship meet.

This is good news, bad news. The bad news is that it makes it much, much harder to qualify. The good news is that the meet will run a lot more quickly this year with fewer swimmers!

So. At this weekend's Very Big Swim Meet he's got to drop some time. Not a whole lot in most cases - in some events he is mere hundredths away from making his goals. But it's three long days with qualifying races in the morning, and then finals at night. Takes its toll on him sometimes.

So. Keep your good thoughts pointed towards Aidan this weekend and also for me, so that I can keep him fed, positive, rested, focused, hydrated, and maybe even having a little fun.

You can follow me on Twitter to get race updates in real time.

Gettin' There

2010-02-02T08:07:00.002-06:00

Another milestone in Aidan's room project....

We installed the mural over the weekend. I will show you a "before" and "after" photo. For the "after," I had to knit together two photos to get the whole mural in, and I am not very proficient with this stuff, so don't go thinkin' the project also included adding some wonky new angles to the ceiling!

Before.......

And after......

Happy Birthday Bridie Light!

2010-02-01T10:11:00.001-06:00

We celebrated Bridget's eleventh birthday last night.

Our birthday traditions have basically evolved into each kid getting two parties. One for family, and one for friends. Bridget and I are still in negotiations over what her "friend" party will be. Last year, it took us until April to arrive at a solution that was acceptable to everyone.

For the "family" party, we usually go out, with the restaurant selection being up to the honoree. One of her criteria in restaurant selection is that it must have white table cloths. Two years running now, Bridget has opted for Brazilian barbecue. A veritable smorgasbord for a little foodie like Missy B.

After dinner, we return home for cake and presents. Cake can be store-bought (depending on Mommy's schedule) or homemade. This year, Bridget wanted cupcakes. Being the slave-driver that I am, she had to make her own cupcakes. She thinks this is a privlege and a treat so we're all happy.

Her special request was that she wanted "rubber duckies" on her cupcake,

so I decorated that one for her.

She's taking a cake decorating class with her Girl Scout troop in a few weeks.

I hope she learns a trick or two.

She really really really wanted a set of "Bitty Twins" from American Girl.

That giant sucking sound you hear is all our cash leaving our wallet and going to the American Girl store. But look at that smile..... priceless!

And here she is, modeling her new pajamas with her brother. Sweet kids.

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Bridie!
Bridie who?
Bridie Light.... of the silvery mooo - o - ooon!

Happy birthday, my Bridie Light!

Progress

2010-01-29T18:34:00.001-06:00

There's still a lot to do. Build a desk, hang a mural, find or create some artwork for the walls. Find a comfy chair.

But it's getting there! Finished the window treatments today. Here are a few photos for the curious.

Yes, those are actual deer hides on the windows. It was Ray's touch to have their little white tails flicked up like they are fleeing from danger. The antlers on the ledge are all real and courtesy of a departed relative.

It's turning into a genuine little Man Cave and Aidan is so happy with it so far. And I must say, spending the day making and installing window treatments is way more gratifying than the two weeks spent painting.

Silver linings

2010-01-20T16:16:00.001-06:00

People keep pinging me.... "How's Aidan's room? Are you done yet?"

Gawd no.

I don't know why I ever think I can get stuff like this done quickly. It seems something goes wrong at every step, things take longer that I estimate, I don't have as many hours in a day as I think I do.

Paint. Simple, right? Sigh. Two weeks later, I'm done. It's a big room. With a very high ceiling. Trim, paint ceiling, hand paint 1 coat of primer over all the bold colors, roll on primer, roll on color. With all the wonky angles, 5 windows, 3 doors, ledge, drop ceiling over door, bay window, angled ceiling, etc. It took a lot of cutting by hand.

Silver lining? I had 2+ gallons left over from doing Ray's office and also used the same color for the common areas of the house. Turns out it was perfect for Aidan's room too.

New blinds. No more crappy white plastic, replace with dark wood. Problems. Lots of problems. Fit problems, quality problems, hardware problems, missing parts, jury-rig stuff. Take stuff back. Get new parts. Do the fussy, fiddly work of shortening them. Curse the mounting system for the valence strips. Curse it some more. Loudly. Daily.

Silver lining? I want to say the satisfaction of a job well done, but I'm still not done. Having trouble mounting the valence strips, and even though these will eventually be covered by the top treatments, I want to to be a job well done, dammit. I hate short cuts. I guess for now, the silver lining will be that Aidan's room gets much darker than it did before and he will like that a lot.

Oh, I know! The old blinds will go on "freecycle" instead of into the landfill. That could count as a silver lining, right? Something "green" to make up for my questionable paint brush cleaning technique?

Bedding. Easy, right? Not so much. None of the stores I have hit have the "European" size sham stuffer. Bed skirt....... Aidan's bed doesn't have a box spring, the mattress is on a board on wood rails. How to utilize the bed skirt? Clear out enough space in the room to flip the bed over (me strong like ox!). Use velcro to painstakingly attach the bedskirt to the bottom of the bed. Much more time-consuming than the usual bed-skirt installation. And it is made especially hard as I seem to have broken both thumbnails down to the quick during this project and I have a lot of trouble peeling the backing off.

Silver lining? Being a "crafty HoMo" (that's HomeMaker, get yer mind outta the gutter), I already had a spool of velcro and did NOT have to venture out on yet another trek for project supplies.

And that's it. That is all I've gotten done. Besides replacing all the switch plate covers.

I still have a lot to do. Somehow turn 2 deerhides and 8 drawer knobs (as yet to be received, check on that), into top treatments for the windows. Build a desk, but that is Ray's job. In his "spare" time. Find seating, find or create artwork, and other wall stuff such as a bulletin board system.

Oh. And the mural. Yeah, there's that. Wall-sized, gorgeous, and supposedly pretty hard to hang. I'm trying not to let it intimidate me.

Oh. And the bathroom. Um, yeah. Strip wallpaper, texture the walls. Ugh.

Think I'll be done by 2011? Thanks for listening.

First Project of the New Year....

2010-01-04T09:57:00.000-06:00

..... Aidan's room!

He's DONE with the fish theme. It was here when we bought the house, and I'm glad he liked it.

So.... first on the agenda is PAINT. It's gonna be a project. The doors and trim are pretty banged up and full of stickers, etc. You know I'll never be able to match the trim paint exactly, so I can't just spot paint, sigh.... The prior inhabitant of the room put a LOT of screw and nail holes into the walls, and of course the whole thing will have to be primed before I can put the new color (boring beige) on the wall.

Why, oh why, oh why does the prep work take DAYS and the actual painting only take a few hours?

Prepping a room for paint is always a humbling experience and an unpleasant reminder of my less-than-adequate housekeeping skills....

His new room will be a "rustic" theme.... think distressed leather, deer antlers, animal skins and lots of wood. Ray is building him a new desk and I'm still noodling ideas for window treatments, shelves, etc.

Stay tuned!

Jingle Bells

2009-12-26T09:29:00.000-06:00

Christmas is sometimes an embarrassment of riches.

The kids pretty much get everything the ask for, and then some. We eat lobster for dinner and drink champagne for lunch. Ray and I have trouble shopping for each other, because really, we want for nothing.

We are fortunate. This figurative fortune is a result of my hard-working and clever husband who scratches and claws through a cut-throat industry every week so that we can have food on our table and clothes on our backs. It's not lobster every day, and we don't wear designer stuff. But we are grateful for what we have, and grateful for Ray.

He starts a new job with the new year. The company sent him all his equipment to set up his office here. Part of the ensemble is a fancy-schmancy VOIP phone for conference calls, etc that ties right into the company's phone system. He even has his own toll-free number. It has to run through our cable lines, of which there are none up in Ray's office, so that's another "Honey Do" project for him. Until he gets that line run, the fancy-schmancy phone is in one of our main rooms.

It rings all day and all night.

"Can you shut that thing off?" I growled at one point.

Ray told me, he'd rather we heard it and went on to explain. Turns out, the 800# that the company allocated to Ray they only recently acquired. It previously had belonged to the government.

It was a Food Stamps hotline.

So, no. We won't be turning off the ringer. All Christmas Eve, and all day long Christmas Day, that phone would sit in the corner, quietly "jingling" every hour or so. Reminding us of our good fortune. Reminding us that there are people out there who are calling about Food Stamps on Christmas Eve.

The kids would look up from their toys, sigh, and say "I feel bad." I'd remind them of all the things they donated over the past year during the various charity efforts at their schools, the money from the "fun run", the canned food drives. But still.

We do our part. But we could probably do more. I blithely send off stuff for "Toys for Tots," give my spare change to "Pennies for Ponies," generously fill a bag for every canned food drive, donate our "gently used" clothing to the CCA, drop some coins in the Salvation Army kettle. But I rarely think about the people. Every time I heard the "jingle" of that new phone, I tried to imagine a family in need. How it would feel.

We all need reminding now and then. While the "jingle bells" of that fancy-schmancy phone remind me to live in gratitude, gratitude is not enough - it feels selfish. We need compassion. We need to be remined that even on Christmas Eve, despite the efforts of what I believe is a fairly giving society, there are still people out there who don't just want, they need. We need to do more.

The universe works in amazing and amusing ways. I am grateful that my husband has a job, but the universe found a way to remind us through our good fortune the value of compassion.

Holiday canning

2009-12-24T11:02:00.000-06:00

Once I learned how, it's hard to stop!

This holiday season, I canned two different types of treats to give as gifts and also to hoard some for ourselves.

The savory treat is cranberries with roasted shallots and ruby port. It cries out to be spooned over a wedge of brie and enjoyed with a glass of Pinot Noir.

I boil the berries in brown sugar, water and port. I roast the shallots until golden and carmelized.

Mix it all together, seal it in jars, process to ensure strerility, lable and voila! Yummy treats!

The sweet treat was jelly. Cranberry & jalepeno. I live in Texas now and "when in Rome..."

The recipe couldn't be easier and the end result is so pretty! The store was out of 8oz jars, so I had to do a lot of 4oz jars. I was able to share with more people and they looked like little jewels!

I've really been enjoying this for breakfast. Sweet, with a little kick. Just like me!

The woods behind my house....

2009-12-23T09:18:00.000-06:00

....are full of the most amazing variety of plant life. Trees, bushes, grasses, flowers, berries, mosses of every shade of green. It's different every time I go back there. I remember when we first moved here, I took a break from unpacking one day and just headed into the woods for a few hours to explore. I was stunned by the variety of flowers blooming at every level. I picked "one of everything" to bring home to show my family.

While Spring and her wildflowers are showy and spectacular, Fall brings a quiet beauty that I've always appreciated. So many shades of brown - russet, amber, whisky, topaz, chocolate. A few weeks ago, I decided to bring back "one of everything" and make a wreath.

It's been so nice to have a little bit of "The Woods" right on my front door!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-15T12:31:00.002-06:00

Yeah, yeah, I know. It was a while ago. I've been busy. Fa la la la la freakin' la la la la and all that.

OK. Enough with the Scrooge attitude. I just love Thanksgiving. It's all about food, family and friends and no other commercial trappings.

I've been cooking Thanksgiving dinner ever since my mom died more than 15 years ago. While the very first Thanksgiving was hard, I took it as an opportunity to mix it up a bit and try some new recipes. Shake up the ol' palate, modernize some of the recipes, infuse some new flavors.

Every year I pore over magazines, cookbooks, and sites like Epicurious, Martha Stewart, etc. looking for something new and exciting. I watch the cooking shows and ask all my friends what they are cooking. A whole day centered around FOOD, what could be more fun!?

My kitchen elves and I started a few days in advance. The beauty of many of the Thanksgiving style recipes is they can (and often should!) be made a day or so ahead of time, and then just reheated before dinner while the turkey is resting and being carved.

This is the cooking crew, otherwise known as Nonna and Bridget. They peeled a LOT of vegetables!

The kitchen elves also were the dining room elves. Bridget and Nonna went through all my linens, china, crystal, silve and flatware and designed a very beautiful table. Didn't they do a nice job? Aren't I such a slave driver?

All that cooking in advance paid off on The Big Day. I got to relax, go for a walk, have a long shower, enjoy my family, watch a little football. It was great.

This is the dinner - ready to shove into the ovens when the turkeys are removed.

Yes, that's right: turkeys. As in plural. I know we were only ten, but.... I do so enjoy leftovers! And, one of the birds was a "heritage" turkey. A breed called a Bourbon Red. This is sort of like a "heritage tomato." It's the original breed, hasn't been messed with genetically to grow a bigger breast or mature faster or do any other unnatural things that will make it easier and more profitable to get it to your table. Since it's a REAL turkey, they only get to be about 12 pounds, and that certainly wouldn't have cut it. So I cooked another "normal" organic bird. We could definitely taste the difference. Meatier, in the same way a homegrown tomato is tomatoier. Much less white meat, the dark meat was very rich. Definitely doing it again.

The best part of the evening? Sitting down at the table with my family. I live far from my original family, so I've sort of adopted people who are now my Texas family.

The second best part of the evening?

The food!

Angle of Repose - Coming to rest

Nutrition Overhaul

#%$* Elf

Anatomy of a Mum

Let the money sucking begin.....

Party, party, party

Camping

Summer in a Spoon

Chickens, chickens, chickens

Swim Across America

It isn't just chickens anymore!

Produce productivity

Chicken Chronicles

Grilled Artichokes

Hen down!

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming....

Awkward Teenagers

They Grow Up So Fast!

Meet My Chickens!

The Chicken Chronicles

March Madness

The chickens are coming! The chickens are coming! The chickens are coming!

Garden planning

Survival

Ice Station Zebra

I am not Wonderwoman

I'll be Home for Christmas

Unbearable Journey

The sharp knife of a short life

Yes, it's another post about food!

Bridgie's Room

Okra

Well furnished

How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?

Then and Now - The Girl

You know it's coming, yet it still hurts when it happens

In touch with my food. Literally.

Aidan's Trip to the Olympic Training Center

Saturday morning farm visits

Tween

Back to School

Destin..... aaahhhhh......

Beach bound!

The All Food All The Time Blog

Meet your meat

This week in Pam's local kitchen

Lazy Lady

Possibilities

Cucumbers are better than.....

Admonishing the Tooth Fairy

Another Grainy Back of the Auditorium Video....

When Life Gives You Radishes.....

The "Challenge" of Fresh Produce

Time for Change

Random Musings

Aidan's First Triathlon

Faithful

Disorganization

"It's so tiring being a princess....."

Thirteen

Swim Champs

March Madness

Dang

Snow Day!

Swimming Recap. Or, HE did all the swimming - why am *I* so exhausted?

Swimming Update

Gettin' There

Happy Birthday Bridie Light!

Progress

Silver linings

First Project of the New Year....

Jingle Bells

Holiday canning

The woods behind my house....

Thanksgiving

Swimming Recap. Or, HE did all the swimming - why am I so exhausted?