The Clothesline

Christmas Lights

2009-12-20T19:58:00.003-07:00

A crystalline night.
Plastic lights burn hope into
Deep into the sky.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Mommy Guilt Redemption Eludes Me

2009-12-14T20:58:00.006-07:00

How do you know when your “mommy guilt” has gotten the best of you? When you knit your son a Christmas stocking, and he tells you to give it to the cat.
Last year, I wrote about how I guiltily “fast-tracked” a Christmas stocking for James by buying some premade felt ornaments and gluing them on a felt stocking I whip-stitched together. This stocking took me a few hours to make, compared to the many, many hours I spent sewing sequins on Ethan’s Christmas stocking. James’s stocking had the same glittery impact as Ethan’s, but deep down, I thought it was a sham.
Then, in October, I saw a pattern for a knitted stocking, and I had to buy it for James. The stocking took a few weeks to knit, compared to the few hours I spent on James’ first stocking. The amount of time I put into this project helped me write off my mommy guilt.
I confidently presented the stocking to James, anticipating his face lit up with joy over my effort. But instead of “Wow!”, I got “Eh.” What’s wrong? “Don’t you want this stocking instead of your old one?” I asked. “No,” he responded. “You should give it to Molly.”
I had gotten it all wrong. James didn’t care how many hours I put into a project, he just wanted a glittery stocking like his big brother’s. I should have left well enough alone.
So, Molly, what do you want for a stocking stuffer?

Kitchen Pantry Body Scrub

2009-12-10T10:04:00.006-07:00

I’ve made body scrubs before using brown sugar and light vegetable oil, but I was never really satisfied with the results. The scrub was sticky and would clump up when I tried to rub it on my skin. Then I found a recipe in Janice Cox’s book, Natural Beauty All Seasons, which intrigued me. The recipe called for milk along with the usual sugar and oil combination. Here it is:

¼ cup sugar
2 tblsp light vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil)
2 tblsp fresh milk

Combine the ingredients. Before you bathe, rub on skin to slough off dry, flaky skin and improve circulation. Rinse off.

I tried the scrub out last weekend and loved it. My skin felt smooth and moisturized after using it. According to Cox’s book, the protein, calcium and vitamins in dairy products make them good cleansers. They also contain lactose, an alpha hydroxy acid that gently sloughs off dead cells.
Plus, the scrub appeals to my eco side because I'm not washing harmful chemical preservatives, which are found in many commercially made products, down the drain into our water system.
So during these dry winter months, whip up this simple, eco-friendly body scrub to keep your skin smooth and soft.

Have You Seen This Skunk?

2009-12-06T21:40:00.006-07:00

Recently, our household has undergone a major tragedy. Someone has gone missing.
But before you start checking the news for Amber alerts, let me tell you who the victim is—a stuffed animal skunk whose name is Skunkers.
Skunkers 1 and 2 became a part of our family a few months ago when we dined at McDonald’s. Ethan and James each got a Happy Meal, which also happened to be the home of a stuffed animal skunk. Of course I let them take the darling creatures home. Ethan and James named their skunks Skunkers, played with them intensely for a few hours, and then tossed them in their rooms’ stuffed animal heaps.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t until Skunkers 1 went missing that I realized he how important he was to James. Their fun times came to an end when we bought our new couch.
See, we not only got rid of Couchy to make room for Mr. Couch. We also got rid of a recliner, which, unbeknownst to me, was the home of James’ skunk.
A week ago, James tearily accused me of my crime. I was sitting at the dining room table working on my lap top when he approached me. “Mommy!” he said. “You got rid of Skunkers!”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Here’s Skunkers,” I said, pointing to a stuffed skunk laying our living room carpet.
“That’s Ethan’s Skunkers,” he explained. “We played a game with both skunks and I put mine in between the cushions of the recliner and now you’ve gotten rid of the recliner so now he’s gone!!!” His balled-up fists pressed against his eyes to stop the flowing tears.
I swallowed down my panic. “James, I’m sure you didn’t leave Skunkers in the recliner. He will turn up. In the meantime, why don’t you play with this skunk?”
“No!” he said. “That’s Ethan’s skunk. Mine is gone!”
Over the past week, I’ve hoped James’s accusations were wrong, but Skunkers 1 has yet to appear. So now I’m putting out own version of an Amber alert, asking that if you happen to see a skunk that looks like the one in the photo, please send him our way. It will make one mommy—I mean boy—very happy.

Make Your Own Baby Leg Warmers

2009-11-30T10:00:00.004-07:00

There’s a new baby in my life—my 2-month-old niece, Domenica. I wanted to make her some BabyLegs, which are legs warmers for babies. They cost $12 online, but are super easy to make with knee-high socks you can purchase for one-third the price at Wal-Mart or Target.
This past weekend, I refreshed my memory on how to make BabyLegs by looking over the post I wrote on it a year ago. I realized I added an unnecessary step to make the cuff, so I eliminated those steps in the post. The new, improved post titled, “Cheap Socks Make Great Gifts,” can be found in the right-hand sidebar titled “Tutorials.”
I wanted to take a photo of Domenica in her new BabyLegs this past weekend, but she slept the whole time I saw her. And we all know to never wake up a sleeping baby, even for a blog photo.

Music For Black Friday

2009-11-25T09:57:00.003-07:00

Holidays are on their way, these decorations have so much to say.

"In The Mall," Weezer

I personally don't brave the mobs to hunt down bargains on Black Friday, if you do, may I suggest downloading Weezer's song, "In The Mall," into your ipod. This song takes me back to shopping days of yore, when my biggest concern was sneaking a box of Mike & Ike's Hot Tamales candy into the movie theater for the premiere of The Princess Bride.

Have a wonderful Thanskgiving holiday, everyone.

American Girl, I Don't Think So

2009-11-24T09:52:00.002-07:00

Ordering my sons something for Christmas from this catalog would, in their minds, be the equivalent of putting lumps of coal in their stockings.

I Dream Of Sushi

2009-11-23T09:45:00.005-07:00

The first time I ate sushi was 15 years ago when my husband took me to the now-defunct Hotel Nikko Christmas party in Chicago. My husband worked there as a waiter before he started law school. This was one of the best company Christmas parties I’ve attended. The hotel turned over its immense ball room to its employees—giving us lots of room to do the electric slide. Tables groaned with appetizers, including what looked like a mountain of sushi. I nervously popped a Sake roll in my mouth … and fell in love.
After all these years, it never occurred to me to make sushi myself. The sheets of seaweed, or nori, look so brittle, I thought they would crumble when I attempted rolling rice and fish into them. But my cravings finally got the best of me, so I gave sushi-making a go last weekend. I cooked and seasoned the sushi rice and spread it out evenly on the nori. The delicate smell of the seaweed dampened by the rice made my mouth water. I added some crab meat, cucumber and avocado to the middle of the sheet, held my breath, and began to roll it into a cylinder with the help of the bamboo mat. It turns out nori is sturdier than it looks because when I removed the mat, I was pleased to see it had stuck together to make a plump California roll.
And now, Jenny, the winner of my sushi set giveaway, can have her own sushi-making adventures! Please email me your address so I can send the set to you.

Snow Day Activities

2009-11-19T09:06:00.003-07:00

Here’s a fun web site for young and old alike to visit on a bad weather day. Jigzone.com has hundreds of free jigsaw puzzles you complete online. Each puzzle can be customized to have just six pieces or up to 247 pieces. My sons couldn’t get enough of this web site last Sunday when it was too cold and snowy for them to be outside for very long. And the best part was I didn’t have to nag them to pick up the puzzle pieces after they finished.

Receiving--And Giving--My Favorite Things

2009-11-16T10:12:00.008-07:00

Last Saturday I received an unexpected treat. A scarf, hand knit in mohair by the lovely Hokgardner, arrived in the mail. I won the scarf in a giveaway she did a month ago. It snowed eight inches in Denver this weekend, so I got to try it out right away. The scarf is my new favorite thing—it felt like a layer of down as I trudged through snow to get Ethan to school this morning.
Now I’ve got a giveaway for you, consisting of another of my favorite things—sushi. I constantly crave sushi, probably because my kids would never step foot in a sushi restaurant. Plus, I’m hesitant to buy sushi at grocery store since these packages do not list whether the Sake is made from wild Alaskan salmon (good) or farmed salmon (bad).
I’m starting to think maybe I should satisfy my sushi cravings by making it myself—that way I can feel good that the fish I’m eating, such as wild Alaskan salmon or Albacore tuna found off U.S. Canadian shores, isn’t overfished or high in mercury or PCBs.

If you, too, are so inclined, enter my giveaway for a sushi deluxe set, courtesy of CSN Stores. From counter stools to luggage, this online retailer of home and office goods has more than 200 different online stores to meet your shopping needs.
The sushi set consists of:

one bamboo sushi rolling mat;
one bamboo sushi rice paddle;
one three-step sushi maker;
two dipping sauce dishes;
and two chopstick rests.

To enter, leave a comment on this post stating your favorite sushi restaurant—mine is Kotobuki in Chicago—by Saturday, November 21, midnight mountain standard time. The contest is open to U.S. residents only. I will announce the winner on my blog Monday, November 23. Good luck!

The Name Says It All

2009-11-12T19:44:00.001-07:00

Maybe it was the fact that my husband and I are hosting Thanksgiving dinner and need more seating—or maybe we just needed some retail therapy—but a couple of weeks ago we bought a new couch for our family room. We got a big, comfy leather sectional that has a recliner on each end—my husband’s primary requirement.
This couch replaces a 20-year-old one my husband bought in college. It’s a couch so worn out I’m too embarrassed to show you a photo of it.
I didn’t realize my husband and I were the only family members excited about the new couch until after the movers delivered it. “Come try out the new couch!” I said to James.
“No,” he said. Instead he went into the garage, where we were keeping the old couch until the person whom responded to our Freecycle ad for it could pick it up. “Aren’t we going to keep Couchy?” he asked, resting his head against the back of the old couch.
Couchy? Who is Couchy? Oh, you mean that decrepid thing? “No, someone else is going to take it,” I said. “Now come in the house and try out our new couch!”
“I don’t want to sit on Mr. Couch,” James replied, sulking.
Until that point, I didn’t realize that James was losing a friend. Couchy didn’t mind if he and Ethan jumped up and down on its cushions. It also didn’t care if they got Goldfish crumbs all over it, or spilled juice on it. They could take Couchy’s cushions off and build forts with them any time.
Mr. Couch, on the other hand, won’t put up with any of that nonsense.

A Worthwhile Freebie

2009-11-11T07:10:00.003-07:00

I usually cringe when we get “free” toys with fast-food kid meals, but this one won me over. Meet “Pirate Tot,” a swarmy looking stuffed tater tot that James got with his Sonic Wacky Pack kid’s meal. For some reason, James renamed him French Fry. The other morning, James woke up looking for French Fry, so he could carry him around along with his usual stuffed-animal posse of Eppa, Panda and Blankie. It looks like French Fry is a keeper.

Slipping Past The Issue

2009-11-06T07:10:00.002-07:00

I promise to teach Ethan how to tie his shoes ... as soon as he grows out these slip-on ones.

Taking A Knitting Gamble

2009-11-03T10:11:00.005-07:00

Sometimes, fixing a knitting mistake can take more time and money than it’s worth. That’s what I found out when I turned a hat into purse.
A few weeks ago, Ethan asked me to knit him a hat. Since I have currently started more knitting projects than I have finished, I wanted a quick knit. I chose a pattern I saw on A Friend To Knit With’s blog —a chunky knit beanie, because it looked like it could be knit in an afternoon.
I was right. I knit the hat on Sunday and Ethan wore it to school the next day. I felt like a fiber arts genius.
Until my husband told me he took the hat off of Ethan’s head when he got in line at school because he looked weird in it.

“That hat is for girl,” he said. “It’s too short to be a boy’s hat.”
“What do you mean—it’s a basic, unisex hat,” showing him the picture on the pattern.
“Then why is a girl wearing it?” he asked.
I realized then it was futile to argue with my husband about appropriate attire for his sons. Now what was I going to do with this hat, plus the three hanks of blue Classic Elite Aspen that I was going to knit into hats for James and my husband?
I logged onto ravelry.com, and amazing web site for knitters and crocheters to share their projects. I searched for projects that used Aspen yarn, which is like knitting with dreadlocks. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t find many projects for this yarn. I really didn’t want to make a giant scarf with it. My best bet was this free pattern for a purse.
I didn’t love the purse’s wooden handles, but I did like the cable pattern. Plus, it is 17 inches wide, which is good because big purses seem to be everywhere.

Before I could start, I had to order more supplies—a circular needle, fabric to line the inside the purse and the handles—for a total of $41.37. The purse knitted up quickly, and I got excited about using it.
But the excitement changed to anxiety as I ran out of yarn before I got to the last row. The last thing I wanted to do was order another hank of yarn for $12, including shipping. I also didn’t want to abandon the purse—those handles would forever haunt me if I didn’t do something with them.
I couldn’t bear spending another dime on this project, so I took the cheap way out. I unraveled a hat I made for myself with a gray hank of Classic Elite Aspen and used it to knit the last few rows. My knitter’s fantasy of impressing folks with this purse blew up in my face. No one is going to believe I got it from a boutique with that gray yarn peeking out from the bottom.

My husband would love for me to quit taking these knitting gambles, but I’m just too addicted.

Dry Your Own Herbs

2009-10-29T08:24:00.004-06:00

Several weeks ago, I came across this article on the Mountain Rose Herbs web site about drying herbs from your garden. It has a great chart listing which herbs are best to dry hung upside down in bunches, and which herbs are best stripped from their stems and dried on screens.
I wanted to harvest my thyme and sage plants in my garden. According to the article, sage must be bunched and hung upside down to dry, while thyme leaves need to be stripped from their stems and dried on a rack. I didn’t have a screen to dry the thyme leaves on, but Colorado's semi-arid climate enabled the herbs to dry on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper in a few days.

For the sage, I tied them in bunches and hung them upside in my basement. It’s taken a few weeks, but the sage dried beautifully.
Now I can store these herbs in mason jars and enjoy them in my cooking for the through the winter months.

A Detour Down Memory Lane

2009-10-26T08:43:00.007-06:00

Last weekend I went on scrapbooking retreat at the Holiday Inn in Estes Park. I’m woefully behind in assembling my scrapbooks. In fact, on this retreat, I focused on finishing my now-4-year-old son James’ baby book.
On Sunday afternoon, I regretfully packed up my gigantic scrapbooking bag and hit the road to go back home. I thought I was on highway 36, which takes you back to Denver, but after a few moments of driving I wasn’t so sure. The road went south instead of east. Unfortunately I had to drive quite a few miles on the narrow, winding road before I found a good place to turn around.
The road leveled off and on the left-hand side was a sign for Lily Lake. I pulled into the parking lot before the little alpine lake. Mt Meeker and 14,000-ft. Long’s Peak were reflected in its still waters.
I had been here before. When Terry and I moved back to Colorado in 2004, we tried to make up for lost time in the Chicago flatlands by going up to mountains as much as possible. On one of our weekend outings, we came here to picnic and stroll around the lake. Here’s a photo of me, almost three months pregnant with James, and then-2-year-old Ethan, taking in the gorgeous scenery.
So much in my life has changed since this photo was taken, but this place looks exactly the same.

His Trusty Advisor

2009-10-21T16:29:00.006-06:00

James confers with Eppa on all the important decisions in his life, like which Transformer he wants for Christmas.

The Upside Of Being Down With Swine Flu

2009-10-06T09:38:00.005-06:00

Last week my family was struck with the dreaded swine flu, or H1N1 virus. Thankfully, the worst of our symptoms was low-grade fever, cough and fatigue. We spent the week camped out on our couches. While Ethan and James watched TV, I knitted.
And since I didn’t have to drive to and from their schools and the karate studio, I had a lot of time to knit, which was good because I had a baby sweater to finish. My sister-in-law is due this week with a baby girl.
I used a pattern called Baby Kimono by Kristen Spurkland. I bought some great yarn for it back in May and have been working on it off and on over the summer. I didn’t think a sweater for a newborn would take long to make. Now I know that even a baby sweater takes a while to make on size 3 needles. But with all the sicky couch potato time I had last week, I finished the sweater and even made a little hat for her with the extra yarn I had.

I can’t wait to see my new niece in her sweater!

YouTube To The Rescue

2009-09-30T21:22:00.011-06:00

It’s an ambulance!

No, wait, it's a robot!

Actually, it’s a mangled mess.

The next time your son hands you some plastic parts and asks you to transform them, don’t despair. Go to the YouTube web site and search for Transformers. You’ll find hundreds of videos, such as this one, which will show you, step by step, how to transform the robot, Bumble Bee, into a Camero.
Yes, there are people out there whom spend their free time filming themselves “transforming” cheap plastic toys from China.
And, as a mother of two sons obsessed with Transformer toys, I am eternally grateful to them.

It's Raining Gold

2009-09-28T10:07:00.007-06:00

After last week’s rain, the skies cleared over the weekend. We headed up to Golden Gate Canyon State Park to see Colorado’s version of fall color—the yellow-leaf aspen. We weren’t disappointed. Aspen leaves sparkled against the bright blue sky. And when the breeze the shook the trees, it showered the ground with golden coins.
This is why aspens are my favorite tree.

Smudged

2009-09-24T20:39:00.005-06:00

Fall began with a vengeance this week, with chilly rains. A couple of days ago, the clouds were so heavy with moisture, they blotted out the mountains. Hopefully this weekend Colorado will be back to its usual Indian Summer days.

Click here for more sky photos.

Fall Color Coordination

2009-09-21T20:34:00.006-06:00

We just returned from a long weekend in south central Kentucky visiting my husband’s family. Since I live in a semi-arid Colorado, where the landscape is dominated by scruffy yellow grass, I can’t help but be slapped upside the face with Kentucky's lush greenness. Only now, as the weather starts to cool, all the foliage is tinged with red, purple and orange.

Take this vine that creeps up a metal shack at the family farm. The leaves blend from green to burgundy to yellow, punctuated with blue-black berries. But what’s really lovely is how the reds and purples of this vine compliment the shack’s painted green sides. The red leaves bring out the shack’s rust streaks.

Rust never looked so pretty.

Cheap Thrills For Sweet Treats

2009-09-15T18:07:00.002-06:00

My friend and I took our sons to a MOMS Club outing at Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The shop had a display window so you could see doughnuts made in real time. First the doughnuts sat on long metal shelves that rotated in a circle while the dough rises. Once they had plumped up to the right size, the doughnuts were placed on a conveyor belt, which dumped them into a huge vat of hot oil that fried them to a satisfying crisp.
James and my friend’s son pressed their faces against the glass, in awe of the doughnut-making process. Then James’s friend pointed to the rotating shelves and said, “Look James, it’s a carnival ride for doughnuts!”
At least the doughnuts had some fun before they met their fates.

I Should Have Known

2009-09-14T20:25:00.003-06:00

Driving back from my parents’ house last weekend, Ethan uttered, “I hate long car rides.”
This statement was no surprise to me. Ethan, whom only stops moving long enough to watch a 30-minute episode of Transformers Animated, complains routinely about being strapped down in a car for more than 31 minutes. Sure enough, 10 minutes later, Ethan stated, “Man, I hate long car rides.”
I didn’t respond, hoping that by not saying anything, Ethan would drop the topic.
A few minutes later, Ethan asked, “Mommy, do you know what?”
“What?” I said.
“I really hate long car rides.”

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I’ve received this award from Tanya of Teen Autism for being a creative blogger. Tanya's writings about raising a kid on the spectrum are filled with such honesty, integrity and hope that I can’t help but feel inspired even on my most challenging autism days. Thanks, Tanya, so much for the bloggy love.

A Tear Of Light

2009-09-10T19:57:00.006-06:00

Click here for more sky photos.

Versatile Lentil Stew

2009-09-10T08:18:00.003-06:00

One-pot recipes make my life a lot easier on weeknights, especially when the ingredients called for are easy to swap with ones I have on hand. That’s why I’ve been making various versions of lentil-spinach stew from Better Homes And Garden Vegetarian Recipes cookbook. Here is the recipe:

1 cup dry lentils
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp cooking oil
4 cups water
7 ½ -oz can chopped tomatoes
4 tsp chicken or vegetable bouillon granules
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp salt
½ tsp dried thyme
14/ tsp fennel seed, crushed
¼ tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach
1 tbsp balsamic or red wine vinegar

Rinse lentils; set aside. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven cook onion and garlic in hot oil until tender but not brown. Stir in the lentils, water, tomatoes, bouillon granules, Worcestershire sauce, salt, thyme, fennel seed, pepper and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add carrots and frozen spinach. Bring to a boil, breaking up spinach with a fork; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes more or until lentils are tender. Stir in vinegar. Discard bay leaf. To serve, ladle stew into individual bowls. Makes 4 servings.

Lately, I’ve been swapping the carrots, onion, canned tomatoes and spinach the recipe calls for with whatever is ready to be picked from my garden, such as green beans, mustard greens, green bell peppers and tomatoes. Plus, this is even easier to make in the crock pot—just put everything in the pot and cook on high for four hours.
Yeah, this recipe definitely makes my life easier at dinnertime. Now if I could just get my kids to eat it.

Full Moon Howl

2009-09-08T09:23:00.007-06:00

How do you improve a Weezer concert? Make it a Bleezer show, by having Weezer open for the reunited band, Blink 182. Those two alternative rock bands' songs go together like ying and yang. Throw in Chester French and Taking Back Sunday--two other fun bands to hear live--and you got yourself a great concert lineup.

And, thanks to internet-enabled phones, college football fans didn't have to choose between seeing the concert or the much-anticipated University of Colorado/Colorado State University game going on at the same time. "CSU won!!!" a slightly drunk, very happy alum told me in a stunned voice, after checking the final score on his Blackberry. I pictured my brother, another CSU alum, jumping up and down for joy over the news back at home.

Other than the $9 beers, there wasn't too much to complain about at this concert/sporting event/tailgate party. Near the end of the show, Blink's lead singer Tom DeLonge pointed out how pretty the full moon looked. "Hold up your cell phones so they look like stars!" he told the crowd. We happily obliged.

"Happy Labor Day ... Um, Whatever"

2009-09-03T20:01:00.005-06:00

Molly probably isn’t the best member of the family to wish everyone a good Labor Day, since she knows nothing about work. But she is an expert at rest and relaxation, which is what this holiday really is all about.

So take a page out of Molly’s book and have a happy, restful holiday!

The Ripple Effect

2009-09-02T20:22:00.008-06:00

Ethan’s scootering has had a positive impact on the whole family. His insistence on riding his scooter to school has given James an extra opportunity to practice riding his bike.

The first few rides about did me in. James would ride so cautiously, I’d soon lose track of Ethan and had to push James on his bike every few feet to catch up with big brother. Then, one time, James wasn’t looking where he was going and rode off the sidewalk you see in the photo to do a face plant in the ditch. After that incident, I was afraid James would never ride again, but he got back on the next day.

By the end of the week, James rode so fast I had to wear my running shoes so I could jog to keep up with him. Last Sunday, Ethan said he wanted to ride his bike to the park, and James readily agreed. We all hopped on our bikes and made it to the park in one piece.

My dream came true.

Head Rush

2009-08-27T20:13:00.005-06:00

Ethan isn’t the only one whom has conquered a physical goal recently. I did a yoga headstand.
I’ve been trying to keep the chiropractor at bay by getting up in the morning to stretch along with the show, Priscilla’s Yoga Stretches. Last week, she said she will show us how to do a head stand. “You can’t be serious,” I said aloud to myself. I can barely do a forward bend—how can I do “the king of yoga poses,” as Priscilla calls it.
But Priscilla matter-of factedly demonstrated a headstand. You start by getting on your knees and leaning forward to make a tripod with your arms by putting my elbows on the ground and interlacing your fingers together. Then you put your head between your hands and grasp it tightly. You get on your toes and walk toward your elbows. Then came the scary part—you bounce your feet off the ground and try to straighten out your legs.
My first few tries were disasterous, and I kept falling back on my feet. Then, instead of trying to bounce off the ground, I put one leg up in the air and then the other. When my second foot left the ground, my body swayed, but then I tightened up arms and found my balance. The sensation of supporting my body's weight on my arms and head was exhilerating.
I didn’t think I had the upper body strength to do a headstand. Now I try to do one every day, just because I can.

Catching Up

2009-08-25T20:06:00.006-06:00

When Ethan was 4 years old, we bought him a three-wheel scooter. We were hoping, despite his lack of coordination due to his autism diagnosis, that we could work with him to get him to ride it. But it proved to be too much for him, and the scooter soon collected dust in our garage. Ethan walked to his first grade class last year while his peers zoomed by him on various scooters, bikes and skate boards.
Then, a few weeks ago, our neighbor’s son invited Ethan and James to play with him. He and some other kids were racing down the street on their scooters. At his point, Ethan’s three-wheel scooter was too small for him, so one of the girls graciously offered him an extra Razor scooter in her family’s garage. I held my breath as he shakily pushed himself down the sidewalk, trying to stay in the race. But then it clicked, and the look of worry on his face blossomed into a smile. I think practicing taekwondo all these months gave him balance and coordination he needed to ride a scooter.
We bought Ethan his own Razor the next day. Now he zooms down the street to school with all other kids, and my heart swells at the sight of it.

Walker Ranch Hike

2009-08-23T16:01:00.007-06:00

I got this blister by hiking in 90-degree heat

through these mountains

to get here.

It was so worth it.

Click here to learn more about Walker Ranch, 7.5 miles west of Boulder.

Annuals Gone Wild

2009-08-21T08:39:00.003-06:00

Here is haphazard gardening at its best. We planted this annual—can’t remember its name—last year in a garden plot next to our patio. When the weather cooled, we pulled them up, never expecting to see these flowers again. But apparently, a seed escaped and found a new home in the rock bed on the other side of the patio.
This technically now is a weed, but it’s too pretty to pull up.

I Want This Job

2009-08-18T19:34:00.008-06:00

Last weekend I watched a recap of the Glastonbury 2008 Festival on Palladia. The band Goldfrapp did its song, Happiness, and I perked up. Not because of the song, but because of the dancers in rag costumes. What a sweet job! These people danced so crazily they started to look like those spinning sponges in an automated car wash.
How could you develop stage fright when you're in a costume that completely masks your identity? There's no pressure whatsoever--you just get paid to have some crazy dancing fun.

An End Of An Era

2009-08-16T20:07:00.003-06:00

Terry and I hung this dinosaur poster up in our main-floor bathroom almost four years ago as a potty-training aid for Ethan. We hoped having something interesting for him to look at while he did his business would make potty training process go more smoothly. Looking back, I think the M&M’s we gave as rewards had a more positive impact than the poster. But, since we didn’t want to jinx our success, we kept the poster up, just in case. Then we forgot about it until a few weeks ago, when I realized my both kids have been potty trained for more than a year.

My, how time flies.

Remnants Of A Sunset

2009-08-13T20:11:00.003-06:00

The times when I forget to be a blogger are the ones that really bite. The other night, I took short walk around the block at dusk and forgot to take my camera. Of course, the sunset was tremendous—full of orange and pink clouds. I quickened my pace, hoping to get home in time to grab my camera and capture those beautiful hues. But I wasn’t fast enough—all I got was this photo, when the sunset embers had cooled down.

Click here for more sky photos.

Make Your Own Apple Juice Skin Toner

2009-08-12T21:50:00.005-06:00

If you’ve got an apple tree in your yard, you should try this recipe from Janice Cox for an astringent made from apple juice. Apples contain pectin, which is soothing to skin. Here is the recipe:

¼ cup pure apple juice
4 tablespoons witch hazel

Mix all of the ingredients together. Bottle in an airtight container.

To make my own apple juice, I took three small apples and cut them into pieces. Then I pureed them with a stick blender. I scooped the puree into a coffee filter and gently squeezed it into a cup until I got ¼ of a cup of juice.

This toner is light, refreshing and smells great. So if you’re tired of making apple sauce with all your home-grown apples, switch things up with this toner recipe.

Haphazard Gardening

2009-08-11T20:26:00.004-06:00

We have the best of intentions when we plant our garden. We want to plant, prune, weed and water the garden plot so the flowers and herbs can thrive. Then we realize how much time that would take, and the plants are on their own. Last year, we grew a monstrous nasturtium in this sliver of a garden plot, along with some basil. This year, we plopped down some petunias along with some chamomile and lemon balm, which are great for making floral waters. Then we forgot about them for a good part of the summer while we tended to our vegetables. But that’s ok—thanks to all the rain we got over the past few months, these plants have flourished and have turned into a cheerful—if messy—flower garden.

Duty Calls

2009-08-09T16:10:00.010-06:00

When your kid hits a milestone, then, dog gone it, as a parent you drop everything to help him or her achieve it. You may have read this post about how, during Ethan's karate lesson, I knit in the car while James watches a video on the portable DVD player. Since then, two things have deconstructed this scenario:

1) James got bored of our video library;

2) One time when my husband was in charge of James during a karate lesson, he brought James’ bike and got him to ride up and down the sidewalk of the strip mall where the studio is located.

Now all James wants to do during the karate class is ride his bike. I wish I could knit during this time, but I can't because listening to a kid whine about wanting to ride his bike while trying to knit negates the mental health benefits of "me time."

But, at least now we have a shot of getting both kids riding on bikes so we can take family bike rides.

Hey, I got to dream a little while I'm walking up and down the sidewalk of a stripmall.

Toddle A Few Feet In My Socks

2009-08-04T21:04:00.006-06:00

I finished knitting my first pair of socks just in time for my 13-month-old niece, Josie, to break them in by taking her first steps. I decided to knit my first pair of socks for Josie because she’s got the smallest feet I know—about 4 inches long.
I’ve always wanted to knit a pair of socks, but was intimidated by the process of making a tube of fabric bend at a right angle. I wouldn’t have figured out how to do that without the I Can’t Believe I’m Knitting Socks book I got at Michaels craft store. This book takes you step by step in the process, with plenty of photos to illustrate the instructions.
So how do you bend a tube of fabric? The answer is short rows, which are formed by only working across some of the stitches on the left needle before turning the piece. This process creates darts in the knitted fabric, which “turns the heel” of the sock.
The socks aren’t perfect. While knitting the second sock, I lost track of how many rows I had knitted and inadvertently made it a little bigger than the first one. But both socks still fit on Josie’s feet. And, unlike her Robeez shoes, she didn’t try to rip them off.

It felt good to see my socks cushion her footfalls as she toddled around the dreaded Tropical Discovery building of the Denver Zoo.

A Rock

2009-07-30T20:45:00.007-06:00

Rock set in the earth.
Water slowly wears it down--
A slickened surface.

Click here for more haikus.

Odorless Perfume

2009-07-29T22:42:00.001-06:00

Last week I wrote about making my own cologne from plants in flowers in my yard, including lavender, lemon balm and rose petals. The foliage and flowers steeped in vodka and water for about 10 days. Then the moment of truth arrived. I strained the mixture into a spray bottle and spritzed it onto my skin. It smelled like … nothing. Even though it smells good in the bottle—sweet and a bit citrusy—it must not be concentrated enough to leave any scent on my skin.
So I guess this recipe goes in the DIY beauty recipe scrap heap along with this one.

Hiking Resets Me

2009-07-28T05:00:00.003-06:00

Nothing helps me forget my worries like going on a hike. I went on a good one with my hiking group last Saturday to Gibson Lake. We ascended through stands of pine trees and fields of wildflowers to the lake, which is above timberline.
Once there, some of the hikers wanted to keep going to the top of Whale Peak, which is the peak on the right side of the photo. It didn’t look too far away, so I decided to give it a shot. But looks can be deceiving. Soon I was huffing and puffing from the near vertical ascent to the 13,000-ft peak. We only got one-third the way up the mountain before we turned around due to some ominous clouds on the horizon. But, even at that point, the view of the valley was breathtaking.
At the end of the hike, I felt physically depleted, but emotionally recharged.

A Hippie-Style Hootenanny

2009-07-27T05:00:00.004-06:00

You can take the boy out of Kentucky, but you can’t take Kentucky out of the boy, especially when it comes to music. My husband is a big fan of bluegrass music, and has converted me over the years. Fortunately, Planet Bluegrass offers a few bluegrass festivals in Colorado, the biggest being The Telluride Bluegrass Festival. It also produces Rocky Grass, a three-day bluegrass festival in Lyons, Colo., which is about an hour north of our home. We had fun at the festival we went to a couple of years ago, so we decided to go again last Friday.
Since then, bluegrass music seems to have grown wildly popular because the festival was jam-packed. Either that, or people just want an excuse to drink beer and wear Grateful Dead t-shirts over their swim suits while they wade in a stream.
As much as I wanted to feel the love, I just felt stressed. Making my way through a swarm of mellow, happy people with two hot, whiny kids in tow wore me out.
But once we set up base camp under a tree, I could listen to the music and knit while Ethan and James played in the stream next to us. Finally, the mellow, hippie vibe took hold.

Bright Lights, Midsize City

2009-07-23T20:17:00.002-06:00

I took this photo walking back from Coors Field to my car Tuesday night. Fun times. Click here for more sky photos.

Make Your Own Cologne

2009-07-22T20:20:00.005-06:00

My garden is full of lemon balm, mint, roses and lavender. I like to cook with the mint—the other plants I admire for their beauty. But I didn’t know I could make cologne out of them until I saw this recipe in Janice Cox’s book, Natural Beauty at Home. The recipe is so simple to make that I had to try it:

2 tbsp rose petals
1 tsp fresh or ½ tsp dried citrus peel
2 tbsp fresh lemon balm leaves
2 tbsp fresh lavender petals
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves
1 cup distilled water
1/2 cup vodka or witch hazel

Put leaves and petals in a saucepan and pour water over them. Cook until boiling and remove from heat. Let cool and pour into a clean jar. Add vodka or witch hazel. Let the mixture sit for two weeks. Strain liquid through a coffee filter into a clean container.

Makes 4 ounces.

You can use dried herbs and flowers—just use half the amount that you would of fresh ones.

My mixture is steeping now. So far it smells pretty good—sweet and citrusy—and I’m looking forward to trying it out.

Diet Drink Of The Stars

2009-07-21T06:52:00.007-06:00

The other day at Vitamin Cottage, I came across this box of coconut water. Rumor has it that Gwyneth Paltrow drinks this stuff to satisfy her sweet tooth. So, of course, I had to try it. I can see why she drinks this stuff—it’s light, refreshing, and only 60 calories. But at $1.59 a box, I’d be better off financially by sticking to Diet 7-Up.

Italian Grapesicle

2009-07-19T19:51:00.004-06:00

Last week, Terry brought home 3 pounds of red grapes, and my kids wouldn’t have anything to do with them. Instead of letting them go to waste, I made a sorbet out of them. I got the recipefrom the August issue of Tastes of Italia magazine. Here it is:

2 cups water
¾ cup sugar
2 lb red grapes
1 tsp of fresh lemon juice
Makes 8 servings

In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil and remove. Place the grapes and lemon juice in a blender and mix for 3 to 4 minutes, until skins and pulp are well pulverized. Remove, add sugar mixture and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Transfer to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container for firmer texture.

When I tried to mix it in an ice cream maker, it wouldn’t freeze, so I ended up putting the mixture in a bowl and freezing it. But instead of being scoopable like ice cream, the mixture hardened like a popscicle. In fact, if I made this stuff again, I would forgo the ice cream maker and freeze it in popscicle molds.
At any rate, it tastes so good, I don’t mind that that I about need a jack hammer to get it out of the bowl.

Rocky Mountain High

2009-07-16T20:34:00.004-06:00

During our visit last weekned to Golden Gate Canyon State Park, we pulled off the road to snap some photos of these majestic mountains.

Click here for more sky photos.

Make Your Own Inexpensive Lotion

2009-07-15T21:15:00.002-06:00

When I get out of the shower, I don’t feel right unless I slather myself with lotion.
But now that I’m more aware of harmful chemicals in most commercial lotions, such as parabens and phlalates, not just any lotion will do. I decided to try to make my own lotion, so that not only I could control what ingredients go in it, but also control how much the lotion would cost by picking inexpensive ingredients.
I turned to Janice Cox’s book, Natural Beauty At Home, and made grape seed oil lotion because these ingredients are inexpensive and readily available at a natural food market, such as Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottage. Here is the recipe:

½ cup grape seed oil
1 tablespoon grated beeswax
½ cup water
1/8 teaspoon borax powder

Mix together the grape seed oil and beeswax and heat gently until the beeswax is melted. In a separate container, mix together the water and borax powder and heat until very hot but do not boil. You may use the stove top or microwave to do that. Pour the oil mixture into a blender and start stirring slowly; add the water solution and the mix on high until a thick lotion is formed. At this point, you can add an essential oil, such as peppermint or lavender, to scent the lotion. Pour the lotion into a cool container and allow to cool completely. This recipe will make 6 ounces of lotion.
It is crucial to not boil the water/borax mixture, or the lotion will be runny. Also, keep shaking the container while the lotion is cooling so that oil/water mixture emulsifies.
I’ve made two batches of this lotion and like it. Although it feels a little greasy when first applied, it sinks in and keeps your skin moisturized.
So, save some money and give lotion making a try. If you can emulsify a salad dressing, you can make lotion.

Where Are My Kids?

2009-07-14T05:00:00.000-06:00

I recently made the mistake of taking Ethan and James the Denver Zoo’s popular Tropical Discovery building, which similates an indoor rainforest full of pythons, crocodiles and a Komodo dragon. This is a terrifying place, but not because of its reptilian inhabitants. Between the crush of people and the dark, winding pathways around the exhibits, I almost lost Ethan and James.
It didn’t help that Ethan wanted to study every animal he saw, while James got bored and tried to run ahead.
I soon had to find strategic locations to stand where I could whip my head from one child to another. But this surveillance tactic wore me out, and I finally convinced them to leave the building before we finished the exhibit.
Once outside, my heart rate settled to a normal pace as we walked over to see the hippos munching on some hay.

Yeah, this is more my speed.

Kid-Proof A Baseball Game

2009-07-13T05:00:00.001-06:00

1. Buy each of your kids a giant snow cone.

2. Buy yourself and husband a Coors Light in riot-proof plastic bottles.

3. Chase with a bag of peanuts.

Sit back and enjoy six innings.

Did You Smell That Ice Cream?

2009-07-11T20:20:00.002-06:00

At a recent zoo outing, I got Ethan and James each a soft-serve ice cream cone.
“Do you know what I love about ice cream?” asked Ethan.
“What?” I asked.
“The TASTE!” he exclaimed, his eyes practically rolling in the back of his head.
Not to be outdone, James said, “Do you know what I love about ice cream? The cold smell!” He took a deep whiff of his cone. “Ahhh!”
I now have a new level of appreciation for ice cream.

Looks Like Rain

2009-07-10T06:44:00.002-06:00

Happy weekend everyone! Click here for more sky photos.

Bloggy Love

2009-07-09T08:46:00.005-06:00

Just when my SAHM life gets boring, something my bloggy life makes my day. I received The Honest Scrap blogger award from Cookie, whom always puts a smile on my face. Thanks so much!
As part of the award, I need to reveal 10 things about myself. Let me startle you with this information:
1. I bought a pair of Earth sandals and I hate them. The “negative heel” technology makes it impossible to chase after my kids.
2. I bought a pair of black swim shorts and I love them. No more tugging down my swim suit while I chase after my kids at the pool. 3. I’m hoping our cucumber plants do well this year so I can attempt pickling them.
4. Right now, my kids are fighting over which flavor of Jell-O to make: Berry Blue or Blackberry Fusion.
5. My diet was going great until I got too lazy to make dinner last night and my husband ordered a pepperoni pizza. One slice of cheese pizza is 6 Weight Watchers points, but who the hell can eat one slice of pizza?
6. I also admire people, like Cookie, whom can drink just one cup of coffee every morning.
7. Last week, my cable, Internet and phone were out for a day. I’m really proud of myself for not hyperventilating over it.
8. I’m also proud of myself for getting up at 6 am every morning this week to do the exercise show, Priscella’s Yoga Stretches.
9. I’m addicted to the reality show, The Next Food Network Star. I’m rooting for Melissa D’Arabian, whose only cooking experience is feeding her family.
10. Ethan saw a commercial for Clorox’s Greenworks cleaner and wants me to buy it. I should have him read this post.

I’m passing the award onto Jabblog, A Corgi, Lceel and Jan. Now you just need to award it to four other bloggers and share some bloggy love.

S'more, Please

2009-07-07T19:58:00.002-06:00

Thrill Of Our Lifetimes

2009-07-06T20:32:00.007-06:00

Ethan has graduated from mini-roller coasters to the Twister II, the roller coaster I used to ride as a teenager.

Thanks to Ethan's sensory-seeking needs, I haven't had this much excitement since I was 17 years old.

Atomic Play

2009-07-06T11:05:00.005-06:00

The first person whom came to my mom’s mind when she bought this toy was Ethan. Sure enough, he loved rolling around the inside of this blow-up ball like he was on the spin cycle of a front-load washing machine. I’m sure it gave Ethan the proprioceptive feedback his body craves.

What did he think?
"It's like being inside an atom!"

Earthbound Stars

2009-07-02T20:09:00.004-06:00

Spiky yellow blooms
Blaze against the foliage-
Miniature suns.

Happy Fourth everyone! Click on the "Haiku Friday" button in the sidebar for more haikus.

Wipe Away Spills With Tube Socks

2009-07-01T19:33:00.003-06:00

A few months ago, I wrote about how I cut up old, stained t-shirts for rags to mop the floor or wipe off the kitchen counters. Since then, I’ve found a clothing item that works even better for that purpose—tube socks. The wrong side of the sock has a rough surface like a towel, making it great for scrubbing off dried spills off surfaces.
So the next time you come across a holy tube sock, don’t throw it away. Save a tree and reuse the sock to clean up messes around the house.

A Piece Of Mind

2009-06-29T20:15:00.006-06:00

When my niece, Josie, was born a year ago this week, I had quit knitting. As much as I wanted to be a knitter, I didn’t have the stamina to follow through on any of the projects I had started, and would deep-six half-knitted sweaters into plastic tubs.
Then I discovered some great knitting blogs, and my desire to knit rekindled. Via blogging, I found the Interweave Knits magazine web site, which features a lot of free patterns. I found a Cabled Raglan Baby sweater pattern about four months ago, and I had to make it for Josie. I actually finished it in time for her first birthday this Thursday.
Even though the sweater has a ton of mistakes, I’m still proud of it. I got comfortable with some techniques I had never done before, like knitting in the front and back of a stitch to make an increase, and using double-pointed needles to knit the sleeves.
While accomplishing those techniques kept me motivated, what really got me to finish this sweater was the peace of mind I felt while knitting. Even when I sat in car outside Ethan’s karate studio with a cranky 4-year-old, once I started knitting I could forget all my worries and relax.
So there will be more baby sweaters in my future, and not just because my sister-in-law is due with a baby girl in October!

Our Budding Scientist

2009-06-28T20:01:00.003-06:00

At a recent zoo outing, Ethan and James got the chance to learn more about one of the resident owls.
“What kind of food do you think this owl eats?” asked the keeper.
“Maybe rats?” asked Ethan.
“I think rats are too big for this fellow,” said the keeper.
“Yeah,” said James, “but it could eat BABY rats.”
Good observation, James.

Flooded

2009-06-25T20:22:00.005-06:00

Water fills the plain.
The tender grass streaks along
with the icy current.

Click here for more haikus.

Too Good To Be True?

2009-06-23T20:30:00.009-06:00

Every morning, I feed my sons these:

No, these gummy delights aren’t candy—they are vitamins. But, they look so good that I when I saw this, I had to get it.

Even grownups can use a little "candy" kick start their day.

Buy It Yourself

2009-06-22T19:51:00.003-06:00

Who knew my husband Terry would have the opportunity to teach money management skills to our kids while picnicking at Eldorado Canyon State Park? But that’s what happened when we entered the park’s visitor center to use the bathroom, and James caught sight of some overpriced stuffed animals in the center’s tourist shop. I thought we would have to abort the outing because James almost lost it when we told him he couldn’t have a stuffed marmot. But then my ingenious husband gave him the option of using his allowance to buy the toy. James thought it was a great idea and walked out of the building hugging his new buddy. Ethan cried foul when he saw the stuffed animal until Terry told him he could use his allowance to buy himself one. Ethan didn’t think the toy was worth $10, and the crisis dissipated.
I like this allowance thing more and more.

Italian Food, With Love

2009-06-20T20:43:00.008-06:00

The other night, I flipped through my latest edition of Tastes of Italia cooking magazine. My sister turned me on to this magazine, which has easy-to-make, tasty Italian recipes. I found two recipes that I already had most of the ingredients for—a Blueberry Apricot Rustic Tart and a Spinach and Red Pepper Crustless Quiche.
There’s nothing that motivates me to cook than a meal made with ingredients already in my refrigerator. Granted, I didn’t have every single ingredient that the recipes called for, but I could confidently make substitutions for missing ingredients. I didn’t think, for example, the tart tasted any worse with strawberry preserves instead of raspberry. And the quiche was still yummy with a topping of Dubliner Cheddar cheese instead of Fontina.
I did go on a special trip to the grocery store last week for one recipe—Amaretti cookies I made my dad for Father’s day. These are my dad’s all-time favorite cookies. Any sweet made with almonds brings him back to growing up in Bitritto, Italy, enjoying cookies made with almonds from his father’s orchard.
I’m more than willing to buy almond paste at King Soopers to bring back those memories.

Faded Beauty

2009-06-18T20:31:00.003-06:00

Unfurled from the bud,
Snowy pink petals blossom
And then drop away.

Click on the "Haiku Friday" button in the sidebar for more poems.

A Not-So-Typical Summer Camp

2009-06-15T20:01:00.006-06:00

Last Friday afternoon, Ethan, James and I met my friend and her two kids at a gymnasium. Ethan had a wonderful time jumping off the trampoline into the foam pit with my friend’s daughter. When the play date was over, Ethan turned to her and said, “When can we see ourselves again?”
This pronoun-mangled statement highlights how Ethan’s autism makes him struggle socially. Using the correct syntax in sentences and reading facial cues make conversation with his peers difficult. Many times, a peer will have to say Ethan's name repeatedly to get his attention. He’ll sometimes respond with silly answers or hyperactivity, which only confuse his peers more.
Ethan’s social struggles made me seriously consider enrolling him in a summer camp for autistic kids. He had a ball at the camp last year, getting his sensory-seeking needs met with swimming and going to bounce houses and parks. The counselors understand autism, so they don’t blink an eye when a boy has a meltdown over not getting to play his CD in the car or has a difficult time transitioning from playing at the park to getting back in the car to go home.
Yet, Ethan had made so much progress socially this year, I wondered whether he was ready to be in a camp with typical kids. After all, the down side of the being in a camp with all autistic kids is that there aren’t any good peer models for Ethan to learn social skills.
In the spring, I looked around for “typical kids” summer camps, but didn’t find any that I felt completely confident about. Often these camps only lasted a week or two, so I worried that by the time Ethan got comfortable with the other kids, it would be over. Or worse, he wouldn’t like it and just refuse to go. So I went with my gut feeling and signed him up for 10 weeks of Camp Le'ale'a.
Two weeks into camp, I’m glad I went with my gut. Even though Ethan may not be getting good peer social models, he’s getting great help from the counselors. They patiently listen to Ethan’s perseverative, one-sided conversations about how many zeros are in the number google. They meet his sensory needs with rough-housing in the park. And yesterday, he excitedly told me that he jumped off the diving board at the swimming pool for the first time.
At this camp, Ethan doesn't have to worry about whether he said or did the right thing to fit in with his peers. When I pick him up, he’s tired and happy, which is how any parent wants to see their kids spending their summer days.

She's No Biatch

2009-06-14T17:29:00.005-06:00

I screeched my car to a halt in front of Vitamin Cottage, and got James and Ethan out of the car. We were late for Ethan’s camp, but he insisted that I get him some bread to feed the ducks at the park where they were going. While I was in the store, I picked up a bag of food for our cat Molly. I didn’t immediately see the orange bag of Iams cat food, but with James running up and down the aisles and Ethan telling me to “hurry, hurry!” I did the next best thing. I grabbed a bag of food that had a bear catching salmon from a stream on it, paid for it, and hightailed it to camp.
Later that evening, I finally got around to reading the bag’s label—this was Taste of the Wild food for dogs, not cats. Uh-oh. But the nuggets were small enough for her to chew, plus it’s got salmon in it—it won’t kill her to eat it. I left Molly in the basement, dubiously sniffing the food.
The next day, her food bowl was still full. Well, she’s got to be hungry enough now to eat it. It’s not like I filled her bowl with Captain Crunch cereal and told her to make the best of it. But by 4 pm, one hour before her feeding time, she followed me around the house, meowing. Her incessant yowls started to sound like “Feed, me! Feed me!”
I couldn’t take it anymore. I drove to Target and bought Iams cats food for seniors. When I got home, I swapped out the dog food with the cat food. Molly immediately began chowing down. I came back to the basement an hour later to put a load of laundry in the wash. Molly was lying on the water heater in a food coma. Almost all the food in her bowl was gone.
Our game of chicken was over, and Molly had won.

New Uses For Wine Corks

2009-06-10T21:19:00.008-06:00

It’s commonplace to recycle glass, aluminum cans and certain plastics. But that still leaves a lot of other materials that end up in the trash. Thankfully, there are companies like Trenton, NJ-based Terracycle Inc. that find a new life for materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. It has partnered with Zebulon, N.C.-based Nomacorc, a manufacturer of plastic wine corks, to create products out of the company’s used corks. Nomacorc, in turn, has signed on Spec's Wines, Spirits and Finer Foods, a leading independent liquor retailer in South Texas, to be the first retail participant in the TerraCycle program to collect post-consumer-use wine corks that will be used to make wine cork boards. The 18x18-inch cork boards will be sold by OfficeMax stores nationwide, as well as Spec's stores. They are also available on Terracycle’s Web site for $19.99.

TerraCycle also has 1,000 "brigades" across the United States that collect post-use wine corks. The brigades are made up of nonprofit organizations including churches and charities. In return for collecting and shipping closures to TerraCycle for processing, the organizations receive money to support their activities and programs.
As TerraCycle's wine closure manufacturer partner, Nomacorc is leading the effort to find additional retail and winery sponsors for the cork recycling program. To date, Nomacorc has donated more than 2 million wine closures for turning into cork boards.
If you don’t live near a Spec’s Wines, Spirits and Finer Foods, you still can be part of the wine cork recycling effort by mailing your corks to:

TerraCycle Cork Brigade
121 New York Ave.
Trenton, NJ 08638

Up to 10 corks use two stamps per envelope; up to 30 corks use four stamps.
So before you toss that wine cork in the trash, consider spending up to $1.68 in postage to send them to Terracycle, which will give them another life.

On A Roll

2009-06-10T07:57:00.004-06:00

All those extra practice sessions paid off, and Ethan his yellow belt. He was so proud of himself! His growing confidence in the sport is thrilling for me to see.

Click on the Seven Clown Circus button in the sidebar for more Wordful Wednesday.

Kicked Out

2009-06-08T20:06:00.007-06:00

As a stay-at-home-mom, it’s disconcerting to not be home a good chunk of the day. But for three days last week, James and I were homeless while the contractors we hired installed our new energy-efficient windows and door. (Ethan, thankfully, was in summer camp all day.) Trying to find five hours worth of activities a 4 year old would approve of got old fast. It didn’t help, either, that it rained two of those days, so the zoo or a swimming pool weren’t an option. One day James and I went out to lunch, killed two hours at the WOW children’s museum, and, out of desperation to extend the outing one more hour, ended up at a coffee shop so I could re-caffinate and console a grumpy James with a treat. But, finally, the contractors pulled their giant white truck out of driveway. James and I are happy to reclaim our newly improved domain.

Weez Going To See Weezer

2009-06-07T16:18:00.007-06:00

Weezer is on tour with the reunited band, Blink 182, and—you guessed it—I got tickets to see them Labor Day weekend. Unlike all the trauma-drama I went through to get tickets for my first Weezer concert, this time around was smooth sailing. The radio station, 93.3, which is sponsoring the show, gave away 500 lawn seats for an affordable $20 each before the tickets went on sale to the public on Saturday. So I went to Ticketmaster’s web site, typed in the password “dammit,” and got two tickets for $46 total! These aren’t great seats—we’re waayyy in the back of the venue. But the bargain hunter in me trumped my inner groupie this time around.

Poppies

2009-06-05T06:28:00.007-06:00

Crinkled red petals
Soak up the sun’s steady pulse.
Drunken summertime.

Click here for more sky photos.

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In Hot Water--And Liking It

2009-06-01T19:50:00.007-06:00

Our family loves hot springs pools, so we had to check out Strawberry Park Hot Springs while we were in Steamboat Springs. This rustic park is no Glenwood Springs, which has a giant mineral springs pool, decks for sunbathing and waterslides. When we got to the park, we walked down a steep hill to the pools, which were nestled next to a rushing mountain stream. The 150-degree hot springs water comes out of the mountain, mixes with ice-cold stream water, which is siphoned off the river into the pools and cools down to a comfortable 102 degrees. The only changing rooms were the bathroom at the top of the hill or a tipi—thankfully we came prepared by wearing our swimsuits under our clothes. Ethan and James were nervous at first about getting in because the stone steps into the pool were slippery.

But once in the water, we were able to relax and take in the beautiful mountain scenery. These hot springs are definitely worth the extra work it takes to enjoy them.

Gold Rush Haunts

2009-05-28T18:29:00.008-06:00

Miners clawed your sides
Looking for gold and silver.
Only scars remain.

In 1865, prospectors tried to make their fortune in the mines of 11,000-ft. Hahn’s Peak, which is about 25 miles north of Steamboat Springs. But when the riches dried up, Hahn’s Peak turned into a ghost town. A homesteading ranch took over the entire area, and it remained a working ranch into the 1960s. Eventually people returned to Hahn’s Peak to escape the stresses of modern life and restored the town. Today, tourists can stroll through the streets of the Hahn’s Peak Village to capture a glimpse of Old West’s past.

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Knitting: It's Controversially Boring

2009-05-28T07:01:00.006-06:00

Ethan isn’t the only kid whom thinks knitting is boring. The other day, I got to sit in the lobby of the Taekwondo studio because my husband was home to watch James. Once Ethan’s class started, I hauled out my knitting and got to work. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dimpled hand pointing to the sweater.
“What are you doing?” asked a wide-eyed 3-year-old boy in a karate uniform.
“I’m knitting,” I said.
“What’s that?” he said.
“It’s when you take yarn and make stuff with it, like sweaters,” I said. I didn’t think my explanation sufficed, but soon the boy got interested in a teenage couple necking and left me to ask his mom what they were doing.
Later, my ears pricked up to hear one of Ethan’s classmates ask him what I was doing.
“She’s, um, knitting,” Ethan said. “She does it all the time.”
I guess to a 7 year old, 2 ½ hours a week constitutes all the time.

Did you know your old cell phone could help save the lives of people living in rural Africa? It can, thanks to an innovative new program called Hopephones.org, which was started by Josh Nesbit, a student at Stanford University. Hope Phones is a nationwide mobile phone collection campaign that makes use of old cell phones in the U.S. to provide phones for clinics and healthcare workers in the developing world. According to the organization’s Web site, the program has helped a hospital in rural Malawi give 150 patients emergency care. In addition, community health workers saved 1,000 hours of travel time, which they used to visit more patients, the number of people being treated for Tuberculosis doubled, and the hospital saved $3,500 worth of fuel, which was used to purchase medication.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday tip of the week is put your old cell phone to good use by donating it to Hopephones.org. To see more tips, click here.

My First Dance Recital

2009-05-26T19:50:00.004-06:00

As a mom of two boys, I don't get to indulge in much girly stuff, like Barbie or princesses or anything pink. So, needless to say, I was as excited as my 3-year-old nieces for their first dance recital, "Alice In Topsy-Turvy Land." The best part of the show was when they donned bunny ears and hopped around the stage.

Click on Angie's "Seven Clown Circus" button on the sidebar for more Wordful Wednesday.

That's What You Think

2009-05-25T05:00:00.000-06:00

Three afternoons a week, I’ve managed to produce some “me” time. While Ethan is in his Taekwondo class, James and I sit in our car in the parking lot. James watches a video on the portable DVD player while I work on my knitting. I have 45 minutes of fight-free, step-and-fetch-it free time to do something I want to do. It makes my blood pressure go down several notches.
The other day, Ethan skipped out of his class and noticed my arrangement. “You knit the whole time I’m gone?” he asks. “How boring is that?”
Someday, he’ll understand.

Leafed Without

2009-05-21T18:25:00.005-06:00

Leaves crowd most branches.
But some remain dry sticks that
Scrape against the sky.

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! We're off to Steamboat Springs for a few days. Hopefully I'll get some good sky photos from the trip.

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Control Rosacea With All-Natural Skincare

2009-05-20T20:00:00.007-06:00

I’ve gotten an unexpected benefit from using all-natural skincare products—my rosacea is under control. I first got rosacea, which is a skin condition that expresses itself with flushing-type redness, lumps that resemble pimples, and red lines where blood vessels have enlarged, in my early thirties. At first I thought the bumps on my face were adult acne, and doused my face with acne-treatment gels and toners until I read an article in ELLE magazine about rosacea.
The article was discouraging because it said the best way to treat rosacea is to use prescriptions and laser treatments prescribed by a dermatologist. At the time I couldn’t afford to see a dermatologist, so I resigned myself to years of prickly, bumpy flare-ups that happened mostly in the summer because overheating exacerbates the condition.
Then this past year I started making my own facial cleanser and eye cream (recipes in the sidebar under “Tutorials”) because I didn’t want to use any more skincare products with phlalates and parabens in them. I also started using an all-natural moisturizer from Aubrey Organics. As the days started getting hotter, I prepared myself for the bumps to appear around my eyes. But so far, I haven’t had a single flare-up.
My elation is backed by a recent article in Treehugger, which stated that people with rosacea should avoid skincare products with alcohol in them.
So this year I approach the dog days of summer with confidence that my all-natural skincare regimen will keep my rosecea under control. Click here for Thrifty Green Thursday tips.

How About Those Nuggets?

2009-05-19T19:49:00.006-06:00

Denver sports fans finally have something to cheer about: the Denver Nuggets face off against the L.A. Lakers in the Western Conference finals this week. It's been 25 years since the Nuggets made it this far, and we're excited! But that's all I'm qualified to say on this topic, so I'll turn this post over to my brother, Tony, whom happened to play against star guard Chauncey Billups back in middle school.

Full Circle

By Tony Deligio

The symmetry is undeniable; nearly 25 years removed from its last trip to the conference finals, the Denver Nuggets return, squaring off against the same team they met in 1985. To fully appreciate the gaping chasm separating the series consider some of the names involved in that mid-‘80s match up (held at the now demolished Forum and McNichols arenas)—Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for L.A. and Alex English, Fat Lever, and Dan Issel for Denver. An individual could have be born in that gap and grown into a young adult. I was one month removed from my eighth birthday, and for me, the Nuggets were background noise at dinner, with a radio broadcasting 85KOA’s play-by-play of the games, as my family ate and my dad divided his attention between seven kids and game action.

It’s impossible to understand these things at the time, but those five games in May would mark the team’s apogee from which it would slowly slide for a time, before dropping off a cliff at the end of the ‘80s with the departure of Doug Moe and the catastrophic experiment of Paul Westhead.

During Westhead’s first year, 1990-1991, my father and I began to attend games, seeing 10-15 a year for several years. Hopes were pinned on promising rookies garnered from high draft picks, but the team that year, and for most of the ‘90s, was inept, winning only 20 games. I cared little, loving the time spent with my dad and the game experience. If the Bulls were in town, more folks came to cheer on Chicago than the Nuggets, but that didn’t deter me and my dad from rooting for our hometown, if atrocious, team.

By 1993, the addition of Dikembe Mutombo and Laphonso Ellis, as well as role players like Robert Pack and Brian Williams, pushed the team to a 42-40 record, good enough for the eighth seed and match up with top-seed Seattle Supersonics, coached by none other than George Karl. The Nuggets would go on to shock Seattle, becoming the first eighth seed to topple a number one, with the image of an overjoyed Mutombo clutching the ball over his head while lying on the court becoming part of the NBA’s visual lore. Denver would push the Jazz to seven games in the second round, before losing by 10 and once again beginning a descent to more than a decade of mediocrity.

That same year the Nuggets flirted with a return to the Western Conference Finals, a George Washington High School guard named Chauncey Billups was garnering national attention and becoming a school-boy legend in Colorado. Now Billups is the floor general for the team he watched growing up; Karl coaches the squad that served him his most ignominious defeat; and the team’s winningest coach, Moe, paces the arena’s bowels during games, as the squad comes full circle and once again faces the Lakers.

In ’85, L.A. won the series 4-1, taking the final three games after dropping the second game in L.A. Those Lakers went on to defeat the Boston Celtics in six games and win the NBA championship. This year the Nuggets and the Lakers played four times, with L.A. winning three of the four. In those games, Laker star Kobe Bryant certainly got his points (33, 29, 29, 33) but Carmelo Anthony, who has come of age this postseason, averaging 29, struggled, scoring only 13, 10, 12, and 23.

When the playoffs started, I would have been happy to just see Denver get past the first round, but after dominating both series (Denver’s two playoff losses are only bettered by Cleveland), myself, and the team, seemingly, expect much, much more. An aging Kobe will be reluctant to abdicate the throne, but to complete the symmetry of this postseason, a Melo-Lebron match up in the finals, pitting the No. 1 and No. 3 picks in the 2004 draft, seems inevitable.

Close Encounters

2009-05-18T19:50:00.005-06:00

During a hayride at a farm, James attempted to placate a hungry horse with a tiny handful of hay.

Pushed Just Enough

2009-05-17T20:31:00.005-06:00

One evening last week, Ethan ate dinner with a worried look on his face. When I asked him what was wrong, he said, “I need seven stripes on my belt before I can test for my yellow belt, and I only have two stripes.”
Ethan is scheduled to test for his yellow belt in Taekwondo at the end of the month, but after this conversation, I realized that moving up a rank was not a done deal. He needed some more practice before he would be ready to test, so I resolved to take him to extra classes for the next two weeks.
Helping Ethan succeed in Taekwondo is important to me because this activity has done so much to boost his self-esteem and improve his motor skills. My heart swells when I watch him practice a form, which is a series of choreographed kicks and punches, because a year ago his motor skills were so poor his could not do a single sit-up or push-up. This martial art has helped him work on his motor planning skills in a fun way.
But it’s also a lot of work—more so for Ethan due to his autism. His lack of coordination and poor motor planning make memorizing these forms difficult for him. Ethan’s teachers have to walk the fine line of pushing him to improve his skills without deteriorating his self-esteem.
Thankfully, Ethan’ teachers have done an excellent job. Last Saturday, for example, one of Ethan’s teachers grilled him on a certain move in a form. She made him repeat the move until he got it right. I watched with a knot in my stomach, worried that this grilling would push Ethan into a meltdown. But, thankfully, the teacher acknowledged that Ethan was doing his best and put a stripe on his belt.
Even though some of Ethan’s peers are performing at a higher level than he is, because of his disability, he is working just as hard. The fact that his Taekwondo teachers acknowledge this and are rewarding him for his efforts makes me so grateful we’ve found this wonderful activity for him.

Meandering

2009-05-14T19:06:00.009-06:00

Ducks drift down the stream.

The silky current pulls them

and no one asks where.

I cheated on the sky photos, since the sky is reflected in the water. For real sky photos, click here.

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Reusing Broken Pens and Crayons

2009-05-14T08:21:00.006-06:00

Last year, I wrote about how guilty I felt buying pack after pack of Color Wonder markers for my sons, knowing that they’d eventually end up sitting in a landfill for 100 years. But thanks to blogging I found the Pen Guy—a man whom takes dried up pens and makes art work out of them. So I last weekend, I sorted through all my pens and made up a box of the unusable ones to ship to him. You can send your unwanted pens to:

The Pen Guy
2425 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95403

But wait, there’s more.
A few weeks ago, I came across a company called Crazy Crayons, based in Pelican Lake, Wis. It takes broken, stubby crayons and melts them into hand-crafted, multi-colored crayons. The company claims that it has stopped more than 43,000 pounds of unwanted crayons from going into landfills with its crayon recycling program. So, while I was at it, I sorted through Ethan and James’ crayon bin and made up a box for this company as well. You can send crayon donations to:

Crayon Recycling Program

721 Village Road, Pelican Lake, Wisconsin 54463

I’m so impressed with these folks’ efforts to keep unwanted stuff out of landfills, I don’t mind paying for shipping. Click here for more Thrifty Green Thursday tips.

Indestructible

2009-05-12T20:04:00.003-06:00

Here's proof of plastic's sturdiness: I've had this comb since high school, which makes it, ahem, 20+ years old. I use it every day.

Click on the "Seven Clown Circus" button in the sidebar to see more Wordful Wednesday photos.

My First, And Only, International Business Trip

2009-05-10T20:34:00.006-06:00

Back when I was a holed-up-in-cubicle assistant editor to Chemical Processing magazine, my managing editor gave me the opportunity of the lifetime: to attend the opening of one of BASF’s chemical plants on Mexico's Yucatan penisula. Here are some vital lessons I learned from the experience:
1. Never wear nylons in a swamp. If only I had known that chemical plants aren’t nice air-conditioned buildings, but just a jumble of pipes sprouting out of the ground, I would have never worn typical office wear of dress/nylons/heels to the grand opening. After a day of sweating in 90-degree, 100% humidity, my legs felt like encased sausages.
2. Perfect the interview look. When I got my 10 minutes to interview a big-wig executive, I furrowed my brow and nodded vigorously even though I didn't understand a word he was saying due to his thick German accent. Thankfully, I held onto dear life the press kit that contained all the information I needed to write the story that would somewhat legitimize this junket trip.
3. When it’s all over, go native. Once I was on the plane heading back to Mexico City, I forgot my aching legs, and turned off the “why didn’t I ask that question?” tape running in my head. Instead, I followed my fellow Mexicans' lead and poured myself a shot of tequila into the cute ceramic shot glass BASF so thoughtfully gave me as a parting gift.

Weathered Stone

2009-05-07T20:11:00.006-06:00

Water twists sandstone.
Lichen slowly creeps across

Its porous surface.

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Shopping For Fish

2009-05-07T09:09:00.003-06:00

These days, you can’t just toss any package of Chilean sea bass or salmon fillets in your grocery cart. By buying the sea bass, for example, you’re supporting an industry that is overfishing that species to devastating proportions. And you need to look carefully at the package of salmon to see if the fish were caught in the wild or “farmed,” because some salmon farms use large-scale, densely stocked netpens that pollute surrounding waters with waste and chemicals. In addition, testing has shown that these salmon have elevated levels of PCB chemicals in them.
Fortunately, the Environmental Defense Fund has taken out the guesswork in shopping for seafood with its comprehensive Web site that lists the pros and cons of eating most fish available in today’s markets. Plus, it has two downloadable pocket guides to buying seafood and sushi that print can carry in your wallet.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday tip is learn which fish is safe for yourself and the environment via this great Web site. Click here for more tips.

Toddlers' Bowling Advantage

2009-05-05T20:22:00.019-06:00

These ramps should be given out to people over the age of 4 as well. Maybe then I could score more than 80 points a game.

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Granny-Square Hat

2009-05-03T20:20:00.002-06:00

The other day I found a scarf crochet pattern I wanted to try. I hadn’t used a crochet needle in at least 10 years, so I pulled out my Illustrated Patchwork Crochet book to reference some of the stitches used in the pattern.
Of course, while I looked through the book, I found another pattern I wanted to try, called the “pull-on hat.” Unlike other patterns I get interested in, this one had potential to be finished two days! All I had to do was crochet five granny squares that are about 5 inches wide, sew four of the squares into a tube, and sew the final square on top of the tube to make a hat.
I had a partial skein of slate-gray bulky wool that seemed perfect for the project, so I gave it a go. In a couple of days I crocheted five granny squares and sewed them together. Then I took the remaining wool and single-crocheted it along the rim of the hat to make a brim.
Overall, I’m really pleased with the hat. I was afraid the top part of the hat wouldn’t meld to my head like a knitted ski hat, but it does. My husband objected to the holes in the hat, due to the granny-square pattern I chose, but I think ventilation is a good thing.

Blue Mountains Dusk

2009-04-30T21:33:00.003-06:00

This was taken with my cell phone, so it's not the best quality. Have a good weekend, and click here for more sky photos.

No Way!

2009-04-28T21:05:00.005-06:00

Today in my car, listening to Denver's Indie 101.5, I had what NPR calls a drive-way moment. The station's morning DJ, Whip, shattered all my preconceptions of the band when he said the lead singer of the Silversun Pickups is a MAN!
"You're kidding me!" I exclaimed to James, whom looked at me like I needed a life. Once I got home, I check the band's web site, and, sure enough, I watch Brian Aubert, a man with the most feminine voice I've ever heard, sing "Lazy Eye."

It's All Relative

2009-04-26T16:26:00.001-06:00

Earlier this week, I called my mom to see how my dad’s appointment with the oncologist went. “Pretty well,” she said. “The doctor is pleased to see how well he’s holding up. He prescribed some medications to give your father more energy.”
This optimistically spun news went over like a lead balloon. I hate seeing my dad’s life regulated by pills, none of which will cure his liver cancer. I hate looking at photos taken of him six months ago, and realizing how sick he looks now. I hate spending holidays with him, wondering if it will be the last one.
The shock I felt when my dad was diagnosed almost five months ago has been replaced with sadness and “sucks-to-be-me” bitterness. There are days when I don’t have it in me to socialize, and just focus on completing the tasks that make up my day.
So if it wasn’t for the fact that I needed to talk to a member of my moms’ group about taking over my duties as the group’s newsletter editor, I wouldn’t have gone our monthly meeting last Friday. But soon I forgot my problems when I heard a talk given to us by a woman whom runs a food bank. She said the average age of a homeless person in the United States is 10 years old. She related stories about some of the moms she helps—moms whom have to choose between paying the rent and buying food.
Her stories reminded me that I’m not the only one out there with problems, and I shouldn’t take the blessings in my life for granted.
Driving home from the meeting, I made plans to clean out my pantry of extra food for the organization, as well as look into volunteering for the group. These actions may not take the sadness out of my life, but they assuage the bitterness.

Ready To Fly

2009-04-23T20:29:00.005-06:00

Grasping the reed’s tip,
A black bird punctuates the
Rattling wetlands.

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What Lies Beneath

2009-04-22T20:05:00.015-06:00

On Tuesday I took a walk around a local lake. I enjoyed watching the sunlight glisten on the water and the ducks swimming along the shore. The park looked like a clean, healthy place for these animals to live.
But after watching Frontline’s show, “Poisoned Waters,” that evening, I realized this lake, along with all the streams, rivers and lakes in this country, is anything but clean. In the show, correspondent Hedrick Smith examines the rising hazards to human health and the ecosystem, and why it's so hard to keep our waters clean.

One reason our waters are so polluted are the number of toxins in household cleaning and beauty products, such as parabens, surfactants and chlorine, that get washed down our drains into streams and rivers. Here is what Vicki Blazer, a researcher for the U.S. Geological Survey, had to say about these chemicals:
“Part of the problem of trying to identify specific chemicals, or even groups of chemicals, is just that [the range] is so large, and so many of these things act at very low concentrations. And so even getting the methods to measure them in the water at those low concentrations is something that's just developing, which is why we refer to this as an emerging-contaminants issue. These are contaminants we're just beginning to recognize can have serious effects. ...”
Indeed, scientists are coming to the conclusion that the reason they are finding frogs with six limbs and male fish with eggs in their gonads is due to the chemicals found in these products as well as herbicides and pesticides.
While I can’t stop farmers and corporations from dumping toxins into our rivers, I can stop toxins from running down my house’s drain. For the past year, I’ve made my own all-natural beauty and cleaning products, and think they work just as well as chemical-based ones. You can get the recipes for these products on the right-hand sidebar, under "Tutorials."
And if you’re not inclined to make your own products, more stores offer eco-friendly ones than ever before. Costco, for example, now sells affordable bulk sizes of dish detergent, dishwasher detergent and laundry detergent made with plant-based cleaning agents instead of chemicals.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday tip is watch “Poison Waters," and check out all the great tips on its corresponding web site that tell how you can take care of our planet's most precious resource.
Click here for more tips.

A Spoonful Of Cartoons

2009-04-21T19:58:00.007-06:00

These are not salmon burgers. They are krabby patties. My sons wouldn't touch a salmon burger with a 10-foot pole, but they downed these babies.

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Stuffed Animals Have Feelings, Too

2009-04-19T19:38:00.006-06:00

“Mommy!” said James.
“Whaaat?” I replied, his angry face snapping me out of my “need-some-coffee” daze.
“Eppa is mad,” he said. “He said, ‘grrr, grrr’ to me today.”
“Why is Eppa angry?” I replied. Eppa is James’ beloved mint-green stuffed elephant. He’s very plump and cuddly, and usually does’t give off an angry vibe.
“You promised him a cake for his birthday, and you haven’t made one yet,” said James.
Oh, yeah. James, whom is suffering from birthday withdrawal, has decided that it is imperative that all his stuffed animals celebrate their birthdays. First on the list is Eppa, whom, according to James, is turning 6 years old sometime this week. I promised to make Eppa a cake last week, but never got around to it.
But now that I know how badly I’ve hurt Eppa’s feelings, making a cake is No. 1 priority in my life. I sit down with James to consult my The Complete Step-by-Step Cooking Class Cookbook to find the perfect cake for Eppa. But then we stumbled on the cookies section, where James saw picture of gingerbread cookies. “That’s what Eppa wants!” he said.
I inwardly cheer—making cookies is easier than a two-layer cake with frosting. James and I get to work—I measure out the ingredients, and he takes the measuring cups and dumps them into the bowl. We get the dough mixed up and then I roll it out and punch out mini-gingerbread men with the cookie cutter.
After we bake the cookies, we put some on a plate and sit Eppa in front of them. We sing Chicka the Chicken’s version of the “Happy Birthday” song and chow down on some cookies.
Next Saturday, according to James, is Panda Bear's and Polar Bear’s birthdays. I hope they are as easy to please as Eppa.

Gray Skies

2009-04-16T20:32:00.003-06:00

Drops smash into glass.
They are individual
until the car stops.

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