Friday, July 31, 2009

Biker chick

(7.31.09)

Thursday

(7.30.09)

July 29th

(7.29.09)

Tuesday

(7.28.09)

Monday, July 27, 2009

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

...in which the universe is smiling on me, I think....



Happy Birthday, Grandma/Gigi!

Today is my grandma's 90th birthday, which is something so awesome I almost don't have any words.

Despite growing up in CT, away from our extended family, I remember spending good time with my grandmother (and my grandfather) as a child. We spent weeks up at camp, swimming and playing outside on the nice days, and the annual trip to Kellerhaus when it would rain. She would sit on the dock in her lounge chair, always with a book. [Camp was definitely about swimming and water-skiing and rides in Grandpa's boat, but it was also about board games and cards and curling up with a book at night. Happy hour and horseshoes for the adults, snacks for the kids.] When she had a cocktail, it was gin with bitter lemon, and she always had freckles on her shoulders. This fascinated me, because I didn't. I think when you spend big blocks of time with family as a child, you begin to really see how people linked by these immutable bonds can be so much the same and so different.

I remember going down to the basement on Adin Street to "help" with the laundry. I was always just glad to be with her, even if I was playing beside her while she took care of everyday things. I liked going to an unfamiliar grocery store with her too, looking at the list of items in her perfect script.

And I wish for more frequent visits now. Being able to talk with my grandmother about being a mother, about raising children. Hearing how much things have changed, and about the ways in which children are children no matter when they are born....stories about my dad and the uncles and burning sheds....five kids with measles at once....the fact that she always made time for her friends. These are the things I try to carry with me. Perspective. If my grandma could be home with four little kids and no washing machine, with my grandfather away with the Navy, then I can muster up whatever I need to power me through my challenges as a wife and mother and woman.

She's an inspiration. Love you Grandma!

Silly old cat

(7.22.09)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Home

(7.19.09)

Is it Saturday?

(7.18.09)

Friday, July 17, 2009

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Yummy goodness

I did manage to muster up enough energy to make the cookies last night, and Pete helped with the stuffing of the cookies once they were cooled. It's good to have a helper even if you have the use of all 10 fingers, as you want to wrap these in wax paper (individually) and put them in the freezer as soon as you've put them together.

So pretty....with their shiny sugar.....

Mmmm, cookies and ice cream....

They were a hit. Now I am thinking about other combinations: chocolate sugar cookies and mint chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and chocolate (too over the top?), molasses-spice again with ginger.....

8:25. Post-dentist.

(7.16.09)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Insomniac's problem

It's not even 8 pm. I am tired. But it's early! I have stuff to do! But I'm soooo sleepy!

Problem is, I don't want to do anything but sleep. I need to make about two dozen cookies for ice cream sandwiches. I should run a load of laundry, since we are running out of essentials. Instead I am zoning out, reading articles about building secret passages in your house (courtesy notmartha), and listening to the Dead.

Found this recipe for molasses-spice cookies for ice cream sandwiches at smitten kitchen, and I think I'll go with it. I'm thinking basic vanilla for the filling. Time to get up off my sleep-deprived rear and bake!

Weekend pictures

We took the kids to the Portland Sea Dogs game on Sunday afternoon, which was lots of fun. I was surprised that they lasted as long as they did- we actually ended up staying into the 8th inning, which was way after the snacks ran out.

Charlotte with a tiny Slugger (the mascot). She looks like she's concentrating on the game but really it's because we forgot her hat.
Lily, Ella and April

Only in Maine....inflatable Bean boot.
Pat, Pete and the kids. Emma has Pat's sunglasses.
Ken and Luke
The girls
Go Sea Dogs! Emma, Lou, Lily and Ella
Aw, family.
Pat and Em
And one more, from later that day at the house. Cuteness.


7:10

(7.15.09)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Late

It gets late so fast these days. Maybe it's because sometimes I don't get home as early as I'd like; maybe it's because there's so much that I want to do that I can't possibly fit it all into one evening. Maybe the contents of my head right now are much like the stuff in the bottom of my purse: jumbled, sandy, only somewhat useful and difficult to sort.

I got in around quarter to eight tonight, which is about par for a Tuesday in Salem. It was largely a frustrating day for many minor (and boring) reasons, but a co-worker said something so funny I damn near fell out of my chair. "That's it," I said. "You just made coming to work today worthwhile, and now I'm gonna leave and go home before anything else can happen." And I did.

Low-key night here- Days with Frog and Toad for Lou before bed, leafing through a magazine while watching a couple of episodes of Season 2 of Dexter with Pete. I finished the sweater on Monday, short of weaving in a few ends and blocking, but have had no inclination to do the finish work (surprise, surprise). I've been hesitant to go back to my other project since at night I leave my finger uncovered and the damn stitches might get stuck in the yarn. Even now, I am typing this with 9 fingers. Redonkulous typos. So annoying.

But now, in the odd quiet of this late hour, my eyes and neck burn but my mind is still awake. Writing a to-do list might empty my head, or not. TV generally doesn't help- I tend to find myself asleep on the couch at an even more insane hour, and all twisted up.

Here are some random things:

1. I have pictures from this weekend. I'll post them tomorrow.
2. Thursday our friends the Costellos are having a cookout. I am excited because it's a Thursday night event and I don't have to miss it for working late.
3. I'm also excited to bring homemade ice cream sandwiches (Pete promised Amy I would).
4. Thursday I am also picking up my new mouthguard. I'm happy about this too, even though they probably won't allow me to barter knitted goods or photos of my garden for it.
5. Only 8.5 more work days till vacation.
6. We still need to reserve a campsite.
7. Charlotte had me write "squiggly lines" on her doodle pad. From here it looks like it says "Squiggy lives."
8. It seems like every 8 to 9 years I do something that results in the need for a tetanus shot.

I think I'm babbling. It could be bedtime......

Wishful thinking

(7.14.09)

Proto-grapes

(7.13.09)

Sunday. Pre-game.

(7.12.09)

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Ah, Saturday

This has been a good morning so far- coffee, sun, almost finishing a knitting project, and some one-handed cleaning. It's fairly difficult to change the sheets on a king-sized bed with only one hand....I don't recommend it. Then again, I also don't recommend rendering yourself one-handed in the first place.

The finger still hurts, and I haven't undone the bandage yet. Later on I will. I'm annoyed now that I won't be able to jump in the ocean this weekend without the assistance of Ziploc. Oh well.

Pete's outside filling up the kiddie pool, and I am thinking I might need a grocery list and a shower. I need to make a phone call or two....maybe hit the library to pay my overdue fines and renew a few books.....and possibly finish my Juliet sweater....all good things.

Blooms

(7.11.09)

Friday, July 10, 2009

The good, the bad and the bloody

This afternoon began a three-day weekend for me (the one I should have had last weekend, ahem), which is so very good. It was a full day of conference calls and reports and chit-chat with work friends over company IM, and I left at 3:30.

Mostly I left early because I visited the fantastic and heaven-sent Dr. Hotz for some adjusting. He is a brilliant, brilliant man and he is not ever allowed to retire. EVER. Good thing he's not much older than me- by the time he stops practicing I will have acquired a bionic spine.

I must also mention that the sun was shining. So between the shiny sun and warm air, the 89 hours away from work (so sad that I counted them) and the post-chiro euphoria, I just couldn't stop smiling. I picked up the Lou and went home....I watered the garden and then chatted with Pete while starting to work on a large gin-and-tonic. Then I started dinner.

Maybe I should begin by saying that a person should have more than one suitably sharp knife in the house, so that a person does not get used to using dull knives. Or maybe I should start by saying that perhaps a person shouldn't be high on the heady smell of basil she grew herself and the promise of three days unchained from the crackberry when using said knife. At least I made it through trimming the green beans, chopping the garlic and tomatoes, and putting everything together before hacking off part of my finger.
And that would be the bad and the bloody. It hurts like a mofo, and bled like crazy. This is part of the reason that the Red Cross calls my house when it's been too long since they've gathered my blood. I've been banned for life from using the Santuko- maybe I should contact a Montessori supply website and look for some knives that might be more on my level.
The salad was amazing though. It's the green bean/white bean/tomato salad with garlic and basil, stolen from That Martha and modified a bit.



Friday

(7.10.09)

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Garden

(7.9.09)

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Mmm, food

(7.8.09)