Life is Good

Reasons to be happy today:

• My sinuses are finally clear. (No, I never did go to the doctor.)
• Our big release at work finally shipped. Finally. It's two weeks late, but who's counting? We shipped before the end of the quarter, so all is well. After weeks of working 30-plus hours, the regular schedule is going to seem like a vacation.
  
• The heat wave finally broke. Today's high was 73. Ahhh.
• Starbucks Raspberry Chocolate Frappacino. With whipped cream. (Kristi, go get one now.)
• Watching LW dance to "I'm a Believer" on the stereo.

EM finished up his Lego Robot Olympics camp today. It was a bit inconvenient to drive him (it's about an hour away with the road construction detour), but we were able to carpool and the kids seemed to really enjoy it. And I discovered the Starbucks cafe at Barnes & Noble is quite a comfy place from which to telecommute.

EM also broke his glasses this morning. The glasses we have had for about five weeks. The ones we had to pay for out-of-pocket to replace the pair he lost in the Mediterranean. It's not entirely his fault--the metal nose piece snapped when he unfolded them in order to put them on--so I'm hoping the optometrist's office will be able to fix them or replace them at little or no charge. Still. This is the third pair of lost or broken glasses this boy has had! In three years of wearing glasses! Not that I'm counting or anything.

Sick!

No, this is not a post about my cold that I think has turned into sinusitis (although I'm calling the doctor tomorrow). This is about LW's love of his tricycle.

On Friday we bought a bike for NB and IM to share as they learn to ride. LW was fascinated. "Sick! Sick!" (You know, from bi-SICK-el.) In a desperate attempt to keep him from trying to climb on the big kids' bike, we brought out EM and NB's old tricycle. Unlike the inside riding toy (which he still really likes, Mom!), it has pedals. He is in love. "Sick!" And then to make sure I understood, he brought over his small plastic car. "Truck, Mama!" he said, pointing to the truck. Then, pointing to the tricycle, "Sick!"

He woke up at 6:00 this morning. As I settled in on the couch, hoping for an hour or so of dozing before I had to really be up, he squirmed out of my grasp and went over to the door leading onto the back porch. "Sick!"

The Cloister Walk

Yesterday I finished The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris. Did you know that you can become a Benedictine oblate even if you are married? And even more suprising, even if you are not Catholic?

I told Michael when all the kids are grown, I'd like to spend several months living near a monastary and attending all the church services. He thinks I'm totally nuts.

I find myself wanting to read the Psalms. (The Benedictines sing through the entire book of Psalms every four weeks.) Also the writings of the early monks called the Desert Fathers. The excerpts Kathleen Norris shares are surprisingly accessible. I enjoy John Climacus's statement that "the man who claims to love the Lord but is angry with his neighbor is like a man who dreams he is running."

I also found the chapters on celibacy fascinating:

When mature celibates talk about the value of celibacy, "freedom" is a word they commonly use. Freedom to keep their energies focused on ministry and communal living, freedom to love many people without being unfaithful to any of them. . . . One reason many celibates find satisfaction in working as teachers, spiritual directors, and pastoral ministers may be that it provides ample opportunity to help others grow. "To donate the self as a gift to others; that's the vow of celibacy," one sister told me.

Overall, I found it an intriguing look into another life, and one that gave me much to think about. I highly recommend it.

Cooked Radishes

Our first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) pickup was Wednesday. Given the sieve my mind has become lately, I had completely forgotten about it. Fortunately, I pass the farm on my way to my weekly Spanish class, so I was able to swing by and pick up my produce as if I had been planning on it all along.

They warned us that our first few pickups would be small. This week we got a bag of mesclun (given that Michael's lettuce--a new crop for us--is growing really well, I see a lot of salad in our future this summer), some green garlic, and radishes. The white board at the farm suggested sauteeing the radishes in butter, so I decided to try it last night. (Thursday is the only night of the week I know I'll cook dinner, because Michael is gone at his French class.)

Cooked radishes are actually not bad. The bite cooks out of them, and they end up tasting more like zucchini than anything else.

NB, predictably, didn't like them, but IM and EM had seconds.

NB has become a very picky eater, even more so than the other kids. I borrowed an idea from my sister and instituted a Don't Have to Eat list. Three foods, max. And you can't change the list until after the current meal. Since we've never had them before, cooked radishes weren't on the list, so he was stuck. So far, he hasn't changed his list (ravioli, dinner sausage, mashed potatoes), but he did ask if he could ask what the meals were for the week and adjust his list accordingly.

(For those who are curious, IM's list (named "ik-list") only has two items--ravioli and lasagna. And this is my girl who loves Rome.

Good MRI News

I heard back from EM's pediatrician--his MRI was normal. No further follow up needed. The appearance of his optic nerve is apparently normal for him. What a relief!

Back from the MRI

EM did great at the MRI. He held fabulously still and didn't even flinch when they injected the contrast dye.

The doctor should have the results in a day or two.

MRI

EM is going in for an MRI tomorrow. I think I freaked him out a little when I explained about lying in the metal tube.

His optometrist saw signs of papilledema when she dilated his eyes. Of course, it could be pseudo-papilledema. So, they are taking a look at his brain to see if there is anything there that could be putting pressure on his optic nerve. Me, I'm betting the kid just has a funny-looking optic nerve.

Let's hope I'm right.

Work!

I've been a little quiet on the blog because I've been working an insane number of hours for my telecommuting job. OK, so I only worked 38 hours last week. Two less than full-time. Which most people work every week. So "insane" is probably an exaggeration.

But my life isn't really designed for me to work 38 hours. I've got the kids. And the inn. And a house. At least I think I have a house. If I clear away all the clutter, I'm sure I'd find a house here somewhere.

*sigh* The release is a week from Wednesday. After that, life should get much calmer.

First Goal of Summer

Summer hasn't even officially arrived and I've checked off one of my goals; we ate at a particular local restaurant last Saturday. It's a popular restaurant that is only open on weekends--which makes it a little tricky for innkeepers to patronize. However, early June is often a quieter time at the inn, and our guests this weekend were few in number and easy-going, so it seemed as good a time as any to take off for an hour or so.

As it turned out, we didn't have to close the office after all. Michael stayed home with IM to allow her to feel the natural consequences of a bad attitude and smart mouth when asked to get ready to go.

The boys and I had a delightful time. We chose to sit outdoors, at one of the shaded picnic tables around the fire pit. Just over the low fence was an open field with a soccer ball and a few frisbees, where kids could burn off excess energy while still staying within sight of their parents.

EM was feeling adventurous, so he ordered the pizza with bacon and broccolirabe (among other things) while NB played it safe and chose a cheese and herb pizza. I had a organic salad to start and then ate some of the boys' pizzas. LW actually ate, which isn't a given at this age. (He seems to have one good meal every other day or so.)

It was a sunny evening with a light breeze. All I could see from where I sat was the farm attached to the restuarant, the field where the kids were playing, and the tree-covered mountain slopes. For the moment, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

Twins

Today at playgroup, I met a woman who has 20-month-old twin boys. She seemed surprised I didn't belong to--and in fact had never heard of--the local group for moms of twins. I was surprised to realize that I almost think of myself as having had twins but not having twins now.

When IM and NB were little, the mere fact that there were two of them--two newborns, both wanting to nurse; two infants, attempting to pull each others' ears off; two toddlers, running away from me in opposite directions; two two-year-olds, both wanting to control everything in their environment, including the other two-year-old--defined my existence. Who was I? I was the mother of twins.

Now that they are seven, the fact that they were born five minutes apart seems trivial. The fact that I am the mother of four kids ("Four? You have four kids?") seems much more significant.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that.

Again!

LW has a new word: "Again!" Have I mentioned he loves trucks? And we have a board book showing pictures of trucks? The last sentence is not completely out of my mouth before LW turns the book to the first page and insists, "Again!"

EM decided today to drop karate. He's been taking weekly classes since January, but the dojo is extending the classes to 1.5 hours and adding a second class each week, and EM has decided he'd rather spend his time in other ways. Specifically, he wants to play soccer as usual this fall, and he wants to be in more plays.

Attention Settlers of Catan!

Do you know about Struggle for Rome? Michael and EM discovered it during a Catan tournament at our local game store. When they won first and second place, they generously used their prize money to buy a family copy. They taught NB and I to play on Sunday afternoon, during LW's conveniently long nap.

Fun, fun, fun. Of course, it helps that I narrowly beat EM out to win from behind. Afterwards, I felt a little bad, wondering if I should have pulled my punches slightly. I know how frustrating it is to be the one at the top that everyone tries to shoot down, and then lose at the end anyway. But Michael and I decided long ago that we weren't going to "let" our kids win--that if they won they would know it was because they truly beat us. And EM was a good sport about his loss.

I Love Ben & Jerry's

I'm blogging while I wait for my work computer to finish checking files into Perforce. (It's two weeks before release and I'm working lots of extra hours.)

In between keystrokes, I'm gobbling down a new B&J flavor. Cinnamon Buns--caramel ice cream with cinnamon bun dough and a caramel streusel swirl. No chocolate, so it can't be my favorite flavor (that just might be Chubby Hubby), but it's definitely edible. You should check it out.

What I'm Reading Now

Several bloggers are participating in Seasonal Soundings' Summer Reading Challenge. I was going to make my own reading list, but I realized I am in the middle of far, far too many books already.

To whit:

In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible--This is interesting, but a bit dry. I've been reading it on Sundays since January, and I'm just past the half-way point.

La Belle France: A Short History--I was supposed to read this before we went to France. Hah. I'm pitifully close to the beginning. It has long sentences that aren't conducive to reading while keeping an eye on a toddler. And once the toddler is in bed, I need a book with a bit more zip in it to keep me awake. It contains a lot of details about various torturings and scandals. Some of the torture methods make me slightly sick, but they don't keep me awake.

Tale of Two Cities--I'm reading this aloud to EM because he'll be studying it during a week-long class this summer.

Ginger Pye--This is our current Mom-and-big-kids read aloud. We mostly read at the bus stop. It's not my favorite.

A Darkness More Than Night--I started reading this on vacation in France, and then lost it when I got home. I found it yesterday when I was attempting to restore order to the bookshelves. (By "order" I don't mean organized by author or anything ambitious like that. I mean replacing the missing shelf pins so the shelves don't tip and standing the books up so I can read the spines. LW helped me by dusting the books. Which was nice, considering he is largely the reason I had to work on the shelves.) Michael said this one was interesting, but after almost of month of not touching it, I'm struggling to remember what it is about--or where I stopped reading.

Princes of Ireland--I'm reading this because one of these days I really will take that trip to Ireland. Honest. In the meantime, I need to find this book so I can finish it. I think I last saw it upstairs....

The Cloister Walk--Given all the books above, I don't know what possessed me to bring this home from the library. I guess I'd passed it over enough. I'm enjoying this quite a bit, although I just started it Tuesday. It makes me think and yet I can read it with one eye on the kids. This has become my book of choice for our river time. (Speaking of river time, Michael bought me a nice, comfy, reclining chair to use down at the river. Very nice.)

I also have a couple of parenting books that I have checked out from the library. Not sure when I thought I was going to read them.

So, my summer reading goal is to finish all of the above--and read the new Harry Potter book.