What a compliment

LW just now: Mommy, I love you better than Wall-E.

(Wall-E has only left his hand to have his wheel superglued back on.)

Geography: A lost art

Potential guest on phone: I'm in Connecticut. Am I near the north end of Vermont or the south end?

I did it

Ever since I've had kids, it seems I spend Christmas Eve in a tizzy. There was the year I stayed up late trying to assemble EM's tricycle without waking him up. There was the year I spent Christmas Eve driving to Wal-Mart in nasty weather to buy a replacement TV for one that went out in a guest room. There have been last-minute trips to the grocery store for stocking stuffers. And almost always, there are presents to wrap after the kids go to bed.

This year, I finally managed to get everything done before December 24.

I did pick up a few things for Michael's stocking while EM was practicing reading into the microphone at church. (He read Psalm 98 at tonight's service.) And I wrapped the last five presents this afternoon. But it was all very relaxed.

I read to LW. I played Settlers with the older kids. I started an online game of Scrabble with my sister.

Since we got back from the Christmas Eve service, I've been relaxing on the couch, looking at the lights. In a few minutes, I'll finish the last bit of kitchen cleanup and help Michael bring out the presents.

Next year will probably be back to the usual chaos, but I thought I'd appreciate the rare year when it's peaceful.

Kids. Who really understands them?

As I might have mentioned, LW is a picky eater. There are many, many foods he just won't try. Unusual foods like hot dogs, hamburgers, peaches, cheddar cheese.

And he is stubborn. A recent standoff with one of his preschool teachers is now known as The Pear Incident. He still asks me every morning if they are serving pears for snack at preschool.

So imagine my surprise when tonight at dinner, after eating two crescent rolls (and refusing steak, baked beans, and broccoli), LW decided he wanted to try tour de marze*, of all things. And ate three slices.

Maybe we should offer him shrimp.

* A soft French cheese, rather like Brie.

Lost luggage

Our housekeeper just brought me a suitcase that was left in room 3. The guests were walk-ins last night, so I pulled the registration card to get a phone number for them.

It's a fake phone number. The area code does not exist. And it's very clearly written, so there is no doubt.

Not only that, but this guest doesn't have a credit card (or at least that's what he claimed when he checked in) so I'm going to need cash in hand before I ship the suitcase back to him.

Anyone know the appropriate amount of time I need to keep this suitcase kicking around before I can toss it? Some questions Miss Manners just doesn't address.

Advent reading

During Advent I've been reading Watch for the Light, which contains selections from a variety of writers, one for each day of Advent.

So far, my favorite excerpt has been by Alfred Delp, a Jesuit priest, written while he was in prison shortly before he was executed by the Nazis.

Many of the things that are happening today would never have happened if we had been living in that movement and disquiet of heart which results when we are faced with God, the Lord, and when we look clearly at things as they really are. 83

The first thing we must do if we want to be alive is to believe in the golden seed of God that the angels have scattered and still offer to open hearts. The second thing is to walk through these gray days oneself as an announcing messenger. So many need their courage strengthened, so many are in despair and in need of consolation, there is so much harshness that needs a gentle hand and an illuminating word, so much loneliness crying out for a word of release, so much loss and pain in search of inner meaning. God's messengers know of the blessing that the Lord has cast like seed into these hours of history. 89

I also liked this quotation from Loretta Ross-Gotta's excerpt.

The intensity and strain that many of us bring to Christmas must suggest to some onlookers that, on the whole, Christians do not seem to have gotten the point of it.

Hunkering down

I'm supposed to be arriving at EM's first middle school band concert right about now, but the school canceled all evening activities due to the approaching storm. If it delivers what the meteorologists are promising, the kids stand a good chance at a snow day tomorrow.

I've been anticipating the concert, as the band concerts are somewhat notorious for their length. Roughly three hours, from what I understand. I was curious to see if my own experience confirmed that.

Now I'm concerned about which snow date they will choose. Next week looks crowded already: lodging Christmas party on Monday, two holiday performances for the twins on Tuesday, and a professional brass concert (and our anniversary) on Thursday. I've been trying to get tickets to that annual concert for three years. It's free, but you need a ticket and they just fly out the door. This is the first year I've managed to call early enough to secure one. Keep your fingers crossed for a good snow date, will you?

Tenth circle of Hell

If the demons are looking for ideas, I have a suggestion. Sentence someone to spend eternity merging from 95 North to 93 North during rush hour, especially in the winter when it is dark then.

Every time I drive home from Boston, I wonder: Who designed this interchange and what were they thinking?

Recent reading

I've been enjoying a delightful spree of very fluffy reading, mostly British chic lit. It's been a nice change of pace. These books do tend to make me hungry though. Everyone is always sitting down to yummy food and good wine.

During our vacation, I also read Good Omens. It's hilariously funny, and I was all set to buy it for Dad for Christmas, when I read about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and their four biker sidekicks (with names like Grevious Bodily Harm and Embarassing Personal Problems) and had a vivid memory of Dad reading that part aloud to me.

Two of the main characters are a demon and an angel, who have become friends over the thousands of years they've both been on earth interferring with humans. I found these snippets from the demon's point of view very telling:

Oh, he did his best to make their short lives miserable, because that was his job, but nothing he could think up was half as bad as the stuff they thought up themselves. . . . Over the years Crowley had found it increasingly difficult to find anything demonic to do which showed up against the natural background of genearlized nastiness.

And just when you'd think they were more malignant than ever Hell could be, they could occassionally show more grace than Heaven ever dreamed of. Often the same individual was involved.

I'm also continuing to read Living the Sabbath, mostly on Sundays. It's extremely thought provoking and deserves its own post once I've finished.

I had hoped to take The Book Thief on vacation with me, but only one of the three libraries I'm currently using has a copy, and it's out and not due back until later in the month. Endless Forms Most Beautiful will have to be an inter-library loan. I'm hoping to call in the request tomorrow.

Disney Photos

We spent the last week at Disney World. We play hard on our Disney trips, which in our case means we don't spend a lot of time taking photos. But I thought I'd post a few anyway.

Here is LW with Eeyore, very first thing on our first morning. The older kids and Michael were dashing to ride Expedition Everest (and get FastPasses for later). LW and I were walking to ride Triceratop Spin (think Dumbo but with dinosaurs) and saw Eeyore standing around with only a two-person line.

As we were leaving that night, just at park closing, a Disney employee asked us if we would like to be the last family to see Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore for the day. LW was too excited to pose with the older kids--he raced from one character to the other--but here are the older three with Pooh.

Our second day at Epcot, I took LW to see Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Donald, and Pluto. (The other kids were re-riding Test Track first thing in the morning, and LW didn't want to ride it again. So we went straight to the characters and only had to wait five minutes. Since LW had been asking for a chance to "hug Mickey and Donald" all week long, I was happy to give him a chance.) He refused to have anything to do with Minnie, but here he is hugging Mickey.

The three younger kids spent a lot of time playing in this fountain in Morocco.

All four kids on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom. (Disney decorates for Christmas ridiculously early.

Election results irony

Even as I celebrate Obama's win and marvel at how far we have come as a country since the days of Jim Crow laws, I am saddened by the successful passage in several states of ballot measures that restrict the civil liberties of a minority group.

Two steps forward, one step back.

What the kids are saying

NB to the minister during the church service, after she asked the kids to draw fish on the envelopes that will be passed out on stewardship Sunday later this month: Can they be predatory fish?

LW, loudly, in the middle of church while looking at a picture of King Saul: Mommy, look! He's wearing a cape! He's a vampire!

(You'll be glad to know that I anticipated where this was going and clapped my hand over his mouth, thus muffling the vampire part.)

LW, while reading Platypus and the Lucky Day: He is so cute. I want to kiss him. I'll give him a kiss at Disney World.

LW, on being told Platypus was not a Disney character: Where does Platypus live? Where can I kiss him?

IM, while watching TV, on seeing the warning "Warning: Indigenous nudity": Good. I like that.
Michael: Why?
IM: 'Cause it's funny.

Miserable no more

I finished Les Miserables last night. I've been reading it since mid-July.

This book has the worst pacing of any book I have ever read. At least for the first thousand pages. It's not just slow, it's choppy. Teenager-learning-to-drive-a-stick-shift choppy. Hugo is apparently totally unable to resist either a tangent or an info dump. Some of these are amusing (he's very poetic during his rant about monasteries), most are instructive (wanna know about the Battle of Waterloo? how about the history of the Paris sewer system?). But in every case they bring the progress of the novel to a screeching halt.

Things improve greatly around page 1100. And the last 200 pages just zip by. But those first thousand pages or so? I found myself wishing Hugo had a good editor.

Hugo created a wonderful character in Jean Valjean, and his ideas about social justice and mercy are compelling. But I think you can make a case that the musical presents those better than the book.

I am, however, glad that I persevered and read the entire book. What can I say? I'm stubborn that way.

Here are a few quotations that struck me as I read the book.

He declared to himself that he would not doubt, and he began to doubt in spite of himself. To be between two religions, one you have not yet abandoned and another you have not yet adopted, is intolerable; this twilight is pleasant only to batlike souls. Marius was an open eye, and he needed a true light. To him the dusk of doubt was harmful. Whatever his desire to stop where he was and hold fast there, he was irresistibly compelled to continue, to advance, to examine, to think, to go forward. p675

Undoubtedly they seemed very depraved, very corrupt, very vile, very hateful even, but people rarely fall without becoming degraded. Besides, there is a point when the unfortunate and the infamous are associated and confused in a word, a mortal word, les miserables; whose fault is it? And then, when the fall is furthest, is that not when charity should be greatest? p744

He had a square face, a thin and firm mouth, very fierce, bushy grayish whiskers, and a stare that would turn your pockets inside out. You might have said of this stare, that it did not penetrate so much as ransack. p772

There comes an hour when protest no longer suffices; after philosophy there must be action; the strong hand finishes what the idea has sketched. p1127

What a disappointment!

I woke up this morning to the sound of LW crying. I called him into my room and asked him what was wrong.

"I thought today was Christmas!"

I have no idea why he thought today was Christmas, but I can empathize with the disappointment. No tree. No presents. No Christmas fudge. I'd cry too.

It did drive home how differently we experience Christmas as a child and an adult. My first thought was, how could it be Christmas? I'm entirely too well rested. I wasn't up late last night wrapping the last few presents and stuffing the stockings. I'm not wired about whether the kids will like their presents or whether we have enough presents or too many presents. I'm not worn out from baking treats for teachers and attending Christmas concerts and school events. How could it be Christmas?

(Speaking of holidays, Happy Birthday, K!)

I am not a travel agent

I answered the phone a few minutes ago. It was a guest Michael had talked to earlier who wanted a pet-friendly room for three nights this weekend. We are all full on Saturday, but Michael gave him the number of another inn that takes pets.

The caller said, "They only take one pet" and asked if we had the number for ____ Inn. I looked it up and gave it to him. Then he asked if we had a kennel in the area. We do, and I told him the name. He asked if I could look up their phone number.

As it happens, my phone book wasn't at the desk, so I told him I didn't have it on me but he could google it. He seemed somewhat unhappy with that.

Maybe I should have put him on hold and googled it for him, but he is not even staying here.

George Washington did not sleep here

We're full up with leaf peepers tonight, including several rooms of foreigners or recent immigrants. One stopped by just as I was closing up the office.

He asked for bottled water, which we don't have, and I had to reassure him several times that yes, the water in the bathroom faucet was straight from our own well, was tested regularly, and was perfectly good to drink. (Where do these people think bottled water comes from? Or pretends to come from, anyway.)

We've gotten the water question before. But then, as I turned to go, he surprised me.

"So, George Washington's* house is near here? That's what I was told."

No, not here. In fact, there's no real evidence that Washington ever visited our state, although it's possible. We do have a Washington county, but doesn't every state?

I hope he isn't too disappointed.

Moral of the story: Read guidebooks carefully when planning vacations.

* It occurs to me that he might be confusing Washington with Coolidge. I'll have to remember to ask at breakfast tomorrow.

Book list? What book list?

It's official. I did not finish my summer reading list by the end of September.

Some of this is for good reasons. I did a major decluttering, reorganizing, and painting job in our main living space. I'm working more hours at my paid job. I've spent a lot of time catching up on the photo albums. NB's soccer teammates have interesting parents, so I spend time at practices socializing instead of reading.

And some of it is that I've gotten a bit bogged down in Les Mis. I considered switching translations, but the recommended one is an abridgement, and I am stubbornly committed to reading the entire thing. So I persist . . . but slowly.

In the meantime, I'm scared to pick up another book for fear I will never return.

I have a mental deadline for when I would like to finish Les Mis, but it's so pathetic that I'm not going to put it in writing.

I'll let you know when I finish it.

Five things I've learned about plastic surgery

Note: Not for the squeamish.

Tuesday I had two moles on my face removed. Because of their size and location, the removal had to be done by a plastic surgeon. Here are the lessons I've learned so far:

1. Lips don't like to be cut into and do not hesistate to let you know their displeasure by swelling up to a truly amazing size.
2. The bluish tint to the superglue they put over the stitches really enhances the Frankenstein's monster look.
3. The sound and smell of the cauterizer is disturbing even if you can't feel it.
4. Although I am very susceptible to pain medication like Tylenol, Advil, and whatever they use in epidurals, this sensitivity doesn't seem to extend to locally injected numbing agents like they use in plastic surgery and dental work. I need a lot of it, and it wears off quickly.
5. It's unnerving to feel blood running down your face, even if you can't feel the pain of the injury.

The good news is that the swelling has receded enough that I can eat and talk again, and LW has stopped commenting on my stitches every time he sees me.

Fossils, and foxes, and whistles, oh my!

Thursday and Friday I chaperoned the twins' overnight field trip. The trip is a 3rd and 4th grade tradition at our school, but it was my first time going. (EM's first year, Michael went, and his second year I was within a week of my due date with LW so neither of us slept over, although Michael did go for the second day.)

We went to a state park about an hour away, right on the edge of the lake. Loading the buses and cars, driving there, unloading, and ice-breaker games took up most of the morning. After lunch, we divided into small groups. I ate lunch with IM and then went with NB's group. each group had to create a name that had some connection to our state. NB proposed our team name (Red-tail Foxes), and since IM's group was named the ___ River Ripper Raccoons, I'm pretty sure she had some input on its name. (IM is a huge raccoon fan.)

Each group had to create a pantomime based on one of the six seasons (winter, mud, spring, summer, fall, and stick). IM's group had a clever one for winter. The adults formed a ski lift and the kids were the skiers. The other outstanding pantomime was of a car (two adults) getting stuck in mud and being towed out.

After the skits, we went on a nature scavenger hunt. There were some impressive finds: a snake, a rock with numerous fossils, a button rock (formed when the lake receded and the clay hardened), and a raccoon skull. NB was very sad that he didn't get to take home his find for "a thing that wiggles" but one of the teachers took a picture of NB and the woolly bear caterpillar. The cool non-living finds were gathered up and taken to the nature center. Everything else was dumped back in the woods. (There is a strict rule against taking anything out of the park.)

At the campfire, each class sang (familiar music with new words), and one of the dads performed a completely original song he had composed about the trip. One of the moms told a traditional Abenaki tale. The teachers lead us in some camp songs. One of the teachers usually leads the songs, but the other teacher decided last year that she wanted to have some songs to share this year. So she searched You-tube, found some songs, and practiced until she knew them cold. (I would never have guessed that she had ever been uncomfortable singing in public.) The baby shark song, one of her finds, was the big hit of the trip.

After the campfire, we went on a wolf hunt. Not hunting wolves, but hunting like wolves. The kids were given the choice to opt out, but we ended up with 74 kids and adults who went on the hunt. We held hands and formed a line, then walked in complete silence down the road and into a nearby field. Once in the field, we made a circle, then dropped hands, turned our backs to the circle's center and walked 50 steps into the darkness. Then we sat and waited for the wolf leader to howl twice. At that signal, we all howled for three seconds and then walked back to find the leader (who had moved from her previous position). Then we had a group howl.

Some of the kids, IM included, were very nervous about being completely alone in the dark (even though in reality people were not far away). But they did a great job of staying silent. We talked after about our different perceptions of time. Estimates of our time alone varied from 1 minute to 15 minutes. (In reality it was 5 minutes.) Some of us saw shooting stars while we were waiting. The whole experience left me very grateful for the great community of kids and adults in which my kids are growing up.

That night, we slept in lean-tos. I was in IM's lean-to. We had four kids, two parents, and one teacher. Someone loaned me a mattress, so I was very comfortable.

In the morning, we hiked out to the nature center, once someone's summer home. We saw more fossils along the trail and in the rocks used to build the fireplace in the nature center. IM's teacher pointed out the word "conjecture" in one of the displays, and asked IM if she knew what it meant. She didn't, but when her teacher asked her to give it a try, IM said "guess."

Out at the point beyond the nature center, we saw lots of fish jumping and a family of foxes. IM was busy with plans to move there and survive, living off the land. She was full of talk of creating shelter and grinding acorns to eat, but she ruined it somewhat when she proposed getting a generator to run "a small television and a little refrigerator."

NB found some zebra mussels clinging to the rock above the water line and was very upset when we wouldn't let him save them. We explained over and over that zebra mussels are an invasive, non-native species and they are destroying native species, but he was still sad that they were going to die.

Someone figured out that an acorn cap makes a great whistle. All 43 3rd and 4th graders learned to blow acorn whistles. Note to self: next year, pack Advil.

CSA Week 13

Today I picked up:

• 1 head lettuce
• 1 bunch rainbow chard
• 1/2 bag of spinach
• handful of basil
• 3 tomatoes
• handful of green beans
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 pounds Koren-style spareribs

I passed on the squash again. Yes, I know. I'm a wimp.

LW picked up a green bean and munched it while I got the rest of the vegetables. Sadly, this was a big deal. He even ate another one for dinner tonight. (I dearly hope I can look back on this post in a few years and laugh at what a picky eater he used to be.)

Where did I put that time turner?

In Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban, Hermione uses a time turner to take two classes during one period. She attends one class and then uses the time turner to repeat the hour so she can attend the second class.

I need one.

Desperately.

Last Thursday, we had four events all occurring at the same time:

• NB's soccer practice from 4:30-6:00
• My meeting for chaperons on the 3rd and 4th grade overnight trip later this month from 5:30-?
• IM's Oliver rehearsal from 6:00-8:00
• Curriculum Night and BBQ at EM's school from 5:30-7:30

Not to mention that LW had a cold and was fussy as all get-out and he and I should really have stayed home, on the couch, watching mindless television.

Did I mention we have one car?

Sigh.

I am grateful that at least we are juggling fun things. It could be much, much worse.

CSA Week 12

Today we got:

• 3/4 lb yellow beans
• 1/4 lb mesclun mix
• 2 heads lettuce
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 2 peppers
• 1 lb potatoes
• 2 artichokes
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 chicken

I passed on the squash. It said "Take as much as you'll use" and I did.

He's a modern kid

This evening, NB, IM and I were sitting on my bed (hiding from LW) while I read Story of the World volume 2 to them. Tonight's chapter included a section on the effect of the Normans on the English language. It started by talking about English's habit of borrowing words from other languages.*

I read, "English still borrows words from Latin, French, and other languages today. In the twentieth century, English needed a word to describe something new--a movie that you could watch on your own television. Do you know what word we borrowed?"

NB interrupted. "Netflix!"

* My favorite quotation on this subject is from James Nicoll: "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that the English language is as pure as a crib-house whore. It not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."

Wish us luck!

LW is wearing real, big boy underwear today. Not Pull-ups!

At least he's honest

LW and IM were fighting over a book. Since we were heading out to run errands and they sit next to each other in the car, I suggested they both look at the book together.

LW: I don't want IM and I to look to* the book together! I want to steal it from her!

* "At" continues to elude LW. It is routinely substituted with "to."

Latest wildlife siting

Wednesday our temps were in the 80s, so while Michael was cooking dinner, the kids and I went down to the river. The river runs in a channel between the forested hill on the opposite side, and our forested property, which rises in two levels up to the inn.

I was talking to EM when NB suddenly said, "Mom, look!"

A blue heron was flying upstream, about 10 feet above the river. It flew the length of our property and landed at the park a little to the south of us.

Blue herons are graceful and languid in flight, at least to my eyes.

Seeing the heron almost made me stop worrying that the frog we found at the river will not recover from LW's attention.

Veggie Pancakes

Here is the recipe for the vegetable pancakes I mentioned below. It comes from the 1999 Taste of Homes cookbook.

2-3 medium zucchini, coarsely grated (about 2 cups)
1 medium carrot, grated
1 medium potato, peeled and grated
1/3 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup frozen corn
2 eggs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp each salt, pepper, garlic powder and celery seed
Vegetable oil for frying

In a sieve or colander, drain zucchini, squeezing to remove excess liquid. Combine zucchini, carrot, potato, peas, and corn in a bowl. Stir in the eggs, flour, cheese and seasonings; mix well. In a skillet, heat 1/4 in. of oil over medium heat. Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls; press lightly to flatten. Fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side. Serve warm.

Yield: 1 dozen.

Labor Day

On Monday we went to a museum that combines old buildings from various parts of New England with a fantastic art collection. The kids and I went a couple of years ago, but they had no memory of it when asked, and Michael had never been, so it seemed time to go again. Plus, they were having a special exhibit of Mary Cassat paintings in addition to the ones in the permanent collection.

NB, LW, and IM




















IM in the 1800s jail cell.






















EM and LW in the steering cabin of the old steamboat


















EM, Michael, and LW. LW is saying "Choo choo."

First day of school

The first day of school was actually last Wednesday, but I figure better late than never.

Here the kids are on the way to the bus.



And what did the little guy do while the big kids were gone? Build a train out of the kitchen chairs, of course.

CSA Week 11

While IM and LW checked out the pigs and cows, I picked up the following:

• one head of lettuce
• one pound of baby potatoes
• one bunch of sage (I could have chosen thyme or savory)
• one green pepper
• three heirloom tomatoes
• one bunch of kale
• two cucumbers
• one pattypan squash
• one zucchini
• one crookneck squash
• two artichokes
• one package of country-style pork ribs
• one package of ground beef

I could have taken as much as I would use of the pattypan and crookneck squash, but I'm getting tired of trying to find ways the kids will eat it. (Of course, since we only have a single CSA share, technically Michael and I should easily be able to eat our full take each week . . . )

I have had some success, at least with IM and EM. (NB is a pickier eater in general.) All three big kids will eat squash chopped up in a salad without complaint. IM and EM also like it in vegetable pancakes (are they still vegetables if you fry them?) and in stuffing casserole. EM joined NB in turning up her nose at squash baked with marinara sauce and cheese.

LW loves going to the farm to get the vegetables, but that love doesn't extend so far as to actually eat any of them.

Public apology

After an hour of stacking wood with two eight-year-olds who are excited about the start of school tomorrow, can I just offer a public apology to everyone I knew as a child?

I am sorry for all the times I kept talking and would not be quiet. Even when you begged.

That is all.

(Dad and Kristi, you can stop laughing now.)

Summer recap

The big kids start back to school tomorrow. Once again, I come to the end of the summer and wish we had played more at the river and eaten more s'mores.

So what did we do?

EM grew, mostly. My official position is that he is not yet as tall as I am. But just between you and me, I'll admit that an objective observer might not agree. He requested a lazy summer with lots of time playing with Sammy in the woods, and that's what he got.

NB spent a lot of time playing with LW. He is great at amusing LW, and LW loves playing with him. Unfortunately, they mostly love to play run and chase games. And they both have their volume switch set permanently on Loud.

IM read all the Warriors books she could get her hands on. Multiple times. And she started Oliver! rehearsals.

But LW has changed the most. He is now completely out of diapers, although his pull-ups do not always stay dry and clean. He has given up (OK, Michael would say he has been robbed of) his naptime and bedtime bottles. And we even took the railing off his bed this week. Don't worry, he still has those kissable chubby cheeks.

A limit by any other name

Today the kids and I went to the medium-size library. (I have cards at four libraries in an attempt to keep these kids in reading material.) I went prepared with a list of fiction and non-fiction books that tied into our history reading, and LW was surprisingly good, so I actually had time to find them.

EM, IM, and NB each selected books. LW selected books. I took one look at LW's books and selected some to read to him that I could stand to read more than once. Then EM saw me pulling the history tie-ins and decided to scout out some of his old favorites for NB and IM.

As we staggered to the counter, I realized we had more books than we had checked out at once from this library before.

"Is there a book limit?" I asked the two women behind the counter.
They looked at me a little oddly. "No, there isn't a limit."
Sighing with relief, I piled all the books onto the counter. The woman behind the desk blinked. "This will exceed the 30 book maximum the system can put on one card."

And that differs from a limit how?

Fortunately, I have three kids over the age of six who all now have library cards.

Les Miserables

My progress though my reading list has slowed to a crawl. I've hit Les Miserables.

It's long; 1463 pages to be exact. And dense. Victor Hugo apparently never met a detail he didn't like. Jean Valjean, the main character, doesn't enter the book until page 59. The first 58 pages are devoted to the character and backstory of the Bishop of Digne. Granted, the bishop's forgiveness of Valjean's theft of silver transforms Valjean and launches the main conflict of the book, but I don't think Hugo needed 58 pages of backstory to make that encounter believable.

Or maybe I've just been corrupted by the speed of modern life and entertainment and am unable to enjoy books that are more slowly paced.

In any case, I'm enjoying the book and yet I find it easy to put off reading it. My other reading project is Paul's epistles, and I've come to consider that my light reading.

From the mouth of babes

The other night, when all the kids were in their beds and Michael and I were watching TV, LW came downstairs and announced, "Mommy! I don't like your attitude!"

Today, on the way to the post office, LW was singing along to the vacation Bible school CD.
Lyrics on the CD: I will believe with all my heart. And I will believe with all my soul.
LW's version: I will believe with all my heart. And I will believe with all my shoulders.

CSA Week 9

Today we got:

• one bunch fennel
• four squash
• two tomatoes (I could have chosen tomatillos instead)
• one bunch savory (I could have chosen parsley instead)
• two green peppers
• three cucumbers
• one bunch celery
• one pound ground beef
• one beef roast

What the kids are saying

The Vacation Bible School teacher asked the kids how they felt when their mom or dad did something nice for them. (The answer the teacher was looking for was "I feel loved.") IM waved her hand wildly: "Surprised!"

LW, upon being told by NB that he was a baby: "No, I a big kid! I watch Youtube."

CSA Week 7

I am very happy with today's loot:

• 1 pound of broccoli or cauliflower (I chose broccoli)
• 1 bunch parsley
• 4 tomatoes! (I chose two yellow ones and two Black Prince)
• 3 pickling cucumbers
• 1 slicing cucumber
• 1 bunch kale
• 5 summer squash (after eying the koosa again, I chose a mix of yellow, zucchini and pattypan)
• 1 bunch savory
• 1/2 pound green beans
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 very fresh chicken (it was clucking at noon)

Michael's parents are here visiting and generously made space in their small luggage allotment for tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and apricots fresh from their garden. I love summer!

Family outing

We had no guests at the inn last night or scheduled for tonight, so I took the day off work and we went on a day trip.


First, we went to the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge. We got to see the room (and the exact bed, in fact) where he was born, the room where he was sworn into office as president, and the room that functioned as the summer White House one summer.


Interesting facts I learned about Calvin Coolidge:

• He was visiting his parents to help with the haying when he learned in the middle of the night that President Harding had died.


• While he was president, his 16-year-old son died of complications resulting from an infection in a blister he received while playing tennis at the White House.


• His gravesite is very plain, in keeping with his quote that "in this country we elect our presidents from the people, and I want to return to the people." (Paraphrased because I can't find the brochure.)

While LW napped, we drove to a science museum, where we spent the afternoon. We got home just in time for NB and IM to eat a quick dinner before heading off to vacation bible school, which is in the evening this year. (Tonight was the last night.)

Here are all four kids in front of the house where Coolidge was born and lived until he was four:

Here they are at the science museum:

CSA Week 6

This week's loot:

• 1/2 pound of green beans
• two heads of lettuce
• three cucumbers
• three summer squash
• bunch of Swiss chard
• pound of ground beef
• package of pork ribs

Summer wedding

Sunday afternoon we attended my minister's wedding. She and her husband had both lost spouses to cancer and have grown children. The ceremony was beautiful. Simple, elegant, spiritual, and full of love.

Unfortunately, Michael and I were sitting nowhere near each other. He was sitting in the sanctuary translating the ceremony for some guests from Ecuador. Because I waited until the last possible minute to wake LW up from his nap, the kids and I were sitting in the overflow room, watching the ceremony on large-screen TV (although the bride and groom did walk through the room during the processional). LW talked non-stop, but at least he was whispering.

The reception was held at the small local airport. They had lots of balls, frisbees, and hula hoops for the kids to play with, and a magician/juggler/unicyclist who performed for half an hour. Dinner was served in an airplane hanger owned by a church member. We ducked out to get back to the inn after dinner, so we missed the dancing to the live steel drum band.

We've had lots of rain this month, but they were blessed with a glorious day.

LW, who adores the minister, has been talking about the party: "I saw Susan, I hugged her, and I said 'congratulations,' but I didn't marry her."

CSA Week 5

I should have posted this earlier in the week; I might leave out something.

Our haul this week:

• Two heads of lettuce
• Two garlic stalks (the whole thing--bulb, stalk, scape, and bud)
• One pound of broccoli
• Three pounds of summer squash
• One bunch of kale
• One head of cabbage (I picked red)
• One bunch of parsley
  

For the meat share, we got:

• One pound of ground beef
• One pound of sirloin

Jessica asked last week how we use the vegetables. We have lots of salads. This week, I made coleslaw (LW calls it "coldslop") to use up the cabbage. With broccoli, I can make cream of broccoli soup, or steam it, or chop it into a salad, or just serve it plain for a snack.

Summer squash are a problem. We allow each of the older kids to pick three foods they don't have to eat. Summer squash made all three lists. Michael and I eat it sauteed with parsley or cooked with tomatoes and herbs. Sometimes I can get the kids to eat a bit if I chop it raw into a salad. NB is not fooled by this, however, and carefully picks out each piece. Anyone have clever recipes that disguise summer squash? Can you substitute yellow squash for zucchini in zucchini bread?

Another problem food is kale. I'll be honest--we've never actually eaten the kale. All last year, each time we got kale, we brought it home, put it away, stared at it guiltily every time we opened the vegetable drawer, and finally composted it when it became too wilted. This year, I vowed to eat the kale, but we've composted two week's worth already.

But this week we were victorious. We ate some of the kale. I made Toscano Soup, with sausage, potatoes, a bit of cream, and kale. The good news is, everyone in the family ate it. (Well, except LW, but he never eats anything we serve for dinner.) In fact, I should have doubled the recipe. And Michael decided I could easily double the kale within the recipe. With those changes, I should be able to use up a full week's worth of kale with that one recipe! Can you feel the excitement?

Of course, I still have three-fourths of a bunch of kale left for this week. I found a recipe for roasted kale. Dare I try it?

Sunday morning comic relief

My contribution to my congregation is bringing the comic relief. Said relief comes in a blond-haired, blue-eyed, chubby-cheeked package.

Last week, he made the congregation laugh by clapping when it was announced that our minister would be back in the pulpit this Sunday. (She had emergency eye surgery and was out of commission for a week.)

Today, he cracked everyone up by earnestly nodding his head during the entire children's message, occasionally repeating the end of the minister's sentences. The children join the minister on the steps of the chancel for the children's message, and LW always insists on sitting front and center, right next to the minister, so everyone in the congregation has a great view of him.

There's no way to explain to a two-year-old that he is drawing attention to himself by being too interested in the church service, so I'll have to resign myself to my role as parent of the scene-stealer.

CSA Week 4

This week's allotment:

• One bunch of carrots
• One bunch of radishes
• Two pounds of cauliflower
• Two pounds of assorted squash (I chose zucchini and crookneck squash)
• One head of lettuce
• One pound of potatoes

I think I might be forgetting something, but I'm too lazy to go look in the fridge.

For the meat share, we got one pound of pork breakfast sausage and one pound of ground beef.

To the Writers of the Assembly Instructions for my New Desk

I offer up these thoughts on your instructions in the hope that they will help you improve the product for the next customer.

1. Providing a parts list is a great help. However, you might want to work with the person who packages the parts to ensure consistency. It would be much easier to verify that I do, in fact, have 26 10MM Euro screws if they were all in one parts package, instead of mixed in with other parts in three packages. If they need to be mixed up, perhaps you could just document the contents of each package, and allow me to verify them a package at a time.
2. While we're on the subject of part numbers, Cs and Gs look awfully similar when stamped onto the rough edge of particle board. And you had so many of them. C, C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4 and G, G-1, G-2, G-3, GG, and GG-3. And yet whole letters of the alphabet weren't used at all. It occurred to me that you might be trying to indicate something about the part by the letter used for it, but I couldn't find the pattern.
3. Thank you, thank you, for naming part 60 the "eccentric receptacle." I chuckled every time I saw it, and frankly, I needed a laugh or two during this process.
4. Now on to the actual assembly. Those drawings in step 1 make it really tough to tell which is the right drawer slider and which is the left. Since actually inserting the drawer into place doesn't come until step 27, I had a lot of time to wonder if I'd guessed correctly.
5. About step 2. Let me guess. When you did the test assembly to write the instructions, you were working in a warehouse or an empty conference room or something, right? So it made sense to spread 15 pieces out on the floor and insert all 50 15x12 MM Cam Klix at once. You probably didn't think about the fact that most of us are assembling these desks in too small living rooms, in the little bit of space not taken up by the TV, the couch, the toys, and the Golden Retriever. There's really no need to work with that many pieces at once. What you should have done (and what I did) is to have us assemble the frame of the desk first, then the hutch, then the drawers and doors. It saves a lot of space.
6. Following my advice in number 5 will also help you break up the instructions. I don't know how long it took you to assemble the desk, but it took me 3.5 hours last night, and another 3 this afternoon. If I hadn't broken it up, I would have been up all night, unable to go to bed because everything was spread out all over the living room. I live with a toddler. Anything not battened down will go missing. As it was, I was able to get the desk frame completed last night, and stack all the remaining pieces on top of it until nap time.
7. It is physically impossible to attach F-2 to both B and H. I dare you.

That said, the desk is up and not wobbling. I think all will be well.

Fun with growth plates

IM had her yearly appointment with her orthopedic surgeon on Monday. Because she did such a thorough job breaking her left arm two years ago, and involved the growth plates in her elbow, they like to keep an eye on her.

The good news is that her flexibility is still, to quote the surgeon, "Frickin' good."

The bad news is that it appears the growth plate in her left elbow is calcifying faster than the corresponding plate in her right arm. Worst case scenario, her left arm will be noticeably shorter than her right. The doctor asked me if her long-sleeve shirts hung differently on one arm than the other. Does it make me a bad parent if I have no clue? And to be honest, spending more time looking at my kids' wrists when they're wearing long-sleeve shirts is way down on my list of parenting goals.

I asked what we do if the arms grow differently. There are two options. One, they chip away the calcification on the growth plate to encourage the arm to keep growing. Two, IM has "bone elongation surgery." Sounds fun, doesn't it?

But, since there is absolutely nothing we can do to change the outcome at this point, I am putting this one firmly on the Things I Am Not Going to Worry About Yet pile. We'll see if I have to pick it back up next year.

Problems you didn't know you had

We received an email this week that began:

It is with a heavy heart that I write you this e-mail.

All sorts of scenarios went through my head, but the problem was something I had not even guessed at. It turns out our river has rock snot, an invasive form of algae. There are no known methods of eradicating it. The only thing we can do is prevent its spread upstream and into the tributaries, and hope our river will be one of the many in which the rock snot does not form mats.

We are downstream of the confirmed bloomed. This means we should shower before playing in another body of water after playing in the river. They have not yet determined whether or not it is present in the brook as well. Given that the brook joins the river on our property, I'm not sure if I need to prevent the kids from playing in the brook and the river on the same day.

I find myself strangely depressed about the whole thing.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Another great birthday read from my in-laws, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life chronicles a family's year of eating local food. Less than twenty pages into it, I scrounged up a notebook and pen and started copying passages. Luckily for you, I'm not going to reproduce all four plus pages.

But I will leave you with a few.

Food is the rare moral arena in which the ethical choice is generally the one more likely to make you groan with pleasure. page 22

History has regularly proven it drastically unwise for a population to depend on just a few varieties for the majority of its sustenance. The Irish once depended on a single potato, until the potato famine rewrote history and truncated many family trees. We now depend similarly on a few corn and soybean strains for the majority of calories (both animal and vegetable) eaten by U.S. citizens. Our addiction to just two crops has made us the fattest people who've ever lived, dining just a few pathogens away from famine. page 54

Concentrating on local foods means thinking of fruit invariably as the product of an orchard, and a winter squash as the fruit of an early-winter farm. It's a strategy that will keep grocery money in the neighborhood, where it gets recycled into your own school system and local businesses. The green spaces surrounding your town stay green, and farmers who live nearby get to grow more food next year, for you. But before any of that, it's a win-win strategy for anyone with taste buds. page 69

Most of us agree to put away our sandals and bikinis when the leaves start to turn, even if they're our favorite clothes. We can learn to apply similar practicality to our foods. page 311 Camille Kingsolver

CSA Week 3

Today we got:

• Garlic scapes
• One head of lettuce
• Bunch of carrots
• Bunch of salad turnips
• Bunch of kale
• Large (large!) head of Chinese cabbage
• One pound of ground beef
• One pound of top round steak.

Gosh I feel young!

Last night I went to a book discussion group at the library, the first in a series discussing religion. The book this month was Huston Smith's Why Religion Matters.

There were fourteen people there, and only two of us under the age of 40. Probably 50. Possibly even 60. (The one woman whose age I know for sure is 90.) The discussion was interesting, even feisty at times, and I'm interested in the upcoming books so I'll probably go next month.

Still, it would have been nice to have a few more people within shouting distance of my age.

* In case you were wondering, the general consensus of the group was that while we could come up with various reasons why religion did or did not matter, Smith didn't make a very clear case for why it did. I was late picking up the book (Wednesday at 2:30, to be exact) and only read the first third, so I can't judge myself. Reaction from the group was negative enough that I'm not planning to finish it at this time.

Waiting for the crash

LW slept poorly the last two nights. (The first night he was running a fever; I'm not sure what the issue was last night.) He didn't nap today. His behavior is as pleasant as you might imagine an exhausted two-year-old's behavior to be.

Michael and I are waiting for the inevitable crash, when even the frenetic energy reserve is burned up. The question is, will we crash first?

CSA Week 2

Today's was a lighter haul than last week's.

• One whole chicken
• One pound of ground beef
• Two heads of leaf lettuce
• Two big handfuls of braising greens
• One large bunch of garlic scapes (we still have some left from last week)
• One large bunch of parsley
• One dwarf sunflower plant (IM is in charge of finding a place to plant it)

After getting our stuff, LW sat on one of the tractors and then we all walked back to see the pigs and cows and talk to the other moms and kids. Rumor has it that the piglets have arrived but are not yet old enough for public display. Soon.

Summer reading list

Since I've already finished one book on my summer reading list, I figured I should post the list. Here are the books I'm planning to read before the end of September:

• Say Goodbye--This is my friend Lisa's latest, due out this summer. Her books are always a suspenseful read.
• Living the Sabbath: Discovering the Rythms of Rest and Delight--This one was recommended by an online acquaintance. It's part of the Christian Practice of Everyday Life series.
• Les Miserables--I'm slowly trying to work my way through the very long list of classics I've never read. This is definitely a book I should buy, as I see it taking me a long time to read.
• Breaking Dawn--The final book in a delightfully fluffy YA vampire series. It's being released at the beginning of August, and I plan on saving it for the weekend Michael is in Toronto and the kids are in Massachusetts on vacation with Michael's parents.
• Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo--Another attempt to broaden my science reading. I'm expecting this to be an easier read than Six Easy Pieces, because my biology background is more robust than my (pretty much non-existent) physics background. This is another recommendation from an online acquaintance.
• The Book Thief--This is a YA novel that I've seen recommended several places. EM didn't like it, but I think I will. (Maybe because everyone who has recommended it to me has also been an adult woman.) It's set in WWII-era Germany.
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle--This is a birthday gift from Michael's parents, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm very interested in the issue of locally grown food and healthy eating, so I think this will be an enjoyable read that will reinforce those opinions. And hopefully motivate me to act more in keeping with my beliefs.
• A Thousand Splended Suns--Another birthday gift from Michael's parents. I was hesitant about this book, because I feared it would be too depressing, but I finished it last night and really enjoyed it. True, it's depressing at times. And I got very, very angry at some of the characters and situations. But it really expanded my knowledge of Afghan history in my lifetime, and the ending was positive enough that it didn't send me into a funk. I am very glad I received it.
• The Untold Story of the New Testament Church--This is a holdover from the spring list, as I expected it to be. I'm reading it in conjunction with Acts and the epistles, so I anticipate it taking me a while to finish.

In the middle of writing this post, I just received a $50 Amazon gift certificate from work, and I know just how to spend it!

Guests

Michael's cousin and her boyfriend are up visiting. She wanted to see the fireflies, and this is the season for them.

They arrived yesterday afternoon, and LW and I took them to tour the local ice cream factory. They have changed the movie since I was last there in September, which is nice for those of us who visit whenever we have guests. And the sample (a new flavor) was as tasty as ever. LW did a pretty good job staying quiet during the tour, and ate his ice cream relatively neatly.

Of course, he melted down as soon as we got in the car to go home, and stayed fussy for most of the evening.

We went to the local pizza place for dinner. We sat outside, so the kids could play in the field while we waited for the pizza. It was a nice evening. We got four pizzas--cheese and herb for the two younger boys (our non-adventurous eaters), one sausage pizza, and two of the bacon and rhubarb pizza. The bacon and rhubarb was my favorite.

Once it got dark, the adults sat outside and watched the fireflies. They seemed especially fond of the strawberry patch.

Fun with airlines

Yesterday morning there was a message in the In box from Orbitz telling us that AirTran had changed our itinerary for our November trip to Orlando and we now had a 28-minute layover in Baltimore instead of a 2.5-hour layover. On the advice on an Internet acquaintance, I checked the AirTran airline to see if our itinerary was available for purchase. If it was, I figured the airline thought that length of layover was do-able.

Not only was the changed itinerary not available, our flight to Baltimore was not listed at all.

So I called AirTran. It turns out the short layover was the least of our worries. AirTran had cancelled our flight to Baltimore and our return flight out of Orlando without bothering to rebook us on any alternate flights. Somehow I doubt they were planning on refunding our money either.

The good news is, we are now booked on alternate flights . . . and we even get to Orlando a few hours earlier. And the reservation agent did not even suggest that we needed to pay more money. The bad news is, our new flight leaves Orlando at 9:45 a.m., instead of 4:00 p.m., so we lose a whole morning to spend in the parks.

I did verify that AirTran now has our email address in their system, so we should be notified of any further changes. We'll see. They have a lot of time to mess things up between now and November.

CSA Week 1

Today was the first week of our Community Support Agriculture program with the farm up the road. This is our second year doing the vegetable share and our first year doing the meat share.

Today's loot:

• two heads of lettuce (I picked green leaf and bibb)
• one bunch of green garlic
• one bunch of Easter egg radishes (I could have picked salad turnips instead)
• one bunch of Swiss chard (I could have picked kale or spinach instead)
• a six-pack of pansies
• one pound of ground beef
• one pound of country-style pork ribs

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

In honor of Father's Day, here are five of my dad's top parenting moments, not necessarily in order:

1. One night when I was little, I was afraid to go to sleep because I was worried I would be attacked by vampires. (Specifically, the Count from Sesame Street.) When all the usual methods for calming a frightened child failed, Dad hit on the brilliant idea of making a sign that said "Vampires Go Home" and hanging it in my bedroom. I went right to sleep.
2. When I was about 8, I got a hula hoop for my birthday. I remember I had to go on a treasure hunt to find my presents, and it was the final one, the big prize. I loved that hula hoop. One day, I discovered that S had cut it open with a butter knife "to see what made the noise." I was furious. First, it was obvious it was a ball bearing inside. Second, even after we taped it together with duck tape, the hula hoop was ruined. Dad decided to use some Old Testament philosophy (eye for an eye and all that) and told me that in relatiation I could smash S's favorite toy, a plastic red caboose. With a hammer. I felt vindicated for a host of little-brother annoyances. For once, my parents had taken my side.*
3. Dad attended all my orchestra and choir concerts. Even the ones that conflicted with the Blazers' NBA playoff games. This is something I appreciate more and more the older my kids get. Even with multiple kids in the school, there are still a lot of musical numbers featuring only other people's kids.
4. Dad helped me with calculus. I have new appreciation for how quickly advanced math concept fade from memory when you're not using them. Dad devised a clever and very effective strategy. He asked questions about the problem, and in the process of answering them, I usually figured out the answer. It's a strategy I'm going to need to dust off soon.
5. Dad supported my summer in Switzerland after my sophomore year in college. Mom had enough reservations that I wouldn't have been able to convince her on my own. It was a fantastic experience, and real turning point for me in terms of my belief in my own capabilities.

* Important disclaimer: I understand this experience looks very different from my brother's perspective. And I learned much, much later that my dad actually didn't expect me to go through with it. He thought I would feel bad for my brother, spare his toy, and forgive him. Oops. I didn't exactly live up to his expectations. And yet, although I am a little ashamed about that, even now, almost 30 years later, I still feel a thrill when I think of smashing that caboose. Sorry, S! I am also sure that my parents took my side many, many times. I just tended to focus on the times they didn't. But we all grew up, and I am happy to be the middle sibling and glad S and I grew so close in high school. So don't worry, Mom!

Those pesky prepositions

LW is struggling a bit with prepositions. Two recent examples:

When watching the Red Sox: Let's go Red Sox! Strike him up! Strike him up!

On seeing me in my reclining chair down by the river: Mommy! You're up side over!

Eventually, he'll figure it out. But it sure is cute in the meantime.

Thunderstorm 1, Motherboard 0

I think that pretty much says it all, don't you?

The stupid powerstrip and surge protector protected everything that is a) old, b) cheap, or c) both of the above, and failed to protect the computer with the inn's financials on it. We took it in to Geek Squad at Best Buy hoping it was just the power supply (we've lost those to thunderstorms before), but no such luck. Hopefully they will finish the data transfer to the new computer tomorrow.

Tonight's lessons

Michael is having a massive allergy attack, so for the first time ever I attended the school concert without him. But, because of the aforementioned allergy attack, I took LW so Michael could rest.

Usually, attending concerts is a two-person job. One of us chases LW and the other one listens to the big kids. (The older kids can't help with LW because they all on mats up front with their classes.)

Which brings us to . . . Five Things I Learned Tonight:

1. A two-year-old will be good if you promise him one M&M at the end of each song. As long as you generously define good as behavior that does not require removal from the gym and allow a fair amount of wiggling and talking.
2. You need more than one sippy cup of water for a single-serving bag of M&Ms.
3. When bribing a two-year-old with M&Ms, bring wet wipes. Or napkins. Or at least tissue. Barring that, sit close enough to the two-year-old's sibling to send said sibling to the bathroom for paper towels.
4. After 3/4 of a bag of M&Ms, the desire to play with the army ant helmets of the class in front of you is greater than the desire for another piece of candy. Fortunately, by then the first- and second-graders are tired of the hats and glad to loan them to the two-year-old.
5. A toddler fed M&Ms from 7:00 to 8:30 stays awake for half an hour trashing his room, instead of going to sleep.

Mosquito banquet

Mosquitoes love me. I currently have 26 bites. Michael has 2 or 3.

Not dead yet

Lack of blogging to the contrary, I am still here.

How was my week, you ask?

I worked ten-and-a-half hours yesterday. After working 48 hours Monday through Friday. Funny looking part-time job.

I actually have time to blog, while waiting . . . waiting . . . waiting for the XML content server. But since work is taking up so much of my time and mental energy, I don't have any thoughts that you would want to read. Unless you like hearing me gripe about server speed and co-workers. And take it from Michael, it's not that interesting.

It's like the book LW and I have been reading this week:

Oh, no! A swamp!
Can't go over it
Can't go under it
Can't go around it
Have to go through it.

See you on the other side.

Sticks and stones

This morning, the younger kids and I dropped Michael and EM off at a trailhead for a day hike. They're planning to hike about 12 miles today.



The trailhead was about a mile and a half up a dirt road that followed a brook. There was a primitive campground, with a little path down to the brook. I let the younger kids play for a few minutes before we left for home. They each claimed a big stone and found a stick sword to use to defend their territory.



They declared a temporary truce to take this picture on IM's stone.

Confused

We have a guest eating breakfast in the front room, and I honestly don't know if it is a man or a woman. Michael went out to say hi, and he can't tell either.

It's really none of my business. And yet, I find it strangely disconcerting not to know.

Where's that gender-neutral pronoun when you need it?

Little pitchers have big ears

This week, my driving CD has been a compilation of songs my dad put together for me a couple of years ago. It's an eclectic mix that includes, among other things, a song about a pirate who wants to sing and dance and a song begging Prince Charles not to marry Dianna.

(What can I say? It's the music I grew up with.)

I've answered a fair number of questions from the older kids about the lyrics, but I didn't think LW was old enough to pick up on any of it. Ha. In his defense, he did give me warning. The other day, we were driving along listening to John McCutcheon's Water from Another Time when LW pipes up, "Why them need water from 'other time?" I skipped right over the central metaphor and just stuck to trying to explain priming the pump. That conversation was difficult enough.

So I shouldn't have been surprised when he asked yesterday, "Mommy, what Chee-cago?"

Chicago? Why is he asking about Chicago? And then I heard the song playing. Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown, which starts out, "The South Side of Chicago is the baddest part of town." Mentally I flipped through the rest of the lyrics. Hmm. Gambler who flirts with another man's wife and ends up "like a jig saw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone."

That's the nice thing about CD players. You can quickly skip ahead to the John McCutcheon songs.

Herding

You know that saying about herding cats? I can top that. Hummingbirds are worse.

OK, so it was actually only one hummingbird, but he gave us quite a run for the money.

We woke up to find a hummingbird perched on a bundle of wire in our covered, screened-in porch. Thanks to Sammy and LW, we have large holes in the screens, but the birds who find their way in through the holes almost never find their way out through them. Usually, we just open the doors and wait for the birds to find those. But given how often hummingbirds need to eat, we were worried he wouldn't get out in time.

So we decided to help him find the door.

Easier said than done. It took both Michael and I, and we had to detangle him from the spider webs twice, but he finally flew out. Hopefully he'll recover from the stress.

And they're off!

EM left this morning for his sixth-grade field trip to Cape Cod. He'll return on Friday.

During the trip, they'll see Plimouth Plantation, have a whale workshop, ride on a fishing trawler, visit the Woods Hole Aquarium, go on a whale watch, spend time at the Cape Cod National Seashore, eat dinner at a seafood restaurant, and visit the Mayflower II.

He should have a great time, although I find myself stressing a bit about his packing. (He handled it all himself, and now I'm wondering Did he remember money for snacks? Did he want to take a disposable camera? Will he lose his lunch before he gets on the bus?)

Michael, who dropped the kids off at school and got to witness the energy first-hand, assures me he will be fine. I'm trying to believe him.

Trip to the nursery

Today IM, LW and I went to a local nursery to pick out some perennials for the annual bed. Yes, I know, that doesn't make sense. The previous inn owner was a more devoted gardener than I am, and she had one flower bed set aside for annuals.

Frankly, I have a hard time keeping up with the weeding, let alone any other garden chores, and it seemed I planted the annuals later and later every year. As a result, they looked worse and worse every year. This year, I got smart. Who says we have to have an annual bed?

So off to the nursery we went.

I asked NB if he wanted to come.

"Are you getting a Venus flytrap?"
Uhm, no.
"Well, are you getting any meat-eating plants?"

He decided regular plants were not worth the trip.

IM's job was to keep an eye on LW while I paced up and down the row trying to pick out plants. I am horribly indecisive about plants, and the fact that I'm really not sure what kind of soil I have only makes things worse.

IM, however, lucked out. Right at the end of the perennial section was a sandbox with lots of trucks. Lots of trucks and no other kids. There was even a chair right next to it for IM to sit on. It was the least stressful trip to a nursery I have had with kids.

Until I wanted to leave.

"Mommy, I don't want to go home! I want to stay here 'ever!"

Bye, bye snake

The snake wasn't eating, so despite the kids' tears, we returned him to the wild. It's a shame, because he was a great snake for the kids. Not very big and very comfortable being held.

Michael is trying to talk me into purchasing a California king snake. I think that's a little bigger than I want to go, but buying a snake would ensure we got one that would eat in captivity.

Do I look different?

I'm posting this from the new laptop Michael got me for my birthday. (No, you didn't lose a week; he gave it to me early.) Snazzy green cover and everything.

It's a complete indulgence, but I've been wanting a computer that is mine. The upstairs computer is largely used by Michael for writing and the boys for gaming. The downstairs computer is officially the inn computer, so I don't want to clutter it up with photos and such. It is also the main surfing computer for everyone in the family. And my work computer is for work. (Since I document software that tracks Internet usage, I am fully aware of my company's ability to see any surfing I do.)

So I've been thinking it would be nice to have a laptop that I could configure exactly how I want it. I've dreamed of surfing while sitting with Michael on the couch while he watches the Red Sox games. Of being able to download and organize all the photos. Of being able to stay signed onto my Google account without fear that Michael will post to his blog as me. (Hey, it's happened.)

And it just so happens that Michael needs a laptop for his yearly writing retreat to Toronto. He hates laptops the rest of the year, so I cheerfully offered to loan him mine for the week if I got one. I thought we were still in the convincing stage, but apparently not! Thanks, sweetheart.

Now all I have to do is figure out Vista . . .

New pet?

We have a tentative, as-yet-unnamed animal addition, a two-foot-long milk snake Michael brought back from a walk to the beaver pond earlier in the week. We have a cage, with a fake log for him to hide in and a water bowl. The cage sits on top of our dresser, and so far LW does not seem hell-bent on freeing him. The snake seems to have gotten over his initial scorn and eaten the frozen mouse we gave him.

So, we're cautiously optimistic. If he starts having feeding problems, we'll have to let him go, but we have located a source of live feeder mice, so we'll try that first.

Now for a name. IM has suggested the wildly original "Milky" but I'm not crazy about that. I thought something literary might be nice, but the only two I could come up with are Lucifer and Sir Hiss (the snake from Disney's cartoon Robin Hood). There's a snake in The Jungle Book too, whose name I can't remember, but he's also evil.

Any suggestions?

Siders and graders and roofers! Oh my!

It's been quite the week here at the inn.

We have new siding going up on the main building, so the guys putting that up have been banging away all week.

Yesterday the roofers arrived to replace the roof over our living quarters. Once that is finished, we should be done with roofing for a while. (We replaced the lodge roof last year, and the rest of the main building roof was replaced shortly before we bought the inn.)

Tuesday the grader came to smooth out the parking lot. LW was quite impressed by the tractor. Michael and I took turns sitting outside with him so he could have a better view. The grader even let him sit in the tractor, which made LW's week. It's nice not to have to dodge the potholes anymore, but I'll be glad when rain and use settle the dirt back down.

Next week, we have people coming to paint the lodge so it will be the same color as the new siding. It's great to see all the changes, but I'll be glad when it's all done and the banging is over.

Procrastination

There is nothing quite like the feeling of relief and accomplishment that comes from finally finishing an unpleasant task you have been putting off. Sadly I am all too familiar with this feeling.

Case in point: This week, I finally replaced the ceiling tiles in two rooms that were damaged by a leaky pipe in December. I had built the task up in my mind to take far longer than it actually did. Granted, it was unpleasant, but I accomplished it in about an hour. And although I enjoyed the feeling of crossing it off my list, that rush did not make up for the stress of dreading it for months.

On a list of things I would most like to change about myself, my tendency to procrastinate would definitely be in the top three. And yet . . . I continue to procrastinate stopping to procrastinate.

The Year of Living Biblically

This week I finished reading The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs.

I loved this book. I love the idea of the experiment, and I can relate to the issues he sees in the Bible:

. . . one of the biggest mysteries of the Bible. How can these ethically advanced rules and these bizarre decrees be found in the same book? And not just the same book. Sometimes the same page. The prohibition against mixing wool and linen comes right after the command to love your neighbor. It's not like the Bible has a section called "And Now for Some Crazy Laws." They're all jumbled up like a chopped salad.

During the course of the year, he tries to keep all the rules in the Bible (over seven hundred) but since it is too hard to focus on seven hundred things at once, he makes different commands the focus for a period of time. He tries to alternate the bizarre with the more mainstream.

He also comes up with the five Most Perplexing Rules:

• admonition to chop off the hand of a woman who grabs her husband's opponent's privates during a fight
• ban on wearing clothes of mixed fibers
• capital punishment
• circumcision
• rule to purify oneself by finding a red heifer

Jacobs spends the first 8 months focusing on the Hebrew Bible and the last four months focusing on the New Testament. Along the way, he talks with people from a variety of religious traditions.

An affirmed agnostic and skeptic, he tries to be open-minded, although not always successfully:

[speaking of the creationist book Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study] The book is beautifully argued--and I don't believe a syllable of it. Which I know is counter to my quest. I had told Mark the publicist that I was coming in with an open mind, but while down there, I realize my mind won't open that far. I can understand being open to the existence of God and the beauty of rituals and the benefits of prayer. But the existence of a juvenile brontosaurus on the ark? And an earth that's barely older than Gene Hackman? I have to go with 99 percent of scientists on this one.

I also related to his reaction to Jacob and Esau:

The story of Jacob and Esau provides a classic example of the gap between, on the one hand, what the Bible literally says, and, on the other, the centuries-old layers of interpretation that have built up around those words.
If you read the Bible cold, as if you'd been raised on one of Jupiter's moons, you would, I'd wager, have this reaction: Jacob is a conniving scoundrel. And Esau, though maybe not a Mensa member, got a raw deal.

In summary, it's a great book. You should read it.

Fiddleheads, anyone?

It's fiddlehead season here in the Valley.

Last week's edition of the local paper had an article on fiddleheads, complete with tips on selecting, cleaning, blanching, and storing them. There are also two recipes: Pasta with Fiddleheads, Fresh Vegetables and Pesto and Fiddleheads and Carrots Fines Herbes.

Michael pointed out that we have quite a crop of fiddleheads on the property right now. I've been doing a lot of reading about local eating.

And yet . . . maybe I'll save the fern eating for next year.

We're Graduating!

The final act of the follies last night was a song by the 6th graders, sung to the tune of Get Me to the Church on Time. Because it's so indicative of our wonderful school, I thought I'd post the words. (Non-grandparents, feel free to skip this post.)

We're graduating in a few weeks
Oh my our mothers all will cry
We've gotten smarter
Learned to try harder
Thank you W____ School
Good bye

Since we've been here we've learned cool things
Our imaginations all have grown
Sap to maple syrup
Claire's pizza makes us cheer up
Thank you W____ School
Good Bye

We've learned math facts and long division
Spelling, reading, oh my yes, revision

We've slept in lean-to's and museums
Hiked tall mountains in the snow
Danced, juggled, painted
From the heat we've nearly fainted*
Fed unsuspecting mice
Fed unsuspecting mice
Fed unsuspecting mice
To eager snakes

We've dressed like immigrants and Greek gods
Eaten food from Athens and beyond
Skied every Friday
Cooked for Harvest Dinners
And learned to say "bon jour"
In French

The teachers all have taught us to be patient
To think a problem through to the very end
When we don't get it
We don't shout "Forget it!"
We patiently go back and try again

From our first writings to our last reports
From counting numbers to graphing sports

We're graduating in a few weeks
Oh my our mothers all will cry

We've gotten smarter
Learned to try harder
Thank you W_____ School
Thank you W_____ School
From deep down, thank you W____ School
Good bye!

* No, they're not complaining about the outside temp. I have yet to see a school that didn't have wacky heating and cooling issues, and our building is no exception. The second story rooms are sweltering.