:: Adventures In Daily Living ::

Thanksgiving Prep

2009-11-23T11:44:00.000-08:00

The Great Thanksgiving List
because proper preparation and planning prevents poor performance!

at least 1 week before1. order brine
2. purchase turkey
3. if you are cooking a turkey for the first time, or trying a new method, do a practice turkey
4. press leaves for table decorations
5. polish silver
6. make & freeze pie crusts
7. finalize & delegate menu
8. clean oven
9. confirm table coverings
10. collect table decorations
11. confirm that your turkey fits in your pan
12. confirm that you have a working food thermometer

weekend before
1. clean house
2. make duty cards: door host, coffee sergeant, appetizer server, table waiters, before dinner kitchen tidier, sous chef, table clearer, after dinner kitchen tidier, garbage taker-outer, dessert server, after dessert kitchen tidier. Folks draw one card on arrival and that is their duty for the day (I assign some of them as I see fit).
3. timeline food prep
4. wash living room & dining room windows
5. figure out turkey thawing schedule
6. empty front hall closet and confirm available hangers

Tuesday
1. make mashed potatoes
2. roast pumpkins
3. make pumpkin soup
4. clean off all ancillary surfaces and tables

Wednesday
1. brine big turkey
2. set up tables
3. set tables
4. set out and label serving platters & utensils
5. set out extra platters and serving bowls for guest use
6. mix up turkey rub
7. make dressing
8. make pumpkin black bean casserole
9. mix up pecan pie filling
10. stage apple dumplings
11. lay in fire
12. clean house again
13. move living room furniture to accommodate extra chairs
14. filter and chill water for table

Thursday
1. remove potatoes from fridge
2. rub down turkey if you didn't brine
3. run & empty dishwasher
4. confirm garbage can is empty
5. sweep front porch and walk
6. stage tea station
7. sniff check animal litter boxes just in case

12:00
1. make a thermos of coffee & prep coffee maker for next round
2. make sure you have eaten something sustaining

1:45
1. confirm small lamps and candles are on/lit
2. recruit valet for parking
3. confirm dishwasher is empty
4. turn on coffee pot
5. close and latch bunny room door against visiting dogs and small children.

sneaking off

2009-10-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

If you know us in real-life, or even in blog-life I guess, you know that Dandy is not a free-range kid. I always have to know where he is and what he is doing. If I don't, he gets himself into trouble. It's not a lot different from parenting a 4-year-old, only a lot taller.

Any way, he has been sneaking off for the last few days. You know where I find him?

On his bed. Reading.

Oh happiness and joy.

He is reading, for real, Harry Potter. Not pretending to read it, but really reading it -- able to correctly tell me what is happening.

He is in 4th grade; three years ago he spoke only Russia and read nothing but his name in both languages.

We Who Are Your Closest Friends

2009-10-24T12:41:00.001-07:00

We Who Are Your Closest Friends

We who are
your closest friends
feel the time
has come to tell you
that every Thursday
we have been meeting,
as a group,
to devise ways
to keep you
in perpetual uncertainty
frustration
discontent and
torture
by neither loving you
as much as you want
nor cutting you adrift.
Your analyst is
in on it,
plus your boyfriend
and your ex-husband;
and we have pledged
to disappoint you
as long as you need us.
In announcing our
association
we realize we have
placed in your hands
a possible antidote
against uncertainty
indeed against ourselves.
But since our Thursday nights
have brought us
to a community
of purpose
rare in itself
with you as
the natural center,
we feel hopeful you
will continue to make unreasonable
demands for affection
if not as a consequence
of your disastrous personality
then for the good of the collective.

-- Phillip Lopate

quickie update

2009-10-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well we visited our excellent vet this morning who says that we have practically perfect cats and who mentioned that his lovely wife reads the blog which reminded me that I need to post so here I am posting. So, here is my day:

kitties to vet
prepare and serve special meals for ailing foster hens: grated apple and carrot in yogurt, served slightly warm.
launch kids onto their daily chore and school lists
run errand for brother in exchange for a free massage
grade 27 items for World Lit class
grade 139 items for Eng 101
run laundry
make dinner for beloved niece who is blessing us with her presence this evening
pay bills at least to the point that the credit cards work again
supervise son as he does the seasonal clothes sorting
research spring trip to Mexico (that's the carrot that gets me to the end of the list)

That's all.

bursting my buttons with pride to be related to this one

2009-10-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Sonya, curious about homeschooling I suppose, wondered what we were doing for Columbus Day. Would I teach my kids about Columbus as courageous explorer or obnoxious conqueror? Should he be celebrated or despised? What about immigration? Manifest destiny? read the whole article, and find out which of my clever relatives wrote it, over at Psychology Today . . .

We've been building

2009-10-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

We built these lovely chicken nesting boxes:

And this nice chicken roost that swings out of the way for cleaning.

By "we" I mean the kids and I. Dandy helps hold things and Chickadee is a great bit girl (changing from the drill bit to the screwdriver bit). We built these two things without plans which is a big step up for us. Up until now I have depended on written instructions.

While we did this, Jamie ripped out the old interior walls of the creamery (the little building on the right), insulated the walls, installed plywood, and is building the partition that separates the chicken space from the storage part of the room. He is also building a cute wind-protection tunnel whereby they may enter and exit the hen-house (formerly know as the creamery). Dandy installed the trim work along the ceiling. He is right proud of this, as you can imagine.

yummy fall menu

2009-10-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

Our dinner tonight was:

apple cider from our cider pressing at my parents'
borscht from our garden with sour cream and dill
dark dark rye bread with butter
gingercake with applesauce and whipping cream

Very simple. Very pretty. Very nutritious. Very filling. Very thrifty.

happening right now at my house

2009-10-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

My Dad is, with a lapfull of snoozing house-bunnies, supervising Dandy who is assembling Grandma's birthday gift: a new Radio Flyer red wagon with sides.
Chickadee is reading to said Grandma.
Apple cake is baking.
Dogs are snoozing in the sun.

I love days like this.

I need to . . .

2009-10-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

empty and sort my freezers.
grade 50 quizzes and write this week's quiz questions.
make soup.
process (pay, reconcile, dispute etc.) a month's worth off bills and E.O.B.s.
harvest, roast, shred, and freeze beets.
put away the summer clothes and get out the woolies.
revise the children's daily "to do" lists.

bike lust

2009-09-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

I wants it. I wants it.

late bloomer

2009-09-22T11:47:00.000-07:00

All of our hens have been giving us eggs for months now, except one, the tiny one we cleverly named Baby as she was so much smaller than the others. Apparently her time has come. That's a Rhode Island Red egg on the left, and Baby's first egg on the right. Baby is a California Grey.

vacation pictures

2009-09-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

We rode the ferry.

We had a beautiful place to stay.

We had kayaks.

We had a water-park.

We had miniature golf (and I got 4 hole-in-ones!).

We had fun.

the gospel according to Dandy

2009-09-19T13:28:00.000-07:00

"Jesus came to delete us."

This puts a whole new twist on it.

egg poacher

2009-09-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to peel a hard-boiled egg that just would not cooperate? Do you know why some eggs are like that? Hard-to-peel eggs are eggs that are boiled too fresh. Eggs over three weeks old peel easily, younger eggs not so much.

This, we have found, is the one downside to having farm-fresh eggs. We are not organized enough to age our eggs, so we end up poaching them, which generates hard-to-clean egg poaching pans.

No more! With these delightful Poach Pods, we poach, turn it inside out to remove the egg, and then wipe it down. It's my new favorite kitchen gadget.

a quickie

2009-09-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

We are home from a wonderful vacation and back to real life, full of exams and appointments and deadlines.

Jamie has a huge test coming up next week, so he is hunkered down studying for that.

I am teaching two classes at the community college, both on-line, and those classes launch on Thursday, so I am in a hot panic getting those prepped.

Dandy had two assessments today: reading and math. In reading he is precisely at 4th grade level and in math he is between 4th and 5th (ahead of himself, in other words). We are very pleased. Tomorrow I meet with the school for a half-day a week enrollment to work on some behavior issues whilst I continue with the academics at home.

Chickadee starts art classes this week.

The gardens are out-of-control.

The pile of mail is huge.

The car is yet to be unloaded.

That's our life. How is yours?

vacation news

2009-09-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

Oh we hare having such a nice vacation. We kayak daily and see seals and herons and dolphins and starfish and kelp and crabs and jellyfish. We swim a lot. We play in playgrounds and waterparks. We sleep well. We wish some of you were here with us.

educational television

2009-08-24T11:59:00.001-07:00

what's up with this?

2009-08-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

Dandy: "Mom, can I take a nap?"
Me: "Uhm, yeah. Sure."

another quickie

2009-08-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

Another 5 minute update:

The fair was great -- I lasted from 2 til 9 which is quite an accomplishment given my summer. Pics to follow.
We are busy converting the old creamery into the chickens' winter home.
The garden is producing well, especially zucchinis and beets. I roast, shred, and freeze the beets for winter borscht.
We are packing for our upcoming vacation on Vancouver Island. Mom and I are going up with the kids. Then mom leaves and bff comes up. Then she leaves and beloved husband comes up. The kids and I are there for two weeks.
Both kids are really enjoying reading.

5 minute update

2009-08-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

How much can I post about in 5 minutes?

5 of the 6 hens are laying.
I've been quite sick all summer and we are all fed up with it -- bronchitis, ear infections, tummy flu, bad colds, whatever comes along I catch. On steroids and antibiotics now and hoping to get to have a life.
Gardens are over-producing -- this would be a good thing if I had any energy for canning and freezing.
Going to our county fair on Friday with my folks.
Looking forward to a couple of weeks at Pacific Shores in September.
Really really love Quicken's Medical Expense tracking software. We've toted up nearly 50,000 of expenses and this program has helped me sort out what the insurance company should pay and what we owe and what we can submit to our Medical Savings Account for reimbursement. If you have a medically complicated year, you need this software.
I am teaching face-to-face all three quarters next academic year. This should be interesting.

oops, time's up.

tomatoes?

2009-08-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

Last year I bought specialty tomatoes, planted them in specialty containers in specialty dirt, coddled and pampered them and enjoyed one little tomato. This year I bought nothing special tomatoes at the nothing special store and planted them in the vegie gardens along with everything else and utterly ignored them. Tomatoes everywhere. What gives?

Zucchini Recipes

2009-08-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

As zucchini season is upon us, here are three of our favorites:

homeschooling

2009-08-06T13:24:00.001-07:00

We just got Dandy's test results from the end of the school year. I am posting this for all of you that question our home-schooling decision.

Let's look at Reading first. The top line is the district norm, the triangles are his class norm (pretty much the same). The lower line is Dandy.

The first measure is May 2008. Then September 2008, then May 2009. Yes, he is below grade level (approximately at mid-2nd grade level when his age peers are at end of 3rd grade level), but he had to learn a new language and alphabet at age 7, so being behind is to be expected.

What I want you to notice is this: his group went up a half a bar in a year; Dandy went up a bar and a third.

Now let's look at Math.

The first measure is May 2008. Then September 2008, then May 2009. Yes, he is below grade level but only by a teeny tiny bit and again, look at the gains. His peers went up half a bar; he went up a full two bars (thank you Math-U-See).

So tell me again why I should not home-school them? Oh right, the socialization. Honestly, with the state of pop culture, and the government using schools as tool of social "reform", I can do without the socialization.

Have I ever mentioned that, as a community college English teacher, I see in my classes the products of public schooling? Of the outstanding students I do get to work with (few and far between), many of them are home-schooled.

Now, I know that home-schooling does not fit for many families; I am not posting this to say that you should home-school. I am posting this for those who question the fit for our family and to brag a little on our hard work. Go Dandy! Go home-schooling!

water

2009-07-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

We are hot. Washington is not supposed to be hot. Our only defense is to be wet.

driving me nuts

2009-07-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

It is as if he (Dandy) believes that the rightful place of an adult is to sit idly in a room observing him and he will do whatever it takes to ensure that I get back to work, that is, get back to sitting idly in a room observing him. I left him to come in and type this. By the time I got to whatever it takes he was in here, asking a completely unnecessary question. Yes, yes, I know he is just asking for attention, albeit in an unhealthy way, and one would think that giving him attention would help. But it doesn't!! A. It is not possible to give him enough -- the deficit is that great and B. Sometimes I need to shower, or pay bills, or breath. It's as if he thinks I am a dilatory orphanage shift worker and it is his mission to make sure I get back to work, back to sitting in the room with him. ARGHH!!!!!