Have you had your leftover pumpkin pie today?

How I spent my Thanksgiving break

We had a delightful meal with some friends in Gardner, MA. I made Cranberry Relish (sugar mixed with chopped: fresh cranberries, oranges, orange peel and pecans), demonized sweet potatoes (start with some seemingly innocent yams and add copious amounts of brown sugar, butter, and marshmallows), and wild blueberry pie (open the Marie Calendar's box and bake).

Peter and I managed to do a 1,000 piece puzzle (showcasing state birds and state flowers). If you want this puzzle, let me know (we don't tend to do puzzles twice). It was quite a feat considering that our darling children "helped," so really we did something more like 2,000 pieces (we had to put many pieces in twice).

We brought out all of our Christmas decorations. These are some of the rare items that escaped any of the effects of the fire because they were in storage. It was nice to find things we have a history with that were untainted by soot or flame.

Finally, this morning I was...thinking (with my eyes closed)....on the couch, and I became aware of two screaming voices. It didn't sound like the kids were killing each other, but I still went to investigate. Bryn had locked Calvin in his room (not hard to do to someone who can't work doorknobs) and then tied herself to her own doorknob. So they were both trapped. I fought the temptation to find a good pair of earplugs and return to my blanket on the couch, and released them both.

Snow fun

Elizabeth Bennett (Knightly version of P&P) on the cliff

My snow angel on the cliff. They both have poetic souls.

Calvin (hey wait up fellas!)

Bryn: I picked out my whole outfit and did my hair myself.

Since there's no place to go

That's right, the first snow of the year is falling (and sticking). We spent the morning watching out the window and I played just about every Christmas song I have. Now I need a roaring fire (contained to the fireplace), hot cocoa and the Carpenter's Christmas album.

Here's one of my favorite waste-some-time sites relating to snow.

Birthday cakes and Calvin's life as a ball

Happy birthday to my sister Laura who lives nearby. I decided to build her a red velvet cake, which usually involves a whole bottle of red food coloring. In order to avoid the toxic chemical that is red food coloring, I brilliantly decided to substitute beet juice (the reddest natural thing I could think of). Well, we had brown velvet beet cake (Bryn helped me with clean up).

So while we were at Laura' s house yesterday wishing her many happy returns, Calvin decided a fun game was to throw a ball down the steep stairs and wait for someone to go get it so he could do it again. Well, as was bound to happen, he threw himself down with the ball. He flipped head over heels a couple of times and landed at the bottom. Don't worry, he's okay (although he kept saying "bonk!" and screaming for a while). I guess that's what those silly baby gates are for.

Feeding the squirrelly bird

We scattered bread crumbs on our balcony rail to try to attract some of the beautiful birds we see flitting around. A fat squirrel found our bird offerings, and scampered happily down the rail eating everything along the way. Eventually, he got so full he had to stop and take a breather, but then he just dove in for more. I know, I'm irresponsible for habituating the wildlife, but Bryn and Calvin were glued to the window for once instead of the TV (rainy days are hard on them). One thing at a time, right?

As the squirrel sat there feasting, I was reminded of a great Tom Lehrer song "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park." Ah, good times at college.

Book Affairs

5 Books I really like:
1. Братья Карамазовы (okay, I confess I'm not fluent in Russian. I read the Brothers Karamozov)
2. Ceremony
3. Refuge
4. East of Eden
5. The Hitchhiker's Trilogy (yes, there are 5 of them, and I didn't like the movie)

5 Children's books I like:
1. The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear
2. Where the Wild Things Are
3. The Eleventh Hour
4. Anything by Chris Van Allsbergh
5. Make Way for Ducklings

5 Juvenile books/series I like:
1. Nancy Drew
2. Prydain Chronicles (Book of Three, Black Cauldron, etc.)
3. The Dark is Rising Series
4. The Giver
5. The Blue Sword

3 Books I've recently read:
1. Mayflower
2. Ceremony
3. How to Raise Kids You Want to Keep

Tag: Karen, Mel, Alicia, Rebecca

lektid (swedish for playtime)

Where do you go when you have a car, two kids under the age of reason, and a free morning? Today I chose Ikea. And it was lovely! I threw Bryn in the Tot Cage (i.e. free Ikea sponsored babysitting) and wandered with Calvin until he got too bored to sit. We picked up Bryn, ate lunch (very kid-friendly selections) and then spent the rest of the time wandering and playing on the showroom floor. Now if I can just figure out how to make it work without finding a dozen things to buy, my checkbook will be just as happy as me and my kids.

Here's to you

Tasha the wonderdog. April 1988 - November 8, 2001
My sister with the stinkiest breath and purest heart.

Older and Wiser, too

(It's licorice, not ketchup)

The new arrival

Well, after waiting impatiently, our new piano was finally delivered. Labor was intensive as we have 26 stairs leading up to our front door (our house is on a hill). It was not a natural delivery; it was aided by ramps, furniture dollies and even a piano stretcher. But it seems to have survived the journey, and is still reasonably tuned.

se7en

Seven random things about me:

1. I'm enamoured of a certain exit off of I-93 North (exit 37C). I think it's the most graceful exit ever built (pretty hard to describe - but it's very minimally supported and swoops out and above the freeway and as you curve it seems like you're going to launch into the heavens) , and my idea of modern art would be to blast some beautiful opera aria while taking the exit much faster than advised. [edit by Peter]Here is google maps imagery of the exit ramp from above, although it doesn't capture its graceful swoop.

2. My lawn has no grass. My neighbors to either side also have grassless lawns, making me suspect it's nearly impossible to get it to grow because of the shade from all the trees. My kids get pretty dirty when they play outside, but hey, no mowing, right?

3. My fourth toe on my left foot is flat like unto a pancake, so much so that it halfway overlaps with the third toe. I was born this way, and my mom says that at one point my pediatrician speculated I may not even be able to walk without corrective surgery.

4. In high school I played soccer, tennis and ran track (hurdles, long jump, high jump, and 4 X 100 relay) without corrective surgery.

5. I have never been pulled over for breaking the law. (I'm knocking on my laminate wood computer desk as I type because I have a tendency to speed as I take certain exits...)

6. I'm sooo a night owl. It's slow torture for me to get up with my children, but Calvin has discovered that if he hits me with enough hard objects (this morning it was trucks but usually it's my shoes), I'll get up and put him in timeout. This makes him happy because I'm too angry to go back to bed.

7. I'm afraid of lightening. I was camping with my friend M on a barren hill and a terrible storm rose up in the night. We realized we need to evacuate to lower ground and M's hair got caught in the tent zipper as lightening struck all around us. I cut off her stuck hair with her leather(wo)man and we escaped, but just barely.

Tag, you're it: anyone who reads this and so desires to make a random list.

I'm Expecting...

A Piano! It's due this Monday (tomorrow) at around 10:30. I haven't really thought about names yet, but I know from personal inspection that it is a Yamaha U3. The piano seems to be in good health, and technicians estimate it to be around 52" high. I'll post a ton of pictures when the blessed day arrives.