The Deep Freeze Continues

We are still stuck in a frozen land. For nearly a week it has snowed, rained, sleeted, frozen, and snowed some more. We had one day of school last week. Now we are trying to get the kids home for Christmas. Aaron made it to Portland tonight but we can't get to him so he is staying with friends in Portland. We hope it warms up soon. Walking around tonight I saw many neighbors trees down, splintered and shattered with the weight of the ice. Here's a couple of (poor) pictures of the ice coating our yard. I got to walk to work at 6 am the last two days through a beautiful winter wonderland, everything white and quiet. But by now I'm tired of the white and cold and I'm ready to get out of the house!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's another snow day in Dallas. The snow came down on Sunday and it's not going anywhere. No school Monday or today, and likely no more this year, if the weather report holds true. That means lots of inside time. It's sunny today and looks like a lovely day from inside the house, but Dick and Jane and Spot are frozen over and it's very chilly out. No matter what, Lucy still loves ball time. She frolics around and throws the ball in the air just like a little kid. Nate's friends have been in and out, and in and out, and who knows who's sleeping in the basement right now. Only endless snow days bring this odd assortment of detritus to our front door!

Happy Birthday, Jeff!

Today is my sweetheart's birthday! Here's a picture from when he was two. He's still pretty darn good-looking! Thanks for hanging out with me for over 30 years, Dr. J.

L is for Love

My neice, Lisa, who lives here in Dallas with her husband and three lively boys, was recently diagnosed with synovial sarcoma near her ankle. This is a very rare soft tissue cancer. How rare, you ask? Sarcomas make up only 1% of adult cancers and synovial sarcomas are less than 10% of all sarcomas. She's started a blog to share about the experience. She's an amazingly brave and upbeat mom so I invite you to visit her blog and share some love. Look for the link to it on the side.

Siblings

Here's two of my big sisters!! Aren't they cute?

This was a family weekend! Mark, Holly and Eric were here on Friday night, Rachel on Saturday night and Kathy was by today. Kathy and Rachel helped hang up the quilt and pictures in the guest room, something that's needed to be done for a long time. I'm glad my parents had so many kids because we all have different gifts. The decorating gene is definitely deficient in my DNA, but luckily it came through in my sisters. I'm glad Mom is in Dallas so I can see my siblings when they come to visit her. Here's another picture from this morning. Thanks for coming, everyone!!

FALL 2008

Here's the view out the window behind me. This maple is called "Autumn Blaze", which is very accurate. It is gorgeous this time of year.

And, for a blast from the past, here's of photo from 1986 in Wisconsin, where the leaves, not to mention the kids, are especially beautiful in the fall:

Happy Fall, Y'All!

Bridge Walk

Yesterday I did the Great Columbia Crossing in Astoria, Oregon. My sis Rachel joined me and we walked over the Astoria/Megler bridge along with thousands of others. It was 27th annual 10K walk and run but a first for us. It started at Dismal Nitch on the Washington side of the river and then went over the huge bridge and down into the port of Astoria. At the end, shuttle buses took us to Astoria high school for clam chowder and fixings and then another shuttle bus took us back to the parking lot. It was a perfect day for it, slightly cloudy and slightly cool but a gorgeous view of the river.

On Saturday, we met at Oregon's newest state park, Stubb Stewart, and did some of the many hikes there and checked out the cute cabins and campground. Later we had dinner at a Bosnian restaurant in Astoria. All weekend I was impressed by the beauty of Oregon in the fall.

Bounty

Last night I made apple crisp from the apples in our yard. The six espaliered trees are full this year. I wish I could find the scrap of paper I jotted their names on but it has gone missing like so many other notes. I peeled them and sampled and tried to discern their varieties and my mind drifted back to some of my favorite childhood memories. My dad would be sitting on a stool in our “breezeway” with buckets of apples around him. We would be gathered around like hungry baby birds. He would pull out his well-worn trusty pocket knife, the one offered to cut my umbilical cord with, and peel and slice the apples and pass them around. Often he would tell us the names. I loved this part, thinking of each name and trying to tell the difference in taste alone. The names still resonate with me: Gravenstein, Cortland, Banana (imagine! An apple named Banana!), Delicious, Grimes Golden, Jonathan, Yellow Transparent, Northern Spy, and my personal favorite, King- large and beautifully multicolored, sweet and crunchy. My grandmothers would be there, and my siblings, and any visiting relatives or friends. Sometimes the apples had worms or bruises or bad spots and my dad would cut around them, salvaging as much as he could, never wanting any to go to waste. The peels and cores would pile up in another bucket, ready to be carted to the compost pile. It was usually fall with a bite in the air and leaves falling in the yard but I felt safe and full and happy and loved, the sweet crunch of apples in my mouth.

Today I am making tomato sauce and pear bread and I am thinking of my mom and the many hours she spent in the kitchen. My new Kitchen Aid mixer gets used some but to me it is the tangible reminder of my mom. She spent hours in the kitchen making bread and cookies and thousands of meals. Those same apples from my dad made gallons of applesauce, both “lumpy” and “smooth” to satisfy her picky kids. I remember seeing the huge bowls of sweet applesauce with a swirl of cinnamon on top and thinking they just appeared by magic, and knowing today how many hours of gathering, washing, cutting and cooking it took to make them appear. She canned all she could, pickles, tomatoes, pears, peaches, applesauce in old mason jars with wire closures. The pressure cooker always scared me, but I would dutifully watch it when instructed to make sure the dial stayed at the correct pressure. The cupboards were full of the colorful jars, all lined up and ready to be enjoyed. Later in life my parents discovered drying and the food dryer was always full of apples, pears, prunes, and fruit leather- ready snacks for the growing grandchildren.

Yesterday on a visit with my mom, another resident told me, “This lady sure loves to eat! I don’t think there’s anything she won’t eat!” and my mom chimed in with “Now, don’t be tattling on me!” and I explained how my mom was so happy to have other people fix her food and do the dishes after years of cooking for so many. And I do think that is true but I seldom remember my mom complaining. I whine about cooking one or two meals for three people several times a week and she cooked for eight or more three times a day- full meals, no shortcuts, no convenience food. Some of my fondest memories are sitting on the kitchen counter, my legs hitting the metal cupboards below, watching my mom do her magic.

Our raspberries vines are still full of berries and I am trying to pick them before they mold and I feel lucky to have this bounty. But more importantly, I cherish the bounty of love my parents provided to me, food for the body and food for the soul.

Important Stuff

I have always been a huge Anna Quindlen fan. Her essays on parenting are the few essays I have ever kept. I heard her speak once and felt like she was saying all the things I wish I could, and saying them much more eloquently. I read her essays in Newsweek and some are good and some aren't. I've read all her fiction books and some are good and some aren't. The essay in Newsweek this week really struck me. It's about the presidential election and here's a link to the full text if you have the time and desire to read it- It's called "This is Important" : http://www.newsweek.com/id/160062
Here's the last couple of sentences and the heart of the issue:
Here is the only thing about anyone's kids that matters now: every time you vote you make your kids a promise. It's a promise that you will look past cheap slogans and lazy alliances to try to find a way to make America worthy of a new generation. And if we keep that promise in November, we not only keep faith with our children, we keep faith with the country.

Hooray for Haircuts

After about 5 years of hair in the eyes and whining by mom, Nate decided on his own to get his hair cut this week. I think it looks great and he's getting used to it. He's loving being a big senior and just got a job lifeguarding at the aquatic center. Life is good. He gave me permission to put his picture up here and in fact insisted on many posed shots. So here's couple for you. And here's the even better news - his hats don't fit anymore!

Flying away

Since we've moved on from "front door" pictures for the first day of school, I think I'll do pictures of my kids at the airport as they fly away to one destination after another. Today Elizabeth departed for Korea again. It was great to have her here and share some "girl time", but I know she is very excited to begin her new job. She's looking forward to new challenges and more travel and perhaps a ride on a yak in Mongolia! Happy trails, Elizabeth!

Last First Day

Today was a momentous day at our house - we took our last "first day of school" picture. Here's youngest son's first day of kindergarten and first day of senior year of high school.

I've always enjoyed the start of the school year. My mom verified that this week when she told me I always loved the first day of school.

To me it is more like New Years Day - a new beginning and much to look forward to.

I even loved it when my kids went off to school the first day- new challenges for them and back on a schedule for all of us. Every September we take a picture in front of our front door.

We have an amazing collection of these shots that measure size by the door frame and fashion by the outfits. I might feel a twinge of sadness today, not for Nate to be off to school but an end to an era and an end to the fight with mom over "why do we always have to take a picture?"

Raspberry Season Continues

The second crop of raspberries is beginning at our house. Let me know if you'd like some!

Happy Birthday, Lori!

Today is my sister-in-law's birthday! Here she is with some of her favorite neices and nephews. Have a great day, Lori!

Hiking

On Sunday, when the heat in the valley finally let up and the relatives headed home, Nathan wanted to go for a hike. We headed to Beazell Memorial Forest, a pleasant half hour drive south. We've been there several times before and it's just a nice peaceful place. We found a new loop trail and a cute gazebo, both added since our last time there. It was very green and cool and it was nice to move around after the heat that had left us motionless. The new loop trail has several cute bridges. Lucy had a great time, too. Here's my companions:

Happy Birthday, Lisa!

Today is one of my niece's birthdays. Here we are 36 years ago. You can do the math and figure out which significant birthday it is for her. Now she's all grown up and even lives in my town and is a teriffic mom to three cute boys. I got to celebrate with her this weekend and we had a great time. Here's to you, Lisa!

Family Fun

I thought I better post before I lose all my (2) loyal readers. This weekend was the annual family reunion par-tay! Some of us hiked to Niagra Falls, sporting our purple bandanas.

Some of us goofed around on the beach.

And some of us hardly moved. Bonus points for you if you can identify the buns!

P.S. - I love my family! Thanks for being there, guys!

Home Again

We are back from sailing. We had a glorious week- great weather, great company, beautiful places, and fun sailing. It's hot in the valley and summer is here. Here's what we came home to and a view of the OUTSIDE of the kitchen. Hurrah for roses and honeysuckle and a very tired dog after a week at the kennel!

We got Crabs!

Hello today from Coupeville, Washington from the "Local Grown" store providing internet access. We continue to have a great time sailing and have had terrific weather. Thursday we went from Port Townsend to Langley, on Whidbey Island. We did a lot of motoring as the wind was not blowing the right way. When we got to the docks, there were boats coming in with live crabs, from a short (50 hour) crab season. We did some trading and got 2 live crabs which we cooked and ate. We also found another ice cream store with internet access.

Here's our boat at Langley with a local heron visitor:

Today we sailed from Langley to Coupeville. The sailing was great and we all had turns at the helm. We got in to Coupeville in time to explore the shops and relax. We'll post pictures of Coupeville later. Tomorrow we start back toward Seattle.

Ahoy Wednesday

We spent the whole day today in Port Townsend. That means we had time to explore, take photos, do laundry, work on the boat, shop, and walk. Around noon we were back at the docks getting ready for lunch when we looked up at the sky and saw these amazing rainbows in the clouds. It kept changing for about half an hour but was truly beautiful to see. Here is one shot and you can see the colors, but it was even more colorful in real life. We felt fortunate to see such a fabulous sight. The photos on this page are all taken by Richard and note that this was really what we saw.

Here are some shots around town. Port Townsend has many, many beautiful historic houses. This is the lighthouse keeper's house.

Here's the Jefferson County Courthouse, built in 1890. Amazing!! And one of the many gorgeous houses. We set sail again tomorrow. More adventures to follow!

ahoy Tuesday

Tonight we're blogging from Elevated Ice Cream in Port Townsend, Washington. We had another great day at sea. We sailed out of Port Ludlow and headed north to Admiralty Bay and the Strait of Juan De Fuca. We ended up at Port Townsend. Highlights of the day were being boarded by the US Coast Guard (we checked out okay, whew!) and seeing a US Navy nuclear submarine pass by escorted by a Coast Guard cutter. We saw pelicans, porpoises, herons, and seals. Here's some more shots by Richard:

This last one is a picture of the Adventuress, a tall ship that we saw today that ran aground the day before in the San Juans.

Ahoy Maties

I'm blogging from our boat at the marina in Port Ludlow, Washington with the free wireless. We are sailing in Puget Sound for a week with my sister and her husband. Our boat is named Frog Prints, it's a 34 foot Dufour. Here it is at the dock in Seattle:





Yesterday we sailed from Seattle to Kingston. Here's Rachel at the helm, and Jeff on the boat.

Today we sailed from Kingston to Port Ludlow. We got here in plenty of time to hike to a pretty waterfall and check out the area. Here's a couple of photos Richard took of the wildlife on the dock:

TA-DA!! Kitchen!

Well, we are near the finish line. There's still some little stuff to be done but here's a preview for you of our new kitchen. We like it a lot. Come and see for yourself!

Nate the Great

Nate helped make a video for his careers class. His friend Morgan did the filming and Nate did the riding, out at Black Rock. For those of you who would like to see what he does out there, here is a link to the video, that has been posted on Pinkbike.com. He's the one riding in almost all the scenes. Just click on "play video" to watch.

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/23780/

Kitchen is almost done! It's looking awesome! Pix coming soon.

Unaccustomed Earth

I'm reading this great book titled "Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri. It's a collection of 8 stories and very well-written. I wondered about the title, but then figured it out when I read the quote at the beginning of the book:

"Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth."
-Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Custom-House"

People often ask me how I can "stand" to have my two older kids living so far away. I really don't mind and am truly glad they are citizens of the world. I'm proud of their bravery and williness to try new things and see new places. Now I can tell people they are striking their roots into unaccustomed earth.

Stained and Finished

Here's a little preview of what it will look like. The finish looks really nice on the cabinets. The drawers and open areas are taped off so it looks a bit strange, but this is the color of things to come. The countertop comes in one week, as opposed to June 16, which is what they told us yesterday, before we found another countertop company.

Cabinets In

They got the cabinets installed this week. Next comes the staining and finishing. They seem really tall and big- I guess that means lots of storage. It all looks really light now but we're worried it will be too dark when we're done. The best part is the soft-close drawers and pull-out shelves. They close themselves really slowly when you push them in!

kitchen progress

We're starting to feel like we see the light at the end of the tunnel. Here's a picture of the kitchen with the new trim around the windows. It will all be stained dark like the other woodwork in our house. Here's the best news, though - they start installing the cabinets tomorrow! Yahoo!

Woodpecker

Here's our new friend the woodpecker. He's been hanging out on the raspberry supports for several weeks now. He lets you get pretty close. This morning the woodpecker and the owl were both making noise. Haven't seen the owl but we hear him.

I'm sure Jim can tell me the scientific name of this particular woodpecker, he's very pretty with a bright red head and he's very industrious.