Yon saucy wench

That's a wrap, folks.

2010-03-26T19:57:00.005-05:00

My day o' baking is done.

We have here

- caramel rolls
- bread
- bread
- and more bread
- cranberry scones
- oatmeal raisin cookies
- chocolate chip cookies
- and Pete's Awesome Bars

We're officially on Spring Break now and heading off into the wilds of Wisconsin. Ciao!

(It's not ALL for us -- some of this is staying here to sustain Matt and Crystal, who are dogsitting while we're gone. Thanks, guys. We owe you.)

Currently baking #6

2010-03-26T18:32:00.003-05:00

Mo says, "It's madness!"

But it's a good madness when it results in chocolate chip cookies. Mmm. My favorite.

Currently baking #5

2010-03-26T18:11:00.004-05:00

Emma taking a vigorous approach to baking. THWACK. THWACK. THWACK.

The oatmeal raisin cookies seem OK with it, though.

Currently baking #4

2010-03-26T12:31:00.001-05:00

Cranberry scones. And now we'll pause until the kids get home from school and start making their cookies...

Currently baking #3

2010-03-26T11:37:00.001-05:00

More whey bread...

Currently baking #2

2010-03-26T11:28:00.001-05:00

Whey Bread -- as loaves this time, because I wanted to see how that would work. So far, it seems to be all right...

Currently baking

2010-03-26T09:57:00.003-05:00

Sticky Caramel Pecan Rolls...minus the pecans, because I overtoasted the pecans and turned them into little black rocks. Oops.

Teaser post

2010-03-25T21:55:00.003-05:00

The house smells like bread, chocolate and caramel.

An experiment

2010-03-22T09:20:00.007-05:00

I make my own yogurt, have been for almost two years now. The last few months, I've been playing around making Greek style yogurt, which is just yogurt with the whey drained off to make it thicker. Drizzle a little honey on top and oh, bliss.

But what to do with the whey?

I hate to admit it, but until yesterday I'd been dumping it, even though there are all sorts of health benefits to whey and I felt bad every time I poured it down the drain. (That, and I just don't like throwing food away. That's wrong.) So yesterday, after my yogurt was done 'yogurting', I decided to finally do something with the whey.

Some people claim you can (and should!) drink the stuff, but I haven't been able to bring myself to try that yet. I was very pleased, though, to discover I could make ricotta cheese, bread, and a whole lot of other things from it. Far out!

The thought of making my own ricotta cheese intrigued me to no end -- but we were also out of bread and I needed to do some baking anyway, so I decided to try my hand at Italian White Bread (made with whey).

I made a few changes to the recipe: I substituted olive oil for the butter and honey for the sugar. I was really tempted to make it into an Italian Whole Grains Bread, but opted to stick with the white flour for this first batch.

Here's the whey. Boy, does that look yummy. Not.

Happily, when combined with the water, oil, honey, and then added to the dry ingredients, it looked exactly as it should: like bread dough.

It handled like bread dough too,

and came out looking and smelling like bread. So far, so good.

Both the spouse unit and I noticed that it smelled sweet while it was baking, much more so than my usual breads. Yet there's only a tablespoon of honey in this. Huh. It must be something with the whey.

Whatever the reason, when we sliced into it and started eating, it was excellent. Fantastic stuff. It's subtly different from my usual breads, but I can't quite put my finger on what that difference is, exactly. It's denser, somehow? Yet at the same time, light? And the taste is, well, like bread (duh), and yet there's something more....

At any rate, it was good. In fact, one loaf was our dinner, along with some cheese and fruit. Nom nom nom.

I will make this one again.

Here we go again

2010-02-20T09:11:00.003-06:00

Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Econfirmation

Dear Yon Saucy Wench: Congratulations! You are officially registered for the 29th annual Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on October 3, 2010...

***

The marathon. Specifically, the Twin Cities Marathon. I've wanted to run this thing since I was a scrawny little 12 year old running my first season of cross country. It took me 26 years to get around to signing up for it, though; and when I finally did take the plunge, things did not go as planned.

2008: DNS, thanks to some medical issues

2009: DNF, thanks to an injury

What's 2010 going to bring? Hell if I know.

But I intend to enjoy the ride.

Edited, because after I wrote this, I read my horoscope, which blathered on about obstacles and other things, and ended with:

Don't lose hope; your relentless optimism is your secret weapon.

I'm not a pessimist, mind, but Pollyanna, I am not nor will I ever be. I looked at the spouse unit and said, "Relentless optimism?"

"More sheer stubborn cussedness, I'd say," he said thoughtfully.

That's more like it. Don't lose hope; your sheer stubborn cussedness is your secret weapon. Ha!

I think this is incredible

2010-01-31T16:33:00.012-06:00

Thus far, I know of 12 adults* (and 1 dog) who did this crazy Why the *!%*!" do I live in MN-Saunders 5K, and 2 kids (and 1 dog) who did the last minute Kiddy Half Mile.

Participants included 11 Minnesotans, 2 Californians, and 1 Canadian from Vancouver, BC, site of the 2010 Winter Olympics! As a special reward, all outstate participants may now claim 'Honorary Minnesotan' status.

Take a look at the organizations that benefited from this:

American Red Cross

American Red Cross - Haiti Relief & Development

Canada for Haiti

Dakota Woodlands

ELCA Haiti Disaster Relief Fund

League of American Bicyclists

Mercy Corps

MN Valley Humane Society

Vitamin Angels Alliance

White Bear Lake Food Shelf

Woodland Hills Church

Considering this all came together in 3 days, I think this is truly phenomenal.

Wow, you guys. Just, wow.

*Ruth, I'm counting your mom in that number. :)

Edited to add Woodland Hills Church to the list.

Edited again to add Mercy Corps to the list.

Edited to add another adult to our number.

Another 5K update

2010-01-31T09:28:00.003-06:00

We've now got 8 people doing this Why The *!%*!" Do I Live In MN-Saunders 5K and 1 Maybe.

So as previously promised (threatened?), I made a Facebook page and bombed my friends list with invites.

Reported donations so far include:

Dakota Woodlands

White Bear Lake Food Shelf

American Red Cross

ELCA Haiti Disaster Relief Fund

How cool is this? Pretty damn cool, I tell you!

Come on. You know you want to.

2010-01-30T14:41:00.004-06:00

We have five people now doing this Why the *!%*!" do I live in MN-Saunders 5K and one Maybe. If we get one more, I'm making a Facebook group.

Just out of curiosity -- and I don't want to know dollar amounts -- what organizations are benefiting from our makeshift 5K? Comment below.

A marvelous night for a moondance

2010-01-30T10:25:00.006-06:00

The moon last night was spectacular. So spectacular that I went outside with the camera and tripod and froze my arse, nose, and fingers to try to get some pictures.

It was worth it.

This one, I'm including simply because Morgan loves it and says the world needs to see it. She can't tell me exactly why she loves it -- "It's like a Monet painting, sort of," is the best she can come up with -- but she wants me to blow it up, frame it, and give it to her to hang in her room.

Will do, darling. Will do.

Edited to add a bit o' information about exactly why last night's moon was so stunning. From National Geographic: The 2010 wolf moon will appear 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than any other full moon this year, because our cosmic neighbor will actually be closer to Earth than usual.

oops

2010-01-30T09:18:00.002-06:00

I inadvertently slept in until 8:50 a.m. (how the hell did that happen? I never sleep that late), so I'll be doing my Why the *!%*!" do I live in MN-Saunders 5K tomorrow.

I'm a mite irritated about this. On the other hand, this development has wiped the frown right off Mr. Frowny Face's face, and that's a good thing. Because no one likes a frowny Pete.

Why the !%!" do I live in MN-Saunders 5K

2010-01-29T22:55:00.003-06:00

We now have 4 people signed up to do this thing: moi, Pete, Ruth, and Helen in CA, who, by virtue of her sheer long distance awesomeness, gets the added bonus of being an Honorary Minnesotan for the weekend. And we've got one firm Maybe. (Michelle? Are you in?)

For all you out there on the fence about this, well, it's not too late to join us! You've got until 5 p.m. your local time Sunday, January 31st to donate to the cause of your choice and complete this 5K. The rules, such as they are, are here.

I'm aiming to do mine tomorrow at 9 a.m...or maybe 9 a.m. Sunday, because I am actually signed up to give blood at 11:45 tomorrow morning. (This was a large part of why those two "real" 5Ks tomorrow morning weren't convenient options for me; I didn't know if I could drive an hour, run, drive back home, clean up, and make it to the bloodmobile in time.) I think if I eat something before I run and eat something after, I'll be fine. Pete, however, showed his disapproval of this plan by making a frowny face -- no! not the frowny face! -- and making pointed remarks about people passing out after donating blood. I still think I'll be fine, but drat it anyway, now I have Doubt.

I shall sleep on this and decide in the morning.

...or perhaps not the end of the streak

2010-01-28T12:32:00.007-06:00

The other day I posted about how the end of January is near, I haven't yet done my road race for the month, and the two remaining options aren't at all convenient or particularly exciting. I was *this* close to letting it go. All done. End of the streak.

And then my friend Ruth gave me an idea. "Make up your own!" she wrote on Facebook. "'Why the *!%*!" do I live in MN-Saunders 5K'."

I LOVE it. This is brilliant. I'm going to do it.

What's more, I'm going to invite you to do it with me. You don't even need to live in Minnesota to do this. If you're in Australia and you'd like to run or walk the Why The *!%*!" Do I Live In MN-Saunders 5K, then do so. We'll be glad to have you.

Here's the plan:

1. In lieu of the standard race fee, make a donation to the charitable organization of your choice. It can be in any dollar amount: $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, whatever you're comfortable with and/or can afford.

2. Map out a 5K -- that's 3.1 miles -- starting from your doorstep or the end of your driveway or wherever, and finishing right back where you started.

3. Between 9 a.m. your local time Saturday the 30th and 5 p.m. Sunday the 31st, walk or run that 5K. You don't even have to do it all at once. You can do 1.5 miles Saturday and 1.6 miles Sunday, or any other combination that suits you. Just get out there and complete a 5K.

4. When you've finished, blog about it. Or update your Facebook or Twitter status to say: I finished the Why The *!%*!" Do I Live In MN-Saunders 5K!

5. This is not an MDRA sanctioned event. There will not be timed results, awards, or t-shirts. What you will get will be the bragging rights of having participated in the very first Why The *!%*!" Do I Live In MN-Saunders 5K. And unless this thing goes viral, well, trust me; there won't be many who can make that claim. =)

If there's enough interest, I may even create a Facebook page for this. For now, though, I'll just use this blog, which feeds over into Facebook. And if there's no interest and I'm the only one out there on Saturday, well, that's OK too.

Now, to decide to whom I want to give some money: MN Valley Humane Society, Doctors Without Borders, Dakota Woodlands, MN Literacy Council....

Edited to add, for Ruth asked, "Can I do it on my treadmill? If so, I'll join you. It's about the only way I'd do a 5k in the midst of Jan."

Sure, why not!

So, my official ruling: Treadmills are OK.

Edited again to add, after a conversation with Pete, who really wants this event to include cyclists:

Bikes, eh? Well, they always have a few cyclists leading road races so runners don't wander off the course and get lost, so sure, why not!

So, my official ruling: Bikes are OK too.

End of the streak?

2010-01-27T08:00:00.003-06:00

Since November 2008, I've done one road race or the like per month:

Nov. 08 - Giving Thanks 5K, St. Paul
Dec. 08 - Reindeer Run 5K, Mpls
Jan. 09 - Polar Dash 5K, Mpls
Feb. 09 - Hearts-R-Running 5K, St. Paul
March 09 - Leprechaun Leap 5K, Chicago IL
April 09 - Earth Day Half Marathon, St. Cloud
May 09 - Stillwater Half Marathon, Stillwater
June 09 - Heartbeat 5000 5K, Mpls
July 09 - Graniteman Triathlon, St. Cloud
Aug. 09 - St. Paul Triathlon, St. Paul
Sept. 09 - Plymouth Firefighters 5K, Plymouth
Oct. 09 - Twin Cities Marathon (DNF; pulled myself off the course at mile 13), Mpls
Oct. 09 - Halloween Monster Dash 5K, Mpls
Nov. 09 - Turkey Trot 5K, Chaska
Dec. 09 - Snowflake Shuffle 5K - St. Joseph

Now it's the end of January 2010, and I find myself in the peculiar situation of perhaps not getting in a race this month. I had intended to do this year's January 1st Polar Dash but was sick -- and sick enough that I missed not only that one, but then a full two weekends of road races after. (Not that there was much to choose from. It's slim pickings in January in the north.) I was out of town last weekend. This leaves me with two last options for January 2010: a 5K in Waconia or a 5K in Center City, both on Saturday.

Neither one is close or convenient. I haven't let that stop me before, but this time I'm not feeling the magic. It's January. It's cold. I don' wanna.

I may just go give blood instead. But we'll see.

Pet Issue: Why are we feeding our kids crap?

2010-01-25T10:02:00.008-06:00

Fed Up, an anonymous teacher's blog about her school's lunches, makes me feel a little ill.

This NY Times article about some people doing things to promote healthful school lunches makes me feel like maybe things are starting to change. Maybe.

In the meantime, we're going to keep brown-bagging it.

A post per day for the last 2 days?

2010-01-08T07:39:00.002-06:00

Don't worry; it won't last. Soon I'll be back to my usual ignore this blog behavior.

The girls have been asking for a Wii for the last 2+ years. We have been steadfastly saying, "No" -- which meant they really didn't see this one coming.

Christmas Day, 2009:

Oh, this poor neglected blog

2010-01-07T09:13:00.006-06:00

I could make a New Year's resolution to get over here a little more regularly in 2010...but I don't do New Year's resolutions. Plus, odds are that no matter what my intentions are, I'll just keep doing what I've been doing: posting whenever the hell I feel like it. Or when I'm sick, housebound and bored, which happens to be my situation at the moment. I haven't left the house since last Friday, I'm swigging codeine like the Feds are about to ban it, and I stink of menthol rub. Good times, man. Good times.

Fortunately, we have bird feeders. Even more fortunately, I have a camera and a big bad lens that allows me to hang out on the sofa and shoot through the windows. So, I've been having what passes for fun documenting the ongoing saga of one slightly deranged red-bellied woodpecker muscling her way onto the feeders:

It's mine, you understand? Mine, mine! All mine! Go, go, go! Mine, do you hear me? Out, out, out! Mine, mine, mine! Go away! There's only enough for me!

It's mine, ya understand? Mine, MINE, all MINE!

Go go go! Mine mine mine! YAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

I'm rich! I'm wealthy! I'm independent! I'm socially secure! I'm rich! I'm a happy miser!

***

I know Pete, Eric, and our girls will know what these quotes are from. Anyone else?

Happy 10th Birthday to The Zoester!

2009-10-03T20:54:00.005-05:00

Double digits!

I hope your day was made of awesome! Happy Birthday, kiddo!

Marathon Day

2009-10-03T20:15:00.006-05:00

So, tomorrow (Sunday) is the marathon. Here's the deal: a while back, I hurt my foot. It's better now but not 100%. I've not been able to do long runs or much any real marathon training, which is a bit of a problem. (Understatement.) I really debated whether to pull out of the marathon, but ultimately decided to go ahead with it anyway.

I'll be mostly walking, not so much running, and I'm probably not going to be able to finish, but I'll be there at the start. My plan is to go for as long as my foot holds out. (Pete says this is not a plan, but hey, it's all I've got.) I have no idea what my pace will be or how far I'm going to go. I could limp off the course at mile 1 or still be trudging along 6 hours later. Who knows! Won't this be fun...

Anyway, to celebrate the fact that, injury aside, this year I'm actually healthy enough to be at the start -- which, for those of you who remember my health debacle from last year, is indeed something to celebrate -- we're going to be at Lucky's in Mendota post-marathon. I reckon we'll be there by 4 or so. If you're so inclined, stop on out! Have a beer, munch on some onion rings, and help us celebrate my DNF. Because in this case, it's not remotely about the journey, destination, or the finish. It's all about the start, baby. Yeah.

How times have changed

2009-10-01T07:31:00.003-05:00

A writer whose blog I follow recently wrote about how a question came up: would people's kids recognize an ashtray? She showed a picture of an ashtray to her 9-year-old daughter. Lo, the kid didn't know what it was.

So of course, I had to try this on my two. I asked the girls to look at this image, and asked them if they knew what it was. "Uh," Emma said blankly. "Is it a bowl?"

Morgan stared at it for a bit longer. "Oh, I know," she exclaimed. "It's a hot dog cooker!"

I almost spewed my coffee all over the laptop. "A hot dog cooker?" I said when I had recovered. "Why do you think it's a hot dog cooker?"

She explained how the notches along the sides are clearly for the sticks to rest on (duh, Mom), and you put the fire in the middle, and voila! Hot dog cooker. (That's pretty ingenious, now that I think about it. Maybe we should market this.) She wasn't quite sure how it would work lugging this thing to and from a campground, though, as it would be messy, heavy, and big. When she said that, I finally realized she thought it was much bigger its actual size, like campfire ring size. I explained that it's actually about the size of my palm. "Well, then, I don't know what it is," she said, and she and Emma said together: "What is it?"

I told them that it was an ashtray. They boggled over that much as you would boggle over any relic from the olden days , then went off to eat their breakfasts.

When I was a kid back in the dark ages of the 1970s, it seemed like everybody smoked. My parents didn't smoke, but they had ashtrays on hand because most of their friends smoked. Most of my extended family smoked. My grandfather smoked (and it killed him). It was everywhere. People's houses, restaurants, offices, airplanes. Today, things are different. I know a few smokers but they're the exception, not the norm, and they're not smoking in their houses. Restaurants and everywhere else are smoke free. And until this morning, my 10 year olds had no idea what an ashtray was. (Hot dog cooker. HEE.) It's cool how much things have shifted in a generation, but it's also a little bizarre. Or maybe that's just me turning into an old foogy. Back in my day...

Dinner: soup

2009-09-30T08:21:00.003-05:00

This is one of the kids' all-time favorites: homemade chicken noodle soup.

No squinchy faces for this one. Emma approves!

(Sides not pictured: homemade bread with butter, and milk from the cows at Cedar Summit Farm.)

The girls say I should sell my soup secrets to a soup company. I think not! But I will tell you what's in my soup:

water
onion
garlic
oregano
thyme
pepper
carrots
celery
chicken
noodles
salt to taste

Pretty simple. Pretty good.

Hodge podge post

2009-09-29T08:18:00.005-05:00

There were a bunch o' images hanging out on the memory card...time to get them processed and filed away. Here are some of the highlights.

Here's Morgan snuggling with Bailey, our beagle-basset Humane Society refugee. [Insert "Awwwww!" here.] Oh, how the girls love that dog. Oh, does that dog ever have it good. Sleep, eat, cuddle. Soak up the love of two adoring little girls. Repeat. Can we say that this dog totally landed on her feet when she came to live with us?

Saturday, the four of us plus the Felschkins took part in the Plymouth Firefighters 5K. Eric ran the 5K and did quite well, finishing in 26:something. Val, Pete, and I are all coming back from various injuries and other woes, and so we did a walk/run combo. All of our girls did the 1 mile fun run and had a blast doing it. Great fun! I forgot the camera in the car and so didn't get any pictures of the actual events, but here's a close-up of the shirt.

(For the record: since November 2008 I've run 6 5Ks and walked/run 1 5K, completed 2 half-marathons and 2 triathlons, and I have 5 days to go until the Twin Cities Marathon. Which I'll be starting but probably not finishing, and I'll be mostly walking, not so much running. More on that in a later post.)

There were frost warnings all over the place for last night, so after dinner I went out and harvested what I could from the garden.

Bye bye, summer.

Breakfast: Doughnuts by Morgan

2009-09-27T11:27:00.003-05:00

I helped. Just a little.

Raw doughnuts.

Into the oil. Morgan was scared of the hot oil (I don't blame her -- it scares me too sometimes!), so I was in charge of sliding them in and lifting them out.

The doughnut maker and her doughnuts.

Mmm, fresh doughnuts. (They tasted even better than they looked.)

Western Doughnuts
from King Arthur Flour: Whole Grain Baking
p. 535

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat flour
2 cups unbleached bread flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
5-6 cups vegetable oil for frying*

To make the dough: Whisk together the flours with the baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl. Beat in the melted butter and sugar. Add about 1 cup of the flour mixture, and beat until the mixture comes together. Stir in one-third of the milk. Add 1 cup of the flour mixture and half the remaining milk, then repeat the process once more until all the ingredients are combined. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To cut the doughnuts: Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.** Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut it in half.*** Place one half on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the dough with flour and roll it out until it's 1/2 inch thick. Using a 2 & 3/4-inch doughnut cutter^, cut out as many doughnuts as you can, and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets with a spatula. Use a 1-inch round cutter^^ to make small doughnuts from the scraps; don't reroll, or the doughnuts will be tough. Refrigerate the doughnuts while the oil heats.

To fry: Heat 2-3 inches of vegetable oil in a deep, heavy skillet until it reaches a temperature of 375F. Deep-fry the doughnuts, 3 or 4 at a time, turning them over after about 3 minutes.^^^ Remove the doughnuts from the oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

*We used canola oil.

**I didn't have any parchment paper, but greasing the baking sheets instead worked quite nicely.

***I don't know what happened -- recipe fail? cook error? -- but that dough was not dough but liquid glop, even after a half hour in the frig. There was no way we were cutting that in half. Pouring it, maybe, but cutting, no. We had to add a lot more flour (I'm not sure how much -- 2-3 cups?) than the recipe called for to make it work.

^A regular round cookie cutter did the job just as well as a doughnut cutter.

^^We used a shot glass.

^^^We didn't time them, but waited until they floated to the top, then turned them, let them fry until Morgan pronounced them "Just Right!" and lifted them out.

Dinner: pasta

2009-09-24T20:03:00.007-05:00

Murray, the giant puppy, thinks my tomatoes and peppers are some kind of weird tennis balls. He keeps plucking them off the plants and trying to play with them. (He has yet to figure out that they don't make good balls. Splat! Crunch! Splat!) I think there's a fence in my garden's future. For now, though, I'm going out on tomato and pepper raids and putting the rescuees up on my kitchen window sill, safe out of doggy reach.

Tonight I used them in our dinner. This is a white bean pasta: whole wheat pasta, garlic, tomatoes, roasted red pepper, pesto, cannellini beans, and a little bit of freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano to top it all off. Very simple.

Very nice with a glass of red wine.

Wanted: lens cap

2009-09-22T17:18:00.003-05:00

Lens cap to fit a Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II, because rubber-banding a dust cover over it is a PITA.

Dinner: stir fry

2009-09-22T07:30:00.006-05:00

I went grocery shopping in the morning yesterday, only to realize when I started the dinner prep that 1) I'd run us out of soy sauce the last time I did a stir fry and 2) I'd forgotten to put it on The List. I didn't feel like going back to the store just for soy sauce, so I poked around and found this substitute. I made a few changes, like adding 4 tbsp chicken broth and reducing the bouillon to 2 cubes (because do we really need that much sodium? I think not), and using a pinch of ground chipotle pepper in place of the white pepper (because somehow, we're out of white pepper too)...The result was quite good, so good that I may not buy soy sauce ever again.

I think next time I make it, I'll cut the bouillon down even further, to 1 cube. Oh ho ho, I am so daring!

Stir fries often get a bad rap. If you do them the right way, though -- i.e. cooked in a little bit of oil over high heat for a very short amount of time -- they're quite good for you.

I marinated some tofu in a mix of my soy sauce substitute, fresh squeezed lime juice, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes, and then grilled it:

The veggies went into 2 tbsps of sesame oil in the wok over high heat for 2 minutes. I didn't get a picture of them sizzling, but here's a shot of the veggies pre-wok.

Earlier, I'd made brown rice (in the pressure cooker, because IMO that's just the best way to make brown rice: quick and never soggy).

When the veggies hit the 2 minute mark, I tossed in the tofu along with 2 cloves of minced garlic and cooked it all for 1 more minute. The rice went into bowls, the stir fry went on top of the rice, and voila. Dinner was served.

The girls loved it.

Not! But they did eat it without too much complaining, so that's something.

Breakfast

2009-09-19T10:06:00.005-05:00

Egg. Toast. Avocado. Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper. Coffee.

It would have been better with a tomato, but this was pretty good.

Blowing the dust off this poor, neglected blog

2009-09-18T19:56:00.004-05:00

I've been feeling the urge to document what we're eating, so tonight I picked up the camera and did just that. This may or may not be the first in a series of posts.

Tonight's dinner was wonderfully simple. Romaine lettuce, tuna, apples (from our apple trees!), pine nuts, avocado, a few other things.

I like prep work. Messy, but relaxing.

I came across a cooking tip recently about how you can use a shot glass to measure not just alcohol, but food. Like, an ounce of tuna equals 1 shot glass of tuna. Given that I don't own a kitchen scale but do have a shot glass or two, I think this is brilliant.

Chopped, mixed, and ready to go:

I toasted some whole wheat pita bread as an accompaniment.

Pete and I thought this was quite good.

The girls liked the pita bread.

Canning summer

2009-07-20T20:50:00.006-05:00

One local strawberry farm,

one enthused kid,

one mutinous kid

(who would like it noted for the record that she picked more strawberries than the enthused kid),

some 30 lbs of strawberries later,

and one weekend of double, double, toil, and trouble,
fire burn, and cauldron bubble
(blah blah blah)
resulted in a little over 4 gallons of jam.

Strawberry jam. Strawberry honey jam. Sherried strawberry preserves.

All together now: Yum.

July event

2009-07-13T08:32:00.006-05:00

My friend Val and I did a triathlon on Sunday. We went into this with a slight disadvantage -- my training schedule got blown all to hell, thanks to a foot injury, and Val's training schedule didn't even happen, thanks to a Wild West vacation and work and other things -- but veni, vedi, vici, anyway. Or, as Dr. Peter Venkman says, "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!"

We got into town Saturday afternoon, unloaded the dogs, kids, and Pete, and then Val and I went to pick up our race packets. This was a first triathlon for both of us. Being utter novices, we had no idea that they'd be writing our bib numbers and wave group on us for the swim portion of the event. We had a few other errands to run after we'd got ourselves markered up, and some of the looks we got as we sauntered into the stores with our numbered arms and legs made me feel a bit like an escaped convict.

Once we got back to Val's place, we had to get everything organized for the next morning -- and try stuff on for size, of course. Swim caps, goggles, and bib numbers, so sexy.

Too, too sexy.

Val's husband Eric made calendar art for the triathlon. Cute.

I don't have any photos of us doing the actual event, save for the finish. I took it easy, didn't worry about time or place, and had an insane amount of fun. Seriously. I have never done an event that was this enjoyable. (It helped that the weather was perfect, low to mid 60s, and the bike portion was easy, no real hills, and the run portion was flat, flat, flat.) We swam 1/3 mile, biked 15 miles, and ran 3.1 miles, and I came through the finish at 1:59:52 (my watch said 1:59:51). I lost quite a bit of time during the swim-to-bike transition -- 6 minutes! -- but that was mostly due to having to get my foot all braced up. And then I lost more time during the bike-to-run transition -- 2 minutes, 41 seconds -- but that was mostly due to the girls running over and squealing at me through the fence as I hauled the bike to the racks, and jumping up and down and being so darn excited and encouraging that there was no way I couldn't stop and chat with them. I'll work on those transition times for the next triathlon. Which I think shall be in August at Lake Phalen...

Val, who did this thing cold, pretty much no training (the last time she was in the water before this was when we went to a water park over spring break), came in at an amazing 2:17:32. And she poured it on at the end!

After we'd finished, Val said, "We're triathletes!" And you know what? We are!

For the record: since November, I've run 6 5Ks, 2 half-marathons, and completed 1 triathlon, and I have 2 months and 3 weeks to go until the Twin Cities Marathon.

Next event: the St. Paul Triathlon.

Toothsome

2009-07-07T08:23:00.004-05:00

Three years ago, I started a little raspberry patch in our backyard. Raspberries take a while to get established, a concept the girls have had a difficult time with. (Patience, my darlings. It truly is a virtue.) The first summer, we had a few berries. The second summer, a few more. Just enough to whet two little girls' appetites.

This summer, we have raspberries.

So many raspberries, in fact, that last night the girls and I were able to make our first batch of jam.

And there are still more to come!

Mmmm. Raspberries.

The faces of Emma

2009-07-02T15:44:00.001-05:00

Outrage (or maybe she was smelling something funny?). Pouty. Cute.

The faces of Morgan

2009-07-02T09:22:00.006-05:00

Outrage. Pouty. Cute.

Whenever Emma gets around to waking up (a morning girl, she is not), we'll do a "Faces of Emma" too.

Angry faces, begging faces

2009-07-01T14:47:00.006-05:00

Every morning, I give the girls a project. Writing, kitchen science, math fun, painting, nature hunts in the backyard, that sort of thing. Well, this morning the project was drawing. More specifically, cartoon-type drawing. Fun stuff. Very fun stuff.

They really wanted me to draw something.

So I did. 2 quick sketches of the girls*. Took about 3 minutes, max, to do each one. (In other words, this is not exactly fine art, people.) They think these are hi-larious. Funniest thing ever. (They're 10. What can I say.) And they want the world to see the cartoon versions of themselves. So, at their command, I'm posting 'em for the world to see.

Right. Now we're going to go do something really exciting, like clean our rooms. For real. Uh oh, here come the angry faces...

*Yes, I know, they currently have short hair. But I can't quickly draw short-haired girls. So I gave them long hair. Just pretend, OK?

2009 Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour

2009-05-18T08:32:00.017-05:00

As some of you may remember, last year Pete and I did the Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour. It was a blast*. This last Saturday, we did it again. I am not a really bike-y person (meaning, that while I like to bike, I don't own 14 of them), so I'll leave the bike-talk, i.e. makes, models, etc., for Pete. What appeals to me about the 3-Speed Tour is the slow pace, the leisurely attitude, the camaraderie, and the sheer civility of this whole pre-WWII cycling tour mindset. It's a lovely way to spend a few days. And then there's the pie. More on that in a bit.

We left the kids and dogs with the in-laws, loaded up our 3-speeds, and headed out to Red Wing. We got there a little late, but we did make it in time for the letter from Buckingham Palace and then the Blessing of the Bikes.

The Sons of Norway gave us a great little send off.

It was chilly! I don't know what the actual temp was, but my knees were freezing. It wasn't too bad when we were moving, but when we were stopped: brrrrr. We didn't linger at the Bow & Arrow Historic Marker but got right back on our bikes to attack the Bay City Hill. And get pie at the Smiling Pelican in Maiden Rock. Mmm. Pie.

Last year, the Bay City Hill conquered us/me. This year, we conquered it.

After the hill, we stopped at Lake Pepin Historic Marker, but thanks to my chilly knees and pie focus, we were ahead of the group and didn't have anyone to take a "together" picture of us. Nor did we have a tripod on which to mount the camera and use the timer setting. So, we took pictures of each other.

Last year, I rode a borrowed 1971 Dunelt. After the 3-Speed Tour, I went out and found a 3-speed of my own, a 1967 Robin Hood. Coincidentally -- truly coincidentally -- Pete's 3-speed is a 1959 Robin Hood. Aren't we cute.

We got back onto our bikes and coasted down into Maiden Rock, where, after all that talk of pie, I got the strawberry trifle instead.

Properly fortified, we decided to do some pass storming and went on the optional climb to the top of the Maiden Rock overlook. It ended up being quite an adventure, as we (inadvertently) took the road much less traveled.

Fortunately, the view was worth the hike.

We rode our brakes down from the overlook into Stockholm, had a well-earned lunch and a pint at the Bogus Creek Cafe & Bakery, then went in search of pie. (I was a woman on a mission.) A fellow Nutter had given us the tip that there was a great pie shop in Stockholm, with pie so wondrous that it's made grown men weep. I'm made of sterner stuff than that, so I did not weep, but I did make the "OMG RAPTURE YUM" face. Truly, I've never had pie this good outside of a grandmother's kitchen. Fan-freaking-tastic.

We were sworn to secrecy, so I'm afraid I can't reveal the location, but here's a hint.

We meandered our way through Pepin and continued on to Nelson and the Nelson Cheese Factory, where we sat out on the patio with some of our fellow Nutters and enjoyed some lamb and beef sticks. Yes, I know, you're supposed to get ice cream there, but after that wondrous pie, ice cream wasn't appealing. I can't believe I just typed that.

From Nelson, it was on to Wabasha. Did anyone ever find out who put up the sign?

We checked in to our lodgings,

cleaned up, and went across the street to the Eagle's Nest for dinner, where Jan and Jim did their usual bang-up job of making us feel right at home.

The next morning, we set off for Lake City. The forecast had called for more cold in the morning, perhaps even frost -- but the forecast was wrong. It was beautiful.

One of our fellow Nutters gave me this for my bike. How adorable is this?!

A bunch of Nutters at the River of Rafts at the Lake Pepin Geologic Marker. I'm pretty sure the cars were slowing down to take a look at us, not the Marker.

Last year, we saw so many eagles along the way from Wabasha to Lake City that we pulled off and stared up into the sky, and kicked ourselves for not bringing the binoculars. This year, we had the binoculars, and saw nary an eagle. Sigh.

Lunch was at the Rhythm and Brew Coffee Shop in Lake City, followed by dessert -- surprise, more pie! -- at the Chickadee Cottage Tea Room. It couldn't compare to the stuff in Stockholm, but it made a valiant effort.

From Lake City, it was on to Old Frontenac and the old stone wall. Last year, we didn't get a picture there (I don't know why; not only were we there, but I took pictures of other people getting their pictures taken). Hmm. I don't see much of that wall behind us. Ah well. I guess that means we'll have to do the 2010 3-Speed Tour.

I'm not sure what the story is with this, but Pete said it had to be taken for the guys at Hiawatha Cyclery. So, here you go, guys. And look, there's that stone wall that you really can't see in our picture.

While we were there, Ron Grogg asked if I wanted to take his Moulton Standard for a little spin. Oh, my. That is a FUN bike. Me want now.

I think I'm not the only one who'd like to take this little darling home.

Pete got to ride it, too.

After Old Frontenac, we meandered our way back to Red Wing, and a final meal and a pint at The Staghead with our fellow Nutters.

And that concluded the 2009 3-Speed Tour. For two days that are so delightfully slow and easy, it went by much too quickly. It's a cliche to say that I'm already looking forward to next year (and more pie)...but I am. What a marvelous, lovely time!

*I wrote an article about the 3-Speed Tour for the Red Wing Republican Eagle, which you can read here.

Earth Day Half Marathon

2009-04-25T08:50:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday, I went up to St. Cloud and ran a half marathon.

They had photographers stationed at various points along the half and 20 mile routes. When I read about that in the pre-race info and saw what they wanted for a single digital photograph, I went, "Pfft, whatever, I'm not paying $$$s for that; I'll arm Pete with the point & shoot instead." Now, don't get me wrong. Pete did a nice job with the point & shoot and got several good shots, including the one I'm currently using for my profile over at Facebook. But post-race, they sent out the obligatory "Photos are now available!" email, and of course I went into their site to check it out, and...Oh. I really, really, really liked this one. I look all serious and runnerly and toned and fit and strong...

So, I bought it. Because I am a sucker.

My next event (another half marathon! because not only am I a sucker; I am c.r.a.z.y., crazy!) is May 24th, and I swear, this time, I will not buy any pictures, no, no, no. No matter how made-of-awesome I look. No.

Fire!

2009-03-31T07:39:00.006-05:00

We had some excitement here last night.

A large brush fire kept crews from multiple Dakota County agencies occupied for nearly three hours Monday evening by the river bottoms near Interstate 494 and Minnesota 13 in Eagan. Emergency services received initial calls at 4:15 p.m., according to 911 dispatchers at the Dakota Communications Center. Crews put the blaze out by 7 p.m. No cause was immediately reported.

Here's how it looked from our living room window. As always, click on the picture to see the large size.

At the worst of it, the fires were spread out in a line that was almost parallel to I-494 there in the background. It was impressive, especially when the wind gusted and sent the flames roaring up. But did I get any pictures at that point? Nooo, because I was too busy picking my jaw up off the floor -- and wondering uneasily if maybe I should get a few Important things ready to grab and go -- to even remember that I had a camera. (Perhaps I should cross "photojournalism" off my list of potential careers.)

It was almost out by this point.

Shortly after this shot, it was all over.

Things still smell a bit smoky this morning and I'm sure that the critters that live down there are none too pleased about this, but the affected area is a relatively tiny portion of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, and no one was hurt. Whatever the cause*, it could have been a lot worse. That storm they predicted has started in earnest, otherwise I'd be tromping down there this morning to check it out up close. Perhaps tomorrow.

*My money's on some idiot out for a hike who chucked a cigarette butt into the brush.

More fun with flowers in the early morning light

2009-03-31T07:33:00.002-05:00

They're all done blooming now (and looking sad and pathetic), but it was fun while it lasted. And my own flowers should be starting to come up soon...I hope...

BSG series finale

2009-03-21T08:12:00.004-05:00

Mostly, I liked it. I didn't love it, and there was too much deus ex machina for my taste, but overall, it was okay.

Starbuck's ending, though? Without going into spoiler-y details, that was a major fail for me. All this angst and who am I, what am I...for that? Grrr. Argh. Grrr.

If you watch BSG and disagree, tell me why I'm wrong in the comments. Convince me. Make me LOVE this character's ending. I double dog dare you.

***WARNING: COMMENTS CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Hungry for color

2009-03-18T08:05:00.003-05:00

The snow's almost all gone (for the moment; here's hoping that we don't get another winter blast), but everything's brown and dreary.

Fortunately, while I wait for the real thing, I can have a little bit of spring inside.

That'll do.

Untitled

2009-03-13T08:41:00.004-05:00

We've given up meat for Lent, for a variety of reasons. To my surprise -- for while I have strong vegetarian leanings, I also consider myself a happy omnivore -- I don't miss meat at all. And after reading this article about hog farms and the possible link to MRSA, and then watching this clip about a restaurant that serves ginormous portions of steak and chicken fried bacon, I actually feel a little nauseous.

Could giving up meat for Lent have the unintended effect of turning me into a full-time vegetarian?

Slap in the face

2009-03-12T12:52:00.003-05:00

I went for a run this morning. This is not noteworthy. It was -5F. And this would not be noteworthy either, except...

...it's March, and this is not how one should look after a run in March. Gorram it. Snow, snow in March, I expect. But this cold? No. Fie on you, arctic air! Go back to Canada where you belong and stay there.

Squeeing like a little fangrrl

2009-03-10T07:47:00.004-05:00

Possible new portrait of Shakespeare identified!

Excuse while I go swoon now.

Random picture

2009-03-08T13:36:00.005-05:00

November, 2008. My mother-in-law asked me to take a family portrait.

I don't think this was quite what she had in mind.

Baking, baking, and more baking

2009-03-07T12:41:00.007-06:00

We went on a mini baking binge this week.

Wednesday, I made whole wheat apple-nut muffins:

in addition to our usual bread.

(That's a lentil soup in the crockpot for that night's dinner. Soup and fresh-baked bread. Yum.)

This morning, Morgan had a hankering to make something, so she went through my cookbooks and settled on a raisin-spice coffee cake with a powdered sugar icing. She made the whole thing all by herself. As I said in an earlier post, this kid is becoming quite the little baker. It's also a lovely treat to have someone else make breakfast, so I'm doing all that I can do encourage her. =D

She cut into it and served it up so quickly that I didn't have a chance to get a "before" shot, just a remnants shot.

Nom nom nom.

Thanks, Mo! It was delicious!

Day off

2009-02-28T09:39:00.003-06:00

The girls and I had the day off from school and work yesterday. Among other things, I'd planned to take them out for lunch and then head over to the Zoo, but they had a different agenda in mind.

Instead of visiting the monkeys, we made sock monkeys,

snuggled with a few cherished critters and got lost in a book (or three),

and spent some time searching for Africa and other places.

We didn't do any of the things I'd planned in advance.

It was a lovely day.

It's been too long

2009-02-27T11:18:00.003-06:00

Time to blow the dust off both this blog and the camera.

Yesterday, Morgan wanted something sweet for an after-school snack. I told her she could make a batch of cookies.

So she did. Oatmeal raisin, from scratch.

The best part: she did it all by herself.

I do believe we have another baker in the family!

2008

2009-01-02T12:06:00.005-06:00

I haven't forgotten about this blog. I just haven't felt like posting.

For those of you who hang out with us IRL and/or follow my super sekret writing blog, this is old news, but for the rest of you: 2008 was a challenging year. Frankly, I'm glad to see the end of it. I was sick for five months total in 2008, plus recovery; that's a lot of lost time. The good news is that I was finally diagnosed with ulcerative colitis -- like Crohn's disease, it's a form of IBD -- and am responding very well to the meds, as well as diet and exercise. In fact, I'm feeling better now than I have in literally years.

I suppose it's funny to think of a diagnosis as good news, and I'd be lying if I said that it hasn't been somewhat of a mental adjustment to get used to this new reality, but at least now I know what's been wrong and what I can do to make it better. Plus, wow. It could be so much worse. If i had my druthers, of course I'd have innards that work perfectly, but consider the alternatives. Yeah. It could be a lot worse.

Also, I can now get out of just about any chore I don't want to do by pleading illness. "The sidewalk needs to be shoveled? Hmm. I'd love to, really I would, but, oh dear, the UC's acting up. In fact, I'd better go have a lie down..." Ha ha ha. All right, I would not actually do that, but really, this is one hell of a get-out-of-jail free card, should I choose to play it as such. Neat, huh?

Flippancy aside, I must say that there were a lot of great things that happened in 2008. I don't mean to overlook them: a new niece, the girls' various accomplishments and experiences, the 3-Speed Tour, camping trips, the Eppley's visit, wonderful family and friends...And oh boy, I tell you what: after going through this, I will never take my health for granted again. The old adage of eat right, exercise, get plenty of rest has taken on a whole new significance for me. That's a good thing. It really is. But honestly, being sick cast a shadow over the year. I'm more than ready to move forward.

Welcome, 2009!

2008-11-05T09:12:00.000-06:00

I am so proud of my country right now, I could burst!

For Eric and Val, who live in the 6th District

2008-10-27T08:45:00.002-05:00

This is the last post for today, I promise.

Bachmann McCarthy Overdrive

Season 2 is over already?!

2008-10-27T07:28:00.003-05:00

Is there anyone else out there who ~~is addicted to~~ watches Mad Men on AMC?

This is gonna be a long wait for Season 3.

Nicely said, sir

2008-10-22T16:09:00.002-05:00

[Powell] told Tom Brokaw that he was troubled by what other Republicans, not McCain, had said: “ ‘Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.’ Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim. He’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no. That’s not America. Is something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?”

Word.

Random post

2008-10-17T13:23:00.004-05:00

The "Watch me!" command is amazingly effective when one is holding a treat.

(It's a shame that Bailey's not quite in focus -- how cute would that have been?! -- but then again, I was holding the treat in one hand, the camera in the other, had Murray's leash looped around my wrist, and was maintaining both dogs' attention. Not too shabby, really.)

No pictures later

2008-10-17T06:08:00.003-05:00

We had a minor crisis last night (Jim might appreciate this)...A day or two ago, Morgan was ~~told~~ asked to bring up something from the basement freezer, and didn't quite close the freezer door all the way on her way back upstairs. Ack.

Fortunately, it truly was a minor crisis, as 1) because it'd only been a day or two, and the door was only open a crack, only the first layer of things were impacted, 2) I'd been meaning to defrost and clean out that freezer for the last, oh, two years or so (this does not say much about my housekeeping skills, does it) and this got that task off the "I'll get to it one of these days" list and into the "I'm going to do do that right now!" category, and 3) while some things were a loss (mystery doughs, pie crusts, bananas, realllllllllly old bags of veggies, popsicles, a few pre-packaged lean cuisine type meals I'd bought back when I was still working full-time for That Place [which means they've been in there for at least 18 months and probably longer; and now I'm using parentheses within parentheses, uh oh]), most of the meats and my soups, stews, and other leftovers meals were so buried that they were still frozen solid, and so nothing important had to be thrown out. Wow, did I really get all that into one sentence?

I did have to whip up a quick batch of strawberry jam last night -- which wasn't a big deal; I'd go to far greater lengths than that to save strawberries. We had to have a thawed small cheese pizza last night as an appetizer, which no one seemed to mind too much. The girls will be having chicken nuggets this morning as part of their breakfast (when and why did I buy chicken nuggets???). And there will be a few other odd meals over the next few days. But really, it could have been worse. And hey, now that freezer's defrosted and cleaned out, Morgan has learned the importance of making sure the freezer door's closed all the way, and I'm eating fresh strawberry jam with my toast. Life is good.

Teaser post

2008-10-16T10:43:00.003-05:00

Tonight is one of our no-meat dinners: Lentil soup (although it's so thick it's more like a stew) with cheese and fresh-baked bread, and an apple crisp for dessert. Very autumn-like, no?

Pictures later.

Oh, and also

2008-10-10T16:09:00.004-05:00

We got a new puppy last week. Husky lab mix, now 11 weeks old and 24 lbs. Yup, he's gonna be big.

Meet Murray.

Not the best shot (just a quick point and shoot) but the RAW images are still on the camera.

If you think his right eye has a tinge of blue, you're right.

Off to eat Thanksgiving dinner now. More later.

In which my kitchen is a disaster

2008-10-10T15:42:00.006-05:00

So we're having Thanksgiving tonight (long story; I'll tell you about it later). I volunteered to make a pie, dinner rolls, and cranberry sauce. Well, the pie turned into two pies. I wanted to make something new -- the apple cranberry pie featured on the cover of the current issue of Cook's Illustrated -- but then got worried that people might not like it. So I made a plain ol' apple pie too. Just in case. And then I decided to make two cranberry sauces for basically the same reason: I wanted to try a cranberry pear ginger sauce -- but what if people don't like cranberry pear ginger sauce? What if they want just plain cranberry? Best have some on hand. Just in case.

It's been grand fun. Messy, but fun. I tried a new pie crust recipe that I think is now my absolute favorite pie crust recipe: the secret ingredient is vodka. Yes, vodka. Crazy!

Everything's looking good and smelling even better. Nom.

In descending order: dinner rolls, apple-cranberry pie, cranberry pear ginger sauce, cranberry sauce, and the apple pie (still in the oven baking).

Happy Thanksgiving!

ich bin eine gute hausfrau, ja

2008-09-29T09:43:00.007-05:00

I've never been much for menu planning. I'm much more of a fly-by-the-seat-my-pants type of cook, unless we're hosting something, and even then I'm prone to a lot of improvisation. But it's something I always feel like I should be doing. In theory, it sure seems that it would make things easier. And the last few months I've had to make some dietary changes in response to some health issues. (More on that coming in a later entry.) It's made a difference, but these changes don't always translate into things that the kids and Pete enjoy. Since I have no desire to make one meal for me and a separate meal for them -- or go all evil and make them make their own gorram food -- I'm now on a constant hunt for recipes that will work for all four of us. That's not easy to do without some advance planning.

Anyway, for the last few weeks I've been giving this menu-planning thing a try. Surprisingly, I'm liking it. A lot. It's always grand fun going through cookbooks and websites (yes, yes, I'm a big dork). It's *especially* fun trying out new recipes, things I might not otherwise make for the four of us because I don't have all the ingredients available. (I don't know about you, but I don't usually have items like "6 ounces mixed wild mushrooms" (Wild Mushroom and Broccoli Tart) or "2.5 cups passata" (Eggplant and Chickpea Tagine) on hand.) That puts the kibosh on trying new and fun recipes, unless you're the type to make a quick run to the grocery store for just a few things, which I'm not. I'd like to claim it's because it's a waste of gas, but really, it's because it's a pain in the...rear. By the time I go there and get back for those couple of things, I could have dinner half done.

How are these kinds of ingredients suddenly available, you ask? Why, because when I "schedule" a recipe, I do a quick check of what's in the frig and pantry and then add any necessary ingredients to the grocery shopping list. That in turn makes grocery shopping faster and easier, because I'm not haphazardly guessing at what we may or may not be having for our dinners. While I love to cook, I do not particularly enjoy grocery shopping. Actually, most of the time I loathe it. So I am all for anything that helps gets me in and out of the grocery store faster.

We don't eat out or order in a lot to begin with, but if we did, I'm going to guess that knowing what's the on the menu and having the ingredients on hand to make it would help cut that down.

Menu planning. Why haven't I been doing this before now?

For those who might be curious, here's what's on this week's menu:

Monday: Pasta with tomato garden sauce and some of that fresh bread -- a light whole wheat -- you see rising in the above picture.

Tuesday: Italian Veggie Turkey Soup (the kids LOVE this one) with more of that homemade bread. Yum!

Wednesday: Potato, Red Onion, and Feta Frittata*, with roasted veggies as a side dish.

Thursday: Tofu stir-fry with egg noodles*, and baked stuffed apples for dessert (a strange combination, I know, but one the kids like).

Friday: Ratatouille*, with Potatoes Dauphinois* and Eggplant, Smoked Mozzarella, and Basil Rolls* as the sides. Or perhaps the eggplant, smoked mozz, and basil rolls will be appetizers instead of a side. I haven't quite decided.

Saturday: Leftovers night!

Sunday: Whole roasted chicken, with brown rice and a vegetable medley as the sides.

Sounds good, no?

I'll try to remember to take some pictures.

*Starred recipes are from Vegetarian, which is fast becoming one of my favorite cookbooks.

Sunday morning reading

2008-09-28T09:46:00.005-05:00

I do loves me some Sunday NY Times.

Would McCain, Palin, or Biden resign if (heaven forbid) one of their children was captured?

Farewell, Paul. We're going to miss you.

Edible schoolyards: Taking kids beyond chicken nuggets.

If the government always comes to your rescue when the chips are down, why limit your risks?

Running 26.2 miles in under 2 hours, 4 minutes? Oh yeah.

When spell-check can't help: A quiz and answers.

And on a local note, yet another Twin Cities cyclist has died after after being hit by an SUV. Damn. How many biking fatalities does this make for the year? TOO MANY. Guys and girls, I know you don't need this warning, but I'm going to say it anyway: please be careful out there.

And as long as I'm talking politics

2008-09-26T09:11:00.007-05:00

I think Governor Palin is a poor VP pick for a couple of reasons. Leaving aside the fact that I simply don't agree with her on a lot of the issues, I don't think that she's qualified to be next in line for the presidency. (Being able to see Russia on a clear day just doesn't cut it for me.) And I'm quite insulted at the idea that as a woman, they think that I'm going to go vote for the McCain-Palin ticket simply because Palin has a uterus. Please. To use a phrase from my formative decade, gag me with spoon. If they wanted a female candidate in an attempt to get more of the female vote -- and honestly, I have problems with that approach; I don't care about a candidate's gender, I simply want the best person for the job -- there were other, more qualified politicians who could have and should have been selected (Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison come immediately to mind).

(Sidenote that will become relevant in just a moment: why was it that it was seemingly OK for someone to ask McCain, "So how do we beat that bitch?" re: Senator Clinton -- if he did have a problem with the word "bitch" and its connotations, he stayed pretty quiet about it -- but any criticism of Palin results in cries of "Sexism!" from both the McCain camp and other Republicans?)

That said, one sentence in Judith Warner's column today in the New York Times stopped me dead in the middle of reading:

They know she can't possibly do it all -- the kids, the special-needs baby, the big job, the big conversations with foreign leaders.

Imagine this sentence being written about a male candidate.

They know he can't do it all -- the kids, the special-needs baby, the big job, the big conversations with foreign leaders.

It would never get written! This is a standard that is *never* applied to a male candidate, no matter his party affiliation, no matter how strong or weak his qualifications are, no matter what his home life is like. And it disgusts me. Like I said above, I don't care for Palin as a VP pick, and I think the Republicans who let sexist attacks on Clinton slide but now scream when it happens to Palin are a bunch of hypocrites. But that doesn't mean that this blatant, stupid sexism is OK. Because it IS sexism, no question about it.

I don't know what it's going to take to change this kind of thinking, to level the playing field so that both men and women in politics, business, academics, all fields, are held to the same standards, but I sure am sick of it. I'd love to think that this will no longer be an issue by the time my daughters are adults, but alas. I fear that's wishful and deluded thinking.

Debate

2008-09-26T08:05:00.007-05:00

It's all over the news that Senator McCain wants to postpone tonight's scheduled debate because of the financial crisis and proposed bailout. (If you somehow didn't know about this, you can read about it in the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fox, etc. Pick your poison.)

This is a terrible idea. Right now, we the people need to hear from both candidates. I'm hardly a financial guru, but it seems rather likely that the economic issues of the moment are going to continue into the next administration. So not only do we need to know what the candidates support and propose doing and how each proposes doing it, but also what they think needs to happen going forward. And we need to hear it now. Not a week from now, not a month from now, not after whatever legislative fix is in place, but now. What better forum than this first scheduled debate?

Note that I am neither endorsing nor rejecting the bailout. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, if everything "they" are saying is true and we're looking down the barrel of near-certain economic collapse, I certainly don't want to risk a Great Depression by letting the markets go into free fall. On the other hand, the blatant socialism of this proposed bailout doesn't sit well with me. (And can anyone explain to me why it is that socialized health insurance is decried and defeated, but a socialized bailout of Wall Street seems to be OK?) Thankfully, I'm not running for political office, so I can sit here and dither. But McCain is running for office. That means that he doesn't have the luxury of dithering or asking for more time -- or saying that this one matter is so important that he can't turn his attention to anything else. At the very least, that doesn't say much about his ability to multi-task, an ability that one would think should be an important part of a presidential candidate's skills set.

And least it seems that I'm unfairly dogging on McCain, let the record show that I want this debate to happen because I want to hear from Senator Obama, too. If he's got a comprehensive plan for dealing with this both now and going forward, I don't know what it is. And that's not good.

Frankly, leadership seems to be in awfully short quantities right now. To use an overused cliche, someone needs to step up to the plate. Tonight's debate is the perfect opportunity for that. Postponing the debate sells both the candidates and the voters short.

Breakfast

2008-09-23T09:30:00.010-05:00

I picked up the camera the other day for the first time in weeks*, and realized that I took a bunch of pictures when we went to the Copper Dome after getting the girls off to the first day of school but never did get around to getting them off the camera, processed, and posted.

If you're ever in St. Paul, go check this place out. The decor -- flour, flour, and more flour -- is interesting and the food's great. And if you live here, what's your excuse? Give me a call. I'll meet you there for breakfast.

It doesn't really have a dome.

Flour!

Love the old time feel to the register. And the flour.

The menu's huge. Lots of choices, very small print.
This is just the first page (and I cut off a big chunk of it).
If you want pancakes, I recommend the Oatmeal Bran Banana Nut pancakes.
They're good.

But this time, I went for a ham and cheese omelette.
Also very good.

And hashbrowns. Mmmm. Hashbrowns.

I don't remember exactly what Pete had, but it was good too.

More flour.

I have resolved to get me into more pictures (because I'm bad about doing that).
So, here I am in the ladies' room of the Copper Dome.

Goblin Flour? How cool is that!

I wish they were still in business. I'd buy it for the name alone, just so that the girls could make goblin bread sandwiches for their lunches. Heh.

*The usual excuses: busy, settling into the school routine, sick, blah blah blah.

See, kids, we're not lame; we're simply years ahead of the trends

2008-09-17T19:13:00.005-05:00

AFTER decades of obsessing about fat, calories and carbs, many dieters have made the unorthodox decision to simply enjoy food again. That doesn’t mean they’re giving up on health or even weight loss. Instead, consumers and nutritionists say they are seeing a shift toward “positive eating” — shunning deprivation diets and instead focusing on adding seasonal vegetables, nuts, berries and other healthful foods to their plates.

The article says people are starting to cook for themselves, too. And they're avoiding pre-packaged, processed foods.

o.O

I really need to figure out a way to market this kind of stuff before it becomes all hip and cool. Harumph.

Saluting an Iraq veteran

2008-09-06T17:59:00.004-05:00

My brother's out of the army as of midnight last night. We were going to go out with his wife and him to celebrate tonight, but they've both got a mild case of food poisoning after a late-night dinner last night (eek!) and we've got a sick kid. So we'll hold off on the celebration. But oh, I am so glad and relieved that he's out -- and at the same time, incredibly proud of how well he served his country, too.

Job well done, little brother. Enjoy your civilian years. You've earned them.

First day of school

2008-09-02T07:41:00.005-05:00

4th grade!!!
(That's our old mailbox next to Morgan;
Pete made it into a planter.)

New backpacks, such fun.

Such serious students.

And a little sepia to finish off the session.

And now that the girls are off to school, Mr. Yon Saucy and I are going to brave RNC madness and go have breakfast at my favorite breakfast place, the Copper Dome. (Ignore the negative reviews. Those people are clearly deranged.) Yum.

Last day of summer vacation

2008-09-01T20:38:00.005-05:00

You may have heard that the Republican National Convention is currently happening over in St. Paul. We're doing our level best to avoid it, so we spent the last day of the girls' summer vacation going to the Zoo in the morning and Cascade Bay in the afternoon.

The Zoo was crowded and the animals were mostly hiding away snoozing, but I managed to get a couple of OK shots.

Siesta time for the grizzlies -- at 10 a.m.!
Rough life, dude.

I wouldn't want to mess with those claws.

The snow leopards were only marginally more awake.

I don't think he (she?) liked the humidity.

And like I said, most of the other critters were hidden away asleep, so that was it for pictures.

I didn't bring the camera along to Cascade Bay, but it was a good way to close out the summer. We swam, played water tag and other games, and then the girls found some friends they hadn't seen since school got out last June and promptly ditched us. We were all right about being ditched, though, and retired to our lounge chairs and read -- with periodic breaks to hop in to get cooled off -- while the kids went down the various slides and floated around the lazy river a few dozen last times. For not only was today the last day of summer vacation; it was Cascade Bay's last day of the season. I have to admit that I was a little sad when they blew the whistles at 5 and booted us all out. Dang, this summer went by fast.

But tomorrow we start 4th grade! The girls' Girl Scouts troop, in conjunction with the Boy Scouts troop, is doing the first-day-of-school flag raising ceremony. Great excitement, I tell you, especially since they're now Junior Girl Scouts and have new green vests and insignia that they'll wear for the first time tomorrow. I'd like to think that all the Girl Scouts are this excited about wearing their Girl Scouts' gear for the first day of school (instead of new back-to-school duds) and raising the flag, but I suspect it's just my two quivering with anticipation. Heh.

Give us this (week) our daily (white) bread

2008-08-31T17:42:00.003-05:00

Behold, white bread rising.

So, I make our own bread, right? Cuz I'm a touch obsessed about things like taste and quality, and avoiding HFCS and mystery ingredients that I can't pronounce...Anyway, as I was mixing up this week's bread batch late this afternoon, I made an oops. I'd intended to make a light whole-wheat, but...somehow completely forgot to add the whole wheat flour. (It probably didn't help that I'd just got up from a nap and was a mite groggy.) Instead, I went on auto-pilot and added cup after cup after cup of white flour. Like, 14 cups worth. By the time I realized it, it was too late to fix. Oops.

Oh well. This'll be a nice treat for lunch sandwiches for work -- and school. School. How is it possible that this is the last day of August, that the girls go back to school on Tuesday, that summer's essentially done?!

Dog owners, read this

2008-08-27T12:58:00.002-05:00

If you have a Four Paws Pimple Ball with Bell (Item #20227-001, UPC Code 0 4566320227 9), throw it away. Now. It can cause serious injury or death.

In Chai's case, it resulted in the loss of his tongue.

(Warning: the videos are hard to watch. That poor dog.)

We don't have any Four Paws products in our house -- Bailey prefers a non-Four Paws squeaky toy over anything and everything else, and she only plays with that one sporadically -- so saying that I'm going to boycott the company until they get this resolved is meaningless, really. But if I was looking for pet toys, I wouldn't buy their products. Anyway, I sent an email to Allen Simon, Four Paws' CEO, urging him to pull this product from the market and make restitution to Chai's owners for his medical care. If you'd like to do the same, the email addy is: hbirk@fourpaws.com

Guest Blogger: Morgan

2008-08-19T09:33:00.007-05:00

Inanimate or living?
by Morgan S.

These two pictures of my American girl doll before and after I went to sleep form a question.

This was Kit before I went to sleep.

This is Kit after I woke up. Her hair is different!

Is this doll Toy Story coming to life? Or is it just silly and the dog walked on Kit's head? We're not so sure ourselves. "Inanimate or living?" YOU decide!

blank stare

2008-08-14T14:34:00.005-05:00

My allergies are kicking in and I'm sneezing like mad. Tomorrow I have to go in for a minor outpatient procedure/treatment, first in a series*. The GI ick continues, although much better than it was before. What the hell ride am I on? Whatever it is, I want to get off. NOW.

On a happier note, our 14 & 1/2-year-old blender, a wedding gift, died in the middle of making banana-mango smoothies yesterday. OK, that wasn't very happy; that was really frustrating. (And messy.) Here's the happy part: today I got a new one. New kitchen toy. Whoot.

*It's nothing serious, so don't be concerned. And no, I am not going to tell you what it is, because that's entirely TMI.

So, China's Thumbelinas win gymnastics gold...

2008-08-13T11:32:00.005-05:00

...but questions remain about the gymnasts' ages.

I haven't seen the team competition yet (we've DVRing the Olympics, watching the bits we're especially interested in and fast forwarding through the rest, and we're behind by about a day [and yes, I know that "DVR" isn't a verb]), but I will say this: when I was 12, I was 4'11" and weighed 78 pounds. When I was 16, I'd reached my full height of 5'4" and weighed about 115 pounds*. That's purely anecdotal and means nothing, of course. But reading about these girls' (they are not women, no no no) heights and weights, and comparing them to their American counterparts...Huh.

I really wish the IOC had done its job and investigated this.

*and thought I was fat. Good grief.

Look, I'm a manga character!

2008-08-13T11:08:00.006-05:00

Ha ha ha. This was fun. Plus, Manga-me has boobage. Nifty.

All the cool kids are doing it, so go here to make yourself into a manga character. (Boobage not required.)

Hint of fall today

2008-08-12T10:10:00.003-05:00

It's August, but it doesn't feel like summer. It's rainy and cool. A few leaves have fallen. I'm wearing a sweatshirt. We won't going to the pool or for a bike ride today. Instead, we'll stay in and bake bread, and play games and watch TV. This always happens in August: a day or patch of days that carry a tang of autumn. Summer will bounce back -- it always does -- but today I'm remembering how short our warm season really is up here.

I really didn't want to write this post

2008-08-11T14:22:00.003-05:00

For the last month or so, I've been having some GI issues. I doubt that it's anything too serious -- we've ruled out food allergies, food poisoning, bugs, viruses, etc.; my white blood cell count is normal; blood pressure and pulse are good; weight's good; my overall physical condition is, as my doctor put it, "fantastic" -- but it is persistent and annoying and, to be honest, a little bit debilitating at times.

Once things settle down, I'm going to go get 'scoped so we have a better idea of what might be going on, but since we don't know for sure...Well, the long story made short is that on my doctor's advice, I won't be running the marathon. I'll be there the morning of, and I'll start off with the rest of the field, but I won't be running the whole thing. (Maybe half.)

I was very upset when he told me this two weeks ago, but I've slowly come around to his reasoning. We don't know what's going on. It's probably fine. But I have to admit that training's been a struggle for the last month, and that my energy levels aren't where they should be. And it's not like he told me to stop running altogether: he said he didn't think that continuing to train for the marathon would be wise at this point.

If this wasn't me, if this was a friend who'd been having some health issues and whose doctor had told her he didn't think it was wise to do this, and she asked me what I thought, what would I say to her? Of course I'd tell her to listen to her doctor. Once I looked at it from that perspective, it was easy to make the decision.

And of course, there's always next year. It's not like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, after all.

But I am disappointed.

Lots of pictures

2008-08-09T15:05:00.019-05:00

Wednesday we left for a little camping trip on the St. Croix River. This is one of the areas I consider "ours" -- we did a lot of camping there pre-kids and a fair amount post-kids -- but we haven't made it out there the last few years. It felt awfully good to be back.

Thursday morning sunrise, by Pete (who thinks that he doesn't take good pictures! Ha!)

Thursday happened to be my birthday. At my request, we celebrated by spending the day on the river in a canoe. It was perfect.

(There's no good way to take a picture of four people when they're all in a canoe, I'm afraid.)

On a side note, I am delighted, for the girls have finally discovered and are enthralled by Harry Potter. (Pay no attention to Morgan's Spy Kids. She didn't want to bring the bigger book on the river.) They're gobbling them up as fast as they can, and we've already had several deeply satisfying discussions about books 1, 2, and 3. Huzzah!

Friday we went fishing in one of the small river channels. Morgan caught her first fish within 20 minutes

(it's so small that we really should have thrown it back, but she didn't want to; I guess we're going to have it mounted -- don't laugh!) and another two little ones right after that (she was OK throwing those back in). After the third fish almost touched her leg on its way back into the river (ewwww!) she decided fishing was grand fun, and she was done.

Emma and I stayed out there for hours, but Morgan -- who, for the record, wouldn't have anything to do with putting the bait on her hook, getting the fish off the hook, or handling the fish at all -- had apparently nabbed all the luck, for poor Emma caught nothing but nibbles. Given that Emma was putting bait on the hook all by herself and had no issues with handling the fish, she thought that was more than a bit unfair, but overall stayed fairly cheerful about it. She and I are going fishing on Sunday, though.

And Monday, and Tuesday, and every other day until she finally catches a fish. That's all right. I like fishing. I actually feel sort of bad that we haven't taken the kids fishing before, even though we live right by a river. It's weird, but it's just not something I think to do. Lame, I know. Well, that's about to change, because Emma's caught the fishing bug bad.

I'd have loved to have stayed through Sunday, but we had to pack it up and head for home Friday afternoon, because there was something Super Cool going on Saturday morning (today) that we absolutely had to be here for, no ifs, ands, or buts about it...

Emma taking off.

Flying!! See, a few weeks ago, I saw a blurb in the newspaper about the Young Eagles program and promptly signed the girls up for today's session. Oh wow, that was amazing -- and I was just on the ground taking pictures. If you've got kids between the ages of 8 - 17, you should really check out this program. The pilots were awesome and the planes were phenomenal. The girls' flights ended several hours ago, and they're still bouncing around.

I'm afraid I have no plane knowledge whatsoever, so forgive my ignorance about makes, models, and stuff.

Emma got "the red plane."

Morgan was in "the yellow plane."

Taxiing.

Into the wild blue yonder -- literally! It's kind of weird, watching your kid zoom off into the sky...

Emma coming in.

I know her face is hard to see in this one, but she was SO excited, I had to post this one. And I love the pilot's grin.

Emma, our little chatterbox, was stunned speechless for about 10 minutes after she got out of the plane. I've never seen her like that before: she literally couldn't talk. She's flown before, but that's been on big commercial jets, nothing like this. A whole new world just exploded into being for her.

Morgan didn't wave coming in, or even smile. We were a little worried that maybe she'd been frightened out of her gourd -- but no. (Turned out that she had a control panel in front of her that she was focusing on.) She loved it. She's usually the quieter of the two (this isn't saying much as they're both talkers), but she came off that plane babbling a mile a minute and quivering with excitement. I don't know that it was quite as earth-shaking as Emma's experience -- the kid wants to be a pilot, and not when she grows up, but now -- but that was totally WICKED! (Who knows what movie that's from?)

They're officially Young Eagles now. Awesome, girls.

We sat around watching the planes coming in and out for a while after, and someone came out and took our picture, because these are new benches and they were pleased as punch that people were actually sitting on the benches and watching the planes take off and land. Tee hee.

(There are a ton of Chapter 54 Young Eagles pictures -- taken by the Chapter 54 folks, not yours truly -- from today's session here, if you're interested.)

And then we went out for breakfast, and then headed home, and that was the end to our super-fantastic mini-vacation. Now we have to go mow the lawn. Pooh.

Vanished posts, and reservations

2008-08-05T11:40:00.009-05:00

Dana Torres (Robert Maxwell)

In my last entry, I said the next post was going to be about the female body. Well, I did write it, and I thought I posted it, but...huh. Doesn't seem to be there, now does it?

Let me explain...no, there is too much. Let me sum up. (Bonus point to whoever can tell me what movie that's from.) Basically, it stemmed from this New York Times Well entry comparing 5-time Olympian and 41-year-old Dana Torres (she of the amazing abs) to 80-year-old Estelle Parsons

Estelle Parsons (Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)

an actress who, while not in Olympic form, is in pretty amazing shape.

I took exception to the statement that "Ms. Torres and her 'phenomenally ripped' belly have become the 'physical ideal for mothers, women at or approaching middle age, and just women in general.'" Oh, bother. Like this is remotely realistic for most of us poor schlups who don't have at least $100,000 a year for coaches, masseuses, chiropractors, nannies, and the like. I much prefer Ms. Parsons' appproach, because first, that IS realistic. Anyone who claims she can't find at least 30 minutes a day for exercise either needs to reevaluate what she's doing or is flat-out lying. (Parents with newborns and/or multiples get a free pass on this one.) And second, an Olympian, I'm not. Most of us aren't. Most of us won't be. But when I'm 80, I sure would like to be healthy and fit -- and that is something I can strive for.

And then there's 62-year-old Helen Mirren...

This picture's all over the Internet, but I got this one at www.examiner.com

Um. Wow. I have no idea what she's doing to keep in shape, but clearly, it's working. Wow!

Dang it, the post-that-didn't-post was a lot better than this summary. Anyway, what do you think? Would you rather be a Dara or an Estelle? Or Helen? (Hubba, hubba.)

# # #

Pete and I biking happily along during last year's 3-Speed Tour

In other news, I just got the last available room at the Bridgewaters Bed & Breakfast for next year's 3-Speed Tour. Hate me. =D

A failed experiment

2008-07-29T17:18:00.003-05:00

It was pointed out to me the other day (hi, Val!) that my last post here was July 4th. Oops. Well, what can I say. We've been busy, gone a lot, and I've been sort of sick the last few weeks. Blogging fell by the wayside. Tsk, tsk.

But I'm back. And today I want to blog about...pumpkin. Yes, you heard me right: pumpkin.

Morgan's pumpkin, Halloween 2007

According to the NY Times, pumpkin is one of the 11 best foods you're not eating. Now, I'm always up for eating well and adding new foods into the mix, but...pumpkin? Eww. I don't have many intense food dislikes, but pumpkin is one of them. I won't eat the stuff*. I know that some people love it, but for me it's nasty. It smells bad, tastes worse, and the texture's oogy. (See, it's so bad, it brings out my inner 5-year-old.) It doesn't matter how it's prepared: I can't stomach it, even in the form of pumpkin pie.

At my house we carve pumpkins for Halloween decorations and ambiance, and roast the seeds, and that's it.

But in the interest of adding more power foods to my diet, I bought a can of organic pumpkin the last time I was at the grocery store. After all, it's been years since I attempted pumpkin in any form; perhaps my taste has changed. And I am the one always pushing the girls to try new foods and give them a second, third, fourth-fifth-sixth chance if they don't like them the first time. Really, how could I not give this another try?

This afternoon, I made a half-cup's worth of canned pumpkin just like they suggested in the column: a little bit of butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. I managed about 4 bites, and then I gagged on the fifth bite and that was the end of that.

I suppose I could attempt it again, but...no. Pumpkins are going right back to where they belong: works of art and roasted seeds. And I'm OK with that.

What about you? Are there any super-foods, good-for-you foods that you know you should be eating, but just can't?

Tomorrow: the female body.

*Except for pumpkin seeds. Those are yummy. I was glad to see that they were on the list.

232

2008-07-04T23:26:00.001-05:00

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton

Happy Fourth of July, y'all.

Valley Fair hangover

2008-07-01T15:04:00.002-05:00

It's 3 p.m., and the girls and I are still in our pajamas. Cue dismay -- oh wait, it's summer vacation and we have nowhere to be today. Never mind.

My cousin, her husband, and their kids, aka the Texas Crew (now Pennsylvania Crew; they moved) have been staying with us since last Tuesday. Her brother and his family (hereafter referred to as the Oregon Crew) are also in town. As you may have guessed from the title, you clever reader, you, we spent yesterday at Valley Fair with my cousins and their families. What fun! We rode rides, ate junk, got repeatedly soaked between The Wave and The Flume, and had an altogether grand time.

When the girls and I visited the Texas-now-Pennsylvania Crew last year, we all went to Sea World in San Antonio and stayed until they kicked us out and locked the gates behind us. We were *this* close to doing the same at Valley Fair, but then my girls went on Chaos with Julianne of PA, and then Morgan and Julianne went on the Enterprise. My two both barfed within a half hour of exiting the rides. (I'm happy to report that Julianne suffered no ill effects.) We left shortly after that, about an hour before it closed. So close...

I would post pictures, but Pete seems to have taken the little camera with him to work. Pooh.

thunk iz ded

2008-06-22T13:09:00.009-05:00

Ran 11 miles this morning.

Actually, it went well, so well that I'm not all the way dead; just mostly dead. I've also eaten a huge lunch (HUGE. Nom nom nom.) and am eying the refrigerator and contemplating a second lunch.

I had a nifty little break-through moment earlier this week during a "short" run (4 miles -- not so long ago, that was a long run!). It felt good, so good that I remembered why I keep doing this running thing. The same thing happened today. The first 8 or 9 miles were glorious. I ran along the Mississippi, the temperature was perfect, the skies were blue. It was the kind of morning you'd like to bottle to release in January when the river is frozen over, the temperature is below 0 F and the windchill's even worse, and the skies are grey. My breath was coming easily. I was really into my stride. Everything was just clicking. There were even hawks wheeling overhead. I felt like I could go forever.

The last couple of miles pretty much sucked. A month ago I'd said something to Pete about needing to get new running shoes and soon, because while the ones I've got are fine for shorter runs, they're not going to cut it for these long runs. Well, I should have taken my own advice: at some point during today's run, I gave myself one hell of a blister in a really obnoxious spot (side of my foot, just a bit down from my big toe). How much do I hate being right...! By the time I started feeling the irritation, it was too late and I was still too far from home -- and I hadn't brought my cell phone, so I couldn't even call Pete to come get me. Since there really wasn't anything else I could do, I sucked it up and kept going and tried not to favor that foot. But of course I was favoring it, which threw my stride off, which started doing weird things to that leg. By the time I got home, I was Ms. Gimpy. Argh.

I also hadn't brought enough water, because I was counting on Pete and the girls to show up on their bikes with waters at some point. I'd emailed my route to Pete and everything (he and the girls were still asleep when I left the house). Alas! Map My Run failed me. Pete didn't get the email. I was out of water at the 5 mile mark. There weren't any places to stop and refill. I was fine for a few more miles, and then I wasn't. (Coincidentally or perhaps not, "not fine" hit at the same time the blister made its presence known.)

But all in all, it was good. I drank about a gallon of water when I got home and then did an ice bath. Pete thought the shriek I let out when I hit the ice water was pretty funny, but really, after the initial immersion, it feels awfully good. And it works. Granted, I don't feel like going out this afternoon and doing another 11 mile run, but I'm feeling pretty good now, blister and all. This afternoon, I'm going to hie myself down to Run N Fun and get that new pair of shoes.

It's also worth noting that this week alone, I put in more miles than I did during the entire month of May. May was such a waste (damn you, plague! *shakes fist*) that that's not saying much. But still. I'm feeling a nice little glow of satisfaction. Or maybe that's the gimpy leg starting to act up again.

Have passports; will travel!

2008-06-09T11:19:00.009-05:00

The girls are off to Spanish camp! This is their second year heading off to camp, so they're feeling like old pros. And yes, they literally do need passports to do this (albeit passports issued by the language villages, not the State Department). It's like going to Spain for a week, if Spain was in the northwoods of Minnesota. They'll go through customs, where any materials in English are considered contraband and will be confiscated*. Their money will be converted to pesos. They get immersed in the language and various Spanish-speaking cultures. And there will be mosquitoes. Lots of mosquitoes. (Don't worry. We packed plenty of insect repellent.)

Last year we drove them up to camp. This year they're taking the bus. Morgan was very excited about traveling all on her own, but Emma (who has flown and taken trains and generally likes traveling) surprised me by being a little leery about this...until she got on the bus and realized that, just as we kept telling her, a charter bus is a very different beast than a school bus. And, "It even has its own bathroom! This is so cool!!!"

They were so bouncy-excited that they wouldn't (couldn't?) hold still for the picture. Also and in case you hadn't noticed, they're really into bandannas right now. Muy cool, no?

I would love to be a bug on the wall during this 250 mile trip. I'm sure they'll be fine. Of course, they might also lose their passports and money along the way; in theory, I suppose it's possible that they could even lose their bags. But you know, even if any of that does happen, ultimately it too will be a grand learning experience that teaches them to be that much more careful with their IDs and money on future journeys. But oh! I wish there was a webcam I could watch just for the hilarity factor. "Emma and Morgan's Excellent Adventure..."

*and then returned at the end of their stay. They both brought books to read on the bus, but know they'll be taken away at customs and so wrote their names and addresses on the inside covers.

thunk iz ded (again)

2008-06-08T22:34:00.002-05:00

Ran 7.48 miles tonight.

It wasn't a good pace. It was not a good pace at all. By the end, it felt like there were giant weights strapped around my ankles. I wasn't in pain, mind, just fatigued and slooooow. But I did it. Go, me!

(And take that, Crud-that-lingered-far-too-long-and-messed-up-my-training-plan. Nyaaah.)

What's really important

2008-06-06T10:24:00.005-05:00

This morning I got pretty irritated with Katherine Kersten's latest idiot column (why so many people think it's outright freaky and even threatening to reduce consumption and/or try to live a sustainable -- oh, the horror! -- lifestyle is beyond me). Instantly, a rebuttal formed in my head. Before I knew it, I was typing away into the comment field. I was *this* close to hitting "post" and leaping into the fray...but at the last moment, sanity prevailed. I did the online equivalent of backing away slowly, and deleted the comment and hit the back button.

Then I grabbed the camera and took some shots of a few things around the house that make me smile.

Orchids.

Violets.

A moment in time.

Oxalis in bloom.

Morgan's geranium.

Bailey dozing in a sun puddle.

The old piano.

Books.

A gift from a friend (well used, as you can see)
and a 1950s percolater that makes the best. coffee. ever.

I don't think I need to explain this one.

Ahh. I feel much better now.

# # #

The last few weeks, I've been cheating on my SLR and using the point and shoot. I couldn't help myself. It was there. It was convenient. OK, the quality wasn't as good, but how nice to just, well, point and shoot. Then I did an impromptu session yesterday with the Robin Hood and the poor, neglected SLR. Oh, wow. What a difference. Oh, darling. I'm so sorry. It won't happen again. I promise...

Ooooh. Shiny.

2008-06-05T22:23:00.010-05:00

The girls and I got caught out in this (at one point I thought my little car was going to drown) on our way home from getting
this:

a 1966 Robin Hood.

Isn't she pretty!

She rides really nice, too.

I think I shall call her "Marian." (OK, maybe not.)

I'm looking forward to getting to know her.

I'm not sure if Pete is delighted or concerned that I was so taken with the old 3-speeds after doing the 3-speed tour that I had to get one of my own via a stranger from the Internet on a dark and stormy afternoon. For that matter, I'm not sure if I should be delighted or concerned. Is this a cry for help? Do I have a problem? Nah. After all, I've only got 3 bikes now, while certain other members of this household have ~~2 million~~ 14. And I don't want any more. Really. Well, except maybe a Dunelt...or a Hercules...and I wouldn't turn up my nose at a Raleigh...

I draw the line at hunting my own boar

2008-06-05T07:31:00.002-05:00

For you foodies out there:

Recipe Deal Breakers

Hee!

The 10th Annual 29th Birthday

2008-06-04T20:18:00.004-05:00

Pete wouldn't tell me what he wanted for his birthday -- other than a gold-plated bike, which ain't gonna happen. At least not this year.

So instead, the girls and I threw a party for him. Fiesta!

I'll post more later -- the girls made and decorated a cake for him all by themselves; it was really something and worth a post in and of itself. But for now, happy birthday, dear. :-)

Blah

2008-05-28T08:56:00.006-05:00

The congestion is still lingering -- apparently, I'm going to be stuck with the Crud indefinitely -- but I am now so sick of being sick that I don't care. Babying myself through this thing worked (I didn't come down with bronchitis or pneumonia, after all), but only to a point. And then there's this marathon looming off in the distance. I'm losing time here. Granted, time is still on my side, but the longer this goes, the harder it's going to be in the long run. (Long run. Get it? Har har har.)

So, no more excuses. Or to quote that stupid shoe manufacturer: just do it.

Tuesday evening I really didn't want to do anything except sit around and do nothing. I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, work was much more tiring than it should have been, and overall I felt generally lousy, but I made myself get up and go anyway. One 3-mile run later, I felt more clear-headed and alert than I'd been in a week. Also -- bonus! Despite the never-ending Crud and a training schedule that accordingly mutated to sporadic and light, somehow I've managed to shave a full minute off my mile times. How this possible? Oh well. Whoot.

Last night we had dinner plans to celebrate the girls' birthday*, but even though time was a'crunching, I went for a short run in between the girls and I getting home from school/work and before we went out for dinner. Nothing impressive, just a mile and a half, but still. It sure beats not going for a run. Go, me.

Today, I will go for a run this afternoon -- and if it's raining like the forecast says it's going to be, then I will go to the Y and run 44 laps around the track. Running in circles. Ick. I really hope it doesn't rain.

Related to nothing and on the very off chance that Karl reads this blog...Yesterday (Wednesday), at the intersection of Pilot Knob and Lone Oak, about 9:10 a.m.? You, on your bike. Me, in my grey Jetta. I waved happily. You stared blankly. I know, you probably didn't recognize me sans bike and hat. 'S'ok. Just wanted to say hi. Hi!

*The Rainforest Cafe, at their request. A good time was had by all, and especially by the birthday girls. Vol-ca-nooo!

In which I complain

2008-05-27T17:10:00.005-05:00

I can't seem to manage to shake off this Crud I've been sick with going on 3 weeks now. I was better -- and then Morgan came home sick from school last Tuesday and reinfected me. I was better again -- and then Morgan got sick and reinfected me. Or maybe I reinfected her, and she in turn reinfected me? I think I've lost count. This dance, it has become old. We have simply got to stop passing this back and forth!

And why is it that Pete and Emma are remaining disgustingly healthy while Morgan and I hack and wheeze our way through May? (Not that I want either of them to get the Crud. I'm just saying that this feels somewhat unfair.)

Blargh.

Now we are (almost) 9

2008-05-26T10:12:00.008-05:00

The girls didn't want a birthday cake this year; they wanted cupcakes.
So cupcakes they got.

(Thanks, Nana, not just for the cupcakes but the clever decorating!)

The bad thing about having a Memorial Day birthday is that most of your friends are out of town during the long weekend. Laura's in New York. Jasmine's in South Dakota. Miki's at a cousin's graduation. Mac wasn't quite sure where she was going to be, but she knew she wouldn't be here. Etc. This happens every year. We tried once to have a kiddy birthday party during Memorial Day weekend, but only got one RSVP. Now we know better, and will wait until summer vacation to have the friends' birthday party.

The good thing about having a Memorial Day birthday is that your family makes plans to travel to you. Being almost-9, it's no longer quite as fun to hang out with one's grandparents, aunts, and uncles instead of one's friends, but cupcakes and pre-actual-birthday loot make up for that.

(That's a lot of loot.)

The girls were delighted with their haul, but two gifts in particular made them squeal with delight: a gi-normous jewelry making kit for Morgan, and a chemistry set for Emma, both courtesy of Grandma and Papa.

(Did anyone get a picture of Morgan with her jewelry kit? Somehow, we didn't. If you did, will you please send us a copy?)

Unfortunately, Morgan was feeling the combined after-effects of a wild 24 hours out on the town with Uncle Matt and Auntie Jenn just the day before (Chuck E. Cheese! candy! vanilla pancakes! candy!) plus birthday party fare (chips! hot dogs! gallons of lemonade! cupcakes!) and took one of her new books and put herself to bed promptly after the last guest left.

Emma, who had been dying to rip open the chemistry set and blow something up, strapped on her safety goggles,

enlisted Daddy's help,

and went to work.

I'm glad to report that the house is still standing.

(If you hear a big "BOOM!" and see a plume of dust and smoke in our area, call for help, OK?)

It's free, you foolish woman

2008-05-25T09:42:00.004-05:00

There's this woman who works at the grocery store I go to. She's elderly, a Russian immigrant. Every time I end up in her line, she takes me to task for using cloth bags that I bought at that store. "[insert Russian accent here] Why do you spend money on those? We give you bags. For free," she adds for emphasis, just in case I don't understand. She also tries to bag individual items in plastic before putting them in the cloth bag, so that nothing leaks or oozes or breaks. At first I tried to explain. Now I just smile at the "for free" and stop her when she starts whipping out the little plastic bags. I would bristle at anyone else doing this stuff, but she's cute -- and she means well. Maybe it's the accent, maybe it's her earnestness, maybe it's that she reminds me a little bit of my grandmother, who would go to great lengths to save a buck. Whatever the reason, I like her.

I had to go to the store this morning to pick up some things for this afternoon's birthday party (the girls are turning 9 on Wednesday and we're having their family party today). I ended up in her line. She shook her head over my cloth bags. She chided me for buying organic milk produced from local grass-fed cows and sold in returnable glass bottles. "You know we got cheaper milk than this, right?" she said, frowning at me over her glasses.

"I like this milk," I said, and handed her the returnables.

She shook her head over my foolish ways. Cloth bags, expensive milk, doesn't care that something might leak or break or ooze if it's not swaddled in plastic. Clearly, I am some sort of foolish, frivolous lunatic in this woman's eyes. But today she got me. She quizzed me when she got to the birthday candles -- "You know you got two number 9s here? You want two number 9s?" -- and distracted me by going into raptures of delight upon learning that I deliberately got two number 9s instead of one because I have twins who are turning 9. She poured on the interest and charm. I was charmed. We chatted about twins (she has twin nieces who are now 41). It was fun. I stopped paying attention to what she was doing. There was only one item left to go, a bottle of dish soap. I thought it would be OK.

When I got home and started putting things away, I discovered that she'd bagged my bottle of dish soap in a plastic bag and then put the bagged dish soap in the cloth bag.

Sigh.

Doom, gloom, doom, gloom...

2008-05-22T11:11:00.008-05:00

Having said that my blog entries are going to be sporadic at best for a bit here, of course then I start blogging like a madwoman.

I am reading a very depressing book right now: The World Without Us. We've really messed this place up. I mean, I knew before starting it that we've really made a grand mess of things, but the level to which we've done it, oil's role in it, and the aeons it's going to take to correct the damage is simply mind-boggling. Stop this ride. I want to get off. Oh, wait, I can't get off: we've only got one planet. OK. I'll just keep trying to do my best to take care of it, then. But do my efforts matter or make even a teeny difference? Right now, I'm doubting it. I mean, I'm only one in 6 billion and counting. All my efforts aren't even going to result in one bean, let alone a hill of beans. What good is anything I do if I'm surrounded by people whose main purpose in life seems to be to buy, consume, and throw away, and drive 8 brazillion miles while they're doing it?

I read in the paper today that oil broke $133 per barrel. American is going to start charging $15 per first checked bag as a way to offset fuel prices. The airlines and auto industries are gasping for air as oil prices continue to surge. There's now doubt about projected oil supplies being as plentiful as previously thought. None of that bothered me, though. In fact, my reaction is bring it. That's right. $4 per gallon for gas? Not high enough. Let's push it up to $10, $12, $15 per gallon. And higher! Because that is the only thing that will finally bring about real, meaningful change. It's going to hurt, no mistake about that. In the interim, it's probably going to get really ugly too. And we're going to see things like opening up the Arctic and the like for drilling. Now, in my opinion that's a band-aid approach at best. Going into currently-protected areas isn't going to do anything to fix the actual problem of this decades-long addiction to oil and the products (plastic, plastic, and more plastic) and behaviors that go along with it. What we need are real alternatives -- and behavioral changes. (On our way to the orthodontist this morning*, I counted only 3 cars with 2 or more people in them and 45 with only one person -- and that was just while waiting to turn off Pilot Knob!) But those don't exist yet, and so people will be screaming about fuel costs, and politicians, their backs to the wall, will be climbing over each other trying to calm the electorate and/or not lose votes...

Anyway, it's only when it starts to hurt, really hurt, that people will begin to reevaluate what they're doing, and then change what they're doing. I say that can't happen fast enough. It's going to take a hell of a long time for this place to recover from what we've done to it. We might as well start now.

*1&1/2 miles from our house. Location/proximity played a big part in why we went with her.

grrr

2008-05-20T20:18:00.003-05:00

05.20.08
Post-run

Dear Lingering Congestion and Cough,

GO AWAY.

No love,
Me

PS Happy Birthday, Matthew D.!

2008-05-20T07:47:00.013-05:00

This is going to be a repeat post for those of you who read my super-secret writing blog. Sorry about that. But I am resolved that I am not going to let myself play with pictures from the 3-speed tour until I hit a certain point on the novel's edits, and, well, I didn't hit that point yesterday. So no new pictures for you. I realize that's not exactly fair but I've yet to come up with a better way to do this, so that's what it's going to be.

For the people who do not know the super-secret handshake and password to read the super-secret writing blog, however, these are new pictures. And probably new information, as I bet most of you didn't even know I was going to go do a 3-speed tour. Well, I did! And despite only having done a few rides this spring and still being on the tail end of being sick, it was grand fun.

If you click the 3-speed tour link, it will basically tell you that a bunch of nutters dress up like people from the 30s, get on a bunch of old 3-speeds and take two days to ride around Lake Pepin, with lots of stops for pastries, cheese, and tea. And that's exactly what we did.

Last night Pete asked if doing this made us the biking equivalent of Civil War reenactors. Yes dear, I believe it does.

I even wore a skirt the first day. I've never worn a skirt biking before and was a little apprehensive about it, but it was actually rather fun. I should also say that I cheated and wore biking shorts beneath. I don't think those were an option in the 30s, but fortunately, I live in 2008.

I received a lot of comments about my hat. All compliments, I'm sure, for it's a beauty, isn't it!

I met lots of very nice people. I saw eagles. I ate pie. I biked slowly with my sweetie through scenic beauty and historical landmarks. We made people stare. It was a grand time, indeed. I'm already looking forward to next year's tour.

I've got a lot more pictures I'd like to process and post, and a slightly more detailed entry to write up, but unfortunately that is going to have to wait as I've hit crunch time with the novel. Between that and my training schedule for the marathon, updates to this blog may be sporadic at best for a bit.

Now I must run away to work and sell books, and then after I will work on my book until the girls get home from school and we work our way through homework, and dinner, and swimming lessons. And I need to go for a run today, too. Busy, busy. Sort of makes me wish I were still leisurely biking around Lake Pepin.

Edit: I wrote this in a hurry before leaving for work this morning, and realized after the fact that I'd inadvertently left out the most important part of the 3-speed tour. So here it is, along with my apologies for not including it in the original post: a big, huge THANK YOU! to Bill at a midway bikelog for the loan of the Dunelt. It's a beautiful bike in fabulous condition, and it got a lot of attention and compliments all through the tour (as well it should have!). What a sweet, sweet ride. Thanks, Bill!

The Big C; Another Haircut; Art (Or Is It Something Else?)

2008-05-14T09:28:00.013-05:00

I am glad I decided to baby myself, because sheesh. This cold or whatever it is, it's kicked my derrière. If I hadn't babied myself, I really would probably be deep into bronchitis or pneumonia territory by now. As it is I am mostly better, save for some lingering congestion and some sinuses that were severely clogged yesterday but are now much better, thanks to the wonders of...cayenne pepper. Yes, that's right. Cayenne pepper.

Here's what happened. My sinuses were so bad yesterday morning that I couldn't hear out of my right ear and the right side of my face so clogged and heavy that I was literally off-balance. That's not fun! I tried to make an appointment to go see my doc. No luck. The earliest I could get in was tomorrow (Friday). I made the appointment anyway, and then promptly went a-searching teh Interwebs to see if I could find something -- anything! -- that would provide some immediate relief.

After learning more about my sinuses than I ever wanted (did you know that most people after age 30-40 can hold up to 2 full cups of mucus, dust, pollen, and other substances in their sinus cavity? ewww), I hit on some home cures. After ruling out things like standing on my head, plunging my head into a bucket of ice water, or squirting onion juice up into my nose, I decided to try sniffing cayenne pepper. That's right, I was desperate enough to snort cayenne! But don't be alarmed. I too was quite concerned about the potential negative effects of this cure, and so went about it very cautiously. I took the tiniest pinch imaginable (4-6 grains?) and sniffed about half of that. I waited a minute or two. Other than a faint and surprisingly not-unpleasant sensation of warmth in my nose and back of my throat, nothing happened. Cautiously emboldened, I sniffed the rest of the tiny pinch. The warmth increased, although again not unpleasantly so. Within minutes my sinuses began to drain. I will spare you the nasty details. Suffice it to say that after about a half hour, maybe forty-five minutes, the clog was unclogged, balance was restored, and I could hear out of my right ear again. Even better, it's stayed unclogged. All praise the curative effects of cayenne pepper, hallelujah!

If I'd been really bold and snorted a bunch all at once, I suppose I would have been fixed immediately -- but I think I also would have been in cayenne-induced agony. In this case, less was truly more. Anyway, the next time your sinuses are clogged, consider reaching for a teeny little bit of cayenne pepper. Or not; really, you've got to be rather desperate to try this one. But for what it's worth, it worked. I've even canceled tomorrow's doctor's appointment.

# # #

Since the haircuts last week, I've had a lot of people tell me that their girls with their short hair look a lot like me. I dunno. I think that they look a lot like both of us. From my short, stocky point-of-view, they hit the genetic jackpot by getting their daddy's build: tall and lean. (Poor, poor things. To be fated to be tall and slim -- oh, the horror! I don't know how they'll endure it.../end false sympathy)

They've got my eyes and their daddy's build, and the rest is this combination of us that I think is uniquely them. But I don't know. What do you think? I just got my hair cut this morning, so here's a quick one of me (sorry, my arms aren't long enough for some better perspective and I didn't feel like setting up the tripod and remote), one of Pete from last summer, and the girls:

# # #

A life-sized Lucian Freud painting of a sleeping, naked woman has set a new world record price for a work by a living artist.

It went for £17.2m ($33.6m). That's a lot of clams. Is it art? A challenge to our current cultural conception of beauty? Something else?

I don't know what I think. But if I were going to spend $33.6 million on a painting, I probably wouldn't buy this one.

sneeze

2008-05-12T08:53:00.006-05:00

I've been sick since Thursday. It's nothing serious, just a rather vile head cold and cough. Usually I tend to try to muscle through this kind of stuff, but I've gotten wise in my old age -- or experience has finally taught my stubborn self a lesson it should have learned a long time ago: it almost never works to muscle through it. Instead, I just get really sick and end up with pneumonia or the like. Always fun. NOT.

There's also the marathon looming before me. I am apparently really dedicated to doing this thing, because this was a huge factor in how I decided to treat myself. Do I want to A) be smart about this and take a few days off now and get better, or B) be stupid and end up having to take a month off later, which would throw a huge wrench in the training plan, if not knock me out of the marathon completely? Hmm. Gosh, whatever should I do...

I chose A and have been babying myself accordingly. Four days later and lots of rest, fluids, and chicken noodle soup, I think tomorrow I might be OK enough to attempt a very light run. Or not. Maybe I'll just take the dog for a walk. That's all right too. I'm resolved not to push too hard or too fast. The wisdom of 37...Man! Imagine how smart I'll be when I'm 57! The mind boggles.

As a sort of sidenote, it's amazing how fast the house falls apart when I'm out of commission. Clearly, I must be feeling better since today I'm feeling the urge to do something about the mess and clutter, but oh my. It's like the place imploded.

It must be said that a lot of the mess belongs to a certain set of almost-9-year-old twins. They're definitely old enough to be cleaning up after themselves, so accordingly, they'll be doing some cleaning when they get home from school today. They'll be so happy. I can just imagine their reactions: Oh joy! Oh bliss! May we clean more, dear Mother? Please? Oh, please?

Ha ha. Yeah, dream on. The reality will be a fair amount of whining and complaining, and I shall turn into my mother: It's good for you, girls. Someday you'll both thank me for making you clean up after yourselves. Personal responsibility! Etc.

I can hardly wait.

Current conditions: Wind 17 mph, gusting to 25 mph.

Dreaming of alternatives

2008-05-11T13:19:00.004-05:00

I would love to go off the grid -- electrical grid, that is. It wouldn't bother me one bit not to be beholden to Xcel Energy, not one bit at all.

If we did it, I think I'd prefer wind power to solar power. Not only do we fit the criteria

if you have at least half an acre of land, wind speeds of at least 10 mph and an electric bill of at least $60/month, you might be a candidate for your own wind power installation
(check, check, and check)

but it also seems that in this area, wind would be more practical than solar. Living atop a river bluff, we've almost always got wind in abundance. (Current conditions: wind at 13 mph with gusts up to 23 mph.) Sun...not so much, or at least not so reliably. November through March, especially, can be awfully grey months. And for much of this last April, sun was the exception, not the norm. No, I just don't think solar's the best option for us. Wind, however...hmm.

Our city council can be rather stupid, though. (Witness the current Mediterranean Cruise Cafe debacle.) I wonder what kind of idiotic hoops they'd make us jump through to get a permit, if they'd even issue one at all. And what would the neighbors say? Actually, I think they'd mostly be cool with it. I'm sure there'd be a few loud-mouthed exceptions, though...

That start-up cost is a bit much initially, too. It seems that over time it would pay for itself, but that's a chunk of change, no doubt about it. Of course, we could always build our own. Goodness knows, we've always got lots of spare bikes and parts lying around.

Has anyone out there gone to wind power? How's that been working for you?

Yon saucy wench

That's a wrap, folks.

Currently baking #6

Currently baking #5

Currently baking #4

Currently baking #3

Currently baking #2

Currently baking

Teaser post

An experiment

Here we go again

I think this is incredible

Another 5K update

Come on. You know you want to.

A marvelous night for a moondance

oops

Why the *!%*!" do I live in MN-Saunders 5K

...or perhaps not the end of the streak

End of the streak?

Pet Issue: Why are we feeding our kids crap?

A post per day for the last 2 days?

Oh, this poor neglected blog

Happy 10th Birthday to The Zoester!

Marathon Day

How times have changed

Dinner: soup

Hodge podge post

Breakfast: Doughnuts by Morgan

Dinner: pasta

Wanted: lens cap

Dinner: stir fry

Breakfast

Blowing the dust off this poor, neglected blog

Canning summer

July event

Toothsome

The faces of Emma

The faces of Morgan

Angry faces, begging faces

2009 Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour

Earth Day Half Marathon

Fire!

More fun with flowers in the early morning light

BSG series finale

Hungry for color

Untitled

Slap in the face

Squeeing like a little fangrrl

Random picture

Baking, baking, and more baking

Day off

It's been too long

2008

For Eric and Val, who live in the 6th District

Season 2 is over already?!

Nicely said, sir

Random post

No pictures later

Teaser post

Oh, and also

In which my kitchen is a disaster

ich bin eine gute hausfrau, ja

Sunday morning reading

And as long as I'm talking politics

Debate

Breakfast

See, kids, we're not lame; we're simply years ahead of the trends

Saluting an Iraq veteran

First day of school

Last day of summer vacation

Give us this (week) our daily (white) bread

Dog owners, read this

Guest Blogger: Morgan

*blank stare*

So, China's Thumbelinas win gymnastics gold...

Look, I'm a manga character!

Hint of fall today

I really didn't want to write this post

Lots of pictures

Vanished posts, and reservations

Why the !%!" do I live in MN-Saunders 5K

blank stare

thunk iz ded

thunk iz ded (again)

It's free, you foolish woman

sneeze