6 days until Security Theater!

Six days until the mini humans & I board an airplane in Chicago and touch down in Washington, D.C.
I am STOKED. I love the East Coast. In a wholly non-sexual, but totally high-school-crush kind of a way. I have found that I naturally orient myself to large bodies of water (see? part bird), and the few years I spent living in Oklahoma I was known to get hopelessly lost DESPITE the fact that all the streets there run North-South and East-West. Being near the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay and oh yes The Atlantic Ocean makes me a happy girl deep in my bones. Also, it's hard not to geek out about a place that has a million and one different ethnicities and restaurants and super creative people who also happen to be friends of mine.

Also, I will get to visit the lovely Nessa and her new bairn.

The kids are split in their enthusiasm. Adrian LOVES travel and adventure (just don't ask him to try any new foods). Fiona craves routine and familiarity, but she does pretty well as long as Adrian is there. She keeps telling me she is NOT getting on an airplane. I plan to bribe her with foodstuffs and Sesame Street pod casts. (who knew monsters were so tech savvy?)

On Monday I had my MRI. Since it was for my breasts, I had to lay on my stomach for an hour with my boobs in a hole. It was really difficult not to laugh about the absurdity of the arrangement. Now I wait (more waiting--awesome) to hear from the surgeon and see what the next step is.

I have 4 days of work, a BBQ, watching some neighbor kids, and I am supposed to try & get into the city to see a friend who is there for a conference.

Clarification

So my last post does indeed look like I was sitting on my keyboard.
It was in actuality a rant about having to be in the basement for 5 hours with a wet/dry vac as the torrential rain was pushing water up the standpipe. (SERIOUSLY, how are we ever going to sell this house?!)

But it was sent from my phone, which translated the whole thing into a Yosemite Sam style rant. And after I talked to my neighbor, who came home to 2 FEET of water in his basement, I am just going to sit down & shut up. He has lived in that house for 21 years and has NEVER had that problem before. But in the past 3 years we have experienced 2 50-year flood events and 1 100-year flood event. (But the weather is fine. There's no global warming*)

Back to selling the house: Not this year, or even in the next 5 years. In all likelihood, not until Fiona graduates high school (2025). Because I really like Tinley Park, and the schools, and the proximity to Chicago. However the winters here turn me into the saddest panda in the bamboo forest.

Last week my cousin was here from Birmingham (Alabama) and we went into the city to the Art Institute. It was glorious and magnificent and I had forgotten how much I love the city. All cities, really. They have this wonderful character & life of their own. And Chicago has so much that I haven't seen, so there's no way we can move away just yet.

*just another bee in my bonnet. I won't go into detail here, suffice it to say that I work in an environment where a lot of people come through clinging to their ignorance as though it was a shield.

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Answers to questions!

Question 1: Why are you having an MRI?

Answer: Because I have a cyst in my right breast. Before the biopsy, the surgeon wants to make sure there is only the one cyst in the one area. I will take an MRI over exploratory surgery any day. Providing the nurse can properly install an IV line.

Question 2: Why do you love June so much?

Answer: Because it is the start of summer! The farmer's market re-opens, the peonies bloom (and they are my absolute favorite flower of all time, ever), the plants that I have set in the garden begin to grow with an alarming speed. The butterflies and birds are returned and about their business. The weather warms and we can again hang up our coats and slip on summer shoes. We can go swimming outside!FIONA'S BIRTHDAY IS IN JUNE. And she is an amazing person. She is a joy to be around and watching her grow is wonderful. And this June in particular is awesome because I will be visited by my cousin, my little sister, and the kids and I are FLYING TO DC to see my parents (and the 4th of July fireworks).

Question 3: where have you been?

Answer: In the real world, away from the computer. I may return more regularly, I may not. I haven't decided yet. My next MRI is scheduled for June 13.

Things at which I am bad

1. Sports. I am uncoordinated and have the attention span of a mildly concussed kitten.

2. Houseplants. Seriously, they cry when they hear me coming. I can't keep plants alive indoors for very long. Although my mushrooms are doing really well! (So i can grow fungus, but not plants...)

3. Getting IVs. Yesterday I had to go for an MRI but never made it to the actual MRI because I passed out while the nurse was trying to get the IV in. I have sneaky veins, and she was rolling the needle around under my skin and I checked out. I don't know what it's like for you when you faint, but for me it's a trip to instant dreamland. Then when I came to there were all these strange faces around me....and I threw up for 2 hours. It was no good.
They sent me home and I have to reschedule the procedure.

So yesterday was a bust. How was your Wednesday?

Adrian: I'm a corn snake! Fiona: I'm a corn dog snake!

Hi everybodee

Well, operation clean out is going slower than I anticipated. I probably should have started in January when I was trapped in the house with not much else to do.
I have delivered 2 trunk loads of stuff to Goodwill and 1 to a friend (who has a friend expecting a baby). I have thrown things away! I am compiling another trunk load of unused toys and clothes I no longer wear.

But in the midst of that frenzy, the weather turned nice. It stopped raining (after 16 consecutive days), and I started prepping for outside time. Weeding, turning over compost, starting seeds, watching my bees (they are doing great!), ordering LOTS of dirt...

And I have been working more, in anticipation of the month of June (which is going to be full of awesome) when I am going to take a huge chunk of time off for house guests and vacation. And lounging poolside...anybody got a pool they want to loan me?

How was your Mothers Day? Mine was pretty awesome. Aaron got some stuff done for me in the yard (yay!) and I got a new (slightly intimidating) sewing machine. Thus far I have opened the box and read the manual.

Art has taken a bit of a backseat--it's hard to sit in the basement studio when I know the weather outside is full of gorgeous.

And that's all the news that's fit to print.

Stay fabulous!

LESS IS MORE!

So after returning home from Birmingham, I had a small bee in my bonnet. We are surrounded, nay overwhelmed, by all of the things in this house.
And then I read this blog post over at Clean.

It's easy enough to stand in the midst of a messy child's room and yell "I've had enough!"
And have your husband yell "me too!" and formulate a plan to lessen the stuff burden, but then I started to look at MY stuff.

I have a lot of stuff. Books, Art supplies, clothes, shoes, movies...

So last week, I sorted out my cookbooks. I asked myself: If the house burned down & I lost everything, which of these would I replace?
I kept those & ditched the rest.
Next week will be the bedroom closet. Out will go the too small, too big, unfinished, and things that make me go "enh".

Wish me luck.

Some thoughts

I have not been posting because I am trying to come to terms with the death of my grandmother, whom we called Nana. She lived a life that spanned nearly a century. Woodrow Wilson was President when she was born in Morgan City, Louisiana. Barack Obama was President when she died in Birmingham, Alabama. She was a pioneer in her time, running the accounting for 2 businesses when most women were expected to be only wives and mothers. She was strong-willed, courageous, and possessed a perseverence that seems mind-boggling by today's standards. She survived and thrived despite all that life through at her. And she left an amazing legacy: us. Her family.

March 25, the morning she passed, I woke at 5:00 am knowing that I would be receiving a phone call that morning. At 7 am my father called to let me know she had gone.

When Aaron arrived home from work we began the task of planning our departure for Birmingham, a 680 mile journey from where we currently live. I packed bags, called pet & house sitters, I called off work, and made sure that neighbors kept an eye on the house. I baked a batch of Nana's tea biscuits for Dad.

Aaron drove the whole way down while the kids & I slept in the car. We arrived in Birmingham at 6:30 AM and ate breakfast.

We arrived at Nana's house at 7AM where my parents & brother were staying. The next 3 days were filled with family and mourning and laughter. My kids got to meet their cousins for the first time. We filled Nana's house with the things she loved most: family and friends.

I think it was a fitting tribute to a woman who listed "parties" at the top of her "Things I like" list. Now I am still coming to terms with the Nana-shaped hole in my universe. She was a puzzle that I don't think I will ever entirely understand--and that is what makes me saddest above all.

We visited in 2002, and she said something to me that I have written down, repeated, and carried with me:

Never forget who you are.

Never forget that you are loved.

Thank you, Nana.

Taste of Spring

The sturdy leaves of bulbs are poking through the grass, the compost is thawing, and the birds are flitting around building nests.
It's 66 degrees outside! The windows are open and EVERYTHING is blowing around b/c the wind is moving at 21 miles per hour. That's enough to make a creaky moan when it gusts through the window.
Tomorrow is set to be rainy and 52 degrees. I will be baking cookies (to celebrate getting over the headcold that laid me low) and tattooing for 8 hours. Whoop!

It's nice to have a job that makes you smile.

There comes a time...

In every parent's life when you have to put your foot down.

I might as well never take them off the floor, I have so many strong opinons on so many things--it's hard to get all my baggage up in the morning.

But this post is about TELEVISON (If TV is your best friend & you can't imagine life without it, turn away now) and the crazy crap it brings into our homes.
Serial killers? on at least 4 different channels. More if you have cable.
Mysogynistic music videos? Plenty of those.
General cruelties that only humans can inflict upon each other because animals aren't that imaginative? In SPADES.

So I have limited the "appropriate" TV channels to 2. PBS and Disney.
And do you know what I have learned?
I don't like Disney.

I liked the movies growing up, but viewed from this angle they seem to have some pretty heavy ideas regarding gender roles and occupations.
I don't know about you, but last time I scoured the want ads nobody was looking to hire a "Princess". (Actual EMPLOYMENT, not partners in kinky sex escapades)

From watching the line up of Disney shows, it is clear that the scripts aren't written by people with impressionable children in their homes. Many of the plotlines involve hiding things from Mom and Dad. Awesome. Let's implant THAT idea into the heads of America's youth. How about we focus on the virtues of resourcefulness & honesty & creativity?

Maybe this is why my parents house only had 1 TV and no cable.

Well done, Mom & Dad.

We have blocked a number of "kid" channels, and have set timers on how long the TV can be on. I know it's winter & it's cold outside, but eeesh. Adrian asks for new toys all the time & I am not inclined to get him any if he's not going to use the ones he's got. We have art supplies, a dress-up bin to kill for, toys, and books. He has more than enough to keep him occupied.

Spring Break is the last week of March. And it's going to be very nearly TV free.

A confession

I don't know if this makes me a closet hippie, or if it's just an outward manifestation of my own personal religious beliefs, but every time I hear Joel Salatin speak I find myself yelling "yeah!" and "that's right!". And then I take my hypocritical bottom to the store and buy whatever produce is on sale.
I don't know if you've noticed, but it's February. Which means that the produce is mostly from last season, has been sitting in a chill chest and is quite frankly disappointing beyond words.

To that end, I have decided to sign us up for a CSA. That's Community Supported Agriculture, friends.

I have researched my options (thanks, interwebs!) and I have narrowed it down to a CSA that delivers to a place about 10 minutes from my front door. This particular CSA allows you to buy SEASONAL shares, so I will be signing up for spring & fall, and still enjoying my local farmer's market in the summer. They also have eggs. From chickens raised like chickens and not like robots. I am really excited to be partaking in a system that supports local business people, heals the earth, and puts healthy food on my table.
(But I am still shaving my armpits, which should disqualify me from full hippie status)

It's 18 degrees.

While walking to school this morning, Adrian says: wow! It's so warm out, I can smell spring coming!

last week

Last week it snowed a bit. The official total was 20 inches, but with the drifts (and my aversion to the cold) I didn't venture out to measure.
Adrian was able to go out and tromp around a bit, thanks to his snowshoes. I made snowshoes for Fiona but she didn't grasp the marching-instead-of-walking aspect and wound up tangled & frustrated. She tried to navigate the snow, but it was nearly waist-deep and gave up.

We baked and made valentines. On Blizzard Night we lost power for 6 hours. The house was remarkable at staying warm. I suspect if the wind had not been blowing at 45 MPH it would have stayed warm for quite a while.

The dog was baffled, but has since overcome her distaste and is using Adrian's snowshoe trails to circumnavigate the yard.

And Fiona helped in the kitchen. I love the enthusiasm of little people when it comes to preparing foodstuffs.

To get around in the snowy blizzard, Fiona says we need a giant squirrel wearing snow shoes to ride on.

It's nearly February...

It's that time of year again...when Old Man Winter throws his worst at us and tries to make us believe that Spring will never, ever come.
In true fashion the weather service is predicting that we will get at least 18 inches of snow, with wind at 35 mph. Say it with me boys and girls: BLIZZARD WATCH.

So tomorrow, I will trek to the grocers while the kids are in school & pick up extra foodstuffs and extra art supplies. If they call off school (unlikely) then I will have 2 extra sets of hands to help with holiday decorating. While the rest of the neighborhood is festooning their house with pink and red in anticipation of Valentine's Day, we will be decorating with chocolate browns, pale greens and yellows. We are preparing to celebrate Imbolc!

Imbolc is the half-way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. We celebrate the lengthening days, the seeds beginning their slow unfolding, the return of the migratory birds. We celebrate the end of the long darkness of Winter, and welcome the slow return of Spring.

This holiday I like to share with the kids the secret of the earth under Winter's thick blanket of white--we eat foods with surprises inside: pigs in blankets, small fruit pies, crescents with chocolate inside. We look through seed catalogues and talk about how gorgeous the yard will be in Spring. We make birdseed treats for our feathered friends...and our squirrel family that resides in the maple tree out our front door.

Pictures to come....

Checking in...

Hello!

This is for my Dad, who said "post a blog, already, would ya?!"
Hi Dad!

I am not ignoring you, honest to honesty!
It's just that this year has decided to grab me by the scruff and start running. The past four weekends, in review:
January 1: Mrs P's birthday bash. It was a big party for a big year that ends in zero. And like any big party populated with middle-aged adults, it teetered between rowdy and silly. There were jello shots and there was wii dancing and that's all you need to know.
January 7 & 8: Kyle Cassidy was here, photographing veterans for his book, War Paint.
January 15 & 16: Took the kids to a Children's production of Cinderella on Saturday, had scouts on Sunday.
January 22 & 23: I worked Saturday and spent Sunday in my jammies.

Not to mention that I am now working at the tattoo shop Tuesday-Friday and 2 Saturdays a month, volunteering in Adrian's classroom on Tuesdays, arranging a group art show, and still trying to do the art-a-day challenge.
The next 3 weekends look equally busy and I think my next weekend off is the 2nd weekend in March.

The kids are good...Fiona is recovering from her first ever ear infection. Adrian is in need of warm weather and wide open spaces--all that boy wants to do is run & jump & climb.

BEST PHRASE EVER

No one can ruin your day without your permission.

Translates into:

I do not give you permission to __________ (use that tone of voice/pinch your brother/yell at your sister). Go to your room until you are ready to apologize.

(So much LESS yelling on my part. So much MORE listening on theirs.)

It's like magic.