Breathing space

He is proud in his stripes and fuzz., originally uploaded by bossamama.

There is this magical space after Christmas and before school starts again. A time when the days seem endless and the possibilities stretch out before me. I made this little fellow for one of my babies, got a new camera, and felt pretty relaxed this holiday season- regardless of the fact I didn't get half the stuff done I wanted to. This has been a sad year. I don't really believe that things will get easier, life is hard. But I know that I can relieve some stress through creating things.

Here's to a Happy New Year with bright skies, green grass and some space for dreaming. Time to turn it all over again.

Listening to the new Belle & Sebastian album stream here at NPR. Excited to hear Stuart Murdoch being interiewed this morning. Either I'm really cool or really nerdy or just plain washed out.  I still love B & S and get excited about their new records coming out.  (I still call them records.)  But come on, how can you not love a band who poses with a fake horse?  Sure they may be the definition of "twee"- but I happen to like that.

New Book

I believe this book was genetically engineered to delight me.

Old man singing in the library...

Even punk rock legends get old and apparently hang out in libraries.



But stay forever young for each new generation to discover...

Took a trip to the Asian market on Sunday. The very large one, where they have an aisle (or more) dedicated to all the major Asian culinary traditions. I took a trip down the Thai and Vietnamese aisles and picked up these goodies. The prices are so low- I got all these for less than $20! I've never tried the ready made panang curry paste and the mountain sauce is a taste experiment- have been trying to approximate the soy sauce from our favorite Vietnamese restaurant- Anh Hong. Finally bought some peanut oil to saute and the coconut milk is for the curry.  Last week I bought some Ma Po sauce (Chinese) and some Somen Tsuyu dipping sauce for noodles (Japanese.) The Ma Po was delicious served over mixed vegetables and Chinese egg noodles. I am so thankful to live in this neighborhood. The thing I have not been able to find at the store are bento boxes.  They have a few Power Ranger boxes that look like cast asides from what was possibly an amazing collection a few months back (or not.) I don't think the girls would appreciate those. I just found this site- Asian Food Grocer - I'll see if they have some good ones.  I've been fascinated by the whole bento culture for a while now. I think the girls would enjoy eating their lunches from tiny boxes. Maybe I can slip some more vegetables into their diets!

Spritzers and popcorn

Spritzers and popcorn, originally uploaded by bossamama.

Have a couple of the girl's friends over after school today. When I asked them what they wanted to drink, they yelled "spritzers!" This is a drink that gets served here regularly to visiting children. They mostly love them and it sounds very exotic. If there is a new child, they will ask, very intrigued "What is it?" It's simply half juice, half soda water mixed together. We've tried all sorts of juices- orange, apple, cranberry, those veggie/fruit mixes- they all taste good. I started concocting these when I was pregnant and craving too much soda. They are great for kids, it cuts down on the juice and gives them the bubbly satisfaction. They can even be a little more grown up, cutting down on the juice and adding more soda- which can look very sophisticated to the other kids. I served them up with my locally famous popcorn, popped in my 50+ year old electric popcorn popper. Really, it is the best popcorn, you can ask anyone who's had it. And if you are at my house at some point in this lifetime- you will eat popcorn. And, I'll make you a spritzer too.

How to ruin perfectly good food.

This is a post from March 22, I hadn't posted it, but thought it was okay, so here's to more content!

I have been very sick the last three days with an awful cold virus.  Feeling better, but feel like I've experienced that proverbial lost weekend.  Still have a heinous gut rattling cough, but at least I have some energy again.  So I decided we needed to eat a good meal tonight.  Poor Mark has been hobbling together meals, ordering out, etc.  I set out to make a homemade tummy pleaser.

With no plan in mind, I decided to boil new potatoes.  Then I racked my brain for a new way to cook broccoli so that my picky children would eat it.  I decided some sort of whipped up, creamy broccoli would please them.  So I found a recipe for pureed broccoli on the internet and promptly ignored the instructions. Oh, I can do that, just cook it, puree it in the food processor and voila! Except, I guess the florets never completely disappear, or I just did something wrong, because it was still grainy.  Plus I was out of real butter and had to use margarine, which I'm sure took the flavor down a few notches.  Okay.  So I decide to make a mash potato mix with the broccoli.  That'll fool them!  Hey! Why don't I just throw the potatoes in the food processor too?  Easy cleanup, less work!  Except, why don't I ever remember that you should never, ever, ever, put potatoes in the processor!  They turn to glue pretty quickly. So as I'm scraping out the gluey mess, I decide, okay I will mix this all up and bake it and it will come out like a soufflé!  Yeah!  So I start putting a base of gluey potatoes, to which I have added basil, milk, and margarine into the bottom of glass baking pan. But as I'm looking at it, I think, this looks like potato pancake material (sort of) so- I know!  I'll mix the broccoli, potato, shredded cheese, some panko bread crumbs and I'll fry them up!  Except that does not even begin to work. They are too mushy and they just sit there in the pan, spreading out and getting crispy on one side that refuses to be lifted from the pan.  Oh!  I should have added an egg.  So I do that next.  This one turns out slightly better, but the inside is still a gooey mess.  Not very appetizing.  Then I decide to scrape it all together, add 2 more eggs, more cheese- put it back in the square baking pan and put it in the oven.

The kids did not eat it, nor did anyone else.

Finds of the day

I don't remember how I found this. Oh, yes, via the Real Simple newsletter that's where!  These absolutely adorable and exquisite prints by Susie Ghahremani. They are full of lively animals and musical instruments, sweet and lovely and full of color. She has a fabulous website called girlboyparty where she sells many items adorned with her art among a lot of other things, including her original music, which I haven't had a chance to listen to. Please click on the link to see, her art isn't reproducible in other blogs. Oh to be young and just out of art school! At her webpage I also discovered this book- which she is featured in:

The Exquisite Book

To be involved in something like this would have been so incredible. Artists would make art, then send it on to the next artist who would continue the art, having only seen the very edge of the previous work.  The book puts all the pieces together as one. The pages will fold out so that the viewer can see them at once. Exquisite, indeed. This will be a must for our home library!

GIft of Summer

Elephant Ear, originally uploaded by bossamama.

This weekend found us in the yard actually gardening. It has been insufferably hot this summer and we rarely went out there. As a result our yard had become completely overgrown. It's going to take a few weeks to get it all back in shape. In the meantime, I found this pot with this lovely plant growing in it, hiding in the brush. I had something to do with it, but not much. Last year, I found the tiniest elephant ear growing wild in the yard. I didn't want it to grow where it was (can you imagine- I have elephant ears as weeds?) so, I put it in this pot and forgot about it. It was such a nice surprise to find it had gotten so big! I decided to bring it indoors to see how it does. I have recently added houseplants to the house and the cats have graciously left them alone. For such a garden freak, I had an embarrassing lack of plants inside the house. That is remedied now! I did have a fear that first night, that something (snake?) might crawl out of the pot and surprise us. Thankfully, that did not happen.

Sneak Peek

CIMG7885, originally uploaded by bossamama.

Been gone for quite a while again. This is the way of things, ebb and flow. I'm hoping to change the format here and have a little more interaction going. Need to work on my Flickr page as well and get it better linked, going to have to go ahead and pay for the darn thing. Been taking many, many pictures. This has been another tumultuous summer, but looking forward to an active, productive fall. Redecorating for me helps cleanse my cluttered mind. Have done quite a bit in the house... here is a preview.

Lovely Personified

New Rufus tomorrow... sigh.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT | SONNET 20 (song only) from gary nadeau on Vimeo.

That good old po' boy

Last night we went to the brand new King Cajun Crawfish restaurant around the corner from our house.  We were so excited because we love po' boys and all the fixin's.  And walking distance from our house- we were stoked! I've been driving by the place daily, waiting for it to open up.  You see around our house, it's all Asian restaurants.  Not that we don't love that, but a po' boy place opening up in the middle of it all was a nice change of pace.  Finally, I saw that it was open on Monday.

As we walked up to the door last night and were de-assembling our stroller and scooter, we saw that everyone working in the restaurant was Asian.  We were surprised, then we knew something was going to be different.  The menu was delivered to us and included the usual boiled crawfish, crab, po' boys, Gumbo, etc. as well as 3 kinds of fried rice.  Hmm.  Well, the food was pretty good, but everything was served on styrofoam and the fries came out on a round pizza pan, and not very many. We got po' boys and the girls got fried rice!  The po' boys weren't flattened like I like them, but still tasted good. Everything was very HOT and sodas were only sold by the can.  The service was good.  There was another group of people in the restaurant, a bunch of hipster folk and they asked the waitress if she was from New Orleans (they also felt odd about the place, I think.)  She said, oh yes! Mark was suspicious, because she was so enthusiastic. I know there is a big population of Vietnamese in New Orleans, I once read that the climate there was very similar to Vietnam and that they did traditional farming there.

As we ate, two other huge parties of people came in, all Asian too.  We'll see.  The food was pretty good, I just hope they get  fountain drinks soon and beef up their servings of french fries!

Billie Holiday Collection

I just added 7 new songs that I didn't have to my Billie Holiday collection.  That woman was prolific. I don't know what else she did besides sing and get into trouble.  Maybe that was it?  Anyway, just looked at my list and took off a few repeated songs.  That is- the same version of the same song, not different versions of the same song, since she often rerecorded songs.  I now have 133 unique songs sung by Ms. Holiday.  I love her so, and even though she had such a tragic life and seemed to be so sad, her music makes me very happy.

Ironically, I don't have this song!

Head Shakin' Fun

These two women strike me as rather crazy- or at least, extremely enthusiastic.  As I try to impart some energy into my soul, I gaze at the head shaking-est dance numbers ever made. I'm simply amazed at their dancing abilities and face making talents. Notice the eerie similarities between the two.  Viva Las Vegas came first, but I think Gumnaam perfected the lunacy.

 
Gumnaam, 1965


Viva Las Vegas, 1964

Refresh for Spring

Decided to refresh the old blog with some color. It's hard to decide on these things.  Spent way too much time and ended up deleting things I put up- decided to stay simple.

Working things out...

Cracker Jacks

Lilah got a bag (they no longer come in boxes) of Cracker Jacks last Friday. Later, Hazel was putting together the puzzle that came as a prize. She showed it to me and said "Who do you think this is?" I said, David Duchovny- and then wondered why on earth they would have a puzzle of David Duchovny who now stars in a very adult show and has been in the news for rather naughty stuff as a kid's prize? She then said "Abraham Lincoln!" and turned over the puzzle to show the more familiar older face. Who knew Abe looked like David when he was younger? You learn something new everyday.

Friday Rundown

Yesterday, I had a thrilling day with many experiences. Let me tell you about them...

6:30 a.m. Up and bustling Hazel off to school. See you at lunch, I promise!

9:00 am Fully intend to go to deep water fitness at YMCA. Wait! It starts at 9:30, Lilah still asleep. Can we make it? Throw on bathing suit, jam clothes into tote, remember underwear! Wake sleepy Lilah, dress and force feed her bagel and cream cheese. Please go potty! Nope.

9:45 Arrive at YMCA, harried, late, but ready to exercise, where is my YMCA ID? Use driver's license- frustrated desk person manually enters. Finally in! Deposit Lilah at kid center, walk quickly to Ladies Locker Room.

9:50 am Open door and don't know where to look or step. Lots of exposed, elderly, lady body parts, wig on floor, giant tote bags, towels, assorted strange underthings litter the small room. I attain tunnel vision, head to locker, whip off my outer clothes, jam tote in locker, rush to pool.

9:55 am Everyone getting out of pool from now-over deep water fitness. Oh! I thought it started at 9:30? No, it starts at 9, but you can join the shallow fitness class starting right now. Instructor pauses, says quietly- you will be the youngest one in the class. She sounds ominous. I turn to look behind me, the elderly ladies and few gents are in the pool now.

10:00 am Okay, I will do this! Big smile on my face! Get in pool, hello! smile! Met with glares. Turns out doing a work out with the elderly is like working out with 1st graders. They don't listen to the instructor, they talk, do whatever they want, bunch up together on one side of the pool. None of the ladies gives me the time of day, I seem a little popular with the gents, they chat with me. I think this makes the ladies dislike me more. A little concerned that the gents are getting closer to me.

11:00 am Actually had a good work out! Thank the teacher, she says- It's all what you put into it- glancing sideways at the ladies who barely listened to her the last hour.

11:05 am Back into locker room, have to walk through showers, now completely nude elderly ladies, a sea of them, must move to next room. They are absolutely everywhere, no room to move, have to literally step over them to get to my stuff. They are singing and laughing and generally having a good time. I feel like I've entered a sorority, one in which I'm not welcome. I am directed to another locker room.

11:10 am Hazel's lunch time starts in 3 minutes. But I am standing in the child care center waiting for Lilah to try to go potty. Meanwhile the child care worker asks me if I was in the pool? I stink of chlorine- lack of a proper shower. She then goes on to tell me how her high school swim coach told them to go ahead and pee in the pool, cause there was plenty of chlorine in there! Why is she telling me this?

11:14 am Finally have Lilah, decide to pick up lunch at YMCA cafe. But man with gift card is taking hours to get a $1.75 credit. Takes girl 5 tries to enter into her cash register. I nearly scream when I realize she hasn't even made his smoothie yet! WE HAVE TO GO! So drag crying Lilah out, she really wanted to eat there. It's 15 minutes into Hazel's lunchtime! She's waiting! Open heavy YMCA door, dragging Lilah behind me, don't get her out fast enough, smack her in the face. Crying ensues, I come to my senses and realize I am ignoring my youngest child's needs for the benefit of my oldest. So, I take Lilah to Steak 'n Shake instead.

11:45 am Home again. Lilah happily eating her grilled cheese. I really wanted to go to Long John's but I knew that was an evil choice, so I didn't. I got tator-tots at Beefy King instead. Lesser evil choice? At home I decide to cook the last imitation soy meat product in my freezer (veggie rib cutlet) to go along with my tator-tots. Put 2 pieces of bread in toaster oven. Walk away, get on computer.

12:00 pm Hey, I forgot my bread. La, la, la- casually walk into kitchen. FIRE! Two flaming pieces of bread in toaster oven. For a few seconds, I totally blank out. I stand there staring at the twin flames, wondering what to do. Do I throw salt, flour, blanket? I can't remember!!! Electrical fire! Wait, no. Bread fire. So I grab the plastic tongs and grab each flaming piece of toast and put them in sink. Not so bad! Hey, I caught them before the alarm went off! Suddenly, I notice entire room is filled with smoke, BLAM! goes the alarm. We have an ADT smoke alarm, which helpfully yells at you "Fire! Leave Immediately!" repeatedly, while simultaneously blasting a deafening alarm. The thing won't go off when I put in the code and I know the firetrucks will be there soon.

2:30 pm Was able to avert fire trucks, had pleasant lunch. Lilah played while I watched old "Ed" episode on Youtube. I like that show! Get housework done. Get myself decent. Time to pick Hazel up from school. Today I am the Mom in Black (who smells of chlorine.) Put red shoes on. It's been cloudy all day, but never rained, think we will head to Lake Eola to meet friends. Raindrops appear on windshield as soon as get in car. Invite friends to house instead, have pleasant afternoon.

6:00 pm The evening thankfully goes smoothly. Thanks to my filling tator-tot lunch, I skip dinner and feed the girls. Mark arrives late at 8:30, but I feel completely non- stressed. House is pretty clean, kids are fed, watching movie. And I am going to a grown up movie with Lora at 10:20! Can we stay awake?

9:30 pm Pick up Lora, see baby Sidney, she smiles the biggest smiles at me, but won't let me touch her.

10:00 pm Theater looks crowded! There are thousands of teenagers swarming around the entrance. It is so noisy! None of them are standing in line. Do they just get dropped here and hang out in front of the theater? I'm reminded of my morning swarmed by the elderly. Sounds are eerily similar.

10:20 pm Watch "Sherlock Holmes." We, along with about 6 other people, are the last humans to see this movie. We enjoy looking at Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law. I even like the mustache! What? Ponder the fact that these men are in or near their 40's. They look like they are in the prime of life! I need to start thinking like that. After a morning fighting off the elderly and an evening encounter with crazed teens, I realize that I'm in a pretty good place right now! I need to live it up! I'm vibrant!

12:30 am Lora and I struggle to stay awake. I tell her we must not both fall asleep, lest we spend the night at the theater. There is so much action! It is strangely calming. Realize I've drifted off at the very last scene. Wake up with jolt and yell at Lora "What'd he say??"

1:30 am Finally, one of my favorite parts of the day! Sleep, with no thought of waking up early in the morning. Fridays are good.

To James M. who is 40

I always delight in reminding James that he shares a birthday with Elvis. He is probably sick of it. Does he know his son shares a birthday with Billie Holiday?

Happy 40th Birthday, my friend! Hope you enjoy it!