At home

So. I've officially been telecommuting and homeschooling for two weeks. My mission has been to be prepared, not planned. It appears as though this simple approach was the best choice I could have made.

On the work front, I'm keeping track of all my projects diligently with a neat to-do list, arranging schedules so that I can get to meetings and communicating efficiently with all my awesome coworkers. On the homeschooling front, we're enjoying a decompressing "de-schooling" period, stumbled onto a fun homeschoolers gym class at the Y and are realizing just how many in-real-life learning opportunities happen every single day.

We're also still struggling a bit to find that work/school/home and family/alone time balance, we've gotten on each other's nerves once or 30 times and we're a little bit more disorganized that I'd like us to be.

But, overall, the good keeps getting gooder and the bad is so far straightening itself out. I feel incredibly blessed that I was able to do this for my family. Especially for Sir Azrielle McPurrsons, aka Tubby, Tub, Tubblies. How did he LIVE WITHOUT ME during the days?!

Brunch for Daddy-O!

My sister and I had a birthday brunch for our dad. It was fun, stress-free (thanks to The List and Jase), colorful, yummy and filled my house with love. If only all Sundays could be so lovely :)




The details, menu list and more photos are on the flick'r album. Happy birthday, Daddy-O! <3 <3 <3

Help?

Due to an unusual series of events, I've recently found myself in the company of three lovely credenzas. Actually, I suppose they're dressers, but I'm re-purposing them as credenzas. Specifically, I plan on re-purposing *one* of them as a credenza for the dining room in my small rowhome, but I'm not sure which one.

Ironically, this all started as a decluttering challenge at MotheringDotCommune. Yet somehow, I've managed to clutter my living space like never before.

I've set each of them up, snapped photos, asked the boyfriend and the son their opinions and considered each piece's pros and cons. And what do I have to show for all this effort? Confusion and doubt. At this point, I'm at credenza saturation.

Whine.

Update Feb. 28: Check out the opinions at Apartment Therapy!

White hot flower lovin'

The ginormous hibiscus in my white flower garden finally bloomed. I saw the other white flowers taking bets as to whether it was going to bloom before it was being devoured by Japanese beetles. Fuckers. (The beetles, I mean, not the other white flowers.)


This photo and some others have been added to my flick'r album. I especially like this little guy:


Reminds me of fireworks :) Pretty, pretty, pretty!

Coming home

Ah ha ha hahahaaha! :D

Did I tell you the one about the porch?

Hey, did I tell you about the other weekend when Jase ripped down part of the porch to get to a creature that had been chewing at the wood facade?

And how maybe I might have encouraged him to do so, you know, before irreversible damage was done and the entire row was infested with warrior carpenter ants! or bees! or mice! all because of us!

And how actually, ha, ha! there wasn't even one single creature up there after all! Huh, who knew?


And then how he got to spend the next six hours rebuilding the torn up porch? The porch that didn't need to be torn up in the first place. And all ON HIS DAY OFF?

No? I didn't mention that? Huh...

I guess I didn't tell you about the slippers, either then.

Compost bin blues

My compost bin took a hit a couple months ago, and this week, one of three sides fell completely over.

I built the bin from left over fencing last spring (http://jamhome.blogspot.com/2006/03/i-like-dirt.html), and damn... I was so proud of it! It was a real compost bin (as opposed to the compost *pile* we had to make do with over the previous fall and winter), made from reclaimed building materials, and the best part was that I built it all by myself. When I was constructing it, I remembered reading somewhere that you should add a floor in order to not loose nutrients from the compost into the ground, so I even managed to find some cinder slabs that I carefully and levelly set into the ground.

I built the U-shaped bin right next to the back fence, bordering the alley, where it sat, happily composting our coffee grounds, veggie scraps, fruit peels and occasional paper towels for over a year. I noticed a couple months ago that it looked a bit skewed, as if someone had backed into it's alley-facing corner, and figured I straighten it out once I removed most of the compost into the vegetable garden bed this spring. A couple days ago, I saw that the entire side had come undone and was laying in the alley; avocado shells and coffee filters were oozing out onto the gravel from atop the cinder slabs, splintered fence pickets were jutting up from the ground. So sad.

It's too soon to completely assess the damage. I just leaned the fallen wall onto the compost for now. Hopefully that's enough to keep everything in place until I can move the pile into the garden and do a little "remodeling." Any tips for when I do so? I was thinking of building a half-height fourth wall for added stability, but was worried about accessibility. I have a few weeks to think on it, but any advice is welcome :)

Yes, I took a photograph of my garbage. From the compost bowl on the kitchen counter: On top, that's some houseplant trimmings, dead flower heads from a bouquet, a couple napkins and a clemantine skin, all on their way to the broken compost bin.

Gel babies of independence

I love it when I can convince AC to hang out and cook with me in the kitchen. These gel babies from Fatfree Vegan were perfect for that. Not only were they a sweet snack, but they also were being made especially for him and he could handle most of the prepping and cooking with little assistance from me. So, along with a special treat, he also got the good feelings that a little independence can bring to a nine-year-old.





































They turned out great and we'll definitely be making them again. I only had eight containers, but easily could have used 10 or 12. We stuck to the traditional fruit cocktail-in-a-can because we'd never made them before, and although I kind of liked the cafeteria style that brought, we'll probably experiment with some different fruits and juices. I've also picked up on AC's, ahem, subtle hints that he doesn't like the name "gel babies;" he's thinking up new names. Any suggestions :)

Bye, stuff!

One of my 43 things is to "get rid of stuff."


It's an ongoing process.


And, I'm enjoying it :)

Snow Day!

Finally! A snow day!

Except it was more of an ice day, so no sledding... but there was soup!

ALKALINE VEGETABLE + BARLEY CURRY SOUP
Serves: 12

6-quart stock pot with lids
3 tbs olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cups dark leafy greens, chopped (I used a frozen Blooming Glen mixture of carrot greens, kale and swiss chard)
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 1 1/2 cups pearled barley (use more for a thicker stew)
32 ounces butternut squash soup (I use Imagine brand)
5 scrubbed, but unpeeled* carrots, diced or sliced into discs
5 scrubbed, but unpeeled* parsnips, diced or sliced into discs
1 rutabaga diced - if there's wax on the skin, peel it off, otherwise just scrub it clean
5 stalks of celery, diced (I use the leafy parts, too)
4+ tablespoons of curry powder (spice it up to taste)

*Most of the nutrients in root vegetables live close to the surface; by peeling them you'll inadvertently loose the good stuff.

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened (about five minutes). Add the garlic, greens and half of the curry powder; saute for about 30 seconds. Stir in barley and soup Bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low, skim off any froth, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add root veggie loveliness, celery and remaining curry powder. Cover and simmer 20 to 25 minutes more, or until barley and vegetables are tender; add water if necessary. I served this with Dave's Own Pumpernickel bread (shipped from RI by Grandma G.).

We had such a great day hanging out together. I wish everyday could be like this :)

AC ventured outside while I was making soup.

After lunch, we built the best Lego army base EVER.

Clearly, Cinder was too busy to play in the snow, cook soup or build an army base.

(More photos on flick'r: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikaelamartin/sets/72157594537320127/.)

No school, no work... just family time, cooking, building, playing and finishing the day up with cuddle puddle on the couch while watching Totoro (one the best movies ever created).

Yeah, man :)

Dressing room no longer the messing room

One of my 43 things is to organize my closet; my closet is actually the smallest "bedroom" in the house, so we call it the dressing room.

It makes me feel so fancy when I say that. "Check the dressing room, dahling." Of course, it also makes me laugh, considering the fact that the dressing room is located in a small, falling apart (but very loved!) 80-year-old suburban rowhome - that was built with only one closet :)

Anyway, this past gray Saturday afternoon, I grabbed some coffee and the laptop and headed upstairs to rearrange, get rid of stuff and clean up. I spent three hours up there; a long time, but so worth it. It wasn't terribly disorganized or overcrowded before, but it is thoroughly organized now. Four bags of clothes and other items were donated and I'm hoping to continue to weed things out.

Befores on the left, afters on right...

























There's a photo stream on my flick'r page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikaelamartin/sets/72157594510606665/

Now, I have to give credit where credit is due, for none of this was possible without the assistance of two amazing people: Ira Glass (three episodes of This American Life carried me through the afternoon) and our resident Super Geek at work (who fixed my wireless card which allowed said radio show to play upstairs, untethered by cable). Thanks, guys! :P

Friday!

A happy Friday silly laugh for you: http://www.stuffonmycat.com/index.php?itemid=2955. I don't know who Alexis is, but girl, let's hang out. Red wine, black and white kitty cats, ridiculous shenanigans - it's like we're sisters!

Check out my 43 Things list over there - "Finish reading Ishmael" is done! :D

Also? my kid's bike was stolen from our porch yesterday. See? To the right? Yeah. No bike.

Dood, I know! Totally blows. I realize that I've been on a mission to get rid of stuff, but this isn't exactly what I meant. Send some good lovin' vibes that the person who took it has a change of heart and puts it back.

Freeduce, Freeuse, Freecycle.

Near the top of my 43 things list is "Get rid of stuff." Freecycle has been a lovely assistant to me in accomplishing this goal:




















That's what I posted to my local Freecycle group today, and what will hopefully be gone by the end of the week. Yay!

Getting rid of stuff is such an overall cleansing practice, yes? Clear space in the house, clear space in the mind :)

Curtains!

So, you already saw the skateboards (http://mdmintake.blogspot.com/2007/01/windows.html). Here's part two, the curtains;

Before:



After:


Still need some finishing touches - I'm adding white origami birds to the end of the branch (some hung with fishing line). Duh, of course I'll post photos.

See the full set on flick'r: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikaelamartin/sets/72157594450328041/

Skateboards!

A work in progress for a few months now has been the front windows. I finally came up with a skateboard solution. The curtains are also hung, but I've not taken pictures of those yet. So, for now, it's a skateboards before and after series :)

Before:



After:



See more photoa on my flick'r page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikaelamartin/sets/72157594467789855/ !