i told you so

That's what all my friends and relations will say (are saying!) when I tell them how much I loved my first volunteer shift at the library. I got to sort and shelve! Then sort and shelve again! And again! I'm really even nerdier than I thought. Normally, I love browsing through the stacks anyway, but this is more like browsing with a purpose. I am learning the decimal system, for real.

I had  to immediately set rules for personal acquisitions. I've decided I can only check out as many books as I bring back on a given day. That's fair, right? Friday that meant three: Wife of the Chef, a memoir; A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style, by Tim Gunn; The White Death, A History of Tuberculosis.

Next week, I get to learn the scanning and receiving system!

book it

So I kind of got a job. Sort of. Okay, not really, but let's just pretend, okay? I'm starting volunteer shifts at the public library. How cool is that? I get to push a cart around, sort, shelve, organize, tidy, and absorb the dewey decimal system osmotically. Is it wrong to be severely excited by that last part? As if that wasn't enough, they'll even reimburse my parking expenses. Woot!

I had a mini-interview and maxi-orientation on Monday, I think just to make sure I'm reasonably upstanding and don't fear alphabetizing. This is the same downtown central library I've visited and loved since my childhood, so the tour was unnecessary, but still fun. I got to visit the offices behind the "Staff Only" door and see all the inner workings. The book drop conveyer belt! The acquisitions department! The break room with actual librarians raiding the fridge!

Okay, I'll stop with the exclaiming. I'm very pleased and interested to be able to spend this time at the library, even if it is unpaid. I think the only drawback will be the alarmingly large amount of reading material I will start to bring home.

like butter

Sometimes my housekeeping verges on the schizophrenic. Instead of sorting the laundry that's been on my floor for a week, let's make butter!

The rationale behind this decision? The insane amount of cream we bought for Thanksgiving that was subsequently left over. We went to the big box store, of course, and the conversation went something like this:

"So I need three-quarters of a cup per pie, times four pies..."

"That's three cups. And I need a cup and a half"

"And we need enough to whip to top the pies."

"So should we get an extra half-gallon, just in case?"

"...I guess it can't hurt."

Well, yes, it can. Quite a lot, actually, when you can't bear to throw it away. So, this morning I poured some into a mason jar and started shaking. Small Person got into the act, too. Alas, her assistance was short-lived; those wee arms tire quickly.

So I shook and shook and shook and shook and shook. And shook. And then I shook some more. Then, all of a sudden, the frothy whipped cream started to come together. A few more shakes, and it was all one mass of butter floating in sweet buttermilk. Yum!

Butter went into the fridge, buttermilk was added to the Sunday morning waffle breakfast. What went on the waffles? Butter, of course! More yum! The resulting full tummies felt marginally better than slurping the stuff straight from the carton.

We spent the rest of the day working off the dairy fat in the garden. There was a ton of weeding to do, plus the weekly compost rotation, then some green onions and radishes to plant.

We wrapped up the day with a birthday celebration, for which I offered to make a cake. A non-sugar, diabetic-friendly cake. No problem!

Meatloaf cake with mashed potato frosting, garnished with broccoli florets and, the kicker, bacon rosettes. Even more yum! Just what we needed to complete the eating holiday.

At least I didn't have to do any shopping this weekend! 

a little work, a little play

I've had an uncharacteristically busy day. Got up at 8:00 (respectable for a Sunday), exercised, turned the compost pile, and made ten pie crusts, all before noon. What, who is this person?

Seriously, the rest of the week I'm my regular lazy self, but I usually have to get some stuff done on Sunday. I'll have limited time this week to fulfill my Thanksgiving pie quota, so I had to get those crusts done. They are hanging out in the freezer, ready to bake a little at a time during the week.

The compost tossing is my usual Sunday chore, when I remember to do it. It's strangely satisfying. Almost as gratifying as growing the garden itself, watching the scraps degrade enough to go right back. And around we go again!

Small Person went off for her overnight visit with Baba, since she has the whole week off from school. When did they start doing this? Anyway, that means that although I did have a productive morning, I spent the rest of the day geeking around on the interwebs. Back to my normal self.

things that go bump

Remember that little self-congratulatory post a few days ago about how great my balance is? Of course, today I fell flat on my face; a nice comeuppance.

We went to pick up trash around Small Person's school today, and I guess an hour of stooping, bending, squatting, all to pull tiny brittle bits of deteriorating plastic out of the landscaping really got to me. It was a double-whammy of a stumbling trip. I caught myself on the edge of the pavement only to hit the parking curb and go down. Fortunately, I was able to fall safely, I was wearing gloves and jeans and didn't scrape my face. Have to keep that money-maker lookin' good! I did end up with a goose egg on my shin and a severely bruised ego. The other adults in the area politely pretended not to see as my Young Fellow scooped me up and dusted me off. We had a good laugh at my expense and went back to picking up the shocking number of discarded cigarette butts.

I start my new job tomorrow! I'd better have a medicinal glass of wine before bed to make sure I feel okay tomorrow.

hair today

I've been doing this no-shampoo-shampoo experiment that seems to be pretty popular around the internets lately. Google it, you'll find lots of different ideas and recipes. The one I chose to try is a baking soda scrub followed by an apple cider vinegar rinse. Rinsed in between, of course, unless you'd like first grade science experiment volcano in your shower every day. Both are are diluted to a ratio of about one tablespoon to one cup of water. After three weeks of using it, I am impressed.

My hair is naturally oily, one might even say greasy, and I don't like to wash it every day. I find that if I rinse it in the shower without washing, it tends to look even more like an oilslick, so it's either no shower, or wash all the time. I don't like to shampoo all the time because I feel the shampoo overdries my hair and makes the oil return with a vengeance. I have pretty long hair, and I don't really style it (no blow-drying, no product) unless I have an event to attend, or just need to get the stuff offthebackofmyneckinthisheatrightnow, dammit! Anyway, thus far the experiment has been a success. My hair is more regulated, less extreme, more manageable, and definitely shinier, thanks to that vinegar. I'm still fiddling around with how many washings per week and tweaking the measurements a little bit, but I'm very pleased with the results so far.

Of course, probably the best highlight to this kookiness is the cheap factor; no more pricey shampoo. You remember the dad from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with the Windex? I sing the praises of baking soda and vinegar. They can do anything!

busy

We've now had a full week's worth of kindergarten and school for mom and dad and, although we are all excited and stimulated and enjoying ourselves immensely, we are tired. Kindergarten is half-day, which means a little bit of running around coordinating rides and schedules. We are also still getting used to school day and night routines and chores. Alarm clocks and lunchboxes and homework, oh my! All this fun and futzing makes Small Person slightly more tired and thus drama-prone than usual, and me slightly more crabby than usual. Not a good combo. We're working on it.

In the meantime, we continue with our crafty projects and other extracurriculars. For example, mobiles made of old cds and stickers to hang in Small Person's "clubhouse." Yes, it's an old tarp and frame we salvaged from the yard. You were expecting a Craftsman bungalow, perhaps?

Wax paper and crayon project, that my photographic skills are too weak to do justice:
Mixed up crayons made from the leftovers of above:
Beer trap to rid the garden of snails: 
It's a good way to go, don't you think? And our ongoing collection of rose petals from the bushes that are blooming like crazy right now. These I am specifically saving for Kathi for her wonderful soap. These ought to be enough to barter for a bar or two.
There must be some other stuff going on, so I'll post just as soon as I remember what it is.

back to school

Today was Small Person's first day of kindergarten! Were there tears? Yes, I cried, but I hid it well. When I left she whisked off with barely a kiss and a "don't worry Mom, I won't cry." She's going to have a blast. Unlike terminally shy mom, she loves new people and experiences. Life is a thrill a minute to her, which is something I could try to emulate more.

I also started school this week. Okay, just a couple of classes, one of which is yoga, so "school" is probably overstating it a bit. However, something interesting and invigorating to to with my brain! A marketable skill, even! That's a stunner for an unfocused, unemployed mom with a liberal arts degree. Maybe I'll remember how to socialize with adults, or at least talk to them. Now that would be cool.

bug fun

We found this guy in the garden yesterday. I was so excited to see a real, live praying mantis in our yard! I've never seen one outside of the monsters inhabiting the bug house at the zoo. We had to (gently) examine it a bit before reinstalling it to the tomato box. It's a beneficial predator bug, so we're happy to give it a home. Go, mantis, go!

lady grey

Kathi's recent post reminded me to share our new combined laundry and watering system.

I know I'm desperately nerdy for admitting this, but I love a good grey water system.  You know, the kind that takes the outflow from your kitchen sink, say, and uses it to water your ornamental landscaping.  I've seen (or more likely, read about) some pretty awesome systems that send everything but the toilet water through an elaborate filtration system encompassing gravel beds, aeration fountains, and plants to purify the water enough to use it as irrigation for food crops.

Ours is not nearly so fancy, but it's still pretty keen.  Since our laundry outflow was previously uncoupled from the septic system even before we moved in, we were able to set up a simple system fairly quickly.  From the washer, water goes to two storage barrels that have free-flow irrigation hoses hooked to them.  The hoses go snaking along the property, through fences, under paths, around landscaping to drip on all of our ornamental borders.  Yes, we use eco-friendly soap.  No, we don't use the water for anything we're planning to eat.  With five people in the house, it's easy to do at least one load of laundry a day, more often two.  Which, coincidentally, is the exact proportion to fit on our newly-installed clothesline.  We'll just pretend we planned it all that way.

squashed

The garden is coming along nicely. I’m wilting in the recent hot weather, but the plants are delighted. Squashes of various sorts are spreading leaves and tendrils in all directions, the corn gains inches behind our backs, and the tomatoes are exploding in blossoms.

This is my first real garden. As a kid, my participation in the various family gardens was limited to eating the produce. Well, I could occasionally be talked into toting rocks out of the beds, but only when my dad paid me for it. At ten cents per bucket, I think he got the better end of the deal.

Anyway, I am excited to be running the show myself this time around. Okay, not really “I.” That just means that I boss and let everyone else do the building and heavy lifting. But, really, I’m happy to be getting out there early in the morning to water and evict snails and give the daily pep talk to the cucumbers. I’m ambitiously awaiting the moment when this project moves from experiment to actual food-source. We specifically planted things that are both easy to grow and beloved by most of the household, so we don’t get burnt out in our first season.

I am amassing a master file of zucchini recipes, though, just in case.

red hot

I have only myself to blame.  I've been particularly careful with sunscreen application this summer. Weeks of habitual daily application and re-application before gardening or pool dips.  Staying shaded or indoors during the middle of the day.  The new sunglasses and super-dork gardening hat.  Responsibility, yay!

Today, however, we hit the park.  The Small Person was having so much fun (in the shade) and I was immersed in my book (in the sun).  Of course I didn't pay attention until I felt discomfort.  Of course by then it was too late.  Now I'm slathering on the aloe and holding my iced beverage against my shoulders.  Yeowch!

Oh, and the book? A history of the founding of the ACLU.  Riveting!

Battle of the Bulge

This is the birthday cake I made for the Young Fellow's WWII-obsessed dad.  He prefers the box cake, so that left the creativity for the outside.  We had great fun scoping out just the right hobby store supplies, laying out the battle scene, and coating the whole thing in powdered sugar snow.  He was appropriately wowed, but then: "hey, is that an AK-47?!"  Yeah, yeah, WWII-era little plastic dudes are hard to come by these days, so we had to settle for a more modern-warfare look.  Still, I think the amputee rounds it out nicely.