A couple of things have really lept out at me as fantastic that I got from the co-op. Thought I’d recommend them to those with health food store access, especially those lucky enough to have a co-op in their town. Co-op just kicks ass. When we do treat ourselves to things from there the quality is just so superior and we are always pleased.
I rarely shop the frozen food section of grocery markets but when Kham was gone camping this summer and I picked up the kids after a long day at work I did pick this up for myself expecting nastiness:
But it was lip smacking yummy and surprisingly filling. It would be great with some sticky rice and edamame. Or as a little side or appetizer cut into chunks with toothpicks next to a bowl of salted edamame.. I think it would be a good thing to have on hand for an appetizer/snack for those surprise guests, visits.
My kids love the juice sweetened lollipops sold in the bulk section. Great bribery and mouth stuffer for longish car trips and I don’t feel so guilty.
Tubi’s Tire Tread licorice:
If you’re a sucker for black licorice, especially those with the true, anise oil blackie black taste, then you’ll love these. They had good texture without being gritty like some brands can. So fragrant, so strong. Great palate cleanser at the end of a meal. Truly. Worked well to counter garlic and coffee. I ate the bag in hours and that WAS using my willpower to hold out that long. Herma brought me the salted kind from Holland that was amazing. Never tasted anything like it. Can’t wait for her to visit again so I can taste more! Hint Hint Herma.
Squash blossom honey: incredible! We go through a ton of honey in this house between sandwiches, oatmeal, and baking. But this variety (bulk section) was killer. We oohed and aahed and snacked tastes straight off a spoon. Almost wished I was sick so I could have the excuse to eat more. Great flavor unlike any I’ve ever had.\
If you try those things out, let me know how you like ‘em.
We just replaced our clutch on the Jetta. Yeah, a little under 2 grand later, we finally brought the car back to functioning properly. Poor thing. It has served us well thus far, despite our neglect (about 115,000 miles). We’ve moved so much; it’s hard to get a mechanic you can trust straight out of the phone book as we have had to do in our various relocations. We finally think we found someone reliable and honest; a father-son run, local store that specializes in Volkswagen repairs – Independent Auto Works. Hopefully, these long overdue maintenance and problems will last it for the rest of its life (we still need to replace the timing belt though). Now I can tick car repairs and new tires off my to-do list AND my New Year’s Resolutions list. Yey! Loves that.
So what about The Office connection to fixing my car? Well, the clutch seems super touchy to us now. Well, by “now,” I mean the first few days after replacing it. We had had to press down rather forcefully for some time and had unwittingly grown accustomed to exerting the extra pressure. Now that it’s working properly it feels so sensitive. We have to relearn the balance. Those first few days were pretty funny. Both Kham and I stuttered a lot and both of us stalled it. It was quite embarassing driving the mechanic back from my house. I felt like I was in driver’s training all over again, taking my test with the instructor in the car, only to stall it as I pulled up to the shop. I kid you not. I blushed hard and blathered much. I was so embarassed and laughed a lot. I felt like I was a gigantic clog hopper. It made me think about the one Office episode where Jim plays a prank on Dwight; this particular one the goal being to get Dwight to hit himself in the face with his own phone handset. Jim achieved this hilarious feat by unscrewing the mouthpiece and stuffing nickles into the handset. Each day he’d add more and more, gradually increasing the weight of the receiver, until it was heavy and Dwight unknowingly got used to the heavy weight. Then one day, Jim emptied it of the nickles, and BAM! A mystified and perplexed Dwight. Man, that makes me snort just remembering it. So, anway, I feel like someone just removed the nickles from my clutch.
whether he’s complaining or about to launch into his preliminary defense of something that he is going to ask you for that he thinks you might say no to like “Since I was so good today and since I ate all my dinner…can I____________?” the pitch of his voice achieves this high whine. It’s like his preemptive tantrum whine. Anyway, when he hit those high notes last night, it triggered a memory in me – he sounds just like Beaker from The Muppet Show! Then I stopped being agitated with his whining and started laughing…like, in his face. Boy do kids hate it when you do that! It just made him frantically amp it up into his whistle scale of whining which just made me hoot and holler even more to his great annoyance. I know, I know I was a very unprofessional mommy. But you try keeping a straight face when your son sounds like this!!!:
And just for kicks, Beaker sings “Mimi” aka “Feelings”:
I can’t help it. Whenever I see these “fancy” Turk’s Cap pumpkins…..:
……I think of a baboon’s ass!!!:
Am I right or am I right?! So to me, they’ll always be dubbed, Babboon Ass Pumpkin. I know, I can be so juvenile sometimes. But tell me honestly, it made you smile didn’t it? Then I guess it was worth telling you. And I bet you will always remember that image whenever you see those pumpkins, and in a weird way, think of me. I’m honored to somehow have baboon asses associated with the memory of me. On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t have shared that one
After an absolutely dead first hour, we got slammed at work. I was bleary eyed, brain drained, and my feet and legs ached from standing throughout the day. The cold Pacifico and bathed and fed kids that awaited me at home were much appreciated. It was one of those nights where all I wanted to do was relax in bed with a good movie. Thanks to our Netflix package, we had the choice of: W., Milk, and Sunshine Cleaning. The first two were simply too heavy for our moods so we opted for the latter. It was pretty darned good; good enough to keep Kham awake through to the end; just barely though. But the one special feature short interview with two women who actually did that job for a living was quite interesting. But out of everything mentioned, it’s the maggots that made me cringe, squeal, and avert my eyes in disgust. I nearly dry-heaved. The movie was worth my time ultimately light, touching, well-acted, but not astounding. I didn’t enjoy any of the little boy scenes and aspects save for establishing a motivational force. Amy Adams was great as usual and I liked her “sister”, Emily Blunt, from The Devil Wears Prada. And, no, she is not the chick from Gilmore Girls. I actually had to prove that to Kham by booting up the ol’ computer for an IMDb search. Who you gonna trust? The one who watched the tv shows for years, or the one who fled groaning from the room in annoyance whenever it was on? Both Blunt and Alan Arkin did a good job but seemed too typecast from their prior movies though. (Arkin played a similar dad in The Slums of Beverly Hills – a hysterical film that I liked better than this; especially the “Luck Be a Lady” bit.) Add it to your queue. Add both.
I’m cleaning like a “mother-ucker” (as they sing in Flight of the Conchords). Between Kellen missing the toilet at night a couple times and my stomach flu last week, we were in dire need of a good thorough cleaning with disinfectant. So no computer time, didn’t even get to grocery shopping which we desperately need.
I work this weekend. It’s Le Tour de Plants; a big deal around the state, so it ought to be a long and busy day. Luckily this guest, Kham’s Uncle Jim, or “UJ” as they like to call him, is low key and low maintenance. Good food, chilling in the back yard, hanging out with the kids, and a beer or two, maybe some cribbage games, and he’s good to go…or so I’ve been told. He hasn’t been here yet so I’m eager and I get those first time jitters/excitement. He helped us move here, but to a storage facility so he hasn’t even seen this, or any of our places set up. He is a really sweet guy and fun to talk to, or just sit next to while enjoying the night air. I’m glad the kids will get to know him a little better. I can’t wait until Kellen gets a load of his “tractor”, the big cab part of big rigs. He’s gonna freak out!
Only as high as I reach can I grow.
Only as far as I seek can I go.
Only as deep as I look can I see.
Only as much as I dream can I be.
Reach high.
Seek far.
Look deep.
Dream much.
Sage advice and our well-wishes for you, our darling Kosette, on your first official day as a first grader! We love you!
Stopping to pose in our front before the mad dash drive to school.
Well, actually, it’s McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park in the Mt. Shasta area of California (The park is northeast of Redding, six miles north of Highway 299 on Highway 89 near Burney.) They’re predicting 88 degrees Friday and a low of 47 or 48 during nights. Slight chance of showers (20%) through the weekend with highs near 76 degrees. “Pioneer Campground” for us pioneers, blazing the trails with our hopefully much-improved Jetta and well-behaved children. Online maps estimate a 6 1/2 hour drive ahead of us which translates into like 8 1/2 with all the stops you have to take with young children. Yeah, I’m looking forward to that portion of our trip like a hole in the head. No, really, it’s the RETURN trip that I’m anxious about. Evidently, there’s a lot of cones and curves and detours on our route and coming back with every other vacationer on Labor Day seems like there’s potential to double our time. Let’s just say that historically speaking, our kids haven’t been the best car trip er…pioneers.
But once we get there, I’m sure it’s going to be terrific. It’s the ONLY thing we’ve had on the calendar besides Kelli’s upcoming wedding for like 6 months, and it’s finally here. We’re meeting Kham’s clan: His parents from Crestline, his sister from Humboldt, and his brother and sister-in-law and their brood of four from Grass Valley. We haven’t seen Chris and Sarah for ages. Their youngest, Jude wasn’t even sitting up by herself yet and now she’s 2! Wow! I think I’m most excited to see how the kids are all going to get along. This is their first long visit with each other – a sleepover – where we are around each other all the time. It’s a big deal, getting along with your cousins. Future attitudes towards getting together can be fixed based on this experience. Some cousins just hate each other and dread gatherings, others genuinely enjoy each other’s company and can’t wait. And I’ll really get a better feel for my nephews’ and nieces’ personalities. I wish I knew them better and vice-versa, and am looking forward to this opportunity to remedy that. Plus cuddling with your kids and hubby at night….giggling at their passed out snores and exhausted positions…introducing them to smores and abelskeivers (sp?). I requested that Chris bring his guitar because, frankly, it just doesn’t feel like camping to me without singing and playing around the campfire. I was totally spoiled growing up with my dad integrating music into different facets of our life. I’m so glad he did too, because those memories are some of my most sentimental. Jeez, I’m tearing up typing this.
Here’s a couple pictures of the 129 ft. falls which sites report as being not the tallest in the state, but one of the most beautiful:
Talk to you again when I get back. I’m FINALLY feeling better and only have until 3 to pack and get the house ready for a sitter and heavily water the plants….Dear Lord, I’d better get crackin;!
Thanks, India for caring for Maude and the cats while we’re away! You’re the best!
Man, oh Man, do I love my brother. I was really blessed with awesome siblings, it just took me until I graduated from High School to stop being petty and jealous an start appreciating my sister. But my brother, Kalani, who is six years older than I were always tight and I worshiped him. I wanted to learn about all the stuff he liked so that he’d let me hang around him more. I think he genuinely enjoyed “teaching” me too – like how to climb a brick wall, chain link fence, punch, throw a ninja star, light a lighter, use hydrogen peroxide and Sun In on your hair, how to play PIT, how to boogie-board, this is Robotech, Piers Anthony, Depeche Mode, Samantha Fox, how to blow a giant bubble with Big League Chew, Star Wars, a Delorian, Star Trek the Next Generation, how to get to through the Dungeon levels on Super Mario Brothers, let me see the cover of a nudie mag, how to drive stick, he even was my guardian at the Renaissance Faire and I couldn’t be more than 20 feet from him at all times. Alas, I wasn’t “in” enough to be welcome in his Dungeons and Dragons playing. I was still the annoying little sister though, the one coming up with every excuse in the book to be able to knock on the teenager’s door to tell him dinner was ready, or mom wanted him, just to get him to open the door so I could see what he was doing. And he’d open it, just wide enough to see one eyeball, and I’d strain past him to get glimpses into the forbidden zone. I’d fetch stuff for him all the time. I remember my mom telling him to get stuff for himself but I didn’t mind. It was a free pass to leisurely explore his room as I made my way to the requested item. I loved to touch his many-sided D&D die. I browsed his tape collection, picked up nun-chucks to see how heavy they were, tried on his acid washed jean jacket, clicked his multi-colored pen, being very careful to place everything back exactly as I’d found it because I knew he would notice….It might as well have been a chapel with the deference I gave it; quiet, awe-struck, curious, reverent.
I felt special when I was with him. He’d share things with me that he wouldn’t tell or show anyone else in our family. He’d invite me in to the forbidden zone of his room and he’d help me with Math sometimes. I’d time him on solving the rubix cube, or holding his breath at the bottom of the pool, or count as he added yet another Saltine cracker to the pile in his mouth at Bob’s Big Boy. When I was bullied at school, I knew, at least he liked me and that he understood because he had his share of meanies growing up.
I just felt lit up and loved when he was around. Although, he RARELY ever expressed or expresses those actual words. When he went off to college in Colorado, I missed him terribly. He gave me his childhood teddy bear for me to keep until he returned. And even though I was in the 7th grade, I slept with that thing nightly. He wrote me a letter on his college notebook that he sent back with my dad after helping him move that helped me through some of the anxiety I felt towards entering Jr. High with new kids. Letters from Kalani are precious and few and I cherish that one the most. And when he returned for summer break, he introduced me to Led Zepellin by playing “Stairway to Heaven” while we laid on the carpet and stared at the ceiling. It was magical.
I guess there’s a lot I could attribute to Kalani’s influence: love of scifi and fantasy, a softspot in my heart and a tenderness towards “nerds”, love of 80s music, interest with the Renaissance Faire (where if I hadn’t gotten involved, I never would’ve met Kham and be where I am today), and a general love of all things Generation X (I’m the last year of that at 1977) – including “older” men like my husband, he-he.
And he’s fantastic with kids.
Kalani holding an infant Kellen at his wedding
Kalani and Jesse
But the bummer is that my kids barely know him ortheir Auntie Jesse because they rarely see or have much interaction with them. I think that’s the crime of the century! Kellen, in soooo many ways, reminds me of Kalani (and Kham’s brother Chris). We joke that Chris had our naturalist/biologist son, and we had Chris and Kalani’s Engineering Techie son. Well, we’re just going to have to foster his interests by sending him to Camp Kalani and Camp Chris.
The kids have been pumping me for info. on our relatives like what they did when they were little, what is their favorite _____(color? animal? candy bar? movie? musical? food?)? It’s been interesting because memories have surfaced from long ago and also, has shown me how much I’ve forgotten or don’t know about my own family that I know about my friends. Kosette and Kellen just soak it all in and really latch onto stuff. So when we went to the Benton County Fair last month and I saw Kellen’s fascination with the juggler, I told him that his Uncle Kalani could do that. Their eyes widened in disbelief.
Kalani, part of the Juggling School, at 1997 So. Cal RenFaire
2001 SoCal Ren Faire
Juggling Sticks. He taught me how. I wonder where mine are?
They thought I was kidding so I asked Kalani to send me a video clip of him juggling so they could see. He did it within an hour of our phone call too. It was awesome! Those are the things that he does to show his love for people. He might not say it or write it very often, but he does stuff like this. My kids are so lucky to have him for an uncle. And the older I get, the more my love for him deepens.
At my parents 2008
On a semi-related side-note, I have enjoyed revisiting the series Freaks and Geaks, that was tragically canceled after just one season. It is so well-written and performed and really launched the careers of its writers and actors. You must rent it if you love that 80s decade! It’s wonderfully funny, sad, and has an awesome soundtrack. The weird thing is that unlike the last time I watched it, I’m seeing things from the parents’ perspective and judging their reactions to situations. Boy is that an indicator of age and where you are in life.
…One who comes and takes your kids for half the day until your husband gets home to take over so that you can lay on the bathroom floor to barf and writhe in peace. – - – Muchas Gracias Herma-na!
…One who drives over to a stranger’s house to do your watering duties for a friend that’s in another state recovering from surgery so that you don’t have to drag your vomiting butt and two kids over there to ensure your friend doesn’t lose her landscape because she trusted you to be responsible and reliable. – - – Thanks Michelle!
…One who launches into the nighttime parenting regime without needing a word of instruction, keeps them quiet so I can rest, and takes the dog out to exercise her wiggles out, and brings me chicken and rice in bed when I feel up to it – - -Thanks Kham, you really are my best friend as well as my husband and partner f0r life!
…One who sleeps at your feet and curled up at your bedside with concern in her eyes every time I move or groan and nudges me with her nose and wags her little pompom tail which makes me smile and laugh despite how crappy I’m otherwise feeling. – - – Thanks Maude!
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