scheduled!

Things are moving along. The structural engineer will come Monday or Tuesday. 1-800-Got Junk comes Monday morning. Hopefully, by mid-week, we will have a de-cluttered basement and a better idea of when (if?) we can actually get the house listed. Everything hinges on the engineer. If there is structural damage, we're looking at another 6 months. If it's just the house shifting, it could be soon. Cross all toes and fingers, please!

Since the kids spent most of the day entertaining themselves (i.e., iTouch, Lego.com and Peter Pan), we felt obligated to get them outside! We walked to dinner at the local Chinese restaurant in the chilly, first-snow night air. It was refreshing and fun. We did do a lot of coloring with the kids today, and significant amounts of reading, but I still felt guilty. Tomorrow will be more of the same as we finish up the basement, but I vow to get them out to the park in the morning before we start.

On my list of To-Do's is to call our wonderful painter, Alex, of Eclipse Painting. Except that I can't find his card. He was here just last month painting the exterior of our house. I've searched online and can't find him. If anyone reading this knows who I mean, please help! I'll be going through the "house" files tomorrow, hoping his card is in there. Oy!

Buy Nothing Day

Well, we didn't completely observe this day of non-buying, but we didn't head to the mall at 4am either. We slept in (the kids got up at 7:30 and amused themselves til NINE! Astonishing.) and then went to the Science Museum for the new IMAX Dinosaur movie. It was very interesting and Ted in particular was taken with the idea of being a paleontologist. Sam is all about space these days and had a blast at the Space exhibit, doing all of the cool hands-on exhibits and computer models (a favorite was creating stars of different masses and watching some of them turn into black holes or brown dwarfs, etc.) Our little scientist. They are hard at work excavating plastic dinosaurs from toy eggs (much harder than it looks!) Paul is still feeling under the weather although I am on the mend. And I LOVE having a fridge full of delicious left-overs! Yum! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2008 Thanksgiving Menu
Lentil & Golden Squash Pie: CSA squash, onion & garlic
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup: CSA squash, onion & apples
Steamed Green Beans: Colorado local (Ft. Lupton, actually)
No-Knead Bread: local flour (Butte Mille)
Family Recipe Pumpkin Pie: CSA pumpkin, hmd soymilk

Cranberry Jelly (Whole Foods organic cranberries) 

Tofurkey (Oregon, but traditional)

We will be joined by Nyla's family (from Ted's 1st grade class) and the Seigals, from our chavurah. We are so thankful for all the blessings we have! Thank you for being a part of our lives, whether it be in person or via cyberspace!  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Cooking Countdown

I've done some prep tonight to make tomorrow flow a little easier. Happily for Phoenix, the turkey we sponsored this year, our meal will be vegan! 

Done:
soup prepped (squash, onions & apples baked)
pies made
no knead bread prepped (dough made and resting)
pot pie prepped (squash cubed and ready)

Cranberry Jelly prepped (prepared & chilling)

Beets prepped (peeled & quartered)

To Do Tomorrow:
Puree soup
Bake bread
Assemble & bake pot pie
Bake Tofurkey
Steam green beans

Cook beets

Cook stuffing

Day 2

How can only the 2nd day of vacation (when the 1st doesn't count since 2 were in preschool and the other was in camp) be so exhausting?! Each kid had a MAJOR meltdown today. Mae's was the most embarrassing, since it took place at Starbucks. I told the kids that we were only going to get drinks, since it was almost lunchtime. "Sweet," said Sam. Mae screamed and stamped her feet, loudly proclaiming that she wanted a treat too. "You can choose a drink or nothing," I said. "But if you keep screaming, I'll choose nothing for you." Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say. She lost it. And ended up FLIPPING out for a long time. I was feeling selfish (and fried) and wanted to talk to Wendy so we tried to ignore her. Oy. Ted lost it towards the end of his playdate with Dakota, suddenly not wanting to share and only wanting to watch a movie. And then Sam lost it when we took D home, screaming his head off to play the iTouch. Oh yeah, that'll get you what you want. We did end up having a nice dinner together (which Mae helped me prepare as you can see) and then I went off to TKD which really cleared my head. Paul and I are still fighting this sore throat thing. Tomorrow we'll swim in the morning, then I'll have more nose lasering done (ow) and finally, home to start cooking for T-day. The video is from Mae's gymnastics class today.

Seeing the light...

I'm really glad I did that big de-clutter session in September. Having already cleared out the major junk, it's not too hard to envision how our house will look when the time is right. Hopefully we'll hear from the warranty company next week. In the meantime, Paul and I spent today going through the crawl space (an area I carefully avoided in September!) We have many boxes of old textbooks and random knickknacks to donate. Paul wants one more weekend to go through things and then we'll either call 1-800 Got Junk again (love them!) or drive our donations/garbage/recyclables to their destinations. I'll call our painter this week for an estimate on re-painting. I definitely want him to paint the baseboards and windowsills. Depending on our realtor's suggestion, perhaps the whole house too. We have plastic under-the-bed boxes for the kids' toys. Tawyna suggested it to me. They'll have a large box for their toys, books, stuffies, and extra blankets. Then they'll still have all their "stuff", but it won't be out for all the world to see. It should work, at least in the short term. Between Mae and me, we're making good headway on breaking all the glasses! At least it'll be less to move. The kitchen is another area that was thoroughly de-cluttered so besides organizing, it should be easy to pull together. Let's hope!

After singing a Haydn mass at St. Augustine's this morning and working on the basement, we all took Ole on a walk. The boys played in the park while Mae and I took him up the hill to the trail. Sam looked so cute, all ruddy-cheeked. He seems to be completely fine after the bee sting. Hooray!

Tomorrow Sam and Mae have preschool, and Ted goes to a half-day soccer camp with his buddies Kai and Zach. Should be fun!

Zoo Day!

We went to the zoo today. It was a beautiful day, in the low 60's, no wind. Sam wanted to see the snow leopards (thanks to Kung Fu Panda) and Ted the penguins. (Mae didn't have a choice, but kept wanting to see the monkeys, although we saw them right away). Poor Sam got stung by a bee at lunch. Right in the neck! I was able to remove the stinger and everything. The "First Aid lady" appeared immediately and applied a green solution to his neck, and, I kid you not, an hour later you couldn't even see where it had been. Amazing.

On Friday, Ted had his 1st grade buddies over for a PJ "Kung Fu Panda" party. They had their sleeping bags, stuffies (I LOVE how into their stuffed animals these tough little boys are!) and I provided plenty of popcorn. After seeing the movie, the 4 of them exploded into Kung Fu moves and poor Omri got his (already loose, thank goodness) front tooth knocked out (by Ted's foot. Oops). But by the time his mom arrived, he had recovered and was SO proud. We'll have to do that sort of thing again. They get along so well together.

Last week at the CSA closing, I acquired some osha root. The seller (an interesting character) instructed me on how to prepare it (including a healthy dose of local honey) and it is GOOD! I have a wicked sore throat (just in time for my 1st gig with the Greek Orthodox church tomorrow...nice.) and the tea is helping. Waa.

Pics on moeltini!

we are ready!

I read a post this morning (I can't remember where it was...so I apologize to the original author!) that echoed my sentiments exactly, on the whole "putting up for winter" thing. I am ready! I've got my local beans, squash, potatoes, carrots, turnips, apples, jams, applesauce and frozen greens. So, when do I start eating? It seems too early. Yet, I remember last June, we were still finishing up meals in the deep freeze before restocking! So, when do we start? It almost seems a shame. It took a lot of work (and with 3 more Keeper pickups, the work continues!) to store this food and it's very comforting to see the shape we're in. But, when do we eat?

I took some pics of Mae at gymnastics today. She insists on wearing her tutu even though she didn't like ballet. Cutie. She held this position for a LONG time. She's so strong. I'd update moeltini but I'm too tired. Busy day today and tomorrow is even crazier. Lots of doctor appointments tomorrow. And rehearsal in Denver at night. *yawn*

chipping away at the to-do list

Today was productive. After a leisurely run with Ole and the normal loads of laundry that I (try to) do every day, I made some headway on the house stuff. I spoke with the structural engineer that our neighbor used and he explained the process to me. So my job tomorrow is to call the warranty people and request they send this person out. This is how the whole shebang (minus deductible) will get covered. 

I also did some quick decluttering of random toys and the bags of clothes I'd culled in the previous months. They were all donated to Savers and I used their 20% coupon to get the boys some (new to them) PJs. I mailed out some more gifts to my parents too. I need to get the holiday cards done but I'm much more ahead than I've ever been. 

Other tasks for the week include looking into the cost of re-carpeting (I mentioned the patching concept to Marcia and she looked horrified.) and checking Home Depot for a replacement basement door. I guess a handyman might be in order for that one. 

Tonight at TKD Ted wore his new dobok. It's too big for him but he'll grow into it. It's much more official with the "Boulder TaeKwonDo" printing on it, and the 'big kid' patch officially sewed on. He was pretty excited about it. He is so well-behaved in class. I hope the novelty takes a long time to wear off. 

Tomorrow is Tuesday. Will Ted make it through the day, or will I have to pick him up from school? Hmm...

w00t!

This morning, at the leisurely hour of 9:30am, I ran the Panicking Poultry 5K at the Rez. It was a beautiful day, 60s and sunny, with no wind. Thanks to some good training runs with Wendy, I was able to run my best 5K yet. According to the combination of the website's final stats (30:43) and Wendy's adjustment since we were in the back and it took us a while to even GET to the starting line (-45 seconds), my run time was 29:58. I have NEVER run a sub 30 5K before, so I am STOKED. Truthfully, I've never run hard before. I run to enjoy the scenery, take in the fresh air, and mentally relax. This was hard. After about a mile and a half, I would have been happy to stop and walk. But I kept going, keeping it steady and giving it every ounce I had at the end (seriously, I felt terrible at the end, but how do you slow down when a cute Ariel is waving at you?) Now, can I top this at the ColderBoulder? Woo hoo! (9:54 pace according to the website, so a touch faster. I've never run a sub 10 min mile that I know of either.)

This race was a benefit for MS and they had a silent auction. I got a great deal on a new pair of running shoes (mine are from the MS Walkabout in '07) and a Sherpani bag I've been coveting, all for way below market value AND for a good cause! I also won some random drawing for a music game that I don't understand. And a really cute bright yellow long sleeved race shirt with the bird saying "Eat Salad Instead!" Love it. 

Yesterday was Abbondanza's Grand Closing. We stocked up on applesauce and beans. Black, kidney, Indian Woman and anasazi. Rock on. My new project is to find many different ways to prepare rice and beans. We should be able to eat for almost free all winter at this rate. 

Last night was also Ninja Nite (they watched Kung Fu Panda, which they LOVED. We caught most of it and it was so cute.) Paul and I had a great talk about moving and we now have a list in place of things to do on the house to get it ready to sell. The major one is to have another structural engineer out. Paul thinks the foundation needs work. Then there is the carpeting...should we replace it all or can it be patched in the bad spots? And finally, repainting the baseboards. Not to mention de-cluttering, but that will be my project. I'm giving us a tentative "ready" date of March. If we can have the house ready by March (and keep our savings plan going too), we would be ready to sell right at peak sale time, Spring. Let's hope! The house we want is crazy and will need a lot of work, but it's 0.2 miles from Horizons, is on a cul-de-sac, and has 4 bedrooms. The finished basement has a wet bar, full bathroom, family room with fireplace and bedroom. I think that would make for a cozy Master Suite. We could stock all the liquor down there and "retire" downstairs for our nightly Star Trek and drinks. We shall see. Hopefully it will still be available. The other homes in our price range are quite small. Let's hope!!!! 

Exciting times

Let me start out by saying that this is all in the very beginning stages. Things probably will change. But I'm too excited by the possibility to not blog about it. Not everything I blog about has to be fact, right? Hopeful possibilities have earned a place here too. 

Another mom at school is a realtor. She asked me a few days ago if we were still thinking of moving to Boulder. I told her yes, but that our timeline was Spring of 2010, and that was if everything went as planned. After chatting some, she convinced me to stop the guesswork and just see where we stand right now. She gave me the number of a mortgage broker (a temple member, Mitch Freidman). I gave him the numbers he wanted and he worked out what we can afford. The truth is that it looks much better than we thought. He is going to email his numbers to Marcia and me tomorrow. I'll present them to Paul (my parents always told me that whenever I was serious about something, I'd present them with documents. Usually in the form of pieces of paper thrown into the living room accompanied by the sound of running footsteps. But I digress...)

Yes we can wait. But if the possibility exists that we can move before Sam starts Kindergarten, I'll put the money we'd save on K-care into a new mortgage. And there are quite a few houses in the area of Horizons that are in our price range, according to Mitch's numbers. I am very excited.

I also really love this house. But walking to school trumps it all in my book. There is a bike path that Paul could take to work, if he wanted. Walk to the store, walk to the library, bike to the Farmer's Market. 

As of tomorrow morning, we are in an official "money freeze." Just in case. *fingers crossed*

Pink Eye

Ted was sent home from school today with PinkEye. I SWEAR he didn't have it this morning. So far, he has yet to complete a Tuesday of school in 3 weeks. He'll stay home tomorrow to let the eyedrops work, then can go back Thursday. Luckily, he feels fine so he'll bike with me tomorrow at Teller Farm if it's not too freezing. Lordy. What I wouldn't give for a morning alone. Last Friday seems so long ago. Oh well. It will come again, as long as no one else gets this! 

kindergarten conflicts

I am so conflicted about this Kindergarten thing. Besides the incredible inconvenience of having 3 separate pickup times, at opposite ends of town (not MY town though, a 10 minute drive just to get INTO town), there is the Sam issue. Now, those of you who know me well know that I am a softie for Sam. He can do very little wrong in my eyes. I'm not quite sure how he wrangled himself so firmly into my heart, especially after the first 17 difficult months of his life, but he did. And there he remains. If there had been no choice, if it was full day K/1 just like Ted, it would have been fine. I would have kissed him goodbye that first day and shed the tears most K moms share in the gym afterwards. But this CHOICE thing is an entirely different matter. Suddenly it's up to me to decide how much time I want to spend with my middle child, the sweet one, the one with an incredibly open and generous spirit. I'd rather he just go til noon and spend the next 3 hours with me. But, since we don't live down the street, it's not a simple matter of picking him up, walking home, having a bite of lunch and perhaps a snuggle on the couch. It's more "in the car, let's get your sister, let's run some errands, let's get Ted, let's go to TKD..." Is that really better? It seems that spending those 3 hours in an Enrichment program would at least be more interesting, not to mention more beneficial. If we lived in Boulder, it would be a non-issue. But since we don't, it's more a matter of convenience than true choice. Oy!!!

Obama's book

This morning I downloaded the audiobook The Audacity of Hope by Obama. I started listening to it today while running errands (oh, how I love my iTouch!) I've gotten through the intro and 1st chapter and while it's tedious, his voice and inflection help make it interesting. I haven't listened to an audiobook since the car trips to Iowa from Chicago before the kids were born. I'm really enjoying it! I think when I've finished this one (our bookclub read for December) I'll start on his first book, Dreams From My Father. This one will be interesting because it was written long before he cared what anyone thought of him. 

After flu shots, more bloodwork, and errands this morning, the boys and I walked Ole, played in the park near our house and read lots of books. I also cooked a hodgepodge of delicious things (carmelized turnips and apples (CSA t & a), coleslaw with CSA cabbage, and a new not-meat roast I found today at Vitamin Cottage.) This is Day 1 of Ted not having his probiotics or Vitamin C, in preparation for the (now eagerly anticipated by the boys) poop testing that will take place Tue-Thu. Every day, we have to take a sample, then mail it in. Crazy! Gross! Euw!! Ted is delighted. A nice day. Not TOO much fighting. 

Tomorrow is World Run Day. I have my T-shirt and my 8 mile run planned. I ran Mon & Fri on Teller Farm, about 3.8 miles, according to Wendy. On Wed I ran Bobolink for 2.5 miles. So I think I'll do OK tomorrow. We shall see! It should be fine if it's not too windy. The wind has been nuts lately! Think happy knee thoughts for me tomorrow! 

info

Lots of info going on today. Horizons and Dr. Roy. So, Horizons first. They have decided to go with 58% kindergarten next year. (Why the random %? 58% is what the state funds.) So, Sam will go to school from 8-12 Monday through Thursday. No afternoons or Fridays. We will probably send him to Enrichment but I'm bummed that it's an all or nothing deal. It would be nice to send him a few times a week and let him have short days/time with Mom alone. I'm going back and forth now between ramping up Mae's preschool time and having Sam go the 58%, or keeping Mae only 3 days a week and sending Sam to Enrichment. Another thought I had, to eliminate lots of schlepping the kids around, would be if Paul could pick up Mae. Then I could get her after getting Ted at 3:15. Or Sam will just go full day. I don't know. Luckily we have lots of time to make this decision. 

Ted had his follow up with Dr. Roy today. We are both thrilled with how well he's doing and surprised at how easily he got over the flu (it took him 6 hours rather than the full 24. Go, probiotics!) He still is wanting to discover WHY there is inflammation going on in the nose and lungs so we have another blood panel to do as well as a stool sample (Ted will love this!) While he's not allergic to anything, these tests may show a sensitivity to foods that we can then eliminate. I think it'll show dairy and gluten, which we were told when he was 5 and in OT for sensory issues. It's all interconnected, isn't it? 

Ted was really wired tonight which made us all tired and frustrated. I'm looking forward to a mellow weekend. Let's hope. Flu shots in the morning.

I got a church gig!

How exciting! This choral thing is paying off...literally! I've been hired as an alto in an octet singing for Xmas Eve at St. Augustine's Church. 3 rehearsals and the mass itself. I have 2 more services lined up with Temple Sinai and Opera Colorado should contact me in January, if they want me. Here's to lots of fun singing!

In celebration, I bought myself an iTouch. I know, I know. I'm embarrassed at my consumerism (Afluenza, anyone?) but I've been drooling over the iPhone for over a year. I've done lots of research, and decided the lowest memory iTouch would still give me everything I wish I had when out of the house all day (namely, email and directions, not to mention the fun stuff like YouTube and games!)

Paul is recovering but still drained. Mae still has a low-grade fever but is acting fine. Sam and I are still unaffected, so far. What a week! I haven't had any free time to myself since Monday. At least I had Monday (til 3pm, when Ted burst out of his classroom and ran to the bushes to throw up). It was a lovely day. Oh well. There's always next week!

another one bites the dust....

Paul's turn. Lordy!

Mae's turn

Mae was sent home from school today with a high fever. She took a 4 hour nap and woke up in seemingly fine form. She's milking it for sure. She was (literally) jumping up and down on the couch chanting "I'm so sick! I'm so sick!" Sam's up next. So far, Paul and I are in the clear.

Yes We CAN!

I loved the acceptance speech. It's just amazing that as recently as 1965, blacks couldn't vote. To someone my age, this seems impossible. But only because we've come so far. I am very encouraged for our future. For the first time in 8+ years, I am finally proud of who our president is! Rock on, Barack!

9pm Mountain Time

Yippe, whee, hooray and all those words can't express my elation. There is hope for America yet!

holding our collective breaths

Obama won Ohio! 3 states have a party change from the last election. If he wins California, he's golden. Holy cow. Can this really be happening? Can America actually swing this? What a night!

stomach flu

Ted has the stomach flu. 20 kids called in sick this morning at school and 10 more were sent home mid-day. Wow. He's been sick as a dog since 3pm. He's lying in the family room now, listless and still puking. We're waiting for the Pedialite popsicles to freeze. Wish us all luck. This must be very contagious if Ted contracted it after only 7 hours in school. So Sam, Mae, Paul and I should be falling victim to it in the next day or so. Oy.