Dressing for Any Type of Weather

My girls are learning the value of thoughtful accessorizing, as evidenced by their hat and eyewear choices in these pictures. We have seen this week that it can be sunny one minute and snowing the next, and one can never be too prepared.

This week, Mags is all about wearing her coat backwards. Fine with me.

All Hail Spring!

I don't really ever remember seeing this type of thing fall from the sky growing up in Jersey. Hail is cool.

Atticus: Hard at Work

It takes a lot of cat chow to maintain this position all day, every day.

Maggie's Favorite YouTube Video

Mags and I were having a little quality time the other day, randomly watching video clips on the computer. Here is Maggie's favorite - She's really impressed that the baby has both a stage and a guitar. And pillows that look like cars.

I like the "better, better, better, better - AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" part.

It's Spring, Dammit

Yesterday: Hail. This morning: Snow. Tomorrow: Hurricane? Tsunami? Avalanche? Tornado?

For the record, here's Easter at our house...

Here is video of those rare moments when the entire family is happily engaged in a common activity! Ellie picked up on the whole "hunt for the plastic things" idea immediately. Mags let Ellie find eggs without ripping them from her little fingers and claiming them for herself. Jay got involved with the hunt, which probably seemed hokey to him, but he played along. Very sweet all around.

Pictures:

Easter loot - Yes, I did give my children toothbrushes and dental floss instead of chocolate bunnies, and they were psyched, by the way.

Ellie and a little stuffed lamb. I am so glad that little things make her so happy.

Mags wearing ribbons down her back - much like Irene Malloy from Hello, Dolly. And don't even think that isn't why I bought them or that the similarity was lost on Maggie for one nanosecond. (Also note that Maggie has started dressing herself, thus the pink rainboots and ballerina skirt.)

Jay eating the blueberry bran muffins that Mags and I made for breakfast. This is the first picture that Mags took of him that day. And next, you'll see the 17th picture she took of him about 5 minutes later.

Updates

Anti-Fatigue Flooring! - Went in super-easy in the exercise room - like a giant jigsaw puzzle. The girls love to crawl around on it. Jay has already moved some weight equipment onto it. I am visualizing my Jazzer-haven complete with giant mirror and tv suspended on a little arm... I only hope the ridiculous odor that enveloped the room as soon as we opened all that floor packaging dissipates soon. As it stands now, you don't need to exercise to get a little high going in there.

The Mole - Although the doctor did not remove the mole we had previously discussed, but rather surprised me by taking off another behind my back, I am sure the one she removed was, as she said, the most suspicious looking one back there. It was also in the one spot on my body that I cannot, under any circumstances, reach at all. I am supposed to change the band-aid daily. Last night I decided that I would not wake Jay to do it, but would try to do it myself. With the contortions I was able to pull off, I probably could make a go of a career with Cirque du Soleil, but I cannot reach that spot, no way, no how! Regardless, other than some rotten itching, it is fine, and the rascally spot was just fine when examined under the microscope.

And, just another rainy morning with Mags

This morning, Maggie:

• Smeared her bowl of oatmeal on the surface of her "little table" and said it wasn't a big mess. It was art.
• Denied me the weekly time-saving benefit of pajama day at KinderCare by stripping off her nightie and underwear and tying a shear scarf around her which she said was her swimsuit.
• Bit me on the thigh while I was wiping her crappy butt.
• Agreed during the drive to KinderCare that she would NOT cry when I dropped her off as long as I gave her three kisses and three hugs and let her open the door for me.
• DID NOT CRY WHEN I DROPPED HER OFF AT KINDERCARE.

So, I'm thinking we had a little victory, yes?

Just another rainy afternoon

I decided to turn on the noon news this afternoon as I ate my ham sandwich. Where else but in the Pacific Northwest do you get this list of stories?

• Let's recycle a 60-year old bridge. We are Portland, after all, and the cyclists need it. So what if it costs over a million dollars more than a new one?
• A pregnant man in Bend! Really?
• And from Seattle, but still in the news here - Gallery owner welcomes vandals who smeared feces on her windows. "Come, tell me why you're so angry."
• Is that really DB Cooper's parachute that they found here in Clark County?

Yeah, I know what I said...

So last night we went to Roots. We intentionally did not make a reservation because in the past we have made reservations and they always kind of act like, "Isn't that cute, they're coming at 6:00 and they're calling ahead. They must not get out much if they think they need a reservation when everyone knows that the real crowds don't show up until 7:30 or 8:00 on Saturday night..." We pulled into the parking lot at 6:01 and went in to what we expected - an empty restaurant. We ask for a table for 2 and are told to follow the girl dressed all in black. She takes us past the dining room and back toward the bathroom and I'm like,... "Um, where are we going?" She turns right into a broom closet - I mean dining room - with no windows and strange artwork. Another couple is sitting in there, and we can immediately hear their entire conversation. We are seated at a corner table in the back and my seat faces the wall. I didn't know such fine ambiance was available! It is dark, which is not romantic, but rather such a stark contrast to the lovely evening that we left outside the door that it is an immediate buzz kill. This could spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E for our night out. I look at the menu which has not changed at all since last time we were there. I think, "Hmm, it's good and all, but you'd think they'd switch things up a little now and then." I quickly follow that thought by, "Hmm. Oddly, I'm kind of not into the idea of spending $25 per entree to sit in a closet."

Luckily, I am married to a very flexible guy who was instantly willing to let go of his dreams of some expertly cooked piece of beef and roll with the idea of walking across the parking lot to the pizzeria. So, we head out. Our server was willing to reseat us, but really, thanks... no. The hostess in black just smiled and opened the door for us... almost like she was expecting us to come back her way after 5 minutes in the cave.

Pizzeria 360 was waaaaaay more in line with what I was looking for. Since Jay had been willing to make the switch with nary a glance back, I was totally fine with going with what he wanted off the menu - the arugula and pear salad with gorgonzola and a sausage and salami pizza with roasted garlic and roasted red bell pepper. We added some grilled prawns to the salad. Bottle of red house wine to go with. Lemon and huckleberry panna cotta for dessert that really didn't do much for us. There's something special about the pizza/wine combination.

The cherry on the sundae of our evening was a stop at the Depot on the way home. All dates are better when we can find a way to walk hand-in-hand under the big orange sign.

Roots

Tonight we are unloading the kids and heading out for a date night. Roots is probably the best restaurant in Clark County. When the Portland papers/magazines list the top restaurants in the metro area, they (correctly) look across the river at the culinary wasteland that is southwest Washington and declare this establishment to be the only worthwhile island rising up out of the ooze. (Their "pizza place" - and that is a term that fits 360 Pizzeria like last year's clothes fit a growing preschooler - is really tasty, too, for an upscale pizza establishment. Crispy crust. Ample toppings.)

Spring Fourth!

Before I go about hard-boiling eggs for the weekend's festivities, I may blow off some valuable work time today trying to balance them on one end in celebration of the vernal equinox and coming of spring. Spring! Glass half-full: warmth, flowers, longer days. Glass half-empty: 3 more months of daily rainfall.

Today is also our 4-year anniversary! Yay for us, Spunk! Time flies when you're having kids, I mean fun. Time flies when you're having fun!

Holey Moley

This morning I forced myself to get in the car and drive to my dermatoligist appointment in Portland where I voluntarily removed my top and allowed someone to excise a 6 mm mole from between my shoulder blades. You will be glad that I did not ask anyone to take any pictures of the procedure. I have a few stitches that I plan to use to garner sympathy and to provide me with an excuse to avoid lifting weights for the next 10-12 days.

A Poem to Mark the Day

Though nervous, under my own volition,
This morning I went to my mole excision.
Now there's a hole that's started itchin',
But I'll stop here and quit my bitchin'.

Best-Step Anti-Fatigue Flooring!

Our plan it to put this type of flooring in the exercise room and craft room in the outbuilding. We had priced out the same type of product in Lowe's and Home Depot. At both of those places, they sell 16 square foot packages for roughly $18. Imagine my surprise when, while wandering aimlessly around Costco on my way home from Jazzercise on Saturday morning, I came across these packages of flooring which - as you can see - "Cover 32 square feet!" - for only $13.97 a package. So, well less than half the price for twice the floor. Go Costco! Let's just hope it's squishy enough to put over concrete and not kill my knees because we have enough to "Cover 320 square feet!"

Dude-ette and Princess Blueberry

Ellie has started going around wearing a knit cap - She'll seek it out, then yell, "HAT! HAT!" Once it's on her head, she's as happy as she gets. She doesn't realize that when the cool kids wear knit caps they put on sullen faces, listen to rebellious songs on their iPods and text their friends about how hopelessly ridiculous their parents are. We'll give her a year or two.

Maggie, on the other hand, has found a window of opportunity to express herself through her clothes. Every day while I'm dressing Ellie, she'll sneak off, close the door of her room and transform herself into whatever she wants to be for the day. Then, she'll appear in Ellie's doorway to present herself to us. While gone, she strips off her regular clothes and puts on, oh, maybe an old Halloween costume. Most frequently, she'll put on her "princess" dress (aka, my old Victoria's Secret nightgown). I used to be able to make it partially presentable by holding back the straps with a hairtie, but now she MUST wear the sleeves loose so she can keep them at her elbows (like Princess Fiona). She also must strip off her regular top. This means she needs to be cold and indecent if she is to be happy and pleasant to be around. Our greatest challenges come when I tell her that princesses can still wear normal clothes UNDER their princess dresses. In fact, I tell her, you can be a princess regardless of what you are wearing - It's really about the attitude. In fact, you don't need to be a princess at all. You could be a scientist, or an artist, or maybe a teacher... I get the three-year old version of "Yeah, whatever." Honestly, it's better than when she's pretending to be a shark or a tiger, which is not pleasant at all. In this photo, she is not naked. She is wearing her indecent princess costume. She has helped herself to some frozen blueberries, which she can now reach because the freezer on our new fridge is at her level. After all, blueberries are high in antioxidants, so good for her.

Monday

Bagels
The girls and I went into Portland for lunch with Jay, and we finally got to go over to SE to Kettleman Bagels. All in all, a pretty good deal! Boar's Head cold cuts/cheese/mustard and decent bagels, although as Jay was quick to note, the everything bagel did not have salt. (They did have a salt bagel, though.) I figure if we're getting that picky, it must have been good. I was a bit disappointed to see that they call their (scrambled) egg sandwiches "eggels," which is the common (stupid) name that is used at every bagel shop out here, but again, a minor penalty. I got 6 to take home - they have day-olds for $2.99/6 or fresh for $4.75/6. I believe a dozen is $8.99 (plus the $3.50/gallon for gas to get there...)

Jazzer-dinged
Somehow I forgot to submit my Jazzercise report for February at the start of March - not entirely surprising with the knee pain I was having and the preparations for our trip east. Unfortunately, they have just instituted a $25 fee if your monthly report is submitted after the 5th of the month. I am usually so careful - in fact, I was sure I had submitted it, but I can't find any evidence to support that fact. So, another $25 to Jazzercise... but, I won't complain. It's just the same kind of feeling as getting a parking ticket or an itchy mosquito bite - not a big enough deal to wreck the day or break the bank, just a petty little annoyance that pisses you off for a bit.

Naps
How old are most kids when they give up naps? Mags has just argued with me about taking one today, and it may be that she is still loudly crying back in her room. I can tell she's tired, but I offered her the opportunity to take some books to bed and read. She's pretty much okay with that, and it'll get her to go to sleep eventually. If I could carve out a few hours in the middle of each day to lie in bed and read/snooze, I would be totally up for that.

Irish Tenors
In honor of the day, I brought our Irish Tenors CD in the car. Mags was relatively unimpressed, asking to hear Music Together songs instead, until we came upon The Fields of Athenry. I know that Jay sings to the girls, or at least to Mags, when he puts them to bed, but he has never let me hear his performances. Odd, being that he has to listen to me sing to/with them for at least 6 hours every Saturday and Sunday and nearly non-stop many evenings. Occasionally, Mags will ask me to sing "Molly Malone" or something that sounded like "Athenry" but I don't know the songs - so I know they come from her father. Suddenly at about the third refrain, Mags' eyes nearly popped out of her head when she realized that "my papa sings me that song!" She was psyched, although I don't know how closely the Jay O'Brien lullabye version resembles the sing-it-to-the-back-rows three tenor blow-out version. To her ears, I'm sure the Jay version rules.

Italian Restaurants

Here is the menu from an Italian place (Tuscany Bistro) where we ate in Jersey. It was really good - right in Newton across from the Teague's house and the miniature golf course heading out of town toward Andover. Although it is not in the heart of Italian restaurant country (Passaic County/Essex County), it has a menu the likes of which you would see "closer in." If you were to access the actual menu and count the potential entrees, I can tell you that you'd approach triple digits. And, all of the critical sauces are there and available on whatever meat you want: francese, parmigiana, marsala, piccata, scampi, milanese, marinara, fra diavolo... Also, the necessary pasta dishes - lasagna, manicotti, stuffed shells, etc... Then, there's a great assortment of other dishes to keep it interesting. I'm pretty sure that I could go there 30 or 40 times and find something new to try.


Try, just try to find a tasty eggplant parm out here. Try to find an Italian restaurant that does not put salmon on the menu - or hazelnuts. Try to find a good marinara. There are a few places in Portland that try to replicate the east coast Italian thing, but it's almost like they try too hard. It's not natural. It's people who are consciously trying to replicate something - not people who are cooking what is inherently normal to them. So, prices are high, options are few and there's the ever-present temptation for them to add some creativity and add a local ingredient so they can call it "Northwest Eclectic Italian Fusion" or the like.


Mama Mia Trattoria in Portland does a pretty good job. This menu from Basta's Trattoria, sadly, is more typical. Too much. Too uppity. Just give me something simple and good in a place where I can get a glass of wine and bring my kids (or not)! (I have brought kids to both Mama Mia and Basta's, by the way. Mama Mia's was a little crowded for a high chair, but the service was incredible and friendly. At Basta's we were told that they didn't have high chairs - and then asked, "Do you still want to eat here?" I've also eaten at both places without kids - I'd choose Mama Mia every time.) Aaaaaaanyway. I have been back home for a week, and I'm almost done dreaming about things I miss from the east coast. This will be the last post on the topic.

One last thing: Pizza. Portland Places that Pass the Test: Escape from New York and Tributes - both in NW within walking distance of Jay's work. (btw, Tributes is also where they sell the pork roll mentioned in a previous post.) They "get" it. Pizza that's not pizza: Pizzicato. Probably very nice people, but please... Jay's choice for most disgusting pizza ever created: Pizzicato's Souisita - lamb sausage, artichoke hearts, feta, mozzarella and fontina on a pesto base. Pizza that I would not eat even if it meant skipping lunch: Pizzicato's Thai Shrimp Pizza - spicy peanut sauce, shrimp, green onions, sweet peppers, mozzarella, sesame seeds, crushed chili peppers. Jay speaks still of a lunch at his office where someone ordered a pizza from Pizzicato that had both lamb and asparagus on it. I don't really have words to comment on that.

Rainbow Lunchbox

I got this for something like $3 or $4 on clearance at Border's in Jersey. I knew it would come in handy for something, and I like metal lunchboxes. To pack it for the trip home, I stuffed it with Maggie's "Soft Blanket" and then packed it in one of the bags that went missing in Newark. When the bags were returned, Mags opened the duffel up and claimed the lunchbox as her own - probably since it contained something that was already hers. Or maybe just because the lunchbox is so pretty and functional. It now holds her family of three invisible rabbits. She carefully places a toy carrot in there at regular intervals so they have food, calls upon all of us to be quiet when it's time for them to sleep and asks us all to come and look at/pet the bunnies when it's time to show them off. (In case you were wondering, she is showing you all three bunnies in the picture.)

Taos Paula

I love these shoes! I have been wearing them every day (pretty much) since I bought them. I had never heard of Taos Footwear before, but I got them at The Shoe Box in Vancouver where they have the typical higher-end comfortable shoes (Keen, Earth, etc...) They are so totally comfortable, and I love how they remind me of shoes I had in second grade without looking ridiculous. I have the "Paula," but I see now they have their spring line out.

Not to Leave Anything Out

We had a great visit with Liz, Val, corgis, Chinese cresteds, bunnies, birds, rabbits, and Barbra Streisand. We needed a little break and were so happy to be able to drive through the blinding rain in the "emergency car" (as Mags calls my dad's van - I guess she thinks it's like an ambulance...) to see them, have a nice salad and watch "Hello, Dolly" on their giant TV. Jersey often leaves me feeling vegetable deprived in my mad rush to eat all the bagels and pasta I can ingest, and the salad was so appreciated. I think someday I may have to convince Jay that a small hairless dog that has to wear clothing to stay warm would be a great addition to our household. I know he liked how the dog cuddled up with him, but has expressed concern about how the neighbors would perceive his manhood if her were to allow such a beast to join the family. Seriously. I figure a dog like that is the perfect solution to trying to figure out if we need a dog or a cat - it kind of seems like a cross between the two.

We also got to visit with the Serafins and Boyles. They are a pleasant constant on the Jersey front - It's nice to know that they want to see us when we're around.

Four Generations

We went to Jersey to see Great-Grandma Pat. Here is the picture that will survive through the ages.

Breakfast Sandwiches

In Jersey a girl can get a breakfast sandwich as they are meant to be made. This sandwich contains FRIED eggs, cheese, Taylor ham and (optional) salt, pepper and ketchup. This sandwich is best served on an honest-to-God (boiled) everything bagel (with big chunks of salt, garlic, poppy seeds, sesame seeds... NOT pumpkin seeds or spelt or wacky stuff that belongs in granola - This sandwich has nothing to do with granola-like foods). You could also get a perfectly excellent sandwich on a "hard roll" - which is not so much hard as a little firm on the outside and doughy on the inside.

Somewhere west of the Delaware Water Gap, people start futzing with this masterpiece in multiple ways.

• They stop boiling their bagels. (Bagels are boiled. A roll with a hole in the middle is a roll with a hole in the middle.)
• They have no idea what Taylor ham is. (Taylor ham is not pork in its natural state - it is extruded and processed and all kinds of nasty stuff that I don't want to imagine, but it's greasy saltiness is key to the successful and authentic breakfast sandwich.)
• They start making egg sandwiches with scrambled eggs. (I know of a perfectly nice girl with a bagel shop in Oregon who actually microwaves scrambled eggs for her breakfast sandwiches - They turn a strange shade of gray in the middle during the process, and nobody seems to mind...)
• They stop asking if you want "saltpepperketchup?" - and (gasp) actually put MAYO on an egg sandwich. (I remember once sitting at a bagel shop in Vancouver (WA) while I was pregnant with Mags and realizing that my breakfast had mayonnaise on it. It was a slow realization - "Hmm, there's something creamy on my egg sandwich. It can't be that the cheese melted that much... It doesn't seem to have much taste... I wonder... MOTHER OF GOD, THERE IS MAYO ON MY SANDWICH.")

I love the Pacific Northwest. We've got salmon, microbrews, pinot noir, coffee - and those four things are reason enough to stay here forever. (Although I find this nearly impossible to believe, it is true that in NJ, my parents have to drive for half an hour to find a Starbucks!) But, in my humble opinion, we have a gaping hole in breakfast cuisine out here. There is a place in Portland where they actually sell Taylor ham. While I will likely never buy it (it would be too much of a good thing), it's comforting to know that I could...

The Quiet Beauty of the Trail

Thursday morning was beautiful, so the family went to Kittatinny State Park for a hike on a "rails to trails" path. These paths are on old railroad tracks and are great for young kids because they are wide and clear without lots of curves or changes in elevation. This particular trail is nice because rather quickly you can get to a big pond with geese and swans and turtles and beavers (in the picture, I'm pointing at the beaver house) and the whole nature thing. Pops especially loves this place - It's where he finds his peace these days, and I can totally relate to that. Maggie, on the other hand, took some convincing. But, she came around eventually, so I guess there's hope for her after all. After a rough start, the pictures show her sharing her acorn with her dad and chasing her grandfather with a pine branch "tickle stick."

Sunny Day - Sweepin' the Clouds Away

Before we left on Sunday, we crossed the GWB to spend some time in the city (that would be New York) with Jay's sister Leslie and her husband Dan. After a tasty Mexican brunch, we walked from their place to Central Park to play. We went to a little playground with enough other kids to keep it interesting, but not crowded. All day on Saturday we had torrential, blinding rain and then Saturday night brought window-jiggling blow-the-house-down winds. So, when Sunday dawned clear and bright and the park was so clean and perfect, the Sesame Street theme kept playing over and over in my head - especially the line in the title of the post. I am super glad that we don't actually live on the east coast, let alone in Manhattan (I won't mention how long it took to get through the Lincoln Tunnel on the way to the airport...), but it sure can be a nice place to visit. I wish we had gotten to see Elmo.

What Time is It?

We are home and glad to be so, but with the time change, late night flight and Daylight Savings Time, our body clocks are quite confused. I will post some stories later, but overall, our trip objectives were fully achieved... Wow, yesterday was a long day.

I took this picture as the girls settled in to watch Willy Wonka on the portable DVD player about three hours into the flight. The opening credits run over scenes of chocolate candies being made, and the girls were pretending to pick little chocolates off the screen and feed them to each other and to me. Imagine my surprise when five minutes later, both were hanging upside down from the overhead compartments screaming obscenities and pouring cupsful of bloody mary mix on passengers in nearby rows. Okay, maybe it wasn't quite that bad.

Betcha' Got a Chick, and I Ain't Talking 'bout Easter

How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)... I can't get this song out of my head. Really, I can't. It's an opener in our new Jazzercise set - Queen Latifah doing an old Pointer Sisters song. I just love it when "I know you're cheatin' on me" songs are so upbeat that I can't stop my toe from tapping and my head from moving like an old Taco Bell bobble head on a bumpy road. Back in the day when I had a man with a chick on the side, I really didn't feel like singing at all. Nope, not at all.

(available on iTunes)

A Mighty Wind

With our flight less than 24 hours away, why is Jay obsessed with watching this over and over? For God's sake.

Blick (at KinderCare), and Broccoli

I planned to send the kids to KinderCare today and (seriously) take the day off and wander around IKEA for a few hours. Crazy, I know... We have to pay for the week even though we were only going to be able to send them on Tuesday because of our trip, so I figured what was the harm in making up one of the days and indulging myself a little. So, 9:00 rolls around and as we stroll through the door, I notice that there is a sign that says, "We have a stomach virus making its rounds through the center. If your child complains of a tummy ache, please take him home." And yet, we push forward. When we enter Ellie's room, we are smacked in the face by the smell of bleach. Ms Kim said, "If you don't have to leave Ellie today... I wouldn't." So, quick change of plans to avoid leaving the little one in the epicenter of gastrointestinal distress... Needless to say, Ellie's only good for about an hour in IKEA, but having her with me almost certainly saved us money. Then she sat through lunch at the Cafe with Jazzercise Sue and now is enjoying a nice long nap. She is a barrel of laughs, and it's nice to spend the day with her without having to deal with the Center of the Universe (aka, her older sister).

Ellie is at the cusp of a language explosion - I feel it in my bones. She will repeat just about any word you say to her, and she'll point out everything pretty well in her picture books. But, most amusing is her new word of the week - BROCCOLI! (If you want the quick version of the video, skip ahead until about 1:04 and prepare to be amazed...)

blik

I saw wall decals from this company years ago, and I've wanted them ever since... But, since our house has its lovely and pervasive orange peel texture, I have been stymied in my pursuit, since these won't stick to textured walls. (Why, oh why, oh why with the textured walls??? I digress...)

I was just standing in our outbuilding as Jay painted the walls of the exercise room and dreaming of what is to be when I realized that, due to my unrelenting demands, the walls in that building are smooth like glass. The exercise room will be a combination of an almost acid green (2 consecutive walls) and a bright blue (the other two). I'm thinking these will work nicely, in the raspberry cocoa combination - with the blue splashing onto the green and vice versa, with the raspberry and cocoa in the middle...

Precocious Children, if I do say so...

Ellie relaxing in the rocking chair, enjoying one of her favorite books before bedtime. Mags always loved this one, too. I don't remember it at all from my childhood - I wonder when it was published...



Mags showing off our Sunday morning breakfast (cornmeal blueberry scones). She actually is a good helper in the kitchen! Notice she has sampled the blueberries to make sure they're good enough for the rest of us. We (meaning I) almost messed this one up when I somehow managed to turn the oven off at some point during cooking... but they turned out to be remarkably tasty.