Corn Maze

Yesterday we went to Cool Patch Pumpkins, home to the largest corn maze in the world. We met some friends and their daughter there. The kids wanted to go off on their own, so after paying the entrance fees and getting maps, we set them loose.

The four adults carefully read the map,



and followed the most efficient path through the maze (which meant bypassing Starbucks Station).



The kids, on the other hand, went for the most direct route through the maze, which involved a lot of extra paths (previously trampled by other maze-goers), and at one point climbing through the corn. They went straight through the middle of the maze to Starbucks Station, then out through the exit.

We also bought pumpkins while we were there:

Baking Is Finished

Current mental soundtrack: "Angels on the Head of a Pin" from Angels Are Everywhere, by Daniel Pinkham

As promised, photos of the cake balls:




And for the cake contest, B decorated this castle:




My entry for the cake contest:



It's the first time I've tried using fondant to cover a cake. The cake and starfish came out pretty well, but I think my octopus sculpture leaves something to be desired. He looks rather deflated.

Baking Progress Report 2

Cake balls are finished (I'll post a photo tomorrow). They didn't turn out quite as pretty as I would have liked, but overall they look okay. (Especialy considering I'd never done candy coatings before.) B's cake is baked, and she started decorating while I was at rehearsal tonight. My cake is now defrosting on the counter, and we will decorate together after school tomorrow.

Off to bed!

Baking Progress Report

Between picking up B from school and taking her to ballet class today, I baked and crumbled the cake for the cake balls, and mixed with the buttercream frosting I made on Sunday. (Sorry, no time for photos!). B and I stopped at Spun Sugar on the way to ballet class, and picked up some additional supplies (2 more pounds of fondant, and another pound of candy melts). After dinner, from 6:30-7:00, I shaped the balls, and put them away in the freezer before leaving for sectional rehearsal.

I'm going to try covering my cake with fondant, which I haven't done before, so I had to buy some additional equipment this week. I saw a 20-inch fondant roller at Michael's on Saturday, but since I'm too cheap to pay $21.99 for a plastic cylinder, I made my own; I stopped at Ace Hardware on the way to lunch today, and bought a 24-inch piece of PVC pipe for $3.29.

Another Busy Weekend (And Busy Week Ahead)

Busy weekend here, but I guess that's not news to anyone :-)

Next year, if I happen to mention here that I did something silly like order 37 bulbs (each of which needs to be planted 8 inches deep), will someone please bring me back to reality? The first dozen are in, but that still leaves a bag of 25 to go.

Today, we took F to San Francisco, along with DH's postdoc & wife. We mostly did the same walking tour as last time (minus the cable-car ride), but today was a much more exciting day in San Francisco.

First was the Italian American Heritage parade. We got to see floats and bands and all kinds of Italian-American dignitaries in fancy cars. And, let's not forget the Norcal Waste Systems Precision Drill Team--garbage men with cans on wheels, doing precision drills. And the Ferrari show in Washington Square. The kids received not only candy thrown from the floats, but also bread thrown from the Boudin Bakery wagon (a hunk of baguette in a paper bag).

Second, this is Fleet Week in San Francisco, so we skipped the touristy shops on Pier 39, and crowded onto the wooden pier to watch the air show. The Canadian Snowbirds performed while we were still eating lunch, but we saw the USAF F-16, a red biplane, and the Blue Angels.

This is going to be a crazier week than usual. B and I are both preparing cakes for the cake contest at her school's fall festival, plus I am trying out cake balls for the boutique at the festival. Which means that by Friday at 3:30 pm, the kitchen here has to produce two decorated cakes and dozens of cake balls. Of course, this is the week I have activities on my two normally free evenings: a sectional on Tuesday, and the middle school Science Night on Thursday, so it looks like I'll be working late into the night. I drew up a schedule, and completed the first two tasks tonight: bake and freeze my cake layers, and mix up the buttercream icing (which keeps well in the fridge).

Clueless in Berkeley

DH and I went out to lunch today with our friend F (the one with celiac disease). We went to a place that we've been to many times before. F ordered chicken fajitas, with corn tortillas. DH emphasized to the waitress that F was allergic to wheat, and she wrote it down on the order form.

Lunch took forever to arrive--it's never been this slow before at the particular restaurant, even when we've arrived with large groups of people. A different waiter put the food on the table, and left before we noticed that they had included flour tortillas, not corn, with F's order. It took another ten minutes to get the attention of our waitress, and the following conversation ensued:

F: I ordered corn tortillas, and these are flour.
Waitress: I made sure to tell the kitchen that you're allergic to wheat.
(pause) Is flour made from wheat?
DH & F: Yes!
Waitress: I'm sorry, I think that's the only kind we have. Would you like some bread instead?

This Election Is Going To The Dogs

Have you seen the September 25th issue of Nature? The cover article is about the presidential candidates and their stances on science and technology:






Now, if you happen take a break from reading, and set the journal down flat on your desk, here's what you'll see:




Rather interesting ad placement, isn't it?

Sump Pump

I'm working at home today, while the plumber replaces our outdoor sump pump. He finally finished about 15 minutes ago, after a trip to the hardware store to buy a pipe fitting. (Actually, it was three hardware stores, because the first two didn't have the piece he needed.) And the job took longer than expected, because for some reason our sump doesn't have a standard electrical outlet for the pump, so he had to do a wiring job.

We noticed last spring that our sump pump wasn't working, so I bailed out the hole and discovered that the circuit breaker tripped every time I lifted the float up. Since summer is dry here, I procrastinated calling a plumber until last month. It's always something with older houses--we also had to redo the front sprinkler system this summer. I wonder what's next...

All is Quiet

On a normal Tuesday, I would be rushing home from work right now to start the afternoon chauffeur schedule. Instead, I'm still sitting here in the office, working away. (Okay, typing a blog entry, but this won't take too long.) B is away on an overnight field trip, so I don't have to pick her up at 2:50. On Tuesdays, the other mom drives the middle-school carpool, so M will be deposited on our doorstep around 3:45. (I hope he hasn't lost his house key yet!) And, since B is gone, there's no rushing to get dinner on the table by 4:30, since she won't be going to ballet class today.

Somehow, when planning this week's meals on Sunday, my brain registered the fact that our friend with celiac disease will be here, but did not make the connection that B would not be here to go to ballet class. (Normally, on ballet days, we are using the crock pot so that we can eat at 4:30). So, we are having a gluten-free crock pot meal today. I bought some wheat-free soy sauce, and am making those Korean-style ribs that everyone enjoyed last week:

I used the marinade recipe I found at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4793091, and modified it slightly for the crock pot (instead of the grill):

1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup sesame oil
8-10 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed (I used a garlic press)
6 large green onions, chopped roughly
3 pounds short ribs

Combine all ingredients and marinate overnight (I just do it in the crockpot, and if some of the ribs aren't quite covered, I turn them over in the morning before starting the crockpot). Cook in crockpot on low for 8 hours. Serve with steamed rice.

Lost & Found

Things found this weekend, while cleaning B's room (guest coming tomorrow who will be sleeping there) and looking for stuff in the garage (B is going on an overnight camping trip with her class):

• My copy of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wind in the Door, which B and I were looking for a couple of months ago,
• A stuffed animal named "Patrick," whom M has been looking for,
• Much dirty laundry, some of it already outgrown (apparently B has been using the cram-it-all-into-the-closet method when asked by DH to clean her room),
• The utensils for B's Playmobil kitchen, which I have been searching for for six years! We bought her the dollhouse when she was 3, so I didn't put the small pieces out, just the large furniture. We moved to San Diego in 2002, and when she was old enough for the utensils, I couldn't find them anywhere! Those Playmobil boxes finally turned up today, wrapped in a Target bag, in an unlabeled box containing a magazine rack. DH is trying to claim it wasn't his fault, but I know that if _I_ had, for some unknown reason, decided that a magazine rack and dollhouse furnishings belonged together, I would have put a LABEL on the box!

B and I also took the opportunity to go through the dresser to remove outgrown clothes, and the bookshelf to remove outgrown books. Now, her dresser drawers close, her closet opens, her stuffed-animal basket is no longer overflowing, and her bookshelf has room for the books she actually reads. My living room is still a disaster area (guess where all those books are currently stacked?), and I still haven't finished strapping the bookcases (yes, all the tools are lined up in front of the living room fireplace, along with the ladder), but at least one room looks better!

Random Tidbits

Last night I subbed as conductor for a rehearsal. When I agreed to do this back in August, the tentative plan was to have me work on A Ceremony of Carols, which I know pretty well (I've conducted 2/3 of the SSA version, and sung the full SATB version before). Naturally, plans changed, and I ended up rehearsing some really difficult pieces that I'd never seen before: 8-part divisi, dissonant harmonies, tricky rhythms. The choir and I managed to survive the evening. And now I can get back to my regularly scheduled life--maybe I'll have time to read the Sunday paper tonight. (And the Monday and Tuesday papers, too.)

In gardening news, someone came by last night and removed the tops of my geraniums:

The culprit also nibbled one of the echinaceas, but not any of the other four:

And, for some reason, there are flies lurking outside our door today. Every time someone opens the door, they sneak in. Since arriving home 1.5 hours ago, I've killed five, and I can hear a sixth buzzing around.

Dinner tonight (at 4:30 pm) is another crock-pot experiment: Korean-style BBQ ribs with rice.

(Thanks to mundungus42 for today's title)

Update: A total of ELEVEN flies were dispatched in the house this afternoon. I'm beginning to wonder if one of us has a corpse in the closet!

Relaxing Weekend

I got a bunch of stuff done this weekend, but of course, not everything on the list (the bookcase straps will have to wait for another day). Saturday morning, I chauffeured the kids to their respective fencing and ballet schools, and stopped by Costco in between. In the afternoon, DH took both kids (plus some of B's friends) to the Cal football game, so I had a very relaxing afternoon. I read for a while, then went to Target. After stocking up on paper towels, soap, and juice (among other things), I went window shopping at two of my favorite stores, The Container Store and Sur La Table.

Sunday was chore day. I bought groceries, deadheaded the roses, washed six loads of towels and sheets, folded the six loads of clothing that were washed last week, and planted 25 saffron crocuses in the flower bed by the porch. The crocuses were a little bit of a pain. I have most of my bulbs in chickenwire cages, but the Dutch irises have already started to come up, so I had to carefully uncover the rightmost cage and open the top while trying not to break off any of the plants sprouting through the holes. (I only broke one, so I didn't do too badly.) About half of the crocuses are in the cage, and the other half are not, so we'll see if anyone eats those.

Chore For The Week

Last weekend, I finally started securing all of our tall furniture to the walls. Yes, we moved to the Bay Area nearly two years ago, and no, I hadn't gotten around to it yet. So far, I've done the two tall bookcases downstairs, and the IKEA bookcase in M's room. This weekend, I'm hoping to get to B's craft armoire, the three tall IKEA bookcases upstairs, and M's loft bed. That should take care of the tall stuff. I just stopped by Home Depot and picked up some more straps while M was at his piano lesson today.

Are you ready for a quake? I read somewhere that 55% of the injuries in the Northridge quake were caused by falling objects. Not just those of you in California--the Midwest has had some big ones in the past. I'm slowly working on stuff, and hopefully I'll be mostly finished by the time the Big One shows up.

Changing Seasons

Summer is my favorite season. It's warm outside, the sun shines, and there are so many different kinds of seasonal fruit to choose from. Today, the calendar has caught up to what I've been thinking for the last week or so: summer is over. The leaves are falling in our yard, the heat is on in the mornings, and I've started cooking more cold-weather food. (Since we don't have air conditioning, I try not to use the oven in the summer.)

Last night we had one of our favorite casseroles, Broccoli Rice Casserole. DH and I first tasted this at Threadgill's Restaurant in Austin, Texas. In Austin, you can buy the casserole at the grocery store. Once we left Austin, we had to make it ourselves. I finally picked up a copy of the Threadgill's cookbook a few years ago, and cut the recipe down to manageable size (which is why there are weird amounts like 2/3 can of soup). I usually bake this in a 9x13 pan:

Threadgill's Broccoli And Rice Casserole
1.5 cups long grain rice [uncooked]
1 Tb butter
2/3 cup diced onion
2 heads broccoli, chopped medium-coarse (use flowerets and softer part of stalk)
1/3 cup cold water
2/3 lb Velveeta, cut in 3/4-inch cubes
1 can sliced water chestnuts
6 oz mushrooms, sliced
2/3 can cream of mushroom soup (undiluted)

Cook rice and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, melt butter and sauté onion. Add water and broccoli to skillet. Cook over medium heat [covered], stirring occasionally until broccoli is slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in cheese, water chestnuts, mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, and cooked rice. Place mixture in covered casserole dish and bake for about 25 minutes. Stir and bake 25 more minutes.

Adapted from Threadgill's: The Cookbook, by Eddie Wilson

Forms, Forms, Forms

The beginning of a new school year always brings with it an onslaught of forms to fill out. I don't know how people with more children deal with all the paper that comes home! I had thought that we were done filling out forms for a while (since school started at the end of August), but in the last week I've had two field trip forms (one multi-page, since it's for an overnight), and B just returned from ballet class with her Nutcracker permission slip. Off to consult the calendar now, to try and figure out which sets of rehearsals & performances we can actually get her to!

Arrrr!

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Setting Goals

Last night was Back To School night at B's elementary school. On one wall of her fourth-grade classroom, the teacher has put up a little writing project by each student. Clearly, the instructions were to write about their goals for this year, along with drawing a self portrait. Most of the kids want to improve things like their reading, multiplication, division, etc. One kid wants to learn to play the clarinet better. Our daughter's goal for 4th grade? To learn to run faster:

I will learn to move my legs faster and my arms faster, while of course staying on the track.

I guess this sums up her school experience pretty well. She's a bright kid, who already reads fluently, writes better than her mother, and has no trouble with math. What else is there to improve, besides her running?

Only In Berkeley

Last tree sitter has descended.

Photos courtesy of Nick Matze:

Around 10:15 am: The campus police chief, other officers, and
someone with a camera are in a box dangling from the crane.

---

Around 10:30 am: The scaffolding going up

---

Around 11:15 am: The crowd

The scaffolding has reached the lower platform. The white-coveralled scaffolding builders have been joined now by others in dark clothes, who are removing more branches from the tree, along with the tree-sitters' possessions. The three tree sitters who were on the lower platform are now clinging to the tree.

After 21 months, it looks like the Berkeley tree sitters are finally going to be removed. DH and I drove by the stadium on our way to work this morning, and saw workers in white coveralls bringing in scaffolding. We took a break about two hours ago and hiked up the hill to watch for a while. Police everywhere on the ground (we watched some guy being handcuffed and patted down), police in a cherry picker, police in a box dangling from a crane. Of course, we forgot to bring a camera, but one of DH's students was there, and he promised to send photos. I'll post them when they arrive.

Earthquake Country

Anyone else feel that 4.0 that just occured? (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/nc51207740.php). Epicenter was about two miles east of M & B's piano teacher's house (she's not home this week). M thought it was cool.

DH grew up in California, so he instantly identified it as an earthquake. I was reading in bed with B, and my first thought was "What just hit our house?" I suppose I'd better get used to these, living in the Bay Area.

Back To School Night #1

M's school had Back To School Night tonight. It was fun to look around the middle school, and go from class to class following his schedule. The school very thoughtfully stationed eighth-graders all around the school to direct lost sixth-grade parents.

Two of his teachers have VERY appropriate names. During first period, he is taking "Cycle," which is an exploratory class for sixth graders (different subject every seven weeks). He is currently assigned to wood shop, under the care of Mr. HarWOOD. Second period alternates between P.E. and choir, which is taught by HARMONY Murphy.

Scheduling the Family Dinner

We are trying out a new schedule for Tuesdays and Fridays this year, which involves family dinner at 4:30 pm. I'm not sure if I like the schedule (it was very rushed today, trying to get dinner on the table), but the only other time we can eat together on those days is 8:00 pm, which is B's bedtime. The problem is that this year, B's ballet classes are much later: 5:30-7:30 on Tuesday and Friday, 6:00-7:30 on Monday. With the 20-30 minute drive, that pretty much precludes having dinner at a normal hour.

Mondays I've given up on--there is no hope of having anything resembling a family dinner. The kids both have late-afternoon activities, in two different cities, and I have an evening rehearsal in yet another city. We're still trying to figure out the best arrangement for who's taking who where in which car:

Monday
   4:30 Leave for M's fencing class
   5:00 M's fencing class begins
        (30-40 minute gap for errands)
   6:00 B's ballet class begins
   6:30 M's fencing class ends
   7:00 My carpool to rehearsal departs
   7:30 B's ballet class ends

SuperAlto's Walking Tour of San Francisco

M & B have been wanting to ride the cable cars for a while now, so we decided to have a mini-vacation today. The itinerary I came up with worked pretty well, so I thought I'd share it (in case any of my readers ever want to try it). Things we didn't do today (but have done in the past or looked interesting) are in brackets [].

First, we drove to San Francisco, and parked in the Sutter-Stockton Garage. Sundays are cheaper than the rest of the week--three or more hours is only $7.50. When you exit the garage, take the elevator down to Level 2, and take the pedestrian exit on Bush Street (past the motorcycle parking area).

Turn right on Bush St.

Take the next left onto Grant Ave. This takes you through the main tourist area of Chinatown, and continues on to North Beach (Little Italy).
[If you're hungry for either Chinese or Italian food, these are good places to stop for lunch.]

Bear left onto Columbus Ave.
[As you cross Vallejo St., you'll pass The National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, established in 1849.]

Turn right onto Stockton St.
[After you pass Washington Square, you can turn left onto Filbert St. to visit Saints Peter and Paul Church, founded in 1884.]
[Or, you can turn right onto Filbert, and follow the signs to Coit Tower for a nice view of the city.]

Continue down Stockton St. until you reach the waterfront. There are a number of things you can try here:

• Check out the touristy shops & carousel at Pier 39


• View the sea lions at Pier 39 (Hint: don't go down the tourist part of the pier: instead, go down the wooden pier that parallels it on the left, towards the little lighthouse with the palm trees.)


• [If the weather's warm, don't bother waiting in line at the Ben & Jerry's you'll see by Pier 41. There's another one further down Jefferson St. that has much shorter lines.]


• For the classic lunch of clam chowder in a bread bowl, head west along the waterfront, past Pier 43 1/2, until you reach Fisherman's Wharf (at Taylor St.) We dined at Nick's Lighthouse, and enjoyed our lunch, but the other restaurants and stands looked just as good.


• [For burger lovers, there's an In-N-Out Burger on Jefferson St., between Jones & Leavenworth.]


• [For the world's best chocolate milkshakes (and possibly the world's longest line for ice cream), Ghirardelli Square is the place to go. Continue along Jefferson until it ends, turn left through Aquatic Park, and cross Beach St.]

To return to your car, make your way to the cable car turnaround at Hyde St. & Beach St. Look at the long line of people buying tickets and waiting to get on the cable cars. Ignore all of them, and walk a couple of blocks up Hyde St. You'll see brown "Cable Car Stop" signs along the street. Pick one (not the first one, if there are already lots of people waiting), and flag down the cable car when it comes by. Have $5 ready when the conductor asks for your ticket. Get off at the end of the line (or a little before, if you want to walk around some more).

[Union Square has lots of upscale shopping--I always like window shopping there, but I usually don't buy too much stuff. DH likes the Apple Store at Stockton & Market.]

Back to School Shopping, Part 2

School supplies are all taken care of, and it only took two trips to Staples! When the kids arrived home on Wednesday, I grabbed B's shopping list, and asked M for his. Naturally, when I returned home with the pile of stuff, we found a SECOND list of stuff that he needed for science. Nothing fancy, just some graph paper and colored pencils, but it meant another trip to the store today.

Today was the second day of school. M came home sick in the middle of the day. Fortunately, it seems to have been a short-lived intestinal bug, and he's feeling ready to go back to school tomorrow.

B also left school early today, but this one was planned. She finally got the retainer she's been wanting (in lime green, no less):


She was supposed to get a bottom retainer today, too, but that one didn't work out, so we have to go back next month and get a fancier model for the bottom.

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

First day of school!

One More Day!

I'm not sure who's more excited about school starting tomorrow--the kids or me! I've always liked school, and there's something about starting a new year and buying new school supplies that I really enjoy. I actually look forward to getting their shopping lists and heading out to buy shiny new notebooks and pencils.

Other than the school supplies, I think we're all set. They both have shoes that fit, and clean clothes. For M, I gave him some filler paper and mechanical pencils for the first day (he already has a binder). B got some cute pencils I found in a drawer: one with her name, and one with musical notes. Since she's entering fourth grade, I'm sure we're going to have to buy her a durable binder, too. I remembered to buy lunch fixings when I went to the grocery store yesterday (hot lunch doesn't start at B's school until September 8th, while M didn't like the pre-order lunch on Wednesdays).

M liked my idea of going down to the middle school this afternoon, map in hand, to figure out where his classrooms are going to be. He's also going early tomorrow, as another member of his carpool has to arrive early to straighten out a class. B's school has registration this afternoon, from 4:00-6:00. We'll try to be there around 4:00, so she can hang out and ask everyone else what teacher they will have.

Back to School Shopping, Part 1b

I THOUGHT we were done with the clothes shopping, but no, B waited until yesterday to tell me that her tennis shoes had holes in them. Off to Payless we went today in search of new shoes. I did have the foresight to have M put on his shoes for me before I left: sure enough, they are getting too small, so I had to buy him a pair, too.

B's shoes were easy enough--find a couple of pairs of plain white tennis shoes and try them on. She can wear either girl's or women's sizes right now, so she has plenty to choose from.

M is a little harder. First, he refused to go, so he was informed that he would have to wear whatever I brought home. Second, we had an experience last year when I bought him "skate shoes," and he decided a week later that they were terrible for running, so I had to buy him a second pair of shoes with better soles. Also, despite being a 6th grader, he's not so great at tying his shoes, so I was very happy last year to find a pair of men's shoes at Payless with elastic laces (he has long since outgrown the Lands' End kid's shoes). This year, no such luck. I found him some inexpensive, lightweight, black tennis shoes with an appropriate sole, but he's going to have to start tying his shoelaces.

Bagging

If a customer shows up at the grocery store with his or her own bags, then it's pretty safe to assume that he/she is trying to cut down on the use of plastic bags, right? So why do baggers take the last couple of items and give them each their own plastic bag? We're not talking about heavy cans or giant packages of toilet paper: today, it was a carton of ice cream (the 1.5 quart size that used to be a half gallon) that got its very own bag. A couple of weeks ago, it was a loaf of bread. The reusable bags were pretty full, but certainly had room for one more item.

Back to School Shopping, Part 1

Over the last week or so, I've managed to finish the first part of back-to-school shopping. Once upon a time, I used to buy each kid a "nice" outfit for the start of school. A pretty dress for B (not a frilly one, but a play dress), and a nice shirt and slacks for M. Now that they are both preteens, the concept of "nice" clothes has gone out the window. This year, B got a pair of embroidered jeans (Lands' End) and a T-shirt (Target), while M got two black T-shirts (Lands' End) and a black sweatshirt (Target). (M already has plenty of jeans, thanks to my mom).

Then there were the new ballet clothes. B's ballet school, like many others, has a different color of leotard for each level. Since she moved up this year, we had to buy a periwinkle leotard for her, plus two pairs of new tights. She is such a tall kid that we ended up buying "petite adult" for her, which, of course, costs more than the kids' stuff. In addition, B is going to be a teaching assistant for one of the pre-ballet classes on Saturday mornings, so we bought a second leotard (I insisted she pick one out from the bargain bin, and she did), then splurged on a matching skirt.

Part 2 will be the school supplies, but you won't hear about those until next week, since we don't get our lists until the start of school.

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

Current mental soundtrack: "Anatevka" from Fiddler on the Roof (Jerry Bock)

Today's accomplishments:

1. Got everyone out of bed at the appointed time. This may not sound like a difficult task, but it is! The kids have been on "summer" time, meaning they've been getting up whenever they felt like it. Since school starts next week, I thought it was time to get them back on a schedule. Last week, they were awakened at 9:00 am. This week, it's 8:00 am. Next week, school starts on Wednesday, so B is going to have to be out the door by 7:45 every morning (M doesn't have to leave until 8:30).


2. Picked up DH's new iPhone. He's out of town, so it's mine to play with for a couple more days :-)


3. Picked up B's new glasses.


4. Took M to the orthodontist. He's had braces on his front teeth since January, and I think this was the FIRST visit that he did not have any loose brackets. (Which probably means something will break tomorrow.)


5. Cleaned house and cooked dinner for DH's uncle, aunt, and cousin. Cousin P has just returned from a summer-school class in Europe, and his parents drove up here to pick him up at the airport and buy him some furniture for his new apartment.

Molly's New Clothes

After looking at the prices for official American Girl clothing, B and I were very glad to find free patterns for Molly's clothes, available at American Girl Playthings. I thought this would be a good time to teach B to sew--how hard could it be to sew doll clothes?

We decided to start with something simple that didn't require a pattern: a fleece sleeping bag. (The official bed that we ordered with Molly came with a bedspread and pillow, but no blanket, so B thought we needed one.) That turned out pretty well:


Next on the list was a set of underwear, which morphed into summer PJs when we couldn't find suitable underwear fabric. This is where the teach-B-to-sew plan started to fall apart. After showing her how to pin the pattern and cut out the pieces, we got to the point in the directions where we were told to sew them with a "knit stretch" stitch. Knit stretch? After 18+ years of using this machine, I had to dig out the manual to find out how to do it. It involves a special presser foot, and holding the fabric on the wrong side of the foot. The photo below is of the second pair, that I made by myself after B went to bed. The first pair we made didn't have the lace trim, and B thought both top and bottom were too long, so I whipped up this set:


Last item was a set of winter pjs. B picked out a flannel plaid for them. I had forgotten how much fun it is to match up plaids while sewing. The skinny seams (1/4" seam allowance) and little tiny pieces didn't help, either. But, Molly now has a comfy pair of flannel pjs for winter:



This turned out to be a lot more work for ME than I had bargained for, but B and I are both pleased (I have no idea what Molly thinks of all this). For a little over $25 in fabric and notions, we have two pairs of pjs, a fleece sleeping bag, an extra set of summer pjs/warm underwear (which is probably going to be given away), and enough fleece for another blanket or two. Next on the list is going to be a sundress, I think: B is concerned that Molly is too hot, as she came with a sweater and heavy skirt.

Understanding Marketers

I'm well aware that catalogue retailers share names with each other. I understand why I get garden catalogues, and toy catalogues, and clothing catalogues, since I have a history of ordering such things. I am completely mystified, however, as to why today's mail contained a WIG catalogue! I still have all my hair, thank you, and it's not even gray yet!

Waiting for Molly

B has never shown much interest in American Girl dolls. Their marketers are certainly on top of things: when B was just a toddler, they started sending their Bitty Baby catalogue to our house. I looked through the catalogue, then gave it to B to look at (and chew on). Now that B is nine, they send the regular catalogue. The most recent one arrived a month or two ago. B looked through it, didn't show any interest, so it went into the recycling bin.

Fast forward another month. I walked in the door from the Tahoe trip on Monday night, and was immediately greeted by B, bouncing up and down, wanting to know when the next AG catalogue was coming, so that she could order a doll. She was momentarily disappointed when I told her they only send them to us once a year or so, but then DH pointed out that they must have a web site. We sent her off to bed with the promise that we'd look at the web site on Tuesday.

On Tuesday morning, we ordered Molly, her accessories, and her bed. B paid for it herself, out of her savings account. Both our kids get birthday and Christmas money from two sets of grandparents, plus a generous weekly allowance from us. In return, we don't ever pay for toys or souvenirs--M even had to buy his own Nintendo DS and bicycle when he couldn't wait for Christmas. M tends to spend his money on video games, but B has mostly collected stuffed animals, which don't cost very much.

So, what brought on this sudden change of heart? B discovered that her best friend owns three of these dolls, plus a bed. They must have had a good time playing with them last Friday!

She is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the UPS guy today. We've been tracking the progress of the package across the country, and it's currently "Out for delivery." She's already asked me several times when it will be here, and I've told her that the UPS truck usually arrives in mid-afternoon, but it could be after dinner, too. I've also reminded her that screaming is not appropriate--if she hurts my ears, I might just have to keep her box!

Old Friends

Current mental soundtrack: "In Old Mexico" by Tom Lehrer (I think this one was inspired by the photo of the Mexican restaurant at the end of this post)

Yes, I know I haven't blogged in over a week. I went away for a long weekend without my laptop, so now I'm catching up with my online life.

Eighteen years ago, when DH & I were married, a group of my college singing buddies came up and sang at the wedding. Four years later, the next one walked down the aisle, and we had such a great time that we decided to stop waiting for weddings to get together. Every two years since then, we've spent a four-day weekend at someone's house, staying up late and talking.

This year, we went to South Lake Tahoe, where S's family owns a cabin. The out-of-towners flew in to SFO on Thursday and Friday, then I drove everyone up in our minivan. It was a leisurely drive up there, punctuated by multiple stops for coffee. We tried to take photos everywhere we went, since several people couldn't make it this year. (One even had a flight booked, but ended up with a last-minute crisis at work.) We arrived at the cabin to find that the power would not turn on, so we had fun talking by candlelight.

The next day, after an early-morning coffee run (it would have been easy enough to make coffee over the gas stove, without electricity, if someone had had the foresight to pack ground coffee instead of whole beans), we drove to Emerald Bay to see the postcard view:


We also tried to go swimming, but the beach parking lots were all full by the time we got out the door. Plus, we had to be back at the cabin by 4:00 to meet the electrician.

This is the local coffee shop:


On Sunday, we took an extremely scenic route through the Gold Country back to the Bay Area. Destinations and routes were chosen partly by which names on the map were most interesting. We drove down Slug Gulch Road, visited Fair Play and Fiddletown, and finally made our way to Jackson for dinner. We were only able to find one restaurant in Jackson that was open for Sunday dinner:


Monday alternated between airport trips and sightseeing in San Francisco. We all had a great time, and are already planning the next trip.

Missing Comic-Con

We didn't make it to Comic-Con this year--DH's family planned a trip to Yosemite for that week, and by the time everyone started backing out of the trip, it was too late to get tickets. I guess this gives us an extra year to think about what to wear to the next con...

Since we weren't enjoying the sunshine in San Diego last weekend, we got some work done around the yard. Last year, when I discovered how many rocks there were in the ground, I decided to dump them all on a patch of dead grass in the back yard and call it a rock garden. The rocks are still coming out of the ground wherever I dig, and the rock garden isn't full yet. It does look a little neater now--yesterday DH and I dug a trench around the area and put in some edging, so that the rocks stay put. (The dog and tortoise were dragging them all over the place.)



The lilies I planted in the front yard have finally bloomed:

Fun in SF

Today we took a day off from work for a mini-vacation. We started off the morning at the DeYoung Museum, where there's a special Dale Chihuly exhibition. I've always loved glass art: once upon a time, when we lived in San Diego, I even tried taking glassblowing classes at UCSD. I don't think it's the right artform for me--I'm a person who likes to think about each step before taking it, and molten glass is too fluid to allow time for contemplation.

I thought all of my photos were going to be blurry, since they don't allow flash photography, but a couple turned out pretty well:





The second half of our mini-vacation was our anniversary dinner, delayed from Monday night. Well, actually we had an anniversary lunch today: dim sum at Yank Sing. Very tasty, as always!

Amazingly enough, all four of us enjoyed the day. Both kids loved the museum (B had been there before on a field trip), which surprised me. I expected that getting the kids up early during summer vacation to go to an art museum would cause some complaints. I'm happy that I was wrong :-)

Eighteen Years

DH and I have been married 18 years today. According to Wikipedia, the traditional gift for the 18th anniversary is bismuth. Do you know where to buy a gift made of bismuth? I certainly don't! I followed the Wikipedia link, and discovered that "[b]ismuth compounds are used in cosmetics and in medical procedures." Sounds very romantic :-) I think I'd prefer the modern gift, which is porcelain!

Yesterday, our family played Dungeons and Dragons together. We've played off and on through the years, but DH and I haven't had the time in recent years to do anything on a regular basis. M, though, has really gotten excited about D&D this summer, and he ran his very first adventure yesterday as DM (Dungeon Master). It was very good for a first attempt, once we convinced him to stop micro-managing the players. He's already hard at work on our next adventure.

Memories

Current mental soundtrack: theme from SpongeBob SquarePants (guess what M is watching right now)

One of my projects this summer is to go through eight years of photos that somehow haven't made it into albums yet. I'm trying to put dates on all of them, so we can at least box them in chronological order (DH bought a bunch of archival photo boxes, since he wasn't feeling optimistic about me getting them into albums). It's been fun going back through the years. Most of the photos from 1999 and earlier are already in albums, although I just found a pile last night of miscellaneous ones from 1992-1997.

One of the problems with this project is that I keep getting sidetracked by LOOKING at the photos! I found some absolutely adorable ones, and if I can get DH to get the scanner down for me (he keeps it on the top shelf of an upstairs cabinet, instead of on the desk where I can use it), I'll scan some of the older ones.

In addition to pictures of my adorable kids, I've come across a bunch of photos from a previous job. I used to work for a music workshop called International Workshops. During the year, it was part-time work from home, but for three weeks every summer, I went overseas and worked on-site. It was work, from early morning to late in the evening, but I got to spend time with a bunch of good friends, eat in nice restaurants, and sleep in a hotel room (where someone ELSE got to wash the sheets and towels and clean up).

White Picket Fence

This weekend we caught up on some yard work. I added some more flowers to the strip in front of our fence:


When we had our front sprinklers redone a couple of weeks ago (right before our vacation), I asked them to add a drip line in front of the fence, so I wouldn't have to water these by hand. The flowers seem to appreciate the more consistent watering--some of the plants were noticeably bigger when we returned.

It's a work in progress right now. I plan to add more perennials, along with some bulbs for early spring.

Today is Wednesday

8:20 pm: 87° outside, 89° inside. The windows are all open. B is still at the swim club, watching her friends race.

Current mental soundtrack: "Salve Regina" by Josef Rheinberger.

4:00 pm: 101°. Not as bad as yesterday.

1:30 pm: 100°. B is off to a birthday party (a good day for a pool party). I'm going to work a little longer, then go out to the local nursery and buy a couple more flowers. My front flower bed hasn't had anything in bloom for the last month (I'm still waiting for the lilies), and there is still a large empty space in front of the fence.

11:40 am: 94°. B has been x-rayed and been introduced to that lovely goop they use to make impressions. (I can still mentally taste the stuff, and it's been years since I've tasted it!) We stopped by Berkeley Bowl (the best produce store ever) and picked up some fruit and veggies.

9:40 am: 82°. Off to get B's teeth x-rayed at the orthodontist

Power Outage

Current mental soundtrack: "Farewell Song" from the Sound of Music

Today was another scorcher: 108° at our house. We spent the afternoon running errands: orthodontist for B & M, toy store for B (going to a birthday party tomorrow), drugstore to get ibuprofen for M (since they put a much stronger wire on his braces today), fencing class for M, UPS Customer Service center to pick up the XBox. (RRoD update: the box has returned, but we haven't plugged it in yet).

We got home around 5:20, and discovered that the power was out. We threw on swimsuits and headed to the swim club for an hour or so, where DH joined us. After our swim, the power was still out, and the recorded message at PG&E said it would be out until 8:00-10:00 pm. Of course, this was a day when I had planned ahead, knowing I would be coming home late and not wanting to cook in the heat, so I had three-bean chili sitting in the crockpot, not cooking. We decided to go out to dinner at Chow's. After a brief visit to the Apple Store, we came home to brave the darkness. As we drove home, we saw exactly where the edge of the power outage was--one block east of the kids' school. No lights to the west.

I've decided that I can live without lights for a while, but worrying about the food in the freezer (all that Costco stuff) and being cut off from the Internet was much more annoying :-)

Pool Closed

Current mental soundtrack: "Amarilli, Mia Bella" from 24 Italian Songs and Arias, Medium Low Voice (I think I just saw a picture of an amaryllis somewhere, which started this soundtrack)

It's over 100 degrees here, so I packed up the kids and headed for the swim club. They were in the water for a grand total of five minutes before everyone was ordered out of the pool. Some kid had an accident, so the pool's closed until tomorrow.

Maybe we should have bought the house DH wanted--the one with the pool. (We didn't buy it because I thought it was too expensive and didn't have enough lawn in the back yard for the tortoise and dog.)

RRoD update: UPS called, and said they couldn't find the package in time to get it on the delivery van for this morning. They offered to deliver it tomorrow afternoon, but we already have two orthodontist appointments and fencing class scheduled. However, it turns out the UPS center is near the fencing school, and they're open in the afternoons, so it looks like I'll be able to pick up the XBox tomorrow.

Seven Habits

Current mental soundtrack: "King Tut", by Steve Martin

(Tagged by Anna Banana)

A. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
B. Tag seven people to do the same.
C. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag "whoever wants to do it."

1. I have a perpetual mental soundtrack (usually alto parts to obscure choral works), so I rarely listen to music.
2. My towels have to be folded a certain way--if some visitor (usually Mom) helps me with my laundry, I refold after she leaves.
3. I like to order chicken feet when we have dim sum.
4. Reading in the car makes me carsick
5. My favorite fruits are cherries and apricots (but you already knew that, if you're reading this blog)
6. I love reading on the beach.
7. I always have a Diet Coke with my lunch.

I don't think I have a lot of readers! The only three whose identities I'm certain of are Anna Banana (who tagged me), mundungus42 (who inspired Anna Banana), and DH (who doesn't blog). Anyone else out there, please consider yourself tagged!

Sunny San Diego

RRoD update: Did you know that UPS can't reschedule delivery of a package until after they've tried to deliver it? Micro$oft sent me a notice last week that M's XBox is on its way back to us. Unfortunately, they scheduled delivery for this week, when we're all in San Diego. Even though I had the tracking number, I had to wait for them to try to deliver it (twice, because they tried a day earlier than the scheduled delivery date) before they would consent to reschedule it. They kept asking me for the InfoNotice number they had left on my front door, even though I kept telling them I wasn't home to get their notice. Of course, now I won't be able to leave the house on Monday until they deliver that box!

We are having a whirlwind vacation week in San Diego. First couple of days were spent with DH's parents, who only have dial-up Internet (in case you've been wondering where I am). We went to the beach (Oceanside), Mulligan's (an amusement park in Temecula), and the San Diego County Fair. We are now at my parents' house (with decent Internet access). We've been with them to the San Diego Zoo, and are going to the beach (Del Mar) tomorrow.

Today was the day of eating. On the way to the airport to pick up my sister, we stopped at Tommy's for lunch. Knowing what was coming up, I "only" had chili fries and water--no burger. Next stop (midafternoon) was DH's uncle & aunt's for a barbeque. I had a sliver of B's burger, some baked beans, and some fruit. Unfortunately for me, three desserts showed up after that, and I HAD to try all three. Two ice cream cakes, and a homemade cake. Last, but not least, my parents treated us all to Peking duck and crab at Emerald Chinese Seafood Restaurant. Whenever we go there with my parents, DH, kids, and my sister, we always order two Peking ducks (because we REALLY like Peking duck). Every time, the wait staff is astounded by this display of gluttony. I can understand enough Mandarin to translate what they're saying to my parents as they place the order. It's usually something along the lines of "TWO Peking ducks? Are you sure? That's a lot of meat!"

Oh, and we went to my favorite fireworks-watching spot this evening, La Jolla Shores. They have a nice fireworks display at La Jolla Cove, plus on a clear night you can see a bunch of other shows up and down the coast. Tonight was rather hazy, so we only saw one other show over the hills (and there was a tree in the way of my view), and heard a couple of explosions from the Del Mar Fairgrounds. We, and a lot of other people, forgot to check the tide charts before setting up our chairs, so a lot of people ended up jammed up against the sea wall as the tide came in.

[Anna Banana, I'll work on your meme tomorrow!]

Do, a Deer

Current mental soundtrack: "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music

Swimming lessons are over with for this session, and both kids made a lot of progress. B moved up from "Sea Turtle" to "Seal," while M moved from "Frog" up to "Sea Turtle." In plain English, B can now swim across the pool by herself (freestyle), and M can get about halfway across.

We're getting ready for a quick trip to San Diego next week, so today was the beginning of all those errands that have to be done before going anywhere. Today I copied some music that I need to mail, picked up prescriptions, and bought groceries. Tomorrow I have to mail the music I copied today, return a library book, turn in my June timesheet, and buy a mouse to feed the snake before we leave.

I also did 7-8 loads of laundry, took B to piano lessons, and cleaned the fridge. Well, only the main part of the fridge--I'll do the door some other day. For some reason, we seem to have a hard time keeping pickle jars upright in our fridge--there were at least two different spills that smelled (and looked) like pickle juice. Pickles have now been banished to a separate plastic bin that sits on the fridge shelf.

DH and I watched The Sound of Music last night. DH has somehow avoided ever seeing it before, so I thought it was time. He did recognize some of the songs I've been heard to sing over the years :-) The extras in the 40th-anniversary edition were very interesting--we are going to finish watching those tonight.

The Hills Are Alive...

Last night I watched The Sound of Music with the kids. It was the first time M & B had seen it, and I only got M to watch by promising him there would be Nazis with guns :-)

B loved it, and wants to watch it again. M admitted that it was okay (high praise from an 11-year-old boy), although he kept rolling his eyes whenever people burst into song at inappropriate moments. He does have a point--the gazebo scene where Captain von Trapp and Maria sing "Something Good" is especially bad. I just finished watching the interview with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer on the 40th-anniversary DVD, and it turns out they too had a hard time controlling their laughter in that scene.

Next on the list: The King and I.

Triple Digits

It's hot here! Yesterday was the first day of summer, and it reached 104° at our house. Fortunately, we have just joined the local swim club, so the kids were able to spend some time at the pool, while I sweated under an umbrella.

Today was almost as hot, so I decided to give both of our cars a badly needed wash. In honor of EBMUD's water rationing, I drove the cars onto the front lawn, so that the runoff wouldn't be wasted. (Since I watered the lawn yesterday, does that count as watering two days in a row, which isn't allowed?) The cars look much better now--it's probably been over a year since they were properly washed.

Keep cool, and make sure you have plenty of popsicles :-) We are having fried rice tonight, which is one of M's favorite meals.

Wet Swimsuits

Current mental soundtrack: "Double Trouble" from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (John Williams, arr. Teena Chin)

Swimming season has started again, and with it comes the daily onslaught of wet towels and suits. M & B are pretty well trained--as soon as we get home from swim lessons, they put their wet towels in the garage (in the hamper designated for towels) and their suits in the bathroom sink for me to rinse out. For years, I've rinsed out the suits, and draped them over the shower door to dry. I had to put a towel on the floor, because of course half of the suit hangs outside the door and drips onto the floor. This year, I had a great idea. I bought a cheap shower-curtain rod and mounted it just inside the frame of the shower door. You can't see it from outside the shower (unless you're at exactly the right angle), and all drips go into the tub. Why didn't I think of this earlier?

RROD update: The empty box arrived from M$ today. It contained a plastic bag, two pieces of foam, tape to close the box, a shipping label, and directions on how to pack up the XBox. It's now on it's way to Texas.

Red Ring of Death

M's XBox 360 just died. Naturally, it's out of warranty (it was a Christmas/birthday gift in 2006). BUT, a little research turned up the fact the Micro$oft has extended the warranty on these things, since so many of them were defective. The Red Ring of Death even has its own Wikipedia entry.

After getting past the overly cheerful computer voice and speaking to a live person, it actually didn't take very long. He (the live person) verified that we had the RROD (three red lights plus green power light), and took our info so they can send us a postage-paid box.

I'm sure this is just how M wants to start his summer vacation...

Party, party, party

Current mental soundtrack (thanks to M): Indiana Jones theme (John Williams)

It was a three-party weekend! The kids' last day of school was Friday. At their school, each class has an after-school party, generally held at the home of someone with a pool. Last year, DH went to M's party, and I went to B's party. This year, we started out by swapping. I went to M's party, which was a short one with no pool (the kids had already had a box lunch social before school let out), and DH went to B's, at the local swim club. DH had to leave for a meeting, so M and I hiked over to the swim club and joined B.

Saturday was the S&P end-of-year potluck. We had perfect weather, and everyone was fascinated by the large tortoise we have roaming around the back yard. Otto has learned a new trick this week--he can now climb up the two steps to the deck, so we often see him next to the house. Unfortunately, he can't climb back down, so he's stuck up there without any food. He seems to like it, though--everytime we carried him back down to the grass, he came right back up.

iPhone Mania

Current mental soundtrack: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day (Clifton J. Noble, Jr.)

This year's World Wide Developer's Conference (WWDC) is all about the iPhone. I wasn't planning on attending any of the iPhone sessions, since I don't own an iPhone, and the software I develop at work isn't really suited for the iPhone. (I put Mac interfaces on scientific applications.) But, after attending the Keynote address yesterday, I had a great idea for an iPhone application, so it looks like I need to go to all those sessions.

This conference is such a contrast to the other ones I normally attend, the American Choral Directors' Association convention and the San Diego Comic-Con. First of all, at a developer's conference, there's never a line outside the women's restroom :-) Secondly, food and drink are included: decent boxed meals, along with all the Odwalla and coffee we can drink (as opposed to the usual overpriced hot dogs and nachos type of menu). Finally, I've figured out how to get a good seat in the sessions without waiting in line for 20 minutes. Lots of people get in line early so that they can get a good seat at the front, but I've learned that they don't fill in all of the seats. I show up about five minutes before the session starts, walk down one of the side aisles, and look for a seat in the center section 5-10 rows from the front. It's worked so far today :-)

Tooroo, Tooroo, Tooroo

Current mental soundtrack: "I Do Wander Everywhere" from Three Songs from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Cary Ratcliff

For those of you that weren't at the PWC concert yesterday, you missed a great concert! This was Kay's first concert as director, and I thought she did an excellent job. I showed up to sing alto for the concert, and had a wonderful time. I can't wait until the next concert!

This week, I'm attending Apple's World-Wide Developer's Conference in San Francisco. I'm sitting here waiting for Steve Jobs' keynote address, having finally gotten into a room to view the session. You would think that they wouldn't start the presentation while there were still hundreds of people in line waiting to get in, but no, they started right at 10:00 am. And it's not because we arrived late--I was in line by 9:30, but they don't open the doors until right before it starts.

The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything

Happy birthday to me! Now that I've reached the age of the Answer, do you think I'll ever find out the Question? :-)

Homework for the Parents

M and his classmates finally finished their state reports, and to celebrate, they are having a "state report buffet" right now. In other words, the parents had homework last night. When I dropped off M's dish at 11:15, I met two other moms coming out, who both commented on how this simply meant more work for mom. It seems to be that time of year--my friend Anna Banana made a VERY similar post yesterday.

At least we didn't have to spend much time researching recipes. M did his report on Texas, and since DH and I spent seven years in Austin, I have a bunch of recipes collected from various sources. M and I decided on "queso," which has a different meaning in Texas than it does in the rest of the US. I know it's the Spanish word for cheese, but in Tex-Mex style, it also refers to a hot cheese dip, served with tortilla chips. I suggested plain queso to M, but he wanted the sausage queso I sometimes make.

WARNING: Even reading the ingredients in this recipe may cause cardiovascular problems in susceptible people. :-)

-----
Sausage Queso

1 lb ground beef
1 lb bulk pork sausage
1 medium onion
1 can Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 lbs Velveeta
8 oz cream cheese

Chop onion. Brown beef, sausage, and onion.

Melt Velveeta and cream cheese together (I use a crockpot).

Combine all ingredients.

Serve hot with tortilla chips.
-----

Music Theory Degrees ARE Useful!

Tonight, I finally put some of my education to use. The story requires a bit of explanation, though...

First, I meant to post this part a couple of days ago, but didn't get around to it. B's birthday was in April, but her birthday party (at Spun Sugar) is not happening until tomorrow. Why the delay? Well, we stopped by in early April, after she'd settled on a venue, and found that they only do birthday parties on Saturday afternoons. The rest of April and first part of May, B had ballet rehearsals scheduled on Saturdays. Then came Memorial Day weekend. So, we ended up with tomorrow, which looked pretty good. Until we started sending out invitations. It turns out that this is the weekend of the big Brownie campout. And also the auditions for the local version of American Idol. We lost several kids to those events, plus some to family stuff (graduations, etc.)

Now, on to the usefulness of a music degree. In addition to her friends not being able to attend her party, tomorrow's date meant that B & her best friend L weren't going to be able to audition for Idol, because the only remaining audition slots were during the party (and it's not really a birthday party if the birthday girl leaves). Today, around 5:00 pm, L's mom was able to secure them a late audition slot tomorrow, with just enough time to get there from the party. Since I didn't think they were auditioning, I hadn't read the rules, but I did so tonight. They are auditioning as a group, and groups singing harmony are allowed to perform a capella. However, they are not singing harmony--they are singing "The Bear in Tennis Shoes," a classic campfire song. Soooo, here's where I put all those harmony and voice-leading skills to work. I composed a cheesy piano accompaniment, recorded it on my iPod, and transferred it to a CD for the karaoke machine at auditions tomorrow. I went with the first take, and it came out okay (I don't think you can hear me muttering verse numbers under my breath).

Summer Is Here!

Not that you can tell by looking outside. But, on my last trip to Berkeley Bowl, they had both cherries and apricots at reasonable prices. They're not at their peak yet, but good enough for a quick fix :-)

Yesterday we caught up on a bunch of yard work. Weeding, sweeping, cleaning up branches, and installing a new mailbox. Today, B and I went shopping for stuff to fill goody bags for her birthday party next weekend. We settled on gel pens, bubble stuff, and cheap plastic Slinkys. We'll also add some candy later this week. Now I'm going to lie back and relax for a while. Maybe I'll get a turn on the Wii later this afternoon--I stayed up much too late last night playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Unfair Water Rationing

Our local water company, EBMUD, has imposed mandatory water rationing due to drought conditions. While I think this is clearly the right thing to do, they way that they are going about it unfairly rewards water wasters.

Single-family homes are being asked to reduce total water usage by 19%, based upon the last three years of water use. Customers who do not reduce total use will be penalized. So, people who were already conserving water will have to cut back by the same percentage as water wasters.

We arrived here in the Bay Area about 1.5 years ago, so we don't have three years worth of bills to average. Shortly after we arrived, I took a look at our water usage, and made an effort to cut back. I set the automatic sprinklers to run three days a week (they had been going every day), and turned them off completely in a couple areas of the garden. This made a HUGE difference in the amount of water we used: we cut back our daily usage by 60%. I also compost, rather than using the garbage disposal, and we already have a stupid low-flow toilet that has to be plunged several times a week. We only run the dishwasher and washer when they're full, and we don't leave the water running when brushing our teeth.

I thought we were doing the right thing by reducing water usage before it became mandatory, but it turns out I was just making our lives more difficult now. Instead of simply cutting back our outdoor watering (which, by the way, made our house settle to one side when the clay soil dried up over the summer, preventing interior doors from closing until the rainy season started), we have to find more things to cut. I've asked the kids to take shorter showers (they were standing around, enjoying the hot water), and I think this has finally convinced DH to stop pre-washing the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.

Grrrr!

Whew!

B and I love performing, but we are quite glad to to be done with this past weekend!

Friday's and Saturday's S&P concerts did prove to be quite warm, so the women went with short sleeves/sleeveless black tops. (The men left off their tux jackets.) We also decided, while changing in the bathroom, that we were all going to wear our black sandals and forget the hose + closed-toe shoes that are normally required. I was not the only woman who brought a whole bagful of black clothes--many of us wanted to see what everyone else was wearing and exactly how hot it was going to be.

We saw B dance on Saturday afternoon, and enjoyed the show, but we discovered that the Julia Morgan Theater does NOT have air conditioning. I felt sorry for the dancers--they looked really hot and sweaty.

Sunday's Voci concert was not as hot, so we wore our regular long-sleeved outfits. (We did all bring short sleeves, though, just in case.) The concert went quite well, and M even admitted to liking some of the music :-) B didn't like it, but she made some very creative alterations to her concert program. I'll try and scan it later this week, but the best one was the sketch after the translation for "Agnus Dei" ("Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world..."). There's a little drawing of "God's Lamb" with his "Sin Repeller," repelling a "Sin".

Too Darn Hot!

I'd like to sup with my baby tonight,
Fulfill the cup with my baby tonight.
But I ain't up to my baby tonight,
'Cause it's too darn hot.

A couple of weeks ago, I put together a group to sing Chris Allen's arrangment of "Too Darn Hot" from Kiss Me, Kate at the House Music concert. Apparently we were just a couple of weeks early. It is a little after 2:00 pm now, and 98°F at my house (80° indoors). Yesterday topped out at just under 100°, according to our wireless thermometer, and I'm curious what today will bring.

I am rethinking what I plan to wear to tonight's concert (see new "Upcoming Concerts" listing -----> ). Generally, when I sing with a group that doesn't have a uniform, I try to err on the side of formal and tasteful. However, long sleeves and a long black skirt are not looking like good choices for tonight. We have been given permission to go sleeveless tonight, but the only sleeveless black tops I own are decidedly on the casual side. (And I don't think a "little black dress" will do, either.) Maybe I'll just bring a wide selection of black clothing and see what the temperature is like inside the church.

Censorship

DH is in Beijing this week, and apparently he cannot reach my blog (or anyone else's). I guess they're shutting down access before the Olympics--wouldn't want anyone to find out what the rest of the world is thinking, would we?

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all the moms out there are having a great day! I'm sitting in bed right now, waiting for the kids to finish making pancakes. They brought me a mug of tea and the Sunday comics to keep me company while I wait :-)

When It Rains, It Pours

Why is it that everything is always scheduled on the same weekend? This weekend isn't going to be too bad (Voci concert, fencing class, ballet rehearsal, drop DH off at airport), but the following weekend is when everything hits. It would be really nice if things were spread out over a couple of different weekends!

Things we are going to do next weekend:

• Friday evening ballet performance (B)
• Friday evening S&P concert (me)
• Saturday morning pick up DH from airport
• Saturday morning fencing class (M)
• Saturday afternoon ballet performance (B)
• Saturday evening S&P concert (me)
• Sunday all-day fencing tournament (M)
• Sunday afternoon Voci concert (me)


Things we are NOT going to do next weekend, because we couldn't figure out any way to get to them:

• Friday evening piano recital (M & B)
• Friday night overnight field trip (B)
• Saturday afternoon birthday party (B)

Waste Not, Want Not

Going to the grocery store is getting to be more and more expensive, but I realize that we are MUCH better off than a lot of other people in the world. I often take a head-in-the-sand approach to international affairs, but it's hard to avoid noticing the food shortages around the world right now.

On a personal level, I'm trying to not waste as much food as we have in the past. As the daughter of parents who grew up during wartime, I have been trained to never throw out leftovers. However, they often end up sitting in a container in the fridge until it's too late to eat them. One trick that has worked for me: instead of pouring all the leftover soup/stew/whatever into one big container, I divide the leftovers up into lunch-sized portions right away, and stick them in the freezer. I still sometimes find a year-old portion of frozen chili (ick!), but I think this helps.

Tonight's dinner is going to be chicken stew, made with the leftovers from the Costco roast chicken we had for dinner on Monday. First, I made stock by simmering the carcass with chopped carrots and celery (I couldn't find an onion). Next, I removed the bones, added the chopped chicken and some frozen corn, and simmered a bit longer. I have a pot of orzo cooking next to it, which I'll add soon. Oh, and garlic salt--that went in at the beginning.

Irises in Bloom

Finally, some pictures of my irises:

The blue and white ones are Dutch irises. The pink one in the back is a bearded iris. It did bloom the day after this photo was taken, but before I was able to photograph it, DH accidentally vacuumed off the petals! (Don't ask.)


This bearded iris is called "Pagan Dance."


This is the front flower bed. A couple of things have just been planted--on the side nearest the house, I added a blue delphinium and some pink Oriental lilies. Hopefully I'll have photos to show you later this year.

It's a Golden Day

The musical is over, but I seem to be living with Willy Wonka and Veruca Salt. All day long, I hear either M singing "Pure Imagination" or B singing "I Want it Now!". Maybe we can form our own musical theater troupe :-)

I played keyboard (banging out the melody, while the music director played the piano accompaniment) for three of the four performances, and the kids were very impressive. Fourth and fifth graders singing, acting, and dancing. In any live performance, there are usually what I call "interesting moments," and this was no exception, but the kids got through it all. Missing props, missed entrances, and Charlie choking on a chocolate wrapper and having to be led offstage to cough it up. Some of them really showed a lot of poise. One of the Willy Wonkas (the show is double cast) ad libbed wonderfully when the curtain didn't open at the right time: "We will conduct the next part of our tour by boat. [pause in front of closed curtain] We will conduct the next part of our tour BY BOAT. [pause] Now where did I leave that boat? [pause] I know I left it somewhere around here. [the curtain FINALLY opened to reveal the pink candy boat, and stagehands sprinting off to the sides].

I missed the last show to perform at S&P's annual House Music fundraiser. B and her best friend started off the show by singing "The Bear in Tennis Shoes," complete with original choreography. This is always a fun concert--an eclectic mix of music. Mozart arias, Broadway tunes, folk music, and everything else. M was at the last performance of the musical (he ran the light board this year), but the rest of our family enjoyed the concert.

Scrumpdiddlyumptious

Today is opening day for Willy Wonka at the kids' school. It's been fun watching it come together. I'm really impressed by all the work that's gone into this, and by the fact that the school's choral music teacher has these kids (4th and 5th graders) doing a full-length musical every year. I've never heard of another elementary school doing musicals like this--only high schools and some middle schools.

The dress rehearsals this week have been chaotic, like dress rehearsals always are, but everything seems to be coming together. The Music Director is playing the accompaniment on the piano, and I'm helping out the singers on keyboard. As of yesterday's dress rehearsal, the keyboard was there, but no amp or light. So, I sat in the dark and played music that the singers couldn't hear :-) Both of those things are supposed to arrive today, so I'll go to the school a little early and check out the sound balance with the amp. Hopefully I'll get it right, and won't drown out the soloists.