Things I found on the table when the Notary came over and needed to use it:
12 pages of sketches
11 half-finished thank you cards
10 pens & markers
9 magazines
8 used drinking glasses
7 new books
6 assorted coasters
5 parts of a dismantled flashlight
4 candy wrappers
3 sewing projects
2 empty chocolate boxes
And an iPod and a pair of ear buds!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
And the beat goes...off
According to most research I've read, creating a habit takes 21 consecutive days.
21 consecutive days of me getting up and exercising, for example (and let us keep in mind that THAT is a purely hypothetical example), would mean that I am now in the habit of exercising daily.
It should follow then, that getting kids in the habit of waking up at a particular time, would take 21 consecutive days of waking them up at that time. After which they will be in the habit of waking up at said time, and will then consistently do so.
Anecdotally, however, my experience differs from the research; anecdotally my experience shows that it takes around 15 weeks (105 days) before the waking-up-on-time habit kicks in for school age children. In other words, just about the time that winter break rolls around, we've gotten in the habit of waking up on time.
This leads me to believe that circadian rhythms are not subject to the rules which govern habits.
The proof of this is weighed out when looking at the reverse: although the majority of research I've read on the subject agrees that it takes at least as long to BREAK a habit as it does to create one, it does not take 15 weeks for the kids to get out of the habit of waking up on time. It only takes one...day.
21 consecutive days of me getting up and exercising, for example (and let us keep in mind that THAT is a purely hypothetical example), would mean that I am now in the habit of exercising daily.
It should follow then, that getting kids in the habit of waking up at a particular time, would take 21 consecutive days of waking them up at that time. After which they will be in the habit of waking up at said time, and will then consistently do so.
Anecdotally, however, my experience differs from the research; anecdotally my experience shows that it takes around 15 weeks (105 days) before the waking-up-on-time habit kicks in for school age children. In other words, just about the time that winter break rolls around, we've gotten in the habit of waking up on time.
This leads me to believe that circadian rhythms are not subject to the rules which govern habits.
The proof of this is weighed out when looking at the reverse: although the majority of research I've read on the subject agrees that it takes at least as long to BREAK a habit as it does to create one, it does not take 15 weeks for the kids to get out of the habit of waking up on time. It only takes one...day.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
I LOVE the smell of tamales cooking!
Today was annual Tamale Making Day. I look forward to Tamale Day every year; it began, oh, around five years ago. A dear friend, who also happens to be a neighbor, invited me over because she had all the ingredients for tamale making, and no one to make tamales with (another friend who had been going to make tamales with her had had a change of plans).
We embarked on a tamale making adventure that day, neither of us ever having made tamales before, and what began as a rather haphazard experiment has become a day that is looked forward to by both families with at least as much anticipation as the holidays themselves.
Last year (Tamale Day 2008) we made nearly everything from scratch, including the masa, and our goal for this year (Tamale Day 2009) was to make everything but the chicken stock (used in the masa) from scratch.
We did it!
Ingredients:
Masa - harina (masa flour), butter, salt, shortening, and chicken stock
Chicken - 10 lbs, boiled in advance
Pork - 8 lbs, slow cooked overnight
Red Sauce - dried California chilies, garlic, cumin, salt, flour, olive oil
Green Sauce - tomatillos, jalapeno peppers, garlic, salt, cilantro, cumin, onions, oil (for sauteing)
We made:
Pork with Red Sauce Tamales
Chicken with Green Sauce Tamales
Cheese (Pepper Jack) and Jalapeno Pepper Tamales
And, just for fun, we looked up a recipe for Pineapple and Cinnamon Tamales, at the request of Dani's sister (she joined us this year), and Dani threw them together right at the end. We haven't tried them yet; we'll have to see what happens - we could add a new regular flavor.
All in all a good day, and the best part of it is enjoying the smell of the tamales cooking as I write this...yum!
We embarked on a tamale making adventure that day, neither of us ever having made tamales before, and what began as a rather haphazard experiment has become a day that is looked forward to by both families with at least as much anticipation as the holidays themselves.
Last year (Tamale Day 2008) we made nearly everything from scratch, including the masa, and our goal for this year (Tamale Day 2009) was to make everything but the chicken stock (used in the masa) from scratch.
We did it!
Ingredients:
Masa - harina (masa flour), butter, salt, shortening, and chicken stock
Chicken - 10 lbs, boiled in advance
Pork - 8 lbs, slow cooked overnight
Red Sauce - dried California chilies, garlic, cumin, salt, flour, olive oil
Green Sauce - tomatillos, jalapeno peppers, garlic, salt, cilantro, cumin, onions, oil (for sauteing)
We made:
Pork with Red Sauce Tamales
Chicken with Green Sauce Tamales
Cheese (Pepper Jack) and Jalapeno Pepper Tamales
And, just for fun, we looked up a recipe for Pineapple and Cinnamon Tamales, at the request of Dani's sister (she joined us this year), and Dani threw them together right at the end. We haven't tried them yet; we'll have to see what happens - we could add a new regular flavor.
All in all a good day, and the best part of it is enjoying the smell of the tamales cooking as I write this...yum!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Baking All Day!
Today was Baking Day. Baking Day isn't a holiday tradition (because I don't need that kind of pressure around the holidays), and, in fact, isn't a tradition at all. Baking Day is simply whatever day I designate (usually about a week in advance) to spend all day baking, and it happens whenever I have the required time, money and inclination--all at the same time.
Although it doesn't happen nearly as often as I believe I would like, the infrequency with which it occurs actually serves to make it that much more a luxurious indulgence, than an event that could otherwise become mundane, or worse, a dreaded obligation.
Monkey Boy joined me for the Baking extravaganza, and I enjoyed the chance to hang out with him all day as we baked.
On the queue for today were:
Rolled Sugar Cookies
Gingerbread
Snickerdoodles
Scones - many varieties of flavors, including, but not limited to: Cinnamon, Currant and traditional
On the Maybe queue: Gingerbread Men, and Chocolates
Managed all the cookies, the gingerbread and one batch of scones (cinnamon). However, for want of a sifter (and how is it that we no longer have a sifter, and I don't know about it? But, I digress...) we held off on the additional batches of scones, because they really do come out better when the flour has been sifted.
We ran out of time for working on the Maybes, but that is, after all, why they were on the Maybe queue!
Perhaps in the morning we will continue with the scones, as Amazing Husband and I ran out on a holiday related 'secret mission' this evening and included the purchase of a sifter in our otherwise Top Secret excursion.
Although it doesn't happen nearly as often as I believe I would like, the infrequency with which it occurs actually serves to make it that much more a luxurious indulgence, than an event that could otherwise become mundane, or worse, a dreaded obligation.
Monkey Boy joined me for the Baking extravaganza, and I enjoyed the chance to hang out with him all day as we baked.
On the queue for today were:
Rolled Sugar Cookies
Gingerbread
Snickerdoodles
Scones - many varieties of flavors, including, but not limited to: Cinnamon, Currant and traditional
On the Maybe queue: Gingerbread Men, and Chocolates
Managed all the cookies, the gingerbread and one batch of scones (cinnamon). However, for want of a sifter (and how is it that we no longer have a sifter, and I don't know about it? But, I digress...) we held off on the additional batches of scones, because they really do come out better when the flour has been sifted.
We ran out of time for working on the Maybes, but that is, after all, why they were on the Maybe queue!
Perhaps in the morning we will continue with the scones, as Amazing Husband and I ran out on a holiday related 'secret mission' this evening and included the purchase of a sifter in our otherwise Top Secret excursion.
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