Death of A Madman

Wow. Historic night. We watched the announcement live with the kids, and made sure they understood the significance, on numerous levels, of the death of Osama Bin Laden and President Obama's announcement of it. We will continue talking about it all throughout the week, I know.
Za Boo was very upset right before she went to bed, and I asked her what was wrong. She was worried about the fact that although it was wrong for Bin Laden and the al Queda to attack the U.S., now that we have killed Bin Laden, they will retaliate against us. "Mama, if they attack us again, then we'll attack them again, and the revenge will keep going. Unless someone can be the bigger person, and say 'It was wrong of them to kill my...' what? Their mother? Yeah, '...it was wrong of them to kill my mother, but I will stop and not attack anyone back.' [If they can say that] then it will be able to stop."

She is right, of course.

I don't really know exactly how I feel. I feel relieved in many ways, although I don't know exactly why, and have no concept of how to articulate it right now. I feel glad about the fact that those who endured the pain of loss due to the events of 9-11 will have a measure of emotional closure. I feel bad at the thought that we had to kill another human being; I would have preferred he had been captured. Because I am a mother, and I imagine I have an inkling for what a mother's love for her child entails, I feel sorrow at his mother's loss. I feel disgust at the cheering and chanting and general lack of decorum being shown by many in the wake of this announcement; we have the right to feel triumph in victory, but I don't feel gloating becomes us as a nation. I am worried about the fact that we will have created a martyr, and I am concerned about what kind of feelings our current ecstatic behavior will inspire in the new martyr's followers. I feel wary about the future, as I have no real doubt that Al Queda WILL retaliate; I feel nervous about the fact that many people and organizations will be hyper-vigilant about their safety and security for the next few weeks, but that the real attack we need to worry about won't come for months, maybe years.

I told Za Boo that she was right about the revenge cycle, it takes someone strong enough to say "I won't retaliate" to stop it; when she said she was not happy about Bin Laden being killed, because "even though he was a bad person to us, his family will miss him," I told her that was okay. Because, I know how she feels. I feel so many different things in trying to process this right now, but the one thing I definitely don't feel, is happy.

What's simple, what's hard and what's worth it...

What's simple about being a parent? Enjoying and loving my kids.

What's hard about being a parent? Nearly everything, nearly all the time.

What's worth it? All of them. Ender, Za Boo, Monkey Boy, and Raven.

Anecdote: Imagination, Za Boo and Toy Rubber Snakes

Za Boo has always been an imaginative child, but to simply say that she is 'imaginative' would be an understatement of ridiculously epic proportions. And yet, I think her current passion for reading the Harry Potter books has spurred her imagination on to dizzying new heights!

Case in point, while she was playing with a batch of rubber snakes earlier this evening I heard her, as the voice of a rubber cobra, addressing a rubber python, exclaim: "YOU are a LUXURIOUS constrictor, Sir!"

A New Tradition

We have a new tradition for Hallowe’en, begun this year: “All Hallow's Read.”

I love traditions; I am a huge fan them. I grew up with many traditions and I believe it is vital for the kids to grow up and look back fondly, and with amusement, and even with bemusement, at the things that were meaningful, fun, silly, happy, anticipated and even dreaded (in a nostalgic 'I can't believe Mama made Fruit Cake every year!' kind of way), as we mark the passing of the days, seasons and years in their life journeys. Many of our family's traditions have been adopted, adapted and handed-down from the traditions that Amazing Husband and I grew up enjoying in our childhoods, and many are new, and were evolved or created along with our growing family over the past many years.

If the truth were to be told, Amazing Husband is possibly less fond of the traditions than I am, mainly because I am, perhaps, a wee bit tradition-centric when it comes to holidays, and that can be a lot of work. Nevertheless, he hangs in there and enjoys the existing traditions as we circumnavigate the calendar each year. Despite enjoying the already existing traditions, however, he tends to be a bit...skeptical, when I talk about adding new traditions. We both know it is because of the amount of work involved, and in all honesty, his main concern has always been that we not add traditions unless we are reasonably sure we will be able to maintain them in the future, because consistency in the kids' lives is as important to him as it is to me, and he hates to disappoint them.

So, for example, when I was inspired to add a St. Patrick's Day Treasure Hunt tradition--based on an imaginative and whimsical tradition I read about on my friend Fawndear's blog [...FawnDear...: Magic by Moonlight ]--to the long list of regular days, holidays, achievements, accomplishments and events we mark each year as they go by, he basically put the kibosh on it. Realistically, as Amazing Husband pointed out during our discussion about my desire to add a St. Patrick's Day Treasure Hunt to our laundry list of annual traditions, we have no less than twenty-three birthdays and anniversaries between March and April alone, and when you calculate in Dr. Seuss’s B-day/Read across America Day, St. Patrick's Day (we do already have a few existing traditions), and Easter, the mere suggestion of adding anything else is kind of ludicrous. Particularly when said 'something' is as involved as an individualized Leprechaun’s-Pot-of-Gold treasure hunt for each kid. Consequently, Amazing Husband and Common Sense won that debate, and I regulated my daydreams of St. Patrick's Day Treasure Hunts to the 'Things I Can Do For My Grandkids Because I Will Have A Lot More Time By Then' queue.

When I discovered the suggestion of the All Hallow's read tradition, however, I knew we would both be on the same page about adding it to our family's tradition repertoire!

Here is how it happened:

I am an avid reader of author Neil Gaiman's blog, and just about a week before Hallowe’en he wrote a post observing that there aren't enough book-giving holidays, and suggested the idea of an "All Hallow's Read" tradition to remedy the situation. [The original blog post is here: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2010/10/modest-proposal-that-doesnt-actually.html ]

I loved the idea, and when I presented it to Amazing Husband he was on board with it right away. (Although he did say he would have preferred a bit of notice, as I kind of sprung it on him on the day of Hallowe'en!). Next year we will be preparing for it over the weeks in advance of the holiday, and really shop around for the best deals at the local used bookstores and such, but for this year we just popped over to the Big Name Bookstore nearby, and gleefully bought spooky books all around!

Ender has been very into the classics lately, so we bought him Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.

Monkey Boy was a bit tricky, as his tastes don't generally run to the spooky, but we ultimately decided on Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book for him, as we thought he might enjoy it, and, of course, we had to include at least one book by the author who inspired the new tradition!

Za Boo was even harder to shop for than Monkey Boy, as generally even the mention of anything spooky sends her running, but we settled on The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley, as it appears to focus more on the mystery/detective aspect of the genre, than the scary stuff. I've had my eye on that one for her for awhile, and this was a great opportunity to include it in a way that wouldn't feel overwhelming; time will tell if she can handle its degree of scary.

The Raven could have been the hardest to buy for, because she thoroughly enjoys the scary and there are so many choices that it might have been hard to narrow it down, but she had recently finished Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, so the logical choice for her was The Vampire Lestat, which is what we bought.

Amazing Husband had been wanting to re-read Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury, and we did not have a copy in the house, so he got that, and I chose Coraline, by, again, Neil Gaiman, because I have been interested in reading it ever since seeing the movie.

We bought another Neil Gaiman book, American Gods, for my best friend. We are both avid readers, and have always shared books with each other, so it was a no-brainer to include her in the new holiday tradition!

We didn't buy anything at the bookstore for MiL, as she has basically given up printed books since the acquisition of her Kindle, but we did tell her to choose a scary book on the Kindle, and we would gift it to her.

The kids were delighted by the new books and the new tradition when we presented them with both just before Trick-o-Treat was about to commence on Hallowe'en evening. Everyone has been happily reading all week, and the only problem now, is having to wait a whole year until we can celebrate All Hallow’s Read again! ;)


http://journal.neilgaiman.com
http://fawndear.blogspot.com
http://www.allhallowsread.com

So, inspired (as always) by my friend Fawndear and her current de-cluttering/purging/organizing adventure, AND sick to the teeth of a mess that currently consumes a particular room in our home, making it largely unusable, AND realizing that in order to feel less crowded in the house we need to GET RID OF UNNECESSARY STUFF, I have decided the time has come for me to clean out, purge and organize the home office once and for all. Although I have always been a rather organized person (and a neat-nick!), I have never been able to keep the creative space in our home organized. Everywhere else in the house could look like a room out of a magazine (although, despite my intentions, it rarely did for more than a day at a time), but walking into the creative space in the house was like walking into another house entirely. Realistically, though, it's not even accurate to say "walking" into the room was like walking into another house, because it, at any given point in its history, has been more of a climb, scramble, hop, jump, or even just a look, into another house, after which you walk away, because you cannot stand to be there.
And that is a huge part of the problem, of course, because I cannot stand to be in it, because it is such a devastatingly overwhelming mess, and, therefore, never actually clean/purge/organize it, it just gets worse, and worse, and worse, ad infinitum.

I started tonight.

Amazing Husband and the Boys had 'the gang' over for D&D, the girls were variously occupied with watching movies and whatever, MIL went out with a friend, and I tackled The Room Formerly Known As The Office. I had lately christened it The Room Of Shame, but, after tonight, it will, hopefully, become The Organized And Inspiring All Purpose Creativity Room in the near, near future.

I have had an extraordinarily significant epiphany through reading about Fawndear's journey: I am a Hoarder.

Whew, it took a lot out of me to write that "out loud."

I would never have categorized myself as a hoarder, I don't fit the archetype. I have always been organized; a place for everything, and everything in its place. I have helped friends with organizing, and been offered a job as a professional organizer on many occasions. However, the fact remains, I Am A Hoarder.

How do I know? Well, the signs are all there, once you know what to look for: nearly everything that is in the way in The Room Of Shame is mine. Not the kids, not Amazing Husband's, not MIL's, MINE. AND, I have a very valid, reasonable and convincing argument for every tiny bit of it. And nearly all of those arguments come down to one of three basic points: one: I MIGHT need it someday, I HAVE A PLAN to use/make/work on it some day, or I am EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED to it.

So.

I have started my adventure. I believe my journey will be more challenging than I want to believe, and I do anticipate that the road will be long and hard. But I am determined, and I will NOT give up.

I am, as Amazing Husband is fond of saying, going to eat the elephant one bite at a time, this time. I have always tried to stuff the whole darn elephant in at once in the past, and I am sure that has not helped.

I am going to celebrate the steps along the way this time, as well. I have a tendency to look at all that I did NOT get done, rather than recognizing the progress I make along the way--and, sadly, that is true in all aspects of my life--so I am going to take yet another inspiration from Fawndear's blog, and stop to revel in joy of accomplishment as I go!

And, to that end, I have pictures of my (tiny but significant) accomplishments of the night.

I was able to let go of this 17-year-old box:



Which has housed my scrapbook items from high school and college drama since shortly after Amazing Husband and I received a lovely engagement gift in it, 17 years ago. I could not part with those items. I haven't come that far, and, to be fair, a genuine goal of the future Organized And Inspiring All Purpose Room IS to be able to create things like a scrapbook of all the drama productions I was involved in, in high school and college, and having never achieved a space in which to work on such projects, I do not feel that I can, in good conscience, let go of that project, until I have actually had a space in which to attempt it. If it sits in a space in which I could perfectly well work on it, and don't, for the next 17 years, well, then, clearly it wasn't that important to me after all.

I have relocated those keepsakes to a large and sturdy Victoria's Secret Bag, and I believe they fit quite well in it. They are readily organized, handy, and easily accessible now.



It's a tiny bit of progress, but, off I go!

Pondering the emotional needs of toddlers and teenagers...

I am finding that parenting The Raven now is in many ways very much like parenting the boys when they were small. She needs so much that they no longer need, and that Za Boo needed for longer, but no longer needs at the age she is now. I am as tired, cranky and exhausted some days as I was when I had two boys under three and was emotionally responsible for three people, rather than just myself.

I guess that's the thing that many people don't understand; it's hard to do this not because she is a teenager now, but because she is a toddler now, and a teenager at the same time.

I have a friend who is having a hard time adjusting to the changes in our family; she is, in a word, jealous. I didn't recognize it right away, and couldn't articulate it well after I realized it initially, but she is, basically, jealous of the time parenting The Raven takes away from time she and I had been spending together, before The Raven became a part of our family. We were both at the place where certain aspects of parenting were becoming less hands on, the kids were working on being more independent, and our ability to be "grown-ups" more often had expanded. With the addition of Raven to our family that has definitely changed.

I remember being loathe to leave the boys, and later Za Boo, when they were fairly small, and still very dependent. They just needed ME to be around, at home, available, because they MIGHT need me. I remember the first time I went to Jury Duty, when Za Boo was old enough to have stopped nursing (I had requested, and received, a postponement a number of times, because I always seemed to be called right after having one of the kids!), and the kids were beside themselves with concern about how things would work without me. Not that they didn't trust their Papa to handle things, but there were certain things that I did, and they could not comprehend how the Papa would figure them out: "Will Papa know where the lunch is?" asked Za Boo, "Will he know how I eat my sandwich?" "Will he know how to pick us up from school?" Monkey Boy needed to know, "Did you tell Papa what time school is out? Will he forget to come get Monkey Boy and me, because he is used to being at work all day?" Ender worried.
They just needed ME, because I was the one who was always there, I was the one who KNEW all the things they needed to be sure were known. They were dependent on me for their emotional grounding, and, despite having now grown to a place where they are very capable of being responsible for their own emotional grounding, they will often still need that from me. However, it is no longer a constant need, and it is no longer an absolute hindrance, or something that may cause a state near panic, when I am not immediately available for such; in fact, I have seen the Boys, being the older of the three I have raised since birth, make a choice to find their emotional grounding inside themselves at times, because they have matured to that degree.
Which is a place where The Raven will, now that she has the opportunity, eventually be able to grow to as well, but is not, at this point, ready to do. Or even, really, capable of doing. No one ever did it for her when she needed it before now; there was no emotional ground that was safe, secure, and unconditionally available to her. She is working through a phase now that a large number of children go through in toddlerhood--discovering that there is an unconditional safety net, testing the net, and then trying their wings out OVER said net, in order to experiment safely. And, then, eventually, venturing out past the net, but always knowing that it is there, to return to, if you need it.
Right now she is like a toddler, needing that constant reassuring presence of an emotionally grounded safety net, and not being ready, willing, or able, to begin venturing out over it quite yet.

The Train Trip - Day 3

Today was all about Fisherman's Wharf, and, the holy grail, Ghirardelli Square! Having decided to surprise them as a plan with Papa, I woke the girls a bit early, and took the three of us for manicures at the in-house Salon: "Bliss". After our nails were done (and Natalie, one of our delightful attendants, had fixed the one I jacked up while trying to pay!), we headed back to our room, and woke up the Boys. We were a bit slow to get moving, and there were a couple of cranky incidents, but we got out the door reasonably early, and headed for the Visitor's Center. We stopped on the way for a hot drink and a dab of free Wi-Fi at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and then found the street vendor we had missed the day before, and bought Raven's kitty hat. We hit the Visitor's Center next, and found EVERYTHING we need to navigate the City during our stay here! Maps, guidebooks, schedules, and all of it complimentary! We are digging SF!!! I was able to purchase transportation passes good for unlimited use on all public transportation options (bus, subway, cable cars, and trolleys) for the entire time we are here.
Getting on a trolley to head down to Fisherman's Wharf proved a bit tricky at first, it's pretty dog-eat-dog when it comes to--literally--grabbing a spot on one, and we missed two while figuring out the local system. Third time's the charm, though, and we elbowed and pushed our way on to the third one successfully.
Riding the trolley was interesting, uncomfortable, and kind-of laborious, frankly. We got where we were headed ultimately, though, and that was the goal!
We meandered through the vendors and shops, and looked into the tourist-y tours and attractions (way too expensive for this trip, unfortunately) and finally made it to Fisherman's Wharf, proper, after an hour or so.
Sadly, the Wharf was a bit anti-climactic for the kids. It smells of fish, is very crowded, is all about seafood (no one eats fish but me), and is VERY expensive. We did see the Ripley's Believe It Or Not, and we all were fascinated by the amazing people and feats preserved there, but the Holy Grail of Ghirardelli awaited, and was what got them through a VERY chill and windy walk along the Wharf to The Square.
Ghirardelli was everything everyone hoped it would be, and delivered on it's promise of chocolate beyond the dreams of all the kids! We purchased delectable treats to take home, and set out looking for a nice= sit-down restaurant for dinner. I had hoped to enjoy sundaes at Ghirardelli Square as part of our visit, but it was just too cold this time around. We may try to go back before we leave, we'll see.
We found a place to eat called "The Pub BBQ at Ghirardelli Square" and had an absolutely DELICIOUS meal. Full and happy we headed back to the trolley stop, and waited-semi-patiently for a trolley to get a back to the hotel. The boys were able to achieve their goal of riding on the outside of the Trolley car--holding on like an old Rice-A-Roni commercial--all the way to the hotel!
We picked up a couple of movies at the Welcome Desk on our way back up to our room, and then settled in to watch a movie and eat Ghirardelli chocolate before bed! Goodnight!

The Train Trip - Day 2

We woke up late, relaxed, organized the room, got everybody showered and headed out to get a bite, and our bearings. We had lunch at Jamba Juice, Subway, and ended with Starbucks (free Wi-Fi was needed to help in the "getting our bearings" aspect of our excursion). Not exactly a flavor of the local scene, which we generally prefer to visit when traveling, but it was necessary and appropriate for the circumstances at that point. We saw awesome street vendors, many performers, some significantly overweight pigeons, and finally made our way to the Powell Street Transit Station, which was where we had set out to go in the beginning. We inadvertently found the Visitor's Center, which was just what we needed, but was already closed, and made plans to go back again tomorrow. We explored the station a bit, picked up a transit schedule, and headed back to the hotel by way of the street vendor area. We stopped at a Walgreen's (of which there was one on nearly every corner -there are more of them than there are Starbucks!) and in the attempt to purchase a few inadvertently forgotten sundries, had an injury incident with Bekka; she accidentally pulled the shopping cart over and landed on the ground, hitting her head on the floor, while the cart landed on top of her, and hit her face, causing a cut and a fat lip where her braces and her lip briefly became one. We managed to get her lip and braces separated, and all the blood cleaned up with the help of a kind fellow shampoo purchaser, all the kids, and a box of "we'll just use it now, and I'll pay for it when we check out" tissues. We finished the shopping and headed back to the hotel. We discovered a variety of local cafes and restaurants to try during the rest of the trip throughout the course of the day, and enjoyed getting the lay of the land. We finished the day with a good swim, dinner in our room, and a movie on the hotel network. Goodnight!

The Train Trip - Day 1

Friday, July 30, 2010
We made it! Mainly a smooth trip. The train was wonderful (delightful 81 year old man who used to work the mail car on the same route before they took the mail out of the trains, and who had some amazing stories to tell, as a seat mate, AND I treated the kids to dinner in the Dining Car because I can still remember what a luxury that was when I was a kid), we connected to the bus just fine, we had a bit of trouble when we needed to get a cab, but after nearly an hour and a half, numerous phone calls and a huge tip, we made it to the hotel!
And we have to talk about the hotel! By far the NICEST place we have ever stayed! We have a King room, with a roll away bed for Jacob, and Andrew has taken the window seat for a bed. I am snuggled up in bed with the girls, and ready for a good night's sleep. My babies (who are still my babies whether they want to be or not, no matter how old they get;)), are still so young looking when they sleep. I can hardly believe how big they are!

The Epic Adventure Log Begins!

Today is the first real opportunity I have had to log on to a computer and upload the chronicles of our adventure to date. In fact, we only have three more days before we are homeward bound, however, I HAVE been keeping a journal nearly every day of our adventure, and THAT, in-and-of-itself, is an accomplishment!
As predicted, the entries are all over the place grammatically, stylistically, and probably any other adverb (ly) we can think of, and I have not proofed them for typos, spelling or grammar. All that notwithstanding however (again, *major cringe*), I DID ACTUALLY DO IT, just like I promised my self I would! I am weirdly excited, despite my apprehension regarding publishing something potentially less than perfect, to have done an amazing thing (keep the journal), and to actually publish it (even more amazing)! I would probably set a record of some kind if anyone knew the number of blogs I actually write, and then hide in the draft folder (theoretically in order to edit and publish later), rather than getting them posted. Ay-yi-yi!

The Train Trip Pre-face

Having worked it all out to make the Epic Train Trip happen, I have decided that I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT have it happen, and allow it to go undocumented. Although I had played with the idea of having each kid bring a journal and making them write about the adventures of the trip each night before bed, I realized that, ultimately, that was folly, and would serve only to make me an annoyed taskmaster, and the kids grouchy and reluctant participants in the documenting.
SO, I have resolved to write about the trip here, on my often written, rarely published blog. That is, after all, the reason I began this blog in the first place, no?
We leave on Friday, and I can't wait! The kids are nearly beside themselves with excitement, and we are packing and planning and preparing like mad! I WILL write about the trip, everyday if I can, as we go, and I will post it when I have Internet access.
The entries will, unfortunately, be 'fast and loose,' i.e. unedited (not even for typos *cringe*) and unpolished, because that is the only way I will be able to do it and actually have it happen. I will be applying the lesson I have been learning from my good friend Fawndear, and keeping the important things first (having a good time on the trip, enjoying it with my kids, being present in the current activity), and letting the not-as-important things go (editing for hours, polishing and publishing to my personal standard of 'perfect'). I am cringing even as I am writing this, but I HAVE to do it, not just for the kids, but for me. *Sigh* I don't always enjoy working on self improvement!

Anyway, here we go...

Wild and Crazy

Okay, so, here we go again, experimenting!

I had this wild idea a while back, of taking a train trip up the California Coast with my kids. I was thinking about the fact that the train is wonderful, and riding it is relaxing, and no where near as stressful as a car trip, or, worse, flying now-a-days. We have family and friends all up and down the coast, who we are certainly overdue to visit, and there are places we want to visit just, Because.
I had this vision of the five of us traveling together over about three weeks, everyone carrying their own belongings in a backpack, and using all public transportation the whole way.
I put the idea out to Amazing Husband, and he agreed that it sounded like a wonderful plan, and was bothered only by the fact that he wouldn't be able to go (we don't have that kind of vacation time for him to spare, unfortunately).
Next, then, we needed to overcome the ever present obstacle of funds. This would not be an extravagant trip by any stretch of the imagination, however, neither would it be cheap to stay in reasonably priced hotels (reasonably priced hotels equaling reasonably clean and safe hotels) and to use all public transportation the entire way. And, of course, we would never want to plan a trip this epic in nature without allotting at least some meager portion of funds to collecting a few mementos along the way.
I won't go into all the wrenchingly dull details of how we are going to make it happen, however, we ARE going to make it happen!

The 12 Days of... Kids

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!

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.

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.

Geek Offspring Major FAIL

Adventures with Teenagers

Discovered earlier this evening (among other interesting things!) that playing "I Never" with a group of teenagers when you are 35-plus years old means *never* winning.

Introductions. Seriously tricky things, no? You never get a second chance to make a first impression and all that. Hmmm, all about me...

What to say?

Well, my household currently includes (yes, it's subject to change): myself, my three kids, my husband, my Suegra, until just recently my Abuela-in-law, four dogs (a very motley herd to be honest), and a Beta fish named Tiburon*.

We are a Mexican-Irish-French-German-English-Mayan-Cherokee-Scotch-Danish Clan.

We are wacky. We love a great discussion, and many of us love nothing better than a hearty debate. We are actors and storytellers. We are passionate about what we love.

At home and abroad I am surrounded by a host of characters that would make an intriguing Dramedy on HBO (it would have to be on HBO, there is no way network television would be allowed to air many of the best plots).

I haven't been able to fully articulate why I feel compelled to create a blog at this point in my life. I am not a writer by trade, and I honestly don't enjoy writing. I am good at it, I understand. I had the best english teacher around when I was in high school and the result is that I am apparently a very effective and technically proficient writer. I am irrevocably dedicated to fighting the degradation of the written word that is being wrought upon us by the advent of text-ing and IM-ing by continuing to capitalize and punctuate my written work accurately even as the next generation of the work force spells " Oh really," "orly," and only uses capitals to "yell." However, in spite of all that, or more accurately BECAUSE of all that, I agonize over anything I write for hours before I am satisfied, and have known for a long time that a blog was a road I should venture down tentatively at best. Because, honestly, I just don't have the hours to spend on editing whatever I may chose to post. Yet, here I am, creating a blog.

The reason for a sudden desire to write at this point in my life is clear: I have recognized a need, since the death of Grandma (Abuela-in-law), to record the adventures of my world. Grandma slowly lost nearly all her memories, and hence, her stories. Many of them will be passed down through the family in an oral tradition not unlike that of many ancient cultures. But how many are gone now for good?

There are too many amazing, astounding, inriguing, interesting, funny, fascinating, and thought-provoking incidents around here to risk forgetting them.

So I decided to record them.

But, the reason to record them in a blog?

Well, the best reason I have been able to come up with is that, like the infamous Gordon Way (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams), I work best by talking ideas out, and I am hoping that a blog will serve as the written equivalent of an answering machine.

We shall see...

*The editing on this blog does not appear to support punctuation of Spanish, and therefore the accent is missing from the 'o' in Tiburon. As I anticipate the problem of accurately accenting Spanish words I may use will not go away, I assure anyone who reads Spanish that I am relatively literate, but I appear to be at the mercy of the English-centic nature of this application. I apologize.