Day #12--Happy Anniversary...

Two years ago today, on our street


It's been two years since the Tea Fire. I think we are all okay with that. It doesn't come up very often. No children have nightmares involving fire trucks. The hills behind us are lovely and green again.

So why am I weeping at the computer as I am going through the old pictures? I'm totally surprised with myself.

And how can I smell that distinct, acrid smoke smell--like no cozy fireplace you've ever curled up in front of--when I see this shot?


It IS such a Happy Anniversary, though! And one of the ways I know? The neighbors who lived in this house:


--are now in their rebuilt one...and came to borrow the lawnmower this morning.


That may not mean anything to those of you who live where the grass is always green, nor where you get rain on a regular basis. But green, growing grass is the opposite (for us) of what you see in these pictures. And it also means that the rebuilt homes have been around long enough for a little landscaping. Whoo-hoo! (It's the first time they've borrowed the mower, to give you an idea of timelines).

We have had really windy evenings the past week or so--it's that time of year. Our incredibly wet October means that the sound of them every night doesn't bring fear along with it. And for that, too, we are grateful.

Happy Saturday!

Day #11--Don't Let it Happen to You

Today, a friend was over for lunch. By the way, I love having a friend who can come to lunch unplanned. And I love that with this friend we tend to decide where to go based on who has better leftovers at the moment.

It's very non-stressful that way. Until you decide to put gravy on YOUR turkey sandwich (she doesn't) and you spend all of lunch with turkey sliding around everywhere. I felt like a 2-year-old using chopsticks to eat a Big Mac.

But that's NOT what you shouldn't let happen to you!

Don't be wooed by the beautiful sunshine out of doors to eat your lunch (although that is good for the Big sloppy turkey Mac). Don't think that if all three boys under age five are playing happily inside, you should leave well enough alone.

But if you do, then later (to quote Ace Ventura, Pet Detective): "Do NOT go in there!!"


There was even a strange electrical smell in the air...presumably from the tiny motor powering the inflatable pirate ship. It had been left on for a long, long time.



I don't even want to know.

Day #10--What's a Recent Whoops?

Oh, easy breezy Parcheesi.

Tuesday, I offered to make dinner and take it to a friend. Then I came home and defrosted a huge package of pork loin chops. I studied up on The Pioneer Woman and read up in Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food. I. Was. Ready.

So, it's going to take 51 minutes to defrost all of those pork chops? No problem-o. I'm thinking ahead. I have time.

So, 51 minutes isn't actually enough time to defrost them? Well, OK then. Okey-Dokey.

I have corn bread. And a friend is willing to pick up a bagged salad for me. I have insider knowledge from Alice Waters. This is going to be great!

And then I suddenly have a sinking feeling that my friend maybe can't eat pork. Really? Quick phone call to check. Confirmed. OK, well, no-problem-e-o. It just so happens that I have a back-up plan (that involves my family eating pork chops for the next four days). But I maybe hadn't planned on making two entirely separate dinners that night.

My salad friend calls to ask if I need anything from the store, while I am in the middle of trying to pry two frozen pork chops apart. I am so grateful. She picks up the things I need for dinner #2, which is actually dinner #1, since it will be made first.

And it gets made and delivered. And then I start frying pork chops. And you know what? They are good. They are actually GOOD! So what if my shirt is ruined from splattering oil? SO WHAT if J has to put the little blue towels (Mom and Guff, you know what I'm talking about) down on the floor so we don't track oil all over the house with our FEET? J is happily eating a dinner he didn't cook (for once--the "didn't cook" part, not the happily part) and the kids are chowing down with no complaints and Bud is saying, "Mom, thanks for this dinner. It is SO delicious!"

Thank you, Alice Waters!!

And thanks for the tip I used on that last pork chop, too. The really big fat one that really couldn't be successfully pan-fried. You just pop it in the oven at 375 after it's browned! And in my new birthday huge cast-iron skillet, that's a piece of cake! Yesss!!

I really don't think it was Alice's fault that I completely forgot about that chop in the oven until about an hour later, when I was cleaning up. There was a funny smell, you see.


Whoops.

Day #9--A New Kid in Town

Her name is Molly. Molly McIntyre.

She has been around for a while, gifted under extraordinary circumstances. But it has only been in the past few weeks that she has come into her own. Pixie has reached that age, and it's sweet. But also a little sad.

Bittersweet?

I think it's just possible that Molly may begin edging out Nite-Nite from his 7.5-year reign as The Object Of Affection. For example, Pixie no longer takes Mollys clothes to dress Nite-Nite...she actually uses them to dress Molly. Also, Molly has been the friend she brought to school . Where she duly sympathizes with Pixie over the difficulty of the "8s" multiplication table.

However, during every spelling test, I am asked to make every sentence containing a spelling word be somehow about Nite-Nite. Which is a pretty fun activity for me, actually. So Nite-Nite isn't off the map yet!

Day #8--A Rose By Any Other Name

I like roses. Tea hoses, hybrids, floribunda. Spray roses.

Delicate peach roses handed over in an airport.

And then carried in a wedding bouquet.

And now going nuts on a large bush outside of our bedroom window.

I also like roses with more complex color patterns; I've been a fan ever since my mom bought home the "forty-niner" variety when I was young.

I loved my engagement-anniversary roses. Boy, did I ever.

And I love my birthday roses, too:

The colors are getting even better as they open, which is really fun. It's also very fun that store-bought roses are actually opening.

That wasn't my only bouquet this week, though:


Courtesy of Wombles. Yes, these rare varieties only bloom in the part of the kingdom that he's not allowed to enter without escort...but it's difficult to be hard on him when his quest included the flowers. Held out in two little, almost-still-chubby fists. Just as sweet.

Day #7--Something You're Glad You Did This Week

My birthday was last week. Taking the boys on a field trip for school, frittering a lot of time on Thrones, Dominations, and eating a lot of extremely yummy food were not the only unusual things that I did.

After music classes, it was so hot that I got out the kiddie pool. And I let Wombles hold the hose while it was being filled. Glee.


Then, instead of breathing a sigh of relief that the boys had somewhere safe to burn off some energy and running inside to hide in relative coolness, I pulled a chair over to the shade afforded by the playset and sat down to watch.


It was therapeutic and an unlooked-for gift. I cannot believe how restorative it was to be sitting and enjoying my children--and not doing anything else. I remember thinking, I should go in and... but then their infectious laughter (combined with their delight that I was watching them race and do cannonballs into the pool) made me think, No, this is a good thing. I am not wasting my time. Then I thought, I should call someone and catch up if I'm just sitting here.

Nope. I should sit here and enjoy the zany delight of a kiddie pool, two brothers, and their mom on a 100-degree day.

I got a lot of great gifts on my birthday. But I think the best one was the combo gift of an awareness of the incredible richness of my life, and a deep sense of gratefulness for it. And delight in it!

Wombles' face captures it pretty well:

Day #6--What Are You Reading?

I often have several books going at the same time. One fun book, one need-to-read book, etc. Lately, however, I've been running pretty dry. Which is just as well. JUST AS WELL, I SAY, IF NOT BETTER.

And that's because I've gotten VERY LITTLE DONE in the past few days, since I came splashing out of my dry spell.

This is primarily responsible:


(You can't actually click to see inside from here, by the way). It is not Sayers, but it is riveting. It is my fun book. I think it's good to not have fun books very often at this stage of life. I lack the self-control to put them down for long enough, and it'll be something of a relief to finish this one off.

Here's another one I'm in right now:


It's going more slowly, and is primarily a Sunday-afternoon-in-the-sun book. We thought we might use it for a small-group book study, but are going in a different direction instead. I think it's potentially really helpful and exciting.

This one I got for my birthday, and is A-ma-zing:

Have you ever read George Herbert? I had never even heard of him before last Thanksgiving. I printed up "Gratefulness, " one of the poems, and had it printed out. I've since memorized it. Once I got this book in my hands and saw the richness, I was so excited...and will be delving in more after I finish that book at the top. You know, the one "they add special chemicals to it that make you crave it [fortnightly]." This one was a birthday treat. Thank you, Boppy and Grandma!

Which brings me to another birthday treat book. When I was a little girl, I loved reading my mom's copy of Emily Post. What a great way to learn how to set the table, what to do when your neighbor's dog chews up your furniture, and that you should never wear white to a wedding! This year, I got my own new copy twice (it must be horribly bad manners to say so, though).



For the past few years, ever since we saw Cold Comfort Farm, my in-laws have occasionally called me "Emily Post's Child." So this was a perfect gift from them. Pixie gave it to me, too. Yay!

Now, if you haven't seen Cold Comfort Farm, then you probably should. Or, maybe not. It really depends on your sense of humor. But at least you would then get the joke about Emily Post's Child.

Also, you should check this book out of the library and then keep renewing it (or buy it!):


It IS Sayers, and it is delicious.

Happy Sunday!