We Want a 50 Year Anniversary

I can never forget the reason these kids are on the earth. God thought Arnie and I would be good parents for them, right? Arnie and I fell in love, decided to be together forever, and then promised God that we would welcome children. Even though we fumble around a lot with this whole parenting thing, we seem to be doing all right. Both Robby and Katie excel in school, make friends easily, and bring smiles to grown up faces often. These are great kids.

Here we are in Port Townsend again because the big event is finally here. Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Bruce celebrate their 5oth anniversary this weekend. Everyone is here, including Rene and Tracy from Hawaii and all of Sandy's siblings from Vashon. Tomorrow we head out to a lovely house in Port Hadlock to eat, laugh, and enjoy.

Robby and Katie have planned a funny "radio show" to perform for the group. Several years ago, when the kids both first had voice recording devices, they began a funny ritual in the back seat. On long trips, Katie would start the drama by using a conversational radio voice, introducing herself as "Kit Kat Kandy". She would begin to interview Robby, who eventually caught the radio bug and began introducing himself as "Old Time Root beer". Their "shows" were funny little discussions about whatever we were up to. Maybe shopping in Tacoma - their favorite stores or places eat. Maybe driving to a holiday event - Easter egg hunts or favorite Christmas songs. Eventually we bought Katie a video recorder and the shows became even more real and fun for the kids.

Anyway, the clever rascals have prepared a radio show for Grandpa and Grandma that should be really fun. I made some dip - tuna and salmon. I brought everything with me and made the dip tonight in the hotel room. Definitely one of the strangest places I've prepared food. I wonder what Emeril would say about that. I chopped onion on a plastic lid because I forgot a cutting board. The dip is beautiful and tasty, though. I've blogged about it before since I use my own home-canned salmon and tuna. Arnie spray painted some yard art gold-but not at the hotel. We found cute little metal kids kissing. Perfect for that terrific Port Townsend yard. I would love to experience all this. My kids planning a great anniversary party for us. I hope we keep building the great memories just like Bruce and Sandy's kids have.

Raising Kids Without My Bad Habits

With cucumbers to pickle and a schedule more full than it should be, I woke early on Saturday to get the cukes washed before the soccer game. First things first, I checked the kids' bedrooms. Robby's door was still closed; Katie's was open, which made me peek in, until my morning brain remembered that she spent the night at her best friend's house. On I went to the kitchen where, by habit, I found myself in front of my coffee pot. I often question my coffee habit, or dare I say caffeine addiction? Will my children some day have a need for a cup of coffee before they do anything else for the day?

The older I get the more I try to free myself from such habits. Somehow I feel like a habit is a weak link. Is that our society sending me that message? Is coffee a problem for me? For centuries people have started their days with coffee or tea. I love everything about coffee. The deep aroma. The lovely dark color. The way the milk swirls into it, turning it a wonderful chocolately brown. I love the bitter taste. Yes, I am goobery about coffee. When I was in college, I could drink it all day long and still fall asleep while studying. I painfully (and I mean it, I had headaches) weaned myself of it before I got pregnant and stayed away from it while I was breastfeeding. I can no longer drink coffee with caffeine after noon because then I don't sleep. Are these signs of a bad habit?

I try to de-emphasize my need for coffee in the morning. My coffee cup is always present and accounted for, but I don't spend a lot of time hugging it or worrying about it. Not like I hug and worry about the kids, anyway. How do we know, as parents, which behaviors are meaningful to the kids and which are not? So much to consider; I better get a cup of joe to help me ponder.

Let Them Eat Beets

I went out in the rain to harvest a few vegies from the garden. Zucchini, saucer squash, a cucumber, tomatoes, beans, and beets. Lots of beets. I pulled out the balsamic vinegar and prepared to roast the fresh beets.

I don't recall eating many beets as a kid. I remember trying a pickled beet a couple of times. I remember not really liking them. I know I put beets on my salads at salad bars if they weren't pickled. Mom didn't cook them, though. Not that I can remember anyway. She didn't even keep them on hand. So why do I grow them in the garden and expect my kids to eat them? Those poor kids.

I tried to explain what I like about beets. They are juicy when they are cooked. Katie raised her eyebrows at the purple juice running out of her beet. They are earthy tasting. Robby wrinkled his nose at me. What do I mean by earthy? Hmmm. No, they don't taste like dirt. They taste warm. Katie sighed and bit into hers. Her mouth got that I'm-trying-to-chew-without-letting-the-beet-touch-my-tongue look to it. She said it was too sour. I assured her (and myself) that it was the balsamic vinegar that was sour, not the beet. Robby bit into his and shrugged. He said he liked it all right. Of course, I challenged him to eat the whole beet if he thought it was all right. And he did!

Arnie and I ate the bowl of beets. They were earthy, warm, and juicy.

Fall Feasting

We finally got a bag of carrot slices into the freezer. Usually by September my little freezer is packed with frozen vegetables and my shelf is lined with canned vegetables. The carrots are a beautiful orange color although they are smaller than last year. We've been munching on them raw, steaming them for dinner, and throwing them into pot roasts and soups. The garden yielded enough food for us to have fresh vegetables during the summer, although not enough for the winter.

We have had plenty of zucchini and lettuce. The beets look great, too. I need to get outside to harvest beets and beans. It's been raining all morning, but I think I'm going to venture out to the bean patch and see if I can pick beans for dinner. How about some green beans fried in bacon? Yum. Healthy and unhealthy all at the same time. The kids love dinners like that! I do have some pork chops, so the protein will be healthy. Hmmm. What else to have? Roasted beets sound really good.

As the garden winds down for the fall, I feel let down. My harvest was good for us, but not abundant. This was a challenging season for my amateur gardening skills. I will be reading the farmers almanac before planting next year. Hopefully I will learn how to pick vegetables that work in whatever weather next summer brings.

The Big Guy Takes Power

No more Mr. Nice Guy. That's what I told Arnie. Has to be his new theme as he enters his first day as Assistant Principal tomorrow. Summer has officially ended with Labor Day Weekend. A horrible weekend at that - weather wise. We had a great time with friends and family.

We headed off to Port Townsend again on Saturday. We left the men to rebuild a deck in the back yard while we went out to the Marine Science Center and played in the touch tanks. Sea Cucumbers and crabs and sea urchins and chitons and sea stars and anemones and sea worms...such great fun. Katie and Auntie Rochelle like the sea cucumbers the best. They are a little slimy and spongy feeling. I like the sea worms best. They shoot back into their tubes lightning quick when you touch their tendrils. Their name makes them sound yucky, but they are actually very pretty with red and white tentacles. We went downtown for the side walk sale after the science center and bought Auntie Rochelle a cute cake pan that makes a cake that looks like an Oreo. Cool.

On Sunday we went to the Flemings house to celebrate Arnie's promotion. Theresa barbecued awesome burgers and hot dogs. Gienelle brought her famous chili cheese dip - very tasty with just the right spice. I made a couple of cakes for dessert. I made triple chocolate loaf and zucchini bread. I bet you can guess which one disappeared fastest. Yup. Triple chocolate did not last after the first slice was cut. Larry gave Arnie this shirt which is very appropriate for the Trekkie. If you aren't familiar with Star Trek, the 2nd in command is the Commander. Pretty clever. The kids ran around outside and played video games. The girls enjoyed time with Matt and Gienelle's toddler. We had a great time with our friends. A fitting end to a not so great summer.

Yea! Potatoes!

I woke early this morning thinking I'd have some time just for me before we headed to Port Townsend. I picked up my book and headed out to the kitchen to make coffee. As the coffee dripped, I studied the backyard, my eyes falling on the corner pot of potatoes. Huge sigh. They never did flower...does that mean my potatoes were not going to be any good or that they didn't grow. Being the amateur gardener that I am, I mostly learn by trial and error, so I headed out to dig up a potato plant.

Much to my happiness, I found two beautiful, albeit small potatoes attached to one plant, so I headed back inside with my treasure. Plans changed quickly. I ignored my book, but not the coffee. After pouring a cup of coffee, I cleaned and cut the potatoes and began making breakfast for my sleeping family. Adding a Walla Walla onion, also from the garden (yea, again!), I studied the potatoes. They looked normal. They smelled normal. They felt normal. The skin was a bit thin, which may be the only difference I could see.

I fried the potatoes and onions together in butter with salt and pepper, scrambled some eggs, and toasted wheat bread. I went around giving kisses and brought the breakfast in on a tray and let everyone eat on my new bed! Sigh. What a great start to a great day! I'm telling you, there is something very satisfying about harvesting from my own yard.

Padme seemed a little miffed that I didn't serve breakfast on a tray for her. She wouldn't even look at me. Sorry, kitty. You are my favorite, but...I think I have set my blog so any reader can leave comments. Those of you who receive my blog in email, you need to click on the blog link to be on the Internet before you leave a comment. What do you all know about potatoes? Why haven't mine flowered? Can I blame the weather?

Cleaning the Barbeque...

One night this summer I thought I'd grill some burgers and zucchini for us. Turned the barbecue to high to heat up, shut the cover (thank God) and went to get the food for grillin'. Arnie stopped me in the house to ask a trim question - he is still getting the finishing touches on the bathroom. We chatted about the choices of size we had for the trim along the tub. As always, I said I thought the smaller trim would be pretty. Arnie said he liked the way the larger trim covered. I said that was fine. I walked away wondering why he asks me questions he's already answered. Grumble. Grumble. Whoa! Fire.

The barbecue was smoking. Eeek. I looked around for my water bottle, turned off the gas, and pushed the cover up. The entire bottom of the barbecue was in flames. Pouring water over it put it out quickly and I began to breathe again. Back inside I went, the burgers went under the broiler. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to be able to touch the barbecue again.

The next weekend as I stood staring in to the blackened pit of the barbecue, I couldn't even remember cleaning it. What is wrong with me? Why hadn't I noticed that tarry, ashy, dangerous mess? However, I'm never one to spend too much time in regret. Instead, I take action. I dug in and scooped out guck and ashes and who knows what. I figured out how to pull out a couple of pieces, whose names escape me. Arnie tried to teach me the technical names that night, but of course, their importance is not. I wiped and scraped until I felt sure there was no more danger. Put on a new burner guard and grilled up some wonderful country style ribs with some chili powder and garlic rub. Yum.

We also had a sweet coleslaw salad with cabbage, carrots, and green onions from the garden that night. A very country style barbecue. Safely and sanely grilled.