Hey, Where's My Tiara?

Another week has gone by and I haven't had time to post. It's a sad world we live in when a girl doesn't even have time to blog.

I've been working, working, working. 'Tis the season, after all. That and I recently became the president of our church. Well, really it's our "fellowship," since we're Unitarians. The word "church" implies that there may be dogma involved, and Unitarians don't go in for that sort of thing. Noooo way.

Anyway, this president thing has been taking up a lot of my time. Here I was, thinking it was going to be all diamond tiaras, limos, and loin-clothed men fanning me with palm leaves. Turns out it's nothing like that at all.

It's more like someone has made me the mom of the congregation. People come to me for answers, complain to me about unfair treatment, and want me to come up with rules when there aren't any. I think I should just send them all to their rooms!

AFTER they agree to spend some of the budget on men with palm leaves....

Despite this new undertaking, we had a very fun and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. We took a 20-mile bike ride, had a Memorial Day celebration with Grandma Joan, hiked with friends, watched a movie, did some yard work, and generally just enjoyed ourselves. We also got a lot of sleep, which was FANTASTIC.

Bike ride

The gang on the front porch, Memorial Day

Diversions on our hike

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day we went for a hike. Everything is so lush and green right now, it's hard to imagine that only two weeks ago the world was still twiggy.

I'm Back

I've been away for a while. Well, not AWAY as in on vacation or having fun or anything like that. Just working hard and in the throes of mourning for Hillary.

There's nothing like some good violin music to snap a person out of that!

The world's next great violinist is in the back row, behind the girl in the black shirt. I think he paid her big money to keep him hidden from the camera :).

I Just Needed a Little Space

I had to buy a new keyboard after this morning's coffee fiasco. You don't realize how much you need a space bar until it's been drenched in coffee and is causing your computer to have seizures.

Having space again feels so good.

Magnolias/For/Stressful/Times

I'm having a really, really busy work life right now, so don't have time to post a lot of words.

Plus,I/just/spilled/coffee/on/my/keyboard/and/the/space/bar/isn't/working/now.

So,/to/relax/my/stress-filled/self,/I'm/posting/a/photo/of/a/magnolia/tree/I/stumbled/across/in/a/client's/yard/yesterday.

Isn't/it/breathtaking????

The Tides, They Are A-Turning

Each Tuesday I volunteer in Ben's second grade classroom. I have two book clubs, and each week we read a chapter in a book. One of the clubs is made up of three boys and the other is five girls.

Each Tuesday I'm amazed by the fact that Ben will still plant a big kiss on me before I leave, right in front of all of his classmates. And that the girls fight over who gets to sit next to me, the winner usually laying her head on my shoulder while we read.

In other words, they haven't figured out yet that parents are embarrassing.

Whenever Eric and I chaperone field trips, our boys are so flipped-out happy that we're there that they cling to our sides and make sure that they "own" us for the day. If neither of us can make it to a field trip, they are sad and disappointed.

At least that's how it's been up until now. But recently there's been a change in the air. I think Theo is starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, his parents are a little....well.....uncool.

On the last field trip I did with his fourth grade class, Theo pulled me aside and said, very kindly, "Mom, I may not be able to sit with you on the bus because I need to sit with my friends." He cushioned it with a sweet voice and gentle words so that my feelings wouldn't be hurt, but I got the main message: "Mom, I'm moving on. I've had a good time being your love bug, but I'm becoming a man and I need to start acting like one." (sob, sniffle...)

Eric chaperoned a field trip with Theo's class just last week. Since dads seem to hold on to their status as acceptable beings a little longer than moms do in the eyes of a kid, I had high hopes that Eric would get one last "clingy" field trip, one last moment of acceptance from our little man.

He's the kind of dad a kid would want to have on a field trip. He's fun and silly and takes charge and engages kids. He sat in the back of the bus with ten 10-year-old boys and kept them engrossed for twenty minutes in a game of "Guess What Number is in My Head?: Between 1 and 1 Million." What's not to love?

As he recalled the day, Theo admitted that he had, indeed, been embarrassed having his dad along. I asked what Eric had done that was embarrassing.

"His presence," he said.

"And mom," added the soon-to-be man, "the damage is pernamint."

Spring Evening

We've been having a bout of warm, sunny, beautiful weather that makes us think spring is actually here to stay. Maybe we won't just slide right back into winter!

Last night I was walking Sam and it was one of those peaceful, quiet evenings that make you feel like you're in a movie. The birds were singing, the smell of charcoal was hanging in the air, and the grass was so green it was almost blinding in the setting sun. Mmmmm...

I took a couple of photos of a tree shadow on the front of the house.

Chalk One Up for the Chef

My family has endured many failed cooking experiments over the years. They have valiantly chewed and smiled through concoctions I've made up, and, strangely, continue to allow me to be the head chef at Casa Lucas.

But every once in a while, one of my hairbrained experimental recipes works out. Last night I was trying to figure out what to do with two huge sweet potatoes we had left from our stop at a farm stand in South Carolina, and two huge Vidalia onions I bought last week. The resulting recipe was like heaven to me, and Eric, who is not a sweet potato fan, even loved it.

Here is the recipe. If you're brave, give it a try and tell me what you think of it. If you change it for the better, let me know and I'll adjust things on my end.

Any ideas for a name for this masterpiece?

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes
2 vidalia onions (these are only available seasonally, but red onions would be really good, too)
1/2 cup of sour cream
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Ground cinnamon
Ground nutmeg
Curry powder

Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork and bake at 425 for 45 minutes to an hour.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. Chop the onion either into thin rings or into thin wedges, and add them to the melted butter/olive oil. Let them saute, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the onions are a caramelly-brown. Mine always end up sort of crunchy, which I like, so let them go a little longer if you want to.

Mix a tsp. of each spice into the sour cream.

When the potatoes and the onion are done, slice the potatoes open like you would a baked potato. Add a little butter and let it melt into the potato. Add a good dollop (or two) of the sour cream mixture to each potato.

Top with the caramelized onions.

Call me and weep from the goodness.

A Very Frivolous Post From a Very Frivolous Person Who Bounces Off the Walls But Finds it Hard to be Carefree

What Your Latte Says About You

You don't treat yourself very often. You find that indulging doesn't jibe with your very disciplined life. You are a very frivolous person. You don't take anything too seriously. Why should you? Intense and energetic, you aren't completely happy unless you are bouncing off the walls. You're totally addicted to caffeine... but you like to pretend like you aren't! You are responsible, mature, and truly an adult. You're occasionally playful, but you find it hard to be carefree. You are honest and genuine, but you are never tactless.

Try it here.

To Sum It All Up...

Despite my best intentions, I haven't had any time this week to post. I can't believe I'm letting work get in the way of blogging! What a shame.

I'd intended to dedicate a posting each day to something we've done recently to change our lifestyle for the better. But, for the sake of releasing us all from this blinding green, I'll summarize it all into this one post. You can thank me later.

We are not trying to single-handedly save the earth. That would be impossible. Switching my lightbulbs to fluorescents does not turn global warming around. It seems like it should, for what they cost, but it doesn't. For me, it comes down to this: life is a-changing. We are going to have to say goodbye to the necessities and luxuries we've all come to rely upon and take for granted. Like, maybe, food and water. Just little things.

We are making changes at our house for three reasons. One, to reduce our impact on our environment. Two, to simplify our lives so that we enjoy them, and the time we spend together, more. And three, to polish up on the skills that allow us to sustain our lives as the systems we rely upon fail us.

Moving was step one in this process for us, and by far the biggest change we've made.

Smaller things have followed slowly, as not all changes come easily. Here are just a few:

1. We are vegetarians. This was a really easy change, and one we've been enjoying for almost three years. We don't support the meat industry and its horrific treatment of animals and the land they live on. The environmental impact of our meat industry, and the abhorrent conditions animals are subjected to is just plain unacceptable. Not to mention bad for our bodies to eat those animals. I could go on here about this for days, but I won't. If you haven't read Michael Pollan's The Ominvore's Dilemma or any of his other books, please do.

We do buy the best meat we can (local, organic, free-range, healthy, happy) now and then for the kids for dinner, as I think they should be exposed to foods and they can decide if they want to be vegetarians themselves. They also still eat hot (highly processed, highly sugared) lunch at school twice a week, which takes a lot of biting-of-the-tongue for me. I'm really trying to be good about letting them experience childhood without too many restrictions. It's a balancing act and a constant inner struggle when it comes to food and how kids in this country are fed.

2. We use canvas bags. Okay, I've been doing this for 20 years, so it's not really new. And I've had some pretty funny experiences. Once, all of my canvas bags were stolen out of my cart at the grocery store. Obviously a person desperate to start living right! Or someone very disappointed not to find a wallet in the mass of canvas...

And I'll never forget the time I was checking out at a grocery store in our former suburb, only to have the clerk look at me like I'd ruined her day and say, "I don't know if I'm allowed to pack in these." Can you believe it??? I told her I'd do the packing, thank you. She ended up calling the manager over to ask if I was "allowed" to use these bags. Wow.

3. We consume as little as possible. We really don't shop for much at all anymore. Our house is smaller, and it keeps us from accumulating. In fact, we're still getting rid of things regularly just so that we fit! I've become so tired of the amount of time spent accumulating, caring for, fixing, picking up, and then finding a new home for posessions, that I've been clearing a lot of them out in favor of more time in my life.

4. We are learning how to grow and preserve our own food. This is the most fun of all! We have a great vegetable garden in the back yard, and we planted blueberry bushes. This year we're expanding our herb and veggie selections. I ordered all heirloom seeds so we'll have wonderful flavors and we'll be able to save the seeds. We've gotten into canning and freezing. Jams, salsas, pestos, vegetables, and applesauce have all been perfected, and we get so sad when we run out because they're so much better than anything we can buy. I've also been making our bread, thanks to a bread machine E gave me for Christmas.

This old food shortage can just TRY to keep us down!

5. No AC. Well, this isn't a choice, as we don't have air conditioning, but we DID choose to buy a house without it. And we really don't miss it. It feels much better to sleep in fresh air, even if it's hot, than in canned air. And, dammit, hot in the summer is just the way life is supposed to be.


So that gives you a feel for what we've been doing around here. There have been other changes, but I don't want to bore my two dedicated readers too much. The only thing keeping you awake at this point is the background color, right?

I'll sign off by saying that it feels really good and right to integrate these little changes into or lives. Life feels much better this way. And while all of these changes have been easy and enjoyable, we've got more in the works.

Our next frontiers:

1. Reducing water usage. Theo is clocking our water usage this week, a typical week, so that we can be shocked and make changes. And we're going to make a rain barrel for garden watering. Eric has made great progress in changing his "lawn is king" ideals, and we rarely water our lawn anymore.

2. Composting. We got the old compost pile in the backyard spiffed up, and are dedicated to adding to it and using it this year.

3. Home energy. We're looking into (and gasping for air at the price of) new windows, insulation, and a new boiler for the house. Slowly, slowly, we'll make these investments. Maybe, if we stay here long enough, we'll switch to solar power.