You look tan, did you go somewhere?

Just returned from a lovely 4 day vacation to Key Largo. The weather there was fantastic, beach was beautiful, bed was comfortable, resort was clean. What more could I ask for except maybe another month of being there?
The quiet trip gave me some time to relax and do some thinking about my plans. I settled on the idea that my goal is really to either work part-time or have a flexible schedule that allows me to work from home often. Jared and I feel rather strongly that it is important for one of us (me being the chosen one) to spend more time with our boys and in the future to always be there before and after school, to attend and help out with extracurricular events,etc. We want to be involved in their lives, do our best for them...and this we think is a huge part of it. Hopefully I will put my plan into motion in the June time frame, my company seems open to it and I am relieved at the prospect of spending more time with the boys and getting our house back in order again at some point in the near future.

I also managed to finish a whole book on the trip! I read Loving Frank. It kept my interest and I learned a bit from it also. Timely that I read it when I was on this trip thinking about my plans...since for the most part instead of this book touching me as a feminist, or as a free-thinker...it touched me as a mother and I found myself mainly sad for the children in the book and angry at their mother.
The book spends some time discussing Ellen Key, a feminist writer and thinker from the early 1900's. I am intrigued to at least learn more about her and study her ideas. When I have time of course.

This weekends plans include a play for Baker and I (Charlotte's Web) as well as the fun of ordering seeds for the upcoming growing season!!!

Next post will include some trip pix of manatee and sunshine!

If I were a drinker

Oh what a week it has been.

I learned that hell is actually a very cold place, in spite of the fact that is smells like an ashtray and there is a sunny window at my back.

I learned there is nothing that a group of smart funny women can’t get you through. I can’t quite describe how wonderful it was to meet up with some new and old friends on Saturday.

I learned that in spite of the fact that I hate stupidity (the definition of which is repeating the same steps and expecting a different outcome) I still do stupid things over and over again and encourage my friends to do the same.

I was reminded of how important a single decimal point can be in a string of numbers. And how much happiness can be bought by moving that decimal point just two spaces to the right.

My creativity has been draining away slowly. With hope my upcoming vacation will bring that back to life. For now, I think I need a drink.

PMS I hate thee.

Here is a sample of my art. A portrait of my dear friend AJS:

Perfect Weekend with a Label on Top!

A fantastic weekend was had by all in our house this weekend. Friday night we had some friends over for dinner and general visiting. It was so great to get together with friends that we are totally comfortable with and we didn’t need to worry about the kids behavior, etc. Poop jokes abounded, food was thrown, and everyone laughed a lot. We made Ethiopian food including a spicy red lentil dish, Yetakelt W'et, and I even took a shot at making injera. The injera wasn’t the best, I think because I only let it ferment for 1 day vs. the recommended 3. Nevertheless, the teff flour had a fantastic taste….and we ate it all.

Saturday there was a heat wave in our area. In the sun the temperature measured 50 degrees WOW! We spent the day at a friends house helping to cut down a dead tree, the kids went sledding and complained about how hot it was—so they got to take off their coats and hats. Good times in the Midwest!

Sunday a visit from Grandpa Arnie brought us a new (to us) buffet, table, and chairs. When folded out the table can seat up to ten people. So, more dinner parties are to be had! I organized all of the kids art supplies into the buffet (yes I know, most people put their fancy utensils, table cloths,etc. in a buffet…I am not most people) . We went sledding with grandpa, out for some yummy Mexican food and then home to enjoy our family time. Another perfect day…that could only have gotten more perfect if I added a trip to Target’ boutique. So I did. I purchased a label maker and some pull-ups. The label maker I have put to use labeling all of the drawers of the buffet according to art supply – glue and stuff to glue, paint and brushes, paper, markers, pencils and crayons. OH THE EXCITEMENT!

I love my new label maker.
Next step is to label the heck out of kitchen stuff including spices, beans, canned foods, etc.