April 27, 2006
anarchy in the pre-k
Just a reminder! Remember to either email me or leave me a comment with the favorite/grossest/weirdest food in your neck of the woods that can rival fried corn on the cob and I'll put you in the random drawing this weekend for the winner of an autographed copy of Mason Dixon Knitting!
So, my bloggy neighbor on the Knitting Blog ring stephanie is going to be in town tonight at threaded bliss but will I meet her? Oh no. This day has been cram packed with pre-k excitement and scheduling down to the moment in order to get the husband out of town for the 800th trip in 2 months. Perhaps I exaggerate the 800 thing, but it feels like 800. Especially when it's a particulary rainy weekend and/or someone of the kid variety is sick even though no one is actually sick and it's not raining at the moment, it still feels like the 800/sick/rainy combo.
Today I needed to get some plants in the ground that have been sitting patiently in a little red wagon out back all week in anticipation of their new summer homes, and for some reason I thought that having a little friend over for Maeve would help things along. Har de har! They bested me! This is the first moment since 9:30am that I've had 2 seconds to even consider doing something un-kid-related.
WAYS TO KNOW YOU HAVE AN EXTRA CHILD IN THE HOUSE
1. Dirt. By golly there is more dirt in the house than out of it. We tilled the garden this weekend and the gravitational pull of it is more than the kids can bear. Much "gardening" was done today (note the tiara). I was trying to run dirt damage control until I overheard, "Get the buckets! Let's make dirt castles!" So much for that sandbox we put in last week.
2. Paint. We have a big canvas out back that the kids can paint on and rinse off, but when you add an extra child, "canvas" becomes a more fluid term. Maeve and friend painted one another's hair, then, because he wouldn't stand still for the hair painting, they just poured a bottle of paint on Truman's head. Paint tracks in the house, paint tracks on the patio, paint on the clothes of every member of the house.
3. Barbies. It's a naked Barbie explosion in the back of the house. Oh, the humanity!
4. Unstrung leis from the dollar store. Perhaps this isn't a problem for your particular household, but for whatever reason we have lots of leis around here and they were found, worn briefly and systematically unstrung to create garland for most of the house and the outdoors. I found the poor dog an hour after the kid had gone home looking like this:
And yes, there is a dog under there.
4. The friend calls your husband "Mr. Hell." OK, she didn't really, but it's only a matter of time until they learn to read and do.
Goodbye Maeve's preschool girlfriend, hello vasectomy for Jim!
Whew.
So the big quilting machine the I bought myself as a very early birthday present I could never get to work. It locked up. It's been a sore subject and a big thing sitting on my cutting table for a couple of months now. The nice lady that I bought it from has been very nice and helpful but slow as hell. I finally took the thing in myself and had it serviced and it's working! Working, working working. I had been trying to cram The Monstrosity through my poor little home machine and it was just generally pissing me off every night. Hooray! The days of cramming are over! Let the quilting begin!
Have fun tonight everyone! Blog like mad about it tomorrow!
xo
So freaking cute. I'm dying here. Trying to come up with a weird food and laughing at the nearly-invisible dog. Poor dog!
Posted by: Daphne at April 27, 2006 05:57 PMPoor Billie. I guess that's the only way she can get "leid" with crazy Gus as her canine companion.
In NYC, during the Italian Street Fair, you can buy mozzareepa. It's a HUGE block of mozzarella cheese battered and fried into a giant, oozing square of deliciousness. The grease literally leaks through the plate and the wad of napkins you hold the plate with.
You could knit with those unstrung leis, yes?
Posted by: Susan at April 27, 2006 11:04 PMId did not see that poor suffering,patient dog under that tangle at first. Or maybe he has a fetish for bondage and LOVES every minute of it.
I know the special hell and oddly/sometimes fun circumstance of having a spouse who travels for work. Steve is working a 5 month gig that has him half time in Ithaca NY while we miss him in California. I don't kow how single moms do it.
Posted by: mim at April 28, 2006 08:18 AMDon't we all garden in our tiaras?
Posted by: Mary de B at April 28, 2006 11:23 AMI can't believe I missed both of the book signing events! bah. bitter, bitter. I was looking forward to meeting my local knitters/bloggers! alas...
your post DID remind me however...I saw your monstrosity over @ ann & kay's blog!! and it's beautiful! :) yay for you...you're in the home stretch now..good luck quilting!
crazy, crazy children...but your poor little dog looks beautiful, too (from what I can make out)!
happy friday!
.♥.
Posted by: Jenn (knittyJenn) at April 28, 2006 12:00 PMYou know, I think I might actually be able to enjoy deep-fried corn-on-the-cob. It's sounds kind of crispy and sweet, but maybe I'm just longing for farm-fresh August produce.
The weirdest thing I know of that people in the Pacific Northwest is geoduck. I have never eaten it myself, but my favorite sushi chef serves it raw to a few customers who don't mind chewing for a really, really long time.
By the way, it's not a duck. It's a clam that looks like a sex toy.
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/pugetsound/species/geoduck.html
Posted by: Jen at April 28, 2006 02:38 PMPlacenta. Yes, that's what I said girlfriend! Here is Los Angeles, it's not just about the wonder of natural childbirth, or planting your placenta with a new tree, it's about preparing it for your next meal!! I haven't actually seen it, but have heard rumor that there's a placenta cookbook in the area. To each her own! Bon Apetit!!
Posted by: Laura & Cooper Thornton at April 28, 2006 04:39 PMyou make me laugh!!
my husband is also out of town and it seems like an eternity!!! I relate to the pre schooler!! no garden at my house, but lots and lots of glitter glue, 40 colors to be exact (when I bought it at the thrift store, even the people at the checkout declared me crazy) and I thought, are you kidding?
$3 for all of this glitter glue should at least give me 1 hour of peace while the husband is gone-it's worth every penny.
I can't think of a Chicago crazy food but my mother would make us tater tot caserole and on occasion potato chip cookies-that should be strange enough for you? maybe that's why I moved out of the house
Posted by: joy at April 28, 2006 09:22 PMOkay, I'm not as bummed about missing entering "anything salmon" or "geoducks" or more specifically "smoked salmon chowder" into the weird food contest as I am about having forgotten to pay my credit card bill (now that I don't use it much, I forgot, I'm SO ANNOYED with myself). But the thing is I just couldn't think of anything good & weird that we eat here. I mean, when I was out of the country once, I started to miss the Thai food with fried tofu. I send my friends to eat fried pickles at the People's Pub, but it's German fare. We have lots of Swedes and Nordic folks so we have lutefisk and related delights. We have a bounty of organic foods, which I love. Vegan gummy bears at the co-op. Veggie burgers at almost every local fast-food place. A fast-food place called Dicks Drive In (that pays above minimum wage and college scholarships). Blackberry ice cream, milk shakes, pies--it's an invasive species here. I love it here, it's a unique place, but we lack that special food... other than salmon. boring.
Posted by: Daphne at April 30, 2006 01:07 AMTop Pot donuts! that's my favorite local sweet treat. And Starbucks is FROM HERE. And have you ever had fry bread?
I know the deadline is past and it's a stretch...
Posted by: Daphne at April 30, 2006 01:09 AMIn my hometown of Winchester KY there is a restaurant called Hall's. They serve "lamb fries" as well as a very good beer cheese. As a young girl I really liked the fries. Until my uncle finally informed me that they were lamb testes. niiiiiiiiice. :puke.
Posted by: chelle at April 30, 2006 09:45 AMWell, I'm past the deadline b/c I was actually in Louisiana, my home state, over the weekend, but I had to send in this entry from down there: Turducken. It's exactly what it sounds like - a chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey - voila! turducken. very popular in louisiana.
Posted by: Kimberly at May 2, 2006 10:04 AM