Happy Happy Happy
I am so sad
Burritos in the garden
This is one of my favorite memories from this Summer.
While Marian and Peter were here visiting, we sat outside as much as humanly possible. This evening was one of several where we actually laid blankets on the grass on ate picnic style in our own yard. It was taken at about 9 in the evening.
Europeans just know how to enjoy the little things in life. They did not think this was weird in the slightest.
How We Became The United States of France
You just have to read this intriguing and insightful article in Time about how we are WAY more like France than we'd like to think. Only without all the perks.
Click here to visit the article 'How we became the United States of France.'
Questions.
In lieu of going private at this point in time, I have decided, in solidarity with my good friend Denise, to stand up for some things during this political season. As far as I know, I still have the rights to think my own thoughts and even to express them and I think--technically at least, there's still a constitutional separation between church and state.
To start with, I have a few questions:
-When did political zeal become a 'Christian' value?
- When did we as a nation become so dumb? I mean it. Really and truly. I'd like to know. Can anyone please tell me how our collective intelligence, attention-span, and critical thinking skills have degraded to imbecilic levels?
To be honest, I can see why many non-believers blame it all on evangelical Christianity. Yes, I certainly can.
If only they knew : Jesus never did this.
Thanks.
Separating the crap from the crap.
If you're having a hard time figuring out which political claims, ads, etc. etc. are true and which are not, check out Politifact.com
It's one of several fact-checking sites that investigates claims, attacks, ads, and even chain emails, getting to the bottom of whether or not they're actually true.
The 'Truth-O-Meter' indicates 'True,' 'Mostly True', 'Half True,' 'Barely True', 'False', or 'Pants on Fire!' Quite Handy.
Ode to Paula
Can I just interrupt my 'catching up streak' to say that Paula Deen kicks absolute culinary butt?!
I mean, come on. Pretention, vegetarianism and health-consciousness aside: the woman loves butter almost as much as Audrey and me. She wraps just about every freaking thing she makes in bacon and then usually also coats it with batter or cheese. As if this wasn't enough, even her 'healthier' sweets--such as trail mix, contain sweetened condensed milk. Seriously, people. Pontificate on the virtues of haute cuisine; truth be told, if you were stranded on a deserted island and could choose only one person to cook for you for the rest of your forsaken life, no reasonable person in this universe would choose anyone but Paula.
I was reminded of this because I borrowed a DVD of her Food Network series from the library.
Though Jesus is building His church on Peter, I am 100% certain that He gave Paula the keys to the culinary kingdom and that she will be standing next to old Saint Pete at the pearly gates refusing admittance to all of the people who use light sprays of PAM and profess to love salad without dressing. So don't bother complaining to the management when you get turned away; Jesus has already said, in so many words, that He will say to you, 'I was hungry and you gave me Wasa. Paula, on the other hand, gave me deep-fried, bacon-wrapped macaroni balls. An act of love equal to pouring oil on my feet. Away from me you anorexic, culinary Pharisee! I know you not!'
God bless Paula Deen's bacon-wrapped heart.
August 9, 2008--A.M.
Wake up and help mommy frost 60 cupcakes.
Have breakfast at Fat Alberts (MM pancake!)
Head to Shady Dell Train Park. (We lucked out this year because this event was arranged by our Sellwood Playgroup months ago) It's a miniature train park where the kids ride real, running trains--over bridges and through tunnels too! They were in absolute kid-heaven.
At the train station...all aboard!
Here the come round the bend!
Audrey's buddies Julia, Aram and Gideon, pictured with their (grand) parents...
Gideon is one of Audrey's favorite friends in the neighborhood (and we like his parents alot too). Gid is the pensive and sensitive type. Collects flowers and such. Yes, his folks know he's sporting a mullet. They can't bare to cut his hair and hearing them wax poetic about the extra inches blowing in the breeze when he does this and that, can almost make you pee your pants. A grouchy old man even confronted them on it recently. The codger said something like, 'that's quite the hair-do he's got there.' To which Cheyenne, his mom replied with a laugh, 'yeah, we think it's cute.' To which codger replied, 'well that's certainly a matter of opinion.' People can be so rude.
It was a lovely and merry celebration with friends...and cupcakes too.
Pistachio, cherry-chip, chocolate, chocolate marshmallow, spice, bacon and muffins for the nutritional lightweights.
The cupcake you see below, next to blueberry oat muffins, is an idea shanghaid from Kelly's Voodoo donut experience. It is a spice cupcake with cream-cheese maple icing and crispy bacon. Amazingly, it worked. One parent at the park said it was better than the donut. Hurrah! (Note--for those who might try this at home: you will not achieve a 'mapley' enough icing using maple syrup. You must resort to imitation maple extract. Unfortunately, the taste we have become accustomed to on maple bars cannot be achieved through natural means. Nature is just not that mapley. Oh--and on my test run the day before, the icing was too thick and overwhelmed the flavor combo. So keep it modest.)
Very bad blogger
Sorry, I have become a very bad blogger. Always erratic in this sphere, my posts have become increasingly rare since moving to PDX. I think it's a good sign though- we're too busy living life to write about it. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it. At the same time, it is an excellent way of keeping in touch with the lives of those in our extended community, so I'm sorry for not doing my part.
There is so much to catch up on that I think I have to work backwards. Starting with today, going to A's bd, and then to our fun-filled visit with Marian and Peter.
This morning, I noticed that Audrey has created tactile art in our kitchen:
I have these little Chinese tea cups on a shelf in our kitchen. A loves to play with them, but today I saw that she is stashing these in case of emergency (since she's really only supposed to have them when she sleeps.)
Fleeting
Photo courtesy of KellyRy
The days of summer are fast and fleeting. To those who are disappointed by my failure to keep current...sorry. It seems that one day takes the next--breakfast, laundry, guests, walks, watering the lawn and just barely keeping up. (Am I the only one that feels this way?) Alas, blogging has fallen by the way side.
Highlights from the past weeks:
- a 4th of July children's parade in our neighborhood. Hilarious and delightful. Droves and droves of children in their wagons, on foot, on bike--all decorated with patriotic fanfare. We all circled several blocks on Reed College Pl.
Incidentally and curiously- we live just a few blocks away from Reed and every time we pass it, Audrey says, 'church!' Curious because Reed is one of the academic environments most hostile towards faith of any kind. It's a really beautiful campus and I plan on auditing a course or two this Fall.
-Gelato, ice cream, popcicles and more gelato
-if you're looking for us on Wednesday nights, you'll probably find us hanging out with our new friends and neighbors at our local Farmers Market. In addition to buying yummy stuff, everyone hangs out and eats dinner while their kids play on the grass.
Photo courtesy of Kellyry. Oh wait a second, I took this picture.
- a delightful but painfully brief visit from our precious Kelly...soon on her way to Chicago. Ever losing my camera, Kelly's photos of her recent visit are far superior anyhow. We also had the pleasure of a relaxing afternoon with Phoebe and her sweet babes....See Kell's photostream from her visit here and some family photos of us too. Man is she talented, and man am I looking old.
-among the highlights of Kelly's visit were finding a collection of minature dinasaurs hidden in a neighbors landscaping...
Photo courtesy of Kellyry
Photo courtesy of Kellyry
and a trip to Voodoo donuts (a renowned Portland establishement), where Kell so bravely ordered a Maple Bacon Bar which she declares to be 'probably the best donut that she has ever had in her life.'
-first time we hosted playgroup at our house. pretzels and popscicles everwhere. oh-and thank goodness for that slip-n-slide we bought last year. it has already earned it's keep.
-Audrey told me I was 'stinky' for the first time, after we had been outside in the hot sun (thanks alot).
-another visit to Seattle to see the Holts (Mike has stories to tell about a death-defying hike and river-crossing with Eric) and dinner at Salty's with the Lindbergs (from Denmark, on a 6-week tour of the U.S.).
-Mike played in the Imago Dei McKinley Kickball Tournament. His team lost, but they sure did have fun.
- a failed levain liquide (a French sourdough starter). Besides my determination to learn the art of artisan bread-baking, it was actually a secret litmus test to guage the readiness of whether or not I could manage the responsibility of an additional child. The answer: resounding 'no.'
It was going so well and I followed instructions religiously...for the most part. I fed and watered the dang thing for 10 days; it looked very hopeful and at times promising, but could not carry it to term. Well, at least I know what went wrong. The problem is that I like to keep my house cool and aired out; as such, I could not achieve the constant temperature of 75-80F, necessary for successful fermentation. With my windows always open or the aircon. on those especially warm days, it was just always closer to 70 or so.
-when not walking or biking around, we've been experimenting with taking the bus--downtown and to Woodstock. Super easy and convenient. The closest busstop is 3 minutes away.
-0n biking-we LOVE it. our bikes especially like to visit Stacatto Gelato and Speilwerk--the coolest toy store ever.
This weekend, we are looking forward to the arrival of our dear friend Marian, together with her fiancée, Peter, from Denmark. They'll be with us until the end of the month. YEAH!!!!!!
K's Day
Klever Kelly is kommemorating in Katalina while kayaking, konsuming kool kocktails, kute kupcakes, kalling kongenial kohorts and, konceivably, kissing karousing, koy kads.
Happy Birthday, sis.
In honor of you, I made mental cupcakes that look like this:
Men-tal cup-cakes
- noun
1. a small cake, baked and decorated only in the mind
* origin: b. morris
Denver- PDX
The other day we were at a Skt. Hans (Summer Solstice) party with a bunch of Danish people. Among the crowd was a 'top meteorologist' who told us that despite its reputation for 'bad' weather, Oregon actually had some of the 'best' weather in the entire country. Many people at the party concurred, saying that the Oregon summers were reason enough to live here (who knew?!).
Apparently, long-time Oregonians also call the rainy season the 'rinse cycle.'
It purges all of the crappy people out of Oregon. A restaurant owner in Downtown Portland and California native told us the same last August.
So if anyone happens to be looking at real estate in oh, say for example, Denver, you've got 90's and muggy. We've got 80's and... 'moist.'
You can still make it here in time for a cold Widmer, brisket tacos and fireworks down by the river.
Denver to PDX- $239.
For everything else, there's Mastercard.
$1
You may recall that on our most recent trip to West Africa, one of the most urgent issues facing our partners there, was the lack of clean water. It was haunting and heart-wrenching to see fellow humans actually drinking water we would consider too muddy, even for washing our cars. Lack of clean water is an ongoing crisis over most of the African continent; recent flooding, drought, and seasonal factors have only made things worse.
In order to bring more awareness to the issue, writer Donald Miller is riding a bike across the U.S. during June and July. You can check out his site to read more about it or check out his video plug below. You might even consider sponsoring his ride--all proceeds will go to Blood: Water Mission, a non-profit started by the band, Jars of Clay. Donations will help fund the drilling of clean water wells.
$1 will pay for water for one African for an entire year.
Often we say that all we have is Gods'.
But can He really trust us with His money?
Granma and Granpa
Two of Audrey's most favorite people came to visit from CA-- Granma and Granpa! And what a time was had (unfortunately, not many pictures were taken...)! We had fun showing them around our new neighborhood and town.
We had a nice, relaxing visit that included long walks, golf & the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, fantastic meals at local establishments, and lots of chit chat .
...they even brought a Dora the Explorer phone that calls Audrey by name
and Lederhosen that once belonged to Mike at the same age!
Arthouse Cinema-
Cooler than cool.
M's parents are visiting and so we had a date Sunday night. Having heard about this phenomenon of 'Art House Cinema's', we had to see for ourselves.
If you've never been to one, let me tell you--this will revolutionize our lives forever. Seriously, why aren't there more of these everywhere?
Super cool, old vintage theaters are still used for movies--but now they have tables at your seat, where you can eat while watching the movie! The Laurelhurst theater we went to serves gourmet pizza slices, microbrews and soda by the pitcher or glass (a pitcher of soda cost only $3!), candy, popcorn and donuts. Movie tickets cost only $3. Seriously, how cool is that? And there are 3 or 4 of this in SE alone!
Have you ever...
...seen anything more adorable or hilarious?
Audrey and mommy went shopping for her first bike helmet and, according to the salesperson, she was unusually good and cooperative in the buying process (unlike her mommy with clausterphobic tendencies who kept wanting a bigger helmet with a looser chin-strap, which apparently goes against what's safe; i detest anything even slightly constricting around my neck and chin. All those biking years in Denmark, I never wore one, but then again hardly any girls did, so as to avoid 'hat hair' and such. But, now, i must set a good example (argh) so my girl's cranium will be protected. )
She loves her new bike helmet so much that she wants to eat with it on.
I let her pick the color and will confess to trying to talk her out of the pink options. Despite my attempts to be nonchalant about the matter, I ended up exercising mommy-veto-power by nixing the ' Girly Doggy Glamour' helmet, and let her get the pink bunnies instead. Gag. But ok.
Morgenhygge
Audrey and I were having a 'hyggelig stund' this morning, so I am finally able to satisfy requests for more pictures of the house. Speaking of hyggelig--our visit with the Winn family last night was just that --(sorry there's only this one pic; the rest were no good.)
Brennan Winn (such a doll) double-fisting peaches
This is the coolest picture of Audrey that ever has, or ever will be taken. (From our lovely friend, Denise....whom we miss desperately.)
The living room...from a few angles...
The dining room...
The small, but functional bathroom...
Audrey's bedroom...
(not quite sure what she's doing to Angel the mouse; I think he might be getting frisked.)
Our boudoir...
Pictured here is the famed wardrobe from IKEA that Denise and Mike wrestled into existence. Holy cow--what a mammoth project; and these are two very adept and experienced assemblers, let me tell you. It was no small thing--but there was almost no closet space so we appreciate it every day.
Hopefully we can take pictures of the basement (including office and guest room once the boxes are cleared enough to actually see anything down there.)
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