indelible edibles

our alphabet prodigy

2012-01-29T20:01:00.001-08:00

**Warning: this post blatantly brags about the talents of my child.**

For some reason, Genghis got really into learning the alphabet. It started with his foam bath letters. We spent a lot of tub time pointing to letters and telling him what they were. I didn't think much of it until he turned around and started telling us all about the "O" and "A". Then he started pointing out Os everywhere we went. On the address on our door (technically a zero), street signs, books, cereal boxes.

Of course, we immediately got serious about letter training. Genghis has to sit through countless sessions of letters every day. (I just finished reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and was conscientious of fostering success while still upholding free choice). In addition to the foam letters, we also had an alphabet chart posted in the living room, write letters on paper or Abe's new Kindle Fire (Amazon, you owe me at least $0.05 for that), and pointed to random reading materials. Genghis learned to recognize letters in all formats.

On the near-eve of 18 months, he now knows all the letters with the possible exception of U and W. I say possible because I think he knows them but refuses to repeat them back, often insisting that U is C and always insisting that W is M.

Here his is with a slightly more limited repertoire over Christmas.

friday photos

2012-01-22T14:11:00.000-08:00

Delayed photos from Christmas vacation.

Abe and Genghis enjoying the snow (note the Frisbee in the lower right corner).

Our attempt at a gingerbread house. Two seconds after I put it together.

Two minutes after I put it together.

Genghis enjoyed the mint M&Ms.

We re-purposed the wreckage.

oh, the things we do

2012-01-09T19:13:00.000-08:00

Several months ago I received 3 bins of baby clothes from a friend. I knew we were really having a baby girl when I did a full load of laundry today that was just pinks and reds. And that was just for sizes 0-6 months.

Genghis was extremely helpful in today's project of sorting baby clothes. He has been very interested in putting things into boxes and then taking them out again. I think he spends, over the course of a day, about 45-60 minutes taking all of his small plastic animals out of their bag and placing them all in various locations around the room - on the bookshelf, in the storage compartment of his train, on the chair. A grosser version of this ritual is when he takes all of his food out of his bowl at dinner time and stuffs it into his cup holder, then tries to balance the cup on top.

So while I was sorting clothes today, I was able to give Genghis a pile of clothes of a certain size and gender and he dutifully put them all in the tub for me. It was quite efficient, partly because he helped put the clothes away and partly because I didn't bother to do any folding because, well, it was a 17-month old who was handling the clothes.

Really, though, I've always felt a little silly folding onesies that have less fabric to them than a dishcloth.

But not as silly as I felt tonight when Abe and I were teaching Genghis how to do the actions to "Once There Was a Snowman" (hands over our heads in a snowball shape, growing taller and taller and then shrinking smaller and smaller when we melt) and I realized that we were fully facing our front room windows. From the outside, you could get a great view of us, but Genghis was totally out of sight.

friday photos - Christmas

2012-01-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know if these are rightly called Friday Photos since I feature more prominently (in many ways...).

A few shots from Christmas.

Here's our Christmas Eve dinner with friends. It was a lovely evening. Genghis spent most of the night holding and sucking on an apple that one of the guests brought.

Modeling my 3 new blue scarves, each from different family members. I have already worn each of them and I love them all.

Genghis's favorite Christmas gift - a 4-pack of toothbrushes. He carried these around all morning and stored them in the back of his push train, where he only keeps things that are very special to him.

Modeling my trendy pregnancy outfit. Thanks a bunch to my mother-in-law for several wonderful wardrobe pieces for work and every day.

Genghis modeling an outfit from my parents. It's hard to see it in the photo, but I feel this is something you could only purchase if you lived in Wisconsin. Red fleece jumpsuit with plaid embroidered deer on the front.

i broke a nail - quick, to the E.R.

2012-01-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

I have a million thoughts and stories about Christmas, New Year's, family time, Genghis's growing sense of humor (and mastery of the alphabet), and the utility versus futility of setting resolutions.

Instead I'm going to share my latest medical experience. I'm also tired and it's getting late so my New Year's resolution is to write this post in under 5 minutes.

A few days before Christmas, I pulled on a small piece of cuticle that was hanging from my fingernail (that sounds really gross when I write it out - no time for editing though - 3 minutes to go). A minor annoyance that I thought I could quickly get rid of. Except that it hurt quite a bit when I pulled it off. And it didn't stop hurting.

The next day my finger was red and had a stinging/numbing sensation in it. That night, I tossed and turned for a few hours, unable to sleep because of the incredible pain coming from that little part of my nail. At 2am, I gave up on sleep and googled my medical condition. Infected finger (I'd give you the technical name but that would require look-up time which I don't have). I could try to home treat it by soaking it in water an Epsom salts several times, or I could go to the doctor.

Recall it was 2am and I wasn't getting any sleep anyway. So five minutes later I was pulling up to the E.R. I'm sure I went red in the face when I walked into triage announcing that I needed to see the doctor because my finger hurt. And what was I supposed to say, really, when they asked me to chart my pain level on the 1 to 10 scale? I think I said 5, which is just one notch lower than when I was in the last hour of labor when delivering Genghis. Perhaps the scale is exponential.

Anyway.

Two hours of waiting and 3 minutes of operating later, they had lacerated and cleansed the infected area. I was driving home. And my finger felt much better.

All week I have been grateful to live in the days of modern medicine. I keep picturing my 1840s self on the homestead, taking my last, labored breaths after suffering an infection that spread through my whole body, while my husband and 6 children look helplessly on. In sepia tones.

Happy New Year!

Christmas greetings!

2011-12-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

We were limited in our hard copies this year (maybe a good thing - this is pretty random).

Caroling, caroling now we go
Gongs send Christmas greetings
Caroling, caroling thru the snow
In Michigan still living.
Joyous Genghis's one and a half
Can say 2 letters of the alphabet
Ding, dong, Genghis Gong sends his Christmas greetings

Caroling, caroling thru the town
Gongs send Christmas greetings
Caroling, caroling up and down
Our family keeps growing
Mark ye well child #2
Still has 3 months in utero
Ding, dong, Baby Girl Gong sends her Christmas greetings

Caroling, caroling near and far
Erin goes consulting
For museums and libraries—the non profit sector
But any paycheck’s rewarding
Abe’s teched up with web development,
Cloud computing plus a new hair cut
Ding, dong, Parents Gong send their Christmas greetings.

Happy Holidays!
From the Gongs
2011

friday photos

2011-12-23T17:02:00.000-08:00

Getting cozy - two new favorites for Genghis.

remember the time i had a blog

2011-12-16T13:51:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I barely do, either.

No Friday photos today because I'm not at my home computer. Instead, I offer a collection of random thoughts for the weekend.

1. I made these bar cookies for a party this week. I don't usually like bar cookies but when Abe took the leftovers in to work I had to call him halfway through the day to request that he go snag a few to bring back home for me tonight. My one Christmas wish is that you try making them yourself before the end of the month.

2. While making said bar cookies and other party goodies on Wednesday night, I think I worked myself into pre-term labor. Not because I was working particularly hard in the kitchen but because I had just stuffed myself with delicious Chinese seafood and couldn't stop eating the cookie dough. I had to give up before everything was done and go to bed. The cramping had stopped by morning. Kublai seems just fine now.

3. I love the rain but have mixed feelings about it in December. It's too early to be complaining about weather, though, so I'll just leave it at that.

4. For a while Genghis had the habit of walking around the house saying "money, money, money, money". We weren't sure what he was really talking about but it was an endless source of amusement for us. About a week ago, he became an almost overnight expert in identifying "Dada" and "Mama". This has been very heartwarming for us. Then a few days ago, he started referring to me as "money mama". Abe encourages this. I don't know what to think.

friday photos

2011-12-04T17:11:00.001-08:00

We were apparently too busy making and eating delicious food to take any good Thanksgiving photos. My parents came into town for a few days, and Genghis loved having their undivided attention. We spent Thanksgiving day with them and with some good friends.

Genghis spent most of Thanksgiving dinner chasing this cat.

My dad, the food scientists (specializing in dairy and cheese), trying out some of Zingerman's offerings. Still looking for Parmesan that doesn't have a dirty feet/baby spit up aftertaste.

Mom got sick the last day she was here, but put on a bold face.

We had our first real snow this week. After many tears and kicks, we got Genghis bundled up and headed out for a few minutes. He was wary of the snow, especially after falling hands first in it without gloves. I think I'll put him through a regimen of indoor boot training for the next 2 weeks. He couldn't stay standing in his (let alone walk), so we had to go with regular shoes which soaked through pretty quickly.

Thanksgiving Playlist

2011-11-23T19:02:00.000-08:00

I threatened to do it, and 1 hour and 48 minutes before turkey day, it's done. Here is my Thanksgiving playlist, in alphabetical order by song title. On a better day, all of these songs would be linked. Apologies. However, I did put it together using Grooveshark, and if you're interested I can share my playlist with you - it should be easy for you to listen to it in all its glory.

I'm pretty sure this is the most eclectic playlist I have ever put together.

(In the spirit of the holiday) Thanks to all contributed ideas. I'll let you know how this goes over tomorrow.

All Creatures of our God and King - BYU Concert Choir & Philharmonic
Amazing Grace - Susan Boyle
America - Simon & Garfunkle
Appalachian Springs (simple gifts) - Aaron Copland
Autumn Lullaby - Natalie Merchant
Battle Hymn of the Republic - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Be Still My Heart - Postal Service
California Dreamin - Mamas and the Papas
Cinder and Smoke - Iron & Wine
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Don’t Stop Believing - Journey
Down to the river to pray - Alison Krauss, O Brother Where Art Thou
Dust in the wind - Kansas
For the Beauty of the Earth - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Give Me the Simple Life - Rosemary Clooney
Heartland - Peter Breinholt
Homesick - Kings of Convenience
How Can I Keep From Singing - BYU
If I had a million dollars - Bare Naked Ladies
John Williams Olympic Theme
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need - BYU Concert Choir & Philharmonic
Peace Train - Cat Stevens
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Prelude 1 - George Gershwin
Shenandoah - Judy Garland
Somewhere over the rainbow, what a wonderful world - Israel K
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - Lower Lights
Take It To the Limit - Eagles
Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
The Crane Wife 3 - Decemberists
The Fox - Nickelcreek
The Parting Glass - Waking Ned Divine (we have)
We'll Shout and Give him Glory - BYU Men's Chorus
You’ve Got a Friend - Carole King

friday photos - video

2011-11-18T22:44:00.000-08:00

Typical evening events at our home.

saturday is not a special day

2011-11-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

In recent weeks I have read not 1, not 2, but 3 blog posts from various friends/family about "perfect Saturdays". While I immensely enjoy all of these people's blogs (and the people themselves), I feel obligated to take a official stance against "perfect Saturdays".

Don't worry. It's not you, it's me.

You see, I'm on the road to recovery from Perfect Saturday Syndrome. The syndrome reached its height in Autumn 2011 (I continue to blame at least part of this on pregnancy hormones). During this time, I started every Saturday morning with a vision of what the perfect day would look like. My vision often included a leisurely homemade breakfast, a round of intense but efficient house-cleaning, a day trip to a beautiful new sight, a long afternoon nap for Genghis, delicious dinner (cooked in the wonderfully clean kitchen), and a relaxing evening with good entertainment and dessert.

But the vision never seemed to take shape. Food burned, Genghis screeched, Abe (or I) had overflow work from the week, destinations were lame. Part of the problem was that there are some things that are just out of our control and we have to deal with that uncertainty. Part of the problem was that Abe and I have fundamentally different views on what elements make up a good Saturday. And it turns out that those two problems don't work particularly well together. Abe and I can usually come to a mutually agreed-upon plan for the day through good communication beforehand. But when the unexpected messes with the plan, we are totally out of sync. My instinctual response to the unexpected is usually exactly the opposite of Abe's response. My feelings get hurt, Abe feels unnecessarily blamed for everything, etc, etc, etc.

After too many Saturdays that required therapy sessions, I have decided to give up on perfect Saturdays. Every Saturday is different. Every Saturday has its own set of demands - baggage from the week, scheduled commitments, to-do lists to stay on top of life. And every Saturday has its own set of opportunities - good weather to take advantage of, bad weather perfect for warm drinks, unexpected free time, children sleeping in late.

So I'm going to relegate Saturday back to the ranks of the other days of the week. I will expect Saturdays to be just as perfect as Tuesdays, or Thursdays.

(And I secretly hope this will make for more perfect Saturdays in the long run, but I'm not supposed to think about that too much because it probably would ruin the recovery plan.)

friday photos - new addition

2011-11-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

In March, we will have a new addition to Friday Photos. Here's a sneak preview of little Kublai*:

*While Kublai is historically the grandson to Genghis Khan, in our family's case she will be Genghis's little sister.

your favorite...

2011-11-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

I usually dislike "your favorite [something]" questions because I don't ever have an answer. In any given "favorite" category I have many things I like, often depending on my mood and most recent experiences. While I realize that most of these questions are meant to open up conversations rather than pinpoint my exact self on a multi-dimensional graph of things, I'm still not a fan.

But I do actually have one true favorite. A favorite holiday: Thanksgiving. For me, it's the perfect holiday. Eating delicious food, visiting with family and friends, sleeping, relaxing with games and leftovers of delicious food. There's not a lot of pressure to meet up in one place in particular, and no gift-giving worries. Plus, people tend to be in pretty good moods because they are just starting into the holiday spirit but haven't exhausted it yet. It's kind of like how you feel really excited at the very start of your vacation as opposed to weather-worn by the end of it.

Bonus if we get a crisp fall day or a late autumn warm spell.

Several weeks (months, sometimes) before Thanksgiving I find myself day dreaming about the Thanksgiving feast. Must-haves for my Thanksgiving are freshly baked rolls, fluffy potatoes (regular or sweet), stuffin muffins (think hearty, seasoned bread pieces baked with tons of butter in individual muffin tins with a piece of bacon over each), and cold pumpkin pie with real whipped cream. Last year we had an amazing turkey cooked by our friends (more to the point, basted every 30 minutes by our friends) that almost got the bird on the list.

One thing I feel Thanksgiving is missing is music. Typically, I celebrate the music side of Thanksgiving by starting to play Christmas music on that day. But it could be fun to have a soundtrack just for Thanksgiving.

Any suggestions for what it should include?

ancient halloween!

2011-10-30T17:11:00.000-07:00

We love dressing up for Halloween in our family. For Abe, it started his Freshman year of college when he and his roommate constructed a 2-man full-body rhinoceros out of cardboard that could wiggle its ears and open its mouth to receive candy. (Sometime, ask Abe about his grades that year.)

Abe and I have continued to enjoy costumes since, though we have scaled it back some. I usually try to maximize for originality, comfort, and recognizability. Homemade is a must. This year, we came up with Genghis's costume idea first, and themed ours around him. We were particularly proud of coming up with a good theme that didn't have us all looking the same.

Here we are!

(Sorry Abe, for picking one where you look exhausted - it was one of the few without Genghis sucking his thumb.)

And a full body shot.

If the "recognizability" part didn't come through, Genghis is a mummy, I am Egyptian royalty, and Abe is the archaeologist who discovered our tomb circa 1912. Genghis won the award for scariest costume at the party for the singles congregation at our church. He also won cutest costume at the party for the family congregation (or something similar - we unfortunately had to skip out to make the singles' party just before the awards). This is his second year of award-winning costumes, which I'm pretty proud of (check out last year's caterpillar here).

Me in ... character ... I suppose.

For a time, I considered going as one of the Egyptian goddesses, like Isis or Hathor. But I didn't think I could pull off something that specific, and cow horns coming from my head may have thrown people off. In the end, it would have just been an excuse to live in the fantasy world of Amelia Peabody, which I continue to enjoy as light reading.

Genghis's costume was more time-consuming than I planned for. I wrapped an inside-out sleeper in a torn up pillow case, and secured the wrappings by loosely hand sewing them on. Hand sewing takes forever! Luckily, my mom got stuck en route at the Detroit airport over the weekend so she spent a night with us, where I promptly put her to work on the costume. She came up with a better technique for securing the bandages (I suppose you don't have 20 years' and 5 kids' worth of costuming experience for nothing) which saved the day.

If you're wondering about the white head, it's baby powder. Genghis vehemently opposed us wrapping his noggin in gauze.

friday photos

2011-10-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Swinging in the park, a favorite activity.

friday photos

2011-10-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

From about 2 weeks ago, when we had some gorgeous fall days. I returned last Sunday from a 9-day trip overseas so more about that later.

friday photos

2011-09-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

giraffe series.

friday photos

2011-09-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

I love this series of "people trying to do fun things with Genghis while he pointedly ignores them". Followed by a photo of him contentedly playing on his own.

One-year-old Genghis is introverted. While he loves to smile at and babble to and pull hair of other kids when they're around, he gets his energy from solitary, introspective activities. One morning after a nap, he sat and read in the corner for 45 minutes. I was reading too, and got bored first.

Cousin with Genghis on a tractor at Grandma's farm. You can't see his expression unless you click to zoom in, but it's wonderful. (Genghis: "I am way too small to be anywhere near this thing.")

Riding ponies at Bay Beach in Green Bay. (Genghis: "What is that smell?")

Grandpa playing with Genghis at the park. (Genghis: "Seahorses are undignified.")

Reading at home in the afternoon. (Genghis: "Mother, can't you see I'm reading?")

how to eat a potluck

2011-09-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I got completely sick after eating at a potluck. Since then, just looking at a table filled with mismatched dishes of mismatched foods makes my stomach churn. But because of some church service I'm involved in, I end up at about 1 potluck a month. I've cultivated some careful potluck habits, and thought I'd share my strategies.

A disclaimer before I begin: If I have ever eaten your dish at a potluck, I'm sure it was wonderful and gave me no digestive troubles.

Potluck Rules.

1. Bring cut fruit or vegetables.
The potluck table can almost always use more produce. It's easy to prepare, and it always comes out tasting good (as long as your produce is fresh-ish). If you wash well, you aren't likely to make people sick. Picky potluck eaters like me will appreciate it.

2. Err on bringing the vegetables if going to a BBQ.
These potlucks are notoriously overloaded with watermelon and grapes. Some peppers, tomatoes, and cauliflower are a good alternative. But if you are thinking about bringing that shark watermelon (from a friend's blog), then by all means bring the fruit.

3. Since we can't all bring produce, another option is a food you make often.
If you make it often, that probably means it's simple, easy and reliable. Although it's fun to show off your culinary skills, I learned this lesson from my sister. She made beautiful and time-consuming stuffin muffins (not the same recipe, but you get the idea) for a potluck that were immediately devoured by 7- and 8-year-olds before the adults even got a look at the spread. And in true kid fashion their deliciousness sat only half-eaten on plates loaded with brownies and snickerdoodles.

4. When eating, see the table as a menu, not a platter.
Often, I think potluck pains are caused, not by poor food quality, but by the unprecedented mixing of all kinds of foods at once. I used to choose my food starting at the head of the table, selecting small pieces of each thing that looked good. Now I glace through the entire spread and select a main dish, 1-3 sides, and dessert that look like they could have come from one kitchen.

5. Find the best chefs, find their dishes.

Okay, this is a little below the belt. There's sort of an unwritten potluck rule that the identity of the chefs isn't widely broadcast. But if you know a few people in attendance that are reliable cooks, find out which dishes are theirs and go for the safe options. In the monthly potluck I attend, I always select the main dish of one particular contributor who makes excellent food.

6. No matter how much you think you want 2 desserts, you only want one.
I have always regretted picking up a second dessert. First, because my original dessert choice is usually superior and I feel obligated to waste precious no-nutrient calories on finishing the second choice so no one is offended. Second, because even if both desserts are good, it's just too much for me in one sitting. If I must have a second dessert, I choose one that I can wrap up and save for later in the evening.

friday photos

2011-09-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

I'm glad I caught this on video a few weeks ago, because now Genghis refuses to repeat words on cue.

In case it's not clear from either of us, his words are:
- Arrrrrr
- Bath
- Hot

need non-fiction now

2011-08-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

I'm picking the book for our book club next month, and I need suggestions!

When I got home from our meeting tonight and I immediately went to our bookshelves and pulled approximately half the books off as possible selections. Life of Pi by Yann Martel - always a classic book group read. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - a dark and fictional look into India's economy. Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros - Chicana lit full of beautiful and brutal prose. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez - inspiring and tragic (need I say also Latina).

Luckily, I decided I'd chose something from the "topical non-fiction" genre. I think I made that term up, and define it as non-fiction that is based around a topic of interest rather than biography or general history (e.g. math, physics, medicine). I don't read as much there, so my choices are more limited. A good thing. I have a few ideas, but would love more suggestions.

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow. Pros: An accessible book about math, which I find different and interesting. Some of the puzzles he presents would be fun to talk through together. Cons: While the book was fascinating, it was a little slow in parts. The math topic may turn some people off.

Outliers or What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. Pros: Very engaging writing, easy to get through. May be able to pair "Outliers" with a chapter of "The Drunkard's Walk" for an interesting contrast/comparison for people. Cons: I haven't actually read either of these. But maybe that's a pro because I love to read new things.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Pros: brings up really interesting history of both culture and medicine. Cons: drags a little, not sure how much discussion it will lead to.

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Pros: quick read on a relevant topic for everyone. Cons: a little preachy. Bonus: I could play this awesome clip from NPR's "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me", from 2:45-6:45 in particular. (It's really worth clicking on the link, I promise.)

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. Pros: Really engaging historical fiction. Cons: Not "topical" and not "non-fiction". How did this one get on the list?

What book should we read? And please, suggest more.

friday photos - birthday!

2011-08-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

The beginning of the month marked Genghis's first birthday. It's hard to believe it's been so long. Or maybe not so hard to believe.

A few of my favorite Genghis-isms at this age.

He purrs like a Star Wars Wookie.
He spends 10 minutes each morning practicing saying "Uh oh!" in his crib before getting up.
He toddles around the house, with a walk that looks like he just got off a horse.
If we leave our bedroom door open he either (1) goes into stealth mode and in absolute silence sneaks in to get into whatever electronic or choking hazard is closest at hand or (2) makes a wild and raucous run for it, choosing speed over caution.
He says "bath" (aah) and "hot" (aht - tahhh).
He sits by our bookshelf, paging through "Animal Farm".

We had a party for his birthday. Mostly for us, but some of the adults came with children too.

Blowing out the candle. This "cake" is actually just leftover batter from cupcakes that I threw in a bread pan. Good for Genghis to plunge headfirst into.

The progress of eating his cake and ice cream.

Father and son.

Decorations. After the food had been eaten and the balloons pulled down or popped.

Photo wall. Loved this idea, which I got from Janssen.

Said cupcakes. They have peanut butter cups inside of them. Mmm.

At letter #20!

2011-08-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year, I started Project alphAmuse. It's a crowd-sourced children's alphabet book done via blogging. I post a letter of the alphabet, people submit sentences using that letter, and then everyone votes on the best sentence. I've also been illustrating each of the winning sentences.

We're voting on letters S and T now (#19 and #20 in the alphabet). Check it out (and vote!) here: http://alpha-musing.blogspot.com/.

Here are a few of the illustrations I've done so far.

If you want to follow the alphAmuse blog for the last 6 sentences and the rest of the illustrations, then subscribe here: http://alpha-musing.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

You can also subscribe to http://alpha-musing.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default to see all the comments and sentence submissions.

wasn't i supposed to take a class on this in college?

2011-08-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a family reunion in Utah, during which we had brief training on how to clean a house. As I listened to tips and tricks with toothbrushes, magic erasers, scrubbing bubbles and vinegar, I realized that I know next to nothing about cleaning. Well, thanks to my 2010 Survey of Household Chores, I know I should wash my sheets more than once a year. But really, that's about next to nothing, huh?

Then I was looking through my closet for something to wear (also a recent topic of this blog). Why is my closet full of clothes I don't wear because they don't fit right, aren't comfortable, don't match anything, or aren't right for the occasion?

And this morning I had a conversation with a friend about paying more for better quality goods. Real wood. Shoes that last. Produce that is delicious.

All of this led to me spending Genghis's afternoon nap trying to write a personal, comprehensive self-help guide to my life. A plan to live well, in budget, and with enough leisure time to enjoy it all.

I'll let you know when it's done.

In the meantime, perhaps I'll advise my children to take Home Economics because no bets they'll learn it from me.

And now follow my stream of consciousness to a funny conversation I heard at a Wendy's in nowhere Indiana where I was stopped for dinner on a long drive home. The conversation was between 4 fresh-out-of-highschoolers, although this snippet is just 2 of them. The girl was talking about starting school at the local college the next day.

Girl: I'm so nervous for tomorrow! It's like, do I bring a backpack? I had to buy tons of books for my classes. What do I do with them?

Guy: You can bring a backpack. Everyone does.

Girl: (whew!) Oh really!? My brother totally said that no one has backpacks. I didn't know what to do. And then I have this hour break in my schedule from 11 to 12. What do I do then?

Guy: Whatever you want. Study.

Girl: But where do I go? I'll be, like, all alone.

Guy: Just go wherever you want. The library?

Girl: Oh, I'm so nervous. What's your schedule like?

Guy: I have some classes in the morning?

Girl: So will you be around at 11?

Guy: Yeah.

Girl: Okay, you totally have to come find me. I'll be like the dorky one that doesn't know where to go. Please, please, please!

It made me wonder if I was like that when I started college. Most likely, yes.

friday photos

2011-08-05T15:57:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Genghis!

We had 2 parties, one at the Gong family reunion in July, and one on Monday. Here are photos from the former.

yes, i'll have fries with that!

2011-08-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

Some people wish there were another hour in the day so they could accomplish more.

I am not one of those people.

Sure, I usually have an unfinished to-do list at the end of the day. But I'm certain that an extra hour wouldn't help that. I would just put more on my to-do list. In the end, an extra hour simply means more work. No, thank you.

Last week, though, I had the rare experience of having, not just an extra hour, but a whole extra day. I was coming home from a conference. Abe and Genghis were coming home from a family reunion. I got home just fine. The others' flight was canceled, so they had to stay a full day more. For me that meant one full, unexpected day with no dependents under my roof.

What, oh what, would I do with all that time?

I found out about this situation while still driving home, and I spent 2 hours in my car envisioning afternoon matinees, decadent desserts, no alarm clock, dinner at a fancy restaurant. Heck, mini golfing. The world was open to me (should I be embarrassed that my imagination extended only to putt-putt golf?).

Of course, I ended up spending 8am-6pm working. To be fair, I did have a scheduled work engagement from 8-1. It wasn't all my fault.

What else made the list?
1. A super-sized McDonald's lunch. I have been craving a McD's cheeseburger for weeks. Someone should give their Director of Advertising a raise.
2. Quesadillas, with a virtuous salad.
3. Two episodes of Glee. I think it's a first and last for me. I felt like I needed to get in touch with today's youth. Check. Genghis, never go to high school.

The good news was that my extra day was pathetic enough to make me grateful for my family when they came back. Who knew that a family could be more fun than two corn tortillas with cheddar cheese?

friday photos

2011-07-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

We're back! Lots of traveling, some photos, no editing time. Here are a few snapshots of a recent Gong reunion at the beach.

This is a classic Genghis look (including having some debris around his mouth).

He really did like the tube.

Time with grandmas. We have better photos of grandma time, including photos with Grandma Gong, but they are on another computer so I can't post them now. These will have to do.

Parenting. Or, how I walked the line between fostering curiosity and preventing permanent damage.

2011-07-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

In blatant plagiarism of Elizabeth Downie's "Would You Rather" series,

Would you rather...

Have someone inform you that your child is playing with a potentially dangerous object that you had no idea they were playing with.

Things to consider:

Now you can address the situation before your child is hurt
You really can depend on the kindness of strangers
You and the other person both know you haven't been very attentive

or

Have someone inform you that your child is playing with a potentially dangerous object that you already knew they were playing with.

Things to consider:

Your reaction might give you away
You can replace the guilty feeling for enjoying a few moments of rest at your child's expense with the guilty feeling of getting caught
You can feel vindicated knowing that, while the other person thinks you are an inattentive parent, that's simply not true

And I'd just like to state, for the record, that my child has never played with anything dangerous in his life. I keep him in a small, modular bubble, feed him exclusively on organic, and keep his water and air purified. He stays so clean he doesn't even need baths. (Aside: does anyone else get a little grossed out by the concept of bathing - a hot soak in your own filth for 30 minutes? and I do enjoy a good bath now and then.)

Our little Genghis is at the age now that we need to start setting limits for what he can and can't do. Partly, he is getting old enough to understand. Mostly, he is getting into everything, all the time. Excuse me, sir, when did you get enough height and coordination to reach the dining table and pull the salt shaker off?

My long term solution for this is to hang a series of nets from the ceiling where we will store all of our belongings for the next 15 years. Abe and I will probably also live in the nets, too, for simplicity.

On second thought, maybe we'll just keep Genghis in the nets instead.

While I work on getting all the eye-hooks installed, I will enforce the following limits on potential destruction (both of person and of property).

1. The office in the bedroom is off limits. This one is usually pretty easy because we just keep our door shut. Except when we forget to keep our door shut and Genghis makes an immediate B-line, rounds the blind left corner, and finds the baby amusement park of flashing lights, humming disc drives, and reams of unsoiled paper.

2. The bath tub is for sitting not standing. For all of Genghis's enthusiasm for getting into the bath tub, after a grand total of 30 seconds in the water he stands up and either attempts to climb out (maybe he also senses the grossness factor of baths), or gets his "I'm so cute" grin on and demonstrates how long he can stand on his own before I use bodily force to get him back into a sitting position.

3. The wood chips in the landscaping around our house are an inappropriate substitute for Gerber's Veggie Puffs, no matter how similar the taste. ... I don't know. I may cave on this one.

In the meantime, I'm in the market for good bath toys (along with all that netting for the ceilings). Any suggestions?

friday photos

2011-07-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

This video captures Genghis's utter excitement every time he hears the bathwater running or sees an open bathroom door.

"take a look at yourself and then make a change"

2011-06-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get an idea in your head and you just have to carry it out, even when the world is giving you every possible sign not to?

I often find myself in this situation when I am standing on a rolling office chair trying to reach something on a top shelf or change a light bulb.

I also found myself in this situation on Saturday. We had plans to go camping Friday and Saturday - plans that included a new tent and bags of groceries with the makings of tin foil dinners, cobbler, smores and breakfast burritos. Of course, Genghis was unmistakably sick by Friday afternoon. Instead of setting up camp in the sweet flavors of a summer evening forest and embers of a cooking fire, I was waiting in the doctors office for an hour and half to hear the diagnosis of a sore throat/cold with nothing to do but wait it out (wouldn't you know that every other time, I've waited and waited through nights of crying before going to the doctor and it turns out to be a bacterial infection, easily treated).

Saturday, Genghis seemed on the mend. My throat was starting to feel a bit scratchy, but life keeps moving. We had plans to attend a birthday party but didn't want to expose others to our possibly contagious selves. Instead, we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous day and Genghis's unreasonably short afternoon nap and go to the park by our house and grill our tin foil dinners in solitude. It would be something, at least.

I put the dinners together while Abe and Genghis went to the store to pick up charcoals. We met at the park across the street. Where there happened to be a county-wide celebration of Gay Pride Month, complete with choir belting out "Man in the Mirror".

We considered stopping by to join in and mooch some hamburgers, but our infectious state and the buttery zucchini in the tin foil dinners urged us to strike out for a different park. We found a quiet new spot, but it had no grill. That's okay. We'll just drive to the next park. Our city has something like 10,000 - surely it won't be hard to find another one equipped with grill. 6 parks and 45 minutes later, we ended up at the university family housing complex where we used to live. We knew they had a lonely little charcoal grill at the top of the hill in the middle of the complex.

Abe immediately set to work on the charcoals. I took Genghis to the swings. Five minutes later, Abe came back to inform me that the charcoals he bought were not the self-lighting kind. Back to the store for lighter fluid. Fifteen minutes later, we had fire. Another 15 minutes and we had coals. And 30 minutes after that, we had cooked chicken.

I suppose this was more authentic to the real experience of camping, when it always seems to take 3 times as long to make dinner. Really, it needs to be this way because that's why tin foil dinners taste so great. Also, the ketchup.

The best part was that Genghis slumped over into this comatose state on the swing for basically the entire time. I think his arms may have become numb because Abe tried to hand him a pine cone and he had a hard time holding on to it. The silence was kind of a nice change to his usual grunting and shrieking soundtrack. But sad, because he was probably just not feeling very hot.

The dinners were delicious. We also had smores.

The next day I was totally and completely sick and stayed in bed all day. Still recovering.

Oh, and I would have photos but the camera battery died.

friday photos

2011-06-27T06:03:00.000-07:00

We've had lots of sickness and little sleep. Also haven't got around to re-charging the camera battery. Here's a leftover photos from our beach trip 2 weeks ago.

Genghis meets Nutella rollups (swedish pancakes, kind of like crepes). I'm not sure who's winning here, Genghis or Nutella.

Those aren't teeth, by the way. Just rollup. Genghis is still all gums.

friday photos

2011-06-17T07:32:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful family reunion at the Outer Banks in North Carolina last week.

Edible beach! Well, that's what he thought.

Exploring the ocean.

I think it was windy when we took this picture, but it's possible that my hair just always looked that crazy.

Enormous family sand castle.

Polar bear swim club. Okay, it was still about 90 degrees at 6:30 in the morning. The real test of courage was waking up that early while on vacation.

fa-shun

2011-06-15T18:58:00.001-07:00

While I was working out at the Y the other day, I was sucked into a "news" program that told me what I simply had to have for my summer wardrobe. Before I realized what was happening, I found myself mentally rehearsing their tips.

1. Colored jeans
2. Shirt dress
3. Colorful scarf
4. Don't try to wear 1-3 at the same time

Comparing my own wardrobe with their video shots, I couldn't deny what was painfully obvious: I've been living in a fashion vacuum. (Just to make sure the analogy carries, I'm the one in the vacuum. Fashion is what has been completely sucked away.)

No one would describe me as fashionable. But somehow I've retained the notion that I at least get what the trends are, even if I chose not to follow them. Skinny jeans, for example. I know they exist. I know I will never own a pair.

In my particularly fine moments, I imagine that I am really on the cutting edge of the "comfortable-classic yet always hip-hot" kind of fashion. People envy my bold choices of boot cut jeans and colored tees. Every day of the week.

But then I look down at my Keen sandals and the illusion vanishes. These sandals have sweet spirits, okay. And are one of the few shoes that don't hurt my feet. I have plantar fasciitus, people, and wedges and ballet flats just don't cut it.

This realization of my loss of fashion (or inability to ever find it in the first place) has been coming on more quickly since my Houston conference a few weeks ago. I was in one of those career self-help workshops. The motivational speaker talked about making sure our dress and appearance is in line with how we want people to perceive our "brand". At this point I tried to hide my flip-flopped feet under my 10-year old, fraying messenger bag.

Oh, to just be a college student again.

Well, I confronted fashion on Monday at the mall. I needed some dressy shirts to wear to several client meetings I have coming up. Armed in my peasant skirt with a shrieking baby* strapped to my back, I made it to a grand total of 3 stores. If I had any belief that I knew about fashion when I went in, it evaporated when I turned to a rack of stylish ... somethings. I couldn't tell what part of my body these beautiful swaths of fabric were meant to cover. Looking around the store for more clues, I realized that, while I did know where most of the clothes were supposed to fit on me, I had no idea how to wear them. What went with what? Certainly nothing was meant for my boot cuts and Keens. Could any of it work with my dress slacks?

In this dazed state, I retreated to a small rack of embellished tees made out of fancy looking fabric. $50 and 5 fancy tees later (well, as fancy as you can get at $10 a piece), I made it back to the safety of my '99 Corolla.

Toyotas are in style, right?

friday photos

2011-06-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

With 1 hour to spare!

Genghis and I went out for ice cream the other week. I was expecting it to be messy. He never ceases to amaze.

friday photos

2011-05-29T17:38:00.000-07:00

Genghis crawls!

Here's a snapshot of the intensive training program his father put him through while I was out of town. The first video highlights not only his growing mobility but also his range of vocal expression.

(Note here how efficient Genghis is. He crawls just far enough to get the banana in range and then lunges for it. No wasted energy.)

like sands through the hourglass

2011-05-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

I live in fear of playing one of those get-to-know-you games and having to answer the question "What's one of your most embarrassing moments?" When in the rational comfort of my own home, I realize this fear is largely unfounded. Most people creating those ice-breaker exercises have enough foresight to know this is a truly awful question for creating an atmosphere of comfort and safety.

Still, during times of low mental activity - on bus rides, in the shower - my thoughts will place me in this unlikely social situation and suddenly my heart is racing as I relive my truly most embarrassing experiences, trying to think of one that is embarrassing in theory but that I don't mind sharing with others (essentially, one that isn't really embarrassing at all). I feel a compulsion to lock on to some story, so I may have it at the ready. No hesitation. No doubt. I could whip out an embarrassing anecdote that leaves me endeared to others, perhaps even more respected.

Luckily, this week I had a wonderfully embarrassing experience that I've now emotionally distanced myself from. Perhaps it can be my go-to story and I can finally set my mind at ease.

I was in Houston yesterday giving a presentation at a conference. I was on a panel, and one of the panel discussants was the past Poet Laureate for a southern state. Through his presentation, I couldn't help noticing his subtle southern accent. It was beautiful to listen to - I pretty much didn't hear a word he said although I listened to every word he said.

After the presentation we were doing the compulsory shaking hands, congratulations, job well done. Before I could stop myself, I was blabbering on and on to this Poet Laureate about how much I enjoyed listening to his accent. Really, who goes on and on about that on a first meeting? The more I talked, the more desperate the situation became. Grasping for a way out, I heard myself saying, "No, really, listening to your southern accent was like riding on the waves of the ocean."

Where did that come from? Did I really just invoke a metaphor on a poet? And one that involved the waves of the ocean?

He gracefully took his exit by saying "Okay" with distracted finality and turning away.

I swam through seas of tears and ended up at a seafood restaurant to drown my sorrows in a salmon pasta dish. I felt better afterward.

friday photos

2011-05-21T11:02:00.000-07:00

I call these, A Study in Red.

friday photos

2011-05-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

Practicing using a Didymos wrap to carry Genghis on my back.

After finger-painting Mothers' Day cards, Genghis decided to take a little soak in the sink.

Mother's Day: And Now for Something, A Little Different

2011-05-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

Remember when it was Easter?*

I did, this year. Which is saying something because I usually forget until I walk into church and the organist is playing "He Is Ris'n" for the opening hymn.

I am deeply religious, but Easter has always seemed like the forgotten holiday. A Christmas afterthought. But, considering my beliefs, Easter is a big deal. Christmas doesn't mean much without an Easter to follow.

So this year we decided to really celebrate, in the hopes that we'd really remember. As we considered our celebratory plans, I found it somewhat exciting to start from a blank slate. No expectations, no traditions, and - compared to Christmas - not even a lot of input from millions of marketing dollars.

Our number one priority was to keep things simple. After all, we were starting from zero festivities. We couldn't institute a thousand new traditions in one year. Plus, we didn't want to end up doing so much to remember the occasion that we forgot to actually remember the occasion. In the end, we decided on the following format. We started on the Sunday before Easter. Each night, we would do one activity, one spiritual thought and one hymn. They would relate to something from that day in Christ's last week.

My sister got me the book "A Christ-Centered Easter" which is full of ideas and follows our chosen format pretty closely. It was a useful resource to have. It had a good balance of giving specific ideas and scaffolding without being overly prescriptive or structured. It also had some great recipes for a Jerusalem style foods.

I already threw away our outline of events that Abe and I made during a family council a week before the festivities started**, but here's what I can re-create from memory. I've also included comparison notes on what actually happened.

Sunday
Spiritual thought: Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem
Activity: Nature walk
Hymn: Joy to the World
Actual: It was 40 degrees and rainy so we put 2 plants in the middle of the living room floor and marched Genghis around them (read: tried to keep him from eating them).

Monday
Spiritual thought: Christ cleanses the temple.
Activity: Blitz clean the house - under 15 minutes.
Hymn: We Love Thy House, O Lord.
Actual: We cleaned with Genghis in tow for about 10 minutes and got a surprising amount done.

Tuesday
Spiritual thought: Christ teaches parables
Activity: Share a favorite parable
Hymn: (don't remember)
Actual: I shared the parable of the widow's mite.

Wednesday
Spiritual thought: Nothing is recorded specifically about what Christ did this day.
Activity: Take a treat to someone.
Hymn: (don't remember)
Actual: We made Red Velvet Cake and decorated as my family's traditional Easter Bunny Cake. We took cupcakes to a few friends nearby.

Thursday

Spiritual thought: The last supper.
Activity: Jerusalem-style dinner, loosely similar to what would have been eaten in Christ's time.
Hymn: As Now We Take the Sacrament
Actual: We had invited friends over for dinner on Friday night. If you skip ahead you'll see that Friday was planned to be our Night of Darkness, when we wouldn't use electric lights. That seemed like it may be a little odd with guests, so we did the Jerusalem dinner on Friday instead. Thursday was a very hectic night for us so we actually didn't do anything.

Friday

Spiritual thought: The crucifixion.
Activity: An evening of darkness - using only candles for light.
Hymn: Oh Savior Thou That Wearest A Crown.
Actual: We had our Jerusalem dinner, shared with friends. Lamb and barley, unleavened bread, bulgur & onion pilaf, tomato cucumber salad with lemon tahini dressing. We also talked about the Passover and had a few of the symbolic foods - unleavened bread, lamb, bitter herbs, grape juice.

Saturday

Spiritual thought: Christ teaches in the spirit world.
Activity: Play a game.
Hymn: Come Follow Me
Actual: We had planned on moving the Night of Darkness to Saturday night, but when the time came we realized that Genghis would be sound asleep by the time it would be dark enough to get the effect. So we played a game instead.

Sunday

Spiritual thought: Resurrection
Activity: Celebratory breakfast
Hymn: Christ The Lord is Risen Today
Actual: Abe made a delicious omelet breakfast. Genghis liked the mushrooms most of all.

My favorite times during our celebrations were Monday night, Thursday during the day, and Friday night. Monday was our blitz cleaning, related to Christ cleansing the temple. When we were done cleaning and sat down to enjoy the rest of the evening, there was a wonderful feeling of peace and joy in our home.

Thursday, although we didn't end up doing an activity that evening, I couldn't help but feel reflective, and a little heavy-hearted, all day. I kept thinking about how the Savior must have felt on his Thursday, knowing the events of that evening and the next day were so close at hand. It was during this time that I felt I truly remembered and celebrated Easter - perhaps for the first time in my life.

Friday, it was just really fun to try the Jerusalem dinner, to share it with friends, and to reflect on some of the symbolism of the meal. Also, Genghis loves bulgur. Who knew?

Well, that's more religion than I usually put on this forum. But Easter, as I've been learning, is really a special occasion. Thanks for indulging me.

*I know, I'm way behind. I usually don't blog about holidays. I have nothing to say about Mother's Day. But I do have something to say about Easter, so here goes.

**We actually sat down and had a family council, complete with butcher paper and markers for planning. It was pretty fun. I felt like a real grown up. We had another one this week to coordinate upcoming crazy travel schedules. I preferred to call that a "Council of War" in tribute to Amelia Peabody, a favorite detective series of mine.

friday photos

2011-05-03T07:28:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday. Should I even bother? (Yes! Genghis's adoring public cries out.)

Okay, but first I have to show you our Easter Bunny Cake. The Easter Bunny Cake is my family's long-standing tradition that I have heretofore eschewed. Usually because I forget when Easter is each year. This year we ramped up our celebrations (more to come on that in a later post) and I threw in the Bunny Cake partly because of nostalgia, partly because I was afraid my sister would disown me if I didn't at least make an effort.

Historically, the Easter Bunny Cake is a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and bunnies crafted from marshmallows lining the sides like little sugary soldiers. But I made a red velvet cake with white cream cheese frosting, so we had to dip our bunny marshmallows in chocolate, which is a lot harder than it looks, so we only had the energy for 2 bunnies laying down on top.

As a nod to authenticity, I put the bunnies on a bed of coconut died green (tradition has the bed of coconut on top with jelly beans in it, like Easter eggs in grass).

This had the unintended and unfortunate consequence of making our bunnies look like they were just laid to rest in a Bunny Graveyard. Oh well.

And now on to Genghis. Playing with plants in the morning sunlight.

orange fingers

2011-05-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

Remember how I talked about using this software called Drupal to design my awesome interactive website so I don't have to write any actual computer code?

Well, turns out there were some pretty specific things I needed my website to do that could only be done by writing code in Drupal. Which seems to defeat the whole purpose of using Drupal to not write code. (I don't really need to go into all this detail. I just like saying the word Drupal in my head. ... (drupal) ...).

So I have abandoned my Drupal project and now have 3 text files on my hard drive: .html, .css, and .js. Html and css aren't strictly code, more like Microsoft Word for the internet - ways of displaying text in pretty ways. Okay, maybe Microsoft Word is a bad example. Can you ever get images and tables in Word to display how you want them to?

But .js is really code. Nothing hard core, a kind of simple man's code. My particular code makes an accordion menu (see example - not mine, someone else's that looks prettier). Now I'm just a bag of Cheetos, a Coke, and an oversized black T-shirt printed with my favorite WOW avatar away from being a real programmer. I'd probably have to turn off the lights in my room and just work from the glow of this laptop, too.

(My apologies for blatantly stereotyping coders. After trying to dive into your world, I have deep respect for what you do. And I like Cheetos.)

After spending a few weeks building this site, I have to admit that web design is really quite fun. And in my opinion, you only need three things to get started.

1. w3schools.com bookmarked on your browser. This is my absolute go-to guide for learning the basics of web design. Their tutorials are quick and teach you the essential scaffolding of whatever language you're using (html, css, etc) so you can build up from there very easily.

2. A starter template (downloadable html and css files) created by someone else. Go to http://www.bluerobot.com/web/layouts/ for a simple, clean beginning. Check out this somewhat dated but useful article for a list of more interested and slightly more complicated templates.

3. A real person who you can go to with questions when you're tired of trying to find answers from computers. Abe has been this person for me. I can try to be this person to you, but may actually get my answers from Abe and then relay them back to you. Really, the answers aren't nearly as important as the human contact. I cannot stress this enough.

friday photos

2011-04-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was what I hope all of May is. We enjoyed the afternoon with a plum picnic in the park.

hello world

2011-04-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

I'd like to start off this post by reprimanding all of my readers for not commenting on last Friday's photo (okay, Sunday's photo - why, oh why, did I tie myself to a day of the week with that ongoing title?) of Genghis with the umbrella. Don't you realize this is a very unique photo? Here's a Venn Diagram to explain.

In case looking at Venn Diagrams makes you break out in a cold sweat as you imagine yourself sitting in 7th grade pre-Algebra, here's the gist. I take a lot of photos of Genghis. He is usually blurry. He sometimes smiles. He rarely smiles and is not blurry.

Hooray, Umbrella Photo!

Okay, a confession before you read any farther. I really don't have much to say in this post. I am writing now to remind myself that I am human.

I have spent most of my baby-free hours this last week trying to create a dynamic website using Drupal, a content management system. Even though using Drupal means I don't have to write a line of actual computer code, it still leaves me feeling like an automaton.

To overcome that feeling, here's a list of some human-like things I've done recently:
- Devoured Red Velvet Cake
- Cleaned up spaghetti after an 8-month old "ate" it
- Felt the sunlight warm my cheeks and arms while driving in my car
- Squinted through a rainstorm while driving in my car
- Made several jokes about wondering whether we were human or dancer with my husband, who does even more computer coding than me, making the answer to this question even more vital
- Hit "snooze" on my alarm clock
- Put on my glasses to read
- Did a Yoga workout
- Tried (unsuccessfully) to remember to pay a bill

What makes you feel human? Or better yet, what makes you feel dancer?

friday photos

2011-04-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

Random happenings. Genghis likes umbrellas.

And feather dusters.

A trip to Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum. Tucked away behind a strip mall, filled with old arcade games (think 1890s to 1980s) and decorated with show bills and creepy carnival statues. I spared you the video of the coin-operated pipe organ orchestra attempting Bohemian Rhapsody. It featured accordion on melody and sounded like the middle school band, site reading.

task avoidance, and why this $10 organic free range chicken better taste delicious

2011-04-13T06:51:00.000-07:00

For the last few months, my good friend Kristin and I have been exploring a business idea for online meal planning. Our vision was delicious meets netflix meets the dinner table - an easy recipe bookmarking site that takes your uploaded recipes and gives you recommendations for what to make for dinner that week.

Last Friday, we found a website that basically does that already. We knew the market for online meal planning was crowded, but we had thought our approach was unique. Our venture disbanded that afternoon and I signed up for a free 30-day trial with this other website. Since we're no longer in competition with them, I'll tell you the name: plantoeat.com. So far it looks pretty good. I'll be using it for the next month and I'll give you a full report at the end.

With one business venture at a close, I now find myself coming back to an earlier work plan that I titled in my Google Docs as "Library Evaluation Master Plan". Dum dum dummmm! Except that "Library" and "Evaluation" are less sinister than they are quiet, unassuming, and maybe a little dull. The Master Plan, at a high level*, is a plan for creating an online tool for librarians to be paired with evaluation mentors to evaluate their programs and services so they can understand outcomes, impacts, and areas for improvement.

I'm really excited about the project, and think it has a lot of potential. But every time I come around to working on it (read: every time Genghis takes a nap), I find myself doing anything other than. (Erin's thoughts: Gee, that calendar needs to be updated. Don't we need to turn our mattress on a regular basis? And when was the last time someone mopped this floor?)

One of my more successful procrastination techniques this week has been couponing. I have been attempting couponing for several weeks in an effort to cut our grocery bill by about 30%. I organized a coupon box, checked out online coupon strategy resources, made meal plans based on sale/coupon combinations, and only used coupons for items I actually purchase. The result? Well, at a high level, it has been a complete failure. At any level, really, it has been a complete failure. I've probably saved a total of $10 for putting in 5 hours of my time. And that $10 I saved just got sunk into an organic free range chicken I bought yesterday because I thought it was on clearance for $2.15. That was actually the savings price - the chicken cost $10, originally $12.15. I didn't have a coupon for it, but I wouldn't have bought it if I hadn't been in super-frugal money saving mode.

And now that I've procrastinated another 45 minutes, I think it's time to get to work (don't say that out loud, or Genghis will wake up).

P.S. Does anyone know how to cook a chicken?

*I have found the phrase "at a high level" invaluable for skirting questions and feigning knowledge. Example: "Erin, can you use your vast wisdom about everything to enlighten me on the current debate about the national budget?" "Well, at a high level, it really comes down to balancing fiscal responsibility and government services, with both sides reaching across the aisle."

friday photos

2011-04-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

Genghis takes on Chicago! The day after we got home from our weekend trip to Chicago, Genghis slept in until 10am.

friday photos

2011-04-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

Neglecting my photo duty. Excuses: bad cold, out of town.

Genghis took me out to lunch for my birthday, to the Northside Grill, where they give you a totally free breakfast or lunch, just because it's your birthday. He was happier than the photo shows. But I like this picture because he kind of looks like the guy behind him, plus the woman in the back was also celebrating her birthday that day, and her name was Erin. (Note, Genghis is wearing an "I love Daddy" bib on my birthday...)

After a whole week visiting my parents, I realized I hadn't taken any photos, so I snapped a couple the night before we left. I'm not sure how Dad is smiling here; I'm pretty sure Genghis is pinching his cheek. He doesn't hold back on the nails.

Mom and Genghis enjoying some laughs.

Note the pink sock (we can it his "fuzzy") which Genghis has recently become attached to. Unfortunately, we lost it the next day at the Shedd Aquarium. Fortunately, socks come in pairs. Unfortunately, I was hoping to have my awesome pink sock monkey-embroidered socks back some day.

friday photos

2011-03-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

I think all Michigan bloggers have been obliged to mention the weather. Well, the weather from Friday and Saturday, because today is 45 and rainy.

But on Saturday, we got to re-introduce Genghis to grass. Photos from our mini-picnic (across the road, bananas and pancakes, Frisbee throwing).

gaining some prospective

2011-03-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

I've had best intentions for several days now to take a photo of my car to reveal my choice in the door color dilemma.

But it wouldn't be a very excited picture anyway, because I decided to go with the paint. The door looks exactly like the rest of my car.

My family seemed much more willing than my friends to put me into the cheapskate box. Unfortunately, I can't gloat over their seeming lack of insight into my true character because, had the decision been entirely up to me, I would have gone with the silver door. But Abe had a say in things, too. I figure that, budgets allowing, the spouse who wants a tad more class and decorum has the right of way in these matters.

It's probably a good thing, in the end. After all, we plan on driving this car for several more years ... to places like the grocery store, church, and ultimate Frisbee games.

Well, what's done is done.

Here's another way to think of the $250 door painting dilemma that I've been mulling over.

Question 1: Would you agree to pay $250 for someone to paint your door to match the rest of your car (assuming that without paying it wouldn't match).
Question 2: Would you agree to receive $250 for someone to paint your door to mismatch the rest of your car?

I found myself saying no to question 1 and no to question 2. If you think in terms of strict monetary payoff, that doesn't make any sense. Saying no to question 1 is like saying that I'd rather have $250 than a matching door. But then saying no to question 2 is like saying that I'd rather have a matching door than $250. My payoffs are exactly switched.

Here's a decision grid. This is formatted like the 2-player game payoff grids that economists often use (at least in my 101 econ class). You are the only player, and you have 2 choices to make: get the car painted to match (Q1 - column, payoffs as the second number, blues) and get the car painted to mismatch (Q2 - row, payoffs as the first number, blacks).

It makes sense to be in the upper left or bottom right corners. Your payoffs are the same for each decision. But I fall in the upper right corner. Economist explain this contradiction with Prospect Theory. Essentially, we value losses much greater than we value gains. So the pain I feel in giving away $250 is much greater than the joy I feel in receiving $250. And so the adage is true "It is greater to give than to receive".

Here's the classic graph used to illustrate Prospect Theory.

And so, while I won't give away $250 to match my car door, I won't receive $250 to mismatch it. You'd have to give me more.

How much more?

Well, I'm not sure. A lot, I think. Even more than if I hadn't just forked out $250 to get it painted. Which is evidence of yet another little behavioral twist that psychologists can use as a co-variate and economists can devise an equation for.

friday photos

2011-03-11T13:22:00.000-08:00

I take my cues from the paparazzi when photographing Genghis because this is usually what happens as soon as he sees a camera.

The New Yorker has an ongoing cartoon caption contest (see a great example here). In a similar vein, if Genghis could talk, how would you caption him in this photo?

Possibilities:
"I think I could eat this."
"Please, not while I'm in my jammies."
"There, there, camera."
"Just let me turn the angle to the right - it's my better side."
"Mmm...shiny."

if stream of consciousness wore lace and covered its ankles

2011-03-07T07:17:00.001-08:00

I was recently introduced to "Goodnight Dune", a re-interpretation of Margaret Wise Brown's classic "Goodnight Moon", through the lens of Frank Herbert's Dune (or perhaps, based on the rendition of the floating and bloated baron, inspired by the 1984 film).

It was a timely find, because I have been musing over Goodnight Moon lately. It's a new favorite of Genghis's. I find it an intriguing mix of Victorian illustrations and post-Modern text. Kind of Mother Goose meets Jack Kerouac. The bedroom is so classic - fireplace, mantelpieces, doll house, rocking chair and dressing gown. The colors a vintage orange and green. But the text is spaceless, rambling. It's almost like we're thrown into the middle of a story that's been going for some time, introduced to a "great green room" and then given a litany of all it contains. Who are these rabbits? (We don't even know they're rabbits but for the illustrations.) Where is the great green room? How did we get here?

We're not even introduced to the Moon, which carries the book's title. We only say goodnight to it. Over time, I've seen there isn't an exact match up with the list of things we're introduced to and things we say goodbye to. The Victorian in me wants to re-write the text - assure Genghis that the moon, the socks, the clocks are really there, before we say goodnight to them.

Then we get to the existential "goodnight nobody", which blows my mind every time.

Am I on to something? Could this be the start of a beautiful dissertation? Or is this simply the inevitable ending of reading the same 12-page board book over and over again for weeks?

Footnote 1: For a literary take on Goodnight Moon, see Sparknotes: Goodnight Moon.

Footnote 2: Is it just me or does the line "a quiet old lady whispering hush" invoke an image that may better fit in a Alfred Hitchcock film?

"no snow so far. food supplies low"

2011-03-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

Tonight as I turned out the fridge looking for something resembling a fruit or vegetable to serve as a side to our standard roast and potatoes Sunday dinner, I felt like Hobbes when Calvin seceded from his family to run away to the Yukon.

Last Wednesday I planned to go to the grocery store.

While quickly pulling our car out of the side garage and around to the front, I someone managed to leave my driver's side door open. Apparently car doors and garage door railings don't get along very well. Instead of going to the grocery store, I went to the body shop, holding my door closed the whole way because its bent shape wouldn't allow it to latch.

Our car should be ready tomorrow. I managed to bum a ride for a quick grocery trip for essentials (milk, eggs). But each night I've opened the cupboards to just enough for one more meal. I don't think this is a miracle of the cruse of oil. We've just been steadily revising meal expectations.

Maybe we can use the money we saved on food to foot the repair bill.

The repair brought up an interesting values question for Abe & I. We had to get our car door replaced. The used replacement didn't match so we had to decide whether to get it painted. Here was the question: Did we want to

(A) Give up $250 or (B) Have a silver door on a maroon car?

I don't know if I'm more interested in hearing your own answer to this question or hearing what you think our answer was.

friday photos

2011-03-05T12:55:00.000-08:00

Moving picture show!

This week Genghis played the cup game while I tried to make dinner. But it was so much fun we both just ended up playing the cup game.

(Don't feel obliged to watch the whole thing - you get the point in the first 10 seconds.)

win your next chili contest by following this 1 crazy tip

2011-03-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

and get a flat belly too*!

Really, though, white chili is always a high ranking dish at chili contests. This was a winner last week. We could eat this every week - easy, quick (well, it sits in a crock pot for 8 hours but otherwise quick), delicious.

Also, a shout out to the People's Choice winner of said chili contest - a great chili recipe with no meat or beans. No, really.

White Chicken Chili
1 c butter
1/2 c flour
1 1/2 c chicken broth
4 c milk
2 tsp Tabasco
2 onions, chopped
2 T chili powder
1 T cumin
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne (red) pepper
8 oz canned green chilies, chopped
2 lbs chicken breast
3 c shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 cans white beans (I use Great Northern and white kidney beans)

Melt butter and whisk in flour followed by chicken broth and milk. Add Tabasco, onion, seasonings, chilis, and chicken and cook in crock pot all day. 1 hour before serving, pull out chicken breasts and shred (should come apart easily). Put back in crock pot and add cheese and beans. Cook 30-60 minutes more.

*Okay, am I the only one who constantly gets this ad about getting a flat belly by following a super weird rule. I don't know what the rule is because I've never clicked on it. But I'm secretly dying to know.

twenty-seven inch tyrant, or, friday photos

2011-03-01T07:08:00.001-08:00

Things I didn't know a 6-month-old (7 today!) could do:

- Bite a 1-inch thick slice of pear in half, armed only with gums and determination
- Eat an entire waffle in one sitting (who needs baby sign language - grunting and rocking back and forth with mouth agape is quite communicative)
- Stuff his sock in his mouth - chew, suck, and smile happily for 15 minutes
- Nurse and suck his thumb at the same time
- Turn his head while in his baby bath to lap up the bath water with his tongue

Since Genghis now only derives pleasure when something is in his mouth, this week's (okay, last week's) Friday photos are devoted to his first experience with an apple.

friday photos

2011-02-19T12:15:00.000-08:00

His winter hats are getting too small, but I think mine is very becoming on him.

friday photos

2011-02-11T16:16:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went on a sledding expedition with our friends John and Kristin, just after dark and just before Genghis's bedtime. It went surprisingly well. Probably because Genghis's hat kept slipping over his eyes so he couldn't see much.

Thinking of cold things, you know how sometimes people make books with family photos in them for their kids to look through and remember Auntie so-and-so and Grandma who lives across the country? I was considering making one for Genghis with photos of summer - soft grass, trees with leafy green leaves, oh - and the sun. I think he's forgetting and it's making him depressed.

Maybe I'm projecting.

things that make me warm

2011-02-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

1. Hot showers. I get in at medium-warm temperature and slowly turn the heat up throughout my shower. It's only warm enough if my skin is red afterward. Some day they'll find out that hot showers cause cancer, but that's just the price of February.

2. Two quilts and a down comforter on my bed. The only improvement would be flannel sheets, but I don't like the way my pajamas cling to them. Same reason I can't wear socks to bed. I have to use a Bed Bunny instead (sock filled with rice and heated in the microwave for 2 minutes).

3. Bikram Yoga. The Bikram Yoga studio here is having a special - 10 classes for $20. Bikram Yoga is a 90-minute workout in a 105 degree room.I went to my third class yesterday. The yoga feels great, but I may start going to just sit in the studio and remember what sweat is.

4. Wearing a hat all day. Feels so toasty and stylish. Bonus: don't have to do my hair and it looks super funky by the end of the day.

5. Curling up on the couch with a blanket wrapped around my feet. I can't help it - I have sensitive feet. Socks really bother me (make me shudder like the nails-on-the-chalkboard feeling) unless I'm also wearing shoes. And you can't cozy up on a couch with shoes on.

With the exception of #4, these are not conducive to getting anything done. Maybe that's why I've managed to read 9 books so far this year (working on 10 and 11 right now).

to prove that i can write a blog post without photos

2011-02-06T16:21:00.000-08:00

I feel mounting pressure to post something insightful and thought-provoking, lest Genghis's cute photos dominate this blog too much. After all, indelible edibles is about me not him.

Inspiration is slow, however, so short of insightful and thought-provoking, here's a rambler.

1. How can I not post something about the Superbowl? Okay, there are a lot of reasons, among them that I can't remember the last time I watched a football game, or even said the word "football". But, if you're from Green Bay you either have to be a Packers' fan or feel guilty for not caring. To assuage my conscience, I'd like to share a quote from an email from my dad regarding Game Day in G.B.:

"I read in the paper yesterday that there will be a downtown party for the game today. They will close off a street and have various activities. If the Packers won they would reopen one hour after the game. If the packers lost reopening would be determined by the police. I thought that was interesting."

Turns out, Mystery Science Theater 3000 is not too far off in their portrayal of humanity's quirks.

2. Do you ever pick the wrong New Year's Resolutions? I did this year. One of my goals is to wake up between 7 and 7:15 and study scriptures, 200 times total during the year. So far, I have done it 9 times - 191 times to go. To put it another way, to date I have met my goal 24% of the time; in order to get to the magic 200, I'll have to meet my goal 58% of the time for the remainder of the year. That's a 142% increase. If my bank account could do that, I might retire at age 35.

But I'm doing really well at reading all kinds of other books at all hours of the day. I've read 9 books so far. Which books, you say? Oh, I'm so glad you asked.

Life is So Good, George Dawson
The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga
The Princess Bride, William Goldman
Super Baby Food, Ruth Yaron
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Judy Blume
The Candymakers, Wendy Mass
The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary E. Pearson
The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules our Lives, Leonard Mlodinow
Split, Avashti Swati

Unfortunately, prolific reading is not my goal, it's just a hobby.

3. I enjoy buying things that will help me organize my house, but I don't enjoy returning them. The past few weeks we have been trying to make more of our space, given the exponential influx of baby things that have taken over, not just our entire second bedroom but also the living room, dining room, bathroom and kitchen. We've made 2 trips to Ikea and 1 trip to Target, successfully spending more than we intended each time, and always having 1 or 2 things to take back.

My 2 favorite purchases have been a hanging shoe rack for the entryway closet that can also double to hold our winter hats and gloves and a rod & hook system we installed in our laundry room (basically in our kitchen) to hang all of our pots and pans. It frees up tons of cupboard space, and no one will ever be able to sneak into our house and cook for us because they'll never find the cookware so cleverly hidden.

friday photos

2011-02-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

For Genghis's 6-month birthday we celebrated by thinking about making a cake and taking photos of him sitting up. Maybe for his 1 year birthday we'll actually make the cake. If he's good.

The pictures were all blurry, but he was doing this adorable "make the cutest expressions in the world" thing, so I can't help but post them anyway.

By the way, does anyone know a good way to make a digital flip book? I really wanted to turn all of these photos into a flip book but couldn't find a good tool in 2 minutes of online searching...

friday photos

2011-01-30T17:14:00.000-08:00

My mom knitted this amazing 3-piece tweed ensemble for Genghis.

(trying to catch him in his newfound skill of sitting up, but mostly I captured him capsizing)

vote for A

2011-01-25T07:39:00.000-08:00

The A sentences for alphAmuse are ready for a vote! Click here to go the alphAmuse blog to vote on which sentence you think best represents the letter A. Remember, the sentence will be illustrated in a children's book. You have until Feb 1 to vote.

Upcoming: The B sentence challenge starts tomorrow.

***If you're interested in following the sentences/voting for alphAmuse, subscribe to the blog by adding http://alpha-musing.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default to your feed reader. Or, you can subscribe via email by entering your email address in the form below and clicking "subscribe".***

friday photos

2011-01-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

The final installment of Christmas-time photos. Over the holidays, Genghis met many relatives for the first time. I did an awful job of documenting these meetings, but do have photos of...

Genghis and Great-Grandma!

Genghis and cousins!

introducing ... alphAmuse!

2011-01-17T18:58:00.000-08:00

Abe and I play this incredibly fun game with Genghis where we say a letter of the alphabet over and over again, making all of its sounds ("B. Bee bee bee, buh buh buh, bee, bee, buh. B!"). Then we have to come up with a sentence with that letter. ("Bouncing bears boast boisterously. Bee bee buh buh ... B!"). Genghis often smiles and sometimes laugh. And we have a great time.

We have so much fun, in fact, that we decided to created a blog where anyone can play this game with us. Throughout 2011, we'll go through each letter of the alphabet and anyone can comment with silly sentences based on that letter.

At the end, we'll compile winning sentences from each letter into a fully illustrated book.

So check out "alphAmuse" (click here)! I just put up the first post on the letter "A". Visit the blog and post a comment. Coming up with a sentence that uses words beginning with just one letter is easier and more fun than you think!

Oh, and you can add alphAmuse to your RSS feeds so you can see when each new letter post comes up.

(Here's a video of the game, sort of. Abe got totally stuck on the letter K, so this is more of a bloopers reel. But apparently Genghis finds Klingons amusing.)

friday photos

2011-01-14T13:47:00.000-08:00

Still catching up from the holidays.

For his first Christmas, Genghis got to partake in my family's long-standing and ... unique ... tradition of wearing holiday-patterned bibs for Christmas Eve dinner. And when I say long-standing, I mean Abe and I both own our own adult-size bibs for the occasion. My favorite part is always when Mom forgets to take off her bib until she goes to bed that night.

Christmas morning gifts.

I could hardly take this photo, I was laughing so much.

A quiet moment with Grandma.

why isn't it this easy to re-image a baby's hard drive

2011-01-12T18:35:00.000-08:00

While I sit here pretending that I haven't spent the last 2.5 hours trying to get Genghis to go to bed, I'll tell you about my new computing power. And I'll hope that by the time I'm done, he'll finally be asleep (My other coping strategy for times when he is senselessly crying is to take a long shower but I've already checked that one off the list. I'm not sure what strategy #3 will be, if needed. It's times like these that I marvel that siblings exist.)

For Christmas, Abe's mom generously gave me her old Dell laptop (perhaps pity after reading my GoldiGong tale?). My brother-in-law tried to free it from the grip of several nasty viruses, but they had a good stranglehold on the operating system. I re-imaged the hard drive and tried to install Windows, but it required getting a special driver from Dell for the laptop to take Vista and there was a strong chance that bulky OS would kill it anyway.

Hello, Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is a free, Linux-based, open source operating system. It only took a few hours to wipe the whole computer and start clean with Ubuntu, as well as install some additional software I wanted (R, Inkscape, Google Chrome, more to follow). It's an intuitive system with a strong support community. So far, every search I've done on "How to do X in Ubuntu 10.4" has yielded a useful answer. Here's a screen shot of my desktop.

And so far the laptop has been speedy, reliable, light-weight and battery-charged. It's cooperative and working out well for me.

Which is a lot more than I can say for my child.

friday photos

2011-01-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

A lot of catching up to do with photos. Here's a start. Genghis started rice cereal just before Christmas.

I think this one looks like it could be his Senior Photo.

new year's rewards

2010-12-29T19:02:00.000-08:00

(written in the Houston airport during a 2.5 hr layover that was lengthened by another 3 hours and counting...)

Every year I make up some New Year's Resolutions when Abe asked me what my New Year's Resolutions are. I usually don't get past January. And I don't care too much.

But this year is different.

Not because I'm suddenly more into self improvement. Good bye noble intrinsic motivations. Hello external rewards.

Abe and I are each making 3 resolutions, effective Jan 1. If I complete my resolutions by 11:59 on Dec 31, 2011, then Abe will reward me with in-kind gifts of servitude. I'll do the same for him. The exact terms of the agreement (specific resolutions with measurable outcomes, as well as detailed plans for said servitude) are forthcoming. We'll mail ourselves the terms and open them next New Year's.

What I've learned from this experience is that it is much more fun to think of rewards for making my resolutions than actually making the resolutions themselves. Any suggestions for what my reward should be?

friday photos: a special edition

2010-12-25T13:11:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! Hope you are having a warm and cozy holiday weekend.

This is the online version of our annual Christmas card. We weren't able to send print copies to everyone we would have liked to (any some of those print copies may still be in transit...). On the plus side, the digital version has linked references.

Without further ado, Merry Christmas from Abe, Erin & Genghis!

Dear Friends,

As our thought-provoking friends the Beach Boys have noted, "Christmas comes this time each year." And so we share with you our annual Christmas card. This year, it comes in 3 categories: Things you probably knew already, Things you might have already known, and Things you almost certainly did not know.

Probably Knew
Genghis (not his real name) Gong arrived August 1, healthy, happy and with a good set of lungs. Exactly 2 days before the arrival, Erin restructured her career by switching to part-time work from home. Abe is still serving in the singles ward Bishopric, and (at long last!) defended a plan for his dissertation.

Might Have Known
Abe and Erin are both blogging. Erin posts life musings and weekly baby photos at indelibleedibles.blogspot.com. Abe posts extremely technical political ramblings at lowlywonk.blogspot.com. Genghis (not a blogger) has mastered thumb-sucking and sleeping through the night. He has also rolled over more than 30 times.

Did Not Know
Abe has written software to explore more than 2 million web sites and conduct the first-ever representative survey of the political blogosphere. Results forthcoming. Erin is currently writing a 1 million dollar grant application and conducted the first-ever convenience sample of people's household cleaning preferences. Genghis turns light switches on and off with his toes.

But what we really hope you know is that we are happy to have you as friends and family. We hope you are well; keep in touch. Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011!

goldigong and the three laptops

2010-12-22T10:35:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time there were three laptops, a Papa Laptop, a Mama Laptop and a Baby Laptop. One day, the three laptops sat down to compute. “This wireless network is too slow!” said Papa Laptop. “This wireless network is too slow!” said Mama Laptop. “This wireless network is too slow!” said Baby Laptop. “Let’s go play Mine Sweeper,” said Mama Laptop. “When we come back, our wireless network will be just right.”

Along came GoldiGong. She walked into the office. She saw three laptops hibernating. “This laptop is too slow,” said GoldiGong when she tried to boot up Mama Laptop, which was over 6 years old. “This laptop is faster,“ said GoldiGong of Baby Laptop, which was really a mini notebook. “This laptop is even faster!” said GoldiGong of Papa Laptop, whose tagline was “The Most Powerful 15-in Gaming Laptop in the Universe”. And she restarted Papa Laptop for hours on end, just to admire how fast it really was.

Papa Laptop

Then GoldiGong began to surf the web on all three laptops. “This screen is too small,” said GoldiGong, squinting to see the GMail login box on Baby Laptop’s 10-in screen. “This screen is too big,” said GoldiGong, consumed in the glowing aura of the 15-in Papa Laptop, “it will probably make me depressed if I leave it on too long.” “This screen is just right!” said GoldiGong of Mama Laptop. Then CRASH went the Mama Laptop’s hard drive and GoldiGong had to reboot.

Mama Laptop

GoldiGong felt tired. She picked up the laptops to go into the bedroom. “This laptop is too heavy,” said GoldiGong, as she hefted 9 lbs of Papa Laptop . “This laptop is still too heavy,” said GoldiGong of Mama Laptop, “and it hasn’t really worked at all.” “This laptop is very light!” said GoldiGong of Baby Laptop, which came in at just a few pounds. And she skipped up the stairs with Baby Laptop to join the other laptops in the bedroom.

Baby Laptop

GoldiGong snuggled into bed to fall asleep while watching YouTube videos. “This battery is almost dead,” said GoldiGong as Mama Laptop’s comfortably-sized screen switched into low power mode after only a few minutes. “And this battery isn’t much better,” said Goldilocks as Papa Laptop burned away on his Intel Core i7 processor. “But this battery lasts forever – or, at least long enough to watch Pride & Prejudice (the 1995 version).” And she fell asleep listening to Darcy and Elizabeth engage in witty verbal exchanges.

The three Laptops came back from playing Mine Sweeper. “Someone’s been booting me up,” said Papa Laptop. “Someone’s been surfing on my web browser,” said Mama Laptop. “Someone’s been toting me around,” said Baby Laptop. “And someone’s been watching Pride & Prejudice on YouTube!” said all three laptops. “And here she is!”

GoldiGong woke up. She saw three angry Laptops looking at her. She looked back at them and said, “Papa Laptop, you’re too big and bulky to really be called a laptop. Mama Laptop, you’ve aged gracefully but your time is really past. And Baby Laptop, you have some respectable features but you’re just too small to work with.” So GoldiGong jumped out of bed and ran to the local computer store to buy something that better suited her needs.

Unfortunately, this is a fairy tale, so I'll just have to work with the computing power we currently have.

(btw, we don’t own Papa Laptop – he’s a rental from the University that Abe’s using for data processing)

*Text adapted from http://narrative-text.blogspot.com/2009/05/goldilocks-and-three-bears.html

friday photos

2010-12-17T14:10:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I was staying with my sister in Arizona. She collects everything: Newberry award books, aluminum cups, DVDs, shrunken heads. And, as it turns out, wigs.

Here I am sporting a fantastic red number with my now super cool son.

He wasn't as keen on the wig action.

I think he was really just upset because he looked too much like Howard Stern.

musings on time and super powers after a long day

2010-12-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving, we discussed with our friends if "Going Back In Time" would be a useful super power. Since then, I read Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman, a series of short vignettes about what the world would be like under different laws of time.

An example:

24 April, 1905

In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time. The first is as rigid and metallic as a massive pendulum of iron that swings back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The second squirms and wriggles like a bluefish in a bay. ...

Many are convinced that mechanical time does not exist. ... They wear watches on their wrists, but only as ornaments or as courtesies to those who would give timepieces as gifts. They do not keep clocks in their houss. Instead, they listen to their heartbeats. They feel the rhythms of their moods and desires. Such people eat when they are hungry, go to their jobs at the millinery or the chemist's whenever they wake from their sleep, make love all hours of the day. Such people laugh at the thought of mechanical time. ... They know that time struggles forward with a weight on its back when they are rushing an injured child to the hospital or bearing the gaze of a neighbor wronged. And they know too that time darts across the field of vision when they are eating well with friends. ...

Then there are those who think their bodies don't exist. They live by mechanical time. They rise at seven o'clock in the morning. ... When their stomach growls, they look at their watch to see if it is time to eat. When they begin to lose themselves in a concert, they look at the clock above the stage to see when it will be time to go home.

Anyway. Aside from being a nice alternative to an actual biography of Einstein that I've been reading (er, or letting sit on the bookshelf) for 2 months, this book got me thinking back to the conversation about "Going Back in Time" powers.

I am against having this power. Yes, you could go back in time to relive fun moments or to erase past mistakes. But I think I would end up in a continuous loop of going back to make better choices than I did the last time I went back to make better choices. I'd be stuck in 7th grade forever!

Plus, all super powers need limits. Probably the "Going Back in Time" limit would be that you had a rewind button but no fast forward. So you couldn't just skip from happy memory to happy memory. You'd have to live all the boring and uncomfortable parts in between.

And this brings things back to the age-old question: If you could have any super power, what would it be? Guests on a recent "This American Life" episode posited that when given the choice between the powers of Flight or Invisibility, people tend to choose flight as the more noble power but would rather be invisible so they could sneak into movies and shoplift.

I prefer to think better of humanity.

But if I could have a super power, I think it would be a third hand. It would come in so (I can't resist) handy!

friday photos (on time!)

2010-12-10T07:26:00.000-08:00

Genghis's first hair cut.

Okay, so the baby bald spot was creating a double-mullet that needed to be dealt with.

Double-mullet sightings.

Ready for the hair cut.

Times of concentration and concern.

Finished!

If you look closely, you'll see that I actually created a secondary bald patch on the right side of his head. Look, it was a difficult operation.

agree or disagree?

2010-12-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

Venn Diagram explanation: In music, the intersection of schmaltz and kitsch contains only holiday music played on the radio. In other words, there is no song that is both schmaltzy and kitschy that is not also holiday music. (Note: the reverse is not necessarily true, that holiday music must be schmaltzy or kitschy.)

Some definitions and examples for thought:

Kitsch: deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that are unoriginal. Types of art that are aesthetically deficient and make creative gestures which merely imitate the superficial appearances of art through repeated conventions and formulae.

The 1970s turn out to be a great era for kitsch. I wasn't able to embed this Bee Gees video but I highly recommend watching it as a prime example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpqqjU7u5Yc

Schmaltz: excessively sentimental or florid music or art or maudlin sentimentality.

As much as I love Ol' Blue Eyes, he is quintessential schmaltz.

And, at the intersection. Oh, so many to choose from. How about this?

Bonus points for the random slideshow accompanying Andy Williams.

friday photos

2010-12-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

still, with the friday photos not on friday...

Here's Genghis enjoing his quilt made by Grandma Susan. I know you'll all realize that Genghis looks a little smaller here than in other recent photos - these photos were taken several few weeks ago.

Here's a picture from Thanksgiving, when we visited the famed Merry-Go-Round Museum of Sandusky, Ohio. "Look into the light, Genghis...look into the light..."

calling all meal planners

2010-11-29T08:19:00.001-08:00

This Saturday I will be teaching a workshop on Meal Planning for a group of women at my church. Needless to say, I will highlight my crazy tech tools for meal planning. But I'm sure that won't be helpful for everyone, so I'll also cover alternative tips, tricks and tools for planning meals, shopping for groceries, and building a short-term supply of everyday foods.

So I'm on the hunt for such tips, tricks and tools. Any suggestions from your own experience on effective ways to do meal planning, shopping, and short-term food storage?

Here's a brainstorming list. Add to it!

- Keep grocery lists on your phone or on a Google doc so it's accessible from anyway
- Use Tasty Planner to store recipes and create shopping lists
- Start by making a list of everything you know how to make and love to eat
- Keep an ongoing list on the fridge of the foods you're running out of
- Pick 1 or 2 meals to always make on a certain night "Taco Tuesdays!"
- On a free evening, sit down and write out a meal plan and shopping list for an entire month (separate into 1-week shopping trips)
- Start a recipe blog with family or friends to share/store recipes
- Use delicious.com to bookmark and tag recipes you love

friday photos

2010-11-27T14:32:00.000-08:00

I really should have called "friday photos" something else to obscure the fact that I'm often late.

Winter is upon us in Michigan, but here are some memories of warmer times last week in Arizona.

Genghis's first swim.

Also, I got a hair cut. Never gone this short before, but I like it!

sing to me my angel of music

2010-11-14T18:39:00.000-08:00

Many baby books tell you that the best way to help baby* develop verbally is to chatter to him about what you are doing. For example, a typical conversation with Genghis may be something like:

"Okay, now I'm going to set you down on your play mat."
"Whoa! Kid, it's just a play mat. You're kind of freaking out about this."
"It's okay. You're okay. Show me how you kick it to make music. Yeah, you can do it."
"Okay, we've moved into full freak out mode now. It's okay. It's okay. You're okay."
"Time for bed!"

I would argue that most of this commentary is really for the parent's sake. "It's okay" translated is "I'm a capable, strong parent and I love my child. We will make it through this."

Guided by numerous baby books, I have tried to keep a running commentary of actions with Genghis as we go through our day. It's surprisingly hard, particularly when I was only getting 3 hour stretches of sleep. Functioning at half capacity, I sometimes found myself at the changing table, with the diaper hanging there, trying to find words to put to the situation. Genghis and I would stare at each other in a mutual stupor. Eventually I'd startle awake enough to finish the task with an incoherent "Diaper change finished now all clean, so good, huh?, yes, so good".

This, combined with the fact that I want our children to enjoy music, has lead to me to a lot of ongoing singing. If you've got a song you know, you can groove for a few minutes without even thinking about it. Sometimes you can even get on auto-repeat for the chorus (or the 2-line couplet which is the only part of the song that you know) and continue for 10-minute stretches until your husband gives you a funny look.

But when I first tried singing to Genghis, I found it difficult to dig up a repertoire of songs. For a while we circulated through The Itsy Bitsy Spider and the Mexican Hat Dance for playtime and James Taylor's Sweet Baby James or I Am a Child of God (a children's song in our church) for sleeping.

I kept at it, though, and soon I was breaking out into songs that I hadn't sung in years, was embarrassed to admit I knew, or didn't realize I even knew.

Some favorites:
- Phantom of the Opera (in sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came...)
- All I ask (also from Phantom)
- Music of the Night (again, Phantom)
- Starlight Express (Title song from the underappreciated Andrew Lloyd Weber musical on rollerskates)
- Fantine's Death: Come to Me (Les Mis)
- Red & Black (Les Mis)
- Sing, Sing, Sing
- Mack the Knife
- Summertime
- In the Mood (I'm getting really good at scatting)
- The Speed Test (Thoroughly Modern Millie)
- I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General (Pirates of Penzance, I only know the first line)

We also keep a hymnbook in the nursery and pick out a new song each night to sing to Genghis before he goes to sleep for the night.

Soon he'll be well rounded in show tunes, swing, and 19th century Protestant melodies.

*In an attempt to mimic the parlance of said baby books, I have deliberately omitted the article before baby. This is common practice in these books ("Many parents wonder how long they should let baby cry", "Smiling at baby will help him learn social cues"). I always fill in the articles in my head.

friday photos

2010-11-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

Showing off his affiliation with various organizations.

Ultimate Frisbee. (He has another Ultimate-themed shirt, but is still growing into it.)

BYU.

A family photo. Most of these were blurred shots of Genghis face planting into the blanket.

Do I look more rested? I do? Why, thank you. That's because our super baby is now sleeping through the night! 11:30pm to 7:30am. We cut off his middle of the night food supply a week ago. He protested loudly the first night, but the next few nights complained just a little. We compromised on night 5 by unswaddling him. He is now a pro thumb sucker and blissful dreamer.

remember when it was halloween?

2010-11-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

Before it gets ridiculously late, here is my Halloween costume from 2010.

Inspired by Wallace & Gromit's "Feathers McGraw", a sinister penguin who disguises himself as a chicken.

I made the rooster cap and the feet out of old sweaters. The beak is felt, I've got a nylon on my head, and I'm wearing Abe's bathrobe. I love Halloween!

Perhaps even more cool than my costume, though, is the blog I stumbled upon while finding the Feathers McGraw poster. The photo I posted comes from blogger Jessica B., http://jbbentos.blogspot.com/2009/08/wallace-and-gromit-bento.html, who makes bento boxes based on various themes and book characters. A bento box is a traditionally Japanese lunch tray of assorted foods (Check out the wikipedia article). Jessica's work is amazing. The link I posted features a sandwich in the shape of Wallace & Grommit. She has also done Hunger Games, Twilight, Where the Wild Things Are, and more.

friday photos

2010-11-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

Genghis is very interested in the world around him. If the room is not dark and quiet, he refuses to sleep. This makes me nervous for an upcoming 3.5 hr flight I will be taking with him, alone. I can't even hide out in the bathroom (where he normally naps - look, it's the only room without windows) because plane bathrooms automatically light up when you go inside.

Anyway, often when he is surveying his surroundings he has this thoughtful but somewhat concerned look. It is a look that says, "Why are my nursery walls painted in 'Cornmuffin'?", "What is that furry squeaking toy being dangling in front of my face?", "Will Michigan always be this cold?" (answer, no, it gets much colder), or "I wonder if other moms create Access databases for recipe cards and grocery lists".

recipe database files

2010-11-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

Based on the number of people who didn't think I was crazy and wanted their very own copy of the Access file lauded in the previous post, I have made the file available for download here, along with a video tutorial of how to use it.

Okay, so there are 2 versions.

First, the Simple Grocery List Maker.
This is an Excel file that will create grocery lists for you. You enter in meals/ingredients, select which you want to make, and the file creates a grocery list ready to print and take to the store.

Download the file here: https://sites.google.com/site/erinsandbox/documents/GroceryListMaker.xls?attredirects=0&d=1

Watch the video tutorial (recommended):

(Link to YouTube video)

Second, the Ultimate Meal Planner.
This is an Access database that will create printable recipe cards and a grocery list. If you're really serious about this, choose this option because once you're already entering in meals and ingredients, you may as well get a formatted recipe card out of it. In this database, you fill out recipe forms to create your cards (ready to print on 4x6 cards). Use the grocery form to select meals and generate a list ready to print and take to the store.

Download the file here
https://sites.google.com/site/erinsandbox/documents/Recipes.accdb?attredirects=0&d=1

Watch the video tutorials (strongly, highly, very recommended):

(Link to YouTube video)

(Link to YouTube video)

what do you get when you cross a stay-at-home mom with a spreadsheet freak?

2010-11-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

Me!

With the end result of an Access database that generates 4x6 recipe cards and my weekly grocery lists with just a few clicks.

The inefficiencies of my meal planning system have been gnawing at me for a while now. Searching for recipes stuffed into recipe boxes, saved on my delicious.com account, scribbled on a napkin at the bottom of my purse. Or, spending 20 minutes writing my grocery list and getting home to discover I've forgotten the noodles for spaghetti. Or, eating the same foods week after week because it's too hard to look in various places mentioned above for recipes I haven't made in a while.

Over the last 2 weeks I have streamlined a solution. In my Access database, I can fill out a form to enter in a new recipe. The recipe automatically uploads into a report that prints onto a 4x6 card so I can add it to my "recipe ring". The recipe ring frees cards from the constraints of a box. Instead cards are clipped together with 2 rings that allows for faster flip-through. Plus the card won't ever leave the box and mysteriously disappear - the whole bunch stays together on the ring.

That's pretty handy. But the best part is that all of those recipes feed into a grocery list creator. Okay, it's really just a pivot table. The coolest pivot table ever.* It gives me a drop-down list of my recipes. I select which meals I want to make that week and it gives me a list of ingredients I need to buy. And quantities - summed across recipes. And it sorts it by store section (produce, bakery, meat, etc). One Ctrl+P later and I've got a complete, sorted grocery list to take with me to the store.

The only flaw in the system (which I've encountered twice now) is when I leave the grocery list sitting on the kitchen table. Operator error.

I know this all sounds a little crazy. But meal planning has always been a thing with me. Have I ever written about the time I was gearing up for a very busy school semester, so I planned out 16 weeks of dinners? I printed out 16 pages of grocery lists, one for each week, that had the week's dinners and necessary ingredients. I set the stack on my nightstand and didn't think about what to make for dinner for the next 4 months. Talk about efficient.

At this point, you may be feeling one of two ways. 1) Wow! Maybe Erin will send me a copy of her Access database so I can use it too (I'd be happy to). 2) Wow! This is the scariest Halloween post I've ever read.

*Credit for the pivot table goes to my friend Melissa, who first came up with this concept using the pivot tables in Excel.

the very hungry caterpillar

2010-10-31T19:04:00.000-07:00

We've got about 60 more photos, if you want to see them.

friday photos

2010-10-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

this week takes us to the picture show!

A few weeks ago when we were enamored with making him smile...

A few days ago when we captured a few rare laughs...keep 'em coming kid.

friday photos

2010-10-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

Bring it on, Fall.

the results are in! part II

2010-10-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here's Part II of the household cleaning survey results: open-ended responses to the prompt, what is the most unusual household chore you do regularly?

(Review Part I here)

For starters, no qualitative report these days is complete without a Wordle!

Rather than doing a detailed analysis of responses, I thought I'd just post them all here along with some commentary.

"I keep a sponge with a scrubby-green side in the tub and give it a quick scrub every time I take a bath. I clean out my bathroom sink and clean my bathroom mirror very regularly."

"Washing the outside of my front door."

"I'm very lazy about housecleaning but try to dust my blinds (all of them) with a Swiffer duster every Saturday. I'm okay with enough dust on the end tables for a good game of tic-tac-toe, so why does the dust on blinds bother me?"

Probably because it is difficult to play tic-tac-toe on blinds.

"Organize the gladware box lids. About every 3 months, they degenerate into a pile of things that are likely to fall over and bury me. So I take them all out, try to make sure I have matching containers and lids, and then sort all of the lids by size and type."

There is a simpler solution, which is to just keep the tupperware on a lower shelf. This way they cannot fall on top of you no matter how disorganized they get.

"Vacuum my kitchen."

"I don't think it's unusual, but other people have commented on it - I regularly wash the walls (not the entire wall - like a spot clean). I also clean the tops of the washer and dryer after each use (you can use the used dryer sheet. It works really well to get all the gunk off)."

"We clean the landing to our staircase (where you enter our apartment) often. That is one thing that makes me feel okay when people come over."

"We really should think more about cleaning... we just make sure our main room is livable. The guest bedroom and our bedroom are usually a little scary."

"I don't consider any of the chores I do 'unusual.' Although, I must say that reading your post about your sheets almost made me throw up. I wash my sheets once a week now because my husband can't fathom washing them more...but before I was married, I washed them twice a week usually.

I want to make the person in this comment and the comment above switch places for a day and see what would happen. Compare profiles.

Making the bed before sleeping in it

Gagging Reflex to My Post Respondent: Yes, compulsively

Scary Bedroom Respondent: No, you people are crazy

Washing the outside of your kitchen cupboards

Gagging Reflex to My Post Respondent: Monthly
Scary Bedroom Respondent: I'm supposed to clean that?

When the trash gets full

Gagging Reflex to My Post Respondent: Take it out to the dump right away to avoid having an overstuffed/smelly bag
Scary Bedroom Respondent: Tell my husband

"I clean the spices on the spice rack when I notice."

"I don't think it's unusual for people with kids, but I am often found wiping slobby fingerprints off door jams and walls down low where the kids drag their hands."

"I get made fun of for washing the outside of my cupboards (kitchen and bathroom) for as often as I do (every few days). But they're white and they have a lip so dust accumulates really quickly!"

"Before I answer this, I need to clarify an answer above, I clean parts of my bathroom weekly but don't usually clean the whole thing at once... too overwhelming. Unusual: We vacuum the back porch."

It's okay, my definition of cleaning the bathroom involves the sink and the toilet. The shower and floor are totally separate animals.

"uhh... I hate cleaning so I'm not sure I do any unusual cleaning."

"Clean the little groove in the seal of the fridge with a q-tip. Vacuum the sliding trays on my windows. Dust the leaves of my big plants! None of the things, seem unusual. I had to think of what might seem wacky to someone else. Remember...I was raised with Connie [family reference]!!!!!"

Growing up with Connie would skew your perception of normal. This is the aunt who got her 2 younger sisters to dress in garbage bags and high heels and sing old folk songs...when they were all over 45 years old...

"I vacuum the ceiling in my basement (but only because I run on the treadmill down there and I'm scared to death of a dust bunny getting in my hair.) Clean the TV from sticky finger prints. I reorganize pantry quarterly."

"I am very picky about my kitchen pantry. I am constantly reorganizing it....I like the cans perfectly in lines and with the labels facing forward in matching fashion."

Hm. My pantry shelves are full of cans of corn intermixed with board games.

"Put a tablecloth on the dining room table and set the table with nice dishes before going to bed. I wash out the inside of the kitchen sinks almost every day. :)"

Do you leave a place for Elijah?

"Disinfecting the cupboard fronts, handles and top of the trash can - I haye seeing sticky fingerprints. I dust my artificial flowers...this may not seem unusual and definitely needs to be done, but considering all the other chores I do neglect, it's strange that I would do this one."

"I'll organize my office way more than I ever clean the bathroom. Paper clutter is my crutch."

You should talk to my husband. Maybe you are my husband... No, because he doesn't get around to the organizing part.

"My favorite thing to clean is the car. Every week I wash it inside and out and vacuum."

"I also am big on trash cans! I squirt some of my special cleaning solution in the can every time I take out the trash (solution = vinegar, water, and some essential oils. HIGH TECH.). I would say the most unusual household chore I do regularly is scrubbing the faucet in the bathroom sink, which I do while brushing my teeth (so usually twice a day). One might say that were I neater with the tooth-brushing this would not be a necessary chore. Oh well."

No, I think spraying your trash can with a special cleaning solution is your most unusual household chore. Laudable (I can't stand the nasty dirty kitchen trash can smell), but unusual.

"I like to unplug all the cables behind the computer and tv once or twice a year to untangle them and sort them into well behaved rows."

Do you use cable ties? I love cable ties!

"I love to sweep my garage, probably cause we're out in the front yard all the time. The tricky thing about this survey is that kids can make a huge impact on what you do and how often. For instance, light switches have to be cleaned regularly with a toddler and a preschooler. Whereas a newborn doesn't really get things like that dirty."

True. My newborn has christened everything in our house with spit up. But I find it works its way into the carpet without leaving much of a trace.

"Windex the front of the microwave. Weird, I know."

"I clean the knobs on all of my doors at least once a week. Dirty door knobs and door jambs ick me out."

"Vacuum out the windows (cobwebs form in the basement windows a lot- I guess that is what you get for trying to make living space out of an unfinished basement.) I do this monthly."

We lived in a barely finished basement for the first year of our marriage. Cobwebs were the least of our worries. There was the front door that was so low you had to duck to come inside, the way the basement trapped moisture so all of our book pages curled and our decks of cards stuck together, the mouse that ate the brownies that were sitting on our kitchen counter but I didn't realize a mouse had eaten the brownies until I had eaten some myself, the black mold we found behind our bookcase when we moved out... It did have some benefits though, like the fact that the bathroom was cozy enough you could actually sit on the toilet and take a shower at the same time!

friday photos

2010-10-15T15:23:00.001-07:00

theme: large head

Oh man, they're making me do it again.

You're a strong baby. You're a strong baby.

We have lift off.

Almost there...

Ta Da!

(I'm so cute.)

the results are in!

2010-10-11T07:23:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, inspired by childhood reminiscing of sheet-cleaning traditions, I sent out a survey about household cleaning habits. 45 responses* and a few Excel charts later, here are the quantitative results. The survey also included an open-ended question about the strangest household chore you do - results from that coming in the next installment.

Thanks to everyone who participated. Enjoy comparing your answers with the aggregate.

First, what chores were important to you to feel at ease in your home.

Dishes and general de-cluttering were obvious front-runners. And let's be honest, no one cares about dust until guests are coming over.

Second, who definitely has to make the bed before sleeping in it, and who could care less.

(Note: "Yeah.." in the graph above corresponds to the answer choice "Yes I have to make the bed before sleeping in it, but I'm trying to get over it")

Third, what course of action you take when you notice the trash getting full.

I am disappointed that more people don't just get out another bag. That's what I do. My trash is in the same room as my washer/dryer. I can get 3 trash bags going, plus a trash can full of recycling as well as stacks of boxes filled with smaller boxes spilling off the washer/dryer tops. All ready to be taken out to the garage. (Yes, I deliberately used the passive voice in that last sentence. Trash is not on my chore chart.)

Fourth, a grab bag of detailed household cleaning tasks.

Really, I think the hot water heater is feeling like a neglected appliance compared to the washer. I hazard that most of us have lived in places without a washing machine but not without hot water. Let's show a little more respect.

Also, for the person who has folded his/her dirty laundry - please comment on whether you felt pride or shame when admitting to that in the survey.

Fifth, how often do you do a variety of household chores. For this visualization, I looked at the median response as well as responses in the 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentiles and ordered the chores along this frequency line accordingly. Semi-scientific, and if all the statisticians will close their eyes here, I'll claim that semi-scientific is close enough in most situations - particularly in the social sciences.

Okay, so I'll wash my sheets more often than each December 24th. But you can't make me clean my silverware tray annually. Really, more often than cleaning windows and oven?

*86% of respondents were female

can too much data be a bad thing?

2010-10-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

Results from the household cleaning survey are forthcoming. I've run some basic descriptive statistics and now I'm trying to put together some good visualizations to showcase the findings.

In the meantime, Abe and I have been up to our ears in baby data. First, I've tried to put Genghis on a more structured feeding schedule. To track results, I've been recording each feeding time on our oversized calendar in the bedroom.

Second, after waking up every half hour between 4 and 7am last night to console a crying baby, I've decided it's time to help Genghis learn to soothe himself back to sleep. And by that I mean I'd like to try "crying it out" for a few days and see if Genghis can come off conqueror. Abe has a dissenting opinion. As a compromise, we decided to perform a social experiment on our child using an interrupted time series design. We will keep a detailed event log of Genghis's sleeping, waking and soothing times for a few days. Then we will try an intervention, track the data, and compare to see the effect.

Of course, I whipped out a spreadsheet for this pretty quick. It has 2 columns: "Time" and "Event". The event options are:

"calming" for when we start trying to get Genghis to sleep
"sleeping" for when he is asleep
"wake and calming" for when he wakes up and we go in to calm him
"wake and self calming" for when he is awake but calming himself
"wake" for when he wakes up and we let me stay awake (if it's time for him to get up)
"we wake" for times when we wake him up (say, because we have to go somewhere)

Another of course - this afternoon he woke up 5 times during his nap from 3-4:30. I've already filled an entire sheet in the event log! (And perhaps helped my case for the need for us to intervene - or rather, stop intervening...)

friday photos

2010-10-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

He smiles while wearing his enormous Bum Genius cloth diapers.

He smiles while reading Baby Einstein.

He smiles while enjoying outside blanket and boppy time.

He still does not smile while taking a bath.*

*We think perhaps the problem was that he was bathing in a tupperware container that he had obviously outgrown. Grandma fixed that problem by purchasing him a deluxe froggie bathtub. Results forthcoming...

friday photos

2010-09-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

A few days late...

Genghis sometimes smiles more at his stuffed giraffes than at us. This photo is from a few weeks ago, when we tested out giraffe's ear as a replacement pacifier.

Dreaming of conquests for the French Empire.

"another one of your little lists"*

2010-09-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

On the Sunday night before my last week of work I wrote a 30+ item list of things I wanted to get done before we had our baby. Thankfully, I left work 2 hours early on my last day and ran a few of the most important errands. Because the next day Abe & I decided to give ourselves a vacation from household work, and the day after, Genghis entered the world.

For the last 7 weeks, I've been slowly tackling the list. I think I have about 7 items checked off. On Monday Genghis took one of his hero naps (any daytime sleeping that lasts longer than 45 minutes) so I crossed 2 items off.

First, I hung this pachyderm tryptic in the nursery (painted several weeks ago and waiting patiently for me to get out a hammer and nails). When I put Genghis down in his crib, he was staring at that spot on the wall with an intensely curious look on his face. Coincidence?

Second, I figured out how to add a "subscribe by email" widget to my blog. It's done through Feedburner and is fairly straightforward following these directions. So if you don't use an RSS reader but do like email, then try it out.

*The title for this post is an oft-quoted line in Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody detective series. Peabody is a turn-of-the-century Egyptologist who solves crimes in part by constantly making organized lists of things "to do" such as cross-examine the local antiquities dealer or comb the murder scene for missing clues.

friday photos

2010-09-17T08:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we had Genghis's baby blessing (in my church, new infants are blessed and prayed over - somewhat similar to a christening). Abe's entire immediate family came, as well as both of his grandmothers. My parents also came out. It meant a lot to us to have people hail from California, Washington, Utah, Wisconsin and London to support us.

Abe's family.

My family (well, 5 out of 17 of us).

Doting grandmas.

Abe gives Genghis baby kisses.

Nuclear family.

Showing off Genghis's blessing kimono, made by my mom. Blanket made by my grandma.

Genghis & Grandpa.

Abe teaches Genghis how to play Dominion.

cleaniness is next to godliness; or, why i wash my sheets each Christmas

2010-09-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

I am the last of 5 children, so I had a fairly relaxed upbringing. Especially since #4 was a smelly, rambunctious boy who did a good job of wearing Mom out. By the time I was about 11 years old I was responsible for taking care of my own things: making my bed, vacuuming my room, doing my laundry. The only time I remember being directed about laundry was on Christmas Eve when my mom asked us to wash our sheets*. Imagine my surprise when, about 12 years later I noticed my friend's chore chart for her home, which included washing bed sheets every other week.

That's when I realized once a year was probably not an adequate target.

I'm now much more sensitive to the status of our sheets. If they feel just a bit matted and clammy then they are ripe for cleaning. If I can feel a little grit around my feet I know we've gone way too long.

It has made me wonder if there are other common household cleaning items that I am woefully ignorant about. What do most people consider the necessary chores for a house to feel livably clean? How often do people vacuum the main floor...under the the couch...in the closet? To explore this issue further, I've created a little survey below (if the survey looks funky through whatever format you're reading this - for example, on my blog the margins are way off, just follow this link instead).

In a follow-up post, I will run analyses and post results.

Loading...

*I may mistakenly remember this as happening every year, but it may have only been once but stood out so much that I have expanded the memory.

friday photos

2010-09-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

Abe and Genghis having a man-to-man conversation.

We took a road trip to Washington D.C. last weekend. Abe showed Genghis around Old Town Alexandria.

The wrap is our solution to eating dinner together. Last night I was wearing Genghis and accidentally dropped spaghetti noodles on his head.

Genghis meets 2 of his cousins last weekend. Unfortunately, he was having a rough day so there wasn't a whole lot of cousin interaction. Except the time one cousin rolled the car seat onto his head. And the time she dropped the plastic T-Rex on his head. Really, though, the point of family is to toughen kids up.

wats ^? sunny n warm hre. lol :)

2010-09-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

Photo from this website

I have sat down several times in the past week to write something insightful and witty on my blog, but the well seems to be dry.

That's not quite true. The well is just full of baby, and I'm trying draw from other sources. It turns out everything I do is dominated by this baby. Just yesterday I walked into a cracker display at the grocery store because I was looking down admiring Genghis rather than watching my steps. That's actually the reason they always say that rear facing car seats are safer - it reduces parents distracted by cooing.

The frustrating thing is that a few weeks ago I thought of something really great to blog about. I forgot and then remembered earlier this week. But now I've forgotten again. So instead of pursuing fresh material I am consumed by trying to remember my awesome idea. Eventually I'll remember and realize that it wasn't really a great idea to begin with. It will feel the same as when you wake up from a dream in which you've had a brilliant idea and as you start to write it down you realize that recycling all of the dirty diapers in the world to use as home insulation probably won't sell after all.

I once had a dream that we could harness the power of new web 2.0 social networking technology to have people across the world report the temperature and precipitation. By uploading all of this data and analyzing it over time we could create a system for tracking and predicting outside conditions. And then I realized that we already have that system - they are called weathermen.

friday photos*

2010-09-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

We recently discovered the joy of the Moby Wrap (I find this brand particularly funny given Genghis's name). Genghis spent a whole day not sleeping and that night we purchased this wrap. Now when he is overtired or overstimulated (my recent theory on his behavior points to these as the main causes of crankiness) I can envelop him in the voluminous folds of the Moby, snuggle him up to my chest, and watch him drift off to sleep while I do the dishes.

*okay, i know these friday photos highlight me more than genghis, but he does really like the moby wrap.

friday photos

2010-08-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

To keep Genghis's growing fan base satisfied, I will attempt to post a few photos every Friday. If I miss a week, it's probably because Genghis didn't sleep very well Thursday night, couldn't get to sleep for his morning nap, or slept fitfully in the afternoon (all likely scenarios).

He loves walks in his stroller.

And baths.

It's hard to see him in this one because he's in camouflage.

Sometimes we get a quiet moment.