Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blog

YUMMERS!

2010-07-15T19:32:00.002-04:00

For dinner tonight, we had mashed potatoes with kale and scallions (thanks, Valerie!), fresh pickled beets, and fresh blackberries. I am so in love with our farm share! I was a little bit apprehensive about putting kale in the mashed potatoes, but I figured that it would just be a vehicle to use up some of the great big bunches of greens we need to get through this week, and that at worst, the potatoes would at least partially mask any harsh or bitter taste. I was so very, very wrong - the kale added a great flavor that really complemented the potatoes. It makes me want to always have greens in my potatoes. And the scallions added that little kick that made them sing. Now, who has an awesome recipe for summer squash or radiccio?

Remedial Gardening

2010-04-22T13:51:00.006-04:00

OK, I'll admit it: I have a black thumb. I kill everything I touch. Not only do I have zero knowledge about how to care for plants, I don't much care. I love looking at plants, I seriously admire people who understand plants, I am incredibly grateful for plants as food and oxygen and beauty. But, I can't seem to translate any of those feelings into the desire to do anything with plants myself.

But now we own a house and a house comes with serious yard responsibilities (especially as I'd prefer to not be known as "those neighbors" - said with a tiny sniff as if my sad yard make me smell a little bit and has driven down property values within a ten-mile radius. OK, no one has said anything remotely like that, but I'd like to avoid it). We contract out the lawn mowing, but I need some help on everything else.

Mostly, I'm asking my super-horticultralist friend Michelle (so, 'Chelle, you have to answer on the blog, not via email, so that we can all have an open conversation about my plants), but I would love answers and ideas from everyone else too.

Here are the ground rules (haha! 'ground' rules! I unintentionally crack myself up!):
1) Assume I'm an idiot. I don't know which ugly brown sticks are dead weeds and which ones are flowers. I don't know if I should cut them off or dig them up or leave them alone because they'll bloom gloriously in a few weeks.
2) Don't give me suggestions to put in any high-maintenence plants no matter how wonderful it would look- I know myself better than to think I'll suddenly become a gardener.
3) Be kind - I know the pictures are pathetic, and I know it's almost May, and I know I just asked you to assume I'm an idiot, but please just refrain from too much derisive laughter. Thank you!

So, here's my front planter. It's right in my front yard and is one of the first things people see as they drive by or visit. What should go in it? Do I need to dig everything else out first?

Here's two shots of our side plot. It's pretty shady most of the time.

What should go in our front door pots (there are two of them, and they are both just as pathetic right now)? What about in the patch right next to the front porch?

Last year, this was a glorious hydrangea bush (I think). Will it bloom again? What should I do to keep it healthy?

And Happy Earth Day everyone!!!

Another list

2010-04-11T14:44:00.002-04:00

The last random list I made was so enjoyable that I thought I'd make another one, just for fun:

1. The house across the street is for sale - who wants to come live next to me?
2. Sugary treats are yummy - I'm so happy Lent is over.
3. An enchilada-thon is also delicious (and not the same thing as an enchilada thong)
4. Thanks to Amber for having a birthday to give Diana an excuse to throw an enchilada-thon.
5. Spring makes me feel alive again (except when my allergies put me back into a fog. Do I sound like a Claritin commercial or what?)
6. 'Date Night' was an awesome date night!
7. I need to send Michelle pictures of my yard so she can tell me if I've got annuals or perenials in my flower beds and what I need to do to make it look like I actually care about my yard.
8. I've loved spring break, but I'm ready to get back to teaching tomorrow (although I do not yet have their papers graded - sigh).
9. They're having an open house at that house across the street right now. I can't decide if should go over to take a look or if that would just be voyeuristic.
10. I'm still not sure how I feel about Pluto's demotion from planet to planetoid.

Easter Pics

2010-03-31T16:55:00.007-04:00

Yes, I'm a big cheeseball and gave in to the crazy cuteness of matching Easter outfits for my kids (don't worry, I draw the line at anything matchy for me).

But the cheese gets even moldier (and more delicious!). Not only do my kids match each other, they also match Ruth's daughter, and Go-go's best friend, Becca. How could we possibly resist setting up the perfect picture for their wedding video (circa 2029).

And here's one of the trio. Mui-mui is in the wheelbarrow because she's terrified of Bunnies (I feel a song from 'Once More with Feeling' coming on (the Buffy the Vampire musical episode) - when in doubt, always go with the 'bunnies are evil' theory).

2010-03-30T12:38:00.000-04:00

Me: "Shall we have rice and chicken nuggets for lunch?"
Mui-mui: "No, juice........and chocolate!"

Post for the sake of posting

2010-03-15T17:47:00.003-04:00

Here is a post just to prove to myself that I can actually publish a blog post. I've started a couple of posts lately, but they're just not working out (one is just boring and the other one is too intimidating), but it's been almost two months (criminal!), so here's what's up in my life:

1. Pi day (3.14 - March 14) was awesome - pizza pi, berry pi, taco pi, coconut cream pi, chocolate pi, pink freezer pi - yum! Plus good friends, good conversation, and all-around general nerdiness.

2. I gave up sugary sweets for Lent.

3. No, despite teaching at a Catholic college, I didn't convert. It's a purely secular celebration (celebration? maybe observance or suffrance would be more accurate?) of Lent.

4. How do I reconcile 1 and 2? I just ate the Pizza, the taco pi, and the (sugar-free) chocolate pi. I enjoyed the rest in my mind (and in the knowledge that we'll just have to celebrate Pi approximation day in July (22/7) and it won't be Lent then).

5. Go-go sings an awesome version of "I'm looking over a four leaf clover that I overlooked before"

6. I thought Relief Society culture was a unique Mormon phenomenon, but the Sweet Adeline chorus I recently joined is eerily similar - women who will kill themselves trying to serve, slightly over-earnest and cheesily sweet, people who can't help but proselyte to you about how wonderful it is to be a member, lots of meal delivery when someone has knee surgery or a baby, and being assigned a pair of 'sisters' who are responsible to answer any questions and make sure I'm progressing with the music and choreography. I guess most relief societies don't go out for a beer after rehearsal or have a lesbian R.S. president, but those are pretty superficial differences.

7. I hate grading poorly written papers.

8. Mui-mui is amazingly cute.

9. My Grandma recently turned 95 and is amazing. I keep meaning to make Swiss bread in her honor, but haven't gotten up the gumption to do it yet.

10. In honor of the Ides of March, we're eating Caesar salad.

I love school

2010-01-27T11:55:00.002-05:00

When I first got married and started to think about having kids, I thought that being a stay at home mom (SAHM) would be the right choice for me. I have a rather inflated opinion of myself and I think I'm incredibly competent, but I'm always losing my battles with laziness and inertia. Adding more things to my to-do list did not seem like a good idea. My mom always worked, but she somehow managed to be home when I needed her and have dinner on the table and keep track of everything we were up to. If there's one thing I'm confident of in this life, it's that I am not as together as my mother. I used to worry that she would think I was making a judgement about her working by making a different choice myself, but the truth is that it was a simple judgement of my own abilities.

The reality of SAHM-ness is miles and miles (and miles) away from my imaginary world. My kids drive me crazy most days, but not even the kind of crazy I used to imagine. It's not so much the things they do (OK, sometimes it's the things they do) as the relentlessness of being with them and being solely responsible for them. Go-go is charming and clever and full of fun. Mui-mui is cute as a button and it's amazing to watch her figure out new things. After a few hours of cute and clever and fun, I just need them to leave me alone. Stop climbing on my head, stop asking if we can play one more game of Connect Four, stop climbing on the counter to get the cookies, stop demanding my undivided attention (pretty please)!

Which is why I love school. Three mornings a week I get to get dressed (in professional clothes even), go talk to grown-ups (well, close enough to grown-ups), use big words (and explain the big words to my students), remember that I have a brain, and not be around my children. When my mom time is smaller and balanced with some grownup time, I am a much better mom. I have the sanity to paint with them, and do play-doh, and go play in the snow. And I've found that as I give them real attention, they stop being so demanding and momhood doesn't feel quite so relentless. For me, adding things to my to-do list actually makes the whole thing more manageable.

I've taught on and off since Go-go was born, so this obviously isn't a new revelation. But it's been a solid year since I've had a teaching gig and I'd forgotten how much better I am as a working mom (even if it's very part-time right now). So, three cheers for the start of a new semester!

Conflicted Emotions

2010-01-21T16:22:00.003-05:00

Embarrassment that my car is so dirty?

Pride in Go-go's fierce name-writing skills?

Worry for his future as a tagger?

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T11:43:00.001-05:00

Buffalo in the Snow

2009-12-05T22:42:00.005-05:00

We had a wonderfully warm October and November here, but we finally got a little snow earlier this month (and the forecast is for a lot more this week). The kids couldn't wait to put on their snow pants and frolic in their own winter wonderland.

Merry Christmas!!

Fall

2009-11-17T20:21:00.016-05:00

It doesn't seem fair to punish all of you for my blogging slacker-ness, but life is pain (anyone who says differently is selling something). So prepare yourself to absorb all of Autumn in one fell swoop (or, should I say, one fell blog post). We'll be covering Mui-mui's birthday, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa P., Halloween, a trip to the pumpkin farm, etc. Because I really do like you guys, I'll spare you the sagas of the craft fair from hell, the person at church who CTW (Chose the Wrong and stole my coat), and Erik's exciting business trips. Don't you feel better now.

We'll start with Halloween.

My brother-in law, Justin, made the coolest Optimus Prime costume in the world (here he is with my cute sister, Rainbow Brite - AKA Ellen):

So, I don't think it's possible to beat Justin, but I did make the 2nd best Optimus Prime costume in the world for Go-go (plus, it actually transforms - check out the video taken at his Preschool halloween party). Thanks to Libby for the awesome "Go-go Prime" shirt - he LOVES it:

Mui-mui was a fabulous pumpkin at some parties and an adorable monkey at others. Sadly, these are the only picture I have (the back of the pumpkin head is her at her preschool party). I promise that I took others, but they're on my stolen phone (or on Grandpa's camera):

Go-go's preschool had two parties, so he went as a pirate/cowboy on the day he wasn't Optimus (reversible vest)

His preschool also had a halloween field trip to a great pumpkin farm. Grandma P., Mui-mui and I came along too and the kids got to pet a chicken, milk a goat, brush a horse, ride a pony, take a hayride, and choose pumpkins. It was perfect weather on a perfect farm - all in all, a perfect day.

We did lots of other fun things while Grandma and Grandpa P. were here. We took a cruise on the Erie canal and got to go up and down through the locks, went to the Anchor Bar and Grill - home of the original Buffalo wings, and took a trip to Goat Island at Niagara Falls. It was so fun to see them and show them around our new house and neighborhood.

October was also Mui-mui's birthday. I can't believe my little baby girl is two years old. She's talking up a storm and is just cute, giggly, and playful. Her Grandpa P. made her the most fabulous ducky booster seat ("duckie seat!") and Grandma and Grandpa got her lots of cute ducks to go with it (toys, purse, towel, and bath confetti). She gets a lot of practice saying "Quack!"

Grandma and Grandpa B. sent a great tea set which goes perfectly in the play kitchen we got her. She loves to pack the set in the cupboard then pull it out and "dink tea". When Go-go saw the kitchen, he declared that he had to give her a present that was as big as Mommy and Daddy's present. So he had a great idea to make a playhouse for the backyard - he wins - it's bigger!

So, there's our fall in a nutshell. Grandma and Grandpa B. are coming for Thanksgiving, so I'm sure we'll have lots more adventures in the coming weeks. And maybe I'll actually blog about them sooner than two months from now. Tune in to see.

Boundaries

2009-09-21T16:55:00.003-04:00

The past three days have been pretty hellish around here (from my perspective anyway). I've been caught in the grips of what I'm fairly certain is H1N1 and haven't been able to do much more than lie in bed in a fevered stupor wishing for the oblivion of death (or at least the oblivion of sleep uninterrupted by hacking, wheezing coughs). Erik has heroically been serving as both single parent and nurse this weekend, but today was the day I've been dreading - the day Erik went back to work and I somehow had to become responsible for the well-being of myself and two small children. To facilitate this, we put the blow-up bed in the living room for me, and the kids have been watching movies and jumping on the bed (and on mommy) while I lay there like a large, lethargic, blob of yuck. The two-year old decided that it would be fun to play hide and seek with all of the stuff on the shelves. So the cell phone was hidden down my shirt, I had a book up the left leg of my pants, and my waistband was stuffed full of 7 or 8 DVDs. And, yet, I barely registered that any of this was happening or that I might want to stop it until I heard myself saying, "No, Mui-mui, 'A Bug's Life' does NOT go in Mommy's underwear." After all, a girl's got to have some boundaries, right?

Just because they're cute

2009-09-11T16:35:00.006-04:00

Go-go's first day of preschool at the YMCA:

Go-go and Mui-mui playing at the window:

Super Kids!

Great Weekend

2009-09-09T14:31:00.012-04:00

Any weekend that starts off with an ice cream party on Friday night has to be good. We walked a few blocks over to a neighbor's house where there was plenty of ice cream, lots of toppings, tons of kids (and their parents) from church, and good conversation. I started out feeling like I must be the Grandma of the ward - I definitely seemed to be the only person there over 26 or 27 - but as the night wore on, we met some great families (of assorted ages).

And Saturday just continued the fun. The weather was perfect for a breakfast baby shower in the park and it was good to meet even more of the women in the ward. After it was over, three of us (Diana, Amber, and me) just sat under the pavillion and chatted away for several more hours. Eventually, we realized that it was 2:30 and that if we wanted to continue gabbing, we should do it somewhere with food. The obvious answer was endless shrimp at Red Lobster. YUM! Coconut shrimp, teryaki shrimp, garlic shrimp scampi, cajun shrimp - just keep it comin'. Mmm, makes my mouth water just thinking about it. The fact that Erik hates seafood made it all the better - no guilt at all about leaving him out of the fun.

As soon as I got home, it was time for another party - and we didn't have to go far. They closed down the street in front of our house, had a bounce house, a rockin' band, a face-painting booth, food, and tons of people. The block party was just for the 2 blocks of our street, but I couldn't believe how many kids there are here (and I scouted a few potential babysitters as well). Go-go and Mui-mui loved it! Erik and I had a pretty spiffy time too.

The highlight of the evening was the traditional "gutter sundae". The kids all line up on the curb with their spoons at the ready (iphone camera at twilight equals fuzzy, dark photos - but you can hopefully get the idea):

Then the sundae is brought out in the section of gutter that has been passed down from year to year and family to family (and, I'm assured, thouroughly scrubbed) and it's time to dig in.

Go-go was the last one still going at it.

Sunday was a day of rest. I stayed home with a sick Daniel (maybe too much watermelon and ice cream at the block party) and we just had a pleasant day. On Monday, we went to Rochester to the Museum of Play. It is the coolest children's museum I have ever seen. We've been there lots of times, but we never seem to make it very far. This time, we started at the end in Reading Adventureland where we climbed Jack's beanstalk, played in the giant's castle, had adventures in Robison Crusoe's treehouse, solved mysteries with Nancy Drew, and just had a great time. We also saw their amazing butterfly garden (it really was jam-packed with butterflies, despite the fact we didn't seem to catch any on camera).

When we first walked into the museum, I noticed a familiar face in line just ahead of us. Then, two, and three, and four (and then all of their kids - a total of 10 familiar faces!)! It was our new friends Amber and Diana and their families. We felt a little like stalkers (although maybe it was them stalking us - they obviously didn't get enough of me at Red Lobster), but we had a great time all playing together at the museum, and then the park for a little while when the museum closed. Then we all headed to LeRoy, NY (birthplace of Jello) for some delicious chicken pot pie.

All in all, an almost perfect weekend!

Go-go Transforms!

2009-08-29T20:23:00.008-04:00

On Wednesday, Go-go transformed from a 3 year-old into a 4 year-old! It seems impossible that he has been around that long (although sometimes I have trouble remembering life before being a mom, so I shouldn't be too surprised that it's been a while). He's been looking forward to his birthday for about six months now, and (not surprisingly, if you've ever read this blog) has never wavered from his insistence that he will have "a Transformers party, with a big Transformers cake and Transformers game and I'll be Optimus Prime!" (you have to picture this being said with plenty of wild jumping and gesturing).

Who am I to deny a boy his dream?

So, on Wednesday, we had cake:

On Saturday, we had the friends' party. The plan was to do everything in the back yard, but our rainy Buffalo summer put a damper on that plan ('damp'-er, ha ha ha! - sometimes I crack myself up with very little justification!) Luckily, our couches didn't fit into the doorways when we moved in, so we have a big empty room that's just right for decepticon bowling, dance partying, musical pillow flopping, and general merriment-making.

Bowling for Bots

Decorating Cupcakes

Making Personal Pizzas

Pin the Autobot Symbol on Optimus Prime

Opening Presents

And General Merriment

Summer Fun

2009-08-25T20:08:00.008-04:00

As you may remember, my children adore blueberries. So, on Saturday, we headed off to the U-Pick farm to load up. We picked about 7 pounds and have been gorging ourselves on anti-oxidant goodness (of course, it's even better when you up the nutritional goodness with whipped cream - yum!). Most of our haul is in the freezer, which is good because the non-frozen ones are starting to get squishy, but bad because by tomorrow, I won't be able to just reach in the fridge and pop a few bites of sweet deliciousness into my mouth. Sigh.

Today, we went to a little beach on a lake for our ward playgroup. I snapped a picture of Go-go paddling a little canoe, but it seems that i didn't save it to my camera. I did, however, save this shot of Mui-mui eating our picnic lunch.

Yes, you can all admire how I massacred her poor bangs this morning. In my (pathetic) defense, she fought me the whole time and refused to sit still. You can all vote as to whether A) I need to get her to a stylist ASAP, B) they're too short and wacked out for even a talented stylist to fix them - I'll just have to wait it out, or C) don't worry about it - if we didn't have funny looking pictures from our childhoods we'd have nothing to laugh about when we got old.

Moving lessons

2009-08-17T23:28:00.004-04:00

I've moved many, many times in my life, so you'd think I'd have this moving thing down. But, every time is a little different and I learn new things each time I pack up. Here are a few things I've learned this move:

-Kids are not helpful when packing

-Sending Go-go to YMCA daycamp for 2 weeks so that I could pack/move/clean, etc. was a fabulous idea. I loved it, he loved it, definitely a win-win.

- Everyone should have a 12-year old live at their house. Ruth lent me hers for a week and a half and Elizabeth was a lifesaver. She watched Mui-mui and kept her out of my hair, sorted and packed things, entertained Go-go when he got home from daycamp, and entertained me as well. She made me remember how much fun it was to be 12.

- Professional packers use WAY more boxes than I do. We have the same amount of stuff as we did last year (when we had packers), but we only used about a third of the boxes we saved from that move. But, if I was going to be held liable for any breakage, I might pack a lampshade by itself in a box with a ton of paper too.

- I missed having professional packers, but I did hire loaders. I've been grateful for a lot of Elder's quorum volunteers in my time, but they have enough poor students to move in and out of the wards this summer. And you can't sue them if they break your favorite bookshelf (You may be able to guess that I'm still a little peeved about the big chip out of my bookshelf that happened nine years ago in an Elder's Quorum move).

- I love my new house. I love almost everything about it (although the doorknobs really need some help).

-Being in a house that I love actually makes it easier to get out the door (despite the problem doorknobs). Sounds counter-intuitive, I know, but feeling happier about everything makes it feel so much easier to go to the library, Target, the YMCA, whatever. Not to mention the fact that going to the playground is just walking across the street.

-I love my new dining room table and chairs. I promise to post pics as soon as I get boxes out of the way. It makes me happy just to look at them.

- If Erik has to duck a little when he goes down the stairs, a queen-sized boxspring wil not fit up the stairs.

- On a related note, you can buy a boxspring kit in a box. It's really sturdy and it wasn't too bad to put together at all.

- Older houses also have narrow entryways. Luckily, our huge couches were stained, ripped, old, faded, and gross. So, I didn't mind too much that we couldn't get them in.

- Have I mentioned that I love my new house?

I promise to post pictures of the house soon. In the meantime, if you're in need of visual stimulation, you can check out the pictures I put up in the two other posts (Intense and Family Time) I wrote tonight. Happy reading!

Family Time

2009-08-17T23:01:00.007-04:00

After I got to hang out with Ruth in Utah for a week or so, I got to stay with my sister Ellen and her sweet hubby, Justin. Go-go has decided he is going to grow up to be Justin, mostly because of the 70+ transformers in Justin's collection and every posible transformers animated cartoon (from the 80's, 90's, and today!) on DVD. We played, I bopped around visiting random cousins and friends, and we went to see my Grandma. She's 94 and looking pretty great.

Then the whole clan came together. Doug, Amber, and the kids came down from Seattle, Mom and Dad came in from Vegas, Ellen and Justin live in SLC, and Erik flew in from WNY. Mom and Dad rented a big house in the mouth of Millcreek canyon and we had a great time hanging out, watching movies, going to Lagoon, having picnics, seeing the Aquarium (thanks for the tour, Evan!), and enjoying each other's company. Here are a few highlights:

I love my family!

Intense

2009-08-17T22:18:00.007-04:00

Or, should I say, "In Tents".

Although I never want to be one of those people who travels around from fair to fair, it is fun to do a show every once in a while. Ruth and I were both going to be in Utah this summer for family reunions, so we did the Provo Freedom Festival over the 4th of July weekend. It was so fun to see two of my old mission comps at the festival (Howdy Simmons and Lucas!) and to meet the moms, sisters, and friends of my friends (I love viral facebook marketing, don't you?)

We sold all of our normal Little Lit stuff, but also added play tents just for fun. Despite many a serger nightmare, we were able to make 20, and we sold every one (except for the one I pinned backwards that was horribly skew-wampus). We have fabric and supplies for 20 more, so we'll need to do another show of some kind next summer; but now we have a much better idea of how to streamline the process. The best part of the process was finding super-cheap, but super-cute fabric combinations. Most were one-of-a-kind (we had two duplicates) and I wish I had pictures of all of them, but these shots will give you an idea. Similar tents sell online for $288-$360 (I'm not just making that up!). But ours have cool portholes to peek out of and sold for only around $60.

The stuff you see in the background is our nextdoor neighbor's booth. They ARE the kind of people who spend all summer traveling around the country from fair to fair. Their winters are spent making the hair do-dads and neck coolers they sell. But, they are experts at making cute princess hair (as evidenced by Emma, Becca, and Mui-mui. Yep, even Mui-mui who won't let me put a barrette in her hair for more than 3 seconds looked sweet in her twisty-bun. And it lasted for about 5 whole minutes - a true record).

We all scream....

2009-06-13T21:17:00.002-04:00

Tag team training

2009-06-08T09:42:00.003-04:00

My recipe for successful potty training:

1. Make sure that your child and his best friend are struggling with potty training at the same time.
2. Go spend a week at said friend's house.
3. Be generous in the allotment of skittles after each successful toilet experience.
4. The children will take care of gloating to each other that they got a potty treat.
5. Whichever one did not get the most recent potty treat will dash to the bathroom to earn his/her own reward (heaven forbid that Becca has more treats than Go-go! And there is no way that Becca is going to stand idly by while Go-go eats treats without her!).
6. Hope that it sticks after Go-go returns home (so far, so good).

So, should I publish a book, or what? Doesn't everyone have a week to have a giant slumber party with their best friend? And forget the fact that Go-go will be four (!?!) in a few months - aren't I a prodigy (of course it's all about me!)? And, of course, we're also going to ignore the fact that we've only mastered #1 - I'll just write a sequel when I discover the brilliant and innovative method to tackle #2.

And if you're one of those people who just roll their eyes whenever the potty training topic comes up, roll away. I'm rolling my own eyes as I type this post, but can't resist sharing my glee and relief that the silly kid who can tell us the difference between a noun and a verb can finally pee where he's supposed to! Hooray for Go-go (and Becca!) !!

Bedtime Song

2009-05-22T19:26:00.002-04:00

As I put the kids down to bed tonight, Go-go asked for one more song. I started to sing my favorite lullaby, Edelweiss, but he cut me off and said, "No, Mom! A Jesus song!" OK, I know more than a few of those, so I thought this was an easy request. I started off with 'Tell Me the Stories of Jesus' which he listened to politely and then said, "No, Mom! Not that one." So I started to sing 'Jesus Once Was a Little Child.' This time, he only let me get through one line before telling me that I still had the wrong one. 'I Am a Child of God' didn't go over any better.

By this time, I was running out of ideas. "What Jesus song do you want me to sing?"

"Oh, you know, Mom. My Jesus song."

"Well, remind me how it goes, OK."

The tune was eerily similar to the song they play at the beginning of a movie with the dancing soda cups and hot dogs. You know, the one that goes, "Let's all go to the lobby, let's all go to the lobby, let's all go to the lobby, and get ourselves some snacks."

Go-go proceeded to sing with gusto and at the top of his lungs:

"Jesus had a transformer!

Jesus had a transformer!

And He likes to fight with it!"

Of Pilgrims and Projects

2009-05-21T00:27:00.013-04:00

I was about to start this post with the sentence, "I've always struggled to find my place in the church and in the world as a woman and as a Mormon," but I realized that, although I liked the sound of it, it would be a lie. In my early adulthood, I felt perfectly at ease with myself and my church. Granted, I was a Democrat at BYU ("What!?! I'm pretty sure it's in the temple recommend interview somewhere that you must vote Republican!"), but my testimony was fairly mainstream and strong. I'd heard of the feminist organization on campus (VOICE), but somehow never made it to a meeting to check it out. And I had never considered most of the issues I'm sure they were talking about at the time (long, long ago in an early '90's galaxy far, far away). I followed a fairly traditional path for a Mormon girl; I went on a mission, got married in the temple, graduated from college (finally), and had some kids (finally). True, I threw in a little graduate school along the way, but although that may not be typical, it certainly isn't way out there.

Fast forward a few (OK, many) years later and I can say, "I currently struggle to find my place in the church and in the world as a woman and as a Mormon." Problems with a male-centric hierarchy that seemed normal and natural to me before, now grate on me. I find it confusing to love a church when I don't love everything it stands for or promotes. People I meet in the outside world make invalid assumptions about me when they find out I'm LDS, and people in my ward throw out casual comments about those apostate feminists and liberals.

I was lucky to land in Pittsburgh around the same time that I was growing more into my own sense of self. There I met a group of amazing women who showed by example that it is possible to navigate the space that includes an awareness about and intolerance of sexism in the church and a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. A few weeks after I moved to Pittsburgh in 2000, a stranger (now my dear, dear friend Christine) invited me to a mini retreat held at a cabin up in the mountains. She described it as "a relief society gathering for liberals." What had I said to blow my cover?! How did she know?! Whatever I had done or said, she was right that I needed it. Here was a group of women who were not afraid to talk about anything and everything. Nothing was taboo, having questions was not considered a sign of doubt, and having doubts was not considered a sign of unworthiness. That spring, I attended a similar, but larger gathering in Indiana - the Midwest Pilgrims Retreat. It's been a good place to work out my frustrations, vent about my pet peeves, explore my doubts, renew my faith, connect with amazing women, and have a good time.

This year, the group from Pittsburgh was in charge of planning Midwest Pilgrims Retreat in Chicago and it has been a great project for me. I put together the website (which you can check out here if you're interested in the program we put on), ran registration, made a labyrinth (with Michelle - see below), and led one of the workshops. Having something tangible to plan and to do that also involved coordinating with lots of other grown-ups on a daily basis brought me out of a funk that had me in its grasp all winter. Yes, spring, sunshine, new house, and new neighborhood to look forward to all helped as well, but I have a renewed belief in the value of projects.

The workshop I led was a discussion about an article in Dialogue: "How to Worship our Mother in Heaven (Without Getting Excommunicated)". Right about here is where half of my cousins have gasped and started to worry about my eternal soul (a few of them started worrying back when I talked about being a liberal feminist). But, don't worry, it was a great discussion and I learned many ways to incorporate this important and unique aspect of Mormon doctrine into my life and mind. And besides, I have so many questions and concerns about other things that many consider fundamental to salvation that a little speculation about the feminine divine is absolutely not even on the top ten list of things you should worry about with me (and a very special hello to my R.S. president who is probably reading this - Hi, Eliza!)

The retreat itself was rejuvenating. So many of my friends who are still in Pittsburgh or who have moved away from Pittsburgh were there. Below is a shot of all the current and former Pittsburghers who attended (and two are missing from the picture). Twenty-two of the seventy-four attendees were from Pittsburgh (now or at some point in the recent past). I don't know that I'll ever find another group like this in a Mormon congregation, and I haven't had much luck converting even a small group in my current suburban ward (can't wait to try it in the city ward).

So, to sum up - I love my friends. I love my Mormon-ness. I love Midwest Pilgrims. I love my crazy ideas and ideals. I love Chicago. I love Pittsburgh. I love holding the camera at arm's length and hoping against all previous experience in my life that I'll get a decent shot (see below). I love a weekend without the kids. I love my family (liberal and conservative sides). I even love the struggle to find my place in the world and in the church. After all, how boring would it be to just go back to being comfortable.

Welcome to the American Dream

2009-04-27T00:26:00.007-04:00

So, we did it! In the last whirlwind of a week, we've gotten word that the funding for Erik's dream job will be ongoing, got ourselves a real estate agent and pre-approval for a loan, looked at some houses, fell in love, made an offer, and bought ourselves a house!! Of course, everything is still contingent on the inspection, etc., but we are thrilled.

The house has 3 bedrooms and a full bath on the top floor. On the 2nd floor are a living room, dining room, eat-in kitchen, pantry, half bath, bedroom (office), screened-in porch, and 2-car attached garage (something I never thought we'd get on the kind of older home we wanted). The basement has a finished playroom, an unfinished workroom (that I plan to finish as another office), laundry, and storage. It's on a corner with a fenced yard and it even comes with a swingset. It's a 1930's home which gives it all of the great character I love - hardwood floors, built in bookcases, lovely fireplace, archway between the living and dining rooms. But, the current owners have made a lot of great updates - new bathrooms, new roof, new windows, new boiler, etc. Plus, they have great taste in paint and decor - we can just move right in. It's on the smaller side of our square footage range, but the spaces are all perfect. It's got a very 'not too big house' feel to me - smart spaces with character and charm as opposed to big empty space for the sake of space.

The neighborhood is great. We're right across the street from a tip-top rated elementary school with a fabulous playground. The library and some cute shops are a quick walk away (and there are sidewalks everywhere - the lack of which are a major source of stress in my current life). There are a TON of kids in the neighborhood - I've met the mom across the street who has two kids the same ages as ours. She assured me that Go-go and Mui-mui will never lack for neighborhood playmates. And we'll be changing wards - we'll be in the city ward which has a really nice vibe.

The timing has been amazing and a blessing. We've seen a lot of houses online and have been doing the open house circuit for the past month and a half; we've seen several that had one or two things missing from our lists or could work if they had to. But this house came on the market just a few days after we decided we could go ahead and buy and we were able to get to it first. We'll close at the end of July. Here are some pictures (obviously not our furniture):

Sorry to gush - we're property virgins and I was really dreading the whole process. So far it had been great and we both feel incredibly calm about everything. I'll let you know if I still feel the same way when we close.

What I learned in Sunbeams

2009-04-18T01:42:00.010-04:00

Every week, I pick Go-go up from his Sunbeam class at church. When he sees me in the doorway, he shouts, "Mommy!" and starts to run for me.
Every week, his teacher calls out, "Wait a second!" and hands him the picture he drew along with any other craft project or handout they did that day.
Every week, I ask him to tell me about his picture, and every week he replies, "It's a big monster!"

A few weeks ago, I suggested that maybe he should draw a picture about the lesson they had in class, or maybe just a picture about Jesus.

The boy does not disappoint. Here is his picture from last Sunday:

"It's the big monster that scared Jesus!"

Easter wiggles

2009-04-14T18:55:00.006-04:00

Most of our Easter fun was at Becca's house on Friday and Saturday. Eggs filled with candy and scavenger hunt clues, ring pops, a glitter ball, and a Batman scooter were all involved. Great fun - but, alas, no pictures.

Sunday morning, the kids looked dashing in their Easter finery, but were in no mood to take pictures. Here are a few of their wiggle-rific poses:

Of course, for maximum Easter Portrait fun, running away is always a good approach:

By the time church was done, so were the kids:

So, no sweet smiling portraits of cherubic children in their Easter frippery, but we had a lovely holiday and you'll just have to believe me that they looked charming.

By Popular Demand

2009-04-02T10:13:00.002-04:00

So many of my faithful readers cried out for messy blueberry pictures the last time the kids ate frozen blueberries that I simply had to post pictures from this morning's blueberry adventure. I couldn't disappoint my loyal fans, now could I?

Kid Portraits

2009-03-29T21:35:00.003-04:00

Go-go

Mui-mui

Go-go and his best friend Becca (now we have the perfect picture to put on their wedding invitations in 20 years)

Transform!

2009-03-20T17:40:00.002-04:00

This morning, we pulled out one of our 'Liken the Scriptures' videos (silly (but fun) musicals about scripture stories - this one is about Nephi and Laban and imagines Lehi's four sons as sort of a boy-band). This afternoon, Go-go put a striped blanket on his head and said, "Look mom! I'm Lehi because he wears a hat just like this." I felt all warm and fuzzy - the good mom whose son wants to play scripture stories. And then reality descended upon us once more, " Lehi transforms into a big truck! Look mom, I'm Lehi the transformer!" Sigh.

Smart Mom, Dumb Mom

2009-03-13T16:46:00.005-04:00

Saying that my kids kind of love blueberries is like saying that I kind of like chocolate. But, they're pretty messy, so they don't get them as often as they would like. Never fear - Smart Mom is here! Smart Mom thought, "No problem - Go-go is already in a blue shirt and blue pants (plus he's old enough to eat with relatively little mess) and I'll just strip Mui-mui down to her diaper. Afterwards, I'll plop them both in the tub and we're good to go!" So, for lunch today, we had blueberry pomegranate applesauce and frozen blueberries with our quesadillas. And Smart Mom was right! They loved it, they got clean, and I dressed them in nice clean clothes. Mui-mui was even wearing a darling new shirt - cream with pink and brown writing that says, "I love to Twirl." All was good with the world. And then Dumb Mom struck.

Dumb Mom forgot three crucial things: 1)Although I cleaned up the high chair, I neglected to remove Go-go's leftovers from the kitchen table; 2)Mui-mui loves to climb up on the kitchen table; and 3)If it's too quiet, bad things are happening! Blue face, blue legs, blue feet, blue hair, and saddest of all, blue shirt. Deep, dark, purplish, splotchy, impossible to ever clean, blue shirt. Sigh.

Fun stuff

2009-03-09T18:07:00.008-04:00

We've been having a fun couple of weeks. At the end of February, they had a 'beach' set up at the mall. We had a great time playing in the sand:

And on Friday night, we had a 'campout' in our basement. We had a tent set up and we ate hot dogs and s'mores in the tent, told fun stories, and sang all of the songs I could remember from girls' camp:

Go-go is obsessed with transformers. Sadly, he only owns one real transformer. Happily, he doesn't need a real transformer to play transformers. His new favorite activity is to build a robot out of blocks, tell me he's going to transform it (or tell me that I have to transform it), move some blocks around, and then tell me what it has transformed into. Usually he does this with his Mega Bloks (kind of like giant legos), but today he built robot families with his wooden blocks:

Mui-mui is obsessed with her shoes and her coat. She is constantly bringing them to me to put on her - probably because she thinks it will mean we'll go somewhere fun. Today she chose a vest instead of a coat and added a hat from our dress-up collection to complete the look. I thought she was quite dashing:

Another new favorite Mui-mui discovery is the bouncy horse that used to belong to Erik and his siblings. She loves to climb up on it and bounce her heart out. She's not quite as good at climbing down, but she loves the horse:

Hide and Seek - plus random pictures

2009-03-02T10:32:00.005-05:00

Mui-mui loves opening doors and emptying out my cupboards. A few weeks ago, she decided to replace the pitchers/bowls with something a lot more fun - herself!

And Go-go likes to hide with his friends:

He likes to play with human friends too - especially Becca (this is the two of them at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester):

And last, but not least, we have some bonus pictures of Mui-mui dressed for Chinese New Year.

Purse mania! Plus, a non-purse-related giveaway!

2009-02-24T16:40:00.004-05:00

Last fall, Ruth was her ward's enrichment leader and was in charge of Super Saturday crafts. One thing they did was to make purses out of placemats. So easy (just google placemat purses for tons of sites with instructions)! Fabric placemats are cheap, already finished and lined for you, a great shape (they make the perfect size to carry a standard size quad), and come in fancy patterns. Problematically, something about this idea really caught my fancy and I began buying placemats with abandon. They seemed to be on clearance everywhere - Target, Kohls, Walmart, Big Lots, the grocery store! I ended up with a lot of very cute, very cheap placemats. On top of that, Ruth was buying them too. We took them all to Walmart, bought great trims, and went to town. Here are some of our creations:

Speaking of getting carried away with homemade stuff, I foolishly committed myself to promising three people that I would send them a homemade gift this year. Guess what, one of those people could be you - just be one of the first three people to comment on this post (In return for posting this, I get something from Edith and I'm really excited to see what I get). Here's the kicker though - you have to pay it forward. If you don't blog, post a note on your facebook page. If you don't have a facebook page, email a bunch of people you know with the offer. Who knows what you'll get (it won't be a purse) or when in the next 365 days you'll get it - it's all part of the suspense.

I'm on TV!

2009-02-19T00:54:00.003-05:00

OK, I admit it, the post title is a big lie. I haven't actually been on TV since high school (that I know of). But, Little Lit, the company that Ruth and I run, was featured on TV - KSL Studio5. They did a segment on stuff to keep your kids entertained while they need to be quiet (church, restaurant, doctor's office, etc.), and they featured our products. You are welcome to watch the whole segment if you want, but the interesting part (to us anyway) is about 9 minutes in where they stop telling you how to make stuff and start telling you where to buy stuff. They feature our Seek & Find toys and have our 'My Book of Mormon Quiet Book' displayed as well. I promise not to let the fame go to my head.

"Crash!"

2009-02-17T16:06:00.003-05:00

Mui-mui has a great new favorite word - 'Crash!' (or, as she says it, 'Ash!'). This word is applicable to falling block towers, colliding toy cars, herself falling down (or into a piece of furniture), ring around the rosie, throwing food on the floor, throwing diapers in the garbage can, and even projectile vomit landing on the floor. Since it's one of only four or five words in her vocabulary (Ma, Da, Dis, and Dat being the other common ones with a very occasional 'nigh-nigh' thrown in now and then), it's a good thing it's the perfect word for so many situations.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T14:42:00.003-05:00

After being gone for almost two weeks, the kids and I finally got back home on Friday night. I had a fabulous time at Michelle's wedding in Alaska (post and pictures coming soon) and the kids had fun at Ruth's house. But, I missed my Erik and it was great to get back just in time for Valentine's day.

During the day, we had lots of fun mixing up pink cookie dough, rolling it out ("It's just like Play Dough!") and cutting out heart-shaped cookies. And Go-go and Mui-mui looked perfect in the special Valentine's shirts that Grandma P. sent for them.

But the real fun happened after the kids went to bed. Erik put on his good suit (he looks SO good in it, but he almost never wears it), and I put on my red dress and we had a delicious candlelight supper. Erik made Chicken Cordon Bleu, fancy veggies, potatoes, and even homemade bread - YUM! He's such a sweetheart. Then he gave me a box of personalized M&M's ('Erik lvs Margaret'). Then I, being the mushy romantic that I am, gave him his very own pair of warm socks with Moose on them. Luckily, he loves me despite my Valentine-impairment, and we had a terrific time together on our 'date'.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Merry Christmas!

2009-02-01T00:13:00.004-05:00

Well, it's February 1st, and we just got our tree down this week, so that must mean that it's time for a Christmas post. I got the cool Flip video camera for Christmas, so I took some footage of Christmas morning and put together this little movie. It's only 3 minutes long, but I won't be upset if you skip it - just forward to the end for the cutest shot ever of Mui-mui blowing kisses. Happy Christmas to all and to all a good Groundhog day!

Happy Inauguration!

2009-01-19T22:05:00.003-05:00

Whatever your feelings about the outcome of the recent election, I'm sure we can all agree that our new president and our nation could use our prayers and best wishes over the next four years. Here's to Hope!

Photo Montage

2009-01-17T12:41:00.005-05:00

So, I've been tagged. Granted, Kristie put out the challenge 3 or 4 months ago, and, also granted, I don't really believe in playing tag (OK, it's more like I'm agnostic towards online games of tag), but it looked like fun and so I did it. Here is the challenge:

The rules of the game:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker. (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php) Then upload or copy the completed mosiac to your blog.
d. If you're reading this, you may consider yourself tagged (but only if you think it would be fun).

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Margaret
2. What is your favorite food? Raspberries
3. What high school did you go to? Kahuku (and, yes, I was in the marching band!)
4. What is your favorite color? Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush? George Clooney
6. Favorite drink? Right now it's hot mint tea
7. Dream vacation? Today, I'm thinking London
8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate!
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Happy (I wish I knew what profession I wanted to be when I grew up)
10. What do you love most in life? My Family
11. One Word to describe you. Friendly
12. Your Flickr name (or other online name) Markie!

Photo credits:
1. Margaret "Wyld Meg" Ogg, Feral Child of Lochloorach, 2. Drop a Raspberry, 3. Kahuku, 4. Blue ice cave at the Jostedalsbreen glacier, 5. George Clooney, 6. Green mint tea, 7. The Day of the Storm in London Covent Garden..., 8. Put Chocolate Pudding on the Top Shelf !!, 9. don't worry be happy new year, 10. My family portrait, 11. "you've got a friend", 12. Markie Blitz Super Hero 2

What's in a name?

2009-01-07T14:33:00.002-05:00

I don't really regret changing my name when I got married, but I have been missing my maiden name lately. My (nuclear and extended) family is really cool and I like having that visible connection to them. Of course, if I could, I'd share a name with all of my mom's side of the family too - you can see how that would get very messy, very fast. And, of course, there's the feminist side of me that says, "Why should I be the one to give up half of my identity just because I'm a woman?"

My old name was hard to spell, constantly butchered in pronunciation, and is way too close to a swear word, but it was ME. My new name (OK, not really new since we've been married for more than 11 years, but you know what I mean) is common, easy to spell, easy to say, and it actually has become me. But, I wish there was a non-clunky way to have both. Hyphenating is not for me (my signature is already 17 letters long!), and I like that we all have a common name for our family. I think the Chinese way is my favorite. In Chinese I would be 'Markie Oldname' but we would be the 'Newname' family and I would be 'Mrs. Newname'. Who's with me on adopting the Chinese way?

The bed's too small

2009-01-03T09:35:00.002-05:00

The first year and a half of our marriage, Erik and I had a full-sized bed. It worked, but, as mattress stores love to point out, if there are two people on a full-sized bed, each one has less total acreage than a crib mattress. It can start to feel a little cramped. On the other hand, while it's great fun to stay in a hotel, the King-sized bed just feels lonely. So, we're generally pretty happy with our Queen-sized bed. It's not too big, not too small, not too hard, not too soft - even Goldilocks would approve. It's even big enough for the occasional visit from our sweet 3-year old. Until last night, that is. Go-go's best friend Becca is staying with us for a week while her mom is in Utah. Last night, Becca had a bad dream, so we brought her into bed with us to snuggle. About a half-hour later, Go-go came in to snuggle too. With his usual snuggle-spot occupied, Go-go improvised throughout the night - using my shins, stomach, feet, or hip as a pillow; lying perpendicularly across our ankles; snuggling around my head like a cat; and just lying in his regular spot despite the fact that Becca was already there underneath him. Despite all of this, the kids seemed to get plenty of sleep. The adults? Not so much. I think that we're going to be in big trouble when Mui-mui gets big enough to climb out of her bed and into ours.

One more wreath

2008-12-22T17:30:00.001-05:00

OK, I know, you're all sick of advent wreaths, but I promised to post a picture of Ruth's fabulous wreath when I got one, so here it is (her second wreath isn't quite done yet).

O Christmas Tree

2008-12-20T11:17:00.000-05:00

We bundled everyone up, drove out to the tree farm, grabbed a big saw, and headed out towards the fields of trees to conquer and drag home the Christmas of our dreams. But, we only got as far as the gate before Go-go cried, "I'm so cold! I don't want a Christmas tree! I'm too cold!" We decided that the pre-cut trees in the barn would be more than good enough.

Then it was time to decorate the tree (and ourselves) and play in pajamas.

More advent calendar wreath

2008-12-19T09:21:00.000-05:00

A few people have asked for more specifics on the watchmaker tin advent wreaths. I'm a little hesitant to provide instructions because that's not the kind of crafter I am (I wouldn't say I'm a crafter at all). The fun for me is making it up as I go along. If I saw the list of everything I did, I would have said, "That takes way too long and is way too Martha Stewart - I'll just go buy something at Target." But, I know that there are all sorts ways to craft - so I'll let y'all know what Ruth and I did and you can take it from there.

First are the watchmaker tins. We bought them from a wholesale supplier (Darice), but you can get the 2-inch size at Michael's or JoAnne's (in the wedding department), or you can get a variety of sizes online here. They just have pop off lids, so they're easy for kids to open (maybe too easy). A variety of sizes looks nice. We used 2-inch and 1 1/2 inch tins (we ordered some 3-inch tins as well, but they were out of stock). It's hard to find candy that can fit in the 1 1/2 inch tins, so we actually skipped the candy part at my house and just did Christmas activities.

The base is a flat wreath form we found at Michael's and then spray painted. You could also use a standard foam wreath form wrapped in ribbon, but it would be a very different look and the tins would all face slightly different directions (which could be a good thing).

Next, you just play with your tins and doo-dads until you have a look you like. Then hot-glue everything in place. For a sturdier wreath that will last season after season, you could also screw the tins down to the wreath form (be sure to use tiny screws). Inside the lids, we used scrapbook paper stamped with the numbers. I think it might look better with numbers cut out of contrasting papers. One problem I had was adhering the paper to the lids. I used spray adhesive, but it left a residue that made the lids look sticky and yucky. You could tape the paper into the lids or use a tiny bit of glue just around the inside rim.

On the red and green wreath, the star doo-dad is an ornament we found at Joanne's and spray painted silver. The curly-cues are just some decorations we found at Walmart and bent around until the look was right. I fell in love with the white berry sprays at Michael's and then chose ribbon that looked good with it for the silver/blue wreath. Just look for Christmas stuff that makes you happy and go from there. The fun is in the designing and creating.

Advent Calendar Wreaths

2008-12-18T13:23:00.001-05:00

We have been loving December and our Christmas Advent activities. Go-go can't wait for Daddy to get home so that he can go "open the paper". I promised I would post pictures and I am finally making good on my word. Ruth and I were inspired by the wonderful tins on this wreath, but wanted to put our own spin on it. We each made two wreaths (I will try to get pictures of Ruth's too - they are incredibly cute [update - here's a picture of one of Ruth's wreaths]). Here are mine (we're currently using the red and green one):

(more info on how we made the wreaths here)

Lucie's wedding

2008-12-10T09:10:00.000-05:00

Erik's sister, Lucie, got married the week before Thanksgiving, so we got to spend the holiday in California (mmm, warm California). The wedding was beautiful, Dan is a great guy, and we had a fabulous time.

Mui-mui looked gorgeous in a dress that Grandma Virginia made for her:

And Go-go was so handsome in his fancy clothes:

Of course, sliding in the mud at the reception can improve even the fanciest of suits:

Despite the mud and mess, we had a great time doing the wedding thing and visiting with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Later in the week, we went to the Exploratorium in San Francisco with Aunt Aimee and cousin Brett:

And Thanksgiving dinner was delicious! (but I don't have any pictures - you'll just have to imagine it)

While I'm posting cute pictures of my kids, here are two more taken after we got back home:

Mui-mui walks and Go-go Snaps

2008-12-08T21:05:00.000-05:00

Friday night, Mui-mui suddenly decided to stand up and walk. She just kept getting up, falling down, and starting over again. She tried again at church on Sunday, but hasn't been interested today. In this clip, Go-go is following her around with the i-phone trying to take her picture.

Speaking of Go-go taking pictures, he has been obsessed with the camera lately. Luckily, digital photos are cheap and easy to delete. Here's a tour around our house through the eyes of a 3 year-old.

Simon says.....

2008-12-04T20:53:00.000-05:00

.....leave a comment. Bonus points if you are first or can manage to engage a commenter (whom you've never met) in a back and forth exchange.

Advent

2008-12-01T13:54:00.000-05:00

So, it's December 1st and it's the perfect time to count down to Christmas. You all would be absolutely amazed at the advent calendar wreaths that Ruth and I made (I promise to post some pictures soon), and last night Erik and I planned Christmas activities for the month. A lot of these are things we'd probably do anyway, but this gives us a schedule and something to make it seem like a Christmas adventure. This is the first year that Go-go really has any notion of time and looking forward to events, so we're really excited to make it fun. And I think Mui-mui will enjoy it too, even if she'll have no idea what's going on. It's also the first time in almost a decade that we'll be home for Christmas - now's the time for us to establish our own holiday traditions.

So, here's what you'll find on little slips of paper along with the chocolate in each days ornament:

Make Paper snowflakes
Dance to Christmas music
Watch Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer
Make Christmas cards for friends and family
Feed the missionaries
Take family pictures
Watch the Prophet's Christmas message at the church
Make a paper chain for the tree
Bake cookies
Drink hot chocolate
Watch the Grinch
Drive through Christmas lights
Go to the Christmas Tree farm and go to the ward Christmas party
Decorate the Christmas tree
Buy a toy for 'toys for tots'
Wrap presents
Drink Eggnog
Family game night
Make a list of 10 things we're thankful for
Go to the Niagara Falls Christmas Displays
Read the Christmas story from the Book of Mormon
Sing Christmas carols
Bake cookies for neighbors
Read the Christmas story from the Bible and do a Nativity Pageant

Hooray for Democracy!

2008-11-05T12:19:00.000-05:00

I was a little apprehensive taking Mui-mui to the polls yesterday. She had been running a little fever and was even clingier than usual. And, of course, the only time I could go was right at her usual naptime. All of that, combined with the news footage of people across the country waiting in lines for hours and hours, made me a little bit worried. But, a citizen must soldier on; so I dilligently drove to the fire station, parked in the lot, got Mui-mui and her paraphanalia out, and was kindly chastisied by a burly fireman for parking in the firefighters-only lot. He finally told me to just go on in because the lot didn't have any signs saying it was for firemen only and because my baby was too cute to make me strap her back in her carseat just to drive 100 feet to the official voter parking (so true).

My fears were confirmed when I walked into the building and saw the hall packed with people in a long snaking line. I was trying to look nonchalant and competent as I furtively scanned the room for the end of the line, but I could tell I had failed when one of the fabulous tiny-grandma-poll-workers asked me if I needed help. Busted! Yep, I had no idea which district I lived in or where I was supposed to go. She looked up my address and pointed me to a table in the corner. Hooray! There were only 3 people in front of me at the district 103 table! Another tiny-grandma-poll-worker (I think there must be a maximum height requirement to be a poll worker in this district) insisted on holding Mui-mui while I went in to the little booth, despite my warnings about her state of mind. A few minutes of screaming later, and we were all done. I collected Mui-mui and we waved goodbye to all of the poor people in line for district 51 (as happy as I am to see that their whole neighborhood turned out to vote, I am so glad I don't live there - wherever there is).

It just felt so good to participate in the process. As much as I get frustrated by politics, it's how we get things done. I can't figure out a better way to pool our collective voices and make things happen. Of course, it doesn't hurt that my choice for president was the winner. I am truly excited about Obama and about a new direction. I see a real possibility for a change in the tone of the country - more hopeful, humble, compassionate, and united. I just love a person that really, really knows the constitution and can discuss it in a thoughtful, nuanced way. But, it wasn't just being on the winning side this time that made voting so much fun. Only one of the other candidates I voted for won, and that didn't diminish my glee (too much). I think it helped that I wasn't afraid of a McCain presidency (OK, I was a little bit afraid of a Palin presidency, but I would have been OK if McCain had won). Voting yesterday felt like being part of a real, engaged community. People at the polls were talking about the turnout, the candidates, the initiatives, their lives. Everyone I heard was respectful of other views and excited to be there, regardless of how they were about to vote. Plus, noone looked at my screaming baby with anything other than complete adoration - God Bless America!

Brief Overview of My Life

2008-10-31T09:56:00.000-04:00

So, judging by some of the commentary being posted (thanks friends!), I have been doing a very bad job of keeping people informed about our whereabouts. I hereby post this mini-timeline to help anyone who is just discovering or rediscovering us:

1995-1996 - I serve as a missionary in Hong Kong. I love Hong Kong - big cities make me happy, Chinese (people food, language, art, etc.) makes me happy. Overall, a tough, but happy time.

1997-I marry the fabulous Erik and we move to China to teach English.

1998 - back to the States (Falls Church, VA to be specific). Erik gets an MA in Linguistics at Georgetown, Markie gets a BA in Psychology at George Mason.

2000-2008 -we move to Pittsburgh (hooray for Pittsburgh!). I get an MS in Social Psychology at University of Pittsburgh. I teach classes at Carnegie Mellon (CMU) and at Pitt. My friend Ruth and I also get more serious about our Quiet Book Business (www.littlelit.com). Erik gets his degree in computational linguistics at CMU.

August, 2005 - Go-go (Cantonese for 'big brother') is born. Such a sweet, mellow boy.

October, 2007 - Mui-mui (Cantonese for 'little sister') is born. Much more dramatic than her brother, but just as sweet. Especially when she finally decided that playing is more fun than screaming.

May, 2008 - Erik gets his dream job in Chinese computational linguistics - who knew that it would be in a suberb of Buffalo, NY!? We had two weeks to find a place to live, clean out eight years of junk from our tiny Pittsburgh townhouse, pack up, and get ourselves here. Truly, an excersise in humility. My wonderful friends came and sorted, swept, cleaned, and scrubbed (thanks Valerie, Zoe, and Rahel! And extra-big special thanks to Christine!). And they did it all without judging me or my mess - a super-human feat of true charity. Then, the profesional packers and movers boxed everything up, put it in the truck, drove it up here, and unloaded it - I don't think I can ever go back to an Elder's Quorum move (I don't think they'll mind).

Now - I'm teaching two sections of Social Psychology at Daemen College. It helps relieve the suburban mailaise I keep feeling. I really hate driving everywhere, I miss the city, I miss my friends, I hate owning two cars, etc., etc., etc. But, I'm getting used to it, I'm meeting new people, making new friends, developing firmer opinions about what neighborhoods will be good for us when we buy a house and which we must avoid at all costs, and learning to appreciate and even enjoy my new life. Teaching makes sure that I get dressed up and interact with adults at least twice a week and reminds me that I really do have a brain. It's been a very good thing for me. Go-go goes to preschool all day on T/Th and Mui-mui stays with a woman in the ward on T/Th afternoons. Go-go loves school and I think the structure has been really good for him. Mui-mui likes it at Tara's house and likes to play with (OK, near) Tara's 10-month old daughter. She has more separation issues and it took her a few weeks to stop crying when I left, but now she wants to go right for the toys (or for the lunch). Erik still loves his job. Sometimes he'll come home shaking his head with disbelief that they actually want to pay him for doing what he loves.

So, that's my life in a nutshell. Do you feel all caught up? Good. Now, I'll just proceed from here in future posts. This is Markie, signing off from Williamsville, NY.

Hooray for the Pumpkin Farm!

2008-10-28T16:38:00.000-04:00

Birthdays

2008-10-28T16:13:00.000-04:00

So, Go-go's birthday was over two months ago, but I didn't post any pictures because I didn't have a blog then. On the other hand, Mui-mui's birthday was just last week, and I do have a blog now. Since it would be unfair to only post cupcake photos of one of my cuties, you get a two-for-one photo extravaganza. Enjoy! (note that I haven't yet figured out how to turn the picture vertically).

So

2008-10-24T18:46:00.000-04:00

So, I've noticed that every single post I've written begins with the word 'So.' Now i have to figure out whether I should make that my signature intro or make a concerted effort to avoid it. Feel free to vote.

Welcome to my blah, blah, blog

2008-10-24T18:30:00.000-04:00

So, I have finally given in to the peer pressure and started a blog (thanks Janelle - you finally got to me!). Who knows how often I will post, but I'll give it a shot. I will attempt to at least put up a picture or two every week. Here's to happy blogging!

Bare Walls

2008-10-24T18:00:00.001-04:00

So, two months ago I came home from my new ward's R.S. book group and told Erik that I would be hosting on the 4th Thursday in October. I looked around at the bare walled and toy-strewn living room and mentioned that I'd like to hang up some of our art and pictures before then. "I know what we'll be doing on the 4th Wednesday of October, don't I?" was the reply. I protested that I was certain that we could pull it together before then; that I did not need an external deadline to do what would be best for my own soul and my own home.

But, really, who was I kidding?!? Now, on this, the 4th Friday of October, I am looking around my newly decorated home and I am loving it. The furniture has been rearranged, we got a new entertainment center, our pictures and scrolls are up, and it feels like home. And it only took us five months! Of course, my back is killing me from moving the big (my father believes that if it's worth making, it's worth making out of heavy, solid oak) bookcase, but I think it's worth it. Everyone in the book group seemed fooled by my lovely and clean home and a grand time was had by all.

Now I just have to convince them that REAL book groups read tomes that stir up controversy or passion and that everyone leaving at 10:00pm is just wimpy, but I'll have to take it one step at a time.