we usually end up at the korner cafe in farmington while violet takes her ballet lesson.  we take our school work & colored pencils.  our order is the same every week: cinnamon roll, biscuits & gravy, & a black coffee.  this week we enjoyed a free sample of pumpkin soft serve at the end of our breakfast—wow!

after being with friends in omaha & returning to life here with a bit more gusto, i found an open mic and made myself go.  my orders from my pardner: just decide to keep at it/don’t get down if the evening lacks musical chemistry.  the venue was great, people friendly, & the music was thoughtful & well-played.  my only complaints: hardly any original material, too much “jamming”, & can’t these things start @ 8am?!  ha.  2am bedtime is a tough-sell for me, but i’m trying to be flexible.

i’m participating in the kitchen cure and have been applying the de-cluttering principles to other areas of life.  you start by taking stock by snapping photos of all your cabinets.  then you start consolidating & tossing.  things that you haven’t used in awhile or that you thought you might like but haven’t used, you toss.

i could post some before & after photos eventually, except the point isn’t to have something to show for, but to enjoy the flow of your life (in the kitchen or elsewhere) with ease & fluidity.  so i’m tossing things that don’t enhance my life or aide me in doing my work…and making time/space for the things that do.  i dropped facebook for more time with my typewriter.  i’m working on sleeping “in” a bit more so i can participate in performing live music on a more consistent basis.  i’m trading my “i hate the telephone” line for a hot line to my nearest & dearest more frequently.  reassess.  figure out what works/what hampers/what motivates/what drains.

i got home late thursday night & walked into the basement to get my pajamas.  my slippers were soon sopping wet & i spent the first half of the 2a.m. hour vacuuming water from the floor.  whenever this happens my mind returns to marilynne robinson’s housekeeping & then i usually end up dreaming about the train falling into the lake or a dimly lit shack-house.

it’s saturday & everyone’s ready to bundle up & enjoy a hike.  we’ve been listening to robert plant & alison kraus’ collaboration. hope your saturday morning is cozy & full of love!

i hit a few pre-spoon river drive sales this past weekend and landed an empty autograph book, old trunk, small glasses, a machinist case (empty, yay!), and this little wooden knick-knack display case (do those things have a name?).  i’ve already taken the trinkets out of the case.  so i was thinking it’d be pretty cool to fill it with treasures from near & afar.  if you have a little figure or matchboxes or some patch of fabric or anything that you’d like to send in the mail, i would LOVE to collaborate.

i’m heading to omaha for 9 days.  my grandma margie will be in town, as well as almost everyone else that i love in that town, so we’re packing up our books & notebooks & observation journals and we’re setting sail on the choppy seas of I-80.  i keep having all these weird dreams about the visit.  ah, can’t wait.  [this post is lame partly because "finding nemo" is blaring in the family room.  my kids think that just because i'm hard-of-hearing that they need to pump up the volume for themselves, as well]

do not mix.  one causes the other to happen, but one should not precede the other.

this fine, fine morning:

espresso + cookie + newspaper.

today is our 8th anniversary.  i sort through the memories of that wonderful weekend & remember the thrill of that nuptial weekend coupled with the company of wonderful friends.  that weekend began the tradition of cramming a ton of people into our apartment & pushed us off the shore & out past the buoys.  i love adventures, especially with my bestest friend.

it seems to happen every year: when the temperature starts to fall, i get a baking & cooking bug.  of course i’m thankful that i don’t have the urge during the summer (it’s more of a grill-urge) because all the kitchens we’ve rented or owned tend to be A/C-less.  and as much as i love working up a good sweat outside, i don’t have the same feeling about indoor perspiration.

WHAT I’VE MADE RECENTLY:

Brownie Bites to Go (Woah tasty! Do not make them if you lack willpower)

Chai Spiced Cookies (Super tasty! Powdered sugar is key here.  If you don’t have cardamom, add extra cinnamon & a bit more vanilla. Tastes great)

The One Minute Brownie (A really nice cheat)

WHAT I’M MAKING THIS WEEK:

Jamie Oliver’s Chicken in Milk

Chicken Tikka Masala (I CANNOT WAIT!!!)

One-Bowl Macaroni & Cheese (EXTRA SHARP CHEDDAR!! YUM)

i’ve been tagging recipes from kitchn.com in my “googlereader” and the time has come to make, make, make!! anyone out there have any fav. recipe sites?

i was subconsciously singing these weezer lyrics all afternoon:

if you want to destroy my sweater

hold this thread as i walk away

watch me unravel, i’ll soon be naked

lying on the floor, i’ve come undone.

it’s tricky, coming to the end of yourself to serve others.  and they don’t even care.  well, they don’t even know, because they’re 6, 4, & 2.  i asked the kids today, “what do you think my job is?” and they said, “to make food & brush hair”.  i’m not affected by this answer–i am making the food & getting the tangles out gently.  the jobs that are the hardest are the ones that were unmentioned.

there are days when the weight of responsibility for making food & brushing hair is heavier than i could have ever imagined. if i had some sackcloth around, i’d be wearing it.  but instead, here, hold this thread as i walk away.

UPDATE: if a good friend messages you to video chat on a very bad day, answer the call.  then laugh your head off & feel better.  in the words of daphne (who later danced around with a shiny hookah for my sake, i know it):

you cant be everything to everyone.  let them be kids.  let you be the mom.  give yourself a break.

after all the planning for the 1st annual hanna city hustle 5k run, i’m breathing with ease that the race was a huge success!!  157 runners/walkers & many memories.  

we’re memorizing this poem over the next two weeks.

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?
Robert Louis Stevenson

we’re ready for a break. after a long year with vacation postponed & postponed again…and again…it’s time for us to get away & relax, but we need some ideas.  leave an idea in the comments section & win a cool prize (catered to your identity).

*no further than 4 hours from our current location (central illinois)

*must accommodate for 2 adults, 3 children

*a bargain would be nice

*relaxing for all

even if you only suggest a particular town or a person to contact about a place to stay or whatever–if we use your idea, you win.