Cosi fan tutte

So, if your husband forwards an email to you about ODU's opera theatre's final performance and asks if you'd like to go, what is your answer? Come now. You had a baby two months ago. The last time you went out with the man was in December. The last time you used a babysitter in Norfolk was July. You cannot remember the last time you used your teenage babysitter. Close to two years maybe? You say yes!

Then you fret about finding a babysitter. You forget to ask around. You remember that you do not particularly like the opera. You tell yourself that the tickets are cheap. Going out is good. In fact, if you were going to see people stand on their heads, (nothing against those who do) you would. You see the teenage babysitter your kiddos love at the park. You ask. You ask for Friday or Saturday. She says Saturday. This is good, because when you get home, you realize the performance is on Thursday and Saturday. You feel embarrassed. You need more sleep.

So, now you are going to the opera, with your dear husband and two month old baby. You arrive and choose aisle seats towards the back. The baby poops. You go to change the baby before they begin. There are no changing tables. There are no counters. You quickly change the baby on a ledge. It is a small theatre. They hold the show for you. The baby fusses during the introduction. You go out in the hall, but the door will lock behind you. You spoke with the usher before hand. You know him. He is the nice librarian who sees you run in on Monday nights to gather books for your class. He lets you back in. The baby fusses again. You stand in the aisle and she settles.

The show begins. You realize how much you enjoy Mozart's music and style. The voices are thrilling. The artists are amazing. You realize how much of the story is told in their faces. Perhaps this is why you did not like the opera. You were never close enough to understand it.

The baby nurses and sleeps in her sling. The entire time. You return home to find your other three children asleep. All is well. The Opera.

If I had to choose symphony, ballet or opera, I'd opt. for the first two. However, this performance opened my eyes to the opera's beautiful possibilities. I know I enjoyed it more than headstands.

a pantry

It's a good thing I like to organize. And it's a good thing that organizing helps me feel better, since I haven't been feeling too well. And it's so very good that Laura over at Organizing Junkie has another round-up. I actually did part of February's - recipes, but dear Anna was born the last day of February, so I didn't get it posted. Now I'm determined to show you my organizing from April.

Our pantry before:

and after:I took this project slowly. One shelf at a time. What you see is mostly shifting and some purging. (And that my favorite spaghetti sauce and baked beans were on sale.) The wok moved up, along with lunch boxes. The juicer moved down, but is still behind the crockpots. I thought maybe easier to reach would inspire me to use it? I found the whisk in there and toothpicks. And steak knives. They all got moved to more appropriate spaces. The pantry is the saving grace of my kitchen, since there are only four other cabinets, three drawers and one small counter. Sometimes stuff just waits there until I can find it a better home, like steak knives and such. Anyhow, all the snacks are in one spot, canned goods are across the center, pasta in one corner, flour down in a small baking corner. Fruit's together. Beans all in a row, etc. You can't really tell in any of the photos, but you could not see the floor. Now you can. I like that.

a closet

Our home has one closet that is not in a bedroom. It's in the hall and serves as the linen closet too. A thought: in Nashville we had a walk-in closet in one of our bathrooms. Sheesh. Here we have this, which is my second round-up:

On the floor is the beach bag, vacuum, scale, toilet plunger. Shelf one is towels and tp. Up on top is shower cleaner, dog shampoo, asthma machine and baby bathtub. Everything else is in the middle. At least now we can find the everything else. (I moved the vacuum for the pic.)I'm afraid I don't have a very good picture of the transformation. I completely cleared the "everything" shelf, put the like with like and got rid of stuff we don't use. There's a little basket with sample size toiletries for guests. Behind that is a cup holding extra toothbrushes and travel toothpaste. There are mine and Jesse's toiletry kits, with products in them and filled. And the extra soap, shampoo and toothpaste. Last are the hair clippers. I found the cape for that in the back and got it in the case. I also considered moving the asthma machine. However, if I got a sudden attack, the last thing I'd want to do is go digging for medicine in the garage, so here it stays.

This is the only project that I timed. 45 minutes. I was holding and nursing Anna for 20 min. of that.

and a cupboard

Last but not least, I wanted to tackle the cupboard above the stove. I had not organized it in the three years we've lived here. This cupboard holds spices, oils, cereal both hot and cold, bulk tea, liquor and party supplies. The party supplies are what bothered me the most. We just threw stuff in that corner and hoped it didn't fall back on us. (Anyone else have a shelf like that?) It was dangerous too, because if it did come sliding down, it might land in a boiling pot.

Oh, and the coffee I've started drinking was up there too. I moved the coffee. I wanted it near my French Press and did not want my cute carafe up in this danger zone.

Danger zone no longer:(but still no coffee there.) Good-bye ugly broken wipes tub. Hello cute basket that I've held onto for seven years looking for the perfect purpose. Cleaning out old tea we don't use and that basket made all the difference here. It is just the right size for holding streamers, candles, balloons and such. My only regret is that I did not do this sooner. Then I might have found the 6 candle in time for David's birthday.

I LOVE organizing closets and cupboards. They stay that way. I pick up. Stuff gets out. (Sometimes by itself. I swear.) I clean hands and faces and bums and clothes and tables and the toilet. They all get dirty again. I cook. It's eaten. I knit. And Anna's trying to grow out of her sleeper sack before I finish it. I organize a cupboard or closet. It will remain that way for three to six months. I feel good every time I open it. "Here's a little space that does not need to be redone." Thanks Laura! and all the inspiration over at Organizing Junkie.

leaves

This is what was picked this evening, winter lettuce. Leah picked some yummy radishes for me last week. The peppers and tomatoes are in. The carrots and onions look like carrots and onions. The peas are as tall as the fence. That's my garden update.

Almost forgot. Plant your tomato plants when the oak tree puts out its leaves. Oaks don't like frost, so they are the last tree to leaf. Tomatoes don't like frost either. Our oak got its leaves on April 15. Jess waited a week to plant the tomatoes. He trusted the weather people more than the tree. It did get cold, but did not frost. The tree was right.

I can...

hold my head up and blow bubbles.

finished growing

I woke this morning to discover a published post. "Who did this?" Jesse soon confessed. But I wasn't done! So, here is the rest.

The spring lettuce is 4" tall. There are turnips in front of it with greens a foot high. They were planted in the fall and began to go to flower. Jess harvested some turnips today. They of course were nothing like this, but still tasty in soup.

Also in the ground is mint, carrots, over two dozen strawberry plants, radishes, more turnips and our peas. The mint and strawberries are transplants and look like something. The peas are doing splendidly - 5" tall and sturdy. Everything else is two little leaves popping up out of the soil.

In the sun room are tomatoes, basil and thyme. They aren't ready for the outdoors yet. In the plans are peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, pumpkin and watermelon.

There, now you know what is going on in our garden. Go get digging! (Unless you are Lydia. ;)

How does your garden grow?

1/3 of last year's garden

winter lettuce

spring lettuce

Numerous friends have asked how and when we garden. First, I don't. Well, I guess you could say I am the planner, not the planter. I have a say on what goes into the ground and where. Jesse and the kids do all the rest. I have bragging rights too. =) He uses Square Foot Gardening, (but the 1981 version) The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, (again, the old one is on our shelf) and his love for the earth/experience growing up. Now this is being passed on to our children, and I love it.

The spring lettuce went into the ground the beginning of March. It had the cold frame around it for the first few weeks. Now it is frame free and tall.

the sky is falling

no. really. I got up this morning to find part of the kitchen ceiling on the floor. The ceiling does not belong on the floor. However, a square foot of it fell onto a chair and shattered. Pieces were everywhere. I heard it in the night, like someone rattling a door with glass in it, but I told myself it was the wind blowing branches against a window so I did not have to get up and check the doors. Nope. It was the ceiling falling.

And I knew it was coming. Not exactly, but Jess and I wondered what would happen this time. He is in Chicago right now, attending the MPSA conference. He's gone for the last nine years, except for when we had a two day old baby, (David). Every year, something happens, something odd, something out of the ordinary, something that takes us by surprise. The first year, I went with him. I was four weeks pregnant with Sarah and did not feel well. We stayed with cousins twice removed. On our drive we kept noticing ants in the car. Odd. As I straightened our room the first morning, I kept killing ants. Surprising. I traced them - to Jesse's computer. I ran it out to the patio and sat and stared in amazement as an entire colony of ants moved out of Jesse's computer to find a new life in the suburbs of Chicago. Another year our cottage was infested with swarming termites, looking for a new place to call home. Hundreds of thousands of termites flying in your living room is out of the ordinary. Then there was our salivating dog. At the time we had Kasey, our Golden. She came in drooling like mad. The poor thing kept pawing at her mouth as her head lay in a pool of saliva. The not so smart emergency vet thought maybe she was stung by a bee and gave me motion sickness pills for her. The knowledgeable nurse said she'd heard of this happening to dogs when catching toads. Both out of the ordinary and scary. The only other time I went with Jesse we stayed at a not so many starts hotel and David and Sarah were with us. I again was tired and VERY cranky (or bitchy, whichever you prefer). We discovered a month later that I was almost three months pregnant with Leah. Surprise! Poison ivy, illnesses, driving on donuts, and now the ceiling. What's next?

walk (and poop)

So, if you happened to be driving through Larchmont this evening and saw this:

crazy mama walking down the sidewalk, two children springing and racing ahead of her, one child lagging behind her, yet another child in a sling, (Yes, they are all mine. WHEN will people stop asking that?? That and that my hands are full. Never an offer to help. Just a reminder, in case I forgot. My response is, "Yes, full of love." and we continue on our merry way. Sorry. I did not intend for my two least favorite comments to come out in the middle of this. Where was I? oh...) and a sweet Sheltie on a leash who is convinced that since he was not walked last night a myriad of dogs must have walked HIS route and he needs to sniff them all out and therefore be dragged or rather coaxed along, all trying to race the rain home and getting damp in the process

then you saw me. But the dog pooped by a kind, elderly man's tree, (nightly ritual he's had for forever - go poop on a night walk - the dog, not the man.) Not on the rug in the kids' room, so it was all worth it.

There, I posted. It feels good, great actually. There is so much I want to get up here, but Anna just pooped, so I gotta' go.

I love...

Baby Toes

photo credit to Sarah

Wednesdays

We're tired.

Teaching on Tuesday is going well, very well. Anna hangs out in the Hotsling. Everyone enjoys their engaging classes and the enriching company. But come Wednesday, we're just tired. We don't go anywhere. We don't get dressed. If I'm lucky, we get half our school lessons complete, and I end the day with a hot shower.

Jesse took the picture this morning. Although I'd just gotten out of bed, I almost fell back to sleep. I love how our arms are in almost the same position.

First Bath

Confession: Cleanliness of the body is not the highest priority here. Or rather it's not an obsession here as it has become in our current culture. Children are soaped up once a week. Dirty summer feet are rinsed at night. And our baby was not bathed until she was 3 weeks old.


Everyone is healthy. =)

I Spy

something yellow

It's Spring!

(and Anna, of course)

credit for the first three photographs goes to Sarah

Anna on March 10