My son can grab a crayon or pen or pencil and make marks on a piece of paper. They're not interesting marks, they're mostly big swipes back and forth, but he knows he's leaving behind something on the paper when he does this.
I'm not sure if he realizes some of the markings in his books are writing and say or mean something yet. I've been watching, but he mostly looks at the pictures in the books and doesn't seem to notice the little scribbles that are words.
When I first had an understanding of words and writing I remember a specific event one day in our family den. I was sitting on the floor at the very seventies coffee table my parents had found and made. It was a cabling spool made of wood that was quite large. My father or mother had gotten some orange Naugahyde to cover the top. They'd stretched it all around the large circle top and stapled it underneath. Talk about sturdy coffee tables. Talk about seventies-style in action.
So I was on the floor at this coffee table and I had a crayon and a book. It was a sunny day, I remember the light streaming in through the blinds and I decided I was going to write a story. I didn't have any paper, but not to worry, I had this handy book that incidentally had a clean white page just inside the front and back covers.
I was excited, because I was going to actually write something. I started writing. I wrote lovely squiggles from left to right, just like the books did and I wrote all over the front and back covers. I was very pleased with myself.
I sat there and looked and looked at my first written work and I wondered what I had written. I hoped it was good. I hoped it was exciting. I kept thinking, "I sure wish I could read."
The Big Boy Update: Popcorn. He loves corn. We tried popcorn on him at lunch today. I got him out of his high chair and brought him over to the microwave to watch the corn pop. He smiled. He wanted to touch it when it was just poured out but was too hot. He got back in his chair and ate some and said, "popcorn" and liked it.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Whine central, please come get your baby. Who's whiny baby is this I have today? It's noon and she's on her second nap. She looks fine, seems to feel fine, isn't messy but is definitely cranky. She wasn't the happiest baby yesterday, either. It might be a three-nap day.
Fitness Update: We tried to run this morning. It was hard to tell it was morning because the skies were so overcast it almost seemed like night. As we started to run the rain started in on us. It was also fifty-two degrees. We had on long-sleeve shirts, but cold, rained on shirts aren't much for warmth. We made it to our watering hole and turned around because the thunder and lightning and downpour at that point were just too much for comfort (mentally from the lightning proximity and physically from the cold, heavy rain.) We got in just under three miles and decided to try again tomorrow.
Someone Once Said: I confirm from experience the theory that childhood memories are permanent, even though one may “forget” them until re-stimulated.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
My Friends, Your Friends
From my experience, the most common way to meet a new friend is through existing friends. Commonly someone will ask me, "so how did you meet so-and-so?" and I find myself telling a story of how I met that person through another person I already knew.
Sometimes those friends you meet may become more of a friend or a closer friend than they are with the people they met you through. Sometimes they may even fall out of touch with those original friends. I've found myself surprised as I tell that story of how I met the friend because I'd completely forgotten how initially we were introduced. I've found myself even feeling sort of proprietary about the friend because they've become close to me.
That's how friendships evolve. They're not static. Over time you may find you have more interests in common or maybe through a job change or a slew of baby births (as in my case) you find you don't have as much time to spend together or your interests aren't the same any more. But sometimes, friendships can weather through the drastic changes and become even stronger.
I feel proud of my friends and I'm always happy when I get a chance to introduce my friends to someone new. I've had family visiting the last few weeks and we've had multiple Friday Night Movie Night's so we had plenty of introductions to make.
Have you ever felt though that there was this one friend you really wanted your other friends or family member to like, but you didn't know if the dynamic would work? Uncle Jonathan (remember, he's a "finger quotation uncle" and not a real uncle) is our best friend and he's around a lot and my children love him. Aunts Adrienne and Brenda have come from the west coast and I was hoping they would all like each other.
I didn't think they would dislike each other, but not everyone hits it off the same. I certainly didn't think they would dislike each other, as they're all three kind and friendly folk, but I didn't know how the whole social dynamics would go.
So now, eleven days later, I have that almost jealous feeling you get sometimes when you want to say, "but hey, he was my friend first!" because they all three got along great. How strange is it that you feel a little bit of jealousy because your friends that you wanted to get along are getting along better than you expected?
It's just a strange reaction we have, because it's not like there are a limited number of friends we can have. There's always room for one more friend and it's a happy thing when people become friends. And I am so happy with how things worked out.
The Big Boy Update: Energy. Where does it come from? I don't know. I was told today that he got it from me, because I was rumored to by hyper as a child. It's true, I was. I don't know where he gets it from but I remember the Dennis The Menace show and cartoon from when I was a child and think of my son often.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Third tooth. It's the "Aunt Adrienne Tooth" because Aunt Adrienne called it. She said it was working its way out and so it was. Still no teeth on the top yet and I can't feel them about to erupt with my finger, but the third one on the bottom has made an appearance.
Fitness Update: Four Mile Race. Congratulations to my cousin, Rebecca, and Uncle Jonathan and my husband, who all three ran their first races today. Thanks to my cousin for selecting the race and scouting out the route and getting our bibs. She didn't go for a 5K for her first race, oh no, she went straight for the four miles and did very well. I wonder what race she'll want to do next, 8K perhaps? From where I was running, Uncle Jonathan and I were neck and neck until the very end, goal in sight, and he does this burst of speed that has him beating me by thirty-two seconds. So yeah, wow. My husband looked like a different person crossing the finish line, and I'm not sure how he was still standing because he's only run TWICE before this race. I question if he'll be walking tomorrow. I think he's questioning it too. If I sound impressed and jealous at the same time that he could run a four mile race without any training, you would be correct. But I am still very proud of him. Congratulations to everyone today and thank you to my sisters and cousin Olivia and Uncle Dale for taking care of our two children so kindly while we ran.
Someone Once Said: I am learning that love does not subtract—it multiplies!
Sometimes those friends you meet may become more of a friend or a closer friend than they are with the people they met you through. Sometimes they may even fall out of touch with those original friends. I've found myself surprised as I tell that story of how I met the friend because I'd completely forgotten how initially we were introduced. I've found myself even feeling sort of proprietary about the friend because they've become close to me.
That's how friendships evolve. They're not static. Over time you may find you have more interests in common or maybe through a job change or a slew of baby births (as in my case) you find you don't have as much time to spend together or your interests aren't the same any more. But sometimes, friendships can weather through the drastic changes and become even stronger.
I feel proud of my friends and I'm always happy when I get a chance to introduce my friends to someone new. I've had family visiting the last few weeks and we've had multiple Friday Night Movie Night's so we had plenty of introductions to make.
Have you ever felt though that there was this one friend you really wanted your other friends or family member to like, but you didn't know if the dynamic would work? Uncle Jonathan (remember, he's a "finger quotation uncle" and not a real uncle) is our best friend and he's around a lot and my children love him. Aunts Adrienne and Brenda have come from the west coast and I was hoping they would all like each other.
I didn't think they would dislike each other, but not everyone hits it off the same. I certainly didn't think they would dislike each other, as they're all three kind and friendly folk, but I didn't know how the whole social dynamics would go.
So now, eleven days later, I have that almost jealous feeling you get sometimes when you want to say, "but hey, he was my friend first!" because they all three got along great. How strange is it that you feel a little bit of jealousy because your friends that you wanted to get along are getting along better than you expected?
It's just a strange reaction we have, because it's not like there are a limited number of friends we can have. There's always room for one more friend and it's a happy thing when people become friends. And I am so happy with how things worked out.
The Big Boy Update: Energy. Where does it come from? I don't know. I was told today that he got it from me, because I was rumored to by hyper as a child. It's true, I was. I don't know where he gets it from but I remember the Dennis The Menace show and cartoon from when I was a child and think of my son often.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Third tooth. It's the "Aunt Adrienne Tooth" because Aunt Adrienne called it. She said it was working its way out and so it was. Still no teeth on the top yet and I can't feel them about to erupt with my finger, but the third one on the bottom has made an appearance.
Fitness Update: Four Mile Race. Congratulations to my cousin, Rebecca, and Uncle Jonathan and my husband, who all three ran their first races today. Thanks to my cousin for selecting the race and scouting out the route and getting our bibs. She didn't go for a 5K for her first race, oh no, she went straight for the four miles and did very well. I wonder what race she'll want to do next, 8K perhaps? From where I was running, Uncle Jonathan and I were neck and neck until the very end, goal in sight, and he does this burst of speed that has him beating me by thirty-two seconds. So yeah, wow. My husband looked like a different person crossing the finish line, and I'm not sure how he was still standing because he's only run TWICE before this race. I question if he'll be walking tomorrow. I think he's questioning it too. If I sound impressed and jealous at the same time that he could run a four mile race without any training, you would be correct. But I am still very proud of him. Congratulations to everyone today and thank you to my sisters and cousin Olivia and Uncle Dale for taking care of our two children so kindly while we ran.
Someone Once Said: I am learning that love does not subtract—it multiplies!
Friday, October 5, 2012
The Mint Collection
My sister-in-law is visiting this week and yesterday I saw her sitting on the couch writing post cards. I commented that I've never done the post card thing. She told me she has been collecting post cards since she was a little girl. She even wrote about it in her blog yesterday.
It reminded me of my long-standing collection. Years ago I started collecting mints. I remember how it got started, I told my mother I wanted to have some candy in my room and I wanted to eat it slowly. Yeah, right. Eat candy slowly? Save candy? Not eat it immediately? Good luck there. But it was my goal. Shortly after that I got some candy of some sort and I got a little container of breath freshener mints. I put them in the keepsake box at the top of my dresser and planned to not eat them for some time.
So the next day after the candy was gone—you saw that coming, right?—I looked at the little box of mints and decided I could still accomplish my goal. I would eat one mint every other month and in so doing, I could make them last through the end of the year.
It worked somewhat. It mostly worked because I forgot about the mints for long periods of time. I did eventually finish them all and I don't have the container any more, but it sparked my interest in collecting mints.
I've traveled all over the world and bought mints and people have brought them to me from their travels. The thing is, many of the "mints" aren't mints. Some of the neatest items I have in my collection aren't even remotely minty. I love the cinnamon clove balls I got in Seattle in 1992 that inspired me to create my favorite hard candy flavor we like to call "crack" because once you have one of my super strong cinnamon clove hard candy pieces—and have survived the assault to your taste buds—you're hooked.
Many if the items in my collection have interesting containers, some that have elegant dispensing methods for their contents and some have unusual shapes. I like mints that are different shapes and flavors that are wild and crazy. And then there are the funny mints. The mints are boring, the container itself is boring, but there's a great saying on it or it's from a special location.
It's an interactive collection too. Mints don't really go bad. When I show the collection to people, we can sample the collection and see just how crazy strong the Italians like their liquorice.
The Big Boy Update: Sleepy. When he's asleep he's very asleep. He's very cute when he tries to wake up and is groggy. The past two mornings he's not been awake when I had to go get him for his breakfast so he could get to school on time. He puts his head on your shoulder and tries to tuck his arms in so he can fall back asleep as you take him downstairs to eat.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Self entertainer. She plays by herself very well. Her father did this too I've heard. She will happily play with toys for long periods of time. But if you leave the room and she notices, she'll follow you so she can entertain herself while being close to you at the same time.
Fitness Update: To run or not? Some time back I signed up to run a race tomorrow. I have a checkup with the eye doctor today in which he'll remove the protective contact from the PRK eye and let me know how well everything is healing. On Tuesday he thought it might be best if I didn't run in the race I've signed up for on Saturday. But, the majority of his concern isn't the act of running itself, it's the danger of something getting in my eyes. I have glasses that give fairly full coverage. But I'm not making any decision about the run until I see him today and get an update on how well they're healing.
Someone Once Said: An insult is like a drink; it affects one only if accepted.
It reminded me of my long-standing collection. Years ago I started collecting mints. I remember how it got started, I told my mother I wanted to have some candy in my room and I wanted to eat it slowly. Yeah, right. Eat candy slowly? Save candy? Not eat it immediately? Good luck there. But it was my goal. Shortly after that I got some candy of some sort and I got a little container of breath freshener mints. I put them in the keepsake box at the top of my dresser and planned to not eat them for some time.
So the next day after the candy was gone—you saw that coming, right?—I looked at the little box of mints and decided I could still accomplish my goal. I would eat one mint every other month and in so doing, I could make them last through the end of the year.
It worked somewhat. It mostly worked because I forgot about the mints for long periods of time. I did eventually finish them all and I don't have the container any more, but it sparked my interest in collecting mints.
I've traveled all over the world and bought mints and people have brought them to me from their travels. The thing is, many of the "mints" aren't mints. Some of the neatest items I have in my collection aren't even remotely minty. I love the cinnamon clove balls I got in Seattle in 1992 that inspired me to create my favorite hard candy flavor we like to call "crack" because once you have one of my super strong cinnamon clove hard candy pieces—and have survived the assault to your taste buds—you're hooked.
Many if the items in my collection have interesting containers, some that have elegant dispensing methods for their contents and some have unusual shapes. I like mints that are different shapes and flavors that are wild and crazy. And then there are the funny mints. The mints are boring, the container itself is boring, but there's a great saying on it or it's from a special location.
It's an interactive collection too. Mints don't really go bad. When I show the collection to people, we can sample the collection and see just how crazy strong the Italians like their liquorice.
The Big Boy Update: Sleepy. When he's asleep he's very asleep. He's very cute when he tries to wake up and is groggy. The past two mornings he's not been awake when I had to go get him for his breakfast so he could get to school on time. He puts his head on your shoulder and tries to tuck his arms in so he can fall back asleep as you take him downstairs to eat.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Self entertainer. She plays by herself very well. Her father did this too I've heard. She will happily play with toys for long periods of time. But if you leave the room and she notices, she'll follow you so she can entertain herself while being close to you at the same time.
Fitness Update: To run or not? Some time back I signed up to run a race tomorrow. I have a checkup with the eye doctor today in which he'll remove the protective contact from the PRK eye and let me know how well everything is healing. On Tuesday he thought it might be best if I didn't run in the race I've signed up for on Saturday. But, the majority of his concern isn't the act of running itself, it's the danger of something getting in my eyes. I have glasses that give fairly full coverage. But I'm not making any decision about the run until I see him today and get an update on how well they're healing.
Someone Once Said: An insult is like a drink; it affects one only if accepted.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Happy House, Sleepy Sounds
I have memories as a child of being in my bedroom after my bedtime and hearing sounds of my parents and their friends out in the living room. As a child, I didn't have to have the room dark to sleep. I didn't have to have lots of lights on either though. But I liked seeing the hall light through the cracked door of my room. It didn't have to be silent either, my parents could make lots of noise. In fact, I liked hearing activity in the house after bedtime.
I have memories of my parents having parties and there being lots of sound in the house while I lay there in bed. Sometimes they'd have friends out on the deck. They'd be drinking beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and they'd be having a fun time on the deck. I couldn't see the deck, but the flood lights would be on in the back and I knew there was a party going on.
The next morning after one of these parties, I went out to see the results. There were beer cans all in the back yard. That was strange. My parents are the non-litering, clean sort. My mother told me one of their friends made a joke after having several beers that everyone should just throw their cans over the deck when they were done. And so they did, because the back yard was quite the mess. I was young and eager to help, so I cleaned up all the cans that morning.
I remember one New Years Eve in particular. I was too young to know I was missing out on a big calendar event and celebration opportunity by going to bed early. The next morning, I went into the den and there were party hats and noise makers and streamers all over the room. It was like finding a ready-made kid's party and I got to have fun with it all because my parents were still asleep. I'm betting they weren't thrilled at me blowing the horns and clack-clacking the clackers while they were trying to sleep at six o'clock, but hey, I didn't have a hangover, I went to bed early.
Back to the cozy sounds of a happy house though. I always found it comforting hearing my parents talk and the television playing some show I was too old for. I liked it the most when there was a party and people were having fun. I got to go to sleep knowing people were happy and enjoying themselves all around me. It wasn't a distraction, it was a comfort.
The other night, my sister-in-law was telling a story. And let me tell you, this story was a good one. One of those stories that everyone is saying, "No way!" and, "She didn't?!" and we're all laughing and being loud and just having a great time in the kitchen. Where are my children? They're asleep just upstairs, with their door open, and all those happy sounds are filtering into their room. And they're sleeping soundly.
I didn't want to handicap my children by putting them to sleep in a dark, quiet environment. We made sure from the start to have noise all around them and to have them sleep with light shining into their room. One of the things I like to say is, "Don't you cater to that baby." Because if you do, you may be handicapping them in the future by constraining their environment. Hopefully as they get older and become adults, the flexibility they have in sleeping will be an asset.
The Big Boy Update: Hives. School called today. He ate hummus, something he's had before, and he got hives. His skin calmed down with some Benadryl, but we don't know what the inciting food was (if it even was a food.) I called the doctor and asked about having allergy tests run. Here's the situation. When a baby is born, they have no allergies. They only develop allergies after being exposed to something. So until they have had a chance to develop allergies, running an allergy test will yield incomplete, or inaccurate results. That's why they recommend not running allergy tests until a child is two. So for now, we take notes if he has a reaction and we bide our time and we hope he grows out of some of these food sensitivities as his immune system gets more mature.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She realizes she can walk now. Okay, not walk, take steps. And she seems somewhat interested. The person who is most interested in her walking however, is mommy. I keep standing her up and dangling something exciting three steps away. She sometimes goes for it but mostly she's going to do it in her own time.
Fitness Update: Okay, health update. I'm trying to have less sweet things all around. Now those of you who read this and know what I ate yesterday can most definitely call me on this one. CUPCAKES! My sister-in-law and I got cupcakes of massive deliciousness at Whole Foods yesterday. They were scrumptious. But I avoided many things yesterday that I wanted to eat that were sweet and replaced them with a savory item like a cracker instead of a cookie.
Someone Once Said: To believe you can live free of your cultural matrix is one of the easiest fallacies and has some of the worst consequences. You are part of your group weather you like it or not and you are bound by its customs.
I have memories of my parents having parties and there being lots of sound in the house while I lay there in bed. Sometimes they'd have friends out on the deck. They'd be drinking beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and they'd be having a fun time on the deck. I couldn't see the deck, but the flood lights would be on in the back and I knew there was a party going on.
The next morning after one of these parties, I went out to see the results. There were beer cans all in the back yard. That was strange. My parents are the non-litering, clean sort. My mother told me one of their friends made a joke after having several beers that everyone should just throw their cans over the deck when they were done. And so they did, because the back yard was quite the mess. I was young and eager to help, so I cleaned up all the cans that morning.
I remember one New Years Eve in particular. I was too young to know I was missing out on a big calendar event and celebration opportunity by going to bed early. The next morning, I went into the den and there were party hats and noise makers and streamers all over the room. It was like finding a ready-made kid's party and I got to have fun with it all because my parents were still asleep. I'm betting they weren't thrilled at me blowing the horns and clack-clacking the clackers while they were trying to sleep at six o'clock, but hey, I didn't have a hangover, I went to bed early.
Back to the cozy sounds of a happy house though. I always found it comforting hearing my parents talk and the television playing some show I was too old for. I liked it the most when there was a party and people were having fun. I got to go to sleep knowing people were happy and enjoying themselves all around me. It wasn't a distraction, it was a comfort.
The other night, my sister-in-law was telling a story. And let me tell you, this story was a good one. One of those stories that everyone is saying, "No way!" and, "She didn't?!" and we're all laughing and being loud and just having a great time in the kitchen. Where are my children? They're asleep just upstairs, with their door open, and all those happy sounds are filtering into their room. And they're sleeping soundly.
I didn't want to handicap my children by putting them to sleep in a dark, quiet environment. We made sure from the start to have noise all around them and to have them sleep with light shining into their room. One of the things I like to say is, "Don't you cater to that baby." Because if you do, you may be handicapping them in the future by constraining their environment. Hopefully as they get older and become adults, the flexibility they have in sleeping will be an asset.
The Big Boy Update: Hives. School called today. He ate hummus, something he's had before, and he got hives. His skin calmed down with some Benadryl, but we don't know what the inciting food was (if it even was a food.) I called the doctor and asked about having allergy tests run. Here's the situation. When a baby is born, they have no allergies. They only develop allergies after being exposed to something. So until they have had a chance to develop allergies, running an allergy test will yield incomplete, or inaccurate results. That's why they recommend not running allergy tests until a child is two. So for now, we take notes if he has a reaction and we bide our time and we hope he grows out of some of these food sensitivities as his immune system gets more mature.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She realizes she can walk now. Okay, not walk, take steps. And she seems somewhat interested. The person who is most interested in her walking however, is mommy. I keep standing her up and dangling something exciting three steps away. She sometimes goes for it but mostly she's going to do it in her own time.
Fitness Update: Okay, health update. I'm trying to have less sweet things all around. Now those of you who read this and know what I ate yesterday can most definitely call me on this one. CUPCAKES! My sister-in-law and I got cupcakes of massive deliciousness at Whole Foods yesterday. They were scrumptious. But I avoided many things yesterday that I wanted to eat that were sweet and replaced them with a savory item like a cracker instead of a cookie.
Someone Once Said: To believe you can live free of your cultural matrix is one of the easiest fallacies and has some of the worst consequences. You are part of your group weather you like it or not and you are bound by its customs.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Maggots and Cigarette-Stained Fingers
We were running around the block recently and I noticed there were these big green balls under a tree at one part of the run. Later, when my sister-in-law walked around the block she asked about them because several fell and almost hit her. So on the way back from my run over the weekend I brought one home to do more investigation.
It was squishy and it had this strange black liquid in it and a very hard center. We had speculated they were walnuts, but we weren't sure. After I got to the core of the nut I tried a nut cracker on it but no go, I couldn't crack it. I tried a hammer and sure enough, it was a walnut. It turns out it was a black walnut.
I did some research online and the trees only bear fruit every other year. It sounded like a fun project to collect them, de-husk them, dry them and then crack them in a few weeks. I thought I'd take my son out to go and collect some.
The only problem I saw initially was that my fingers were disgustingly dirty looking from messing with the one sample. The stain is an unattractive dark yellow that looks like you have very dirty fingernails and you haven't been washing your hands.
I washed and washed but it wouldn't come off. I read online because surely something would take the stain off. Nope, you're out of luck. Bleach doesn't help nor is there any other suggested removal technique short of amputation. So I have to wait it out.
But I did want to collect some. My son and I walked up the road with a large paper bag and he had a great time putting the black walnuts into the bag. When we got home I had my husband distract him so I could husk them.
This time I wore nitrile gloves. I wore two gloves. And this dang dye/herbicide that's such an intensely dark yellow/brown/black got through in two spots where I compromised the gloves. So now I have stains on both my hands that look like I'm a chronic smoker. It is super attractive.
The outer husks from these big balls are mushy, green and black and look like they're rotting, even when they've just dropped. I asked my husband if he could dump the full bowl of husks in the back yard for me while I cleaned off more. He came back and said, "you know, there are maggots everywhere in that bowl?" He was right, they were everywhere. Little small white maggots, happily eating the outer covering of the nuts. Tasty. The walnut shell is so hard and dense that I'm not worried they're in the main nut, but it wasn't something I was expecting. After he said that I looked at each nut and I think most of them were filled with little maggots. Fun.
The nuts are on the deck drying for a few weeks now. I hear they're challenging to shell even when dried, so there may be another update of black walnut fun in the coming weeks.
The Big Boy Update: Practicing words and the alphabet. On the ride to school we practice words. We do the alphabet and say the names of fruits and animals and vegetables. His enunciation is getting better every day and his willingness to try difficult sounds is increasing daily too. After we had moved on from vegetables this morning, he said, "corn" to remind me I'd left off his favorite vegetable.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Walk! She's taken some steps in the past week or two, but she hasn't taken deliberate, out into the void steps that are a definite indication she wants to walk. Today she decided it was time. We caught her on video, so there's proof she's officially a biped now.
Fitness Update: Not so much fitness as healthy eating. Since my post on craving sugar, I've been looking at foods that are sweet and trying to gauge how much I want them and trying to rethink my brain into something better, say carrots. Since I'm not running for a few days after getting my eye surgery done, I'm working on the health of my food intake or my mental attitudes toward food.
Someone Once Said: Beauty is not diminished by being shared.
It was squishy and it had this strange black liquid in it and a very hard center. We had speculated they were walnuts, but we weren't sure. After I got to the core of the nut I tried a nut cracker on it but no go, I couldn't crack it. I tried a hammer and sure enough, it was a walnut. It turns out it was a black walnut.
I did some research online and the trees only bear fruit every other year. It sounded like a fun project to collect them, de-husk them, dry them and then crack them in a few weeks. I thought I'd take my son out to go and collect some.
The only problem I saw initially was that my fingers were disgustingly dirty looking from messing with the one sample. The stain is an unattractive dark yellow that looks like you have very dirty fingernails and you haven't been washing your hands.
I washed and washed but it wouldn't come off. I read online because surely something would take the stain off. Nope, you're out of luck. Bleach doesn't help nor is there any other suggested removal technique short of amputation. So I have to wait it out.
But I did want to collect some. My son and I walked up the road with a large paper bag and he had a great time putting the black walnuts into the bag. When we got home I had my husband distract him so I could husk them.
This time I wore nitrile gloves. I wore two gloves. And this dang dye/herbicide that's such an intensely dark yellow/brown/black got through in two spots where I compromised the gloves. So now I have stains on both my hands that look like I'm a chronic smoker. It is super attractive.
The outer husks from these big balls are mushy, green and black and look like they're rotting, even when they've just dropped. I asked my husband if he could dump the full bowl of husks in the back yard for me while I cleaned off more. He came back and said, "you know, there are maggots everywhere in that bowl?" He was right, they were everywhere. Little small white maggots, happily eating the outer covering of the nuts. Tasty. The walnut shell is so hard and dense that I'm not worried they're in the main nut, but it wasn't something I was expecting. After he said that I looked at each nut and I think most of them were filled with little maggots. Fun.
The nuts are on the deck drying for a few weeks now. I hear they're challenging to shell even when dried, so there may be another update of black walnut fun in the coming weeks.
The Big Boy Update: Practicing words and the alphabet. On the ride to school we practice words. We do the alphabet and say the names of fruits and animals and vegetables. His enunciation is getting better every day and his willingness to try difficult sounds is increasing daily too. After we had moved on from vegetables this morning, he said, "corn" to remind me I'd left off his favorite vegetable.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Walk! She's taken some steps in the past week or two, but she hasn't taken deliberate, out into the void steps that are a definite indication she wants to walk. Today she decided it was time. We caught her on video, so there's proof she's officially a biped now.
Fitness Update: Not so much fitness as healthy eating. Since my post on craving sugar, I've been looking at foods that are sweet and trying to gauge how much I want them and trying to rethink my brain into something better, say carrots. Since I'm not running for a few days after getting my eye surgery done, I'm working on the health of my food intake or my mental attitudes toward food.
Someone Once Said: Beauty is not diminished by being shared.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Sweets
I love sweets. It seems the more I eat, the more I want to eat. My neighbor and I were discussing on a run the other day how we seemed to be drawn to candy and sweet-type items on days we don't exercise. I find that when I exercise, especially if I run a longer run on a particular day, I'm not as interested in sweets.
It's strange that on a day when I have burned many calories exercising, that I am far less likely to eat lots of sugary things. It's caused me to be motivated to run some days just to curb my hunger level.
I find myself thinking that if I could just get all the sweet items out of the house, then I'd be better off and I wouldn't crave sweets because I wouldn't be thinking about item X that's sitting in the pantry or refrigerator or out on the counter. But there's never going to be a time when the house is sweet free. Even healthy crasins and dried cherries are sweet and we have those around all the time as a healthy snack for the children.
I've stopped drinking alcohol in the past and after a short while I lose the taste or desire to drink anything. One time, a long time ago, I did the same with sugar. I decided for an entire month I wasn't going to eat any candy or sweets. I did eat sweets once during that month, I remember it well, I was standing at a bowl of Jelly Bellies, selecting some nice flavored ones out of the pile when I realized I didn't even know I was eating candy.
It's like the long-time smokers who say they can have a cigarette lit and in their mouth without even realizing what they're doing because it's such a habit.
But that month was an interesting experiment. At the end of it, I didn't have a desire to eat sweets. I could look at a plate of cookies or donuts or cupcakes and it looked like food, but not really food I wanted.
I've gained a few pounds, and I think it was appropriate because I needed to let my body build up some muscle from the exercising. Now, I am considering going a month without sweets and seeing how it goes and how much I crave sugar-laden items at the end of it.
The Big Boy Update: School drop-off is still a tearful experience for him. He was fine the first week of school but now he doesn't like to say goodbye. It doesn't make sense to me though as he's fine right after I drive off. But he still protests and looks like a very unhappy boy as he heads off to school.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Fast healer. Her head bump/scratch from the door slamming is looking much better now. Babies heal so quickly. Even the scab is coming off today. She's seems to be thinking about walking a little more lately too. She will stand more often, but she isn't quite ready to take those multiple steps to get across a gap yet. I was looking for a high-value toy to get her to try and walk earlier and I realized the pacifier might be a good choice. I think had she been less tired it would have worked. She certainly wanted the pacifier. I'll have to try again later.
Someone Once Said: Congratulations! A desire not to butt into other people’s business is eighty percent of all human wisdom.
It's strange that on a day when I have burned many calories exercising, that I am far less likely to eat lots of sugary things. It's caused me to be motivated to run some days just to curb my hunger level.
I find myself thinking that if I could just get all the sweet items out of the house, then I'd be better off and I wouldn't crave sweets because I wouldn't be thinking about item X that's sitting in the pantry or refrigerator or out on the counter. But there's never going to be a time when the house is sweet free. Even healthy crasins and dried cherries are sweet and we have those around all the time as a healthy snack for the children.
I've stopped drinking alcohol in the past and after a short while I lose the taste or desire to drink anything. One time, a long time ago, I did the same with sugar. I decided for an entire month I wasn't going to eat any candy or sweets. I did eat sweets once during that month, I remember it well, I was standing at a bowl of Jelly Bellies, selecting some nice flavored ones out of the pile when I realized I didn't even know I was eating candy.
It's like the long-time smokers who say they can have a cigarette lit and in their mouth without even realizing what they're doing because it's such a habit.
But that month was an interesting experiment. At the end of it, I didn't have a desire to eat sweets. I could look at a plate of cookies or donuts or cupcakes and it looked like food, but not really food I wanted.
I've gained a few pounds, and I think it was appropriate because I needed to let my body build up some muscle from the exercising. Now, I am considering going a month without sweets and seeing how it goes and how much I crave sugar-laden items at the end of it.
The Big Boy Update: School drop-off is still a tearful experience for him. He was fine the first week of school but now he doesn't like to say goodbye. It doesn't make sense to me though as he's fine right after I drive off. But he still protests and looks like a very unhappy boy as he heads off to school.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Fast healer. Her head bump/scratch from the door slamming is looking much better now. Babies heal so quickly. Even the scab is coming off today. She's seems to be thinking about walking a little more lately too. She will stand more often, but she isn't quite ready to take those multiple steps to get across a gap yet. I was looking for a high-value toy to get her to try and walk earlier and I realized the pacifier might be a good choice. I think had she been less tired it would have worked. She certainly wanted the pacifier. I'll have to try again later.
Someone Once Said: Congratulations! A desire not to butt into other people’s business is eighty percent of all human wisdom.
Monday, October 1, 2012
The Thumb and The Sucking
I sucked my thumb. I sucked it far longer than a child should suck their thumb. To this day, there is a nice thumb-shaped indention in my upper palette, although my thumb no longer feels at home there as I did grow out of the thumb-sucking habit.
The strange thing is, I'm not sure which thumb I sucked. When I think about which thumb would taste the best, I mentally gravitate towards the left thumb. But I'm not altogether sure. I have memories that one thumb was inferior to the other thumb and didn't "work right" but I could be remembering that wrong and I may have had no thumb preference. Still, if I had to put money on it, I would bet the left thumb was my thumb of choice.
I'm not sure how long I sucked my thumb, but I am fairly certain it was until I was at least five-years-old. My parents tried to get me to stop by being rational with me. Imagine trying to be rational and logical to a five-year-old and you guess how far that got them. So they got this bitter liquid they put on my thumb so I wouldn't want to suck it. I remember that unsavory liquid.
I have a specific memory of being out on the deck in what feels like late spring or early summer and my mother was explaining to me that this liquid would help me to stop sucking my thumb. But I didn't want to stop sucking my thumb. I liked sucking my thumb. I also remember that I decided there was an easy solution to this terrible tasting situation, and that was to go wash my thumb. I remember heading into the house, leaving my mother there on the deck to go wash.
I'm not sure how long they tried with the bitters, but at some point I did stop sucking my thumb. My daughter likes her pacifier. My son does too. Hopefully the transition away from mouth-soothing behaviors as they go to sleep won't be too traumatic to them. I think they're too old to develop a thumb or finger-sucking dependency. I hope.
The Big Boy Update: WAIL. What is it lately with his fits of anger in the middle of the night? He wakes up and makes very loud noises. Strike that, I'm not sure that he's really awake, but he's loud. We're talking about letting him work it out, but we've had house guests for a bit and I think we're going to wait until everyone has gone before we see just how long he'll pitch a fit before he calms down. He needs to work things out for himself in the middle of the night, hopefully he'll figure it out quickly.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: I am so unhappy momma. Why is she crying? It's too early for a nap and I checked and she's not dirty. Yet she persists in coming over, being very unhappy and looking at me like she needs something. I checked her diaper again, this time from the front of her pants. Ohhhhh. Ugh. Dirty diaper that migrated to the front region and no wonder she's so unhappy. Clean diaper and she's fallen asleep on a blanket beside the computer as a much relieved and more comfortable child.
Fitness Update: Four miles this morning before my final eye surgeries at 10:30. My neighbor was not only recovered from Saturday, but she was ready to run much longer if we'd had time. I did something that was more fun today than I would have expected. After Uncle Jonathan and I left my neighbor to head home at the end of the run, he challenged me to sprint the last bit. We sprinted the block-and-a-half and he beat me at the very end by pulling out some crazy long-legged extra speed boost. I was surprised how well I was able to sprint for that short distance. I told him I was definitely signed up for the speed work with him, which includes sprints, in the future.
Someone Once Said: Everything ought to be turned upside down occasionally; it lets in air and light.
The strange thing is, I'm not sure which thumb I sucked. When I think about which thumb would taste the best, I mentally gravitate towards the left thumb. But I'm not altogether sure. I have memories that one thumb was inferior to the other thumb and didn't "work right" but I could be remembering that wrong and I may have had no thumb preference. Still, if I had to put money on it, I would bet the left thumb was my thumb of choice.
I'm not sure how long I sucked my thumb, but I am fairly certain it was until I was at least five-years-old. My parents tried to get me to stop by being rational with me. Imagine trying to be rational and logical to a five-year-old and you guess how far that got them. So they got this bitter liquid they put on my thumb so I wouldn't want to suck it. I remember that unsavory liquid.
I have a specific memory of being out on the deck in what feels like late spring or early summer and my mother was explaining to me that this liquid would help me to stop sucking my thumb. But I didn't want to stop sucking my thumb. I liked sucking my thumb. I also remember that I decided there was an easy solution to this terrible tasting situation, and that was to go wash my thumb. I remember heading into the house, leaving my mother there on the deck to go wash.
I'm not sure how long they tried with the bitters, but at some point I did stop sucking my thumb. My daughter likes her pacifier. My son does too. Hopefully the transition away from mouth-soothing behaviors as they go to sleep won't be too traumatic to them. I think they're too old to develop a thumb or finger-sucking dependency. I hope.
The Big Boy Update: WAIL. What is it lately with his fits of anger in the middle of the night? He wakes up and makes very loud noises. Strike that, I'm not sure that he's really awake, but he's loud. We're talking about letting him work it out, but we've had house guests for a bit and I think we're going to wait until everyone has gone before we see just how long he'll pitch a fit before he calms down. He needs to work things out for himself in the middle of the night, hopefully he'll figure it out quickly.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: I am so unhappy momma. Why is she crying? It's too early for a nap and I checked and she's not dirty. Yet she persists in coming over, being very unhappy and looking at me like she needs something. I checked her diaper again, this time from the front of her pants. Ohhhhh. Ugh. Dirty diaper that migrated to the front region and no wonder she's so unhappy. Clean diaper and she's fallen asleep on a blanket beside the computer as a much relieved and more comfortable child.
Fitness Update: Four miles this morning before my final eye surgeries at 10:30. My neighbor was not only recovered from Saturday, but she was ready to run much longer if we'd had time. I did something that was more fun today than I would have expected. After Uncle Jonathan and I left my neighbor to head home at the end of the run, he challenged me to sprint the last bit. We sprinted the block-and-a-half and he beat me at the very end by pulling out some crazy long-legged extra speed boost. I was surprised how well I was able to sprint for that short distance. I told him I was definitely signed up for the speed work with him, which includes sprints, in the future.
Someone Once Said: Everything ought to be turned upside down occasionally; it lets in air and light.
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