Happy Valentine's Day!

Special thanks to the Dollar Tree for their packs of glittery window decals!

How did we ever manage without the Internet?

Below you see what what the series of tubes that is the Internet was really meant for: Playing peek-a-boo with your granddaughter 2300 miles away.



When I was a child, our family exchanged audio cassette tapes with my grandma in England. Long distance calls were incredibly expensive, and mailing a cassette audio tape was the most economical way of staying connected with relatives very far away. (We also had to walk to school in the snow, uphill, both ways)

Anneke will soon think cassette tapes are fun things to pull apart.

Eleven months!

Our little monkey is eleven months old? Say it ain't so, Joe!

Social skills

Followers of McMiller PDX may have noted a post about Ms. E receiving overtures from a certain older boy in her crowd. Here is our daughter practicing her friendship skills on Ms. E at the same event. Hmmm. We'll keep working on it.

 

 

 

 

Morning paper

Me (reading the Tuesday Oregonian): Hey, they rescued a pit bull from a nutria den yesterday!
Dave: really? I didn't know they took hostages.

Our fifteen minutes?

Wheee! I got this email from The Oregonian today:

Hello. I am writing to let you know that you have been selected to review a cookbook for the FOODday section at The Oregonian!

Please let me know if you are still able to participate. I will mail the cookbook to the address you provided once I hear back from you. (Please also confirm the best mailing address.)

Here are the following guidelines to consider:
1. A questionnaire will be e-mailed for you to fill out for the review.

2. The reviews are unpaid but you can keep the book.

3. Someone will be calling to get a quick phone interview after the review is completed. (This will serve as an introduction for their review.)

4. Your review may go online instead of in the paper.

5. The review needs to be completed in about 2 weeks. You don't have to test every recipe, just 2 to 3, or whatever you are up for.

6. We would love it if you would like to take photos of the dish and the process of cooking it. Videos are ok, too. We plan to use the pictures in the paper and/or online, and the video online. (Photos and video are not a requirement.)

Looking forward to working with you. Please let me know if you have any questions. Kate

Very exciting--no we were not selected because word got out about Dave's haggis recipe. I emailed Food Day after I found a request for cookbook reviewers back in September. But right this minute I still feel like a food celebrity! Oh, and you know I'll be blogging about it.

Into the Wild

A couple of years ago I went cross-country skiing with my friends Emma and Kathryn. It was a great day, and at the end I felt sad because I knew it would probably be a while before I could spend another day out in the snow with my girlfriends if things went according to plan family-planning wise. But today was the day I finally got my chance to hit the trails!

This time I went with Emma and Diane to Trillium Lake. Dave kept Anneke, and we loaded up on soy milk to tide her over until I got home. It was a beautiful day, and really perfect conditions--a little icy here and there, but it was one of those days where you could just kind of zip along on the groomed trail. Really nice.

Did I mention we forgot the book that had the map in it? Well, no big deal. I mean, it's a groomed, well-marked trail. The place was lousy with other people. Why not take the 7 mile loop instead of the 3.5 mile loop? What could possibly go wrong? Just follow the signs!

Well, the trail could stay marked but run out of signs, and you could miss your turn and end up slogging uphill, not really sure where you are--pretty sure you're headed in the right direction, but not sure sure. At least that's what happened with our trip. One of us was a little nervous about this; one of us was absolutely not in the least bit worried, and one of us was quietly having a nervous breakdown as she contemplated never seeing her beloved baby again. Guess which one I was?

I was amazed at the dark, dark thoughts and desperate bargaining with God that went on in my poor head. None of my coping skills helped very much--I mean, I would try to think positively but immediately fixated on the most hypothermic, baby-abandoning outcome. Then we ran into a woman who was out skiing on her own. She was looking to hook up with some other people because it was getting later and she didn't want to be on an icy hill by herself. AND SHE HAD A MAP. Which she and Emma consulted (Emma was standing closest), and we figured out our route and where we were going. I could tell that she was a woman who might be kind of an odd duck if you met her at a party, but on that trail she was my guardian angel. I kept asking her if she was sure we were headed the right way, and she very soothingly asked me if it would make me feel better to look at the map. It would, and I did. I felt 50% better. When we got back on our route I was just ready to get the hell to the parking lot.

By the way, our detour was called Lost Man's Trail.

In reality we were fine the whole time. Lost Man's trail is a very pretty but strenuous detour that loops back to the road we were on. But I will never, never, never go skiing/hiking without a map again. I was so mad at myself for being so ill-prepared--I have a terrible sense of direction and get lost in people's houses ALL the time. People get hurt doing far less stupid things out in the snow. But I also know I wouldn't have been nearly as upset at being "lost" before I became a mom; all I wanted was to get home to her.

I called home as soon as we got reception. Anneke was just fine and had a fun day with Daddy. He said we should definitely head to the brewpub! Anneke was happy to see me, but not nearly as happy as I was to see her. All's well that ends well. And of course, I can't wait to go on another ski day with Diane and Emma.