chock-a-blog

quixotic \kwik-SOT-ik\, adjective; 1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals. 2. Capricious; impulsive; unpredictable My renovation of the upstairs aquarium may well prove quixotic. I've been tired of its appearance for weeks now. Since the cleaning was long overdue, I removed all decor, scrubbed the glass walls, siphoned the gunk from the gravel, and added fresh water. After church I visited the 99 (cent) store, where I spent $11.82 on 6 different silk greens, a funny little house, and a Japanese dragon vase. Artfully (ha!) arranged in the aquarium, the sil greens provide my fishies a fantastic new wonderland in which to frolic... but the plastics may leach carcinogenic agents and my fish may flounder, hence the quixotic nature of the renovation.

Dear Goldy: Thank you for the Christmas money. You wrote: "This is for your family. Do something enjoyable like going to a thrift store or out for hot dogs. Have a merry christmas." We did have a Merry Christmas, and I hope you did, too. I used some of the money to buy the new bedspread at IKEA, then used the rest of it on Tuesday. On Tuesday we went to Doreen's house. Do you remember Doreen? She was one of my best friends in junior high. When we moved back to Tucson I reconnected with her. Her son, Xander, was born the same day, same year, as Jack. Her daughter Rumur was born two years later. Here's Jack with Rumur and Xander at Doreen's house. Mandy, Evan, and Aaron met us there. We hung out for awhile and then we went to Thunder Canyon Brewery for lunch together. I ate a portobello mushroom sandwich with carmelized onions and feta cheese. Doreen had the southwest chicken salad and Mandy the soup and salad combo. The soup was tomato and mushroom bisque. The boys...

My new bedding from IKEA: queen sized Alina comforter in dark grey, with two cushion covers. I added a trio of snoa band cushions (on sale!), two in red and one in grey and white, and two Anja cushions. At the base of the bed is a die cut fleece Polarvide throw in red. The red and grey rock together, and on my next visit I plan to buy some red sheets to really set the whole thing smokin'.

Since I've been home on Christmas break I've been craving big breakfasts. I don't want to cook dinner at night but I want to cook breakfast. This morning as I was walking the track with Ana and Cassie I was thinking about what I have in the pantry and what I could create. I've been wanting to make creamed turkey because I don't remember eating it and I've never made it. I wanted to make potato pancakes ever since we ate them at Amber as our appetizer for the TRT Holiday party. So I came home and grated 2 Yukon gold potatoes into the nonstick skillet and started them a-fryin in olive oil with salt and pepper. I diced up a fair amount of leftover turkey and started in on a basic white sauce made from 4 tbsp of butter whisked with 4 tbsp of flour in a saucepan over medium heat while 2 cups of milk warmed in the microsity. Whisk the roux, flip the potatoes. Salt it all. Gradually pour the milk in with the roux --- oh no! --- lumpy! It won't matter after I add th...

What I meant to do today zig-zag all my clean Capri Sun pouches into as many large totes as possible vacuum all the floors catch up with my NAEYC portfolio deadlines put up the Christmas tree make chili and cornbread for dinner What I did today zig-zagged one large tote, which I proceeded to ruin by using an eyelet setter too small to attach the straps to the bag vacuumed my bedroom and the living room, but hair and dust bunnies still threaten to overtake the rest of the house compiled evidence for 3 (THREE!) NAEYC criteria (still behind by a whole deadline) put up one Christmas house made chili and cornbread for dinner I think it's time for a beer.

Two weeks ago I went to PetSmart for some fish... ...and came home with Dolly. Yeah, I been sittin' on this news for a while, because I worried that it was too soon, and I worried she wouldn't fit in, and I just worried. But I fell for her. Hard. She's two years old. Sweet and shy. She spends most of her time behind the washer or under the bed, though in the quiet hours of the morning she comes into the family room with me and Kismet and Cassie. Dolly and Kismet would be getting along fine, I think, if it weren't for Cassie the Fun Police. When they get close Dolly and Kismet get to caterwauling and that's too much for Cassie to take, so she commences to freak out. Dolly's cautious and taking it slow, and we're doing our best to give her the room she needs. She's small and soft and whiskery, with a squeekier meow than any cat I've had before. She came to the Humane Society from her previous owners, and we kept the name Dolly because it's so versa...

I participated in a Holiday Open House at my friend Doreen's. She invited friends who vend: Avon, Gold Canyon Candles, Creative Memories, Homemade Gourmet, and she herself sells Silpada Jewelry. I set up a display of bottle cap earrings and Capri Sun pouch purses. Mandy set up next to me with her beaded earrings and necklaces. I've never seen anyone with the same design aesthetic as my sister. I love it. I participated with inflated expectations. On Friday I sold a dozen pairs of earrings to colleagues and parents at the preschool who'd requested to see my stuff. And I've had preorders for 10 Capri Sun totes from two different people. My coworker Terry, who carries one of my totes as a handbag, claims people ask her all the time where she got it, how much, where can I get one? People appreciate my stuff! They want to buy it! As I left the house on Saturday to drive to Doreen's, I said to Dave, "I'll be back...$300 richer." I came back six bucks in the ...

Purchased a bag of beads for $2.97 at Wal-Mart for the kids in Godly Play to string on pipe cleaners (oh, pardon me---chenille stems!). See the special surprise there in the center? All the way from Rhode Island. See it now? Found in an unopened bag of beads. At least it wasn't an unopened bag of basmati. I'm not intentionally cryptic. Because I see it there I assume you do too, but I saw the Real McCoy and can easily pick her out in the pictures. I bought that bag of beads with a live ladybug inside!

This morning Cassie and I went around and took down the Missing Moxie posters. When she first disappeared I had a hard weekend of mourning but gradually returned to normal. We spent an afternoon searching the shelters and filing a report with the Humane Society. The recommendations from both places were to check their websites daily, check the Found Pets website daily, and check craigslist daily. I've done all those things. Moxie hasn't turned up. I'm resigned to her fate, which can't be pretty, but I no longer visual the potential scenarios of her demise but instead reminisce about what a good sweet kitty she was. And those people at the shelter, the ones who recommend you check the websites daily? They have ulterior motives, you know. If you don't hook up with your lost pet they're hoping you'll hook up with a pet who needs a home. We've got room now. Moxie will never be replaced, and we'll always miss her. But someone else could warm our hearts.

Cassie and I put up signs on the four streets nearest ours. We keep hoping. Say a little prayer. St. Anthony, perfect imitator of Jesus, who received from God the special power of restoring lost things, grant that I may find Moxie, who has been lost. At least restore to me peace and tranquility of mind. To this favor, I ask another of you: that I may always remain in possession of the true good that is God. Let me rather lose all things than lose God, my supreme good. Let me never suffer the loss of my greatest treasure, eternal life with God. Amen.

Kismet, Jack's Other Mother She misses Moxie, too.

((it crosses my mind that I'm being punished for the Great Goodwill Heist, but I remind myself that my God doesn't work that way))

Sickness saps my energy, both physical and mental. It's surprising, really, how seldom I get sick, since I work in a petri dish. When I do get sick it lays me low and happenings that I might normally take in stride just completely knock me down. Last week I was diagnosed with an embarrassing viral infection, the symptoms of which on their own couldn't possibly have dragged me this deep down: sores in my mouth and throat that blistered and peeled and made every mouthful feel and taste like shredded pennies; an itchy rash around my mouth and nose and on my chest. Compounding that: knees that felt packed in hot wax, the backs of my eyeballs aflame. No fever, so no H1N1. Negative strep. Malaise. But I soldiered (martyred?) through most of the week at work, because I could, and some of the other teachers had to stay at home with their diverticulitis and kidney stones. On Thursday night my laptop died. On Friday night I felt I could deal with my weekend obligations. DH went out of t...

We had Friday off for teacher in-service and I didn't have to work because we attended the SAzAEYC Annual Conference on a Saturday at the end of September. While watching Village of the Damned, Children of the Damned, and Burn After Reading, I crafted near 30 pair of bottlecap earrings to add to my inventory, which my friend Susan hawked for me at her booth at the Blues Fest on Sunday. Brazey helps me "do some" (yes, that's a dress from the Great Goodwill Heist) I didn't sleep well Sunday night and was up for several of the wee Monday morning hours, then arose at my usual 4:30 am. I plowed through my morning routine: checked my email, my fb, bible reading, 2 mile dog walk, 8 minute arm toner, Jack's breakfast, my breakfast, pack my lunch, pack Jack's lunch, out the door just in time to be 5 minutes late for my conference with Jack's second grade teacher. Sitting there listening to her talk about somebody else's kid, it hit me like a ton of bric...

"Mommy?" Jack doesn't lift his eyes from his homework. "Yes?" "Would you be mad if I did something bad, like Cassie did?" "Probably. What did you do?" Still not looking directly at me: "I ate an Otter Pop in the living room and I didn't see it leaking." "It leaked on the carpet?" He looks at me now. "Yes. But I got a cloth and I wiped it." Gesturing. A moment of silence, his eyes locked on mine. My small smile. "Bad Jack. Shame." His small smile. "Are you gonna make me go outside now?" brilliant. all cleaned up.

I've been growing this hair for over two years now, and I'm pretty sure I'm incapable of growing it any longer. My ponytail is an inch shy of the 10" required by Locks of Love, but an inch longer than the 8" required by Pantene's Beautiful Lengths. Tomorrow I go in for the big snip-snip, and a new 'do. I'll be glad to bid adeiu to the shedding. BTW: That purple embellished tank is part of The Great Goodwill Heist.

shame.

After last night's culinary debacle, today's culinary surprise was particularly welcome. My dear friend Rukmi brought me lunch! Rukmi is Sri Lankan. She cooks the best food. I ate a fish and egg croquette, lentil curry, saffron rice, all with delicious chicken and what I thought might be tuna. I asked Rukmi what the meat was, and she told me it's all chicken. "The flat, triangular meat? With the spices? Is it tuna?" She laughed lightly. "That's a wegetable," she said, in her lovely Sinhalese way. "Oh, yeah? Like a beet?" That made sense, because it flaked like tuna steak or like beets might. "It is jackfruit." Jackfruit? Jackfruit! I ate jackfruit today. Rukmi told me all about it: she used canned young jackfruit she bought at G & L Market on 22nd St.; fully grown jackfruits are gigantic and if one fell on your head it could kill you. When fully ripe, jackfruit is full of big pods that each have a seed in the middle, like a p...

I steal. This morning, whilst driving home from the park and the grocery store, I spied a series of bags tucked between the two storage units serving as the foothills Goodwill drop-off site. Because I've been dabbling in sewing, especially t-shirt recon and capri-sun tote bags, I pulled over to check out the contents of those bags, just in case there was something in there I could use in my dabbling. I hopped out of the car and grabbed up those bags and shoved em in the back seat and peeled out on my way home. And what I found inside.... oooh, it's like Christmas time for me. Fun, fun stuff. Like my alter ego dumped the contents of her closets, both clothes and linen, for there are several sets of coordinating queen sized sheets. Soon you'll see the reason for my glee. Off to school now, but when I get home I'll show you. My guilty treasures. Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.