Goods Things Come in Threes

I have been working on and off on these animals for my son for a month or so now. They are from the book Fleecie Pets by Fiona Goble. The animals all have the same body pattern with animal-specific variations for the heads and different stitching on the face. I have been sewing them by hand, so it is taking a bit longer than if done by machine. I imagine I could probably whip one of these out in about 2 hours if I was using a machine.

The bear is completed and it looks not nearly as cute as the one in the book, but I was happy with it for my first attempt. Thru trial and error, I have learned a few things and hopefully the frog and lamb will look a bit closer to the cuteness of the book. The finished frog will be wearing a robe and the lamb will be wearing - get this - a furry lamb jacket. Adorable!!

2008 Goals & Spicy Lentil Carrot Soup

It’s a new year! And I celebrated by cutting all my hair off. I have a cut that would now blend me perfectly in both the 90s and a group of soccer moms and I love it. Gone are the days of brushing my hair, a laborious task as it stretched further down my back, and my family and personal obligations continue to grow.

I made the decision after spending the first 12 days of 2008 with something reminiscent of a plague running through my house. There were fevers, chills, vomiting, and diarrhea. We had a great holiday and celebrated my son’s first birthday on New Year’s Eve, and then I was puked on in the face concurrently. To make matters worse, I was way behind on my work, and was trying to do too much. The sickness stopped me right in my tracks. We spent days laid in the house, doing absolutely nothing. We were forced to stop.

I took an absurd number of naps with my babe in arms all around the house in places I had never thought to nap before. We rested. The house became filthy in a way I have not seen it since we have had a child in it. It was kind of beautiful in a sick way. Literally. Slowly, with the ever changing nursing duties split between my husband and I, we brought things back to healthy, but are still recovering.

Through all of that, I had one nagging problem…damn, it is hard to squeeze a shower in with all this sickness going on. And then, when I did, I didn’t feel like the bother of washing my hair. And then after several days of that, it got kind of tangled. That annoyed me, so I cut it off. New year, new things! I feel lighter, which I need to float through the challenges before me.

I started winemaking school this week, which has left me extremely stressed out and busy. I am so excited about this, but will have to save that for another time, as I have too much reading and work to do write clearly about it right now. Needless to say, with three-quarters of a full load of classes added onto my schedule of FT mom and marketing manager, I am busy!

So for the new year, a couple of things I would like to do more of:

1. Crafting: I read many great crafting blogs and even got inspired to make some felt animals for my son. I really want to keep doing this more this year to explore my creative side and give an outlet for my imagination.

2. Blogging: I want to write more! I barely posted in 2007 and want to change that. I have so much to say about so many things and would love to meet likeminded people to share with. And I want to connect with family and friends far away, and let them know what is happening with me.

3. Bath Time: I want to pamper myself. I have been taking one bath a week lately and I love it. Nothing too fancy, just me and some bubbles and a good book. It is amazing how relaxed I feel after a nice hot dip.

4. Reading and Running: Balancing extracurricular activities has never been more difficult. But not balancing them has more dire repercussions - a funky attitude about everything. I need to keep my mind and body in shape to drive away negativity and depression that often wants in during idle times.

5. Meal Planning: I have finally accepted that this is the only way to efficiently cook on a regular basis. I don’t have time for daily trips to the store anymore, so I need to make my shopping count. The best way is to plan and I am starting next week.

With that in mind, below is the recipe for an amazing soup that I have made a couple of times now. The original recipe is from a great little book I thrifted from my favorite (so far) neighborhood Portland thrift store – the Value Village on SE 82nd. The book is Practical Soups from P3 Publishing. I have adjusted the recipe slightly to my taste. This soup is easy to make and relatively effortless.

Spicy Lentil and Carrot Soup

4 oz lentils
5 cups of vegetable bouillon
1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced
2 onions, chopped
12 oz can of chopped tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 T veg oil
1 t cumin
1 t coriander
1 t chili
½ t turmeric
1 t lemon juice
salt

1 ¼ skim milk
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
plain yogurt

1. Combine 4 c of the bouillon with lentils, carrots, onions, tomatoes and garlic. Bring to boil, simmer for 30 minutes or more until everything is soft.

2. Heat oil in separate small pan. Add all dry spices and cook carefully for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and salt to taste.

3. Puree soup in blender (I use a food mill) and return to pan. Add spice mixture. Add remaining 1 c bouillon and let simmer 10 more minutes.

4. Add milk and cilantro and heat gently a few more minutes.

5. Serve. Add plain yogurt dollop to each bowl for individual added goodness.

Back In the Swing of Things

After a cross-country relocation, I am settling back into cooking like mad. I have found rhythm in making baby food and strive daily to make delicious and healthy food for my family. My son has been off the Gerber food for a couple of weeks now, and he seems to be loving the additional flavors that I add into his mashed creations. One of my favorite things to eat is ramen. From the time I studied in Japan, nearly 10 years ago now, I have striven to
find the elusive excellence of traditional Japanese ramen. I have tried ramen in restaurants, I have tried to make it myself. I still don't make it quite right, and barely want to even call it ramen because to me that signifies its excellence, whereas to many it signifies the noodle of broke pocketbooks.

Still not altogether successful, but I do make a nice bowl of Asian-style noodle soup.

Above is the final result. The two bigger bowls on the outside are mine and my husband's. We split the gyoza on the middle plate and our son ate the applesauce in the front left and the egg yolk, steamed carrots and gyoza in the front center bowl.

Post Pregnancy - Cuttin' Back

I haven’t been writing because I have added duties at home – my husband is out of town working, and it’s been just me and the kid at home for nearly a month now. This shift has rendered every free moment in the day either dedicated to working for my job that pays the bills, or working around the house for my job of mom. So I haven’t been cooking like usual, opting instead for the more expedient options of take out, pre-made frozen meals, and things that come out of a box.

In an effort to get serious about dropping some of this baby weight, I must get back on track. I am not one to diet per se. I am more of the mindset that I can eat whatever I want, but in moderation. I love all the carbs – bread, rice, potatoes and have always lost weight with never cutting them out. I eat relatively healthy, but do have a serious weakness for fried and salty things. I generally exercise regularly, but since my husband has been gone, I have failed to even once, outside of walks with SoulBaby, which are more a mode of transportation to the park than exercise.

I have always been able to lose weight if I follow my own criteria:

1. Do not keep any junk food in the house – being that my weakness is salty things, I never buy them, because I know I will eat them all in one sitting when I am starving. I have no problem resisting sweets like ice cream, so I keep that stocked for my husband and rarely feel it necessary to eat any. Do what works for you to avoid temptation.

2. Keep healthy snacks on hand – most of my junk food eating happens at times when I am in a pinch and need something satisfying fast. I literally have a McDonald’s in my backyard, and its lingering French fry odor has rendered me defenseless many times when I have waited to long to eat. If I stock plenty of nutritious snacks like fresh veggies, cheese and crackers, and fruit, and eat them on demand, then I am less likely to eat something indulgent because I am already full.

3. Cut out all unnecessary sugars – I used to love Coca Cola. We had a long affair that lasted many, many years. The dentist identifying the discoloring on my teeth to be a direct result of the beverage could not break us apart. I could easily drink 6 ice cold cans of this stuff a day. That is until I realized the direct relationship with this and my inability to lose that extra 5-10 pounds I wanted. I cut the Coke out, and like magic, lost weight.

4. Drink lots of water. I drink nearly a gallon a day. I rarely ever drink anything other than water (except for my daily cup of coffee and, of course, wine) and it is in my opinion imperative to do this if you are going to lose weight and maintain it. It keeps you feeling good and gives you more energy than you think.

5. Cook from scratch as best you can. When I first got serious about cooking, it was because I just love to eat. I soon learned though that in addition to being able to have delicious meals everyday that I could never afford in a restaurant, I could also see what goes in everything that I eat. This allows me to better monitor my overall nutrition.

So in light of trying to cook everyday again, I made my favorite Indian veg dish tonight – Aloo Gobi, or curried cauliflower and potatoes. Delicious. I ate it with white rice and steamed beet greens.

Everybody Hates Going To Bed

SoulBaby will now sleep for several hours through the night, but getting him into bed is the most challenging task I face all day. Every once in awhile he will go to sleep peacefully and I can rush for a couple hours to get a few tasks done before I too must retire. It seems that the norm is more often that he goes down for and hour or so and then pops back up ready to go again.

I have set an optimal (according to me) routine bedtime for him every night - bathing him, reading to him and massaging him just as the Johnson & Johnson site says to do to relax your child. Now I have not used their line of calming products which I am sure would add benefit to their claims of ensuring a good night's sleep with their simple nighttime steps, but I have plenty of good lotion and it that really going to make him sleep better? I have read countless child books, blogs, and message boards to search for something new, one small helpful piece of advice that can win me some extra time everyday.

Still, I have put him down three times already tonight and as I write this now he is twitching in his sleep – the first indication he is faking it and will soon be up again. The doctor says he’s a baby and I can’t expect him to cooperate. The books say he should be sleeping regularly now, or at least in a routine. My mom says he is just so social and thinks he is going to miss out on something if he falls asleep.

I am going to let him choose his own sleep path and see what happens because really, I am just tired of fighting to get him to sleep. I hope I am not setting my child up for afternoon kindergarten and an inability to wake up before 8 in the morning, but right now I am so tired I just can’t be bothered to worry that far ahead.

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When I first had SoulBaby he was in the NICU for several days due to some breathing problems and a fever. I remember one of the nurses in there was talking to us about how at first you are so worried about everything with your child, continuously checking to see if they are breathing while they are sleeping and whatnot. Having not had my son at home all to myself, I could not yet imagine this behavior.

When he finally did come home, the first night was the second most shocking experience I had had to date, only topped by the delivery nearly a week earlier. I never knew that a newborn made such irregular, phlegmy and overall unhealthy sounding breaths. And I never knew the kind of pain and concern that his non-stop cry would shock through my body. It was not a physical pain like the labor, but a mental anguish that affected every ounce of my body when I heard his shrill, scared cry.

I think we woke every hour or two to strange gurgling noises in the night for the first week. We became accustomed to the sounds and did not have to worry whether or not he was breathing in the night because we could easily hear him sleeping in the bassinet next to our bed. Finally, he quieted and then we graduated to watching the rise of his chest by the light of the nightlight. Ahhh, yes he is still breathing, and we rest again.

Slowly we became more comfortable. He started taking longer naps and sleeping more at night, leaving me alone in the house with him more, but not with him. At least once a day, I look around and wonder where he is, and then, yes he is still napping, I remember. I have been here with him almost every moment for four months and now it is weird to be awake so many hours in a row undisturbed by baby’s needs. So I have to go check on him now.

Programming The Child

I desperately want my child to be bilingual. Before young SoulBaby ever grew in my womb, I had grandiose ideas of how I would train my future baby to speak Japanese. Having spent one year of university studying abroad and several additional years of training in the language, I always thought I would pass this knowledge on to any offspring.

Now it has been nearly 10 years since I have lived in Japan and nearly 4 now since my last visit. However, I still have the very basic conversational stylings of the Japanese I once knew - I can discuss the finer points of various electronics in Akihabara with the overenthusiastic sales clerks, order delicious food with ease, and ask directions, as well as understand the answers.

Now that my son has passed five months old, he is recognizing some small nuances of speech like the inflection of a question and the certainty of an answer. I, however, am finding that as his interest in language grows, my vocabulary lacks. It has been so long since I have stretched my mind to Japanese mode where I can output words with ease and state my thoughts succinctly. I confuse simple tenses, forget basic vocabulary, and have incoherent words fall right out of my mouth as simple as the babble and drool falls from SoulBaby's.

My current strategy has me continuously writing down the missing words from my vocabulary to look up later in the day when I have a few extra minutes. Hopefully by the time that he is ready to start talking back I will have regained some of my past linguistic glory.

I am also thinking that as he gets older I should supplement his learning with some Japanese Language videos, flashcards and other learning tools. I have read a lot of mixed reviews about these products. Most state that a lot of the products are next to worthless as they only teach vocabulary and not the actual communication of a foreign language.

I figure that with one semi-competent Japanese speaker in the house, these supplemental tools are just what I need to help my son learn. Where the videos leaves off with vocabulary and word use, I can pick up with reaffirmation and familiarity.

For now I am learning Japanese nursery rhymes and they have been received with much glee by a constantly smiling face. If anyone is interesting in teaching some different songs to their children check out Mama Lisa’s Blog filled with lyrics and MP3s of great songs for children from around the globe.

New Clairvaux Winery

received a half case of wine from my friend that came from her neighborhood winery - New Clairvaux Vineyard. The vineyard, situated in Vina, CA, is run entirely by Trappist Monks. With the order’s strong roots in agricultural and winemaking its monks are responsible for many of the finest vineyards in the world. The first Cistercian winery in North America, New Clairvaux was founded in 1955 on the former site of Great Vina Ranch, formerly the largest vineyard, winery, and distillery in the world in 1890.

I am working my way slowly through the reds. So far I have had the 2004 Poor Souls Block Zinfandel and the 2005 St. James Block Tempranillo. Both have been excellent.