Project 358: Days 22 and 23

Day 22: Art Bench, Downtown Santa Rosa

"Our mission is to provide job training, mentoring and fostering life changing breakthroughs by way of a stimulating work experience in the arts for all of Sonoma County youth, while creating public art for our community."  -- www.artstart.us

The mission statement is worded a little oddly, but I love the concept. And that bench is really fantastic, don't you think?

Day 23: Medicine

Project 358: Day 21

Before heading to Grandma Kim's this past weekend, Evan insisted that we make a loaf of banana bread for her. We used the following recipe, which we found on VegFamily.com:

Ingredients:

• 5 ripe bananas
• 1 cup vegan sugar (Of course, regular sugar would work just fine. In fact, I'm not really sure what vegan sugar is.)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup water

Directions:

In a large bowl, mash bananas with sugar and vanilla until combined and creamy. Then mix in the water.

In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour, soda, powder and cinnamon.

Add the dry to wet and stir until just mixed. You don't want to over mix or the bread will be dry.

Pour batter into sprayed loaf pan and bake in preheated 350*F oven for one hour. Your house will smell so good you will be tempted to take it out a few minutes earlier but don't or it won't be done on the inside.

We followed this recipe to the letter a few weeks back and it turned out really well: moist, sweet, delicious. However, this time I decided to add a pinch of salt and, at Evan's request, about a half-cup of chopped dried apricots. I also omitted the 1/4 cup of water, although not on purpose. Baking with children is distracting! I think the loaf turned out even better this time 'round.

Day 21: Ta da!

Project 358: Day 20

Day 20: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

We finished this carton of orange juice the other day and I realized I wasn't sure if it was recyclable or not (we don't usually buy this kind of orange juice). I started scanning the carton for clues and came across this label: "Recyclable only in areas where facilities exist. Visit recyclecartons.com to see if recyclable in your area." I visited the website and discovered that Sac County does indeed recycle this type of beverage carton. How wonderful! Visit the website yourself to see if your county does the same. Remember to rinse the carton and remove the cap prior to dropping the carton in the can.

When it comes to recycling programs, we in Sac County are pretty darn lucky. They provide us with large recycling bins and will even give you one or more additional cans at no extra charge (we recently requested a second can because one never seemed to be enough). We are not even required to separate our recycling, we just throw it all in one can, haul it out to the street every other week, and the County takes it from there! Really, it is so easy, there is absolutely NO excuse to not do it.

If you are unsure about what can and cannot be recycled, this page from the Sacramento County Waste Management website lays it all out for you in detail. Seriously, if you haven't already, please check it out. You'll be amazed by how many things you can (and should) throw in that can.

A side note, still on the subject of recycling: I found out recently that the  Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op is now collecting wine corks for recycling (to be made into such things as shoes and flooring). So, instead of tossing those corks in the trash, save 'em up. Next time you're in the area, stop by the Co-op for lunch at their fantastic deli and drop the corks off for recycling while you're there. Win-win!

Project 358: Days 17, 18 and 19

Day 17: Me Time

Hot cup of coffee and some time to myself to settle down with a good book in the middle of the afternoon? Yes, please! Having a two-year-old (who naps) and a four-year-old (who goes to preschool) definitely has its perks. (And, yes, I am wearing pajamas.)

Day 18: Now That's What I Call a Salad!

For lunch yesterday, Stephen and I had a taco salad of sorts. Normally, a taco salad would call for romaine, or even iceberg lettuce, but we opted for spinach because a) it packs a mean nutritional punch, b) we like it, and c) it's all we had. Threw in some carrots and bell pepper (and mourned our lack of celery, tomatoes, and avocado), a mix of pinto and black beans (because we didn't have kidney, which I would have preferred), some Smart Ground, Mexican Style, a lil' bit o' shredded cheese, and some crunched up tortilla chips. Growing up, my mom always made taco salad with Catalina dressing and to this day, a taco salad just isn't a taco salad to me without it. But, for the life of me, I couldn't find a Catalina dressing that wasn't loaded with high fructose corn syrup. WHY?? I decided to try French dressing instead, hoping that it would taste similar since both dressings are tomato based. It didn't have the same zing as Catalina, but it was a decent substitute. Overall, Stephen and I gave this salad a thumbs up!

Day 19: Seriously? Another walnut photo?

Back off. I've had a rough day.

Project 358: Day 16

Walking up to my parents' front door yesterday, something to the left of me caught my eye: a little round ball of gray fur nestled in a pile of dry leaves. Its face was hidden, so I couldn't immediately tell what it was. A cat? Well, that certainly wouldn't be a surprise, but no, its fur looked too course to be a cat. Oh god, whatever it is, please tell me it's not dead, I thought, noticing a couple of flies buzzing around in the vicinity. No, it's breathing, still alive. But what is it? Moving closer to get a better look, my feet crunched some leaves, startling the animal into moving its head. Aha! It's a possum!

Day 16: Suburban Wildlife 

My previous encounters with possums involved them drawing back their pointy little faces, baring their sharp fangs, and hissing in an attempt to scare me off. As a result, I've never really been a fan. But here, the possum is actually kind of cute, all quiet and vulnerable in a nest of leaves, its creepy, prehensile tail hidden among the foliage.

*Side note: At first, I was going to caption this photo "Rodent, Retired" but before doing so, I wanted to make sure that possums are, in fact, rodents. A quick Google search led me to the discovery that, no, they are not rodents as I had always assumed (Who wouldn't? They look like giant rats!). Rather, they are marsupials, an order they share with kangaroos, koalas, and wombats, among others. This particular possum is a Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana), the only marsupial found in North America north of Mexico. Learn something new every day!

Make A Wish (Project 358: Day 15)

Day 15: Make a Wish

Yesterday was what I consider to be the perfect Winter day: bright sun, blue sky, puffy white clouds, and air so cool and crisp you almost wish you could take a bite out of it. We took a walk with the kids early in the day and about halfway through, Evan decided that he wanted to take his shirt off. Elinor quickly followed suit. Immediately, I put up a weak protest, "Come on, guys, leave your shirts on," but was (not surprisingly) ignored. My eyes darted around nervously, trying to glimpse the expressions of passersby. God, what must people think of me, letting my children run around half naked on a Winter's day! I realized in that moment why I felt so uncomfortable about my children taking their shirts off. I was not worried about them being too cold. My children are perfectly capable of determining whether or not they are comfortable and will most certainly let me know when they are not. No, my discomfort came from my fear of people thinking poorly of me, my fear of being judged, of being deemed a "bad mother." When I realized this, I put away any notion of trying to get my children clothed again and simply enjoyed watching their beautiful young bodies running and dancing with joy, the sun warming their soft, pale skin.

If I have one wish for my children it is that they never feel as though they have to be anything other than themselves. I don't want them to care what other people think of them! Oh, I want them to be kind, of course. That goes without saying. But I don't want them to ever feel that they have to change who they are in order to please someone else. Now, I figure the only chance I have of giving them this gift of confidence and self-worth is by modeling it to them through my own actions. This is a tall order. While I am worlds more confident now than I was throughout my teens and early (to mid-) 20s, I am still plagued with self-doubt and insecurity; these fears are deep-seated. And so I start small. Change in action can only occur after successful change of thought patterns. Exercise One: let the children run around half-naked, outside on a Winter's day. Take a photo. Post said photo on the internet. And don't give a damn what people have to say about it!

Project 358: Days 11 - 14

Day 11: Pre-school Fuel (Grilled Cheddar on Wheat, Edamame, Blueberries)

Day 12: Sunset, Rosemont Drive

Day 13: Sunrise, Rosemont Drive

Day 14: Pretty Little Weed

2010 Recap

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

• Became a vegetarian.
• Went on a romantic overnighter with my husband for the first time since we had kids.
• Grew veggies in my backyard.
• Gave my son a hug and a kiss and sent him off to preschool.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
My resolutions from 2010:

• Write.
• Take care of myself body, mind, and soul.
• Spend more time outdoors, even if it is just the backyard.
• Challenge myself.
• Start and maintain an organic vegetable garden.
• Live life more fully.

My resolutions for 2011:

• Write more.
• Read more.
• Make working out an integral part of my life, a constant, rather than something I do       enthusiastically for a couple of months and then don't do at all for the next couple of months.
• Continue the vegetable garden, and expand my growing season to include all four seasons.
• Start a compost pile.
• Reduce my plastic consumption.
• Shop at thrift stores (for clothing, decor, housewares) as much as possible before buying new.
• Slap some paint on the walls of my house.
• Purdy up the front yard.
• Become more organized and intentional in my role as "stay-at-home mom."
• Make a concerted effort to be more affectionate with my husband (meaning hugs and kisses throughout the day). I may not need it, but he does, and I need to honor that.
• Pay off credit card debt (AGAIN) and this time KEEP IT OFF.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Emily gave birth to Mia in October.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?
None.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
More hours in the day? Yeah, that's probably not gonna happen.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

• September - my baby boy started preschool.
• October - first romantic getaway with the hubby in over 4 years.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Totally drawing a blank here...what does that say about me?

9. What was your biggest failure?
I had some parenting moments that I am less than proud of, but no major failures.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
A couple colds, no biggie.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Evan's preschool education, my DSLR, Kinect.

12. Where did most of your money go?
I don't know...mortgage, groceries?

13. What did you get really excited about?

• Seeing Wicked in SF with my mom and sisters.
• Fourth of July trip to Oregon.
• Evan starting preschool.
• In town overnighter with Stephen for our anniversary.
• SYTYCD show with Erin and Keri
• Overnighter in Livermore with my girlfriends.

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?
This song from the cantina scene in Star Wars: A New Hope. Oh my god, I can't get it out of my head.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

• happier or sadder? Hmm...happier, I suppose. Put it this way: definitely not sadder.
• thinner or fatter? Probably a little fatter. This time last year, I was finishing up the cleanse, so...
• richer or poorer? Richer

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Blogging. Reading. Working out. One-on-one dates with my kids.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Watching TV. Drinking. Facebook.

18. How did you spend Christmas?
Elinor's birthday party on Christmas Eve with both sides of the family. Christmas morning at home with Stephen and the kids. Visits from Jean (my grandmother-in-law) and my parents later in the day.

19. What was your favorite TV program?
Parenthood, Modern Family, 30 Rock

20. What were your favorite books of the year?
Eating Animals by Jonathon Safran Foer

21. What was your favorite music from this year?
I couldn't even tell you, I'm so out of touch.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?
See answer to #21.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
On my actual birthday, I was at home packing for our trip to Oregon and taking care of the kids while Stephen was at work. So awesome.

Oh, and I turned 32.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
More/better sleep.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Comfortable, but not sloppy.

26. What kept you sane?
My friends, my husband, my kids, the many wonderful babysitters in my life.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Never take for granted what you have right now, because everything can change in an instant.

Project 358: Days 8, 9 and 10

Day 8: Still Life With Walnut 

This photo just kind of happened the other night when I realized after putting the kids to bed that I had not picked up my camera all day. Glancing around the kitchen for something to photograph, my eyes settled quickly on a mason jar filled with walnuts. No need to look any further; I had found my subject. Walnuts really are a lovely shade of brown, don't you think?

Day 9: Pretty as a Picture

Nine days into the project, I began to realize that the challenge is two-fold. On the one hand, there is the obvious challenge: remembering to take a photo every single day. But what I didn't think about initially is the additional challenge of choosing which photo to post on the days when I have taken many. This, I think, is the more difficult of the two.

The kids were painting yesterday morning, getting kinda' messy, singing songs, and just being, well, downright adorable. So, naturally, my camera was click click clicking away the entire time. Choosing between the many photos I took that morning was hard enough, but just to add to the difficulty, Evan went and fell asleep on the couch that evening (much like his sister on Day 1), which resulted in a beautiful, angelic photo of him. At first, I posted the photo above and posted the sleeping Evan photo as a "runner-up" simply because I could not choose. Eventually, I decided that by doing so, I was breaking the unwritten rules of the project and thus forced myself to edit. But, gosh, it kinda' hurt to choose.

Day 10: The Heart of the Matter

For today's photo, I decided to revisit my subject from two days ago. She was just so easy to work with, I mean absolutely zero attitude. I was so pleased with the results of our first session, I just had to get her in front of the camera again. This time, I wanted to see if I could get her to open up a little more.

Har. Har. Seriously, though, what a lovely little surprise I got when I cracked open my afternoon snack. How could I not snap a pic?

Project 358

I've decided to take part in Flickr's Project 365, after reading about it in one of my favorite blogs, All & Sundry. The basic concept is to take a photo a day for the entire year. Even though I take a lot of photos (mostly of my kids), I certainly do not take photos every day. In fact, there are times when a week will pass and I haven't so much as glanced at my camera. To take a photo every day, though it sounds like a simple task, will definitely be a challenge, and I hope that I will be able to keep up with it. I will be posting my photos on this blog, hopefully daily (but probably not) and I will try to write a little something about each photo.  Will these be interesting blog entries? I'm guessing no. But I hope that it helps to get me into the habit of writing more often.

When I read about the project, we were already eight days into the new year so, in my case, the challenge would be more aptly named Project 358.  Some photos will be taken with my fancy new DSLR (the Canon Rebel XS) but many will be taken with a "point and shoot" camera, my trusty old Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS because, quite frankly, the DSLR is kind of a pain in the ass to lug around everywhere. So now, without further ado, my first 7 photos:

Day 1: Delicate Situation

After a long, fun day with lots of playing and no napping, Elinor fell asleep sitting up on the couch while I was making dinner. Fully clothed, with an empty stomach, at 4 p.m. What is a parent to do in a situation like this? Take a picture, that's what. Because, goddamn that's cute, and it will help to look at something so cute when she wakes up at 3:30 in the morning just rarin' to go and you just want to die.

Day 2: Dinner. Alone.

Typical dinner while Stephen is at work: Boca Burger (Original Vegan), topped with ketchup, mustard, pickles, and spinach. Occasionally, I'll add avocado, but sometimes I'm too damn lazy to slice it (pathetic, really). Honestly, it's hard to motivate myself to make anything more complicated than this when I'm eating alone. At least it's not a bowl of cereal (okay, sometimes it is).

Day 3: The Clover is Taking Over

My poor, neglected vegetable garden (in the background). Next time, I will go beyond summer veggies and plant into the fall and winter as well, I promise.

Day 4: Coolest Kid in Class

Oh, it was so much fun to watch Stephen teach Evan's preschool class all about fire safety. Evan was beaming the entire time, so proud that his dad is a firefighter, a profession of near celebrity status in the eyes of a 4-year-old. And Stephen couldn't stop talking about the experience for days...sorta' renewed his love of the job...until he had to go back to work on the medic, that is.

Day 5: Lap Warmer

My beautiful Pazzo Bellina. My affection for her may never again be what it was before I had children, but it's getting there, little by little.

Day 6: "It's 10 p.m. and I haven't taken a photo yet!"

Gosh, we really need to do something about the walls in that bathroom. Yuck.

Day 7: The Walk To School

SUN, GLORIOUS SUN!