A Whole Hand?

Today is my anniversary.  Five years ago today, I declared before an entire church filled with friends and family, that I would love Taylor forever, come rain or come shine.

2006

Five years.

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[given the proximity of this to my last post, a small note of clarification: this is my best friend's family w/ her new baby] :) 

Me Too!

My friend Renee made some granola the other day.  I had to try it--it looked so good. Besides, I can imagine hobbits eating granola--it seems so hearty and simple and delicious that it just fits.  What could be more hobbit-y than abundant deliciousness?

I used cashew butter + white chocolate instead of the peanut butter chips and melted the goods on the stove.  I think I over-did it just a bit, since my granola didn't come out shiny.  Next time ;)

But it sure was tasty. How can anything with pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, pecans, sunflower seeds, flaked coconut (another addition of mine), and oats not be tasty?  I've already made a second batch, since this one was devoured in a matter of days :)

Verdict: awesome

You should make some :)

I'm Getting Better at This

I have now successfully completed my sixth mei tai.  I've got the process fairly streamlined and I have progressively had to rip out fewer and fewer seams. Baby steps, right? :)  This one is for Renee, whom I am going to visit next month.

Not that you're particularly interested, but I've only ever made one infant carrier, and the other five have been improvised-from-the-infant-pattern toddler carriers.  Admittedly, ring slings are way easier to handle with a newborn, and the babies fit so nicely all snugged up in cute pouches.  And ring slings are stuff-into-a-diaper-bag convenient. But I'm happy to have my infant carrier. What if I just have to get stuff done with my arms in front and the kid won't quiet down? Back carry :) (simple).

So for now all I have are pictures of the mei tai on my couch in our bedroom... chillin' until it's time for him to work :) In two weeks I'll be down in TX and we can try it out with Renee's adorable hobbit babies. I can't wait!

If I had to name this one, I think I'd call him Sam (yes, I think it's masculine).

Mei Tai

[Also, for those who are interested, I took these pictures with my new camera... What? I haven't told you about that yet? Well, well... Looks like another post is due soon!]

"In a hole in the ground...

there lived a hobbit."

Thus began my first exposure to Tolkien's writing--to Middle Earth, hobbits, elves, and all the glory of his fantasy.   You may (or may not) know that my husband is a Tolkien FAN (I mean super-fan, really. He has read everything Tolkien's written), and can you believe it? he married me before I had read the Lord of the Rings :)  As a matter of fact, we read it aloud to each other on our honeymoon in Italy.  I have many fond memories of sitting up late into the night, taking turns reading through the growing climax of the story. "Just one more chapter! Let's just read one more chapter!"  But at the end of that chapter, we would want to read just one more.  We spent whole days inside, in Rome, to read Tolkien.  It was worth it.

I have read the story of Frodo and the ring twice since my honeymoon.  Once for a class on the Philosophy of Tolkien (T and I ended up reading it aloud together anyway).  The next time, I had started to read it aloud to Momma, during Congress last year.  I thought she would like to hear the story--and being read to is always a nice treat when one is exhausted in every other sense.  We made it to Tom Bombadil's house where "a golden light was all about them."  I finished reading the story "by myself" (and yet, in a very real sense, still with Momma listening) and finished it in May on yet another plane ride to CA.  I cried at the end. I sobbed.  It is such a good story--there is much sadness, but so much hope. This time, I am reading the Lord of the Rings aloud with my sister Viv.  Gandalf has just taken possession of the Palantir Wormtongue cast from Orthanc.

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I was getting my master's at Gonzaga when I first read The Hobbit, and I realized, as I sat on the plane to CA last weekend, leafing through the pages of the first chapter, I hardly remembered any of it. It must have been an exceptionally busy and stressful semester to have been so distracted as I read.

There were, of course, those points in the story which are noted in later works, which I remembered.  But I couldn't remember how many dwarves descended on Bilbo's house, that he didn't know Gandalf before that morning in June, blowing smoke rings.  I didn't remember anything about the Wood Elves' underground palace or even Beorn (!).  Even nearing the end of the book, darned if I could remember how Bilbo and the Dwarves got rid of Smaug.  So I really enjoyed reading it this time through.

I also enjoyed the different feel of the book from the Lord of the Rings.  I understand the original editor replaced the word "tummy" with "stomach" in several places to make the book feel older, more mature.  Tolkien, I am convinced, wrote The Hobbit for younger audiences that usually guessed.

I really think it's a story about growing up--striding out of your comfort zone and doing something courageous, using the skills you have to overcome the problems you're faced with, trusting your friends and having faith that things will work out.

Trusting that adventures come to an end and you will make it home, one way or another, safe and sound.  And won't the sound of the boiling kettle warm your heart so much more, after adventure?

A Candlestick Maker

Yep, that's me!


Years ago, when I was still an undergrad at GU (gosh, that was 5 years ago!), the sacristan for the Student Chapel asked me if I wanted the altar candle remnants.  Never one to pass up an offer of free (non-scented!) candles, I said yes and he presented me with two (!) large boxes of 6" tall beeswax candles.  Awesome.

And they've traveled with me wherever I moved from then on.  I now have the boxes (which are a little more empty now) in our buffet, and I still use the candles around the house.  I love the subtle smell of beeswax :)  and I love candlelight.  We try to light candles when we pray together--it's so much more intimate and it sets the scene for hallowed thoughts, I think.  There's something enchanting about candle light.  At night, T and I turn off the lights and burn candles before falling asleep.  It's so much more satisfying to puff out a candle flame, rather than flicking a wall switch.  The transition is better, too, from the soft glow of a warm flame to the gathering darkness of sleep...

Only trouble is, the candles drip a lot of wax (I don't have any followers for the tips of the candles). I hate to see such good wax go to waste (besides, it's been blessed--can't throw it out!), so I've saved the drippings in a ziploc bag.  And I accumulated quite a lot over the past several years.

So... I made candles yesterday!  We have several scented candles in glass jars that were running low, so I melted the remainder of the scented wax with the beeswax remnants and re-filled the jars.  I even filled several votive holders with plain beeswax to use around the house.  I am super excited.  My favorite, you might have guessed, are the green votive holders, which I got as a C'mas present to use at Pentecost this year.

I might need to get some more candle glasses next time :) We'll see! Now go enjoy some candlelight yourself!

Early

T and I had our own little Christmas this Saturday. I know it's early, but our suitcases are already stuffed with presents we're bringing for other people, so we had to open the ones we had here now.  And if this mini-Christmas is any indication of big-Christmas, this year will be grand.

We had breakfast with the Vollebregts--two of our great friends from undergrad, and it was great to catch up with them! Their flights got in one at night and one in the morning, so Jake crashed at our place and we picked Jess up the next morning. A delightful visit with great friends!

After cleaning up the breakfast dishes, T drove me down to our favorite spot in Brookline Village so I could get some yarn (for the giving tree at St. Clement's) and he could get some oh-so-tasty coffee from KooKoo.  As we were walking into the stores, though, we noticed a "POTTERY SALE" sign on one of the shops. So we stopped in and I found this cute little jewelry holder, which T got me as an early Christmas present. I love it :) It's just perfect for my "pretties." And the purpley glaze in the well at the bottom adds a lovely touch!

When we got home, I made a quick lunch and sat down to knit a scarf. I hope it keeps someone nice and warm (via the giving tree and the Little Brothers of St. Francis). I used a bulky green wool and just knit knit knit the whole skein.

In the afternoon, T went to meet with some of his fellow law students, to commiserate? defy? discuss? anticipate? the impending last final of their first 1L semester (which is today--GOOD LUCK TAYLOR!!).  While he was doing that, I was making the house ready for our Christmas Date.

I cleaned up the living room, set the table, lit some candles, and arranged the presents we had on a table.  I tidied the bedroom, and made the bed.  I warmed up some leftovers for dinner (there's nothing better than a free date night where you also don't have to cook) and put the special Kris Kringle present (for the 6th Sunday of Advent) out with the other presents.

So Taylor came home and we had cabbage soup with bread for an appetizer. Then we had re-heated chicken pieces with baby bok choy and cous cous with tomatoes.  For dessert, we had leftover chocolate cake (but we didn't eat it, we were too full).

After eating we sat down to open presents. Taylor got me two FABULOUS pairs of new flats. I love them! There's a black/darn brown/deep purpley pair (y'know--the color that goes with pretty much everything), and he also got me a very fun pair of reddish-maroony shoes with a big bow on the toe.  They make me happy :)

We opened the Kris Kringle presents that T's Mum (so generously) sent us for each week. She gave Taylor a new Tolkien collection he didn't have yet (Tales from the Perilous Realm), which is a very nice edition of some of our favorite stories and poems! Great illustrations, too. For me, I got a collapsible salad spinner I've had my eye on for a while. Space is precious in a one-bedroom condo in Boston, and I loves me my salads--so this little contraption should be well-loved :)

My brother's family sent us our gifts here in Boston, so we also opened those.  In addition to some fun scrapbooking materials :) they sent us a book on Tolkien and Lewis, and a wall-quotation (that you can stick to your wall so that it looks painted on):

May the hair on your toes never fall off. 

How appropriate :)

We read Tales from the Perilous Realm to each other, and spent a very cozy evening together.  As we headed to bed, the snow started to fall...  All night the wind blew and more snow fell (through the screens on our windows, actually--we had a couple inches in one window sill! (between the inside window and the stomr window)), and in the morning, when we opened the curtains, we has frosted window panes.  Very beautiful, actually :)

And on my walk to the office today, it would seem the remaining students had a lot of fun with the fresh snow.  Or.. it could have been the Jesuits?! This hill is right outside the back door of their residence :)

 Happy Snow, Boston.  Thanks for snowing before we left--a White mini-Christmas--and stopping in time for us to leave!

Can't wait to go to CA. Just a few more hours!

Many Happy Returns

Yesterday I posted about my first birth day.  Today I thought I should share my 26th birthday with you :)

I went to work in the morning (ah, another year of successfully not telling them it's my birthday. There can be so much frivolous fuss in offices... I prefer to avoid it) and then hurried to meet T at the T :)  He had picked up some sushi-to-go for lunch, and when I arrived at the station, the train was just pulling up so we hopped on and headed downtown.  Also while I was at work, T had waited in line for rush tickets to the Boston Symphony Orchestra's matinée performance of Beethoven's 8th and 9th Symphonies (skipping class :-o and waiting in the frigid wind, I might add--see how much my husband loves me?).

We sat in the sunshine to eat our sushi, since we made great time getting downtown and the concert didn't start until 1:30.  Even though the sun was shining, we were still cold, holding chopsticks, shoving (tasty) sushi (and maki) into our mouths as the wind whipped past our faces and stripped us of all body heat! Brrr...

Thankfully, Symphony hall was nice and warm :)  The symphonies were thoroughly enjoyable (despite our afternoon-drowsiness--who's idea was it to hold concerts during siesta time?!) and we were glad to have been able to get tickets (Thank you, Taylor!).

Dinner reservations were for 5:30, so we had some two hours to pass after the concert finished.  We ambled over to the Museum of Fine Arts (well, we walked briskly... into the wind... hands in pockets!).  The MFA has a great cafe, so we sat down and had some deliciously hot beverages to warm up.  T read me some poems (aww) and we chatted about this and that...

Then we visited the Secrets of Tomb 10A exhibit.  I know, the name sounds a bit dry (C'mon, people, "Tomb 10A"?), but it was very interesting for us Classics majors :D  For some reason, I get such a kick out of looking at objects that are thousands of years old. Isn't that crazy?

For dinner we went to Meyers + Chang, a restaurant with a "funky indie diner setting" that has fabulous food! We ate a whole lot... but it was very good (and we must have been pretty hungry because we weren't terribly full afterwards, either (though we did enjoy the long-ish walk to the T...)). Highly recommended if you're in the Boston area!

So we walked back to the T through downtown Boston, warm, full bellies under our coats, and came home to open presents.  I got:

• several awesome books (I'm sure you'll hear about them eventually)
• some new crystal glasses
• an awesome scarf/glove set
• the niftiest sewing scissors I've ever touched :D
• a "Faith Hope Love" stamp
• and, of course, oodles of lovely cards!  

Without question, a fabulous way to remember my birth day :)

On My Mind...

Not sure why this has been running through my head lately. I did just finish reading book 2 of the Lord of the Rings, so maybe that's why. Maybe I'm in a thinking mood myself, and would like a quiet place to sit and muse of all that I have seen. Maybe I'm listening for returning feet...

I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen, of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been;

Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were, with morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be when winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see

For still there are so many things that I have never seen: in every wood in every spring there is different green.

I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago, and people who will see a world that I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think of times there were before, I listen for retuning feet and voices at the door.

--Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings

Turkey-Lurkey

Dad and Taylor dressed the turkeys (which means they pulled the gizzards out and plopped the turkey into a bag in the roaster). They did a good job! But they didn't make it dance this year :)

When all the food was ready, it was laid out in a FANTASTIC display (from right to left): cream cheese corn, stuffing, gravy,  (wine and martinelli's), green beans, turkey, mashed potatoes, more turkey, baked spinach puff, scalloped sweet potatoes, and two kinds of salads. Mmm!A proper Hobbit feast, if I do say so myself!  Recipes coming soon. 

All in all, we had 23 people for dinner--the Black family, Aunt Sandy, Uncle Mark (and family and mother-in-law), Mum's parents, and Mr & Mrs Corrigan.  

Pie for dessert, of course :) (6 pumpkin, 2 apple (well, we are in WA!), 2 pecan tarts ("just the top part" of a pecan pie) :D and 2 key lime pies) along with Mum's hot wassail--apple cider, orange juice, lemon or lime aid, cinnamon sticks and whole cloves. Simmer until tasty :)

Also, Mike and Kayleen came over after dinner to spend some time with us. They are expecting a little girl (Louisa) in a few months. It was good to catch up with them--and rub the belly, naturally! 

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As a treat for everyone, we played paper charades (a game the Black's got from one of Dad's cousins) after dessert. It was lots of fun! 

What you need:

I'd say at least 6 people (at least two teams)

2-4 strips of paper per player (the more strips, the longer the rounds)

2 bowls/containers to hold the papers

Here are the rules:

1) Every player write a person, place, or thing on their strips of paper (adjectives and adverbs ought, generally, to be avoided (aHEM, Garrett and Taylor)). 

2) Fold the strips of paper and place them all in one bowl.

3) Timing is variable--you can do 30 second turns or 1-minute turns where the actor can do as many slips of paper as he can.

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First round:

1) A player from one team selects a piece of paper from the bowl and tries to get his team to guess what's on the paper without saying ANY of the words on the paper. Once the team guesses the answer, the actor places the paper in the second bowl (each guessed word counts as one point).

2) Alternating teams, continue with the above procedure until all the slips of paper in the first bowl are gone.

Second round:

1) Using the SAME strips of paper, for this round the actor can only use ONE WORD to get his team to guess the answer (Just so you know, "blue" for "whale" is probably not a good choice). By this round, everyone (if they have been LISTENING) should be familiar with all the words on the strips of paper. Dad says, "Spend the time in your turn thinking of the word, because you can't take it back or change it!"

When the team guesses the word, place the strip of paper in the now-empty first bowl.

2) Repeat until all the strips of paper in the second bowl are back in the first bowl.

Third round:

1) Traditional Charades--actions only; no words or sound effects (or lip-reading, T!)--using the SAME strips of paper. This is a particularly funny round because the words are familiar, but the actions vary quite a bit depending on the actor's interpretation :) Like the first round, when the team guesses the word, place the strip of paper in the second bowl.

2) Repeat until all the strips of paper are gone.

Total the points for the rounds to see who's won :) This is also a great game for moments of insight--T should write a paper on this game and how the actor must lead the guessers to the further pertinent questions ;)

Here's a link to my other pictures of Turkey Day: 

Thanksgiving Day 08

Happy Halloween!

Success! Our first fall-costume-party-that-happened-to-be-on-halloween was loads of fun! Less than an All Saints Day Party (because you could dress up as a non-saint if you wanted) but more than a halloween party--no spooky costumes (except for Paul (but we're still not sure, precisely, what he was anyway)). I spent Thursday cleaning up the house (which, really, I enjoy doing!). 

I was lucky enough to be able to take yesterday off work--which was a good thing because I had to sew T's shirt for his costume! I'm happy to report that my one-day shirt turned out quite well, even though I didn't get the bottom hem done in time (it was ok--he was wearing overalls so it didn't even show). We went as Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. I was Raggedy Ann in 6th grade--Momma made my costume that year. She usually made our costumes, actually. In fact, she didn't even let us talk about what we wanted to be for halloween until the week before. So she probably made my Raggedy Ann dress that halloween day so long ago :) And (this is the awesome part) it still fit this year! 

I think the fact that the dress still fit is due  more to Momma's sewing ability and the pattern of the dress than my size (hardly consistent in the past 10  years), but hey, it's still cool.  The dress was, however, a bit short  for comfort, so I got some bloomers to wear under it, added some  stripped stockings, and a red yard wig and I was good to go! 

We had Tom Bombadill and Goldberry at our party--pretty exclusive, eh?

 

We had the two Lucille's (from the TV show Arrested Development), Three Philosophers, Groucho Marx, a construction worker, and a few guests who came as the mystery of themselves :) Disguise enough in many cases! It also happened to be Hector's birthday, so we had ice cream cake after the pumpkin pie, eggnog, apple cider, and (of course) candy. 

And "Oh, does Hector like ice cream cake?" we asked Tom Bomdail (who brought the cake). "Well, I don't know if he does, but I do." :) 

The highlight of the evening for T and me, though, was being able to have so many of our friends over to spend time with! We've always wanted our home to be a welcoming place--neat and tidy but also comfortable and homeley (in the Elven sense, that is!).  And I guess we've succeeded because we received so many lovely, wonderful compliments after our party! Burke even told us it was "Hobbit-ish" :) which is probably the nicest thing anyone's ever told us. I'm so glad our friends enjoyed themselves! Praise God for good friends, good times, and good victuals :D

Sew Happy

Forgive the pun. All I can say is I am my father's daughter :) And proud to be! On Monday evening I did quite a bit of sewing--mostly mending and altering. Not to complain, but whenever buy new clothes, I always have to alter them, whether it's because of my Hobbit lineage or my always-not-in-style figure. Anyway, here are some pictures of what I did. It was quite productive. Widening pants (yes, as often happens, as one grows up, one grows out). I added a strip of material all down the outside seam. It actually ended up being pretty easy. The waistband was one that overlapped a good deal in the front, and, by chance, it fit perfectly with the added strips on the side. Side slits in shirts (part of that out growth thing) Fixing my Hobbitses problem :) A sneaky way to hem wide-legged pants (where just rolling up the cuffs tends to pucker) is to fold it up, sew it, and iron the hem back down. It also keeps the nice store-bought hemmed look (which I could do if I had an invisible stitch cam, but I don't). So that was my Monday evening. Finally got a chance to take pictures of it all. Next up: more shirts!

Concerning Hobbits

"Their faces were good-natured rather than beautiful, broad, bright-eyed, red-cheeked, with mouths apt to laughter, and to eating and drinking. And laugh they did, and eat, and drink, often and heartily, being fond of simple jests at all times, and of six meals a day (when they could get them). They were hospitable and delighted in parties, and in presents, which they gave away freely and eagerly accepted."

I have recently refreshed my interest in Hobbits (to be expected when one sits in on a class concerning the philosophy of Tolkien). I want to be a Hobbit! I'd probably be most like the Fallowhides, who still loved the peace and quiet, but were fond of adventure and knowledge and learning (most Hobbits prefer genealogical books to others, especially books with information they don't already know). I want to live in a Hobbit house, with bright round windows and a big round door.

My Hobbit house would have lots of green and yellow in it, those being favorite colors of most Hobbits (and me too!). There would be no stairs in my Hobbit house, though I'm not sure it would be actually underground, like the smials of the real Hobbits.

If I had a Hobbit house, it would always be full of good food to share with everyone who visited. And, no matter when you visited, you would always be invited to stay for one of the six meals common in Hobbit households (breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, lunch, (tea,) dinner, and supper). There would be lots of laughter and smiling, too :)

We would have (at the very least) a nicely tilled fruit and vegetable garden, maybe even a full farm with goats and chickens and wide green spaces to enjoy. We would wear shoes only when necessary.

Hobbit houses have to have Hobbit children (and, normally, quite a few of them; along with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandhobbits, and any other miscellaneous family members who will fit). I would love to have a whole mess of beautiful, curly-haired, little-bitty Hobbit babies running around my house.

 But did you know I already have a Hobbit husband? At least, he's part-Hobbit. He is close to the earth, has hairy feet, hates shoes, loves presents and green and yellow (but usually blue and yellow), and--most important of all--he loves mushrooms. Maybe he's Elven and Hobbitish--with his straight blond hair, slender facial features, and giant-esque height (for a Hobbit), he could well be descendant from both races!

 Also, I think my parents are part Hobbit. (Good) food was certainly a prominent feature in our house growing up, and despite all the wonderful blessings and enjoyment of good things, they are "curiously tough." They also have mountains of mathoms all over the house :) So here's to Hobbits and our dreams!

Hobbit House!!

If T and I ever build our dream home, I have a feeling we'll incorporate quite a few features from this one :) So cute! Maybe we'll even build this kind of house on the farm we want to share in the PNW!

Tolkien's Mythology.. for real?

Maybe Tolkien was right? Island find stirs Hobbit debate..