Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Do the rest of you feel extremely uncomfortable and uneasy at the hair salon? Perhaps part of my problem is that I end up getting a hair cut about twice a year, but I always feel really awkward. I also find it very disconcerting to stare at myself in a giant mirror for 15 minutes straight. This morning, while having my hair cut, I noticed a lot of facial wrinkles and loose skin down under my chin. Not a pleasant discovery to make while in the presence of young, taut skinned blondes. Of course, the fact that my hairdresser had pink highlights only added to my unease. So, I'm out of my element, true, but why do I feel that I must sit silently and stare at the hair on the floor during my cuts? I was out without children...I should have been celebrating! Instead, I sat mute and resigned, trying to avoid noticing the signs of my own aging. SIGH...perhaps the more pertinent question to ask is why am I still having self-esteem issues when I've been in this skin nearly 4 decades now?

I felt out a bit uncomfortable showing my house to prospective buyers as well. That is probably normal...you want to put the best face possible on a 60 year old house! The W family stopped by today to drop off some papers, and said that their financing was approved, so we are moving forward with closing on this sale. They also mentioned that they are planning to sell their current home themselves as well and will run the full color Sunday ads and make a web page as well: "just what you did"!

And yes, the flattery canceled out the whole hair salon experience.

T

TGIF

Oh thank goodness for an upcoming weekend. With the house (I hope) off the market, we shouldn't have as much work to do this weekend. Hopefully we can move before the leaf clean-up begins in earnest!

We worked hard this week to make today an easy one, and since it was a dreary day, I suggested a trip to the video store for some viewing material to watch this afternoon (in between house showings). J decided that she wanted to go to Recreation Station in Washington. She reminded me that I told the girls that we could go there some rainy day...trust her to remember THAT, but not to wear underwear on a regular basis. It's a pretty nice indoor play area in Washington. We have gone twice...both times free weekends. I called this AM to check prices: $7.00/each for kids and $3.00 for adults...BUT children MUST be accompanied by an adult! J went off the deep end when I told her we couldn't afford to pay that much for an hour's worth of play time, no matter how nice the play area. She was grumpy the rest of the AM and I had to prod her to finish her school work.

Luckily Daddy called after lunch to see how my noon time showing went, and suggested taking the girls to Burger King for lunch and to play. Although I really dislike taking them to "Fomite Land", it did the trick - both girls were happy. That is, until L, who was kid watching, fell off her chair and landed on her head on the tiles. She was perfectly fine, and some very nice gentleman bought her a new hamburger since it went flying and landed on the tiles too.

J is now happily playing phonics games on Starfall...great site for pre-readers and beginners. We have started reading some phonics books my Mom gave me and doing Starfall on Fridays...breaks up the tedium. She also wrote a poem today, inspired by Theme In Yellow by Carl Sandburg.

Theme In Green

-JM

I am sweet and children eat me.

I am called sugar snap peas.

I grow in a pod

Like a Luna moth in a cocoon.

I hang from a vine

People pick me.

I'm a delicious dish for dinner.

That's it from the hill...happy weekend to all!
T

Here we go...

It's official...we're building a house!

Excavation can begin as early as next week, with building beginning the week after that!

I guess I'm ready???

T

Aubergine

I love Fall...the cool nights, the colorful leaves, the wild abundance of Mums and the amazing things available at the Farmer's Market! Yesterday I got apples and this eggplant (aubergine sounds so much grander) among other things.

I plan to use it in this wonderful spread that we first sampled at The Homestead Restaurant in Homer, Alaska. I was able to get the recipe (some good things DO come from Alaska!), which I will share with you:

Melanzano

1 large eggplant

2-3 cloves garlic

8 oz cream cheese

1 c grated Parmesan

1/2 c olive oil

Cut eggplant in half, rub with olive oil and place face down on a cookie sheet. Peel garlic cloves, rub with olive oil and place on cookie sheet. Roast at 375* for 40 min or until soft. Cool, then scrape eggplant from skin. Puree all ingredients together in food processor, drizzling in olive oil until well blended.

This is great on crackers, pitas, veggies, you name it!

T

Magic Beans

Just in time for our Language Arts unit on "Jack & the Beanstalk", we found some magic beans in our garden! Can you believe these pods? I have no idea what we are growing, or if they are highly toxic or not. Any ideas anyone?

They must truly be magic because just an hour after I put out our FOR SALE sign, someone called and is coming to look at the house tomorrow! Wow!

T

An Apple Equation

Apples from our tree


PLUS

apple juice, brandy, honey, cinnamon & butter

EQUALS

another midnight project!

T

KidWash - Rest in Pieces

After three summers of entertaining hordes of children, at 5:16 today, the KidWash washed its last kid. I had to hold it up while the girls played today, then I promptly bundled the bits into a garbage bag (trash day in the AM). Sort of symbolic of the end of summer, don't you think? I will fashion a new one for next year. Put your orders in now!
T

First Day of School

We now have the first day of school officially under our belts. It wasn't a stellar day by any means...the computer system was down, so I wasted an hour this AM attempting to connect, making phone calls that lead no where, and writing frustrated emails. A friend stopped by unexpectedly (that NEVER happens up here on the hill!). The Realtor came by several hours earlier than planned. Lauren dumped the entire contents of her lunch plate on the freshly cleaned carpets. I saw the school bus letting kids off while we were finishing up our Math lesson...so much for getting done early.

So we made it.

I didn't experience the momentous "first day of school" moment that is so often photographed. Although we worked well together in school, everything felt disorganized and disjointed. Jenna said home school is "great". I'm hoping for a more cohesive 2nd day of school.

T