Adam’s Friend’s Burrito Recipe

I wonder how many times I've made these burritos. 

1 onion, chopped

2 Tbsp oil

2 Tbsp chili powder

6 cloves garlic, minced

4 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp cumin

1 tomato, diced

1 cooked, diced sweet potato (can be done in microwave)

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained

1 (14 ounce) can corn, drained

fresh cilantro, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

4 Tbsp lime juice

10 (10 inch) flour tortillas

1 ½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Serve with:

• sour cream
• salsa
• guacamole

Preheat oven to 350. Heat oil in pan, sauté onion for 10 minutes, or until golden. Add in remaining ingredients, through lime juice.

Spoon filling onto each tortilla and top with Monterey Jack cheese. Fold bottom edge, then sides, then roll up. Place seam side down in a baking dish. Cover with foil if desired. Bake 30 minutes. Or leave uncovered and bake for 20 minutes. Add desired toppings.

Profit!

Hey, remember when I trash picked a Steiff bear? Finally sold him for $100. Why, if I do this every day, I'd have a career going!

8th Annual Trash Pick

It was another gorgeous day. Due to multiple kid activities, I was only able to go pick for about two hours. Enough time to fill the minivan, not enough stuff to cause a divorce. Success!

So, I don't think I've mentioned this before, and I'm not usually one of those wacky "energy in the universe goes where it is called" (or whatever. I can't even fake this.) but every year I think of a few things I'd like to find, and I'm generally pretty happy with how it turns out. One year it was benches. I got several. This year I went with picture frames, large planters, and limestone slabs for the garden. Hey, two outta three. I'll take it.

Not shown: items for possible entries for the annual book club white elephant gift (and ooooh I got some doozies), ugly ornaments for that party, and two very nice hardback books that I gave my dad. They looked unread, marked as $35 each. One was Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The other one was Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham.

Oh, I also re-curbed a whole box of Easter decorations that I decided I didn't want after all. They were gone within the hour.

I stopped by my friend's house. She couldn't come with this year. Due to kid activities, what a coincidence. These are the items I wanted to leave on her porch as a surprise, but darn it, she was home. Beautiful objects d'art and some 3 lb weights (little joke from last year).

Three planters. The turquoise one is pottery, but the others are plastic.

Giant pile of cloth diapers. Now, I know it's treading the line on what's socially acceptable to trash pick. They were clean and ready to sell! There were 24 in the bag, along with extra inserts and 2.5 packages of disposable diapers. What kind of world do we live in where it's acceptable to throw out cloth diapers? Shame on you, person who couldn't be bothered to Freecycle them.

Cool wooden cabinet, wooden Easter musical box (works!) and hand towels, 1.5 boxes of small canning jars, a smiley face mug, a cool light fixture cover, and two Christmas ornaments.

A piglet, a couple books, a couple plates, two hanging vases, a lazy susan, and two cool Christmas plaques. 

To think on the way to trash picking I was going to buy a picture frame! It is to laugh. That whole box is full of frames. All with actual family photos. Extra style points to the freaks posing with guns. Crystal candle holder in the front.

Two nice jars, two pool cues, some cloth napkins, a book, a decorative plate, a vase, a tabletop fountain that sort of works. Needs a little work.

Some fabric I want to do crafts with, three new holiday pillows that I will use as inserts to more attractive covers, and Ye Olde Holiday Ribbon. I haven't bought gift wrap in years.

Two more books, a buttload of Christmas crap. Some hidden because there may be an Ugly Ornament winner in my future after all. Holiday hand towels.

And since I didn't have a real friend to pick with this year, I found one and installed him permanently on my dash. Please give a warm welcome to Froggy Dash. He's my buddy.

Easter Baskets for Older Kids

Continuing in the theme of "oh, yeah, that happened a bit ago," here's what our Easter egg hunt looked like this year.

The kids are now 13.5 and 11.75 years old. Roughly. Nea asked whether we were having an egg hunt this year, which was a reasonable question, as we have been out of town for at least the last 3 Easters. It’s been awhile. I wanted to mix it up a little, since they aren’t quite as excited about candy as they were a few years ago. Boo has braces, so that also complicates sugar consumption.

So I cut out 11 pink paper squares and 11 yellow. Put those in 22 of the eggs. Filled the rest of the eggs with some candy. It was pretty wet out, so we hid the eggs in the house. Oma and Opa helped. Boy, Opa wanted to make finding the eggs super difficult!

Once they found the important clue eggs, they had to unscramble the letters to find their Easter baskets.

If you want a little brain teaser, these were the two sets of clues. (answers at bottom of post)

A B E I I L M N N U V

A D L M N O O R R U Y

Oddly, Boo had a bit of trouble finding hers (pink clues). I didn’t think that part would be particularly challenging. It was under a reusable grocery bag in the back.

This is Nea’s basket. A wrapped present from a local boutique (beaded bracelet, seen in second photo), a giant jar of capers, a book, self-sealing water balloons (sort of a gift for me, frankly, knowwhatImean, fellow parents?!), and gum. She’s been eating the capers as a snack, in a bowl with a spoon. As one does.

Boo’s basket had seaweed snacks, a trashy magazine, facial wipes, running shorts (wrapped, shown separately), and gum. 

[answers to the word scramble]

Ugly Ornament Party - 2015

Oh, how we love ugly ornaments! Oh, how difficult it is (much more than you might think) to find a real contender! Sure, the stores are full of normal ugly, but the truly awful are very rare. I would know, because I look for them all year. You'd think garage sales would be full of them. But no.

Updated to add a link to this related Cracked article. I don't care what anyone says: I sort of like #3.



Here's what I brought to the table: Christmas Herpes. So named because, as we know, "Glitter is the herpes of the crafting world." I trashpicked it, naturally, so no backstory on why anyone would glue a bunch of pine cones together and then cover it in holographic glitter. What the photo doesn't show is how heavy this monstrosity is. Truly a fail. Extra points for also, again, failing to be ugly enough to garner very many votes. I'll never win my own party, sniff sniff.

For the others, let's go in reverse order. First, some bad honorable mentions: Little Drummer Boy and Leder-HORSE-n (obviously pandering to the German unicorn vote, that one).



We can all agree, no?, that they are unfortunate. But not bad enough, sorry. 

Next, the one I voted for. I love it! It's "A Very Troll-y Christmas." I believe there's some sort of troll movie coming out, so points for relevance. Also, it's a nice riff on the Easter Egg craft thing, as it's the same shape as those traditional sugary Easter delights. It only lost by a vote or two. 



And lastly, the winner, which is worse in person than what you see here, aptly named "Orange You Glad This isn't Your Ornament?" It's half a painted coconut with weird seed pods stuck on it. Except the one on top apparently wasn't glued enough, as it didn't make it to my house.



And there you have it. Another ugly ornament party in the record books. Hope you enjoyed this installment of "oh, yeah, I have a blog, oops, forgot."


We're just going to move forward and ignore the fact that this update is super late, kthanksbye.

Quote

Some say it's a Dr. Suess quote, but who knows. 

I (heart) Trash - 7th Annual Trash Pick

To think it’s been so many years of joyful trashpicking already. New partner in crime this year, the lovely Kim, who was super accommodating and fun! She says she had a blast. Her haul included some wicker furniture, a cool Paris painting, a super-excellent old metal "potting soil" box, and some other stuff. I forget.

The annual purple parade that our town throws every spring was almost upon us, so I had purple on the brain. First up, purple curtains and a purple floral sheet, both of which I used as tablecloths. Was festive! Those are both on a dark stool that I haven’t quite found a home for yet.

Here we have a medley of lovely objects. Starting clockwise from the owl, one of those garden owls that are supposed to scare off rodents and birds. Doesn’t work for crap, but regularly scares the crap out of me, as I round the corner of the garage. I’m high-strung, apparently.

Bag of new wrapping stuff, including patterned tape (fun! Would never buy, but will use!), fancy ribbons, gift bag, nice holiday card.

Funny story about the hand weights. I like to set expectations a little before starting. “What do you hope to find this year? What is your quest?” I told Kim I was looking for some 5 pound weights (and purple stuff for our upcoming purple party). She was extremely impressed when I spotted these at 75 meters, athletically leaping out of the minivan with a joyful cry of “5 pound weights!!” She didn’t really know what was happening until she saw my score. Five pound weights. Boo-yah. Also, 8 pound weights, but I already had a set of those.

Handy bin, rustic ornamental birdhouse, dove, and sign (close-up below). Also a box of seashells, which might go to an art project. If not, I know an art teacher or two.

Various baskets, a PURPLE party-lite vase/candleholder. A vase with the $59.99 price tag still on the bottom.

Pottery barn rug, currently in the room where I work. It’s very nice. Washed it down with the hose in the driveway first.

Cow shaped blackboard. Metal serving dish.

Detailed view

Two gold cherubs, which I will use with Christmas lights on the porch this winter. A bag of mostly Gap clothing, some of which I kept, some went to charity. A rug that we couldn’t save. Someone else took it from our curb. Hope they had better luck.

Different view, including a stack of books.

Two of Kim’s things: old book and Yankee Candles, new in box. Small plates, being used as saucers under some houseplants now. Gift bag.

Better shot of the rugs, both good and bad

Apraxia, blah blah blah

Hi. Wow. It's been a while, huh. And this will also be a lame short entry. 

Don't have the full report yet, but we did neuropsych testing on Nea again. She's nearly 11 now. The last time was four years ago, in first grade. Since she's about to go to middle school, it's that time again. And we will do it again in high school, sophomore year, to make sure her accommodations will be current for college.

Short version: working memory is still a big issue. She also has vision tracking problems, which no doubt are apraxia-related. Should have gone to that seminar I skipped. Damn. Contacting the people I know who ran that, though, so I hope to obtain a copy of the presentation. Or at least some names of decent eye doctors.

Another thing on the summer's to-do list: get a better hearing test for Nea. Have the name of an audiologist recommended by a friend. 

The party never stops. 

Happy House-versary

Gosh, well, happy new year. That’s a bit embarrassing. I’ve been, um, busy.

So, 14 years ago we bought this house. It was almost a 100 years old at the time. Now it’s well over. It was built in 1908 or 1910, depending on which source you believe. We are finally getting to the point where all the work N does on it is “nice to have” instead of “really, this needs to happen.” We had a visitor come look at the house recently. He grew up here with his 8 brothers and sisters, and a cousin who stayed for a few years.

I felt a bit bad. There’s little left of the original layout. The floor is mostly original downstairs. None of the original closets or stairs remain. His parents came by maybe 10 years ago, so we’d heard some of the history already. They lived here 30 years, from the 1960s to the 1990s. We’ve had other former owners (from earlier) come by, too. It’s a house that inspires loyalty, it would seem. Certainly the garden has undergone at least as much change, too. It had hardly anything when we arrived. Just a few large trees, a couple lilacs. Not much else.

Anyway. If you would like some stylish shoes like these, here’s how to get them. Buy an old house. Work on it constantly for years. Wear the shoes a lot. And that’s about it.

Yes, I did take this photo last summer. When there was grass. It's not like I don't have blog ideas. I just don't seem to prioritize the time to write.

Book hoarding

I know about real hoarding. I’ve seen the TV shows. More personally, I know a woman who deals with real hoarding at her mother’s houses (there are two). The attempts to clear out one house and get it on the market. The citations from the village. One house condemned. Fix it up before the village tears it down. Hoarding spilling into the yard. It’s painful just to hear the stories. They did eventually find the body of the cat they knew had died several years ago. But the struggle never ends, because apparently it’s very difficult to cure hoarding behavior.

Then there’s pet hoarding, which is awful. Our guinea pig rescue group just took in 50 pigs from one such situation. They aren’t well socialized, so they are hard to find homes for.

Hoarding in my family is much more manageable. My mom has 50 or 60 jars of jam in the basement at any given time. Nice, tidy hoarding.

My hoarding centers around books. I finally went around and did a rough count in our house, out of curiosity. I did get rid of a few hundred children’s books last summer, so that helped a little. Plus we have two Little Free Libraries within walking distance, so sometimes I can stick a few books in there. Granted, sometimes I have to bring a new one home, too. It’s only fair.

Starting upstairs, Boo is a minimalist and a big re-reader, so she only has her 50 favorites in her room. Nea is a bit of a hoarder of everything, plus she’s the downstream book-catcher from the older sibling, so no surprise that she has circa 650.

The master bedroom has 175 in a bookshelf, and 130 on the floor/nightstand. Yes, that looks just as well-organized as it sounds.

Ok, so we have a couple book-free rooms. The sunroom and dining room have none. There are only 5 of the most used cookbooks in the kitchen. The other cookbooks are in the living room, with the gardening books and some kid books. Total living room – about 450.

There’s some board and early childhood books I couldn’t bring myself to give away, boxed up in the basement. Let’s say 300.

And that leaves the study. N finished these bookshelves awhile back. There’s books in the cabinets underneath, too, where the board games were supposed to go. Yup. That’s another 1260 or so.

Grand total? Just under 3000 books, roughly. That’s in the realm of normal. Right?

Oddly, I find myself at the library at least weekly.

I did some navel gazing not too long ago and decided that my need to be surrounded by books appeals to my most optimistic and pessimistic hopes and fears.

Best case scenario: I live a life of leisure and have time to read for hours a day!

Worst case scenario: society collapses, and all technology is lost. It’s not safe outside and hurrah! Nothing to do but read all day and wait for the end! See, now where will all you e-book types be then, huh? That’s right. Pillaging the library, fighting over Danielle Steele and Louis L’Amour paperbacks. Ha. Suckers.

bookie book talk

I'm not sure why I get so much pleasure out of this, but look! My library books match what I claim I'm reading, visible to you on the left.

Guess which one is for my work book club. Nope. Wrong. Guess which one is for my best-ever book club. OK, you may have gotten that one right. Maybe.

Kale Salad

A fine late-season salad, from my friend Beth. I know kale is über trendy right now, but try this salad. It's super good.

 

 

Kale Salad

 

 

1 bunch of kale - curly is best

1/4 c. dried cranberries

1/4 c. roasted sunflower seeds

salt & pepper to taste

2 T olive oil

1/2 fresh lemon, juiced

2 T honey

 

 

Cut kale away from stalk and chop finely. Toss kale in bowl with cranberries & sunflower seeds. Drizzle olive oil first, then add salt & pepper. Mix well. Then drizzle honey & lemon on salad and again, mix well. The more you mix, the softer the salad.

Beth says, "I sometimes make this salad on Sunday and eat it all week at lunch. It never gets soggy."

 

this image is from here

Raising Monarchs

Say hello to Owen

Sometimes new hobbies just show up overnight, don’t they? There was discussion on Facebook about finding and raising monarchs, and I was bemoaning how I planted some milkweed two years ago and still hadn’t found any. Next thing I know, a friend drops two caterpillars off, and she and I find two more in my garden immediately. Then I found a bunch more. Then I gave some to friends to raise, since I figure if you are trying to save a species from extinction, you should definitely recruit members to your cause.

If you’d like to learn more, I highly recommend this book: How to raise monarch butterflies: a step-by-step guide for kids by Carol Pasternak.

Here’s who we found, in order of appearance in our lives:

• Owen
• Rosie (taken by the Nash family)
• Daisy (taken by the Slusher family)
• Sophie-Robert
• Izzy (taken by the Long family)
• Smally
• Junior One
• Junior Two
• Stuccy
• Beanie (Raised himself outside. Made a chrysalis on our bean teepee. Given to my dad as a birthday present.)
• Buck
• Timber
• Flash
• California (from an egg!)
• Johnny Test (also from an egg! Born today!)

Junior One, Junior Two, and Stuccy

And a swallowtail named Ziggy. Still in chrysalis at press time. Rescued off some dying dill in my garden.

It’s amazing how quickly they grow up. From a tiny egg-dot to a caterpillar almost the size of your little finger in two weeks. At that point they eat around the clock and can finish off one and a half milkweed leaves a day! And those are big leaves. Then another 10-14 days in a chrysalis and VIOLA (ha), a butterfly that’s ready to party.

Beanie, cleverly hiding among the pole beans. That's him in the green with golden accents.

So go plant some milkweed. The flowers are pretty and smell nice and will attract all sorts of strange insects you’ve never seen in your garden before. Surely you have a bit of room behind the garage?

 Bon Voyage, Sophie-Robert!

Reading with apraxia

So, Nea is 10 now. She's having a great year at summer school (ESY). Finally a teacher who is teaching! He's reading real literature with them and introducing new concepts. He's doing fractions and teaching them about improper fractions using visual representations. Then he made some YouTube videos to show us parents what that means! Unbelievable.

 

This is, shockingly, Nea's 7th year in ESY (we skipped last year because we were traveling). And it's the first year I'm not disgusted with what a waste of time it is. She has always enjoyed going, though, and she gets a little speech therapy every week (45 minutes, half of her school year IEP amount), so we kept sending her.



 

 

At home we've been reading Junie B. Jones, gearing up for a book club with Nea's best friend, who lives across the street. Nea is reading chapter books! There was great rejoicing! And she's very excited about book group. Let me just tell you, when your friend helps motivate your child to read, that's the best kind of friend. Thank you, Beth! You are a gem.

 

Some people don't like Junie B. Jones books because they are written in the voice of a kindergartener with poor grammar. Poor past tense verbs, etc. What gets me is that the teacher doesn't know the difference between "good" and "well." So annoying. But if we weren't reading this book, I wouldn't know how well Nea understands adverbs! So instead of reading what the book says ("So listen very careful."), Nea reads, "So listen very carefully." And my heart sings.

Triathlon – end of an era

Well, I’m hanging up my swim cap, biking shoes, and running shorts. Not really, but I have vowed to stop the madness. No more triathlons. And I’m feeling just fine with that. I don’t enjoy the swim, and I don’t love the run. I can always sign up for a century bike ride if I feel the need for a goal.

I did almost as well this year as I did my first year. Less than a minute longer overall. I had a longer transition time in T1 (swim to bike transition). My swim was 4 seconds slower, bike leg was about 30 seconds slower, the run about 15 seconds slower. I did post a record T2, though! Transitioned from bike to run in just over 3 minutes. Go me. All in all, I’m in as good shape as I was 3 years ago, which is pretty good for a mid-40s person. And actually, my run was slightly faster than last year, which it damn well ought to be, with all the training I managed to fit in. All 3 years my run was 32 minutes and change. I'm not fast, but I’m really quite consistent.

Funniest moment: I nearly missed my starting wave for no good reason. Was puttering about, chatting with strangers. My orange-capped group was in the water, waiting for the horn, when I realized. So, bad start position, in the outside back. No wonder it was 4 seconds slower. Great weather, though. The water was in the 70s! I expected icebergs after the winter we just had, but it was nice. Glad not to have a wetsuit.

And although once again I was beaten by two women in their 70s, I did beat 5 women aged 17 and 18. So, ha. That’s something, anyway. And I’m proud to say that I am of average speed, among women who were in this sprint triathlon. A very friendly and enthusiastic group to be in, and I’m proud to have finished it three times. 

Here’s my proof.

What to wear to your triathlon

OK, I'm more excited about the race now. The weather looks a little crappy (68 degrees, rain possible), but I had a great bike/run workout this week, and swimming is a breeze, so it's all good. Started packing up stuff. I have fancy socks. They are labeled "L" and "R" so you know that's quality stuff. Recently bought new running shoes, bike odometer, googles, the shirt and shorts. I tested them all out. Should be good.

Here's my list:

Goggles (x2)
Neoprene Cap
Swimsuit
Water Bottles (filled)
Helmet
Sports bra
Socks
Shirt
Shorts
Bike (important!) with pump and spare tube
Cycling shoes
Running shoes
Visor
Hair tie
Sunglasses
Clothing to change into post-race, sandals
Two towels (one to stand on, one to dry)
Snack, Gatorade
Disposable warm clothing for waiting to start
Map, info sheet
Plastic bags
Cell phone
Race number, timing chip with strap
Bucket to sit on (shut up. I'm old now.)
Bike computer
Inhaler
Kleenex

Make your own here: Triathlon race checklist

Apparently, all the cool kids will be wearing wetsuits (as usual), but I have once again decided that since this is my last! triathlon! EVER!!! there is no point in buying one.

Sixth Annual Trash Pick

OMG. The trash pick. I thought it was going to be a total wash, as the weather was 39 degrees and raining. Boo hiss. I missed last year’s -- wah wah oh the humanity. So, I steeled myself, dressed in about a dozen layers, and waded into the fray. More or less. You know, because I have to Rescue the Goods from Landfill.

Before I start, though, the best near-miss was a gorgeous antiquey-looking globe on a floor stand. Timing is everything in this game. The woman who got it was jumping up and down in glee. I congratulated her. It was fabulous. Shortly thereafter, I saw an SUV with someone standing very far out of the sunroof. That’s not safe, I said to myself, before realizing that it was a Justin Bieber cutout. I laughed, but it looked like an accident waiting to happen. Which really is part of trash pick night. The driving? Not safe. Everyone is casing the curb, and you have to be careful both when hopping out of the minivan to check a pile and just generally when trying to decide whether to turn or go straight at the next intersection.

Here in the first photo, we see a lovely oval planter that I hoped would fit in the oval basket next to it (from a different house) but it didn’t. The heartbreak of trashpicking. Between them, webbed swimming gloves. Then 3 new water bottles, a cashmere scarf, a funky fleece hat, a super cool aluminum Christmas tree, and a planter. And a desktop skeeball game, which proved very popular with the kids.

As always, one of the first finds is the best, with a concrete hedgehog. Ain’t he a beaut. Also a basket that I selected partially for the $29.95 price tag still attached. I find the rabbit Beanie baby, cast iron chick, and brass watering can cute.

Not the book haul of past years (I blame the rain), but some excellent titles. And a puzzle and 3 sets of goggles. And a red Coach belt.

(Don’t mind the garage wall.) OK, let’s talk about the oak Crate and Barrel wine rack. I confess that friends gave us first dibs before throwing it to the curb. The crazy lamp on the left was Boo’s pick – she’s wanted that style of lamp for years. In true good neighbor fashion, people had covered it in a clear plastic bag to protect it from the elements. The strange bowl-on-a-stick makes a fine fern holder, according to the nice woman who had just placed it on the curb. Next to it is a hydrangea, a wastebasket holding a Build A Bear bunny, 4 wide-mouthed canning jars, a candlestick, a picture frame, two watering cans for the school garden, and a (international sign of hospitality) wooden pineapple puzzle. On the wine rack are two small rugs that pretty much didn’t touch the ground as they were put to the curb. I was right there. (I ran them through the wash today and they are lovely. Don't worry; I used the delicate setting.) And on them are two pairs of Justice jeans, a hot item for the tweenie set.

This tub I grabbed as seen, with some bats, skates, a few other sports items, and a giant spider for Halloween fun.

Some candle stuff. A cool leaf dish.

OK, and I’ve saved the best items for last. This Steiff bear, paper tag still attached, was in a garbage bag. Now, I know it sounds crazy, but when I picked up the bag, I knew something good was inside. There were some other stuffed animals, Gund and stuff. But I had this weird vibe, and I was right. Steiff goes for some big bucks, so he came home with me.

And lastly. An Eileen Fisher 100% cashmere sweater. Yup. Not pictured: two black cashmere sweaters and a handmade Irish sweater size XXL that I hope Oma will find a good home for. Many knitters are willing to unravel and reuse quality wool. But this one? This one is mine. I washed it, and it fits perfectly!

Here are the two planters and hydrangea after fixing them up.