he breaks his shoes

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040209-broken2Two weeks and his new shoes are breaking. And it's all his fault. Andy likes the sound his shoe makes when he drags the toe. Eventually the side cracks and as he continues, the sole breaks. This photo is from the first pair he broke years ago. He would get in trouble then be OK for the next pair or so. Then he would do it again. Even after wearing sneakers all winter, he hasn't figured out that he shouldn't do that. Two weeks is the quickest he has ever managed to break a pair.

When I saw the crack yesterday, I was angry. But I can't yell at Andy. He gets too upset. I can raise my voice and talk in that tone that should have his quivering in his sandals. But I have to make it clear that I still love him even though he did something bad.

trekkerslidesI will not buy him birkenstocks anymore. Besides the cost, they take too long to ship from Germany. So we looked online and he chose a pair from Lands' End. These are Trekker Slides and I like that the toe is protected. And we did luck out a bit as Lands' End had free shipping. (They seem to have it a lot lately.)

my roommate arrives

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Nopp is from Thailand and she had been visiting her family before the trip. She flew from Bangkok to Poland. She said the flight was so full that some people actually stood for the entire flight! I guess flight regulations don't apply to eastern block countries.

Nopp brought a suitcase full of toilet paper. Bless her! She gave a roll to Teré and one to Lori and said that was all that they get. The rest was for us. Yay!

The Polish students had arranged for us to take meals in the school cafeteria. Our first meal was Fat Tuesday. We walked into a large nondescript building and then past the bathrooms. Oh god! What the hell? Was this an outhouse? Oh the smell! We quickly walked upstairs and thankfully the smell did not follow us.

The meal wasn't bad. Typical Polish fair, pork, potatoes and over-steamed vegetables. I think their was even some dessert. We figured this would be OK.

You know what comes next, don't you? Ash Wednesday. I got up early and went walking to go to church. The Church of the Black Madonna happened to be pretty close. I walked in to the dark church to find mass already taking place. In fact, mass just continued from one hour to the next. I hung out in back because I'm shy.

The floor was covered in straw. Huh? Well, it wasn't completely covered but mostly in the aisles. I guess it was cheaper than floor mats. The place was pretty crowded and there were not enough pews. Many people were standing. When it came time to kneel (I always felt that mass should be called Catholic aerobics; stand up sit down, stand up, kneel...) people knelt on those dirty floors! Um, no thanks. Call me sinner. I got my ashes and left.

Do you know that on Ash Wednesday, good Catholics are supposed to fast. Now, Catholic fasting is not the really fasting. It means no snacks, and two small meals that together do not equal the third. OK, not a problem since we still hadn't figured out breakfast yet. We all went to the cafeteria for lunch. Oh no. Cabbage soup and the driest bread known to man. That was it.

We found that the hotels had good food and pretty cheap for us. We went there for dinner. There was one hotel we favored over the rest, The Forum. They had a cheap side and an expensive side. The meals were similar but the cost was double in the expensive side. On the cheap side, there were only waitresses. On the expensive side were waiters. We learned to ask for ice for our cokes. When we first arrived, our salads were cole-slaw. As the weather got warmer, we started getting iceberg lettuce. We never tried the beefsteak tartar.

Realizing that Ash Wednesday would be lacking in food. We went back to the cafeteria on Thursday. Walking past the sess-pool and up the stairs, we realized that was Fat Tuesday was a celebration in good food. What we got that day was one step about Ash Wednesday. This wasn't going to work. After trying to eat another scary, unfulfilling meal, we would have to walk past the raw sewage smell and hope that our meager lunch stayed in our stomachs. We went to talk to the Polish students.

rainy days

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040309-rainyday-2

This is our dry season. Well, really, most of the year we are dry. Except for summer. So having rain showers this morning was odd. And Ryan did not appreciate it. "Andy had his field day. Why can't I have mine?" What could I say? I saw the forecast and it said 40% chance of rain all morning. Like a coward, I ignored the question.

Later when it thundered, Ryan went and got his quilt. Oh come on! Why do I have to have kids and dogs who are afraid of thunder? OK, that's not exactly true. Yes, every dog I have add was a coward during storms. My last dog, Duffy, didn't acquire his fear until he was about 7 or 8 years old. Before that, he would actually watch fireworks! And Ryan was never afraid until last year. WTF?! I love storms and it's hard to be sympathetic.

Bad mommy. I told him he couldn't sit on my lap during a small storm. This was small, only one low clap of thunder and no lightning. But then I felt bad so I let him sit there for a while. He played with my iPod Touch to distract himself.

Andy wanted the umbrella while he waited for the bus. I saw Ryan trying on Andy's sneakers. They are way too big. Ryan doesn't have any sneakers of his own, he won't wear them. But he doesn't want his feet to get wet today. We find Andy's old Van's slip-ons and they are big but will work. Ryan takes his sandals in case in dries up.

I asked Ryan if he wanted his rain coat but he kept ignoring me. I know it's too warm sometimes but it does keep you dry. After getting wet in his regular jacket, he did agree to his rain jacket. You can tell he is just not happy with the rain.

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I took too many photos. I think there were over 90, reduced to 12 that are decent. Yes, I do delete bad photos. I called Andy to get him to turn his head and he walks run up to me. I am surprised it came out so well.

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It did end up drying out for Field Day. When Ryan got home, I asked him how it went. "Awesome!"


The Tent

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The Tent The Tent by Margaret Atwood


My review


rating: 4 of 5 stars
I just finished reading The Tent by Margaret Atwood. It is a collection of shorts stories, essays and bits of subconsciousness.



I have no idea how to describe this. I think that if I had ever taken drugs, I might have had the same thoughts. (Though I would never be able to say them so well.) It took me a while to get through this which is surprising for the format. I can usually get through collections fairly quickly as I will read when ever I have a moment But this took time to read and digest



That said, I did enjoy The Tent.






View all my reviews.

oh pizza! how have i missed you!

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Pizza is one of my favorite foods. And I missed it. Andy prefers pizza from Pizza Hut. I do too but their pizza isn't the healthiest. And Ryan doesn't like pizza so I just don't get it.

I learned to make a healthier pizza at home. (too bad I can't take a good photo, should have used the tripod)

040109-pizza

• Mama Mary's Gourmet Thin & Crispy Pizza Crusts (serving suggestion says 1/2 of the 6" crust! Right. So a real serving is worth 358 calories, 6g fat, 28g carbs, 6g protein)
• Sargento Classic Mozzarella (serving is 1/4 cup, 80 calories, 5g fat, 1g carbs, 7g protein)
• Dei Fratelli Pizza Sauce (serving suggestion is 1/4 can which is about 1/4 cup; 30 calories, 0 fat, 6g carbs, 1g protein) Good sauce and NO HFCS!
• diced tomato (are there calories is raw veggies?)

I guess you could use reduced fat cheese (horrors!) but I prefer to eat less of the real stuff.

• preheat the stone in the over to 450º
• reduce the temperature to 425º and bake for 10 minutes

So good, and easy and just enough.

Now the trick is to not eat it every night.


why blog?

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What am I passionate/obsessed about?

I was listening to Merlin Mann's & John Gruber's talk at SxSW about blogging. They suggest one should figure out what one is passionate about, maybe even obsessive, and give that idea a voice.

OK, so what am I passionate about? Well, I have been passionate, bordering on obsessive, about a lot of things. See, my obsessions change. Quite often it seems. Since my husband died in 2001, I have been obsessive about keeping house, decorating, gardening, exercising and eating well, cardmaking and scrapbooking, photography, decluttering the house, eating well/exercising, baking, cardmaking, and now... I become interested in something and find out everything I can about it; search the web, buy books, etc. And I get very involved with this for weeks or months and in the case of scrapbooking, years. Then something shiny comes along and catches my interest.

And that leaves me with today. What am I passionate about today? I ran through the things I do and found that while I love photography, I am not obsessed with it right now. And I am still making cards but not every moment I can. And to me, that's where the passion and obsession comes in. I don't think about anything or want to do anything with such fervor, right now.

OK, that is a lie. I feel pretty passionate about blogging right now. Which is why I am asking the question in the first place. What should I blog about?

Maybe I should ask the question, Why do I read blogs? Some are informative. Some keep me in touch with friends. Most entertain.

The Pioneer Woman is a great blogger. It's amazing she finds time in the day to do half of what she does. And though I would not want the responsibility of running such a popular blog, I would like some of it. Just a tiny portion. I think. Or is it that I want a life that is entertaining as hers? Well, we know that isn't going to happen. So what are we left with? Smatterings of my pretty mundane life.

At least until the next obsession comes along.