Category Archives: updates

No, I really mean it. OLD.

Posted on July 1, 2008 | Comments Off on No, I really mean it. OLD.

Well, we are just in a whirlwind of social activity lately. This last weekend was my college reunion, as previously blogged. I didn’t actually attend any of the official activities, due in large part to the Hatchling’s decision to wake up every three hours (like clockwork!) all night long on Friday night. But I did get to see some of my closest college friends and their kids and partners, and catch up on what’s been going on with people. And except for the no sleeping thing, the Hatchling was mostly extremely well behaved for the visit, and enjoyed the hell out of playing with the other kids. I got her a cute miniature version of a college T-shirt I have, so she can be my mini-me when the fancy strikes me. WHICH IT SOMETIMES DOES.

The evening of the day we got back from the reunion my mom and stepdad came to visit, and they’re staying until Thursday morning, so we’ve been engaging in rounds of family-related brunches, lunches, dinner parties, and other gatherings. Tonight we had Eric and Scott over for dinner, and we made them this meal, which was as good as it sounds like would be. Which is VERY. Tomorrow the nephew is coming over to spend the day, then Wednesday we have a picnic planned … Thursday the ‘rents leave and then we have a playgroup, Friday is the 4th and we’re celebrating with some friends, and then it’s the weekend and I personally will be collapsing into an exhausted puddle on the floor, because I just cannot MAINTAIN the way I used to be able to, you know? I mean, Maude knows I’m an extrovert, and I enjoy the socializing and the people and the outings, I do, but y’all: I am tiiiiiiiiiiiired, and it’s only Monday. Hoo.

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Posted in la famiglia, sleep, updates

Oy. I am old.

Posted on June 27, 2008 | Comments Off on Oy. I am old.

Tomorrow morning the Hatchling and I are leaving to go up north to my old college town because this weekend is my 15th college reunion. And where did THAT time go, I’d like to know? I’m normally a reunion-averse person – the small talk, the trying to remember people who clearly remember me, the revisiting of old cliques and social politics: it all makes me want to crawl into a hole, mostly. But happily, I’m still in touch with my closest circle of college friends, and we get together for a yearly reunion anyway, so this one should be relatively pain-free. Or as pain-free as any trip involving the single-handed wrangling of an active two-year-old can be. Anyway, blogging will be light until I’m back, so I thought I’d leave you with a yummy summer recipe to tide you over. LITERALLY. I basely stole the idea for this recipe from Shan, but my ingredients are a little different from hers, so it’s not a total repeat. It is TEH YUM, easy to make, and even less adventurous eaters (like Mr. Squab) simply devour it. Plus it doesn’t heat the house up too much.

Peanut Sesame Noodles
(adapted from Gourmet)

For peanut dressing
1/2 generous cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
1 Tblsp ground ginger
3-4 medium garlic clove, chopped
2 Tblsp red-wine or rice-wine vinegar
2 Tblsp Asian (toasted) sesame oil
1 Tblsp honey
1 1/2 teaspoons Sriracha or other hot sauce (more or less to taste)
juice of one small lime

For noodle salad
1 lb whole wheat spaghetti or angel hair
1/2 small yellow onion, minced
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips
1/2 English cucumber, seeded and cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips
1 large carrot, shredded (about 2/3 cup)
6-7 large fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken breast or tofu (optional)

Make dressing:
Purée dressing ingredients in a blender until mixed but not smooth, about 30-45 seconds, then transfer to a large bowl and put in the fridge. Cut up salad veggies and chicken/tofu and put those into the fridge, too.

Make salad:
Cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling water until tender. Drain in a colander, then rinse well under cold water.

Add pasta, veggies, and chicken/tofu to dressing, tossing to combine, and serve immediately. Even better the next day!

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Posted in Comestibles, updates

Updates of a Hatchling and other random stuff

Posted on June 14, 2008 | Comments Off on Updates of a Hatchling and other random stuff

1. You know what’s nice? Having friends who invite you over for dinner and make pulled pork, macaroni salad, baked beans, and fruit, followed up by homemade blueberry pie, all of which is so good it’s probably illegal in several states. YUM. (Thanks, Eric and Scott!)

2. Funny Hatchling story: so we’re having brunch with the sibs this last Sunday, and the Hatchling is playing on her own in the living room while the rest of us gorge on bacon and pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. Mr. Squab, who is sitting where he can see the Hatchling, starts to chuckle. “What’s she doing?” I ask. “She’s pouring herself shots,” he says. We all turn around, and sure enough, she’s taken the cap from one of her bottles (which is shaped remarkably like a shot glass), set it on the coffee table, and is pouring out little tots of water from her water bottle into the “glass,” downing the shot like a seasoned pro, and then pouring herself another one. I swear to god, I don’t know where she gets it.

3. Toddler grammar is weird, and the Hatchling’s especially so. Like lots of little kids, she substitutes “me” for “I,” but she also tends to invert the usual subject-predicate order when she’s making requests or statements. “I want” comes out as “Want me”; instead of saying “I eat” or even “me eat” when she’s hungry, she says “Eat me.” (I know, I know.) There’s also “Up and down me” (when she wants to get down from the table or out of her crib), “Outside me,” “Book me” (when she wants you to read to her), or “Stuck me” (when she needs help getting out of or off of something). The emphasis is definitely on the “me,” and she adds in a little helping syllable between the predicate word and the “me,” so “I’m stuck” comes out sounding like “Stuck-a-ME” It’s the damndest thing I’ve ever heard, but she’s perfectly consistent about it and I guess it makes a weird kind of sense. I’m putting it down to her superfluity of Kraut blood. Stupid Prussians.

4. Mmmm … iPhones. The new ones look so very yummy. I think Mr. Squab and I will be getting some, as a combo Mother’s Day/Anniversary/Father’s Day present to ourselves.

5. And speaking of the anniversary: we went to a great Cuban restaurant for dinner where we ate delicious food and drank Red Stripe beer while sitting on the patio. We then went to see Indiana Jones 4, which – well, you know what I thought of that. You will be pleased to know that I did, in fact, wear underwear. As to whether or not I had to use my snakebite kit … a lady has to have SOME secrets, dammit.

6. Finally, and I can’t believe I almost forgot to blog this, today while running errands at Target someone mistook me for the Hatchling’s GRANDMOTHER. Admittedly, it was a grandmother herself doing the mistaking, so … maybe her eyesight wasn’t so good? And she felt terrible about it afterwards and kept apologizing and complimenting my hairdo (which is a total joke since I had literally not washed or combed my hair in two days), BUT STILL. Fuck. I either need to invest in some trendier clothing or start applying cover-up to my chronic under-eye bags or SOMETHING. Do I really look as tired as I feel? Y’all would tell me, right?

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Posted in random tidbits, updates

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Whoa. Interacting.

Posted on May 20, 2008 | Comments Off on Whoa. Interacting.

This week, I am hosting: a playdate Monday morning, a brunch Tuesday morning, another playdate Wednesday morning, dinner with my oldest friend Wednesday evening, and a cookout at some point over the weekend. This is in addition to our regular ECFE class on Thursday morning, various errand running, and probably several impromptu trips to the park. Call me Butterfly. Social Butterfly.

In other news, in case you were wondering, periods SUCK. Thanks to the wondrousness of my IUD, I basically haven’t had one since before the Hatchling was born. Which was, how do I put this, TOTALLY FUCKING GREAT. But now the IUD is gone, and I’m on the rag, and christ I forgot how much of a pain in cooter it is. I’m not one of those three-day no-cramps blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of gals. More like seven days, massive cramps, emergency run to Walgreens for feminine products,* cursing my reproductive system raving bitch. So it’s fun for the whole family! I hope to hell it doesn’t take as long to get knocked up this time as it did last time, because I am OVER the menstruation.

Ehm … Happy Monday?

*Or, as Mr. Squab fondly refers to them, “your lady blood sponges.” Sorry, did I just overshare?

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Posted in random tidbits, updates

Happy Mother’s Day to Me

Posted on May 12, 2008 | Comments Off on Happy Mother’s Day to Me

The Hatchling, thank goodness, appears to be on the mend. She’s still sleepier and crankier than usual, and lord have mercy she cannot be more than three feet away from me, but her rash is getting better and there’s no more fever. Woot!

So today I had a very nice squabby mother’s day. This morning all the local family members came over for a mother’s day brunch, for which I made: cheese eggs, hash browns, bacon, sliced melon (honeydew and cantaloupe), cheese grits, coffee, mimosas, bloody marys, and OJ. We also had almond croissants, apple croissants, and homemade (but not by me) caramel pecan rolls. Don’t you wish you had been there? After gabbing with the fam and having a mini-celebration for my nephew’s 10th birthday, Mr. Squab and I went outside and planted 34 hostas in our front yard. (Which is undergoing a major transformation this weekend. Pictures will be posted sometime this week.)

So: I cooked and ate a bunch of fatty, yummy food, hung out with people I love, and got dirty and sore digging around in my front yard. A pretty awesome Mother’s Day, all told.

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Posted in holidays, updates

I hate viruses

Posted on May 9, 2008 | Comments Off on I hate viruses

The Hatchling woke up this morning with a temperature of 103.6. She’s been hovering around 100 for the past few days, but this was high enough to send us to the doctor’s office. The pediatrician took one glance down her throat and said, “Oh, yeah – she’s got some nasty looking tonsils there. She’s got tonsillitis.” Then he started asking all these questions about other symptoms: had she been vomiting? (no) Nosebleeds? (no) Rash? (ummmmm …) See, the thing is, the Hatchling, like her benighted mamala, has a tendency towards eczema, a tendency that is exacerbated during allergy season. In other words, now. So, she does have some red bumpy patches, but I thought they were just eczema. But apparently not so much, or at least not entirely. So the doctor looked at her rash, and then looked closer at the skin on her back and face and said, “so she hasn’t been vomiting …” “Nope.” I said. “Except she did this morning, but that was just because she was really pissed at us for taking her temperature. Why?”

Seems the Hatchling has petechiae on her back and face. Those are those red dots that you get sometimes if you vomit really violently or cry really hard – broken capillaries under the skin basically. Only the Hatchling hasn’t been violently vomiting or crying. So the doctor says we’d better do some tests, because sometimes petechiae are caused by other things, like viruses – he mentioned mono – or, you know, low platelet counts. Gulp. So they swabbed her throat to test for strep and poked her little finger to run various blood tests. Fun times! The results came back negative for strep and mono, with a good platelet count but an elevated white count. So the doctor says keep her hydrated and tylenol’ed and bring her back in if her fever hasn’t gone away by Saturday. Oh, and also keep an eye out for unusual bruising or nosebleeds, because if her platelets do start going down we want to know about it asap. But probably it’s just a virus or combination of viruses.

So of course I’m now totally convinced that the Hatchling has leukemia, only I don’t *really* believe that but I kind of superstitiously think that maybe if I preemptively worry about it now it won’t actually come to pass. Because – let’s face it – I am TOTALLY INSANE. Fortunately, I talked to a friend who had just taken her toddler into the doctor and was told that they’re seeing a LOT of young kids with exactly the Hatchling’s symptoms, and there’s some kind of virus going around. Which made me feel better. But dude: if there are four words I do not want to hear at a visit to the pediatrician’s office, they would be “platelets” and “elevated white count.” You know?

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Posted in trials and tribulations, updates

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Bat!

Posted on April 4, 2008 | Comments Off on Bat!

We had ourselves a little adventure this evening. The Hatchling and I were on our way home from a playdate, and we were just pulling up to the house when I got a call from Mr. Squab on my mobile phone. “There’s a bat in the basement,” he said somewhat breathlessly. Mr. Squab, he no likey the bats. “I was bringing some laundry down and I saw something swing out of the corner of my eye, but I thought it was a spider or some trick of the light. About 1/2 way to the washing machine, I turned around and the bat flew right at me! I ducked and ran the hell up the stairs and closed the door. You gotta get that bat out of there before Gary comes.” (We were expecting a visit from our contractor about some possible work on the house.)

“Well, holy shit.” I said. “I think Gary just pulled up behind me. Why don’t you open the side door?” (There’s a door on the side of the house that opens onto the landing of the basement steps.)

“YOU open the side door! I’m not going down there!”

Now, I don’t have a phobia of bats. Spiders and centipedes freak me the FUCK OUT, but bats and other rodents, I actually kind of dig. I know, it’s weird, but I think they’re kind of cute, close up. However, it’s one thing to think bats are groovy in their natural environment. It’s quite something else to confront a freaked out and possibly rabid bat in the confined space of your basement. I figured we’d try opening the door and see if that worked, and if not I’d try my dad’s trick of coming at the bat with an open paper bag; either you trap the bat in the bag and then release it outside, or you sort of steer the bat in the direction you want it to go. I’ve seen my dad do it maybe three or four times, but … I was really hoping for the door thing to work. I slowly went down the basement stairs, keeping my eyes peeled for flying rodents. Just as I was leaning over to unlock the side door, our winged tenant flew over to the bottom of the stairs and then circled back into the basement proper. It was a big bat, y’all. Most of the bats I’ve seen up close (except at the zoo) have been little brown bats, which are pretty small and cute. But this bat was … not small. I mean, it wasn’t pterodactyl-sized or anything, but it had a wingspan of maybe a foot and a half. I was a tad unnerved, I must admit. I quickly unlocked the main door and pulled it open, figuring I’d open the screen door from outside. The Hatchling was bawling like I’d abandoned her, so I grabbed her and took her outside with me to open the door … which was latched from the inside. Of course. I yelled at Mr. Squab to just run down and open the damn latch already, it would only take 2 seconds. He convinced Gary to do it. (We like Gary.) I pulled the door open, carefully keeping it between us and the hopefully soon-to-be-fleeing varmint. I think it took all of about 10 seconds for the little critter to find the way out. He took off like a … well, you know. We last saw him careening over the treetops, 1/2 way down the block.

Mr. Squab is still recovering from the trauma. He was keyed up (“on adrenaline”) for most of the night, and has now decided that he’s taken the first step towards being Batman. (A traumatic experience with bats being the first step, apparently.) We took a walk this evening and he most helpfully identified several locations on our path that were “total bat-lairs” using his new, trauma-acquired “bat-sense.” Me, I’m hoping the independently wealthy part kicks in soon.

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Posted in trials and tribulations, updates

In exile

Posted on March 20, 2008 | Comments Off on In exile

So since Tuesday night I’ve been up in the wilds of central Minnesota, house- and cat-sitting for my parents while they’re at a conference in Pasadena (lucky stiffs). And, oh yeah, trying to get some larger quantities of writing done. It’s sooooo quiet here, y’all. Partly because I’m out in the country, and partly because, you know: no toddler or husband around. I really miss them, more than I thought I would. The last time I was away, for my girls’ weekend at the cabin, I missed them, but not, like, crazy missed them. But my parents have all these pictures of the Hatchling all over and god DAMMIT, she’s so cute! Not to mention that even on her worst day, she’s waaaaaaaaaay more fun that writing my dissertation. Sigh. I’m trying to use the loneliness as incentive to crank stuff out. I’ll let you know how that goes.

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Posted in updates, writing

Faith. And also Begorrah.

Posted on March 17, 2008 | Comments Off on Faith. And also Begorrah.

Well, I got almost four pages written, plus I have a detailed plan for how the rest of the chapter is going to go. Mom says that counts. We had a video conference on Sunday (so web 2.0) to set goals for writing this week. One of the many good things about having my Mom keeping track of me is that she reigns me in from setting unmanageable expectations for myself. I have a tendency to say things like “this weekend I’m going to FINISH chapter one revisions.” This goal is possible, but also unlikely, and then when I don’t reach it, I feel like a total failure and don’t want to go on. Mom says “how about you try to finish the first two sections?” which is far more attainable and then if I do happen to get more done, it’s like a bonus. She’s smart like that.

Anyway, not to jinx myself, but I’m feeling far more hopeful about this than I was last week. At least I’ve gotten some actual pages out, so I know it’s still possible for me to write. But enough about me. What I REALLY wanted to say was:

Now get out there and drink some green beer, dammit.

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Posted in holidays, updates, writing

Now I’m sick. OF MYSELF.

Posted on March 6, 2008 | Comments Off on Now I’m sick. OF MYSELF.

The mucous continues, and I woke up this morning with a sore throat, so that’s just fucking awesome. Man, it has been negativity central around here lately, hasn’t it? I’m not usually so morose. Part of it is the stupid Minnesota winter: right about now is the point when I would give my right arm to be living somewhere south-er and east-er. The cold and snow seem never-ending. My internal clock tells me it’s time to start prepping my gardens, but of course in this stupid zone you can’t plant anything until May. So, yeah: cabin fever, spring fever, and a baby with an actual fever. Not exactly the recipe for spiritual exuberance.

But, like the song says, you gotta ac-cen-tu-ate the positive. So here’s some positive stuff:

1. When you say “I love you” to the Hatchling, she now responds “Wuv ooo.”
2. Project Runway finale is tonight!! I’ll be happy as long as Rami doesn’t win.
3. I saw Definitely, Maybe the other day and it was so. totally. cute. Way better than I thought it would be.
4. The Hatchling and I both got cute shoes from Zappos today.
5. Those new jeans at Lane Bryant? ROCK MY WORLD. It was such a surreal experience to try on a pair of jeans that actually fit my body, right off the rack! No hemming, no tapering, no darting, no nothing. Just a great fit. I have some problems with LB (namely the absurd prices they charge for cheaply made clothes) but these jeans are well worth the $40 I spent on them.

OK, time for Project Runway. Go Christian and Gillian!

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Posted in random tidbits, updates