It's that time of year again.

The ground is broken, disced and hilled. The drip irrigation is laid, the slips are planted and the seeds are sprouting. The tomatoes are caged and the chicken wire is up complete with a web of string to confuse the crows. Best part is, the Dude did most of the work this time. Ever since we started planting a garden 5 years ago, it's mostly fallen on me. It was my endeavor and my Dad helped me a lot. But it started out relatively small and every year it grew. It grew to the point that I couldn't handle it by myself. Last year, while I was recovering from surgery, the grass finally took over because it was simply too much for me. It sucks to wield a hoe in 100 degree heat and when it hasn't rained in 3 weeks. This is some hard dirt to work, especially when the giant mud puddle down the road is calling your name. I love growing my own stuff, of course, just not weeds. If you refer to a post from back last summer, you'll see exactly what I mean. This year, we really hope our corn will be ready for the Bailey Boil. The last couple of years, Uncle Washtub was our corn connection and thankfully, he usually has an abundance. However, we really are working toward self-reliance (although that's probably silly since we always have several folks who bring lots of goodies). So in a way, the garden kicks off preparations for our big ol' feast o' seafood. Always a whole lot of fun with 100 or so of our favorite folks, complete with cornholio (You hear that? I hear a buttwhipping in the making for a certain CPA I know ;)

Nice pants

Followers of my blog already know what this means. It rained at work.

Oh my...THE MEMORIES!!

http://www.speaknspell.co.uk/speaknspell.html

Sometimes I wonder how it is I ended up with the decent spelling skills I have, especially considering that my Dad is like the worst speller on earth (bless him). I was working with a child this morning who can't spell a lick. I kept thinking, if only this kid had a Speak & Spell. I had one, and I'll bet that made some difference in my acquisition of spelling skills. To say I wore my Texas Instruments toy out would be an understatement. I would venture to say that this was one of my very favorite toys I had growing up, nerd that I was and still am. I liked spelling and the games were pretty cool on this machine. I mean, it wasn't Atari Asteroids or anything, but I really got into my Speak & Spell. And so, through the immeasurable magic of the world wide web, I quickly located the above Speak & Spell simulator. Even the voice is the same which makes me totally grin from ear to ear! This is the stuff that my personal nocturnal dreams are made of. Damn, I'm such a geek. I would do just about anything to get my hands on one of these again and so I suppose I will begin a search for one (much like the AWESOME HAPPY APPLE I managed to find in an antique store a couple of years ago).

And we have liftoff.

STS-134 Endeavour Space Shuttle Launch HD

This morning I joined my 5-year-old in her classroom to view Endeavour's final launch. I guess I thought, "It's no big deal, I just want Elena to see it and remember something about it." I absolutely did not expect the feelings that watching the launch would stir in me. I'm typically not affected by many things, unless they tick me off; however, this was different. Prior to the launch, I said a prayer to God that these astronauts would lift off safely. I could not bear the thought of another shuttle disaster searing itself into the memory of my sweet child, nor could I bear the thought of another group of our brightest individuals being lost. Thankfully, we enjoyed watching an educational moment together, something I truly hope my little girl will remember since the shuttle era is coming to a rapid close. I was so struck by the contrast of the fiery lift-off and the quiet peace that comes afterward. I actually held my breath for the first 60 seconds or so after it started.
I look back at some of the negative comments made by people on youtube and I think, "For one measly second, can't you put your ugly cynicism aside and be awed by those more intelligent than you?" I swear, ignorance abounds. But I digress, here are a couple of comments overheard in the kindergarten classroom: "I hope they have enough food." "This is SO COOL!" "Can we watch a cartoon now?" I love children. It's really something when children have more intelligent things to say than the cynical adults looking at youtube. When you were a child, and you watched the shuttles leave Earth, weren't you the least bit amazed at what you witnessed? I know I was! Always! And I also know that I was sick in 1986 when we lost Challenger. That was a tough year, losing that beautiful shuttle, its astronauts, and also my Granddad. Somehow, it all ran together for me. The way I figure it, a year with a successful shuttle flight is a good one and I'm going to be sad to see them go. Some may say it's a waste of money; but someone's opinion of what constitutes a waste is all relative. I see money being wasted everyday in a hundred different places, they just don't do a live viewing on CNN to showcase it. All I can say is this: If you are a critic, I would like you to show me your great achievements and accomplishments so I can awed by your awesomeness too.
Until then, I'll just watch this.

I dunno, Jerry, sometimes...

I don't want to be critical ever of anyone else's work, especially work that I haven't actually read myself. Today I shall leave that up to someone else.
Jerry Seinfeld's wife wrote a cookbook to assist moms and dads everywhere to deceive their picky-eaters into eating pureed vegetables.

This was recommended to a parent recently as a great way to get some veggies in their child's diet. (If you're reading this, my sweet, well meaning friend, please don't be offended by the stance I'm taking here) I decided to check out the book on http://www.betterworldbooks.com/ and I got a good gander at the reviews posted there. The reviews are not favorable. Gee, I wonder why...
Let's pretend it's your mom who is souping up some squash or eggplant and attempting to put it in your sacred mac 'n cheese... some things you just don't f with, right? What if you eat your mashed potatoes and they seem a little 'off' and you can't figure out why. You say to Mom, "Why do my taters taste so weird?" and she's like, "I dunno, maybe there's a tater blight out of Idaho." Has your mother just lied to you? Isn't this the very thing we parents attempt to teach our children not to do? LIE TO US???? Mrs.Seinfeld, I am APPALLED! Another thought put forth in one review is this: is the taste tradeoff worth what miniscule amount of nutrition are added by essentially adding baby food to the dish? I'm pretty sure, most people, children included, know when something just taste gross. If you go mixing some pureed frijoles into the apple pie, I'm sure your kid isn't stupid enough not to figure out something just isn't right.

And here's a quote from Kate as reviewed on BWB:
I guess my biggest question is, are this lady's cooking tactics really of nutritional value? She (probably) can't hurt the kids with her soupy concoctions, but isn't it true that once you boil the heck out of vegetables and liquefy them, the vitamins and other good stuff go completely down the... well... toilet?
Speaking of which, maybe the sneaking-in-the-vegetables thing is purely for roughage (sp) purposes. So why puree them? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? My alternative title would be, "How to Give Your Kids Diarrhea".

Well said, Kate, well said.

I'd like to suggest an alternative cookbook. It's called The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

Yes, I am a little partial to Ree Drummond and her antics on the ranch as I've been reading her blog for sometime. The fact is, she's downright honest in her portrayal of food. Yes, these recipes are delicious, they feed a crowd of hungry cowboys and children, and YES, there are lots of calories... and butter. I give her props for showing us how to cook and being up front about how awesome food can be. If I had a choice of which cookbook to order, it would be this one due to its wider appeal to my personal tastebuds and it's obvious lack of shame.

One more thought, which I shared with the above mentioned parent: My own family therapist, whom I love dearly for all her ability to listen and objectify, said to me one day, "Why do you worry so much about what your kids are eating? Like every sensible family doctor from the old school will tell you, they'll eat when they're hungry. If they don't like what you've cooked for them, take heart in the fact that both my boys grew up pretty much eating yogurt and they never starved to death." Okay then, I can find a happy medium in there somewhere I think. I like the idea of the 'no thank you' bite and off to the fridge for some yogurt and really, how bad can nightly bologne be? My personal practice is to always keep fruit in my house. If I've chosen to cook veggies that my children won't eat, it's bananas, strawberries and apples with that slab of bologne. What kid won't eat fruit? Together with Fred Flinstone and cups of milk, I'd say my girls are just as healthy as Seinfeld's kids... and I've managed to do it honestly.

Light and love and yada, yada, yada...

I follow my good buddy Lynne's blog and I'm going to throw down this quote from her about page:
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

While I generally agree with the good Reverend, I'm beginning to question the only light and only love parts of this idea. Then again, maybe I don't question it, maybe I'm just perplexed at this moment, given the recent killing and disposal of Osama Bin Laden. Yes he was a heinous maniac of our time who took SO MUCH from SO MANY. He was in our eyes the darkness. He, to us, was evil. As in the funny movie Dragnet, he was P.A.G.A.N.


You know, People Against Goodness and Normalcy.

Well sir, now we have his extinction, the icon of the terrorists. Our God gets to be the judge. As in all capital punishment cases, the question in my mind is, did God actually say it was time for the judgement? Do we damn our own selves each time we take judgement (in this extreme) in our own hands? I know I come off sounding like a pansy, liberal here, as if I'm against capital punishment. As if I don't want all those murders, that were on Bin Laden's watch to be vindicated. Let's get this clear, I'm not feeling that either. But I look at the crowds cheering and singing in victory over this one demonic, almost inhuman, creature, and I can't help but think how much this all appeals to our basest primal levels. Is the arguement then, does it really take love and light to drive out darkness and hate? Does it just take a good team of Navy Seals? Or does our drive to avenge this evil turn us simply more dark? If the latter is the case, then we may actually be doomed to swirl endlessly in our own pools of darkness and hate, because it sure is hard NOT to celebrate the execution of Bin Laden. I wonder, then, if it is possible to celebrate now and ask God for forgiveness later.

My favorite little subject.

I'm not really much of a photographer but occasionally, I manage to capture my children in some pretty neat photos. So far, these three are my favorite pictures of my oldest. She's my favorite subject for two reasons: she's naturally lovely and she listens when I tell her to look cool for the camera. My youngest has the first quality down without difficulty, but listening isn't really her strong suit. An older shot of Ese. I took this at Christmas time in '08. Her awesomeness was really beginning to emerge. All of the cousins were playing down by the tracks below Great-Granny's after Christmas lunch. It was a beautiful day, not the typical sloppy weather we sometimes endure when we visit there in the winter time.
I love this photo of Ese. I took it in Canada outside of a winery/restaurant. She has this ultra calm look about her and the reflection in the puddle there is pretty neat too.
Spring is a great time to take photos of toilets in the woods, don't you think? I said, "let me try a picture of you with this pot" and she knew just what to do. Ese, you are simply beautiful!