Category Archives: family life

>More tips for flu prevention!

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>Fears of pandemic, both legit and overdone, are all over the emails and the newsletters. The latest came from our healthy living advice source: the Lifestyle Enhancement newsletter. Here’s the advice, along with my serious and not-so-much responses, of course.

Yogurt for probiotics
We went through a lot of yogurt when Amigo had his tummy troubles. He was eating it every day, sometimes twice a day. He then graduated to chewable acidophilus tablets, or yogurt culture without the yogurt, as the nurse practitioner told him. Now that he’s healthy, he eats yogurt a few times a week to regulate his tummy chemistry. I’m eating a little yogurt; that’s an area I could increase.

Citrus for Vitamin C
Amigo and I both take daily vitamin C supplements, and I pack fresh fruits in my lunch bag. When winter comes and along with it the music department fruit sale, we order oranges and grapefruit galore. Lately I’ve been cooking and baking with fruits, and I hope that will increase our vitamin C intake a little bit.

Mushrooms for Beta-glucan
What the heck is beta-glucan? Is it like the Betazoid race on Star Trek? Or is it more like glue in a can? Didn’t they call that stuff paste long ago? Mushroom paste. Now there’s a concept.

Seafood for selenium.
This category is a little tougher for us Midwesterners. Locavores have to go for Great Lakes fish, not ocean harvests. Freshwater, not saltwater. Do they still provide selenium? And why am I humming Tom Lehrer’s “Periodic Table of the Elements” song?

Green Tea for — what was that? Oh, she said Catechins.
Cat-a whatsits? I find green tea relaxing on a cold and stressful school day, catechins or no catechins. It doesn’t add to my doublechins, either.

Nuts to, er, for Vitamin E
I’m putting nuts in more of my baking. Does that count? It might not be enough. How about Nutella?

Our locavore effort has been helpful in encouraging us to cook from scratch, use fresh ingredients, and feed the family more vegetables and fruit. I think I’ll just keep it up and use my neti pot regularly. Oops, TMI. Sorry for that image. Go back to Tom Lehrer. He’ll make you laugh, germs or viruses or perfect health.

P.S. Spellcheck didn’t like this post. Catechins? Beta-glucan? Acidophilus? Yikes.

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>Farm Markets, fundraising, and putting the garden to bed

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>What’s that white stuff? Snow flurries? Already?

The Farmers’ Market, two weeks away from closing, was like a ghost town. Only the most dedicated vendors and the die-hard customers (like me) were there. All were decked out in warm outerwear, gloves, hats, the keep-warm collection. It was windy, too. Brrrr. I bought honey crisp apples for lunches, a little sweet corn, peppers in green and (mostly) red. The peppers we’ve bought from this stand lately are delicious. I’ll cook some and freeze a few.

I’m a sucker for a good cause. A polite young Boy Scout asked if I was interested in buying popcorn. Chuck and I are not supposed to eat much popcorn, so we’ll probably bring the box to La Petite next time we visit. I’ll call it her fall midterms Care Package. Of course I bought it! Did you need to ask? After I finished buying lettuce and carrots (with greens) for the bunny, I passed a local nonprofit cafe and their coffee of the day dragged me by the taste buds through the door and to the counter. White chocolate strawberry, if you must know. That kept me warm while standing in a much-too-long line at the post office.

Actual conversation while tearing down and uprooting dead and dying garden plants:
Me: “I’m getting the last few beans.”
Chuck: “Give them to my parents. They love beans, and they just pulled in the driveway.”
Me: “I don’t have many.”
Chuck: “They don’t need many.”
Me: “I have, like, five beans.”
Silence.
We sent them home with fundraiser cookie dough instead.

One anti-static dryer ball is lost. One. They work in a pair, and this pair has last me 6 months already and is still going strong. Now one is lost. One. I felt a twinge of guilt adding fabric softener to the washer. Only a twinge pulled at my eco-heartstrings, however, because after all, I’ve done largely without fabric softener for six months.

The garden is nearly ready to hibernate, the last harvest is in the sink to be cleaned, laundry is in, Chuck is painting scenery for his model trains, and Amigo is watching college football. Life is good. I think I’ll make some cappuccino or hot cocoa and have a cookie from my own stash of fundraiser cookie dough. Shhhhh.

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>Good readings in autism

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>If you bring up Asperger’s Syndrome, someone will probably ask if you’ve read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Read it; it’s good. However, it’s fiction. I’m focusing more on nonfiction today.

Chuck and I were traveling to pick up Amigo at camp when we heard Lianne Holliday Willey on NPR talking about her book Pretending to be Normal. We knew we had to have it. The subtitle is “Living with Asperger’s Syndrome,” and that’s exactly what the book is. Lianne was a resilient child, but a unique and quirky one. She didn’t realize exactly why she was different until her daughter was diagnosed with Asperger’s and she realized she was on the spectrum herself. Pretending to be Normal is insightful and articulate, a peek inside the experiences and feelings of an adult with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Look me in the Eye by John Elder Robison is another memoir that lets people get a glimpse of how someone who appears different can also be highly intelligent and successful professionally. John Elder, as he was nicknamed in his youth, describes living the high life with the band KISS (he was a creative engineer with the band) and living in near poverty in between tours. He marries, divorces, but stays on good terms with his ex-wife and children. His memoir shows how a strikingly creative and intelligent person can run afoul of a rigid school system, develop unique relationships despite social awkwardness, and eventually recognize and seek treatment to come to grips with his autism. Look me in the Eye is fascinating, and not only for the backstage tales of rock and roll special effects.

Unstrange Minds is a tougher read, but well worth the time. Part clinical explanation and part personal story, this book explains the skyrocketing numbers of autism diagnoses better than anyone else I’ve read.

Send in the Idiots, another memoir by an adult with high functioning autism, initially turned me off because of its title. I was glad I read it, though. As Kamran Nazeer sought out his former classmates and described their successes and failures, he also faced his own uniqueness. Some parts were hard to read not because of any weakness in the book, but because being mom to a teen with Asperger’s, the situations made me worry. The title doesn’t actually refer to the students by the term “idiot,” but quotes an echolalic phrase spoken by a classmate.

Each book is worth the time and effort. I bought all four over a span of several years because I wanted to take my time reading each one thoroughly without the constraints of library due dates. Owning books like this also allows me to go back and read portions at my leisure, rereading as needed.

Readers, I focused on autism. Can you recommend other books from the perspective of people with disabilities or people with disabled family members? Blindness, hearing impairment, otehrs…list them in the comments, please! I eagerly await your suggestions.

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>On being self-sufficient

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>A city family, even in a small city, will be dependent on the grocery store and the basic utilities. The question nagging in the back of my head is this: How much of that is really necessary?

It’s a small city lot that makes room for my garden behind the garage, a plot that has gotten a little larger over the years we’ve lived here. We grow a small amount of our food here, more a supplement than a significant amount of the family food supply.

I haven’ t learned to can — yet. I bought some of the supplies I need, and decided that next summer my project will be jam. The raspberries in the backyard yield almost nothing, and what little ripens goes to the birds before we even know it’s there. But I do have rhubarb, and we have the farmers’ market. Market strawberries, backyard rhubarb, and maybe raspberries and blueberries will make some J for our PBJs next summer.

I blanched and froze beans this year, both green and yellow, and a little bit of sweet corn, too. I have cartons of frozen rhubarb and grated zucchini frozen for winter baking. Soup stocks, turkey and chicken and beef, share the freezer space with the vegetables. When it’s time to cook, I’ll reach in the freezer instead of adding a commercially made mix to the crockpot.

The freezer is small, though. When Chuck picked it out, he wasn’t thinking of putting up enough food for the winter. He and I both thought it would just be a convenience. Now, a few years later, I wonder if we need a larger one. But do we? What am I really planning?

If we grew or bought from the farmers’ market more of our produce, we wouldn’t need to buy it from the grocery store. It would cost less purchased in season, and taste great when we cook it. It would be mainly organic, introducing fewer chemicals into our systems.

We could look into getting a dehydrator, something I’ve only read about. We have the storage space in the basement, but it’s a bit damp in fall and spring. Is it suitable for dried food? Need more research before I go farther with that angle.

Back to canning. Many vegetables and fruits become ripe just when I’m starting school, and it’s just about impossible to spend the prep time in the kitchen that’s really necessary. Or is it? Could I do enough of the work in July and early August to make this happen? I don’t know.

My kitchen is so small it’ll be hard to make room for a major process. Blanching the beans took up (I am not kidding) close to half the counter space.

But really, if we picked up another medium sized freezer, an upright perhaps, we wouldn’t need to go shopping every week. We’d be able to pick up milk and orange juice and bunny food, buy meat in bulk on sale, but the veggies and fruits would be in the house already.

I’m dreaming, but it’s a dream that could work out in the end. We’re city people, so we’re not going to put up a chicken house in the backyard. We’ll just have to keep buying eggs from Chuck’s coworker who does raise chickens. But learning to make our own jams, freeze our own tomatoes and peppers and herbs, can do more than just season our foods.

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>Meal Planning Monday: the reality show

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>Assistant: I can’t believe you’re making an entire show out of meal planning. This is not dramatic or funny.
Director: If TLC can make a half hour episode of Kate Gosselin grocery shopping, we can make something out of meal planning.

First step: Inventory. Thawed a whole chicken Saturday night using the dying coals of the grill so it’ll taste smoky. Red peppers roasted on the grill Saturday as well; we made good use of the grill time. Sweet corn (among other goodies) from the farmers’ market, tomatoes from the garden, and the everpresent early autumn zucchini. Using those items as starting points, here goes.

Assistant: Do people really plan an entire week? I’m being devil’s advocate here to help make things interesting, understand. Where’s the video here? The grill? The dying or dead coals?
Director: Whatever. Knock yourself out. Go ahead. Make my day.

Monday: Rotisserie chicken, sweet corn, banana bread, salad (including cherry tomatoes, of course). This is a meal full of planned overs. Chuck works late on Mondays, so it’s just Amigo and me eating supper at home. There will be lots of chicken left over and I’ll make chicken stock with the carcass. See Wednesday for more.

Director: So Monday is planned-overs, heading into Wednesday. Is Tuesday anything special?
Me: I have a meeting after school, so I won’t be home immediately. This is the kind of day that works better if I prepare the meat the night before or Tuesday morning before leaving for school.

Tuesday: stuffed meatloaf. Ground beef and ground turkey, with all the additions of my usual meatloaf, but in two layers with roasted red peppers squashed in between. Cook it up in the oven as usual and serve with…hidden zucchini orzo and a vegetable or maybe baked apples (farmers’ market, of course).
Wednesday: here comes the reference to Monday. Chicken soup in the crockpot! Leftover corn, a few other veggies (did somebody say zucchini?), and maybe egg noodles. Mmm.

Director: did you plan this soup all along?
Me: Sort of. I have a longer meeting after school, Grandma will be here with Amigo, so an easy supper is in order. She’ll add noodles as needed when she gets here. I’ll be home by 5, I think, and I’ll make grilled cheese or something simple very simple to go with the soup.

Director: Okay, what’s next?
Me: No idea. I usually just plan a few days, not the whole week. I don’t have a meeting on Thursday, so I’ll actually have time to cook. Maybe I’ll grill something.
Assistant: The grill needs cleaning.
Me: Then again, maybe not.

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>Decisions: where to put the new compost bin

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>My new compost bin is decorative enough that I could put it anywhere — even in my front yard!

It could go in the back, nestled in the small rosebushes.

Then there’s the deck, near the herbs and the geraniums. Or should it go near the polka dot chairs?

Ah, here we go. It’s not as picturesque as the front yard or the roses, but it’s practical. Next to the garage, in a place where I can reach it even when there’s snow on the ground. It’ll be easy to get the kitchen scraps in it all year long.

(Guest appearance by La Petite)
The new composter is from Algreen Products. It’s available at GardenSuperMart.com. College student posing inside not included.

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>Families in Crisis

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>A dear friend and fellow blogger is in crisis and needs assistance. You may know Margalit from MidCentury Modern Moms. She has twins the same age as my Amigo, both fascinating yet challenging children.

Her son is in the hospital, seriously ill. As she deals with this, she has other major financial crises that far exceed her savings.
Her car, left in Maine, is being declared abandoned unless she can raise the $1,000 to go get it.
The landlord has threatened to evict the family because of a broken window – a cost of $700 to repair, money they do not have.

Please consider donating to the family through Paypal using the button below or in the sidebar. Margalit is a proud and strong woman; she would not ask for help if she weren’t desperate. Small amounts add up; don’t hesitate to make a small donation.

drownbig

Margalit has been very supportive for me during IEP conflicts and other issues. She is an intelligent and decent person; I’m offering help because I know her and trust her.

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>Reality show: The One Where the Blankets go to the Laundromat

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>

Imagine: a day in the life of Daisy, the groundskeeper. Let’s choose an ordinary, but not too ordinary, day of taking care of home, garden, family, and coffee. Here’s one: the semi-annual Washing of the Blankets: The Laundromat Visit Episode!

Director: “Okay, photogs, make sure you get a messy look. That’s right, nothing too neat. Big piles all over the mom-van. Can we see a little contrast? Pull that patterned blanket throw out a little more, make it look like they’re not stacked perfectly.”

The truth? They weren’t stacked neatly. The minivan really does look that messy when the blankets are headed out for washing day. I have to spread the piles so I can still see in the rearview mirrors.


A few token shots of the front-loading washers spinning, and it’s time to load the wet blankets in the minivan again. I’m sure there’s a punch line there: “Wet Blankets ruin enthusiasm for laundry!” Maybe not.

Director: Can you see how many blankets there are? Do they all fit in the baskets? Is there any water dripping? Wet feet? Come on, there must be something interesting here.

No, there isn’t anything interesting involved in taking the comforters and blanket throws out of the front loading washer, folding them, and stacking them in the baskets without dragging the clean corners through the dirt. Trust me. Move along now, there’s no drama here.


Director: Clothesline time! Blankets flapping in the wind on the clothesline. Classic video! Get it. What…what do you mean, you don’t own a clothesline? Daisy, you’re the queen of green! No clothesline?

Honestly, I don’t own a clothesline. I did, however, hang La Petite’s and Amigo’s blankets out on the deck and on the backyard swing. They’re the only family members without season allergies. The bedding that goes in the Master Bedroom goes in the dryer, or Husband (Chuck) and I would sneeze and wheeze our nights away.

Director: Oh, geez, didn’t you check this out? A clothesline would be the perfect ending shot behind the show credits. I can’t believe there’s no clothesline.

Assistant: Sorry. I was too busy checking out her coffee mug collection. Here, we made hazelnut flavor, full caff. Want some?

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>Shopping ’till your husband drops

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>Shoe shopping. I enjoy it, La Petite loves it. Husband tolerates it; Amigo hates it. I handled shoe shopping with both boys recently. With Amigo it was enter the store, go directly to the dept., try on two pair, choose the best, checkout, leave. Immediately. Grumpy teenager and tolerant- going-on-grumpy mom survived again.

Husband was similar. He tried on a few pair, chose the pair that worked and fit, then got ready to check out. I managed to walk him through another department so I could get some cloth napkins on sale, and then we checked out. We had success on both counts: picture below.


Imagine my surprise when we were in a Nordstrom Rack store looking for a wallet and he voluntarily walked into the shoe department and picked up a colorful pair of Converse All Star sneakers! La Petite is a connoisseur of Chuck Taylor (“chucks” in her words), and he thought it might be fun to wear “cool” shoes.

Husband? Trying on shoes? Voluntarily? By choice? I had to sit down. Then I pulled out the camera to document the occasion. Maybe I should stop calling him Husband and rename him – Chuck! What do you think, dear?


He bought them. Yes, she was surprised. She was a little impressed, too. She should be: at 22, she’s influenced her father’s wardrobe! Now if I can keep her from nominating me for What Not to Wear….

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