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Find the Zucchini
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>Zucchini: the Stealth Vegetable
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>Damage control — a book review
>Damage Control. The phrase can imply politics (no names need be mentioned), it can mean a major recall (lead tainted toys anyone?). It can be as simple as an “Oops, my bad” or as complex as impeachment or censure.
Damage Control: Women on the therapists, beauticians, and trainers who navigate their bodies is none of these, but it has moments both as light and as serious as any Spin Doctor could imagine. Editor Emma Forrest collected essays from women, both ordinary and well-known, about the specialists, the “intimate strangers” who deal with their every whim and may end up knowing their deepest secrets. It’s a book that covers not the beauty industry, but women themselves: self-image, confidence, trust, and more.
Damage Control is divided into sections.
“Hair Grows (or you live and you learn)” reminded me that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence; many, many women covet the hair they don’t have. Got curls? Desire straight. Got straight? Pay big bucks for perms. For what purpose? These essays vary in tone from the content to the heartbroken, from the traditional beauties to those who seek to recognize and find peace with their own style.
“Fidel Castro’s Filthy Nails (or On Beauty Etiquette)” has a catchy title, but its contents have more to do with nails than with dictators. The surrogate therapist role appears here; the professional who listens to the heartaches, the highs and the lows of life while fixing hair or skin or nails. Examples are sprinkled throughout showing the way some women develop lifetime relationships, friendships that rival family ties, with stylists and other beauty professionals.
“Fix Me” and “Unhand me, Fiend” continue delving beneath the surface of the massage or the facial, telling of the personal discontent that leads many women through years of body work, chiropractic, reflexology, even plastic surgery.
“Wax Poetic” deals with exactly what it implies: Waxing. Hair removal. Not just legs and underarms….Looking for details? Sorry. My mother reads this blog!
The bookcover is clever and eye-catching; my artist/photographer daughter picked it up, admired the design, and paged through the chapters. The introduction is thorough and thoughtful, setting the tone for the collection as a whole. As I read the book, I found myself approaching one or two pieces at a time, then sitting back and thinking about them. This is a book that could live on my shelf for a while, one I could pick up now and then to read on part or another, not feeling pressure to hurry or rush.
Harper-Collins Publishing sent me a free copy of this book in exchange for reading it and posting a review. I’m due for a haircut soon. I think Rachel, my stylist, would enjoy it, so I’ll pass it on to her.
>(Colliding) Seasons Greetings
>Another Saturday night full of fun and games! Brewers and Packers both won, so the Hot Dog guy is celebrating by wearing the cheesehead. Did anyone else see Mike Holmgren’s face after that return with multiple holding penalties? Whoa.
Yes, we all went to bed happy, with smiles like this. 
>Back to — school supplies!
>I’m seeing school supply tips all over the blogosphere. Suddenly Frugal talked about it. Mir at Wantnot even found a Back to School deal from PayPal. Others either agonized over the purchases or moaned over the time and money spent. Really, I’m not kidding, there are ways to outfit the family for school without breaking the bank. Trust me. I’ve been outfitting entire classes for 13 years.
Think of the basic 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Reuse: a good quality backpack will last several years, reducing your time investment and your frustration while you reuse it. We sent Amigo’s Jansport backpack in for repairs last summer, free of charge. It’s worth the investment. Recycle your children’s art projects. When you’re done displaying them on your own refrigerator, send them to Grandma’s refrigerator door.
Stock up. That sounds backward, but it isn’t. School supplies are cheaper right now than they will be in January when your child’s science folder breaks into pieces. Buy two of everything now. You’ll be glad later.
Reuse. Scissors, rulers, pencil cases, binders, and more, can last for more than one year. I used hand-me-down supplies when I went through graduate school. Honestly, I never bought a folder or binder or notebook; we had plenty in the house already. It was fun using La Petite’s old pencil case from middle school, decorated with sketches and doodles of rabbits, when sitting in a serious curriculum theory class. The professor probably wondered why I kept smiling.
Read the sale ads. I stocked up on supplies for my class’ Writers’ Workshop last week at Target. They had composition books at 2 for $1, while the office supply store down the street still priced them at $2 apiece. Tar-jay had cute notebooks, too; I went back later with La Petite. She bought color-coordinated notebooks in several sizes for her upcoming journalism classes.
Writing this post reminds me that I have work to do. I need to browse through the reading textbook for fourth grade before I relax and do any pleasure reading. Back to work; I’ll be setting up my classroom soon.
>Another recipe: Depression Cake
>I’m drinking less coffee these days.
Oops, sorry, you fainted. I’ll start over. Are you sitting down?
I’ve been drinking less coffee lately. I keep finding myself with extra coffee left over, and I don’t like to waste it by pouring it down the sink. I can pour small amounts into the plants on the deck, but there are limits. I don’t want my petunias shaking from a caffeine high in their hanging basket.
Here’s a recipe that lets me use up as much as two cups. You can replace the coffee with water, if you prefer. I think the coffee gives it a richer taste. If you don’t have leftovers, make two cups of instant. Decaf, half-caf, or full strength, it doesn’t matter.
Depression Cake
(Named for a historical time period, not a state of mind)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups strong coffee
2 cups raisins or currants or chopped dates
½ cup applesauce
2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 cup all-purpose, 1 cup whole wheat)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. each ground cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds (optional)
Powdered sugar for garnish (or serve with whipped topping)
Preheat oven to 350.
In large saucepan, combine granulated sugar, coffee, raisins, and applesauce. Simmer 10 minutes. In large bowl, blend remaining ingredients, except powdered sugar. Stir raisin mixture into flour mixture. Pour batter into well-greased and floured 13 by 9 pan. Bake at least 30-40 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Let cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or serve with whipped topping.
Adapted from a recipe in a California Raisin cookbook put out at least ten years ago.
>10 Ways to Leave your… Zucchini
>We have a bumper crop this year. I have about four cups of grated zucchini in the fridge waiting to be turned into cake or bread or some other sort of goodie. I nearly turned away La Petite’s boyfriend Saturday when he walked up the driveway carrying two large zucchini and a couple of banana peppers. So here we go: a few ways, some real and some not, to get rid of the excess. Feel free to suggest more! I have at least three growing in the garden jungle even as we speak.
10. Give them away to neighbors and friends.
9. Give them to relatives.
8. Place a few on the neighbor’s front porch, then ring the doorbell and run away.
7. Grate a little into spaghetti sauce. Stew. Soup.
6. Go to the farmer’s market and sneak yours onto the vendors’ tables when they’re not looking.
5. Grate some for the freezer. You’ll love it in January.
4. Feed some to the rabbits, wild or pet.
3. Convince the neighborhood kids to use a big one as a baseball bat.
2. When someone tries to give you a zucchini, insist they take two tomatoes in trade.
1. Offer a zucchini “free with purchase” at your rummage sale.
>After the storm
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Poor hollyhocks.
>Not just a metaphor: The Juggling Act
>In the final graduate class toward my Masters Degree, all of the class members were describing their personal growth and professional progress as they had passed through the program cycle. We were seated in a circle, and Deb was showing us a collection of photos that represented critical points in her journey. My friend Sara was seated next to me. The classroom windows were tall and narrow, so only a few of us sitting exactly in the right place could see outside.
Beyond the window behind Deb, on an entrance road that passed rather close to the building, a juggler appeared. Yes, a juggler. Big yellow shoes, baggy black clown pants, bowling-pin style clubs spiraling through the air. Sara and I exchanged glances, then looked back at Deb and tried to concentrate. The juggler walked on, and a parade of dog-walkers following him. This group of people — it had to be at least 75 to 100, just counting the two-legged folk — strode along as though they were marching for a cause (which was probably the case!). By this time, Sara and I could no longer look at each other. The longer the line went on, the closer we came to laughing. When the dogs and their humans were fading away, a helicopter landed on the campus lawn.
Yes, a helicopter.
Deb had no idea.
Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning of this one is the setting, with Deb telling her story. The middle? The ongoing parade outside the school. The end would have to be the part where we told her what was going on during her presentation. Sara and I held onto our sanity and our drama skills to at least feign focus until Deb was done. Then, during our break, we told her the whole story. I was wiping tears from my eyes, and so was Deb. Truth is stranger than fiction, and this was one of the strangest things to happen to us during grad school.
Yes, we are still friends. Deb’s a fabulous teacher and a great juggler herself, a mother of three and teacher in a low-income school in our fair district. Her sense of humor took her through this whole cycle of grad classes, and served her yet again when we let her know what kind of distraction she’d been fighting and she hadn’t even known it.
As the school year looms closer, and my personal juggling act gathers momentum, I always think of Deb, and the juggler who started the whole crazy parade outside the window. This story has smile value, and that’s enough for me.
>Funday Sunday on — Saturday night?
>Let’s see the TV listings. Brewers play the Astros at 6:00, and Packers play the Steelers at 6:30. The Brewers are neck in neck with the Cubs for the leading record in the National League. The Packers are playing a preseason game. Doesn’t count for the record, and the starters will only play the first quarter if they even play that long.
What to watch?
The answer, sports fans, is obvious.
Score update!! Both Brewers and Packers won Saturday night. doesn’t Damian Miller look cute in his Cheesehead?
>A Family that Plays Together, Stays Together
>Quality time. What is it? Families eating at the table together, cheering each other on during games, running errands and chatting in the car. My family sits down to eat together several times a week. We don’t always get all of us to the table, with work schedules and other commitments, but we do our best. And after supper, we sit down together and watch Jeopardy! One thing we love to play together is Trivia, in any form or fashion. Sometimes we’ll get a little punchy after playing for a while, especially when we’re playing an all-weekend overnight tournament. And with that in mind, over tired and with apologies to Dr. Seuss, here goes.
You could play baseball or backyard croquet.
You might go biking. Every nice day.
But what if it rains? And what if it snows?
Turn on TV, sit around, blow your nose.
When the sun doesn’t shine,
And it’s too wet to play.
You might sit in the house, on that cold, cold, wet day.
Or…
You might talk to each other. Or dance ’round the room.
Or play the piano and sing a good tune.
And if all that low-tech can’t give you a smile,
There’s always the Wii, and its Boogie for style.
This post is brought to you in conjunction with Parent Bloggers Network & EA’s Wii-Boogie, a family gaming experience. Shake it. Sing it. Create it.