First Pumpkin Patch



"I'll have this one, Mom!"

The moment I found out I was having a baby, I dreamed of this day. As odd as that probably sounds, taking Baby H to the pumpkin patch was something I have looked forward to since even before he was conceived. I think, even more so than Christmas! 

"I'm pretty sure I could drive this thing, if they let me."

Little did I know that while I was spending all that time fantasizing about this awesome day, that it really would turn out to be the most perfect day ever :) It was the first major event that BAH was here to enjoy with us, so I was an especially thankful wife and momma! Baby H was obsessed with this antique tractor. It won out over goats, hay, tractor ride, and pumpkins.

This goat was an especially good sport. The other 4 ran to the far side of the fence with the chicken.

It was a hot day, and we got there late morning, which ended up being perfect timing because it was not crowded. What is it about goats that is so adorable? I hope I have some one day. Goats and maybe a few chickens, alpacas, dogs, and a koi pond. Farm fantasy :)

"Don't you have any carrots?"

Sorry, buddy. We didn't see the carrots to feed you until we were on our way out :(

Yay!

We got on the hay wagon with a couple of other super cute little families, but there was this one lady who kept yelling at her kids (seriously) because they wouldn't pose correctly for her. She had a fancy camera and the CUTEST little baby in a Bjorn on her chest. I felt bad for the kids and for her. She clearly missed the point of the pumpkin patch and should have stayed home with her beloved camera and had a mimosa. 

View of Poway, CA

I learned from the farmer that the City of San Diego owns and leases out all of this farm land as a "Farm Preserve". I had no idea and never worked in that area while I was a consultant. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least :)

Baby H clapping

He enjoyed the hay ride and kept trying to touch the lady BAH was sitting by on the hay bale. He's a pretty extroverted kid, so far. It makes it easy to take him anywhere. He loves hair.

Not. Happening. "Get my face out of this...thing."

After about an hour, it was a thousand degrees Fahrenheit and time for lunch...

"I want to go NOW!!!"

So, we picked out our pumpkins, and headed to our favorite brewery for pizza, beer, and football. A great end to our day and to my first pumpkin patch with my sweet boys, with whom I love every moment.

Marriage Advice, a Shout-out to my Great-Grandma, and Some Projects for 2012

When two huge book nerds come together in holy matrimony, they should never attempt to combine bookshelves. Combine everything else. Be a go-getter husband and wife team to the fullest extent. Love and respect each other and climb mountains together. But keep your books and your OCD organization of your books (ahem, like organizing by size and not by subject matter, whaaeeeit??) separate. It may just save your marriage :) God bless you, my wonderful Husband, but not being able to find my books by subject and micro-subject was giving me an eye-twitch. Not pictured here are the books stacked up in the garage, the kitchen, or in BAH's storage unit...We have issues. Clearly :)

In going through my reference/how-to section, I pulled out some of my favorite crochet books and began my projects list for 2012. I am currently working on a couple of pieces that I can't talk about (they are surprises!), so I'll share a few fun ideas for the future.

My Great-Grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was 11. She wasn't a particularly artsy or crafty woman, but she loved to crochet and was amazing at it. Great-Grandma Baily was left-handed, so it was interesting learning from her. Like my Grandmother, my Mother, and Me, she was not a great teacher :) People who are able to learn by watching do the best with these women (self included), which surprises people because we love to talk and we love to write. A true teacher always has my respect. It is quite an honorable gift. But I digress. I somehow learned to crochet by watching my left-handed Great-Grandmother for hours on end while we ate gingersnaps and Cracker Jacks and sat by her little woodstove.

Project #1: violas...lots and lots of violas (Image from 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet)

Project #2: Stuff for Baby H

He will be one-year old next month!! It is time to take down his little mobile. He LOVES this thing. These are his friends. He kisses them good morning every day. I don't want to take it down. That's my baby thing that I can't seem to let go :) Totally weird, I know...

But then I was thinking...WHAT IF I cut the animals off and very securely fastened them into some kind of blanket or wrap that we could weave in and out of the bars on his crib? (Image from 200 Crochet Blocks)

And what if, just WHAT IF, I added some new friends to this mix? (Image from Crochet Me)

A Little Warmth & Motivation

 

In the midst of autumn, I hope you are all taking time out of your busy schedules this week for pumpkin carving, seed roasting, and candy corn eating. If you are a beer lover, maybe you have been enjoying an Oktoberfest brew or celebration with 'wursts and polka music and big, soft pretzels. Are you in a part of the world where the leaves change color? Perhaps you have been appreciating beauty by taking long walks or drives and just looking up.

We should all look up more often.

 

I wanted to share with you one of my favorite vegan recipes, perfect for this season and for making your kitchen smell yummy. This is an oldie (been in my recipe box for about 12 years now) but goodie! I make these with big pumpkin cookie cutters and do raisins for the jack-o-lantern face. If you substitute whole wheat or soy four, keep in mind there will be an increased baking time (depends). I use veggie shortening. If you want to use something like applesauce instead of shortening, they will still taste wonderful, but will be more cakey and hard to cut into cookies.

They aren't super sweet and make a great pre-run snack!

One year I made these with chopped up, candied ginger, and they were to-die-for. It isn't something I usually have in my cupboard or on my grocery list, which is the only reason I have not done it again.

Gingerbread dipped into a steaming cup of fresh, black coffee is a mighty nice way to begin a morning with warmth and motivation, whether or not you plan on running (but hopefully you do!).

The Living Daylights

I wanted to follow-up from my previous post and just let you all know how great it feels to be healthy again. After 48 hours of fasting and taking the Super-B Complex, I felt a mental clarity and balance that I have not felt since before I became pregnant with Baby H. The fasting was not extreme, and it felt so amazing that I have permanently adopted a few of the things. First, Super-B Complex is AMAZING. If you have not had a solid night of sleep in 3 months, I highly recommend looking into taking this supplement. Talk about an instant mood-booster! Second, I have significantly cut down on my cheese intake :) Yes, even mozzarella. One serving a day is not much compared to what I was eating. Third, almost no sugar with the exception of a little bit of chocolate, which I now eat with a few nuts of some sort. I wasn't consuming a lot of sugar, compared to most people, but even a tablespoon or 2 in my morning coffee was, I think, just too much for my body to process right now. 

Don't underestimate the toll a lack of sleep can have on your body. Aside from making a person susceptible to illness, I think it can actually make a person start thinking differently (as in, not thinking). The big one I overlooked was that it can also make your body kind of hyper-sensitive to certain things like sugar, caffeine, and processed foods.

My first response to this experience was to eat a block of cheese a day and try to discipline and organize the living daylights out of myself and my life. It's like I was kicking myself while I was down, haha. Yes, this is pretty funny :)        

Back to our old selves, Baby H and I have been running and dancing to an old favorite, John Lee Hooker. Baby H keeps time by slapping his hand on his leg, which I think he learned from Gymboree. The gritty predictability to this music is relaxing and somehow powerful. Enjoy, and be well, sleep or none :)

The Lung Tree



Maybe it's a virus. It's probably a virus - Feels like twenty. Baby H getting through his little cold. No fevers for either of us, just lots of fluids, laughter, kisses, slow dancing, and even slower walks where your skin drinks in the sun's rays like a giant heating pad.

BAH has been out to sea. Mostly, I think this is probably a good thing (for him). We have been able to talk every day, which is the truest blessing. I can barely remember any of our conversations because my brain is mush from Baby H waking up 16 times a night (not really 16). I always remember the sound of my Husband's voice though. It would look like warm caramel if you could see it, out loud.  

   
Moments like this require Puffs tissues, The Way of Herbs (1983), and the one and only Sylvia Plath: 

...This is the lung-tree.

These orchids are splendid. They spot and coil like snakes.

The heart is a red-bell-bloom, in distress.

I am so small

In comparison to these organs!

I worm and hack in a purple wilderness. 



p.52, The Way of Herbs (1983). This was me last week.



p.52, The Way of Herbs (1983). And now I am this. My ying and yang are apparently a bit confused right now. Except I never tolerate or prefer deep massage, nor do I very often feel timid :) I think I would have to be dead to be timid.

See? I told you it was a Sylvia Plath day :) 

  

I stocked up on Kombucha, milk thistle, super B-complex, and miso and decided to do a 3-day "fast" of no sugar, meat, dairy (except yogurt), caffeine, alcohol, or processed foods. I think my system just needs a little bit of a cleanse and some rejuvenation.

Part of me knows that I should do this for longer than 3 days, but I already cheated when I was cutting up mozzarella for Baby H. We are talkin' serious cheese addiction. This may take more willpower than my mush brain contains.

I'll have to use my backup willpower :) 

There is Definitely a Hole Inside My Ear

Laughs hysterically when I sneeze...

I recently finished a little flash fiction piece for a Halloween fiction contest. It was my first attempt at humor writing, and now that it is complete, I think I'd like to do more! Get a little meat on my humor bones!

If you can't laugh, you can't breathe. I've certainly never had a problem with laughing. I used to get in trouble in school sometimes because I would get the never ending giggles. Humor resides most everywhere, you just have to be able to see it, and having a sense of humor can keep a person from going to the dark side. However, being able to write humor is a very different bird and a fun, new challenge, perfect for the autumn season. Just because you like to laugh does not mean you are funny, and there is a stark contrast between laughing at someone or beside them.    

As of this morning, I am not laughing, I am sneezing, sniffling, and coughing...Okay, so I am still laughing :) Baby H is licking his reflection in the washing machine going, "Oh, WOW!" Who knew the spin cycle could be so entertaining? What a goofball! 

In conclusion, I will leave you with the perfect combination of sick + humor: The great Shel Silverstein...

 

Sick
by Shel Silverstein

"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more--that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut--my eyes are blue--
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke--
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"