Draft 2021

If ever I needed some chocolate therapy, believe me, it's been this week. Not only has my oldest son left for 5 months in South Africa (it's been 3 whole days and I haven't heard from him yet), but I'm dog-sitting for a friend. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm glad to do it and I owe her - she's watched my dogs and it's a relief to know I don't have to worry about them when I'm out of town. But my friend, she makes it look easy. Granted, she's admitted that she often finds it easier to relate to dogs than to humans, something I can certainly commiserate with, but if Cesar Millan ever retires, my friend could easily take his place as the dog whisperer. So, I now have a small pack of dogs in my house, including my ever-increasingly crazy St. Bernard. At 5 months old, she's growing into her puppyhoood, full of insane energy and toddler mischief. Just this morning I caught her emptying a Kleenex box one tissue at a time, bouncing from couch to co

Last week Heather gave me The Tree of Happiness Award. She said I make her laugh, which is quite a compliment. Though I have to tell you, Heather, ever since you wrote that, I haven't had a single funny thought! I'm supposed to list 6 Things That Make Me Happy So, here goes: 1) First and foremost is my darling husband. Not everyone can say that someone in this world adores her, but I can. Michael loves me, cherishes me, takes care of me, makes me laugh, is a wonderful husband, is gorgeous, stands by me in good times and bad, and makes me feel secure. He props me up when I'm going through rough spots and allows me to do the same for him. We are partners in everything we do. How did I get so lucky? 2) My children, of course. I have never known a more fierce and abiding, unconditional and all-encompassing love, than what I feel for my children. They amaze and delight me on a daily basis. Of course, they also frustrate and annoy me at times, but I drive them crazy, too. What

Cook with an ingredient you don't usually use . As soon as I saw this month's challenge, I knew my fate was sealed. Despite assiduously avoiding it for decades, my time had finally come. There was no getting out of it. No excuse would suffice. Yes, that's right. I would finally have to conquer my extreme aversion to squash soup. The mere thought of pumpkin, butternut or acorn pureed in a bowl made me gag. Literally. But I stealed myself for the inevitable horror, found a recipe, and assembled the ingredients. I was prepared for a lot fruitless work, making soup that no one would eat, save the obligatory first bite. Sigh. There's always pizza delivery, right? Was I ever pleasantly surprised! I made Corn, Bean and Pumpkin Stew , using local beans, home canned tomatoes, home frozen sweet corn, local onions and garlic, and a pureed butternut squash from our garden. The squash was supposed to be prepared in cubes, but I found using my already pureed squash worked just fine.

Melissa and Michael have expanded their line-up of home brews to include gingerale. The recipe uses lots of ginger and makes a light, effervescent, gingery delightful drink. Sarah designed the labels for this joint project. The girls gave the whole batch to Stephen and Zachary for Christmas. Next time, they might try a fizzy lemonade.

I've been putting off writing about my oldest son. He's leaving Tuesday for a semester in South Africa, and the longer I wait to write this, the longer I can put off missing him. Stephen is my first born; the baby who introduced me to the most all-encompassing love I've ever experienced. I'll never forget the serious expression on his face after he was born - no crying, just a thoughtful consideration of the change in his surroundings. It's hard to believe that was almost 21 years ago. It's been quite a ride. I hesitate to write about Stephen's lifetime struggle with mental illness, because he is so much more than a collection of his diagnoses. He is compassionate, moral, intelligent... just an incredible person. But not talking about what he's gone through would do him just as much a disservice. Without the struggles he's faced, he wouldn't be who he is today. And I wouldn't change him for the world. Looking back, it's easy to see that S

Our first eggs! Melissa checked yesterday at about noon and found these two beauties. They aren't even small, as I expected pullet eggs to be. After glorying in our first "harvest," and taking wayyy too many pictures, Melissa put the eggs to good use. We were delighted with how firm and orange the yolks were - just like free-range eggs from happy hens ought to be! The color is a little off on this picture, but Melissa made a delicious yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

Word came just this week that we have officially lost more than 40% of our 401K retirement acount. That's right. 6 figures gone in the blink of an eye. Gulp. Well, it's nothing that the rest of the country isn't dealing with and makes our debt reduction efforts all that much more important. Feeling the need for some good financial news for a change, I excitedly opened our utility bill (I know, my life is a little, um, boring?). Yippee! We continue to reduce our electric and gas bills substantially. From mid-December to mid-January we reduced or electricity usage by more than 30 kWh and our gas usage by 2.73 Th per day over the same time period last year. Translated into dollars, we saved $163.35 over last year's mid-December to mid-January bill and the average temperature was colder this year than last. Since September, we've saved $334.85 over last year. What have we done? Well, this year dh put plastic up over most of the windows and caulked around others. We&

December's CSA yarn Melissa has a serious yarn obsession. Our forays into yarn shops often lead to near hyper-ventilation and a need to sit down and breathe for a few minutes. In the interestes of my child's health, I hold my own yarn yearnings in check, as much as I can, so as to be able to help her through these episodes. Don't believe me? Here's the scene at last fall's Farm Crawl . I think we were at Blue Gate Farm . After this episode we had to rest for a bit and buy some lemonade! Anyway, in the past year, Melissa's crocheting has really taken off and she has branched out into working with wool fiber, making felted baskets and purses. Unfortunately, I share this love of yarn, though I'm much more likely to buy some and simply think about making something with it. Actually, I want to buy all the gorgeous hand-spun, hand-dyed yarn I see and just roll around in it. But I digress. Our efforts to economize this fall forced us to work on using up the

This was a week to focus on efficiency and basic goodness. That's when I turn to traditional Italian peasant food. I can't get over how gorgeous these beans are and I love the name "Ireland Creek Annie," an English heirloom grown since the 1930s in British Columbia. Last week was brutally cold here in Iowa, with lows in Des Moines nearing 40 below and subzero temperatures for days on end. We've warmed up to the 20s now, but nothing warms you up like a good soup. A family favorite as much for its name as for its flavor is Tuscan Crazy Water , from Lynne Rossetto Kasper. It's a delectable broth made from simmered beans, garlic, sage, salt and pepper. The beans are strained out and kept for another purpose. But this next part, oh my, it's the coup de grace of the whole dish: croutons made with homemade bread, olive oil, salt and pepper and served in the soup. A drizzle of olive oil and a little parmesan cheese and this simple soup is ready to satisfy.

... using Marharishi International University massage therapy techniques. Mmm, he's definitely transcending. Harmony and coherence? Oh, yeah... Process complete

Aww, gee Mom, why can't I play outside?

As I write this, the ice on my glasses is still thawing, the dogs are galavanting like hippos in heat, and my family room couches stink. School was cancelled today because of dangerous wind chills, but a puppy whose genes have equipped her to dig through avalanches in the Alps, still wants to go outside to chew sticks. Yep, she likes to lie in the snow and have a good chew. Meanwhile, I'm standing as close to the house as possible, hoping some meager heat might reflect off the white siding and keep frostbite at bay. Lately, upon arising at the ungodly hour of 6:30 a.m., I've been dressing like Heidi. No, my hair isn't long enough for braids, and even if it were, I'd need to wear it down to cover my ears. First, I pull on a pair of sweat pants over my pajama pants, carefully tucking the pajamas into a second pair of socks. On top of my long-sleeved pj top goes a flannel shirt, buttoned, and a fleece-lined sweat jacket. On top of all this goes my bathrobe. This way, when

Would you take a look at that rosemary bush? It grows on the side of my mom's house in Arkansas. We took this picture in January, just a couple of weeks ago. Here are my mom and me doing our Vanna White impersonations... I include this photo only so you can see how truly tall this bush is. Really. My mom usually cuts it back each fall, but wasn't able to do so this year. Note the new growth in the photo above. New growth. In January. I can buy local herbs here at the grocery store pretty much year 'round from a company called Mariposa Farms in Grinnell, Iowa. But at about $3 a small bunch, they're pretty pricey. I brought home several bags and have plans to use them up in some of my favorite dishes. Leaving the frigid north and basking in the warmth of the south led Michael to talk about where to retire. Boy, wouldn't it be nice to be someplace warm? We could grow lettuce and other greens year 'round in a hoop house, never have to shovel... Ah yes. But then I p

Melissa and I each crocheted a scarf for the Special Olympics World Winter Games . The scarf project encourages a connection between scarf makers and the athletes and adds to community awareness. Organizers of the scarf project ask that makers include a short note to the athlete who will receive his/her scarf, which I think is a nice touch. It's fun to think that some young man or woman at the Special Olympics winter games in Idaho will be wearing the scarves we made. We hope our athletes know how much we're rooting for them!

Outside: Forecast for Des Moines: Frigid Tonight: 100% Snow, 3"-5" Wind Chill: -7 Inside: Forecast for my house: Cozy High: 65, with a definite warming trend near fireplace or when baking Tonight: Cream cheese/Chocolate espresso brownies, blankets, lots of snuggling Mmm, perfect.

We've been hesitant to give Ivy a bath because of how cold it's been and how long she'll stay wet, but were advised to go ahead and introduce her to the bathtub now. The implication being the longer we wait, the more likely she'll be to have issues. At 46 pounds as of Friday, she's about 1/3 of her adult weight (probably). Believe me, that's a lot of stink to be wallowing around on my lap every day. Michael and Sarah bit the bullet and bathed her last night. Poor baby was scared and shaking, but it was fast and not too traumatic. With her fur all wet she looks like a hound dog! Treats, as always, help any situation. Lather, rinse, repeat. Are we done yet, Daddy? It took lots of towels to dry her off. My lips are wet! Are we done now? All clean!