Back to "Normal"

Random Stuff

-Our thoughtful refrigerator waited until the very day our last house guests departed and then promptly pooped out. Fortunately we are every bit as classy and environmentally conscious as the people we bought our house from, so when they moved out and left a perfectly good fridge in the garage, we filled it with beer and carried on the proud tradition.

It was kind of a drag to shuttle everything down to the garage, but it was a lot less of a drag than throwing everything out would have been. And, let's be honest, the fridge was way overdue for a good cleaning out anyways. Thanks to the magic of the internets, Shaun was able to diagnose the problem and order the necessary part and make the repairs. I couldn't believe how much my willingness to go get a snack dropped just by virtue of having the fridge on a different floor than the kitchen. Probably should have left the food there.

-One of my "intentions" (hate to use that word "resolution") for this year was to get my sleep back on track. So far I've failed miserably. But boy howdy was I well-rewarded on one rare morning when I did manage to drag myself out of bed for the sunrise.

-On a less "rainbows and unicorns" note, the boys are now armed. Nels has a cap gun, and Willem has his dad's old air rifle. THEY LOVE GUNS.

-The other day I made this barley stew with leeks, mushrooms, and greens, though I figured the kids wouldn't care for it much. Willem didn't. But Nels said, "it's OK with me" and then shoveled the whole thing down in record time. I was exultant. Sweet, sweet, unexpected victory. I think the secret to my success was that I used too much chicken broth base and the end result was extra salty.

-I've been reading The Brothers K at the suggestion of my friend Dave Shackelford, who is always good for a book recommendation. I liked it enough that it became part of my staying-up-too-late problem. But I did have a hard time getting into it, mostly because it's set in Camas. In our teeny tiny little town of Camas. Have you ever read an epic novel that is set in an out-of-the-way place that you know all about? I never had. I found out that it's very distracting. I kept trying to figure out where everything was taking place, because I knew exactly where a lot of the action was happening. Eventually the book went to other places and the plot and characters took center stage and I was able to get past it. Very strange experience, though.

-Well, that ought to do us. I'll leave you with a picture of Willem in his fine-wale cords. Every time I see this I just want to hug him.