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Fall Fun

We had a busy but very typically fall weekend around here. Saturday Julie finally got her chance to participate in the Halloween window-painting contest. She'd been watching Pete and Steph do it for years and finally was old enough. Here's her entry:

 

(And if you guessed that those are zombie hands and not bushes, you win!)

It was blustery cold standing around watching her paint! Later she had a soccer game, and it was even chillier. Andy took Pete to his game, and Pete scored two goals! Andy said he'd never seen him play better.

Last night Andy and I actually went out for a drink and a bite to eat, leaving the kids home! We were gone just over an hour, and it felt great!

Tonight was Halloween, and the big news was that the kids all went out trick-or-treating without us! Steph and her friend went by themselves, Pete went with six of his buddies, and Julie went with a whole gang of kids and grownups. So Andy and I stayed home and gave out candy. Andy freaked out all the trick-or-treaters with his Halloween contact lenses:

Creepy!

It only shows how distracted I have been lately that I neglected to take a photo of the kids in their Halloween costumes. Steph wore my pajamas and robe, Pete wore a scary mask with a hooded sweatshirt, and Julie was an adorable hippie/flower child.

I have eaten enough fun-size Twix bars to last me a good long time, so I'm going to bed. Can't believe tomorrow is November already.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
2. You're in My System - Robert Palmer  
3. My Oklahoma Home (live) - Bruce Springsteen With The Sessions Band 
4. The Mountain - Levon Helm
5. Wimoweh - Nanci Griffith
6. Love Keep Us Together (live) - Martin Sexton 
7. Rich Man's World - Eilen Jewell 
8. Down The Old Plank Road - The Chieftains, John Hiatt, Bela Fleck, Jeff White, Tim O'Brien
9. Can't Get Used To Losing You - English Beat
10. Boxes - Sam Baker   

New President of the Avett Brothers Fan Club

I became a big fan of the Avett Brothers pretty much the first time I heard them. I love the songs (both musically and lyrically), but mainly there's just no denying the magical something that many singing siblings bring to their music. Scott and Seth Avett have almost the same voice—with "almost" and "same" being the keys here. Occasionally I can't quite tell which brother is singing (unless I'm watching a video, of course), and for that same reason their harmonies are exquisite. Furthermore, their timing and musical sensibilities and give-and-take are the sort of thing that only siblings can accomplish. Yeah, they're that good.

Their latest CD, "Live, Volume 3," is so amazing that I've become a wee bit addicted to it. Indeed, tomorrow I'm heading out to score the DVD of the same concert. Some of the tracks are available on the Avett Brothers' YouTube channel, and I watch them all every single night before bed. Really. Let me share some of them with you.

If you think maybe you've heard an Avett Brothers song, "I and Love and You" is probably the one. As far as I'm concerned, it's a perfectly wrought song. Here's Scott on vocals, and Seth on piano and vocals:

How about "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promises," which features Scott on piano this time, and Seth on guitar. My favorite line is "Decide what to be and go be it."

Like things a little more rollicking? Try "Talk on Indolence," with Seth again on guitar and Scott on banjo. If it's a little too fast for you, just hang in there—the slow part in the middle and again at the end is gorgeous (and Seth's crooning at the very end is worth the price of admission alone). Beyond that, how can you not love a song with these lyrics: "I'm a little nervous about what you'll think when you see me in my swimming trunks...."

Finally, here's "Kick Drum Heart," with Seth on piano and Scott on drums. Andy said that Scott reminds him an awful lot of a young Levon Helm from the early years of the Band, and I have to agree.

I own another live CD from these guys, and I used to wonder about all the screaming. Now that I can see them doing their thing, I get it. And I'm kicking myself, because they performed here in Boston a few weeks ago and I didn't know about it. They obviously put on an amazing show from start to finish.

Disc-oh!

One of the "big things going on" that I alluded to the other day was an injury Andy had that required him to have surgery at the Beth Israel Spine Center this morning. He somehow ruptured a disc (L5-S1 for those playing along at home), and an MRI revealed that a big piece of it had broken off. This caused him to lose all sensation and function in his left foot and lower leg, because the free-floating piece was compressing the nerve that leads to all that stuff. It was like he was walking around on a peg leg. The doctor explained that sometimes a free-floating piece can be resorbed into the body, but he was concerned about Andy's weakness and numbness—apparently if you wait too long, the nerve fails to ever get going again. Andy heard that and quickly agreed to surgery.

So today he had a microdiscectomy under general anesthesia. They made an incision, cut through the vertebra, and removed the offending piece. The surgeon told me that it was a "sizable" piece, and he wasn't surprised about Andy's symptoms when he saw it.

And now he's home—outpatient spine surgery! It may be days or even a week or more before he gets feeling and muscle control back in that leg. For now he's in a valium- and oxycodone-induced fog, which is fine with me because then I don't have to worry about him overdoing it. He's not supposed to twist, lift, bend, or strain at all.

[Update 2/10/12: This post seems to be attracting the spambots in droves, so I'm closing off comments. Please feel free to email me if you have something non-spammy to share!]

Before and After

As you may have noticed, Pete is fond of long hair:

Moi, I prefer it short, but in my book that is not a worthwhile battle to fight. It's his hair, let him be the boss of it. I'll save my arguments for things that really matter.

So it was not without a certain delight that I honored Pete's request to be taken to SuperCuts today for a buzz cut! He had been noticing that his hair was really getting in the way in soccer, and somehow he decided that "a trim" was not going to do the trick. Voilà:

He looks about 3 years older all of a sudden! He's trying to get a modified mohawk going in the front, but we'll see how long the appeal of the hair gel lasts.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. If You Were Only Here Tonight - Los Lobos
2. South Nashville Blues - Steve Earle
3. The Man I Keep Hid -  Joe Henry
4. Well Alright - Los Lonely Boys
5. So Damn Happy (live) - Loudon Wainwright III
6. House Where Nobody Lives - Tom Waits  
7. I Felt The Chill Before The Winter Came - Elvis Costello
8. Almost Blue - Diana Krall
9. San Francisco Bay Blues - Tom Rush  
10. Whiskey Bottle - Uncle Tupelo   

More Miscellany, Sigh

I apologize for all the days of lame-o blogging, or no blogging lately. There's a lot going on around here, and I hope to be back to my usual schedule when things settle down. In the meantime:

1. I wish my car had one of these too!

2. You know I love shopping at RueLaLa, and if you join before October 25, you'll get a $20 credit that you can use on any purchase before December 31! Joining is free; if you don't see anything you like (ha!), no biggie. I've gotten Keen sneakers, Naot sandals, a Spanx ... um ... item, a Calvin Klein coat, a Juicy Couture hoodie for Steph, and much more. Here's my invitation link. Happy shopping!

3. Lately on Twitter I've been remarking on interesting word-related things:

• I think CRAMPON and TAMPON should switch meanings.
• I like the parallelism of DON and DOFF, as though the D means "article of clothing goes..."
• It's weird that CAREGIVER and CARETAKER mean pretty much the same thing.
• I recently played FUCK in Scrabble, next to which my opponent played TWAT. What a country!

4. Speaking of words, as you are no doubt aware, I am a bit of a usage and syntax pedant (hey, it's my job!), so I got a huge bang out of this piece by Stephen Fry. Please go watch it, whether you're a wordie or not—it's delightful. (Update: Link is fixed!)

5. Here's how frazzled I've been recently: I didn't notice that the cashier at the supermarket last week accidentally rang up my 3 cases of seltzer as 33 cases! At $3/case, that was an extra $90, plus an extra $18 for deposits on the cans. How could I not notice? Well, I'm ashamed to admit that I generally don't even look at the amount when I sign the VISA receipt (and yes, I've learned my lesson). Today when I was matching up receipts to my VISA bill, I thought to myself, "Gee, I don't recall ever spending $240 at the supermarket!" It's a lucky thing it wasn't a bill for about $100 or even $120, because that's well within the range for a "big shop," and I likely wouldn't have even stopped to look at it.

Stuff I've Been Tweeting About

1. There aren't that many people among my readership who will get this, but those who do will get a laugh: Gangsta Lorem Ipsum

2.What if your band's instruments were stolen? Just pull out your iPhones! This is the kind of story that makes me wish I lived in NYC; then I read some of the grouchy-pants comments and am glad I don't.

3. When did you choose to be straight? I love the non-confrontational approach of this video, and the thoughtful responses.

4. Fie on Nancy for showing me this monster-sized real-time Scrabble game! As my score increases, my productivity at work simultaneously plummets.... (Note that you have to build off of your own words, so choose your starting point carefully.)

Our School Needs

Last June I told you about Bing's "Teacher Appreciation" initiative, and now I'm here to talk about their "Our School Needs" contest. As any parent can tell you, gone are the days when every public-school classroom was fully equipped on the first day of school. Parents are asked to contribute everything from markers and glue-sticks to tissues and antibacterial wipes, and the teachers still end up buying more classroom supplies out of their own pocketbooks. Our elementary school is in a relatively affluent area, and yet every year the families and teachers are asked to contribute more and more supplies. And not just crayons and playground balls—we're talking books and math activities and pencils!

Even in my school district, which has plenty of parents who are willing and able to donate supplies and time and organizational ability to help our kids get the best education possible, there are still things that "our school needs." And of course it's even worse in areas that were hit harder by the recession or by local funding cuts or by natural disaster or by demographic shifts that weren't anticipated.

Enter Bing! In their latest campaign to support kids' education, Bing wants to help teachers and students by providing them with the supplies they need. Bing has committed to give over $1 million through this contest. Students and teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the country can submit a photo, essay, or video to request what their school needs most. Watch this video to hear more about the contest, which runs until this Friday, October 22, and then click here to learn how to enter on behalf of your favorite school. Tell Bing what your school needs for a chance to win up to $100,000 to make that dream come true!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Bing and received a DonorsChoose.org giving code and gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Westchester County - Loudon Wainwright III
2. Be Still My Beating Heart - Sting
3. I'm On Fire - Johnny Cash
4. Lovin' Him Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again) - Rosanne Cash
5. Diner (live) - Martin Sexton 
6. These Are Days (live) - Natalie Merchant
7. Stagefright - The Band  
8. Through Your Hands - John Hiatt
9. Passionate Kisses - Lucinda Williams   
10. Cynical Girl (live) - Marshall Crenshaw

Julie Mae Is 9

Somehow my baby has turned 9 years old! How did this happen? Here she is taking a breath in between blowing out all the candles on the cake she helped make, frost, and decorate:

 

It was delicious as well as pretty. Here's the recipe:

Classic Yellow Birthday Cake

2¾ cups all-purpose flour
2½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
1⅓ cups whole milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and milk in three parts, mixing until just incorporated.

4. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, 35–40 minutes. Transfer the pans to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the pans to release the cakes and invert; let cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Frosting

2 1/2 sticks (10 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners' sugar
1 Tbps pure vanilla extract
1–2 Tbsp milk

In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon milk. Beat at high speed until fluffy, adding an additional 1 tablespoon milk if necessary.

Are You Ready to Shop?

I was recently asked by Boston-based CSN Stores if I'd like to host a giveaway! Um ... yes! CSN boasts more than 200 online stores, each specializing in something different—from dining room chairs to cookware to fitness equipment to baby strollers and so much more. Go take a look at this list and see if you can decide which store to shop at first!

I was given a $25 gift certificate to try out the CSN shopping experience, and so far I've got my eye on quite a few items, mostly for the kitchen (big surprise there!) but also for my office and my feet and my yard and.... Anyhow, even amid all that excitement, I remembered to ask if I could also give two of my readers the same opportunity!

So, to enter to win one of two $25 gift certificates to any CSN store, please leave a comment below telling me what you think you'd buy with it. I'll take entries until this Friday at midnight my time, and then I'll choose the two winners at random—be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you. Good luck!

Update 10/16/10: Time's up, and the winners are Michelle and Kim! Congratulations! As for me, I finally decided on some new baking pans. They were on sale—and free shipping!

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. And She Was (live) - David Byrne
2. It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go - Nanci Griffith
3. The Weight (live) - Levon Helm, John Hiatt, Radney Foster, Mark Collie
4. We've Been Had - Uncle Tupelo
5. You're Still Standin' There - Steve Earle
6. Get Down River - Bottle Rockets
7. Ramblin' Man - Cat Power
8. It's Me - k.d. lang
9. Sittin' Here Pickin' the Blues - Doc & Merle Watson
10. Such A Night - David Bromberg   

Thursday Three-fer

1. You know I hardly need more reasons to love Johnny Depp, but just in case: A 9-year-old girl in Greenwich (UK) wrote this letter to Captain Jack Sparrow: "We are a bunch of budding young pirates and we were having a bit of trouble mutiny-ing against the teachers, and we'd love if you could come and help." So what did he do? He showed up in full Captain Jack Sparrow regalia at the school! Great story here.

2. Remember when I read Infinite Jest last year? Here's a diagram of the book (with a misspelling of Kate Gompert's name, but impressive nonetheless).

3. I forgot to mention this when I reviewed Major Pettigrew's Last Stand the other night; it's an anecdote I told at our book group meeting. Growing up in Boston, I always called liquor stores "package stores." Yes, really, that's what they're called here (and also in Connecticut* and Georgia, according to Wiki). We would speak of heading to the "packy" for some beer, or making a "packy" run. Fast forward to my junior year spent in London, where I didn't realize that this was not only a regionalism, but a word that sounded an awful lot like something else. I had a British boyfriend, and I never thought twice about suggesting we stop at the "packy" for some beer and cigarettes. What I didn't realize was that it sounded exactly like I was suggesting we stop at the "Paki"—that is, the Pakistani shop on nearly every corner that sold beer, cigarettes, and so on. It finally came out one day, and he was very relieved to learn that I didn't have this one isolated bit of bigotry in me.

*Indeed, my friend Janet, who grew up in Connecticut, told me that in North Carolina she once asked for directions to a package store. She carefully followed the directions and ended up at a UPS store.

Book Review

Hey, guess what? I was invited to join a book group! This was great news, because after my old one fizzled, I just didn't have it in me to start a new one.

We met last night to discuss Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson, which we all liked very much. It's a literary romantic comedy, which is to say that it's not fluff like many novels of its kind plot-wise—it has some deeper issues and better characterizations—but is still very much a happily-ever-after love story. (I'm not giving anything away here—you'll know from the start that everything is going to work out fine, just as you would in the film version, which is sure to have already been cast.)

Major Pettigrew is a 68-year-old widower in a small English village. He is very proper and in some ways stuffy, but he has enough heart and intellectual curiosity to distinguish himself from many of his narrow-minded townspeople. As the story begins, he finds himself captivated by Mrs. Ali, the widowed Pakistani shopkeeper from whom he buys his tea. There are several plot twists involving racial boundaries, a pair of valuable shotguns, a fiasco of a country club dinner dance, a plot to turn the countryside into a "community" of high-end manor homes, and various faltering romances.

The entire novel is told from the point of view of Major Pettigrew, and he is a perfectly charming companion. He frequently recognizes his shortcomings, which is more than we can say for most of his friends and relatives, and he is a sensible and compassionate person. There really aren't any surprises in the book, but it's still very pleasant to go along for the ride in the Major's company.

My only complaint about the book is that quite a few of the minor characters (and even, to a certain extent, some of the not-so-minor characters) seemed to be drawn straight from Central Casting. We need a prissy vicar's wife! Got one. We need an appallingly boorish American businessman! Check. How about an ungrateful, shallow son? No problem. Even the Major and Mrs. Ali were in some ways caricatures, although somewhat more fleshed-in than the others. Even so, this was an enjoyable read and an interesting, Austen-esque glimpse of life in the English countryside in our own time.

I was reminded of The Help, which I reviewed here. There you also had a community of the white majority and the non-white minority, neither of which had much respect for the other on the whole. But in both cases, you had a few individuals within each community who were willing to look beyond the skin color to see the actual people. (And there was a disastrous country club dance in that one too!)

Next up: I got to pick the book for November, so I chose A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore, because I'd already started it last week.

Healthy Choices

What do you eat for lunch when you're home? Sometimes there are leftovers from the previous night's dinner, which is always a pleasant surprise to find in the fridge when I'm starting to get a little peckish. Otherwise, I have my usual go-to options, like a turkey sandwich, a grilled cheese sandwich, ravioli, or a frozen burrito.

I was pleased when Mom Central asked me to review some new lunch-sized meals from Healthy Choice's new line of steaming entrées. These innovative little frozen meals are ideal for lunch—they cook up in just a few minutes in the microwave, without the need to peel back or poke holes in the film, stir, and so on. The ingredient lists are refreshingly short and full of recognizable words. For instance, the Garlic Herb Shrimp I tried contains whole-grain pasta, zucchini, asparagus, shrimp, garlic puree, olive oil, butter, cornstarch, salt, spices, lime juice, and garlic powder. That's it. No ten-syllable chemicals here! Not surprisingly, these entrées are a "healthy choice" in other respects too: The other one I tried, Rosemary Chicken & Sweet Potatoes, had only 170 calories and 2.5 grams of fat!

As for the flavor, I liked the rosemary chicken well enough, although I think if I had it again I would probably add a bit more seasoning. As for the shrimp, it was OK but definitely not my favorite mixture of flavors. That being said, I ate all of both entrées. I hadn't chosen the entrées I tried—they were sent to me—so I'd be interested to try some of the other varieties that are more my style, like Honey Balsamic Chicken or Portabella Parmesan Risotto. Yum.

Check out the Healthy Choice Facebook page or website for more information.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central
on behalf of Healthy Choice and received samples of their new
steaming entrées to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central
also sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Weekend Retreat

Pete's home! Wait, you didn't even know he was away! This weekend was his first-ever Shabbaton, a retreat weekend for the sixth- and seventh-grade classes at Hebrew School. They traveled out to a camp in western Massachusetts and spent the weekend doing Jewish-related community-building activities. Pete had never been away from home for two nights before—when Steph did this, she had already been to sleepaway camp.

All in all, it was a success. There were some boring parts (I'm told that Friday night services went on for "several hours," which isn't even possible since they arrived after 6pm, had dinner, hung out for a bit before services, and were in bed by 10pm), but most of it was fun. They arrived in the rain, but the rest of the weekend was spectacular. Saturday was filled with all kinds of fun activites, some of which were held outdoors, like an obstacle course and various team-building games. The indoor activities mainly revolved around preparations for the evening's "Battle of the Bands" competition, which Pete said was a blast. He got to hang out with old friends and make some new ones too. The food was "surprisingly good" and he slept great—probably because they kept the kids so busy all day that they were exhausted! (Furthermore, Pete's Wednesday and Thursday night sleeps here at home were interrupted by Gracie chasing yet another mouse around his room. Who needs to experience "Wild Kingdom" being re-enacted in his bedroom? Not Pete. He took refuge with me and Andy—and I can't blame him.)

Pete wasn't nervous about going, but he was disappointed that he would miss a friend's birthday party on Friday night and a soccer game on Saturday morning. I think he would agree now that it was worth it. He got off the bus today, withstood my exuberant hugging, came home and ate lunch, then headed over to a friend's house where a bunch of pals were playing street hockey. Came home again, finished up his homework, ate dinner, and is now ready to collapse comfortably into bed. Home, sweet home.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Psycho Killer (live) - Talking Heads
2.  Can't Stop Thinking About You (live) - Martin Sexton
3. Walk Through The Bottomland - Lyle Lovett
4. Live Free Or Die (live) - Hayes Carll
5. Come On In My Kitchen - Crooked Still
6. A Father and a Son - Loudon Wainwright III
7. Still Crazy After All These Years (live) - Paul Simon
8. Doll Face - Todd Snider
9. It Makes No Difference - My Morning Jacket 
10. Oh Susanna - The Be Good Tanyas