From there to here, from here to there, Funny things are everywhere
Thank goodness for my “one year ago today I blogged about” widget, or I’d’ve missed National Grouch Day entirely. Could there be any better irony, waking up the morning after all this election nonsense to National Grouch Day?
Let’s celebrate like we did last year. Bitch and moan away, bloggy peeps. What’s pissing you off today?
This is something new: in the little suburban Ottawa community of Carp, they’re launching an all-outdoors all-the-time preschool. According to the CBC:
Children will play outside all day, rain or shine, in warm or wintry weather at Canada’s first outdoor preschool.
The Carp Ridge Forest Pre-School promises its students few comforts like plastic toys, climate control, or electric power when it opens in about two months in Ottawa’s rural western outskirts.
Instead, it boasts a garden, trails through the woods, and a tent-like shelter called a yurt, and aims to help children aged three to six connect with nature.
They’re on a 77 acre lot, and there is a building there if the temps drop below -10C (approx 10F, I think) or if there is danger from lightning. Otherwise, the kids play outdoors.
At first, I snickered and said, “No way.” Then I thought about it a bit more, and I think the idea is growing on me. I think I might lean to something a little more moderate (maybe half the time outside?) but I love the idea and am tickled that it’s happening more or less in our neighbourhood.
What do you think?
Edited to add: completely by coincidence, I was standing in line at Tim Horton’s this morning, flipping through the neighbourhood weekly, and came across a reference to the Outdoor Education Council of Ottawa. I was curious, so I looked them up on the web:
Outdoor Education Council of Ottawa (OECO) is a council of Outdoor Education providers in the Ottawa area including the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the National Capital Region YMCA-YWCA, Friends of Lasting Outdoor Education and the three Conservation Authorities serving the Ottawa area – the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, Rideau Valley Conservation Authority and the South Nation Conservation Authority. The Council was established with the over-arching goal of increasing the accessibility for students and the community to outdoor environmental education programs.
OECO Outdoor Education programs: Whether it is a program that combines First Nations’ ecological knowledge with scientific information to explain forest and watershed management, a recreation-based program focused on outdoor skills for day campers, an experiential program designed to encourage a love of nature, an in-school program aimed at making links between our lifestyles and environmental degradation or a hands-on program tied to educational learning objectives in specific subjects and grades, all the members of the Council are delivering Outdoor Education programs that provide valuable knowledge and important life experiences for the children in the region.
I had no idea. Very interesting! I see that they list the public school board as partners but not the Catholic school board. Think I might have to look further into this one!
And one further coincidence on outdoor education programs: today, Tristan’s school is having an outdoor activity day. I had completely forgotten about it! Instead of all day in the classroom with two outdoor breaks, they spend all day outdoors with two indoor breaks. And the temperature this morning? A chilly zero degrees, bang on the freezing mark!
(Sorry, this post would have been up two days ago, but I keep getting sucked into Twitter. I can either blog or play on Facebook or follow Twitter, but have yet mastered the art of staying current on all three. Laundry is also optional.)
Found a few new food faves lately, and thought I’d share.
At Marla’s recommendation (no, really, it’s worth reading, we’ll wait here until you get back), I went out this weekend and bought some “Freenut” butter. Oh, sweet peanutty goodness, was it ever delicious!! It was a little more expensive than regular peanut butter, but about the same price as the organic stuff I’ve been buying since I heard peanuts are one of the most heavily pesticided foods. Less than $5 a jar, anyway. And did I mention delicious? No, really! I was eating it right out of the jar, and it makes a superb afternoon snack when you dip freshly picked apple slices in it. (Apple picking post to follow.) It’s made from soy nuts instead of peanuts, but I honestly don’t think I could tell the difference. And it’s healthier, too. Best of all, Tristan loves it. Marla, I bow down before your awesomeness.
Speaking of soy, I tried something else new this week. Have you heard of edamame? Also, YUM! They’re baby soy beans, kind of like snow peas but you don’t eat the pod (I learned after I tried to eat the first three and did a quick google to find out whether it was supposed to have the texture of twigs as I masticated it.) Fresh and nutty, and you eat them with a sprinkle of my favourite indulgence: coarse salt. They count as a protein in my Plan B diet.
And speaking of protein, I found an interesting new way to eat tuna this week, too. I’m a fan of the occasional tuna-fish sandwich, especially very cold and mixed liberally with mayo and finely chopped onions. Since I tend to save my breads and cereals for breads for breakfast and dinner, I’ve dropped the tuna sandwich from my lunch rotation. I know tuna is a reasonably healthy protein choice, but it’s just way too fishy to eat without that slathery mayo goodness, IMHO. Then I discovered spicy Thai chili tuna from CloverLeaf. The spice covers up the fishiness, and I ate the whole can (two servings of protein, only 140 calories) and some leftover grilled peppers and zucchini (free!) for a really delicious lunch.
And speaking of Plan B, I’ve now officially lost 10 lbs in 28 days! Yay me! Half way to my goal in the first month. Not bad, eh?
It’s mid-morning, and the September sun shines cheerfully through the large window of the master bedroom. I’m sitting in a rocking chair in the soft light, dappled by the small-leafed tree in the front yard. I rock gently back and forth, one leg pulled up with heel tucked on the edge of the chair, Lucas cradled in my arms. I pull him close, tucking him under my chin, and the downy blond fuzz that is his hair tickles my cheek. He is already drowsy, and I can feel sleep seeping into him, filling him up, easing his breathing and mine into slow, deep breaths.
The house is perfectly still, blissfully silent around me. The big boys are off at school and Beloved at work. The day stretches ahead of us filled with quotidian minutiae, but for this brief moment time is suspended and it’s just Lucas and me in this cocoon of morning bliss. Blue sky, yellow fluttering sunshine, green leaves, blue sheer curtain, green grass, warm honey brown pine cradle and rocking chair. Even the cars passing by outside sound like waves crashing on the seashore.
Lucas is asleep, but I keep rocking, gently patting, breathing deeply of his dusty, milky baby smell. It’s a perfect moment in a happy life. This is the meaning of life.
We’re at the dinner table, and Granny and Papa Lou are visiting for supper. Tristan is talking to Simon about Madam I’ll-not-out-her-on-Blog, his French teacher of the past two years who will now be Simon’s French teacher.
Tristan: “Oh, you’ll love Madam. She’s so nice.”
Simon: “Yes, I can’t wait to be in Madam’s class.”
Papa Lou: “Knock, knock.”
Tristan: “Who’s there?”
Papa Lou: “Madam.”
Simon: “Madam who?”
Papa Lou: “Ma-dam foot’s caught in the door, open it up!”
Cringe (and subdued snicker) from me. Death-dagger glance at Papa Lou from Granny. Uproarious laughter from Tristan, Simon and Beloved.
And you know they’ll be bringing THAT one to school on Monday morning.
With three growing boys in the house, it was inevitable. We finally bought a deep freezer. And we totally lucked out when friends had a second-hand upright freezer to sell instead of the chest-style one I had been considering.
I already love it, but it currently contains only one pot roast waiting for that first perfect fall day (see recipe below), a loaf of bread, two bags of hot dog buns (thanks, Yvonne!) and three kinds of ice cream for Beloved and the boys. In other words, seriously underutilized.
Now is the perfect time for me to be filling the freezer both with bulk items and with make-ahead recipes. And an unexpected side effect of my new Plan B diet is that I don’t rely on prepackaged foods nearly as much as I used to. Until February, at least, I have the time and the means to be ferreting things away for when time is less leisurely.
I’ve never owned a deep freezer before, so I’m not really sure how to best make use of it. So tell me, what’s in your freezer? What can I freeze to make my own life easier? And please feel free share any make-and-freeze recipes you love!
(My no-fail Yankee Pot Roast slow cooker recipe, with next day beef sandwich left overs to die for, is tucked below the fold.) Continue reading “Food week continues: filling the freezer”
Funny how I never got around to blogging this, but did you know that I give props to green tea for not only helping me lose weight after my miscarriage in 2006, but for conceiving Lucas as well?
I started drinking a Grande green tea from Starbucks every afternoon because I was looking for something besides coffee to warm me up in the afternoons. I’d heard green tea was rich in antioxidants, and I found it pretty refreshing to sip from a 16 oz cup throughout the day. Plus, as I joked with Cait from my office at the time, I just liked to think of myself as the kind of person who enjoyed green tea.
I drank it pretty much every weekday afternoon for about three months, which happened to coincide with the three months it took me to lose 10 lbs. And at the end of May of 2007 I had to quit drinking it because I found out I was pregnant. You shouldn’t drink green tea if you’re pregnant because it interferes with the absorption of folic acid, apparently.
During the summer I was pregnant, I was looking up green tea on the internet to see if it was safe to drink at all during pregnancy (I decided it was best to just stay away) and found out that there is a positive correlation between fertility and green tea. Nice to know after the fact, anyway!
And then just last month, I heard something about green tea and weight loss, so I looked that up, too. Apparently green tea also improves your metabolism to the equivalent of burning up to 100 calories per day. Over a year, that’s a full 10 lbs of weight loss, just from green tea alone. You can get green tea extract in pill form, but I don’t know about that. I do know, though, that I’m now drinking 16 oz or so of green tea every day again, and the weight is melting off again. It counts toward my eight cups of water per day, is completely calorie free, is rich in all kinds of anti-oxident goodness, and it gives me a little caffeine boost. Even the boys have noticed that my Tim Horton’s drive-thru order has migrated from “extra large, three milks” to “extra large green tea with ice cubes, please.”
Green tea. Who knew so much goodness could live in such a simple little thing. It’s also been shown to be preventative against cancer, high cholesterol and heart disease. Speaking of which, I’m off to brew myself a cup right now!
You know how when you don’t have kids, and especially if you go through a period when you’re not sure that it will ever happen, you have these images in your head of what life with your kids will be like? There are just some things that I always knew I would do with my kids, like bring them to the beach and to the library… things I remember from my own childhood. Having a game of catch late on a sunny Saturday afternoon is another big one for me.
And this one… been waiting a long time for this one. Our first family Monopoly game, Star Wars edition.
I think Lucas is winning.
Beloved is a teacher at a CEGEP, and enjoys each summer off from mid-May through mid-August. When I was pregnant, and in the early days after Lucas was born, I’d joke about Beloved and I both being home all summer. “If we survive three months with all five of us trapped in the house, we’ll survive anything!” I’d say, with an I’m-not-really-kidding kind of undertone in my voice. I mean, I love him dearly, but when you’re used to spending 40 hours of every week away from someone, to have them under your feet 24/7 can be a little, um, unsettling. And I’d had just enough time at home by the time his semester ended to develop my own domestic routines and peccadilloes.
Today marks the first day that he’s back at work, and I’m rather bereft without him. (In which “bereft” is defined as “What do you mean you’re leaving me alone all day with ALL these children? Oh no you i’nt!”) Aside from having an extra pair of hands around to hold the baby or keep the other two from bickering each other to death, I’m almost surprised to find I simply miss the pleasure of his company. Didn’t see that one coming!
Beloved is back at work today, and Tristan starts Grade One in two weeks. Within the first two weeks of September, Simon will be integrated into his Junior Kindergarten class, and summer will be officially over. While part of me looks forward to a quieter day and a more regimented routine, I’m mostly sad that our family summer vacation is pretty much over. We’re quite certain that Lucas is the last baby, so there will be no more year-long maternity leaves to enjoy; after this, the next time I get the whole summer off will be in sixteen years when I (choke) retire. I’m lucky to have oodles of vacation time to burn and options like leave with income averaging that I might use in future years to take big chunks of time off in the summer, but this is the last time I’ll be off the whole summer long. (I’d whine about what a crappy summer it’s been, with the endlessly incorrect forecast and no stretches longer than two or three days without rain of some sort, but at least being home means you can make hay – or go to the park – when the sun shines.)
I remember the summer of 2004, when I was home after Simon was born. I kept thinking, “I finally have the family I’ve always wanted, I’m off all summer long with my boys…why aren’t I happier?” Massive sleep deprivation will do that to you. Lucky for all of us, Lucas is a much better sleeper, and this has been the summer I dreamed of then. But where did it go? It can’t be over already, we just got started!
Ironically, today is just the kind of summer day I love best, but that has been sorely lacking this year: warm and clear, the air soft and heavy with the promise of a hot, sticky day. There will be other summers, even other great summers, but there will never be a summer quite like this one.
I’ve been thinking about my greatest summer hits. In chronological order, I think these are the best five summers of my life.
1987. I’m seventeen years old. I’m working part time selling magazine subscriptions by telephone, but my hours are 5 to 9 pm, so my days are free. My folks have a little 16 foot motorboat, and many days are spent with my dad or my whole family, puttering about on the Thames River or Lake Huron. I have a boyfriend, but he lives in Sudbury, so I’m free without feeling lonely. My mother buys a brand new blue Mustang, coincidentally on my 17th birthday, and is willing to share it with me.
1995. I’m twenty-four years old, and divorced a little less than two years. I’ve just met Beloved a few months before. With a small inheritance courtesy of my grandfather, I spend four weeks backpacking through Europe by myself. I am by equal measures terrified and amazingly proud of myself to be travelling alone. I come home knowing that Beloved is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.
1999. I’m twenty-eight years old. I have just graduated magna cum laude from university after five years of part-time study. Beloved and I get married and spend a week in Paris as our honeymoon. We move from our tiny, crowded but adorably bo-ho attic apartment to a townhouse, and the week we move in we also get Katie, the doggy love of my life.
2007. I find out I’m pregnant at the end of May, starting the summer on a high note after a long year of frustrating low notes. We go to Bar Harbor, Bayfield, and Smuggler’s Notch by the end of the summer. The boys are finally old enough that I can play with them and relate to them as real people, and we have a blast as a family all summer long.
2008. Our family is complete with the arrival of Lucas. We travel to Windsor, and plan to travel to Lake Placid with our extended family. We hope to visit northern cottage country as well. The days are long and unstructured, and it is very, very good. I’m off work but still getting paid, spending time with the four men who make me happiest. While I feared spending the whole summer with all five of us in the house together might have ended up with at least one of us dead and buried in the back yard, so far it’s been great.
(As I was writing the title to this post, it occurs to me that it’s a double entendre. I was thinking about my greatest summers thus far, but I’m also smack in the golden sunshiny summer of my life, aren’t I? Blue skies and sunny days, my friends.)
What have been the best summers of your life?