Lots of photos

Saben has his own webpage with every "shared" photo album I've created since he was born. If you want to check it out, go here. The password is Saben's middle name capitalized. If you don't know his middle name, just email me and ask!

Kokanee Crankworx Festival

We just came from Whistler where mountain bikers from around the world dazzled us with their front flips, table tops, double x-ups, bar spins, and hokey dokey smacks. It was a blast.

The best part was meeting new friends and getting to know some people I'd already met a little better. The worst part was being stuck in the hotel with Saben when he went to bed at 8pm while everyone else went out and had fun. Not that I can really complain, Kyle stayed home one of the nights while I went out & one night everyone came to the apartment just so I would get to hang out & not be there alone. So I only stayed home one night, but man, that made me sad. I think this sort of thing is the only times I'm ever truly frustrated by the limitations of having a child. Which is a good thing, it means I've adjusted pretty well. But I hate missing a fun night on the town. Actually, I had a good talk with Kelley that night, so I wasn't even alone. Why was I complaining again?

And Cam saw a bear! Right outside our hotel room! It was crazy, he was eating berries off a bush! But I missed it. I did get to see the big pile of poop he left on the walkway though. That the bear left, not Cam. (Cam is the transition bikes sales guy. He's single and nice. He catches lots of dungeness crab for us to eat. Let me know if you want his number. His photo is on the T-bikes homepage.)

Saben's newest word is "eck" which means "yuck". He learned this word because when he has a poopy diaper, I say "yuck!" He even scrunches up his nose like me when he says it. However, as Saben ran around our backyard naked this afternoon, I realized that he was looking down at his penis each time he said "ack". He'd lean over, look at it, give it a poke, then look at me with his nose wrinkled up and vehemently declare "eck!" He thinks "eck!" is the word for his penis. So at the ripe age of 16 months, I have already given my son a complex about his private parts. Way to go mom. On the other hand, I can't help but wonder how long I can get him to keep calling it that cause its so funny.

Speaking of nudity and body issues, for those moms who haven't seen it yet, there is this amazing new site called "Shape of a Mother" Don't click on that link unless you're ready to see the bodies of moms, stretch marks, boobies, bellies and all that goes with birthing a child. The creator of the site writes this about it:

"It occurred to me that a post-pregnancy body is one of this society's greatest secrets; all we see of the female body is that which is airbrushed and perfect, and if we look any different, we hide it from the light of day in fear of being seen. ...It is my dream, then, to create this website where women of all ages, shapes, sizes and nationalities can share images of their bodies so it will no longer be secret. So we can finally see what women really look like sans airbrushes and plastic surgery. "

Happy Sunny Beach Weekend

Here's a hint, don't bother trying to go camping at Deception Pass in July unless you have a reservation by May. But its a nice place to visit for the day. Until you get home and can't find your keys because your son insists on playing with them every place you go.

Movie Recommendation

I rarely recommend movies, but I really enjoyed the Fastest Indian. It looked kind of boring in the store, but its based on a true story about this old guy from New Zealand who's dream is to race his custom 50 year old motorcycle on the Bonneville Salt Flats in a speed trial. I just love movies about inspirational characters. Why are so many movies about evil people? Why are really good people so boring? Imagine if every week you watched a movie & were inspired to be like the person in the movie because they had such amazing character. I think that only happens to me like once a year.

Sweating for crabs

Friday, I was preparing desserts in my hot kitchen to contribute to this feast:


It was crab heaven. Heaven I tell you. 17 fresh dungeness crabs caught hours before, for about 12 people to eat. That's a lot of crab and it was perfect, despite a hot steamy kitchen filled with crab boilin pots. My favorite things about bellingham have expanded now.

1. Cheap avacados
2. Friends who go crabbing & stuff me full of crab

whoopsy

First off, thanks for all your nice comments last week! Unfortunately, I received a ton of comment spam early last week and in an attempt to end it I changed some setting that made it so I had to approve all comments before they show up. But I didn't know that. So you've all been approved & everything should be showing up now!

The lunacy has ended, the pies are baked, the peanut butter balls are dipped & in the freezer. Hooray for summer, wet swimsuits & cool houses (except for the kitchen.)

I once had this boss that spent several months trying to convince everyone that the punctuation in the above sentence's parenthesis was the correct way to do it. We kept telling her it was wrong, but she swore up and down that the period goes inside the parenthesis. We finally convinced her, but it took a lot of documentation because she considered herself an "expert" at grammar and always did the final edits on our newsletter because she was so "good" at it. ha! Funny the memories a little punctuation can bring back.

Actually I was just remembering how dang hot that office used to get with no air conditioning and how happy I am to not be commuting in a bus or non-airconditioned car. Sorry NEDA ladies, I miss you, but not the oven we used to work in, you must be miserable right now.

I'm so hot

Why yes, it is 90 degrees outside and yes, I am inside BAKING a pie and making peanut butter balls.

Children's books

If you ever need really great gift ideas for kids, check out my sister-in-law's excellent book review website. She has been working in the children's section of bookstores for 7 years & Saben has loved all the books she has picked for him. (especially "busy doggies", "peek-a-who" and "I kissed the baby") She has it organized by age, topic, etc, so its easy to find what you are looking for.

Pasta Bella

Pasta Bella is the answer. For everything. And it is where Kyle and I met. The pictures are of the Queen Anne restaurant where I used to work. The brief story for those of you who haven't heard it 200 times, is that kyle came in and started hitting on his waitress.

Ok, the slightly longer version is that he was sitting at my table. He was out with his friend's family (sister, Dad & Dad's girlfriend) although his friend wasn't actually there. This guy, John, the Dad of his friend, is a real crack-up. He likes to set strangers up on dates. No joke. They had just gone to the home show and John had tried to set up everyone, just to entertain himself. So I'm waitressing and John goes "you look like a nice girl, do you have a boyfriend?" And of course I'm trying to earn a tip so I just laugh and tell him I don't right now. So he starts brainstorming everyone who he can set me up with. Meanwhile, Kyle is sitting there just laughing. I leave to get their food and Kyle goes to John "What about me John, I'm single". So I come back and John starts in "This is Kyle here and he just told me he's actually single. So let me tell you about him.... He just graduated from western with a business degree...blah blah blah. " Long story short, I gave them my number because I thought it was all a joke and also because during the conversation I managed to find out Kyle & I went to the same church.

We saw eachother at church Sunday & I went up to talk to him, then he called me Tuesday, we went to dinner at the twin tepees on Thursday (even though I'd already eaten. I lied and said I hadn't) and that was it. I don't think I'd ever dated a total stranger before, so that part was strange for me, but it just felt so right from day one, like we'd been together for ever. And then we fell madly in love and lived happily ever after.

The crazy part is that neither of us were supposed to be there that night. I had tried desperately to go home early so I could go to this missionary information meeting at SPU and was in a funk because this jerky lady made me stay. (ask me sometime about how God seems to "screw up" all my plans to go be a missionary. If I want something like say, a husband or kids, all I have to do is go "God, if I don't get a husband I'm going to go be a missionary."... and he's like "No! Stay, here's a guy for you!") Kyle had gone to the melting pot originally but the line was too long, so they ended up at Pasta Bella. And it was pretty random he was even out with this family anyways, they just called him on a whim.

So that's the story! Next time you're in Seattle you should try Pasta Bella, their food is usually fantastic. Just ask me & I'll tell you what to order. (they have a Ballard store too, which used to have more consistent food. But the queen anne store has a balcony which is nice during the summer)

Inspirational Quote of the Day

"If I could somehow manage to mobilize about 200 agressive two year olds, I could conquer the world"
-Bill Cosby

I don't know if that's the EXACT quote, but it goes something like that.

When Kari met Kyle

I am copying a friend's idea and I'm having a contest to see who can figure out where Kyle & I met. Friends & family who already know the answer, please don't tell, but otherwise, the first one to guess gets a jar of homemade strawberry jam (what black flecks of pot gunk? I don't see any in there!) Unless you live far away, cause I'm not mailing no jam across the country.

Amazingly, I found this picture (below) that was taken from the EXACT seat Kyle was sitting in when we met six years ago, February. The entire room is pictured above.

How to clean a pot

Have you ever burned something in a pot and then had black gunk inside that you just can't get rid of? Yes, you have soaked it, scrubbed it, put it through the dishwasher. But its still there. I have discovered the secret to getting rid of it! Read on for my foolproof method.

1. On a bright sunny...er... sweltering summer day, go down to your local u-pick berry farm & pick about 11 pounds of perfectly ripe, juicy strawberries while your son alternately screams or is distracted by coating himself head to toe in berry juice & dirt. Pray he doesn't vomit on the way home from eating about a pound of dirty strawberries.

3. Congratulate yourself for only paying $1 a pound for the berries. Remember that berries at Haggen are only $1.50 a pound this week. So you saved.... $5.50 And it took you 2 hours of misery...er....work to save $5.50 Congratulate yourself that your berries are at the peak of ripeness, bursting with strawberry goodness, unlike those californian berries at Haggens.

4. Bring berries home & spend an hour or two washing, hulling & freezing them. Be sure to leave a few in a bag on your counter overnight so that they can stain your countertop.

5. On a rainy day, pull some berries out of the freezer to make jam. Read the Sure Jell instructions carefully and decide you'll go through the whole boiling the jars for hours process so that you don't accidentally poison your family.

5. Crush the berries in a saucepan and procede to make jam. Now, here is the miraculous part! As your succulent, bursting with goodness berries reach a full boil, you will notice that the black gunk has started to come off your pot! It is now floating in your bubbling berries!

6. Shrug your shoulders & finish with the jam already. Sit back on the couch and listen to the rain and the satisfying popping of the lids as they seal up your hard work & pot gunk, all neatly encased in Strawberry Jam. (will keep for one year if stored properly)

Keymaster

Saben doesn't just like keys, he is obsessed with them. He could easily spend an hour putting keys into keyholes. I need to find some way to channel that energy with a toy that I don't have to keep an eye on all the time. But I think if it was a plastic dohicky going into a plastic hole, he wouldn't find it quite as exciting. Any ideas? I thought of padlocks, but our floors dent easily so I don't want him running around with a heavy padlock to drop on the floor.

Educatin myself

I think I am going to try and read every book on The Image top 100 books of the century list. I at least ordered the second one on the list, the first one, Auden's poetry, intimidated me & I couldn't find a cheap copy. Maybe I'll skip around. Maybe they'll be too deep & dry for me to enjoy & I'll quit. Maybe it will take me 30 years. We'll see! Let me know if you want to join in on the fun, or if you want to loan me a book on the list, or if you have read any of them & have recommendations. I think I have read three on the list so far. Anne Lamott, John Irving & Tolkien. B, I'll expect you to help me with Wendall Berry & Annie Dillard, those two are right at the beginning of the list. : )

I can't decide if I want to own them all though. It'd be a fun collection to have, but at 10 bucks or so a pop, that's $1000. (nice job on the math kari) Phew.

I'll let you know how my first one, The Diary of a Country Priest, by George Bernanos works out.

Puzzles

This week, Saben understands me. It is so crazy. It started with me randomly saying "If you don't quit it NOW, I am going to put you in your crib." And he actually stopped screaming & wriggling for a few seconds while I was changing his diaper. And it worked again a few minutes later. Then I told him it was time for bed and he shook his head and said "uh-uh". Just now he was trying to shut a door & I told him to move the ball out of the way and he actually did just that. It is so crazy. He knows so much more than I thought.

The other interesting thing is puzzles. Saben can not get the stupid dog puzzle piece into the matching dog shaped hole for the life of him. But he can get keys into car ignitions. If you let him outside with a key he heads right for the car & tries to get it into the door lock too, with a little bit less sucess. He can also snap those plastic buckles on high chairs shut. I guess puzzles must stump him because his creative energy is too high. He always tries to put the dog into the cat shaped hole. Or turns the dog upside down & tries to fit it. My son, the rebel.

Cherries & Cheerios

Translators have been hard at work this week trying to figure out why Saben says tits all the time. Official translation: Cherries or Cheerios

You may notice that both words sound similar. However, the rational behind choosing "Tits" to represent them is still a mystery to scientists working on the project. It does make for some fun times when your son starts energetically exclaiming "tits! tits!" in the supermarket when you choose some nice Raniers out for his afternoon snack. Since he can still see them in your cart, he insistently keeps asking for them throughout the store.

Politics

This sums up perfectly how I feel about politics. Thanks Richard.

Happy 4th of July

We had a really fun fourth... went to a friend's for yummy breakfast, went hiking (in the sun!) and had a BBQ with a bunch of new Bellingham friends. The best part was that we have a PERFECT view of the city "Haggens" firework display from our living room window/front yard. About 15 people from the neighborhood gathered on the sidewalk in front of our house to watch. Our neighborhood was literally booming, I have never heard/seen so many private fireworks going off at once, ever. Saben woke up at 9:30pm from all the noise, which was sort of fun because he loved the fireworks, and then again at 11:30 when our neighbors were JUST STARTING their hundreds of dollars worth of fireworks right outside his bedroom window. I have also never been in a neighborhood where people are lighting fireworks until after midnite. I was trying to be patient, I really was, but when Saben is screaming at 12:30 pm because he is so exhausted, it gets pretty tough. Thankfully, we all survived.