list of lists i need to make

right now, these are the lists i need to make:

1. ways of torturing husband.
2. ways of causing bodily harm to husband.
3. ways of not getting caught for causing bodily harm to husband.
4. ways of having the willpower to keep phone turned off so husband cannot call me.
5. ways of causing pain to husband but not killing him, so he suffers. a lot.

you get the general theme.

i am so pissed.

we booked the end of next week to take the oslo ferry up to my job, which is, as we know, in oslo. thursday is the family summer party at DNV and i signed us up--me, sabin and husband. so i booked us to take the oslo ferry at 5 p.m. on wednesday, returning at 9 a.m saturday morning. this will give husband the opportunity to meet my colleagues and see my workplace and talk to the guy who hired me about a job opportunity that's listed on the DNV website.

so, husband talks to his boss, who tells him that because of the handover to Post DK, it's best if he doesn't go.

add in that thursday is a holiday in denmark. so, it's arguably ONE day off.

add in that said boss has promised husband NOTHING as far as a job is concerned when this whole outsourcing, which he has handled in what can only be characterized as an exemplary fashion, is over.

so, who does husband choose? wife who offers great opportunity for new job? or boss who says, "eeehh, i don't think it's a very good idea" but promises NADA?

hence the list above.

List of Lists

I'm feeling the urge to make a whole buncha lists. I thought I'd make a list of the lists I need to make, just so I don't forget.

1 - List of items for one night camping trip this weekend
2 - List of possible campgrounds for one night camping excursion
3 - List of locally available, seasonal foods and locations to search for such foods
4 - List of chapter books to read to the boys
5 - List of lunches to prepare next week
6 - List of ideas for Owen's upcoming birthday (party, gifts, etc.)
7 - List of possible cameras to replace recently broken Nikon
8 - List of fresh, new summertime music to listen to
9 - List of places I'd like to visit this summer

What are the lists you need to make?

stuffed bread

stuffed bread

1 pkg. yeast
1 T honey
1 C warm water
1 glug (T+) olive oil

Mix together and let it stand for 5 minutes until the yeast starts to bubble up a bit.

Add:

2+ C organic flour (italian tipo 00 is best for bread)
1 tsp. salt
I say 2+ cups of flour, because you have to add enough so that it's dough consistency and this can vary by the barometric pressure/humidity of the day. Sometimes it takes less than 2C and sometimes nearly 3, I don't know why, but it's a fact.

Let it rise 'til it triples in size. Turn it out on the countertop and knead it a bit, then roll it into a loaf as if you were going to make a baguette, then use a rolling pin to flatten and stretch it 'til it's about 2' long and 8+" wide. then arrange the toppings in the middle, leaving enough dough on both sides so you can close it around the fillings and crimp the edges together.

filling:

5-6 slices parma ham
3-4 medium chorizo sausages, separated into bit-size bits (buy the soft kind that you can take out of their skin, not the hard kind) (any other sausage will work as well--just so it's a kind you can take out of its skin and it's soft and you can pull it apart into little bite-sized pieces)
½ jar of grilled artichokes in oil
1+ C grated prima donna (or other salty) cheese
1+ C grated organic maasdamer cheese
3 eggs--these i placed evenly along the toppings, then smashed them and spread them across, it also helped seal the edges of the bread.

close the bread by bringing the edges together and rolling it shut. it usually ends up a horseshoe shape because it's too big to fit in the oven otherwise--your oven being bigger, you may be able to just leave it long. sabin grated a bunch of extra cheese because she thought it was fun and i sprinkled that on top. that was delicious!

bake 30-ish minutes at 350°F/175°C or until it looks golden and done.

we ate this for dinner, piping hot out of the oven. served with a yummy salad, it's a perfect meal in itself.

you can substitute other cheeses--i'd just advise using 2 kinds because it tastes more interesting that way. you can also use bacon rather than parma ham. and any other kind of sausage. it's really up to you how you want to stuff it. i've made this many times with many different fillings, but this is probably the best one i've ever made.

enjoy!

When they mimic every single word you're saying...

Just start talking about yourself in third person.

Like this!

"Mommy, I think you're the most wonderful and beautiful and fabulous and creative and fun Mom in the whole world!"

That'll make it stop.

it always comes back to me

originally posted this one over on MPC, but realized it goes better here:

yesterday it was a typical crowded monday in netto, the local discount grocery store (in case you forgot). at one point, while i was examining the bright, cheerful kitchen towels in the spotvarer section, i squeezed close to the shelf to let an older woman by. she said, in english, "thank you."

for a good five minutes afterwards, i thought, "how did she know i was english-speaking? do i have an especially english-speaking look about me today? what is it that made her know i was english-speaking? am i dressed differently? is it my hair? or my seven for all mankind jeans?"

then i got to the cash register and she was at one of the other registers and i heard her say, "thank you" again. then and only then, it hit me. SHE was english-speaking!

maybe not everything in life is about me.

Springtime Dos and Don'ts

DO sit in the sunshine and write in your journal and read shel silverstein poetry to the child.

DO cut the child's toenails a bit more often.

DON'T allow her to appear in public with them like this.

DON'T wear out the child so thoroughly that she falls asleep over her banana split at aspendos on a friday night.

DO think safety first.

Husband, THIS MEANS YOU!!

DO take the child out for posh ice cream served on a block of ice on a sunday afternoon while husband saws into concrete under the stairs with an angle grinder and dusts up the entire house beyond recognition.

One lonely mushroom

We went out behind our place tonight in search of just this. Perhaps tomorrow we'll find his brother and sister mushrooms.

daily dysfunction

hmm, i'm afraid i could make a list of ways in which i'm not going to win any world's best mom awards anytime soon:

1. left child for ten days and went to singapore and manila on business (gleefully enjoyed myself).
2. left child home alone with Far, who left her home alone one day while she was sick and he had to go to a meeting. to be fair, she wasn't really that sick.
3. assuage guilt when coming home by showering child in avalanche of new clothes.
4. give child chocolate in her lunch "packse" because of lack of carrots, cucumber or tomatoes in the house (lack of which represents bad parenting by Far, who is crazy busy).
5. allowed child to wear thongs to school when it might not be quite warm enough for that.
6. taking child out of school 3 days next week to go to germany on mini-vacation.
7. buying child clothing called "miss whatever" might not promote good attitude in child.

that's enough for now, tho' i am sure there are many other things.

Daily Affirmations

The things I've done that prove I'm a good Mom:
* Made the chicken pasta dish that needs to start with a baked chicken. (Per Finn's never ending requests)

* Kept Finn with me while editing a buncha audio for folks in Manila (played with train with my toe while working)

* Made yet another batch of organic whole milk yogurt. Only this time, I added gelatin so it's not "drinkable" yogurt. Brilliant!

* While stealing some blooming lilacs from the front yard of someone I didn't know, I pointed out to Finn in the back seat that nobody was home and these trees were far from the house.

* TWO installments on homework done in one night (not because of looming due date, rather because it felt so good to get it out of the way... didn't it OWEN?)

* Finally got oil changed in car (why does this make me a good mother? I'm not sure, but it felt good to cross something off my list of things to do.)

* Agreed to pack school lunches and go along as "parent helper" on field trip to Bever Park tomorrow with Owen's kindergarten class.

* Set up big-time bike riding equipment for this summer... a real bike with gears for Owen and a trailer bike for Finn to ride and pedal behind me.

* Answered 5007 "Why to the construction workers do it that way?" questions in spite of not really knowing much about the jobs construction workers.

* Forced Owen to eat carrots and "grape" tomatoes when he cried about his state of near-starvation last night 20 minutes before supper.

* Stopped blog entry short when whining to play with me became too much to bear.

NOW i get it!

can i just say that i now understand that line fergie sings in humps..."seven jeans, new religion..." seven for all mankind jeans rock.

lomography

just saw this lomography exhibit out at serendra. it's huge here! and although you supposedly don't need a special camera, you need a special camera if you want to do the fisheye stuff. we so gotta try this. the colors are so cool. and i have expired film at home, i'm sure i do. wish i'd bought some cool old soviet cameras in russia 14 years ago!

things you didn't know you needed...

...until you saw them:

a neoprene bag for holding your traveling cord hell. i actually DID know i needed one of these, i just didn' t know it existed.

a small lego-shaped speaker to listen to the iPod in those hotel rooms that don't have docking speakers. in pink. they came in other colors too. if you want one.

seven random things - julie

before i left for halfway across the world, i read jaime's meme posting on seven random things and vowed to do it. i have been wondering which seven random things to write, but have landed upon these:

1. i have the absolutely worst queue karma in the world. no matter what. if you should ever come up behind me to wait in line, run like the wind, even if the other lines are twice the length, go get in them. you will not regret it.
2. i steal airline spoons. but only if i don't already have them or they have a new design.
3. i have lived for seven years without a bathtub. (don't worry, we do have a shower.) (and thankfully, it's not for much longer, as we're redoing the bathroom.)
4. when i sing patsy cline's crazy, patsy possesses me.
5. i love iPods and have 6 of them (each with their own purpose).
6. although i try to pretend i'm not, i'm still gleefully pleased when i fly business class.
7. i love being gold on an airline, but i'm a little disappointed if it's too easy. for example, it took only two flights to go gold on KLM. granted, it was two flights to manila, but still. last year i requalified for gold status on SAS in under a month.

now it's your turn, sis. bear in mind, it's seven random things about YOU.

spring at coach

stimulating the economy

ok, i have shopper's high. and that's why i'm up again at 12:35 a.m. (tho' this post will show as earlier than that since i started it awhile ago before i decided i had to try to pack all of the goodies i bought into my one, lone, woefully oh-so-small suitcase. i am SO buying a new suitcase in manila. but, that's no surprise, i do that every time i'm in manila.)

here is the main reason for the shopper's high:

i know that i had planned to buy a canon, and i looked at the canons and would even have considered myself a canon person, but yet i succumbed to the nikon. the whole experience was great and the girl was totally cool, not pushy and so helpful. the nikon simply felt right in my hand and i think 10 megapixels is enough for me. plus, now i have those extra $400 sing dollars to use on something else. like this:

or this. i can't really decide which. i received the one above for christmas and then it didn't work and i had to give it back, but the iYiYi just has such a great name. but the back of it is really ugly. however, if it's up on a shelf surrounded by books, who is going to see that? and it would look really pretty in the writing house:

these are available at the airport, so i will get one in the morning. in black, since the majority of the iPods in our house are black and we already have the white apple hifi for the white blinged-out porn pod (as maria calls it). you can never have too many places to dock your iPod.

there's just something about singapore that brings out my shopping gene. there are so many malls, perhaps my mall-dar just goes into overdrive. that and i found a gap. where i bought 3 of the softest, most wonderful t-shirts. thank goodness gap has remembered that what they DO is t-shirts. or was it sweatshirts they had forgotten. anyway, the one thing i really miss from the US (other than my family, of course), is the gap.

but, if i'm going to make that flight to manila in the morning AND have time for a little henry kloss, i gotta get some sleep.

just like me..

i was just talking to richard (the irishman in svendborg) on my norwegian phone from amsterdam on my way to manila. he said, "that's just so you."

this pleases me greatly. which is good, because this trip has otherwise sucked so far. you can read about it here...

ladies who lunch

it seems that i kinda forgot about my lunch pictures. this was yesterday's lunch eaten out at the new table in the circle in the garden. the yummy looking one with goat cheese and the herb salt in the middle was mine. mmmm. pitcher of fresh juice made of carrots, apples and oranges. very refreshing.

and this was today's. eaten at a café on langelinie, together with gisel. this one was actually sabin's and she ate nearly every single bite of it with very little help! she's such a cool kid in a restaurant.

mass production!

ya just gotta grab the creativity when it's there.

these look like you to me. there's a little bit of a sparkle.

these might also be up your alley.

these were the first ones i made for you yesterday.

another shot in the sunshine.

i'm thinking i'll put these up and etsy and see what happens.

look what i made today

i got new earring ingredients from mimosa in new zealand and i combined them with some of my pretty little story beads from field & sea, some fish beads and some red beads i bought at the funky basement bead shop near nørreport st. and voila.....

then i got a little carried away and made a couple more pairs. these with malachite beads from an old bracelet bought years ago at a market in moscow. pictured here with the superman cow that husband got for his birthday from sabin.

here are all three pairs from this afternoon:

the actual earrings on the silver and green pair are from Milena S on etsy. she has some super cool rustic earring findings that i really like and which also arrived in today's mail.

A relaxing, hot bath

I have an overbooked day tomorrow. I'll need my ducks in a row in the morning, so I did some preparing this evening for tomorrow's departure. Unlike me, this planning, I know.

Tonight at 8:30 (30 minutes before boys' bedtime) I thought I'd sneak in a quick bath. Owen playing Wii and Finn sitting always no more than 8 inches from me, "I wanna be near you!" I hear constantly.

I love a hot bath. Feeling enveloped by water that's so hot it makes your legs numb, it's just wonderful. But 5 year-old Finn sat on the toilet next to the tub howling because he wanted to be closer to me. I'd told him very early in my bath that I'd peed in the tub in order to discourage his entry. Discourage him, it did, but he was whining disappointed remarks to me about not being near enough and hoping that I was joking about the pee.

While I sat in the tub listening to this chatter, 6 year-old Owen announced that he was making himself some cinnamon toast. This where Control Freak Monica--who doesn't let her kids do things themselves for fear of a big mess--started to panic a bit. I told myself aloud to let Owen go for the toast. I knew he could get the bread out and pop it in the toaster. I knew he'd get sidetracked and let the toast get cold before buttering it. So the Calm Monica sat in the tub shouting over the muttering and disappointed Finn instructions for Owen to get the butter and the knife out and ready for the toast.

Owen followed the directions, but he got out a NEW butter, which required a foil removal I wasn't too sure he was capable of. He was successful, however, but he trotted triumphantly into the bathroom to show me the "bellybutton" of the butter in the new container. I heard the toast pop and admired the butter navel and told him to rush out and get the butter on the toast while it was still warm. Butter not melted is just not acceptable on a proper piece of cinnamon toast.

By now, Finn followed his brother to the kitchen and announced that he was going to pour himself a glass of milk. Big, heavy glass containers of milk is what I buy and the lids don't come off easily. I hollered, "Hang on, I'll come and help you Finn," as I rinsed the conditioner and let the still steamy water down the drain.

While I dried off, I heard Finn call "Mom!?" about seventy-three times and wondered what came over me to so selfishly bathe at a time like this. I rushed to the kitchen with water still dripping from my hair and a towel loosely pinned around my body. As I arrived, I watched Owen dump a mountain of cinnamon sugar on his toast. My fault, I left the cinnamon sugar shaker in South Dakota and have been carefully using a cup. I'm actually quite good at evenly sprinkling cinnamon sugar from a cup onto the toast. Anyway, I quickly fixed the situation and even saved some of the mountain by tossing it back in to the cup.

They then complained that I was in the kitchen naked and Finn, milk glass happily filled, ordered me to go put on my pajamas.

To do:
* Hire nanny with big stick
* Never again selfishly wash at a time when snacks might be needed
* Locate new cinnamon sugar shaker