(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

Doesn’t Steve take pretty pictures?

My baby is a teenager now. My other teenager came to school with me and volunteered, ohmyGod the babies love her. Love. One of the kinders flung herself, as kinders are wont to do, into Wacky Girl’s arms.

I love you! (hugs one of the other aides, then me, then the other aide again.) I love you! And I love you! I love everyone!

Runs down the hall. Runs into us later, loves on Wacky Girl some more.

She is my friend, she tells two of the other littles. Runs down the hall, yells, Bye, friend!

#bestthingsinlife #free

ps #missingmydadbutsmilinganyway

What’s On My Nightstand, the March Edition

Ha! Leading off with the baby books is funny, funny, funny, because I am not pregnant (thank you, Jesus) (and science) and I am certainly not knitting any baby booties. (Both of the baby books are cute, by the way, and would be great baby shower/new mom gifts. The knitting book would be a sweet gift, too, for a new mom or anyone who’s wanting to get crafty.)

The review books have been arriving and I need to start keeping track, y’all. So here we go.

“Tell Me What to Dream About,” by Giselle Potter (“The Boy Who Loved Words,” “Kate and the Beanstalk”) is a whimsical new picture book about two sisters, and the littlest one just cannot fall asleep. But she doesn’t like any of the dreams her big sister comes up with. (Ages 3-7, Schwartz & Wade Books, 2015, $17.99, 40 pages.)

Amy R. Singer (Knitty.com) put together 30 pretty cool projects that even beginning knitters (such as moi) can tackle in “Knit Wit” (Harper Resource/Harper Collins, 2004, 127 pages). Wait. Is there some way to describe a knitter who is “almost” a beginning knitter? Because that would be me. I have fun with it, anyway, and over the years have taught tons of students at various schools how to knit. Seriously. Not exaggerating. Supplies, donated by the lovely ladies and customers of the Naked Sheep Knit Shop helped us on our way.

And, as is so often the case when you teach, they were showing me up within a matter of minutes. We knitted on chopsticks, donated needles, our fingers — astounding work. Beautiful work. I got them started, but I cannot take credit. It was them. One of my best, happiest memories from that time were the teenage boys who wanted me to teach them to knit.

“My granny won’t teach me.” (lol.) Followed by… “It’s a craze around here!” I did what I could and sent them on their way.

So imagine my delight once I finally learned how to purl (thank you, Ms. Singer!). That little “missing link,” so to speak, has not stopped me from knitting the ugliest scarves you’ve ever seen in your life, though. I’ve been doing that for years now.

Going into it, I make sure to tell my students exactly what I’m capable of: “I knit really, really ugly scarves,” are my exact words. So, hello, they’re not expecting much. But you know what I’m wicked good at? Casting on and teaching how to cast on. Seriously. Once you have that, you’re gold.

Steve bought me this book several years back, and I tucked it into my knitting basket so’s I’d look like I knew what I was doing. The other day I finally opened it up and lo and behold — it props itself up! Hands free! Next thing you know, I’m knitting one, purling two, like a hipster fiend.

It may be awhile before I make a pixie hat, though, or a birdless boa.

I’m also reading an interesting book called “Phenomenal: A Hesitant Adventurer’s Search for Wonder in the Natural World” (Penguin Press, 2015, $26.95, 276 pages). It’s a new release by Leigh Ann Henion.

Steve and I are both reading “It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War,” by Lynsey Addario (Penguin Press). Intense book, beautifully photographed and well-written.

And an intriguing little how-to book, “Careers: The Graphic Guide to Finding the Perfect Job for You” (how did they know?) also arrived. (DK US/Penguin Random House, 2015, $19.99, 320 pages.) Love this one — I’m taking it to school tomorrow and sharing with the 5th grade teachers, who are working on a college unit with the students. Most any career you can think of (teacher!, product designer, social worker, vet, lawyer, makeup artist, etc.) are all listed, along with pertinent details:

* How much $$$ you can make
* How much schooling/training is required
* What the job entails
* Skills guide
* Related careers

The format is easy to use, and the book is woven together well. I would recommend this one for school and public libraries, teachers, parents, and of course college counselors.

All good reading. See you soon…

wm

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

Yeah, you’re neglected, dear blog. Your 10th birthday was Valentine’s Day, and did I even remember? Nope.

Well, it’s still February, so happy (belated) birthday, baby. I promise I’ll start writing again, soon.

xo

wm

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

“We are the night ocean filled
with glints of light. We are the space
between the fish and the moon,
while we sit here together.”

— Rumi

“Bottom line is we’re all flawed in this world. No one’s perfect,” film director Richard Linklater, accepting his Golden Globe award for directing, “I want to dedicate this to parents that are evolving everywhere and families that are just passing through this world and doing their best.”

I’ll see how many categories I can hit here… Ready? Ready-steady-go!

* Pacific Ocean: It’s beautiful. It makes me happy, i love my negative ions i get from the ocean, and the wildlife is so fun to watch. The sea lions in that picture are making what’s called a “raft.” They all hold onto each other and float around. Hippies :)

* Book review? Here’s what on my nightstand (and on the Kindle): Re-read “Wild,” re-reading “Torch,” re-reading Carol Shields magnum opus, “Unless,” reading “Quiet” and learning all kinds of stuff about introverts, extroverts, high reactives and the modern age, just finishing Dreiser’s “An American Tragedy,” genius, and… that’s all I can think of.

* Recipes:

Oven-Fried Spuds (excellent, best potato recipe ever)
Soup! (Steve’s recipe. This one clears up your head, fast)

1 onion, sliced thin
1 bulb garlic
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
6 cups water

Reduce water and bouillon by half to thicken.

* Work… is going well. Super well. I love working at a school (computer lab again this year), I’m with the best staff and boss in the universe (no I’m not saying that because they might read this — they really are gifted, funny, smart, wonderful with the students and everything else I was hoping for) and I love that my students are willing to work on my Spanish with me. #yohabloespanolmasomenos

* My own kids… are great. Whoever said, “Eh, you think that when they’re little they really need you, but when they’re teenagers? That’s when they really need you,” that person was so smart. (Seriously, probably 20 people said that to me when the kids were toddlers, and I thought they were joking.)

* Nekkid Neighbors — remember them?

* Sex? Not at work, people, keep that in mind, always. Or with the Nekkid Neighbors. Just a bad idea, aight? Lol. We’ve been watching Californication on Netflix, and swear to God, every time I watch it, I feel like I’ve been in an orgy, and it was kind of great, but equally horrible. Yeah.

* Speaking of pop culture… movies. We saw “Wild,” loved it, “Nebraska,” also great, “Boyhood,” one of the best movies I’ve ever seen in my life. Seriously.

* Holidays: How can 2015 be a real year? It’s so space-age sounding.

* And in the category of Pets, Stupid… Our sweet, loving, funny Wacky Cat 2 passed away last month. I keep looking for him, thinking I see him, missing him. It just sucks.

* Houses & Homes: We’re cleaning & rearranging & opposite-of-hoarding like mad right now because we’re moving again.

In five years.

But, as one of my 80-something-year-old neighbors told me after New Year’s, “Every year, I don’t know what it is. The days go slower and the years go faster.” Then he gave me a big smile, I smiled back, and he pedaled off on his bike. I know just what he means.

All for now, xo,

wm

Once upon a time, I was a little girl, and I loved to eat cookies.

Some things never change.

Over the years, I’ve craved my Mom’s soft, crispy, crumbly and rich Chocolate Crinkles, her mom’s chewy-addictive chocolate chip-banana cookies, and the reindeer sugar cookies (secret ingredient: almond extract) the sweet neighbor across the street used to bake for us every year. Thin, crispy, and perfect. But the cookies I have craved the most are my grandma’s butter cookies. My dad’s mom was from North Dakota, no-nonsense, and knew just how to keep me happy: Books to read, apricots to nibble on, a Kentucky Fried Chicken picnic in the park with the entire family, and a Tupperware container full of the best cookies in the world.

And I had no recipe for them.

I’ve searched through my mom’s files, my own files, my grandma’s cookbooks (inherited *all* of the cookbooks from both grandmas #blessed) and no luck. Tears. Sadness. And a yearning for “how did she make those, exactly?” I’ve guessed, experimented, no luck. Was thumbing through her copy (which looks like it was her mommy’s copy, it’s vintage and gorgeous and about 100+ years old) of “Pantry Secrets,” compiled by St. Aldolphus Altar Society, Langdon, North Dakota (produced in the plant of the Cavalier County Republican, Langdon, N.D.).

Yes, that’s right. Suddenly, there it was. The clouds parted, the sun came out, and there was much rejoicing.

They’re that good. Hallelujah and Merry Christmas from our house to yours.

My Grandma’s Delicious Cookies

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 well-beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in one tablespoon hot water
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
4 1/2 cups flour

(notes say: roll with date filling — no recipe for that — and “make in roll in icebox or add chocolate drops)

We made drop cookies with one batch of dough, and used the second batch as cut-out cookies. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

We did a basic powdered sugar frosting, dyed green and red, to ice them. (I also have a great recipe for “10 Minute Justrite Fudge” and some quite fantastic recipes to share from the Jiffy Cookbook, but those will have to wait for another time.)

Bon appetit!

— wm

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

Wacky Cat 2’s blindness is presenting some challenges. For us more than him.

“You’re working out? Here, I’ll walk under the elliptical.”

“The fan is turned on? I’ll stick my nose into it. And lick it. Now, where’s a wall?”

I love him so much. He had some kind of virus a few weeks ago, we thought he was a goner…

“But the cat came back/
the very next day/
thought he was a goner/
but the cat came back/
no he couldn’t stay away…”

17 years old now, skinny, sack of bones, but happy, eating & drinking OK, loves to sleep on me, interested in life, and there you have it. Also loves to purr in my ear and snuggle in on my shoulder, when I’m kicked back.

Best kitty in the world.

Enjoy your week, y’all.

xo

wm

Dec. 3, 2014: RIP, dear, dear Woogie, 1997-2014. You were a joy and my best friend. love you, cat. xoxoxoxo

That’s my question for the daredevils in the crowd. I get it. I ask, Why? You ask, Why not?

Great episode of Oregon Field Guide, featuring our own Mt. St. Helens.

that’s right. Blogging is so four years ago, with the exception of those of us who still keep our online journals: Zoot, Y from the Internet, who I’ve known for so long I call her that, Amalah, Doocie, and me.

The big five, baby, that’s where we’re at. Not the big 5-0, the big 5. Kidding.

I will persevere.

I mainly blog nowadays because I need the archives — especially for updates on my kids (my daughter is driving now, btw) (uh, it’s true. This little girl…), a cookbook (you can always buy a hard copy), school work, and whatever else I need. Quotes of the day, funny jokes. Ha. Funny to me jokes.

So you know that your Facebook archives aren’t really archives, right? And that your photos might or might not disappear eventually, if that’s where you’re storing them? Just saying.

So here’s what I’m working on reading this school year. And first things being, as always, first: the potboilers.

I read Theodore Dreiser’s “Sister Carrie” when I was an 18-year-old college freshman and knew everything. I would like to talk with that girl and have her answer a few of my several hundred questions, now that I know nothing. Dear Lord, what a difference between 18 and 50.

“You should see her ass in that dress.” — my friend Nicole, to my then-lover, talking about me and my brand-new little black dress, circa many years ago. We were at a bar downtown. It may have been the Virginia Cafe. Or Hamburger Mary’s, or the Veritable Quandary, or that place where they served the delicious little Cornish game hens? The Vat & Tonsure. Then (to me): “You hit 27 and your ass just falls. I don’t know what it is.”

My main concerns then:
1) how am i going to get these bills paid?
2) where are the parties this weekend?
3) what about this “27 changes everything” thing? (defer)
4) why does she (neighbor/friend/family member/co-worker) put up w/ that shit? (from spouse/children/grown children/neighbors/co-workers)

I have to go water the yard now, and write more when I get back. No more bars, just chores, out here on the farm. I could really use another load of manure for the east 40.

Back! So. “Sister Carrie,” which I always throw together with “Portrait of a Lady,” “Anna Karenina,” “Madame Bovary” and “The Awakening”… Well, it’s its own animal. I just love the book.

Finished it up, and on to “An American Tragedy” (also Dreiser), which I’ve been meaning to read ever since I saw the Elizabeth Taylor/Montgomery Clift classic, “A Place in the Sun.” God, it’s brilliant, too. So I’m happy, with lots to read. And I have a good excuse (for the moment) to put off reading all of these for work (ps check out this week’s issue of The Nation. On the cover: “Saving Public Schools: A Growing Movement Confronts the Failure of ‘Reform'”:

Being Bad: My Baby Brother and the School-To-Prison Pipeline: Being Bad (Teaching for Social Justice)
by Crystal T. Laura

Bon appetit!

— wm

These are all so good, go make them right now.

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips

1 cup butter (or margarine or shortening)
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups oatmeal
1 to 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars together, mix in eggs and vanilla and then add dry ingredients; fold in chocolate chips and oats. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets, bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Or spoon batter into a greased 9×13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or so until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

2 cups whole milk
2 cups mayonnaise
1 tablespoon brown sugar
salt and pepper
1 pound elbow macaroni
1/2 cup cider vinegar
4 green onions, sliced thin
1 large carrot, peeled and finely grated
1 celery rib, chopped finely

Make dressing: Whisk 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 cup mayo, brown sugar, 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tsp pepper in bowl

Cook pasta: Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in large pot. Add 1 tablespoons of salt and the pasta; cook until very soft, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add vinegar and toss until absorbed. Transfer to a bowl and cool pasta 10 minutes, then stir in dressing until pasta is well coated. Cool completely.

Make salad: Add green onions, carrot, celery, remaining milk and mayo to pot with pasta mixture and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Chill at least an hour… or a day or two. Optional: Add a handful or two of frozen peas.

Pumpkin Roll

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar, beaten into the eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together and spread on greased and floured 10×14 inch cookie sheet with sides. Bake at 375 for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from pan and roll immediately in cloth or wax paper. Let set for a few minutes.

Combine:
1 cup powdered sugar
6 oz-8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla

Unroll cake and spread frosting. Roll cake again and freeze.

Brazilian Black Bean Soup

2 cups dry black beans, soaked overnight in 6 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups chopped onion
10 medium cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons cumin
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 medium carrot, diced
1 medium bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups orange juice
black pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
2 medium tomatoes, diced

Toppings: sour cream, cilantro, salsa

1. Cook soaked beans in 4 cups of water; boil, cover and simmer until tender about 1 1/2 hours.
2. In olive oil, saute onion, half of the garlic, cumin, salt and carrot until carrots are tender. Add green pepper and remaining garlic; saute 15 minutes or so until everything is very tender. Add mixture to the beans.
3. Stir in the orange juice, pepper, cayenne and tomatoes. Puree all or some of soup and then simmer 10 minutes more… serve with sour cream, cilantro, and salsa.

Optional: Add cooked diced chicken to step three.