CityMama™

Project: Life Change: This season "Project: Runway" will have one less viewer

Jessica and I are still rounding up all the fabulous and inspiring  Project: Life Change posts that we can find across the blogosphere, but while we hover over our Google document, I wanted to share another change we are making to the CityMama household. Do-able change is what Project: Life Change is all about, so...

We killed our cable.

I know.

Oh, trust me. I know.

38

Is how old I am today.

As I write this (the night before my actual birthday), I am listening to the sounds of my husband baking me a cake. Everyone that knows us well is reading that sentence again just to make sure they read what they thought they read. See, J. doesn't cook. He's one of those "I make reservations" types.

So far he's called out...

"I cracked an egg with one crack!" (Say it with me: "OoooOOOOOoooOOooHHH!")

"Do we have a mixer?" (That's right, ladies. He's alllll miiiiiine..)

(imitating my sing-songy voice when I'm calling to the girls) "Who wants to lick the beaters?"

and

"It says to put the cake in for 30 minutes...does that sound right?"

Have I ever told you about how I have never been surprised by a birthday ever?  Anyway.

Bunny made me a paint-by-numbers picture of a horse. And Wallie? Well, if she puts her shoes on the right feet today I'll be golden.

J.'s chocolate cake with homemade Callebaut chocolate-butter icing. I can't believe my husband made this!  Photo by: J. (he was so proud)

Crunchy Korean Cucumber Salad

This salad is so easy to prepare it's stoopid.  The key, though, it making sure you serve it immediately after you toss it so that the salt doesn't have a chance to wilt the cukes. I like it when the cucumbers are still icy-cold from the fridge and you get the pleasant crunch of sea salt with every bite. The recipe calls for ground toasted sesame seeds (You can find sesame seed grinders at any Japanese market.), but if you can't find a grinder a mortar and pestle will work.  Or just sprinkle them on without grinding.

KOREAN CUCUMBER SALAD

• 2 medium-sized cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and chopped into chunks
• half a thinly-sliced small yellow onion, or 1-2 green onions, thinly-sliced
• a drizzle of toasted sesame oil (maybe a teaspoon or two)
• a hefty grinding of toasted sesame seeds (see photo)
• sea salt to taste (large flakes are great, but avoid large the coarse rocks usu. found in salt grinders)
• optional: shaved garlic is great in this, so are a few very thinly-sliced green chilis.

Toss everything together and serve immediately. Serves 4 as a side dish (or two of my children--they love this).  We had this along-side kalbi (Korean BBQ ribs) last night.

As if today didn't suck enough

This is the worst thing that has happened to me, ever.  And I'm not talking about the pinched nerve that has me completely sidelined today.

Wallie and I lay down for a snuggle this afternoon. I had her all to myself since J. was off coaching Bunny's soccer game. I treasure these afternoons when I have her one-on-one.

I could tell Wallie was tired, but she was restless. That kind of restlessness that kids get right before they fall asleep.  I felt her get down from the bed, but I am in such an Advil-induced haze that it didn't really register.

About 15 minutes later, I snap to attention (ow) and call out to Wallie.

And hear nothing.

I call again.

Silence.

At this point I bolt out of bed (more ow) and race into the living room where I could hear the soft strains of Alice In Wonderland's music.  "Wallie!!!" I scream. "Answer Mamma!!!"  She isn't there.

I dash down to her bedroom. Maybe she's asleep there? 

Bedroom empty.

Playroom?

Empty.

I go back to the bedroom and check the closet. Then the playroom closet.  Then the bathrooms.

My heart in my throat I check the front door to see if she has escaped. It's locked. There's no sign of anyone outside. Mentally, I'm calling 9-1-1 and trying to remember where I left my phone. What do I tell the dispatcher? That I lost my child in my own house?

Garage. Ditto.

I race back into the living room one more time. No one there. "WHERE IS SHE?"

And, then...

Upon closer inspection...

I realized that she was in the living room, hidden amidst the throw pillows. If you look really closely in the above photos, you'll spy her.  I should have walked further into the living room the first time, but I just didn't expect her to be there.

I cannot believe that she didn't hear my panicky, sob-filled screams. I'm ready for today to be done.

"She has a strong personality"

Bunny's teacher said during our conference.  I cringed a little inside.  As a former teacher, I know what that means. But, she wasn't telling us anything we didn't already know. She was born that way. Then she added something like, "Usually the bright kids do. It's just a matter of learning to harness it."

Bunny has always marched to the beat of her own drummer. Always had her own ideas and has never been afraid to express them.  She doesn't follow the crowd, she does her own thing.  Something that's a good thing, sometimes, well, she needs to learn restraint.

Today was her class' field trip to the pumpkin patch.  As we hurried to school, I called out reminders from the front seat, "It might rain so wear your raincoat...your teacher said choose a soccer-ball-sized pumpkin...don't hold it by the stem..."

When I picked Bunny and her friend up from school, her friend was struggling under the weight of her pumpkin.  Bunny had...nothing.

"Where is your pumpkin?" I asked. 

"In my backpack," she replied, nonplussed.

"It's small enough to fit in your backpack?" I countered.

"Yup," she beamed. "It fits in my backpack and it's white.  I got the only one that's white!"

May I present, the tiniest pumpkin in the whole world, as chosen by my "bright," shining star of a daughter:

I've been thinking about the conference all week and wondering how we are going to walk the fine line between wanting to encourage her independence and teaching her when she needs to stifle it. When I saw that pumpkin, I just laughed. She's okay. Boy, do I love that kid.

My thoughts on Jessica Seinfeld's book...not that you asked

Well, actually, someone did ask...

There's been a lot of hype this week over Jessica Seinfeld's new book Deceptively Delicious where she discusses ways to hide veggies in foods kids love in order to get them to eat more vegetables. I've not read the book, but apparently she advises parents to hide spinach in brownies or butternut squash puree in macaroni and cheese. These ideas and recipes may or may not be her own, but that's for her lawyers to sort out.

I'm just going to say it: I think this is a bad, bad idea and I think parents of my parents' generation are all rolling their eyes thinking, "Parents today are soft. Grow a friggin backbone already."   

My thoughts on Jessica Seinfeld's book...not that you asked

Well, actually, someone did ask...

There's been a lot of hype this week over Jessica Seinfeld's new book Deceptively Delicious where she discusses ways to hide veggies in foods kids love in order to get them to eat more vegetables. I've not read the book, but apparently she advises parents to hide spinach in brownies or butternut squash puree in macaroni and cheese. These ideas and recipes may or may not be her own, but that's for her lawyers to sort out.

I'm just going to say it: I think this is a bad, bad idea and I think parents of my parents' generation are all rolling their eyes thinking, "Parents today are soft. Grow a friggin backbone already." 

Dear (Insert Social Networking Site Name Here),

I am confused.

I understand that the characteristics of a Web 2.0 company are social networking components paired with user-generated content, and that's all great and everything, but why can't there be some standardization up in this mofo?

Haven't we learned anything from our friends at the ISO?

Why do I have to waste valuable brain processing time trying to figure out the difference between a wall, a note, and a journal.  Is the word "post" too obscure? What is wrong with the word post? Is it not descriptive enough in and of itself? Is that why we need to be told that we're "composing" a post? Why can't you all just call it a post already!

I spend most of my day in a heightened state of alert panic trying to keep track of early and late pick-ups and thinking I am going to forget to pick up one of my children from school. I don't have room in my brain to decipher Web 2.0 double-speak.

And don't even get me started on how counter-intuitive flickr is to use.  Why do I always select 14 different links just to try and batch edit my photos? Am I that lame? Maybe. If I could remember the difference between a collection and a set (aren't they the same frickin' thing?) then maybe I'd love you more, flickr.

Finally, no I do not want to invite all my friends to participate in your site. Please don't do sneaky things Iike trying to get at my email contacts when I'm not looking.  As if I didn't have enough to apologize to my friends for (starting with not returning phone calls) now I have to apologize for spamming their inboxes? If your site isn't awesome enough that people want to sign up for it in droves that's not my problem. Stop using me to get at my friends, Web 2.0! I'm not your girlfriend!

I sure hope Web 3.0 gets it right.

Love and other indoor sports,
Stefania

Halloween Costume Watch 10-17-07

Earlier this month.

Last week:

Bunny: a bunny (eco-friendly handmade yadda yadda mask purchased)
Wallie: an elephant (hat with trunk purchased)

Done deal?

Ha!

This week:

Bunny: "Sunflower martian space explorer" (WTF? ...she saw it in a book)
Wallie: "nothing"

One way or another those kids are wearing those GD masks.

That's what sisters are for

My Chef Sister came for a little visit (she doesn't live too far) and this was our day yesterday:

• 11:00— dimsum snack (some shrimp dumplings and Shanghai pork balls)
• 1:30—ramen lunch: spicy kimchi ramen for me, BBQ pork ramen for her, shoyu ramen for the girls. While there we emailed pics of our ramen to our brother (who lives in a ramen-free city) who replied snidely, "I don't even like ramen." Liar!
• 6:00—Fresh Choice (we picked at mediocre salads and ate lots of soft-serve. We sucked it up because Bunny and Wallie love going there.)
• 10:00—a charcuterie sampler, sunchoke soup with black truffle emulsion, and a cheese plate at the Village Pub.  Plus a couple glasses of white wine, some 20 year old port, and two glasses of Tokaj from the friendly (female) bartender on the house. Best quote of the night: "Do you work in the restaurant industry?..We can tell by the way you ordered..." (It's the way we always order.)

As we sat at the bar we realized that we had eaten our way through the whole day. And we laughed. And we decided that no one else would get how awesome that is.

Then we rolled home and watched Tampopo. Cuz that's what you do if you are my sister and me.

And about 5:00 am I realized (or rather it was my stomach telling me) that perhaps that wasn't such an awesome day after all. (Or maybe the "Choice" wasn't so "Fresh" after all...) I sucked it up and did all the mom things I had on tap this morning and when I came home still feeling awful, I asked my sister if she wouldn't mind cooking two chickens for me to help me stock my fridge.

As I type this, there is a finished and yummy-smelling stewy chicken cacciatore on the back burner ready for the freezer, a roasted chicken sitting on the counter (we'll eat this tonight), and chicken stock at a bare simmer on the stove.

I love my sister!  ...and wish I got to see the rest of my family more.