I found this article to be quite interesting -- perhaps partially because I am pregnant, and have just learned to crochet, but I think that this article encompases more than that, and speaks of life in general. I don't agree with everything she says, but it's very introspective, and I enjoyed reading it.
Crochet me Magazine - Expectations
Two parents, four children, and our adventures in food, music and travel.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Caleb's visit
Caleb was here on Saturday, and we took him to Alexandria Bay, where we took a boat tour of the 1000 Islands, and stopped at Boldt Castle to explore.
Andrew has always liked Caleb, but has never really had time to connect with him until this weekend. They totally bonded over roaring wrestling matches, wild games on the slide outside, etc. Andrew and Caleb were inseperable, and it was good that Andrew was sleeping by the time that Caleb left or it may have been a very sad parting.
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Andrew has always liked Caleb, but has never really had time to connect with him until this weekend. They totally bonded over roaring wrestling matches, wild games on the slide outside, etc. Andrew and Caleb were inseperable, and it was good that Andrew was sleeping by the time that Caleb left or it may have been a very sad parting.
What?!
Last night we went to bed around 11pm (I actually get tired around 9:30 or 10, but it's like a "last hurrah" of sorts, I think, for me to stay up "late"). I was kept awake by some uncomfortable (but not labor) contractions, and at around 12am thought it might be a good idea to go downstairs to grab my cell phone so that I could time the contractions (can't see the clock on Greg's side of the bed, so the cell phone clock is what I use). On my way downstairs I started thinking about the leftover bacon from dinner, but thought, that's silly, why would I eat bacon at midnight? I'm just getting my cell phone. Well, of course, the next thing I knew, I found myself at the refridgerator...I ate the entire 1/4 lb of bacon in one shot, standing right there in the kitchen. It was soooo good. Then I went back up to bed, and was actually able to fall asleep after a little bit. Perhaps I needed the protein?
Monday, May 30, 2005
The belly to take over the world
This is the current belly size. Can be used as table, etc. Unbelievable even to me.
Friday, May 27, 2005
To comment?
Your comments keep this blog alive! I have a hit counter on the site, so I know a lot of people are checking in -- leave a note to let me know what you think of our posts when you stop by! (Oh wow! That must be why I ask questions in my posts and such!) =)
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
...now SEE this!
As a bit of a departure from my usual listening list, here is a list of DVDs I've been viewing lately:
Grave Digger Double Feature (This one has been in pretty much non-stop, because it features Andrew's favorite thing; TRUCKS, er...DUCK! Monster trucks! The greatest monster truck to ever live...)
Jet—Family Style
Slechtvalk—Upon the Fields of Battle
The Aquabats DVD of Serious Awesomeness
Bride—Metal
Del Castillo—Live
gerg
Grave Digger Double Feature (This one has been in pretty much non-stop, because it features Andrew's favorite thing; TRUCKS, er...DUCK! Monster trucks! The greatest monster truck to ever live...)
Jet—Family Style
Slechtvalk—Upon the Fields of Battle
The Aquabats DVD of Serious Awesomeness
Bride—Metal
Del Castillo—Live
gerg
Friday, May 20, 2005
Tea For All
There are many ways to drink tea. Anyone who drinks it tends to have a strong opinion as to how it should be drunk. Some drink it hot, some drink it cold (I hope none drink it in the pot nine days old), but enough! I bring the topic to the table of cold black tea -- or iced tea, as it is called for whatever reason. (Herbal tea and it's variations is a whole other world -- I only enjoy that hot, and only certain kinds, so I won't discuss that today.)
Growing up in New Jersey, iced tea was mostly out of the can: powdered, sweet Lipton mixed with water in a great pitcher, and drunk in huge quantities until my mom realized we were rolling on a caffine/sugar induce high, and we switched to Kool-aid (not sure how much better that was). Once or twice I remember making "sun-tea", because we saw the "recipe" for it in a children's magazine and it looked like a fun project. However, this was not presweetened -- it takes sugar forever to dissolve in lukewarm water, and there was no instant gratification, so...back to the Kool-aid.
Upon moving to upstate New York, I discovered another kind of tea. I believe it was actually in Pennsylvania, at Greg's grandma's house. I was offered some iced tea, and thought, "oh, that'll be different, I almost never drink that!", and accepted a glass. On the first huge mouthful, shock hit me and I nearly spit it back into my cup. Bitter!! Uggghh! Who forgot to sweeten it? I quickly shoveled a few spoonfuls of sugar in and tried, unsuccessfully to stir the granules into the cold liquid. A few crunchy (still bitter) swallows later, I noticed that everyone else was drinking their tea with great enjoyment -- without anything added. OHMYGOSH. Some people drink it unsweetened! Some of you are laughing, but I'm serious. I had no idea!
Upon moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, I discovered the perfect tea: Chick-Fil-A's sweet tea. I have never had a tea more perfectly balanced, or more enjoyable to drink. Nothing like the powdered stuff back in New Jersey, and certainly nothing like the bitter cup I'd had in PA! Now, I still have never had what would be qualified as Homemade Southern Sweet Tea, but I now have friends from the South who are going out to lunch with me next week to a Soul Food restaurant that they claim has "proper" southern tea -- properly sweet, I assume, so I'll report on that when I try it.
There is one more difference (that I know of) in tea: sun-brewed tea vs. boil-brewed tea. With sun-tea, of course, it is brewed all day in a juice jar or bottle out in the sun. Boil-brewed is when you put about 10-12 tea bags into a half gallon or so of water, bring it to a boil on the stove, let boil for about 10 minutes, then steep for maybe 5, before pouring into a jug that has sugar in it, and then adding cold water and ice to it (and often fresh lemon). Now really with the boil method, there are more ways to do that exactly than there are people to drink it, it seems, but you get the point.
I made boil-brewed a little while ago and just made sun-tea yesterday, so I've had opportunity to taste the two nearly side-by-side. Interestingly enough, I found a huge difference in taste. They are both good. The sun tea has a mild, round flavor that reminds one of...well, something that's been sun-warmed. Boil-brewed is deep and dark, tea leaves floating through the bottom of the glass because of the nearly violent method with which it is made. I prefer boil-brewed, but both are enjoyable in their own right.
Now to you, my reader, I pose the question: what is the Right way to make and drink iced tea? Why?
(As an endnote, I have noticed that I drink a glass of iced tea faster than any other liquid. My dad says the same thing. Anyone else?)
(Second end-note: since I am so susceptible to caffeine, I make my tea with decaf bags. It does, however, have about 2% caffeine still in it, so I can't drink much after about 5pm or else I'll be up all night -- true story.)
Growing up in New Jersey, iced tea was mostly out of the can: powdered, sweet Lipton mixed with water in a great pitcher, and drunk in huge quantities until my mom realized we were rolling on a caffine/sugar induce high, and we switched to Kool-aid (not sure how much better that was). Once or twice I remember making "sun-tea", because we saw the "recipe" for it in a children's magazine and it looked like a fun project. However, this was not presweetened -- it takes sugar forever to dissolve in lukewarm water, and there was no instant gratification, so...back to the Kool-aid.
Upon moving to upstate New York, I discovered another kind of tea. I believe it was actually in Pennsylvania, at Greg's grandma's house. I was offered some iced tea, and thought, "oh, that'll be different, I almost never drink that!", and accepted a glass. On the first huge mouthful, shock hit me and I nearly spit it back into my cup. Bitter!! Uggghh! Who forgot to sweeten it? I quickly shoveled a few spoonfuls of sugar in and tried, unsuccessfully to stir the granules into the cold liquid. A few crunchy (still bitter) swallows later, I noticed that everyone else was drinking their tea with great enjoyment -- without anything added. OHMYGOSH. Some people drink it unsweetened! Some of you are laughing, but I'm serious. I had no idea!
Upon moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, I discovered the perfect tea: Chick-Fil-A's sweet tea. I have never had a tea more perfectly balanced, or more enjoyable to drink. Nothing like the powdered stuff back in New Jersey, and certainly nothing like the bitter cup I'd had in PA! Now, I still have never had what would be qualified as Homemade Southern Sweet Tea, but I now have friends from the South who are going out to lunch with me next week to a Soul Food restaurant that they claim has "proper" southern tea -- properly sweet, I assume, so I'll report on that when I try it.
There is one more difference (that I know of) in tea: sun-brewed tea vs. boil-brewed tea. With sun-tea, of course, it is brewed all day in a juice jar or bottle out in the sun. Boil-brewed is when you put about 10-12 tea bags into a half gallon or so of water, bring it to a boil on the stove, let boil for about 10 minutes, then steep for maybe 5, before pouring into a jug that has sugar in it, and then adding cold water and ice to it (and often fresh lemon). Now really with the boil method, there are more ways to do that exactly than there are people to drink it, it seems, but you get the point.
I made boil-brewed a little while ago and just made sun-tea yesterday, so I've had opportunity to taste the two nearly side-by-side. Interestingly enough, I found a huge difference in taste. They are both good. The sun tea has a mild, round flavor that reminds one of...well, something that's been sun-warmed. Boil-brewed is deep and dark, tea leaves floating through the bottom of the glass because of the nearly violent method with which it is made. I prefer boil-brewed, but both are enjoyable in their own right.
Now to you, my reader, I pose the question: what is the Right way to make and drink iced tea? Why?
(As an endnote, I have noticed that I drink a glass of iced tea faster than any other liquid. My dad says the same thing. Anyone else?)
(Second end-note: since I am so susceptible to caffeine, I make my tea with decaf bags. It does, however, have about 2% caffeine still in it, so I can't drink much after about 5pm or else I'll be up all night -- true story.)
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Goodfriend
It's not often that you come across a friend who can be helpful, be fun, be a friend, be sensitive, be there for you, and can just "be". Sarah is a friend like that. It would be hard for me to list everything that she did in the 2 days she was here, but suffice to say that she helped me retain my sanity while actually having a good time, and my house is cleaner than when she got here! I know that she would say she just "did whatever", but that's the whole thing: she "did whatever" in the most helpful way possible, and I appreciate that more than I can say. =)
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