End of Year Musings Week 4 – Something New

Posted: December 21, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: blogging, family, kids, parenting | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Monday, Dec 19: Something New
Knitting, a new language, underwater basketweaving… what new things did you learn this year? 

This year, I started making cakes for the kids’ parties. It’s not even close to looking professional. There’s no fondant involved, but it’s fun, and the kids will remember these.

Cake for Clooney's First Holy Communion

Clooney’s really into cars, so when it came to putting together this cake, the idea just kind of came to me…blasphemous as it may have been. The strip of road on top was made from the part of the cake that I had to slice from the bottom to make it even. It was devil’s food on the inside just to make sure I had my foot planted firmly on the road to Hell.

This is a Golden Snitch, which is a Harry Potter Quidditch thing, if you are not hip to wizard lingo.

For his 11th birthday, Edison wanted to go all Hogwarts, and we had quite an elaborate party. I did a couple of practice rounds of these cake pops before the final product. They were devil’s food on the inside as well. The wings were made of melted white chocolate that I piped out onto wax paper before applying to the pop.

The Wicked Witch of the West spelled out The Princess's name with her broom there as well. The sign was made on cardboard, and held up with chopsticks that I "borrowed" from PF Chang. I might also note that this cake weighed 14,000 pounds.

And then there was The Princess’s Wizard of Oz-themed party. (Quite a year of wizards for us over here.) The inside of the cake had layers that were the colors of the rainbow (or as close to the colors of the rainbow as I could get without putting our party guests into a food-dye-induced coma.)

For each cake, I just kind of used my imagination along with a lot of humor, patience, and icing. I’ve never taken any kind of decorating class, and I don’t claim to be Martha Stewart or anything. (And I think if Martha saw these, she would breathe a sigh of relief on that note.) Like I said, it was fun to make them, and I hope to do more cakes for the kids in 2012.

End of Year Musings Week 3

Posted: December 17, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: blogging, Day-to-Day, family, friends, kids, parenting | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

 Week 3: Experiences

Monday, Dec 12: Travel
Did you take a big trip this year? Or maybe even just a little one? Where did you go?

I took a few trips this year. First, Manfrengensen and I went to NYC in May, and we saw The Motherf**er in the Hat, starring Bobby Cannavale and Chris Rock. We also saw Midnight in Paris, and it was fun seeing a Woody Allen film in the city. And then we returned there in July with the kids when it was hot as Hades. In the Fall, we went to Orlando to visit Disney World and Universal. It was such a great trip, and we were sorry when it ended, even though the kids had Manfrengensen burning the candle at both ends.

Tuesday, Dec 13: Getting Lost
Share a time that you got lost this year. Did you learn anything?

The only time I can think of that we got lost this year was when Manfrengensen accidentally went toward the Magic Kingdom Park instead of the hotel. He had to turn the rented mini-van around and cross five lanes of traffic (and maybe even a bit of grassy divider), which he did in a hilarious goofy way that had us all laughing and white-knuckled at the same time. But hey, it was a rental, right?

Wednesday, Dec 14: Reconnecting
Where do you go to reconnect with you? Did you experience a place where you found solace?

Massage is always good for that. But really, I think I find solace in my husband and my family. That’s always the best place to be, even though sometimes the solace can be in short supply.In general, I’m pretty happy with myself these days. It’s taken a long time, but you know what? I am who I am, and that’s all I can be. I’ve come to accept that that’s a good thing.

Waiting After Traveling by Waleed Arshad

Thursday, Dec 15: Indulgence
What did you indulge in this year? Get yourself or someone something extra special? Do something you’ve never done before?

This year we bought two pieces of art by Iraqi artist Waleed Arshad. I saw his work in a local coffee shop and just fell in love with it. By the time I went back to the shop, the exhibit had changed and it took me a couple of months to track down Arshad. I actually bought two paintings, one from his Ancient Symbols collection (which was what I had seen at the coffee shop), and one from  an earlier exhibition. It’s not just a decoration in our living room. When I stop to look at it, it speaks to my heart. Just some amazing work. If you get a chance to visit his work when it’s showing in a gallery, or even if you can take a moment to explore his website, please check it out.


Friday, Dec 16: Helping Out
How did you get involved in your community this year?

I’ve been pretty involved this year. I chaired the Book Fair at The Princess’s school in the Fall, which was pretty crazy, and yet really fun. I also helped with the Christmas pageant at my church. Another thing that I do every month is cook for the local soup kitchen, which involves making a bunch of chicken and desserts. I really enjoy doing that. I like to cook, and it makes me feel good to help out every month.

Saturday, Dec 17: Choice
What was the wisest decision you made this year?

I’ll let you know when I make one.

Sunday, Dec 18: Technology
What technology changed your world this year? Pick a gadget, a website… how did it make a difference for you?

I got an iPhone this year. I was always against the smartphone revolution, though now, I have no idea why. The other day, my friend and I were having lunch, and she mentioned that her daughter wants a pink scooter for Christmas, but the salesman at Dick’s told her that they don’t make a pink scooter any more.

“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “Target has pink Razor scooters out the yin-yang.” And to prove it, all I had to do was punch “pink scooter” into the Target app on my phone. Sure enough, there was a pink Razor there that was in the same price range as the black concession she had purchased at Dick’s. What did we do before iPhones? We wondered. We settled for no pink scooter, that’s what.

Prompts courtesey of Thinkit.com

End of Year Musings Week 2

Posted: December 16, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: blogging, Day-to-Day, family, friends, kids, parenting | Tags: , | Leave a comment

WEEK 2: Place

Thursday, Dec 8: Inspiration Spaces
When you need inspiration, where do you go? What place really did it for you in 2011?

If I want inspiration, all I have to do is go to bed. I don’t know why, but my muse is most likely to come for me there.

Friday, Dec 9: Home
Why do you live where you do? What makes it home?

I always thought, growing up, that I would end up in another town. A bigger town, a more exciting town, and I did leave a couple of times, but I always came back. It’s home because I know the place. Everywhere else I have ever lived, I never really got to know the geography. No matter how many times I drove those streets, I always felt like a tourist.

My dad still lives here with my stepmother, and Manfrengensen’s parents are only 20 minutes away. Living so close to their grandparents, I think, is just a great thing for my kids, especially in a world where proximity to family is an increasingly rare treasure. So what makes it home is family.


Saturday, Dec 10: Work
Describe your work environment or desk. Did you make any changes to it this year? How do you work within that space?

My desk never stays clean. It is a study in entropy. And everyone else in the house seems to put their crap on my desk too. So let’s see…in adition to the computer and its mouse, there are the following items: In the far right corner is a stack of blank yellow pads, which I like to use to keep notes in. The one that I am currently using to write my ideas in, however, is in the kitchen at the moment. On top of that stack is an empty manilla envelope. No idea what it’s doing there, or how it got there. On top of that are a note from the post office; instructions from Edison’s doctor about how to care for this current bout of bronchitis; two 39-cent stamps from the Comic Book collection featuring Green Lantern and Plastic Man, still attached to a larger, ripped and worn paper platform, from which all the other super heroes have been plucked and sent to points beyond; an invitation to next Friday’s Festivus celebration, and two snowmen crafted by my daughter using a foam kit at Thanksgiving.

That’s just the right hand corner, mind you. There’s also a pencil cup filled with every kind of writing instrument, save my favorite, the Pentel Flair Felt Tip, which some people in this house like to steal from me; a pair of headphones from my Rosetta Stone Italian course; Nirvana’s Nevermind, in its CD case; a pad of blue post-it notes with some etchings regarding Manfrengensen’s work; a toy store receipt; a roll of tape; some notecards in a box; a Hello Kitty memo pad with notes about a car deal I was considering two months ago; an emory board; a gift receipt from Target; three coupons to Macy’s; A Harry Potter LEGO minifigure (WHAT’S HE DOING HERE?); an origami Ninja throwing star; a list of items Clooney’s art teacher is collecting for the local ASPCA; the directions for the Smart Slicer I bought before Thanksgiving; a desk lamp; two speakers; and a Christmas cactus that is so dry it’s basically begging me in its silent plant language for a merciful death.

And the that’s just the top of the desk. I could tell you about the shelves underneath, or the bookshelves surrounding me here, but that might get embarrassing.

Seriously, how do I get anything done in here?

Sunday, Dec 11: Gathering
When you want to gather with friends, where do you go and why?

Well, I have been gathering quite a bit at Panera this year. It seems like every once in a while, I get a place, where you are most likely to find me at certain hours of the day. These days it’s Panera.

Also, we have had quite a few parties and gatherings here at the house. We’ve only been here for a year or so, and it’s a really comfortable space to have people gather. The yard is large, with a swingset/playground, and the basement has lots of things for kids to do as well. It’s nice to bring people in to visit.

Prompts courtesy of Thinkit.com

End of Year Musings Week 1

Posted: December 16, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: blogging, Day-to-Day, family, friends, kids, parenting | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Every year, I try to do one of these daily wrap-up memes, though I have to admit that I have some trouble keeping up. I’m more of a brewer than a spewer, so let’s see if I can catch up here to the people working with thinkit.com.

Week 1

Thursday, Dec 1: Favorite Photo
Have a snapshot that encapsulates your year? Or one that represents a great moment? Maybe it just looks dang cool. Show ‘n tell time — let’s see those pics!

We did a lot of family traveling this year, and just generally had a good time together. In this photo, I am at Universal Studios, Florida drinking Frozen Butterbeer in Hogsmeade Village. This is also the year that I discovered the pleasures of Harry Potter, both in a literary and cinematic sense, and I have Edison to thank for that. Drinking Butterbeer – that was a great moment.

Butterbeer may just be the most delicious thing I have ever imbibed. If you go there, think not of calories, but experience.

Friday, Dec 2: Favorite Music
You know SmallBox likes the rock. We can’t resist asking about your album of the year. Why did it grab you?

Hmm. Hate to say it, but my musical taste pretty much died with Kurt Cobain. This year, I listened to a lot of Green Day (the last two albums) and Weezer, but I still like my Elvis Costello and Aretha Franklin.

Saturday, Dec 3: Favorite Read
What did you read this year that inspired you? Share your favorite book or article.

Wow. That’s hard to say because I read some good books this year. I loved State of Wonder by Anne Patchett, Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann and The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. As far as inspiration goes, I know that while I was listening to The Marriage Plot, I felt my own voice more strongly then. I don’t know if it was the rhythm of Eugenides’ prose or what, but it really pushed me in a positive way.

Sunday, Dec 4: Favorite Meal
Did you eat something this year that knocked your socks off? Maybe you tried something new that’s now a fave. Describe those tasty morsels.

Another good question that’s hard to answer. My favorite restaurant is in Margate, NJ, which is south of Atlantic City (in fact, if you look at your Monopoly board, and you see Marvin Gardens — that’s actually in Margate.) Anyway, my favorite restaurant is Tomatoes. They have a crab pasta that’s awesome. It’s more crab than pasta, just chunks and chunks of sauteed-in-garlic-and-olive-oil white crab meat. Good stuff.

Also, anything my father makes, is just to die for as well. He also makes a kind of crab pasta that’s really good, and sometimes he does the same thing with shrimp that makes me wish I were more like a cow — you know, like I had four stomachs

Lucy is a building shaped like an elephant built in 1881. She's right off the beach in Margate.

to put the stuff in. It’s heavenly. He will spend an unbelievable amount of time preparing meals for us as well. He preps his food so lovingly. In fact, I have seen him wash a piece of lettuce and then carefully dry it with a paper towel like it’s a newborn baby.

Anyway, this scampi he makes has little bits of carrot that he slices into small, paper-thin squares. He puts a little clam juice in there too. It’s just the best stuff on the planet.

Monday, Dec 5: Events
What event stood out for you this year? Where was it? Who was there? What did it look like?

I didn’t actually attend any notable events that I can think of right away. In terms of current events, we spent a lot of time in our house talking about natural disasters. Clooney was obsessed with news from the tsunami in Japan, and was thrilled (as well as freaked out) to be in the path of Hurricane Irene, which forced us to cut short our week at the beach.

Tuesday, Dec 6: Community
Where do you go where everyone knows your name?

Everywhere I go.

Wednesday, Dec 7: Neighborhood
Tell a neighborhood story. Did you meet someone new? Run into an old friend? Find a hidden spot you love?

I have made a few new friends in the neighborhood this year, which is cool. Clooney’s got a new bus stop and I really like the ladies who gather there to drop off/pick up their offspring. I have quite a few stories, I guess, and we have had some laughs there in all kinds of weather. I wrote about one of the days here: Random Notes.

Recently I made one of the ladies laugh, and that laughter still rings in my ears for some reason. I don’t know, maybe she didn’t expect me to say what I said, but her laugh just burst out of her in a really delightful way.

It started out with a compliment about her boots. They were really cool knee-high numbers, and she had calves that were just right for the fit. “Yeah,” I said, “I just don’t have the calves for knee-high boots. If I wore boots like that, my head would turn blue.”

I don’t know, that just tickled her funny bone for some reason. And it was a beautiful thing.


Top Five Gifts for the Children of People You Hate (Egghead edition)

Posted: December 10, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: family, funny, parenting, products | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Since many bloggers seem to be putting together this kind of list at this time of year, I thought I would offer you my contenders:

1. The Orbees Soothing Spa

What are the beads made of anyway?

Five minutes of bliss for your daughter (who let’s face it, would have to be under the age of 8 not to want the real thing instead), five years of finding little colored balls in your carpet, under the bed, in a shoe, under the sofa, in the dog’s bowl…you get the idea.

2. Anything Made by Mattel since 1987

Four hours to put together the Barbie Dream house, and the furniture stays together pretty well…as long as nobody actually plays with it. The Princess has this exact Barbie house. The furniture fell apart so many times that she just finally gave up on it. It’s just cheap (and yet not cheaply priced) Chinese-manufactured crap. Don’t even get me started on the elevator. The same goes for anything Hot Wheels related.

3. Fart Whistle

Needless to say, hours and hours of fun for the whole family. And — how old is that guy on the package supposed to be?

4. Any Kind of Voice Changing Device

Pretty much anything that makes electronic noise is annoying, but when kids can take their own voices and magnify and distort them, well, the fun never stops. At least not until you take a hammer to the thing.

5. Any Craft That is Way Beyond the Child’s Appropriate Age Level

Yes, that's a gingerbread house.

While crafts by themselves present enough set-up/clean-up work for any parent, a craft that the child can’t actually do by him- or herself is the eighth circle of hell. Even for the most Martha-Stewarty mother.

Good luck with your holiday shopping!

Sexist, shmexist

Posted: December 9, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Books, family, parenting | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

The other day, The Princess was coloring a picture from The Nutcracker. It was a man in Chinese silk pajamas that she was coloring red with a big fat crayon.

“Who’s that girl?” Clooney asked.

“That’s not a girl,” The Princess corrected him. “It’s a boy.”

“It can’t be a boy,” Clooney protested. “Boys don’t do ballet.”

They got into an argument, which, they naturally brought to me for judgement. My ruling was that Clooney was being sexist.

“Cool,” he said smiling at his sister. “I’m sexiest.”

And I had to explain to him that sexist and sexiest are not the same thing at all. (And by the way, how does an eight-year-old even know what “sexiest” is??)

So, any way, speaking if sexist (not sexiest) I had been waiting a long time to be able to read the Madeline books to The Princess. At first she wasn’t into them, so we never really got through the story. Then the other night, I tried again, and we made it all the way through the first one. She liked it okay, but here’s the thing: Clooney loved it. Not only did he love it, but the next night, after he had fallen asleep, and I went to tuck him in, the Madeline book was lying by his bed. He had read it again on his own.

It never occurred to me to feed the Madeline books to my son. Sexist, right? So I bought one of the sequels, Madeline’s Rescue, and when I read it to them, he laughed and laughed like the end was the funniest thing he’s ever heard. Last night, he finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which he’d been working on since right before Thanksgiving. And when I went to tuck him in, after he’d fallen asleep, I found Madeline’s Rescue on top of the Rowling.

Zombies, Shmombies

Posted: October 26, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Entertainment, family, Media, movies, parenting, people | Tags: , | Leave a comment

There seems to be a lot of zombies out there this season. For some reason, zombies are in. There’s The Walking Dead, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, video games with zombies, and about a million movies about zombies. All the kids I’m talking to on the bus stop, they’re planning to be zombies for Halloween.

I hate zombies. I pretty much feel the same way about zombies as I do about roller coasters. Call me crazy, but when it comes to roller coasters…well, they’re not my thing. I don’t know if I will live to be 110 years old, but even if I do, that puts death close enough for comfort. I don’t need to artificially enhance the feeling of imminent death. As far away as death might be at any moment, that’s close enough for me.

And that’s how I feel about zombies. I encounter enough people on a regular basis, working, driving, talking about Celebrity Apprentice, that I don’t need any fictional zombies.

A kid’s video review of Pottermore.com

Posted: September 29, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Books, Entertainment, family, Media, movies, parenting | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

Wizard of Oz Party

Posted: September 10, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: family, Food, kids, parenting | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

My daughter turned six last week, and she wanted to have  a Wizard of Oz themed party. For her cake, I decided to do a rainbow layered thing. The idea was to make it shaped like a house, and have the Wicked Witch of the East’s legs sticking out from under it.

A few days before making the cake, I used gum paste to make the legs. I added some food coloring to make the shoes, and then I rolled those in colored sugar to make them sparkle.

I also used the gum paste to make the door and windows for the house. For the bottom layer of the cake, I used a 13×9″ pan, and one box of chocolate cake mix. Then, I used two boxes of yellow cake to make the house part. I wanted to do six layers, one for each color of the rainbow, so I divided the batter by six — and it came out to about 1 and a third cups each.

Purple was in the oven when I took this photo.

I used an 8×8 pan to make the layers for the house.

I don’t really like fondant cakes, so I don’t work with fondant. First of all, I don’t think fondant is all that tasty, but also, like I have said in the past, I don’t claim to be any kind of Martha Stewart. I don’t believe all cakes were made to look professional. They should look homemade. If anything, you should want your professionally made cakes to look like they’re homemade so that all of your party guests will think you spent all day toiling in the kitchen. That’s the mark of a good hostess.

Anyway, fully assembled and iced:

Then I went to get my daughter from school, and I guess I had assembled it too quickly, because when I got home, the whole back side had slid off:

But no, worries, just more frosting, and I kept this side against the wall:

Inside the cake:

Other touches included a green punch made of ginger ale, pineapple juice and sherbet. I put a witch’s hat over the punch bowl, so that it had looked like the witch had melted there. The punch was just okay. I mean, who even drinks punch anymore? Isn’t punch sort of a thing from a bygone era…like aspic?

I also had potato sticks to represent the Scarecrow’s straw, and a bowl full of animal crackers (Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!) The cowardly lion didn’t have much representation here, but I had silver-colored plates and napkins in honor of the Tin Man, and we also had a “Pin the Heart on the Tin Man” game.

Last, but not least, were the goodie bags, done in the color of those magical shoes. Inside there were bubbles (like those of Glenda the Good Witch) and (Manfrengensen’s idea) munchkins from Dunkin Donuts.

It was a fun party, and we all had a good time. Though by the end of the evening, I was glad to be able to put my feet up after  everyone realized that there was no place like home.

Random Notes from the First Week of School

Posted: September 10, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Day-to-Day, family, kids, parenting | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

Waiting at the bus stop with other parents, one woman remarked on the toe rings of an Indian woman who was also sending her kids on the bus. The Indian woman explained that the rings were put there by her husband at their wedding, which we suburban American housewives found fascinating.. And then she did the coolest thing: she told us about herself. I’m not the kind of person who pries into the lives of others, so I’ve never had the stones to ask an immigrant what it’s like for them. And the crazy thing is that I am curious, but I don’t want to bother them.

Anyway, she told us about the toe rings, and how she never takes them off. And she also explained that the diamond stud in her left nostril was put there by her mother when she came of age. It was a symbol to the community that she was a woman. (I told her that the symbol for me was standing in line at the drug store buying maxi-pads. I think I like her culture better.)

“People in my office think I am some kind of hipster, that I am so cool,” she said, “but I am really just a conservative Indian woman.”

And then she looked wistfully at her 10-year-old daughter and shrugged her shoulders. “But that’s just me. It is not the way for her.”

I don’t know, it was just a beautiful moment in my otherwise waterlogged week.

I really like Indian culture too. I do think she’s a hipster! I wish I could wear a sari without looking like I’m making some bold fashion statement. The way Indian women dress is something I find incredibly beautiful. It’s so much better than the way American women dress with our sexuality on display. Indian women dress in a feminine style that means something…something other than check out these ta-tas — and it’s absolutely timeless. I’ll tell you what — there are no Indian Winx, and that’s a good thing.

Speaking of culture clashes, ever since Edison was in second grade, he has loved the following joke: Why is six afraid of seven? Because seven eight nine. Get it? He finds that hilarious after all these years. We all have that kind of joke, don’t we? For me it’s that I have a dentist appointment at tooth-hurty. He he he.

Anyway, Edison started taking Spanish this week, and over dinner, he told us that the joke doesn’t work in Spanish because “siete ocho nueve!” Ha ha ha. (He added the ha’s in a deep voice.)

Siete ocho nueve.

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