juliloquy

look what I found in my draft folder

We put our house on the market in early April and had an offer not 18 hours after it went on the MLS. Now that it's all settled I can reveal that Molly, who rented two doors down from our neighbor, Cheshire, was our buyer. We were/are so attached to that crazy West Philly house that it's nice for us to know and approve of who it's going to.

HPR began his job at the end of April and stayed in a bunkhouse on park property. The kids and I stayed in Philly; I extended my work end date to May 15 to help out my boss. My parents came for about 10 days during that time and we really couldn't have done it without them. With our vintage Radio Flyer in hand, they made trip after trip to the liquor store to pick up boxes. They packed, cooked, and helped take care of the kids. Roo had a fever and couldn't to to daycare for two days while they were there; I couldn't miss those days of work, but didn't have to since Mom and Dad were there to help out.

The sellers of our Frederick house had already moved out, so we set up a prior occupancy arrangement. The first Monday after my job ended (May 18) we sent the kids to daycare and packed all day. That evening we drove to HPR's mom and stepdad's place to stay the night. We left the kids with them Tuesday and packed all day. Wednesday morning we picked up the U-Haul truck (with a good-luck horseshoe crab design adorning it), the Sultans of Schlep* loaded it. Those guys are amazing in the Tetris-like loading of a moving truck. I took off for the 3-hour trip in our car loaded with clothes, cats, and coffee machine and did the walk-through with our MD realtor. HPR followed a few hours later, driving the moving truck. His parents drove the kids down. We had hoped to get a lot of unloading done (ourselves - we hired the Sultans only for loading) before the kids arrived, but of course underestimated how long everything would take. The truck was a 2-day rental, so we took turns unloading what we could [this is where I stopped in June because I bored myself] while the kids were awake, then did more after they went to bed. But not much more, because we were exhausted.

I think sufficient time has passed for me to blog about the carport snafu.

Before we went to bed, one of us mentioned that we should pull the truck further up our driveway so that it didn't stick out into the cul-de-sac. So that person got into the drivers' seat with instructions to the other to give hand motions to stop. Long story short, the driver started up, tried the accelerator a bit, braked, then mixed up the pedals and "stop STOP STOP!!!" from the signaler and /crunch/ went the carport gutter. 

Hello, neighbors. Yes, we're the new neighborhood urban elitist literati who don't know how to operate heavy machinery. Commence the rolled eyes and laughter at our expense from behind your screened windows.

The rest of the physical move was mostly uneventful, although HPR had a back spasm when we were about 3/4 unloaded.

So so so glad the move is behind us. Here is Roo enjoying the truck's ramp.

*Yes, I hired them just because of the name (and good reviews).

It's 10:52 p.m. on Sunday, so you get pictures.

To illustrate the difference one year and three months can make.

Sorry for the blurry, but awwww.

 

sheesh, this is becoming a cat blog

When we were trying to decide which cat to adopt from Animal Control, Shmoo was lobbying hard for a kitten. HPR and I prefer adult cats, thinking they are harder for shelters to "move." Shmoo said, "but if we get a kitten, maybe Stella will come back to take care of it."

It made me cry.

Despite his rationale, we chose a two- to four-year-old kitty and brought her home two days ago. And today . . .

Stella returned!

At about one this afternoon we came home from picking up a DC friend. I let Loki out. Then our neighbor came over and told me that Stella was in our yard. Loki was chasing her, and not in a nice way. I chased after him/them for a bit, but I realized I first had to go in to re-sequester the new cat in the playroom, then nab Loki and throw him into the house, then coax Stella into my arms.

I carried Stella into our room and brought her food and water. She has lost quite a bit of weight and was in that on-edge state that wild animals have. She ate and ate. And talked and talked. She was talking so much that I worried that she might be hurt. I brought a litter box in for her and then left her alone for a bit, checking in on her from time to time.

By the time we got home from picking up HPR from work, she was back to her old self. She was gone for three weeks exactly. We'll probably never know her story, but we're so glad she's back.

So. Um. I guess we're a three-cat household now.

We have renamed Savannah. She is now Fritchie. You know, after Barb. Shmoo says we can keep Savannah as her middle name.

these holiday displays just keep getting earlier and earlier

Not even the Christmas cactus could wait until after Thanksgiving.

farewell, sweet girl

It has been nearly three weeks now since Stella disappeared. It seems unlikely that she will return.

Loki has seemed pretty depressed, although he has seemed better the past few days. But we thought he'd be too lonely without a kitty companion. We have adopted a kitty from the county shelter. Not sure how long that link will be active, so I'll put in her photo here. The shelter folks named her Savannah.

Of course, our home will always be open if Stella returns.

We miss her.

processing

I received the shocking news today that the woman who took over my Philadelphia job had a heart attack and died at work on October 26. I didn't know her, although she had called me and we exchanged a few emails at the end of September as she was preparing for an upcoming board meeting. I don't have many specifics about her life or death. She had begun her work with the Academy in August.

My former boss is dealing with some serious health issues of her own. I have been in only sporadic communication with her; our move and adjustment has taken most of my energy these past six months, as did a big freelance project I worked on through September and October.

I don't really have much to say about these incidents. No major conclusions to draw. I am thinking, however, of the office that she occupied, which I occupied for six years. I can visualize her in that familiar setting. Her hands touching the keyboard that I used, in the chair I sat in. Doing the work that is so familiar to me. I think of my former colleagues in the building who were there when she died. Who must have tried to help her. I can picture the moment her spirit left her body in that beautiful confusion of release and reunion.

Flying.

baa baa bat eep, hay ay woof?

Roo has been singing up a storm and we want to capture it all on video. She doesn't want us to sing along, as you'll hear after I try to join in. "No, I want to sing ALL BY 'auf."

We also love the place in the video where she is distracted by something on the road behind me, then something on the ground.

the kitchen bloggess

It's kitchen tips day here at juliloquy!

I don't know whether I've mentioned here before my great veggie-soup-stock-making technique. I learned it from my college housemate, Mikee, and have been doing it ever since (when freezer space has allowed, that is). Whenever you have veggie ends and peels that you'd otherwise throw out (onion and garlic skins and ends, carrot peels and ends, potato peels, broccoli/cauliflower stalks, etc.), save them in a container in the fridge. When you have a good reserve (perhaps a full pint or quart of these castaways), put 'em in a big soup pot with a bunch of water. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for a few hours. Let it cool, then strain the stock through some cheesecloth (or a tea towel) and freeze the stock in 2- to 4-cup containers. You can keep some in the fridge, too, if you plan to use it within a week or so. I recall Mikee saying that pepper guts are pretty much the only thing that doesn't work well in stock. I've even used apple peel, pumpkin and squash skins, and the occasional turkey bacon rind.

We try to eat seasonally/locally as much as possible, but the downside of course is that it's hard to find anything green in the winter. Note: you know my blog is not commercial, so this is in no way an advertisement. Just something I love that has been fun for the kids, too. We bought a kitchen sprouter a while back. We also got the seed sampler to go with it. Shmoo loves picking out the seeds to go into the various trays. Keep it near the sink and pour water in twice a day. We have had great results with our sprout crops. They work best at room temperature or a bit lower, which meant we took the summer off from sprouting since we don't run the air conditioning very often.

guest post - Shmoo and Buddy Bear

Shmoo's class has a mascot, Buddy Bear, whom the kids take turns taking home for the weekend. They write/draw/tell about their adventures. HPR and Shmoo wrote up our weekend and here it is.

Friday

Buddy Bear and I rode to my house in the bicycle trailer. Mommy pedaled. I wore my helmet, and Buddy Bear was safe in the backpack. When we got home, we made soup and Buddy Bear helped. It had squash, apples, coconut, and cashews, and Buddy Bear put in the apples and stock. Then Daddy came home from work, and he was surprised to see Buddy Bear! We played Candy Land, and Buddy Bear won! Hurricane Rooster (my sister [Roo]) tried to wreck the game. It was so late, so we went to bed. We read The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss. We liked it.

Saturday

We woke up early so we could go in Bucky Car to Daddy's work. We dropped him off and went to the "Egg Sandwich Restaurant." Then we went with Mommy to the beach [at Cunningham Falls], but it was closed. The other part wasn't closed, so we went there. We threw acorns into the water. The seeds sank, but the caps did not. We saw some huge birds in cages. The black vulture flapped and pecked at us, but it was in the cage. Maybe it thought we were after its food. There were also owls, hawks, and a falcon.

Then we went to the library in Thurmont. I like that one more than the one in Frederick. They had a snail race, and I guessed that the pink one would win. It did! I played on the computers a little. After that, we went to the nature center in Fountain Rock. We played in the playground and got soaking wet. [Roo] fell asleep, so we didn't feed the fish or turtles. I thought I saw a trout, and it was very big. There's also a lime kiln that dumps burnt lime into wagons.

We went to Daddy's work to pick him up. I bought some tattoos of birds like the ones we saw today. We went to a banquet at Daddy's work. I got two pieces of brownie. One was shaped like a cupcake. Then we went home and it was past my bedtime.

Sunday

It was so sunny that we went to Baker Park instead of Quaker Meeting. Sorry, God, but I wanted to play. We rode the bicycle there, and Mommy pedaled. We went to the fountain, but it had no water or bubbles! (On election day, someone put purple bubbles in it!) I jumped off the stage over and over. I played in the sandbox. I followed a girl in a moon dress. Then we rode home in the bicycle.

We were so sleepy that we took a nap! When we woke up, we made chocolate-chip cookies. Then Daddy came home. We had a dance party and listened to Shonen Knife. Then we wrestled and wrestled.

 

PS: The wrestling photo is from Friday. Today's wrestling photo revealed too much clutter.

our fair city

A few months after we moved to Frederick, HPR reminded me that we had actually been here before. On our way back to Philly from one of HPR's West Virginia training events, Shmoo was being fussy in the car. HPR had heard that Frederick was "cuters" (as our Peace Corps friend, A., would say), so we got off the freeway and looked for a coffee shop. I have only the vaguest recollection of that morning. (I've been sleep-deprived for five years now.) We were charmed by the businesses in the quaint historic district and said we should live here someday.

The New York Times did a nice travel piece on Frederick a year ago. Siblings: please go to the article and notice the photo features O'Hair Salon in the foreground. Others: it's a family thing to collect silly business names for hair-cutting places.