Yurm

We had ham. But for Mother: cornish game hens. I roasted them with orange peels, zaatar, thyme and butter.

We also had the usual suspects: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, dressing, green beans...and, of course, spanikopita. Because the Greeks know what's good. I'm not Greek, but I recognize genius when I see it.

Mmm...with one big fork for me. Me!

Geography

So I'm reading The Atlantic. There's an article about food insecurity. Looks good. Let's check that out.

La dee dah, interesting stuff. Oh, look: a map of food insecurity among children in the US. First reaction: happy that Utah does ok at helping children eat.

The author, though, points out the two states that seem worst off: Arizona and Missouri.

Wait. Missouri's dark. Why Missouri? Arkansas, on the other hand - that's pale. Is it possible that a major national magazine just mixed up Arkansas and Missouri? Maybe. And, you know, I notice one more thing. Arizona's darker than New Mexico.

IS IT POSSIBLE that The Atlantic mixed up *both* Arizona/New Mexico and Missouri/Arkansas?

Too much eggnog. That's my theory.

Hey...Sally?

 

I like to check the weather. Because, you know, snow. Or not, this week. But this morning...what's today's forecast?

 

 

Not too cold. That's good. Partly cloudy, sounds fine. Oh, and...

 

Sally? 

I think someone's been playing with the interwebs this morning. 

Trouble

 What happens when a little boy can't play Lego?

Friday, Iain tried to pry apart two Legos with his teeth. We strictly forbid putting Legos in your mouth. Never, ever. So Charles laid down the law: no Legos until Monday. Ouch!

Saturday, Iain suffered only minimally. He spent much of mid-day at a great birthday party. Then it was time to chill until his new (awesome) babysitter came over. Then cookie-making until bedtime.

But today....todaytodaytoday. All day to play...what? He improvised. And the result you see above.

At 3:30, he asked to watch TV. Ok, we said, if you clean your room. Fifteen minutes later, voila! And now he's watching some hideously violent thing about dinosaurs seeking water but finding - in a tar pit - only death. Death!

BBE

We needed a babysitter tonight. One of my former students agreed to come.

She and Iain made chocolate chip cookies.

Best.Babysitter.Ever.

Don't we have a dinner party next weekend? What about Tuesday? Anything Tuesday?

[ETA: It's bad when you don't want to yawn because the dog smells SO BAD. That's bad, right?]

New York - The Met

We visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My mother especially loves the Egyptian wing, so we lingered there.

But after a while, mummies get a little dull. It's dull with a touch of maybe-it'll-rise-up-and-smite-me, but still dull. So I found a bit of stairway to sit on (no benches at the Met!). Someone left the worksheet you see above.

Whoever this kid was, he's a bright one. He noticed all the little details on whatever he observed. What does he see? "vegetables, bread, goat or beef, squash, ribs, leaks [sic], onions." What does he think? "[He] has beer inside the jug." What does he wonder? "If these people are gods or pharohs [sic]"

Pretty good stuff. Too bad he left it behind.

New York - Woodlawn

Last weekend I flew to New York to speak at Woodlawn Cemetery. That's where Thomas Nast lies buried, alongside his wife Sarah (Sallie) Nast. Above, me with the main monument. The two graves are in the foreground.

Since Mother grew up in the Bronx, our hosts took a photo of the two of us, on "home ground."

We learned several interesting things at Woodlawn. For one thing, there are eight spots in the Nast plot but only Thomas and Sallie are there. Hmmm...

Also, if you look at the top of the main Nast monument, it's oddly pocked. We thought there must have been something there. The director of educational events at Woodlawn looked into it and YES, there was. It was a - are you ready for this? - Tiffany-designed silver vase. Naturally, someone popped into the cemetery and took it. Boo.

Things Not Yet Finished

 Iain's quilt is old. Old, as in made when I was still trying to figure out quilting without ever looking at a book or asking anyone. So it has lumps because I was all, "just roll out the batting stuff and then sew the edges. Meh! It'll be fine!" No.

I offered Iain the pick of my fabric bucket (a 2'x4' bucket) and he chose an interesting mix of batiks and children's fabric. I made some squares because what I've learned about quilting is: KISS.*

We drove down to Holladay to find edging and batting, and Iain liked this ombre polka dot. The back (unphotographed because that's how I roll - forgetfully) is a chain of orange, blue, and green elephants of varying sizes.

Is it done? Ha! I made the "sandwich" a couple of weeks ago. This weekend, I need to break out the sewing machine and get quilting. Once that's done, binding. And then, at last, we can retire the nasty, old, stained, disintegrating, lumpy quilt from long ago.

So, maybe in the new year. Maybe.


*Keep It Simple, Stupid