Big Leaf

Tonight when returning home from my bro-in-law Jon's birthday celebration I found the biggest maple leaf I've ever seen. Where in the heck did this thing come from?

Summer Feet

I swear my hubby is a walking ad for Chaco!

Melt

It's awesome to see little signs of spring popping up everywhere! Since our yard doesn't have much southern exposure we don't really have anything green showing itself just yet. We have, however, seen a massive melt. Nearly all of the six foot tall snow drifts we had are completely gone except for about a little six inch snow mountain.

I was in the Tosa Village earlier this week for an appointment and took some time to walk around. I visited the Little Read Book, Salamander and nosed around near the river. The torrent of water in the river interested me and I caught what I felt was an artful shot. Funny how we went from this just a month or so ago...


Huge wedge after the neighbors snowblowed us.


Snow shoeing on our street before it was plowed.

To this now...


Massive melt!

Not much new happening in our lives except trying to get out from underneath a pile of mess created over the past few weeks as we completely abandoned our personal life for our political life. Ry gets nearly all of the credit for any cleaning that's happened this weekend. Though I managed to cook a few things for the first time today: a nummy soup with ingredients from the new Asian food store around the corner and some Veganomicon banana bread muffins.



Other new things, I'm starting volunteering as a adult literacy tutor this Tuesday and I'm attempting to make curtains for the first time ever. A friend who owns Drawstring Studio ordered the fabric especially for me and even let me take the bolt home to measure out what I needed. Talk about accommodating! Measuring stressed me out because it's my first real sewing project with my sewing machine and even simple math is scary to me. But I accomplished it with Ry's help. He was especially patient with me and my crabbiness at doing something new. New things are very, very hard for me. But hopefully when I am done these curtains will make our retro kitchen look even more awesome!



Lastly, I've apparently become the type of person who writes my municipal officials as well as my state legislators. Today I wrote to my Alderman, Bob Donovan, because there is a new business that opened in a vacant store front around the block from our house that looks absolutely horrible. I guess the owners' idea of advertising is propping a twin mattress wrapped in plastic with a shoddy handwritten sign in Sharpie outside their storefront. This just does not cut it for me. It especially doesn't cut it for me when it's out there in the rain or snow sopping wet.

I guess another good thing about the political ridiculousness of our state right now is that it is getting me more involved at the local level. I now know all of my state and city representatives by name and overall, I am pleased with my representation. At this point there is only room for me to become even more aware, which I fully intend to do.

Speaking of seasonal change and impending spring, I hear thunder outside for the first time in months!

Snow Day

The storm has finally stopped and we are both home on snow days. Well, I'm on a pseudo snow day considering I have to take vacation, but the university is closed to the public and I am permitted to take leave if I don't deem the drive to work safe. Judging from my hour-long trek home last night I didn't believe it would be safe this morning, so Ry and I stayed up late having a Lost Season 6 (we're a bit behind) and junk food marathon (cheesy doritos, double-stuf oreos, chips 'n salsa and pineapple tidbits). It felt a little like a fifth grade sleepover, except a boy was invited. It wasn't until after I emailed my boss, who luckily enough is in Florida for a conference, that I learned I-43 had essentially been shut down because all of the snow plows were attempting to help stranded motorists.

Ry shoveled for an hour this morning while I slept. In that time he was only able to shovel a fifty foot section of our frontage and both sets of walkway stairs. It usually takes us 20 minutes to do the whole thing if we're working hard. But we have over 100 yards of sidewalk between our corner lot and our portion of the alley. We also have a freakishly wide sidewalk at about five feet across, must be some kind of park neighborhood amenity. Not much of an amenity in this weather, instead, it's truly like clearing a football field.

Ry woke me up requesting that I make him oatmeal for fuel. I obliged as he'd done all the hard labor so far. I asked if he wanted oatmeal or eggs and he responded "both." Then he went on to ask for eggs on top of his oatmeal, yucky. But I made him his piping hot bowl of blueberry pecan oatmeal with an over-easy egg on top, which he just devoured. As I was making breakfast our neighbor came by and started to snow blow our sidewalk. We ducked down like silly little kids, not wanting him to see us lazying around while he did hard work for us. We kept our fingers crossed that he would come by and blow a wider path, which he did and voila! the job was done. I had shoveled this man's front sidewalk once just out of kindness and boredom, so I didn't feel so bad. Ry says we'll make him cookies and take them over with a thank you note later on.

Since we're not going anywhere I can safely say the rest of the day holds more Lost and laundry as we prepare to go chaperone the Model UN Club's University of Chicago Conference field trip for the second year in a row.

Here are some pics from our blizzardy little corner of the city:

We have pretty massive icicles on each of our gutters. We are gonna have to do something about that once things warm up a little.

The man prepares for hard labor.

Holy drift!

Look at how deep it is, up to his knees.

Heavy, heavy. Those of you that live in apartments have the last laugh!

Wearing a hat over your hood is always an attractive idea!

Our back bedroom window is completely covered by a drift. This kitchen window, not too bad.

Anyone want to sit out on the porch?

Teacher's Convention Weekend 2010

For the last several years we've planned getaways for Teacher's Convention weekend. Nothing solidly planned this year turned into a pleasant hodgepodge that provided a little taste of many things. It didn't have all the expectations of something you plan in advance and it breathed some spontaneity into our normally quiet weekends. There's freedom in deciding what you'll do at the spur of the moment and real enjoyment in discovering new things. It makes me feel like an explorer.

Thursday

I took off work to attend a continuing education course related to substance abuse at the UW-Madison Extension. Ry tooled around all day doing his own thing while I sat in a day-long course at the Pyle Center. The course was useful enough and it's always invigorating to learn something new that will stretch me professionally. After the course ended we met a friend of Ry's back from his college student teaching days named Darcy. We dined at Graze (a down-market sister of L'Etoile that uses locally sourced ingredients) with Darcy and her husband Andy. It's rare that you do the couple "first date" thing and it ends up swimmingly. However, this was the exception to the rule. They were super cool and I enjoyed myself quite a bit. They are into cooking, gardening, canning, literature, home projects and all things interesting. So, rock on Darcy and Andy.

Friday

We had firm plan to visit Ikea to purchase some sort of sidebar/buffet/shelving system to fill up our very long and empty kitchen wall. We'd been looking around for a while without much luck, so we figured the Swedish giant would have something. I've only been there one other time on a Saturday, we walked through a tiny portion of one story and I almost flipped out in a full -n panic attack and we left right after we found what we came for. The store was bearable on a Friday during the week and we had a mission, so we stuck it out for three hours looking at all of the options until we came up with the perfect option.


Having a little too much fun with the cart!


I made Ry pose for this pic, which apparently embarrassed him. I learned afterward that he's not all about this type of tom-foolery in stores. You learn something new about your partner every day and I can respect that for the future.

The combination we picked out wasn't actually assembled together anywhere on the floor, but we dreamed it up and were happy with the results. The pics don't do these justice, but they look very nice, especially with the track lighting system we've got that shines right down on it. Ry got the great idea to put our china in it and the silver detailing just sparkles in the light. This sparkling-bling-china-thing seems a little upscale-snooty for my taste, but I was so happy with the results. It looks downright classy.


Full-frontal.


Another kitchen angle.

We took so long in Ikea that we weren't going to be able to do some of the other things we wanted to in Chicago, so we decided to drive into the city and spend an impromptu night. Ry has been jonesing to eat at a vegetarian restaurant he used to frequent when he lived in the city called The Chicago Diner. We enjoyed delicious vegan potstickers, lentil cakes, a seitan gyro and a vegan reuben with bubbly beverages. Weirdly enough, our waitress was a girl who has served us at Beans and Barley many times. We also knew the Manager who happened to be a friend of a friend.


Mural under the 'L' on the way to the restaurant.


Neon with hipster waiter rushing through.


Bill with little note indicating Wisconsin love from our server.

We called up a boutique hotel called the Hotel Burnham and were able to get a room. It was luxurious, cozy and historical, just what the doctor ordered. We stopped into the Walgreen's next door and bought toothbrushes and some candy (funny combo). We chilled out in our complementary robes and watched movies until late into the night.


View of the Trump tower from our window.


Hanging art exhibit in Burnham lobby.


Breakfast in the Atwood Cafe, the house restaurant.

Saturday

At least once a year we visit the National Museum of Mexican Art Day of the Dead exhibit and the Lincoln Park Conservatory for a stroll down memory lane. We went to both of these places on a chilly December date about a week after we first got together. It was a magical time and it's nice to relive it with warm fuzzies each year. Not to mention that we also like hanging out in Pilsen for its Mexican flavor. This year we added the Lincoln Park Zoo to our agenda. The weather was warm and sunny, but also cool, a perfect mix for a fall lakeside stroll.


Ah, Pilsen, you're such a colorful neighborhood.

Beautiful little urban treasures.

Hmmm, Chiapan artist...not quite sure what you're trying to say here. Just kidding.

Day of the Dead offering.

La Guadalupana.

Flamingos at the zoo.

Fiddler at the zoo.

Cool old-fashioned sign. I highly recommend their winter seasonal exhibit starting in December.

In the Palm Room.

In the Orchid House recreating a shot from one of our loverliest dates ever.


Dessert at Pizzeria Spacca Napoli to finish off a sweet day.

Sunday
Ry spent a good chunk of the day assembling Ikea shelves while I raked the yard. We also hung up some items we hadn't been able to get to yet like our colorful Oaxacan cross purchased at a mercado in Mexico City, a decorative leaf wall sconce above our bed, papel picado paper cutouts to celebrate the Day of the Dead and our chat lunatique sign in the kitchen. The house is starting to feel much more like our house now that we are getting the last of our items up.

We had only a few trick or treaters who got a kick out of us having our cat out on a leash. There were many comments about his pretty silver coat and his green eyes. We carved punkins together at night and Silvio escaped and climbed up a tree. Ry was able to grab him down by his tail at the last second. I roasted punkin seeds and cleaned up while Ry finished his crazy-super-detailed carving.



Colorful tree. This is actually deceiving since I raked the whole yard except between those two bushes.

Cat on a leash.

Ry with his super complicated stencil. I just want to point out that he carved the Mexican revolutionary Zapata, while I carved a smiley face jack-o-lantern.

Punkin guts.

From the curb.

Up close.

Roasted seeds. Yeo family recipe.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend! I wish for another pleasant little odyssey just like it sometime soon. Well, maybe not just like it, but full of the same spirit of variety.

Love For The Library

This week has been utterly swallowed up by work. Not in the same way it used to be, where I'd work until the wee hours of the night responding to emergencies or leading staff meetings. But just days full to the point of bursting and spilling over a bit into the early evening, though largely pleasant and stimulating. I still get several hours of my night time at home, which this week has gone to running errands, doing laundry and unexpected pop-ins from family.

On Tuesday night we made it to the main Milwaukee Public Library in search of a specific book, a memoir, I'd been looking for called Losing The Garden. I heard an NPR interview with the author that was haunting and reflective. The book revolves around Laura Waterman's back-to-the-land-movement-style life as a homesteader in rural Vermont, her husband's long battle with inner demons (likely bipolar disorder), their marriage and his eventual suicide. The thing that makes their story a little different is the fact that he expressed his desire to end his life to Laura and she allowed him to make this choice by hiking up into the White Mountains and freezing to death. Sounds morbid and I'm not too far into it, so I don't know for sure, but what I gathered from the interview was that this memoir was a reflection on their life together and her process of deconstructing this choice and its effect on both of them. The thing that drew me in was the idea of learning more about their successful life as homesteaders for over 20 years and my interest in all things mental health, particularly understanding and preventing suicide.

After I found the book, I spent time roaming the library and exploring. I love this library and I always have. Though it's downtown, my family house was close enough that I could easily scoot down Wisconsin Avenue to spend time there and benefit from the much larger holding than my own near-suburban branch of the library. The grand mosaic-tiled entryway capped by a rotunda, the wide marble columns, the sweet smell of old, humid paper and even the homeless men who are invariably hanging out all the time peppering the steps or enjoying the warmth and comfort of the interior make it a homey and familiar place for me.

On the way in I checked out the display books, which usually peak my interest and I pick something out I didn't expect. This time it was Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating by Erik Marcus. Since I still have a desire to be vegan, but I've been finding it difficult, I thought it might be helpful to gain additional motivation and purpose to move a step back in that direction. Even though it wasn't what I came for, I've read almost the entire book already and found it fascinating.

After I located the book I came for, I wandered up and down the maze of the stacks looking for Ry, but couldn't find him. So, I decided to check out the Children's Library. I'd never been in this part of the library, but when we walked past the large windows outside, I saw the metal cutout of a playful looking lizard on top of one of the pendant lights and it made me giggle. When I was wandering inside, I realized this lamp must be in the kids section, so I decided to visit. I also love children's books and often think it would be interesting to try and write one, perhaps even work with my sister Greta or Ry's brother Steven, both artists who could illustrate. Ah, food for thought, another fleeting idea. Maybe someday. The Children's Library was thoughtfully decorated with several interactive displays, many colorful picture books, a reading area and computers equipt with learning programs.

On my way out I noticed a picture book with print illustrations in the New Arrivals area called Seasons by Blexbolex. It looked colorful and made me smile, so I decided to take it home with me. Upon further inspection, I learned the Blexbolex is a French print-artist who has a very particular style that is both retro and contemporary at the same time. The book was originally released in France last year. When I looked at the pictures and the sentiments it expressed, it seemed utterly French to me. Something that brought me a moment of connection with my French studies in college and even earlier.







My love for the library is strong, as well as many other public ventures that improve peoples' quality of life. Public library, public radio, public television, public healthcare, public education, public parks, public assistance for those who are struggling. In light of the current election cycle, I guess that makes me a communist. A healthy, well-feed, well-read, well-educated and happy communist.

I've been keeping a running tally of the books I've read throughout 2010 and am gearing up for a year-end book-roll where I'll revisit them with synopses and brief reviews. Not sure whether this will truly be interesting to readers, but I think it will be an interesting and useful reflection time for me. So, as the holiday season and new year approaches, get ready!

Finally, there's not been much cooking this week, but I did make my usual Sunday pot of experimental soup with cupboard staples and all leftover vegetables that need to be used up. Ry made homemade sourdough English muffins, a hearty sourdough miche, and a country sourdough round with a leaf stencil decoration.


Tomato, kale, potato soup with rosemary. Michigan brie, Rothkase herbed smoked cheese from Holland. Homemade sourdough. La Vielle Ferme red wine.

Sourdough miche. Ry's own creation.

Leaf stenciled country sourdough round.

Slashing detail.