7.31.18 - July joy statuses

 

7.20.18 - This Little Light of Mine

Today Clara and I spent 5-6 hours at Kaiser's autism diagnostic center and they concluded she has Level 1 (mild or high functioning) autism without intellectual impairment. When Clara and I walked to the car at the end, I picked her up and held her for a long time. I think she was tired because she just held me back until I was ready to let go. It felt like a very pivotal day and it had me thinking a lot of Deep Thoughts about Clara, what the future holds for her, and what I as her mother can do for her. It had me thinking a lot about how much I love my kids.

Clara stomps around the courtyard during one of our breaks between tests.

I decided not to try to tackle this new issue tonight and instead just enjoy spending time with Clara and Jane. Jack went to Starbucks to study for the NCLEX so it was just the girls and me at home. Most of it was a typical evening where they played in the living room while I tried to do other things. In fact Jane was being a bit more independent than usual, which was nice. Eventually I put her in her high chair and had Clara come sit at the table to finish the last bits of their fried tortillas and enjoy some pineapple. I didn't want to feed them too much pineapple because I worry the acidity will bother their stomachs but they still seemed hungry so I decided to make them some PBJs.

While they were still sitting at the table I went to the kitchen to get the sandwiches. I started whistling and asked Clara if she could whistle. She smiled really big and basically made humming and squealing noises while trying to hold her mouth in a whistling position. Very sweet. I started whistling parts of "This Little Light of Mine" and she sang "I'm gonna let it shine!" back to me. She and Jane were both fascinated. Then I started pretending to march back and forth across the kitchen while whistling it, similar to the light bulb in this video Clara loves:

She and Jane were delighted by the marching. In fact it was hard for me to keep whistling because if I looked at them I kept laughing.

I brought them their sandwiches and started singing the song to them, first very softly and then with increasing volume, and they were just so excited by this progression. I repeated it several times with them squealing and yelling and laughing. I finally tried to videotape it while still singing and it turned out pretty well.

Overall it was actually a really good day. Clara's diagnosis might mean a lot of changes and uncertainty for us, and that's tricky, but I'm glad we are going to have more information and resources and I feel optimistic that we will do really well now that we know how to move forward. And man, I love being a mom.

7.10.18 - Favorite parts of the Field Day trip

Dad: the balloon fight and karaoke with Julie

Sola: Egg toss and three-legged race.

(Because she crushed it.)

Jill: My favorite part of Field Day was Harrison singing.

(I don't have a pic of Harrison singing but here he is playing hot potato.)

Everett: Henry telling me he's going to give me his super awesome phone come October because he's going to get a new one then.

Henry: water balloon fight

Henry cleans his glasses while Dad takes the fight up a notch with the hose.

Me: Everett singing Led Zeppelin

Neil: I'd say it's tie between the Betrayal game with Ellen where Dad became stupid Ox and bringing Clara in from the car while she was passed out. Beating Everett in chess is a close second. Clara being excited about the plane taking off was also great.

Bryan: My ultimate victory in Munchkin.

Me: I love how much Clara enjoyed the bubble machines and four wheeler and everyone singing karaoke.

Ellen: Dad being dumb Ox was soooo funny. I also really enjoyed day 2 of just hanging around talking.

Julie: Not in any particular order: driving the jeep at the ranch, karaoke, watching my kids run around the ranch, meeting Emily, the five united.

7.4.18 - Kale's wedding

First of all, traveling yesterday by myself (read: without children) was ridiculously easy. I love Sacramento airport with its bright spacious setup, self check-in, automatic water bottle fillers, outlets everywhere, etc. It was so easy going through security by myself without a whole slew of baggage. It was even easier hanging out at the gate by myself sitting on my laptop. Time flew. Then our plane arrived - a newer plane and they did dual boarding, so while I had the chance I tried rear boarding and it sure was faster. The new plane also had a setup where the safety card and in flight magazines and all that are in a holder at the top of the chair and the rear seat mesh pocket is totally empty. I like it. I also like that the part of the chair your eyes naturally fall on is just some literature instead of a TV screen (as other airlines have).

Cinnamon cookies shaped like airplanes!

There were 55 free seats on the flight, and I had the row to myself. I put my things underneath the middle seat and enjoyed looking out the window and getting a few things done on my laptop. There's not much I can get done without internet, though, so I went ahead and did something I very rarely do: watched a movie while doing nothing else. I watched Baby Driver, and I really enjoyed it. Kind of over-the-top action but it was filmed like a comic book, sort of, and I liked the cast and the soundtrack a lot.

It was strange landing in STL when I'm not actually visiting there. I met Henry at the gate for our flight to Raleigh and our layover was very nicely short. Then we chatted the entire next flight (about work and politics) and it went by quickly. Grabbed our rental car, started the 2 hour ish drive to Wilmington, but we couldn't get Bluetooth to work with my phone while the car was in motion, so we pulled over to fix it and to grab North Carolina's equivalent of In & Out: Cook Out. I got a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a Reece's Cup milkshake. Henry got similar but vanilla (hates chocolate). Then we got Bluetooth working out and started talking about our music and how neither of us really gets why everyone hates Nickelback. So then we started listening to Nickleback, which was fun.

I slept a good hour of the drive while he listened to my playlist, and not long after I woke up we made it to our Air B&B, which is basically a two bedroom apartment and pretty nice. I video chatted with Jack and the kids briefly and I really wished I could cuddle them, but it was still good to see them. We didn't talk long because Jane was getting angry she couldn't touch the laptop. So I finished that and then Henry showed me his Chromecast and we watched some Firefly and the rest of Baby Driver and chatted about politics more. Finally went to bed looking forward to the second night of uninterrupted sleep I've had since Jane was born.

It was nice having nowhere to have to be in the morning. I slept in as long as I could and eventually Henry and I got up and walked a block or two to a charming albeit incredibly overpriced Farmer’s market. We got grapes, bananas, white bread, cheese spread, and a couple croissants, and then we went back and ate while half watching Firefly and half doing other things. Very leisurely.

Eventually I did lie down for a brief nap before we actually got ready and headed over to the Magnolia House, a large Southern-style house and backyard that Kale & Fitzy had rented for their wedding. They had actually rented it for an entire week and their bridal party arrived days earlier for game nights and other visiting time. 

Anyway, we found parking with zero trouble  and then went around the back to an almost fully shaded yard with a picket fence and stone walkway. There were maybe a half dozen round top tables with red and blue tablecloths (holiday themed), citronella candles, and complimentary sunscreen and bug spray (though I didn’t ultimately really need either). The guests were wearing “garden party” attire which mostly means the women have colorful printed dresses and fancy sunhats and then men might be wearing slacks and ties or simply khaki pants and button up shirts. But it was very colorful and felt like an old fashioned party.

Kale's mom and her friends

We found Kale pretty quickly and he seemed really happy to see us, which was nice. He’s so easy to talk to. We started chatting immediately but soon he had to go mingle with other guests. So Henry and I went to the buffet where they were serving mac and cheese, green beans, po’ boys, fried chicken, peach cobbler, and sweet tea. We found a table and started chatting with Rob, Sarah, and John, all of whom were from Portland and were friends of Fitzy’s. They were easy enough to talk to and we talked a lot about the different styles of weddings we’ve seen and which ideas we thought were the coolest.

Eventually the dual officiators—a close college friend of Fitzy’s and close high school friend of Kale’s—began the ceremony with some sweet and amusing stories of how they met the bride and groom. Fitzy and Kale walked down their aisle, as it were, and two more friends read poems about love and marriage. I know there was one by Neil Gaiman and one by EE Cummings, and both readers did a great job. Kale and Fitzy shared brief vows and exchanged rings, and like that it was done. Very sweet and simple.

Shortly after they unveiled the wedding cake, which Kale had created himself. It was three tiers of chocolate with white icing and red and blue berries for the 4^th of July. It looked great. As people ate cake Fitzy’s dad and Kale’s mom and dad each made a toast, all of which were also brief and sweet. And not long after that people started migrating inside the house for air conditioning and more games.

While the group we had been sitting with played Sorry (which was fun to listen to), Henry and I chatted with other guests about how our parents came up with our names, varying standards for driver’s tests around the country, and other random topics that flowed pretty easily. I really wanted to talk more to Kale, though, but he of course was busy catching up with all sorts of people. Eventually when I walked by him he just said “Hey!” and I came over and we started chatting nonstop, for quite a while actually, and it was great. I love talking to that guy. He introduced me to his high school friend Becca, who works in a book shop in Boston and has her first book being sold starting next year. That was pretty cool. We also caught up a lot about his research and my kids, etc. We would’ve kept talking longer, as we often do, but someone let us know it was already 8pm and people we’re going to start leaving to walk to the riverfront for fireworks.

Henry and I instead drove back to our Air BnB, which was very much in the same direction as the fireworks launch anyway. We walked from there to the riverfront and the others were only just arriving. Despite massive crowds we actually got a pretty good spot, and while we were waiting for it to get dark enough and for the show to start, Kale told Henry and me about his and Fitzy’s preparation for marriage: various books they read and advice they got. It was pretty impressive actually. As an aside Kale’s mom and her friends were there in blue sparkly hats and gave everyone glow stick bracelets, which I thought was awesome.

Anyway the fireworks show was great. It went on for a long time which gave me a chance to kind of zone out and enjoy it. When it was over people cleared out pretty quickly but our group stayed to light sparklers they had brought, and that was fun and nostalgic too.

Afterward Henry and I went back to the Air BnB briefly so I could chat with my kids before they went to bed.

Then we drove back over to Magnolia House to enjoy chocolate mousse and fruit and play some games. Henry played Euker at one table and I joined Kale, Fitzy, Ed, and his gf (whose name I've forgotten) to play Mysterium at another. It's basically like Clue plus Dixit. It involves a lot of art interpretation, and it was pretty fun. 

By the time we finished the game it was near midnight and Henry and I had to get up pretty early to get to the airport in Raleigh on time. So we said our goodbyes and headed out. But it was a wonderful day.

7.4.18 - July joys

7.2.18 - Spinach Sausage Loaf

This is one of my all time favorite recipes. I don't make it anymore because it's not at all gluten free, but I'd still like it in my Joy Inventory recipe archive for posterity (or special gluten occasions, I guess).

Ingredients (per loaf)
8 oz Italian sausage
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
10 oz froz chopped spinach
1 loaf bread dough
1 egg
Flour for bread-rolling

About 5-6 hours before you want to start baking, set the bread dough out to thaw. The longer it thaws, the easier it will be to roll out. You can sprinkle flour in either a bread pan or on wax paper, place the frozen loaf there, add some more flour to the top of the loaf, cover it, and let it thaw.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cook the sausage and break it into little pieces.
Thaw the spinach and make sure to drain it (I hand squeeze the water out).

Lay wax paper out where you want to roll the bread dough. Sprinkle more flour. Also rub flour on your rolling pin. Roll out the dough to roughly 14 or 15" long and maybe 6" wide (I'm just guessing, I always eyeball it).

Add some of the cheese. Add the sausage and chunks of spinach. Top with cheese again.

Get a cookie sheet and spray it with nonstick spray.

Wrap one end of the dough over the toppings, and wrap the other end of the dough over the first end, so they overlap. Pinch the ends of the loaf together. Flip the whole loaf upside down (so the overlapping and pinched parts are all underneath the loaf) onto the cookie sheet. \

Beat one egg in a small bowl; use a pastry brush to brush the egg over the whole top of the loaf.

Bake at 350F for 18-20 mins.

Here it is again in picture form.