Last post of the year

Well, what a year, huh? I'd say that overall 2011 has been pretty good to us, as in a "we didn't get totally crapped on" sort of way. I guess there were some good things and some not so good things, but I'm happier to remember the good stuff.

Next year looks to have some exciting events as well. Hopefully we'll sell the house, move to PA, and start a life there. But since we've stayed here this winter I've been finding myself thinking about some of the things I'll miss. Things like the people we know, knowing all the ins-and-outs of the city, knowing the kids have a pretty good school. What will our new home bring? But it's all good. I've moved many times in my life, and most often the benefits have outweighed the negatives.

Anyway, I'm not going to dwell on it all here. Our Internet is down and our computer repair man (aka Damon) is sick with the flu (even though we got our flu shots) so I am posting with my phone. While it's nice that I can do that, it's not the easiest to do.

I'll post more about Christmas when I have better internet access. Meanwhile I'll leave you with a few pics for fun. It's been a nice holiday. I took this last week off and majorly cleaned the house. I never realized we were living in such disorganization. I guess you let those things slide when you have kids.

One major project this break was reorganizing the playroom so all kids could use it. Here's the before pic:

Here's after:

I think even our realtor would be impressed. And I think the kids are really enjoying the new room, so much that Adelaide has renamed it the Sharing Room. Here they are busy playing this morning.

And since I've spent so much time cleaning this week, I have nothing to do this weekend. What will I do instead?

Happy New Year everyone. Hope to see y'all next year!

Merry Happy Days of Jubilee

To you and yours...(from us and ours)

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20 random pictures

*some pics taken by Damon

School pics!

This is totally unrelated to the holidays, but we finally got the kids' school pictures back.  Actually, we got their pictures back a while ago, but I wanted them to sit for the retakes.  It's the retakes that we just got back last week...  So here they are!

This was Kestian's first take.  It's pretty nice, but he'd been chewing on his collar that morning, so it's...uhhh...damp.

This is the retake. Love this!  This is exactly how I see Kestian.

Here's Adelaide's first take.  I like it, but she looks a bit too happy-surprised.  We had her sit for the retake in case it came back even better.

Here's her retake.  It's OK, but I think her first picture is better.

Don't worry Grandparents...I will be sending you some prints of all these in the next few days.

I bah-humbug! your bah-humbug!

I've been suspecting it for a while, but last night's conversation now has me convinced:

Papa:  What am I supposed to do with the "reindeer food" you made at school today?
Me:  You're supposed to leave it out for the reindeer.
Papa:  The reindeer?
Me:  Yeah, the reindeer.

Even though they have been saying it for as long as I can remember, I know better.  My parents keep saying annoying things like: "Brush your teeth" or "Wash your hands after you poop" or "You know, Santa's not real..." I mean, seriously, it's quite obvious.  I see the man everywhere, and each year he hands me a present!  It doesn't get more real than that, people!

Yeah, and let's just take for example all the stuff we see on TV.  Are you going to tell me that isn't real either?  I mean, we see in The Santa Clause how Santa is just some guy in the wrong place at the wrong time who put on the suit and starts to grow white hair all over his face at an alarmingly abnormal rate.  The adults are all too busy with stupid jobs and whatever to notice what's going on.  But it's obvious that the man is living amongst us.  I mean, his lists are FedEx'ed to his townhouse for Christ's sake!

Or in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer how everyone tries to keep Rudolph from playing in all the reindeer games just because he looks different.  Only when Rudolph has something of value to offer Santa is he seen as something that can contribute to society.  I mean, every day this shit goes on in our world and too many people are treated poorly just because they look different.  Yeah...discrimination is real. And so is Santa.

Or at the Twins Club party, where Santa always shows up to hand out presents.  My parents say stuff like "We gave the present to 'Santa' to give to you."  I mean, what the hell is that all about? Huh!  Trying to take credit for something that someone else does?  Didn't their parents teach them that lying is bad?  (Yeah, I'm talking to you Grandma, Grandpa, and Grandmama!) I get put in time-out if I try that shit.  I swear, they are so grumpy and annoying.

I don't mind, really, if they keep saying annoying stuff like "Santa's not real, but some people like to believe in it and that's OK."  It's their way of coping with some deep-seated childhood disappointment that has now manifested itself into this compulsive lying paranoia.  I'll let it slide because I know better.  As long as the jolly red man keeps handing me the loot, and I keep seeing him in every Wal-Mart and Sears, and every other normal adult asks me what I want from Santa, and we make reindeer food in a school-sanctioned activity, and NORAD tracks his progress on the radar on Christmas Eve via Google Earth, then I'll continue to believe. 

I mean, it's not like there is some world-wide conspiracy to fool children.  Yeah, that's not real.

Where YOU are the writer! (Finally, it's your chance!)

I'll get around to writing a post soon, but until then I thought we could mix things up a bit and instead of me writing a post for you, you could write a post for me! 

Uh, Laura...that sounds like work.

Well, yeah, these things don't happen by themselves.

Yes, they do.

No, they don't.

Yes, they do.

Ok we could argue, but it won't help anything.

Yes, they do.

What?  What does that mean?  Are you even listening to me?

Yes, they do.

I give up...If you decide that you do want to write something, here are some pictures for inspiration...

Yes, they do.

How do you like them apples?

Did you know that the Golden Delicious apple has over 57,000 genes? Do you know how many genes humans have? Would you believe about 30,000? Did you know that 35% of all apples are grown in China (7.5% in US)?  Did you know apples are a member of the rose family?  Did you know it's really hard to research apples with the whole iPhone thing? (Other fun facts!)

When I was a kid, I remember three kinds of apples:

Red Delicious

Golden Delicious

Granny Smith

If you wanted to make a pie, you bought the Granny Smiths. If you just wanted to eat an apple, you bought the Delicious. There were many more than that, but those varieties seem to dominate the market years ago.

I never was a fan of apples. I always felt a bit deceived by the Red Delicious, because although they were red and they looked delicious, I often found them tart and bitter. I never could eat a whole one.  Indeed, Roger Yepsen notes some of the Red's less desirable qualities. "The skin is thick and bitter and has to be chewed vigorously... this apple ranks close to the bottom when cooked... sold year round, so shop with skepticism. Delicious retains its cheerful good looks long after its flavor has departed."

Nowadays, though, we eat a lot of apples in our house. I know many people eat a lot of apples, but I'm talking like nearly every meal. And none of those apples have been the ones mentioned above.

Recently, at least for Damon and I, it's been like rediscovering apples all over again. There seem to be so many more varieties these days - indeed varieties like the Honeycrisp and Ambrosia were really developed in the 1990s. And not just that there are more varieties at the orchards that you can go to. There are more and more varieties in the stores too.

Here at our local Meijer we can buy: Red Delicious, Fuji, Granny Smith, Gala, Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Ambrosia, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, and I think a couple more that I can't remember or read the sign in the picture [Cameo too, but they haven't been in season recently. -D]. Fuji, Gala, and Braeburn are staples in our house [and Cameo! -D], but we tasted a few others at the orchard recently (like Jonagold, Honeycrisp, and even the Golden Delicious which was better than any Golden Delicious I have ever gotten from a store, BTW) and really liked them.

Lately we got some Ambrosia and O. M. G. what an awesome apple! Very sweet and very crisp. It makes the Fuji and Braeburn taste a bit blah and mealy. I could eat those all day. Which is good. Because we seem to eat them all day. [Note: I actually much prefer the not-as-sweet ones like Fuji, but then again I also like my pears under-ripe. -D]

Out of all this, we seem to have created some little apple connoisseurs. Before the kids eat any apple, they must know which kind it is. Sometimes Damon can even get them to correctly identify which kind they have. I can tell the Ambrosia apart from most others, but still get the Fuji, Gala, and Braeburn mixed up. Perhaps I need to do a side-by-side-by-side taste test.

With all these types of apples, I often wonder how many varieties of apples there will be when the kids are grown up. I heard on NPR a story about the newly developed Sweet Tango that has to be licensed in order to be grown and sold. We have often talked about planting some apple trees when we move back East, but I'm guessing that's one we won't have in our yard. Perhaps the world of apples is moving in a whole new direction. I plan on keeping an eye on the apple industry, partly out of curiosity but mainly just so I can taste all the wonderful varieties along the way.