The Good Life

Oakdale Chocolate Festival

May 19, 2010

We’re slowly slowly slowly settling in around here, but this weekend kicked off the agricultural festivals this area is so known for, so we scrubbed the paint out of our hair and headed out for a day in the sun.

There were lots of examples of celebrating California history. You could pan for gold with this guy who looked like he was born for this job, or take pictures with people decked out in full on cowboy outfits complete with leather chaps. People take their historical reenactments seriously.

I think it might be a law that a California festival feature classic cars, particularly here in the home of American Graffiti. I was stopped in the parking lot on my way out by two different people asking if there were classic cars to look at. People around here take their cars even more seriously.

This is what I take seriously. Artisanal foodstuffs. There are so many little local companies throughout the valley that grow and bottle the most amazing things. This company bottled flavored oils and vinegars and I had a wonderful time tasting each one.

There’s a Hershey’s factory in Oakdale, which is why they hold a chocolate festival there, but this one was kind of disappointing. There weren’t a ton of chocolate vendors there, and then we had to wait in a line for nearly an hour to get a couple little free samples. But at the end of that line was the booth with the fancy caramel apples, and they were worth the wait. Caramel apples are another of my obsessions, and this booth had one they called “Ala Mode” which was a caramel apple dipped in a hard yogurt topping and sprinkled with cinnamon. Oh wow was that good.

Atticus was just happy to leave the house.

Filed Under: Atticus, The Good Life

The neverending move

May 14, 2010

As much fun as I had at MaxFunCon, and I had a ton and do not regret it one iota, it has made this move last forever. I’ve still got boxes in the livingroom, the silverware that got left behind has still not shown up in the mail, and every single day I wake up, put on the smelly grubby clothes and lift the paintbrush over my head.

I have painted more than my share of houses before, and I am shocked at how different it is this time. This post pregnancy body of mine doesn’t have much in the common with the body I left behind. I move so much slower, I get aches and pains in places I never had before, I have to take things a lot easier. If I was doing this with the me from 3 years ago all the painting would be done by now. But in my current incarnation I’m only halfway done. It’s so stinking frustrating that I can’t pick up the pace.

By the end of the weekend we should (hopefully) be done with the bulk of the painting. We’ll still have a couple of bathrooms and Atti’s room, but we’ll have enough done that we can get settled. I can unpack the books and roll out the rugs and give everything a place and then I’m going to sit on the couch and not move for a couple of days. Probably with a heating pad on my old lady self.

Filed Under: Grand Schemes and Other Plans, My Dreamhouse in Progress, The Good Life

Maximum Fun was had

May 11, 2010

“Papa Jesse, the benevolent colonel of the nerd plantation.” – Marc Maron

How do I even begin to explain this last weekend? I still feel all blissed out and dreamy about the whole thing.

Thursday night we left the house painting behind to drive down to Bear’s parents house, dropped off Atti with his grandparents, and kept on trucking out to the mountains of Lake Arrowhead to party with a bunch of people who care way too much about a variety of things, and all like to listen to the podcasts put out by the Maximum Fun organization.

I listen to a whole heck of a lot of podcasts during the week, and the ones that come out of Maximum Fun HQ never even make it to my ipod. They get listened to as soon as they show up in itunes. And I think what makes me like them so much is the thread of positivity that runs through all of them. Jesse Thorn is not a man afraid to criticize or call it how he sees, but he spends so much more of his time chasing after what he enjoys, rather than complain about what he doesn’t, and that kind of attitude is infectious.

The whole weekend was really an embarrassment of riches. Friday night there was a talk from Andrew WK, some hilarious sketch comedy from Kasper Hauser and Elephant Larry, then a concert from Jonathan Coulton. Saturday was podcast tapings from You Look Nice Today and Jordan Jesse Go, a variety of classes, a lecture from RadioLab savant Jad Abumrad, and then a standup show for the ages with Jimmy Pardo, Maria Bamford, Al Madrigal, and Marc Maron. And then Sunday brought more podcast tapings with the guys from Never Not Funny. I swear, someday I’ll be telling Atti about this as if it were woodstock.

Big social situations can be difficult for me, you know, with the anxiety and all, but by Saturday afternoon I felt like every person there was my friend. Everyone there was so creative and friendly and interested in other people’s creative endeavors. And what really blew me away was that the performers were the same way. I ate most of my meals with one or another of the performers and they were amazing.

People. I’m telling you. Try not to be jealous of me, but I ate dinner with three guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000. And when I say three guys, I mean Mike, Tom Servo, and Crow.

MST3K. The seminal comedy force that, along with Kids in the Hall, completely shaped what I find funny in this world. I managed to keep my comedy nerd-hood to myself during dinner, but that’s why I’m spilling it all over you now.

I took the afternoon craft class with Jenny Ryan of Home Ec, and they made the most adorable crosstitch patterns of the MaxFunCon logo. Jenny, Jessica and I had the best time letting our crafty nerd selves geek out all over the place, including giving an impromptu course on the importance of scissors and what types are best for each job. John Hodgman gave a welcome speech and gave a special shoutout to the craft nerds, and I was so excited to hear a huge WHOOP! come up from the crowd. Crafters are passionate people, even in a roomful of passionate people.

Bear was just the very best sport through all this. He’s not so much of an internet person, and not very much of a nerd. As most of us were discussing the inside jokes of fandom or our latest creative endeavor, Bear, totally out of his element, hung in like a trooper. I’m dragging him into this world whether he like it or not. It’s so rewarding, so full of uplifting, supportive, friendly and interesting people, that it’s for his own good. He still managed to have so much fun that before the second day was over he was talking financial planning to make it back the next year. And we will.

Filed Under: Grand Schemes and Other Plans, The Good Life

2010 Year of Pleasures #18

May 5, 2010

I wrote about how leaving my garden was hard for me, but this is making it a lot easier.

My new backyard has the most gloriously flowering rose bushes lining the fence. Plus we have a patch of grass for Atti to play on, so that’s another bonus. Once I get my herbs going in pots, I’ll be able to get by without whining.

Filed Under: Stuff I Grow, The Good Life, Year of Pleasures

2010 Year of Pleasures #17

April 30, 2010

On our way out of town we spent a day at Disneyland – Atti’s very first time. I knew he would love it, but words just can’t express how amazing it was. As soon as he saw King Arthur’s Carousel he started bouncing in his stroller. When we walked past it to get to Dumbo he threw an unholy fit. Until Dumbo started moving.

We came back to this one several times. Whenever we’d bring Dumbo up to his highest point Atti would giggle like a mad man.

It’s a Small World was also a major hit. His eyes would widen, he’d fixate on something and stretch his little body around to keep watching it as we passed it. He’d only turn around when he physically couldn’t stretch any further, only to be surprised by a whole roomful of more amazing things to see.

We were really nervous about taking Atti to Disneyland with his physical limitations. The thought of holding him as we waited in line all day made me break out in a cold sweat. Since he’s not old enough to use a wheelchair, we need to use his stroller everywhere. I imagined all the fights I was going to have with attendants unconvinced he was disabled or parents mad they couldn’t bring a stroller everywhere. I brought a Dr.’s note and came prepared to make my case, but as soon as I said he had Cerebral Palsy the gal at the desk just said, “Oh sure! How many people in your party?” and handed me a card that allowed us all to get special treatment. We didn’t walk right on to every ride, but we came pretty close. Disneyland knows how to take care of us special needs families.

Filed Under: Atticus, The Good Life, Year of Pleasures

2010 Year of Pleasures #15

April 16, 2010

You know what is a SERIOUS pleasure? A friend who reads this tweet:

There are so many things I’m supposed to be doing now that I’m just paralyzed. Can’t pick a place to begin!

and decides that the perfect solution is to blow off responsibilities and head to the zoo. And then pops over while you’re still in your jammies and talks you into it.

Even though we went when Atti was supposed to be napping, and just after getting a shot at the doctors, he came through like a trooper. He loved every minute, and I got a ton of snuggles. He finally conked out at the very end as we walked through the butterfly jungle, so I carried him, asleep and sweaty, through this magical garden packed with butterflies floating right next to you and landing on your shoulder.

Cynthia was dead right. The answer to too much to do? Escape to the zoo.

Filed Under: Atticus, The Good Life, Year of Pleasures

My little genius

April 15, 2010

*I posted the wrong video. This one has some alphabet and numbers. All better.

Atti will never perform on command, so to get his latest achievement I had to hide in the background.

One day Atticus was crawling around playing with his toys, and Bear and I noticed him saying his ABC’s. We both came in from other rooms to check and see if we were really hearing what we thought we heard. But we were, he sang the whole thing.

Then, while waiting in line at a drive through, he started counting. And he got all the way up to ten. Since then he’s made it up to 15.

He watches a few hours of Sesame Street a week, and he’s got lots of toys that count or say the alphabet, but Bear or I have never worried about enforcing that. We’ve got other worries. It turns out he didn’t need our help on this one. He figured this out all by himself.

Filed Under: Atticus, The Good Life

As if I wasn’t already enough of a good Mormon lady

April 14, 2010

Last week I got an email from my friend Cynthia.

“Hey, I’m making jam. Wanna come over?”

Because I am drowning in this dang move, I said, “Absolutely!” but I begged her to tackle it the next day when I could get away. Or so I thought.

I make my way over to Cynthia’s, after two other errands, no nap for Atti and with a Dr’s appointment to get to afterwards, and we completely disrupted her domestic bliss with my frazzled self and a screaming baby. In one of the most charitable acts ever she volunteered to trek all her canning supplies and her two delightful children over to my house so that Atti could have a nap.

Cynthia is a computer programmer and professor, and her razor sharp analytical mind is evident in everything she does. Look at her canning procedure set up as if by a surgical scrub nurse.

She walked me through the process, complete with entertaining enactments of what the jam mixture would look like when it reached the properly volcanic boiling temperature, and then when we were all done she offered to let me have all of the spoils. Not only did Cynthia drag all her stuff to a second location, but she gave away the fact that she didn’t even *really* need to be doing it at all. She orchestrated this whole canning adventure just for my benefit.

Canning has always been THAT THING for me. You know THAT THING, the thing that you don’t do, that you feel you must do if you’re going to call yourself a good wife/homemaker/mother/educated person. THAT THING that really doesn’t matter in the scheme of things, but about which you have always harbored a secret shame that feeds an inferiority complex? I know I’m not alone here. I know canning probably seems a totally random THING to get hung up on for most of you, but coming from my Mormon heritage, it was a really big deal to me. For some reason I internalized this thought that I couldn’t call myself a Good Mormon Woman unless I had a cellar full of put up fruit. I know it’s ridiculous, but aren’t we all?

Cynthia has created a monster. I’m moving to the place where all this stuff is grown. I’m going to spend my whole summer putting up tomatoes and tomato sauce, pickles made of every vegetable, jams and jellies in every color, syrups and fruit butters, you name it. I’ve been interested in local and seasonal eating for ages, but I love food too much to sacrifice. Now I won’t have to.

And I’ll have to find some new THING to obsess about. What is it for you guys?

Filed Under: Are you kidding me?, Stuff I Cook, The Good Life

Goodbye REINS

April 8, 2010

This morning we’re sitting around the house, Atti’s crawling around playing with his toys and I’m hopping all over the internet trying to cross things off of my massive to do list. A free morning is an extremely rare thing around here, and ordinarily I’d treasure it, but today it’s sad. We’re only home because we’re not at REINS.

For the last three months we’d get up early every Thursday morning and drive out to the country so Atti could ride horses and I could soak up a blessed half hour of tranquility. It was the highlight of my week, every time.

But it’s done now. Once everything became final for the move, it was time for Spring Break. Now that Spring Break is ending, we’re too close to the move to keep going.

Just in those three short months, Atti has made such tremendous progress. He’s sitting up so much taller, his little tummy is so much stronger. And he loved those sweet gentle horses. He’d pat them on their fuzzy rumps, or bury his little fingers in the hair on their neck. Whenever I talked to him about his horses, Pancho or Grand, he’d just light up and then rock his body back and forth in a riding motion.

I’ve already looked into similar options in Modesto and there’s several to choose from. We’re moving to a more rural area, horses are not going to be hard to come by. But still. It’s sad to leave such a beautiful place where everything was going so well. Going there made us both so happy, and helped us both in our own ways.

Filed Under: Are you kidding me?, Atticus, The Good Life

2010 Year of Pleasures #14

April 7, 2010

Reader Robyn in Australia sent me this picture the other day, and I just loved it. This is her little grandson feeding an orphaned kangaroo a special bread treat. I’ve heard from my Australian friends that kangaroos are really no big thing and kind of a pest sometimes, but to my American experience they are just magic. Imagine! A kangaroo! With a little fuzzy pouch just right there in front of you!

What a pleasure to have the world shrink to the size of an email.

Filed Under: The Good Life, Year of Pleasures