Coming Soon: The Monkey Speaks

I've found Karl's stash of micro-cassettes. Soon there will be podcasts available of various Karlish things, from youthful angst to frustrations studying for grammar. I plan to transfer them to digital primarily to preserve them for the little monkey, but I'll let you listen in if you like.

ELLIOT CAN STAND UP. WITHOUT SUPPORT. AAAAAAARRHHH!!!!!!

Ok, I have to preface this with the disclaimer that my culinary ambitions are not nearly a match for those of my late husband (and my, he *is* running awfully late. where could he be!?) Yes, yes, I'm still thriving on denial, but today I took it upon myself to honor his memory by attempting to cook.

I made applesauce.

Simple, yes, but still a major step for a girl who knows how to cook 3 dishes, and 2 are mainly for breakfast.

I had 4 lonely apples about to go bad, and a Pampered Chef slicer-peeler-corer (coolest. gadget. ever.) in the drawer. I read a recipe online, but didn't have what it called for, so, when in the field, improvise, yes?

Here's what I did:

In medium saucepan, place 4 apples peeled, cored, and sliced my the turning of a pampered chef.

Cover with water and bring to a boil.

Add a few shakes of cinnamon, a dash of salt, and 2 squeezes of lemon juice.

Reduce to simmer.

Mind the baby - play with the remote control car he got for his birthday. Change a stinky diaper. Wash hands. Return to kitchen, realize no timer is set. Set timer for 10 minutes.

Return to playing in baby's room. Smell lovely odors from the kitchen and think fondly of applesauce simmering. Try to clean the nursery, get distracted, and miss timer beeping.

Smell intensifies.

Recall husband's theory "I cook with my nose - you can SMELL when it's ready."

Decide it's ready.

Pour off excess liquid, use hand blender to lightly puree.

Refrigerate.

Enjoy cold several hours after forgetting to take to dinner which it was made for.

Delicious.

Today I didn't leave the house.

I don't really know if this is a good thing, or a bad thing, or not a thing at all. But there it is - I didn't get out of my pajamas. I didn't run errands. I didn't go to the store. Or the bank. Or the park. I didn't really do anything productive around the house either. I did get the photos done for my cousin's wedding. Go me.

And I fed the baby. And I played with the baby. And I had the baby attached to me like some sort of 22lb growth. All. Day. Long.

He was not feeling well today, and he let it be known that my leash was quite short. I had a 6 foot radius - farther than that and he screamed.

So now he's asleep. Who wants to have a party??

Wisconsin, it seems, is colder than Missouri. Perhaps you all know this, but it seems I wasn't aware, as I didn't pack long sleeves or socks for my trip. What was I thinking? I don't know, maybe that global warming had a firmer grasp than it does. Anyway, other than having cold feet, everything about Elliot's first trip by plane went swimmingly.

Swimming in snot, that is.

Ok, not swimming in it, but certainly snot presented itself in abundance. It poured forth from wee Elliot's nostrils like somebody in his head had turned on the spout, and my oh my was there ever snot. You may thing it's funny, but ...

Puns and snot aside we enjoyed our visit to Uncle Phil's eco-friendly house and to the family farm. Elliot grinned, giggled, and generally amused himself on the plane to and from the North. Other than two nights of little sleep (attributed to the aforementioned snot plentitude) he was (as always) a joy.

Highlights include:

Visit to Perpich Center for Arts Education, where our niece Sarah attends

Mac & Cheese (and shopping) at IKEA

Mall of America. Now I can say I've been there, and with people who agreed on a 15 minute maximum.

Birthday Cake. Really, can there ever be too much?

Fall colors from the air - most of the flight we were bound in clouds, but what we saw when we weren't was breathtaking.

Family. For the lucky few, always a treat.

Now i'm off to find my phone and wish my big brother a happy birthday.

Peace, joy, and warm toes to you all.

So I started a new blog thinking I'd have a place to talk about Elliot's growth, etc. I planned to make the first post on his first birthday. I went by to check it out, and there was a "note on the door:"

This blog has been locked and unpublished due to possible Blogger Terms of Service violations. You may not publish new posts until your blog is reviewed and unlocked.

This blog will be deleted within 20 days unless you request a review.

Good times. My blog karma is apparently shot.

Hi,

I thought it was time Karl gave me my own login here. He didn't argue the point, so I'll blog as myself. Here I am, blogging as me. Woot. Woot.

Your daily dose was foiled by technology today - I can't get my scanner and my Mac to be friends. Daily isn't as important as dose anyway, and I'll get you more soon.

Quiche.

It's a weekend of wedding adventures - we're in KC for Bethany's wedding. We drove up yesterday and will leave early this afternoon, but it was good to be here. Elliot was not thrilled with being in a car seat for 4 hours. About 45 minutes in he got restless, 2 hours in the scream fest began. After an emergency stop at Toys R Us for some forgotten supplies and 1/2 hour of tummy rubbing, he fell asleep and didn't wake back up till we got in town.

The wedding was lovely, the weather was perfect. Now we've had coffee and muffins and we're planning the morning. There's a brunch possibility, and we're going to give Jason a call to see what they have planned this morning. Then back to the big city.