comments, complaints, quandries, curses
Put kids to bed.
Emptied dishwasher; filled dishwasher.
Set up bread machine to have fresh bread done by 5:40am.
Folded laundry.
Emailed school parents a reminder about end of year gifts.
Filled out emergency contact and photo release forms for summer camp.
Emailed summer camp with filled out forms.
Mended kid shirt.
Humbleblogged.
Bed.
A flat of strawberries (it’s the end of the season and I can’t resist making more jam), radishes, carrots, rainbow chard, zucchini, broccoli, dill, and 48oz of local honey. 
It’s supposed to get into the 90s today, which is crazy-hot for Portland in June, so we’re enjoying the cool morning air on the back patio while Amelia and I write in our journals. Baxter occupied himself with picking me clover blossoms from the lawn. I love seeing the sun streaming through the trees onto the grass.
I took a painting class yesterday — one of those where you all paint the same thing — with my two sisters at The Loaded Brush in Sellwood. I like the Loaded Brush because it’s a little grungy, in a way that feels down-home and also helps me get over myself about doing things “just right.” The whole process of painting like this is an exercise in letting go of perfectionism and precision, which is not always easy (code for really really hard) for me, even with some wine. 🙂
Progress photos! I meant to take more, but got caught up in the moment.
Amelia: “I love sushi. It’s my second favorite thing.”
Me: “What’s your first favorite thing?”
Amelia: “I have lots of first favorite things. My best second favorite thing is sushi and miso soup. My first favorite thing – I have two first favorite things: pancakes and those meatballs we had yesterday. They were so good, right mama?”
Baxter: “Are you sad that you’re going to die?”
Me: “Yes, but everybody dies eventually. And I’m not going to die for a really long time.”
Bax: “Well, I’m sad you’re going to die. And Amelia is sad you’re going to die. I guess we are a sad family.”
This morning Tom is making banana-chocolate-chip pancakes and bacon, and Amelia and I went out to sit on the back porch and write in our journals. I’d like to encourage Amelia to keep up her writing practice through the summer, and journaling seems like a good way for us to do something special together, get me writing more, and have her keep writing through the summer. As we write, Baxter is jittering around in our orbit, making us laugh. He does silly things and then tells Amelia to write about it. Then she reads him what she wrote, and he does more silly stuff. Repeat as necessary.
Today is shaping up to be a really good one. We’ll have a delicious breakfast, then hit the grocery store for some provisions (we’re out of maple syrup, for example), then I’m taking Amelia for a mommy-daughter lunch (probably sushi) and then to Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden for an hour or so. Then we’ll do some trailer prep in the afternoon, getting ready for our big camping trip next weekend. This evening, I’m having dinner with my sisters — probably at Jade Teahouse — and then we’re taking a painting class at The Loaded Brush. I love how these (semi-corny, yes) group painting classes help me quiet the critical judge in my head and help me get used to following my gut. Tomorrow Tom goes on a three-day business trip, so I’m trying to get all the fill-my-emotional-cup, single- or no-kid fun in that I can!
Hope you have a kick-ass Saturday, too. ❤
I like buying radishes. So red! The problem is that (1) I am the only person in my house who likes eating radishes, (2) and then only sometimes. But! I found this recipe for braised radishes and really loved it. Try it — maybe you’ll love it too!
Every day for about a week now, Baxter has emerged from his room in the morning saying, “Mom, I got up too early.” He proceeds to make a little bed for himself on the couch so he can rest for a few minutes before the perpetual motion machine that is his body currently gets revved up enough to blast him back into whirling dervish mode Here’s what it looked like today. 
Last night was Baxter’s classroom’s last open house for the year.
I was really moved — and chilled — by this article called Our Water-Guzzling Food Factory that talks about the amount of water required to produce beef (and chicken and eggs and ZOMG walnuts for pete’s sake WTF we are all doomed why did I ever have children send help).
The crisis in California is a harbinger of water scarcity in much of the world. And while we associate extravagant water use with swimming pools and verdant lawns, the biggest consumer, by far, is agriculture. In California, 80 percent of water used by humans goes to farming and ranching.
That’s where that hamburger patty comes in.I grew up on a sheep and cherry farm near Yamhill, Ore. I worked for a year for the Future Farmers of America, and I still spend time every year on our family farm. But while I prize America’s rural heritage, let’s be blunt: It’s time for a fundamental rethinking of America’s food factory.
A mandarin orange consumes 14 gallons of water. A head of lettuce, 12 gallons. A bunch of grapes, 24 gallons. One single walnut, 2 gallons.
Animal products use even more water, mostly because of the need to raise grain or hay to feed the animals. Plant material converts quite inefficiently into animal protein.
So a single egg takes 53 gallons of water to produce. A pound of chicken, 468 gallons. A gallon of milk, 880 gallons. And a pound of beef, 1,800 gallons of water. (Of course, these figures are all approximate, and estimates differ. These are based on data from the Pacific Institute and National Geographic.)
It’s not like we eat beef very often anymore, but we do hit the chicken and fish pretty hard around here. Guess it’s time to start building more meatless nights into the weekly meal plan.
The Thing With The Stuff 