Dear G-d,
Your sense of humor is not appreciated. Hiding the lid to my coffee grinder behind the knife block and making me think it fell behind the refrigerator was just not kosher. Having to move the fridge twice because I trapped a cat behind it was just untenable.
I'm sure you're aware that after shul on Shabbos I've got close to 30 people coming over for lunch. I still have a ton of cooking to do and even more cleaning. At this point I need your help not your practical jokes. I know it was you who moved the coffee, made me search the kitchen for 5 minutes while you put it back where I had set it.
Thirteen years ago, yesterday, I had my third child smack dab in the middle of the busiest time of the year. I know that was your doing. The whole pregnancy was one of your practical jokes really. I found out I was pregnant during one of the worst snow storms Baltimore had seen in years. I was stuck in a tiny apartment with morning sickness and two toddlers for days. I was sure I had strep throat but couldn't get to a doctor for a test. I finally called my midwife who, after a series of questions on the phone decided I needed antibiotics and she called in the prescription. It took another 24 hours for me to get hold of the pills and by then I couldn't swallow a thing. I almost dehydrated.
In my eighth month we moved into a larger apartment. In August. In August in Baltimore. Miriam had just turned 3 and Chana was 16 months. Did I mention it was August? My midwife decided I needed to be on bedrest. Now really G-d, was that necessary? I had to unpack and cook for Rosh HaShana. I had two toddlers to take care of and the laundry was down two flights.
About the only thing that went smoothly was my labor and delivery. It went so quickly that I almost had him in the parking lot of the hospital. It went so quickly that my midwife was still putting her gloves on while I caught his head.
So G-d, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from any more practical jokes until after Shabbos. Thank you.
Your servant,
Yakira
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Photo Op
Spent a lovely day at Renn Faire yesterday. Could not have asked for better weather! Gotta love Rachel, she'll never miss a photo op.
Face painting for the princess? Something in pink please. Oh, and make it a butterfly.
Wait! Pony ride too, every princess needs a pony!
"I'll never be your beast of burden..." Ummm, can I take that back? Gotta love a man who'll tote a five year old around, especially one that's not his, and one that proclaims she doesn't like him.
Next year we'll all be in garb. This year was a tough one and I didn't get my sewing machines out. Plus I've been on a yarn kick not a fabric kick. Not sure which is more expensive really, yarn or fabric. I will have to do a comparison one day. Hmmm...
Got little knitting done this weekend. Ah, well.
Yakira
Face painting for the princess? Something in pink please. Oh, and make it a butterfly.
Wait! Pony ride too, every princess needs a pony!
"I'll never be your beast of burden..." Ummm, can I take that back? Gotta love a man who'll tote a five year old around, especially one that's not his, and one that proclaims she doesn't like him.
Next year we'll all be in garb. This year was a tough one and I didn't get my sewing machines out. Plus I've been on a yarn kick not a fabric kick. Not sure which is more expensive really, yarn or fabric. I will have to do a comparison one day. Hmmm...Got little knitting done this weekend. Ah, well.
Yakira
Thursday, September 10, 2009
So, You Ask
Why didn't I write yesterday after adamantly proclaiming I was going to start writing every day to rebuild my writing habit?
I was busy. Really.
Today was the deadline for numbers to get to the accountant for the fellow I work for.
I do have some good news. Remember when I said in about a week I was going to start walking at 7:00 so we didn't have to drag HRH with us? Well we decided to start yesterday. We walked our normal route and what took us almost 40 minutes with a five year old took us a little over 20 without her.
After that I sat at my computer most of the day arguing with Quick Books and fighting with a slow connection to the server so I could get stuff done. I didn't get up until right before dinner time. I made dinner, cleaned up from dinner, bathed a 5 year old, put a 5 year old to bed and sat back down at my computer. We had everything as cleaned up as it was going to get at about 9:00 last night and off it went this morning to the accountant. I hate doing shoddy work but there was a lot to go through. I did my best in the time allotted.
Larry and I watched Devil's Advocate last night. Creepy movie. Fun but creepy.
We walked again today. Two days in a row. And I spent money today. Not on fun stuff. I bought paper goods for the Bar Mitzvah at BJ's then I went to the market and bought all my meats for Rosh HaShana and the Bar Mitzvah.
I wanna buy yarn not chicken!
This weeks recipe:
Yakira's Challah
7+ C flour
2 1/4 C warm water
2 packets yeast
1/2 C sugar
2 Tbs salt
3 eggs
1/4 C oil
I use my stand mixer for this recipe. My mixer has a 4qt. bowl. Pour yeast sugar and water into bowl. Let sit for a minute or three while it bubbles. Add 6 C flour, salt, eggs and oil. Turn mixer on low. Slowly add 7th C flour. Keep more ready in case the dough needs more flour. Depending on humidity you may need to add up to a whole C of flour. The dough will be sticky but will hold it's shape. Let the mixer run on low for about 4 minutes to knead the dough. Move dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a towel to rise for about 2 hours. Divide in thirds and braid loaves. Let rise another half hour. Brush with egg and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Yakira
I was busy. Really.
Today was the deadline for numbers to get to the accountant for the fellow I work for.
I do have some good news. Remember when I said in about a week I was going to start walking at 7:00 so we didn't have to drag HRH with us? Well we decided to start yesterday. We walked our normal route and what took us almost 40 minutes with a five year old took us a little over 20 without her.
After that I sat at my computer most of the day arguing with Quick Books and fighting with a slow connection to the server so I could get stuff done. I didn't get up until right before dinner time. I made dinner, cleaned up from dinner, bathed a 5 year old, put a 5 year old to bed and sat back down at my computer. We had everything as cleaned up as it was going to get at about 9:00 last night and off it went this morning to the accountant. I hate doing shoddy work but there was a lot to go through. I did my best in the time allotted.
Larry and I watched Devil's Advocate last night. Creepy movie. Fun but creepy.
We walked again today. Two days in a row. And I spent money today. Not on fun stuff. I bought paper goods for the Bar Mitzvah at BJ's then I went to the market and bought all my meats for Rosh HaShana and the Bar Mitzvah.
I wanna buy yarn not chicken!
This weeks recipe:
Yakira's Challah
7+ C flour
2 1/4 C warm water
2 packets yeast
1/2 C sugar
2 Tbs salt
3 eggs
1/4 C oil
I use my stand mixer for this recipe. My mixer has a 4qt. bowl. Pour yeast sugar and water into bowl. Let sit for a minute or three while it bubbles. Add 6 C flour, salt, eggs and oil. Turn mixer on low. Slowly add 7th C flour. Keep more ready in case the dough needs more flour. Depending on humidity you may need to add up to a whole C of flour. The dough will be sticky but will hold it's shape. Let the mixer run on low for about 4 minutes to knead the dough. Move dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a towel to rise for about 2 hours. Divide in thirds and braid loaves. Let rise another half hour. Brush with egg and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Yakira
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Habits Revisited
It's been 7 weeks today since I hurt my shoulder. They said it would take 6 to 8 weeks to heal. They were right. Who'd a thunk it? I still have a twinge now and again when I move my arm in certain directions but other than that I'm really doing well. I've started doing some upper body strengthening and am now walking every day for half an hour with my neighbor. We take HRH with us so we're not out for speed yet as she walks at a snail's pace. I'm hoping in the next week to move our walking time to 7:00 so I can sneak out before Rachel and Larry are awake. My neighbor and I haven't decided yet what we'll do when the weather goes south but hopefully by then the habit of walking every day will be established and we'll keep moving. Hopefully.
Speaking of habits, I've been really terrible with my writing habit. I think it's time to reestablish my writing goals and just get writing. I will start writing every day again.
I've done a lot of knitting in the last few weeks. Some good, some I'm not going to talk about.
Remember the knitted purse? I finally sewed it up today and got it on a giant pickle jar blocking. It's a giant CLEAN pickle jar mind you. Inigo is inspecting my work. I put in a flexible blocking wire to give the points more definition. I have to make a drawstring and a lining and it's done. I hope it doesn't take me another two months to get to that. This is going to be a Channukah gift so I really do want to finish it before then.
I also finished one half of a pair of socks for a Channuka gift. I got the second one cast on before I got bit with Second Sock Syndrome. Phew...
I am making myself another bag. It's a French Market Bag, knitted then felted(fulled.) I'm making it with Noro Iro. It's not my first choice for this yarn as it's expensive and has silk in it that won't felt well but I've had the yarn in my stash for over a year, I don't have enough to make a garment for myself, and I love the colors. So I might as well use it and make something I'll love and use often, no? As for the silk not felting, I'm not too worried. The bag is knitting up into a nice tight fabric and will be pretty sturdy with only a little fulling. However what I didn't take into account is the size. It's going to be larger simply because it won't shrink as much during it's round in the washing machine. But that's okay, everyone needs a large bag in which to carry things.
AND after the success of my knitted purse, above, I decided to have a go at knitting a larger lace project. It's a Revontuli shawl. Yes, the link takes you to a blog in Finnish. Eat your hearts out Kim and Jason. Revontuli in Finnish means Northern Lights. I'm knitting this up with Noro Kureyon Sock. I still think it looks like cat vomit but other experienced lace knitters keep telling me that it looks like it's supposed to, just keep knitting. The blocking will cure everything they tell me. The jury is still out but I'll take that first step in faith, thank you Dr. MLK Jr. This too will probably end up as a Channukah gift as I can't ever see myself wearing it and with kids and cats in the house, using as a lap shawl and leaving it on the sofa is completely out.
Yakira
Speaking of habits, I've been really terrible with my writing habit. I think it's time to reestablish my writing goals and just get writing. I will start writing every day again.
I've done a lot of knitting in the last few weeks. Some good, some I'm not going to talk about.
Remember the knitted purse? I finally sewed it up today and got it on a giant pickle jar blocking. It's a giant CLEAN pickle jar mind you. Inigo is inspecting my work. I put in a flexible blocking wire to give the points more definition. I have to make a drawstring and a lining and it's done. I hope it doesn't take me another two months to get to that. This is going to be a Channukah gift so I really do want to finish it before then.
I also finished one half of a pair of socks for a Channuka gift. I got the second one cast on before I got bit with Second Sock Syndrome. Phew...
I am making myself another bag. It's a French Market Bag, knitted then felted(fulled.) I'm making it with Noro Iro. It's not my first choice for this yarn as it's expensive and has silk in it that won't felt well but I've had the yarn in my stash for over a year, I don't have enough to make a garment for myself, and I love the colors. So I might as well use it and make something I'll love and use often, no? As for the silk not felting, I'm not too worried. The bag is knitting up into a nice tight fabric and will be pretty sturdy with only a little fulling. However what I didn't take into account is the size. It's going to be larger simply because it won't shrink as much during it's round in the washing machine. But that's okay, everyone needs a large bag in which to carry things.
AND after the success of my knitted purse, above, I decided to have a go at knitting a larger lace project. It's a Revontuli shawl. Yes, the link takes you to a blog in Finnish. Eat your hearts out Kim and Jason. Revontuli in Finnish means Northern Lights. I'm knitting this up with Noro Kureyon Sock. I still think it looks like cat vomit but other experienced lace knitters keep telling me that it looks like it's supposed to, just keep knitting. The blocking will cure everything they tell me. The jury is still out but I'll take that first step in faith, thank you Dr. MLK Jr. This too will probably end up as a Channukah gift as I can't ever see myself wearing it and with kids and cats in the house, using as a lap shawl and leaving it on the sofa is completely out.
Yakira
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