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Retirement

I've been trying to feel my way back here, and just am not feeling it.

So much is happening in the real world, so much personal growth, and work is beginning to pick up. I want to keep blogging, but not on this blog. That's the realization. It just feels like a time capsule to me. Pre-lost baby, post-lost baby. Everything changed after her. So this is it. The official retirement of this blog. It seems crazy to me, having blogged since '04. So many links, so many friends made even. But I need a new outlet for the new me. 

It is almost the midway point in school. I have begun to see clients for Health Coaching, which is going really, really well. The first newsletter has gone out and been well received, the second one is in the almost ready. I'm trying to get my summer class schedule organized so it can go into the July issue.

Una is going to go to high school, which is huge, and for which we are both feeling very ready. It will be good.

I've also just enrolled at Permaculture Visions International, an online course out of Australia that is using the Mollison curriculum. So far so good. Can't wait to hit the books.

The Art Basel Naples idea has morphed into a Potluck Poetry Slam that will happen during Art Basel Miami in December. The Bring Your Own Wine Festival is still in the works for February. Planning for NaNoWriMo in November. Building my business. In school. Family. It's enough.


Too busy. Ultimately that's the reality.

I will leave this up until I have the time to properly handle it's archival process. And I will put up links to anything new I'm up to.

Thank you so much to all of you, my readers. I have known many of you, in a way, just by checking analytics and seeing you still there, still checking in. It has been heartening over the years, even if you've never said anything. And thank you to those of you who've commented. I am especially grateful for the online friendships that have resulted from this blog and will last far beyond it's influence. May you all find the good you seek.

Thank you also all of you who have linked to this blog. I learned so much during the process of writing, coding and linking to others. Reading your thoughts has enriched me and made me a better person. May you find great success.

Thank you even to my trolls. I have learned from you as well, and hold no grudges. We all have to work with what we're given. I wish you happiness. Truly.

Okay. Sniff. I guess that's it. Goodbye Blogger, Diary of a Feminist Housewife, and all of you fair folk. Blessings. <3

(Actually crying.)

Clustering

It seems like my bravery knows no bounds. I'm popping the question in the grocery store, at the library, at the optometrist. And now I'm asking you. Wanna be on my mailing list? There's a FREE Newsletter involved! Mmm, juicy.

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My first button attempt. The HTML editor in Blogger is being a bit squirrely, jumping around in "compose" mode, adding hard returns... But it works! I think. Try it! I will send you cool things.

My first newsletter is coming together nicely. I'm aiming for June. Send me "you can do it!" vibes for June. June, June, June!

This is the time of year for planning the next school year among homeschoolers, so the new school schedule and focus are being discussed, the "Mommy will be working some of the time" idea is being integrated, and we're going to use the summer to get used to some good new habits and re-visit good old habits.

In concept, all of it is desirable. The question is always of balance, and I think making sure we're all in synch is the key. My unschooler's heart is bucking at the idea of times for things, but I can't be all I need to be for five people (including myself) if I have to repeat meetings, meals and clean-ups. No, no, no.

The new sheriff in town says no. And this new sheriff is like a twin self. Not quite me yet, but lurking around, poking me to speak up when I have to. Prompting me to get moving, eat greens, go to bed. This is the me with the great boundaries who has been stifled under a "good girl" facade. "Good girl" doesn't really work as a mommy identity. Or as a wife, ultimately. What works is pleasant but firm care for children, and pleasant but firm care of self as a wife.

I also can't just plow through life. I have to stop and breathe sometimes. So I am. Literally stopping and breathing. It is very good.

We are hitting the road this summer, camping along the way. I can't wait to see my mom, there's a huge family reunion out West, and we can be in the mountains a bit. It's going to rock. There is so much to do before we go.

I like the concept of a clean slate. To wit, I'm purging the house. After so many baby years, running our business from home, hurricanes, moving NYC down and Mom dropping so much of her house here, mourning, and the economic downturn causing scramble everywhere, the house is just boogley. Full of stuff I don't even relate to anymore. If I was going shopping, I wouldn't buy it again. That kind of stuff. It has to go. Preferably before we road trip this summer. I want to come back to simplicity itself. Ahh. I love just thinking about it!

To review: June newsletter. No is a perfectly nice word. Organizational clarity is good. Breathing deeply is gorgeous. Letting go is peace itself. Sign up for my mailing list. Yay!

Art Attack

My talented and wonderful friend Bree and I have been meeting for brainstorming and creating sessions for our Art Group. This has been a truly magical thing. We have been thinking arts thoughts, writing poetry, writing and planning a performance, doing improv together (that upsets the dog) and visiting museums.

MoMA in NYC is showing the Abramovic retrospective and live performance, which is mind blowing, traumatic and very beautiful. I conquered the whole museum last Friday, and after the Abramovic I seriously needed the Monets, but he's on tour. Good for Monet, waa for me. I swam in the Rothkos instead and reveled in his color layers. Exhaled to some Donald Judd, and loved seeing Lee Krasner right after Pollock and right next to DeKooning. My paintings, when you grow up at the museum they do become yours, look wonderful in their new homes. I was previously upset about losing the Rothko room, though maybe that was at the Tate? Anyway, I'm happy now. It feels like home.

As a side note, I'm really pretty done with the MoMA Store, even with the little Muji alcove. Meh. I had much more fun at Yoyamart! Their site is temporarily closed, but if you're in the city seeing art and walking the High Line, you can stop by! And you can keep tabs on them at Facebook.

Okay, moving right along. We've been very good art women. And we've been momming and wife-ing the whole time. With skillz. Yeah.

That brings me to the moment of truth. I decided, after much angst and a big, loving talk from a dear family art friend in NYC, to not only work on my book from NaNoWriMo of '09, but to illustrate said book. This idea got a glowing look of enthusiasm, and has been on my mind all year with one illustration done so far. Illustration is very now, with an entire room of Picasso illustrations just off Abramovic's performance in the atrium. So that's a brave new thing.

Can you see how I'm still stalling? Fine. Here it is. The latest poem. I submitted it to Mothering Magazine, we'll see. For now, I consider it published having shared it with you.


I saw a wisp of your hair
Across your forehead
And little pigtails
All in a cloud.
I wanted to draw you.
I still might.

I was coming home
When you came to me
To say hello
And wink your sweet eye
Into my stillness and wonder.

You are with me.
You are away.
You know my soul
Which is a clean knowing
From one so young.
It catches me playfully sometimes,
This knowing,
Seeing myself through your eyes.

I admit, I cried.
I cried so much because
I felt you gone
And the longing for you
Made me barely breathe
Except to moan
My throat aching with injustice.

But you never gave up on me.
You were with me in my tears
Waiting patiently for me to
Clear my eyes of them
So I could see.

And now I see you everywhere
My little Buddha
My wise and wonderful child
So much smaller than myself
And so much bigger than the world.

We're gearing up for Earth Day weekend at Koreshan again. Amazing to see our last trip there was one of my last posts for so long. This photo of Baird in a mango tree was sent to me by some kind vendors last year. It's so very Baird.

Cooking classes have been going very well. The first and second Simply Vegetables classes, Easy Spring, and the Indian Tour with Cooking were all big hits, with lots of good feedback. I've lined up three new classes for May.

I've done nine of the Health Histories required by school. I'm learning so much, and really enjoy watching people make their own discoveries in our talks. I'm doing my tenth module this week, and the first test. I'll be able to start taking Health Coaching clients on June 7th, so gearing up is great! We get business cards and brochures in May, I'm working on the website the school gave me, and the Facebook fan page is coming along nicely!

My biggest challenge is keeping balance, same as it is for most people. This whole homeschooling three kids, starting a business while in school and supportive husband too busy as well thing is a challenge. I know I can't duplicate myself, I know I can't bag the whole sleep thing (!), but in fact I also know we all get the same 24 hours. So my real challenge is how to best support myself in those 24 hours, by organizing, prioritizing and being selective, and taking good care of my health along with that of my family. There is an answer that is probably pretty simple. Because successful health coaches are coming back to the school and telling me they're doing it. What one can do, another can do. So I keep a steady pace, and am learning to make a habit of stopping when it's too much.

In the wise words of Dr. Seuss, "Today is gone. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one." The early bedtime plan will make me more effective in everything I do. It will lead to enough rest, which will make me a better mommy, wife, health coach, writer and friend. And that's that. To that end, I leave you. Tomorrow I teach art in the park, there are kid playdates, we need bunny food, and to clean the van. If I can also put the new classes up Facebook and into an email, all the better.

Mwaaaa!

See, I Didn't Even Name It!

My time crunch has made me a typo queen. Out of character, but there it is, so maybe it's a new element of my persona. Typos that get left there versus not blogging because I don't have time to make it perfect because typos usually drive me insane. The "good enough" test is passed with flying colors. I'll get back to my former rigor once I'm back in the groove of regular posts.

All I can write right now is what I'm up to. Grander thoughts and photos will have to wait, though I am very eager to get back to talking politics (hmm, the Tea Party's a little embarassing) and feminism (this men's recession is a bitch, but shake-ups are not always bad) and dinner (I'm thinking of gearing up quail operations but need to hawk-proof the run). So bear with me.

In the meantime, talk amongst yourselves. Here's a subject: MY FANPAGE!!!! Okay, no. Really. How about this? A fave song from a few years ago, stuck in my head today. Sure, the video is a snarky romp through religious history (maybe not really the best Passover/Lenten viewing), but my school plays never had this kind of production value. And the Shins are yummy. So I'm listening again anyway.

Up, Up, and Away!

So far I've taught one cooking class, and have three more lined up. They're really fun, and people are excited (almost as excited as I am!). I'm doing Easy Spring, Simply Vegetables and a tour of one of our local Asian markets with Indian cooking afterward. Find out more at the brand new fanpage a friend started for me (thanks, Beth!), where you can also sign up if you're in Naples on those dates!

I've been making good progress on the school Health Histories. They say the more I do, the more successful I'll be when I graduate, plus they require a certain number. So far I've done six, and have several more lined up. If you're interested in the free consultation, sign up at my school website. I'll contact you and set up an appointment either in person for locals, or on the phone for everyone else. I can't take clients until June 7th, but the practice with Health Histories really helps!

The yoga is on hold, the arts group is still in the works, and I'm still trying to get logistical basics covered for the Studio. It's kind of a big deal, by my support system is so very awesome I'm moving forward each day with their help. Love!

Now to just get back in the habit of thinking blog thoughts. Life is so zippy!

Blog Life, Life Blog

It has been an eternity. Everything is changing so very fast. Thank you so much for the continued encouragement, for checking in, for linking to me, hitting old posts and commenting in the meantime. You all rock, and I love you for it.

This lag in the blog, and all of the IRL bounty that accompanied the lag were due to several factors. Brace yourself for the first one, in case you don't already know.

We lost dear Anci two years ago, our daughter of second trimester, as many of you are aware. Her gift to our life has been continual and inspiring in ways I never could have imagined. This is true of each of our children, of course, but since she is not physically here, her contributions are perhaps less obvious to others. Mostly she has opened my eyes to love, community, boundaries. Life for me is very much divided into Before Anci and After Anci. No question. That must be very clearly understood. She has caused me to say yes and trust, to say no (even when it hurts), to listen to others, to smile when I didn't feel like it so that smiles began to come more and more often for real. Anci (Ahn-shee)has also helped us find clarity and continues to do so.

The economy continues to be an inspiration to us and to everyone we know. There has never been a better time for making lemonade. But you don't need me to tell you that.

Also, homeschooling three kids of such different ages means we are hard pressed to get everyone to several age appropriate get-togethers each week. The soon-to-arrive google phone should help with mobile blogging and vlogging. Life has just become so fast!

News is plentiful, and I'll be checking in here more often to post, update and spread the love. If you have linked to me recently (oh, just don't ask me to define "recently"...), bear with me. I'm going to be catching up slowly. Blog admin updates will be happening! ♥

On to the new stuff.

I'm in school at Institute for Integrative Nutrition, studying to be a Certified Health Councelor. (That's my basic site, I'll be adding to it.) Just started in Feb. It's a huge amount of work, this school thing! In the pipeline are several related projects. I'll be teaching healthy cooking classes (starting tentatively on the 19th), live and online, and will be posting any youtubes or vimeos here as well as around the web.

The internet Show spun from this will feature myself and others travelling around and making local discoveries seeking superfoods, wild foraging, slow food and permaculture set ups, altie chefs, indie althletes, self-sustaining farms, traditional preparation methods for storage and bioavailability, conversations, health guru interviews, long walks, longevity thinkers and scientists, fitness folk, meditation, yoga and the like, spas, co-ops, etc. I like the idea of shared input, a la Current and their Viewer Created Content. Platform to follow, I'll let you know where it ends up living. I intend to get the first class and interview committed to video this month, and up before the month is out. Even if they're tiny! Starting by starting is my game plan.

For Lent I have given up gluten and dairy, after being up all night after one, singular Shrove Tuesday pancake. Very educational. Now I can breathe, I can think, and I really like it. Pine bark extract and 5K IUs of vitamin D are also rocking my world. Do some research. Wowwy results, kids.

I'm also a year into a fairly complex (for me...) investing course. Finally beginning to put the pieces together and speak the language. Greeks, Fibbonacci, Earnings, oh my! When I start boldly moving forward and committing to real time action I'll post it somewhere. Right now, I am The Backtester (visualize the leather boots, black cape waving in the wind). I'm all about making investing sexy. More to come.

A friend and I are starting an Arts Group, with some fun plans for the future including our own Art Basil Naples @ Three Palms (that's my house) in December. It will include paintings, photography, sculpture, craft, performance, music, readings, screenings and live graffitti. This will be curated by me and the Arts Group. Some of the installation will remain through February, when we hold the First Annual (Bring Your Own) Wine Festival in February to benefit a charity to be determined. We'll document the whole process and have a catalog for sale at the end, and multiple video documentary snippets as we go. Watch this spot.

National Novel Writing Month and What Would Google Do have inspired me to start a serial blog of the novel/interlinked short stories I came up with during the month. Quite possibly with illustrations. Address to be announced. First brainstorm is Wednesday, more info to follow. First post possibly as soon as March, more likely beginning of April.

Yoga classes for mommy and baby as well as basic will begin the 15th (I think) at Salle di Napoli. All this in addition to continuing homeschool fine art classes for the tweens and teens, getting D&D started for the same group, trying to actually hit the books with the kids sometimes (unschooling seems to work beautifully, thank goodness!) and get them to field trips, maintaining the livestock, running the house, eat home made food, etc.

Big news all of it, plus we have converted our rental unit into my studio!!!! Put that in your hat, Virginia Woolf. That's where the cooking and health classes will be held, also semi-private yoga, counceling, and other offerings from other teachers (hint, hint). Call me.

I really don't know what to name this whole enchilada. The show, the health business, any of the pieces. One thing my school councelor said to look for is what others reflect back to me about myself. Often those who know us see us more clearly than we see ourselves, she said. This seems like wisdom. I continue to open my eyes and stay receptive as a practice.

Much love to you all!

New Site & Recipe

I posted this on my brand new google site, Miranda's Menus. There are other ideas there, but not many recipes yet. My goal is to be able to put together full plans for weeks, but I'm still working on tech, time being the main wrench in the works for now. It will happen. In the meantime, here is the cross-post. Hope you enjoy!


Summer Fish Soup & Biscuits, a chef's walk-through

In the soup pot I sauteed some lardons cut from jowl bacon. Maybe a tablespoon or two. In these and their fat I sauteed an onion, threw in some small, quartered carrot slices, and some finely chopped celery, in mirepoix ratio, more or less. I added each as they were chopped. Two Cuban oregano leaves, chopped. Some chopped parsley. A bay leaf. A chopped clove of garlic (just one). About a 1/2 cup or more of white wine, I think it was some old Chardonnay a friend brought.

This all simmered and reduced a bit, delglazing the bacon and onion mayhem from the bottom of the pot. I added half the usual chowder potatoes, so about three, cut in about 1" pieces, and a quart of water. You could use stock here, but I didn't find it needed with the bacon, wine and veggies doing the trick nicely. Next time I'd add some pepper here, maybe white. (Green peppercorns would be really fun...)

Let all this simmer until the potatoes are tender, but not falling apart.

Add your fish. I used flounder. Only about 5 or six small fillets. Add more water as needed. Allow the fish to cook through and the flavors to merge. Break the fillets before serving. Correct the salt and pepper to taste. Less is more, I found.

We had it with freshly cut corn, fresh parsley, a sprinkle of grated Parmigiano, and biscuits made with white whole wheat flour (King Arthur) and cream.

It was light and satisfying. Totally one for the rotation. I think next time I may double it so we have enough for lunch the next day, though doubling is no guarantee there will be any left!

Definitions

Wednesday at the park, C had her preposterously cute "some kind of bulldog" foster puppy with her. Only a few weeks old. It has a speckled nose and is such a sweet package I just want to smoosh him and call him George.

"What kind of puppy is that, Durga?" asked M.

"Actually, it's a hamster."

The pic is a bit blurry because the puppy should really be called Wiggles.

The photo doesn't do him justice.
He'll go back to the Humane Society and be right out again to his new home. There's a waiting list for adorable puppies! He'll be an amazing dog for being fostered from so little by people.

He is squishy. Mmm.

We're off camping this weekend. It's a huge group of us at a big Earth Day event. There are some permaculture and other plant people there I can't wait to see again. Stella gets to come, too, and we're sharing a site with B and B, which is always great.

Regarding B and B, she's in theatre and grew up here, and he's a leonine adventurer. Last year he took the kids on a spooky walk through the bamboo forest at night. Baird was big-eyed in smiling terror. He can't wait for this year.

They know tons of people, which makes their campfire hopping. Totally fun. And they're some of my favorite people, so everything else is just a bonus.

Speaking of fire, there must be one in the Everglades right now. Since yesterday there has been a smokey smell, and a thin veil of smoke sometimes, depending on the wind. Today it smells wetter. Could be they're getting it under control.

It's so dry here this time of year. The canals are very low. There was an egret fishing at the beach the other day. It made me wonder if what's left of the waterways were a bit tapped from lack of rain and over-fishing by all the birds. The swamps are dry, with only gator wallows left. And everything is super flamable. We'll likely be burning only charcoal at camping. But the temperature is perfect, so it will be a lovely trip, with nary a mosquito.

I'll limit myself to only one plant purchase, and remember the drums for the biggest drum circle in SW Florida. It's one of the best I've seen, honestly second only to ones I attended the summer I spent at Omega in the late 80s when Baba Olatunji was teaching, and a few Afro-Cuban jazz things in NYC that were full of professionals. That's saying something, because there's nothing sadder than a lame drum circle. And this one rocks. Great attitude on top.

It's a "no politics for Miranda" weekend, by the way. Kinda has to be. (Can I be a strongly anti-dark green, bright green libertarian?) Find me at the Roots & Shoots craft booth. Groove on!

In sum, we have a hamster puppy, a dry swamp, and an eco-political mashup. I'm content.

Greens, Tweets

I suspected the jatropha family of being more than just a pretty, drought-resistant addition to the garden. I know in some places they're trying to make it work as a green fuel, but usually it's competing for space with food crops.

Enter...the spinach tree. It's commonly called chaya in Mexico, where it's used as a green vegetable and to wrap tamales, according to ECHO farms. Mine is a bit leggy, so I think I'll let it finish flowering this round, and then chop in half before the rains come in earnest.

I also just found out green nasturtium seeds make better capers than proper capers do. This according to Stocking Up III, by Carol Hupping, and also Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning by the Terre Vivante gang (who's old family recipes are more charming than their politics--stick to the book).

The other great book I'm diving back into is Wild Man Steve Brill's Identifying & Harvesting Edible & Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places. There's quite a bit of local cross-over, which I didn't expect in our Caribbean haven.

H called me today for several reasons, and ended up telling me I was out of touch and had to watch t.v., specifically some news.

Fine.

I toggled between Fox, who were all about Tea Parties, and CNN, who weren't. I suppose I'm better informed now. Opinion to follow, but I can't say when. Kind of a wild day to just drop in on the msm news.

Twitter was a bit wild today as well. I guess I started following some new folks, and some followed me back, and then their people did as well, and it was a bit of madness for the old inbox. Maybe it still is. India appears to be in the house at the moment.

And I should be asleep.

But baby took a too-late nap and is still awake. 2:20, and I can hear her talking to her sleeping daddy, counting something.

I don't think mere stretching is enough of a workout for me. Mostly because I'm pretty flexible, and because I appear to still be awake at this unreasonable hour. Back to Core tomorrow. That should improve the sleep schedule. I've done a week! Woohoo!

Off to be put to sleep by half a page of Guns, Germs & Steel (really fascinating, but not exactly a page turner). I'll have to make time for progress at some point, it's such a big book. Bonne nuit!

Continuum

Happy Easter! Holy Week is hard, and after Lent, it's like a one two punch of contemplation and dark before the dawn. Then there's Easter. Hallelujah indeed.

To celebrate resurrection, spring and new life, I'm awakening my sourdough starter. It's the first starter I made, when Kali was a baby in NYC. I fed it all the way down here, and have used it for years. People who claim starter must be eternally used and/or fed do not know starter well. We have often left ours dormant for a year or more at a time.

I opened it after church today, and smelled. Lovely. The dark liquor on the top looked almost black, and deep, and swirly. I poured it off into my bread bowl, and dug a spoon into the starter itself. It was the color of rich, fresh flour, but better. More honey colored. It smelled like the best apple cider you've ever come across. Delicious. I just want to go breathe it some more.

Into this I stirred a cup each of whole wheat flour (red) and filtered water. I feed starter with what ever I have on hand. White, white whole wheat, red whole wheat or rye. They all work beautifully. I started it with rye originally. It's beginning to bubble. That's a piece of heaven, truly. I wish I could blog the good, clean, sweet smell of it.

I love the metaphor, the peering into the fridge to look for the starter. It wasn't where I remembered it being. I wondered if it was viable, but even the black liquor smelled good, and underneath it was quite alive. Maybe I'll make it a Spring tradition. I like the idea that it was more of a dormant state between active life and new life.

This is all really a digression, though. What has me really excited is an idea that occurred to me as I stirred the fed starter.

Florida houses are by definition moldy houses. I don't care how much you spend, there's so much mold in the outside air, it gets in, and everyone's got at least a little. We battle it, we hold it at bay, and sometimes it wins. Hence the tear-down house phenomenon.

There really can't be any happily old architecture in Southern Florida. At the very least the interior contents have to be replaced fairly frequently, and even gut renovations are often required. Nasty chemicals are involved, and there's no option. The mold is quite toxic.

But what if, like populating the intestines with beneficial flora to keep unfriendly yeast and bacteria, we could populate the house with beneficial, or at least neutral yeasts, molds and mycological life?

It makes sense. Here's another example.

In Florida, you can make it so you have no medium sized creatures in your yard (possums, racoons, skunks, for instance,), and no reptile hideouts, but then you may suffer an abundance of palm rats (which to my NYC eyes are like pretty little squirrels without the fluffy tails, but rats nevertheless), which then require another heroic solution.

But if you make something of an undisturbed habitat, then likely a possum will move in and eat the rats (better a possum than the other two options!). And king snakes move into the hedges and tree banks and eat both rats and other more aggressive snakes.

This happy little system works at our house. No furry beasts steal my fruit or veggies. The dog and cats keep them out of the house. Everyone's happy. At night sometimes we hear the possum, possuming around in the leaf litter (which I also don't rake, but relocate as mulch around the yard). It's actually rather pleasant. An occasional basking snake on a hedge top, or zipping through the yard is kind of cool.

So why not? Why not innoculate the house with some happy blend of colonizing fungi and flora, and do what it takes to keep it happy? Then only an unhappy house would get dangerous mold and nasty mildew. What about that?

Any mycologists and bacteriologists want to chime in here? Any air conditioning radicals? Is it possible that some combination of the wild yeasts in sourdough starter, the flora in lactofermented foods, and a shiitake log could pleasantly populate the house and keep the nasties at bay? I'm only slightly joking about those specific examples. You get the point.

Isn't it an exciting idea? With regular folk eating Activia (no pun intended), there could be a great market for this if not only did it prevent nasty mold, but was even beneficial. Imagine the shipping and sick building contracts! It would give air conditioning and purification whole new meaning!

I can't be the first person to think of this.

The kids are jacked up on Easter candy superaction, Tim is napping on the couch, and we have a p90x yoga date later today. A walk on the beach, then crab legs and filet mignon for dinner. Insert contented sigh.

Several Things

1. Last night I started the Naples Permaculture and Edible Forest Garden Meetup. People are joining, including a teacher of such, and I'm so outrageously excited I can hardly stand it. Our first meetup isn't until May, and now I'm wanting it to be sooner. Patience, Grasshopper, eh?

2. Kali's show was great. The content of the play is a bit dated conceptually (How To Eat Like A Child), even with update for details, but the kids rocked it, and Kali's voice was a delight. Not just because I'm her mom, either. She really nailed it. She was mostly Arlene, but played several other characters as well. "I Feel Sick" was her main piece, with solos.

3. I finally had a moment of gnosis on the guitar. It was the guitar, piano, guitar lightbulb. Did scales naturally, got the strings/frets/notes thing without much muddling, and found meaning in a 1, 3, 5, 7 C chord on the guitar for the first time. Got it. Got it, got it. And it rocked. And I have the beginning of callouses. Fierce.

4. My orchids are blooming, which I love.

5. The biggest, baddest most kick-ass thing? Tim and I got up this morning and did our first p90x workout. Chest and back. And we took photos. We don't need to lose weight, but both are looking for more strength, endurance and flexibility while gaining the others. We did a modified version of it, for injuries and to avoid them. So we did about a 1/4 to 1/2 version, modified all the movements, used the Total Gym for the pull ups and inclined pushups. It still rocked.

My voice is resonant, like after yoga, and I have a little burn. We made a whey protein isolate, water, cocoa, brown sugar, green tea extract shake for after. I am a monstahhh! Jah!

My Old Flame

Yesterday I drank coffee for the first time in weeks. Months. I don't know how long. It feels like forever. Like time drags without it.

Of course it's not really fair to judge the non-coffee period so harshly, as I was under the weather for so much of it. I don't care about fair though. I care about getting my brain back.

The little water feature in the garden is clean, scrubbed, reorganized. That took some doing. It was a slimy mess.

The kitchen maintained its organized state and kids did dishes (hurray!). I made a mock up of a beautiful little idea I've had bouncing around in my head. It needs work, but here's my first take. I even played guitar with Baird for a few minutes.

More coffee is brewing now, which means I can confidently say I'll work out, play guitar again for another few minutes, finish the yam dollar hots (silver dollar hots from the new Joy with 1/4 c. yam added, and a bit of milk and cinnamon), shower, gather photos to show my cousin, and get

everyone up there for the morning. No cutting my list in half. Nyaaa. And I can say all of that having already blogged.

Mmm, it's ready, I can smell it.

If the world goes to hell, I want coffee in my survival rations.

(Staged photo ostensibly showing evidence of guitar use.)