Category: To Occupy my Time

Dishcloth finished

Here we have dishcloth #4 in the series. I love this pattern because it looks cool and the repeat was in segments that I could follow, being neither too small to drop stitches or too big to lose my place. If you look closely you will see that I went off track at points, but still managed to muddle through.

I’m such a fan of the checkerboard!

Requiem: Tempeh Pizza Burgers Recipe

In going through my recipe three-ring binder, I was resistant to throwing out this recipe, even though I haven’t made it since the mid-90s. I think it is because this was the first thing I remember making with tempeh and it was delicious and filling, something that a lot of my vegetarian recipes hadn’t been supplying. It was a recipe that took a lot of steps though, so I don’t think I made it ever again, preferring to pan-fry my tempeh and season it with soy sauce.

Should you so desire to make tempeh pizza burgers of your own you can squint at that picture or seek out the cookbook.

Requiem: Jar

Okay, I find this ridiculous, but I couldn’t just recycle this jar without first taking a picture. This is a glass Miracle Whip jar, from the era when all condiments came in jars, not plastic bottles.

It also has masking tape and the remains of a label in my grandmother’s handwriting. This was the reason it was hard to let go of. I have many other examples of her handwriting, but I liked the link of the jar across generations.

I’ve added my own label.
Whew. Pictures taken, now jar can be recycled.

New Loo Ceremony.

The school took part in the First Flush ceremony for the newest Portland Loo. As usual, adding children to the mix was delightful.

Listening to the speeches.

Waiting to sing our songs

Tara is ready to lead the 4/5 chorus.

After singing, (“New Loo” performed by the 4/5 chorus to the tune of “Blue Moon.” Also, “Skip to my Loo” by the entire school) we did the first flush by doing a massive “all school” push that began in the K/1 grade blend and traveled up through the grades. Each student carefully–for the most part–pushed the arm of the student next to them all the way to the end of the line…

…where Julie passed off the flush to Tara and she ran inside and pushed the button. This resulted in a great photo that was in the Saturday Community Section of the Oregonian. Sadly, the photo is not included with the web site article.

The Oregonian’s video (which sadly includes an ad) has a slide show and the Skip to My Loo song.

Poem for January 2012: Dawn Revisited

Here it is: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2003/08/28

I chose this poem because in some ways it is a sufficient “new year, new start” sort of poem. However, though the light is returning, we are still in the dark of winter. “How good to RISE IN SUNLIGHT!” I would project forcefully at the dark, rainy sky as I walked to the train in the morning. Aside from using this poem to chastise the earth for something that is perfectly natural, I also greatly enjoyed the phrase “prodigal smell of biscuits.”

Sabbath report

I’ve decided to create my own Sabbath celebration. This came about because I was reading The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teaching to Raise Self-Reliant Children, by Wendy Mogel. She made the point that it is important to work, but also that it is important to stop working. Ah! I don’t have a time when I officially do that. Mogel likened getting ready for a “rest day” to going on vacation. It’s a bit of a pain to get everything organized and in order so you can leave, but the time spent on vacation is worth it.
So, being Unitarian-Universalist, I made up my own Sabbath. Mine begins at sundown on Saturday and goes until sundown on Sunday. Ideally, I will have food prepared for the week and the house in order at the start of my Sabbath.
What activities will be Sabbath approved? That answer is still coming. Ideally, I want to go to church, though that hasn’t happened yet. Reading and movie watching are on the “yes” list. Going for walks? Yes. Socializing with friends? I’m not sure yet, sometimes scheduling things makes me feel trapped. Doing work around the house/in the garden/cooking? Probably not, unless that’s what I really, really want to do and am not doing out of a sense of obligation.
I’ll check in monthly to see how my Sabbath is going.
1/15/11
Had a candle-lit meal with Matt with vegetables and everything. Then we hung out. I worked at church for the 9:15 service, but came home and crawled back into bed for a nap and reading.
1/22/11
I cooked so there could be a Sabbath meal, but then wasn’t really hungry for one, so just had some soup with Matt. We played two rounds of the game “Letters from Whitechapel” and then off to bed. Sunday I lazed about in bed and then hauled myself out to see a movie. There was a goodly amount of reading, which was nice.
1/29/11
Well, not the most relaxing Sabbath. Saturday night I had theater tickets and went to that. It was fun. Sunday I got up and delivered one round of the neighborhood newsletter. This is a task that happens quarterly and it happened to fall on a Sunday. Then I went to church, not for church but to volunteer at the Religious Education desk. This is a task that happens sporadically, but happened to happen on this Sunday. Then Matt picked me up and we saw the Vlogbrothers tour stop in Portland and went out to eat. I came home and the Sabbath was over, but I was the opposite of rested. It’s made me realized how important it is to take that day. I’ll make sure to carve it out next week.

Just one thing weeks of January

Just one thing is the one thing I do (or attempt to do) each week to keep the house from overwhelming me.

January 1-7
Top shelf of laundry area

Did! Yay!

January 8-14
Next two shelves of Laundry area

Didn’t do! Boo!

January 15-21
Next two shelves of Laundry area

Didn’t do! But because we are contemplating a change which might end up with the removal of shelves. Stay tuned.

January 22-28

Go through cookbooks and make sure they are all really the ones you want.
Did it! Yay!

Wrangling of the top shelf. Before:
After:

Hal Holbrook Mark Twain Tonight.


Hal Holbrook is 86 years old, a full sixteen years older than the 70-year-old Mark Twain he is portraying in this show. Using Mark Twain’s writings, Holbrook talked about this and that, and there was a lot of “the more things change, the more they stay the same” as Mark Twain had a lot to say about incompetent congress, incredibly wealthy fat cats and distrustful media.