weekend to do

this time of year always whips my ass. that said, on deck this weekend:

shoe sale!
violin & bicycle shopping (girls keep growing much to my dismay)
50 birthday to celebrate
a derby to attend
year-end teacher gifts to organize
hockey team to cheer for

around the house
mortice and tenon joins for the bedside table
wash down kitchen cabinet tops & faces
fix leaky faucet

Maya Angelou April 4, 1928 - May 28, 2014

“I am convinced that most people do not grow up. We find parking spaces and honor our credit cards. We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are still innocent and shy as magnolias."
― Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

NYT

weekend to do

around the house
finalize rails for bedroom shelving
modify trellis for peas
remove that last little bit of pool fence

eldest daughter returns from camp (hooray!)
finish youngest daughter's last project of 4th grade (hooray!)
early morning endurance hike with mr. j
memorial day bbq

happy long weekend :)

a big fan

the temps have dipped, offering some relief - and an opportunity to (once again) research fan options. working from home, i've burned through a couple of less expensive options over the last 8 years. i'm looking now for something that will last. is easy to clean. and it should look good. size isn't too much of an issue. i want it to cool my workspace - which isn't very large.



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so - we ended up going with the otto fan. no.3 - which i found on amazon prime, so free delivery. (don't let the bad reviews dissuade you. i am very happy with it!) it is quiet, yet powerful enough to make a difference while i'm at my desk. it is easy to disassemble to clean. and it works so well with our decor.

weekend to do

bicycle inner-tube repairs
make sure e is ready for 7th grade camp! (wish I could go!)
make a decision on shade by the pool! (thinking that this is worth the investment?)
movie under the stars at the ranch
trip to the farmers market (now alternating this with our CSA delivery)

around the house
until the temps drop... just chill ;)

cool eats.

another good alternative to cooking outside on a hot day, i've discovered, is using our crockpot. it gets used more frequently in the winter, i admit, when it is so nice to come home post-car-pool-violin-lessons-and-all to a house smelling like dinner. (that scene in Ramona and Her Mother remains forver tied to my "Crock-Pot" love.)

our favorite summer crockpot dish - lentil tacos. i use this recipe. simple enough for my pickier eater. and adaptable enough (with a favorite hot sauce) for those who like it spicy. (we swap out the chicken-broth for a veggie one to keep it a vegetarian meal - which we strive for monday :: wednesday :: friday.)

any tried and true summer recipes from your house, veg or not?

hot hot hot

we have already entered the long days of triple digit temps here in the san fernando valley. (according to a recent UCLA climate change study, portions of the sfv could see the days over 95 degrees quadruple by 2050! yikes!)

thankfully we have a pool. where we spend most of our time when it's this hot and we can't get away to the beach. thankfully we also have central air (which we keep at 79) and all new windows, which help to keep that cool air in and warm air out. and thankfully, we live in an inland valley zone that (usually) tempers these hot days with cool nights - so after the sun goes down the windows open back up.

i work from home - and so i need to be comfortable. keeping the thermostat at 79 means i can't run any appliances during the day that might heat things up. laundry is relegated to non-peak hours. and cooking (and eating) dinner happens as much as possible in the back yard.

i'm not a fan of the heat. i love winter. i grew up with the ice & snow. (and some amazingly beautiful prairie summers that could be hot and humid. but i was young. and didn't have to get things done!) that said - there are days here that seem perfection - that remind me of those prairie summers - and remind me why we live here. (those triple digits days though, aren't those!)

here we go. stay cool.







more cool tips for hot days

happy mother's day!

i showed this photograph to the girls this morning. e looked at me with that look only a 13 year old can give and said "Mom! You are wearing too much make-up!" then she realized that i am the baby in this picture.

a very happy mother's day to all the mums in my life. and especially to mine xo

steppin' out

taking a break...

see you next week!

screenfree week

weekend to do

school carnival
hunt for wildflowers?

around the house
finish (as in apply finish) to shelving for master bedroom
pack away cool weather bedding