2012 February

Feb 28, 2012

Hobby Focus, Revisited

Back near the beginning of this year, I wrote a post about my intentions to be more intentional in the area of hobbies. I talked about how I’m a dabbler, and that while there’s nothing wrong with dabbling, I thought it would be nice to devote some more focused time to a few hobbies, to dive a little deeper, to see if a hobby (or multiple hobbies) would become more of a passion — something in which I could excel.

So. How has it gone?

Very much like you might expect, if you remember that at heart, I am a dabbler.

I did choose a hobby for January and another one for February.

And I did devote more time to those hobbies than I might otherwise have done.

But…I did still feel restless, called to dip my toe into other hobby waters, discontent to stick with just one. I made progress, but not as much as I had hoped, perhaps.

January’s hobby was knitting.

The good news is, my husband got a scarf out of the whole deal, and he seems to like it very much. He wears it regularly and has told me on numerous occasions how glad he is that I made it for him. I know that if I hadn’t been very deliberate about setting aside time to knit, the scarf would never have been finished. It would still be “in progress,” and most likely sitting — in its unfinished state — next to my favorite seat on the couch.

I also made a hat for C.(13). While he thanked me and seemed pleased, I know it’s not a great hat. It was a rather plain hat (since I have rather plain skills when it comes to knitting). And my fitting and finishing abilities are greatly lacking, so it’s a little big and not the most sturdy of items.

Finally, I began a baby hat that promised to teach me a variety of knitting skills since it contains multiple panels, all done in different stitches

Notice I said I “began” a baby hat. It is unfinished. What can I say? January ended and I was on to the next hobby. I do still plan to finish the hat, but I’m not making any promises as to when.

Things I learned during my month of knitting:

Knitting can be a relaxing way to spend an evening. It gets me off my laptop and is a nice way to pass the time if I’m hanging out with someone who is watching TV.
I have no desire to knit large items. Afghans? No thanks. Sweaters? Nope. Any knitting I do will most likely remain small-scale: hats, scarves, etc.
I do not have a deep and abiding desire to master knitting. It’s true. While I enjoyed the process and the results, I didn’t approach my knitting with zeal or excitement. I think it will remain, for me, a nice pastime, something I’m glad to know how to do, but not something I truly love.

On to February…

February’s hobby was bread-baking.

I do not have a bread machine at this time, so I divided the month between using the method from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and making sourdough bread from a starter I purchased from King Arthur Flour. The results of both approaches were yummy and satisfying. I’m growing more confident in baking with yeast (something I feared for many years), and my guys were always excited when another freshly-made loaf came out of the oven.

Unfortunately, I like bread. A lot. And a fresh loaf is practically irresistible to me. I want nothing more than to slice it and slather it with butter. All of it. Which, as you might imagine, would not be the healthiest choice I could make. So admittedly, as the month went on, the frequency of my bread-making lagged a bit. But only because I was trying to make wiser food choices…and sometimes that required me to not make bread.

Things I learned from my month of bread-baking:

I genuinely enjoy baking. I knew this before, but this month of extra baking just reinforced it. I definitely get more fulfillment from a loaf of bread than from a knitted baby hat. Don’t ask me why; I just do.
Baking with yeast isn’t so bad. Yeast doughs can be a bit temperamental, but if I don’t get hung up on precise times and volumes and doubling and so on, and just work with the dough a bit more…I can still get very good results.
I think my guys prefer bread to knitted products as well.

March is just around the corner. So what is next for me?

It’s an aspect of the hobby I kept dabbling in during January and February (while I was supposed to be focused on knitting and baking): Photography. I haven’t been able to put my camera down. One reason is because I’ve committed to doing a “picture a day” scrapbook again this year. But another reason is that I really do want to improve my photography skills. It’s something that interests me, appeals to my detail-oriented nature, and allows me to better capture life with my favorite people.

I’ve already taken an online class in basic photography, so in March, I’m going to explore “post processing” a bit. In other words, I’m going to learn more about how to use Photoshop to enhance the color, white balance, contrast, etc. in the photos I take. I must admit, I’m rather excited.

Maybe this hobby — the one that’s been calling to me so far this year — will be the one I settle in with and stay with for a while. We’ll see.

Filed Under: Craftiness, Everyday Life, Food, Photography 12 Comments

Feb 27, 2012

Casserole Wars

written by katrina · 12 Comments

No, I am not using this post’s title to refer to a new show on Food Network.

Instead, I am referring to a quiet little war that brews in our house.

It’s a battle between me and my five-year-old.

Here’s the breakdown:

I like making the occasional casserole. I like casseroles because they typically require few pots, pans, and baking dishes (i.e., less clean-up for the win). I like them because they make it easy to sneak veggies onto my kids’ plates. I like them because, while there is great variety in the world of casseroles, they rarely require fancy cooking techniques, and they fit into busy mom-life pretty nicely. Easy to make ahead, easy to store as leftovers. Basically, the benefit list is long.

L., my five-year-old, adamantly dislikes casseroles. I can’t seem to get a straight answer out of him as to exactly why he doesn’t like casseroles. I know it’s not the veggies — he’ll often happily eat whatever veggies I serve. And I don’t think it’s related to the flavors — I try to keep things tasty without being “too adventurous.”

To be honest, I think it has something to do with the fact that in a casserole, all the food is combined into one dish.

L. prefers to have the different parts of his meal — the meat, the veggies, the additional starch or other items — to be conspiciously separated upon his plate. No touching allowed!

And in a casserole…it’s all touching. It’s all intermingled. Quite simply, it’s impossible to separate.

As a result, L. is not pleased.

We’ve fallen into a routine wherein I make a casserole every couple weeks — after days and days of doing the whole “food conspicously separated upon the plate” type of meals. The thing is, 3/4ths of the people who live here actually like the casseroles I make, so I’m not prepared to just give them up because of a certain kid’s food preferences. And yet, despite the fact that we only put very small amounts of the food/casserole on L.’s plate, and despite the fact that the casseroles are so rare, and despite the fact that I truly try to make the meals kid-friendly…L. is still not pleased.

He knows better than to complain loudly about food Mom prepares. But if you could see the look on his face — the look of sadness and distaste and do-I-really-have-to-eat-this-horribly-combined-food — you would see that my attempts at converting him to a casserole-lover are failing.

L.’s preschool teacher has been wonderful about encouraging the kids to try new foods, or even old foods that they think they don’t like. She tells them that tastes change as kids grow, and even if they don’t like something the first time…or the second…or even the third…well, who knows? Maybe they’ll love it the 15th time they try it!

Now, if we tried to explain this same principle to L., he wouldn’t believe us. But he does seem to believe his teacher.

In fact, just last week, L. gave Tomato Soup another try (soup is another “not-so-great” food in L.’s book). After finishing an entire [tiny] bowl of soup, he admitted that this time was definitely better than the last time he tried tomato soup (“Last time I felt like throwing up after I ate it; this time I didn’t.”) See? Improvement.

So I guess I’ll just keep making the occasional casserole, despite any looks of horror they might inspire, and hope that next time…or the time after that…or maybe in the year 2019, L. will finally look at me and say, “You know what? That casserole wasn’t so bad.”

Filed Under: Family, Food 12 Comments

Feb 22, 2012

[Mostly] Wordless Wednesday

written by katrina · 3 Comments

This week, we sold a house. Though we moved to our new house several months ago, we finally closed on the sale of our old one this past Monday. Here is my husband and our boys in front of the old house on Sunday. See my other post for a slightly more emotional exploration of this transition.

And don’t forget to visit 5 Minutes for Mom to see more Wordless Wednesday participants.

Filed Under: Wordless Wednesday 3 Comments

Feb 22, 2012

A new chapter

written by katrina · 6 Comments

So. We kinda did things backwards.

Back in October, we bought a house. Then we moved into it.

THEN we got our old house ready to sell. We listed it in January.

Amazingly, and thankfully, it sold in an incredible five days.

We closed on it this past Monday.

Whew!

I admit that still owning that other house has kept me a bit distracted for the past few months. Though I wasn’t there every day, it was always on my mind. I stopped by regularly to check on things, do a quick vacuum, make sure everything was still humming along properly. And I thought quite a bit about how nice it would be when we finally sold it and didn’t have to think about it anymore.

So here we are; it’s sold.

And yes, it IS a relief. It’s good to be a one-house family again.

But I confess that Monday was a bit bittersweet.

Though we’d been living in our new house for several months, the old house was still there. It was still accessible, still ours. The swingset (enjoyed by many kids), the basement we finished, the rooms full of memories… were right there.

And though I know we take the memories with us, it was still just a teeny bit hard to slide the key and the garage door openers across the table to the new owners…to very firmly close the door on that chapter of our lives.

***

C.(13) and I had a little “camp out” at the old house two weekends ago. We packed our air beds and sleeping bags, a board game and our books, and headed to the old house for one last evening. We played a game and talked about some of our best times at the house. We got our beds ready, settled in with our books, and fell asleep.

It was a bit strange. The house — empty and yet full of strange echoes and creaks that we didn’t notice before — felt different. But we were both glad we took that little adventure. It provided some nice closure for the two of us, admittedly the more sentimental ones in the family.

***

This past Sunday, all four of us descended upon the old house for one last time. We removed paint cans, cleaning supplies, a few last tools. We swept out the garage, and checked the yard for random wind-blown garbage.

L.(5) played on the swings and marched around the backyard. C. took pictures from every angle imaginable.

It was good. We were preparing the house for its new owners and saying our goodbyes.

The new owners are very nice. They were so excited about closing on the house, making it their own. At the closing, they told us more than once how much they were looking forward to moving in, listed the various features that made them fall in love with the house. Assured us they would take good care of it.

It was exactly what I needed to hear.

***

As I read back over this blog post, I wondered if it comes across as a wee bit melodramatic. If it does, that’s okay. We enjoyed nearly seven wonderful years in our old house. And though we love our new house, and are excited to create new memories here, to enjoy the next chapter together as a family… I think it’s okay to be just a tiny bit sad as we turn the page.

***

See my Wordless Wednesday post for a related picture. And thanks for reading!

Filed Under: Everyday Life, Family 6 Comments

Feb 15, 2012

The Old Mom

written by katrina · 9 Comments

Eight years ago, I went to a Kindergarten orientation meeting. C.(13) was about to enter Kindergarten and I was there to learn all about the program, the curriculum, the teachers. I wanted to be sure that this school was, indeed, the right place for him, and that I knew all the details I would need to get the entire process underway.

As I sat in the school’s library, waiting for the orientation to begin, I noticed another mom that I recognized from our church. In an attempt to be friendly, I introduced myself and asked if this was her first time at the school — if she, like me, was checking things out in anticipation of sending her first child there.

“Oh no,” she replied. Then she went on to tell me that one of her kids had already graduated from the school, and another one was still there, in one of the upper grades. She was at the orientation in anticipation of her third child starting Kindergarten there.

She knew the ropes, knew the school, knew the teachers, knew the curriculum.

Basically, she was there to get the enrollment forms.

***

Last week, I attended another Kindergarten orientation meeting at that same school. This time, it was for L.(5).

And this time, I was the experienced mom. Or, as it seemed to me last week, the old mom.

I know the ropes, know (most of) the teachers, am familiar with the curriculum, know the school.

I was mostly there for enrollment forms…and to see if any big changes had occurred during the previous 7+ years.

Having widely-spaced kids has its own unique set of pros and cons. Mostly, it’s been a great fit for our family.

But I have to admit, things felt weird last week at that meeting. I’d been out of the Kindergarten loop for quite a long time, yet there I was again, at another orientation, starting all over at the school with my second-born.

I watched the young moms and young couples. They were full of questions, making every effort to ensure this school would be perfect for their little ones. They inquired as to the academic rigor of the reading program, the “opportunities for enrichment,” whether or not there would be a naptime.

I didn’t ask a single question. I knew the school was a good school, but I’d also learned that no school is perfect. I knew L. would learn plenty, but that he’d also have fun. Since C. is still at the school — in seventh grade now — I was familiar enough with all the details to just sit back and listen.

Basically, I knew…it would all work out.

But I remember being that first-time mom, the one full of questions, the one working on creating that perfect Kindergarten year for her son.

***

Being the old mom isn’t so bad, I guess. Yes, I’m eight years older (which comes with its own set of pros and cons). But there’s a comfortable familiarity that comes with it. Or maybe it’s just tiredness, masquerading as comfortable familiarity.

It’s hard to believe that almost eight years have passed, though, since I sent C. off to Kindergarten. And even harder to believe that both of my boys will be climbing on that school bus next fall.

Going from new mom to old mom, in retrospect, happened very, very quickly.

Filed Under: Family 9 Comments