Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 2, Tuesday

7:30am: Rupert leaves for work; I'm still rolling around in bed. Check my email and FB on my phone.


8:00am: Maya wakes up and immediately takes advantage of Ian not being home: turns on Horseland on Netflix Streaming.


8:15am: Ian and Alex come back and go to Ian's room to play Legos.

8:30am: I begin uploading yesterday's photos to flickr. Maya finishes watching TV and goes back to working on a drawing she started yesterday.

8:45am: The boys are back to playing video games.


9:20am: Put away dishes from the dishrack, but I have to wait for Ian to put the dishwasher dishes away so I can load it. Yes, it would be easier and faster if I unloaded it but it's not my job! Maya finally gets hungry enough to ask for breakfast and she eats two strawberry Eggos again. I munch on a chocolate chip one while putting away dishes and making my daily ice coffee.

9:40am: Notice Maya's finger nails are like claws. Finally do something parent-like and cut them.

9:45am: The boys are finally finished with their video game, giving Maya a chance to watch a Pokemon video from the library. Ian and Alex linger on the couch and watch with her. But I make Ian unload the dishwasher before he sits down.

10:00am: Load the dishwasher and wash dishes.

10:30am: Work on yesterday's Week in the Life post.

11:00am: At last, the TV is turned off (but probably not for long). The boys continue to talk about Pokemon (for 45 minutes!) on the couch.


11:10am: Maya starts working on her summer packet worksheets. I mentioned to her that Julia is way ahead of her and that seemed to motivate her a bit; nothing wrong with a little competition, right?

11:30am: The boys help themselves to chips to energize their Pokemon conversation. They leave the itty-bitty crumbs in the chip bag and return it to the counter. Ever heard of a garbage can?


11:50am: Maya gets frustrated with doing work so she goes outside with the boys. It occurs to me that I could easily be doing a load of laundry. Throw in a load of lights. Ian and Maya request chicken nuggets for lunch; Alex doesn't want anything but I tell him he has to eat. They go outside for awhile to play (from what I can tell from where I'm sitting inside) some kind of hybrid baseball Pokemon battle game.

12:00pm: Glance at the sidebar on my blog and I realize I haven't updated it in years, probably. Make some quick changes. Remember that I wanted to email my principal about the upcoming school year. Get an automated reply that she's on vacation until August 16. Guess work will have to wait.


12:45pm: Lunch for the kids first. Then I make myself some instant noodles. The kids are watching more Pokemon.

1:30pm: Ian and Alex leave to go back to Alex's. I love these summer days when they don't have anything to do but live at each other's houses. I briefly ponder how old my son is getting to be: I let them walk back by themselves to Alex's house where his teenage brother will be supervising them. No adults and I'm okay with that. Testament to how good these kids are.

1:45pm: Maya is back to her worksheets but she's whining the whole time. Totally lose it and yell at her. Send her to her room to cry. Hear her sobbing that she wants to do homework but I'm pretty sure she's not up to it in her current condition.

2:00pm: She comes out of her room and asks to watch TV but I turn her down. Instead, she sets the timer and sets to work on her coloring book. I guess she set the timer so that she can ask me again about the TV in a bit. "Why is this taking so long?" she asks and turns it off.


2:30pm: Empty the dryer and sort the laundry. I should fold clothes too, but I'll wait until I finish the next load. Head to my room to read the next chapter of The Story of Charlotte's Web: E.B. White's Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic.

3:00pm: Nap for 20 minutes while Maya is in the living room playing with her Pillow Pet. And I know she snuck a piece of candy; I can hear her sucking on it all the way across the house! But she was good enough to try again with her worksheets and completed a couple more.

3:30pm: Let her watch SpongeBob while I take a shower.

4:00pm: Start another load of laundry. Maya finishes watching SpongeBob and I'm really finished having to watch SpongeBob. Help Maya fix some mistakes on her worksheets.

4:30pm: Maya is back to her coloring book. Contemplate finally responding to an email my father sent me on my birthday three weeks ago. Not that I don't want to email with my father; it's just that writing in Japanese is difficult and time-consuming.


5:00pm: Turn on some music (Adele's 21, my favorite album right now) and open up my email. The Japanese typing is slow-coming but it's getting done with some breaks, including prepping dinner at 5:20pm.

6:00pm: Let Maya watch more TV; she's hungry and I need to keep her preoccupied while dinner is cooking. (Dinner is my version of Kheema curry with eggplant and garbanzo beans.) While the curry is on the stove I finish the email to my father. Rupert comes home at some point.


7:00pm: We sit down to dinner without Ian who's eating over at Alex's (probably a good thing since this is his least favorite kind of curry). Rupert again chooses to watch Brady Barr.


7:30pm: After dinner Maya asks for a Game Night; she chooses Simpsons Sorry! and she wins. I read my book instead. Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel series is on TV in the background.

8:00pm: Ian calls to say that he's staying a bit longer because they're watching Rango. Rupert and Maya go to pick him up around 8:30 and the kids come home to get ready for bed.

9:00pm: Half watch MasterChef and half read my book while Rupert does work on his laptop.


10:oopm: Nothing good on TV so turn it off; read and work in silence for awhile. And can't forget to eat dessert: ice cream for Rupert and sherbet for me.

11:00pm: Doze off on the couch and wake up at 11:30 to go to bed.

Observation: Maya and I spent the entire day in our PJs, which means we never left the house!

Week in the Life 2011 :: Day 1, Monday

12:19am: Rupert's making noise coming to bed and wakes me up briefly. Note to self: tell him to close the bathroom door more quietly. Back to sleep.

7:17am: Wake up. Everyone else is already awake, watching TV.


8:00am: Make the kids turn the TV off and do something else. Ian goes to his room to read and Maya decides to play with her Little People toys and makes up a story about a family with a farm. While I have a moment of quiet I catch up on my emails, resend my James and the Giant Peach virtual peach to Sawa in South Africa, and then load the dishwasher.

9:00am: Give Ian a writing prompt based on a New York Times article on a Japanese baseball player. Send him to his room to write/type so Maya can watch SpongeBob after she finishes playing in her room at 9:30. Ice coffee time for me.

10:00am: After Ian finishes his writing prompt he goes to shower. Maya needs a snack and asks for Eggos; she actually eats two.

11:00am: Off to Borders to see if the liquidation sale prices are any better. Unfortunately, most of the books are still only 10% off. Ian buys another Pendragon Before the War book, Maya chooses a drawing book, and I find a Bad Kitty stuffed animal and get a copy of Ghostopolis for work.

12:00pm: Hop back on the computer after getting home and order the tickets to see the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA with S&D. Lunchtime for the kids: Ian makes himself a PB&J sandwich (practice for middle school) and I heat up a beef burrito for Maya. I eat Maya's leftovers and a piece of corn.

1:00pm: The kids keep each other occupied by torturing each other on the couch. Alex comes over to play and the boys immediately begin to play the Wii. Maya heads to her room to play with her doggie stuffed animals. I relax by reading Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai in bed.

2:00pm: I take a power nap for 15 minutes while the kids do who-knows-what. The mail comes and Maya brings it to me; my copy of Comics Express (to help kids in Joplin, MO) arrives.

3:00pm: I keep reading in bed (a profile of Wilkie Collins in last week's New Yorker and the introduction to The Story of Charlotte's Web: E.B. White's Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic). Maya is drawing in her room but, oddly, is not using her new drawing book. Ian and Alex are playing outside but wander back in to play more video games before heading over to Alex's house.

4:00pm: The boys leave having first asked if Ian can spend the night over at Alex's (what a surprise *sarcasm*). Maya and I go for a bike ride (Maya riding, me walking) toward Cabrillo. Coincidentally run into Julia so the girls play for awhile. Get to catch up with Teresa and we both lament how difficult it is to get the girls to work on their summer packets. Agree to tell our girls that the other girl has finished her packet!

5:00pm: Manage to pull the girls away from each other around 5:30 so I can go to the market to get ready for dinner. But, first, I have Maya water the plants, a chore Rupert assigned her before going to work. Head over to TJ's to get some vegetables to go along with the fish nuggets I found in the freezer. Maya chooses green beans and salad.


6:00pm: Maya watches Backyardigans and snacks on pretzels while I pre-heat the oven. Surprisingly, Rupert gets home. I send Maya to pick cherry tomatoes from the front yard for the salad. During dinner Rupert chooses to watch Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr. I find him slightly annoying; he's like a big, spastic kid. Apparently, that's what Rupert finds entertaining.

7:00pm: I rest for a bit before getting ready to go to yoga. Wonder if my pork "It's All Good" shirt is inappropriate to wear to yoga. Wear it anyway. Monday and Wednesday nights are my favorite class: YogaBlend 1/2. Sure enough, it gives me the workout I want/need.

8:00pm: While I'm gone, Rupert and Maya go to Yogurtland for a special dessert. Maya is trying to explain to Rupert that Hello Kitty is going to be there; Rupert is confused. They bring home Hello Kitty bowls and spoons and Rupert diligently washes them so they can be saved. Rupert is also kind enough to bathe Maya (something I was supposed to do during the day but forgot to do).

9:00pm: Class goes a bit late so I don't get home until 9:30. I am blissfully exhausted, but my lower back feels a bit strained. Probably shouldn't have done the Bow Pose.

10:00pm: Lounge around on the couch and in bed while I wait for Rupert to come to bed. Fall asleep a few minutes before 11:00pm.

Week in the Life 2011 :: summer edition

The scrapbooking part of my life has been on hiatus for what seems like years. Despite the lack of physical evidence of my chronicling of our family life, I've tried to diligently keep up with the photo-taking and -posting on flickr.

Thankfully, Ali Edwards is hosting another Week in the Life project, which is a great motivator to get me to record our everyday life in a more organized way. I did this project once before in 2008. Again, there's no actual scrapbook of this project (photos were printed but never put together in an album ... story of my life), but I'm happy that I have something to look back on to see what our everyday life was like. It's "only" three years ago but we're all in a drastically different place in our lives than we were then.

I'm glad Ali chose a week during the summer to do this year's Week in the Life; summer life, obviously, differs considerably from our more regimented school year life. Because we have nothing concrete planned for this week I'm not sure how many pictures I'll have from day to day, or if anything "exciting" will happen. But that's part of real life, right?

Gobble, gobble! In 2010, we are thankful for ...

[Thanksgiving at Rupert's parents' house: November 25, 2010
back row: Rupert's grandparents
front row L to R: Rupert, (crazy looking) Ian, Rupert's brother A, Maya, Rupert's sister L]

Maya, what are you thankful for? "My world."
What should Mama be thankful for? "Family?"
What is Ian thankful for? "Me."
What is Daddy thankful for? "His mom."

Ian, what are you thankful for? "Netflix for Wii, our home, my books, my DS."
What do you think Mama is thankful for? "Your computer?"
What do you think Maya is thankful for? "TV, her family, her bed, her toys."
What do you think Daddy is thankful for? "Finishing his final."

Rupert, what are you thankful for? "I don't know yet."
What do you think Ian is thankful for? "Video games."
What do you think Maya is thankful for? "Crayons."
What do you think yucaree is thankful for? "Books."

What am I thankful for? "I'm thankful for a daughter who wakes up in a good mood, a smartypants son & a husband who can't say "no" to me."
What do I think Ian is thankful for? "Video games and his buddies."
What do I think Maya is thankful for? "Sparkly things, preferably in bead or sticker form."
What do I think Rupert is thankful for? "What little peace and quiet he can get."

'Cause I only blog when there's something in it for me, I mean, my family

Cathy Zielske shared a TodaysMama/GameStop giveaway and there are at least three members of this family who could find fifty things (minimum) at that store we would want to buy. So filling out this meme seemed like the least I could do if it means a chance at a Chanumas (that's Christmas + Chanukah if you're not aware) surprise.

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and GameStop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? I wish for time with family and not so much emphasis on the material stuff. It would be wonderful if my children also gained better insight into the true meaning of giving.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? We go to my parents' house because that's where the chimney is and we all know Santa likes to come down the chimney.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? Free time; I want "me time" ... or a decadent family vacation to Spain.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? Luckily, we live near our families, which means we get to spend a good portion of our winter vacation with family.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up? Hmm, good question. I don't recall ... Yahtzee?

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? We have Christmas Eve dinner at my parents' house (usually prime rib with my mother's fabulous Yorkshire pudding) and open one present.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? I would probably want to take my family back to Japan. There's enough of a Christmas feel (and wintery cold) and we'd be around my extended family.

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? Xbox 360 250GB with Kinect (of course); Nintendo DSi XL Plus One Bundle; Rock Band 3 Keyboard Bundle

Looky What I Made :: Gathered Clutch

To round out my crafting-for-BIL's-wedding urge, I made a purse using Noodlehead's gathered clutch tutorial. It is really quite cute and not as hard as it looks to make (like I've said before, I'm not much of a sew-er). Sure, it took me most of the day to sew, and I really should've been working on the wedding programs, but it was totally worth it :: it matches my dress, the materials cost less than $8 (with fabric left over), and it's big enough to hold most of the stuff I need for the evening.


I included the optional divider pocket and card holder; I like having compartments for all of my stuff. I modified the card holder so it has one wider pocket for my iPhone (sideways) and another pocket that's big enough for a credit card/key card (or lipstick for those who are so inclined). With the divider I have space for my point-and-shoot camera and a change holder.

I'm glad I bought more fabric to make another one for the fall; it's going to be brown with a retro-looking apple and pear fabric for the band across the middle.

Looky What I Made :: Ian's necktie

Rupert's brother is getting married next weekend in Sebastopol; the entire family (especially the bride's mother) has been working up a storm to pull off what is, no doubt, going to be a phenomenal wedding. Rupert is a groomsman, I'm the stationer, Maya is the flower girl, and Ian is the (quite possibly the world's oldest) ring bearer.

My mother-in-law took Ian shopping for a necktie but they weren't able to find anything in the wedding colors. So I decided to get a little ambitious and make one. After what seemed like forever at Joann looking at fabric, Ian and I decided on a dark brown with some pink and fuschia circles -- just right for the wedding without overwhelming the bridal ensemble with too much more pink (the flowers, bridesmaid dresses, and the groomsmen's ties are fuschia).

I made the tie using the Purl Bee's tutorial, which was really easy to follow. Believe you me I am not an expert sew-er but I managed to hand-sew the tie in a day. I believe the tutorial is for a boy younger than Ian (who is almost 10), but I think it's just long enough. If you're thinking about using the tutorial I wouldn't make it for a boy taller than 4'8" without making adjustments to the pattern.

And I managed to figure out how to tie a tie (this tutorial helped); at least now I know I can tie a basic four-in-the-hand tie if called to do so.

[I'll post pictures of Ian wearing the tie after the wedding.]

Wurstkuche

Friday night, 6pm.

Rupert and the kids went camping in Long Beach for the night so I went out with my "local BFF," Sidney. Since I rarely get out of the house for grown-up socializing, I had no idea what to do. Sidney emails me the link to Wurstküche in Downtown. Sausages :: what's not to love?

Wurstküche is practically next door to where I worked over 10 years ago. Gosh, east of Alameda has changed quite a bit since then. The restaurant (and its prices) definitely embodies the yuppification of that area.

What I ate :: Rabbit, Veal & Pork seasoned with white wine ($7.50); Klein (small) Belgian Fries with Bleu Cheese Walnut and Bacon dipping sauce ($3.50); Nesbitt's Peach Soda ($3.50); Toasted Apple Pie Ice Cream Sandwich ($4.50), not pictured.

I really wanted to like the place. Fancy sausages, french fries with dipping sauces, and fun sodas (I'm not much of a drinker so I like having alternatives) are right up my alley. You'd think this place fits the bill perfectly. Unfortunately, I can't give Wurstküche a hearty two thumbs up (sorry Sidney).

My suggestion? If you want to actually taste the sausage, skip the bun and push whatever toppings you order off to the side. The rabbit, veal, and pork sausage I ordered is mild to begin with; the sauteed onions and peppers totally overwhelmed the flavor of the meat. I could've been eating who-knows-what-in-a-casing and it would have tasted the same as my $7.50(!) fancy sausage. Frankly, the bratwurst I buy at Bristol Farms for $3.50 a pound is tastier and juicier, and there are sausages that are way better than Bristol Farms'. So that should tell you where I rank Wurstküche's sausage. (Sidenote :: as we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed a bumper sticker on the store next door proclaiming Wurstküche over-priced and over-hyped and I might have to agree.)

I gotta say, though, the fries were quite tasty -- just the right amount of crisp, creamy, and salty. But next time (if there is a next time) I'll choose a different dipping sauce; the bleu cheese, walnut, and bacon sauce didn't taste like any of those things. The Nesbitt's soda wasn't anything to write home about; the fake peach flavor, crazy pink color, and the $3.50 price tag weren't worth it. Bad choice on my part. They do have a big selection of beers that sound interesting ... anyone want to comment on the selection, flavor, and price of the beers?

The one thing I would write home about (if I had to) is the sole dessert they serve, an apple pie ice cream sandwich (with oatmeal raisin cookies). Yes, it's $5 and it wasn't big enough to share (well, I didn't share), but it's the one thing I'd consider going back for (but I probably won't).

We ended our Downtown jaunt at Yogurtland in Little Tokyo. Sidney is a big fan (it's her one dairy indulgence now that she's going dairy-(almost)-free) and I'd never been so it seemed like the right dessert to have. Uh, yeah, my second dessert. Considering all the money I spent on dinner (and first dessert) I'm definitely more enthusiastic about the $3.10 I spent on a fairly decent-size portion of all kinds of fruity yogurt with mango and mochi toppings. Is Yogurtland over-hyped? Maybe (I'm no frozen yogurt expert). But it's definitely not over-priced (the constant line of people in the store proves that).

There happens to be a Yogurtland down the street from my house (even closer than Pinkberry) so I know where I'll be going from now on for my fro-yo fix (Rupert thinks the term "fro-yo" is stupid ... it probably is but I use it anyway).

Wurstküche :: 800 East 3rd Street, LA 90013 | 213.687.4444 | www.wurstkucherestaurant.com

Yogurtland :: 130 South Central Avenue, LA 90012 | 213.687.0733 | www.yogurt-land.com

five years

Oh, wow ... I haven't blogged since the end of March! Uh, hmm, I guess I didn't have much to say these last four months. And, once again, I missed my blogiversary; August 10 marks five years since I started writing this blog. Despite my recent absence I still care about having my own personal space to write and share stories about my family and myself, so I don't envision this blog shutting down. I just need some inspiration + time to write about something new. Hopefully that'll happen sooner rather than later.

Playing tourist in my hometown

Running errands with my mom in Downtown LA (she dragged me along so she could drive in the carpool lane!), we decided to ride the newly reopened Angels Flight.



It's quite cute and pretty rickety, but well worth the 25-cents.

While I was at it I took a picture of the view from (500) Days of Summer ::




Now, to get my hair cut ... I deserve something for hanging out with my mom on my week off, right?

What I made for dinner :: Chicken Thighs Braised in White Wine

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ian is a S-U-P-E-R S-P-E-L-L-E-R!

[Ian and his classmate F getting recognized as spelling bee qualifiers at last week's school assembly.]

I'd like to take a moment to brag about my son, the speller. Unbeknownst to us, the students at Ian's school (grades 3-5) took a written spelling bee qualifying test awhile back. According to Ian there were 60 words on the list (apparently they were 8th grade-level words) and they were allowed to miss 12 to qualify for the district spelling bee. There were many classes that didn't have any students who qualified; Ian's class had two qualifiers! In the end, three fourth graders and four fifth graders qualified out of a student population of over 400.

Today was the district-wide spelling bee for grades 4-6, so the qualifiers from Ian's school, the qualifiers from the other elementary school, and the 6th grader qualifiers from the middle school gathered together at the middle school library. There were about 15 kids there and we thought it would take awhile for the spelling bee to finish, but the first round knocked out more than half of them.

[Round 2]

Ian moved through the rounds (with a nice, clear voice, which was helpful to those of us in the audience; some of these kids are so quiet!) until it was just him and a 6th grader in round 4.* The word that knocked him out in round 5 (German words)? Rucksack. Not knowing the word or much German pronunciation, but recognizing that there are words in German that use -ch, he spelled it "ruchsach." I looked it up after I got home, but I think the German -ch is a soft sound (if there's anyone proficient in German out there, please let me know).

Even though he didn't win, I think it's pretty impressive that he made it so far, especially since he didn't study or practice at all, except for his usual reading. Rupert and I went into this with the attitude, which we shared with Ian, that this was for fun, to see what a spelling bee is like, and that there will be other years for him to try again (not that I didn't get nervous during the spelling bee!). Still, Ian was disappointed with his mistake and shed a few tears afterward. It was wonderful to have a supportive group of teachers and friends who shared how proud they are of him and his classmate. This was the first year fourth graders participated in the district spelling bee and they did so well.

We're really proud of you, Ian!

[Ian with his teachers, principal, and classmate/fellow spelling bee-er after the spelling bee.]

[Coincidentally, the winner's mother? I came in second to her in the fitness challenge two years ago. Weird, huh?]

* Ian did a funny thing in round 4 and asked for the pronunciation of the word "chagrin" and the moderator gave away a huge hint, which I'm not sure Ian heard but a bunch of us in the audience did. I'm not sure it was entirely kosher, to be honest, but the end result was the same, just one round later. Ian should've asked for the definition or the etymology, but what more can you do for pronunciation but say the word over again?

Taking a break from blogging

As if you hadn't noticed, my blog postings are few and far between. I'm just too busy with other stuff and I don't have a whole to say right now. So I'm going on a blog hiatus until the itch to write comes back.

In the meantime, feel free to follow me on twitter (see sidebar) or tumblr (yucaree.tumblr.com).


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Slow + Steady Cleans the House :: Week 4

I'm going to take it easy the next two weeks because of the Thanksgiving holiday so there won't be any in-depth cleaning posts or polls, but I wanted to leave you with something that has been very helpful to me and is better for my family :: homemade cleaners. I hope you'll consider using them too.

The health risks of using commercial, chemical-based cleaners always bothered me, especially since having Ian and Maya. It took me awhile to switch over to greener cleaning products, but I've been very happy since doing so. With a little elbow grease these products clean just as well, if not better, than the store-bought stuff.

My essential "cleaning kit" includes the following :: Dr. Bronner's peppermint Castile soap, Costco-sized white vinegar + baking soda, borax, essential oils, scrubbing brushes, old toothbrushes, and microfiber cloths.

[My cleaning supply carrier full of stuff that rarely gets used.]

A book that really helped me is Green Up Your Cleanup by Jill Potvin Schoff. I use several of her cleaning "recipes" instead of store-bought cleaners ::

ALL-SURFACE SPRAY

2 teaspoons borax
hot water
1/4 teaspoon liquid Castile soap

Put the borax in a 16-oz spray bottle, fill it with hot water, and shake until the borax dissolves. Last, add the Castile soap. Spray on surfaces like counters and walls, let is sit for a little bit, and wipe off with a clean sponge or microfiber cloth.

GLASS CLEANER

1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon liquid dish soap (optional)
3-8 drops essential oil like lavender, lemon, peppermint, and tea tree (optional)

Fill a spray bottle with vinegar and water, and shake gently. You can add essential oils to cut the vinegar smell. According to the book, you should use the liquid dish soap in the glass cleaner to dissolve the buildup left behind by commercial glass cleaners. Once that buildup is gone you can omit the soap.

BAKING SODA SCRUB <-- love this stuff!

2 tablespoons baking soda
liquid dish soap or Castile soap

Put the baking soda in a wide-mouthed container (I used an old reusable Ziploc sandwich container) and add the soap a little at a time until you have a foamy paste. Apply the paste to what you want to clean with a rag, sponge, or brush and let it sit for a little while before rinsing with vinegar. Spray the vinegar off with water. You can keep the scrub in the container for awhile with the lid on it. But I've gotten so lazy that I just squirt some Castile soap on whatever surface I want to clean and sprinkle on baking soda before scrubbing away.

DISINFECTANT

2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon (about 25 drops) tea tree oil
1/4 teaspoon (about 25 drops) lavender oil

Fill a 16-oz spray bottle with water and then add the essential oils. Shake gently before each use. Spray on surfaces and leave to dry.

Schoff has a few other "recipes" I haven't tried yet, like laundry soap and dishwasher soap, both items I still buy at the store (although I try to buy the "green" option, whatever that means). And I still buy toilet cleaner at the store. Every once in awhile I try to use baking soda to scrub the inside of the toilet and then I spray it down with the disinfectant. I'm not sure which is more effective, seeing as my toilet always seems to be dirty ... I'll just have to keep experimenting.

And I'm leaving you with one last "miracle" cleaning tip (which I read about in a Japanese baking soda + vinegar cleaning book) :: you know that oily buildup that accumulates on stuff near the stove? I've always had a heck of a time scrubbing that crud off my teapot, which I leave on my stovetop. I used abrasive cleaners and hot water and nothing ever worked. Until I read that baking soda alone could clean it up! Sure enough, all you have to do is sprinkle baking soda on the item and scrub with a dry brush (I usually use an old toothbrush) or even your fingers. The oily residue just balls up and crumbles off. Once you're all done rinse it with water.

Slow + Steady Cleans the House :: Week 3

This week I tackle the dreaded laundry monster. Laundry, to me, is a mystery chore :: it's not an extremely difficult task (after all, the washing machine + dryer do most of the work) but it still doesn't get done often enough; all of us seem to wear the same clothes over and over again but the mountains of laundry seem to get larger and larger; and where do the darn single socks disappear to?!

[image from Shirt.Woot]

Everyday I am faced with some kind of you-still-haven't-finished-the-laundry reminder :: we have stacks of clean clothes in the living room that need to be folded, put away, or washed again because they've been sitting there for god knows how long; and we have way too many laundry hampers around the house full of dirty clothes and linens. And we can't forget about the washer that's full of dirty clothes and the dryer that hasn't been unloaded yet.

It's clear that we haven't found a laundry system that works for us. I'm hoping that if we have an actual plan we can conquer laundry. So, what do you do?


I'd love to read about your laundry process, so please feel free to leave comments as well.

In an absolutely perfect world, someone else would take care of my laundry for me, but that ain't ever gonna happen. So I've been thinking instead of what would be a more ideal situation. Unfortunately, that entails some major renovations to our house so I had to scrap the idea. (Honestly, I would rather have an office/craft room or a nicer bathroom but more square footage for a laundry room would make things so much easier!) So now I'm down to being realistic about our laundry solutions. Boo being realistic!

First, I think we're not using hampers well. Before we had kids we kept two hampers, one for white clothes and one for colors. I did the laundry when they got full, and the clean clothes got put away because I needed the hamper to be empty for the new dirty clothes. But then, somewhere along the way, we started accumulating more and more laundry baskets and hampers. I think that was the major mistake.

Now that we have enough baskets to leave our clean clothes in, I don't bother to fold and put the clothes away. Instead, we just pull clean clothes out of the basket to wear. And because we have the dual system of throwing dirty clothes directly into the washing machine and putting some dirty clothes into hampers, the whites and colors don't get sorted and some clothes don't get washed for a long time (i.e., the washing machine fills up more quickly than the hampers fill up so the hamper clothes get neglected).


As a solution, I'm really liking the idea of these laundry baskets by Rubbermaid :: Stack'n Sort baskets, which were mentioned on the Real Simple Home & Organizing blog. Each member of the family would get two (whether for whites + colors or for clean + dirty). Once we have the hamper situation squared away we'll stop putting clothes directly into the washing machine.

Second, I think a laundry schedule would work for me. Otherwise I go much too long between washing towels and sheets. Writing laundry into my weekly schedule might help me to be more efficient about getting it all done. My plan is to start laundry in the morning on the days I go into work late (Monday and Thursday) and do a load (or two) of linens during the weekend. If there's a lot of laundry that needs to be done, I might do a load on Wednesday (when I come home early from work) or on Friday (my day off). With this schedule I might end up doing a load everyday (!) but at least I've scheduled specific times to get it done.

Third, "doing laundry" means sorting dirty clothes, washing + drying, folding, and putting away. It's the whole package and needs to be done as a whole package. Going back to my last point about scheduling laundry, I need to make sure I have enough time during that day to complete the entire process.

And last, Rupert and I are trying to get the kids involved. We obviously can use all the help we can get! Currently, the kids put their dirty clothes in the washer and they sort the clean clothes. For the most part they do a good job, but it dawned on me that they pay very little attention to what Rupert and I wear; it's not uncommon to find Rupert's shirts in my pile and vice versa. I'm sure with some more practice they'll get it one of these days. As they get older I'll have them take on a bit more of the laundering process.

Laundry is definitely a chore for me, so I was surprised that no one chose laundry as one of their three worst chores in last week's poll. Cleaning the kitchen came in first as the worst chore, followed by dishwashing and dusting + vacuuming (a tie). As I've been thinking more and more about cleaning in order to write these blog posts, it's becoming clearer and clearer that having fewer possessions would make cleaning much easier and go by much more quickly. (I think a decluttering post will be in the works for posting in the near future.)

As for the follow-up poll about how often people spot-clean, it turns out people are kinda split on this one. One person answered "weekly" but two others answered "once every two weeks," and another two, "when it gets disgusting." I wish the two people who answered "other" specified their frequency. I am definitely not a weekly spot-cleaner -- the days just seem to fly by before I can get the cleaning supplies out -- so I'd have to say I wait until things get disgusting. When I write it out like that for all the world to read, it makes me feel pathetic. Gotta work towards spot-cleaning a bit more frequently ... or at least train the kids how to do some of it!

what I made for dinner :: mini honey-mustard meatloaves

I don't know about you, but I grew up with fabulous meatloaf. My mother makes an amazing meatloaf with some surprises inside :: she would often stick an entire sausage (like a bratwurst) or a hard-boiled egg inside the loaf. It may sound weird, but it's delicious! And her meatloaves were always moist so I never had the aversion to meatloaf that many people seem to have.

Fast forward to college, sophomore year. I attempted to make a meatloaf and I didn't have a recipe. That was a disaster and a memory Rupert seems to have erased from his memory (thankfully).

I think I was traumatized by that cooking experience and I've been very reluctant to make meatloaf for the last 10+ years. But I think I've found a recipe that will help me add meatloaf to my cooking repertoire :: Mini Honey-Mustard Meatloaves from Martha Stewart.


The recipe is not perfect as is, but it's a good start. Rupert was surprised at its moistness, a big plus. Adding cheese to the meatloaf mixture and the top of the meatloaves helps, no doubt! But I found that it's too fluffy, a result from perhaps too much panko breadcrumbs. I don't want the meat to be too dense, but I also want it to still taste like meat; next time I'll reduce the amount of breadcrumbs to a quarter of a cup. The recipe calls for honey-mustard but I didn't have any so I mixed some honey into regular yellow mustard. Next time I may use a Dijon or seedy mustard instead to give it deeper flavor.

One warning, because of the cheese, the meatloaves expel a lot of grease (I also used 80/20 ground beef so there was a lot of fat in the meat too). Be sure to use the cooking pan that is appropriate for you. I used a rimmed baking sheet lined with Silpat and it required a lot of cleaning. Placing the meatloaves on a rack in a deeper baking pan might be better ...

I served the meatloaves with curry roasted cauliflower, which was a hit with everyone. I just cut up a cauliflower, doused it with some olive oil and sprinkled salt, pepper, and a little bit of curry powder on it. I think I roasted it for about 12 minutes in the oven while the meatloaves were cooking. Be sure to toss them midway through the cooking time so they don't get too dry.

Slow + Steady Cleans the House :: Week 2

I'm now starting week 2 of Slow + Steady Cleans the House and I haven't done a lick of cleaning in the last seven days. Why am I not surprised?

[Cleared off the top of the dresser + reorganized my books.]

Actually, I partially decluttered our bedroom last weekend but what I didn't get cleaned up is still on the floor. That's my problem :: I lose steam part way through an organizing or cleaning project and I'm left with a bigger mess than when I started.

[What was on the dresser is now on the floor.]

So, why did I not finish? Let's analyze this for a moment ... I've read enough organizing books to know the basic guidelines, and I clearly did not follow them ::

1. Make a commitment to organizing + cleaning as a family --> So far I'm the only one on board. I also started cleaning the bedroom by myself to surprise Rupert but I should probably enlist his help next time.
   
2. A place for everything, and everything in its place --> There was a lot of useless junk on my dresser that I got rid of (including some old poetry medals I won in middle school), but I still have too much stuff to store in an orderly way. I have to work on minimizing and finding a proper place for everything instead of just leaving stuff on any available flat surface.
   
3. Touch items as few times as possible --> I need to remember that the extra 10 seconds to a minute it takes to properly put things away is worth not having junk all over the place all the time.
   
4. Changing behavior takes a long time; I will have to repeat an activity for more than three weeks before it becomes a habit --> I should spend some time each week doing the same cleaning/organizing activity so that it becomes a regular part of my routine.
   
5. Cleaning + organizing are more mental exercises than physical acts --> Most importantly, I will have to think about my possessions, the reasons why I keep certain items, and my motivation behind mindless shopping.
   

So, my goals for the following week are to finish picking up the junk on the floor in the bedroom, and to go through guidelines 1 ~ 5 everyday.

All right, down to some business :: Last week's poll results surprised me. I asked what your cleaning methodology is and I thought for sure that most people cleaned a bit everyday or weekly. Most respondents are like me :: they clean before company comes over. Or, as my mother-in-law mentioned, she hides stuff before company comes over. Valid point -- cleaning and hiding are two different things.

Of the 13 respondents, six said they clean before company comes over; four have a housecleaning service; and there was one respondent each for seasonal cleaning, monthly cleaning, and feigning housecleaning ignorance. But, surely, people must do spot-cleaning every once in awhile. Otherwise, everyone's house would look like mine and I know for a fact that they don't! So let's get a bit more specific here ... and be honest!

OK, but this week's official poll is actually about your three most dreaded chores.

I had a hard time just picking three!

48 months.

Maya @ 48 months :: November 4, 2009

[the last of my what-started-as-weekly-and-is-now-monthly posts about Maya]

• Visited a real pumpkin patch for the first time in Ventura. This was a tradition we started when Ian was little, but we stopped going after a few years so we'd like to resurrect it.
• Her counting to 20 is definitely getting better ... finally.
• She was a mermaid princess for Halloween and went trick-or-treating with her friend M (for two blocks before she got tired). She definitely loves her candy ... but she separated out the chocolates for me and Rupert to eat.
  
• From Rupert's Facebook :: "I'm shooting zombies out of my butt." -- not the words of a normal 3 year old.
• And calling bad guys (Biff from Back to the Future Part II) "poop heads."
  
• She's not very good at pluralfying nouns. Appropriately for October :: "ghostes" + "leafes"
  
• First parent-teacher conference :: academically moving along quite well, but socially it turns out she's a lot more similar to Ian than I originally thought.
• Rupert *still* spoonfeeds her cereal in the morning but she promised me that once she turns 4 she'll eat by herself (which she is totally capable of doing). Now, we have to make sure Rupert goes along with the plan.
  
• She has this thing about not wanting to be on the freeway because "it's boring!" If we're going somewhere she doesn't recognize the first thing she asks is, "Are we going on the freeway?" Then she asks, "Are we on the freeway now?" And finally she asks repeatedly, "Are we off the freeway?"
  

Week 1 in my new weekly series Slow + Steady Cleans the House

It's no secret that I am not a fan of housekeeping. "Not a fan" is an understatement :: I loathe and detest it and often take naps instead of picking up a sponge or a mop or a broom. Who wants to spend their time scrubbing toilets and wiping down baseboards when they could be doing anything else?

[How true it is.]

Of course, I'm not alone. My friend L recently asked on her Facebook page if money were no object would you hire a housekeeper or a nanny, and all the responses were a resounding yes for the housekeeper. I think most parents -- whether at home or at work -- would rather spend time with their kid(s) than have to say, "Hold on, sweetie, Mommy has to wash the windows instead of take you to the park."

Heck, even if money were an object (and, believe me, it is), I'd hire a housekeeper to come every once in awhile. The only thing stopping me is my husband. In fact, my mother-in-law has offered on numerous occasions to send her housekeeper to clean my bathroom and kitchen (because they are, in fact, that dirty!) but Rupert has pooh-poohed the idea repeatedly. (It's not that he thinks housework is a woman's job; I guess it's the principle of not having to pay someone to do something we can do ourselves. Along the same lines, he didn't like when our parents sent a gardener over to spiff up our yard. Again, I would rather hire someone to do that occasionally instead of listening to Rupert mumble about the amount of yard work there is when he could be spending time with the kids or studying.)

It's not that I'm bad at housekeeping. On the rare occasions I get around to cleaning, I do a fairly thorough and good job. It's the upkeep that I cannot, well, keep up with. And since I started working almost a year ago, the house has gotten worse. As a result, our house is in perpetual disarray. We're getting pretty close to the point where we would be a good candidate for one of those organizing shows on HGTV.

[My view on housekeeping isn't this extreme ... but it's pretty close.]

I do not jest, nor do I exaggerate, when I say the house is not just dirty, it's a health hazard (I can picture my mother and mother-in-law nodding in agreement). Every surface is covered in dust and/or cobwebs. There are stacks of crap throughout the house. And let's not even talk about the bathroom; it's like a science experiment gone awry. Suffice it to say, it would be easier to completely remodel the bathroom than try to clean it completely (at least, that's what I keep telling Rupert in the hopes of moving along our my remodeling plans). Looking around the house it is just overwhelming; I don't know where to start or what to tackle first.

Enough is enough! I've been a homeowner for over seven years ... let's show some pride of ownership here, people! So I'm starting a new project :: Slow + Steady Cleans the House. I want to take a more organized and routinized approach to cleaning the house and keeping it that way. And I'd like for you to come along for the ride. That means I need your advice and feedback. Part of my housecleaning improvement process will be to learn and to understand how other people tackle their housekeeping. I think your answers will be really enlightening and helpful to other readers as well. So, how can you contribute? For one, you can comment on each week's blog post; but the easier way will be to participate in the weekly poll.

Polls will be posted each Sunday. Results will be announced and discussed in the following Sunday's post. This week's poll is a general view on how often you clean. Not surprisingly, I'm of the "Housecleaning? What is that?" camp. Occasionally I dabble in the "Clean before company comes over" category but usually I just don't invite people into my house. I'd like to change that. Sure, I claim that I don't care what other people think but it's hard not to compare the state of your house with those of your friends' (who also work but somehow manage to keep their homes habitable).

What is your housecleaning methodology?
Clean a bit everyday. Clean once a week. Clean before company comes over. Have a housecleaning service. Clean monthly. Massive cleaning seasonally. Housecleaning? What is that?
	Results

Last piece of business :: in order to embark on this weekly cleaning journey (which will, by association, include organizing) I set some ground rules for myself ::

1. As the name of the project implies, this will be a gradual process. I will not expect miracle results overnight.
2. No matter the temptation, I will not compare myself to others. I may steal their cleaning/organizing ideas but I will not compare the progress or result of that idea-stealing.
3. I'm doing this for the kids as much as I'm doing it for myself. I want to set a good example and teach them organizing skills so when I say, "Clean your room" they know how to do it properly and they don't ask me, "Well, why don't you clean your room?"
4. I will not give up. Even if I encounter some set-backs (i.e., letting dishes or laundry pile up) I'll ease myself back into the cleaning routine.
5. I am not looking to be perfect, just adequately organized and clean so that housework no longer causes me stress.
   

All righty, are you ready? Let's get started!

pride of craftsmanship

On my list of "33 Things to Do While I'm 33" are things like travel (check!), get an iPhone (check!), and learn a new language (not so check). And I'm now on my way to checking "take a creative class" off the list.

My sister D and I are taking a 10-week letterpress class at Otis. Like many paper fiends we both love letterpressed items and we were curious about how it works. So we nudged each other into taking this (expensive) class.

Who knew letterpress would be so much work? OK, who am I kidding, of course it's a lot of work! No wonder letterpress stationery costs so much. (And it's very greasy (which actually was a surprise).) Most modern mass-produced letterpress stationery is made using photopolymer plates, which easily allows use of images, patterns, and text. But we're starting off old-school with metal type.


I set the phrase "i (heart) the liberry" because one of my first graders would literally run around the library yelling this. I liked it ... but no body seemed to "get" it so I reset it as regular ol' "i (heart) the library". My idea was to print it in black except use red for "love," which means you pull out the "love" letters and print a batch in black, swap out the letters, and print just "love" in red.

Unfortunately, it's not that easy when it takes two-and-a-half hours just to set and adjust the type and machine. So all I got done was this:

[This sample is on smooth, slightly shimmery paper. The ink "sticks" pretty well to this paper.]

Sure, the phrase isn't complete, but I wish you could feel the lovely impression of the letterpress. I'm pretty happy and proud of the results. It drove me and the teacher crazy trying to get everything just right (he basically told me he hated this project!). But it was well worth the hassle. Truly, it gave me the joy of creating something with my own hands.

[I printed more on watercolor paper, which my teacher didn't think took the ink very well, but it has a nice texture to it. Besides, I bought a whole pad of the stuff so I need to use it up. My idea is to cut them up into business card size and fill in the blank depending on my mood.]

the start of my day

How my work desk is beginning to look every morning ...




I'm also a bit embarrassed to admit (but just a bit) that I had a chocolate chip cookie for breakfast with my coffee.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Simple Woman's Daybook :: 10.19.2009

[Topics copied from Ali Edwards's blog, which was inspired by the original Simple Woman's Daybook]

Outside my window … confused weather: cloudy + sunny, warm + breezy, somewhere between a Los Angeles summer + fall.

I am thinking ... there’s so much I’d like to do to “pretty up” the library. But my priority really should be about curriculum!

I am thankful for ... my husband's flexible grad student schedule. We may not have a lot of money but we have the Man of the family around when we need/want him.

From the kitchen ... tuna noodle casserole.

I am wearing ... light gray corduroys + a hot pink tank top (which I get lots of compliments on), both from Old Navy, and black ballet flats.

I am creating ... shelf marker paint sticks + shelf marker frames (whoo-hoo decoupaging!).

I am going ... to Borders to use the 30% off coupon that expires today.

I am reading ... _The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie_ by Alan Bradley, _Leviathan_ by Scott Westerfeld, _No Impact Man_ by Colin Beavan.

I am hoping ... to cancel my gym membership (since I haven't gone in forever) and use the money instead for KPCC membership + a charitable cause.

I am hearing ... the sound of an empty campus, the peacefulness of no kids at school.

Around the house ... Ian is home early from school with a headache + Jordan spent the day working on the couch.

One of my favorite things ... alone time with some coffee (even though what’s supposed to be regular drip coffee tastes suspiciously like hazelnut today) and ideas for what to buy at the bookstore.

A few plans for the rest of the week ... come up with 3rd grade curriculum about the Dewey Decimal system, finishing the shelf decorations for work, sewing up four tagE*blankEs, printing up some stationery at the letterpress lab, and reading three books.

Picture for today ...

what i made for dinner :: broccoli calzones

Meatless dinner, for a change. I needed to use up the ricotta cheese from the other day so I did a search on Everyday Food and found this recipe for calzones.

It's simple but a tad time-consuming to make + cool the broccoli filling and to roll out + fill eight pizza doughs.

The results are, however, pretty good. And even without any meat I found it to be quite filling. You could, of course, add some kind of meat like sausage if you can't bear the thought of eating vegetarian.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

47 months.

Maya @ 47 months :: October 4, 2009

• Is a total Daddy's Girl right now ... which is fine by me since it means she bothers Rupert in the morning instead of me!
• Started "Hot Shots," a tumbling class, at school. It's a great way to get her to wear something other than dresses.
• She can be very lovable + sweet when she wants to be. I get lots of "Mama, I love you all day," which makes my day.
• On the other hand, she often hits or kicks Ian, usually in the face. Then I send her to her room for time-out and she always asks for the timer so she knows when to come out.
• Despite beating up on her brother, she enjoys spending time with him and his friend R when they are hanging out in the morning before school.
• Her drawing infatuation continues. Lately she's been drawing more animals and making bookmarks for me.
  
• She's taller than I think she is :: I put the scissors up high since she was having issues with cutting paper up, but it turns out she can reach it on her tip-toes (I didn't notice because she was good enough to put the scissors back after using it). She can also turn on the lights in the house; now, if only she'd turn them off.
• Has a fascination with butts and boobs.