Signs of Fall

We're celebrating Thanksgiving in Phoenix this year.  It doesn't really feel like turkey time when you're in the desert with cacti and tumbleweeds everywhere and the sounds of rattlesnakes and the theme to "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" in the air.  Of course, November in Northern California feels a lot different than New England--about 30 degrees Fahrenheit different!  But even with weather still in the low 60's as Thanksgiving approaches, they do have an Autumn here, complete with colorful leaves (which I now have to rake!), brisk mornings and a few other things we've experienced in the past few days I'd like to share with you.

Roaring Fires ...

This is a picture of our new living room and a real wood fire we had burning in our fireplace a few nights ago.  We've had a couple Duraflame logs burning in there before, but this was honest to goodness split firewood (from the store).  Something we've had the great fortune to learn about our house is that if you run the vent hood over the stove or the microwave while a fire is burning, it actually creates a suction that draws smoke into the house (i.e., not good).  Our place still smells like a campfire from that happening during the fire in this photo.

Fresh-baked Pies ...

Some of you know that Elisa and I have had some new adventures in cooking, inspired by our joining a produce CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and by the tiny orchard of various fruit trees in our backyard (pear, apple, apricot, loquat).  Well, here's a photo of a pie that I made--from scratch!  My first ever pie from scratch.  Well, Elisa ended up making the dough, after my attempt was a disaster.  But I rolled it out, made the filling, assembled and baked it.  We used a few apples from our first CSA box along with a few from our tree out back.  I don't know if you can tell by this picture, but it was soooo good.  I say "was" because we managed to polish it off in just three days!  I have had a piece every night Sun-Weds, but Elisa seems to prefer hers for breakfast.

Root Vegetables ...

Oh yeah, and what would this post be without a mention of our cute little Butterball?  It's Micah's first Thanksgiving and he's been having some culinary adventures of his own.  We've been letting him try mashed-up and puréed versions of "big people food," including bread, bananas, peas, refried beans (the magical fruit!), squash (from the CSA!), and, as this video shows ... sweet potatoes!!  Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy ...

                                         

Ghostwriter

Rather than work on my two major projects with looming deadlines (aka close of business today), I'm hacking into the blog to write my first ever post.   I'm really not sure why I'm doing this - I've never liked journaling, hated would be a better description, and this is really like an on-line public journal.

(if the title of this post isn't clue enough - this isn't Jordan!)

Just thought I'd share what I've been learning since moving to California...  

It is EASY to shoplift, much easier than I thought.  Now before any of you start protesting, I need to point out that 1. these incidents were unintentional, and 2. I went back and paid for my items.  I'm no thief!  Oh, and 3. this has only happened since I've become a mom.  Draw whatever conclusion that you will...

Anyway, I was at Cost Plus for the first time in a while, since they don't have any stores in Massachusetts, and I was enthralled with the wine selection and prices.  (I think I bought 12 bottles that day, but I digress...)  Now, Cost Plus has the tiniest carts known to man.  You can just wedge a car seat in the main section, which is wonderful for those tired shoulders if you want to browse for more than 1 minute, but doesn't mean you can actually shop because nothing else will fit in the cart!!  

Still, I managed to get a huge laundry basket and 12 bottles of wine along with some miscellaneous junk in there, not counting the 2 end tables which the sales associate had already "reserved" at the front for me.   You can imagine how one bottle of wine that had rolled under the car seat could be missed.  I found it when I went to load Micah into the car, and I had to schlep him back in to pay for my "award winning", and highly recommended, $8 bottle of what turned out to be very delicious wine.

Before I get too carried away with my wine finds, let me tell you about incident #2.  

Friday, we got notice from the daycare that Micah was running low on diapers.  (Right after one coupon expired and right before the other was valid!!  Bad timing.  I hate buying diapers without coupons.)  I ran out after church, while Jordan was at rehearsal, to grab a few things from Target.  The Jumbo pack of Pampers Cruisers is large, but definitely the way to go, for convenience, avoiding frequent trips for more, not to mention the cost per diaper.  Again, even with the car seat in the much roomier Target cart, the diapers still have to go underneath.  This time I walked out with $29.99 in Size 4 diapers.   No bells, no alarms, no clerks chasing me out to the parking lot....  At least when you go back to a register to pay for something you neglected to the first time around they let you cut in line.  

I wonder what I'll lift next?  Ah, the joys of distracted shopping with an infant.  Micah is making me out to be a klepto.

Here Goes

Let it be known that I have now entered the world of blogging! I've actually been meaning to start a blog for some time now. The sad truth is I've had this blog site sitting collecting cyber dust for many months now, probably since early Spring. I just never got around to writing anything. There have been so many changes in my life and the life of our family over the past six months--new baby, new job, new address on a new coast!  So much to write about, and now that I'm actually being paid to be creative I have no excuses. I need to be writing. I ought to be writing. My 12th grade English teacher always told me I should keep writing. Now, although I don't have a ton to show for the past 14 years or so, hopefully Mrs. Wareham would be proud to know that I'm picking up the pen (keyboard) again.

So ...

What should I write? I suppose my initial intent for this blog was to just make myself write down the noteworthy events in day-to-day or week-to-week life, and hopefully it would spurn more creativity from me and prove at least mildly informative, thought provoking and entertaining for you, the reader. I'm open to making this blog interactive--letting comments or questions guide future posts. I'm not very savvy at creating web pages, though, so I can't promise lots of flashy graphics or videos right away. I would also like it to be known that I created the title "easy reeding" long before any of my close friends or family made their cleverly punned titles.

So that this post is not entirely introduction, I'll say a brief word about the many faces of my baby son, Micah. I can honestly say I love every face he makes, except for when he's upset. He's still cute when he's crying, but it breaks my heart to see him in tears. Here's a photo I took of him on Friday just before taking him to daycare. This is one of his many 'wonderment' faces--a face that seems to say, "Oooooo, what is that shiny thing," or, "Bring that closer so I can put it in my mouth." He was making wonderment faces as I wrote this, while I made silly noises and faces at him and the glow of the computer screen enticed his gaze.  Micah's been reaching for things a lot, too. So if the object of his fascination is close enough, it will indeed be taste tested.  My laptop is safe ... for now.

Well, that's enough for my blog's first edition.  You may find me verbose at times and laconic at others, but I hope you'll visit often and leave your comments, questions, ideas, etc.