Philadelphia

I'm so focused on GRE study. Friday is coming quickly. I'll be so glad to have it behind me. It's so frustrating, because I'm spending so much time on just inane stuff. You know, who wants to remember how to do quadratic equations again?! Studying for the GRE has no real product at the end. I'm not researching or writing. And it's just stupid.

Right now if I were on a reality TV show that was a GRE competition, my fellow competitors would be saying things like, "I really don't think Jnet has was it takes to really excel at the GRE," in their private on-screen interviews where they dish about fellow contestants, darn misanthropes rendering my efforts otiose and nothing can palliate their compendious invectives.

So inbetween my grousing about the GRE, we've hit up the Please Touch Museum a couple more times and the zoo once this week. And generally managed to carry on without enough sleep.

And tomorrow begins a new week. And pretty soon this horrible debacle will be fait compli.

Today we celebrate the great habit of those with more power triumphing over those with less power. Not to mix philosophy and history or anything... So why is it that we have Columbus Day? Did the powers that be miss having Fall Break or something?

Anyway, so no mail today. Or banks. Or school.

Nice for E to have a quieter day, because it's been a crazy weekend.

No soccer this weekend, due to tournaments, so we took the opportunity for the Great Upstairs Switcheroo. Something needed to be done about the Home Office aka Pigsty. The poor room that never really got moved into properly when we moved into this house a year ago. The room that had a table with my sewing stuff somewhere buried under all that crap. It was seriously scary. Hubby and I considered abandoning ship as one of the options. Closing the door and pretending it is a two-bedroom house. Or scooping it all out the window with a snowshovel.

But we took the upper road and tackled it head-on like responsible adults. After pondering the situation extensively, we decided to switch the boys' room and the home office. And to move the sewing into our large bedroom with wasted spaced. The middle bedroom is a bit longer and more narrow than the back one, and has a sliver of a window, so the boys are in a much nicer room for them now. Lots of natural light and a better floor plan. I'm excited to really settle them into it and decorate a little.

The front two bedrooms have an internal door, which makes for a fun sort of Suite for Adult Affairs. And after a couple of trips to IKEA for about 500gagillion KASSET boxes, I am well on my way to craft/sewing organizational zen. I'm really moving to another level here, and it's profoundly life-altering.

So that was Saturday. Sunday we went to church, driving down a very tidy street, since President Obama came to our neighborhood that evening. But we scooted out right after church to Lancaster, so now chance of seeing him. We went with pumpkin pies in hand to celebrate my Grandma's 80th bday. It was a beautiful, fall day. Albeit a very long day.

Today, I continued to master zen, and then took the kids to the park. Did a quick pop in to IKEA in the evening for my second installment of KASSET. And got up on Project Runway. And that's the news.

Another cool day. The rain has mostly stopped. A few drizzles, but the sunshine is starting to come through.

Marlowe has not been sleeping well at all. I noticed today that his third 2yr molar is about halfway in. One more to go and then we will be free!

We hurried out the door this morning for the first meeting of "Toddler Time" a sort of preschool co-op I'm doing with some other moms. I think it went really well. I did the craft, of course. Leaf prints. I also set up a sensory table=under-the-bed box from Ikea filled with rice. That was a huge hit.

Then when Ellis came home from school, we went to the Please Touch Museum for about an hour. Last week when we went, we went for the last hour and did the Goodbye Parade. I wanted to go earlier today and not stay all the way 'til 5, so I would have time to pick up my CSA box. So when we got there, I set my cell phone timer for one hour and told the boys that when it went off, it would be time to go. They were so cooperative with the plan!! I was so proud of them for stopping playing and walking towards the door right when it was time to go.

After dinner, i left to take Sam (my brother) to Trader Joe's. I did my shopping, too. Although it was nice to be able to shop alone, I was so tired. I think I'd rather go earlier in the day with a little one. But it was nice to hang out with my brother, too.

I'm going to stop buying school lunch for E and start making his lunches. I just get grossed out reading the monthly menus. I think what I send with him will be far more nutritious.

Hooray October!!!

My favorite month in my favorite season!!!!! The month of mums, pumpkins, spices, crisp air, and apple pie. As Marlowe kept informing me this morning, dragging a bag of apples around saying "Want make apple pie!!" (this child isn't even 2 1/2 yet)

I got out the door early this morning, it was still raining from the night before. I was meeting my friend at the Please Touch Museum. As I got down the hill into East Falls, I noticed that the Schuykill River was really high, and then as I crossed Kelly Dr to go over Falls Bridge, I saw that Kelly Drive was close on either side of me, the water had gone over the banks over Kelly Dr. I had never seen it that high. Then my friend called me for rerouting help because Lincoln Dr was closed with Wissahickon flooding, too. Wow. (Click here for a good pic. Falls Bridge is in the background. You can kind of see it through the trees.)

Anyway, so we finally made it to the Please Touch Museum. Though it was hard not to gawk at the river all the way down W. River Dr. I left Marlowe with my friend and her daughter, and then went on into University City. Where I met with someone in the dept to which I'm applying for grad school and is basically my top choice and I really, really, really want to go there, because it's awesome.

Then I went back to PTM and played awhile longer with my friend and her daughter, and then they were announcing a puppet show, so we thought, why not? It turned out to be a blacklight puppet show. So cool! So everything on the stage glowed, and the puppeteer was just standing behind them with no screen, wearing all black, so we couldn't really see him. The kids were totally enthralled.

I came home and basked in the glow of grad school excitement and fun times with kids and friends and then realized that I had no idea what we were going to eat. And then thought maybe we should just catch some ChikfilA since we were headed that way anyway later. Which we did. And then went to our friends' house for dessert. Lovely time. Really enjoyed the company and the kids played well. We left around 10pm. I was shocked that M was still awake.

There's a bit of a chill in the air, and tomorrow will be sunny.

Hooray the last day of September!!! And blustery, rainy day at that.

Sent Ellis to school on the bus, so we didn't have to walk in the windy rain. Marlowe and I went to Trader Joe's, which turned out to be a huge undertaking, since I hadn't been really grocery shopping in two weeks (and I'm on the one week plan, bc of all our fresh veggies). And I got some things for Grammy's house, and some things for a woman in our church who recently had surgery--she just lives a couple blocks away.

AT TJs, we got lots of yellow and orange. Two big orange pumpkins. Pumpkin butter. Pumpkin bread mix. Yellow mums. There was more yellow in the cart, but I can't remember what it all was. I just remember looking in the cart and thinking Orange and yellow. M spied the little mini decorative pumpkins, that are no bigger than the palm of your hand really. "Beebee pumpkins!" Said in a teeny-tiny high-pitched voice. When they were bagging me up at TJs, they got a second cart, and someone came and pushed it to my car for me. And I dropped groceries and mums off at my church friend's house. Learned that fall is her favorite season, too. Hooray! Another Fall Lover!

When E came home and groceries were put away, we went for the last hour to the Please Touch Museum. This is the third time we've done this this week (and the third rainy afternoon). The museum is not that far (though traffic is a little heavy at that time of day), really not much different than going to a nice playground in terms of travel. And the PTM is usually not crowded then, and the boys get lots of mental and physical energy out. There is a goodbye Parade at the end of every day there. A drummer in a three-cornered hat leads the tambourine-shaking kids on a parade around the museum. And then they get a chance to beat the drum on their way out the door. I have yet to see a kid tantrum in protest of leaving at closing time. Genius, pure genius, on the part of the PTM.

Taco salad for supper. Had that going in the crockpot while we were at the museum. M fell asleep at the table. And has stirred a couple times since. I think he's overtired. *sigh* hope this isn't the pattern for the night.

I'm settling down now for an evening of GRE study. (barf) And some fun research-y reading.

I'll leave you with some fun pics from the PTM. Using the Hipstamatic app on the iPhone--because if Soulemama says it's cool, it must be so.

I awoke yesterday feeling grumpy. It was a beautiful, late summer day. It needed to be enjoyed by children. But I was having trouble finding enthusiasm for doing anything that required getting out of bed. My friend and I had talked about going to the shore, but I just couldn't pull the gumption to head to New Jersey on a Friday. I went to the gym and then we decided to try out this (free!) lake north of Allentown. I had been there once before on a hair-brained bid to get out of the house with a 3yo and a 6week old. Not one of my finer moments. This was my first time returning.

It was perfect. The water was absolutely clear, and a refreshing temperature (not too hot, too cold), and shallow enough for the younger kids to enjoy playing. The man-made beach provided plenty of sand for digging. And the backdrop of the mountains gave a relaxing vista. They cleverly set up the boating area beyond the swimming area, so that the swimmers could enjoy the "faux" waves from the wake of the boats.

We stayed for four hours, still finding difficulty in prying ourselves away, though the shadows were long. It turned out to be the perfect day.

Last week I was browsing around a couple of shops, and I stumbled on a new store in a nearby neighborhood. It's a children's clothing retail store, but dedicated to more sustainable clothing options: recycled (aka gently used *grin*), eco-friendly, handmade, natural, that kind of stuff. I'm so excited bc I can bring in some of my gently used stuff, and they'll buy it outright, not consignment. And I might sell some of my Tshirts that I make--will just have to see if I'm up for that. (The store is The Nesting House in Mt. Airy and only goes through 5T.)

But I really hit jackpot with the basket of used Playmobil people and accessories. Woohoo!! I just had a little cash on me, so I just grabbed a couple of pirates and brought them home to Ellis.

One of the units for Ellis's summer session at school was pirates, so it's been all "Argh!" around our house. Then Ellis wanted boats for the pirates. I folded some paper boats for him, and he drew the cutest treasure map ever.

Of course, Marlowe had to have a boat, too:

Oops, man overboard!!

AAARGH!

When we moved to this city block last October I debated whether or not to get a deaf kid sign. I kind of decided against it. For one, I didn't think it would make any difference. People would speed regardless. For another, we've taught Ellis basic street safety. He's a cautious kid and takes pretty good care of himself. Besides, I'm usually with him when he's out front. I figured a deaf kid sign was sort of moot.

We're getting a new block captain, though. The old one is just that: old, and infirm. Our block has degraded some over the years, so I'm told. The woman who is taking over grew up on the block and has recently moved back. She's been really proactive about improving some things around here (and believe me, plenty needs improving). She took the initiative to get me an application for a deaf kid sign and she turned it in. She seemed to think it would make a difference. So we got the sign.

Ellis has been really into street signs lately and knowing what they all mean. He is pretty excited that there's a street sign just for him.

Recently I joined a gym. Shocker, I know. Yes, it's the first time I have ever joined a gym. I was terribly nervous about it, being the nonathlete that I am. I don't know how to use anything. I didn't want to look stupid. I'm just totally out of my element. Anyway, this isn't really about the gym, but I will say, that in order to make this worthwhile, I decided to just jump in. I got a few sessions with a trainer, gone to a few of the classes, and am working on a 5k training program. I'm figuring out the gym thing.

But one of the things I totally didn't know about was the whole community aspect of a gym. Seeing the same people over and over. Making connections.

Yesterday, I was picking up Marlowe from the (free!) childcare (ok, maybe not free--but included in the gym cost), and another mom was picking up her kid, and she said something about their going to a sprayground later.

At that my ears perked up. I've been looking all over for such fun. I found a couple listed online, but in faroff parts of town, so I haven't ventured forth yet. I was starting to feel like spraygrounds were things other cities had, and our poor city who can barely keep its libraries open just wasn't going there.

But, lo, and behold, this park that I pass all the time has a newly refurbished playground and sprays for the kids to play in! I didn't know there was more to this park than the basketball courts. Best of all, it's only about 10 minutes away. And the new playground part is really, really fun, too.

Later, it occurred to me that this is what you people in the 'burbs call "running through the sprinkler." Well, we do what we can do.

So one month ago we were this:

And I had a list of questions. To revisit where I am at the moment:

* Grass.
We decided to forego the headache of a tiny bit of grass. Couldn't even imagine keeping kids off of it. A big sandbox suits everyone quite nicely. Chris built this for the boys just last Saturday, and they are thrilled, to say the least.

* Upside-down tomato plants. Still think they're cool. Leaning towards not doing it, though. I'm just not comfortable with tomatoes on my front porch. I just don't want to go to all the work to have someone mess them up. Plus there's the watering issue. I don't have an easy way to water hanging pots like that, and that seems to be the number one most comment upon issue.

* Rain barrels. i think my dad is going to make me one when he makes some for them.

*green roof. Still a big question mark.

* Compost. I decided not to do worms for now.
I just made a little compost house with cinder blocks and scrap boards from the vacant courtyard behind our house. It's kind of cute. And we haven't had any trouble with animals. Today, I found a gate someone was throwing away. It used to be a baby gate they had around their fireplace, and then their daughter had painted it. It was cute. And gave me a little extra boundary around the compost house. Because i was worried about a little mouse-y named Marlowe who was getting into climbing all over the thing.

After spending more time outside, I've gotten a chance to see the way the sun hits. We get a fair amount of sun. Not full sun for the full day, but enough, I think. At least enough to try to have a vegetable bed in the back. Chris built me a raised bed when he built the sandbox. I filled with a bunch of leaf compost that I could get for free at this place near the arboretum. I've made a couple of trips so far. I also had bought some bags of top soil and garden soil from Home Depot, but I don't think they're any nicer than this awesome leaf compost I got for free. Did I mention that it was FREE?! As in back up your car and fill 'er up. (Locals, here's a map)

I think I'm going to have check out Square Foot Gardening that so many of you all have read. Because I'm having a hard time planning out this space. It's not much. It's kind of funny. I feel like I've gardened and worked with plants all my life, but I've never had to really plan out a vegetable garden all by myself before.

I'm trying to maximize the space I have by using some vertical gardening techniques. The rain gutter planters are my personal favorite at the moment. (Inspired by this gardener, who everyone has linked to!) I got a 10ft rain gutter from Home Depot for about $6. Using metal cutters, I cut it into three parts. Unfortunately I kind of mangled the edges as I cut them, so when I tried to put the end caps on, they didn't fit so well, and I ended up with the rather unelegant solution of duct tape. So far it seems to be holding fine. I punched holes in the bottom for drainage. I have red and green lettuce, spinach, and cilantro growing in them.