10/11/12 Teacher Conferences

The past two weeks have been parent-teacher conferences. This year, the teachers made no attempt to coordinate, so each child got their own date and time.

Julian's teacher conference is always the one I brace myself for the most, and this time was no exception. I really like his teacher, a young energetic non-nonsense woman with 16 years experience in 3rd grade at this school, and who who speaks crisply and with no hint of plaintiveness. I'd intercepted her at Back-to-School night last month, to tell her if she had any doubts about how to deal with Julian, not to doubt herself at all: come down hard and fast, and don't believe any of his excuses. She found that out on her own quickly!

All that said, she was also one of the first teachers who said, quite genuinely and with backup, that he's quite bright. She says he makes connections and asks questions that are well beyond 3rd-grade level. His reading and verbal articulation are well past his level -- which is a flag regarding his writing level. His writing is simplistic and reads more like that of a 2nd-grader.

She has more trouble than not getting to apply himself, but when he does, he's great. She showed us this example of a "happy face sentence," which means she'd solicit sentences from the class about a topic, and discuss their complexity levels and put them into categories called "down face," "even face" and "happy face." She showed us this set of sentences about the Native American Mulan, because Julian had come up with the happy-face sentence.

This only furthers my belief that Julian will basically outgrow his annoying attributes, and will shine in school when he deems it sufficiently interesting. I just hope that's in time for college admissions!

10/11/12

10/8/12 Old Friends

Last week while I was at the conference in Buffalo, I had time on and off to catch up with correspondence.

Idle in my hotel room during a break, I sent a message to my longtime friend Beth Gorell, who I met through motorcycling while I was at UCLA. She already had a motorcycle, and was also height-challenged, so was something of a mentor to me! Later when I moved back to the Bay Area, Beth and I would meet for marathon dinner nights, picking a place that was open late so we could yak into the week hours. This dropped off when we both had babies, miraculously a few months apart, and the joke turned that we needed to see each other at least as often as she changed her hairstyle.

Today I was back at work, and having a particularly bad Monday morning. I got a call from our front desk, usually about irritating spam call that our kind receptionist screens for me. But my headset battery was dead, so I walked out to the front desk -- and there was Beth! With her business partner husband, Pete. "Wanna go out for lunch?"

Yay!

It so happened they were in the same building for a business meeting. And at lunchtime -- what timing! I was so happy, I RAN back to my office to grab my bag.

We had a terrific catch-up lunch, during which I told Beth that some advice she'd given me during my career/life/motorcycle-wreck crisis in 1993, was such good advice that I still repeat it to other friends, even as recently as last week. She'd said that sometimes when you're faced with a really difficult decision, that more time doesn't always help make that decision. For really hard black-and-white decisions, that really boil down to what you want in your heart, she was so right.

(That particular decision for me was about which job offer to take, and while it might seem amusing in retrospect, I took it very seriously and to heart: was I going to make THE BIG SHIFT from software development to network engineering?!)

We joked about being "old" friends, but Beth hasn't aged a bit in the 20 years I've known her. To me, she looks like a guardian angel, who lifted me out of the dumps and back to life.

Many of the friends I made that year -- Beth, Jim, Lisa, Reid and Rubye -- I'm still close to, and now have known for almost two decades. How lucky I am to have longtime friends who I feel really know me -- and now I have a whole "new" set of "old" friends that I've known for a decade through my Mom connections.

There really are some good things about getting older, and old friends are by far the best part!

10/8/12

10/7/12 Lawn mowing

I just discovered the best way to mow the lawn: get a kid to do it!

Gabriel insisted he could handle the lawnmower, and to my surprise, he could. It turns out, he didn't anticipate how much harder it would be to push the mower over tall wet grass with the blades moving, but, this is Gabriel we're talking about and of course he didn't give up.

This wasn't out of the goodness of his heart or anything, it was for $5. But that's totally worth it! What could be more old-fashioned or down-home traditional than kids mowing lawns for money?

10/7/12

10/5/12 Back from NY!

I'm really starting to miss blogging every day! Then again, I'm also glad not to feel the daily pressure -- but its best aspect was its reliability. Am I a columnist or an essayist? Ah, the artistic dilemmas....

I got back from my 6-day trip to New York late last night....already seems like forever ago. It was a fantastic trip, starting in NYC to see my Mom and Paul. Sunday morning I went running along NYC's fantastic park along the Hudson River, then spent the afternoon hanging with my sister and brother and Papa Paul, and of course, their beautiful fluffy cat Sebastian.

Monday, Mom and Paul weren't feeling well, so we abandoned our idea to see the Intrepid aircraft carrier museum, and I decided to do something altogether un-New-Yorker-y: I went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. That was really great, the weather was perfect and there is SO much to see and read and learn and absorb on Ellis Island. From the ferry stop in Battery Park, I walked back to Mom's place, torn between loving walking in Manhattan and being dog-tired.

Tuesday morning, I flew to Buffalo, NY, a familiar place because it's right down the "road" (well, NY State Thruway) from Rochester, where I went to college and lived for 2 years afterward. In Buffalo, I was wined and dined along with another 100-200 or so people, almost all white men (no accents -- what a difference from Silicon Valley!) The highlight was walking to Niagra Falls the night we arrived, and seeing the falls all lit up with colored lights. That was a great ice-breaker, and flowed easily into meeting lots of other people and making all sorts of friends and business contacts. I think the technical term for that is schmoozing.

I even ran into an old friend in the baggage claim in San Jose, she'd been on the same flight from Atlanta (where I'd connected from Buffalo). I think I've known her for nearly 20 years, first at a gym we used to belong to, then in dance classes. Years ago, she and I were the only ones in our 40s in a hip-hop class; the rest were all teenagers! It was really nice seeing her again.

Life had to happen again, but after my wonderful trip, I was ready for it today. It started with an early conference with Gabriel's teacher this morning, which was really more a conference for Gabriel himself, as his teacher did most of her talking to him. I was happy to be back at work today, but I left early to prepare for Katrina's birthday, and to catch up at home.

Katrina was so happy about her birthday today! I'd really missed the kids, so I was glad to make her a quick Wacky Cake, and of course made the frosting as well. Kids love decorating their own cake, and crafty Katrina no less. She couldn't quit talking about her birthday, to the annoyance of her brothers, one of whom got kicked out and missed cake after repeated warnings to stop harassing her silly happy musings about being six years old.

I was going to write a very short blog post about one little thing that has nothing to do with anything else I just wrote...so I'll write it anyway. Gabriel's 5th-grade goes on a weeklong overnight science camp, and on Back-to-School night last month, the teachers handed out a suggested packing list. I was puzzled to see "deodorant" at the top of the Toiletries list. Lately, Gabriel's been needing it himself, but I figured this was a lark. Today, Gabriel's teacher gave me another packing list, and to my surprise, under Toiletries, DEODORANT was listed again, and IN CAPS!!! OK! I guess 10-year-olds REALLY start to smell!!

Maybe I'll add photos tomorrow, but unfortunately my camera crapped out (right on the line for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty!), so I've been relying on my utterly inadequate iPhone for photos, and it's a PAIN. I'm way behind in all sorts of things I have to do, but really, I should start thinking Halloween....!

10/5/12

9/26/12 Alamere Falls Recap

Never sure how to keep these blog posts in sequence, but I just wrote about Sept. 12 Alamere Falls. Such a stunningly fantastic day -- nothing like exploring a National Park with a good friend!

9/26/12

9/24/12 Homework

The worst of the worst....first grade. That's been my "sour spot" for homework, because much is expected of 6-year-olds that they can't, or won't, do on their own.

And Katrina has daily turn-in homework, and it's of the type I hate the most: it forces parent involvement.

But, a new homework routine has emerged since Julian also has his first daily turn-in homework (he escaped it in 1st and 2nd grades): Julian sits in the kitchen and works on it while I make dinner, and we chat on and off. For the most part, he's getting his work done, though it's a lot, and distractions are plentiful in the kitchen.

And nothing distracts him more than a 1st-grader who has homework that involves a parent reading a list of words, and the 1st-grader putting their hands on their head when they hear a short 'e' sound.

A seriously silly waste of time, IMO.

There are other options on this homework for the 1st-grader to re-enforce the "short e" concept without gymnastics, but Katrina wanted to do this one. And I didn't object too much for once, since I was already in kid-kitchen-homework mode with Julian.

On the other hand, maybe some of my objections to homework have to do with how difficult it was to implement. Katrina is far more conscientious than her brothers ever were, even to the point of fussing and complaining if I don't do my part, from reading a list of words to signing or initialing a paper.

I still object to 1st-grade daily turn-in homework that forces parent participation, maybe because of the PTSD that came from attempting to do it with a reticent 1st-grade Gabriel and a nightly-tantruming 2-year-old Katrina, and let's not forget the preschooler thrown into the mix, but it's not nearly as bad this time around.

9/24/12

9/15/12 Car Wash

The boys have been clamoring for jobs to do to earn money....and what better than to wash cars? Actually, it'd take less time -- and probably less money -- to run the car through a car wash, but having them this industrious for over an hour was well worth it.

Though two boys and two hoses within 5 miles of each other is most certainly going to lead to problems.

And to some antics with photo-taking. The boys were laughing WAY too hard as I took these photos, but Gabriel managed to time it perfectly so I didn't notice his lewd positioning of the hose nozzle until I looked at the photo later.

This was a good job for them, they were busy and the cars really were dirty!

I used up some coupons and sales from LL Bean and got some new shirts for the boys: some actual button-down nice-looking shirts. Gabriel rejected the idea instantly, and Julian followed suit, but today Julian showed up wearing his new shirt. He's showing more and more signs of being interesting in his appearance, and blushes when I compliment him.

I couldn't take my eyes off him. SO handsome!

To me, kid-shirts are to be worn and washed and abused, not put in a glass case and admired, so I didn't mind him wearing it for car-washing (thank you LL Bean).

Meantime, Katrina and I had a playdate -- her with an old friend Saul, and me with Saul's mother Sara, and even older friend to me. Sara and I have known each other a long time, but not well until we found ourselves in our 40s and in prenatal yoga together with babies due and born in 2006. Katrina and Saul don't know each other all that well, but I was happy to see Katrina open up and actually play with this open bright little boy, instead of hiding out by herself.

Overall a productive -- anc cleaner -- day!

9/15/12

9/12/12 "Mom, my b*tt itches!"

Most of the time, if Julian says something about his rear end, it can be ignored as yet another transparent attempt to use bathroom words in an inappropriate context. Which I did. Ignore it.

But tonight just before his bath, he showed up naked in the kitchen. "Mom, my butt still itches." And WOW. He had a glaring, nasty, bumpy red rash all over his rear end - and front end (fortunately minus the most important parts).

The best I can figure is that my laziness about washing new clothes before wearing -- including underpants for 8-year-old boys -- has caught up with me. My only excuse: they're not babies after all, and overall aren't "allergic" sorts of kids....err, right?

And of course I let the state of underwear quality get to the point of such drastic desperation that time to wash the darned things before wearing was merely a formality. I thought.

Well, it's only a theory, but given the placement of this rash, it's the best I've got.

Most interesting to me, it's yet another indication of how constitutionally, Julian is just different than his siblings. Aside from Katrina's inexplicable hive episodes as a baby, overall, things like this just don't happen to her, and never to Gabriel. For the most part I've escaped these regular events in the modern world of parenting, but if it's going to happen to any kid, it's most likely Mr. Middle.

A liberal slathering of Gold Bond on the "affected areas," and I think he'll be good to go. But yikes, I think I'll pay 1% more attention the next time Pot-Mouth mentions "itching."

Speaking of substances, lately, Julian wants to Dippity-Do his ultra-straight hair into lofty styles. This he did with just water and it fell flat minutes later, but he begged for a photo first:

I am very amused to find a comb and puddles all over the sink after Mr Vanity has been in the bathroom -- and here I thought teenage years were a ways off! But at least by then, he'll have to wash his own skivvies.

9/12/12

9/12/12 Alamere Falls

(Fast-forward to the GOOD photos from my accomapanying photographer: Shutterfly Photos)

Two weekends ago, I went on my first grownup hike in a long, long time.

My friend S. has been a mentor to me for many years now for camping and hiking and outdoors things. So when she told me she'd bought a new book with lots of great hikes in the area and we should plan one together sometime, I said absolutely! It took all summer, but we found a Sunday that would work, and planned it weeks ahead.

Turns out, this excursion would involve cheese. In the tiny town Pt. Reyes Station, there is a funky little grocery in a barn, that has a cheesery and a very attractive selection of locally made cheese. Had we been at Whole Foods, I'd have bristled at the price, but this was authentic!

After securing ourselves the required fermented dairy products for lunch, we found a great spot for a self-time photo to document the goofy absurdity of our mutual choices for outerwear that day.

(yes, total pink dorks, but those light fleeces really worked.

And then it was time to hike!

This hike really deserved its rank in a book of Top 100 Hikes in the Bay Area, given its fantastic diversity of views and places.

There were the foggy bluffs...

The coastal views....

The forested canopies...

The swimming-hole lakes...

The craggy climbing trails, at which neither of us hesitated, though they don't look like a trail on first glance...

Until a volunteer provides perspective...

Unexpectedly, we came across some "pre-falls" -- that is, waterfalls that feed into the destination falls. Just these deserved plenty of airtime (and photographic talent, which I outsourced to S.), and we hadn't even gotten to the good stuff....

Waterfalls!!

A little scramble down some quasi-stable cliffs, and there we were on the beach, in full view of the attraction falls -- perhaps at a low point this time of year, but nonetheless spectacular for desert-y California.

Not often you see waterfalls and ocean in the same view!

And there is never anything less than spectacular or glorious about being on a beach in a National Park. Though this was S's 6th National Park of the year, she too was no less in awe.

We did a little climbing and scrambling to explore the beach, while I scare-talked stories of people getting swept away by rogue waves -- this would be the place! But we noticed the tide going out, and concluded our risk of getting trapped or washed away by tides was low.

We found a scenic spot for lunch.

And did a little more beach exploration afterward, during which time the sun graced us by burning through the fog. S.took this as a great photographic opportunity; me and my inadequate little point-and-shoot just had to cope.

Normally hikers, oddly in sync with motorcyclists, bristle at the idea of having to backtrack, but there was nothing lost at all in this hike by backtracking. It looked and felt completely different coming the other way, and the weather had changed enough that it really was a truly different experience.

This was one landmark we made sure to notice in both directions, however. S's photos are far better, but this isn't just about art, it's about reminding ourselves about boundaries, a topic we had license to yak about unfettered for hours. And what a lovely one this is.

Ladies, don't forget: boundaries.

We must have missed this on the way out, but this is about the most convoluted eucalyptus tree I've ever seen in my life!

From there, we drove to Mountain View on the Peninsula, drastically underestimating the time it would take to drove on Hwy 1 to the Golden Gate Bridge, then the traffic on Sunday evenings into San Francisco on said bridge. For some idiotic reason, I checked FaceBook, and not only didn't receive the foolish validation I couldn't have imagined to receive, but worse, saw some confirmation of some very painful, personal revelations.

Fortunately for me, my friend with the wounded ankle was there to pick me up (what a pair WE are!!!) and we had a nice dinner in a trendy downtown Mt View restaurant -- barefoot and purple-pedicured and all. (Well, what else are you supposed to do with an injured ankle?!)

A few cocktails (much needed!) and some yummy tapas later, and civilization had returned.

A far superior set of photos than I could ever hope to capture: Alamere Falls Hike

And as always a better written description as well: Girls Day Out. That's what happens when you travel with a writer.

We're both in a bittersweet stage of life, strangely similar but with drastic differences, but were brought together by basic enjoyment of the beautiful outdoors and the escape and respite it provides from our painful realities. We agreed this was a great way to spend the day, setbacks and all (S. really hurt her ankle for instance, owch), but we will most definitely have to pursue lovely hikes and fantastic cheese again!

9/12/12

9/8/12 Party day

Today, Julian has a birthday party for a new classmate at a nearby park -- always challenging when you don't know the kid, mom or anyone else! But though the birthday boy's mom was occupied, I had a nice chat with his grandmother.

Though she's there for her 3rd-grade grandson, the room arrangement at our school is such that the grandmother walks by the row of rooms where Katrina happens to be. And the racial/ethnic mix is such that if there's a dirty-blonde kid in a class, they stand out. So the grandmother asked me, "Is Julian's sister the one who's always first in line before class starts?" First in line?! I was feeling pretty proud of my conscientious 1st-grader until said 1st-grader grumbled, "Well, yeah, I'm always there early and have to wait forever!"

Later, I attended a "summer party" thrown by our new neighbors. Longtime readers might recall that our neighborhood was weighed down for the first 11 years of our residence here by some unsavory neighbors across the street; an elderly man and an assortment of delinquent sons. They'd been there for decades, but no longer fit into the new neighborhood demographic of young foreign-born families. And the whole neighborhood was very happy when the old man died -- well, not because he died, but because it meant that the whole crew would move. And with a bang - the night before they had to vacate the house was their last violent fight that attracted police and firemen and turned the neighborhood upside down -- for the last time.

And so, a young foreign-born family, with a tenacious real-estate-experienced wife, bought the property and drove a massive total-house remodel in less than 6 months. They just completed a major landscaping project as well, and kindly invited the neighorhood to check it out. So I spent the better part of the afternoon marvelling at the transformation, from outside and in, and chatting with my super-cool-sharp neighbor and getting a full tour of the very very nicely done house. They have a 2-1/2 yo boy, maybe more soon. I remember from our housewarming in 1999 how useful it was to meet the neighbors and get some history, so it was interesting to be in the opposite position now.

Ironically, I have more in common in terms of phase-of-life with the Moms -- and mostly, grandmom -- who I met for moments at Julian's classmate's party, than that of my neighbor in toddler-world who I spent hours yakking with, even though she lives right across the street - but I was very happy for both today!

9/8/12

9/2/12 Back-to-school gifts

Dear Bonne Maman has a habit of sending back-to-school gifts -- how thoughtful! That takes the edge off of going back to school! Despite all my excuses for being so behind in my blog, the least I could do was get a photo of the kids with their stunning new duds.

The boys are thrilled with their new radios too, and Katrina is already covering herself with butterfly tattoos. Thanks Bonne Maman!!

The trouble with getting behind in a blog is that it's cumulative: the more behind you get, the higher a bar it seems to write and catch up! I know a blog doesn't have to be a play-by-play -- gaps are allowed of course, but I was born a documenter, and it's some effort to wrest my mind away from that mode. Quick notes have always eluded me.

Also, I fret a lot that any concentrated time should be preparing for exams instead of blogging, and in the end, neither gets done!

9/2/12

8/20/12 First day of school!

First day of school -- summer is officially over!

No dorky "Varsity" shirts this time....I just didn't order any in time. But I also didn't want to struggle with getting them to wear the shirts. Then, it turned out, Gabriel asked me, "No 'Class Of --' shirts this time?"

Nor new backpacks or lunchbags either, which they all desperately need. And I just missed a Land's End 25% off -everything sale. Sigh.

But I don't know what to do about lunchbags for Julian. Today he got one of Gabriel's old lunchbags with a piece of blue tape covering the stitched "Gabriel" name -- and he lost it. First day of school! He lost 4 lunchbags just in the last 3 weeks of school. The other two kids combined don't lose stuff at nearly the rate Julian does. There just doesn't seem to be any point in sending him into school with anything of value.

At least I wasn't so lame that I missed the essential pre-class photos.

Katrina outside her new 1st-grade class. Unlike most of the other 1st-grade parents, I had to abandon her to check in on the boys.

Julian's 3rd-grade class, with plenty of doting parents there watching their every move.

Gabriel's 5th-grade class. By now, teachers have all but abandoned smiling apple signs that announce the grade and other cutesy decorations. Not that Gabriel minded.

I had just enough time to scootch back to Katrina's class after dropping the boys off, and remind her to walk to CDC herself after school (in kindergarten, CDC picks them up). There I saw her teacher calling out each child's name and handing them a nametag and sending them into the classroom. Katrina was at the head of this line, waiting patiently.

I was amused as the teacher struggled with the names, mostly multi-syllable elaborate Indian names. Then she came across the name "Tara" with visible relief, and looked furtively toward Katrina. Nope! The only Caucasian child in line wasn't matched to that particular Western name; another Asian girl was. So when the nametag "Katrina" came up, it was pretty obvious who that was. I never think of Katrina as being a stand-out blonde, but in her first-grade class she sure is.

Katrina's turn! She didn't even look back.

First grade is tough for parents, kids and teachers: they're getting used to a regular school schedule, but are the youngest ones who do so. Some 1st-graders (not mine) are not used to a full day of anything, and some even still take naps. I find 1st grade to be brutal in terms of work expected versus what a 5 or 6 year old can do.

But Katrina? I'm really not worried. Guess it's a girl thing.

She brought home a paper-bag bunny puppet project that they did in class today, promptly put it aside, and set to work on a far more complex wooden craft project of putting together an airplane. Since I'm Bad Mom and don't sit and do these things with her, she reads and follows the instructions herself, even including waiting for painted-on glue to dry, and comes up with an entirely credible result at the end.

Yeah, I'm not worried about her in first grade. Though I do wonder if nowadays with the law advancing cutoff dates, that during transition, some 1st-grade teachers could dread having 5-year-olds starting class.

We had a terrific "last-hurrah" camping trip last weekend! It was at a state park in Sonoma County, just north of San Francisco -- not far, but still, worlds away.

It was a "walk-in" campsite, which meant a lot of hauling of Stuff to get our camping equipment from the car in the parking lot to the campsite, but it also made for a much more pleasant campsite. Our neighbors had dogs, including a charming 9-week-old fuzzy puppy, and Gabriel especially was entranced.

Mostly I wanted to hang around the pretty campsite and study, but a short nature trail beckoned and we all did that, before going to the pebbly beach on San Pablo Bay. After that, Julian and Katrina and I left behind a whining Gabriel to find a sand beach -- and other coastal fascinations along the way.

Saturday Night we attended a campfire talk by a Ranger -- the scheduled speaker on Reptiles had to cancel (much to Julian's regret), but Ranger Tom and the hefty lesbian camp-host pair filled in by talking about the park animals. Gabriel was interested but nonchalant; Katrina tired and holding back whines; Julian entranced.

I'm working on the photos, but I'm getting so far behind on photo projects that I'm starting to have to give them up. I wish I could scrapbook every camping trip, or at least highlights of every summer, but no way. So I'm working on a Facebook album -- if only I can get it done quickly!

Is it really possible we were all there just yesterday?! Life is so different now....

8/20/12

8/14/2012 The Dinosaur

I did something tonight that used to be completely usual, and now is very unusual: I worked late, and didn't even see my children tonight.....eeeps! Verry strange. And hard to believe that someday, that will be the norm.

Actually, I feel pretty good about all the work I did tonight, because it's the sort of work that takes a ton of concentration, and that my actual day-to-day job just doesn't allow.

As much as I like my job, one of the hardest parts is being constantly torn between doing what I know is needed, and doing what's needed NOW. I have to be responsive (i.e. drop everything now and respond) but I also have to be timely (i.e. drop nothing now until the customer is billed for this complex configuration). A competent experienced professional can juggle these competing objectives, but me...? Not so much yet!! I'm getting better at it by leaps and bounds though.

So sometimes working late gives me a much-needed boost. And it's my favorite kind of work, the down-n-dirty icky-sticky details, with some lifting and running cables involved. Overall, super-cool stuff -- it doesn't get better for a network engineer than to be handed a pile of Stuff and be told, "go make this work together!"

Something that's also so cool about my not-so-new company is that if you're still at work at 6pm, you are the last one out the door.

But once at home, somehow tonight I found myself cleaning up my ancient bayarea.net account, one I've had for years, and still actively use -- and now even moreso than usual, because it's a useful resource for work sometimes. (Those of you who know what a "shell account" means might relate -- they used to be normal but are nowadays nearly nonexistent.)

And I came across this message, excerpted below. Just in case you were wondering how truly ancient I am when it comes to Internet and computer things!

January 25, 1995

Re: Internet dial-up account

Dear Noemi:

I want to personally thank you for selecting Bay Area Internet Solutions.
...
Modem Flow Control:
Flow control is the method which the modem starts and stops sending data.
It is essential that flow control be enabled.  If your PPP communication
package does not use hardware flow control, (sometimes referred to as
CTS/RTS flow control), you will need to use software flow control
(XON/XOFF flow control).
...
==============================================================================
  _           _                                     _
 /_) _       /_/ _ _  _    / _ _/_ _  _ _  _ _/_   /_` _  /   _/_ . _  _   _
/_) /-|/_/  / / / (-'/-|  / / //  (-'/ / /(-'/    ._/ /_// /_//  / /_// /_)
       _/

George E. Navas                 navas@bayarea.net
Voice: (408)447-8690            Fax:(408)447-8691       http://www.bayarea.net
==============================================================================

You caught that date? 1995!! Dialup!! This was my connection to the world then!!

I've been with the same ISP for 17 years now. I think that's a record. This is all pre-Google, pre-broadband, pre-cable, pre-wireless, pre-everything days. And I stay with them for the "shell account," something that used to be totally normal, and now is only grandfathered in for total dinosaurs like me.

The funny thing is that I only picked this ISP is because I knew George Navas, who started it -- we both worked at NASA at the time. He left to start his own business, bayarea.net, which to this day continues to thrive.

In fact, to prove how small Silicon Valley is, now bayarea.net is a customer of Dasher's, my new employer, and I've talked to their new executives. George Navas is now a long-gone legend, though he'll always be known for his fantastic salsa dancing; he was from South America, I think Venezuela but I could be wrong.)

How's that for history and ancient-ness!! "...back in my day...." -- start the creaky sound now please -- " 'tech-savvy' meant a whole lot more than knowing how to download videos to an iPhone!!"

8/14/12

8/10/12 The Indirect Heat

I've had an unusual week schedule-wise, so called Bonne Maman late this Friday evening, a time I don't usually call. Katrina said she wanted to talk to Bonne Maman too, but suddenly cut the conversation short to go work on a "wood craft."

She did this thing entirely on her own, following the instructions to put it together and paint it all on her own! She was very proud of herself, so I took a picture.

Meantime I got to talk to Bonne Maman, and while chatting, prepared a marinade for some rarely low-priced bone-in chicken breasts from Whole Foods. Finding high-quality meat at Whole Foods is expected, but for $1.99/lb?! That's so rare it's actually worth blogging about.

Bonne Maman got me a grill book that she has also, about two summers ago when we both got hooked on grilling -- and it turned out we'd bought almost the same exact grills! So it's been fun learning about grilling together.

No wonder our Weber grill book called for grilling this particular chicken recipe for 45 minutes: the book recommended indirect heat. I had no time or energy to find out exactly what that meant, let alone set it up, so I set the hapless poultry straight on the direct grill. I knew the thick breasts might burn to a crisp on the outside and stay raw on the inside this way, but tried to compensate with low heat and an open grill for some of the time.

(A new self-invented anti-stick trick: grill the "bottom" side first, then the "top" side last when the food is already partially cooked -- seems to stick less on the side you want to show that way.)

I was prepared for disaster and my secret grilling-mistake compensation (the microwave!).

But to my amazement, the thick chicken breasts were done as perfectly as grilled chicken could ever be expected to be: moist, perfectly done but not overdone, perfectly seasoned. 5 minutes either way could have totally changed the outcome, but I got completely lucky this time. I was thrilled -- I've come to dislike white meat, but no wonder -- unless it's drowned in sauce, it's always dry and tough from being in the now-ubiqtuitous "boneless skinless" form.

White meat, especially grilled, is far from my favorite (I've always preferred dark meat), but I'm easy. I don't cook for me! But Katrina .... she's my toughest customer, especially when it comes to chicken. Though nowadays she claims she'll try drumsticks on roasted chicken, in practice she doesn't eat very much. All other chicken, and most meat, she refuses on principle.

But tonight, to my amazement, she asked for this white meat. And loved!! it?! She ate all I put on her plate, then seconds, then thirds, then so many extra helpings I lost count. She couldn't quit talking about how much she liked this chicken!

I knew a big part of it was the huge deal I made over her actually eating chicken, so of course I ran with it. But I didn't have to work hard: she even forewent corn-on-the-cob, a genuine favorite, to eat serving after serving of "Bonne Maman's chicken."

I had a lot too -- best white-meat chicken I've ever made! I'm so done with boneless-skinless filets: bone-in is way, way better. Especially since my avowed picky-eater wouldn't quit with it.

I told Katrina and the boys (who'd downed their food before I even sat down) again and again that this was the same chicken that Bonne Maman made for her aunt and cousins recently, and that we'd talked about it together, and that I thought I'd messed it up, and that Bonne Maman would be so psyched to see how much Katrina loved "her" chicken. (Julian had seconds of chicken, and five corn on the cobs?!!)

I guess I got away with the direct heat method after all. A remarkable dinner, spanning 3 generations of grill-loving girls!

8/10/12

8/9/12 Haircuts

School is right around the corner!! Time to get new knapsacks and lunchbags (what they have is pretty destroyed), toenail trims, dorky Varsity "Class of...." T-shirts, and haircuits. Not to mention all the school supplies we're supposed to bring.

Naturally, I've decided to put off most everything until the last weekend -- and then go AWAY for the last weekend! We have our last hurrah for the summer scheduled, a camping trip at China Lake State Park, just north of San Francisco.

On impulse I decided it was time for the boys to have some semblance of respectability though. I'd done Katrina's bangs about a week ago, so she didn't really need a cut herself. Mostly she just wanted the lollipop.

They were going to Great America the next day, so were sporting their new matching T-shirts when I picked them up from camp.

Plan flaw: haircuts in new shirts mean the shirts have to get washed, or they'll itch all day long tomorrow. We made it happen somehow.

Julian in particular asked for gel in his hair to make it spiky-stylish. So cool!

I've been at home the last 3 days, doing a training class that starts at 6:30am, for something I'm not all that interested in, and with the sole objective of passing an exam that means nothing to me -- but it's important to my company to have a certain number of people on staff with this exam behind them. And that's more motivating than anything. Can't you tell? I'm procrastinating by blogging!

8/9/12

8/4/12 Pie Date

I'm really not sure how this started, but somehow earlier this week, Gabriel and I got talking about pies.

This led to a great idea (for me): let's make a pie together! I gave him my Williams-Sonoma Pie And Tart book with all the beautiful photos, and told him to pick something, and we'd make it together this weekend.

To my amazement, he chose a creamy-looking Citrus Chiffon pie. "Are you sure?" I asked him, "not, like, blueberry or cherry or something....well, more kidlike??" He was certain. Citrus Chiffon it was.

I asked him to pick out and write down any unusual ingredients we might have to shop for, a challenge by itself. What's unusual? But this worked really well, to my surprise: he knew we have eggs, but probably needed to check on unflavored powdered gelatin and ginger snaps.

Friday night, I asked Gabriel to pull out all the ingredients. He took this much farther than I expected, including measuring out 1/4 cup of cold water and measuring out the sugar. "I reduced the sugar like you always do, Mom." Ah, I'm doing something right!

So this Saturday afternoon, I set aside the multi-ton weight of work I must complete before Monday, and said to Gabriel, "Let's have our pie date!" And so we made pie.

This pie isn't baked, but its filling is cooked. But first, the cookie-crumb crust had to be assembled and baked, and this was harder than I expected. Nabisco ginger snaps are hard to crumble! He had a great time pounding the cookies, but we had to resort to the food processor too.

Then there was all the zesting and juicing of the citrus. 3/4 cup of lemon juice, plus orange zest, of course from our own trees. Nothing like a baking project that starts off with "Go pick some lemons from the tree!".

I failed to take a photo, but the cooking was challenging too. It meant slowly warming up egg yolks with gelatin and preventing them from scrambling. And lemme tell you, it's one thing to teach kids to crack eggs, but separating them is a whole other ball game!

Finally, it was time to mix the filling with whipped cream, and spread it into the cookie-crumb crust.

Refrigerate for 3-4 hours....takes away the home-baked-pie smell from the house. Actually, this pie was more work and much trickier to make than your average fruit pie, which I usually prefer and can knock out in my sleep now.

The best part was, tonight Gabriel and I shared a few pieces and revelled in it. Though I always cut sugar back, this is one recipe that doesn't really need it, and it was on the edge of being too tart -- but was just perfect.

I told him stories about my father and pie, how much he loved blueberry pie and how he'd make all these sighing noises, and pretend to want to steal someone else's pie, but he wasn't pretending at all.

The irony didn't bypass me though: here I was sharing pie with my son while channeling my father.....though really, the two are quite different in this regard. My Dad would never turn down a dessert, but Gabriel takes after his own father and doesn't really favor sweets or fruit in desserts. Which this pie wasn't, and Gabriel likes lemon-flavored things.

It was the sweetest pie I've had in a long long time -- not just the time spent in a project together, but also the long one-one-one intense talking I had with the baker over the spoils. At age 10-1/2, this is more than just laying foundations of relationships; it could become a fond memory for him. It certainly is for me.

8/4/12

8/1/12 The Loser

I'm at home in a training class this week -- which sounds like it'd make things easier, but instead, it automatically intensifies the workweek.

For starters, these classes insist on using VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), instead of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) (that is a technical term!). I don't care how high-tech something sounds, phones just work better. I especially miss being able to carry a regular old cordless phone around with me, muted, so I can hear the class if I want to run a load of laundry. Instead, I'm bound to my computer and its mike and speakers.

Training classes also means= far, far less time flexibility during the day. Though there's a ton of downtime during the class, like when the instructor runs off with some silly story, I can't count on doing a quick check of something online, or making a phone call -- such as, "Hello, lost-and-found? By any chance did you find a red knapsack with monogramming that says Julian?"

That kid loses SO MUCH STUFF! His record was losing 3 lunchbags in one week during school, but week-by-week, I can pretty much count on something getting lost. Non-parents, or parents with more responsible kids say, "Fine, if he loses his jacket then he goes cold, that'll teach him!"

But in practice, it doesn't work that way. You're not actually going to send your child to school in pouring rain or freezing cold (if we had any) for an entire winter, or without lunch for a whole school year -- and even if you did, it likely wouldn't change his behavior at all. With two other kids, I "get" that kids lose stuff -- but Julian goes way way past regular "losing-stuff."

So, despite my super-tight schedule this week, I drove to last week's Y camp location and retrieved a forgotten knapsack. Enabling him, you might say! But he didn't know the difference. Besides, I really wanted to get that knapsack back because I'd rigged a clever way to make sure his sunscreen was usable, yet was attached to the pack and wouldn't get lost.

The good news is, they're all loving the San Jose daycamp. It's much simpler and lower-key than Y specialty camps -- no field trips or fancy outside visits, and no complex pickup/validation process -- but they all seem relaxed and to really like it. This camp costs $242 for two weeks -- pricewise, it doesn't get better than that -- and they like it!

It's hard to believe school is starting in less than 3 weeks?!

8/1/12

7/30/12 Summer Day Campes

Whew! Last week, all 3 kids were in different Y camps -- at different locations!! The logistics were the worst -- but they all liked their camps. And with the boys being apart, I think the time I saved listening to the counselors' stories more than made up for the extra driving time.

Last week, Julian did Lego Robots, which he loved. Gabriel did fencing, which he loved until the last-day tournament, and he tied for last in a group of 18 kids. I don't usually feel bad for him for stuff like that, but I did this time! He took it in stride, but it bugged him. (Still, he's one of those "cheap" competitors -- he likes to win, but he doesn't like to work hard to win.) And Katrina was in gymnastics, which she liked because of the foam pit.

Last day of Y-camp: "linked-in tag" ! It was cute seeing Katrina standing clinging to another girl, who she readily gave up when she saw me -- even cuter.

Outside Julian's camp, an attempt to get all 3. Of course they wouldn't completely cooperate -- these should all be frameables!

Home is always more fun, especially if you bought yourself a remote-control helicopter.
This week, they're in a regular old-fashioned daycamp through the City of San Jose, and I'm thrilled for two very selfish reasons: One, they're all in the same location; and two, it's half the cost of most other daycamps! I just hope the magic persists for two weeks. 'Cause after that, it's another dreaded CDC camp week (through their school's on-campus daycare center, which they've grown not to like for summer daycamp), and then -- SCHOOL. It starts in just 3 weeks, can you believe it?! Agh!

7/30/12

oh no, it's two Uncles birthdays and when I remembered to call was a bad time!! aggggh!)