Hi all,
So, I did technically post yesterday, but since it was for Sunday, I suppose it doesn't count. All together then. Monday was relatively laid back. We did a simple breakfast and then some chores around the house. We had a very simple lunch since we were having a picnic with one of the other houses in the neighborhood. Housemom was getting a little frantic, but it's not as though things ever really start on time, we had plenty of time before the game and we were 1/2 of the crowd. So how much could happen without our house? Housemom said that I'm very level. Although she's seen me melt down over tofu, so I'm not sure how seriously I should take this compliment.
Anyhow, I made a green salad and we brought meat and cookies that housemom made (double chocolate with walnut...mmmm!), a tea/fruit drink, meat condiments and chips. The meal was very laid back and I had fun talking with the people there. The new houseparents (who are staying off-site right now) were also there, but I didn't actually talk with them at all. It's weird enough as it is, and I don't want to have to force an awkward conversation. Which, yes, is probably only awkward in my mind. I want to enjoy the time I have left with housemom and the kids. I can pretend that life as I've grown accustomed to (and love) will not be changing drastically in 3 weeks. Not for the worse, necessarily, but I'm sure it'll be different.
Afterward we went to the baseball(softball) game. It was late (of course), and the teams were heavily tilted. But my team managed to stay ahead most of the time and we ended up tying. Unfortunately, Beau wasn't back yet and missed out. However, it's a special weekend coming up for the families/siblings to come, and so there will be another game on Friday. This weekend I may not get a day off...
Today was a bit harried in the morning, getting cafe money set up and other small things - I still need to turn in my timesheet...But I got to the glass workshop on time. Soldering is definitely much different with an electric component and where you want to have a raised area of solder. With the jewelry making you wanted as little solder showing as possible, as you had to painstakingly file and sand down the seams of whatever was left. My highest compliment (from the male workmaster, who's pretty gruff but hilarious) was "Well, it isn't as bad as I expected", for which he earned a swat from his wife. It's a fun work environment. I also soldered my fingers (twice...talent...), which leaves a nice blister immediately. I shall try to refrain from repeating this in the future...
My piece needs a frame and a chain now, although I probably won't make the chain for a bit. We had 4 people at Stitch 'n Bitch tonight, and while the other two knitted, Bean helped me try to make my tomato planters. The burlap sewed up well, although I didn't know how heavy the soil (and water) would make it, so I half-expect to find my poor plant crushed tomorrow on the patio. Plus, the burlap lets all the water straight through, so I may need to double-line them? I will try to take a picture tomorrow...
Anyhow, I went out to lunch with Flo today, and we had a nice time at a Chinese restaurant in Millerton.We even got it MSG-free, always a plus. We had hoped to have some time to do other things, but they weren't exactly speedy. At least the food was pretty good. Always a fun time with Flo though.
Anyhow, that's about it...
Hope all is well,
Steph
Showing posts with label Flo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flo. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Hi all,
It was a wet and rainy day today. Rather gloomy, and prone to sudden and sporadic showers that were just light enough to make wearing a raincoat barely worth it. This morning I used the leftovers (frozen) from my mushroom and barley soup to make a mushroom risotto. When Sam came to take a peek, he exclaimed in dismay: "Why is it purple?!?"
Well, from the red wine, of course. Although I was then told that risottos is made only with white wine, this was impossible as we only had red on hand. Not to mention that I'd made the soup with red wine, so it was more practical to continue with it. It turned out ok, a little gummy after setting, but had pretty good flavor. I also had to raid the seed room for cabbage, as the co-op's supplier didn't get their shipment of lettuce, and so neither did we. So, risotto and coleslaw for lunch!
After lunch I trekked over to the woodshop to meet Flo to work on the planters. He'd also made a box planter, although after putting some screws in (which went every which way...not looking too pretty at this point...), it isn't lining up right anymore. The one with the angles is looking pretty good, and hopefully they'll both be "finished" by Wednesday. As long as they hold dirt...
Our orientation outing was canceled due to the rain. We were apparently supposed to be scraping paint off of a building. One co-worker raised the question (finally) of why we were doing all these jobs - what did they have to do with "orientation"? So after a half an hour of some manual labor - we seemed to be getting farmed out for this a lot lately - we sat down and had a discussion over what we thought it should be like. It lacks cohesion and a purpose, and hasn't really helped to "orientate" us to anything. So hopefully this will prompt some changes.
Since housemom changed the seating arrangement, I've noticed how little she noticed how much and even how Maria interacts at the table. At dinner I always did a "1 piece of bread and then more after soup" since housemom is always talking about meeting nutrition requirements. So it was almost funny to see her struggling to get Maria to finish her bowl of soup after she'd let her have 2-3 pieces of bread first. Not to mention she was talking about how we have to maintain her weight, and I don't quite think she believed me when I was telling her how often I have to remind Maria to just eat. Her child-like wonder can get her so revved up on questions that she just doesn't think about it.
I'm a little irked that tomorrow I'm going to have to stay home so housemom can take her youngest into the ER. He's been having a reoccurring problem for the last 2-3 weeks (not life-threatening, but painful) and she should've done it then. It's probably petty to resent being kept from going to something I actually really look forward to (since I'm really starting to get into the real work at the stain glass workshop) and she treats it as though it's not important. Yet she's always going on about the value of work, no matter how small it is. Housedad has an appointment tomorrow himself, so you'd think that would somehow be able to work out. Apparently not. It's just frustrating that I have to keep picking up the pieces. It's clear that her children are her first priority, but that does shift a lot to me. Housedad and Sam share a lot of the work for their care, while I was pretty much taking sole care with Maria. It's true housemom does a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, but it's sometimes hard not to feel as though I'm taken for granted.
I know it's great that I get to be out of the house at all in the mornings, but it's just disheartening to finally have a chance to do something I feel I can be passionate about and then get it taken away - it doesn't inspire confidence that I'll be able to stick with it.
Hope all is well,
Steph
It was a wet and rainy day today. Rather gloomy, and prone to sudden and sporadic showers that were just light enough to make wearing a raincoat barely worth it. This morning I used the leftovers (frozen) from my mushroom and barley soup to make a mushroom risotto. When Sam came to take a peek, he exclaimed in dismay: "Why is it purple?!?"
Well, from the red wine, of course. Although I was then told that risottos is made only with white wine, this was impossible as we only had red on hand. Not to mention that I'd made the soup with red wine, so it was more practical to continue with it. It turned out ok, a little gummy after setting, but had pretty good flavor. I also had to raid the seed room for cabbage, as the co-op's supplier didn't get their shipment of lettuce, and so neither did we. So, risotto and coleslaw for lunch!
After lunch I trekked over to the woodshop to meet Flo to work on the planters. He'd also made a box planter, although after putting some screws in (which went every which way...not looking too pretty at this point...), it isn't lining up right anymore. The one with the angles is looking pretty good, and hopefully they'll both be "finished" by Wednesday. As long as they hold dirt...
Our orientation outing was canceled due to the rain. We were apparently supposed to be scraping paint off of a building. One co-worker raised the question (finally) of why we were doing all these jobs - what did they have to do with "orientation"? So after a half an hour of some manual labor - we seemed to be getting farmed out for this a lot lately - we sat down and had a discussion over what we thought it should be like. It lacks cohesion and a purpose, and hasn't really helped to "orientate" us to anything. So hopefully this will prompt some changes.
Since housemom changed the seating arrangement, I've noticed how little she noticed how much and even how Maria interacts at the table. At dinner I always did a "1 piece of bread and then more after soup" since housemom is always talking about meeting nutrition requirements. So it was almost funny to see her struggling to get Maria to finish her bowl of soup after she'd let her have 2-3 pieces of bread first. Not to mention she was talking about how we have to maintain her weight, and I don't quite think she believed me when I was telling her how often I have to remind Maria to just eat. Her child-like wonder can get her so revved up on questions that she just doesn't think about it.
I'm a little irked that tomorrow I'm going to have to stay home so housemom can take her youngest into the ER. He's been having a reoccurring problem for the last 2-3 weeks (not life-threatening, but painful) and she should've done it then. It's probably petty to resent being kept from going to something I actually really look forward to (since I'm really starting to get into the real work at the stain glass workshop) and she treats it as though it's not important. Yet she's always going on about the value of work, no matter how small it is. Housedad has an appointment tomorrow himself, so you'd think that would somehow be able to work out. Apparently not. It's just frustrating that I have to keep picking up the pieces. It's clear that her children are her first priority, but that does shift a lot to me. Housedad and Sam share a lot of the work for their care, while I was pretty much taking sole care with Maria. It's true housemom does a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, but it's sometimes hard not to feel as though I'm taken for granted.
I know it's great that I get to be out of the house at all in the mornings, but it's just disheartening to finally have a chance to do something I feel I can be passionate about and then get it taken away - it doesn't inspire confidence that I'll be able to stick with it.
Hope all is well,
Steph
Monday, April 19, 2010
DYI Day
Hi all,
A quick funny-story share that I forgot on Friday. My favorite dinner guest comes Friday night, and she rolled up a little late (walker)...but we had to get started because of the play. Maria was all excited she could see her coming. Housemom leads the blessing in the evening, and instead of a usual one, she launches straight into "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain". Sam's face was pretty much priceless as the rest of us joined right in. Clearly a "Crazy Americans..." moment. But hilarious.
Sunday was a rather restful day. I'd been up late the night before talking to some people online, but thanks to my handy dandy new and industrial-strength earplugs, I was able to sleep until 10:40!!! AMAZING. I met up with Flo (he may smite me for that nickname...) and he accompanied me to Hudson. We stopped downtown at a store, but our main stop was - sadly - Walmart. I needed to get affordable clay pots and one or two other things not available locally...and on a Sunday. We ended up eating cheap Chinese food while discussing life in general. Definitely a lovely Sunday afternoon.
Flo's a DYI nut, having previously made cheese that tasted, in his own words: "Like Feet". Yum. However, I admire his drive and ended up "helping" him make homemade toothpaste and shampoo. He needed Calcium carbonate, and so it's basically just calcium supplement. However, they were quite pricey, and so we ended up getting Rolaids, which are purely calcium and a bit of magnesium and had the added bonus of already being mint-flavored. We crushed them with a hammer (still should vacuum my rug, come to think of it...), added baking soda, a little salt, mint extract and some glycerin. (Scarily enough, the toothpaste called for more than triple than that of the shampoo...) We should've used a coffee grinder for the tablets, but other than some chunks, it was actually ok and felt like it was cleaning your teeth.
Next came the chamomile shampoo. Which was basically creating an "infusion" (ie, tea) and combining with "soap flakes" (ie, a finely grated part of a soap bar), more glycerin and water. Apparently it thickened up to a rather interesting consistency, and Flo's not too sure about it. It was decided that making your own toothpaste and shampoo was probably not economically savvy (the glycerin is pretty pricey), and probably not worth the hassle.
But fun to do once.
Also, Flo works in the woodshop and has agreed to help me make some wooden planters! So that's my plan for late Wednesday night. It is much needed, as the tomato seedlings are starting to poke the top of the planter and must be transplanted before they become leggy nightmares.
Movin' on to Monday... I spent the morning running the work crew and making my tasty tofu dish. Not that I got to eat it, as I was at Polo's house for lunch. A way different atmosphere. It was very strange, as the housedad pretty much completely ignored me the entire time, and I was sitting to his left, albeit with an empty seat. Not even a "welcome to lunch" comment. Very strange, as usually people seem to interrogate (in the nicest way possible, of course) lunch guests here. At least, we do at my house. Hmmm...
Oh, and we had leftovers.
Yay.
We were supposed to work in the healing plant garden in the afternoon for the orientation class. Or we could go to an Alzheimer's lecture given by a villager's mother who is an expert. I was going to go to the garden (despite the somewhat chilly breeze), until I found out we'd be working on a rock wall. I draw the line there. If I'm working in a garden, I want to be learning about the garden. Not stacking rocks. The presentation was ok, although she was really focusing on Alzheimers and Downs Syndrome. Which, although we have a small population of Downs, they are by no means anything close to a majority. Plus, most of the materials weren't formulated for people with developmental disabilities. If I ran Maria against the checklist, she'd have 10/13 and 5/10 of the first two stages of Alzheimers symptoms. Which, is quite impossible, it's just that she doesn't function at a level where you would be able to measure against for changes. But interesting never the less.
This evening I taught Sam how to play cribbage, and he trounced me. Well, skunked me. I'm definitely calling it beginner's luck...and never, ever playing him in poker.
I'm also supposed to have a skype date with a friend right now, but my internet has just died. So who knows if that'll happen, or if this will get posted. Retroactively cross your fingers for me, please.
Hope all is well,
Steph
A quick funny-story share that I forgot on Friday. My favorite dinner guest comes Friday night, and she rolled up a little late (walker)...but we had to get started because of the play. Maria was all excited she could see her coming. Housemom leads the blessing in the evening, and instead of a usual one, she launches straight into "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain". Sam's face was pretty much priceless as the rest of us joined right in. Clearly a "Crazy Americans..." moment. But hilarious.
Sunday was a rather restful day. I'd been up late the night before talking to some people online, but thanks to my handy dandy new and industrial-strength earplugs, I was able to sleep until 10:40!!! AMAZING. I met up with Flo (he may smite me for that nickname...) and he accompanied me to Hudson. We stopped downtown at a store, but our main stop was - sadly - Walmart. I needed to get affordable clay pots and one or two other things not available locally...and on a Sunday. We ended up eating cheap Chinese food while discussing life in general. Definitely a lovely Sunday afternoon.
Flo's a DYI nut, having previously made cheese that tasted, in his own words: "Like Feet". Yum. However, I admire his drive and ended up "helping" him make homemade toothpaste and shampoo. He needed Calcium carbonate, and so it's basically just calcium supplement. However, they were quite pricey, and so we ended up getting Rolaids, which are purely calcium and a bit of magnesium and had the added bonus of already being mint-flavored. We crushed them with a hammer (still should vacuum my rug, come to think of it...), added baking soda, a little salt, mint extract and some glycerin. (Scarily enough, the toothpaste called for more than triple than that of the shampoo...) We should've used a coffee grinder for the tablets, but other than some chunks, it was actually ok and felt like it was cleaning your teeth.
Next came the chamomile shampoo. Which was basically creating an "infusion" (ie, tea) and combining with "soap flakes" (ie, a finely grated part of a soap bar), more glycerin and water. Apparently it thickened up to a rather interesting consistency, and Flo's not too sure about it. It was decided that making your own toothpaste and shampoo was probably not economically savvy (the glycerin is pretty pricey), and probably not worth the hassle.
But fun to do once.
Also, Flo works in the woodshop and has agreed to help me make some wooden planters! So that's my plan for late Wednesday night. It is much needed, as the tomato seedlings are starting to poke the top of the planter and must be transplanted before they become leggy nightmares.
Movin' on to Monday... I spent the morning running the work crew and making my tasty tofu dish. Not that I got to eat it, as I was at Polo's house for lunch. A way different atmosphere. It was very strange, as the housedad pretty much completely ignored me the entire time, and I was sitting to his left, albeit with an empty seat. Not even a "welcome to lunch" comment. Very strange, as usually people seem to interrogate (in the nicest way possible, of course) lunch guests here. At least, we do at my house. Hmmm...
Oh, and we had leftovers.
Yay.
We were supposed to work in the healing plant garden in the afternoon for the orientation class. Or we could go to an Alzheimer's lecture given by a villager's mother who is an expert. I was going to go to the garden (despite the somewhat chilly breeze), until I found out we'd be working on a rock wall. I draw the line there. If I'm working in a garden, I want to be learning about the garden. Not stacking rocks. The presentation was ok, although she was really focusing on Alzheimers and Downs Syndrome. Which, although we have a small population of Downs, they are by no means anything close to a majority. Plus, most of the materials weren't formulated for people with developmental disabilities. If I ran Maria against the checklist, she'd have 10/13 and 5/10 of the first two stages of Alzheimers symptoms. Which, is quite impossible, it's just that she doesn't function at a level where you would be able to measure against for changes. But interesting never the less.
This evening I taught Sam how to play cribbage, and he trounced me. Well, skunked me. I'm definitely calling it beginner's luck...and never, ever playing him in poker.
I'm also supposed to have a skype date with a friend right now, but my internet has just died. So who knows if that'll happen, or if this will get posted. Retroactively cross your fingers for me, please.
Hope all is well,
Steph
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