Friday tidbits

All sinus infections in this house are gone, although Kevin is still battling the bug. He managed to inhale it deep into his lungs on one of his bike rides and now it very stubbornly won't go away. He's on his second course of antibiotics and inhalers.

C slipped off the kitchen counter while viewing a crab he got for Christmas that swells when you put it in water. He cut his chin and needed 7 stitches. Ouch. The stitches came out yesterday and it's healing nicely.

I have been motoring through the adoption paperwork like a mad woman. We finished the Home Study Update paperwork and sent that in Wednesday. The BCIS paperwork is done and submitted. We have our fingerprinting for that tomorrow. I am about 85% done with the dossier paperwork. I have some photos to update and need to find a psychologist that will write us an evaluation. I am hoping to be done with the paperwork by the middle of February!

We tried some new activities with the kids this week. K had a horseback riding lesson that she earned by having a good attitude when she does her homework. We will probably continue the lessons (if she can keep up the good attitude), and the best part about it all is that the riding center is only 5 minutes from our home. I love it!

C has been climbing the walls of this house, literally scaling the doorways and the hallway, so I took the kids to a local climbing gym for an afternoon. Stitches and all. They L-O-V-E-D it. It was a special class just for kids and their instructor took turns belaying each of four kids on the walls with ropes. In between turns, they spent their time on the bouldering walls. And then they talked about how much they enjoyed it all the way home. What a great thing to do when the weather is crummy!

Our new generator was delivered yesterday. And the power went out last night, before we could even get it out of the box! Right before the power went off, K caught a little chickadee that was pecking at the window on our back deck (disoriented from a cat-attack? I don't know...) and then brought it in the house. And of course it got away from her, and then the power went out. So C, K and I are chasing this poor little bird all over the house. Every time it settled in a spot I could actually reach, the kids would get too close to it and flash it with the flashlight to cause it to fly up high somewhere. After grounding the kids, I finally trapped it in a shoebox and released it outside. I hope I don't find feathers today. One of our cats has a taste for birds.

I played Moonlight Sonata for my piano teacher at my lesson this week. It didn't go as well as I expected. All pianos are pretty much the same, right? But the lighting, the setting, the attention all threw me. But my teacher was kind and said, "Did you have the music open just for me to look at?" because I had memorized it. So now we are working out of the music book that came with the kids' keyboard last Christmas, and I am done with the lesson books except for some technique here and there. I am now starting on Beethoven's Fur Elise, and will continue to master Moonlight Sonata. It's so nice to be able to play music that I enjoy listening to. And to be able to play it anywhere without having the sheet music.

Kevin's Christmas present this year was a new refrigerator. Yes, that is the only thing he asked for, so that's what I spent my time shopping for. Our opening in the cabinets is smaller than usual, so I was lucky to find an LG model with the french doors and bottom freezer (and an icemaker, woohoo!) that fit. We had to adjust the cabinet doors above, but it fits! It's quiet! And it makes ice. What a treat!

Our washer has been slowly dying too, so I ordered a new washer/dryer at the same time. We now have the front-loading Duet set, and when they are both going with their button lights on, blinking and beeping, it looks like a rocket inside our laundry room. Very high-tech. I like the front-loading washer. I was skeptical that it could get my clothes cleaner with less water, but it seems like it might be doing just that. Oily stains still don't come out that great, but they never did before either. The high spin speeds are advertised to reduce drying times but the clothes don't seem any less wet coming out of the washer, and take about the same time to dry as before. The difference is that I can stuff two loads of laundry into the washer (and the dryer) because the capacity is larger. So I do less loads. I like that. The fancy buttons with the beeping make it fun. Ok, enough about laundry.

Try adding a tiny pinch of cardamom to your tea sometime. It's very exotic.

It's redwood pollen season. Our yard, driveway and decks are covered with yellow pollen.

My grandmother's probate paperwork is stuck because I have no information about an oil royalty interest she owned. The oil company doesn't returns my calls. I may need to travel to Central California and knock on their office door. And while the folks at the county offices in Southern California were nice, they really couldn't help me by telling me where I would find the information I need. I am torn between going down myself and doing the research, or hiring a consultant to do it (who would charge up to $2500).

So many irons in the fire. But that's what makes life interesting.

I finished both books by Rob Bell. I really enjoy his writing. I especially like his open-mindedness about discussing theology and exchanging ideas. I also like the fact that he has done extensive reading and research about the Jewish faith and customs during the years prior and during Jesus' life. It gives a perspective and framework for much of what the New Testament says that many ministers and authors overlook. I am now reading "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. He's more bare-bones about what he believes and I enjoy his honesty and introspection. Kevin brought a book home from one of his friends at work called "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" by Thad Carhart, can you guess... about pianos. It looks really good. That's next. I have Kevin reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" now. Such a good book... it's a commitment (1400 pages), but really really great.