Life Savers

Sometimes, life gets very busy and very "omg, we only have 20 minutes to eat before the next activity, where's dinner - oh wait, there is no food!".

April has been a month of extreme deadlines at work, multiple kid activities (Envirothon, track, swimming, rehearsals, piano/violin/cello/Hebrew lessons, soccer, clubs, teen jobs), and weather that absolutely screams "go for a walk" and "plant those seeds!" 

May is going to be all that plus multiple concerts/shows (middle school and high school spring performances, youth orchestra, Itzhak Perlman in Philly, Cirque du Soleil), AP exams, Envorithon competitions, Keystone exams. Not all of it is on my plate (I don't have to take any exams..) but this just adds extra stress and kids (who do minimal chores to begin with) will be even less likely to help with the dishes...

In the meantime, I feel compelled to ensure that we have healthy meals as much as possible. Because feeding people is important to me. But right now, I don't have much time to cook. Also, when I  get a bit of time in the middle of the day - I've been going on walks instead of cooking, because nice spring weather is a terrible thing to waste.

So I wanted to call out one thing that's been amazing this week:

Costco salads* that come in bags - so, so easy. I love their Sweet Kale salad kit. Mediterrenian Crunch is also pretty good. If I have a few extra minutes, I add a few extra ingredients - cucumbers, sweet peppers, tomatoes. When I don't have any extra minutes, we just eat the salad as is. These salads have made a huge difference this week - total sanity-savers!

*So... making a salad from scratch does not actually take that long... but it does take some time and then there's the decision factor of what to include. Definitely more energy-consuming than a salad kit, especially when I feel overwhelmed with work and stuff. 

Dear Reader: what's your life-saver this week?

Happy Things

Life has been a bit stressful - nothing new there

I figured it's time to mention a few things that are nice and help me remember that life is good!

1. Dogwoods! Our dogwoods are absolutely stunning this year. There are flower-covered branches right outside our bathroom window, so every morning, first thing I see when I look outside - dogwood flowers.

 

2. This was a great year for daffodils (well, every year seems to be a good year for daffodils) - so nice to see the blooms in the spring.

3. Azaleas started to bloom, too. 

4. Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson - I am less than half way in, but so far, I really like it. I've been looking for solid sci-fi and I am very excited to have found this author. I like it how he weaves the narrative using logical extension of current science. Using genetically-engineered fast-growing bamboo cultivated on the moon as a construction material instead of wood -yeah, I can buy into that. Monologues on the formation of the solar system, Earth, and Moon - yes please, especially as it send me down the rabbit hole of fact-checking. And so far, I like the cast of characters.

5. Bike ride with my husband - it's been almost a year since I've gone biking, so this was a bit painful. In the meantime, all 3 kids went to a nearby park to fly kites (possible because our son drives). Everyone had fun, and we did not have to deal with whining (looking at one child in particular, not naming any names). My husband did complain a bit - sort of - he is used to going fast, and I can't keep up, so he was forced to slow down (normally, he and E would be lightyears ahead, and the girls and I would be lagging behind). I told him this was supposed to be a social event - like a date - and not a workout.

6. Pawpaws. Because the flower are delightfully weird.

7. The smell of lilacs

Dear Reader, what's making you happy this week?

End of Sourdough

I've been baking sourdough bread for 5 years now. I grew the starter from scratch at the beginning of the pandemic (at one point, there was no yeast in the stores and I was determined to ensure my family was well-fed with home-made bread no matter what). I've been maintaining the starter since then.

Last evening, I threw it all out.

Over the past year or so, I've been slacking off with regular feeds. I haven't been baking bread as much as I used to. The starter (my kids named it Sarah-dough) started getting a little peaky (and a little pinkish around the edges). 

This morning, I woke up with a heavy feeling in my heart. No more sourdough. My youngest nearly broke down in tears - because what about bread? I reassured her, we were still going to make bread - I have oodles of yeast (that my husband bought at Costco a while back, and it has been sitting in the freezer with barely any use) and it would be fun to try new bread recipes. 

I am sad. 

I will take a break from sourdough.

At the end of summer, I will re-evaluate how I feel and will decide if I want to make a new sourdough starter. 

I feel bad about throwing my Sarah-dough out.

Weekend Snapshot

Friday:

• C had swimming
• H had envirothon 
• E had track practice
• E and I went to see a documentary on Apollo 11, followed by Q&A with an astraunat/scientist (not from the Apollo program, but he was in space for ~20 days in the 90's)
• We watched the lift off of the Artemis II when we were on vacation, and kept an eye on the videos and images during the whole time the team went around the moon
• E and I came back home just as the Artemins II astraunats safely splashed down

Saturday:

• I made a giant pot of Borsch
• Husband did some yardwork
• I read and watched Bones with the girls
• Kids practiced their instruments and the older 2 studied and did homework
• Laundry! Loads and loads of laundry.
• Worked for a couple of hours

Sunday:

• C went to Hebrew School
• I baked Apple Cake (aka Guests at the Threshold, aka Sharlotka) for mom's birthday
• Girls and I went to a local produce market that sells plants and got a gorgeous planter for my mom, as well as a pile of strawbery plants for ourselves
• Husband and I planted flowering stuff around the back yard 
• Note: dogwoods and redbuds are in bloom! So is Japanese andromeda. Daffodils are on the way out. Apple trees are getting some flowers. Pawpaws have flowers, too.
• Went to myparents' house to celebrate mom's birthday! 
• Did a bit of work in the evening

Musings on Athletic Stuff

 I think I'm mising some sort of "exercise-endorphin release" loop.

I do not feel better or happier after I exercise. I just feel more tired, sweaty, and grumpier than ever. Sometimes, there is a grim sense of accomplishment. As in, I hate this but I did it anyway. Woohoo for me. 

I do love going on walks in the woods. Or some other nature area. Preferably with no people around. And while this is also exercise, I believe the happiness factor comes from being out in the woods. Not from huffing-puffing up the hill. 

I do believe exercise is important to stay healthy and active long-term. Which is why I make an effort and do things that do not make me happy.

Interestingly, my kids are so much more athletic than I am. It's always a surprise - these humans who came out of my body are so radically different. My son does cross country and track (and actually loves running!), my older daughter dives (and is absolutely fearless), and my youngest is very well coordinated and likes soccer, volleyball, and swimming.

I'm going to try and find the time to get out for a walk today.

Does exercising make you feel good?

Spring Break Sadness

We've done quite a few family road trips. We drove to Maine, and to South Carolina, and upstate NY, and (a few times) Virginia. We also had long hauls between Washington state and Montana, and Montana to Calgary. For many, many years, starting with a long drive to Bar Harbor when our youngest was only about 2, we listent to audio books. We called our rental house near Acadia "Villa Villekulla" because we were listening to Pippi Longstocking. We listened to The Mysterious Benedict Society, and The Penderwicks, and multiple Harry Potter books. It was great.

And it seems like we've come to the end of that era. We spent the spring break driving to see colleges in Virginia, North Carolina, and (very briefly) Maryland. I got a few audio books from the library (our car has a CD player). Because the kids are so much older now, I figured it would make sense to get more grown-up stories. Well, sort of. I had The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a book by Frederick Backman, thinking that both were quirky and funny (with some sad mixed in, in case of Backman). And for old-times sake, I got The Penderwicks, too (per my older daughter's suggestion).

Guess how many of those books we listened to as a family? Zero. Because the kids are at a stage when they have strong preferences and don't want to compromise. And, the older two have Libby apps on their phones. The girls shared headphones and listened to books by Gordon Korman (and then some Harry Potter on the final stretch). My son listened to a nordic thriller (The Chestnut Man) - he liked it so much, he said I should read it (I did, in a book form. I couldn't put it down, so I can completely understand why he just wanted to keep listening to it non-stop).

So, the trip was very quiet. I feel kind of sad about that. Not sure if this is inevitable (my oldest will be 18 in a few months!!!), or if I just need to work harder on organizing experiences that we can all share as a family, be it audio books, movies, hiking trails, or beach time.

What are your favorite family activities, either current or from your childhood?

Dear Jack, Dear Louise

 We went to see "Dear Jack, Dear Louise" at a local theater. It was funny, and sad, and emotional, and yes, they were "reading" letters to each other, but it was more like they were "living" letters to each other. Oh, and the story was based on the playwright's parents and the letters they wrote before finally meeting in-person.

Louise was an aspiring actress and dancer - and oh my, her description of auditioning for a part in "Arsenic and Old Lace" was hilarious. (Also, I really like Aresenic and Old Lace). Jack was a military doctor, who was initially stationed in Oregon but eventually was sent to Europe to treat wounded soldiers. His experiences were harrowing (but he mostly kept it light and soft in the letters). 

My grandfather was a military doctor during the WWII. He was drafted in June 1941, just as Germany invaded the USSR. He was finishing up medical school - they were done with all their exams except Ethics. 

The town where my grandfather went to medical school was bombed, and students were told to evacuate their dorms and gather in the nearby forest. They never got to take that final Ethics exam. Instead, they had their graduation ceremony and received diplomas in the forest. My grandfather, along with everyone else, received his "officer" status and got to pick what regiment he was to join. My great-uncle (from the other side of the family) was there, too, graduating at the same time. He chose a different regiment. Soon after, he was taken a prisoner. He did not survive.

My grandfather, on the other hand, made it all through the war, was at Berlin, and came back, if not "whole" but mostly intact and with no visible wounds. He did not tell many stories about the war - not to me (I think he may have shared more with my male cousin) - instead, he would tell over, and over again, how they got their diplomas in the forest, how he found his regiment (nearly getting arrested because he looked like a spy), how he was shot at by the Germans (they missed but killed his horse). These events all happenned before he was actually a doctor at the field hospital. I've heard almost nothing (but I can imagine the horrors) of medical work near the front line. I know that his field hospital was hit by enemy fire. My grandfather happenned to be outside. He was hit by the explosion wave, but survived. I know that he got a medal for pulling a commanding officer out of the line of fire (but he did not talk much about that, except for saying that the commander was drunk). 

Do you write letters? As in, real-life, snail-mail letters?