I love my neighborhood #2

Almost every night for the last couple of weeks, there have been fireworks. I don't know where they're coming from, except slightly southwest of my neighborhood, on the other side of Rt. 93. Whatever the occasion, they can last from 9-11. It's nothing like the Pops for 4th of July, but they're big enough to be pretty and make a lot of noise. Who'd have thought living in the Dot would be so festive?

yummy

This morning I got through washing all the strawberries we picked over the weekend. On Saturday we went to Lookout Farm in Natick. Friends of ours went the weekend before, and said it was packed; so we left relatively early and picked a ton of strawberries. The picking was good; we didn't find too many large strawberries, but small and sweet ones. The Farm itself is huge and more like a theme park. What farm has a petting zoo with ostriches, emu, and reindeer? Owen had a blast riding the "trains" all over the farm, the catepillar ride, and the burlap maze. There's a gigantic playground with a mountain climbing structure and a treehouse slide. I only wished we had packed a lunch or picked up a sandwich from the market, because the food served at the playground was superbasic and priced conveniently.

Guess what we had for breakfast on Sunday? Strawberry pancakes! And for dessert? Coconut sorbet with...strawberries!
If any are left after tomorrow, I'm freezing them.

The delicious Sea Dog blueberry wheat beer I had tonight reminded me that blueberry picking will be here before we know it. Especially if we keep having hot humid days like today!

Currently reading: Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present by Cory Doctorow.

what's up with imports from China?

First, it was the cat food. Back in February, the Wileymonster stopped eating his wet food, Nutro Max Light pouch food. Luckily he was still eating the light Science Diet dry, even if he was occasionally throwing up, and I played around with the Friskies/9 lives/Fancy Feast for treats. I took him to the vet in March, where thankfully, his blood & urine didn't test for anything. That same weekend was when the first press release came out about the tainted wheat gluten in pet food. (He continued to lose weight, but has started gaining it back with a low-allergy dry food). Totally opened my eyes to the insane stuff that's in pet food.

Then the fake Colgate toothpaste arrived. Yes, that's my brand. Great. Good thing I don't shop at dollar stores.

Now, the staple toy of choice for my kid has been recalled: red paint on wooden Thomas the Tank toys. We happened to be watching the news the first night they announced the recall, and we're sending back several trains as a result. Lucky for me, Thomas and Percy are the favorites, and not James. But I look at Bertie the bus and wonder if I should I should send him back because he's red, junt not that vibrant bright red. In addition to the horror and disgust at the thought of "who still uses lead paint?!", I just hope these toys are being destroyed. If they're using the tainted production methods, what the hell are they using for their own kids?

Thanks too, to everyone who's told me about this.

An insight to why this stuff happens was a great documentary we saw on PBS called China Blue about a girl who works/lives in a jeans factory. Takes the fun out of shopping, and is just a facet a consumer culture.

same fight, different day

We have on a UFC fight that we watched last week (the guy in green trunks wins).

Owen has been having problems with transitions which is hard. I go to pick him up at school, and he gives me a hug an then he hits me/bites my clothes, won't go to the bathroom, runs off to the elevator. I try and help him go to sleep and he hits me, headbutts me, unleashes a torrent of poophead talk. (BTW, the word for today was booger.) When I threaten to leave, he begs me to stay and starts crying. It sucks. The situation has been snowballing for the last week or so. Tonight we didn't give in and Tak helped him go to sleep. It's funny, but going to sleep is that last little thing that he really wants me to help him with. I see it as a sign he's really torn about getting bigger. It would be great for him to go to sleep without so many problems, but it makes me sad because it's a kind of weaning.

He's making great strides reading: reading signs, high frequency words like and and the. He finished reading the title of Minerva Louise and the Red Truck; he loved the book and totally has a sense of humor.

Last night I sat in bed and knit: I finished a coaster for my sister (how I love self-striping yarn) and ended up ripping out the cap I'm knitting for my father-in-law. I admitted defeat that not only were the stitches twisted and going moebius, but also that it was going to be way too big. Do over!

a little bit of shameless promotion

...For Secret Asian Man in the Patriot Ledger: http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/06/20/life/life04.txt
Hopefully the link will work, and if not, I'll fix it later if I can remember the code. Go ahead & copy/paste if it doesn't. Enjoy!

blogging in bed

This past Father's Day weekend was exciting: Tak got a new computer, a spankin' new 15" MacBook Pro, wireless, the whole kit and caboodle. Sure, we still have the 4-year-old iMac with a whopping 800MGhz connection and OS 9 to work Word. But it pales in comparision to a light-up keyboard and widescreen. Sigh. Tak also got a new desk, because the dinner table where he'd been working was constantly littered with mail and crap, which entailed moving a bunch of stuff around in the living room. The dinner table still needs a thorough douching, but that can wait until we get the rest of the garbage off the floor and vacuum.

At least the bathroom and kitchen are clean, even if Wily has been stalking mice. He had one last night, but he dropped it on floor to show me, it came to, and scampered under the floorboard, avoiding the carefully laid out trap. Delightful. Better than on Sunday, when we came home from brunch, and Owen picked up a dead mouse, not knowing what it was. Luckily, I was in the bathroom for that 2-minute interval, and Tak had the pleasure of freaking out. We checked out the body, and figured that Wiles got that one too. He's been keeping watch over the kitchen for us, thankfully.

Secret Asian Man is going to be running in my parents' local paper, The Patirot Ledger. Our new summer schedule is working out so far, so good. I finally finished my knitted cotton shell, and still need to weave in the ends, even if I did bind it off too tightly. Looking forward to the Order of the Phoenix movie and final Potter book, as well as in the fall/winter, I think, Stardust and the Golden Compass films. Found this great magazine I can't believe I'd missed, Venuszine, which is like a more music-based version of BUST. Bjork's on the cover, and there's also an interview with Tori Amos. OK, I think Tak needs his computer back. Sometimes, it's hard to share.

finally!

Finally, I am able to get in a few words. Mr. Man has been dominating the computer, which is just as well because I haven't really been able to put together a possible cohesive blog entry for at least the last week.

Owen turned four, and had a little party. He also finished with the 2-half-days (Tuesdays & Thursdays) of preschool at the South Shore Science Center with a graduation on the same day as his birthday. Some of his Science Center friends came over after the picnic for ice cream, cake, and to take turns driving his ride-on jeep in my parents' backyard. We've met some wonderful people that I hope we can keep in touch with.

We've enjoyed this week of not running down to Braintree on the train 2x/week and being crazy with "What are we doing today?" Owen has had a fun-filled post-birthday week of going to the vet with me & the cat, going to the dentist (see below), going to the top of the Pru (the 50th floor), a trip to IKEA, and riding in the car while Tak DROVE with my dad (my mom & I were at a bridal shower for my cousin's fiancee).

You know it's a good sign when you bring your kid to the dentist and the movie being shown in the reception area is Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky. We still haven't let Owen watch it with all of the shooting and flying robots on fire, but the part he caught was the best for him--the train chase. The dentist was awesome, very sweet--and Japanese. He doesn't have any cavities, either, which is a big relief. Owen especially liked riding up and down in the chair, and also wearing rainbow sunglasses while the dentist checked his teeth under lamp. What I want to know is how did he learn, "Pink is for girls"?

I finally broke down and bought a new rice cooker for Tak as an early father's day gift--a $30 one at Target. We've been eating curry for the last couple days and I have to say that now, I missed having one.