Thanksgiving 2008

A note to Siobahn:

What a beautiful day, thank you! From your enthusiasm when you first woke, the joy with which you rubbed the oil on the turkey, the inspiration of including the pomegranate seeds in the cranberry sauce, playing in the rain, to your joy of enjoying the yummy, crunchy skin . . . watching football, and then watching you fall asleep. It was the best Thanksgiving ever.

Here's how we made the cranberry sauce:

zest one orange, and chop it up, put it in a pot, add 2/3 cup sugar, about 1/4 cup of water and about 7-8 clove stems and a dash of salt ... simmer over med-low heat until the water simmers out. then add about another 1/4 cup of water, and simmer that water out too. remove the cloves and add the cranberries that have been rinsed. add 1/3 cup of sugar and boil the cranberries down. after that was done, we added your pomegranate seeds.



So, now I'm about to go to bed, very grateful for a lovely day and for your presence in my life. A friend of mine from MySpace sent me this video, and I wanted to share it with you. Each Thanksgiving, I invite you to listen to what this writer reads and teaches -- understand as much as you can each time you listen. Year after year, learn a little bit more from her. So much of what she says is sooooo important, as a writer, as a woman, as a human. She will help you understand the world in which you live in when your world seems so different from the one you see.

I love you ... more than you.

peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'

P.S. I am glad you liked the turkey soooo much because you will be eating it the rest of the week ... that was one BIG bird!


Just in case this link goes bad, look it up ... this is a video of bell hooks (another author who does not capitalize her name! LOL!) keynote speach @ the Women of Color Eleventh Annual Conference @ the University of Oregon.

Third grade is hard, but not in reading, writing, spelling, and definitely not in phonics. Math and science are hard I got a F in math and science good thing it didn't go on my permanent record!!!

TTFN,
$iobahn

Art by Siobahn & The Tiniest Kittens

Well, this was going to be one of these really silly blog entries that Mom posts, because this weekend Siobahn completed her first tattoos ... on her legs. I thought they were really cool and wanted to share them with everyone! Well, when I woke up this morning to Siobahn, hands on her hip ... "Mom, I edited the blog and took off the pictures!" "But," I argued, "we have to show them off, they are sooo cool." "Its MY blog. And, No!"

So, fortunately for you, we found a compromise over breakfast and we created some Photoshop art with them and she agreed to share them this way.

"Booda" ... Siobahn wanted to fix it a little because she thought you really can't see his mustache and the curl of his smile too clearly, but that correction was too much for my Photoshop abilities. (Booda was the left thigh, Beach was on the right.)

And then, we have sad news. Purrlione gave birth, prematurely, to two kittens. Siobahn named them Pongo and Sparta. Pongo never lived, he wasn't still born, but he wasn't fully alive either. I actually thought he was stillborn but Chris and Siobahn both found life in his little breath, but he did not survive the night. Sparta, as small as he was, squirmed around, found a nipple and nursed, but he too, was just too small to survive. Siobahn and I were taking care of him all day long, checking on him every two hours, holding him to keep him warm while Purrlione could eat and get out of the laundry room for a while, the 8:00 p.m. check-in found him lifeless and cold. He too was gone.

As I realized that he had died, I wondered if I should keep him in the laundry room until tomorrow or go ahead and put him outside before Siobahn woke up ... thankfully, just as I was contemplating that dilemma, I hear her voice in the other room. She woke up momentarily and I told her the news. We had a little cry, she kissed him goodbye, and then went back to sleep. Even if they are with you for a minute, cute, cuddly things have a way of touching you deeply!

peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'
And $iobahn who owns this blog (made special edits).