family – Page 4 – Peaceful Reader

Rainy days

It is rainy today and this weekend it snowed. Anything is possible weather-wise right now. School is winding down with just a little over a month left. We had our last dance competition weekend and are now looking forward to recital on May 18th. Dance will be over for another year for Groovy Girl and next year will be her last at this studio. Wow. What a chapter.

(source)

Meanwhile we celebrated our son’s 24th birthday with vegan pizza at a local pizza place. He had vegan, we had vegetarian. I understand how my parents felt when as a 13-yo I gave up meat and harped on them to follow suit. Our son admonishes us for not turning vegan for the planet. I say I gave up straws for the planet and have always lived a life thoughtful of animals but of course he feels we could go that one greater leap. I say the cheese sucks. Seriously vegan cheese is not for me. I’d rather not have cheese. On the upside I always still ask for a piece of his pizza as he is king of picking great toppings.

The next night we had amazing Thai food at Exotic Thai in Davenport, IA. Yes, it can happen; delicious and diverse food flavors here. I had a pumpkin curry that was amazing. I ate the whole bowl and wanted more. My husband had a coconut curry soup that was equally as good; he ate every last drop. We had a busy two days watching dance and eating good food yet we carved out a few minutes on Saturday night to go to the mall. Groovy Girl is finding her own way to be green and wants to buy recyled/2nd hand clothes, especially jeans so we spent about an hour at Ragstock as she picked through the racks to find a few selections. I’ve always loved second hand shopping so it’s rewarding to see her make this choice on her own.

I bought three pots of herbs today at the grocery store. I’m ready for planting. It’s going to need to get just a little warmer but for now they look great on my kitchen table right near the window and they smell intoxicating. While it warms up I’ve been busy reading Their eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston for book club and I just started something new recommended by a student (he even gave me his copy) by Taran Matharu called The Novice~high fantasy and I’ve read several chapters tonight right after I made a delicious soup for the family.

New Year, New Me

Not really. Why would I want a new me? I like me, most of the time and I’ve had a really pretty great 2018 so I say more of the same in 2019.

{Happy graduate with his two sisters}

Psychologically at this time last year, I had a major life meltdown. Things were not good in my family of 5 and we had a breakdown in communication. I bring this up only as a way to say we worked through it and we made it. That kind of life event does take a toll and I forced myself to find a therapist. I wasn’t sure how it could ultimately help but I needed someone to talk to other than family. It took two tries to find the right one and with that came the realization that talking to someone, sharing your inner struggles and concerns, is about wellness; not about being broken. While this life concern was resolved positively (thank the mighty universe) I am still happily visiting my therapist’s office every few weeks. I might choose to close that door soon but I know I can go back to it at any point.

{Celebrating Anton’s 24th birthday together}

In the midst of that family struggle, I worked hard to get our fostered adult Anton out on his own. While he really disliked living with us with our reasonable family rules and expectations he was afraid of how hard it was going to be in the real world on his own. He lived with us for 16 months trying to begin a different life. He was a community college student for two semesters, he held down a job for almost a year, and he learned (sort of) he was not a great money manager. He also learned once he was fired that finding another job is no easy task and that once you have a job it is so very important to treat it with care and respect. The world is filled with rules and expectations, ideas and norms that many people never grow up understanding.

It’s not that collectively we all need to know the same things but it is important for your own personal survival to understand how to get along. And the better you are at code-switching the better you are going to get along. I mean simple things like how to address an envelope, put on a stamp or pay a bill, how to dress up for a job interview no matter what position you are applying for, how to not bend rules at work to make it easier for you, how to get along and work with others who you might not like, oh the list is endless. Thankfully this young man is now living in our community with his friends trying to make it work. I’m glad that I still see him and can help him out when I can. I’m also very happy that he isn’t living in our guest room anymore. It was adding a great deal of undue stress into my family life. All I can do is remember that we did our best to help him create a new life; one where he can see past cyclical poverty and unemployment, even if he doesn’t understand those recurring roles in his life. Thank you to these lifelong friends for helping me through this tough journey. And for all my friends who support me.

My goal for the year is to bring yoga back into my life as it was the one thing I let go of in the wake of last year. I chose sleep over yoga but I have to find a way to have both. Other than that more writing and reading, more time for being tranquil. Peace and love my friends and hello to a new year.

What's next?

The packages are all unwrapped and the leftovers are wrapped up for another day. Our holiday together as a family was magical as I predicted. We played Spite and Malice, a family card game that we love, we watched all kinds of Christmas movies, we ate a lot of treats, hung out with our dogs, and just had fun together. We stayed in our pajamas pretty much all day long even when we left the house to go to the movies.

The food I made all turned out including the several vegan items. This french toast recipe (My Darling Vegan) was delicious and I will make it again although I had to figure out how to make chickpea flour. It was easier than I thought and I’m happy my coffee/spice grinder worked for the task. Even though I would find it very difficult to be a full-time vegan I love that I have to learn new skills as our family’s chief chef.

Now I am ready to kick back and enjoy my break with a lot of reading, flying the sofa with my two beautiful dogs, and hanging out with my husband as he has a bit of break as well. I focused my reading attention on Reconstructing Amelia and the mystery of it has me rushing off to read. I do have a little lesson plan idea to work on before we go back to school. Groovy Girl and I, after eating such delicious snacks over the holiday, are going to cut w-a-y back on sugar for at least the month of January. We both love dessert so this will be hard but good to push ourselves. I’m not a big fan of resolutions yet I do feel we all can benefit from a time of renewal and change.

Peace and love everyone…

Are you ready?

There is magic in the air! Are you ready? I feel like I am in a good place with my lists and plans. I just need a little voodoo magic to get it to all come together. Everything seems to sparkle just a little bit more right now.

Today is my first official day of break and I started the day by sleeping in a little, which felt so lovely and going to have brunch with friends. While we were brunching we sampled the new Resilience beer coordinated for fire relief by the Sierra Nevada Brewery. It was pretty good for an IPA but more importantly an amazing effort to pull together to help others.

Last weekend we made it through the graduation~ it was amazing. Everything came together in a magical way like the universe was simpatico. We now are the proud parents of two college graduate adults, making their way out there in the world. One left and I’m in no rush for that to happen.

I have all my shopping done, my menu is planned but everything still needs to be prepared. If I waved a magic wand the food could all be thrown together at once but then I would miss the joy of tying on my apron, pouring a glass of wine, and mixing things myself. I hope the next few meals go together as smoothly as the graduation food did.

I just finished Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman. I loved it and wanted Eleanor to find her way to happiness. I highly recommend this title and just ordered it today for a friend’s birthday. When I finished it I compiled a new stack of books from bookcases and piles about my house, trying to decide which one to read next.

Here are just a few of my choices:
Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
My absolute darling by Gabriel Tallent
inward by yung pueblo (this one is perfect to read to start/end the day)

and I also brought home an armful from school to read. Now I need to carve out some time to read in between cooking and family time.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all! Enjoy the magic.

My children continue to grow up…

Our 23-yr-old son is about to graduate from college this weekend. He’s finishing up his last finals and preparing for a new job. It seems like yesterday that I loaded him into his car seat for fishing at the lake or hikes in the mountains. Life goes fast and you really must pay attention every day.

We have family flying and driving in for the event on Saturday and I feel a little crazy with preparations. I have to slow down and remember this is one of life’s big moments yet it won’t be ruined because I don’t have the right cloth napkin at the event. It doesn’t help that I have such crazy standards when I host; I’m against throw away or one-use items and always need to plan in advance to make sure this doesn’t happen. For his high school graduation I purchased all compostable items but this time luckily I had a good friend step up who does catering out of her bakery and she will bring real plates, forks, napkins, and glasses so we won’t fill up the garbage bins in the hotel lobby just for our event.

We are having simple food; a large green salad, fruit, vegan pizza from the Mellow Mushroom in Coralville. My friend is also making a few platters of sushi for all of us to enjoy. Favorite foods, friends and family all happy to be together for this magical life moment. I know I’m going to cry a few times over the weekend because my little boy has grown up in leaps and bounds to become the caring man he is today. I’m grateful for the journey we’ve had together; not always easy yet soul-searching learning experiences for both.

I missed posting this the other day and now the major event has happened and all went off very smoothly.

Charlson Meadows Retreat

As the calendar page flipped I had an out-of-the-box experience that ended November and ushered in December. Last weekend I had the most amazing experience. I took part in a writing retreat at the beautiful Nancy Nelson Lake House at the Charlson Meadows Renewal Center. My sister-in-law, Stephanie, asked me if I wanted to go with her and her writing partner/friend, Carey. To give myself space I even took Friday off so I had time to drive to Minneapolis, drop Groovy Girl with her cousins, and carpool to the retreat center in Victoria, MN.

This space is breath-taking as you enter through the solid doors where we were greeted by the program director, Nicole. After a short guided tour of the rooms, we were able to select our own bedrooms, unpack and look around at our leisure. The inside of the home is beautifully decorated with art pieces throughout the house.

The retreat center sits on 142 acres of land situated between Zumbro and Stone Lakes. It was snowy and cold for this retreat but the maps of the grounds look beautiful with three labyrinths, hiking paths, meadows, wetlands, and a beach area. I look forward to exploring the outdoors there when everything isn’t frozen (meaning any other season other than winter) yet watching the snow come down on Saturday afternoon was an ethereal experience.

Arriving on Friday afternoon we had time to relax and unwind before dinner was served at 6pm. Before the meal, we sat in front of one of many gas fireplaces and introduced ourselves to the 12 other writers in attendance and then we adjourned into the kitchen to scoop up the delicious offerings by Tena, the local caterer for most of the weekend. Each meal was carefully planned with a good attention to detail. While beef medallions were offered on Friday night the three vegetarians had delicious pasta to enjoy. In the morning we woke to fresh caramel rolls, quiche, and a large bowl of fruit. We shared some meals at the large dining room table and other meals were more casual as we gathered around the island in the middle of the kitchen. Eating was a highlight; the food was wonderfully prepared and I was filled with gratitude to have someone else cook for me. I realize how much energy on a weekly basis I use for meal prep in my house so this was pure joy. I didn’t even have to empty the dishwasher!

Between meals, we were given the gift of time to write spreading ourselves out in the various common rooms in the lake house. The house was built with solitude in mind so while you are working at one end in the library you cannot hear anyone else working or chatting in rooms across the way. My group of three gathered in the library space which had a sofa, comfy overstuffed chairs, a desk, and a fireplace.

We did one group writing activity after dinner on Friday which used prompts to get us loosened up. It was low-key and interesting to hear everyone else’s writing ideas. I headed to bed after that and felt motivated enough to write for another hour or so in the comfort of my secluded room. The rest of the weekend flew by with delicious meals, good conversations, and lots of writing time.

This is a lovely place to spend a weekend and I plan to go back for another writing retreat and I’d love to take part in one of their one-day spiritual journeys. Check out their website for more information on their offerings. Thank you to Stephanie for extending the invitation and thank you to Nicole for your seemingly effortless abilities as a host. I feel better for what I accomplished over the weekend and just simply knowing this place exists.

I did some digging after exploring their website myself and found information on Lynn Charlson, an inventor, and the benefactor of the retreat center. He sounds like an interesting character and I’m sure it is because of his creative energy that the retreat center is infused with such magic.

Prepping for an amazing (and mostly vegan) Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I’m ready for the Macy’s Parade and for relaxed cooking tomorrow. I did some pre-cooking tonight and I’m feeling peaceful about what needs to happen tomorrow. Everyone enjoy a happy holiday. It might be about enjoying family or enduring family but either way, find at least one blessing in your day.

Menu

Early appetizers: blue chips and our homemade salsa

Soup/Salad course: Wild Rice Soup and Big Green Salad
I found a local farmer who sells big bags of microgreens for a reasonable price and it was a 5-minute drive from my house. I’m pretty pumped about this revelation. Find them at Rainbow City Farm on insta.

Dinner:
Celebration Vegan Roast
Just Bare Roasted Chicken (I couldn’t find a local one)
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans with pomegranate seeds
Healthy Corn “Casserole”
Mashed Potatoes with vegan mushroom gravy
cranberry – orange raw relish
Jicama/Avocado/Mango salad (from my Friendsgiving recipe book)
Homemade pretzels for our bread (Groovy Girl’s recipe)

Everything but that roasted chicken is vegan. My theme is comfort food with a Native American flare. I’m learning and working to experiment with a variety of recipes. Heather and Tristan are bringing the pies. And I found good almond milk whipped cream for the tops!

Highlights of summer

I finished all the assignments for one of my grad classes and am on the homestretch for the last class, Creative Schools. My major goal is to finish before my birthday which is just around the corner! I’ve done some deep learning and am excited to implement changes in my library this next year based on the two books I read.

(Source)

My stepsister, Robin, and her family came to town for a weekend. I made these delicious dairy-free rhubarb-pecan muffins for breakfast one morning. I liked that the recipe had orange juice and orange zest as ingredients and I substituted lemon zest because that’s what I had. They were really easy to pull together and came out nice and soft. Diana, my niece was my assistant baker and took care of all the mixing and measuring. I found lots of great rhubarb recipes and these muffins at Thyme and Love look really good to try too.

I’m on the last legs of a major summer cold, luckily it’s lasted just about a week. We’ve gone through a major amount of kleenex between G.G., husband and myself. Which by the way he finished RAGBRAI on Saturday in good spirits. I’m happy to drop him off for his start and I’m happy to pick him back up again, safe and sound. Ragbrai is his happy place.

Yesterday I hosted my 2nd annual Croquet & Cocktails game and it was perfect weather for it. We had snacks and margaritas and hit the balls around with heavy mallets in thick grass. It was a perfect summer break with teacher friends especially because that morning I’d finished the 3rd module of this last class. Today I started on module 4 and should be able to finish in the next few days. I’m school obsessed right now.

What have I been reading other than Creative Schools and Formative Five you ask? I finished Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. Thanks to Verda and Sela for the push to read it. Now I have to find time with Groovy Girl to watch the movie. She was dubious about the story; she liked it, read it just a few days, but was like, that wouldn’t really happen. Maybe she is more of a nonfiction, biography reader? I loved the story and yes, it is somewhat unbelievable but that’s what fiction is!
If you haven’t read it please pick it up from your local library.

Quick review: Madeline is sick and she cannot handle outside germs so she has been inside her (fancy) house for years. One day a new family moves in next door and she meets a boy, Olly, through the window. Her house nurse, Carla, conspires with her so the two can meet inside her airtight, vacuum sealed house. Young love-it can’t be beat. What would you do for love and how do you protect those you love?

I’m now reading Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Until I finish the very last homework assignment I only have a few minutes to read at night. This one is very good though and I’ll read more by both Ng and Yoon.

What are you reading? What have you filled your summer up with so far?

Cooking with L-O-V-E

On Father’s Day – way back on June 16th – I made some delicious flaky biscuits to serve as the base for my husband’s favorite Southern breakfast. I cooked the whole meal in about an hour that Sunday morning so both of these recipes are worth it and they tasted delicious according to him.

(My very own flaky biscuits)

Grandma’s Flaky Buttermilk Biscuit recipe came from Ann at Cooking Maniac. She talks a lot about how wonderfully flaky these biscuits are and they did not disappoint. They were very easy to split open and serve with our favorite toppings; Groovy Girl and I had ours with vegan butter and jam; he had homemade sausage gravy. I would definitely go back to her website when looking for authentic homemade recipes. I searched and searched for a good homemade gravy recipe and I found the perfect one on the Food Network from (not a surprise) Ree Drummond. My husband enjoyed several helpings and there was enough for leftovers for him to eat two other mornings.

(See link below)

I created another special meal for longtime friends of ours. Tim is retiring and moving to their cabin home in Maine while his wife, Lynne will remain here and teach for another year or two at UNI. We wanted to have them for dinner before the major move. I made this perfectly summery Lasagna with spinach and roasted zucchini; a recipe I found using my NYT food app. It was light with minimal cheese and fresh sauce and it didn’t feel wintery heavy. I had a fresh pea shoot salad and fresh baguettes for everyone. I love to cook and browse recipes so much that this app is better than Instagram for me.

(See link below)

Last night we had a Cedar Falls Food Co-op potluck at 2nd State Brewery downtown and Groovy Girl and I made a really delicious pot of Quinoa and Wild Rice Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing. This was a last minute recipe and I did not want to run to the grocery store during a perfectly good lazy summer day and after all, I had most of the ingredients. I did not have cilantro, or fresh lime, spring onions/scallions, or Asian sesame oil. I substituted fresh basil from my porch pot, Rose’s Lime Juice (hey, it worked), left out onions and sesame oil. Our dressing instead was a spicy ginger-lime with a little cayenne and curry compliments of Groovy Girl. She can’t help herself with the spices – she just goes to town with our well-stocked spice cabinet. I would definitely make this recipe again and we had lots of wild rice and quinoa left over to repurpose.

Have a delicious rest of your week!

June; thank you so much.

Wow – this month has flown by. Groovy Girl and I started the summer off with a road trip to Denver, Co. We stayed with family and just had a lovely time. We hiked in the area and saw deer, bison + baby bison, and pronghorns. From Iowa, it is about an 11-hour drive and we did it in 2 days.

Our favorite things were Sushi Ronin, Little Man ice cream both in the Highland area of Denver and I loved the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse and we both loved hiking at Chautauqua in Boulder, walking the 16th Street Mall, and dipping our feet into Boulder Creek. We also had a great afternoon hanging out in Washington Park just enjoying.

We had dinner with friends and family we have not seen for years and it felt great to reconnect. It is very important to keep lines of communication open in friendships and family circles. If not nurtured in some way they can easily wither away. Sometimes that can even mean a place and I definitely enjoyed connecting with Denver/Boulder again and I’m happy my daughter loved our experiences as well. I wished on the trip that I’d had the foresight to take each child on a high school road trip. There are a lot of skills learned on a road trip that you don’t get if you take a 4-hour flight to the same destination. Different lessons. The talking and the navigation were the best parts; I’m trying to teach her to put down the phone as we drive so she can look out the window and daydream, think or just unwind. Unplugging is a huge challenge for all of us with smartphones.

This trip was also a challenge to myself. I used to make this trek back and forth frequently when my son was younger and the trip was longer because I was often driving back to Minneapolis/St. Paul or Rochester area. I wanted to prove to myself that I could still make it happen and get myself around. And I did it. Bravo to me. My life can now continue!

I’ve been lucky enough to call a variety of states home but Colorado will always hold a very special place in my heart. As we drove into the state and you can see your first glimpses of the mountains in the distance; my daughter said “hello mountains; its been too long”. I agree. Our souls are better now.

And then I’m just as happy when my little black Prius pulls us back into our little corner of Iowa and we are home; happy to sleep in our own beds and kiss the ground with happiness for a safe trip.