Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  The house is quiet now. Nedim is sleeping in babanne's room.  Mom and Robert took Selim back to the Ashram.  I'm on the couch, with a mug of warm spice pear cider on the coffee table and the Raiders/Cowboys game in on the TV.  At some point I will get back up and get my plate of pie. I took a few bites of each but was too full to finish.  Pie for dinner, why not?

At 7:30 am Nedim came into the bedroom and asked me if I was going to get up.  He was full of energy and I could barely lift my head off the pillow.  At some point while I was a work last night he realized that he wanted to inject some food from his culture and mix it with my family's traditional Thanksgiving fare.  He was ready to get in the kitchen and start cooking. I could have used another hour of so of sleep.

I got up.  Having him in the kitchen through off my plan and I was grumpy.  I had a mental outline of the food left to make and what needed to go into the oven and what would be cooked on the stove.  When he started using the knives I wanted and pots I was expecting to use, I had to remind myself to be grateful for a husband who is wants to help out, and not shoo him out of my way.  I needed an attitude adjustment, and fast.

First up for me was chopping the sweet potatoes, butternut squash and parsnips.  I roasted them in the oven with a light coating of shallot, olive oil, garlic, and honey.  While they cooked, shredded cheese for the macaroni and cheese.  I had gone to Corks and Curds the other day to pick up my favorite cave aged Gruyere.  I mentioned that I was making mac and cheese and the guy there, not Eldin, suggested an English cheddar with caramelized onions to try.  Oh my.  It has a really strong, smoked flavor that is awesome.  I combined those two with a brick of regular extra-sharp cheddar.  It was a great combination.  I didn't add the breadcrumbs on the top because Selim doesn't like it when it is crusty and crispy.

Selim got off the couch and helped me with the apple and pear pie.  I peeled the fruit and cut the halves into quarters.  He chopped those chunks into a fine dice.  He did a great job.  He was so cute, he wanted to wear an apron and look "professional."  We worked really well together and in no time, the pie was in the oven.  I was proud that I took a chance and didn't follow a recipe.  I eye balled a pear pie recipe in that it called for 2 1/2 pounds of fruit.  I didn't have enough pears so I added apple.  I sauteed the diced pieces in a tablespoon of butter and put the lid over the pan for about five minutes.  Then I tossed the partially cooked fruit in the juice of 1/2 a lemon, three tablespoons of flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon and cardamon.

While that bubbled away in the oven, I prepped the corn bread and wrapped the brie in the puff pastry.  Mom and Robert got here minutes before the brie was ready.  I had the right size brie and it stayed wrapped in the puff pastry while baking.  It cheese didn't leak out and make a hot mess all over the pan as it has in years past.

My last dish in the oven was the skillet cornbread.

Mom had brought the loaf ingredients all mixed together and ready to be baked.  While the loaf cooked, I made the mashed potatoes and gravy.  Mom prepped with green beans and washed the dishes.  We make a good team.  When we sat down to eat, the kitchen was clean.  I could concentrate on the beautiful colors on the table and wasn't distracted by a mountain of dishes on the counter.

Dinner was on the table at 2:00, just as we planned.  It was a good meal.  I don't think anybody minded that the gravy was served in a measuring cup.  I couldn't find a cute small pitcher that was clean. Selim doesn't really like the traditional Thanksgiving food.  But he ate the mac and cheese and mashed potatoes.  He drank two glasses of sparkling cider, one apple and one cranberry.   I think he just wanted the pie.

He got his pie, after Robert took him outside to toss the football around.  I had make pumpkin pie yesterday before going to work.  Often I make something with chocolate, but I didn't get to that this year.  The two pies with whipped cream was enough.  I served warm spiced pear cider in our Turkish tea cups and that felt festive.

After we cleaned up and packed Selim's overnight bag, Mom, Robert, and Selim left.  And here I am.  I have so much to be thankful for.  I've been thinking about the Thankful lists that Selim's classmates read aloud on Tuesday.  They had such great things on their lists: family, friends, school, books, water, home, sports, education, God, Santa, food, Grandparents, pets, specific body parts (feet, strong legs, eyes, hands), and the teacher.  Some kids wrote out their thoughts in a list and others made relationship groupings.  Their personalities came through.

I'm thankful for everything that has brought me to where I am in my life -- the experiences that I have had, and the people that have had faith in my over the years.  I have an immediate and extended family that loves me; am the recipient of so much Grace; a job that I love that is challenging and rewarding; a house with a blue door that I get to come home to every night that is warm and where somebody has left a light on for me; a body that functions without pain most days; a spiritual community who cares about my well being and helps me on my inward journey; and a cadre of friends that I treasure.  I am so lucky, privileged, blessed... really.

Parent Volunteer

Working second shift, it would seem like I should be able to spend more time in Selim's classroom.  But it hasn't worked out that way.  Today, I volunteered to make stuffing for their Thanksgiving feast and I knew that would get me in there and participating.  As a class, they have been studying the story of the Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the first Thanksgiving.  For the unit, the kids worked in groups of 4 or so and built structures -- wigwam, meeting house, long house, and others.  And they had made alphabet books with the new words they had learned.  It was so cute!  The kids did a great job of presenting their building and talking about how it was made and the importance of the building and its uses.  I won't post the picture of Selim's group because I don't want to upset any other parent.  But they were super cute in their costumes.  He wore the necklace made out of dear antler that he had made with Robert over Veteran's weekend.

I got to the class in time to help with the headgear.  The Native Americans had made headbands with feathers.  The Pilgrim boys had black construction paper headbands with the buckle looking thing in the center.  The Pilgrim girls had great hats made out of white paper and they were complete when I got there.  I felt like a regular parent as I fit the headbands onto the boys in the class and taped them securely.  I had such a great time.

While the kids enjoyed their feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, carrot sticks and cucumber rings, I went outside the classroom to look at the various projects taped to the walls.  The kids had made Mayflower stories:

and written letters as if they lived in the 1600's:

and made a story board of their character.

As impressive as that was, I really liked the class expectations,

and this:

It is such a great classroom and the kids seem really happy.

Did I mention that we woke up to snow this morning?  It was our first here at home.  And of course, I made everybody pose for a picture.  Can't have the first snow of the year go undocumented!

Last night in DC

Last night after class I ate left over Thai food and worked on the year end evaluations for my team.  It wasn't how I wanted to really spend my time, but for my stress level and peace of mind,  I had to make headway during this trip.  I had success, drafting five out of the seven.

So today, I was free to explore a new area of the city.  Susanne came with me and we rode the Metro from Rosslyn to L'Enfant Plaza.

There we caught the green line up to Columbia Heights.

From the Metro, the vegan bakery Sticky Fingers was only a block or so headed north.  It was very easy to find.  I felt a bit like a groupie.  One nice discovery -- the cafe served not just sweets, but meals.  Both of us were hungry for dinner.  I got a burger with avocado and Susanne got a sandwich.

We bought our bakery treats to go. It was so hard making a decision.  In the end, I opted for the carrot cake, vanilla with coconut and chocolate with peanut butter frosting.  I have yet to have real success with vegan frosting, but theirs makes me want to try harder.  The peanut butter frosting was so light and fluffy, not the greasy, oily, icky stuff that I have made when I've tried to go without butter and/or cream cheese.

Instead of getting back on the metro, we decided to take the Circulator.  We rode the green line down to 14th and K street.  We hopped off that bus and switched over to the one that went to Georgetown.  Traffic was pretty bad and it took us awhile to get to M street and Wisconsin.

Our goal this time -- shopping at Athleta.  She had gone last night while I wrote evaluations.  They have a sale room and that is where we went tonight.  It was so fun shopping with a girlfriend who will tell you how it is.  Some of the dresses were too huggy and not flattering.  But there were a few things that were really cute.  In the end, I had to weed out a few items.  I couldn't justify spending all that money on clothes, even at 30% off.  One thing I did get that my hubby will be happy to see, a pair of running tights that have a little built in skirt.  He is forever asking me if I am really going out running in just my spandex tights without something more covering my tush.  I say yes and get out the door quickly before we can argue.  I hope he is happy with the new togs.

I can't wait to go home tomorrow.  I am so ready to do more than face time with my guys.  I need to hug, kiss, smell, and hold them.  As professionally beneficial as a week away can be, it is really hard to be away from the family.  I miss them.

I-phone blogging

I bought a keyboard for my i-phone and I'll see how well I do using it.  I left my laptop at home this trip and brought my phone and Kindle.  It is an experiment to see what I use when I travel, and what can be left at home.  Unfortunately, I'll have to add in the pictures later, because I can't figure out how to add them in now.

I'm back in Washington DC for a week of training at FSI.  You can't see it very well from this photo, but just to the right of the plane's wing is the United States Air Force Memorial.  It is hard make out, but it is the silver spot an inch or so to the right of the wing.

Packing for pre-winter travel is much harder than summer weather.  My suitcase is heavier and I have to stick to my wardrobe choices.  I have one extra outfit, but that is it.  So far, I've done pretty well and am happy  with what I brought.

Yesterday after class I went out for an evening walk and dinner with a colleague.  That is a change for me because in the past, I've been on my own.  We walked across the Key Bridge into Georgetown.

The destination was my favorite Turkish restaurant on Wisconsin Avenue, Cafe Divan.  What is super fun for me, is that she is vegan.  For the first time, I don't have the most restrictive diet.  The good thing is that if she can eat it, I can too.  Our meal started with a creamy lentil soup.  We followed that with a meze platter for two: dolma, feta cheese, lentil kofta, hummus, borek, and cucumber slices.  We also had falafel and warm bread.  So tasty.  At the end, I had a cup of tea and we shared an order of baklava.

We walked along M street, window shopping until we reached Dean and Deluca.  The lure of their candy and pastry counter was too much for us to resist...and we did not walk out empty handed.  We stopped in DC Cupcakes and who knew they had a vegan option?  But they did.

I really enjoyed having a debrief of the day with somebody.  Instead of going out by myself, and processing all the information of the day, I was able to go through it and have a conversation about the day.  It was so pleasurable.  And a surprise.

I came back to the hotel room and used face time on the phone to review Selim's homework.  What a treat.  I love this technology that enables me to see my guys while I am away.  I feel much more connected.

Today was another great day of training.  Yesterday I ran into a woman who works at the London Embassy and another woman that I met in ConGen.  Today at lunch, I spotted another woman that I met in ConGen and again in London last summer.  How fun is that, to revisit these connections!  I'm realizing that I'm not alone in a professional sense.  I have made contacts and friendships that do last, even though we don't see each other very often.  It is expansive and gratifying.

After work today we hit up the gift shop at Main State and then walked up 19th street to Dupont Circle.  Bangkok Thai had been recommended and we found it on P street.  It was delicious.  They were flexible with substituting veggies and it was a great meal.

Sew Happy!

I've been sewing like a crazy woman for the past 3 days.  With Heather coming up next weekend, my goal is to have two quilts ready for her to take back to the machine quilting lady in her area.  Considering that last weekend I had two sets of quilt blocks completed and that's it, I have accomplished tons.  I might even make my goal.

Last week I concentrated on sewing Selim's quilt.  When we went to Mom's I brought his squares, the white dragonfly fabric for the boarder, and the lattice and backing fabric for my quilt.  While he was at the Halloween party with Jacob, I cut out his white fabric along with washing and ironing all the yardage for mine.  On Sunday I sewed a few of his blocks together.  By Tuesday, I had finished the top of his quilt.





Saturday, I made up the back.

Saturday afternoon, after I had defrosted the big freezer, I started cutting the lattice strips for my quilt.  I've worked on this quilt off and on since I got back from London in 2011.  I had bought a fat quarter piece of fabric at a fabric/needlework shop in Kew Gardens and that was the color inspiration and center square of each block.  Online, I found a quilt shop in Salt Lake City that carried the pattern and I ordered more.  I've been carrying around the fabric yardage, then all the pieces, followed by the blocks, in this pink storage tub for a long time.  Finally, it is coming together.

As I was about to start sewing the lattice strips on to the blocks, I realized that the blocks were not squared up or uniform in size.  I think the block was supposed to be 8.5 inches square.  For some reason, some of the blocks were over that and others were just over 8 inches.  I trimmed all of them to 8 inches.  It makes the proportions a bit off, but it has paid off in terms of ease of sewing.

Yesterday I didn't dive right back into my project.  I made doughnuts for breakfast.  Yum.  They were so good that Selim and I had a hard time stopping at two each.



We took our weekly pilgrimage to Michael's craft supply.  Selim wanted more colors for his rainbow loom.  He has joined the fad in making rubber bracelets with bands that remind me of the things we had to wear with our braces.  I had forgotten to pick up a dark brown pearl cotton #5 for my needlework project.  Both of us had success and were pleased with our purchases.

In the afternoon, all pretext of chores went out the window as I hunkered down with my blocks and lattice strips.  I took the easy way out for dinner and got tacos on the table in 24 minutes.  Then it was back to sewing.  I stopped when Selim got in the bath.  I was half way through the vertical lattice work.  I had eleven rows of four blocks each, all sewed together.

Today I had off as my compressed day.  I forced myself to don my running gear when I took Selim to the bus.  The temperature had dipped to a record low in the area, and so I had to wear tights.  Sigh.

I ran for 30 minutes and then walked another 15 to cool down.  With the time change, the sun was up higher and felt good on my face.  Having stuck to my exercise routine, I was then free until I had to get Selim in the afternoon.  I had the sports shows on the TV and went back in forth from the living room to the library/sewing room all day.  I finished more than I thought I could.  By 3:15 I had completed all the vertical inside lattice work.  I laid out the eleven strips of eight blocks on the living room floor and smiled.

Color explosion!  I love it.  I still have quite a lot left.  But sewing the continuous horizontal strips plus the boarders should go much more quickly than the previous steps.  Unfortunately, I have to work the rest of the week, find time to grocery shop, finish the laundry, and all the other housey stuff that I often neglect.  But there is a chance that I can hand Heather two bundles this coming weekend.