A rainy Saturday morning here feels like kind of a waste, because I can't get into the garden, go for a nice long walk, or send my kids outside. Especially the kids outside part.
All posts by Philosofer
May 21, 2015: JMIVGABB
Also, we're buying a housing. To celebrate, here's some buttered noodles and a glass of water.
Third Monday Movie Day: I’m A Revenger!
I accomplished the rare feat of going to a theater to see a movie this weekend. We picked Avengers: Age of Ultron or whatever the subheading/punctuation combo is. I had seen a handful of reviews and "what does this mean for Captain America" etc. stories, and was kind of braced for the worst. I had largely avoided spoilers, so that was nice, but I was still ready to see something worse than the first one.
That was not my assessment. I really enjoyed it. Much more so than the first Avengers movie. Good action, good balance between characters, a really fun villain, a little bit of heart, a good amount of humor... a great popcorn flick.
So... what has everyone else seen this month? Tell me more about why I should go see Mad Max, since I'm hearing lots about that? Etc.
May 4, 2015: Use The Forks
Obligatory Star Wars day reference goes here.
April 30, 2015: Good Hunting
We started our house hunting yesterday, and the entire family was very excited about the first home we saw. Hopefully this is a quick process.
April 9, 2015: Well…
If Spooky isn't actually going to publish his draft of today's Cup of Coffee, I guess I'll just steal his title.
April 7, 2015: Miinii-Caucuii
Miinii-Caucuses? Whatever. I saw both DPWY and Nibbish yesterday, and that was fun.
The Nation Has An Appetite: Ratatouille
Per the earlier discussion, I'm going to describe how I make ratatouille here. Truth be told, I had never known the dish until some recipe showed up on some site someday telling me how to do it this way. So maybe this isn't even real ratatouille? Whatever you want to call it, it's delicious.
Also, sorry I don't have any pictures. The vegetables haven't been in season, so it hasn't been made for a while.
Ok, fine, here's a picture.
And with that...
1 eggplant
1 zucchini (we often use more)
1 summer squash
1 large onion (I prefer more)
Enough tomatoes to cover the entire dish liberally
Other veggies as desired (peppers, for example)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
Fresh basil leaves, torn or cut into 1-inch pieces
Thyme, Oregano, other traditional spices as desired (I'm going to use Herbs de Provence the next time I make this)
Salt & pepper to taste
Red wine vinegar, to taste
Eggs
Italian cheese blend (or other cheese that you prefer)
French bread, sliced.
Chop the vegetables into 1-inch or smaller pieces. Tomatoes should be seeded and given a fine dice. Toss together in a large baking dish, with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, etc. Bake at 400°F for 45 minutes, or so. Make sure they don't roast too quickly. Remove the vegetables from the oven, and add the basil and vinegar. Stir, then spoon out small cavities into which you will crack the eggs. I usually heap as many eggs into the pan as I can fit. Cover with cheese (I always add too much, but "mmmmmmm...cheese."), and place back into the oven, until eggs achieve desired doneness. Spoon over slices of french bread to serve.
February 20, 2015: Girls Night Out
Starting tonight at 6, I'm alone with the kids for a few days. More Mr. Mom moments.
Father Knows Best: Mr. Moming It
I’ve been playing the role of Mr. Mom for the past six months. Without a job, we can’t justify paying to send the kids to daycare, so when Philosofette goes to work, I stay home. Holy. Buckets. It is a lot of work.
I think the hardest part isn’t the work itself, it’s the self-sacrifice that goes with it. I cannot both be an attentive parent and try to accomplish my own agenda. This makes applying for jobs very difficult. It makes cleaning difficult. It makes preparing dinner challenging. The kids require attention. Part of this has to do with the demographics. We’re at 5 (he’s easy!), 3 (she’s potty training!), and 9 months (he’s eating everything on the floor and getting into places he shouldn’t be and pulling things off of shelves and crying and pooping and etc.!). Without the baby, the other two are pretty simple. Without the other two, the baby is easy too. But throw all three of them together… wow.
So these past six months for me have really hammered in the respect I have for stay-at-home parents. They do a lot of work. But even more essentially, they give up themselves. And that’s impressive.
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A couple of other quick hits, parenting-related ideas that have been bouncing around my head recently…
My daughter was born with a tethered spinal cord. She had surgery at 3 months, and basically we’ll have to watch her for the rest of her life to make sure it doesn’t re-tether. We recently thought we were picking up some signs that it maybe had, including potty-training problems. We were feeling terribly guilty for not scheduling her to see a specialist a long time ago, since these signs were there for a while. When we took her into the specialist though, he couldn’t have been more reassuring. It’s a strange thing though, having to keep a constant vigil against a specific condition. If we miss it, if we delay, we could fail to prevent some pretty awful effects. It really ramps up the possible parenting guilt.
I recently taught my 5-year-old how to play war. He pretty much plays it constantly now. But even he’s gotten bored, because he’s started to introduce “powers” where cards freeze other cards or blow them up, etc. The thing is, all of the powers are similar to things he sees in games I play on the iPad… which clearly means I need to play less when the kids are awake (I gave up iPad games for Lent).
Alright, I’ve rambled for a while. Time for others to chime in.