Writing and thinking

The author David McCullough quoted someone during an interview saying that to write well is to think clearly. I've thought about that as I have tried to write or reviewed writings. Which comes first writing well or thinking clearly? For some people writing well comes easily and just flows from their pen (or keyboard). I find that for me the process of writing helps focus my thinking and conversely that when I have thought clearly to begin with the writing is clear and concise and better because of it. I often think and revise and go back and think some more. It takes time and doesn't come easily. I do agree that good writing reflects and conveys clear thought.

Priority check

I recently got an e-mail from and NGO in Washington DC asking me if I wanted to do some writing for them as a consultant. I was excited about the project and the opportunity to work with them and keep a finger in the professional world. I jumped at the chance.
A day later I realized that I had over committed myself. I didn't want to have to go to work at 10:00 pm after a full day of kids. I only have a few hours a week to work on my own things and I didn't want to take it all up with this project. It just isn't what I need to be doing right now. It had only been a day and I could feel the stress beginning to build.
I had to go back and tell them I couldn't do it. That was tough to do. I was sure that they would never talk to me again. However, they called me back and asked me if I wanted to reconsider and take on the project. I explained why I couldn't do it as the baby was crying in the background. Fortunately she was understanding and even said that they frequently have similar projects and I might be able to work with them in the future when I have more time. It was flattering to have them say they would like me to work with them and it felt even better not to do it.

Giant Cookie part 2

I tried the fruit tart again. It was much better this time. The crust was basically a sweet buttery pastry crust. I topped it with orange chocolate followed by a mixture of marscapone cheese, heavy cream and a few flavorings. It was of course topped with wonderful fresh berries.

It was much better with a thinner crispy crust although it was a little hard. It needs more flakiness. The flavors were overall much better. I liked the orange chocolate, but the cream needs more work. It was a little bit to fluffy, needs more custardy stuff.

Buddy Boy lately

Swimming fanatic
We have had a few hot days lately which means a lot of swimming. Daddy comes home a little early and we hit the pool. We have a life vest for him that he loves since he can't swim yet. He cruises around the pool and jumps in fearlessly. He LOVES IT. He will just run up to the edge and jump right in. It can be a little scary for me. If he didn't have the vest he would sink like a rock.

Charmer
For July 4 we went to a neighborhood picnic with some friends. One of the girls had a pink Barbie mini Cadillac Escalade. It is a little battery powered car that goes about 5 mph. Buddy got pretty good a driving it and not crashing into people, trees, cars etc. At one point he pulled up to a table where a couple of girls twice his age were checking out the snacks. Well he pulled up so casually with an arm on the top of the door and a hand on the steering wheel and said, "Hey there, How's it goin'". I hope it isn't an indication of things to come.

Oh no not that!
We are trying the whole potty training thing. His response to any suggestion in that direction is "Oh no not that". It isn't going well

Python Ron
The local library has a summer reading program. Last week the program was Python Ron and his friends. I loved it. There were big bugs, huge lizards, and snakes. My favorite was the sandy colored lizard with the bright blue tongue. It was seriously the color of the sky. It was so cool. I also loved the monitor lizard, the bright orange corn snake, and the yellow albino python.

Jungling
Lately he had been jungling, as in swinging like a monkey through the jungle. He would empty out his closet and swing from the clothing rod. It was pretty funny. The lights would go out and a minute or two later we hear thump thump thump as he hits the back wall with his feet. He was having fun, but he wasn't going to sleep so I put latches on the closet. So that night we heard a BIG thump and crying. He had climbed on top of his dresser and tried jungling from the curtain rod. It bent and came apart and he fell. At least he was in one piece and nothing broken or bleeding. We need to channel this in a positive direction somehow before he seriously hurts himself, maybe gymnastics.

Teeth!

All of a sudden Baby girl has two little teeth on the bottom. I hadn't even seen them coming. She hasn't been particularly grumpy or had any problems. I hope the other teeth come in as easily.

Is it me?

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 80% Supergirl 72% Spider-Man 70% Wonder Woman 62% Green Lantern 60% Robin 59% The Flash 50% Hulk 45% Iron Man 45% Batman 40% Catwoman 5%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Be Daring

I love what Maya Angelou said, "Success is loving life and daring to live it." Usually I think of daring as being adventurous and really pushing the limits. Lately I have been thinking of a different sort of daring, daring to do what you want in life even if it isn't exciting and especially if it isn't what is expected of you. I have had the chance to be daring in both ways. I went through phases where I did a lot of mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing etc. I moved around on my own for jobs and school. I pushed myself to do hard things. It all took some daring. I had a great job doing things that took a little daring as well, at least for me, speaking in front of large groups and traveling to far off places. Now I am daring to give that up for awhile and do things that are sometimes hard in a different way. I enjoy it, but it is less than exciting. Friends call and ask what I have been up to lately and not much has changed. I am just enjoying the day to day life. It took some daring to get off the track.

In a slightly different way I am enjoying life more since I dared to ignore other people, or more accurately, what I thought others expected of me or what they thought about me. It wasn't any one person in particular, mostly just "the people" of "What will people think?" It is quite liberating to realize that people just don't notice you as much as I once thought many years ago and just do what is right for me. What will people think, probably nothing. They really aren't thinking about you all that much, if at all. This started when life didn't go as planned and I couldn't do anything about it, and when I had a little bit more life experience and the confidence that came with it. I made the best of it and now it's OK to do what I need and it has turned out good so far.

the Giant cookie

I call it a fresh fruit tart. Buddy Boy called it a giant cookie. I tried to duplicate a tart I had last summer. It turned out OK, but there are a few things I would do differently. Here is what I did.

The first thing was the crust. I wanted something crisp, flakey, and sweet. I tried a shortbread cookie recipe, just flour, sugar, and butter. yum. It was pretty good, but didn't have the flakiness I was looking for. Next time I'll try something a little more like a pastry crust recipe except still sweet and buttery. It also needs to be a little thinner so it is more like a crust and less like a giant cookie.

The next step was the chocolate. It is good for its chocolaty goodness but it also works as a moisture barrier to keep the crust crisp. I melted chocolate chips and spread them around. It didn't set up the way I thought it would. It was a little soft and was actually a little bit too sweet. Next time dark chocolate or semi-sweet chips.

After the chocolate came the custard. I went with an easy option and used an instant custard. It wasn't very flavorful so I added vanilla. I wish I had some whipped cream to add as well. This layer was OK, but really needed the cream.

After that came the berries. Yummy yummy. It just doesn't get much better than fresh sweet berries.

I'll definitely try this again and see if I can improve on the fruity chocolaty goodness.

Its a fauxhawk

The past six months have flown by. Here she is fauxhawk and all.

And they call it finger paint

Well, it started out on the fingers at least. He had a lot of fun and it is all washable. You can see why we do art projects outside.