Late Bloomers

This week has just been incredible, weather-wise.  Bruce, Emmie, and I have tried to savor these last mild days.  After dinner we take walks through the neighborhood, admiring the autumn decorations.  Emmie loves the "punkins."  We can't wait to take her to a pumpkin patch this year!

I took pictures of all the flowers in bloom in our yard, so that I can admire them long after winter has set in.  I feel really lucky that the previous owners planted such gorgeous plants that unfold throughout the year.  When we first moved in in springtime, there were hyacinths, daffodils, and lilies of the valley.  Then during summer we had deep red climbing roses, purple clematis, and maroon and yellow daylilies.  Now we have these beautiful specimens to admire:

Blue Bird Rose of Sharon

Butterfly Bush - Nanho Blue?

Autumn Joy Sedum - I call them "cauliflower plants."

We also got a small bird bath as a housewarming present, for which I was overjoyed.  I really wanted one! We placed it beneath a bird feeder that Bruce's mom got us, and within a day, I saw some black-capped chickadees bathing and snacking on seeds.  They usually appear in the mornings, so I can sit at the kitchen table and gaze on them while sipping my coffee.

The view from the kitchen table.  You can't tell from this picture, but there's a chickadee at the bird feeder.

The lawn is covered with leaves from the trees surrounding our yard.  They're starting to change to golden and scarlet.  I'm loving fall this year! It's a real pleasure to experience the change of seasons in our new home.  Each day is a day worth appreciating.

Housewarming!

The party turned out fantastic! After the initial disappointment of receiving several declines (and several no-responses, sigh), we ended up with a great turnout from family and good friends.

We had written projects we wanted to accomplish before the party on the chalkboard wall, and we were able to cross off the following:

• Put a hand towel ring up in the powder room
• Get a new couch cover
• Get a kitchen rug
• Hook up dryer
• Paint our bedroom
• Paint the vestibule in the downstairs
• Repair the loose curtain fixture on the patio door
• Paint and put up shelves in Emmie's room

We got these shelves at Goodwill for $0.99

A little paint, and they're so cute in Emmie's room!

It would've been great to get it all done, but we're on a budget and have a toddler who rules our time!

We spent all Friday night cleaning and preparing for the party.  We had an Oktoberfest theme.  I made potato salad from scratch using a recipe I got from a German grandmother.  We got four different kinds of wurst and stocked the fridge with beer.  I even played German polka on the stereo, which was pretty funny.

The chalkboard wall is both greeting and menu

The day of the party was in the high 60's, with a slight breeze, clear blue sky, and warm rays of sun.  Bruce's family all showed up right away.  His parents got us a fire pit as a present, something Bruce has always wanted!  Soon the house was crowded, people mingling in the basement, kitchen, backyard, drinks in hand.  Children ran and played all over - Emmie was loving it!  Bruce manned the grill while I played hostess, showing people through the house.  Everyone really praised our little home.

It was exactly the way I hoped it would be.

People ate, drank, and were merry.  After a few hours, we cut into the delicious cake Bruce's parents had generously provided.  The 'adults' started leaving, and our friends remained.  Emmie went to sleep exhausted and happy.  One friend ran out and got us firewood.  We bundled up in hoodie sweatshirts and sat in a circle around the fire, laughing and talking.

Everyone had a wunderbar time.  Our housewarming party was a complete success!

Cultivars

Not as much as I'd like has happened concerning home improvement since my last post.  Last weekend, we had friends over on Friday night.  On Saturday, I subbed a morning class and then Bruce and I planted some blackberry branches we were given.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it lives. Even though we watched videos and read websites on how to plant blackberry cuttings, we still felt like we had no idea what we were doing.  We planted it in the back corner of our lot where nothing was growing.  Not even grass... is that a bad sign?

Bruce also bought me a pot of gorgeous lilac-colored chrysanthemums.  The thoughtfulness of the gesture melted my heart, because it harkened back to 2011 when I was pregnant with Emmie and he bought some for our last home.

Our front steps have a bit of fall cheer

On Sunday I went to work and then we did small things around the house.  Overnight, inexplicably, I got unshakable chills in bed.  I put on thick socks and a sweatshirt and buried myself under the covers.  By morning, I was feverish.  I couldn't stay conscious to take care of Emmie past breakfast.  I laid on the couch until Bruce came home from work at midday.  I don't remember much else about Monday.

I still wasn't better on Tuesday.  I had to call off work, which I've only ever done once before as an instructor.  Bruce's dad - bless him - drove all the way here, collected Emmie and took her back to his house.  I was able to get rest, and Emmie stayed away from my contagion.  I also went to the doctor, who checked me and found that I had tonsillitis but not strep throat.  She suspects I got some bacterial infection though, so until the lab results come back, she put me on an antibiotic as a precautionary measure.  Yuck!

The past couple days have been better.  Yesterday, I bought some craft supplies for a fun project.  I've had this huge world map that I got when I lived in Europe.  The best part about it is that it names all the countries according to what they actually call themselves.  So, for instance, it says "España" instead of "Spain".  The map's literally been around the world with me, from dorm room to apartments, rolled up and stored in Bruce's parents basement, to here.  It's been put up with sticky putty, tape, tacks, even gum.  It's torn in the corners and worn in places.  But I love it, and wanted to give it new life.

Thanks to Pinterest (making uncrafty people crafty everywhere!), yesterday I bought some Modge Podge, a foam brush, and a pack of 12" x 12" canvases.  After Emmie went to bed, Bruce and I measured out six areas of the world and cut into my map.

I brushed Modge Podge all over the canvas and fitted it to a piece of the map, then wrapped the paper around the back like a present.

After they dried, we hung the six finished squares over our couch, to replace a heavy, gloomy picture that was a throwaway from my in-laws.  It wasn't terrible (it reminded me of a canal in Belgium on a rainy day); it actually matched everything.  It just wasn't "us".  This map is more our style and pulls together the worldly feel we're trying to give each room of our house.  We're really happy with the results.  My world map has evolved, ha!

Now if we can just get rid of that couch cover.

Tomorrow's our Housewarming party!  The disappointment I felt at first has turned around as we've gotten a few more positive responses from people.  There's going to be like 25 people and it's going to be a blast.  It will be somewhat Oktoberfest-themed.  We'll serve brats and homemade potato salad - I have a recipe from a German friend's oma.  And, of course, beer.

We even got a housewarming present! Yesterday the UPS man brought us a package from my friend Lorelei - it was the book Young House Love by Sherry & John Petersik, who write a blog by the same name.  How sweet! She said it has been a huge source of inspiration to her and her husband as they fix up their place.  I can't wait to dig in!

This blog post isn't going to clean my house, though, so it comes to an end here for today.  I hope this party turns out well! Have a great weekend, too!

Hipster Cable No More

In every apartment we ever lived, Bruce and I had cable.  One of the first major purchases we made as a couple, during our engagement, was a 42" 1080p LCD flat screen TV.  We were so excited as we fit it into our backseat in the store parking lot, drove home, and carefully carried it up to our one-bedroom.  It was our Christmas present to each other.  We still have it.

When we lived with Bruce's parents, it got me through many a long day.  When Emmie would nap, I would hide upstairs in our room and watch TV in bed.  This was mainly because Bruce's dad was always in the living room, watching the TV down there, usually Rocky or Jaws for the bazillionth time.  Who knew those movies are on every day?

Emmie watches Super Why! too close.  I am about to say, "Back up, baby!"

Even when she was a little baby, I noticed how Emmie was drawn to the TV.  She liked Sesame Street and Sponge Bob Squarepants.  The bright colors of the cartoons appealed to her young eyes.  Soon, she would glimpse a balloon or toy in a store with those characters on them, and she'd beg to have it.  When I saw how irrelevant Sponge Bob was, how the characters were violent and used foul language, I put a stop to that show.  But the educational ones I still allow her to watch for one advised hour a day, after breakfast.

Part of me feels guilty for letting her watch TV.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under the age of two have no exposure to television, or any kind of screen in general (see: "Babies and Toddlers Should Learn from Play Not Screens").  One time we went to a garage sale, and the lady there tried to sell us her old Baby Einstein videos.  "Put that on," she advised, "and you can get some house work done.  The kids won't move a muscle."  I remember thinking that I would never be the kind of parent who props her child in front of a TV.  Ha!

When we bought the house, we made the conscious decision not to get cable because 1) we couldn't afford the atrocious cost, and 2) we felt we'd all be better off.  We realized that both of our parents have TV on in their houses constantly.  It's like a loud, black hole in the room; you can try to talk over it, but it ends up sucking everyone in.

Bruce and I do watch TV after Emmie goes to bed.  It's so relaxing to plop down on the couch after a frenzied day of working/child-rearing and engage in passive entertainment.  We have an HD TV antenna, which gets in a few local channels.  Bruce's parents share their Netflix account with us.  We also have access to On Demand via a shared password, which we watch together by plugging our laptop into the TV.  This has all been more than sufficient.

Until Sunday, that is, when Bruce worried he wouldn't be able to get the Bears football game on the antenna.  Suddenly, not having cable was a real detriment.  Luckily, he found a way to stream the game live from the laptop.  Crisis averted.

I was telling my friend Jeanette over the phone how Bruce ended up watching the game, and she laughed.  She, like almost all my friends, doesn't have cable, either.  She said, "You know what they call it, when people don't pay for TV and instead watch for free on their computers? Hipster cable."

My friend Lorelei is a social worker who's had "hipster cable" for longer than anyone I know.  She made the decision years ago after being a nanny for a family who didn't have a TV.  She said their house was so peaceful, the children were so alert and eager for learning and adventure.  They were the coolest family.

We want to raise Emmie like that, in a house where we sit at the dinner table together and talk.  One where she can pick up a book without distraction.  For the past five months, we've lived in that house.  Besides the hour Emmie gets to watch a show, the TV isn't on.  We play outside or inside.  We draw on the chalkboard wall or color in coloring books.  We put on music and dance (all three of us - if you could see in our windows, you'd laugh).  On nice days, we go for walks.

It looks like those days are over, however, unless we make a solid effort to stay true to our vision.  Yesterday, the company that provides our internet called to remind us that our promotional rate was going to expire.  Next month, the bill would be raised by $20.  But wouldn't you know, they just so happened to have a new promotion for the next 12 months' billing cycles that would make our internet speed three times faster AND they'd throw in basic cable, for only $10 more than what we're paying now!  We'd have to act fast, though, because this deal won't last for long!

Ugh.  Those jerks, they got us.  We live in a remote area without any other options for internet.  We can't even shop around.  We were looking at either paying $20 more for the same service, or $10 more for internet + cable.  Bruce's eyes started sparkling at the thought of American Idol without spotty antenna reception and So. Much. Football. On a BIG SCREEN.

I have to admit, it would be nice to watch Downtown Abbey on PBS when it airs.  It's hard to ignore Twitter and the media until you've caught up with your favorite popular show.

So we're doing it.  Bye, bye hipster cable.  Hello again, soul-sucking contraption.  It's going to be hard not to tune in to prime time while Emmie's still awake, but I am determined to stay resolute.  That black hole with its brain-washing commercials, warped news coverage, shocking imagery, and glorification of immorality will not overcome us.  

I will never let the TV rule, for as long as I am lady of the house!

Heat Wave

It's not even noon, and it's already 87 degrees here in Illinois. The weather people predict a high in the upper 90's. What a September! Emmie and I are making the most out of it before the cold comes blowing in!

Green Pastures

Bruce mows the lawn at our house.  Whenever he does, the bittersweet smell of cut grass drifts in from the windows.  Afterwards, I go outside to admire the straight lines pressed into the green ground.

And I think of my Grandpa.

Last Friday marked 15 years since my maternal grandfather passed away from complications due to smoking.  I had just started my first term at community college, my whole adulthood in front of me.  I remember frequenting my grandparents' split-level in his last days, him lying on the couch in the living room while my mom and grandma talked in the kitchen.

I have many memories of him.  He was a towering figure, well over six feet tall and rail thin.  He wore large metal-rimmed glasses, button down shirts, straight pants, and thick black shoes.  He was a railroad cop and was often in uniform.  He carried a gun.  One time he tried to show it to me, and I burst into tears.

Certain memories of him never leave me, though.  One is the way my grandpa loved to take care of his lawn.  It was his glory.  He boasted that he could mow it so straight and so accurately, that if you bent down, eye-level with the blades, every single one would be the same height.  He put such care into his plot of land, as if it was his reward for all the long nights he spent patrolling the train yard.  Often he'd be out back on my grandparents' second-story deck, sunk into a crouch and smoking a cigarette, just enjoying.

When he would come over to my parents' house on weekends, he liked to watch me mow the lawn - my chore at the time.  It would take over an hour on the riding lawnmower to cut our nearly three acres' worth of land.  My grandpa would crouch at the edge of our driveway, smoking and watching, and when I'd finish, he'd tease me that I missed a spot or praise how precise a job I'd done.

Days before he died, I went to visit him alone.  We sat out on the deck, overlooking his lawn.  He told me how proud he was of me, that I was attending college.  He said, "Work hard; get good grades.  Then get a good job."

So I did.  

Now that I have a lawn of my own, I can feel him here, crouching down, nodding his approval at the path my life has taken.

Home for the Holiday

A Fair to Remember

Last Thursday, I was about to get Emmie ready for an early bedtime (she was cranky) when music from outside starting coming through the walls of our house.

"What the heck?" I thought.  "Who's blasting music?"  I opened Emmie's second story window and peered out.  I could feel the thump of the drums, the twang of the guitars, and the vibrato of the singer.  Was someone playing a live album extremely loudly?  No, it was a live band!  And it sounded like they were playing in our backyard!  Then I remembered there was a little fair in our town over the weekend.  It had to be really close by!

The next day, Emmie and I went to the library and saw the fair, set up in an adjacent park.  I got as excited as a little kid.  I don't know what appeals to me about fairs and such, but I adore them.  I enjoy the people-watching and fried-food smells, knowing that, for a few days, folks come together in the same place to have a good time.

On Saturday, we walked down to the fair as a family.  Bruce paid a carnie way too much money to throw some darts at balloons.  He popped almost all of them and 'won' a stuffed pink crayon for Emmie.  She and I went on the carousel - her first time ever!  The three of us split a funnel cake.  It was an all-American experience.

That night, after Emmie went to bed, Bruce and I drank beer on our patio stoop and listened to a classic rock band play, like we had our own private entertainment.  It was a moment which made me fall further in love with our little house, and all the perks that came with it.

Labor Day

Bruce's mom wanted us to come over for the holiday, but we passed, instead making plans for next week.  We wanted to have the day to ourselves and get some work done around the house.  We woke up at a leisurely pace.  Bruce made eggs-in-a-hole, sausage, and hash browns for breakfast.  Then he and I had mimosas in champagne glasses.  Towards late morning, we all got dressed and walked to the local Goodwill and home improvement store.  The sun was bright, and Emmie was quick to point out that the sky was blue, even though she says it more like "Bwoo." She knows her colors now!

At Goodwill, Emmie and I each got a book, and we also got a pair of wood shelves that we are going to paint white for Emmie's room.  To quote Macklemore, they were "99 cents!"  Way cheaper than buying new.

At the hardware store, we had a credit, so we were able to get a fence hook for a bird feeder, a towel-ring for our powder room, and a box of nails.  Bruce hung the hook, and in the bathroom he installed the ring and nailed up a picture I got recently.  Yay, progress!

For dinner, we grilled and ate on the patio.  It was a sweet end to the summer.

Party Foul

The only downside to the weekend was receiving the news that Bruce's aunts and uncles will not be attending our housewarming party in a couple weeks.  It added to the disappointment I've been feeling as we get declines to our invitation.  Our parents and siblings will be there, and many close friends.  However, I should've talked to ALL my friends before scheduling it, because one of our best friends is throwing a birthday party for his daughter on the same day.  That means many people we invited have other plans.

Should we cancel our party and reschedule?  I imagined that the house would be full of family and friends, celebrating the milestone we've achieved.  Bruce would grill out back, and I would show off our first home, all the work we've put into it so far.  But it looks like almost everyone who's coming has already been here.  While it will still be a nice party, it won't be what I envisioned.  A lot of people who are important to us will be missing.

What should I do? Even though right now I'm bummed, I will make the best of it and hope that we can have those people over individually another time.  The people who will be in attendance are important to us, too, and I am always grateful to spend time with them.