for today... mostly about my sisters

outside my window, i see clear sidewalk flanked by 10 inches of snow on each side. it's still pretty.

i am thinking about what a fantastic christmas week this has been, and how it's felt like a vacation even though i didn't go anywhere (which is probably the best kind of vacation).

i am thankful for the time, talents, and attention of my family this week. everyone has been thoughtful, considerate, compromising, flexible, and generally merry.

from the project room: one quarter of a scarf that my sister madelyn taught me to knit TODAY!

from the kitchen: citrus and spice wassail.

i am wearing warm socks that my sister lacy found me at the attic store.

i am creating nothing-- i'm all created out for today!

i am going to take my daughters to the airport in the morning for their week with daddy in seattle.

i am reading secret supper, a da vinci code-ish mystery that takes place in 16th century italy.

i am hoping to buy some sweaters and jeans tomorrow as the post-christmas sister shopping officially begins.

i am hearing girls who don't want to go to sleep because they're too excited about flying tomorrow-- like a second christmas eve!

around the house: a giant dollhouse brought by santa, plates of treats brought by neighbors, boots coated with salt, remnants of wrapping.

one of my favorite things is the fact that my sisters and i each exchanged homemade gifts, without expressly dictating it, expressing our unique talents and offering each other what we cannot give ourselves.

a few plans for the rest of the week: clean out the girls room (this may require a rake and/or shovel), take stella to the dog park, shop with the family, end 2008 with happiness and contentment.

happy new year!

christmas girls

i'm not sure the last time, or the next time, they'll both be clean, in dresses, with hair completely brushed and curled or braided, so i snapped this today.  enjoy!

the sunday post

for today, the winter solstice and my birthday:

outside my window i can see the neighbors' christmas lights and a half-finished snow-fort from emma and david's outdoor adventures yesterday.

i am thinking about three dozen, which is the number of years i've been hanging around this world, as of today.

i am thankful for the amazing and thoughtful birthday gift my mom put together for me, with the help of my siblings, that enumerated and honored what they think are my best innate qualities.  it made me cry a little.

from the project room: nothing but a big old bandage on my finger from an exacto i was using to install a light switch on the cord of a lamp.  project abandoned, for now.

from the kitchen: the smell of ginger pomelo countertop cleaner, which was my party favor from my mom's valentine's day party last year.

i am wearing my new birthday shoes, which are warm and soft and slip-on and waterproof, the very best combination in winter shoes.

i am creating memories with my girls involving christmas street, pandora.com's holiday radio station, and pans full of fresh snow with maple syrup.

i am going to mom and dad's for birthday dinner, where my dad will grill omaha steaks for me in the 30 degree weather because that's what i asked for.

i am reading Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, because it was on Slate.com's best books of 2008 list.

i am hoping my family knows how much they mean to me.

i am hearing wait wait, don't tell me on NPR.

around the house are hermit crabs, guests staying with us for 10 days while their owners are in mexico.

one of my favorite things is the request/hold system at the library-- i got in and out on friday with exactly the books i wanted before the snowflakes on my hair even had a chance to melt.

a few plans for the rest of the week: help emma shop for her sister, some "adult assembly" that, according to the box, will be required, jump up and down when madelyn and cody arrive on wednesday, deliver clementines to the neighbors (doesn't everyone get tired of sweet treats this time of year?), and generally be happy with life.

merry christmas to everyone!

sunday post

for today:

outside my window is the most beautiful snow, 6 inches deep, sticking only where it's supposed to.

i am thinking i have only one more week to be 35.

i am thankful for my front loading washer and dryer, because they seriously cut my workload.

from the project room: christmas necklaces hanging on jewel colored ribbons for the girls.

from the kitchen: organic macaroni and cheese.  what, i have to bake every day?

i am wearing a new kangaroo pouch sweater from my shopping trip with lacy and k-ma on friday.

i am creating three new shy girl purses for my friend liddy.

i am going nowhere!  one trip to gateway is enough outing for the day.

i am reading real simple magazine.  library visit tomorrow.

i am hoping my girls absorb a little more about christmas than lists and shopping.

i am hearing one daughter on the phone with her friend, the other in the living room playing polly pockets with her friend.

around the house are signs that i have brought out all my christmas things, but haven't put back the empty boxes yet.

one of my favorite things: stephen's wassail.

a few plans for the week:  bunco, dsw with k-ma and her coupons, christmas parties at the elementary school, maybe, just maybe, sending christmas cards.

love, me

the advent

this is the calendar we are using to count down to christmas this year.  it came with empty cupboards behind the little dated doors, to be filled with any kind of tiny treasure you can think of.  we chose to fill them notes about acts of unselfishness or responsibility we observe in each other.  it's made our advent pretty remarkable.

for today

i hope to make this a regular sunday thing, inspired by my dear cousin's blog:

Outside my window I see leaves that should already have fallen, but are clinging.

I am thinking about how great Christmas morning is going to be.

I am thankful for nice warm sweaters and crab legs for dinner.

From the project room: handmade jewelry by Lily for her sister's Christmas present.

From the kitchen: peanut-butter kiss cookies for the family tonight.

I am creating homemade gifts for friends and sisters this year.

I am going to family gathering at the Stacks' house tonight.

I am reading an excellent mystery called "Bone Harvest."

I am hoping to get a few more consulting jobs in the new year.

I am hearing the oven timer going off!

Around the house Tom the elf is working his magic.

One of my favorite things is still my yellow mixer.

A few plans for the rest of the week:  lunch with a colleague, reading stories at the kindergarten class, watching the 4th grade pioneer program, playing at IKEA with lacy, k-ma and elly.

happy sunday!

been awhile...

Okay, so it's been awhile since I posted.  My excuses are many and varied.  I promise a nice long one soon.  Meanwhile here are some recent events:

emma's 10th birthday party: we celebrated a bit early so we could go to the premiere of High School Musical 3, which, if you have any girls aged 3 through 15, you know is a very big deal.  especially here in salt lake, due to the fact that we've

 all suffered through the filming in our neighborhoods.  emma took three of her best friends and allowed lily and mom to each bring one, and we had HSM shirts, treats, etc.  it was pretty awesome.

halloween: lily posing as the cutest witch ever.  

kathryn, meanwhile, had to go with the High School Musical theme for the candy distribution.  she found this wig buried in the attic dress-up stash and made all the trick-or-treaters say "East High Forever!" before they could get the special HSM candy she found.  As mentioned above, we go a little crazy for HSM around here because it was filmed at my high school.  That kind of overcomes the plot deficits.

las vegas trip: a couple of weeks ago my generous parents took the girls and me to las vegas for the weekend.  we swam for hours and hours, we visited some friends, and saw donny & marie which was entertaining for everyone.  we also went to the siegfried & roy "secret garden" dolphin and white tiger habitat.  here are the girls on the back of one of the tiger statues (they couldn't actually pet the real ones, much to their dismay).

we also thought the 6-week old baby dolphin was a pretty big treat.

other than that, we've been hanging out in the beautiful fall weather (except today, which is gray and rainy), riding bikes, raking leaves, and generally being happy!

before they were rock stars

Before Lacy and Brandon brought us Rock Band, they introduced us to Dance Dance Revolution.  Check out how serious they are!  (and sorry about the bad video quality... it was the OLDEN days.)

doc's surprise

We've been working all week moving furniture around and cleaning out clutter in my parents' basement, getting ready for Doc's birthday (which isn't for three more weeks, but this is when we had the time...).  K-ma got him a new TV that will eventually hang on the wall, but for tonight we just had movie night with the newly arranged room, and the TV on a makeshift table.  I think Doc was really surprised!

We watched "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark."  Classic.

Here's the corner where the old giant tube TV used to be.  Some of these kids are part of our family, some aren't.  Everyone had a great time-- wish more of the family could have been there!

golfing girls

Just testing the video-loading process.  This is a gem from the summer of 2004; Emma was 5 and a half, Lily was not quite 2.  Enjoy!

things that make me smile

Lots of things make me smile, obviously, like my children and good jokes.  But this is a post about tiny simple things that absolutely always bring a smile to my face, just by looking at them.

Number one is my yellow kitchen aid mixer.  I used to have a red one, but it didn't really go in my new kitchen, and my mom wanted it, so voila, a sunny new yellow one.  It makes me smile because of its color, and the shiny metal bowl, and the thought of butter and sugar creaming together inside it.

Number two is fresh peonies.  These aren't in season very long, but when they are, they are the most beautiful blossoms with a fragrance that can't be duplicated, even by Bath & Body Works, and the cut ones last 9 days in a vase.  You can't ask for more in a flower.

Number three is any kind of fruit, all one kind, piled high in a bowl or basket.  I don't have any in my house right now, so I stole this picture from my sister Lacy's blog. 

Number four is a cupboard full of newly laundered towels, folded correctly (if you've ever lived with me you know there is a right and wrong way to fold towels...) in some of my favorite colors.  I always buy a lot of towels because I put out fresh ones all the time.

And finally, number five is a whole bunch of tiny notebooks, in entertaining patterns.  These are from Galison and are almost too cute to write in.  But I do, anyway.

solstice

Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  We did some calculating last night and figured out that there are approximately seven more hours of daylight today than there were exactly six months ago, which is pretty amazing.

It's also my half-birthday, which I used to celebrate every year when I was younger.  On December 21, 2007, my actual birthday, I took this picture of a tree in my backyard.  

It was about midnight and it had been snowing for twenty hours.  I thought it was beautiful.  

Today I took this picture of the same tree. 

I love the seasons here-- it's one of my favorite things about the place I grew up.  Happy Solstice!

welcome!

Although this is my third official post, the first two were sort of test runs, so consider this the inauguration of the new blog. I hope this can enable to me to post videos and pictures of my kids, update you all on the developments in our lives, and help me keep in touch with friends old and new. Please comment so we can know you were here!

employed

Today in the mail I received my first earned income in almost 9 years. Amazing, I know! It was a check from the city of Murray, where I've been doing an architectural history project for the past few months. Here's a little more about what I do in this part of my life:

My bachelor's degree is in Architectural History and Preservation. Yawn for most people, but not for me-- I loved school and really enjoy studying buildings as historical documents. They can tell us so much about the culture of the time they were built: their values, their standards, their lifestyles. I find it pretty fascinating.

The unfortunate things about this profession are 1)you really have to know someone to get into it-- there are no historic preservation jobs posted on Monster.com or craig's list; and 2)many of the available jobs are for non-profit organizations which translates to volunteer or very low-paying work. Consequently, when I got out of school I ended up taking a lot of detours and never really working in my field, much to my sadness.

When I returned to Salt Lake City 18 months ago, I contacted some of my friends from school, and they've hooked me up with some consulting work, and voila! The contract I have right now is a survey of about 50 square blocks in Murray where there are a lot of subdivisions constructed in the 1950s and 1960s. Believe it or not, these buildings are being considered historic right now, as they are over fifty or almost fifty years old. Basically, I document each house (1100 in total) by taking a picture of it, entering a few pieces of information about it into a database, and noting it on a map. When the documentation is done, I'll give the city an analysis of my findings and recommendations for actions to be taken, such as further studies, protecting some of the prime examples or changing zoning ordinances to slow development and commercialization.

I like the work, but it can get a little tedious, mostly because the nature of these subdivisions is that they were built all the same, so the houses get monotonous. But, unlike work I've done in the past, I have had the opportunity to talk to some of the original owners (you don't really get that with a Victorian house built in 1899).

In the future I hope to receive other contracts with city or county governments, as well as some private consulting jobs with homeowners, contractors, or architects. It's nice because it's usually pretty flexible as far as scheduling and I can do a lot of it from my home office, so it works out pretty well.

The picture above is of one of my first preservation projects when I was in college, a study of my parents' house built in 1929.

jumping in with all six feet

The worst part about starting a project like this: scrapbooking, saving christmas cards or wedding invitations, writing a journal, cataloging kids' art- or homework, is that I always feel like I have to catch up my entire life before getting to this moment. Not this time!  If you aren't up on the events that led me to this place, you can browse the past at hurricane.  For now, we're just jumping in at the present.

A brief synopsis of each participant in this chaos:

Enchilada (E for short) is a sassy, spirited and beautiful nine-year-old who's in the third grade at our local elementary school, to and from which she can WALK BY HERSELF (this is a big plus in mom's life)!  She is passionate about many things, up to about 15 per day.  Sometimes her passions last, like her concern about global warming, her serious goal to be the President "after she's a grandma," and her voracious appetite for books of all kinds.  Some are more fleeting, like her on-again off-again interest in American Girl dolls, doing the laundry by herself, or becoming a full-fledged member of Club Penguin.  She's an excellent artist, loves the monkey bars, and plans to go horse-back riding when staying with her dad in seattle this summer.

Lollipop (L for short) is an affectionate, silly and charming five-year-old.  She's just finishing a year of kindergarten at the University near our house, where she's been learning all about ancient Egypt (she can write her name in hieroglyphics) and medieval times (when they believed in dragons even though "turns out, they didn't exist!").  She is afflicted with what we call "magnet disease" which means she must be physically touching someone else at almost all times, usually in some sort of snuggling position.  She is nearly always pretending to be someone else-- her current repertoire includes Bindy the jungle girl, a teenaged celebrity called Ameliadora or something equally complicated, a baby polar bear, and any supporting role to one of her big sister's leads.  She has an extremely expressive face and is constantly pulling out words and phrases that no five-year-old should know or use (she informed me at the zoo recently that giraffes are "prehensile" animals, which means they can grab things with their tongues.  I had to look it up.).

And as for me, the mom, I'm trying to figure out what that means, mostly.  In addition to that major role I'm also a homeowner, a landlord, an architectural historian, a small business owner, and sometimes kind of a teenager.  I don't really know how to stitch it all together but I'm having a lot of fun trying.  I'll do separate posts about my career endeavors-- it's pretty complicated when someone asks what I do.

For now, buckle up and enjoy the ride-- we sure are.