The Gamble Life

Sweater Vest for Baby James

I actually had to open the package and hurriedly take this picture because I forgot to get any record that I'd finished before I got it ready to be shipped to baby James for wearing!  So, not the best photo.  But, didn't the vest come out really cute?  The pattern is a free one, from here.  I used Rowan's CashSoft yarn which is a merino, cashmere, acrylic blend and very, very soft.  The colors are not quite true in this picture, the blue is brighter and the cream is whiter.  I enjoyed this and it was very fast, just three evenings.  I hope James likes wearing it!

First Tooth Lost!

A mere week after first getting "wiggly" and it's out.  I can barely believe it.  The tooth fairy, for those who are interested, did find the pillow despite its unusual style and left behind trident, dental floss, a note, and a quarter.

Adventures in Cooking

I like to try new recipes; I get bored making and eating the same old thing every week.  My family, by the way, is not really with me on this; they prefer the tried and true and loved.  I recently tried fish cakes.  Don't they look nice in their uncooked state? 

And even when they first hit the pan they look pretty good.

But then I was supposed to flip them!  Hoo hoo ha ha.  Oh well. 

Fish scramble it is, finished off in the oven, and absolutely delicious!

Gus has reached the age where he can do some simple cooking almost entirely alone, hence the very delicious and very large chocolate chip cookie:

Choices

Sorry I abandoned the blog for a few days there...I've been consumed with a big choice in my life right now and just pretty much unable to think about anything else at all.

When I have a big decision to make I tend to try and categorize all the options, pros & cons, long-term, short-term, that kind of thing.  I've done that back and forth and all around on this one and I still am not comfortable.

I thought this was going to be a no-brainer, but it's turned out much more complicated and I guess some things that I thought were the most important to me aren't.  I also feel like what is best for me is in conflict with what is best for my family which is too bad because of course I want what is best for my family, but I also want what I need and want too.

I wish I could share more details but right now I can't.  It's really springtime here--and it hasn't gotten too hot yet which is nice.  On our walk we saw not one but two rabbits!

Which were promptly scared off by our caravan. 

And in other extremely exciting news Gus has his first loose tooth!

One trip to the fabric store (where it took Gus about 4.5 seconds to choose the fabric he wanted) plus a little bit of sewing and we have one nontraditional tooth fairy pillow:
I admit that I tried to talk him into a more traditional pillow, something smaller, shaped like a tooth, but if I wanted that I should have already made it because his vision was very clear!  In an effort to see what kind of expectations his friends may have given him I asked what he thought the tooth fairy would bring him and he replied "Oscar the cat".  Hmm, no.  So I still don't know what to put in there.  What do you give your kids (if you do)?

The other thing about this pillow is that he picked polyester fleece.  I didn't feel like making him pick out a different fabric and who knows, maybe this pillow will become a cherished heirloom.  I sort of doubt it but you never know.  I don't know of any printed cotton fleece.  We could have found regular printed cotton fabric but that store is about 30 minutes away and I just wasn't up for the trek.  So, a plastic tooth fairy pillow.  I want to take Beth's challenge, and record all my plastic for a week, but I am scared.  I know she says there is no place for guilt, but that's because she doesn't live over here in my head!  What do you think, should I do it?

Review: Warm Springs by Susan Richard Shreve

Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood at FDR's Polio Haven by Susan Richards Shreve

This is an absolutely wonderful memoir. It's hard to imagine leaving my children on their own for two years at a combination medical facility/camp, as Shreve was left by her parents, but polio forced some hard choices.

She writes with a very moving and honest style. Surprisingly there is a lot happening in these two years to the point where I was anxious to find out what happened. I'm sure part of writing the book was to explore actions for which she must feel guilty. Reading about or thinking about children doing things that have terrible consequences for other people is both fascinating and horrible all at the same time, because I can desperately wish they didn't make that decision or mistake and at the same time realize they were young and didn't have the experience to look ahead in the way an adult can. Is it just part of growing up but most of us are lucky enough to not do anything for which we need to feel responsible? I don't know, but Shreve writes about her own experiences in a way that is very compelling.

In some ways, this book reminds me of Prep, which is fiction, but also deals with a young girl living in a world of children and only a few adults. Both are excellent explorations of that cusp between childhood and adulthood. I recommend this book to everyone.

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Common Interests

The cat does not much care for the children, but Abe and the cat both seem pretty interested in the fish!

Happy Birthday Abe!

Starting with last May, one picture a month.  I love seeing how much you've changed and how much you look exactly like yourself, right from the beginning.

Thank you Abe, for a wonderful and joy-filled year. 

You are curious, demanding and hilarious.  You know what you want and do everything you can to get it.  Nothing makes you laugh more than your big brother and from day one you've followed him everywhere, at first with your eyes and now with a super-fast crawl!

Hearing you explore sounds and words is so thrilling.  It won't be long before you are talking up a storm, I just know it. 

On this, your very first birthday, I wish that you never lose your determination to go after what you want, that you are always able to laugh as completely as you do today, and that you always give your love as freely as you do now.

We love you so much Abe!

Review: Almost Green by James Glave

James Glave wants to build a "green" house which he implicitly (but not explicitly) defines as carbon neutral. He lives in Canada so heating his house is a big issue for him. Unfortunately he and his wife couldn't afford to build the carbon-neutral house of their dreams so he instead tries to build the carbon-neutral office/guest house of his dreams. He does a decent job too and makes the story entertaining and even somewhat informative. $90,000 later he has a nice 400 square foot space built with responsibly grown lumber and solar-heated. It sounds good, but it was a lot of effort and a lot of cost and is so obviously out of reach for most people that I sort of wonder what the reader is supposed to do with the information?

I will say that if I were headed to do a building project I'd look for the responsibly grown/harvested lumber he discusses, that seemed minimally more expensive, and definitely worth it, although at least where he lives, hard to come by.

I was disappointed that he insulated with an expanding polyurethane foam. It does it's job well but was incredibly toxic getting installed and I wonder what happens if the building ever has to be torn down or a wall replaced or something like that? Not to mention that even though once cured it appears to be inert it is incredibly volatile and dangerous until then and the people who work with it are putting themselves at risk for respiratory problems. And of course when it is installed some of those toxins are released into the greater world.

I think keeping our carbon footprint down is important, I'm just not sure it is important above and beyond all other environmental concerns, especially in a building project the size of Glave's which is so small as to have a small impact regardless. And, after all, sits immediately next door to his much larger house which was built without the same carbon consciousness.

At the end I found it to be a fun read but as I'm not building anything any time soon I didn't take much from it that I could use.

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Unnecessary Plastic

Plastic is so ubiquitous that it is really easy to not even notice it or think about whether a particular use is worth it.  I've talked before about my own personal awareness awakening and how I now see plastic waste where before I never did.

I recently ordered some yarn and forgot to ask for no plastic packaging.  The yarn is lovely, from Knitters Brewing Company, and it is going to turn into some awesome socks, I am sure of it.  And actually the packaging wasn't bag...paper envelope, paper bag, paper label for the yarn, and tiny plastic purse holding beads. 

I've already strung the beads onto my yarn, ready for knitting.  But what to do about that plastic purse?  Cute?  Sure, sort of.  If you don't think about it too hard.  So I'm taking a page from Beth's playbook and mailing it back with a sweet note pointing out how it's cuteness is hardly worth it's existence for all eternity and suggesting that she switch to a cute paper or fabric bag in the future.  I'll let you know if Knitters Brewing writes back.

Isn't the yarn gorgeous?  I'll be knitting a pair of socks, but I don't know what they'll look like because it's a mystery knit-a-long (a bunch of knitters knitting on their own version of the same project at the same time).  I'm very excited because it's fun to see it take shape without knowing what's coming and because I've wanting to do some knitting with beads for years now.

Things are rolling along here.  I had an anxious day yesterday during which I completely freaked out that I had probably missed the T-Ball registration deadline.  I mean, really freaked out.  I've since decided that there are such big worrisome things going on right now (swine flu anyone?) about which I have zero control that I compensated by going a little nutso over the things I do have some control over.  Anyway, I talked to the T-Ball folks and it's no big deal, Gus is in.  It should be a fun summer.  Abe is going to be night-weaned this weekend, I'm 95% sure, so I'll be a sad zombie for a few days.  Wish me luck.