Memories: July 12 – July 18

By Alexa | July 26, 2010

July 18, 2010

It’s been ridiculously hot here. 95 -100ºF for a week. Today, we needed an outing to a place where we wouldn’t spontaneously combust or spend a shit ton of money on entrance fees. So, we drove to Flatirons Mall. And Syd was ALL about the mall. Between the people and the sound and the mountains of stuff she’d never seen before and the plants and the light play from the skylights, it was super stimulating for her. …She seemed to like furniture shopping, too. That’s my girl!

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July 17, 2010

Sydney and Annie have a great relationship. Sydney squeals at Annie and pulls her ears and tries to catch her wagging tail and holds her paws and nestles up against her. Annie takes it all in stride. She is so gentle and accommodating.

Ryan captured this moment, and I feel like Annie (or should I call her Nana?) is telling me, “Hey. The kid is alright.”

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July 16, 2010

Went to Benjamin Moore and pinched a bunch of paint samples. These are in the powder room on the main level. I was inspired by my favorite hand soap and the echinacea purpurea I cut from the garden. Plus, according to the principles of Feng Shui, our bathroom is in the abundance/prosperity corner of our home, and that’s not desirable. I need to do something to put that part of our home and lives in balance and send some wealth energy our way.

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July 15, 2010

We got a bag of apricots in our CSA fruit share this week (along with a few cherries and THE BEST CIDER I’ve had since moving West). So, I made apricot pudding. It’s a British pudding, not a Cosby pudding. And I don’t think Ryan’s a fan.

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July 14, 2010

On our walk tonight, we found ourselves without a poop bag. (Not a happy moment.) So, Ryan and Sydney stayed put, human Xs to mark the spot, and Annie and I trotted three blocks down to the nearest poop bag dispensary, then trotted back. As I scooped the poop and tied the bag off, I realized we are good parents. We are already teaching Sydney about manners, personal responsibility and good citizenship. “Take care of your shit.” And surround yourself with people who do the same.

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July 13, 2010

One of the tomato plants was getting scorched in its previous location. So, we moved it to a partly sunny, partly shady spot under the flowering apricot tree. Ryan came up with this ingenious way to attach it to the tree. …My man isn’t necessarily handy with tools, but he is darn ingenuitive. Give him a pack of chewing gum, some thumbtacks, a couple of twigs, a bag of coffee beans, two soda cans and belt, and he’ll get you to the moon and back.

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July 12, 2010

We are, indeed, letting go of Buster. We’re trying to find a home for him through our network, but it’s looking like he may have to go up for adoption at the Boulder Valley Humane Society. He’s just not happy with us anymore. Our HOA requires that he remain indoors, and that’s darn hard for a kitty who grew up exploring and playing and hunting in the mountains. And, frankly, he resents Sydney. He avoids her like the plague. …Oh, Buster. We will miss you.

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Memories: July 5 – July 11

By Alexa | July 19, 2010

July 11, 2010

I went on a baby food making bonanza this evening. This is the last batch: peas.

My mother tells this story about how much I hated peas as a baby. I’d just let them ooze out of the corners of my mouth. Here’s hoping Sydney falls a little further from the tree/bursts a bit farther from the pod.

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July 10, 2010

I made two crisps this week: one strawberry rhubarb; one blueberry cherry (above). The blueberry cherry was to accompany us to our friends’ Robby and Kiran’s picnic, but we did not go. Instead, we lamented our lameness and fantasized about a life with naps. Then we ate too much crisp to comfort ourselves.

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July 9, 2010

Somebody has figured out how to scoot backwards. Only backwards. She is especially effective on the hardwood floors. Her favorite destinations, so far, are her toy basket and Annie’s bed. But I repeat myself.

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July 8, 2010

Annie and I found this cool bubble wand on our morning walk today. I brought it home and washed it up, so Sydney, Annie and I can be Triple Bubble Princesses. …I’ve just got to remember to buy glycerin next time I’m at Target, so we can refill our bubble jar.

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July 7, 2010

Ryan’s parents gave us a programmable thermostat last year for Christmas. It was on our list. We’ve been talking and talking (and talking and talking) about installing it since the weather broke this Spring. Why wait til Spring? Because nobody wants to muff up the thermostat installation when it’s less than 50ºF and there’s a baby in the house. Then Spring turned to Summer and Summer turned to Inferno. We continued to wait because nobody wants to muff up the thermostat installation when it’s over 85ºF and there’s a baby in the house. But today, it was grey and rainy and the temp never got above 65ºF. So, tired of waiting on Ryan (I love you, Ryan.), I went ahead and installed the thing myself. Wearing Ryan’s headlamp because the overhead lights are on the same breaker as the furnace. Using a paring knife for those final touches instead of mini flathead screwdriver. (The knife, admittedly, was Ryan’s idea when I called and said, “Sheisse.”) Regardless. GO ME.

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July 6, 2010

Meet Becca. She is our Angel Goddess new nanny, and today was her first day with us. Becca’s poise, vibrancy, humility and wisdom impressed us when we first met her. She joins us two afternoons a week now, and already, she is shining her light into our lives.

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July 5, 2010

After the rains last night, we have “ponds” in the neighborhood. Here in CO, they dig drainage basins in new neighborhoods so when we get torrential rains, there’s a place to contain it and prevent flash floods. Annie wanted to get down there SO badly. And I was the heavy. No stinking way, Annie. A) You cannot be trusted off leash. 2) The neighborhood is pretty serious about the leash law anyways. D) We’re not running down there with Sydney in tow, either. Better luck next time, Dog-girl.

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Memories: June 28 – July 4

By Alexa | July 12, 2010

So, in case you haven’t noticed, my posts have been two weeks behind, not one. It’s been challenging keeping up with the posting, and I wanted to honor my commitment to myself to post every Monday. So, please indulge me, for now, in this two week buffer.

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July 4, 2010

This is the view, looking northwest, from our front stoop. We spent a quiet evening at home watching the storms in the sky and listening to the wind and rain beat against the house. Instead of fireworks, we had cloud rotation. WAY more exciting.

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July 3, 2010

I’ve mentioned our evening walks in previous posts. This is one of the alleys we walk. If we were more conventional people, we’d probably walk the sidewalks like most of our neighbors, but Ryan and I both find these “backstories” to be more interesting than the stories people and properties tell out front.

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July 2, 2010

Uncle Dane and his Lady J came up from Westminster tonight. We were going to do a picnic, then Art Walk in Old Town, but the thunderstorms rolled in after dinner, so we let Art Walk pass and just concentrated on food. Which was alright by me.

If you look closely at this photo, you can see Ryan is actually looking at Dane and Jackie, not at the camera. I think he’s noticing and celebrating Uncle Dane’s PDA. Very Historically UnJohnson. And, as Ryan has chosen to do in his relationships, Very Let’s Rewrite What It Means to Be a Johnson.

Cheers, fellas. And Salut to Jackie.

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July 1, 2010

On the way back from a visit with Grandma and Grandpa, Sydney, Annie and I stopped off at The Farm to pick a bouquet. I planted these flowers last Spring while we were still living there. I’m a lot happier when I’ve got cut flowers in the house, and it seems silly to pay a bunch of money for them every week when I can take advantage of “free” ones. These are Alaskan Shasta Daisies and a white Scabiosa. I put them in a spongeware pitcher in the kitchen.

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June 30, 2010

Sydney is all about her new toy. We got it Sunday night at Dandelion Toys while we were out shopping for sunglasses. It’s made by Manhattan Toy, and Syd digs it: she can gnaw on it, toss it, pick it up using multiple grips, and exercise dexterity with all the shapes and sizes. It tends to travel with us from room to room, on walks and over the river and through the plains to grandmother’s house when we go.

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June 29, 2010

I had a hankering, and its been eons since I baked cookies. So long, in fact, I discovered I was OUT of brown sugar. Not to be thwarted, I made my own.*

  • 2 sticks butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 – 1 C  light or dark brown sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 tsp or so vanilla extract
  • 2 C. all purpose white flour
  • 3/4 bag of dark chocolate chips
  • a handful of broken pecan (or walnut) pieces

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Lay a silpat or some parchment paper across your favorite baking pan. Cream the butter and brown sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the flour, one cup or so at a time. Toss in your chips and nuts. Scoop out a Tbsp or so of the dough for each cookie, so 12 fit on a tray. (I get  2-3 dozen cookies, depending on how much dough I eat before the cookies make it to the oven.) Bake in the middle of the oven for 6-9 minutes.** Let the cookies cool on the pan for 3-5 minutes, then remove to a wire cooling rack.

* For a cup of dark brown sugar, add a glug of molasses to a cup of granulated sugar. Blend with a fork.

**I bake at 5000 feet above sea level. I don’t use an air bake cookie tray; I just use an old-fashioned cookie tray/jelly roll pan with a sheet of parchment paper on it. Because I always let the butter sit too long on the counter, in the summer, I have to bake for about 9 minutes. In the spring, fall and winter, I bake for 6-7 minutes. I get a soft cookie that stays soft.

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June 28, 2010

We took a little post-dinner trip into Old Town with the intention of finding a pair of sunglasses for Sydney. We did not buy this chic little pair because we figured she’d be pulling them off and dropping them over the side of her stroller, completely unaware of how adorable she looks OR she’d be hyper-aware of how adorable she looks and demand we cover every surface in her bedroom with white roses, honey bears and little dishes of M&Ms–no brown ones allowed.

PS We bought a sporty red pair with a strap. (They were out of black.)

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