Judy

Happy Thanksgiving

Thu, 27 Nov 08 09:18:00 UT

I'm here to wish all of you a wonderful day with your loved ones. If you cannot be with your loved ones today, I hope that sometime soon you can be.

Now I'm going to go make some cranberry sauce. YUM!!

I can't even think of a good title for this

Wed, 5 Nov 08 08:44:00 UT

I have remained quiet for the most part this election season. To me, my vote is personal and not something that I advertise and generally discuss. So much so that even though I teach at a school that leans very heavily the same way that I lean, when asked who I was voting for for president by students, I declined to state. When LB asked me I had to force myself to tell him, because I think it's important for him to hear it and also to understand why.

Today I find myself alternating between pissed off and extremely upset. How can my fellow Californians actually vote bigotry into our constitution?

I don't know if an amendment to the constitution can be repealed, or how that works, but I have the following idea for a bumper sticker:

I am not a bigot.
Are you?
Repeal Prop. 8 NOW!

My sister, my brother-in-law, my friends, my colleagues, I'm truly sorry that the majority of Californians appear to have voted to put bigotry into the California constitution.

Updatedness

Mon, 6 Oct 08 21:37:00 UT

It's been a while, I figure I should post something.

School is going. I'm behind on grading labs mostly because I abhor the thought of it. Once I actually get going they're not as bad as I think they are, but getting going is the tough part. I like my kids fine, although some are getting rather flaky about doing homework, time for some progress reports.

I've been itching to decorate something-a cake or cupcakes, but haven't really had time to bake or make icing. Last night I did a survey of the icing in the fridge and found I have enough for parts here and there. There's a harvest festival that I should bake something for on Sunday, so maybe I will-I'd like to do so, maybe bake on Friday night and then decorate on Saturday after the birthday party that LB is attending Saturday morning.

The diet is going crappy. My motivation is seriously lacking-but I've been egged on at least a little bit by CK who's back down below her wedding weight. My goal's not nearly that lofty, but I do still have a lot to lose. I have been getting, at least a little bit of exercise, which should also help. Focus focus focus, right? That and ignore all the food that surrounds me at school.

Other things are mostly good, but not all good-I wish my house were cleaner and neater; LB is still loving school and is doing well (as far as we know, at least-no phone calls home lately); Phil is not as miserable at work as he was; none of my friends are getting dumped or divorced.

I have no major complaints, but also no major highs, this mostly just sort of are.

And on that note, I do get a snack-even on the diet, this evening and now's the time for it.

Wizard Revisited

Sun, 31 Aug 08 16:14:00 UT

When I asked today, what LB wanted to be for Halloween, he thought for just a minute and then said that he wanted to be a wizard.

I thought I'd get to make him a new robe, but then I remembered that when I made the last one (which he wore when he was two and again when he was three), I had to tack the sleeves up so that they were the right length. When we got home, I pulled it out and put it on him-yep the sleeves were too short, so I let out the tacks. Now they're just about the perfect length.

He has said that he'd like pants made for him, he requested the same material but I don't think I can find the SAME material. We'll have to see what I can find.

The robe is not floor length on him now, it's about mid calf. But now I wonder if I can add length to it or if I should just leave it but make some really cool looking pants. Anyone have any brilliant thoughts?

My current pants plan is to just do simple baggy pants (what the heck are they called?) with elastic in the legs and a draw string at the waist.

And lucky for me he can still wear the hat!! It looks like I MIGHT have gotten off easy again this year for Halloween. Which is good since, I should have started a while ago if I was going to make a full costume.

From Ketchikan

Tue, 12 Aug 08 14:09:00 UT

Greetings from Ketchikan. Just letting you all know that we're enjoying ourselves. Alaska is BEAUTIFUL, even if it's raining.

LB is loving the cruise-swimming daily and stuff. It's been great so far.

HUGS to everyone.

Impatiently Waiting

Wed, 16 Jul 08 23:03:00 UT

A few weeks ago, my camera, the one I almost always had with me, was taken. It was either dropped from my bag at a bowling alley or ice skating rink or purposefully taken. Either way, it's gone.

Pentax was just about to release a newer version of the camera. (there were 3 iterations of the camera between when I got this one and the new release) They've now released it and one's on its way.

I, of course, got the blue one. LB thinks that's because blue is HIS favorite color, silly boy.

While I'm sad that the camera was lost/stolen/whatever, I'm now excited to get a new one, with better resolution, and better optics.

I sometimes wonder what the thief thought when he/she turned on the camera to discover that the only pictures on it were of the Weinerschnitzel truck. (they were taken for a friend obsessed with the Weinermobile and I thought she might be amused by them as well-*waves at Mindy*)

But, onward, I am looking forward to using up even more memory space on the new camera and being able to take better pictures (she says optimistically).

Cakes and Cupcakes

Wed, 2 Jul 08 18:19:00 UT

It's been a while and people have requested pictures of what I've been doing on the cake decorating front:

I've done:
LB's Birthday Cake
Birthday Cupcakes for Phil
Lemonade Cupcakes
Chocolate cupcakes with roses

I also made a red velvet cake with frosting, but it wasn't decorated so doesn't count in the decorating book.

And now I'm taking the class again, so far I've done two cakes:
Sunflower cake
4th of July cake

LB's Birthday cake:

Phil's Birthday:

Now imagine the above two photos without the jelly bellies or licorice, they looked an awful lot like Sideshow Bob. It's sort of hard to tell from the top, but edge on they really really did.

These were what I decided to do for the rest of the cupcakes after I'd made the dozen aliens.

Lemonade Cupcakes:

Roses:

And now for the class cakes:

#1 Sunflowers

#2 4th of July

10 years

Sat, 28 Jun 08 08:38:00 UT

Ten years ago today, I married the man I loved then and still love today (even more).

Happy Anniversary, Honey!!

What am I supposed to say...

Sat, 24 May 08 08:35:00 UT

... when my husband returns from an errand that I sent him on, walks into the kitchen, sees the small amounts of dark red goop in the sink, and asks, "Who did you kill?"?!?

Incapacitaed

Sat, 16 Feb 08 10:00:00 UT

When I go home yesterday evrything was fine. Then my back started to hurt and it steadily got worse. I ended up in bed unable to do anything. Phil had to not only deal with LB, but also me. He set up the heating pad for me, brought me food, and helped me get up when I needed to do so.

It's something in my upper back, mostly affecting my right side. It is under my shoulder blade (I think) and feels a bit like something's getting pinched. It's not a constant pain, but let's me know when I move wrong. Last night everything was moving wrong, today not everything. This morning, I told Phil that it's better but still not good.

Luckily I was able to sleep last night-at least off and on. I'd wake up, wince as I rolled over to a different position and then go back to sleep.

I feel totally useless today, can't even do much with LB. It's frustrating, irritating and painful. I hope it continues to improve, and quickly.

Friday Five - New Year's Resolutions

Fri, 4 Jan 08 23:15:00 UT

It's still before midnight here so not totally late, just almost totally late.

Well it had to be didn't it, love them or hate them I bet you've been asked about New Year resolutions. So with no more fuss here is this weeks Friday Five;

1. Do you make New Year resolutions?

Not usually, not big ones at least. Usually I go for the, "I'll try to..." type and sometimes make it and sometimes not.

2. Is this something you take seriously, or is it a bit of fun?

Mostly seriously.

3. Share one goal for 2008.

I'm an over achiever, so here are TWO.

First, drop the last 20 pounds that I want to drop.
Second, use my cake decorating skills at least once per month.

These two seem counterproductive, don't they? Luckily, I can usually find OTHERS to eat the cakes that I make. :) On that note, if you need a cake for an event, I just might be able to help out on that front.

4. Money is no barrier, share one wild/ impossible dream for 2008

It's our 10th anniversary this year and I keep eyeing the Northern Europe cruises, but spending upwards of $10K on a trip (for three of us even) seems ridiculously extravagant. And in the wild/impossible, I'd do the penthouse instead of just a nice cabin too.

5. Someone wants to publish a story of your year in 2008, what will the title of that book be?

Change is Good for the Soul
While I don't anticipate any major changes for me personally, there seem to be some biggies in the future for those near and dear.

The Weather

Fri, 4 Jan 08 15:07:00 UT

Well, it finally started raining, and it seems a mostly gentle rain, YAY!!

I'm amused by the yahoo weather page for Glendale right now.

High temp 55 degrees
Low temp 53 degrees

Current temp 51 degrees

OK, SOMEONE has made a mistake here!!

Open House

Fri, 4 Jan 08 10:10:00 UT

For those of you who I don't reach other ways, we're having a casual open house type gathering tomorrow (Saturday).

Here's what the e-mail that I sent out said:

Please come by and join us for an informal open house-sit, chat, eat, drink, play a game or two, watch some football (is there any on?), warm your butt (or hands) on the copper fireplace... Well, you get the picture.

We have some food, we have some drink; I'm trying to reduce the amount of both that we have so please, no need to bring more. I'll have makings for Hot Cocoa (GOOD STUFF), chocolate fondue (good stuff), and smores (the less good stuff), plus some cheese and crackers, hummus, that famous blue cheese pecan crack that TJ's sells, and other munchies of various sorts.

We'd love to see any of you who can make it. Drop in any time after 2 pm. And we'll be here well into the evening. As dinnertime rolls around, if there's interest we'll order something for dinner too.

If you think you'll make it I'd appreciate an RSVP, but it's certainly not necessary.

We'd love to see any of you who can make it on Saturday.

How to whack a chicken

Sun, 16 Dec 07 08:39:00 UT

Step 1: While in Bolivia decide that slowing down for every chicken that crosses in front of you will result in you never getting anywhere.

Step 2: Find success with Step 1, they just get out of your way.

Step 3: Find the "slow" chicken but think you're in the clear anyway as it is standing squarely between your tires.

Step 4: Whack the chicken in the head with your differential. Oops!!

Eulogy, funeral, etc...

Wed, 12 Dec 07 20:41:00 UT

My grandmother's funeral was on Tuesday.

I went to work on Monday and by about lunchtime I was wiped out, just felt exhausted.

I went to work today. I felt totally out of sorts, and was very glad that all I had to do today was administer a test.

Both days I was also covering for a colleague who was out for various different reasons. Tomorrow I will be doing the same.

I really hope that tomorrow is better from the out of sorts front, I have too much work to do to be so totally unfocused.

We'll see how it goes.

At my grandmothers funeral, all of the grandkids were offered the opportunity to speak if we wished. I went back and forth a lot, as of Tuesday morning, I had only written down some ideas and nothing else. I sat down Tuesday morning and typed out the following, which I read at her funeral.

We spent many evenings at my grandmotherâs apartment celebrating various Jewish Holidays. Passover seders, Yom Kippur break fasts, and others.

I would like to share with you, some of my memories of those times. They all jumble together so I mostly donât remember which ones go with which holidays.

Whenever we visited, the TV was on. I suspect that she often times had it on for the company as she lived alone. My most specific TV memory was that if Wheel of Fortune was on, it was watched, plain and simple. As grandma got older, her hearing started to go and the TVâs volume got louder and louder and louder. I only hope that her neighbors liked Wheel too. I also think I learned how to read the TV guide at grandmaâs house.

I HATE liver, absolutely hate it, I donât care if itâs cooked in bacon grease with onions (how kosher is that?!?) or made into chopped liver, I just donât like it. Chopped liver was one of my grandmotherâs specialties; it was there as an appetizer with crackers for most meals. I was always forced to at least have a taste so that grandma would not be insulted that I didnât have any. Iâm pretty sure that I pushed the limit of how small a speck of chopped liver I could put onto a cracker.

Family traditions were big for Grandma too. There is one that I never paid that much attention to as a child, but as an adult I have no idea how she and my father managed to be functional at all after it. I will admit to never trying it, not even when I was in college. Before we began our break fast meal at the end of Yom Kippur, my grandmother and father toasted âLâchaimâ and each had a shot of schnapps. Iâm not much of a drinker, but I can only imagine how hard that hit their empty stomachs.

Grandma lived in a tiny apartment with an even tinier kitchen. She used every nook and cranny for storage. What I remember best about this is that she used to have tins of cookies that she stored in the oven.

There seem to be lots of food centered memories, ah well, we are a good Jewish family arenât we?

Two of my favorites that she made were her barley soup, which Aunt Skippy made this year for Thanksgiving, and kasha with bow tie pasta. I canât eat either of these without thinking fondly of my grandmotherâs cooking.

Another traditional pastime besides watching TV at grandmaâs was to play Rummikub. I donât know when I learned to play it, but it seemed that whenever Grandma was there, Rummikub was played. This happed at her house, but also at my Aunt Skippy and Uncle Philâs house. My strongest memories are not of actually playing the game, but of the ritual of putting everything away. The tiles had to go into the box (three to a stack with the two extra tiles tucked down the side) and then tile holders had to get stacked together just right and their supports put together perfectly, otherwise it all wouldnât fit back in the box.

After dinner at Grandmaâs apartment, my dad, Uncle Phil, and my cousin Aaron and any other men who wanted to join them would go for a walk. This usually happened when Wheel of Fortune was on ( a coincidence, I think not!). This was ostensibly to work off some of the food and get some fresh air. It wasnât until well into adulthood that I learned that these walks also involved the purchase and consumption of candy bars. Why, oh WHY did I not go on more of those walks?!?

The last memory that I want to share is much more recent, this one is from after grandma had moved into the assisted living facility. She used to hoard food in her room; I think she wanted to be sure that if they ran out of food in the dining room, she would still be able to eat. My son, Bernhardt and I would occasionally visit her. Her small room did not hold much interest for a 2 or 3 year old, however, every time we visited, she had a banana for him which he gladly devoured.

In closing I would like to say that, I only hope that my grandmother is happier in death than she often seemed in life.