Busy busy busy

It's almost Thanksgiving.  Yep, turkey day in the US.  We celebrate it here, cause..well, why not?  It's Christmas Lite, really.  No ham, but most of the same recipes.  But we have a fun new way to do it.

Remember, I have (minor) food allergies.  Our oldest son has more severe ones, and now we've found out the younger (11 months) has 'em too.  This is now our list:

raw onions

raw carrots

raw celery

green Skittles

dairy

eggs

shellfish

strawberries

nuts

potato 

wheat

Just think what our breakfast table is like.  Forget that...we can't really do much takeaway anymore!

So with Christmas coming, at least I can test some recipes for Thanksgiving.  Since we're still learning how to bake with soy flour.  It's a whole new world, let me tell you.  I thought dairy and eggs were hard...HA!  

Anyway, Turkey Day is coming, and I have turkey. Will brine it tomorrow.  Now I need to hunt down fresh cranberries and sweet potatoes.  And make marshmallows.  What am I doing posting all this, instead of doing it?  Procrastinating :-D!

Views of a family packing

Well, travelling. We leave on the 9:30 ferry, for a 2:30 flight, then a 7:30 flight. Phew. We have our limit of baggage, that's for sure!!



See that on top of the car? That's two more duffel bags.




My stepfather, who lives up the road, has a habit of stripping our place clean of any sweets once we leave. So Atreus left this message on the board of the kitchen...about 2 steps from the cookie jar.

Quiet now

It's quiet here now (well, aside from the baby babbling and the 5 year old asking me questions about everything under the sun). It's the first time the house hasn't had a visitor here since we left, basically. It's a different feeling in the house, like it's a bit empty. Odd that.

3 weeks, and we're off back home ourselves. MW had two massive bags (I swear, her kids are going to think it's Christmas early!), and we're going to be having that much ourselves: two massive bags per passenger (so 8 big bags total!). I still have some bits that need to come home with me that will be ordered online...we're on an island, it's hard to get this stuff sometimes! We also have to get our new driver's licences here (sssshhhh, don't tell the Gardai! We still drive on our US lic, need to get our tests this year-ish). That's the one big thing that *has* to happen. All other stuff can fall behind. I'm going to start to pack boxes/bags this week, so that we know what we have to deal with, and if we have to leave anything behind.

So our efforts are going to ramp up now, finishing things, as well as trying to hit the local county fair in a week or two. Phew. Oh no! I forgot to do Christmas presents!!!! AArgh! Must run!

Yummmyyyyy

Our Christmas dinner, for as long as I can remember until we found out LittleBoy had food allergies, was lobster.

Yes, I can see the shock horror on your face. What, no turkey? No ham?, you ask. Nope.

My most treasured memories are of my grandfather, an immigrant from Austria who taught himself English, struggling with a nutcracker to get the better of the lobster.

I do worry that my son (or both of them) might never try this luscious food (best served with Homard wine).

It is still a treat, as we now have a killer brined turkey every year for Christmas, and get lobster over the summer when we're in Maine, straight from the lobstermen who have pulled them from their lobster traps that very morn. The smell of the ocean in the house from the lobster pot brings me back to many many meals, all of which were accompanied by newspaper on the table, a baked potato each, green salad, and blueberry pie. Mmmmmmm

Kinda not keeping up with the memories tonight, but the tub of chocolate frosting with the spoon in it next to me is making my tummy happy anyway...

One interesting tidbit, might be too much info. When still nursing LittleBoy, and before we knew of the allergies, we had a lovely lobster meal. I had to pump that night, as I was leaking milk, and put the pumped milk in the fridge. When getting up the next morn for brekkie, I opened the fridge to see the breastmilk with a layer of butter on the top from the lobster meal. The bubs *slurped* that bottle down in a wink.

Fears

Right now, we're dealing with the LittleBoy's fears. Somehow, someway, he has gotten it into his head that deer are evil. That they will do something bad, either to him or us, and perhaps even come in the house. I don't know how this started (maybe on a recent hike, or maybe when a friend saw some deer by our garage), but I honestly have no idea how to deal with it. He's terrified to be alone at night or during the day, to the point that he won't go up to his room to change into his bathing suit.

It's horribly frustrating, since I remember my parent's reactions to my fears and I don't want to repeat that with him. But at the same time, it's. a. DEER. Cute, almost cuddly, big doe eyed deer. I know, I know, it's not rational...I am terrified of spiders, and what's the worst that one will do to me (although the one I saw yesterday, it was the size of a f'ing tarantula, it was huge. Atreus had to take it outside for me, and I thought he'd need a bucket instead of a glass)? But deer run the hell away from you!

Right now, we're trying something that a friend recommended. I told him that we sprayed the whole perimeter of the lawn and house with deer repellent spray, that they don't like the smell and will stay away. I need to pick up some essential oil (something good and strong...clary sage?) when we take Miss MW off-island tomorrow to show her the towns nearby, and I can put that in a sprayer with water and spray it around. That's my last chance idea...my parents have said they'll take him on a walk through their woods (until recently populated by deer, but hunting on the island have lowered the numbers) to try to remove that fear. At the same time, I'd rather they didn't, since mom is not the most sympathetic about things (even tho she has a deathly fear of snakes, to the point where you cannot say the word near her or she might faint).

Ah. Parenthood. /groan

She's here

Just so you all know, MW has arrived safely.

Now, to crack open the tequila.......

Our images of deities

When at a friend's house for dinner last week (and the eventual cookout and making of s'mores), the skies finally cleared and the sun came out for a little bit. The sunshine on the leaves was one of those spiritual moments. The friend, A, was born a Muslim but is now a member of the Unitarian church, and has married a Jewish man, so she has a good knowledge of religions of the world.

As the 6 of us were standing there, admiring the leaves, A said "Forget the dead guy on a stick...that's my God right there."

Perfect summing up of how most of my friends believe.

The next day or so

I'm shopping.  Why is this blog-worthy?  Cause of the lengths I have to go to!

I'm leaving the house at about 1:45, hoping to make the 2:30 ferry.  It's Sunday, so people will be heading back to their jobs, etc, from a bit of a weekend away, so it's busy on Sunday afternoons on the ferry.  More than likely, I'll be on the 3:30 or 4:30 (that's the last ferry for the day, so I hope I'm on it!).

I'll then drive for about an hour and a half, depending on traffic.  Get to "The Big City".  Check into motel.  Hop over to the favorite stores, and do what I can tonight.  Back to motel, and cheapo dinner from chain restaurant next to it.  While I'm asleep, our friend and her mother will arrive at the motel as well, and fall asleep (after spending the weekend in NYC).  

Tomorrow morning...more shopping! Grab the friend and her mom,  hit up the other stores that I will miss tonight, as well as get groceries for the next week or so.  Leave The Big City by 1:30 (that guarantees that we'll be on the 5p ferry, which we were lucky enough to get a reservation for).  

Not a huge amount of time, considering what I'm shopping for!  But it shall be done.  Oh, did I mention that the 7 month old will be with me (since he's still nursing, he's attached to my hip)?  That lends an air of danger and fun to the party!  

If you live on an island with ferry service, you learn how to shop, that's for sure.  There are people here who have bumper stickers (it's the States!  Everyone has one!  We have two, one of which is this one!) that say "I'm Ferry Stressed".  Sums it up right there.

Hubs and Little Boy will stay at the house, having a boy's night in with a bit of junk food and video games.

So, if any of you want to text me, my Irish mobile will be working while I'm down there (WHOO HOO!).  The phone doesn't work on the island cause there's just no coverage here, unless you're on the beach.  Which, let's face it, is a bad place for a mobile.

4th of July

We all know what the Americans are like. And 4th of July is the big summer holiday. So why not have a parade?



No parade is complete without a fire truck!



Yes, the woman above has balls of yarn for her Princess Leia hair.



The inevitable backup.



Some fancy cars...



The kiddies get in on the fun as well.



Ooooo, livestock! (Note the man carrying the bucket and shovel walking behind...)



And let's end it all with a biiiiig truck.

The parade is for a small town, and most of the people in the parade either squirt water guns at the spectators, or throw out candy. When we got back in our car, we had bits of chocolate thrown through the window (it's incredibly safe here. We don't lock the doors to the car or the house, we leave keys in the ignition, and there isn't even a full time police officer out here).

I'd like to point out, the rest of the day was enjoyed with a barbeque at home and lots of beer and lemonade.

America the Sparkly

Tomorrow is Fourth of July. We all know what that means in the US....beer, bbq, and fireworks.

Last night was the fireworks for where we are (2 nights early, it's rarely on the actual day). The town collects money all year, and then the fireworks are bought or organized. The fire chief is in charge of all of it, which must be a rush for him! Little Boy went with two of his friends who he has been dying to see (who arrived on Sunday night), and enjoyed himself muchly. We're going down to the beach tomorrow to see if any of the towns around us might have some on the night.

We were just going to do a small bbq, but apparently my mother has decided that we should be together on the 4th (really, I've never seen it as a family holiday...). And then our neighbor should be there too. And then two other people who mom would like to invite. So right now, we have 11 people (including the baby) coming tomorrow for a bbq.

I don't think I have enough wine to make this all okay. Forget sharing the wine, I don't think there's enough for ME.

On a happy note, Little Boy tonight caught his first fireflies in the front garden. :-)

Furthering a thought

Frank's post reminded me of a comment made on the flight to the US. Well, it was after we had landed, and everyone was standing, awkwardly, waiting for the doors to open (which took inordinately long). Now, remember that we flew Aer Lingus, direct from Dublin to Boston.

Discussion in the row behind us (and we're all standing up now...)

Woman 1: "I wanted to exercise more, but there was just no time."

Woman 2: "Oh I know what you mean. And the food! Irish women just don't care about how they look, do they? They eat all this fatty food!"

W1: "I can't wait to get back and have some salads, you know?"

W2: "And the drinking! I mean, Irish women just drink like crazy, don't they. They drink so much! They eat tons of food and drink a huge amount."

I was, literally gobsmacked. I wanted to turn to her, put on my thickest (Southside) accent and say something like "You really should watch what you say on an IRISH airline, especially when you're returning to the fattest country in the world."

And the second woman? Who the heck forced the fish and chips down her gob?! If I remember right, every freaking menu has a salad on it! And the salads in Ireland are much better than the ones here, let me tell you...

No, I was a chicken, I didn't want to start anything, but jjjjjjjjjjeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Sunshine on my shoulders...

...makes me happy....

Nothing beats a chilled bottle of white wine, a friend or two, and a table with lots of (welcoming) empty chairs around it on a stunning early summer evening. Kick it up a notch, have the table in your front garden, and have your neighbours stop by to poach a bit of the vino.

Good times, good times.