Letter: Month Sixteen

Dear E,

Well, in general things just keep better and better. You’re a master at walking now and have moved on to climbing onto things. You like to stand on top of anything you can: the bathroom scale, blocks, books, your long-suffering mama’s foot, etc… This month you also discovered the joy of sitting. You like to grab a toy or your blanket and carefully sit on the bottom step of the stairs. Then you’ll stand up and sit back down repeatedly, proud as punch.

Cuteness aside, you’re actually getting to be quite a handful. Taking you to the store is a bit harder now because you don’t want to be in the cart. You want to run around and grab things off the shelves. And holding you isn’t a better option either: you’ve perfected that whole-body toddler twist and kick maneuver to wiggle yourself free.

My mom and brother Steven were in town last week visiting and both doted on you. Your grandma loved playing with you and your uncle would plant a peck on the top of your head whenever he got the chance. Even your aunt’s dog Teddy put up with you remarkably well. You LOVED Teddy and kept trying to hug him or rub your cheek against his fur (as you do with anything soft). It’s too bad you’re allergic to dogs; hopefully we’ll be able to get one for you at some point.

In general you’re still a very sweet, mellow little guy. During the last few weeks I’ve started going to the gym in the mornings to get some much-needed exercise and you’ve been a champ about going to the day care there. Sometimes you’re so eager to go play with the other kids that you try and open the gate to let yourself in. A few times you’ve been a little sad when I leave but even then you don’t really cry and you quickly cheer up. Because I know you’re having a good time with the other kids it’s easier to relax and enjoy my workout/time to read trashy magazines. You’re very good to your dad and me.

Love,

Mama

Method Daily Shower Cleaner

Like most people, I don’t like cleaning the shower. I hate scrubbing and chemical fumes often give me headaches. When we had our master bathroom shower repaired in December the acrylic marble guy tactfully suggested that keeping the shower cleaner would keep the caulk stay in better shape longer (the conversation was quite embarrassing) and he recommended using a daily shower spray.

So I mended my shower-neglecting ways and scrubbed the newly-repaired shower till it shone and then went out and bought some shower spray. I started out using Tilex Fresh Shower but it had some pretty strong fumes that would give me a bit of a headache.

So I switched to Method’s Daily Shower Cleaner and I really like it. I got it at Target for about $4 and also got a big refill jug of it for about the same price. It doesn’t have the harsh chemicals the Tilex does (especially important to me with E around) but it works just as well. I spray it on the shower everyday and it keeps it looking great. It’s been a few months and I have yet to see any mildew or soap scum but I don’t have to do any scrubbing.

I like to think the acrylic marble guy would be proud.

A visit from family

Last week my mom and my brother Steven were in town visiting my sister Jan. Jan only lives about 30 minutes away and so E and I were able to get together with them several times while there were here. My mom and Jan even watched E for me one day so I could slog through a backlog from work; it was great.

Steven on the trampoline.

Steven and my nephews, A and J.

E with my sister Jan.

E with my mom.

It was a lot of fun to have them in town. Their company (and eagerness to babysit) will be missed.

Jewelry Boxes: Update 3

Woodworking class was pretty fun this week. I was getting worried that I would run out of time and not be able to finish the jewelry boxes, but we have five more classes left and I think I’m in good shape since I got the boxes glued together this last week.

Sanding the insides of the boxes with a sequence of 80, 100, 120, and 150-grit sandpaper.

Making sure everything’s ready to glue.

I put a dab of glue in each of the tails and clamped the box together.

The assembled boxes.

Apparently when I cut the dovetails some of the pieces weren’t exactly flush in the jig; in the above photo you can see some gaps on some of the joints. My instructor said that he’ll help me shim the gaps with some slivers of walnut to fill them in.

After I got the boxes glued together I started cutting the curly maple and lacewood I’m going to use for the lids. Next week I’ll get the lids glued together and hopefully start working on the tray inserts.

And So It Begins

Up until now E has been a pretty good eater: not very picky and fairly cooperative. But during the last few days he has started to be difficult at meal times. He refuses things that he used to like or food that needs to be eaten with a spoon.

This morning he decided that oatmeal should be reclassified as finger food and enthusiastically proceeded to eat it as such. Predictably, the results were not pretty.

Fiberwig Mascara


As I’ve mentioned before, I was a bit of a tomboy growing up. I never really got into makeup as a teenager or while I was in college. Thinking back, I don’t think I’ve worn mascara more than 50 times in my entire life (and that’s including dance recitals when I was seven, high school plays, AND my wedding). With that said, I’m almost 30 and I’m starting to feel like maybe I should try at least a little to, you know, look nice.

I had heard good things about Fiberwig, a Japanese mascara, so I ordered it from Amazon around Christmas time. I really like it. I have very Korean eyelashes: stick-straight and short. But this mascara has little fibers in it that grab onto your lashes and extends them out. And it doesn’t flake off or smudge and give you raccoon eyes. It’s pretty pricey ($22) but if I’m going to go through the hassle of curling my lashes and putting on mascara then I want to at least use something that’s going to look good all day.

Does anyone else have a mascara they really like? I’d love to find a (cheaper) drugstore product that I like as well as Fiberwig.

What the World Eats

Over the weekend N showed me a fascinating series of photos by Peter Menzel. (See part one and part two here.)

For the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats Menzel and author-journalist Faith D’Alusio traveled the globe and visited families in over 20 countries. They asked the families to purchase a weeks worth of typical groceries and took their portraits surrounded by the food. The authors include information on the families’ favorite foods and the cost of the groceries. I liked the online excepts enough that I think I’m going to buy the book.

I enjoyed the photos and found it riveting to see what families around the world ate. I liked seeing all the packaged foods that the Japanese family had and the vast quantities of beer displayed by the German family. But seeing the sacks of grain and few vegetables that feed the families in Mali and Chad made me feel a bit sick to my stomach about how I waste so much food. I’m pretty bad about letting leftovers go uneaten or buying vegetables but then forgetting about them until it’s too late. My casual wastefulness now seems quite obscene and I’m going to try and do better.

Jewelry Boxes: Update 2

This last week I cut all of the grooves on the inside of the boxes. There were a lot to cut: all the pieces have grooves for the bottom of the box to fit in, the front and back pieces have additional grooves for tray supports, and each front piece also has a groove for a lid stop.

I cut the grooves using a router on a router table. It’s pretty foolproof and I ran multiple tests on scrap wood but I still messed up once. I hadn’t tightened down the fence enough and it slipped when I was cutting and so one groove was a little crooked.

I was SO sad and convinced that I had ruined a whole box but my instructor said it would be okay and then I realized that it would. Phew! (Some minor mistake like this usually happens at least once during every project of mine.)

Next week: sanding the inside of the pieces and (finally) gluing up the box.