The Year of the Vegetable

Well, we are deep into 2012 and I have yet to talk about one of my favorite things:  New Year's Resolutions!  Last year, after much (possibly way too much?) debate, I decided to take a year off from New Year's resolutions -- I resolved not to resolve.  This year, I'm back on track though and looking forward to my resolution.  One of my favorite quotes is "Always, we begin again" from the Benedictine school of thought.  I'd like to pretend I'm an expert on the Benedictines but I'm not, I know just enough to say that quote.

And, so I love celebrating the New Year because it's such a great time to begin again, to do better, to take on something new.  And this year, on New Year's I declared that I will be living closer to the earth, that I shall do better to serve more local foods, eat less processed foods, and buy more at the farmer's market.

On Sunday night, aka New Year's Day, we were having a family discussion of resolutions as we munched away on hamburgers and new potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini and onion tossed with some great herb mix I bought at the farmer's market last year.  I asked MR and Will if they had any resolutions and MR nicely started to say, "I want to be healthier" to which her brother began to laugh, perhaps guffaw is a better word choice.  Even I felt my mouth twitch at the corner and Marc raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.

Will said, "Ugly (his pet name for Mary Rollins), how do you propose to be healthier?  You're the healthiest freak I know.  Could you eat more salad? What do you plan to eat? Dirt?"

My favorite veggies:  Brussel sprouts
and aspargus tossed with olive oil, sundried
tomatoes, and a bit of garlic salt, oregano,
and basil.  Roasted and garnished
with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. 

And, he does have a point -- not about the Ugly or freak part -- but Mary Rollins is the healthiest, most balanced person I know.  She, in fact, shames me frequently and I often find myself running an extra mile or skipping out on bad-for-me goodies because I know she'd be so proud of me.

Mary Rollins, ever the cool sister responded to her brother with, "you know Will, you could try to eat a little better..."  And, with that bit of sisterly frost, I mean inspiration, I have a decided to tweak my resolution to what it really means.  My resolution is quite simply: to make Will eat more vegetables in 2012.

Do you have a resolution?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 

A lot of Monopoly was played in between our
other Lakehouse activies which included the boys disappearing
in the kayak for 6 hours without a return to the house for anything
(they had packed a lunch and snacks). 

Happy New Year from Will & MR!

New Year's Eve bacon.  Will's favorite food...

Happy New Year from the Fatness who would like some of the bacon
pictured above.  And, eggs to go with it, please.

I hope that the end of 2011 went out with a bang for everyone.  We spent our last hours of the year whiling away the time at the lake.  It was wonderful.  I sold a house using my new iPad, had an extra teen-age boy, enjoyed the Distaola family recipe for meatballs, braciole and sauce cooked by Marc in his extra 24 hours at the lake by himself (he should spend more time alone -- very productive, he is), watched movies, finished three books, ran and walked, and beat all the boys at Monopoly multiple times!  The latter was quite satisfying and I tried to point out that I am a real estate professional and therefore have extreme Monopoly skills.  The phrase "dang it" was heard repeatedly from both boys.  They think I'm just lucky but I'm pretty sure it's the real estate license.

At the stroke of midnight, the boys set off the best backyard fireworks I've ever seen.  I have no idea where the point of origin for these beauties was but the mortor and fireworks accompanied Will's friend, John, on the journey to the lake and proved to the best end we could have to a wonderful year.

How did you celebrate the end of the year? 
 

The Magic Room by Jeffrey Zaslow

We're back to books here at At Home in the Bluegrass.  This time, I just finished reading The Magic Room by Jeffrey Zaslow -- another Blogher Book Club selection for January.  I don't think we have a magic room in Lexington -- a destination bridal store like Kleinfeldts in New York or Becker's Bridal, the subject of the The Magic Room, in Fowler Michigan.  You'd think I would know if we had one but I bought my wedding dress by driving to Louisville with my best friend Stacey and trying it on at Dillard's -- we had a good time but i wouldn't call it magical. And, I picked it up myself and had it fitted on my own. Based on the Magic Room, that was wrong. Apparently your mom is supposed to go with you unless she's dead...

While The Magic Room: A Story about the Love Wish for our Daughters seems to play off the popularity of the current reality TV obsession with bridezilla shows, The Magic Room is a tonic for the overkill of Say "Yes" to the Dress and our wedding day obsessed culture.  Zaslow, in an excellent narrative, follows a number of women's journeys to the altar and their stop at Becker's Bridal. Rather than focusing on the shallowness and vanity of the wedding machine, he writes about love in its varied forms--between husband and wives, parents and daughters, grandparents and grandchildren. It refreshingly reminds us of how much more does and should go into a marriage. I thought that The Magic Room was going to be a girlie book. It wasn't. I was a bit weepy on page two although that passed and I steeled myself for the remainder of the book. More than likely I'll be passing this little gem along to my husband. Why? Because he has a daughter. And, more than being a book about finding a perfect dress, The Magic Room chronicles the trials of running a family business and provides a fascinating look at how much our families and our attitudes toward marriage have changed in the last eighty years. Just so you know, I was compensated by Blogher for writing this review, however, the opinions expressed here are always my own!

Mom and lad night...

I don't have many nights home alone with just Will but tonight MR is off to New Year in the Spirit and Marc took a night at the lake. More surprisingly, Will didn't head off with a friend or have a sleepover here. So what are we doing? Zombie movies are a good guess but no, it's a double feature movie night with comic book action heroes: The Green Lantern and Captain America! Plus, some excellent Five Guys Burgers and fries and about six baskets of laundry to fold. Of the two movies, I'd have to recommend Captain America; I'm a fan of historical action movies. I'm a fan of a little Will time, too. Laundry I could do without but at least the company is great!

Merry Christmas!!

Hi all! I hope that if you are a Christmas celebrator that you had a wonderful day. We did at the Mathewsies. The best part of the day was staying home and having our dear friends join us for a fabulous dinner. Christmas eve was really special too. A beautiful service followed by our now traditional post-Christmas eve Donato's pizza dinner. Sorry not to have any pictures. I am now the proud owner of a iPad2 and I'm still trying to figure out why I can't upload photos to blogger when I'm blogging from it. Hmmmm....isabug? Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!

Speak up...

A few years back, my brother Morgan was in town and staying at our house.  My mother hadn't been well and he'd been spending a few nights in our guest room.  I went into the room during the course of his stay and while fluffing his pillows noticed a slight spell of cat pee coming from them.  Yep, my beloved cat Maui who at that point was about 14 and had never had an accident in her life had peed on his pillow.  I'm pretty sure the pee wasn't fresh either.  While I may not always be the world's best hostess, I do try to give my visitors the luxury of a clean bed and fresh smelling room.  Mortified, I asked my brother why he hadn't said anything about the smell of the pillows.  His response was that he had just been staying at my sister's house recently and while he was there their cat had peed in his suitcase as well as on the bed.  He just assumed that if you had a cat, things were supposed to smell like that.  He had decided that's what cats do and probably therefore would forgo ever having his own cat (note:  I'm pretty sure he has a cat now).  Not being a complainer, he had just gone ahead and slept on the pee-scented pillow.  I explained to my brother that cats peeing on the bed wasn't a normal phenomenon and in future visits he could feel free to ask for a clean pillow. I'm happy to report that the rest of my brother's stay and on subsequent visits, we have provided him with a cat-pee-free bed.

Reflecting back on this later, I was both amused and horrified that my brother would sleep on a pillow that smelled of cat pee and think it totally normal.  It made me think about how many times we ignore something dreadfully wrong and just accept it as what's to be expected.  And while I love my brother's uncomplaining style, sometimes things need some attention and it really is okay to say, "hey, my pillow smells like cat pee.  Could I have a fresh one?" 

Not Maui.  This is Jewel, the replacement
cat.  A fine cat as cats go, but no Maui.

So, this morning, I ask you, is there anything you should be speaking up about? 

.

Happy Advent!

Do you ever find yourself on the edge of a conversation wanting to jump in but if you did you just know your timing would be off?  Recently, I've been on the edge of several Advent conversations.  Several of my acquaintances who haven't grown up in an Anglo-catholic or Roman-catholic community have recently discovered Advent and wished that their church did more to mark the season.  "Yes, yes!" I want to excitedly say I have always loved the season of Advent.  It's one of the best gifts the Church has given us.  In the hustle and bustle of marketing that Christmas has become we have an excuse and the call to be a little bit quiet and a little bit still remembering that if we are Christians, we are on the road together to Bethlehem and each Sunday during the Advent season offers a lesson on helping us find our way.

As a cradle Episcopalian, I have always had the church calendar of seasons as a part of my life.  The church colors change beautifully throughout the year from green to to blue to green to purple to white to red and back to green.  It's like a big clock of colors marking the year.  Now, I confess that when I was little I didn't think about it much and nobody ever really pointed out the importance of the colors but I always knew what season it was -- be it Advent, Christmas, Lent or Easter.  In more recent years, and not without the help of having been a regular Sunday School teacher for a couple of decades, I'm even more aware of  it.  The curriculum we use at the Cathedral, Godly Play, really emphasizes the colors and the time line of the church so my little minions and I are attuned to the gift of color. The colors don't just make the church more decorative they also symbolize that which we want to learn and remember.  The colors really do surround us.

But let's be realistic, as nice as it is to be quiet and reflective for Advent there are still so many things that must be done:  Nutcracker performances, shopping, parties, decorating, cooking, Christmas card sending.  One year I decided that we would wait to put up our Christmas tree until closer to Christmas.  Last year we didn't send a Christmas card.  Another year we moved the week before Christmas which didn't have anything to do with trying to move during Advent but certainly required us to be well-oiled machines of efficiency and definitely delayed all Christmas decorating until the very last moment (ummm...let me NOT recommend moving over the holidays).  But each year, I'm trying to find something that I can give break company with to free myself up for a little more time to de-stress and enjoy the season.  This year, I'm enjoying (and sharing with the Writing Group) an Advent Poetry blog I found.  You might like it too.

Every year, I find myself experiencing Advent differently in spite of every Advent ending in the same event: Christmas.  The road is never quite the same and each year I come across different people and see something new on the side of the road to Bethlehem.  This year we began Advent by moving my mother-in-law to a nursing home for those with Alzheimer's and severe dementia.  She is in the latter category of severe dementia of which the onset was terribly sudden but seemingly lasting.   I miss her.  I miss our Sunday night dinner ritual where she always thinks that I'm the best cook in the world (who wouldn't miss someone who thinks that ESPECIALLY if it's your mother-in-law).  We have several friends, who too, are experiencing what are best called "tough times"  --  critically ill parents, a recurrence of a friend's cancer.  All of these things that remind us to take stock of what's important and where light is shining in our lives. 

So on that note, happy Advent.  Slow down and enjoy yourself.

Saint Myra

Obviously, it's the day before Thanksgiving.  Obviously, I'm counting my blessings.  Isn't that the standard course of things as Thanksgiving approaches?  I noticed alot of people have been posting on Facebook the things for which they are thankful on a regular basis.

I'm a regular thanks-giver though, so relegating it to just Thanksgiving seems a bit limited.  While I like to believe (although I'm not sure this is really true) that I don't have a lot of hard and fast life rules, I'm a firm believer in the half-full cup.  When I say firm believer, I mean it like exercise -- you have to really practice it to achieve optimal benefits.  Actually, it's one of the reasons I blog regularly and do my best to keep the tone upbeat.  It's not that life isn't always perfect but by golly, it's pretty darn good.  Sometimes, I even keep a list  of things I love.  My rule for the list is that it has to be specific things.  I can't write things like my husband or children* because that's too easy although I do have Jack Russell Terriers on the list which seems like cheating because how can you not love JRTs?  They're so cute and funny (I have one sitting on my lap right now as a matter of fact.  Did you know I read somewhere that Jack Russells aren't lap dogs?  HA.  hahahaha.  Clearly, that person didn't have a Jack Russell.  But I digress).  Mary Rollins has started doing this too.  It was a writing prompt -- write a list of 100 things you love -- and she will occasionally tell me something she added to the list.  We have both far exceeded the requisite one hundred.

Back to being thankful and living in gratitude.  I was thinking this morning in the quietness of my house that currently contains three sleeping thirteen year old boys how much I love my cleaning lady.  She came yesterday and did her magic.  Saint Myra, as I commonly refer to her, arrives every other week.  The night before her arrival is one of frantic straightening and I announce repeatedly to my children in a Touret's syndrome kind of litany, "Myra comes tomorrow," "The cleaning lady comes tomorrow," "Tomorrow's a Myra day" in the hopes that they (Will in particular) will straighten their rooms and bathrooms so that Myra's ministrations can have an even greater impact.  In their heads, I know what they are thinking, "Isn't it Myra's job to clean my room?"  But alas my darlings, Myra cleans and you must straighten so that Myra can do her job.  I was confused by that as a child myself in the brief periods that we had cleaning ladies. 

As difficult as the Monday night hurried, scurried decluttering for our Tuesday visit is, it's nice to put away the detritus that has gathered on the coffee table and counters over the last two week that no one has had the motivation to return to their rightful places.  And, it's lovely to come home to the slightly antiseptic Pine-sol smell that follows in her wake.  Saint Myra has a gift and I'm terribly grateful to her for she is far cheaper in the long run than marriage counseling, divorce or psychotherapy.   In addition to believing in the half-full cup, I also believe in the peace of a relatively clean home.  To note, I used to think that only boring, uncreative people had clean homes...

So on my ever-growing list of things I love, today I'm grateful for Saint Myra.  And, grateful for our very comfortable home at which we plan to stay, just our little family, on Thanksgiving day.



*it is perfectly acceptable to put children/husband-related things that they do you especially like.  For example, I love that Marc does my taxes...

When Zombies attack...

It's not often that I get to write about zombies in my blog but I marked a new milestone in my life last week: my very first zombie movie.  Technically, I watched my very first zombie TV show -- The Walking Dead -- but at the time I didn't realize it wasn't a movie.  Growing up, my big brother Morgan had a brief but exciting fascination with the Dawn of the Dead movie series that involved midnight watchings at Crossroads and the Kentucky Theater followed by frightening and dangerous tales of post-movie explorations while walking home and running into actual zombies.  Being a girl and younger, I was never allowed to go to midnight movies and so missed the opportunity to watch zombie movies.  His wild stories lent a glamorous hint to the zombie movie genre but never so glamorous that I felt compelled to watch one on my own. 

Last Saturday Will and Graff (who was staying over for the weekend) camped on the couch watching Netflix while Mary Rollins was at Nutcracker rehearsal.  I had some laundry to fold and suggested we watch some Doc Martin while I did it.  The boys looked at me like I was a zombie (Will did anyway, Graff was a bit more polite) and so I found myself watching my first zombie movie (okay TV series).  I had so many questions!  How do you get to be a zombie?  Is a zombie the same thing as an inferi (from Will, "Mom, do you really have to turn everything into a Harry Potter reference?")? How come not all dead bodies turn into zombies? If a zombie is already dead, are you really killing it? 

It was so exciting.  And, kind of gross but like a train wreck, I couldn't look away.  I had even more questions I wanted answered.  Like, why do all zombies drag one leg behind them?  Can't you just out run a zombie when they have that limp?

Graff and I took a break somewhere doing the second episode to go pick Mary Rollins up from rehearsal.  Not surprisingly, she wasn't interested in watching zombie movies when she got home.  She took a shower.  We watched more zombies while she did.

The best part of zombie watching has to be the conversation that surrounds it.  Will told me that in a zombie attack, I'd be the family member that he'd chose to have with him because I'm the most resourceful.  Needless to say I was flattered.  Mary Rollins would be the first to be eaten (to which she agreed) and he thought his dad would be pretty useless, too.  In addition, in the case of a zombie attack, Will said the Reverend Janey (aka Graff's mom) would bring him great comfort.  We all agreed, she's just the kind of a person you'd want on your side when zombies roam. 

Zombies are a great metaphor for life, too.  For example, once something is dead -- like a relationship -- can you really re-animate it? 

On Sunday, I got four tickets to Young Frankenstein at the Opera House..  I couldn't help but think it was more than a small coincidence that Saturday's TV zombie fest was going to be followed by Broadway's tribute to the zombie!  Is there something about zombies to which I need to pay attention?  See above reference to zombies as metaphors.

Regardless of the deeper meaning of zombie-ism, I had no idea what I'd been missing.  Zombies are fun!  Perhaps zombies could even be the new vampire.  Well...then again, maybe not.  None of the zombies looked like Cedric Diggory. 

Over the last week, Will and I watched a few more episodes without Graff from the first season of The Walking Dead.  We have one left.  I missed some important parts of the plot by virtue of having to leave the room to cook dinner and while Will tried to catch me up, I'm hoping that maybe Graff will come back and watch the episodes with me again (he doesn't have Netflix).  One thing's for sure, I won't be watching any zombie movies or TV shows by myself.  Or, after dark.  If I learned anything from my zombie weekend, it's that zombies, like most things, are much more terrifying when the sun goes down. 

Even if I could outrun one...

The scary stuff is over...

Thank goodness you're never too old to carve pumpkins

Finally...Halloween photos on the blog...
My sole goal for the afternoon of November 2 was to put away our Halloween decorations, however, it was raining and I didn't want a wet skeleton in the house. Instead, I spent a few minutes looking over all the goofy pictures we'd taken over the last few days.and then suddenly it was time to hop in the car and start driving people places. So, sadly these photos never found their way to the blog until mid-November.  You still want to see them though, right?








I thought I'd just skip posting about them but I liked them so much, I just had to finish it out.

Katie considered carving a pumpkin but then
decided unscrewing Will's head worked
just as well...

Pumpkin Mania on the Steps of Old Morrison

Christina's owl

MR's Mummy Cat

There has been some debate over
whether or not Christina has created a
self-pumpkin.  I say "yes."  What do you say?

March Madness Performance just before Lexington's 10th annual Thriller Parade

Art Car -- seen on the way home from the Thriller parade (this thing was amazing).  I talked to the driver
at a stoplight.  She was driving home to eastern Kentucky from a parade in Ohio.
She says she "won't spend any money ever in the unconstitutional republic of
Lexington because of the smoking ban inside public places."  Personally,
I really like our smoking ban...





Will's photo here really is the end of Halloween.
He didn't trick or treat instead he went "Candy Jacking"
whereby you just go to the houses with baskets
of candy left out and take some handfuls.  He claims he left
some for other people...

"Do not take my picture..."



This picture just makes me laugh and laugh.  MR
Christina were going to be Elpheba and Galinda
from Wicked for ballet class on Halloween night.
But Kroger was out of green face paint, so they both stood at
their closets ( I only saw MR do this) and talked through what
they could be.  The result:  Black Swan and White Swan. I'm going to save this picture for ever next to their Bellatrix and Hermione
impersonations.  Even now, two weeks later, I cannot stop laughing at it.  Everyone should have a best friend who is their alter-ego...(to note: Christina is really not at all like Bellatrix or the Black Swan but she sure captures the look!)

And this picture.  It was a prompt for The Cathedral Writing group last week. 
Go ahead, you write your own caption for it.

Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore

Here at At Home in the Bluegrass, I like reading books. Lots of books. And sometimes, I like to let you know about books I’ve read!


I had the good fortune recently to have a new historical novel land in my lap -- Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore by Stella Duffy. I have to confess I have a secret love of historical novels, especially those about women whose stories are merely outlines in recorded history and of whom we know little. Theodora of Constantinople (did you just say "who?") was the wife of Justinian I, 6th century Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Quick synopsis: Theodora rose from being a young child actress/prostitute of the Hippodrome to marry the Roman Consul Justinian who a few years later become Emperor, she the Empress and one of the most important and influential women of the Roman Empire -- a real life rags to riches story but one so infinitely colored by politics, sexuality, religious discord, and clever marketing you might think you were in the midst of a medieval reality show.

I knew only a little about Theodora and 6th century Byzantine history before I read Stella Duffy’s new novel. What I did know came from a scattered remembrance of the Byzantine Empire acquired during a few history and religious studies courses. Having that knowledge was helpful although I still found myself looking up various terms. Even without a complete understanding of the historical backdrop, the story of Theodora is riveting. Fleshed out by the author from a framework of conflicting sources written in Theodora’s own lifetime, her life’s detail portrays a controversial woman ahead of her time – an early feminist? A woman concerned with the welfare of women and children? A religious convert? A consummate actress? In spite of having rights severely limited by law, Theodora was able to make many of her own choices and appears to have had far greater control over her destiny than women for centuries to come. She was both respected and revered, and like most powerful women of history -- accused of scandal, witchcraft and heresy. Theodora’s story, which would be factually scandalous in any era, is perhaps even more intriguing in context of the timeless questions it raises about politics, power and religion.

I have heard that Theodora is soon to be an HBO series. I suspect it will have all the pageantry, passion and style as the Tudors!


And, just so you know, I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but the opinions expressed here are completely my own!  Always are, always will be...

Whoohoo! Go Pioneers

It's a big night tonight in Lexington!
 
Transylvania University is playing the University of Kentucky in basketball.  The Battle on Broadway, it's being called as these two hometown teams face each other. 

Important Facts:  Transylvania has played UK before.  In fact, the record is tied between the two schools, 7-7. 

This is the first game in 100 years. 

Are the Mathews going to be there?  You betcha! Although poor Marc had to go to New Orleans for a conference.  He was really bummed but he's working through his grief by hosting a "watch" party at a bar down there.  I'm taking my dad and both of the kids are taking friends. I suspect that Transy will have more fans in Rupp Arena than any other visiting team has ever had playing UK!

I'm so excited right now, I just went home and put on my Transy T-shirt in the middle of writing this blogpost!

Go Pioneers!!!

xoxoxo--Gwen, Transy Class of '88