Us

... as a gingerbread family.  As imagined by Emma, just outside our pretty gingerbread house, among the candy cane trees. 

Oh my. They are.

Me: "I'm really getting into this KPOP boy band. Do you know them?"
Celina: "LOL. Yeah, they're famous."
Me: "Oh, they are?"

 

Oh my.  They are.  Coachella 2025, sold-out world tours... 

In retrospect, they would have to be to seep under this rock I live under. The path (maybe not so usual): KPop Demon Hunters --> Kevin Woo (Mystery Saja's singing voice) --> Kevin Woo's AMA Reddit post, and then BAM!.  

Not Abby

Emma (yelling at my midsection): "Abs!  Come out, come out, wherever you are!" 

Me: "I think Mama's abs are going to stay hiding." 

A discerning palate

James: "Look!  I found popcorn under the couch."

Emma: "I'm not going to eat it.  It doesn't have butter." 

Also currently on our play list: BTS's Butter

On Planning

"I’m a truly horrendous long-term planner. So you’re good at living in the moment? you may ask. Also no."

~ Josh Gondelman

How I love thee...

Emma: "I love Mama a million, hundred-gazillion, thousand, billion-billion, thousand-"

James: "That's not a real number."  

Heed and Read!

The Bloggess, Jenny Lawson, reminds us of the dangers and what we should do instead: 

Reading > cleaning
September 12, 2025

I decided to clean up the house and a frame I was polishing broke and the glass went through my finger and now I can only type with one hand because it keeps opening up and this feels like a sign that cleaning is dangerous and that instead I should be reading. 

30 Different Plants Per Week

The latest (?) food trend that's permeated through the fog: 30 Plant Points for Good gut health!  

Let's see how close I got in the past few days:  

1. Apple
2. Orange
3. Tomatoes
4. Oats
5. Almonds
6. Onions
7. Soy 
8. Brown rice
9. Quinoa
10. Peanuts
11. Olives 
12. Bok choy sum 
13. a) Ginger; b) Green Tea; c) Green onion; d) Garlic
14. Flax seed
15. Small red beans 
16. Lettuce 
17. Carrots
18. Shiitake mushrooms 
19. Blueberries
20. Corn
21. Grapes
22. Whole wheat (pasta)
23. Swiss Chard
24. Green Cabbage 
25. a) Cilantro; b) Black pepper; 
26. Celery 
27. Savoy Cabbage  
28. Dried apricots  

Ah, different colours count!  But herbs and spices are only worth a quarter each...

At least 5 of these were from left over foods kids did not eat -- the hidden benefit in being the "garbage disposal".  

Conclusion: Packaged chopped salads did a lot of heavy lifting.  And maybe we should add a seed mix topping to everything.  

A Happy Mother's Day

Sundays are never relaxing, but this one at least had bits of fun.  

Paul reminded me how much he and the kids are glad I am/was not this Troubled Bird: 

And then after many of the Sunday chores, they took me out to Kind Ice Cream*.  The long line was surprising to us, but not to some daycare friends we saw on our way out.  

 

 

* I was not surprised that this suggestion was from Emma, who'd sweetly/not-knowingly pulled "A Homer" (with regards to Marge's bowling ball).   

 

 

We hatched a sprout!

"Daddy, look!  We hatched a sprout!" 

Emma and I were both surprised.  It's only been a week or so since we started these cosmos in an indoor pot.

Will they have the dark pink petals I like or the white that James wants?  

It shouldn't matter.  Nature is magical and Emma shows me the right level of appreciation and enthusiasm I should have for the season.  Marvel at the wonder.   

Here's to more "hatching" of sprouts!  

"I am not untidy,"

 "I am not untidy," I objected.  "I merely surround myself with a plethora of possibilities." 

Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Body Under the Piano by Marthe Jocelyn