Maya & Me & Maya

You know that silly question about who you would dine with--dead or alive-- if you could dine with anyone? My answer is Maya Angelou*. It has been since I read I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings in high school. I fell into a deeply respectful, awed kind of love at first read. Then I read everything she's written. Multiple times.

"Phenomenal Woman"? Empowering.

"And Still I Rise"? Breathtaking.

Those are just two of her poems. Her prose is just as painfully beautiful.

Imagine my delight when I saw that there would be another autobiographical book to add to her stunning collection. And it came out last week!!! Oh my great golly.

I read it in just over a day and I'm not entirely sure why I am just now blogging about it.

I highly recommend it. Angelou discusses her relationship with her mother and a bit about becoming a mother herself. I could relate to it far more than I could have a year ago. Though I don't have nearly the experiences Angelou has had, I do now have a much deeper understanding of all that motherhood entails. No, that's not even remotely true. Let me rephrase: I have a much deeper understanding of some of what motherhood entails. When I'm 85 like Angelou I might be able to say I have a deeper understanding of all that motherhood entails.

Anyway here's a passage I love: "She had my back and supported me. This is the role of the mother, and in that visit I really saw clearly, and for the first time, why a mother is really important. Not just because she feeds and also loves and cuddles and even mollycoddles a child, but because in an interesting and maybe an eerie and unworldly way, she stands in the gap. She stands between the unknown and the known."

Just read that again.

Seriously, do it.

Lovely, isn't it?

While this wasn't my favorite book by her, I did really enjoy it. She could probably write anything and I'd love it. I'm not picky. Or maybe she just always writes lovely things.

Probably the latter.

If you know me in real life you know it isn't the former. I'm pretty picky...

Who would you want to have dinner with?


* It is fortunate I've never been invited to dinner with Maya Angelou because I'd blubber like an idiot and embarrass myself. I'm not cool enough under pressure to survive dinner with someone like her (i.e. my "celebrity hero"). In fact, the thought of it actually happening makes me anxious.

Play Ball!

Well, today is April Fool's day. Did anyone get ya? I don't participate. It seems mean to me. So, instead of an April Fool's post, lets discuss baseball. Why?

If you're asking why you probably don't care much for baseball. It's opening day for many, many teams today. Shame on you. You should know that.

I can't help but think back to my baseball education which came from my best friend's mom in high school. Betcha didn't see that coming, huh? I didn't grow up in a baseball family and so I always thought it was kind of boring. And, frankly, it kind of still is. (Sorry Bonnie...) I do get a touch of baseball fever every opening day. I remember my very first opening day ever.

(Image from here)
Dodger stadium. Sophomore year. There was a long car-ride from south Orange County to Los Angeles. There was carsickness. (I didn't quite understand the urgency of "Amy, move, now." until there was a retching boy hanging out of the mini van.) There was the super steep stadium that induced vertigo. There was sunburn. There were Dodger Dogs.

And there was baseball.

I have no idea who played (besides the Dodgers...duh). I have no idea if the Dodgers won. Hey, it was a learning experience. I didn't think I'd be quizzed on it.

When we got to the stadium we bought our programs. Cyndi said it was a must and that she and her mom would teach me to keep score. That seemed so foreign to me. I'd been to baseball games before. I knew there was a very large scoreboard that was maintained by people who were paid to count strikes and outs and runs. Cyndi told me I'd understand when the game started.

Whatever.

Have you ever scored a game? It is really complex. I had no idea that the game I could "watch" and miss four or seven innings could actually have so much going on. It turns out that keeping score is an excellent way to keep yourself from missing an entire game because you're busy chatting. It is a necessary way to, well, keep your eye on the ball.

That first opening day I got a basic education in baseball scoring. I learned to appreciate the game. Before it was just a guy with a bat- who would either hit the ball or not-- versus other guys who probably wouldn't have to move far to get the one guy out. This would go on at a painfully slow pace.

It turns out that baseball is actually kind of cerebral. There is a lot to it. It doesn't look like it, but there is. It might look like a guy with a stick who swings at a ball, but it is much more. Tradition. Strategy. And other stuff I don't get.

Are you a baseball fan? Do you score the game or find yourself chatting through the game?

Easy Peasy Split Pea Soup

At Little Man's nine month appointment (NINE months!!!) I was given the go ahead to give him almost anything to eat--with the exception of high-allergen foods like honey, peanut butter and shell fish. I'd been giving him some of the foods we'd been eating prior to this, but I guess I needed to hear from a doctor that it was OK to give our toothless wonder foods that weren't puréed or easily dissolved. (BTW, puréed chicken is one of the most vile things you've ever seen. I highly recommend that moms who are making their baby food NOT put chicken breasts in the blender. Disgusting. You're welcome.)

Since that appointment there is little "real food" that we've eaten that Little Man hasn't tried. Well, with the exception of sweets. I don't think he needs to become a chocoholic or cake addict before his first birthday. As my child, I think he's genetically predisposed to such an addiction.

Some foods I make need a little work to become toothless baby appropriate. Other foods, like last night's split pea soup, are perfect for babies! They also look quite a bit like baby food. Yuck! I promise the taste is at least a gazillion times better than it looks.

As always, I didn't actually measure, so take my estimates with that in mind.

Easy Peasy Split Pea Soup
(See what I did there?)

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup baby carrots, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 tablespoon coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
7 cups water
1 cup chicken stock
1 pound ham steak, cubed
1/2 tablespoon thyme
1/2 tablespoon marjoram
1 bay leaf
1 bag dried split peas, rinsed well
Red pepper flakes to taste
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, heat the coconut oil to a liquid and add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Sauté vegetables until tender. Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Add water, chicken stock, ham, peas, thyme, marjoram and bay leaf. Stir together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for approximately one hour.

If you don't have coconut oil, butter or olive oil would work just fine. Like I've said before, I've been experimenting with coconut oil and I kind of like the slight coconut-y sweetness it lends to this soup.

Serve while piping hot.

I recommend listening to the Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington Pandora station while cooking and consuming. Bonus points if it is half raining, half snowing. It makes for a vey comforting evening.

Little Man recommends smearing the soup all over your face. But only if bath time is immediately following soup time. That stuff turns cement-like pretty quickly!

Even exhausted that little guy is as happy as can be. How lucky am I?

I never really thought I liked split pea soup. Heck, I never really thought I liked peas. I find myself stepping out of my tiny comfort zone now that Little Man is eating solid foods. I really want him to taste a broad spectrum of foods. My goal is to try to avoid the chicken-fingers-only phase. It is probably inevitable, but there is no harm in trying, right?

What are you eating that is out of your comfort zone?

Is there something new about yo' face?

Why yes. Yes there is.

I have a new pair of glasses.

And they were free.

Whaaaa?

Coastal  ran a promotion last week. It was called First Pair Free. I totally didn't believe it. Even after I saw it on the Today show. But I went online and I checked it out. Totally true. Sadly, by the time I got my glasses yesterday, the promotion was over, so I couldn't share the deal with you. (I didn't want to rave about something that ended up being lame.)

However, they are running an (up to) 70% off deal right now. That's almost free... I get the impression that they have sales quite often, so it would be worth it to pop by there every now and again and maybe wait out a "firstpairfree" deal. I only paid for shipping and insurance. The whole shebang ended up being less than $17.

These are the frames I ordered. I was worried that they are a little round and round on a round face can look pretty terrible. I wondered about their return policy. What if they didn't work? Would I be stuck with glasses that make me look like an oompa loompa in tortoiseshell? Their website says they have a no hassle policy. Fortunately I didn't have to test that.

That's me. In the car. Looking broody and a little angry. I am happy, though. I got glasses for almost free, yo!

Tomorrow I need to stop by my optomologist's office to pick up the glasses I ordered three weeks ago. Even with insurance they were the opposite of free. I'm considerably less excited about those now.

Anybody out there find a awesome web deal lately? What do you think of my new look?

Stopping by woods on a snowy evening

Our last trip to West Virginia was largely to meet with the contractor, aka our new best friend, to discuss house projects. While we were there, though, we got to have a few adventures. I had a pretty nasty cold, so the first full day we were there Beau took Little Man out for a while so mom could get some rest. I couldn't rest, of course, but it was really nice to have a little time to myself. I made a cup of tea and looked out the window at the freshly fallen snow.

Then I scrubbed the floors and the bathrooms.

Because I'm not very good at not doing anything.

And that's pretty annoying. But the floors and bathroom don't skeeve me out anymore, so actually it isn't that annoying.

While my guys were out 'splorin', Beau came across a fire road in the Monongahela National Forest that he took me to the next day. He was pretty excited about the find because of all of the marked trails we can hike this spring and summer. I think he also liked putting the truck in four wheel drive and driving over snow-covered dirt roads that hadn't been touched since before the last snow.

Let me tell you something.

It was absolutely stunning.

I'm sure I'll share more photos of this particular place during each of the four seasons. I wonder if any can top these winter shots.

After our drive I thought Little Man needed to have his first real adventure in the snow. Prior to this he'd only been out in the snow in the process of getting somewhere. At first, he took it like a champ. He was curious and calm like he usually is.



We took some stinking cute pictures.

I call that one "West Virginia Gothic" because Beau looks so serious and upright. Little Man, though, looks like a noodle.

It was all fun and games until big, mean daddy lobbed a little snowball at Little Man and scared him.

And that was the end of our snow time.

I'm pretty sure that soon daddy will be on the receiving end of some snowballs from Carter. He'll get his, I bet.

The day was absolutely stunning and since our "lets-go-play-in-the-snow-like-a-carefree-made-for-TV-movie-family" time was short-lived, we decided to go on an evening walk later.

Three seasons a year our road cuts across the mountain. During ski season, though, two of the more difficult runs turn the road into two dead end streets. I took the photo above standing in what should be the middle of the street. We intended to just walk to the slope and check it out, but since it was so lovely out and the lifts had just closed (so no fear of being run down by crazy dare devils), we walked over the runs to the other side of our street and kept going. It actually turned into a really, really long walk.



It had been a long time since I took a "selfie", so I thought I should do that while standing in the middle of a black diamond run. (Because Lord knows I won't be there on my snowboard any time soon...)

On second thought, ignore that last comment. That's totally me taking a moment to photograph me boarding the double diamond. I'm clearly fearless and always composed. And an excellent snowboarder. Obviously.

While I was screwing around doing that, Beau was keeping Little Man amused.

What's more embarrassing: mom taking self portraits or dad giving smooches? I'm sure he'll let us know when he's a teenager. We're practicing our embarrassing behaviors now so we can really excel at them when they count.

We walked past one of my favorite houses. And by "favorite" I mean the house I'd not step foot in for a million dollars because it is suspended in midair and looks like a breeze will tip it over.

Who decides to build a house this way?

And while we were out the sun started to set. It was very pretty, as sunsets often are.

Little Man enjoyed every second of our walk. Especially the end when he was totally zonked out. It's hard work being carried for miles and miles.

Later, Beau, Little Man, and I went to dinner at the pizza shop at the top of the mountain. Little Man amused himself with a straw.

It was an absolutely spectacular day. Just ask my earnest Little Man.

I just want to eat him up.

What's the best thing you've done in the past week or so? A prize* goes to whomever can identify my stolen post title.

*And by "prize" I mean the satisfaction of knowing not-so-obscure American poetry references. Lucky you.

Well, isn't that Pinteresting

I know, I know. It has been almost a month since I've written a word. What gives? Well, I'll spare you the myriad excuses, but I will tell you that in my absence I have managed to fry not one, but two perfectly good computers.

Well, OK, one perfectly good computer and one that was well on her way out. None the less, I fired her in a most untimely manner. Of course.

But, as we all know those two computers aren't the only ones on the planet. Heck, they aren't even the only two in our house. I'm currently writing this post on Beau's beloved Mac. It took me approximately twenty minutes to figure out how to turn on the power. I'm not even exaggerating. Thank God for iPhones and Google. It turns out that Steve Jobs had a sense of humor because he chose to put the power button on the back of the computer. The button is flush with the rest of the back and of the same material. On the back. You know, the side that faces the wall.

I used to think I was smart.

Then Apple taught me otherwise.

But, I digress.

I've mentioned Pinterest in the title of this post and Pinterest it shall be about.

Specifically the insane amount of pinning I've been doing of late. (On an iPad, not a broken computer. And if you wonder why I don't just write my posts from said iPad, I'd say that is an excellent suggestion, but iPad and Blogger aren't friends. Kind of like how iPad and Flash aren't friends, but not as intense.) Anyway, digressing again.

So the thing with Pinterest is that if you have a place that is in need of some work, say maybe like this, then Pinterest is an amazing place to gather ideas. Or, it is a place to overwhelm yourself with a vast array of often conflicting ideas. Oh, and it is a virtual place to spend lots and lots and lots of time that is not virtual. Nor is it replaceable. Pin with caution.

(From here)

I'm in the overwhelmed category right now. That's OK for now, since we've started our first major project on the house and it is the opposite of fun and inspired. We (and by "we" I mean our contractors) get to replace the siding on the west side of the house because we need to tear it all off to see how improperly and poorly the walls and doors were sealed underneath. I find this to be especially boring since its completion will result in the house looking exactly like it did before the project was started. Beau finds it to be un-boring because the house will be more structurally sound and efficient. Blah blah blah.

Because of the lame angle you can't see how much siding will be removed and replaced, but it is quite a bit. And someone will have to be four stories up replacing it. Here is where I am glad that "we" doesn't refer to us...

What I really want to be working on is bringing my "Cabin Ideas" to life.

Here are a few of my favorites:

The current entry way could turn into a mudroom with just a little bit of effort. I like this one. See the little drippy trough for the snow to melt off the skis and snowboards and not make the tile treacherous? So smart.

(From here)

And wouldn't this be a fun sign to have framed in that mud room?

(From here)

Or maybe I shouldn't tempt fate. Sooner than I know it Little Man will be on skis or a snowboard or a mountain bike or whatever being adventurous.

And I will have more gray hair than I'd like.

After the boring (or as Beau would call it "important") stuff is done, we'll start to think about the floors. I'm really hoping we can find reclaimed wood that doesn't cost a small fortune. I mean, it comes from old barns and such, how expensive can it be? Look at these floors.

OK, you're right. They look expensive.

(From here)

And, I've become obsessed with animal heads. Gross, right? But what says "mountain cabin" more than dead animal heads on the wall?

(From here)

I'm partial to the heads of the moose variety, and there happen to be moose heads that aren't even real. (Though if we were to get a real moose head it would be from a moose that has died of natural causes and had a final will and testament that requested that his head be taxidermied and mounted above a roaring fireplace in order for his majesty and wonder to be worshiped by humans. Obviously.) 

Here are some fakies that have caught my eye:

(This real looking fakie from etsy can be found here)

(Or this more-fake-looking-fakie from here)

(Or the ultimate fakie from here.)

"Fakie" is not a word. Just in case you were wondering.

Anyway, enough about moose heads. What about bathrooms? What if I wanted to change things up and move away from the whole mountain-cabin-kitch-I-have-to-have-skis-on-the-wall-and-everything-needs-to-be-hunter-green mentality and shake things up a bit?

(From here)

Geesh. There are so many ideas and options and possibilities. And we've got like ten years of renovations for me to obsess over them. Lucky me. I wonder how man pins I can cram into "Cabin Ideas" before Pinterest implodes.

What are you pinning these days? Have you joined the Pinterest bandwagon? If not, you totally should. 

Finally!! Our top-secret secret is secret no more

About a million years ago I mentioned some exciting, top-secret news that revolved around our frequent trips to West Virginia (here).  I wasn't trying to be coy or anything, we just weren't sure that our exciting news was going to pan out. I'm glad I didn't say anything then, because it almost didn't. I mean, that was almost five months ago. You'd probably forgotten.

So much for a much anticipated reveal!

But, I can now let you in on our exciting news because everything is finalized and wonderful.

We bought a house!!

(By the way, never, ever, ever attempt to finance a home with Amerisave. They are the reason it took almost five months to close. They were hard to work with, inefficient and generally terrible. We ended up working with a local lender and the process was amazingly simple. Again, just say no to Amerisave. Your life will be much less stressful. Ours was, anyway.)

In case you are wondering, we aren't moving to Snowshoe full time, but we do plan on spending quite a bit of time there. Wouldn't you with views like this?

 

Or this?

 



 

Or a sunset like this?

 

 

If you can't tell, I'm absolutely in love with the view.

 

Before you get all jealous of our swanky vacation home/rental property/investment for Little Man's education, let me show you a few elements that might make you wonder if we are insane.

 

See, we bought a bit of a fixer-upper.

 

 

It might need a coat of paint or two.

 

Yes, those are pink and burgundy stripes as a focal point of the room and in the dining room.

 

Barf. (But a really cute baby peeking from the corner. He's standing up!)

 

There has been a bit of settling that needs attention.

 

 

 

The floors have seen much better days.

 

 

We think those stains are from the two dogs that lived there. Eeeew. The finish is also almost completely worn away in most high-traffic areas. Also probably because of the doggies.

 

 

The second level floors are worse. And that's being nice. 









Yep, those are subfloors. Stained ones. Apparently the carpet was too gross to leave in the room. As opposed to the two rooms that do have carpeting:

 



Gross city. Fortunately, the carpeting doesn't stink. But it will need to go. I imagine it will be taken out with gloves on. And perhaps while wearing masks.

But wait, there's more.

This door is sealed with tape instead of an actual seal. That's awesome for heating when the temperature is negative two degrees as it was when we were there last week.

 

 

There is actually quite a bit more about this house that needs work, but you get the idea. I don't want to depress myself.

 

Lest you think we are absolutely bonkers for spending actual money on this dump, let me point out a few of the selling points. (Besides the obvious view I have already bragged about thrice.)

 

 

The house has charming details that make it feel like a fun and cozy place to get away.

 

 

 

If you take a moment to look down instead of out when on the deck you can see that there is a nice little yard that happened to have five little visitors when I went out to snap a photo. The yard is complete with a grassy area with a fire pit.

 

And there is the space. From the rear view photo, you can see it is three levels. The bottom level is an apartment and the top two levels will be our living area. The top floor is wide open with general areas for dining and living areas as well as a good sized kitchen, a small half bath, and a bar area. The middle floor has four modest bedrooms and two bathrooms.

 

I'll take you on a tour soon.

 

We figure it will take us the better part of ten years to get the house to the condition it should be in. Unfortunately for me, there are some structural and efficiency issues (windows and that taped door) that need to be fixed before we get down to business making a cozy mountain getaway. I'm going to bring you along with us on this new adventure. Some of it might be ugly, but we're planning on learning as we go.

 

While Beau and a contractor are replacing rotted floor joists and putting in efficient windows and doors, I'll be on Pinterest going to town pinning every rustic cabin option out there for ideas.

 

I'm like a kid in a Pinterest candy shop. It is ridiculous.

 

So, do you think we are nutso for tackling this huge project, or are you on board with us? Either way, it promises to be an interesting ride.