Sturm Haus

By the time you read this we will probably be driving west for the annual family Thanksgiving get-together.

Hey-ho, Iowa!

We are traveling with an almost-4-year-old who is so excited, he keeps demanding to leave for Nana's house RIGHT NOW, and a charmingly chubby 5-mo-old who is thiiiis close to outgrowing her infant seat, I swear. Her toes are starting to stick out over the end.

I have 5 paper lunchbags on the counter, 1-2-3-4-5 written on the front in black Sharpie. They're for Otto. I've been saving the odds and ends from party gift bags, school events, Halloween, etc., and now all those bits and pieces are divvied up into the bags. Each time we take a break, he'll get a new bag to open. I hope 5 bags are enough. If we have to stop more than 5 times we're turning around and coming home.

I have a small pile of toys for Annabel. 3 or 4 teething toys, her pink bunny blankie, the butterfly bracelet, etc. She's not a napper, she will probably HATE facing backward all day with no one to look at. But she is a good-natured baby and loves grabbing at things. So I will give her plenty of things to grab. If all else fails, I'll strap the DVD player to her headrest and turn on Baby Mozart.

I think the weather will be OK. It doesn't really matter, we're going anyway.

I think traffic around Chicago will be TERRIBLE as usual. Again, who cares? It's Chicago, that's just how it is.

I think the stretch between the Quad Cities and Iowa City will be full of people going 90, as usual. Those crazy Iowa drivers. Thankfully it's a short stretch.

At the end of the road will be our family, and that's always worth the trip.

wheels keep on spinning round

Salt and fuel are costing more and tax revenues are staying the same at best, so the county is cutting back on plowing this year. They're going to focus on interstates and state highways first, putting my little 2-lane back county roads 3rd or 4th on the list. My drives home at night might be verrry interesting this winter.

We'd like to replace my car sometime next year. I keep thinking about going for a more normal car, one without AWD. It would cost less to maintain -- you pay for AWD in both higher repair prices and lower gas mileage. Plus, you know, it might be nice to be able to fit more than 2 adults and 2 car seats in one car.

Then I have days like yesterday, sleety/snowy, when I get impatient and take curves a wee bit too fast (thank you, AWD, for keeping me on the road). I saw a minivan off the road at one point with its lights still on, nose-down in shrubs off the shoulder. I slowed down by downshifting and pulled alongside, fishtailing a little when I braked even though I was going barely 20mph. The driver was on his cellphone and waved me on, so I headed on my way, thinking, that could've been me 5 miles ago.

I think that as long as this is my commute, I need AWD. And I don't know if I can find that in a car that seats 7 without breaking our piggy bank.

So instead of being sensible, I'm leaning towards being frivolous. What do you say to a WRX?

Yeah. Me too. Vroom! I test drove one of these a few years ago -- fun! I love my Outback, but the fun factor isn't too high.

Otto has really been thinking about this trip we're taking. Sunday night he asked "why is our car bad?" out of the blue. I had to think a minute before I figured out what he meant. We're renting a van so we'll have plenty of space for the kids, their gear, the dog, luggage, etc. "Our car isn't bad, we just thought it might be nice to have a bigger car for our trip," I said. Otto looked doubtful. He likes knowing what to expect, and I think the prospect of taking a trip in a different car is both exciting and a little scary.

All I know is, if the weather's bad, Jon's driving.

Sorry honey.

this is Annabel, she is my baby sister

I love how he hangs onto her foot.

I don't know how he does it, but Jon always -- always! -- can tell if someone is running a fever. If I'm sick I'll have him check me before I bother to go find the thermometer. If one of the kids is sick he's the first to notice. I'm telling you, it's a gift.

Annabel started running a little fever last night - barely over 100, hardly significant when it comes to kids. But significant enough to keep me home today with her. I wasn't allowed to put her down much and spent most of my day snuggling her. Her nose is stuffy and she has a little cough, so I'm sure it's a virus of some sort. I just hope it's not, and doesn't develop into, an ear infection. We have been down that road, I have no desire to travel it again (fate laughs). She's been better this evening so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

This means I'll be working Saturday, trying to catch up, get myself organized and moving the right direction before I leave for Thanksgiving next week.

Speaking of Thanksgiving... the mini pies? Ok, but not great. Otto and I made a few last weekend. I have decided regular pie is better.

I have also decided that the only pie I'm excited about making right now is this one:

Cranberry Chess Pie

• 1 and 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. buttermilk
• 1 tsp. cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. finely grated orange aest
• 2 c. fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 pie shell, partially baked

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F for baking.

Assembly

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted butter and salt. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Stir in the flour, then the buttermilk, vinegar and orange zest, mixing well, then stirring in the cranberries. Scrape the mixture into a partially-baked pie shell.

Bake the pie until the top is lightly golden brown and domed, and the filling is firm, approximately 50-60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

(from the 2003 edition of William-Sonoma's Pie & Tart cookbook)

to sleep, perchance to dream

I had a dream last night that we elected Michael Phelps President and that I was his First Lady, if you know what I mean.

I feel compelled to mention that he was wearing a beautiful dark brown suit -- the jacket/pants kind -- instead of his usual Speedo. When he took the suit jacket off he revealed a cream-and-brown striped shirt with NO TIE. Hubba hubba!

I also feel compelled to confess that I have NO IDEA where that came from. I have been thinking about it all day and can make neither head nor tails of it. Maybe it was that piece of pumpkin pie I had after dinner.

By the way, did you know that pumpkin pie is nothing but an elaborate delivery vehicle for whipped cream? It's true.

So anyway, enough about me. Here's a picture of the baby:

And of the baby with her big brother, who's thrilled by each and every toy catalog we receive in the mail:

And of the baby, her big brother, and her daddy, who makes this whole mom gig easy as pie:

And that is all. I have to go to bed now, I can't wait to see what I dream about after having some Fat Weasel Ale with supper.

those who can't blog, bake

Our DSL modem/wifi transmitter mysteriously died. And we don't have time during the week to figure out why. Who does, I ask you? So this means no Internet at the homestead.

My email is getting out of hand and NaNoBloMo is a lost cause. Sometimes we can snag a signal from a neighbor's house (Neighbor Bill is pretty casual with his wifi security), but that's the networking equivalent of running next door for a quick shower because you're out of hot water at home.

I have a great pic of Annabel grinning in the bath, and a brief video where I managed to catch one of Otto's spontaneous acts of affection towards his baby sis. Both are languishing on the camera for now. As AT&T is my witness, we will figure out the problem this weekend and fix it! Otherwise I'm stuck texting updates to Twitter with my cell phone, and my thumbs aren't used to that much exercise.

Tuesday my staff and I got to talking about individual pies, a la Not Martha. Today I started to wonder... what if, for Thanksgiving, I made itty bitty pies in mini muffin tins? You wouldn't have to commit to a whole slice. You could have a few, each a different flavor.

I could do pumpkin, of course. But how about pecan? My famous cranberry custard? Jon's favorite, Berry Berry Pie with Streusal topping? Would those work? Or would they be wierd in bitty pie size?

I think this requires experimentation. Pie experimentation... I can't think of a better way to spend a cold and rainy weekend.

Also, we have been invited to a cookie swap. Otto is taking a deep and personal interest in this event. He's studied the invitation, like, 5 times, and wants to know what it all means. This morning I said "well, it means we're taking 72 cookies, divided into baggies, and we'll share them with everyone." He offered, "We have that many cookies at my school!" Isn't it nice of him to save me the work?

Regardless, this weekend we'll get out the big cookie cookbook and browse, see what tickles his fancy. He's big into the gingerbread man right now (as in, 'you can't catch me!'), and a pile of gingerbread people would be fun and tasty.

He went on a class fieldtrip to the Firehouse Museum today wearing his new Levi's (slim fit, 4T, dark wash) and fire truck t-shirt. When I spoke to Jon a few minutes ago Otto was making firetruck noises in the background, evidently he had a fabulous time. Must go now and hear about it myself.

so sad

Well, the economy has finally hit us at home where it hurts.

The big company Christmas party has been canceled. I'm disappointed!

Maybe we'll hire a sitter and go see the new Bond instead. Mmm... Bond...

The annual bonus, based on the company's profit goals, also seems to be in jeopardy which would be more disappointing. We'll wait and see, though.

Yesterday, on the way home from having lunch and watching the Bears struggle against the Titans, Otto had a mini-meltdown. "I don't want to go home!" he wailed, "I want to go to Nana's house!" We tried to explain that Nana's house is far away, too far to just stop by. "But I want to go now!" he sobbed. He kept saying "No, I want to go that way!" and pointing out the window, trying to get me to turn onto a different road. I ignored him and kept driving towards home, which prompted him to complain "I told you three times! No, five times! No, two times!" He was back there folding his fingers into his little palm, trying to figure out the right combination of fingers and numbers to be outraged about. Jon and I were laughing as quietly as we could, but it was hard not to guffaw.

So I asked Otto what he remembered about Nana's house (not much) and we talked about the yellow living room, red kitchen, Frankie the parakeet and Gracie the poodle, Nana fixing good things to eat, Poppy eating breakfast with him. I think they're talking about Thanksgiving at preschool, we've talked casually about our plans for the trip, and Otto's looking forward to it all.

We are too. We're renting a minivan for the trip so that we'll have room to stretch our legs. I think I'll pick up Kung Fu Panda for Otto to watch on the way, and more stickers for his sticker album. He'll be fine, it's Annabel I'm kind of worried about. She's not that fond of sitting in her infant seat for long periods. She's also not used to sleeping a lot during the day (she's a catnapper). I wonder if she'd do better in one of Otto's car seats? And we'll have to take the baby mirror!

one word answers

Where is your mobile phone? wristlet

Where is your significant other? sofa

Your hair colour? brown
Your mother? generous

Your father? distant

Your favourite thing? kids

Your dream last night? nothing

Your dream goal? running

The room you're in? cozy

Your hobby? sewing

Your fear? lost

Where do you want to be in 6 years? home

Where were you last night? here!

What you're not? driven

One of your wish-list items? art

Where you grew up? wide-open

The last thing you did? laundry

What are you wearing? jammies

Your TV? enormous

Your pets? aging

Your computer? ancient

Your mood? tired

Missing someone? family
Your car? faithful
Something you're not wearing? socks
Favourite shop? bookstore

Your summer? wonderful

Love someone? forever

Your favourite colour? red

When is the last time you laughed? today

When is the last time you cried? Tuesday

Try it yourself! Put it on your blog, if you have one, and leave a comment here.

This article popped up today at CBSnews.com: Belt-Tightening Parents Cut Out Day Care

"We are driving people into an unregulated system," said Peggy Liuzzi, executive director of Child Care Solutions, a resource and referral agency in Syracuse, N.Y.

Like many problems unique to women and families, day care is a problem that doesn't get much air time. I've said before that we're paying more for child care than we are for our home every month, and it's true. I'm not complaining -- we're lucky to have a licensed center near our house, lucky our kids like it, lucky we can pay for it. And I keep thinking that if Jon and I feel the squeeze, other families must be hurting a lot more.

In our little sub, one set of neighbors drives hours every day so their kids can stay with grandma for free. Another of our neighbors takes her kids to work with her, where they play in a back room while she's busy elsewhere. The family of four down the block? Mom works from home and one day a week trades kids with a friend so that she can run errands and go to the grocery store. Another family I know needs full-time day care, but can only afford 3 days a week (lucky for them, a retired grandma fills the gap). Our neighbors are teachers, accountants, automotive engineers, professors. Sure, some of them choose not to use child care, but I know at least 2 of those families would if they could. And if they can't afford it, who can?

It's not just low-wage earners feeling the pinch. Day care costs average between $3,380 to $10,787 a year for just one preschooler, according to the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies.

Even before this year's economic perils, the cost had climbed 5.2 percent between 2006 and 2007, said Linda Smith, the association's executive director. And in every state in the country, the monthly child care bill for two children is higher than median rent payments and as high or higher than a mortgage.

I don't understand how parents can be productive if they're worried about their kids while they're working. How we as a society can claim we value families if the children of those families don't have a safe, appropriate place to stay while mom and dad are earning grocery and rent money. I was liberal long before Obama came along. I'm a feminist child of the 70s, proud product of a single-parent household. And I'm so relieved he was elected, so relieved that the new president is of the party I support because they at least talk about these issues.

"People need to work," Liuzzi said. "They can't let their jobs go and they will make choices they will regret."

Every conservative I've heard interviewed this week has said some variation of "well, we'll see now how he's going to keep all the promises he's made." As if the issues he's promised to address are his alone, not ours as a nation. As if there's nothing we can do other than throw money at a few chosen solutions and say we're done. I think we're better and smarter than that. My hope for the next 4 years isn't necessarily that we solve such problems quickly, but that we come up with new ways to solve them, ways that don't rely on an outdated social infrastructure and antique definition of family. Obama's election feels like a symbol of our willingness to work for change, instead of fearing it. And it comes not a minute too soon.

I'm sorry, I can't think. I'm too busy watching CNN, MSNBC, CBS -- alphabet soup -- to focus on writing. So here's a little video for you -- file it under "kids music that doesn't suck."