Escape

About a month or so ago, I jokingly said to a girlfriend that we should run away for the weekend.

A few days later, train tickets were purchased and we had a plan to spend two nights in Seattle. Other than checking out the Gauguin exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, we didn't make any plans. Mostly we just walked and ate and enjoyed being unencumbered adults for the weekend, where nobody needed anything from us and we were free to roam at will.

In no particular order, here are some images I captured of our time there:

I confess that the train travel and the opportunity to snap some candid photos with my new camera has got me itching to get to France. We leave two months from today!

Finally

After a punishing start to spring, we finally got some beautiful weather, just in time for our usual round of holiday fun.

There was a very abbreviated Passover seder, complete with a paper stand-in for the shank bone on the seder plate, and chickenless matzo-ball soup. There was easter-egg-hunt mayhem. There were beautiful blooms and lots of resultant sneezing. There were fairy houses and there was chocolate. Even some really good chocolate.

There was sitting in the sun with everyone on the block, because we finally could. It finally, really feels like spring.

Amazing chocolate macaroons

(adapted from E. Guittard cocoa powder)

1/2 c. good quality cocoa powder

1/2 c. ground almond meal

1 c. powdered sugar

pinch of salt

2 large egg whites

1 t. vanilla

1 cup unsweetened coconut

Mix first 4 ingredients. Add egg whites and vanilla. Mix on low speed until glossy. Mix in cocnut. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet (I used a Silpat) and back for 15-20 minutes at 350F. Super rich, chocolatey goodness. And gluten-free!

Twice in a lifetime

Photo of Rouen skyline taken by David in 2008

I started this blog 3 years and 4 months ago, as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family as we embarked on our 6-week house-swap in Rouen, France. That the trip even happened was amazing — a series of coincidences and opportunities resulting in a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Well, history is repeating itself. The family with whom we swapped 3 years ago has asked us (yes, they asked us!) if we'd be interested in swapping houses for the summer. After thinking it over for approximately 2 seconds, of course we said "absolutely!"

We are so excited to have a chance to go back to the charming town of Rouen in the summer this time. The fact that Anna will be 7 instead of 3 is going to make a huge difference. David will continue working for iovation, the company he joined in December of last year, and Anna and I will explore. We are currently working on our French, something I hope to continue with the Alliance Francaise de Rouen while we're there.

Needless to say, there will be lots of travel adventures and photos posted in the not-too-distant future. In the mean time, you can refresh your memory with my posts from our previous trip here.

Stay tuned!

P.S. In the right column of this blog I've started a list of some of the many great French blogs and language resources I've been finding. There's some really great stuff out there!

24 brand new hours

It will come as no surprise to those who know me well that I can be rather hard on myself. I tend to feel that I should already know how to do something, even if it's the first time. Sometimes I fuck up in some major (to me) way, but mostly I beat myself up over small things. Not enough of this, too much of that.

But the thing that keeps it all in perspective for me at the end of the day is knowing that tomorrow I begin again, with 24 brand new hours. There is so much freedom in the realization that the choices I made today don't have to be the choices I make tomorrow.

I should mention that this idea is not my own, but was introduced to me by the Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, and I wrote about it two years ago in this post.

A lot has been happening here since the last time I posted, and much of it deserves posts of their own. I'll give you some highlights and a teaser that there's some great stuff coming this summer. Can't quite blog about it yet, but soon!

It's been a year now since I started teaching after school art in my home. It's been an amazing experience. I regularly post photos of the beautiful (truly) work these kids do. Please take a moment and visit the photo gallery.

Last fall I found myself bored one afternoon (I don't handle boredom well), so I started looking online for volunteer opportunities. Within about a week I found myself as Site Coordinator for Sabin Elementary's SMART program. SMART is an amazing literacy program in many schools throughout Oregon and I work with about 30 children and 30 adult volunteers twice a week. Guess what? I'm not bored anymore!

I've started studying French again, with a vengeance. This is actually what prompted today's post about 24 brand new hours. I've been studying French off and on since I was 15 years old, and I haven't improved much. But I recently had a paradigm shift, which has changed everything. First of all, I realized that either I was in this for the long haul, or there was just no point in trying. I kept thinking that I could cram in a bunch of French for a few months and then be good at it. Or worse, that I should already be good at it. Now I finally realize that it's a lifelong undertaking. Realizing that has changed the way I'm approaching learning and, as a result, I've had lots of breakthroughs in the past few weeks. (Maybe I'll post some resources at some point. There's a lot of great ones out there).

I have a new favorite song. Ok, not a revelation, but it's replaced the song that was my favorite for about the past 15 years. I just love the way their voices sound together.

There's more to come.

Up to no good

For reasons I can't really explain, I got an urge to make candy last weekend. I don't particularly like candy — I prefer my sugar mixed with flour and butter and applied directly to my midsection. That said, we made sea salt caramels from this recipe and peppermint bark and pistachio-cranberry-pumpkin seed bark and they pretty much rock. The bark couldn't be easier to make. Just melt good chocolate (I used Trader Joe's 72% cacao, but you can use milk, white, whatever) in a double boiler. Pour melted chocolate into a waxed paper-lined pan and top with whatever you choose. We found putting it in the fridge for a few hours helped it set up.









And now we're off to California, for some end-of-year festivities. See you all in 2012!

The 5th unbirthday

Happy birthday, Dad. Despite the fact that you've been gone 4 1/2 years, you are still very much a presence in my life on a daily basis.

Boo!

Somehow Fall has begun here in Portland, just when most of us locals had barely adjusted to summer. Honestly, I'm glad. While I do love daily sunshine, I'm not crazy about heat. Anything over 75 just feels unnecessary to me! I love the opportunity to put on boots and a sweater; to make soups and bake with abandon (these cookies have made a comeback); to cozy up with a book in front of a rainy window.