I’ll take that Instagrammed, please

Posted on August 2, 2011 by jeannie

What picture doesn’t benefit from a rosy filter? Or as the Instagram website promises, Make your pictures look like the memory you cherish!

Instagram is a free iphone app that I played with yesterday while housebound with a mildly feverish little boy (he’s better today, thanks).

I am hooked.

My first insta-experiment with Christian's alien lego.

I'm compelled to go through old photos and set new filters.

This picture series cracked me up, because it looked like Christian was taking the photos of himself and Leela. I think they were actually taken from my brother lying in the grass in Bar Harbor. But I'm not sure. All kinds of docs and pics with questionable provenance on my phone and computer when I got home from vacation.

This photo is from Sue and Joss' camera. Would be a sweet profile pic if Leela had a facebook account...

Another one from Sue and Joss' camera. Exuberant play at the U.S.S. Midway. And yes, that's a bomb behind her.

Posted in iPhone | Leave a comment

A Lockpick, not a Locksmith

Posted on August 1, 2011 by jeannie

Songbae locked himself out of his room at Sue’s place in Bangkok, again.

Here’s the video of the lockpick doing his thing. Songbae is suitably impressed (as he aspired to be a canny lockpick in his youth and once ordered a set of tools for that purpose from the back of a comic book).

All I have to say is, with people around with such skills, you realize that you rely daily upon the statistically large population of good-natured neighbors and strangers who simply choose to leave you alone, and not on the supposed barrier of a locked door.

Posted in says Songbae, Thailand | Leave a comment

I Heart Paddleboarding

Posted on July 31, 2011 by jeannie

I think I’ve found my sport.

Have you seen all the folks out on the ocean, standing up and paddling along the coast on something that looks like a surfboard? I dismissed it as a trendy expensive fad – but then one day during an Earthroots Homeschool Field Day class, we saw whales and dolphins out at sea. Right off the shore, actually, at Fisherman’s Cove.

Seeing the whales was a surprise. First I thought I was watching a dolphin arching up at top of the water, but the gray body just kept going, and going, and going – until the whale’s distinctive forked tail flipped and with a start I realized what I was seeing. For a long minute there I thought I might be witnessing my first ever loch ness monster!

That day the water was clear and sparkly, and paddle boarder after paddleboarder filed by us and entered the ocean. Hours later when they started returning, I could hear bits of excited conversation: “the dolphins were all around us!” “did you see those whales?” That’s when I realized that paddleboarding might be a way of getting out into the ocean and closer to the wildlife and freedom there.

Some where between that day in Fisherman’s Cove and my sister’s visit, I determined to organize a paddle boarding lesson for all of us. I got three paddle boards and an instructor for three hours for six adults (and because we’re friends with the instructor, we actually got the paddle boards for the entire week) for $250. It ended up being a graduation treat for Bella and her friend, and early birthday presents for my sister, brother, and brother-in-law.

And despite everybody’s trepidation (the boards were a hassle to transport at first), it all worked out and we got to paddle board several times. Songbae and Joss even went back out the morning of the day we flew back to the east coast – and they saw stingrays gliding underneath them.

The morning of our lesson, though, the surf was uncharacteristically rough at Fisherman’s Cove (usually a popular spot to launch), so our lesson was at the Back Bay in Newport. The bay is not as visually glamorous as the Pacific Ocean, but it turned out to be a perfect place to learn paddleboarding.

We launched from Black Star Beach, which happens to be home to the Newport Aquatic Center (NAC). NAC may be one of the best-kept secrets in Newport Beach. You can rent kayaks for $14/hour and paddle boards for $20/hour – but get this: members can use all the facilities, boats, and boards FOR FREE, and an individual monthly membership is $60. So if you are interested in checking out paddle boarding try a monthly membership at NAC. It would only take 3 hours of paddle boarding to recoup your membership cost!

Besides which, the water was calm and warm there, and the kids played all day on the boats (playing “pirate ship”).

Actually what would really be perfect would be for a group of moms to get together and get a month’s membership at the same time. Then we could plan a couple outings per week for the month, and help each other watch babies, while the other mom’s learned to paddle board. Let me know if you’re interested, because that’s something I plan on organizing in the next year…

The only downside is, well, the ocean is a MUCH more fun place to paddle board and I don’t know of any such deals for renting paddleboards by the beach. (When I went paddle boarding on the ocean, my b-i-l and I circled a rock cropping covered with barking sea lions – it was wild!!!)

 

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The Amazing Jiggling Rainbow Cake

Posted on July 29, 2011 by jeannie

Yup. I made it. Have made it THREE TIMES ALREADY THIS SUMMER. This one was the first one, made in a fancy borrowed bundt pan. We were rushed and we made it (my s-i-l and me) the day of the event we were attending. We were thrilled with the results!

I used the recipe at the link my friend, Sierra, sent me here. There it is referred to as a Spiked Rainbow Salad, or as a variation of a Rainbow Ribbon Cake (because of the vodka).

We’ve been calling it a spiked rainbow jello cake (the party version calls for three cups of vodka), but most recently I’ve received questions about how to make that “diversity cake.” Come to think of it, I guess Waldorf folks share an affinity for rainbows with the “diverse” population.

This cake is a stunner and crowd-pleaser. It’s a little bit sad to see the kids’ faces fall when they’re told that this is a grown-up cake, but that sadness goes away when the vodka warms your bones after the first bite.

The general idea is to make gelatin jello and let it set briefly (15-20 min) before pouring the next level. The technique is easy, but time-consuming as there are 12 layers (six colors with each color having a clear and cloudy layer). Plan on spending five hours or so. Keep in mind that two cakes are just as easy as one.

Tips:

  • an ornate bundt pan makes a more beautiful cake
  • keep everything cold, cold cold. that means chill the vodka in the freezer and the bundt pan in the fridge in advance.
  • best to make this cake THE DAY BEFORE YOU NEED IT

You will need:

  • 6 – 3 oz. packages of jello
  • 3 pkg gelatin (each pkg is about 2 tsp)
  • 3 c flavored vodka (we’ve tried raspberry and vanilla – both are delicious)
  • 1 tub vanilla yogurt

lightly greased bundt pan (we used a Pam spray and then wiped most off)

It helps to have a couple measuring cups when you are juggling multiple colors. You’ll need a whisk and small saucepan as well.

1. Dissolve 1 tsp of gelatin in 3/4 c in the saucepan. Heat and stir until dissolved.

2. Add the first pkg of jello (purple, if you’re doing a rainbow). Stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. At this point I transfer the jello mixture to a glass measuring cup to start the cooling process.

3. Add 1/2 c vodka. Pour half the jello color into the bundt mold.

4. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes. This is the critical bit, because if the jello is not set enough, the next poured color will make a hole in the previous layer. (Although this hardly shows in the finished product.) You can use a soup spoon to break the pour flow too. If the jello is set too much, then the levels will not stick and when the cake is served the layers will break apart.

So, you are looking for a firm jello that is still sticky to the touch.

As the layers progress it goes faster (because of the mass of the already cooled jello helps cool the new layers).

5. Add 3 T of yogurt to the remaining jello color. When the previous layer is set, pour to add the cloudy layer.

6. Repeat with remaining five colors.

Posted in food, recipes | 3 Comments

Add ten pounds to that…

Posted on July 19, 2011 by jeannie

I have consumed an enormous amount of food during this cruise. All of us are joking about having forgotten what it feels like to be hungry. My favorite joke is that it only takes 3 cruises to reach the size of most of the people on board… and how can it be helped when you walk in to sushi, and then move on to veal stew, lasagna, and made-to-order Mongolian noodles? Even Bella who is normally very careful about what she eats has developed an obsession of trying every dessert offered in the evenings (after eating two plates of grilled veggies).

We have taken to stopping in at the buffet in the Windjammer when it opens at 6:30pm to feed the kids dinner…and then going directly to our dinner seating in the fancier sit-down restaurant, My Fair Lady, at 8 pm. No joke!

Our family has the same table and same servers every evening, which is nice. Perhaps what it might be like to have a personal chef and butler. They know my brother-in-law is going to want a cold beer as soon as he sits down, and that my dad always wants a sourdough roll from the fresh-baked selection. They know my mom wants hot tea, and that my brother likes to order three starters and skip the main meal. Our seating is late which is why we’ve been feeding the kids early – but the regular dinner seating (it’s even printed on our seapass) is a nice way to relax and check in with the rest of the family.

We’re presently docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia for the day. We’re not meeting the rest of the family for another two hours (at the top of the old star-shaped citadel fortress in the center of town) so we’ve stopped for our daily dose of internet in a rooftop garden above the indoor farmer’s market. Internet service on board is $35/hour, so we reserve our travel research and email checks for when we are on shore and drinking tea at Starbuck’s. We’ve been craving internet more since we’ve reached Canada as I’ve put my phone on plane mode to avoid international charges.

We’re also planning on walking through the historic area and the public gardens so Christian can have a good run around. Although there is a 50% of thunderstorms today; if it rains we’ll duck into the Maritime Museum which has actual artifacts from the Titanic (frozen bodies floated ashore and were buried here in Halifax).

We’re a little regretful not to spend more time in the wild part of Nova Scotia; we’ve been told it’s some of the most beautiful coast and country in the world! But in the nature of the cruise, we’re only one day in each port, and there is plenty to do within walking distance from the boat. Nobody in the family has ever visited Halifax before. I didn’t imagine it would be a bustling little city (375,000), but I do like all the red brick and old buildings. The northern east coast is all about history, and buildings and parks often date back to the 1700 and 1800’s.

I’ll pics when I get back to the ship tonight. It’s been hard to find the time to turn on the computer – so much EATING TO DO.

P.S. Loving my self-assigned cruise reading, Skippy Dies, by Paul Murray.  Chad’s already finished it and now Joss is halfway through too. Fantastic read about boyhood adolescence.

Posted in travel | 2 Comments

Cruising with the Family

Posted on July 17, 2011 by jeannie

[Posted in Bar Harbor, Maine in a little laundromat off Cottage Street. Headed to Bridge Street next, where we hope to walk over to a little island while the tide is low. This town is quiet and quaint. My parents are attending church, and the rest of the family is sleeping in and coming over to town for lunch – lobster rolls!]

The cruise was a great idea for a family reunion as a way to avoid a large part of the feeding and logistics of keeping the Lee family fed and entertained. Food and entertainment is never-ending on a cruise ship – as soon as breakfast closes down, lunch is starting somewhere else. Ditto for the activities (and if nothing else, you can workout in the gym or go rock climbing).

We are on Day Four and pulling into Bar Harbor, Maine. The ship is cruising slowly as we approach and the ocean is calm. Outside our room, the corridors are deserted, as it’s not even 6 am, and many of the night’s activities (live music, stage shows, gambling, karaoke, dancing) have only just finished up.  We’re in the early-to-bed-and-early up set, which has the main advantage of avoiding the crowds. It’s a pretty big advantage this morning; the boat docks at 7 am and first small boat shuttles start for shore at 7:15 am. Yesterday we spent the better part of an hour in lines feeling like sardines, being hustled in lines from floor to floor, and barely managed to get into Portland with the whole family intact. (Ironically, we all separated into groups shortly thereafter; one group to rent bicycles and see the new Harry Potter; one group to go on a trolley tour; and the third group to the park, library, and toy store.)

Yesterday, though, was the first shore day of the cruise and also the first time seeing land after nearly 48 hours at sea. Besides which, we didn’t dock until 11 am, so there was a lot of time to anticipate the docking in Portland. I don’t expect to have to deal with lines today.

Our room is larger than we anticipated and very comfy. Granted the bathroom is teeny, but for being on a boat – actually, in any mode of transportation: motor home, train, bus, airplane – the bathroom is roomy, with the delightful addition of daily maid service. I’d forgotten about that part of cruising – that a boat is transportation!

The experience of navigating the long narrow halls of the ship is somewhere between walking down the center of a railway car and a hotel corridor. In fact, the whole ship is literally a floating hotel. (Or a prison, since you can’t leave this hotel.) It’s strange, because you’re having this impersonal experience of eating a buffet meal like at Soup Plantation or Hometown Buffet, but at every meal the faces are the same. It’s a surreal experience, to walk on deck while at sea and realize that you are essentially marooned on ship with thousands of strangers (2000+), with whom you have nothing in common except for that fact that you chose to be on a New England cruise ship in July.

New England is a beautiful place to be in July. The skies are gorgeous blue with fluffy clouds (lots of sky-watching out at sea) and there is always a breeze, so even though the temps are close to 80 it feels refreshing.

I don’t like being “fresh off the boat” every time the boat docks and we all spill onto shore, but Chad and I have managed to stay on foot and explore different nooks and crannies of town. Chad was not so impressed with Portland, judging from the name of the wi-fi networks that kept popping up on my phone and from the number of locals smoking… but Bar Harbor he has deemed a free wi-fi paradise – and movies cost only $6 at the local theater.

 

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Grunion Run 2011 or How I Found Myself on the Beach at Midnight Chasing Fish

Posted on July 7, 2011 by jeannie

It was nice to have my brother around to help with the kids who were slightly freaked about the grunion-catching hysteria that the other kids were experiencing

It’s grunion season.

Grunion are little silvery fish who like to ride high tides up the sand, mate, lay eggs, and then flop back into the sea.

We happen to live near beaches where this happens. Since the grunion like high tides – they mostly wait for the highest tides at the full and new moons. There are four nights every two weeks grunion can be seen, and usually the third and  fourth nights are the best for viewing.

Interestingly, they also like the highest waves – many waves would crash without a grunion in sight, or just a couple, then a very high wave would come up and toss dozens and dozens of grunions frantically bending and twisting that, well, makes you think about fish sex. I like to think about groups of grunion out there in the dark sea, floating, waiting, and then with a hive mind riding the largest swells into shore.

Grunion come out to mate and lay eggs, but the two actions are mixed up together. The female buries herself in the sand tail first. What we saw was fish heads looking up at us from small holes in the sand – mouths open and closing in gasps and the heads lurching from side to side while the female fish go about their laborious business of pushing out thousands of eggs. Male grunion are sometimes there wrapped around the female’s head, momentarily, before they leap away. The female fish thrashes herself out of the hole and lays on the sand catching her breath – this was a good time to catch them – before catching the next wave back to the sea. (Adults need a fishing license to catch them, children do not. Catching is allowed with HANDS ONLY.)

As much as this was a very satisfying event (GREAT for kids), it was nothing like I’d expected. The shore was not covered with grunion, but we saw enough. It does take preparation though to haul kids to the beach from 11 pm to midnight. We chose Salt Creek Beach in front of the Ritz and brought hot tea and cookies. The beach parking is open until midnight and promptly at midnight a cop car cruised along the beach access road with a high beam spotlight and announced through a megaphone that the beach was now closed.

P.S. My brother sent us the fruit of his grunion internet research in a brief email the next day:

“Oh my…
[photo of many grunion]
Blog talking about it so you don’t have to repeat everything:

“The grunion is actually a small silver-sided fish measuring 5-7 inches which can be found along the Southern California coast below Point Conception, and as far south as the Mexican beaches of Baja California. They resemble smelt although they are not related. And they are not netted like smelt (in fact, netting is explicitly verboten) nor are they taken on bait like other fish. They are caught by hand and only by hand and collected in buckets for a fish fry the following day.”

I must have just seen two females buried next to each other:

“The females come ashore, wiggle down into the sand to deposit their eggs, and then the males will gather around them to secrete their milt.”

[The quotes in my brother’s email are from another blog post about grunion, from Steven B. Roger’s blog “Looking Toward Portugal”]

P.P.S. Sierra sent me pictures of the cleaned grunion that same night, and then more pics the next more of the grunion fish fry the next morning. Wish I’d been there for breakfast!

 

Posted in beach, SoCal attractions, south OC | Leave a comment

My Secrets Of Adulthood

Posted on July 1, 2011 by jeannie

In the midst of family visiting this week, I woke up with a start this morning and realized July 1 was a paperwork deadline for a $50 bonus. That’s TODAY.

I have Christian down to nap and am busily writing and editing.

Here is my submission for the annual Not Back To School Camp Bliss Book:

“So tell me what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”– Mary Oliver

I’ve just finished reading Gretchen Rubin’s book, The Happiness Project, and I love the fact that she distilled her life philosophies into her Twelve Commandments, her Secrets of Adulthood, and Her Splendid Truths.

It occurred to me that a bliss book might be the perfect place to share some of the principles I have come to accept as personal truths as a grown-up.  I was tempted to copy Ms. Rubins’ secrets, but upon closer inspection I realized that my own secrets are actually quite different than hers. These are my own. Perhaps centering them will make them look more official.

Everybody wants to be loved.

Everybody is doing the best they can.

Attention and time make the best gifts.

Good food is not just the way to a man’s heart, but to most people’s hearts.

Things that are hard can be more rewarding than things that are easy.

What people think about you is really of very little consequence.

It’s a good idea to wait to be emotionally intimate before being physically intimate.

It’s impossible to guess what people are thinking, so don’t bother; you’ll almost always be wrong.

It takes a couple years to get decently good at something. And a couple of years can go by fast!

Strong relationships need tending and maintenance.

Take the time to surround yourself with people you admire and enjoy.

You can get rid of a bad habit by focusing on a good habit.

In fact, most problems can be solved with extra attention and focus.

Making eye contact with a big smile can go a long way (especially if you need to change lanes in bad traffic).

Supporting others and doing good is nourishing for your soul.

You can only change yourself.

Not everything needs to be said out loud.

Criticism is only useful if it’s been requested, and sometimes not even then.

A good night’s sleep can cure many emotional ills.

Ditto for a good day in the wild.

Eating lots of vegetables is always a good idea.

Doing something, anything, every day is very, very hard. Practice it.

Exercise will make you feel better.

Generosity is always repaid.

You’re the only one who gets to live your life, so make it a good one.

P.S. You can see my staff bio for NBTSC Oregon Session II here. Gee, I look so friendly in my photo!

Posted in homeschooling, Not Back To School Camp | Leave a comment

I Swear I’m Not Controlling…

Posted on June 19, 2011 by jeannie

Well, maybe I am.*
Here’s my suggested schedule for when my brother and sister visit next week. But truly, these are suggestions and totally up for revision and spontaneity. It’s just that I find it reassuring to work with even an imagined schedule when dealing with nearly a dozen people. Especially food-wise. In my house.
In preparation, I am stocking my freezer. So far I’ve made chicken enchiladas and chocolate chip cookie dough (frozen in little balls). Flax muffins, Caesar dressing, and spaghetti sauce to come. I’ll have a Korean ox-tail soup in the crock pot for the night they arrive.

Possible restaurants: True Foods, Bistro K, Korean House BBQ or Shik Do Rak, Golondrinos

Shortlist restaurants: Kogi Truck, Baja Fish Tacos, Upper Crust Pizza, Five Guys’ Burgers,

Excursion options:

LA for the day – Korean bath house! Chachangmyun (black bean sauce on noodles). Museum of Jurassic Technology. Papa Cristo’s for grilled baby octopus! (Papa Cristo’s is one of my favorite places of all time to eat – wonderful Greek food.)

Strawberry picking at South Coast Farms, if the dates are right.

Grunion Run (you know, watching grunion fish mate and lay eggs in the wet sand at high tide on a full moon)

Lego store at downtown Disney (mini-figure series 5 is expected to come out any moment now)

June 25 – Sue, Joss, Noi naa, Leela, and Songbae arrive at LAX at 7 pm. [oxtail soup]
June 26 – Chill day – good day for the farmer’s market (tamales and ripe organic stone fruit) and the pool. [buttermilk pancakes for breakfast; chicken enchiladas for dinner]
June 27 – Crystal Cove State Park Beach  [dinner at True Foods? cupcakes at Sprinkles?]
June 28 – Paddle Boarding lesson from Fisherman’s Cove [grass-fed beef hamburgers with caesar salad]
June 29 – Sue’s family goes to San Diego for a conference. Possibly a good day for Scripps Aquarium or wild seal-watching at Children’s Beach in La Jolla. [eat at Brockton Inn?]
June 30 – either give Sue’s family a break from us, or go to the Children’s Museum which has been highly recommended.
July 1 – ditto
July 2 -USS Midway. Chad bikes down to meet us. Lunch either on boat at cafe or at the fish place by the India Star.
July 3 – Sue and family return to Laguna Niguel [Korean BBQ at Sierra’s pool?]
July 4 – Picnic and fireworks at Laguna Niguel Regional Park [oven baked chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, peach cobbler]
July 5 – Chill day or creek play at O’Neill Regional Park (if water is still running…)[Denny’s-style breakfast with eggs, biscuits, sausage]
July 6 – Leave for the east coast all together from LAX.

Things to cook while at mom and dad’s house: crockpot ribs, chili, maple-glazed pork tenderloin, lemon meringue pie.

Things to make while on cruise: felted knitted mobius basket with Mom. Finish Leela’s crown. Teach Mom how to make artisan bread.

Video below from last summer’s visit, almost exactly one year ago – clay play at Sierra’s house. They were so little back then. This visit, Leela, who was a 3-month not-even-crawling baby, will be walking!

*I’ve even gone so far as to suggest cruise reading material for very member of my family – and am providing the books themselves. For a list of my suggestions check this post.

Posted in family, food, los angeles, san diego, SoCal attractions, south OC | 5 Comments

Not-Back-to-School Camp

Posted on June 17, 2011 by jeannie

Something I’m excited about, but haven’t had much chance to talk about (because my sister and brother are arriving in a week! yee-haw), is Not-Back-To-School Camp.

I’m working there this year (again). I’ll be an advisor, which is like being a camp counselor, except that this camp is unlike any camp you’ve ever seen. Unless you dream big dreams about 100+ unschooled and homeschooled kids getting together in the woods and coming up with their own idea of “camp” with benevolent adults looking on to keep things safe. It’s an amazing place where much spontaneous fun and personal growth happens. It’s all fueled by organic vegetarian food cooked on the premises. I’ll be there for two weeks and Christian will get to be a camp kid as Bella once was.

Each advisor gets to choose what workshops he or she’d like to teach over the course of two weeks. Normally, you’d choose an area of expertise or personal interest – since I imagine most of these kids aren’t going to be interested in teaching a forest kindergarten – I’ve decided to teach mostly crafty workshops this year: knitting socks, embroidery, plant-dying, and the like. As a nod to my teacher background, I’ll lead one workshop on writing a persuasive essay following the California English Language Arts standards.

My contribution to the camp Bliss Book will be a page entitled, Jeannie’s Unsolicited Advice for Teenagers. It is presently un-written, but I have lots of ideas and I think it will be modeled after Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, which I am reading for the second time.

For those of you who are interested in camp, a former camper made this terrific little video.

 

Not Back to School Camp: A Glance Within from Allen Ellis on Vimeo.

Posted in homeschooling | 2 Comments