jumping the gun/we are beginners/our kitchen is becoming a virile jungle

It has been 5 days. A few of our seedlings are already busting their way out of the little greenhouse. You can see the cucumber seedlings pressing against the lid. They need to be transplanted STAT. 

We read all the seed packages. When it said 'seeds emerge in 5-7 days' we didn't realize that they would shoot straight up out of the soil. We carefully considered the zone we live in and the 'days to harvest' which are printed on the seed packets. We planted realizing that it would be a month (at least) before we could move the garden outside. This is why we started some plants that aren't usually started indoors. The summer gets hot and steamy really fast here and we wanted to get the plants started so we could have them on their way the minute the weather started warming up. I get a feeling that our kitchen counter will serve as a plant nursery for the entire month of April.

I am most excited about the herbs we are growing. The basil shot up first. We also planted oregano, rosemary, flat leaf parsley (PESTO!), and cilantro. Tons of cilantro. 

Looks like we could have waited a couple of weeks before starting this whole adventure. We'll have it figured out better next year.

18 months old this week (sadly, no nursery leader in our ward)

little lovie

Grant is still at the age where he is happy following me around all day. I just love it. I was busy in the kitchen this morning, and he brought his blanket and got comfy within arms' reach. I get to kiss him 100 times a day just because he is close.

Blessings

Planting time We are so excited to have a garden this year. We are still deciding on where the actual outside planting will happen. We are debating between building planter boxes in the yard or keeping everything in planters on the deck (out of the way of kids and animals). But the seeds are started and we are really looking forward to some hot weather. 

Wonderful neighbors We are surrounded by some great families on our street. There is a pack of boys that range in age from about 7-12 who are often in our back yard in the afternoons. There are few fences to be found around here and so individual backyards quickly become a giant whole for the kids playing in them. (Hence part of our concern regarding where to plant our garden) We've met the parents and families of all these guys, and they are all such wonderful people. Gracie can hardly contain herself when she sees the boys playing outside. She dashes for her shoes and then opens the deck sliding door and shouts, "Hey! Guys! It's me! Grace!!!" All the boys come running up to the deck and ask her to play with them. Then they try to teach her games like kick ball and catch. Or they try to sneak up on birds (all 6 of them at a time). Or they take her to the next-door back yard to play on the jungle gym. Though they stay in the back- per my request- it is a little stressful for me to let her out like that. I try to give her some space, but always have an eye on her. Anyway, it is going to be an awesome summer for this little girl.

Longer days I know I'll be less than thrilled about them in a month or two when it will be impossible to get Grace to bed on time. But for now, I'm loving the extra hours of sunshine.

image diary 3.20.09

In our curio

Another memory from our curio. I have been to Paris twice. The first time was during my semester abroad in London. A group of us took the chunnel over and spent three days on our feet fitting in everything we could. It was a wonderful introduction to the city. I loved being there. I got this little Tour d'Eiffle on that first trip. It was being sold by one of the many vendors that crowd the public area around the tower.

I went again with Cori in the March of 2007. He had a business trip taking him there. With his airfare and 5 nights in a hotel paid for, we figured that we couldn't afford not to make a bigger holiday of it. So we got me tickets to join him. I dropped Gracie off in UT on my way out. 

Traveling with Cori is so great. He loves trying new things -food, languages, transportation methods- and he has this fool-proof internal compass. We can aimlessly wander around and he always knows right where we are. This was great for Paris.

Arch de Triumph

Unfortunately for me, I was completely without Cori for the first 4 or 5 days of our visit. (I got lost nearly every single day without him- but I didn't care, because I was in Paris) He would leave early for work. Then he had meetings all day long. Then they would go to dinner around 7. He wouldn't get home until 10 or later. So I pretty much had the city all to myself for a week. I took advantage of the time to make the stops that Cori wasn't as interested in. 

 

A crazy bookshop I read about in my travel guide book (AKA Paris Bible, remember Natalie?) that is found in the Latin quarter.

I spent an afternoon wandering around the Latin quarter. This is where all the schools are. I paced around La Sorbonne and the College de France and marveled at all the students crowding the doorways on their smoke breaks. I went to the Musee National du Moyen Age (national medieval museum) where I saw the Golden Rose of Basel and the Lady with the Unicorn tapestry series. I visited the Pantheon. I spent an afternoon wandering around Montmarte. The cemetery there is like something out of an old vampire movie. I spent a morning at the Musee Rodin. I ate alone in little crepe and sandwich shops and just listened to and watched the people around me. 

The Thinker in the gardens at the Musee Rodin

Our first several nights there we stayed in the lodging provided as part of Cori's trip, a Marriott I think. After his work was finished and we were officially on holiday, we moved to a place we secured through VRBO. It was a little studio apartment in the Marais district right around the corner from Notre Dame. The owners of the apartment (Vincent and Fawsi) met me at the metro stop and carried my luggage up four flights of a very narrow spiral stairway. The place was perfect for the rest of our stay. 

The view from our place on the Marais

And this was our view from around the corner

Together, Cori and I did all the must-see stuff. We spent most of one of our days visiting Versailles. I think this was one of Cori's favorite stops. We took a tour of the main palace, and then walked out to tour the Grand Trianon and the Petit Tranon (quarters of Marie Antoinette). Cori kept these rocks he found because their colors are reminiscent of the marble used to construct the palace. They live in our curio now. I think it may have been illegal to take them...

Versailles

We went up to Montmarte to visit the Sacre-Coeur basilica at night. In my opinion, Sacre-Coeur is best visited at this time for two reasons. 1) You get to view the Great Mosaic of Christ by candle light. It has threads of gold tiles that radiate from the figure of Christ that are indescribably beautiful in this lighting. 2) You get to see the cute French nuns who close the place up at the end of visiting hours. They wear gigantic habits.

Being shameless tourists, we took a picture of me in front of a performing group on the steps outside the basilica.

The grandeur of Cori before the grandeur of Sacre-Coeur

We also happened to trek up the Eiffle Tower at a great time of day. We spent an amazing hour on the first platform watching the sunset over Paris. Once it was dark we headed straight to the top for a night view of the city.

la vie en rose

Paris by night

We were there over a weekend and attended Church at the Paris ward. Cori was able to understand a surprising amount of French due to his fluency in Spanish. We spent the rest of that day at the Pompidou Centre (modern art museum). We ate at a little place just off the Stravinsky fountain where I accidentally drank some cidre (a sparkling apple wine) and was served a crepe which contained an egg so raw that a glob of clear egg white giggled onto my fork. I was very pregnant with Grant and very ill our entire stay. That meal just about did me in. I think we ate Pizza Hut and Japanese food the rest of the trip.

Stravinsky fountain and the Pompidou just behind. I had not yet laid mouth upon the offending food and drink.

The last Parisian item in our curio came from Notre Dame. Cori really wanted one of the candles they burn at the alters. So he paid his alms and then promptly put the candle in my purse. They sell them in the gift shop too.

Naturally, we also hit the Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay. There is a gorgeous church, Ste-Chapelle, inside the Palais de Justice. I could not wait for Cori to see it. We also got in to see the Opera National de Paris Garnier (national opera house).

There are a dozen other little things I'll always remember about this trip: holding hands down the Champs-Elysees, eating a two-foot long baguette smeared with Camembert, shopping for Gracie, crepes with nutella, Paris rain, riding the metro everywhere, eating ice chips every night to settle my stomach, talking with Grace through our web cam, loving croque messieurs (kind of like an open faced grilled cheese with ham- made with Gruyere- yum), how badly Cori wanted to speak French and talk to people, the friendliness of the French- even after they figured us for Americans which didn't take too long, and just loving being there with Cori. 

Notre Dame on a rainy day

Beneath the grand staircase at the Opera

Stained glass of Ste-Chapelle. This place takes my breath away. If I could paint organ music, it would look like these windows.

The Louvre

I Love

National Public Radio I got into the habit of listening to NPR in Michigan. It was broadcasted at just the right times- dinner prep, kitchen cleanup, the kids naps. I was able to find it pretty easily. Every time we move I have to re-research radio stations. I like to know where and when I can find Rush, Hannity, and NPR.

I've had an iPod for over a year and just recently started using it to its potential. More on that later. But in my search for iPod stuff, I was delighted to discover the number of podcasts available from NPR. I currently subscribe to just one. It is called, simply, most e-mailed stories. Every few days, there is a 30-40 minute podcast available of the NPR stories that got the most internet attention. The podcast pulls from all the regular segments- morning edition, weekend edition, talk of the nation, all things considered- as well as individual contributors. There is always an eclectic blend of political, cultural, artsy, international and interesting stuff. I'm always engaged. I keep a list on my iPod of things that really perk my interest. For example, there is a little list of authors and possible books to read, the name of an antique typewriter dealer in So. California, some questions I asked my dad based on an interview with the brains behind the Yale endowment fund, the name of a pianist whose album I want to buy... The stories are always current, and shine lots of intellect on things going on. Around the Oscars there were quite a few segments from notable critics discussing nominees. I didn't ever hear one for acting, but it was great listening to some real critiques of the artistic merit of musical scores, sound mixing, and editing. There have been lots of interesting segments on the economic stimulus plan that focus on a more international perspective. I could go on. 

Listening via this method has its drawbacks. I miss the classical music that usually accompanies NPR. But it has been a handy way for me to feed my mind on my time. I plug in while I'm cleaning the house, folding laundry, even when I'm avoiding getting out of bed in the morning.