Pre-holiday

You can tell the holiday is over because the leftovers are in the frig and the dish rack is full, but earlier there were clues to tell the holiday was about the begin.

The china, silver, and crystal were set out.

The barricades were up for the local Turkey Trot, which three of us ran.

The ads were thicker than the paper (LA Times, NY Times, ads).  I have not plans for shopping today or tomorrow (and don't know anyone who will), but I looked at the ads anyway.

After the festive meal we had time for a walk (and tree climbing for some of us).  It was 71ºF at 4pm - not bad, not bad at all.

Amusement

Instead of having just Thanksgiving and the next day off of school, for the second year the kids (but not David) have had the entire week off and started school before Labor Day.  Apparently it saves the school money because they get paid only when kids are at school and a lot of them were leaving before Thanksgiving.

I thought it would be a great time to visit Grand Canyon National Park or Sequoia, but not everyone agreed.  There was talk of going to Santa Barbara (a mission!  a botanic garden!) for a few days with another mom, another teenager, and another fourth grader.  That wasn't popular either.

Finally we agreed to go to Knott's Berry Farm because is was a short drive (less than an hour) and we could get discount tickets.

Do amusement parks in other countries play their national anthem before they open?  And I guess the new thing (new being defined as the last twenty years) is to put one's hand over one's heart instead of standing at attention.

We made the mistake of following the advice to ride the big rides first, so we joined the Ghostrider line.  I thought it would be great because I had fond memories of a wooden roller coaster from my youth (Geauga Lake or Cedar Point).  Obviously absence makes the heart grow fonder because I certainly wasn't fond of this roller coaster.  I was glad I had taken my glasses off since I might have lost them.  I am glad my brain was enclosed in my skull, although the bouncing around was painful.  Ugh.

Why is the conductor just watching the train robber?

Unless you count the train ride around the park, that was the last ride for me!  Of the six of us, two people rode three rides, two people rode two rides, and two people rode one ride.

On the other hand, I was happy to see a smushed penny machine,

I liked all the Peanuts displays,

including this one that I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to photograph.  Honest.

The kids liked the cheese pizza and ice cream, so we decided next year we'll just go to the mall.

Olympics

I followed the results online and bought the special post-Olympic issue of Swimming World, but this week I finally got to see a day of Olympic swimming.  It was definitely my good thing of the day.

I loved

• the underwater and overhead camera shots (I had no idea some people swim breaststroke asymmetrically)
• learning that some Olympians wear noseclips
• seeing the Hungarian and Japanese medal winners chatting together (in English, I would guess)
• the joy on Michael Jamieson's face, a silver medalist
• the Australian commentator and the Aussie words, like cozzie v. swimsuit
• the lack of nationalism

Maybe I'll watch another day next week.

Reading

I read a book!  A book written for adults!  From the beginning to the end without skipping any pages or  peeking ahead!

In August or so the New York Times had an article about back-to-school books to get one in the mood for college and this was suggested.  It's set in Corinth a.k.a. Ithaca, but more fascinating was reading a book set in 1969, before legal abortions and at the beginning of the women's rights movement.

I am so proud of this accomplishment that I will read another book, one recommended by my father (for whom I write this blog).

I do read.  We get the New York Times Monday through Friday and the Los Angeles Times Thursday through Sunday.  We get the local newspaper on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  I read a few headlines online (Cleveland, Ithaca, Boulder, Roskilde), too.

I read parenting books (Blessing of the B-, a follow-up to Blessing of the Skinned Knee), books my kids read (The Giver), books that bring back good memories (Anne of Green Gables), and lots of magazines.  These I read in teeny, tiny bits, a few pages at a time.  What is great is when I have a dentist appointment or am donating blood and can just sit and read and not fall asleep or jump up every two minutes to deal with laundry/phone/cooking/life's distractions.

Childhood food

I was amazed to see an article in the New York Times food section about peanut butter and pickle sandwiches.  I thought my mom invented them and served them Susan came home with me for lunch.  I was also amazed because the article encouraged the use of bread and butter pickles, which I had never eaten until I moved out of my parents' house.  I thought everyone ate kosher half sour pickles.  Maybe Don Hermann and Sons?

Mmm - too bad Mom and Dad can't bring these from Cleveland!

Can you tell which store is close to our house?

 I decided to break from tradition and try sweet pickles.

The sandwich was good, but not as good as good as Mom's!  R. tried one, too, and she liked it.  A tradition lives on.

Food in the neighborhood, part three

This tree is next to the house where Maggie, our sabbatical dog, lives.  We had borrowed her for the day
and when I returned her I was given permission to pick a couple pomegranates.

If you look carefully on the left side of the tree you can see the pomegranates.  The squirrels get some of them, but there are usually more than a family can eat, which is why I was given a couple of them.

We usually break them open underwater and separate the seeds from the flesh.  It is fun to eat them for a while, but two will probably be enough for the season.

A full day

It was a full day for the youngest member of the family.  After a bit of school work he got ready for the first game of a soccer tournament, the League Cup.

What an enormous complex!  We found the field, found the teammates, and earned the first win of the season!  The boys were happy, but mostly I felt relieved!  Technically the team had earned their first win earlier in the day when the their afternoon opponent forfeited the game, which counted as a 1-0 win for the Stars.  More importantly to one family member, it meant he wasn't missing the game because of the previously scheduled cello recital.  Onto the Sweet 16, which will be played December 1.

A. missed the last recital because of a broken thumb, so it had been a year between performances.  Even though I had heard him practice the piece many times, I thought A. was fabulous.  Onto Suzuki Book Three.

The afternoon was spent cooking for company.  We enjoyed crudites, chowder, buttermilk biscuits, roasted carrots, and Tollhouse Pie.  A call came just before dessert and A. had an invitation for his second sleepover of the weekend.  What a way to top off a great day.

Chowder recipe from NPR