My life is full of lists. I think about lists all the time. I carry them with me when I go out just in case I need to check them when I find myself in a store. My biggest list is not one to check in the store. It is the list of things I want to blog about and probably will never get the chance. Unfortunately that list is just in my head but here's what I can remember of it right now...
-the train trip from Edmonds with Timo and Mimi- one major poo up the back, 2 diaper changes in the smallest/train bathroom with all three of us in the room, arrival early to Spokane- waking up Mimi to get off the train
-Mimi's obsessive love of Timo and how she likes to pick him up.
-the things l like about our crazy huge house - A mother's best friend- ice and water from the water dispenser (can be acquired even while nursing), a gas fireplace, a double headed shower (one fixed and one on a "rope" allowing warm water to cover you from the front and back), a basement big enough to ride bikes in, a garage
-Ami's school, his relationship with Emily (crush #1)
-Timo at 6 weeks, bigger, stronger, able to be picked up by Mimi, SMILING! sleeping pretty well, wakeful in the evenings :(
-Generous parishioners bringing us meals and food
-day to day shopping- hooray for Trader Joe's!!!
-furniture and deals i have found to outfit our house
-the list goes on...
Showing posts with label groceries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label groceries. Show all posts
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Sunday, November 16, 2008
photos of things 1
Here are some of my photos from our life here
Mushrooms galore at Monterey Market
T-rex skeleton in the lobby of the Paleontolgy department at UCal
log steps at the discovery museum
Living Hut at the Discovery Museum - made of dead and living willow branches.
Miriam enjoying some apple-juice when we were out for fish and chips with Helen and Frank in San Francisco (or Transfersisco as Ami was calling it for awhile)
Ami's Hallowe'en costume which I made instead of doing a grant application! Mimi gives it a go!
Mushrooms galore at Monterey Market
T-rex skeleton in the lobby of the Paleontolgy department at UCal
log steps at the discovery museum
Living Hut at the Discovery Museum - made of dead and living willow branches.
Miriam enjoying some apple-juice when we were out for fish and chips with Helen and Frank in San Francisco (or Transfersisco as Ami was calling it for awhile)
Ami's Hallowe'en costume which I made instead of doing a grant application! Mimi gives it a go!
Friday, November 7, 2008
pressure to blog has worked!
Fran and Helen at the Lawrence Hall of Science (or "Lauro hollow science" as Ami likes to call it)
Abundant heritage tomatoes at Monterey Market
Golden Gate Bridge from Sausalito
Gran, Phoebe, Ami and Mimi (and Bodhi too) outside our door on the courtyard
The MacPappas visit - Berkeley Pier
it has come to my attention that there are folks out there eager to hear more about the adventures of the MacElferts in Berkeley. My humblest apologies for disappointing you!!! i would feel even more inspired to write if YOUR blogs were updated too!!!! why not start your own?
October has come and gone since I last wrote and we have been up to all sorts of things. Hard to summarize really. Let's see.
October was a month of visitors with only one party actually logging their visit in our guest book. (I must do better remembering!)
First we had Caitlin and Panos who were with us over Canadian Thanksgiving
Second we had Helen and Frank Elfert
and Third we had Sue MacRae!
It was a busy month but the kids and I were able to see things in our new town that we hadn't ventured forth to see before. Perhaps I could write on those things in a later epistle but first I think i must tell you about one of the places we have been that is amazing. Early in the month, (and before we had visitors) we visited the Discovery Museum in Sausalito which was really fantastic. The first wednesday of the month is free and so now we have been twice! The image of the golden gate bridge posted above is from the vantage point of the museum. It is rather a difficult "museum" to define. It is an outdoor/indoor adventure "park" for the 0-7 set which is all about experiential learning. We spent a long time fishing for plastic fish, loading plastic crabs onto a crab net which you could then crank up to a dock where you stand, playing with a massive train set complete with ferry-boats (the best part for Ami). Then there were outdoor things with a real fishing boat for play and (human made) tidepools and a cave and a crow's nest climbing structure and a sandbox with hidden treasure in an old wrecked boat. Then there was the tot-spot where indoors there were these wonderful creations that were akin to water beds. They were blue and had big leather lily-pads on them. The kids can pretend they are walking on water and fall and wrestle and fool around without getting wet, knowing how to swim or hurting anyone!
All around the indoor part of the tot-spot they have buttons on the wall which you can press to make the sounds of what ever creature is depicted on the button. Things like frogs, ducks, crickets, owls...
The other side of the indoor tot-spot has a sort of underground theme where you can climb through an ant tunnel - Ami particularly likes this for some reason, the challenge is appealing i guess. I think he will miss the tot-spot when he gets too big for it. Oh yes, in the indoor part there are all sorts of cute costumes of bugs and small creatures that the kids can just put on and play in. There are also lots of puppets of animals, bugs etc.
Here is a picture of my favourite part of the Discovery Museum this last time. HUMMINGBIRDS!! whizzzing and buzzing over all this wonderful hummingbird and butterfly- friendly vegetation.. so cool. They would sit for long periods in one spot and show off their luminescent colours. It meant that i could get this great shot! I just wish Mum/Gran/Gan stayed for an extra day just to come to the DM to see the hummingbirds!!
Let me know what you would like to know more about!!!!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
falling behind
I knew this would happen. I said to myself that I would blog every day in order to keep a quasi diary while we are here. The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men gang aft agley
Ah well, Here we are anyway... if there is anything you would like me to elaborate on just post a comment at the bottom of this page!
Some things that are really Berkeley about Berkeley that i haven't mentioned before....
There is curbside composting pickup. Everything organic can go in the compost including anything paper that has touched food products (pizza boxes, paper napkins etc etc.). And meat, bones eggs.
Berkeley has fought to have 7 digit dialing so in Berkeley you needn't use 10 digits! I wonder how long that will last!
Now some things we have seen and done recently...
There were 12+ varieties of grapes at Berkeley Bowl. That is a LOT of choice! How do you decide? You have Heather there who worked at a grape ranch (really!) to help you out. that's what! I also had to decide between organic bananas and fair trade organic bananas - how ethical are you?
There are stunning pink amaryllis blooming on the sidewalk's edge. I don't know if/when someone would have planted them. They look a little funny because they are just 3 foot stalks with blooms on top- no foliage at all!.
There are lots of hummingbirds around. They love all the blooms in the neighbourhood.
Yesterday Ami and I joined Francis and Simon and their dad Shannon to go to release the crawdad/crayfish that F and S had caught in the stream at the UCal campus on their way home from school last week. They brought it home in a water bottle and fed it melon and grapes. it was quite happy being served me thinks!
Thursday nights are community night for the whole CDSP community. It means a Eucharist at 5:45, drinks after, and then dinner for everyone in the cafeteria with the meals on serving plates on the set tables. It is like a dinner at someone's home and the best part is that on Thursdays i don't have to think about dinner. Another great part is that the students have to pay the minimal 7 $ or so for the meal but their families eat for free! The kids in the community just love it too and they have all taken to sitting at their own table together. After dinner they run around all over the place and everyone hopes that at least one adult or older child is keeping an eye out on the fish pond in the little courtyard next to the cafeteria! The pond provided "a half baptism" of a kid last week. Whoops.
Ami is learning all about guns from the other boys in the housing complex.... But, he still doesn't want to read the page in Babar when his mother gets killed by the wicked hunter. That's my boy! We are really into Babar these days and I found "Babar and the Wully-Wully" and "Babar and Father Christmas" at a garage sale yesterday! yippeeee!!! more Babar!!
We still don't have a phone but I would love to hear from you on Skype! You can search me using my email address! Do it! it will be fun!!
Amiel
"Mum, what are white people?"
Mum
"well, have you noticed that people look different from each other?"
Amiel
"No"
Mum and Dad
"well, some people are chocolate coloured, some are pink, some are papyrus coloured"
Amiel (in a rather shrieking fashion)
"but Francis said there are WHITE people"
M & D
"you'd better ask Francis about that then!"
My garage sale-ing was very successful again this week. One of the main benefits seems to be that I have a better understanding of how Berkeley is set up from driving around to all the spots.
That's enough for now.
There's always more but if I wait this will never get posted...
Monday, September 8, 2008
catching up on things
I seem to have a stack of things to relate about last week.
The kids and I went to Downtown Berkeley on Wednesday. We went to the library which was having a story time for toddlers at 10:30. The children's library at the main branch of the BPL has its own floor in the library and is really beautiful with wonderful light and lots of ROOM! We didn't last too long at the story time as it was a bit young for Amiel and he wanted to get to the potentially new digger books! He asked the librarian himself about finding digger books. She helped him find about 4 books which we then read. Then we took a little stroll around the children's library and found that they have a "great green room" which we learned came from a local bookstore when they were done with it. Amiel was totally enthralled and wanted to get IN it! We eventually did and although there were no mittens, kittens, combs, brush, mush, or quiet old ladies (whispering hush) it was totally COOL!
I opened a bank account at Washington Mutual and hopefully it won't be long before we won't have currency issues anymore. We really should have set out to get an account ASAWA (as soon as we arrived) as it takes 10 days for them to process a cheque. I am so glad that i took a wad of cash over the border as the fees for both credit cards (exchange rate not necessarily the best) and interac (really not favorable exchange rate) both seem like a generally poor idea. The kids were very patient in the bank and i resolved that we would take the bus up the hill as it was almost lunch time. I had a very limited amount of snack in my possession so when the bank took longer than expected I started to reroute our trip home in my head. The Euclid 65 bus would drop us a block from our house but only leaves downtown Berkeley every 30 minutes. We had just missed a bus when we arrived at the bus-stop but i figured it was better to wait then hoof it up the hill at this "delicate" hour (for every one's sake!). I attempted to figure out a better option but in the end I stuck to the plan and miraculously found a little supply of animal cookies in my bag! All was well! When the bus finally picked us up, little did i realise that it would be an absolute highlight for Miriam. She was totally excited about the whole experience and kept saying BUHSSS BUHSSS! She insisted on sitting with Amiel on the back bench of the bus and just kept beaming even as she tried to push my supporting hands away. She so loves the "Wheels on the Bus" song. I think that this may have been her first real bus memory/experience. [Before we left Vancouver one morning we were all in bed and Miriam was saying "booss booss" and pointing to martin's dresser which was stacked high with books. We all said, Yes! books, Mimi, books! she just kept it up until i noticed that our pop-up "wheels on the bus" was in the stacks- that's what she was pointing to!]
Wednesday was also my day for grocery shopping with Heather. We left rather later then i had hoped but that helped curtail how long we spent shopping. This time I drove and we went to Trader Joe's first. I bought fresh wholewheat pizza dough in a bag in the cooler section to make a 12 inch pizza (and also white flour one) for only $1.29 or so. I made a pizza tonight and it was great. I always feel daunted by the preparation necessary to make the dough and this is such a great/easy/cheap dinner solution.
After Trader Joe's we tryed out Berkeley Bowl which is a Berkeley landmark for great bulk grocery buying. We found out that it is a hefty regular grocery store too and marvelled at the amazing olive bar and the countless types of cheeses available. The bulk section is great but since i don't own any containers to put staples in, i relented and bought the more expensive, more traditional grocery store items. The veggies at Berkeley Bowl were a wonder as well. I managed to score 3 "dollar bags" (kiwis, apples and mushrooms [which an old hippie told me was a really great find -"you'll take them home tonight and after cleaning them you'll lightly steam them, then tomorrow you'll take them out of the fridge and sauté them ... ooo divine"])
Restocking a kitchen is quite a chore and a joy. I wish that i had made a little package for my new kitchen full of my favourite things but I am also happy that my staples went to live in some great, well deserving kitchens!
Shopping once a week has proven to be a valuable lesson in meal planning for me. I spent so much time going to Donalds and Bosa in Vancouver every week. Of course sometimes it was a welcome rest from childcare....
With the arrival of our things from Vancouver we are back in cloth diapers and I am SO wishing that Miriam would figure out the whole potty thing. I am getty very tired of diapers and already she has a big rash from her second cloth diaper... how boring.
Quotes and Cutes.
Miriam
one of her favourite mid morning and mid afternoon words is what sounds like "nacque". This is of course, Snack.
nacque
The kids and I went to Downtown Berkeley on Wednesday. We went to the library which was having a story time for toddlers at 10:30. The children's library at the main branch of the BPL has its own floor in the library and is really beautiful with wonderful light and lots of ROOM! We didn't last too long at the story time as it was a bit young for Amiel and he wanted to get to the potentially new digger books! He asked the librarian himself about finding digger books. She helped him find about 4 books which we then read. Then we took a little stroll around the children's library and found that they have a "great green room" which we learned came from a local bookstore when they were done with it. Amiel was totally enthralled and wanted to get IN it! We eventually did and although there were no mittens, kittens, combs, brush, mush, or quiet old ladies (whispering hush) it was totally COOL!
I opened a bank account at Washington Mutual and hopefully it won't be long before we won't have currency issues anymore. We really should have set out to get an account ASAWA (as soon as we arrived) as it takes 10 days for them to process a cheque. I am so glad that i took a wad of cash over the border as the fees for both credit cards (exchange rate not necessarily the best) and interac (really not favorable exchange rate) both seem like a generally poor idea. The kids were very patient in the bank and i resolved that we would take the bus up the hill as it was almost lunch time. I had a very limited amount of snack in my possession so when the bank took longer than expected I started to reroute our trip home in my head. The Euclid 65 bus would drop us a block from our house but only leaves downtown Berkeley every 30 minutes. We had just missed a bus when we arrived at the bus-stop but i figured it was better to wait then hoof it up the hill at this "delicate" hour (for every one's sake!). I attempted to figure out a better option but in the end I stuck to the plan and miraculously found a little supply of animal cookies in my bag! All was well! When the bus finally picked us up, little did i realise that it would be an absolute highlight for Miriam. She was totally excited about the whole experience and kept saying BUHSSS BUHSSS! She insisted on sitting with Amiel on the back bench of the bus and just kept beaming even as she tried to push my supporting hands away. She so loves the "Wheels on the Bus" song. I think that this may have been her first real bus memory/experience. [Before we left Vancouver one morning we were all in bed and Miriam was saying "booss booss" and pointing to martin's dresser which was stacked high with books. We all said, Yes! books, Mimi, books! she just kept it up until i noticed that our pop-up "wheels on the bus" was in the stacks- that's what she was pointing to!]
Wednesday was also my day for grocery shopping with Heather. We left rather later then i had hoped but that helped curtail how long we spent shopping. This time I drove and we went to Trader Joe's first. I bought fresh wholewheat pizza dough in a bag in the cooler section to make a 12 inch pizza (and also white flour one) for only $1.29 or so. I made a pizza tonight and it was great. I always feel daunted by the preparation necessary to make the dough and this is such a great/easy/cheap dinner solution.
After Trader Joe's we tryed out Berkeley Bowl which is a Berkeley landmark for great bulk grocery buying. We found out that it is a hefty regular grocery store too and marvelled at the amazing olive bar and the countless types of cheeses available. The bulk section is great but since i don't own any containers to put staples in, i relented and bought the more expensive, more traditional grocery store items. The veggies at Berkeley Bowl were a wonder as well. I managed to score 3 "dollar bags" (kiwis, apples and mushrooms [which an old hippie told me was a really great find -"you'll take them home tonight and after cleaning them you'll lightly steam them, then tomorrow you'll take them out of the fridge and sauté them ... ooo divine"])
Restocking a kitchen is quite a chore and a joy. I wish that i had made a little package for my new kitchen full of my favourite things but I am also happy that my staples went to live in some great, well deserving kitchens!
Shopping once a week has proven to be a valuable lesson in meal planning for me. I spent so much time going to Donalds and Bosa in Vancouver every week. Of course sometimes it was a welcome rest from childcare....
With the arrival of our things from Vancouver we are back in cloth diapers and I am SO wishing that Miriam would figure out the whole potty thing. I am getty very tired of diapers and already she has a big rash from her second cloth diaper... how boring.
Quotes and Cutes.
Miriam
one of her favourite mid morning and mid afternoon words is what sounds like "nacque". This is of course, Snack.
nacque
Monday, September 1, 2008
Changing Patterns
Being in a new place without all our stuff (yet) has resulted in a few refreshing pattern changes.
Because we decided to freecycle our dishes in Vancouver, we have matching chinaware for the first time. We don't have a dishwasher so with our rather small kitchen we have to clean the dishes multiple times a day. I can't imagine we would be able to carry on that way of doing things if we had our dishwasher handy! But with less dishes maybe it would be necessary? It is way easier to put dishes/toys/things away when there isn't much. It is also surprisingly/unexpectedly easy to lose things in our empty house. Martin and I spend time everyday looking for things we have put down SOMEWHERE... We need to establish where things "go" in order to find them again. I think that we are making headway on the dog-leash, keys and wallets.
I now have to plan when i would like to do laundry as we share coin laundry with the rest of the families in the complex. I really needed to do it today as we had two wet beds last night (Miriam is taking off her diaper more and more - i am taking it as a sign of good things to come) so luckily there was a spot open this afternoon for me to do the job.
I am also planning meals/food more. The effort it takes to get inexpensive food here is much more than at home. I either have to get our our car from an incredibly small parking spot under our complex (and return it to same said spot) or I have to walk DOWN to the expensive local shops which is all very well on the way there... It gives one pause for thought either way.
This morning our whole family walked to Codornices Park where the kids and I have visited a few times already. (it seems less and less uphill every time you go there!) It was a chance for the kids and I to show Martin the great 40-foot cement slide built on the hillside, the park's creek and the Rose Garden across the road (actually through a tunnel if you are walking). The slide is really something else. It seems like a grandfathered piece of terrifyingly fun park equipment. Gone are the teeter-totters and the merry-go-rounds but not the SLIDE. Strangely in this land of lawsuits there isn't even a warning sign of the dangers of hurtling down a cement slide or the inherent risks of using a piece of cardboard to make you go FASTER! Parents and kids alike enjoy it and much screaming ensues). Amiel is getting to be an expert and today was brave enough to try out the cardboard. (People seem to bring old box pieces to the slide and leave them there for every one's enjoyment). Miriam took her first ride today and did the requisite joyful screaming even on the first run. (don't worry, she hasn't gone down alone - though I'm sure she'd be game...) We enjoyed a picnic in the park and Miriam wolfed down her chicken sandwich like a pro!
The Rose garden was very beautiful and Bodhi became our third child in the stroller as dogs are not allowed in the garden. Roses are not in their prime right now but some of them still smelled amazing. I didn't smell very many but my favourite was the "Handel" variety. Seeing the kids smelling the roses is priceless. The amphitheatre structure of the garden (though not really conducive to strollers) is really neat and the view of the Golden Gate Bridge is excellent.
I was just looking on the Internet to see if there were any pictures of the hills of Berkeley and came across a site which headlines the very hill the Martin needs to ascend to get to his first class tomorrow morning. The mentioned "first block past Euclid" is part of the route to Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. And he thought that signing up for Hebrew was the challenge of the semester... (I'm not sure how he will get there - will keep you posted!)
Because we decided to freecycle our dishes in Vancouver, we have matching chinaware for the first time. We don't have a dishwasher so with our rather small kitchen we have to clean the dishes multiple times a day. I can't imagine we would be able to carry on that way of doing things if we had our dishwasher handy! But with less dishes maybe it would be necessary? It is way easier to put dishes/toys/things away when there isn't much. It is also surprisingly/unexpectedly easy to lose things in our empty house. Martin and I spend time everyday looking for things we have put down SOMEWHERE... We need to establish where things "go" in order to find them again. I think that we are making headway on the dog-leash, keys and wallets.
I now have to plan when i would like to do laundry as we share coin laundry with the rest of the families in the complex. I really needed to do it today as we had two wet beds last night (Miriam is taking off her diaper more and more - i am taking it as a sign of good things to come) so luckily there was a spot open this afternoon for me to do the job.
I am also planning meals/food more. The effort it takes to get inexpensive food here is much more than at home. I either have to get our our car from an incredibly small parking spot under our complex (and return it to same said spot) or I have to walk DOWN to the expensive local shops which is all very well on the way there... It gives one pause for thought either way.
This morning our whole family walked to Codornices Park where the kids and I have visited a few times already. (it seems less and less uphill every time you go there!) It was a chance for the kids and I to show Martin the great 40-foot cement slide built on the hillside, the park's creek and the Rose Garden across the road (actually through a tunnel if you are walking). The slide is really something else. It seems like a grandfathered piece of terrifyingly fun park equipment. Gone are the teeter-totters and the merry-go-rounds but not the SLIDE. Strangely in this land of lawsuits there isn't even a warning sign of the dangers of hurtling down a cement slide or the inherent risks of using a piece of cardboard to make you go FASTER! Parents and kids alike enjoy it and much screaming ensues). Amiel is getting to be an expert and today was brave enough to try out the cardboard. (People seem to bring old box pieces to the slide and leave them there for every one's enjoyment). Miriam took her first ride today and did the requisite joyful screaming even on the first run. (don't worry, she hasn't gone down alone - though I'm sure she'd be game...) We enjoyed a picnic in the park and Miriam wolfed down her chicken sandwich like a pro!
The Rose garden was very beautiful and Bodhi became our third child in the stroller as dogs are not allowed in the garden. Roses are not in their prime right now but some of them still smelled amazing. I didn't smell very many but my favourite was the "Handel" variety. Seeing the kids smelling the roses is priceless. The amphitheatre structure of the garden (though not really conducive to strollers) is really neat and the view of the Golden Gate Bridge is excellent.
I was just looking on the Internet to see if there were any pictures of the hills of Berkeley and came across a site which headlines the very hill the Martin needs to ascend to get to his first class tomorrow morning. The mentioned "first block past Euclid" is part of the route to Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. And he thought that signing up for Hebrew was the challenge of the semester... (I'm not sure how he will get there - will keep you posted!)
Saturday, August 30, 2008
First Blog Post ever
I wanted to start my recounting of our time in Berkeley from the beginning but the days are going by so fast and the experiences we are having are so numerous that I think I will just start with today and hope that one day I will have time to write about the first week in its entirety.
Today, August 30 2008
Starts out a bit cooler than it has been this past week. A bit of fog on the mountain to the east of us and overcast. Afternoon saw bright sunshine and warmth again.
Garage sales today – mostly not fruitful but we got a kitchen table and 4 chairs from Ikea for 20$ and … we didn’t have to go to Ikea! Our GPS takes us all over Berkeley to the sales listed on craiglist and the Berkeley Parents Network (an amazing online resource for parenting and just general living!) in the area.
Lunch of omelet and green beans from the freezer– kitchen not yet full of food for meals since we have been eating in the refectory all this week.
Grocery shopping trip with Heather my neighbour here at the CDSP family housing. She has 2 kids as well (ages 8, Simon and 10, Frances) and is in Martin’s class. I see her a lot because Ami and Mimi love her kids and A and M love to go over to Heather’s house to play with all their stuff and climb on the loft-bed etc etc.
Heather (our neighbour) gifts us real cutlery from her trip to Ikea last night
No more plastic cutlery!!! Now if I could just have some real knifes to cook with! Heather and I go to one of her favourite stores Trader Joe’s. It has lots of really nice looking food, cheeses, dairy items, snacks and hard liquor at the grocery store! Bottles of wine for $1.99 or less if you buy a case! Reminds me of Famous Foods somehow- if only Famous Foods would carry alcohol!
Then the GPS takes us on a beautifully scenic route along the bay to...
Monterey Market-akin to Donald’s Market only much much more! Cross between a farmers’ market and a bulk store and a neighbourhood market – wow. We didn’t even see the bulk section until we were at the till. Next time… We asked when the best/least busy time to shop was and they recommended Wednesday –which is great for us! Heather and I are planning on carpooling for shopping trips in the future too. I bought Heritage variety tomatoes- enormous and miniature, plums from the 7 or so possible locally grown organic varieties, California strawberries which taste so much better than any California strawberries I’ve ever had in BC, beets in 2 colours, and our favourite breakfast cereal- Mesa Sunrise!
Martin and Miriam pick lemons from the tree in the neighbour’s yard – SO fragrant and JUICY!! I put half a lemon in the salad for dinner! Yum
Dinner of purple and yellow beets, humus, greek salad, naan bread and corn tortillas with strawberries for dessert. YUM! We drink Riesling from Australia acquired on my Safeway shopping expedition the other night.
Evening Bears game at Cal – screaming crowds, airplanes flying overhead, fireworks, traffic mayhem. Stadium is about 1km from our home.
The kids activities, quotes and cutes
Miriam
“Ah-Ami” (repeated all day long) I think it is from me saying Our Ami. She devotedly follows him around wanting to spend lots of time with him.
Licking her whole finger when reading a book in order to turn a page. She loves books “buhs”
“Noss” (nosh) while dragging me to the nearest chair…
Amiel
Enjoying the kids’ culture of our family housing– getting more and more into varied creative play (not just diggers and ferryboats!)
Is sure that his package sent from Panos of a new red digger with a red low-bed will arrive any moment. He is looking out for delivery trucks on the street at all times. We get notifications every time a truck goes by…
Last night at the pizza parlour when drinking water “ I am drinking poison, but it isn’t poisonous”. Today after being out all afternoon-
Martin-“We have to wash our hands because the outside world is full of germs”
Ami- “and the night is full of dreams”
Today, August 30 2008
Starts out a bit cooler than it has been this past week. A bit of fog on the mountain to the east of us and overcast. Afternoon saw bright sunshine and warmth again.
Garage sales today – mostly not fruitful but we got a kitchen table and 4 chairs from Ikea for 20$ and … we didn’t have to go to Ikea! Our GPS takes us all over Berkeley to the sales listed on craiglist and the Berkeley Parents Network (an amazing online resource for parenting and just general living!) in the area.
Lunch of omelet and green beans from the freezer– kitchen not yet full of food for meals since we have been eating in the refectory all this week.
Grocery shopping trip with Heather my neighbour here at the CDSP family housing. She has 2 kids as well (ages 8, Simon and 10, Frances) and is in Martin’s class. I see her a lot because Ami and Mimi love her kids and A and M love to go over to Heather’s house to play with all their stuff and climb on the loft-bed etc etc.
Heather (our neighbour) gifts us real cutlery from her trip to Ikea last night
No more plastic cutlery!!! Now if I could just have some real knifes to cook with! Heather and I go to one of her favourite stores Trader Joe’s. It has lots of really nice looking food, cheeses, dairy items, snacks and hard liquor at the grocery store! Bottles of wine for $1.99 or less if you buy a case! Reminds me of Famous Foods somehow- if only Famous Foods would carry alcohol!
Then the GPS takes us on a beautifully scenic route along the bay to...
Monterey Market-akin to Donald’s Market only much much more! Cross between a farmers’ market and a bulk store and a neighbourhood market – wow. We didn’t even see the bulk section until we were at the till. Next time… We asked when the best/least busy time to shop was and they recommended Wednesday –which is great for us! Heather and I are planning on carpooling for shopping trips in the future too. I bought Heritage variety tomatoes- enormous and miniature, plums from the 7 or so possible locally grown organic varieties, California strawberries which taste so much better than any California strawberries I’ve ever had in BC, beets in 2 colours, and our favourite breakfast cereal- Mesa Sunrise!
Martin and Miriam pick lemons from the tree in the neighbour’s yard – SO fragrant and JUICY!! I put half a lemon in the salad for dinner! Yum
Dinner of purple and yellow beets, humus, greek salad, naan bread and corn tortillas with strawberries for dessert. YUM! We drink Riesling from Australia acquired on my Safeway shopping expedition the other night.
Evening Bears game at Cal – screaming crowds, airplanes flying overhead, fireworks, traffic mayhem. Stadium is about 1km from our home.
The kids activities, quotes and cutes
Miriam
“Ah-Ami” (repeated all day long) I think it is from me saying Our Ami. She devotedly follows him around wanting to spend lots of time with him.
Licking her whole finger when reading a book in order to turn a page. She loves books “buhs”
“Noss” (nosh) while dragging me to the nearest chair…
Amiel
Enjoying the kids’ culture of our family housing– getting more and more into varied creative play (not just diggers and ferryboats!)
Is sure that his package sent from Panos of a new red digger with a red low-bed will arrive any moment. He is looking out for delivery trucks on the street at all times. We get notifications every time a truck goes by…
Last night at the pizza parlour when drinking water “ I am drinking poison, but it isn’t poisonous”. Today after being out all afternoon-
Martin-“We have to wash our hands because the outside world is full of germs”
Ami- “and the night is full of dreams”
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