Stray Thoughts

I thought about starting a Twitter page in the same vein as @sh*tmydadsays for the funny things the monkeys say, but I didn't. (I don't think I could do their cuteness justice in 140 characters.)

On Saturday when the weather was just lovely, Jiro looked out the window and said, "It's a beautiful day...for donuts!"

In the car Jiro asked me, "Are saber toothed tigers as big as my window?" He also wanted to know if he could put a "baby dinosaur" on his Christmas list.

There were more, but now I can't think of them. Shoulda started that Twitter page after all.

***

On Monday, my day off, I was folding laundry in the kids' room. I heard a loud thud on the roof and then outside the window. I thought for sure another branch had fallen. Nope. It was a squirrel that fell! I watched as it slowly opened its eyes, shook itself, and then timidly scampered off. It was amazing!

The next day Warren told me there was a dead squirrel just a few yards from where I saw the one fall.

***

Satchel and Jiro often do Google image searches on the computer to find images of their favorite TV/game characters. Then they use the pictures to draw their own. Last week I guess they got sick of Googling cartoon characters. I heard them giggling hysterically and when I walked over to see what was so funny I discovered that they had Googled "naced boobs." Thankfully the typo limited the image results.

Now, how do I do that parental control thing?

***

This is week ten of getting up before the sun to work out. After two months of boot camp, I've switched to working out with a friend. We do a cardio mix class at the Y MWF and a "Couch to 5K" program T,TH. I swear if it weren't for my workout partner, Ashley, I would NOT get out of bed. But I do. One of these days I am going to look awesome.

On Thanksgiving we're doing the Turkey Trot 4 mile relay at Shelby Farms. That's two miles each. Ashley says we're obviously a couple of turkeys.

I even signed up for the St. Jude 5K.

Who am I?

Lord of the Rings

Just when I think the headlines can't get any better! This week I give you Sad to learn most things that sparkle are not gold. It's actually a sweet tale of how Satchel gained possession of his great-grandmother's ring. (And just so you know, that's red marker, not scabs on his knuckles. More on that later.)

365

Local photographer, Amie Vanderford, is doing a project she calls Portrait 365. She started in August and has been taking one picture a day of someone talented, creative, hard-working, artistic and/or interesting. Her intent was to be increasingly creative (different types of lighting, natural and not, indoor/outdoor, different settings, composition that strays from my norm, etc.) with how she portrays each person.

My turn was last week and I couldn't be happier with what Amie came up with. This captures us perfectly:


See Amie's complete set here.

Ravioli

On Sunday, the boys and I went to the Alley/Brown Compound for the annual Making of the 50 Dozen Zanone Family Ravioli. The Alleys take several dozen to the extended family Thanksgiving celebration, freeze some for use throughout the year, and feed the rest to their hungry volunteers.

This was my fourth year participating and I have to say that I really, really look forward to it. Not just because I get to eat the best ravioli in the world, but because I get to spend the whole day with some of my favorite people!

Last year Satchel and Jiro were interested in helping. This year, not so much. They spent most of the day climbing trees (in their socks!) with JP.


I did manage to get Jiro interested at the very end, but for the most part I watched the other kids. C expertly cranked out ravioli faster than anyone, licking his lips the whole time. S also worked diligently, but has yet to meet her mother's and aunt's high standards for ravioli construction. (I only got fussed at a little bit.) Abe and GK also helped out for a good part of the day and it was fun being in the middle of such happy busy-ness.


Warren, in what has become something of his own tradition, arrived just in time to eat! He contributed some homemade bread to the feast, so we didn't make fun of his timing too much. (Actually after checking the archives, last year was the first year he actually got to come at all. He was sick in 2007 and working on the deck in 2006.)

I ate so much ravioli it was scary. It's so good!! I couldn't stop. I envy the people who get to eat it year round!

I hope that I'm lucky enough to participate for many years to come. (I just had a vision of us all drinking wine as we show our grand kids how to make the ravioli!) Since I'm dreaming--maybe someday I'll even get to help cook the filling or get a glimpse of the secret gravy recipe! Until then I'll enjoy carefully placing just the right amount of filling on the dough, folding it up, and poking it with a fork until it looks pretty.

Thanks to the Alleys for including me and my family and making us feel like a part of theirs.

Rock-n-Rompy

Saturday we had a Rock-n-Romp at the Metal Museum. The weather couldn't have been better, the bands more talented, or the crowd more enthusiastic. It is such a joy to see this event grow and grow and grow. In fact, Saturday we outgrew our 3 hour time slot. For bands plus the Beale Street Flippers was just a bit ambitious on my part!

Chip took lots of gorgeous pictures, which you can see here. However, you will not see much of Team Oster. I spent the bulk of the day at the sign-in table, Warren camouflaged himself, and the boys never really stood still long enough to be photographed.

The highlight of the day for Jiro was arriving at the show on the back of Warren's motorcycle. The highlight for Satchel was being reunited with one of his best buddies from pre-school, Miles. They haven't seen each other in about three years. Satchel waited for him for over an hour and when he finally showed up, they kind of gave each other a goofy grin and then put their heads down. I said, "You can hug if you want," and they happily did.

Then off they went to play. The mound out in front of the museum offered a great view to the music and a rush to all who dared slide, skate, or run down. As you can see by the amount of dirt on Satchel, he went down quite a few times! Thanks to Miles' mom, Susan, for getting a picture!

S'mores, Hot Chocolate, & Hayrides

We started our weekend off at the annual Overton Park Hayride hosted by Park Friends. This is one of our favorite events. It got rescheduled from last week due to rain, so I think a lot of people may have forgotten about it. Despite the light turn out, the boys had a grand time making s'mores, drinking hot chocolate with giant marshmallows inside, and taking numerous hayrides. Our friend and neighbor, Jack, was in attendance so the monkeys had someone to run around in the dark with and act wild and crazy. For dessert, we went out to dinner at Shanghai.

Hunt Phelan Field Trip

Thursday I once again spent my day off chaperoning one of Satchel's field trips. This time we went to the Hunt Phelan for a tour of the grounds and lunch in the dining room. The innkeeper, Stephen Hassinger, has two kids who attend Evergreen Montessori and he makes lunch at the school three days a week, so all of the kids know him very well.

They were SO excited about the trip! Once we got there everyone rushed through the front doors in a stampede. Stephen merely laughed and began telling the kids all about the house's history.

Just a few fun facts that I remember--The Hunt Phelan home featured the very first indoor bathroom in the Mid-South, it was home to the very first Freedman's school, and the tunnels originally built underneath it for gun smuggling eventually were used for the Underground Railroad.


We got to see the gorgeous grounds, a few fancy hotel rooms, the kitchen, and the bar. Stephen even told us a ghost story. Then we all sat down in the dining room for a delicious lunch consisting of pumpkin soup, steak, broccolini, and shoestring French fries. For dessert we had white chocolate chip and coconut cookies.

I sat at a table with Satchel and four of his friends. It was hilarious listening to their comments about the food. C said, "This needs salt." Satchel asked, "Why doesn't Mr. Stephen cook like this at school?" Remi noted, "This meat isn't juicy like my dad's." Funniest of all was C, who was seated next to me. He kept asking what I was writing down and why I take so many pictures, especially of food.

The lunch was a hit, despite the few disparaging comments mentioned above. The French fries and the homemade steak sauce were the stand outs. Satchel declared it the best lunch of the year and his friend, and Stephen's son, T agreed.

When lunch was done, the kids asked if they could have recess and Stephen graciously agreed to close the front gate and let them have the run of the yard. T brought out some toys and his sister got their dog. The kids were having so much fun, we started planning a Field Day for the Spring semester, complete with live music, beer, and potato sack races. (We also did a little fantasizing about how awesome it would be to move the school to the Hunt Phelan.)

If you've never been to the Hunt Phelan, I highly recommend it. Next week (the 11th-14th) the Hunt Phelan is participating in Downtown Dining Week. You can get a delicious three course meal for only $20.09! And if the weather is as nice as it is this week, you can have cocktails on the heavenly back patio.

It was the F-Bomb

My darling angel (pictured below) dropped the F-Bomb in his speech class, but I couldn't say that in the Commercial Appeal! Read Open up kid's voice with word of caution.