If the beautiful days (from a couple ago) have disappeared, the weekend must be coming.

It's suddenly cold outside. What happened to those 70 degree days? The ones that happen when I'm at work.

Capturing a colder evening than I'd like it to be:

Wishing his wrestling shoes still fit (primarily, because he hates shopping and I can't really buy a new pair without dragging him into the store). The only person they fit in this house is me. And as much fun as I think it would be (and I've suggested it), it doesn't seem any of the other moms are up for an exhibition match with me. What gives, I say?

Reading the newest "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" that showed up in the mail.

Craving sugar cereal. Which is rare. Because I have this thing about adults eating cereal. I don't like it. For real. Cereal is for kids. As I was eating my semi-annual handful of it (for the sugar), I noticed I could lose a jeans size (in 2 weeks) if I just switched my diet to almost all Special K products. Umm...there's 7 grams of sugar in 3/4 of a cup of this stuff. 4 servings (which is only 3 cups and totally recommended on the side of the box) has more sugar than 1/4 cup of pancake syrup. Yeah. Sounds like a good plan. Just for fun, I looked at the bars (which are also recommended on this plan). 15 freakin' grams of sugar! So, basically a sugar diet. Because you can also eat fruit. Hmm...

Always having to fight the animals who hog up my spot in front of the space heater.

Wondering how it is all the socks my child owns have holes on the top. How does that happen?

Trying to remember when the last time it was I told her she shouldn't put her feet up on the counter. And then I remembered...she got that from me.

Toasty

Southwest Tofu/Black Bean/Corn Burritos

1 onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic pressed
2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 block of tofu (pressed and cubed)
1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilis (undrained)
1 can of whole kernel corn (drained)
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1 packet of taco seasoning
whole grain tortilla shells
fresh spinach

Add onion and garlic to heated oil. Cook until onion is tender. Add tofu and all spices. Cook for 3 minutes. Add corn, beans, tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until sauce is thickened. Serve on tortillas with spinach. Serves 6.

However miniscule...I sewed. It's getting colder and all of our floors are hard (wood and tile) which means you have to put something on your feet. A couple of years back, I made my man some fleece socks (1 pair) and I have to sneak them from him to get them washed. He's always wearing them. Clearly, we all need fleece socks. Multiple Pairs.

I had a piece of fleece and this is my first attempt at some socks for Jac. I used the Green Pepper pattern, size "youth large". I suppose it goes without saying I should have ventured up to the adult sizes, because his feet are bigger than mine.

He already has an order in for another pair, but next time "make them bigger". Judging by the fact he won't take them off and he's busy running and sliding across our tiled floors, I'm guessing these will work for now.

Thankful

Thankful for:

1. Neighbors who own chainsaws, because when it snows with the trees still in full-leaf, you are going to need a chainsaw.

2. That I didn't have to be all that greatly involved with the aforementioned mess. And now it is all chipped up and the path in my garden has a new layer of mulch. Note we still have a leaf problem even though we've mulched countless bags of them. Maybe one more weekend of that and we'll be done. Maybe.

3. This vegan banana cake with chocolate/coconut glaze. I don't even like bananas...but, trust me, this cake is to die for. It was completely eaten before it even cooled. And then Ryan came in and said "You guys ate the whole cake?" Yeah. Sorry. We did.

4. That I got to spend some time with of a group of teenage girls who were stuffing Christmas bags for the troops in Afghanistan.

Vegan Banana Cake with Chocolate/Coconut Glaze

Cake:

2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of canola oil
4 ripe bananas
1/4 cup of water
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. In another bowl, beat sugar and oil. Mash and add bananas. Beat until fully incorporated. Add water and vanilla and beat until smooth. Fold in the dry mixture. Bake at 350 in an oiled pan (8 inch round) for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Glaze:

Melt a couple handfuls of semi-sweet chocolate chips with a teaspoon of coconut oil. Stir until creamy and spread over the top of the cake while still warm.

Saturday

'Tis ridiculously gorgeous outside.

See this tree? I love this tree. It came from a sprout off of someone else's tree. It's been a long wait, but she's finally grown into a thing of beauty. I'm going to have to start some more of them next spring when the seedlings start emerging.

I'm not a huge fan of fall. I'm more in favor of spring. But there's something so fun about playing in the leaves. Today is weekend #2 of playing with leaves. Leaf playing generally goes on for a long time around here. Typically, the fun wears off and I pretend they aren't out there. Isn't it weird I have four maples and they all lose their leaves at different times? At any rate, we use all these leaves for mulching my gardens. It's a process.

The book fair...you never know what you will find. These will go on the shelf immediately. Alicia will be so thrilled. Maybe. Maybe not. ;-)

And then there were these. She really will be thrilled with these, I think. I almost didn't get them, but then I remembered some conversation about her getting a hope chest. (See...we do have some things in common? Girly has some ideas about being domestic and she's thinking about collecting pretty things for that someday home of her own.) Wouldn't it be awesome if I built her a hope chest for Christmas? (Mine was a Christmas gift when I was a teen.) So now studying all the plans on Ana White's site...trying to see which one I could reasonably modify into a hope chest.

If you don't know about Ana White, you are totally missing out.

Friday Night Lights

1. High school football frustrates me. Not that I watch a lot of it, just sayin'. Throw the ball already. If you have issues with people catching it, then maybe that's what you need to do in practice. Catching. Because...for real...it seems like the quarterback just trying to run the ball up every play would be hard on him. And, there's no element of surprise if you run the same play over and over and over. So yeah. Boring. But the drum line? Freakin' awesome. My favorite part of high school football.

And then to randomocity and other ponderings:

2. I've realized I'm skirting the lines of "Stepford-ism". I thought about that today. I used to be scared of being identified with them and therefore intentional distance was necessary. Because I am not them. By a longshot. And never will be. Nor do I want to be. Blah. I'll die being different for the principle of not being the same. But...my life is very close to them, the Stepfords, these days. I guess I'm finally confident in knowing I'll never be them and therefore the distance is no longer required? Hmm... (If you are one of these Stepfords, no worries. No offense. It's all cool with me if that's who you want to be. I just don't. Couldn't even if I wanted to.)

3. Parent teacher conference today. It occurred to me on the way there, it's my last elementary conference. And then I started thinking about the last elementary winter concert, the last spring concert, the last... I'm fairly sentimental. It seems strange our elementary days will be over in about 6 months.

With my second, I'm always leary of what's going to happen in these conferences. Because, he's like me. In a lot of ways. A square peg that doesn't really round well. You can try jamming that square peg into your round hole,but it isn't going to happen quietly and chances are you will run out of energy before you are finished. When you become an adult, you are allowed to beat to your own drum. When you are a kid, not so much. People keep holding out hope you can be fixed. Which is what I don't want to hear when I go to these things; that he can be fixed. Because I like him the way he is. (He'll never be a Stepford. NEVER.) You know what's awesome? I didn't have to hear all that. She told me he's amazing and once he can spread his wings (instead of being caged up within institutionalized education), the world better look out. She gets him. I love that.

3. What else? Oh...the book fair. Tomorrow I shall post my finds. I have this great idea for Christmas. I'm going to need some wood.

Start Your Day.

This is good.

Candlestick East

If you don't know he was exponentially happier than he looks here, you don't know him very well.

"Candlestick East"...so weird to go to Fedex Field and see more Niners fans than Skins fans. I mean... I get it. But still, it's weird. The last time we went, years ago, it seemed like we were alone.

Here's a funny thing: There was like a minute left in the game. No way were they going to win or anything. They scored. And then the flags came out and they played the victory song. What? I don't get it. I mean...I get it. Last week they were shut out. Maybe it's a victory to be on the board? (If you don't read between the lines...I dislike the Skins very much and never miss an opportunity to poke fun at them.)

Just some random people in a little post-game celebration. There was a lot of this. Did I mention there were hardly any Skins fans at the game?

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