Taking a LONG Break,, nuts, peppers, and... The better to bite you with my dear

What a relief. I have been able to speak to the folks that I emailed last week, and everyone has been understanding and supportive. I am so thankful that the parents of the children in my preschool have become friends and that we mutually care about each other. They say you shouldn't mix business with relationships, and yet, if I have my heart in my work, and I love what I do and do it in integrity, then of course I will form friendships out of it. That is just the nature of doing what one loves. It turns out that right now, what I love most is being a mother, and that calling is all consuming, leaving no room for other business. I think it is a beautiful thing, really. So here is the news- the letter of resignation that I was so nervous to send (with all names hidden for privacy of course):

It is hard for me to write this letter to you, because I feel such great responsibility toward your children and so honored to be able to care for them. It is my sincere desire for them to have a positive experience of consistent, relationship-based preschool. I am sad and sorry to tell you that I will be closing the Lilac Moon PreSchool at the end of April for a temporary, but unknown and extended period of time. I feel that this is necessary so that I may be completely dedicated to my baby daughter. I had high hopes when I began teaching again in December, that [baby] would grow accustomed to the routine of sharing her mother with older playmates a few times each week. While she cries less than she used to, it is still more than I like, and I feel a nagging sense that she needs for me to be more sensitive to her and available for her, with less divided attention. She is often very unhappy during preschool time, and her napping and feeding routines become very disturbed. In all of my effort to provide children with predictable, healthy and safe daily and weekly rhythms and rituals, I have not been respecting my own child's needs by allowing her to follow her natural rhythms. Being disconnected in this way from [baby] by my effort to be professional, make ends meet financially, and put my heart and soul into the quality of my student's care has caused me stress and motherly guilt. After much discussion with [Mystery Man], and weeks of mulling over how to balance my responsibilities to preschool families with my responsibilities to my own children, I have come to this decision. With some material sacrifices, we have calculated that we will be able to make do without my income for a while. I urge all of you to find other preschool programs that are more ready for your precious children at this time. Although I do not know when [baby] and I will be ready again, I suspect that it will be closer to her 2'nd birthday, when she will be more able to participate as a preschool student herself. She will then be able to interact with the other children as peers. Again, I am so sorry for all of the disruption that this may cause in you and your children's lives. I thank you deeply for your friendship and for trusting me and enrolling your children with me.

Sincerely,


me

And to completely change topics- I must introduce my favorite recently found domestic product.
The best laundry soap I have ever used. Really, I mean it! This stuff gets my clothes so clean and bright, and smelling fresh, and I never have to recycle an empty plastic bottle that was created using valuable resources and scarce petroleum when it's empty. Too bad I don't live in India where I can pick the soap nuts off of trees and use them for free without some trucker taking them across the world in a box for me. But, I love them and think it is fun to do laundry, now. They come with a little cloth bag to use over and over, and the nuts go inside and into the washing machine. Add water, agitate, and they get all sudsy. I use them for more than one load, and they are still soapy, so they last me a long time. Completely natural and unprocessed. Isn't Mama Gaia amazing? Who knew that soap comes pre-made without human invention?! Lucky me, that I live with someone who orders groceries at the local co-op, so he'll carry just about anything that I ask for on the shelf in his department. For those who do not find them at the store, they are available for direct order from the company on-line.
They come with a pair of soap nut earrings that I really like, too, as an added bonus.

As I have mentioned in a prior post, I think, my garden last year seemed to be slow to take off. Some starts took so long, that they were just getting to a transplantable size around the time that it was turning to Autumn. I brought the bell pepper starts indoors to my sunny, utility room window, and was thrilled that they lived all winter. They got infested with white fly, and I researched how to get rid of them. All Internet sources said it's impossible without chemicals, but I didn't believe them. I tried strong, natural detergent from a Fort Collins local company called Queen of the Meadow(I use it in a spray bottle for kitchen table and counter top cleaning), and they are vacating! I have to reapply it often, but it seems to be working. And now----Ta-Da!
---the plant is growing a little bell pepper! I can't wait to see if it will thrive inside until June, when I can harden it off to transplant it outside. Maybe early peppers this year :) .

Here is my final news and subject change.

Baby's got teeth!

Tooth #1 showed up during 6AM screaming while in Georgia about three weeks ago. After much discomfort, mournful crying and inability to nap worth a darn both yesterday and the day before, we have a second tooth.



I am not sure how well it can be seen in photos, since it is just barely out of the gums, but it is there.








The other day she took a bite out of a piece of plum, right through the skin and everything. Amazing.

Soup and Dirt

Oh god it's raining, and I'm not complaining.
It's filling me up with delight!
The stars in the sky, bring tears to my eyes.
Their lighting my way, tonight...
and I haven't felt so alive in years.
The moon is shining in the sky,
reminding me of so many other nights...
but not like tonight.

Depeche Mode from my high school years- from memory, so there is no guarantee that I got the lyrics right. Yes, I still like all of that old stuff from my youth. I can't believe that I finally got my desperately coveted rain. Painful delayed gratification is so satisfying when fulfilled. It has been pouring for hours. The sound is soothing and musical. Everything outside is shining. The air is fresh. The dirt looks moist and rich. The leaves are bright and clean. Ahhhh... Lovely deep breath sigh.

Those little spots on the camera lens are rain. Kind of dark picture taken at just before dusk on this rainy evening. I finally started my garden. I am totally inspired now! Mystery man's mom helped me get dirt and compost with her truck, and wheel barrel it into the new bed that I created in a sunny part of my back yard. There was enough extra compost to put some on the old bed from last year which I turned over and prepared for planting several days ago. Also, I got two hay bales for mulch.

The tall sticking up things are last year's sunflowers. Can't believe those stalks made it through the crazy, windy winter!

Mulching is something that I failed to do last year and it seems really important for healthy soil, plants and water conservation. Also, I just found out that there is a pile of free mulch at the recycling center on Riverside St. (which is nowhere near the river, ironically). So, I can go fill garbage bags whenever I want for a super, mulchalicious garden!

Additionally, I bought peat pots, seed trays with greenhouse lids, rich organic potting soil, seeds, and the plant grow light that I know will help my starts be more successful this year than last. I would say that I am good to go. Now I just need baby to take a good, long nap on a day that is good weather for planting, and I will be in the dirt.
I love dirt.

Last night I made wonton soup. It was so much fun to shape those delicate little wonton wrappers full of delicious seitan and broccoli, spiced with dijon mustard, Sriracha sauce and more.

Here they are after I boiled them for a few minutes.
They get kind of translucent and shiny.

I got the recipe from the veganyumyum.com websight. Check it out, and you will find many fabulous recipes. I am not vegan, so I added chicken broth to my second batch of soup, and it improved the taste in my opinion. I also added to the broth, celery, carrots, mushrooms, jalapeno, black pepper, sechuan pepper and peri-peri pepper blend. We like things rich and spicy around here.
Then I tried some of the fried variety. Much easier folding, and a simple filling of cream cheese and fire roasted, chopped green chili (from New Mexico of course because noone else can grow 'em good like they can).
Oh my - I could have eaten all twelve, but I was nice and gave mystery man his half. They were all melty and crispy and amazing. Wish I had made a good sauce for them, but they were a last minute expiriment and very good all by their lonesome selves. Well, they were beside some jasmine rice, so they weren't too lonely. Plus, they didn't even have time to think about loneliness, because they were munched!

Mm...mmmm...MMM!