annie blog

Time for a Project
I’m beginning a new project today. I’m making a fitted slipcover for the “Miss Liz” sofa. We got the sofa from her when she relocated to Memphis. It is a extra long, low sofa. She and her father bought it in New York when they were there in the early 60s. I found a bolt of canvas at the fabric store and had a great coupon — so I bought the whole thing. And, I’ve already laundered the fabric and made over 25 yards of piping even though I know that I’ll end up needing more than that.

I don’t have any excuses to put if off any longer. The boys are back in school….1,2,3…here I go.

I’ll remeber to take before and after pictures — hopefully it will be a pretty dramatic transformation.

Y’all have a good day. 🙂

My Friend, Eliza
I have a dear friend, Eliza. She has a way of popping in on us from time to time — usually staying for a few days. She is unpredictable and hilarious. She loves my boys and is one of those friends who is a thoughtful, mostly gentle truth-speaker. For instance, the last time she was here, she told me, “Look, Annie, I think that you’ve come to that age when you kind of need to wear mascara and maybe some lip gloss or something.” She said it with a smile and I knew that she meant it with love. She means well. And, I agree with her about the make up, sort of.

Anyway, she came last night. After we put the boys to bed, she watched a Battlestar Galactica with Jon and me and then she and I stayed up even later to watch Pride and Prejudice and to talk about French cooking and swap recipes.

This morning, she insisted on making breakfast. Which I let her do — she is a great cook. All was going well until I heard a yell from the kitchen. She had added chili powder instead of cinnamon to the French toast that she was making. She laughed it off and she started over — she told me that she was going to make a mental note to drink more coffee before attempting to make breakfast on that little sleep. So, she made the toast again and it was great. (She told me about another French toast recipe with almonds, strawberries and Grand Marnier. Can’t wait to try that one.)

As it was a school morning, we were bustling around getting the boys ready for school when we heard the 8 year old shouting from the kitchen. He thought that the dog was eating a plastic bag…turns out the dog had gotten a stick of butter off the counter and had eaten the whole thing. Now, you may have picked up on the fact that I am not the biggest fan of this dog right now. I’ve made the resolution not to yell at him….of course, I have been yelling, because he doesn’t care what we want anymore and is always getting into things and making huge messes. Eliza knows how I feel about the dog. She shares my feelings, apparently because, his doing that just set her off. The 8 year old had quickly taken the dog outside to get him out of the way (and maybe so the dog wouldn’t hear me talking about how I’d like him to hasten his death) but Eliza wasn’t done with the dog yet. She jerked the kitchen window open and started yelling at the dog…”You terrible dog…if you have the nerve to come in here and make a mess because you ate that butter you will be in the deepest dook of your life!!” (Keep in mind, dear readers, that this was at the top of her lungs and it was not yet 8 a.m. I truly hope that the neighbors didn’t hear. I’m just glad that she censored herself a little bit — the boys could hear, afterall.) Then she slammed the window shut and, immediately, realizing the hilarity of the whole scene, she was seized by a fit of the giggles and threw herself down on my bed and laughed and laughed. She couldn’t breathe, she was laughing so hard. She is so crazy. And I must say, my neighbor’s opinions aside, that I really like having her occasionally come to visit. She is a breath of fresh air for me — we all need a little crazy in our lives, don’t we?

I wonder how many mothers drop their children off at school and ask them not to tell all their classmates about “Mama’s crazy friend”. However many do that….I was one of them today.

We did a lot of other things today, including a library and Aldi run. Eliza makes a great vegetarian chili and she wanted to make some for lunch. So we went to get supplies and came back home. We ate the chili over brown rice today and it was really filling and yummy. She says that she makes it differently every time — but here is recipe she used today.

Eliza’s Veggie Chili
2 medium onions, diced
1 (or 2) red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, chopped
olive oil
1-2 T. chili powder
1-1 1/2 T. cumin
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chili beans
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 – 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes with the juice
3 – 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

How she says to make it: Heat a pan over medium heat. Put a few glugs oil in the pan. When it is warm, add the diced peppers and onions. Cook them until they are kind of soft, stirring occasionally. (She cooked them for like 8-10 min.) Open all the cans of tomato stuff and drain and rinse the red and black beans and set them aside so that they will be ready. Add the chili powder and cumin (she says that she usually adds minced garlic here, but Aldi was out today) and cook for 30 seconds, stirring the whole time. Immediately add the tomato sauce and tomatoes with the juice. Stir. Add the beans and stir some more. Lower the heat and stir occasionally until it is to the thickness you desire. (We waited until the brown rice we were cooking to go with it was done.) Serve over rice, or not. Sour cream or cheese and corn chips are nice on the top.

I wonder what she’ll make for us tomorrow?

My Friend, Eliza
I have a dear friend, Eliza. She has a way of popping in on us from time to time — usually staying for a few days. She is unpredictable and hilarious. She loves my boys and is one of those friends who is a thoughtful, mostly gentle truth-speaker. For instance, the last time she was here, she told me, “Look, Annie, I think that you’ve come to that age when you kind of need to wear mascara and maybe some lip gloss or something.” She said it with a smile and I knew that she meant it with love. She means well. And, I agree with her about the make up, sort of.

Anyway, she came last night. After we put the boys to bed, she watched a Battlestar Galactica with Jon and me and then she and I stayed up even later to watch Pride and Prejudice and to talk about French cooking and swap recipes.

This morning, she insisted on making breakfast. Which I let her do — she is a great cook. All was going well until I heard a yell from the kitchen. She had added chili powder instead of cinnamon to the French toast that she was making. She laughed it off and she started over — she told me that she was going to make a mental note to drink more coffee before attempting to make breakfast on that little sleep. So, she made the toast again and it was great. (She told me about another French toast recipe with almonds, strawberries and Grand Marnier. Can’t wait to try that one.)

As it was a school morning, we were bustling around getting the boys ready for school when we heard the 8 year old shouting from the kitchen. He thought that the dog was eating a plastic bag…turns out the dog had gotten a stick of butter off the counter and had eaten the whole thing. Now, you may have picked up on the fact that I am not the biggest fan of this dog right now. I’ve made the resolution not to yell at him….of course, I have been yelling, because he doesn’t care what we want anymore and is always getting into things and making huge messes. Eliza knows how I feel about the dog. She shares my feelings, apparently because, his doing that just set her off. The 8 year old had quickly taken the dog outside to get him out of the way (and maybe so the dog wouldn’t hear me talking about how I’d like him to hasten his death) but Eliza wasn’t done with the dog yet. She jerked the kitchen window open and started yelling at the dog…”You terrible dog…if you have the nerve to come in here and make a mess because you ate that butter you will be in the deepest dook of your life!!” (Keep in mind, dear readers, that this was at the top of her lungs and it was not yet 8 a.m. I truly hope that the neighbors didn’t hear. I’m just glad that she censored herself a little bit — the boys could hear, afterall.) Then she slammed the window shut and, immediately, realizing the hilarity of the whole scene, she was seized by a fit of the giggles and threw herself down on my bed and laughed and laughed. She couldn’t breathe, she was laughing so hard. She is so crazy. And I must say, my neighbor’s opinions aside, that I really like having her occasionally come to visit. She is a breath of fresh air for me — we all need a little crazy in our lives, don’t we?

I wonder how many mothers drop their children off at school and ask them not to tell all their classmates about “Mama’s crazy friend”. However many do that….I was one of them today.

We did a lot of other things today, including a library and Aldi run. Eliza makes a great vegetarian chili and she wanted to make some for lunch. So we went to get supplies and came back home. We ate the chili over brown rice today and it was really filling and yummy. She says that she makes it differently every time — but here is recipe she used today.

Eliza’s Veggie Chili
2 medium onions, diced
1 (or 2) red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, chopped
olive oil
1-2 T. chili powder
1-1 1/2 T. cumin
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chili beans
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 – 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes with the juice
3 – 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

How she says to make it: Heat a pan over medium heat. Put a few glugs oil in the pan. When it is warm, add the diced peppers and onions. Cook them until they are kind of soft, stirring occasionally. (She cooked them for like 8-10 min.) Open all the cans of tomato stuff and drain and rinse the red and black beans and set them aside so that they will be ready. Add the chili powder and cumin (she says that she usually adds minced garlic here, but Aldi was out today) and cook for 30 seconds, stirring the whole time. Immediately add the tomato sauce and tomatoes with the juice. Stir. Add the beans and stir some more. Lower the heat and stir occasionally until it is to the thickness you desire. (We waited until the brown rice we were cooking to go with it was done.) Serve over rice, or not. Sour cream or cheese and corn chips are nice on the top.

I wonder what she’ll make for us tomorrow?

My Friend, Eliza
I have a dear friend, Eliza. She has a way of popping in on us from time to time — usually staying for a few days. She is unpredictable and hilarious. She loves my boys and is one of those friends who is a thoughtful, mostly gentle truth-speaker. For instance, the last time she was here, she told me, “Look, Annie, I think that you’ve come to that age when you kind of need to wear mascara and maybe some lip gloss or something.” She said it with a smile and I knew that she meant it with love. She means well. And, I agree with her about the make up, sort of.

Anyway, she came last night. After we put the boys to bed, she watched a Battlestar Galactica with Jon and me and then she and I stayed up even later to watch Pride and Prejudice and to talk about French cooking and swap recipes.

This morning, she insisted on making breakfast. Which I let her do — she is a great cook. All was going well until I heard a yell from the kitchen. She had added chili powder instead of cinnamon to the French toast that she was making. She laughed it off and she started over — she told me that she was going to make a mental note to drink more coffee before attempting to make breakfast on that little sleep. So, she made the toast again and it was great. (She told me about another French toast recipe with almonds, strawberries and Grand Marnier. Can’t wait to try that one.)

As it was a school morning, we were bustling around getting the boys ready for school when we heard the 8 year old shouting from the kitchen. He thought that the dog was eating a plastic bag…turns out the dog had gotten a stick of butter off the counter and had eaten the whole thing. Now, you may have picked up on the fact that I am not the biggest fan of this dog right now. I’ve made the resolution not to yell at him….of course, I have been yelling, because he doesn’t care what we want anymore and is always getting into things and making huge messes. Eliza knows how I feel about the dog. She shares my feelings, apparently because, his doing that just set her off. The 8 year old had quickly taken the dog outside to get him out of the way (and maybe so the dog wouldn’t hear me talking about how I’d like him to hasten his death) but Eliza wasn’t done with the dog yet. She jerked the kitchen window open and started yelling at the dog…”You terrible dog…if you have the nerve to come in here and make a mess because you ate that butter you will be in the deepest dook of your life!!” (Keep in mind, dear readers, that this was at the top of her lungs and it was not yet 8 a.m. I truly hope that the neighbors didn’t hear. I’m just glad that she censored herself a little bit — the boys could hear, afterall.) Then she slammed the window shut and, immediately, realizing the hilarity of the whole scene, she was seized by a fit of the giggles and threw herself down on my bed and laughed and laughed. She couldn’t breathe, she was laughing so hard. She is so crazy. And I must say, my neighbor’s opinions aside, that I really like having her occasionally come to visit. She is a breath of fresh air for me — we all need a little crazy in our lives, don’t we?

I wonder how many mothers drop their children off at school and ask them not to tell all their classmates about “Mama’s crazy friend”. However many do that….I was one of them today.

We did a lot of other things today, including a library and Aldi run. Eliza makes a great vegetarian chili and she wanted to make some for lunch. So we went to get supplies and came back home. We ate the chili over brown rice today and it was really filling and yummy. She says that she makes it differently every time — but here is recipe she used today.

Eliza’s Veggie Chili
2 medium onions, diced
1 (or 2) red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, chopped
olive oil
1-2 T. chili powder
1-1 1/2 T. cumin
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chili beans
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 – 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes with the juice
3 – 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

How she says to make it: Heat a pan over medium heat. Put a few glugs oil in the pan. When it is warm, add the diced peppers and onions. Cook them until they are kind of soft, stirring occasionally. (She cooked them for like 8-10 min.) Open all the cans of tomato stuff and drain and rinse the red and black beans and set them aside so that they will be ready. Add the chili powder and cumin (she says that she usually adds minced garlic here, but Aldi was out today) and cook for 30 seconds, stirring the whole time. Immediately add the tomato sauce and tomatoes with the juice. Stir. Add the beans and stir some more. Lower the heat and stir occasionally until it is to the thickness you desire. (We waited until the brown rice we were cooking to go with it was done.) Serve over rice, or not. Sour cream or cheese and corn chips are nice on the top.

I wonder what she’ll make for us tomorrow?

Son #3, the Precious
This is a birthday heavy week here in the Barlow abode. Our youngest 2 have birthdays 2 days apart. I think that this will become more interesting in the next few years since the youngest now knows what a birthday is. Why did we have children so close together, birthday-wise? Oh yes. We didn’t *plan*. There you have it. So, a week of birthday cakes and little birthday parties. Tomorrow, I’m making a new recipe of cupcakes for the three year old. I’m hoping that they turn out better than the recipe that I tried for the 7 year old yesterday. That was a total bomb. I actually scraped the frosting off today and ate it separately because the cake was so awful. Yet another reason that I’ll never bake for a living.

I can’t believe that my 3rd son is now 7. I mean, whoa. He has been, and continues to be, such a blessing in my life. We found out about our first son’s problems when I was 20 weeks pregnant with our surprise 3rd baby. What a crazy time in our lives. It is pointless for me to try to describe it to you. Most of the time, regardless of the fact that I was very pregnant, I didn’t remember the life growing inside me. I had lots of other things on my mind. And, when I did think about my baby-to-be, all I could do was wonder (and hope) that he would be “normal”. (By the way, I kind of hate that word, normal.) Anyway, in the midst of craziness, this precious little baby was born. He was such a wonderful baby. He was so pleasant and smiley. He almost never cried. He was so placid and serene. And, it helped me so much to have him. To have something and someone else to think about. Someone to swap smiles with. I called him my Precious Treasure. Even then, I knew that having him was helping me stay sane.

As he grew, I won’t pretend that we didn’t have concerns about him in the “normality arena”. After all, siblings of autism-spectrum children have a much higher probability of being on that spectrum somewhere. But, he has always been late and surprising — since the day he was born. On that day, I was induced to have him all day long and almost released from the hospital only to go quickly into labor and have a baby less than 3 hours later. A couple of years later, when our concerns about his language and pretend play were sort of mounting, we were outside one day, and he picked up a stick from the ground. He put it in his mouth and barked for us. We looked at him. Was he doing what we thought he was doing? I think that he saw our quizzical expressions and thought that he would help us along because then he explained, “Look, I a doggie, this stick a bone, I eat.” He put the pretend bone in mouth. “Ruf, ruf!!” Jon and I looked at each other and had a moment of laughing relief. Let’s see, pretending – check, talking – check, theory of mind – check.

He continues to surprise me, nearly every single day. Yes, he is a little odd. He is also a lot precious. He is aloof but thinking all the time. He is the one who asks us very thought-provoking questions about religion and just about everything else. Like, “Why do people have to get married?” “Why is there gravity on earth?” Yes, we still have to reel him in from Pluto to ask him a question, but he really cares about people. What a hard to describe little boy. One time, we went out for Chinese food with my mom and sister. His fortune cookie read, “You have a curious smile and a mysterious natrue.” I read it aloud and we all just started laughing — it totally nailed him.

So, that is my very poor description of my precious #3. I hope and pray that he will continue to surprise and question and grow and be his precious self for many, many more years.

Son #3, the Precious
This is a birthday heavy week here in the Barlow abode. Our youngest 2 have birthdays 2 days apart. I think that this will become more interesting in the next few years since the youngest now knows what a birthday is. Why did we have children so close together, birthday-wise? Oh yes. We didn’t *plan*. There you have it. So, a week of birthday cakes and little birthday parties. Tomorrow, I’m making a new recipe of cupcakes for the three year old. I’m hoping that they turn out better than the recipe that I tried for the 7 year old yesterday. That was a total bomb. I actually scraped the frosting off today and ate it separately because the cake was so awful. Yet another reason that I’ll never bake for a living.

I can’t believe that my 3rd son is now 7. I mean, whoa. He has been, and continues to be, such a blessing in my life. We found out about our first son’s problems when I was 20 weeks pregnant with our surprise 3rd baby. What a crazy time in our lives. It is pointless for me to try to describe it to you. Most of the time, regardless of the fact that I was very pregnant, I didn’t remember the life growing inside me. I had lots of other things on my mind. And, when I did think about my baby-to-be, all I could do was wonder (and hope) that he would be “normal”. (By the way, I kind of hate that word, normal.) Anyway, in the midst of craziness, this precious little baby was born. He was such a wonderful baby. He was so pleasant and smiley. He almost never cried. He was so placid and serene. And, it helped me so much to have him. To have something and someone else to think about. Someone to swap smiles with. I called him my Precious Treasure. Even then, I knew that having him was helping me stay sane.

As he grew, I won’t pretend that we didn’t have concerns about him in the “normality arena”. After all, siblings of autism-spectrum children have a much higher probability of being on that spectrum somewhere. But, he has always been late and surprising — since the day he was born. On that day, I was induced to have him all day long and almost released from the hospital only to go quickly into labor and have a baby less than 3 hours later. A couple of years later, when our concerns about his language and pretend play were sort of mounting, we were outside one day, and he picked up a stick from the ground. He put it in his mouth and barked for us. We looked at him. Was he doing what we thought he was doing? I think that he saw our quizzical expressions and thought that he would help us along because then he explained, “Look, I a doggie, this stick a bone, I eat.” He put the pretend bone in mouth. “Ruf, ruf!!” Jon and I looked at each other and had a moment of laughing relief. Let’s see, pretending – check, talking – check, theory of mind – check.

He continues to surprise me, nearly every single day. Yes, he is a little odd. He is also a lot precious. He is aloof but thinking all the time. He is the one who asks us very thought-provoking questions about religion and just about everything else. Like, “Why do people have to get married?” “Why is there gravity on earth?” Yes, we still have to reel him in from Pluto to ask him a question, but he really cares about people. What a hard to describe little boy. One time, we went out for Chinese food with my mom and sister. His fortune cookie read, “You have a curious smile and a mysterious natrue.” I read it aloud and we all just started laughing — it totally nailed him.

So, that is my very poor description of my precious #3. I hope and pray that he will continue to surprise and question and grow and be his precious self for many, many more years.

Son #3, the Precious
This is a birthday heavy week here in the Barlow abode. Our youngest 2 have birthdays 2 days apart. I think that this will become more interesting in the next few years since the youngest now knows what a birthday is. Why did we have children so close together, birthday-wise? Oh yes. We didn’t *plan*. There you have it. So, a week of birthday cakes and little birthday parties. Tomorrow, I’m making a new recipe of cupcakes for the three year old. I’m hoping that they turn out better than the recipe that I tried for the 7 year old yesterday. That was a total bomb. I actually scraped the frosting off today and ate it separately because the cake was so awful. Yet another reason that I’ll never bake for a living.

I can’t believe that my 3rd son is now 7. I mean, whoa. He has been, and continues to be, such a blessing in my life. We found out about our first son’s problems when I was 20 weeks pregnant with our surprise 3rd baby. What a crazy time in our lives. It is pointless for me to try to describe it to you. Most of the time, regardless of the fact that I was very pregnant, I didn’t remember the life growing inside me. I had lots of other things on my mind. And, when I did think about my baby-to-be, all I could do was wonder (and hope) that he would be “normal”. (By the way, I kind of hate that word, normal.) Anyway, in the midst of craziness, this precious little baby was born. He was such a wonderful baby. He was so pleasant and smiley. He almost never cried. He was so placid and serene. And, it helped me so much to have him. To have something and someone else to think about. Someone to swap smiles with. I called him my Precious Treasure. Even then, I knew that having him was helping me stay sane.

As he grew, I won’t pretend that we didn’t have concerns about him in the “normality arena”. After all, siblings of autism-spectrum children have a much higher probability of being on that spectrum somewhere. But, he has always been late and surprising — since the day he was born. On that day, I was induced to have him all day long and almost released from the hospital only to go quickly into labor and have a baby less than 3 hours later. A couple of years later, when our concerns about his language and pretend play were sort of mounting, we were outside one day, and he picked up a stick from the ground. He put it in his mouth and barked for us. We looked at him. Was he doing what we thought he was doing? I think that he saw our quizzical expressions and thought that he would help us along because then he explained, “Look, I a doggie, this stick a bone, I eat.” He put the pretend bone in mouth. “Ruf, ruf!!” Jon and I looked at each other and had a moment of laughing relief. Let’s see, pretending – check, talking – check, theory of mind – check.

He continues to surprise me, nearly every single day. Yes, he is a little odd. He is also a lot precious. He is aloof but thinking all the time. He is the one who asks us very thought-provoking questions about religion and just about everything else. Like, “Why do people have to get married?” “Why is there gravity on earth?” Yes, we still have to reel him in from Pluto to ask him a question, but he really cares about people. What a hard to describe little boy. One time, we went out for Chinese food with my mom and sister. His fortune cookie read, “You have a curious smile and a mysterious natrue.” I read it aloud and we all just started laughing — it totally nailed him.

So, that is my very poor description of my precious #3. I hope and pray that he will continue to surprise and question and grow and be his precious self for many, many more years.

I’ve Got Sand in My Pockets
Happy 2007, everybody! Hope that a Merry Christmas was had by all, as well. We are back from our tour of the South (otherwise known as the Holiday Journey — not to be confused with the Holiday Vacation.) We spent a few days at the beach with my family as part of our journey this year. It was fun. We had good weather for late December and enjoyed time on the beach, had fun swimming in the indoor pool, and ate lots of shrimp and oysters. It is always sad to leave the beach even when you know that you can’t stay forever. But, it was happy to get back home to St. Louis and happy to think about our 2007. Anybody want to throw your resolutions (if you make them) out there?

Mine are incredibly boring….
1. Read more. Keep a list of what I read/want to read.
2. Walk more. This will involve getting a replacement for my hobo stroller.
3. Learn something new (hopefully this will be Latin over the summer with #2).
4. Sell stuff that I don’t want/need anymore.
5. Keep sewing clothing for myself. Goal: skirts and dresses for summer.
6. Bake more bread.
7. Figure out what I want to do when I grow up.
8. (Added after he jumped up on me while I was typing this…)Yell at the dog less.

I’ve Got Sand in My Pockets
Happy 2007, everybody! Hope that a Merry Christmas was had by all, as well. We are back from our tour of the South (otherwise known as the Holiday Journey — not to be confused with the Holiday Vacation.) We spent a few days at the beach with my family as part of our journey this year. It was fun. We had good weather for late December and enjoyed time on the beach, had fun swimming in the indoor pool, and ate lots of shrimp and oysters. It is always sad to leave the beach even when you know that you can’t stay forever. But, it was happy to get back home to St. Louis and happy to think about our 2007. Anybody want to throw your resolutions (if you make them) out there?

Mine are incredibly boring….
1. Read more. Keep a list of what I read/want to read.
2. Walk more. This will involve getting a replacement for my hobo stroller.
3. Learn something new (hopefully this will be Latin over the summer with #2).
4. Sell stuff that I don’t want/need anymore.
5. Keep sewing clothing for myself. Goal: skirts and dresses for summer.
6. Bake more bread.
7. Figure out what I want to do when I grow up.
8. (Added after he jumped up on me while I was typing this…)Yell at the dog less.

I’ve Got Sand in My Pockets
Happy 2007, everybody! Hope that a Merry Christmas was had by all, as well. We are back from our tour of the South (otherwise known as the Holiday Journey — not to be confused with the Holiday Vacation.) We spent a few days at the beach with my family as part of our journey this year. It was fun. We had good weather for late December and enjoyed time on the beach, had fun swimming in the indoor pool, and ate lots of shrimp and oysters. It is always sad to leave the beach even when you know that you can’t stay forever. But, it was happy to get back home to St. Louis and happy to think about our 2007. Anybody want to throw your resolutions (if you make them) out there?

Mine are incredibly boring….
1. Read more. Keep a list of what I read/want to read.
2. Walk more. This will involve getting a replacement for my hobo stroller.
3. Learn something new (hopefully this will be Latin over the summer with #2).
4. Sell stuff that I don’t want/need anymore.
5. Keep sewing clothing for myself. Goal: skirts and dresses for summer.
6. Bake more bread.
7. Figure out what I want to do when I grow up.
8. (Added after he jumped up on me while I was typing this…)Yell at the dog less.