HOW TO HAVE A GOOD TIME AT EAGLE MILLS FARMFirst, fix the Hello Kitty! earring before you and

your classmates each pick two raspberries,
choose only a pumpkin you're willing to carry up the hill,
give it to your mom, who's hauling everybody's

pumpkins back to school in the Vanagon,
and act like a rodent with your friend, Nora.

Halloween Scary Dudes

This year, Dane's going to be Indiana Jones and Aubrey's going to be an elaborate pink fairy of her own design. My idea's a secret, but hopefully it'll just be sinister. As for Mick, I'm just hoping he doesn't try to use last year's costume again this year.

Please, no, not for the new job.

Click on the halloween label below to find last year's posting with this photo. You can click on that photo to enlarge it -- at your own risk. (Be forewarned: it's very very scary!)

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY, SPORTYPANTS!

Quotable Quotes

Aubrey heard Mutt yell "Bullshit!" last night on Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

She then turned to me and asked, "What's a bowl of shit? I don't even know what that means..."

ATTENTION GUESTS

Do Not - I repeat - Do Not
leave anything in our
home. Mick will find a way
to put it to good use.

Thanks.

I appreciate your support.

Angel Island Ablaze

Last night, over 300 firefighters in Marin fought to save Angel Island from a fire that looks like it may have been started by campers. The firefighters managed to keep the fire from the historic buildings, but evidently it charred over half of the island. Read SF Chronicle article here.


This island is just a short ferry ride from Tiburon (right next to our old home in Marin City / Sausalito) and is visible from San Francisco. If you'll recall, it's a place we're all particularly fond of because it's where Dane did his first big solo ride -- 5 miles around the perimeter! -- and we had a terrific family biking day there. (Read about it at these old blog postings called Angel Island Pix and About A Bike.)

Ignore the gooby couple and check out SF's skyline in the distance.

Thanks for coming to see us, Mema and Poppa! And Happy 25th Anniversary
And nice job surviving the entire glass of Aubrey's root beer in your lap at dinner, Poppa...

And we're glad you cheered for all of these: soccer games, Dana's birthday, Mick's clinic, and the hot tub.Come back soon!

Walker's Walkers Recognized

(You can imagine the restraint it took to not write 'Wecognized' up there.) So here you have it, folks, all the walking I gushed about in the post below is officially validated on the front page of the October 8, 2008, edition of the Ashland Tidings.

Yup, Aubrey made the paper again, and I got in there, too. Yesterday was National Walk or Bike to School Day, so the press was on hand to get the low-down. Aubrey and I are not interviewed in the article, just photographed. She's the one wearing her handmade variegated scarf, I'm the one with the cat around my neck.

The caption: Students and parents visit the snack and prize table this morning at Walker Elementary School after taking part in International Walk to School Day.

Go here to read the article.

WALKING TO SCHOOL

This photo happens to be from the first day of school (note the big bags of school supplies and the outfits I wrote about it an earlier post about the first day), but this is what we do every day.

I love these walks.

We talk about school, we talk about books, we talk about sports. We also laugh together when one of us trips (that sounds mean, but we always make sure the one who's tripped is ok first -- well, usually) and we take deep breaths of fresh air, or exhaust from the street, or pot from the trailer park (What's that smell, Mom?), but mostly the fresh air.

Yes, it's a very wholesome experience.

Here's what Soren Kierkegaard had to say about walking. I found it copied down in an old journal of mine from a few years ago. I think he's on to something.

Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it... but by sitting still, and the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill... Thus if one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.

WHAT WE DO THESE DAYS

Here's a little list of some of the extra-curricular activities we Reynolds are keeping these days. With a school curriculum that has no homework, and affordable YMCA and afterschool programs, we're trying out some new -- and some tried and true -- activities for Dane and Aubrey.

Currently...

Dane practices soccer with his team 2x/week and has a game every Saturday (for 6 Saturdays), he takes "Cartooning" after school 1x/week and "Board Games" 1x/week. He's also starting to go to friends' houses here and having friends over. So far, he loves school, loves his extra classes and sports, and has two favorite friends, Avery and Logan -- but he still thinks of Josh as his best, best friend.

Aubrey practices soccer with her team 1x/week and has a game every Saturday as well, she also takes Gymnastics at the Y 1x/week, takes "Crazy Art" 1x/week and "Beads" another afternoon a week after school. She's also started going to friends' houses and having friends over. Sor far, Aubrey loves school, her extra classes and sports (especially gymnastics, but she tears it up on the co-ed soccer field, too), and has some favorite friends, Indi, Sienna, Paije, Jules and Ella -- but she still really, really misses Gia.

And the parents?

Mick, of course, practices dentistry. In addition to that, he leaves his car (that used station wagon) at work at least 2x/week to ride his bike home the 17 miles from his clinic doorstep in Medford to our doorstep in Ashland. The next morning he rides his bike to the bus stop down the street and rides said bus to Medford, riding his bike the last couple of miles to work. He also sees movies some evenings with his brother and is getting used to not having homework hanging over his head.

I walk the kids to and from school every day, walk downtown and back 2 mornings a week (4+ miles) for coffee and writing, have joined a book club that will start in November (Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence the first book), have joined a writing group called Rogue Writers (but I've only met with them once), and read and write as much as possible -- when I'm not volunteering at the school, getting the kids to activities, watching kids after school, keeping the house clean, or unpacking. (Yeah, I'm still doing that -- or should be.)

All of us spend a lot of time with Kai, Dana, Barritt, Indi, Jude and Weston. And we love 'em.

A JAUNT DOWN MEMORY LANE

I hijacked this questionnaire from my friend Natalie Nelson's blog. Sure, she was reflecting on her and her husband's 10-year reunions this summer -- and I'm getting ready for my 20-year reunion next summer -- but it just got me to thinking. (Click here to read her funny October 2 reflections.)

I don't know if it was our recent purchase of a used station wagon that got me to thinking ever-so-slightly fondly of the old woody I got to borrow every once in a while when I was 16, but I've been thinkin about this baby for the past month: my first car, a 1977 Datsun B-210 -- and I can't get a picture to post. Shoot. I guess you'll have to click here to see it. But it's one of those things I'm thinking about 20 years later, wishing I could drive it again just to re-claim it as an adult with a better perspective. I used to think it was so nerdy, and I'd hoped for something a little cooler in a first car.

Anyway, I'll continue with the quiz and hope I can post a photo later.

1. Did you date someone from your school? Yup, a couple guys. (See #s 14, 19 and 20.)

2. What kind of car did you drive? First it was "the woody," a 1980'ish Toyota Cressida wagon, and then it was the 1977 Datsun B-210.

3. What was the most embarrassing moment of HS? Hmmm... that's tough to nail. Could be the time I scrubbed the H out of a teeny tiny zit next to my mouth with a loofah and it turned into a scab the size of a dime (earned myself the nickname Loofah for quite a while), or it could be the time I had a solo in jazz choir, the simple last line to "My Funny Valentine" and I got so freaked I couldn't find the right notes to save my life and ruined the whole sweet, tight jazz piece by singing the very last line of the whole entire song solo and off-key. There are more, but I'll stop here.

4. Were you a party animal? Hardly.

5. Were you considered a flirt? Maybe, but not always intentionally.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Concert choir, Jazz choir.

7. Were you a nerd? Yes, according to Buddy and Jason at the time.

8. Were you on any varsity teams? Sort of. I swung varsity volleyball my soph and jr years but then quit my senior year run for Daffodil Queen and sing.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Not on your life!

10. Can you still sing the fight song? You betcha.

11. Who were your favorite teachers? The only one that's coming to mind is Mr. Nace for singing -- 2 classes a year for 2 years, but he wasn't my fav in the traditional sense (he was mean and challenging and a perfectionist, and some ways that's good, but it doesn't make him my fav) and then I had this fabulous English teacher, Colleen? __, but I can't remember her name!

12. Where did you sit during lunch? at a lunch table, usually.

13. School mascot? Rams! But when the cheerleaders yelled it out it sounded like we were the Rims.

14. Did you go to homecoming, and with who[m]? Yeah, sophomore year I was the class homecoming princess and went alone (yeah, that was a real highlight), junior year I went maybe with Brian Hope (?) and senior year I was princess again and went with my senior year boyfriend Jameson.

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Sure, I thought high school was really fun.

16. What do you remember most about graduation? Wearing a blue graduation gown.

17. Where did you go senior skip day? Um, probably class.

18. Were you in any clubs? Yeah. Rambassadors and Natural Helpers come to mind.

19. Have you gained some weight since then? Funnily enough, I weigh 25 pounds less than when I graduated. That senior year I quit volleyball I chubbed out on spoonsful of peanut butter every day after school. I also lost about 15 of it that summer after graduation, after I spent my summer on the rec room floor crying to Sinead O'Conner's "Nothing Compares to You" after my senior year boyfriend dumped me. (See #20 below)

20. Who was your prom date? Jameson. But he had food poisoning from something earlier that day. We skipped dinner, I dragged him to the dance in my B-210, made him get pictures taken with me, and drove him home. Then I went back to the dance alone, danced with a couple pals who weren't making out with someone somewhere, and huddled around in a giant circle at the end crying along to "Friends Are Friends Forever," our prom theme.

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Went to it. Had a great time. Next summer it's my 20th.

22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Think less about trying to have a social life and dig into some real learning. What I wouldn't give to know how to debate, and to understand calculus, chemistry, economics, or physics! Oh, and I'd tell myself to be smart enough to be grateful to drive any car.

The Shakespeare Cottage

This little number's right out my back door and, when it's not being used for Polly Pocket World by my kids and the cousins, it's my writing room. See? Dane and Aubrey made me a sign at the end of summer. Here it is below.


They made this sign and then found some rope to string across the inside of the cabin with lots and lots and lots of Pollys and Lego Star Wars characters taped to it. Pretty sweet banner.

I've been writing a lot in the main house -- which feels humongous after having a 2 bedroom 1100 sq. ft. apartment shared with 4 people for 3 years -- but I'm also making myself sit out in the cottage a little bit every day. As far as the writing is concerned, during this huge transition (graduation / job search / moving / unpacking / kids starting school / sports) my writing's more about quantity than quality right now.

That (above) is my favorite scrappy little chair to write in. Other than that, it's just so cool to have this little piece of history in my back yard. The cottage was originally the 1962 World's Fair booth promoting the Ashland Shakespeare Festival. Later, it was brought up to Ashland and was used as a branch of the library (there's a great newspaper write-up in the cottage with this librarian in a knit dress, wearing cat-eye glasses, and leaning out the window between shelves of books.) After that, it somehow ended up in this back yard. My landlord offered the booth back to the city as a historical monument, but got no takers. I'm okay with that.

Just in case you missed it in the slide show below.

Cousins at the Creek
Lithia Park, Ashland, Oregon

What to do with all this zucchini?!?


This one's for Natalie Wermus (welcome to the blog, Nat!). She's got cucumbers coming out of her ears and I'm hooking her up with a soup recipe to die for.

Curried Zucchini & Cilantro Soup

1 medium-size onion
2 T olive oil
About 2 lbs zucchini, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 t to 1-1/2 T curry powder
1 qt buttermilk
2 c fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 c minced cilantro
Plain nonfat yogurt (optional)
Lime wedges or slices
Cilantro sprigs
Salt
Pepper

Cut onion into quarters; then thinly slice quarters crosswise. Set aside.

Preheat a 4- or 5-qt pan over medium-high heat until rim of pan is hot-to-the-touch. Add oil and wait for about 1 more minute. Add onion, zucchini, and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft (about 20 minutes).

Stir curry powder into vegetable mixture (the more curry you use, the hotter the soup's flavor will be). Cook, stirring until curry powder begins to stick to pan bottom (about 5 minutes). Add buttermilk, broth, and minced cilantro; stir to scrape any browned bits free from pan bottom.

Bring soup almost to a boil; remove from heat. Ladle soup into bowls; top with yogurt (if desired), lime, and cilantro sprigs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 6 servings
Prep: About 25 minutes
Cook: About 30 minutes

Quote(s) of the Day and the Essence(s) of Cool


We're at the dinner table listening to Lenny Kravitz sing "Rock N Roll Is Dead" and Aubrey says, "This sounds like it could be on Dirty Jobs."

You might have to know the Dirty Jobs theme song and be part of Mike Rowe's fan club to get that one, but she is so right. Same twangy bass sound and rhythm. (If you're curious, check out what a babe/dude Mike is here. Our whole family loves this guy. Karen, you have to read that article -- his reflections on guys in opera are hilarious.)

Anyway, a beat later in Lenny's rockathon, Dane says, "You know what I want to be when I grow up?" He's got a glimmer in his eye and he's nodding his head: "An actress and a rock star."

Really? Actresses are female, buddy.

High-five.

Of course, I'll be encouraging him to be an act[whatever], a rock star, and his first ever career idea, a paleantologist -- if I can swing it....

If he sees this clip below, though, he might never look at another dinosaur.

Here's the smooth, cool Lenny Kravitz, folks. On Letterman.



So you see Mike Rowe, you see Lenny Kravitz, and you have to ask of each of them: just how much cool can one man have?

bUddiEs


Both kids are adjusting well here in Ashland. They're making new friends (Logan, Avery, Paije, Ella, etc.), having a blast with their cousins, and thriving in school and on their sports teams.

They still miss their old friends, though. Aubrey often mentions her little pal, Gia, and has spoken with her on the phone and sent emails. She's also emailed Ms. Perez and invited her to come for a visit. (And she might! shhhh.....)

But Dane really, really misses his best buddy, Josh. He's written notes and drawn pictures -- for "Josh Skywalker from [his] buddy, Dane Skywalker" -- and he's spoken to him on the phone as well.

Since school started, Dane has told me nearly every day that he feels like he could cry when he thinks of Josh. In class, he tells me he just has to keep it together.

One day in the van, though, he really did lose it. Really bad. He just broke down sobbing during a quiet moment when we were on our way to pick up Mick from work. When he'd gathered himself a little bit, we talked about it, and he came up with this: "Mom, the only time I don't feel like crying about Josh is when I'm with Daddy."

Awww...

Quote of the Day

Aubrey tells me she has to go to the bathroom while Dane's at soccer practice, so she runs across the park toward the facilities. Halfway there, she turns around and starts running back toward me, yelling, "I DIDN'T REALLY NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM - I JUST HAD TO FART!"

That's my girl.

Overheard...

Dane: Sometimes a book can make me cry.
Logan: Me, too.
Dane: Do you want to know what book makes me cry?
Logan: Yeah.
Dane: The Giving Tree.
Logan: Oh, me, too.


Well, thank you, Shel Silverstein. Me, too.



Check out the review I wrote of it a couple years ago at this link. For the record, I'd UP it to 5 now. After hearing my boy talk about being moved like that, it deserves no less.

I FOUND MY family IN
SOME old YEARBOOKS!

Dane Reynolds, 1956

Aubrey Reynolds, 1964

Mick Reynolds, 1976

Anjie Seewer, 1952


I found OTHER FAMILY AND friends, TOO!

Shelby Combs, 1954

Mike Reynolds, 1950

Russell Kai Reynolds, 1976

Karen Urlie, 1960

Janice Coltom, 1968

Quote of the Day

Aubrey with a bloody nose - "I kind of like what this feels like."

HOUSTON COUSINS FINE THROUGH HURRICANE

Last time a hurricane (Katrina) threatened her home, Mick's cousin Michelle got smart, grabbed her boyfriend, split town, hit Vegas, and got hitched.

Now the happy couple lives in Houston and with a new threat to their home (Ike) I wondered what snazzy plan they had up their sleeves this time.

Cameron (husb.) wrote back to fill me in. His subject heading: Yikes It's Ike! I take his opening line to mean that if I can share his letter with all the Reynolds, I can share it with all my thousands of readers (likely one and the same).

Here it is:

Anjie,

You can go ahead and forward this to all the other Reynolds since I don't have the addresses...

We are doing absolutely fine. Our house survived the storm Friday night, and other than a few downed limbs in the yard we escaped unscathed. It was a dicey night. A tornado actually touched down across the street and took out a couple pines and a very large oak tree and landed on some of the neighbors houses. I feel truly blessed to have done so well considering.

Starting at 2 am we got hit by the east side of the eye wall and it traveled due North with wind at 60 mph gusting to 90 mph from 2am until 8 am... Needless to say I didn't sleep much. The next day I went outside and our street was flooded until about 10 in the morning. Michelle was on a girls trip to Napa valley this weekend and left on friday morning, and I have been on my own for the duration. The evening after the storm was a nasty night. 100% humidity and about 85 degrees with no power. I slept with all 4 bedroom windows open and no screens... I think if it is possible to overdose on mosquito bites I would have found out. If it wern't for the whisky I would not have slept a wink! I woke up to a thunderstorm that dumped more rain on us than the hurricane, and the street was flooded again. I met Tom in Lake Charles yesterday morning and he gave me his generator, a small AC unit and a case of water which has been a life saver. I slept with AC last night and it was beautiful! I used the generator to run the dishwasher and the washing machine today, as well as power the fridge. It felt so luxurious...

Michelle's flight was rescheduled for Wednesday, and she is trapped in a posh hotel in San Fransico, getting mani-peti's and wined and dined...

But I am well and the house is fine. Thank goodness fot the weather change. The temperature has dropped by 20 degrees. We went from a high of 95 on Saturday to 75 today which is amazing after a hurricane...

Thanks for the concern...

Cameron...

DANE IN A BOX

I am a ro-bot. waddle waddle waddle away.

Guess who walked to school alone today?

It's Back To School with

Miss Nancy's Class in the Ashland Tidings!

See if you can find Aubs...
To read the article click here.

We Are the WALKER WOLVES!
first day of school update

Can't find the device to upload photos yet, so I'll have to just give you some text.

First of all, let me assure you that the first day outfits were grand. Nothing fancy, but grand in that they were our first elementary clothes that weren't uniforms! (The verdict's still out on whether that's good or bad.)

Dane wore running shoes, khaki skate shorts and a red striped polo. He also sported a sweet new haircut Pops gave him yesterday morning.

Aubrey wore her old fav, the old Hello-Kitty-face-in-sequins t-shirt, a turquoise fleece sweatshirt, a denim skirt, and her Converse hightops. That felt really cold, though (even though it got hot later), so she wore pink valour sweats under the jeans skirt. Braided ponytail in back with rubber band above and rubberband below the braid. Yes, she was that specific when I told her she had to let me do her hair.

Aubrey's in First Grade w/ Miss Nancy. Aubrey came home saying she'd noticed a girl named Paije/ "She's cute, Mom." Of course. Well, that's one new friend!

Dane's in Second Grade w/ Inge. He said he played with a cool kid named Zane today. The Dane/Zane rhyme wasn't lost on him, either. So, there's another new friend.

We walked to school and met the crossing guards, who make it a point to learn all the walkers' names. Crossing Guard Pam told me that parents often let their kids walk to school solo b/c she gets them across Siskiyou Blvd and watches them down to Crossing Guard Linda (or whatever her name is), who then sees them across Ashland St and on to school. Dane thought that sounded really cool, but I said No Way Today, Buster. At least not for a while -- for Mom's sake.

After school, cousin Barritt (grade 3) and Jude (age 4) came over and played with Dane; Aubrey went to Gymnastics class at the Y with Indi. After Gymnastics, those two stayed and played here, too. Lots of hot tubbin', Polly Pockets, and role playing.

Aubrey loved gymnastics.

I think everybody's going to bed happy tonight.

Ahhhh....

Mick's been in Eugene all week for the second week in a row, training for his new job. Here's what he had to say on the phone the other night:

This job is sweet, Anj. I've got assistants cleaning up all my messes! I do the work on one mouth, an assistant comes and takes me by the elbow, saying, 'Dr. Reynolds, we need you in the next room now,' and I leave all my instruments just where they are and move on to the next task. No clean-up required.

Yeah, it doesn't get any better than that, does it? I warned him not to try that at home, though.

WE NOW LIVE IN ASHLAND!

Yeah, this means I'll need to change the blog title, but I'm going to have to think about it. Don't want to come up with something like Sausalito Sketches. Don't get me wrong, it did the trick, but I'm ready to graduate from a place-oriented alliteration to something else. Ashland Adventures or It's Ashland Ah'ight! aren't going to cut it. See what I mean? (Your suggestions are welcome and will possibly be respected.)

Anyway, this'll be brief for today, since I'm still unpacking this place. Just an FYI, though: that photo above is part of the Elizabethan Theater for the Ashland Shakespeare Festival -- and I have a mini version of that in my back yard. Literally! Our rental house has a little Shakespeare cottage out back that was the Shakespeare booth at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. From there, it came to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival, and from there it somehow ended up in my back yard. Guess who has a new writing cottage??? I'll post photos and other descriptions of the whole house soon, but that' s a little tantalizing tidbit for now.



In other news...

Dane spent last week in YMCA Basketball camp while Aubrey stuck by my side. (She didn't have any interest in basketball.) I wasn't sure how Dane would like it, since he's never really played except at MiniHawks or in P.E. -- but here's what he had to say about it on his way to the second day of camp:

D: Mom, how long is camp?
A: It's from 9 to noon every day, so that's three hours a day.
D: Boy, yesterday it felt like it lasted ONE MINUTE.

He's already asking be on a basketball team after soccer season.* I think he might even get a hoop for his birthday. We live on a quiet street where we can set one up. And it's likely no one will steal it! (As they might in Marin City. Yes, we do a lot of comparing to Marin City here, with a surprising mix of pros and cons).

Another interaction:

Living by the cousins is thrilling for Dane and Aubrey (and us). Cousin Jude, age 4, was over the other day playing with Dane while the girls were all still at Kai and Dana's.

Dane and Jude came to me and Dane says, "Mom, you know what I just told Jude?" (Jude's standing next to him nodding and repeating occasional words Dane says.) "Jude just said we're cousins, and I told him we're more like brothers. We're brothers, Mom. We're like brothers, aren't we, Jude?" Jude nods vigorously and says, "Yeah, me and Dane brothers." And then they talk a little bit between them, because they have to establish that, yeah, they're actually cousins, too, so Dane adds, "Well, it's really like we're 50% cousins, 50% brothers and 50% friends."

That's right, boys...


*Today I signed Dane and Aubrey up for Fall Soccer teams through the Y.

MASTER SACHMO

Listening to Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World the other day, Aubrey said, "I love this song. It's beautiful -- is Yoda singing it?"

Apparently she's not the first to make that connection...

I MIGHT NOT BE MUCH OF A COOK...
but I like to eat. So, here's something the kids and I cooked up the other day in our attempt to add vegetarian selections to our lives.

THE RECIPE
Sweet Potato and Fruit Medley
8 servings, egg-free

5 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
2 1/2 Tbs. butter
2 bananas, sliced
1 apple or pear, cored, peeled and chopped
1 Tbs. grated fresh ginger
1 cup chopped dried apricots (6 1/2 oz.)
6 Tbs. thawed frozen apple juice
concentrate
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 475 [degrees] F. Pierce each sweet potato in several places. Place on sheet of foil and bake until tender, 45 to 50 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add bananas, apple and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Transfer to large bowl; set aside.

3. Remove sweet potatoes from oven. When cool enough to handle, peel and slice. Add to banana mixture along with apricots, apple juice concentrate and lemon juice and toss gently to mix.

4. Spoon mixture into 11 x 7-inch glass casserole, cover with foil and bake until hot, about 35 minutes. Serve right away for best results.

PER SERVING: 177 CAL.; 2G PROT.; 4G TOTAL FAT (2G SAT. FAT) 35G CARB.; 10MG CHOL.; 49MG SOD.; 4G FIBER
COPYRIGHT 2000 Vegetarian Times, Inc. All rights reserved.

THE REVIEW
I LOVED it -- it was like eating pie it was so sweet. It had great texture to it, too, between the sweet potato rounds and the dried apricot bits. Aubrey DIDN'T like it. For probably the same reasons I loved it. This kid doesn't even like jam. Mick LIKED it. And Dane gave it a thumbs SORT-OF up.

THE FINE PRINT
Don't eat too much at a time. It'll make you gassy -- at least that's what I, um, heard. And don't snack on the dried apricots while you make it. That only offers predictable repercussions as well.

SHE GOT TO GO TO GIA'S PARTY, AFTER ALL

Aubrey has handled the delay to move to Ashland this summer better than all of us. A move-out date of August 15 means she got her big wish: she got to go to her best pal Gia's birthday party.

It's importance? Well, one morning in May, I learned it. As we were getting ready for school, Aubrey asked me, "Is August before June, Mom?"

I'd quickly answered, "Nope. You know that! You know... June, July, August?" and winked at her and kept brushing my teeth, or something trivial (oops, sorry Mick) like that.

At that point, Aubrey just crumpled onto the floor, sobbing. With huge tears streaming down her face she'd cried, "Then I'm going to miss Gia's birthday!" (That's when we thought we might have to move in June.)

I knelt down beside her shuddering little bod and held her for a while like that, realizing that at that moment she was really grasping our imminent move and what it would mean to say goodbye to close friends. It even made me feel sad to think of what it would mean to leave.

So, anyway, it turns out she didn't have to miss the party, and she/we have been able to say heartfelt goodbyes to all our friends with this extra time. In fact, we've said goodbye to several people several times, but that's just fine by us.