My day began yesterday with my weekly volunteer gig delivering food to send home from school with needy kids over the weekend. It’s part of the routine, and not that big a deal to accomplish — but it always makes me happy to know I’m doing a little something to help the kids who need the food.

Today, I did some less rewarding volunteer work at the kids’ school – just assembling some items for a science lab next week. However, while I was doing my thing, I got to chat with a new friend – someone who wasn’t at all involved at the school until I tricked invited her to fill a vacant role in the PTA. She’s a good egg and we had a few laughs at the expense of some goofy kids and pushy teachers.

While at school, I snuck up behind our daughter and tickled the back of her neck while she was standing in line. Her response was so funny — she just sort of slowly turned around, almost afraid to see who in the school building felt the need to touch her like that. She was relieved to see that the creep was only her mom.  Shortly after that – I stuck my head in the cafeteria to wave to our son while he was eating lunch. He jumped out of his seat and waved at me to come over to his table where he was hanging with his dudes. He gave me a huge hug and encouraged me to stay and chat with his friends for a little while. (Do I not have the sweetest 9 year old boy ever?) We had lots to discuss, since our son is sporting his second black eye in two months, and the boy seated next to him was rockin’ a neon cast on his hand. The other boys were falling over themselves to tell me about black eyes, bumps, and broken bones they have had in their long, hard lives as boys in the Bubble. Pretty funny. Our son’s latest injury was thanks to a run-in with a tree in a dark backyard, during an unauthorized-by-mom football game.

In less delightful news, I had a major spaz moment while working out this morning. I was in this Pilates class, contorting my body and using various devices to maximize the torture.

I had a pilates “magic circle” (like the one above) squeezed between my ankles, with my legs straight and my feet at a 45 degree angle from the ground. My legs were shaking and my abs were working hard, because my head and neck were off the mat. Then the instructor said something about twisting, and I yanked on my head with my hands, which were supposed to be gently cradling the noggin. OUCH. I immediately felt a snap and thought I might not be able to get off the mat. Like, ever. (Taylor Swift — get OUT OF MY HEAD.) 

I pushed myself up to a seated position, and there was nothing graceful about getting myself there. (Thankfully, everyone else in the room was too busy squeezing those rings between their own legs and likely took no notice of me.) I massaged and rolled my neck until I was able to move it again, though very stiffly.

I asked the teacher for some suggested stretches after class and she said to push my chin against my chest with my finger. That looks weird AND hurts like hell. UGH.

I did stop at the store on the way to my next stop (the school) to get some ibuprofen to relax the muscles, and some “natural smelling” Icy Hot to slather on myself. It smells better than Ben Gay, but not much. I’m going to smell quite sexy at the cocktail party I’m attending tomorrow night, eh?

The weekend is here! Hope you have a fun one.

The paint on my banister is in fact what made me happy yesterday! And very, very, very tired. I spent all day climbing up and down the steps in various contorted positions trying not to drip paint on my face or our new carpet or the previously painted white trim. It is not easy to paint the side of the handrail that faces the wall. I’m just saying.

Well, the hard work has paid off and I am in love with the new color scheme. Also with chalk paint. Have you heard of it? Basically, it’s paint with some sort of chalky substance mixed in (I used plaster of paris), making it unnecessary to sand or prime previously finished wood before painting. I despise sanding. I find priming redundant. So this was right up my alley! One more step left – to protect it with some polyurethane – but the end is in sight.

Today, what made me happy was sushi for dinner, because I just didn’t feel like having a big dinner-making mess in the kitchen, on top of the painting supply mess, and the half-decorated for Christmas mess, and the lunchbox/backpack/homework/permission slip mess. So, yeah. Sushi. (Plus mac-n-cheese for the kids, which dirtied a pot and some measuring cups. Plus roasting pumpkin seeds from the 2 pie pumpkins I had to cook yesterday to clear off the mantel, making way for the holiday baubles. That dirtied 2 cookie sheets. Plus making lunch for school tomorrow, including hard boiled eggs, dirtying another pot.)

I think I’m a failure at takeout.

Other happy things today – catching up with Professor Sister on the phone. She’s a very, very busy lady these days. Our chats are fewer and farther between….but we’ll be together for Christmas, so that will be nice. And did I write about our extended family photo shoot with the Mr.’s side of the family the day after Thanksgiving? We all wore “jewel tones,” and let me tell you….listening to three brothers discuss their jewel tone wardrobes is quite hilarious. Anyway, we got to see the full gallery of photos tonight, and they are really quite lovely, jewel tones and all. I usually take our family portraits – even the ones I’m in, through the use of space age technology, kids – so it was nice to just be able to relax, and be in the moment. The photographer was quite talented, and we all had fun taking the pictures, too.

Sheesh, things sure seem hunky dory around here when I’m forced to be delightful! At least I owned up to the layers of mess in the kitchen, right?

There’s a thing happening on Xanga where people are blogging about one thing that them happy each day in December, thanks to an idea from @BohemianLotus. I’m behind, of course, but here’s my first three:

12/1 - I may be a procrastinator, but I’m also an overachiever – so I’ll start my first day with four things. It was a good day. The first was starting my Saturday with a ridiculously fun workout that put me in a good mood for the rest of the day, as did hearing our daughter belt out a rockin’ tune singing at her band rehearsal. Third was returning home to find that the Mr. had successfully installed a new carpet runner on our stairs in no time at all. That man is a force to be reckoned with – especially when he has an extra cup of coffee on a weekend morning! The final happiness inducing thing on Saturday was walking from the car to the restaurant for dinner with my family, when the Mr. put his arm around me, and the kids each put their arms around one of us. We could barely move in that clumsy arrangement, but that wasn’t the point.

12/2 - Sunday was a flurry of activity around here, picking out a tree, decorating the tree, stringing the lights and things outside. I always love going through the box of ornaments with the kids and seeing their excitement as they remember the stories that go with each decoration. Especially the ones that are from my own childhood, since they only “remember” from hearing my own memories.

12/3 - It was a gorgeous day here yesterday – 70+ degrees. My two little book nerds were out of reading material, so we decided to walk to the library after school to replenish the supply. It was a lovely outing, but the best part was when we rounded the corner to our street and our son was holding my hand. His friends were waiting for him to play football — two older boys. I thought he would drop my hand (out of embarrassment and/or excitement to play). Instead, he squeezed my hand twice (a secret signal that means “I love you”) and continued to hold it while he discussed his plans with his buds. That’s my sweet boy.

12/4 - It’s only a few hours into the day, but I’m hoping that what will make me happy today is the paint I’m about to apply to the banister on our staircase. It’s my project, and I’m doing something a bit creative and DIY…..wish me luck. Given my history dealing with messy home projects – I’m going to need it!

The Mr. is out on the town in NYC right now. I am quite jealous of the holiday season NYC outing, even though it’s “work.” Sure, there’s a meeting in there somewhere – but there’s also several meals and yellow cabs and a hotel in Tribeca and SIGH. Don’t feel too bad for me, though, because I spent the day shopping with friends, just finished a glass of merlot, and am about to pop “Magic Mike” into the DVD player. AND I get to wear fleece. From head to toe.

So.

I had fun picking out some holiday gifts today. Do you like choosing gifts for people? I do….I realllllly do. And I’m good at it, if I do say so myself. When I see the right thing, I just know it and acquire it decisively. In a family “secret Santa” exchange, I am the most desired gift giver, I’ve been told. I don’t doubt it. I’m THAT good.

I’m also exceptionally good at buying things for me. One for a gift, two for me. Something like that.

It was a sort of holiday craft fair, a big one that comes to town the same week every year. In reality there are some crafts and a lot of cheaply produced Made in China crafty looking things. I bought a little of both, but mostly the crafty stuff. Including a necklace made out of a Tagua nut, from a tree in the Amazon. Pretty cool, eh? That one is for me, of course.

This craft fair has lots of food samples. I don’t eat them, though, because…..gross! Who wants to try a dip after 6,000 other people did? I tried to get a sample of the wine slushies they always give out, but the vendor lady was super stingy this year, probably because of the little old lady next to me who said, “Can I try ooooone more of these?” as she held up her tiny little plastic cup and slurred her words. HA! 

Up until Thanksgiving, I was pretty obsessed with pumpkin. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin spice in my yogurt, pumpkin pie smoothies – you name it. (That was a very Bubba Gump Shrimp moment there.) I am so predictable, in that as soon as Turkey Day came and went, I moved on to my cranberry obsession. So far it’s been dried cranberries in my oatmeal, a cranberry nut bar, and a weird little sandwich I created that I love. It’s on a toasted bagel or sandwich thin, with cream cheese on one side and kalamata olive hummus from Trader Joe’s on the other side. (Weird already, right?) Then I shove some dried cranberries into the cream cheese and the hummus and stuff it with as much fresh spinach as I can fit in the bread. YUM. Had one for dinner tonight. And it was probably better than whatever the Mr. is having for dinner in downtown Manhattan, don’t you think? (Humor me, folks.)

I’m stalling before watching “Magic Mike,” to make sure the little ones are asleep. They are both a little (cough, cough) sick, and there has been a lot of traipsing up and down the stairs in search of medicine, hugs, and sympathy. A movie in the background about male strippers might cheapen those moments, don’t you think?

Hopefully there won’t be anymore kid visits. I think I drugged them heavily enough, with shots of Mucinex and Advil and a teaspoon-of-honey chaser. Now that’s the good stuff. 

I somehow sprained my ankle. I don’t know how I did it, but late morning yesterday, I began limping thanks to a very sore and swollen left ankle. I’ve been trying to ice it regularly. Trying – because it turns out that it’s not very convenient to ice an ankle when you are unpacking from a long road trip, restocking the house with groceries, roasting gourds, and generally running a busy household with kids. Oh, and painting steps. 

This afternoon, the kids arrived home soggy from the damp cold and with not a lick of homework to keep them busy. Of course. Tomorrow, when we have a busy day there will be lots. Mark my words. 

Anyway, I figured it was a perfect time to tend to my injury. Once I got the ice bag to stop leaking. And got the slippery ice bag to stay put on my elevated foot. 

In the middle of all that positioning and grimacing, our daughter holds up an epi pen. She was standing behind the couch on which I was reclined. “Is this one of the tester pens?” (When you get an epipen, they give you a blank one to use for training folks on how to give the injection.)

I distractedly answered yes, because it looked like a trainer pen. I had a stack of expired pens on the counter because I just picked up the outrageously expensive renewal today. 

Next thing I know, I am on my feet, ice is on the ground, and our daughter is crying hysterically. She’s fine – she didn’t stick herself. But it wasn’t a trainer pen. Oops.

Since she thought it had no needle, she had carelessly jabbed it into the frame of the couch. The leather couch. 

So no worries – you can feed my couch any and all allergens today, as it is hopped up on epinephrine for the next few hours. Luckily, it was a clean stick, so the leather seems unscathed. No fluid is leaking either, so maybe wood absorbs epinephrine? Or it will slowly show up as a Rohrshach-esque pattern on the leather? That might be useful if our daughter ends up needing home psychoanalysis after this whole mess. 

I took full responsibility for said mess, and apologized for being distracted by my sad little ankle icing. The real epipens are in plastic cases with lids. The trainers are not. I didn’t know we had loose (but real) epi-pens in the house. My bad. Someone could have really gotten an unnecessary jolt! 

Our poor daughter was quite traumatized by the whole thing — imagining that scary needle going into her thigh. She said she almost jabbed her leg, because that’s what you’re supposed to do with a trainer, and i told her it was one. Ugh. 

Our son was not traumatized. He just wanted his snack, but not before asking me a gajillion questions about said snack. In the meantime, his sister decided to get over her trauma by eating pita chips in the most aggressive and loud manner in the history of pita chips. Seriously, it was loud. So loud that I relocated upstairs with my leaky ice pack. And then she yelled up that all that crunching made her lose a tooth that wasn’t even loose. And it’s bloody, and she “needs” me.

Sigh. This is why I shouldn’t sprain my ankle. Elevating your foot isn’t ever as relaxing as it sounds like it should be. And typing a blog on an iPad is downright torture. Autocorrect is a freaking moron. 

That is all. 

Yesterday, the kids came home anxious to gather items for the school’s holiday food drive. Over the sound of crinkling bags and clanking cans as she rummaged through the pantry, our daughter’s muffled voice asked, “What’s Rice-A-Roni?” 

Her curly head popped out from around the pantry door with a questioning look. “It’s…..well, I guess it’s a processed food version of rice. It’s like rice with seasoning salt and things mixed in already,” I answered.

She said lots of kids in her class had donated Rice-A-Roni, so she wanted to know what it was. I told her it wasn’t something we would likely eat in our house, but that it was probably donated because it’s affordable and it can be a whole meal, in one box.

From our pantry, she produced 2 boxes of organic macaroni and cheese, a vacuum pack of tuna that I have no memory of buying and never eat, and a can of low-sodium Progresso lentil soup that I bought before Hurricane Sandy, in case we lost power and needed easy meals.

I told her that I would buy some more food to donate, because our pantry is not really stocked with lots of the usual food drive stuff. Our son further demonstrated this point when he went on his own pantry expedition this morning, producing a third box of organic mac-n-cheese and 2 cans of Trader Joe’s pink salmon, left over from last Christmas’ salmon mousse recipe. Hee hee. The Mr. took those back and I reiterated that I would buy some cans of food specifically to donate.

This is the side effect of eating as many fresh, local foods as possible — not much to offer from the pantry! Our food bank is making an effort to provide fresher foods through some of their programs – but the reality is that shelf stable food is a necessity when you’re trying to keep needy folks fed.

Last night, I cursed my way through peeling and cubing 2 giant butternut squashes. There is no easy way to get that skin off, I tell you! Once I finally got the suckers prepped, I roasted them in a pan with some shallots, apples, and garlic. Then, I put it all in a pot with some sauteed onions and carrots, a little vegetable broth and simmered it into a tasty soup. Our hand blender broke, so the Mr. helped by transferring batches into the blender to puree. (Someone needs a new hand blender for Christmas.) I served it with the world’s most sour whole wheat sour dough bread, from Trader Joe’s. It was so sour that the kids wouldn’t even eat it. Huh.

Our mantle is currently decorated with a variety of gourds that need to be roasted/steamed/cooked in some fashion. It’s amazing how dated those decorations become, just days after Thanksgiving. Our daughter is particularly anxious to get the Christmas decorations going, so it’s time to process the pie pumpkins, acorn squash, and Cinderella pumpkin. I just don’t know if my wrists can handle it after battling those butternuts yesterday.

I have learned, though, that I do need to cook them now and freeze the resulting products. Last year, I decided to store a few gourds in the pantry, “for a rainy day.” I promptly forgot about (or actively ignored) them until they actually started to break down and ooze into the bin where they were stashed. That wasn’t pretty.

Time to roast the squash.

The Turningreens have taken our show on the road for Turkey Day. We’ve covered over 700 mi in the last 22 hrs, dog and all. Smooth sailing, thanks to a newly downloaded One Direction album on one iPod, a few animated movies on an iPad and a nonfiction audiobook borrowed from the library.

We are 45mi from our destination, where family and good food await.

Here is a photo of the backpack food I delivered earlier this week. Each student got their usual bag and a special Thanksgiving box. I’m thinking of those 35 kids this holiday, as well as families just like ours that lost their homes in Sandy. We have much for which to give thanks.

Have a safe and happy holiday, folks.

Have you ever heard of America Recycles Day? Well, guess what – it’s today. Apparently every November 15th is “ARD,” just like every April 22nd is Earth Day. News to me! The kids’ school is honoring it this year, so I thought I’d take it as an opportunity to revisit the original purpose of the blog, which was to document our family’s transition to greener living.

Suffice it to say that the transition has been made, many times over. It’s hard to write about it from this juncture, because we just do what we do and it doesn’t really feel special or different anymore. In fact, the other day I was talking to our daughter about “An Inconvenient Truth,” and explained to her how seeing that movie had affected me and her dad so much that it made us change the way our family interacted with the environment. She was flabbergasted to hear that we used to use paper plates and napkins on a regular basis, and to find out that we didn’t recycle nearly as much as we do now. What better measure of our success than to know that she can’t even imagine our household any other way than how it is now?

We collect bottle caps for school art projects. We collect aluminum pop tops for the Ronald McDonald House. We gather plastic bags and other plastic wrapping for recycling into artificial wood product (through the school). We reuse cardboard boxes, toilet paper tubes, and non-recyclable plastic food containers by sending them to school for engineering projects. We recycle every piece of paper that comes out of our house, along with all the plastic bottles, cardboard, aluminum, glass, etc. It can be humorous to watch me cleaning up in the kitchen, as I break down all the different pieces of things to put in all of our collection and recycling bins. Like an earth friendly chicken with its head cut off!

There are a few collection bins around that just don’t seem to ever get processed. For example, we have 2 overflowing bins of used batteries in the garage, a giant bag of old cell phones and accessories in a closet upstairs, and a corner of the garage filled with household items for Habitat for Humanity. In honor of America Recycles Day, I’ve decided to make a list of these things and get them out of our house and into the hands of someone who will recycle them responsibly. Of course, I just thought of this now, and the kids are about to get off the bus….so it will be in honor of ARD but take place some other day. 

She’d kill me if she knew I was posting this online, but here goes. This is a conversation I had with our daughter while cooking together recently.

Me: Here’s the bay leaves. Take out 3 and throw them in the pot.

Her: Can I touch them?

Me: (silence) Of course! You have to get them out of the jar and throw them in the pot whole.

Her: Can I smell them?

Me: Sure.

Her: So, are they like wine?

Me: ??? What do you mean? They’re leaves, like herbs.

Her: Yeah, but when we were at that block party, you and the other moms were talking about having coffee with bay leaves, and it kind of sounded like you were talking about wine.

Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Her: What’s so funny?

Me: That was Bailey’s, honey. Coffee with Bailey’s. And yes, that is kind of like wine – like a creamy wine that tastes good in coffee when it’s cold outside.  Ah, that was cute.

Her: You better not put it on Facebook.

Promise kept.