July 16, 2008

Ian the Intrepid

Tim and Joanna: Lately we've been grappling with the ramifications of having a mobile kid. Gone are the days when we can leave Ian on the couch or in his swing. Or pretty much anywhere in the house without close supervision...

Upward, or should I say horizontal mobility does have its drawbacks though. It's a long way from our living room to our kitchen and sometimes Ian makes the journey (dragging his tummy on the carpet) to the kitchen expecting to see one of us there. Then when he occassionally finds that no one is there, he bewails his lonely and desolate fate.

For the longest time, Ian would crawl to the edge of the kitchen and stop. He would lay there, head on his hands, pondering the border between one environment and the next. Sometimes he would gingerly put one hand over the edge, and then draw it back, only to ruminate some more. Should he cross over, or shouldn't he? What terrors or delights await for him in the Unknown Land of Kitchen? Is not the whiteness of the linoleum analagous to the whiteness of the whale haunting Ahab? Or perhaps it is a tabula rasa awaiting the handprints of the ever-exploring philosopher?

Stay tuned for further adventures of Ian the Intrepid!

Ian's idiosyncracies | By Tim and Jo | 9:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 15, 2008

Tim's Behemoth Bachelor Burritos

Tim: So all of you In Search of Lost Time readers out there know by now that Joanna is an excellent cook. One needs only to go to the "Categories" list on our blog and to click on "cooking stuff" to view a veritable smorgasbord of virtual vittles. Well the time has now come to reveal my own cooking skills. Joanna suggested that I share one of my "recipes" from my bachelor days. I thank her for using the word "recipe" so loosely and for allowing the high standards we have for our blog to sink so low.

Nevertheless, I give you Tim's Behemoth Bachelor Burritos.

Ingredients:

• Two flat round tortillas


• Refried black beans (homemade is terrific)


• Onions and bell peppers


• Olives (sure, you can use the ubiquitous green olives, but a nice mix of gourmet olives or kalamata olives really raises the bar here)


• Corn (preferably: canned mexicorn with jalapenos and stuff)


• Salsa (again, the kind of salsa you use really makes or breaks these tortillas. Experiment! Green, red, smoky, fruity, whatever floats your boat)


• Cheese

Spread the black beans even on the tortilla. Chop up onions, peppers and olives and pile them on with copious amounts of corn. Spread on lots of salsa and cheese. Place another tortilla on top and microwave for 2 1/2 minutes. (Okay, so it's not really a burrito. But it's yummy!) The top tortilla gets kind of crispy. Joanna has tried doing this on a griddle, but the microwave is better (the tortilla burns by the time all the ingredients are warm, unless you want to do some kind of combo cooking method, but that takes away from the bachelor simplicity of the whole thing).

Now...to get the complete bachelor experience while eating the behemoth bachelor burrito, it is helpful to simultaneously be engaged in one or more of these activities:

1) Watch a WWII movie, or perhaps a football game (preferably the Steelers)
2) Drink a beer (a "proper" beer of course, not Budweiser)
3) Wear no more apparel than shorts, possibly socks also.
4) Listen to loud music (Wagner or progressive rock). Did I mention the music was supposed to be loud?
5) Argue theology vehemently with your favorite Sicilian (but more than likely, you'll be eating his bachelor spaghetti sauce during this activity)

Tim , cooking stuff , funny | By Tim and Jo | 10:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 14, 2008

Memoriam

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. (1 Peter 1:24)

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandmen waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. (James 5:7)

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. (1 Peter 1:25)

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10)

Hark, I hear the harps eternal
Ringing on the farther shore,
As I near those swollen waters
With their deep and solemn roar.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, praise the lamb!
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Glory to the great I AM!

And my soul, though stained with sorrow,
Fading as the light of day,
Passes swiftly o'er those waters,
To the city far away.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, praise the lamb!
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Glory to the great I AM!

Souls have crossed before me, saintly,
To that land of perfect rest;
And I hear them singing faintly
In the mansions of the blest.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, praise the lamb!
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Glory to the great I AM!

Thinking | By Tim and Jo | 10:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 11, 2008

Elanor grasps the concept of book

For awhile, she's been trying to turn pages as we've read to her. I set her down with Brown Bear, Brown Bear and left her alone.

She sat turning the pages for several minutes.

It's so amazing to see these ideas appear for the first times. She has grasped the whole idea of book. Not just the single object that sits in her hands, but that there are other objects symbolized by the same idea (Book), and the concept that you do the same things with these other objects, whether mommy or daddy holds them or she holds them.

If I were a philosopher, I'd know the words to explain this. Or if I could pull back all of the fuzz from my brain that's accumulated from late nights, early mornings, and plenty of spit-up. But it's still fun to sit back and watch it happen.

Elanor's eccentricities , Thinking , deux bebes | By Tim and Jo | 10:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

July 9, 2008

Raising Daughters

Sometimes, looking ahead across the long years of how difficult a girl's childhood and adolescence can be, it terrifies me to have a daughter. I know boys have troubles, too, but girls still just seem so complicated.

Here is a lovely post that really encouraged me.

Thankfully many of these challenges are still a long way off.

Elanor's eccentricities , Thinking , parenting | By Tim and Jo | 11:21 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

July 8, 2008

Mouth Strumming

This has been a source of endless amusement lately--for us and them. Enjoy!

Elanor's eccentricities , Ian's idiosyncracies , deux bebes , funny , videoblogging | By Tim and Jo | 8:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)