Auto Loans

So after about a year of planning and debating, and one rather overwrought day, we are proud new owners of an auto loan. This loan comes with a very nice 2005 Toyota Sienna. We have been planning on getting a larger car for a long time - and the newer Siennas have 8 passengers, which was a big selling point. Ariel and I have never had a car loan before and aren't thrilled about it...but we basically discovered that we weren't going to get anything with less than 100,000 miles on it for a price that seemed reasonable to us, so we just went for it. There aren't that many cars out there that can handle a family of six, a bulldog and room for a Costco grocery shopping trip. At least the van has just about everything in it we could want and it gets 25 miles to the gallon. I am trying not to think too hard about the difficulty of maintaining a middle class lifestyle in America without going into debt.

Faux Spring

Thursdays might be my favorite day of the week...I always start them in doing my big house cleaning of the week, and it feels so good to have a clean house. I always make a dessert and we watch a movie on the couch together (usually the only family movie we watch all week) Tonight it was James and the Giant Peach and chocolate cake.  I highly recommend the Sicilian Pasta that I made tonight for dinner from 101  cookbooks; http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000146.html (I can't make the link work, you will have to cut and paste if you want the recipe. 

 Every February, WA gets a little faux-spring. For a week or two the weather pretends that it is warming up and the sun shines. It never fails to end in a nasty weather spell, and I never fail to think that spring is here. I am itching to get out gardening.  This year I am going to give each of the kids a garden bed and help them plant and plan it. Hopefully this weekend I will start to attack the weeds. I am a great planter and a rather mediocre gardner. I am hoping having the kids involved will make it really fun.  Tomorrow I am going to take Matcha to Isaac and Shkuri's class for show and tell. 

   In the last two weeks, Elias has developed a little bratty streak. He has started doing all these little boy things; like copying what people say, or sticking out his tongue when he is annoyed. Sigh. We are working with him to stop being rude, but I fear there is no going back. I must say that there is always a little heartbreak involved the first time your almost 4 year old sticks out his tongue in defiance at you.  

Stephanie Powers

Today was the first day in about two weeks that hasn't felt crazy and off kilter. I felt like I finally had time to get everything done I had to. It is very nice to not be feeling stressed. I went on a walk with Isaac and Chester (there was actual sunshine involved) and he talked non stop about video games - my participation wasn't required much. It is such a weird feeling as my kids transition to being fully their own person..the whole separation process as a kid goes from being practically an extra limb to being independent is pretty interesting. We also got rid of a lot of their old toddler toys today. We have a lot of cool puzzles and stuff that are now to babyish for them - even Elias has outgrown them, sniff, sniff.
I read something exciting - Stephanie Powers, author of the excellent book "A Problem From Hell" that takes a deep hard look at American association with twentieth century genocide, is a foreign policy advisor to Obama. It wasn't exactly an easy book to read, but she does a great job of presenting human rights in a very straight forward practical matter. I am a 100% behind a foreign policy where human rights is supported in a clear, practical manner and isn't dismissed as being about soft, bleeding heart liberals. I believe America would be a much stronger country and the world would be safer if international human rights were at the core of our foreign policy. Then again, I am a bleeding heart liberal.

St. Valentine's Day

For some reason, I was wide awake at 3 AM this morning...instead of tossing and turning I woke up and managed to clean most of the house, study, balance the budget, make campsite reservations for our CA trip and watch part of a BBC miniseries (yeah Netflix Instant Viewing!!)  before I would normally wake up.  It was actually really fun - until about 12:30. Ariel got me a great Valentine's Day gift, a small box of artisanal chocolate from Bakery Nouveau in Seattle. Yeah for smart husbands!! Then this afternoon, he let me sleep for two hours, even though I woke him up vacuuming at 6 am. I know it involved some self preservation  on his part (no one wants to be near me when I have only had three hours of sleep)...but it was still an awesome Valentine's Day Gift. I won't spend too much time gushing (Not the Biggerstaff way), but I am so glad to have Ariel to share my life with, he is really an incredible person. 

At lunch time, Ariel and Elias and I went to an Indian Restaurant and then we took Elias to Wind Up Here, our local toy shop to buy Elias this puzzle. I think it says a lot about him that he loves puzzles and he had really outgrown his smaller ones. He spent all afternoon putting together this 100 piece puzzle - and just look at his proud grin!!!  For my part of Valentine's Day I made Ariel's dinner request and I am going to attempt to make Chocolate Martinis later.  

   I am continuing to slog a bit through school -I have to retake one of my midterms.  Today I read an article and wasn't suprised to see I  had most of the symptoms of mild Seasonal Affective Disorder.  I think I am going to make a bit more of an effort to walk outside and see if that helps. Spring cannot come soon enough this time of year!! 

Real Time Blogging

Please feel sorry for me. I am stuck in the basement of the hospital sitting through 8 hours of computer charting education. I don't have any great computer savvy skills, but I am way, way ahead of the rest of the class. I am also biologically incapable of sitting still. All I ask is for a little pity.

Ten Year Old Tent Trailer

Today Ariel and I were discussing what we wanted to do with our tax return. One advantage of having four kids, a mortgage, and some student loans is that tax season is very kind. In a conversation that we have had over and over again, Ar asked why it is we always want to have something. I have never had a very good answer for him...I just chalk it up to the human condition. I like to congratulate myself on being pretty low on the consumption totem pole, but the truth is I can always reel off a handful of things big and small that I want on any given day. At the moment, what I want is a ten year old tent trailer from Craig's List to use for camping trips.
Ar also asked why we just can't be satisfied with what we have - I still didn't have an answer, but I can think of two things I was very satisfied with today. I actually had time to take a nap with Elias, which is at the top of my all time favorite moments with the kids. Elias got the kitty to lay down with him, and the three of us slept all curled up for an hour. It was wonderful. I am also really happy that Ar and I are both at a point were we work part time - he works a bunch in the summer, and ends up working about ten days a month in the winter, and I work 20 hours a week year round. We might not be raking in money, but this is what we have always wanted for our family and it is really great.

Tess & Matcha

So we settled on Tess (for Mom) and Matcha...Masha some how became Matcha (Japanese Green Tea Powder). The kids absolutely love the kitten. Tess is staying pretty tightly holed up in our bedroom, as she does not like Chester, our bulldog, at all. Hopefully she will come out soon.

Help us Name our New Kitties!

In what is becoming a Biggerstaff tradition of doubling up on adoptions - Ar brought home two cats from his shelter foray this morning. They are secured in our bedroom for now, which is too dimly lit too get a good picture, but I will post pictures soon. We adopted the kitten we had planned on adopting - as well as her 1 year old mother (with quite a bit of prompting from the shelter). Now we have to pick two names....Both of the kittens are girls, so Pierre is out, but I am pretenious enough that they must have literary names. Here are our following finalists, so please weigh in on your favorites, or new suggestions.

Tess (Tess of the D'Ubervilles)

Lyra (Golden Compass)

Kate (Taming of the Shrew)

Franny and Zooey (Franny and Zooey)

Portia (The Merchant of Vencie)

Charlotte and Emily (The Bronte Sisters)

Hero (Much Ado About Nothing)

Masha (War and Peace)

Goodbye, Part II

Today we buried Itchy. We didn't have any laid out plans, but it somehow seemed the right thing to do -so we told the kid's school that they had a funeral to go to, and drove out to the Wynoochee River and buried him out at the family campground. Aimee, Ariel's sister came to, as Itchy was originally her dog when she was a toddler. I was really glad we did. It felt like a good way to say goodbye, because he really loved to ride down the river on an innertube with us. Ariel didn't get too visibly upset - but when he made a little casket with handles, I knew how sad he was that Itchy was gone. It may seem like we over did it a bit - but we are not a family who over sentimentalizes our pets.
Now there is serious talk of getting a kitten this weekend. Ariel wants a Maine Coon because they can grow to enormous size. We spent a bit too much time on Pet Finder and I know that I want this kitten, which is up for adoption at a Seattle Animal Shelter. I want to name him Pierre.

Goodbye

I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about it, but Itchy finally died this morning. He had multiple seizures during the night and stopped breathing about breakfast time. We are all really going to miss him, he was a really wonderful dog. He was about 19 years old - and had been with Ariel and I for our entire life together. 

Deciding Vote

I know Washington's primary isn't until next week - I was going to go to the Caucaus with my Dad on Saturday, but I have to work - but I decided to vote for Obama in our primary. We do absentee ballots, so I filled it out today. It basically comes down to buying what Obama is selling. I think Clinton is an extremely compentent person, and I think she is very capable of being a good president, but I find myself swept up in the possibility of Obama. My mind was really made up when I read the Atlantic Monthly's "Why Obama Matters". The possibility of something new going on in America is very, very exciting, and I am ready to sign up. I am not 100% certain about how I feel about all of his policies - but I also am not stupid enough to think that the policies trumpeted during an election year will bear any resemblance to actual legislation two years from now. I am also nervous because Carl Jeffers, one of my favorite political commentators, thinks Obama doesn't have a chance in standing up to McCain in the election. I certainly believe that the next administration is going to start making some important changes to health care, and I think it is inevitable no matter who is in the White House. I am a little embarassed by making such a decision based more on emtion than analysis - but I think when it comes down to it, so does everyone else.
On completely unrelated family news, Ariel and I discussed piano lessons today. The older kids are taking them - with some whining, but overall they enjoy them and I am impressed by their progress. Our discussion was how long piano lessons should be mandatory - any thoughts?

Chocolate Martini

On Thursday, Ar and I went on our semi-annual date night (It isn't quite that rare :). We went to see U2 3-D at the Seattle Imax Theatre, ate dinner at Wild Ginger (with our Christmas gift certificate) and tried a chocolate martini, then went to the Decemberist at the Moore Theatre. The Concert was fantastic. They were truly excellent performers and it was very fun to see all the instruments they played during the concert (A Cello! An Organ! An Accordion! A Base! A Grinder...and several others I didn't even know what they were).  They have traveled even farther up my favorite bands list after that concert.  

 On Sunday we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for their SuperBowl party. I take personal pride in my complete disinterest in football. I was looking at the party as a good opportunity to see my family, watch a few episodes of the Office with my cousin Trisha, and study endocrinology. I  actually enjoyed the last twenty minutes of the game more than I have ever enjoyed any other football game, even if I was sort of semi hoping the Patriots would win. I did live in Massachusetts for four years, after all.  

  I am enjoying a bit of a break this week. I am taking Advance Cardiac Life Support classes (It is even less exciting than it sounds) this next weekend and get to take this week off in comp time. I am planning on enjoying the extra evenings I get to spend with the kids.