Checking in.

Just a quick note to say, yes, I'm still alive, just busy and tired.

Fall colds have kept us from sleeping well at night, and made us cranky during the day. A pinworm scare sent us to the doctor, and I had to disinfect the house two days after the housekeeper had been here. After skipping swim lessons and canceling playdates just in case, turns out it was just an itchy bottom that went away without explanation.

Besides that, we've been busy with kung fu lessons, the usual errands, meeting friends at the park, and trying to keep up with messes Baby Fish has been making all over the house! I finally got out the baby gate to put up between the kitchen and dining room after I almost killed myself tripping over a cooking pot that blended into the wood floors. Baby can go where he wants. Pots must stay in the kitchen. Toys must stay OUT of the kitchen.

I'm so harsh, I know.

Next week UberDad is going to a teacher conference for four days, and I'm alone with the kids. My mother's in London for the month, so there's no one to rescue me from the chaos. Don't expect to see me posting here. Although maybe it would be therapeutic. Neglectful, I'm sure, but therapeutic.

Yummy apple muffins

We brought home eight pounds of apples and a jug of fresh-pressed cider on Thursday after going apple-picking with a bunch of our friends. It was the most gorgeous day -- despite the forecaster's threats of rain, the sky was bright blue with puffy white clouds, and the temperature was perfect for long sleeves and a morning spent in the sun. The kids had a blast playing tag around the farm where we bought the cider, and then at a nearby park, where we picnicked, played, and nibbled on our apples and goodies.

Now today is baking day! I wanted to make apple muffins for my grandmother who celebrated her birthday this week, but it had to be nut-free and not too high in fiber or sugar. So I made one up. Puffer's compliment to me was, "They taste like you used a recipe even though you didn't!" Hee hee.

Yummy Apple Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 Tbs oil
1 egg
1 cup soymilk (or whatever you have)
1/2 cup apple cider
1 tsp vanilla
1 apple, peeled, cored and shredded

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients. Mix sugar with butter and oil, then egg. Blend in the other wet ingredients, including apple. Add dry ingredients slowly and mix until just blended. Don't overmix. Pour into a greased or papered muffin tin. Bake for 15 minutes 350. Makes 18 muffins. (Six for us, a dozen for Gramma. :)

Socks don't suck.

I will not let iPhoto raise my blood pressure any further. Thanks, John. Just knowing that you, my dear, kind-hearted, soft-spoken friend, could have used the "F" word in regards to that hateful program makes me feel better. Especially since that's what I was yelling when I woke up the baby.

Now, then, what I really wanted to post about was the fact that I finally finished my first pair of knitted socks!



Aren't they cute? My mom brought me home some hand-dyed wool sockyarn (Sockenwolle handgefarbt) from Germany this summer. I don't know if you can tell, but the yarn's in variations of apple green, seafoam, and khaki. They're very campy, and I love them. I didn't make the ankle quite as long as I'd like, but they still work under jeans. (My jeans are hiked up a bit so you can see the cuff. They cover the cuff normally.)

I've also finally finished my cousin's baby gift -- woohoo! Well, okay, I still have to block it, but hopefully I can get to that after my nephew's birthday party tomorrow. Now I have to hurry up and get it in mail, and then start on my other cousin's baby's gift, since her shower's in four weeks.

Darn iPhoto. Again.

Yes, I know it's horribly unfair of me to nag the boys about not being too loud when the baby's sleeping, and then go throw a tantrum myself about this stupid iPhoto program on our new Mac, but I have to tell you, I am SO FRUSTRATED!!! All I want to do is crop a photo, save it where I can find it, and upload it to Blogger. Doesn't sound too hard, does it? Well, I can't figure out how to save the darn thing. iPhoto lets me crop it, but it doesn't have a "save" option anywhere I can see. (I've looked in File, Edit, all over the iPhoto window, done "apple-S, etc.) And it just puts the photo right back to where it started when I click on "done."

Anyone know how to fix this? I'd call Brad, but it's getting late and I know I'll get too loud on the phone and wake up Baby Fish again. Brad? Are you reading?

I'm getting old. That's the problem. I knew how to use Macs way back in the dark ages when the screens were 6 inches wide and in black and white. I even knew how to use them when the screens became big enough for people over 25 to read, but before you could get them in your favorite color. In fact, other reporters used to come ask me for help when they couldn't figure out how to do something. Don't ask me how I knew.

Now. I want things to do what I want them to do. And I don't want to have to relearn how to do things. I'm getting old, stubborn, and crotchety.

Somebody want to trade me their new PC for a new iMac?