"Discover"ing Our Community

One of the best kid sites in our community is The Discovery Center. It's located on the grounds of our local zoo. We went to the zoo a few weeks ago but avoided the Discovery Center because my mom had promised my sister-in-law that we would all go together when they came to visit. So, we all (minus John, again! He had to work...) trooped up there on Tuesday and had a blast!! It was G's first time, but somehow she had premonitions that it would be fantastic, because the moment I got her out of the car she wanted to RUN! to that big, flowery cow out front. (The cow used to be a steer and it was located on the top of a famous local restaurant, The Vestal Steakhouse, which is sadly closed now. It was a local landmark.)

One of the very many neat things about the DC is that it is a mini-version of our community. Each center has been donated by a local business and is representative of things kids see everyday in their neighborhood. It's like a history lesson on Broome County rolled up with a whole lot of fun and discovery. The DC has been around since I was a kid. I remember going (it was located at a different site then) with my grandma and being wowed by the bubble machines, the airplane, the cafe. It was such a treat to share it with my daughter.

Another cool aspect of the DC (this is my professional self talking, I work with kids with developmental disabilities and sensory issues) is that it's a great opportunity for kids to explore in a hands-on way everyday places and activities that they might be frightened of. Many kids, disabled or not, would be terrified of a loud, screeching firetruck, or a fireman who is in full gear (and looks a bit like an alien) barging into their bedroom trying to save them. But if they have had the opportunity to climb all over a real fire truck, work the siren, don the hat and jacket and see the other equipment their fears might be reduced. I love that we have a place in our community where kids can do that. They can also play in the grocery store, the bank, climb in a boat, ride all sorts of bikes, fly an airplane...well, see for yourself:

Payton and Kristin in the multi-level tunnel/maze.

Giuliana and Brayden destroying one of the grocery aisles while my mother and father stand by and watch! Thanks. You KNOW the next time I take G to the grocery store she is going to want to climb out of the cart and pull everything off the shelves!

Brayden and Payton scooping icecream.

My dad helping G on her first tricycle ride.

G flies a real airplane...

and drives a real fire trunk!

Exploring the camping exhibit. She loved the tent!

Giuliana, Brayden and Payton learn about archeology from Kristin.

G colors a picture for Daddy who wasn't able to come :(

We left the Discovery Center to walk down the hill into the zoo to ride the carousel. Our community has been graced with 6 historic, wooden, hand-carved carousels. There is one at the zoo and five more scattered through-out the county at local parks. There is one at the park a block from our house. They were donated by George F. Johnson, of the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company, between 1919 and 1934. They are all free to ride with the donation (to the garbage can located outside the gate) of one piece of litter. They will always be free to ride, that is part of the legacy. George F. wanted the kids of his employees (which was most of the community at that time) to have places to play and have amusement at no cost because he felt it "contributed to a happy life and would help youngsters grow into strong and useful citizens." I am grateful that my daughter gets to grow up in a community that takes pride in this heritage and that she will be able to enjoy the same carousels that I enjoyed as a kid. My brother's kids will look forward to visiting NY in the summer for the chance to ride the carousels, too, I'm sure. If Tuesday was any indication, anyway. They loved it. Sorry no pictures, I was having too much fun spinning around and around to snap any!

Weekend Highlights

Look at those PINK cheeks! Don't you just want to gnaw them right off her little cherub face? Err...I mean, she's cute, right? I don't condone baby-chomping, just for the record.

This was at the Broome Community College Children's Fair on Saturday. It was pouring rain and cold, so it turned out to be a perfect day to go have playtime in the gym. G was, once again, fascinated by pouring and piling: sand, dirt, macaroni...didn't matter the material. That is how we spent the entire 2 hours we were there, with a quick lunch break. We thought the charge was $3 per kid and adults free, but it turned out that kids under 3 yrs were free, too, so we spent 2 free hours enjoying BCCs creative ideas and got a free kids' book to boot! SCORE! And, we got to spend time with G's Aunt Kate, who works for the BCCenter as a preschool teacher. Awesome.

We ran to Babies R Us afterward to pick up some essentials: diapers and Desitin. I wanted to buy G another pair of jeans for playing outside, as she is wont to do A. Lot. lately. But BRU didn't have ANY jeans in stock, anywhere? Not even in the boys clothes. What up, BRU?? You disappoint me. Capris don't cut it in 40-50* weather.

Saturday night, friends came to play! With us, not G, she was asleep. Rose and her husband Jason came over to drink wine and champagne (no occasion, just for fun) and play Playstation 3. I twittered about my trepidation in drinking after last weekends debacle with Kate, but I braved it and had 2 tasty glasses. No hang over! Yippee!

Sunday, I had a rare!, exciting!, baby-free! shopping excursion! Granted, it was grocery shopping, and Easter basket shopping, but still....I'll take it. G had a lovely afternoon with her daddy. And I got to buy me some new underwear. Everybody wins. And let me just say, Easter basket shopping is not so easy. I had a very difficult time coming up with a couple of inexpensive gifts that G would actually play with. I settled on this which is not exactly what I had in mind, but all I could find. I also bought a nightie (because, really, she looks tooooooooo adorable in the ratty, old hand-me-down nightie she already has, so much like a big girl, I can't take it.) and some toys for her water-table that she will be getting from Nana for Easter. Oh, and I found some cute jeans on clearance for $9.08. Take that, BRU. You lose, Target wins. But the highlight was the $10 bucks I spent for a Rubbermaid tub, 5 boxes of macaroni, and one bag of 16-bean soup, to make a macaroni play bin ala that pic up there. She spent hours playing in that thing yesterday. Scooping the macaroni, pouring it, dumping it all over the patio, picking it up, repeat, repeat, repeat. Thank you, BCC Children's Fair, for that wonderful idea! Kate took a break from her mad thesis research and brought Nick with her to play with G (and us) for a little while in the sunny afternoon. Pretty good day.

Oh, and just for the record, we spent Friday night as a family, just being grateful for each other and all that we have. We went to dinner at Friendly's, had ice cream, and just hung out together. John and I really needed it after the horrible events in our community on Friday. Folks here are visibly shaken and sad, it's palpable. But, as the Binghamton mayor reminded us, we are a strong community, who has endured a lot of heartache, and we will pull together and get past this, and hopefully learn from it and be better people for it. Thank you all for your prayers and love.

Thoughts

I know everyone says this after a tragedy, but I just can't believe something like this happened here, in Binghamton, where I live, where I've lived my whole life. Binghamton may be on the decline, population wise, and the economy has sucked here for a lot longer than the past year, but it is, and has been, an essentially safe place. My friends and I have chosen to remain here (or come back here, as the case may be). We have chosen to raise our families here, and in the surrounding communities, because we realize that someone has to rescue it from neglect. We have had other options of places to live, but in the end, Binghamton is home, and will remain home. I'm just rambling because I am still shocked that someone filled with, what? Anger, hate, despair, I don't even want to know, could come in and just shoot up a couple dozen people. I am so sad for the loss of life today. And for all the families who now have to pick up the pieces. And we don't even know who those families are yet? Is is anyone I know? Some one close to a friend? God, how scary to think about that.
I hope Binghamton doesn't become synonymous with "shooting tragedy" as some other towns have: Columbine, Virginia Tech...We are so much more than that. We are stronger than this.
How sad.

Please Pray, or whatever you do

OMG. Disregard my last post. My little bitchy attitude is nothing today. This is my home town. We have no idea what is going on right now, how many people have been killed or injured. Some crazy lunatic is shooting people, blocks away from where I sit right now. Please pray for everyone still inside the ACA.
Thank you.

A Sunny Sunday Morning Kitchen

Quiche is a gustatory extravagance. With the heavy involvement of eggs, cream, and, generally, cheese...not to mention the butter or, even worse, shortening in the pie crust, quiche is anything but artery friendly.

But, this morning, with the sun shining brightly in my kitchen window, and all ingredients on hand, I had to go for it. Cause you know, sometimes you just have to say, "let there be quiche!"

I have a recipe that calls for 6 eggs and 2 cups of heavy cream. Um....let's look and see what else we can find in my pile of recipes and cookbooks. Here's a much better option! Light(er) Quiche. I decided to make 2; Spinach/Feta/Bacon, and Ham /Cheddar.

Light(er) Quiche

Basic quiche:

1 9" refridgerated pie crust (yeah, I cheated on that part)

Preheat oven to 425*. Press crust into a 9" pie pan. Bake 5 minutes. Remove, reduce heat to 375*

3 eggs
3/4 cup low-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together with a whisk. Add fillings. Mix.

Spinach/Feta/Bacon Filling:

4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1 handful fresh spinach leaves, diced (sorry, I didn't measure)
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella


Ham/Cheddar Filling:

4 oz ham steak, cubed
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella (cause I ran out of cheddar, but this is a nice mix anyway.)

Pour entire mixture into pie crust. Bake at 375* for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown.

Meanwhile, play in the sun.


Oh, and it's a good idea to have some swell music going, too. It makes the quiche turn out better.

Remove and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. This can be served hot, room temperature, or cold...it's good anyway you choose :)

Holy Cow!...er, Chicken

Brace yourself. You are about to see something that hasn't been seen on this blog for a very long time.


I made dinner.

Ok, it's nothing fancy, some braised chicken (that sounds fancy, but isn't), cous cous from a box, and Birdseye steamed vegetables. You know what though? It tasted pretty good, it was quick and easy, and it made me feel better to take care of my family in a healthy way. I love to cook, I love to spend hours in the kitchen creating things that don't quite fit into any recipe box...a little of this, a little of that. I am even growing to like challenging myself with baking (my nemesis, because you CAN'T do a little of this and a little of that. It's exact. Like math. Bleh.) But tonight, after a longer than I care to admit hiatus, it felt good to just make something I could probably do in my sleep, that I didn't have to measure anything for (even the cous cous, I just eyeballed it), and that is just comforting. I feel accomplished (probably more than I should, actually) and that is lifting my spirits.

Enjoy your dinner.

A Better Day

Today was a better day than yesterday. Here are the highlights:

• I woke up to a snow day! Work was canceled. I love STIC.
• Our neighbor snow-blew (snow-blowed?) our front walk and sidewalk. Awesome.
• G was in a great mood all day. I think she really wanted to stay home today, and she got her wish. We played all day. She even gave John a break and they had a great time.
• Speaking of G and Daddy, they played dress up! I gave her some jewelry and a hat to play with. She had tons of fun having Daddy help her accessorize and then looking at herself in the mirror to check out the effect. I just stood back and watched, all smiles. Here are the results:
  

• I made blueberry/ginger thumbprint cookies (first try, they turned out! yay!) and they were popular house-wide. G had 4 of them.
• We took some cookies over to our neighbors to thank them for snow-blowing. It felt good.
• I got my car back! They drained the transmission fluid and refilled it and maybe did something with a belt? That fixed the problem. The absolute best part? NO CHARGE! Apparently there is some sort of class action suit related to my transmission and the problem was related to that. So Saturn fixed it for free. And if it happens again, they will give me a new transmission, FOR FREE. Awesome.

So, all in all, I am feeling better about things today. I am still feeling overwhelmed with John's health issues and the effects it is having on our family life. But. Today was a better day.