Monday, August 12, 2013

Day #19: Brian gets sentimental

I sent Brian in to wake Cate and then I got in the shower. When I got out of the shower, this is what I found:


He said, "I just want to hold my baby while she's still a baby."

 

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Day #18: Granola!

Yesterday on FB I posted my enthusiasm about making granola for the first time. Today it is done and here's the story:

I like granola and have bought a lot of different kinds of granola from a lot of different places. I've never finished a store bought bag of granola (really, you'd think I would stop buying granola). There's always some problem: too sweet, carob instead of chocolate, pepitas, unsalted cashews, too much of one thing, not enough of another. I figured it was about time to try my hand at making my own.

I used this recipe : I've seen lots of granola recipes, but this one appealed to me because it was simple and basic and seemed like a good choice for a first try.


Here we are after mixing all the ingredients (excuse my crappy pictures).  I cut the recipe in half and still wound up with tons of granola.  The recipe instructed me to bake in the oven at 250 for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. I followed instructions carefully and was quite skeptical when it was time to take it out. It turned a nice golden brown, but it was still moist. I had serious doubts about whether or not this giant mess of oats and wheat germ could actually turn into yummy, crunchy granola goodness.


Guess what!?!? It totally turned into crunchy, yummy granola goodness.

The verdict: this is a great basic granola. It's sweet, but not too sweet (Frances thinks it needs more sugar, but she's 13 and is fueled primarily by gummy worms). The pecans and coconut provide a great crunch. And, I think, it will pair nicely with a wide variety of dried fruit. I went in search of dried apples (can you dry fruit in your own kitchen? do you need a special device? i should google that), but didn't find any. I opted for dried cherries instead and it was perfect.



A job well done, if I do say so myself.

Monday, August 05, 2013

Day #17: reasons why we really don't need a blog

Every once in a while someone will express dismay that we don't blog with more consistency (I'm looking at you Cathy--you should totally comment and say hi).  Here's the thing: on any given day, we're not all that interesting. Sure, the wild-haired girls I live with occasionally do something charming and Brian has made a hobby of undergoing major surgery, but, really, our days are quite mundane.  

Today:

1--I raced Cate out of the house for camp this morning. We were racing because, of course, we had nothing for her lunchbox, so I needed to stop at the grocery store before driving across town. And I also needed to be back on this end of town for a 9am dentist appointment.  Those of you who know Cate know that she never rushes for any reason. We were held up this morning because she needed to finish an entry in her charm book.

2--At the dentist I found out I have yet another cavity. Because my teeth are made of papier mâché apparently. I swear I'm putting Dr. Myers's kids through college, all by myself. 

3--I had a productive 2 hour meeting at the Avery Research Center. Have you heard about our conference, Unleashing the Black Erotic?

4--I came home and did some laundry. Frances did the dishes.  Brian did the grocery shopping. Yay teamwork. 

5--I tried to make this for dinner, but I discovered that the bag I thought contained orzo pasta actually contained basmati rice. I went ahead and used the rice but it didn't quite work. The result: a tasty but ultimately unsatisfying dinner. 

6--the children commandeered both the house computer and my work computer to play Animal Jam. That's deeply annoying.

7--I'm making granola. It smells divine. I hope it turns out well. This is my first time trying it. 


There it is. A day in the life. 

Saturday, August 03, 2013

Day #16: Charleston Pride

I love how we're all wearing our usual expressions in this picture. At any given moment of any given day, these are our general, individual attitudes about the world.


Charleston had its first Pride Parade today and the Francis-McCann family were out to celebrate.

But before I can tell you that story, I have to tell you this story: Brian and I are from Louisiana, the land of Mardi Gras and truly fabulous parades. Sadly, Charleston is not a land of fabulous parades (apologies to any native Charlestonians reading this this). We keep going to parades--the Christmas Parade, the MLK Parade, the St. Paddy's Parade--hoping for something amazing and witnessing, instead, teenagers who clearly want to be someplace else and Corvettes. Before going to the Pride Parade, Brian said that if Charleston couldn't pull off an awesome Pride Parade there is just no hope for this place.

The guys from Sugar!!


A mermaid!

This made us all giggle

Happily, Charleston did not disappoint. Everyone was in good spirits. Lots of swag was thrown and handed out (in the picture of us above I'm wearing a lei given to me by a nice gentleman who said I looked like I'd be a good a lay). Each and every person in the parade looked excited to be there. Frances saw her first drag queens. Her mind was blown. And lesbians on motorcycles smoking cigars might be my new favorite thing in the whole world.

It was an excellent way to start our Saturday morning.

Friday, August 02, 2013

Day #15: Cate and the Goblet of Fire


Perhaps some of you have been following our Harry Potter adventures this summer.  Cate, who declared at the beginning of the summer that she was done with the children's section of the library and ready for young adult books, started reading the Harry Potter series.  The books are much beloved at our house. Brian and I read the first three aloud when were were pregnant with Frances. I stood in line for Goblet of Fire, willing Frances not to be born before I got my copy. I was reading Goblet of Fire when I went into labor.  I eventually read them all aloud to her and we celebrated her 11th birthday by going to see the midnight showing of the last film (her reward for finishing all the books her own--you have to read the book before you see the movie at our house).  We love these books and are happy to welcome Cate into the club.

Cate loves these books. She's reading them obsessively. I'll read a chapter to her and then she'll stay awake FOR HOURS and read 8 or 10 or 12 chapters to herself. Which brings us to last night when I found her curled up beneath her covers at 12:30am near the end of Goblet of Fire. "Cate, what are you doing?" I asked. She turned slowly to me, with the most wide-eyed expression, and said, "It's too much. It's just too much, Mommy." Cedric had been killed; Voldermort had returned; and Cate was overwhelmed.

We went to the kitchen for warm milk, she asked if anything important happened in the last chapters, I told her she didn't have to finish it if she didn't want to, and then I put her back to bed. When I went to wake her up this morning, she was curled around the book. She woke up long enough to tell me she finished it and that she was exhausted.

She may not survive Order of the Phoenix. I'm torn about whether or not I should let her read it.