Hmm...

I swear to you, readers, I wasn't sure I was going to make it through this afternoon with les enfants. J was in one of his moods in which he repeats himself constantly and never -literally, never; how does he breathe?- stops talking. He used the word "deploy" about 400 times, mostly to describe some invention he was putting together in his mind but describing to me real time. J is a narrator of life in the truest sense of the word. He literally narrates his days as they unfold. Sometimes this is fascinating, other times hilarious but on a number of occasions, it is boring as all get-out. Like mind-numbing, I'd rather be doing pretty much anything else, dull. He was also trying to control the most inane of everything: whether or not O could pick up the giant vat of perling beads we have and where he could or could not set it down;  was the proximity of O's legs to his too close or too far because, I can assure you, it was never just right. I finally had a brief come-to-jesus with him about how, in fact, he was not the parent or in charge, and frankly, he seemed a little taken aback.

O was in a slightly whiny mood which adopted slightly antagonistic overtones when J started trying to manhandle his every move. I could understand this response but was really annoyed by how many times I had to intervene simply to save my own nerves. Both were in psychotically needy moods and acted fairly put out when I couldn't meet their demands simultaneously and right NOW, as if I'm some sort of servant octopus with no mind to do anything except agree. I think not.

Also my chest aches, and it seems I've acquired whatever has had T hacking up a lung for 3 days. No good.

To counter all this nonsense, I made a giant apple and brandied fig crumble from Melissa Clark. It smells to the nines and I do believe it will assuage some of my vile humour.

Adventures with the kids, fab-o pizza

After my class today, Jack went on a hike with T's dad, and Oliver and I went on a date (T was rather pooped after a full morning with the boys!). Grandpa and Jack headed to a mountain about 90 minutes from us and there found a great topper of snow. Meanwhile, Oliver picked a playground that this afternoon "is my favorite", and we practiced playing safely since, while I was gone, he tumbled down the stairs with a chunk of wood onto which he'd affixed googly eyes and ended up with this sizable gash. AAAH! We let them stay up late and ultimately had a dance party to Gangnum Style -hilarious- and after finally tucking them in grilled this delicious pizza. No mozz in the house, no pizza sauce either, but we were glad because it forced us out of our regular 'za rut and into something refreshingly new. I made a shallot-garlic-mushroom saute and used all manner of truffled goodies my sister brought me from the truffle festival in Chianti. T used some of the sausages I'd made yesterday, and both of us topped everything with my fresh ricotta. Delicious!

Now we're off to finish enjoying the rest of a bottle of Tempranillo and watch last night's Real Time!

Ricotta, homemade sausage, Barbara's reading, stylish 6 year old

It has been entirely too long since I made some fresh ricotta, so this morning I made doing so a priority. It's almost done draining, and I cannot wait to indulge! Plus, more whey for my freezer stash. Did you hear the NPR commentary yesterday about whey? It is a super protein, and some dairies now make more by selling their whey -a byproduct- then from their cheese. Interesting! While it drained, I finally got around to making some sausages: fresh pork from the Eco-Friendly Foods butcher at the farmers market, fennel seed, ground fennel, diced celery and celery leaves, a bit of brown sugar and a dash of red pepper flakes. Aren't these handsome? I am looking forward to trying them this weekend.

Though I truly enjoyed attending Barbara Kingsolver's reading last night, I was so tired that when I awoke this morning, I wasn't sure if I'd dreamed it or actually been there. Wow. She came across as extremely smart, thoughtful and, at times, quite witty, and I was engaged by the passages she read from her newest work, Flight Behavior. I admire and am grateful for her commitment to raising awareness of and encouraging action on climate change; as she lives in SW VA on a farm and surrounded by other farmers, she's witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of climate change on agriculture and the enormous financial tolls it's taking on the working poor. As a trained scientist, she has lost patience for those who deny scientific fact and evidence and hopes we'll see a real change, politically, towards action based on belief rather than wishful thinking and denial. Amen!

Y'all, I could not love Jack more. Look at my little fashion-plate sweetheart.