Farewell and Thank You to Don Schmidt

While I voted for Karen Goldner in the 2nd district City Council race, that does not mean I don't appreciate all that Don Schmidt has done for the 2nd district and the city during his 36 year term. Being pretty new to the area, all I really knew is his record for the last 6 months or so, watching on CityTV. There is an excellent article in the Journal Gazette featuring his service on council. I particularly found this interesting:

Listing all the things Schmidt helped accomplish over his tenure would take a novel, but he was able to select a few things that brought him pride.

For example, during his first term on the council, then-Gov. Otis Bowen decided to build a regional jail at State Boulevard and Parnell Avenue, next to North Side High School.

Schmidt and a group of residents went to Indianapolis to meet personally with the governor to protest the location. The group was successful and Northside Park now sits where the jail was planned.

Those of you who are familiar with this area will be as appalled as I was to read this. A JAIL???
People say that state politics go nowhere outside of Indianapolis, that Indy is the entire state to those in state politics, and I would have had to agree on that point!
Anyway, thank you very much Mr. Schmidt, and like Mr. Crawford I hope to see you involved in continuing to make the city a better place just in a different capacity.

I Blinded Myself with Science

Apparently there's an old wives tale floating around out there that when one feels a sickness, such as a cold or flu, coming on, it behooves one to slather the soles of their feet with Vicks Vaporub before bed, then cover the feet with socks. After waking up two mornings in a row with the stuffiness and sore throat, I decided to conduct an experiment last night. On went the Vicks (which I did not purchase for this particular purpose, I purchased it because it is winter season and between PJ and I there will be several opportunities for use!) I woke in the night feeling the chills and stuffy, but am not sure of the time as the only clock is on PJ's side of the bed. I was angry, hoping this little trick would work. But when the alarm rang and it was time to get up, there was no sore throat and the chills were nonexistent! I was still a bit stuffy, which is fine, and am feeling fine in general today. I went looking for a picture to use for this post (the ones I took did not turn out) and came across this little tidbit. I do not at this point have a cough, so I will continue with the experiment for one more night to see if it's just the cough it takes care of. If I wake up the same then I will hold off till the cough comes. My little experiment is shadowed by my husbands desire to conduct a study showing whether a 95% furnace is more efficient than a geothermal heating/cooling system by finding the source of the electricity we use. He blinded me with science!

Happy New Year with a personal resolution

Happy New Year to you all! My first resolution is to not allow anyone else to take pictures so I can't be in them until a) I drop a couple of pounds and b) get a haircut!
Wishing you all the best for the year to come with love from the Thuringers xoxo

More Christmas

christmas cont'd part 2

christmas cont'd

Merry Christmas 2007

For this portion of our programming, I will just post some pictures of cute chickens opening presents. Thank you all for your generosity, and know that the kids were so happy and had so much fun, and continue to have fun with all you sent. Thank you!

Best present of the year

At Ava's preschool there was a top secret something going on. Ava let me in on the fact that there was something coming home for me, but very mum on the details. She was gleeful keeping the secret, and I was glad. For what came home for me on the last day of school before Christmas break melted my heart into a big puddle. This preciousness will continue to melt me for all my days.

Melting

If this does not melt your heart, you are cold. Very very cold.

Making Cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve

Santa has a hard job you know. It's the least we can do to provide some sweet sustinence for him on Christmas eve. So it was decided we would make gingerbread cookies, and Daddy's favorite, oatmeal cookies. I had a good recipe for the gingerbread cookies (which called for a food processor, and let me tell you folks from experience that a blender, even though it has all those buttons, is a poor, poor substitute for a food processor. We ended up just squishing everything together by hand and with spoon and hoped for the best. It turned out great!) and followed the recipe on the back of the box of oats (meijer brand and they were awesome!). We toiled through the afternoon but the results were really good. Dad kept busy while the kids and I worked in the kitchen. James has been loving the stool and brings it in when it's in the other room to the kitchen to see what is going on and see if he can help. Really I think he is just trying to see if there is anything edible on the countertop. The boy likes to EAT! Here we are measuring and mixing. We opted to go with some icing for the gingerbread cookies, and of course we needed sprinkles. Ava was right. They did taste better with them. She has been loving being in the kitchen with me which pleases me to no end. We had a blast working together, and she even volunteered to wash some of the dishes. I was so proud of how hard she worked and what a great job she did. Later that evening while I put James to bed, Daddy helped her write out a little note to leave with the cookies. The end to a perfect Christmas Eve!

Read this Now!

Go right now to your local library (unless you live in Fort Wayne then wait for about 3 weeks since I have it checked out now) and check out Spymistress by William Stevenson. The true story of the trials and tribulations of Vera Atkins, a secret agent who truly helped win WWII. It's not some Mata Hari story, nor is it a love story of any kind, but a true story of extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances putting doing the right thing before themselves and making a huge difference in the world. Disturbing some of the things that went on during that time, horrible things beyond the devastation of the concentration camps, but the amazing story of how these people found each other and worked together to make the world a better place. Go! Now! I am going to go try to steal a few more pages before cleaning the kitchen...

Christmas (Dinner) Blogging

Of course there will be a whole lot of Christmas blogging going on, but first I have to write a bit about our Christmas dinner, as I still have the taste of the leftovers on my tongue, and it was darned good. PJ said he wasn't overwhelmed with a desire for ham, and we did a turkey for Thanksgiving, so I decided we'd do a pork loin. At the store there were 2 size choices, medium and really really big. Being our first time doing a whole loin, and there only being 2 of us, I went with the medium. I also looked for brining bags at Meijer, which I could not find, so the smaller choice was better anyway since I could fit it into a ziplock bag. The America's Test Kitchen cookbook (hereon referred to as ATK) extols the benefits of brining your meat, and I've wanted to try it. But the turkey was so big that I didn't have a proper receptacle, so I thought the pork loin would be good to try. HOLY COW (or pig as the case may be) was it amazing!!! A brine for those who don't know is a bath of water, salt and sugar. They don't suggest sugar for their turkey brine (I can't remember why) but for the portion of pork we had it was 1 1/2 quarts water, 3 Tbsp sugar and 3 Tbsp salt. I soaked the pork in there for an hour, following the directions to a T, and hoped for the best. PJ had asked earlier in the week if I wanted him to grill it, and as the weather was not atrocious I said YES! I prepared a maple glaze (also from ATK) and sent him outside. He worked magic. It was an amazing combination of super tender meat, cooked to perfection, and an incredible glaze (sweet with a hint of spicy). I had planned the menu out a few days before: pork loin, stuffing mix from Whole Foods Jason sent us home with after Thanksgiving (they had an extra bag), candied sweet potato casserole, skillet broccoli with toasted garlic and lemon, sauteed mushrooms with shallots and thyme, and pumpkin pie. Everything with the exception of the stuffing and pie came from the ATK cookbook, and was amazing. The stuffing I prepared by chopping up an onion, 2 celery stalks and a large carrot, sauteeing for a while, then adding to prepared stuffing. The pie came from the recipe on the back of the pumpkin puree can. Both turned out quite nice. Ava and I made the pie in the morning since it requires a lengthy cooking time and an even longer cooling time, and we even prepared our own whipped cream! (the best part about that was that the kids each got one of the beaters from the electric mixer). The skillet broccoli was awesome, and part of the reason I liked it was that it used the stalks of the broccoli as well- you just chop off the rough outer part (1/8 inch or so) and slice and cook with the florets. Really quick and easy, and I will definitely make it again. The mushrooms I almost didn't make, partially because I didn't want to buy fresh thyme and they didn't have shallots at the store (!!!). But in the spirit of using what I had, I substituted dried thyme and used a smaller amount of onion instead of the shallot and threw in some minced garlic, and they turned out great. Again, unbelievably fast and easy, and even Ava liked them! The sweet potatoes came from the csa. The recipe called for a pinch of cayenne pepper. I had chipotle chili pepper instead, so threw that in. The result was unusual but really great- you couldn't taste the hotness until after you had eaten the bite, and even then it was a faint trace. Very subtle. The sweet potatoes came out really sweet, with all the brown sugar, but would definitely make them again. I liked that you cooked them in butter and brown sugar and salt and pepper, before transferring to a baking dish, adding the topping and baking the rest of the way through. Again there was a little working around it as the recipe called for chopped pecans or walnuts to add to the topping, and I didn't want to do that either, but it turned out pretty good. PJ even called after eating his leftovers for lunch and said that if it's possible the meal was even better the 2nd day! So the lesson learned here people is that brining=good. I need to find some bags and brine the next chicken I roast. I'll let you know the results!

2007 St. Peters Lutheran Preschool Recital

Once again, the photos fail us. And without Photoshop, there isn't much that can be done. There are a few shots that allowed me to correct redeye, but unfortunately most of the shots didn't have red eye, but blank eye, like little orphan Annie or something. Anyhoo, here are a couple of pictures from last night. We will have to wait for the video for the good stuff. I will say that all the chickens were completely adorable, and there is nothing like getting dozens of 2-4 year olds together to sing a few songs! At the end of the recital they presented each of the children with their own beginners bible. Ava was thrilled, and could not wait to get started with it. We are so thrilled to have her there, and I think next year depending on how he's doing, we may try to get James in the 2 year old playdate class.

She Won!

Karen Goldner emerges from the 2nd District recount victorious by 12 votes. Doesn't get any more apparent that every vote counts. We are excited to see Karen in action!

Death by Magic Jewel

This morning our teenager, I mean Ava, was angry (what else is new?) that I was not altogether interested in going outside to play in the 18 degree weather. She screamed at me until I suggested she go to her room to calm down, and when she felt better she could return to play in James' room. Mere moments later, she came in brandishing a golden jewel and commanded: "By order of the Magic Jewel you will be KILLED!". I was not alarmed as the jewel had previously shown no signs of having magic powers. Disappointed, she turned and stormed back across the hall. Within 15 minutes or so we were all playing quite happily and I am sure she was glad that I was not dead.

Local Politics

Our star reporter P.J. Thuringer checked in from the City Council chambers a short while ago, where Mayor Elect Tom Henry announced some key members of his new administration. There were no big surprises (for me anyway). I was a little bit disappointed for personal reasons in one of the decisions, but also am sure he knows what he is doing. Two key persons he announced were Deputy Mayor Mark Becker, who is currently Deputy Mayor under Graham Richard, and John Urbahns who will be continuing as Community Development Director. I am fond of both of them in a professional sense, and look forward to having them serve in the new administration.
Also of importance to note: the 2nd District council race recount was held this morning and the winner will be announced tomorrow. Am still pushing for Karen as I truly believe she is the best person for the job. Regardless it's a whole new world when it comes to the City Council, and while we talk about losing the cable, it's hard for me to imagine not having CityTV to watch!

Speed Reading

The following took about all of 45 seconds or so. Enough time for Ava to fuss about putting something on her feet (socks or slippers). They are both wearing their slippers, and reading time is over. Now on to breakfast.

And that's all there is, there isn't any more

So now I am caught up. And not much skipping over either. Really not any. Will try to be better about consistency for a while. Speaking of consistency, I made Grams fudge this year. Two batches. Neither one turned out as thick as I would have liked. I needed to keep it in the refrigerator. But one thing I DID make that turned out how I wanted was strawberry gelato. It was great! I got a book from the library with a bunch of super yummy ice cream recipes, and since the little Scott's up the street didn't have the kind of cream I needed, I opted to purchase frozen strawberries instead and make the gelato. I threw a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar in at the end with the vanilla, but once frozen you couldn't really taste it. But it was heavenly. Again, a little more difficult to make than I had anticipated, but I think that's because it was my first time. There were recipes in that book I never imagined- like Key Lime Ice Cream (SUPER easy with sweetened condensed milk), Guiness Ice Cream (really?!) and Oatmeal Ice Cream with a recipe for baked apples (with butter and brown sugar in the middle) on the side. You know I am making that one. All of those, actually, and many more. Thank you Debbie for leaving your ice cream maker here! I promise to have super delicious ice cream in the flavors of your choice waiting next time you visit!!!

More of the snowy evening of December 16, 2007

The Big Snow, the next day

Saturday evening we had our friends who live on the next street over to visit, and it snowed a little before they arrived at 6:30. They were bundled up and she was wearing her snow boots. They left a few hours later, and it had snowed maybe a bit more, but the big surprise was this morning when we woke up to a Winter Wonderland! We immediately turned on the news, who reported that there had been 7 inches of snow overnight, and that there was a Level 3 Driving Conditions Warning in effect, which pretty much means don't drive unless you are an emergency vehicle or in need of emergency help. So we were watching the screen for cancellations. (They post school delays and cancellations during the week, and church service and civic type cancellations on weekends.) There were several churches listed as canceled, but not ours. Which put us in a conundrum. I had agreed to sit the nursery this weekend. So PJ put a call into the church, where the pastor answered the phone (!!! We didn't think anyone wound answer!) and told us the other pastor was doing the early sermon for which there were only a handful of people, and although he understood our commitment, he felt it better and safer if we just stayed home. What a nice guy! So in we were. There were gusts blowing hard and snow was trying to come down, but the wind at times was so great that it was just horizontal. After it died down, PJ got Ava bundled up and got the snow thrower out. He did our driveway (which the guy across the alley blew snow right back into when he did his driveway and it made me grinchy) and the walkway up to the house from the garage, around front, and down the front walk to the steps that lead to the sidewalk. A few people had gotten out their snowblowers, so the sidewalks were already done. It was lovely to have the snow on the weekend when people could clear the sidewalks (which will help immensely as we really need to go to the market tomorrow and last time the snow was on Sunday night and barely any of the walkways were shoveled, blown or salted). I brought James out, who was tentative, and then the dogs who totally were not. Fred was leaping and running and galumphing all around. He really likes the snow. We let him run in the front too, and he wore himself out. We all piled back inside for warmth, more coffee (for PJ and me) and hot cocoa (for Ava). Later, after naptime, we took the kids back out for Snowman Building time. James was not interested in the snowman, but wanted to go for a walk. He went down to the Secret Sidewalk and turned left, just like he always does. I told him we weren't going to Henry's, but to come back and find Daddy and Ava. He would have none of it. I had to bribe him with Snacks (one of his new words!). That barely worked. He loves to be outside regardless of the elements. Dad's child for sure. Here's some evidence of the wintry goodness.

Getting ready for the Big Snow

The Vipr HD Weather Center Radar Thingie went off on the television Saturday to warn us about an impending snowstorm. The city usually comes to collect leaves if you pile them up at the curb (which was amazing to watch- they had small front loader type machines and blocked off the road and it was quite efficient and graceful) but the last time they were scheduled to come we got sidelined by a snowstorm, so even though the previous snow had melted, the street crews hadn't been out to collect. And since the new storm was to be quite big, PJ decided to go out and rake the leaves closer to the curb. (I had been the one to collect the leaves via rake and blower, but due to time constraints with the kids napping only a little bit and it getting dark before 5 p.m. and all it wasn't as far out or together as it should have been.) So Ava donned her new coat and the hat I crocheted and went out with Dad and while he chatted with a neighbor, she put herself right to work. What a big girl!

Christmas Scenes from the Living room 2007

Note the train under the tree :-)

The Found Nativity

In the past when storing things in the attic it had been discovered that the previous owners had left some things in the attic. One of those things was a nativity. Our nativity was nice, but some was built out of saguaro cactus skeleton and on its last legs. Also the figures in the found nativity were marked "Woolworth" and "Made in Japan". Add that to the fact that the wise men had color (when's the last time anyone saw THAT?) which according to the bible and where they came from would be about right, we decided that this would be our new nativity. The fireplace mantle is deep enough to hold it, and it also has an outlet so we can put the lights up for stars as we like to do.

The Lovely Princess

Ava has taken to dressing up in her nightgown (beautiful dress), tiara, and "jewels". Here are a few shots of her in all her regalness.