Pumpkin Deaths, Natural and Not

Last week, our neighbors invited us to go pumpkin picking. It was a grey fall day, but warmish (around 50F) with no rain. So in other words, not bad at all.



Unfortunately, the vast quantities of rain have wreaked havoc in the squash fields this year.



Everything was affected. Even the smallghetti. Poor smallghetti.


In the end, we stopped at a farm stand and bought our pumpkins there rather than picking them from the patch. We came home with one big one for carving and a few small ones for decoration and for soup.


We roasted the seeds.


Julius helped carve.



Voilà!

Sarah. Saaaraaah. No Time Is a Good Time for...World Hunger. Ever.

Showered!

We have been well blessed on the baby stuff front thanks to our amazing friends and family. Xander's sister, Elena, saved all of our nephew's baby stuff for us. Thanks to her, we have sheets and towels and boy clothes galore. Our friend Dana has kept many of her daughter's things for us, too. While we were out in Colorado, our awesome cousins threw us a baby shower with the family. We came home with more clothes and towels and baby wash and a nifty snack ball, all of which has finally made it into the wash. Well, not the snack ball.


Then, our amazing Montreal pals threw us a surprise shower here. And what a surprise it was! I was stunned. The most amusing part is that two of these friends are pregnant and in all likelihood "due" before I am.

Here's what happened. Xander and I enjoy playing a card game called Munchkin, and so do many of our friends. A couple of weeks ago, our friend Bret sent out a casual-sounding email suggesting that we come over to their place on Saturday for an epic game of Munchkin. I was the first to respond, very enthusiastically I might add. Saturday rolled around, and I told Xander I wanted to leave early to get some of that magic plastic stuff for our windows (highly recommended for you Northerners), so we decided to go to Canadian Tire before heading to our friends' place. While in the metro, we ran into our friend Rachael. I asked her what she was up to, and she responded in a bizarrely general way by saying, "Oh, I'm just going downtown." I remember thinking it was strange that she didn't give a specific answer, but just figured it was personal and I should mind my own business. After a few stops on the metro with us, she suddenly exclaimed that she was on the wrong train, that she meant to take the orange line, and she darted off. Weird, since she's lived here as long as we have. Anyway, we go to Canadian Tire, then start making our way back to Bret and Robin's place. Xander seems a little nervous that we're going to be late and comments several times that we should call to let them know. And I was like, "Please! It's only 15 minutes. I mean, they probably don't expect that we'll show up right at 2:00 anyway." Little did I know.

We walked through the door, and I didn't even bother to look up to see who was there. Robin looks at me and goes, "Surprise!" And for a second I was like, "Surprise what? Surprise you're here? Surprise we're playing Munchkin?" (I'm told my facial expression actually looked angry, but really I was just confused.) And then I noticed the crowd. All of our friends were there, including Rachael whom we'd just run into on the metro. Surprise baby shower! Good times. Robin made a very cool cake, she and Lindsey constructed a handy "diaper cake" loaded with diapering supplies, and Bret even bought some Beligan beer. (Belgian beer at a baby shower! Yea for adoption!) We got some adorable stuff, including some very cool stuffed animals and clothes, lotion and baby wash, a boat load of diapers, and gift certificates so that we can buy the cloth diapers we're planning to use around the house. Internetland, we are set.








All we need now are baby carriers, a fancy-schmancy double stroller, and a changing pad, all of which we can acquire online some Saturday morning while still in our pajamas. Is that awesome or what?

So in conclusion, our friends are better than your friends.

P.S. Special thanks to Pete and Robin for taking much better photos than we did.

A Bit of Weird for Your Friday

I was looking at artist opportunities on the New York Foundation for the Arts website and found this call for male artists:

We've all seen it in the movies, magazines, and television (reality and otherwise!): men getting down on one knee, declaring undying love for the object of their affection. Partly due to my obsession with dramatic, romantic moments in movies, I have come to expect and want one of those moments for myself, despite my perpetually single state of being. We live in a modern world and it seems that you can really buy anything, so why not the proposal of my dreams?

I know there are millions of creative, handsome, talented, successful, men out there, and I want them to propose to me. I'm sure you're asking what do the suitors get out of it? Well, they get up to $20, and the opportunity to present me with a real proposal to marry me.

Weird, no? Go here to read more.

In other weirdness, it snowed yesterday. Snow. In October. Even though I knew Xander was in seminars all day, I was really tempted to call him up and shout into the phone that IT'S SNOWING IN OCTOBER(!!!!!) and demand a million dollars for my cooperation OR ELSE I'M LEAVING! But I didn't. Instead I made brownies. The snow is kinda pretty, really, especially with brownies.

New Toy

My darling husband gave me a present for "having his children." (I know. Vomitously adorable, right?) He got me a new camera, one of those fancy digital SLRs. This might seem like a cheesy mama gift, like he gave it to me because he wants me to take really nice photos of his kids while he's off becoming a famous mathematician, but it was actually a very meaningful gesture in support of my identity as an individual. What many of you probably don't know is that I have a degree in photography. I don't really use it--long story--but I still enjoy taking photographs. I've been horribly resistant to digital photography, however, and this plus the fact that my darkroom is also our bathroom has led to a steady decline in photographic production around here. I don't even want to tell you when my last show was, but it's been awhile. So while I've done nothing special to earn this new camera, I decided to accept it as a call to action.

Anyhow, I've been testing it out around the house, and I went out with Katie earlier this week to practice some more. Suffice it to say this new camera is a far cry from my old Russian box camera. I'm still learning to use the new one, and mainly struggling with the fact that I now have to use a digital monitor to control all my settings, but I'll get there. I am mostly thrilled that I now have control over aperture again. How I've missed that! But I'm also pretty pleased with the automatic mode as well, because it seems to do better than anything on the low-light, around-the-house snapshots, especially when that handy little anti-shake button is switched on. Now I'm just waiting for my shiny new edition of Photoshop to show up, and I'll be all set.











Oddly enough, as soon as I got the new camera I had the urge to get back in the darkroom. I developed film for the first time in ages. We'll see what comes of that.

Parenting Blind

There is a fascinating article in The New Yorker this month. (I'm not sure how long it will be available online, so you might want to save it now even if you don't have time to read it.) It talks about a general change in parenting styles and how this is reflected in recent children's literature. I admit that I have not read enough recent children's books to verify or disprove the author's assertions. However, I have heard from several people now that at least the New York parenting strategy is increasingly permissive. Manhattan parents in particular are famous for adopting whatever the latest fads are when it comes to raising their kids. (Supposedly right now the strategy is to hire a Tibetan nanny and never, ever put your kids in timeout.) As weird as this may sound, this is one of the things that makes me anxious about moving back there in a few years. I read all of this as a warning that I won't fit in with the other mothers. That I'll be that awful mother on the playground who raises her voice when Fabertid 1 is caught pushing Fabertid 2 off the swing. Because you know what? I'm kind of strict. And I have a feeling that's not going to change once we have kids. Once a boy old enough to know better threw a stick at me on a hiking trail, and I made him cry simply by glaring at him. (Don't worry about him, though. His mother was right there to hug him and tell him it was all right. At no point was he asked to apologize.) I also made a little girl cry recently by asking her in a stern tone for the fifth time not to pull the cat's tail. Horrible of me, I know.

Anyway, I can already hear the other mothers now, leaning over and whispering, "Did you hear what she said to her children? Those kids will need therapy for sure." I'll be the parent who just does not care about her children's development, who does not buy the latest educational toy or read the latest parenting book or stress too much about getting her kids into just the right school. As it is, the only baby-handling book we have is the one issued by the Quebec government, and even that one we're just planning to use as a reference. Basically, our parenting strategy is to not have a parenting strategy. It doesn't bother us at all that we don't know that much about raising children, much less having two small kids at once. People constantly say things like, "Two? At one time? Aren't you worried?" Not really. We're flying blind, people, and we're okay with that. Still, there's got to be some fancy name for our non-strategy. Back-to-Basics? Retro Parenting? The Eat-Your-Broccoli-and-Clean-Your-Room-Before-I-Totally-Hulk-Out-On-You Approach? Maybe if we come up with a fancy name for it, we can sound really knowledgeable when we bring our kids down from our fifth-floor walk-up in the Bronx to play on the Central Park playgrounds.

A Little Contest

Our cousins Luke & Brie suggested we have a contest to see who can guess our referral date, or the day when our agency phones to tell us we have been matched with children. We think it's a great idea. Here are the rules and such:

1) The person who comes closest to guessing our actual referral date wins. (You only have to be the closest, not the closest "without going over" comme Price Is Right.)

2) Each person gets one guess.

3) We reserve the right to issue a tie-breaking challenge of our choice if needed.

4) Leave your guess in the comments section below with a name by which we can identify you. (Don't send us an email, because we're going to check the comments to find the winner. If you send an email, chances are I will forget all about it and your winning guess might be forever lost. And that would just be sad.)

5) You have until November 1st to enter your guess.

6) The winner gets bragging rights AND a $25 gift certificate to Kiva.

Here are a few helpful hints to guide you:

-Our dossier arrived in Ethiopia on July 28th.

-The current wait time with our orphanage system is around 4 to 6 months and usually does not exceed 7 months. In other words, we should have our referral by March. (We still won't travel for a few months after that, though, so don't get too excited just yet.)

-People who submitted their dossiers in late spring are just now getting their referrals.

One last note: Although many of us like to think we know when referrals will come, there's no set way to determine this. People get their referrals earlier and later than expected all the time, so don't think anyone really has a guessing advantage here. Feel free to jump in, even if you know nothing about adoption. The only thing that is certain is that our call will come when we least expect it.

Engagement Photos? Pregnancy Photos? Whatever. We Like Them.

Recently, I asked our multi-talented friend Katie if she would mind taking some photographs of me and Xander together prior to the arrival of the Fabertids. I guess every expectant couple goes through this. We feel somehow compelled to commemorate our relationship as a couple prior to becoming a family of four. Like if we don't preserve this moment in time, it will be forever lost. Ridiculous, probably, but whatever. Sometimes we're just regular folks.

Anyway, this past weekend we set out to L'ile de la visitation for an afternoon photo shoot. Katie took some nice photographs, and we really enjoyed hanging out with her and her husband, Pete. There was lots of giggling over the fact that we all had to take the 69 bus to the park. (I know. Makes you question whether or not we're really mature enough to have children.) Engagement photos were staged. We even posed for a mock album cover or two. It was good times. We ended up with some great photos that, while they might contain a few somewhat cheesy elements, we think we'll really enjoy.

So thanks, Katie, for preserving our happy marriage in pictures before it gets ripped to bits by two very cute little people. Maybe we should do after shots in, say, 20 years?








Sadly, as we celebrate our marriage, I find out other people are being denied the right to marry at all. And not for the reason you probably think. I keep trying to be open-minded about moving back to the Southeast, but then stuff like this happens, and I'm reminded of one of the reasons I left. Sure, things are better than they used to be, but they always seem to be several moves behind down there.

This American Life on Health Care

We've mentioned before that we're fans of the radio program This American Life. In the past couple of years, they've done a couple of fascinating shows that relate to the economy, with the help of the good folks at Planet Money . Last week's show and this week's show are both on the subject of health care in the US. The one last week was quite interesting, so we are looking forward to finding out what this week's episode has in store. Here's a blurb and a link to last week's episode:

This American Life: More Is Less

An hour explaining the American health care system, specifically, why it is that costs keep rising. One story looks at the doctors, one at the patients and one at the insurance industry.

Prologue:

Former Bush Administration official David Frum explains a very surprising fact about Bush's economic failure, as it relates to health care. Frum is a regular contributor to the radio show Marketplace.

Act One. Dartmouth Atlas Shrugged:

Are doctors to blame for the rising costs? NPR Science Correspondent Alix Spiegel reports on the shocking results of studies about varied health care spending. Hear more health care stories this week from Alix at npr.org.

Act Two. Every CAT Scan has Nine Lives:

Or is the problem the patients? Producer Lisa Pollak reports.

Act Three. Who Would Win in a Fight Between a Polar Bear and an Insurance Company?:

Or maybe the insurance companies are to blame? Producer Sarah Koenig reports.

Act Four. Now What?:

Host Ira Glass talks with Susan Dentzer, editor of the journal Health Affairs, about what current health reform proposals do to fix the rising costs of healthcare...And points at a surprising, kind of heartening phenomenon happening within the current debate.

Why Adoption Is Easy

I posted this on That Social Networking Site the other day and thought I'd post it here as well:

The question we've gotten most regarding our decision to adopt is, "Why?" It's always loaded. For some people, the idea of having a family made up of members who do not share DNA is strange. How would that work? Will they really be "ours?" Will we love them as much? People who ask us "why" questions have varying motives, but our knee-jerk response (which we don't usually give) is, "Why not?"

Adoption just didn't seem like that much of a stretch for me. My family is made of blood ties, yes, but it's also made of love. I have two "half" brothers, two "bio" brothers, two "step" sisters, and one sister who became part of our family when she was a teenager. Now she's grown and has a daughter, my super smart and adorable niece. One of my "bio" brothers is married, and now I have a sister "-in-law." When I refer to my husband's sisters and cousins, I often just say "sister" or "cousin," because that's how I think of them. They're all part of my family. I don't love any of them any more or less than the others. Add to this a handful of friends that I consider to be family as well (John, Trey, Bobbi), people that I cannot imagine living without, people who will be aunts and uncles as far as our kids are concerned, and I have a pretty mixed family. It's not about shared DNA. It's about love. And we have plenty of that to go around.

Okay, that's enough sap for one day. I'll go back to swearing and making sarcastic remarks now.

Now where the F#*@ did I put my DAMN glasses?! JULIUSSSS!!!

Marché Jean-Talon

I've been meaning to do a post on Marché Jean-Talon since we moved here, but I never remember to take my camera with me when we go. Now, we thought New York City had a pretty big farmer's market. On Saturdays in Union Square, the areas edging the park are filled with vendors selling all sorts of local produce and crafts. There are several smaller markets throughout the city as well, including in our old neighborhood. On Sunday afternoons, we would stroll over to buy our apples and vegetables and cider donuts. Cider donuts! Best ever.

Anyway, Montreal's farmer's market could kick New York's ass any day. It's enormous, and it's open all year. (In the winter it's indoors and much smaller.) It takes up an entire city block and is ringed by specialty shops. There are fromageries, health food stores, boucheries and boulangeries, poissonneries, and entire stores that specialize in olives and olive oil. The only drawback is that they do allow imports, although most things are local, so you have to keep an eye on the signs and make sure you are buying the local stuff. (Most of the time, the imports are obvious: pineapple, oranges, avodaco, etc.) This time of year just before the frost is the best, because fall vegetables are coming in just as the summer season is ending. So you can still get tomatoes and peppers and late strawberries and cherries, but you can also find pumpkin and cranberries and carrots and cerise de terre. Right now you can get peppers in every color imaginable. Purple and yellow cauliflower. Garlic is out in full force as are leeks. Giant monster leeks, too. Love them. It's impossible to stick to your shopping list this time of year, because there are so many amazing things that just jump out at you and demand to be taken home. This week, we came home with leeks, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, apples, onions, some wonderfully smelly local cheese, and marinated olives from our favorite olive stand. It's also oyster season, which is one of our annual non-vegetarian indulgences. This year we brought home a box of malpeques from Prince Edward Island and steamed them with lemon. Delicious. If you want to get an idea of what it's like to shop here, this video will take you down just one aisle of the market.