Well, butter my biscuit and call me Sally...

Uncle R. was only 64. That's just astounding. That's so young! The Huz is in Chicago for the wake and funeral. I was going to go, we were trying to figure out how to juggle the kiddos, maybe take The Bear, since I can still carry him as a lap child, and fly back the same day, but then I found out it was an open casket. *gulp*

I'm not skeeved out by death, I believe in a wonderful afterlife, and that death is merely the beginning of the rest of our eternity, but I'm not particularly interested in sitting in the same room with Uncle R's body for 6 hours for a wake. Uh-uh. That clinched it for me. So, The Huz is there, we're here and missing him, and hoping that the family is able to grieve and find peace in the joy of Uncle R's life.

Rest in Peace, Dear Uncle R.

We lost a wonderful person on Saturday. The Huz's only uncle, to whom he felt very close, and his mother's only living relative besides a distant cousin, died after a few weeks of illness. He has lived for a long time with many different ailments, so his 72 years were truly a miracle, especially that he was able to continue to work, travel and do all the other things he loved. Uncle R. was truly a bright light in the world, and our lives will be a bit dimmer without his presence.

Wherever he went, he left a trail of smiles around him. He constantly poked fun at himself, but never joked at the expense of others. He always had a kind word to say to those around him. I literally cannot count the number of times he said my children were "lucky to have such a wonderful mother". How could you not love him? He was a handsome man, in a goofily endearing type of way. He had white grey hair, with a bulbous nose and a slight lisp, a heavily Chicagoan accent, and shuffled everywhere he went. He was extremely comfortable in his own skin, and it wasn't unusual to hear his feet shuffling into the kitchen at 10 pm for his midnight snack (since he went to bed at 6 pm), sneaking a sugary snack behind his sister's back (his personal food police), and then hearing a fart escape and him remarking, "Hmmm...must have stepped on a frog or something..." and then his feet shuffling back to the bedroom.

He was up for any adventure, and for his 70th birthday, he treated us to a vacation in Hawai'i, where we were able to enjoy a week of Uncle R's presence and geniality and good humor and leave relaxed and refreshed. Watching the close relationship between he and his sister, my mother-in-law, made me long for a brother, and reminded me of the importance to call my sister as soon as I got back home.

He was an avid collector of art, and since he was a humble man, I walked into his 3-story Riverside home, after knowing him for 6 years, to find that his walls were lined with original Picassos, Monets, Cassatts and numerous other works by Huge Names and local artists, just hanging on the wall in a home without any sort of special climate control or lighting. Around every corner was a new find, staying there was like living in the novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler for three days.

His life partner, T., not often spoken of in The Huz's family, due to their unspoken agreement to ignore Uncle R's predilection to The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name, was a kind and quiet man, and the two of them enjoyed decades of a fulfilling life of shared interests while allowing each other freedom to pursue their own travels and hobbies. It was truly a relationship to admire.

We will miss you, Uncle R. We love you very much, and will always remember your kindness, your humor and your smile.

Look What I Can Do!

For the uninitiated, these are generally called longies, made from wool yarn. They are used as an all-in-one diaper cover and pant for those who cloth diaper. Since we only sporadically use cloth for the Bear, I made his out of a wool/cotton blend, and they are offically named his Easter Egg Longies. I am particularly partial to the navy and red fire truck top with the pastel colors. Heh. I knew that if I tried to change his top to get a picture of the pants with a matching shirt, there would be no pictures at all.

They are entirely too huge, so he will be wearing them into next winter, which is great, there's plenty of room to grow. I still need to add a waist tie, to be able to cinch it around the waist. It's necessary because as he was walking around in them last night, I walked into the kitchen to see his bare bottom with the pants around his ankles. Cute bootie, but not so much for public consumption. In fact, this is how much too big they are:

So, now Sir H wants a pair. He wants this pair, but the crotch hits at mid-thigh, so I'm knitting him some jammie pants from some delicious Loft yarn that is so soft and stretchy that I'm going to be jealous of his pants. I'm so proud of myself. Tell you what - it's a great anxiety reliever for me. I also don't snack at night much anymore, because my hands are busy, and my brain is engaged just enough to not think about anything else, but not so much that I can't veg to an old episode of King of Queens. Go knitting!

These Three Words

So, I have this friend who has a blog inspired by a segment she saw on a talk show, about photographing yourself with three words that resonate with you. Fun, huh? Here's her blog:

http://those3words.wordpress.com/

These are my contributions so far:

Check it out, and send her your own masterpieces! Let your voice be read!

Thankful

I was sitting here, knitting and watching a DVRed show when it hit me how incredibly happy I am at this moment. What a blessed life I lead, how many things I have for which to be grateful.

I have a great friend with whom I have a standing lunch date after we pick our big boys up from preschool 2x per week, after which I live in an area that has gorgeous, amazing weather, and I have the ability and health to walk with my boys while Sir H. rides his big boy bike (no training wheels since he was 3!), and my precious boys love to play together, and play outside and exercise and walk. The mountain laurels are blooming, so I was taking giant breaths of sweet grape scent with every step. We stopped and played in my parents' backyard, because I have parents who love my children only second to how much we love them.

Then, I was able to make a healthy, homecooked meal because we are able to not just buy, but also have easy access to organic and whole foods, and have children who are easy to please when it comes to food. I have friends who trust me to sit with their kiddos as they slept while my friends went to the primary caucus tonight, and when I returned home, I have one sick baby that is finally sleeping, which is a huge blessing, and a husband who had picked up the house, wanted to talk for a few minutes to connect with me, and a big boy who asked me to come snuggle with him and read a book and tell a story. Then, all three of my men go to sleep, and I'm sitting here, having found a medication that gets rid of my nerve pain, feeling physically good for the first time in a long time, knitting, and torn between deciding if I want to sit on our comfortable couch, in our comfortable and lovely and peaceful home, and continue to knit to my heart's content while I watch something fluffy on TV, or if I want to get in the bath and read my new books from the library that I'm completely pumped about, and go to bed early and snuggle up with my pillows and my big boy who is in our bed tonight.

Does life get any better? Wow, I'm literally tearing up. God, thank you for my precious family.

One Pot, One Pan, 10 Minutes = Healthful Dinner

Okay, so I'm fudging a little bit, but let me break it down for you: I just spent about 7 minutes from start to finish making some fantastic healthy (yes, healthy) macaroni and cheese. Appeals to the shorties and the grown-ups alike!

Make ahead:

• 2 boxes elbow macaroni (I used one box of 100% whole wheat and one box of Barilla Plus)

When you have a few extra minutes on a Sunday, throw a big pot filled with water on the stove and boil these pastas, then drain them and rinse them in cold water. Toss them in a Ziploc and forget about them.

• 1 whole butternut squash

Some afternoon when you're taking the kids out to play in the backyard, halve the butternut squash length-wise. This can be a difficult task, as the skin is very tough, and that's why I say a silent thank you to hilarious Uncle Reggie for his surprise gift of a RonCo 52-billion-piece knife set! Shipped directly to our door! With a free flavor injector! and pull out the big cleaver. Drizzle some olive oil on the bottom of a pan and place squash open-face down, cover with foil and bake for about an hour. Or so. Because if you're outside playing with the kids and you come in 2 hours later and the house smells warm and yummy, the squash will be okay. I'm just sayin'. Scoop out the meat and put it in a tupperware container. Forget about it.

A few weeks later, do this:

Get out your big pot. Saute 1/2 a sweet onion in about 1/4 of olive oil. Sprinkle in about 1/8 c of flour and stir every few minutes until the flour is just beginning to brown and the onions are wilting. Add a dash of nutmeg or, if one is surprisingly out of nutmeg, you can pretend that the "allspice" bottle is actually labeled "nutmeg" and no one will be able to tell. Just a hypothetical. Pour in 4 1/2 cups of skim milk. I actually used 5 oz of evaporated milk to just get the damn thing out of my pantry. Bring to a slow simmer, stirring frequently. Scoop out ~2 cups of the butternut squash (oh yeah, that stuff I forgot about!) and mash it with a fork in a measuring cup. Should be nice and soft, so you're really just mushing it around. Add 4 cups of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, and 1/2 - 1 cup of parmesan. Stir until cheese is melted in a stringy fashion, then dump in the squash. Stir for a few minutes, until everything looks evenly distributed.

Spray a casserole pan with cooking spray and pour the elbow macaroni (you know, the other stuff you forgot about) into it. Pour cheese mixture on top of macaroni, bake for 30 minutes at 350* and et, voila, cheesy, squashy, pasta-y goodness.