Supreme Being

Forgot to post last week that I discovered there is a Supreme Being. Remember my story about brussels sprouts ("b.s.")? http://juliebike.blogspot.com/2009/12/brussels-sprouts.html

Short version: I don't like 'em!

Ben asked me to plant some "b.s". a few months ago, and Mike likes them too, so for my guys I gave up some garden space, planting six starts. This spring/summer was very odd weather, so I kept waiting for the stems to shoot up (the "b.s." grow around a stem, if you didn't know). Waiting, and waiting, and I thought maybe it just won't happen because the weather messed up everything. The plant leaves, however, were getting HUGE.

Last week I discovered they are getting cabbage heads, not "b.s."

There is a Supreme Being after all!

Missed Birthdays

"The legends of missed birthdays"

Legend #1:
In a great Northwest land lives a wonderful Grandmother who we will call Gma. She has several grandchildren, but we focus on the third, "B3."

Gma and Gpa were pilots, so they had the opportunity to travel quite a bit. In the winter they would often go to Mexico and camp on Baja. (That's the peninsula south of California, for those who need a reference.) In the summer and into fall, they would travel to British Columbia and camp next to one of the wonderful wilderness lakes. (B.C. is in Canada. Google "Canada" if you need to know where it is. Then sue your former school district.)

When you vacation in Canada, they say you are "on holiday" which can be a bit confusing to us Yanks at first. But Gma and Gpa usually traveled around the holidays: Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day. July 4 is not celebrated in BC of course, but July 1 is Canada Day -- and they sing "my country tis of thee" with different words, so strange ; )

Grandchild "B3"s birthday is around Labor Day, and she would feign exasperation, "You're ALWAYS gone on my birthday, Gma." This year, for the first time, B3 will be on a trip during Gma's birthday. Sounds like Cat in the Cradle! Google those lyrics, too, if you need.

Legend #2:
In the 70's, Gma's grandpa-in-law put together a family geneology book, and Gma did all the layout and calligraphy for it. Lots of beautiful but tedious work.

At the end, after printing I believe, we all realized she put the wrong birth year on her youngest child!

And so end the stories of "missed" birthdays.

Oh wait, there is one more:

Legend #3:
When Gma turned 39, a big surprise birthday party was put together. Family and friends came from far and wide. Gpa distracted her away from the house for a few hours, and when they got home she assumed all the cars were some other neighbor having a big party. Then when she saw her brother-in-law skulking around the garage, her first thought was "Why is Tom here and why is he trying to hide behind the car?" Lots of fun.

Later she asked someone (I think Aunt Char), "So why did you do all this for this birthday?"

"Well," Char answered, "because it's your 40th."

"NO I'M NOT, not until next year!"

Oops.

Nicknames

Looking at my last post, N8 is Nate, if you hadn't figured it out. B3 (more on her later) also calls him Neighbor, Nate-Bear, Bear. So today the topic is nicknames.

First, what is the source of the word "nickname?" Middle English, about 1400 or so, "an ekename" became misdivided in speech to "a nekename" or "a nickname." Eke is to stretch out, as in eke out a living. An ekename was an additional name, but can also be thought of as economizing as we so often shorten the name.

First: my name and nicknames. Dad bestowed the Julie = Hoolie = Hooligan moniker. When people ask, "were you really a hooligan," my stock answer is, "Well, I'm not the one who put cars in ditches!" Another nickname is Jewels, most fondly coming from my Aunt Char.

Brother Bill is William, Billy, JR. The cousins still call him Billy. In high school, a neighbor dubbed him JR because he was too old to be a Billy any more, and of course he was a junior, so two Bill's in one house was two-too confusing.

Lordy, so what do I do but name my first son Bill! In family referencing, when someone needed to distinguish him, he became "Little Bill." Still Bill to me, definitely not little at 32 years old and about six feet tall! And with three kids start with the letter "B," my shorthand for Bill is B1 (not to be confused with thiamin!).

Brother Michael has always been just Michael. Not Mike. A couple of cousins used to enjoy going back to school after the holidays, when they could say, "I had dinner with Michael Jackson." Oh, and add to the confusion that brother Michael is married to Julie Ann, and I'm married to a Mike!

Husband Mike is usually just Mike. Sometimes Mikey.

Son Benjamin is Ben. B2 (not to be confused with riboflavin). Like most kids, his in-trouble name was the long version. You know, to get attention, it's "BEN-ja-min." But the I'm-running-out-of-patience is "Ben-ja-MIN." Some of the fun versions are Benny, Benjer, Ben-german (he has more of the German look from his Grandpa George).

Daughter Brooke is mostly just Brooke, B3 (not to be confused with niacin). Brookie, the rookie of the family, the youngest. Lots of fun to have discovered the brand "Brookie's Cookies." N8 just calls her "B."

Scott has also been known as Scooter (Scott R). Dianne used Scotty once in a while.

Dianne sometimes gets lengthened to "Di-ann-ie." Brooke calls her monkey (I don't remember the origin, back in middle school I think).

Granddaughter "C" could have many short versions of her name, the long version is always used.

Grandson Ender is named after the hero in the book series "Ender's Game." That character's given name was Andrew. We'll see what nicknames develop over time -- he's only two months old.

Thanksgiving and forgettin' stuff

Our family Thanksgiving tradition: forgetting something.

I know that the only people reading this already know the secret. But somewhere in posterity it needs to be recorded and will become very important. Or not.

For Thanksgiving dinner, something is always forgotten. Not on purpose. There's so much food, it is just not missed. The rolls were left warming in the oven. Or the vegetable was still in a steaming pan on the turned-off stove (amidst other now-empty pans). Or Ben's vegan dumplings never made it out of the freezer.

So this week was the usual routine. Made cranberry sauce on Sunday. Mike went through all of it by tonight, so I made another batch.

Last night tried a new recipe for a sweet potato - pineapple bake. Pretty easy, healthier than the brown sugar - marshmallow concoctions. We'll see how it goes over.

Tonight I also prepared a breakfast casserole to put in the oven first thing in the morning (Scott and Helen are spending the night before continuing on to Salem tomorrow).

Made a vegan pumpkin pie. Then as I was taking it out of the oven and sliding in the apple pie, I thought, "Darn, I was supposed to make a regular pumpkin pie too. What was I thinking? So should I make it tonight? Tomorrow morning, but will it set up in time?"

Then, "Oh, yeah, we already have it. We bought one of Costco's this year." doh.

Called Ben to see which basting he wanted for the Tofurkey (he chose the orange juice - soy sauce).

So I continued on with a new recipe for a fruit salad. Had to cut up a fresh pineapple, which is a pain. Then two mangoes, which are just the worst. Then two kiwi, but someone finally told me the trick on those. Don't try to peel the stupid little bugger. Cut it in half (around the "equator" so to speak), then scoop it out with a spoon.

Tomorrow I'm sure I will remember to pack all of that, along with the fixings for the green salad, veggies for Ben's meal, the three types of whipped toppings, napkins.

For now, I'm off to slumberland.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I'm ready to kick back and enjoy 'the kids' company.