seeing santa.

on Saturday morning, we took Eli to visit Santa Claus at the Kingston Springs firehouse. there was hot chocolate with mini marshmallows, and Santa held a bucket of candy canes which he doled out by the handful to every child in exchange for their list of wishes. while in line, Eli seemed excited as he watched the other children climb into Santa's lap one by one. i could tell he was anticipating his turn with intense curiosity about the man in the big red suit and polyester beard he would soon meet...

...only when the time came to plop down on the big guy's knee for a photo, fear set in (who could blame him?) and he started to cry. Santa, of course, made sure to look all Santa-y and composed for the picture, despite the meltdown taking place on his lap.



the instant that camera went click, Eli hopped down and made for the snack table where he grabbed two brownies--one in each fist--and headed over to check out the firetrucks (also big and red, but far less menacing).



afterward, we stopped by the coffee shop to visit our friends there, had another brownie (theirs were better), and went to buy our Christmas tree.

i have always dreamed of having an entry hall in which to put my Christmas tree on display, rather than cramming it in the corner of the living room. finally we do, and the tree looks really pretty as the center of attention when you walk through our front door.

we did our usual torture-the-pet-with-antlers photo by the tree that evening after hanging the final ornament. you can't see it, but Sam's crying (on the inside) about having his photo taken with Santa Claus too.

the mouse who liked cheese, and other tales.

it's been too many days inside this house. between drizzly weather, eli's sickness, and the bit of it that i got after him, there have been few temptations to venture beyond the driveway. over the past ten days, we've watched that Babe the talking pig movie so many times that i half expect our own dog to start asking for his dinner in english.

last night after eli's bedtime, i finished a piece of artwork for my friend jenni and wrapped it up for today's mail. it incorporates the hymn, "Deck Thyself, My Soul, With Gladness".  it took me awhile to interpret and convey all the imagery just right, and i almost gave up a few times. but as with most things, it was worth the labor and struggle to arrive at the beauty of the completed work. or at least, it looks beautiful to me, in large part because of the hymn lyrics, so we'll see what the gift's recipient thinks.

i also packed up a couple of jeremy's CDs to send to my long-lost college roommate Carol who i located via facebook recently. she is living in Germany with her husband and children, and i found curious enjoyment in writing the word Dusseldorf on the envelope with my sharpie marker. [it was probably the two little dots over the u. why don't we have cities with dots over the vowels in america?]

the slight flurry of snow that drifted down this morning as we awoke nudged me toward a real anticipation of Christmas & wintertime. our gift shopping has begun, and i plan to sneak away late this afternoon to check a few more things off the list. soon we'll bring home a tree to adorn the entry hall and pull out the two overflowing boxes of ornaments, lights, & handmade stockings. i am looking forward to seeing this house decorated for Christmas for the first time. 

but first on the agenda is to get a handle on the little would-be "mouse" who seems to have taken up residence in our home lately. after his sickness subsided and he bounced free from chicken broth and pedialyte, eli discovered a luxury known as cream cheese. and he CANNOT STOP EATING IT. of course, as his parents we are monitoring his intake (though frankly, the fat is benefitting his 20 pound frame) but he requests it (no, demands it) morning, noon, and night. it goes something like this:

wake up. bundle up. come downstairs. pour coffee and fill sippy cup. turn to eli & offer a waffle or pancake from the freezer drawer. 

"mama," he replies each time. "i-yant cheese."

 

then he turns and rushes over to the still-doorless pantry, pulls out the box of crackers (a.k.a delivery devices), reaches his tiny fist inside, produces one, and presents it to me expectantly. i spread it with cream cheese. he licks it off, rendering his nostrils and chin covered, then bites the cracker and reaches in the package for another while still chewing. this repeats throughout the duration of my second cup of coffee.

"i-yant cheese" has become the phrase most often uttered in our household for the past four days.

i am hoping for a thicker dusting of snow so that just maybe he'll put down his cracker long enough to bundle up in a new winter coat and head outside to play. i want to go too.

what a family is.

the only things left to wash are a bundle of silver-plated flatware and a lonely gravy boat.

we spent thanksgiving with two and a half members of our nashville "family"...cason and katie and their soon-to-arrive baby boy came over for dinner. the cervenys peeked in as well on their way home from a nearby celebration with relatives. the cooleys brought delicious vegetable casserole and cranberry sorbet; i made my grandmother's stuffing and my own rosemary mashed potatoes.

we had much to be thankful for as we gathered around the table. our marriages and children, friendship and family, a bountiful feast before us.

last weekend, jeremy and i pulled together to help our son, sick with a stomach bug, and our little dog Sam, who got attacked by two large huskies behind our house. following all the ensuing commotion and piles of laundry, we spent yesterday watching the Macy's parade, then tidied up the house and prepared the Thanksgiving meal.

so this morning Eli and i are lounging a bit. i am reluctant to admit it (denial, perhaps) but i fear i may have caught his sickness. something in my stomach just does not feel quite right. i am hoping it is nothing more than the dish of leftover bread pudding i ate for breakfast, but i suspect otherwise.

still, i am thankful for good health, knowing that there are many without it. i am thankful for this sturdy, warm house with its view of squirrels running along the telephone line. i am thankful for my prudent, hard-working husband whose insistence that we not use credit cards has saved us greatly in this new economy. i am thankful for my quietly napping little boy who has energy again and can finally enjoy a chocolate chip waffle. for his tender heart and his love of cheese. for the way he whispers, "goggle, goggle" whenever we ask him what sound a turkey makes. and so much more.

Mangia!

whenever the weather turns cold, we always wish to have something warm and good-smelling simmering on the stove. jeremy and i both come from italian families, so last week when the temperature dipped and we pulled out our sweaters, we also decided to pull out my great-grandmother's recipe for spaghetti sauce. her name was Zelmira Mencarini Della Maggiora and you can't get much more italian than that.

it took two stores to find the dried porcini mushrooms necessary for the slow-simmered recipe. i can't disclose the entire list of ingredients because then it wouldn't be a secret family recipe, but aside from the dried mushrooms, the juice of a lemon + its rind and a healthy pinch of allspice also went into the pot, along with handfuls of fresh herbs and a glass of dry red wine.



this is not your typical spaghetti sauce, at least not by american standards, and as jeremy and i twirled bites around our fork we relived a favorite meal from our trip to Florence. a little italian nonna (grandmother) surely stood behind the stove in that kitchen too.

jeremy's dad makes a similar-tasting sauce with a few variations from my family's recipe, but equally as authentic & delicious. i am hoping eli will grow up with an awareness of his italian heritage, and a memory of eating many family recipe spaghetti dinners, always prepared from scratch.

men in tents.

veterans day was a usual kind of day for the most part. several walks with eli down the gravel drive to the mailbox before i remembered that there was no mail today. the two of us went to the Y, then had soup & special grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch (it was an overcast day) with chocolate squares for dessert. we set up eli's tepee from his great-aunt jeanne in the living room and he dragged in various supplies including but not limited to: the TV remote control, a blanket, two mini pumpkins, his keyboard, and a pair of my shoes.

after dinner and a good talk with jeremy, i crept upstairs to peek at the sleeping little boy who woke up only briefly, then settled back down onto soft layers of blankets. i watched him for awhile, turned off his lamp, quietly pulled the door closed, and went to find this photo of my dad from when he served in Vietnam. it's good to remember.

244.

last evening we returned from a trip east and i was so happy to see nashville's face again. its traffic lights & busy gas stations, its two-horned building off in the distance...i would have hugged this city were my arms wide enough. we picked up italian take-out & a bottle of wine on our way home from the airport. i was asleep by 9:32.

today i ventured to opening day at trader joe's. eli got bagel samples, a balloon & a sticker for his t-shirt. i got kitchen soap, a bag of avocados, arugula, bananas, cheese, soup, pasta, and a loaf of tuscan bread. then home to make a salad & have coffee on the porch. so many leaves falling that i tried to calculate how long it will be before all the trees are empty.

and i keep looking at this photo in disbelief. my friend mandy sent it to me of halloween. i just keep staring at this little boy's face, knowing that he's mine but wondering who he is at the same time. he looks so grown up to me. today i taught him how to say shoe.

halloween.

far from ireland...

if you ever hear me second guess our decision to leave our former house with its view of the nashville skyline for the greener pastures of small town kingston springs, just remind me of what it's like here in the fall. oh my goodness. this might be the case in all of nashville really, probably all of tennessee, but i guess i didn't notice the beauty of autumn to this extent until i saw it from my current front porch. the field across the street is breathtaking, especially when the sunlight hits the trees a certain way.

i set out the pumpkins we got last weekend at the farm. a cold front has moved in so i didn't last very long on the swing, even with a coffee cup to warm my hands and two layers of sweater.


surprisingly, the time has moved fairly quickly since jeremy has been in ireland, so i haven't felt inclined to write like i thought i would. i've been missing him, but also happily distracted by my adventures with eli and a few quiet moments in between.

the week has included a marathon of asian eating for myself, as well as substantial amounts of chocolate. i may have mentioned that whenever my asian-food-disliking husband travels, i tend to consume some version of curry or stir-fry for nearly every dinner meal. most of them i prepare myself, but on friday night i fetched some take-out noodles from Pei Wei (and a thick bar of dark chocolate from whole foods), and headed to the cerveny's house to stay for the night. i owed them an evening of babysitting after j's & my recent date to City House before he left for his trip. (by the way, i highly recommend City House in Germantown for dinner...amazing authentic, rustic italian cuisine served in a sleek but intimate warehouse atmosphere. we had the best time.) after emmy & eli were asleep, i settled myself down under a wool throw in the cerveny's cozy new family room to read.

in the morning, charla, eli, and i headed out for breakfast and to explore east nashville for awhile. it's fun to see all the growth of our old neighborhood. new coffee shops, children's bookstore, a deli with a community garden out back. i miss many things about living there, but some i don't, so it was good to arrive back at home again that afternoon.

after dinner, i finished a painting. my inspiration came from a mural at anthropologie, but i ended up with a completely different design. i prefer it when inspiration leads me to create something original, rather than merely an adaptation of something i've already seen.


i decided to accessorize the painting with a frame i'd been saving for my studio upstairs; the living room needed it more. lately, i've been feeling like our living room looks way too pottery barn, so i've been searching for ways to inject some creativity and imperfection into the space. it's still a work in progress, of course.


i also hung a paper cutting i've been working on...it's layered with japanese rice paper and is just a free-flowing abstract design.


as for other adventures with eli (who now has a cold), we have visited the monkey's treehouse, eaten cookies, gone to the library, and purchased a few special toys to remind him of daddy: a child's keyboard and a toy power drill. [his two favorite things to do with jeremy are make music and work on the house. whenever anyone new enters our home, eli immediately rushes to some bit of trim around a doorway and pats it proudly to show what he and his dad did together. it's the sweetest thing.] i also let him pick out a wooden treasure box to paint, though we still need to take a walk in search of treasures to put inside.


meanwhile, jeremy has been having the time of his life in ireland and has been invited to come back again next year (with us!) he said it's beautiful and green and reminds him of Pennsylvania + sheep.

here in tennessee, we have our own little patches of leaf-covered green. i'll be happy for him to return to us tomorrow. we saved him some chocolate.

the day before...

it was a sweet, rare morning of sleeping in until 9:25. eli had maneuvered his way into bed with us at 5:30, nestled close and squeezed my neck tight with his tiny arm. he breathed into my face and commandeered my pillow. jeremy took him downstairs for a blueberry waffle sometime after 8. i am stocking up on rest to prepare for the next six days while J is away. i am confident i will need the energy.

so with good, strong coffee in hand, i stole five quiet minutes on the front porch. a perfect fall breeze scattered leaves across the pavement and collected them in clumps on the grass. i spent a long time inhaling deeply as i listened to piano notes coming from inside. i pictured two bodies of differing sizes perched side by side on the piano bench... ten fingers gliding along the keys while the other ten waited in eager observation. i love peaceful mornings.

lest you think my life is too norman rockwell, i will tell you that i spent yesterday's naptime cleaning cat urine from inside of a guitar case. [not every moment is fresh air and pianos and porch swings.] actually, i ripped out the entire bottom lining, tossed away the horrifically-pungent foam, cut a new insert using a pattern, wrapped it in a faux sheepskin fabric from one of sam's old dog beds, and attempted to reattach it. i still have a few tweaks to make but the effort reminded me why our cat now permanently resides in Texas with my mother.

after breakfast, we went to the Y, dropped eli in the nursery, and spent thirty blissful minutes in the whirlpool talking without interruption. then it was off to run errands: mini bottles of shaving cream and shampoo for Ireland, new shoes for eli's growing feet, and a trip to the bank.

my brain is overflowing with creative ideas that exceed the house's empty wall space. i want jeremy to come home to an improved space with a few surprises. realistically, i will probably only have time for one painting at most. we'll be busy.

eli and i have plans for:

the monkey's treehouse. playtime with emmy. playtime with ellis. storytime. lunch outings. trips to the park. making a treasure box. seeing mommy's friends. a house concert. pumpkin carving. church on sunday. and hopefully brushing eli's teeth.

though i am envious of this time he'll have in Ireland, i know it will be good for jeremy to lounge in the pub with a frothy pint before him, break out his pipe, read a good book, and see the rolling countryside. granted, he'll be working most of the time, but i'm hoping he'll have some time to rest too.

tomorrow he leaves...

a day at the farm.

photos from Gentry's Farm. Franklin, TN.

[more images here.]

a few scattered thoughts...

i anticipate more blogging time when Jeremy heads to Ireland next week for six days. usually we spend our evenings together, eating dinner after Eli's tucked in bed, and then watching a movie or something on tv. during my lonesome evenings while he's away, i plan to work on house projects, art projects, spend time with friends, and document my week's events by blogging. the days will be filled with embracing autumn, Eli and me together. i can't wait for that... (though i do wish i was going to Ireland too!)

until then, there will be a full weekend following a full week.

jeremy's cousin jason visited us from florida this week, and we enjoyed showing him around our little town, scooting into Nashville for a trip to Crema, a bit of thrifting to stock up on wooly things for Jeremy's trip, and watching a good film called The Visitor.

the main character in the film reminded me a lot of my dad. something about the way he looked, his mannerisms, and his conservative plainness met with a kid-like curiosity and layer of humor just beneath the surface. jeremy saw my dad in him too without my saying so.

this led to a good little sob-session on jeremy's chest as we settled down for bed. he told me i could wipe my nose on his t-shirt if i wanted to. it felt good to remember, and to be sad and also laugh over some memories, quietly in the dark on tuesday.

wednesday marked three years to the day since i have seen my dad, and though it gets easier with each season, i also hate that the passing time takes him farther and farther away.

today i took Eli to the park and just enjoyed being with him. lately he is the most fun person in the world to be around. tonight some friends are coming for dinner. tomorrow afternoon we're taking a family outing to a pumpkin patch and might find some leaf-covered ground to crunch through. fall is our favorite time of year, hands down.

on sunday we'll go to Kentucky again for church. jeremy has been doing music for a new church plant since last january. we miss our church here in Nashville and seeing many of those friends, but we are really enjoying being a part of this new church for the moment, and it's great to see how Jeremy's gifts are being used. the pastor also asked me to help dream up some aesthetic ideas since we are currently borrowing space in another church's bare little fellowship hall. i hope to lend some of my creative input where i can.

monday, we'll sneak away for a date night. our nights out have been less consistent lately, so when we have them i always have these grand notions of romantic dinners in quiet corners with wine and elegant plating. but at Margot Cafe for our anniversary last month, we almost fell asleep in our little plates of amuse bouche. [we suspect we might be getting old without realizing it.] this time, i suggested we just do something fun...so we're going to try a restaurant that's a little more lively. still with good food & conversation, of course. we're considering City House in Germantown, or Mad Donna's in our old neighborhood.

well readers, the chicken is soaking in its poaching bath, so before it gets too tough to shred, i better go make these enchiladas for our dinner guests.

enjoy your weekend. may there be good friends involved, and good leaf-crunching too.

harvest.

black & white night

Our friend Billy turned 40 29 this past weekend and his wife Charla threw him an amazing party at a best-loved spot in town, Crema. it was such a fun night to celebrate one of our favorite people.

a gathering of friends, an italian feast, good wine, and the richest chocolate cake lit up like a july 4th sky. after dinner, Billy's friends took turns paying tribute to his songwriting talent by each performing one of his songs. it was a back and forth of laughter and beauty. also, everyone wore black, except for the guest of honor.

such a memorable evening that made us thankful for the richness of friendships...

andy & jeremy admiring matthew's iphone.

b & c

jeremy playing "heaven knows"

jeremy & kevin

toast

the gifts

osengas

???

kevin mann, justin rosolino, mandy mann

charla, jeremy, billy, moi

what the day holds.

i awoke to big squeezes and hugs from little arms today. Eli's soft cheeks were cold from this brisk fall air that has seeped into our house through century old crevices. he tugged at me to come downstairs, but socks for both of us were needed first.

the house is still and quiet this morning; it feels like a cozy blanket. i hear the faintest chirps from an upstairs bedroom as Eli attempts his morning rest. sam the dog softly snores on his pale green blanket. it sounds like a motor humming in the far far distance.

there is sunlight everywhere beyond two big picture windows. the view is deceptive, appearing more like the last days of summer than the entrance of autumn. on our walk yesterday, we noticed patches of crumpled orange leaves on the ground. others spiraled downward as we walked among the trees.

i have yet to form a plan for today. fridays always feel like nebulous days to me...moving toward the limitless freedom of saturday. i feel like baking something. definitely a walk to the park is in order. croissants with strawberry jam. dragging out the first lightweight sweater of the season. and a birthday party tonight.

these quiet minutes are being broken up by louder calls from overhead so i'll go up and fetch my little sock-footed monkey now. there's some sort of adventure awaiting us i'm sure. we have to go and find it.

eli's good thursday.

(click to read...)

fall morning.

the scene:

jeremy in his man-chair, feet socked & propped, computer in lap.

me on the sofa (piled high with folded laundry stacks), feet upon the coffee table, computer in lap.

both of us have broken space-bars thanks to ten bitty fingers lured toward anything with buttons. mm, lured toward anything.

clothes dryer buzzes in the kitchen, two glasses of slowly-melting ice, a perfect seventy-four degrees in the living room without a/c...

eli sleeps upstairs. he did not nap today because we were out. somehow we spent the entire morning planning for the month ahead, then ventured out (all three) to stock up on bulk sizes of pesto sauce, chicken, olive oil, and magnolia-scented laundry soap. eli, seated happily in the cart, ate his way from aisle to aisle, munching on teriyaki meatball samples and tiny wedges of pb&j "uncrustables", all while gripping a fluffy tiger halloween costume he'd grabbed from a table.

next, to the regular grocery for produce, milk and bread. same list as usual except this time a handful of speckled red plums and a tough-skinned butternut squash made it into the cart. i am eager for a fall menu.

tonight we went down the street for a birthday party hosted by our friends who own the coffee shop. they live in a great grey bungalow with a sprawling front porch strung with lights and cozied up by benches and chairs draped with old quilts. around an open pit fire, we roasted hot dogs on long branches that had been carved into pointed skewers. i was so wishing i had needed long-sleeves. we left just as the marshmallows were being passed around. eli was entering that overly-tired point of delirium where he starts running energetically from place to place. 

it is good to be with friends in this little town, to be reminded that we have them here.

rarely are we lonely, but we can tend toward being homebodies if we're not careful. especially now that we have a comfy man-chair, cool-weather days approaching, and a stockpile of gourmet pesto.

garden sale...

just dropping in to share some exciting news in my little creative life.  i went by art & invention gallery today to pick up my paintings at the close of the Tomato Art Show, and it turns out i sold another one! two out of the three pieces i created have gone to new homes. i am so curious who bought them, and so appreciative. 

my feeling over this second sale is slightly bittersweet because tomato garden was Jeremy's and my favorite of the series and we were thinking of hanging it in our house. it's not one that can be recreated because i used original pages from an antique gardening book, but i am thankful someone out there will (hopefully) get some enjoyment from it.

i am definitely encouraged to continue my art work and to spend Eli's nap times painting away in my new upstairs studio.