Oatmeal Pancakes

I made oatmeal pancakes this morning (before the aforedreamed nytimes and coffee session), basically this recipe. Except not really at all. All of the ingredients, except nutmeg and wheat germ because I didn't have any. And about 3-6 times as much oatmeal, but cooked, steel cut oats. They were good, real good and a nice way to avoid sweet breakfasts leaving me vaguely nauseated and hungry an hour later.

I am also experimenting withe making my own yogurt from here. And even looking forward to making my own laundry detergent when what we have runs out. Although I've always really liked making things I never considered I could make myself, I do have to give credit for many of these ideas to the Christian Mommy Blogs I've been frequented. I mean, I might not believe in Satan. Or hell. Or Jesus. Or "submission" to one's husband. Or letting God decide how many kids one has (since apparently God always chooses, like, 17)... but I sure can I get behind saving a buck or two!

I'll let you know how the yogurt, laundry detergent and possible birth-again turn out.

Late August

My friend Josie has a wonderful post about this, we're entering the 4th anniversary of Katrina. Like she says, it's funny (um, not ha-ha funny, come on now...) how much my life has changed because of Katrina, in these four years and for the better.

Four years ago I had been reading all I could read and watching all I could watch about what was happening while at work. I met Jota and David for Happy Hour, we spent every Tuesday that summer at some weird and mostly lame bar in Tribeca that had outdoor seating and strong $2 margaritas on Tuesdays (and neither of those things are weird or lame at all.) That was when information was minimal, I remember David saying 10,000 people were dead. Of course it ended up being both more and less severe than this. I remember so clearly trying to comprehend that through a couple of strong $2 margaritas.

Since then we've all three become lawyers. I spent 2.5 of those years working for and with students and people of the Gulf Coast. I found a passion, my passion, and I found out how hard I could work. I found new skills. I did good work. I met great people. As one of the SHN friends said, "my closest friends in law school don't go to my school." That friend, he is down there. So many of those people are working in the region, continuing the work we did together. The anniversary has made me think about how I am not. Earlier this summer, before Flagstaff was 100% for sure and when there was possibility I would be in New Orleans, another wonderful friends I know through this work sent me a text message, reassuring me, "you will do good and important work wherever you are." And so I am not disappointed, or even wrestling with it, although on this anniversary is feels strange to have gotten so close and come so far from that place. To have become part of a community and then gone somewhere else to start over.

And on the other hand. I am still in the place I am because, in some sense, of Katrina and that work. However one wants to portray it- I like: It took the spirit of New Orleans to open Charlie's eyes to how much he loved me. He probably prefers... no, this is my blog, we're going with my version. Everyone would agree, however, that our first trip to New Orleans changed our lives, we spent it interviewing workers on street corners together and having our minds blown. We got "together" a week later. So it is not at all disconnected from Katrina that we a) are a team now and b) came to Arizona so that one (and eventually both) of us can continue working for social justice-- working for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of the teeming shore. Continuing the work, in a way, in another place that America has broken its promise.

Unfortunately, the food can't compare.

7 Good Things (Note: "Seven Pounds" was not one of them)

1. Well, you know, first is probably the JOB I WAS OFFERED TODAY. I start Monday. It's hard to express what a relief it is. If I chose to be cynical, I could describe it as the same job I had before law school but for much less money. But I choose not to be cynical. In reality, it's about the best situation I could be in (like, considering I didn't take the AZ bar, have no contacts in town, etc.). I am really stoked. I will have health insurance and a paycheck and county benefits and hopefully a full week before I remember that working isn't always that awesome.

2. We have a Sunday-only subscription to the NY Times starting this Sunday. This was the first week of Charlie staying out on the reservation, so number 2a is that he'll come home tomorrow night, we'll celebrate #1 with dinner out and the bottle of champagne Karen & Drew passed along for just such an occasion. Yes we moved inexpensive champagne to AZ. What? So 2b will almost certainly be how nice it will be to relax with the Sunday Styles with my boy and my dog in a couple of days, with the knowledge the next day will start my return to contributing member of society.

3. We were able to join in on the end of a summer CSA. Four more weeks of this one, which gave us tomatoes, turnips, beets, salad greens, potatoes, onion, carrots and cucumber last week. I picked up this week's share this afternoon, which was essentially the same but green beans and radishes instead of tomatoes and carrots. Yum!

4. My car insurance is over $200 cheaper per year in Flagstaff over Madison. Like, I have the exact same policy with the exact same insurer. So that's an unexpected perk of the move.

5. This week marks the tenth anniversary of going to college. Monday night we were able to toast it, Erica and I discussed it on the phone last night. It's a good thing. Incidentally, my sister went to college on Monday, too. We can sing Circle of Life together later if you want.

6. I found the natural foods store in town. I had gotten kind of worried/weirded our that I couldn't find a co-op or Whole Foods-type place. Well, Flag has a New Frontiers. Whatever, I don't need to do all my shopping at places like that (nor can I afford it, even with the new dual incomes...) but I was feeling panicky without a place to buy bulk spices-type things. I had some eel rolls with brown rice from there for lunch today. Stamp of approval!

7. Since today was Dog Day... well actually not because of that at all, but because I had to time and the promise of future earnings, I got Aberdeen a fancy new brush, brushed him and washed him in pomegranate fru-la-la dog shampoo that is supposed to reduce shedding. He hated the whole thing. Lucky for him in between the brushing and the washing we went on a walk on one of the nearby trails, where he can be off-leash and explore all the southwestern creepy crawlys he wants. Since his actual Dog Day was more bad than good, I thought I'd honor my constant companion by sharing his funniness. I had kind of gotten used to it and don't think it's so weird anymore, until the Monday visitors saw it and thought it was very funny.

Ok, so this is like what he does. Like immediately after I make the bed.



"Hey, Aberdeen... Aberdeen... You want to go outside?"



.....



He's magical.

So that's all the good things I can think of, there's a lot. Oh, perhaps the most critical of all, everything on clearance at Old Navy is another 50% off. So you can go, and like me, get 3 work-appropriate top-sweater things for $20. And then, like me, you'll be very thrifty as well as very lucky.

It's National Dog Day, apparently.

Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy died. When they do retrospectives on him, the gist is: everything good, you owe to Ted Kennedy. It makes me very sad. And we've reached the real end of the real "greatest generation" in American history. It's been clear, he and his family have been in a bad place for a long time and so for them I am perhaps a little grateful the hard time has ended... but for America... we're sunk! We'll never get a man so senior, so stately and so ready to rip shit up. I have and had a tremendous amount of respect for this man, he is irreplaceable. I am not sure how often I will be able to say that. What a baby brother made good! So, Teddie, please keep ripping shit up wherever you are, we'll miss you.

Friends

I was very lucky yesterday and today to be a stop on the Great Erin/s and Maggie Road Trip of 2009. I would have been thrilled to host these friends in Madison, where I had friends, but it was especially nice to have guests in this new home where (since Charlie is currently on the Rez, as he will be every week) I know not a single other person. Except the garbage guy, Patrick. Oh, and the CSA lady, Karna. But really, I have not even a real acquaintance here... so friends at all was wonderful. And what was even more wonderful, was that Maggie turned in her dissertation, from my house, this morning. Dr. McConnell! What followed was the best. After a round of high-fives, we went to town and drank bloody marys in the "Coffee and Spirits" shop of a circa 1927 Route 66 motel. So first, I am thrilled to be with people who delight in getting bloody marys at noon on a Tuesday. And we're sitting there, talking about both the common experience of events and people at college, in Brooklyn and beyond. We asked another customer, a middle-aged Chicos-shopping woman to take our picture. She asked where we were visiting from. A flood of un/necessary answers came out, "L.A., well, Pasadena, well, Cambridge... and Oregon and well, I just moved here... and..." Erin offered that Maggie just completed her Ph.D and I just finished a J.D. "Smart women!" the photographer said. And we followed up with, "and she's studying architecture at Harvard and she's getting an MBA and... and... and." She was pleased and overwhelmed. And I was so happy to be with, for lack of a better term, what I consider "Wesleyan-caliber" friends. It's really what I associate with people I know from that place. These are friends earning advanced degrees and doing amazing things who don't think twice about drinking strong bloody marys with you on a Tuesday morning, to celebrate one person's success and us all being together.

AZ Update

And gosh, look, a mere 9 days later, we live in Arizona and finally have internet and phone service. Since our arrival almost a week ago, it's been a blur of unpacking and assembling and buying things.
Some things that have happened so far:
~We went to the Grand Canyon at the same time as the Obamas.

That's Barack and Sasha. I swear.

~People are really nice here. Like, really, really nice. I never really bought the midwest "nice," it usually felt phony and/or intrusive to me. But here, oh my goodness. The garbage driver came and knocked on the door to introduce himself the first time he came by. Checking for Vinho Verde at a Phoenix Trader Joe's turned into a conversation about the TJ's guy's beard growth for when he plays Santa. They're not like those conversations where you're shrinking away trying to get the person to stop talking, either. Not yet, anyway.

~The altitude is serious. Aberdeen wimps out of walks. I was looking online today for a bike ride route that wasn't called a "climb." A climb of, you know, like 2000 feet? What-ever.

~Our house has a hummingbird feeder and we get lots. I'll try to take a picture to show you. We also can see an unbelievable number of stars from the deck.

~I have an interview on Monday. I am trying not to get hopes too high, but have also now seen in real life that staying home alone for 4 days/week and not knowing one single person... well... the charm will wear off. If you can call it charm...

~Tonight we're celebrating C's first day of work and having a date where we'll eat sushi. Now that's charming!

~Also, now, with about 20 seconds of looking I can find 4-5 grey hairs. I think it'll be a good look for me... but geesh, how stressful was that move?

We move tomorrow!

I want my money back. For both the sticker and the degree, please.

This is John

He's singing "money for nothing (chicks for free)" in live band
karaoke and is one of the best things I've seen in awhile.

You Might be Moving if...

You peel and lay the strings from a string cheese across a freezer-burned boca burger, microwave it and call it lunch.

I'll save you the picture I took, it's gross. Lunch was saved by Cholula and sliced tomato from the "farm."

On Money

Ok, so here's the thing... we're not poor. But I am on foodstamps, things are about as tight as I remember them being. This is not a poor poor me post. But one about the things I've noticed while trying to stretch a dollar. Well, for one, today I made almost $140 selling 4 graphing calculators on ebay, as well as the bluetooth headset that came free with Charlie's cell phone. Not bad. But last week we were spending foodstamps at the Co-op and inquired about what happens when we move away. We were on some annual membership payment plan, so just wanted to make sure we cancelled it out, didn't end up owing them $7/yr for the next ten years or something. For some reason, they told us they owe us $13. When we quit, we can either cash that out or donate it to the co-op. Riding home in the car, Charlie said he could guess what I wanted to do with the $13. "Donate it...." I said. He was surprised, I don't think because he disagreed, but more because I had been listing calculators on ebay earlier that day.
Similarly, the other week I went to Planned Parenthood for my free exam and birth control, also courtesy of the state of Wisconsin. At the end of the visit, they asked me to take an envelope and make a donation to PP if I was able. So I went home, thought about how when I had insurance I paid $15/month co-pay and they had just given me 3 months worth for free... so wrote them a check for $30. Everybody wins, right?
So here's the thing. Just like this isn't supposed to be a poor me post, it also isn't supposed to be about how awesome I am. I mean, I am pretty awesome but... I went to law with a number of people who, well, at least anticipated making $160,000+ per year. There were some of these people who refused to participate in the "pledge-a-day" and donate one day's salary to fund public interest student summer stipends. There are some of these people who will not donate to anything until their student loans are paid off.
My point is that I thought this was gross when I had a student's income. Now I think it's totally sick. I mean, ethics don't (or shouldn't) change depending on how much money you have. Plus, this time has really emphasized to me what I have always believed- except for in very extreme cases, whether someone can "afford" something or not is based on priorties. I think the right thing to do is to pay what seems fair to Planned Parenthood and scrimp in that many other ways in other parts of life. I mean, JHC, we're driving to Milwaukee tonight to eat delicious pizza for dinner. Obviously we feel there are some things we can spend $30 on. I just think more than ever there needs to be a little more calling people out on what "afford" really means.

And if it really came down to it? This pizza might be worth getting pregnant for. Just kidding. Kind of.

More Madison

Moving

It sucks. We know this. There are about 47 things that could go
terribly wrong, but even if they don't, it's still a hassle. On the
radio today they said Americans move on average every 3.5 years. I
haven't lived somewhere that long since high school. Or possibly ever
if you count the broken home. I've been sticking in the same place for
why feels like longer lately, which is nice. But when I really think
about it, it means moving every 2 years instead of 4 months. An
improvement. I'm still dragging the average down. The drop-dead date
is August 13, that's when the western adventure begins. Apparently
now we can't move in until August 17... but lucky for us we've got two eager
beaver young lawyers among us, one who just took the AZ bar.
We, like, knew the statute cites when negotiating where the landlord was going
to put us up for those two days we thought we'd be living there.

I have fewer clothes than I used to. But jesus there are like two full
storage containers
of bags. You know, purses, backpacks, tote bags... whatevs.

I am excited to have some space for all my crap. This apartment has
never really felt clean
or orderly because there has always been too much shit for the size of it.

The answer? No, not get rid of the shit, silly! Pack it up and move it
1300 miles to a bigger house, duh!!!!!

Madison

Things I'll miss...

Packing

Sometimes in packing you find cool stuff. Like, um, yesterday when
Charlie found $1k state tax refund check. Today I found this box,
overflowing with international travel memories.

Have I Ever Mentioned We Live So Close to a Lake?

Which looks far more pastoral here than in reality. Aberdeen and I
went walking by it this morning.

Frustrated, Incorporated.

What I don't like about how I feel lately is how it all feels very tenuous. We got that house... elation! Came home from the Porkies to learn I don't qualify for Obama's cheapo COBRA... tragedy. (Also, btw totally unfair to say that no longer being able to do a job because I graduated was a voluntary loss of employment. I would have totes kept working at the FJRC for $1k/month and health insurance as long as they'd have me...) I also realized tonight that people should be careful. Like maybe a status message on Facebook about how you're looking through your employee benefits package stings a bit more than you'd intended to a girl who has to call the cardiologist's office tomorrow and cancel her appointment because she is no longer insured. I hope I haven't made someone else have that feeling, I am afraid I probably have.

We started packing to move. It's hot and it sucks. There's almost too much time, we'll be able to do a great job of stretching this misery out for a week to ten days. I got paid by the public defenders, which means I have now appeared in court and been paid for it, which really keeps me in the minority of my peers for now... I'll probably be clinging to that as a shriveled old unemployed lady... I coulda been a contender!

I want a job partially so we can get more stuff! We'll make it on Charlie's... but it will suck. And I have needs. Like flying places and a queen-sized bed and patio furniture and possibly even a Wii, ok?