Kate's Point of View

Ready to Make a Splash

On June 4, 2011

One of my favorite parts of summer is spending time at the pool. Wonder Boy and I are longtime members of our local YMCA, which we like because it is a little renegade so we don’t feel any need to look pretty while we work out. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a pool. Last summer we made a wonderful discovery … one we should have known. When you join the YMCA, you are a member of every. YMCA. In. the. country. That includes ones with pools!

So next weekend we will begin our weekly trek to the other side of town, where we don’t know anyone who might see us in our bathing suits, and enjoy time at the pool. And this pool? It has a waterslide!

Delights of Summer

By Kate

On June 1, 2011

In gardening

Dates be damned, summer has started. Any time of year featuring 90 to 100 degree weather cannot be called spring. Now that the monsoon season has ceased and the sweltering days if summer are underway, I spent the weekend digging into the dirt and getting the garden ready.

Wonder Boy and I tilled out garden and worked in lots of compost. In our raised bed I have planted beets, radishes and four varieties of green beans. We have two Topsy Turvies® with tomatoes hanging from our porch and they’re doing great. Next up is planting two types of hot peppers, squash and two kinds of kale. Then I think we’ll fill up all of our pots with tomato plants and peppers.

As awesome and chic as I think the backyard garden looks, the reality is that our backyard only gets sun in certain spots. (In fact, we’re contemplating giving up even trying to plant things in one large portion of our garden. Instead? Hammock! Not bad, right? Unfortunately, hammocks are a little more expensive than seeds so we need to save up.) To make up for this gardening redistribution, potted veggies are going to be out in full force along our driveway and the kale and squash are going to be in the front yard, I think.

All of this is in addition to the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) we joined this summer. I picked up the first shipment this weekend: kale, mint, garlic shoots, green onions and more.

Welcome, Summer. I’ve missed you.

Bathroom, the Saga Continues

By Kate

On May 26, 2011

In house

When Wonder Boy and I bought this house we knew we would have to do work on the bathrooms. They started to crumble almost immediately after moving in but we made do. Last July one of the showers broke. But that’s why you have two, right? So we continued to make do.

Then the upstairs bathroom started to wear down with increasing speed and we began looking for contractors. After a few false starts, work on the bathrooms started in January. Because of where the bathrooms are located and in order to minimize dust, things in the house are moved around quite a bit. We purchased most of the things for both bathrooms on our own and were seeing real progress on the upstairs room. Then, in March, right before we left for Ghana, we (and by we I mean Wonder Boy because I am a chicken and he has guts) fired the contractor. He was terrible. I’ll go into more detail on that later. I am scared to describe it now because I don’t want to jinx anything.

The thing I don’t want to jinx is how things are going with our new contractor. It’s May. Almost June. At best, our bathrooms will take six months to complete.

I’m already plotting the party I intend to have when they’re done. I am going to tell everyone to come to our house with full bladders. The current theme of the party is #1 and #2. That could change but I like it.

There are pluses to the craziness. While work is being done on the rooms we are shower-less. Again. Our workaround is to shower at the YMCA and going there without working out seems silly so Wonder Boy and I are getting in shape. Honestly, that’s the only plus I can thinking of because this mostly sucks. But in a few weeks, assuming no more hiccups, we will have mold-free, smooth-ceilinged bathrooms with dual flush toilets.

I cannot wait.

You Call them Goals. I call Them Bribes.

By Kate

On May 25, 2011

In photography

A new frozen yogurt place opened up in walking distance to my house. Wonder Boy and I hit it up three time the first week we knew of it. While it’s yogurt and not ice cream, therefore less fattening I rationalize, it’s still not something I should probably be eating three times a week.

And so we have created a bribe. You might refer to it as a goal but I don’t work well that way. I need to be bribed. We’re only a week and a half in but so far the bribe is working. The deal is that if we work out as planned, which is five days a week for me and seven for Wonder Boy, we get yogurt. Last Saturday we filled our dishes to the top and it was delicious. Last night all I wanted to do was go home and sleep, but I dutifully went to the gym because I know the treasure that awaits me.

Asie form yogurt, there are other perks. It’s nearly impossible to do a hard workout five to seven days a week. We volunteer one evening and weekends are always full of social engagements. So often the exercise is a good walk. Sometimes a many hours long walk. These walks are helping us learn our neighborhood better and appreciate beauty that we may have missed otherwise.

That last one is my favorite. It isn’t portraying any typical beauty like a flower or amazing architecture but what it symbolizes is so much better. It’s saying, “Summer is near! That yogurt? You can enjoy while sitting outside for months to come.”

Butterfly Cupcakes

By Kate

On May 24, 2011

In uncategorized

Last year I took a cake decorating class with my mom and sister. While I found the teacher to be a pain in the behind, I loved the class and what I learned. And yet, I barely ever use the skill. Over the last few days I was inspired to make some cupcakes base on a decoration my sister used. (She actually uses the skills we got in our class on a regular basis.)

These were super easy. I made cupcakes using a store-bought mix. I bought ready-made icing and dyed it yellow and iced the cupcakes like normal. I used white chocolate-covered pretzels as wings and they stayed on the cupcakes pretty easy with the icing. Finally, I made some buttercream frosting and dyed that blue. I piped it out in beads and that made the body of the butterfly. I think I could have used store-bought icing for the bodies as well but I couldn’t have added much dye because it thinned out the icing too much to keep its shape.

Kate's Point of View

The Product of Creative Frustration

Ready to Make a Splash

Delights of Summer

Bathroom, the Saga Continues

You Call them Goals. I call Them Bribes.

Butterfly Cupcakes

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