Prompt: Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?
We became a more integral part of our neighborhood this year, going to national night out, and a party thrown by one of our neighbors. We also had some friends move into our neighborhood. I have a stronger sense of physical community than I've had in a long time.
I hope to continue to build on that community. My neighborhood is a mix of old and young, and definitely starting to skew towards the younger end of things. I see a willingness of a lot of my neighbors to make an effort to build on what we've already started. It often feels like this gets neglected in the modern age - a sense of neighborhood community. A lot of people just get home from work, go into their houses, not to emerge till the next day. Winter in Minneapolis does not help this, unfortunately.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Reverb 10 - Day 6 - Make
Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?
I'm getting a little behind on these because of work/home requirements.
I made Thanksgiving dinner for my family this year. We made turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy. We made everything from scratch. I'm trying to do more scratch cooking lately because it's better for you and really not that hard. For example, while being a buyer of cranberry in the past, I found it amazingly easy to make the sauce with fresh cranberries. So easy that I wonder why the canned stuff even exists.
We had a 11 pound turkey for 6 people. We used a citrus brine which we started the night before. It was our second attempt at doing a brine and it worked quite well, the only thing I would have done differently is thawed the frozen turkey a little bit more before we put it in the brine (it was straight out of the freezer). We stuffed it with vegetables in lieu of traditional stuffing.
I made a traditional cranberry sauce and stuffing, which both turned out very well (I halved the stuffing recipe but forgot to halve the salt so it was a tidge salty, though nobody complained to my face).
As far as what I aspire to make, I aspire to be a better cook/chef in the kitchen. I've got a lot of the basics down, but I'd like to improve my knife skills and maybe learn a few more basic things. I also want to hang out with my food inclined friends while they cook more in 2011, if I'm able to.
I'm getting a little behind on these because of work/home requirements.
I made Thanksgiving dinner for my family this year. We made turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy. We made everything from scratch. I'm trying to do more scratch cooking lately because it's better for you and really not that hard. For example, while being a buyer of cranberry in the past, I found it amazingly easy to make the sauce with fresh cranberries. So easy that I wonder why the canned stuff even exists.
We had a 11 pound turkey for 6 people. We used a citrus brine which we started the night before. It was our second attempt at doing a brine and it worked quite well, the only thing I would have done differently is thawed the frozen turkey a little bit more before we put it in the brine (it was straight out of the freezer). We stuffed it with vegetables in lieu of traditional stuffing.
I made a traditional cranberry sauce and stuffing, which both turned out very well (I halved the stuffing recipe but forgot to halve the salt so it was a tidge salty, though nobody complained to my face).
As far as what I aspire to make, I aspire to be a better cook/chef in the kitchen. I've got a lot of the basics down, but I'd like to improve my knife skills and maybe learn a few more basic things. I also want to hang out with my food inclined friends while they cook more in 2011, if I'm able to.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Reverb 10 - Day 5 - Let Go
December 5 – Let Go.
What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?
(Author: Alice Bradley)
Sleep.
I told you a lot of these were going to be baby related. I used to be a sound sleeper who needed a lot of sleep. I always pushed getting up in the morning during the week and was not typically an early riser on the weekend either (10-11am was typical).
My sleep habits started to change while Katie was pregnant. There were many nights where I'd fall asleep on the couch early in the evening, go to bed, and a few hours later be wide awake. (usually around midnight or 1, sometimes later). I think this was my body preparing me for a baby, somehow. Usually a quick dose of something off the TiVo would take care of it and I'd go back to bed. (I just did this last night for the first time in a while - it drives Katie nuts - she doesn't sleep as well when I'm not in bed with her.
Since Abby was born I can count on two hands the number of times I've slept in on the weekend past about 8am. Probably about 6 or 7. I'm often on wake up early duty on the weekends, because I can survive on less sleep than my wife generally needs. Plus, I enjoy mornings with Abby in the living room, drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, and listening to podcasts.
Sleep is over-rated anyway. Though I do enjoy a nice 10 hour jaunt every once in a while.
What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?
(Author: Alice Bradley)
Sleep.
I told you a lot of these were going to be baby related. I used to be a sound sleeper who needed a lot of sleep. I always pushed getting up in the morning during the week and was not typically an early riser on the weekend either (10-11am was typical).
My sleep habits started to change while Katie was pregnant. There were many nights where I'd fall asleep on the couch early in the evening, go to bed, and a few hours later be wide awake. (usually around midnight or 1, sometimes later). I think this was my body preparing me for a baby, somehow. Usually a quick dose of something off the TiVo would take care of it and I'd go back to bed. (I just did this last night for the first time in a while - it drives Katie nuts - she doesn't sleep as well when I'm not in bed with her.
Since Abby was born I can count on two hands the number of times I've slept in on the weekend past about 8am. Probably about 6 or 7. I'm often on wake up early duty on the weekends, because I can survive on less sleep than my wife generally needs. Plus, I enjoy mornings with Abby in the living room, drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, and listening to podcasts.
Sleep is over-rated anyway. Though I do enjoy a nice 10 hour jaunt every once in a while.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Reverb 10 - Day 4 - Wonder
December 4 – Wonder.
How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year?
(Author: Jeffrey Davis)
The first prompt I haven't really liked that much.
I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but most of the sense of wonder (when I had it, I feel like I could improve on this, in all honesty) was looking at the world through the eyes of my daughter. To see her, from a very early age, explorer the world around her and try to figure out how things work is really an amazing thing.
That's all I really have to say about this topic.
How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year?
(Author: Jeffrey Davis)
The first prompt I haven't really liked that much.
I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but most of the sense of wonder (when I had it, I feel like I could improve on this, in all honesty) was looking at the world through the eyes of my daughter. To see her, from a very early age, explorer the world around her and try to figure out how things work is really an amazing thing.
That's all I really have to say about this topic.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Reverb 10 - Day 3 - Moment
December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)
I have a feeling a number of these entries are going to be about my daughter, the first one was, and this one will be too. I am going to talk about the moment during and right after my daughter was born.
Abigail was born inside of an operating room in the maternity ward at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in St Louis Park. My wife Katie was prepped and ready to go for a c-section due to Abby being breech. I came in when they were ready to go. I'm squeamish in hospital settings, especially when blood is involved. There was a large white sheet covering so all I could see was Katie's head. Anesthesiology assistant told me not to look above the sheets. Later learned that Katie told her to say that, and I could have looked. Probably good that I didn't. It didn't take long once I was in the room. Doctor went in and baby came out. Katie had a look of sheer terror on her face when they were going in and I was doing my best to be supportive. The doctor held Abby up above the sheet, a little bit of blood dripped onto the sheet below Katie's head. The sterile smell of the room surrounds us as we smiled at each other. Abby was immediately whisked away to be cleaned off and checked up and I went with her while they sewed Katie back up.
Into the next room. I'm staring at my beautiful baby girl under the heat lamps while two nurses attend to her, getting the stuff out of her nose and airways, cleaning up her skin, and having her do a bit of light but still piercing cry. The vocals work and we can breathe! Crying! A very joyous sound on a baby just exiting the womb. Her eyes still haven't opened yet. One of the nurses asks me if I want to trim the cord, and if I want a picture. It's then that I realize that no pictures have been taken yet. Abby's first picture is taken of me trimming the cord. The nurses measure her and weigh her, and I put my first diaper on her (literally never having done so before, I needed a little primer from the nurse). This has happened, this is real, and its just me and her right now. Been waiting months and months for this (By the way, I'm getting teary just writing this now, 7 months later).
The camera comes out again and I shoot a video while the nurses are cleaning up, and her eyes open while I'm doing that, for the first time. I'm probably the first (fuzzy) thing my daughter ever saw. I'll always have that, I suppose (wish it would've been my wife). That video was shown multiple times to my wife afterward, and I'm proud that I captured her first "eyes open" moment.
We're whisked away to the baby nursery after a few more minutes - I'm under strict wife orders to stay with Abigail until she can be re-united with her mother. More tests. First sign that there might be troubles pop up - her pulse-ox is slightly low and her blood sugar levels are low as well. Katie and I were very gung ho about breastfeeding, but the nurses are already suggesting bottle feeding with formula to get her sugar levels back up. I don't know how to handle that and everything gets a little crazy inside my head while I try to figure this out. People are coming and going all around me in the typical zoo that a mid-day baby nursery at a major hospital tends to be. One of the nurses can sense that I'm struggling with this and suggests that I go consult Katie, who's now back in a recovery room. I do that, but she's still too out of it to really have much to say about it but gives the ok to supplement.
We try cup feeding since I didn't want to use the bottle - I had heard so many things about nipple confusion and staying away from the bottle. That seems to work, though this little baby in my arms barely knows what to do with it. Nurses check the pulse-ox again and find it's still low and decide to take her to the intensive care nursery. They are careful to tell me it's just a pre-caution and that she'll get better care there. It's right down the hall. I go back to tell Katie this and by that time, her dad has arrived, very anxious to see his new granddaughter. We went back to intensive care. It's now been some length of time since she was born, and Katie still hasn't held her yet.
Finally, all-clear happens and Katie is reunited with Abby. Things settle in and we get used to life as parents.
I'll never, ever forget this day.
I have a feeling a number of these entries are going to be about my daughter, the first one was, and this one will be too. I am going to talk about the moment during and right after my daughter was born.
Abigail was born inside of an operating room in the maternity ward at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in St Louis Park. My wife Katie was prepped and ready to go for a c-section due to Abby being breech. I came in when they were ready to go. I'm squeamish in hospital settings, especially when blood is involved. There was a large white sheet covering so all I could see was Katie's head. Anesthesiology assistant told me not to look above the sheets. Later learned that Katie told her to say that, and I could have looked. Probably good that I didn't. It didn't take long once I was in the room. Doctor went in and baby came out. Katie had a look of sheer terror on her face when they were going in and I was doing my best to be supportive. The doctor held Abby up above the sheet, a little bit of blood dripped onto the sheet below Katie's head. The sterile smell of the room surrounds us as we smiled at each other. Abby was immediately whisked away to be cleaned off and checked up and I went with her while they sewed Katie back up.
Into the next room. I'm staring at my beautiful baby girl under the heat lamps while two nurses attend to her, getting the stuff out of her nose and airways, cleaning up her skin, and having her do a bit of light but still piercing cry. The vocals work and we can breathe! Crying! A very joyous sound on a baby just exiting the womb. Her eyes still haven't opened yet. One of the nurses asks me if I want to trim the cord, and if I want a picture. It's then that I realize that no pictures have been taken yet. Abby's first picture is taken of me trimming the cord. The nurses measure her and weigh her, and I put my first diaper on her (literally never having done so before, I needed a little primer from the nurse). This has happened, this is real, and its just me and her right now. Been waiting months and months for this (By the way, I'm getting teary just writing this now, 7 months later).
The camera comes out again and I shoot a video while the nurses are cleaning up, and her eyes open while I'm doing that, for the first time. I'm probably the first (fuzzy) thing my daughter ever saw. I'll always have that, I suppose (wish it would've been my wife). That video was shown multiple times to my wife afterward, and I'm proud that I captured her first "eyes open" moment.
We're whisked away to the baby nursery after a few more minutes - I'm under strict wife orders to stay with Abigail until she can be re-united with her mother. More tests. First sign that there might be troubles pop up - her pulse-ox is slightly low and her blood sugar levels are low as well. Katie and I were very gung ho about breastfeeding, but the nurses are already suggesting bottle feeding with formula to get her sugar levels back up. I don't know how to handle that and everything gets a little crazy inside my head while I try to figure this out. People are coming and going all around me in the typical zoo that a mid-day baby nursery at a major hospital tends to be. One of the nurses can sense that I'm struggling with this and suggests that I go consult Katie, who's now back in a recovery room. I do that, but she's still too out of it to really have much to say about it but gives the ok to supplement.
We try cup feeding since I didn't want to use the bottle - I had heard so many things about nipple confusion and staying away from the bottle. That seems to work, though this little baby in my arms barely knows what to do with it. Nurses check the pulse-ox again and find it's still low and decide to take her to the intensive care nursery. They are careful to tell me it's just a pre-caution and that she'll get better care there. It's right down the hall. I go back to tell Katie this and by that time, her dad has arrived, very anxious to see his new granddaughter. We went back to intensive care. It's now been some length of time since she was born, and Katie still hasn't held her yet.
Finally, all-clear happens and Katie is reunited with Abby. Things settle in and we get used to life as parents.
I'll never, ever forget this day.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Reverb 10 - Day 2 - Writing
December 2 Writing.
What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?
(Author: Leo Babauta)
The question for me should probably be "What don't I do?" I have many habits that contribute to not writing as often as I'd like to. I used to be a more prolific writer in various forums around the internet, mostly in my personal blog. I've never been much of a public blogger. Now, it's often an afterthought, or really only utilized when I feel particularly strongly about something. This is due to a number of factors, which I explain below.
What can I do to eliminate?
Avoid distractions - television, Twitter, Facebook, other mindless activities. While I do enjoy all of these things, they get in the way of writing, sometimes to the detriment of my sanity (I subscribe to the theory that writing as therapy). Twitter is very addictive, but it can really be at the detriment of the longer form. 140 characters is good for a lot of things, but it's also not good for a lot of things.
Stop procrastinating - I am a gigantic procrastinator in a lot of things I do, both at work and at home. This causes way more time to be taken on certain activities then really should be.
Stay focused - environmental degradation (ED) is what I call what has happened to us to just about all of us on a daily basis. Beeping mobile devices, blaring televisions, blinking computer screens, ringing telephones. These are all detractors. I want to take several hours a week with as little ED as possible to read, write, and reflect. It's very important. It's hard to do when you're trying to blog, because all of that stuff is right there on the computer as you are writing.
What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?
(Author: Leo Babauta)
The question for me should probably be "What don't I do?" I have many habits that contribute to not writing as often as I'd like to. I used to be a more prolific writer in various forums around the internet, mostly in my personal blog. I've never been much of a public blogger. Now, it's often an afterthought, or really only utilized when I feel particularly strongly about something. This is due to a number of factors, which I explain below.
What can I do to eliminate?
Avoid distractions - television, Twitter, Facebook, other mindless activities. While I do enjoy all of these things, they get in the way of writing, sometimes to the detriment of my sanity (I subscribe to the theory that writing as therapy). Twitter is very addictive, but it can really be at the detriment of the longer form. 140 characters is good for a lot of things, but it's also not good for a lot of things.
Stop procrastinating - I am a gigantic procrastinator in a lot of things I do, both at work and at home. This causes way more time to be taken on certain activities then really should be.
Stay focused - environmental degradation (ED) is what I call what has happened to us to just about all of us on a daily basis. Beeping mobile devices, blaring televisions, blinking computer screens, ringing telephones. These are all detractors. I want to take several hours a week with as little ED as possible to read, write, and reflect. It's very important. It's hard to do when you're trying to blog, because all of that stuff is right there on the computer as you are writing.
Reverb 10 - Day 1 - One Word
Wendy linked to this Reverb10 thing and I decided that in an effort to blog more often, I was going to do it. I'm a day behind, so I'll do 2 today. Here we go:
December 1 One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?
(Author: Gwen Bell)
Life.
The birth of my daughter Abigail in April dominated my year. There were a lot of other things that happened, but bringing a new life into this world and the growth that accompanies it was the highlight of my 2010. It changed a lot of things about my perspective on the world, including putting the relative importance of many things into perspective. I thought she'd be the center of my world before she was born, and she was even stronger than I could have possibly imagined. Nary a bad day at work doesn't also come with the joy of returning home to see Abby's smiling face, and that makes everything better.
For 2011, I'd like the word to be "Growth". I'd like to grow more as a person, as a father, as a husband and as a friend. I'd like to put myself out there more often, take more risks in my life, and try to maintain a positive attitude, avoiding the pitfalls of negativity that so often grasp at me. I'd like to achieve more solid growth in my career and not feel like I'm spinning my tires half the time.
December 1 One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?
(Author: Gwen Bell)
Life.
The birth of my daughter Abigail in April dominated my year. There were a lot of other things that happened, but bringing a new life into this world and the growth that accompanies it was the highlight of my 2010. It changed a lot of things about my perspective on the world, including putting the relative importance of many things into perspective. I thought she'd be the center of my world before she was born, and she was even stronger than I could have possibly imagined. Nary a bad day at work doesn't also come with the joy of returning home to see Abby's smiling face, and that makes everything better.
For 2011, I'd like the word to be "Growth". I'd like to grow more as a person, as a father, as a husband and as a friend. I'd like to put myself out there more often, take more risks in my life, and try to maintain a positive attitude, avoiding the pitfalls of negativity that so often grasp at me. I'd like to achieve more solid growth in my career and not feel like I'm spinning my tires half the time.
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