Living in Suburbia

I love our neighborhood. We have a park that is perfect for running, rollerblading, walking, playing sports, or climbing on the jungle gym. We are an easy mile walk to Main Street. The houses are not huge, but not too close together, either.

Our neighborhood is also very attractive to all sorts of door-to-door people. We get:

• Salesmen: lawn care, pest control, home improvement, books, magazines, and (of course) Girl Scout cookies and Boy Scout hoagie sales. The last two don't bother us as long as we know the kids.
• Religious groups traveling in pairs: Jehovah Witnesses to Baptists, often on Sunday mornings when the heathens are home. What they don't know, is we often go to an evening worship service.
• Political Groups: the kind that won't leave any literature behind unless you first give them a donation and sign their forms. Hmm...
• Entrepreneurs: people who can identify a specific need and have a short term solution -- ideally one that does not cost us anything.

Last week we had one of the latter people knock on our door. A high school-aged kid, roaming around the neighborhood with his dad and a pick up truck saw our old treadmill next to the trash. He asked if he could have it for scrap metal. Since we had been planning on taking said treadmill to the scrap metal heap that weekend, we were glad to give him that PLUS the pile we had been collecting in the garage.

They were thrilled to have metal to add to their collection. We were thrilled to have it out of our house. The last time I explored collecting money for our scrap metal I was told I needed 100 pounds of it. Instead, I often give it to the last person in line. This saved me the drive to Trenton.

A win-win for everyone -- including Mother Earth.

Interfaith Worship

It is no secret we tend to visit a lot of different houses of worship during the year.Christmas time alone it is not uncommon for us to attend worship in four different churches. Often when we go on vacation we'll attend a local worship service. Sometimes these lead to anecdotal stories (such as the time we stopped by the Crystal Cathedral and their way of trying to lure us to worship with them was by telling us they seat visitors in the area most likely to appear on TV; we did not return for worship).

We have attended numerous services at St. Ann's Church, and will continue to at least until Ashley's graduation.

Of course we do lean towards Presbyterian services. We are members at Lawrence Road Presbyterian Church, but tend to worship Sunday evenings at the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville's 5 PM service called WiNK: Worship in a New Key. I could write much about this service, perhaps this deserves its own blog post. The "key" for me is that while each service focuses on the same scriptures I have heard preached on many times (especially around Christmas and Easter), worship leaders always manage to put a new perspective on it so it feels fresh. That is hard to do. I'm the lay person on the committee for this service. One of the unspoken goals is to have different people preach. One of my personal goals is to spread word about this service to worship leaders who need a chance to sit down and worship in order to feel rejuvenated. They also do an amazing job with finding area musicians to lead the worship, often drawing from members of the congregation. They even alternate between three different hymnals to really shake up the experience. Often the pastor will ask the congregation a question invoking the feel of a bible study to worship.

Unfortunately WiNK is on hiatus from June through September. They will start up again in October with fresh ideas.

With WiNK on break, this was the perfect weekend to try a different worship experience. As luck would have it, this was also the weekend that Temple Micah meets for the month. Temple Micah? That doesn't sound very Presbyterian? Well, it isn't.

According to their website, Temple Micah is:

 an unaffiliated, egalitarian congregation in Lawrenceville, New Jersey serving the Jewish community of Central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania since 1969. Temple Micah’s mission is to provide a warm and comfortable atmosphere where all individuals and their families and friends are welcome and can realize their own connection to Judaism, without financial burden.

We met their rabbi last November when Temple Micah hosted Lawrenceville's Interfaith Thanksgiving service. Rabbi Vicki is warm and inviting. When I asked about attending one of their worship services she was most encouraging. In fact, she said she likes to attend worship services of different faiths, so I invited her to WiNK, which she has yet to attend.

Temple Micah meets once a month in the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville. Okay, that helps with the comfort zone right there -- we already know our way around that building. It still took a while before their meeting schedule meshed with our complicated schedule. Yesterday they highlighted a Klezmer band. This was a huge draw as they moved their service from the chapel to the sanctuary to accommodate everyone.

When we walked in were handed a prayer book. Don's version of the book was in the Hebrew style -- from what us Westerners would say from back to front. Ashley and I came in later and were handed Western version of the same book (from from to back). Same page numbers, but on opposite pages. The books had words in Hebrew letters, Hebrew pronunciations, and English translations. 

Rabbi Vicki was great at explaining things to the congregation (is that the right term?) at each transition. The music was their normal prayers set to Klezmer-style music. Not nearly as much standing and sitting as in a Presbyterian service, but this had the added twists of facing the door to welcome the Sabbath bride and facing East (I don't remember why). 

In many ways, this service reminded me of a regular WiNK service -- the traditional words of scripture were made fresh, the non-traditional worship music added a spark of life, the building was the same and the congregation was very warm and inviting. There were some notable differences -- people actually danced in the aisle (though i suspect that only happened because the Klezmer band was that good), the lack of Jesus (of course), and (again, of course) the addition of Hebrew. 

The language barrier was a bit of a challenge. If we focused on the pronunciation of the words, we lost the meaning. If we read the meaning to ourselves, we lost speaking our faith with other believers. I thought about how the Catholic church only had services in Latin. A former co-worker loved this tradition because it meant she (who understood Latin) could worship anywhere in the world and always understand the priest. In the 1960s that changed to preaching in the language of the people, which might mean Polish in the Polish-section of Trenton, or Italian, or English. There are some who still offer mass in Latin. 

Back to Temple Micah. I wonder if there is a movement to change from worshipping in Hebrew to worshipping in the local language. What would be the pros and cons of such a move? Yes, it would be more inclusive, but it would further sever ties with Israel. Are there any Jewish services doing this now? 

I would feel comfortable enough discussing this with Rabbi Vicki, but last night was not the night. After worship we gathered for snacks. When we finally tore ourselves away (did I mention how friendly everyone was -- we were surprised how many people we knew from other parts of our lives) I was shocked to see over 2 hours had passed. Nothing felt long, but it was 9:30.

Speaking of the congregation, the trickiest question I had to answer was "do you worship here?" The technical answer is "yes" because we worship there on Sunday nights with WiNK, but the implied answer was "no" because we are not Jewish and do not worship with Temple Micah. People were still welcoming even after explaining we were not Jewish. Reminded me of times we have visited churches out of state and people come up to greet us, though in those case they fade away once we say we are not planning on moving close enough to worship there on a regular basis.

Summer is here. Time to explore new places and ways to worship and glorify God.

A modern translation 

of Psalm 150:

 

Hallelujah!

 

Praise God in God's sanctuary;

Praise God in the world around us.

Praise our Source of Life for mighty acts;

Praise the Divine presence 

for being a part of our life's greatness.

Praise with blasts of horn;

Praise with harp and lyre.

Praise with timbrel and dance;

Praise with lute and pipe.

Praise with resounding cymbals;

Praise with loud-clashing cymbals.

 

Let all that breathes 

praise that which is divine in our lives.

 

Hallelujah!

Trash Walk

Most mornings after the bus picks up Ashley behind our house, I take a 3/4 mile stroll through the neighborhood and take the long way back to our house. Most mornings I see litter (especially along Bergen Street where the backs of the houses face the street instead of the fronts). Most mornings I tell myself to bring a bag with me to clean up the litter.

Today was the day I finally remembered to bring that bag.

Part of me felt guilty carrying a single-use plastic bag with me, after all I've really been trying to cut down on our collection. This was particularly true as I passed a fellow committee member who has been much more successful with his efforts to ban plastic from his life than I ever will be.

Other part of me, the part that was happy to be doing something nice for the neighborhood won out. The overall pile was not very big, but on Monday when I take the same walk, I'll be happy to not see the same old trash AGAIN.

If we each do something small, together we can save the planet.

Big Red Race

The Big Red Race held on May 5th on the Lawrenceville School campus will always hold a special place in my heart. In 2010 it was my first 5K. I ran the race with Jean at the lightning pace of over 15 minutes a mile (47:07). Four races later and my time is down to an 11:15 mile (34:58). 

The course is very scenic and extremely flat. It is a community event, so we tend to know people running the course. This year we saw Emily and her dad, but not the usual neighbors. This year the Broad Street 10-miler was on the same day, so I suspect some our or friends were there instead.

This year, rather than running with Jean (who has since moved), Don signed up to run the race "with" me. "Don, run?" you say. Isn't he a cyclist. Well, yes. I asked him to do the Superhero race with me on May 19 as a relay team (I'll run the 6.7 mile loop, he'll do the 6.4 mile loop -- stay tuned for that blog post). Within a quarter of a mile he left me in the dust finishing at 31:33 (a 10.09 minute mile) a speed I can't even imagine ever handling. I figure I can either work on speed or endurance, and for now I want to work on endurance. I love the medals that come with the longer races.

In the crowd cheering us to the finish line were my parents, Ashley and niece, Aimee -- all wearing matching day-glo yellow "Team Pillsbury" shirts. They were quite easy to pick out of the crowd. I was easy to spot, too, in my Sparkle Skirt. I saw one other running skirt, by no other Sparkle Skirts at this race. I know I won't be the only wearing a costume at the Superhero race.

Great job Don! See you at the finish line in Morristown.

Excuse the mess

Buoyed by the bathroom transformation, I'm ready to think about tackling the family room. How's that for a commitment statement? Trouble is I have no idea what family color to even consider. I'm not at the stage for "is this shade better than that one?" More I'm trying to figure out while part of ROY G. BIV spectrum is best for this room. The budget for this project: ideally the cost of two gallons of paint, but we all know that won't happen (see bathroom transformation).

Please excuse the mess. Non-tidy rooms make for much better "before shots." The room has a chair rail in the middle, thus encouraging one color on top and one on the bottom (just to make choosing colors that much more complicated).

The Coca-Cola border is going. That is what we used to choose our colors the first time around. The Coca-Cola ceiling fan and other Coca-Cola memorabilia (including the Coke cans from around the world collection) is staying. 

I love this old (blue) steamer trunk that we transformed into Ashley's dress-up area. She is phasing out of dress-up, saving her costume wearing for plays and the Lenape Village. I'm also looking for ideas of what we can use this trunk for. 

The family room looks into the kitchen. The kitchen is also due for a new paint job. Leaning towards a Benjamin Moore True Blue. If money were no object, I would put in a Portugal/Spanish blue/white/and yellow tile back splash. Part of the hold up on the kitchen project is deciding if we are replacing all or part of the back splash. With the openness, the kitchen color is a consideration.

The green couch and love seat are staying. After 18 years (gasp!) they are in desperate need of replacing, but not happening just yet. Likewise, the grey carpet could stand to be replaced, but not quite yet.

Over the 12 1/2 years we have lived in this house we have gone from a shade over white to much brighter, more vivid colors. I see this room also being painted in a bright, vivid color. We've been leaning towards the Benjamin Moore Historical Colors collection.

We encourage color suggestions. so long as you recognize we are not painting the room in ALL the colors suggested, nor are we picking a color out of a hat (even though that is a tempting suggestion).

Room Transformation

My friend Darla recently blogged about her one-day room transformation. I wish I could say I was a speedy our bathroom transformation, since I felt like "all" we did was slap on a new coat of paint. Our transformation took closer to two weeks.

Before:




It was time to part with the Winnie-the-Pooh theme. The peeling paint around the shower moved it up the priority list. Hard to tell in this picture, but the walls were a pale green. We painted this room 11 years ago anticipating Ashley's arrival.

After:

The border is gone. The room is a bright and cheerful yellow (Ashley chose the color). We replaced the shower curtain, light, towel bar, and toilet paper holder. I added a swag of flowers to the mirror. Ashley added a bud vase of silk flowers in the corner (you can't see it in this picture). 

Overall the room feels brighter.

Good use of our recent cold snap.

Now onto figuring out what color to paint the kitchen and family room. 

Catholic Schools Week 2013

Catholic Schools week is a chance for the normal routine to be broken and for a little fun and levity to enter the school. Parents decorate classroom doors. Students have dress down days. Friday was a half day.

The official reason for this national celebration of Catholic education is to:

gather in unity to share knowledge, enjoy each other's company,  and honor those who help our school to provide the academic excellence and spiritual values that make it a special place.

I like my explanation better.

During the week parents are invited into the classroom to see the teachers teach one lesson (my teacher friends are probably cringing at the thought of having a bunch of parents in the classroom, but it is only for 80 minutes a year, 80 minutes that are announced way in advance so you can plan your most exciting lesson possible and have the parents thrilled their child is in your class).

We can also have lunch with our kids. What this means is us parents drive out of our way to pick up a treat to share with our child at a time our grown-up bellies cannot fathom eating, and when most places are not yet serving lunch. Seriously, it is a treat to get that sneak peek into the school cafeteria.

We also had a chance to peek at the projects the kids have been working on in school. 

A highlight for a student who always wears a uniform, though, is a dress down day! This week included 2 1/2 dress down days -- the half was crazy hat/crazy sock day, but still wearing the rest of the uniform. PJ day was a definite favorite. No, Lucy Kitty did not go to school with Ashley.

Other fun activities included service projects, mystery readers, an assembly by a Martial Arts Group, Bingo! (it is Catholic school, after all), Drop Everything And Read, Grandparent Visitation Day (sadly, only up to grade 4), pretzel day, ice cream sundae day, volleyball game between the teachers and the 8th graders, breakfast for the staff, swapping classes with their prayer buddies (Ashley's class went to 2nd grade, while 2nd grade went to 5th grade).

Whew! A busy week! 

Somehow Ashley's teacher still found time for tests, projects, lessons, and homework. Fortunately it was lighter than most weeks.

Monday resumes the regular routine. 

Oh Christmas Tree(s) 2012

After the Christmas Tree sagas of 2011 and 2010, I thought it noteworthy to write an update about our 2012 Christmas tree.  For the first time in the over 20 years Don and I have celebrated Christmas together, we did not get a real tree. Between Ashley's play and not being able to find a reasonably-priced cut your own place, we decided to stick with a "fake" tree.

The tree did manage to stay upright -- despite the best efforts of Lucy the kitten. Lucy did manage to break a dozen ornaments, but Don has mastered the art of Super-gluing items together and patched them back up again.

As we did in 2011, we had a Coca-Cola tree in the Coca-Cola themed family room, and a food-themed tree in the kitchen. We found a good sale on fake trees and bought a fourth one for 2013. This one will be put up in the dining room and include Disney ornament on it (no, our dining room does not normally contain a lot of Disney items in it).
'
Also of note in our decorations is our nativity set. About 11 years ago Don and I were on the hunt for a nice nativity set -- a quest that took us to many stores in numerous states, but we never quite found one we loved. We found ones that were very, very nice by Lenox and other such companies, but with anticipating having a family, we didn't want one that would break during baby's first Christmas. We found cheap ones in the dollar store, and places with price tags not much higher. Then my Florida grandmother (Grandee) passed away in October 2001. While my mother was cleaning out her condo she found her nativity set and passed it on to us. I think of her every year as I unwrap the pieces, and again as I carefully put them away for another 10 monhs (or so). 

Undecorating tends to take place over Martin Luther King weekend. Just too much work to take the decorations down too soon. 

This weekend I'll finish taking down the decorations and thinking about Christmases past, present and future.

Hogmanay

For many years, Don and I found new places to celebrate New Year's Eve. We've honored the change of the calendar in Boston, Wilmington, Newtown, Haddonfield, Anaheim, and Berlin (Germany, not New Jersey). There was also a stretch of a few years when we celebrated with the Woodmans in Hamilton Square and burned calendars in a BBQ. This year's event was a combination of those events, but much closer to home.

For 15 years, Lawrence Township has held a Hogmanay at the Brearley House on Princeton Pike. Many of those years I heard about the event, and knew people who attended, but for one reason or another we did not go.

A Hogmanay is a Scottish tradition of burning of the old grievances of the past year to make way for good things to happen in the New Year. Well, I just made all that up. HERE is a link to what Wikipedia says about the event. It is a Scottish tradition, but one that lasts until the New Year, and this event just went from 6-9.

People gathered around the burning pile of wood and tossed in pieces of paper with their grievances with the past year. As I reflected upon 2012, I could not come up with something that went terribly wrong in my life. I have friends enduring cancer treatments. Friends who lost parents or other loved ones. Friends suffering from injuries, surgeries and health ails. Friends who lost jobs. And two friends who lost their homes due to Hurricane Sandy. 

My biggest grievance with the year was that I did not land one of the jobs I interviewed for in town. On New Year's Eve I was comforted by knowing I had a great freelance job that could lead to bigger and better adventures in the new year. On January 1, I learned the freelance opportunity was in the hospital on a respirator, with a slim chance of living. I didn't know that on the 31st.

The Hogmanay was a great chance to see friends. We bumped into the Dennis family as they were leaving, Pastor Katie, the Ballards, the Knabs, saw the Bohras, missed out on seeing the Davises, and I met Don's biking friend, Sylvia. I'm sure we knew a number of other friends at the event, but it was hard to see in the dark! I look forward to the return of Music in the Park next summer when I will continue to reconnect with friends at a fun event in Lawrenceville.

New Additions

In 2012 our quiet family of three humans and two cats grew to an active family of three humans and five pets.

We started the year with 2 pets -- Ariel Cat (7) and Charlie Cat (6). Ariel came into our lives about a year after Pumpkin Cat died from old age. At the time we adopted Charles I, but he didn't last a year (sleeping in the middle of the street will do that to you). Charles II came to us through FreeCycle. 

Ariel Cat and Charlie Cat

Loyal readers know that Ashley spent about a year and a half petitioning for a bearded dragon. Sandy Claws joined the family in June. 

Sandy Claws

As neither one of us ever owned a dragon before, we've had a steep learning curve with Sandy. There are times I'm amazed he has lived this long (like when he went 4 weeks without pooping), but I am glad he is still here. Through him, I have broken many of my "mom rules" -- such as there is no way he is living in the kitchen (you guessed it, last week we moved his tank to the kitchen) and there is no way I am bringing living meal worms into the kitchen (they now live in our fridge and I still live in fear that they will move to Don's flour supply). He is a lot more cuddly than I would have imagined. Feel free to come over and pet him if you don't believe me.

Last year we lost our Betta fish, Benny the Broomstick Boy Betta. I missed him more than anyone else. We tried to get a new Betta, but they kept dying within the two week return policy. It was just too much. Thanksgiving weekend Don brought home Fishy #4. I refused to name him until he lived past the two week return period.

Phineas Fish

He survived and is now called Phineas the Fish (I wanted a boy name that started with an F, but didn't think he looked like a Frank). No plans to add a Ferb as male Bettas are very territorial and will fight each other.

That brings us to our latest addition. Lucy. 

Lucy Kitten

 Lucy was born on September 9, 2012 to my friend Kim's cat, Trouble. Lucy won my heart when she spent most of the afternoon sitting on my lap and purring. She is a very friendly kitten.

She is also a very energetic kitten! The house is certainly not quiet any more! Lots of strains of "Out of the TREE LUCY" can be heard, along with "hissing is not ladylike" (said to both Ariel and Lucy). 

A rare moment -- Ariel and Lucy snuggling with me.

Ariel is having troubles adjusting to life with a kitten. Charlie is having an eating contest with her. The kitten can out eat Charlie since she runs it all off, Charlie, meanwhile, is growing in size. For some reason, one extra kitten means we are going through three times as much food.

I believe this is the first time I have ever lived with a kitten. It is a learning experience. On the one hand, I should probably take down the Christmas trees (yes, plural -- we have three this year) so Lucy stops destroying the fake trees and more ornaments (fortunately Don is an expert with Super Glue). On the other hand, I don't know what she'll find to replace her climbing habit once the trees come down. I might leave one up just so she has her own personal tree.

Charlie Cat checking out Lucy Kitten

Ariel seems jealous of the kitten. She has decided to turn into a lap cat in hopes that Lucy goes away. Umm.. Ariel you snuggled with me once -- the time at the pound when you warmed up to me to say you wanted me to adopt you. I took you home and you ignored me for nearly 7 years choosing NOW to become my best friend?

Charlie is still checking her out. Christmas night they played hide and seek together inside the empty boxes. it was quite cute.

Lucy Kitten sniffing Sandy Claws

Lucy is quite inquisitive, as you would guess for a kitten. She is still trying to figure out what to make of Sandy. He has four legs, but does not have any fur? Sniffing is okay, swatting is not.

That is the news from the Pillsbury Menagerie. Stay tuned for more adventures from our zoo.

Happy Halloween -- Jersey Style

Superstorm Sandy put a crimp in our Halloween plans. This was the second year in a row weather impacted Halloween in New Jersey. Last year it was snow.

Ashley was very excited about her costume this year. About a month ago she decided she wanted to be a witch. I asked Ashley what that meant (the past few years she has been creating her own costumes out of her dress up collection).

She pictured a black dress. So we went to Red, White and Blue in Hamilton, NJ and found a woman's black dress for $1.50. Ashley cut it up and added some "patches" to it from her sewing collection. The hat was found at Target in their bargain bin section. The scarf was half a yard of Halloween fabric on sale at Target. The hair was a wig loaned to us by a theater friend. She decided the costume really needed leg warmers and striped socks.

I took her to Little Acres for the annual pumpkin patch picture. She decided to get into the action by "flying." 

Trick or treating ... this is what makes it a Jersey-style Halloween. Due to the wide impact of Superstorm Sandy, Governor Chris Christie (R) declared trick or treating would be postponed until Monday, November 5. Other towns more severely impacted changed the date to November 16th, or a different date that better suited them.

Unfortunately this meant the Halloween party at school was cancelled, though they did hold Trunk or Treat. 

For the first time in years, we trick or treated on our side of the neighborhood. It was a real treat for me to see the kids on our side of the neighborhood and knock on our neighbors doors. We went with Ayla, her friend, Lina, and Ayla's brother Noam. Her sister, Myah, went trick or treating with her friends.

In the end, Ashley had a nice haul of her favorites. The candy swap with Ayla and Lina meant each kid left with their favorites. What more can you ask for on a holiday that is really just for the kids?

Sandy Claws

Growing up I did not have a pet last lasted more than a week, and that was a goldfish I won at a fair. My parents did not adopt Oreo Cat and Tigger Cat until I was in college. 

Not long after meeting Don, he adopted Pumpkin Cat. Don always had a cat growing up. Again, I never did.

If I were to list the types of pets I would want, a reptile would not even be on the list. 

It took Ashley well over a year to convince me she was serious about wanting a bearded dragon. That is over 1/10 of her life. That is a long time in a child's life.

The first time I met a bearded dragon was at the Delaware Museum of Natural History. Their dragon is a rescue dragon that is about 2 years old. I think I might have pet him that day.

A couple of months later my sister Rebecca told me an acquaintance of hers needed to get rid of her sister's bearded dragon. Would Ashley like him? Would she? Does a dragon like crickets? Of course!

A couple of days before adopting our dragon, we watched the movie "How to Train Your Dragon."

The day after school ended, we drove to Wyckoff, NJ to pick up the dragon. The beardie is 8 years old (their life span is 8-10 years, however others now tell me 8 is middle-aged for a dragon). His name was Nicco. We are told he is a male dragon. I have no reason to doubt them.
Ashley was a little apprehensive when she first met him. That only lasted a couple of seconds. The owner put "Nicco" on Ashley's chest and it was love at first sight -- for both of them.

We loaded the tank and all his treasures into the back of the car. Stopped off at Rebecca's house (she didn't want him inside -- oh well). Then we drove home. During the ride home Nicco was renamed Sandy Claws -- after the man in the red suit because he, too, has a beard, and because the dragon is sandy-colored and he has claws. It suits him.

The first night he came home he immediately pooped on Ashley. All I could do was laugh! To her credit, she cleaned it up. That was our first research question: how often do dragons poop? Once every 4-7 days. 

That was June. Sandy has had many adventures since coming home. Most days he spends more time out of his tank than inside of it. He sits with us when we have dinner (not on the table, but nearby).

Sandy often goes with Ashley to the Lenape Village at Churchville Nature Center. This summer he went with Ashley while she was a Junior Counselor. He was a big hit with all the kids. A think a couple of them went home and begged their parents for their own dragon.

Last week Father Vince blessed him at their annual Blessing of the Animals. A seventh grader, Lydia, also brought her bearded dragon. He was a big hit at school, and on the bus.

Yes, Sandy travels in our cat carrier. We're still trying to figure out the best way to take care of him. Ashley read a few books on taking care of a bearded dragon before we adopted Sandy. Just like all those books I read before Ashley was born, nothing compares to having a real-live dragon (or in our case, a real-live baby).

Fortunately we've met people who have their own bearded dragon and have been able to figure out what we are doing wrong. One issue was he was becoming even lazier, and had little appetite. He spends so much time out of his tank and UV light does not travel through our new windows, he was acting Vitamin D deprived. With the start of the school year, Sandy spends more time in his tank and he is perking up again.

Another issue we have had is that he is no longer pooping every week. He is pooping every 2-3 weeks. We met a woman at Churchville Nature Center who gave us some advice. We're now seeing an increase in appetite, so hopefully "output" will soon follow.

We are still trying to figure out what Charlie Cat and Ariel Cat think of Sandy. For the most part they have kept their distance, which is a good thing. This picture is one of the rare times Ariel and Sandy were next to each other.

Columbus Day weekend we took Sandy to Peddler's Village in Lahaska, PA. We couldn't resist taking a picture of Sandy Claws with a Santa Claws scarecrow (Sandy is next to the gourd on the straw).

Sandy resting on the first day of school. Too pooped to eat.















Sandy in the bay window in the kitchen. He likes to crawl into tiny nooks to hide.

Overall, his favorite spot to be is snuggled up with Ashley. I'm a close second, though. He will snuggle with me while I read books. 

He is a great dragon. he has turned this reptile-detester into a dragon-lover. The jury is still out on the rest of the reptiles, though she seems to be admiring the blue-tongued skink. 

Only one reptile at a time, please!!!

Cherry Grove Farm

I recently wrote about the community composting program at Cherry Grove Farm. This was our third Sunday dropping off compost. Best as we can tell, we are the only people depositing our food scraps. As someone at Cherry Grove Farm pointed out to me, many of their customers already compost. I'd like to encourage my local friends to drop off your food scraps and keep them out of the trash heaps.

Before school started, Ashley and I toured Cherry Grove Farm. They offer community tours each Friday afternoon at 2 PM. You can also schedule a tour for a school group for a fee. 

The farm consists of 230 acres of certified organic farmland. I should have written down the numbers when I was at the farm. Please forgive my faulty memory on the exact numbers. They have approximately 60 milking cows (two of the "girls" were about to have calves when we were at the farm), and another 40 Hereford cows. All are grass-fed. Only the Hereford are being raised for dinner.

Our tour coincided with the time the cows come home to be milked. Farmer Kelly made it look easy. He shows up at the same time each day on his tractor and the girls line up to be milked. After running a bunch of tests, the girls are milked around 3 PM each day, which is open to the public to watch. There is also a 3 AM milking, but I suspect no one turns out for that milking.

The cows both mow and "fertilize" the pastures. As one pasture gets low (after a few weeks) the girls are rotated to a different pasture.

In addition to the cows, the farm also has 1000 egg-laying (i.e., not for dinner) pasture raised chickens. Come on Wednesdays for the best supply of eggs, since the farm is closed on Tuesdays.

The farm tries to be sustainable. They encourage local tree cutters to drop their wood at the farm, this way the tree surgeons avoid paying a fee to deposit the trees in a landfill, and the farm uses it to heat the store, the cheese facility and Kelly's farmhouse. A win-win for all as everyone walks away thinking they got the best end of the deal. 

For someone who grew up in Paramus, and has lived in the area for *gasp* nearly 25 years now, I am still amazed a farm of this size (400 acres of land) is able to survive and thrive only a couple of miles away from I-95 and Route 1. The cheese is available in many local stores. Inside their store, they support local businesses, such as our neighbor, Dan the Mustard Man, winner of the worldwide mustard competition.

Located on Route 206, just north of Lawrenceville Main Street (and a few miles south of Princeton), come out and support a local business until "the cows come home" (you knew I couldn't resist that!).

A composting we will go

For a while now, Don and I have been thinking the next step in our becoming eco-friendly should be composting. Trouble is, the more we read up on composting, the more confused we become. Composting sites range from it is super easy (just toss it all in a pile in your back yard) to it is a science and you must have the right proportions of food to yard clippings to leaves in order for it work properly. 

My hunch is successful composting falls somewhere in-between the extremes. After all, doesn't most of life fall in-between the extremes?

Members of Sustainable Lawrence have been working with the township to set up a pilot program where a truck would circulate around the neighborhoods and pick up composting from each family, similar to how they already pick up our trash and recycling. Princeton is currently running a similar pilot program. 

If the town supported composting program goes through, that would be the ideal. It would accept everything that was once alive -- from the normal compost items (such as egg shells, tea bags, and leaves) to pizza boxes and weeds that currently end up in our trash.

While that fight continues, Cherry Grove Farm on Route 206 (2.25 miles from our home) recently implemented a community composting program. We collect our food scraps all week in a container of our choice (we choose an empty cat litter container) and dump it in their grey trash container. The farm adds in grass clippings, natural "fertilizer," and their own food scraps. The mess and stench is contained to their property (for which I believe our neighbors should be grateful). Best of all, we are not cluttering the landfill with something that can serve a better purpose and is expensive for the township to haul away from our curb.

It has only been two weeks thus far. The farm only accepts drop-offs from 10-2 on Sundays from now through November. Yes, there is a downside to everything. On the other hand, maybe this will help us to develop a good, life-long habit.   

For more information about the Cherry Grove Farm composting project go to: http://www.cherrygrovefarm.com/2012/08/community-composting-at-cherry-grove-farm/

Music in the Park

Most Thursday summer nights, Lawrenceville, NJ has their own bit of "Small Town Americana." Lawrenceville Main Street has a weekly program called Music in the Park.

There is something for everyone. The older crowd sits up close in their lawn chairs and listens to the music. The in-betweeners (that's us) hang out with our friends and catch up on summer news. The people with small kids either sit up close, or sit in the back. Kids ages 5-15 hang out in the back playing with balloons provided by Roma Bank.

In addition to music, a local restaurant sells food at rates that are much lower than they charge in their restaurants. The meals are also smaller, but for under $20 the three of us can have a nice meal. I like being able to support a local restaurant. 

Pictured above is Off the Map, a new band made up of members of Miss Amy's Big Kids' Band. I was impressed this new group played 90 minutes of original music. Way to go!

Terhune Orchard Farm Camp

Ashley spent a week at Terhune Orchard Farm Camp. To hear Ashley talk about it, this was the best week ever. All I noticed was the huge grin on her face and multitude of stories she told as she hopped in the car after camp. She had her sparkle back in full force. Even temps in the 90s and extremely high humidity could not deter her from having the time of her life.

At Farm Camp they played while they learned. They climbed trees, sprayed each other with a hose, played Arrows and other group games, and they sampled new foods. This last one really sold me. Counselor Elaine got Ashley to try smoothies, a whole bunch of vegetables -- squash, beets, and made ice cream. Okay, the last one was not a challenge for Ashley to try, but the rest were. She came home from camp with fruits and veggies she picked, which I then scrambled to add to that night's dinner to encourage her to keep eating them.

What I loved the most is that she came home genuinely happy and excited. She had counselors that were on-hand to make sure they did not get hurt (or to provide band-aids when they did). The counselors never yelled, nor did they spend their time on their phones or other electronic gadgets. If only her fourth grade teacher could have been as good.

The week made me think about what I value in education. While I do want Ashley "to study hard and get good grades" (something which was drilled into me as a child), I really want her to love learning. To be able to explore. To have adults encourage her to learn. To have a chance to fail and end up with scraped knees and come home dirty, but with a giant grin on her face. To grow as she learns. To be exposed to new ideas (or in the case of last week, new foods). To make friends. To be kind to others and have them be kind to her. To live free of electronic gadgets and enjoy it. 

A few side notes: 
Seeing Ashley climb a tree will always make me nervous. After all I fell out of a tree when I was 8 and broke my arm. I'm glad that fear does not stop me from letting Ashley climb trees. If she does fall and break a bone, it will heal. After all, my arm healed. 

While I had fun watching Ashley make crafts, I was glad she did not bring a bunch home from camp. She and a couple of new friends made boats to launch in a creek. I suspect the water-logged boats ended up in the trash, which would be better than leaving them in the stream. 

Brings back memories. I'm trying to find the picture from when Ashley was little and barely reached the 3 foot mark.