Oriel's House of Fluffy Pancakes

Uriah's Day

All day I've been thinking about my brother, Ria. Hoping he has a great birthday, but not in any position to pick up the phone and call and at the least tell him that he's on my mind. Man that happens way too often. I feel like the worst sister. I never get anyone on time. And now it's way too late and I'm way too tired. I guess an e-mail will have to serve this time too. well, anyway, if it was the thought that counts.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RIA.

2 Gallons - lost

OK - I'm posting for Oriel here. Just wanted you to know that yogurt & Creme Friache shouldn't be cultured for 2 days. When your Sunday is way too frantic (my fault) and you don't have your head about you, it's easy to forget to remove your dairy products from the warming oven. However, at 1 pm yesterday, that did not happen. So, this morning, I had the distinct displeasure of watching my wife's face fall as she exclaimed "Oh!" "What!?" I asked. No comment, as she slowly walked, eyes downcast, head lagging, toward her favorite appliance. As she slid open the warming drawer, I was able to read the ideal removal time on the top of the containers. "Sun 1pm." I raised my head to look at the clock. Monday, 10 am. hmm, that's not good. The Creme Friache was completely ruined with a layer of fine, white mold growing on the top. The neighborhood dogs love her dearly.

Does anybody else out there know what 'Creme Fraiche' is?

crème fraîche (krem fresh)
n. Cream that has been slightly fermented and thickened with lactic acid, often used as a topping or an ingredient in sauces.
[French : crème, cream + fraîche, fresh.]

This is one of the most amazing dairy creations I have ever had the privilege on which to break my fast. Similar in some ways to sour cream, but so much richer, thick, complex, and when made fraîche from raw milk, one of the best sources of yummy dairy goodness extant.

SO, that should deepen your appreciation for the loss she felt this morn. It was bad. She told me even more details of the fabrication process, so I'd know how much she'd lost. Analeasa, apparently, was very needy and begging for attention at the time she was getting this stuff ready to go in the warming oven. So, you've got a sad little girl waiting for mother to finish something that didn't even work. Why not just dump the cream and love the child? You see the frustration here.

Anyway, why am I rambling? Because I'm trying to feel the loss my wife has experienced, even in this seemingly small thing.

These are a few of my least favorite things

When the Dishwasher repair guy asks, "well ma'am, did you read the owner's manual?" and proceeds to tell me that I am just loading the dishwasher "wrong" and that's why it doesn't dispense soap or even rinse the dishes.

When I go to all the extra trouble to get the house extraordinarily clean and picture-worthy to show and rush to leave the house before they come and then find out after locking the door that my husband has my keys to the house and the car and I'm stranded in the driveway holding my little girl whose been pushed around and yelled at all morning and her lunch and it's sweltering hot and humid and noon and the realtor doesn't even show up for the two hour appointment they reserved.

The freon (is that even how you spell it?) in the car AC fails after the day I decided we really need it to be "recharged."

Spending four evers in Lowes talking to the customer service person about opening up a new Credit Card with them and then spending another four evers on the phone with their bank answering annoyingly personal questions in order to "pass" as me because I put a fraud alert on our credit because of some mysterious activity on my favorite Cooking magazine's servers, when all I want the new Lowes credit line for is to save 10% on the purchase of our new gas grill, and then realizing too late that the same customer service person didn't even decuct said 10%.

Analeasa falling pretty hard on her precious chin twice in the same 24 hours along with several other pretty ugly, very noticable bruises that look as though she is abused and our life has just become markedly more social/public lately.

Rushing around and changing my whole family's schedules, Levi missing the bus to work and not being able to take the car because I need it to meet him and go to our refinance closing, and Analeasa missing her nap and neglected again and getting to the title place too late, only to find out that the lending bank never sent the paperwork and there's no way we can close today.

Driving home from the gas station late on Saturday night and rounding a corner near the train tracks, watching one car swerve, realizing that it was narrowly missing several children riding their toy trucks across the intersection to play frogger with the oncoming cars, seeing their adult supervisors relaxing on the porch with a couple of "frosty friendlies" and having to call the cops on my neighbors once again.

The guy that gave me a ride to work after missing the bus telling me in all seriousness that rather than having a job he prefers to "smoke my weed and tend to my newborn."

Finding what may just be the perfect piece of property, at the perfect price, in the perfect location, but you can't get there from here. No road.

All of this happening (and plenty more) within 3 days.

8 Seconds

Thursday, May 11, 2006 it rained on and off lightly all day. It was also sunny on and off all day. It was as if the sky just couldn't make up it's mind or there was a lively conversation between the sun and rainclouds. Nothing all that new. This is the "monsoon season" in Chattanooga. This sort of thing happens frequently and I guess April missed it's chance so May is making up for the lack of showers.

It was 10:35pm and Levi and I were just about to turn in for the night. I was excited that I was actually going to get to sleep before it was tomorrow for a change. He was pouring himself an oj and I was heading out of the kitchen when we both stopped rather abruptly. The sound of sudden loud high winds was rather out of place since it had only just minutes before started a very mild drizzle. With that came smallish hail pelting the windows and a little howling sort of wind. Levi told me to go and get into Analeasa's room and be with her. I hesitated, asking him to check the weather to see if we are expected to get tornados (as we infrequently this time of year have been known to sight the funnel clouds and experience some minor damage) so that we can move to the basement if necessary. I'd rather not just huddle with my sleeping child if I can do better to protect her.

As he was pulling the website on the already running laptop that was only a step away from him (this ought to convey that no time was wasted we are still only seconds into this--no real thinking time) we heard a loud crack/crash/boom thing and we both jumped. Ok. the house isn't really safe. I rushed into Analeasa's room and he said he'd go check outside just to get a quick feel of the current situation. I wanted to watch to make sure he was ok and see for myself so I went to the door and then to the window. The hail had stopped and the wind died down the rain had picked up and was now somewhat heavy.

OH! Gasp! Sharp intake of breath! and a bit of trouble regaining normal breathing patterns. God, thank you for sparing us. Thank you for warning us. Oh, but what about Bonita? is she ok? Levi, what if she's not ok?

He decided to brave the rain and check to see that our neighbor across the alley was OK as the 100 year old Pecan tree that sits on our side of the alley was now fully uprooted and the top was on her house. At this point it has been about a minute from the initial windy noise (we took quite a while to happen upon the cause of the crash 10 seconds after the wind) and Levi ran out in the rain with little more than torn flannel pants to do what he could to rescue a neighbor possibly in need. Turns out she was watching TV in the back and thought that one of her plastic deck chairs had blown off. Her house was brushed by the tree as it came crashing down and nestled itself pretty tightly all over the alley side.

Then we checked in the front and there was a large portion of a tree down in the road right at the blind curve where everyone drives (even in rain at this hour of night) about 45 MPH. This was also right across the street from our house.

Ok, what amazes me about this is, well, a lot. The whole of the heavy-ish rain lasted ten minutes the actual wind lasted ten seconds and the hail was only half of that. And about an hour after it all started, when we had a chance to look up, there was the moon almost full and stars and light white clouds floating on their merry way. No evidence that anything happened. As I told Analeasa the next morning, this was God trying to get someone's attention and I'm not about to assume that it wasn't me.

We've had bigger hail, higher winds, longer rain, and still had not so much as a small limb on the ground to show for it. Two years ago there were tree guys out here for several weeks cleaning up massive damage as a result of several days (a week or so) of heavy non-stop rain and then plenty of high winds. Everything was soaked and heavy and when the wind picked up for that length of time the trees just couldn't hold on. But this was nothing like that. We've had our daily hour or so of rain, but plenty of sun and nothing was waterlogged--perfect growing season here. And they didn't snap off as if they were dead, they uprooted. God pushed those trees over.

Oh, and there's no other place that big tree in the back could have fallen without any damage to anyone Had it landed any differently, it would have killed Bonita, done damage to any of 4 homes, 5 cars, a shed, or our yards. The neighbor who usually parks where it did fall randomly decided to park in a new spot. And no one lost power til the people came and cut it off (still don't know why they did that--the neighbors across the street lost cable and internet though). There were several trees pushed over and at least 6 that the city had to clean out of the roads the next morning, but they told me that they hadn't seen any damage to homes and everyone was ok.

Most people couldn't figure out why they couldn't get through on the streets. Why were all these trees in the road. What happened? That's how quick and unexpected and isolated it was.

Levi went around the immediate neighborhood to survey the damage and there was a tree in the main street and a car had crashed into it, but everyone was just fine besides the fact that their car was slightly damaged, but very stuck. A tree had fallen from a wooded lot and was resting on the power lines and threatening to fall into the road, but no one was affected there and the fire dept. babysat that one all night. The one in the curve in front of our house actually fell on the Cook's van and she told me that her son was in an accident only weeks before that totalled their other car and now they had nothing to get their three kids to school, one to a game and her to work in. They borrowed our car next am and all was well. It made for a, although frighteningly awakening, rather entertaining night and next day. And, no, I didn't make it to bed before it was tomorrow.

I don't think it was a tornado, but it doesn't matter. God pushed those trees over for a reason and He spared everyone. I for one am not going to ignore the message to me. God is in control. He is powerful. I can trust Him. And I better listen up and do what He says. Stop trying what I want. Pay attention. He loves me. The bench that sat against the trunk of the pecan was unmoved, untouched, despite the tons of tree trunk that smashed to the ground only inches away. Remember when Fezik said in The Princess Bride? "I didn't have to miss." This is the mighty hand of our loving God.

I took pictures the next morning and then realized that my film never loaded. Drat! I really need a digital. But then I'd load the disk wrong or something. I went and took more as they were cleaning up the first tree.

So, I'm gonna try to attatch a couple of the best so that I'll have it all documented somewhere.

House for Sale

Pretty high up the list of the things I hate is when I spend a lot (more than I should have in the fist place) of time writing something, only to somehow lose it permanently (in this case by one accidental click on the cancel button instead of the post button). This happens way too often to me. I think I'm cursed or some ridiculous thing.

I already wrote this and it was much more thought out, but since it's even later now and I'm a bit frustrated, it's probably not even going to be good. I just need to do it cuz it has been on my list for quite some time.
We finally listed the house. Levi did get the photos to a website for more coherent viewing and I hope to get some more pics of some of the rooms. There's still work to be done on the house, and it shows. For example, the "rain room" ceiling sponge effect will be replaced with the wall color like it was originally intended to be. That was a mistake that I face every morning when I wake up and have to intentionally look elsewhere lest I should have to lose my proverbial lunch. I detest it. It is actually only as annoying as it is because it took longer than seems possible to get it to look that bad. Three tries and worse every time. Oh, and the front porch paint still hasn't been finished.

But thanks to Levi, at least I can now point people to our House of Wigginshire webpage when they want to know how the house is going or what we've been up to.

House photo album

Karen took pictures of our house for the realtor on Friday. Ok, I already said that. And I think they are only here for a while, but I will hopefully get the time and the knowhow soon to put them here or on another webpage so we have it permanently and more coherently--virtual tour style, hopefully.
Karen's temporary photo album

And speaking of

....She is always interested in words and groups. Things have to be in their rightful place. I guess that's why word games are already a favorite to her (probably to all kids). She even goes to the extent of telling her friends after church when they are headed of to play that "you go with him, you go with your wife..." Almost commanding them to "stay with the group," as I'm always telling her when we are out.
Sorting beads (any thing that resembles a marble sized bead is great) and hardware--nails, etc--is one of her favorite pastimes of late. In fact this am when I had a migraine that's all I heard, beads and hardware for three hours. Ahh, the simple pleasures. And it's not just sort the different types, it's down to different groups for every size shape and color. I wish I could employ her in some way. She'd do great. The other day she was at this again and she asked me in the sweetest way,
"mother, will you please play with me. I'm doing the beads. And you can do the pick flamily-wamily." I couldn't stop laughing and she just kept saying it. "The yellow flamily-wamily, the green ones go with their flamily-wamily...." She was kinda offended at first, but then she started laughing along with me.

Then, today we were out on our deck and she was swimming (I guess it needs to be called something when she is allowed to do plenty that she's not able to in the bathtub) in the smaller-than-bathtub sized hard plaskit kiddie pool and she spouted, rather developed, her latest poetry.

Analeasa: Mother, I heard a bird. Oh, I...Heard....A....Bird. That rhymes!
Mother: It's kinda like a poem
A: It's kinda like, Get some more, from the STORE!
Here her voice gets higher with the excitement of the poetry game she's recently come to love.
M: Father will be so excited. You'll have to tell him.
A: I'll tell him, "I heard a bird," and "get some more, from the store" and "Analeasa eats-a-pizza!"
The smiles are priceless. Again, oh for a video to watch her life over.