ELECTION NIGHT::Are We the Divided States of America (DSA)?

Most of America and Europe have been closely watching the election results of our country's next leader tonight. The race between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Despite our differences, we need to remember that we are the United States of America, not the Divided States of America.

It's disheartening to see people on social media posting some of the unnecessary and spiteful comments. Saying that we're going to have a disastrous, depressive, sad next 4 years is simply uncalled for. The point is that no matter who won, we still need to work together to get this country moving forward. Tearing down the "other" side down is meaningless and counterproductive.

The race could have ended up differently. There is no need to gloat. There is no need to denigrate the opponent. Be kind and respect your fellow American. There is much work ahead of us during the next four years.

Most of us were lucky enough to exercise our right to vote. Don't take that away from each other by making your neighbor, real friends, or virtual friends regret their choices. Be glad that you actually have that choice to make.

It amazes me how we can all bond together in a crisis such as 911, Katrina, or Sandy. Yet, when it comes to elections and the forthcoming results, we forget about being united and go back to being a divided nation.

Think before you speak or Tweet. Think about what you can do for the better of our country. If you simply cannot think of anything good, you still have the choice to move to another country. Maybe then you'll appreciate the true meaning of United States of America.

THE DAILY TABLE::You've Been Warned

"The straps on her top today are not wide enough." We got our first dress code infringement email this morning from our daughter's teacher. It baffles me since Saffron's been wearing these types of shirts since school started in August. Why mention this now?

"If she wants to wear tank tops, she must wear a sweater over them." Wait. Are you talking about "tank tops" or shirts with "spaghetti straps"? Do you mean to tell me that when the Texas sun is shining and it's 80 degrees outside she should be overheating in a sweater? I deferred the response emails to my husband.

"We tell the kids straps must be 3 fingertips wide", continues the teacher in the email following my husband's response. "Whose fingertips?", I ask my husband. The code simply states:

 
• No strapless tops, spaghetti-strap tops, backless, halters, large armholes, or off-the-shoulder
tops

There is no mention of fingertips or tank tops. And we've combed thoroughly through this document. According to this, we are not in violation of the code. The shirt is not a halter top, nor are the straps anything close to being spaghetti straps. It's silly, really. She's 6 years old! What is this world coming to when we worry obsessively about the details of our children's clothing? Shouldn't we be more concerned about the quality of education? Shouldn't we worry more about offering truly healthy foods in school cafeterias? Shouldn't we worry more about providing a comfortable learning environment for the students instead of nitpicking one thing or another? Parents have plenty to worry about when it comes to their children. Dealing with something like this is absurb and borders on harrassment.

"If the school district is so concerned about dress code, why not introduce uniforms? Lots of schools do it.", replies my husband. Yes, indeed. If the school district is so concerned about clothing, then please have everyone dress alike. Please, take away our children's individuality. Lesson plan be gone. Let's focus on clothing instead.

Seriously, I have more important things to focus on. Such as feeding my children. Dinner was much better today - baked chicken and mashed potatoes. Even though I should have cleaned the oven long ago - and especially after the half-stick of butter started dripping last Tuesday after nearly fell through the bars of the oven rack - I still used it to bake the chicken. The dripping butter incident was the night I was making the puffy pancake - last Tuesday. I had the butter speared on the end of a knife. Unfortunately, it slid off the knife and started to drip onto the bottom of the oven and smoke the entire house. I opened windows and hoped the fire alarm would not go off.

Sagey still wasn't feeling well, so he went directly to bed. The girls did manage to eat at least a little of the chicken. The cat will have delicious leftovers.

I'm glad the weekend is finally here...

THE DAILY TABLE::Time to Write

November is here. Which means the end of the year will be upon us in no time. What better time to start a new challenge. A writing challenge. As I was ironing upstairs this morning, I thought about the National Novel Writing Month I first discovered last Autumn. Although I would not be taking part in this writing project this year either, I did happen to come across another writing challenge this morning from Writer's Digest. The Poem-A-Day Challenge. I attempted the April PAD this year, but less than a week into it found myself forcing the words and overthinking ideas.

I've enjoyed writing ever since I could remember. My first "book" was a collection of interesting stories written when I was a few years older than Saffron. With the various moves from one coast to the other and along the West Coast, those writings were lost. I did, however, manage to find other writings from long ago - including poems.

Writing is a powerful escape. As is reading. It makes you think, question, and wonder.

The younger two were home today. Still recovering, they managed to sleep most of the day.

Or at least rest on the couch by the window, next to the fireplace.

This gave me a chance to snap a quick photo of a few new items coming to the shop this month.

Dinner was simple. It's always simple when my husband is away on a trip. The girls wanted spaghetti with feta. Not spaghetti with sauce and feta. Plain spaghetti with crumbled Greek feta. I passed on that and on dinner. Perhaps this weekend I'll get to catch up on some sleep and make something a little more exciting to eat. Sometimes I wish we didn't have to eat so often. With kids, it's unavoidable. They need to eat. As a parent, you need to make something even though you might want to pass on dinner that evening - like tonight.

I'm looking forward to the extra hour of sleep over the weekend. I'm sure the kids will be happy about that too.

THE DAILY TABLE::The Flamingo, The Seahorse, and The Bumblebee

"I wish Papa was here so you can give candy to the other kids", Saffron tells me as we're driving to Whole Foods after school. She had a half day today which gave us an hour to run errands together before picking up Cinnamon and Sage. Usually I stay home and take care of the candy-handing-out duties while my husband takes the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Since my husband is still in Canada, we had to improvise.

I was going to leave a small note on the bowl of candy. Then Saffron wanted to write it, which turned into a wonderful memory of both her writing and drawing. She drew a house with all of three of them in their costumes. Sagey, in his bumblebee costume, was left outside the house since she ran out of space to draw him inside.

I had the kids rest a bit after returning from school today. I told them they needed to sleep. They don't sleep - at least not the girls. Sagey, on the other hand, can sleep for hours. When the girls were babies, they did not have the usual nap schedules that other babies had. So why would I expect them to sleep now? Well, it turns out they did in fact sleep for over an hour.

I had to pry them from the overly warm beds so they could put on their costumes and go out. They kept resisting and I kept insisting. I didn't want them to miss out since they'd been looking forward to wearing their costumes for a while. I also didn't want to miss our tradition of taking our yearly photo of them.

I had made plain jasmine rice in anticipation of dinner. However, it was getting dark outside and we decided to do the Halloween "thing" first. The weather was just right - not too warm, not too cold. As soon as we returned home, the kids took off their costumes and wanted to eat. Candy? No, they wanted to eat the rice - with feta. Saffron even wanted to have one piece of broccoli on it which she proceeded to crumble on top of the rice. Progress, I'd say. Although the slight fever the girls had might also have had contributed to the desire for healthier eating. After dinner, they asked to have a little candy. I gave them each three pieces before having them get ready for bed. I'm glad they did not gather too much candy tonight. Earlier in the day I went to World Market to get more of the good chocolates and more Haribo gummy bears. That and more lebkuchen and pfeffernüsse. "Quality over quantity" is what we keep teaching them.

THE DAILY TABLE::A Tale of Two Kitties

 

Every morning, without fail, Cat waits by the back door. This morning she had company. Later in the day I discovered more company.

Cat is the unofficial name of the stray (or lost/abandoned) cat who appeared in our backyard almost two months ago late one night. The grayish one with the white hind leg. We fed it once. It kept coming back. My husband kept insisting on feeding it, so we bought cat food and extra milk. Earlier and earlier it arrived until it was waiting by the back door before I'd even awoken. It's an outdoor cat who wants to be an indoor cat. Why not take it in? Allergies. If there's anyone looking to adopt a momma cat with two kittens, please let me know.

Yes, two kittens introduced themselves today. I would guess they're about 3-4 weeks old, if not older. They jump around and play and are curious about their surroundings. Cat kept hissing and growling at me throughout the day as I went outside to feed it. A mother protecting her babies. Even the babies already know how to hiss and defend themselves - unlike helpless human newborns. I watched the feisty one play with Cat's tail. Then it was chasing its own tail. At one point momma cat had enough and jumped up on the patio lounge chair to have some "alone" time. Not unlike humans.

My two little ones were home today while Saffron was at school. They played various games. Or, I should say, they took out one game after another and distributed the pieces all over the floor. Yes, dear husband, I made them clean it up.

Sagey wasn't feeling well and thus skipped dinner. Saffron also didn't have too much of an appetite for the puffy pancake (aka Dutch Baby) and ate a fraction of what she usually does. Cinnamon had enough of an appetite for both of them.

I hope my little ones escape the sicknesses that plagued us all last winter. The ones that started the day before Thanksgiving and lasted through Christmas. That was no fun.

Tomorrow is Halloween.