Gratitude #7

7. Similarly to yesterday, I am grateful for the friends in the DC area with whom I've reconnected. Some are people I never knew very well and some are close friends with whom I have fallen out of touch. In each situation, however, it's been a highlight of returning to the USA to see people I've known a long time.

Comcast. AGAIN

So the guy from the Executive Customer Care division called us on halloween. Guess what? November 1 we are without internet for almost the entire day. I called him and left a message. Never heard back, although I did say it was a "heads up" message.

Today, only 5 days later, we were once again without internet. First the CSR got disconnected/hung up one me, but she did call back so it is possible we really did get disconnected? Then she says the modem is entirely offline and someone needs to come check it out. Then we're back online (???)  The end result is someone will come tomorrow, she said it could be the line is bad so the internet isn't even coming into the house properly. Zoltan will have to go to preschool late but at least someone will check it out. Three reported problems in less than two weeks is completely unconscionable.

Gratitude #6

6. I am grateful for the group of moms friends who have invited me and the kids into their group. Overseas it's pretty easy to make new friends as you move - there's a whole expat community standing in your exact same shoes. In the USA, well, nobody comes over with a basket of muffins and greets the new family with open arms anymore. It's been really nice to hang out with a group of moms.

Gratitude #5

5. Terry and I met while we both lived in DC (actual DC, not MD or VA). We don't like the DC area. Well .... we didn't like the DC area. See, we didn't have kids when we lived here before. I now understand all the wonderfulness that is to be found in this area. Parks, playgrounds, museums, activities, sports, the list goes on. If I were independently wealthy and only needed to entertain my kids all day as my job I could easily find something new to discover every single day of the year.

I am  grateful for the wealth of enriching, interesting, and fun activities/sights/events in my area. I am grateful that anyone with time can take advantage of most of them as much in the area is free or cheap.

Gratitude #4 and fifth CSA haul

4.  I am grateful for the CSA. It is so rewarding to do something that is important to me and reflects my values and lets the kids get a better sense of where our food comes from. It's also exciting to spend every Monday figuring out how to use all the good stuff and I love the unique and memorable experiences (rutabaga cake, anyone?). Last week's fennel was absolutely delicious sliced thinly and sauteed in olive oil with a bit of salt at the end. Couldn't stop myself from stealing slices as I got the rest of dinner ready. I'd never eaten fennel before.

This week we got:
- a bunch of carrots
- a bunch of kale
- an enormous daikon radish and something else that may be radish or turnip
- 4 ears of corn
- apples
- one green pepper
- one white eggplant
- a medium sized pie pumpkin
- an enormous head of cabbage
- a bag of potatoes

Gratitude #2 & #3

2. I am grateful for this opportunity to spend a chunk of time in America. In October alone we had visits with 4 sets of family and November looks to be similar with different family members. The kids are actually remembering people from one visit to the next!

3. I am grateful for the opportunity to see the cabin in all different seasons. Actually using our beach club membership this summer as the kids and I sometimes hit the beach both before and after nap; seeing the leaves change and hiking in the nearby state park; and I can't wait to see everything under snow and maybe splurging on snowshoes for everyone to recreate the kids' favorite activity from last year's trip to Lapland.

November gratitude

As a first world person with first world problems, it's too easy to get bogged down sometimes. I loved doing the daily gratitude post last year and will be continuing the tradition this year. Some posts will be redundant, I can't help it, there are some things I am continually grateful for every single time I think about them. That's a good thing, no?

I'm running a bit behind as we went cabin-ing this weekend so didn't have internet (and yes, you can bet the cabin will feature this month).

To kick it off -
Day 1: I am grateful for our enormous pasta pot that lets me cook down a crazy load of apples into several quarts of applesauce. Having control over what goes into my family's food is important, and being able to do it efficiently makes me happy.

(now I must get back to peeling and chopping apples from which to make delicious applesauce)

Giving props when due

Nobody likes Comcast. Normally, we don't like Comcast. But I am forced to admit that actually have the capability to do the right thing.

A week or so ago, I had an awful day exacerbated by the inability to use my telephone or get online due to non functioning internet. I blogged about it. As you can see, a Comcast rep found me and left a comment inviting me to contact him and go over what went wrong. Within the day of me sending the information he requested we got a call. (being a little picky, I will say that the choice of 7pm on Halloween wasn't inspired)

And ... the end result is we were compensated for the inconvenience and even given a rep's direct number for the next time we encounter a problem.  We have also noticed that our service has been much better since then.

I have a feeling if all problems were resolved like this, everyone would switch to Comcast voluntarily.

[Edited to add: the very next day we were without internet for the entire day. I even called  the guy who had called and left a message that was never returned. Ugh. Possibly back to hating Comcast.]

Third and fourth CSA haul

With all of last week's excitement, I forgot to post what we got. So, here goes

Third week
big head of Romaine
huge head of cabbage
6 ears of corn (score!!)
a fennel bulb
4 green peppers
12 apples
4-5 potatoes
3 eggplant (1 big purple, 2 small white)


Fourth week
5 ears of corn
4-5 big sweet potatoes
a bunch of greens, possibly collard?
a big head of broccoli
a bunch of beets
a bunch of carrots
4-5 green peppers
7-9 apples, red and golden delicious

A bit more about Halloween night

This was the kids' very first Halloween*, at the ripe old ages of 4 and 6.

There's a great group of moms who meet at the playground near school and we've started hanging out with them. They invited us to trick or treat with them and at first I hesitated because it's "all the way" across the one main street and near the school. I am SO GLAD I changed my mind.

We met up at one mom's house (she has the oldest kids so the most neighborhood experience). Alex and Zoltan were seriously about to explode and I eventually sent them to run around a lamp post to burn some energy while waiting for everyone to gather. By the time we left, we had 20 kids and I have no idea how many adults. It was complete pandemonium but a ton of fun to be a huge group.

 When we got home the kids wanted to do some trick or treating on our street. The majority of the houses were dark. We only wanted to go to a few houses anyway as the kids certainly didn't need any more candy. There's an older lady on our street I once met and chatted with who had told me she loved Halloween, she decks the house out and the kids love coming to her house. I made sure that was one we went to and I am glad we did, she had put together a whole little bag of non-candy items like a pencil, stickers, eraser, etc. With that level of attention and effort I am glad we came by to appreciate and enjoy the fruits of her labor!


* Yes mom, I know they were both alive and Alex even went trick or treating at your house but she was 2 years and 2 weeks old, he was 5 days old, and I just don't count it given that they don't and couldn't possibly remember it.