Pie Season

We have a few fruit trees in our back yard: a green plum, a cherry, a crab apple, and an apple tree. I lovingly call it "the orchard" even though it takes up hardly any space... Last year, we had plums galore. This year, it was apples. The first batch of apples came off our tree during an early September storm. I had enough apples to make five pies and a batch of applesauce. Apple pie is kind of a tradition in our family. The summer I was born, my Gra'ma made a pie every single day, and every day she, my mom, and my dad consumed an entire pie.

 Every autumn I can remember, my father would buy a big batch of apples, sit at the kitchen table, and begin peeling them for my grandmother, who would make pie after pie. She always claimed that the apples made the pie and she was always looking for the perfect combination of flavorful and crispy apples - ones that would taste great and keep their form. She would often use two or three different kinds of apples in a single pie. She made large batches and we froze them to enjoy through the winter. Each pie would taste amazing, but she would always say, "It's good but...." The crust wasn't quite right, there wasn't enough cinnamon, the apples were not a good combination, something. I thought she was crazy.

Gra'ma's pies were a very specific type: flaky crust, paper-thin apple slices, super sweet, tons of cinnamon, sugared crust. She would boil the peels and cores with sugar to make a syrup for the filling. She added chunks of butter. Her pies were so sweet, you couldn't eat them with ice cream - they needed cheddar cheese instead. They were not pretty, but they tasted amazing. A pie from Gra'ma was an act of love.

Over the years, I have adapted her recipe. I add considerably less sugar. I use one kind of apple at a time and use whatever we have on hand. I use deeper pie pans so we have more apples and less crust. I'm still trying to figure out the crusts. I love baking, though, and I subject both my family and friends to tester pies. I now understand Gra'ma's attitude - each pie is different and there is always room for improvement.

As luck would have it, our tree produces perfect pie apples. They are flavorful (toward tart) and crisp. I know there are many apple recipes out there, but they are so good in pies, it seems a shame to make anything else.

Here's the rest of the harvest from the tree:

Toe and I made a GIANT batch of apple sauce with the little apples so we wouldn't have to peel them. Toe learned to cut with a real knife and we worked companionably for a long time before he started eating the apples and then was done.

 After the sauce was on the stove, I started peeling apples. I made three pies: two a la Gra'ma and one with a granola-type crust. There are many, many apples left. More pies to come. Darn.

Toe's (and Mr. Bill's) First Comic Book Convention

Supporting Allred, Wagner, and Neilson

Over the weekend, we took Toe to the Rose City Comic Con (RCCC). Our friend Mikey, who grew up in town and played Heroclix with J ages ago, is one of the organizers. We have wanted to go in the past, but the timing has never worked out. This year, the stars aligned: we were healthy, J and I both had the day off, and we were all excited.

Comics are in our blood. I grew up reading Richie Rich and sort of soft "kiddie" stuff. J cut his teeth (and learned to read) on Stan Lee/Steve Ditko Spider Man. By the time I met J in the mid- 80's, he was immersed in the comic scene. He introduced me to Mage, Elfquest, Myth Adventures, and I was hooked. I'm not as avid a reader as J, but I have many, many that I love. Toe has been reading comics as long as he can remember. J buys comics monthly - some for him and some for Toe. Toe loves Teen Titans Go!, Scooby Do,  Itty Bitty Hellboy, Pet Avengers... and more. I get mine in trade paperback form, because the monthlies drive me nuts. Last week, as a gag gift, some friends gave J a notebook with comic panels in it. Toe started drawing immediately:

Toe's first foray into comic book writing - last week

A high speed police chase

So, we called our friend Mr. Bill, who reads comics and who loves to study humans, got in the car, and headed for Portland.

The RCCC was bigger than I had imagined and had a great balance of artists, celebrities, vendors, and other stuff. I was surprised by the number of cos-players (people in costume).  There were flocks of Wonder Women, a bevy of zombies, multiple Links (from Zelda), various Pokemon, superheroes galore, Star Trek officers, Star Wars characters. Costumed parents pushed strollers with kids in costume.

We went old-school with T-shirts supporting comic artists (and Mikey, who does Chronicles of the Nerds).

Some of my favorites: French-maid Deadpool, Lego Slave Princess Leia (seriously), a Wonder Woman with Walter Koening's signature across both breasts, and all of the Links.

A little nervous around French-maid Deadpool

We wanted a photo with Deadpool, but Toe was unsure. Deadpool was very friendly and chatted with Toe until he felt more comfortable.

Pokemon was Toe's "in"

J had a list of things to accomplish: comic artists' signatures to get, art he wanted to acquire. We started in Artists' Alley and found immediately that although Toe is not as steeped in comics as his father, he had a stake in the game too. He stopped at many booths to look at the Pokemon and Miyazaki artwork. He was allowed to spin the R/C Lego R2-D2's head. People found him to be charming and polite (he was on GREAT behavior).

While J and Mr. Bill worked Artists' Alley, Toe and I settled in at the U of O recruiting station where they had art supplies for future artists. I thought this was the coolest part of the convention. Toe and I were there for 45 minutes... This gave Toe time to draw and me time to people watch.

Toe's dragon. He gave the artwork to J, who put it in his folder of original art

Here are some more photos of the con:

It was so much fun sharing this experience with Mr. Bill!

Feel safe to wear what you want. NICE.

Wonder woman's entire outfit was made from duck tape

My favorite event was meeting Matt Wagner, creator of the Mage series. His was the first comic series J had me read when we were teenagers. He turned out to be a wonderful person - easy to talk to, interesting, with a good sense of humor. He drew a sketch for Toe while we looked at his art work. It was an honor to meet him and a delight to discover he was as nice as he is creative and talented.

After about two and a half hours I hit my saturation point. We could have spent more time, but we left while we were all in good moods and had some energy left. I like to leave on a good note.

We were serenaded by ukulele on our way up and back while we all chatted. J was adrenalized by the experience and had a hard time "coming down" at bed time. Toe is already asking when we can go to the next one. I'd call that a success.

Ukulele serenade on the journey

Second Grader

Toe has entered the second grade. We met with Toe's teacher to discuss his CF needs, we went to the Orientation, and now he's off to school. Toe is starting week 3 and seems to be having a good time. As most kids at the beginning of the school year, he comes home tired and cranky, but with good stories.

Here's one: On the early release day last week, after recess, Toe's class went to Music. Toe somehow thought it was the end of the day and gathered up his things and went to sit in the lobby where I pick him up. He sat there for a few minutes (and had begun to wonder why he didn't see any other kids getting ready for the end of the day, or parents for that matter) when one of the secretaries said to him, "Toe what are you doing there?" After a long pause he replied, "I don't really know..." They sent him back upstairs and he joined his class in Music.

The good news is he wasn't even remotely traumatized by this. He thought it was a hilarious mistake (I'm waiting to see if he repeats it this week).

Here's his classroom from his view (Orientation Day):

His teacher - Mr. M

Oh the paperwork!

View from Toe's desk

Dad with supplies!

Classroom decoration

The hallway - with Toe's cubby

Transitions

Part of the reason for my anxiety/depression this summer was that we were facing a big change. J has worked at at the aquarium for eighteen years (more if you count the years he worked there in late high school/ early college). It can be consuming work: you are on-call if things break down or there are power outages, days off change depending on frozen fish shipments or stranded marine life. J has always taken the care of the animals very seriously and has not just loved, but has been passionate about his job. I worked there for a few years. My sister worked there. My mother worked there.... The boss, our manager, is like a big brother to us.

The last few years, Jason has begun to feel the full force of the physical nature of his job. He spent hours cold, wet, and sore lifting heavy objects. And we have had to face the real possibility that as the years progress and Toe's CF progresses, we may need to live closer to the city and our CF clinic. We'd been thinking about these issues, but had not come to any kind of conclusions....

Then this summer, a friend offered J a job. He would be working from home, providing technical and customer support for an online company. The conditions were pretty ideal. Even though it was really a job J couldn't refuse, it took him a lot of time and soul searching to make the decision.  I was definitely part of this process, but also knew the decision was ultimately up to J.

And so we move to a new chapter of our lives. J started the new job mid-August and  left the aquarium after Labor Day.  He loves working from home and finds this new job varied and exciting. He is working an early shift, so Toe and I actually get to see him in the evenings.  For now, we will stay in the same location (we just bought a house a year and a half ago), but we could move if we needed to. If Toe has a hospital stay, J will be able to join us. There is room for advancement and skill-building in J's new position.

And we will always have the aquarium in our hearts. It was an amazing eighteen years with stories that will astound Toe when he is older....

Eat My Words (yet AGAIN).

Texas in August? YES.

 Remember that post I made earlier this summer about how Toe was too sensitive to heat for us to go anywhere in the summer? I should learn not to make any definitive statements ever, because they always come back to bite me. I have to say, this was a pretty pleasant bite.

I have fantastic in-laws. J's mom suggested that Toe and I take some time at the beach in Texas and the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a great idea: I'd get a break, Toe would get to with Grandma Gus and Grandpa Boat, and J's folks would get extra time with their grandson. After some discussions back and forth, we decided to try it. Toe was ready to go as soon as we suggested it.

The weekend before we were supposed to travel, Toe got sick, and we had to postpone our trip for a week. His fever abated two days before we left. We wore masks on the plane for protection (Toe wanted me to wear one too. I actually felt healthier after having done so...), which got us some strange looks; it ended up working  extremely well - first airline trip where Toe has not ended with a CF exacerbation.

Traveling with a seven year old is a joy. At least this seven year old. He is just the right age to experience the wonder of air travel - ordering a drink on the plane, the sound of rolling luggage on tile, riding escalators. When we met chaos at the Dallas Airport (the escalators, people movers, and trams were all broken so we had to walk miles with hundreds of other people), Toe managed to keep up with me and help with the luggage. We arrived in Corpus Christi, Texas in the evening, tired, but happy. He ran into his grandmother's arms.

We stayed indoors during the days and in the early evening, as things cooled off, we headed for the beach. The weather was perfect - 90's but always a breeze, with WARM water. We went to beaches that allowed cars so we could choose a spot, unload the truck, and have a picnic dinner. This was a typical set up (including the pelicans):

There is something so magical about being at the beach without being cold....

As the week progressed, Toe adapted to the heat enough for some quick outings. He and Gus took time to watch the fish in the canals and enjoy her garden.

We also went to an end-of summer fair. Toe was hot but had a great time in the bouncy houses, on a bungee/trampoline system, and his first ride on a pony.

We had an amazing visit and flew back with the grandparents, who had planned a trip to Oregon six months ago. Their time in Oregon allowed Toe to deepen the relationship started in Texas and while they were here, he even spent the night with them (his first night away from both parents)!