NoHo Mom

Dropped off for a while. I’m feeling this strange inability to commit to anything beyond the necessary. And even stranger feeling to not want to write down everything that comes to mind. What is that about? Maybe I need some chocolate…

Saturday is music day for us this weekend.  We’ll start at Cup and Top for some John Powers and the Pop Stars, then break for lunch and a nap, and then get back in the game for Elizabeth Mitchell at the Northampton Community Music Center at 2:00.  Then we’ll come home, rock out in our own special family way between bites of pizza, put the kids down, let the sitter in, and go enjoy some grown-up groove of our own.

And then, since we danced our way through Saturday, maybe we’ll take in some different local talents on Sunday at 2:00 at The Really Big Show.

…and then rest.

Again, in my humble opinion…

Noodles on Main street sucks. When we first moved here and saw there was a noodle shop, we were so excited — food we love and that the kids might possibly eat as well. The noodles soups are bland. I could make btter at home, and that ’s saying something. We do love their gyoza (at $7 for six!), but they are frozen out of a bag (I saw them take them out and heat them), so if I could just find out what brand of frozen gyozas they use, we’d be set. Save you pennies for…

The Great Wall in Florence. Ever since I moved here, we had heard from everyone that this was the pace to get your Chinese food fix. We finally got take out the other night, and it was probably the best Chinese food I have ever had. In Florence! I got the veggie Moo Shu (with plum sauce- yum!) and Hubby got the Kung Pao Chicken– and it wasn’t even colored red! I got take out, and didn’t even notice if they have the spin tables, but if they do, then that’s another reason to go!

The Great Wall can only be beaten by my final Asian Dig: The Korean Restaurant in Hadley. What is lacks in ambiance, it more than makes up for in taste. I ordered the Bimbimbop, as did three others I was with, and it was superb. Hubby ordered some beef soup with boiled rice cakes, and it was just as good. There is no alcohol served there, but you can bring your own which can save you a bunch of money. An all around great experience.

Who can refuse the sweet smile of your neighbor and familiar green boxes of Girl Scout Cookies? Not me. I would buy them by the dozen and put them in my freezer to hold me over until the following year (…month). Thin mints. You can take all the rest, but let me die with a box of Thin Mints in my arms.

Then I grew up, just a little, and started reading the sides of boxes (if you haven’t started this annoying habit, don’t. Ignorance is truly bliss, especially when it comes to your favorite cookies.) So, not surprisingly, my favorite Thin Mints are loaded with hydrogenated oils. Now, I’ll take the sugars and even the colorings, but I just can’t take the hydrogenated oils, especially considering the quantity of Thin Mints I can consume.

But enter my saving grace: Back to Nature’s Fudge Mint Cookies. I swear they ARE Thin Mints, minus the supercrap. I can eat a whole box of these bad boys, just like old times!

I know, in these days, there are so many things to be concerned and passionate about, that cookies can really seem insignificant. But in these day, when there is so much to be concerned about, shouldn’t we have a good cookie?

p.s. It hasn’t escaped me that I no longer support perhaps one of the most cherished American symbols of our time, the Girl Scouts. I will certainly resume my support by buying their cookies again once they take out the crap, and put an expiration date on their boxes.

For all of you who are reading this from your iPhones, entertain me. I just found Pandora, and it is like unearthing buried treasure. I have written about music before, and though some of you have thoughtfully suggested music for me– we’re all from the same generation! I am all set on the eighties and nineties. It is only in the past seven years (coincidently coinciding with the birth of child #1) that I have fallen off the back of the new and groovy music pick-up truck. Not that I still don’t love Prince and The Cure, but where and how can I find new music that I’ll like?

Enter Pandora Internet Music. You can stream it from your computer or fancy hand held device, and you can buy music from them as well (that you can then put into your other fancy digital something or other). Here is the true beauty of Pandora: you build you own radio station with music you like and then THEY match your music with similar grooves, thereby introducing you to the wide world of music other than Raffi! The first band I entered into my “Get your groove on” radio station was Ozomatli (a Latin/funk band). They played a song from Ozomatli, and then played another song from a band I had never heard of but LOVED! So then, you get to give each suggested artist/band a thumbs up or thumbs down, and all these little people on Pandora’s Planet, customize your station according to your ratings.

Check it out. And if you hear and artist that you just love, please share with us! Here’s a first suggestion if you like soul/r&b/bluesy music: Alice Smith: Woodstock.

P.S. You can add some variety to your children’s music library by creating a children’s radio station, adding a few of your faves, and see who they suggest. (We love Pete Seeger and Jack Johnson)

This first video was shown to be by a friend on her iPhone. I cried. That the video was done to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” didn’t help. Then I watched it on the “big screen” laptop, and I cried again, maybe harder the second time.

Here’s the story summary: In 1969, two friends, Ace Berg and John Rendall, purchased and adopted a lion. At the time, Christian was a 35only pound cub. He had been born in a zoo. The friends raised Christian in their London home. All three became great friends! Within a year, Christian grew too big, Rendall and Berg realized they couldn’t keep him much longer. The two decided to release Chritian back ino the wild. Christian was realeased into a conservation system Africa. In 1974, Rendall and Berg decided to visit Christian one last time despite a friend telling them that it was too dangerous because Christian might not even remember them. The two friends flew to Kenya, anyway. When they finally arrived at the reservation, Christian showed up for a heart wrentching reunion! He even brought his mate to meet his friends!

I Snoped it to make sure it was legit before posting. The Snopes site tells more about the story, as well. (Click on the picture for the video.)

This video was sent to me yesterday by my father-in-law. (Though he works 100 hour weeks, he somehow has the time to find little nuggets like this for the grandkids.) This is a sweet video about two unusual friends.

A fellow blogger friend, Caroline just posted this article on my sister site, Cambridge Moms Blog. It’s good and important, and I wanted to share it with you…

The 2007 Thomas the Tank Engine lead paint scare was real, and it deserved immediate, thoughtful attention and action.  What we actually got from the Bush Administration was a short-sighted, big business-friendly law called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), expected to go into effect by February of 2009.

The law’s name suggests trust–how could you not agree with anything including the words “consumer product safety”?–but it really begs for scrutiny.  Under the CPSIA, any product (clothes, toys, books–anything) meant for children under the age of 12 must meet strict lead testing and certification.  Now, I understand that products that run the risk of using lead paint or any toxins should be fully monitored and tested, but it strikes me as ludicrous that small businesses (and we have hundreds of them in our area–think of etsy.com) would be run out of business when (a) their products–be it books or cloth diapers or organic t-shirts–run no risk of being toxic and (b) the testing is prohibitively expensive.

A version of the law is absolutely needed, but the current CPSIA must be adapted.  Please read below and let your voice be heard!

Further reading:
The CPSIA: Good in Theory, Hurting Small, Favorite Green Businesses in Practice
Handmade Toy Alliance
You Tube Video Response to CPSIA Implementation

How you can help:
1) Email or call the CPSIA:
Sec102ComponentPartsTesting@cpsc.gov

The office of the CPSC ombudsman: 888-531-9070

http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/newleg.aspx

2) Email or snail mail your representatives:
http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/issues/alert/?alertid=12274476

3) Call your representatives. For their contact information just enter your zip code:
http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/dbq/officials/

4) Make your voice heard by voting on this issue. The top 3 in each category will be presented to President-elect Obama
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

5) Sign the petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/index.html

6) Join the etsy community in the virtual chat with CPSIA Small Business Ombudsmen or send a handmade children’s item that will become “hazardous goods” as of 2/9/09 to Bobby Rush, founder of H.R. 4040:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/handmade-childrens-items-unintended-consequences-consumer-pr-3056/
Etsy Thread

So, I’m going out dancing tonight. YES! The last time I went out dancing was four months ago when we had so much fun we swore we’d do it at LEAST once a month.

We went to Diva’s which, in case you don’t live in Northampton, don’t dance, or are not gay, you might not know about. If you blink, you’ll pass it on the left side of Rte. 5 as your headed out of town. Yes, it is a GLBT bar, and yes, they charge a cover, and yes, the music SUCKS (in my humble opinion) beginning around 11:00, when other people show up. BUT, the DJ is cool and if you arrive early, like we did, when there was NO one there, he will play whatever you want. We OWNED the dance floor (since no one else was one it), complete with disco ball, baby! We requested what we knew: Prince, The Cure, George Michael… then the DJ figured us out and kept spinning great 80’s dance tunes. As I said, come around 11:00, the younger crowd woke up and decided to come dancing, and the vibe and music changed. And we no longer owned anything. It was a great time, and we were home and in bed by midnight, as all good 30-somethings with children ought to be.

Tonight, I think we are going to Paradise City Tavern. It is rumored that at 10:00, they push all the tables aside and boogie down. I am hoping they play house music, but I have heard that it can be either house, electro, or techno (god help me). One of my friend’s who is coming tonight is a Deadhead. If they play techno, she might throw up. We don’t want that on the dance floor.

If you know of any other good dance places, please share!

Is it just me, or do you ever feel like the window in which we have to teach our children how to be healthy, happy ctizens is closing before we have even begun? I have so many good ideas about what to teach my children, what to expose them to, and what to shelter them from, but then the f!*@ing dishes and dinner get in the way. Every day! When is that crochet lesson supposed to happen when there is always food to be prepared?

I might have to let go of a few of my more ambitious goals for the kids, but there are some I simply must work into the days. And soon, as my oldest is now seven and will one day wake up to realize that mom isn’t really as cool/smart/pretty as she thinks I am now. The window is closing…

My personal new years resolutions (coffee, wine, exercise, blah, blah) will have to wait for my children’s resolutions to be, well… resolved. Here’s my short list:

Work is good and natural, god@#$%it! If we lived on Little House on the Prairie (which we certainly do NOT!), work would be life, not just a chore. I don’t know about you, but my children need to start working more and playing less. I really need to get to work on this one now, as my daughter is already balking about how much “work” she has to do. “Go live on a farm in Botswana!” I yell with wild eyes. “Then you’ll know what work is!” She rolls her eyes and walks away from her single chore of clearing off the dinner table. Alas.

Make a Difference I have talked about this before. God, can I talk. But this is a new year, and it’s time.

Learn how to survive, should the economic or national security shit hit the fan. Maybe start learning about edible plants (my two-year old will enjoy this one), or shoe making…

Helping others I have talked about this one too. Maybe we can interweave resolutions– shoe making for people with no shoes…

We are global citizens. We don’t have the money to travel outside of New England right now, but for this year, we can start teaching the children about the world outside of New England by setting up a pen pal for our seven year old. Then, if and when we are able to travel again, we can take the next step, and visit her friend…as long as she is not in a war-torn country. In which case, maybe she can visit us.

That’s a lot for 2009. We might have to resort for frozen pizzas and sticky floors to get this done. But if not now, then when?

OMG- a week of no school and potentially crappy weather means I have got to plan this week or I will be walking up the walls within two days.

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Monday, December 29: A.M. at the Y, baby! (I’ll be teaching a yoga class, so stop by to visit.) Then, if I can leave the baby with the hubby, I’ll take my two older ones to the First Night Elmer and the Elder Tree preview at 2:00at the Noho Center for the Arts.

Tuesday, December 30th: a.m. play date (alternatively: story and craft time at Lily Library 10-11); afternoon at the Y (gymnastics and another yoga class).

Wednesday December 31st: First Night Northampton This sounds like a good time in theory, but a friend just told me that it is CRAZY crowded, and that lines start forming for shows way before they start. Sounds like a nightmare with a two year old who just wants to run and climb up everyone. Might go. Might stay home and feed the fish.

Thursday January 1st: Must get outside, come hell or high water, to celebrate the new year. You might see us outside, dragging the children behind us in an effort to have fun outside. Want to join?

Friday January 2nd: Dig into my nonexistent retirement account to pay for a babysitter all day long and go to spa for facials, massages, and pretty red toenails.

So really, outside of the Y (again, thank God for the Y) and Elmer on Monday, there doesn’t seem like there’s much going on. Am I wrong? If so, please tell me what you’re doing, and I’ll just cancel all my fun plans and follow you around.

Happy New Year!

And Happy School Break! (really.)