Deutsch 101

Yep. I am learning German.  I must say I wished I would have payed more attention to English Grammer in high school (or maybe I did pay attention but it was so long ago and I am so old I can't remember).  Now I am not only learning German, but relearning English Grammer at the same time.  My head is reeling from all the new terms: predicate noun, direct and indirect objects, prepositional phrases.  The only ones I am really sure of are nouns and verbs.  Of course add to all the English grammer I am learning the many German words like eigentlich which means actually and hoffentlich which means hopefully.  And to make it even more complicated the German language has all these cognates and false cognates (words which look like English words but may or may not have same meaning).  For example, der after which one would think means the same as the English after...but it doesn't... it means anus.

I wonder at this point if I will ever be able to speak German -- let alone English (God only knows how I made it this far without knowing when and where to use a predicate noun).  I am enjoying myself, and in spite of my now very obvious difficulties with English, I can make out some of what I hear in German and alot of what I read.  I would call that progress.  

So onward we go into Kapitel Zwei (Chapter two) where I am learning proper placement of predicate nouns, objects, pronouns and prepositional phrases in German Sentences. Good luck to me....

The Little Blue Composter Who Is No More

Our composter ended up working out for us very well -- with a minor caveat which I will address very shortly.  But first let me say one does not realize how much one throws away until you have a composter.  In our case we used the compost for our organic waste from meals (stalks from lettuce, egg shells, etc...).  Unfortunately, we had more waste than we could throw into the composter because it was quite small.  After three months roughly we had produced about 1/2 of the drum (25 gallons) of compost and we used it in our raised garden beds. 

We probably would have had more compost except for that caveat I mentioned earlier.  Our composter started to smell like a sewer thanks to the sweltering temperatures of Arizona!  There appeared to be armies of flies amassing at the entrance holes and maggots growing by the hour in our once fertile blue barrel.  Unfortunately, this smell, the flies and maggots was not going over well here in suburbia so the little blue composter went into the big black trash bucket and is no more.  We really miss him and wish him the best.

Ethan's Room

It seems there is always something to do or finish or fix in my son's room.  I can't help but wonder if this feeling is related to my husband's request to not buy our son toys?  This has been very hard for me since it is the American Way to consume and supply.  In trying to support my husband's request, and fulfill my desire to give to my son, I opt to create active pursuits in his room and play area instead. 

Ethan's arts area already received a facelift so his room got a mini makeover next.  I have been very pleased with  how well his room is organized and I liked the majority of the pieces in the room, however some changes were in order.  First, I took out the Kidkraft storage bins that had were holding various small toys that were rarely used.  I replaced it with and Expedit shelf from Ikea.  Unbeknownst to Ethan I threw away many of the unused and broken toys and placed the rest in three different Drona boxes -- where they largely go hidden and unused.  Additionally, the expedit unit provides a great sitting and standing area for the magnetic chalkboard. 

The chalkboard was made with a three by four sheet of galvanized metal (I had read that magnetized paint does not work as well as purported) glued to a thin sheet of pressed wood ($7).  Once the glue was dry I painted it with chalkboard paint (as many coats as you like -- I did five because the metal was slick and the paint did not always adhere).  I used two sheets of four by three side by side to create one huge chalkboard space of three by eight.  Because I could not get the two sheets to marry together at the seams I placed a piece of trim on it to separate the board into sides.  I also trimmed the exterior edges of the board to create the look of a classic school room chalkboard.

I wanted to create a more custom look for Ethan's bed so I replaced the ailing curtains under the bed (create a fun space underneath the bed).  I purchased some good quality medium weight canvas from www.onlinefabricstore.net for a reasonable price and made new curtains in blue and yellow.  I also changed his bedding to include some orange throw pillows from Pottery Barn (quilt and euro pillow covers are also from Pottery Barn).  To add some color to the room I painted one wall green.

Overall the room has become exactly what I had envisioned.  Ethan may not have alot of toys but he has a very fun sleeping and playing place and I had fun creating this space.

San Francisco

I really wanted to like it, but I hated it. 

Our trip to San Francisco was a planned active vacation we were really looking forward to. We decided to do it without renting a car -- everything by people-power (bike and walk) or public transportation.  We would take the train from the airport to downtown, walk to the bike rental store and then ride to Mill Valley.  Oh, and I must not forget we were doing this with our five year old and each of us carrying a large backpack.  Seemed easy enough and we looked forward to the cooler weather San Francisco had to offer.

After reading many reviews about hotels in San Francisco (SF) proper we decided to stay in Mill Valley.  The reviews we read complained about everything from cost, to safety, to noise from outside, noise from other rooms, quality of the rooms and homeless people.  Mill Valley was, according to Google, not a very far bike ride from SF an hour at best (and we are strong bikers so I figured no more than 40 minutes -- more on that erroneous thought later).  Our room was decent enough -- definitely did not look like the photo on the website (another common complaint we read in the reviews) but at least it wasn't $230 a night. 

It seems when it comes to travel there are two things you can count on:  the room will not look like the picture and your plane will never be on time.  Our departure was delayed one hour.  For adult travelers it is a tolerable fact of life, but we were travelling with a very persnickety five year old and delays always complicate the ambiance.  Our arrival in SF was complicated by a starving and exhausted child.  Our goal was to get to the hotel as fast as possible for de-escalation maneuvers.  Once in SF and we found the train easy enough, made it to downtown and to the bike store.  Unfortunately, the bike store did not have bikes for us (even though I was promised a week in advance by the manager that I did not need to make reservations...."we always have enough bikes."), but we were in luck their bike store several blocks away did have bikes.  We attempted to take the public transportation bus, but after waiting thirty minutes and not being able to board any of the overcrowded buses we decided to walk to the store.   

What struck us most about walking around downtown SF was the smell of urine.  Everywhere.  Couldn't figure out why and then we spotted the many homeless people sleeping on the street...everywhere.  We spent about four hours in downtown SF, having lunch and walking to our various destinations.  As one could imagine eventually we had to use a bathroom.  So we went to Starbucks for coffee and to use the bathroom.  BUT they did not have a restroom for paying customers -- apparently public restrooms were on the other side of the building, locked, and only a special code given by the business owners to their customers would open them.  Unfortunately for us the public restroom closest was closed for cleaning and the next closest one was a few blocks away with a very long line (others told us this who trekked to this toilet only to find it closed).  A line was starting to form while waiting for it to be cleaned and a city worker came by to say it would be an hour "please find another toilet."  I was desperate since my five year old needed to pee (should have let him pee in a bush) so I ran over to a hotel a block away and begged to use the restroom -- it took a lot of begging to get them to open the door to their bathroom.  Sadly, I am sure this why much of the city smells like urine -- the streets are a never ending toilet.  The city's bathroom issues is the single reason why I would never go back.  This is America not Mexico  -- or France for that matter, but even there they won't make you beg to use the toilet.

After our toilet issues were resolved we headed off for our hotel.  And, wow, what a ride -- did you know SF is hilly?  Did I mention we were biking everywhere?  It took us over three hours to get through the city, across the bridge and to Mill Valley.  So much for Google's estimate of one hour.  One website I found said we had three hills between us and Mill Valley.  Really?  There were more than three and even if there were only three maybe the writer should have mentioned they were really BIG (long) hills.  I think we got to our hotel at seven p.m. -- we had started our travel day at 5 a.m.  To say we were tired would, although cliche, be a huge understatement.

The sixty degree weather was wonderful -- especially since we had grown tired of 115 degrees back in Arizona.  In the days that followed our arrival we spent time exploring Sausalito, Muir Woods and Mill Valley by bike and foot.  We spent four hours hiking in Muir Woods and the experience was ethereal.  I think our son enjoyed the hiking day the most. 

In retrospect, my husband and I enjoyed the daily bike riding and could have done it for hours each day, but our son needed more "walk about" time.  If we ever go back to that area, we would avoid San Francisco and stay in Mill Valley.  Moreover, we would spend more time sitting at Peet's Coffee, walking in and out of the flower shops and organic markets, hiking and going to parks. 

Shared Space: The Combo Room

Like most mom's I tried to give my child his own area in the family shared living space.  Like most mom's I ended up with an area that did not fit the rest of the decor or the house.  Ethan's initial space contained his train table and a toddler table with two chairs.  Not only did these pieces look out of place they were not used by Ethan or his friends. I believe the space I had made for him was rarely used because there was very little usable space (in fact I tried to locate some pictures of this area before I changed it and I could find none -- because Ethan nor his friends ever hung out there.)  Moreover, I wanted a space that blended in with the rest of the room. Often times on HGTV realtors and the like say these combo rooms rarely blend together nor look pleasing.  I have strived for both blending and good looks thanks to one great piece: the table.

After a great deal of deliberation I got rid of the train table(kept all the trains and tracks and put in a box in the closet) and toddler table.  I put in one large table that was low enough for little people (and big) to sit around -- thereby creating a usable space.  I found a table on Craigslist that measured was five feet long, three feet wide and fourteen inches tall  -- it needed some work but it was the perfect size.  I bought it for the amazing low price of $15!

I sanded the table allowing the flaws to be exposed (particle board....it is a table with wood legs and trim but veneered top).  I painted the legs an earthy green (Ethan wanted flourescent green), stained the top two different colors and lacquered the top liberally.  I put the table on a rug from Pottery Barn similar to the one on this link.  For the seating and storage I purchased four 26 x 26 pillows and one Expedit single unit from Ikea to house the craft items.  The modern style of the Expedit did not match the craftsman style decor of the room so I put six bun feet on it.  I got the bun feet from Home Depot and painted them to match the shelf with black and brown spray paint alternately until it matched.  Unfortunately, I purchased four of the Knipsa storage boxes made out of a natural wicker type material -- very bad choice.  They look good but they shed horribly.  I am constantly vacuuming and wiping the area around the boxes.  Ikea has a new box the Drona box, which they did not have when I bought the Expedit.  The Drona box is 1/3 the price of the Knipsa, not messy and very colorful.  I duplicated this same Expedit shelf for Ethan's room and used the three green Drona boxes.

I filled the baskets and shelves with paints, papers, games, puzzles, puppets, pencils, craft supplies and labeled them accordingly with mini chalkboards (made from wood from Home Depot then painted with chalkboard paint).  This has been the most worthwhile project I have done for Ethan.  He spends most of his free time at the arts table, as we like to call it, creating, playing games and doing puzzles.  When friends and family come over they gather around doing many of the same activities.  I am not sure if HGTV hosts would say I achieved  my goal of a shared space both blending and looking pleasing but I do know what once was unusable has now become a very usable space.

The Little Blue Composter

Many Sundays (last October to be exact) ago I was in the backyard working on the un-ending-backyard-renovation when I noticed Ethan, my wonderful four year old, going in and out of the house muttering the follwing words : compost, george, garbage, dirt.  I knew he was referring to the Curious George episode on recycling which kind of worried me because it didn't work out well for the man in the yellow hat that episode. I very discreetly followed him to side of the house where I noticed coffee grounds and a pineapple top lying on the ground in sand.  I asked him what was doing and he told me he was making a compost bucket like Curious George did.  I was very impressed with his iniative, creativity and devotion to making his own compost pile -- just not in the middle of the walkway!

At lunch we decided to look at You Tube Videos of composter and recylcing ideas.  There were so many amazing and creative ideas for creating your own composter and after veiwing several we decided to get the materials to make our own.  We bought a fifty gallon water drum from a guy on Craigslist for $20 and bought some hinges and a latch at Home Depot for $10.  I drilled  probably to many holes in the barrel, cut a hatch and we put on the hinges and latch.  We took an old bench from the front of the house put four wheeled casters on the top (wheels up) then mounted the barrell on top horizontally.  Voila! our very own-cheaper-than-buying-it-at-the-store composter -- and did I mention one can mix it by spinning it on the casters?  Yes it really works.

I wish I would have taken a picture of the results to show the composter did in fact work like composter should -- it took a really long time though -- four months to be exact.  We used the compost we generated in our raised garden beds (that is another blog).  This has been a great learning experience for Ethan and a great way to not add more waste the the landfills -- not to mention keeping my house looking nice and not sharing in the fate of the man with the yellow hat.

Mini Skateboards