New Year 's Resolutions

I know what your all thinking....WHAT April has resolutions? She never has those! But yes, I have been thinking long and hard and have had these in my mind for a few weeks now. After a L O N G, trying, emotional, exciting 2010 we are ready for some great things to happen in 2011

1. I promise to BLOG at least once a week. Even if it might just be a photo update of the kids for Uncle Matt, I will still be a better contributor to our little life here :-)
2. Not sure if you have heard of the book "365 Make something every day and change your life" http://makesomething365.blogspot.com/p/about.html but I am going to make something crafty every week and keep a log about it. I have been very into sewing lately and making princess Ella hair things etc and decided that I LOVE to craft and create but I never made time to do it in the past and now with three darling children I need to make sure to I am focusing on myself a little. Maybe I will even post photos of what I do....if it looks good :-)
3. I am going to be better at filing paperwork. For too many years I would just grab a box, bag and throw EVERYTHING in it, no rhyme or reason and then every so often I would go through grab out what needed to be shredded and then shred for a week or so and want to kill myself. So the filing cabinet is organized, everything for 2010 and before is taken out and boxed up in order and I am ready to begin tomorrow...

Who else is going to share theirs??

Happy New Year 2011 (Year of the Rabbit)

To ring in the New Year, I had a dinner with a student, a fine meal of fermented (see: rotten!) skate. It's an amphibious creature that resembles a cross between a stingray and a squid. They let the flesh rot for a certain amount of time, (obviously the longer the rotting period, the more pungent the smell and taste.) and then viola, a plate of rotten fish meat. Delicious!

To be honest, I waved my white tissue of surrender only half jokingly after about 7 slices of it. The smell is like ammonia, and the taste is like, well..there is nothing quite like that...I could easily see why some people would gag, retch, or even throw up trying to eat it. So chewy it takes forever and a day to swallow it, and it has very soft 'cartilige'-like bones that you can chew and swallow. All in all...not high on my list for next year....

And as an added bonus...after eating that, Jihye had warned me I would stink and she wouldn't kiss me. Turns out both could be true..although she is a trooper about the smooching. (I did have to shower, brush, and gargle before she would kiss me without flinching though) I met Jihye at about 10:30pm and gave her my surprise for us. A special bottle of O-meh-rak. A fairly new traditional brandy flavored with roasted plums. At 40%, it packs quite an alcoholic kick. But the COOL thing about this drink is the packaging. It comes in an earthenware pot that we must crack with a hammer in order to get at the actual bottle of liquor. I will post a few photos showing the fun we had...

Funny also to note that Jihye tap-tap-tapped around the top while Captain America here was smash-smash-smashing all about the sides and trying to destroy the earthenware vessel. Funny cultural note that she was so precise while I thought Hulk would have been a good philosophy on how to open things....

Anyways...Happy New Years to all who may read this post, and may you and yours find simple bliss along your days....

Love you guys,

M

Heating Bill Update 2

Oct. '09 - 20 units of heat ...............................Oct. '10 - 0 units of heat
Nov. '09 - 155 units of heat.............................Nov. '10 - 0 units of heat
Dec. '09 - 116 units of heat..............................Dec. '10 - 0 units of heat
Jan. '10 - 73 units of heat
Feb. '10 - 35 units of heat
March '10 - 0 units of heat

Could I actually pitch a shut out?!?

The kiddos

Here is a daily thing that is usually done around here if Jadan gets done with his homework and we have been nice helpers. PLAY-DOH.....Tracker is trying to be apart of the fun too

x-mas cookies

Being home during the holidays has let me have the time, patience and creativity to do cookies with the kids.

Big Boy

Here is Mr.Tracker AKA "mister mister" sitting in his Bumbo chair. Usually the chair is for kids who can sit up....but since this strong man can hold his head up and has sense the day he was born...we tried it out and he LOVED it!

EPIC Will Ferrell Bloopers

you're welcome...

Current Windchill...

...in Korea is -17C.....no wonder nobody lives in Siberia..I can't imagine....

Still haven't turned on my under-floor heating yet!! C'mon stand heater...

And I haven't even brought out my electric blanket yet....

:)

I dressed MYSELF!

This is the day I finally realized that cute moms at stores who have oddly dressed children are not bad parents.....Ella decided on my first day home with three kids to get ready that she would dress herself. I was SO happy that I didn't have to help her with EVERY item of clothing that morning that I left the house like that, got Jadan to school, ran a few errands, grocery shopped and then made it home to feed a screaming baby boy, then I noticed how to had dressed herself and I wanted to DIE that I was in public with that little princess....and yes Uncle Matt those are her Korean socks with her shoes on the wrong feet!

1st bath

Here is Mr. Tracker and his 1st bath. He LOVED it until his towel tried to eat him.....

Jadan's Roller Coaster

Here is Jadan's (and Daddy's) first science project! A roller coaster that had to be made out of toilet paper rolls, popsicle sticks, tape (a lot of tape) and what ever else we could find. Jadan and Randy worked LONG and hard on this bad boy and the marble went down EVERY single time! I think he had the biggest one when I helped him carry it to class on Friday too.....

You be the judge...

I swear she was enjoying herself despite the late hour...

No COD...

So here is all the kimchi we made on Sunday night, finished at about 1am....and a shot of the three cabbage heads and two small containers of kimchi we will send to Jihye's mother. I'm looking forward to a good review from her mother, a few people have commented shock that I made kimchi in the first place, the three people who have tasted it all loved it...but asking a Korean woman over the age of 50 feels like a right of passage.

Kim-jang!

We harvested all of our remaning cabbage this past Sunday and made a lot of kimchi. We made two varieties, both bite-size kimchi and 'pogi' (head) kimchi. Here are some action shots of our expert chef slaving away while I snap photos...she swore to me she wasn't going to help this time, but as soon as I started, she leapt right in and took over. Everything turned out great, we even sent her mother three of the larger cabbage heads and Jihye may take some of the kimchi I made last week and one 'pogi' kimchi she made home to Suncheon this weekend to share with her mom (the matriarch of kimchi in this case) for her opinion.

Sea of Blankets

Puppy is certainly enjoying all the new bedding and its warmth...

Heating Bill update

Oct. '09 - 20 units of heat ...............................Oct. '10 - 0 units of heat

Nov. '09 - 155 units of heat.............................Nov. '10 - 0 units of heat

Dec. '09 - 116 units of heat

Jan. '10 - 73 units of heat

Feb. '10 - 35 units of heat

March '10 - 0 units of heat

Another solid month...here comes the cold...

The Goods

Here are some shots of the ingredients...the process...and the finished result. I have it on good authority, i.e. an authentic Korean, that while I made it a tad sweet (forgot to reduce sugar by the apple/pear I included) it does in fact taste pretty good. It will set out on my counter for a few days to sour and ferment, as I prefer aged kimchi much more than fresh stuff. Feel free to stop by for a taste...

Cabbage Harvest 2010

Harvested 2 of my 13 cabbages today hoping to experiment a bit with making kimchi. They don't resemble the 'Napa Cabbage' or 'Chinese Cabbage' that I've been seeing in most of the on-line kimchi making tutorials. It is just called 'Kimchi-making Cabbage' in Korean...so they must know what they are doing...

The process does not look too demanding..perhaps more patience than precision...we will see. I will keep you 'posted' and let you know what happens next week when I harvest the remaining 11 cabbages.

(A note on the photos...two are of what a proper cabbage patch should look like, one is of what mine looked like due to torrential rains after we planted and perhaps a wild pig dining on them, and one is of the two heads I brought home set on my table top.)

Exit Strategy...

begins now...

Vacation Day #1

Good opportunity to get some reading done,

Two of the top thinkers out there on the topic of living a more natural life.

Easy to read, hard to do!!

Thoughts on creating positive change in your organization

Colin Beavan, the No Impact Man

http://michaelpollan.com/

Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Matthew, try this one.

http://michaelpollan.com/reviews/second-nature/

Springer House Progress...

Where's Puppy...

can you spot her?

We win...

First sleet/snow of the year...November 8th, 8pm....autumn lasts about a month here now...

Good News...

While slightly less ceremonious than the occasion of April's third-born, upon a final inspection of to raze our 'farm' it came as a shock to discover 15 heads of cabbage had miraculously survived and actually grown! Two heads were much smaller and Jihye suggested we pluck those, dry them, and use for other stews...although we tied and bound the other 13 larger ones to shape them in order to get proper kimchi making leaves. We're hoping to harvest in perhaps two weeks as Jihye's mother will be visiting again and we may try to have a small kimchi making weekend together with her. Niether Jihye nor obviously myself have made kimchi by hand, it would be nice to have some experienced guidance leading the way. So..one successful birth down...April...you're up...

Halloween 2010

Randy and April's carved pumpkins.

Battle for Heat

As loyal readers of this family blog may recall...last winter I moved into my new apartment and immediately faced daunting heating bills. According to everyone, the heating costs in my building are exorbitant, the owners of the bread shop on the first floor implored me to buy some form of a stand heater. So..I posted last March when I bought the $100 floor stand heater, although that was too late to make much of a dent in my bills for the '09-'10 winter season. In fact, I had turned off my expensive floor heating system as of mid-February last year and was suffering in silence.

Fast forward to this year...and I have been anxiously waiting 10+ months to attack the heating bills this time around. I have the floor stand heater, and my recently purchased goose down bedding and other assorted warm blankets. I will also add one last item to my arsenal, a separating curtain (think dramatic stage curtain, something thick and velvety) in between the main living room and the kitchen and spare room, hopefully in order to maximize the effectiveness of the stand heater. The temperature dropped to 1 degree Celcius last week, so it is well time to get things started.

For those keeping score at home, here are the monthly totals for last year. (I'm not sure what units of measurement they are using, nor am I positive the source of the heat, be it oil, gas, or something else.) All I know is that it is too expensive, and I do not aim to spend $400+ per month for it.

Oct. '09 - 20 units of heat ...............................Oct. '10 - 0 units of heat
Nov. '09 - 155 units of heat
Dec. '09 - 116 units of heat
Jan. '10 - 73 units of heat
Feb. '10 - 35 units of heat
March '10 - 0 units of heat

Updates to appear monthly...

Good Blog

http://jason-scotchreviews.blogspot.com/

MATT!!

check it out!

OURS!

Be it ever so humble...the old place looks even better now that WE own it and not the bank!!

daddy-o

지하철난투극 무개념한 10대소녀가........

last one got deleted...

지하철 유튜브녀 (Subway youtube girl)

korea in a nutshell...aigoo...

Garden update

Garlic, shallots and green onions from the garden.

First year for these items.

Easy to grow and deer-proof.

For sure a great addition!

daddy-o

Wisconsin Rapids River Flood in HIGH DEF

Ashley shared this video of the flooding in Wisconsin Rapids. Uncle Bill is in the video.

Wisconsin Rapids Flooding 9/24/2010

Wisconsin Rapids got hit by a flood.  Nieman Photograpy was the worst hit for our family.  They moved what ever they could upstairs.  Their basement is flooded, but I heard today the waters were decreasing.  You only think stuff like this happens to other people.  Matt...you can check out other YouTube videos to see other areas hit by the flooding. 

Cleopatra and freind

Cleopatra is always out back making friends in and around our yard.

Here she is on a play date with her buddy squirrel.

Yesterday she was hanging around the neighbors fence because their dogs were out back and she wanted them to come out and "play".

Anxious to see how she and Keesha get along.

daddy-o

Lap (or Mattress) of Luxury

A final blog today about what I had posted before...what I had prepared for mom's visit. Was talking to Jihye before mom's trip and thought I should get myself something for working so long and nearing the one hundred thousand dollar mark...a little reward for myself. She suggested a new bed. I've only had hand-me-downs from other foreigners or slept on the floor for over six years...so I thought that sounded just fine. Spent some time online and shopping around the Seoul for a while before settling on a frame from the internet which was pretty cheap, and managed to find an AMAZING mattress at a little shop just down the street from Jihye's house. We'd tried box-spring mattresses, memory foam, pillow top, and some other kind of mattress, all priced WAY too high before discovering this little gem. A double box-spring pillow top mattress for less than half of what the others were going for. This little shop had three floors, we met the guy on the first, he took us downstairs to try out several...then after hemming and hawing and about to leave, he said, 'Well..come upstairs and look at this...' So we went up two flights of narrow stairs, snaked our way past bed sets, mirrors, and full-wall lengths closets to a hidden back corner and one random mattress. As soon as my ass made contact I was pulling out my wallet..just loved it. The firmness of the boxspring, the pillowy-ness of the pillow top, and the breathability that memory foam mattress don't provide... Mom might attest to it..but I just love sleeping on it. Also bought some nice beddings to go with it and a really, really nice coolmax bedding pad that sucks the sweat off of you while you sleep and keeps you dry...a necessity for 90+ degree nights. I hope mom and Jadan enjoyed it..although they had a tendency to sleep on the cheap sofa bed that I'd originally bought....ay caramba! :)

The bed is usually made and looks much better, but my furry better half didn't want to be interrupted and as she is heading for another 'heat' soon, I am mid-removing the nice linens and using crappy stuff that can hide blood better....oh joy!