Corning Museum of Glass

Yes, the Corning in Corningware happens to be in New York state, just an hour from where our cabin is! The discovery of the stronger qualities of tempered glass were discovered by accident by someone who left a plate in a furnace over night. They expected to find a blob of melted glass, but actually found something that bounced on the floor when they accidentally dropped it getting it out of the furnace.
The museum was good with an exhibition space, a history of glass exhibit, and finally, an innovation zone, with lots of more interactive exhibits. Sadly, our children's attention span didn't run to looking at the complete exhibition, and we had to cut it short before the stained glass section, which looked pretty good. However in the innovation zone, we watched someone make a glass goat, using a flame to melt glass sticks, and someone else blowing a bowl (a big one). You could easily spend the day in the museum seeing other demonstrations and looking at the rest of the exhibits.
Corning also has a historic 'gaffers district' shopping street, and some streets not far away that had a really eclectic mix of old houses. It would be a good place to walk around when the baby wasn't exhausted from a 5.30am wake up.
The photo is from the arty bit, it has a huge amount of detail in it of animals and things, all from glass. Like a 3D picture of some sort.

Christmas Day

We had a quiet Christmas Day, with just us and our family. Hubby took on the roasting of the turkey, and it was an unqualified success. Here is the finished product. We even made gravy out of the drippings. Yum yum!
The funny thing was when we were stripping the carcass we discovered the package of internal organs that the turkey people had put inside the turkey, that presumably we were meant to retrieve before cooking?!

Gingerbread Men

Me and the baby had a cooking session. We got hold of a gingerbread recipe with molasses in it! Must be the local version - you can buy molasses in the supermarket here. I was a bit nervous about the molasses taste, but it has turned out really lovely (although very thick, and a little soft). I'm not sure if it is the decorating sort of gingerbread, but hopefully it will work out!
PS - the decorating (on 24th December, for morning tea, by five boys aged 5 years and under) went just fine...

The first wonky Christmas tree decorations

I reached a mummy milestone recently, when my son, after talking about the making of it for two weeks, finally came home with a snowman, made out of clay (with a skirt, so it is actually a girl). He didn't realise, but I did, that it was meant as a tree ornament. My first, wobbly, no-one else outside the family gets it, Christmas tree ornament, to be kept and carefully added to the tree year after year.
In addition, in class he made us a Christmas present of another ornament - a stick with bits of coloured ribbon stuck to it with a glue gun. (which, unfortunatley, is untreated wood, so I don't think I'll get it through Australian customs when we go home :( )What precious, priceless moments I get!

Things that make more sense in a cold Christmas

1. Mulled wine
2. Spiced apple cider
3. Wassail
4. Christmas lights (because it is dark at 4.45pm) - both inside and outside, but especially outside
5. Living Christmas trees (that survive with a bit of water because its not 40C) because most of the trees look dead, and it is lovely to have some greenery around
6. Christmas carols talking about winter and rugging up in a sled
7. All those warm, spicy dried fruit recipes, because comfort eating is very enjoyable when you're cold, and the berries are out of season :(
8. The need for a celebration because it is cold and dark and a touch miserable
9. Roast, warm lunches/dinner
10. Putting snowflakes on the windows, holly and greenery as decoration
11. Everything to do with Santa Claus (the suit, the sleigh, the reindeer pulling it...)
12. Ugly Christmas sweaters with reindeer, snowflakes etc knitted in. I have heard of several Christmas parties where you have an 'ugly sweater' competition.
13. The celebration of Easter as a time of new life and renewal (at the beginning of Spring)

Cookies

I have been feeling smug about my Snickerdoodles, but I am such a novice in the art of baking cookies. These are Peanut Butter Blossoms, with a Hershey's Kiss chocolate stuck on each cookie as it comes out of the oven....
Then there are Molasses Crinkle Cookies to try to make too, and I had something called Tree Bark at church on Sunday that was just lovely. I have a lot of cooking to do!

No Christmas Day Services!

Well, we found out there are no Christmas Day services at our church - and this is not unique... Apparently most protestant churches in America don't run Christmas Day services! They're running three Christmas Eve services - 4.30pm for the kiddies, 7pm, and then an 11pm candlelight service, (which sounds so lovely, but very unattainable for me right now).
It will truly be a different Christmas, given that I have attended a Christmas Day service for all of my years.

Fruit Mince Pasties

Take two... Not sure if it was worse or better. Pastry was initially too dry, and not foldable at all, and even when we added in some more milk, it was hard to manage. Plus, they burnt a bit on the bottom in our oven. The good news - we have plenty more fruit mince to keep on trying!

Amazon Prime

Hubby signed up to one month free membership to Amazon Prime as an introduction, and we have used it heavily in getting this years Christmas presents. For those who don't know, Amazon Prime is a subscription to Amazon, where you pay $9 per month, and in return get free shipping. There is also a lending library of e books and DVD's that you can borrow for a month for free, while you have subscription too. I can appreciate the joy of shopping in a store, and supporting the locals, and I can also appreciate that we simply wouldn't have had time to get all the presents this year without Amazon Prime. The shopping in America involves a lot more driving, and for us a lot more miss than hit (the missing being when you think something will be in a certain store, and then it isn't, and just not knowing where to look), and as I write this, we are wrapping the last of it, and I am so impressed with Amazon Prime. Where else, for example, would you find a tin Curious George kaleidoscope?! It really does feel like you just search for what you want, and there it is. Practically Magic! And the kids are too young to connect Christmas time with all the boxes that have been arriving on our doorstep. I'm really enjoying that, because I'm sure they'll wise up eventually.

Caroling

We went on our first ever children's caroling party on Friday night - starting at 4.30pm because the average age of the children was only about 7, possibly younger. We all gathered, ate a simple dinner, and then went out caroling. One of the party had printed out the words to a whole heap of Christmas carols, and most people (except us) had brought torches, and the idea is that someone knocks on the door, and then when someone answers the door, you start singing. Not everyone answered the door, but those that did seemed to appreciate it (for one song, at least, it was cold!) and then we went home and had hot chocolate and Wassail. The hot chocolate was from a store, and my five year old strongly encouraged me (with what could only be called a huge hot chocolate face) to get the recipe so I could make it! Wassail is a non-alcoholic warmed drink based on cranberry juice and spices, which I will endeavour to do more research on so I can explain it later.
We got home exhausted, but it was surprisingly enjoyable, and I can see how it would be a good way to connect with your neighbours. It was lovely to sing Christmas carols. The kids have been singing snatches of mangled Christmas carols around the house ever since.

Fruit Mince Crumble

Another hit from our kitchen... Turns out nana must have some special knack (and probably the right oven tray - we had muffin trays). Not sure what went wrong, probably several things, but it tastes great. For this year, we'll make the rest up as dim sim style, rather than trying for mini pies.

Rum Blobs

These are meant to be rum balls. No Marie or Nice biscuits, so I tried Graham Crackers. Something has gone wrong, not completely sure what, although my first guess would be that the mixture is too wet. The balls are 'melting' into disc shapes. Fortunately they still taste fine - crushed biscuits and condensed milk will always taste ok!

Lights by the Bay

Sandy Point State Park puts on a light display each year. We went on a Tuesday - so not many cars. Early dinner, kids all wrapped up in the car with pjs on. There was a radio station especially for the lights display that played Christmas music, and it took about 15 mins to drive around and look at all the lights.
A nice easy Christmas activity that the kids were pretty impressed with!

US Census

Our address was chosen to be part of the US Census! Any statistics released about foreigners living in the US in the next couple of years will include our family...

While your kids are breathing...

I have a sense of sadness as a result of the Lindt Cafe hostage situation in Sydney, and a sense of horror, that something like that would happen in a place that I was familiar with, rather than somewhere overseas that I only read about, not have jogged past.
I think my take home message is, if your kids are breathing, have an ice-cream with them. Not necessarily literally, just take the opportunity to spend time with them. Stop and help them with that jigsaw puzzle. Hold them upside down. Tickle them. Read books with them. Have indoor picnics when it is raining. Skip on the way home. Go for a bike ride. Explore not only the opportunity to bring up God's precious children, but to enjoy their sweet, loving, playful natures too.
This even applies to Mr Indescribable, the stubborn 2.5 year old, who is currently lining up the dinosaurs and doing jigsaw puzzles.

I have all my warm stuff

I finally got some boots to wear in the snow. I have been trying for approximately a month to find something. I saw hundreds of boots in the store when they first came in, and felt overwhelmed.

• I planned to buy waterproof hiking boots, but didn't like what was available. 
• Then I formed a plan to buy something on line, and when they came I didn't like them. 
• Then I decided to look in the mall again, only to find that everything was on sale, and therefore there wasn't many in my size/I couldn't fit my high arch in some of the boots/what I was looking for (cross between dress boot, snow boot and hiking boot) doesn't really exist. 
• Then I altered what I wanted (just basic Timberland boots...), and looked on line, but it had gone on sale there too, and out of stock in my very average size 7. 
• Then my husband decided arbitrarily that we were going to look at the snow boots at the local Sports Authority (big warehouse with sporty stuff in it) one lunch time.

And I was complaining that I just needed someone like a mum to focus on getting me my stuff, because I'm such a horrendous shopper, and I hate it... when my long suffering and slightly more big picture husband pointed out that he took me to the store during various lunchtimes to buy not only boots, but also gloves, jacket and snow pants... Thank you!
PS - I dislike that I was only able to look at styles of boots that had all this fluff out the top, and that the men's boots were less fluff-ful, but not available in my size... but that is another post.

Gingerbread houses, graham cracker style

Another great idea. The crackers for these houses were glued, and are not for eating, but the lollies are (I assume!). Saves making gingerbread, or buying a kit? I reckon, if you're in Australia, you could use any sort of cracker, just not the ones with salt sprinkled on them?
We also decorated some biscuits for eating. The key is, to find the cookies on the plate!!

Christmas Crafts

Ideas for simple Christmas crafts, from a crafty babysitter. The snowflakes are truly amazing. I'm not sure how much cutting my kids did, but I think they enjoyed being part of the process. The baby now has an obsession with tracing around his hand! Luckily our textas are washable.

What is missing here?

Another in our series on quirks in American architecture - what is missing in this photo?
That's right, the ceiling lights!! it is becoming more of an issue now that it is getting dark at 4.45pm. I have noticed a lot of homes have more lamps, and task lighting, rather than the big overhead light. Our kitchen, bathroom, dining, entrance and basement/laundry came with ceiling lights (oh, and our walk in wardrobe). The living area and the bedrooms do not. We thought we fixed it by buying a little lamp for Toby's room and the living area, but the truth is, in Winter, we need more lamps...
I'm hoping for another day trip to Ikea, (I'm just there for the food!) but we have precious few days before Christmas, and much other stuff to do.

Channelling my Inner Woodcutter

I am very happy that here, now, a most loved member of my cupboard is coming into its own - the flannelette shirt I got as a reward after passing Grade 4 Piano exam (yeah, I kept it that long!). I wore it constantly for probably about 2 years, and then moved on, but always kept it, and deliberately brought it here, because I knew it would be cold, and you never know...
It has become the ultimate in warm comfy wear, when teamed with my green jumper that is from our trip to Tasmania in year 7 (yeah, I kept that one too!).
Proof that you should never chuck anything out just because you don't wear it for a year :)
Mostly it seems that the men and boys wear flannelette shirts here, and I love seeing it. The women's flannelette fashion is a bit of a poor neighbour to the heartiness of the men's styles.
Flannelette shirts make me want to charge around in snow in big warm boots and chop wood and tap maple trees for syrup.
For further images of flannelette shirt wearing, look up llbean.com.

Salmon with tomato sauce

I hate it, but tomato sauce has become the compulsory extra for my children. Salad? Tomato sauce. Peas and Corn? tomato sauce. chicken? Tomato sauce, I am waiting for the day they request tomato sauce on cereal.
Tonight I roasted salmon with a marinade of garlic, lemon juice, basil, salt and pepper, in a foil packet, for 45 mins, and after declaring that he didn't like it on sight, Mr 2.5 demanded tomato sauce. Mr 5 has at least learnt not to declare that he doesn't like things on sight, but still covered his salmon with an icing of tomato sauce. They both then ate their salmon, but it was sort of depressing.

More snow!

Second snow fall of the year. Stayed on the ground about 2 hours then melted - long enough to introduce the toddler to the snow bib and snow boots we  bought! Toasty, warm, happy child.

A real Christmas Tree

We decided to pursue the cultural experience, and go to a Christmas Tree Farm for our Christmas Tree. We possibly chose one of the wetter Saturdays in December, but we went prepared, and stayed reasonably dry.
On some rolling hills over the back of their house, they've grown rows of Christmas trees, and you take your saw, and your trolley, and go pick yourself one. Then, it is shaken, presumably to clean it up, and bound, and there was a Boy Scout troup on hand to help carry it to your car and tie it on top. We had rearranged the seats in our amazing van so we just sat the tree inside.
We're even going to try and buy a star for the top (our Christmas Tree back home still doesn't have a star, because we never saw one we liked...).
Surprisingly, the scent from the tree is really subtle, but really nice. I also like having a front window that we can have the tree in, so people can see the tree from the outside.

Holiday Trees

I was much saddened to open my newspaper and see a caption under a Christmas tree, about a Holiday tree, set up in our Capitol. I strongly get the impression that in order to avoid reference to any religion in public life, the word Christmas has been officially retired. Think, Holiday parties, Holiday trees, Happy Holidays, Holiday feasts, Holiday shopping, etc. Some Jewish holidays seem to have snuck under the radar as far as neutralisation is concerned (and I'm not sure how you could neutralise something like Hanukkah?), but most other religions are definitely being pressed into private settings.
So everyone in Australia, enjoy your Christmas shopping for Christmas presents and putting up Christmas trees and having Christmas Day!

What are singlets? (more clothing confusion)

"Oh, we call them wife-beaters..."  is often the answer to my explanation of the humble singlet. But unlike in Australia, where a men's size blue singlet is more often singled out for that questionable honour, this is all singlets - even the ones my 5 and 3 year olds wear. Undershirts are more common, and possibly proper jackets, layering and heated houses negate the need for them at all. Female varieties are called tank-tops (whereas I would call my warm undergarments a singlet, and tank tops (or singlet tops!) are what you wear on a warm day, or to the beach).
Oh, and Americans do have jumpers - that is what they call those corduroy pinnies that you put on little girls!

Colonial slips

My work colleagues have expressed much amusement at my 'colonial' language at times. Here is the latest list that we worked out just before Thanksgiving: (written Aussie - American)

boot - trunk

holidays - vacation

public holidays - holidays

jumper - sweater

lift - elevator

carpark - parking lot

queue - line

The thing is, they look at me sideways for being all colonial, but they decorate with holly and pine cones (you should see our main street at the moment...), and drink spiced cider, and go caroling, (which I only thought happened in "A Christmas Tale" and "The Wind in the Willows"), and skating and sledding, all of which is super British, if you ask my humble opinion! It is sort of like living in a time warp, but where they don't know what fruit mince is, or short bread, or rum balls...
Here is an example of a Christmas themed door wreath. We are also getting heaps of Christmas lights, which is super exciting.

ps - I have since learnt that they do know what fruit mince is, they just call it mince meat, so that is one mystery solved!

Snickerdoodles

Where else would you get a cookie that sounds like some clever expensive dog breed?!
I finally decided to give these a go, given that I had an hour before a visitor, and two children to help (yes, that was sarcasm. sometimes my decision making processes make me wonder). They are a 'sugar cookie' (plain, with lots of butter and sugar) but also with cinnamon added to the mixture, and the dough balls are rolled in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar before being put on the tray.
Thus, they have huge entertainment value for helpers, as well as potential to mess up the kitchen (did I mention I had a visitor coming?!). We did manage to finish them before company, it was surprisingly neat, and they are nice biscuits to have with a cup of tea. I burnt two trays, the sugar on the bottom makes them burn fast... but that just means that we'll have more to eat at home, rather than having done some Christmas cooking ahead of time. Oh well.

Fruit Mince

A feature of expat life is becoming increasingly clear: the constant flexibility and adaptation involved in adjusting your norms to fit in with the new environment.
Case study: Fruit mince
Problems:
No one had heard of fruit mince. It is definitely a British tradition that was not kept in the new world...
Suet - couldn't find it. Used butter instead.
mixed peel - ie, candied orange and lemon peel - couldn't find it
Raisins - don't exist in the Australian style. There are raisins that are our sultanas, but no raisin raisins. Mixed dried fruit doesn't exist here. On the other hand, dried cranberries are cheap!
Dried apricots appear to be exotic. You can find them, but we shopped around.
Glass jars for storing while it matured - we ended up buying some, as we hadn't thought to accumulate any in the last nine months!

Add to this our unfamiliarity with the recipe, and that is why, it took us two weeks to get to the point of actually mixing it (and even then, we were still phoning around to see if we could find suet or mixed peel!).  Hence, with the three week maturing time, our fruit mince will be just ready in time.
My worry now is that we've promised a taste to so many people that doubling the recipe won't be enough! The good thing was, with the spices and the brandy, it did actually smell like fruit mince. Now all we have to do is work out the making of the little pies!

Reading this you could well get the impression we're just one mean scientific adaptation machine - please don't keep this impression, it would be very wrong. There is plenty of complaining going on, it is just difficult to capture the true essence of that in a blog post.

British baked beans

Apparently it was Heinz that started the whole baked beans thing, but in wartime Britain, with the rationing, the bacon got left out, and the sauce got thinned, until the two different continents had two different products... So here, in the USA, it is all about molasses, and hickory smoked bacon bits, and cajun spices (no, really), while in Britain, it is essentially beans in a tomato sauce.
We found out early on that the local baked beans don't fill that baked beans shaped hole, and just stopped eating baked beans. But hubby had a plan, and the internet is a wonderful place, and last night we had British style baked beans. I'm pretty sure that in Australia I would have poo pooed the whole thing, but here, now, it is lovely, and I enjoyed every mouthful.

Black Friday

Black Friday is used to describe the Friday after Thanksgiving, and I'm guessing this wasn't part of the original Thanksgiving feasts. This is when, maybe because lots of workplaces are shut, there are huge sales in the stores (although, judging from the brochures, there are always huge sales on, so I'm not sure of exactly how big, on a scientific measurable scale, these sales are). I am starting to get the inkling that people even queue up from early morning (like, 2am early morning) to be first in the door of shops. Actually, I have brochures that indicate that you can get into the store at 4pm on Thanksgiving Day, which just seems a complete travesty.
The name Black Friday has its origins in Philadelphia in the 1960s and 1970s - the police department used the term to describe the chaos surrounding huge crowds going to sales, and also to attend the Army - Navy football game. It is a huge time for retailers, as it is when shoppers fully turn their attention to Christmas. I wonder if it is a bit like the Boxing Day Sales in Australia, but you're not shopping for Christmas presents, but half price Christmas decorations and cheap summer clothing!
It goes without saying that we will not be in the stores on Friday.
PS - Have been told another story about the origins of the name - this is apparently the first weekend in the year that retailers accounts move into the black...

Thanksgiving Dinner

We celebrated our first American Thanksgiving, and we enjoyed it so much. Essentially, it was a day off with dinner at a friends house. The dinner menu has a few traditional set pieces, the obvious being turkey. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, roast sweet potato, cranberry sauce and biscuits (our scones, but not with jam and cream, as a savory accompaniment, instead of buns). We also had asparagus, green salad, stuffing (both with sausage and without sausage) and cranberry bread (this is so yummy) and thai style mango and sticky rice care of another guest. For dessert - PIES!!! This deserves the capital, because there was not one pie but many - Pecan, pumpkin, Kentucky derby, apple and berry pies. I liked the pecan the best. I'm sure I've left out some food, but needless to say, no one was hungry.
Our sons loved it, because there was a collection of Thomas set up in another room and 3 other little boys to play with. (yes, five little boys in total, ages 5, 5, 3, 2.7, and 2.4!). Between courses we went and looked at some Christmas lights nearby - this person has set up so many, they create their own localized glow...
And the nicest thing was, amazing food, and a chance at conversation with adults. An excuse to not stress over what the boys are or aren't eating, and let them run pretty much as they pleased, and the warm glow of having done some much needed bathroom cleaning in the morning.

First Snow!

What a lovely way to remember our wedding anniversary...
It was already practically melted by the time it hit the ground, but at the height of the storm, there was a good cm of snow lying around. So looking forward to the next storm!

Dealing with leaves

Well, Fall grew up and lost those cute puppy eyes, and suddenly we didn't have a cute swirling of colourful leaves, we had leaves everywhere in great drifts, to the knees on the little one. But the other day, we saw how they deal with it here in our community - with a giant vacuum cleaner hitched to the back of a covered truck.

Winter!

I have been explaining to the 5 year old about how the seasons don't start and stop on certain dates, etc etc, but it does feel a touch like the Winter button has been pushed this week. Today it is max 30F(approx -2C), but with the wind chill, it feels like about 18F (about -10C). And that is from a weather site, not just my fevered imagination.
Trees that hadn't yet changed colour are finalising that quick smart, and it seems like then they lose their leaves over night. Pictured above - the sizable chunks of ice I found at 2pm in the sides of the children's picnic table (which has been in full sun for 2 hours).
There is starting to be agreement that it is unseasonably cold. I just need gloves and boots, and then I say, bring it on!

Broiling

When we moved in, we noted the oven didn't have a griller section, and sadly bought this huge thing called a toaster oven. You can even cook a pizza in it, according to the box. We bought it so we could do cheese on toast. We also cook our toast in it, but it is touch and go over burning the toast, and I find the toast a bit dry. As well as it taking a huge space on our bench top.
Well, enter dinner with friends and I finally remember to ask what the broil setting on the oven does... Turns out it is how you would brown something on top, or (da da daaahhh) make cheese on toast. It puts heat up to 500F (I assume it is F) out the top of your oven.
Good to find out eventually. I actually had thought that maybe broiling was a setting to keep stuff warm in the oven but not cook it, like a warming drawer, so I'm really glad I didn't try that one with pancakes or waffles.

Smithsonian National Museum of American History

We came here after our trip up the giant pencil. This is the museum where the original 'star-spangled banner' is kept (try saying that 10 times fast in cold weather), along with displays about its origin and the writing of the national anthem. Also, a collection of memorabilia, including the original red shoes that Dorothy wore from the Wizard of Oz movie. The kids and dads went to see some sort of transport display, which included some trains while my friend and I went to see a display on food habits and changes, including (and I loved this one) a display of all the coffee cup tops patented over the years (pictured above) and a recreation of Julia Child's kitchen. It would be good to come again without tired children, so you could read the displays, and not have to worry about losing a toddler dressed in navy blue in the darkened display area for the old flag, for example.

Washington Monument - inside and up

We got tickets to go up to the top of the Giant Pencil this Saturday, and took some friends with us. It didn't get above 7C in Washington DC, with a bitter wind, although by about 1pm the wind seemed to have died down a bit. We were thankful for all our new winter gear, although Mr 5 is yet to get comfy with the bulkiness of his jacket. The view from the top was very good, because it was such a clear (cold) day. One thing we learned was how close the Pentagon is to the Mall - that is to say, just across the river really. I had the impression it was out in whoop-whoop somewhere.
HOT TIP for coming down - there are memorial stones all up the inside of the monument, and they slow the elevator and clear the glass a couple of times on the way down to show you, so get in position near the doors, and have your camera ready!! (we didn't, on either count, so just enjoyed).
Afterwards we went to the National Museum of American History, which is another post, because I can't summarise it in a sentence.

USA elections 2014

You may have heard about elections in the US recently. It sort of passed us by, as we didn't really understand the system, or whether it was national, state or local elections. But I did a bit of research, and here are my notes on the US Congress. This isn't all people voted on, I still have to work out what was voted on locally, because we were encouraged to vote on things like sheriffs and comptrollers, but this is a start. I also haven't gotten to learning about the two rounds of voting, and registering as a certain party voter, or why the Republican Party is also called the GOP and represented by an elephant in political cartoons (I think). There is still time!

Elections seem to be very low key in that I think only about 20% ish of Americans vote?! I would be very happy to be corrected on that, as it is a bit scary to think that the majority of the country apparently doesn't care who is in charge or doesn't feel like their vote matters, but that is what seems to be the case.

2014 election called Mid-Term election, as it didn’t coincide with a presidential election. Presidential elections are in November 2016.

United States House of Representatives – 435 seats set by law, 2 year term, number of reps per state based on census data (ie, California = 53 reps, Alaska = 1). Maryland has 8 representatives. Called The House for short.

Passes federal legislation (which must also be passed by Senate, and agreed to by US President). Can also impeach, initiate revenue bills, and elect US President if there is no majority in the ‘Electoral College’.

Speaker of house voted in by members, so usually member of majority party.

United States Senate – 100 seats, 2 per state. 6 year term BUT – staggered elections – Senate divided into Class 1, 2 and 3, and a class of senators is up for election every two years. This was set by founders, to prevent senators getting too comfortable (and corrupt) in the 6 year term. 2014 was electing Class 2 senators. (Maryland = Class 1 senators, so not up for re-election until Nov 2018. Term starts following January.

Consents to treaties as precondition to ratification

Consents/confirms appointments of Cabinet Secretaries, federal judges, other federal executive officials, military officers, regulatory officieals, ambassadors and other federal uniformed officers

Trial of impeached federal officials.

Considered more deliberative and more prestigious – less partisan

As a result of the 2014 election, the Republican Party have control over both the House and the Senate, which is going to be interesting for President Obama. 

Annapolis by Candlelight

We paid money, both for the tickets, and for the babysitter, to go on a cultural event (and therefore terribly high brow and worthy). It wasn't what we expected but it was enjoyable. I felt that people concentrated a bit too much on the furnishings, instead of the architecture, but I enjoyed seeing inside some of the houses in Annapolis.
Annapolis by Candlelight is an historical society organising for a group of about 9 houses, generally in one area of town, to open to the public. You get a brochure, and a map, and a torch, and take a self-guided tour to look at the houses, hear blurbs about their history from docents (volunteers) standing in each room, and learn a bit about what you walk by every day. All of the houses were historical/old, and quite interesting to see.
They had little paper bags weighted with sand with candles in them lighting the fronts of all the houses, which made it feel really special. I assume the paper bags are special candle ok paperbags -  I'm not sure I'd try it at home.

And that is how you pack a fridge!

We shop weekly - so we have become masters of fitting everything in the fridge... Yet by Thursday this will be nearly empty (except for the door with the condiments).

The morning after the night before

We had a rough night last night. Mr 5 is the only one who got uninterrupted sleep. Luckily today is Saturday!

Winter temperatures!

We are experiencing temperatures close to winter in  our part of Sydney at the moment - 50-56F (10-15C) during day (with bitterly cold winds, somedays) and down to 32-35F (0-2C) at night. Just in case anyone is curious - their late autumn is our winter...
Trees are starting to get seriously bare. Leaves are starting to pile up. Here is a sample of what is on our lawn.

Parking (on the stairs, of course)

Because that is the most logical place to set up a garage. I forgot to take a photo of the second garage I found upstairs behind the toilet in the boys bathroom...I acknowledge that the baby has brains, I am just a touch incredulous at how they are applied.

I should note that after this one was packed away, they all got parked on the TV cabinet at the bottom/underneath the TV screen.

Milk Duds (and other sweet discoveries)

These are Milk Duds. They are like Fantales, only small enough that they don't stick your teeth together (about the size of a yoghurt covered sultana?). Hence, they're awesome.
Other discoveries -
I like Snickers - had never tried them before, the picture of what the bar was just didn't appeal.
Twix bars are amazing - hubby has stories of his 4U maths class and their Twix habits. I wish I'd known about Twix bars sooner. Less sweet than a Mars Bar.
I don't like tropical flavoured Starbursts
Whoppers - "The Original Malted Milk Balls" - well, I think Maltesers have improved on the recipe, given that the first three ingredients of Whoppers are: Sugar, Corn Syrup and Partially Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil...(Although I must admit, I don't know what the ingredients in Maltesers are. but in my memory they taste nicer and less grainy?)
Laffy Taffy: I am not game to try. The description is "Candy". 'Jokes on every wrapper' appears to be the selling point.
And, the final comment: Twizzlers - allegedly strawberry flavoured, I think meant to be some sort of liquorice strap sort of thing - actually very flavourless. Like eating edible leather. I think it is marketed as a low fat candy. Seriously...

I do it myself!

I know I have previously called Mr 5 Captain Fussy, but he is fast being out fussed by his little brother, Mr Indescribable (no, honestly, my mind goes blank when trying to think of a catchy one word description of him). Here is an example of his schedule recently.

Sunday morning. Daylight saving has finished, so he wakes at 6.12 am old time, 5.12 am new time. I have volunteered to give hubby the lie in and do breakfast.

• I don't want a nappy (after going to the toilet, so we need to replace the nappy, either with new or old, I don't care, I just want to see if I can convince him to go back to bed for 20 mins or so)
• I don't want undies either (so fine, I put PJ pants back on without anything, praying to the god of the toilet division that we'll get away with a dry bed, because although I tell myself I don't care, I know I'll regret it if he wets the bed)
• I don't want to hop back in bed, I want to lie on the floor in the corner in the 40F (about 4C) cold (Fine, I'll put a blanket on you, and threaten that if you don't lie quietly I'll shut the door)
• I want to hop up "I just awake" "it morning time" (it is black dark)  (but I lie possum in our room for about 20 mins, just to enforce the point)
• I want breakfast, so we go downstairs to get breakfast. but then we find something to play with, so 
• I don't want breakfast. but then we see big brother getting breakfast, so 
• I do want breakfast (and I'll whinge like you were starving me)
• I want cereal, starting with oats but 
• I want to get my own, while spilling half the container on the table, (and I'll get upset and frustrated about that too).
• I want cheerios (but "I do it myself", which we can't let him do, as he doesn't have the co-ordination to stop once he starts, with inevitable results)

And here is the clanger -

• I want rice pockets. After double checking, I pour them in, but once they are poured in:
• I don't want rice pockets (so I break every parenting rule in the book, and pick rice pockets out from amongst the cheerios. Thank goodness I hadn't mixed them in yet...) 
• I don't want milk (but we do eventually establish that he does want a spoon, presumably to eat it dry). Then - seeing as big brother is having fruit toast - 
• I want fruit toast (and whinges that it doesn't magically instantly appear on his plate) After coming into kitchen to supervise fruit toast, 
• I want milk but then for some reason, after the cup is poured, I don't want milk, but then when I go to put it away in the fridge, he gets upset about putting it away. Apparently he doesn't want milk, but he wants it on the table lined up beside the cereal he also doesn't want.
• I want jam on my fruit toast (seriously, this is an abomination on so many levels...)
• Dad arrives, and nearly pours milk on cereal after being asked for milk on cereal, and it is only at the last minute that he too is informed that he doesn't want milk...
• Finally, after eating all of his fruit toast, with jam (bleugh), and drinking the milk he doesn't want, he wants milk on his cereal - and HE EATS THE ENTIRE BOWLFUL. We are, understandably, a touch flabbergasted.

More Amazing Thai Food

How are the kids the day after Halloween? Fidgety and argumentative and slightly crazy. It could be the change in weather, we are having a bit of a cold snap (Snow in Maine!!), or the late night, or many different things completely unrelated to the previous evenings entertainment.
Thanks to a perceptive, generous friend, who happened to have some free time, we had already organised some play time away from us, so we got to eat Thai for lunch while they sorted out their wiggles (actually, apparently they were model citizens, but that's very typical). I think eating Thai is fast becoming my ultimate comfort food. Sitting by the window in the quiet restaurant, looking out at the rain watching people  hurry by, nursing my cup of green tea and eating the delicious seafood noodle dish (LHS of photo) that we discovered by dint of not ordering exactly the same thing as last time (I'm not sure if people realise, but this is an effort for us!)...mmmm
The downside of completely relaxing over lunch was feeling exhausted later on, because I had completely relaxed.

More beautiful leaves

It is so beautiful to watch the leaves change. It is not an overnight thing, but a progression, and it varies from year to year (apparently) and from tree to tree (and sometimes, from position to position!). I see more and more beauty, the more I look. My camera doesn't do it justice. And to walk in the warm sunshine, with the leaves gently spinning down out of the trees, a touch of haze in the air, and a bit of a chilly breeze, is really enjoyable.

Trick or Treating

Mr 5 graduated from only being happy to wear a helmet to being happy to wear the entire fireman's outfit in about three weeks of thinking about it, and we organised for me and him to walk around with a class mate and his parents down the street. It was a weird evening, because it isn't a common thing in Australia to knock on people's doors and for them to give out candy (lollies), so I felt a bit embarassed about it.
On one hand, it is an opportunity to say hi to people who live 5 m away from you that you see around, and on the other hand, in our neighbourhood kids were 'bused in' from outside by their parents, and it got rather busy around 7pm. Quite a few people were treating it as an evening to sit outside and chat with their neighbours and have a few beers, or have people over for dinner, with bonus evening activity for the kids.
I had walked the baby around to a few friends houses earlier on, and he got to say hello and talk about his costume (a borrowed pilots suit), and pat the dog, and although at the time I felt hugely stressed about being the only people on the street, in retrospect I enjoyed that sort of interaction better than when it was more rushed and there were heaps of people around. He was in bed asleep by the time the main action started, which we were pleased about.
The only dilemma - what to do with all the candy?! I'm hoping that out of sight = out of mind.
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Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Turns out I don't like lager. Not even lime juice can redeem it, it is just so flavoursome (bitter...).
This is lager from Boston, which is apparently in the domestic imported category of beers - you pay import prices even in America. I don't quite get this, but it is still cheap, but I guess not as cheap as Bud?

Carving Pumpkins

Carving pumpkins was surprisingly easy. We bought a tool set from Target, which I thought would be very cheap, but turned out to be strong enough for our two little pumpkins. Mr 5 designed his own face and helped carve, and it was a nice little evening activity. We tested them with torches in the basement.

Undershirts

Hubby has discovered a beautiful thing - undershirts - sort of a cheap cotton Tshirt worn under a business shirt. They actually look a lot like the Tshirts that possibly the cool young things wore out in Sydney when I was last there.
Initially, he was a bit taken aback when the business shirt salesman asked if he had undershirts, but after ruminating on it for a couple of weeks, he decided that it might help with warmth in the office - the office being just cool enough in winter that something more than a business shirt is required, but a jumper is often too much. And then the bonus points started when he realised that wearing an undershirt meant he could get two wears out of his business shirts = less ironing. The joy of it.
I can't think of an appropriate photo to put with this one, so use your imaginations.

Grandma