Season of Giving

Now is the time of year when we think about giving, both to our friends and loved ones and to the charities that work to improve our lives and the lives of others. As you think about your charitable giving this year, consider these organizations near and dear to my heart.

• You don't really understand just how good the work being done by the Shriners Hospitals is until you have a kid (or two) who benefit from it. The Shriners offer world-class, top-notch healthcare to children at their orthopedic and burn hospitals, all at no cost to the parents. The Shriners are amazing people who do incredible work.
  
  
• As a mother of preemies, I am of course a fan of the March of Dimes. Their tireless work to prevent birth defects and prematurity benefits countless children every year.
  
  
• The Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation is of special importance to us, seeing as three-quarters of my nuclear family (and many members of my extended family) have OI. Great research studies are underway to find treatments for OI (studies that are benefiting greatly from stem cell research, by the way), and I hope that someday soon they'll have a treatment the twins can take to lessen their risk for broken bones and other OI-related complications.
  
  
• The work being done by Cure Autism Now deserves everyone's support. Autism is nearly an epidemic in this country, but great work is being done to clear away the mysteries of this disease and bring about treatments and, hopefully soon, a cure.
  
  
• Doctors Without Borders works around the world with the sick, injured, and malnourished, as well as refugees and displaced people, providing assistance in some of the most dangerous places on Earth.
  
  
• Closer to home, the Chicago Chamber Choir, of which I am a member, shares the gift of music with everyone in our community, singing in schools, homeless shelters, and retirement homes in addition to our regular concerts. I believe beautiful music is well worth supporting.
  
  
• And let's not forget our furry friends this holiday season! (Thanks for reminding me, Nanette!) Chicago's Anti-Cruelty Society and other organizations like it look out for the well-being of abandoned and abused pets, caring for them and helping them find loving homes. These groups are doing great and necessary work.
  

Tell us, which are your favorite charitable organizations?

Twins? Or Triplets?

Anatomy of a Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner

The Parts of a Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner:

1) Turkey: In this case, a smoked turkey breast. Dee-lish.

2) Gravy: The usual.

3) Stuffing/dressing: Cornbread/sausage stuffing.

4) Bread: Parker House rolls -- it's not Thanksgiving without them.

5) Potato: Garlic mashed potatoes. (This year we decided to follow the recipe and not use six times as much salt as the recipe calls for.)

6) Cranberry: We went with AB's tart cranberry dipping sauce, a turkey condiment. It goes quite well with smoked turkey.

7) Sweet potato: Grated sweet potato pudding. It doesn't look like much, but it tastes divine. (Me, I love canned sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, but I must be the only one who does.)

8) Green: We strayed from the usual green bean casserole and went with garlic-roasted asparagus. Yum.

9) Palate cleanser: As we've had every year for the last I don't know how many years, avocado-pear sorbet. Refreshing. (Or, in the words of Sophia, "Mmmm.")

10) Dessert: We bucked tradition this year -- no pumpkin pie. Instead, peppermint ice cream pie with an Oreo crust and Cool Whip on top.


(For links to recipes, see the previous post.)

Unfortunately, poor Evelyn is quite ill (thus my absence from the blog for many days) and didn't partake in the dinner much. Her favorite dish, despite illness: the tart cranberry sauce. Can't say I blame her.

What I'm I thankful for? I'm thankful for Thanksgiving dinner (and the fact that I'm no longer cooking it). Oh, yeah, and I'm thankful for the fact that I have the most awesome family on the planet.

T-Day Approaches

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. I spend the whole day in the kitchen cooking and baking enough food for an army, even though it's usually just Airan, David, and me (and now the girls). I can hardly wait for this year's festivities. Here's how the menu is shaping up:

Smoked turkey breast
Cornbread/sausage/sage stuffing
Turkey gravy
Cranberry dipping sauce (For the turkey! Strange, I know. This is a new one for us.)
Parker House rolls
Garlic mashed potatoes
Garlic-roasted asparagus
Sweet potato pudding
Avocado-pear sorbet (Our traditional palate cleanser -- don't knock it 'til you try it!)
Peppermint ice cream pie

Don't you all wish you were coming to our place for T-Day?

Fashionistas

A pox upon you, A Payne, for introducing me to Gymboree.

Lunching Gamers

The Gamers gathered for lunch yesterday to celebrate Jill's last day of employment at PIL, where we all met and first started our long association and shared love of board games, hot dogs, cheesy balls of love, Matt Howie, and Harry Morgan.

Julie, Jill (holding Libby), Mary Beth, Kerri, Joanna, and me (notice how I'm vainly trying to block Jo out of the picture) -- poor Sophie and Evie are facing away from the camera

Now only Joanna and Julie remain at PIL. It's pretty amazing to think about how much our lives have changed in the last six years. We've gone from being predominantly unmarried and childless to predominantly married with kids. We all used to work together and gather in a conference room every Thursday at lunchtime to play noisy board games and annoy our coworkers. (Poor Jim!) Now those of us who remain at PIL aren't even in the same building. Life tries to scatter us, but it won't work! The Gamers live on! See you ladies (most of you) for Game Night on Saturday! And get ready to lose, my friends -- I feel a winning streak coming on.

(I shamelessly stole this photo from Julie -- hope you don't mind, Jules!)

Dress Debate

Outfits (sans accessories) for the girls' holiday portraits arrived yesterday. The debate: With or without those black velvet boleros?

With:

Without:

Cuter with, yes? But they don't quite go. They partially cover the adorable little off-center bow on the dress collar. Something isn't quite right.

Opinions?

Sunny Chicago in November

I don't know how we got so lucky as to have yet another beautiful, warm, sunny day in Chicago so late in the year, but I'm glad we did. We were also lucky enough to have Uncle Nathan in town to visit the girls (and us, I guess) today, so we got out and did a bit of sightseeing.

First stop: the beach. It was so nice and warm out, I ended up abandoning my coat along the way. Pepper had a lovely time chasing squirrels, and the girls were seriously irritated with all that sunlight in their eyes.

Nathan with Pepper, Evelyn, and Sophia at the beach.

Next stop: Airan's place of work. We met up with Daddy for quick lunch between meetings at his downtown office building.

Airan with Sophia

Nathan with Evelyn

Off to Millennium Park for a gander at The Bean (a.k.a. Cloud Gate):
This unusual piece of art draws lots of sightseers and photographers, including us.

Me, Nathan, and the girls reflected by The Bean

We also visited the park's strange video wall, but we deemed it to be too disturbing for photographs.

Next, we gawked at the park's strange outdoor concert hall, designed by Frank Gehry:
And then certain people needed to get home for a nap.

Contract With America 2006

Remember this?

REPUBLICAN CONTRACT WITH AMERICA

As Republican Members of the House of Representatives and as citizens seeking to join that body we propose not just to change its policies, but even more important, to restore the bonds of trust between the people and their elected representatives.

That is why, in this era of official evasion and posturing, we offer instead a detailed agenda for national renewal, a written commitment with no fine print.

This year's election offers the chance, after four decades of one-party control, to bring to the House a new majority that will transform the way Congress works. That historic change would be the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public's money. It can be the beginning of a Congress that respects the values and shares the faith of the American family.

Like Lincoln, our first Republican president, we intend to act "with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right." To restore accountability to Congress. To end its cycle of scandal and disgrace. To make us all proud again of the way free people govern themselves.

That was 1994, when Republicans took control of both houses of Congress. The contract goes on to list several initiatives to remake Congress and the United States as the Republican Congress saw fit.

I think it's time, at long last, for a response to that document, and here are a few items I'd like the Democrats to keep in mind.

• All Americans need access to affordable health care.
• All Americans should be able to earn a living wage.
• All Americans deserve to have elected officials free from corruption and corporate sponsorship.
• All Americans need government policies that are designed to keep them safe, including our soldiers in Iraq.
• All American children should have access to excellent schools where they can learn the life skills they'll need, preferably without fear of crazed gunmen.

Am I forgetting anything?

I Choose You!

On this misty morning, I taught Sophia and Evelyn about the sacred civic duty that is voting. Along the way, we learned that "handicapped-accessible" polling booths might be handicapped accessible, but not so much twin-stroller accessible. However, poll workers are more than happy to hold doors open for adorable twins and their somewhat frazzled mom.

In Illinois, we are asked to vote on judges. Today's ballot held a host of judges seeking retention. I don't know how many states ask their citizens to vote on judges -- I just know I didn't have to do it when voting in Colorado. Seriously, I am not qualified to make those kinds of decisions. I know very little about our legal system, let alone which judges perform their duties adequately and which need to be booted out. However, I take the sacred civic duty that is voting seriously, and thus I try to educate myself about the judges seeking retention. One resource I turned to recently was the Chicago Bar Association. They list all of the judges seeking retention and rate them as Highly Recommended, Recommended, or Not Recommended for retention. I rely on resources such as this to fill in the gaps in my knowledge. However, I was distressed to realize that of the 12 judges not recommended for retention, 10 were women. I'm forced to wonder whether some sort of gender discrimination is at work. The CBA gives reasons for each judge it doesn't recommend (not enough experience/knowledge, inappropriate temperament, inability to process cases in a timely manner, etc -- and several were not recommended merely because they chose not to participate in the rating process). As I've said, I know nothing about this process or these judges. And yet I'm troubled by this gender disparity. I think it calls for further investigation.

Book Review: Holy Unexpected

I recently finished Robin's Chotzinoff's Holy Unexpected and found myself unexpectedly moved by it. This book is the non-fiction story of a secular woman who decides to explore and embrace Judaism. I won't spoil the whole book for you, but here's a quick summary: Although Robin's father was of Jewish descent, he was a firm atheist, and Robin was raised without religion. In her 40s, at a time when other aspects of her life are finally starting to come together, Robin begins to think that Jewish faith might be the last missing piece. She seeks out a small synagogue in Evergreen, Colorado, and finds just the community she's been looking for.

That story in and of itself isn't what made this book so fascinating for me. I was entranced and charmed by Robin's descriptions of her personal faith. Her faith is less about belief (she seems to consider much of the Torah to be a metaphor) and more about finding a community, a structure, that supports and nourishes and loves. She finds that her community encourages disagreements and debates about what it means to be Jewish, and no two people will agree on a definition of the nature of God or whether it's okay to run to Wal-Mart for duct tape on the Sabbath. She meets with some people who keep Orthodox practices and who tell Robin they find freedom in the rules. Robin finds her own balance between keeping some of those strict rules and still being true to her own life, her family, her community.

Will this atheist be embracing Judaism (or any other faith)? No. But I did find this read to be, for lack of a better word, heartwarming. I strongly recommend it. (Along with another book of Robin's, People With Dirty Hands.)

I must be on a religious/anti-religious book kick. I just started reading Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion -- check back for a review soon.

Pierce My Heart

You all know I have a bit of a crush on Alton Brown. Something about the scientifically minded nerdy chef is just irresistible.

Well, those affections took a severe blow yesterday when I noticed that AB has (gasp!) an earring. And an especially lame earring at that. We noticed it last night while watching Iron Chef America (Battle Honey, Iron Chef Girl* vs. Iron Chef Girl's former sous chef).

What?? Why on earth does AB have an earring? Did he get it to go with his biker persona? To enhance the occasional appearances of BA on Good Eats? Or is it, as Airan speculated, a Harrison Ford earring, a blatant midlife-crisis, how-can-I-make-myself-seem-young-and-hip piercing?

I can deal with AB's bee tattoo. Tattoos don't bother me. But I don't think men should wear jewelry, other than tasteful wedding rings. (There are very few exceptions to this rule.)

I just don't know whether you can still be my fantasy boyfriend, AB. I need to give this some thought. For now, you're on notice.

* That's how Iron Chef Cat Cora is referred to around here. I should be offended on behalf of all women, but I think it's funny.

Playdate!

Owen, Nora, Libby, Sophie, and Evie

Rich Whitney for Governor

I usually try to steer clear of the controversial topics politics and religion on this blog -- I know we don't all agree, and I want Digressions to be a place where we can all have pleasant conversations in moderate tones of voice. I'm going to break that rule today because I want to mention that this blog endorses Rich Whitney for Illinois governor. He cares about adequate funding for our schools, balancing the budget, providing universal health care, and getting the corruption out of Illinois politics. And perhaps most important, he's a Battlestar Galactica fan. I am dismayed by Mr. Whitney's support of open-carry gun laws, and I wish he'd rethink that. However, I still think he's the best of our three choices.

If you live in Illinois and aren't yet sure who you're voting for on Tuesday (or even if you are), check out Mr. Whitney's site.

A little flattery goes a long way.

Need a pick-me-up? Go here.

(Thanks for sharing this link, Kerri!)