Late spring/early summer photo dump

We've been busy, finishing up the school year and kicking off summer. It has all been fun, but I definitely feel like things have been a bit go-go-go. Thankfully today is a day off work and I can catch up on a few things. Now that Molly won't let me post anything on social media, I only have the blog to document the onset of the teen years! So here's a glimpse at our girl in her last few months as an 11-year-old:

Easter weekend in Minnesota - good times with the O'Grady/Kirkendall crew

Post-Seder photo - poor Jon had covid and had to video in

Spring visit with Joe, Marsha, and Steve

New bike

Dad + daughter trip to Universal

Story time with a growing nephew

Feeling tough after her first big lacrosse tournament with a new team - she scored one of the few team goals on day 1!

Father's day photo

Sick for Spring break

No, it wasn't covid! But poor Molly had a terrible cold during our Spring break trip to Fort Lauderdale, and I ended up getting it right when we came back. At first, Jason and I thought Molly was just being a cranky tween on the trip (which may have partially been the case), but she really didn't feel well. So, we had a very low key vacation. Still fun - our dinners were all fantastic and we had a nice time at the beach - but we also slept in late and spent more time than we planned in the hotel watching movies and HGTV.

I also realized during the trip that I need to meet Molly where she is, and not just force her into doing what I want to do. She doesn't enjoy hours of reading by the beach. But she sure loved getting her nails done and browsing around the surf shops by the pier. Here are a few of the highlights:

Water taxi ride - 8 minutes of fun after an hour and a half wait :)

Back at the Yankee Clipper (now the B Ocean Resort), 15 years after our wedding! 

Outdoor dining at Louie Bossi's

Teenager in training - we realized at the airport that just about every girl between the ages of 12 and 18 was wearing some variation of the same outfit :)

Winter weekends in Wisconsin

Our lake house is a true home away from home. Maybe even better than home because we can go up for a weekend and do absolutely nothing. Which is exactly what we did last weekend for Jason's birthday. Molly had a book to finish for school (in between episodes of Malibu Rescue on Netflix). I watched as much Olympics coverage as humanly possible. Jason got in a good nap and flipped through his bday gift: The Flavor Bible. And Riley ran around in the snow and inspected all of the new animal tracks since our last visit. 

Even as cold as it is, I think we'll be up almost every weekend this month! We have plans next weekend to go up and ski with friends (coming back in time for the Superbowl on Sunday of course ... go Bengals!!) and then will have a different set of friends up the following weekend, just to see the place and hang out for a night. Everyone likes a getaway.

Here are a few pics of the inside now that we're all settled in:

First thing we see when we walk in the front door

Favorite room

View into the kitchen

Guest room, Molly's (and Riley's) room, Master views 1 and 2

Bathroom - small but mighty

Nothing beats summer at the lake, but I'm happy we're getting our use out of the place year-round!

Finding the joy in cooking

Jason is definitely the head chef in our family. He knows what he's doing and can just kind of "figure things out" when it's time for dinner. I am a recipe girl. I know how to cook, but I like to have a plan. Specific ingredients to buy. Tips to help me along the way. 

So I'm kind of killing 2 new year's resolutions in 1 with my new cookbook - What's Gaby Cooking? recommended by one of Susie's friends. It's giving me the inspiration I need to cook more and help Jason out ... and it's helping us eat a little healthier with California-style recipes. Nothing in this cookbook has been too difficult to make - the trick seems to be brightening everything up with a yummy sauce at the end.

Here are a few pics of what I've made so far:

Forbidden Rice and Roasted Mushroom Bowl.
In a perfect world, it would have had avocado slices on top, but I didn't hit the timing right on our avocados. Still, this was absolutely delicious, with some kind of lovely herb-y garnish on top and a big hit of lemon with the mushrooms.

Winter Cobb Salad with Pomegranates.
Jason was out of town last week and I probably made this salad 3 of 4 days for lunch until my pomegranate seeds ran out. So good!

Chocolate, Cashew, and Date Smoothie.
What's easier than throwing a bunch of ingredients in a blender?

Tonight's masterpiece - Chicken Enchiladas with Cumin Crema

Not pictured - Chicken Parmesan Pappardelle that Molly claimed was "too cheesy" :)

My other favorite cookbook? The O'Grady Quarantine Cookbook, put together by Jon and Adina to document all the recipes we made over video chat in 2020/2021. Every other Sunday(ish), we would pick a recipe, set up the iPad in the kitchen, and then cook and chat together over video. Molly would usually join for dinner, and then we would typically end up talking after dinner until my iPad battery ran out. I absolutely LOVE having this record of how we made Michelin star memories in the middle of a pandemic.

Last Sunday, we started from the beginning and made Arugula Pesto Pasta together. A lovely evening, as always. Looking forward to cooking with Jon and Adina in person ... hopefully this Spring or Summer!

New knits

Hot off the needles! I just finished my second sweater of the season, the Aran Gallant Sweater by Caidree, knit with Drops Air yarn in pink marble:

Nothing makes me happier than wearing homemade knits on a cold day. And since I haven't posted in a while, I'll also show off my first completed project of the season - the Flax Sweater by Tin Can Knits, made with Knit Picks Swish Worsted in rainforest heather. This is a really popular (and free) beginner-friendly sweater - almost a rite of passage in the knitting community:

Next up is a sweater for Jason - The Hot Toddy by my favorite designer, Knitatude. And then the Good Grandpa Cardigan by Caidree for Molly. I probably won't finish Molly's before the cold weather is over, but hopefully she'll still like the style next year :)

I'm back!

It's time to restart the blog. After spending a week with my nephew John in Florida, I was wondering what Molly was like at that age. All I had to do was look up March/April posts from 2012 and there she was. Molly at 21 months. We were prepping to sell our condo and move at that point in time, so many of the posts were house-focused. But a glimpse of Molly, dressed for St. Patrick's Day with wild hair, shoes on the wrong feet, and a sassy look on her face and I was instantly transported. I have to keep this going. 

So what has happened in the last 9 months? 

I'll start with the main character. 

Molly wrapped up 5th grade at Orrington with little fanfare. Hybrid schedule - home on Mondays, half days in person with half the class. No playground time. It felt like we didn't really get to say a proper "goodbye" to elementary school, but that's just how 2021 went.

Pic from Molly's 5th grade graduation celebration

Summer was a bit more normal. Definitely more social. Camps with friends, birthday parties at the beach, a couple of sleepovers in Wisconsin. 

Then it was time for middle school. The phase of life all parents dread. And it has been ... pretty great. Masks are on, but it is full-day, in-person, and Molly is loving it (though if you ask her, she may shrug and say it's just "okay"). She has a locker and a gym uniform and a full schedule of ~10 different classes a day. There's all kinds of middle school drama and action and she just seems to be taking it all in. She walks every day with her friend Ryan and has the freedom to hang out after school with friends or occasionally hit up Starbucks. With a phone and a debit card, it's a whole new world.

Beyond the social aspect (which has kind of been our main focus after the year of semi-isolation) she seems to be doing well in her classes. I think they lowered the bar to get kids back in the swing of things. There's almost no homework and they are allowed to go back and "make corrections" on tests. But 6th grade is probably a good year for that kind of transition anyway. The first report card is in and Molly has all A's, other than a high B in science, and good feedback from the teachers ("positive attitude" comments across the board), so we're proud.

Now for Jason. He decided to resign his last job - it just wasn't quite the job he thought it was going to be. But he took the summer off, took a couple of road trips with Molly, did some screen printing, had his most successful art fair ever at Renegade in Bucktown, and then started a new job in October. This one may be it. Best company culture he's encountered to date and he was able to hit the ground running. I'm happy for him. It makes a huge difference when you feel good about what you're doing. 

I am trying to get back to that feeling :) 2021 was a rough work year for me. Maybe that's why I stopped blogging? My pre-pandemic work life was 35 hours a week with Fridays mostly off ... my mid-pandemic (is that the right term for 2021?) work life was 50-60 hours a week with all kinds of high pressure/high stress projects happening at the same time.

I have earned a promotion for my pain. And I have begged for reinforcements. So hopefully 2022 will be a more manageable year! If not, I just need to reframe work as a means to an end, with the end being the kind of retirement that we just enjoyed over Christmas in Florida. Tennis or pickleball every day with a little pool time or golf thrown in for fun. Dolphin sightings and beach walks. Yes, please! I've gone full millennial, researching ways to retire early. We all need goals, right?

Beach life

Beyond work, because yes, there is still a beyond, I've been pedaling away on the Peloton, fully addicted to the Power Zone Pack team challenges (go Honey Badgers!), knitting at night while watching TV (some of our favorite shows: Turn, Get Back, Succession, Ted Lasso, Only Murders in the Building), listening to podcasts (Crime Junkie, Once Upon a Time ... at Bennington College), and reading (current books - I'm loving all 3: M Train, The Night Watchman, and Slouching Towards Bethlehem).

Now, I can't forget our furry friend. Riley turned 3 in June. She's still a sweet little dog, and our constant companion, though she whines for food nonstop, which drives us all up the wall :) Lately, she has been a little hit or miss around other dogs, especially bigger dogs, but thankfully she likes her new cousin Holmes, the cutest little cavapoo you ever did see.

Riley and Holmes in Wisconsin

So what's next for us in 2022? Look for more blog posts to come. I promise!

It's been a little while

It's been a little while, but I feel like things are starting to look up! Molly is back in school (half days, 4 days a week) and so happy to see people again. My parents are fully vaccinated. And it sounds like they'll start opening up appointments to any adult in May(ish). So summer might not be so much of a bummer this year. Spring is still kind of on hold (we had to cancel our Florida plans now that Molly is back in school), but I'm used to travel plans falling through at this point. And we have plenty to look forward to.

In other news, Molly will (hopefully) "graduate" from her walnut allergy on Thursday. Fingers crossed she passes the challenge of drinking 480 mL of walnut milk. I am a little worried that the volume will be hard for her to get through, but we'll try to take it slow. She really does not like the taste of walnuts, so Jason and I have been planking every morning while she drinks it for a show of solidarity. After that, we'll start ramping up hazelnuts and she can hopefully graduate from that allergy in a few months. And maybe Jason and I will end up with perfect abs? 

While things are still on the slow side, we're continuing to spend a decent amount of time on the couch :) Jason and I are obsessed with the heartwarming + hilarious show The Durrells in Corfu (PBS or Hulu) and I've been sucked into a dark comedy called Search Party (HBO Max). I've been enjoying the podcast Don't Ask Tig, and also flew through Chameleon: The Hollywood Con Queen (so good). Although my reading time has definitely taken a hit (especially with all the knitting), I am slowly working my way through Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. All of that will go on hold in a few days of course when we dedicate our lives to college basketball and cheering for the Illini to Win. It. All. Yes, I've hopped on the fan bandwagon of Jason's team, but poor Cincinnati couldn't pull it together this year. They turned their season around, that's for sure, but no March Madness for the Bearcats. 

So, you know, we're definitely not there yet, but things are starting to look up. I'll leave you with the adorable faces of three happy children:

Cousin crew playing a round of Star Wars Monopoly

Staying cozy

Is this the cutest sweater I've ever knit, or just the cutest baby model? 

My newest nephew looking handsome in stripes

Gah! Teeth!

And now for a few adult-sized creations:

First of three matching hats 

One for me and the others for Betsy and Susie

The Pangolin sweater - I had to sew the pieces together on this one and up until the end was convinced it wouldn't fit

As you can see, the knitting continues. It's COLD here. Single digit temps and we just keep on getting snow. So I might as well surround myself with wool! It gives me something to do while we watch TV. Speaking of which, here are a few highlights:

• The Queen's Gambit (Netflix) - We were late to the game on this one, but it totally delivered! Very unique show about a chess prodigy finding her way in the world. 
• Ted Lasso - Unfortunately this is on Apple TV, which most people don't seem to have. But if you DO have it, this show is both funny and heartwarming (the magic Schitt's Creek combination). 
• Murder on Middle Beach (HBO) - I'm a sucker for true crime and this series delivered. The interesting twist here is that the film maker is investigating the murder of his own mother ... and the suspects include his father and other close relatives.
• All Creatures Great and Small (PBS) - I've officially turned into my parents. But what could be better than a show about a small town vet in 1930s Yorkshire? The only problem is getting Riley to stop growling at the animals. We also tried our hand at making Yorkshire pudding. I wasn't sure I had ever had a Yorkshire pudding, but felt compelled to try. Absolutely delicious (though definitely not low cal!).
• Soul (Disney+) - Does Pixar ever disappoint? This movie was fantastic, with Jamie Foxx as the main character trying to get back to earth for the gig of a lifetime. And yes, as with all Pixar movies, I was in tears at the end. 
• One Night in Miami (Amazon Prime) - Great story, great acting, great script - this totally felt like a play imagining the conversation Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, Malcom X, and Jim Brown might have had over the course of a night in the 60s. 
• The Sound of Metal (Amazon Prime) - This movie really took me by surprise. It's a slow burn about a drummer who suddenly loses his hearing. If Riz Ahmed doesn't win some kind of an award for this thing, I'll be devastated. He was that good. 

Obviously, we get ALL the channels! I'm not sure what we'll watch next, but am thinking we might give Succession (HBO) a try. Stay tuned :)

Merry but mellow

We were home for the holidays this year. That's nothing new for Thanksgiving, but it was the first time we didn't have anyone over. And we've never been home for Christmas. This year, we were supposed to go to Colorado with Jason's family, but there were too many people and it was going to be too complicated to figure out how to quarantine / get tested. So we Zoomed! 'Tis the season of Zoom (or Google Meet or FaceTime - pick your platform).

We ended up having good family time anyway. Cousin Will and Uncle Joe created a family quiz for Christmas Eve that was really funny and we all made brunch together on Christmas. The kids ate too much sugar and started a dance off. It felt like a typical O'Grady family gathering.

And since we were essentially quarantining at home, we decided it was safe enough to get together with Betsy and Susie and families for a little gift opening session (and our parents on video). Baby John is crawling now, so it was so much fun to see him on the move and trying to get inside every box on the floor. 

Molly made shopping easy for me this year. She assembled a bunch of Google docs with links and I just went through and ordered everything on Black Friday. Shipping has been a nightmare this year (we still don't have the Christmas cards that I ordered on Nov 30 and one of Molly's gifts was outright cancelled), but everything else arrived on time and she was SO happy with her loot (LED lights for her room, curlers, slippers, a stylus for her iPad, new robe, makeup - you know, tween stuff).

I gave Jason a set of bourbon glasses to support his new hobby. (Yes, bourbon hunting is a whole thing ... quantities are limited of the good stuff and there's all kinds of strategy involved with finding the rare bottles.) And he supported MY favorite hobby with a new knitting bag that has tons of compartments and a zipper on the top. A big improvement on the overstuffed tote I had been using. 

Here are a few pics from our happy holidays:

Molly with her homemade pumpkin pie

Thanksgiving selfie ... just the three of us

Staring at the baby

Molly showing off her new makeup set

Molly with her new curlers and a hand-drawn antler on her face

Jason and I feeling festive with our littlest nephew 

Riley guarding her new Santa shark toy

Molly posing (the pensive look) in her new hat - hand knit by yours truly

Same as it ever was

Am I the only one that feels that way? COVID numbers are surging, especially in Illinois. Stay at home advisories are back on. Thanksgiving plans are off.  I'm working from home full time again, which kind of feels like a step back. A necessary step back, but I really miss having a place to go, even if only for a couple of days a week. 

We were trapped in Illinois due to swim team - any travel out of the state would require a 2-week quarantine and missed practice. But as soon as we found out they were putting a pause on swimming, we raced up to Wisconsin for a change of scene.

It has been SO nice to be up here. It's pretty deserted, which is exactly what you want during a pandemic. For some reason, Molly is more willing to hang out with us up here. She demolished us both in a game of Risk yesterday and has been joining us on walks with Riley. We have grand plans to watch Dumb and Dumber tonight ... I hope she finds it as funny as we did. You just never know what movies are going to hold up over time.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Two vaccines are looking to be both effective and safe. It just might be a few more months before we have access to them! So until then, it's looking like we'll be continuing with this slower, lonelier version of life. Lots of knitting (see below), reading (current books: Dune and The Elephant Whisperer), TV (Deadwood), and cycling (thank goodness for the Peloton!!). 

Here's me in my new cardigan (don't I look pleased with myself?). I'm about halfway through another sweater and then will switch gears to hats and blankets.

Finished knits

One of the downsides of working from home is that it has been rough on me physically. At the beginning of the shut down, I thought it was only going to last a few weeks, so I spent part of every day working on the couch and using the track pad on my laptop like a fool. Eventually I got an internet booster for my sewing room upstairs and started working at a desk, but my set-up still wasn't exactly ergonomic. The pain in my wrist, arm, and shoulder got so bad I couldn't even pull off a downward dog or sleep on my right side (my favorite side!). 

I was pretty sure I needed to see my doctor or go to an orthopedic walk-in clinic (yes, they have those). But as a first step, and on the advice of my sister and other coworkers with carpal tunnel, I decided to try wearing a wrist brace while working and sleeping. I also ordered an ergonomic mouse pad and raised the height of my computer screen. Life got busy and I put off the appointment, but lo and behold, my DIY solutions started to work! 

I'm now at the point where I can get through a work day without too much pain and am working my way up to sleeping on my right side again. Baby steps. I can also knit again! My favorite activity to pass the time while watching football and TV shows with Jason. Here are a few of my completed projects:

Throw blanket knit with yarn from a failed sweater. Actually, I think it was a sweater and then a poncho before I ripped it up and made the blanket. I finished this on our PNW trip over the summer. 

  

This kind of looks like a sweater, right?

Surprise! It's a dickie! I love this thing. I sometimes get too hot in thick wool sweaters, but this is the perfect layer to throw on when my office gets cold. It was so much fun to knit and was my first box from Knit Crate (subscription gifted by my siblings-in-law for my 40th - thanks guys!)

Here's Riley getting all up in my current project - The Bombshell Bomber cardigan. It may take a little while to finish, but I'll try to remember to post pics!

O'Grady update

So, what's new in O'Gradyland?

Well, after 6 months working from home full time, I'm back in the office 2 days a week. It's totally optional to go in, but honestly, I kind of like it. Hardly anyone is there, so I feel like the risk is low. And I'm so much more productive at my real desk with the big monitors and super fast server connection. Plus, now that I work 5 days a week again like a normal person, it helps break things up a bit. If I had to commute by train downtown, I might not be so enthused, but a 30-min drive to an almost empty building in the suburbs is not exactly a hardship. 

Right around the time I started going back to the office, we found out that Molly's school will be completely remote until November 16th. After that, they're starting with just 10-12 kids per grade in person. Molly isn't even on the list for the first wave, so it's looking like she'll be learning from home until some time in 2021. Crazy!

But Molly IS back in the pool, swimming 3 times a week with a small group of kids for Team Blue Fish with the YWCA. After a 6-month slow-down, I think she needs this. She's also started meeting up with a couple of friends and a tutor on Mondays (outside) to work on grammar, reading comprehension, writing, and some other stuff that seems to be playing more of a role now that she's a big 5th grader. Who knows, maybe she'll end up exactly where she should be after all is said and done.

Molly is also slowly but surely working her way through OIT. She's up to the equivalent of 2 hazelnuts and 1 walnut every morning. Kind of hard to believe, given that just a small taste sent her to the emergency room just a couple of years ago! Right around Thanksgiving, she should officially be in the maintenance phase and able to eat whatever she wants without checking labels. Nutella, here we come!

As for Jason, he's got a few prints up for sale at our favorite coffee shop (Coffee Lab) and people are buying! It was the boost of energy he needed to start printing again. That, and the new washout sink he has set up in our laundry room that allows him to clean screens through the winter.

Speaking of our laundry room, and basement, we're in the middle of a little re-do. We had some flooding back in May, so ended up ripping up the carpet and switching to an epoxy floor. We cleared out some of the bulky furniture and are making room for a Peloton bike! (I know, I know, the commercial.) But if we're going to be home all winter, I need something more than a yoga mat and hand weights! 

Last, but not least, we were able to get up to Wisconsin for a nice little getaway before the numbers spiked and the state was added back to the quarantine list. It was a lovely and relaxing weekend, made even better because Joe was in town for work and able to join us!

It's looking like things are pretty good from this post. On one hand, they are. We're healthy and doing what we can to stay happy. On the other hand, there's still A LOT happening in the world. Fires are burning through the West coast. The election is looking like its going to be dramatic. Tensions are way up. There's so much plastic that can't be recycled ... It's hard to know what to focus on, but I'm thinking maybe I'll focus on using less plastic for a start. Look at that picture up there, with 3 single-use plastic bottles on the table! We can do better!  

I found a coworker who crochets mats for disaster relief in Haiti out of plastic grocery bags, so I'm trying to gather those up for her. I'd rather they get stitched up into something useful than left to be buried in a landfill. Once I work my way through the half-filled bottles of shampoo in my bathroom, I'm going to try making the switch to bar shampoo (I hear good things ...). And I've found a company called Dropps that ships their laundry and dishwasher pods in cardboard to reduce waste. Might as well give it a try! If you have any other zero-waste ideas, let me know. 

Baby love

I can't imagine what it has been like for Susie and Sean, to have their first baby the same week that the world decided to shut down for COVID-19. They haven't been able to just have everyone over, to hang out or to help out. It's been ... a little different for them, to say the least. But we decided there was a nice window at the end of summer, post travel and pre fall activities to do a 2-week quarantine and hang out in person and mask-free for a bit. After 5 months of staring at photos, I can't tell you how good it felt to hold this cute new nephew! As you can see, baby John charmed us all ...