Ye Olde Christmas/Holiday/Seasonal Letter

We're not green. We're just cheap.

This year, ya'll got postcards sending you to this blog address so you could read our annual Christmas letter virtually instead of having me photocopy letters and put them into your Christmas card. And if you didn't get a postcard, it probably means I don't have your address or you live here in San Diego. (or I'm a loser and I forgot, so put something in the "pithy thoughts" section to tell me so).

Okay, maybe it's not that we're cheap. Maybe it was just because we're picky and Target had a crappity card selection this year that prompted me to say, wait a sec! I can make my own!

Either way, if you already read this blog, then you probably have no desire to read the text below, as you already have been keeping up with our (mostly) mundane lives throughout the year. And if you're new to the blog, welcome! Blogs are a fabulous way to 1) waste time and 2) enjoy a healthy dose of schadenfreude, one of my most favorite non-English words. For those undoctrinated, schadenfreude in German loosely means, "enjoying and/or taking pleasure in watching/reading/seeing something icky happen to other people." For a more astute definition, read HERE. I love this word, especialyl because there is no English language equivalent, but I certainly think it refers to a blog because you can read all about us and think, man, I am SO glad I'm not the Germonski's this week... like say, the week our van got stolen. Or the week I complained about getting no sleep because our lovely daughter was up every hour. See! Now you're hooked, right?

But back to the Christmas letter. As you may have seen from the postcard, but probably already knew from an email back in April, we have a daughter! Stella Ruth Gerlach made her presence known by breaking my water at 8am on April 16 at the dog park, starting contractions finally at 6pm, and popping out at 11:38pm, all 6lbs, 8oz of her.
And now we can't believe that 8 months have gone by. They say it goes quickly, and when we were in the thick of it we never thought it would get any easier, but then all of sudden, here we are.

She helps Daddy with his motorcycle parts...
with the laundry...
she plays with Mommy and Scupper on the bed
and she's graduated to the "big girl tub" - the kitchen sink. A far cry now from her first bath tub, the Thanksgiving turkey roasting pan.
I know we don't have to tell many of you the myriad of ways children change your lives. I've learned to operate on 4 hours of sleep, Steve has learned to carry the baby and do many things - check email, pick up dog poop in the yard, throw a frisbee for Scupper, eat chips and salsa (although that is getting hard to do now that Stella wants to eat the bag. Yes, folks, the bag holding the chips. I think it's a crinkly-sound sort of thing).

We have had a busy year, even though this was the year that we said we wouldn't be here. We were going to give San Diego 5 years, and we're going on year six. and many of the things that we reported last year are curiously familiar. such as...
No, the dissertation is not finished.
Yes, Steve is STILL at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Yes, he still has a love/hate affair with the job.
Yes, Scupper still eats anything and everything, and he has now added teethers and plush baby toys to his repertoire.

But there have been new excitements, such as the acquisition of aforementioned camping van that has taken us on 4 camping trips with the whole family. We want to do more, but now that Stella is more mobile and the weather is cooler up in the high desert, we have to come up with a sleeping/heating plan. Steve forwent racing at the Velodrome this season to be a dad - but come January 1, we're both back on our exercises of choice - Steve back to the bike, and me back to yoga.

We've been graced by wonderful visits from grandparents and friends, and we thank you for sharing the joy of our newest addition. Scupper might be a little jealous that he didn't receive such a reception when he joined the family, but he's doing well with Miss S. If anything, he does a little too good - as in licking her feet, her ears, her cheeks, her hands.... With the addition of solid food and now "finger foods" he has discovered the joy of sitting directly under her high chair, and sometimes when we don't catch him, lapping his tongue around the lip of the tray and seeing what particles he can snag. He also has discovered that once Stella is OUT of the high chair, he can nose around on the seat and find other discarded goodies. Ah, mushy carrots and broccoli never tasted so good.

We look forward to the new and exciting possibilities that the new decade may bring. As of today, I have an on-campus interview in late January at Drexel University in Philly for a tenure track job in their (tiny) theater department. It's not ideal, but baby, it's a job nod in this awful academic job market, so I am thankful I even got this far. Tonight I just found out that I got another one at a small college in Ohio. Ohio? Mmmm. We aren't too sure about that, but figure I should go anyway and check it out. The main teaching responsibility there (as opposed to theater history type stuff at Drexel) is teaching acting. Yes - acting. Eek. Not exactly my strongest suit (so I'm kinda surprised they called, but not complaining). Steve continues to apply to teaching job in technical theater departments across the country as well - and he almost had one last week. Almost. We were pretty crushed last night when we got the "no thank you email" after an on-campus interview, but optimistic me is hoping that the application for a job in Olympia, Washington might yield fruit. I think we could all do with a dose of fresh mountain air, and Scupper would LOVE to run all over the Olympic range. So we'll see - having both of us looking for University Teaching jobs is tough, but as always, I hope that something will work out. Does the phrase "spousal hire" still work in these times? ;)

And speaking of "these times" I'm purposefully leaving out any discussion of the world at large, not that we do not have any civic consciousness, but I think it's best to depoliticize our holiday letter, lest we offend anyone. That said, Steve is ready to go if you want to "get into it" on healthcare, the war, the Iranian protests, the President... just let us know.

Our best to everyone who is healing at this time - may 2010 bring energy and health; our brightest to everyone who is feeling a little low this year, may 2010 bring comfort and laughter; and our love to everyone who has supported us this year in our greatest challenge yet, may 2010 shine on you with all the hope that a new year can bring.

With love and hugs,
the Germonski's

(photo by Mariah Baddas Photography)

Another developmental milestone

It's been a busy December, thus the lack of blog posts. I've been holding down the fort during the day, writing emails to my whiny students at night (I mean, I totally forgot to take the quiz online, I never do that, and I know you said no makeup quizzes, but could you let ME do it? Um. No. What about "no makeup quizzes" do you not understand?) creating a multiple choice test (I was loathe to do it, but with 195 students, something has to give right?), dissertation writing... HA! Fooled you! There was no dissertation writing going on!

Ah, but that's neither here nor there. Steve was wined and dined by Stanford Univ for a position... but we haven't heard from them, so we suspect they decided that the other person they talked to fit the bill more. Bummer. the Bay Area was calling our name. I'm still holding out hope, but with a week gone by and no more info, we think it's a dud. I have had 3 interests in my application materials from colleges I have applied to... a phone interview with a college in Wooster Ohio. (oh yes, the bustling metropolis of...), Drexel in Philly (close to the fam, not the best program in the world) and a small college in Atlanta. So we'll see what happens with those. Phone interviews are the most awkward thing in the world, and I'm not so great about getting to my point in an efficient manner... and speaking of that... THE POINT OF MY BLOG POST!

So Stella hit a very important developmental milestone tonight.

No, it's not the two teeth she has (one fully in view, the other peeking through the gums)
No, it's not that the Physical Therapist said her head is now round enough that they aren't worried (Yeah!)
No, it's not that she sits perfectly unassisted....

Give up guessing?

Stella now has learned to antagonize Scupper! Woohoo! After months of putting up with his licking of her face, her ears, her head, her feet, she can get him back!

Tonight after her bath, she was playing with a new found friend, a rubber ducky that squeaks that our friend Johanna gave her. I showed her that if you squeeze it or bang it on things, the squeaker works.

Enter Scupper. He loves to lick her clean feet after a bath (isn't that helpful?) Sitting on my lap, he came up to lick her face and she bonked his nose with the duck, and of course, made it squeak. Peals of laughter erupted and her face beamed! Interested in the toy (of course) Scup came in for more. Bonk bonk bonk! Squeak squeak squeak!

Too much fun... Stella had a ball, and Scup was so hoping that he was going to get the toy so he put up with it for a bit.

They are going to have so much fun growing up together... I can't wait until Stella learns to crawl and see what fun might ensue then! Watch out Scuppy!

Impish face of the month.

YES PLEASE!

Um. so good. I can't even tell you how good. Like just ridiculously easy and tasty and yummy.

If you like salted caramels, you love these.

What you may ask?

Salted Brown Butter Rice Crispie Treats.

Oh yeah.

Get the recipe at the link above at my fav food blog: smitten kitchen.

The infamous gurgle

So Stella does this gurgle thing where we think she's either very proficient at rolling her "r"s OR she is gurgling her spit. It's probably the latter... but here she is on Turkey Day as Steve plays pee-a-boo behind my back.

Turkey Day 2009

We had a great trip to Sparta, Illinois to visit Steve's parents - Stella was a very good girl on the way there... but oh dear... we WERE THOSE PEOPLE on the way home. We learned a very valuable lesson - do NOT FLY when it's Stella's bedtime. She is more than comfortable sleeping anywhere for her naps, but not for bed... she was having NONE of it. On the first leg to Denver, she screamed for about 20 minutes after we had exhausted all our tricks, did the walk up and down the aisle, visited with the stewardesses for 30 minutes... and then she finally cried herself to sleep, aided by significant bouncing by Steve. ;) On leg #2, she fussed, but finally fell asleep after much bouncing and nursing and bouncing and nursing. Oh dear. We got some very sympathetic looks from people though - lots of people traveling with babies so they understood.

But here is the holiday, in pictures - with Miss Stella as the center, as usual. ;)
Grandmum Judy and Stella play with her new toy. We are in awe of Judy and her courage to go through the last 5 months of radiation and chemo treatments - although she might not understand it now, Stella will be very happy to know her grandmum has been so strong.
Grandpa Steve and Stella snuggle up.
Is this chair just for me?
I love making pecan pie with Mom!
Stella passes out after working so hard on Thanksgiving dinner.
TOES! Judy gets her first ever pedicure!
Three generations of Gerlach love...

Thank you Mariah

for the best photo shoot with our little "ham"
Check her out at http://www.mariahbaddasphotography.com/

our little monkey

so Stella seems to have a thing for monkeys... maybe it's the monkey pajamas so graciously sent by her Auntie Liza and Uncle Chuckie...

or maybe it's the monkey onesie I couldn't help myself from picking up at the thrift store for 95 cents.

or the sock monkey from aforementioned Aunt and Uncle

or maybe she's just a little clingy, a little noisy, a little bundle of energy... maybe she's feeling the whole monkey vibe...
which to eat first... the arm ... or the leg... mmm...

An observation

So Stella's a little delayed in her gross motor skills... She might babble until the cows come home (or, as the case may be, until the Mommy drags her tired self out of bed at 6:15am) but she is a little, shall we say, LAZY when it comes to things like rolling over, tummy time, etc. We've actually been seeing a physical therapist at suggestion from her doctor at 4 months old because her head was FLAT. like really FLAT. and she HATED being on her tummy to get her off her head. I thought she was in pain. The lovely PT lady found out that Stella was just lazy. :) After three months, I'm happy to report that Stella's head is no longer flat (WOOHOO!) and she finally pushes herself up on her arms -something her little friend Izzie has been doing for months. Two weeks ago, she finally put it all together and now has learned that if she's put on her tummy, she can straighten her arm and voila! Back onto her back. However, because she likes being on her back so much, she never wanted to do the reverse roll that babies are supposed to learn (back to tummy).

Today, Miss S finally had enough motivation. I put her on a quilt on the floor to roll from side to side (which she happily does), eat some toys, babble stories, etc while I finished pureeing butternut squash for her dinner (which, I have discovered, gets REALLY pasty when pureed. I think I could have put up wallpaper with this stuff, seriously).

I glance through the room at Stella - and she's somehow scooted sideways across the quilt towards Scupper, who's sitting on his pillow happily ripping the head off "Baby Goofy" - another Thrift Store stuffed animal special. Stella rolls sideways to reach for it - and she can't quite make it. I turn back to my squash and then think, you know Aimee, maybe you should watch this. Stella throws her leg out to get momentum and WOOSH! From back to tummy and about two hairs shy of grabbing the dirtiest half-ripped, mostly-slimed stuffed animal from Scup. He just was staring in amazement too. She then pushes herself up into a pushup pose, looks at Scupper, and then flops back down and rolls back to her back.

Ta da! She looked at me, as I made my way to the quilt, ready to intervene and move her away from the half-brained Disney mutt and the real mutt who was now more interested in HER toys than Goofy. See Mom - I just didn't care enough to do for all those wonderful BABY toys that are clean! I wanted Scupper's stuffed animal, she smiled at me.

Oh dear.

And thus, another thing to add to the list about things that are similar between babies and dogs. They both love to put things directly into their mouths, and currently, stuffed animals are pretty awesome.

In other news, speaking of wanting each other's toys - another Stella toy bit the dust. We're up to 5 now. and the third teether. I actually think it's pretty funny that Scupper has a tendency to eat/destroy Stella's teether rattles. Technically, it's not irony, but definitely something like that... I have to do better about scanning the house up and down before we go to the grocery store when we really should be taking him for a walk. God help us when Stella is older and it happens to be her favorite toy or doll. Maybe he'll be out of that phase by then. But with our luck, yah right.

So I've had a request

to update the blog because the poo smoothie was grossing everyone out.

Sorry guys -

how about more hammy pictures of Stella eating? Seems to be the only ones I take lately, but she's just so darn funny when she eats. peas and prunes... yum.

Foodie...

So I have some random pictures...

one - i couldn't help but take a picture of this smoothie i made the other afternoon. In an effort to help my daughter's constipation (an attempt that does not work, i have now found out) I made myself a smoothie with bananas, fruit and the only juice i thought would work = prune juice. Combine all that with rice protein power with spirulina (which turns everything green) and VOILA!

the smoothie that looks like poo.
But sadly, does not help your daughter's poo because SHE is the one that has to eat the prunes. Oh well. I tried.

and now onto homemade hamburger buns - amazingly easy and satisfyingly good. I urge you to try to make them at least once in your life. You might not go back! (pre baked and postoven shots)

It's been a quiet week in...

There hasn't been a post this week... well... because nothing really of note happened. we're on night 8 for trying to get Stella to skip the 3 am feeding... yes, 8 nights and she still is pissy that she isn't getting fed. Usually babies change in 3 days - with the 3rd night where they sleep through the feeding and then you're set. Not us. Not Miss Stella, our fiesty girl. I think she's going for a pediatric record.

In other news, she seems to like peas and HAMing for the camera

her new high chair and bananas

and this ridiculous onesie that I couldn't pass up at the UCSD bookstore on the clearance rack for $4. (skunk sold separately! ;) thank you Auntie Liza...
actually, the skunk has come in quite handy because she now wants to touch anything and everything on her changing table - we recycled a set piece from a show at the Playhouse and it has a nice big table top and a bookshelf above. The shelves have been so handy for books, bibs, bottles, diaper cream, etc, but now Stella's arms are big enough that she reaches up to the shelf.

Enter Skunk - with a tail, 4 legs and a nose, there are MORE than enough spots to eat and it keeps her busy while we efficiently change her diaper. like the world's fasted diaper change in the west.

And I was so smitten with the beef bourginion a month ago that I made it again tonight. Only 3 more hours to go in the oven and delicious beefy goodness will be mine...

Happy "Owloween"

um yes, that's a Scupper tail in the last shot. ;)

Stella learns to mug for the camera

So considering Picasa told me I took 208 photos this October alone (yes, i know, it's pathetic) Stella definitely has learned to pose for the camera. I think the below evidence should suffice.

In other news, she has mastered the raspberry this week and now we're covered in spittle, she has learned to screech (or "extend her vocal range" if I'm being polite), and has now tasted apple, pear, pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot and zucchini. Today we're starting peas, and then kale. We'll see after all the sweet veggies whether kale will be a staple in her repertoire. You know, just like chocolate stout cake is in mine. ;)

We bought this onesie on Father's day this year - Steve thought it was the funniest thing ever. Yah, our babe is hard core.

She also seems to think that trying Dad's beer is fun too. Uncle Mike, this photo is for you!
Compliments of Great Aunt Melanie - this is a running joke in my mom's family. My uncle Peter was always "the favorite." Scupper would probably agree that Stella is the favorite, although when Steve came home from work last week, it went something like this: "Oh, who's my good boy?.... Hi baby girl!... oh, hi honey." Yup. At least I warranted a hello. ;)

Somehow she was perfectly happy laying like this yesterday. A little odd, but yep, she's definitely our daughter.

A pretty awesome husband...

made me a chocolate stout cake with bittersweet ganache frosting for my birthday. I came home from teaching on Wednesday night and he locked the back door on me. As I stood outside wondering "what the hell?" I heard the strains of "Happy Birthday" and then the door opening to reveal a chocolate cake with candles. I don't think Steve has ever made me a birthday cake before - tons of amazing dinners, yes, but surprise birthday cake? and the one I had been wanting to make? It was out of my whole grain cookbook, so it was healthy right? Whole wheat flour? Sure... let's not talk about the butter. Or the cream cheese he put in because we didn't have sour cream (?? the non-fat yogurt in the fridge would have worked, but not my honey!) Oh, and it really wasn't stout, but a Rogue Hazelnut Brown Porter - which made it taste SO MUCH BETTER. Beer in cake you say? Oh yes, Beer in cake.

So the birthday celebration just keeps getting better. A found vanagon, a chocolate stout cake, and a cookbook I've been dying to have.

Now Stella could just sleep through the night and it would be pretty awesome. Ha ha. Oh well. Maybe next year.

FOUND!

This is the best birthday present EVAH.

They just stole the radio. And some ratty thrift store fleeces. and a diaper bag. with diapers. (not sure if they knew those were in there though).

But all that for a relatively inexpensive after-market stereo purchased on Amazon?

It was found 5 blocks from the house... seriously.

There was much joy and rejoicing. Let the camping commence.

Inglorious Bastards

Our van was stolen today.

Yes. From out front of our house. Sometime between 9pm last night and 9am this morning.

If you see it, can you please bring it back?

$1 Leggings from Target are awesome.

I hope them make them for every holiday. ;)

In other news, Stella doesn't like carrots as much as she liked sweet potatoes. We'll see what she thinks of pumpkin tomorrow... hmmm... she's also started to throw things. Joy.

Pictures may be worth 1000 words, or...

a mouth full of sweet potato....

a cheesy t-shirt and headband (and Mom, this is the ONLY time she has ever worn that darn headband)

$1 t-shirt from Target that basically says it all...

Boeuf Bourguignon, a love story

So this past week, Steve really wanted to drink a nice bottle of red. The only thing that would go with it, he proclaimed, would be Julia Child's beef bourguignon - which, I'll admit, I have never attempted because it takes FOREVAH to prepare. and most of Julia's recipes all use all of the pots and pans in the house, but... are always worth it.

So I decided to tackle it. And here is my pictorial essay (and if you'd like the recipe, you SHOULD own a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but if you don't, you can find PDFs of the recipe here. And really, folks, I'll tell you upfront, it may have taken 90 minutes to prep and 3 1/2 hours in the oven, but it's NOT HARD. It really isn't. With Julia's wonderful writing, you have all the instructions you need.

SO! First you simmer the bacon in water and then brown in a Dutch Oven. (you're supposed to use slab bacon, but i couldn't find any...)

Then you chop up your own stew meat, b/c grocery store stew meat doesn't cut it my friends. This is a rump roast chopped. (and frankly, not that more expensive). I think this whole meal cost me $12.
Brown the beef in the BACON FAT (oh yes please!) , and don't overload the meat or it won't brown nice.
Add one really hungry dog at this point.
Meanwhile, chop up carrots and onions.
Take out the browned meat.
and then saute the onions and carrots in the bacon/beef fat.... mmmm.... Put everything back in the dutch oven, cover with 3 cups of wine, beef stock, various spices, and put in oven for 3-4 HOURS. oh yes. that long. then open wine and let it breath. ahhhh....

In addition to doing the stew part, you also have to cook the pearl onions and mushrooms that you add to the finished stew separately. Seriously? Yes. It was worth it. You braise these puppies for an hour on the stove. and they were the most carmelly tasty brown-braised pearl onions we have ever had. mmmm...
When beef is fork tender, take it out, drain all the liquid into yet another saucepan and simmer down to thicken. Skim off fat. Give to dog with food.
Serve with wine and crusty bread and realize that it is the BEST beef stew you have ever eaten in your life and forget to take a picture of the finished meal until you go for seconds.
Voila! Thanks Julia!!

oh - and in addition, add one happy baby... the next day, of course. ;)