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The ban on Blogger and .blogspot has been lifted. But in the meantime, I have found a new home. There is still a good chance that the ban will be implemented again. So with the amazing help of my friend Liz, I have a new home. Please visit me at http://www.diapertheirfaces.com/ from now on.

Censorship Sinks My Blog

You may wonder why I've been quiet. Is Little Fart keeping her awake again, you wonder? He is, infact. We've had a bad run of nights. Then I got sick. But none of that is what's keeping me from posting.

Turkey has banned blogger.

That's right. I can not post to my blog. My dear friend Liz is posting this on my behalf.

Censorship sucks.

But I will NOT let the Turkish government silence me! In addition to posting this for me, my friend Liz is working her butt off to get me launched at a new address. I'll have to bid adieu to blogger but not to all of you. We will keep you updated and let you know when the new blog is ready.

Please bear with us in this time of transition.

And POO on you, Turkish government for banning websites. Censorship is WRONG.

Sibling Love

Bad Ass Potato Salad

On Friday night, D's conference closed with a sushi reception. There were three pieces of unaki sushi, a mound of pickled ginger, and a colossal heap of wasabi left at the end. It seems not everyone is as fond of wasabi as am I. But fond of wasabi I am, and I was not about to see such an enormous quantity jetisonned into the garbage. So I wrapped it up and brought it home. (I ate the three pieces of sushi.)

I wasn't really sure what to do with wasabi, aside from mixing it with soy sauce and dipping my sushi in it. But I marinated salmon in just that to great success last night. (I forgot until this morning that I'd done almost the same thing and blogged about it a few months ago-- I blame sleep deprivation for this lapse in memory.) The salmon used up only a miniscule portion of the gargantuan mountain of spicy, green paste in my fridge.

So I hit the web. And I found all kinds of recipes. None were really appealing. Then I found one for wasabi potato salad. The recipe itself sounded repugnant-- there was entirely too much mayonnaise (barf!) and not nearly enough potato; there were other problems with the recipe as well. But the concept inspired me.

Today, when Little Fart fell asleep and the Kidlet had yet to awake (simultaneous napping! a rarity chez nous!), I dragged my sorry ass into the kitchen, took a good, strong whiff of wasabi to waken my dead-tired senses, and created this beauty of a dish:

Bad Ass Potato Salad

1.5 lbs potatoes, skins on, steamed til tender, coarsely chopped
1 small bundle of rocket, coarsely chopped
2 green peppers, diced
2 yellow peppers, diced
1-2 red apples (a variety that is sweet and crisp, I used Galas), diced
1 red onion, diced

1-2 tablespoons wasabi (or more, if you're a heat lover like me!)
1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
3/4 cup plain yogurt

salt and pepper to taste

Steam potatoes. Allow to cool. Choppity chop them up! Toss them with flare into a bowl with all other veggies, prepared as stated above.
In a small bowl, combine wasabi and mayo throughly. Once smooth, add in yogurt and mix until smooth. Taste. Add more wasabi if necessary. Be sure to mix well so you don't end up with a massive lump of wasabi and get rushed to emergency. (Don't say I didn't warn you.)
Add wasabi mixture to vegetable mixture and mix well with a mixing spoon (I'm loving the root mix- right now...)
Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

I served it with lightly breaded, fried calamari (prepared by D), fresh whole wheat bread, butter, and a slab of cheese. And red wine. Of course, red wine.

I'm thinking it would make an excellent summer salad. But it worked just fine for a chilly autumn evening!

There's still an abundance of wasabi in my fridge... what shall I do next? Just you wait and see...

On The Topic Of Sleep

It's a surprise, I'm sure, to see that I'm once again talking about sleep. But I'm tellin' ya, when you can't have something that you so desperately want, it's all there is to talk about!

So... sleep. I am getting very, very little of it right now. Little Fart wants to breastfeed all night long. He wants to be cuddled, nuzzled, and fed right through the night. Last night, I crawled into bed at about 10:30pm and Little Fart finished nursing at 1am. Yep, 2.5 hours straight. And that's not uncommon. But even that was not enough. He was awake within a half hour and began kicking me when I didn't immediately respond to his milk request. Between that waking and when D came for him at 5am, he nursed no fewer than seven times. Yes, seven.
Basically, Little Fart nurses the entire night and pops off for a few minutes here and there. He actually manages to sleep through most of it. I don't. It is exhausting.

But I didn't start this post with the intention of complaining. I complain enough.

I want to share some great sleep photos of the Kidlet and Little Fart. I want to post these to share with all of you, but above all, to remind myself that the kids DO in fact, sometimes sleep. And more, if they can sometimes sleep, with ongoing efforts they will eventually sleep more.

Here's Little Fart, this morning, having his first nap of the day at 8:15am. Don't worry, the cat isn't going to eat him. She prefers to munch on highly edible items like soap scum and carpet fibre. These two are near constant nap buddies.


And here's my sweet Kidlet. We had only just walked in the door. She asked for her apple juice and announced she was going to colour. I took off my shoes, took of my sweater, and turned around to see this:

If I were better slept and my brain was therefore even remotely close to functioning, I'd have something witty to say now.

But damn, chronic sleep deprivation has turned me into a dull, slow-witted, and mostly uninteresting individual. I think I was smart, funny, and a pretty good writer in my former life. I'd like at least a shadow of that former life back one day.

So tired. Must lie on couch and let children run amok.

Keith Turnbull's Open House

If I were in Edmonton next weekend, I'd be heading to Keith Turnbull's Open House. Keith is a talented artist. My aunt has a sizable collection of his art in her home and I've always admired his sculptures.
Alas, I'm in Ankara. But I don't want the rest of you to miss out! If you're an art lover in the Edmonton area, go check out Keith's show. You can check out his work in advance of the show on his website. I'm partial to his bookshelf scultpures. Aren't they gorgeous?

A Visit to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

D was busy this week with a conference he organized. He does these Oooo-I'm-Such-An-Intelligent-Academic-Weeeee-Look-At-Me events every so often. The kids and I missed him. He put in some really long, long hours which prompted, from the Kidlet, comments such as

"I don't love you anymore Mummy, you made Daddy go away"

and, upon arriving at a conference reception,

"this is Daddy's special new house."

There was a fair bit of crying for Daddy; both Little Fart and the Kidlet made appeals for their father. In Little Fart's case it went like this: "Da-da-da! Da-da-da! Da-da-da!" And when his request went unfulfilled, it became more emphatic: "DA-DA-DA!!! DA-DA-DA!!!" The Kidlet, as direct but 27 months more mature, said, "but Mummy, I just want my daddy. I just want him."

And on Saturday, conference over but delegates still to be entertained, we got D back. He organized a great excursion into Ulus for interested parties. First to the Museum of Anatolian Civilization, then to the Kale for lunch in an Ottoman restaurant, and a bit of shopping time.
I forgot my camera due to a hasty departure but the Kidlet was so enamoured of the museum experience that it mattered not; she immediately set to sketching what she saw.



The Kidlet loved the museum. She loved it while we were there and has asked repeatedly to return. We're looking into seasonal or annual passes, as it is a very nice museum and we would both like to cultivate the Kidlet's interests.

Post-excursion, the Kidlet insisted on having everyone back to our place to "pat her cats." We worked with a broader understanding of cat-patting that involved beer and wine consumption. Yum.

And now we have our D back. Today we are being lazy and being together. I've worked on some crafts. The Kidlet has coloured in her museum colouring book. D has made soup stock. Little Fart has gnawed on his feet. We'll spend the afternoon and evening together, being lazy, being spontaneous, and probably eating a bit more than we should. As always.

Ahhh, how I love this life!

Sweet Sleep

Two nights ago I headed to bed about 20 minutes after D and the Kidlet. As I passed their bedroom, I noticed the light was still on. I opened the door to flick it off, and this is what I saw. Both are fast asleep. Sorry it's a bit blurry; I didn't want to wake them by using the flash.

The Giving Season: A New Challenge

My friend Jenn posted an appeal yesterday. She has three wonderful children, two of whom were adopted from Ethiopia. The transitional home in which they lived, after they'd been adopted but before they could go home, is having some difficulties. They don't have enough money to keep things clean. Three children have died of pneumonia. This really hit home for Jenn because, as she said, it could have very easily been her own kids who died. They lived there too, in that very home.

So Jenn is trying to do something about it. She is raising funds for the centre to buy a commercial grade washer and dryer so that the spread of germs can be much reduced. At present everything gets handwashed and often doesn't have time to dry before it is reused.

I am very moved by Jenn's committment to the centre, even after her own children are safely home. She's that kind of person-- she cares. She is really, really wonderful stuff.

I am donating what I can. In fact, I have chosen to make a fairly large donation in lieu of buying Christmas gifts for my family back home this year. I have given $750USD ($894 CDN right now!) in honour of my mom, my dad, my sister, my nephew, my brother, my brother's girlfriend, my step-nephews, my aunts, uncles, cousins, and my grandma. The way I see it, the children in the Thomas Centre need the money much, much more than my family need trinkety gifts from me. And I know my family will see it that way too.

In fact, I've really been thinking about gifting and the shape it takes at Christmas. So many people get so many things, most of it they don't need, much of it they don't even want. And yet all over the globe, people are starving, dying of preventable disease, and living in terrible poverty. Thinking of the state of desperation in which so much of the world lives and the state of excess which others of us live... it brings me to tears.

So I've decided to do what I can to help. I am going to restrict the giving of gifts to people who I see in person. I will give gifts on birthdays and Christmas to the people with whom I celebrate the day. And for those of you who are far from me, who I love and would like to be with, I will donate in your honour to organizations that are trying to bring about much needed change.

And for my friends and family I see in person, I am going to try to give you gifts I've made myself and/or with the help of my kids. I'm going to try to give you locally acquired gifts. Gifts that are easy on the environment. Gifts that support the arts, that support the efforts of NGOS, that are sustainable.

My challenge to you is this: if you are someone who would usually send a gift to me for my upcoming birthday, please donate to the Thomas Centre (info on Jenn's website.) If you are someone who would usually send gifts to the Kidlet, Little Fart, D, and me for Christmas, please donate something to a charity on our behalf. And everyone else, please think about donating to Jenn's campaign for the Thomas Centre. Please post in the comments section and let me know if you do (no need to include the amount.)

This Christmas season, let's all think hard about the difference between need and want.

I will not eat peanut butter!

A conversation between the Kidlet and me today:

Me: Here Kidlet, try some of this. It's called peanut butter.

Kidlet: No, I will not eat peanut butter. I hate peanut butter!

Me: Please? Just a little taste?

Kidlet: I HATE peanut butter.

Me: Just one teency, weency, incy, pincy lick?

Kidlet, with a long, dramatic sigh: Okay, but just one lick, Mum.

(pause while Kidlet delicately touches her tongue to the spoon I am holding out)

Kidlet: Oh Mum, I love peanut butter! It is my very favourite. I want more!


Many, many, many thanks to Cheryl for mailing us the peanut butter in question!

GO VOTE!!!

I'd planned on a nice long post about Canadian politics, the frustrations of voting from abroad, and my ideas about this particular election (the Canadian one.)

But damn it, we lost our internet access for almost two days. So... no time.

I have to be brief if I'm going to say anything at all.

If you are Canadian, GO VOTE! Go vote strategically. Recite this phrase to yourself as you select your local candidate most likely to defeat the Conservatives, "anyone but Harper... anyone but Harper... anyone but Harper..."

Now GO GO GO! To the polls with you!!!