I sing the body electric

L and I went to see our friend, Logan's, performance as "Grandma" at his summer school's performance of their play.  He did a great job in his first big stage role.  The kids all did a good job on the play, and survived a performance on a very hot day in their full costumes--most of which looked very warm--under stage lights.  Poor Logan had on a dress, with a long-sleeved sweater over it, knit tights, and a wig.  He had to be sweltering!

After the play, he had returned the dress, sweater, and wig to costumes and came out ready to leave with his mom.  I was struck at that moment by what a special and lucky boy he is.  He is ten, and like most children that age, is fairly self-conscious.  However, his mom has given him the space and acceptance to be who he is and explore and pursue what interests him.  He came out wearing the red and black striped tights that he wore as "Grandma", his shorts, and his Ironman t-shirt (which he earned by completing an Ironman triathalon).  He had not the slightest reserve or discomfort with his non-traditional clothing (other than probably having very hot legs!) and was laughing and talking about the play.  His mom has given him love and acceptance and the room to grow and experience life in a way that is comfortable for him.  I wish all little boys had that freedom!

I think in childhood, our girls have more freedom than our boys.  Boys tend to be raised with much less tolerance for exploring outside of traditional gender boundaries.  Boys need the freedom to be sensitive, cry, wear beautiful things, play with "girl" toys--just as much as they need the ability to run outside and play sports.  Sadly, American culture tends to be very restrictive with boys, because there's nothing worse than being a "little girl" or a "fairy".  I know this will get tougher for Logan as he gets older, and the small-minded peer pressure may make it more difficult for him to march to his own beat, but I think that having experienced this unconditional acceptance through his childhood will eventually allow him to get back to being himself without caring about the small-minded around him.

He's a kind, considerate person, who happens to be a fantastic athlete (he seems good at all of the sports/activities), and I am looking forward to see him as an adult.  His mother is a trailblazer, fiercely independent, and a very non-traditional female who cares little about society's judgment.  It is a joy to see her pass on the same freedom she enjoys to her two young sons.

Last night I tried the first of several new recipes I have plans to try in the next couple of weeks.  I made Black Bean Baby Cakes from my Chloe's Kitchen cookbook.  Mark and I liked them, but L wasn't crazy about them.  She only ate one, which is never a good sign with her.  I will have to try to tweak them a bit next time I make them to see if I can get her to like them more.  She's so picky (not as bad as me, fortunately, but between the two of us it makes it really hard)!  There are several more from that book that I am planning to try soon.  The next recipe to try out this week is one Hannah sent out in the Simply Vegan newsletter--chickpea omelettes.

As an aside, I have to laugh at Blogger's spellcheck.  It flagged omelette/omelettes as being mispelled, because it doesn't recognize the word.  The suggested replacements are:  flannelette, letterbombs, letterboxes, and somersetted.  Really?  It seems a bit strange that the words, flannelette and somersetted(?!) would be included but no omelettes.

Now I'm off to try to get my chores done (while enjoying the Twilight Zone marathon on Syfy) before heading to my mom's for today's festivities.

I've included a shot of one of the cat-feeding stations at dinnertime.  We actually have three different zones where the cats are fed, and they are divided by location preference as well as those who get along best, so eating is as peaceful and stress-free as possible.  In the dining room, Lila, Oliver, Ivan, Tica, Basil, and Charlie eat.  Petey and Mimi eat in the kitchen, and Jasper and Carrie eat upstairs in my bedroom.

I finally have L somewhat on board with redoing the dining room.  She's still not thrilled with the idea, but is finally accepting it.  I'm working on the first phase now, which is to sand all of the woodwork down, so I can repaint it.  The plan was to then move to stripping the wallpaper, which Lila so kindly started for me already, and then repaint the room.  We've discovered a little bump in the road, in that the windows above the buffet really should be replaced.  Rather than repainting then replacing at some later time, we are just going to replace them now.

I tried to get L to help me with the sanding--I offered to pay her--as it gets really painful for my hands, and I can't work very long at a time.  She said she is not going to help in my  efforts to destroy her favorite wallpaper ever.  I'm hoping she changes her mind, because at the rate I'm currently going, this will take me the rest of the summer!

Other shots are of the critters (Vivi, Oona, Blossom, Luna, Fergus, and Fiona) enjoying their daily produce meal in the herbivore room,Fiona,Saffron and Cypress, in the "nest" they spend much of their time in, and Valentino.