Olba and Umcka

Sounds like two hairy chinned aunts from Latvia. But no. They are my friends. Especially Olba. Everyone should know Olba.

Do you remember the little blue glass jars of Vicks? Olba is similar, but much stronger. And she is a little more diverse. You can put her in your bath and soak your weary muscles or drop some in a bowl and inhale her. You can use her as a massage oil or do it my way....take a small dot of oil and put it on the tip of your nose. Aaaahhhh. Nasal bliss. And your whole house will smell like an old world steam room.

The jury is still out on Umcka, but I do love the name. I don't take cold medicine. I think it leaves you worse than you started. I also think that colds are something that we are meant to process. Umcka is a European herbal remedy that lessons bronchial symptoms in a tincture, tea or syrup. I chose the tea because it's cheaper and it forces you to drink more liquid. It's just the bark of some tree, no chemicals or anything, and it gives me the illusion of nurturing myself.

Sometimes that's all I need.

sick child

Max, day before yesterday, when he was well, modeling a hat that he wants with all his heart!

Vacation was quite nice and I will post about it, I promise, but today everything takes a back seat to a sick child. Max is sick and has been since yesterday and he is fairly dramatic about it. When Lew is sick he becomes a quiet recluse...you have to really poke and prod him to get him to disclose his maladies, and generally, a ginger ale makes everything bearable. Not so with Max. He's a moaner. And God help us all when he's in pain. He keeps us posted on each and every ache and its level of tolerability. (my word, I believe) As in, "Mom, my head hurts so bad that I'm going to die." He tears up with every declaration. It rips my heart out and that's just what he's after.

But he is pretty darn sick. A fever of 103, upset stomach, and the afore mentioned headaches. He has no appetite and that's unusual. So out come the big guns. Movies,
ginger ale, butler trays, and my magical cure-all...ginger lemon soup. I'm posting the recipe for all the world to see, for the greater good of sick folks everywhere. It is healing and yummy and healthy and hearty all at once. It's the only thing mine eat when they are sick, and I am pompous enough to believe that it's what cures them. So here is the recipe, pioneer woman style, except without her beautiful photography and witty prose.


Here are the ingredients. Quite simple. The only thing missing is the basil, fresh or dried, take your pick. There are chili flakes in that little container. They are optional. I always opt for heat.

Now for the how-to. And truthfully, this is not my strong suit as I am not a recipe follower. I'm a dump and taste and guess kinda gal. So take from this what you will.

Get out your favorite pot and put it on the stove. Pour in one box of chicken stock, add a can of coconut milk, (NOT creme of coconut, that's for pina coladas when all are well and sitting on the beach in Maui) the juice of a lemon, about 2 inches of finely chopped fresh ginger, a cup or two of brown rice, some chili flakes, sea salt, and a handful of chopped fresh basil.

Heat and cook until rice is soft and serve.

The ginger is lovely for the tummy and it's creamy without containing dairy. It's tangy and flavorful yet easy to digest and the rice adds just the right heft. For more heft, add chicken and vegetables. This is the PERFECT soup for a woman who has just had her 3rd C-section, but that's another story.
Get well soon, baby!

head cold

i have a head cold. a bad one. i'm numb from my neck up, and i'm actually getting used to it. i can't taste food at all but can taste this bizarre chemical scent in the top of my mouth, i can barely hear, and if i lean forward too far shooting spears of pain ricochet around my head. there is a deep hack and more mucus than i like to think about. other than that i'm fine. my sister had something similar and said it lasted 3 weeks. so i've got that going for me, too. but really, i'm fine. and that's the clincher, i think. because i'm a mom, there is really no choice, but to be fine. it has nothing to do with martyrdom, as some are probably grumbling under their breath, and everything to do with just plain old physics. newton's first law. a family is an 'object in motion' and an object in motion tends to stay in motion. that's us. we're moving. we never stop. sometimes we might be moving backwards or even upside down, but i'll be damned if we're not ALWAYS moving. and mucus doesn't arrest that motion.

so, the other night, between chorus and my tuesday night job, after a playdate, but before my anniversary date with that man who created this situation with me, i took the kids to grab a quick bite at a taqueria near our house. we all stood in line. i was holding della, because she hadn't napped and was cranky and max and lew were bickering softly amoungst themselves. (i think it was softly, i can't hear ...)it was nothing special or unusual. as we finished up in line, an older woman approached me. she wanted to tell me how charming my children were. thank you i said. it's one of the few compliments that i can take without a qualifier... what? these things? i got them for 75 cents at the thrift store.... they ARE charming and i am so proud of them. always. actually, people often compliment them and for that i am grateful.

but what she said next really tickled me. and i tried not to laugh in her sweet, elderly face.

 she said, " your children are darling and you just seem so unflappable". that was her word. unflappable. she also said that 'i had such a peaceful demeanor'. and right then would have been the proper time to just say thank you, as i was taught.

but no. i guffawed.

i told her that the more appropriate word would be 'zombie'. as in, the walking dead. that i could neither hear nor feel my offspring and that i also wouldn't be tasting my dinner, except that i had ordered a habanero sauce on my burrito in the hope of having some sort of meaningful relationship that day. i went on. i was there in body, not in mind or spirit, and thank god my children were as worn out as i was because there's no telling what i would have done had they been climbing the walls, which they are fully capable of doing.

we all sat down and ate. and i looked at my 3 children lined up on stools across from me and a funny thing happened. while i had a hard time accepting that compliment up front, it sort of washed over me like a wave of warm saline. (a comforting metaphor for me right now) she made me take a mini snapshot of my life with kids right there in that restaurant. with me feeling like hell.

and like she said....it's charming.

hey wait lady! thank you!