Jenn Berning, the mother of my god-daughterTHINGS I LOVE ABOUT CINCINNATI
They get plenty of snow out here during the winter. We had snow on the night of Christmas Eve, and more snow on Christmas Day. Yet, Cincinnati manages to keep its streets clear. The streets may have more potholes than what we are used to back in Maryland. But Midwesterners know how to keep them clear of snow, damn it.
There are a lot of churches in West Cincinnati where Jenn lives, and many of the play Christmas songs through their bells during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. St. Dominic’s is a mile or so down the road from Jenn’s house, and the Christmas songs were clearly audible when I went outside in the cold morning air. There’s a sense of it being a Christian city in many of the neighborhoods.
JENN’S HOUSE
The energy level in this house is pretty low (something I’ve also noticed at my brother’s house in FL). I got a lot of reading and knitting done, and I watched a ton of TV (way more than I ever watch at home). But I didn’t have the energy to go outside much at all.
Jenn exposed me to a lot of new TV Shows (Matchmaker Millionaire, Kimora’s reality TV show and her Baby Phat clothing line, Jerseylicious, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Jesse Ventura’s Conspiracy Theory, Jerry Springer’s Baggage) and to books by Sylvia Browne (Life on the Other Side, Phenomenon). She is my TV guru, and I loved sitting around and watching shows with her and then yakking about them together.
I didn’t do as much cooking this time, which worked out well for Jenn and for me. She didn’t have as much stress about cleaning up. I got to relax a lot more, and although we didn’t eat or drink quite as well as we did the last time I visited, we still made out okay. Jenn also did more cooking, making classic Midwestern casseroles from recipes handed down by her mom.
BON BONNERIE
I didn’t bake at all this time. Baking really is a lot of work. Jenn went to Bon Bonnerie instead. Bon Bonnerie is a Cincinnati institution, and it is such an amazing bakery (better quality than anything I have encountered in the Washington DC area) that it does take the incentive out of making home-made cookies, even around the holidays, I’m afraid. Anyone who has a day out in Cincinnati should make a visit to Bon Bonnerie – a visitor doesn’t grasp the soul of this city who hasn’t been there. Most visitors to Ohio are aware that Skyline Chili is thick on the ground in Cincinnati, but few know about Bon Bonnerie, which has got to be one of the best wedding cake bakeries in the United States. Their afternoon tea is wonderful, too.
KNITTING
I did knit while I was out here, and got closed to finishing the blue and red pair of fingerless mitts. My second pair is probably going in hibernation. The truth is that I am getting a little tired of knitting.
There is too much dissatisfaction built into it knitting for me right now. The Eunny Yang pattern really takes longer than one would like for fingerless mitts (which should be something one can knit fast in three weeks). I’ve been working on this pair for two months.
There are still a lot of new holes forming in the afghan. I’m getting tired of doing constant repairs on it. I have to drag it out of the car and into the house and try to repair it before I leave Cincinnati, and the whole thing is getting pretty annoying. The afghan only fits a full-size bed, BTW. It isn’t even going to stretch wide enough for a queen-size bed.
Knitting also takes away from exercise time. I am getting really irritated with myself about the weight I have put on in the last two years since I started knitting. Many of the women that I knit with on Friday night are also overweight, particularly the ones who are my age and older. The truth is that knitting keeps me sedentary during my free time, and I would really need to be on a constant diet to compensate for the reduced physical activity.
Then there’s the fact that projects often do not turn out perfectly, or as well as one might have hoped. And there is constant mending of hand-knitted or hand-crocheted items, which you simply don’t have to do with machine knits. During an average workday, knitting fills a lot of time while I substitute teach. Once I stop subbing, I’m probably going to be down to one project a year.
Nonetheless, there was one nice bonus to knitting over the holidays. My two year old god-daughter was fascinated with my knitting.
ENVY NAIL SALON
Just thought I’d pass this nugget along. In the course of my travels, I hit upon a wonderful little nail salon at the corner of Backlick Rd. and Braddock Rd. in Annandale, VA, after being tipped off by a teacher at one of the schools I substitute teach at. Envy Nail Salon charges low California prices for manicures and pedicures, which tend to be more expensive almost anywhere else in the DC metro area. A basic manicure is $12.00, a French manicure is $15.00, and a mani/pedi is $32.00. These prices aren’t quite as good as what you can get in most of coastal California, where the sheer number of Asian operated nail shops keeps the price down. But they are pretty darn good compared to what I expect to pay in Rockville, Bethesda, or Frederick, MD. The only drawback is that they seem to expect higher tips because they know they’re prices are lower than market. I gave an 18% tip just before Xmas, and I could tell the lady was disappointed. If I go back, I will probably have to tip 20% to 22%.
MY GOD-DAUGHTER
Sarah is two years old, and such a little doll. My name for her is “Alf, Alf”, because it’s something she says quite a lot. She is saying distinct words in between a lot of babbling at this point. She says “thank you” a lot. “Down” is another favorite, but she also threw in high-octane words like “knitting” and “vacuum”…such a little mother’s helper (lots of Capricorn planets). Throw in a helping of independent streak (a couple of Aquarius planets) and gentleness alternating with total diva (a couple of Pisces planets), and you have a pretty good picture of Sarah @ "Terrible Two".
Here she is in the bathtub. I’m thinking of updating the profile photo on Jenn’s FB page with this picture.
Or maybe I'll update FB with this one...
Here she is wearing the beautiful tiger’s eye beads that Jenn gave me as an early birthday present.
Here she is on my laptop. She knows she isn't supposed to be doing this, so watch how she pours on the charm in the next shot.
Here she is standing on daddy’s foot, with her back to the camera and her beautiful Barbie-like hair.
Sarah has a “thing” for cameras.
Little photographer.Tongue shot...
AT AUNT DEBBIE’s
We also went up to Mason, OH, between Cincinnati and Dayton, to visit Jenn’s sister, Debbie, and her little girl, Lila.
Debbie and her husband own a nursery in the Mason, OH area. My own sister lives not too far from here, but unfortunately, I have not seen her in years.
It was great seeing Debbie, who is funny, smart, and very on-the ball.
Her husband, Terry, shared a rather interesting theory on how we might potentially have jump-started the economy by spending the stimulus money to radically restructure the housing industry. Ohio is largely a conservative state outside of Cleveland, and his views did not surprise me.
GOD, THIS VACATION JUST FLEW BY…
I had two weeks off, but it isn’t enough, and I am well aware that a lot of folks don’t even get that. I never thought I would look back fondly on last summer, because I spent most of it on crutches with a broken foot, and going out was such a pain in the ass because it was brutally hot for weeks at a time. But last summer was the only time I had to read and write and knit and crochet and do cross-stitch embroidery and not have to worry about anything but resting and healing up. This year is going to all work and very little relaxation, and this isn’t exactly a mood-booster.
