Privacy

Don't believe for a second that I have abandoned my blog. Or even that it has slipped my mind--as a matter of fact, I think of it often. I have lots of ideas for great posts and OODLES of adorable pictures to show off from the past 6 weeks. But there has been one big looming issue that has stood between you and me and those yet-to-be-written greats and that is: PRIVACY.

This blog has grown and attracted a wider audience than I had imagined. What began as a way to share the growth and antic of our little ones with far-off family and a creative springboard for my thoughts and inspirations, somehow trickled out of the village and into a larger body of water. And that is not necessarily a bad thing; in fact I love the idea of other moms that I have not met, in various locales-not-within-driving-distance reading my blog and smiling over my slices-of-life. Some of my posts are well-suited for sharing with a larger population. But this, as you all know, is the world wide web, and I don't just post about funny stories or my favorite purchases, I post openly about my family and my sweet, dear children. But this all came to light around the time we were building our barn and working harder toward our self-sustaining urban homestead, and for the tenth time, a brand new client walks into Nomad and says to Blake, "I found you online....oh, and I read your wife's blog...your family is SO cute!" I am sure most of these are harmless and fascinating people, but Blake, who is uber-private by nature just cringes at the thought of our lives being out there for all to see and intertwined with his business personna, and rightfully so. A quick google search myself found that to bring up Nomad the business, also brought up lil' ole Mama Nomad and her Milk and Ink.

I really don't have the time and energy to keep two separate blogs, one for close persons, and one for the public, nor do I want to--I like the ecclectic mix of my content and don't want to compromise my candor or the blog's flexibility. So that leaves me with one choice and that is to make it private and limit my readers.

Don't worry if you read my blog and we have never met--again, I am not looking to shut out everyone who is a stranger. I just need to know WHO is reading and be able to officially invite you to my blog. From what I understand this will create and extra step in order to view my blog, some sort of log-in process. Honestly I don't really know how it will work until I "go live" with it. So all you need to do, if you would like to stay with me so far (and I promise once this is settled I'll be back to your regularly-scheduled-blogging-program) please send me an email and I'll add you to my "invite" list which I will activate on about a week (giving everyone out there time to see this "public post.") Please, don't be shy if we have not met or if you read my blog and I have NO IDEA (you, lurker, you!)--just tell me how you found me, where you live, and why you love me so much. Haahaa, just kidding about the last part. Just be sure to email me from the address that you would be using to log-in. Here is where you should contact me (obviously, no spaces and use the "@" and "."symbol instead of the actual word, you get it, right?):


p e r l i n g i e r i

a t

g m a i l

d o t

c o m


Just so you know this message will self-destruct at the end of the week. *Kablooey!*

PS FAMILY NEED NOT DO THIS 'CAUSE YOU WILL BE GETTING AN INVITE ANYWAY!

its Mac tonight!

i have not eaten fast food in at least 3 years, since i discovered my soy allergy. its probably a good thing because i have always loved it and if there wasn't a medical reason keeping me from indulging in value meals, i'd probably eat them more than i should. although eating real fast food is only a good experience while its happening....the flavors, the evil, addictive, and filling flavors, is what keeps people going back, even though after you've eaten the meal you feel like crap. its no wonder, your body is hard at work processing the junk--that the part i've always resented. so when blake and i were first married i set out to create the "homemade Big Mac"--all the flavor of the McDonalds favorite but with the quality bumped up several notches. i laughed as i walked through our local market, singing the grocery list in my head: "2 all beef patties, special sauce, lettece, cheese....."

since bread products have also been restricted for me, i have not made this lesser-of-two-evils dinner in ages, since i cannot find a sesame seed bun without soy lecithin. but yesterday the stars seemed to be aligned for another Big Mac night. first i spotted a sesame speckled bun from my new favorite local bread company (all Lou friendly)--Gabriel Bakery. My first thought was, "oh I should make Big Macs!!" then i searched for a pickle that was Mayan-friendly, and i found one--most have paprika added, a nightshade, but New Seasons carries a local company's organic pickle without any nightshades. then in the produce department they are suffering from a "lettece gap"--the summer heads of leafy green lettece are not available yet and usual sources are in transition, so all they had was organic heads of iceberg lettece, the official lettece of fast food burgers!

and let me tell you, these are way better than the McD's version--all the flavor without the gutrot. still an extravagance to be sure, but when you are having that craving, serve these with some fries and cokes and you'll never go back the that drive-thru again.

here is how i capture that flavor, in order according to the song:

*two all-beef patties (organic grass-fed beef; make the patties large in diameter but pretty flat so they cook quickly and that having two in each burger won't make it too gigantic)

*special sauce (mayo and ketchup mixed, about half and half)

*lettece (iceberg is the most fast-food-like, but a leafier green like red-leaf would bump up the nutrient factor)

*cheese (Horizon organic american cheese slices--these are also key in getting that authentic flavor and texture, cheddar isn't the same--melted on your burger patties)

*pickles (chopped up into little cubes, and added into the special sauce is a good touch)

*onions (white onion, or yellow, chopped up finely and sprinkled on the burger)

*sesame seed bun (find the best you can, i highly recommend Gabriel's if available; the original Mac has a third bun slice in between the two patties but this is just TOO much, in my opinion)

the end result:



this is my "awwwww, YE-ah, its Mac tonight" face:

lou in b's eyes

oh, how i love this shot....


barn slideshow coming soon...

the kid lens: 2

(note: I believe all of these are from Isadore:)

the barn project continues

we have decided to go ahead with the Tuff Shed barn instead of building our own. we visited their lot and could not believe how over-built they were--all wood, no particle board either. plus they had so many great deals going and they build it on your lot for you at no additional cost. so instead of it taking months, and many injuries and arguments (and don't think i'm bagging on blake's skills, these words were from his own mouth) we have designed our barn and are on the schedule for march 3rd. its going to be sweet!! but our work isn't totally done, we've spent the last few weekends prepping the site.

my parents helped us bring down the old chicken shed. it may have looked rickety but it took some muscle to get 'er done! (thank you for helping us, mom and dad!)

its always a shame to cut down a perfectly fine tree, but it had to be done.

thar she blows! the tree falling scared the chickens so bad that one of them layed a shell-less egg a few hours later.

at least we'll have some firewood for next year!

goobie and mama help, too

pretty much ready

the kid lens: 1

i have decided to start a new series on the blog called the kid lens. why? because everytime i download my camera, there are mysteriously a bunch of blurry, oddly cropped photos taken from a 3-to-4-foot-from-the-ground angle. those of you with kids, i am sure have the same phenomenon.

this is the first of what i am sure will be many installments. each series will be from one average weekly download. most are taken without my knowledge, so they are all from the eyes of mayan or isadore, and have little to no adult influence. i should have started this a long, long time ago.

so without further ado, i bring you the kid lens: 1....

the tablecloth ghost

papa resting

mama unloading george at nomad
(i love how you can see isadore's reflection in the window while she gets the shot)

georgie plays

chatting with clients at nomad




see you next time!

the hunt

i have spent the past few weeks scouting out rentals for my sis-in-law, chemynne, who will be relocating here with her husband, michael, and their daughter, athena, from bend. things were looking good early on, houses that seemed to meet the criteria of size, safety, and be in SE near us. but many places were available right away and they needed a place march 1st. so we let some slide by, then buckled down and got more serious around feb 1st as the one month countdown approached. i have visited countless properies in the last three weeks, countless. and the number one thing i can tell you is: things are not as they appear on craigslist. if something looks good, then there is something terribly wrong. like a bus stop outside the bedroom window. or a train depot a block away. or its beautiful, but tiny. or its perfect, but absolutely no cats allowed.

now this has not discouraged me. i love a good hunt, and i am downright happy to do this for them. i think i actually enjoy it, because really finding a good rental, is not much different than shopping for a great pair of boots--constantly checking online to see if something new is available since the last time you looked two hours prior, finding something exciting then getting to see if it mathces you expectations up close, or trying to snatch up something great before someone else does like those exciting last moments of an ebay auction. its challenging, but fun at the same time.

of course this is not merely a pair of shoes we are talking about--its a house for our dear family, who is leaving behind them a beautiful home they've lovingly created over the last 10 years together, and will be the place they take their first few steps in a new city....and the clock is ticking.

what i have found shocking is how many FAKE ADS, there are on craigslist. our first notice was a home in the SE, described as a 3-bedroom home ready for a family on a dead-end street, for way under budget. but something looked fishy about the photos...like they were scanned from an out-of-date magazine. chemynne replied to the ad and the response was weird. they guys email was rev.john86 (sounded religious to me, in an attempt to gain trust I believe) and he claimed he worked for Shell Oil (dropping a well known company name) and explained that reason he was asking so little was that money was not important to him (hmmmm, even so asking so little would attract the wrong kind of tenant.) he further explained that he was out of the state right now and "not to worry" he just needed us to provide some information for his "files"--all of this in very bad english and horrid punctuation, signed "mr, John" (his errors, not mine.) scamola. luckily, we didn't fall for it, but sadly people do all the time. suddenly it seemed that half of the ads we were interested in, seemed to good to be true, and all of our email inquiries were ignored. now i am getting good at telling what is real and what is not right away. something about the pictures, the attempt at using key selling points (like desirable neighborhoods) and leaving out other important information (like sq footage), and most suspicious, not including a phone number. any person who truly wants to rent out their property will leave a number.


only one house so far really passed the test. blake and i checked it out together and we ran home to call C so we could give her the go-ahead...
...but unfortunately, it had just been rented out to another person. damn! especially since it was directly behind The Takahashi, our favorite sushi restaurant.


saturday morning C called, totally pumped about a property that had posted at midnight in the Hawthorne district. a big Old Portland style place, and already 15 people were planning on seeing it at 1 o'clock for its open house. the lady warned that it was "rough around the edges" but they were going to do some improvements like new carpet and paint. my posse and i loaded in the Suburban (the offical rental-scoping mobile) and we were hopeful!

lets' just say "rough around the edges" was a gross understatement. if you have a property that needs this much work, by all means, fix it up THEN show it. here is where someones foot fell through the vent upstairs and tore up the ceiling. nice. that sounds safe for small children!

not to mention this:
and this. i am no electrician but i'd go ahead and bet that shit wouldn't pass code.
these little surprises were around every corner. i had to put the call into C that the place was not acceptable. the search continues. something has to open up, right?