ZimWex Family Blog

Do's and Don'ts of Middle School Robotics Competitions.

DO hold the competition in a gorgeous gothic building. It adds prestige to the whole thing.  I was so delighted to find this amazing gothic campus (City College) right in the middle of Harlem.  I confess, I never pictured City College quite like this.

DON'T forget the flash drive.  Turns out the average robotics competitor (and perhaps coach) have a relationship to organization not that dissimilar from Jerry: distant.  This tends to cause unnecessary last minute stress, though is good for quick thinking on your feet.

DO order team t-shirts, so you are not stuck in the overstock athletic uniforms, though they look cute.

DON'T position your table too near Hunter High School's "Angry Nerds" team (the giant of the robotics team competitions).  Their coordinated t-shirts, paraphernalia, and sheer numbers are enough to scare any school, let alone a Bad News Bears type team with only 6 kids.

DO problem solve in the moment and crazy things can happen!  When Jerry's robot completed all the challenges it had been programmed to do, he thought on his feet, aimed the robot directly towards a few of the other obstacles, and hoped aiming it straight for it might have some unexpected effects.  It did.  The team went crazy!

DON'T, whatever you do, hire the DJ they had for this latest competition.  Syrupy pop music in the background all day, and kids asked to dance the macarena (trust me, the Robotics kids are NOT the targe audience for this kind of cheesy bar mitzvah type entertainment).

DO go back and try again next year, even if you don't win.  Its kind of amazing to see what kind of problems these kids are working out.  If we had seen this when we were 12, we would have freaked out.

AZ

This moment.

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

AZ

Violet en Vogue:: 1

And thus begins a new series, where I chronicle the baffling fashion choices made on a daily basis by Miss Violet Zimmerman Wexler.

I call today's, "Pretty in Pink"*.  A lot of time and thought was put into this one.  And, if you must know, YES, her socks and underwear are pink as well.

Look forward to more installments soon.  There is endless material.

AZ 

*or, "um, where are your pants?"

In Which she forces them to eat new foods:: #4

Okay, this is the frenzied Sunday evening version of this post.

It includes;  ZERO photos.  ZERO recipes.

But only the simple confession that I did manage to find a new dish this week.

BAKED ZITI!!

Amazingly enough, we have never made it before, and, like many other school lunches, it was requested at home.

So...on a tired Sunday night..with a messy kitchen and too much homework, I made the world's easiest Baked Ziti.   And though it was not so exciting, this worked very well for the under 13 set!

I basically boiled a pound of ziti and mixed it into a baking dish with one container of ricotta, one cup of mozzarella, and a jar of Rao's Marinara sauce.  Bake for 45 minutes at 350°. Sprinkle with parmigiano! Easy. Done.

I'll admit it, I had my mind set on a few more exciting things when I proposed the idea of a new recipe a week.  But, I'll take what I can get.

I paired it with some peas, cooked with garlic and scallions, which were also a big hit. And,  of course, a big loaf of Italian bread.

And, predictably, yes, two gave the big thumbs up, one picked her way through it, and one refused to take a bite.  

It would be way too easy any other way.

AZ

 

This Moment.

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

AZ

 

Courage.

(And also, handstands at age approaching 40....)

 

Book #3: The Sense of An Ending.

The secret to reading a book a week is, at least partially, to occasionally pick books as good and as short as The Sense of an Ending.

At 163 small pages, this moving novel is kind of like the equivalent of the 90 minute play on Broadway with no intermission.  I was frankly surprised at how much I liked this. It has won the Booker Prize;and everything, but then again, so has The English Patient.*

The Sense of an Ending is a novel by Julian Barnes, a British Author whose other work I had not read previously.  It's a book about a man named Tony, who in late middle age is beginning to look back on his life, and particularly on one incident, that centered around his friend Adrian and an ex-girlfriend, Veronica.  In the first part of the book, he is mainly telling the story of his past. In the second, the way that past comes back into his life when he is suddenly and unexpectedly bequeathed something related to both of them. The story is good, interesting even, but what really makes this book stand out is the writing. Barnes writes beautifully, in this case mostly about aging, remembering, and story telling. How we are always creating and re-creating our own histories. I found myself underlining on every page things that I wanted to remember.

Do pick this one up!

AZ

*Like Elaine from Seinfeld, I was a hater.

 

Another One Bites the Dust.

Yes, the virus that got the kids now has gotten me.  So, shutting down the computer (mostly) and drinking soup and hoping to nap.  Back to blogging soon!

AZ

Right now I am...

Wondering who Jane Fonda's plastic surgeon is. Wow. 

Thinking that the mermaid dress as an awards trend has really got to end.

Planning to watch more television.  All those shows look good....

Enjoying beginning Downton Abbey

Recognizing that I was not particularly fast on that trend!

Nursing three semi-sick children, sometimes with patience, and others with irritation...

Regretting that irritation.

Enjoying very much the cappucinos, lattes, and of course the cupcakes from Molly's Cupcakes. 

Mixing pomegranate seeds into yogurt in the mornings.

Wishing Tanya didn't have to be away this week.

Trying to get more sleep.

Listening to Violet practice "On the Good Ship Lollipop" over and over again.

Choosing the Adele station on Pandora almost every day.

Shivering as I walk Snoopy around the block...and not much further, unless I really have to!

Laughing both times this week (!) that we watched the Wanda Sykes special on HBO, bringing our lifetime total of watching to at least 45 times...

Realizing that Violet's Sixth (!!) birthday is approaching.  

Needing a plan for that birthday.

Hoping to attend a yoga class this week. 

Collecting money.  Jerry and Ella have raised almost $1000 each for a fundraiser for school, and Ruby has sold more than 250 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. 

Enjoying that we have had three very quiet weekends in a row.

Forgetting to give her kids allowance.  Each and every week. What makes this particular task so difficult to remember?

Negotiating about computer time. Always...

Writing.

AZ

 

In which she forces them to eat new foods:: #2

On tonight's menu....

Macaroni and Cheese that does not come from a box

This is a recipe of my friend Diana's from the school potluck cookbook.  With two children, and this mother, it was a hit, though I probably would go a tiny bit easier on the optional onion the next time.  My youngest child suffered through it one slightly too cheesy elbow at a time, but nonetheless, by drinking water in between bites, managed to get to the end.  My eldest son, and total food wimp most picky eater, refused to try.  About an hour later, he decided to try (because I hadn't given him any other food).  Again, he lost confidence before the first bite. Finally! (at about 8:15 PM) he ate a very small portion.  Victory? The mere fact that there are general histrionics when macaroni and cheese  is served is enough to put me over the edge!

Sauteed Spinach

Simple spinach sauteed in garlic and olive oil.  Not new for me to cook, but new for me to ask my children to eat.  Three children at the table tonight said unprompted, Great Spinach! The other one has, ahem, yet to try it.

Baguette

Clearly not new. But good! And uncontroversial...

Brownies not from a box

Yum, yum, yum. And what else would you expect with one pound of butter and several cups of sugar? they are good and gooey and rich!

So, now you are getting the idea of what qualifies as new in my family.* How did it come to this? But, in any case, I am having fun with the idea of finding new stuff. Next week, chopped liver!

These recipes, I feel I cannot reprint, because if you email cookbook@lrei.org  you can order you own cookbook and support our school.  There are lots of great recipes in there, including from some fabulous chefs like Mario Batali! 

AZ

*Literally any change from the exact recipe  they are used to.