Welcome to According to Ai! My first name is Margaret (middle name Ai) and I am a woman trying to get through my day-to-day. I cook, garden, teach, and try to mother as best as I can. I have three children: a teenage stepson (RJ), a 4-5-year-old daughter (Maya), and a 1-2-year-old son (Nico). A huge chunk of my time is spent on my work – I teach ESL (English as a Second Language) at the university level, and anyone who has had the “pleasure” of grading papers knows how many hours that can take! I spend my days juggling work, motherhood, gardening, housework, being environmentally-minded, and everything in between.
I live in Elk Grove, California, which is a suburb of Sacramento (USDA Hardiness Zone 9b and Sunset Magazine Zone 14 – this translates into hot summers, mild winters, and not very much annual rainfall). I have been trying to transform my backyard into a completely productive space; I hate grass, and am actively trying to get rid of it. I love to cook (especially when I can use homegrown produce), and a large percentage of this blog will be devoted to gardening and cooking, especially those dishes that I can prepare with Maya who is a budding cook/baker herself.
Join me on my day-to-day journey through life as I see it … “According to Ai.”
According to Ai 