5-31-07

I thought that today I would take a photo of my beautiful rosebush all in bloom, but it got late and now it's dark. So, sitting at my desk, trying to finish my last comprehensive exam paper, I took a photo of the mess I'm working in. Yuck. I can't wait to finish this exam on June 12.

5-30-07

After making over 300 wedding mints, I swore I'd never make another. But we had at least 2 lbs of extra fondant, and I just couldn't let it go to waste, so I brought it home. Then my son said he needed to make something French to eat for his 10th grade French class, and fondant is French, so voila! I taught him and his girlfriend how to make fondant bon-bons. Here are the results of their hard work. I even taught him how to use a pastry bag and make little flowers and leaves. Mom, you'd be proud.

5-29-07

Here's a photo of my bride's maid bouquet in a vase on our kitchen table, and a photo of the rose bush that was barely blooming a week ago. It's sad to be away from my sisters and mom and all those cousins. I'd better get some work done. I went to Igor's comprehensive exam oral defense today, and he did great. Next, it's my turn.

5-28-07

Today we woke up, said goodbye to the Bed & Breakfast we stayed at, went over to Mom's to say goodbye, then headed North on I-85 for home. Along the way we saw the Gaffney Peach. Jessica hung her corsage from the car roof.

5-27-07

Kate and her husband left for Paris today after breakfast. We spent a quiet evening with Stacey and her kids. Here's a picture of them all watching my nephew try and beat the game Squirt designed.

5-26-07

The BIG DAY!!! Here's a photo I took of Kate getting ready at the church,


a photo of the wedding cake made right at home (Thanks Jason!),


and family and friends having a good time at the reception.

5-25-07

Today, after Kate stuffed 40 guest gift bags with homemeade crackers, cookies and drinks, she and her soon-to-be-husband fell asleep on Mom's bed while I decorated the little mints.

5-24-07

Mom had a party tonight with all the relatives in town for the wedding. Here I am with my cousin, Vicki Cobb, author of over 90 science books for children.

5-23-07

Kate and I stayed up late last night making fondant. Tonight, after I watched the Lost season finale, we stayed up till 3am pouring the fondant into little heart-shaped and bell-shaped molds. They will be the wedding favors for guests.

5-22-07

Today I said goodbye to my husband, children, and rosebush... and flew South to help out with my sister's wedding.

5-21-07

Today the girls treated me to a manicure and pedicure as a Mother's Day treat, and once again I captured my peonies in their current state of blooming. Tomorrow, it's back to Auburn for the wedding celebration week.

5-20-07

The big tree near our driveway is fixin' to bloom. I thought it was a mock orange, but I don't think so anymore. Today was a wonderful day- all the kids were home and we celebrated Dan's birthday early. We played Frisbee golf until it got dark in the back yard. Ice cream cake... sittin' on the porch swing... brats on the grill... a delicious day.

5-19-07

I thought that I'd finish out this week of really boring photos with another really boring photo of my son's pile of laundry. However, the evening saved the day. The crescent moon was beautiful and I hurriedly set up my tripod and switched to the zoom lens. The large photo with the blue background was taken with a 4 second exposure, film speed of 1600, F5.6, and a 300mm lens. I uploaded it full size so you can see the detail if you click on it. The reflection is really mysterious, and if you zoom in you can see the Earthshine really well.

The moon photo was taken with a shutter speed of 1/60, film speed of 800, and F9.

5-18-07

Squirt's first blue blazer.

5-17-07

Squirt wrote the code for this really cute, challenging computer game. I haven't made it through the first level yet.

5-16-07

mmmm... SunChips....

5-15-07

This is a little Magnet. I use them to hold my paintings up on a wire that goes around my office. They make little hearts when you attach the two ends together. I bought lots of them because they're so cute. Today I didn't feel like doing much of anything, but I did go for a good run in the woods.

5-14-07

Today was sad. I turned in four copies of my second comprehensive exam, one for each member of my program committee, then I moved out of my office on the 2nd floor. I'll be working from home now, concentrating full time on my dissertation. It was sad.

5-13-07

Mother's Day! My children treated me to a wonderful day, and Dan treated me to some lovely pink tulips. The girls cooked breakfast and dinner, and Squirt did all the dishes!

5-12-07

Determined to finish this paper before Mother's Day, I once again became a hermit, except for an afternoon workout and run. I finished with 50 pages at 11:40pm.

5-11-07

I've been a hermit all day, working on my second qualifying exam paper- due Monday.

5-10-07

Aza and Jacob. Two terrific tuba tooting teens. We had dinner with them tonight on the downtown mall. Jes had to get soup because of her wisdom teeth being pulled yesterday. We all had ice cream aferwards at Chap's. A beautiful day on the mall... a lovely evening. I finished my lit review and started the conclusion section. Spoke with two dear old friends today from far away- what a full, glorious day.

5-9-07

My daughter is a photographer. She earned an A+ on this portfolio and her professor said hers was the best in the class. She won "Best in Show" on another portfolio of ethnographic photos for a different class, and those photos will be on display in the department hallway all next school year. She's amazing.

5-8-07

Our house is a very very very fine house. With one cat in the yard, life used to be so hard. Now everything is easy 'cause of.... Um, life's still hard. But we're having a great time living it!

5-7-07

Guess what this is? Come on, guess! Dan just got it in the mail- he ordered it all the way from Florida. A prize to the viewer of this blog who correctly guesses the item. Really! A prize!

5-6-07

So, the blue bird house out my office window is surrounded by green lush trees now.

5-5-07

Woke with a migraine this Cinco de Mayo (blamed on last night's garlic bread from a pizza restaurant), but with rest it took its course and was much milder by dinner time. I found my shoes and went outside to check on the dandelion I'd photographed the other day. The wind had blown all its seeds, and I found a new flower in its place. I suppose these are weeds, but aren't they beautiful?

5-4-07

Jess spent the night last night (all kids under one roof!) and this morning I taught her how to cut mats. We spent all morning and half the afternoon cutting mats and mounting her photos. Aza helped out when I left for the gym. Here's a photo of the two of them on my messy office floor finishing up the dozen or so photos we prepared for the "final exam" on Monday.

5-3-07

Today I drove over the mountain and picked up my daughter. We loaded the minivan full of her stuff from the dorm. I cooked crawfish etouffee for dinner, and made strawberry freezer jam afterwards- eight jars of it! That should last a while.

5-2-07

OK, this is Mittens. She's like 17 years old or something, and she loves to stand on my lap while I work. And dig her claws into my skin. And wake me up with a cat-scream at 5:30am wanting water from my bathtub. I'm SO glad Aza is coming home tomorrow because Mittens is always calmer with her big sister at home.

5-1-07

This May Day I remember Lily, lost to us three years ago. I thank her for her gift, her most precious gift to us.

4-30-07

Today, after picking Squirt up from lacrosse practice, I took these three photos of flowers in my front yard. A peony ready to bloom into pink tissue. Phlox in a mound. A perfect dandelion head with azaleas for a blurry backdrop.