7-25-11

 

We got home at 2am and I pretty much slept and crashed all day. Frisbee enjoyed his gift from Nana.

7-24-11

Driving.... arrived home around 2am....

7-23-11

 

 

 

This day was incredible. I have to write about it later after it all sinks in. What a fabulous day.

They crowned me Homecoming Queen because I brought everyone home. It was so touching.

7-22-11

 

 

 

 

Had friends over for coffee this morning. Brainstormed prizes/awards for Saturday night. Wish I'd taken photos!

Tour of school at 2pm... hot... we all stood on the hill where we used to have pep rallies and Dan took the picture.

Meeting at a restaurant/bar for the evening get-together. What fun! Here's Dan with the husband of some of my best friends from high school. We done good!

7-21-11

 

We drove all day and arrived in Auburn in the evening. Mom had this planter on the floor of her office and I knew right away it was for me. A chicken planter!

7-20-11

 

Tomorrow we leave for my 30 year high school reunion! Tonight I organized all the name tags. Aza helped me assemble them and sort them by first name into envelopes. After over five months of hard work, this is finally happening with 100 people- the exact number I'd set my mind on back when I reserved the museum for the main event. This going to be EPIC!

7-19-11

 

Having Aza at home is so wonderful. In the evenings we might watch TV or a movie together. She will be working on her cross stitch and I will be working on my crochet. Lately we've been watching the first season of Mad Men.

7-18-11

 

I bottled a batch of kombucha today. These are two bottles I purchased last week from IKEA. Makes a nice looking product, eh? Today I was awarded my first NSF grant. I am the principal investigator on a collaborative project with Virginia Tech. We will be working with kids in rural Appalachia to bring innovative STEM curriculum to them. I'm so excited to finally have this grant, and the money to continue my research!

7-17-11

 

 

Figs. We have so many figs growing on the fig tree in the back yard that I'm just going to have to do something other than eat them off the tree this year.

Here is a painting that I framed yesterday. It looks good, but I'm not sure it's in a great place.

7-16-11

 

 

 

A special day in my family history, the birth day of my birth father in 1929 and my Nana in 1908. In honor of my Nana, I pickled beets today. She used to love to pickle beets and serve them to me cold and tangy in a pale blue bowl. In one week, they will be ready to savor. Since nobody else in the family likes them, I get them all to myself.

In honor of my birth father, Dan and I went to see a movie, Midnight in Paris, at the Kentucky Theatre downtown. Afterwards, we watched the fountain in front of the court house.

Finally, Dan and I cleaned house today and he put all my stuff on our bed. That way, I had to put it all away before I could sleep. Which I did.

7-15-11

I met my sister Sta for a shopping and lunch excursion. We each had to drive two hours to get to the IKEA store in Cincinnati, but we got to spend 4 hours together. Yummy lunch at a nice Italian place. She moves to Kansas in two weeks and I won't see her again for a long time....

We were both wearing gray shirts and khakis with RayBan sunglasses.

7-14-11

 

I went to the dentist today and asked for a copy of my xrays just for fun. I have a cavity... in this view... and have to get it filled on Tuesday next week. See if you can spot it. I am NOT looking forward to Tuesday.

7-13-11

 

 

The Turk's Cap lilies are blooming, and so are the black eyed susans. Dan and Aza and I watched three more episodes of Mad Men tonight.

7-12-11

My computer is ALIVE!!! It took about a month to get it all back together, with Squirt's help. He installed all my programs again, the operating system, I got my email all set up, photos put back on, music ripped from CDs... what a lot of work. Today I worked on the reunion directory and started printing name tags.

7-11-11

 

I bought these at the Berea Craft Festival yesterday. They are made from gourds. Aren't they cute? I went to my office this morning for a meeting and some stuff, and put them on the shelf. Spent all afternoon on IRB forms. Fun fun.

7-10-11

 

This is 50% cotton, 50% poly yarn that I knitted into a half a scarf to find out if I liked the color and texture for an afghan. I do!

 

The Turk's Cap lily should bloom soon. I thought they were weeds the first year we lived here, and now love them.

 

 

Lovely lilies everywhere. Today Dan and I went to the Berea Craft Festival in the woods of Berea Forest. We met Aza and Baza there, saw his mom and met some of his siblings. Baza's mom has a pottery studio and we bought one of her vases for a gift for someone special. The smell of a wood fire, the sound of fiddles, the sights of handmade things from wood and metal and fibers... a fantastic experience.

7-9-11

 

Saturday. I worked on the reunion, my crocheting, and other sundry things.

7-8-11

I went to Michael's to get some yarn for an afghan and just couldn't decide on a color so I bought four to sample.

Worked all day on IRB forms for a study that's taking place next month and only hope it gets turned in and approved in time.

7-7-11

Crocheting. It's my new passion. Today I crocheted a hat that looks really good on me and started on some mittens but ran out of yarn at the thumb.

This summer is going by too fast. I have so much to do and not enough time to do it all.

7-6-11

Guess who moved home today?

7-5-11

Today is Jes's 25th birthday! We are driving home from Wisconsin and just had to stop for some cheese curds at the Cheese Palace Castle.

7-4-11

 

For the 4th of July we had a picnic outside in the back yard. With the mosquitoes.

 

We played Boingo with the mosquitoes.

 

My nieces posed for me so Jes can see how grown up they are now at 12 and 15.

 

We got to witness a homemade fireworks show outside, including a sparkler show.

It was a fun day to spend with the family. I really got into my new crocheting projects.

7-3-11

Summerfest. Today I went to Summerfest. With all its crowds and noise and lights, I went on a drunk bus in South Milwaukee from King Pins Bar where we parked. It was me and Dan and Aza and Baza, and I lasted pretty good until around 10 when I was overcome by the overload of sensory inputs.

First we went to Kopps.

The cute couple at Kopps.

Not too crowded yet. View from the sky lift thing.

We watched fireworks for 45 minutes or so.

7-2-11

 

 

 

 

Today Dan and his brother and the kids went out on the boat for the day while I treated myself to a manicure and a trip to Super Walmart where I bought some yarn for crocheting. For dinner we all went over to DaveBon's house for dinner, a bonfire, a little swinging in the backyard, and a good time. Mosquitoes were the talk of the evening. Note the tennis racquet styled electric mosquito zapper. Fireworks from the neighbor's back yard were loud and scary. I like the looks of fireworks, but I wish they were quieter.

7-1-11

 

 

 

Today I went visiting. I visited a friend from high school for coffee, then visited my friend Moonie and her family. Here we are with her oldest, Babybutt.

Aza and Baza (his new nickname) showed up as twins wearing salmon shirts and khakis after a long drive north. They brought the CSA share with them including lots of carrots. Aza had crosstiched this carrot for her grandmother a few years ago, so here it is with Kentucky carrots.

I wish Squirt and Jes were here...