7-13-14

Seems like this is turning into a food blog! Yes, we dined with my mom again. Above is a crab salad that was so fresh and delicious, and below is corn salad and roasted sweet potatoes. We had a nice late lunch/early dinner there with friends. I worked on knitting a pair of socks.

7-12-14

This has been a summer of knitting and self care. I'm listening to my second audio book (downloaded free from the local library) and tying up loose ends at work getting ready for our trip to Maine. This is a sweater I finished last week and photographed today. Wool. A bit itchy. The yarn looked so amazing in a hank, but is stripy in a sweater. I'll make the next one in a solid cotton again.

7-11-14

Doug and his mom came by at 9am to install our new stained glass windows in the transoms. I designed them. They built them. What do you think?

BEFORE

AFTER

I had a meeting at 10:30 with a science faculty member, then another meeting with a grant group, and it looks like I'll be on the grant with a funded grad student. Very happy about that...

7-9-14

Dinner at Mom's again. The more she cooks, the less I do. Here are her new stained glass windows.
I like them so much. My buddy Doug installed them for her today. He is working on making some for me too.

Dinner photos...

Grits cake with shrimp and a tomato sauce.

Crab cake with baked (fresh) fettucini and vegetables. OMG dinner was so amazing. 

7-5-14

Eight salads for 16 guests. We had dinner with my mom and friends today and the fare was all salads. (Plus chocolate ganache cake...)

Today our daughter Jes turns 28. Pretty hard to fathom. She was  8 days old, then 8 months, then 8 years, then 18, now 28. She is celebrating with fireworks on Chincoteague Island with Root and his sister, camping on the beach. While I eat 8 salads.

7-4-14

I worked very well today on survey I developed, and the day was interesting because it was a Friday but felt like a holiday. Oh! It was! We went to the arboretum for a walk after dinner at Fink's, an old restaurant with a new face. I knitted all evening while we watched THREE episodes of Soprano's.

This was called... Bay Laurel, but when I Google it, I don't see the same plant. 

7-3-14

Tulip Tree

Magnolia soulangeana

Today I worked so well. I was on a roll all morning and focused on data analysis until 1:30 until I realized I had a meeting at 2:00 with a student. That lasted until after 4:00, and then Dan and I had leftovers outside on a relatively mild evening. We discussed the trees from which these two leaves come, and discovered what they were. One grows in back, one in front.

7-2-14

I finished my first knitted sweater today. It's not perfect, but I'm proud of my work and perseverance, and I do love the color. I drove over to Opelika today (wearing my new sweater) to pick up my sun clips to replace the ones I lost in Mexico in March. Also, I took a future student out to lunch to discuss her program. She works at the eyeglass store currently. Serendipity. 

Tonight we had dinner with Mom. She made smoked salmon soup, lemon pasta stuffed zucchini, shrimp and okra with tomatoes, corn madeleines, and blueberry pie. Amazing. Wow.

7-1-14

I blocked these two shawlettes today then photographed them. They are so much fun to make and really look better now that they are blocked. 

Today was a good day. I ran, worked hard on some data crunching, got some other tasked completed, and knitted! Cooked a delicious salmon pasta with fresh herbs and garlic in a cream sauce.

6-30-14

What a beautiful rain today.

I didn't do much this day. 

Tapering ensures I have a couple days of doing nothing with each reduction in dose. I'm going off a medicine I've been on for 12 years. Today is day 50 of the taper. It will take me at least a year, if not more.

6-29-14

I finished my sweater today! Here it is blocking in the fresh air outside. It looks wonky wet, but just wait till you see me wearing it! 

6-28-14

Eufaula, Alabama. Today we went to this sleepy southern town about an hour south of Auburn to see the old homes. This one was very elaborate inside. We went up in the cupola and looked out over the countryside. This house is owned by the state.

 We hoped to buy some peanuts from this company but didn't run into any.

This is the Shorter Mansion. It was pretty cool too. It had a museum upstairs with a stuffed Bengal Tiger. I created a Tiger Selfie.

6-27-14

Montgomery again today. This is my grad student getting some sugar and napkins for our lunch. We are finishing up our data collection. I had a good day and am glad it's Friday. It was a hard week because I had some unexpected and unexplained depression that impacted my productivity.

6-25-14

Doug came over today to measure our windows. He is going to make us some stained glass panes for our transoms and maybe even the bathroom windows on either side of the glass block window.

We had lunch with him beforehand. He ate soup. He's doing well, just needs to gain weight.

6-24-14

Roses doing well.

Today I went to Tuskeegee and Montgomery for research.

6-23-14

Birds are coming to the feeder, finally. Today I tried to use my telephoto lens to capture some bird action, but it was hard to keep the birds in focus.

6-22-14

 I took pictures of what had bloomed in my garden. Above, butterfly bush and calla lily, below echinacea.

And check out how healthy and leafy my two gingko trees are! 

Hydrangeas are blooming all over the front yard.

6-18-14

Last day of the conference, last session- I'm knitting with my colleagues in the front row.

We left Indy today. It was an emotionally difficult conference-

I found out last night I didn't get a 1.2M grant I'd applied for. Some social situations were good and others were challenging. I think I reached about 50 people with my research and met some new friends. It was good to get home.

6-17-14

This is the hotel I stayed in. Big blue box on the horizon.

Today I gave a presentation in the morning and set up for a curriculum exchange in the afternoon. It went well. I had 20 people attend my talk, and gave out 21 flyers at the exchange. Not bad.

6-16-14

This morning I had a 7am meeting, then came back to my hotel room around 9am with my breakfast of oatmeal and a banana. From there, I worked until 3pm when I went and got a pizza and salad from CPK, then worked some more until 10pm when I decided to stop. I had NO idea that I had so much work to do on my presentations tomorrow. I'd been putting it off thinking it was a small task, and thank goodness I had the whole entire day to work with data, words, images, and stuff. I did not knit, crochet, get in bed, our so much as touch yarn from 9am until 10pm. 

 I hope it was worth it. 

I hope more than 4 people come to my two presentations tomorrow.

I'm really looking forward to Dan coming back from Milwaukee tomorrow. I miss him.

6-15-14

I was exiting the elevator on the lobby level this morning to meet some fellow knit enthusiasts for a yarn shopping expedition when I saw two sets of very familiar eyes... looking back at me with that same incredulous look, like, "what is she doing here?" Two girls, now grown, who I taught in middle school and have known for 20 years. After much hugging I had to meet up with my friends.

I raided the sale yarn, we had lunch at a place called Pure, and frozen yogurt. It was a lovely outing and it was so nice to speak Knit-Speak with female mechanical engineers. Very cool.

6-14-14

OK so here's what happened.

Dan helped me get to my workshop with my big bag of stuff. A huge suitcase.

I set up while LGR was doing his workshop, which was well attended.

Then it was my turn.

I had six participants. 

Two left once I introduced myself and passed out my flyer.

I started to get a migraine. 

It got worse.

I have been in bed ever since feeling 7 ways of horrible. 

At least I knitted.

I will never volunteer to do this workshop again. Ever. Never.

6-13-14

View from the hotel room at the conference. We had an uneventful trip- I slept most of the way.

We walked to an area called Fountain Square and visited a yarn shop, a fish and chips restaurant, an art gallery, and a frozen yogurt place. I really liked that part of town.

Walking around town was fun. I'm nervous about my workshop tomorrow. Hope I can pull it off by myself.

6-12-14

Worked all day getting ready for my conference.

Dan ordered pizza for dinner. 

While eating it outside, he spotted this caterpillar on the zinnia.