5-31-13

I've been meaning to post this photo of what Jes was able to accomplish in the living room when she was home. She arranged my artwork splendidly!

Today I finished a manuscript like a writing fiend and uploaded it to the journal, Research in Science Education.
Then I updated my dossier.
I'm ready for P&T.

5-30-13

Today was the last day of the workshop. The AU Crimsonettes did it again and made a fantastic storyboard. The workshop was hard- the least satisfying of any I have done. It's hard to believe people are critical of something so unique that they get PAID to do.

5-29-13

Day 2 of a three day workshop and one group has made the cutest storyboard ever. I hit a wall at 2pm and just lost my teaching "umph." It was an exhausting day. I rode my bike to school but forgot two things at home and remembered them at different times so sweet Dan had to deliver me lunch and ice penguins. I love Dan.

5-28-13

After a full day of teaching trainers who teach teachers, Snail and I went out to dinner to plan for tomorrow. It's going to be a long day. But today went well. I'm tired.

5-27-13

Today, Memorial Day, I worked all day getting ready for the workshop. Snail and I spent 5 hours in her office working on stuff. I worked all evening too.

The girls left this morning after a delicious breakfast of banana pancakes cooked by Jes with maple syrup and blueberry syrup. It was do hard to see them go. At least I had work to distract me.

Our fridge water tastes terrible. I contacted LG today and hope they will repair it.

5-26-13

Sunday-- a beautiful day in south Alabama. Cool, crisp, great for throwing frisbees outside in the back yard with the kids.

 

Squirt got one on the roof and when hunting for it.

It's unbelievably wonderful having my family home, all under one roof.
I hate that the girls live so far away from us.

5-25-13

Outside with the frisbee golf basket in the yard.

We had a birthday party tonight for Dan!

My mom made his cake. 

Benji and Jebby

5-24-13

 

This evening the doorbell rang and Dan said, "Who could that be?" and when he answered the door, he was shocked and confused--- "What are YOU doing here? Oh!" and the girls said, "Surprise!!!"

5-23-13

Happy 50th birthday to the love of my life. Today I assembled the photo album and presented Dan with Hearts from around the World. We went out to dinner with Squirt and had a nice evening. It's too bad I had to work most of the day. Oh, Dan delivered his kits to the university for the grant today. Whew!

5-22-13

Squirt took this picture of me roasting bananas. Have you ever had roasted bananas? We hadn't either. They are Dan's favorite fruit (NOT) so we thought it would be a funny photo for his birthday surprise tomorrow.

5-21-13

Frisbee loves his Daddy, and he is getting geared up for the secret birthday surprise.

5-20-13

It's funny when you catch yourself being "just like your mother" standing right next to her. I handed Dan the camera to capture the moment.

Migraine this morning... had to cancel my dentist appointment. Finally feeling OK by evening. I don't like this.

5-19-13

These are the only men left in the family with the family last name. It's all on Squirt to carry it on to another generation.
Can you see any family resemblance?
Squirt, Dan, Grampa, and Bon-Ron-a-Son

5-18-13

Yesterday I had meeting after meeting and forgot to take any photos. Today was better.

Dan's father and brother are visiting. I took them on a campus tour this afternoon. We walked all the way to my office building, around the engineering complex, downtown, and back. We stopped and had lunch at Price's BBQ. Here they are in front of Samford Hall.

 In the afternoon Squirt and I went shopping for a pre-birthday dinner for Dan and his brother and father who are visiting. Squirt made sushi, and I made a seaweed salad, edamame, and dessert.  

 

Dessert was fantastic.Chocolate ganashe, strawberries, whipped cream and mint on waffles. Mmmm...

5-16-13

I went for a run/walk on the beach this morning and brought my camera. This is right in front of our condo building.

The sky and water changed colors as I walked, getting deeper as the sun came up.

Looking back to where I had come from, I walked all the way to a nature preserve that was like Old Florida I remember as a child. On this walk I felt so happy.

Just look at the collection of colors here.
Running was actually fun.

Back at our condo... this is where we stayed on the 10th floor. Last night I had a soak in that hot tub you can see under a little roof there. I hope we come back some time. We left at 10:20 and were home mid-afternoon.

5-15-13

My writing retreat view!

5-14-13

After a day of productive writing I went for an amazing walk on the beach. The water colors were so vivid and the sandpiper birds were so cute and I felt connected and at peace.

Dinner at this seafood restaurant which was not good at all. Mom sent hers back and didn't eat a thing.

5-13-13

At the beach with my mom and friends.
Beautiful condo on the 10th floor. I went for a walk by myself before dinner- and wrote this afternoon productively. It's cool and the sounds of the waves are soothing.

5-12-15

When we lived in Kentucky I had an art studio that was on a loft overlooking Dan's office with windows everywhere.
Then I got kicked out and moved to the basement where there were a couple of small windows.
When we moved to Alabama, my office was so small I just had to use it for work alone.
Until today.

I cleaned out this closet that was formerly used for stereo equipment by a former owner. It has electricity and a nice work surface.
It's now my art studio. I'm officially the artist in the closet. Now to get some painting done this summer!!!
It was a good Mothers' Day.
My mom came over and Squirt cooked us homemade ravioli filled with spinach, pine nuts, ricotta, mushrooms... and lemon zest. Pure delicious.

5-11-13

 

Today was a writing extravaganza. I started working on a paper I'd been tinkering with for over a year and 15 hours later had it submitted to a journal.
These are the flowers Aza, sweet Aza, sent me for Mother's Day. She knows my favorite flowers! It was such a sweet surprise from a beautiful daughter.

5-10-13

 

My mom stopped by and gave me some more daisies for my little planting thing on the patio. They're pretty.
Today I had meetings most of the day-  it was meeting mania, and it ended after 4pm.

5-8-13

Testing friction

Testing it another way

Student built solar vehicle
Today I woke with a migraine and took a Maxalt and went to the high school to teach anyway. It was hard.

Came home and then had to go see the ENT about my tongue and waited in the waiting room for an hour as the migraine returned full force.

Had to call Dan to come rescue me.
I love Dan.

5-7-13

 

 

After my meeting at the university, we dropped off some colleagues at the airport and headed for the MALL OF AMERICA (emphasis exaggerated). The most fun was visiting Lego Land.

We spent most of the day traveling and got home  late, but not too late to watch the latest taped episode of Mad Men.

5-6-13

After a full day of meetings, I went out to dinner with the rest of the advisory board and had an exquisite dinner topped off by tiramisu in a chocolate tea cup and creamy decaf.

5-5-13

My sister-in-law is the shopping genius. She was my personal shopping assistant today and we went to Nordstrom Rack, Anthropologie, and Marshall's. We had a great time and I found some really nice new shoes, slacks, a skirt, and some awesome sweaters and shirts.

We had dinner together and then parted ways... I have a meeting tomorrow at the University of Minnesota.

5-4-13

May in Wisconsin! Where's the Christmas tree?
We flew in this afternoon for a visit with Dan's sister and her family. We had a nice walk around the neighborhood, a nice dinner, and a good time watching Myth Busters together. Snow was everywhere. It really felt like Christmas.

5-2-13

Today a renowned scholar came to work with our research group. We went out to dinner and gave her a tour of downtown. We showed her where the trees had been poisoned, and really enjoyed our dinner at Amsterdam's.

5-1-13

In case you're wondering what I look like teaching high school, here I am drawing on the SmartBoard before our motor activity. Today was awesome. The kids really got into the curriculum and I knew all their names and they started warming up to me. When I left some were upset I wouldn't be back until next week.

4-30-13

Eggs. Lots of eggs.

These eggs are symbolic- they represent the final step in a long two month process that Dan went through to assemble the kits for my grant. He put off making plaster-filled eggs until the very end because it was the least interesting chore. They are in boxes in our laundry room with a fan blowing over them. The plaster is still moist.

I taught at the high school this morning.