4-6-14

I took some photos in the yard today of flowers in bloom. It was a busy, productive weekend. I got my iBooks uploaded to my website, read some papers for a journal and a conference, dropped off supplies at school and picked up others, and even cooked dinner.

4-4-14

No, I have not dropped off the planet. I did make it home from Mexico! However, after returning from Mexico my anemia and hypothyroidism got the best of me and I felt just plain awful. I went back to the doctor, had some further testing done, and realized that the iron supplements and thyroid medications just needed more time. Now, after a month+ I'm feeling like myself. SO much better. Perhaps I'll even start photoblogging again. Here in the deep south the flowers are blooming. Azaleas are in full bloom, dogwoods are just fully opened, and it's time to start thinking about my herb garden and my perennial garden. Work is going OK and I'm feeling like I might get caught up sometime soon. Big sigh.

Oh, by the way I made tenure. Some years back I was so afraid that migraines and menopause would prevent me from ever making tenure. The migraines and menopause not win. I did.

3-16-14

Last night in San Miguel.

3-15-14

I woke still with head pain but drank tea and decided to take the taxi to an arts and crafts and organic food festival. It was well worth it.

3-14-14

We left this morning around 9 for a three hour venture/exploration to the orchid garden, downtown, and back.
I felt some anxiety being in off-the-path places where tourists do not congregate.

3-13-14

We went to Delores Hidalgo to see pottery factories. The prices were very low and it was fascinating to see the painters work.

3-12-14

Today we went to the Jardin Botanica which was home to native plants like agave and mesquite and cacti of all sorts. Dan and Squirt and Strawberry climbed down into the canyon while I stayed at the top looking out for cowboys or Indians or whatever. Actually I sat in the shade and ate Mexican Oreos.

3-11-14

We went to the Tuesday Market, which is Mexican WalMart with everything under the sun under tents.

3-10-14

This house is at the corner across from our house. It's a walled piece of land with a few huts and tents inside.

This is the street leaving our house down the hill. You can't see how much of a hill it is.

3-9-14

This is what downtown San Miguel looks like.

We went on a house and garden tour today and this is one cactus garden we saw.

Flowers everywhere.

It almost looks like Tuscany, doesn't it?

Or Morocco.

3-8-14

The view of San Miguel driving in.

The view out the window of our house.

This is the back side of our house.

I love this picture. The view out the peep door in the front door.

3-7-14

Things I did today.

I cleaned this bathroom.

I went to the store and bought this coffee plus some other things.

I gave Frisbee a bath and laundered all his bedding.

Plus, I graded papers and updated this blog and watered all the house plants and the pansies out back.

So, I haven't been blogging much lately and to my followers, I apologize. I finished a 1.2M grant proposal on 3-5-14 which took me several weeks of non-stop work. Then, there was the doctor's appointment last week where I found out I was severely anemic and horribly hypothyroid. Which explained a lot. So I started taking a higher dose of Synthroid and an iron supplement on Monday of this week. 

Tomorrow we leave for Mexico. One of my students is holding down the fort and caring for The Friz.

I plan to be blogging while on this trip with my mother, Dan, Squirt, and Strawberry Jello (who has never been on a plane before!) So, stay tuned!

3-3-14

Lenten Rose! Spring is in the air. Things are blooming.

3-1-14

Today I taught an art class to six ladies who donated to my friend's fundraiser. These were their practice works. They made mandalas afterwards.

2-24-14

I observed a student teach today and she made this layered demonstration of density.

2-23-14

I painted these and gave them to my sisters. Now I can't remember which sister got which one. 

2-22-14

My mom turned 80 and we had a party for her!

My dad, sister Stay, Mom, Sister Sakura, and me.

Strawberry Jello and the Squirt.

These photos do not capture the sound of this house during this party. This video does:

2-21-14

My sisters arrived last night and I am happy. We are cooking for our mom's 80th birthday party this weekend. I had to work today and then go to J and M and then to Kroger, but here we are in the kitchen cooking while Stay is getting her hair cut and colored.

2-19-14

I went to Notasulga to observe a student this week. She did a fine fine job. I got a hug from the principal and from my friend The Realtor who volunteers there.

2-17-14

I received my annual review today and it was "exceeding expectations" in all categories. To celebrate, Dan and I went to dinner at Amsterdam. I had shrimp and grits but the shrimp were tough.

This quote, I don't recall where I got it from. I think I saw it on Facebook and did a screen shot. It's deep to ponder the quest for an ordinary life. So many times I think I want something extraordinary... and was urged to be something extraordinary... and I hope that to my friends and students and family I am extraordinary enough. But an ordinary life I desire.

2-16-14

This evening Squirt fixed my student's phone that had been broken for so long. It help photos and movies of her son's trip to Disney World. Squirt dissected it, found an unconnected connector and re-soldered an 8 point switch under a microscope. It worked. I texted my student this photo. She was so glad.

2-15-14

This one photo tells a story about 4 hours long. It alone sparks the memory of the entire 4 hour episode, the three hours that followed, and the evening afterwards. Here is the story:

Food on floor and counters

Furious, frustrated woman

Demands and orders and stands on ladder

Here Chrissy, hand me that can of almond paste

Put those bottles in the bar

Break this chocolate into pieces

Wash those lids

Woman won't eat. Won't drink her coffee.

Sit down mom, take a rest.

No, Chrissy, I don't have a moment to spare. They are coming at 6.

2-13-14

This photo reminds me well of the evening. It's Squirt's 23rd birthday. We took him to dinner at the Indian place on the OA Highway. Strawberry went with us. Then we took him shopping for a nice pair of shoes. He was urged to try on a pair of boots "just to see" and I snapped a photo. He did not buy the boots. We are still hoping to get him a nice pair of docksiders or other decent shoes that are not sneakers.

I was at a stop light and saw the moon. That is what got me. The moon seemed so large. Here, in this photo, not so much. This is our downtown corner, Toomers Corner. The sun was setting behind me (hence the almost full moon) lighting up the brick building there and the old Toomer's Drug Store.