12-27-17

Aza had to leave today.

It was so sad taking her to the shuttle to the airport.

We took this photo before she left-- my parents in the back.

My family.

12-26-17

The game of the season is Catan. I'm not very good at it, and Dan is "red."

See the squirt bottle?

That's to keep Teensie off the table.

12-25-17

Christmas morning traditional breakfast!

We ate, opened gifts, then went to Nana's for dinner.

12-24-17

Squirt arrived!

All my kids under one roof at last.

I played piano for the Christmas eve service at church and then when I got back, dinner was ready because I'd put it in the crock pot. The girls came with me to church, and my mom and dad were there too. I played something like 15 songs.

12-23-17

My student came over with her three children for milk and cookies and presents today. Her 4 year old daughter got my SLR camera and went crazy taking photos of everything. She snapped this one. We ended up working on her IRB for a while. Jes and Dan and Aza played with the kids while we worked. They are leaving to go back to the middle east, so I may not see them again. She is expecting a baby next month.

Today-- let me see if I can recap...

Aza and I went to Old Navy and Hobby Lobby and World Market.

Then we went to Publix for groceries for tonight, tomorrow night, and Christmas morning.

We entertained my student and her kids.

I fixed my mom's necklace with the leather I bought at Hobby Lobby.

Jes and Aza made dinner.

We ate dinner then watched the last episodes of Freaks and Geeks.

12-22-17

I had a day to myself. Dan and Jes drove to ATL to do some stuff and pick up Aza. They were gone for about 12 hours. This is what I did:

Wrapped all the presents and put them under the tree.

Sewed this patch on the baby blanket for my student.

Vacuumed the entire house.

Cleaned all three bathrooms.

Cleaned my office!!!!

Made cookies.

Made three candles.

Practiced my music for Sunday.

Mended Jes's sweater.

Fixed Jes's necklace.

Cleaned and put away every dirty dish in the house.

I felt so productive! 

12-21-17

Dan and I went to the art museum today and this installation was really cool. I'm not sure of its utility--- it makes me think of corn oil and maybe plastic being made from corn instead of from petroleum. Is that done?

I finished the 1900s section of the mural. It's huge. You can't tell from this photo but I had to stand on a stool in the kitchen to get far away enough for the shot.

12-20-17

Jes and I went to the pottery studio today and she threw a pot and I worked on trimming. Then we went to lunch with my friend Jo. I brought her a gift-- a candle I made in a pot I'd thrown and decorated and glazed.

12-19-17

We got invited out to dinner tonight at The Hound. I had a vegetable pot pie thing that was really good. 

12-18-17

I picked this little thing up today. I like the way it came out.  Below is the photo of it after I glazed it. The brown clay makes little flecks come through. I wonder how it would be on white clay.

12-17-17

Sunday. Working on the mural is great--- I finally have time. 

12-16-17

12-15-17

12-13-17

Saw the doctor today and then drove all the way back to Alabama. He wants me to take a bunch of new meds and finally confirmed that my neuralgia was caused by my neck being hyperextended during my thyroid surgery in 2002.

12-12-17

We voted, then hit the road, and drove 8 hours to North Carolina and spent the night with our friends from college. Shell and I were roommates. She introduced me to Dan!

12-11-17

We decorated for Christmas. Teensie's first Christmas.

I felt really nervous today for some reason. Probably because we leave tomorrow for North Carolina. Or maybe because tomorrow we vote for Alabama's next US Senator.

12-9-17

It snowed. I did not go outside in it though. 

I stayed inside and graded journals.

12-8-17

My students invited me to a gathering at the local sandwich shop to celebrate their completing student teaching. I got hugs from all! I'm so proud of these people.

12-7-17

This is a new thing I've tried-- putting a copper solution on the glaze. But it ran, so maybe I should put it on white clay and then put a clear glaze on top.

12-5-17

I can knit with a cat on my neck!

This is a busy week- meetings with students every day.

12-2-17

At my mom's... beautiful leaves on the fall ground. 

11-30-17

Our 32nd wedding anniversary on the Pacific Ocean.

11-29-17

 Tonight after we were done for the day, and Jes was in class, we met Jen for dinner. Jen grew up in the house next door to us on the dirt road, and she played with Jes and Aza and Squirt when they were all little. I was so neat to see her all grown up.

This is one of the classrooms in case you were curious! 

11-28-17

Today Jes took us for a tour of UCLA and then we went out to dinner.

Here i am at a famous part of campus... and here they are up on a roof looking at the sunset.

11-27-17

We were so nervous and excited to get to the school this morning and prepare to teach. The day went very well. Not everything was totally smooth, but we learned from all that. 

 For dinner Dan went on a Sushi run. This was amazing stuff. The real deal.

11-26-17

Today Sakura and I went shopping together and we bought each other bracelets. Mine is knotted stone beads. Her is pink "diamonds."

Afterwards, Dan and I had to rush and get into our apartment for the week, pick up my students from the airport, and meet Jes for dinner. We had a great dinner and then settled into our apartment.

11-25-17

Today was THE IRON BOWL!!!

I made gumbo. Jes came over to Sakura's house. The DeeDays came too. 

We were all excited to see the commercial about Spirit, that Sakura narrated.

Towards the end of the game I got very ill and Jes took me to the Minute Clinic at CVS. I got a prescription and spent the rest of the night trying to feel better. 

11-24-17

Today Dan and I took the boys and Jes to The La Brea Tar Pits, which we learned means The the tar tar pits, and the pits aren't really pits, and the tar isn't really tar. It's really a place that should be called Asphalt Seepage.

I cried when we got to pet two whippets. This one, named Gracie, was so tender. I really really got emotional. It was just like being with Frisbee again.