Friday, March 15, 2024

Happy Pi Day


 We know I love any reason to celebrate, and this new berry pie is my absolute favorite. It has very little sugar, and it came together so quickly and easily! Strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries were a perfect combination. Even Evan said it was his new favorite pie! I have a feeling this will enter the spring rotation.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

It's Spring!

I'm on spring break this week, and the weather is cooperating. It truly feels like spring, and the trees and bulbs are starting to bloom. I am spending a lot of my break getting our yard spring cleaned.

Tuesday, I cleaned out the front flowers beds, and yesterday I mulched all of them:
It only took me two trips to Home Depot for mulch. The guy was laughing at me because I didn't measure anything. I just trusted my heart, and I was off by seven. But I love the final result:
I like the black mulch against my purple flowers and the eventual red of the Japanese maples.

Today, I started on the back yard:
I left the last dump of fall leaves down for the winter to give critters warm homes. Now it's time to rake them up. I got the front section of the backyard finished, which meant I could get the fire pit back set to rights. I'm hoping we use it this weekend!
 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

She's Home!

My girl is home! 

She had an absolutely fabulous time in London and Paris. It's her story to tell, but I loved getting these pictures and then hearing all of the stories when she was home. Harry Potter was a huge favorite and great way to start the trip.

She loved the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace:
I loved hearing how much history she soaked up at those places. She also ate  really, really well, which makes her more confident to study abroad:
Europe really does do food allergies so much better than the US.

I'm glad she went to Bath, but she was not as enamored as I was:


She did love tea at Sally Lund's:
And they got to go into the circle of Stonehenge at sunset:
She really fell in love with Paris:

But we are all glad she is home, especially Inks:

 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Weekend with the Boys

Since Issa was traveling last weekend, I got to tag along with the boys! We spent Saturday afternoon at Drive Shack:
I am not a good golfer, but the games made it really fun, and I did get better the longer we played.

From there, we went to see Fluffy:

He was so funny:
He is one of Evan's favorites, so it was fun to see him together:
I also finished book 6:
The Poldark saga is getting more complicated, and I have no idea where we are going next!
 

Monday, March 4, 2024

What a Weekend

This weekend was a whirlwind that ended with a fabulous launch.

I made it home very, very late Thursday night, and I have a very full day of meetings on campus Friday, so Friday night I just collapsed.

Saturday morning, I was back on campus for our Symposium and a luncheon celebrating 40 years of graduate programs in education. It was so much fun to see so many former students! I ran home, took a quick nap, and then picked up Mom. We headed to the airport to pick up Shannon, and went straight from there to have dinner and see Peter Pan at DPAC. It was a fun show--nothing fancy. I thorough enjoyed the old school theatre magic, though.

The main event was Sunday, though. I spent most of the day helping Issa prep for her senior trip with Aunt Shannon. This is her spring break, so they are headed to London and Paris for a week:
It's Issa's first time using her passport, and Shannon has thought of every single detail:
They landed safely in London and are now at the Harry Potter experience:
They are getting to see the sets from the movies, and Issa is having the time of her life! I can't wait to hear all about their adventures!
 

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Hyper Focus

 I spent most of the day yesterday alone in a hotel room. I had a couple of Zoom calls, but most of the day I could just work--and boy did I. It's amazing how much I can get done with zero distractions.

I've been playing around with a book idea, and I really think if I could lock myself away for a week I could write the dang thing. I just have to be somewhere with no housework, no people to talk with, and nothing else to do.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

On the Road

I'm traveling for work this week. I'm in the foothills of New York doing an accreditation visit. The visit doesn't start until late this afternoon, but it's hard to get here from home, so I spent yesterday traveling. Detroit Airport has gotten fancy:
'
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the fountain dance while a baby grand played by my gate.

I also finished book 5:

I had to take a break from Poldark for the next neighborhood book club read. This one took some really interesting twists I did not see coming, and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I was going to in chapter one. Our book club reads a lot of sci-fi, and this is another one. I'm also noticing the genre tends to just end, which I don't love. I could have used one more chapter. That said, I'm glad I read it!