The Day of the Dead
Sunday November 2 is All Soul's Day, or the Day of the Dead. In the evening I met Todd, Kimberlee and Ivan downtown to watch Missoula's Day of the Dead Parade. It was marvelous! People were dressed to celebrate the memories of our ancestors. I think my favorite part of the parade was all the dancing. There were several groups dancing up Higgins...even one group that was doing the dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" the whole way! The parade ended in Caras Park in the rain. The dance groups, music performers and fire dancers lead the celebration...I enjoyed being there but then I headed home before they were "done".
The Women's Club
This fall was not good for my workout schedule. I had been running and hiking so much in Boulder and then after having the flu in October I just let me routine and my physicality just fall by the wayside. I think part of the reason I don't like runing in Missoula is that the front yards are so small. When I step out my door to go for a run I can see my neighbors eating breakfast. And I don't drive to go running. So I decided to check in to joining a gym.
(Eek!) I had never joined a gym before unless you count the climbing gym. I found the Women's Club, which is a few blocks from home and insanely convenient and a great facility. I also checked into the University gym but it is a two mile walk and the pool is in a different building from the rest of the gym so I would have to have two lockers. Plus, I'd risk running into students and I don't think that would have worked for me or for them. :) So I'm splurging on the Women's Club and trying to make the most of it. I vary my workouts, take occasional classes, lift weights, sit in the hot tub, float in the pool, bake in the sauna... Oh! I almost forgot about my favorite thing in the pool room...the tapestries! They were made by a female artist but they depict mermaids with tatoos, which I totally identify with when I'm swimming because when I swim I just float and do somersaults and pretend to be a mermaid. (Laps are too intense for me.)
Obama's Election
On November 4th we elected Barack Obama as our next president. For fear of our bad luck (every time we've watched the votes pour in our candidate has lost), Mike and I turned off the news until long after the polls closed. Oh but when we checked in and saw that Senator Obama won we were thrilled!
More Painting
I painted the dining room. As usual, the preparation took the longest. In this case, I laid to trimboards, built shelves to display Mike's tea pots (he continues his insane interest in the Tao of Tea; note that the shelves are not square or identical so the process was complicated), ripped our a shelf inside the built-in to prepare to make a tea humidor, and textured the walls.
Another New Friend
The night before flying to Michigan I had a date with a new friend. Kelly is the director of the Writing Center at the University and has been helping me design my writing assignments for my Probability and Statistics students. We met at the Depot for drinks and spent a few hours chatting.
Paul's Wedding
Mid-month I made a trip to Michigan to celebrate Paul's wedding. Paul had come to my wedding in Grand Cayman, that and the fact that he is one of my oldest and dearest friends made it impossible for me to miss the big event. I got off the airplane and went directly to the rehearsal dinner where I met Paul's fiancee, Mary and caught up with Paul's family. The wedding was held at Martha Mary's Chapel in Greenfield Village and the a lovely reception followed at Meadowbrook Country Club. I don't want to take the liberty of airing all the details about their wedding celebration but I have to share two things. First, I was able to reconnect with very old friends from my high school days. It was awesome to see everyone all grown up and still as interesting and kind as ever. Second, the highlight of the night was to see Paul sing. He had sang at my wedding too - I have pictures of him accompanying the pianist. But his serenade to Mary was over the top and wonderful. The lead singer handed Paul the microphone and he sang "You're some kind of wonderful" to Mary...complete with two backup singers and a band! It was joyous and everyone was all smiles.
The day after the wedding I invited Janice and Andrea over to Nichole's place to hang out. It was snowing like mad and we ordered a pizza delivered and just hung out. After spending some time with them I went over to my parents' house for the rest of the day. We had dinner with Nichole and Dave and watched Surf's Up.
While I was in Michigan celebrating with Paul and Mary and their familes, Mike was working at a conference in Austin, Texas where, in addition to chairing a session, he spent his evenings enjoying Texas-style bbq. Mmmm...yummy.
Dinner at Todd and Kimberlee's
Todd and Kimberlee had us over for a yummy lasagna dinner. Generally, it was another night of fun with our new friends. Specifically, we learned a new vegetarian lasagna recipe (sage, butternut squash, and mushrooms) and a new card game called Sheepshead.
Congratulations Pat and Amelia
Two weeks after Paul and Mary's wedding was another wedding celebration. Unfortunately, I couldn't manage two trips to Michigan so I didn't attend Pat and Amelia's celebration. Never-the-less, congratulations are in order for the happy couple.
I met Pat during my freshman year at Michigan State University. We had three of four classes together and he lived on the brotherfloor of Holmes Hall (3East). So in addition to studying together, he was, for all intents and purposes, the social leader of the floor and I met dozens of people through Pat. I am sorry that I couldn't attend my dear friend's wedding but I am honored to have received an invitation.
Thanksgiving
We were invited to Jim and Teresa Jacobs house to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was a relatively small gathering: Jim, Teresa, their son Conor, Jen, Honey, Teresa's cousin Theresa and her boyfriend Daniel, and us. Mike made two pies, pumpkin and pecan, as well as cranberries. When we arrived there were two things waiting. First, Teresa ushered us in and said, "Look Mike, I have it ready for you." as she pointed to a section of valuable counterspace in the kitchen that was equipped with Martini-fixins. But before he could settled into his traditional role as bartender, Mike had to fix a loose floorboard for Jim. So, with our nailgun in tow, he followed Jim through the hallway to tack in a couple boards that had been taunting Jim for years. We had a delicious meal and then sat together in the living room to digest while playing a new game.
The new fabulous game was about writing limericks. Each person took a sheet of paper and wrote the first line of a limerick. Then we all tossed our papers into a hat and mixed them up and pulled out a piece of paper (one we hadn't already written on). We wrote the next line of the limerick and returned the paper to the hat. We did this until we had written as many limericks as there were people playing and then we read our limericks out loud. It was great fun! I will definitely be suggesting it as the party game at future gatherings.
New Drawers
I have been looking for a coffee table with storage for the past year. Nothing has enough storage to keep our CDs, of which we have hundred. So I have designed a modular coffee table that has four pieces. Each piece has two drawers and each of those drawers holds ~75 CDs. I completed the first unit and I think it turned out pretty good! (See pictures on my picasa page.)
Farewell Aretha
We finally sold the black Oldsmobile. We had named her Aretha and she was a fabulous ski-mobile while we lived in Colorado. However, living in Missoula we walk to work and have a had time spending a tank of gas in a timely way for one car, let alone two cars. So it was time for her to become someone else's ski-mobile. We took our profits and turned them into a new leather couch and chair. They replace the la-z-boy and loveseat that were hand-me-downs from Mike's parents' cottage.
Media
Book
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
Internet
The #1 Song on the day I was born: Best of My Love by The Emotions
THE beer song
Film
God and Buddha: A Dialogue featuring Deepak Chopra and Robert Thurman
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
October 2008
I made notes to myself to remind me of things that happened in October. Here is what I can piece together for you:
In the Classroom
As a teacher I, like so many other math teachers, am asked why my students need to know something. At the beginning of October, my students were learning matrix algebra and asked just that sort of thing. I have tons of responses but this semester I'm trying this one: because it is good for you. I liken doing matrix algebra to going to the gym and lifting weights. When will they ever need to bench press something? To help make my point, I started class one day by showing the following comedic clip of Brian Regan.
In the Kitchen
This month we started making flaxseed muffins for quick breakfasts. We use variations of the Muffins recipe that Mike's mom shared with us. Instead of oranges we have used zucchini (to attempt to use up some of the 10 pounds of squash from Dan and Maureen) and bananas.
We are slowly but surely growing our social network in Missoula. And now that we have a year under our belt and the house is in good shape, we can entertain. We had Andrew and Sherry over for a Moroccan chicken dinner. We were thrilled to finally host them for dinner! (We were long overdue because they had us over last spring!)
Menu:
Moroccan Chicken by epicurious
Lemon Risotto by epicurious
Salad (Andrew and Sherry brought the salad and made MacKenzie River dressing)
Apple Pie
I entered a Kitchen Memories contest, sponsored by Kitchenaid. These are the stories I chose to submit (one for me and one for Mike).
This is a story about how two physics graduate students simultaneously strengthened their friendship and lost a girlfriend. Mike and Jim were exploring the culinary possibilities of pumpkins. While the boys cooked, disinterested Mary* waited to get some time with her boyfriend. At the end of a long day listening to the hemming and hawing of two aspiring gourmets, Mary went home to sleep. She exited through the door next to the stove where Mike stood stirring the pumpkin soup. The next morning, Mary returned for Sunday brunch with Jim. To her horror, there stood Mike stirring the pumpkin soup.
I decided to impress my in-laws by making homemade pizza for them. I wanted to share my new favorite topping – eggs over-easy – that I enjoyed during my summer inFrance
In the House
In a memorial service for Astronomy Professor Dave Friend, who died in May, the physics and astronomy department sponsored a star-gazing event. We met at the center of campus and looked through high-powered telescopes into the heavens. For the first time in my life, I saw Jupiter's moons! It was so cool! What an amazing man...Dave was renowned for his excellence in teaching and his legacy continues.
Our house has a telephone nook and instead of a telephone, I put little doo-hickies in it to decorate. In October, my ceramic jack-o-lantern that my Mom made in 1982 populated the nook.
I finally had it with my hair. One morning, after getting tangled in my hair and clothes, I decided that it was time. I called my hair stylist (Janae at Twigs) and made an appointment. I wasn't sure I would have enough to donate but I couldn't live with the length any longer. Janae was a seasoned veteran at cutting hair for donation, which she pointed out to me after I showed her all the information I had downloaded from the internet. I had plenty of hair...10 inches go to Locks of Love.
Muzeview Gets Press
In addition to teaching, I work for a little Competitive Intelligence firm. Here is where we made press. Go us! (If you are interested in our services, feel free to contact me or to go to muzeview.com for more information.)
Voting in Montana
With all of the hype for the presidential election, you would think that I would get to the polls early. One thing was holding me back...the fact that this is more than a presidential election. This is the first time I get to vote in Montana and I needed to read up on all the stuff that is on our ballot.
I spent plenty of time at miscellaneous websites trying to get informed. I was lucky to find these two for Missoula and Montana government:
http://missoulaschoice2008.blogspot.com/
http://montanaschoice2008.blogspot.com/
Pretty cool, huh?
Halloween
For Halloween I was inspired by a children's book called "Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?" and my princess-hood that I embraced due to my dear enabling friends, Jim and Wendy. I decided to wear my wedding dress and hiking boots and to be "Princess of the Bitterroot Valley". It was fun putting the dress back on (yes it still fits!) and getting compliments from the middle school aged girls who came knocking for tricks or treats. (I gave treats.) This year, my favorite group of trick or treaters came with a dog. I opened the door and was so enthralled by five little tots saying loudly "trick or treat?!" and "thank you!" that I didn't notice a dog (dressed as a ladybug) sneak in by me. While I was handing out candy and conversing briefly with the parents I kept hearing Mike say "nooo. don't go in there." I thought he was nuts until I turned around and saw the dog waiting patiently for me to get my big poofy skirt out from blocking the exit! The last thing I want to remember is that handing out candy is another way to meet the neighbors and more people introduced themselves and said how nice a job we have done in renovating our house. It sure is nice to be in a nice neighborhood!
Media
Books
Tender at the Bone
Comfort me with Apples
Talk
My new favs:
Michelle Martin on NPR
Rachel Maddow (still)
Internet
Kid Rock's Music Video for "Roll On" - Some shameless video of Detroit...including Teresa's Detroit Princess!
Science Education and the Election
Going Digital
http://www.hulu.com/watch/36608/talkshow-with-spike-feresten-cable-psa#s-p1-st-i1
I get lots of email about the election but this one from my friend Jan was particularly intriguing in a sociological sense:
In the Classroom
As a teacher I, like so many other math teachers, am asked why my students need to know something. At the beginning of October, my students were learning matrix algebra and asked just that sort of thing. I have tons of responses but this semester I'm trying this one: because it is good for you. I liken doing matrix algebra to going to the gym and lifting weights. When will they ever need to bench press something? To help make my point, I started class one day by showing the following comedic clip of Brian Regan.
In the Kitchen
This month we started making flaxseed muffins for quick breakfasts. We use variations of the Muffins recipe that Mike's mom shared with us. Instead of oranges we have used zucchini (to attempt to use up some of the 10 pounds of squash from Dan and Maureen) and bananas.
We are slowly but surely growing our social network in Missoula. And now that we have a year under our belt and the house is in good shape, we can entertain. We had Andrew and Sherry over for a Moroccan chicken dinner. We were thrilled to finally host them for dinner! (We were long overdue because they had us over last spring!)
Menu:
Moroccan Chicken by epicurious
Lemon Risotto by epicurious
Salad (Andrew and Sherry brought the salad and made MacKenzie River dressing)
Apple Pie
I entered a Kitchen Memories contest, sponsored by Kitchenaid. These are the stories I chose to submit (one for me and one for Mike).
This is a story about how two physics graduate students simultaneously strengthened their friendship and lost a girlfriend. Mike and Jim were exploring the culinary possibilities of pumpkins. While the boys cooked, disinterested Mary* waited to get some time with her boyfriend. At the end of a long day listening to the hemming and hawing of two aspiring gourmets, Mary went home to sleep. She exited through the door next to the stove where Mike stood stirring the pumpkin soup. The next morning, Mary returned for Sunday brunch with Jim. To her horror, there stood Mike stirring the pumpkin soup.
I decided to impress my in-laws by making homemade pizza for them. I wanted to share my new favorite topping – eggs over-easy – that I enjoyed during my summer in
In the House
In a memorial service for Astronomy Professor Dave Friend, who died in May, the physics and astronomy department sponsored a star-gazing event. We met at the center of campus and looked through high-powered telescopes into the heavens. For the first time in my life, I saw Jupiter's moons! It was so cool! What an amazing man...Dave was renowned for his excellence in teaching and his legacy continues.
Our house has a telephone nook and instead of a telephone, I put little doo-hickies in it to decorate. In October, my ceramic jack-o-lantern that my Mom made in 1982 populated the nook.
I finally had it with my hair. One morning, after getting tangled in my hair and clothes, I decided that it was time. I called my hair stylist (Janae at Twigs) and made an appointment. I wasn't sure I would have enough to donate but I couldn't live with the length any longer. Janae was a seasoned veteran at cutting hair for donation, which she pointed out to me after I showed her all the information I had downloaded from the internet. I had plenty of hair...10 inches go to Locks of Love.
Muzeview Gets Press
In addition to teaching, I work for a little Competitive Intelligence firm. Here is where we made press. Go us! (If you are interested in our services, feel free to contact me or to go to muzeview.com for more information.)
Voting in Montana
With all of the hype for the presidential election, you would think that I would get to the polls early. One thing was holding me back...the fact that this is more than a presidential election. This is the first time I get to vote in Montana and I needed to read up on all the stuff that is on our ballot.
I spent plenty of time at miscellaneous websites trying to get informed. I was lucky to find these two for Missoula and Montana government:
http://missoulaschoice2008.blogspot.com/
http://montanaschoice2008.blogspot.com/
Pretty cool, huh?
Halloween
For Halloween I was inspired by a children's book called "Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?" and my princess-hood that I embraced due to my dear enabling friends, Jim and Wendy. I decided to wear my wedding dress and hiking boots and to be "Princess of the Bitterroot Valley". It was fun putting the dress back on (yes it still fits!) and getting compliments from the middle school aged girls who came knocking for tricks or treats. (I gave treats.) This year, my favorite group of trick or treaters came with a dog. I opened the door and was so enthralled by five little tots saying loudly "trick or treat?!" and "thank you!" that I didn't notice a dog (dressed as a ladybug) sneak in by me. While I was handing out candy and conversing briefly with the parents I kept hearing Mike say "nooo. don't go in there." I thought he was nuts until I turned around and saw the dog waiting patiently for me to get my big poofy skirt out from blocking the exit! The last thing I want to remember is that handing out candy is another way to meet the neighbors and more people introduced themselves and said how nice a job we have done in renovating our house. It sure is nice to be in a nice neighborhood!
Media
Books
Tender at the Bone
Comfort me with Apples
Talk
My new favs:
Michelle Martin on NPR
Rachel Maddow (still)
Internet
Kid Rock's Music Video for "Roll On" - Some shameless video of Detroit...including Teresa's Detroit Princess!
Science Education and the Election
Going Digital
http://www.hulu.com/watch/
I get lots of email about the election but this one from my friend Jan was particularly intriguing in a sociological sense:
Ponder the following:
What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including
a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?
What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?
What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?
What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe
disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?
What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while
he was still married?
What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain
killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?
What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?
(The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption
in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings
and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)
What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?
What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?
What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?
What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many
occasions, a serious anger management problem?
What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?
What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?
You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality,
do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?
This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes
positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in
another when there is a color difference.
Educational Background:
Barack Obama:
International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna=2 0Cum Laude
Joseph Biden:
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
vs.
John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899
Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters
University of Idaho - 2 semesters
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism
Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in
the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
September 2008
Labor Day Work
OK. So I said that we painted the basement in August but apparently August and Labor Day Weekend blend together in my memory. It turns out that we painted during Labor Day Weekend. The result was unimpressive. All we have now is a regular basement...unassuming and clean. However, it adds to the lengthy list of things we have painted in the house to give it a face lift. I will post some before-after pics on my Picasa page.
Faculty Development Ideas
At the kick-off meeting for the faculty of the College of Technology, I introduced myself to Provost Engstrom. I explained that I had noticed that the Center for Teaching Excellence at the UM seemed to have fallen by the wayside and that I would be interested in coordinating an effort to rekindle interest in it. He directed me to discuss things with the Assistant Provost Arlene Walker-Andrews. I had already met Arlene because her husband teaches in the physics department so I wasn't too nervous. I met her in her office and we spent nearly an hour talking about her charge to improve student retention, how faculty development plays into her plan, and how I might fit into things. Unfortunately, the UM is under a budget crunch and since the CTE had fallen by the wayside the money had been reallocated. So I offered to write grant proposals to try to fund the program and by extension a position for me.
The UM has Dr. Otto Koester working as an aid to faculty who want to write grant proposals. I met with Dr. Koester and he shared resources for grant writing. He also shared his ideas for a faculty development program. His spontaneous brainstorming has proven to be the first of many interested voices that I have heard. Since I cast my net I have been getting lots of "nods" from faculty and staff all over campus. Cross your fingers for me. Starting a faculty development program might be my lifelong career endeavor.
Grilling
As part of a welcome back to Missoula, Jen and Jim decided that we should have a little party. So one Saturday afternoon we invited Jen, Honey, Jim and Teresa and a new friend Dana over to eat, drink, and be merry. Always a good time. Mike made Manhattans, Hendricks Martinis, and Bloody Marys for our guests. I went old school and had a Cosmopolitan. Our guests grought almost all the food. Yum! On the grill: an assortment of sausages, corn on the cob. Plus we had a couple different salads.
Back to Colorado and Other Stuff
After kicking of the semester, Mike returned to Fort Collins for a magnetics conference. When he was getting ready to leave I commented that I think weekend conferences are silly. Why not just have the conference on traditional work days during the week and leave the weekend for being the weekend? He claimed that either way he would have to do double-time to cover his workload (teaching + research) and that this way people in the academy wouldn't have to miss much class time. Of course, the Wednesday after he returned he said disgruntally "who's idea was it to have weekend conferences?" I smiled... Academics typically work during the weekend but it is usually on their own timeline. Having a conference on the weekend that runs 13 hours per day is a little on the steep side.
While Mike was gone I got together with my new friend, Todd. We met at the Kettlehouse for a couple beers and some conversation outside the COT. Todd is cool but when I went home I was most excited about one thing: he and his wife like to cook! It has been five years since we had anyone who liked to cook in our lives. Sure, people liked to eat our food in Colorado but sharing the kitchen and the creative process with someone is special and we miss it. (Don't worry Jim. You will always have a piece of our hearts.) I was so excited that I forgot to get a picture for my photo journal.
I hold office hours for my students every Wednesday. I chose to have them in the cafeteria because the room gets a lot of traffic and I get to see a lot of students. When the group gets big we can spread out and take over an entire table to work on math. Last year I had a ton of fun during office hours...and a couple times after they ended we all stayed to talk politics, education, and about our hobbies. This fall my office hours overlap with Todd's down time between classes. When students are not there I have this fabulous new friend to hang out with. When students are there Todd sometimes helps (lucky students to have two teachers). One Wednesday was extra cool. After working through some of the homework problems, my student, Chad, and I hit the freebee table. He snagged a copy of "Look Who's Talking" on DVD. I scored a VHS of "Supergirl" and a cook book. The book is Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Cook Book from 1961 and it is filled with cultural treasures like this: "I believe a woman's place is" As I was purusing through my new treasure I noticed that it is illustrated by Andrew Warhol. I stared at the name and thought to myself, "did the Andy Warhol illustrate this book? No. He was an art-teest..." I called my artsy fartsy friend Teresa to check. "Andrew Warhol is a famous artist, right?" Teresa confirmed that I was remembering correctly and, more importantly, that Andy Warhol did all sorts of stuff in the 60s to make ends meet.
Overdue Congratulations
One day when I was walking home from work I realized that I have not publicly congratulated my brother and my sister for their achievements.
Alex is Saving Lives
Congratulations to Alex for joining the Border Search, Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) efforts for the US Border Patrol. He endured more physical and technical training during the spring of this year and has been promoted. His job is very humanitarian in nature. He looks for and rescues illegal aliens who try in vain to cross the US-Mexico border. Go little brother! I am so proud!
Nichole is Building a Business
Congratulations to Nichole for incorporating. She is officially a small business owner of AG Concepts, Inc.! This is something she has been working towards for more than a year and she has accomplished it. Now she has to keep it going. You go girl!
Making a Book
Last year I made a book. It was mostly a formating job. I asked people to send me pictures and stories about my in-laws to put in a 40th Wedding Anniversary book. As the pictures and stories arrived I scanned and typed and did some layout using Booksmart software from Blurb online publishing. Then I uploaded the book file, placed an order for a hardcover version of my work, and waited. When the book arrived I ripped open the package to find my creation. I was very pleased. The book was beautiful, the images were crisp and clear, and the text was readable.
This year I have decided to make a book for myself, or rather I will begin a series of books. Instead of keeping all my photographs digitally on the computer or printing out 4x6 prints and putting them in an album, I will make a Schneider Luck Yearbook. My goals: to document my life in a way that includes not only holiday celebrations and "big" events but little day-to-day things; to enjoy the process of viewing and choosing my favorite photos of the year; to practice telling stories; and to have a beautiful keepsake to share with visitors and new friends.
I have started my book for 2007. I chose a picture of a hermit crab as the cover photo. It is a photo that I took when I was in Panama and it represents the move we made in 2007 from Boulder to Missoula.
Welcome Alaina Autumn Schnake
Happy birthday Alaina Schnake! Rob and Jess have welcomed their second child. Now Ky has a beautiful baby sister. Congratulations!
New Friends
Mike and I invited Todd and Kimberlee and their 4 month old son named Ivan over for dinner. I thought that having them for pizza would be a good "first date" and we could see where the cooking might take us from there. Todd wants some of the sourdough starter that we have that Jim sent to us from Boston. He also wants to get bricks for his oven. :) Next time we're going to explore Thai. Now, Mike and I have cooked Thai feasts before but never pescatrian Thai feasts. So with Todd and Kimberlee we get to explore a whole new part of Thai cuisine. I am so excited to have these two as new friends. They are smart, funny, well-traveled and the first people we've met in Missoula who are in the same "life place" as we are...starting a family (no I'm not pregnant yet). Again, I forgot to get a picture with Todd (and Kimberlee this time). I do have a picture of Ivan in our 6' poof.
Old Friends
I am equally excited about reconnecting with two old friends: Carly and Kristin. Carly was my roommate in Holmes Hall at MSU during my sophomore year and I lived with Kristin at 525 Charles during my junior year. My friendships with them became a little topsy-turvy when I chose to nurture my relationship with Mike over my relationships with them. Luckily, we all three have open minds and open hearts about rekindling our friendships. What is extra-super-exciting for me is that they each are embarking on some overseas adventures in order to be with their husband and boyfriend. Until now I have no one who can understand (experientially) and possibly relate to the choices I have made (some sacrifices) for my husband. In emails to Carly I have offered some pretty raw and deeply personal reflections. I realize that I should share them here, too.
"Each time we've moved - Michigan to Madison to Boulder to Missoula - we have gotten physically further from our old friends and family. Luckily, heading into each move we have been very excited about where we were headed. That anticipation out-weighed the fact that we were leaving people behind. But after a few months in each new place I started feeling pretty out of touch, even forgotten, and lonely for girl friends. So I began making greeting cards to send on birthdays, anniversaries, mothers and fathers days, and just for fun days. Every time I put one in the mail (at least 5 per month go out) I remember something special about the person who I am about to surprise and it makes me feel less distant.
I also stalk other people's websites. Harper Savage and the Schnakes are my favorite people to visit in cyberspace...probably because their sites get updated regularly. And the GoodReads is now a place that I connect with even more people, including my freshman roommie, Lisa.
...
I have had to make some tough decisions about my career and my life in that respect. I have to admit to having dozens of conversations with Mike that led to each of those decisions as well as conversations with some of my best girl friends (Chithra in particular). Then, after having made a decision (for example to leave graduate school in Colorado to move to Montana), I have had dozens of conversations with Mike and with Chithra to try to overcome the feeling of uselessness and my lack of a career trajectory. But now I embrace my career amble. I have come to relish all the time I have to volunteer for the Obama campaign, read, do home improvement, cook, and (eek!) support Mike by keeping the household running. I also have found a couple very-part-time jobs. I teach at the local community college and I work from home for a consulting firm."
Media
Film
Waitress
Business of Being Born (no I'm not pregnant yet)
Books
Goodnight Bush: A Parody by Gan Golan and Erich Origen
Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Cook Book illustrated by Andrew Warhol :)
Internet
Sarah Palin's RNC Speech
Black Voices
Television
Political Commentary:
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Rachel Maddow Show
Food:
Alton Brown: Feasting on Waves (I'm so jealous.)
OK. So I said that we painted the basement in August but apparently August and Labor Day Weekend blend together in my memory. It turns out that we painted during Labor Day Weekend. The result was unimpressive. All we have now is a regular basement...unassuming and clean. However, it adds to the lengthy list of things we have painted in the house to give it a face lift. I will post some before-after pics on my Picasa page.
Faculty Development Ideas
At the kick-off meeting for the faculty of the College of Technology, I introduced myself to Provost Engstrom. I explained that I had noticed that the Center for Teaching Excellence at the UM seemed to have fallen by the wayside and that I would be interested in coordinating an effort to rekindle interest in it. He directed me to discuss things with the Assistant Provost Arlene Walker-Andrews. I had already met Arlene because her husband teaches in the physics department so I wasn't too nervous. I met her in her office and we spent nearly an hour talking about her charge to improve student retention, how faculty development plays into her plan, and how I might fit into things. Unfortunately, the UM is under a budget crunch and since the CTE had fallen by the wayside the money had been reallocated. So I offered to write grant proposals to try to fund the program and by extension a position for me.
The UM has Dr. Otto Koester working as an aid to faculty who want to write grant proposals. I met with Dr. Koester and he shared resources for grant writing. He also shared his ideas for a faculty development program. His spontaneous brainstorming has proven to be the first of many interested voices that I have heard. Since I cast my net I have been getting lots of "nods" from faculty and staff all over campus. Cross your fingers for me. Starting a faculty development program might be my lifelong career endeavor.
Grilling
As part of a welcome back to Missoula, Jen and Jim decided that we should have a little party. So one Saturday afternoon we invited Jen, Honey, Jim and Teresa and a new friend Dana over to eat, drink, and be merry. Always a good time. Mike made Manhattans, Hendricks Martinis, and Bloody Marys for our guests. I went old school and had a Cosmopolitan. Our guests grought almost all the food. Yum! On the grill: an assortment of sausages, corn on the cob. Plus we had a couple different salads.
Back to Colorado and Other Stuff
After kicking of the semester, Mike returned to Fort Collins for a magnetics conference. When he was getting ready to leave I commented that I think weekend conferences are silly. Why not just have the conference on traditional work days during the week and leave the weekend for being the weekend? He claimed that either way he would have to do double-time to cover his workload (teaching + research) and that this way people in the academy wouldn't have to miss much class time. Of course, the Wednesday after he returned he said disgruntally "who's idea was it to have weekend conferences?" I smiled... Academics typically work during the weekend but it is usually on their own timeline. Having a conference on the weekend that runs 13 hours per day is a little on the steep side.
While Mike was gone I got together with my new friend, Todd. We met at the Kettlehouse for a couple beers and some conversation outside the COT. Todd is cool but when I went home I was most excited about one thing: he and his wife like to cook! It has been five years since we had anyone who liked to cook in our lives. Sure, people liked to eat our food in Colorado but sharing the kitchen and the creative process with someone is special and we miss it. (Don't worry Jim. You will always have a piece of our hearts.) I was so excited that I forgot to get a picture for my photo journal.
I hold office hours for my students every Wednesday. I chose to have them in the cafeteria because the room gets a lot of traffic and I get to see a lot of students. When the group gets big we can spread out and take over an entire table to work on math. Last year I had a ton of fun during office hours...and a couple times after they ended we all stayed to talk politics, education, and about our hobbies. This fall my office hours overlap with Todd's down time between classes. When students are not there I have this fabulous new friend to hang out with. When students are there Todd sometimes helps (lucky students to have two teachers). One Wednesday was extra cool. After working through some of the homework problems, my student, Chad, and I hit the freebee table. He snagged a copy of "Look Who's Talking" on DVD. I scored a VHS of "Supergirl" and a cook book. The book is Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Cook Book from 1961 and it is filled with cultural treasures like this: "I believe a woman's place is" As I was purusing through my new treasure I noticed that it is illustrated by Andrew Warhol. I stared at the name and thought to myself, "did the Andy Warhol illustrate this book? No. He was an art-teest..." I called my artsy fartsy friend Teresa to check. "Andrew Warhol is a famous artist, right?" Teresa confirmed that I was remembering correctly and, more importantly, that Andy Warhol did all sorts of stuff in the 60s to make ends meet.
Overdue Congratulations
One day when I was walking home from work I realized that I have not publicly congratulated my brother and my sister for their achievements.
Alex is Saving Lives
Congratulations to Alex for joining the Border Search, Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) efforts for the US Border Patrol. He endured more physical and technical training during the spring of this year and has been promoted. His job is very humanitarian in nature. He looks for and rescues illegal aliens who try in vain to cross the US-Mexico border. Go little brother! I am so proud!
Nichole is Building a Business
Congratulations to Nichole for incorporating. She is officially a small business owner of AG Concepts, Inc.! This is something she has been working towards for more than a year and she has accomplished it. Now she has to keep it going. You go girl!
Making a Book
Last year I made a book. It was mostly a formating job. I asked people to send me pictures and stories about my in-laws to put in a 40th Wedding Anniversary book. As the pictures and stories arrived I scanned and typed and did some layout using Booksmart software from Blurb online publishing. Then I uploaded the book file, placed an order for a hardcover version of my work, and waited. When the book arrived I ripped open the package to find my creation. I was very pleased. The book was beautiful, the images were crisp and clear, and the text was readable.
This year I have decided to make a book for myself, or rather I will begin a series of books. Instead of keeping all my photographs digitally on the computer or printing out 4x6 prints and putting them in an album, I will make a Schneider Luck Yearbook. My goals: to document my life in a way that includes not only holiday celebrations and "big" events but little day-to-day things; to enjoy the process of viewing and choosing my favorite photos of the year; to practice telling stories; and to have a beautiful keepsake to share with visitors and new friends.
I have started my book for 2007. I chose a picture of a hermit crab as the cover photo. It is a photo that I took when I was in Panama and it represents the move we made in 2007 from Boulder to Missoula.
Welcome Alaina Autumn Schnake
Happy birthday Alaina Schnake! Rob and Jess have welcomed their second child. Now Ky has a beautiful baby sister. Congratulations!
New Friends
Mike and I invited Todd and Kimberlee and their 4 month old son named Ivan over for dinner. I thought that having them for pizza would be a good "first date" and we could see where the cooking might take us from there. Todd wants some of the sourdough starter that we have that Jim sent to us from Boston. He also wants to get bricks for his oven. :) Next time we're going to explore Thai. Now, Mike and I have cooked Thai feasts before but never pescatrian Thai feasts. So with Todd and Kimberlee we get to explore a whole new part of Thai cuisine. I am so excited to have these two as new friends. They are smart, funny, well-traveled and the first people we've met in Missoula who are in the same "life place" as we are...starting a family (no I'm not pregnant yet). Again, I forgot to get a picture with Todd (and Kimberlee this time). I do have a picture of Ivan in our 6' poof.
Old Friends
I am equally excited about reconnecting with two old friends: Carly and Kristin. Carly was my roommate in Holmes Hall at MSU during my sophomore year and I lived with Kristin at 525 Charles during my junior year. My friendships with them became a little topsy-turvy when I chose to nurture my relationship with Mike over my relationships with them. Luckily, we all three have open minds and open hearts about rekindling our friendships. What is extra-super-exciting for me is that they each are embarking on some overseas adventures in order to be with their husband and boyfriend. Until now I have no one who can understand (experientially) and possibly relate to the choices I have made (some sacrifices) for my husband. In emails to Carly I have offered some pretty raw and deeply personal reflections. I realize that I should share them here, too.
"Each time we've moved - Michigan to Madison to Boulder to Missoula - we have gotten physically further from our old friends and family. Luckily, heading into each move we have been very excited about where we were headed. That anticipation out-weighed the fact that we were leaving people behind. But after a few months in each new place I started feeling pretty out of touch, even forgotten, and lonely for girl friends. So I began making greeting cards to send on birthdays, anniversaries, mothers and fathers days, and just for fun days. Every time I put one in the mail (at least 5 per month go out) I remember something special about the person who I am about to surprise and it makes me feel less distant.
I also stalk other people's websites. Harper Savage and the Schnakes are my favorite people to visit in cyberspace...probably because their sites get updated regularly. And the GoodReads is now a place that I connect with even more people, including my freshman roommie, Lisa.
...
I have had to make some tough decisions about my career and my life in that respect. I have to admit to having dozens of conversations with Mike that led to each of those decisions as well as conversations with some of my best girl friends (Chithra in particular). Then, after having made a decision (for example to leave graduate school in Colorado to move to Montana), I have had dozens of conversations with Mike and with Chithra to try to overcome the feeling of uselessness and my lack of a career trajectory. But now I embrace my career amble. I have come to relish all the time I have to volunteer for the Obama campaign, read, do home improvement, cook, and (eek!) support Mike by keeping the household running. I also have found a couple very-part-time jobs. I teach at the local community college and I work from home for a consulting firm."
Media
Film
Waitress
Business of Being Born (no I'm not pregnant yet)
Books
Goodnight Bush: A Parody by Gan Golan and Erich Origen
Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Cook Book illustrated by Andrew Warhol :)
Internet
Sarah Palin's RNC Speech
Black Voices
Television
Political Commentary:
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Rachel Maddow Show
Food:
Alton Brown: Feasting on Waves (I'm so jealous.)
Monday, September 01, 2008
August 2008
My memories of August appear as a whirlwind. I am thankful that I write little notes to myself every week and save them as drafts of the blog they will someday become. Since I have those notes, I can give a brief recount of the events and, when I'm lucky, a little story that accompanies the event.
Weekend in Westcliffe
After spending the last days of July with my family in mourning over my grandpa's death, I got to attend a wonderful wedding in Westcliffe, Colorado. Again, I realize that I experience a full range of emotions on a regular basis. (Maybe this range and the realization of it is due to the fact that my hormones are no longer regulated...?)
Anyways, we left Boulder after work on Friday and drove to Westcliffe. When we arrived at Hermit Basin, no one was there! There was a note on the front desk that said, "If you are here for a room please go behind the desk and call us." So I went behind the desk and called and the person who answered (I can't remember his name right now) told us to take a room. All the rooms were left unlocked at night and the key was on the TV just in case we wanted to lock up when we left. We chuckled at the apparent crime-free and worry-free aspect of small mountain town life.
In the morning we got up and rode our bikes 8 miles to town. The ride was downhill and I had an encounter with a small mountain town cow. As I sped along on the dirt road I saw a brown cow on the shoulder on the left side of the road. We watched each other as I approached but something was peculiar in her stance. She didn't just keep her head down to eat the grass. She stayed facing me. Just as I passed she lunged toward me! I was going about 15 miles per hour and didn't intend to stop to see what happened. I continued about a half of a mile before I slowed down to let Mike cruise up next to me. When he joined me he exclaimed that the cow had chased me before crossing the road and entering the pasture.
We arrived in downtown Westcliffe and found a little Mexican place that had been recommended to us. We had a quick lunch and then meandered up the road to a local cafe/fudge store for a little dessert and digestif before getting back on the bikes to return to Hermit Basin to get ready for the wedding.
Bud and Cath arrived at Hermit Basin just in time to change and hop in our car to go back into town for the ceremony. The wedding was in a small chapel; we sat with the rest of Laura and Joel's "Colorado friends" in the intimate space. I fanned myself with the program and noticed that people were quiet, most likely to avoid creating too much excess body heat. :)
The ceremony was lovely. Laura was beautiful; Joel made me cry when he said his vow. During the ceremony, an excerpt from "the Prophet" was read. While I listened, I thought it was a lovely metaphor for the give and the take of relationships. Here is an excerpt that I found online:
The Prophet by kahlil gibran
The reception was at the Alpine Lodge. I had so much fun! The food was delicious, catching up with old friends was fun, and the dancing kept me moving and tired me out early. I was surprised when I looked at the clock, exhausted, to learn that it was only 9:30PM. We left the party with plans to meet the rest of the gang for breakfast.
We had breakfast at the only place in town that was open. I laughed when I pulled in to the gas station. The evening prior, when people were giving directions, the description of the place was entirely lacking the fact that the restaurant was in the gas station! We were told about how for east of town it was located and its name. The hostess was acting as the sole waitress and the place was hopping with people coming from church. Despite how hectic things were she still managed to serve us with a smile. At breakfast, we all decided to go to Bishop's Castle.
After posing for a group picture, we got in our cars and drove the winding Colorado roads to the castle. The Castle was extraordinary! Jim Bishop has spent the last 40 years building it. He uses rocks that have fallen to the side of the road and scrap steel from his work in Pueblo. It is funded through donations collected in a small box at the base of the stairs to the entrance of the great hall of the castle. While we were there, we ventured up the stairs of each tower and oohed and ahhed at the experience of climbing the extraordinarily crafted building. Before leaving, we purchased Jim Bishop's thoughts on castle building.
Farewell Week
In the last days of our time in Boulder, we were swamped with social engagements. We kicked things off by celebrating Mike's birthday at Sushi Tora with 13 delightful friends. The next night we went to Amu with Justin and Alina for one last taste of uni sashimi. Next, we went to John and Lisa's for a yummy home-cooked meal, which was complete with cookies and cream ice cream made in a Play & Freeze. We had anticipated an early night home from John and Lisa's because they have two young children but after the children went to sleep we stayed up talking until past our usual bedtime. On Friday, true to form, we went to the Corner Bar at the Boulderado for a beer of the day. Saturday morning, we woke up and went to mountain bike the Sourdough Trail with Tom, Hans, and Amber before having a Mexican lunch in Nederland. That evening, we went to Boulder's Outdoor Cinema to watch Juno.
On Sunday, Mom, Dad & Grandma arrived to spend a couple days in Boulder on their way home from having visited Alex in Arizona. We had our first dinner together at the Lazy Dog where we could watch the Olympic gymnasts compete. The next day, I took Mom and Dad to hike one of our favorite loops, Walker Ranch. It was a nice long hike and I was thrilled to be hiking with my parents! I think my favorite part was dunking my feet in the icey cold waters of the Boulder Creek before finishing the last mile out of the canyon. My parents probably could have used more food and water but they denied it. :) Of course, at dinner they were clearly famished when they ordered their food at the Duschanbe Teahouse. After dinner, we tried to go to the Dark Horse Saloon for a couple beers. It was such a cool bar! I can't believe that I hadn't been there before! Unfortunately, it happened to be "employee's night" and the bar was closing early so we couldn't stay. Instead, we went to the Boulder Beer Pub for beers with Mom, Dad, and Grandma. Yes, I said Grandma. :)
My last hike was with Wendy, of course. We hiked beautiful Mt. Audubon under clear skys. We had lunch at the top. The winds were whipping over the peak and it is apparent that it is regularly so windy. There were about a dozen shelters built out of the loose rocks to break the wind. Before heading down we were showered lightly with snow. Of course, I loved the snow...it suggests that ski season is coming.
Our Last Day
Our last day in Boulder was a Friday. We woke up and packed up our toiletries before heading to the Village Coffee Shop for breakfast with Tom. Breakfast was awesome but it was a gut bomb. We figured it was the perfect way to start a road trip because we would have energy for hours. We said our goodbyes and returned to the apartment for the final packing. Before leaving town we had one last thing to do...get tulip bulbs. You see, each year Boulder orders 15,000 tulip bulbs from Holland to landscape the Pearl Street Mall. After the blooms die, the bulbs are collected and stored so the landscaping can change throughout the season without leaving space for the bulbs and their needs. At the end of the summer, the tulip bulbs are given away. We made it to the give-away just in time! As we arrived, the coordinators encouraged people who had already gotten a bag of bulbs to step aside and let new people to the front of the line. Mike and I made our way to the front the line and each were handed a paper bag. I took mine and ducked out of the way. Mike, being the kind soul he is, handed his bag to the person next to him with the assumption that there were more bags to receive. However, there were no more bags. He had given the last one away. Happy that we got at least one bag, we got in the car (nicknamed Louise after Madonna) and headed toward Grant Teton National Park.
Grand Teton National Park
It took us 4 hours longer than we expected to get to the Park and we were disappointed to not make it in time to meet Kim for dinner. We drove through the park as the sun was going down and made our way from one full campground to another. We ended our search at Gros Ventre campground. The only site we could find was one without a firepit or a tent pad (a flat place on which to pitch a tent). It also happened to be the site that people would proceed to walk through on their way to the restrooms. It was a quick night and when the sun was coming up we were breaking down our tent to search for a better campsite. We drove to Jenny Lake campground hoping to find someone leaving what is recommended as a premier campground in the country. Luckily, in the quiet of the morning we met someone who was breaking down her camp. We made our reservation and left her alone to enjoy the rest of her morning. We decided to have breakfast and found our way to Signal Mountain Lodge for breakfast overlooking Jackson Lake at Trapper Grill. It was a hearty breakfast, which was perfect fuel for our day hike we were planning.
We returned to Jenny Lake campground to pitch our tent and fill our camelbaks for our hike up to Surprise Lake and Ampitheatre Lake. The hike was extraorinary. Hiking with Mike is a wonderful way to spend the day. We could walk while talking or in silence but always enjoying the mountains that surrounded us. The first "event" of the day was spotting a black bear. It was eating leaves about 20-30 feet off the trail. The second event was jumping into the icey waters of Jenny Lake. Luckily, we are experienced in floating in Lake Huron's cold water and we were able to enjoy the cold. Jenny Lake was only part of what made our campground and our day so perfect. The views and the fact that no RVs or pop-ups are allowed cinched it for us. We made satellite pizzas for dinner in our Pie Iron, sipped on some whiskey, I strummed my guitar, and we turned in just as the sun set.
Home
We woke up just before the sun rose and decided to hit the road. After driving through scenic valleys in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, we arrived at our home.
Home, sweet home.
Prepping for Class
We arrived in Missoula with one week before classes. It was a crazy week of unpacking and work. When we weren't unpacking and working, we were doing home improvement. You see, typically home improvement season is summer. Having spent our summer in Boulder, we didn't have a chance to do any work on the house. We did two things: we painted the porch and we painted the basement. Now we can head in to the winter without worrying about crossing those off the list. :)
My Birthday
My birthday was a typical work day with one exception. When I got home from work Mike was already there...and he was cooking me dinner! It was delicious! He served grassfed beef, blanched green beans, and an heirloom tomato salad.
My Media
Music
6- and 12-String Guitar by Leo Kotke
Leo Kotke Instrumentals
Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust by Sigur Rós
Film
Juno
Internet
Truth and your brain. Repeat after me: "I am happy."
Bookworms Unite!
Michelle Obama's DNC Speech
Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech at the DNC
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's DNC Speech
NY Times Op-Ed: Vice in Go-Go Boots?
Weekend in Westcliffe
After spending the last days of July with my family in mourning over my grandpa's death, I got to attend a wonderful wedding in Westcliffe, Colorado. Again, I realize that I experience a full range of emotions on a regular basis. (Maybe this range and the realization of it is due to the fact that my hormones are no longer regulated...?)
Anyways, we left Boulder after work on Friday and drove to Westcliffe. When we arrived at Hermit Basin, no one was there! There was a note on the front desk that said, "If you are here for a room please go behind the desk and call us." So I went behind the desk and called and the person who answered (I can't remember his name right now) told us to take a room. All the rooms were left unlocked at night and the key was on the TV just in case we wanted to lock up when we left. We chuckled at the apparent crime-free and worry-free aspect of small mountain town life.
In the morning we got up and rode our bikes 8 miles to town. The ride was downhill and I had an encounter with a small mountain town cow. As I sped along on the dirt road I saw a brown cow on the shoulder on the left side of the road. We watched each other as I approached but something was peculiar in her stance. She didn't just keep her head down to eat the grass. She stayed facing me. Just as I passed she lunged toward me! I was going about 15 miles per hour and didn't intend to stop to see what happened. I continued about a half of a mile before I slowed down to let Mike cruise up next to me. When he joined me he exclaimed that the cow had chased me before crossing the road and entering the pasture.
We arrived in downtown Westcliffe and found a little Mexican place that had been recommended to us. We had a quick lunch and then meandered up the road to a local cafe/fudge store for a little dessert and digestif before getting back on the bikes to return to Hermit Basin to get ready for the wedding.
Bud and Cath arrived at Hermit Basin just in time to change and hop in our car to go back into town for the ceremony. The wedding was in a small chapel; we sat with the rest of Laura and Joel's "Colorado friends" in the intimate space. I fanned myself with the program and noticed that people were quiet, most likely to avoid creating too much excess body heat. :)
The ceremony was lovely. Laura was beautiful; Joel made me cry when he said his vow. During the ceremony, an excerpt from "the Prophet" was read. While I listened, I thought it was a lovely metaphor for the give and the take of relationships. Here is an excerpt that I found online:
The Prophet by kahlil gibran
"What of Marriage, master?" [Master] answered saying: You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Five one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
The reception was at the Alpine Lodge. I had so much fun! The food was delicious, catching up with old friends was fun, and the dancing kept me moving and tired me out early. I was surprised when I looked at the clock, exhausted, to learn that it was only 9:30PM. We left the party with plans to meet the rest of the gang for breakfast.
We had breakfast at the only place in town that was open. I laughed when I pulled in to the gas station. The evening prior, when people were giving directions, the description of the place was entirely lacking the fact that the restaurant was in the gas station! We were told about how for east of town it was located and its name. The hostess was acting as the sole waitress and the place was hopping with people coming from church. Despite how hectic things were she still managed to serve us with a smile. At breakfast, we all decided to go to Bishop's Castle.
After posing for a group picture, we got in our cars and drove the winding Colorado roads to the castle. The Castle was extraordinary! Jim Bishop has spent the last 40 years building it. He uses rocks that have fallen to the side of the road and scrap steel from his work in Pueblo. It is funded through donations collected in a small box at the base of the stairs to the entrance of the great hall of the castle. While we were there, we ventured up the stairs of each tower and oohed and ahhed at the experience of climbing the extraordinarily crafted building. Before leaving, we purchased Jim Bishop's thoughts on castle building.
Farewell Week
In the last days of our time in Boulder, we were swamped with social engagements. We kicked things off by celebrating Mike's birthday at Sushi Tora with 13 delightful friends. The next night we went to Amu with Justin and Alina for one last taste of uni sashimi. Next, we went to John and Lisa's for a yummy home-cooked meal, which was complete with cookies and cream ice cream made in a Play & Freeze. We had anticipated an early night home from John and Lisa's because they have two young children but after the children went to sleep we stayed up talking until past our usual bedtime. On Friday, true to form, we went to the Corner Bar at the Boulderado for a beer of the day. Saturday morning, we woke up and went to mountain bike the Sourdough Trail with Tom, Hans, and Amber before having a Mexican lunch in Nederland. That evening, we went to Boulder's Outdoor Cinema to watch Juno.
On Sunday, Mom, Dad & Grandma arrived to spend a couple days in Boulder on their way home from having visited Alex in Arizona. We had our first dinner together at the Lazy Dog where we could watch the Olympic gymnasts compete. The next day, I took Mom and Dad to hike one of our favorite loops, Walker Ranch. It was a nice long hike and I was thrilled to be hiking with my parents! I think my favorite part was dunking my feet in the icey cold waters of the Boulder Creek before finishing the last mile out of the canyon. My parents probably could have used more food and water but they denied it. :) Of course, at dinner they were clearly famished when they ordered their food at the Duschanbe Teahouse. After dinner, we tried to go to the Dark Horse Saloon for a couple beers. It was such a cool bar! I can't believe that I hadn't been there before! Unfortunately, it happened to be "employee's night" and the bar was closing early so we couldn't stay. Instead, we went to the Boulder Beer Pub for beers with Mom, Dad, and Grandma. Yes, I said Grandma. :)
My last hike was with Wendy, of course. We hiked beautiful Mt. Audubon under clear skys. We had lunch at the top. The winds were whipping over the peak and it is apparent that it is regularly so windy. There were about a dozen shelters built out of the loose rocks to break the wind. Before heading down we were showered lightly with snow. Of course, I loved the snow...it suggests that ski season is coming.
Our Last Day
Our last day in Boulder was a Friday. We woke up and packed up our toiletries before heading to the Village Coffee Shop for breakfast with Tom. Breakfast was awesome but it was a gut bomb. We figured it was the perfect way to start a road trip because we would have energy for hours. We said our goodbyes and returned to the apartment for the final packing. Before leaving town we had one last thing to do...get tulip bulbs. You see, each year Boulder orders 15,000 tulip bulbs from Holland to landscape the Pearl Street Mall. After the blooms die, the bulbs are collected and stored so the landscaping can change throughout the season without leaving space for the bulbs and their needs. At the end of the summer, the tulip bulbs are given away. We made it to the give-away just in time! As we arrived, the coordinators encouraged people who had already gotten a bag of bulbs to step aside and let new people to the front of the line. Mike and I made our way to the front the line and each were handed a paper bag. I took mine and ducked out of the way. Mike, being the kind soul he is, handed his bag to the person next to him with the assumption that there were more bags to receive. However, there were no more bags. He had given the last one away. Happy that we got at least one bag, we got in the car (nicknamed Louise after Madonna) and headed toward Grant Teton National Park.
Grand Teton National Park
It took us 4 hours longer than we expected to get to the Park and we were disappointed to not make it in time to meet Kim for dinner. We drove through the park as the sun was going down and made our way from one full campground to another. We ended our search at Gros Ventre campground. The only site we could find was one without a firepit or a tent pad (a flat place on which to pitch a tent). It also happened to be the site that people would proceed to walk through on their way to the restrooms. It was a quick night and when the sun was coming up we were breaking down our tent to search for a better campsite. We drove to Jenny Lake campground hoping to find someone leaving what is recommended as a premier campground in the country. Luckily, in the quiet of the morning we met someone who was breaking down her camp. We made our reservation and left her alone to enjoy the rest of her morning. We decided to have breakfast and found our way to Signal Mountain Lodge for breakfast overlooking Jackson Lake at Trapper Grill. It was a hearty breakfast, which was perfect fuel for our day hike we were planning.
We returned to Jenny Lake campground to pitch our tent and fill our camelbaks for our hike up to Surprise Lake and Ampitheatre Lake. The hike was extraorinary. Hiking with Mike is a wonderful way to spend the day. We could walk while talking or in silence but always enjoying the mountains that surrounded us. The first "event" of the day was spotting a black bear. It was eating leaves about 20-30 feet off the trail. The second event was jumping into the icey waters of Jenny Lake. Luckily, we are experienced in floating in Lake Huron's cold water and we were able to enjoy the cold. Jenny Lake was only part of what made our campground and our day so perfect. The views and the fact that no RVs or pop-ups are allowed cinched it for us. We made satellite pizzas for dinner in our Pie Iron, sipped on some whiskey, I strummed my guitar, and we turned in just as the sun set.
Home
We woke up just before the sun rose and decided to hit the road. After driving through scenic valleys in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, we arrived at our home.
Home, sweet home.
Prepping for Class
We arrived in Missoula with one week before classes. It was a crazy week of unpacking and work. When we weren't unpacking and working, we were doing home improvement. You see, typically home improvement season is summer. Having spent our summer in Boulder, we didn't have a chance to do any work on the house. We did two things: we painted the porch and we painted the basement. Now we can head in to the winter without worrying about crossing those off the list. :)
My Birthday
My birthday was a typical work day with one exception. When I got home from work Mike was already there...and he was cooking me dinner! It was delicious! He served grassfed beef, blanched green beans, and an heirloom tomato salad.
My Media
Music
6- and 12-String Guitar by Leo Kotke
Leo Kotke Instrumentals
Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust by Sigur Rós
Film
Juno
Internet
Truth and your brain. Repeat after me: "I am happy."
Bookworms Unite!
Michelle Obama's DNC Speech
Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech at the DNC
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's DNC Speech
NY Times Op-Ed: Vice in Go-Go Boots?
Friday, August 01, 2008
July 2008
The Beginning of July - The Middle of My Trip
Au Gres Again
At the beginning of July I was about half-way through my trip. I returned to Au Gres to a much emptier cabin. Our first night, my parents and I spent alone. The next day, Janice came to visit and play in the water with me. She is an old friend and fits easily with my family. We spent the afternoon in Oscoda with the Schneiders walking the beach and playing Apples to Apples. Then the Peters came to visit and Nichole returned in time for the Au Gres fireworks. We all sat outside next to the roaring fire and watched fireworks being launched along the shores of Saginaw Bay. Janice and I went kayaking every day (but we stayed close to shore) and when Nichole arrived we helped her make an order book for her line of clothes.
Weekend Friends
Another weekend another round of weekend friends. I had been lucky enough to spend weekdays with my friends who work in public schools and have the summers off and with Janice who was on vacation between having finished her MBA and starting a new job. Saturday afternoon I spent with Chris, Elizabeth, and Madeliene in Kalamazoo. Chris's parents invited me to stay for dinner and I was delighted that they shared their time with me. After dinner, I scooted over to Leslie to visit Sarah, Jason, and Colin for the evening and Sunday morning. My time with Sarah is ALWAYS time that flies. Before we know it it is time to go and we're not sure where our hours went. It makes me smile to think that we've been like that for nearly 10 years now. My weekend visits with my friends were all too short, just like the rest of my trip. Despite their brevity, these visits always rejuvenate my love for my friends.
Nichole in the Evenings
I returned to Novi to spend the rest of my time with Nichole when she wasn't working. We had a lazy afternoon and eventually decided to go to Detroit to listen to George Clinton play at CityFest. After the show, we met Teresa and walked around to soak in the energy. After lunch with Nichole on Monday, I went kayaking with Janice, this time at her parents' cabin in Pinckney. We paddled out to a little paddle-only access pond and got caught in the rain on our way back! Not to worry...we warmed up by sipping coffee and chatting with her mom. Before I knew it, it was time to hit the road again. I had dinner with Nichole, Pat, Amelia, and Verheek in Livonia before calling it a night.
An Aside - The Search for a Coffee Table
After seeing Nichole and Dave off and catching a few cat-free winks for myself, I went into Novi to wash the car to return to my parents and to kill time until Teresa called. Now, my aside starts with our CD collection. Mike and I have a pretty silly CD collection but it is one to embrace. It is now a storage issue and I have decided that a storage coffee table would be perfect. It can hold the CDs (and DVDs) in a safe and convenient way. So I visited HomeSource and searched through catalog after catalog and found nothing. I go in every furniture store I can find and I look online but there is nothing out there! Not even IKEA! So, I walked into Art Van to look for a coffee table and ended up finding a perfect couch! It fits, it is comfortable, it has proper dimensions for our living room, and it is made specially for Art Van, which is a Michigan-only store. :( It is called the Oasis and it is made by Capris (I think). I am still searching for the coffee table...I'll probably have to make it myself.
Lunch at the Whitney
After finding the perfect couch, I got a call from Teresa. She was ready to play with me so I drove to her place in Detroit. Teresa and Chris were renting a house in Detroit for a few months. It was a pretty nice house with a big yard that Teresa had landscaped with vegetables, herbs, and flowers. So nice! I sat and perused some books while Teresa and Chris did some work for the Detroit Princess. Eventually, Teresa was able to tear herself away from the house and the work and go have lunch with me. We decided to splurge and pulled into the parking lot of The Whitney, a 115 year old mansion in Detroit. As we approached the front entrance, a server walked out and told us over his shoulder that they were closed between lunch and dinner (it was 2PM). We started to turn back to the car but decided that it was worth going inside to ask if they would still serve us and to our delight they did! We had a lovely meal and discussed how beautiful the house was and how fun it would be to eat lunch together on a regular basis.
Nichole called at the end of her work day and marked the end of my day of leisure with Teresa. I sped back to Novi and made dinner with Nichole.
A Day with Mom
I spent my last day in town with Mom. We scooted around town to run errands. We looked at houses for her to rent for the next school year. We visited Kim & Earl. It was a very nice way to spend my last day of vacation...with my mom.
While I Was Away - Mike's Mountain-Biking Adventures
Mike stayed true to his weekly mountain biking routine while I was away. On the 4th of July, he and his mountain biking posse had a Jamestown adventure. On an already grueling route, they took a wrong turn and ended up biking 16 miles, forging a stream, and stumbling on a Jamestown fair. (Mike will have to give me better details so I can beef up the story but, since I wasn't there, I can't remember all the gory details. :)
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday Daniel Nornberg! Daniel was born to our dear friends Julie and Mark.
My Media
Books
Ahab's Wife
Man's Search for Meaning
Water for Elephants
Film
Citizen Cane
Jesus Camp
Music
George Clinton
A Mad and Faithful Telling by Devotchka
Narrow Stairs by Death Cab for Cutie
She & Him Volume One by Zooey Deschanel
Rest in Peace
On Saturday July 26 my grandpa passed away. He is the first person I have ever lost to death and this experience has been priceless if heartbreaking. On the day of Grandpa's memorial, I kept having mental images of him giggling. It made me smile but when time came for me to speak to the people attending the funeral, my speech was broken by tears. This is what I said:
Dearest Grandpa. You have always been, are now, and forever will be a man who "loves what is mortal" - your children, your grandchildren, and your great grandchildren. I think each member of our family has held you close to our bones, knowing that our lives and our happiness has, in some part, depended on your love. In fact, I think it is remarkable that each of us probably thinks that you love us best because you have shared in our greatest adventures: being at our wedding ceremonies, our graduations, supporting us when we have started families of our own, swimming unabashedly in salty sea water. I aspire to be as dedicated to my family and as willing to have fun as you have been. On behalf of Jim, Pauline, Nichole, Alex, Mike, and I: rest in peace Grandpa. We love you.
Au Gres Again
At the beginning of July I was about half-way through my trip. I returned to Au Gres to a much emptier cabin. Our first night, my parents and I spent alone. The next day, Janice came to visit and play in the water with me. She is an old friend and fits easily with my family. We spent the afternoon in Oscoda with the Schneiders walking the beach and playing Apples to Apples. Then the Peters came to visit and Nichole returned in time for the Au Gres fireworks. We all sat outside next to the roaring fire and watched fireworks being launched along the shores of Saginaw Bay. Janice and I went kayaking every day (but we stayed close to shore) and when Nichole arrived we helped her make an order book for her line of clothes.
Weekend Friends
Another weekend another round of weekend friends. I had been lucky enough to spend weekdays with my friends who work in public schools and have the summers off and with Janice who was on vacation between having finished her MBA and starting a new job. Saturday afternoon I spent with Chris, Elizabeth, and Madeliene in Kalamazoo. Chris's parents invited me to stay for dinner and I was delighted that they shared their time with me. After dinner, I scooted over to Leslie to visit Sarah, Jason, and Colin for the evening and Sunday morning. My time with Sarah is ALWAYS time that flies. Before we know it it is time to go and we're not sure where our hours went. It makes me smile to think that we've been like that for nearly 10 years now. My weekend visits with my friends were all too short, just like the rest of my trip. Despite their brevity, these visits always rejuvenate my love for my friends.
Nichole in the Evenings
I returned to Novi to spend the rest of my time with Nichole when she wasn't working. We had a lazy afternoon and eventually decided to go to Detroit to listen to George Clinton play at CityFest. After the show, we met Teresa and walked around to soak in the energy. After lunch with Nichole on Monday, I went kayaking with Janice, this time at her parents' cabin in Pinckney. We paddled out to a little paddle-only access pond and got caught in the rain on our way back! Not to worry...we warmed up by sipping coffee and chatting with her mom. Before I knew it, it was time to hit the road again. I had dinner with Nichole, Pat, Amelia, and Verheek in Livonia before calling it a night.
An Aside - The Search for a Coffee Table
After seeing Nichole and Dave off and catching a few cat-free winks for myself, I went into Novi to wash the car to return to my parents and to kill time until Teresa called. Now, my aside starts with our CD collection. Mike and I have a pretty silly CD collection but it is one to embrace. It is now a storage issue and I have decided that a storage coffee table would be perfect. It can hold the CDs (and DVDs) in a safe and convenient way. So I visited HomeSource and searched through catalog after catalog and found nothing. I go in every furniture store I can find and I look online but there is nothing out there! Not even IKEA! So, I walked into Art Van to look for a coffee table and ended up finding a perfect couch! It fits, it is comfortable, it has proper dimensions for our living room, and it is made specially for Art Van, which is a Michigan-only store. :( It is called the Oasis and it is made by Capris (I think). I am still searching for the coffee table...I'll probably have to make it myself.
Lunch at the Whitney
After finding the perfect couch, I got a call from Teresa. She was ready to play with me so I drove to her place in Detroit. Teresa and Chris were renting a house in Detroit for a few months. It was a pretty nice house with a big yard that Teresa had landscaped with vegetables, herbs, and flowers. So nice! I sat and perused some books while Teresa and Chris did some work for the Detroit Princess. Eventually, Teresa was able to tear herself away from the house and the work and go have lunch with me. We decided to splurge and pulled into the parking lot of The Whitney, a 115 year old mansion in Detroit. As we approached the front entrance, a server walked out and told us over his shoulder that they were closed between lunch and dinner (it was 2PM). We started to turn back to the car but decided that it was worth going inside to ask if they would still serve us and to our delight they did! We had a lovely meal and discussed how beautiful the house was and how fun it would be to eat lunch together on a regular basis.
Nichole called at the end of her work day and marked the end of my day of leisure with Teresa. I sped back to Novi and made dinner with Nichole.
A Day with Mom
I spent my last day in town with Mom. We scooted around town to run errands. We looked at houses for her to rent for the next school year. We visited Kim & Earl. It was a very nice way to spend my last day of vacation...with my mom.
While I Was Away - Mike's Mountain-Biking Adventures
Mike stayed true to his weekly mountain biking routine while I was away. On the 4th of July, he and his mountain biking posse had a Jamestown adventure. On an already grueling route, they took a wrong turn and ended up biking 16 miles, forging a stream, and stumbling on a Jamestown fair. (Mike will have to give me better details so I can beef up the story but, since I wasn't there, I can't remember all the gory details. :)
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday Daniel Nornberg! Daniel was born to our dear friends Julie and Mark.
My Media
Books
Ahab's Wife
Man's Search for Meaning
Water for Elephants
Film
Citizen Cane
Jesus Camp
Music
George Clinton
A Mad and Faithful Telling by Devotchka
Narrow Stairs by Death Cab for Cutie
She & Him Volume One by Zooey Deschanel
Rest in Peace
On Saturday July 26 my grandpa passed away. He is the first person I have ever lost to death and this experience has been priceless if heartbreaking. On the day of Grandpa's memorial, I kept having mental images of him giggling. It made me smile but when time came for me to speak to the people attending the funeral, my speech was broken by tears. This is what I said:
In Blackwater Woods by Mary Oliver
Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
Dearest Grandpa. You have always been, are now, and forever will be a man who "loves what is mortal" - your children, your grandchildren, and your great grandchildren. I think each member of our family has held you close to our bones, knowing that our lives and our happiness has, in some part, depended on your love. In fact, I think it is remarkable that each of us probably thinks that you love us best because you have shared in our greatest adventures: being at our wedding ceremonies, our graduations, supporting us when we have started families of our own, swimming unabashedly in salty sea water. I aspire to be as dedicated to my family and as willing to have fun as you have been. On behalf of Jim, Pauline, Nichole, Alex, Mike, and I: rest in peace Grandpa. We love you.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
June 2008
Day-to-day Adventures
Between arriving in Boulder and my trip to Michigan, June has been very busy and practically deserves a day-to-day play-by-play! However, the theme for June is certainly "reconnecting with old friends."
The Summer Abode
We woke up on Sunday morning and headed to Kim's place for our tour and to move in. Kim made her apartment very comfortable for us. She cleared space in every room for us to move in our stuff - clothes, arts and crafts supplies, gear. As I write, I realize that I could afford to know Kim better. Her apartment is decorated with art from around the world (primarily Japan I think), snapshots of Kim with her family and friends, and pretty fans. She has a picture of herself with Mikhail Gorbachev, so she met him. She also has photo albums in the living room labeled among other things "Poland" and "Japan". What I wouldn't give to hear her stories! The thing that resonates with my memories of Kim is her collection of pictures of Stanford that is a token of gratitude for her work as "Guide and Visitors Service Coordinator". It reminds me that Kim is one of the first people I met at the University of Colorado. She was one of the seasoned graduate students in the School of Education and she was part of the group that offered a student orientation to those of us who were new to the program. Apparently, Kim has plenty of experience with welcoming people to a new place...it is no wonder that she welcomed us so nicely to her home in Boulder for the summer.
Welcome Back
After we moved our things in and say Kim off, we headed to North Boulder Park. We had invited old friend to the park for an afternoon of fellowship. Wendy, true to form, had kicked it up a notch by inviting people to bring foodstuffs. What a lovely way to see old friends again! In the cover of shade, I got to sit and chat with people who I hadn't seen since we left for Missoula 10 months earlier: Wendy, Beth, Lauren and Esme, Katie and Joe, Kristin and Tony, Sarah, Paul and Jane, Eric, Ben, Dave, Justin, Karla and Brad, Heidi, and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. I also got to meet a new person who wasn't alive when we left for Missoula 10 months earlier - Karla and Brad's daughter Siena Rose!
Two Weeks of Routine Fun
The first week in Boulder did not slow down. On Monday, I visited Krista and met her daughter. On Tuesday, I had lunch with Justin and a girlie afternoon with Wendy and Katie (mani-pedis at Tiffany's) before going to the Sex and the City movie. On Wednesday, I hiked Mt. Sanitas in the morning and then I had lunch with Bud at Saxy's (whose food isn't as good as it used to be). In the evening, we had dinner at Jax with Aunt Harriet, Grandma, and Harriet's friend Carol. I also bought a last-minute ticket to Michigan so I could hook up with Harriet and Grandma when they were planning to be there on their roadtrip.
I got into a routine during the second two weeks in Boulder. In the mornings, I read the Daily Camera during breakfast because Kim kept her subscription for daily delivery. I started running again and lifting weights. I also did my work parttime and read a couple books: "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" and "Burnout: The Cost of Caring". My favorite thing about my routine was that I went hiking twice a week with Wendy and once a week with Katie. After a quick read through the morning's news, I would strap my hiking poles to my backpack and ride my bike to Wendy's apartment. Together, we would ride our bikes to a trailhead to meet Katie. In other places in the world, we probably would have looked pretty silly but in Boulder we were just another set of multisport girls. :)
Michigan Summer 2008
Upon Arrival
On Sunday June 22, I landed at DTW. Nichole picked me up in her "new" car - an Audi - and drove us to Mom and Dad's house. Nichole has been as busy as can be with her job and hadn't had a free moment to pack up her things and move them to her new apartment. Time was closing in on the last days that Mom and Dad would own the house and everyone was approaching dangerous levels of anxiety. So, on Sunday I helped Nichole take a load of her stuff out to Novi. Then on Monday I helped Dad take a load to storage and another load to Nichole's. I also managed to drive to Beaumont to visit my grandpa. He was there because a tumor had been removed from his neck. I spent some time sitting with him and watched while the occupational therapist helped him work with playdough in an attempt to strengthen and give dexterity back to his hands. It was hard to imagine that this was the same man who jumped exuberantly and without a life jacket into the ocean's bay on Grand Cayman to swim with the stingrays.
Tuesday evening Teresa and Chris invited us (again!) to watch the Freedom Festival Fireworks from the best seat in the house: The Detroit Princess. I took my parents and Janice with me (last year I took my parents and Nichole and Andrea with me) and we had a fabulous time. On the top deck we watched the fireworks launch from a barge that was probably a mere 300 yards away. The sound of the kabooms reflected off Detroit's skyscrapers. An elderly couple watched arm-in-arm.
Up North with Grandma, Harriet, Kim, and Carol
On Tuesday I headed north to visit Grandma, Aunt Harriet, Aunt Kim, and Carol. I arrived to my parents' empty cabin and took some time to relax alone next to the wide open water. A short while later the visitors arrived home from dinner out on the town. They all appeared a little rattled and exhausted and I found out why...in triplicate. Aunt Harriet and Carol had decided to go out on the kayaks. Despite Aunt Kim's warning to stay close to the shoreline, Carol ended up paddling far enough away to get caught in a current that pushed against her paddle-strokes. She spent many hours paddling hard to get back to shore and while she was out there had been a lot of concern on shore. Aunt Kim and Aunt Harriet (who had managed to paddle in) called the Coast Guard and Grandma helped scour the water's surface with binoculars. Carol hadn't realized why everyone made such a fuss until she learned that Lake Huron is nearly 200 miles across.
Things are pretty slow up north. I made sure to walk the sand bar once a day to see the poliwogs. I even wrote a little poem on one of my walks.
Ripples of water gently tumble
toward my feet that are
sinking into the sand.
Beneath the surface, shadows
of rippled sand invite me
to squish sandy peaks.
I step through the water
onto miniature mountain
ranges.
Leaving behind a vanishing footprint,
what ho?! more ripples, this time
of light.
Sun shines in ripples of
yellow on brown ripples
of the lake's bottom.
Aside from my daily walks, I spent little time alone. I talked with my Aunts and my Grandma or I strummed on Nichole's guitar. There were always birds to watch; we spotted an egret, a posse of red-winged blackbirds, a red-headed woodpecker, chickadees, finches, hummingbirds, orioles, hawks, turkeys, and turkey vultures. There was also a group of ducks that appeared to "commute" every other day back and forth in front of us. They would float along with the current and, when the current floated them into the sandbar, the ducks would waddle across and plot in on the other side to let the current resume its pull.
Each day people asked where my parents were and I had to reply that they were moving out of their house. In fact, when I saw my parents for the first time on this trip I thought that they looked pretty ragged. Indeed they had. Selling the house they had lived in for 20 years was a huge deal. And on top of that grandpa had fallen ill and their plans to move in with him were canceled. So they were terribly troubled mentally, physically, and emotionally by all the goings-on.
Eventually, Mom and Dad made it up north. They wished they could have been there more and without the mental pull of the looming real estate closing. In true Uzelac form, my parents managed to be happy and social with us for a couple days, including hosting my in-laws for a Friday night dinner.
Nichole and Dave arrived late Friday night. They had to drive through some pretty gnarly weather to make it past the Zilwaukee Bridge - a landmark for travelers along I-75. In the morning, we the house woke up filled to its brim. It was the day before my Aunt Harriet, Grandma, and Carol were scheduled to leave for the next leg of their roadtrip and they were getting a social send-off. In addition to those of us who woke up there, that morning Aunt Dori and Uncle Garry brought Garry's mother to join us for one more instance when Grandma could have all her girls together: Kim, Harriet, Dori, and Pauline.
Old Friends
I stayed through most of the day to enjoy my family. These are the people who have watched me grow up and have had a permanent effect on my life. But I had plans to see my friends that have also been important people in my growing up so I left Au Gres and headed south to Ann Arbor. On my way south I spotted an unusual billboard. I thought, "I can't wait to tell people about that! They'll think I was abducted by aliens." Then I realized that my words could probably never describe it well enough and I had my camera in the car with me so I could get a snapshot. I exited the highway and drove back along a frontage road to the billboard and took the picture. It proved to be quite a talking piece for the rest of my trip. No one else had every seen such a thing!
As I neared Ann Arbor I decided that it was too early to call it a night. Yes, I could have given myself a night alone to read and relax but that wasn't the point of my trip. I decided to call the one person I deemed most likely to be out and about in or around Ann Arbor: Pat. I have known Pat since 1995. He lived on my floor in Holmes Hall and we had all our classes together. He was also a sophomore and a fantastic social contact! :) Pat was out and in Ann Arbor AND he was only two miles from where I was staying for the night. It was perfect! So I went to German Park to meet Pat and his fiancee. I arrived at 9:15PM, which was 15 minutes after they closed admission. I was nearly heart broken! However, I decided that this was an instance I could use my powers of persuasion. A tall man dressed in lederhosen and a hat was acting as a bouncer and trying to physically force me away. I spoke under his outstretched arm to the people behind the desk. Swiftly and concisely I explained that I had arrived from Montana and I was there to see a friend I hadn't seen in three years. They looked at me skeptically and I imagined them thinking, "we've heard every excuse in the book. go away." I realized that my cowgirl hat must have looked like part of a costume to them. So I took out my Montana drivers license to demonstrate that I was indeed from Montana. They looked at each other and ushered me in quickly and quietly. They were so kind and I was so happy! I subsequently found Pat with his old friends and, by association, my old friends. I couldn't have been happier to see everyone.
Sunday morning I headed over to see Laura, Andy, and Ashley. I spent the morning chatting with them and playing with Ashley. We had lunch at Zingerman's before I had to go. In the afternoon I met Andrea in Royal Oak for dinner and a quiet evening in. On Monday, I visited Sarah, Mike, and Harper.
When I try to remember now what I have to "report" I can only feel warm, comforted, and happy by the memory of having spent time with such wonderful friends. The stories we told and the conversations we had were not notable enough to change the world but they were special enough to remind me of the connections I have with my dearest of friends.
Media
Internet
I like this New York Times video about trends in cooking/food: Like Water for Chocolate. The trends are not a big surprise to me but what she says about preparing a meal for someone you care about is lovely.
Books
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Burnout: The Cost of Caring
Film
Carnivale
The Ladykillers
Between arriving in Boulder and my trip to Michigan, June has been very busy and practically deserves a day-to-day play-by-play! However, the theme for June is certainly "reconnecting with old friends."
The Summer Abode
We woke up on Sunday morning and headed to Kim's place for our tour and to move in. Kim made her apartment very comfortable for us. She cleared space in every room for us to move in our stuff - clothes, arts and crafts supplies, gear. As I write, I realize that I could afford to know Kim better. Her apartment is decorated with art from around the world (primarily Japan I think), snapshots of Kim with her family and friends, and pretty fans. She has a picture of herself with Mikhail Gorbachev, so she met him. She also has photo albums in the living room labeled among other things "Poland" and "Japan". What I wouldn't give to hear her stories! The thing that resonates with my memories of Kim is her collection of pictures of Stanford that is a token of gratitude for her work as "Guide and Visitors Service Coordinator". It reminds me that Kim is one of the first people I met at the University of Colorado. She was one of the seasoned graduate students in the School of Education and she was part of the group that offered a student orientation to those of us who were new to the program. Apparently, Kim has plenty of experience with welcoming people to a new place...it is no wonder that she welcomed us so nicely to her home in Boulder for the summer.
Welcome Back
After we moved our things in and say Kim off, we headed to North Boulder Park. We had invited old friend to the park for an afternoon of fellowship. Wendy, true to form, had kicked it up a notch by inviting people to bring foodstuffs. What a lovely way to see old friends again! In the cover of shade, I got to sit and chat with people who I hadn't seen since we left for Missoula 10 months earlier: Wendy, Beth, Lauren and Esme, Katie and Joe, Kristin and Tony, Sarah, Paul and Jane, Eric, Ben, Dave, Justin, Karla and Brad, Heidi, and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. I also got to meet a new person who wasn't alive when we left for Missoula 10 months earlier - Karla and Brad's daughter Siena Rose!
Two Weeks of Routine Fun
The first week in Boulder did not slow down. On Monday, I visited Krista and met her daughter. On Tuesday, I had lunch with Justin and a girlie afternoon with Wendy and Katie (mani-pedis at Tiffany's) before going to the Sex and the City movie. On Wednesday, I hiked Mt. Sanitas in the morning and then I had lunch with Bud at Saxy's (whose food isn't as good as it used to be). In the evening, we had dinner at Jax with Aunt Harriet, Grandma, and Harriet's friend Carol. I also bought a last-minute ticket to Michigan so I could hook up with Harriet and Grandma when they were planning to be there on their roadtrip.
I got into a routine during the second two weeks in Boulder. In the mornings, I read the Daily Camera during breakfast because Kim kept her subscription for daily delivery. I started running again and lifting weights. I also did my work parttime and read a couple books: "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" and "Burnout: The Cost of Caring". My favorite thing about my routine was that I went hiking twice a week with Wendy and once a week with Katie. After a quick read through the morning's news, I would strap my hiking poles to my backpack and ride my bike to Wendy's apartment. Together, we would ride our bikes to a trailhead to meet Katie. In other places in the world, we probably would have looked pretty silly but in Boulder we were just another set of multisport girls. :)
Michigan Summer 2008
Upon Arrival
On Sunday June 22, I landed at DTW. Nichole picked me up in her "new" car - an Audi - and drove us to Mom and Dad's house. Nichole has been as busy as can be with her job and hadn't had a free moment to pack up her things and move them to her new apartment. Time was closing in on the last days that Mom and Dad would own the house and everyone was approaching dangerous levels of anxiety. So, on Sunday I helped Nichole take a load of her stuff out to Novi. Then on Monday I helped Dad take a load to storage and another load to Nichole's. I also managed to drive to Beaumont to visit my grandpa. He was there because a tumor had been removed from his neck. I spent some time sitting with him and watched while the occupational therapist helped him work with playdough in an attempt to strengthen and give dexterity back to his hands. It was hard to imagine that this was the same man who jumped exuberantly and without a life jacket into the ocean's bay on Grand Cayman to swim with the stingrays.
Tuesday evening Teresa and Chris invited us (again!) to watch the Freedom Festival Fireworks from the best seat in the house: The Detroit Princess. I took my parents and Janice with me (last year I took my parents and Nichole and Andrea with me) and we had a fabulous time. On the top deck we watched the fireworks launch from a barge that was probably a mere 300 yards away. The sound of the kabooms reflected off Detroit's skyscrapers. An elderly couple watched arm-in-arm.
Up North with Grandma, Harriet, Kim, and Carol
On Tuesday I headed north to visit Grandma, Aunt Harriet, Aunt Kim, and Carol. I arrived to my parents' empty cabin and took some time to relax alone next to the wide open water. A short while later the visitors arrived home from dinner out on the town. They all appeared a little rattled and exhausted and I found out why...in triplicate. Aunt Harriet and Carol had decided to go out on the kayaks. Despite Aunt Kim's warning to stay close to the shoreline, Carol ended up paddling far enough away to get caught in a current that pushed against her paddle-strokes. She spent many hours paddling hard to get back to shore and while she was out there had been a lot of concern on shore. Aunt Kim and Aunt Harriet (who had managed to paddle in) called the Coast Guard and Grandma helped scour the water's surface with binoculars. Carol hadn't realized why everyone made such a fuss until she learned that Lake Huron is nearly 200 miles across.
Things are pretty slow up north. I made sure to walk the sand bar once a day to see the poliwogs. I even wrote a little poem on one of my walks.
Ripples of water gently tumble
toward my feet that are
sinking into the sand.
Beneath the surface, shadows
of rippled sand invite me
to squish sandy peaks.
I step through the water
onto miniature mountain
ranges.
Leaving behind a vanishing footprint,
what ho?! more ripples, this time
of light.
Sun shines in ripples of
yellow on brown ripples
of the lake's bottom.
Aside from my daily walks, I spent little time alone. I talked with my Aunts and my Grandma or I strummed on Nichole's guitar. There were always birds to watch; we spotted an egret, a posse of red-winged blackbirds, a red-headed woodpecker, chickadees, finches, hummingbirds, orioles, hawks, turkeys, and turkey vultures. There was also a group of ducks that appeared to "commute" every other day back and forth in front of us. They would float along with the current and, when the current floated them into the sandbar, the ducks would waddle across and plot in on the other side to let the current resume its pull.
Each day people asked where my parents were and I had to reply that they were moving out of their house. In fact, when I saw my parents for the first time on this trip I thought that they looked pretty ragged. Indeed they had. Selling the house they had lived in for 20 years was a huge deal. And on top of that grandpa had fallen ill and their plans to move in with him were canceled. So they were terribly troubled mentally, physically, and emotionally by all the goings-on.
Eventually, Mom and Dad made it up north. They wished they could have been there more and without the mental pull of the looming real estate closing. In true Uzelac form, my parents managed to be happy and social with us for a couple days, including hosting my in-laws for a Friday night dinner.
Nichole and Dave arrived late Friday night. They had to drive through some pretty gnarly weather to make it past the Zilwaukee Bridge - a landmark for travelers along I-75. In the morning, we the house woke up filled to its brim. It was the day before my Aunt Harriet, Grandma, and Carol were scheduled to leave for the next leg of their roadtrip and they were getting a social send-off. In addition to those of us who woke up there, that morning Aunt Dori and Uncle Garry brought Garry's mother to join us for one more instance when Grandma could have all her girls together: Kim, Harriet, Dori, and Pauline.
Old Friends
I stayed through most of the day to enjoy my family. These are the people who have watched me grow up and have had a permanent effect on my life. But I had plans to see my friends that have also been important people in my growing up so I left Au Gres and headed south to Ann Arbor. On my way south I spotted an unusual billboard. I thought, "I can't wait to tell people about that! They'll think I was abducted by aliens." Then I realized that my words could probably never describe it well enough and I had my camera in the car with me so I could get a snapshot. I exited the highway and drove back along a frontage road to the billboard and took the picture. It proved to be quite a talking piece for the rest of my trip. No one else had every seen such a thing!
As I neared Ann Arbor I decided that it was too early to call it a night. Yes, I could have given myself a night alone to read and relax but that wasn't the point of my trip. I decided to call the one person I deemed most likely to be out and about in or around Ann Arbor: Pat. I have known Pat since 1995. He lived on my floor in Holmes Hall and we had all our classes together. He was also a sophomore and a fantastic social contact! :) Pat was out and in Ann Arbor AND he was only two miles from where I was staying for the night. It was perfect! So I went to German Park to meet Pat and his fiancee. I arrived at 9:15PM, which was 15 minutes after they closed admission. I was nearly heart broken! However, I decided that this was an instance I could use my powers of persuasion. A tall man dressed in lederhosen and a hat was acting as a bouncer and trying to physically force me away. I spoke under his outstretched arm to the people behind the desk. Swiftly and concisely I explained that I had arrived from Montana and I was there to see a friend I hadn't seen in three years. They looked at me skeptically and I imagined them thinking, "we've heard every excuse in the book. go away." I realized that my cowgirl hat must have looked like part of a costume to them. So I took out my Montana drivers license to demonstrate that I was indeed from Montana. They looked at each other and ushered me in quickly and quietly. They were so kind and I was so happy! I subsequently found Pat with his old friends and, by association, my old friends. I couldn't have been happier to see everyone.
Sunday morning I headed over to see Laura, Andy, and Ashley. I spent the morning chatting with them and playing with Ashley. We had lunch at Zingerman's before I had to go. In the afternoon I met Andrea in Royal Oak for dinner and a quiet evening in. On Monday, I visited Sarah, Mike, and Harper.
When I try to remember now what I have to "report" I can only feel warm, comforted, and happy by the memory of having spent time with such wonderful friends. The stories we told and the conversations we had were not notable enough to change the world but they were special enough to remind me of the connections I have with my dearest of friends.
Media
Internet
I like this New York Times video about trends in cooking/food: Like Water for Chocolate. The trends are not a big surprise to me but what she says about preparing a meal for someone you care about is lovely.
Books
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Burnout: The Cost of Caring
Film
Carnivale
The Ladykillers
Saturday, May 31, 2008
May 2008
Upon reflection, I realize that the month of May was a whirlwind of events that stimulated my entire range of emotions. Here's a summary:
Madrid, Spain
Mike went to Madrid, Spain for the IEEE international magnetics conference. After an entire day of travel - he flew from Missoula to Salt Lake City to NYC to Madrid - he arrived safe and sound in the heart of Spain. The conference and all the socializing (i.e., "networking") kept him busy and his body clock throughly confused. When he returned to Missoula five days later he had all sorts of stories to tell...and a present for me! While he was in Madrid Mike learned how to navigate the public transportation during rush hour - getting practically carried on and off the trains by the mass of people. He went to Museo del Prado and Museo Reina Sophia. He said he liked the Sophia best because they had the entire Picasso collection on loan from Paris. Since the Paris collection was adding to the Sophia's own staggering Picasso collection, Mike said that, "it was Picasso mania!" In the evening, as is typical at confereces, Mike went out for dinner and drinks, which in Spain was tapas and wine and Mike couldn't have been more satisfied with his food. Mike's favorite new food was the jamon. Jamon might be described as the Spanish version of salt-cured pig - like Italian prosciutto. The myth in Madrid is that the pigs swim in the ocean for a month before slaughter so their jamon tastes perfect. Of course, it is the nature of scientists, especially Mike, to question things. And after a boisterous meal they questioned, "do pigs swim?" After much deliberation, the physicists reasoned that pigs don't swim with their legs but they must float..and use their tails as propellers! The image conjured by this explanation (and the discussion that must have preceded it) makes me giggle and I hope it makes you giggle, too. When Mike returned to me in Missoula he was excited to give me a present. As you might imagine, I assumed that he had brought wine or cheese or jamon home for me to try. I was wrong. He brought me a beautiful pearl necklace and said, "because I've been delinquent on the flowers you requested." I thought he had forgotten! It turns out he was just busy with work. :)
Volunteering for Obama - Montana
While Mike was gone I kept busy with the end of the semester, volunteering for the Obama campaign, and painting the living room. On Saturday morning I went to the Missoula Farmer's Market to register voters for the primary. It turns out that most people in Missoula that I spoke with were already registered to vote and they just wanted stickers. So a decade after graduating high school where I passed out smiley face stickers on Fridays, I was passing out stickers again. I also worked the phone bank, calling people and inviting them to volunteer - note: we do not ask for money. My favorite instance from working the phones was when a woman introduced herself as a Jew and asked me to give Senator Obama a message for her. She was concerned that he was too lenient with things in Israel. She wanted to elect someone who would be able to help the leaders in Israel negotiate and end the violence. What really touched me about this story was that I believed that Senator Obama would hear her message. In my experience, I have written comments about Senator Obama's debates and speeches. I requested to hear more about education in the debates and in the next debate Senator Obama brought up education as an important aspect of democracy. After a speech Senator Obama made in Montana in which he commented that he might have to take up fishing just as an excuse to visit Montana more often, I recommended that he refrain from making that type of hollow claim to Montanans because it seemed to me that Montanans do what they want to do. In his next appearance in Montana, he didn't claim to want to move to Montana but that he wanted to preserve the way Montanans live by protecting the natural resources. I feel like my voice was heard in addition to the thousands of other people working to get him elected. I believe that by taking notes on this woman's comments about Israel and sending them via email to the Obama headquarters, that he will hear her voice and the voice of many Jewish Americans with concern for their holy land.
Painting the House
I also worked on the house. Before he left, Mike helped me move the furniture out of the living room, spackle holes, sand surfaces, and remove the light fixture and fan, all in preparation for me to paint. Taking the light fixture down revealed a previously dangerous situation. The light had been mounted improperly and the electricity was arcing between the bare wires long enough and frequently enough to oxidize the entire junction box. Whew! Close one. I worked like a mad woman each day, all the live long day. I primed, then I textured the walls with Behr smooth sand to give the severely damaged walls a "knock-down" look, primed again, and painted. The room looks beautiful...I love it! (And I'll post pictures ASAP.)
I wasn't alone all week. Calvin, Ryan, and Turner were around to work on the outside of the house.
Commencement
We both attended commencement ceremonies for our University of Montana students. Figuring out the hood was worth remembering. I stood in the living room, in front of the mirror, trying to figure out which side was up and how to coax the hood to hang just right. At first, I felt like a big fraud. Aren't hoods for Ph.D.s? Maybe that is why I couldn't figure the thing out! I started to question myself. Why did I think I should attend commencement in a hood of all things?! But when I walked up to the rest of the College of Technology faculty, including adjunct faculty, I realized that I was a part of the faculty and hoods are just what we wear. And, especially in Montana, people don't fret over the degrees you've earned. They want to know that you work hard at what you do and that you do it well. I guess I have found a good fit there.
The University-wide commencement service was cool. It was held in the Adam's Center, which was decorated with banner-style flags dating back to the first graduating class. Each class since designed and created a flag to commemorate their achievement. What surprised me the most was the invocation. Two things stood out to me: 1) the invocation had a clear religious bent to it, and 2) there were two invocations. The first invocation was what I would call rather new-age that referred to goodness and peace however we find it...with a hefty dose of Christianity. The second invocation was performed by a chief from the Blackfeet Indian Tribe...a war song/prayer that is sung at celebrations.
After the big commencement, each department held its own smaller ceremony. I was a little bummed that I missed the physics ceremony because each of the 13 graduates did a physics demonstration! So cool! The COT had no such thing. As a little aside...I heard one of the students address Mike as "Professor Schneider" and was taken aback. Of course he is Professor Schneider but seeing as how it was the first time I heard a young person call him that I couldn't help but giggle and remember when Mikey graduated in the rain from University of Michigan. As the last mark that Mike finished his first year as a tenure-track faculty member the rest of the faculty "hazed" him by "making" him return all the robes they had worn to the commencement ceremonies. So we walked together with our arms full of robes, hoods, and caps to the bookstore before heading to Jen and Honey's house for dinner with our new friends who welcomed us to Missoula with open arms (and kitchens).
Mother's Day
On Mother's Day my mom was in Arizona visiting Grandma and Mike's mom was in South Dakota en route to Missoula. Happy Mother's Day to those most important women in our lives. Happy Mother's Day to all our dear friends from coast to coast who are celebrating as mothers for the first time. Congratulations!
Welcome Alexander Hart
Happy Birthday Alexander Hart! Jayme is our friend from the University of Michigan. He and Mike became friends when they learned of their shared interest in high end audio and Scotch. We have known Jayme for more than ten years and we know that he's going to make a wonderful dad. We do not know much of his wife Lauren besides she has a wonderful sense of beauty (based on her lovely wedding) and she is a kindred spirit in the kitchen. She is someone who knows how wonderful it is to share the cooking and eating experience with someone you love.
Film/Books
Let's see. While I was doing my internet-based work I had The L Word playing in the background. The characters are addicting! I also went on a little Audrey Hepburn run and watched a handful of those classics: Funny Face, Sabrina, and Charade. Funny Face was by far my favorite for a few reasons. It was a great musical and I couldn't believe how true the song "On How to Be Lovely" is! Also, I wondered if Fred Astair was the first person to dance like a crazy person on the floor with a guitar, kicking his legs in the air like you see rock stars do. Did he start a trend or is it just a common involuntary physical action for musicians? I also enjoyred a Quentin Tarantino flick called Deathproof...although I would be reserved to recommend it to everyone because it has all the gore of a typical Tarantino flick. But the stunts were marvelous. I call this "Quentin's Take on Charlie's Angels".
I also joined Good reads.com to see what my friends say about different books. I'm always looking for good reads...especially stories about women.
Schneiders Visit Glacier
The Schneiders came to visit us in the middle of May. They drove from Michigan and did some site-seeing along the way in Wisconsin, South Dakota, and eastern Montana. We spent a couple days in Missoula. We took them to our favorite local cafe, Hob Nob, our favorite steakhouse in the Bitterroot valley, Guy's Lolo Creek Steakhouse, and had take-out from Thai Spicy. We also spent an afternoon walking from our house to the farmer's market, Brennan's wave, and the Carousel for Missoula. The second part of their visit was spent up north. We spent one night in Woods Bay, one of my favorite places in Montana, where we stayed at the Islander and spent the evening touring the local hangouts including the Flathead Lake Brewing Company and the Raven.
At Flathead Lake Brewing Company we heard an amazing little local band (bass, drums, keyboards) called Bluestone. It was pretty extraordinary music and I'm very excited to be a little bit of a groupie. Since there were so few people in Woods Bay that evening we managed to meet the band, a cute couple on vacation from Colorado, and a local Woods Bay man who was terribly friendly and happy. There were three things that stand out about that evening in Woods Bay to me. First, in true Schneider tradition we enjoyed some drinks in our rooms...or rather in the adirondack chairs just outside our rooms. As we sat and watched the sun set over the lake we noticed the parking lot outside the Raven restaurant across the street. Luxury cars came and went...Mercedes, Cadillac, Porsche, etc. They seemed out of place in this little Montana town parked next to the old pick-ups. Then we realized that the owners were probably coming down to Woods Bay from Big Fork, which is a much fancier town where millionaires(and Hollywood) come to vacation.
Second, we heard a funny story about the stuffed fish on the wall behind the bar at the Flathead Lake Brewing Company. The owner was at a conference when his friend said, "Hey, I have a couple stuffed fish that I did as my first try in a taxidermy class. Want them?" The owner said, "Sure! That would be great!" When the fish were delivered he got a call from his manager. "How are they?" the owner asked. "Well, they are smaller than I expected," said the manager. The two fish were each maybe 8 inches long...not exactly the wallpiece that they expected. None-the-less, the fish were mounted on the wall and make for a fun little story and a bunch of laughs.
Lastly, I had a peculiar conversation with someone who I suspect owned own of those fancy cars. We were sitting at the Raven on the porch, which overlooks the Flathead waves crashing on the shore and the boat docking for summer Raven-goers. I was snapping pictures of the scene, including the happy local who was sitting at the end of the dock, my family looking over the menus, and the sun setting over the nearby peninsula. A well-dressed man asked me what I was taking pictures of and I told him the lake, the local, and my family. He snuffed at me. Then I offered to take his picture in this lovely place and email it to him but he said gruffly, "I come here all the time." To which I responded, "All the more reason to have a photo taken," and continued to tell him that I've started to take pictures of the things that happen in my everyday life so that my memories don't become holiday-only and travel-centric. He responded, "I can have my wife take my picture," as if I was hitting on him and bothering him. I was flummoxed that this man had broken the ice with me and then had the nerve to blow me off and treat me like an unwelcome solicitor. I sat down and commented to my family, "What kind of man drinks white wine anyways." Rude, I know, and white wine is good. I think it bothered me so much that someone would invite me into a conversation and then blow me off immediately thereafter. It is socially inept behavior.
The remainder of our time together was spent in Glacier National Park. We checked in to a cabin in Apgar Village right on Lake MacDonald. We spent our time mostly site-seeing. We drove to the historic Lake MacDonald Lodge and the Trail of the Cedars through Glacier's rain forest. While we drove, we listened to my mom and dad's CD that provided commentary about the sites along the Going to the Sun Road. I think the most interesting thing is glacial flour that causes the water in Glacier National Park to be so blue. Evidently, there are teeny tiny little flecks of rock that float in the water and reflect light to us that looks like that special blue. Since the Going to the Sun Road was closed for through traffic, we spent an entire day driving the Roosevelt Highway along the south side of the Park. We saw Big Horn sheep near the salt lick, the Roosevelt Monument at the continental divide, and a myriad of vistas during our trip. It was remarkably empty from tourists and we were able to take our time and enjoy the open space. However, we didn't see any glaciers...maybe next time.
Farewell Dave Friend
On Thursday May 22 Dave Friend said farewell to his wife and son and fell asleep in his chair for the last time. Dave lost his battle with cancer and leaves behind dozens of people who were lucky to have known him. To us, Dave will always be the face of Missoula. He was the first person we met and he welcomed us to Missoula with a kind smile and a quirky sense of humor.
He will also be remembered by hundreds of students. Dave was an extraordinary professor of astronomy. In fact, when our AAA insurance agent learned that Mike was joining the faculty of the Physics and Astronomy department at the UM he exclaimed that Dave Friend was the best teacher he ever had...especially in a science class.
My First Mammogram
Have you ever been told that you have photogenic breasts? Those kind words were only mildly comforting as I had my first mammogram. The mammogram and the subsequent ultrasound revealed that I am fine. Thank goodness because I'm not done.
Yellowstone and Cody
Needless to say, our departure from Missoula was postponed due to a couple unexpected events. We canceled our camping trip in Yellowstone to attend Dave's memorial service. Then we postponed our departure due to my not-so-normal yearly exam. None-the-less we were able to enjoy the colors of the Grand Prismatic Spring, the odors of the Mud Pots, and the excitement of baby buffalo (and their parents) crossing our path during our driving tour in the late afternoon on Friday May 30.
We got to Cody, Wyoming at 9PM and decided to stay the night in The Cody, which is a new awesome hotel on the west side of town. By staying there we were able to scoot up to a fair and ride some (two) stomach-turning rides before returning to the comfort of our not-so-spinning bed. The Cody offered a delicious breakfast where we met the owner and gave our compliments. Then we took off for our second day of moving to Boulder. We stopped in Thermopolis to see the world's largest mineral hot springs and to stretch our legs. Since we didn't know how to get to our bathing suits, we didn't soak at all but decided that we should pack better next time so we can.
South of Casper the traffic got heavy and I remarked at how quickly I had acclimated to Montana...
Arrive in Boulder
We arrived in Boulder, Colorado around 6:30PM. We checked in to the Quality Inn on Arapahoe. It is the same place that the Schneiders used to stay when they visited us when we lived in Boulder. We knew it was a nice place and it has a great location. After washing the road off, we went to the Lazy Dog for beers, dinner, and to watch the Red Wings play for the Stanley Cup. After the game, Wendy, Katie, Joe, Dave, Hans, Amber, Eric, and Erin joined us for some rooftop drinks. It was a lovely welcome back to Boulder.
Madrid, Spain
Mike went to Madrid, Spain for the IEEE international magnetics conference. After an entire day of travel - he flew from Missoula to Salt Lake City to NYC to Madrid - he arrived safe and sound in the heart of Spain. The conference and all the socializing (i.e., "networking") kept him busy and his body clock throughly confused. When he returned to Missoula five days later he had all sorts of stories to tell...and a present for me! While he was in Madrid Mike learned how to navigate the public transportation during rush hour - getting practically carried on and off the trains by the mass of people. He went to Museo del Prado and Museo Reina Sophia. He said he liked the Sophia best because they had the entire Picasso collection on loan from Paris. Since the Paris collection was adding to the Sophia's own staggering Picasso collection, Mike said that, "it was Picasso mania!" In the evening, as is typical at confereces, Mike went out for dinner and drinks, which in Spain was tapas and wine and Mike couldn't have been more satisfied with his food. Mike's favorite new food was the jamon. Jamon might be described as the Spanish version of salt-cured pig - like Italian prosciutto. The myth in Madrid is that the pigs swim in the ocean for a month before slaughter so their jamon tastes perfect. Of course, it is the nature of scientists, especially Mike, to question things. And after a boisterous meal they questioned, "do pigs swim?" After much deliberation, the physicists reasoned that pigs don't swim with their legs but they must float..and use their tails as propellers! The image conjured by this explanation (and the discussion that must have preceded it) makes me giggle and I hope it makes you giggle, too. When Mike returned to me in Missoula he was excited to give me a present. As you might imagine, I assumed that he had brought wine or cheese or jamon home for me to try. I was wrong. He brought me a beautiful pearl necklace and said, "because I've been delinquent on the flowers you requested." I thought he had forgotten! It turns out he was just busy with work. :)
Volunteering for Obama - Montana
While Mike was gone I kept busy with the end of the semester, volunteering for the Obama campaign, and painting the living room. On Saturday morning I went to the Missoula Farmer's Market to register voters for the primary. It turns out that most people in Missoula that I spoke with were already registered to vote and they just wanted stickers. So a decade after graduating high school where I passed out smiley face stickers on Fridays, I was passing out stickers again. I also worked the phone bank, calling people and inviting them to volunteer - note: we do not ask for money. My favorite instance from working the phones was when a woman introduced herself as a Jew and asked me to give Senator Obama a message for her. She was concerned that he was too lenient with things in Israel. She wanted to elect someone who would be able to help the leaders in Israel negotiate and end the violence. What really touched me about this story was that I believed that Senator Obama would hear her message. In my experience, I have written comments about Senator Obama's debates and speeches. I requested to hear more about education in the debates and in the next debate Senator Obama brought up education as an important aspect of democracy. After a speech Senator Obama made in Montana in which he commented that he might have to take up fishing just as an excuse to visit Montana more often, I recommended that he refrain from making that type of hollow claim to Montanans because it seemed to me that Montanans do what they want to do. In his next appearance in Montana, he didn't claim to want to move to Montana but that he wanted to preserve the way Montanans live by protecting the natural resources. I feel like my voice was heard in addition to the thousands of other people working to get him elected. I believe that by taking notes on this woman's comments about Israel and sending them via email to the Obama headquarters, that he will hear her voice and the voice of many Jewish Americans with concern for their holy land.
Painting the House
I also worked on the house. Before he left, Mike helped me move the furniture out of the living room, spackle holes, sand surfaces, and remove the light fixture and fan, all in preparation for me to paint. Taking the light fixture down revealed a previously dangerous situation. The light had been mounted improperly and the electricity was arcing between the bare wires long enough and frequently enough to oxidize the entire junction box. Whew! Close one. I worked like a mad woman each day, all the live long day. I primed, then I textured the walls with Behr smooth sand to give the severely damaged walls a "knock-down" look, primed again, and painted. The room looks beautiful...I love it! (And I'll post pictures ASAP.)
I wasn't alone all week. Calvin, Ryan, and Turner were around to work on the outside of the house.
Commencement
We both attended commencement ceremonies for our University of Montana students. Figuring out the hood was worth remembering. I stood in the living room, in front of the mirror, trying to figure out which side was up and how to coax the hood to hang just right. At first, I felt like a big fraud. Aren't hoods for Ph.D.s? Maybe that is why I couldn't figure the thing out! I started to question myself. Why did I think I should attend commencement in a hood of all things?! But when I walked up to the rest of the College of Technology faculty, including adjunct faculty, I realized that I was a part of the faculty and hoods are just what we wear. And, especially in Montana, people don't fret over the degrees you've earned. They want to know that you work hard at what you do and that you do it well. I guess I have found a good fit there.
The University-wide commencement service was cool. It was held in the Adam's Center, which was decorated with banner-style flags dating back to the first graduating class. Each class since designed and created a flag to commemorate their achievement. What surprised me the most was the invocation. Two things stood out to me: 1) the invocation had a clear religious bent to it, and 2) there were two invocations. The first invocation was what I would call rather new-age that referred to goodness and peace however we find it...with a hefty dose of Christianity. The second invocation was performed by a chief from the Blackfeet Indian Tribe...a war song/prayer that is sung at celebrations.
After the big commencement, each department held its own smaller ceremony. I was a little bummed that I missed the physics ceremony because each of the 13 graduates did a physics demonstration! So cool! The COT had no such thing. As a little aside...I heard one of the students address Mike as "Professor Schneider" and was taken aback. Of course he is Professor Schneider but seeing as how it was the first time I heard a young person call him that I couldn't help but giggle and remember when Mikey graduated in the rain from University of Michigan. As the last mark that Mike finished his first year as a tenure-track faculty member the rest of the faculty "hazed" him by "making" him return all the robes they had worn to the commencement ceremonies. So we walked together with our arms full of robes, hoods, and caps to the bookstore before heading to Jen and Honey's house for dinner with our new friends who welcomed us to Missoula with open arms (and kitchens).
Mother's Day
On Mother's Day my mom was in Arizona visiting Grandma and Mike's mom was in South Dakota en route to Missoula. Happy Mother's Day to those most important women in our lives. Happy Mother's Day to all our dear friends from coast to coast who are celebrating as mothers for the first time. Congratulations!
Welcome Alexander Hart
Happy Birthday Alexander Hart! Jayme is our friend from the University of Michigan. He and Mike became friends when they learned of their shared interest in high end audio and Scotch. We have known Jayme for more than ten years and we know that he's going to make a wonderful dad. We do not know much of his wife Lauren besides she has a wonderful sense of beauty (based on her lovely wedding) and she is a kindred spirit in the kitchen. She is someone who knows how wonderful it is to share the cooking and eating experience with someone you love.
Film/Books
Let's see. While I was doing my internet-based work I had The L Word playing in the background. The characters are addicting! I also went on a little Audrey Hepburn run and watched a handful of those classics: Funny Face, Sabrina, and Charade. Funny Face was by far my favorite for a few reasons. It was a great musical and I couldn't believe how true the song "On How to Be Lovely" is! Also, I wondered if Fred Astair was the first person to dance like a crazy person on the floor with a guitar, kicking his legs in the air like you see rock stars do. Did he start a trend or is it just a common involuntary physical action for musicians? I also enjoyred a Quentin Tarantino flick called Deathproof...although I would be reserved to recommend it to everyone because it has all the gore of a typical Tarantino flick. But the stunts were marvelous. I call this "Quentin's Take on Charlie's Angels".
I also joined Good reads.com to see what my friends say about different books. I'm always looking for good reads...especially stories about women.
Schneiders Visit Glacier
The Schneiders came to visit us in the middle of May. They drove from Michigan and did some site-seeing along the way in Wisconsin, South Dakota, and eastern Montana. We spent a couple days in Missoula. We took them to our favorite local cafe, Hob Nob, our favorite steakhouse in the Bitterroot valley, Guy's Lolo Creek Steakhouse, and had take-out from Thai Spicy. We also spent an afternoon walking from our house to the farmer's market, Brennan's wave, and the Carousel for Missoula. The second part of their visit was spent up north. We spent one night in Woods Bay, one of my favorite places in Montana, where we stayed at the Islander and spent the evening touring the local hangouts including the Flathead Lake Brewing Company and the Raven.
At Flathead Lake Brewing Company we heard an amazing little local band (bass, drums, keyboards) called Bluestone. It was pretty extraordinary music and I'm very excited to be a little bit of a groupie. Since there were so few people in Woods Bay that evening we managed to meet the band, a cute couple on vacation from Colorado, and a local Woods Bay man who was terribly friendly and happy. There were three things that stand out about that evening in Woods Bay to me. First, in true Schneider tradition we enjoyed some drinks in our rooms...or rather in the adirondack chairs just outside our rooms. As we sat and watched the sun set over the lake we noticed the parking lot outside the Raven restaurant across the street. Luxury cars came and went...Mercedes, Cadillac, Porsche, etc. They seemed out of place in this little Montana town parked next to the old pick-ups. Then we realized that the owners were probably coming down to Woods Bay from Big Fork, which is a much fancier town where millionaires(and Hollywood) come to vacation.
Second, we heard a funny story about the stuffed fish on the wall behind the bar at the Flathead Lake Brewing Company. The owner was at a conference when his friend said, "Hey, I have a couple stuffed fish that I did as my first try in a taxidermy class. Want them?" The owner said, "Sure! That would be great!" When the fish were delivered he got a call from his manager. "How are they?" the owner asked. "Well, they are smaller than I expected," said the manager. The two fish were each maybe 8 inches long...not exactly the wallpiece that they expected. None-the-less, the fish were mounted on the wall and make for a fun little story and a bunch of laughs.
Lastly, I had a peculiar conversation with someone who I suspect owned own of those fancy cars. We were sitting at the Raven on the porch, which overlooks the Flathead waves crashing on the shore and the boat docking for summer Raven-goers. I was snapping pictures of the scene, including the happy local who was sitting at the end of the dock, my family looking over the menus, and the sun setting over the nearby peninsula. A well-dressed man asked me what I was taking pictures of and I told him the lake, the local, and my family. He snuffed at me. Then I offered to take his picture in this lovely place and email it to him but he said gruffly, "I come here all the time." To which I responded, "All the more reason to have a photo taken," and continued to tell him that I've started to take pictures of the things that happen in my everyday life so that my memories don't become holiday-only and travel-centric. He responded, "I can have my wife take my picture," as if I was hitting on him and bothering him. I was flummoxed that this man had broken the ice with me and then had the nerve to blow me off and treat me like an unwelcome solicitor. I sat down and commented to my family, "What kind of man drinks white wine anyways." Rude, I know, and white wine is good. I think it bothered me so much that someone would invite me into a conversation and then blow me off immediately thereafter. It is socially inept behavior.
The remainder of our time together was spent in Glacier National Park. We checked in to a cabin in Apgar Village right on Lake MacDonald. We spent our time mostly site-seeing. We drove to the historic Lake MacDonald Lodge and the Trail of the Cedars through Glacier's rain forest. While we drove, we listened to my mom and dad's CD that provided commentary about the sites along the Going to the Sun Road. I think the most interesting thing is glacial flour that causes the water in Glacier National Park to be so blue. Evidently, there are teeny tiny little flecks of rock that float in the water and reflect light to us that looks like that special blue. Since the Going to the Sun Road was closed for through traffic, we spent an entire day driving the Roosevelt Highway along the south side of the Park. We saw Big Horn sheep near the salt lick, the Roosevelt Monument at the continental divide, and a myriad of vistas during our trip. It was remarkably empty from tourists and we were able to take our time and enjoy the open space. However, we didn't see any glaciers...maybe next time.
Farewell Dave Friend
On Thursday May 22 Dave Friend said farewell to his wife and son and fell asleep in his chair for the last time. Dave lost his battle with cancer and leaves behind dozens of people who were lucky to have known him. To us, Dave will always be the face of Missoula. He was the first person we met and he welcomed us to Missoula with a kind smile and a quirky sense of humor.
He will also be remembered by hundreds of students. Dave was an extraordinary professor of astronomy. In fact, when our AAA insurance agent learned that Mike was joining the faculty of the Physics and Astronomy department at the UM he exclaimed that Dave Friend was the best teacher he ever had...especially in a science class.
My First Mammogram
Have you ever been told that you have photogenic breasts? Those kind words were only mildly comforting as I had my first mammogram. The mammogram and the subsequent ultrasound revealed that I am fine. Thank goodness because I'm not done.
Yellowstone and Cody
Needless to say, our departure from Missoula was postponed due to a couple unexpected events. We canceled our camping trip in Yellowstone to attend Dave's memorial service. Then we postponed our departure due to my not-so-normal yearly exam. None-the-less we were able to enjoy the colors of the Grand Prismatic Spring, the odors of the Mud Pots, and the excitement of baby buffalo (and their parents) crossing our path during our driving tour in the late afternoon on Friday May 30.
We got to Cody, Wyoming at 9PM and decided to stay the night in The Cody, which is a new awesome hotel on the west side of town. By staying there we were able to scoot up to a fair and ride some (two) stomach-turning rides before returning to the comfort of our not-so-spinning bed. The Cody offered a delicious breakfast where we met the owner and gave our compliments. Then we took off for our second day of moving to Boulder. We stopped in Thermopolis to see the world's largest mineral hot springs and to stretch our legs. Since we didn't know how to get to our bathing suits, we didn't soak at all but decided that we should pack better next time so we can.
South of Casper the traffic got heavy and I remarked at how quickly I had acclimated to Montana...
Arrive in Boulder
We arrived in Boulder, Colorado around 6:30PM. We checked in to the Quality Inn on Arapahoe. It is the same place that the Schneiders used to stay when they visited us when we lived in Boulder. We knew it was a nice place and it has a great location. After washing the road off, we went to the Lazy Dog for beers, dinner, and to watch the Red Wings play for the Stanley Cup. After the game, Wendy, Katie, Joe, Dave, Hans, Amber, Eric, and Erin joined us for some rooftop drinks. It was a lovely welcome back to Boulder.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Pancakes
I don't cook with cookbooks/recipes on a daily basis...except when it comes to the best-ever pancakes. I'm blogging this recipe so I don't have to bring my cookbook to Boulder for the summer. :)
The recipe is modified from "Cook Something" by Mitchell Davis.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
additional butter for frying
Instructions:
Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl.
Combine dry and wet ingredients.
Make pancakes (preferably on cast iron).
The recipe is modified from "Cook Something" by Mitchell Davis.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
additional butter for frying
Instructions:
Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl.
Combine dry and wet ingredients.
Make pancakes (preferably on cast iron).
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
April 2008
Welcome Madeleine
Happy Birthday Madeleine Barry! On April 1st, Chris and Elizabeth Barry became parents to little baby Madeleine. Congratulations!
Back to Bozeman
After spending the end of spring break skiing Big Sky with Jim, we hustled home for the beginning of April. Four days later we returned to Bozeman for Mike's work. On Friday, Mike talked to the people in MSU's physics department. It was a full day of meeting new colleagues and sharing ideas. I spent the day as a "Lady of Leisure". I visited the Museum of the Rockies where I saw all sorts of dinosaur bones and learned a bit of Montana history. My favorite bones were the "family" of triceratops - there was a baby, an adolescent, a female, and a male. After half a day in the museum, I returned to our room at The Voss Inn for a soak in the tub. I had forgotten how relaxing a bath can be. Now I want to refinish our bathtub so I can soak at home too.
House Stuff
The rest of the month was a blur. I actually had to ask my students what I'd been doing all month. They reminded me that I did demolition in my basement. Oh yeah! I tore down two walls and hauled them out. I also transformed my bathroom - a coat of paint, some towel racks, and a framed photo worked wonders! I also chose a color for the exterior of the house. Mike and I walked to and from work with paint samples in our pockets trying to see what our favorite colors looked like house-sized. We settled on some kind of modern colors. Behr's "Carriage Door" for the body looks like a sage green that blends in with Mount Sentinal.
Old Friends
The other fun thing about April is that I reconnected with some old friends. April McHugh from Madison emailed me to say "hi" and to ask me to keep my eyes and ears posted for any counseling jobs that she might be qualified for in my neck of the woods. I also got an email from Amy, one of Mike's high school friends, following up with me on our Christmas card and change of address. It is always fun to touch base with people! Perhaps my favorite new old friend that I "found" is Paul. My sister called to ask if he plays in a band around Detroit because she thought she had seen him out and about. Sure enough, he plays with Garden of Souls. Quite frankly I think Paul is the most talented musician I know. If you get a chance you should listen.
Happy Birthday Madeleine Barry! On April 1st, Chris and Elizabeth Barry became parents to little baby Madeleine. Congratulations!
Back to Bozeman
After spending the end of spring break skiing Big Sky with Jim, we hustled home for the beginning of April. Four days later we returned to Bozeman for Mike's work. On Friday, Mike talked to the people in MSU's physics department. It was a full day of meeting new colleagues and sharing ideas. I spent the day as a "Lady of Leisure". I visited the Museum of the Rockies where I saw all sorts of dinosaur bones and learned a bit of Montana history. My favorite bones were the "family" of triceratops - there was a baby, an adolescent, a female, and a male. After half a day in the museum, I returned to our room at The Voss Inn for a soak in the tub. I had forgotten how relaxing a bath can be. Now I want to refinish our bathtub so I can soak at home too.
House Stuff
The rest of the month was a blur. I actually had to ask my students what I'd been doing all month. They reminded me that I did demolition in my basement. Oh yeah! I tore down two walls and hauled them out. I also transformed my bathroom - a coat of paint, some towel racks, and a framed photo worked wonders! I also chose a color for the exterior of the house. Mike and I walked to and from work with paint samples in our pockets trying to see what our favorite colors looked like house-sized. We settled on some kind of modern colors. Behr's "Carriage Door" for the body looks like a sage green that blends in with Mount Sentinal.
Old Friends
The other fun thing about April is that I reconnected with some old friends. April McHugh from Madison emailed me to say "hi" and to ask me to keep my eyes and ears posted for any counseling jobs that she might be qualified for in my neck of the woods. I also got an email from Amy, one of Mike's high school friends, following up with me on our Christmas card and change of address. It is always fun to touch base with people! Perhaps my favorite new old friend that I "found" is Paul. My sister called to ask if he plays in a band around Detroit because she thought she had seen him out and about. Sure enough, he plays with Garden of Souls. Quite frankly I think Paul is the most talented musician I know. If you get a chance you should listen.
Monday, March 31, 2008
March 2008
March got off to a pretty slow start but it ended with a bang!
Carpal Tunnel
At the end of February, my wrist was hurting me and my PA gave me a tentative diagnosis of carpal tunnel. Luckily, things slowed down for Muzeview and I was given permission to take time off from processing data to rest my wrist. Based on what my boss says, I can take this time to chill out and when things get rolling again I get to do some data analysis. So, I'm sitting tight and trying to rest my wrist. But, boy oh boy! I am going a little stir crazy. I use my hands for everything! Crafts, typing, prepping for class, chopping food for dinner, doing laundry, washing my hair,..., and the list goes on!
Film Appreciation/Addiction
You know what doesn't hurt my wrist? Watching TV. Flipping the channels hurts but if I have something to watch then I'm set for a good hour and a half (if it is a movie sort of thing). On the watch list this month: This is Spinal Tap and a host of sociopath-killer shows. Now that I've seen Spinal Tap, I recognize and understand some of the references it gets in pop culture. More importantly, thanks to Spinal Tap, Mike and I are proud to announce that we have a fabulously loud amplifier for our stereo. In fact, it goes to eleven. What sociopath-killer shows? Well, we watched "No Country for Old Men" and, despite it's gore, I loved it! I thought it was terribly interesting that they claim the movie was about a sheriff because the audience doesn't get to know the sheriff in the typical main character sort of way (watching or listening to the sheriff for the majority of the show). Instead, we get to know the sheriff by seeing what he is not. It was so interesting! We discussed the show for a long time after it ended. And last, but not least, Dexter. Dexter is a TV series shown on Showtime and I am addicted to it.
I don't remember why I have this written in my notes but apparently the greener the tea (i.e., the more chlorophyll the tea leaves have) the less bitter the taste. Lovely.
Welcome Harper!
Happy Birthday Harper Savage! Congratulations are in order. Our dear friends are now parents. Congratulations, Mike and Sarah. You will be amazing parents!
Spring Fever
Andrew and Sherry invited us to dinner at their home in the Rattlesnake. It was a yummy meal and so nice to get out of our house and socialize a little. The main event was our post-meal drinks. Sherry got a new fancy espresso maker (Mike knows the name of it) and made us delicious espresso and espresso drinks for treats after dinner. It was the best espresso I have ever had!
Having dinner with Andrew and Sherry reminded us how much we crave cooking and eating with people. It is a perfect way to socialize! I think the long hours Mike works during this first year make that kind of socializing during the week hard. Who wants to eat dinner after 9PM? Oh well. I think it is just the spring weather or the spring fever that makes me feel lonely for my old friends. Soon enough we'll be in Boulder for the summer.
Hooray for Jim!
Lucky for us, just as we were feeling lonely, Jim came to visit. (Good thing we moved to a place with world class skiing!) We spent the last weekend of March tearing it up tele-style with Jim, his girlfriend Lisa, and his friend Scot at Big Sky. For pictures click here. Besides getting to spend time with one of our best friends, we got to plan next season's epic ski trip:Big Sky, Moonlight Basin, Grand Targhee, Jackson Hole, Alta, Snowbird, Sun Valley, and Lost Trail (just for kicks). This was inspired by one of the guys at Pipestone Moutaineering and it seemed like a great thing to do in January between semesters. (This, of course, is only happening if I'm not preggers.)
Our Next President - I Hope
Before I sign off I want to share Barack Obama's speech on race just in case you haven't heard it yet. Now, don't tell me "I'm a republican" or "I'm voting for Hillary" as an excuse not to listen. If you are human and you have ears then I think it is worth listening to and discussing.
Carpal Tunnel
At the end of February, my wrist was hurting me and my PA gave me a tentative diagnosis of carpal tunnel. Luckily, things slowed down for Muzeview and I was given permission to take time off from processing data to rest my wrist. Based on what my boss says, I can take this time to chill out and when things get rolling again I get to do some data analysis. So, I'm sitting tight and trying to rest my wrist. But, boy oh boy! I am going a little stir crazy. I use my hands for everything! Crafts, typing, prepping for class, chopping food for dinner, doing laundry, washing my hair,..., and the list goes on!
Film Appreciation/Addiction
You know what doesn't hurt my wrist? Watching TV. Flipping the channels hurts but if I have something to watch then I'm set for a good hour and a half (if it is a movie sort of thing). On the watch list this month: This is Spinal Tap and a host of sociopath-killer shows. Now that I've seen Spinal Tap, I recognize and understand some of the references it gets in pop culture. More importantly, thanks to Spinal Tap, Mike and I are proud to announce that we have a fabulously loud amplifier for our stereo. In fact, it goes to eleven. What sociopath-killer shows? Well, we watched "No Country for Old Men" and, despite it's gore, I loved it! I thought it was terribly interesting that they claim the movie was about a sheriff because the audience doesn't get to know the sheriff in the typical main character sort of way (watching or listening to the sheriff for the majority of the show). Instead, we get to know the sheriff by seeing what he is not. It was so interesting! We discussed the show for a long time after it ended. And last, but not least, Dexter. Dexter is a TV series shown on Showtime and I am addicted to it.
I don't remember why I have this written in my notes but apparently the greener the tea (i.e., the more chlorophyll the tea leaves have) the less bitter the taste. Lovely.
Welcome Harper!
Happy Birthday Harper Savage! Congratulations are in order. Our dear friends are now parents. Congratulations, Mike and Sarah. You will be amazing parents!
Spring Fever
Andrew and Sherry invited us to dinner at their home in the Rattlesnake. It was a yummy meal and so nice to get out of our house and socialize a little. The main event was our post-meal drinks. Sherry got a new fancy espresso maker (Mike knows the name of it) and made us delicious espresso and espresso drinks for treats after dinner. It was the best espresso I have ever had!
Having dinner with Andrew and Sherry reminded us how much we crave cooking and eating with people. It is a perfect way to socialize! I think the long hours Mike works during this first year make that kind of socializing during the week hard. Who wants to eat dinner after 9PM? Oh well. I think it is just the spring weather or the spring fever that makes me feel lonely for my old friends. Soon enough we'll be in Boulder for the summer.
Hooray for Jim!
Lucky for us, just as we were feeling lonely, Jim came to visit. (Good thing we moved to a place with world class skiing!) We spent the last weekend of March tearing it up tele-style with Jim, his girlfriend Lisa, and his friend Scot at Big Sky. For pictures click here. Besides getting to spend time with one of our best friends, we got to plan next season's epic ski trip:Big Sky, Moonlight Basin, Grand Targhee, Jackson Hole, Alta, Snowbird, Sun Valley, and Lost Trail (just for kicks). This was inspired by one of the guys at Pipestone Moutaineering and it seemed like a great thing to do in January between semesters. (This, of course, is only happening if I'm not preggers.)
Our Next President - I Hope
Before I sign off I want to share Barack Obama's speech on race just in case you haven't heard it yet. Now, don't tell me "I'm a republican" or "I'm voting for Hillary" as an excuse not to listen. If you are human and you have ears then I think it is worth listening to and discussing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)