Yet another note from T2

My Mom recently visited, and was discussing some distant cousins with the Things. I think that's what prompted this sweet note Thing 2 wrote today.

Dear cusens:
Wat is your names? I wont to play with you. Can you have a play dat with
me? How old ar you? Wat is your favrit color? My name is [T2] I am six years
old. I have a sister named [T1]. Wate grad are you in? My favret couler is
purple.

My kids don't actually have any first cousins, and no relatives at all close enough for a play date. :-(

Strawberry Pie!

This weekend we were gifted with a half flat of strawberries from the berry stand down the road. Several of us are berry fans, but even we can't eat that much, so tonight Thing 1 and I made strawberry pie. This is a recipe I got at a berry farm in Oregon in 1987. I know the year because it has the date on the recipe itself. It's a delicious pie, a fave of mine and Hubby's, but I hadn't made it for years. I forgot how good it is! T1 has announced it's the most delicious food in the world. T2 will have a taste tomorrow. Strawberry pie for breakfast?

Lolich's Fresh Strawberry Pie

1 baked 9" pie shell cooled
1 3-oz. package of cream cheese
1 quart fresh strawberries
3/4 C sugar
1 C whipping cream
2 Tbs corn starch
1/4 tsp lemon juice

Blend cream cheese and 3 Tbs cream until smooth. Spread over baked pie shell. Wash and hull the berries. Set aside half (the prettier ones). Puree the rest of the berries with the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Cook the mixture in microwave on high for 6 min.s, turning and stirring twice, until mixture is thick and transparent. Pour 1/2 of puree over cream cheese mixture. Slice remaining berries in half and arrange in shell. Pour remaining puree over berries. Whip cream; add 1/2 tsp sugar. Top pie with whipped cream and chill. Gobble.


PS--The pink and blue spots in T1's mouth are fillings. Yes, they come in colors. Yes, we made sure she brushed her teeth well tonight!

Worms

I've bought and read all 7 Harry Potter books, and about 2 years ago I parked the set in Thing 1's bookshelf and gently urged her to read them. I knew she'd like them. Well, she's just recently decided to listen, and has zoomed through to the 4th book in about 3 weeks. And the other day she asked me if I had any recommendations for her after she finished the series. That was very satisfying.

Even more satisfying, this morning I discovered the first HP book propped open in Thing 2's room. She told me her sister had let her borrow it. I asked T2 if the book was too hard for her (she's 6 and in kindergarten, after all) and she said no and proceeded to retell the plot thus far. Cool.

I can't tell you how pleased I am to have bred bookworms. :-)

Left

These results don't surprise me a bit. I'm too libertarian to be a Commie, I guess, so what does that make me?

My Political Views
I am a left social libertarian
Left: 7.08, Libertarian: 6.28

Political Spectrum Quiz

My Foreign Policy Views
Score: -7.14

Political Spectrum Quiz


My Culture War Stance
Score: -9.64

Political Spectrum Quiz

Water Rescue

It's Spring Break. My Mom's visiting, and today Hubby took the day off, too, so we went for a picnic at Yosemite Lake. Spike went too, and when he actually fell in the lake, Thing 1 had to mount a rescue operation:

Apparently, vampires don't float. Fortunately, they don't have to breathe, either, and the rescue was successful.

Thing 1, Vampire Rescuer.

Momentarily Sorta Cool

I'm in LA for a couple days for a meeting. Drove down in Mick the Mini, listening to my new iPod Nano, so I didn't mind the drive at all. I picked up a colleague 100 miles down the road, so I had company 2/3 of the way, too. Even people in LA think my car is cool. They let me in when I have to change lanes, in a way they rarely do when I'm in my SUV. And two young guys driving a Mini with the exact same color scheme flashed me smiles and peace signs as I passed them.

Video to watch

Someone sent me a link to this YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UE3CNu_rtY

It's at the central station in Antwepr, and it's really great. Nothing like this ever happens here.

Grading is Fun

I was grading essays this morning while my students were taking an exam. As I got to one particular essay on the history of policing in the American south, I had to stifle a fit of the giggles. Here's the sentence that set me off:

They would also patrol for African American semen that came from the North;
the semen would have to stay on the boat and were not allowed to walk on the
street.

Snort!

Happy Day

Today was a very good day. I finished one major project at work and one moderate one, got good feedback on a project I finished a couple weeks ago, solved a student's thorny problem, and had a meeting that went very well. And when I returned to my office from the meeting, I discovered a former student had left a box of See's chocolates in my mailbox as a thank you for writing her a letter of recommendation. Let me tell you, of all the things I could find in my mailbox, it's hard to think of anything that would be nicer. :-)

And tonight I had ceramics class and made a big bowl and a spider tile.