The first one is hysterical, isn't it?

Thank you

I really appreciate all the kind words. We just came back from a trip to Hawaii, and the house is so empty without Ruthie. This is my first time petless since 1985! No plans for another pet now, though, especially because Thing1 and I will be in Croatia for 6 months next year.

Thank you

Thank you so much to all of you for the very kind words. Your thoughts mean a lot to me.

Ruthie

We had to put Ruthie to sleep this morning. She could hardly walk, she was pretty much blind, and she just wasn't happy. It was the right decision. She was 11 1/2, a good age for a Saint. She was the sweetest dog in the whole wide world.

I'm alive!

Long time no hear, huh?

So, all my books are currently in print. I'm trying out this new Amazon thingy; the links should be in this post. I'm about to begin work on co-writing another textbook as well. So no, haven't done any knitting in a long time.

My other big news is I was granted a Fulbright scholarship to Croatia. I'll be spending Spring 2011 in Zagreb, and DD1 will be going with (DH and DD2 will visit). I'm pretty excited about it, to say the least. I hope to get in as much travel around Europe as I can while we're there, so if anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them.I just ordered some Croatian language CDs; we'll see if we can pick up a little of the labguage before we get there!

Book complete

This is the textbook my co-authors and I have been working on for an eternity. Finally, the 1st Edition is in print. Hooray!!

The 2nd edition of my hate crimes text will be out this spring as well. I'm just in a publishing frenzy, aren't I?

Amazon's discounting my book, Stasis, to $10.08 right now. My royalties remain the same, and I'm donating 100% of the royalties to Doctors without Borders. So now's a good time to buy. :-)

Back from the dead?

I haven't posted here for months and months. One thing I did in that time was write a novel during NaNoWriMo. And I self-published it so now you can buy it at Amazon or CreateSpace. All my royalties go to Doctors without Borders.

Hummer

Thanks for the comments on my new tattoo! :-) I'm very happy with it.

We're back home now.

See this little guy? He (she?) has decided that this particular spot on the tomato cage is where he wants to spend most of his day. He periodically flits over to snack on the California fuschia you can see in the background, but then he always flies back, and he perches there a long time. Sometimes another hummer comes along and dive-bombs him, bu he chases it off. It's nifty because he either can't see us through the window or doesn't care, so I can get within about 3 feet of him. I love hummingbirds.

Not sure what variety this is. Possibly a female or juvenile Anna's humminbird. or possibly not. :-)

Still Alive!

We're on vacation. Spent last week in Vancouver (which we liked a lot) and this week is in Portland. The kids and Spike came with us, and today I got a new tattoo. :-)

Summer

Thing1 flew all by herself to Oregon, for visits with relatives and then camp. See how grown-up she looks, in this pic I took at the airport?

Meanwhile, T2 celebrated Crazy Hair Day at school.

I am stuck with book revisions and emergency budget meetings. Bleh!!

I'm alive!

Okay, so I haven't posted in a really really long time. Not too much exciting going on here, really. But Thing 2 is now somewhere in the middle of the 4th Harry Potter book, which is pretty impressive for a kid who hasn't yet started 1st grade. Here she is posing with the book and no teeth.

Thing 2 is finishing up the series for the second time. She's off to camp on Saturday, where she'll be for 3 weeks. It's going to be very quiet around here.

Here's T1 and Spike enjoying lunch at Red Lobster to celebrate a good report card (for T1, that is. Spike didn't get one). T1 has a thing for eating shrimp.

Student Video

Want to see a video some of the students in my Hate Crimes class made? Here it is. They did a nice job. There's even a blooper reel at the end.

Last night was the last ceramics class until fall. I had two things to bring home. A spider tile:

I like it because I actually drew the spider, which is the limit of my drawing ability. And a sun:

Four of the rays had fallen off by the time it was bisque fired. So I glazed them separately, knowing I could glue them on later. And even though I used the same glaze on everything, as you can see, 3 of the rays turned out a totally different color. I guess they were in different spot in the kiln. In any case, I really like the the end result anyway, so it was a happy accident.

I plan to sign up again in the fall.

Garden

Thing 2 is very happy with the cherry tomato plant she planted in the Topsy Turvy thing. At least it'll give the snails a challenge to find it.

Ceramics FOs

Haven't had any pottery things to show in a while, so here's an odd little collection of ceramics projects. First there's this happy little guy. I'd meant him as a wall hanging, and he has holes in his head for nails, but he actually turned out to be a good size and shape ro become a cheese plate. But maybe I'm the only one who'd like to eat cheese off a skull:

I was thinking knitting needle holder when I made this, though it could be a vase, too. I think it looks kinda like a tree stump:

Here they are together, for scale:

Finally, I made a bowl I really like, but I can't seem to get a decent picture of it:

Ahoy, mateys!

Got the roof graphic for Mick and Hubby installed it last night. Here, for your viewing pleasure, are pictures:


I think it's safe to say I have the only car like this in town. :-)

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!