sick

I feel sick to my stomach. I just realized I have deleted my entire graduate school folder. Tomorrow morning I take the test that is the prerequisite for my final class and I'm trying to get prepared for that. I hadn't noticed the folder was gone until now.... What probably happened: I accidentally selected the folder when I had too many blog photos on my desktop and put it in the trash, then emptied the trash some time when things were moving slowly and I was trying to improve the speed of the computer. A less likely, but possible, scenario: Henry deleted it while playing on my computer. Easier to think maybe he did it, than to get so angry with myself. Unbelievable. So many hours of work...

Continuing...

I'm up late. Just got back from the district appreciation dinner, which went long tonight. I even skipped out on the last two retirement speeches, which I never do. I'm a young mom, and tire easily...so I have an excuse.
Here are a few photos I wanted to post earlier....Henry having his first play experience with a pla-doh-like substance. He enjoyed it and only tried to stick a piece in his mouth once...that I saw. Then he decided to experiment with his sippy cup and the pla-doh container. He enjoys any sort of experimentation that has to do with putting something in water or putting water in something. Finally, Grammie brought this ancient 'bike' toy for Henry. I'll get a close up photo soon, so that you can see where it says 'Will' and 'Rob' on it. I have pretty distinct memories of riding the thing myself, but apparently I wasn't such a vandal. After some initial hesitation (am I walking or sitting?) Henry took to it like a pro.

Blog, interrupted.

Henry and Grammie are napping, which leaves me free to update. Actually, I spent the first hour or so of their nap reading in the sun in my backyard...when I thought my fair skin had had enough for the morning I thought I'd come in and revert to pasty computer-white.
The 1 bag, 5 dinners challenge is going well. Night 2 was Thai-style steak salad, then mustard crusted turkey breast with roasted vegetables, and last night was mozzarella and ham panini with tomato salad. All very good. The sandwiches were a big hit with Pete. I enjoyed the do-it-yourself panini press....two baking sheets pressed together. So far they've all been very easy, fairly light meals. I will add all of them to my repertoire!
Oh dear...I hear a screaming Henry. I may have to finish the update later on...

Busy Day

Henry decided that we needed to get up at 6AM today, so we made the most of it. We were to the grocery, the bakery, and back home by 9:30. We spent some time with the newspaper and our coffee. It's our second week with the Sunday Tribune, and it makes for a nice weekend. Then we went furniture shopping! We bought 4 pieces for our new living room....a sofa, two chairs and an ottoman. SO EXCITED!!! Here's a photo of the two chairs, or some very like them. The one with the ottoman is actually covered in a thin-striped fabric with reds, purples, greens, taupes. The small chair swivels and is covered in a soft sage green. The couch is a micro-suede (I know, it's not our favorite, but with boy, cat and dog, it's very practical) and it's sort of a dark taupe.
After the furniture shopping we came home and I made an early dinner so Pete could go play with his new band. I'm following the recipes in the new Everyday Food...the cover article was "Shop Smart, 1 bag, 5 dinners"...so we bought all of the groceries and made recipe #1 today. Salmon with lemon relish, which is really more like raisin relish. It was fancier than what I usually make, but easy enough and pretty. It tasted pretty good! Next time I'll ease up on the parsley and make sure I don't overdo the pine nuts.

The final picture is actually from yesterday. Henry's friend Jonah came over for a bit. His parents were nice enough to give us their old patio furniture. Thanks guys!! Henry and Jonah hadn't seen each other since before Henry was walking. They had a pretty good time talking about their dogs, bubbles and the baseball. Henry also showed Jonah his new birdfeeder, which was a housewarming gift from my work friend, Janice. Those are two handsome boys!!

You're not off the hook...

I do still want some feedback about that last post. A blog is much more fun when it's interactive! I know some of you know something about gardening, so come on readers! Pony up with those helpful tips for this amateur.
In the meantime, because I know most of you are here for your Henry fix....
I present: The Discovery of Toilet Paper!

Henry IS the amateur gardener...

Henry had much work to do in the yard today. I planted a few "johnny-jump-ups" in my front planters and cleared out some old garbage from the flower beds, but Henry got some serious work done. Here he is working with the spray bottle, saying "Hi!" to Bartelby the garden gnome (thanks Sue and Dave!), supervising Dad's raking and filling the watering can...not necessarily in that order.































Now, a request for some help. Here are two of the lovely tulips that have recently surfaced. I'm smitten with this rosy-pink one. Does anyone have an idea of what it might be called? Also, it's been recommended to me that I could separate these hostas and day-lilies. Specifically that the day-lilies will bloom better if not so crowded. Any idea on how to do this? I've never done such a thing. Actually, they also mentioned that I might find more tulip bulbs if I dig around where these have popped up, that maybe they've been crowded out. Does that make sense to anyone? Is there a time that's best to do such a thing? And, to the literary-minded, should I stop saying "such a thing"?

The verdict is in...

This girl makes a nasty margarita...and to some that means "way too strong!" nasty not "woah, that's good!" nasty. However, the guacamole got rave reviews. I stand by the garlic and cilantro as the key ingredients in an awesome fresh guac. The store-bought queso also stands the test of time as a tasty favorite. Several work friends stopped by and it was a very fun time! Henry and his Papa and grandparents took a trip to Costco and Steak and

Shake while we had fun party times. Pete brought home a huge amount of red meat and a giant bag of chocolate chips. He's now being the perfect husband, putting Henry down to bed while I finish off the margaritas and have a nice no-repsonsibility evening. Thanks to all of my school friends who stopped by! I love my new neighborhood, and I love the fact that I'm so close to school that such great friends can stop by freely!

Change of pace...

I thought I'd switch things up a bit and post a little about my work life. I wouldn't take the liberty to post photos of my students, as those are other peoples' kids, but here are some shots of recent projects we're working on...
We're in the middle of a fairy tale unit- my favorite unit of study. Here's a picture of the gingerbread house upon which we track the characteristics of different fairy tales we read. Also, a picture of our hallway

bulletin board showing pages where students wrote about what wish they would want a fairy godmother to grant. Finally, a picture from a fun parent-led activity today. The parents came in to teach the kids about Da Vinci as artist and inventor. The kids made wave bottles with water, oil and food coloring so they, too, could study the movements of water.

Happy Birthday Ellen!

I seem unable to get to birthdays in time this year, so instead of a timely card and gift, Ellen is getting a shout-out on the blog. Happy Birthday Ellen! I hope you have lots of balloons and yummy treats. I can't wait to celebrate with you soon!!!!! XOXOXO

Girlie on my case

Amber's getting on my case about my blog growing stale. So, even though I should be checking 2nd grade papers, I guess I'll post a few things. Also- trying out a new title. Felt like it was time for a change.
So, last week we had some really nice weather and Henry and I tried to spend as much of our time outside as we could. Here he is trying out his toes in the grass.
We also went to the library and I got my new card. It's a very nice library, with a wonderful, wide open and bright children's section. I wouldn't disparage Evanston's library, which I love, but the board books at Northbrook's library are organized! Here's a photo of our spoils...

And, finally, anybody know what this plant is?

Update

For those of you out of town, or not as familiar with Iowa City, here are a few more links.

St. Pat's Church
University of Iowa
The Daily Iowan


The weird thing about being out of town is that the photos are alien and all too familiar at the same time. I look at some and think, "how many times have I been in that building?" or "oh yeah, so-and-so used to live there". And others I look at and think "is that REALLY College Green Park?" The most current update in the Daily Iowan says it was an F2 tornado. In case you can't tell in that picture of the side of a building, that's a residence for persons with disabilities, and yes-those are pieces of wood embedded into the side of the building....I assume from St. Pat's church next door.

My hometown...

ICIA was hit hard last night by hail and a tornado. Family and friends are all safe after camping out in various basements. Carrie was at church and Mom was at work at the hospital, both had to drive home late- Carrie apparently avoiding downed power lines on the way. I spent the evening instant messaging with my brothers and trying to touch base with my parents. Here are some pictures I borrowed from the Iowa City Press Citizen . Not sure where that car is, but thought the photo told a good story. The big trees are down in College Green park, one of my favorite IC spots. Next is the Dairy Queen, over 50 years old, which we used to frequent in warm weather. Then arial shots of Iowa ave. and St. Patrick's Church on Court st. You can see the path of the tornado in that Iowa avenue picture. Pretty amazing. Other damage was to a sorority house, Linder tires, Menard's, car dealerships, Tony's Grill, Martini's (the old Bushnell's Turtle).... I'll leave the rest of the updates to those who actually live in town.

Brilliance Abounds

All kinds of brilliance to report upon today...
I got this great shot of Henry improving upon his mango by adding Cheerios. I think he may be a great chef some day.







And here he is standing out on the patio, having just opened the sliding door himself and walking on out. Actually, he doesn't walk out, he backs out...as if heading down a treacherous flight of stairs.





And finally, another picture of the brilliant and lovely hyacinths in the yard. Though one can't truly own nature, I feel blessed each day to live in a place where these little guys make their home. And, of course, there's Franklin doing his business in the background.

Empty, we hope.

Pete and I spent a good three or four hours on Sunday emptying the last remaining things out of the condo and cleaning up. Here are some photos of the place empty. We spent a few last moments in each room. I didn't get misty, but it was a melancholy experience, especially saying goodbye to Henry's first bedroom. We did leave just one thing behind...this sticker baby photo of me from my 30th birthday party. Seemed a shame to try to peel it off the fridge.
I made my last trip to the car with the welcome mat, the boom box and the bucket of cleaning supplies, then sat there while Pete grabbed the last flower pot and locked up. I noticed our upstairs neighbor, Jerky, walking across the street. When Pete got to the car I asked if he'd seen Jerky (real name: Pete. Thus, we must call him by his more accurate name, Jerky). Pete then relayed this conversation to me:

Jerky: You guys moving?
Pete: Yep. We're out.
Jerky: Good luck.
Pete: (claims to have said nothing, but I'm sure he probably said "thanks" or "see ya".)

Jerk. We ran through a myriad of responses Pete could have had, none of which ought to be repeated here....polite company and all. Probably best that he just kept his mouth shut. Now we can move on with our pleasant, quiet suburban life. Ah....the sweet, sweet joy of not having an upstairs neighbor...

Hyacinths

I'm so glad my baby has a yard. I know...he's not really a baby anymore....I'll probably call him that my whole life. Look at how sweet he is with the flowers. He's a gentle soul. A gentle soul with a well-developed sense of humor...and the occasional need to grab my face with sharp little fingernails. But mostly gentle, with a cute little singing voice and some hot dance moves.