Saturday, March 31, 2007

The Elusive Pickle Face




For almost a month now I have been trying to capture Cora's "pickle face" without much luck. She makes it often, yet fleetingly. But, in the last week or so I've come closest to documenting the look.

Friday, March 23, 2007

What ever happened to Spring Break?


Today is the end of Spring Break. While I did finally realize that if I don't want to grade papers over the break, I shouldn't have them due just before it starts, I still had a lot of work to do. I graded midterms. I calculated midterm grades. I tried to shoehorn in eight more weeks of planning classes because I never seem to have enough time to really feel prepared anymore. I tried, I say, because I pretty much planned only two weeks, with a slightly less hazy vision of the six after that. And while I intended to clean up my piles of stuff on the office desk, I never got around to that. I'm glad my officemate is understanding.



So, what did I do? Good question. Cora and I were able to go for a walk a couple times as the temperature got up to 50+. I made better dinners, like the pasta and veggies Cora and I had last night (she was happy to eat the broccoli provided I fed it to her. She didn't want to touch it.). I finished a candy bar book. I'm halfway through Death's Acre (Cora's favorite cover - and a fascinating book - Bill Bass virtually invented forensics as we know it today through CSI; It wasn't until the freaking eighties that we really had a decomposition timeline for heaven's sake!). And I've started Kite Runner, which I'm supposed to be halfway through for book group tomorrow morning. I haven't done any sewing, though.



I was in the university library yesterday morning, looking for books about the playwrights we've got coming up in class, and I had a realization. An epiphany. I need to read more novels. I need more time for reading. I don't know where it is going to come from, but I have to find it.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Holy Moley!

This post is just to tell you to check out this very cool site!

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

New in CoraLand


WEATHER REPORT: Spring finally makes a special appearance in Minneapolis! Yesterday it was 65 degrees and sunny and lovely! Over the last few days we have taken walks (Cora now rides in her stroller like a big kid - facing forward!), played outside, touched the disappearing snow, and heard newly returned birds boasting about their tans.


BOOK REPORT: On the floor beside the dining room table I have a pile of library books (well where do you keep yours?). Poetry books, baby development books, mystery books, Chris's music history books, books on other subjects I'm interested in. Cora loves to crawl over there and topple the stack of books and then rummage through them. Every time she pulls out the same book. She finds it, pulls it out in front of her, stares at it, picks it up (right side up!), and touches her forehead to the top of the cover, then smiles. Is it the baby development book? No. It is the memoir by Bill Bass, founder of The Body Farm. Is it because she likes skulls? Is it because the skull bears a resemblance to Mr Froggy? Is it because I read Beowulf to her in the womb?


FOOD REPORT: Cora is excited about two new foods. Macaroni and cheese and oh the ham the ham the ham. More ham please. No, really, more ham now! And pizza. When Chris made us pizza last night I made a little thin crust one for Cora with just sauce and cheese and she loved it. She also really likes playing with the spoon after meals - this picture is from after breakfast this morning.

Hair Story


So I decided to give up my hair for Lent. Hee hee, just kidding. About the Lent part. Do you know it has been about 12 years since I had my hair cut professionally? (I mean, Mom's good, but she's not doing it professionally.) So for a while I have been harboring a desire to cut my hair. Then I started talking about it to Chris about two weeks ago. And then Monday I decided that it was time!

So I made an appointment for the next day at a neighborhood salon spa that opened about a year and half ago. It's a nice place - friendly, not outrageously expensive, and, best of all, nearby. Plus, the shampoo scalp massage alone was worth it - my daylong headache vanished!

I ended up having it cut a little shorter than my original intention so that it would be long enough to donate. Of course, as the stylist merrily clipped away (frequently asking, "So, this isn't freaking you out?"), I started to wonder if Cora would be the one to freak out!

No. She didn't. In fact, when I came home and Chris carried her over to see me, she laughed and reached out and patted my hair. Then we took pictures. Chris really likes the one of me looking slightly upset about the hair. Don't let the expression fool you - I like my new hair!


Monday, March 12, 2007

Summer Olympics 2024

When I haven't posted for a while, I start to hear this funny sound. It starts off really quiet about two or three days after the last post. Then it gets louder and louder and sounds kind of like tapioca grains being mashed with a meat mallet.



Then eventually I remember that it is the sound of grandmas gnashing their terrible teeth and rolling their terrible eyes while they wait to see more pictures of Cora. And then I download the camera and see if there are any pictures of her that are really cute. Or that show her doing something kind of dangerous. Because I know the sort of things grandmas like!


Cora has realized what generations of Romanian coaches never have: a simple folding table's possibilities as gymnastic equipment!

Another perfect dismount!

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Wildlife Photography

While I've never believed I am constitutionally suited to hanging around in a bush waiting for the gnu to wander down to the watering hole and lean in for a drink so the giant killer crocodile and leap up and grab him and take him down into the water for a roll of death...I have been sitting around all morning hoping to capture something special on camera for you. And, it worked. Here it is...Cora standing up, albeit with the aid of her book chair.

That second snowstorm



It was indeed bigger than the first - we ended up with about 20" of snow in slightly less than 48 hours. That's a lot of shoveling!

The photo on the right shows our lilac tree and a little bit of fence. In the photo on the left Mr. Bear demonstrates the correct response to a Major Snow Event...watch the frenzied weather coverage!