The mystery plant is a mystery no more! It has produced at least 8 zucchini, with more to come. I'll have to find a good zucchini bread recipe.
In other gardening news, I am overrun with tomatoes. This is my favorite time of year for produce, because everything tastes so good! I'll never look at a store-bought tomato the same way--they taste like sawdust.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Trials of TV Programming
This wonderful picture of Michael Phelps was taken by Natalie Behring, a photographer based in China.
He looks great, doesn't he? Well on his quest for 8 gold medals this Olympics.
Unfortunately for me, I have managed to miss all three of his races so far this Olympics. Why am I always missing the swimming? Why? I think some of it has to do with my expectations of what NBC's coverage is, and the actual reality. Take Sunday morning. I got up at the obscene hour of 6:30 in the morning to watch the US Mens soccer game against the Netherlands, because Saturday night the announcer said "Coverage starts at 6:30 tomorrow morning." The game didn't actually start until after 7, and then it wasn't on MSNBC as advertised in their info blurb. I watched Italy v South Korea on the tv and the US v Netherlands game on the internet.
No wonder I have missed Michael Phelps! I'm gonna have to research the times for the rest of the sports I want to catch (womens gymnastics - yes, badminton - no) so I will actually see them.
He looks great, doesn't he? Well on his quest for 8 gold medals this Olympics.
Unfortunately for me, I have managed to miss all three of his races so far this Olympics. Why am I always missing the swimming? Why? I think some of it has to do with my expectations of what NBC's coverage is, and the actual reality. Take Sunday morning. I got up at the obscene hour of 6:30 in the morning to watch the US Mens soccer game against the Netherlands, because Saturday night the announcer said "Coverage starts at 6:30 tomorrow morning." The game didn't actually start until after 7, and then it wasn't on MSNBC as advertised in their info blurb. I watched Italy v South Korea on the tv and the US v Netherlands game on the internet.
No wonder I have missed Michael Phelps! I'm gonna have to research the times for the rest of the sports I want to catch (womens gymnastics - yes, badminton - no) so I will actually see them.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Planty
Last month, I went to Nashville for the North American National Championships for Irish Dance. It was held in the Opryland resort, and the day after my team danced, we wandered around the hotel. We discovered this leafy street performer, and my friend's kids had a great time watching her be plant like and twine around the pole here.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Disappointing Start
The official start to the Olympics is Friday night with the opening ceremonies, but the games have already begun. This morning the women's soccer rotation started, and I watched most of the first half of the US v Norway game. We're down a great offensive asset, Abby Wambach, who broke her leg last month in a friendly game against Brazil, and it showed. The team was not settled at all, resulting in a 2-0 loss to Norway, who scored both goals in the first few minutes of the game. I wasn't able to catch the rest of the game, so hopefully we played better than the first half. This team better ground themselves and dig in to make a comeback so they can defend their gold medal from Athens.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Happenings
It's been a busy few weeks since I last posted. In that amount of time I have managed to:
-Go to Nashville for the North American National Championships for Irish Dance (my team placed 3rd and many of our youth soloists placed)
-Take lots of pictures and promptly lose my camera battery charger--this is bad because my battery is dead and I can't take the pictures off my camera
-Discover the huge mystery gourd/melon vine growing in the compost heap
-Finally work in the garden after neglecting it for almost a month
-Work like crazy to make up the holiday weekend
-Zumba like it is out of style
-Dogsit for my favorite St. Bernard (Ruby) and Newfoundland (Harry)
-Visit briefly with my best friend on her birthday before she went back to Minnesota
-Paint the waiting area at the Celtic Academy
This week is proving to be very busy as well. This weekend is the Celtic Festival (and Friday is my bday!). I'll be teaching Irish social dancing on Friday, performing on Saturday, and working as volunteer on Sunday. This in addition to working like a fool and trying to fit the rest of my regularly scheduled activities in. I think I'm not going to make my softball game tomorrow,but I better make it home in time to watch So You Think You Can Dance! Plus, I have family members and friends celebrating birthdays as well in the next week or so, so I'll be shopping for cards whenever I get a chance.
I'm exhausted just thinking about it!
-Go to Nashville for the North American National Championships for Irish Dance (my team placed 3rd and many of our youth soloists placed)
-Take lots of pictures and promptly lose my camera battery charger--this is bad because my battery is dead and I can't take the pictures off my camera
-Discover the huge mystery gourd/melon vine growing in the compost heap
-Finally work in the garden after neglecting it for almost a month
-Work like crazy to make up the holiday weekend
-Zumba like it is out of style
-Dogsit for my favorite St. Bernard (Ruby) and Newfoundland (Harry)
-Visit briefly with my best friend on her birthday before she went back to Minnesota
-Paint the waiting area at the Celtic Academy
This week is proving to be very busy as well. This weekend is the Celtic Festival (and Friday is my bday!). I'll be teaching Irish social dancing on Friday, performing on Saturday, and working as volunteer on Sunday. This in addition to working like a fool and trying to fit the rest of my regularly scheduled activities in. I think I'm not going to make my softball game tomorrow,but I better make it home in time to watch So You Think You Can Dance! Plus, I have family members and friends celebrating birthdays as well in the next week or so, so I'll be shopping for cards whenever I get a chance.
I'm exhausted just thinking about it!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Old Dog. New Tricks.
For some people, packing for a trip is an art form. Clothing is chosen with care and placed in a suitcase precisely, toiletries are in the correct ziplock-type bags to prevent spillage, etc. For me, packing for a trip has been a study in procrastination. I leave everything to the last minute. Case in point, when moving to Prague to teach, I left off packing until the night before. I ended up with way more stuff than I needed, and it was jumbled together in my suitcases in a tangle of clothes, shoes, and other miscellaneous junk. You would have thought I would have learned from my past mistakes and started culling the things to be packed for my return journey to the states last year in plenty of time to fit everything I needed into two suitcases and been able to ship the rest. Not so much. I crammed as much as I could into two suitcases, boxed up some stuff to ship home, and left the rest while I went out with my roommates and friends to drink more than I should have with an international flight the next day. I ended up having to pay a fee because my suitcases were over the weight limit for the domestic flight from New York to Ohio.
It's a year later, almost to the date, and I have a trip coming up. It's not so big as a trans-Atlantic move, and I'm not flying--I'm driving to Nashville for the North American National Championships for Irish Dance. I leave Thursday morning, and wonder of wonders, I started packing my suitcase last night. This old dog has learned a new trick.
It's a year later, almost to the date, and I have a trip coming up. It's not so big as a trans-Atlantic move, and I'm not flying--I'm driving to Nashville for the North American National Championships for Irish Dance. I leave Thursday morning, and wonder of wonders, I started packing my suitcase last night. This old dog has learned a new trick.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Welcome to the World
Monday morning, Kaden Allen entered the world. I'd like to congratulate mom Lori, dad Chad, and big brother Kegan!
Opposites attract
More meaningful posts later, but watching giant Kournti learn foxtrot from shorty Jean Marc Generaux was the funniest thing I've seen in a while.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
June 12 of 12
I had a late start to this month's 12 of 12, because I forgot it was 12 of 12 day until almost 4 pm. Luckily, I had my camera in my purse. Better late than never!
3:45-ish I had a caffeine craving and got an iced caramel macchiato from Starbucks.
4:00 pm: I must have had caramel on the brain. Recipes like David Lebovitz's make me want to get an ice cream maker.
7:30 pm: Walking to my car after a 1 hour zumba class. I've been going to classes at least 3x per week, I'm addicted!
7:35 pm: My dinky softball glove from almost 14 years ago. I recently joined a social softball team. I think I need to get a bigger glove--this on is a little small.
7:45 pm: A bird in my yard.
7:45 pm: Citronella lamps on the back porch. It gets very buggy in my neighborhood due to a semi-wetland at the bottom of the hill behind our house.
8:00 pm: My avocado treelings have grown quite a bit since I started them from seeds in January. I'm quite proud of them, even though I'm pretty minimal when it comes to gardening. My thumb has a hint of green.
8:05 pm: I became certified as a zumba instructor almost a month ago. It was mostly for my own benefit--to understand a bit more of the choreography and movement involved. I became part of the zumba instructors network (ZIN) and my new choreography dvd & accompanying music came in the mail today. I'm so excited, I can't wait to try it out!
8:10 pm: The crazy out of control rose bush in front of the house.
8:15 pm: One of my cucumber plants. Soon I'll have cucumbers instead of flowers.
8:20 pm: Silly puppies ready to go inside.
8:40 pm: Andy shamelessly begging for table food.
3:45-ish I had a caffeine craving and got an iced caramel macchiato from Starbucks.
4:00 pm: I must have had caramel on the brain. Recipes like David Lebovitz's make me want to get an ice cream maker.
7:30 pm: Walking to my car after a 1 hour zumba class. I've been going to classes at least 3x per week, I'm addicted!
7:35 pm: My dinky softball glove from almost 14 years ago. I recently joined a social softball team. I think I need to get a bigger glove--this on is a little small.
7:45 pm: A bird in my yard.
7:45 pm: Citronella lamps on the back porch. It gets very buggy in my neighborhood due to a semi-wetland at the bottom of the hill behind our house.
8:00 pm: My avocado treelings have grown quite a bit since I started them from seeds in January. I'm quite proud of them, even though I'm pretty minimal when it comes to gardening. My thumb has a hint of green.
8:05 pm: I became certified as a zumba instructor almost a month ago. It was mostly for my own benefit--to understand a bit more of the choreography and movement involved. I became part of the zumba instructors network (ZIN) and my new choreography dvd & accompanying music came in the mail today. I'm so excited, I can't wait to try it out!
8:10 pm: The crazy out of control rose bush in front of the house.
8:15 pm: One of my cucumber plants. Soon I'll have cucumbers instead of flowers.
8:20 pm: Silly puppies ready to go inside.
8:40 pm: Andy shamelessly begging for table food.
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