Incandescence

Here's a little something that makes me smile. Mom has a bird feeder right out on the deck. There were some really pretty red-breasted birds out. This whole week has been rather gray. I completely spaced a homework assignment, tripped over a computer cord at work and nearly did a faceplant. (Disclaimer: I tell you this not to make you feel sorry for me, merely because, in retrospect, I find it quite amusing--the almost-faceplant, anyway). I also found out that the Photography class I was planning on going on was cancelled. Fortunately, there are still two literature courses offered in Cheltenham, England. So I will still (hopefully, fingers crossed that they recruit enough students) be going to England, just not for photography. But I get to study Shakespeare. So It's still a pretty good arrangement. And I'm pretty sure that with the Lit. classes, I get to go to a play at the Globe Theatre . (I'm actually not sure if its that theatre, I just hope it is). And thea...

The only crafts I like to do are the kind that can be done in less than an hour. Which rules out pretty much anything but crafts involving scissors, glue and paper. You can probably see where I'm going with this... At the beginning of every new year I have at least one calendar that I am too much of a pack-rat to throw away. So, this year, instead of simply storing it away in one of my plastic bins, I decided to create something. So, with my crafting skills, I pulled out the 'ol scissors and started cutting. Still not sure what I'm going to do with these... I then used my handy cement glue to paste the cut-out pictures onto a square piece of cardboard, and, voilà, I now have something to hang on my rather bare walls. Lots of fun places I would love to visit, like Ireland!  It's not exactly a work of art, which is one reason I do not often do craft projects--I'm not very good at them.  :) Most likely this will go in the recycling bin at the end of t...

Happy New Year everyone! My title seems a little morbid, but also fitting. I've enjoyed being here over Christmas break--our whole family hadn't been together for over a year. But I wonder--what will next Christmas be like? I won't be in school any more. Very likely I will not have the vacation time to come up for Christmas next year...but then again, who knows what is in my future? So, these unknowns are a little bit scary, but also exciting. There is still a lot to look forward too this semester, and this May. Ok, now that I have that out of the way, I can go to more interesting subjects. Like baking with a couple of special girls--you know who you are :) Our theme seemed to be Middle Eastern dishes...mostly. We made lavash crackers, hummus, falafels, naan bread, and pretzels (the pretzels were our non-middle eastern food). To give you an idea of the deliciousness we concocted, here are a few pictures. The falafel mixture before we cooked it...it's really go...