nuclear fusion?

For endless renewable energy, scientists ought to be studying the toddler/K crowd. I could not believe the energy of 7 four-year olds who gathered for a party this morning.

While they rampaged through the house, I got to hang out with my little CupKate. She's standing now and juuuust on the verge of walking.  She's also growing her teeth and is feeling a bit fussy, so she seemed to enjoy being in a quieter space in the house.

Someone's very excited about her doughnut cake.

Action shots.

Always helpful to have a sibling who opens presents with for you...

Enjoying the bouncy ball from Nana and Boppa.

Someone wouldn't hold still to pose on her gift.

When my counter resembles deconstructed salsa, I know it's gonna be a good week. Even if more snows come mid-week.

bits of bliss

Ready to party tomorrow!

The inside is filled with rubber stamps in dessert shapes, a hot pink ink pad, a itty notepad and all the pink-wrapped Starbursts for sale.

I love any kind of _____________of the month items. I've done StitchFix and Taste the World (when I lived in the wilds and had no shops). Right now I'm trying an Austin-based coffee/travel deal.

And Penzey's, per usual, is doing the gift thing. Looking forward to trying this with the next snowstorm~not that I don't cook otherwise, but chili takes a long while to simmer.

nesting right on in

Maybe it's weird to be happy to be at home on Friday night with the washer and the dishwasher running. I find it soothing and cosy. 

Celebrating one month in this spacious and quiet home.

Still moving things around a bit and seeing what I like, where.

Still so grateful to have found this place!

sprigs of hope

First penny found in quite awhile; really need to get back to my walking lifestyle. 

When your vitamins make a face at you, you cannot help but be amused.

A colleague's mother just returned from an Australian visit and supplied us with some fresh chocolate!

And per usual, the students bring the party to school.

I really want to take a vegetarian tagine cooking class. Plus, I feel the need to go to Morocco to get a beautiful pot of my own.

Feasting~and sadly, it was pretty much just olives to me to try~but they were tangy and spicy!

Arrived home to find one leeeelte sweet pea poking its head out of the dirt. A lovely thing to see as the temps just plunged back to polar level.

It might be too cold when your slider is frozen shut; although, it was pointed out to me what a great security measure it is. 

Loving one of my new kitchen toys~so far I've zested a lot of lemon and a far bit of Parmesan.  

And the Peacock of PlacidityTM arrived on my door to supervise my second foray into air fryer cooking. 

Happy to report that the polenta was a much better experience than the concrete tempura a couple of weeks ago. Dipping sauce of Romesco spiciness~a perfect way to wrap up the weekend.

The only downside to this particular unit is that I only have windows on one side and therefor miss all the weather/sun/moon that's happening on the other three sides. I had this phenomenon in my Seattle hilltop flat. I finally got to see the full moon this morning as I was leaving for work. (What? You thought I went outside in this weather at 11:30 p.m. or whenever the eclipse happened here?)

And continuing to breathe gratitude~for friends that get help when they need it, for a friend's cancer diagnosis caught early, for medical staff taking care of my aunt far away, for a fair boss, and for a pj's & pancakes birthday party this coming weekend! Onwards we go.

no crumbs allowed

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happened better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb."

― Mary Oliver, Swan: Poems and Prose Poems

While it seems as though I never quit reading poetry~I was actually reading some Mary Oliver the day prior to her passing. I feel lucky that I got to hear her do a reading in Seattle a few years ago. And while she had a long career, I only truly met her words when I started grad school.

Today's joy is that I get to stay inside and watch the ice melt off my windows. It's COLD.

that polar vortex

is real. Oy. It is just painfully cold. My landlady came over and fixed the pilot light in the fireplace. But, I think it's leaking, (and the fire sets off the smoke alarm; which freaks me out because I don't want it to trigger the complex's alarms/sprinklers), so shut the gas valve off. Sigh. It was so pretty and warm for seven minutes.

Finally found a plant that's unique enough to suit the pot.

Took a bag to drop off at GW and, of course, had to browse a bit. I scored with these gorgeous powder blue plates. And it seems the entire region has gone all Maria Kondo (or KonMari) on their households because the drop-off zone was HEAPED with pallets of donations). I find it amusing as her books were published well over five years ago, but it took a Netflix episode to make a craze begin.

Not a great photo, but my first piece of Vera Wang clothing~a cosy draped neck sweater.

Also scored some little vials at GW for my collection (all two of them!) of sands.

Sands from Playa Negra in Costa Rica and some from Lincoln City.

beating the doldrums

What do you do when it's been an intense work week and the magical snows of last weekend are grey chunks of ice? 

You walk over to the shops and take a painting class!

Voila~voici un tableau joyeux aux coleurs chaudes!

end of the week treat

It's been an intense week at work; can't say a lot in public, but deeply glad that it's over. And! Proud of myself for not choosing chocolate as my reward for surviving the week; instead I came home with this cool bamboo pot for growing sweet peas.

I feel pretty, well at least groomed

I used to own a nifty folding brush, but it's disappeared in the past couple of years. And I found, to my delight, that it was easy to replace!

Work continues to be insanely busy; which is good. Somewhere in my brain, I thought an office/desk job would be slow and boring. Nope. And it's only going to amp up as we approach our accreditation site visit next month.

All stocked up as more snowflakes are headed to our neighborhood tomorrow.

back into the fray

Or flakes, if you prefer. The view from my desk today!

A darling little date flower/pastry fresh from Riyadh. 

The student wanted me to take a shot of the entire jar~guess to prove that she was generous? All I wanted was one.

A quick glimpse of a beautiful sky from my parking garage.