Family Field Trip

On Wednesday, we finally ventured out of the house as a family and were joined by Mom and Vickie to visit the full size model of the James Webb Space Telescope, which was on display in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.  Those who've been following our blog for a while will remember that Billy has been working on developing the telescope's computer ground support system for the past three and a half years.  After seeing plenty of computerized mock-ups of how the telescope will look, we couldn't pass up the chance to see what it will look like when it unfolds in space.

The outing also felt like a good first trip for our family, since the family-friendly policies at the Space Telescope Science Institute allow Billy to spend Nora's first seven weeks at home helping to care for her.  It's hard to believe that she'll be at least seven years old when the telescope launches, but it was fun to imagine how much she will know about space and the telescope itself by that time.  We hope that someday the JWST will radically change the way we understand our universe, as Hubble has done before it, and we look forward to showing Nora these photos once JWST is a household name, too.

Picture This

I have an odd assortment of photos I want to share, so I thought I'd just post them all together even though they're from different events.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Dick's sportsmen's club hosted their annual crab feast at Patapsco State Park.  The crab feast is always held in mid-August, and Billy's family members from both sides come.  This year I attended for my seventh time (Billy and I missed the crab feast once for a wedding out of town), but it is the first time the event hasn't signaled back-to-school time for me.  I used to eat a few crabs so I could participate in the experience, but for the past few years, I haven't really felt like putting in all the work it takes to pick them.  I don't feel so bad, though, because Mr. Dick has never eaten one!  Billy said the crabs this year might have been the best ever, though.

Here, Billy and his cousin Chuckie are selecting crabs out of the bushel to put in the boxes they use to serve them on the table.

Brian and Billy go to work on their crabs while Mr. Dick watches over the festivities.

Everyone who saw me at the crab feast finally agreed that I look pregnant!  And Patti and Chuck got to feel her move for the first time.

After I wrote up my post about the baby shower, Billy's cousin Heather shared a few of the photos she took throughout the day. 

With only the exception of his cousin Frankie, all of Billy's cousins on his mom's side attended the shower-- two generations worth!  From left to right: Allen, Jacelyn, Lily, Kristen, Katelyn, Heather, Cash, Brian, Me, and Billy.

While the women supervised the opening of the gifts, the men hung out in the yard and played tailgate games.  I was so glad that everyone was invited and found ways to have a good time!

And finally, I've made it to 32 weeks!  We had another OB appointment this morning that went really well.  I have officially achieved my highest weight ever, and the doctor says my weight gain, fundal height, and lab results are all perfect.  I feel like I have been making my way through nearly every negative pregnancy symptom there is to experience, but I'm certainly glad that I'm the one experiencing complications rather than the baby.  As far as anyone can tell, she's developing and growing right on schedule!  I had a bunch of specific questions to ask this week about labor and delivery procedure, and I was very pleased with all of the doctor's answers and explanations.  This strengthened my feeling that my doctors' birth philosophy corresponds nicely with and will support my own goals for the baby's birth, so that was another comforting outcome of the visit.  We have appointments every two weeks now, so it feels like Billy and I are in that office every time we turn around, but it is nice to have a constant source of positive reinforcement about the baby's health as we get closer to her due date.

(Picture This is a novel by Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22, that builds an nonlinear, temporally experimental narrative around a single painting.  I haven't read it, but to me it sounds so quintessentially late 1980s!)

Lothlorien

I remember writing this "just as..." blog post two years ago, when I was taking a class on Tolkien, and I noticed that the sun always comes out for his characters right when things get really tough for them.  I also remember talking to Dad about it.  He thought it was really hilarious that I had agreed to spend an entire semester reading about hobbits, dwarves, elves, and ents.

Yesterday, after what seems like 6? 8? 10? 30? weeks of walking to Mordor, the sun came out for me.  I long ago set this day aside as my "day off" before I began working on paper #3, but if I could have planned exactly how the day would go, I couldn't have imagined it this good.

It started Tuesday evening, actually, when my program director emailed the announcement that I had won the "Kinnaird Prize" for the best master's student paper written in 2010.  (Remember when I did my research at the Library of Congress?  Or gave my talk at the conference in the fall?  It was that paper, on Harriet Beecher Stowe's Dred.)  I didn't win in the PhD category, but my friend Katie did, so that was icing on the cake.  I couldn't help thinking to myself (and, okay, to a few others), Not a bad showing from the girls from the waitlist.  It should be a rule that every time you get an award, you get to share it with a good friend you have always believed in, even when other people weren't quite sure about the both of you.

Yesterday itself began with sleeping in.  Then I drove to campus in the sunshine, with the windows down and the sunroof open, for our Graduate English Organization's end of semester lunch and award ceremony.  I got to chat with several professors and classmates that I haven't seen much this semester.  Trying to figure out if people were congratulating me on the baby, the essay prize, or both was not a bad way to start the lunch.

We had selected one of my favorite professors, Tita, for the "Outstanding Mentor" award, and since I was one of the ones who nominated her, our president asked me if I would collect some comments about her and present her with the award.  I get really emotional doing things like this, but I managed to (almost) hold it together while I read through them.  Tita has been such a source of encouragement and compassion for me this year that I was really touched to be able to tell her how great she was and read the comments others had shared.  She was completely shocked and honored by the award, and all she could say to me for about 10 minutes afterward was "thank you" and "I can't believe you didn't warn me!"  Tita is one of those women who is so brilliant, kind, generous, and humble that she almost seems too good to be true.  To get to be a part of showing her the department's appreciation for her tireless support of our students really made my day.  It should also be a rule that every time you win an award, you are allowed to present one to someone else that will mean a lot to them.  That was way better than just getting an accolade to add to my C.V.

Then I came home and tried to clean up some of the mess I've been making the past several weeks before Billy got home from work.  Then he, Vickie, my friend Danielle, and I went to the Orioles game-- my first of the season.  I haven't seen Danielle in far too long, the weather was perfect, and once I've been to a baseball stadium the summer feels like it can officially begin.

Thanks are in order for my cousin Jeff, the current assistant general manager for the Mariners, who left us the tickets for the game since his team was in town.  We got to see their Cy Young winning pitcher Felix Hernandez (Vickie and Billy knew this-- I did not), who I assume has had better nights.  But the best part for me was that Adam Jones went 4 for 4 and hit a two RBI triple that put the O's up 4-2-- the same Adam Jones the Mariners practically gave away in a 2008 trade to the Orioles for Eric Bedard (before my cousin had anything to do with their front office decisions).  To him it probably felt like winning a best paper award after getting put on the waitlist felt for me.  The Orioles' starting pitcher, Chris Tillman, was also one of the minor league prospects the O's picked up in that trade.

I told you it was a good day.  Extra sleep + sunshine + award receiving + award giving + seeing friends + baseball stadium + 3 of my favorite Marylanders + minor redemptions = one of the best days.

(I don't know how to explain Lothlorien without completely nerding out on you, but basically, it's a really nice and restorative place in the forest.  The members of the Fellowship find themselves welcomed there after they think Gandalf has died protecting them in the escape from Moria .  It stands against the evil forces in Middle Earth, kind of exists outside of time, and has really nice trees and singing.)

It's the Little Things

I realized it's been a while since I last wrote, and I thought I'd give a brief update on daily life in the Liz/Billy/Vickie/Oscar house.  It's been a crazy busy couple of weeks for me in terms of schoolwork, but I've been trying to stop and savor the nice little moments along the way.

Yesterday, to commemorate three months since we lost Dad, I thought I was finally ready to listen to the CD of "Wedding Ideas" songs he made me before Billy and I got married.  I remembered a few of the songs he'd put on there, but most of them I'd forgotten.  I cried softly most of my way into work, but every couple of tracks he had inserted something goofy, including "The Chicken Dance," which made me laugh.  On my way home after a long day, "Miss You Like Crazy" came on at the end of the CD, and I started to cry so hard I had to pull over.  I realize it's a love song, not a father/daughter song, but I know why my Dad put it on there.  The way the tides have turned since his death hit me really hard, and then I realized it was Natalie Cole singing.  Since she sang the daughter half of "Unforgettable" (an earlier track on the CD, which Dad and I danced to at the wedding), it was all just too much for me.

Most of yesterday was better.  I told Billy that someone must have sent out a memo saying it was designated Pat-Liz-on-the-Back Day.  When I went in to the coffee room, one of our notoriously curmudgeonly professors made a point of telling me what a good job he thought I (and my group) had done presenting questions and leading discussion during our Theory Colloquium on Friday.  Since he is a nice guy but so hard to impress, and since Theory Colloquium is generally such a brain busting experience for me, I appreciated the sentiment.  Later, one of my current professors stopped by the business office to ask a question, after which she reminded me that I had to be ready to lead discussion for 10 minutes during class.  I said I would go first if no one else volunteered, which prompted a complimentary conversation about how I am always prepared.  She told me how much she appreciates that I do the reading each week and come to class ready to talk.  During the break in that class, I was chatting with a classmate from the Women's Studies program in the bathroom when she randomly said "I just wanted to tell you that I love listening to you in class.  Every time you talk I just think, 'yes!'"  I also found some great material for my research projects in the Katherine Anne Porter archives, so all in all it was a rare day of complete gratification.

A few other equally comforting and fun things have happened in the past few weeks, so I thought I'd share them, too, especially since they're the things I would have loved to talk to Dad about if he was still around.

A few weekends ago, before I met Danielle to catch up over breakfast, I stopped by the Annapolis Striders 10 mile race I wasn't running to pick up my award from last season.

I'm disappointed that I haven't felt up to competing in any of the races this year, but it was nice to get my first "trophy" since middle school and to be reminded that during a time when I had more control over my circumstances, I accomplished the goal I set for myself through sheer strength of will.  Breakfast with Danielle was refreshing, too, and left me feeling ready to head home to tackle another long day of homework.

Vickie invited me to look at an apartment complex in Baltimore with her.  I tried to keep my opinion to myself until she shared hers, but she liked it as much as I did, and she moves in at the end of the month.  The two bedroom apartment seems HUGE for a first apartment, the location is great, and she already has her first roommate lined up.  It has been fun to hear how much she likes her job at Hopkins, and I am looking forward to seeing how life unfolds for her.  If I was a 24 year old, young, professional female working in the city, I would love to live where she's living, so I can't wait to hear about all the fun she's going to have.  (And I don't think I'll mind visiting her at her pool, which is right on the harbor.)

We celebrated Billy's birthday in a low-key fashion, but the weather was nice, our moods were good, and for a few more months he and I are technically the same age, which means he can't call me old!  He also agreed to spend our anniversary weekend attending the US vs. Spain Davis Cup tie in Austin, Texas, which I am really excited about.  I've always wanted to watch Davis Cup tennis, I've always wanted to go to Austin, and it's been a while since Billy and I got to go away alone together, so I am really looking forward to the trip.

Baseball season opened and the Orioles are off to a promising start.  They've already won a bunch of games, and more importantly for me, they look like they are having fun out there.  They have been like a different team since Buck Showalter took over as their manager, and it makes being a fan much more fun.  It also makes me realize that one person really can make a big difference.

Each year the English department puts together an online-published journal of the best papers from English 101, which is the "intro to writing" course I taught in the fall.  When I realized that one of my students was among the 15 or so students whose papers were chosen to be included, I sent him an email to congratulate him on his accomplishment.  He wrote me back to thank me for all of my help with his papers, to tell me how much he got out of the class, and to say that I'm the first one who ever made English "exciting."  Maybe he caught me at a particularly fragile moment, but it made me cry.  So often students want to blame the teacher when they do poorly, but this was the first time a student wanted to give me part of the credit for his personal accomplishment.  Teachers are so rarely thanked for how much work they do, and students are much quicker to complain than to praise, so to hear all of that in one simple, kind email really touched my heart.  And reminded me why I keep wanting to teach... which was a good reminder to be given.

And, finally, when I plugged in my camera to get that photo of my trophy, I realized that because the camera has been sitting on the dresser for the past few weeks, I have several goofy shots of Oscar burrowed in the bed to share.  I don't know if anyone else finds these as amusing as I do, but he always helps me remember to stop and smile at the little things.  So happy Wednesday, everybody, from our house to yours.  I hope you're enjoying the little things along the way.

(I don't know anything about this book, It's the Little Things: An Appreciation of Life's Simple Pleasures, but I liked the title.)

Anchors Aweigh

Still no time for words.  But here are some pictures!  Navy lost, but the sun was out, and we had fun.  And I got to take a bit of a break from all this craziness.

I took this next photo thinking, "I can just flip it around and the M will be right side up!"  It didn't occur to me that the whole world would then be upside down.  I think I'm brainfried.

So I tried again.  The marching band on the big screen above the Mids' seating section.  (How do they pack them into such a tight space at the stadium in Annapolis?

Other news in brief:
-We lost our second softball game via slaughter rule.  For some reason unknown to myself, I tried to dive for a ground ball that went between me and the shortstop.  I did not get an out.  I did not even stop the ball to keep it in the infield.  I just ripped open my knee and am now developing the only scab I can remember having in recent memory.
-We went to our friends' new house for a housewarming party on Saturday.  Billy can now add beanbags to the list of tossing games he excels at.
-I finished the syllabus for the class I'm teaching.
-I had the distinct pleasure of wading my through the single worst/most difficult text I've been assigned in grad school in between all of the above.  I managed to say something about it in class tonight that I don't believe was completely idiotic.  So I will count that as a success.
-I have had very little time to follow the US Open.  This depresses me.  I'm trying to carve out enough time to watch a match in the case that Nadal and Federer both make it to the final.  I like Rafa's chances this year.

(Anchors Aweigh is apparently a very popular book title.  I don't know what any of these books are about, but I must go to bed if I am going to accomplish a full week's worth of reading tomorrow.)

Old Friends and New

At the end of July, my childhood friend Kelsey paid us a visit for around 10 days.  She's currently enrolled in an Occupational Therapy graduate program at the University of Washington, and she applied for a weeklong internship at Johns Hopkins so she could come pay us a visit while also completing one of her program's requirements.  Kelsey was on my new soccer team when I moved to Oregon before fifth grade, and we've been friends ever since.  She, Krista, and I grew up together and logged more hours in one another's company than many people who actually live together, I think.  For eight years we participated in the same activities and took the same classes, but for the past ten years we've lived in different states and, at times, different countries, so it was interesting for me to think about the ways we've changed.

It was great to have Kelsey here to see what my life is like now and to have a chance to share some of my favorite experiences with her.  We had been hoping to go hiking in Harpers Ferry the first weekend she was here, but with temperatures over 100 degrees, that wasn't possible.  She was working pretty long hours at the hospital, but we still managed to squeeze in several fun activities during her visit.

On her first day in town, we all headed down to Annapolis.  She needed some new running shoes, so I took her to the running shop that sponsors our Annapolis Striders races and the owner helped her find the perfect shoe.  In addition to walking around downtown in the heat and grabbing lunch, Billy took this photo of us in front of Ego Alley.

Midweek, we took a break from schizophrenia case studies and German homework to head down to Fells Point in Baltimore for their summertime outdoor movie.  Kelsey thought Fells was a cool neighborhood, and we enjoyed dinner and gelato and sat down to watch the movie.  Then we decided we were too tired to sit outside to watch a movie we could barely see or hear, so we headed home.  Just in case we needed a reminder that we're not 16 anymore.  : )  Here we are on the Fells pier in front of the Harbor.

On Kelsey's second weekend here, Billy's family got crabs, so she got to see why they're called "Blue Crabs" and why Old Bay is sold in a 2 gallon container.   I think she ate two, which is two more than I ate.  I'm glad Kelsey got to experience this quintessential Maryland tradition and spend a little bit of time with Billy's family.

Kelsey was also here for the most recent Annapolis Striders race, so she ran the 8k with me.  Or, I should say, she ran the 8k far ahead of me-- she's fast!  She has participated in several large races, including the Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon and whole bunch of shorter races, but this was the first time she'd run in a race hosted by a running club.  She couldn't believe how cheap it was!  It sounds like she has caught the running bug, and she just started training for a marathon, so I was glad to help her experience what I see as the advantages of participating in smaller local races.  For the first time in a while, I really enjoyed the race.  The weather has been so hot that I have hardly run outside in the past month, so I wasn't sure how I'd do, but the temps cooled down for the race and I was able to post a time that was one minute faster than last year's time for the same race.  I felt great throughout the race and the course is sort of cross-country style through trails, so it was definitely a fun change from the past two races where I've felt pretty miserable.  I don't know why Kelsey felt compelled to capture this moment on film, but since she did, here's the photo. : )

Later that day, we took Kelsey to the opening weekend of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic (more on that in an upcoming post), and though she doesn't follow tennis, I think she enjoyed being out in the sun (while it lasted) and seeing some high quality play up close.  She didn't know who any of the players were, but she dutifully took pictures of them as if she thought they were as big a deal as I do.  : )  She also got to join me and Billy for our first ever rain delay at the tournament which was, unfortunately, not the last.  You can tell from the photo that everything is damp.

While she was here, we also went to see Inception (which I now want to see a second time), she got to experience Sunday morning breakfast at Panera with Danielle, and I think she did more shopping than she has probably done all year.  Having Kelsey and Vickie stay with us has made me realize how much shopping I do without actually buying anything, because those two go with me to be nice and then they end up buying while I walk out empty handed.  I finally made my first purchase in quite a while when I took Kelsey shopping in Georgetown, and since I did not follow the directions I'd written down on the way into or out of DC, she got to see plenty of the city!  After opting out of waiting in line for a Georgetown Cupcake, she discovered a s'mores/krispy treat hybrid at Dean & Deluca which I promptly plan to replicate.  She also spent a morning in McKeldin while I went to German class, and she marveled at our beautiful mall.  She claims that it could also be called a quad, in which she is obviously mistaken, because look how un-quadish it is! : )

In general, I think the time Kelsey and I have spent apart has made more evident the differences in our personalities that I completely overlooked when we were young.  It was interesting to talk to Kelsey about the priorities we have in our lives right now and realize how differently we think through the issues we face in our lives.  I realized that these days the people I seek out as friends share worldviews nearly identical to my own, but spending time with Kelsey reminded how helpful it can be to participate in friendships with people who look at the world differently.  I always try to look at issues from every angle I can think of, but there are always angles I can't think of, and speaking to those people who see them naturally can certainly help me to see the whole picture.

And because it would be remiss to not mention it, I MUST add that Krista had her new baby girl last week!!  Evie Kate was born healthy on August 4!  Krista said that she looks like Clara but with Jordan's coloring instead of her own, and I definitely agree.  It's funny that it worked out this way because I have been saying for months I want her to look just like Clara but with dark curly hair, and Kelsey said something similar when she visited... and now here the little one is, satisfying our expectations!  Visit the Hoffmanns' blog to read more about Evie's arrival.

(Old Friends and New is a short story collection by Sarah Orne Jewett.  I am actually surprised to realize that I've never read any of the stories collected in this volume, so I looked at Willa Cather's collection titled The Best Stories of Sarah Orne Jewett, and it appears that Willa didn't consider Old Friends and New to be Ms. OJ's finest work.  Mystery solved.)

More Space Telescope News!

The local news did a feature on the construction of the JWST, the space telescope Billy is working on, which is being built right here at Goddard.  You can watch it below, or if that doesn't work, follow this link to watch it on their website.

Holiday

Since my family (excepting Vickie) left last week, I have been trying to give my brain a break while acclimating to my summer vacation.  This past week, I have:

• driven Vickie around to get her fingerprints taken and paperwork filed for her nursing license.
• gone into Baltimore to see Mr. Greengenes with Billy, Vickie, Danielle, and Erin (sadly I did not get to eat my favorite enchiladas: they were out of the sauce).
• eaten at The Cheesecake Factory with Vickie, Erin, and Danielle before going to see Sex and the City 2.
• consumed 2 Strong Bow Ciders at the Sly Fox with Billy, Brian, Vickie, Erin, Danielle, and a few of her friends.
• taken several naps.
• attempted a 5 mile run, during which I realized I am not yet in good humid-weather shape.
• woke up early in an attempt to watch Andy Roddick, who was playing so badly that his match didn't even get televised.
• repeated my Sunday morning Panera ritual with Danielle and Erin and, this time, Vickie.
• read Jhumpa Lahiri in the sun.
• read Jhumpa Lahiri in the shade.
• ate a snowball (everywhere else, this is called a snow cone).
• failed to find a single summer dress to purchase despite visiting every single store in which I normally like to shop.
• attended a cookout with Billy's family to celebrate Memorial Day and Uncle James' birthday. 
• posted a few blog entries over at Scholar Style Guide.
• watched Step Up 2 the Streets and resolved to found an underground dance crew.
• performed an imaginary jump for joy upon realizing that Soderling defeated Federer in the quarters at the French (though I was bummed that I was at work during the match).

This has been an uncharacteristically busy off-week for me, but it has helped me put enough space between myself and the end of last semester that I am finally starting to feel a little relaxed.  Feels good.

("Holiday" is a heartbreaking and beautiful short story included in Katherine Anne Porter's Collected Stories.  I shed a few tears for Ottilie every time.  The story has a great story, too.  Porter first wrote three different versions in the 1920s, but set them aside because none of them seemed right.  Decades later, she rediscovered the drafts and realized that the first version was the correct one.  Of this experience, she writes, "as for the vexing question which had stopped me short long ago, it had in the course of living settled itself so slowly and deeply and secretly I wondered why I had ever been distressed by it."  I love this idea, that life experience helps us answer the unanswered questions.)

My Sister's Keeper

Vickie announced on her blog today that she's moving to Maryland after she graduates!  I have been beside myself with excitement since she told us this was her plan.  I have been encouraging her to move in with us post-graduation for some time now, but since I've never before convinced this little firecracker to do anything she didn't want to, I knew she would make the decision on her own.

I'm not operating under any delusion of grandeur. I don't think she's hitching her wagon to mine for the rest of her life, but I'll enjoy her company as long as she's here.  I'm pleased that our house is near so many hospitals that could offer her some great opportunities for career development, and I hope she won't have too much trouble finding a job.  I'm pleased that she knew Billy and I were serious about hoping we could help her make her transition from "Valpo student" to "working adult" a little easier.

As I was looking through my photos to include on this post, I decided I should have known this would come to pass!  How many other non-residents of Charm City have posed for photos in front of so many local landmarks?

Byrd Stadium, University of Maryland, 2006

With Kenz atop Federal Hill and in front of the Inner Harbor, 2007

Oriole Park at Camden Yards, 2007

In front of the Domino Sugars sign, 2009

And I know someone else who will be excited to have her move in!!

(My Sister's Keeper is a novel by Jodi Picoult.  The thing I liked about the book is the way in which it explores the bond shared between sisters and demonstrates that no one can really know which sister is "keeping" which at any given point in time.  The thing I didn't like about the book is that right after Picoult develops a compelling set of circumstances involving the two sisters, she kills one of them off to avoid dealing with these circumstances.  And that's what I don't like about Picoult.  She doesn't know how to finish what she starts.)

Can't get enough Liz and Vickie?  Here are a few more from the archives:

Five Apples

We're just plugging along here in Millersville.  I'm trying to get as much work done as I can each week so I can finish up my semester successfully.  I'm ready for a real break!

Today, I went with Billy, Anne-Marie, and Katie to see the Cezanne and American Modernism exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art.  In honor of Five Apples, the only painting from the exhibit that came from Gertrude and Leo Stein's collection of Cezanne paintings, I'll recount for you the five memorable moments from my week.

Cezanne, Five Apples

1) Cezanne and American Modernism
Attending art exhibits usually just makes me feel insecure about how little I know about art and the artistic movements that coincide with the literary movements I know so well.  I was hoping to learn something about the connections between artistic modernism and literary modernism, but I was still interested to see how American painters were influenced by Cezanne's work.  It was exciting to see a painting that used to belong to Gertrude Stein and which used to hang in her house in Paris.  Even if she did tell her brother she'd keep the Picasos and he could have all the Cezannes when they decided to part ways.  Plus, it was fun to get lunch and have a chance to spend some time with Anne-Marie and Katie away from campus.

2) Navy/Hopkins Lacrosse Game
I've been to precisely two lacrosse games in my life-- both of them between high school teams-- but I'm glad Billy and I decided to check out this matchup yesterday.  It turned out to be a nice day, and the game was really exciting!  I always enjoy watching sports I don't understand.  It's fun to try to figure out what's going on.  Navy fell behind 0-5, but they ended up winning 9-8 in overtime, so that kept things interesting.  Afterwards, the announcer said that Navy had previously lost to Johns Hopkins 30+ times in a row, so then it made a lot more sense that the players and fans stormed the field after Navy scored the sudden death goal.  We got to the game a bit early for the "closeout sale" of Navy merchandise, so Billy got a few new items and also this cool picture of the empty stadium.

You can read Billy's recap of the game here.

3) Happy Birthday Nana!

On Wednesday, we went over to Nana and Mr. Dick's to celebrate Billy's grandmother's 79th birthday.  She has been pretty sick lately, and spent a bit of time in the hospital, so it was good to see that she seemed to be feeling much better.  We tried out some new pizza that I liked and Mr. Dick's lemon cake was as delicious as always!

4) Priscilla Wald Visits UMd
Our department is currently recruiting Duke University professor Priscilla Wald.  She came to campus on Wednesday to give a lecture and talk to graduate students.  I found her enthusiasm for her work and teaching really inspiring.  Her current project works on the intersections between science and narrative, so I was pretty interested in her suggestions about why the sciences and the humanities need each other.  I am hoping I get a chance to read her most recent book, Contagious, over the summer, even though it doesn't relate to my own work.  And I am really hoping she decides to join our faculty!

5) O and the O's
Last night, after the Orioles lost another lead and fell to 2-16, Billy snapped this photo of Oscar's dejected expression.

Luckily, the Orioles finally won their third game today, so he is feeling like himself again.  He's currently walking around the back of the couch as if he were a cat.

Snow Falling on Cedars

The snow has finally stopped! To show all you out-of-towners how much snow 2+ feet is, I thought I would put together a little comparison montage.

Looking out the front door Friday afternoon. Some of Tuesday's snow was still on the ground.

Looking out the front door this morning. Billy had been shoveling all night, but you can hardly tell!

Front of the house in the summertime:

Front of the house today:

Patio furniture Friday morning:

Patio furniture Friday night during some of the heaviest snow:

The deepest measurement on the table after it stopped snowing was 23.5 inches. Taking fresh measurements every 6 hours, Billy calculated a total of 27.7 inches.

The Dads playing washers in the backyard:

No one playing in the back yard:

Chilling in the yard:

Chilly in the yard:

Our pond in the summer:

Our pond today:

Relaxing on the deck in the summer:

Shoveling the deck today:

Billy snapped this pic of all the snow on the roof. Somewhere under there is a DirecTV dish, but luckily we don't use it, or we probably wouldn't be seeing the Super Bowl tomorrow.

I had to stop helping with the shoveling once the snow pile got taller than my head. I couldn't throw the snow on top anymore.

Now the snow pile we created is so tall that we can't even see the cars from the front step!

I took advantage of my time indoors to finish preparing for my presentation in class on Monday. I don't feel too optimistic that class will be meeting on Monday, though!

Hope everyone is staying warm! Curious about the storm system that created this mess? Billy has written a summary on his Maryland weather blog.

(Snow Falling on Cedars is David Guterson's first novel which, like Inada's Legends from Camp, deals with the aftermath of the Japanese-American internment during WWII. Things I like about this book include: it takes place in the Pacific Northwest, it has a character named Chambers, it addresses issues of war, it has scenes in a courtroom, and it relates to the newspaper industry. Also, it made me desperate for strawberries, and if a book makes me physically hungry, I know it has touched me. Check it out. Snow Falling on Cedars has also been turned into a movie, which I haven't seen though I love Ethan Hawke. Incidentally, I don't know if we have cedars here in Maryland. I only know cedar by smell, not by sight.)