Count Down

I can't believe it's Thursday all of a sudden, I'm happy the week is flying by but I don't know where the time went. Classes are done a week from this Friday and then it's time for finals with my students and my stats final.

As you can imagine, the Mexico trip is up in the air. The powers that be will meet next Monday to make the call. Luckily I've been too busy to do much daydreaming and trip prep so if it's canceled, I'll be disappointed but not for too long.

It's been raining a lot lately so, if it's nice this weekend, there is some yard work to be done. Austin will be working on our Craigslist lawnmower which apparently only runs for two minutes at a time. I need to do some serious weeding and dandelion/thistle removal. My little herb garden is not looking so great- the cilantro has gone to seed, the basil has no will to live, the mint is so-so, but the roma tomatoes are doing really well. In the front, some flowers that I planted from seed are coming up nicely. We also need to attack the overgrown vines in front of our house and, interestingly, a few white and pink roses have come through the tangled mix.

Video of Hailey

Grandma meeting her granddaughter for the first time. Bonus: my brother saying "crap her pants" in the middle of it. Typical Sean.

Weekend

The news of a perfect, new baby in the family has been all the talk. My parents are going to meet Hailey this afternoon and visit with the new mom and dad.

Austin will be enjoying a much-deserved LAN party today with his buddies up north. That will keep him occupied oh, all day and night, so I am left with... time to write two papers and do laundry. Good times! Soon enough, though, I'll be completely done with the semester.

Our new (used) lawnmower will also set sail on its maiden voyage at the Lunderoy Lodge. Everything is alive and growing so it's time to hack it back a little.

Welcome, Beautiful Baby Girl

Sean and Angie's daughter, Hailey Quinn, arrived today. We are so thrilled for the new addition to their family and wish them all the best!

Weekend

I haven't been able to post much lately since it's the end of the semester when there isn't enough time in a day. In addition to my teaching and student-ing workload, I've had additional meetings and paperwork related to the summer trip to Guadalajara. Austin has been busy too, especially since their department is severely understaffed these days. At the end of a given day, both of us are trying to de-stress enough to get some sleep and then the weekend comes and we feel much better.

This weekend, we had friends over on Friday night for an impromptu pizza dinner. Saturday we went out for tex/mex brunch, did some book shopping, and then attacked our overgrown front landscaping. I busted out the hedge trimmer and got the holly bushes in shape though half of the shrub is dead due to some kind of mildew. The big problem, though, is the ground cover. It has about six inches of twisting vines and deep root systems that are so entangled, it is almost impossible to get them out. Austin shovled and I followed roots and vines to break them off and help him finally break a chunk loose. It took forever just to get a small section cleared out. Being completely out of shape, we were exhausted after. We filled one contractor-sized garbage bag full of plant matter just from that one project. I don't know if we'll revisit it today because Sunday is homework day for me (exams in all of my classes this week, yes that includes stats!).

No other plans for the day other than the usual Target/grocery run and a little laundry and cleaning to spice things up. Then, another week...

Clearing Project



Lantana shrub



Mystery backyard bush

Time Keeps on Slippin'

Here's a little recap of what we did with my parents, somewhat in order, somewhat not.

• Lunch at Mongolian Grill (huge bar with veggies and protein, concoct your own sauce, then give it to the guys at the grill, delish!).
• Duck tour of Austin- very educational and interesting. Our captain, Vic, and our duck, Howard, were delightful.
• Dinner at Texas Land & Cattle- I had really good trout which was less cattle-y but we all enjoyed our meals and Gramma C had sent some money with my parents to treat us.
• Grilled some beautiful kabobs and sausages from Whole Foods on our back terrace. The meat guy gave us a sampler of three different sausages for free! (Habanero, Cheddar Jalapeno, Basil Pine Nut).
• Visited a winery out in the Hill Country and enjoyed a tasting.
• Had lunch at the classic Thundercloud Subs.
• Austin and my dad installed an outlet above the fireplace so the flatscreen TV cords are well hidden. It turned out to be quite the job due to unforeseen stapling of wires in the walls (?) but they managed.
• Austin and Dan installed two more in-ceiling speakers in the kitchen. I now hear NPR all over the house and it's a delight!
  
• I made Easter brunch- quiche and crepes.
• My mom found a good chai at a local coffee shop and they made me two kinds of tea to taste-test, really nice people.
• Many other things that I'm probably forgetting.

We had a great time and look forward to our next guests (maybe siblings?!).

Spring Break Part II

My parents have been here and it's been wonderful, feels like spring break all over again. We had a wonderful time eating good food, seeing the sites, and enjoying down time on our back patio. Now I need to get back to it and get through the end of the semester.

Keep on Keepin' On

It's a new week and things are going better although the work load is increasing at in inverse proportion to the number of days remaining in the semester (doesn't that sound statistic-y?). I am really looking forward to my parents arriving tomorrow and we've got a lot of fun activities planned for them. The last time they were here, they were helping us move so it was mostly hard labor and unpacking. Some of the items on our itinerary include winery visits, grilling out on our back patio, and (my dad's request), a duck tour.

Long Week

The past week has been one of the most stressful of the semester so far. Instead of listing the crappy stuff, here are some of the silver linings:

• I got a sweet summer job traveling with a group of study abroad students to Guadalajara, Mexico.
• It's APRIL so my brother's baby will be born sometime soon.
• My parents arrive on Wednesday.