not so much to report

I don't even have any new pictures to share.

What have we been up to these last few weeks?

Two weeks ago I tried to make a famous orange cake. It didn't work out so hot. Oh well.

I'm working on some fancy socks. This is hard. So much counting. Luckily, I chose a colorful yarn, so my mistakes are mostly lost in the color changes in the yarn. Mostly.

Last week we went to Michigan for Passover. Mike presided over two great seders. We enjoyed the warm hospitality of Mike's family - it was so nice to see everyone in Michigan. We also had a few warm and sunny days. It was actually nicer in Michigan than in Seattle [It snowed here while we were gone. Seriously].

While we were in Michigan, much of family - both from the U.S. and England - went to Armenia for a ceremony honoring my great-grandfather. You can see pictures of their trip here.

I've also been working at cleaning out my side of the office, so that there's less to move eventually. I've also started hoarding boxes compulsively [hey, this is a university town - those free boxes are going to be mighty hard to come by in another month or so].

Last, I've signed up and totally committed myself to this half marathon on June 8. Since the course is at the foot of the Olympics and right along the water, I figure it'll be a nice farewell to Seattle. You know, if I'm even able to enjoy it. Seriously, my goal is just to finish before they take the course down. Or even after. Whatever.

Our first goodbye

Tomorrow morning our friend Kris leaves for a three month training in the southeastern U.S. By the time he comes back, we'll have left for Texas. So we said goodbye on Sunday night. I know he'll be busy over the next few months, but I hope that we can all stay in touch and that he and SYL will come to Texas to see us.

I especially remember Kris' kindness that first summer when I came back from Japan alone. Kris always welcomed me, even though we really didn't know each other. I was lonely and he and SYL were always willing to have my company. I must have driven them crazy.

In other news, it's still pretty cold here. Spring, you could show up any time! Instead, they are predicting snow for the local mountains this weekend.

Saturday, however was a rare exception - sunny, warm, summer-like. We went to discovery park, to enjoy the ocean while we still could.And we saw a great dane puppy.And then on Sunday, it poured. Of course.

Chicken and Waffles

I went to a conference in Atlanta this weekend. Before going, I followed the example of Kate's friend Miso, who surfs the chowhound message board before visiting a new city to find good restaurants. I found a restaurant called Gladys Knight and Ron Winan's Chicken and Waffles, and I convinced two friends to go with me on Saturday night. One was a Japanese woman who said that from her perspective, it was one of the most exotic experiences she had ever had. The other friend was a very tall redhead, originally from Texas, who kept ordering more food. It was fantastic, and definitely the most memorable experience of the weekend.

Squirtle / Sheldon

With Mike gone, my big weekend accomplishment was finishing a baby gift for baby Zachary. You know, now that he's eight months old. But, voila, I present to you a knitted turtle:Although small, this was a big knitting project for me - I had to learn how to crochet to finish the darn [ha!] thing. Big props go to Jen Em who, with the patience befitting an elementary art teacher, taught me how to crochet.

I have several other projects forthcoming [in theory. certainly not with any alacrity]: a sweater-vest for my brother, some fancy socks for me [inspired by Dr. M's gift], and a baby present for baby Emma's new brother [who is expected to make an appearance in late May - can that family handle any more cute???].

We'll see about finishing all that before, oh, 2012.

In other weekend news, I went to the fancy Pacific Northwest nursery to help Jen Em shop for plants. Here are a few pictures:I really like the picture of the dog - although the background is a little busy. I'm considering making it my new internet avatar.

And then we went back to Jen Em's house and I got to kick it with the most wonderful [real] dog in the world.As a parting gift, here are some shots of the cherry blossoms on campus. I took this last week when the shone briefly. Now it's back to being rainy and cold.

Opening Day

Yesterday, Mike and I went to Opening Day. It was fun, but it was also really, really cold.

Here's a picture that captures the fun part - all the special things done for opening day:Here's a little self-portrait [note my new baseball hat!]:And here's a picture that captures the cold part - midway through some inning, it started to snow! For real, SNOW! So, the picture isn't that great, but you can see the white beyond the stadium roof.The snow just lasted for a few minutes, and then it turned to rain, then sun-ish. But it was still cold. As we were leaving the park, we saw a marquis that said it was 39 degrees. Brrr.

But we still had a great time, especially since the Mariners won - beating Texas!