Youth at College

This weekend we found out that Esh's roommate is younger, too. Esh turns 17 in a few days and his roommate turns 18 in January. They will be the same age for two months.

Mrs. Butterworth To The Rescue

If Obama gets into the White House, he will need one of the Geico spokes-people to help decide what to do. Mrs. Butterworth is so happy and positive she would be a good choice.

Chinese Cabbage Soup

Bok choi, tenderloin strips, water chesternut slices, mushrooms, tamari sauce, chicken broth, carrots, leeks, snow peas, Napa cabbage. Yum.

UVA Family Weekend

This weekend is Family Weekend at UVA. We went up to C'ville and took Esh out to lunch. Then we wen to see Grandma L and Uncle C and Aunt F, October's long-term friend. It was a good day. It was good to see Esh, meet some of his suite-mates, see L, C, and F. Truly a family weekend.

Great Gas

I got great gas today for my sports car. 93 octane gas here was $2.78 per gallon at a Shell station. Nice.

Autumn Soup Again

Ah...Autumn. Time for my autumn soup again and indeed, we had it this past weekend. For the first time, I added some left-over steak and it was indeed a nice addition.

So what goes into my autumn soup? Always chicken broth, butternut squash, tomatoes, canned black eyed peas, carrots, onions, salt and pepper, and fresh young spinach. For the rest of the soup, I look at what is good at the store. This means that sometimes I also add zucchini, fresh peas, canned fresh kidney beans, canned diced tomatoes, turnips, potatoes, meat, corn, flesh black eyed peas, and the kitchen sink (kidding of course -- it never looks tasty enough!)

I think next I will try to develop a soup for each season. I also want to develop a Sukiyaki soup. Love bok choi!

Esh Is Sick

Poor Esh. He has one of those phlegmy icky things; but he is not alone. the entire suite of 10 boys has the phlegmy icky thing! We have offered to pick him up and redeliver home if he gets to the point of wanting the things that home has to offer that dorms do not -- fires in the fireplace, a soaking tub, people to feed you in bed, animals to comfort you and most of all -- quiet. Dorms are never quiet except maybe when everyone is sick. Our love to Esh. Tomorrow might be better!

Favorite Season

Yesterday, something occurred to me about favorite seasons. Do they always follow people's least favorite season?

As an example, my favorite season is autumn. My least favorite season is summer. Gravity is close on liking all seasons but his least favorite is probably winter and his slightly most favorite is spring.

Today at the grocery store, I asked people. Two people said that their favorite was spring and their least favorite is winter!

It makes sense. After your ;east favorite season you get a very welcome change; and that season becomes your most favorite.

Midterms

Esh called today to say that midterms are going well. He is dropping one of the physics classes as he is too busy with grading for 19 credits. Gravity and i have no problem with this decision what-so-ever. Luv ya Esh.

Meridian

The following poem is from UVA's magazine Meridian.

by Victoria Chang

Dear P.,

Last night I buried you alive in my
sheets. Tonight I drop you and you
shatter into thousands of crystals.
They spill between the poplars, wake
them by the hundreds. I crawl and
collect them one by one. But when
I touch one, the ground becomes
the night sky, the crystals turn into stars.
I become the pine that stretches over
the lake, reaching for your reflections.

Hoody for Pearl

One of our family's sweetest members went to the vet today and came back collared. She had licked a spot on her foot into a problem. The collar will prevent her from doing more licking. She is miserable but she is adjusting. She has to wear it for a month. Long time.

Happy 50th

Happy B-day Paddington Bear!

Home Sweet Home

Esh was home this weekend and spent hours and hours with his friends here. For a short while, they were here. I was told that our house was exactly what they wanted when they got a house! Wow, what a compliment. It makes me very happy. I am so happy that Esh had a good weekend, too! Now...back to college and back to work. Love ya!

Barney Gets Stuck

The electronics genius on the MI team is called Barney. In tonight's show, while stealing plutonium and trying narrowly not to get caught, Barney went in and out of elevator shafts probably a dozen times. You could say, he really got the shaft in this show!

National AP Scholar

Esh got another award in the mail this week. The College Board AP program has named him a National Scholar!! Hooray, Esh! This is the highest AP Honor available for US citizens. Wahoo.

Autumnal Foods

Somewhere along the line I began to associate foods with the different seasons. The minute the air gets crispy with a chill, I begin to think about apples and squash with brown sugar and nuts; and pot roast and cherry pie. The aroma of pot roast or turkey cooking fills a house with extra warmth and comfort. i guess it all goes back to the fact that we are animals jut like all of the other wonderful creatures on Earth.

Harvard Law School Changes

From Cavlier Daily:

"So when Harvard Law School decided this past week to overhaul its entire grading system, it was a big deal. To put it concisely, faculty will no longer give letter grades, instead offering a modified pass-fail method with four possible marks: Honors, Pass, Low Pass, and Fail. Traditionally, most law schools have used the same grading system we’re familiar with here at the University, with letter grades and pluses and minuses. When and where this practice changes, if it does, a legal education and its job placement sequence could change fundamentally.

There are reasons to believe a widespread changeover won’t happen. For one, HLS isn’t pioneering this trend, but is simply switching to a style of grading that Yale Law School has used since the 1960s. Additionally, Stanford Law announced in May that it would take up this method. In that sense, it isn’t a revolutionary idea; it’s been around for a while. Still, you can bet that if Harvard is altering its game, other schools will give pass-fail a second look. "

VA Leaves MD In The Dust

From the Cavalier Daily:

"Cavs leave Terrapins shell-shocked in victory --Cavalier offense, defense fire on all cylinders to shut out Maryland 31-0....In Virginia’s 31-0 dismantling of Maryland Saturday, Cavalier fans cheered themselves hoarse..."

Great video highlights.

Honors List

On the honors list is our Esh!! BIG Congrats!

B Rated Disasters

Most of the day, Gravity and I have worked. Gravity is working on a project that is about to wrap-up and I am learning Photoshop CS3 so I can edit the photos for my next two class projects more efficiently.

In the background, we have had the SciFi Channel on. All day they have been running B-rated disaster movies. It has been hysterical. First there was a massive volcanic eruption, then an atomic tornado and now a black hole is consuming the Earth! Wow....and all in one day.

Ghost Dogs at Moon Lake

We finished Secret of the Scarlet Hand, a mystery involving Mayan culture. So onward to Ghost Dogs at Moon Lake! We have arrived to find our hostess gone and the house was attacked by BIG dogs with green eyes the very first night!!

Gas Shock

I got a shock at the gas pump when I filled up today. I have been hearing horror stories of long, LONG gas lines and prices over $5! Nothing had prepared me for what I experienced. My car takes 93 octane so you can imagine what I was prepared for. I just stared at the gas station and the sign out front. There were no lines and even 93 octane was only $3.93 per gallon.......... The best kind of shock.

Wetlands

When is a wetland a bog or a swamp or a fen or a marsh? According to my math book, the classification is based on the pH levels of the water in the wetland.

I became curious so I checked Wikipedia. Along with other classifiactions, pH is indedd one factor for classification. "A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat" according to the Wikigod. "Fens are characterized by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline." "A salt marsh is a type of marsh that is a transitional intertidal between land and salty or brackish water..." Interesting stuff in math books!

Darden Cmmerce School at UVA

The Darden school of buisness at UVA weighed in on our current financial woes. Following is an article for UVA Today News blog.

"Darden Panel On Financial Market Crisis

I made the mistake this morning of looking at my 401k online. Big mistake. Big, big, big, super-big mistake. And with that in mind, the Darden School of Business held a panel discussion last week to discuss the current turmoil in the financial markets. You can read about the discussion here, or click below to watch a Youtube version. Some great insight into what’s behind all the Wall Street turmoil."

UVA In Space

From UVA Today blog:

"U.Va. Alum On Space Shuttle Mission

Congrats to Leland Melvin, a U.Va. alum (MSE ‘91), who was just named to the NASA Crew for Space Shuttle Discovery’s STS-129 Mission — a space shuttle launch targeted for October 2009.
Melvin flew as a mission specialist on the STS-122 mission in 2008. He was born in Lynchburg, Va. Melvin earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Richmond and a master’s degree in materials science engineering from the University of Virginia. He was selected as an astronaut in 1998.

For more on Melvin, here’s a link to his official NASA bio. Fun fact: Melvin was drafted in the 11th round of the NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions in 1986."