Grass and Sky

I had an all-day workshop today, in which I made a necklace out of lace, fabric samples and old film spools; took apart an old radio/cd player just to see what was inside; played with the coolest blocks I've ever seen; had a long chat with a woman about costuming (she's just getting started on a Civil War era ballgown without having ever made much more than a pair of pjs before); and incidentally got some really great/fun ideas for the classroom. Some days I think I have the best job ever.

And then I left the all day workshop and raced what turned out to be a really terrible storm to work. I made it, just barely. According to the news, we got about three inches of rain in an hour. In a few places around town the flashflooding was severe - they reported six feet by the zoo - and at least three people were killed. Yikes! Luckily, it all calmed down to a nice, quiet drizzle by the time I headed outside again to go home.

And now it's the weekend!

What an exciting afternoon. We were given a chance to put our Emergency Weather drill into practical application at work. There were a variety of tornado warnings/watches for our area, just around the time that parents come to pick their children up. So all the kids from upstairs were sent down to the basement (where we Infant/Toddler folks hang out anyway), including a number of parents who had already arrived to pick up.

We actually got the first round of the storm earlier in the afternoon, while our kids were having snack. The sky was almost pitch dark, it was raining heavily and there were some flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. We love to share weather experiences with the kids, so one of the teachers went to our back door and opened it up to let the kids hear/see the rain. And then it began hailing with ice balls maybe a centimeter in diameter or a little less - the biggest hail I can remember seeing prior to that. I have since seen bigger.



This was what was in my yard when I got home from work, a good forty minutes after the second round of hail came through. I am so glad it came at 5:20, while I was at work and not 6:20 when I would have been walking home from work.

The storm has calmed down considerably, but I was still glad to accept a ride home this evening. It's quite exciting to have that sort of shared group experience with a storm - we all stood around chatting about how none of us had ever seen hail that big before - but it would be the pits to be caught out in it!

Thank you, all my lovely friends, for the kind and thoughtful birthday wishes. I've had a lovely day so far.

My dad called me first thing this morning, actually getting my birthday day right for the first time in years. He's had a lot of health problems this past year or so but he sounded a lot better than he has in a while, and it was only a little awkward talking to him.

Some friends treated me to a delightful brunch this morning. We went to a little place called Coca Cafe, which has the feel of a coffee house, but the kitchen of a restaurant. They open at 10, we got there at 10:05 and they already had a forty minute wait for a table! So after putting our names on the list, we wandered a block or two down the street to Espresso a Mano for some coffee and a warm place to wait.

As soon as we walked in the door, I could tell this was a place that takes their coffee seriously. I ordered a latte and discovered that I was right.



It also tasted really good.

We hung out with our coffees until a table opened up and then wandered back down the street to eat. I'd never been to Coca Cafe before, but I can definitely recommend it. I ordered the Almond French Toast, which came with strawberries and lemon cream sauce.



Since I was taking pictures, Friend D wanted to take a pic of me with my food. Good thing I made an effort to be presentable this morning!



The thing about today that I was not expecting was the inch of snow on the ground when I woke up, and the persistent snowfall that has continued all day, despite the fact that weather.com assured me this morning that it was raining. It's only just barely freezing, and the snow is sticking to every single little leaf, twig and branch. Very pretty in a rather bleak, monochromatic way.

( Coming up: pictures of a walk on a snowy day )

And now, the sky is all pink with sunset, I'm in my snuggly Life is Good pjs, I'm getting ready to heat up some left over chicken vindaloo, I have dark chocolate to eat for dessert, and movies to pop into the dvd player. I declare this birthday a rousing success!

It snowed yesterday. After Spring spent the past week teasing us with 60 degree temps, today there is seven inches of snow on the sidewalk. Lovely. The public schools are closed, but we don't close unless we get closer to 2 feet of snow. Oh well. I pulled out my gaiters, spent some time trying to remember how to wear them, and went out to shovel the sidewalk. I'll try to take some pictures on the way to work.

This past week was one of those weeks where all you want to do is survive it. An unpleasant combo of period and head cold really wiped me out. Yesterday I was invited to go out with people after work to watch a hockey game and have a few drinks. I declined due to a fabulous headache. I was ready for bed by 8:30 last night, but heroically held out until ten, and then slept approximately sixteen hours. An hour and a half later, I still feel all groggy and gross, but I think 2:30 in the afternoon is late enough to be getting up, I definitely can't crawl back into bed for a nap yet. *sigh*

It's a bright, sunny, blue-sky day outside, but cold. The current temp is 16F, which is too cold for me to feel any desire to venture outside. Yesterday evening, I stopped at CVS after work to buy some essential groceries, and saw some children playing in the snow, sledding on a small hill at the neighborhood park. It amazed me that they were out there voluntarily when it was so cold, and then remembered that kids don't feel the cold in the same way that adults do. It's not that they don't get cold, it's just that they don't care. I can remember being the same way when I was little. If there was snow to play in, it must be played in, and it didn't matter that your mittens were soaked and your hands were so cold you could barely move your fingers. You were having fun. Today is a great day to be ten years old.

I have very rarely had a chance to watch the leading edge of a storm front sweep across the sky the way this one did this morning. I took these pics just after finishing my run (just in time, too!) this morning, on the CMU campus.

( Stuck behind a cut but only a few pics this time )

In other news, my boning and pins arrived today. I'm not sure the boning is going to be stiff enough, but I'll give it a try. It's also a little narrower than I was supposed to get, but I haven't been able to find 3/8" boning anywhere. The choices seem to be limited to 1/4" or 1/2" so I went with 1/4". That may just mean that I add a few extra channels for it, I certainly got enough to do that.

Sadly, despite the arrival of my stuff, I still haven't found the gumption to spread out my muslin and start pinning the pattern pieces. It may have to wait until the weekend, since it requires a certain amount of concentration to do it right, and I've proven to be not so good at that sort of concentration even under the best of circumstances, let alone at the end of the day when I'm completely exhausted.

It's a beautiful, blue-sky morning and I could smell honeysuckle as I walked to work. What a lovely way to start the day.

Today is the last day with our current crop of toddlers, which makes me a little sad, but also excited. These kids are so ready to move on to bigger challenges, and we are all ready for a new group of tiny little toddlers to fall in love with.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Poor Zoe, she's been sneezing almost non-stop since yesterday. I called the vet to double check that she's okay but since she's not goopy or congested or anything, it's probably just allergies. There's also a little bit of a smoke smell in the kitchen still, which may be aggravating it. Mal, on the other hand, is completely unaffected by it all.

I had to go to a Carnival committee meeting this morning, which there was absolutely no need for me to be at, but oh well, it got my morning started with at least a semblance of productivity. I carried on with that by stopping in Oakland to register for tomorrow morning's Race For The Cure event and then walking into Squirrel Hill to eat lunch and deposit some checks at the bank. I probably got close to three miles of walking in, so that has to be good. It's a cool and cloudy, wild and windy day, just perfect for being outside. It's going to be quite chilly but at least partly sunny for the race tomorrow morning.

And now, I really do need to do some minimal cleaning. It can be put off no longer. *sigh*

Spring is up to its old tricks. We've had lots of cool, rainy days lately, which I would embrace wholeheartedly if not for the downside of being unable to take cranky children outside. Yesterday, when I left work the sky above was a beautiful blue, with a very dark, menacing cloudbank moving up from the west. By the time I came out of the grocery store it had overtaken us and was raining lightly. Then a little harder. Then all of a sudden a burst of hail (luckily tiny hail, so no harm to me or baby plants), then back to a gentle drizzle.

Day 2 of 14 on my no sweets or desserts plan. I see the potential for backfiring, but I'm continuing on, none the less. Problem is, I continue to feel hungry (or some state that my sweets addled brain interprets as hungry, at any rate) even after eating a big meal, because I haven't had that dessert. So then, in an effort to not feel like I'm starving, I go and eat more 'healthy' food. I ate a ton today. So the next thing, once I've kicked the constant desire for sweets, will be to work on portion control. One thing at a time, though.

Babies did nothing but cry this afternoon. I'm as exhausted as if I'd gone on a twelve mile hike, all up hill, carrying a heavy pack. It hardly seems fair that a couple of hours with screaming minions of Lucifer crying babies would leave me so completely wrecked. I am, in fact, pouting over this. *shows you pouty face*

It's officially spring, so I'm using my spring icon. Doesn't matter that it's the coldest day we've had in weeks and I was greeted on my walk to work with the occasional snowflake. It's spring! And I should add, I was also greeted with the first of the daffodils (and boy do I really, really want to spell that with a y for some reason) this morning. Daffs are just about my favorite flower, probably because they are a harbinger of spring, my favorite season.