Talk About "Fungus Among Us"

Four different kinds, all from our front yard:

On the shoe question from yesterday: you all know us pretty well.  Miss C definitely wanted pink and she did select the glittery ones on the far left-- although she considered the other pink ones for awhile.  (Truth: she asked if she could keep both.  Um, no.)

I also feel warm and fuzzy that I am known as a blue person because it is indeed my fave color.  I've found in recent years, however, that I enjoy a pop of hot pink (my phone cover, my previous pair of sneakers, etc.) so my hands-down favorite is actually the pair on the far right.  It's the perfect Emily-blend of blue-based but with some pink accents, too!

This reminds me-- I need to ship back those other 3 pairs!  

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Ugh-- I'm Totally Part of the Problem

It makes me SO SAD when local stores close.  I've even made a point over the last few years to go to a family-owned kids' shoe store to (pay extra to) buy shoes because they have the saddest sign up on the wall that lists all the family-owned stores that existed in the local area, with red lines through all the ones that have closed. (and it's most of the list.)

But.

But.

Sometimes you just wanna go shopping at your own house with an abundance of options, all of which can be returned for free to Amazon. 
[guilty]

This photo is not great but points will be given for guessing a) the mother's favorite and/or b) the one the girl chose.  (OR IS THIS A TRICK QUESTION AND THEY ARE THE SAME???!)

Wordless Wednesday

There's a First Time for Everything!

In this case, not only did the BG take a day off work for the first time in years but he used it to chaperone B's class trip to a museum! Apparently it was a successful day all around-- and I think it's so great that he got a little taste of the elementary school life.  (Not to mention a little taste of the pre-school routine at our own house, the dynamic mechanics of which seemed to entertain him highly. Since he leaves every morning at 6am, he has never witnessed the goings-on between when the kids get up at 7am and leave at 8:30am.)

And the fact the field trip involved "science-y" things like building "roller coasters" with foam and marbles was a bonus:

Adding Some Color

Miss C is playing soccer this spring with some friends from school.  It's a different program than her brother did with his Kindergarten classmates, but since they are pretty much following the same growth trajectories, his cleats that he wore that year work just fine for his sister.  (And I got them at a thrift store for under $5 to begin with so WOOT WOOT for a bargain!)

Only problem is that they are not pink.  Nor are the shinguards we still have.  Solution: get her a pink ball all her own and jazz up the other two with sparkly fun:

Of course, shortly after this pic was taken, we realized the first soccer experience was cancelled due to rain.  So CJK will have to wait another week to try out her colorful ensemble!

Oh, Cookie. You're Crazy.

The latest flavor?

So...aren't these basically Oreo-flavored Oreos?  ("Oreo" is a word that looks weirder and weirder as I look at it typed.)

In other news-- when Brother made his guess yesterday about Big D's sandwich, I immediately texted him to see if he'd done some creative research.  After all, I realized I gave just enough detail that, had this been a project tasked to me like, say, finding a hotel for loyal reader Karen I.!--I'd probably be able to scope it out by researching the smallest school in the state and finding the town, going to the town's visitor website to find info about restaurants, selecting the restaurant that also has antiques, and then looking at that restaurant's menu.

Alas, he claims he didn't do any of that-- that the sandwich just looked like a "fried baloney sandwich."  I have to believe him, in some part because the restaurant actually called it a "fried bologna sandwich"...with grilled onions, olive oil pickles, sweet yellow mustard, garlic mayo, and swiss on sourdough!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Adventure: Part Two

Having exhausted the town sightseeing offerings the afternoon before, we hit the road early with our trusty toys:

Our destination?  A 3000+ foot tunnel that was blasted through a mountain back in the 19th century to help boats pass through the C&O Canal and bypass the very curvy river.  (So basically, a scenic stop in the middle of the gorgeous rural countryside):

The kids with Big D, whose other grandchildren call him by the moniker assigned to this particular tunnel (which is itself named for a kind of tree).  B&C have "scared faces" because, according to legend, the tunnel might be haunted!

Just starting out on the looooong (3000 feet is not short!) trek though the tunnel.  You can see the old canal on the left:

It got dark really quickly:

We had to use flashlights and still managed to step in some pooled water.  It also was soooo cold in that tunnel.  I really wished I had gloves!   Alas, we finally made it through to the mountains on the other side:

But there's no route back to the parking area from the other end so back through the dark, cold tunnel we went so that we could return to our car!

On the road just past the turnoff to the tunnel, we crossed into another state. (Because you can do that here!  So fun!) We drove on really windy (as in curvy, not full of wind...although that might have been true, too, now that I think about it) roads through the trees for awhile and then decided to "hook a left" and go back north to our own state and to a town that, according to the BG, boasts the smallest high school in the state.  We learned that it also boasts a delightful establishment that has antiques on the bottom, restaurant on the main level, gift shop upstairs, ice cream window outside in the summer, and even rental surreys to take for a spin!  Bikers were everywhere (the canal towpath is a huge draw to runners and bikers) and we even watched a group carry a cross from the beautiful old church down to the area by the canal for a Good Friday service.

Oh, and we sat on a shaded back patio, looking out at the sunshine and enjoying a yummy meal-- what more could you want as a trip-ender?

I only snapped one pic during lunch and it was of Big D's plate.  Correctly guess the kind of sandwich and I'll send you a prize!

Thanks for coming to visit and being up for a random getaway, Big D-- and for keeping us so well-fed along the way!  We look forward to another adventure soon!

Adventure: Part One

Our destination was about two hours away so we decided to leave in time to make a stop for lunch.  I did research/cross-referencing, etc, and ended up picking a local pizza place in a town about 2/3 of the way to our end point.  We were there as it opened at 11am and walked in to find a cozy little space...and the most jovial staff we have ever encountered!  Turns out the Italian place is run by a Romanian woman-- the flag was both flying and pictured everywhere and I was the one to correctly guess which country it was, thanks to all those years of Romanian womens' gymnastics domination :-)--so while some of us had pizza, antipasti salad, and/or meatball sub, Big D had the stuffed cabbage special, served with sour cream and jalapenos!

The waitress brought paper and crayons to the table so I suggested Miss C make one of her patented "LOVE" signs for the restaurant.  So she did; the waitress was tickled and took it back to show "Mama" in the kitchen, hung it up, and then brought us a big plate of friend "doughnuts" that she claimed were part of the usual routine but we're still skeptical.  We think it was just that she LOVED Miss C's sign!

Our next stop was at a state park down the road.  I joked that most people go to southern beaches over spring break but we do it up cool lake-style!  It was a beautiful day and the kids had fun wading in the water and exploring:

We were able to check into our 102-year-old townhouse at 2pm and we were right on time.  After planning this whole pretty-random jaunt, I spoke to a new friend who grew up in the area and she told me that, while the city had once been thriving, a lot of industry had left and it's kinda depressed now.  We found that to be true as we drove and walked around but we still managed to have lots of fun.

We first hit up the local creamery which makes homemade custard.  They always have vanilla and chocolate and then rotate through a special daily flavor.  I was super pumped that Thursday's was coconut-- it was deeelish with some oreos on top!  Then we explored on foot and ended up at quite the historical site:

Lots of gorgeous trees in bloom!

Then back to the house to take advantage of a feature that I did NOT tell the kids about ahead of time.  It involved coordinating swim suits:

Yay!  Hot tub on the back deck!

We drove to The Crabby Pig for dinner because how could you NOT go to a place with a name like that?  No pics there but just imagine another round of belt-busting food...which was pretty much a theme of the week!

I had learned that the local bakery opened at 5:30am, so the BG and I slipped out bright and early to pick up some just-made treats.  Then we took a walk down the street that gives this city its most notable feature: (at least) five steeples rising up over the river.  I was pretty proud of myself for pegging this one to be Presbyterian before we even got to the sign-- it reminds me a lot of First Presbyterian in Corning, NY, my "hometown church"!

And this building was on the edge of downtown-- the bright light makes it hard to see but it's a pharmacy.  Even The Brookster piped up, as we drove into town, to say that Uncle Geoff could have filmed his movie here!

Tomorrow:  our adventures in nature!

Such Creativity!

I so enjoyed the responses yesterday-- thanks so much for participating!  Big shout-out goes to Claire for what I'm pretty sure is her inaugural comment, and one that made me laugh.  Brother always is good for a giggle, too-- perhaps I should recommend that the restaurant change the dish's name to "Fungus Among Us"?  

Susan and Karen came in first with the one-two punch that, when taken together, pretty much gets us there.  The meal selection was actually called "The TV Dinner" (of which Hungry Man is one, right?) and it did feature salisbury steak just like in a cafeteria!  In fact, it was the divided yellow tray that gave the BG such delight-- each time he looked down to get a new bite, he just laughed all over again.  One departure from a cafeteria, however, would be the dessert: the restaurant is known for making homemade pop tart-like pastries!

They are also famous for featuring, on weekends only, a "Cinnamon Roll As Big As Ya' Head":

(See the "icing bowl" in the foreground?!!!)

Three generations-- and the youngest was squinting so I drew in some "sunnies" (as Grammie calls them) for him:

Since I've begun here at the end of Big D's visit, let's make the loop all the way back to the start.  Before we left town on our adventure, we all attended a 10am show of "Popstars" (or "Popstors" as you might recall) and it really was quite the entertaining hit:

Alas, there is no room to tell you here about Thursday and Friday, so stay tuned.  And be warned: some of it could be SCARRRRRRRY...

Guess-a-Meal!

Since today is the last day of Spring Break, I'm still a little out-of-the-routine for getting a lot of pics and stories up on here.  Much more to come about our getaway at the end of last week.

In the meantime, I can't even tell you how giddy this particular meal selection made the BG at a restaurant on Saturday.  Every time I looked at him, he was giggling.  AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION TIME: what do you think this menu item was called?

Situation: Normal

 

(At least for one of our random overnight adventures!)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Dinner with Big D

So good to have Big D in town for a few days!

After he arrived mid-afternoon, we dined at a local Peruvian Fusion restaurant where I had just eaten last week for the first time and really enjoyed-- and we all found it to be quite tasty!  And did you know we had a starlet in our midst?

Escape Artist

Sure, you could notice the piled-up laundry, the discarded shoes, the something-sticking-out-of-a-drawer...

...but then you might miss the kid trying to slither his way down the hall without being seen!  :-)

On a Stage and In a Truck

A mom friend from school organized a group to go to a local theater's production of Seussical the Musical yesterday morning.  It was a really intimate "theater in the round" set-up and was super fun.  It made me realize, however, that I'm not actually that educated in the Seuss oeuvre: the action was largely centered around Horton Hears a Who which, while I could tell you the title and the fact that Horton is an elephant--enough details to make me slightly helpful at trivia games--I don't know that I've ever actually read it!   In any case, the production was full of energy and music, and I snapped this pic of the kids as we walked across the "stage" to head out:

We then headed to The Place Where Dreams Come True (aka Wegmans) for lunch, and the BG was able to come meet us after his morning errand...which turned out to be a productive enough trip to check out a for-sale vehicle that, by late afternoon, we had said goodbye to "Red Truck" (not really a truck) and piled into the bed of his new (to him) wheels.  He really did take one for the proverbial team 7.5 years ago when he traded in his little pickup for a more family-friendly car, and he really has missed--like IN HIS SOUL ;-)--having a truck.

(And we can all fit easily INSIDE this one, too!)

Giddy BG = Best Spring Break Ever

Now You See It

And now you DON'T!

Flashback Friday

Funny to me since I was just looking at the kids' eyes yesterday while waiting for the bus-- hers (and his) are decidedly NOT blue anymore.  They're actually both a color that's tending towards brown but isn't really.  Is that hazel?

Anyway, this baby doesn't even look familiar!

(two other shots--including a smiley one!--can be found at the original post here.)

We are technically on Spring Break as of now!  In looking back at former April 7th posts (wherein the "no weekend posting" thing gets tricky since some years don't HAVE an April 7th post), I've realized we have gone on Spring Break adventures in lots of years.  We're not headed anywhere this year but look forward to having a certain Big Daddy visit next week!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Wackiness

Yesterday was "Wacky Wednesday" at school.  One child went slightly wackier than the other:

Okay, a LOT wackier:

(She had three ponytails in the back, too! And yes, that's a swimsuit.)

Hooray for Spring!

Some trees DO have flowers!

And my house now has some flowers, too, thanks to the ever-surprising bounty at our neighborhood Aldi.  They happened to have a bucket of bouquets yesterday-- for only $3.99 each!!!!

(It's also possible they had all manner of Easter chocolates in stock, too....mmmmmmm.)

Back To It

I went to this place yesterday:

Makes you realize what a difference leaves on trees can make, huh?

Anyway, this is "college," aka where I've taken the kids a bunch of times to participate in studies over the last 7-ish years.  As one friend was shocked to find out yesterday, it's also the reason why we live here. (Her quote: "I just assumed you moved here for [the BG's] job."  My response:  "hahahahahahahaha!!!")

Fifteen years ago, I was choosing where to attend graduate school.  I knew I wanted to return to the eastern part of the country and, in classic Emily "I love all things!" tradition, chose an interdisciplinary course of study (Social Foundations of Education) based on what was offered at a particular school that I remembered liking from going on my brother's college-visiting trip many years before.  Then I cross-referenced other schools that had a similar program and applied to those.  [WHO DOES THAT?]

I had nerded it up enough in college that I ended up with choices.  While I'm sure I would have loved the original school location (where they don't much like Rolling Stone anymore), or the one that boasts the 2017 NCAA Men's Bball Champions, or the one that isn't where Patrick Ewing was just hired to coach but often gets confused for it-- but I went with this one, the one that offered me some $$$. 

Unfortunately, they didn't offer me much in the way of other support, the kind of support a "connector" like me needs.  As it turns out, graduate school at a major research institution is quite different from the experience at an undergraduate institution that puts its greatest emphasis on teaching and the professor/student relationship.  My classes were in the evening because many of my classmates were education professionals working full-time during the day, so the BG and I had the days to sit around and wonder what we were doing. While I understand why I was assigned the advisor I was (she had once been a young PhD student, too), I arrived on campus to find that she was on sabbatical for that first semester.   We had just moved many, many miles to a place where we knew no one-- and the BG had left a teaching job to move to a place where he'd have to start over in finding one.

The quick version is that everything fell into place; we learned to love the area and the people we met, and we're still here all these years later.  I don't have "PhD" behind my name, however, because I realized along the way that I was too young, too inexperienced professionally, and too just-not-ready for such a profound course of study.  I had never really worked.  I had never really considered education policy issues, other than general ones that reflected my own experience and interests.  So I bowed out with an MA after two years, but not before I did forge a strong connection-- with a professor with whom I still exchange Christmas cards, and to whose house-on-the-water I've taken the kids several times for visits.

Just about a year ago, I received the strangest email from an unknown name: it turned out that my professor friend had recommended me to do some work for an education research firm and the founder of the company reached out to chat.  That has turned into an exciting opportunity and one that has forced me (often with great trepidation) to revisit the analysis and rigor of graduate school and of education policy issues, even all these years later.

I returned to campus yesterday because that professor delivered a lecture as part of being named a Distinguished Scholar Teacher, which, by my estimation, is one of the highest awards the university can bestow.  I sat in the "Special Events Room" in the Library, listening to her discuss three research streams of policy analysis and realized that there was a familiarity there that gives me confidence.  After almost sixteen years of being married to a teacher, I've thought a lot about education issues at the school level, or, as she'd say, "the point of service: where the rubber meets the road." Through nine years of being a parent (and two years of being an elementary school PTA officer), I have now had even more occasions to ponder the dynamics of decision-making, of capacity-building, of resource-managing.

I could probably have PLENTY to write about in doctoral papers at this point!  ;-)

I didn't intend for this post to turn into a review of my post-grad life, but that kinda goes with the theme of unexpected journeys. I came home last evening and thanked the BG once again for his willingness to move with me on this crazy adventure-- because it was crazy, and it was a big deal.  It's funny to me that I ended up taking a full-time job after graduation that didn't really have anything to do with what I had studied rather than with a policy think tank or the like....and now, all these years later, I do work for an education nonprofit committed to providing resources for classroom teachers, and for a research company committed to quality policy analysis.

It all works out.  Wonder what the next fifteen years will bring?

Stuck In My Head All Weekend

"I've got a golden ticket!"

We took the kids to the HS production of Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka on Saturday (after an egg hunt at the church, in case you're wondering about the paint on Miss C's cheek):

While I have to admit that I spent some portion of it thinking through all the ways that JC, Corning East High's former theater director extraordinaire, would have changed things, we all enjoyed the show.  It's fun to take advantage of (hyper-)local entertainment options!

But seriously??  They didn't sell chocolate bars during intermission!!  That was ALL I wanted by that point!!!