Bread Pudding

Here are the kinds of things my wonderful, thoughtful guy does:

hangs my garage door opener (which I took out of the car and left somewhere) with my keys so I'm not searching everywhere the next day,

changes his plans to hang out with friends of mine,

brings home bread pudding as a surprise because I was too full to eat it after a dinner out a few weeks ago,

these are just from yesterday and today! three cheers for D.

luster

Try this

I just saw this on another blog:

While sitting in a chair (works on the couch too) make clockwise circles with your right leg.
At the same time make a number 6 in the air with your right hand.
Your right leg will start making counter-clockwise circles
and you can't stop it.

Weird, huh?

Happy Spring! for real this time!

So excited about the arrival of Spring! I am definitely NOT a winter person. (as if you all didn't already know that.) Here is how I am celebrating the change of season:

*tomorrow morning I will start riding my bike to school again. (this good habit dropped by the wayside in early October~will be tough to leave the house at 7 am again as I was getting used to watching The Early Show)

*eating well: last night D. made salmon filet w/honey and amazing grilled asparagus. Tonight I'm making spaghetti squash w/mozzarella and black pepper.

*neighborhood walks- as soon as I get home I go out for 30 minutes and explore a new part of the neighborhood. Today I saw hawks, lizards, and 2 cottontails! (perhaps E. bunny casing the joint?)

synchronicity

Sometimes things just fall into place without much effort. I believe these synchronous events mean that one is "on the right path", if you will. Last week we decided to purchase plane tickets for a summer trip to Italy, a pretty big decision. Since then two interesting things happened. Last Friday, we went to Tuesday Morning to look at a picture for over the bed. Instead, we found a piece of artwork we had wanted but missed out on when Bombay Company went out of business last fall. There it was, waiting for us, and at half the cost! Then Saturday we went looking at dining sets and found one we both (!) liked. We came home and priced it on the internet. Even though the store cost was better, we weren't willing to pay quite that much (plus tax) for the seven piece set. Amazingly, we found it on craigslist while browsing dining sets Sunday night. Now we have looked at craigslist periodically ever since we moved. Usually there are random sets but not THE EXACT ONE WE WANTED at a great price! so we made a slightly lower offer and we went to look at it last night. We're ending up getting it for at least $400.00 less than the cheap store and $700.00 less than the internet prices! pix to come!

Spring is here!

I know it doesn't start officially until March 21, but hey, it sure feels like Spring around here! Trees are blooming, kids are playing outside, and the neighbors are reappearing from their "caves". Had a fun, busy Sunday. After changing the clocks (love daylight savings time!) I went with a friend to the local farmer's market. Here's what I bought:

purple tulips
avocado
broccoli
pixie tangerines
lemongrass
fennel
strawberries

yum! I came home and made shrimp/crab/egg/spinach wraps for brunch, then finished a paper for one of my credits and took a nap! D. went in to work for a while, and when he got home we went to sit at the pool. Then I was cleaning out the car and chatting with some neighbors when our realtor popped by. She had some clients with her so we showed them the downstairs of the house. Have a great week!

Productive Day

Thursdays always seem to be one of the most productive days of the week anymore. Is it because I know the weekend is just one day away? Face it, don't you wake up on Friday morning and it feels like Friday IS part of the weekend? There's just a different vibe, whether it's dress down day or spirit day, it's more relaxed. Maybe it's because around here Thursday night is "put out the garbage" night. Maybe it's a combination of these things. All I know is I triple my productivity on Thursdays. How about you? What's your 'power' day?

March 3

This morning I thought it was March 4. I even gave one of my students his birthday card and pencil and we all sang "Happy Birthday" in sign language (just learned it!). Then the kids started to write in their journals and checked the calendar. Let's just say I told my student we would sing again tomorrow. Weird that I would jump over the 3rd of March. Long ago (1984) I proclaimed it an invented holiday. Maybe in my subconscious it was a holiday I didn't want to celebrate this year. I mean, 24 years is a long time.

Even though Spring doesn't start for another 3 weeks officially, it has started in our house. Capris are out, sweaters put away. Trees are budding, hummingbirds humming, and the wind is surely blowing like a lion!

The Ditty Bops -

Another favorite!

Jesca Hoop -

I Stole Your Wishes

Ditty bops/Jesca Hoop

So my Valentine's present from D. was tickets to The Ditty Bops show at McCabe's Guitar Shop last night in Santa Monica. What a great concert! They debuted a new album yesterday as well. (independently released) Jesca Hoop sang with them on quite a few tunes and even did a couple of her own. John Reynolds played banjo, whistled (and I mean whistled as an instrument. He was amazing! His grandmother was the silent film star ZaSu Pitts. Here are two music videos: "I stole your wishes" from The Ditty Bops and "Money" from Jesca Hoop.