Mystery Bread

We came home this afternoon and went to check the mail.  There, rright beside the door, we found two giant loaves of rye bread and a big bag of dinner rolls.  No note.  Nothing else.

So we don't know if someone thinks we're destitute.  Or, as one friend suggested, knowing that Bob is gluten intolerant, maybe it's an attack!  Death by gluten!  I'm so afraid we'll never know the answer to this mystery.  Oh, well, the bread goes to Centro Latino in the morning.







Rainy Saturday in Shelbyville

April is always a fickle month with beautiful balmy days followed by chilly rainy ones. Except for April 2011--which has featured a few of those beautiful days but mostly the rainy ones.  Right now, we're considering an ark.

Despite the rain and stormy weather that's been sitting on top of us for days,  with more to come, we've still enjoyed the usual routine.

Yesterday, Bob and I went across the street to the community theater to help with the box office and usher for the matinee production of "Girls in the Garden."  Splashing down the sidewalk and crossing at the intersections, my feet (in sandals) got soaking wet and so did my long pants about three inches up from the hem.  The temperature was pleasant though, so it wasn't uncomfortable.  After our theater duties, we ventured back out into the rain to the tea shop owned  by Regan Wann, a friend of ours, located in a beautiful old 1880s house owned by a different friend of ours,  http://www.shelbyvillelookingglass.com/  Here's a picture of the shop from last summer when Regan moved into it from her old place:

But yesterday we went traipsing through the rain to hear jack salt's Sea Chanties.  (jack salt is the alias of Regan's husband, Lance Minnis).  Here's a fuzzy picture taken with my cell phone yesterday:

Lance is obviously the one with the guitar.  Anyway, the rain poured and poured while Lance...I mean, Jack, took us asailin' on the seas.  Then we had to navigate the rushing waters ourselves on our way back home. 

I also took a bit of video on my phone (yay me!).  I know I need to work on my videography skills, but I don't think it's too bad for a first effort.  You will get a little dizzy as I swing back and forth.  Stand by.

Sweet Smells from the Past

I meant to write about this much earlier.  While we were in Florida in March, we were driving north on Merritt Island just cruisin' along (Merritt Island--hard to believe it's so close to civilization) and I caught a whiff of the sweetest smell on earth--orange blossoms.  Instantly, I was transported to my days growing up in Florida.  But more specifically, the smell was like a time machine to a specific day--ca. April 1967:  Driving home through the orange groves northwest of Tampa from the university after takng exams, top down on my 1964 LeMans convertible. 

The smell, the balmy air, and the Lovin' Spoonful cranked up to high volume on the radio:

Spring Break

Yep, here we are, cruising down the East Coast.  We stopped this evening at Port Orange just south of Daytona.  Perfect weather, and we had a yummy dinner.  We lucked into a restaurant next to our hotel.

As we entered, the smell of good food took us right back to Japan.  The menu was extensive so it made choices really difficult. Oh, I forgot the most important part: they're gluten-free aware.  They provide non-wheat-based soy sauce and all the sauces for the main courses are made with cornstarch.  We started with half a dozen fresh oysters, very lightly steamed topped with lemongrass and ginger. Outstanding.  We could have had more, but we had the rest of our dinner coming.  I stayed with all appetizers--gyoza, veggie tempura, kappamaki, and tamago sushi.  Bob shared some of the tamago and had shrimp and veggies in a garlic sauce.  Both of us rolled back to the hotel.  Oh, so good.

I'm a dummy

A & W Diet Cream Soda has caffeine in it.  I shoulda checked!  That might explain why I haven't been sleeping very well the last few weeks and why I've been grumpy.

In the middle of last night as I was in and out of sleep, a little voice spoke to me: "Check for caffeine in the cream soda."  I did this morning.  And, yup, it's there.  What was I thinking?  So, no more afternoon cream soda treats for me.

Grumpy

So I guess it's time to bring back my grumpy kitty.  This is how I felt all day yesterday.  Why, you ask?  I woke up to what was dawning as a sunny day.  Yay for sunshine!

But the temperature was 9 degrees
 ...Fahrenheit. 

For you celsius people, that's....wait a minute....minus 13C (-13!). 

Right now the temperature here is 20 degrees F, exactly the same temp as in Oslo and Stockholm right now.


But I didn't really get grumpy until I started grading student papers in the afternoon.  Just explain to me how an assignment can say this:

"Your paper should be no less than 800 words, but you can certainly exceed that."

And half the papers stop somewhere around 400-500 words!  Totally failing to develop their topic.  And did I mention plagiarism?  Just a little thing.

OK, OK, I know nobody cares..........and that makes me grumpy, too!

(You can click on the strip to read it more clearly.)

Happy Mel-Day Indeed!

She may look like just a pretty face, but under that stylish hat (worn for the Oaks Race at Churchill Downs), there's a powerful brain and determination of iron.  Congratulations to #3 child, Melinda/Mindy/Mel for passing ALL of her written comprehensive exams for her masters in speech language pathology at the University of Louisville.  She graduates in May......just in time to go job-hunting.  Way to go, sweetie!

(Thanks to her hubby Mark for coining the new word: Mel-Day!)

Mark & Mel at their ring ceremony in Mexico May 2006.  (Aren't they cute?)



And here's another pic: Mel as a cowgirl in Mexico.  You think she might have a thing for hats?  She gets it from her father.

.

Finally, my favorite picture of her: Paris 2001 in contemplation on the steps of Sacre Coeur:

(And, yes, I know we have you two other kids, but today is Mel-Day!!)