READING: End of summer finish to my novel reading of a particular author, Susan Vreeland's Clara and Mr. Tiffany (set in late 1800s-early 1900s in NYC, story of sorts of Clara Driscoll, a Tiffany glass cutter and designer, who in 2005 (this part is for real) was discovered by art historians to have been the artist behind the famous Tiffany lamps, not Louis Comfort Tiffany himself as originally thought and was credited with all these years.) Also finishing The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by Daniel McCullough.
LISTENING TO: Def...it's rainy...it's been rainy...it's a little gray out...definitely need some Def to cheer things up and get things lively around here.
SWIMMING NEWS: Matt finished with swim practice Saturday morning and I was there to pick him up and bring him home for a bit of a rest and relaxation time, very nice for all of us. We are amazed at the change in his physique already from all the weight lifting and running for college swimming. My goodness that happens quickly. He says practices are harder than he ever envisioned but that he loves the team and that his coaches are great so he is just hoping to get to the point where he doesn't feel like he is going to collapse after running the football stadium and all the steps up and down that they run when they do all that, i.e. up one section, down the next, up the next, down the next until they cover them all. Yikes, see below, although you can't really see all the sections very well.
COOKING BYTES: I know, I said I was not going to join any more new blog-alongs, and technically I'm not because this is one I have blogged in before, but I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) is cooking from Tessa Kiros' books for the next six months and I could not resist. Figure since Tessa has traveled so extensively and learned so many different cuisines along the way, it would also qualify for my worldly bits on Wednesdays, so Tessa it is on Wednesdays for the next six months. Here's a link to learn more about Tessa, click here. Here's the link to IHCC if you would like to cook along, everyone chooses their own recipes each week that fit into a theme, so we aren't all cooking the same things each week.
FAV NEW FIND: The road construction in Bloomington on the bypass is further along than we hoped and it isn't as bad getting through it as we thought...of course, disregard this on football weekends. We had been taking alternate exits to enter town, but this weekend I went through the construction and it wasn't bad at all. It's going to be very nice when it's all finished. Same deal with Keystone Avenue in Carmel, except disregard the part about it not being bad at all right now. Sigh.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK: No doubt about this one: having Matt lounging around the house this weekend was really nice. Isn't it fun when they (college student children) come home to visit? They are just so happy to be doing all the normal every day type things around the house and he kept saying, "I love college, but it is great to be home!" What more could a parent want to hear about all this? (Photo right of Matt and Reyn in IU shirts...The Adorable Couple...Reyn stayed at IU this weekend, decorated her room for autumn, and did her homework on Saturday night since the boyfriend was out of town!)
WEEK IN REVIEW: It rained most all week. All. Week. It's still raining. Wait, there was one day when it didn't and I was able to swim. One day. I can see the days for swimming are few in number now. Besides work and everyday things, not much new around here. While Matt was home we watched movies (my favorite was Michael Clayton), grilled dinner, and since he had to be back at IU before study tables at 5 on Sunday, not much else, especially since he went to bed at 11 p.m. and got up at 12:30 p.m. -- 13.5 hours of sleep is not something he ever gets to do with early morning swim practices and all. I did all his laundry (which he appreciated very much), baked cookies/brownies for him to take back with him, and he and I went to an apple orchard in the pouring down rain to get fresh apples, cider, and caramel apples for him to take back. Matt and I found a new little place to eat in Bloomington, called Soup du Jour and it features soups and salads (our favorites) and big cookies. Mark isn't all that fond of soup, so it was a good time to check it all out since he wasn't with us on the jaunts to and fro this weekend. They have 12 different kinds of soup each day, spanning everything you can possibly imagine, and the soups change every two days. Check it out...just north of the corner of College and Kirkwood downtown Bloomington across from the courthouse. It was all fun all weekend.
PRAYING FOR: Let's pray for all the dads this week who go to work each and every day and never complain about doing that and for providing the finances for their families...I don't think we ever show enough gratitude for all of that...please join me.
Missing this: Swim guys hanging around our Men's Den: Jani, Mike, Daniel, Nik, Harrison, and Kiernan...miss all you guys...see you at Thanksgiving!
