Grandma's Kitchen Table

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  I would really like to know the answer to this as I have about ten things going at once and bits and pieces of other things I keep delving into.  This is not good...by next week I promise to whittle it all down to my standard four books going at once and pick my favorite one to post. I think I need more focus in my life at the moment.

(Photo: Matt at Panther Quarterback's locker while touring facility in Charlotte, NC.)
SWIMMING NEWS: IU swimmers headed out to Charlotte, NC for the Ultra Swim Grand Prix last week Thursday through Sunday, Matt's flight came in on Monday morning, he was tired but happy as he had a wonderful time in Charlotte at the meet.  The IU swimmers were all hosted by various families volunteering for such in Charlotte and Matt was super-excited about his host family, who he just loved.  The father in the family is a marketing executive for the Charlotte Panthers football team and he arranged for Matt to see the facility and the locker rooms, etc. during session breaks.  The family was just wonderful to Matt, very supportive...they went to his swim sessions and cheered and filmed him, which was so very nice since we were not able to be there.  He had great meals, rides to and from the pool and airport, wonderful accommodations at their beautiful home, and just a whole lot of extra fun besides enjoying the swim meet.  Here are some photos from all of that.
(Photo:  Matt and his host family at the Charlotte Grand Prix meet, "Best Host Family Ever.")
(Photo:  Student and Teacher:  Matt and IU Swim Coach L.)
(Photo:  Indiana! Where did my little guy go...look at those shoulders...a lot of changes from swimming this year.) 
COOKING BYTES:  My goal is to get back on the path to proper posting (this is for my benefit primarily as it keeps me interested in trying new things each week and gives Mark more of a variety...left to my own devices, soup and salad always look like viable options for every meal).  Back to committed food planning and blogging this week...I hope.
FAV NEW FIND:  I now know how to use a flash drive.  Keep your laughter to yourself...I was only tentatively moving into the 20th Century when they somehow switched it to the 21st. 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Getting Matt and his roommates (Ian and Steve) settled into their rental house at college was definitely my favorite thing this past week.  It was fun to be a part of all of that and see them so happy with their choice.  Swimmers and dorms are not a good combination.  Swimmers sleep 10 p.m.-5 a.m., most dorm residents do not follow such hours of quiet and sleep, so the goal for the new place for the next three years for the boys, from their viewpoint, was to rent a house rather than an apartment so there would be no people above, below, or beside them who might quite possibly like to play loud music and be active for a good many of those hours between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.  The house they found is close to campus and pool and is quite comfortable.  It comes with three bedrooms and three off-street parking spots for the three roommates.  It has two bathrooms, a lovely kitchen with a counter that accommodates bar stools (especially good as they see no need for a kitchen table to "clutter things up"), a most generous sized living room, and a nice little porch out front for bikes and lawn chairs. Since so many have asked about this, and requested photos...here are some from move-in day (since Ian and Steve are not quite as compulsive as Matt about their rooms and closets, I didn't shoot photos of their rooms at this time).  So here's a bit of where Matt will call home these next three years.
(Photo: Steve, Matt, and Ian in front of the new digs in Hooville...home for the next three years.)
(Photo: Front door enters into entry and living room off to right side. Ian, Matt, Steve on move-in day, i.e. you have a couch each, a tv, a bedroom/bed each, and you are moved in. Girls might be slightly different in this regard.)
(Photo:  Kitchen on move-in day, all cabinets loaded, miscellaneous junk sitting around but basically doing great on neatness and organization through the whole moving process.)
(Photo:  Matt's bedroom...yes, it will probably always look this neat.  And please don't sit or put anything on the bed, he's not fond of that, just so you know. I have no idea where he got all these compulsive tendencies.)
(Photo:  Matt's bathroom...and yes, it will probably always look this neat and orderly. Again, I have no idea where he got that tendency.)
(Photo:  Matt's Closet...and yes, it will probably always look this neat and organized.  And again, I have absolutely no idea where he got these compulsively neat tendencies.)
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Spent a good deal of time in Hooville getting the boys settled, Mark's firm also moved offices after 40 years of being in the same place, so that was a lot for Mark to get his office packed up for the movers.  His new office has a lovely view of trees and greenery, something other than just downtown buildings and rooftops, so he is looking forward to that...the all-cement view from his former office not being his favorite by a long shot.  Too bad it didn't look out over a golf course!
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   There is an art "sculpture" exhibit in Bloomington (ends in October) which honors the human brain called Brain Extravaganza.  Sounds a little strange, but is rather fun as there are 22 brains located all over town and on the IU campus which detail/showcase different aspects of the brain.  Each has a little pedestal of written information describing that particular brain's focus.  I've seen half a dozen so far, but hope to get to them all before October.  Here's a photo of Matt with Brain #21 a couple of blocks from his house.
You can read (and see photos) about Brain Extravaganza and the brains here.  Nothing at the ISO this week...come on...this is Indianapolis and it's Race Weekend coming up, nothing else is going to attract more than a handful of fans.  It's May, It's Indy, It's The Race.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Still reading this as it is very long and I don't want to skim over any of it in a hurry.  I keep having to stop to look up locations of battles, and then get distracted by other accounts of same battles, etc.  -- Ulysses S. Grant's Ulysses S. Grant: Personal Memoirs.  Yes, the one that Mark Twain published all those many years ago.  It's a wonderful read, Grant is a very good writer and battle after battle is recounted in a manner that keeps one interested and moving through the pages quickly, as well as the more personal bits. 
SWIMMING NEWS:  IU swimmers in training for the Charlotte Grand Prix May 10-14th, their next stop on the competition circuit.  Not sure what Matt is swimming in that, possibility that they are adding more distance events to his freestyle lineup and resurrecting some of his backstroke events. 
COOKING BYTES:  Have I mentioned how much I love the return of grilling season?  I happen to be married to a man who is absolutely useless in the kitchen but absolutely a genius at the outdoor grill.  Very nice. 
FAV NEW FIND:  Matt finished his last final today, so we can now say that we have a sophomore at IU...where did that year go???
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Watching the IU swimmers compete this past weekend. Over the year I have come to know the swimmers, identify each one on sight, and even know some of them in the water by their swim styles/strokes...it feels like home again after watching the CSC swimmers all those years and knowing them all so well in and out of the water.   I didn't take a single photo all weekend...left all electronics at home to just unplug for a bit.
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Working every day last week made the week fly by, being gone all weekend for the swim meet made the weekend fly by...I can't remember a week that passed so quickly...but fun, all of it.  Weather has been so great...all the greenery and the flowers just make my heart sing every day.  Pacers Playoff game tonight...Mark and Matt headed there.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site (House): Victorian Theatre By Candlelight's last weekend of Amusing Ambiguities.  Click here, still a few tickets left.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Berlioz Requiem, click here for information.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Still reading this as it is very long and I don't want to skim over any of it in a hurry.  I keep having to stop to look up locations of battles, and then get distracted by other accounts of same battles, etc.  -- Ulysses S. Grant's Ulysses S. Grant: Personal Memoirs.  Yes, the one that Mark Twain published all those many years ago.  It's a wonderful read, Grant is a very good writer and battle after battle is recounted in a manner that keeps one interested and moving through the pages quickly, as well as the more personal bits. 
SWIMMING NEWS:  Swim meet coming up this weekend in B-Town at IU, so we are eager to go down and watch the swimmers compete on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  
COOKING BYTES:  Received GdL's newest cookbook, Weeknights with Giada, as a gift for my birthday and it is filled with lots of interesting and delicious looking quick and easy weeknight meals. 
FAV NEW FIND:  They called to say they were opening the pool tomorrow...what's not to find favorite in that??!!  (Yes, I know that these Sunday's Snippets are actually posted pretty much whenever I get around to it and not necessarily on Sunday...will try to do better in the future.  Try.)
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  So much fun to see all the GCHS students preparing for prom last week...girls sharing photos of their dresses, shoes, jewelry, hairstyles, etc., and guys chatting about things they don't normally chat about, i.e. corsages and tuxes and colors of shirts/ties/hankies, etc.  Just fun to see them all growing up and becoming who they will become someday.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Same old schedule of work and play, but with my birthday thrown in there on Saturday, so some extra fun with family and friends to celebrate that, which was very nice indeed.  Matt even came home to spend some time celebrating, bringing a little bundle of flowers and a lovely card with him.  Not every college boy would come home for his mother's birthday...I am very lucky, it made the day that much more special to me.  I made the cake in the photo...will be blogged when we get to the proper timing on the NM group, but let me just say that it was one very delicious Raspberry Cream Cake, a fine way to celebrate a birthday.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Indiana Historical Society:  If you haven't seen this link and checked it out, give it a go...it's just wonderful:  Digital Images Collection of the Indiana Historical Society, click here and explore from the comfort of your own home!  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Andre Watts plays Grieg, click here for information.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Ulysses S. Grant's Ulysses S. Grant: Personal Memoirs.  Yes, the one that Mark Twain published all those many years ago.  It's a wonderful read, Grant is a very good writer and battle after battle is recounted in a manner that keeps one interested and moving through the pages quickly, as well as the more personal bits.  I know, I know, you aren't going to probably read it, but trust me, it is worthy. I was able to get the movie called The Conspirator, directed by Robert Redford, that was based on the book I was reading last week about Mary Surratt and the assassination of Lincoln...the movie was good but did not follow the book very closely...told from the point of view of someone who was not featured greatly in the book.  The book is much better and truer to fact.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Plane tickets are purchased and swimmers are gearing up for another swim meet in the Grand Prix series with the Olympians, this time in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Matt swam in this meet last year as well, with his high school team, so now he will enter the meet with his college team.  A nice progression.  Until then, I believe they are just working very hard and training long course after all those months (August to March) of short course swimming. 
COOKING BYTES:  Caught up with my Wednesday with Donna Hay group this week...if you have not made any of her recipes, you are truly missing out.  Fresh ingredients, lower in fat and calories for the most part, no fake ingredients, simple, easy, and most of all, delicious.  Check out her website here and make something!  Don't be put off by the metric measurements as you can google: "how many ounces is 200 grams" and have it in a flash.  After doing it over and over you don't even need to google it sooner than you think.
FAV NEW FIND:  Mark cleaned out the mechanical room...I was always afraid to go in there as it was filled with guy stuff and there didn't seem to be any particular order to it, and it all looked scary and unidentifiable most of the time.  Voila...no more...all the old scout projects, home school projects, bits and pieces of project projects (or whatever) have all been hauled out of there and a trip made to the chemical wasteland place made.  Whew.   A favorite new thing around here indeed.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  A dear friend made something very special for me that she knew I would absolutely love and it arrived on my doorstep in a big box of most interesting proportions as she said she was sending me a little something.  It was definitely my favorite thing this past week.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  A busy work week, some fun time this weekend, some working around the house this weekend, time with friends, a nice phone call from Alex who has a new job, and I leave you with a photo of Steve, Kiernan, and Matt at Xavier as Matt and Steve took a drive over to Cincinnati to visit Kiernan this weekend, to see the campus and where Kiernan hangs out these days, etc.  A fine time was had by all. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Indianapolis Children's Museum:  I was talking to someone this week who had no idea that we have a permanent exhibit of the glasswork of Dale Chihuly called Fireworks of Glass, click here for information and go check it out if you haven't...it's all lovely.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Vive la France! click here

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Kate Clifford Larson's The Assassin's Accomplice:  Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln.  It's April...April is my favorite time to read Civil War Era history and this was a good read...I knew the basics, of course, but this takes it all just a little further so nice to have a wider view of all that now.  There is a movie called The Conspirator, directed by Robert Redford, for those of you who favor the movie version over the print...I haven't seen it, but have it on reserve at the library, so perhaps soon.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Several members of the Indiana University Women's Swimming and Diving Team participated in the Grand Prix swim meet here in Indy the week before last.  Matt swam in his first scheduled event, took ill (had a 101 degree fever) and had to pull from the meet as you can't swim with a fever or for 24 hours there after...still had the fever the next day.  So much for that meet...and I didn't get many photos, but I thought you might enjoy seeing MP's little "camp" at swim meets.  As famous as he is, you do expect there to be little things here and there...this is one of those little things.  At the meet at the Nat, he has all his things set up on one of the diving boards not in use, with a guard to make sure that no one messes with anything or approaches him unnecessarily, etc.  I like the little bed...I guess this is the equivalent of those movie star trailers on film sets.
Photo:  Ian, Matt, Daniel at the Grand Prix swim meet in Indy, discussing and watching swimmers.
Photo:  Daniel and Matt shake hands before the 100 Freestyle.  After the swim, it was evident that Matt was ill, so that was the first and last swim of the meet for him.
Photo:  MP's camp at the meet behind the privacy curtains/warm-up pool.  MP is by the clock in the white top, blue swim trunks, his guard is in the red, and another in the blue...all on the private diving board set-up. Such great fun watching MP and the rest of the Olympians at the meet swimming. 
COOKING BYTES:  With Matt and his swimmer appetite at college, the amount of food things needing to be made/baked/eaten around here has lessened considerably, so my blogging for my blog-alongs is going to reflect that schedule...will make/blog when it fits in around here, so please check with the main groups to see the posts in between my selections. 
FAV NEW FIND:  Spring is here to stay...it has been so beautiful these past couple of months...winter is definitely not coming back...I was a little skeptical but I now I have moved my indoor herbs back outside onto the deck, reflecting my confidence in this weather.  Oh, happy days.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Matt was home for Easter weekend...love having swimmers around lounging about and chatting about college.
Photo:  Big guys still like to dye the Easter eggs...Steve, Matt, and even Mark.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  A very quiet week in the city here as CHS was on spring break so it was like a ghost town, no lines for anything anywhere.  Easter was good for all of us with family, friends, time together. 
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Eiteljorg:  Steel Ponies exhibit, click here for information.  I wasn't thinking that I was originally interested in seeing this exhibit...I mean, motorcycles?  However, there has been some press about it and I am intrigued. This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Pink Martini & The ISO, click here.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Timothy Egan's The Worst Hard Time re the dust bowl years of the 1930's in the Oklahoma Panhandle and surrounding areas.  (The same author who wrote The Big Burn that I finished a couple of weeks ago.)
SWIMMING NEWS:  The Indiana University Women's Swimming and Diving Team finished 13th in the NCAA Championships.  The Men's Swimming and Diving Team finished 10th in the NCAA Championships.  Very good, both...the ones finishing ahead of them were the huge swimming powers that be, so IU held their own and we are so proud of all of them.   You can read the Women's news here.  You can read the Men's news here.  Next up for Matt is the Grand Prix swim meet here in Indy this week.  He will swim the 50, 100, 200 Freestyles and the 100 Backstroke over the course of the meet.  Extra fun as it's a big-time meet with the Olympian swimmers participating.
Photo:  Steve, Ian, and Matt (otherwise known as The Three Amigos) during a weekend home -- Ian is Matt's roommate this year and in May the three of them will be renting a house together for the next three years at college as swimmers stay in Hooville for the summers to train. 
COOKING BYTES:  Way behind on blogging and posting food group blog-alongs.  Sigh.
FAV NEW FIND:  Spring showed up really really early this year and we are completely green here with blooming flowers.  It is so gorgeous and inspiring.  All the green right outside my windows just makes the day seem special and wonderful.  It's a joy just to drive to the store or the five miles up the road to work at GCHS.  Very nice.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving and NCAA Basketball...definitely a favorite around our house.  We all love to watch the basketball games, March Madness is something we look forward to each year.  IU made it to the Sweet 16, a complete surprise to everyone, and a whole lot of fun along the way.  Win or lose, it was just great to be there!  Next year is going to be even better for the Hoos...there are "We are BACK!" signs everywhere!  You probably have to live here to understand...this is a team that can sell out their seats on years when they don't win anything.  Seriously.  On Saturday, GCHS won the State Boys' Basketball Championship for Class 3A!  Very very exciting for all of us...GCHS just 8 years old, and this is the first year they moved up from 2A to 3A, so they did a really great job.  On Friday we wished them all well and told them to "Bring home the trophy!" as they left...such fun that they did it!
Photo:  Guerin Catholic HIgh School Boys' Basketball Team 2012 State 3A Champions! 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  There has been a whole lot of basketball watching here the past couple of weeks, the usual round of activities, and a lot of working days...all making the time speed by.  Mark and I went to visit Matt at college yesterday and had a nice lunch and walk around in Nashville, IN.  It was a beautiful day and it was just really nice to be out enjoying it and catching up with all Matt's news. 
Photo:  Kiernan, Lauren, and Matt gracing my kitchen during a weekend home.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the IMA:  Looking West exhibit, click here for information and inspiration to go see it. This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Urbanski Conducts Smetana, click here.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Bits and pieces that I could cart about with me to Iowa, from my stack of things I set aside for just such occasions.
SWIMMING NEWS:  The Indiana University Women's Swimming and Diving Team won second place in the Big Ten Championships in Iowa City week before last, scoring 651 points, second only to Minnesota, scoring 680 points.  Great show by the girls' team, although they were a bit disappointed as they were hoping to recapture their 2011 Conference title...next year, girls...next year!  Here's a recap of the swims and stats, and as Coach says, "...on with the training for NCAAs coming up...."
Photo:  Guys waiting patiently on the sidelines for their swims. Front Row:  Daniel, Ian, Cody, and John; Back Row: Tony, Steve, Matt, Mike, Patrick (standing), and Ryan. 

      The Indiana University Men's Swimming and Diving Team won third place in the Big Ten Championships in Iowa City this past week, finishing only 3.5 points behind Ohio State, who finished second, the University of Michigan finished first.  Had it not been for a few mishaps during the meet, that second place crown would have been sitting securely and then some on the IU team.  Ah, well, next year...oh, yeah, next year they are going for the Big Crown...and it will be definitely feasible.  Go Hoosier men!  Our divers are terrific, and while the swimming and diving teams practice separately, they come together at meets for a combined effort.  Very few times have I seen the swimmers line up and watch their divers at a meet...except for IU...Coach RL has all the swimmers line up and watch and cheer for our divers, beginning to end...a very classy thing to do in my opinion.
      Matt had a wonderful meet, he took of big chunks of time on all three of his swims, so he was feeling pretty good about all that all four days.
Photo:  Doesn't hurt to have a little extra help as you step to the block for the race...Matt always makes the Sign of the Cross before mounting the block...at one meet a swimmer we have known through the years from another team came up to me and asked me why Matt always did that little "voodoo good luck thing."  I explained that Matt was Catholic and he was making the Sign of the Cross and saying a short prayer for a good swim.  The swimmer turned to me and said, "I'm gonna try that as Matt has beaten me every swim I have ever swam with him, it must be good luck and it must work!" 
Photo:  Stepping up to the block in all seriousness before the 200 Freestyle...result:  he took off 3.5 seconds, got a new best time, and a B cut for NCAAs. 

      Here are results and various links to other bits of press coverage, here, and  here, and here and here, and here and here and here.  You can click on the little "Results" tab on each day's recap to see the heat sheets and results for all the swims.  All in all, a really good freshman year for Matt.  What's next...training begins immediately for Olympic Trials in June.  There's always something! 
COOKING BYTES:  I have cooked/baked almost nothing in almost two weeks...between being ill and being gone...nada on the baking/cooking. Very unusual.  Hope to change that this week...I am certain Mark is hoping that as well. 
FAV NEW FIND:  One of the reasons Matt chose to go to IU to swim for college was that he loved the feel of the IU Men's Swimming and Diving Team. They were welcoming, fun to be around, encouraging, and made no secret of wanting Matt to join the team.  Recruiting is one thing...anyone can say anything to get someone to want to be in their program.  This year Matt learned first-hand that IU was true to every single thing they represented on recruiting trips.  He had the opportunities to swim, improve, compete, and challenge himself that he wanted.  He had a respected place on the team.  He had a good relationship with each and every coach, respecting them and they in turn respecting him as well.  He had teammates who were good and honest and kind and encouraging.  He had upperclassmen teammates who gave generously since the first week...generously with their time and commitment to helping the freshmen succeed as fast as possible.  The coaches and upperclassmen have included the freshmen swimmers every step of the way.  The upperclassmen took the newbies under their wings and carted them around (they don't have cars their freshman year on campus), they invited them to their places for video games and ball game watching and meals and pretty much just any time the guys wanted to get away from the dorms and just hang out.  When the college buildings were closed for breaks, the upperclassmen let the freshman dorm guys bunk at their places so their parents wouldn't have to pay huge hotel bills for them.  They have been most generous with their friendship and guiding the new guys through the rigors of the swim program as well as the academic programs.  What a deal for them and what a deal for us as parents who have been able to say, "Child okay at school socially, academically, and swimming-wise: CHECK."  Indeed, a favorite find.
Photo:  Coach RL is one very wonderful coach, no one disputes that at all.  He is also one very wonderful person.  Each time his swimmer finishes a swim, he walks over to the lane they swam in, shakes the swimmer's hand, gives him a cup of Gatorade, and walks him back to the bench chatting about the swim.  This seemingly little gesture, means a lot to the guys...a sign of respect and honor to have your coach treat you so well in front of thousands of people and swimmers.  Very nice. 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Going to Iowa for the Big Ten Championships for Men's Swimming and Diving.  I had hoped to go early, but was still ill and ended up heading out of town on Wednesday, the day the meet started, so basically it was mostly a "working" trip as with two long sessions of swimming each day, there wasn't a whole lot of time for extra curricular activities.  It was fun just being back in Iowa City and running around on all the favorite streets...so much has changed, and so much has stayed the same.  We had a wonderful time.   One of our favorite things was getting to spend some time catching up with this guy!
Photo:  Mike and Matt...old teammates and friends at CHS...with their new college teams at Big Tens.  Sorry for the poor quality of the photo...it was a dimly lit restaurant and my phone camera is dying a slow and painful death. 

      Mike goes to U of Iowa and swims for the Hawks, so it was fun to see him on his new "home turf" and just really nice to sit down to dinner with him and hear about his life at Iowa now.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Trip to Iowa was great...45 degrees on one day, in the 30s the other days, one day a skiff of snow...this is not the Iowa I remember from my youth, but there were no complaints.  I'd like to say how well-rounded my week was, but frankly, almost all of my time was spent watching the Big Ten Championship swim meet.  And, yes, that was a lot of fun for us...many swimmers on the other teams are kids we have known throughout the years through swimming.
Photo:  Swimmers would line up by their bench and start a cheer for the parents to echo back, or we would start one for the swimmers to echo back...we had a great time cheering for the guys and they loved every cheer, crazy or not, that the parents put out there for them.  So proud of all of them...a great group of guys.  Left to right:  Steve, James, Daniel, Matt, Patrick, Mike, and Ian.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   Heartland Art - Selections from Your Indiana Collection opened at the Indiana State Museum in October, here's a little preview to entice you.  It features 140 years of Indiana art created by Indiana natives. This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Copland's Appalachian Spring concert, click here.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Mr. Blue by Myles Connolly.  The juniors at GCHS are reading it in religion class so I snagged a copy and read it as well.  Here's a bit about it...it is a book I had heard referenced over the years and just never saw or read, so finally my chance came to do so.  A good read.
SWIMMING NEWS:  The Carmel High School Girls' Swim Team won their 26th consecutive state title this weekend.  Hugely exciting.  Congratulations to all, especially Alexis who took first in the 100 Back (and is headed to IU next year to swim for the women's team) and to Margaret who took first in the 500 Freestyle (and is headed to Harvard next year to swim for their women's team).  The IU Women's Swimming and Diving Teams head out to the Big Ten Championships this week, starts on Wednesday, looking to defend their Big Ten Title.  Go Hoosiers, you can read about it here.
COOKING BYTES:  Only three more recipes left in the Bread Baker's Apprentice book and then my bread baking cohorts and I can move on to making whatever the wind blows our way that sounds inviting to us.  Learned so much from that book and am ready to tackle most anything bread these days.
FAV NEW FIND:  Working on downsizing and finding that things are a lot easier than I thought they would be...a great find indeed.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Matt came home after swim practice on Saturday and stayed 24 hours until I needed to drive him back to Hooville.  We had a great time just hanging out as a family and then he and I had lunch here on the return trip and time to spend a couple hours just chatting about school, classes, swimming, friends, life in general, which was incredibly nice.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Was really fun to watch Sarah B. on college tournament Jeopardy, seems like just a few years ago we were waiting for her arrival (Mike hoping she would be a tax deduction by the end of the year and Sarah taking her sweet time to arrive on the 2nd of January) and here she is a junior at IU already (fits in the category of Time Flies), there were some great ballgames over the week, nice outcome to the CHS girls' state swim meet, wonderful to have Matt at home hanging out and he brought a fellow swimmer for lunch on Saturday before they went to the girls' state meet...Logan is a also a freshman on the IU swim team, I also got to enjoy Ian's company on the ride back as he rode with us, and then to see Steve on the other end when we ran errands for the guys as they don't have their cars at college this freshman year.  Slowly but surely getting to know the guys on the IU team, so that has been fun and makes watching the meets a whole lot more exciting.

(Photo: Logan, Matt, Mark...and yes, the kitchen always looks this crazy when feeding swimmers massive amounts of food...lol.)

LOOKING FORWARD TO:   Looking West opened at the IMA on February 3, here's a little preview to entice you to go see it before it leaves in August. This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Spectrum:  The Magic of Motown concert.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  I've been continuing to read more of the History Day papers and enjoying that a lot as well as catching up with odds and ends I have sitting around the house on my "read this and get it out of the stack" pile.
SWIMMING NEWS:  It's the end of the regular season for swimming for dual meets and invites so now the IU swimmers are training for Big Ten Championships, the girls coming up soon and the boys more toward the end of the month.  Matt made the times and slots to swim for IU, so he is absolutely thrilled to be headed in that direction.   
COOKING BYTES:  The new Tuesdays with Dorie group fires up Tuesday, February 7th, with the next round of baking with Dorie's books, this time Baking with Julia which Dorie Greenspan wrote to accompany the PBS series of the same title.  While these are not Dorie's recipes, the book is exciting because it includes recipes from so many famous bakers.  There is a great variety in it...savory as well as sweet, so I am looking forward to that aspect rather than just going into another baking book of sweets.  Instead of Tuesdays with Dorie, Part 2, I believe the group is going by Tuesdays with Dorie - Baking with Julia, or TWD - Baking with Julia or TWD - BWJ for short, and you can find the information here as it is not too late to join in:  click here.  This new adventure is only an every-other-week commitment with a leave your link connection if you bake that recipe, you can read the "rules" at the site. 
FAV NEW FIND:  Who has time to find anything new this week...I've been busy checking out Pinterest in my spare time...slightly addicting so I limit my time exploring and pinning.  Such fun to see what friends pin and are interested in by what they pin.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Watching the Super Bowl and seeing the 46 Indianapolis Children's Choir singers who were chosen to sing the National Anthem as back-up with KC...they were front and center in the middle of the football field and got some camera time, so that was very fun to see.  Two of the singers were friends of ours, the two girls taking swim lessons in the summers here with Matt and Lauren, they are Anna and Josie.  Here's a look if you missed it.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  It was such fun to have the Super Bowl in town, with all the excitement of the game, and all the fans in town saying such nice things about our city...it was just a lot of fun to see so many smiling faces happy and excited to be here.  We live far enough away from the center of the city not to have the blocked-off streets affect us at all, even Mark's office route was not affected as it was all so well planned and executed.  Since the Colts weren't playing, it was nice to have the Manning connection to cheer for (and no one around here was going to cheer for the opponents as you might have guessed for reasons you might have guessed).  IU won a big basketball game against in-state rival Purdue, which was just wonderful.  The weather was truly something to rejoice in being late January and early February (yesterday was 48 degrees, for example).  It was a great week all in all.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  At the Indiana State Museum, if you haven't seen The Endurance:  Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, you need to hustle over there as it leaves next week, and if you have seen it, you can always take another look.  Here's the link to learn more about it.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Saturday night is the Valentine's concert.

Sunday's Snippets

(Photo:  IU guys watching from the sidelines, obviously a swim that the team did not win...wanted you to have the whole experience of winning at a meet, and not winning at a meet.  Next time!)
READING:  I've been subbing a lot and the history students are all preparing for History Day with projects and papers and documentaries and websites and such, so I have had a great time reading their submissions...yes, I know, you can barely contain the envy.  It's been fun for me to read how they view various historical information.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Before I get to this week, let me just say that Steve was selected as Big Ten Freshman of the Week the week before, this was his second time, so here's the information on all that, congrats to Steve! The swim meet this weekend was a home meet...against Louisville.  The IU/Louisville rivalry is alive and well...and enough that the Louisville guys tapered for the meet, which did net them the big win, our guys saving any tapering for the Big Ten Championships in February.  IU girls' team, however, won over the Lady Cardinals.  Here's a recap of the racing.  Matt swam the 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle, and the first position in the 200 Free A Relay.  Results for each swim are posted and you can find them here.  He's doing nicely for his freshman year.  (Photos below:  This is the difference between guys and gals.  We wanted them to line up for photos, the girls' team immediately got into photo-taking position, the guys' team did their cheer and that was the best we got. lol. Lauren is far right front row in girls' photo, Matt and Steve are far right in boys' photo, there are no rows, lol.)


COOKING BYTES:  See "Favorite New Find."  Yikes. 
FAV NEW FIND:  Despite much encouraging from many friends, I had managed to just say "no" to the Pinterest craze.  Well, that's no longer true.  I am now happily pinning something most days.  Right now I am just using it as a sort of recipe storage board, pinning recipes that look good or useful in one instance or another...it is a whole lot easier than copying down a site or blog and posting it in a folder in my email.  And it has nice photos.  And it is fun to see what others pin.  So while now it is just mostly for recipes, when we move, I may get into pinning decorating ideas on my boards.  Come and find me so I can see what you are all pinning as I haven't a clue (no surprise) how to find others...I'm listed here.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Definitely the favorite of the week was going to Bloomington to see Matt swim and spend some time with him there.  We did get to go eat here as we were all in the mood for Greek.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Pretty normal stuff with working and life in general last week, but I will comment on the lovely temperatures we are having today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, yes, indeed, looking forward to all of that! 58 degrees outside in January is definitely a great deal. 
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  At the Indiana State Museum, Jim Irsay's eclectic collection (here until the end of May but don't go this weekend as there is a little thing called the Super Bowl going on here in Indy and it will be a mad crush and limited hours), read about it here. This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. 

Sunday's Snippets

(1st photo:  From the sidelines cheering on the team, Ian and Matt are on either side of the gray hooded swimmer.)

(2nd photo: The final Victory Cheer after winning the meet, both boys and girls were victorious...Matt is center toward the back but facing camera with a bare chest...he's tall so one can easily find him most of the time.)

READING:  Tackling my stack of bits and pieces I've marked and set aside to read.  It was growing deep.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Before I get to this week, let me just say that Steve was selected as Big Ten Freshman of the Week the week before, so here's the info on all that, congrats to Steve! The swim meet this weekend was finally a home meet...the guys had not had a home meet since October, so we were very happy to be able to cheer from the sidelines in our home pool...against Purdue.  For the first time, BTN aired a live dual meet, so that was exciting as well.  Lots of huge cameras, etc., and they break for commercials, interesting at a swim meet. We watched it when we got home and it was fun seeing them all on camera swimming, etc.  It was also senior recognition day with the banquet at night, so that was a bit of extra fun as well...we stayed the night as Boomington was iced over from the time we hit town until the time we left the next day, which made for some interesting navigational issues, both in the car and on foot.  Matt's times were okay, he did get to swim on the A Relay again (and he had the fastest time of the four guys swimming it, so that was a good high note for him).  It was just a very enjoyable time with the meet and getting to spend time with Matt and his friends at the banquet.  Here's the recap of the racing.  Matt swam the 50 Freestyle (7th place), 100 Freestyle (6th place), 200 Freestyle (6th place) and the second position in the 400 Free A Relay.  Not all the results are posted there, but you can find them here.  He's doing nicely for his freshman year.
(Photo:  Ian, Steve, Tyler (one of the seniors), and Matt at the Senior Recognition Banquet Saturday night.)
COOKING BYTES:  Determined to finish that Bread Baker's Apprentice book, I think I have maybe half a dozen to go yet. 
FAV NEW FIND:  Last week was final bid week for the sororities so it was fun finding out where all Matt's friends and the GCHS friends pledged.  IU Swimmers aren't allowed to pledge fraternities or sororities so Matt wasn't involved in any of that...just as well, he has enough going on with the swimming and school. 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  The swim meet and getting to spend a couple of days in Hooville. 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  We went from lovely temperatures to horribly cold ones, not my favorite thing, but now there is promise of other bearable ones on the horizon and for that I am rejoicing.  How far off is spring?  It was a good week to stay inside and read in front of the fire after work. 
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  At the Eiteljorg, a film series called The Urban Indian:  click here for the schedule for the remaining ones.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, here is the calendar for it. 

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  I didn't quite make it to the library last week to get books by James Fenimore Cooper as the weather was a bit nasty and I contented myself with a new book that was already here...well, new to me, not new as in copyright date as that is 2009...the book is The Big Burn by Timothy Egan.   I happen to be on a late 19th/early 20th Century kick at the moment so this one fit in nicely...about a huge fire out of control in the summer of 1910 in Washington, Idaho, and Montana.  Lots of excitement and people like Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot popping up constantly and the movement for public conservation in the nation with national parks, etc., what's not to love about that?  JFC will need to wait...maybe this is why I have never read JFC before:  I get distracted easily with historical bits.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Matt and the team had no swim meet this past week, which might be good as the boy has had a cold which has been hanging on for a bit too long, so a week of not having a competition meet might have been nicely timed for him.  As of today, he says he is on the mend and almost over it all.  Just in time for the IU/Purdue meet this weekend.  Fingers crossed.
COOKING BYTES:  Caught up a bit last week for the blog-along groups, doing more of it again this week, maybe soon I will feel like I am where I am supposed to be with the rest of the group...although, truth be told, most of the groups are all over the place with where they are in keeping up each week, so I'm actually doing pretty good.   With the exception of the Flavors group, that one may have to be a just read-along participation at this point.  Sigh.
FAV NEW FIND:  Lately my favorite new finds have been people-related instead of material-things-related.  Just as well actually.  This week I came in possession of a photo that just warmed my heart...it's a photo of Daniel's mother and Matt at the Yuletide concert over Christmas break.
It's my favorite new find as in all the years of Matt and Daniel's friendship, I don't think I have a photo of Matt and Kathy like this and Kathy is just such a big part of Matt's swimming years, always so encouraging and always bringing her mother along to the meets to help in that endeavor for the CSC kids...the swimmers always knew they could look up in the stands and get a big smile and thumbs-up from Grandma and Kathy no matter what their time or placing was in the event. Kathy got Matt out to California for Nationals this past year and made sure he got to celebrate his birthday with a nice birthday dinner and little cake with a candle in it since he was away from home that day.  She's just that thoughtful always.  It's a very good photo of the two of them, Kathy as lovely as always and Matt as happy to be included always with Kathy's great plans for the boys over the years.  Kathy is one of those moms who is always looking for ways to brighten the lives of everyone around her and Matt and his CSC swimming buddies have benefited greatly from those ways over the years with invitations to concerts, meals, various house invasions for food, games, movies, hanging out, and trips to their lake house for boating weekends.  Over Christmas break she had all the college swimmers over for breakfast after swim practice on the day before they all had to leave to go back to their schools. Fun times, a fun photo for me to have for Matt's scrapbook. (Below is a photo of the Christmas break breakfast at Kathy's house, this was the dining room group, there was a whole other group eating in the kitchen...unfortunately I only have a photo from the group Matt was sitting with: hint to you swimmers out there who were in that other group, send me a photo of you all for the scrapbook!)
 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  It was a great weekend for watching Big Ten Basketball.  Okay, I know those Hoosiers did not win either of their games this week, and we were a bit disappointed, of course, as that removes us from the top ten in the national rankings, but one was a road game no one thought they would win and every team has growing pains...no one ever thought we would be as far as we are this year, so this didn't particularly devastate anyone.  There were some great games and wonderful surprise endings to a lot of games this week...which is what makes it all terribly exciting.  When it is cold and snowy outside there is always NCAA Basketball to keep one warm and happy. 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  This was a very slow week in printable news around here...a nice week, but nothing particularly noteworthy at all.  Mark and Alex went up to Grandma and Grandpa's to make sure they had everything they needed, help with a few household chores, salt the driveway for them, and have a nice little visit on Sunday.  The guy-time portion of the visit, i.e. ride to and from, went reasonably well, giving them some time to chat together.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking this out because it leaves in February:  Flow: Can you see the river?  It all looks so different in the winter! (click here) at the IMA.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Mozart, Symphony No. 40, here is the calendar for it. 

Sunday's Snippets

Photo:  If you ask this guy (Vash) what his favorite thing was this week, the above photo would be it...his buddy Matt home to spoil him rotten with tummy rubs and attention, even for just three hours.

READING:  In all my reading, I have never read a single thing ever by James Fenimore Cooper, so I am rectifying that by going on a Cooper binge in reading.  Sometimes I run across someone major that I haven't read like this and it amazes me that I haven't stumbled across some assignment or some reading urge to read his/her works.  Going for this one now.    
SWIMMING NEWS:  Matt and IU the team traveled to Ann Arbor for a swim meet yesterday.  The girls team won, the boys team had to acknowledge the superiority of UofM's men's team this meet.  I think UofM's men's swim team is rankled like 4th in the nation, so if one has to yield a victory to another team, it makes sense that it would be such a good one.  Matt didn't have any new best times, but he is right on his old best times, so that is good considering he is dealing with his new physique, a bit of changing by the coaches to his starts, turns, and strokes...all good and his times being this good in the midst of all of that is encouraging.  His favorite part was that he got to swim the A relay in the 400 Freestyle Relay as he thought he was going to be on the B relay, so he was excited to be moved up to that first one in such an important meet. All in all, a very good freshman year so far.   Here's the link to the wrap-up at the IU swim site and Matt gets a few mentions in the article so that is very fun to see.  Go IU!
COOKING BYTES:  Last month marked the end of the Tuesdays with Dorie blog along as all the recipes had been chosen, made, and posted.  Here is a nice link to the Washington Post article discussing such.  What a lot of fun these past four years baking with this group...I made a lot of wonderful friendships baking and discussing each week with so many of them.  The group starts a new challenge in February...yep, I'll be there...we are going to be baking our way through the Baking with Julia book.
FAV NEW FIND:  On New Year's Day Mark and I went to Bloomington to take Matt out for New Year's lunch and we rounded up Ian, Steve, Ryan, and Joe to take with us as well.  Such fun getting to know Matt's teammates as this was the first time we had gotten to actually sit down and converse with Ryan and Joe, both of whom Matt enjoys hanging out with at IU.  Since the dorms are not open over break, Ryan graciously housed Matt, Ian, and Steve at his place for those days as the swimmers all needed to be back on campus for practice the by December 27th.  A fun time was had by all, as they say in my hometown newspaper, nothing to do but go to practice twice a day and hang out with no classes to attend.  Anyway, it is fun getting to know some of the other guys on the swim team. 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Of course, it was great seeing what Matt could do at the swim meet this week, so that's a given.  Other than that, I think the near 60 degree temperatures here this week in January has got to be my favorite thing.  I am not a winter-loving person.  Enough said on the weather. 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  GCHS was back in session this week so it was nice seeing the students and hearing about their holidays/gifts/fun times over break; some of the college kids came around to visit while on break, so that was great seeing them; IU's win over OSU this week was huge, as was today's win over Penn State on the road, making the basketball team 15-1 for the season feels great, and having Matt home for a bit today was wonderful.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking this out because it leaves in February:  Art of American Indians: The Thaw Collection (click here) at the IMA.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Hello Dolly in Concert, here is the calendar for it. 

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Am still in my Paris/France/Turn-of-the-century mood, so I grabbed one of Barbara Tuchman's books that I hadn't read, The Proud Tower (deals with the years 1890-1914 just before WWI).  It first came out in 1966 or there about but is a very good read. I think in 1966 I was in my Dinny Gordon reading phase so I missed this Tuchman book first time around and probably barely even knew what WWI actually encompassed to any great extent.  11 year olds are like that even today.  Besides, Dinny Gordon was always dreaming about ancient Rome and Greece and the Mediterranean world and that was where my real historical interests have always been focused first and foremost...that and Dinny Gordon was a high school girl, so at 11, that was quite the thing to be reading about high school life!
SWIMMING NEWS:  Let's see...The Swimmer had a swim meet at Penn State and then another in Athens, Georgia since I last posted anything.  He brought home a new best time on the 50 Free from Georgia and had a couple of good relays but nothing else truly outstanding.  This is a typical freshman year: rebuilding, reworking some strokes for college, trying to fit into this new world of bigger, better, faster, stronger.  He's doing a good job.  Now they are focusing on finals for classes for the semester, he gets a week off for Christmas, and then back to Hooville for winter training, culminating in a dual meet at UofM in Ann Arbor in January and the start of the second semester.  
COOKING BYTES:  May try to catch up on some of the blogging events I missed these past weeks...it's a day by day thing here right now.  I took a little break hoping that would be a good thing, but found that I missed all the cooking assignments, and Mark missed eating new and different foods as I am a little more motivated when I know I am doing it for groups, so the thoughts of me closing up blogging shop at the end of the year are probably being put aside for now.
FAV NEW FIND:  Pandora music....Matt fixed me all up at Thanksgiving so now I can select certain kinds of music and just listen to my heart's content.  This week it has been mostly Christmas music as I am baking cookies and such to squirrel away in the freezer for upcoming events.   (I know, I know, you have all known about Pandora for years and years, but this is breaking news for me!)
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Okay...who reading this didn't think I was going to say that my favorite thing this week was that HUGE win last night of IU over Kentucky, who happened to be, at the time, the Number 1 NCAA  Basketball Team in the Nation?  Who thought I wasn't going to put that?  Show of hands?  Okay, no one...you all know me well. ;-)  The Glory Days are coming back to B-Town...oh, yeah.  We loyal fans (how many teams do you know that can sell out their arenas on years when they are bottom of the Big Ten and only win 3 Conference games all year, none of them on the road?) are so ready for that 6th Banner.  We dream big.  In case you missed it, here's your chance to see the last little bit, click here. 
And, photo is of Matt and his roommate Ian enjoying the win before, as Matt said, "The entire arena relocated to Kirkwood Avenue and there was a giant street party practically all night."  Indiana loves its basketball, no doubt about it.  A little extra Christmas cheer for all the Hoos down in Hooville with that win!
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Hoosiers starting out 9-0...looking forward to a great year of NCAA basketball! The rest of the week pales in comparison...it was a good week, but that IU win made it a GREAT week!  I can't for the life of me think of a single other thing that happened this week at this moment...lol. Just kidding, of course, but it was an average week of work and other bits and nothing too much to write about...other than that win! (Photo below is the storming of the basketball court after the buzzer and win. People were a bit excited.)

LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking out museum talk on Madonnas on Saturday (click here) at the IMA.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Yuletide Celebration, here is the calendar for it.  Two weeks until Christmas...I'm pretty sure I better get a move on preparations, hope you are all right on schedule for all that...we are seriously going to start working on it this week.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Continuing with Paris from 1872, focusing on John Singer Sargent and August Saint-Gaudens.  
SWIMMING NEWS:  The IU swimmers did not have a meet this past weekend and head to Penn State for a Big Ten 2-day meet this coming weekend. 
COOKING BYTES:  Continuing on with the persimmon saga...they never did get really squishy soft.  They softened a bit and took on a sort of "glowing" appearance, so I sliced one and tasted it...I'm in love, persimmons just sliced and eaten are juicy and soft (even if they feel hard) and lovely in fruity goodness, sort of mango-ish, sort of not, hard to explain.  Persimmons are coming home with me a lot more often just to eat out of hand like that, oh yeah.  I did peel them first.  They are very pretty inside with little slits that make it look like a star (I should have taken a photo for you...next time).
FAV NEW FIND:  Apparently in college towns, one needs to find accommodations by way of apartment or house for the next year early in this year's schedule to have the best choices for the prime locations (in our case, somewhere between pool, stadium, and classes as Matt's day is spent entirely on campus from early morning until late evening between classes and swim practices).  Ian's mother and I (Steve's mom lives in Colorado and couldn't fly in for that but we were busy texting and sending photos to her) headed down to B-Town Saturday to see what we could do about that, The Three Amigos in tow so that they could choose something they found favorable.  We had a wonderful time with the three boys, they are all three just such fun and just so nice to be around...we feel very lucky that Matt has made such good friends on the swim team as he spends a great deal of time swimming, training, studying, and rooming with these guys.  It's a good thing they all get along so well.  I think the secret is that they are all pretty much the same personalities and they all have other friends and interests on their own so they have a nice balanced way of life.  We sure had fun with them while we looked for houses and had lunch, etc.  Now for them to decide between their 3 favorites and we are set for 2012-2013.  Rarely am I this organized this far ahead on anything, so that feels great.  The fact that they stayed within their budget also feels great.  (Photo right:  Ian, Steve, and Matt)
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Fall is lasting way longer than I thought it would...last week was really lovely and pretty with sunshine every day and the red maples showing off their bright red leaves.  It was a joy just to be out and about every day all week. 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Not much going on this past week:  work of course, also getting some things done we hadn't the past few weekends when we have been on the road, going to Hooville for the house search for the boys, and going to Elwood to spend some time with Mark's parents today...just the right amount of busy for this time of year.  We did find a new counselor to help Alex discern what he wants to do with his life and work toward going in that direction, Alex liked the counselor and seemed willing to be focusing on that, so that will feel good if he can find something that will inspire him.  The Hoos did not play football this weekend, the Hawks managed to pull out a win over MSU after a hugely disappointing start.  The Hoos' basketball team opened Friday night and looked REALLY good...the excitement was obvious for hopes for this season and bringing back the Hoosier Hysteria that IU is known for...oh, yeah.  They played again today, another big win.  That means we are starting out 2-0!  Hawk's basketball opened with a big win as well, their lineup also looking a little more stellar than in the recent past seasons.  Looking forward to a great year of NCAA basketball!
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking out museum talk on Friday/Sunday re Ancient Art of Mediterranean at the IMA click here.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:

• Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960) 
  Musica Celestis
• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
  Piano Concerto No. 3
• Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)  
  Symphony No. 3 "Scottish"

Sunday's Snippets

 

READING:  Continuing with Paris from 1872, not one certain book, just a variety of history books and sources.

 
Photos:  I did not get a lot of swimming photos this weekend, so you get an in-the-water shot, a waiting-for-the-meet-to-begin shot, a line-up-cheering-the-team-on-shot, a line-up-to-swim shot, and a scoreboard shot.
Photo:  Matt in the middle of the back row watching the Texas and Michigan swimmers warm up and thinking, "Man, those guys are BIG and FAST!" 

SWIMMING NEWS:  The IU/Texas/Michigan three-way meet in Ann Arbor this past weekend was a little disappointing for the Hoos...at least from the guys/coaches standpoint, I thought it was wonderful watching them swim.
Photo:  IU swimmers watching from the sidelines, Matt second from the left.

Since Texas was the National champ in Men's Swimming last year, and Michigan the Big Ten champ in Men's Swimming last year, we got to see some very fast swimming and our guys got to see firsthand what they need for inspiration for the coming year.  Matt did a nice job on his swims and enjoyed swimming in the U of M pool, which is both a nice place to watch and a nice place to swim.
Photo:  Matt lining up for the 100 Freestyle.  He did really well, close to his personal best time in that event, but I think the realization has set in that being a freshman means setting new goals that are faster than he had imagined he would need to be this early in his college career, probably a good thing to get that in mind right now from the beginning...those Michigan and Texas guys are FAST!  He will get there, and it will be fun to watch it progress!  Go, Matt!
The IU divers took first place at the meet, so they were happy about that, as were the rest of us.   
COOKING BYTES:  Those persimmons are still sitting on my counter in a state of firmness after two weeks that has me perplexed.  I am uncertain whether to keep waiting...they appear to be neither getting softer or rotting after all this time...or whether to just cut into them, use them as they sit, and see what happens.  Persimmons are confusing little things.
FAV NEW FIND:  The swim meet this past weekend was just the men's team...the women's team competed the week before...so in the stands for the Hoos were just the guy parents and that made it very easy for us to chat with everyone and figure out who is who and who belongs to whom on the team.  After swimming with CSC for 12 years, and pretty much knowing all the parents and swimmers within a certain age range of our swimmer, it is a new experience to get to know college swimmers and their parents.  We had a very nice time chatting and learning about it all.  Parents of the older swimmers are very helpful with all their tips and advice, a very nice deal.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  The Trick-or-Treating brought Cindy's grandkids down our street in their festive costumes:  Stella (puppy), Grace (Ariel), and Jack (Spiderman).
It doesn't seem that long ago that Cindy and I were dressing up the moms of these little ones and then in turn, Matt, Alex, Andrew, and Molly.
Photo:  Molly the Princess, Alex and Matt as Knights, Andrew as Batman (ages 4-5) at the time.  Where did those years go so quickly?? Matt was a Hawaiian guy for a Halloween party the swimmers at IU threw this year...photo at right with one of the girl swimmers, Ashley, not a date, just happened to be best photo of him.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  This is the first year in I don't know when that we did not carve jack-o-lanterns...a bit disappointing, so will need to correct that next year.  The week went fast with working and then leaving early Friday morning for Ann Arbor for the IU swim meet.  Three days in Ann Arbor was a nice time...swim meet Friday night and Saturday afternoon, touring the U of M campus (really lovely with the colored leaves and gorgeous weather and beauty of the campus buildings, etc.), enjoying some great food here and here.  Sunday morning we got up early and headed to the Henry Ford Museum, but only had a few hours so Mark's choice was to do the Greenfield Village part as it was a lovely day for walking and being outside and touring from exhibit house/shop/buildings.  He was most excited about the building where the Wright Brothers built their first plane, but all of it was wonderful.   When Mark says he will return to a place again, you know it was worth it.  Since we will be in Ann Arbor again for swimming, this is probably a definite repeat in the next few years, as is the main museum which we hope to do when the weather dictates a more enclosed atmosphere in January.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking out the Frogs exhibit here.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:

 

• Anton Webern (1883-1945) audio preview  
  Im Sommerwind (In the Summer Wind)
• Richard Strauss (1864-1949) audio preview  
  Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life)

PRAYING FOR:  People searching for jobs, it's a particularly hard time of year to go into the season without a job, please join me.

 

Sunday's Snippets

Photo Fun:  Ali and Grace at BU in their Halloween cat costumes. 

READING:  Communards in Paris and generally 1871 in France.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Emails from readers wanting to know where the old group of guys are swimming now, so here's the list:  Mike at U of Iowa, Kiernan at Xavier, Nik at Boston University, Daniel and Harrison at Princeton, John at Navy, JJ is swimming in the Grand Prix meets via the US Air Force, Charles and Tyler at Wabash; girls: Lauren at IU with Matt, Devon at IU on B team, Carly and Rhiannon at Purdue, Sam at University of Kentucky.  Ali and Reyn aren't swimming in college.  
COOKING BYTES:  As you can see...I found persimmons by the cartload...at the Asian market.    Aren't they pretty?  Katie and I also journeyed to Penzy's Spices and I stocked up on small bottles of odd spices I was missing and needing. Left the store without their cookbook, too close to Christmas to be buying something for myself.
FAV NEW FIND:  New doggie hotel for The Dog when we travel to swim meets as The Dog is not that great of a traveling companion as he is a little more needy than I envision anyone ought to be for a few days away.  Click here, and yes, he gets one of the little arched gated daybed, tv suites.  
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Weather here this past week was absolutely beautiful and wonderful.  The trees are at their peak colors and it has been just such a treat to be out and about in it all each day.  One of the days I was subbing was WWII history and the assignment for the students was to look through old Life magazines during war period for various types of articles, advertising, etc. relating to the war. That was the best sub day EVER...so much fun to spend a whole day with those little history capsules, I can't believe they paid me for doing that...the history nerd in me was loving every minute of it.

More photo fun:  Reyn and Ashley dressed in their Thing 1 and Thing 2 Halloween costumes at IU.

WEEK IN REVIEW:  The week went really fast with work, enjoying various days out (thanks Katie for being my roaming companion), Mark had a three day weekend with his dad while his mom and three siblings went to St. Louis for a family wedding, apparently they read a lot, watched tv (the beloved Cardinals winning the World Series a big deal for them), and going out to eat...a great guys' weekend.  IU lost their homecoming game to Northwestern and the Hawks lost to the Gophers in a game that was frustrating to watch but I did it anyway because I thought somehow my attendance would pull out a win. Guess not.  There was a wonderful tribute to Xavier Murphy during the Notre Dame game, it would have been Xav's 23rd birthday that day, players all had an X in the shamrock on their helmets for him. 
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking out Jingle Rails: The Great Western Adventure at the Eiteljorg opens this week, check this out: 8 G Scale trains, etc.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Rodgers & Hammerstein at the Movies (show tunes).   
PRAYING FOR:  Safe travel for all those on the roads, in the air, and going by sea, please join me.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Various sources on the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) and the end of the Second Empire in France.

SWIMMING NEWS: Friday we left for Tennessee to attend Matt's first college swimming competition meet at the University of Tennessee, a 3-way meet between IU/Tennessee/Kentucky.  The meet was Saturday and we stayed an extra day, driving back Sunday. The IU boys beat both Tennessee and Kentucky while the girls beat Kentucky but fell to the Tennessee Lady Vols.
Photo: Matt swimming the backstroke at a meet for the first time in about a year and a half...he did well with a nice finish time.  Watching Matt swim was so much fun, he did really well, no new best times yet as it is early in the season, but he was very close to his best times, so that was encouraging and he was chosen to swim on the A relay, so he was very happy about that, a great deal for a freshman.
Photo:  Matt in white cap with red "Indiana" in lane 5. 100 Freestyle, Matt finished first in heat 1 of 2...was so much fun to see his name up on the board with that "IU" affiliation and that number 1 finish...let's hope we keep seeing a lot of that through the years!
He swam the 50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Back, and on the 200 Free A Relay.
Photo:  IU guys getting fired up, Matt is at the top.  Coach Mike at the left, Coach Loos at the right in the white shirt, Coach Donny seated.  Matt really likes all his coaches, which is terribly nice to hear as a parent!

Photo:  Matt seated in red towel...just in case you thought I was kidding last week about how much his body has changed with the weight lifting...look at those shoulders...he did not have those two months ago!

Here's the connect for the college swimming site with the article about the meet, girls at the top (Lauren did a great job but I unfortunately did not get a good photo...next time!), boys further down in the page, and Matt's name is mentioned four times, so that is fun.  

Photo right:  Matt and Ian (Ian is Matt's roommate)

Anyway, we all had a great time and Ian made the travel squad as well so we enjoyed sitting with Ian's parents at the meet and getting to know them better.  The Tennessee pool is just a few years old and it is gorgeous, a wonderful place to watch swimming. 
COOKING BYTES: I still cannot find fresh persimmons at the market.  They are fast becoming the most elusive thing to locate and I am going to need them soon for the Thanksgiving round-up post the Twitter pals are participating in.  The search continues.  Where are these things hiding out?  Anyone?  I am figuring they were/are in season as Mitchell, IN had their big persimmon festival a few weeks ago, surely they were ripe by then, right?  It's a mystery.
FAV NEW FIND:  Nick Malgieri's The Modern Baker:  Time-Saving Techniques for Breads, Tarts, Pies, Cakes, and Cookies cookbook has been reissued and is now out in very nice paperback book with beautiful photos.  This is a wonderful book of recipes and I was so happy to hear that it is available again for order.  You might want to put this on your Christmas list as the recipes are delicious, well-written, and, best of all, you get successful results on the first try, so here's a connect for you, nice and handy, click here.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Going to Tennessee was very nice.  The drive was lovely with all the changing leaf colors and the beauty of the mountains of eastern Tennessee.  We had terrific weather all three days.
WEEK IN REVIEW:  The week went really fast with work, getting ready for the trip, driving to Tennessee, etc.  All fun.  The Hawks beat the Hoos in football in IC, no surprise.  It's a win/win when one is a HooHawk fan...I like either team to win...this does not, however, hold true when it is basketball season...I'm Hoo all the way then, except when Hawks are playing the Boilermakers, then I'm definitely on the Hawk side of the blacks and golds.  Big Ten Basketball season cannot get here fast enough. 
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking out this Heartland exhibit at the ISM.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony.   
PRAYING FOR:  Stuart, a 16 year old boy at GCHS battling cancer for the past 17 months, please join me.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Cookbooks, trying to figure out the whole Flavors challenge thing and what I can make this next week for Ingredient Mushroom.

Matt's new swim team:  Go IU!  Matt is toward back of group, looking backwards sideways...can you believe the size of those shoulders now???
SWIMMING NEWS: Friday we went to Matt's first college swimming meet, an intrasquad meet.  He swam four events: 50, 100, 200 Freestyles and the 200 Freestyle Relay.  It was so exciting to see him swim with all the other college guys.  He did really well.  I can't believe he is starting his 13th year of swimming! One amusing side note:  When we first arrived (and we have been swimming in the IU pool for years so that was not at all disorienting (although they do have a new redo on the walls that is quite nice) as it feels familiar), we sat down and looked for Matt amongst the swimmers in the water and could not find him!  I was beginning to think he wasn't there.  Such a strange feeling as always before there can be a thousand swimmers, literally, at some of these larger meets and still my eye could always locate Matt within a couple of seconds, both in or out of the water.  You just get that used to seeing your swimmer and what they look like and how they move in the water as well as on land.  Not only that, I can locate Harrison, Mike, Kiernan, Nik, Daniel, Charles, John, Jonathan, etc. as well from watching them swim all those years.  Anyway, Mark could not locate him either.  Ian's dad was sitting beside us and he couldn't find Ian either.  Then we all said, "Oh my goodness, there he is...." at the same time.  Matt has grown an inch and with all the weight training and running these past two months, his body just looks different!  He moves differently in the water, and he just looks so much bigger all around...no wonder I couldn't find him!  Same with Ian!  Look at those shoulders (photo above right)!
Lauren on one end, Matt on the other...the two Carmel freshmen on the team. So good to get to continue to watch Lauren swim in college, too.
COOKING BYTES: I didn't post anything for the blog-alongs all week, so I posted 8 posts tonight for them...never done that before.  I hope to be more timely this week. Hope. To.
FAV NEW FIND:  Hearing from college kids that are settling in at school and dropping me emails sharing bits of things going on in their new surroundings. Very nice, I miss them all. 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Going to IU to watch Matt swim and take him out for dinner...a perfect day.  We also got to see Reyn during the meet as she and her best friend Savannah came over to cheer for Matt. 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  The week was busy with normal things, work, etc., lunch with Cindy always a fun time, Bloomington for the swim meet, some sadness at the death of a young friend, a trip to Elwood to visit Mark's parents and run some errands, etc. for them, we finished watching the Ken Burns' Prohibition shows and moved into Engineering an Empire series.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking out this Jason Wesaw exhibit at the Eiteljorg.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Brahms Symphony No. 3.   
PRAYING FOR:  In your charity, please pray for the repose of the soul of Xavier M. and for those he left behind struggling to deal with the loss, and include all people suffering from leukemia. 

Photo below:  Lauren, Reyn, Kiernan, Brittany, and Matt going to Hoosier Hysteria Saturday night (opening of IU Basketball season!).  Kiernan and Brittany came to visit from Xavier U...it's nice to see them all still hanging out together.

 

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Another of Tessa Kiros' books, Venezia.  Food, travel, life in Venice, Italy. Lovely.
SWIMMING NEWS: College swimming is gearing up for swim season with some intrasquad meets to showcase the talent.  Matt's team has one this week and it will be great to see him back in the water competing.
COOKING BYTES: Embarked on a new cooking blog-along this week, Flavors, and my copy of The Flavor Bible arrived so I have been reading through that trying to figure out how it all works, etc.  It's not a recipe book.  It lists ingredients and flavors that go well with them, best pairings in  bold capitalized letters, lesser in bold non-capitalized letters, least but still acceptable in no bold print at all.  The object of the group is for each person to come up with her/his own recipes (can be based on recipes one finds with their own interpretation of it all).  So far I made a couple of recipes for the blog posts, and used the information in the book every single day since it arrived to give different flavors and takes on foods I make normally around here.  It's fun and I am learning a lot.  This is going to be a good thing.
FAV NEW FIND:  All week we had warmer than normal temperatures and it is continuing a bit for this coming week.  Keeping winter at bay as long as possible, always a favorite thing with me.  Outdoor swimming still an option.  The trees might be losing their leaves, but the pool is still open...until the end of the week, that is.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Spending time with friends, always a nice deal.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  The week had ups and downs (I had the flu for a couple of days), subbing was nice, the swimming this week was nice, we had a nice visit with Mark's parents on Saturday to check on them and do a few things for them around the house, etc. Mark and Alex spent a couple of hours Sunday afternoon playing Frisbee golf (Alex, photo left), while I opted to swim on this day of 78 degrees.   Matt was busy at IU with recruit entertaining, practices, going to the football game (photo right taken by Reyn at the game) and cheering for the Hoos, even though they lost, as did the Hawks this week out in Happy Valley.  All in all, a nice week.

    
  Photos:  Alex (left) and Matt (right)  
 

 

 

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Checking out this Brian McCutcheon exhibit at the IMA.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week: Beethoven, Biss, & Bartok.   
PRAYING FOR:  Lots of weddings this time of year...prayers for happy and long marriages for them all, please join me.  Also, in your charity, please continue to pray for Bill as he and Margaret got both good news and not-so-good news this week and Bill will need additional surgery.  

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Four of Tessa Kiros' books, although they are recipe books primarily they have great travel photographs and stories:  Apples for Jam, Food From Many Greek Kitchens, Twelve, and Falling Cloudberries. 
LISTENING TO: Indianapolis Symphony featured Mahler's Symphony No. 1 this week, so carrying that forward. 
SWIMMING NEWS: Matt had an exciting week around the pool, the team got all their new team clothing, etc. and he also got an IU parka, so he was pretty excited about all that.  He was moved up to the fastest practice group, a very nice thing for a freshman.  A parka and a move up probably translates to traveling varsity team.  (A more inspiring thing heading into swimming season in two weeks, I cannot think there is for a young swimmer.)
COOKING BYTES: With the beginning of the Tessa Kiros recipes at IHCC, after looking through four of her books, I have marked a dozen recipes that I may try just for the pure fun of trying to make something I haven't made or am not sure we will even like...ingredients we don't always have readily available (like maybe trying to cook an octopus) and some that we have readily available but I just have not really utilized (beets, fennel, etc.), and one or two that I don't like and maybe I will give a try because I just need to update the taste buds perhaps (pumpkin, anchovies, dried salt cod).
FAV NEW FIND:  Alex has a job starting this week, so we are hoping this is a nice start to good things coming.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  The anniversary party for Mark's parents brought all the siblings, etc. to town and we all sat down to dinner together and enjoyed catching up with everyone's lives.  We have been extremely lucky to have Mark's parents close and in fairly good health all these years.  At ages 85 and 89, celebrating these anniversary occasions is always a big deal! While the original party at the restaurant had to be changed due to Emil's health right now, we all had a fine time at their home after moving the party location there...and, as the younger generation put it, "Great! We don't have to dress up now, do we? No suits and ties, we can just wear regular clothes?"  It was decided a fine casual relaxing day was in order and everyone went the casual route and had a wonderful day/evening.
Photo: Dorothy, Brian, Phil, Luke, Emil, Al, Nancy, and Mark...the parents and all six of their kids.
WEEK IN REVIEW:  The anniversary gathering was the biggest thing this week, having Matt home for that part of Saturday and Sunday was wonderful, having Alex come to the party for Grandma and Grandpa was a big deal and very nice, Reyn came home from IU to come to the party as well, the IU football game was another "near win," always encouraging (although in Indiana football is just something to pass the time until basketball season begins, right?).    Matt and Reyn wanted to stop at the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins for their dorm rooms/to carve for Halloween, so we did that on the way back to IU, and "one of the greatest things ever," according to Matt, is that I did all the laundry he brought home from college.  Apparently there is great appreciation for this sort of thing as doing one's own laundry at college isn't part of the lineup of things he enjoys all that much.  The pumpkins were very small and when I inquired why that was, they both said at the same time, "These are DORM SIZE, we don't have a lot of extra room."  Ah, yes, silly me.  Mark and Alex went here for the afternoon while I was driving to Bloomington and back, and they had a nice day of walking and exploring  a good bit of the 100 acres as it was a gorgeous day for an activity like that, and they enjoyed spending some time together outdoors. 
PRAYING FOR:  Prayers of thanksgiving for Margaret and Bill...enough said, they have had a horrendous year battling Bill's cancer, prayers answered, Bill got the "cancer free" report last week, please join me in praying for thanks for all the answered prayers in your lives.

 

A last shot of the guys at the anniversary party...Alex, Mark, and Matt.  

Sunday's Snippets

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!

Sunday's Snippets

 

READING:  The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland.  No, no this is not some sort of romance novel, it is a book about Emily Carr, a Canadian painter who traveled  (in the early 1900s) through the forests to locate Indian totem poles so that she could paint pictures of them in their natural habitats to preserve the memory of them as they were in danger from natural disintegration, destruction, theft, and being sold to private collectors.  It is interesting to learn about the totem poles, the stories they represent, etc. and has inspired me to learn more about them in a historical context.

LISTENING TO:  Rebecca had this on her blog this week and I thought the little slide show was so beautiful that I have listened to it once a day in quiet moments appreciating the advice of slowing down a bit, Rebecca is good about reminding me of that always.  Click here to link. 
SWIMMING NEWS:  College recruiting season continues and Matt is enjoying meeting swimmers who come in each weekend to check out the IU swimming/diving programs.  They come from all over the United States so Matt likes to hear from them about their areas of the country, their swim programs, and to show them what IU is all about.  One of the things he is in charge of on Friday mornings (since he has no classes on Friday morning) is showing the guys the dorm rooms that the swimmers at IU have.  He says it is also a good excuse for him and Ian to have their room very clean and vacuumed each Friday!

COOKING BYTES:  With the cooler temperatures we have been having, my bread baking desire has returned and I've been firing up the oven for bread again.  Kneading bread is so soothing and relaxing, I did miss it over the summer.

FAV NEW FIND:  A few months ago I learned of a new-ish site called Eat Your Books (a search engine for your own cookbooks, i.e. the cookbooks you already own).  It sounded intriguing and upon further investigation, I found a wonderful resource that anyone who owns cookbooks could absolutely use each and every day.  The site indexes cookbooks and recipes/ingredients.  It costs about $25 a year to join (since I was a food blogger, I was able to have a free year as a gift to try it out), and I am figuring it would save me that amount in time and food easily.  So many times I use half of an ingredient and then wonder what to do with the other half and sometimes (shame on me) the other half goes bad before I can figure out what I want to do with it.  This is no longer happening here because I can type in my ingredient at the site, and it pulls up all the recipes in the cookbooks I own that use that ingredient.  I get the name of the book, the name of the recipe, the page it is on in the book, and a list of all the other ingredients in that recipe so that I can see if I have or need to buy other ingredients to make the recipe.  I wanted to have it a couple of months before I wrote about it because I wanted to make sure it was worth it, that I would remember to use it regularly, and that it would be something I would want to recommend to others.  It is all those things.  What a deal this is!!  Here's how it works:  you join, you type in the names of all your cookbooks, it keeps a list of them in your "library," and whenever you are looking for a recipe or a way to use an ingredient, you type it in and it gives you a list of all the ones that are in the books you own.  Yes, it is fun to go through your cookbooks looking for recipes and picking out ones suitable, but on busy days, it is also wonderful to just plug in what you have on hand and be able to go right to the cookbook and page and have the recipe ready to go in a matter of seconds.  Sometimes I remember a recipe we liked but I can't think of the specific cookbook it is in, so this is a great help for that as well.  Give it a try...and remember to use it!  You will find that all those partially used ingredients you used to throw away are now easy to make use of...it will save you money, what's not to love about that?!  You will also feel really good about using the cookbooks you already own and getting your money's worth out of them now.  Click here to find out more.   

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  You know, Empty Nest has its good points...either I am in shock and it will all hit me at a later time, or I am doing remarkably well with adjusting to it.  Since Mark and I were married 14 years before the boys came along, it feels now like we are getting back to those pre-children years and I have to say, it is quite nice.  I miss the busy-ness of the boys and I do miss them and all, but it's kind of nice for Mark and I to just have time hanging out together and going/doing whatever suits us at the time.  Now, if I could just not worry about the boys on their own quite so much...when does that happen? 

WEEK IN REVIEW:  It would be nice to have a lot of really exciting things to put in here this week but the fact is that we had a very quiet week and didn't feel the need to wander out much since last week and next week will be much busier.  A nice quiet week.  Mark and Alex finally saw the Harry Potter film, the Hoos and Hawks both won this week on their football fields, Matt had a great time at the game and he and Reyn and a bunch of friends watched movies in the dorm afterward as they had to "rest up from watching a four-hour football game, the tailgating beforehand, and getting back to the dorm when it was all over."  Temperatures still cool here...was hoping for a bit of hot weather yet before we say goodbye to summer, so maybe this week will bring something along those lines.  Maybe.

PRAYING FOR:  For families grieving the loss of a loved one, please join me.

 

 The boys of summer are all off at college now...a parting shot...Matt, Nik, Daniel, and Kiernan.

 

Sunday's Snippets

 

READING:  The Greater Journey:  Americans in Paris by David McCullough.  This is a collection of stories of young Americans (artists, doctors, writers, architects, etc.) who went to Paris to study/work between 1830-1900 and then returned to the U.S. to make their marks on the future.

LISTENING TO:  The kid is gone so I can listen to Tom Petty all day every day if I want to and no one says, "Enough already."  Not everyday, not all day long, but really what's not to love about some TP every day?  Don't bother to argue this, I Won't Back Down.

SWIMMING NEWS:  College recruiting season has begun.  Last year Matt was traveling all over visiting colleges that he was interested in and colleges interested in him swimming for them and that was, frankly, a lot of work for everyone involved.  This year he gets to experience it from the other side as his coaches and team at IU are involved in interviewing and getting to know various swimmers from this year's senior high school swimming classes with thoughts of recruiting them to swim for IU next year.  So far he is enjoying the process, but says that from Thursday night through Saturday morning, it is non-stop with commitments involving the process and showing the recruit around campus, etc.  They are paired in groups and each group has specific things they are responsible for doing.  Interesting to hear about it all from the "other side" now.

COOKING BYTES:  I did much better with my food group blogging this week.  I have to say, without Matt here in the evenings I find myself with a lot of extra time to throw together quick posts. And, guess what?? Nick Malgieri left a comment on my blog post this week about the the Fig and Almond Bread of his that I made, check it out here.  I'm such a fan of his work, so that was very fun for me.

FAV NEW FIND:  Okay, this isn't so new, but I haven't taken time to blog it before, so let's just pretend.  One of the blogs I like to check in on is from a Canadian blogging friend, Helene.  Here is her blog.   Often food bloggers that have ads on their sites will do giveaways on their blog which are sponsored by various companies, etc. and people can comment on the posts in hopes that their comment will be generated randomly as a winner.  Such was the case on Helene's blog with Tate's Bake Shop cookies!  I was the lucky winner and to my house arrived a lovely box of goodies from Tate's Bake Shop in New York (see photo).  Inside the box was also the Tate's Bake Shop cookbook, which I was thrilled to receive, even autographed with a nice note from the author.  It's a great little book of about 150 pages filled with recipes for muffins, scones, pound cakes, breads, cookies, pies, crisps, cobblers, cakes, and even a "healthy alternatives" section.  I'll try to blog a few soon.  Thanks Helene and Kathleen, what a wonderful surprise!  

  

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  Going down to Bloomington to see Matt (and Reyn), take him food treats, and spend some time with him.  He wanted to go to the orchard and get apples, cider, and a caramel apple...like "old times," which I thought was rather sweet of him, and which I was very happy to see as I was afraid that now that he is a college guy that maybe he would not want to do those things anymore.  Definitely happy to know that he still wants to do things with us old folks.  Unfortunately, they had no caramel apples today...guess that means we will need to go down and visit another orchard soon.  We had a wonderful time chatting over lunch, he's been really great about sharing news of his new life and making us feel a part of it all.  All is well, he is very happy there.  Reyn had a class assignment requiring her to shuffle around an historic neighborhood in Bloomington locating certain buildings and such so we all went and did that...you all know me, what a great afternoon!! Thanks, Reyn, for including us and making it such fun.

WEEK IN REVIEW:  The weather took a dive this week and it was rainy most every day and cold when it wasn't rainy, so no swimming for me, unfortunately.  I can see autumn advancing.  I love autumn actually...just not what comes after it.  Mark enjoyed the short 4-day work week, and it did make the week go quickly.  Those Hawks lost to the Cyclones in three overtimes, not a good thing.  The Hoos, while never expected to win, did show some shining moments with their new head coach and lost by only 3 points, giving fans all a treat of some exciting plays and real hope until the last few seconds of actually being able to win the game!  Next week.

PRAYING FOR:  For all the families still grieving their losses from 9-11, please join me.

 

 

 

Sunday's Snippets

 

READING:  A Helmet For My Pillow by Robert Leckie.  Mark and I recently watched The Pacific, a WWII film series about several men who served in the Pacific and the battles they fought in at the time, see link here.  The movie was based on several books by veterans, Robert Leckie one of them, accounts of their time in the Marines in action in the Pacific during WWII.  Wonderful reading...firsthand accounts always fascinating to me.

LISTENING TO:  The ISO performed jazz, swing, Dixieland, and Big Band tunes at Symphony on the Prairie this weekend...a fine reason to spend some time with it here at home as well.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Matt is down at IU enjoying his new swim team and working hard.  The IU swim program includes much more dryland and Matt, believe it or not, has gotten as far as he has in the swimming world with no running or weight training work, etc.  This, however, is not the case with the rest of the team, so Matt is working hard to try and get used to all these new bits in his routine.  The actual swimming part he is enjoying very much.  Here are some photos from the Freshman Swimmer Orientation/Parent Meeting.
Matt and his roommate, Ian...also a swimmer (guess you could tell that by the hair, right?), someone Matt has known through the years, Matt's swim club swimming against Ian's each year.
Some of Matt's new freshmen teammates and his sprint coach:  Mike, Coach Mike, Matt, and Steve.
Head Coach Loos with the Freshmen Carmel Connection:  Matt and Lauren.  It's so nice to have Matt and Lauren on the IU team together after all these years of swimming at CSC together.

COOKING BYTES:  Am trying to find my way about all my cooking/baking blog-alongs now that Matt is off at college and not eating here on a regular daily basis with his ravenous swimmer appetite.  Making mini-sized desserts and reduced portions of recipes seems to be absolutely workable, but the number of recipes I can actually cook/bake a week has changed so am anticipating reduced participation in all my groups to accommodate the new Empty Nest lifestyle happening around here.  Meals also change quite a bit as cooking for Mark is a lot different as there is less of a need to fill in menu choices with lots of carbs, etc. that Matt always needed as a swimmer.  I like the blog-alongs as they are a chance to cook/bake recipes with friends and I have made things over the years that I would not have made on my own (left on my own I am not all that adventurous), so am still planning on cooking/baking, but at a reduced amount. 

FAV NEW FIND:  After much consideration of managing this blog to fit my needs and the needs of people who actually read it, I have decided on a new posting plan for it all.  For my foodie/baking/cooking readers, those posts will be Monday through Saturday.  Sundays will be family/friends day where I post Sunday's Snippets and things more of a family/friend nature.  This way my non-foodie readers can skip all the foodie bits by just looking for the Sunday night posts (or clicking on Sunday's Snippets category in the left sidebar) and my foodie readers can look for the appropriate foodie posts on the days I am supposed to post them (or by clicking on the appropriate category in the left sidebar).  Foodie line-up:  Mondays, Nick Malgieri (Modern Baker and Bake!); Tuesday, Dorie Greenspan (Tuesdays with Dorie's Baking from My Home to Yours and Around My French Table); Wednesdays (World Cuisine from various books/cultures); Thursdays (Italian: 30 Minute Thursdays Pasta with Guiliano Hazan's book and other Italian chef recipes); Friday, A Little Ellie Everyday with Ellie Krieger recipes; Saturday, Bread Baking from Bread Baker's Apprentice and other books.  You don't have to memorize that for a quiz or anything, just figured it would make it easier for those who tune in for certain posts at certain times.  Oh, and don't hold me to it 100% each week or you will certainly be disappointed at my lack of timeliness. 

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  I have to say, it is really nice not waking up in the wee hours of the morning when Matt heads off to swim practice before school...yep, really nice just to sleep right through that these days.  I miss him a lot, but I don't miss that.  Let's see, other benefits:  our grocery bill has decreased by a shocking amount, the tape/scissors/pens/pencils/stapler all remain in their designated places and I don't have to go in search of any of them when I need them, laundry takes only a day to complete, and there are no discussions about how late one can stay out of a weekend evening.  I'm trying to look at all the positives to offset the fact that Matt is greatly missed by all, especially this guy who can't figure out why everyone keeps disappearing around here this past year:  Alex, Sophie, Pippin, Matt...it's a little much for Vash to figure out.  Among many downsides to Matt being gone are missing his hugs, his smiles, his fun personality, his excellent skill at lawn mowing (and come winter, snow removal), car washing and vacuuming, household vacuuming, and many other around-the-house chores he always willingly just did without being asked.  Matt is a bit of a neat-freak.  Here are some photos of his room at school, anyone want to take a guess which bed is Matt's and which one is Ian's?
      Matt's is the one with his key chain and bicycle pump on it...something I was shocked at seeing as Matt is very very particular about out of place things (when we were moving him in, Mark tried to help him make the bed and gave up after a couple of seconds when Matt said, "I like the sheet turned down just this exact amount, and don't put that much on that side, I want it to be more like this, and I don't want that touching where my head is going to be, so can you shorten that?").
Yep, just that particular about things in his room.  Further evidence.


Below:  Ian and Lauren hanging out in Matt and Ian's room enjoying the time before classes start.  And, finally, the last photo is Reyn ensconced in her dorm room at IU, happy to be at college at last and every bit as neat and tidy as Matt!


      Matt's biggest concern about going to college was whether or not he was going to get a roommate who was neat and tidy.  Fortunately, Ian seems to be just that and all is going well.

WEEK IN REVIEW:  Same old, same old:  besides working, there was beautiful weather for swimming yet, the IU/BSU football game opener yesterday was a bit of a bust for IU (Mark thought watching it at Lucas Oil Stadium was definitely preferable to the Iowa Hawk fans who had a 1.5 hour rain/lightening delay in IC), Symphony on the Prairie tonight, and a whole day of vacation to fritter away tomorrow for Labor Day.

PRAYING FOR:  For all parents and children who are struggling with medical/mental disadvantages, please join me.

 

Sunday's Snippets

 

       READING:  Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland. There is a bit of a dreamer in me for all things historical, something magical happens when I read history or things of the past:  it transports me to another place, another time, another world.  I usually prefer reading factual (non-fiction) accounts of history as I enjoy the reality of it all. 

      Sometimes a book comes along that sounds intriguing that isn't non-fiction and I delve in with great enthusiasm, knowing that it will drive me insane with the inaccuracies and freedom of artistic expression that often happen with such books, but am sometimes willing to put up with all of that if the story line is well done.   Nicole was reading this book for her book club and while she wasn't actually enthusiastic in her endorsement, it intrigued me and I went to the library in search of this author. 

      I first read Vreeland's Girl in Hyacinth Blue which is rather fun as it traces a painting through its owners throughout the years from the 1600s to present, how the painting began, how it was sold/traded/acquired by the various owners, what it meant to them, etc.  Totally fictional, totally fun for me, so onward I headed to Luncheon of the Boating Party which fictionalizes the painting of that title by Auguste Renoir.
       It fictionalizes the artist, the people in the painting, and the time period in France.  Again, absolutely delightful. A good author to visit before I head back into more serious reading.

LISTENING TO:  The Indpls Sym Orch was performing Elton John and Billy Joel tunes this weekend, so certainly it is my duty to carry this over around here for a week, don't you think?  Good, I think so, too.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Matt went to Nationals (that's him left in the middle diving in for the start of the 4x100 Freestyle Relay and he and Daniel in photo below watching Harrison swim his leg of the relay)  out in California and had a great time, no real new gains in swim times.  There reaches a point in every season when that's all that season will net for a swimmer, so looking back in total, there were some great moments, new best times, and a lot of fun, all that one can ask.  

      Speaking of "all that one can ask," here's another photo of the 4x100 Freestyle Relay team at Nationals, again, Harrison is in the water swimming his leg of it.  The guy adjusting his swim cap is the person who makes it possible for the boys to have a National entry in this relay, Coach Chris.  Since CSC did not have four boys able to qualify in the last couple of years, Coach Chris (who happens to be 36 and definitely able to keep up with these 18/19 year olds) trained and was able to qualify with his times to swim so that the boys could have a fourth man for the National relay.  Not sure how many coaches would do that for their team, but we are awfully happy that this one does.  It started last winter at Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, and who knows how long it will continue!  It's been a great ride for the boys to have Chris swimming with them.

      Now they have two weeks off from formal swim practice, a time I like to characterize as "when Mermaids and Mermen grow legs and feet and traverse the earth for a bit before returning to their watery world."  Next up:  college swimming for IU!

COOKING BYTES:  Rebecca and I are having Pickle Up Weekend this weekend...she mentioned on Twitter that she was going to make pickles, I had seen a couple of recipes here and here and am a huge pickle fan, so I decided to join in and she sent me a recipe she was going to use as well.  Since I haven't a clue how to do processing/canning, I made refrigerator pickles that don't require that.  I might get around to posting them this week.

FAV NEW FIND:  I found an interesting little melon at the market today, something called a Lemon Melon.  It's rather smallish, smaller than a cantaloupe.  It is cantaloupe colored on the outside and light green on the inside, sort of a honeydew color but doesn't taste like a honeydew melon.   It tastes like citrus (lemon), hard to describe, but very lovely.  Just perfect for a lemon-lover like me!

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  It's been rather fun having Matt around to enjoy these summer days before he heads off to college...no practices or real commitments when he returned from California, just so nice to have him hanging around doing silly kid-like things like making smiley faces on his burger bun with the ketsup bottle...it's the little things I'm going to miss the most.  

WEEK IN REVIEW:  Mark and I did great with Empty Nest practice...we were married 14 years before the boys came along, so I guess we have that part down pretty good actually, so maybe it will all be fine and I will adjust quicker than I imagine.  Maybe. 

PRAYING FOR:  Bill and Jim, two great guys whose gals are depending on them to recover quickly.  I know I mentioned this last week, but keep praying, we have a ways to go yet.

 

Sunday's Snippets

 

 
READING:  Reading all the bits and pieces around here that have accumulated so that I can start a new thread when GCHS starts up again in a couple of weeks and I am working again, haven't decided exactly which direction I am going as I am torn between three at the moment, all historical in nature, no big surprise, I'm sure.  

LISTENING TO:  Puccini's Madame Butterfly, first show for the season in September, getting a head start on listening. 
SWIMMING NEWS:  Matt is swimming at Nationals this week in Palo Alto, California, his last swim meet before becoming a college swimmer...12 years completed to date, that's a lot of water.  (Top photo of him is at a fish restaurant with the swimmers. Daniel's parents, Kathy and Dan, treated Matt to a birthday dinner to help celebrate his birthday, complete with a little birthday cake! Such a nice thing for them to do for him on his special day.)

COOKING BYTES:  This blog is going to be changing a bit to accommodate our Empty Nest coming up in a couple of weeks when Matt heads off to college.  I see a lot of partial recipes, minis, and foregoing of certain items completely in his absence.  I also see a lot of cookie making to ship off to him at college.   Sunday's Snippets is replacing Friday's Favorites Fare here on the blog to fit in with all this better...at least that is the plan.

FAV NEW FIND:  Mark and I are practicing Empty Nest this week with Matt in California and the two of us home alone.  When he returns there will only be two weeks until he goes to IU.  It's easier than I thought it would be actually.  That said, I am really really going to miss him.

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  Matt's birthday is today...last night we went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa at Matteo's and Reyn came along as well...a wonderful evening.  (Photo of them at restaurant with us above.)

WEEK IN REVIEW:  We are experiencing a lot of "lasts" this summer with Matt on the verge of leaving home for college.  We aren't taking the days left for granted, filling them with swimming, hanging out, and making plans for college living, planning dorm and college supplies, and hitting the sales putting it together. 

PRAYING FOR:  Bill and Jim, two great guys whose gals are depending on them to recover quickly.