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"