Last day in Hawaii - Pearl Harbor, one more fruity drink, and a very long plane ride!

Hawaii day six - skipped the last couple talks to go snorkling

Hawaii day five - orchid nursery in the morning and evolutionary genetics lectures in the afternoon

Hawaii day four - at least the conference center is pretty

Hawaii day three - the fun had to end some time.

Day two in Hawaii - mountains!

First day in Hawaii!

Pumpkin!

I’m not the biggest fan of Halloween (I scare so easily that I jump at noises I’m warned about), but I do love carving pumpkins. This week at the CSA pickup was a little bit boring: lettuces, peppers, kale, collard greens, and some herbs. There were also some blue potatoes which are so bizarre looking. But the best part is that I got a carving pumpkin! This is what I carved last year:



I was sort of at a loss for what to do this year, but then it struck me that this is Darwin’s 200th birthday so I found a suitable image of him online and will be carving this pumpkin this year.



I’ll be sure to post a picture when I carve it in a couple weeks. I don’t want to carve too earlier. Last year one of mine rotted before Halloween. Anyway, back to the CSA and food for the week. In addition to dinners this week (which we usually also use for lunch the next day), I made/will make some grab and go breakfasts and snacks. I’m working on Geoff’s schedule – 10:30 to 8 – so I’ve found that I either need an afternoon snack or an afternoon nap to make it to dinner. After the first time someone walked into my office and found me “resting my eyes” at my desk, I’ve tried to stay awake at work.

Sunday Lunch: Roasted Red Pepper Grilled Cheese and Salad
Sunday Dinner: Eggplant, Daikon, Red Pepper, Baby Veg Stirfry with Kashi 7 Grains
Monday: Poblanos stuffed with Corn, Black Bean, Tomatoes, Chicken, Cheese
Tuesday: Corn Chowder with Kale, Potatoes, Peppers , and Sausage flavored with Thyme
Thursday: Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens with Cornbread
Friday: Quiche Lorraine and Salad

Breakfasts: Grits Bake, Triple Apple Oat Bran Muffins
Snacks: Yogurt with Blueberries, Whole-Wheat Crackers and Natural Peanut Butter

Better late than never?

Okay, two blog posts coming today because that is what I promised those of you who are threatening to mutiny if I don’t update soon. Fall is definitely here. The floorboard heaters kicked on the other day because they are set to come on when the temperature dips below 50. The sun is setting earlier and earlier and I’ve taken to keeping a quilt in the living room to curl up under (specifically a t-shirt quilt my mom made – she’s where I got the crafty).

Work has been more than a little overwhelming lately. In part because, as I have realized recently, I tend to underestimate the amount of time that tasks will take me by a factor of between 3 and 5. The last week, I’ve been off by about 10. So that is my excuse for taking three weeks to finally post the pictures from Sarah’s baby shower (note that in my last post on Sept 21 I promised them "tomorrow" - never believe me when I say that). I picked a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme so the guests were greeted by this window display which I put up the day before and got a lot of weird looks from neighbors:



To complete the theme, I made a banner of all the foods the caterpillar eats and my lemon cupcakes with caterpillar green frosting became a caterpillar with help from some construction paper.



Because I am who I am, I foisted my love of crafts onto the guests. Here they are painting onesies and making baby blocks.





When Sarah and Erick told Geoff and I they were pregnant, Sarah said “Do you remember when we made those onesies for Kat? Can we do it again for me?” So of course we had to make onesies again. We used freezer paper stencils and it couldn’t be simpler. The results were soooo cute that I’ve already promised to turn them into a quilt once Sarah and Erick’s little girl outgrows them.








The geisha girl, the lei, and the Yankees onesies are mine. I also made a man-friendly (so that Erick would carry it) diaper bag which was the first time I ever worked with elastic, Velcro, and zippers and I filled the bag with some more handmade gifts.





My favorite is the Humpty-Dumpty which has snapped on arms and legs so he can fall apart and be put back together again. The puppets are actually made out of terry-cloth so that they can be used as washcloths. I just freehanded the designs and they came out pretty well (I can't draw at all, seriously, it looks like I'm missing my arms and learned to hold a pen with my toes). Then there is a tag ball made of scrap fabric and bits of ribbon. Evidently, babies like to grab and suck on tags? The sweater was made by my mom from the pattern she learned from her mom and taught to me. I love the stripes and purple is Sarah’s favorite color. The mushroom thing there is a rattle and the caterpillar has a squeaky dog toy in its head, the red contains a crunchy cat toy, and the orange has a bell cat toy in it. All of this was extremely irritating to Hank because she didn’t get to play with it. The ruby slippers seemed appropriate from a Kansas girl and the little kimono shoes are just so cute that I had to make them. Sarah had a great time and I believe her because she cried repeatedly, which is a sign of happiness in pregnant women.

Speaking of pregnant women, I want to welcome the newest member of my family. My cousin Kimmie gave birth yesterday to Wyatt Eric and I can’t wait to meet him!