Marching Into Spring

My March update is a little late but . . . better than never, eh?

We visited Scott's family in California over spring break during the latter half of the month. We felt like making a big vacation out of this trip, so we planned on hitting several big tourist sites in the area while we were there.

We enjoyed a picnic at the Santa Ana Zoo with Scott's parents first. The zoo there isn't so large, but they have a huge collection of monkeys. Apparently, the zoo's founder requested that there be 50 monkeys at all times. It's easy to get to and not so expensive, so if you happen to love animals of the simian variety, it's a pleasant side trip if you're in town for the big theme parks.

The four of us hit the Pirate's Dinner Adventure next. We've already been to the neighboring Medieval Times, so we were looking for a little variety. It was certainly enjoyable, with plenty of singing and acrobatics, and it offered a lot more audience participation than Medieval Times. Still, Medieval Times was a bit more entertaining overall with its tournament -- after all, they have horses doing tricks!

Over the weekend, we visited Universal Studios Hollywood with Scott's parents and his cousin. We especially enjoyed the studio tour (among other stops, we drove down Wisteria Lane from "Desperate Housewives") and "The Simpsons" ride. It's pretty fun, with mostly entertainment-oriented rides rather than thrills -- better suited to me than Scott, but we both had a good time.

Scott and I met our friends for a Los Angeles Kings hockey game later in the week. It was my first NHL game, so it was appropriate I saw Scott's favorite team chalk up another victory (in sudden-death overtime -- but at least Jean-Claude Van Damme didn't have to save the day this time). After the game, we split a chili cheeseburger and chili fries from the Original Tommy's stand in LA, and Scott may have discovered his new favorite sandwich.

Of course, the headliner this trip was a visit to the Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks. Like for all these things, it was my first time there. Disney's a lot different from the Six Flags parks and Cedar Point. There's hardly any roller coasters (thankfully), and the ones that are there are mostly on the mild side. If you visit, I recommend checking out the Soarin' Over California ride at California Adventure, which is a virtual hang-gliding trip complete with an omnimax-style movie and wind and water effects. At Disney, it's worth taking in classic rides like It's a Small World for the true 1950s experience as well as updated standards like the Captain Jack Sparrow-enhanced Pirates of the Caribbean and Michael Jackson's "Captain EO" 3D movie.

It was a whirlwind of a trip, and we had a great time seeing the Southern California highlights. Check out our photos on Facebook if you haven't yet to see more of our grand adventure.

- Colleen

February Updates

Not too much new going on in our neck of the woods this month. Here's the highlights:

Scott is putting the finishing touches on his dissertation. He's incorporated the suggestions his professors and colleagues gave him, and now he's just sweating the formatting details. He will defend his dissertation in spring quarter, which begins near the end of March.

After that, Scott will spend most of the summer teaching. He's been offered two classes to teach during the summer quarter here at the University of Washington. He'll probably finish here in August, after which we'll probably move wherever it is we'll know by then we are going to.

For everyone who is still wondering, the next round of academic job postings will start emerging in the spring. We don't know yet what schools will be looking to hire, but Scott will have a good shot at this round, which is usually full of starter academic positions.

Finally, you can send Scott your sympathies, as he recently was diagnosed with an ulcerated esophagus caused by taking his medicine too long past mealtime. He is currently on an ice cream diet as it hurts to swallow everything else. Try not to be too jealous.

As for me, I'm still plugging away at various writing projects in between kitchen experiments and assaults on the fruit flies and windowsill mold/mildew plaguing our apartment. Our unusually high February temperatures (in the 50s) and our still wet winter weather have combined to drive me insane by bringing the bugs out of hiding before the moisture has stopped collecting. Sigh.

I've been playing with a recipe for whole-wheat no-knead bread this month that's really very good. You keep the dough in the fridge until you want some bread, and when you do, you cut off a chunk and bake it on a pizza stone, baking sheet, or in a Dutch oven. You get a chewy crust and moist crumb without the bitterness whole wheat sometimes has, despite there being no sugar added. It makes dough enough to bake up four little one-pound loaves.
The recipe is from the book "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day," if you're interested. All you need to make it are the ingredients, a six-quart bowl or bucket, a spoon to stir it all together, and something to bake it on. And room in your fridge for said bucket, of course -- sometimes that's the tough part.

We've been enjoying watching the Winter Olympics, though we haven't made the two- or three-hour drive to Vancouver to see the action in person. We've viewed a lot of curling and hockey (men's and women's), as those the only sports NBC deems fit to broadcast live to the coast where the Olympics are actually happening. Alas, they've started putting a few men's hockey games on NBC proper instead of on cable, which means they too are getting tape-delayed three hours. Perplexing and frustrating. We have to resort to watching on the web, which is dicey given how our internet service has been lately (which is also NBC's fault, come to think of it, what with the Comcast merger).

Hope that everyone's February was good. The sun just came out again here, so maybe it won't rain again today!

- Colleen

Posted via email from Colleen's posterous

Scott's All Clear

Just an update for those who haven't heard and may still be wondering: Scott's medical tests all came back fine, so the New Year's incident was just due to rising too fast with his naturally low blood pressure. His face was broken in four places, but the fractures did not affect his vision and are healing on their own.

Scott's main complaint at this point is that he's still not allowed to run. He injured his knee after completing the half-marathon in Seattle, and he's getting physical therapy to fix it before starting his training for the Vancouver Marathon. Alas, that means resting the injured part, which translates into hours of low-impact but dull elliptical trainer work to stay in shape while he misses his weekly runs. He can't wait to get back out on the cold, wet open road whenever the therapist gives him the OK.

Seriously.

- Colleen

Posted via email from Colleen's posterous

Christmas Card

If you received our Christmas card in the mail and are by chance seeking the answer key for the crossword, it is now posted online. Just visit bit.ly/crossword09 and click on the icon for Page 3 of the 2009 Christmas letter to view this year's answers.

If you haven't gotten the card yet, you can also view this year's full letter at the same page. Merry Christmas!

Interested in a Cookbook?

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably gathered from one source or another that I've spent the last several months working on a cookbook project for Scott's family. The book, which you can learn more about at grancook.com, collects recipes from his grandmother's files to preserve both the dishes and her memory. Proceeds benefit the Cancer Institute of Lebanon, IN, which treated her for lung cancer before her passing earlier this year.

I just wanted to let anyone who will see me this Christmas and still might be considering ordering a book that I will be able to pick up copies while Scott and I are visiting Indiana over New Year's. The books cost $20, and if you purchase them through me instead of through Lulu you'll save the extra $4 or so that Lulu charges for shipping.

There's your info for the day. I suppose I should start packing now. Otherwise, we might never make it home for Christmas.

Scott's Running News

Scott has a big running announcement over on his personal blog:

Well, I’ve done it. I’ve gone and registered for a full marathon. I have 139 days and a few hours till the race begins, which I’m hoping is plenty of time to build up my mileage and get in position to finish (of paramount importance!) and post a respectable time.

Head over there to read the rest and post your encouragement!

November Photo Albums

I've posted a couple new photo albums from November to Facebook. You can check them out here:

Scott's Birthday
Thanksgiving 2009

Finally posting these photos is all part of my "killing time while I wait for this cold to go away" plan. I'm staying in bed pretty much all day right now because there's no way getting on that plane next week with a head cold.

On the upside, my throat hurts a lot less than it did the past couple of days. On the other hand, I've found today that my voice is slipping away again. It's practically a holiday tradition now!

At least Scott is over his flu! You can see him in his infected state in those birthday pictures. Fun stuff!

Posted via email from Colleen's posterous