Thaw before reheating.
{ Monthly Archives }
Finally, our government is doing something right in regards to the crisis in Lebanon and Israel. They are waiving the “evacuation fee.”
I was pretty ripped when I heard that there was talk of a fee. It’s not like U.S. citizens were asked by the Embassy to leave due to pending danger. This came out of nowhere. Plus, the U.S., the wealthiest country in the world, was the only one asking citizens to sign promissory notes of repayment. How embarrassing.
In what must have been an OCD fit, I hit the porch at 8am this morning armed with a nozzle sprayer, bucket, detergent and sponge. Our house got a bath. The front of it at least. 
Scrubbing only occurred from my height down. But it still made a huge difference. I’m much, much, too excited over that awesome sprayer handle. 
Other improvements include:
– New ferns. The old ones were threatening to become fireballs in the heat.
– Grass seed and dirt over the existing “grass” (i.e.: weeds that grew in over the pebbles we’ve been digging up for the past two years)
– Caladium (19) and vinca (90). Please grow in nicely, little plants!
Don’t ask about the backyard. Remember that patio Paul dug up? Yeah, well, we’ll let you know when we find it again. It’s that scary.
Commander’s Palace wasn’t there serving lunch this week (total bummer!) but we didn’t come home empty handed. Michelle (babysitter extraordinaire) joined the three of us for this weekly adventure. We enjoyed strawberry and pineapple popsicles (with huge hunks of fruit, big yum!) and blueberry lemonade. Three herbs (basil, spearmint, and rosemary) won out of the great selection of flowers and plants to make it to our front yard. We also scored some edible treats — eggplant, squash, creole tomatoes, pea pods, and coconut flan!
Where is our girl shortly before midnight? Why, she’s rockin’ out…
… celebrating her first roll over. (From her back to her side.) Yikes! 
Paul’s doing the second coat (final) cut-in… but we don’t have enough paint to roll! Hopefully we’ll be able to start loading it up Thursday or so. We have no idea when we’ll get around to painting this room, though, so this will be the lone great white shelf for awhile.
Written by Marcia Inhorn, one of my University of Michigan advisors and mentors, I think this short editoral is a wonderful example of how narrowly viewing ‘the Middle East’ as monolithic, rigid, and singularly defined leads to lost opportunities for science, culture, and technology — and fuel dangerous social and cultural misunderstandings.
“… I came away with a new appreciation of the country’s long history, rich culture, and bright, motivated scientists and professionals. Unfortunately, few Americans know anything about science or technology in Iran except in the context of nuclear weapons. What our government tells us about Iran is that it is a member of the “axis of evil.”
Such fear-mongering is very unwise. It leads to closed minds, closed embassies, restricted visas, and other limitations on travel — even the possibility of war. Although the American and Iranian governments may never see eye to eye about most issues, surely it is possible for our two peoples to have peaceful exchanges of views …”
104: Caladiums and vincas I planted in the front yard on Saturday
7: Shelves in Paul’s current building project (in the painting phase)
30+: Mosquito bites from the weekend
3: Trips to the neighbor’s pool
2: Po’boys eaten at Frankie and Johnny’s
This girl is a talker!
Will-the-elephant hungs his gato good-night.
