Back to Winter

Bubby had her quilting "seminar" this weekend. Because she was otherwise occupied, I traveled to Orem, for a meeting at UVU, unaccompanied. I did get to have breakfast with Dan, Rosalyn, Andrew, and Miss Evey, though. Bubby took the above photo of the woman who taught her class on applique quilts. Said she learned a lot, but the photo was so dark we had to enhance it and it suffered some loss in quality.

On Sunday I had a marathon, and Bubby informed me she had a lovely day (she always smiles when she says that!). The last of the snow that we got during the Holidays finally melted on Sunday, but as we were driving home from fireside, it started to snow. By the time we pulled into the driveway, it was sticking.



Monday morning I shoveled about about 5 inches in the early morning darkness, but it was still coming down hard. I shoveled before my shower and then had to shovel again to get out of the driveway. The reported accumulation was 8 inches (measured at the airport) but Bubby measured about twelve inches in the photo above. She and I both came home at lunch time to find that the power was out so we couldn't get into the house. Neither of us had a key, either (long story). Fortunately, the power came on so we could enter through the garage, and of course get to the shovels so we could clear the driveway. I have since made multiple entry keys so we can each have several available.



The snow finally quit in the early evening on Monday, and we thought we would include this one that shows the mass of white we are again lying under. It is great to have the moisture, but last week we had rain instead of snow. That is my preference, of course. I was thinking last Sunday that I might get out on Cedar Ridge this week, but alas, it won't be happening.

Daniel signed and returned his contract. They are going to come down next week and look at homes. This is a great time to buy. I even saw his proposed teaching load yesterday. Looks like some entry level courses for the next year. Of course as the new guy, that is sort of the way it goes.

Buboppy

Leo's Latest

Booty and Laur sent us these photos of Leo and we thought they were too cute to keep from the family. He is really showing some aspects of both the Williams and Eves family, but mostly we think he is starting to look like his Dad.

When I look at him, I think of what Big K said when he was born. He really is, "the cutest danged baby in the whole danged world". But of course, all of our grands are covered in that proclamation.

We are too excited to go and visit him over President's Day.

Buboppy

Inauguration Dinner

I am sure that this dinner doesn't look as appetizing in the plastic storage ware as it did on our plates. However, this was a wonderful dinner that we anticipated preparing over the last week. We just decided to have it last evening after both returning home late from our day's activities.

We saw the recipes for shrimp and grits on the Neelys' program and it looked good, so we tried it. The grits, which are a very simple preparation are dewlicious. Of course, I am nuts about seasoned grits for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The shrimp and sausage mixture was really tasty too, and the peppers, onions, garlic and tomatoes really blended well with the creamy grits. We recommend this one. Give it a try.

Buboppy

Rosalyn's Birthday, Daniel's Celebration, and the Zoo

We managed to drive all the way to SLC, engage in a myriad of fun activities with Daniel, Rosalyn, Sarah, Aaron, and all of the Grands without capturing a single photo. You may be saying, "No Way! Poppy always gets a picture", but alas, not this time. We whipped out the camera for the first digital memory and discovered we needed a fresh battery. We neglected to bring either the alternate power source, or our battery charger from home, so you will have to depend on Daniel and Rosalyn's photos, or Sarah's when she gets them posted.

We did have a wonderful weekend away. I (with some guilt) enjoy the opportunity to escape my Sunday duties, and it was great not to have them to consume my day. After dinner with Rosalyn and Daniel and family at Ottavio's in Provo, the excitement of a 7:30 AM flat tire and a flat spare, a surprise birthday gathering for Rosalyn, fun at the nearly empty Zoo, and a pleasant dinner at Red Robin, we did enjoy our quiet Sunday. Bubby was on pervert watch in Aaron's primary class. When I say that, I am not suggesting that Aaron in anyway acts inappropriately with his Primary class, my comment is more on the order of a mild protest about the current state of the World. We have to have primary teachers watching each other. A sad state of affairs, to be sure, but it is all in the name of child safety, which I support.

We arrived home about 5:00 PM on Monday and enjoyed being home and doing "homey" things. We entertained (or were entertained by) Ron and Nancy, whom we home teach, at 7:00 PM. They are cribbage buffs and we played four really close games. We are already scheduled for a rematch next Monday night, however, the game to be played is "Bloody Smash", a progressive rummy game (like Phase 10).

Bubby and I walked early this morning. It was cold, but stimulating. She has a haircut today (very excited) and I have my presidency meeting. I will have to return to Provo on Friday for a meeting at UVU with all the deans of Science and Mathematics, so our quiet comfort won't last too long.

Buboppy

You can, when you try!

Bubby and I had a date to go to the Temple yesterday afternoon. I came home about an hour before we were scheduled to leave and we decided to gather up a few loose ends. We are planning a trip to Australia in May to visit with Uncle Larry and Aunt J. We have been fare shopping for months, and have pretty much narrowed down our route and found a price we like, but had not yet "pulled the trigger", and bought the tickets. We did it yesterday, and although not yet paid for, we have two tickets to Perth that we can't wait to use.

What finally pushed us over the edge was deciding on some travel dates (we can leave on a Sunday without guilt because of what will be happening in Stake conference on March 1st) and getting our reservations at Lagoon Lodges (our favorite get away in the world). We wrote them an email checking on room availability for our nine day stay and they emailed back that they would love to have us come. We will stop in the Cooks on our way to Perth.

What we love most about Lagoon Lodges is that the beach is out the door and across a street no bigger than the street on which we live. It only has slightly more traffic, too. We have had the beach to ourselves on our previous two trips and this time we plan to spend the majority of our time swimming, fishing and relaxing. Bubby has already announced that she wants me to bring a fishing pole for her to use.

We were hoping for a revival of our trip there with Uncle Roland and Auntie Nell, but it is just not in the cards for this year. I know that they love to go to the Cooks as much as we do, so we may get to go together one more time in the future.

To finish the story, when we purchased the tickets, we noticed that my passport was due to expire in April, 2009. So wonder of wonders, we discovered we could fill out the renewal forms on-line, print them, take a couple of digital images, crop and print them, write a check, and mail in the renewal. We accomplished all of this (buying tickets, confirming reservations, and renewing a passport) in a little over an hour and still made our session in St. George. Bubby called that "very productive". Of course what she really means is that she is excited to have the "ticket to ride".

Buboppy

Lunch with the Sisters in Sunny St. George

When Daniel came to Cedar City for his interview, he brought with him a painting that needed to be returned to St. George and Uncle Roland. Trisha was dying to get out of the snow and cold and so she fabricated a lunch date with her sisters on the pretense of delivering the painting. We had a nice lunch of soup (Bubb tried a new wild rice recipe), cornbread, fruit and spinach salads. It was really nice to visit and just relax for a few minutes.

Aunt Barbara had been on a trek to look at new rock art near Barstow (I think), California, so she and I spent a little time looking over her photos (can you see Bubby's finger covering the flash on this one?). This site did have some serious art and she had some great photographs. I am sorry I can't get more details about the location, but we were concentrating on the photos not on how she got there.

Beyond that, our weekend consisted of a good, low key Saturday and a 12 hour Sunday at church, for me. Always glad to go back to work on Monday morning.

We did receive some good news from Daniel last evening. He got a call from the Chair of the Department of Physical Science at SUU offering him the chemistry position he interviewed for last week. He accepted the offer. We are of course very excited for him. I am not sure how the news is being received in Provo. I think SUU may be more his dream than Rosalyn's, although in fairness, we haven't talked about it much. I have been thinking about the economic situation and the effort he has put into his job search. I know he applied to over 14 positions and only got two phone interviews (SUU and NAU in Flagstaff), a sign of the tough economic times. The SUU job resulted in an offer and the NAU position ended up being reduced to something he didn't really want so he withdrew his application. I am very grateful that he has a job offer this year. Obviously, I personally don't think he could do better than SUU to start his career, but that opinion is influenced by my own desire to live in a semi-rural area, a desire that may not be shared by someone who hasn't lived here. I know that Daniel values this institution and its chemistry program (look what it did for him). I just hope that the joys of living in a small Utah community eventually provide the attraction for Rosalyn that they have provided for us.

So philosophical considerations aside, congratulations to Daniel and Rosalyn. As far as I am concerned, they are "living the dream". They left the state of Utah for education, and were able to end up back in the state for employment. That was certainly my dream when I decided higher education would be my career path. Provo is only 2.5 hours away!

Buboppy

Last Gasp and Interview Week

This post will catch the last of the Holiday activities. Bubby spent a little of the season making up hats for Leo, Evelyn, Katie's dolls, and even Jake's Webkins. When I purged the camera I found this cute one of Evelyn in her stunning turquoise hat with her diminutive proboscis. The binky only accentuates her cute little nose.

This was the children's group photo in the blue wing chairs before we went over to Studio West for the portraits. Everyone looked "together" in their color coordinating apple-ware.

Daniel came down on Tuesday night for his SUU interview. We waited dinner for his arrival and took him to the Ninja Japanese Steakhouse. Bubby ordered a veggie yaki soba that was a little under-sauced. It was still dewlicious and I shared it while we waited for the main attraction.

Daniel ordered a tempura shrimp and udon noodle combo that was voluminous! He only managed to eat a portion but it looked wonderful. This one was clearly a meal fit for two.

Of course this is what I came to eat. We ordered three rolls, which was too much, but because the service was slow, our waiter added an additional Cedar roll (the bottom sushi roll). We really had too much sushi then, but it was so good. The Cedar roll is just awesome and we really loved them both. They are a little pricey but soooo very good. We cleaned it all up and headed home to bed.

Daniel's interview went very well, as far as I can tell. He taught two classes, one to seniors and one to freshman science majors. He also presented a research seminar. He seemed to interact well with students and faculty. We will have to let things develop from here, but I certainly presented himself well. We are being quite philosophical about this. If it is meant to be, it will happen. I do know he was pretty exhausted by the time he finished.

On another positive note, congrats to Booty who passed his latest actuarial exam. We are proud and happy for him, Laur, and Leo. Way to go, Booty.

Buboppy