2009 Update

Best wishes to all for a happy 2010. We are ending 2009 in good health and looking forward to changes ahead in 2010.

Jake has completed his first three semesters at Willamette University and just finished a good semester, which included organic chemistry and microbiology . He was a teaching assistant again in a freshman biology class and will have the opportunity to TA next semester. He is looking forward to getting to know the Cascades as a backpacker with the Outing Club at Willamette. He is leaving his options open to pick up chemistry as a second major. This summer he is planning to work at a USDA lab in Pullman, Washington, and will live with his Aunt Rebecca.

Quincy was very active in theater at Las Cruces High School and just completed stage managing the LCHS production of The Wiz. It was long hours, but the production was well received, and she got more experience in theater. She has all her college applications in and has her acceptance letter from NMSU and University of Evansville. She will have her interview with Evansville in January to get into their theater program (it is very competitive) and hopes to hear from Southern Oregon soon (just got her transcript to them). She completed her first two college courses at NMSU this semester and has signed up for two more next semester.

Stu and I are well. Stu continues to enjoy summers off, and I continue to enjoy the benefits, like the deck-and-hot-tub addition Stu and Jake built last summer. We also traveled east, saw family, visited DC (always a favorite), and generally enjoyed rapidly dwindling time to be together as a family. Stu and I both battled the flu of the swine in September, and recovered without major drama.

Teaching remains a highlight of professoring for Stu. He developed a class in food engineering this year and continues to teach the 'Beer Class' (aka Brewing Science and Society) to a full house each semester. His research these days is primarily in experimental design, which means he usually can be found with a computer in his lap. Retirement looms, or at least is a possibility after the kids complete college!

I continue to be a bike commuter (now on my dream bike, with the 30-year old Fuji in reserve as the bad-weather machine) and have enjoyed the extra doses of fresh air. My work at NMSU this year has gotten more interesting, and I continue to enjoy the institutional perspective I have in my current job. Bassoon, book clubs, friends, hiking keep us busy and promise to fill the empty spaces when the kids are both away next year.

The time flies, but it is a privilege to watch Jacob and Quincy develop their own lives. Hard to believe 2010 is about here. Could the Y2K brouhaha really have been 10 years ago? Best wishes to all for a good life in 2010.

Merry Christmas to all...

Christmas, 2009.

We are in La Jolla, California, hanging out with the seam anemones at the beach (in one of the city's undoubtedly funkiest cottages) for the holiday. The weather has been beautiful, and the family time has been, as they say, priceless.

We arrived with Quincy on Saturday to move into this ~50 year old cottage that is 2/3 of the way up Ocean Lane. We were surprised that Ocean Lane was a staircase (no street-side parking for us!), but that sure keeps the street noise at a minimum. Jake was scheduled to arrive Sunday evening, but a delayed flight pushed that to painfully early Monday. But no matter -- having him around is worth as many late night trips to the airport as it takes. He will spend his birthday with us before he heads back to Salem in mid-January.

Mornings, the kids sleep in as Stu and I watch seals that resemble hefty bags loll about on the beach. We have explored the area on bikes (very bike-friendly, southern California streets are) and this morning plan to head down to Mission Bay for some birding. Afternoons, kids join us or not for exploration further afield. Yesterday we were at Cabrillo National Monument, the lighthouse built on the point that guards the San Diego Harbor. Today we will do a walking tour someplace.

It is wonderful to have 4 people at the dinner table again, and evening discussions have been great.

New Mexican for Christmas!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Snow in Las Cruces

We got our third snowfall of the season yesterday. The roads actually iced over and school was canceled. (It also snowed on October 30 and December 1). A local photographer documented the December 1 storm here.

Natural history notes: the grassland birds are back. White-crowned sparrows and snow buntings have been at the feeders alongside pyrruloxias and juncos, which we rarely get. A roadrunner has adopted the deck railing as his own, and the quail are plentiful and fat. In winter, there seem to be more cecotropes (this is gross...) around, which Rosie just loves snacking on.

And it has been really cold for a couple of days. I will watch the saguaros around town (and the one across the street) to see if this kills them off. Saguaros can survive most Las Cruces winters (they do not grow in the wild here), but every 20 years or se we get cold enough for long enough time that the temperature kills off all but those in the most protected areas.

Quincy and I found a great recipe for chocolat chaud. I am embarrassed to admit that we augmented with additional chocolat (3 ounces) and whipped cream. (A recipe for death by chocolat, but what a way to go!)

Semester is over except for finals week next week. Quincy is done with her NMSU Chinese class and will finish her floral class Tuesday. She has been working as Stage Manager for the LCHS production of The Wiz and has submitted her application to three colleges (NMSU, University of Evansville, and Southern Oregon). She still has time to apply to others if she wants but has her top choices taken care of!

Noche de las luminarias is tomorrow night (set up requires hot-tub therapy afterward) on campus. Dinner with the Brew Master for Shiner Bock is Wednesday. The Wiz plays this weekend. Floral Auction (for Q's class) is Tuesday... busy week.