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| We take a lot of walks, including to fountains on campus. J. seems to like watching the water and watching the students. |
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| All the watching is tiring! |
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| It seems that the best part of storytime is seeing what all the big kids are doing. |
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| Sometimes we just hang out and look at the leaves being moved by the wind, which is also a nice chance to snuggle. |
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| I am so lucky that once a week I have the best helper and biggest laugh-getter hanging out with us. |
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| We had company over |
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| to carve pumpkins |
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| and I put some holiday books in the library. |
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| Of course I had to add to my TJoes sticker collection. |
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| I had checked the weather hourly for a week or two. That wasn't wise because the forecast was completely wrong. At least I knew not to wear a dress and to bring extra layers. |
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| I love seeing all the academic regalia. |
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| On each chair in the above picture was a program with a bookmark. I am embarrassed to say that I was not so fond of mine so I traded with someone (the spouse of the person next to me, the one who told me that strange noise was rain). In the end there were extra bookmarks and I was able to collect each kind. Except the original one I had. Insert sad face emoji here. |
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| speeches |
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| Investiture of the President |
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| Dancing with NRBQ (the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet) |
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| There was a whole block of chestnut trees! |
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| I was surprised to find so many of the American Chestnuts. |
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| And was grateful to find so many of the kind I call buckeyes. Thanks, TSA, for letting me bring so many home! |
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| So green! |
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| So mossy! |
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| We took a beautiful walk around the canyon |
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| And saw a wooly bear caterpillar! |
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| What a beautiful fall day! |
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| And one picture for the City of Roses |
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| so we toured the neighborhood to find little free libraries. |
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| I loved wandering around and connecting with my people, leaving a book and taking a book. |
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| And what is a trip without a stop at the public library? |
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| Even our housing came with a shelf of books and a sign reading, "Feel free to take a book." |
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| Powell's Bookstore was so overwhelming I forgot to take a picture. I thought about buying A. a role-playing game book. I eventually found the section and it was so enormous I couldn't figure out how to pick one. If I make it back I will be more prepared. |
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| People complain about air travel, but I thought it was great to have a cup of coffee and a chance to catch up on newspapers. |
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| We caught the light rail at PDX and arrived at our stop |
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| after crossing the Willamette River. |
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| Even though it was a bit steep, it was nice to see that there was a rail for rolling a bike up or down the stairs. |
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| We chose our place to stay because it came with two bicycles, including lights, helmets, and a lock. It was great to find covered parking! |
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| Last month the same venue hosted the regional repertory company's production of the musical Fun Home, but without dinner. We had both read the book but I still cried at the end. |
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| A couple days later we drove out to the Sierra Madre Playhouse to see my high school classmate. It was a great performance and definitely worth the drive. A friend who had been there the week before recommended a post-performance visit to Mothermoo Creamery. David had basil ice cream on a brownie and I had a scoop of a slightly tart and very delicious passion fruit sorbet. |
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| It was a beautiful day in the mountains. |
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| We did not pick apples because the varieties available were not of interest. |
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| The chestnut tree looked healthy. |
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| I love watching the donut machine! |
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| I always think the apples grown in the mountains aren't as good as the apples in Ithaca, plus it is crowded and more expensive than I think it should be. On the other hand, no matter how many apples I buy I think I should have bought more! |
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| I made applesauce in the slow cooker, pressure cooker, and on the stove top. Stove top was clearly the worse, but it was not clear which was the winner. |
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| I was able to give away all these peels to someone with hens and in return she gave us some of their eggs. Good deal! |
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| A member-supported radio station in Pasadena hosted a storytelling event in town. It was entertaining, free, and within cycling distance - ideal! |
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| Did I mention I have a new job? |
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| Not as fun as our old analog odometer, but this is still pretty satisfying. |
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| After and before of a round braided loaf. |
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| I was happy to see ONT had added some. |
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| Where I swim the count is about 360,000 so I was amazed to see that this was at only 178. |
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| I walked to the end of the gates and found one that had an even lower number! Wow! |
