laundry

eleanor played with the empty laundry basket this afternoon while i was folding her clothes. here's what happened...



in the current banner photo, E is modeling the sweater i knit for brandy and mike's new baby benjamin. this was my second go-round with this pattern (cabin fever's "tasia's cardigan"--the first was the multi-colored malabrigo version i made for eleanor a few months back) and i used cascade yarns--lana d'oro wool for the body and cotton luna for the collar, cuffs and waistband.

regalia

sunday was all about graduation. it might be because i'm fairly new at all of this, but i really like being able to wear academic regalia, and commencement ceremonies are one of the only times you get to do that. this is coming from the woman who didn't even wear a cap and gown to her own undergraduate commencement. i said it was because i was going to grad school and i'd put on all of that stuff when i'd finally earned my PhD (which i did). alternate explanations: i probably also thought that i was in some way being anti-establishment, as if not giving josten's my $35 rental fee was somehow really "sticking it to the man"; also, my hair never looks good in any kind of hat. anyway, it was really fun to process in with my friends and colleagues and celebrate our scholarly accomplishments by wearing big puffy sleeves and floppy hats. above are my friends matt and adam, who earned their degrees from universities in the UK where the costuming is totally different. who knew the brits could be so flashy?
this was my view during the ceremony. the event was held at a local sports/concert arena. i was secretly wishing that when the last graduate's name was called, the loud air horn buzzer would go off. EEERRRRRRRRRR!
i skipped commencement last year. my excuse? too pregnant. this year, i was excited to be able to congratulate and say a last goodbye to some students i had worked closely with over the past two years. one of them was danielle, whose mortar board is pictured above. she didn't even make sure that we saw this message--i only spotted it after i had given her a hug and told her to keep in touch. sometimes little things like that make you really happy that you're doing what you're doing.
here's me with ashley and danielle. they're two cool young women who will doubtless go on to do wonderful things with their smarts and talents.
while i was being all hogwarts-y in my robe and hood, rob and E waited patiently and hung out with some faculty friends' spouses. it was a long day. they are troopers. there may be some pics of what they were up to in a future post. stay tuned...

Tornado

Tornado LINK
This is a link to a story about last weekend's tornado that destroyed the town of Parkersburg N of us. There is a photo gallery and video at the top.

2 sweet vids

Here are 2 good videos we took of Eleanor today. We think you'll enjoy them. Please take time to notice her sweet Memorial Day outfit!