9.11.11

Given what day today is, I feel like I ought to post just a little about 9/11. I remember, of course, where I was when I found out what was happening. I had just started grad school at Penn State; I was in the cubicles and another instructor came in to tell me what had happened. It sounded so unbelievable at first. I also remember feeling strange because for me the event was a national tragedy, but for so many of my classmates (many of them from the northeast) the tragedy was also personal. I had never been to NYC and had no personal connections to the city. Still, like everyone else, I mourned for what had happened. And so I want to take this moment to commemorate the 10 year anniversary. (Commemorate=remember with).

This isn't a very articulate response. There are much better responses. Like here. Or here.

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I promised pictures about preschool and Kindergarten. Here they are. Andrew started Kindergarten on Tuesday, August 30. Evelyn started preschool on Monday, the 29th. (Kindergarten started late because of all the registration/assessment stuff beforehand). Andrew's teacher is Ms. Ekker. Evelyn's teacher is a Mrs. Greenhalgh. Andrew's favorite things about kindergarten (so far) are recess, snacks, and art time. (Good thing he could go to school to enjoy things we also do at home!).




The main highlight of our week was a brief visit from my mom. She came down on Wednesday and we went to see The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn. It was my first time there. We also took Evelyn, who was mesmerized by the performances but broke down when the play was over (no big surprise there, since she was 4 hours past bedtime at that point). The play was amazing, though. Some clever costuming and great special effects (Including a waterfall on stage on which they broadcast images) added to the undersea effect of the story.

While my mom was here, she helped me can some of the peaches from our backyard. Last year, late frosts killed off most of the fruit on our trees. This year, we were pleased with a booming crop of peaches and plums. (And there are still a few more peaches on the tree).


I was especially pleased with the plum jam, since I managed to do it all by myself and unlike my previous two attempts at making jam, the jam actually set and the sugar stayed dissolved. (I made this a couple of weeks ago, but am just now posting pictures of it).

Other than that, this week has been busy as Dan and I have been trying to catch up from being out of town this last weekend. We hope all our readers are well.