Well, for those of you not in Ithaca, you might not catch the significance of this picture. However, it is spring and it is sunny outside again! I took this picture from Fernow today. I will take more of wildflowers and fun things, but I couldn’t resist just posting a picture of a sunny day.
Govind cut Mirabelle’s bangs the other week. People say she looks older now. I think she looks really old in this photo.
Things are going well in Ithaca. It snowed last night. One of the last big snows of the season I think. Mirabelle was very happy to see snow. She has been sad about the lack of snow ever since our neighbor’s snowman melted.
Everyone in Ithaca is talking about spring. The snowdrops are out and a few Crocus too. The leaves on bigger bulbs, like tulips, are also sticking out of the ground, but it will be a little while before they flower.
I love my new stove.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
We celebrated at home.
Govind made dinner….
And I made dessert. Yes I am not the best at icing cakes and I forgot that we had run out of red food coloring!
This girl can go from silly happy…
to screaming excited…
to bawling, faster than you can blink an eye.
It’s official, she’s a toddler.
Snow can be like one big sand box, just a bit colder.
Given that Clinton is New York’s Senator, it’s not a surprise that she won this state easily. But, as you can see from this map, there was one county that bucked the trend– Tompkins County, the county that Ithaca is in (it’s the tannish color one in the middle). Living here kind of keeps you in a bubble. That could be good, given the past seven years. But, on the other hand, you feel somewhat isolated from the rest of the country’s politics.
I will finally post a few pictures from the holidays. Enjoy.
Charlotte
In honor of MLK Day Amnesty International put up this fun quiz. I usually don’t post stuff like this, but I couldn’t help it when they said I was most like Mother Theresa. I wonder what other Human Rights Defenders they have in that database.
Charlotte
Mirabelle has been enjoying the holiday cheer, but I think she loves the snow globes the most of all. She is a little afraid of life sized reindeer and Santa Claus. I think the barrier between her and the lifelike creatures is reassuring.
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Charlotte is now on the Steering Committee of the Finger Lakes Native Plant Society. As a result, she now regularly writes a column on the happenings of volunteers for the organization. Govind is now on the Personnel Committee at the Greenstar grocery coop. Mirabelle isn’t on any committee here in town as yet, but we do drag her to all of the meetings.
Well, I am still mourning the demise of the Mountaineers in the final game of the season against Pittburgh of all teams. Uggh, the Backyard Brawl. All they had to do was not fumble and they would have won. My own daughter (half West Virginian, no less) seemed not to care at all of the plight of the Mountaineer.
That’s what Mirabelle says when she sees this picture. This is one of Mirabelle’s friends from the neighborhood. They will be seeing each other regularly since we are now trading babysitting with August’s family.
Our friends had their baby yesterday and we paid them a short visit at the hospital today. Baby Daniel is doing great and so are his parents.
Congratulations!
The only problem with Ithaca and having a bunch of graduate students as friends is they are always leaving.
In a couple of days the Parsons, who came to Cornell at the same time we did, will be moving back home to Australia. We love this family, as does everyone else who knows them. They started off as our neighbors, then both Dave and Govind were Graduate Community Assistants at Hasbrouck. After both of us left Hasbrouck we’ve not seen them much, but I keep close tabs on Chelsea’s blog. I always knew she loved art and wanted to teach art… but, it wasn’t until I saw this blog that I knew that she was an artist! What I will always remember about the family is that Chelsea and Dave are such a great couple (as well as parents). They are so in love, down to earth, and fun loving. Oh and we love their girls too, Govind will have fewer children to play rough and tumble with. Mirabelle won’t need to protect her dad when he gets piled on by them all.
I will miss the Parson’s greatly and I hope we keep in touch. At least we have an excuse to visit Australia now!
Although the West Virginia Mountaineers are ranked number 2 in the BCS rankings (what counts), I would refer readers to the following image:
Of course I had to post a picture from Halloween. This is THE HOLIDAY for our street. Our neighbor’s bought 600 pieces of candy! I think we had closer to 150 and we ran out in 1 hour.
After handing out candy we went to a potluck. And finally, after 8pm, when the streets had cleared out enough to comfortably walk again, Mirabelle decided she wanted to go trick-or-treating! Here she is leading us down the street.
Mirabelle got this coat before she was born. It was a “must have” that her Ithaca grandma’s daughter got her. It hasn’t been cold enough to wear it much yet, but I think she looks quite like a movie star in the coat and the hat I crocheted for her.
Today turned out to be quite a big one for Mirabelle. It started out with going to Insectapalooza at Cornell. This is quite a fun filled day of insects and kids. She was a bit overwhelmed. She wouldn’t touch these lovely maggots although her parents did.
Then we went to the Syracuse zoo and saw lots of animals. Finally we went to Carousel Mall where she got her first pair of real shoes and rode on a Carousel for the first time. What a day!
Mirabelle on Horse
