Well...I'm done grading my students' last papers and am bumming around until their final portfolios come in next week and will be graded at warp speed.
I'm enjoying how it's smelled like rain for the last few days...but I think we could use some sun now :).
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
I really should be grading papers...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2pAgldNkI8
Ok, ok...I'm going...going...back to homework. :(
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Weekday Adventures
This week Rob took some vacation days to chill at home. He hadn't taken any days off since Christmas, so he was in need of some relaxation days. This semester I don't teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so on Thursday Rob and I decided to go explore part of Des Moines that we hadn't been to yet. The weather forecast for this week has been very pleasant, so I suggested we have a picnic at a local park or go explore a local state park. Well we did both. We decided to check out Walnut Woods State Park (which happens to be on the southeast side of West Des Moines). The odd thing about Walnut Woods is that it's not all that far away distance wise, but requires you to take the long way around Racoon River to get there. So it took us a good 20-30 minutes to get there even though it's only about 5 or 6 miles away from our house.
When we finally arrived, the park was mostly deserted and clearly not ready for spring guests. The camping area was closed off with barricades. We found a table that overlooked the river and had our lunch, but the sun refused to come out. After a short walk where we got covered in gnats, we decided to cut our losses and head out. One cool thing at Walnut Woods was their grill attachments on their fire pits. Very cool...adjustable, mult-tiered, quite fancy.After the park we headed to Southridge Mall. It was the one mall in town that we hadn't been to yet. There were quite a few empty spaces in the mall....but they have a Fashion Bug (which are hard to come by and as far as I know it's the only one in Des Moines).
We had a nice time. It was probably our last adventure until school is done...only 2 1/2 weeks left in the semester...off to grade stuff and record stuff and organize stuff...fun fun fun!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Happy Spring!
Today we had a day long soaking of light rain. Just the kind of spring rain that brings green grass and budding flowers if it would ever warm up.Rob and I had a lovely Easter weekend at home. We spent Saturday shopping and had a lovely relaxing Sunday at home with a festive Easter dinner.
The Easter bunny brought me a special treat--a Chocolaterie Stam Easter Bunny. It is over a foot tall and comprised of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate. He's almost too cute to eat...almost :). I broke off his ears last night...delightful. ;) I hope you all had a nice Easter weekend!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
While you're down there...
Lately I've been reading Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss. Truss is the author of the critically acclaimed Eats, Shoots and Leaves which is an amusing book about the abuse of grammar and punctuation in modern society. I enjoyed Eats, Shoots and Leaves so when I saw Talk to the Hand at the local DollarTree, I picked it up. It's amusing...but not as interesting as Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Talk to the Hand is mainly a commentary on how rude we have become. Today I was reading and got a good laugh over her comments on this Ad campaign from UK's Keep Britain Tidy organization.
From Talk to the Hand: "I have to report that my reaction to 'While you're down there...' posters is, to say the least, mixed. I am actually revolted by their cynicism, disgusted by the explicitness, concerned that teenage promiscuity might be a high price to pay for less litter, but on the other hand relieved and pleased that, in a poster aimed at young people, the ellipsis has been used correctly and that there is an apostrophe in the 'you're.' In other words, it actually could have been worse."
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Updates and Such
I had to delete the article that I was in process of posting because I started having problems copying and pasting (my problems led to me accidentally posting it for a few minutes, even though it was incomplete--so I apologize if you ended up with it in your feeds). I'm wondering if it has something to do with downloading the newest version of internet explorer yesterday...I don't know that they have all the kinks worked out.
At any rate. I'm back at school after my break. We had a great time at the Ben Folds concert last Wednesday. I got about 10 feet away from Ben Folds and he sang all of my favorites. The crowd was a pretty good one too...mostly 20+ and not a whole lot of pushing.
This week I've been thinking a lot about my friends and family in the Fargo area.
They are making the national news again...just like in 1997. The flooding there is expected to surpass all old records.
I even found an article from a Canadian newspaper that refered to Argusville as a "new residential development." :) But kidding aside, I hope that everyone stays safe and that your houses are spared. Mother nature is one fickle woman.
At any rate. I'm back at school after my break. We had a great time at the Ben Folds concert last Wednesday. I got about 10 feet away from Ben Folds and he sang all of my favorites. The crowd was a pretty good one too...mostly 20+ and not a whole lot of pushing.
This week I've been thinking a lot about my friends and family in the Fargo area.
They are making the national news again...just like in 1997. The flooding there is expected to surpass all old records.
I even found an article from a Canadian newspaper that refered to Argusville as a "new residential development." :) But kidding aside, I hope that everyone stays safe and that your houses are spared. Mother nature is one fickle woman.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Weekend Away in Iowa
Rob and I took advantage of a weekend getaway package at the Royal Amsterdam Hotel in Pella, IA. As many of you know, we haven't lived in Iowa all that long, so we still have many places to explore. Pella touts itself as a touch of Holland in Iowa, so we thought we'd check it out :).The downtown is full of old historical buildings and new buildings made to look historical. The whole town is filled with step-gable facades (even the McDonalds and Wal-mart take part in the local Dutch Flavor). There are windmills ALL over the town. Including a real windmill and one that houses a bank and another that houses the tourist information center. We had a delightful time going to the local food specialty shops. Rob came home with Beef Jerkey from the Ulrich Meat Market and we had lunch at In'tVeld's Specialty Meats. The Jaarsma Bakery was so wonderful that we went twice so that we could get more goodies (and breakfast danishes for Sunday morning)!
In addition to exploring downtown, we also went out to Lake Red Rock on Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday, we saw the Watchmen at the local movie theater (movie tickets were part of our package). It was great to get away! We look forward to visiting Pella again when they have their tulip festival some year (or at least to return when the tulips are actually blooming :).
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahjanesetnes/sets/72157615271223953/
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
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