The Good, the Bad, and the Haut Couture

Amy is back from her assorted trips overseas, of which I am very glad. It is good to have her back.

On the bad news front, I was driving on Rt 9 in Wellesley (on my way to the dentist) and got rear-ended. The person in front of me braked for some reason (still not clear why); I was able to stop in time, but the person behind must not have seen the brake lights and ran into my car at a good clip. Nobody was injured, thank goodness. Definitely a bummer, since I've only had the car a couple of months. Pictures:

The insurance adjuster is supposed to decide on Monday whether the car is repairable.

On the bright side, Lydia found a nice dress to wear to her friend's bat mitzvah:

Amazingly this new acquisition was picked up on a shopping trip with her dad. Normally on clothes-buying trips I tend to get exhausted after the first half hour or so, but somehow I managed to hold on long enough for Lydia to pick out what she wanted.

Poetry

Lydia has been writing poetry for her English class. Here is her latest effort.

She used the school computer, so I had to scan it in (hopefully it is still relatively readable).  I think it is a fantastic poem... an imaginative retelling of the Greek myth.

Frozen 200M

This afternoon I left work a little early to catch Lydia's first home track meet... meanwhile, my wife is off galavanting with her sister.  I am hoping that she will write a blog post with Lydia about their trip to Peru (lots of good photos to show).

Even with a rain jacket and sweater I was freezing (lent my gloves to Lydia-- wish I had brought a hat).  It was around 40ish with rain and a stiff wind (felt more like 30ish). Photos from Lydia's 200M heat:

Afterwards Lydia told me that she was so cold that she didn't even take off her warmup pants, nor did she put on her track shoes. It was good to get inside after that and have a hot meal.

Indoor Climbing

Lydia's birthday party outing this year was to an indoor rock climbing gym. There is a sizeable one up in Woburn; she invited five of her friends to come climb for a couple of hours this past Saturday. Amy and I tagged along but didn't climb; I brought my camera and took some pictures. The light was not great, meaning a large fraction of the photos didn't turn out, but I did get a few good shots.

We had two instructors for our group to help out with the belaying, plus a bunch of so-called "AutoBelay" gadgets that allow you to climb on your own without an instructor.

 Here is the gang getting the first of many safety lectures:

Lydia on the climbing walls. In the second shot you can see the Auto-Belay thingy, which is basically a sort of mechanized reel thing that will lower you gently if you fall off the climbing wall.

Lydia reaching the top:

More photos:

There was also a free-climbing wall where you could climb without a rope (only a short ways, of course) with padding below.

In addition to the usual colored plastic hand grips, they had a few more whimsical ones bolted to the wall:

One of Lydia's super-speedy friends (the photo is blurry because she's moving so quickly...)

The gang watching someone climb:

On this particular pitch you get to climb with your back to the wall, which was interesting to watch:

I think everyone had a good time. We reserved for two hours, but after about an hour and a half the girls had started to slow down (all the gripping/holding muscles in the hands were starting to get tired).

After that it was back home for pizza and cupcakes; Lydia had made a big batch of chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing earlier in the day -- they were delicious.

What Happens in Meetings

I confess to being an avid doodler during work meetings. Today's output (part of it):

Some may say that you can't concentrate completely on the meeting if you are busy drawing, but I've found that it's not hard to doodle on the side while still staying focused.  This particular set of drawings appeared during a portion of the meeting in which a colleague was presenting material that I'd already listened to before, in a previous meeting... 

Braces

Now that Ethan's braces are finally off (after 3+ years), it's Lydia's turn. The before and after photos:

The evil torture devices were attached this past Thursday. She has been a good sport about it so far, although not especially enjoying the experience. Amy and I have been cooking to suit; bean thread noodles to start (not too hard or chewy) and tonight I'm going to see if I can make chicken noodle soup.

Cheese!

One of Lydia's presents from her grandparents was a cheese-making kit; she tried it out this past weekend. The two options suggested were Ricotta and Mozzarella-- the former recipe seemed a good deal simpler, but Lydia couldn't actually think of anything we could make with Ricotta that she wanted to eat, so we opted for the Mozzarella one. It worked out pretty well-- everything did was it was supposed to do, and she finished the process with a nice small brick of cheese. Photos:

Making the curds:

The (mostly) finished product. Lydia's reaction: "I can't believe that you need that much milk to make a cheese this size!".

Amy used it to make chicken "Saltimbocca" this evening, which was delicious (in addition to the mozzarella it has prosciutto and fresh sage, yum).