Friends and Conference Preparations

Julia had fun with friends thrift shopping this past weekend. I caught up with Magda's little ones, Amali and Sharif (4 and 2 years old, respectively). Elizabeth stopped by to share her Baked & Wired cupcakes and catch up with the kitties. It was like she never left. So cute.

Today, Julia flew to Colorado for the West Antarctica Ice Sheet workshop, in Estes Park. She is presenting her poster on, "Improved Understanding of Decadal Surface Mass Balance, Recent Climate Variability, and Future Ice Core Sites along Coastal West Antarctica." She did a run-through at the University of Minnesota for her department. Look how close the drive-by was to Ethan!  

Meme has fans on Twitter--who were kind enough to retweet my blog regarding her gold medal. :) She deserves it!

Happy 81st Birthday!

Happy birthday to my mom! You would not know by looking at her or by the calendar of many events she maintains--but she is 81! She is beautiful inside and out, is an avid pickle baller, basketball player, race walker, volunteer ESL teacher, Bible study leader, choir member, bells choir member, women's center volunteer...I probably missed a few. In a word, she's AMAZING. 

Gold Medals and More

Clearly, our athleticism comes from somewhere... MEME! She won gold at the Virginia Senior Olympics for the three-mile speed walking event. Wow!

Julia enjoyed the last few days with Benjamin climbing and biking. She got her flu shot (required for possible Antarctica travel). Oh, I hope she didn't eat that sucker. :) Benjamin is now back in Alaska. He had a virtual interview with Sun Country Airlines and is awaiting his second interview in person.

I had the pleasure of seeing Kathryn in action. It was a great game! Nice to see the Sarrges in our neck of the woods. 

Officemates and Haircut

Busy week, with a lot going on in St. Paul and Washington. Julia is back on campus in her office. Check out her officemates. Hopefully, the smiles will continue through the summer. Julia got her hair cut! I love it. She wasn't going for quite that short, but she's warming up to it. Meanwhile, here in DC, Steven came down with a UTI; coupled with a bad migraine cycle, it has been rough. Elizabeth has COVID. Booberry and I did a quick visit to check on her. She was all smiles (under the mask).

 

First Day of School

Yet again, another first day of school for Julia. The grind continues. Benjamin is in St. Paul for a bit, which is always nice. And check out those hot grandmothers (with Jade, of course)

State Fair and Book Festival

Two very different events, but equally fun. Julia, Sanath (drummer in the band), and Colin went to the Minnesota State Fair. It is literally down the street from her apartment. The traffic down Como Avenue has been unrelenting and she doesn't dare move her car without the threat of losing a good parking spot. Julia reassured me that she only had one of the cookies out of the overflowing bucket they bought. She also shared some healthy food that she made--chili and Mediterranean salad.

I went to the Library of Congress National Book Festival at the Convention Center. It is so nice to be surrounded by others who love books and reading. It took everything within me not to buy a purse made out of a book binder and blue cloth. Seriously--if I carried a purse ever, I would have bought it.