It seems like ages since I posted anything. My excuse - I was away over the Christmas break. So, today, we left Utah and drove back to Montana. We were very sad to leave after having had lots of fun with kids and grandkids - but not nearly enough time to do all the things we had hoped to do. I suppose that we did accomplish rather alot - I made 5 Christmas stockings, two batches of shortbread (one of them orange, as per G'pa Irv's request), a gingerbread house, almost three bathrobes, and a birthday necklace! Not bad for just over a week. Needless to say I feel as though I have not had any exeercise in as long. But the weather just didn't cooperate. We had taken our snowshoes with us, but most days it was about 10 degrees or so, and windy!

On the drive back up here we encountered every imaginable weather pattern - from cold and grey and snowy when we let Park City at 7 am, through icy and snowpacked interstate with several accidents and one large multi-car pileup, to driving snow, rain and strong winds to blue sky and 40 degree temps.

Here in Lolo it is not too cold, and not rainy or snowy, although it has snowed some in the last week. We will stay here for a day or two before we head back to Pullman.

It sure is quiet without three little girls around! We really enjoyed our time with family.

At Sea
by Wendy Mnookin

At the end of the jetty.

Where the boats come in.

Where the boats go out.

At the pile of rocks that swallows the sun at the end of the day.

At the turn of the trail.

At the last dune.

In front of the hot-dog stand.

At the door to the pub.

By the shanty, the shipbuilder's yard, the discarded yellow boots, the smashed clam shells.

You thought I'd give in to despair.

But today is today, everywhere I look.

And I look everywhere.

"At Sea" by Wendy Mnookin, from The Moon Makes Its Own Plea. © BOA Editions, 2008.

Life with Libirv - just another day

Why is it that when you have to get organized and leave town there seem to be a hundred different things to do. I started off the day with an email about some editing that I should have done weeks ago, and had not quite finished - so I got it finished first thing so that it wasn't in my way. Then I had an email from my colleague about our 2 o'clock meeting saying that she wasn't quite ready and it would be better if we used the time to work instead of meet. That was fine since i wasn't ready either.

So then we ran errands, mailed christmas cards and packages, registered the car in WA - not so easy since I still had a lien on the title and it is actually paid off but I couldn't prove it, so we have to wait for the bank to sign off on it.

Then we bought tire chains to make sure that we make it over all the mountain passes between here and Utah, via Montana.

Then of course, I forgot to pick up some videos at work that I need to bring with me for the break in case I get to doing some work; and fax my evaluation form back to UM since i haven't resigned yet. So it was back to the office again, and while I was there I dropped off some presents for office staff and chatted with them about their vacations.

Then it was home to pack, fill bird feeders, clean out the fridge, make sure mail is stopped and paper is stopped and ...

Not so easy to just leave town any more. so we will leave first thing in the morning. After coffee anyhow.

It is now 7:30pm and the temperature is 5 degrees Fharenheit! COLD!!!

Now, grandpa wants me to cut his hair with the Flowbee! This will be a first!! Check back in in half an hour and I'll tell you how it went.

Brr!!! We are in the deep freeze now! My thermometer tells me it's 14 degrees outside right now! And it will get colder overnight, and be cold again tomorrow.

After shoveling off the front steps and the deck, we stayed in most of the day, and spent a good deal of time just watching the great variety of birds that visited our bird feeders again. All the birds seemed bigger than usual - they were all puffed today up because of the cold.

This evening we went to a wine club gathering with one of my colleagues to taste nine different dessert wines - icewines, botrytis wines, and late harvest types. All rather sweet, but some quite tasty. We were all to bring some fruit or nut dessert (non-chocolate since the organizers felt that the wines didn't pair well with chocolate). So we ate lots of sweets and sampled some sweet wines. Now I feel totally sugared out! It will take a while to get off this sugar high! Guess I'll settle in now and watch a movie.

Winter has hit the Palouse! It has been nice to just hunker down, stay warm, write Christmas cards, watch the snow fall, and watch all the different birds that visit our (6?) bird feeders around the house. There are juncos, purple finches, sparrows, goldfinches, chickadees, and even California quail! Not to mention the squirrels and the magpies who visit us frequently. This is when I wish I had Mama V's camera. Mine does not have enough zoom. But I took a pic of one of the bird feeders with purple finches on it and a quail on the ground.

This morning - at about 6 am - I saw a rabbit just hanging out in the garden. I watched him for quite some time and he just sat, contemplating life.

The snow is still coming down. We probably have close to 6 inches. Tomorrow the deep freeze is supposed to hit. 15 degrees for the high!

Today is the last day of the semester. There was a HUGE full moon out there last night as I walked home from work. Today it has turned cold and wet - we had some snow earlier and now it is blustery and sleety. We are forecast to have as much as 10 inches of snow tonight.

After work I walked down the hill into town to Merry Cellars, our favorite winery here, to take part in the annual barrel tasting event. Tonight, they featured three of their wines - Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, and Merlot. We tasted the wine right out of the barrel. Each of them was distinctive, but all three were excellent. It is so nice to know that we have particpated in the crushing of the grapes that went in to making the wines. We feel a sense of ownership and loyalty. Mama-V will be happy to know that we bought 3 bottles to bring for christmas.

What I forgot to mention with all the other musings on numbers in my blog on Monday is that my mother turned 83 on Monday. She seems to be doing well, but says she is slowing down a bit and may have to stop driving soon!

I just returned from a quick trip to Oregon to talk with some colleagues there about a grant. As always, its was a productive visit, and exciting to brainstorm some possible activities.

Flying back this evening the plane passed over Mount Hood in all its snowy splendor, and then the Palouse at sunset. It is amazing to see the enormity of the rolling hills, wheatfields, farms, and shadows in the setting sun. Quite a vista.

It's nice to be home again. At the same time, before I sat down to watch a movie this evening, I made a list of things to do. i came up with 11 non-trivial things. That's a usual, normal state of affairs. I guess I will hit the ground running in the morning trying to cross things off my list.

All of a sudden, the holidays are looming, the semester is almost over, and we will be heading to Montana and then Utah for the holidays. and of course I am not ready yet!

a bit of unrelated trivia, excpet that I am watching another Kate Winslet movie tonight. Mama V and Kate Winslet were born in the same town! But Kate is 6 years younger!

I seem to have been really preoccupied with age-related issues lately. I have developed a huge respect for my feet, since I figure they have carried me about to lots of places in the last almost 58 years, and I think it is totally amazing that they are still in such good shape - even though they get dry and scaly sometimes, and I get a callous on my toe.

And then I got to thinking about my eyes and how much seeing they have done for me int he last 58 almost years. And being the mathematician that I am I wanted to get my calculuator out and actually figure out how many steps my feet had taken, and how many hours or how many images my eyes had seen for me. And then I got to thinking about my heart, and how many beats it had beaten over the past 58 almost years (which would be about 60 times a minute for 60 minutes times 24 hours times 365 days times 58 years (60*60*24*365*58 =1,829,088,000 = 1 billion eight hundred twentynine million eighty eight thousand beats) and I just became overwhelmed by the fact that the human body is able to keep on going for so long.

I watched the movie "Iris" tonight about the author and philosopher Iris Murdoch. I have decided that Kate Winslett is a great actress. She does a great job plyaing Iris. The film is really well done. In the movie it is mentioned that Iris Murdoch wrote about what it means to be good. I'd like to read what she had to say. I have only read one of her books - The Dark Prince - and that was a long time ago. I'd like to contrast that with what it means to be mean. What does that mean?

I really enjoyed my evening. My better half? was off taking tickets at the basketball game tonight. I stayed home and relaxed, had some wine, ate dinner, and baked a christmas cake and two baguettes. It is so nice to be at home by myself and just putter around. Keeps me sane.

"To my way of thinking, we learn more about love and kindness by understanding all the differences between ourselves and our essential others"

And how do we do that exactly? By exerting our power and dominance over others? By chastising others about taking responsibility without taking any ourselves? We need to be sure that we practice what we preach. Life is about co-existing and getting along, not about controling, dominating and convincing others - by force or otherwise - about our own power and worth. That is why the stars are up there in juxtapostion with the moon, none outweighing the other, none pressuring the other into subservience, all coexisting harmoniously. The moon's light is still observable, as is the light from the other planets, Jupiter and Venus.

We traveled back from Texas yesterday and managed to get voluntarily bumped on the way. That meant we didn't get back to Pullman until 1:30 in the morning, but it also means we have two free tickets. So look out family - we will be coming to visit you!

Back to work today after a week off. Invigorating, exciting and exhausting. How can work be all of this? But it is.

I had several meetings and other and sundry things to take care of. I finished editing some stuff that I should have finished already. I ride the bus to and from work occasionally, especially when tired, or rushed or it's cold, or ... but I often walk. It is 3/4 of a mile, and uphill both ways! Pullman is built on 5 hills, but the hill that the campus is on is really quite "up-and-down" so I am told that it one develops "cougar calves" from all the hill walking!

Here's a link to the NY Times 10 best books of 2008 list. Maybe I will read a majority of them before the next year is out. Right now I am reading The Age of Shiva, by Manil Suri, who, it turns out, is a mathematics professor! I didn't realize that when I chose his book to read at the local library. I seem to have a fascination with India, and books about India and by Indian writers. One of these days I'd like to travel there, but it doesn't seem too safe right now in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

I am also reading bits of The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins. This evening I read the part "What's wrong with religion?" where he makes a compelling argument that the problem in cases like this one is not "religious extremism" but simply "religion". That leaves me wondering about Unitarianism - it is also a religion. Could it also cause similar single-mindedness and righteousness?

How did it get to be December 2 already? So, not only did I not do 30 pposts in November, i can't do 31 in December. Oh well, the pressure's off!

It's hard to blog when visitng family - we are having too much fun! Warm weather, walks, cards and games, cooking and eating and a little shopping too! I got a head start on Christmas shopping.

It's hard to believe that we are sitting by the fire thisd morning! It got down into the 30's last night and it seems really chilly!

Today, it's back home to Pullman and work. but the semester is almost over and it'll be time for a break again.

William Blake

"To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was slightly chaotic, fun, full of food!! Neen and I did a stellar job in the kitchen - almost forgot the cranberry sauce - while the "boys" all played touch football! G'pa survived, while Mr. D. injured his knee!

We have played lots of cards and games, and read some stories, played with the wii, and now it's time for bed.

Neen and Mr. D. have gone off on an "overnight date" to Houston. We expect them back tomorrow evening. Meanwhile, we don't know what is in store for us tomorrow except that we know we will have donuts, somehow, for breakfast!

We'll just play it by ear after that.

After traveling most of the day, we are now in San Antonio, spending thanksgiving with family. We did a bit of last minute food shopping and other absolute essentials(!??) on tuesday. Today, we went to Seaworld. THe day started out cool, but soon the clouds burnede off and the sun came out. Just as well, since we got wet on a couple of different rides. I liked the log flume ride best!

I also really enjoyed the Shamu show. It's amazing what the great whites can be trained to do. I wouldn't go on any of the big roller coasters - they looked positively awful!, but I went on the baby one with the two younger grandkids. the two older boys went on a HUGE roller coaster that went upside down and round and round and twisted all at once!!! UGH!

We came home all tired out, but everyone agreed that it was a very fun day!

G'pa made spaghetti for dinner - that was yummy too!

What with the waffles that I made for breakfast, and the shortbread that McK and I made last night, we hae lots to eat! I think we will have to take a long walk tomorrow - after the turkey!

Yesterday we raked leaves from the yard into the street. The city will be coming round on Monday and Tuesday to pick up all the leaves. It was good to be outside in the crisp fall weather, and good to be doing some physical work.

Now it's monday morning! There's a frost on the lawn, the skies are clear, I think it will be a beautiful day. I have to finish my packing, take the animals to the vet and then drive to the airport in Spokane for the trip to San Antonio, Texas, where we will spend Thanksgiving with family. I am looking forward to that! It's always relaxing and loads of fun to spend time with children (big ones!) and grandchildren. We have the full slate of activities - school visits, Sea World, turkey day, etc., planned to keep us busy. To say nothing of painting, gardening, and other things that need doing around the house. I also sorted out some knitting to bring with me. and of course, some work as well. I have some reading, editing, and grant thinking that I can be doing. It never seems to fade completely!

Time flies! The last couple of days flew by. I had a friend and colleague in town, and so we visited and ate and drank and time passed.

This morning it is very quiet. G'pa is taking tickets at the Apple cup, UW vs. WSU.

I am trying to find the energy to clean house - it has been sorely neglected over the past week or two and everything needs cleaning, tidying, straightening, washing etc. In short, the place is a mess!

I've called everyone I know, read the paper, had another cup of coffee, done the Sudoku puzzle - I guess it's time to get to work! No wait, I haven't called M-moo and K-wiggles to say happy birthday!

I had a good day today, felt a lightness in my step and I'm not sure why. Maybe because recently the College of Science published the bio's of new faculty, including me, and at the same time reported that my institution is one of the 20 top institutions for science faculty to work at!

See the October issue at http://sciences.wsu.edu/newsandevents/sciencenotes.html

I feel proud to be part of that faculty, and proud of myself for all I have accomplished.
I am also working on a grant with one of the engineering faculty, and we are enjoying brainstorming about our proposal. I am realizing that I do have lots of experience to offer! I have learned a lot over the past twenty years or so that I have been doing this. I am really glad to have been given this opportunity to recharge, refresh and jump into such exciting collaborations.

I read all these creative blogs with poems and photos and other fun stuff. I don't have much to say. I went to work today, read about an initiative that 32 states are involved in to improve and increase the science and math teachers across the country, only to find out that no institutions in Washington State are involved - at least not yet. However, I wrote to some of my administrators to try and get them to sign on.

I also thought more about three grants that I am working on writing to secure funds to try to improve math teaching at the University. It sometimes seems like an uphill battle.

But it wasn't all bad. I took a break today and had a non-fat mocha with whipped cream! (How funny is that!).

I also survived the panic that we had forgotten to make arrangements and didn't have anywhere to leave the cat and the dog while we fly off to our Texas contingent for Thanksgiving! Several phonecalls later (thank you G'pa) we have it all taken care of.

Life goes on. I made chinese pork and cabbage for dinner. G'pa is taking tickets at the basketball game.

I became a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse today. I haven't joined a church in a long time, but this community is very warm and accepting. G'pa and I both signed the book, accepted a rose, and later joined members for a welcoming party.

I learned a useful phrase for meditation today:
...try to cultivate an attitude of gratitude .. I picked up on someone using that phrase during the church service today, and it stuck in my head. I think it might be worth trying to cultivate an "attitude of gratitude" as an approach to living.

I had a very peaceful day here today. Not much energy but that was OK. G'pa went off to help out at the football game, which left me with the WHOLE DAY to myself. Since I still have a cold, I wasn't feeling too ambitious. I read this morning and then took a long nap after lunch. Later in the day I made French bread using the new pan that I bought to make it in. It's in the oven now so I'll let you know how it turns out.
That's about it for my boring day- watched a strange movie this evening - and now I will watch G'pa use the flowbee to give the dog a haricut!

Sunshine! After almost two weeks of rain and clouds, we finally have sunshine this morning. Does that really improve one's attitude. Even though I am coming down with a cold, I feel happy inside just looking out at the sunshine.
I finally found the cold remedy that Mama-V recommended to me after going to about 6 stores and calling several more. It's called Umcka and it's based on a Zulu herbal remedy. We'll se if it helps. It's supposed to shorten and lessen the effects of a cold.

I want to know how it got to be Thursday already. Somehow I missed Wednesday totally, and didn't blog! I think I am coming down with a cold so went in search of Umqua, a cold remedy that Mama V told me about. I finally found it - according to the label it is based on a Zulu remedy using an extract from a geranium plant. I took it - we'll see.
We saw some blue sky today for the first time in a long while. Yesterday was really blustery and rainy. I made a soup for dinner. It was that kind of day. I also made a loaf of date and walnut bread - just like my mother used to make, and wow was that good! I hadn't made it in years. But I would be happy to share the recipe.
Here's what I have been pondering lately: Is mathematics discovered or invented? Do mathematical objects have an existence separate from that which we give them in our discourse about them? I think this question is akin to the one about the tree falling in the forest?! In other words, does a mathematical equation have any intrinsic existence, outside of the discourse in which we construct and use it?

OK. So I am playing with the format of my blog. I put a picture in the heading, but G'pa says that it is so big that all he could see was nose hair! I can't seem to make it any smaller! Help! It's fun to have a day to play though. Seems like I never have the time to just play around with things like this. That is a sad commentary on my life.

another rainy day

I hope that I have fixed the previous blog with pictures. Let me know if you can see them. They were there when i posted the blog, but then coming back to it they were gone! Strange!
Today is a quiet day, still rainy. Veteran's day is a day off work. G'pa is fixing some electrical things around the house. I have promised Riley a walk in the rain with some ball fetching and chasing.

Saturday morning 7:30 am at the playground! Take 2.

M-moo

K-wiggles

Miss D

All three girls at the playground with G'ma and G'pa and Riley the dog at 7:30 am! It was cold and damp and trying hard to rain, but we had fun anyhow. The park is just at the bottom of the hill we live on so we all walked down and back again.

Boy is the house quiet now. We had low level pandemonium for 4 lovely days and now it is back to usual.

This will be short, again. it is 9:35pm but it feels like midnight. Don't know if it's the weather, or what, but it was a very strange day. It began with the girls waking early and all of us plus grandpa and Riley going to the park to play at 7:30 am. Getting such an early start made the day seem out of kilter, and it seemed to be later than it actually was. I was ready for lunch by 10:30 am.
After some false starts and disappointments (see casallamedos.blogspot.com) we settled in at home in our jammies by 2pm, and hunkered down with chili and cornbread to watch movies.
Grandpa spent his first day as an usher at the football game (which we lost - again!).
The rain has stopped, at least for now, but it has been a cold and damp day.

We all went to breakfast this morning, in Moscow, at the Breakfast Club. Yum! We then went to the Palouse Science Discovery Center. Lots of great displays and activities. We had lost of fun. And then, we went to Merry Cellars wine tasting in the evening. Great wine! We brought a bottle of Carmenere home for special tasting.

Thursday, November 6th. Cold wintry day in Pullman today. The season has changed. Visited the Appalousa Museum in Moscow, ID today. Some interesting facts and figures. Relaxing day with children and grandchildren.

Today is our (Irv's and my) third anniversary. It's been an interesting and sometimes difficult road. But I am not regretting having embarked on it. Just wish that it were easier sometimes.
Momma and the girls - Miss D, M-moo and K-wiggles are visiting for a few days. It is great to see them as always. I am just amazed at how fast they are growing up. They are all three little girls now, no more toddler stuff.
Basic health care should be a RIGHT! Just because we don't have a cure for every possible diseease does not mean that citizens don't have the right to basic health care for everything that we DO know how to take care of. How can one possibly justify denying healthcare (care that we do know how to supply) to someone simply because they do not have the money to pay?!!! I can't fathom that mindset.

Day 4, November 4, election day!

I just typed a whole huge blog about how happy I am that Obama is our new president. And then I lost it by going to another site. Oh well.
What a day. Full of anticipation and expectation, peppered with a large dose of anxiety. We gathered with like-minded friends for the evening and watched the returns. This is a truly momentous time in the history of America. The entire world is behind this result. Cehck out this website http://iftheworldcouldvote.com/results to see how the world would have voted if they had the chance to vote.
Now I have to try to sleep, and then wake up in a different America tomorrow.

Day 3

On this day 39 years ago, my older daughter Vicky was born! I called this morning to wish her a happy birthday. Irv and I drove back to Pullman from Lolo early this morning. Both the dog, an airdale named Riley, and the cat, named Isaac, travel back and forth with us. They are quite used to traveling now. We passed a gas station sellling gas for $1.99, but in our greediness we thought we would see it cheaper just down the road on the reservation and so did not stop. But then, Irv was in a zone, and I was dozing and we passed it without noticing! Oh well!

I went to my "stitching bitches" women's group this evening. But we were all tired after the weekend time change (clocks back), so we quit early. The weather is changing too. A chill in the air. I made chicken pot pie for dinner!

I set this up last night just to see if I could do the "every day in November blogging". Not sure, but here goes day 2. We are in Lolo this weekend. We love it here. It is so peaceful. Today it is grey and rainy but still great to be here. We have soaked in the hottub, and read and played cribbabe, and gone for a walk, and just relaxed. That was until the outside faucet leaked into the downstairs and flooded the carpet. Now we are working on drying it out, and replacing the faucet that we didn't know was broken. It must have frozen and cracked befire we bought the hosue, and we never knew it.
Oh well, back to Pullman and reality in the morning! Even the cat and the dog love it here! they both travel back and forth with us.

trying it out!

OK so i am giving it a try. Just checking to see how this works!