Spring has Sprung

Yesterday, Penny and I went to Maclay Gardens while Tray was out fishing. The azaleas aren't blooming yet (except for a few), but the tulip trees were and so were lots of camellias. Penny was very shy and would not want to walk anywhere where there were other people, but away from all the "babies" she would run and hide in the flowers and bushes. She is such a child of the forest. :)





P.S. I realize that this is the same shirt she had on for our last trip to the gardens some time ago. What can I say? She picked out her clothes yesterday and this is what she chose. She had a light purple jacket to complete the ensemble, but it had warmed up by the time we took these pictures.

Job

On Wednesday I was offered a job at Troy University, and I accepted it. I will be their new Lecturer of Geography. I am so excited. It is a wonderful opportunity. In the fall, I'll be teaching two sections of World Regional, one Cultural Geography, and one Political Geography. While I don't look forward to moving, I think this will be a good thing. I can't wait to get started!

Culinary Arts

In honor of St. Patrick's Day (and because I did not have time to slow cook any corned beef), I made a shepherd's pie and steamed some cabbage. Penny absolutely loved both things. She ate quite a bit of cabbage, but the shepherd's pie was really good too. When I gave her her plate I told her that it was shephard's pie. She stuck her finger in it and said, somewhat surprised, "tatoes*." I said, yes, it has potatoes in it. She ate a bite and said, "and hamburger!" I said, yes, it has potatoes and hamburger both, all mixed up. She took another bite, and - no joke - she said, "this has got cheese on it." Yep.

*Incidentally, she can pronounce potatoes, but usually doesn't.

Conversation

Penny and I had our first conversation today! By which I mean there was an exchange of words longer than just one question asked and answered. One thing she loves to say is, "Where's _____ go?" filling in the blank with whatever, but usually people. Today she asked me, "where's Daddy go?"

"I don't know, where did Daddy go?"

She thought for a second. "Daddy's eating."

"Oh, Daddy's eating? What is he eating?"

"Tatoes."

How cool was that? Actually, though, I was relaying this to Tray and he said that he ate potatoes for lunch, so I'm thinking that rather than answering my question about where Daddy was at the moment, she was telling me what he had been doing previously in the day - probably because I emphasized "did" so strongly when I repeated her question back to her. It was still cool to have somewhat of a back and forth exchange with her.

Quilt

When I was a little girl, my grandmother started making a quilt for me. She would work on it a little bit along, but mostly it was put up in a box. Every so often they would go through things and the quilt box would be pulled out. I can only remember catching a glimpse or two of "my" quilt over the years, but was always so intrigued to see it. I have to admit, though, that I didn't think it would ever be finished. Well, over the last few months my grandmother has been working on finishing it up to give to Penny. She and my mom came to visit on Monday and she brought the finished product with her:



It is even more beautiful than I remembered. The color scheme is blues and purples - and really, she has no idea how much that color scheme is so me. Or maybe she does, but I can't imagine that she did way back when she started the quilt 30-ish years ago. It is a beautiful, beautiful quilt, and it means more to me than words can express. Thank you Maw-maw. I love you.

Return of the Curls

The curls are back! Penny's hair has been mostly straight over the winter and I kind of thought that it was straightening out as it got longer. Turns out it was just the dry air, because it rained today and the humidity made it do this:



I apologize for the blurry nature of the photo. It was low light conditions and I was lucky to get her to hold still long enough to get this shot! I think her hair is so pretty and especially when it gets all curly like this.

Playground

Yesterday after work I took Penny to the playground at the St. Marks bike trail trailhead. It's a "boundless playground," which means it is built in such a way that all kids can play on it - even those in wheelchairs or with other disabilities, which further means that the thing is HUGE. You know how a handicapped-accessible bathroom stall is way bigger than a regular one? Same deal with playgrounds, apparently. And, yesterday, the two of us had the place to ourselves. I was disappointed because I wanted her to play with other kids, but at the same time I have to admit that it was pretty fun to have that huge playground all to ourselves. She climbed up the stairs and went down one of the slides over and over again. At first, every time she got to the bottom she'd immediately say, "do it again," but after I told her, "ok. one more time and then we are going home to see daddy," every time she got to the bottom she'd say, "one more time!" and run back around to the stairs. She went down the slide "one more time" at least five more times. I told her that I think perhaps she was missing some of the more subtle nuances of the phrase. :)