Beautiful

As previously mentioned, I went to the SLE End of Year Banquet. It was just lovely. We had a buffet followed with hot, fresh beignets for dessert. The girls were given awards, some funny other sentimental. It was remarkable to see so many of the students I work with out of their school uniforms and acting grown up. Below are just a few of the beautiful and talented young ladies I get to work with each day.

Preview

I just got home from a wonderful celebration of commitment and talent for the SLE Step/Dance Team. I'm sorting my pictures now but here's a preview.

This is Banana. Banana is a ham. She won the Drama Queen Award along with the Show Stopper Award. Neither was surprising.

Dad Came {and Home Food}

Dad came to visit last Thursday. We hadn't seen him in almost a year. We opted for a sushi dinner at Edo and dessert at Molly Fontaine Lounge. Both were delicious! He brought us some home food {translation: food that I love which is available in Baltimore but not in the Memphis}. I am now fully stocked on UTZ chips, Rapa Scrapple, Esskay chipped beef, and Berger cookies. Funny story: Dad flew down with the food packed in his carry-on. When the plane hit it's cruising altitude all FIVE bags of chips blew open. Alas, they weren't going to last long anyway.

Crystal Palace

A few Thursdays ago, as an extra work trip, we took some kids to Gospel Night at the Crystal Palace. It was a blast! The Crystal Palace is a roller skaking rink in South Memphis {it can be seen in some Memphis based movies}. Some of the kids were learning to skate while others were basically pros. The crowd on Gospel Night was great; the kids got to be kids. We'll probably head back there some time in May as a last hurrah at the end of the school year.

Recently

We made a quick trip to Lilburn last weekend. It had been seven months since we last ventured that way. We were fortunate to be able to visit with family and briefly meet up with a few dear friends but I forgot my camera in Memphis so there is limited photographic evidence. Since our last visit, flowers have bloomed and Nancy has entered her second trimester.Somehow, miraculously, Maggie {the white-faced boxer lab mix on the left} is still alive. She is almost 16 for crying out loud! The 4 dogs ran as a pack all weekend and wore themselves out. Obviously.

9/8c

Please tell me you are watching Modern Family tonight! Wednesday night is my new favorite television night for one reason and one reason only: Modern Family. The humor in the show is spot on hilarious. Seriously if you are not saving some time Wednesday nights or watching the episodes on Hulu later, you are missing out. Study the family tree below, watch a few back episodes, then tonight at 9/8c tune to ABC. You can thank me later.

Was That An Ausfahrt?

This is my first attempt posting on this blog. It will not be good. Or pretty. But there are pictures so hopefully they'll say enough. If you didn't already know I traveled across the pond to Europe for work last week. My time was split between the UK, Switzerland, and Germany. I was also in Amsterdam for a few hours, but just at the airport, I don't think that counts.

The Mallory Court Hotel in the English Countryside. Aarau, Switzerland.

Worker Bee

If I were a bee, I'd be a worker bee. Monday night I headed to East Memphis to work on Phase 1 of Stacey's office overhaul. Last summer the plan to clean up, paint, and repurpose the extra room was created, then put on a shelf. To sit. For months. We'd talk about the project but life got in the way. Now, with an upcoming wedding, we decided there was no time like the present to get started. Between 7:00 and 11:00 Monday night, we successfully emptied the room of it's junk and reclaimed it as an office space. Stay tuned for Phase 2: Paint and Phase 3: Decorating.

Before: A dumping ground During: A barren wasteland After: A clean, functional office

Keeping it honest: We were able to store and discard most of the items in the room. The items left are either borrowed, and need to be returned, in need of a storage space, or functional pieces that need to be used (unopened blinds, for example).

20,000 Tulips

20,000 Tulips are now in bloom at the Dixon (and will be through mid-April). Last Saturday, Peter and I took advantage of the free admission from 10-12. The gardens were ablaze with every color tulip imaginable. Of course I had to take loads of pictures!

Easter

We are family people. Homebodies, if you will. And we live in Memphis while our families live in Georgia and Maryland. {Indeed, we also have relatives in CT, CA, DE, UT, VA, FL, and SC}. But, all told we live quite a distance from any one of our family members.

Alas, we have been blessed. We are fortunate to have dear friends here who welcome us into their homes with open arms. Sunday my kind friend Minx and her husband A. hosted an Easter lunch. She brought out the nice china and fine linens. We are so thankful for our Memphis friends!

The sweet S&P shakers. Don't you love this painting? Minx created it herself! The cordial hostess hard at work. Yum! Chicken & rice, salad, asparagus, lima beans, rolls, and sangria. Oh my word, let me tell you about the sangria... I found a recipe for a white sangria on Allrecipes.com that received rave reviews. In order to control the sweetness of the drink, I tweaked the recipe a bit by halving the ginger ale, using a mix of white and sparkling blush wine, increasing the variety of fruit, and doubling the liquor. It was delicious!

Have I mentioned.....

...Lily's current situation?

It's quite pitiful. She had some minor surgery on her ear. As a result, she was prescribed 12 days of the E-collar and bandage. It's torture. She also has to be sedated all of the time. Even with the sedatives, we've had to make four unscheduled trips to the veterinarian due to her successful determination to remove the bandage. Lily has rubbed, brushed, pushed, and drug her head against ever surface, mobile and immobile, in and around our house in order to loosen her head wrap. She's crafty.

Improvements

Remember our crazy overgrown front landscaping? Well, improvements have been made. With any luck, in a few weeks our front lawn will be a deep shade of fescue green.

ThenNow Then Now

Removed: 1 dead compact holly, 2 Japanese dwarf cedars, 3 nandina bushes, 2 un-identified bushes
Added: 2 bags top soil, 5 bags black mulch, 2 hanging ferns, 4 hostas, 6 begonias, 1 compact holly, 2 hydrangea bushes, 1 azalea bush, 1 gardenia bush, 2 double impatiens, and a fushia.
Time: 4.5 hours
Cost: $197