2 buck chuck or not?

Two buck chuck here at Trader Joe's is actually somewhere around $2.50, which I was outraged at when I first discovered it. Something having to do with taxes from shipping. Well, after being encouraged by a Trader Joe's clerk to try something different for a few dollars more (she guaranteed I would be a lot more happy with the wine and wouldn't really notice the extra two bucks), I decided to buy a Malbec wine, which was supposed to be very good. The wine was very good. The one glass of it we had, that is...

After finishing dinner, we put the wine on the top of the fridge. Which we don't normally do. And which wouldn't have normally been a problem, had I not decided I wanted tea, which we keep in the cupboard above the fridge. All was fine until I put the tea away and went to close the cupboard door, and my elbow knocked the red wine off the top of the fridge. I watched the bottle flip in slow motion down past my side, but did not have any reflexes to help me do anything about it. Red wine-- all over the kitchen floor, wall, counter, appliances-- and broken glass too. Luckily none on the carpet.

It soaked up into the wall right away and we tried to use 409 to scrub it off, which actually made it turn turquoise. I don't know what I was more mad about, the fact that our wall looks like the picture above, or that I bought a more expensive bottle of wine and broke it after the first glass.
Pretty soon we will have a painted over wall, but I will still have wasted over $4.

The truth was that it was better than 2 buck chuck (Sorry Charles Shaw afficianadoes), and I am not even a wine snob. But I am wishing it was the $2 wine sitting on top of the fridge instead of the Malbec fancy one.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Last year Atlanta was in a drought. This year at least 8 people have lost their lives in the rain that we experienced this past week. Here are some photos that we captured of what was going on around us.
This is a bridge covered in water. Usually there is no water that even flows under it.

The river rose to touch the bottom of this deck, which is usually at least 6 feet above the river's edge.

This is an unhappy me, realizing that I left my umbrella in the car and would have to go get it in the rain.

The river usually ends before the trees, but came all the way up onto the park grass.

This picnic bench, barbeque, and trash can are almost completely submerged in water.

My job

This is my business card. Yes, my first business card ever. And I even have a few others that I can actually hand out to people. I also have a badge that I get to wear!

Some of you have been asking about the job that I got out here. I am a School Researcher, hired by the University of Michigan to work on a project called Understanding Teaching Quality. I was hired with 11 other researchers, all former teachers, to be trained in 3 protocols and camera operations.


We go into middle school classrooms in 3 districts in the area, video record, and take observation notes. We also spend time video coding tapes of classes that we didn't go into, but our colleagues did. To find out more (and eventually see a description of me and other researchers once it's posted) go to www.utqstudy.org.

I have missed teaching a little bit in the past few weeks, but I am really excited to be part of this team that will be doing a lot of great work.

Bodies Exhibit

I love gross things. Always have. I've always said that I could've been a nurse except for the throw-up part, that is where I draw the line. But blood, guts, love all that stuff. When we were in CA I had wanted to see the Bodies Exhibit in LA, but we didn't get to it. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw that it was in Atlanta. This became another touristy thing to add to our list. Bob, however, does not like gross things and was not nearly as enthusiastic as me.

But, again, since we like free things, he could not turn down the free tickets that one of my colleagues gave me (thanks, Karin!). So we were off on a Friday afternoon to go look at some bodies preserved with silicon--in ways you've never seen silicon used before.

I was in awe. Muscles, bone, veins, everything that you've seen in drawings or on TV, you now got to see firsthand. (As a side note, which is probably TMI, let me just say that I am glad we ate lunch first, especially for Bob's sake, because for a while after you couldn't really look at meat the same.)

I am not an avid museum attendee, but I was reading every caption and having a really hard time not touching the things on display. Bob, on the other hand, was moving a bit faster than I was and would periodically sit down on a bench and wait for me. It was so real and I just couldn't believe that we had access to it. At the end I even got to hold a plasticized liver. It felt like a candle, or hard silly putty.

I am so amazed at God's careful work in all he does and how utterly strong yet fragile we are.

I would highly suggest viewing this exhibit if it comes to your area, and I in fact, may go again. But this time I am sure I will have to go by myself.

Maseca!

This post is dedicated to any of you who have sat through the California Adventure Mission Tortilla Factory kids' video countless times just to get your free tortilla at the end. I am a sucker for free things, and so I have seen my fair share of that video, probably to the point that I am mouthing the words as I am watching it. My favorite part, of course, (whose isn't it?) is when they say Maseca!

Well, we actually have Maseca on hand for the few times we have attempted to make papusas, an El Salvadorian dish that stuffs meat, beans, etc. into the flour. We haven't yet mastered papusa making, but the Maseca did come in real handy last night when the unopened package of tortillas I pulled out of the refrigerator were covered in mold. Yes unoped. Yes refrigerated. I guess it was just meant to be that I try my hand at making homemade tortillas. So I whipped together a batch of tortilla dough and made real-life homemade tortillas for our enchiladas. A little small and a tad thick (probably because I don't have a tortilla press, so used a pan instead to flatten those suckers out), but still quite delicious if I say so myself.

Food Art

I don't consider myself much of an artist, my sixth graders could draw better stick figures than I, but I am finding new ways to express myself. Apparently, others have realized that food is a great way to show creativity, but I am just catching on. I guess it is all about the presentation.One of the fun coffee shops nearby, Octane made this latte with a leaf design. My colleagues laughed at me when I took a picture, but I thought it was so cool.

It even stayed in there after I took a few sips.

This work of art is one I created! It's brownies with mint frosting and chocolate drizzle. Yeah for freedom of expression. I guess anyone really can be an artist.

Stone Mountain

We went to Stone Mountain a few weeks ago with some friends, which is one of the more touristy things you can do here. We figured we had to do it at least once, and many of the people we went with hadn't gone yet either. The title of this place says it all--it's literally a mountain made of stone, apparently the biggest granite site in the (world? US? I don't know, and it doesn't really matter). There are a few little shops nearby that sell things like funnel cake (yes!) and blown glass. We saw a woman blowing a glass vase and we gluttoned ourselves on some greasy goodness, and then we sat down to see a laser show that they display on the mountain itself. Good, old fashioned fun.
Bob and Peter embracing boyhood.

A perfect sign for a Georgia summer, which is apparently enough to draw in potential purchasers.The mountain of stone.

Retreat Center

For those of you that are drawn to places for solitude and retreat, we have found the perfect place for you right here in Atlanta. It is an Ignatian Jesuit center and one of the only places to find spiritual direction out here. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous and you forget that there is anyone else around. Bob and I stopped there one day just to take it all in and these are the pictures we captured.

Getting our game on

When we first moved out here, it became clear really quickly how big tennis is. They have a competitive league called ALTA-- Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association. Our complex has a few teams, so Bob and I joined one. It's a doubles league and each season switches off from same gender to co-ed. This season is same gender. I played my first match today and it is totally a scene here! I was the only girl wearing shorts and sans jewelry. There are many women who have the whole attire, but can't hit the ball over the net. I guess that's the south-- pearl earrings, matching tennis outfit. But it is totally fun! The home team brings a bunch of food and we just play and hang out and enjoy our Sunday. And hope to beat each other out on the court. It feels like real play again since it is competitive, which also brings out the nerves. I will probably always lose the first game out of sheer nervousness. Anyway, we are finding it a great past time and a fun way to meet new people.

Braves Game

Bob and I made a list of touristy things we wanted to do when we got to Atlanta and going to a Braves game was one of them. So we packed our peanuts, threw on our red shirts usually worn for Angels games and headed out. We had great seats in right field, which were even greater when the sun went down, and experienced our first Tomahawk Chop. We even got to sit by a man kindly referred to as the Chief, who apparently comes to every home game dressed like and Indian. GA sent us some love in the form of a homerun caught by the people sitting right next to us. I was bummed, but I didn't have the fortitude to jump in front of some kids and stick my bare hands out there. Luckily I was sitting in the sit between Bob and them though, because I am sure he would have done it and ruined a poor family's night. The Braves won that night, thanks to many other home runs. The stadium is really nice and definitely worth visiting.

River Float

A great part about living on the river is that we get to take the float trek often that everyone seems to think a novelty. River floating has become a weekend event for us. When we first got out here, we wanted to get on the river right away so before taking time to decide on the proper floatage tools, we just went to CVS and bought $2 colorful tubes. Because these were really made for toddlers, we must have been a sight to see floating on them. When Bob sat on his, it completely went underneath the water. But it was enough to make us happy if even for a while. We even bought one for my cousin when she came out to visit. After a while though, we just could no longer stand the back pains and the comments from others, so we have moved on to bigger and better floats. Our new ones fit our whole bums (and more) and have a headrest and cupholder. We call them the lazy boys. Pictured are our old tubes. If anyone finds themselves out here in the summer, you will be enjoying a river float as well :)