Cyrus Turns 3!

Well, before we get to the birthday pictures...

... we came home from the ALS walk and let the boys play in the driveway. (And remember you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.)

Cyrus: King of the hill

Kai: The Little Engine at the bottom of the hill

Kai: I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

Cyrus: Oh no!

Cyrus twirls around to make bubbles.

He can aspire to his mother's multitasking abilities: making bubbles while talking to Lisa on the phone. Cyrus, just wait till you see her play mine sweeper.

Kai doin' his own thing.

DADDY'S HOME!

Awwwwww.

Cyrus is in heaven. A cupcake with blue icing and three candles in front of him AND a platter of more cupcakes in Baba's hand.

Thinking of a wish while we sing Happy Birthday dear Cyrus.

Chompin' down on the good stuff. Tofu and broccoli can wait!

And the best part (or maybe the cupcake was the best part) opening presents.

To heck with your interview; I want to open presents!

The Charlotte ALS Walk

Shirin already blogged about this but I'm still going to put up some of my pictures because she is in them! She and I took the boys to walk in honor of Irysse Crimmins, Lisa's mom who has ALS. It was a beautiful day and there were lots of walkers. Just click on any picture if you want to see it bigger.

Shirin is getting a work out with that stroller...

... believe me I know. See her walking with Bill (and no stroller) because she gave ME that heavy stroller to push. Look at Kelly struggling to push Quinn!

Somehow they made it to the end of the walk with their old Namma.

Hey Bro! Wake up! There's a wooden bee on your cheek.

Irysse uses a very cool gadget to communicate. She types out what she wants to say and the pad says it out loud. I'm sure it's frustrating for her but at least she can still make her funny comments that keep us all laughing.

Irysse and Shirin (notice Irysse's purple nail polish!)

Nursing in the shade of a tree.

The Crimmins had a nice back yard party after the walk.

Cyrus ran around with the other kids and Lisa's husband Dan...

... while Shirin held a very sleepy baby and talked with Irysse.

Farmers' Market

We went to the Farmers' Market today. They were promoting two things today: peaches that are being sold as a fundraiser, and herbs. In the newsletter they explained:

Early peaches, like the Rich May variety that will come to market on Saturday, are "cling" peaches, which means they are a bit firmer than "free-stone" peaches and "cling" to their pits. Cling peaches have good flavor and color and are great to cook with. We didn't buy any since we like free-stone peaches. Hopefully that will also be a fundraiser; I feel bad when I don't participate in a money raising venture. And how a fundraiser? The profits help the market pay for improvements and fund part of its operating budget.

The Charlotte Herb Guild was present this morning. They provided information about herbs generally, and crafts and recipes for herbs. There were many herbs being sold by the farmers as well.

Welcome to Herb Day!

Now that I have a bike I looked at these bikes wistfully, but I don't think it's be a good idea for Saeed and me to ride our bikes to the market on I-77 and I-485. We plan to ride locally later today.

I am always drawn to the flowers.

close up of snapdragons

Even turnips and onions look pretty at a farmer's market.

We bought tomatoes from this guy, but truthfully, they were grown in his greenhouse.

Music right up Anahita and Shirin's alley: bluegrass.

My New Bike :-)

The first picture in this post should explain one of the reasons I needed a new bike. But in addition to leaving my old bike outside in all kinds of corroding weather it was actually Lanie's tiny old bike. Lanie is a cute little Vietnamese-sized woman, and I... am not. We found a nice Amazon-woman-sized bike and it actually makes me feel like riding a bike again.

Saeed and Lanie's old bikes enjoying the 20 degree winter day.

My new bike! She is a 28" hybrid, meaning that she can do both street riding and gentle mountain biking, and her name is Neytiri. Next time Martha and Ken come to visit we can go bike riding, something we couldn't do on their recent visit.

 

Saeed and I planned to start riding at Cherry Park but were surprised to find it closed. As we rode by, puzzled by the closed gate, we saw huge trees down all over the inside of the park. Clearly the city decided that was an injury waiting to happen, so we went to Winthrop Lake where we saw more of the same. That storm was definitely a mini-Hurricane Hugo event. Some of our friends just got their power back yesterday.

 

Fortunately the Canadian geese and their babies survived the storm.

These toddlers were so funny to watch, so lanky and awkward while their parents were so graceful.

We then rode along Eden Terrace from the lake towards Cherry Park. We easily fit under the space to the left of the sidewalk and kept going.

We then circled back to Winthrop's campus and took a breather. Notice that Saeed is still riding his old bike which is the right size for him but needs a few things repaired/replaced. The handlebar grips were damaged by weather exposure so he's order a new set. Meanwhile he's sporting a stylish pair of gardening gloves to protect his hands from the old sticky grips.

Directly in front of the bench is this beautiful tree. Love the gnarly bark.

Directly across the street is this crazy tree. Looks like something out of Africa.

Those branches are just asking to be climbed.

And to our right was a baby red maple, soon to be as big as the older fellows.

On our way around campus (on the art building side) was a tree that fell across the wrought iron fence (and Stewart Ave) that surrounds campus property.

Back home I have parked Neytiri safely inside to ride yet another day.

What A Storm!

It woke us up at about 12:45 AM with tremendous wind and constant thunder and lightening. It wasn't long before the power went out, necessitating my trip downstairs to retrieve my cell phone so I could set an alarm. Back in bed it was impossible to sleep as the storm continued LOUDLY for about an hour. Layli and Banu ran for cover as Lupe jumped up on the bed to cuddle, totally uneffected by the storm.

Waking up to no electricity I fed the kitties, took a nice warm shower (thanks to the gas water heater) and packed my toiletries via flashlight, and headed out the door.

Immediately across the street a tree was down, blocking Wimbledon Lane, and once I got out to Twin Lakes Rd a large fallen tree was blocking it too. Huge branches and debris were everywhere. After navigating a couple of detours I made it to work where I put on my makeup and dried my hair. Thank goodness the office had power; apparently 30,000 homes were without power in York County. Despite the blocked roads and lack of electricity all our patients showed up this morning! Man, no rest for the wicked. :-)

Book Club Tonight

Tonight we'll be discussing The Legacy of Luna, the self-reported account of Julia Butterfly Hill who sat up in a redwood tree for just over two years (without coming down!) to save that tree and those surrounding it. The tree was named Luna by some treehuggers from the Earth First organization who were there before Julia arrived. She just had the tenacity to stick it out the longest! She also has the gift of conveying information without being preachy or derogatory which was nice for those of us reading the book and for the loggers she had intense conversations with as they threatened to cut down the tree she was living in.

The reason we read this book (we usually read fiction) is because the book club host saw Julia speak in person. Although the book was good, it certainly isn't the best book I've ever read, yet her story was inspirational. How many people do you know sacrifice so much for a cause? Few among us.

New Scrubs!

It's always nice to get new scrubs. Our company pays for them, so individually we don't get to pick what we want. This year they had each office put forth a new uniform choice and the managers chose from those, so we did have some input. Here is what I'll be looking like (just older, heavier, and less cute) for the next year:

Larry's Visit

Anyone who knows us will remember our bestest old friends Ellen and Larry. We have had the pleasure of Larry's company this weekend as he stopped by on his way to Myrtle Beach for a week there with his mother and brothers. It's been wonderful and yet we've missed Ellen's presence so much. Ellen's sister, Mary, is struggling with end stage ovarian cancer, so she's back in Ohio. I wish her and her family the best as they go this.

We've spent most of our time together catching up on all the family details, and it's been fun for me to hear the two psychology professors return to their conversations about students and academia as if Larry had never left. When he and Ellen lived in Rock Hill he (and maybe Ellen too?) particularly loved Saeed's "Persian burritos" so of course Saeed fixed that for old times' sake. As Saeed cooked, Larry said fondly that he hadn't smelled that smell in so many years.

When I asked them to pose on the deck they stood about six feet apart. I suggested that they act like they knew each other and this is what I got:

 

Ah, that more like it.

Thanks Larry, for going through the extra trouble to visit with us. It's been so good. Next time hopefully Ellen can come too.