a lot of things have happened since the
popsicles. but first i will tell you about the
popsicles.
- starbucks frappucino (the kind you buy already bottled) with creme-de-menthe and chocolate syrup: delicious. but mix in the chocolate syrup, because it doesn't freeze if you just put it in the bottom of an ice cube tray.
- starbucks frappucino (the kind you buy already bottled) with just chocolate syrup: ditto.
- mandarin orange segments in the "light syrup" they come in: this was the best one i think. it froze well, and the real fruit was a wonderful element.
- mandarin orange segments in the "light syrup" they come in and triple sec: so good. just like the above, but with triple sec! (which you couldn't taste, but obviously added the fun of alcohol.)
- raspberry jam mixed in with plain yogurt and honey/agave nectar, layered with plain yogurt: wonderful. plain jam doesn't freeze either, but mixed with yogurt it does and it's awesome. imagine a creamsicle, but raspberry. only it's a little thick. i might mix in some milk next time.
- margarita mix with salt and tequila (so... margarita pops!): YUM!
- cinnamon tea with powdered cinnamon sprinkled: no bien. the cinnamon just floated to the top and was not good, and otherwise it was like licking ice. which is quite pleasant. so tea pops are probably great. subtle flavor. no plain cinnamon though. we didn't finish these.
- raspberry jam with lemonade poured over it: YUM. but again, raspberry jam doesn't freeze. maybe dissolve some raspberry jam in lemonade, or add actual raspberries to lemonade. or just lemonade pops!
- blackberry jam with lemonade poured over it: ditto.
- banana, chocolate syrup, and soymilk blended together: YES. i think these were chris' favorite, and i sure liked them too. froze wonderfully, and were a great dessert.
- also, a note on the structure of the pops: i wouldn't recommend using just a toothpick in ice cube trays. the pop usually fell off about halfway through eating the pop, and then you had to either hold half in your hand, or eat it all at once. popsicle sticks apparently were made for a reason. but the size of the pops was really nice. you could have many flavors at one time and not be gorging yourself.
- the verdict: will i be making my own popsicles again? YES!
now that that's over with, here are things that have happened, probably out of order:
chris moved back to
nac. what a wonderful thing. he moved into
sara kruter's house, where clementine has many dog friends to play with in the backyard (most notably frank).
it got cold. then hot. then cold. hopefully this won't last too long. but in the meantime, it is nice to appreciate how warm clementine is, and how i have a nice boo to snuggle with, and how i have a home and food.
my grandfather,
Col. Charles Musgrave, died, bascially of the complications of old age. he was 96 years old and an interesting, kind, generous, and smart man. he worked in a
ccc camp in
colorado during the depression, went to college with the help of
rotc, served in the army air guard (predecessor to the air force) and the
oss (predecessor to the
cia), was a lieutenant colonel, knew
chang kai-shek, briefed
nixon when he entered office, was a father, and was my grandfather. i
found out when i was a teenager that he was an intimidating man. he never scared me, but when i met my mom's high school best friend, i heard stories about "The Colonel." it seemed so funny to me that the man who let me have root beer floats at any time of night or day could ever scare anyone. then i found out how much of the world he had seen, and how many times he had changed and adapted in his life.
i was in
dallas at the museum of art when my mom called to tell me he had passed. he had been sick and we knew it was coming, but it was still sad. sad in such a different way from the sadness when it's not
someone's time yet. i guess now i understand what it means to really grieve, and what it means to grieve because it's what you know you need to do. i wasn't torn up or shocked at his death, but i did want to honor the occasion, be there for my mom, and help the family. i wanted to think about what he means to me.
i went to
austin the next day. my mom, my aunt, and i cleaned out most of his apartment. that was one of the -i
don't want to say best- experiences of my life. he had so many things that indicated his stage in life, other things that made me remember who i knew him as, other things from people i had never heard of, things of my grandmother's, things from the military, and things from our family's history. all in a little apartment for assisted living. i kept a knife, fork, and spoon, and a grapefruit spoon. i kept some paper i just liked, and a
roald dahl book. i hope i can have a painting my grandmother made. and i took a
piece of paper, on which he wrote "
brandeis," obviously at least 3 years ago, probably 5, apparently to remember were it was i attended college. somehow it made the move. so i kept it.
i watched
barack obama take the oath of office while i was in
austin. it was really amazing, and i am proud. i am glad i watched it with my mom and brother (and charlie and
malcolm too), and it is remarkable how cute
sasha obama is.
hillary is looking a lot better these days too. what?
the nation has taken great strides and is in a frightening place, but we are now more hopeful? yeah,
ok, that too. but there was some sweet fashion going on.
i got a new kitten. she was saved by
ashley and given to me, and she's been at my house for a week. she is a real
scaredy cat, and so far
i've only seen her in and under things, save very brief periods of reluctant entrapment by
chris' arms, but she is really cute. she has huge eyes and grey,
blonde, red hairs. less visible stripes than
george, but probably the same kind of cat. today we made great strides in our relationship when i was awoken by her loud meowing (the first time
i'd heard it) in my bedroom. i guess she was hungry, and had eaten the tuna fish i gave her as a peace offering. i am taking that meowing as a sign that a)she is alive b)she knows i am the one who feeds her and c)she comes out of hiding at nighttime. it probably sounds like these are tiny developments, or not developments at all, but trust me. this is big. soon enough, she will love me. oh. i named her molly.
school started. i am in my
first semester of internship, and so far all i know is that we will be doing reading instruction with small groups, and that i am at the
sfa charter school.
monday we will go to campus for the first time and get our classroom assignments. i am excited to do so.
the strange thing for me about this semester so far is that as an intern you pretty
much have the same teachers for every class. and all the classes are very similar. so i get very confused about which one i am going to, which teacher i have there, and what each class is about. soon it will all reveal itself, and for now
i'm just going along for the ride, and doing what my schedule tells me to do. i am also taking a class at night which is not an internship class but is required some time before graduation. it will probably be boring but possibly useful in life (business communication), and it's just once a week.
that is that, ladies and gentlemen. my life since i last abandoned this blog for 17 days. until next time!
i am thrilled and can't wait to receive my bundle of joy in the mail.
