An Old Friend

During my tenure at the U of A in Fayetteville I made several wonderful friends. One of them is Shaila Rao. We lived in the same apartment complex; we suffered statistics together; and we became good friends. Shaila left during my second year at Fayetteville and I've not seen her since. We swap Christmas cards and occasional email, but I've not heard from her in ages.

I have been thinking about her a great deal lately, especially with the Indian Entourage visit yesterday. Well tonight, while grading the first Point of View Paper for my Foundations of Education and Field Experience course, one of my students cited a recent paper by Shaila on inclusion of special education children! How fabulous!

I had to email her! Shaila, I miss you!

The Indian Embassy in the 'Burg

What did you do on Memorial Day? Did you have a picnic or a barbeque? Did you go out to dinner with family or friends? Did you have a good time? We did!

While the 'Burg is a tiny town of about 14,000 folks, and the University of Central Missouri is considered a small university, we do have a handful of international students. UCM international students have to be some of the nicest folks on the planet. Every fall they cook (yes, cook!) for anyone at the university that wants to come and enjoy a global meal! Every spring they host a multi-cultural talent show.

These international students have to be some of the hardest working and generous students I've had the pleasure of knowing. Several of them volunteer to cook for the Newman Center (Catholic Student Center) on a regular basis.

Manisha, pictured below is a graduate student in Speech and Language Pathology and works as a graduate assistant in our department. From time to time Manisha has brought me samples of her marvelous cooking. And during the past year, she and Orion became good buddies as she helped him on several occasions with his (cursed) cursive, reading, and writing.

Manisha and I are always talking about cooking together, and getting together to have dinner, and yet this past semester was so busy, I had absolutely no time. Finally, we picked a date! I made it a holiday in hopes that I would be home!

(Manisha cookin' up Chicken Curry)

I picked up Manisha and three of her friends at about 1:30, just as it started to rain! Thank goodness we weren't having a picnic! We got to the house and I showed them around and they went to work in the kitchen.

(Manisha, Sadiq, Tanvi (in the back), and Towino smile as they work in the kitchen)

(Sadiq and Tanvi peel potatoes for samosas. Sadiq later made six quarts of lhassi: strawberry, blueberry, and plain)

I was so impressed with how hard they worked and how much fun they were all having. Manisha showed off her "management skills" by organizing everyone and creating chicken tandoori, curry chicken, samosas, pakoras, vegetable Basmati rice, and she applied henna to my hair!

My friends Sally and John arrived at about 3:30. There was nothing for us to do but sit back and watch these students cook up a storm.


Around 5:30 John left to retrieve four more students from campus: Mona, Ankita, and Poorvi (Tanvi's identical twin), all Indian students, and Phat (a young man from Vietnam). Now there were six to eight 20-somethings cooking in my kitchen at any give time!

(No room for me in the kitchen!)

(Towino was only invited for his onion chopping skills! Or so we were told!)

After roughly five hours of cooking we were ready to eat! I couldn't wait! My house smelled great! There were 13 of us eager to eat, eat, eat!

(Manisha stands ready to start the meal!)


(Clockwise from top: curry chicken [short pot], Indian soup made by Sally [tall, shiny pot], 10 pounds of tandoori chicken, samosas, pakoras, and vegetable rice in the center)


(Ankita samples the pakoras)

(Orion and Poorvi fill their plates)

(Sally contemplates all the tasty choices)

I had such an amazing time. Of course, I haven't posted any pictures of myself as my hair was covered in mud and I looked rather scary. We all laugh, visited, ate, and had a marvelous time. I ate too many samosas to count and ate two more before bed! Oh my!

I was impressed by many things yesterday. The first being the amazing taste of everything that was prepared. John and I agreed that this was THE best Indian food we had ever eaten. Yum. The second being that my kitchen was clean before we even sat down to dinner! All we had to do after dinner was put away left-overs and toss the dinner dishes into the dishwasher! Thirdly, I was so tickled by the friendships that these students had forged- their cheerful banter, singing, and joking filled the house. It was a great feeling!

Thank you Manisha for bringing your friends to my house and for cooking for my family and our friends. Thank you Sadiq, Towino, Tanvi, Ankita, Poorvi, Mona, and Phat for your culinary talents, your hard work, the great fun, and a taste of India.

House Sittin'

Four night down and five to go.

I've been hanging at friend's house while she is away hugging grandchildren. It's my job to keep an eye on her dog and two kitties. And I have to say, I love the pet door. They come and go as they please. But I swear, there's a bird in the house today. I hear it, but cannot find it. I am certain with two kitties it won't "be" in the house long.

I've been using my time here to work on the literature review- reorganizing and including articles I've recently found. I need to go to the office and print a few things so that I may also attempt some of the smaller data analyses that I prefer to do by hand: item analysis for the questionnaire, coding of the interviews, and agreement rate between the two questionnaires.

I thought my friend's subscription cable would distract me, but so far I haven't found anything to watch. But I love the music stations. Great genre choices and no commercials.

Back to work! Tomorrow I plan to play a little.

Beautiful Legs

I hate shaving my legs. Really, I do. I went for nearly two decades without shaving my legs only to start again a few years ago. Why? I don't know. I ask myself that every spring when I remove my winter coat!

This spring I thought I would try something new. I read a review about Nivea Sun-Kissed Beautiful Legs Gradual Tan Moisturizer (a very long name for pigmented lotion!) and thought it sounded like it might work. If used daily, it is suppose to increase the days you can go before shaving again by softening stubble and subtly darken your legs. They have moisturizer for fair skin and medium to dark skin. I picked up a tube for fair skin at Wal-Mart for about $7 a few days ago and decided to give it a whirl.

After exfoliating, shaving, and drying off completely I tossed on a very thin coat and waited for it to dry before dressing. The lotion is smooth, doesn't smell atrocious, and goes on easily. But if felt like it took forever to dry. Honestly, I didn't really notice a change. But I didn't expect to. I mean, isn't that what "gradual" is all about?

Day two I forgot. Rather, I didn't make time for it. The fact that I even have a beauty regimen (albeit mascara and lip gloss) totally slays me. But I did notice that my legs were slightly darker. Darn, I should have taken before, during, and after pictures!

Day three I hopped out of the shower, dried off, and rubbed in a second application. I was careful, or so I thought, to apply the lotion evenly and to let it dry before dressing. By the time I got to work I could definitely tell that the 'tan in a can' was working, but drat if it wasn't a bit darker around the ankles, and lighter on the backside of my calves! But I was uber careful! Crap, I hope nobody noticed! That night I gave my legs, particularly ankles, a good exfoliating, in hopes of riding myself of some of the uneven tan.

Day four I abstained... Really, no pun intended!

Day five, today, I didn't bother- too many other things to do.

Ultimately, the jury is out. The tan is gradual. But not as gradual as I though or as Nivea predicted. I got a day five tan with the second application. (Of course, when you're this pasty, everything else seems like an Amazon tan.) I think I am going to wait till I shave again, and who knows when that will be, before I go with another application. I was very careful the first two times to apply the lotion evenly and not to rub it off before it dried, but my legs tell a different story. Next time I will avoid ankles, but remember the tops of my feet. Perhaps I'll even take photos to "blog my shame"!

Has anyone out there tried Nivea Sun-Kissed Beautiful Legs or any other 'tan in a can' product? Share your story in the comments! You can always post anonymously!

Lash Blast

My beauty regimen usually consists of washing my face in the shower and slapping on some moisturizer with sunscreen (when I remember). If I happen to put on make-up it usually consists of mascara and tinted lip gloss. I seriously resist putting on foundation or powders. But I digress. Regardless of how much make-up I plan to wear or what effort I am willing to give, I always try to slap on mascara. The 30 seconds it takes for each eye is well worth highlighting my unusually colored eyes. (They're hazel, ma. Not brown. And almost green, if you make me cry. And nearly topaz if I am up to no good.)

Well, last Friday I made another trip to the city to visit Costco. This time I brought along a friend and we had a marvelous time. However, I think we both worked up a sweat shopping! Well, I had a coupon for $3 off Lash Blast mascara by Cover Girl. Being that I have been a Maybelline Full N' Soft (about $4.50 to $7.00 a tube) customer and a Neutrogena Weightless Volume (roughly $6.00 a tube) customer for decades I wasn't quite ready to buy a three-pack of mascara that I had never tried. Unless the price was well worth it. It was. The Costco price was $13.99 for 3 tubes of Lash Blast mascara. With the coupon it was just about $3.66 a tube. What a deal!

I got it home and there it sat. For about four days. Then I tried it yesterday and again today. Holy smokes! These are eyelashes worth batting!

I love how the Maybelline mascara adds volume, definition, and color. The Neutrogena mascara does the same, but in a more subtle, nearly natural kind of way. The Cover Girl Lash Blast does all that and more. I am impressed! Think fake eyelashes without faking them! I love this new mascara! My only complaint would be the shape of the tube- ultimately the feel of holding the brush. The barrel so fat, it's kind of hard to hold on to.

I'm not divorcing myself from Maybelline or Neutrogena products. I love them. In fact, Maybelline Full N' Soft mascara just received a very positive review in Real Simple last month. And on the off chance that I use a powder foundation, I have been using Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Powder Foundation and I love it. Oh, and this summer I have been using Neutrogena Healthy Defense Daily Moisturizer (SPF 45). I'll let you know what I think.

Long Underwear, Down Comforters, and an Evening Chill

Weather in the 'Burg is so interesting to me that I find that I comment on it on a fairly regular basis! But I cannot help myself!

Last week things warmed up a bit! We had lower 80s and upper 70s. The humidity was wicked, but there was still no real need to start up the a/c unit. Then the thunderstorms rolled in! And on their heels, a cold front. After a few evenings of storm watching and enjoying several magnificent lightning displays the cold front arrived!

The lows this weekend were 40! My bedroom thermometer read 60 degrees this morning! And I was most grateful for my down comforter, which I haven't quite had the time or energy to put up yet!

Princess Lucky Underpants...

Happy Birthday to the prettiest princess this side of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge! I can't wait to see Shannon in June when we can celebrate her birthday properly with a pizza from Monetti's.

Mother's Day Bonus

Some of my friends call it the Texas Two-step, but I've heard it referred to as the green apple splatter or quite simply the runs. We call it "Number Six." But Shannon calls it "The Bonus!" The Bonus, indeed! Whatever the case, something did not agree with me Saturday and I spent Saturday evening calling Earl on the porcelain phone. Mother's Day consisted of 7-up until dinner!

What did YOU get for Mother's Day?

Oh, I did get an awesome pedicure from Orion!

Slowing Down

I've graded everything that has been turned in. I had several stragglers show up in my inbox this morning. But they've been taken care of. Now I must post grades to our computer system, complete my annual faculty report, and prepare for my classes on Monday! I should be home in time for dinner at 7:00 p.m.

Hooray!

Last night was our Bowling Banquet and my predictions were correct! Several patches, awards, medals, and good natured heckling rounded out the evening. I had the honor of having the highest handicap series- I am not sure exactly what that meant, save that when they combined my handicap with my actual scores from a game I scored like a "real bowler!" Additionally I earned second place among the women for having one of the lowest games of the season; Sal earned first place! Go Sally!

But the biggest honor, at least to my thinking, Most Improved Woman Bowler went to both Sal and me! Sally, having bowled for only a year, earned Most Improved New Bowler by raising her average 10 points! Go Sally, Go! I raised my average a mere 4 points this year (I had a fall slump, and my averaged dropped down to 99 or so! It was February before I got my average back up to where it was last spring when we ended (102) and I believe those last two big games in April bumped me to a 106! All that aside, those 4 pins were just enough to get me Most Improved Veteran Bowler for 2008-2009! Hooray!

After two weeks of play offs it was good to see everyone and enjoy a meal together. We had dinner at Nathan's Grill in the 'Burg. This ends my third year of bowling! And there's still so much to learn! I've decided I might need to buy my own bowling shoes and maybe even a bowling ball for the next season! Unfortunately I'm having trouble finding a scary bowling ball with skulls and crossbones! I know that would be key to intimidating my opponents AND raising my average!

Grading Blindness

Eleven hours yesterday.

Nine more today.

Need I say more?

Grading Frenzy

My eyes are bleeding!

My butt is the shape of my desk chair!

And I am walking like an old woman in need of a hip replacement!

Time for assisted living or a nursing home? Nah, it's just finals week at U.C.M. With five classes to put to rest and two starting on Monday I am beginning to feel the pressure! And mostly in my cranial regions! As I see it, I have two choices: get everything graded and posted and prepare for Monday's class, or explode and feel sorry for the custodian who has to pick up the tiny pieces of my skull and what's left of my grey matter off the walls, desk, and floor of my wee office.

So I grade.

And grade.

And grade.

Eleven hours on Monday, 8 hours on Tuesday, and I'm shooting for another 11 today! I still have Thursday and Friday left! My only hope is that I get my syllabi together before Monday so I can rest this weekend before the new semester. Ten more weeks until my summer break begins!

Fabulous Friday

Friday was a wonderful day! It was the first "dry" day we had in nearly a week. Up early Orion made his way to the bus and we made our way to sign another year's lease on the Big House. We've come to view the river in the basement more as a water feature than an obstacle or nuisance. I made it to campus long enough visit with a student and then we were off to Overland Park! We rarely make it to the city, which is a shame- there are so many fun things to do there! And despite our limited visits, we've decided we really like the Overland Park area a great deal! We first explored the area when we took Orion to Children's Mercy South and were looking for Asian markets. We have since expanded our trips to include book stores and now the Overland Park, Costco!

Our first stop Friday was the Happy Dragon on W 103rd Street! This small Chinese restaurant was suggested by one of John's Asian work-study students in the computer lab. There was a line out the door to get a table! The buffet was simple, but wonderful! My favorite was Butter Shrimp! How can you go wrong with two of my favorite things? Yum!

From there we made our way to Half-Price Books on Metcalf! I love that store! (Thank you Sal for introducing me to HPB!). The store sells new and used books! I was so excited to find three of the Foxfire books for my collection! I also found a couple of lovely children's books and some Hello Kitty thank you notes. Their stationery prices are wonderful!

Then we stopped at Ambica Foods, an Indian Market, for spices, tea, and samosas! But we were still so full from lunch that the samosa were placed in the cooler for another time! Next was the Oriental Supermarket, a Korean market, where we picked up 25 pounds of jasmine rice, super-thin, sliced rib-eye for bulgogi (Thank you Tree and P.D. for introducing me to that wonderful Korean dish!), and the largest bag of Shrimp Crackers (Orion loves these shrimp flavored chips!) I've ever seen! Around the corner was the Indian Emporium where we bought 15 pounds of Basmati rice, more spices, flat breads, and other tasty treats! This store has a clothing section that I often walk through and drool over. They do not have my size, but they do have some lovely saris and salwar kameez outfits. I would have to say my favorite part of these stores, however, is the smell! Walk into any of them and your nose is greeted by the warm smells of cumin, clove, coriander, fenugreek and more! Yum!

Last on the list was Costco! I was already getting pretty tired and knew I might have to hit the 'hard stuff' (Read: Coke with caffeine and sugar) to make it through the warehouse! Last spring my friend, Ruth, purchased me a Coscto card for a belated Christmas present! Last summer I made three trips to Costco to purchase staples for the pantry and freezer! I didn't have to buy toilet paper until spring this past year! While I hadn't planned to visit Costco till summer school started, I had several coupons for items that we use on a daily basis! We really raked it in! We spent a lot. But we saved $89 with our coupons! And we didn't buy anything we don't regularly use! Some items to come home with us included: a case of canned corn, a case of green beans, a case of black olives, toilet paper (of course!), 96 pounds of Iam's dog food (I had $10 off coupon, limit two- so that was $20 of savings!), 6 months of Claritin (another coupon opportunity, and I'm wishing I had purchased 12 months!), batteries, bagels, brooms, and other assorted things. We were both exhausted when we walked by the cat litter (40 pound bags of Fresh Step) and John shook his head, "no room in the Kia." So we headed to the checkout counter! After loading the car and proving, once again, that the Kia was bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, I returned for two bags of Fresh Step! It is $7 for an 18 pound bag at Wal-Mart and $10 for a 40 pound bag at Costco! There's no hard math involved!

It took us about an hour to return home and another hour to unload the car and put everything away! The best thing is that I received another book of coupons for Costco for later this month BEFORE this trip so I knew not to purchase paper towels, Zip Loc bags, and other items on the original list till our next visit when I can use the coupons! Hooray for Costco! And thank you, Ruthie (again), for my first year's membership and turning me on to Costco!