Welcome Home, Grandma!

Hectic few days, but we're all thrilled to have Grandma Christine here in town!

I flew back to Illinois to help with the final stages of the move:

Or really to stand around while the movers cleared things out, but, hey close enough ;)

Luckily we decided to stay at a hotel in Lake Zurich once the house was empty, and it was just around the corner from Hackney's!

Onion loaf! Yum!

Meanwhile Franklin and Emily were getting ready to welcome Grandma to town:


And of course they had a little fun too:



Okay, much more fun coming soon. But now I've got to get to the store—grandma's coming over for dinner! :)

Harvesting Fun

Mid-October sure did show up in a hurry! Guess I've been too busy with all my reading to update you here, reader.

Anyway, great season so far! Jeff, Jenn, and Tyler invited us out to some farm land for pumpkin picking and other good times last weekend:




Special thanks to Jeff for transporting the squash in style!


In other produce news, Franklin is really into the Broadway Farmers Market now that apples are in season:

Kid's got taste!

Speaking of taste, I was pretty excited to be reading about some of my former students in this New York Times dance review!

Emily and I enjoyed seeing that new show—and saying Hi to people back stage!

Meanwhile, school's keeping us all pretty busy, but thankfully Franklin and I still get to spend Fridays together. Here we are out for coffee and cake at Vivace:


All right, that about brings us up to date. Back to work on the seasonal decorations!

Read Me

Not sure if you noticed the new epigraph up top—one of my favorite quotes. First brought to my attention by a friend of a friend in college, but it's really stuck with me (and The Name of the Rose is a pretty good book, by the way!):

Noi viviamo per i libri.
Dolce missione in questo mondo dominato dal disordine e dalla decadenza

Translation:
“We live for books.
A sweet mission in this world dominated by disorder and decay.”

Anyway, seemed appropriate: I just realized that I'm in five different reading groups and/or book clubs. What can I say?

For posterity's sake (maybe I'll put it in a book someday?), here's a word or two about each one:

The Ancient Greek reading group at Seattle U is currently making our way through Plato's Ion:


Meanwhile, I got pretty excited by some of the reviews of the Thomas Pynchon book, seen here distracting me from finishing my syllabus for the quarter:

I am fortunate enough to know a few people willing to get together and discuss it with me.

First thing on that syllabus is the first book of Aristotle's Metaphysics, and I'm again fortunate, since another philosophy prof. at SU suggested meeting a few times to take a close look at what other philosophers have said about the opening of that wonderful text:


The book club that Pete started a while back (I think I mentioned it on here sometime) is still going strong; we just finished Grapes of Wrath and are now trying out some Richard Russo:


And I thought that was it, thought I'd only had the hubris (in the words of a colleague) to be in four reading groups, but then I remembered that I signed up for a second-year followup to the Arrupe Seminar on Jesuit education:

First reading assignment is due in two weeks! Better hit the books...

Happy reading, reader!

Cheers to Marisa & Dave & Montana!

Glad we were able to make the trip, put on some nice clothes, and toast Marisa & Dave over the weekend.

We had a ball! (Okay, okay, sorry.)

All the excitement made it hard to get a shot of the happy couple, but someone did share this one with us:

(Thanks Facebook)

Long way from Seattle to Lincoln, MT, but our travel experience was considerably improved by this new friend of Franklin's:

Found at the airport, supposedly modeled after the Washington State Ferries.

As Franklin likes to say, "big boat!"


Also had a nice time showing Franklin all the taxidermy (what can I say?) at the Hi-Country Trading Post. On our second visit he was basically flawless at pointing to and naming the elk and the moose :)

It was pretty chilly outside, but we took a quick tour of their playground. Love these swings:


The wedding itself took place at the Hotel Lincoln:

(Thanks again, Facebook)

Now an outside wedding in Montana in late September is maybe a dicey proposition, but the weather turned comfortable just in time. (Just don't ask about the cleanup the next day.)

Of course, an outdoor wedding in relatively comfortable weather isn't exactly an invitation for Franklin to sit quietly and celebrate two lives becoming one.

Especially when all these toys were just sitting there behind the crowd:


Fun toys at the reception too, especially the photo booth run by
Six Shooter Photo:


With my sisters:


Love this set with Grandpa Ray & Grandma Rhonda's friend James:


Speaking of Grandma & Grandpa:


At breakfast at (where else?) the Bootlegger Casino:


And finally, I love this family photo taken at the Staggering Ox back in Helena:

(Thanks Gilbert!)

Great to see everyone! Congrats!