My Daughter Says...

In a conversation this afternoon:

Me: I am going to take the laundry downstairs while you are in quiet time.

Norah: You're welcome. You are welcome to do that.

I like how she's trying out new phrases to see how they sound. (Did I teach her that one? I have no idea.)

My Next Challenge?

In a little over 6 months the Strawser 4 will be departing the lovely East Coast for...the West Coast!

Monterey, California here we come!


This may be old news for those of you with ties to the Philosopher in the family, or a connection to Facebook, but I wanted to take my own sweet time to let the news settle.
We'll be heading out to Monterey for BJ to teach at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Full time! Tenure-track! A real job!

And, to add on to THAT incredibly good news, BJ will also be working with the Center on the Ethics of Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) in Oxford, England for the next 3 years heading up a fellowship. In a time when many people are struggling to find one job in the philosophy market, we're taking two. ;o)

So the next 6 months will include a lot of preparations for a cross-country move (ahem, for the Navy to move us, that is), a visit to Monterey to do some school shopping and house hunting (we'll be renting unless someone is interested in investing in some great rental properties in Colorado Springs...), as well as a preliminary trip to Oxford to meet up with the ELAC leadership.

And lastly,
Anyone interested in meeting me in Monterey to do this: http://www.bigsurhalfmarathon.org/ in November 2012? We'll at least have a couch for you!

My sunrise

It's scenes like this that make me remember why I like getting up early.

My Winter Break

So, apparently, I've been on a bit of a blogging break.
Sorry for the lack of warning. I'll get things going again shortly.

I do have about 300 pictures from the last month of travels on my camera, and once I get those downloaded I'll put them online for the world to see.

I really do have cute children, and sometimes it's good for me to post pictures of them being cute. Perhaps upon viewing the cuteness the strangers giving me the evil eye in the grocery store on Saturday night would understand that Norah's screeching was not normal. And I could have explained to anyone interested that her completely illogical and high-pitched crying was really stemming from her desire to be safe and buckled inside the cart, which she believed had a faulty buckle system. Mere safety concern from the safety officer in the family, really. The end result of the screaming fit was a streamlined visit through the store (milk, eggs, bread, goodbye), a breeze past the free cookie at the end of the checkout aisles, and me practically leaving them behind at the entrance whining to ride the (almost undoubtedly broken) mechanical dinosaur. And a vow on my part to never ever ever ever ever (not ever again) use one of those horrid double-carts that grocery stores provide to push more than one kid. I have indulged them in the past with the "free ride" through the store on one of those things, convincing myself that it's a win-win (they are buckled in and contained and I'm getting a great workout). No more lies, people. Those things are torture devices disguised as a convenience item.

My Christmas Surprises

My Christmas gifts from BJ:

A mug with a picture of a TARDIS on it that disappears when it is filled with coffee and a Kindle Fire.

I'm afraid that I expressed more visible excitement for the mug than the Kindle.

Nerdy, I know, but both are completely enjoyable. And I was basically shocked into silence upon opening the Kindle to really know what to do.

But I'm learning how to use it. And did you know that you can "check out" library books for an e-reader? I plan on trying to check one out today. (I think a little Steinbeck is in order...) I'm not completely converted yet, but if I had had an e-reader before Christmas I would have brought along the 750 page book that I'm finishing up this week. Instead I left that one at home.

:o)

My Happy Kids

Going through some pictures on my computer and camera made me realize how long it's been since I updated the photo slideshow across the top of my blog. Now the slideshow includes the last 3 months of pictures. Click on any picture and you'll be magically transported to the album on the web where you can download any picture for yourself. Because I just know you want that picture of Toby and BJ at the Renaissance Festival as the barman and beer maid. :o)

My Thoughts Exactly

I got a kick out of this question at the end of a blog post that I read today. I thought I'd share it with you, simply because I think it's fun to keep a spark of imagination alive in the day-to-day mundane things like cleaning out a closet.

Relatedly, what does it mean if you finally set about to clean a closet no one's cleaned in years, then find it to be spotless? Not a cobweb, not a dust bunny, not a single carpet beetle carcass, not a speck of lint, not even in the deepest darkest corners? Would you start pushing things aside looking for a looking glass, wardrobe, police box, or the door to Howl's moving castle? Or am I the only one who, finding something clean in my house, assumes that I've stumbled upon a portal to an alternate dimension?
* The post comes from the blog "This is my Secret" by author Kristin Cashore.


I've been meaning to write about blog posts that I enjoy following, and I can't remember if I have already. So I'll just put the plug in here. I love reading Cashore's blog, in which she writes about how she writes, places she's traveled to, her affinity for Bollywood actors and the show So You Think You Can Dance, or her closet in her apartment in Boston. 
I also really love Sharon Creech's blog ("Words We Say"). This one, again, covers a lot more than writing. Check this post out about being trapped by kittens. And she sometimes posts about squirrels, as I have been known to do!