I just wanted to do a quick report of the recent activities in the Pringle household.
A winter storm—dubbed "Snowchi"—came through last Wednesday night (February 12-13) and dropped 10 inches on us. It was enough to cancel JHU on Thursday and on Friday. Since Lauren is doing research at Johns Hopkins Hospital, we both got to stay home those days. This was the backdrop for Valentine's Day and our one-year engagement anniversary.
For Valentine's Day, Lauren tapped into some creativity and made bacon roses with our friend Caitlin. It happened in the evening, the night before Valentine's Day. I was studying in our office, and they were upstairs cooking and crafting. At first, I thought, "Why are they cooking breakfast?" Only at the last moment, as I was coming up the stairs did I realize that it was bacon. The bacon bouquet was quite the surprise, and I quickly nibbled off the edible "flowers." In return, I made Lauren some crepes using the basic Allrecipes recipe. She was sleeping in, and when I went up to the third floor to ask her what fillings/toppings she wanted for her crepes, she all of a sudden was delighted for the surprise. I made sweet and savory crepes: some with fruit filling, some with maple or chocolate syrup, and some with prosciutto and pesto. They were all quite delicious.
Yesterday, we visited our local library branch for the first time. It is just up the street a few blocks on Eastern Avenue. It's called the Southeast Anchor branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Lauren's library account was about to be cancelled because of inactivity, so that is what prompted the visit. We checked out some books, but I am most excited about the Anna Karenina audio book that we borrowed. We have been listening to it in the car as we drive around (a welcome change from NPR. We do like NPR, but it was getting a little dry, and we needed something new).
We are not TV watchers, but we have been enjoying our nightly Olympics on NBC. Lauren's favorite sport is figure skating. It is pretty cool how some of the top skating duos are coming from Michigan (Shibutani-Shibutani and White-Davis). I like all the sports (yes, curling is awesome), but I especially love alpine skiing and short track. It was amazing to see USA defeat Russia in hockey in the shootout the other night.
Also in recent history...
Lauren and I attended a Liquor License Board hearing to protest a bar that intends to open across the street from our development. We sent out some emails to get our community (O'Donnell Square) to get involved. Some people sent letters but no one could come to the hearing with us. It felt good to be involved as community activists. The bar's hearing was postponed because the owners had not done their due diligence in meeting with the neighborhood groups. After the hearing we held our own in a small kerfuffle with the prospective bar owners and their lawyer. Since then, we have been scheming about how to keep that bar out of our neighborhood. They don't know who they are messing with. They may as well say with Admiral Yamamoto of Imperial Japan, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
Even earlier, Lauren and I rode our bikes to school. That has happened only once due to the weather. The other days we take the shuttle that leaves from Bayview Hospital (a ten minute walk). Lauren wanted to make sure everything was perfect for her first ride to school. She purchased a rearview mirror for her helmet, a reflect vest, a balaclava, and thermal underwear. At the end of the day, we made it home in one piece, so we are optimistic that commuting by bike will work out once the weather gets warmer!
Last Sunday, we got our CTR-5 children Angry Birds Valentine's Day cards. They had gluten-free lollipops, too. The kids loved them! It was fun to see them all so excited about the cards, and it was all they could talk about after church. The joys of a teacher...
A winter storm—dubbed "Snowchi"—came through last Wednesday night (February 12-13) and dropped 10 inches on us. It was enough to cancel JHU on Thursday and on Friday. Since Lauren is doing research at Johns Hopkins Hospital, we both got to stay home those days. This was the backdrop for Valentine's Day and our one-year engagement anniversary.
For Valentine's Day, Lauren tapped into some creativity and made bacon roses with our friend Caitlin. It happened in the evening, the night before Valentine's Day. I was studying in our office, and they were upstairs cooking and crafting. At first, I thought, "Why are they cooking breakfast?" Only at the last moment, as I was coming up the stairs did I realize that it was bacon. The bacon bouquet was quite the surprise, and I quickly nibbled off the edible "flowers." In return, I made Lauren some crepes using the basic Allrecipes recipe. She was sleeping in, and when I went up to the third floor to ask her what fillings/toppings she wanted for her crepes, she all of a sudden was delighted for the surprise. I made sweet and savory crepes: some with fruit filling, some with maple or chocolate syrup, and some with prosciutto and pesto. They were all quite delicious.
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| Bacon bouquet |
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| What a sweetheart she is ^_^ |
Yesterday, we visited our local library branch for the first time. It is just up the street a few blocks on Eastern Avenue. It's called the Southeast Anchor branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Lauren's library account was about to be cancelled because of inactivity, so that is what prompted the visit. We checked out some books, but I am most excited about the Anna Karenina audio book that we borrowed. We have been listening to it in the car as we drive around (a welcome change from NPR. We do like NPR, but it was getting a little dry, and we needed something new).
We are not TV watchers, but we have been enjoying our nightly Olympics on NBC. Lauren's favorite sport is figure skating. It is pretty cool how some of the top skating duos are coming from Michigan (Shibutani-Shibutani and White-Davis). I like all the sports (yes, curling is awesome), but I especially love alpine skiing and short track. It was amazing to see USA defeat Russia in hockey in the shootout the other night.
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| GO USA! The shootout was tense! |
Also in recent history...
Lauren and I attended a Liquor License Board hearing to protest a bar that intends to open across the street from our development. We sent out some emails to get our community (O'Donnell Square) to get involved. Some people sent letters but no one could come to the hearing with us. It felt good to be involved as community activists. The bar's hearing was postponed because the owners had not done their due diligence in meeting with the neighborhood groups. After the hearing we held our own in a small kerfuffle with the prospective bar owners and their lawyer. Since then, we have been scheming about how to keep that bar out of our neighborhood. They don't know who they are messing with. They may as well say with Admiral Yamamoto of Imperial Japan, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
Even earlier, Lauren and I rode our bikes to school. That has happened only once due to the weather. The other days we take the shuttle that leaves from Bayview Hospital (a ten minute walk). Lauren wanted to make sure everything was perfect for her first ride to school. She purchased a rearview mirror for her helmet, a reflect vest, a balaclava, and thermal underwear. At the end of the day, we made it home in one piece, so we are optimistic that commuting by bike will work out once the weather gets warmer!
 |
| Lauren already looks like a pro |
Last Sunday, we got our CTR-5 children Angry Birds Valentine's Day cards. They had gluten-free lollipops, too. The kids loved them! It was fun to see them all so excited about the cards, and it was all they could talk about after church. The joys of a teacher...
1 comment:
Thanks for the update... it seems like a long time since Jan. 26. I notice that the weather has been bad in your area. We have had tons of snow in the mountains with 50 degree weather in the city which produces rain only...just the way I like it. I enjoy the groups I belong to-most of which require reading so I don't watch much TV either. I am enthralled with Downton Abby, however. What on earth is a bacon flower?? Good luck to you both in your studies. Bye from Gerry Hanni
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