adoption tag

I can't pass up this tag from our friends Holly and Chase, who are working their way through the adoption process. They keep hearing from others that networking is one of the best ways that parents considering placing a child for adoption can be connected with families who are looking to adopt. So, I've been tagged to pass on the link to Chase and Holly's newly-created adoption blog. We are super excited for these two to become parents. So, if ever you get the opportunity, spread the word. Their contact information, along with their caseworker's contact info, can be found at http://www.chadoption.blogspot.com/.

weekend edition

Whew. Shay and I have definitely enjoyed the week-long break from our regularly scheduled lives. My parents flew in a few days before our spring break started and they stayed with us until Wednesday. The weather was basically wretched the entire time, for which I apologized daily, as if it were as much a matter of my control as the thermostat setting. But my parents were good sports and we still managed to show them around our little corner of the world. We loved having them here.

Lawrence's annual St. Patrick's Day parade
(My parents thought I was insane when I suggested that we should attend
despite the pouring rain. Clearly, Lawrence is chock-full of crazy people.)
photo from the Lawrence Journal-World

The day after the departure of the parents, I was whisked away on a "secret adventure." We were several miles down I-70 before Shay let me in on where we were headed. We ended up 150 miles from home at a bed and breakfast in the sleepy little one-stoplight town of Lindsborg, Kansas. Why drive 150 miles for that, you ask, when you've got a perfectly comfy bed and a perfectly good box of just-add-water pancake mix at home? Well, if you know me, then you know that since leaving Sweden I have been basically in love with all things that remind me of Swedishness. So when Shay found out that there was a little town in Kansas that celebrated its Swedish heritage to the point that it called itself "Little Sweden, U.S.A," he thought he should probably take me there to check it out. And he did. And it was the cutest, sweetest thing a thoughtful husband has ever planned for a Swede-o-phile wife. And the trip was hilariously fun.

There was so much Swedish nostalgia to be found that I couldn't even take it all in. Did I have any desire to eat pickled herring for breakfast? Of course not. But I loved that it was part of the breakfast buffet. I felt a happy pang of remembrance when I turned up my nose at it and went for the knäckebröd and lingonberry jam instead. We browsed shops full of folk art and imported foods and books and Swedish music and cheesy t-shirts. We stocked up on Marabou and Bilar. We ate Swedish pastries at charming little bakeries. We visited tiny Bethany College where the mascot is (any guesses?) the Swedes. Shay even packed our kubb set so that we could play at the park and feel like a couple of Scandinavian senior citizens. Also, remember how I was recently in need of a pig-shaped cookie-cutter? Well, behold:

My need is now met. Oh, the simple joys of life.

Speaking of joys, I hope you all have an absolutely lovely Easter. I am looking forward to it.

grand opening

The Wood Bed and Breakfast is officially open for business. We have parents coming to visit tomorrow, so we've been putting the finishing touches on the guest facilities this week. This mostly involved (1) vowing to not use the extra bed as a shelf any more, (2) clearing out three square feet of closet space in the extra bedroom just in case our guests, I don't know, bring clothes with them, (3) hanging a few pictures that have been waiting on the floor near their intended destination for a good two months now, and (4) filling the kitchen with several food items in addition to the fruit, cereal and milk that we generally subsist on.

We are stoked for the upcoming parents' visit, but I think it would be a pity to go to all that work just for one set of visitors. Thus, we are currently accepting reservations for April 2008 through, um, at least 2011. The accommodations are modest, but the breakfast is pretty much gourmet (if you're into Honey Bunches of Oats you'll be delighted), and you probably can't beat the prices. Plus, the company is stellar. See you soon?

rosier in retrospect

The day you get this e-mail is the day you start to remember planning a study and writing a thesis as being more enjoyable than it actually was.

"I am writing regarding the review of manuscript# AJSLP-08-0001, 'The Influence of Morphological Awareness on the Literacy Development of First-Grade Children' submitted to American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Two expert reviewers, the Associate Editor Dr. Laura Green, and I have reviewed your manuscript. All agree that it is worthy work. I would like to invite you to revise this work based on suggestions outlined in the remainder of this letter; I hope that with your careful attention to these matters, this work might be accepted for publication in AJSLP."

I am really excited about the possibility of my thesis research showing up in a journal in the near future. It looks like it might happen! So, wah hoo!

Pondering on the subject of research and the silliness that it can sometimes be, I remembered this forward that my friend Bob posted on our class blog when we were in school. It makes me laugh.

COMMON RESEARCH TERMS DEFINED

"IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN"...
I didn't look up the original reference.

"A DEFINITE TREND IS EVIDENT"...
These data are practically meaningless.

"WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS"...
An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.

"THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY"...
The other results didn't make any sense.

"TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN"...
This is the prettiest graph.

"IN MY EXPERIENCE"...
Once

"IN CASE AFTER CASE"...
Twice

"IN A SERIES OF CASES"...
Thrice

"IT IS BELIEVED THAT"...
I think.

"IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT"...
A couple of others think so, too.

"CORRECT WITHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE"...
Wrong.

"ACCORDING TO STATISTICAL ANALYSIS"...
Rumor has it.

"A STATISTICALLY-ORIENTED PROJECTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FINDINGS"...
A wild guess.

"A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF OBTAINABLE DATA"...
Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of soda.

"IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PHENOMENON OCCURS"...
I don't understand it.

"AFTER ADDITIONAL STUDY BY MY COLLEAGUES"...
They don't understand it either.

"THANKS ARE DUE TO JOE BLOTZ FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE EXPERIMENT AND TO CINDY ADAMS FOR VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS"...
Mr. Blotz did the work and Ms. Adams explained to me what it meant.

"A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AREA FOR EXPLORATORY STUDY"...
A totally useless topic selected by my committee.

"IT IS HOPED THAT THIS STUDY WILL STIMULATE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IN THIS FIELD"...
I quit.

the catchall post

Been awhile since I posted. Wondering what's going on? Not a lot. Here are the issues of the day as I see them:

1. Shay and I have been trading off being sick for a couple of weeks. Ick. I'm happy to announce that everyone in our house is now healthy. We're excited to air out the house today and clean all those germs away.

2. My lovely friend Heidi gets the gold star for being my first visitor from the home state. Heid, it was great to see you last weekend during your visit to the stunning midwest. Come again. Soon. And friends, silver and bronze stars are still available.

3. I like listening to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on Saturdays. I haven't heard it in ages but it's pretty funny today.

4. Rachel Ray's 30-minute meals take me an hour sometimes. I know I'm not the fastest vegetable dicer in Kansas but it can't be just me... is it just me?

5. I'm all for appreciating each of the seasons in their time. But, enough with the snowing and the freezing. Enough already. I'm ready to start appreciating spring.