Culinary Architects

Two years ago, I was able to slip away from work one afternoon to join Abigail in her classroom at school to help create and decorate a gingerbread house. Her teacher had arranged to have all the supplies ready for us: an empty milk carton to serve as the house for us to cover with pre-cut pieces of graham cracker (in lieu of trying to balance gingerbread walls and roof in midair while waiting for the icing to dry); lots of sweet white icing provided by the school cooks; and a wide variety of candies for decorating (and sampling). Most of the children had either a parent or grandparent there, and we each sat on a chair beside our child's desk and helped with the decorating as Christmas music played on a CD player in the corner. Abigail just lit up when I entered her classroom, and she delighted in introducing me to all the children seated around her; and I had a lot of fun joining her for the activity, seeing the classroom decorated for the holidays, and seeing Abigail in her schoolday setting.

Well, Hillary's second-grade teacher this year is the same woman who taught Abigail in second grade, so guess what! I was invited to join Hillary to build and decorate a gingerbread house this afternoon! It was great to see her face light up when I appeared in the classroom doorway, and we had fun planning the layout of the gingerbread yard, deciding which candies should be used for which architectural elements, and even sampling a piece or two of candy. Actually, besides eating the broken pieces, we ate only the Skittles and a couple marshmallows, using on the house and yard all the other candy provided. Once we got our masterpiece home, we placed it on the fireplace hearth and took photos:

The Final Final

This week is final examination week at the university, and this afternoon I gave my final final of the week. I'll grade the exams tomorrow and be ready to enter grades for the semester by Friday, and then my first semester as an assistant professor (remember?) will have come to a close. It was a lot of work! I had to get used to the rhythms of the department and my position within it: what events happen at what point in the semester and what I have to have done by what deadlines in order to be ready for those events; how long certain projects take in each course and how to plan the course schedules accordingly; etc. It was a productive term, both for my students and for me. I'm ready for a little break, though (although, with all the traveling that we'll be doing for Christmas, will it feel like a break?).

Christmas with the President

It's wa-a-a-ay below freezing here, but you can't keep Nor' Dakotans away from a Christmas party. This evening Susan and I attended a holiday social hosted by the university president and his wife. It was held at the Elk's Lodge and featured a buffet set up on several tables around the room: hot appetizers at this table, cold fruits and vegetables at that one, cheeses and smoked fish at this, desserts at that, etc. Upon entering the building, we visited with others in line, exchanging the requisite remarks about the weather and pleasantries about one another's Christmas plans. Then it was on to the cash bar for holiday spirits!

We didn't attend the same event last year because it conflicted with an elementary music program for one of our kids, but we went to it the first winter that we lived here (remember?). Tonight's social was different in a couple ways: first, we have a new president (remember?); and second, we know people now, so it was easy tonight to sit at a table and visit with whoever else sat there. We ended up staying quite a while, and Susan even got to take home the poinsettia plant that served as our table's centerpiece.

Then it was off into the cold, back to our younguns at home (thank you, Grandpa, for staying with them), and down in front of the crackling flames of the fireplace . . .