Happy Thursday!

I have tomorrow off, so today is Happy Thursday!

Tonight Meg and I are going to see Cut Copy at Stubb's.

perfect Sunday afternoon.

Barbecued meats, homemade sides and rolls, red wine, friends and Scrabble.

play me, I'm yours

I'm loving the pianos around Austin. (Thanks Luke Jerram.)

FRIDAY

YESSSS FRIDAY! What a long week. I got observed in my classroom on Tuesday, and it couldn't have been much worse. My students worked on a group worksheet with some challenging problems and then I asked each group to explain the correct answer. ONE out of the five groups got their problem right, and their explanations were so off base. It was embarrassing. I would ask prompting questions to have them get on track to get the right answer and they couldn't answer my basic questions. I thought some of the brightest students in the class could save the rest of the class at times, but even they failed me that day. Sigh. They are one of my weakest classes I have taught so I try not to take some of what happens to heart.

A highlight of my week was going to Jeffrey's with Eric, Kathy, and her boyfriend Chris. We decided to go because it's Restaurant Week in Austin, making dinner there a little more affordable. (Jeffrey's is, by the way, rumored to be George Bush's favorite restaurant in Austin.) The food was delicious. I had the Crispy Oysters Split appetizer, the Flounder Pecan Meunièr entree, and the Passionfruit & White Chocolate Semifreddo dessert. Everything was delicious. One of the appetizers didn't make it out, and when it did, it was the wrong one (which we didn't even say anything, but they figured it out.) They brought out the right appetizer and later another small mistake happened (not sure what it was), and the manager came over and personally apologized to us and let us know she would be sending us glasses of champagne and an extra dessert. They sent out all of that, AND a beautiful cheese plate too! We were so incredibly stuffed that we couldn't even eat the cheese plate, but they boxed up all of our leftovers for us. We had a great time and I was genuinely impressed by how great and personable our experience was.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I hope you have one too.

eyeglass cleaner recipe

We go through quite a bit of eyeglass cleaner around here. All you need to make the cleaner is:
2 parts water
1 part rubbing alcohol
a few drops of dish soap

(For the small squirt bottle I use, I only add one small drop of dish soap.)

Riley

Riley got my package and look at her wearing the little headband I made her. So cute.

(you really should click on the picture to enlarge it. her expression cracks me up.)