GAAAAAAH! At last I will blog and NO ONE WILL STOP ME!

I've said that every day for a week. But this time I mean it! I've got a lot to say and there's no way I'll say it all before the next person comes by my office to annoy me.

I've been posting pictures more than words because they're fast and I can do it while waiting for a lengthy program to finish running for work.

I keep hinting about the wedding and recent trips to fabulous places. My cousin PartnerInCrime (PIC) got married in Seattle weekend before last and, joy of joys, I just happened to be scheduled to teach in San Francisco the week before! Well, OK, not entirely coincidental...it needed to be scheduled for sometime this summer, and May 11-13 was close enough to summer for me. SNG flew out to Seattle a day before I did and did some sightseeing mostly by ferry. On Saturday we visited downtown Seattle and the rehersal dinner was at PIC's house Sat afternoon. There were lots of relatives in town, which means that at any given moment could be heard WHOOP!s and AAAAAAAHAHAHA!s and all manner of inside jokes cultivated over may years, half of which I don't get, but hey whatever, they may be loud and a little wierd, but they're mine. And me calling anyone wierd brings to mind pots name-calling at kettles...

The wedding was on Sunday afternoon at a lodge out in the woods near a big waterfall (Snolqualmie falls, I think?). The scenery was spectacular. The ceremony was brief and elegant, with the congregation overlooking a tree-covered hillside with the falls below, mist rising up from the trees. I was hearing little murmors from several relatives of "Ooh, I could really retire to this part of the country..." I've heard those murmors before-- resulting in impulse-real-estate-purchases.

PIC and leBon are perfectly matched. SNG and I wish them all the best and a lifetime of happiness.

After the plane from Seattle landed I packed up my stuff and jumped on the next plane to Boston. That was a fun trip- I stayed at a swank place at the corner of Massachussetts and Commonwealth, with a suite overlooking Commonwealth Mall. For those unfamiliar with Boston, this is a mile-long park with a jogging trail that begins at Mass Ave and ends at the Boston public gardens, which connect to Boston Commons. One lap of Commonwealth mall and around the gardens and around the commons and back makes just over 5K, so I jogged it each morning. Before the city really wakes up the flowering trees are covered in dew and the birds are pecking at stuff on the ground. But then I had to go to work. Drat.

Actually, the work part wasn't bad at all, either trip. I had smart, interested students who asked challenging questions. Ahhhhh. And then I woke up.

And now I'm in the middle of 3 weeks in the office! The last time this happened was so long ago that I don't even have that year's calendar on my wall anymore. I'm going betty crocker overdrive and hitting the farmer's market regularly. Four rounds of strawberry shortcake last week, 24 jars of strawberry jam last weekend, and hopefully 24 more jars next weekend. After strawberries come the blueberries and the peaches, but I'm afraid I'll be traveling too much in July and August to really take advantage. OH NO! What will I do if I can't make my requisite 100 jars this year? What will I store in the attic all winter to lament next year that we didn't eat enough of it because I was on some low-carb diet or another?

Anybody need some jam?

I need to start knitting or making something that has no shelf life or calories.