Yes, it has been a while. I actually had a post planned about a month ago, which I then promptly forgot to do. It takes me a while to write up a post, because I read the last post I wrote, make a list of everything notable since that post, go through all the pictures I could use, and I ramble. That last one is probably the biggest time-suck. Perhaps this one won't take forever. Hello again blog world! I honestly do wish I could manage to update more often. Luckily, my small readership still loves me if I don't post. Based on the last post I had up, it's been since October. Whoops! Luckily I have pictures to remind me what we've been up to, since chronology is important to me.

Chris and I went to a wedding in Charleston last October. Since it was a Sunday afternoon wedding, we went and made a mini-vacation out of it. We took the ferry out to Fort Sumter and visited Patriot's Point.
Here we are on the ferry to Fort Sumter...

And the view on the way back to the city...

A nice lady took this picture for us, to prove that we were in the same city, since it's so tough to take pictures of ourselves.

We went to Knoxville for a quick visit one weekend and apparently ended up with no pictures of our visit. On the way home, we hiked the Chimneys and looked at all the pretty leaves. It was chilly when we started, but it warmed up quite a bit by the time we hit the top. Layers, lots of layers.

But we made it to the top!

And the view was worth the work...

The Greenville Burkas went to the Clemson football game against Wake Forest. If you want to hear about dad's truck fitting in the tailgating spot...well...ask dad. We had beautiful weather for the game!

And we won the game! Obviously, this was due to our presence.

G-ma and G-pa came to South Carolina for Thanksgiving. As I'm sure you've heard, we held the 2nd Annual Hand Turkey Decorating Contest. G-pa won, but in fairness, here's a picture of everyone!

We went to a Road Warriors game in Greenville (that's hockey, BTW) with JoQ and Amy. Everyone loves a good fight on ice. Just think how much better Disney on Ice would be with fights...

Christmas came and went. I knit our stockings this year. Nice and big, because Chris wanted to make sure Santa had lots of room. I don't think Chris understands how Santa works. We dutifully took a picture of our stockings on Christmas morning. Later pictures included Chris with ribbons around his neck and Laura testing her new camp mattress.

Of course, the annual gathering of Burkas sent people fleeing from the mountains of Tennessee. There was eating, hiking, twirling, a puzzle or two, and more walking. And more eating. This is what happens when Dad gets the camera.

And then his lovely brother did what all Burkas are trained to do from an early age.

Abbie was there. I'm sure you've heard. I'm pretty sure EVERYONE knows Abbie was there. And, because Abbie's cuteness increases the family cuteness level exponentially, here is a gratuitous picture.

I think I'll make it a goal to get in at least one more blog post before she marries into the family. Wendy and Serena were also there. There were tutus. And glitter. Because you can never have enough gratuitous cuteness, here are a whole bunch of pictures of them! Amy helped Wendy make a sparkly crown. Glitter action shot!

Serena smiled! And Stacy looked fabulous as always.

Wendy twirled. And twirled. And did some leg kicks. And because she wouldn't stand still, here's a dancing action shot!

Wendy and Serena being sweet. I'm sure it led to someone falling or something. At least, that's what would have happened if it were Amy and I. It would have been Amy's fault.

Chris got "Settlers of Catan" from Santa for Christmas. This picture is gratuitous because I just want to share with you the game that Chris calls the fastest game he's ever seen. I won, obviously.

I've got a small group of folks who come over every other week for knitting night. Knitting night has evolved to include crochet, sewing, wreath making, seam ripping, and general chatting. We have three of us who are regularly there, plus any others who can make it some weeks but not others. Knitting night's on hold for softball season, but it's been quite fun. See?

For our first anniversary, Chris and I went to Asheville for a weekend. We visited the Biltmore and just generally enjoyed a warm weekend in the mountains.

That last photo was taken with the camera propped on a sweatshirt on the roof of the car on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I like the photo anyway.

We took a weekend in March to visit Chris' Goodwin grandparents in Charlotte. They had a big party while we were there, so we got to see everyone! Lots of badminton was played and lots of good conversation all day.

While the students were on Spring Break at Clemson, I took Ozaria downtown to have yogurt and put our feet in the fountain. This is now her favorite thing to do, even though we have only been once. I will have to take her back when the students are gone for the summer. Which will be in 2 weeks.

We made a trip to Atlanta to help Amy move. There was lots of discussion about the shortness of the family. Mostly due to the fact that THIS had to happen:

Right after we finished moving Amy, we went to dinner with the Hills and their family friends for Fred's birthday, which was great fun!

We had the Greenville Burkas come visit us for Easter. Alas, not a single picture that I know of. There was ham. Such a big one that I couldn't get the lid on the crock pot. We had rolls, mac and cheese, green beans, potato salad, bread pudding, and lemon pie. Yum!!

Softball season has started. Most of the games are on Thursday night. I'm apparently the official book-keeper now that Chris is coaching. Good thing I learned how to note the fielding last year. Don't ask me their record. The season did just start and they're playing quite well. Especially once Coach Chris whips them into shape.

This past Friday night, I got to enjoy one of my Christmas presents. Chris gave me tickets to see Les Miserables at the Peace Center. And, because he's a smart boy, he got awesome tickets on the front row of the first balcony, where short people like me can see! So we got dressed up, had dinner at Brick Street and went to the play. It was A-Mazing. Chris liked it. That should say something. I'm actually listening to the soundtrack for the second time today as I write this. It's pretty fabulous.

Before we went to the play, I got out in the backyard and dug up a small plot of the yard. We have a lot of dandelions, whose roots are like tree roots, so I had to really hack at it to get the plot cleared. Once I'd gotten the soil turned and mixed in with some gardening soil, I planted three tomato plants (Roma, Big Boy, and an Heirloom). I have high hopes for them, because there were about a million earthworms in the ground. I made sure all of them made it back into the plot to keep the soil healthy. They've already put on new growth since being planted!

I also have a box garden on the back porch for my herbs: mint, basil, and oregano. The mint is so good in tea in the summer, and we cook a LOT of Italian food.

Since you've so kindly stuck around this long, I'll reward you with this link. LLAMAS! The website lets you type things in and then see cute little llamas spell it out.

Have fun!

October

October is my favorite month of the year. The weather starts to cool off (in theory). The sky almost always seems to be an impossible shade of blue. I have fond memories of Sundays in fall at my parents' house. It always seemed to be sunny on sundays. With the crunch of the leaves, and that wonderful smell (you know, the smell of fall), a nap in the hammock always did the trick. It'd be breezy, so the hammock would sway, but it was sunny, so you didn't freeze. It was wonderful. These days, since we don't have anything to nap in in our yard, I open the living room windows and the back porch windows, and I just enjoy the cross-breeze.

It seems like fall is taking a long time to get here. I have a pile of freshly knit hats, shawls, and even two sweaters, just dying to be worn. I got to wear my most recently knit sweater, a gray one, when Chris and I went apple picking, but it's been too warm since then to even consider it. This has made me realize that my hobby and the weather are not friends. But at least I have this awesome sweater!

Speaking of apple picking, I finally got to do that for the first time (if mom and dad took me, I don't remember. Amy's class went, but mine didn't.). Chris and I went up to Skytop in Flat Rock, NC, the first weekend of October. It was chilly and awesome, because I got to wear that sweater. We've been eating fresh apples ever since, and there has been apple pie and apple cobbler. Hopefully, some of the grannys will keep until time to make pie for thanksgiving. Chris kindly modeled our apples for me.

 

Then a kind lady took a picture that has BOTH of us in it! Yay! This may very well end up on our Christmas card, for lack of other picture.

All this talk of fall, combined with the beautiful weather outside, has me daydreaming about hiking Mt. Pisgah. So nice up there. Chris has never been. Note to self: must go to Pisgah.

But not this weekend! This weekend, we're going to Charleston. Chris' former roommate is getting married on Sunday. Since we'll already have to take Monday off (conveniently, it's fall break at Clemson), we decided to make a vacation out of it and leave on Saturday. We're going to be super touristy and see things like Ft. Sumter. AND, we get to see some old friends, which is always a nice treat. Oddly enough, Chris' family will be down there for the weekend, so we're having dinner with them on Saturday night.

In other news, Chris is still autocrossing. And enjoying it thoroughly. If you want to know something about autocross, you'll have to ask him at Christmas.

We have a pecan tree in our yard that is so close to ripe, but not quite yet. Chris has to park elsewhere, because they keep dropping on his car.

We have officially joined that new small group I mentioned last time. We're enjoying the fellowship with other couples our age.

Remember the creepy bugs I talked about last time? I googled them. They're earwigs. Apples to Apples will never be the same.

Clemson football is having a good year. We're winning and stuff. I've never been the fan of a winning team before. This is quite fun. The Greenville contingency will be going to a game in November. We even have a parking space, which is a big deal.

I finished our Christmas stockings, so we can start the holidays whenever. I'm ready. Ozaria helped me pick up pinecones the other day. I'm thinking we'll be spray painting them gold or silver. And decorating with them. Obviously. Martha would be so proud.

Speaking of Ozaria, she is doing well in school. Remembering what she learned in school is another story. She recently told me Marco Polo is from New Jersey. I have no idea where that started. Also, nearly every week, she discusses what she would do if Justin Bieber were here. It usually involves tears.

Progress with the mentor program revival is slow, but steady. We're going to be kicking-off recruitment next month. It's exciting. I just hope we can find enough mentors to match the demand for mentors.

I've discovered something lately. If you really want to know how important something really is in your life, just try to go cold turkey. I quit drinking sodas at all, some time ago. Recently, I've allowed myself the new Dr. Pepper Ten, despite their motto ("it's not for women"). I honestly think I could be fine without sodas at any time. For a while, there was the occasional craving for a Dr. Pepper, but now I find myself indifferent. I also have put myself on a yarn ban. I can knit what I have. But I can't buy yarn until Halloween. I've been under this ban for over a month already. Turns out, though frustrating, it has allowed me to really contemplate which projects I do and don't care to knit. I have several lovely sweaters lined up as soon as halloween comes along. I've been able to prioritize my projects and not buy yarn for the sake of buying yarn.

Whenever I write a new blog post, I read the most recent post, then I make a list. Good news: I'm almost done with the list for today.

One last thing. My new project at work is on scintillators. Essentially, radiation detectors. They are used in two major fields. One is medical: CT and PET scanners. The other is security: shipment scanning at borders. Now you know!

Have a good fall, y'all!

Back To School

It's time for back to school. In my world, it means that the days at the lab grow longer and quieter. I'm actually the only one here right now. I also find myself daydreaming about fresh school supplies. I'm a post-it junkie. I also like new pens, graph paper, fresh spiral notebooks and sharpies that still have their points. I have a plethora of school supplies and no need for new ones. Usually, I still end up with new school supplies. This year, I (gasp!) organized what I had and chose from that stash.

Enough about school supplies. It's an interesting year. I'm the chief of staff for graduate student government. This means I sit there and look pretty. I am also on the library committee. This exciting committee meets once a year. The job also includes legal aid, meaning I hand out forms to the handful of students who request legal aid each year. And then I sit in senate meetings and cabinet meetings and steering meetings. For the record, I get paid for this glamorous job. On paper, my primary job is to keep Erin sane. Have to earn my keep somehow, right?

My research is moving forward nicely. I'm at a bit of a turning point, where I'm no longer working toward the same outcome as before. Same materials, different goal. If you want the whole story, let me know and I'll explain it as soon as I understand it myself. I swear I've been reading the same page for days. But the quiet at the lab is killing me. The summer students are gone. The undergrads are back in classes and only here two days a week. Courtney is working every other day at Tetramer. Tiffany is writing at home. Alex is in classes. Steph is here most days, but is fostering a dog who requires attention, so I am actually completely alone today.

I've turned into the local go-to poster child for "took medication for my ADD and I turned out fine". Mom works with a lady who asked to talk to me about my experience with it. Apparently, this worked out so well for her that she told friends about it and they want to meet with me too. I've come to a conclusion that this is for the kids, and someone who knows (ie: not Tom Cruise) should share what they can. It doesn't mean I've got the right answer or the wrong answer. It just means that I'm not crazy and talking about things I don't know anything about. I've actually got the experience with it and want to help the kids. I'm such a sucker for kids.

Speaking of kids, I'm still mentoring Ozaria, who will be starting 4th grade this year, hopefully at a new school where she can be better understood. I'm also working with a team to revive the mentor program at church and hopefully get more of the kids in her neighborhood connected with their own mentors. It's going to be a lot of work, but we have a team of four who all care deeply about those kids. Can't wait to see things moving forward!

Our house is like home base for every sort of strange bug known to mankind. We had the war on the black widows. Then there are these two enormous writing spiders in the bushes. I like those. Scratch that, I TOLERATE those. They are both interesting and docile, so I let them make their home in my bushes. Their full width (legs and all) probably is the size of my hand. They are both named Charlotte. Yesterday, a boatload of ants made it into my kitchen. I never figured out what drew them there, but I found where they came in outside, so they're all taken care of. Then there are these long skinny bugs that I've been calling devil bugs because their tails look like forked tongues. Creepy bugs. We also have animals. Bunnies like the cherries in our yard. So they're always out there. The squirrels like them too. And the birds. There was a dog who sleeps on our porch every once in a while. And I saw a garden snake once. On another note, we have a pecan tree in our yard. I hope our neighbors don't get any ideas. They're already creepy enough without them walking around in our yard stealing pecans. Plus. I have every intention of picking them up myself. We're gonna have a bucket.

Chris is working hard, as always. Harder than ever, in fact. He's got added hours so he's been getting home later. And more tired. We've decided to change small groups. The group we're in is intended for young singles, so we decided to visit a few other groups and see what comes of it. Tonight we're visiting a group whose leader Chris has played softball with for years.

We went to Asheville on Saturday. I bought yarn for our Christmas stockings and am already 2/3 done with Chris'. I may have also bought some red cashmere for myself. I'm thinking gloves. I'm working on a gray sweater that will be so comfy when it's done. And I'm almost done with Christmas presents. Also managed to make myself a blue shawl and finish my purple sweater in there too. I just have to finish Amy's (and yes, it will be finished this year).

This weekend is the first Clemson game. Chris has an autocross that day, so I'm going up to Greenville to watch the game on the enormous screen at Chateau Burka. Apparently Mo will be there too, so it's a party!

And that's all the news that's fit to print!