One-third of the year has passed! School is winding down. Final preparations are being made on the house sale. Music is in the air.
The local herd has not been around as much lately. That is, until this week. Mike crossed paths on multiple days with a few deer, including Monday night on the way to his apartment.
Hallie thought the sand buckets on the preschool playground looked like a work of art.
Pins made from Mike's design for the EDLD arms arrived in the mail. We began distributing them to graduates and faculty (both current and former) from the department. The have been well-received. Kind of fun to have made a tangible contribution to the department's story of itself and to have something to tell students, "Welcome to the club!"
We've continued getting interesting weather in Missoula, including a
sunshower right in time for a rainbow near campus.
Between due diligence, counter-offers, and counter-counter-offers on the sale of the house, Hallie has been quite busy. She made a Lowe's run to look at getting a replacement kitchen sink (our current one had a crack. Long story).
The old Springville High will get demolished after Landon's class graduates. People are feeling nostalgic. Hallie saw these pillows in the seating area at Art City Coffee.
Landon will just be happy to be done with high school. He and Hallie went for a little stroll while they were waiting for his car to have its emissions and an oil change.
UM had its annual
Week of Excellence. Part of this has involved celebrations large and small on campus and the installation of a new seal on the Oval.
Diamond sent a delivery from ALDI (we do miss it so): A new ceramic frying pan.
Eliza got into making collages, including this one of Fergus. By our estimation, he turned 13 years old this week. Happy Birthday, Kitty!
Hallie saw the way a preschool class was growing plants from seeds. Hallie took a picture so if she gets the growing bug again she can try this method.
No barista favorite for Hallie? Hallie felt big sad when she saw her name wasn't included. Things have really started coming to an end.
Hallie and Reyna found a handyman who installed the new sink. Tah dah!
Hallie and Eliza had to go out during the installation. They met up with Bryce and Elise's oldest, Lily, and her fiancé, Trevin.
Hallie spent a little time channeling her inner Bob Ross. Sam's Club for the win.
The Springville folks played UNO. They have all the cool cards.
Mike took advantage of the lovely spring weather to hike the M Trail. He's been building his stamina over the last several months. At the beginning of the school year, he could only comfortably walk up part of the steep switchbacks. On Saturday, he made it up in 20 minutes. Not too shabby!
Such a lovely view with all those high cirrus clouds!
After returning to his office, he entertained himself making "stickers" and other items on Google Photos. Here's Plague Doctor Mike from COVID times.
AI interpretation from a photo from about a dozen years back. He didn't have a moustache in the original.
Pin, anyone?
Apparently AI thinks Mike is now a silver fox. Mike thinks it's just the photo lighting.
Anyway, on to more interesting subjects, like Eliza and Kai,
or Eliza and Hallie,
or the fam at Springville High at Christmastime.
Kai and Eliza look ready for their close-up.
Hallie and the pets.
Fergus with Jocie and Landon. Funny how it matched her eyes to her hair.
Ferg notices that something is not quite right with Mike in this image.
That's better.
Ferg is a handsome devil.
Here we catch a little more devil.
Domestic bliss, complete with mate (missing the bombilla though).
Landon worked a long shift on Saturday, 11 hours! Hallie, Eliza, and Amanda had to get out of the house while the appraiser made sure our house was actually approximately worth what we're selling it for. They attended the Mom and Me Mini Market in Provo and decided to get Eliza's ear pierced. Better that than her nose.
They also saw lots of fun vendors. At the end they were able to make little bouquets. The three of them spent just close to two hours at this fun event.
Priscilla looked after Kai while the girls and Landon were out. Fergus looked after himself.
Apparently Mike can count Orson Welles among mate afficionados. He watched some more Argentinian TV, including a show called "
El mejor infarto de me vida" ("The Best Heart Attack of My Life"). While the show itself (based on the novelization of the author's real-life experience) was cute and somewhat inspiring, what grabbed and held Mike's attention was the music that accompanied it, featuring tunes by
The Magnetic Fields. Mike has pretty varied and eclectic taste in music, and yet somehow he had never heard of them (although it seems apparent he must have heard some of their music just watching TV over the last few decades). Sometimes we get these strange holes in our pop culture experience, and that is no longer the case for Mike in this regard as he has now devoured their discography. Nom nom nom!
You're invited. RSVP!
Mike found these mushrooms at the base of the mountain ash that used to be in his back yard. He has not checked to see if they are edible. Of course, any fan of Terry Pratchett knows that "All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once."
Mike saw this flyer for a Lilith Fair tribute concert on campus on Sunday.
He found a spot under the shade of a flowering tree and enjoyed the tunes while the blossoms gently fell and the bees buzzed among the buds.
He caught sight of this vintage baby blue
MG TD Midget Roadster too.
Hallie worked her last shift at the Smith's Starbucks. The last day was bittersweet. Two workers from the meat department who are switching stores after today gave Hallie a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates. They are her favorite. It made her day! Other than that, she walked out the back door just as she had walked in this morning. Thank you, Smiths and Starbucks!
