Dear faithful readers,

Friends and family, strangers, random people who found us on the internet when you felt like baking and googled Toblerone Cake (hello Swiss people!):

We are moving up in the world!

We are pretty bad at using Blogger. We can't move pictures around in a post and it's hard to get the spacing right. Things keep getting randomly underlined and then we can't get the underlines to go away. It's time for this craziness to end because we are very busy people with dissertations to write.

So we moved. Our new site is:

www.thomasandgina.wordpress.com.

Please come visit!

Fall Break

We work so hard in all our jobs and of course on our dissertations too.

So we were really ready for a long weekend - classes were cancelled for Columbus Day and we went to the zoo. We haven't been there for a year and a half! Lots of things are the same. Do you see any animals?
But they did put in a few new things. For example during the really long hike from Africa to North America (1:1 scale) they put in a geyser! Beat that Steffi and Dietmar! And in the dome where the monkeys and meerkats and little tiny deer animal used to be, there is now an exhibit of African Violets. Psst! You wanna buy some gold watches?

And this here is just a nice flamingo with some feathers in his mouth.

A Great Quiz

What does this spider look like to you?

Birthday Cake

Gina's Famous Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (first time!)
Recipe: follow the directions on the box. But be smart and buy two cans of pineapple, not one. As you can see here for yourself, Gina had to learn this the hard way.

32

Ouch, that's a big number. But look what you get for breakfast on your birthday around here!
This afternoon Thomas took Gina to our favorite restaurant for lunch. She got spanikopita and he got a gyro. The most beautiful bouquet Gina ever saw... you know what makes it so pretty? There are CABBAGES in it! Seriously, someone is a genius (and it's Thomas).
Gina came home from teaching to find this surprisingly large stack of presents on the table. Winnie is included here for size comparison.
It's been a terrific day.

More pictures of plants

A few weekends ago we did some gardening in the front yard, but never got around to posting pictures. Here they are!
The hydrangeas and holly bushes have been there for several years but just about everything else is new.

A few years ago Gina planted some ornamental cabbages along the front walk. You know, for fall, like a harvest-time kind of thing. She thought it looked cool but Thomas made fun of them! So she was pretty surprised when he picked these out at Lowe's.

Gina's favorite place in the house right now is the front porch. She brings her laptop out and does her lesson planning there. It will be so sad when it's too cold to sit out here anymore.

Bye, summer.

Birthday Girl

This pretty lady is Gina's Oma. She is Gina's mama's mama and she was born in 1915. Isn't she lovely? She tells the best stories (what a memory!) and always has a hug for you. She bakes amazing cookies and she can beat almost anyone at Wii golf.Happy Birthday Oma, we love you!

Some backyard improvements

We took a little break from lesson planning last weekend to do some work outside. Here's the end result: a new border to the right of the walkway. Hopefully those poor half-dead grasses will survive... we bought them several weeks ago but didn't have time to plant them right away, so they just sat out in the blazing sun in their little plastic pots until they were extra crispy. Gina has killed lots of plants this way. We added a stepping stone. See?

Things we grew that we are going to eat

This little fig tree just looked like a stick when we bought it so were surprised when it actually grew three figs.
These cantaloupes here are the size of a tennis ball. We'll have to keep Winnie away from them.

What a delicious granola bar

Perfect for this time of year, when nobody has time to sit down and eat breakfast.Preheat oven to 250.

Combine 7 cups of dry granola ingredients in a large bowl. Of that 7 cups, about half should be rolled oats. The rest can be what you want: dried fruit, chocolate pieces, nuts, seeds, wheat germ, trail mix, coconut, whatever you like. A spoonful of cocoa powder is good in there too.

Warm one can of low-fat sweetened condensed milk in the microwave for 30-60 seconds, until it is thin enough to stir easily. You can add a giant spoonful of peanut butter too.

Add the condensed milk mixture to the granola and stir well.

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and press the mixture down firmly with a spatula. Bake for 45 minutes. Let it cool completely before you cut it up. Have a great day!

Goldfinches

Deal on Gum

Thomas never passes up a good deal. Today it was 22 packages of gum at Target.

Bugs

A Greensboro Grasshopper

Thomas and his happy feet

This is the story of Thomas and how he came to acquire these beautiful new mandals.
One of his mandals was destroyed in a violent attack a long time ago, and the other one died last weekend.

But that sure didn't stop Thomas from wearing them. These "Faded Glorys" from the WalMart's were discontinued, and they were all he had.

We searched and searched for a replacement pair. Thomas tried on fake Birkenstocks everywhere he could. He tried on women's sandals. We even looked for them in Canada. But nothing matched the comfort and price of those busted-up, 9-dollar mandals.

And then.....

A pair of generous patrons of the arts suddenly came to town and took pity on poor Thomas. Now he is a proud owner of genuine German Birkenstocks. The lady at the store said they would last 30 years.

He couldn't be happier. The end!

The other Professor P

Today is Gina's first day back!
She's teaching 2 music appreciation classes here. Her bag actually has wheels, but she carries it because everyone will laugh at her if she rolls it.

Professor P

Here's our handsome professor on his first day of school.
Thomas is teaching 5 college classes this semester: music fundamentals, class piano, and three sections of music appreciation. Isn't his bag awesome?

Handy Winnie

Helping fix the disposal.

Things we bought

A $20 laminator from Aldi. It smells very stinky while it's on, but we love having it. Look how professional our studio calendar looks now!
Gina's new shoes that Thomas bought her for only $15 a piece. She loves them.

Toronto Zoo

It has been almost a month since we went to Canada for Isabella's 2nd birthday (she's the adorable little nose-picker from a few posts back). We were terrible about taking pictures but we did get some at the zoo. For more pictures from Canada, check Gina's parents' blog here.
Hi Steffi and Dietmar!

Gina's favorite animal at the zoo

This one's for you Erika!

Rhino

Zebra

A very rare Canadian bird

Some other kind of Canadian bird

Snake

Petting stingrays. They are so soft!