Happy Birthday Suzan!

Gina's ma has a birthday today! She's relaxing on the beach in Mexico to celebrate. Mozart's birthday is also today, though he is much older and never went to Mexico. Happy birthday, you two!

Look here doubters!

We are working on our dissertations for real. Check out our tidy desks. This is where Thomas does his great thinking.
This filing system keeps him organized.
Gina's desk is in the tv room. For all you scholars planning to write dissertations, it's definitely a bad idea to set up your dissertation desk in the tv room. Put the remotes out of reach.She has a filing system, too.
And a lavender candle provides stress relief.

MLK day

This is a big day in our neighborhood! We walked up the street to watch the Martin Luther King day parade. It's a tradition.
Ronald McDonald was definitely the biggest celebrity in the parade.

There were some men in tiny cars Followed by some even smaller cars

Overall, Winnie enjoyed his first parade. He liked everything but the drums in the marching bands.

Delphi decided to stay home. We tried to bring her a couple years ago, but she got much too scared and she lost control of her body functions. Now she guards the house while we're gone.

We love how random people just ride in the parade

Motorcycle dudes

And the best part, the NC A+T marching band!

Daniel specially requested this video of the dancers.

The Big 1-00000

Thomas' car has been getting close to a major milestone. All week long we found ourselves running unnecessary errands, hoping to land at 100K right in front of the house. Gina achieved this very same impressive feat of timing 2 years ago when she was driving back from Hilton Head and the car clicked over just as she pulled up to the house! Well, mission accomplished for Thomas. And congratulations to Prince the purple Neon. Thanks Varco for a great car.

Toblerone Cake

Thomas found a good deal and bought 24 bars of Toblerone. To use some of it up, we baked this Toblerone cake, which was delicious. The warm gooshy chunks of chocolate inside the cake were the best part.

Christmas is over

So we said goodbye to our beautiful tree.

Why are there so many songs about rainbows?

Today it has been very windy and dark and dramatic outside. For most of the day we have been locked up in our rooms practicing, lesson planning, and thinking about our dissertations. Look what appeared in the sky!

Transatlantic Siedler

We are embarrased about how dorky this is but it was fun. Today we played Settlers with Erika and Zach in Germany using Skype. We are technology wizards!

Happy New Year

On New Year's Eve we played a concert of big band music with the symphony, then Thomas drove to the airport to pick up Daniel. He'll be visiting for a few weeks while he takes his comp exams.
Our first meal of the year at 2 am: Chocolate fondue and fresh fruit!

Sweet and Sour

Just three days ago we were flipping through garden catalogs and Gina announced to Thomas that she desperately wanted to own a mini fruit tree. She wanted one so urgently that she thought about going to the nursery to purchase one right away, but she has a bad cold and felt too sick to go running around town. So she folded the page corner over and resolved to order one in the spring.
And lo and behold look at what arrived in the mail yesterday! A baby lemon tree from the Rudys! All packaged up in a fancy box with a heat pack so it wouldn't feel cold. How did they know? We are so delighted. We will be squeezing fresh lemonade from our new tree in no time.

Team P 2008 Year in Review

Best new recipe
G: Sourdough bread from scratch
T: Rice pudding

Favorite meal
G: Giant wiener schnitzel in Vienna
T: Every meal

Least favorite meal
Broccoli rabe. Inedible for Thomas

Flavors of pie eaten
Apple
Peach
Cherry
Pumpkin
Cherry Supreme
Chocolate Chess
Chocolate
Pecan

Things we were surprised to learn that Winnie will eat
Christmas tree, grapefruit, orange peel, banana peel, coffee

Worst smell of the year
December 26, 2008. Bella, after sneaking in to the kitchen and eating a plate of Christmas cookies

All the places we went
Charlottesville, Virginia
Salzburg and Vienna, Austria
Munich, Germany
Orlando, Florida
Bowmanville, Canada
All over Quebec, Canada (Gina)
Columbus, Ohio

Favorite new gadget
A three way tie: the Wii, the single-cup coffee machine, and Thomas' touch-screen phone that you can watch tv on

Favorite game
Tie: Settlers of Catan and Mario Kart

Favorite new hobby
T: photography
G: sewing

Best career news
G: Getting a job teaching Music Appreciation, going on string quartet tour with great salary
T: Subbing as principal with Winston-Salem Symphony, becoming a founding member of Relevents Wind Quintet

Pounds lost: 20 (all by Thomas)
Most miles run in a row: 14 (again, Thomas)

Favorite outfit
T: flannel shirt and 32-waist jeans
G: grey raincoat from H+M

Number of music students
4 piano
6 cello

Best home improvement
Adding a vegetable garden

Head count
People: 2. Thomas and Gina
Dogs: 3. Bella, Delphi, and Winnie
Fish: maybe 20? And 1 shrimp
Frogs: 4. Scheidt, Schuetz, Meaghan, and Scott
In memory of many fish, a newt named Fig, and several frogs

Favorite blog post of the year
Click here

Funniest moment of the year
Winnie blowing himself over with a big sneeze

What we're looking forward to in 2009
Ikea opening in Charlotte
Thomas' quintet tour to Germany, Switzerland, and France
Daniel and Elizabeth's wedding
Graduating for real