Flying to Long Island on Thursday...

Hi, Mom!

Just so you know.....we're flying up to Long Island tomorrow morning to attend the wedding of our nephew, George, who is the son of Ed's brother, George.  We'll be staying with Ed's sister, Valerie, until Monday morning.  We're flying into a small airport on Long Island rather than La Guardia or JFK.  I refused to drive (or ride) anywhere near NYC.  I'm sort of looking forward to seeing all the relatives but it's always stressful.  Ed's family never ceases to surprise me with their sensitive natures.  I have to be very careful about everything I say.  We'll be getting back on Monday morning and then I head straight to my school for a faculty in-service.  We'll have faculty meetings all week and then Monday of the following week, the kids come back.

For the first time, we have hired a "house sitter" to take care of our house and pets. A former student of Ed's who is now in college is going to stay here at the house and take care of everything.  If this works out, we may continue to hire her when we travel.  It's much nicer for Delta to be here rather than in a kennel and Millie will be very happy to have somebody at the house.  Lindsay will sleep in our guest bedroom.  We'll see....

I will be back at school on Tuesday.

Ed and I have been so excited about Curiosity, the Mars Science Lab (MSL) landing on Mars.  That's the lander that was launched last November when Ed and I got to view the launch.  We stood at the launch with several of the people who were instrumental in creating, building, and launching Curiosity.  It was really great to see them on TV at Mission Control  whooping and jumping up and down when Curiosity landed on Mars early Monday morning. 

Two of the pictures I sent you of flowers on the Cottonwood Trail are really interesting. 

This is an Asiatic Dayflower. It is not native to the U.S., but was introduced from...guess where.....Asia! It is also considered "invasive" and, sadly, even a "noxious weed." I find that a little harsh. The tiny flower is beautiful, in my opinion, and was growing along the path on the Cottonwood Trail that Ed and I visited last week in Spartanburg. It made my walk on the trail very pleasant. Of course, I don't like mowing down dandelions, either.

This was is a Spotted Touch-Me-Not...

It also is not native to the U.S. The name comes from how it reacts to touch by bursting its seeds. Believe it or not, a reliable source says crushed stems of this plant can be used as an antidote for poison ivy. Cool.... 

We had a chance to talk to Travis today.  He seemed upbeat.  He spent Tuesday on a date with a woman who works at Harrah's in one of the other restaurants.  She's from Belarus (Russian).  He had a great time.  She's been in the country about 7 years and is 27.  He said she has been through a lot and is "tough."  I'm glad he's found somebody to talk to.  He said they spent about 6 hours talking over coffee and eventually dinner on Tuesday.  I know he's being very cautious, though.  He doesn't want to get hurt again.

Krista has gotten very serious about losing weight.  She has a plan she's working on.  I hope it works.

I love you, Mom.  I'll try to keep in touch through Ed's laptop while we're on Long Island.

xoxoxo