Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sydney’s currently about ten minutes into his dissertation defense.  He has not had much time to gather his thoughts and read through his materials in the past few days, so he’s going to have to rely on general intelligence and … Continue reading →

You’ll remember that I wrote about my confusion over the disparagement of “Ma’am” as a form of address.  Well, in England I’m apparently “Mrs. Erin Penner,” a term that I find really confusing (either Ms. Penner or Mrs. Sydney Penner, … Continue reading →

After giving Katherine’s winter hat up for lost we discovered it neatly draped over a fence post in the parks this morning.  Someone had apparently reclaimed it from wherever Katherine had thrown it on a recent walk with Sydney, and … Continue reading →

I’m a sucker for new pizza ideas, and the other day Sydney and I stumbled across one that sounded great.  For those of you who are in the Ithaca area, it comes from Hazelnut Kitchen, a great local-foods restaurant in … Continue reading →

My first appointment with the midwife was, to put it mildly, confusing: lots of terms I had trouble translating, lots of confusion about what’s standard both here and in the States.  And she frowned and said, “you’re small” when measuring … Continue reading →

I thought that maybe this time around we could do away with most of the gadgets that come with children.  We already worked through the trials of finding a stroller (my workhorse!), and we have no need for a carseat … Continue reading →

With the unwieldy slush gone and the worst of the flu behind us, we’ve reemerged from the house. Sydney made the mistake of going out birdwatching without cleaning up (he’d been holed up on the top floor, working hard for … Continue reading →

Katherine’s favorite thing in the world seems to be birds.  First it was “quack quack” and “duck duck,” but she’s since expanded (or confused) her world to include all manner of birds.  When she and I sat down to play … Continue reading →

When I was in the stationery store the other day the young man at the counter suddenly asked, “Do you get a lot of mood swings?”  Answering “no, not really” before I remembered that I’m pregnant (and not just female!), … Continue reading →

Sydney looked around our house and complained about the lack of good reading material for sick days.  When I started to protest, he made it quite clear that I would be a fool to suggest my Woolf and Faulkner novels … Continue reading →