Literary Pigs

In this (sort of) new blogging venture, I wanted a certain theme.  In  the past, it was dictated by our settings.  Well, now I'm back in the south.  I must admit that I don't feel particularly southern.  I don't speak with a charming drawl or refer to that unpleasant time in the mid-1800s as the war of northern aggression.  In the essentials, I am completely southern~ I refuse Pepsi for Coke, always say (even type) yall, and favor a warmer (though ridiculously humid) climate.  All this is to say that the theme for this blog wasn't going to be about discovering or exploring life in the south.  I chose to focus it on family and home.  These things are so important to me that it's in my name, or at least my old one (my maiden name Heim is German for "home").  So with the catchy new title compliments to my clever husband, I wanted the welcome to reflect the words.

Now anyone who knows my sweet husband knows he has a tremendous weakness for all things plaid.  This, too, may be hereditary since Hamilton is a serious Scottish name.  Above in the background is one of the Hamilton tartans.  What's a tartan, you ask?  Traditionally it is woven wool with a pattern of horizontal and vertical strips in various colors.  Since the 1800s certain patterns were associated with Scottish families or clans.  We happen to love remembering these traditions, so naturally I wanted to incorporate Kyle's heritage into the design.  Above is the standard Hamilton tartan.  On a brief tangent, here are a few other Hamilton goods we happen to love....

Kyle sporting his Hamilton hunting tartan tie among more Hamiltons.

I rock my Ham hunting plaid scarf for an extra layer of warmth in chilly Metz.

Behold the clan crest perfectly etched on a frosty glass.

So you could say we're Hamilton enthusiasts.

On a not so special day many months ago, Kyle and I referred to ourselves by accident as the Ham fam.  Well, you've seen me exploit our shamelessly self-dubbed nicknames all over this blog.  The Ham abbreviation of our last name simply progressed to a fine swine theme.  How perfect would it be to have pigs in the intro?  I looked no further than my younger sister, Miss Foo, who is a gifted artist with one simple request~could you illustrate literary pigs?  While developing the idea on a very bumpy unpaved road in Corsica, Kyle seemed puzzled by the concept of a literary pig.  For you see there are all sorts of pigs~country pigs, cartoon pigs, real live pigs, guinea pigs, cooked pigs... the list goes on, but I'll spare you the Bubba Blue illustration.  A literary pig is best defined by John Tenniel's (The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland) or Pauline Baynes' (first edition Chronicles of Narnia) style illustrations.  You could also recall the cover of Charlotte's Web to imagine a literary pig.  Quite different from a Porky Pig, Piglet, Pumbaa, or (my favorite) Pippo of Sanrio/Hello Kitty collectibles fame.  Thankfully, Miss Foo had no trouble rounding up these pigs; she drew them one evening last week on her computer.  She has serious skills. 

There you have it~the story behind the new look.  Hope you all had happy Thanksgivings and are happily looking forward to this wonderful Advent season. 

What a cheeky little ham!

A day in the life...

... of a SUPER housewife.  Well now that I'm a full-time homemaker, I thought things would be dull.  I should have learned this lesson by now, but free time always fills too quickly.  In my day to day I try to set aside chore time, reading time, and social time (though this is not everyday).  Chores range from doing the dishes, making the bed, tidying up the dorm, and manage our grocery list and calendar.  I also kill bugs because we keep the windows open and have no screens.  Soon I hope to venture to the grocery store solo~typically Kyle and I go together because it's sort of a team effort, but it'd be nice to give him a break.

My reading time is the highlight of my day~I have 4 areas of reading.  I try to keep up with the news on a few different websites each day.  I have just started reading the Old Testament in chronological order and taking notes to what God illuminates during my studies.  I have a textbook called La France contemporaine; this is so I read in French and learn more about my current home.  Lastly is fun reading.  I have a whole bookshelf full of books that have been scavenged from the GTL communal library.  In the past month, I picked up 10 books... a bit ambitious, but I'm optimistic.

Social time has been the best.  I'm sort of a homebody, and I was seriously bad about spending time with our friends on school days.  In the past week, Kyle and I had Bible study (like always) on Monday night.  On a lovely sunny afternoon Lauren and I sat lakeside and knit.  We met a funny French fella who chatted us up for a while (or should I say, "il a drague un peu avec nous").  Lauren got a bad sunburn on her legs except on the parts where her project (a cute angora sweater) covered her fair skin.

On a brief tangent, I had once been an amateur knitter as a young girl.  My aunt Pam decided to take knitting classes at a local Michael's craft shop.  Somehow or other, I was volunteered to be her knitting partner.  It was quite fun because there were limitless resources in the store.  I never completed any project; I was very bad at following through on things I started without the proper motivation (i.e. my mom's reminders).  Anywho, my great aspiration to make a knit cover to a pillow was never achieved, but I did successfully decorate a wicker basket with fake sunflowers to hold all my knitting materials...

Back to modern times~this is what I achieve on our knitting and sitting outing:

The color seems a bit muted in this picture~it's more of a Kermit the frog green (or lime green if you are my old step-mom Lane.  I mean old because she no longer is my step-mom, not because of her age....).  I call it Squiggly Rectangle.  It's still on the needle because I'm out of yarn and don't know how to terminate the project.  Help me Lauren!

Lauren and I ended our delightful afternoon with some bitter lemon beverages and cartoons!  Then there was a cookout at GTL for all the undergrad students as a sort of Independence/Bastille day joint celebration.  The food was fantastic, but those undergrads are certainly unruly and rude.  It's a bad batch-o-kids.  I didn't socialize again until Friday.  Rocky invited us to a super secret surprise birthday party for his wife, Maria!  A big group of us were scheduled to meet at la Winstub (a Hamilton favorite).  It's an Alsacian restaurant, and the food is marvelous~I had scalloped veal in a muenster and mushroom cream sauce and a huge side of roasted (hashbrown-like) potatoes.  There was also some Kir & Riesling involved.  We had a lovely time with a huge group of friends.  

Kyle, me, Rocky, and the birthday girl!

You may say to yourself, "Self, this does not a whole week make."  You'd be correct in assuming that I didn't simply do chores, read, and hang out all week long.  I have found a new weakness.  Cartoons, cartoons, cartoons!  I spend a good amount of time on Cartoon Network's website watching episodes of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and clips of Adventure Time.  On top of that, Making Fiends on Nicktoons is a hit~I remember watching it when it was just an online thing.  Lauren also indulged my new obsession; she and Michael have Netflix.  In the online library is a whole host of old Nicktoons~we watched Aaahhh! Real Monsters and Ren & Stimpy last week.  I'll leave you with a clip from Adventure Time~it makes me so so happy.