Social stuff

We have had the chance to be social a couple times recently. First, we met Linda at her NYC apartment. Linda is a friend of Grandma Sites. She showed us her lovely NYC place, which she was just visiting briefly to get it rented out again. We had a nice brunch nearby after seeing the apartment.

Linda and Brian:

Last weekend, I went to Long Island to see some of our friends, who recently moved to a new place. Brian was planning on going, but Brussels was ill on Saturday morning when we were getting ready to go and he ended up staying at home to watch over him. It was great to get out and visit with some people, although we were all sad that Brian missed it. I did take some pictures, but I decided not to post them, since I am not in any of them.

Just a picture

Census

As you know, I have been working a lot for the census. Last week, we wrapped up our current operation (visiting houses that had not returned their form by mail). My census team had a social this weekend to mark the end of our time together. (There are still some other operations, but people can be shuffled around for that, so the teams change.)

We met at the house of one of my co-workers. She is a Pakistani woman and made lots of food for everyone (including some super spicy rice). We also asked everyone to bring something to share, so we ended up with a ton of food. There was some talk about our work, and I think Brian got a better idea of what I did the past couple months as part of the discussions. We had a good time and were sent home with many leftovers.

Here we are at the social:

Here I am with a few of my coworkers:

Smallworld

Recently, Brian bought us a new game called Smallworld. The basic idea is that you are trying to control as much of a map as possible, but the map is too small for everyone and things get crowded. I wonder if anyone reading this blog has played Smallworld?

Here is Brian considering his next move. We are playing the board for 2 players (the board gets a bit larger for more players). The first time through it was a little slow because we were learning the rules, but we caught on pretty fast.

Recent ferret pics

It has been pretty warm lately, so we have been closing windows and running the AC to cool the bedroom and front room (ferret room). When it gets warmer, the ferrets do more laying around to stay cool. But with the AC, they still love to run around and play. Here are a few pictures from the last couple weeks.

Brussels licking his chops, with Brian and Rex in the background:

Rex and Brian, just hanging out:

Brian rubbing Chewbacca's head. This is something Chewbacca really enjoys when he is waking up.

Me and Eve. She often licks my face in greeting.

Rex, taking advantage of the cool floor, waiting for something interesting to happen:

Eve prefers to relax on the bed, instead of the floor. She has higher standards.

Another shot of Brian and Chewbacca's waking up ritual.

Law school barbeque

A couple weeks ago, one of Brian's law school buddies (from Law Revue) had a barbeque at his parents' house to celebrate the end of the semester. We took a train and bus to get to a nearby suburban town in Jersey. It was a very nice area--lots of trees and large yards, which is something we miss in our current living situation. Here are a few pictures from that event.

Graduation Photos

Here are a few more of Brian's graduation photos. The actual day of campus-wide commencement was rainy and miserable outside, and the only place large enough for the ceremony is the central green on campus. Faced with the chance to sit out in the rain for several hours, we decided to stay home instead. Some of the other LLMs wanted to get together for some LLM photos (sans rain) the next week, so we went to campus to take part in those and pick up Brian's diploma. (The diploma is huge and entirely in Latin, but I think it made it back to our apartment without getting creased or stained in the crowded subway.) After taking some pictures with the robe, Brian returned it (rental). I was surprised to learn that he keeps the hat. Without further ado, here are the pictures.

Fancy architecture on this campus (I think this building might be my favorite):

On the bridge/lawn that goes over Amsterdam Ave (links the law school to the main campus block):

There were several bees in this area (they were loving the flowers), but Brian braved it for the nice backdrop.

Brian with the robe and hat by a flowering bush next to the law school (no bees here!):

Brian and another LLM student:

Here is the group of LLMs who came out for the sunny photo shoot. (One person didn't have the robe anymore.) This picture was taken on the same bridge over Amsterdam Ave shown in an earlier shot. There was a double-decker tour bus that drove by when this picture was taken, and all the tourists on the top of the bus cheered for the graduates.

Hurray! We graduated!