Cooking with Mom

While Mark was in California enjoying the lovely San Diego weather while attending JPC, I had the opportunity to spend some time in Indianapolis enjoying the lovely company of Adel while we spent a few days together stocking her freezer!  Fun, fun for everyone! :-D  And while the weather in Indy was not as delightful as in San Diego, the company couldn't have been better.

Essentially, Adel and I had a marathon cooking fest to stock her freezer with tummy friendly foods that could be easily reheated. Our first day was spent planning and shopping, and then the next few days were cooking and storing! What fun! We cooked until we were tired, and then sat around, chatted, and enjoyed one another's company. Mark's father was intrigued by what was going on, particularly since the house was so full of food...but none of it was for dinner :-) Thanks for being such a good sport while we made a huge mess of the kitchen!

I must say, it was like cooking in a fairy land...every morning, the dishes were wonderfully washed from the day before. It was so, so kind of Mike to do that for us before he went to work. I felt a little like a bum since I got to sleep in until, like, 10 every morning, then get up and cook to my hearts content while making a huge mess in the process, end the evening generally with dinner, ice cream, and a movie with Marks parents, then go off to sleep...and magically the kitchen would be all sparkly the next day ready for us to do it all over again!  

And truly, we made. So much food. Lasagna, twice baked potatoes, stuffed chicken breasts, breaded chicken fillets, spaghetti sauce, taco meat, rice pilaf, biscuits, meatball soup, stew, meat loaf, banana bread, muffins, granola bars, all of it packaged into easily reheat able meals of two and labeled with cooking instructions. It was a complete blast! Truly, I can't remember all that we made, but Adel and Mike said that it was yummy and that is what was important.

We finished just in time for Mark to come back from California, and we drove back to WL together! Thanks for letting me come and stay while Mark was gone Mom! It was so much fun! :-D 

San Diego, JPC, and the USS Midway

Mark had the opportunity to attend JPC in the beautiful Sand Diego, California. He had a very good time seeing friends and meeting people, and getting to hear about different work that is going on in his field. He got a chance to attend more sessions at this conference than previously, as he presented at an earlier session unlike Nashville :-) And, what a better location! Mark said the weather could not have been more perfect. He also said he had a lot of fun playing with friends from the lab after the conference sessions in the day. A particular highlight was also going to dinner with the Headmen family who had stopped at JPC on their way back from China Lake Naval Base after interning there for the summer.

Another super fun thing Mark got to do was attend the annual party sponsored by Moog. This year they rented the USS Midway (converted to a museum and memorial in 2004). The main hangar that runs the length of the ship beneath the flight deck and the flight deck with all of the cool historical aircraft turned into one big party consisting of food, drink, music, and nerdy aerospace engineers. :) Super fun! I wish I could have been there too! Maybe next time :-)  

Mark missed out on the tours that they were giving about the ship before the party, so he returned the next day during normal business hours to tour the rest of the ship.  I can't tell if Mark was more excited to be there, or to be able to tell his dad about being there. Mark's father loves military history, particularly WWII, and that is something Mark loves sharing with him. It was so cool! Aircraft carriers are like small cities that float in the ocean. The carrier not only displayed information from a rich military history throughout the ship, but exhibits were also presented about what life was like aboard Midway. Mark told me allll about the kitchen (or I should say kitchen-s) was I totally blown away by the sheer amount of food that was prepared and consumed. Crazy!