With this ring...

This weekend, we traveled to Maryland for Jamie Hasenauer's wedding along with other merriments. Jamie is one of Tony's friends from high school who I have also gotten to know over many years of holiday get-togethers. Her wedding was very beautiful in every respect. Father Jack, who was the headmaster at Loyola HS when Tony was there, presided over the wedding and delivered a lovely recounting of how Jamie and Adam met and fell in love.


Following the ceremony, we enjoyed a very nice reception and delicious dinner at the Hunt Valley Country Club and caught up with a lot of Tony's friends from high school. I think it is so neat how this group of folks have kept in touch for all of these years. I wish I could say the same for my high school friends! Here are some photos taken at the reception (the pix in the chapel didn't turn out so well)...

the cake... red velvet inside matched the bridesmaids dresses

Brad, Lindsay, Annie, and Justin on the patio overlooking the golf course

the wedding party

me, Lindsey R, Lauren, Annie, and Mary

Tony and Anne

Brad and Justin, slow dancing together

Tony and me with the beautiful bride

Sunday morning, we teamed up with Kathy to make breakfast for Mother's Day for Tony's parents, aunt Janet, and uncle Greg. We whipped up some scrambled eggs, bacon, creamed chipped beef, platapus mounds, Entenmann's danish, and fresh fruit. It turned out quite well, if I do say so myself! Now, you might be wondering what the heck "platapus mounds" are, so I'll explain. Take yourself back to your Mister Rogers days and journey into Mister Rogers' neighborhood. Beyond the little train tracks and around the corner a ways, you come to a mound of dirt with lots of bumps and holes, from which occasionally pops out a duck-billed platapus. Now, imagine that mound made out of Bisquik, milk and butter... and you've got platapus mounds (aka drop biscuits)! They are extremely simple to make and compliment scrambled eggs or creamed chipped beef any day!

Platapus Mounds

2 1/3 cups Bisquik

3 Tbsp sugar (optional, or can be reduced)

3 Tbsp butter, melted

1/2 - 1 Cup milk

Mix ingredients well, adding a little more milk if needed until all Bisquik is incorporated. Rub a little butter on a cookie sheet and drop dough by large spoonfuls (makes about 7 biscuits). Bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes.

On the way back to Durham, we took a detour to see Laura and Scott's new townhouse in Richmond. It's incredibly spacious and in a beautiful woodsy setting. They had a lot of unpacking still left to do as they had just moved in on Saturday, but the living room already looks homey, and the rest of the place has great potential. We're already planning our next trip up to visit this summer and hopefully see the place all put together!

Despite the torrential rains and crazy lightning, we made it back to Durham in one piece last night, close to 10pm and are back on regular schedule again this morning. Tony is holding true to his new commitment at the gym, for which I am very proud of him. It takes a lot to get him going to gym at 5:30 in the morning and he's doing a great job!

One other quick note... my students were featured on the radio this weekend! They received an honorable mention in the Triangle Youth Chorus Trophy competition and the local classical station played a selection from their March concert on Sunday during a feature of great youth choirs in the Triangle. It was really neat to hear them and to hear the host talking about the great music that my students make and how they have great potential for continuing to share music throughout their lives.