World's Actual Largest Basket

Early this month I posted about a sighting of what I claimed was the world's largest basket... my claim was bogus (really?!). And I have been directed to what actually is the "World's largest basket". This basket is a 7-story basket shaped building and home of the corporate headquarters of Longaberger Basket Company in Newark, Ohio.

One website states:
"The basket is a replica - 160 times larger- of Longaberger's Medium Market Basket. It's 192 ft. long by 126 ft. wide at the bottom, spreading to 208-ft. long by 142-ft. wide at the roofline. It is a magnificent sight- especially at night.

We'd like to think that job satisfaction is higher than normal at Longaberger's. After all, no matter how menial your daily labors or how incompetent your boss, you still work in a giant basket."

I am just going to ask... Who wouldn't like to work in a giant basket?

This website also illuminates that OH is known for all their large baskets... who knew? Visitors come carrying baskets... to look at giant baskets. Very odd hobby.

"Another reason that aliens could be confused about the relative importance of designer party baskets on this planet are the hordes of basket carrying zombies that routinely make pilgrimages to [the] woven Mecca. Over a half-million fans, many members of the "Collectors Club," visit HQ and other area Longaberger landmarks each year, carrying baskets, ready to remortgage the house for more, and hoping to get an autograph.

The entire region around Newark is basket-happy, thanks to the Longabergers. The World's Largest Apple Basket -over 29 feet tall - stands at the Longaberger Homestead in Frazeysburg, OH. It was hand-woven from hardwood maple in 1999. It's become an even better photo op since it was augmented with giant fake apples.

In nearby Dresden, on Main St. and 5th, you'll find the old HQ still standing, a house-sized picnic basket- 23-ft. tall and 48-ft. long. This huge basket was the first architectural creation of the Longaberger juggernaut.

The Big Easter Basket up in Lorain, OH is not a Longaberger creation, and it is a tad amateurish when compared to the other big baskets. Still, at 9 ft. high and 10 ft. wide, it suggests that big baskets have something to do with the soul of Ohio, not just the market-savviness of the Longaberger Basket Company. [Note: Giant eggs are placed in the Lorain basket, but only between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.]"

How dare they have giant eggs in the basket any other time...

Weekend: Pros and Cons

I am taking a line from my friend Laurel's blog. She is way more personal and conversational with her writing and I am going to try her style for a few posts and see how I like it. I also love her weekend pro and cons posts so this may or may not be a weekly addition. It also reminds me of the High/Low from Keith and the Girl (a daily podcast). Keith and Chemda always recap their day with the what was the best and the worst event/thing of the day... let's recap the weekend:

Pro: Dain's place and Nathan's return (see post below). I hate it when Nathan is gone and was really excited to hear about his first trip to New Orleans.

Pro: Finishing The Beak of the Finch! Saturday morning I had a lovely relaxing breakfast and sat out on our back porch and read. Pro #2 Humidity was low and the temperature was perfect! I'll post a review of the book later.

Con: Shopping at Costco on Saturday. There were thousands of people! and the lines were ten deep... but I made it out with all the things I wanted.
Pro: One of the things I wanted was Mario cart! I love love love this game and it even comes with a wheel.

Con: P.F. Chang's was too busy - a 30 minute wait.
Pro: Because of this, we went to Ted's Montana grill and had a bison burger and baked sweet potato. Yummy!

Pro: Bought hiking poles for the Galapagos, BPA free water bottles, and a new bike seat for me!

Pro: My lab came over for a picnic. Karen brought baby Adam - He's too cute! And he did not even cry. We introduced more people to ladder golf. And had a good lab bonding time.
Con: It rained - It poured! We had to go inside, but we played Wii and everyone loved it!

Dain's Place

On Friday Nathan returned from an overnight trip to New Orleans. This was one of the few overnighters that he has had to do with his job. In order to "catch-up", we headed to Dain's Place, a local bar on Ninth Street. We love this place! We each had several micro-brews and also a yummy marinated chicken sandwich. We love the decor, the people, and to top it off it is one of the few bars that is smoke free (note North Carolina is a leading producer of tobacco). While we were chatting about Nathan's amazing meals and the wonderful reception his report had with the city council, we watched the UNC tarheels beat LSU in quarter finals of the college baseball tournament.

Back Porch Music - David Wilcox

The Back Porch Music Concert series is held on the lawn at the American Tobacco Campus where Nathan works. Tonight, we joined up with our friends Lloyd, Adrienne, June and some of their friends with kids. We brought our blankets but the place was packed and there was only a few inches of empty grass. We had to squeeze in tight.
Everyone came out to hear David Wilcox. He is from Asheville and evidently has a huge following here in Durham. I have not heard his music before, but tonight I was a little disappointed. The music was slow and monotonous. The lyrics weren't that cleaver and his voice wasn't all that good. Although we had a good time and the weather was amazing (I hate humidity!), I will not go out and buy any of the songs.

New Zealand here we come!

Yay! I am so excited! We just booked our flights to New Zealand for next spring. Although I tore my ACL, I am having surgery in August and should be fine by February for a trip to one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I am crossing my fingers that I heal correctly (and speedily) because we are planning on hiking our butts off and taking in all the beautiful mountain scenery.

Brett's Wedding in Beautiful Boulder

Amanda and I had a wonderful time at Brett Saum and Ashley Hafner's wedding. To commemorate the occasion, I created this slideshow on YouTube with the pictures we took.



The song playing in the background is called 'Geneva' by Rockwell Church. Jake and Alex love to play this song and whenever I hear it I have the fondest memories of my B-CC boys. Here's a video of Jake playing 'Geneva' the night before the wedding.

Durham's Bike Co-Op

Last Sunday, Amanda and I took our bikes to the Durham Bike Co-op to see if we could get some help making them a little more road worthy. My bike hasn't had much attention since I was in middle school - its super dirty and the enormous and very heavy tires reflect my long-elapsed aspirations of riding rugged mountain trails. Amanda's bike is a kind of like a pet rescue: we bought it for ~$30 at UNC's annual auction of bikes that have been abandoned on campus. So it too needed some love. While both ride reasonably well, we thought they might need a tune-up especially since we're hoping to ride them to help Amanda strengthen her knee. We were greeted generously at the Co-op and told that our bikes were in pretty good condition and just needed some cleaning. We were soon learning how to repack wheel bearings and clean chains. It was a great time and we vowed to come back for more.

In this picture, you can see our overturned bikes sitting behind the Co-op and the bike 'junkyard' that's kept there.

Chinese food and a big basket

Last Saturday we tried a Chinese restaurant that had pretty good reviews, China Palace. We tend not to do Chinese food since Nathan is such a good Chinese cook, but with a review like: "I've just discovered one of the best Chinese restaurants in the Triangle, and I'm kicking myself," we thought we would try it.

The decor was a little on the barren side, but aside from aesthetics, we ordered three dishes that were recommended in the N&O article to share (and then to take home and have for two more meals! They gave us lots of food.) 1. The ohn choy with beef, the delicate leafy green that goes by the English name of water spinach. 2. Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce and 3. Wide rice noodles (ha fun) with beef.

I really enjoyed the meal and the veggies were really fresh, tender yet crispy. Nathan had other opinions. He had a much higher bar than I did for Chinese food and thought that each dish needed more flavor. I would go back. He said he would too, but would probably order something spicy.

After our delicious dinner, we trekked over to South Point where we looked at light fixtures and mirrors at Restoration Hardware. I have been dead set on redoing our bathroom. And since we have decided that we are not moving from our current house for sometime it makes sense for me to go ahead and try my hand at home decorating. We decided on the Dillon collection (see picture). But only the lights and mirrors seemed resonablly priced, so we went to Home Goods - the TJ Maxx of all things home- to try to find the other hardware things for the bathroom. We found a towel rack and a robe holder that matched the style of the light fixtures. We also found this:

THE LARGEST BASKET IN THE WORLD!

Can anyone tell me what the heck you would use this basket for? Really, you could put several reasonably sized men inside here! I can't remember how much it cost, but you can probably guess that it was on clearance!

Heather's baby shower

So all my friends are pregnant (or already with child) and I am starting to feel a little alienated! Really, I am not kidding! Well maybe I am kidding a little, but I can count on one hand the number of women who I hang out with here in Durham that are not pregnant. As you would image, this makes for lots of baby showers and lots of opportunity to sew and buy really cute things.

On Saturday I went to my friend's Heather and Jeff's baby shower. They are having a little boy and he is due July 3rd. We had a light lunch of chicken salad, fruit, and pasta salad. And then went straight into the age ol' baby shower game of guess how big Heather's gut is using toilet paper. Most people guessed between 13 and 16 squares... Heather was only 11! (or maybe 12, I can't remember but we will give her the benefit of the doubt and go with 11). Here is a picture of Heather.

After that she opened presents. Then we moved onto my favorite part of the afternoon, painting oneses. The hosts had bought all different sized ones and had provided stencils, paint, and painting utensils. Lots of people did the frog stencil, but I went free hand and did a little whale and elephant. Heather out did herself with an orange guitar with shading. She entitled her masterpiece Guitar Hero. This was such a great idea!



I am finding that I am starting to get my baby fill with Camden, but with more babies on the way I can offer up my babysitting or just holding skills and hopefully stave off those late twenty motherly urges until after I finish school and find a job.

Darrell Scott at the American Tobacco Campus

On Thursday May 29th, Nathan and I went to see Darrell Scott at the American Tobacco Campus. Adrienne, Lloyd, and June joined us for the first set as well as Nathan's co-worker Michael. June enjoyed strawberries and had a good time dancing. Michael and I discussed the intricacies of ACL surgery since he had one in college.

During the second set, Mark and Michelle's mom, dad and brother joined us. Michelle was at home napping with Camden. Nathan and I really loved the music and we started singing one of the songs a few days later. We were so impressed we bought "Long Time Gone" on itunes.

Softball is very dangerous!

Sorry about the lack of updates from the Marvelles during the month of May. We have been busy traveling, working, and injuring ourselves. Well only I did the injuring... here's the update.

In the fall, while playing flag football (see article where I'm quoted) during a play I planted my foot while pivoting and a player from the other team collided with me. Covered in little black rubber specs from the intramural field, I had to be carried off to the training room where I was iced and bandaged up in a foam leg brace from my quad to my ankle. They sent me off with crutches and an appointment with the orthopedic doctor the next day. The next day the doctor did several manual tests on my leg, but everything hurt. He couldn't get an end-point on my ACL (the Lachman's test), but that could have been because of the swelling. I hobbled around on crutches and hardly used my leg, fearful that I would hurt it more. After the initial swelling went down, I started physical therapy. Since I had not walked on the leg for almost two weeks, I had so much atrophy of my muscles and couldn't straighten or bend my knee. The doctor suggested an MRI, but he also said I might have just stretched my ligaments. and I could just wait till all the swelling went down and I completed PT. About 2 months after the initial injury, the doctor did another Lachman test and was able to feel my ACL, so he thought I did not completely tear the ligament.

It took almost 6 months to get my knee back to "normal". And this spring I felt good enough to play intramural softball. Even while running around the bases I didn't feel too bad although a few times it felt weak and wobbly. Kneeling down was also harder than it had been before the injury.

On Sunday May 18th, Nathan and I went to softball practice to prepare for Summer session I intramurals. After a nice warm-up we started playing. I was playing shortstop and a ball was hit my direction. As I was going to catch it, I planted my foot in a normal straight-forward running direction. I felt the top part of my knee move without the bottom part of my knee moving and I collapsed. After having what I coined as an adult tantrum because I was so mad that I had done this again. I was carried off the field by Tim and Toby. Thank goodness Nathan came to practice even though he is not on the team! He drove me home and I spent the whole evening moping.

The next day I went to the same doctor who dealt with me in the fall. He remembered my injury. After testing my knee, he recommended an MRI, saying he thought I had torn my ACL and my meniscus. I had to wait until Thursday. On Thursday, I went to UNC's hospital and had my MRI. I spent 45 minutes in the big machine. It was so loud! I was prepared to not move for 45 minutes... but I was not prepared for the noise. I was hoping to get the results soon after the procedure, but I had to wait until Tuesday of the next week (1 wk 2 days after the injury). On Tuesday I got the news that I had actually torn both the ACL and the meniscus. I was really upset and was feeling completely down on myself. Unfortunantly I got this news on our 1 year wedding anniversary... Nathan helped me put it into perspective but allowed me to be a little down on myself, and after a short cathartic cry, I felt much better. I dawned the dress I wore at our rehearsal dinner and my knee brace and we went out to dinner then watched our wedding video.

On Monday June 2nd, I met with the orthopeadic surgeon and talked about my options. We decided to do the surgery mid-August after our trip to the Galapagos. I started prehab immediately to get my muscles strong enough to stabilize my knee while walking in the Galapagos and to get the muscles 110% before the surgery so there would not be as much atrophy.

Happy Mother's Day!

To each of our moms,
We love you very much and are so fortunate to have such loving and caring people as our moms.

Love,
Amanda and Nathan

Camden Ross Leslie

Camden was born on May 10th at 1:37 in the morning. He is a healthy baby boy weighing in at 7 pounds 8 ounces.

Camden Leslie is about to be born!

Michelle and Mark just called me to let me know that they are on their way to the hospital! I am so excited for them! It is crazy that Michelle is about to be a mom!

Here's a picture of Michelle taken on April 17th:

BPA - Throw out your #7 Nalgenes!

Nalgene water bottles and baby bottles made with plastic #7 are extremely hazardous to your health because they contain BPA (an artificial estrogen). The evidence is virtually indisputable and has been downplayed by companies producing this plastic for several decades.

What does the #7 represent? Most plastic containers are marked (usually on the bottom) with a number within a triangle with arrows – commonly known as a recycling symbol. These numbers, known as the resin identification coding system, were created in 1988 to facilitate recycling programs across the country. These recycling numbers can range from #1 to #7, depending on the type of plastic. The #7 recycling label is a catchall indicator for plastics made with a resin other than those in the #1 to #6 designations, or made of more than one resin. The #7 category not only includes polycarbonate, but also includes compostable plastics made of organic material and other types of plastic that do not necessarily contain BPA (Bisphenol-A). For example, our new Everyda™ line manufactured with Eastman’s Tritan™ copolyester is a #7, but does not include BPA.

What's wrong with it? The conclusion from the Chapel Hill panel, a group of university scientists studying the effects of BPA from these bottles on humans, concluded that there is an increased risk in prostate and breast cancer, uro-genital abnormalities in male babies, a decline in semen quality in men, early onset of puberty in girls, metabolic disorders including insulin resistant (type 2) diabetes and obesity, and neurobehavioral problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The scientific panel found over 95% of people they tested had active, and therefore dangerous, levels of BPA in their bodies. Don't listen to companies or people who state that the levels humans are exposed to from their bottles are "safe".

Nalgene has a whole part of their website that is dedicated to talking about BPA. They are even "transitioning from polycarbonate to other materials". You can make your own conclusions from that...

But PLEASE don't stop using water bottles! There are good durable water bottles out there, plastic ones not made with polycarbonate and ones that are made of metal. Both of which I would highly recommend people using. The United States has an obsession with bottled water, so here are a few scary facts:

* Last year, Americans spent $15 billion on bottled water, even though bottled water isn’t healthier or safer than tap water.
* While the EPA regulates the quality of public water supplies, the agency has no authority over bottled water. Some studies indicate that certain brands of bottled water test positive for chemical and bacterial contamination at higher levels than tap water.
* Americans went through about 50 billion plastic water bottles last year, 167 for each person. We pitch into landfills 38 billion water bottles a year - more than $1 billion worth of plastic (while the recycling rate for this particular kind of plastic is only 23%).
* We’re moving 1 billion bottles of unnecessary water around a week in ships, trains, and trucks in the United States alone. That’s a weekly convoy equivalent to 37,800 18-wheelers delivering water.



Diane Rehm did a whole show about BPA on NPR last week after a draft report by The National Toxicology Program found there is 'some concern' that exposure to BPA could lead to human health risks. She had 5 very knowledgeable guests: Steven Hentges, American Chemistry Council PhD Senior Director Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group; Frederick vom Saal reproductive scientist and professor, Division of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia; Warren Foster director center for reproductive care and reproductive biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario; John Bucher associate director, National Toxicology Program, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences; Tony Clement Health Minister, Canada.

Here is an article that I think takes a non-biased look at BPA: BPA is cause for concern, but not hysteria

Bottom line... just get rid of your #7s.

(Got to give credit where credit is due. The idea to post and many of the points for this post were taken from another blog)

Pancake's Beauty Shots

DERBY!

Here are some pictures... a description to come later!

11 people stuffed into a car (you can't see Nathan taking the pic and the driver). Wow was it tight! Thank goodness everyone took a shower that morning.

My Derby hat... although I did not dress up, I found out you can't go to the Derby without a hat.

An artistic 134 Derby glass with a yummy mint julep inside.

My winning ticket! I won a total of $18.65 after you subtract the $20 I spent on betting. Stu won $450! He was the big winner of the day



The picture of the replay of my horse (#7 orange) winning.

The horses. This is as close as we could get to them since we were in the infield.


The sun was setting and I snapped a shot of the winners circle and all the beautiful flowers. This is where everyone celebrated Big Brown's win. Unfortunately this was overshadowed in my mind by the loss of Eight Belles.

Lily's birthday

Little Lily Lankford turned 1! And the most appropriate way to celebrate was to give her a cake and let her put her face in it! Here are some select pictures from her birthday party.