Atlanta!

Just popping in from Atlanta to say hi! It's beautiful down here. The landscape is so lush and the houses are really beautiful! I got here late Saturday night after a great trip through Centralia, PA, Morgantown, WV, Coopers Rock, WV, New River Gorge, WV, Chattanoooooga, TN and the North Georgia Hills! I have many stories AND pictures to share when I get back, including a few DRAG queens and pictures of the pride parade and cabaret at Piedmont Park in downtown Atlanta yesterday. I went to a game farm today and tomorrow is the Botanical Garden and Fernbrook! I also saw a Skeksis from the Dark Crystal yesterday at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. I'm having a blast. Lori is a great hostess and I have many stories to tell when I return.

Gosling!

Well, just the other day, someone had said to me that I have to come back from Lori's with stories to tell. I said there were ALWAYS stories with Lori! Well..it begins..Today, we went kayaking..and we were on the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and the water was really low, we were floating IN with the tides, and we actually saw the tide come in, it was really cool. Quite a bit into the canal, we saw a gosling..it seemed to be swimming with just one of it's feet..it was injured..there was no mother goose to be found, and we decided we couldn't just leave it there, so we caught it..Lori reached into the water and scooped it up as it tried to swim under her kayak..Sure enough, one of it's legs was badly mauled. It wasn't bleeding but it was having difficulty. So..Lori and I took it up to the Mercer County Wildlife Rehabilitation Center..They gave me a number and I can call to get updates on my little gosling..please keep it in your thoughts!

Before...




In Progress...




Isn't it amazing what free tiles will do for a room? My neighbor gave me these tiles and I thought they would look great on the bathroom floor. With help from Lori, we managed to cut all the tiles..and even though we needed a few extra, we found a border tile because the tile we wanted was discontinued!

Total cost of floor: Less than 50 bucks!!

A Year Ago Today..

It was the first of the last..for me at least..it was exciting..nerve wracking...life changing...mindblowing..

It was a warm hug from a friend..it was good conversation..great music..good times..

It was a cool breeze through the trees..

Looking back on it now is funny, it's everything looking in a rearview mirror is not..objects are much farther away than they appear..

Sewing...

It leaves time to think..to think about life and all that it entails. It leaves time to think about what roads you take in life..where you are going..what your dreams are..where you want to go..This is what I do when I sit in my studio, something I haven't found myself doing in a very long while..something I need to do more often..something I love..

Today, we went to Christine's barbeque, and in hanging out with some old dear friends, the idea of "30" came up..and all that it really entails..this life change, the idea that when you turn 30, you take new directions..realize new things..become a different person. That time is coming..and maybe it's a goal I should develop..a sort of "Where I'd like to be at 30" type of goal..

I've got 8 months to plan my 30 goal..and a summer to contemplate it all..I'd really like to just get back to being ME..for all it's worth, without all the jumbled thoughts that have clogged my brain for the past year..yes, YEAR..it's time to move on..

Quote of the Day:

"The more I look at this bathroom, the more I realize that the other bathroom was total crud."

- Joe, in reference to alot of hardwork on my behalf..

HOT!!

It has been so unbearably hot at school. Last Wednesday, I left in hysterics because I couldn't take it anymore. My keys were still in the door at my house while I was running up to jump into a cold shower. This heat must break! Fortunately, it has given us the opportunity to close school early. Friday was an 11:30 dismissal, and Monday and Tuesday are following in suite with Wednesday being the final day at 11:00 dismissal!! I'm very glad I did not wait until the last minute to start dismantling my classroom because at this point, I would be really screwed! There just isn't time and even if there was, it is just too hot to handle. I have moving to do, however, and that will come with time. I'm sure I can manage to move most of my stuff on the last day when I go back without the kids being there. Most of my stuff is just ready to go, it's just a matter of one teacher moving out for another to move in. It seems as if I am last in line and the first grade teacher is first..as she is leaving. The classroom I'm moving into is contingent on that teacher moving down to first grade making me last to do the move! Ahh, it will all happen in good time, I'm sure!

A Picture for Ya!

Katie, my indoor cat, gone outdoors! She LOVES to go out!

So I Took the Plunge...

The bathroom has been screaming for a makeover..It's obviously the most difficult job to do..but I was ready for it!! This summer, this would be my task! On Friday, Joe hosted a work potluck and I knew I couldn't even start thinking about it until after this whole ordeal because the bathroom had to look somewhat presentable. But it was coming! Saturday morning, I found myself toying with the wallpaper. Before I knew it, I had my handy upright steam iron (yes, Rowenta has many uses, not just clothing) and I was steaming off my wallpaper. It is now all gone and a nice new shade of "Mystic Sea" is in it's place. The damage wasn't that bad. It all varies in old houses. Never know exactly what you are going to find behind wallpaper. This time, it seems that any of the damage was on the bottom half of the wall. Conveniently, this will be covered up by beadboard wainscoting!

So I also decided that I would start my shelf project as well. I borrowed my neighbor's circular saw and bought myself four pieces of wood and I now have these great shelves that sit behind the toilet! I built them myself. Of course, the finished product surely won't be noticeable until I put in the wainscoting, but in the meantime, it looks great! Finally, there is no more wasted space back there! I no longer have a cheesy over the toilet shelving system :) It was really all rather easy too I might add!

So School gets out in 8 days..work days that is ;) Anyway, I can't do the wainscoting or the floor until school gets out and Lori is coming to visit and she is bringing me her tile saw so that I may start the floor. The tiles we got from the neighbor across the street. There are 29 of them to be exact. Italian tiles that go PERFECTLY with the color on the walls. They are cream colored and when you bring them into the room, you can see they've got tints of blue intermingled with the stone look. I spent a good while last summer watching Peter put these very tiles in across the street, never realizing that Diana would end up giving me all the extra tiles!

Next on the bathroom agenda? Removing the sink so that I can tile the floor and put up the wainscoting behind it, and doing the floor. I'm very excited about this endeavor..but until school lets out, it looks like a half done bathroom around here ;)