Chrissy's Photo A Day

11-3-13

What can I say? A four mile hike in the woods with Dan and Aza was great therapy today.

This is my grandparents' house in Richmond, Virginia where I lived for the first three years of my life. I'm here today on what is the 105th anniversary of my grandfather's birth. You called me home, Papa. I always remember you.

We left Richmond and headed to Charlottesville on a very familiar road. Descending Pantops towards the Rivanna I could see the Blue Ridge.

We got to Aza's adorable apartment!

The sky, the leaves, all so beautiful.

Next? Pizza on the Downtown Mall at Christian's Pizza. Mmmmm. Dan insisted on dessert, so-

We had to go to Chaps!

Sweet ice cream, sweet Aza.

Lovely lovely grown up little girl.

10-31-13

For Halloween we went with my mother to a movie at the Art Museum! It was a silent film from the 1920s, the first making of Dracula.

Afterwards we had tapas and drinks in the museum cafe.
It was a good evening.

10-29-13

Today Dan rode his bike to my mother's house, got a flat on the way and had to fix it, and then drove to the DMV to renew our tags. My ticket last night was ... how much do you think it was for... guess....

nearly 200 dollars.

Unbelievable.

I made pizza today from muscle memory. I made the dough with my eyes closed, basically. Kneaded it made a perfect circle, preheated the oven, sprinkled the paddle with cornmeal, placed the beautiful circle of dough on it, and decided to pre-bake it just a bit. With my muscle memory I flung it into the oven only to realize that the pizza stone we had in our oven for 20 years was absent. Dripping dough through the rack slats, cornmeal burning on the bottom, smoke filling up the kitchen, Squirt coming to my rescue, retrieving the dough, and re-making a splendid pan pizza.

What an evening.

10-28-13

During yoga this morning I had an idea for a great class this evening. My day went well-- I met a prospective student for coffee, then met with other students in the afternoon. Felt well, and left class at 8pm happy only to be pulled over by a cop while still on campus.

I thought maybe I was going a mile or two over the speed limit.
No, I did not have updated tags. They had expired the month before. We never got a bill in the mail.
This was not fun, but it had to happen sometime.

10-27-13

You are probably sick of seeing pictures of my mother's house renovation. It's exciting for me to see, and it makes her so happy to be designing her dream come true.

I just love the wallpaper leftover from my childhood. It's going to be covered with cabinets, for the next renovator to find in 50 years or so.

10-26-13

She's coming back today! The Storyman has a lot to do!

The primer is still going on the walls in the dining room.

And right before mom returns from a two week vacation in Europe, the dining room is done.
She walks in and the first thing she sees is this.

10-25-13

I found a second cousin on Facebook. He lives in Canada where my birthfather's family is from. He posted this picture on Facebook today. This is my great grandfather, Grant Turner. I don't see any resemblance, but I do look a lot like my birth father.

I hosted a graduate student lunch today. It was well attended and my students really seemed to appreciate getting together for a meal.

10-24-13

The hole in the ceiling where the pantry was is closed up now.

The floor just needs finishing.

It's Thursday and The Storyman is very very busy trying to get my mom's house ready for her return on Saturday. The painter primed the dining room walls.

I taught a very good class tonight. I found my marbles! They were in the supply closet!

10-23-13

So this is how nice it looks now with the table in place. Meanwhile, Dan is flat on his back recovering from the event. He stepped over the wall holding an entire table.

I had a meeting with the Dean, Associate Dean, and my department chair today. It felt good to be included in a valuable discussion.

10-22-13

Dan decided to move the patio table from the grass onto the patio and look what he found hiding underneath. I do believe that's a black widow. He just left her there.

I had a meeting today with some people today and it was uncomfortable. It was a black widow kind of meeting.

Dan pulled his back moving this patio table.
This is not good.

10-20-13

This is what I worked on ALL DAY. I washed the walls again, scraped old paint off the tiles and the floor, scraped and sanded the ceiling (while wearing safety goggles and a respirator), sanded the cabinets, taped, cut in with two coats, and then painted two coats of semigloss. It's much cleaner looking, and should withstand the humidity now.
Next, Dan is supposed to install a ceiling fan and then we will finish the ceiling.
The walls used to be more of a fleshy peach color. Glad that's gone!