9-2-09

You gotta love the bus. It's air conditioned, you sit up high looking down on traffic, the bus has no fear and pulls into intersections a car wouldn't dare, you need not worry about traffic at all- just sit back and enjoy the ride. Today I took Bus 2S into school. It picks me up at the end of my road about a 5 minute walk away, then drops me off about 10 minutes from my office. Walking that last 10 minutes I realized that Bus 9 was dropping people off right smack dab in front of my office building! So, on the way home I caught Bus 9 which took me to the other side of the arboretum. A walk through the woods and one block later, I'm home. Either trip takes about 20 or 30 minutes with the walking and waiting and traffic, but it's dry and cool and safe. No dodging cars on a bike. No getting all sweaty on a 40 minute walk. No parking hassles. Who invented the bus? You gotta love the bus.

Tomorrow I teach from 9 till 3:30 with a nice break for lunch. I think I'll be tired tomorrow evening.

9-1-09

I forgot to blog on the last day of August. It was a cool day- almost record setting cool. We had dinner at Ramsey's Restaurant. I biked to work then Dan picked me up and I left my bike in my office. It was cooooold in the restaurant! But even colder outside. Crazy Kentucky weather.

Today I walked to school as I had no bike. The walk was really special. It was cool and windy, and walking along the sidewalk with the cars going by on campus reminded me of my childhood. It took me back to the fall of 1975 when I turned 12 years old and lived in Chicago. I felt like I was 12 again, walking to Bret Harte Elementary School.

I taught today, and that went OK. Not great, but I get to try again Thursday with the second section and I hope it goes better. I biked home and we went to the last Southland Jamboree of the season. The music was fantistic- a band called No Tools Loaned. We ate a picnic dinner and fed Frisbee corn chips to keep him quiet.

Tonight I plastered holes in our wall-of-renovation. Tomorrow I'll plaster over the plaster and by the weekend I should be ready to paint.

8-30-09

We really didn't intend to do so much this weekend. It just sorta happened. Last night we went out to dinner at a colleague's house so we had the night off from house renovations. We also watched a movie called... um... Tsotsi. Something like that. It was very moving. Anyway, here are some pictures of our renovation project today. First- the second layer of wallpaper (the first was a green and white stripe) and three found objects behind the bookcase we removed.

An arsty fartsy photo of the ladder in the doorway.

Dan working on something along the base of the wall. You can see that I had washed the lower half of the plaster.

Here I am washing more plaster. Next, I will patch the plaster cracks and holes while Dan makes replacement molding for the ceiling and floor and window.

8-28-09

Dan: What do you want to do this evening?
Me: I dunno. Watch a movie?
Dan: OK.

8pm
Chrissy: How long would it take for you to get rid of those book shelves in the dining room?
Dan: I dunno. A month maybe to do everything.
Chrissy: Well, I need it done by the time Vicki comes on the 14th.
Dan: Oh. Well, we could start tonight...

Two hours later....

Book shelves gone. 1927 wallpaper revealed!
To be continued!

8-27-09

Today was my first day teaching. To celebrate, Dan and I went out for BBQ dinner at our favorite sammich place. This is their t-shirt. Not sure I should get one.... but the dinner was delish. Afterwards we watched a very interesting Czech movie called "Something like Happiness."

8-26-09

Tomatoes! When we moved in there were four little barely distinguisable tomato plants which are now providing us with a plethora of small cherry tomatoes. Yum!!!

8-25-09

This is our new rain barrel called 'The Lily' because you can grow something in the top. We are going to grow mint so it won't escape and take over the yard, and use the water to keep the nice flowers alive during dry spells. It holds like 60 gallons or so.

8-24-09

Spent whole day volunteering with FUSION, an organization that gets students out into the community. We had something like 1300 students volunteer in dozens of organizations.

8-23-09

We have new flowers blooming in the yard. Autumn crocuses they are called. I'm so GLAD that Dan is home. We took Frisbee for his nightly walk/run and I got some cool photos of him running toward me. Here's one.

And on our walk I got a really colorful photo of this yellow flower. Black eyed susan or something. Today we did Farmers Market and Library. Cooked sausages on the grill and had zucchini with dill and sourcream for dinner. I'm sleepy and volunteer tomorrow with an organization at the University. Should be fun.

8-22-09

Dan came home from Colorado today and he brought me a gift. A rooster with a bell! I had to pick him up from the airport at 1am so really he got home tomorrow but whatever.

8-21-09

A day of meetings. I rode home on my bike, ate a sammich, savored some
icecream and put my feet up for a change.

8-20-09

This is smiling Squirt in his dorm room in Colorado. No, I'm not there. Dan took this photo. Dan also took the one of Jes on a hike they did, a very dangerous hike I only heard about after they returned, thankfully.

No, I'm not in Colorado. Today I spent at a new faculty meeting for the university. Afterwards I went to a reception to meet the President of the University. It was at the Faculty Club, very posh. I had a good time but have been fighting a migraine since 4am.

Fountain in the garden at the Faculty Club.

8-19-09

No meetings today. I spent the morning putting a box together for the squirt- clothes, skateboard, x-box, etc. and mailed it off to Colorado. Worked in my office all afternoon. One accomplishment was completing the shell collection box.

8-18-09

College of Education Retreat today. Here are the six math/science education female faculty. We don't look so geeky, do we? Retreat/meeting lasted all day.

8-16-09

Happy birthday little sister Sakura! Today Mom and HH and I went to an art show/sale. I bought a couple things for the garden. One is a glass mushroom and the other is a glass lilly that I'm supposed to feed butterflies with. you fill it with sugar water. I doubt I'll have the discipline, but it looks pretty.

Some white hostas are blooming and they are very pretty and smell nice.

Mom leaves in the morning. Tomorrow is my first day officially on the job.

8-15-09

Today Mom and HH and I went to an antique show. When we got back Squirt and Dan were getting his stuff ready for the flight to Colorado. His suitcase was too heavy- so he had to take out some stuff. We all drove to the airport together and it was so hard to say goodbye. I gave him lots of advice before he left. Hope he takes some of it. I won't see him again until Christmas. Today I looked and my nest was literally empty.

8-14-09

Aza left this morning. It was sad.

My mom arrived today with our family friend HH. She brought me gifts- this chicken dish cloth, a chicken thing you hang on the wall for dried flowers, and a stained glass thing for the window in the sun room. We had a wonderful dinner- me, Dan, Squirt, Mom, and HH. My favorite part of the meal was the corn salad.

8-13-09

Today Aza and I went shopping. We got some school clothes and picked up this frame from a used furniture store for a song. I matted and framed a painting I'd done of the field where we lived in Virginia. Squirt started doing his laundry today. As I suspected he had about three loads.