July 4th Weekend

We took an overnight trip to visit Todd's cousin and his family this weekend, and this time the dogs went with us.  This was their first overnight trip together, so we weren't sure what to expect.  After the initial first few hours of wild excitement by our dogs and Michael & Cathy's boys, things went really well.

Best thing of all . . . the dogs are RACKED today.  It may take them a couple of days to recover.  :)

HOME Work

My mom came over today, and we got to work!  I swear we worked for about seven hours, and I am wiped out now.  However, all of the work was worth it.

Project #1: Reupholstering chairs. 

These lovely flamestitch chairs are great, but unfortunate looking, chairs.  We love to sit in them during the winter and enjoy a warm fire.  Sometimes we chat, sometimes we stare, but this is a comfy place.  Mom and I worked on patterns today, and now we need to shop for fabric.

 

As you can see the chenille throw has a purpose.  Enter Exhibit B - Steve was quite a busy puppy.

Project #2: Removing extra slats from blinds.

Let me preface this project by telling you one very important thing I learned today.  Never believe your mother when she says, "Let me show you this real quick.  It's easy"  (My mom now agrees with that statement.)

As we were getting ready to work on Project #3, my mom noticed that the wood blinds in our den had several extra slats that could be removed.  So (since it would be "real quick"), we began cutting strings and all sorts of things.  Two hours later - for two blinds - we were finished.  Real quick my ass.

They do look better now, but if you come in to my home and try to inspect them, I will swat you away like a runaway fly.  :)

Project #3: Hanging curtain rod and curtains in den.

This I was excited about getting done!  About six weeks ago, Target had window treatments on sale & I was in a shopping mood.  I found awesome lined panels on sale.  They are originally $30/pair, but they were mismarked for only $19.99!  Score!  With May sucking and Todd swamped with grad school work, they've just been sitting.  And waiting.  And sitting and waiting some more. 

Well, today the new rod and curtains were finally hung and they are awesome!!  (You can also see the difference from the pic of the blinds above.)

Before:   

After: 

I loooove it!  So much better!!!  The red is actually deeper, but my excited photographing didn't encourage me to set my camera up first.


Project #3: Rearranging some things.

When you first walk into our home, you see straight into the den and through a huge (now-curtained) window to the back patio.  Below the window were two huge crates for our two huge dogs.  Again, see the picture from Project #2. 

We moved the crates into our (now very informal) front room, which could serve as a formal living and dining room if we were formal kinda people.  You'll see in the pics that we draped the crates with blankets and added some decor on top to help a bit.  (Ignore the broken pendulum on the clock that needs to be fixed, the papers that Todd is sorting through on the table, and the double lamps that we need to figure out!)

Then we moved an ottoman from the front room and a chair from the guest room into the den.  I love repurposing things in the home!  Things in the den look more open, and I think we'll like it since we spend more time in there than any other room in the house.

After from the front door:

 

From the corner of the den:

The curtains and rearranging of things have made a huge difference to us.  Luckily Todd liked it, too, as he was holed-up in his office working on a mid-term and came out to a new look!

Steve wasn't too interested in it all, but he would get off the couch every now & then and stick his nose into our business.

Next projects: Redecorating the guest room (paint, linens, furniture, etc.), cornices for the windows in the front room, picking up & cleaning out the front room, and cleaning and organizing my closet and a couple of other closets in the house.  Here I go!

Well, Hello Nifty Fifty!

I decided that I *needed* a new camera lens, so I opted to start simple and got the "nifty fifty," a 50mm f/1.8 Canon lens.  So far, I love it!!  It's taking a bit to get used to it, but I'm getting it.  Thanks to the big dogs and the cat, I'm getting some practice.  :)

What's best is that I didn't pay a penny for it!  Between MySurvey rewards and my Swagbucks, I've been getting all sorts of free stuff.  I'm loving it!

Steve, King of Sad Eyes:

Mindy, The Old & Scrappy Lady:

Pippin, the Sweet Duchess Lady Girlfriend:

If you happen to follow my 365 blog, you'll notice that it pretty much faded away in April  That's the month that work kills me, and honestly, between losing my grandmother and Mackey - May sucked.  Just so I don't fall off the photo bandwagon, I am in the process of setting up a blog simply for photography.  I'll post photos and post-processing and stuff in between.  If you want to check it out, I'll keep you posted . . .

Happy Birthday, Todd

41 years ago today, a precious little boy was born.

41 years later, I am married to a most amazing man.  I love him so much and can't imagine my life without him.  We've been through a lot as a couple so far (the good, bad, and ugly), and I'm looking forward to the many years ahead.

I get excited about birthdays while Todd does not get as excited. For those of you who know Todd personally, you know what I mean. :)  Happy Birthday, Todd!

Summertime!

It's finally summer!  That not only means that we are out of school, it also means that we can get some things done that are typically neglected.  Yesterday, we worked out back for a little while and I finally got to set out the new outdoor rug.  Gotta love a sale! :)

You'll be able to see some of the new siding, windows, paint, and gutters.  The patio isn't finished yet.  We still need to hang our outdoor lighting, get a new umbrella, do a few fix-ups, and eventually get new patio furniture.  Here it is for now, though:

A Long Two Months

It has been a long two months since I've updated our blog.   So much has happened that I don't quite know where to start.  I'll try to give it to you in a nutshell, but it is still going to be long.

APRIL

*Workworkworkwork - and more work.

That's all April is about for me. My fourth graders take the Reading & Math TAKS tests at the end of every April, and it was quite a task to fully prepare them this year.  Between teaching, planning, evaluating, communicating, reports, conferencing and meetings almost every day, April is tough.  April is also a lot of work for Todd, too, although he doesn't administer the actual TAKS test.

Good news though!  Todd's students did *awesome* on their EOC (end of course) exams.  His passing average was over 90% which is amazing!  I was so proud of him!  I learned at the end of May that my students did well on TAKS.  I was especially thrilled that 100% of my students passed the TAKS Writing test in April!  Over 1/3 of my class received perfect scores which thrilled me as well.

As far as next year, Todd will be teaching 8th grade Science.  This will be a positive move for him because the 7th graders he has this year will basically loop up to 8th grade with him.  I will continue teaching 4th grade, but I will only be teaching Math, Science & Social Studies.  This will be good for my workload, or at least I hope it will be!


MAY

May was tough - and that's putting it lightly.

* We lost my Grandma on May 6.  She had been on hospice since Christmas, and her health declined quickly.  She was a strong woman both emotionally and physically, and she could cook anything well.  Thankfully she shared her chicken salad recipe with me (from memory of course) several years ago, and I can now do one thing well that she could.  The matriarch of my Dad's side of the family is now gone, as is that entire generation.

A photo of us from ten years ago:

Grandma left behind four children, one preceded her in death just a month before, eighteen grandchildren, and even more great-grandchildren.  My Dad, Step-Mom, sister, and I traveled to Oklahoma for her funeral.  Here is a photo of a few of the grandchildren that were there:

* On May 8th, only two days after Grandma passed, our hearts were shattered.  I don't even know how to write this (and the tears begin), but we lost Mackey.  Our precious, cute, strange, goofy, sweet, boy had to be put to sleep.  It will be four weeks tomorrow, and Todd and I are still reeling from Mackey being gone.  Todd's best friend of 14.5 years is gone.  His ashes are home with us, where we wish he still was.  For being the calmest of our three dogs, it sure has been a quiet house without him.  The big dogs have felt the absence of his presence as well.  We are all still devastated and many tears have been, and surely will continue to be, shed.  It still doesn't seem real, and it seems like forever since he's been gone.

...............................................................................................................................................................

Now that I've dried my eyes (some), I'll continue.  May also brought us some proud moments and smiles.

* My sister, Cindy, was inducted into the Hall of Honor of the school district where she ran track and cross country in high school.  She was the first track star to be inducted.  Her beautiful and heartfelt speech had us all in tears.  A photo of her with a former teacher & coach:

Cindy, while giving her speech:

 

* I, along with my work team, took a bajillion (okay . . . maybe only 65) fourth graders to Austin for the day.  We met at te school at 6:00am, took chartered buses to Austin, toured the Capitol building, explored the Bob Bullock State Museum, and returned to the school about 8:30 that same night.  Talk about tired!

* Our niece, Whitney (a junior), went to prom. Luckily I was invited to take photos.  She was amazingly gorgeous, and I was so proud!  I can't believe how grown up she is now.  Man, I feel old.

With her date ("friend"), Alex:

A full-length view of her dress:

And with her double-chinned aunt:

* Todd finished his first semester of graduated school and did really well.  He is taking two other classes this summer, and has about a year until he graduated with his Master's Degree in Educational Administration.  I'm so proud of him!

* Our annual Memorial Weekend in Tyler with Todd's cousins was a wonderful time as always.  Although not everyone was able to join us, we still had family there from Boston to Colorado and all over Texas.  There were 24 of us, I believe; eight of whom were aged 10 and under!  Lots of fun, water, eating, drinking, and relaxing - just what we needed.





* And now, here we still are, in June of 2010.  Best of all, it is now SUMMER!  Ahead of us is work around the house (decorating, more landscaping, cleaning & organizing), relaxing, Todd's birthday, traveling to both coasts, and recuperating from a looonnnnggg school year.  For today, Steve sums it up for both of us :
 

 

Looking Good = Good Photography?

Well, I don't know about that statement, but I did just buy myself a new camera strap from PhatStraps!  My current camera strap digs into my neck and is neither comfortable nor cute.  My new camera strap is both fashionable and functional.  I can't wait to get it!

Isn't it awesome?!  I got the same damask pattern with a lighter pink minky backing.

photo borrowed from the PhatStraps site

Check out PhatStraps if you're looking for a new camera strap or Fido's Fashion Collars if your pup needs a fashion upgrade.  You can enter the Epiphanie bag giveaway, too!