Posting Student Work and Grooming Pai

The past couple of days have been spent logging and posting student work for their own personal review from Vickie Blaine's composition class.  I'm always amazed at how long that takes me.  It's a frustratingly tedious task - one that keeps me from working on my own videos.  But it's done now - at last!

The other pretty time consuming chore involves a big hairy dog. One third done - two thirds to go.  You'd think she'd be bald from the looks of this picture - but no - still as furry as ever.

Summer Time!

It's been a year since I drove into Columbus - July 4, 2009. It's been an incredibly intense year and now I must admit, I'm really happy that it's summer. While I still have school work and work at the Wexner Center, I'm pleased to have more time at home. David and I are getting to know each other again. We walked to Whetstone Park Sunday to watch fireworks. They were over fast, but they were beautiful. Fifteen-minute fireworks. Sixty minute round trip walk. Invaluable time with the hubbie.

We started clearing out the front yard. This is something I put off doing until I had weekend mornings to devote. Since it's hot out now, I only work in the morning and try my best to stay in the shade. David doesn't seem to mind working in the hot afternoon sun. Right now I'm trying to come up with some kind of analogy to give you a good idea of how much sweat David produces. Horses, pigs... Anyway, I digress. We're finding a lot of plants we didn't know existed underneath all the ornamental grass. This poor yard has been neglected for so many years. It's obvious that at one time the landscaping was quite stunning, however that was several owners ago. So sad. It's hard for David and I to continue living in this house without taking care of the front yard properly. I don't care if it is a rental. Now, if I can only convince our landlord to purchase some mulch....

The other, non-academic noteworthy development is my acceptance into the Ohio Roller Girls Derby team. I'll have more on that later. Tomorrow is my orientation. We're meeting at a bar in German Village. I'm looking forward to working out three times a week with these women. They're sooo going to kick my rear-end.

I Feel Spring

Last night was the first night in a while that it was warm when I took Pai for her last walk of the evening. It took me a while to understand why the houses looked different - there weren't banks of snow covering their front yards! It actually felt like Fall. As we passed one house, I noticed a cowboy hat on the ground where a snowman used to stand. Yeah seasons!!!!!

Now back to finishing papers and final projects. Spring Break is around the corner!

Snow Day - February 16, 2010

Yah, I know - enough with the dog! It's just that I love seeing her play in the snow and we have so much of it.

Pictures from New Year's Eve Party

The Super New Year party was fun!

Here's a look at the Super Heroes and Villians who showed up:

The Last Post of 2009

The final day of the year is upon us. I guess I could do a little retrospective of the year, however, I'm currently filled with excitement of the day. I keep seeing so many possibilities for 2010 and am happy that I don't know what will happen. That's what thrills me the most - anything can happen! I'm hoping for positive outcomes of course - whatever that means.

For today, I will be busy will little mundane tasks interspersed with creative ones like figuring out my Super Hero costume for Erik's party. Right now David is creating his death ray gun...

Ah, Christmas Day!

Here's a slideshow of our house (now that we have all the rooms finally set up and decorated for Christmas) and a few things we've been up to during the holiday break. Hope you're having a wonderful holiday too!!!!

The Fun Continues

Another wonderful day off! I'm really having a hoot! This morning, Pai and I played outside in the snow.

After a nice lunch at Northstar with some co-workers, I went home and decided to finally deal with the window in the "hobby room."

The window is opposite this wall.... This is David's banner by the way....

I was able to get a new picture with David - we just got our hair cut last week at Lucky 13. I highly recommend it!

I corrected some code for Jennifer's website and then I decided to manipulate some pictures for an art project. What an awesome day!

Website for Jennifer and Holiday Happiness

After creating several samples of website layouts for Jennifer, I received a call this morning. The above screen shot is her selection. Progress! Next on the agenda is creating a collage for her home page and setting up her blog and other media sites. I hope to get this done for her by the end of the year.

On a completely non-technical topic, being home has been absolutely wonderful! I've enjoyed the luxury of seeing my husband and remembering why I got married in the first place. Today we took the day in at a leisurely pace, eventually planning out our holiday meal and stocking our refrigerator with all the food we'll need for the rest of the week. Life is abundant - even without a turkey!

Holiday Break

The quarter finally finished and I am at last enjoying a break from my part-time job as well. Last night around midnight David and I looked out the window to see the ground blanketed in snow and beautiful powder flying all around. We put on our coats, gloves, suitable shoes and - after calming Pai down - walked outside for a midnight winter wonderland stroll. Pai loved it! And we did too!

I'll be posting more now that I've had a chance to catch my breath. Look for updates soon on projects!

Till next time~

After Two and a Half Weeks

Home life is very precious now. More than ever. There's not much time for it. After 12 and 13 hour days, I treasure coming home to David and being comfortable in the home we're making in Columbus. We finally bought a couple of chairs. One in the bedroom is a reading chair for David. It sits by the bed. As he finally gets sleepy enough, he can take one step to the bed and fall asleep.

In our bedroom is another favorite - David's "nano-tank." I think that's what he calls it. It's a small tank that he enjoys landscaping - aquatically that is. It's like an underwater bonzai world.

While unpacking and shifting things around, I came across a box full of dolls from my childhood. Some dolls are going to see a transformation for Halloween (I hope), but other stuffed favorites will remain with me. This polka dotted cat was a favorite of mine for years. A dear friend of the family made it for me when I was a toddler. I can't imagine what I must have done to deserve such a cool gift. Sometimes moving is good for discovering old gems and memories.

The Day before the First Day of Grad School

We're so close to getting settled into the new house. Tonight is "accessory" night where I see if there's a place for a few select items to place on furniture, like these new bedside tables I painted black.

The windows desperately need curtains and the walls need artwork!

Hmmm. I wonder when I'll HAND SEW these curtains???!!!

The Healthy Side of Urban

David and I have been marking time till the last move into our more permanent residence. Last weekend David went to Chicago for his high school reunion and to spend time with life-long friends. He came back with a bike that he and his friend Chuck spruced up after finding in a dumpster. Good find! Once we get settled and I establish myself a bit into the rhythm of school, we're getting me a bike as well. We like to see how long we can go without driving the car. So far we haven't gotten past two days at a time - but that's still good. It's nice to only fill the car up with gas once a month!

A Mystery

A month ago I went to take a shower and found dog prints in the tub. Today, there was dog hair in the drain. I think Pai has some xplainin' to do.

Sunday Hike

We went on another hike today. This time, a little shorter - although it was much hotter. This weekend we had temperatures in the 90s, a little closer to normal summer temperatures for Columbus. Today's hike was a 3.5 miler at Highbanks. The pet trail is more wooded than at Glendon and is overall, a larger park. I'm looking forward to going back again, but also going to the next park. This discovery thing is pretty cool!

Saturday Hike

David and I hiked an epic 6 miles roundtrip, stopping off at a dog park. We came across some full breed Pyrs along the way. They were MASSIVE! I'm guessing they were each 150 lbs easy. I can't imagine taking a dog that big to the dog park, although they should probably go because they need to be socialized! Although I guess, they wouldn't be as good at their guard duty....

Last Flex Day Friday

This is officially my last Flex Day Friday. A week from today, I will be on the road towards Columbus. This morning I slept till 8am which was nice since I went to bed last night at 10! It was great! I started working on a little album for the next homeowners. (I always wished someone would have shown me the history of this house, so I'll share what I know. They might not want it, but it was just a thought. It's a small album...) AND then I went to my last restorative yoga class with Lisa.

While downtown, I met Kimberly at a new place for lunch - MoJo's Coffee Cafe. I can't believe this cool place opened up right before I'm moving. They're downtown and they're even open late and on the weekends! David and I might have to go back next week. But enough about MoJo's - I had a wonderful time laughing with Kimberly. Soooo glad I got to see her before leaving.

As I was driving home, it occurred to me that David probably wondered where I had been. When I got home, he was concerned that I might had been back at work. Work? What work?

The rest of the day is going to center around getting ready for tomorrow's garage sale and our SCYC friends. There's a party calling us!!!!

Letting Go

We had to put Spenser, our 13 year old dog, down. David had the hard decision to make today, but we both feel that it was the right one. So hard. We're going to miss him terribly.

Is it Monday or Tuesday or Friday?

I finally went to work today. It's throwing my week off. I think it's Tuesday, but it sure feels like Monday, but I really want it to be Friday.

David got a lot done today - more things towards getting the house sold. He even investigated movers! He also took Spenser for a walk down the driveway and back and Spenser is still here with us. Of course after such a productive day, David has to take an epic long nap right when I'm ready for dinner and a movie. Hmmm. Could this be a night to myself??!!

Spenser Still Breathing

We contemplated putting Spenser down this morning. He couldn't sit up on his own or walk. Then around 8am things changed, David carried him outside to see if he could do his business. He let Spenser go and lo and behold Spenser started hobbling around on his own. He took care of his business and only fell on his face once. He also ate breakfast. Spenser's vet said it's too early to give up. Later in the morning, David laid down some protective rubbery plastic on the floor. Spenser managed to get up on his own and walk to the living room where he's still laying now. If Spenser doesn't continue to improve by Friday, then we'll have that hard decision to make again. But we'll give him time to show us. Rock on Spenser!