Half Time

Mid Winter Break is half over. Yipes!

Yesterday I spent some time in Tacoma painting the interior of the house I posted about Tuesday. A little cleaning and some paint does wonders to thrashed trim and walls. Instant gratification!

Today's agenda includes activities much different than down and dirty painting. I am meeting a friend and a few of her family members for brunch. Then we are going to meet baby Jack (a mutual friend had a baby a few weeks ago). Finally, I am going wedding dress shopping with a friend! She is getting married in July and is ready to venture out to look at dresses. Good times!

Tomorrow I have a meeting for RELAY for LIFE. I am a co-captain for "Mara's Team". Mara is a student at Arthur Jacobsen with a brain stem glioma, which is a brain tumor in the brain stem. She is an AMAZING little girl with an AMAZING amount of spirit for life! Check out her website at: www.maraadams.com

Lastly, it is quite nice to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning before I have to really "get going." Today's coffee break was sponsored by Amy and Travis! They brought us whole bean coffee from Hawaii. Much better than yesterday's Albertson's brand! Thinking of you as I indulge in the fresh ground coffee!

Ahhhh.....this is where our time goes!

Ahhhh.....this is where our time goes! This past Saturday we worked all day at this house. We have spent much of our time hauling out garbage....and we aren't talking a few bags. We estimate about 10,000 pounds of garbage! The house was full, the yard was full, garbage and stuff everywhere! Anyway, we are now on the more fun part of this project. (I call painting, repairing, cleaning, etc. "fun" after hauling out some very heavy and sometimes nasty garbage.) I will continue to search for our "before" photos to show you how much we really have accomplished.

Bathroom

There is a claw foot tub, an unusable toilet and I'm not sure about the sink. Pretty much a blank slate at this point.

Bedroom #1

We took out all the hardwood flooring in this room. Some of it had water damage. We are going to use what we took out to repair some damaged spots in the living room and dining room area. This was a DIRTY and tedeous job.

Dining Room

As you can see there are some areas on the floor that need to be replaced. We are going for the "rustic" and "character" look when we are done. We will replace some of the flooring and then stain the entire floor with a darker stain.

Living Room

This room isn't too bad. Again, we will replace any flooring that needs to be and then stain it a dark color.

2.10.08

Last night I had dinner with four others from my Master's class. We dined in Mill Creek, WA at Azul's. Both food and drinks were tasty. Of course the company was spectacular, too! Last month we did the same thing, dinner, conversation and then dessert at Cold Stone Creamery. I had the same dinner as last month: a salmon BLT sandwich. Now, I was hesitant last month, but did not even have to THINK about what I wanted this time. It is a delicious sandwich.

Today we are headed to work on one of the properties. Our plan is to tear out some wood flooring in two bedrooms. There has been water damage, so it needs to come out. We are going to use the wood we tear out to repair the wood floors in the dining room and living room. With my striped long underwear on, pocket warmers ready to go, and a cup of coffee, I am ready to go! (Well, kinda!)

February Happenings

Let me break it down....

• Spent a week on crutches because of my sprained ankle (see previous posting for details). It was difficult getting around my classroom, but my kids were super helpful. I am still very cautious of my ankle and I am still experiences pain when it moves the wrong way.
• Another Master's class is DONE! I still have a paper to write, but another weekend of meeting is DONE! Graduation is getting closer!
• I am shocked that the school year is half over...this week I got out our second reading book (2 of 2). This means we are getting closer to the end of the school year. Keep in mind we still have two, week long breaks ahead of us. Yes! I am not too anxious as I have an AMAZING class this year.
• In July, in between my Master's classes, I am going to FRANCE! I am going for 2 1/2 weeks with a teacher from my school. We call each other "sis" because we are very much alike. She laughs since she has a son my age. Anyway, her flattering offer for me to join her, her husband and a group of college students caught me off guard. I am SO excited!
• My gall bladder surgery is scheduled for March. Looking forward to some relief.
• All next week we will be movin' and groovin' with the dance dude at school. Friday night will be our first school dance. Should be a blast!

Whew!

Sprain Pain

Ridiculous. Yesterday, Richard and I were on our way out the door and let's just say I barely made it out! Here's how the sprain pain came about... Richard went out to the car and I was getting my shoes on and going to lock the door. I stepped out the doorway on my left foot, started to pivot to lock the door from the outside and wham! Snap, crackle, pop! I was down on the ground with a hurting ankle. I was able to gather my almost-passed-out self enough to get Richard's attention. He came and helped me get back inside. I was still feeling very woozy but eventually crawled to the couch to apply ice and elevate my ankle. After much contemplation, I decided I better have it checked out at Urgent Care. An hour and a half later, the prognosis is a 2-3 degree sprain. I recieved a brace, crutches, pain relief and a hard time from Richard. I should be completely healed in a short 6 weeks. Yesterday and today I have spent much more time on the couch and in bed than I have in a VERY long time. It is difficult to be this helpless. My pocket on my sweatshirt comes in very handy when I need to carry items from point A to point B. The crutches provide much relief to my ankle, but can be clumbersome and really work your arm muscles! Hopefully, I will be off of them by the end of the week. Argghh..... this is ridiculous!

Tuckered Out

Another weekend of my Master's class is done. This month and next month the class is "Creative Movement." It was an action packed weekend since class was held every minute it was scheduled. Friday night:5-10PM, Saturday: 8AM-5PM, Sunday:8AM-5:05PM. Whew! In addition, all last week I was finishing up a final project for my last class. I mailed that off on my was to Friday night's class. Whew!

I am back in the game at school. It was great to see my class again. It was FABULOUS to go back to a classroom that has carpet! So delightful. We had to move quite a bit in order for them to lay the carpet and I am still sorting through boxes now. I think it is harder to get it put away than it was to pack it up. The room is much quieter and the kids are happy that their bums don't get cold during calendar and read aloud. Life is good.

12.30.07

On Friday evening I went to the acupuncturist for the first time. I was stuck with 6 skinny needles in each leg and one in each arm. A few were uncomfortable, but it was never painful. About a half hour later I was gone and armed with some herbal remedies (see picture). There are two different kinds, but they look very much the same. The acupuncurist also taped tiny metal balls in my ear for some pressure point relief. When my side hurts, I am supposed to press firmly on these areas to relieve the discomfort. Hmmmm....

Yesterday, Handyman Richard worked on the truck. He did work/switched out the radiator, water pump, a hose of some sort, etc etc. He sure enjoyed working in the garage and out of the elements. Last night we ventured out of the house to the community college. We went to see Suessical the Musical. It was fantastic! My friend, Terry, played Horton the Elephant. He was amazing as well as the other performers.

I am going to my school today to work on a display for the district board room. I am anxious to see how the carpet looks!