You'll have to wait

So instead of putting up a large amount of photos, I thought I would wait until many of you show up for a visit to reveal the current state of the house. But I do have a couple of stories to tell. During the past couple of weeks we have been focusing on making the house "livable" and "visitable." We have a large portion of the rooms painted (though the touch-ups remain) and the vast majority of items have been put away. I have been side-tracked lately with getting free mulch from the city and fixing up the outside of the house in preparation for the visit - I'm hoping that the first impression is a good one. However, we are finally done with fixing up the outside of the house and you won't believe the large amount of stones we found under the previous layer of mulch. I think I could put the local quarry out of business! Our other large project has been the full bath, which has given us many surprises! Just last night we had a bit of excitement when the cold water valve sprung a leak and water gushed forth soaking the ceiling, walls, and the subflooring. Of course this had to happen around 11:30 p.m., so it was a late night for us! The bathroom still needs new flooring and we need to put some things away, but other than that we should be in pretty good shape!

First time

Perhaps you remember the line from Forrest Gump when he explains how he met Jenny and he's talking about not remembering some things he did for the first time like his first outdoor picnic, etc., but does remember the first time he heard Jenny's voice. Well James and I will certainly the last month as it was our first time buying a house! We bought an old (1915) house in our hometown and have spent the past 2+ weeks fixing it up (to make it liveable) and will be spending the next couple of years continuing that process. We still have quite a few things to work on this summer, but at least there is new paint on the walls, the kitchen cabinets are almost finished, the carpets have been cleaned, and the overgrown bushes have been pulled out and the trees have been "tamed." However, we have MUCH to do yet this summer including the following...
- Finish putting away our belongings (this may take the remainder of the summer)
- Fix a couple of minor electrical issues/install ceiling fans upstairs (no central air)
- Finish removing wallpaper from the upstairs hall and extra bedroom
- Finish the bathroom renovation and have a cabinet/linen closet built for it
- Install new flooring in the kitchen/pantry/bathroom
- Clean up the flower garden areas, plant some perennials, prep next year's garden/compost areas
- Find/make and install window coverings for the main floor and part of the upstairs
- And the list goes on!

We're having fun and so far we haven't had too many major issues pop up. We can't wait to show off what we've accomplished thus far! We'll have pictures for the next post - perhaps some before and after!

Unusual last week events...

Its finally the last week of school, and I cannot wait for it to be over (then again, the students can't either!). I'm ready for a break from papers, tests, lectures, dealing with discipline issues, etc. This week is probably one of the most hectic of the whole year. We have seniors leaving a couple of days early, students who decide to leave with three days left and won't make up their last tests, and those who are in in-school suspension...and that's just the students. We have extra duties during this week, mounds of paperwork, final grading to do, textbook turn in, room tear down, and the list goes on! To add to this, we had a bomb threat at school on Monday. We had to evacuate the school at 2:30 and we were unable to re-enter the school until 5 p.m. It turns out that a local bank was being robbed and the threat was called in to divert the authorities. I was very impressed with how well the students (over all) handled the situation, which was my biggest concern during the ordeal. So hopefully the last couple of days will go smoothly, and we won't have any more threats called in this week.

Avoiding work

So I finally have a bit more time today to update you (my faithful few!) about what has been happening in our neck of the country...mainly because I'm avoiding a stack of grading on our coffee table. The past month has been an exciting and nerve-racking one. We've finally decided that we'd like to purchase a home and we're now exploring that option. We've already looked at a couple and found one we really like (a 1923 bungalow...in need of some TLC), but we'd like to look at a couple more just to make sure we're making a good choice. Then to the bank to see if we can afford it, and then finally/hopefully an offer. However, we are also trying to make sure we're not putting the cart before the horse as we're waiting to make sure James and I both have employment in the area for next year as James is looking for something new and my school system can RIF until May 1...so one more week of keeping those fingers crossed! Yet we have a bit of a conundrum as our lease is up at the end of June/beginning of July so we need to make a decision soon. So we're not rushing into things...but we've got to hurry up and decide soon!

Other than that we've been busy trying some new things:
1) making freezer jam (blackberry) - A little sweet, but good over all.

2) flying a box kite - After a crash landing in the first 5 min., we got it under control.

3) trying out the telescope - A nice view of a full moon a couple weeks ago.
So these activities have been keeping us rather busy in addition to school, house hunting, and worrying about next year's employment. Yet speaking about the aforementioned topics - specifically school, this past cycle has been great compared to the beginning of the year. It has certainly helped that my students are much more focused this time around, more willing to participate, and a bit (just a tinsey-bit) more dedicated to their grades...all of which makes a world of difference. In our current unit we're studying the Jazz Age next and the history of the woman's rights movement. This seems to be an era that they enjoy and it has a lot of relevance to today's society, which helps the students pay attention. We even play a couple of games (a version of "Battle of the Sexes" and a 1920s consumerism/great depression game) and hold discussions over them during this unit which tends to help also. However, I'm about to introduce a very short assignment over Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath...we'll have to see if I can keep their attention through that one! I'll have to let you know.

What we've been up to

April has been a busy month around our duplex. We've enjoyed a couple of Spring Breaks, given and taken tests, explored the idea of house hunting, hunted for jobs, celebrated numerous birthdays, and relaxed with family and friends. While we don't have a lot of specific items to share, we wanted you all to know we're still around and enjoying married life.

Hints of Spring in Indiana

Spring is in the air in the Midwest and little hints of it are everywhere. For instance, windows are open to catch the first warm(er) breeze, grills are being prepped for the season, wedding invitations are starting to arrive, and new growth is developing on plants. Another sign of spring (not shown in the above collage) is the blooming of high school "love." Lady Lust has hit the high school where I teach and countless amounts of germs are being spread like wildfire. Apparently there has been an epidemic of hickeys hitting the 14-18 year olds of the nation, and the marks are displayed with pride (a battle wounds of sorts since "love is a battlefield"). Ah - sweet germy pubescent romance! While I doubt hickey season is in the Farmer's Almanac, it's the only true indicator I know of that shows spring is just around the corner.

Meeting myself

I'm one of those people who is constantly learning new things about themselves. Sounds strange doesn't it? I mean, shouldn't I already know myself pretty well? But sometimes I surprise even myself. For instance, I've recently discovered that I love vegetable gardens with a passion and I can't wait to have one of my very own. I would like to learn the "art" of canning. I enjoy (and James would say, I am addicted to) home improvement shows and am fascinated with the prospect of one day buying an old bungalow to fix up. I would like to someday design and build a wooden boat. While I love classic rock, I've found that I also enjoy Cajun music. (I found this out after listening to an NPR broadcast of American Routes and their recording of Feufollet's "Femme l'a dit" and other various songs.) I enjoy making homemade bread and cooking from scratch.

Its surprising how much we "evolve" as we age and have new experiences. So I was wondering, what have you learned about yourself lately?