Week in Review

After a week of mostly boredom, I finally did some research as to what I'd like to do with all this free time I seem to have. Of course, I'm planning the next season of theatre, and doing some early grant writing work (most aren't due until Spring), so that is keeping me somewhat busy. But I decided to find some things to do with my days that are monumentally free. This is what I've come up with-

- Start back up with yoga, Monday and Thursday mornings
- Work out EVERY day during the week (I go every day but Weds. now)
- Rob and I take a ballroom dance class (something I've wanted to do for EVER)
- Take an online non-profit management course
- Take an adult tap class
- Become an adult literacy tutor

There may be more to come, but I think this will be enough for now. Rob is looking into how I can audit classes at Augie. Since I'm spouse of a professor, I can take them for free. I'd really like to get into an anthropology class (maybe one with Adam!), an art class, or something else creative.

Last night, Rob and I headed up to Morrison to have our photos taken by Jan Scott of
Jan Scott Photography. She is a high school friend of Rob's who has recently become a professional photographer. Her work is just gorgeous, and we wanted to get some shots of us together since we don't have many. Here is just one of the hundreds she probably shot of us.



This week my Dad and Cathy get into town, and we are quite excited to see them, as it's been nearly two years since the last. I can't wait to show them the house!

Sunday morning, I'm wakin' up

Rob is still asleep, the dogs have been outside to poop and pee and had their breakfast, and I'm sitting at the computer with my coffee. Kinda wish I was still sleeping, but I'm realizing as I get older, 1. I don't need as much sleep anymore, 2. I have to pee a lot in the middle of the night, and 3. I'm now a morning person, thanks to the skylights in the master suite. I don't mind it. I feel like a million bucks these days, and I go to bed earlier because I'm up early in the mornings.

The good news is that I'm finally ready to talk/think/see theatre again. It took me, what, 2 months? That's a good amount of time, I think. I needed to focus on getting our household moved, and I was so burnt out after the summer that I needed a break. But now feels like a good time. I've had much time to think, and to get to the heart of the matter. I know I made mistakes in my first season. Who wouldn't? The beauty is taking those mistakes and rearranging them to positives and what I could do better next season. There were also many positives that will carry on to seasons in the future. And the beauty? We've got a helluva season planned for next year. Four shows instead of three, and I WILL not be directing AND producing all of them. One of the things I realized this year is that I am only one person, and I cannot and WILL NOT do both at the same time. I just about lost my mind. While I know it's hard work, I also want to enjoy it, and frankly, I didn't this year. So things are going to change, and I hope it shows.

Last night, D and I finally got together after not seeing each other for an entire month. We had such a nice time, drinking cosmo's and having a bite at the Blue Cat. It made me realize how much I missed her friendship and the ease of our conversation. We gossiped, we laughed, and talked about the season premiere of our boys on Supernatural, which was last Thursday! It was a lovely evening.

Have been spending much time with Abbey and Anya, our friends who live just a block over. They are such wonderful ladies who love to share their life experiences and love to hear about mine. It's great to have girlfriends I can just call up or walk down and have coffee with any time. I just love them.

My Dad and Cathy will be making their way up from Texas to the QC in just two weeks. I'm thrilled to see them again, as the last time was Christmas of '06 on our way from O'Hare to Eureka. My Dad just had hip replacement surgery, so hopefully he'll be able to make his way around without getting too tired during their visit. I can't wait to show them our new house!

Week in Review

Am still unsure whether or not we have a ghost in the house. Maddy hasn't gotten stuck in the bathroom since that last instance, and doors have kept open. Who knows?

Rob and I survived our first (somewhat minor) homeowners crisis, as after 4 straight days of rain, the basement flooded with 6 inches of standing water. Lucky for us, both the water heater and furnace stand in the middle of the floor, where water was barely seeping. With old houses like this, it is common to have a wet basement. Especially for us living under the water table level, and owning a house nearly 100 years old. The water is just about gone after it's been sunny the past few days. We are hoping it stays relatively dry enough until we can get a dehumidifier (sp?) down there to help a little. Spring will probably suck.

This weekend we had a lovely housewarming. Probably close to 40 people came and went on Saturday night, including old college pal Kevin, who came from Rochester and stayed too short a time.

Now the house is finished (for now!), am I finding myself at a loss for what to do. Sure I have Kindermusik and students, but I'm finding I have much free time. We are in a position where we are financially doing quite well, so there is no need for me to take on much more. But frankly, I'm sort of...bored. What do people do with their free time?

Some pics from the weekend...

Kev and his vice



The night just kept getting longer...



The infamous Quince pouring



Rob and the bottle



Everyone has scary eyes, even the dog

In the material world

I think there is a ghost in my house.

Now, that being said, it could be something I'm totally projecting and it isn't for real in the slightest. It could just be paranoia. But I'm curious.

In my new house, you can get to the bathroom by either A) going through the guest room, or B) going through the kitchen, to the office, and then to the bathroom. We always keep both bathroom doors shut, as Ms. Maddy loves to go into the bathroom and eat copious amounts of toilet paper.

Last night we went out for our anniversary dinner, and upon returning, we couldn't find Maddy (this is not the first time this has happened). Of course, we have a much bigger house now, plus a second story, so I ran around looking for her until I heard Rob yell "I found her, she's in the bathroom".

Okay. So I've seen Maddy nose her way in to the bathroom via both doors. But here is the weird thing. She was stuck in the bathroom for who knows how long... and both doors were shut tight. In addition, the door from the guest room into the dining room was also shut tight. Incidently, we had left that door wide open when we left.

So someone please explain to me how all three doors were shut up tight, when no one with opposable thumbs had been in the house for hours?

This same thing happened a few days ago, except Maddy was trapped in the guest room and not the bathroom.

Now here is the thing. I never get an oogy feeling in the house. It is a warm, gentle feeling being here. I think if there is some kind of spirit in this house, he/she is a playful one, and means us no harm. It's an old house, over 100 years, and I'm sure there may be someone who's passed on, some disembodied soul floating around.

There may also be some logical explanation. I am open to both.

The Last Five Years

Happy Fifth Anniversary, love of my life...

Dining Room

In case you're following along, here was the dining room on Tuesday...


And here it is today. Lovely, don't you think?


I am finally done doing things to the house... for now! I got everything done I wanted to before students come next week. Today, I think I'll head over to see Abbey at Green Thumbers and buy some mums to plant for my window box and front porch pots. The outside needs a little color. Tomorrow, Rob and I celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We're taking each other to the Bass Street Chop House down on the Moline Riverfront. It's supposed to be quite swanky... and expensive. Should be a nice weekend!

P.S.

I forgot to add the pic of the closet, which is the size of a small third world country.




Even with all the built-in shelves and such, it's still bigger than the 2nd bedroom in our rental in Moline. I have two shelves dedicated just to my shoes. A girls dream.

Home

Well, I finally had a free moment to write, so here it is- the house.

We closed Friday at 9am, and I immediately went over to the new house to clean. The sellers left the house is "alright" condition. The bathroom was dirty, and the hardwood floors were left pretty gross. They also hadn't vacuumed the lower level. I had also decided to paint the bathroom that day, as we boarded the dogs until Sunday and thought it would be good to get it done before they came to the new house. While I painted and cleaned, Rob made trips back and forth from the old house to the new with all the boxes. We spent the majority of the night unpacking, as when I finished the bathroom, my feet/lower legs were quite sore from standing on a ladder the entire day.

Saturday we moved the rest of the house with the aid of Jill, Aaron, Les, Andy and Matt Moody. We started at 10 and were done at 1. It went super fast! We treated everyone to lunch after at La Ranch (Mexican food rocks), then returned the truck and went back to the house to finish cleaning. Spent the rest of Saturday working on those boxes, as I wanted the house to look and smell like ours for when the dogs came home on Sunday. We took a quick break when Rob's fam came by with KFC.

Sunday the dogs came home, and we went shopping for various things for the house like curtains/shades, paint, groceries, etc.. We continued to work and unpack until a Labor Day party at Ann and Arshia's house just down the street

So, everything is out of boxes, the house is in order, and the dogs are happy with both the yard and ALL the space they have to stretch out. It is a real treat for all of us after living in that teeny tiny rental for a year. We also are thrilled to be a block (literally) away from Abbey, Anya and Oliver, who we've seen everyday since we've moved in. The neighbors are really nice, and we're so happy to be living in a diverse neighborhood. The neighbor on the right is hispanic, and the neighbor on the left is black. We are proud to say that we will be able to raise our kids in a place that is diverse with all genders, races, sexual preferences; and more importantly, looks like America.

And now, what you've been waiting for...





The studio. We are planning on changing this room a bit in the coming months. Since I am the one who will teach in here, I hate how dark it is. Plus, who paints their ceiling dark like that? The house is filled with gorgeous woodwork, and for some reason, a previous owner painted the trim in just this room (???!!!). So we'll be stripping the trim and then painting it a nice sandy brown in the months to come.



Living room, complete with Golden Retriever. I love this room. The hardwood is so pretty in all these rooms, and I love the dark green/brown color.



Dining room. This used to be the same color as the LR, but we wanted a red dining room. I spent most of yesterday priming this sucker to paint tomorrow.



Guest room. We finally have a proper guest room! The sellers painted it a lovely cafe au lait color, and we love it. We went with a travel theme for the guest room. It's totally fab.



Kitchen. Love this room, too. It's so freakin' huge. The sellers left their stainless steel fridge, stove/oven and brand new dishwasher. Plus, a butlers pantry and brand new slate flooring. It's gorgeous.



Bathroom before.



Bathroom after. And yes, for those of you who'll get this, the Ed's are up.



Office/Main level laundry.



The Master Bed. It's messy, but yes, it IS as big as it looks. 28x12. I'm not kidding. It's enormous.



The reading nook in the Master Suite.



Eventual Baby room. Now, a futon room.

The house.

Moved in. The house is awesome. Have painted the bathroom and priming the dining room at this moment. Pics to come very soon!!