Horray!

The speech team competed in St. Clair last night at the junior high tournament. We had 6 entries, and they placed as follows:

Two honorable mentions
One 5th place
One 4th place
One 2nd place
One 1st place

I was so proud of them, and they were so proud of themselves. Tomorrow we head to Fairmont, so we will see how they do.

The Neighbors

The latest with my craaaaaaazy neighbors:

On Saturday night at about 10pm, I had to make a quick run outside to the garbage can. While out there, I noticed my neighbor hanging wet jeans on the clothesline.

It's February. It's cold. Those clothes are not going to dry. They are going to freeze. Freeze-dry?

Idiots.

I think this entire blog could just be about the antics of my neighbors.

6 Months later...

So the last time I posted was in August, before the school year came crashing back into my world. It has been a hectic year with teaching a new class, trying new projects with a variety of students, and revamping the accelerated program. Did I mention I am a speech coach, too? Still figuring out the ropes on that one.

Not much new has been happening with the house. We are all hibernating at this point, with not much activity going on. I put out a couple of bird feeders, but the pesky squirrels are sabotaging my efforts to attract some birds to my little backyard. I suppose they need to eat, too, but do they have to be so darn greedy? The acrobatic maneuvers that they go through to get a little bit of corn are quite impressive. Perhaps they are performing for their supper. All I know is that when I get home this evening, the feeder will be empty and birdseed will be scattered all over the ground.

Hopefully I will have the time and finances this summer to redo some portions of my backyard, creating a few more places for the birds, and a heated birdbath to attract them even in the coldest of Minnesota winters.

Other than that, not much new right now!

More House Pics!

Here we go.

There is one thing that I cannot complain about in this house- the storage space. For a two-bedroom house that was built in 1937, there are a lot of closets. In addition to the basement, which has two small storage rooms as well as the main area, these are my many closets.

The front entry

The master bedroom

Both of these are in my bedroom.

And this is the linen closet.

Other pics:

The bathroom. Small, but not as bad as it seemed at first.

My bedroom.

The family room

And my much talked about porch. Excuse the mess. Right now it is also a holding facility for a number of things, and the mess gets on the floor.



And finally, since I have talked about it and am absolutely in LOVE with the collection….My Pyrex, located in the dining room. This is a portion of the collection- there is also a good portion stored in the upper cupboards in my kitchen. The bottom photo is my fave. A chip and dip set with hot air balloons on it- how cool is that???




So that’s it for now!!!!

A Few Pictures

Well, I don't have very many pictures at this point, simply because I am still unpacking. I fully anticipate unpacking for about another 2 weeks. What can I say? I'm slow.

Feast your eyes on the living room.

The door to the right is the front entry, and the doors on the left lead to a closet and the dining room.

Oooooooooooooooo. Not too impressive, eh? My furniture is still quite....college, but that isn't going to change until I have some extra cash. So it will be awhile. But I'm ok with that. My mother painted this room- fortunately it took only one coat of paint. It is pretty much the identical color that was there before, but Mom did a much better job. Before you could still see the wallpaper through the paint, there were nails and tacks and all sorts of junk nailed into the walls, and it was dirty. The previous owners (and I think the owners before them) were smokers. You can really tell on the ceilings.

Onto the kitchen!

This is looking in from the dining room. The door on the left is to the porch and basement. That's Gabby enjoying some lunch.

This is looking the opposite way, into the dining room and living room. The color is pretty washed out in this photo.

This is the entry to the porch (right) and the basement (left). The porch is FABULOUS. As soon as I get it cleaned up, I will post some pics.

The color of the kitchen and dining room is a beautiful light turquoise. I love it. And I'd better, because it took 2 coats of tinted primer and 2 thick coats of paint to cover the brownish-purple color that was on the walls before. The kitchen, dining, and hall are all painted this color.

These 4 areas were the ones that were, in my opinion, necessary to paint simply because what was there before was hideous. The rest of the rooms I have not and will not paint until I am ready to redo the entire room.

Unpacking has been an adventure. My stuff has been in storage for almost 2 years, and I had forgotten what good taste I have ;). It was good to see it again, and it feels really good to be able to put those things I have aquired/inherited to use. My grandmother's china, all of my Pyrex, my very cool dishes all have a place now, and it is a good feeling. However, I also have realized how much of that stuff I will no longer need or use. Good thing the parents have the occasional garage sale. It's not enough to have one of my own, but I can throw everything in on theirs.
So this is the house- or at least what I am allowing you to see of it so far. More to come as those rooms get in shape!

Note: Instead of sending me emails (which is fine, by the way), you can also simply leave a comment here. Just click on comments and it will take you through the process. Pretty simple!

The Palace

So the new house is finally being occupied. By me. And the cats. And bird. And dozens and dozens of boxes. It has been a long wait to get into my own place, but well worth it.

I have spent the last two exhausting weeks moving things over. The big stuff goes on Saturday. The inside smells of fresh paint, the outside has an overgrown lawn (still need to buy that lawnmower...), and my neighbors are an interesting crew, to put it politely.

Unfortunately, I have only one picture right now. The inside is a mess, so inside pics will have to wait until the house is a little more organized.

Here it is!!!