Odds and Ends

So I haven't written in a while... not much time, but what else is new? We are slowly continuing to make progress on the house. This weekend, Daniel cleaned the gutters... it is amazing what new uses we can find for our large shopvac - I will post pics later.

The shower floor has now been leveled and the framing is almost done - including an inset for bottles and shower stuff as well as a corner bench. It feels good to make progress of any kind.

This past week, Daniel and I spent some time doing things we enjoy: On Tuesday night, I skipped out on preparing for my Wednesday class so that we could go to the movies - it felt great to do something besides work and I still managed to get my stuff done for class.

Then Thursday night and Saturday night, we stayed up watching 2 discs of season 3 of 24... this meant close to 8 hours in front of the TV, but I don't feel bad... we rarely watch TV anymore so it was kind of a treat.

Thursday was the last day of a co-worker of mine. We celebrated by cooking chocolate chips pancakes on a griddle in the office for breakfast. Following this was lunch at a local bowling alley where I proved just how terrible I am at bowling (Wii and real life). It was a nice way to send someone off. Our creative director even got us matching bowling shirts with our names embroidered on it. I know that the person leaving will be missed, but from experience, sometimes you just have to move on... even if you love your co-workers and your job. Personally I think we are blessed to live in a time and place where it is ok to venture out and try new things.

What must dogs think of humans?

Today as I came home from running a multitude of errands, I saw a man walking his dog. Actually he wasn't walking the dog, he was waiting for the dog to finish its business. Then the man bent over and picked up the dogs business with a plastic bag...

I know that the man is being courteous to the neighbors, and I definitely appreciate when pet owner's do not leave their animals messes in my yard. But what must the dog think as it stands there waiting patiently for its owner?

Remodelling...

Well, we are back at it. Sort of. We are finally starting to make some progress on the master bathroom. I think the last time that we worked on it was when my parents were here in August.

This weekend the goal is to get the backer board installed in the shower and the cement for the custom shower tub poured (with the drain installed).

If all goes well this weekend, next weekend we will install the liner that will go over the concrete. Then we have a weekend off to take a gun safety class (this is Daniel's idea)... Then the following weekend I will be in Chicago... And then maybe the last weekend in April we will actually have the bathroom tiled...

Generally things RARELY turn out as planned, but that is the tentative schedule for the master bathroom renovation. I am ready for it to be done already. We will see if we are able to stick to this schedule or not.

My never-ending cold...

I feel like I have been in a perpetual state of being sick since mid-January. Most recently I thought I was just dealing with allergies, but I think I have a full-blown cold again which is so not fun. I am ready to be well and for the sneezing and watering and itching and coughing to stop for good.

Posters

Tonight my Intro To Design students turned in their latest project - posters. I had them choose from one of three topics: The Environment, Voting and Genocide in Darfur.

Their presentations all went really well. There are definitely some students that are rising to the top of the class with their creativity and natural eye for design.

The most interesting part of the presentations were the two men in my class who both created political posters. They were on opposite ends of the spectrum and there was some heated discussion as they both, passionately shared their opposing points of view.

Thankfully I was able reel everyone in and everything has settled back down - not that it was out of hand, just a little passionate. I like when people believe passionately in something... to me it means that they are still concerned about the world.

Dallas Casting Call

I am in Dallas, TX for the weekend for the Everyday Edisons Casting Call. It is really hot in Dallas (I think it reached 90 today) - wish I brought something to wear besides blue jeans.

This time our flight left at a reasonable hour which was nice. We made it to Texas with no hitches. Checked into the Magnolia hotel in downtown, made a lunch run to Schlotzsky's then went over to the Convention Center to get a tour and discuss what will be happening tomorrow.

Fun Fact 1: The Dallas Convention Center is 1.5 miles long and 0.5 miles wide. Thankfully our event will only be in one portion of the center.

Fun Fact 2: There is an unconfirmed rumor that WWF will also be at the Convention Center tomorrow... if true, that should be interesting.

After the touring the Convention Center, we headed back to the hotel. My roommate and I walked around the West End Market District. Tonight is dinner with the group and then probably an early bed time for me as we have to be up at 5 a.m. tomorrow.

Tomorrow night I will get to see Taryn and Troy which I am very excited about.

Quick Update: Dinner was great. Complimentary cookie and milk bar at the hotel was cool - dipping cookies in milk before bed rocks.

Bike Commute Log

Commute to Work:
43ºF when we left the house. 

Biked 1.5 miles to bus stop. 

Road Express bus into downtown. 

Biked 0.5 miles to work. 

30 min.
 

Commute Home:
70º+F 

6-ish miles to Cotswold where we stopped to eat dinner. 

Another 5-ish miles home. 

1.5+ hrs (longer because of the stop to eat dinner and split a blizzard at DQ).