Tuesday, April 22, 2008

A Night to Remember

Daughter accompanied her boyfriend to his Prom this past weekend. They had a wonderful time, I hear. All I can really tell you is that they both looked absolutely fabulous. See for yourself.



After hanging out with us for a bit and being subjected to photo after photo, daughter and her date went out for a romantic dinner at a very nice local restaurant. The restaurant is on the 17th floor of a building downtown (one of our tallest buildings, by the way) and overlooks the river. They happy couple (I can't reall call them kids, because they just look so grown up!) were able to watch the sun set while they had dinner. After dinner, they danced the night away at another riverfront location. I understand from daughter that boyfriend was the perfect gentleman all night--opening the car door for her, dropping her off at the door to the prom location so she wouldn't have to walk through a gravel-filled parking lot, offering her his arm so that he could escort her into prom properly. What more could a 15 year old girl ask for? On Saturday morning at about oh dark thirty, they headed to school to meet boyfriend's classmates for a bus trip to Six Flags Over GA.

They were both exhausted when they got back home Saturday night, but I think they've stored away enough happy memories to last them a life time.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Sometimes You Just Strike Gold

There is something to be said for owning a home that's almost 50 years old. While there are old, outdated things that need special attention, there are also little gems just waiting to be discovered. Take for instance, our back stairs. We knew that the stairs themselves were hard wood (covered by disgusting carpeting) but until this afternoon, we had no idea the landing in front of the back door was also hard wood. Gold, I tell ya....we struck gold! We've taken up the carpeting on the stairs going into the den and the one on the landing. I'm waiting for husband to pull a couple of nails for me before taking up the nasty linoleum from the landing and giving the floor there and the stairs into the den a nice going over with some Murphy Oil Soap. I will probably tackle the stairs coming up into the kitchen from the back door next weekend. My hands are so covered with blisters (burst) and cuts from the carpet tack strip that I don't think I can take much more pulling nails and staples this weekend.

Our project for the day was painting the den, but as you can see, it's taken a bit of an unexpected twist. The den is such a dark cave (a half basement--the walls are half way below ground) and a coat of light colored paint will certainly help brighten it up. Rather than feeling exhausted by the home improvements, I'm feeling energized and ready to take on another project before too long--perhaps painting the dining room or one of the bedrooms........ First things first, though, and let us get through the den project.

We purchased a new TV (Hello, HDTV) and sound system for the room and have a Wii game system that is supposed to be delivered today. (Hello, 21st century.) Thus, all the spiffing up that we're doing downstairs.

Friday, April 04, 2008

Spring Break?

Ah....I've been waiting for this for a while now, but it's not turning out quite like I'd thought it would. "It" is Spring Break. Daughter is off all next week and the following Monday, and we'd thought we'd go to the beach for the entire break. That was before there was a boyfriend! Now, all bets are off. Give me one good reason I'd want to spend 12 days in a 600 square foot condo with a moping teenage girl who misses her boyfriend? Also, I checked the weather for HHI, and there are going to be thunderstorms until Wednesday. UGH. I love the beach in all kinds of weather, but I'm thinking we'll postpone this trip until perhaps a little later next week.

So, I'm going to change my vacation request at work and concentrate on getting a few things done around the house. There is one project in particular that I'd like to finish--daughter's bathroom. She has a mold situation going on that is going to require heavy duty bleaching, stripping of the wall paper, paint, and probable cursing and praying on top of that. We bought some new lighting for her bedroom a while back, so I'm hoping that can be installed this coming week, too. We shall see.

I haven't said much about the high school musical daughter was in. It was AMAZING. It really is a thrill to see everything come together in the end and know that all the hard work the director, choreographer, lighting and technical people, the cast, and all the parents put into this paid off in the end. I wish I had time to be more involved, but I try to do my part where I can. The drama kids are great, and I really enjoy being with them. Maybe next year my schedule will allow me some more time to volunteer. There's a DVD coming out for the show, and one of the moms (who is an outstanding photographer) left three disks full of pictures at a local shop so that anyone who wants can go in and buy reprints or have the photos printed into an album. I will probably get an album as a momento for daughter.

That's about it......I'll try to get some more photos taken and posted to the blog. The weather hasn't been very cooperative. Someone asked if the new camera meant more pictures posted, and I'm hoping that's the case. Don't count on them being knitting photos, though. I'm kind of missing my knitter's mojo at the moment and haven't been inspired to even pick up needles for at least a week or maybe more.