Perfectly Imperfect

OK. So, the kids are getting their own rooms. Eliana will stay in the room they shared and Sam is moving into the spare room/office. This is a major change for the house. Kat has been watching craigslist and scoping out deals on a bed for Eliana. She found one at the Hospice Attic. She had also found some furniture. It was time to start the process. The first major obstacle was moving the upright piano from the office/spare room to the living room. Our house is small and one of the smallest areas is the hallway from the bedrooms to the living room. Chris H. came over to help me move the piano. I don’t think he knew what he was getting himself into!
He was a trooper. We ended up having to tip the piano up on its side, using a furniture dolly that Stephanie loaned us, and somehow managed to get it out of the room and into the living room without any major holes in the walls or any dislocated backs. Crazy.
We have been using craigslist to get rid of one piece of furniture and buy another. So far, so good.
The only new piece of furniture we bought was a new corner desk for my computer and workspace. My “office” area is now in the corner of the living room. Office Depot ran a great deal where you got a hutch for free when you bought a L-desk. Not too shabby. Now I have a little area to stuff away things in drawers and work on the computer. Assembling the two pieces took the better part of the day. I could not believe how long it took! But, here I am typing away at the new desk.
Tomorrow we will finish moving the furniture for the kids’ rooms around and hopefully the dust will settle after three days of house chaos.
In other news, we had a nice little 4th of July celebration in the street in front of the house. This year marks the first year that Sammy did not run and hide from the fireworks! I think he will be ready to go to a fireworks display next year =)
I am in the process of mulling over my traditional (at least in my mind) 4th of July post. I think of the 4th as our anniversary of returning to the States after 7 years in Paraguay. It has been 3 years. Wow.
The best part of the week had to have been getting in touch with Aurelia again after more than a year of not being able to reach her because the phone company changed her number.
It is good to be in the USA.
Here’s to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Pat

Eliana and Sam took to their bikes after I was done watching the Uruguay vs. Ghana game. Sam told me I was too loud when I liked what happened in the game. He said, “Daddy, I know you were happy, but it was too loud for inside the house.” What a cutie =)
Below are some pics of the bike riding adventure. Eliana had her best day yet since we took off the training wheels! Sam was racer Flame. I hope you can see him. He was moving super fast and wearing camouflage. That makes it twice as hard to spot him =)

Today Kat had her second interview in two days! Yesterday she interviewed with Glen Springs Elementary and today she interviewed with Littlewood. Both of the interviews were for gifted classes. Cross your fingers for us!
I went to Go Primal Fitness for an evaluation consultation. It was about 45 minutes of performing different exercises to see where my strengths lay and what areas I could use help with. There were a good deal of leg exercises. I love doing squats and jump squats and that came in handy. The one thing I have yet to master is the deadlift. Gotta work on that.
Right now my quadriceps are not happy with me. I took a couple weeks off from running and yesterday I ran nearly 5 miles through some trails at San Felasco State Park and then I did all the squats and lunges and such today for the eval. Ouch.
From what I have been told, if I start using Go Primal my legs will wish they felt this good.
In the guitar front, I had some friends over for some food and climbing in the garage last night. Many of them play the guitar in varying abilities. It was great to hear the guitar come to life. Ivan played it classical style and it sounded awesome!
Good times!
Also, yesterday Eliana G in PY did our family a HUGE favor. She drove out to San Lorenzo and found Aurelia’s house and got Aurelia’s new phone number. Her number had been changed and we did not have any way to get in touch with her. We got a couple of numbers through other friends, but they did not work. So, after more than a year of not being able to talk to Aurelia and her family, Kat was able to call Aurelia on Skype and talk for over 30 minutes. It was amazing.
Thank you, Eliana G for driving so far out of your way and allowing us to get in touch with a family we love so much!
Yesterday was a GREAT day.
Hope you all are having a good week!

pat

My mother’s guitar is beautiful. Here are the pics to prove it.

I did a bit of research and found out it is now a bit of a collector’s item =) Sorry, Collectors. It is not for sale.

I managed to get all of the strings set up and I am working on keeping them in tune. I am now trying to learn some chords. My fingers are used to climbing rocks and holding onto small holds, but getting them to work independently is a chore. Patience is a virtue. I have to keep reminding myself =)

I now have a guitar that I got from my mother. It is a S. Yairi 900 series (1972) classical guitar. It needed some TLC, including new tuning pegs, saddle and strings. I was able to get some great help from Wes at Lipham’s Music. Thankfully, several of my former students are also helping me along. Day 2 saw me break two strings and have a minor temper tantrum. So, I guess everything is on track for learning how to play the guitar. Did I mention I have no musical background and I have never played any instrument besides the air guitar? Yep. So, at 34 I am trying something completely new and I suck at it. Humility is a virtue and a new guitar feeds you a huge helping of humble pie =)
pat

We have been gone from the blog scene for a long time. Sorry about that. The three of you who follow this blog are entitled to more content. I am working on it. There was a tech glitch during the last few weeks, but that is resolved and we can now post again.
Get ready for summer 2010 =)

pat

The holidays were busy and wonderful. Here are some of our experiences, in a nutshell:
Nights of Lights in Saint Augustine, visiting the Fort and Project Swing
Thanksgiving with Pat’s family and Dayna in Georgia. Lots of good food, little kids and giggles.
Cookie baking
Making a who-ville-esque gingerbread village
Visiting Santa with Sam’s Prek ESE class
Decorating the tree with special ornaments
Christmas Eve pageant with and angel and a sheep
Tia Dayna visiting
Reindeer leaving a MESS on the patio!
Lighting the advent wreath
Presents!
Yummy dinner at my parents’, kids climbing on aunts and uncles.

I am a felting addict! Here are some of the projects that I have worked in recently.

For more ideas got to www.livingfelt.com

I made this nativity scene for our church auction. The colors from the Living Felt multipacks were perfect. I especially love the donkey, I wanted to keep him (so did Sam!) for those of you who are becoming felt-heads, go to livingfelt.com

Hi! It’s been a long time =) We are moving into Fall weather and that means cooler temps and a lot less sweat. Granted, Fall lasts for about a week in the South. But, it is a glorious week to say the least.
The children are rocking the new school year. I am feeling more and more at home at BHS (although it will never be anything like the home that ASA was for so long). There are many days when I miss PY and all of our friends there. If there is one thing that stands out to me as a stark difference between PY and FL it is the distance everyone keeps, both emotionally and physically. I remember when I arrived in PY in 2000. I was uncomfortable with how close everyone got to me, and now I miss it. The start of each school year brings these feelings back.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my job at BHS and I thank God everyday for giving me the gift of teaching. I always smile while I am at work. I mean, please! I get paid to talk about books all day =)
I am also moonlighting at the Gainesville Rock Gym. I was hanging out there so much they finally decided to put me on the payroll so they could tell me when to leave =) And there is another blessing. I get paid to hang out at a rock gym teaching people how to have fun and reach new heights (pun intended).
Halloween is coming up. Eliana made my October recently by asking if we could watch a movie together. I was hesitant. Then she said, “We could watch your FAVORITE movie…” I replied, “What movie is that?” I really had no idea what she was talking about.
“The one with Jack and Sally–The Nightmare Before Christmas!”
I was delighted. We watched it together and she put up with me singing along, word for word, with every song in the movie.
Welcome Fall.

pat