...life on the road

I'm officially without a permanent address...but I'm not homeless. Friends and family have seen to that. Living out of suitcases will probably be old by the end of the month, but for now...it just feels like summer.

...my life at the present moment

The contents of these are neatly stowed in the garage,

waiting for this, which has been reserved. This has been scheduled, (Thanks for the info, Les!)

utilities have been notified,

and rent has been paid. After Wednesday, I will be living out of these.

EEK!

Blogger is being strange today--it won't let me fix the spacing between pictures...and I've already frittered away too much time creating the post. Fine. Be that way.

another "last time"

Congratulations, class of 2011!

I am proud of you!

...my last day of school in Podunk

...blogger being bratty

I'm not sure what's up with Blogger lately. Sure, it lets me create new posts. It even allows me to comment on other blogs--sometimes. The weird thing is, when I try to post a reply to my own blog, it takes me to the sign-in page...again and again and again. After about the 3rd attempt I give up (after saying a few choice words). And since Blogger is free, I really can't rant to anyone about the lousy service. But I'm spoiled. I'm conditioned to be able to comment at will. So it is. Anyway...this post is to let anyone who has recently commented on my blog know that I did indeed read what you wrote, and I appreciate that you took the time to stop by. A lack of a response on my part is not for a lack of trying!

...this and that

• The to-do list is growing smaller.


• Bit by bit, my life is getting packed up and stacked in the garage.


• It's getting easy to toss things into the trash or put them into the give-away pile.


• I fooled myself into thinking I could leave dry-eyed. Not going to happen.


• The storage unit has been reserved--sort of. (What do you mean, my online reservation only guarantees the price, not that you'll actually have a unit for me??)


• BBQ and a game of "Apples to Apples" with neighbors was a welcome respite from the to-do list.


• Why did I decide that the garden bench should be repainted before being stored?


• I'm glad to have an online friend who knows about carpet cleaning--now I know the right questions to ask.


• We had a 5 day weekend due to furlough days, and I haven't ridden once because the @#$% wind continues to blow. Grrr...


• I've learned that yes, there are cyclists in Abu Dhabi, women as well, and yes, spandex in public is ok. I'm going to wait to see for myself before I decide to either have my bike shipped or buy one there.


• Katie graduates from PSU in two weeks and I have no clue what to do for a gift for her. (Hmmm...funny how putting that thought to print caused some ideas to flit through the brain.)


• I wonder if anyone on Freecycle will want my old TV? (Yes, it's a big screen...but no, it's not flat.) I hate to have to haul it to the dump.


• Out of all of my "stuff" that is going into storage, the only item I would truly miss if something catastrophic happened is my grandpa's old Victrola. (But I'd still have my memories of him winding it up and playing "Mean Mama Blues.")


• Due to budget cuts, I'm not being replaced. Next year my classroom will be a storage unit for ESL materials. I feel for my coworkers who will have to absorb my duties into their already full schedules and I worry about my newcomers who will be tossed into regular classes before they're ready.


• It looks like I'm going to have to get snarky with the bookkeeper at the chiropractor's office about the refund I've been owed since January. A phone call and a note have had no effect.


• The oven is clean.


• I'm scared, I'm nervous, and I'm still a little incredulous that I'm actually doing this--but the smile on my face tells me that it's a good decision.


• It's probably a good thing that I forgot that Arlene also had an extra long weekend--I wouldn't have gotten quite so much accomplished.


• Four more school days left in this year...

...a budding photographer

My friends Chris and Janie and their (almost) 4 year old son Liam came to my party on Saturday. To keep Liam entertained Katie gave him her camera to use. I love giving cameras to kids--especially now in the digital age. Deleting out of focus or repetive shots takes seconds. And, sometimes they get a great shot from an angle that adults would never have considered. (We call this The Kitchen Angel. ha!) Liam loved my mom and took a gazillion pictures of her. Most were deleted, but a couple were very cute. But it's the picture that he took of my dad that is our all-time favorite. Don't you love it?