What I Did After My Summer Vacation

On my summer vacation I went to Michigan.  Wait, you already know that.  When I got back:

1.  I took the kids to the dentist to have their 6-year molars sealed.  Supposedly this financial investment will protect them from cavities, drilling, fillings and pain.  And protect me from spending even more money for their dental health in the future. 

2.   I took the kids shopping for school supplies.  Supposedly this financial investment will further their education.  And protect me from supporting them when they are adults, WAY in the future.

3.  I went back to work.  Supposedly this allows me to make these financial investments.  Today is payday so I guess the proof is in the pudding, er bank account, today.

4.  The kids started school.  Half day Wednesday and full days Thursday and Friday.  J-dude began Middle School.  He walks home, via the Elementary School and accompanies Sisi home.  This allows me to work a little later.  See numbers 3, 2,  and 1.

5.  I made a mosaic on a picture frame.  It's very colorful.  Now I cannot figure out what kind of photo could possibly look good inside it.  I might have to turn it into a mirror.

 

 

I do like this one quite a bit.  Pieces of stained glass for the tiles and white grout. 

 

6.  I continued reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.  It's the book for our book group's September meeting.  It's awesome.  I am enthralled with this book.  I'm just a little over halfway through the book.  We found a copy for purchase in Michigan at Reader's World bookstore in Holland.  That is one wonderful little book store.  If you head to Holland or thereabouts, check it out. 

 

This book was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize in 2004 or 2005.  All I can say is, I would like to read the winning book that year.  It must be sumthin'!

 

 

 



HBTTP

happy birthday to the player!

He knows I'm cooking salmon for his birthday but he doesn't know there is a carrot cake with 6 candles in the kitchen.  I won't reveal his age except to say it has at least one six in it.

We returned from our vacation to Michigan this afternoon.  Holland, Michigan for the 3rd year in a row.   This is the first year we've had the luxury of a house instead of a hotel room, and we are hoping to get a house on Lake Michigan next year.  

The kids are spending a few hours with their dad, and the adults are relaxing at home.  The car is unpacked and there is no urgency to the pile of laundry.  A bottle of wine is open in the kitchen.  I arrived home in time to watch 2 innings of the Cubs game today, in which they lost in the bottom on the ninth on 2 pitches by a rookie pitcher.  Oy!  Definitely back home to reality.

It looks like we had significant rain while we were gone, as when we left our grass was brown but upon return it is much more green.  Yahoo!

I am going down to the kitchen now and make noises as if I had made that cake.  HA! 

The Next Dimension

Thinking in 3 dimensions is a challenge for my brain.  I remember the days of working in hospitals and trying to figure out how to arrange a person, an oxygen tank, an IV pole, a wheelchair,a hospital bed, me to help and then somehow thinking I had it all arranged but still finding either oxygen tubing or IV tubing or both wrapped around me as I moved the person from wheelchair to bed.  Now I work in people's homes where there is rarely an IV and only occasionally oxygen tubing and my people are mostly able to make that move on their own with minimal tangling assistance from me.

My name, when I wrote it using a signature recognition program that my sister Connie had, was interpreted as Kinda Tangly instead of Kim M Tingley.  Apropos!!

So, why did I choose a 3d project for my next mosaic project?  I do not know.  Memory loss may have been to blame.  I enjoyed the first steps but as the project went on I felt overwhelmed by the colors I had chosen and not feeling good about how they worked together and trying to get flat pieces to lie down on an orb, and not being able to visualize how it would look when finished.

I was about to chuck the whole thing.  I did not chuck the whole thing.  I grouted it with white non-sanded grout and prayed:

After grout and prayer and cleaning it up, it seemed I had a miracle on my hands: 

Ok, the thing about a 3D project is it's hard to show the result with one photo so here are a couple more. 

 

I'm more happy with this project than I expected to be along the way, but my next project will definitely be FLAT!  Let's hear it for 2 dimensions.  Hip Hip...

Endless Summer

This week J-dude tried out for the baseball team at the middle school he will attend this year.  The team he tried out for is the 6th-7th grade team, a.k.a. the 7th grade team.  He didn't make the first cut.  He's short and not a very impressive batter.  Since the coaches didn't see him in a game situation they did not see his exquisite instincts at almost any position.   He was bummed out, quietly, for a couple of days, then this morning he announced that "the coaches made a big mistake."  Yes, indeed.  It was the first time he'd ever tried out for anything.  I think he learned to handle his disappointment well and with egotistical grace!  If there is such a thing.

Sisi completely wore out her swimsuit, it's official as of yesterday.  She came home from a waterpark trip with the Parks and Rec department and announced that her suit had disintegrated to the point of total transparency at about 2:30 p.m.  I rushed off today to get her a new one.  I looked at the old suit and I don't think it's quite that bad.   On the other hand I did toss it in the trash. 

I had a good week at work.  Today it's raining a little off and on (hurrah...let's hope for more ON before the evening is done.)  And I made a peach pie.  I think that's what we are having for dinner.  With ice cream for dessert.

One more week of work and then The Player and the kids and I are off to Michigan for a week at the beach.   Then 10 more years of work and I might retire.  (With a few more trips thrown in, I hope.)

School starts 3 days after we get back.  Where has summer gone?  I don't think I'll need to worry, it's going to feel like summer here until the end of November if the Weather Channel is correct.