A look back

Today, I took a walk down memory lane, almost literally.  The house that I spent the majority of my childhood, all of my adolescence, and a piece of adulthood in had an owner's open house, and I couldn't resist. 
Just a mere 5-6 blocks from my current house, the house I grew up in hasn't aged well since my parents sold it many years back.  Growing up, I remember many large maintenance and improvement projects going on.  Eaves trough, roofing, indoor renovations, outdoor beautifying, it never stopped.  Fresh decor and the previous kept the house very well-maintained and a pride to the family.  Since they sold, I was pretty sure the house would not see such care again.
I have been in the house twice since it was sold by my parents.  The first time was a complete disappointment, this time was much better.  The first time no improvements or maintenance really was done, and all the the "originals" from when they bought the place were there.  It just looked older.  Way older, and it was sad in a way that you always hope a cherished thing is taken care of.  You know, something you love but can't hold on to.  This time, I was overall pleased. 
Here, for those who can remember what it was, and to document, are some photos of the house I took today while browsing the open house:

This is the main bathroom, one of the major improvements I noticed.  This wasn't fixed up at the last sale, so it must have been the current owners that did this.  The overall effect is a little dark for my tastes, but the new floor, vanity and mirror look good together, and modern.

The laminate floor in the kitchen, living room and hall is new too.  Nice wide planks.  There was linoleum in the kitchen here before, and carpet in the living room.  Again, dark for me, but looks good.  This room was one of my parent's major constructions too- it was once a separate dining room and kitchen- best decision ever to make it into one large room with French doors to the living room. 

This is the new carpet they chose for all bedrooms & basement.  The texture to the carpet was plush and nice to walk on.  I wouldn't have put the combo of patterned linoleum, textured carpet and dark laminate together, but it worked.

This is the living area in the basement.  I spent all of my teenage years down here, as my bedroom was there, and us kids used the basement to spend leisure time.  This built-in is new to these owners too.  There was a very large wood-burning fireplace down here with brick surround.  I think this is a much better use of space and very functional.

I thought this was so funny.  This is the master bathroom.  My mother painted that mirror green, to match the green cabinet below.  Well, they have since painted that below cabinet (it's the same one) a more neutral color, but did not touch the mirror. It made me smile.

When we lived there and well after us kids moved out, the yard was my parents' pride and joy.  As earliest as I can remember, it had corner flower beds, barrels filled with flowers, two apple trees, a large garden for vegetables and raspberries, a picnic table for outdoor eating and a swing set. It evolved to my mother's elaborate limestone rock garden and fish pond that was many years of toil and a hot tub for relaxing. 

Now, it's grass and a tree.

They kept the shed and clothesline.  My mother painted that shed, and the happy face upon it.  It gave me warm fuzzies to see it.  That barrel there in front of the shed is also a relic from years past.

I'm glad I went. The first time I went back, about 3 years ago, I was so upset at the worn-down state of the house and the obvious neglect of the owners selling.  The house looked like it was thrown away and not loved like it was by our family for 25 years.  This time I saw a lot of major improvements that made the house better, and will make others take care of it too. 

This did hurt, though.  These are the original numbers to the house.  They were replaced by light-up numbers above the garage (read: tacky) instead.  I saw these on the front flowerbed edge, looking discarded.  It made me sad, and I can't deny I wanted them to come home with me.  I'll settle for a photo.  

  

 

Dance Finale!

Dance is over for the season, and what a season it was!  It was Erika's first try at a class of any sort, and it was so much fun.  The year ended for dance with pictures and a recital. 
The pictures were last week.  All girlies got dressed up in their costumes and went for group and individual photos.  I haven't seen the photos yet, but they looked like they had a great time.  :)

Then came the recital this weekend.  There's no doubt that I was so much more nervous than Erika was....I was trying to relax and not stress her out!  She was talking weeks ahead about how excited she was to "dance on stage". 

All the younger groups congregated in one very large room to wait until their time to perform.  I was very nervous to leave her there....but my fears were unfounded as she did great and amused herself with the bin of activities they had for the girls.  Again, more anxiety on my part than hers!  I left her there under supervision and made it to my seat a few minutes after the show started.  After stepping on a few toes, I made it to my seat.  Erika's group was scheduled 19th to perform, about an hour into the show.

She did so amazing!  The best, BEST, part was that she was having a blast on stage.  She didn't remember all the steps, but made up for that with great enthusiasm.  I cried through the whole thing.  I'll never forget how much fun she looked to be having. 

Look at that smile!  I just love how she wears her feelings on her face.  She was just so proud of herself, and happy that we were all there to see her.  She admitted to me that she was "a little scared" but then in the next breath asked when we could go back to do another show.  :)  What a fun experience for her!!!!

Dance class was a success this year, and we're already signed up for next year.  (Same class- it's for 3-5 year olds and Erika was one of the youngest).  She couldn't wait every week for class, and that's the way it should be! I'll be happy to sign her up every year for classes while that stays the same. I'm so very proud of my not-so-little girl.   



Running uphill, then falling = June

It's less than 3 weeks until the end of the school year.  I see the light- and it's a little blinding.  So many people lately have insinuated how excited I must be for the summer, when in reality I'm just excited for June to be over.
Now, every June is the same for me.  There is never any slow roll to the school year.  April and May are lovely- the kids are well into a routine, you all know each other so well that merely a look from me can remind them of a rule or routine they missed, you really come together as a class and get some serious learning done.  I want to hold onto those times, and I miss them when they're gone.  June is not like that.  June calender goes up on my wall, peppered with special events written in, and learning is the last thing on any student's mind.  Behaviours come out that I haven't seen before and absenteeism is at it's best.
Of course, there are so many activities and special events in June that no teacher has any real time for serious study as it is.  Field trips, concerts, tournaments, movie days and "farewell" activities take up hours and hours and make it very hard for the students to concentrate on the days and times you still have for learning.  This wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have oodles of material I still plan on teaching them.  I survive by weighing down April and May with much Math, ELA, and Science that the students can handle, and saving the lighter subjects and topics for the end of the year.  Still necessary to teach, but best for the June type of learning.

So right now I'm working on travelling uphill, against the wind, trying to teach, coach, and will my 31 students to behave as the class I know them to be. It comes down that I think students "wind up" to summer, where I as an adult "wind down".  It's hard. (Did I mention the reports I'm doing on the weekend/evenings at this point of the year as well?) 

June 29th at 3:31pm, it'll be over, and it's much like dropping off a cliff at the top of that uphill battle.  No slow coast down, no breath at the end.  It's EVERYTHING, then it's nothing.  They leave with a huge cheer down the hall, then there's silence. It takes about a week for me to calm my pulse down and relax.

Dandelions, anyone?

I think that the recent appearance of cooler/rainy weather we had last week was my fault.  It's my fault because I took out Erika's warmer clothes and replaced them with the short sleeve ts and capris.  It happens every time- I just happen to glance at the warm weather attire, and the temperature changes to spite.
Thankfully, I seem to be forgiven and the forecast is once again favorable for the month of June.  My potted flowers survived the 2 nights of frost/frost warnings, and only 1 small basil plant fell victim.  I am faithfully watering before-mentioned plants daily (I KNOW you're reading this, Mother!) and they're doing really well.  Erika helps me nearly everyday too, if only to play in the water spray.
After dinner, Erika and I enjoyed a quick trip to our usual park to get the most out of the warm weather today.  A slight breeze helped it not be too hot, and it was already cooling off for the day too.  It was nice, except for the HUGE abundance of overgrown dandelions and long grass.  Not pleasant to look at, or walk through at all.  As I type this, I'm on hold with 311 to see what they can do about the appearance and condition of the park we love to visit.

A flower among weeds.

Balancing!

After 18 min of holding, I just got off the phone with 311.  They informed me that the park is on a 10-14 day mowing schedule (with all the rain, I guess the grass could just look exceptionally long right now), and that they could log in a report on the dandelion excess.  They also told me that I could wait up to 6 months to see action on this report, as they only spray for dandelions in the spring and fall.  Guess this is city works at it's finest. Not impressed.