Whose Shoes?

A pile of shoes in our house, and NO ONE claims them. How does that happen?

Laundry

We returned from vacation to a broken washing machine:

1. A repairman visited us three times in three days, first to evaluate it, then to fix it.

2. Later that day, while busily chewing away at the ginormous pile of dirty laundry, the washer sprouted numerous water leaks.

3. On his third visit, the repairman pronounced it dead. It had lived a full life of eleven years and needed to be replaced.

4. With much gnashing of teeth, we started looking at new equipment.

5. All the salesmen pushed front loaders as being far superior to top loaders, but I wasn't convinced.

6. One salesman told us that all front loaders need to be have the door left ajar if more than a couple of days go by between loads, because mold has a tendency to build up on the door.

7. That settled it for us: our laundry closet does not allow enough room for a washer door to be left ajar, and the adjacent hallway still be passable.

8. We bought the only washer that fit our requirements: top loader, dials rather than push buttons, stainless steel tub, and in the Whirlpool family.

Vacation, Part 2: Florida and the Bahamas

Sunset on Key Largo

On our way home from the Stone Mountain Games, the Professor mentioned that he still had one more week of vacation, and that we could go somewhere else. Where would we like to go? I asked for someplace warm. Early the next morning we got up, threw our dirty clothes back into our suitcases (broken washing machine, remember?), and headed south to Florida.

The Professor had a niggling idea that a short cruise would be fun, but when we tried to arrange it, it seemed that we were a tad too late. We headed toward the Keys instead. Florida turned out to be as warm and balmy as Mexico, and we really enjoyed the quiet time for just the two of us.Dinner at Islamorada Fish Co, an outdoor restaurant on the gulf.

On Monday, we stopped at a rest stop and I browsed the brochure racks for info on the Keys. But another brochure jumped out at me: Celebration Cruise Lines was advertising 2- and 3-day cruises to the Bahamas, out of Fort Lauderdale. The Professor called right away and booked us for Wednesday, two days away.

Meantime, we decided to make a run for the Keys anyway, and see how far south we could get. In that day and a half, we made it all the way to the end of the highway and back up to Fort Lauderdale. It was beautiful (except for Key West, or rather "Sodom and Gomorrah").

Our quick cruise to Nassau, Bahamas was fun too. We really like being transported from one location to another while we sleep. We snorkeled on the reef outside of Nassau, shopped in the outdoor market, and wandered around the town. We also ate well onboard, and relaxed on deck.

In downtown Nassau

Back in Florida, we had two days on the gulf coast before we had to head home, back into Coldsville.

Stone Mountain Highland Games

The day after we got home from vacation we went with the Leonards to the Highland Games at Stone Mountain. It was very cold and rainy; even glove weather. What a contrast to balmy Mexico!

Luke really enjoyed watching the massed bands in particular. We enjoyed watching him in the new experience.

Sadly, David had to work, so he was not able to compete or participate in any way. We have really missed his competitions this year, and hope he can eventually get back to piping.

Vacation, Part 1: Puerto Vallarta

The Professor and I had a wonderful week in Mexico! We stayed with my family in a condo (actually, we needed two units) in a beautiful resort right on the beach. Waking up to a view of the Pacific Ocean every morning, wearing swim suits most of the days, swimming in the warm, tropical water...was heavenly.

Chuck went parasailing one day:

We both acted like monkeys when we swung from a rope swing into a river:
Dinner out every night at the local Mexican restaurants:
Shopping the local markets in downtown Puerto Vallarta:When we arrived home, we heard that the washing machine had broken, with smoke billowing out. Welcome home to us!

Greta the Art Teacher

Every Friday I co-teach Art History to 15 late elementary school homeschool kids. Every Friday morning, I bounce out of bed eager to hear what hilarious things those kids come up with.

The girls are at the age where everything has to be perfect (the boys either don't care yet, or will never care). The art they come up with is so cute, too! Libby and I alternate between showing them how to make it better, and convincing them that it looks good the way they have it. "Miss Greta, are you just saying that? I know you don't mean it when your voice gets all squeaky."

The art games we play often contain shouting matches; especially, when playing Art Jeopardy, one little boy got so excited he would shout out [correct] answers at every opportunity: even if it wasn't his team's turn. He won the opposing team (known as the Needle Tools) 500 points doing that! His team mates were not too happy with him!