Visiting Heather & Hope in June

As usual, I've fallen behind on my posts. So, now I have to backtrack back to June to fill in the rest of the summer (now that summer is over...). When I went to the Advanced Placement Comparative Government reading (a job that I've worked at every year for the past several years), which this year was in Kansas City, Missouri, I took some extra time to visit Heather, Hope, and Lloyd Hall in Iowa. It was the first time I went to visit them since they moved there a couple of years ago.

Hope and I like to goof around, and here's some photo documentation of that. :-)

Hope is definitely a ham when the camera comes out.

Hope, in her GVSU cheerleader outfit, goofs off with her Grandma Shea, who was visiting at the same time I was.

Hope & Abby

Hope in Omaha, Nebraska (which is not far from where Heather and Lloyd live in Council Bluffs, Iowa)

Heather and her mom, Debbie

Hope is lucky to have such a great Grandpa and Dad who built this swingset for her.

Hope, the fashionista, with her equally fashionable friend, Destiny

Mike's New Kitchen Cabinets

Here are the latest photos -- the cabinets are about 99% installed. It's moving along -- yay!

If you remember the old kitchen, this is the spot where that chimney used to be. It proved to be too difficult to remove, so now it's got some fresh drywall and will get some backsplash.

That Damned Green Room

Mike had quite a bit of patching work to do in the green room, which had all kinds of cracks in the ceiling and the walls. When I got there, we were able to finally paint the ceiling, the walls, and start on the trim. The trim proved trickier than we thought, as the dark green paint underneath kept showing through.
Mike did an AMAZING job on the ceiling. It was a lot of hard work and a bit of a learning curve, but the end result was really great!

Even with the painting tape still up, I think these windows look so much better with clean, white paint rather than that dark green.

Exhaustion, satisfaction, and crazy poodle-like hair, all at the same time! :-)

Summer is Kitty Window Time

I was working at my desk recently, and heard a strange noise that wasn't coming from Katya and Anya. I looked out the window, and there was a squirrel, sitting on the corner of the back yard fence, taunting the kitties with strange noises. They were on high alert, tails a-wagging and ears a-flittering. It was all very cute.

Now that the den windows are open, there are so many interesting things to see in the back yard.

Of course, it's better if you can have the window sill all to yourself. :-)

Last summer, I changed out the curtains in the kitchen, which awoke Katya to a whole new world of window watching. It's now difficult to prevent her from getting up in the kitchen window over the sink.

BUSTED!

This was taken last summer; Anya was keeping an eye out for the painter.

Hiking in Ludington State Park

Most of this last weekend was gorgeous, and warm weather is going to continue through most of the week. To take advantage of this, my friend, Jason, and I headed to Ludington State Park to go hiking. And hike we did, for over five hours! Now, this might not seem all that much to you, but I was quite impressed with ourselves. We also walked around the harbor and a bit by the beach.

Contemplating the trail map...

Mike and I hiked a bit in Ludington last July (see 2009 July posts) and went to the lighthouse. Jason and I took some different trails this time around.

I thought this piece of wood was twisted in an interesting way.

There was a strong breeze and good tree cover, which were most welcome given the heat.

New Facebook profile picture. Thanks, Jason! :-)

A Ludington institution: the SS Badger Lake Michigan car ferry (see http://www.ssbadger.com/home.aspx).

The harbor park had several statutes commemorating what seemed to be Ludington's more glorious past.

Thai Tea Set

One of my students who just graduated gave this tea set to me as a gift. Her parents brought it from Thailand (they are Thai) when they came for the graduation ceremony. I am amazed at how beautiful it is, and the detailed handiwork is particularly impressive.
And the box is not only sturdy but pretty, with the exterior covered in silk.

Taking on the Green Room

At Mike's house, one of the bedrooms was painted a dark green with a different colored green trim. On the right side of this photo, you can see our attempt at color selection. The new color is called "Soothing Aloe."

It's not a horrible set of colors, but we wanted to paint it a bit more neutral. The previous owners even painted the dark green with a lighter green pattern in the closet.

We've now started this project, but there's a lot of prep work. The ceiling has a lot of cracks, for example, and Mike has taken on the task of spackling.

My job today has been the closet; I've finished the first coat, and so far so good. I think "Soothing Aloe" is going to turn out nicely. I'll post more when the room is closer to finished!