Love Letters

Obama, YOU ROCK!!!

I grew up in the deep South, in Northern Florida, in a little town named Graceville... a few miles from the Alabama border, in the early sixties. It was a time of tremendous racial divide, when the children of color went to school on a bus "somewhere else", something this little white girl could not understand. And then, in a strange but true twist, went to school in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1969; at a predominantly black elementary school, where I was picked on for being SO different... a chubby red-headed, freckle-faced white girl with a strange southern accent, who answered her teachers with a sing-song "Yes, ma'am" or "No, ma'am", who didn't pronounce the g's on the end of words, who didn't fit in.

I hate the idea of anyone being treated badly, especially for things they have no control over; like the color of their skin, or the color of their hair, their parent's heritage, or the kind of accent they speak with. This president represents a change in SO much... change from a time where white men of power (who reminded me of my father), who dared not be questioned, to a time of inclusion and acceptance... not just tolerance, but real acceptance. I am really, really happy today!

Royal Oak renovations, continues...

Remember that photo from yesterday of the vanity and all the tools, no mirror, kind of a mess? just to refresh your memory:

Well lookie at this! 

A little different, right?!?

Ok, it's not perfect, there's still lots to do, but I just had to show you the progress being made!!! We are waiting for our tile supplier to find us more of the ming green marble tile... somehow, and none of us are sure how, we are short on the marble. We have tons of the little green chicklet tiles left over, and quite a bit of the ceramic for the floor left over, too... but I digress. 

If the supplier can find enough of the marble, then we will do a tall band of marble around that soaking tub I showed you yesterday, and go down the wall along side the toilet, in line with the soffit above. So we're completing things as we can, in stages, and we're being really patient in the meantime! Thank God we are not living in that house while all of this is being done!

  This is just another view of the sink and vanity. 
So little by little, everyday they chip away at the "to do" list. Maybe by summer ('09) we'll be in this house!  (The inside joke is that my husband, John, told everyone we'd be living here and having a "Summer Solstice" party... that was for summer '08!)

Royal Oak renovations...

Ah... the saga continues... will it ever end?!?  I thought I'd share some photos from our crazy, do-it-yourself home renovations.  Thankfully my husband is, for the most part retired, so he is acting as General Contractor on this project.  I don't think we'll ever take on this sort of renovation project again.  The entire house, other than the front room, has been taken down to the studs... so as you can imagine, it's a bit of a mess...

This is our new bathroom... let me explain... it used to be a bedroom (see the blue wall in the background?)... the behemoth in the middle is the two-person soaking tub, which will, eventually, go into the framing on the right.  The blue tape on the left, over the green tile, is protecting the shower, which was recently grouted, prior to me taking this photo.  The tile on the wall is "Ming Green" marble... it's my husband's room to decorate, so it's going to be very, very green.

This is the inside of that shower stall, a couple days before it was grouted.  What a job, right?!?  I'll bet our "tile guy", John T., wishes he'd never taken on this job... what a great guy, though, and his work is stellar... everyone who knows anything about tile (that leaves me out), has commented on how beautiful his work is.  I've never seen him angry, and his day job is Mr. Mom to five children; so I'd say he has the perfect temperment for that job!  (His laid back personality probably, no make that definitely, makes working with my very exacting husband much, much easier.)  I love you, honey, I just have to be truthful!

This is the top of our vanity, and all the miscellaneous tools to go with the job.  You can see to the right of the vanity, the white circle where the toilet will land, eventually.  The vanity top is a dark green granite I picked out (I'm pretty proud of my choice, if I may be so bold as to take this opportunity to pat myself on the back, just a bit!)... the granite is also used to cap that little dividing wall, and is used as the threshold into the shower stall and into the bathroom itself.  Not too bad for a couple of rookies, right!?!?

The band of chicklet tiles around the walls is tumbled stone, and if I had it to do all over again, knowing what I know now, I might not have okayed that choice. Dry, without grout or sealer, the chicklets and the marble go together quite well... but once the grout was added to the chicklet tiles, they somehow look more olive green than minty green. But, oh well, what's a girl to do?! There's certainly not much I can do about that now! Hopefully the dark green granite and the dark green ceramic floor tiles help it all work together.

So, that's today's update on the Royal Oak estate... stay tuned for lots more fun with tile and paint, or with John & John! (my husband John, and the tiler, John).

Thank God paint is cheap!!!

There really is hope...

I'm so excited about Obama's inauguration next week!  I just wish it were taking place somewhere warm, where lots of folks could comfortably witness such a historical event, in person.  

I need to find out when the inauguration ceremony is actually taking place, so that I can make plans to see it in real time... perhaps I'll be able to see it on my computer at work. Hopefully hospital administration would be okay with staff watching such a historic event while at work!

On the subject of trying to bathe cats,something we need to do with our cat Danny Pancakes, who is recovering from being very ill; I thought you might get a chuckle out of this photo my friend David sent:

I think I'll give Danny a break for a few days... while I look for elbow length, bullet-proof, kevlar gloves! (I wonder if there is such a thing?!?) I hope you are staying warm, wherever you are... it's a bold 5 degrees F. here in Detroit today... lovely, just lovely. But the sun is shining and our house is warm, so I count myself very, very fortunate! Take good care of yourselves!

Collage Diva made my day!

I lifted this photomontage from my friend Kathryn's site, Collage Diva. This is evidence of Loki's Blackletter "L" (upper left hand photo) and him opening the envelope, and reading the card I sent him. Thank you so much, Kathryn! You made my day... it is amazing how doing something little for someone else, has made me feel so good inside. I am a good person, I really am!!!

*She is grinning broadly, feeling warm inside, so glad she took the time to make a little mail art!*

Slumdog Millionaire

Have you seen this movie yet?  I saw it the other day, with my son Tim, and loved it.  It's based on the book Q&A by Vikas Swarup, published in 2005. I read a review of the book in Time magazine, and boy, am I glad I took their advice! The movie is a really well done adaptation of the book, changed somewhat, as always, but still very well done.

I loved, loved, loved the book on tape (purchased through Audible.com), narrated by Kerry Shale,2005 Audie Award Winner, Fiction; whose performance was reviewed as:

"Shale's performance is brilliant." (USA Today)

"Reader Kerry Shale captures every nuance and distinction of the many personalities involved." (Boston Globe)

"This production gains much from Shale's excellent and lively performance....Shale makes it sincere, hilarious, heartbreaking, and delightful....His gifted reading, full of emphasis, inflection, and excitement, is a joy to listen to." (Publishers Weekly)

If you like audio books, I'd thoroughly, wholeheartedly recommend listening to this book and then seeing the movie. I laughed, I cried, I rejoiced, and I was sad when the book ended. So much irony and contrast... a real winner. Book, movie, or both... don't miss it! And if you do see the movie, read the book, or both; please let me know your thoughts!

Mail art en route with hugs...

After talking to Kathryn, Collage Diva in an email, she mentioned her son was working at drawing a Blackletter "L", I thought it would be fun to address an envelope to him in blackletter. He should be getting it in the mail any day now. So here's a sneak peek at the envie and note I wrote him. It's important for young people to be exposed to the art of calligraphy, in order to continue this exquisite and important art form, beyond what can be accomplished mechanically on a computer. I hope Loki gets a kick out of the note en route to him!

Now that I'm able to sit for longer periods of time, I've spent more time in my studio, and must be in a writing mood... here's a sneak peek of something on its way to another blogland buddy... in looking at the envelope and note, it's readily apparent the two look like they have nothing to do with each other... when I finished making the card and writing the note, I realized it wouldn't fit in any of my standard envelopes, and I'd written to the very edges, so trimming the card down wouldn't work, either. So I was forced to use a generic kraft paper envelope, which I doctored up a bit to make it a little more fun to look at... not one of my better efforts, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?!?

Hopefully the recipient will be happy, whether the envelope matches the note, or not. Now go write someone a note... they will be thrilled to hear from you!

New Year's Resolutions...