Wednesday, June 30, 2010

IT'S THE END MY FRIEND

aren't they pretty? just a few gifts for a very spoiled teacher as she finished her last day of teaching for a bit of time ...


n is officially taking off her teacher hat for 6 months and going to enjoy her summer vacation and then put on her grad student hat and head across the pond to london for her studies ... it feels bizarre to think that in a few months i will not be starting with a new group of students in the fall but i am very excited to take the next step in my professional development and start my master's

so here's the low down about my fabulous program through the university of london institute of education ... i am taking a master's of arts in education and international development which focuses on various education systems in the world and the role of education in the development process of middle income and low income areas ... and the part of program that truly sealed the deal for me is a study visit in paris incorporating unesco and the international institute of educational planning ... only a few more months to go :)

cheers ~n

Saturday, June 26, 2010

SO MUCH TO DO ...

here is the gigantic to do list for both home and work ... aaah not even enough time to write this ... must get back to work

project 109

master floor
... build 2 dormers ... 1 for the bed area and 1 for the library ... that means cutting out two gigantic holes and building the gable dormers and putting in the windows
... plumbing for the master ensuite and put in bathroom fixtures ... shower, tub, toilet, sink, faucets, and mirror
... electrical and lighting
... insulation and drywall and taping and mudding and sanding and mudding and sanding and mudding and sanding :)
... paint walls, trim and doors and door handles
... carpet the floor and stairs, tile the bathroom
... baseboards, window casings and doors

main floor
... finish painting the guest bedroom and j's office closets
... finish painting all the baseboards and window casings
... tile the kitchen back splash
... edging for all tiled areas
... door trim and handles
... electrical and lighting for the dining room lights and over the cabinet lighting
... re-drywall and paint the main floor bathroom ... built in shelving for towels in the bathroom
... assemble the railing for the stairwell
... finish capping for kitchen wall

basement
... finish tiling laundry room and bathroom
... carpet the basement and stairs
... baseboards and doors
... paint trim and doors and handles
... finish bathroom fixtures ... shower, sink, toilet, faucets, and mirrors
... shelving for laundry, bathroom and bedroom

exterior
... re-shingle the roof, soffits, facia and trim
... eaves trough and drain pipes
... railing for the covered deck and stairs
... lighting for covered deck
... build the lower deck
... build a new fence
... finish landscaping ... build flower boxes and of course always adding more pretty flowers and shrubs
... build a front porch
... siding or stucco for the house
... exterior lighting, address and mailbox
... potentially build a double garage with a rental suite up top and new driveway

whew this list is monstrous and the crazy part is this list is actually getting smaller and more manageable ... i guess that's what happens when you reno a house from top to bottom ...

and now moving on to the work list that has just been completed in the last few days

... finished report cards ... wrote comments and proofed for 42 students and proofed other's report cards
... finished individualized program plans ... in the past years i've only had 1 to write in past 3 years and this year i had 11 ... i was drowning in paper work
... finished files and notes for consultants
... planned for the last week of school activities and sports days
... attended a multitude of staff meetings

and the available timeline for finishing the house is getting much smaller because london will be calling in no time

cheers ~n

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

IT'S NICE TO COME HOME TO THIS ...

in real life j gets props for being such an amazing, helpful husband ... in the blogger world not so much because he wants to be a silent invisible entity on this blog but today he can't get away with that ... while n is going through the year in busy teacher land j always steps up offers a helping hand wherever possible ... he cooks breakfast and dinners for n, if he has spare time he gets the groceries, he drives n to her workouts (because parking is scarce) and he always goes above and beyond and does the little extras ... case in point j loves to go golfing and this week he was going twice and j and n were so super busy that they wouldn't get to hang out for very long ...

so n came home to relaxing on the deck with these ...

homemade strawberry lemonade

and having the most delicious salad ready to mix ...

mmm spinach salad with pecans, dried cranberries and goat chevre cheese all with a homemade honey mustard white wine vinaigrette dressing

and dinner to reheat whenever n was ready to eat ... n's fav homemade pita pizzas ...

on the left grilled chicken with spinach, red bell peppers, grape tomatoes, mozzarella and goat chevre cheese and on the right tomato based with ham, red bell pepper, mushrooms, mozzarella and goat chevre cheese and of course secret spices all on a whole wheat pita ... don't they look yummy ... well they sure were :)

n has said it many times in real life and n will say it in blogger world ... she is taken care of by the bestest boy ever ... love you j xoxo

cheers ~n

Monday, June 21, 2010

FIXING THINGS UP

n has been busy fixing up the front yard and trying to make it more beautiful ... anything to take the focus off the disastrous mess of the house ... things have been planted, flowers are blooming and things are definitely looking more pretty ... the planter boxes still have to be built and the cedar mulch put in but here's a peak at the changes

p.s. n can't wait to be done work and have a whole bunch of time to keep working on this:

the shrubs moved from the backyard now sitting pretty in the front

adding more flowers and shrubs to the middle plant box

soon to be a collection of pinks, blues and purples ...
can't wait to see all the prettiness

looking up from the sidewalk

all the grass n dug out the previous weekend ... slowly but surely

waiting for the boxes to be built and cedar mulch



cheers ~n

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

WINDOW TREATMENTS AND BASEBOARDS = A VERY SPOILED HOUSE

this past weekend at project 109 our lil house got a wee bit fancier ... after 4 years of being bare the main floor received a much needed upgrade in style with the addition of window casings and baseboards ... the basement was feeling a bit left out and we wouldn't want it to feel that way so it also got some pampering ... window frames were finished, casing added around, the furnace room doors trimmed and the laying of tile began ... out little house is rounding the renovations corner and beautiful things are now happening ... here's peek at some of the makeover that occurred ... enjoy ... i know i am

the new window frames and casings

the furnace room doors

laundry/freezer room

basement bathroom
(yes more black and white)


kitchen with baseboards
(and the big empty space on the wall
is where the london pictures
are supposed to go
but n still hasn't got the frames yet)

the dining room area


cheers ~n

Thursday, June 10, 2010

IN MY HOUSE IT'S BLACK AND WHITE

anyone who knows n knows that she has a love to the point of obsession with black and white photographs, paintings, posters of buildings, cityscapes and landscapes and any other decorating ... now don't get me wrong i love an amazingly beautiful colored painting ... in someone else's house ... in my house it is black and white ... i actually had a really hard time debating with j about letting these into the house ... my reasoning to allow them was 1 - they were paris and london, 2 - they were a very dark brown and black with highlights of white and 3 - they were actual paintings instead of just a picture ... you may be laughing right now at how ridiculous that sounds but just ask j and little j (my youngest sis) ... we spent a good hour talking about these points in the store and now i am so glad that i caved and allowed a slight variation of color into our house

now just because i gave in once doesn't mean i'm willing to continue to do this ... i see lots of great colorful pieces but they still don't belong in my house ... i know putting this out in the internet world will bring criticism about how plain and boring my house is ... i know it will come ... i follow apartment therapy ... people's comments can be cruel

but i don't care i like my boring black and white obsession and here is the proof:
















cheers ~n

Sunday, June 6, 2010

DIGGING A HOLE

this weekend n busted out the shovel, rake and spade and dug dug dug out a whole bunch of grass in the front yard ... this was a long time project that j and n have wanted to do since moving into this quaint lil' house that needs ever so much work ... the front yard has quite a steep slope to it and the grass that grows on it ... well lets face it the grass really doesn't grow and it looks rather sad and pathetic ... it is mostly a shade of brown with a faintness of green ... so out came the shovel and in a few hours the grass was dug up and the first stage was complete ... n just needed to wait for j and all his muscles to move the chunks out of the way so that the construction of the bottom planter box can begin ... that will have to wait for another weekend ... more to come

cheers ~n