back to our roots

It's been a long time since we've blogged, and even longer since I needed a space to pontificate on matters educational. I've begun a doctorate in education, and I get plenty of time and space to read, write, and talk about all my dearest concerns, and many that are less dear. Although this opportunity to be a full-time student has been attractive only because the dreadful economy has made it all but impossible to get hired as a public school teacher, I am grateful. It is a gift to be unemployable at the moment, a boon to be paid to go to school.

But it does mean that we have less money to work with, and also that (for this summer, at least) I have a great deal more free time than I've had in years. So I've been de-cluttering, and we had a mongo garage sale a few weeks back, using the proceeds to fund a few minor home improvement projects. As difficult as it is to call anything on an old house "fixed" or "finished" I am doing just that with our front porch. While I can find imperfections, I can't find any I want to fix.



It is easily my favorite room in our house. We often have dinner out here, and I like to knit out here in the afternoons.

Interior rooms are coming along as well, with fresh paint in the kitchen and a downstairs bathroom. For the first time ever, we hired someone else to do some painting for us last summer, and it was astonishing to see work getting done without doing it ourselves. It turned out not to be such a great deal, though, for a number of reasons, and we're definitely back to doing our own work.

We have no shortage of projects that need doing. Here are two that need attention soon, certainly before I go back to school at the end of August.