Teri Parris Ford's Blog

Not quite done...

but so close! I spent the morning finishing painting the baseboards with a second coat. I went to an early yoga class and then ran off to Monika's rugby game out in Cottage Grove. It was a beautiful day for a game. Monika has been dealing with being super sore from both rugby and work and then she caught a cold-- so she felt like she didn't play well, but I can't really tell since I have no idea how rugby is played but her team lost.

Once back home, I got back to work! I wanted to finish all the baseboards but I still have a few left that I will finish after the stairs are done by a professional. I am amazed at how much whole body aches from the week of work. I'm glad someone else is coming in to do the stairs. I have the dining room baseboards to do still but I'm going to hold off and do those another time. Then there's the flooring upstairs but again, that's a project for another year, I think.

I'm going to take tomorrow off and enjoy my last day of summer!

My Last Day of Vacation

I go back to work on Monday, so what did I do? I finished the floors! I had to drive all the way to Johnson Creek (about an hour away) to get 6 more boxes. I only needed 5, but since it was discontinued, I got an extra box. It felt good to be done, but now I have to finish the baseboards. I decided to paint them all white (they were stained natural oak before).  I hired someone today to get the stairs done, which will happen early next week. I bought a new TV stand ($30) and I'm still looking at couches.

Monika is really enjoying her job at the organic farm. She's made friends with all the barn cats. She's also made new friends on a rugby teams she's on. I'm going to her game tomorrow. 

A Little More

I ran out of flooring today. So I got as much done as I could. Now I have to go find more laminate at another store out of town tomorrow in order to finish. I meeting up with someone in the morning to hire to help me finish the stairs and baseboards next week. Once it's all done, I'm going to want a new couch, but since I know the cats will ruin it, I will refrain. 

I also got new internet today. Two guys from Spectrum came and had to rewire the condo for cable. They set up the modem and router for me as well so now we have fast internet I hope. I need to cancel my other service and return equipment now that it is all set up so I won't be paying for two. 

I'm always surprised how sore I am after working on home improvement projects. It doesn't seem like exercise but at the end of the day I'm exhausted and things hurt. I hammered my hand a couple of times, hit my foot and have a sore rump for bending over so much. I'll be happy to get back to teaching next week so I can rest!

Progress Was Made

I got up this morning and took Balt for a good walk and then got to work on the floors. I went into work to pick up another saw that helped a lot. To make life a bit more livable I'm only pulling out old flooring as I go, instead of all at once. I had a lunch meeting today, so I didn't have a lot of time to work. I met up with the other 3 Madison high school yearbook advisers with our company rep for lunch. It was really nice to connect and hear what others are dealing with. We all brought each other books from last year, which was fun.

After the meeting I came home and started cooking an artichoke kale dip for a department meeting. Josh picked me up and we went to Joe's house. It was a social connect time, especially since we have a new team member. It was really nice to catch up. Josh and I stayed late after to chit chat. I brought home the left over dip to Monika which made her very happy.

Frustrated

I started working on the floors last night but I knew I wouldn't be able to work today since I had meetings at school all day. I needed a few items to help with installation but when I got home this evening it still wasn't locking into place properly. I didn't make any more progress this evening but I'll get to it tomorrow morning and hope things come together better.  

I decided to get Spectrum internet because we've had so much trouble with our internet for years and we were finally told there was no way to get it any better with the service we had and that we'd be happier with cable. I never wanted cable before but it ends up being cheaper, or so I thought. Of course they shipped the modem but then informed I needed a router (another $5 month). After picking one up, it still wasn't working so now someone is coming on Thursday to see what the issue is... in the mean time I'm still paying for the slow service, because we can't live one day without any internet. I'm guessing I'll be paying two companies for internet for a week or two.

40 years ago...

I wanted to post a photo of myself as a freshman on Facebook because it dawned on me that I started high school exactly 4 years this month! I didn't have any so I went looking for my freshman yearbook on line and I found it. I didn't get my photo taken at registration I guess so I am not listed in it at all -- none of my friends are in it either. I thought I played volleyball so I looked for a team photo but I'm not in that either. I have my sophomore photo, so I just posted that on Facebook instead and figured no one would be able to tell. The bottom side photo was photo I found in my junior yearbook on line. Anyway, here's what I wrote on Facebook; 40 years ago this month I started high school as a freshman (it really doesn't seem like that long ago!). I never imagined I would be be a high school teacher back then. I never had a teacher that inspired me in high school -- there are so few I actually remember. The two best things I did my freshmen year were, 1- to ask a new boy in town for a ride home, Michael Holbeck, who I am so glad is still someone who will give me a lift whenever I need it, and 2- ask my next door neighbor to share his locker and I guess we are still sharing lockers to this day.  As I gear up for my new school year, my goal is to make sure my classroom is a place where relationships are made and appreciated, because let's be real, high school is about relationships mostly. 

As for my day, I cleaned, did some prep for tomorrow's PD, helped Erika with a job application and finally started working on the flooring. I didn't get a lot done, but I started. I know once I get going, it'll go fast. I have a week left but with some meetings. Whatever I don't finish, I can leave for my guy in September I guess.

Just Relax

I finally got back to Anytime Fitness for a workout after a month and half off. That was the extent of my hard work for the day. I went to Costco for some food and then Monika and I decided to have a veggie grill outside to enjoy the back yard. I chatted with Jim on the phone for quite a while, spent time with Balt lounging and just decided not to do all that much today. Home improvement week was a success with the exception of the flooring which didn't happen. I'm trying to decide whether to wait for my guy or just forge ahead and do it myself. This week I have PD and meetings, so I'm not sure what to do. There's always Labor Day weekend!?

Organic Vegetables

On Saturdays I pick up my CSA box of organic vegetables. Now that Monika is working at an organic farm, she's bringing home organic vegetables as well. She set a composting system--that's the big black barrel in the photo. It was on our deck, dripping black goop (from coffee grounds maybe) and attracting a lot of fruit flies and other weird bugs. I cut some more of the junipers to make room for a raised garden bed and keep the compost behind it. I also wanted a bench. I did a bunch of research last night on building raised garden beds  and found out it is best to set them up in the fall so they settle in and are ready in the spring to grow vegetables. I'm going to try to get some autumn lettuce growing now that I have it set up. It was surprisingly easy but not that cheap. The lumber needed to be untreated and high quality. I ended up with cedar which smells so good, especially after getting wet. I spent about $150 just on the wood. I purchased dirt, a retractable saw to cut the junipers (that was what Geof used), a drill bit and deck screws. I borrowed the chop saw from work. The whole project took about 4 hours but I spent over an hour shopping and another cleaning up after.

The only big project I have left are my floors. The guy that was supposed to help me put me off a week and then called today to tell me he can't help until next month. I'm left trying to figure out if I just do it alone, hire someone else or wait till next month!

Easing back to school

I volunteered at school today for registration. I got there early to help set up and worked until 1pm and then worked on setting up my desk in the photolab. I spent time writing to my new yearbook class and then went home and made a big salad for a late lunch. I ended up binge watching a documentary series on Netflix called "The Family" about a fundamentalist political organization that Jim mentioned watching. I got sucked in. I took a break to do a bit of clean up and pick up Monika but then finished the series this evening before bed.

More Projects

Since I haven't been able to work on flooring, I decided to tackle the basement, specifically "the red room" which is a small equipment room that has our central air, water heater and softener and clothes dryer in. No, the red room is not red. Jim called it the red room after a horror movie and it stuck. I built the shelves in it to keep all of our arts and crafts but as the girls have grown, it now has camping gear, old photos and my sewing supplies. I have little by little gotten rid of all the craft and scrapbook supplies over time. There are a couple of bikes in there that Erika got but never uses. I thoroughly cleaned, wiped down, even scrubbed things in there. I changed the air filters for the heater which were well over due! I had a large trash bag of trash and a paper sack of stuff to donate. I was able to go to the pool around 3pm feeling pretty accomplished. 

I came home after swimming 10 laps and enjoying a bit of sunshine and made enchiladas for dinner then enjoyed the news before picking up Monika from work. I helped Erika with a cover letter this morning for a job she is applying to. 

Mid Week, Mid Month

I didn't have a lot to do today. I thought about going in to work out early but Monika wanted me to make her pancakes before she left for work this morning. I worked on balancing my school checking accounts and working on new school announcement slideshows. I helped Erika work on her resume and then I went into school to make 500 copies of yearbook flyers with green paper my mom gave me. I went to a noon yoga class, came home showered and make a big salad and watched Star Trek. I worked on a sheet I needed to fill out by Monday in order to get credit for my class last week and then did some slideshow prep for yearbook. I took Balt for a short walk, finished vacuuming the basement and cleaned the oven. It was a cool and somewhat rainy day, so not a good day to go to the pool or garden. I've got exactly 10 days left of my summer vacation, so still plenty of time to enjoy.

Cleaned up!

I spent another morning working on my office, but this time I had some help. Patty came in to get to work on her half. She moved her desk around first and then I had to turn mine however I wanted... which was kind of hard to decide but after trying a couple of ways, I went the way that gave us the most chair space. There is A LOT more chair space now for both of us. She seems super excited to be in the office and starting at the high school level. She loves that she is teaching both painting and ceramics, so the schedule worked out perfectly for her. 

I gave Patty a tour of the school, introduced her to principals, got her keys and showed her where the staff bathrooms are. We had time to catch up on generalities-- we first met back when our daughters were in the same 3rd grade class at Shorewood Elementary and both of our husbands were getting their PhD's at the university. We both have 3 daughters and academic spouses; we are both Hispanic and have 2 last names-- so yeah, we have a lot in common.

At 1pm I started getting hungry. It was Monika's last day of summer off time so she promised to make me a delicious lunch-- egg plant Parmesan, which was amazing. I had a technician come to fix our internet and then we went grocery shopping since she needed stuff for lunches. She starts work tomorrow. One down, one more to go...

A Trip to Goodwill

I thought about starting back up at Anytime Fitness this morning, but just could not get myself there. I lounged about sipping hot unsweetened tea instead and then went in for a blood test at 7:30am that was overdue. I picked up a latte on my way to school afterward and then spent the whole morning in the art room, organizing, cleaning and trying to get things in order. My office is a shitshow but I made some progress today with the clean up. Tomorrow my new office mate is coming in to work as well. I'm hoping we can make some significant progress. By noon, I was hungry and my feet were starting to hurt. I loaded my truck with a bunch of books and stuff that had been sitting around for years and needed to be gone. I am sure I will get another load tomorrow!. Monika came with me to Goodwill after lunch. She wanted to look for work pants for a job on a farm she starts on Wednesday. Pink tags were half off, so I got her 2 pair for the price of one. I spent the evening going over a bunch of stuff I brought home (old photos and artwork), cleaning up and enjoying a quiet evening-- both girls are out of the house!

Stormy Sunday

We woke up this morning to pouring rain and thunderstorms. It was pretty intense but eased off by late morning. I had invited the art team for brunch but only Grace could make it. It was great to catch up and hear about her training (she went to the same Developmental Designs one I did last week only she went last month). She also went with art student and Geof to Europe, which I was eager to hear about. While I was a little disappointed I did not go, I know I will have many trips in my future to look forward to--plus going with Jim is so much more enjoyable. I made cheesy potatoes for our brunch together. I had been craving them for a quite a while and they were delicious! After Grace left, I started working on the stairway. I removed all the artwork and pulled all the laminate flooring. I wanted to start pulling out the living room but I had not heard from "my guy" who is supposed to help me this week. It ends up he can't come until next week (or even the week after) because he is behind on his projects. Now I am not sure what to do. For tomorrow, I will go into work and start working on my office. 

I made a cucumber salad for dinner and watched Aquaman with Monika.

Small Projects first

It was a wonderful Saturday for getting work done-- not too hot, cloudy but no rain. Not only did I get the bench set up in the garage but I got the alkaline water filter my dad had purchased and used set up as well. I loaded up the car with stuff for Goodwill. I picked up my CSA veggies and went to a yoga class. I made an amazing green salsa with some of my veggies- fresh tomatillos, cilantro, onions and one jalapeno. It tasted so good!! Monika made a lentil soup which was also delicious. While the soup was cooling we went to the pool for relaxation and a couple laps. Once back home we enjoyed Monika's soup and watched The Favorite on HBO. I then spent the early evening adding the last two stones to my back deck that I started last month. I finished drenched in sweat so I finished the evening soaking my feet in a cool bath before bed. It was a great day!

Home Improvement Week starts Tonite

I went to PD all day and as soon as it was over, I drove down the street to meet up with Monika at a pizza place I had read great reviews on. She had been bugging me about getting pizza and I wanted to try this new place. I made sure not to eat lunch so I would be extra hungry and really splurged on an amazing meal. I then popped over to work to pick up some stuff from the newspaper editors and made my way to Menards. I spent $600 on new flooring, stuff to make a new work bench in my garage, and a glass shelf to hang in my kitchen for coffee cups (which looks great!). Here's a list of things I'd like to accomplish this week:

• New shelf in kitchen (done)
• New flooring for the living room
• New baseboards
• Replace Stair flooring to basement
• Replace Stair flooring to upstairs
• Patch rip in paint in Kitchen
• Add patio stones in back deck
• Trim yard bushes (buy new hedger?)
• Create raised bed in back yard
• Create work bench with shelf in garage
• Set up new water filtration system
• Clean and reorganize office at work

There's work to be done

I went into work this evening for the first time in a very long time. I needed to pick up my laptop for PD tomorrow and drop off some yearbooks. It was exciting to see new large screen monitors in the computer lab but I was not happy to see my office. While Geof cleaned his side out but there is still a lot of work to be done with the new ceramics teacher, Patty, to get it in a workable situation. The before and after photo really doesn't look all that different because the mess was moved to my side!

I'm getting a taste of going back to work this week and will need to figure out how to fit in a bit more exercise but I'm still easing into back to normal and looking forward to a few more weeks of summer fun before I get too into a regular regime. Today I took Balt for a short walk and that was it. 

 

The Chosen One

I had PD all day today. We had several break into group sessions and in each one there was a chosen one-- the person with most hair (me), the person with most pets (me), the person who had taught the longest (me), etc. It seemed like no matter what the criteria was, I was the person! At one point I was the recorder and everyone went nuts over my handwriting. It was just plan cursive but apparently it looked like a computer font. Some of the information I am getting I have heard before (like social contracts) but it's great stuff and certainly needed in the classroom.  After my class I came home and took Balt for a walk (he slept in again) and then went to a 90 minute hot yoga class. It was agonizing, crazy hot and I was sore but it was what my body needed. I'll need a few more classes to get back to normal.

Back to PD

Balt failed to get me up this morning, so I slept in a bit but still had plenty of time to get to Edgewood College early for more professional development on engagement. It was very engaging. After class I popped over to the pharmacy to pick up my meds and then home to finish unpacking and take Balt for a walk. Monika made me a wonderful dinner of veggie green enchiladas with peppers, zucchini and onions. I went to the store afterward to pick up cat food and napkins. I'm in bed early tonight to do it all again tomorrow.

Road Trip 2019 Complete

I traveled over 3,400 miles, leaving on July 2nd for California and arriving August 5th from El Paso, TX yesterday. I stayed the night in Vale, CO my first night and in Wichita, KS last night. I purchased close to 300 gallons of gas and got about 18 mpg on my Yukon. I pulled my first trailer to the beach. For the first time ever on a road trip, I never turned on the radio because my Yukon has Apple Play with Waze (a GPS navigation program). I listened to two books, about a dozen podcasts and a lot of music on my playlists. Balt enjoyed a lot of space in the back, although a lot more going to California then on the return. I came home with 3 bins and several bags of stuff from my mom's, baskets and a shelf, as well as 2 big bins of Jim's stuff. 

I actually slept in this morning. Balt never woke me up, which was surprising since he sleeps the whole time in the car. I didn't get out in the road until after 7am. I spent a good chunk of time on the Kansas turnpike and stopped  every 1/2 tank for gas and ice. I treated myself to a large Dunkin latte on ice for breakfast and a Diet Dr. Pepper for lunch. I did not stop for food but had plenty of snacks in the car to hold me over. While I haven't weighed myself, I'm pretty sure I'm coming home a bit lighter than when I left. Overall I feel like I accomplished a lot for the month I was away.