something new

I did something new today. I went horseback riding. I think I rode a horse once back in High School at one of those places that take you on trail rides on brain-dead animals. Today I rode with some friends on their personal critters. I had so much fun. The horse I rode, named Cowboy or Goober depending on who you asked, was a character. He, like most horses is essentially lazy, and wanted to stop and eat grass unless told otherwise. I kept talking to him almost nonstop - which confused him because his normal rider, a young guy named Ben, is a great communicator, but never actually speaks to the animals. Cowboy always had an ear cocked back in amusement, and mostly behaved better for me than he did for Hannah a few weeks back. Hannah rode a horse named Doc today. Doc is less docile than Cowboy and Hannah had to pay attention this time! It was a lovely day and the fluffy white clouds made me just want to head west and pretend to be a pioneer... at least until lunch time.

Our young friend Ben was kicked in the ankle by a cranky calf while we were there. He's one tough hombre. He was going to do some calf roping for us, but ended up on the sofa with ice bags instead. Some day soon we'll see that demonstration. He says he ropes calves from the horse I rode, and it's a different animal in the ring. I'd love to see that. He's a tough guy, and insisted on unsattling the critters, hobbling around taking care of things.

Mistake:

my friend Kate gave me some hot peppers from her garden. I cleaned one and put it in the food processor with the onion and cellery and green peppers to puree and add to our Meatloaf for dinner. I forgot about the hot pepper, and forgot to wash my hands right away. Now my nose, lips and the back of my neck burn - everywhere I touched before washing my hands. I bet it'll be yummy, if I can get my nose to stop running.

~M.E.

mistaken

a couple of posts back when I declared that I was about 40% done with the walls in the studio I was sadly mistaken. I've started on the third wall of the three that needed repaired, and it is deceptively bad off.

four words - the first two being unprintable and the last two being "varnish drips". Some project last winter included a couple of coats of clear sealant, and much of the wall has drips and splats of the stuff. It doesn't sand well, and I went through about twice as much of the heavy duty sandpaper as I had on the other walls. I pealed off some of the worst spots - along with the paper behind it. The first coat of plaster is drying, and I'm sure to need a second coat in at least a few places.

I may not get back to the project until Tuesday, but my shoulders and arms can use a break anyhow.

Going to the fair tomorrow, and going to a friend's house to ride horses on Monday. I understand the weather will be lovely.

~M.E.

Blessed.

8/08/08 wasn't such a good date for us. Meredith lost her job today. The tchotchke industry is anything but recession proof. She was let go for no real reason from an office that was already so short of help that everyone was missing deadlines and working 60 hours a week. Her boss has offered her a good letter of referral. It's little consolation to a young woman fresh out of college with big talent and big dreams who is now job hunting again in a worsening economy. There are hundreds of young diploma holders just like her. It's hard to have such a ego blow, and to go right back out and try to sell herself again to another company that may be in just as bad of shape as this last one.

We are so blessed to have all we have. We have resources to keep ourselves fed, clothed, sheltered, entertained, and so much more. As a family we'll stand together in this, but she so wants to be independent.

I can understand that. ~M.E.

while I'm at it...

Here's a not so great picture of H Girl finishing up the paint in her room last week. It went from a warm blotchy berry to this green with cream accents. We still have curtains to make. ~M.E.

smooth and cool.

I'm a little sore today. The artistic scraps that had adorned one of the studio walls have been erased in a two day assault of scraping, staple removal, sanding, patching, more sanding, more patching, more sanding, and painting. The floor is in the middle of the cleaning process - which included applying a nasty solvent, scrubbing and scraping up said solvent and now cleaning up after the clean up. I'm thinking about a coat of masonry paint because there will still be some residue.

For any of you that can't picture this, our 'studio' is a 25 x 30 open room on the downstairs level of our house that serves as a martial arts studio, project room, sometimes art studio, and all the time creeping storage in from the edges.

I'd say the job is about 40% complete - at least the restoration process. The paint won't come off from the mats. I'm really sorry about that. Then to reorg the whole joint. That'll be a job.

Ah, well. Physical labor is good for me. ~M.E.

Meh

I’m not gone; it’s just that my best computer hours are recently spent at the laptop and not the main box due to company. It makes it hard for words to wind their way out of my brain and down my arms.

It’s only a few days until the celebration of our 25^th anniversary. I don’t feel that old and it seems to be too many years. There won’t be much of a celebration – but the date will be marked and acknowledged somehow, I’m sure. I still must find a something for the man who had everything he wants that we can afford, but I did have pity on him and steer him in the direction of something to buy for me that I wouldn’t buy for myself.

Ken and DJ will be here in a few days, and I’m just starting to make sure the place is in order. I like to do that so I have less maintenance to do while they are here. It’s pretty boring stuff, and not blogworthy.

~M.E.

Wm. Shakespeare may be my demise

Now my educational attention is focused on the classes I must teach in the fall at co-op. I have prided myself on closely tailoring my approach to the subject at hand to the students in the seats. I have been given the dilemma of essentially having two distinct groups in my Shakespeare class.

First there is a set of six little girls ages eleven and twelve. I taught a few of them in my Art History class last year, and have observed their friends and find them no different. They are a book smart, giggly, innocent, well behaved group. They would rather smoosh all into a table meant for 1/2 their number than leave anyone out. Like a school of minnows they wander about going hither and yon, but on co-op days always together, but always under the eye of one of two Alpha Moms.

Then I have six more students, three boys and three girls between the ages of 14 and 17. These are a mixed bag of backgrounds, interests and maturity levels - but don't cross-mix with the little girl gaggle.

Shakespeare wrote to entertain the rough workers, erudite merchants, and jaded nobles of Elizabethan England, and he did it so well that we still study him today. The works that would most engage the older group would be either completely over the head, or (ahem..) 'inappropriate for' the younger group. If I skip the bawdy jests, rough murders and bed-hopping for the whole class for the sake of the youngest ones, I'll get a big yawn from the group that I'd like to hook.

This is going to take more research than I had anticipated.

~M.E.