Audio version of my story

Thanks to my wonderfully talented brother, my story is now posted on the Skive website in audio form. Adam read and recorded the story for me and really made it come alive.

If you'd like to hear the story instead of--or in addition to--reading it, check it out here:

http://www.skivemagazine.com/audio_readings.html

Just click on the player and enjoy. :-)

Beach centerpiece

While in Florida, my parents picked up some awesome souvenirs for me. One being a ring made out of a 92-year-old spoon. It's one of the coolest pieces of jewelry I've ever owned. Another souvenir is a bag of seashells they collected along the beach.

Inspired by the shells, I bought a glass hurricane vase for $3 at the Christmas Tree Shop--one of the greatest stores ever, by the way--and some starfish from Wegmans. Here's the little arrangement I came up with. I also used some candles I already had, and a unique tray my grandmother made for me. I can't wait to find a place for this in our new house. Only about one month left til closing!

Syracuse Zoo

On Sunday, Chris took me back to the Syracuse Zoo at Burnet Park. I enjoyed getting to see so many of the animals so close last time, that I decided to bring my camera for some black and white (and a few color) pictures. I was hoping I could take some neat shots of the animals. Sadly, most of the animals were asleep and completely immobile the whole time we were there, but I think I still managed to pull out a few fun pictures.



























Unfortunately, my favorite animal from our last visit--the red panda--was sleeping in a hole where we couldn't really see them. The lions, however, were pretty cute in their sleepy state and more than made up for the red panda's absence.

It's not a job, but ...

I was just offered an editorial internship with Destination Ad Agency. For the next 12 weeks, I'll be writing and editing pieces on New York City for their newest tourism page. It should be a great experience and really help tighten up my writing. Also, the more work I can present to future employers as proof of my talent, the better off I am.

I'm really happy to have the opportunity to do this, even if it would be nice to have a paying job right about now ... But in this economy, I guess all things considered, I'm still pretty lucky. And with only a 10-hour-a-week time commitment, I can still have a job if I can get myself hired somewhere. :-)

Furniture Project #2

This writing desk has probably appeared in past pictures on the blog. It started off very dirty, very beige, and very old looking. The corner of the desk was smashed in pretty nicely, too.

I fixed the corner as best I could with a hammer, a pair of tweezers and some hot glue ... hey, you gotta work with what you have on hand, sometimes. lol For the most part it did the trick.

After that, I sanded the rough spots and areas where the paint was chipped off. Then just a little creative paper cutting and decoupaging, only two or three coats of paint and some polyurethane for the win! The main paint color ended up matching the pink paper totally by accident. I mixed the tan I bought with some old dark brown paint I use on everything, and somehow I got pink. Go figure.

Haven't decided if I'm going to swap out the hardware or not. I was planning on it, but the pattern on the paper and the feminine color actually seem to go well with the intricate design of the original handles. I think I'll call this one "pretty in pink."

Quilt table

I'm finally getting around to my furniture projects. I bought several pieces from Salvation Army last fall, with the intent of fixing them up to be really unique--and inexpensive--additions to our very small collection of furniture. Well, here it is May ...

But I'm happy to report that I just finished a really fun table. I sanded, painted, decoupaged, and lacquered.

This is the finished project. The top sort of looks like a quilt, but it's just decorative paper. I do have to admit that I was surprised how many coats of yellow paint it took to cover the wood; I think I did about 9 or 10!

Hopefully, this piece will be a bright and sunny addition to our new home.

Oreo's new chair

On Saturday, after running/rollerblading in the park, Chris and I discovered that Liverpool was having village-wide garage sales. We stopped at a bunch and found some really neat old stuff for the new house. My favorite is this old chair. It's all knicked up and has aged really well.

The only problem is, the chair is Oreo's favorite, too. He's been camped out on it since the minute we brought it in. Here's a lovely picture of him telling me to stay away from his chair. lol

Why must our black cat always like the white furniture and fabric best?

Appraisal and Ambitions

Some updates on the house: Seems thing to be moving right along without much interference from Chris or I. Our realtor and bank people really seem to be taking care of everything. They had the house appraised already, and happily, it appraised for the same amount we offered. So no issues there. Now we're just waiting for the seller's to get the trim and garage painted, the appraisal people to put in their final report at the end of next week, and then it's pretty much on our attorneys to get the paper work done. So hopefully in a week or two we'll get the official closing date and can start making plans to move in.

The people that live in the apartment across the courtyard from us are moving out now. I keep seeing them hauling away furniture, and it's making me really antsy. I can't wait to get started. :-) My list of projects to do on the house continues to grow, as does my ambition. I'm already dreaming of building a pergola and brick patio in the backyard ... ok, so that might not happen right away, if ever, but I'm enjoying the dreams. I think maybe once we move in and start on some of these projects, an almost certain dose of reality will put some of my ambitious plans in check.

Skive Updates

Just looked over the final proof for Skive 11. It looks awesome. 160 pages of short stories, poetry, and articles. There are several ways you can purchase it, for your convenience:

If you want a hard copy, you can buy the black and white version for $29.95. The color version will be a bit more. You can purchase it through Amazon.com, for sure. I'll let you know if there are other places.

If, however, you'd like to purchase the Ebook to read the magazine on your computer, you can download it in full color for $5. You can do this through the website, www.skivemagazine.com with your credit card or PayPal.

More pictures of our future new house

Here are the promised pictures I took of our potential new home when we went there for the home inspection.

First, a somewhat awkward shot of the full bathroom. The tile wouldn't have been my first choice in colors, but it's been maintained well, so there aren't really any non-aesthetic problems with it.
Kitchen is nice. I'm so happy that I'll get a dishwasher again! I don't know how I would have been able to cope if I didn't have one. I'd love to put a pretty tile back splash above the counters to break up the wood tones.

Another living room shot. You can see the big picture window to the right and the door to the front porch on the left.

Here is the front porch. It sort of feels like being in a cedar chest, but I've discovered that that's not necessarily a bad thing. It sort of reminds me of Chris's dad's cabin in the Adirondacks. Very woodsy and comfortable. Maybe we'll eventually get a couple of Adirondack chairs to sit on out in our woodsy porch.

The front door surrounded by the woodsy beaded board.

The view of the pretty daffodils from the front door. (That's Bob's turquoise van parked down the street).

Back side of the house. The wood staircase is a newer addition to the house, but apparently the entryway sitting on it is not. Figure that one out ...

Here you can see our lovely fenced-in backyard. Plenty of space for Miley, the whippet, to romp around on when Mike and Erin come to visit us. ;-) I also like that there aren't a lot of other backyards and house around behind us. There's just a lot of open land and then a mini-forest.

Wooden swing that currently resides in the backyard. I think the sellers will be taking that, though.
And one final look at the daffodils and a glimpse down our street. The mailbox is actually located on the driveway, instead of the street, as you can see here.

All in all, I just can't wait for these next 7 or 8 weeks to fly by so we can move in to our first home!!