Finished at last

Okay so it took us about a month, but we finally moved the last piece of furniture back in to the fully renovated room last night. I then spent the rest of the night loading my books onto the book shelf in what I hope is some kind of logical order. Of course the shelves are full and there is still the matter of the half dozen boxes which are still in the basement, but I will get to those and figure out what to do with them eventually.

The best part is that I find I really like having the window right next to my desk. From that vantage point I can easily see the world going past, but more importantly, I can watch the seasons progress. I hope the solace that brings me will help me to stay focused on the task at hand.

Also, there is still ample space for the "guest bedroom" portion of the room. There is a single bed, empty dresser and TV.... just in case someone comes for a visit. I love having guests in my house. Of course there remains a bit of a mess in the bathroom which I will have to deal with tomorrow!

The last part of this evolution is to choose which pieces of art to frame and hang. I know my global cow will find a home on the wall in this room, but I am thinking I will also hang a print that I bought at Istanbul Modern and the poster from the Istanbul European Choir Concerts. But first and foremost, I have to find just the right spot for a Lucky Eye. At this point, I need all the luck I can get.

Autumn and renovations

Autumn is probably not the best time to do renovations in your house, but like many things in my life that is just how the timing has worked out! I just realized that it has been a little over three weeks since I started on this project and thought an update was overdue. This project has taken a bit of added time because the weather in Michigan is not very cooperative in October and I have had to do the work around my busy schedule at the Writing Center. I really only have three days each week when I don't have to work, and between that fact and the humidity levels in Michigan this time of year it is taking longer than I had envisioned... like things do.

Once I had sanded the old finish off the floor (by hand!) in Dan's old room the staining went pretty quickly. However the polyurethane did not want to dry since it was, of course, raining. That room only has one window, so Larry had set up a fan which blew the dust, while I was sanding, and the fumes outside. But it still took five days to finish that part of the project. Next came taping off the walls so I could paint the trim. Crawling around the room on the floor #2. (#1 was with the sander.) Then I had to paint the trim... crawling around the room on the floor #s 3 and 4 since it took two coats to cover well. Then I had to let that dry completely, and again it was raining so that took longer than I expected. Then I had to move the tape so we could do the walls - pulling the tape off the walls around the trim and moving it to protect the newly painted trim (crawling around the room on my knees#5). Now, I thought, the fun begins! Of course when you paint a room the first thing you have to do is "cut in" the room. This meant once again getting down on the floor to paint the walls around the trim of the room - #6!

The color I had chosen was a bit brighter orange than I had envisioned. Once the walls had their first coat I told Larry we could just leave it like that and paint some jack-o-lantern faces about the room and it would be cool... he did not agree. We had always wanted to try various kinds of faux wall finishes, so we got out all the 'toys' (sponges, rags, etc.) stirred up the can of yellow paint and began to play around on the small wall that would be behind the door most of the time. What we learned from that experience was that we didn't really like anything we tried... for all kinds of reasons. So, it was time to go to the computer and my new best friend, Bob Villa.

We spent a couple of hours looking at various websites and trying their recommended techniques until we came onto the one that we both liked - faux leathering the walls. Next time I do a room I will choose two colors that are not quite so contrasting, and probably richer - especially if it is a big room... but the technique leaves you with a finish that is unique and lovely. I plan to finish the walls tomorrow and move the furniture back in over the weekend.

I know my kids will be horrified when they find out that I painted this room orange and yellow, and my knees may never recover from this abuse, but I think it will be worth it when I am done. Or, I can just move everything back out and start over!

My baby boy

Exactly 20 years ago it was a clear crisp night in a small town in Indiana. Larry had the camera out and went out on our balcony to get some fresh air. He called in to me as I labored, that there were "a jillion stars out" that night. "Great" I growled between contractions, "If it's a girl, we'll name her Jillian Star Jerrim".

My midwife Kristen, and her assistant, Larry and Judy were all there to greet him as he finally joined our family at 6:40am. He was perfect. Sometimes when babies are born they look kind of scrunched up, wrinkly, or alien, but this baby was perfect. He was enormous, as far as newborns go, weighing in at 9 lbs, 14 oz, but he was beautiful. After cleaning us all up, introducing him to his Dad and brother, and eating a good breakfast, we both fell asleep. It had been a long night.

I awoke to somthing soft on my cheek. When I opened my eyes this tiny person was looking me straight in the eye with a look of wonder in his blue eyes as his tiny fingers touched my face. My heart constricted in my chest, I held my breath, and in an instant I knew that I would love this child forever. "Thank you, for coming to be with me" I whispered to him.

When you have a child life becomes a real adventure. You have your own hopes and dreams for that child, but every day is a suprise. He says or does something which brings a smile to your face and once again, your chest will have that catch, where the love swells up and almost hurts, but then explodes in a wave of love and pride that washes over you. I could go on and on about my children, but I am pretty sure it is unnecessary. Anyone who knows them at all will understand. So, today, I am wishing my baby boy the happiest of birthdays. Flourish and prosper sweetheart, and, once again, thank you for coming to be with me.

My Office Space

Okay, so the simplest things somehow manage to turn into huge projects in my little corner of the universe. Putting all of my books together on one shelf in Dan's old room has somehow turned into an entire renovation project and I spent the weekend sanding the old finish off the hard wood floors - with an orbital sander. This was kind of fun, until I tried to get my big butt up off the floor! Then I realized, once again, that I need to lose some weight and recreate some muscle mass! Every major joint hurts. This was compounded by the fact that I then got to spend Monday evening, once again, on my hands and knees putting on the stain. I've got to say that I felt pretty stupid when I put the stain on the scratches in the closet - where I hadn't sanded and the stain made the scratches disappear... for the most part. I probably didn't need to have sanded the entire floor.

Today's project is to apply the first and second coats of polyurethane and then leave it alone until Friday. My plans, however may be put on hold at that point since it is cold and rainy here, and it doesn't look like it is going to let up anytime soon.... and so the floor may not dry as quickly as I plan. The problem with these types of projects is that one little thing leads to another and another and another. All I initially wanted was to have a place for my books, and now I am going to be spending a few weeks renovating the room. Of course, I know I should be doing this, the room needed renovating badly. And, I am excited to see how the whole project turns out in the end. But geez... why couldn't I just wave my magic wand and have it that way right now. Patience, apparently is not my forte.

My very own space

I have been sharing the office space in our house with Larry and the boys for 26 years, 9 months and 25 days. This was really okay and very workable until I started going back to school and collecting mass quantities of books and inheriting all kinds of writing material from my parents. Last weekend I went looking for something I wanted to reference in a paper I am working on, and realized that the aforementioned items are ALL OVER THE HOUSE! So, after much discussion about where and how, today I am going to create my very own office space, wherein I will put all of the materials I may ever need in one room.

I woke up at 5:15 today thinking about my very own space and realized that it has indeed been 26 years, 9 months and 25 days since I have had a space that I could call my own, decorate as I wished and keep my treasures. I am pretty excited about this. There is a bit of deconstruction which must take place before the space can be made mine... I have to remove all the magazines and books left behind by my first born, take down all the pictures and posters he left behind and fix the holes in the walls. Then I get to paint, rearrange the furniture to fit my needs and move in! I will have my very own bookshelf where I can organize my books and binders. The question for this morning is; which color should I paint my office today? I am thinking a warm color, not too dark, but rich... possibly a muted orange. Fortunately I have a plethora of paint color samples that I have been collecting over the years from which to choose.

You are probably thinking... geez Martha, you have a whole house you have decorated and arranged, why is this such a big deal? It is a very big deal to have a space that belongs to me, over which I have complete control. And I am thinking that only someone who has shared her house with five other people for about twenty years can really understand how I feel today.

Car Trouble

Larry is the youngest of five boys, and as many of you already know, his brother Bill died earlier this summer. Yesterday we drove down to Garden City, a Detroit suburb, to sign some papers with the attorney who is handling his estate and pick up Bill's car, which we had been thinking might work for our youngest son, Nick. We had gotten the title transferred, but hadn't bought new plates for the car yet since we didn't know if we were going to keep it or not. But Bill's plates were expired so Larry brought the plate from his car just so we wouldn't get pulled over on the way home. This is an older Mercury sedan and although it has 140,000 plus miles on it is in pretty good shape. Or so we thought.

The attorney's office was tucked into an old fashioned strip mall along one of the more major streets and after we had taken care of our business with him (he smokes 4 packs a day in his office, so he told us) we were pulling out of the tight parking area and heading toward the nearby florist when Larry spotted an Italian bakery at the far end. Not being one who lets an opportunity to purchase and ingest unnecessary calories pass, I said, "of course I want to stop in the bakery!" and so we did. I had been thinking at that point that a nice loaf of crusty bread would be great with some soup since autumn had officially arrived. Needless to say, we finally left the bakery with the aforementioned loaf of bread, two boxes of cookies, two canolis, and four meat pasties. My sister-in-law, Bobbie (the wife of George, one of the other brothers) had lost her father earlier that morning, and since the car in question was parked in her driveway, we thought some food might be helpful, along with the flowers we purchased next.

We didn't stay long and soon we were on our way home, Larry driving the Mercury, and me following in my Honda. Detroit is a kind of labyrinth of highways and since summer is just wrapping up, that means lots of construction along the way. (In Michigan we call summer, orange cone season since that is what appears each year.) We had just pulled onto I-96, the major artery from Detroit to Lansing, with four lanes of traffic weaving around construction sites when Larry signaled me that he was pulling over. We successfully dodged the cones and made it over to the shoulder. The car was over-heating. We had to wait for the car to cool down enough so that Larry could open the water reservoir, but he was worried that the police might come along and we would get in trouble for having his car's plates on this one, so switched it back with me being look-out as he did so. Once that task was accomplished, he put in the single bottle of water I had stashed in my car. The car protested a bit, but finally restarted and we headed to the next exit to get more water and some gas.

The term "gas station" used to be "service station". I remember this well, they would pump your gas, clean your windshield, and check your fluid levels for you. And gas cost about $. 39 a gallon. (Yes, I started to drive when I was very young.) These are very rare in the 21st century. Larry pulled in to the first place he could find, a modern and fancy Speedway. While Larry pumped the gas I went in search of water. This Speedway was more like a huge convenience store with gas pumps out front. After pulling a couple of sodas out of the large bank of coolers I approached the counter where two young women we both talking on their cell phones. I had to wait for them to finish their conversations with... whoever.... and finally I was able to make my purchases and asked, "Where is the water?" only to be told that I had to either buy a gallon of water for $1.49, or a 48oz cup for $.39 which I could fill and refill at the conveniently located sink in the middle of the store. I opted for the gallon, which I then refilled in their sink twice before we left. Again the old Mercury protested mightily at starting, but Larry finally got it going and headed back to the highway so we could get this car home and see if it would be worth getting up to par so we could give it to Nick, or possibly just use it as a trade-in for something better.

Back onto the highway we headed, once again in four lanes weaving our way through the construction. We had just gotten to an area of the highway where they had put up huge concrete barriers to protect the workers from the traffic when huge clouds of white smoke poured from the Mercury in front of me, blocking my view completely. I quickly dialed Larry on my cell phone, and he said he could see that there was a problem, but there was no where we could pull over at that point. So I put on my emergency flashers and we crept onward to the next available exit ramp. The engine died just as we got to the top of the exit and Larry pulled off the road in some woods. We were in the middle of nowhere - the bridge to civilization, over the highway in the opposite direction, was closed, as was the ramp back onto the highway. Since the construction on the highway had removed or blocked all the signs, we weren't even sure which exit ramp we had taken, or what road we were on.

By this time it was getting very dark, and in short order swarms of mosquitoes began to circle, waiting to come in for the kill. While Larry poured the refilled bottle of water into the Mercury I got back in my car and called Nick in Tucson. Fortunately he was at home and could get on the computer and help us figure out a) where we were and b) gave me the numbers to three towing companies in the area. I then called the towing companies and got answering machines saying they were on the other line and would call right back if I would leave my number, which I did. It is now 10 hours later and I still haven't gotten a return call so I can have the car towed! We left George and Bobbie's with the Mercury at 6:00pm and arrived home at 9:40 without it. But we had fresh Italian pasties, which I heated up in the oven and dessert, crusty Italian bread and the knowledge that this car will not work for Nick.

Non-directional tutoring

I have had my first really big challenge in the Writing Center since coming back from Istanbul. The problem is that in Istanbul I had to be VERY directive as their teacher. The lack of English skills in many of my students was nothing short of stunning. Many of them could not write a sentence in English if their life depended on it. However, my tutoring style has always been a mixture of directive and non directive comments. So all year I had to put my 'tutor training' aside and dig straight in to doing whatever it took to help them. Now I am back in the writing center with English 109 students. Yesterday I got back descriptive essays that I assigned. I have three students in that group and all three essays were very disappointing. Why was I disappointed, you ask? Because I really struggled with being non-directive. None of the three wrote well - that was to be expected. If they were good writers they would not have been placed in English 109. Student A did not do the whole assignment. Student B had all kinds of misplaced modifiers in her run on sentences in an attempt to "look smart". And Student C had a jumbled up mess of poorly formed disorganized sentences, however hers was the most interesting essay. Sitting at one of the big tables in the writing center, with my newly assigned Mento, (tutor trainee) I really struggled with how to approach these students. I asked lots of questions and did, I think, all the right things, but I was definitely battling with myself over the whole thing. And once again asking myself, "Can I do this again? I am not one of their peers."