Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

This has been a good holiday weekend for me. Two of my best friends (Dirk and Laura)and their two kids are staying with me. We've run around quite a bit, been to a few BBQs, and had lunch with my cousin and her family. It's been really fun, but also really busy and tiring. The timing was also perfect as I was asked to take over a summer school position at my school this year which is only on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I got home on time on Thursday to greet my friends and will be able to at least say goodbye to them on Tuesday before I have to head to school for a workshop and summer school.

It's crazy to think that I only have 1 1/2 months left of summer. I don't have any plans for the rest of my summer just yet, but I'm sure I'll fill it somehow. I did finally get one task done that I've put off for the last three summers: I painted my front door. It looks very pretty and I almost don't recognize it when I come home because it is so clean. The next project I have on the docket is to make my other bathroom all pretty. It's the bathroom I never use as I've always had roommates and I have a private bathroom attached to my bedroom, but all of my guests use this bathroom. Since I will be roommate-free in a couple of months, I want to make things look nicer just because I can and now have the option to do it. It started out to be just new towels, mats, and a shower curtain, but now I'm picking out paint colors and regrouting and recaulking the shower. I might even have to redo the floor, but we will see once I can really get in there and looking at everything.

Another project I'm also working on is to clean my porch. Sometime before I moved in, someone decided it would be a good idea to cover the porch with a pink carpet (I guess so it would match the kitchen counters-gross). The carpet was really nasty and had all sorts of mysterious spots and discolorations so I finally ripped it off (with help from Randi and Steven) last summer only to have to deal with all the adhesive that was used to keep it down. I removed most of the adhesive last summer but then I ran out of solvent and school was starting up again so I didn't finish. I'm hoping to go at it in the next few weeks so I can cross another project off of my list. Once all the yellow adhesive is gone, I might just start thinking about what I can put on my porch to pretty it up a bit. Suggestions?