Yes, that really is yellow houndstooth linoleum.  We're gutting the kitchen.

There are 3 legal bedrooms, 1 bath, and something that T is calling his "gun room."  (It's a hole in the wall really, which will house his guns.)

Today I told my students that I was leaving.  Boy oh boy, there were tears.  Lots and lots of tears.  Somehow, I managed to hold it all together, but I think that if I would have lost it they ALL would have lost it.  It was really hard.  I had so many nice comments from kids afterwards and lots and LOTS of hugs.  They all even gathered around me for a ginormous group hug.  How sweet, eh?  I love it.  I love them.  After lunch I came back to my room with stuff like this written on the board:

"The Danger Zone is under construction"
"We were but lead and  you turned us into gold"
"We Love You"

and a poem that is just entirely too long to post here.  Man, we sure are praying that this is the right decision.  I'm gonna miss them like mad.

Today I decided that it would be nice to post about things that I love.
I love my job.  Yesterday we hosted our region's Large Group Music Contest.  We had about 12 different schools come to perform for a panel of judges, receive comments, and a rating.  All 3 of my choirs performed and they all received a "I" rating!  (That's the highest, with a V being the lowest.  I was soooooo proud of them!  We were aiming for a I+, but very few ensembles even received I's, let alone putting a + after it.  Phew.  I'm glad that's over, though.  There was a lot of stress leading up to the big event!  I'll post videos as soon as they're done uploading to YouTube.  Our internet is apparently really slow.

I love my kitty.















Nori and I spent all morning together, just chillin' on the couch.  This afternoon I opened up the patio door to let her experience the wonders of outdoor smells.  She's a bit of a fraidy cat, so she sat under the table for awhile first, but then her curiosity trumped her fear, I guess, because she's been sitting at the door for quite some time now.















Oh, Nori!  My mom bought her a fuschia cat bed for Easter that she has yet to use, but we're trying to convince her to use it.

I love my house.  This afternoon I baked banana bread, did laundry, washed my rugs, did dishes, and tidied up our little nest.  I just love living here.  It's tiny, yes, and it's not ours, I know, but I still love it.  Maybe because it's the first place T and I have had together.  Maybe it's the open kitchen.  Maybe it's the deck with the spring breeze wafting in, or maybe it's the overwhelming scent of fresh banana bread right now.  I don't know.  All I know is that this place feels like home.  Sigh. 


















EDIT:  Here are those videos I promised.  The weird clicky sound is my auto-focus.  Apparently it's really loud.






I'm so proud of them!!!!!

Per Michela's request, here are some more pics of my house.  First, the kitchen.  There's a half bath behind the closed door, it's also our laundry room.

And last but not least is our office/music room.
And, my cute little piano: