Sweat Equity: Chem Geek Princess Update

The Chem Geek Princess called us as we did the walking tour of Albuquerque to tell us that she had just closed on her first house.

It is a foreclosure, so she got it for a song.
It is also an older home at the edge of a reasonably good neighborhood in Albuquerque's Northeast Heights, so with some sweat equity, the CGP should be able to resell it for more than she got it when she decides to get married.

Now, every day after work, and for long hours every weekend, she and her Very Serious Man Friend are doing some extensive remodeling. But by putting in their own work, and buying at bargain basement prices, they are converting their time and frugality into equity that will serve the CGP well. What does the VSMF get out of it? Well, he did say that he thinks it very likely that the house will become one of his rentals.
I was tempted to ask when, but, as the future mother-in-law (I hope!) I wisely refrained.
Very unusual for me.

Take a look!
The 'before' pictures were taken the day after the CGP closed.
The 'after' pictures were taken on Thursday evening, when the Boychick and I stopped by after Taekwondo.


Here is the living room before the remodeling began.

The house was entirely white on the inside, and rather dirty, but it has, as the CGP puts it, "good bones."

The CGP wanted a tree in front and she got that. There is also a grocery store within walking distance, and a very fine group of kids on the block.
The CGP loves children, so when she told the last, I was tempted to say, "So, nu? What about my grandchildren?" But with the VSMF in the room, I bit my tongue and smiled.


Here is what the CGP and her VSMF did to the living room. They painted the bottom a green-gray slate color, and put a warm cream colored Venetian Plaster textured paint above. They then installed the chair rail.

This picture is taken looking in from the door, because the chair rail was already up there! I need to get a daylight picture of the walls so that the texture is more visible. It is really stunning.

On Thursday, the carpet was not yet in. This afternoon, I stopped by, sans camera, (alas!). The CGP and her VSMF had taken our old carpet--a very good wool berber--and installed it yesterday. They got a good, albeit not perfect, carpet for free! I am currently looking for fabric to make new curtains for my breakfast nook and dining room windows, and the CGP is going to take my old ones for her front room. Again, a penny saved . . .


This is the den, before the remodeling began. It is the largest room in the house, and the CGP liked the added space it gives her.

The wood on the floor was on the wall across from the door. Very 1970's. They removed it, and textured that wall as well. The wood is going to be made into a small deck just outside the back door in the picture.
Kids these days are so much more sensible than I was! Why throw it away, if it is useful.



This is the back wall of the den in the midst of remodel. You can just see the window next to the back door on the left.

The deep cherry color really warms up the space, and the nearby walls--a warm cream--pick up a bit of the pink. The carpet was not in there yet, either, but it makes the room look even better.

The CGP moved the ordinary ceiling fan to another room, and installed a garage-sale funky fan in its place. It looks just right for the room.


Here is the master bathroom before sweat was applied.

You can see that it is very small and very white. It is really a three-quarter bath, no tub. But the CGP had plans. The VSMF has friends that own one of the local flooring companies. They contract with some of big, semi-custom home builders in town, and they have left-overs. So the VSMF was able to get an MOT discount above and beyond that gained from buying remnants of big orders.

The CGP believe firmly in the old Jewish maxim: Never buy retail.





Here is the shower with much of the tile installed. The floor of the shower has complimentary smaller tiles, and is ready for two shower heads: one in the ceiling and one on the wall.
Frankly, I'm envious!
The walls are being painted a very faintly pink cream color, but the new low-flow custom toilet (a floor model from Lowes--$25.00 plus tax, plus a water-bill rebate) has yet to be installed. The tiny new sink fits "cunningly" on the wall opposite. It has a real marble top. Another floor model, the backsplace was cracked. No matter, it can be glued. She got it all for 75% off. That's my girl!

Glass block will be used to fill in the now empty wall next to the (not yet installed) toilet. They will go up to two feet below the ceiling, and a glass door will be installed across from the sink.

Today, when I stopped by, I saw the floor tile. It is tan with a hint of pink, and the CGP had made the VSMF install some of the small shower floor tiles at every-other intersection of the floor. It was a great deal more work, as the VSMF pointed out, so he really must love her! (Which is good for my prospects for beautiful grandchildren). The kitchen tiles (the same) were also being installed, as was the small entry area and the hall.

She thinks she'll be moving within the next two weeks.

I am very excited about the empty guest room at our house. I have plans!

But . . . there's an empty spot already in the making in our house and in my heart.

Children! They grow so quickly.

Adjustments

The past two weeks have seen us busy with making adjustments.

The Boychick has taken to school very well, overall. During the first week, he began to get the hang of planning for getting homework done and he also had to get used to getting up at the crack of dawn in order to shower, eat and dress before I am ready to get out the door with him. He discovered that he can get the assigned reading done in half the allotted time, but that he needs to schedule himself for extra writing time. He has enlisted the Chem Geek Princess as a math tutor. She is enjoying that role, and she understands the approach the Boychick needs--highly visual, do not rely too much on auditory working memory.

At the EMHS open house last week, we learned from the Boychick's advisor that he has been ajusting very well and that he is role model to others in his advisory period. He understands that many learnings do not come immediately and that work and patience are required to master difficult material. Also, he has learned to think about what he needs to learn and is not afraid to ask for adjustments from his teachers in order to get what he needs. His advisor says that he "has landed himself in a good place--a place conducive for his learning."

As the Boychick adjusts to school, and I am adjusting to being a GA, we are all needing to adjust at home because in the past week, the Engineering Geek has gotten to work on the Boychick's floor.

This is actually a big adjustment for us. The Boychick is sleeping in the Chem Geek Princess's room, and some of his furniture and stuff are in there. But the pieces to his bed, including the mattress and box springs are leaning on the wall in our bedroom, and the neatly stacked boxes in the hall have been gradually spilling out into the living room.

Yesterday, we were frantically going through boxes to find the kerchief and badge sash for the Boychick's scout uniform, as he had a scoutmaster council meeting for advancement. This meant more movement of his stuff into the living room.

All of us have great difficulty with this kind of chaos and so yesterday was one of those frantic days during which there was grumbling and snapping, in addition to productive work and conversation.

We all are striving to remember that the prep work is done, for the most part, and that the EG is now planning out the floor and laying out the pieces. Gluing will begin today and tomorrow, and the floor ought to be done by the end of next weekend.

The chaos is not permanent.

These kinds of adjustments are good for our flexibility.

And we can think ahead to when we move the Boychick's greatly reduced possessions back into his room. There are many things that are ready to find new homes via the helpful services of Good Will. So we will be spending some time this week going through these things and sorting the no longer useful to us from the no longer useful for anybody.

My current mantra: It's temporary. Order will eventually emerge from chaos. It did in May. It will now.

A Household Turned Upside Down, Again!

Last week, as the Boychick started school, and I began orientation for my GA in the UNM College of Education Graduate Writing Studio, the Engineering Geek finished up an important project at work. This project had shifted some of the EG's plans for taking vacation time to finish putting in the wooden flooring.

Since the Boychick's room was part of the project, we had been hoping to do it while he was at "Camp Aunt Madge" in Illinois, and then at the Coyote Tracks camps in New Jersey. But the EG's work project made short shrift of those plans. So now, in the midst of things, we once again have a household turned upside down!

On Friday, the EG went to work on his 9/80 day off, specifically to finish his project.

Yesterday, we took Shabbat. It was the first real down-time day that EG and I have had on the same day. I took the Boychick to Taekwondo after we prayed, and then we spent the afternoon hanging out around the table in the breakfast nook, talking, drinking lemonade, eating cookies.

This morning after breakfast and the paper, the EG took the screen/storm doors--fancy, but a pain--apart to clean them. I did some housework. And this afternoon, the EG and the Boychick began moving everything out of the Boychick's room.

Although the Boychick had cleaned his room before leaving for Illinois, there were still more layers of stuff to excavate and clear out. Also, since he was gone for a month, and we only went into his room to take care of Fred Thompson, the fire-bellied toad, the relatively clean

room had a layer of dust all over everything.

Here, the Boychick excavates fossilized materials

where the dresser stood. The dresser and

the Boychick himself will be dwelling in the

Chem Geek Princess's suite for the duration.

Here, the Engineering Geek brushes out the dresser as it stands on the furniture dolly, prior to taking up residence down the hall.

I don't think that the Boychick is particularly happy about the chaos descending now--at the beginning of school. He had thought first that it would all be done by the time he arrived at the Sunport on August 2.

Then, he had hoped that the Chem Geek Princess would be getting settled in her townhouse before he moved into her room.

Unfortunately, the CGP's prospective townhouse is being purchased on a short sale. The current owner was in foreclosure, so the offer had to go to the mortage holder--one of the big ones currently in trouble--and they had to go to Fannie Mae. As you know, Fannie Mae is also in trouble. Still, the Princess is hoping that the offer will be accepted. In today's market the mortgage lender and Fannie Mae stand to lose more if they allow it to go to auction. But it all takes a very long time...

So now, the Boychick has to camp out in his sister's room. It's not the best of all possible worlds. But we need to get the work done before Rosh Hashanah, which is about five weeks away.

Once again, it's a household turned upside down just at the start of school.

Last year, the living room flooring was being installed just as we began homeschooling.

Now, we hope to get the last two rooms done, prior to 5769!

Things will work out. They always do.

The Last of Down Time Extended

The end of the secular holiday down-time was upon us at the beginning of this week.
We had several projects planned to get ready for the continuation of our almost-annual New Year's Day Open House.

On Sunday and Monday, I had a lost of housekeeping "stuff" that needed to get done in preparation for our guests.

High on that list was the completion of the work in foyer. We moved the boxes of flooring (still to be laid in our offices and N.'s room) and the tubs of glue into Bruce's office. On Monday morning, I painted the last wall. Bruce sanded the park bench and stained it with Teak Oil. By that time, the wall was dry and the bench was placed against it. The rugs were laid out to enhance the new conformation of the foyer. Now we have a place to sit to put on and take off our boots. A mat in front of the door for muddy paws and shoes, and a rug in front of the bench are both very important (at least to me!) for keeping footprints off of the new Brazilian Cherry Hardwood floor in the living room and hall.

Another item that has been on my list for a long time is the completion of artwork on the living room wall behind one of the sofas. It all started when I ordered a framed print of Chagall's Three Candles for our anniversary last June. (It is the piece on the right). I had imagined placing it above the fireplace, and planned to move the Efgi Salute to Israel currently there to the middle of the couch wall. When we got the Chagall, Bruce did not concur. He liked the Efgi above the mantle, and insisted on putting the Chagall where you see it. At that time there was nothing on that wall other than the Chagall to the right. The wall was empty, except for that rather unbalanced piece. I thought it looked odd, but since we were putting in the wooden floors, I let it go.

I did, however, have a plan: two more Chagall prints for that wall. Before I could hatch my plot, MLC gave me a Tuscan style landscape for Hannukah. That was hung in the middle, right above the couch. For now. I then ordered a matching framed print of Chagall's The Wandering Jew for above the recliner. That makes that wall look balanced. It is done--for the time being. Eventually, I plan to order a large landscape oriented Chagall for the middle and I will move the Tuscan landscape to the dining room. In the meantime, this looks pretty good to me.

The morning of New Year's Day found us getting ready for our party. We just don't do midnight. Instead, we watch the ball fall at 10 PM and go to bed. Bruce did wake up at 12:06, push the button on his talking alarm clock--don't ask!--and when it told him it was 12:06 AM, he wished me a happy New Year with a kiss, and we both went back to sleep! We are becoming "fogies."

By 1 PM, the slow-roasted Turkey was done, the breads and condiments for sandwiches were laid out, the wine and sparkling juice was open, and the coffee was set up. As people arrived, bringing side dishes the fun began. We had about 20 guests in all, which is a good number for me. At our last New Year's Open House, we had over 30, and I never got to socialize with them, since everyone seemed to need something one after another. This time, since I had invited fewer guests, who were also more independent, I was able to actually talk to everyone a bit. People spread through out the house, made themselves comfortable and had a good time.

The food was plentiful, as people brought side dishes, such as fruit salad and corn bread with honey butter, and great desserts.

I also got Bruce to take charge of making sure that the turkey was carved and replenished on the platter as necessary. This meant that I could take care of other needs and still have time to enjoy our guests. A good time was had by all!

Yesterday, we were planning to get back into the routine. Bruce went back to work and I had thought that N. and I would discuss his studies and make some plans. But the best laid plans, as they say, 'gang maest aft aglay!" Another death in our congregation meant that we attended a funeral yesterday, as well as the Shiva in the evening. Today we are all home again. It seems that when Bruce and I attended an engagement party at a friend's house in Albuquerque last Thursday, we picked up a virus. The congestion started on Tuesday, and today we both woke up with full blown colds. We are hacking, sneezing, and blowing our noses, and feel enough under the weather that Bruce took a sick day and I am resting--mostly.

This means that we are taking an extension of the "secular holiday down-time" in order to nurse our colds. Luckily, I have a lot of chicken soup left over from N.'s birthday.

"Zie gezundt!" we say, over our soupbowl rims. "Be well! And down the hatch!" At least it tastes better than cold medicine. And it warms up the belly nicely. And you know what they say: just take copious amounts of Jewish penicillin and in a week or ten days the cold will be gone.

Chaos Moves!

Chaos is moving at our house. Not far. Just from the dining room to the kitchen





Tonight, Bruce's friend Tom came over because there are two things N. and I cannot help move.

The first is the china cabinet.
It's back in it's place, and they leveled it perfectly! See the yello level inside the main area?










The other thing that is too heavy for me and N. is the entertainment center. It is now in two pieces in a rather incovenient place.
But it was even hard for two guys to move. So it didn't go far. And they didn't put the top on the bottom. This saves them work in a month or so, when the floor is in and they move it back.








Tonight, Bruce also took a frame that was on the wall. The previous owner had left it and we finally took it off. It was behind the entertainment center before.

Sometimes we're a little slow!
I got the wall under the windows painted. One more part to go--the wall where the entertainment center was!





Yesterday, Bruce, N. and I moved the rest of the living room furniture. I painted the wall behind the couch then, too,

N. and Bruce a posing. They had to wait for me to actually move the couch! :)







Tonight, while we ate in haste, the coolest thing happened.
One of the does from last spring came back.
And she brought her fawn and her yearling male.


Here's the young man, himself.
He had just munched on the sunflowers by the scrub oak.

Amazing! They were only about twenty feet away from the kitchen window!









Here are the two together.
Handsome couple, aren't they?

Evidently, they really like our weeds and sunflowers out back.

A storm had just passed, and the foilage was wet and green and juicy.

N. says that the deer often come out between storms in the evening like this.

This time he was right. A new storm is brewing as I write.

Cold air is blowing in and the thunder is rumbling.

Chaos is moving in our house. And that's progress.

But we still have time to enjoy this little bit of G-d's country and the wildlife!

Paradise surrounds our chaos.

When One Project Leads to Another

Yesterday was Bruce's 9/80 Friday off. In the morning the house was filled with the sound of the hammer as Bruce put the baseboards back in the dining room.

Here are Zoey and Lily helping me model the new floor in the dining room.

They kept getting into the pictures--I'd have a half a tail in one, and a wiggling back half in another! I finally decided that they really wanted to be in the picture, so I put them in the sit-stay and made like I was taking their picture instead of pictures of the floor.

The wood looks lighter in the picture than it does on the floor itself. Eventually, the actual color will darken further as the wood is exposed to light for a period of time.



When we put the wood in the hall and dining room, I touched up the pain where the baseboards had been because the floor is slightly lower now than the carpet was.

But I had no paint for the living room lower walls. The previous owners did not leave any for that antique green. That meant that we had to buy some paint that would match.

And I began thinking about that. I really did not like the actual color. It had too much yellow in it, and clashed with my hunter green leather living room furniture. And since we would have to buy paint anyway...well.

The other day I stopped at Lowe's and got some samples. The original idea was to paint it the same color as the kitchen lower walls. So I got that sample, and got some similar colors as well. Well the "Green Peppercorn" of the kitchen did go alright with the new floors. But the "Irish Paddock"--a lighter green with a little less blue really popped out when held against the floor. So Thursday, we came home with a gallon of it. And I started with the walls that needed baseboards put back on yesterday...

You can really see the difference here...The "Irish Paddock" is lighter and brighter.


Here, I have finished the wall between the entry and the back hallway.
The blue line at the top is actually painter's tape, put edge on at the bottom of the white wainscott border between the lower and upper wall.

I really like this color. It is lighter and brighter than the previous color, and I used a satin finish--it shines a little and is much easier to clean!

But now...well. I am thinking that the upper wall done in a rich neutral color doesn't work so well with it. I am thinking that maybe something a little lighter and creamier might work better there...this is how one project can lead to another one. I may paint the upper walls next. And that would mean painting the halls, too.


While I was painting, Bruce was putting padding on the bottom of the pellet stove platform. Then Bruce, N. and I put the stove back on the platform.

Then we put the dining room table up. It had little rubber pads on the bottom of each leg. But we had to put felt rounds on the chairs.

Bruce is holding the can of pre-cut, glue-on felt rounds that came with the Bella Wood Floor Care package.

Bruce and I took a hiatus for some paperwork chores (more on that later) and then N. and I went to the library and the skateboard park. N. bought a new board and new bearings with some of the money he has earned helping with the flooring. He's still using the old trucks and wheels, though. When the living room is finished he'll have those as well. When we got back, Bruce had the chairs done and the hall floor prepped for putting in the baseboards there. And it was time to call it a day and prepare for Shabbat.




After our baths, we set the dining room up for Shabbat dinner.

Yes! The first Shabbat in our dining room since the end of June. Whooo-hooo!

On Monday, a neighbor will come to help move the china cabinet in. Today we will move some living room furniture into the dining room--the living room is next!

But it was a Shehecheyanu moment.
This is a blessing that is said when you experience something for the first time, or haven't experienced it in a long time. It is also used on Holy Days.

In English it is rendered:

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, ruler of all space and time,

for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this special time.

We have done the hall. That was hard because of it's length. The dining room went faster. And now all we have left is the living room, and we will be done with the "public spaces" of the house. After that, we will take a break before tackling N.'s bedroom, and the two offices.


This morning we woke up to a lovely fog over Mountain Valley.

I got a picture just before the sun rose.

It was gone before we walked up to the high meadow to see our lot. That's right--we not finished the dining room and ate Shabbat dinner there, enjoying the new floor. We also signed the contract on our first choice lot in the high meadow.

What a good way to spend the last Shabbat of the year.

On Wednesday at sunset, the Jewish year of 5768 begins! May it be as sweet for you as this one has been for us!

Meanwhile, Back in the Dining Room...

The castles in the air about the land and green building have been sharing time and space with the real job of the weekend: Finishing the floor in the dining room.

On Friday, Bruce took a vacation day and laid the floor for the 3rd fourth of the dining room floor. That's the part that is taped in the picture. It was glued down on Saturday evening.
Bruce and N. were late-night warriors--doing the gluing between 8 and 11 PM.
Yesterday, Bruce laid out the pieces for the last fourth of the dining room. He is working very carefully, using his spread sheets (don''t laugh, he's an engineer!) and cutting the correct pieces. In this way, he figures that he is closer to 1% waste, rather than the 5% that Bella Wood suggests planning for. In the picture above, the last fourth is mostly laid out. Bruce is not in the picture because he was cutting the remaining pieces to fit.


The guys were planning to do another late-night gluing last night, but after dinner and clean-up, they were just too tired! It seemed sensible to do it this morning.

They spread the glue for 4-6 rows at a time, then place the boards, and then tape them so that they do not move until the glue dries. Here they are, taping down the first set they glued this morning.

I was cleaning the bathrooms, running laundry and doing the other countless little chores necessary to starting the week tomorrow. But I did stop to take a few pictures.





Here are the guys, wresting the last board into place. It required a bit of force because it needed a notch cut into it to fit around the back doorframe.
The piece was slightly bowed, but the guys were pretty sure that, due to the notch, and their expert taping job, they could get it to lay right. And they did! They were feeling fairly triumphant about that, since they are determined to be the Bella Wood Waste Prevention record holders.






Here is N. sitting in the corner, having gotten the last piece in place. I guess some of the last row required a crowbar to get aligned just right! I heard the guys groaning as they used the crowbar to tighten the rows back against each other. Who knew that getting the pieces to fit tightly was so physical.

And they're done!

Tomorrow the tape can come off. Then we can put the baseboards back on. They will hide the quarter inch "give" space at the edges of the floor. T-molding will be placed where the floor meets the tile at the boundary of the kitchen, and at the hallway to the pantries, laundry room, and garage.

Then the pellet stove can be put back in place, and connected to the stovepipe. And none too soon. We can feel the fall in the air in the mornings and evenings.

After that, the china cabinet and dining room table can be brought back in--and viola!--I will have my dining room back--new and improved! It has been a long process. We started sometime around July 4th and finished around Labor Day. It took us the whole second half of the summer! Of course we had time off for California, but otherwise, the work has gone on every weekend.

But we are not done! Later this week, we will clear the living room. Bruce wants to lay wood down in there starting next weekend.

No rest for the chaos-weary!

In the Meantime...

...life has been going on here at home while I have been feverishly documenting our California 'whirlwind tour.'





Here, the sunflowers are blooming and the highways, byways and fields are turning yellow with their colors. Helianthus neomexicanus, our very own New Mexico sunflower is the color of August and harbinger of the approaching autumn.











My coursework for the Ph.D. began again this week at my alma mater, UNM--the University Near Mom.

The left side of my milk-crate bookshelf is evidence of the major gelt I spent getting books for my classes. This semester, it is eight hours of coursework, all for the neurospychology emphasis:

• Biomed 533: Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology--4 hours, with a brain dissection lab
• Biomed 535: Neurosciences Seminar--1 hour, listening to weekly presentations of current research
• Psychology 533: Psychological Evaluation: Cognitive and Neurospychological Functions--3 hours

Rainbow season is upon us once more!

We seem to get the most spectacular rainbows in August as the monsoons settle into the 'isolated showers and thunderstorms' mode.

This year, we brought the rain home. It did not rain the whole time we were gone and then, on Thursday evening, we got 0.35 inches during two rainy periods. And a double rainbow! Look carefully above the more visible one for traces of the double.



And my guys are 'getting her done' as they have a great time installing the dining room flooring. They hope to finish it this weekend. I will be happy to have the dining room back--sort of. A finished dining area will mean taking the living room furniture out to start there!

And no, the picture is not totally crooked. The chandelier is swinging. Without the table under it, Bruce keeps running into it when he stands up. It causes a great deal of "guy" humor and giggling to burst from the dining room at somewhat regular intervals.

These guys are having too much fun altogether on this part of the project!

That's the news from Sedillo, NM--where life is going on this week while I am blogging last week. One more Travelogue and I am done with that bit!

More Floorz: Two Hundred Forty Plus Square Feet Down

The hallway got completely finished today. Bruce and N. glued down the last six rows. That's 51 feet long by 18 " wide, plus a little in the corner.

Well--their job is finished. When the glue had dried--probably Sunday morning--it is my job to take up the tape and clean the floor. I have ordered a special vacuum attachment to dust and polish hard wood floors. And you thought it was only the guys who get new tools for each project! ;)

Here are the guys gluing in the hall between the kitchen and the living room. Bruce is spreading the Bostik, and N. is putting in boards.




Here they are 'finageling' boards at the edge of the living room and the hallway to the bedrooms.

Finageling is a term that in this context means using force to push the boards as close to each each other as possible once they have been put down on the glue. Once the boards are in place according to engineering (read "perfectionist") standards--that is 'finageled' into place--then the blue painter's tape is put on in order to hold them there until the glue has dried.

We will use our stocking feet in the hall until then.





Here is the corner where the last hallway board will be laid. Bruce had cut the last rows on Sunday and Monday.
But the gluing takes a good long time and must be done in one fell swoop, so he waited 'til today to do it.

N. has been a tremendous help with the gluing. It is going faster with his small hands contributing to the job.

My guys do a lot of talking about life, the universe and everything while they work. It is fascinating. When they are seated at the table, for example, facing each other, the talk is all joking and teasing. But when they are working side-by-side it becomes the deep, heart-to-heart talk that women do at the table. It's another "guy thing" that I can't even pretend to understand.



Since N. has been such a trooper--today's work was over six hours total--he got the honor of laying the last board for the hallway.

Viola!

That's one corner board for the boy, finishing about 240 square feet and one "room." At last.

And just in time for Shabbat to start. We'll have a prayer of thanksgiving tonight. One room down.








This is the completed hallway looking from the bedrooms toward the dining room. The living room is on the left. The blue tape is temporary and will be removed soon.

Here is Bruce checking the work for the last corner near the master bedroom door. We are looking from the dining room toward the bedrooms. The living room is on the right.

This is sure taking a long time. Bruce thinks the dining room will go faster because the room is regularly rectangular and he won't need to make so many strange cuts.

The guys deserve a pat on the back. The hallway is done.

And N. has earned money for his camp fund. He doesn't know that yet.

Keep it under your hat.

That's a surprise. His staying power has been astonishing.

SHABBAT SHALOM!

Catching Up! Gifted Institute and Floor Work

I spent the past three days at the New Mexico Summer Institute on Gifted Education. This was a Jacob Javitz Grant conference, sponsored by the fledgling New Mexico Association for the Gifted.



I was very fortunate to be asked to be a speaker for a break-out session about the Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). It was a great experience to give a presentation and I was honored to do so, being a fairly new 'Doc' student. And on top of it, they gave me free admission to the conference. What a deal!


I gave two talks yesterday afternoon: The first was called Do You Have Spock in Your Classroom? Gifted Kids with Asperger Syndrome and Other ASDs: Characteristics and Theory. The second talk was called: Mr. Spock Goes to School: Dealing with the Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted Kids with AS. I was amazed at the attendance at my session because I was up against some other really good talks. But a lot of people came--mostly teachers, but some parents as well, which meant that I got to advocate for kids like N. who are in the school system. There were a lot of excellent questions and I could tell that a lot of people want to make a difference for these kids in school. We had a particularly good discussion about how certain AS characteristics can look like oppositionality when they are really about being overwhelmed, and how to help the general education teachers see the difference. We also had a great discussion about homework. I got a really good quote from one of the parents there. He said: "Homework for AS kids is cruel and unusual punishment for their parents." In the days to come I will discuss some of these issues more fully here, so stay tuned.







One of the benefits of being honored with an invitation to present, was that I got to hear three keynote presentations from nationally known leaders in our field. Joyce Van Tassel-Baska, who is well known for her Javitz Grant work on Curriculum. She spearheaded the development of the William and Mary Curricula for High-Ability Learners. She spoke about how the curriculum was developed. The William and Mary Curricula are integrated, thematic units that use concept development as the core of each unit. I have successfully used them in my elementary gifted classrooms and I liked them very much. Isn't she a warm looking woman? And she has an incredible intellect! Her keynote really had me thinking again about the William and Mary Curricula. The educational theory behind every element of these units is well thought out and its efficacy is documented by research. I am seriously thinking about how to adapt a social studies unit to N.'s homeschool curriculum this year.





Another keynoter, was Michael Clay Thompson, well known for his work on English Language and Literature for kids. He is known for his publications through Royal Fireworks Press. His work includes the Grammar Island, the Word Within a Word series, and (my favorite title) The Sesquipedalian Neologist's Lexicon. Anyone who can come up with a title like that is definitely a kindred spirit! He gave an absolutely riveting talk about Concept Development. I had done one of my Comprehensive Exam questions on this topic, where I discussed the work of Hilda Taba on concept development. I was absolutely delighted to be thinking about it again. Thompson discussed concerns he has about how concept development is used in the classroom. Unless it is thought out, there is a danger that the work of developing concepts could happen in the teacher's head rather than the student's. This means the student is not doing the learning and the teacher is getting all the fun. It was another one of those talks that makes one want more and more and more! The book pictured above is on my absolutely must have list!

The conference ended today with a keynote and keynoters near and dear to my heart. UNM's own Elizabeth Neilsen and Dennis Higgins. They did their wonderful presentation on moral courage. I have heard it before, but it is one of those that needs to be heard several times, I think, to sink in. My thoughts on this presentation, which brought me to tears for a second time, deserve and will get an entry of their own here in the very near future.


While I was away conferencing, N. was home. It seemed kind of strange. He got home on Tuesday and then I was gone all day Wednesday and Thursday and much of today! So we went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the second time on Wednesday night. Last night, Bruce came to the NMAG reception at the conference, so we ended up staying until about 9 PM, talking with an old friend of mine from the MA program, and her new husband. I had not met him, and my friend and her husband had not met Bruce. They all hit it off famously, and we talked and talked and talked. It was a warm summer evening in the courtyard of the hotel. A good way to spend some time. I always forget how mu

ch being within the gifted community feels like coming home for me.


And of course, while I was conferencing, Bruce and N. worked on gluing down segments of the floor today.
N. watched for a while, I am told, and then jumped in to help. He was very interested in what the glue was (better living through chemistry) and how the glue worked. He was meticulous in the work--Bruce is his teacher, after all!--and Bruce says that the work went twice as fast, which is a cool thing.








When they were done, though, Bruce would not let N. use the chemical wipes to take the residual glue off the boards. That stuff is "too much better living through chemistry." So N. washed his hands off in mineral oil, and then supervised Bruce on the job.


They are both quite proud of their handiwork for the day!

Tomorrow afternoon, Bruce and N. will cut and lay new boards which they hope to glue down just as fast, and finish the hallway.

Last night, as we were talking at the hotel courtyard, we were lamenting the fact that many young people, even the really smart ones, don't know old aphorisms and figures of speech. We opined that maybe it's because they do not spend much time doing things with parents. So today we taught N. an aphorism from my midwestern childhood:

Many hands make light work.

Updates: 'Da Floorz' and 'Da Boyz'

Update: 'Da Floorz'

Bruce did work on putting in the wood floors again over the weekend. Although he had great intentions, he did not work on them in the evenings last week.

Monday he took a vacation day to work on the floors, so the week nights consisted of Tuesday through Thursday. Tuesday he was very tired from working late into the evening on Monday. Wednesday he had an astronomy phone/internet conference. Thursday...I can't remember why not on Thursday. And, of course, Friday was Shabbat.

Then came Saturday. He went into town with MLC and I in the morning. It's amazing how often you have to run to the hardware store when you are doing a major project. We dropped him off there on the way to pick up our Harry Potter pre-orders. Then he had to eat lunch. By then he was tired from the morning and took a nap, so he didn't really get started until about 3:30 in the afternoon.

I would have been getting upset--just a little, mind you--but I was deep into Harry Potter by then. Still, he got some of the pieces cut for dealing with doorways.

Sunday morning, Bruce was cutting and laying out pieces by 7:30 AM. But the doorway problem was taking a lot of time. Along the 51 foot hallway that runs across the house, there are five doorways. And for each one, the boards have to be cut so that theyfit under the doorframes. Also, the hallway expands to form a half-hexagon at the bedroom end. It something similar but wider where the living room meets the entryway. This means that boards must be cut at a 45 degree angle to fit the space.

The picture at the top shows how the boards had to be cut to form a point at the end of the hallway between the master bedroom door and my office door. From there, they run straight back for 51 feet to the guest bedroom door, just off the dining room. There are 4 boards, each 3 inches wide. That's about 64 square feet of floor laid.

The second picture is of the boards laid out into the area where the hall expands out toward the entryway. The first 5 boards from the left are continuous with the 5 shown in the first picture. The rest had to be cut at an angle to fit the expansion. The tools are laying right in front of Bruce's office door.

The third and last floor picture shows Lily standing right where the hall starts to expand to the left toward the entryway. I took the picture from Bruce's office door. Bruce is working at the bedroom end. All this work around the doors and in the half-hexagonal areas is taking longer than Bruce anticipated. But it is looking good!

Can you see the dust tracks? I can see I will have to use the dust mop frequently.

Update: 'Da Boyz'

N. called this evening and my sister 'Madge' sent me the last Illinois update yesterday. N. will be arriving home tomorrow around noon.

This past week has been very full. On Sunday, he went to Allerton Park. On Monday, it was Lincoln's home and the Illinois State Museum in Springfield. Tuesday it was the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Wednesday, the Field Museum. They took Thursday off, but on Friday that went to Starved Rock and Buffalo Rock State Parks on the Illinois River. Saturday, they went fishing at Dawson Lake. Finally, yesterday and today, they did some "hanging out" which included a lot of skateboarding outside Madge's house in Bloomington.

An 'Aspie" moment occured when I asked N. if he was ready to come home. By tone, I implied 'ready' as in emotionally ready. But he did not hear that:


N: "Almost, but Aunt Madge is still washing some of my clothes."
Me: "But are you really ready for your trip to end?"
N: "Well. And I have to wait until I brush my teeth before I can pack my toothbrush."
Me: "But are you --you know--ready to come home. You know, get into the routine again."
N: "Almost. But I still have to put my little bottles into the zip-lock baggies."
Me: "Okay. Do you feel like you want to come home now?"
N: "Oh! That. Yeah. I want to see my room and my dog and hang out with you now."
Me: "So in that way you are ready to come home, then."
N: "Oh, YEAH! And I took lots of pictures. I even took one of us brushing our teeth. Aunt Madge is gonna burn 'em on a cd for you 'cause there's too many to e-mail. I even got a picture of Tyrannosaurus Sue! And of the U-boat at Science and Industry. And Lake Michigan, too! You'll like all the pictures I took."

Well that's the longest sentence he's said on the phone to me in the past three weeks.
I didn't tell him that Madge had sent a few pictures by e-mail. A very few.

I can hardly wait to pick him up tomorrow.
People said that I'd really enjoy the time alone. And I did. But there was an empty spot at the table.

And in my heart.

He's still my baby boy!