Not much new going on

It's official. Joe gave his notice at work last week and his last day is April 3. Then it's off to the races with his new firm! There's lots to be done to get from here to opening a new business, but I'm confident that it'll all get done. Hopefully this new practice will provide him with much more satisfaction with his job and freedom to run a firm the way he wants.

In other news, I bought a boat! It's an older Hobie 16 catamaran, pictured below. We'll probably use it at the store for lessons and maybe rent it out, but it should provide Joe, me and our friends lots of enjoyment this summer. These boats can sail crazy fast, with one hull out of the water and the crew hanging on over the edge of the boat to keep it from flipping over. Lisa, Linda, Mike and Dan, if any or all of you come out this summer, be forewarned - you will be going sailing! :) I have yet to sail a Hobie 16, and I'm usually a little chicken when it comes to sailing small racing boats, but I have great hopes that this boat will help me become much more confident. If not, at least I tried!

Not much else is going on. The weather has been quite nice, so hopefully this weekend we'll get some of the remaining house projects finished - ceiling installed in the porch, rescreen the sections the dogs ran/fell through, clean up the yard and get ready for spring planting!

What's a lonely girl to do?

Joe took a week of vacation this week. Although I couldn't take off, we were able to spend a few lazy days together, since we never have 2 day weekends anymore. He decided to go visit his mom and sisters in Arizona for the second half of the week, once he realized that Lisa and the kiddos were going to be there too. Having a free Southwest roundtrip ticket definitely helped make that decision easier!

So since Thursday, after signing on the refi of our house, it's been the pups and me. I realized last night that it has been a really long time since I've been home alone without Joe - usually it's the other way around. Turns out, it's pretty boring! Joe got me a sewing machine for Christmas, which I haven't even gotten out of the box. With all of the house projects, it was pushed to the back of my mind. I guess sitting around with nothing to do got me to think about that sewing machine, just collecting dust in the basement. So after work last night, I headed to Jo-Ann's to look at patterns and fabrics and whatnot. I sewed for probably all of 4 hours about 15 years ago, so I'm a beginner's beginner, beside watching my mom sew when we were kids. I found a "sew easy!" dress pattern for $2.99 and decided it's never been a better time to get started.

Of course, by the time I finally got home, I realized the house needs to be cleaned before I start a new project. Sigh. My plans for the rest of today are to clean, try to take down the Christmas lights, that yes, are still up (but haven't been turned on in 2009!) and get ready to start cutting the pattern tomorrow. Eek! We'll see just how crafty this old girl is :)

Not beans, nor blowing raspberries, but

Books. Yup, while our favorite nephews and niece are learning all about the world around them and realizing that obedience can be quite rewarding (what a cute idea, Lisa!), Joe and I decided last night to expand on our knowledge of the history of Kansas City. After grabbing a late lunch/early dinner, we headed over to the local library where we stocked up on some reading materials. We each checked out a book on Kansas City's history, which I find to be quite interesting. Right now I've gotten through to the 1880s, and discovered that back then, the City Market, the area where Joe and I first lived when we moved here, was the spot where over 40 bordellos and 250 "working women" used to live and work. Interesting. Glad it's not that way anymore!

Anyway, I also found Obama's The Audacity of Hope which I figured would be a good thing to have read. So now there's no excuse for late night TV watching - we have a lot of reading to do over the next week or so.