Nella Vita di Indoctrination

Ah is there anything better than a young mind. So thirsty for knowledge and easily malleable to the persuasion of their superiors. And what better to fill those naive young minds with then historic preservation. That's right, it's time for next generation indoctrination!

As I child, I know how much I loved going to museums and exploring old houses and structures, longing to learn all of their secrets and inner workings. As an adult, I can not wait until I have kids of my own and can teach them about all the wonders that the built environment has to offer and the complete joy they can experience uncovering the past (though if psychology has taught me anything, my kids will become suburbanites that love modern art...they will quickly be shunned and written out of my will :) ). Walking around downtown, I can't help but think how fun it will be to have architectural scavenger hunts...i.e. how many Doric columns can we find? (If there were any doubts about my complete dorkitude, I think the last sentence will squash them).

Apparently however, I am not the only one. I've come across a couple great websites that are great (and fun) tools for teaching historic preservation and appreciation for the built environment and history in general. St. Louis Historic Preservation has a great site on teaching different kinds of building materials and even features a fun quiz (I am ashamed to say that I did pretty horribly...clearly my current realm of grants and affordable housing has weakened my mind!). The History Channel, as part of its Save our History campaign, has some great lesson plans too (for those of you who prefer a more structured brain washing). You have to register to access the plans; I just said I was a home-schooler. I'm sure there are plenty of other great sites out there, so if you come across any please share. In the mean time, if you happen to come across a child be sure to tell them that all the cool kids know what rusticated limestone means and that the real reason it rains is because God is crying because somewhere an old barn just fell down.

Nella Vita di School Days

Today is the first day of school for Charlottesville and Albermarle. Except when I get stuck behind a school bus that goes 20 under the speed limit and stops at every other driveway picking up the lazy little brats, I like seeing the school kids in the morning. Sometimes they wave to me and I'll wave back and make them feel special. Sometimes they are standing at the end of driveways I never really noticed were even there. Sometimes I purposely drive into puddles to splash them.

This morning, because I was running late, the younger kids had already been picked up and the high schoolers were out waiting for the bus. Of the 20 plus kids I saw this morning, about half of them didn't have backpacks. I couldn't believe it. I realize it's the first day of school, so there probably won't be homework, but really? You're going to start the year completely unprepared. No notebooks? No pens? No calculator? Nothing?!?! I mean could you honestly try any harder not to care about school. Short of not showing up at all? Why even bother. I doubt any of the kids I saw are geniuses that can absorb all they are taught through osmosis. How do you expect to do well without even the most basic of supplies? Forget about doing well, how do expect to do decent? I was just dumbfounded and saddened at the future of humanity. Perhaps tomorrow I'll throw notebooks at them in the hopes they use them!

Nella Vita di the Loo

I am notoriously horrible about finish projects that I start (I can't help it I'm a Gemini!). Late this spring I started working on redoing our guest bathroom. I always liked blue bathrooms so I picked a bright light sky blue. The molding and cabinet had been this ugly orangey wood that I really don't like that much (all the cabinets in our house are the same! It has grown on me in the kitchen luckily.), so painting the cabinets and molding was a must. I wanted it to be white, but Shane really didn't want white, so we decided on a soft creme. My overall inspiration were four postcards that I picked up from Yverdon, France. Overall, I'm so happy with how it turned out. The bright blue is still a bit of a shock when I go in there, but it is a very happy place to pass some time :) Eventually I'd like to replace the door knobs to be a bronze, get a new shower curtain, and get a nice black or dark wood toilet cabinet to store guest towels. My next plan of action is to organize and get the family room situated, and then move my way down the house: laundry room, hallway, finsih the living room, the kitchen, master bath and then master bedroom. The guest bedroom is pretty much done; I'm not planning on painting in there. The library and the office are the two rooms I'm going to be putting off because they are too scary and involve too much of Shane related stuff. Knowing me this will probably not all get done in the next few years that we plan on staying in the house :) but one can hope!

The guest bath before. An off-white pinky walls with ugly wood trim and cabinet.

A couple afters...the gold door knobs won't last long!

These were the postcards that served as my inspiration for the room. It's my bright, sunny, lakeside French retreat!

Nella Vita di Classics

Nella Vita di Birthday Bone

Molly's Bday was over two months ago, but I just found some pics of her birthday on one of our cameras. We gave her a bone filled with peanut butter, and I think Shane and I enjoyed teasing/watching her eat it more than she enjoyed eating it!

Nella Vita di Couchsurfin'

Nella Vita di Dangerous Shade

Luckily, before getting in my car and driving away I noticed JC napping under my car. The scary thing is he's so lazy he doesn't always when the engine starts!