Dale's Visit - Day One

Despite the long delay at the airport, Todd's dad finally made it to Mesa today. He's down here to visit us for a bit and then he and Todd are leaving Tuesday morning to head down to Tucson for a Tuba Convention. They'll be gone all week and drive back here sometime on Saturday.

After he flew in, we went to eat at Joe's Farm Grill. It's was a yummy little place that Todd went to with Tom and Sonya when they were down here. Tummies full, we then drove home to give Dale the full tour of our little home in the middle of the desert.

I would like to tell you all about the exciting facts and little quirks of our house that were explained to Dale on the aforementioned tour...but honestly, I was a walking zombie by that time. I had to excuse myself so that I could take a little nap (and by little, I mean 2 hours). I think that my immune system is struggling against something - my sore throat and stuffy nose are dead give-aways. And today's weather, which was colder and windier than normal, didn't really help matters. Maybe Dale brought the cold Wyoming weather down here with him?

But after my nap I felt much better and so we went out to find a small dinner (since we were all still rather full from Joe's) and dessert. We decided on Mimi's Cafe, a little chain restaurant just down the street. Todd and I usually try to avoid chains, but we had never eaten there before. We ordered appetizers first, followed by dessert. Dale and I had a delicious trio of desserts (apple crisp a la mode, triple chocolate brownie a la mode, and bread pudding) that I was unable to finish. Todd, knowing my habit of ordering more than I can eat, was fully prepared to finish it for me. What would I do without him? It was a nice little time out, but Dale and I both felt like we needed to walk back home in order to get rid of some of the calories that we had just consumed. I consoled myself by saying that once we got home, I would hop on the exercise bike for a bit. And now that I'm home with a full tummy, bed is looking awfully nice. There's always time to ride the bike tomorrow, right?

A New Look - For Summer!

As you might have noticed, Todd and I have been playing around with the design of the blog (Well, mostly Todd editing the html and me telling him what I wish we could do with the site). Like hairstyles, I think that blog templates should be changed around every once in a while just for a new look. If you have any feedback, feel free to let us know. We're determined to post more on the blog now (say bye-bye to all those facebook updates) so we want to make sure that it's easy for us and our readers.

Speaking of summer, I can't wait! I have one week left at work - a week dedicated to cleaning the classroom and filing a metric ton of paperwork. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I have all of the paperwork somewhere in my files. I had several revelations throughout the year that sounded a lot like "Ohhh. I never knew we had to fill out that paper," or "Oh! So that's what that paper is for." After next week, I plan on using the summer to relax, plan for next year, and relax some more. I have so many ideas for next year - for the classroom environment, teaching and assessment methods, curriculum, and paperwork organization. Here's to hoping all of it can be easily implemented!

It's already hit the triple digits here, but we're staying cool with our AC and our pool.

How's the weather in your part of the country?

End of the Year, Luau Party!

The end of the year is here! My commitment with Teach For America is halfway over. It's a day that I wasn't sure would ever come - like a far off dream that seemed too good to be true. Friday was the last day of Head Start for the 20 little kids in my class. We had a lovely celebration, gave them their certificates, and wished them well in kindergarten. Only one of those students will be returning next year (since she was a 3 year-old this year). It was a year that was both long and short - each week seemed long but as I look back now, I can't believe it's all over. After all of the parents and students had left on Friday, I sat there, almost in shock. I can't believe that on Monday the bus isn't going to come by and drop off my kiddos.

It was a year of learning and growth for me - personal growth and professional growth. I'm going to miss the students I worked with, but at the same time I'm looking forward to next year and expanding on my teaching skills.

In order to celebrate the end of the year, Todd and I hosted a Luau party Saturday night. We had fruit, kabobs, vegetables, hot dogs, drinks, and wonderful company.

Here is our little sign pointing the way to our party:


And here is the master chef of the party! He did an excellent job grilling the food. I should keep him around =)


As you can see, we decorated the house with flowers, tropical fruit, and leis. Here I am, showing off some of our early food selection.


It was our first house party and we consider it a success! We're so excited to continue to make our house available for little gatherings. It was a fun night with good food, good drinks, and great conversation.

Home improvement. Correction: Home repair

Last weekend Uncle Pat and I tore apart an eight foot section of our house's back exterior wall. Some previous owner had cut out a section of siding (I'm not sure why) and when they had put it back had tried to seal the horizontal seam with caulking. The lack of gutters and a leaky pipe (for a mister system that's now gone) got enough water on that section of wall that the siding around the seam had swelled and needed to be replaced. Two sheets (four feet wide each) were involved, so I decided to replace both.

To complicate the problem, there were four pipes coming out of the same section of wall. To make it easier, I decide to change the plumbing around so that there would only be two (one for water heater pressure relief and one for cold water). There is also a window involved. Given these complications, I called upon Pat to bring tools and expertise. I literally couldn't have do it without his help. We had some hiccups (which are inevitable) but at the end of the day it seemed to be satisfactory.

Monday we made pot roast so the house was full of that smell and the air was a bit humid when we got home. Tuesday the smell was of sheet rock and the air was still humid. I went to investigate the wall, worried that our plumbing had sprung a leak. It was clear there was a problem once I saw the swollen and discolored siding. I took it off and discovered that the plumbing we had done wasn't the problem. Instead one of us had driven a nail (while hanging the siding) straight into a copper pipe.

Ashlee and I worked until about ten that night getting the plumping fixed (included a trip to Home Depot just before they closed). I just left off the siding so that the hot Arizona sun could dry out the sheet rock and kill any organic growth (the term real estate agents use for mold). The next evening it was still a bit damp. Rain wasn't in the forecast at all this week, so I just decided to wait until today to work on it again.

Today I made some final adjustments to the plumbing, and put the siding back up. It had dried in the sun and all the swelling had gone down. I also fixed some of the hiccups that Pat and I had trouble with a week ago with the siding (not marking the stud locations, siding seams not lining up with studs, etc). Anyway, the siding is up now and the plumping is leak free (for now, knock on wood). I sealed the seams with silicone and the plan is to paint asap in the morning.

Gutters are a big priority because even without a horizontal seam (like there used to be) the bottom edge of the siding soaks up water splashing up from the ground. Most of our neighbors don't have gutters either. I know AZ doesn't get much rain compared the rest of the US, but really, not gutters? Oh well, we'll just have to install some.

Sorry I don't have pictures. They weren't a big priority during the work. I'll try to take some tomorrow.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

This year, Todd and I decided to go a little over the top for Valentine's day. After all, everyone deserves a great night, nice dinner, and entertainment. So, we researched some places and found this place that sounded perfect. As you can see, the dress code is quite formal!





So, we dressed up. I think that both of us enjoy getting a little fancy once in a while. Well, I'm not sure that Todd does, but I definitely do! After dressing up, we went to the place and even got a very private table (with a centerpiece that we could take home). We both ordered the same thing - delicious chicken cajun pasta with a side of asparagus. We had some wine with dinner (and champagne afterwards for a little celebration). Here's a picture of our dinner.



After our dinner, we held off on dessert for a while in favor of entertainment. Can you believe that they play actual films at this place! And you can move from the dining table to some sort of sectional - with a big TV! Partway through our movie, we decided to order dessert. We both had brownies with melted Reesee's pieces in them (warmed up with vanilla ice cream on the side). It was delicious! We toasted the end of the evening with our champagne and then made our way home.

Home. Which was where we were the entire time =)

And then there was light

Yes, Ashlee and I do live in the valley of the sun, but there are times when we want more light, and the kitchen counter is one place in particular where we find it most lacking. Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc all sell lights for this purpose, but all the common styles have disadvantages.

I think the most common styles use compact fluorescent light (CFLs). Most people are probably familiar with them. The fixtures are kind of big, the bulbs are expensive (for the uncommon size used for this application) and they are too long for one of the spots where we were hoping to but some lighting.

Xenon and halogen lights are nice and bright, but the amount of heat they put off is a dead giveaway that you are wasting electricity, and they too are a bit expensive. They are usually built as little spot lights, which seems like a bad idea for the application.

LED lights are getting more and more popular for many purposes, and kitchen lighting is seeing their increased use as well. Most people are familiar with the single LED flashlights and know that they don't work well as flood lights in most cases. That's true, but if you but a bunch of them in a row along a strip, and then put the phosphorescent material (which makes the light white instead of blue) along the strip, you get a much more diffuse light pattern. These work well, but are expensive compared to what single LEDs cost, and actually generate a good bit of heat (in the ones I felt and read about) because resistors are required to make sure each LED gets the right amount of electricity.

Anyway, my desire to save money was met by my eagerness to tinker around with a do-it-yourself (DIY) solution, and the result looks like this:

(Oh yeah, we bought a microwave for above the range. At $75, it was a steal. We priced it online, and think it goes for around $500 brand new. Woot for craigslist.)

I bought three pairs of cold compact fluorescent lights (CCLFs) for this project. At $8 a pair, I spent less on six bulbs than I would have on one of most store-bought setups. I did have to buy a power supply, but it was just another $8. These lights are great because they generate very little heat and are the perfect size: about 1/2 inch in diameter and 12 inches long. There are three little boxes (about the size of a small cell phone) that power two bulbs each. The power supply is the size of a double stack of playing cards. I had to solder some wiring and use some zip ties to get it up out of the way, but I think I actually spent more time shopping around online. It was a quick and painless project.

In this view you can see the bulbs and the little boxes that supply the high voltage required to excite the gas in the bulbs. The part that lights up is no bigger than a coffee stirring straw, but it's enclosed inside a protective tube.

Finally, I installed a little push button switch that's hidden just inside the recessed area under the cabinets. It's turns the whole system on and off before the AC/DC power supply, ensuring no power is wasted inverting unused electricity. I tested the final setup with the multimeter, and it's reading about 22 watts. That's a good number.

 I can't help it, I've got to show off the microwave one more time.

I admit, I'm a Dvorak user

The QWERTY keyboard layout was not designed for comfort, but instead was designed with the mechanics of early typewriters in mind. See this Wikipedia article on the QWERTY layout.

The Dvorak keyboard layout was designed for comfort, and its inventor used several principles designed to improve upon the standard QWERTY layout. See this Wikipedia article on the Dvorak layout.

I've been using the Dvorak layout for several years now. I started in the summer of 2006, and haven't gone back since. Ashlee still thinks I'm crazy. You don't have to do anything fancy to make the switch. Virtually every modern computer can easily be configured to interpret keystroke as Dvorak, regardless of the actual keyboard you're using. I took me several months to get fairly quick at using it, but I'm far better at it than QWERTY (by now).

Anyway, today I decided to "hack" my keyboard and switch the keys around, physically.

The keys come out fairly easily, especially after I devised a makeshift removal tool out of a paper clip. I cleaned up the keyboard some, and then put it back together.

And just like that, I rolled my own Dvorak keyboard.