Claremont Ballroom Dance Company

Tonight we went to the dress rehearsal for the Claremont Ballroom Dance Company spring concert. Normally we would go to one of the actual performances, but this was the only one we could make. This photo is from intermission which stretched out into over 45 minutes while the crew worked on the lighting cues. The company decided to have a social dance time which looked like lots of fun.

Postmistress

The Postmistress, by Sarah Blake, received some buzz when it came out a few months ago, so I was eager to read it. Set during the early 1940s in England and Massachusetts, I found that the story tried to be too much, and therefore not enough. In fact, at the end the author devotes a few pages to describing how she came upon the ideas for her novel, and I think that if she had just stuck to one story, in depth, I would have enjoyed it more.

Tax Dollars at Work

Today the city had our sewer main repaired. Since I was teaching most of the day, I missed out on the water being turned off and most of the noise that accompanied this repair.

Incentive

There's nothing like having book club over to make sure the public areas of your house are clean. This involves moving furniture around and discovering what needs to be dusted and vacuumed!

Solstice Canyon

After Hal's umpire gig, we stayed the night in nearby Westlake Village, enjoying dinner at Pookie's Thai. In the morning we were primed for a hike in Solstice Canyon, near the coast in Malibu, just a short drive away. The destination of this hike is a destroyed ranch house and waterfall. Pictures of the 3.5 mile hike on my Picasa site. We had to say hello to the ocean, too, before we headed back inland after lunch at our favorite Senor Fish in Eagle Rock.

Last NCAA game of the season

Yesterday Hal took me along on his last Div 3 softball games of this season. We drove out to Thousand Oaks to California Lutheran University where the Regals hosted the Oxy Tigers. Here he is behind the plate, and you can see the lovely venue of rolling hills afforded to the spectators.

Stoplight on Indian Hill a Go

After a long time, the stoplight at Indian Hill Blvd. and 10th St. is now up and running. The scene of numerous accidents and near-misses, hopefully this corner will be much safer now. You can read about it in the Courier City Beat blog. The story about the Dutch Elm Tree affected by the construction of the lights is here.

More rug photos

I just saw another rug which I would like which is *only* $645 here. Same size, different pattern....

Here is one of the rips in the original carpet in the music room.

This photo shows that underneath the "curls" is a really ripped piece of rug. Kids love to pick at it....

Wish List

As a music teacher, I'm lucky. Actually, in many ways, but I was just thinking how great it is to have a dedicated music room. Most elementary teachers have to carve out a space in the multipurpose room, or put stuff on a cart and go room-to-room.

The music room is a leftover portable from our schoolwide renovation a number of years ago, and it has seen better days. You can't really tell from this photo, but the brown rug is pretty worn out (I've covered up the worst part with an old rug that my parents gave me years ago). Now this rug has been abused, seen better days. It is curling on two sides and shedding. (Perhaps I will take a better picture tomorrow and post it.)

I dream of this rug, or one like it - nice and big - but with the state of the economy in California, and teachers being pink-slipped, this one isn't in the budget now.

Snail Tracks

I thought I would take a picture of the snail tracks at the end of my block this morning rather than the dead squirrel on the corner.