So - I spent yesterday at Cedar Point with teenagers

Two Christmas's ago I had the idea that it would be fun to take my brother Evan (now 14) and my cousin's kids Michael and Lynne (almost 15 and 16) to Cedar Point for a day of fun and adventure. Last summer I was pregnant and having a newborn, so this was the time. Evan's been babysitting a couple times a week for free all summer and Mikey and Lynne's dad died prematurely a couple months ago, so it seemed like an especially good idea to follow through. My Michael was going to come, but the weather, some work things, and his remembrance of his experiences there last year changed that plan last night. Additionally, Evan asked last night if his next door neighbor Samantha (13) could come too. I was so nervous to try to converse with adolescents who I don't know well for the most part and who are culturally so different from me. I think it went o.k., but spending hours in line with hot, impatient, thirsty, hungry, immature kids wanting to do different things was a challenge. Especially as they spit into the ponds to watch the fish eat it, loudly complained and hung on/hit each other during our waits. When we got in the car to go home though, they all fell asleep after about 15 minutes and reminded me of my baby. I can feel so tender toward them when they're not talking or moving :) God bless those of you who have relationships with teenagers who aren't able to talk about real or serious things.

drywall and paint

Hello, friends. As some of you may know, I was working quite a bit these past couple of weeks getting the upstairs apartment ready for Fitz and Jessica. My biggest project was the ceiling in the larger bedroom.
When I bought the house, there was a dropped ceiling covering a crumbling plaster one. It was rather ugly, there was an odd "recessed light" in it. The decision to remove it was confirmed by the presence of mouse poopies and a small hole in the corner leading to the attic. We never found any mice, but it still was good to get that hole plugged.

Before we first moved in, we removed the dropped ceiling and the old plaster. We put up the drywall, but never finished it off. So when Josh and Catie moved out, there was my opportunity to get my room dusty!
So, here are some pictures!