What else is going on...?

As Beth's previous post said, we're trying to find a schedule for ourselves these days. Not that things have been chaotic; we've been able to do quite a bit with Will, including a little bit of travel, going out to eat, taking him to church, taking walks with Maeby in the park. But there's been a lot happening in the past few weeks/months. Let's see...

* Our backyard has taken shape nicely this year. In the spring we planted a bunch of new things, including some small trees, tomatoes, lavender, casablanca lilies, morning glories, clematis, sea oats, hydrangea, a lilac, and a slew of herbs like sage, rosemary, and basil.

The day lilies had a great run this year; they love that long patch alongside our big fence. Pictured above is the last bloom of the year, taken this morning!

* We also have two birdfeeders hanging off the back of the house. One is a finch feeder and one is a regular feeder. The birds empty the regular feeder in about a day; they just dive into the seed like they've never been fed. Anyway... a few weeks ago I noticed some plants sprouting next to the stairs by the back door. I was being lazy at the time, so didn't pick the plants (I was weeks behind on weeding the back). And I'm glad I didn't, because one of them grew into a sunflower! It took me a few minutes to realize that it came from one of the spilled sunflower seeds from the birdfeeder!

* The weather lately has been stunning. After a hot and humid July, August has mellowed out and given us cool mornings on the porch and wonderful sunny days. Honestly, we haven't turned on the AC in two weeks... in August... in Ohio!

* Let's see, what else? Well, in mid-July I finished teaching Ohio State's first online version of Intro to Theatre. It's a funny conundrum, to teach a course all about live interaction... online. But it proved pretty successful; we had about 110 students total, and we all learned a lot! Sometime this school year we'll begin teaching the online version regularly. For now, I'm off from teaching until mid-September (quarter system, baby!), at which point I will go back to teaching Intro to Theatre and dramaturging a new play at OSU called Pangea.

* Over the past couple weeks, we've been doing a laaaaaaaate spring cleaning. Wild Goose Creative is holding a fundraiser over Labor Day weekend. We're doing a garage and bake sale to raise more for our new space (more on that later!) and for our events. Pictured above is our pile of stuff to donate to the cause. Oh, it feels soooooooooo good to purge the house. At the same time, we've been combing through our kitchen, bathrooms, and offices. It took me nearly a week to clean my entire office. In the end, I had a huge stack of books to donate, and had shredded about six trash-cans-worth of old paperwork. I keep imagining the foundations of our house sighing in relief as we lighten its load.

* Wild Goose Creative is also helping produce a festival of short plays at Calvin College in October. This festival will feature plays by alumni, and is part of the Calvin Theatre Company's 75 anniversary.

* I'm selling two items on ebay. Anyone want an unopened Star Wars Lego set or an iPhone with a broken front?

* And here's a picture of Will. Seriously, how could I write a blog post without mentioning the three-time winner of the Cutest Boy in the World Award?