The Painting Days of Summer

I am deep into the world of paint. I decided to make this the summer of paint jobs around the house. So far, we have painted the stairs and railing. This particular job has been on my list for many years. I love the white railings. It is a vast improvement! The painting on the wall is one of my Mother's abstracts.

We were all so happy with the results that we decided to continue on with the guest bedroom.  We needed to change the guest bedroom into a dance studio for the next few weeks. Anne was accepted to the North Carolina School of the Dance Ballet Summer Intensive. It is online this year and they modified all of the classes to only need a 6 foot by 6 foot space. We realized that she was going to need a space with power and air conditioning, since she will be doing ballet for about seven hours every day for two weeks. (It is just too hot to be out in the dance shed all day long, since there is no electricity there to even have a fan.) Since we had to empty the room, we decided to paint the walls and ceiling while it was empty. We also made a dance floor out of a shower curtain liner (it is safer than the slippery wooden floor), bought her a Marley dance dot which is safer for turning on pointe and installed a ballet barre (per the school's request). She is ready to start the intensive on Monday. I really appreciate our efforts to get rid of as much stuff as possible over the last year. It makes a huge difference to be able to re-purpose a room in a matter of hours. The painting on the wall of the ballerina was given to her by her driving teacher.

Grandma helped her stretch the canvas onto stretchers and we will frame it someday.

Of course, Rosie (cat) thinks that the new dance room is her yoga room and she loves to roll around on the shower curtain floor.

Elijah Dean made several accomplishments in the life skills department this week. He wrote his first "real" deposit slip and deposited some of his graduation money. He did a bit of shopping by himself and learned how to order take out through an app and pick up the food. He even went back in to the restaurant when there was an issue with the order and fixed it on his own! I am pleased with the progress he is making. I know they are small steps, but many small steps make giant strides. Next week he has career testing with Vocational Rehabilitation. We just need to keep up the momentum.

We spent lots of time outside this week. Grandma gave us a large outdoor dice game. We played Yard Yatzee one day. It was lots of fun.

Anne tried on my wedding dress this week. She wanted to see if it was too heavy for an outdoor dance the dance studio's Adult Company is planning. I was sure it was too heavy, but she tried it on anyway. It fit her very well. She loved it and wants to wear it someday, but it will not work for the dance they are planning. I am a bit relieved. I really didn't want it to get dirty or worse. 

Here is a picture of her trying on the dress eight years ago. The poor kid couldn't walk or hardly move!

My beautiful girl is growing up so fast.
We also had a lovely socially distant walk around downtown and visited one art gallery with our adult daughter, Katie. It is delightful to be in this season where we are having a peaceful relationship with her. She struggles a great deal with the mask and really doesn't take the virus seriously. However, she wore a mask and made the effort to keep her distance because she really wanted to visit with us. Given the history, I don't know how long this peaceful, pleasant relationship will continue, but I am enjoying it while it lasts. Her current residential placement is good for her, yet I can hear it in the voices and statements of the staff that she wears them out. I hope this placement continues to be positive for her.

Blessings, Dawn