This month's (minor) renovations

Here's a sample of the ugly old pseudo-Asian, pseudo-brass (but really plastic) towel racks I took down. They made my master bathroom look stuffy and dusty.

Ahh. . . nice, non-fussy, simple chrome towel racks. MUCH better!

Best of all, for the first time since I bought my house, I have a non-broken toilet paper holder! RAH! It's the little things that count, right?

I'd like to change other things in the master bathroom-- like the wallpaper and the dark sink cabinets-- but I know the walls underneath the wallpaper don't take paint (same as the master bedroom that I redid this past summer). I think all I can really do in here is change out the sink faucets. MAYBE repaint the sink cabinets to be lighter.

But I can do the upstairs bathroom! Oh yeah!

Are you scared by this?

This is what I see when I sit down to write at my computer. Apparently there really was a horror movie about frogs swallowing people-- it came out in 1972, directed by George McCowan (whoever he is). Maybe I'd be grossed out by the actual movie, but the poster makes me laugh. Wouldn't the frog explode if it tried to eat a whole person? How big are these amphibians? And why would a frog suddenly decide people are more appetizing than dragonflies?

I've been looking at the calendar a lot today, because I haven't left my house except to shovel the driveway and take a walk. We're getting hit by a big snowstorm-- okay, not big by Iowa standards, but there's supposed to be ice rain tonight and then more snow tomorrow, so given how poorly the roads are cleared anyhow, I don't think I'll be leaving my house tomorrow, either. I'm feeling vindicated because I canceled my 4 PM class and then the university canceled evening classes anyhow. Yay, I made the right decision!

All 55 counties in West Virginia canceled school today. I've never been in a state where EVERY SCHOOL was shut down. Maybe the 1996 ice storm that hit the Pacific Northwest. Maybe. Good thing I have a good book to read tonight.

I hope February's calendar page is equally entertaining. Given how January has gone, I'll be looking at it a LOT.

Snow Day Musings

I just got done with a nice, quiet walk in the snow, and while I was walking I got to thinking about several things:

1. Why do I get funny looks from my neighbors when I shovel my driveway? The neighbors up the hill have a snowplow blade attached to their four-wheeler and do a nice job of plowing out our roads (they're not the ones who give me funny looks). But how come nobody else seems to shovel when it snows? Am I the only person who sees the snow piling up and thinks, "Uh oh, better get that up before it freezes and makes it impossible to get out of my garage."

2. Why don't they plow roads here? (The city, I mean.) Okay, maybe the main school bus route gets plowed mid-afternoon on a day it's snowed, but most roads stay snow-packed and then melt, get slushy, and become impassable until the snow melts away. Fortunately, the snow DOES melt fairly fast here most of the time. But honestly, if the city would plow and/or sand roads, there wouldn't be a need to shut down school so often.

Here's my theory: West Virginia is in a state of winter denial. Here's the mindset: "Yeah, we're in the Appalachians, and yeah, we get snow every year, but we're going to pretend that we're further south and really DON'T get snow all the time. Then we won't have to deal with it."

Consequences of this state of denial: When it snows, people panic. All the milk and Ramen noodles disappear from grocery shelves, people drive ten miles an hour even if the snow's not sticking, and school gets canceled for an inch of accumulation. It's like people pretend there's not winter even though there is, so when the winter weather happens, everyone's shocked. It's January, people. Snow shouldn't be a surprise at this point.

Corollary: How students dress for said winter weather. Uggs are starting to come into fashion, so at least students have traction when they walk, but Uggs are more decorative than functional. Yes, they're warm, and yes, I'd like a pair, but they're not snow boots. Definitely not water-proof. I had a conversation with some colleagues the other evening about students wearing shorts and tank tops to class in the winter and then complaining that they were cold. Again, um, it's winter.

Why don't we just accept the fact that it's winter, learn to drive in snow, and actually deal with the snow accumulation rather than pretending it'll go away if we ignore it? Granted, I moved here from Iowa, where if you don't deal with the snow right away you're in big trouble travel-wise. But why can't that be the mindset here?

I'm seeing a human nature parallel. It's easier to pretend that there are no effects to our actions; it's easier to pretend winter's never going to hit, or if it does, it'll be mild and then go away. Shoveling roads and sidewalks, putting on extra clothing layers, learning to drive on icy hills-- those all take effort and planning. Psychologically, it's easier to think it's always spring or summer. But winter still comes, and it stays for a while. My thinking is that you might as well adapt to the winter and accept that it's here rather than be caught by surprise when you had advanced warning.

Okay, I could go deeper with the analogy, but I'm not going to. It's time to eat lunch.

Why I Would Have Been a Lousy Pioneer

See this chewed-up plastic gear? THIS is why my electric garage door mechanism stopped working Friday. Behind it is a diagram of the mechanism and where the gear fits in. My home teacher, who fortunately is a contractor and understands mechanical repair-type stuff, came over Friday afternoon to help me figure out why my garage door would only open an inch and then stop. He tightened the chain and we thought it was fixed-- until we heard a weird noise. When he took the mechanism cover off, lots of plastic shavings fell out. Not good.

So, long story short, he dismantled my entire garage door mechanism, took it to his house to figure out what part needed to be replaced (WV dialect note: it would be correct here to say "needed replaced"), researched costs online yesterday, and handed me the information today at church so I can get the part ordered. Mind you, it was something like three degrees outside Friday afternoon while he was doing all this work. And then he invited me to their house for gumbo. I love good home teachers!

Two days without an electric garage door opener and I'm a big whiner. I finally figured out how to open the door manually this afternoon. Funny how you forget that garage doors don't HAVE to be automatic. Or that you even need a garage. Yeah, it's cold outside, but did the pioneers have garage doors? Or cars to put in the garage? Or a house to attach the garage to? Nope. So I won't complain about a few days of inconvenience. I'm not freezing somewhere on the Nebraska plains. Whew!

Mon Nouveau Chapeau-- well, sort of nouveau

A few days before the new semester started, one of my student teachers came into my office to talk about a few lesson planning issues and calm student teaching butterflies. At the end of our meeting, she handed me this hat:

Cool, huh? I've collected vintage hats for a long time (starting my second year of teaching when I was looking for skit props in an antiques store), and I mentioned a writing idea around old hats one day in class last semester. This student remembered, saw this hat, and thought I'd like it.

So now the creative task: Who would have worn a hat like this? What other wardrobe items would have gone with it? What would the hat be worn for? I'm thinking 1950's, but that's just because the fabric reminds me of Grandma May's toiletries case. It also has a kind of "flying nun" feel to it, which you can't see in the above picture. I took a picture of me wearing the hat so you could get a sense of the "flying nun" element.

Nice, huh? It kind of looks like it's floating on my head when I wear it.

I'm thinking this hat would go with one of those 1950's floral dresses, kind of like what Jackie Kennedy would wear, except that Jackie Kennedy probably wouldn't have worn this hat. Definitely white gloves, definitely some kind of little purse.

What do you think?

A Beginner's Guide to Iowa City

I visited Iowa City last weekend-- a working vacation, so to speak, meeting a friend to do some writing-- and the following conversation happened:

Me: "I had a great day yesterday. I bought some things at Prairie Lights."

Friend: "Prairie Lights? What's that?"

Me, with incredulous expression: "You've lived here SEVEN YEARS and you've never been to Prairie Lights? How is that possible?"

Friend: "I have children. I never go downtown."

So, to rectify the problem and make sure nobody misses out on what I consider the coolest things about Iowa City (and what I miss most now that I'm not living there), this blog entry is going to describe some of Sheila's favorite Iowa City haunts (and some outside Iowa City but still within driving range):

1. Let's start with Prairie Lights, which is the coolest independent bookstore I've ever lived near. When we were having the above conversation, my friend's ten-year-old daughter, who LOVES reading (as does my friend), asked wide-eyed, "Is Prairie Lights even better than Barnes & Noble?" Oh yeah. Besides just plain having that awesome "real bookstore" smell, it has a whole floor (the basement) devoted to children and young adult books, sales people who really know books, and a second floor where you can hang out and write while sipping a cup of steamed milk/hot chocolate and watching the interesting pedestrian traffic down on the street. Here's what I bought last time I visited Prairie Lights:

fun books

fun calendars

a French notebook

a magnet for my office (it says "Don't blame me; I voted to take a walk")

2. Kalona, which actually needs sub-headings because there are lots of cool things there. Kalona's a Mennonite town about 15 miles away from Iowa City (south, I think). Besides getting a great scenic drive, Kalona is home to Stringtown Grocery, a great place for cheap bulk spices, The Cheese House (great cheese curds), and Columns & Chocolate, which is a fun little bed and breakfast/tea shop/mom & pop kind of restaurant.

3. Sister's Antiques-- it's on the way to Kalona, and I REALLY miss this place! Antiques, vintage clothing, quirky laundry and bath paraphernalia, glassware, gardening things, you really just never know what you'll find but it's always fun to look.

4. Culver's Frozen Yogurt-- yes, this is a Midwestern chain and I usually am not a big fan of chain anything, but their frozen lemonade is so good! You can get frozen yogurt in Utah-- but can you get a butter burger? Didn't think so.

5. Whitey's Ice Cream-- Not the most politically correct name, but their ice cream is really yummy.

6. The Clear Creek Trail-- I wish this extended further, but for the two or three miles it actually goes, it's a great run. It's good for biking and walks, too, of course, and the University of Iowa's cross country area is right off it, so you can let dogs off leash so they can race around. Not that I have a dog, but if I did and I were in Iowa, I'd take it here. My cats aren't into the whole running thing.

7. Z'Marik's Noodle Cafe-- Cheap, abundant noodle dishes of all sorts. Great quick lunch.

8. The Bread Garden-- It's expanded into an entire whole foods market since I moved away. Great bread, great soups, great salads.

9. The Coralville Farmer's Market-- Iowa, farmer's markets. It doesn't get any better.

10. The Iowa City Public Library-- Iowa City does public libraries properly. This place is huge and has a great selection of CD's and other media besides books. You can even check out cake pans for birthday parties.

There are lots more, but this is a good starting list. If you know Iowa City, feel free to comment back on other sites I've left off or perhaps don't know about. Maybe I need to do some more "travel research" this spring once the ice rain is gone.