And May for the rest of us...

Our storage shed re-build was completed in early May (minus the custom door that has a LONG lead time).... we're still waiting on it.  We have wanted to rebuild this for years before it fell over.  So glad it's done. Will be really glad when the door comes in.  

It's the same size as the previous shed -- they even re-used the concrete floor that was already in place. The main difference is that we added some brackets on the front to match our dormer on the house + a large overhang (to protect the custom door). 

We still need to build out a counter and some shelving on the interior -- which -- may have to wait 'til this fall when Todd is actually at home on the weekends instead of away at baseball!

Here are some "during" photos. 

It was basically rebuilt in a week!

The "Before photo" - which happens to be from 2024.

It looked the same (minus the basketball goal), but the shed had a little more lean to the left by the time it was demo'ed in 2026...

Apparently this structure was older than our house (which is 80 years old this year!)

And... the "After photo" (I'll update here with the final door comes in.)

What a difference!

While here, we had the contractor do some repairs around the house. Our trex decking (plastic lumber with sawdust in it) is still going strong, but the structure under it was rotting after 20 years!  They were able to take the trex off and re-install it.  It probably has another 20 years of life in it.  And - the contactor re-built the columns at the back door (for the 3rd time).  

It's nice to have these things (mostly) done! 

There are still some things to do, if we can manage it (but we need to wait a little while): we've desperately needed a new driveway -- it was pretty bad when we moved in over 25 years ago! and a fence is on the wish list, but after the driveway.    

 

The middle school band had an end-of-year performance in May.

She's sitting at the back, so you can't really see her.  (her head is poking up from behind the music stand -- behind the guy waving)

We had to "divide and conquer" that night. Todd went to awards night for Mercer / I went to this.  (Mercer got a certificate for completing the Graphic Design pathway.)

Here she is with friends - twins she's known for years.

She's making a face because she doesn't like the euphonium... or doesn't like for me to take a photo.  

She "tried out" for advanced band to play the saxophone. (This is why she was taking lessons - so she could stay in advanced band instead of having to go back to beginner band when switching instruments.)

We have quarterly chiropractor appointments. Normally I wouldn't put that in the blog, but there's something funny Izzy does when we go... she gets under the table and makes fun of us from below (there's a "face hole" for when you lay on your stomach)... and she gives Todd "head massages" - haha!

We went to Willy's (my choice) for Mother's Day -- it's not expensive or fancy, but tastes good, so it's become the place we usually go for my birthdays or mother's day.

While we were out, there was a power-outage across the whole city of Marietta. We came home to the dark and opened gifts in the dark! (hand-made by the kids.  Clay project made in school from Mercer / resin coaster made at home from Isabella). That was unique -- opening gifts in the candle-light!

I got one of these funny photos of Mercer while at the eye doctor (I have one for Isabella from several years ago too). 

Don't know why I think these things look so cool.  (Looks "steam-punk," for sure!)

I'm going to give a mention here about something that we worked on for all 150_+ students in my classes: FIFA design prompts.  Some students designed a "fan fest" plaza.  Others designed a "training facility" on the neighboring site.   In this prompt, the site was directly across the street from Mercedes-Benz stadium where FIFA Atlanta tournaments were being held.

It was a fun prompt that Atlanta AIA developed. We never win -- we see our students every-other day and honestly, not many people finished in time for the competition... but I had them keep going and wrap up before the end of the semester.  

I gave students a choice on which country to design for: but they had to choose one of the teams that were actually going to play in Atlanta. (I learned a lot about a bunch of different countries!) - also - you can see some of the different influences in the designs such as Moroccan arches or castle-like structures for Ireland. Some of them turned out really well! (these were just some of the quick massing models that students built if they finished all of their - more elaborate - drawings.

I'm sure I'll be writing about FIFA for the summer blog, but wanted to mention here.

And - in May - I finished teaching my KSU class. It was much easier this semester, since I taught the same thing a year prior in Spring Semester. I was in the architecture building this semester... and... I had to "post" grades on their campus,

so I posted them sitting outside of where I taught (3rd door on the left -- bottom floor) - without actually having to get out of my car!

As mentioned - we "survived" May. 

** It was A.LOT !!  **