School's out. Well, we have one more week of post-planning, but you know - kiddos are finished with school and I am in the mood to relax! Craig and I, pictured below...


...are going to Jefferson City next weekend for a friend's wedding, but will take a short mini-tour of Texas the week following. Tyler, Houston, and Austin for a day or so each and lots of driving in between.

Photo album up on Facebook.

-the US "War on Drugs"
-healthcare reform
-gardening
-immigration reform
-the Middle East
-Native Americans
-geology
-public land / national parks
-car maintenence
-guitar amplifiers

So I get to take this online course on this particular kind of play therapy for kids with special needs. It will start in the next few days or so and consists of about 16 hours of lecture and taped play sessions that I access online. It's really handy because I do this kind of play / work (it's called "Floortime") with kids all day at school, and I might start doing some after school as well through a group called Floortime Atlana. Also, my school is picking up the tab!

Also, I got registered for it as a woman.

The weekend babysitting job got called off today, so I had my very own Saturday to spend however I wanted. So after a minor debate on what constitutes a "short trip to the park," Craig and I went across town to the Chattahoochee. And lo and behold:

Well, it has certainly been a while since I posted now hasn't it? Yeah, the ol "Christmas List" post was getting kinda tiresome, so I figured I'd drop down some boss photos that have been taking up space on my camera since Christmas.

Christmas at Chatsworth Drive. We started the merry season proper, with many, many delicious baked goods (there was even a matrix written up at one point to make sure that each diner got the appropriate kind and amount of dessert). Bump's Christmas present? Lots and lots of treats. We eventually got up to Jefferson City, MO, with Craig's folks for Christmas Day. Bump got even more treats, made friends in the midwest, and may or may not have snapped at an 8-year-old for reasons involving meatballs.


Then January happened and Craig and I took our early Valentine's Day vacation down to Savannah! We spent what amounted to one day in Savannah... where we discovered the house we want to live in eventually... and...


...we saw lots and lots of oak trees. Savannah is beautiful. I can say that even though I got a flat tire on her streets and even though we really didn't see it like we should have (with a hip local friend to show us around!).


Took this picture at some random lunch place. This will probably become our Thank-You cards.

So the second half of our trip was the nature-y part where we went to Tybee and Skidaway! That means the beach... in winter... in puffy coats.


After playing around on the sea wall...


...we played around in the marshes...


...and marveled at the Spanish moss...

...and decided that even stinky, boring, flat marshes can be beautiful.

Without further ado, here is a random smattering of albums I've had in my iTunes shopping cart for a while:

1.) A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
-I know I've talked about these guys before, but they're blitzed-out loud Joy Division-y fun. They opened for Nine Inch Nails and refer to themselves as "the loudest band in Brooklyn." This is their newest album and by all accounts, really good.

2.) Portishead - Third
-This obviously came out to rave reviews, so I'm really just intrigued. I never really got into Portishead, although after listening to the old singles I feel like I should have.

3.) Danielson - A Prayer for Every Hour
-Despite Courtney's insistence Daniel Smith is awesome and his voice is not annoying. This sounds like a really ambitious idea - literally a song for every hour of the day (12 or 24 I forget?) something along the lines of some daily prayer somethingorother.

4.) Lymbyc Systym - Carved by Glaciers
-Love these guys via a band called This Will Destroy You via Explosions in the Sky. Chill cool electronic stuff that still has a good dramatic kick.

5.) Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
-I saw these guys with Nick when the opened for Mogwai... it was pretty much one of the greatest nights of my life. Everyone says this album is a little more songish (the other album is heavy, noisy, 10-minute-long bits of electronic beautiful garbage greatness that almost makes you cry)

6.) Bosque Brown - Plays Mara Lee Miller
-Saw her when she came to Tyler right after I moved there. She has a cool Appalachian voice and performed with a sparse little band and it all seemed right.

7.) Astral Projection - Dancing Galaxy
-So I was in a band in high school, the best band ever, and the lead guitarist was into techno and we heard this album... while driving to Waffle House in his car late at night... often. It's a good album. The spice extends life.

8.) Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold
-She covered "A Forest" by the Cure. She plays the autoharp. Need I say more?

9.) Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
-Heard a lot of good things by this guy. I wasn't too into Armchair Apocrypha, but I still listen to The Mysterious Production of Eggs over and over again (thanks Garrett Lathan for showing me that album!). I hear this one is a lot more abstract in the songwriting department, but still really creative and varied. Hmm.

10.) Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
-Um, to be honest, Pitchfork says it's good and I like the cover art.