Closet Space

Our last home project of my winter break was to improve our master bedroom closet. It's a sort of oddly shaped walk-in closet with two long shelves that didn't use the space very well. So I bought a Rubbermaid closet kit that was on sale at Menards, and we got to work putting it up. It is a pretty simple thing, just level the rails and screw it into the wall. It's the kind of thing you can do in a couple hours - BUT that's not counting removing the old hardware, filling in the holes it leaves in the wall and painting it over. So the quick project took about three days while we waited for spackle, primer and paint to dry, but the finished product is great! Plus, we can move the shelves/rods around any time we want.


I can finally put my sweaters on shelves that I can actually reach AND see! Yay!

New Semester

Last week was my first week of classes for the spring semester. We learned that one student decided not to return for the spring, so my cohort (I hate that word, but I don't know what else to call the people who started the same program as me in the same year) is now a little smaller. We had a cohort game night on Friday, and it was really great to see everyone; it's a great group I'm with, even if we do have very different political views (I try to avoid those conversations!).

Right now I'm taking three courses. One is a mandatory statistics course that I tried to get out of because I already took graduate-level statistics in the Sociology department at the University of Chicago, but apparently the course at Indiana covers more information so I have to take it again. Second is another required course that I can't get out of - Sociological Research Practicum (whew!). Basically it's a class to help get our master's papers started (yes, I have to write a second master's paper). Actually, it's not all that bad repeating things beacuse you always learn something new when you read something again, and it will help make my research skills even stronger.

The third class I'm taking is called Mental Health/Illness. It specifically has both health and illness in the title to make the point that these are two very different ways of looking at the issue. It will be really helpful for me to see how sociology looks at this issue since I've only really looked at it as a psychologist. I'm also working as an assistant instructor for an undergraduate sociology course on mental illness, so I'll be getting a double-dose of information!

All in all, I think this semester will be pretty manageable. In the meantime, I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I wait to find out whether I'll be getting any grants that I've applied for! I won't hear anything until March or April, so it's a long wait for what could be a lot of money! Wish me luck!

DIY dining room chair rail

We just finished our first big project in the house - the dining room. We figured we might as well do it now before we have any furniture for the room. The houses in our neighborhood are pretty cookie-cutter, so it's really nice to have something that feels like our own.

Here's what it looked like before:


The whole house has that same beige color on the walls with the white baseboards.

Here's how it looks now, with wedgewood blue paint and chair rails along the wall. We love the new look, and it's so great to see something like this that we've done with our own hands!


On a side note, the painting on the wall is one that Paul's grandfather made. It looks great with the new color scheme!

Puppy Graduation

Today Binsey graduated from her puppy class at PetSmart. She's really come a long way from jumping/nipping constantly while ripping our clothes to shreds, to now when she can sit nicely to meet new people.

Here's the little trooper (she still has to wear the donut for another week or so):


And here's the whole class - there was just one other dog, a lab/terrier mix the same age as Binsey, named Luna. They became good buddies through the class and I'm sure they'll miss each other!

From snow cone to donut

Well, it turns out that Elizabethan collars turn into chew toys as well. Binsey chewed off a good chunk of it, so we had to find another option. I like to call the E collar a "snow cone" for the following reason:



Thankfully, they make alternative safety collars for dogs, and we found this one called the ProCollar, which inflates like those airline neck pillows and looks like a donut.


Hopefully she won't find a way to eat the donut!

Puppy Fun

Here's some pictures of Binsey with her holiday fun stuff:

Grandma sent her a card, which she enjoyed playing with after she stole it out of my hands while I showed it to her.


My parents sent her a screaming monkey toy (actually, two toys, but so far she hasn't ripped apart the first one). She's a little startled by the screaming, so she sneaks up on it, rather than charge it, after we throw it.


We also got her a cheap soccer ball to chase around, but she decided it was more fun to pick it up in her mouth and tote it around.


It may be impossible to get her any toy that doesn't turn into a chew toy!

No litters of puppies, thank you.

On Monday we had Binsey spayed. She spent the night recovering at the vet's and came home yestrday afternoon. It all went very smoothly and she's doing very well. Now she has two weeks to heal, and after 10 days she can have her stitches taken out. I was scared about the incision because they said it'd be pretty big, but it's only got three stitches and really isn't all that gross looking. But, last night she was licking herself, and we were worried she might take a nibble at the stitches (she didn't, thankfully), so she's stuck in an "e collar" now.


It's a little big for her, and she can't navigate too well with it on, but at least we'll all be able to sleep peacefully now (she's on some good pain meds). Given how much she likes to chew, we didn't want to take any chances! She shouldn't need it after a week or so, and she really only needs it when she's going to take a nap in her crate.

After this is all done, she can finally go to the dog park and work out all that energy she's storing up!