Whew!

I had my third day of the writing class I am teaching today, and gave them assignments number 4 and 5. And they had their first current events quiz. I feel like I am knee-deep in grading, and just needed to take a break. Got the quizzes graded and will move on to the next assignment here in a minute after taking a few minutes to do a little surfing.

We had a wet Fourth, but the fireworks were going crazy in the rain and lightning until about midnight. I mean the fireworks were going until about midnight, and there was rain and lightning pretty much all that time as well. Our kids didn't get to shoot their fireworks off until about 11:45 p.m., but they had a lot of fun. And the laws on fireworks here are pretty darn liberal (Roman candles, etc. are legal, and there are a lot of fireworks that shoot up over the rooftops!). We just light little things like those spinning flowers (I love those!) and fountains. We did have a church picnic and kickball game, which was pretty fun. I was just glad to have a day off to relax (except a little grading...). I even took a nap!

The crocheting goes on, and I figured out the pattern fr the next block of the sampler afghan. Those instructions are so wacky and hard to understand. I found a marvelous little book at B&N that has 200 crochet stitches, with instructions, charts and photographs. I found one that sounded like the one I was trying to figure out, and worked it. I love the book because it is spiral bound (so it lies flat). You can see the book here

Well, I probably better get back to grading. But before I go, I feel the need to post a picture of something fun, so here it is:This is a beautiful Venetian glass and marble mural by artist Joan Miro, that hangs on the front of the art museum I used to work at. It is 28 by 52 feet, and contains more than 1 million pieces. This isn't the greatest picture, but it is an amazing piece!