House cleaning.

Hurrah for Spring Break!

A year from now I'll be preparing for graduation, so that's a Good Thing.

School is going well, and I'm involved in various musical projects, including a part in a fabulous opera quartet, but more on that at another time.  I'm in voice lessons at school, and my teacher is outstanding, and each week seems to bring a vocal breakthrough.

In December, I closed my booth at the antique market, and good thing, too.  I've never had proper time to devote to maintenance, and this semester is as time-sucking as any other, although this time it's too much of GOOD things.

Based on conversations in passing with the professor, I enrolled in a Shakespeare class for the semester, and the professor asked me to lead the class on one particular discussion.  That was the third week of February, and it went wonderfully well.  In fact, the professor asked me to submit an abstract of my lecture to a regional writing conference (5 states, not regional merely to Texas).  I have not submitted  the proposal yet, but I hope to within the next week.  The great honor was in having the teacher express such confidence in me.  Honestly, if the Fall semester is like the Spring this year, it might be too stressful to speak at a conference on top of school commitments.  We shall see.  I have two major research papers to produce for the semester, and I'm going to the campus library to work in earnest on that starting tomorrow.  The break this summer is bound to be well-earned.

This week I'm doing a bit of tidying and I hope to get a fair bit of sewing done.  I sewed a dress in dotted Swiss lawn over the Christmas break, and it's my favorite garment I've made, so I'm feeling excited about making More Things.

I noticed the puppies are asleep in most of the recent Puppy Sunday photos, and I promise they are not always comatose.  It's just that they are easier to photograph when they are zonked. :)  The last handful of days to sleep late all cuddled up with them has been glorious.  Curses on 8AM classes-- HATE them.  Hate.  And yes, a course I must take next semester is 8AM, but at least it won't be 4 days per week, as is the Spanish this semester.

Spanish is going somewhat well, but it is wit-addling to work on memorizing arias in Italian while working on memorizing Spanish with verbs and boatloads of conjugations.

The entire winter has been the Spring We Never Get.  Now that Spring has sprung, I expect it will be bloody hot in no time.  Yes, I need more frocks in dotted Swiss lawn, toute-de-suite!  Back to the cutting table!  I hope that you all are having a pleasant Spring, and thank you for the comments while I've been so tied up. :)

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: snooze fest

It's chilly tonight, and it's a little ironic for the first day of Spring, as we've hardly had a winter. The energy bills have been wonderfully low, so yay. For now, there's puppy snuggles:

Happiness is a raft of new (old) hankies

Hankies are great for throwing in fabric projects here and there, but I also like carrying a hankie. Found some pretties at an estate sale this weekend. :)

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: drowsy doggy edition

The pups are cuddled up for a nap, as they are clearly exhausted from watching me Do Stuff around the house. They are excellent supervisors. :)

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: study buddy edition

Mochi never misses a chance to snuggle up to me when I'm studying on the sofa. The pile of fresh laundry merely sweetens the pot!

This is lunacy

At this point, I might be a one-issue voter and vote for anyone who will work to repeal the ACA. It's a sham and a power-grab. This is obscene. 

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/item/17216-another-obamacare-surprise-estate-recovery

...and while we're on the subject of the election, choosing from this field of candidates is like trying to pick up a turd from the clean end. No Bueno. 

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: Mochi in the morning

This post is a day late, but my weekend was pretty hectic. Mochi is always the first to wake up because each morning brings the shiny new promise of a fresh bowl of kibble. 

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: puppy monkey-bread

They are so sweet!

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: puppy monkey-bread

They are so sweet!

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: paws for effect

These little paws delight me:

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: snuggly-wugglies

It's a bit nippy here, only Chuy really likes keeping on a jacket.  Sweet pups. I'm having a wonderful, peaceful day at home, listening to early music and sewing. Sweet times. :)

The Rose Ensemble - Bogoroditse Devo, Sergey Khvoshchinsky

This is one of the most ridiculously beautiful things I've ever heard. Glorious.

dead can dance-saltarello

John Renbourn - Trotto / Saltarello

I was absolutely thrilled to hear this wonderful melody on my Pandora station, as I know it from the version recorded by Dead Can Dance, which sounds ancient. Wonderful stuff.  This is perfect listening as I'm home sewing on a snowy day. :)