Scheming

People ask me about "our situation"and how it's going all of the time. The short answer is that long distance marriage sucks but it's only temporary. Fortunately it's not harder than I expected.  When I applied to graduate schools I knew I didn't want to go too far away.  While I briefly considered some other schools, I ended up at Vanderbilt which was the closest of the schools I seriously considered.

While we were dating, Peter and I were on-again-off-again long distance the entire time. I went to Baltimore and Sicily and he lived in Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Memphis. Of course, their were brief periods when we both lived in Clemson but they never lasted very long. At the time, we couldn't see how we were being prepared for the future. But we were.

Long distance is not ideal. And I suppose I could write at length about long distance relationships but that is for another time, maybe. Recently I've been scheming. A couple of weeks ago I realized that if I take a semester's worth of credits over the summer  I can graduate in December 2011 instead of May 2012. As soon as I realized this, I started looking into the details. Well, it's two weeks later and December graduation has gone from an idea to being the plan. Basically, I'll have a busy summer but that is just fine. I can handle busy. I kind of love busy.

Just about everyone has been understanding and supportive of this decision. They know its best for Peter and me. And so do we. I actually firmed everything up on Monday and sent the good news to Peter as a sort of Valentine via Gmail {because I'm fancy}. Never mind the fact that we said we weren't doing anything for Valentine's Day.

Sunday Funday

Peter was fortunate to have the opportunity to play in the 2011 Smith & Nephew Doubles Pro-Am. I was in class on Saturday but booked it back to Memphis afterwards so that I could watch Peter play Sunday. Lisa, Peter's sister, also came to visit and watch Peter.  Peter played with three different Pros and even got a Swag Bag. It was a quick trip and it flew by. I did manage to snap a few pictures at the event.  Here are a few highlights:  

Hanging out in the  VIP room. 

And watching from the grandstand. 

Doubles tennis involves loads of high fives. 

S. and C. supporting Peter {which was very, very kind}. 

Overall, the Pro-Am was fun for all. Professional tennis appears to be a sport for giants. 

I'd say the guys Peter played with were all over 6', easily.

Coming Sooner or Later

I learned a long time ago that decorating is a fluid process- that can be attributed 100% to my artist-decorator extraordinaire mother. When we moved into our house, the open layout challenged me a bit. With the soft, curved edges between rooms I figured the best option was to select one paint color for the main living area. Eight cans of Benjamin Moore's North Hampton Putty later the house looked fabulous. But a problem arose.

I didn't realize how dark the house is until we'd lived in it for bit. And it is very dark. Hardly anywhere gets natural light.  Over the last few years, the North Hampton Putty has gone from gorgeous to kind of dark to cave-like. It's time for a change.

After three visits to Home Depot for unbelievable amounts of paint cards, a decision has been made. Our entryway, dining room, kitchen, living room and hallway are going to be lightened with Heavy Cream.

The paint section at Home Depot always gets my mind spinning with ideas. So, in addition to the main area, our bookshelves, bedroom, and bathroom are also going to get a facelift. We're talking neutrals accented with bold colors and horizontal stripes. I'm pumped.

Now, I do have a semester to finish before I'll have time for this undertaking so it'll probably be the summer before the paint makeover is complete. But I'm so excited I had to share. For the next few months I'll just daze at the paint cards and imagine the final product. And probably come up with a few more projects and ideas.