Rainy Adventures

I feel like time has been speeding up as Thanksgiving looms its head next week.  On the school front, I'm trying to be weeks ahead in lesson planning, leaving more time for grading during my office hours to empty evenings for choreographing and knitting.  I know Christmas is still over a month away, but the Snowflake Shawl for Kim's wedding is proving to be more ::ahem:: difficult than I anticipated, and if I want to get that AND the Kleio shawl done in the next month with my sanity intact, extreme planning must be executed.  Good thing I'm ridiculously Type-A in my planning (and drink a lot of coffee to boot).  I had a fight with the background of the second snowflake on Tuesday.  We had a night to cool off, and we're hopefully going to reconcile tonight over hot chocolate and a movie.  Hopefully.  :)
In between grading, grading, and more grading last weekend, I was able to take a small field trip to one of our tourist attractions along the North Shore for a friend's birthday celebration!

Once a year, Split Rock Lighthouse is lit up to commemorate the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.  The sailor's names are read, the bell tolls, and visitors can go up in the lighthouse and check it out while it's lit.

The night we went was gross- chilly, gusty, raining, and not the best time to take tours.  When we walked around, however, the bad weather added to the ambiance of the event, and seeing the lighthouse beam lighting up the sheets of blowing rain was actually really spectacular!

Unfortunately, it was difficult to capture the awesomeness with my camera, so these shots will have to suffice.  This is a situation where I can say I was glad I saw it in person vs. a video or in a picture. :)

We were able to wander around the site for awhile before heading to the campground for vegetarian chili (NOM!), cake, and good talk.  It was a nice break from the grading, and a great chance to relax with friends.
On the home front, my tiny pushes towards actually "decorating" my apartment have taken a step forward!  Awhile back, I used 4 canvases to explode some paint all over, and after weeks of thinking Scott would put them up, I scrounged up a hammer and nails, did a bunch of measurements and calculations, and we now have my own original artwork hanging above our bed!

I used black and maroon/purple acrylic paint, gobbed and strewn around the canvas.  I like it, and it helps to fill the giant wall space above our bed.
All right, back to the grind.  Until later...