Back to School

Today was the first day back to school for the local kids in my town. This year I feel will turn out to be a interesting experience for the kids who with the parents have chosen to go back and attend a brick and mortar school. I know had this pandemic happen during my own education I would have opted to attend a virtual classroom. I can also safely say without a doubt if I'd ever be blessed with children and a similar situation would occur again I would also be choosing a home school option for both their safety and their educational consistency.

 Education is one of the most important things; it is one of the main paths that we all travel down that allows us to become the person we were meant to be. It helps guide our decisions, and teaches us to form our own conclusions by being free thinkers.

Good luck to the students of today and of tomorrow,

AND

Thank you to the teachers who will help sculpt the mind's of our youth!

Yours truly,

Nicklas

Progress? Dream? Equatity?

    I have been trying to think of what best to write about, and until I turned on the news I had failed to realize that on this day 57 years ago the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech of the dream he had hoped could someday become reality in our corner of the world. This has gotten me thinking of how in some ways we have grown as a society, yet in other ways we remain trapped in the past. This year alone we have witnessed the power of our First Amendment being practiced in the streets across this nation. We saw people from all walk of life stand in solidarity in this country and across the globe in opposition to the unjust killings. We've mourned the passing of another civil rights icon this year who encouraged what he considered to be "good trouble." 

    Now of course I don't pretend to understand what different minority groups face just for the color of their skin. I find it sad that in 2020 we are still having it have these conversations about race. I will acknowledge that I do have certain privileges as a white male, yet I hope that in my lifetime Dr. Kings' dream comes true and that all people can be seen as equals regardless of anything.

Yours truly,

Nicklas

Two Cents to Oneself

I believe these words hold value, and are once we should all reflect back on from time to time. Since anger prevents our path to happiness.

Yours truly,

Nicklas

Relatible Movie Challeges

    Over the weekend I found the time to watch a few more films I had never seen, and the one that absolutely stood out as the most relatable one for me was the 1986 comedy staring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long. I've dealt with basically every issue the couple in the film had to deal with. See if you can guess the title for these screenshots.

    From the screenshots did you guess the name of the film? Well it is called "Money Pit," and I highly recommend you check it out if you haven't seen it yet. If you have seen it but its been a while it might also be a nice one to revisit and sit back and have a laugh.

Yours truly,

Nicklas

All Lit Up and Standing Proud

    With the nights cooling down, and summer fading away it won't be long before we see the wonders of nature transform itself into the autumn season. To get ready for this I know for at least myself I have quite a bit of outside work I need to get done. I still have to cut down all my gardens, touch up some paint, put away the garden furniture, board over my side door to protect it since I still haven't managed to find the time to fix its storm door, and there is so much more. But for now that can all happen another day. What I am enjoying doing now is turning on all the lights and gazing up at all the work I have done over the years and see how proud this old girl is as she come to life.

Yours truly,

Nicklas

Creating A On Suite

    When dealing with a old house you may find there are sometimes hurdles one has to figure out to respectfully adapt for the home for modern living. Sometimes we have to cannibalize another room or alter the floor plan to create our vision. In my case I was fortunate that in the early 1910s someone already though to create a foot print that has plenty of space to be reimagined into a master suite. At that time they turned two bedroom into one giant room and had a clothes storage room that would of housed big hoop skirts and other bulkier fashion of the mid to late 19th century. By the 1920s the second floor porch was also enclosed adding more square footage to this wing of the house.

    Over the years this space has seen many changes, by the time I purchased the home someone had added a bathroom in the enclosed porch area and a laundry room in the clothes storage room. What I decided to do was to keep the bathroom in the same area however change the layout for better flow, and I tore out the laundry room and knocked down the cubical walls for a spacious dressing room closet. Now I have had many surprises and have had to adapt the design quite a few times but I am finally in a position where the reassemble part is finally coming into play! With the help of my mom I have built custom cabinetry to go with the salvaged vintage cabinet I found. All the tile is in and the gallons of paint are on the shelves. Plumbing fixtures are awaiting their chance to be taken out of the box and provide that final bit of character.

Yours truly,

Nicklas

A Month of Thinking?

Should I listen to my own thought?

Probably?

Yes?

No?

To shed a little light on what I have been think about is messaging a guy.... Am I bold enough to do so, since that is completely opposite of what I normally would do? If I am even thinking about messaging him is that saying something deeper? Do I have the confidence to do so? If I'd message him will I come on to strong? Am I to forward in thinking that I should message a guy I don't know? This is the same guy I talked about a month ago and my feelings haven't changed, and the longer time is going on I still can't get him out of my head. What should I do? What will I do?

Yours truly,

Nicklas

In Need of a Change

    Do you ever have those days when you feel down? Well I know I certainly do. Yesterday I got that feeling that my life is in a rut, which unfortunately for me this is not the first time I have felt this way. Before the pandemic my life felt so structured and there was very little time for spontaneous things. I would get up, go and work on my house that is under construction, then go to work, and then come home and go to bed. For me it feels like sometimes I am suffocating myself and that my life isn't my own.

    Now since I can't work you would think I might have some extra time to alleviate this issue. However like everyone knows now this isn't the time to travel or visit with others. So now it is even a rarity to plan an outfit and get dressed in actual cloths and the only people I am really seeing are my mother and sister. Both of whom I can't talk to about this, so for now I am just casting a line into the universe and venting. I don't know what the actual solution is, but to have a little pick me up last night I took a long relaxing bath and listened to The Greatest Showman's soundtrack rearranged into classic music. Does anyone else ever get this feeling What do you do?

Yours truly,

Nicklas

85 Days Left

    Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. One thing I final got around to doing was to apply for a mail in ballot for Novembers election. I have been registered to vote for quite a few years now, but I will admit when I was first of voting age I didn't think my voice mattered. But I am here to tell you that your voice does matter. I strongly believe that we need to participate in our democratic process if we are to see any change in where we feel our nation needs to head.

    Now I do know some may think we are needing to progress into a new future, others may feel we need to put the breaks on and stay in the present, and some feel we need to revers course and travel back to simpler time. However no matter which end of the political spectrum we are on I urge everyone to vote for their candidate whoever that may be. I am not here to say what other people feel, I only know my own opinions on the issues and where I personaly stand. Lastly with the current societal shift due to the pandemic I am choosing to be safe yet to still have my voice heard.

Yours truly,

Nicklas 

OMG!

 

   So this week I have been able to catch up and watch some shows on Netflix that I have been meaning to see. I will admit that I am slightly obsessed with the show "Say I Do". If you like "Queer Eye" and "Say Yes to the Dress" then you'll love this show. I binged watched it in like two days and I can't wait for there to be another season, and needless to say I was a blubbery mess watching several parts. I can't tell you how much my sister picks on me for that but I will proudly say I am a spontaneous crier and I am fine with that.

Yours truly,

Nicklas

Old Timey Photos

 

   Today I got a chance to sort through some photos I had, and look what I found? Do you have any guess how old they are? Well they are actually preset photos that I just placed filters on to make look like a authentic photo from a bygone era. Did I fool anyone in to thinking that they were old photos? I like to pick up random pieces fro wherever that speak to me, and when arranged properly it feels like your living in history!

Yours truly,

Nicklas

P.S. if you where wondering...

Photo one is in my main parlor looking into the foyer.

Photo two is in my dining room.

Photo three is in my living room/old drawing room.

Late Night Calls

 

   When the phone rings late at night it's normally never good. Last night we got a call from my grandfather who is now living alone. He was having chest pains and was coughing up blood. So my mom had him talked into going to the emergency room last night, but at last minute he decided he would rather wait till the morning to go. So my mother agreed and told him to call if he needed to during the night.

    To give you past history, my grandfather has a heart condition and had open heart surgery 18 year ago. According to the doctors the bypasses that had been placed during that surgery are basically living on barrowed time. So coughing up blood is never a good sign. This same thing happened last Thanksgiving where he went four days before telling anyone his symptoms and was hospitalized of four days for treatment. He was diagnosed with the most sever case of esophagitis the hospital had ever seen.

    Knowing my grandfather it comes to no surprise that he called this morning and said to not come out and that he is all better. He has a track record of not going to the hospital till it becomes life and death. He his very stubborn and normally my grandmother would nag him to go, but since she isn't home now we don't have that form of influence on him. So my mom went out anyways and called up my aunt for backup to make him go. The plan is that he either goes by car or they will call a ambulances to take him. Why does everything have to be difficult? I'll have to wait to see how this morning pans out. As a more positive note I decided to bake over the weekend and made brownies. So although this isn't the healthiest breakfast, sometimes you have to let yourself enjoy a treat. I hope your weekend was good, and here's to a better week then how mine is starting.

Yours truly,

Nicklas