An Art Show

Isabelle has been attending art classes for a few months now. On Monday of the last week of school she had her big opening. There were formal invitations and we were told to expect "fancy food and fancy drinks." I took advantage of it to wear one of my best bow ties (I really don't get to dress up as much here as I did when we lived in Nova Scotia.) Isabelle and Jane dressed up too. There were fancy clothes all the way around.

Here is a the artist showing off one of her works.

The session/semester had been an exploration of all sorts of media. There was chalk, watercolours, acrylics, and some mixed media. The first stages involved learning about primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. Then came other concepts. Here is some of the artwork:

It was well done as they converted the whole studio into an art gallery. All the other kids and parents were there too, including a guest Isabelle had invited. Dorian, one of Isabelle's classmates, was there by invitation with his mom. I think they plan to attend the next session.

The people at CAT Studio do a very good job. Isabelle certainly loved it and wants to go back for another term.

Michelin Children's Christmas Party, Greenville Style

A few weeks ago, literally a few minutes after I got off the plane from Nova Scotia I headed out to the Pavillion for the Michelin Children's Christmas Party. Jane was already there with Isabelle. She brought along my skates and got Isabelle out on the ice.

Despite being up well before daylight I was happy to be home. A few of Isabelle's friends and lots of other kids, parents and grandparents were there to take in the activities.

The main event was the skating, but there was also lots of crafts and other activities. The bouncy toys were very busy, and there were snacks and treats for everyone. There was a huge raffle including some serious prizes. We didn't come away with anything but had a good time. I spent most of my time on the ice but did manage to catch up to some friends and in particular some of the moms and dads from Isabelle's class.

That evening we had some friends over for dinner. Jane had been planning and prepared a few salads. I had managed to arrange a dozen lobster and got them through customs without any issues. Some of our guests had never had lobster straight up and in the shell. I walked them through some of the intricacies of shelling a lobster with nothing more than a kitchen knife and a little elbow grease. In the end a good time was had by all.

The Joke's on You

Last night somebody broke into the Subaru. We always felt pretty safe around here but it just goes to show you that you are never completely safe from crime.

The thief broke the rear passenger window to get a bag that was sitting on the back seat. I suppose he thought the bag may have contained a computer or something. It was the only thing missing, even though I had some of my kayaking gear in the hatch.

I was impressed with the response we got from the Greenville County Sheriff's Office. Once we figured out how to get a hold of them, you can't call 911 for a simple smash and grab, they were here in about 20 minutes. A quick description and a look around and we were told to expect a report in a few days. He asked if we wanted forensics involved but I don't think that would be a good use of the county's time and resources.

Our insurance dealt with it very simply, saying it was essentially just a broken window. They were pretty efficient and organized to have a technician from a local glass shop here tomorrow morning to put a new window in. In the end we didn't make a claim on the $40 MEC satchel and essentially just want to get the window fixed.

The funny thing in all of this is that the perpetrator of this crime is likely less educated than most and is possibly even a high school drop-out. That's funny (or is it ironic?) because the bag he stole contained three mechanical pencils, a calculator, a few pads of paper, and some South Carolina high school SAT study manuals. The bag was my tutoring kit. I use it when going into one of the local high schools to help out 11th and 12th graders get through their HS-SATs.

Here is a look at the damages.

The good news is that none of the windows that have all my stickers in them were broken. I worked hard to get those there and I wouldn't want to have to start all over again!