So I told you all that yesterday I started making curtains for Fuzz. However, I said nothing about what I did with my first full Kids-at-Camp day on Tuesday. And because I like to pretend that you guys are actually interested in what I do, I’m going to tell you.
Tuesday. Day One of the Relatively Kidless Time. I think my plans for the morning were something like this: (1) Blog. (2) Start working on curtains. (3) Blog.
However, any plans I may have had were usurped by seven little words from Cheez, who had gotten up at the relatively early hour of 8:45-ish and was now headed out to a library used book sale. The words that hi-jacked my morning were these: “Do you want to go with me?”
My first thought was, Actually, I don’t. I want to sit here at my computer and enjoy quietness. My second thought was, What?! You’re asking me to go somewhere with you? You want to be seen with me? You want to spend time with me? Of course I’ll go!!!
What I actually said, with all the nonchalance I could muster, was “Sure, but let me finish checking email first.” I did, and off we went.
This event was a “Stuff-a-Bag” sale, in which one buys a paper bag for $5 and is then entitled to as many of the books as one can fit therein. It’s a rather dangerous proposition for avid book-lovers, but an effective one for libraries trying to get rid of excess and donated books and make a quick buck. The place was quite crowded. Cheez noted with satisfaction the absence of her “adopted big sister” friend, a fellow book lover whose tastes in literature run quite similarly to Cheez’. Cheez’ main motive in getting up early had been to get to the sale before her friend got there and bought up all the good books.
Cheez set out on The Hunt immediately, while I browsed and chatted with an old friend I’d run into. Fifteen or twenty books later, Cheez declared herself to be finished. There was still a little room in the bag, so I embarked on a search of my own. I returned to The Daughter and The Bag with four books: My Name is Asher Lev, James Michener’s Mexico, a kids’ historical novel called Sir Dinadab, and a Civil-War era young-adult fiction novel called Stonewall’s Gold.
In the meantime, however, the Not-So-Finished-After-All Cheez had filled the remaining space in the bag with a very hefty volume on World War Two and an equally voluminous tome on the history of slang. I managed to stuff my four books in anyway, but it wasn’t easy.
As we lugged our overstuffed bag to the van, I thought to myself that perhaps I should give the library people a couple extra dollars. But I only thought it.
After stocking up on brain food at the library sale, we walked across the parking lot and stocked up on stomach food at the farm market. By this time Cheez, who still is not the healthiest person in the world, was feeling a bit queasy from the heat and possibly from not having eaten enough quinoa and lentils for breakfast. So we headed home, which is actually what we were going to do anyway.
By the time we got home, my plans for the day had been totally discombobulated. I did some boring stuff around the house including sorting through some stuff in my closet that I hadn’t looked at since I stuffed it in there when we moved in three years ago. (“Boring stuff” was not on my agenda for the week, so I’m not sure why I did that.) Amongst the trash and treasures in my closet, I found a little decorative vase that one of my kids had given me years ago. I rearranged some things on the fireplace mantle and added the vase. I then decided to do something that went along with Drinking A Cup of Coffee, so I looked over next year’s History studies and wasted spent some time on the computer. Meanwhile, Cheez napped and Huz came in and out of the house a few times as is his normal practice during the workday.
Throughout the day, I snapped pictures of the baby robin who lives in our garage. Each time he ventured a little further from the nest, I’d be out there with my camera. By day’s end I had taken sixty-four pictures. Gotta love digital.
After dinner, Cheez hauled out photo boxes, scrapbooks, and discs. I took the hint, and we spent several enjoyable hours going through old photos, looking for photos of Cheez Herself to put in her graduation scrapbook, which we hope to start putting together this summer. (This, by the way, is in blatant defiance of our normal family MO of Waiting Until the Last Minute to Do Everything So We Can Majorly Stress Out Over It.) We plucked from unbooked photos, marked photos already in scrapbooks to be scanned, and copied digitals into a newly-created Cheez Folder. We categorized them into Sleeping pictures, Eating pictures, Riding pictures, Fashion pictures, Funny Face pictures, and all sorts of other such things, because that is how I like to do the graduation scrapbooks. And we had lots of fun doing it.
Biz’ grad scrapbook I had done myself, with no input from him other than to eschew all naked-bottom pictures. But daughters are different. Ever since I’d done Biz’ book three years ago, she’d talked about doing hers together. So here we were. Cheez and I are not as close as I wish we were, and we desperately need quality time. This was quality time to the bazillionth degree. There is just something about a mom, a daughter, and childhood photos.
Somewhere around the end of the 2003 photos, we called it a night. And so ended my very Cheezy Tuesday, and so ends this post.
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Okay, here we go...
How wonderful that you got to spend some time with your oldest daughter! I think we all think that we have limitless time, or that time will slow down somehow, or something similar, so we don't put emphasis where it needs to be. You did, and what a gift for you both!
Secondly, I laughed through your whole German recitation, which made it quite difficult as I was saying it out loud with you. And thanks, the Tab jingle will be caught in my recently emptied brain for the rest of the day - my children thank you in advance.
Next - can't wait to see pictures of your curtains! It's amazing what a threat of calling in the big guns (here, Grandma) can do for a mom's motivation, isn't it? She will be pleased, and oh so surprised! Well done, you!
Finally, well, there is no finally. I'm just so excited I'm done with my curriculum I am spreading my happiness all over bloggy-land. I'm so happy to have the time to read and blog and visit my friends without feeling guilty, so you got this incredibly long comment with little substance at the end (not unlike my post today).
Have a wonderful weekend!
~Shani