February 7, 2015

Wrote my 5-a-Day gently in the beautiful gray morning light yesterday morning.  It seemed easier once I was rested, but now, seeing it happening in day 2 makes me worry that I’m starting a new trend – writing in the morning instead of night.  I just can’t do that.  It was a day to get 2 adventures done (1per child), so we all slowly arose from our resting spots and gathered in the kitchen.

There was a dog vaccination appointment at 1-1:30, but the gray skies looked so inviting.  Still, there wasn’t time , so I reorganized the area under the sink and, with sadness, laid out a trap.  Ethan said he had heard Visitor scrambling around the night before.  I hate having to do this, but….  At the appropriate time, we gathered the necessary participants , loaded up the car, and headed out.  Annie was so excited for our new adventure she yammered and howled the whole way.  This dog is quite vocal.  The rain was starting and my ice-skating car doesn’t do well in the rain at all.  It seems to be getting worse, even.  It can’t be tires, I have new ones, so I’m lost.  I just drive slowly.  I parked and we hung out a bit, then I looked at the flyer: 4-4:30. <gulp>  I laughed, but the kids were not very amused.  Headed into next-door Save-Mart to grab milk (this is key) and a few other items.

Once at home, I started doing yard work as the place looked overrun with leaves.  I was thrilled to see that the milkweed had tiny new shoots and wasn’t dead.  I also measured my window for new blinds <really> and then I measured outdoors for a trellis idea I have.  Ethan and I headed to Home Depot .  Once there, he went his way to get the items he wanted for his project and I went my way.  I’m not sure why I rarely remember this when making lists, but I do not have a truck – I have a Mazda CX-7.  I am not sure how I expected a  8’ by 4’ trellis o fit in my car, especially in the pouring rain, but thankfully the gentleman assisting me brought this up before I purchased it <smh>.  Off to find the blinds!  Here I am also baffled, because I was unable to find the cheap blinds installed by most landlords.  I grabbed a set of ”faux wood” blinds, instead, 29 inches since my window measured 31 inches.  I figured the inch on each side was ok.  Off to find my boy.  Here I enjoyed our bonding moments as we looked for parts.  He had a specific question which I was unable to answer, so I suggested he ask someone there.  “No!  I hate asking people questions….”  Oh, Ethan – I hope you learn soon that asking is the most wonderful and necessary tool.  I love asking questions, I love learning from the wisdom of others.  An older gentleman was standing nearby and he approached me. I love these moments.  I asked, he answered, we started talking and wandered over to the drill bit section.  <At this point, I would like to point out that I was asking about something which Ethan was making which is perfectly okay to make.  I have just  learned that here are some aspects of what he may or may not have purchased in a different state which are illegal in California and may or may not land me in jail.  Fortunately, he is able to make something from matches which does the exact same thing, so from here on out, we are talking about the creative DIY items he creates from matches – got it?>  Looking back, it may not have been wise to share info that I did with the HD guys (I spoke with 2 of them).  This is probably a large part of why I am not a successful drug dealer or other person who deals with illegal things and gets away with it.

Once we got home, I was excited to put up my new blinds.  Ethan helped me remove the old ones, and…  it was far too short.  I seem to have remembered the wrong measurement (yes, I wrote it down) and now the blinds were about 3 inches too short on either side.  Dadgummit.    So, Mags and I started on the next project – which was the petit fours and suddenly it was time to go back to the dog appointment, so Ethan and I went and left Mags baking.  As we waited in the parking lot (it was a discount vet clinic) the rains got heavier.  By the time they arrived and set up, it was pretty bad.  I was soaking wet within 10 minutes of standing in line, but my god, what an exhilarating adventure to stand and be soaked.  I loved every minute of it.  Ethan sat in the car and at the appropriate time, helped me being the dogs out. 

The cake looked great, and as it cooled, we ate our pot roast dinner and watched Nature.  Mags and I got busy then assembling and finishing the petit fours.  I’d love to have a lemonade/petit fours stand this summer.  We packaged a lot of them up and delivered to neighbors.  It is here that Ethan realized Maggie had finished off 4/5s of the milk since we had purchased it 6 hours before.  We have to set up some sort of milk monitoring system.  The rest of the night was nice – Ethan wanted me to watched Rescue Dawn with him (which he had already seen 3 times).  Another war movie with my boy.  Loved it.  I think it is so important to share in these types of things with my kids, whether or not it is “my cup of tea” or not – it is about sharing and supporting.  I love my tribe.  

Pictures: Soaking wet from the outdoor vet clinic.  Loved it; The blending of my two projects today.  For whatever reason, pictures of the other project will not be posted; The assembling of the 3 layered petit fours; The final product.  We need to make more pourable fondant next time, but they were delicious.