Yesterday was one of those super productive days that ended in a crash-and-burn-I’ve-been-doing-too-much sort of days. We went all the way to Bellevue to have the oil changed in our car…boring trip to electronic store ensued, but at least I bought three frames for four dollars. Than we went to the Farmer’s Market singing praises of homemade salsa to our new Farmer Friend…he, in kind, hooked us up with slightly dented tomatoes and additional produce to make more roasted salsa. Awesome! I bought peaches and donated to the hurricane relief all at one produce stand. While Josh read AIDS walk literature, I was haggling over blueberries and raspberry cobbler. I bought flowers. We went to Trader Joe’s…than Safeway. Hours of laundry followed and than Josh decided to rearrange the entire living room.
This involved taking everything out of the entertainment center, moving the couch, configuring all the plants. All of this was sparked when I mentioned we needed to hang artwork. Josh came out with: “I want a change! I hate the entertainment center, I want a new one.” After finally merging our finances after six years of going dutch and financing separately I was not about to buy a joint entertainment center. So, moving things around was the answer to finding a way to accept the old furniture. But, it took a long time.
Than we rounded up Kris to go to Costco but they were closed! It broke my heart; I had actually been really excited about buying bulk quantities of Mochi. Ikea was a tough consolation prize but Kris needed a dresser and we needed an end table to cover up the back of our stereo speaker; (it now faces the front door in our new living room configuration). Ikea came up short–although Kris did score with a table found in the seconds area.
I spent all day with a feeling of dread creeping up on me. Perhaps it’s the realization that the kids will be in the building tomorrow, throwing everything off with their four-year-old lisps and brightly colored overalls. Sure, they’ll be serving us free (!) lattes in the morning, but can that really make up for the barrage of children and their families that will descend upon us? Well, maybe…
You know what I was remembering: First Day Of School Outfit. What a big deal. I’d carefully look over my recently purchased school clothes and select the finest choice. I vaguely remember showing up to 9th grade in a polka dot crop shirt with a matching polka dot flared skirt that had a huge elastic waist band…oh and white keds. In 8th grade I wore a vest…remember when wearing a vest over a blouse was popular? Yikes. I remember squeezing into a pair of zipper jeans and than folding in the bottoms to make a perfect cuff. 10th grade was a big year: braces off and make-up was allowed. YES! All the guys are going to like me! It didn’t pan out that way, but I had really hoped for an 80’s movie style, rag to riches, nerd turns popular, scenario.
Anyway, all of this seems pathetic and small compared to the humongous disaster our country is enduring right now in the South. Josh and I were trying to remember if things were as traumatizing ten years ago. I certainly don’t remember anything comparable…sure there were the LA riots and the occasional earthquake, but I don’t remember anything as disturbing as the events that have gone down in the last five years.