Here's the thing about Winters around here. They feel like they will never ever end. So, in January and February, when you have to wade through a minimum of three feet of cold miserable snow to get anywhere, it is easy to think that all things nice weather and summer are millenniums away.
During that time, as you snuggle under a blanket in some rare recliner time, and even rarer alone time with the iPad, it's easy to start imagining that by nice weather, somewhere in the very distant future, you will be a size nothing and in shape, and begin signing up for things. Lots of things. Races and Mountain trail climbing things. Four months of them, exactly. Committing and then PAYING for these things, thus ensuring that you cannot get out of them without considerable guilt and letting down multiple people.
Only, eventually, the snow melts, and the sun makes it's brief yearly appearance and the realization sets in that: We are NOT a size nothing, nor are we in any shape to run races or climb mountains.
At any rate, I have signed up for 3 5K races and also booked a B&B near Lake Placid in the Adirondacks this fall, and announced the intention to hike up the trails of 2 peaks. The person who panted up Cemetery Hill in Franklinville, cussing under her labored breathing by the time she got to the statue in the middle of the cemetery every morning at or around the hour of dawn last summer, is going to hike not one, but TWO mountains in October.
Unless it rains. And then, I will probably curl up in my B&B bed and sleep for the entire weekend. Could go either way at this point. But, since October is approximately 4 millions years away, and I am sure I will be in shape and a size nothing by then, I am sure it will be fine.
Update on Sunday School: One more class to go. Till next September... I have declined teaching the older kids, and I think will stick with my 7th grade class. Anyhow, we all survived it, and I am lightning bolt free, so, I think we did adequately. I hesitate to rate myself above "Adequate" though.
Update on the van: It still continues to be irritatingly wonderful, for a vehicle I did not want. Seriously. That van has been great. Now that there is no snow to make me feel like I will probably not survive the drive to wherever I am going.
It has all this storage, and places to put all my gear, as I head from one job to another and grab people and things when needed, and still fit everyone and everything comfortably. So, I suppose it will do. And I might be kind of liking it now. I have tentatively named it "Huckleberry" Because of that line in "Tombstone" by Doc Holiday "I'll be yer Huckleberry" and, since everyone should probably have a Huckleberry, I have designated my new van. It cannot be "Ratchet" like the last vehicle.
This past weekend was the Franklinville Annual Maple Fest. My children are all of the age to be "In" something or other, and all the things they are in are also incorporated into the Maple Fest. Three out of four of them marched in the parade. Jasin and I watched from the sidelines with Lexi and a friend of Kaila's. Said friend announced in horror that she does NOT eat "Street candy", so, Lexi happily cleaned up all the candy tossed our way.
There was the Scout candy sale that Joe was in. There was the Beef on Weck room in the school, for Lexi's swim club. That got a little weird though. The hurried instructions as to how everything works, as the departing parents left their shifts, failed to mention the broken electric coffee maker. One of those big coffee pots that you fill will water, put the coffee grounds in the top, plug in, and let go? One of those. Anyhow, the temps dropped considerably, and people wanted coffee. And we ran out. And I frantically tried to make more, as people looked on at my complete incompetence. I plugged the coffee pot in, as it was already full of water and coffee grounds, and there was this LOUD "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAP" sound, the cord became very hot, and all things plugged in in that vicinity stopped working.
In total inept desperation, I took the carafe of hot water, put in what I THOUGHT looked like possibly an appropriate amount of coffee grounds, and shook it as hard as I could, while trying as hard as possible to look like I knew what I was doing, as the fascinated customers looked on. (In my defense, I am a tea drinker. Unless it is pre-packaged restaurant coffee, I haven't the slightest idea how to make coffee. True story.)
Anyway, when, with a whispered plea to the heavens for decent coffee to appear, I poured it out, it came out as thick coffee ground sludge.
"I am so sorry. We are out of coffee." I announced. Possibly to the relief of all onlookers. We found out about an hour later that there was a different coffee pot at the back of the room, full of nice hot coffee ground-free coffee.
The Maple Fest closed with the "Franklinville's Got Talent" show. Kaila had signed up to sing a duet with a friend. Her friend spent the entire weekend at our house so they could practice. Mostly though, her friend was on her phone texting and calling various people. They did some sporadic practicing, and were the first to perform.
For the little bit of sporadic practicing they did, those girls sounded great! And when Kaila began to belt out her first solo part, my jaw dropped open. OMG, that girl just FILLED the auditorium! I could not believe what I was hearing! She sounded just amazing. They didn't win, but, I had an entirely new respect for my daughter's voice talent.
Also, was the annual library book sale. The old ladies weren't nearly as vicious this year, and the line to the door was peaceable, as was the controlled stampede into the library when the doors opened. I think that maybe someday, I will have to be like the old ladies of the book sale fame, just to keep tradition alive. It wasn't nearly as much fun without them.
After the book sale, I lugged my box of books home, and the kids lugged their bags of books home, and I looked around and realized that there is just no place to put anymore books. There are literally piles of them. So, on the way home from the beef on weck debacle, I happened along a furniture sale, and scored a big book case for next to nothing. Along with a small table that needs refinishing, that I have absolutely no place to put.
Because of the craziness of the weekend, and working both jobs most of this week, the large book case, the small table, and a dresser from LAST weekend, are now sitting in the middle of my dinning room. I have no idea where to put any of them. But they will look GREAT when I DO! I hope.
And that, my friends, is the excitement around my household lately. Once I have a relatively decent weekend and some time, I have lots of plans for the front porch garden, and have already picked spray paint colors for the wicker set I found recently, and all my big metal milk cans. Think: candy colored pastels...I can't wait!
