I bought a Tilley hat yesterday! That was the highlight of my day, so I thought I’d put it first. So, yay! I bought my own Tilley! It’s hemp (like the Boy’s) with a wide brim (unlike the Boy’s) and I got it at a deep discount (again, unlike the Boy’s – but if we hadn’t bought his at regular price, I wouldn’t be on the list for this kind of sale. (The frogurt is also cursed)). Blake was feeling pretty restive at this point in our journeys, so we blasted through the sale in 10 minutes, stopping to size my hat correctly and pick up an insulated lunch bag for the Boy. (This is to replace the one I left at Hogsboro High last June. Even if I get it back in September, it was full of potato salad at last reckoning and may be unsalvageable.)

And why was Blake feeling restive? Well, we’d just spent over 2 ½ hours on the road, punctuated by a long lunch in a very distracting mall. Lara & Rob took me to lunch for my birthday, and the three of us took it in turns to run around after my demon spawn. Blake was extraordinarily flighty, but to be fair, it was way past his normal lunch and we were surrounded by lots of distracting stores & passers-by. I think both of my adult companions were glad to go back to their childfree lives afterward, although they seemed to thoroughly enjoy Blake’s antics. It was very different from Thursday’s lunch at Bread & Roses, both because the food was late and because I was distracted from the baby by the possibilities of adult conversation. To have a successful restaurant outing with the Blake, I need to have lots of appealing food and total concentration. Anything less is asking for exhaustion.

I also felt awkward around R & L because FullOnMom mode is completely different from FullOnStudent mode, and I’m unable to be interesting or sophisticated when I’m covered in an uneven mixture of snot, saliva and food. At least, when none of it’s my own. (Rim shot!)

Still, it wasn’t that bad. My personal nadir occurred on the long drive home, when Blake took it upon himself to smear his knee with the contents of his dirty diaper, shortly after which I discovered that I had left home without baby wipes. Cue horror music. (Ree! Ree! Ree! Ree! Ba bum. Ba BUM.) I ended up borrowing a roll of paper towels from a surly barrista and swabbing my baby on the restroom floor. And…I think I clogged the toilet. Yay.

Today I got up horrifyingly early with the Blake. It was a pretty laid-back day: after the Boy deigned to arise, we realized that we didn’t have plans or homework for the first time in ages, so we were able to doodle through our day with minimal obligation. My dad finally installed the toddler seat on my Schwinn, so we took a bike ride to the park. Blake seems to like this mode of travel; I, for my part, enjoy the workout (you know it’s a workout when you want to throw up as soon as it’s over. I’m sure that will pass in time.)

”Oh look. A bench.” – Aunt Patty

I also picked up a ribbon & some black embroidery floss at the mall, so I’m inches away from finishing my all-consuming needle case. Whee!

Ah! Sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller’s journey is done;

Where the youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves and aspire;
Where my sunflower wishes to go.

- William Blake

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- Rocketbride's adventure of 8/13/2005 08:23:00 p.m.