I have a lot to write about, what with the ending of our nomadic life, my mother-in-law’s sudden cancer diagnosis, our unexpected settling back in Chicagoland, and moving into a tiny little 1005 square foot house.
But I’m not going to write about any of those things today. I think once those floodgates open, it’s going to be a deluge. So I’m sticking with the present moment.
Here are some things that happened today:
– I spent $15 for a toilet plunger because we have one bathroom, and the toilet got clogged this morning as we were getting ready to leave. Walgreens was the closest store, and all they had in the way of plungers was a Mr. Clean plunger/toilet brush combo. It’s ugly. And entirely overpriced. And it doesn’t even work that well. But there wasn’t any other choice. Necessity can be expensive.
– We went to Dollar Tree this afternoon and took note of the toilet plungers and toilet brushes for $1 each. Ouch.
– We also found out that Dollar Tree has the best price on velvet-lined hangers. Target’s white plastic hangers were cheaper than Dollar Tree’s. It sure would be nice if everything was cheaper at one store.
– BoyWonder (5) loudly protested when I wouldn’t scratch his itchy butt, right there in the peanut butter aisle at Target. Apparently he’s internalized the fact that it’s not entirely appropriate to scratch your butt in public, but hasn’t grasped the fact that whining to your mother, “NO, YOU scratch my butt! YOU scratch it! It’s SOOO ITCHY, Mommy!!” isn’t any better.
– Just for the record, I don’t recall ever scratching my son’s butt for him. Why, child? Why??
– I traumatized our germaphobic Muse (13) by buying a set of dishes at Goodwill. Despite my assurances that once you run them through the dishwasher they’re as good as new, she said she will not be eating off of them. Ha. They’re really nice. She’ll come around.
– Dolittle (9) is reading her TENTH major chapter book this month. This is our kid that I worried would never be much of a reader. She glommed onto the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter, and she’s been devouring them. She brought her book in the car this evening to pick up Havarti, tried to read it at Chipotle (where I had to make her set it on the seat next to her since it’s a library book), and read it while walking around Trader Joe’s. So fun to see her so deeply into a book series.
– I unearthed a whole bunch of fun homeschooling stuff from storage. I can’t decide if I’m excited or overwhelmed. Probably both. I’m on a mission to purge, but when I pull out the art supplies and math manipulatives, I just can’t let go. Our bare minimum homeschooling materials worked pretty well for us during our past 11 months of traveling, but opening up the oil pastels and box of fancy scissors today was a little thrilling. Moderation in all things.
– Speaking of moderation, I found out that a serving of Hint of Lime Tostitos is six chips. Six. Chips. They’re kidding, right?
– I found out the house we’re renting is in a major flood plain, which has had a lot of flooding the past few years. I also found out that getting flood insurance is a major (and expensive) PITA. Do we just take our chances? We want to get rid of more stuff anyway. Maybe we’ll just store all of our valuable and beloved belongings up high and play River Roulette with the rest.
So that’s my present. I’ll head back to the past soon and write some recaps of our trip (including Harry Potter World, which I can’t believe I haven’t written about yet!). And I’ll try to take some peeks into our future, which is much more unpredictable than usual.
Thanks for hanging in here with me, friends. 🙂
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