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Wednesday, October 26, 2005
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Blogging from a laptop . . . cool!
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Wow, this is really cool. I am using my dad's new laptop to blog. Ok, so it's no longer his new toy. He's had it for a while, but since I just got home, it's a very new toy for me. Let's see what did I blog about last? Oh, yes. Coming home. Well, I've certainly gotten back into the pattern of life at home. You all know what it's like. You get up when everyone else gets up. You do bookkeeping work for your dad while your brother does school. You go to Walmart when your mom is ready to go. It's like it's always been. Things do not easily change. :) It's a good thing. Amazing how the simplest little routine can make you feel at home. It's what you long for when you're away. Stability and in a round about way, security.
Speaking of, we went to Walmart yesterday to pick up pictures and a few other things. I didn't go near the craft department the whole time. I am definitely changed. It used to be that I didn't go to Walmart without needing something or at least looking at something from the fabric section. Guess I've gotten used to spending my money on more important things than clothes. Like food for instance. ;) So anyway, we went to Walmart and I got my pictures from HQ run off. I wanted to get the ones done from Jonathan's cd he gave me, but I had to spend a stipend's worth just to get the ones from my camera done. (!) Whoa, I'll have to wait to get the others. I got doubles, Bree, so I'll send some. For you too Willie. There are some really hysterical memories wrapped up in those Illinois bound envelopes. OMS, I couldn't believe the picture of Ruining in the back seat of the van on the way to Starved Rock. He's doing Riverdance! OMS!!! I am going to have so much fun scrapbooking these things! Cara darling, I can't wait to visit you and bring all my pictures to you.
Back to the main track, we were shopping. Yes, we were and when we had finished waiting a half hour for Walmart's inefficient staff to fix the register so Mom could have a receipt, we went to Boscov's. I hate shopping. I do. You go with the intention of buying a nice warm winter coat, black, a little bulky but not too bad, with a hood and somewhat reasonably priced. i found exactly what I wanted. A down-filled coat that looked really nice and warm. One problem, the smallest size they had was an XL. That was a little too bulky, and the only one I could find in a small that I liked, didn't have a hood. Picture to yourself, a ten minute walk through the wind and snow, in January, in Chicago. It's cold. Every day. I want something warm. So I asked my mom to come and help me. (I don't know how to shop for a coat. The last time I needed a new one, I was ten or twelve. I've always just used her nice warm ones when she'd buy them new.) So anyway, she took one look and pronounced that anything less than a hundred dollars was not warm enough. Great. I was irritated. So she said she'd order me one from a catalog if I'd pick one out that I want. Relief. I was afraid I should have to pack a lunch every day this winter just so I wouldn't have to walk through the cold.
So here I am with a gift card to Boscov's and no jacket to buy. Well, I needed a watch, one that would last longer than the average Walmart buy (which narrows it down to about everything.) So I bought myself a really pretty silver watch with a black face. It's very pretty. And wonder of wonders, it has an adjustable chain so it fits my wrist. Usually I have to put it on the smallest hole and it still slides around, but I'm so glad it fits just right.
Last night, I spent hanging out in James' room, showing him my pictures and hearing him laugh at the earphone episode (on the way to Starved Rock). He started me playing one of his latest Nancy Drew games. I get so frustrated. I would never finish one if it wasn't for him. I remember the time I tried. I spent thirty minutes trying to figure out how to go downstairs. Then three weeks trying to hide in the air vent in the elevator shaft. So from then on, I just call my Hardy boy Help Hotline, being James. We played for two hours last night and finally I said I was finished and he says "Now?!? You're almost there!" However, I was not to be swayed from my purposes and shall finish later this afternoon. Then I shall begin another. I have a lot of catching up to do. :)
I don't think I am used to being back home yet. It was so funny when I first went out to HQ. It was two weeks before I relaxed and settled in. Then I started getting to know people and then they would show up in my dreams at night. It's so weird. I doubt it will take two weeks to "be" home, but you never know. I still have dreams about my sister and I've not seen her since, what? January? Anyway, this is totally getting off track.
Today I came downstairs after writing on the backs of over one hundred photos. OMS, my hand hurts! And here I sit typing, though I will say that typing is far less strenuous on the wrist than a pen. My goodness, yesterday was a day for writing. I was bookkeeping for dad and copying all the entries from his checkbook into a little ledger, by hand. I had to start from last January! It took two hours! My fellow bookkeepers will sympathize. At least I didn't have to do any balancing. I hate balancing a checkbook, however, the joy and satisfaction that comes when it is balanced is not to be described. :)
It's a lovely day today. The woodstove is hot. The teakettle is whistling. The gingersnaps smell wonderful. The breeze smells crisp and tangy, like dried leaves. I hear the low hum of the fan blowing the warm air into the room from the stove. I hear the occasional car drive past our house. I hear the rustle of papers as Mom does the house receipts and bank account. I hear the jingle of the dogs' tags as they lazily get up from their beds to move closer to the woodstove. I see the American flag flapping wildly as the wind whips it eastward. The clouds outside are scarce, but there. Just enough contrast to make the sky look invitingly blue. I can almost hear the oak tree creaking in the front yard as it sways back and forth with the wind. The rocking chair on the porch is rocking itself slowly, as if to say "come and sit a while." I rather think I will. |
posted by cori
10/26/2005 01:30:00 PM
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| The ShugaBowl |
| Sounds like some kind of sports thing, but in reality, the ShugaBowl is just a little hideaway for me, Sugarcube herself, to let loose my thoughts and occasional creativeness. |
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