I love to have a busy routine. I look forward to having that rhythm in my life. The past few weeks have been nice and relaxing, I suppose, but I haven't felt much sense of accomplishment, or very connected to the society around me. About one week in to winter break I found myself wishing for the people-contact to which I've long been accustomed. (Sometimes I really wish it was proper to dangle a preposition.)A few days after that, I was ready to go back full time. Sure, I like to spend time with the people I love, but I acknowlege that I need to be part of a greater whole. I need to feel integrated into the larger world.
Forest feels this too, but in a different way. He feels most a part of the world when he's interacting with people on a personal level. There doesn't have to be a sense of purpose for him. Granted, I enjoy just hanging out with folks, too, but a certain portion of my life has got to have a goal or two.
This was another short weekend. Friday night we stayed up insanely late gaming with Forest's friends. Then on Saturday I cleaned my kitchen and went to move a bunch of stuff out of Jeff's basement, a project which pretty much ate my entire afternoon. That evening we got a room in a nice hotel with Karen and Jim, and we all hung out in the pool and hot tub for hours on end. It was very relaxing, and a great deal of fun. There was a high school hockey team there that really suprised me. They looked like little boys to me! I guess it's been a while since I've been around an adolescent male. My sisters and I were mostly grown when we were in high school. These boys, had men's voices, however they still had very much of their childhoods etched in their faces. They were annoying, but not enough to impede the fun and relaxing process.
Sunday I dropped Kirstin off to play with Alex, and tackled the kitty room at my house. Leeloo took over the third bedroom the day she moved in, and I was determined to reclaim some of it. I hauled the bookcases up the stairs, and connived a way to fit my desk, three bookshelves, Forest's dresser and a twin size bed in there. It's downright miraculous that it's going to work. It will be crowded, I grant you, but it's a spot for people to crash and it's the kitty room. Who really cares? We never go in there anyway. I shampooed the carpet and scrubbed all over, and unpacked Forest's books for him. It's not done yet, but I don't think it will come out too badly.
After that, Kirstin had a school project to do. It's yet another of her teacher's sadistic "test the parent" exercises. Thankfully this one only cost me about $10. The kids had read a book about a little boy who was the only one without a costume. His friends each gave him a bit of cloth, and by attaching the cloths to his PJs he made a fantastic outfit. Of course, we were supposed to "be creative" and create a costume.
Last time we did one of these projects we followed the directions to the letter, but the teacher said we weren't creative enough, so we got marked down.
Now don't be fooled. This was not a project for Kirstin. She is not capable of getting in the car, driving to Lansing, buying clothes of various colors, buying an outfit to attach them to, cutting it all out, and sewing it all together. These adult projects are making me more and more frustrated. Granted, something like this could teach a kid to interact as a team with his parents to achieve a good education. The only problem with that theory is that the kid is not a very valuable team member in something like this. They are forced to give leadership over to the parent, and since the parent's financial resources are the limiting factor, it ends up being the parent's decision what exactly the project will look like. I can't imagine how awful it would be to still be as poor as I was just a couple of years ago and have projects like this. It would have meant I couldn't eat this week, or else Kirstin's project wouldn't be on a par with others in her class.
I tried to give Kirstin as much of the responsibility as I could. I vetoed her idea to take one of my nicest dresses and turn it into a costume, and instead suggested that she use a dress that is too small for her, and wear leggings with it. When we went to the fabric store together she went straight for the brightly colored feathers, but since I didn't know how to sew those onto anything, I steered her to the fabric remnant bin. We picked out a couple of those, and then she wanted a very expensive bit of lace and ribbon. Instead we got a few yards of purple sateen and a couple of little bells. On the way back to Eaton Rapids Kirstin suggested that we make a grand cape and apron out of this stuff, however I had to point out that we didn't have enough fabric for that, and we don't own a sewing machine, so there wasn't enough time. I suggested that perhaps we could use the cloth to make brightly colored streamers to attach to the skirt and sleeves of her old red velvet dress. I had her cut the streamers herself, but that was all the hands-on she got with this project, since she had to stand still on a chair with her arms out while I sewed all these things together on her.
At least I think she likes how it turned out.
Tonight when I get out of work I'll be stepping back into a life I left behind four years ago. I quit handbell choir back then because I had just gotten divorced, and everyone told me I was an idiot for having so much of my time booked up. I aceded the point after many weeks of trying to break even financially and failing. Thank heaven I'm not there anymore, I think I can actually afford it now. It will be fun to see everyone again. Impressively, there's only one person in the choir now that wasn't there when I left. That's precious little turnover for a volunteer organization. I always get a great sense of anticipation before the first day of a rehearsal. Will the script be good? What's the repertoire look like? I always hope for a good challenge and lots of detail to sink my teeth into.
I'm starting to go insane because my closet it out to get me. I stopped storing stuff in there a couple of months ago, because it's still got lathe and plaster in it, and was dropping chunks everywhere. I bought panelling for it, and was all set to put it up, however I didn't have a circular saw with which to cut it. I asked to borrow my stepdad's, but he as too worried to let me, because a friend of his chopped his leg off and bled to death because of a circular saw. I guess I can understand why that would upset him. So since then my clothes have been hanging in the mud room, which is not climate controlled. Ice literally does not melt out there. Bbbrrr. After a few really chilly mornings I decided to pile up some clothes on my desk so I'd have something warm to wear. Now it has become a landslide, and I am really getting perturbed with it. I'm about ready to go buy my own saw.
But I wouldn't want to cut my leg off.
I have the "Uncle Fucker" song from the South Park movie stuck in my head. Ouch.
