All done with yet another weekend, but I’m not unhappy, we had a pretty good couple of days off, the kids & I. They got to sleep in on Friday, due to the excessive cold (9 degrees on the bank clock at 11:55 pm on Thursday night when I was driving through town to avoid snowy, unplowed back roads) they had a 2 hour delay on Friday morning & were still pretty kind & quiet to poor old mom sleeping in at 9:15 when the bus came (yes I knew they were leaving, but they didn’t go out of their way to wake me up)
When I got up it was still cold, I shuddered & shivered beside the heater long enough to feel warm, started up the computer & checked email, after a bit of that I went to start breakfast. As soon as I walked into the kitchen I was horrified at the amount of laundry piled up, the well has improved to some extent, we can do 1 shower & 1 load of laundry a day, but it’s been too cold to hang laundry on the line & the dryer is doing no better, so we had a couple of baskets of wet, clean laundry, the same in the dryer & a wash already washed & wet in the washer, plus 2 big baskets full of dirty laundry.
At first I considered taking it all to Floyd & catching up at the laundromat, but the last time we did so 17 & the BF did it for me & they told me the prices were really high for the washers & the dryers were something like 6 minutes per quarter. I also didn’t want to be rushing because it was getting close to 12:30 already, 11 & 8 arrive at 3pm, so I decided we’d go to C’Burg & do the laundry after they got home.
So I ran to Floyd for kerosene & to pick up some other stuff (Valerian root & incense among other things, at the Harvest Moon) I was totally involved in my own financial worries when I was purchasing kerosene that when the woman waiting on me said her daughter was supposed to be coming to my house on Saturday I drew a blank, couldn’t think who her daughter even was! I came to after a moment & she noticed my lapse & got a little upset, I think, that her daughter maybe had told her a tale (teenagers do that sort of thing of course, tell mom & dad that they’re going one place – that the parents are ok with- & actually go to another, I did it, Chrissea did it, I like to think 17 doesn’t – mostly because I’m pretty open with her & she doesn’t have to hide much of anything from me)
Worse yet, I didn’t know if C was actually coming over to visit 17 Saturday or not! 17 Hadn’t said anything to me about it, but since she & the BF usually go to his friend’s houses to play D&D on Saturdays I hardly ever even question her as to what she’s doing. After assuring C’s mother that I was sure if C & 17 had plans it would be fine & asserting that 17 never tells me anything (she doesn’t always, when it comes to friends visiting etc- she knows I trust her & as my babysitter on my work days I have to (& have been) trust her with a lot for a long time now.
About that point I got a text from 17 telling me that her plans included going home with a friend who had invited her to go to a concert, I text-ed back about C’s possible duplicity & she reacted with a not-too-surprising WTF! Then, 10 minutes later text-ed back to say that C had indeed said she missed her & wanted to hang out & that they now indeed had tentative plans to hang out Saturday.
Once home from my errand running I settled in to read blogs & just generally mess around online. Makes for boring writing I know, but really, that’s what I did. I tried to go around & comment a little, but it doesn’t always happen & though I have a Blogger id I hate to try to comment on blogs which insist you log in using your Blogger id, I’m not spamming & I’m not really doing shameless self promotion, however I don’t like Blogger’s all must toe the line attitude.
When 11 & 8 arrived we got the laundry packed up in the new car (the back piece which is plastic, makes for easy sliding of laundry baskets across it & over the double, fold down seat. We went directly to the C’Burg laundromat, put the wet clothes in the dryers to dry while we got the dirty clothes in the washers & once that was settled the wet clothes were dry so we folded them & moved the wet clean clothes to the dryers & then had a nice rest where I read the newspaper someone had left there, 11 & 8 took advantage of the fact that we were the only losers in the laundromat at 6pm on a Friday night & had laundry cart races & clothes basketball games.
When the laundry was finished we went to dinner at Macados, one of my favorite places & a favorite with the kids too as they voted for it & wasn’t sure I wanted to go at first, of course once we were there & we were settled with the chips, dips & things that we always get for an appetizer there, I was glad we’d come & I only saw 3 people from work. My idea of a successful evening out in C’Burg is one in which I don’t see anyone I work with or used to work with.
11 & 8 had their money from the tax refund in their pockets & were excited to go shopping, so though it was 8:30 by the time dinner was finished we went over to Target where they picked out some things, Indiana Jones Legos for Mr 8 & A Bratz fashion clothes art box & a hair crimper for Miss 11, I picked up some laundry detergent & dish liquid & looked at a lot of sheets & comforters I wouldn’t mind having (I love their Simply Shabby Chic collection) We got a few other necessities too like tissues, socks & underwear for all. 8 picked up Valentines cards for his class & gifts for his best friend & the girl he likes (yikes! he’s only 8!) & Miss 11 got cards for her class & stuffed dogs, candy & gift bags for her 2 best friends at school.
We closed Target down & headed home, it crossed my mind briefly to go by Chrisseas, but I didn’t think she’d be home yet, it turns out her BF K. had his brother, who I know & other old friends over & it would’ve been like old times if we had stopped- but we ended up seeing them tonight instead so it all worked out in the end.
Home to bed & then this morning we went to Roanoke, it was a slow day though, we all slept late, 17 decided to come with us but wanted a shower so we waited for her & didn’t end up leaving until about 1:30pm, 17 drove to Floyd & I wanted her to drive at least partway to Roanoke, but she wouldn’t so when we stopped for gas I drove the rest of the way.
We went downtown first, where I got some new bumper-stickers & discovered a new bead store- Called Beads Indeed. Where 11 & I picked up some really beautiful stuff to make necklaces with, I got sets of beads (smaller & large of similar types) to make 17, 11 & 8 each a necklace, 17 picked her own stuff out & I am sure will make her own necklace, I got 11 some really pretty teal & foil beads a heart for the center & some matching beads as counter points to the seed beads I’ll use for the rest, 8, being a boy is more difficult, but I found these really cool skulls & got a black onyx piece which looks like a shark tooth & some smaller onyx beads to go above & below the skulls, for myself I ended up getting some really beautiful green Czech beads they’re like teardrops & a whole strand was only $3.50, interspersed with gold seed beads they’re going to make a beautiful necklace!
Then we went to the marketplace, originally to eat but Chrissea & I were discussing having dinner together, She wasn’t enthused about the marketplace & after going in & looking around, I wasn’t either (It’s good for lunch, because everyone can pick out something other than what the others want, so all 3 kids (& yes, I do mean kids when referring to 17 on this one) got 2 inch round jawbreaker candies & were satisfied, we picked up Chrissea & went to a place called Shakers.
The service was slow but the company was good & except for mr 8 being on a sugar high & being a little out of control it was great, the food was very good too. We took Chrissea back to her work & went to Target (again- 11 picked out bras last night but changed her mind about the type/her need) & basically we ended up finishing up our shopping there. The whole tax refund thing was such a bust this year, I had so many bills that were past due that more than half what I got went right back out. We didn’t have much money for anything extra at all. I did get new stove top burner drip pans which was important because the metal ones I bought in 2005 had rusted through! The new ones are black ceramic & won’t rust at least.
Then, by prior agreement with Chrissea, we picked up her daughter Sami, for an overnight at our house, I got to visit with old friends & got a kick out of them checking out my kids, which one hadn’t seen since 2001. Home & got the place picked up, kids put to bed & have been relaxing since! Back to work tomorrow – Sigh, but only 2 days & then home again.
