While the Cat's Away...

Kelly had to go away to the Midwest for a business trip, so it's just been me and the kids for a few days.  We only had about 48 hours notice for the trip, so there has been a bit of last-minute juggling of activities.  Emma has a volunteer requirement for school, which she successfully procrastinated until the very last minute, so she has to complete 18 hours of community service in 10 days.  There are limitations as to who she can volunteer for, so we are trying to get her in for hours at the places that are very flexible with hours.  She chose one place that has after-school activities for children with moderate to severe disabilities.  Because she has to fulfill so many hours, this means she needs to go every day for two hours.  This means skipping karate this week, and makes Thursdays really difficult with having to be in two places at once.  I may have to cancel Thursday's appointments if I can't find a ride for Emma to get home...the person I had planned on picking her up just announced that she's sick. Ugh.

It happens from time to time that I get sick of my long hair and I cut it all off.  I couldn't bear to make it too short this time, but I knew it was time to chop off the old color and go au naturale. I had it bobbed on Friday while the kids were at school.  The gal had styled it funny, so it looked a little too Julia Louis-Dreyfus; I prefer it a little less controlled.  I don't even own a brush.  Sorry the picture is so blurry--my phone's camera always seems to have slime on the lens.  Pocket slime.

Saturday there was a Sounders game, so I went with the gang and met up with Kelly's sister and her husband, who bought the two vacant seats--Kelly's and Daniel's.  I took the bus down to save a little cash; driving down could add up to more than $20 for gas and parking...or I could take the bus for $3.50.  Hmmm...tough call.  Afterwards, Lauren offered to give me a ride back, saving me the bus fare home.  I asked her if she would mind if I stopped to look for a Geocache on the way, just a few blocks from where she was parked.  I found it after several long minutes of swearing at the GPS device as the cold rain increased.  The signals were bouncing all over the place with the tall buildings, but I was able to get on the web site with my phone and read the hints to make the search faster.  Inside was an Argentinian soccer-related travel bug, which I was happy to snag, although I will have to refrain from telling Daniel--his family is from Brazil and he hates Argentina.  :)

On Sunday, we did a few chores around the house, but then I thought I'd take the kids out for a fun painting day.  This also gave me the opportunity to finally finish my mug that I started at the Girl Scout day.  I didn't get any pictures of the things the kids painted, so I'll have to get pictures next week after they get fired.  Emma had a larger piece and she was taking her time with all the layers of paint, so I took the little guys for a short walk to a nearby Geocache.  Ben found it very quickly saying, "What's this?" He's got the eagle eye, I tell ya.

Today's weather was nice in the morning, so I went out for a walk--I need to do this every day, regardless of the weather, but I have a heck of a time getting motivated in the rain and cold.  After school, Emma needed to do her volunteer work at the school, so I took the little guys to the park to play for an hour or so.  Cammie is always drawn to the water, and Ben found it interesting for a few minutes but preferred the climbing structure.


We finally got back at about 5:15, I made a very quick dinner and after getting everyone to bed, decided that I really needed to get some sewing done.  It's been so long--I missed it. I found a baggie of 1930s fabrics and blocks that I had started making, but didn't know what to do with it.  These little Hourglass blocks were in the baggie, along with a bunch of pre-cut fabrics to make more.  I decided that I'd rather not make more of them just now, so I decided to stitch them into a small quilt top.  It measures 20" x 24".  I'm not sure what I'll be doing with this yet...maybe it'll be a birthday gift for Cammie's friend; a little lady turning 10 next month.

A few more days of additional madness as a single mother...