The Glamour Continues

After I wrote yesterday, I made exciting journeys to Bed Bath & Beyond (a new kitchen trash can! Also: a shower curtain liner and curtain rods!! The excitement was palpable) and Target (birthday supplies for Annie, a new rug for outside our back door). Then I came home and cleaned the office while I waited for the plumber to come roto-root our sewer main, a fun yearly situation that causes us to not be able to use the water for a day or so until the tree roots get ripped out of the pipe and get rid of the clog.

When I went to get the girls from school, it was hot, and they were hot, and the walk home was long and hot and tedious, owing to Annie's broken flip-flop and Jemma's backpack being too heavy. Have I mentioned I was unshowered from my humid morning run (sewer/water situation) and very . . . hot? Annie had some sketchy moments, personality-wise, when we first got home, but she was much happier after some time alone with a book. She reports that her first day was "good," that she "played chase with the boys" at recess (oh, my), that she got to use the laptop computers, and that she starts switching classes for social studies and science to the other third-grade teachers on Thursday, something that makes her feel "like a middle-schooler."

Jemma came out of school wearing a newly-made First Day of School hat, reported the day was "awesome," and collapsed into bed before 7:30 last night. She was significantly less enthusiastic about getting out of bed and ready for school this morning; yesterday was fun and all, she said at breakfast, but "too long," and she'd prefer to stay home today. Nevertheless, off she went in her sweet blue dress and with pigtails in her hair.

My glamourous lifestyle continues. Today featured another super-sweaty, super-humid run; going to the farmers' market and the grocery store; unloading the dishwasher; more laundry; cleaning out the refrigerator; scrubbing tile grout with a toothbrush; scheduling carpools and filling out paperwork for extracurriculars; and purchasing more birthday gifts for a certain couple of family members.

I was talking with a friend yesterday, and we decided that this new schedule mostly means we'll just keep doing all the same things we were doing before, only without a person attached to/following us. And that's basically true. So far, no soap-opera-watching, bon-bon-eating, afternoon napping. I can't complain, though. I shower alone, work out without feeling guilty, and sometimes even sit down to eat my lunch or drink a LaCroix while listening to Pandora and unloading the dishwasher. I miss those little girls of mine, but they're off, doing what little girls should be doing: playing, learning, exploring the wide world. I'm here, enjoying the quiet but also waiting for them to get home.