Winter weekend

It started with a light weight snow storm. Not a storm at all, but since it's the first real snow we've seen all year any amount that called for shoveling might have been classified a storm. We battened the hatches and consumed soup and fresh bread in front of a fire on Friday night, and woke to a few inches on the ground and light flakes in the air on Saturday morning.

Saturday we made a book sale day. One of the only things worth getting up for on a Saturday morning is a good used book sale. We hit two on Saturday, and then our favorite lunch spot in downtown Ann Arbor, too—we were celebrating Jon's first published piece, which came out on Friday.

There was some Wii Fit Plus, some piano, a lot of book reading. Sometimes I feel like a broken record. Snap Circuits, Lego play, napping, and cozy fires.

Sunday we found a new video to add to our American history collection—Solutreans: The First Americans— that allowed us to discuss not only survival during the stone age, but also the concept of controversial theories and changing, or evolving, beliefs based on increased archeological evidence.

Our colds are almost gone, our energy is returning. We closed the weekend with a dinner party with friends, Calvin is in bed, Jon and I are in the second half of the second season of Twin Peaks (we have been devouring the episodes one after another after Calvin's bedtime, discovering a love we missed out on in adolescence) and we are ready for what promises to be a very busy week ahead.

Sunday

Yesterday was our library book sale day. It was the first sale for which I was sole coordinator, not that I didn't have gobs of help. Calvin was bent on helping me, so we left home at 8:30 in the morning and he worked with me until noon, offering bags to shoppers and helping direct those who were lost. In between he would sit and read. His dad picked him up at noon, then they came back at three and helped clean up. We a handful of new books, of which Robin Hood, The Frenzied Prince, Household Stories, and The Nightingale (beautifully illustrated by Eva Le Gallienne), are likely to be our favorites.

But that was yesterday. Today was Legos.

That's quite a collection of people at the train station.

They might be headed to the Natural History Museum.

Or to the game.

Wizards vs. Musketeers?

And cinnamon rolls.

And naps, then Snap Circuits.

Getting back on the horse

Swimming yesterday, a little laundry, some exercising, and lots and lots of work at the library. We have a sale coming up this weekend.

Two journal entries, and handful of math worksheets, lots of Lego play, and lots and lots of reading. We both got some great books for Christmas, after all.

There are still piles of laundry, and we have yet to return to the history train, but between a smattering of unexpected doctor visits and all the prep work for the book sale on Saturday, we're still trying to get back on the normal horse.

Rainy Monday (yesterday)

I may never, in all of my life, recover from the "waking up for work on a Monday" feeling sufficiently enough to deflate the elation of waking up on a Monday and not having to go anywhere. It's been over five years now and I can still say that, and I hope I always can.

That feeling of elation is tripled when the Monday is a rainy one, because it's that kind of Monday that was specifically made for staying at home and being cozy. In fact, we swapped our pajamas for street clothes only long enough to go to the library and check on the sale room and swap some due books for some new books, then back to the pajamas.

I started the crock-pot just before lunch so that the smell would start to warm the house (vegetable soup), did two extra crosswords, and finished my new book. Calvin steadfastly alternated between math at the kitchen table and music at the piano all day. He was so happily dedicated to those spots that he finished two full sections in his math book today, and learned, almost to perfection, four new songs in his new piano book. We also colored prehistoric mammals, read books to the cat, and played mancala, watched the birds play in the soft splatters of rain on the deck.

A day of rest

We had a quiet Sunday. A day as long and busy day as yesterday was calls for a day of rest to follow. No chores, no yard work, no much of anything. Just some quiet reading, an Antarctic craft, and some pretend play in a tent in the sitting room, of course. With Jon home I actually drove over to the Metro Park to run on the paths—it's such a beautiful time of year for it—and on my way I passed our little local cider mill. Open. Must be closer to fall than I thought. So when Calvin asked for afternoon snack, how could we not go down there for fresh, hot donuts and fresh cold cider. Oh heavenly.