1m2aSandbox

Not to brag here – more like
I’m just wanting to capture it so I don’t forget that
such days exist when the dark times come – but we had
ourselves quite an awesome day yesterday.


The morning started earlier than anticipated, when Maddie
spontaneously awoke at 7 a.m. I thought I heard her rustling around
quietly, so I stuck my head out of my room and saw her sneaking
into the game room. "Maddie?" I asked softly, a question. She
turned to me: "I finished my book last night and wanted to get
another one." And sure enough, she grabbed another chapter book and
took it downstairs, snuggling on a couch with a blanket to read.
Smiling quietly, I got out our daisy-shaped pancake griddle and
proceeded to make a fun breakfast. We had a lovely slow beginning,
reading and cooking and eating things loaded with butter and syrup.


The girls and I hit our neighborhood pool around 9:30, and had the
place entirely to ourselves until 11 a.m. Cora’s hit an
intense diving phase – as in, “for rings” –
and she spent the whole time diving for rings, diving for glass
jewels we bring for “sunken treasure”, diving for her
goggles – you name it, she swam for it. Maddie, meanwhile,
had her snorkel gear on and was practicing breathing through the
snorkel tube, swimming like a cruising shark over the entire pool
without coming up for air. It was truly greatness.

If you’re anything like me,
you’ve been madly making smoothies since all our delicious
summer fruits began coming into season. The girls love them, and I
love having a glass full of fiber and vitamins in a yummy drink.


I’m a bit of a protein hound, always trying to find new
smoothie recipes that will get me some blood-sugar-boosting
proteins and fats in non-dairy ways (slight allergy), and I came
across this one from target="_blank">Keeper of the Home recently. Since
I’ve been madly freezing organic fruit as it’s
available for a modest price, I’ve got a drawer full of
berries that are being seriously whittled down in this recipe. The
use of coconut milk solves my thirst for something more filling
than pure carbs, and I throw some brown rice protein powder in for
an extra boost as well.

Monday morning Cora woke up crying.
She’d had a horrible dream the night before, so I raced
upstairs to her worried that it was a continuation of that
nightmare.


“Hey, hey, Mommy’s here,” I soothed as I ran in.
Cora was still curled up in a ball, back towards me. As I lay down
next to her she rolled into me and melted, still whimpering and
sleepy.


I stroked her back. “What’s the matter, puppy?”


“I just realized,” Cora sobbed, “That when
I’m a mommy I won’t ever get a hair snuggle
again!”

“Mommy, Gamma, come see a special
show we’ve got going on! And you have to come sit on the
floor in the hallway to watch it!” Maddie and Cora called
downstairs Friday afternoon.


My mom and I came into the hall, mystified. Of the hundreds
(literally) of shows we’ve seen in my house, none have taken
place in the hallway. But there on the floor were two floor
cushions, so we obediently sat down and sat back.

Am I the only person who feels like summer
is just whizzing by?


June was a blur of teaching for me, so that hardly counts. Then it
was all-hands-on-deck getting ready for our vacation, then a week
in Florida (I know, I know, quit whining), and now that we’re
at the tail end of what feels like our first real week of summer
vacation, I’m looking at the calendar and realizing
it’s almost over.


Ok, not really almost over. But I estimate we’ve got maybe
two good weeks left before we have to start thinking about
back-to-school shopping and returning to the school morning
schedule. And frankly, that just doesn’t seem fair.


Don’t wanna, don’t wanna, don’t wanna.

I remember when I was young, and going on
vacation was inextricably linked with getting to eat
“vacation food”: junk food that would normally never
pass my mother’s inspection was allowed on vacation, and we
got to indulge in that rarest of pleasures – eating out.
I’m not saying we gorged on piles of refined white sugar, but
the usual restrictions were loosened, lifted slightly, and became
part of the pleasure of the vacation.


Ah, how things change when you get older.

Of course, Cora woke up sick on Tuesday.
Of course. My little vomit comet.


Whatever's ailing Cora, it comes out as throwing up, and yesterday
was no exception. No fever, no other symptoms - just a stomach not
even able to tolerate water. So we had to give Cora Pedialyte - one
tablespoon every fifteen minutes - all day long, while listening to
her beg for water or ice.


Did I mention the cable repair man was at the house for three
hours?


Which means my day looked like this: