<wednesday september 10, 2003 - 8:10 a.m.>

Finally, the school routine is beginning in earnest.

Highlights of yesterday:

• the ball room in Ikea (for Emma) and the renewed feeling of shopping in peace (for me)
• Michael's for craft items. Purchased: thin satiny ropes for Chinese knotmaking (a new discovery) as well as some vellum paper for an origami experiment and some spray glitter for the velvet dress.
• Starbucks for latte and a cookie
• First yoga class, which took place in an old classroom of a neighborhood convent. We're low on attendance. It was only myself and a little lady named Merle. Anyone interested in attending a Tuesday night class for beginners?

This morning: coffee, then nursery school, then lunch, then to junior kindergarden... during which time I'll actually have a decent opportunity to get some work done.

Wish me well. :)

a

<tuesday september 9, 2003 - 9:09 a.m.>

Things I've learned lately:

• one tomato plant is enough. I don't care if I ever see another friggin' tomato ever again.
• when you're working on a complex beaded bracelet that takes patient hours to do, the most likely time that it will be destroyed is when you're moments away from completion and tying the very last knot.
• a case of pinkeye will enter the family unannounced, at the worst possible moment. Emma was supposed to start nursery school yesterday, but woke up with a swollen eye. Perhaps it was pink eye, perhaps it wasn't, but we couldn't take the chance. Out come the eye drops. She didn't like that very much.
  <sigh>

It was Sarah's first day back at daycare yesterday. She was greeted with open arms. I am happy to report that there were no transitional problems. No tears or unhappy attitude. Meals and naps went fine. Just fine. When I picked her up they had been playing outside. She was a big, happy, dirty mess, and loving every second of it. She hugged me and told me she missed me. I missed her too.

Emma and I spent the day together. We went to the library, to the mall to buy a school bag, timbit and coffee, for a walk to the main street, played the games that are verboten when Sarah is around (Pick up Sticks, and anything with small marbles or other objects).. overall we had a really nice time.

Also in the news: the office is this much closer to being completed. Mark did a lot of work on it over the weekend. It's a much better space to work in now. There are actually Places To Put things. The lack of this has always been a huge bee in my bonnet. The shelves are up. There is a funky magnet board ... finally, a place to put the 80 + magnets I made! There is a clock.

The only remaining things to buy are the following:

• fax machine (unless someone out there has one they are willing to Donate to a Worthy Cause? i.e. myself.)
• new CPU/filing/storage unit (we are continuing with the Effektiv series from Ikea)
• a nightstand/unit/funky thing to replace that black piece of crap we call a table next to the sofa bed
  
• a place for CDs
  
• something to put on the wall over the sofabed.
  
• new closet doors (my vote is for a full-length set of mirrored doors, but Mark says he has to "think about it." What's to think about? It would make the room look bigger, and we don't even have a full-length mirror anywhere in the house. If I need to know what the lower half of my body looks like (this happens on a semi-regular basis) I have to stand on the bed to look in the mirror over my dresser. The neighbors probably don't appreciate this display.
  
• Office chair. We have one good one. One lousy one. We haven't fought over it yet, but it's coming.
  
• More lighting. More outlets.

I think that about covers it. Please, someone, buy me a Scratch N'Win ticket. Quick! We need to win a lottery.

Mark's birthday was over the weekend. The girls picked out a cake in the shape of a ladybug for him. (Not completely appropriate for a grown man, but it sure was good. Raspberry mouse inside - mmmm) Other giftings included some books, (Krakatoa, Salt and Dr. Tatiana's S^x Advice to All Creation), a baking soda and vinegar powered rocket, a golf shirt, some bookends, and Hand Blasters. The latter was his favourite. If I knew I could make him this happy for a mere $1.99 …

a.