Quick Takes

-1-

Our 4th of July was a turn of events I should really share with you.  For now, I've got this deceiving photo that would make you think that the day was a grand parade of relaxation and joy. In reality, this photo documents the brief moment of the night when we weren't entrenched in what will be referred to as "that one time the Andersons made us do all their prep work for those [insert expletive] tacos."

-2-

Just to explain why my sister and I are sporting our Americana gear on the streets of my neighborhood, we all had to take a walk around the block due to the intensity of Independence Day Taco Night 2012. That, and the insides of our home were still cased in smoke from those homemade tortillas.  Our walk was just another way to offer entertainment to my neighbors who are collectively two generations up from us and often worry through their windows when we let our toddler run around nearly naked in the front yard or do things like this, flaunt our American heritage in broad daylight. 

-3-

I'm in the thick of a reading frenzy, and I'm not sure how to back myself out of the 12 holds I have on my library account. Unfortunately, I can't keep up this pace when I'm busy whipping up lesson plans and grading student essays, particularly at the beginning of the school year when I make a clean cut from summer.  The 1st week of August I will perform the shortest walk of shame ever. The twenty feet from my car door to the library drop box, with several unread books cradled in my arms, I will mourn and curse the close of summer. 

-4-

Here we are in Target. Rather, here is Thomas in Target playing with one of many toys he is allowed to "test" but not take home.  I offer this photo as public evidence that I can sometimes lack creativity as a mom. Case in point, this week alone we've climbed through McDonald's play place [but didn't eat there], visited Barnes & Noble's Thomas the train table [and didn't purchase a book there], and perused the aisles of Target [only to kindly put back the tested toys].  

-5-

This morning I met some Catholic moms at a nearby parish for Mass and the Holy Rosary.  While I'm not shy by any means, I'm very introverted, and meeting new people can be so exhausting for me. That exhaustion can also be compounded by factors like the size of the group, intense personalities, and the likelihood of my  toddler ingesting a foreign object while I'm mentally cradling my introverted need to crawl back into my cave home for processing time.  However, this morning wasn't any of those things.  It was wonderful.  

-6-

I reorganized my office closet this week. Wait, no. That's completely wrong. Let me start over. --- I organized my office closet this week.  I also took before, during, and after photos to share but have now decided against doing so. Here's the thing.  You could look at the after photo and be really excited for me that I was able to create such a great system, but really you would just walk away horrified with the image burned in your memory of my before photo, a poster child of organizational neglect and abandonment.  

-7-

To satisfy your curiosity, yes, I did find random objects in my previously one-hot-mess closet.  Highlights of randomness include: a rogue animal cracker, a coin purse somehow glued shut, two sets of kid paints of which I had not one remnant of remembrance buying, a card I wrote out to a friend a year ago and never sent, a chopstick, and a baby bottle nipple. The coin purse was one of the biggest scores during that project session.  After I cut it open, pennies spilled forth, a coincidental and yet offensively disappointing tip for taking care of business around the house.