November 12 = a Monday, but not a normal Monday.
1. Ellie managed to sleep until 6:35 am, which was a welcome development in the saga of The Dog Who Does Not Respect Time Changes. However, on her early morning walk it was extremely cold and extremely windy, but not as extremely cold and extremely windy as it has the power to be around here, which makes me think we're in for a few tough mornings, this dog and me.
2. We aren't messing around with ponytails anymore on windy mornings: braids only. Maddie is considering doing Pantene Beautiful Lengths again.
3. A box! From Studio Calico! That makes a mail-less federal holiday more bearable on the mail front.
4. I spent a good portion of the day preparing our bedroom for our new mattress, which we were SO EXCITED TO PURCHASE on Sunday. Such an overdue purchase! Such terrible foreshadowing!
5. When you get a new mattress, you should go ahead and clean out your nightstand drawers, too. And the top of your nightstand. And most definitely the hardwood floors underneath your bed. Ahem.
6. We bought this mattress at Mongtomery Ward in Great Falls, MT. A long time ago. Mattress shame on us for still having it. More terrible foreshadowing!
7. It was a half-day for monkey girls, and eventually they found their way to the hallway to engineer block obstacle courses for Bridget's Zhu Zhu pet hamster. (Related: this is the closest thing to a pet rodent this house will ever see.) This isn't the best picture I took of them technically, but it is the one I love best.
8. Maddie and I made 20 servings of chè chuối for her book club. It is a Vietnamese banana tapioca dessert, and it was good. We'll make it again, I think.
9. Before book club, piano. It is a difficult routine to pull off this year, but we love our piano teacher so much that the driving back and forth to gymnastics in shifts and waiting in between is worth it.
10. 36 degrees felt pleasant once the wind finally stopped.
11. Book club night! Sometimes we meet at Maddie's school, and sometimes we're able to reserve a room at the library. I am the room reserver, and I have to set an alarm on my calendar so I can remember to do it within 15 minutes of the first available opportunity (90 days in advance) or else all the rooms will be gone. I know, crazy. But this library here is super-busy and super-utilized. We were almost parked in the St. Mary's parking lot last night because there were so many people there on a Monday night. The book club selection last night: Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai. It was Maddie's suggestion in our selection meeting in September and got picked much to her delight; it was one of our favorite books of the year the first time we read it. She and her friend M were the discussion leaders last night, and they did a great job. The chè chuối and papaya were gobbled up too, so success.
12. I sure do love the Capitol Building at night.
Bonus note: Our mattress set was to be delivered after 4 pm. At 6:30 I called to find out what was going on, only to be assured that it was out for delivery. Upon return home from book club and gymnastics pick-up we looked at each other with sneaking suspicion that maybe we would not be receiving a delivery. We waited until Taps at 10:00 before dragging the old set and our bad attitudes back upstairs. This morning I learned they "made a mistake" and the soonest it will arrive is tomorrow night now, which couldn't be less convenient. Pffffffbth. But not to worry: I have a Willis Consumer Gene and all will be set right. I even have experience in this area.
:)
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