Day Off Thoughts

I had today off from the kitchen shop. It was really nice to have a whole day with no out-of-town trips planned. I've been somewhere every weekend in April. These trips have been fun, but every now and then you just want to know you have a full day to yourself, even if it means doing nothing but errands and getting caught up on your personal "office" work.

That's mostly what I did, after a nice little breakfast of fruit, a left-over banana chocolate chip pancake and tea while gazing out at the pretty scene that is our backyard and reading...Cosmo. I feel like I should have been reading something much more homemaker-y or at least intellectual. But nope. Cosmo it was.

Then it was talking to the bank...talking to the insurance company...yadda, yadda.

I did turn in an application to be a summer reading mentor. I'm really looking forward to that - assuming they don't find me unfit to read with children. CK and I did that in D.C., and I really liked it. I think they're really in need of tutors and reading mentors, and I'm excited to hear back from them.

I also - hold on to your seats - transferred my flour and sugar into two big, old jars (the kind with the clamp down lids) I found at a thrift shop. I love them. There aren't a lot of "antique" shops around here like my beloved Luckett's in Virginia, but I've found a few five-star places I will go back to root around in.

An odd thing...I heard a helicopter today. This is really odd for here, I think. I haven't heard one since being here. In D.C., there is always something whirling overhead. Presidential helicopters, Coast Guard helicopters, DCPD copters looking for criminals... It just really struck me as out of the ordinary to hear a helicopter in my peaceful little valley.

I gave considerable thought to running my errands on foot. Carrie's apartment isn't far away from the "downtown," but it's still a good hike. I'm reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, who decided to hike the Appalachian Trail. He recounts an incident when he and his hiking buddy found themselves in town. They needed bug spray and Bill discovered he needed to go to KMart to get it. The guy who told him this informed him it was probably a mile and a half walk to the store. After being on the AT for miles on end Bill thought this was pretty funny. And it's true. A mile isn't really THAT long. I was inspired. But as my afternoon wore on and I started running out of time, I found myself in my car running my errands on my way to view an apartment, which, by the way, was ridiculous. It looked like a seedy road-side hotel room you would pay for by the hour.

That's about the extent of the day.

It was a very nice day off.