September 8, 2009

School Days



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Carry 'em off to school today. Image, 1991.



Himself: Took a day off....today is a swim, job hunt, and talk with Bee when she gets here about her boxes day.

Herself: I actually took two days off. Today: Swim, call, tidy, Bee. Feeling clear and thinner. Menu planning and grocery shopping day.

Reading: Continuing with the Father Tim books.

Balance: Again, the peace of eating out on the deck.

Today is the first day of school for many of us. My painting class starts noon tomorrow. I still mourn that I don't have the program for the photography class, but I have new determination to make something new and different.....perhaps illustrative but fun, out of the painting class.

I packed for class yesterday...lighter, trying to cut down the weight that was so heavy on my wrists last semester. While G sanded over there, I pulled Grumpy out and used his tailgate to sort art supplies over here.

One big page is now taped to that carry board I purchased last month at a yard sale.....mine went to a kid or grand kid many years ago. Changing that cut out a pound of weight. I aired my rags and dug out that Samsonite rolling bag I got at the Discovery Shop. Not a suitcase, I discovered, but a rolling briefcase. Just right to store watercolor stuff in separate rows of plastic baggies. A much lighter art supply box.

Instead of taking all the paints in their heavy tool box, I squeezed a little of this and a little of that into an almost empty paint "set" I bought many years ago. I have a full one of those things too, and I am using it knowing that the colors will fade rapidly. Rags, papers, covers....I'm all together except for a water container. I find one somewhere probably by eating the last of the cottage cheese just waiting for me in the refrigerator.

This is happening all over this week. The discount stores were filled with parents and grandparents buying clothes. I saw them. Bookstores and office supply places were jammed. I was there too getting new fade resistant pens.

We did our part by rushing a printer up to the north county to replace Lessa's broken one. An far east county school had replaced theirs, and a nice man at the store gave me that old one for Lessa. Her fire class homework must all be printed out this semester.

Other homes are having computer problems. Ours? Still at the shop, and I am hoping they don't have to wipe the hard drive clean to get rid of the virus/Trojan Horse, worm. Lessa was dealing with a new computer, and she found Works but not Word. We couldn't help her navigate Works at all. Hours later she called to tell us that she had found her copy of Word buried somewhere in her hard drive in an unexpected place. We agreed it was unexpected.

Now she is ready. I am ready. I hope all the grandkids in college, in grade school, in Jr. High, and in High School are ready too. It's going to be a really good year.

I know this, trust me, I'm a grandmother.

5 comments:

  1. Good luck and have fun in the painting class. I'm looking forward to seeing some photo examples one day real soon. (Too bad you aren't close to us; we have a briefcase style roll-away we're about to get rid of. I know there's somebody out there who can use it.)

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  2. I trust you too, and am glad for your clear vision. We are all ready for a really good year!

    Painting class sounds fun - can't wait to hear more!

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  3. My grandchildren start school tomorrow, and the little ones Tuesday of next week. We are all happy to see them finally go to school. I spent my morning drawing and playing with them. And I have so much work to do. But that's just what grandmothers'do. Yes, this will be a good year!

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  4. ditto to the trust and the good year! can't repeat it enough! I'll send you a photo of my little paintbox with little squeezes of this and that...lots of greens, blues and browns!

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