two shoes that passed in the night

2002-08-19

On Friday Francisco and I went to TJ Maxx, and I think we had something specific we wanted to buy, but I can't remember now what it was, and we didn't find it. What we came home with was a pair of pants for Francisco, a pair of shiny embroidered Chinese pajama pants for me, and sheets and shower gel for the Boy. I'm taking the pajama pants back because I didn't try them on in the store and when I tried them on at home I discovered they fit weird. Like, they're too big in the waist and the hips, but tight around the crotch and the bottom of my butt. Not comfortable, for sure. I got shower gel for the Boy because once at TJ Maxx I saw this rosemary shower gel for $3.99 and it smelled like pure heaven so I bought it (actually I wrote about this when it happened, because, you know. My life is just that exciting.). I then had guilt about buying it because I already had about 7 bars of good-smelling soap and did not Need the shower gel, so I gave it to the Boy. And he loved it. And he's used it every day since (except for when he was at camp), and now it's almost gone. He's been begging me for more shower gel, so I found some that was similar, though not exactly the same, and he's very happy. Francisco thinks it's silly for me to be plying Boy with smelly shower gel, but it's cheap and it makes him happy, so I don't see there's a problem. I figure when his balls drop he's going to start demanding Irish Spring, and there's no need to rush it.

The shoes I found at TJ Maxx deserve their own paragraph. I'm in love. I'm in love with a pair of red satin high-heeled mary janes that have little rhinestone patterns on them. It is a star-crossed romance that was never meant to be, because I wear a size 10 and the only 10 in these shoes was just a little bit too short. Like, my big toes were just barely touching the end, and though I was tempted to be a fool and buy them anyway, I knew they would be miserable to wear for any length of time, so I put them back and said my tearful fairwell. I then went home and called my friend who wears a 6 1/2, because there were plenty of these shoes in her size, and if I can't have them, Somebody should. It is so unfair because these shoes were the cutest thing Ever, and I could've built an entire wardrobe around them. Based on this experience I'm convinced that I need a pair of red shoes, so the quest is ON. And a red pocketbook, because I like red and I like the word 'pocketbook'.

I got a burr under my saddle yesterday and decided to start making the quilt. I found a design from several years ago that I was going to make and it's easy and will look good in orange and white, so I figured out how big the pieces need to be and ironed the white and started cutting. I'm not sure how many mistakes I've made so far, because I've lost count. I was very frustrated while messing around with the cutting yesterday and I started to think that maybe the Universe was telling me not to make the quilt. And then I realized I was looking for an excuse to give up, so I will keep on with this project, but I need to buy more fabric because 1) I screwed up cutting the white pieces and wasted a good bit of fabric and 2) I didn't have enough to start with. I tried to find more of the same fabric at Walmart yesterday, but they don't carry the same brand of cotton broadcloth that JoAnn's does, and the orange didn't match with what I already have. Back to JoAnn's it is. JoAnn's is right next to the TJ Maxx, so I can return the pajama pants at the same time. I think I'll go tomorrow at lunch--I'm working normal days and hours this week. Fascinating, no?

I didn't watch Amelie this weekend. I had intended to watch it Friday but then I decided to do other things; specifically, go to TJ Maxx. Francisco rented 'The Great Escape' Thursday, and we watched part of it Thursday night and finished it on Saturday. I liked it; it was good. Steve McQueen was Hot in that movie. As was Charles Bronson, if you want to know. In his youth he didn't have that moustache and was quite a hunka hunka.

Today I feel extremely weary, but there's a reason. In order to combat the inevitable Sunday night bad sleep (I always sleep really badly on Sunday night), I purchased and swallowed some Tylenol PM last night. It didn't help me to fall asleep any faster, but it made me really groggy this morning. I could go back to sleep Right Now. One would think that this morning's Boy bus aggravation would've woken me out of this stupor, but no. The bus aggravation is that Again, Boy's bus did not pick him up when it is supposed to. The bus is supposed to show up at 7:58, but it has never been on time, and in fact has consistently been arriving after 8:15, which is when Boy's school starts. This morning I was leaving the house at 8:12, and Boy was still waiting. I had him get in the car and I took him to school, and when I was driving away from the school I passed his bus arriving. At 8:20. WTF?! This is not acceptable and Francisco called the school and talked to the bus driver and was angry and the bus driver tried to say that he was on time, but eventually admitted that he wasn't. I was also upset this morning because Boy has been hating taking the bus this year, and he finally said it was because the bus is almost entirely populated by 7th and 8th grade African-American students who called him "cracker boy", the first day he got on the bus. They have apparently been making it hard for him to find a seat on the bus, and this is really bothering me because Boy has never before really Noticed race, and now he's being Forced to notice it. Some people might think I'm exaggerating, saying that Boy has never noticed race, but let me give you an example of what I'm talking about: Once we were watching a few kids play basketball at a community hoop, and Boy said, "That kid is really good", and I asked which kid was talking about, and he told me the one in the blue shirt. The one in the blue shirt happened to be the only African-American on the court, but to Boy, he was the one in the blue shirt. Do you see what I mean? I am afraid that if Boy keeps having negative encounters with African Americans, he will develop a negative association with African-Americans, and I do Not want that to happen. But neither do I want to take him to school every day so that he doesn't have to ride the bus, because I don't want him to get the idea that he should avoid certain people or conflict in general. It's a dilemma, and not a dilemma I expected to have. Junior high sucks.

As do Mondays sometimes. I think this week is going to feel extra long, but maybe not.

I could talk more about the weekend and how I made good food and read good books and got my ass soundly whipped at Monopoly, but I think I'll quit now and try to get some work done.

Love,

E |

cats-kittens

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