Carview!

CARVIEW

MOTORHOMES

Select Language

HTTP/2 301 server: nginx date: Tue, 27 Jan 2026 16:42:52 GMT content-type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 location: https://freshhell.wordpress.com/category/red/ x-hacker: Want root? Visit join.a8c.com/hacker and mention this header. host-header: WordPress.com link: ; rel="https://api.w.org/" vary: accept, content-type, cookie x-redirect-by: WordPress x-ac: 1.bom _dca MISS alt-svc: h3=":443"; ma=86400 strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 server-timing: a8c-cdn, dc;desc=bom, cache;desc=MISS;dur=425.0 HTTP/2 200 server: nginx date: Tue, 27 Jan 2026 16:42:53 GMT content-type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 vary: Accept-Encoding x-hacker: Want root? Visit join.a8c.com/hacker and mention this header. host-header: WordPress.com link: ; rel="https://api.w.org/" vary: accept, content-type, cookie content-encoding: gzip x-ac: 3.bom _dca MISS alt-svc: h3=":443"; ma=86400 strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 server-timing: a8c-cdn, dc;desc=bom, cache;desc=MISS;dur=935.0 Red | Life in Scribbletown

Archive for the ‘Red’ Category

18 Nov

Cherades for Kids

Posted by freshhell in Red, Uncategorized. 5 comments

I was out more than I was in this weekend. I scrambled around yesterday to get chores done – groceries, my laundry – and went to meet my writer’s group for lunch. While I was out, Red was busy making a game. It’s one that she enjoys at the Y and one the grown ups have been discussing getting her for Xmas. And – voila – in the meantime, she made her own version!

Here’s the box lid:

All of the playing cards for the game have the name on one side and four possible things you can act out. Like this:

Here are some of the many choices you have if you play Red’s version of charades:

washing dishes

mime

choking

chomping on food

tap dance

do the “twist”

thinking

yodeling

teacher

writing a story

waiting

fashion show

blowing kisses

wiping

building a snowman

praying

crying

charging bull

eye exam

using a map

tree

sad

walking a dog

hula hooping

falling

quiet

stomach ache

headache

plowing snow

painting nails

in pain

broken toe

bored

angry

ballerina

being a dog

lamp post

shouting at a fat lady

slam dunk

licking ice cream

dieing

farting

racking leaves

got shot

driving an airplane

jack in box

magic trick

sniffing

being a cat

I mean, given the choice, would you rather act out “eye exam” or “shouting at a fat lady”? And, what would the latter even look like?

6 Nov

Scribbler

Posted by freshhell in Red, Uncategorized, writing. 3 comments

Yes, it’s election day. But let’s talk about something else, shall we? I am pleased to have escaped the House of Sickness today. Everyone has a cold and poor Red was diagnosed with pneumonia on Sunday. I stayed home with her yesterday and she perked up quite a bit after a few rounds of Albuterol and Amoxicilin, the Disney Channel and Boomerang. I’d slept poorly the night before (ie: woke up at 2:30am, went into the living room and listened to the lizard’s final cricket chirp until the sun came up) so I let her play on my (finally fixed) computer while I took a nap on the couch. Here’s what she’d been working on. Looks like we’ve got another budding writer in the family:

I HATE BATH’S BY: RED

Mom!!! Something really bad just happened in the bath tub. What happened, sweetie?
Well, mom, the tub was filling up with water while I was using the toilet and I got in and I realized something was different about the tub. Mom: yeah, I am listing. So, as I was saying….Sweetie, you now what? What mom? You said you would get out of the bathtub at 11:12 didn’t I say that? Yes, mom. Can we get back to my story now? NOOOO!!! Sigh. Ok, as I was saying…now it is 11:20. Am I correct?
Yes, mom….oh no!! I am in so much torble!!!

Man, it’s really a cliffhanger, isn’t it? Hope she finishes this story. There’s another one she wrote about finding hamsters in an alley and bringing them home.

This afternoon I have a parent/teacher conference with Red’s teacher. I am not feeling fully confident about this woman who is very young and very new to teaching. I dunno. I don’t like the idea of my kid – particularly the one who is not internally motivated and academic – as a guinea pig. But I’m sure it’ll be okay. Right? Sigh.

2 Nov

The Great Pumpkin Rides Again

Posted by freshhell in autumn, cars, Damn DST!, Dusty, food, Halloween, natural disasters, Red, Uncategorized, writing. 3 comments

October – gone before I’d gotten used to it. So much happened last month, my head’s still spinning. I went to Texas and had a fabulous time. I attended a professional meeting and was asked to present a session in Pittsburgh next year. And then at another conference. I attended a writer’s conference (which has only caused me writer’s block). My computer died and was reborn but with an annoying problem I haven’t solved yet. I sold my VW. Dusty got her braces off. Took the kids to see a performance of Peter and the Wolf. A hurricane came and went. And then there was the third most important holiday in a kid’s calendar (next to Christmas and birthdays): Halloween.

We made our annual voyage into the city and made the rounds with old friends. The night was chilly but dry. We’ve always had pretty good luck with Halloween. The older girls – R (Dusty’s school friend), Dusty, and N (a friend Dusty’s known since preschool) decided that Red would be their guinea pig. She was tasked with walking ahead of them and testing out each house for candy possibilities. Red was in charge of walking up the porch steps first and knocking on the door. Red fulfilled her duties without any complaint. She’s a brave kid and isn’t afraid to stick her face in the porch windows that flank the treat givers’ doors. They did quite well, candy-wise.

They were in full sort-and-trade mode when I got home last night. I was gifted 6 Twizzlers since neither child likes them. Red was much more generous than Dusty and I am now in possession of the following: small snack bag of pretzels shaped like pumpkins, two kit kats, a Snickers, a box of Dots, a sleeve of Whoppers, a Hershey’s Special Dark, and a Tootie Roll. Plus the aforementioned Twizzlers. I really feel I deserve more than that, that there should be a percentage of the overall haul that should be given to me, like a tax considering all the services rendered to make the holiday happen. But, the children don’t seem to agree with me. Sigh. Ingrates.

November has two things going for it: the end of daylight savings time, the worst idea ever foisted on Americans; and election day. Because then the presidential campaign will be over. Can I get an amen?

Oh, and in a few short weeks, Dusty will be twelve. TWELVE. Crazy.

22 Oct

A Roll of The Dice

Posted by freshhell in autumn, Red, School, travels, writing. 4 comments

I’ve been gone so long and almost forgot how to get back here. The last week was busy in many interesting ways and it occurred to me that I’ve lived all the various aspects of my life in seven days. If all your different roles were faces on a die, I rolled mine continually with each side getting its fair showing.

The Mom Side took Dusty to the orthodontist last Monday and we learned that she’ll get her braces off on the 29th. Just in time to indulge in Halloween candy. Dusty, as you can imagine, is very excited. Even though she admitted that she’d pretty much eaten everything on the verboten list. But, I plan to buy her a Butterf1ngers candy bar to celebrate. I think that’s the one deadly item she hasn’t had in awhile.

The Mom Side continued on Tuesday when I spent three hours that evening at a short G&T meeting at the middle school and then heard talks by reps of the high school’s IB program and the Governor’s School program. Both sound fantastic and both would be great for Dusty. The GS requires a commute but gives the kids a full unstructured lunch hour in the middle of the day. Everyone gets it at the same time. Both programs involve a heck of a lot of homework and community service but I think Dusty would be up for the task. The clincher is that the GS program requires an application process and currently only 11 kids from our county attend. I don’t know how many apply and don’t get in but…we’ve got some time to figure out all those details. Right now, though, I think Dusty would do well to apply and if she doesn’t get in, the IB program would be her fall back. She really can’t lose. I’m astonished by the amazing choices she has.

The Writing Side, Part I: I got some writing done last week in the swanky new study rooms, while students were on Fall Break, in preparation for the writer’s conference Friday and Saturday and, of course, my computer stopped working Tuesday or Wednesday night (I really can’t remember now). I thought it was the fan that had crapped out. Took to a tech place on Thursday to discover the hard drive was fried. How such a thing could happen to such a new computer, I do not know but…it’s fixed now. The cursor jumps wildly though and it’s making life difficult. Hopefully I can get this glitch fixed without having to relinquish the laptop again. Sigh. It’s always something.

The Work/Professional Side: On Wednesday, I attended a professional meeting in Richmond with my research colleagues. I got some good information and a really good idea that may allow me to prove my professional worth. When I got back in the office, I’d received not one but two requests to speak at future conferences. One is in Pittsburgh in March, the other in Baltimore in….August? I think. And then a third possibility popped up in NOVA directly following the Pittsburgh gig. Which is exciting but also freaks me out because I’m not really a public speaker by any means (and still haven’t seen the evaluations from June) and am way too self-conscious when I’m “on stage”.

On Thursday, I took my computer to the tech guy. The business is an old crumbling house near the university and reminded me of the lair occupied by the conspiracy theory guys in The X Files. I was again in Work Mode with Homecoming looming. I am fortunate that my only involvement in events on campus is research turned in beforehand. I don’t have to attend them.

On Friday, after an annoying and pricey parking snafu (I HATE parking downtown), I went to two writing workshops. The Writing Side, Part 2, took the stage. The first workshop was for first pages. Everyone (or almost everyone – we didn’t get through all of them) read the first page of their manuscripts and we critqued them. The group made some good suggestions and observations about mine and I’m now considering a whole new angle.

Next, queries. My query letter didn’t make the cut. The agent read them all out loud and only a few made it to the “yes” pile. I also came away with a completely different way to write mine. So, it was all good.

Afterwards, I stopped off at the X Files lab. The computer would be ready by 5:00. It was 3:30pm. I hauled ass up the highway to pick up Dusty from the Y. So, Writer hat was removed and Mom hat put on. Got Dusty and then reversed myself. Picked up the computer and headed home.

On Saturday, the writers’ conference and Writing Side, Part 3, began. I hadn’t been there twenty minutes when I spilled coffee in my lap. Or, rather, my crotch. Which is never where you want to spill….well, anything! The sympathetic woman next to me noted that at least I was wearing brown pants. So, if the coffee ever dried, the stain would blend in. I was unable to fully appreciate this truth at the moment, though. Before lunch, I left to move my car and my pants fully dried during the warm afternoon walk two blocks up and two blocks back.

I got to hear the fabulous Tom Robbins be interviewed and sat with an author whose book was in the running for best fiction (via the VA Literary Festival) (she didn’t win). She was very personable. A Pakistani who came to the US at two years old, her book (Welcome to Americastan) had been published in India, but she had been included because she currently lived in Virginia. Her parents were with her and, as the four of us were vegetarians, we critiqued the food offerings and came to the same conclusion: conference center caterers just do not get it. Why, I don’t know. But they just don’t. So, we bonded over the food. Tom Robbins was hilarious in his Superman sweater.

On Sunday, I was back to the Mom Side. I took Red to see a movie and get her hair cut. It’s very cute and should be a heck of a lot easier to take care of. Girl was starting to resemble Rapunzel. But, sadly, she didn’t have the requisite 10 inches taken off for Locks of L0ve so…it ended up on the floor.

We came home, I made a sweet potato/spinach soup with corn muffins, and collapsed. Gardening Side made a brief appearance when I checked on the cabbages. Not sure they’ll be ready before heavy frost comes but there should be something to eat. They aren’t being consumed by bugs so there’s that at least.

This week should not require quite so many sides to show so brightly. I think I’ve used up all my wattage for the month.

15 Oct

Autumnal

Posted by freshhell in autumn, cars, damn traffic, Dusty, field trips, food, nature, pie!, Red, School. 7 comments

It’s gonna be a busy week. Today Dusty goes to what I hope will be one of her final orthodontic appointments. She can already taste the popcorn and gooey candy she’s had to avoid for 18 months. Tomorrow evening, I will spend hours at the middle school learning about the G&T program and the various high school options she’ll have – the AP/IB program at the high school next door and the offerings at the Governor’s school that serves our district. Its focus is International Studies which isn’t something Dusty’s particularly interested in. The Governor’s school that focuses on arts is out of our zone and too far away to consider. So, chances are that she’ll be in the AP/IB program. Which works for me. Dusty will do well wherever she goes. Wednesday will be spent in a professional organization meeting. Luckily, it’s in town. As much as I love driving Little Edie, I could stand to do less of it.

Speaking of Little Edie, she’s at the detailer’s this week. The mechanic wanted to fix all the scrapes and dings (on his dime) before we considered the deal closed. So, I’ll be driving the Passat for a couple days. Then, I can finally bring him home and begin to clean him up, inside and out, and put him up for sale.

The weekend went by in a blink and a flash. It was warm and dry and the leaves on the trees are slowly beginning to change. It’s looking pretty out there – in places. Cold at night, warm during the day…it’s making Pokey (and me) a little crazy. He wants to be OUT! No, IN! No, OUT! No….ARGH! Out it is! Don’t let the door hit you in the tail, cat!

On Saturday, I took the kids to get flu shots at a pharmacy mini-clinic. It should not have taken all afternoon but it did. We arrived at 1:00pm to discover the practioner was at lunch. We went off to the costume store for Halloween supplies, had some frozen yogurt, and then went back. Signed in and the people in front of us were in there for AN HOUR. Probably spreading some dread disease that *cough* we’re sure to *hack* succumb to any minute now. *COUGH*

Dusty had a friend spend the night and I took all three kids up to the mountains yesterday to pick apples at an orchard that apparently can be seen from Monticello. The two properties abut. I was expecting something much different than what I found (having never done this kind of thing before). The place was PACKED and it took us half an hour to drive up the winding road to the farm due to ungodly traffic. I really hate it when all of humanity has the same idea as me. Pisses me off. Not that I care about originality. It’s just…surely there are other things these people could be doing! Come on!

Red was already complaining before we got out of the car. She didn’t WANT to pick apples! She HATED apple pie (and still does)! When were we gonna get DONUTS! Oh, woe! I pulled her up a row of apple-free trees (they were all on the ground having been thoroughly picked over already) and we poked around the ground and chose perfectly good ground apples. Within a half an hour, we had all we could carry. I bought two dozen freshly-made donuts and sent the children to eat and sit under a tree while I went to the bathrom and visited the wine shop. Yes, the farm had a vinyard and winery on the premises. Bought two bottles of their pinot grigio and came back to discover that we were down to one dozen donuts. Well, they can’t say I didn’t feed them lunch, right?

The drive was pretty, though. I took back roads most of the way which took us through a place called Apple Grove. It was five beautiful old farm houses surrounded by mature shade trees and a sign that read “Apple Grove”. I want to move there immediately. I would love to have “Apple Grove, VA” as my next address.

After dropping the friend off, we came home and Red ran to the tv. Oh, TV, how she missed you! All that being-in-nature stuff is for a hardier person than Red! She is a delicate flower with a spine of steel. She should not be traipsing down muddy ruts between acres of apple trees, dodging bees and other people’s babies! No, she should be ensconced in front of the Disney Channel while the leaves silently drop off the trees and the wind does not disturb her locks. (She did go out and play later, lest you think all she does is watch tv.) Then she spent some time pants-less because she was hot.

I made an apple pie after resting up a bit. Made dinner. Cleaned the pig cage with Dusty’s help. Tidied up the hastily-read Sunday paper and….

And then….the weekend was over. Just like that.

9 Oct

Place Holder

Posted by freshhell in autumn, Damn People!, Dusty, Lone Star State, pain and woe, Red, School, travels, writing. 5 comments

I have so much to say and I’ve just been too tired to say it. A wonderful weekend in Texas followed by the crushing blow of reality and some odd jet lag that shouldn’t exist.

I have arrived home to find that autumn is here big time. It’s cold and wet and the leaves are changing. Which means a hundred holidays begin to pile up on each other and I’m not ready for any of them. And since it looks like the family Xmas Eve event will occur at my house, I’ve been trying to think about menus. Must consider all the meat eaters, the vegetarians, the vegans. The mother. That last is the most difficult to please but the one I least care to please.

Sigh.

On the good side, Dusty got into the Classic Movies Club at school which consists entirely of watching old movies once a month. That is my idea of a club. I just hope she’ll see things she hasn’t already seen before. We tend to watch a lot of TCM around here. We’ve introduced her to Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant and Barbara Stanwyck. She had zero interest in the Classic Musicals Club. Girl after my own not-loving-musicals heart. Unless it’s one of the following: Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz, or Grease. Beyond that….snore!

On the bad side, I picked up Red today from school to discover that she was dreadfully unhappy. Someone (she wouldn’t say who) told her in art class today that they hated her. Not that they didn’t like her or were mad at her, but that they HATED her. There were many, many tears. She ate dinner in her room (with me to keep her company). And tears after her bath. But after a little television, she seems to have perked up, her bruised feelings mended a bit. It’s never pleasant to be told – to your face – that you are hated. And as a mother, it’s hard to know what to do other than to comfort and sympathize. People suck. We can’t control other people any farther than we can throw them. We can, though, control how we let them affect us. Don’t let him or her ruin your evening, I said. That gives them too much power over you. She’s a swell kid. She’ll never be everyone’s cup of tea but I’d drink her up any day.

The week for me, if I can stay awake long enough, will involve crafting a query letter for my novel. I have a workshop next weekend in which whatever I write will be picked apart by an agent. Which is something I’ve paid for and crave. How do I get it right? How the hell can I sell this book I can’t seem to finish? This one is much easier to write about than the previous one but still. So, no pressure, right? I’ve drafted the bulk, the meat of it. I just need to fiddle around some more and then….throw it out to the critic for advice.

I can take it. I bruise less easier than Red. I wish I could teach her how to be tough but I think it’s the kind of thing you just have to learn on your own. Everyone makes their own path. We have to smooth our own stones. It’s harder to watch your children do than it is to walk down your own barefoot.

1 Oct

Liam! Taylor! Harry!

Posted by freshhell in boys, growing up, Red, Uncategorized. 7 comments

We drop into this piece every now and then. Its located in the Marqee Center off of I10. Its a cool place but it can get old pretty quick if you keep going.

If you blink, you’ll miss it: the moment when your children’s childhood is sloughed off for some other stage, another ladder rung. With Red, it started when the Eloise poster was banished for centerfold posters of teen idols and rock stars.

There are 4 sections to the club…80′s, hip hop/rap, spanish (salsa), and a kareoke room. The hip hop room gets ridicously packed on the weekends as to where you can barely get around and dance.

This weekend, a new magazine came in and out went the framed poster of goats that had once graced not only Dusty’s wall but my younger sisters’ walls many years ago.

As for the other rooms they are nowhere near as bad. The drinks aren’t expensive just as any other club but it can be hard sometimes to get one especially if you are in the hip hop section. This club is known for having the ocassional horny man seeking out a drunken girl lol so women have a careful eye.

It’s only a matter of time before the Frog and Toad poster goes. We talked about this last night, as I lay next to her before she went to bed. She decided that she’d rather keep the goat poster rather than Frog and Toad. Goats are cuter.

This other person put that the dancing looked like something out of a horror movie lol oh well people go out to have a good time this isn’t a dancing competition. Anyway..it’s 10 for guys to get in and free for girls before 10 i believe.

For now, though, the amphibians are hanging out with airbrushed boys and girls with creases down the middle of their faces and holes where the staples used to be. They are young and naive and I have to wonder how long they’ll last. A year? Two? Will they simply be wallpapered over by a never-ending stream of other young singers?

Another pro is that there is a movie theatre, comedy shows, and restaurants located in the marqee so good place to have a date I guess. Parking is cool too but you might have to walk a little depending on available spots or there is always valet.

Dusty’s childhood lasted 10 years. Red’s is ending sooner than that. Perhaps because of the influence of an older sister and shared interests. She still plays with toys but the walls are beginning to crumble. I saw it here first.

Check it out, Peace!

27 Sep

Breaking It Down

Posted by freshhell in autumn, cars, gardening, Red, School. 8 comments

I’m slowly dismantling the garden. We had such a wet summer but the recent dry spell has hastened the plants’ demises and made it a bit easier to begin pulling them up. What’s left is scraggly and hornworm decimated. I’m rarely in the garden after dinner these days because the mosquitos are so bad but I needed to water the cabbages I’d planted so I picked some tomatoes while I was there, cut the plants back a bit, watered everything, weeded the neglected path. As sad as it is to see things go, I’m a bit tired and ready to let go of this year’s garden. I have one megabatch of basil to freeze – one last (giant) plant to hack down. Then, I suppose I’ll have to pull up the remaining tomato plants and let the flowers do what they will. I’ll save the marigold seeds for next year. I’m already planning the beds and what will go in them. Since most of my strawberry plants died, I’ll be buying new ones. It’s always something.

I have taken possession of my new car. I’m working out the kinks, figuring out which lights have been left on and how to turn them off, how to undo the stupid child-safety door locks so I don’t have to act like chauffeur for Dusty when I drop her off at school and embarass her in front of….no one. It’s nice. It’ll be nicer when the Passat’s been sold and I can take it off my insurance. The new payments scare me, like any new expense does, but hopefully there won’t be any tragic repairs in the near future and that any that come up will be covered by the warranty.

Tonight, is Red’s Back to School night when we meet her teacher. Her fresh green very new, ink’s-not-dry-on-the-diploma teacher. I had to help Red study for a history (U.S. government) test last night and she broke down because she doesn’t understand what “studying” means. She’s never really had to study for something before and clearly no instruction has been given. She wasn’t even sure the terms were ones she’d encountered yet in class. We’ve received no information from the teacher thus far which is a bit disconcerting. We’ve always gotten weekly emails from the teachers. Perhaps they’ll start soon? I have to ask. Red is not a confident student. School is not her best subject. She’s happy in only a couple of places: outside, playing in her room and listening to the radio, and in front of the tv. Sigh. It’s only going to get harder for her, I’m afraid.

Tomorrow night, we head to the state fair. There is much rejoicing! The state fair filed for bankruptcy earlier in the year and we feared we’d lost it forever. But fortunately, two entities came together and rescued it. Thank goodness. We are going at night for the first time. Dusty and Red are finally old enough to stay up late and enjoy the lights. The fair is lovliest at night, I think. We’ll be going to the freak show and possibly the circus tent (both of which we missed last year because Dusty wasn’t feeling well). We’ll ride the ferris wheel and see the lit up fair from high in the air. It should be fun. Esp if there are fireworks. We’re skipping all the animals this year. We LIVE amongst farm animals. They just aren’t all that. Farm World is our reality. All I ask is that it doesn’t rain. The fair always brings rain and sure enough, after a long dry patch, rain’s in the forecast for the next few days.

14 Sep

These Maldives Accomodation Days

Posted by freshhell in Adventures in Scouting, autumn, Dusty, Red, School, Uncategorized. 5 comments

Is it ok if I use part of your article in an article I am writing? I will credit you and link back to your article.

Again, the spam has built up and I hate to waste a single unearned compliment. Especially a compliment coming from a robot. Or however it works.

I do not even know the way I stopped up right here, however I believed this post used to be good.

Of course, I guess they aren’t ALL compliments, are they? Either way, they are amusing.

I don’t know who you might be but definitely you’re going to a well-known blogger when you are not already

Yeah. So, we’ve now got two weeks of school, and school routines, under our belts now and boy are we exhausted!

Last night was Dusty’s Back to School night and visiting nine classrooms in an hour was…well, not exactly exhilarating. I did get to meet her teachers. All of them. In five minute chunks. I very much liked her history teacher and her G&T teacher. Her homeroom/science teacher reminds me a bit too much of my mother and she is Dusty’s least favorite. I’m sure it’ll all be fine. There’s no law that says you have to love all your teachers but really, sometimes it’s just time to retire.

British travelers go for cheap holidays accommodation more that 1 time every year due to the bad weather. Many of them book online themselves as they find it much maldives cheap accommodation.

Red was put out because we didn’t get back home until 8pm and she needed to take a bath and make her lunch and then….bedtime. No tv time AT ALL! Oh, the pain of it all! This kid would not fare well in a house without entertainment or electricity. She’s not a “sit and read” kinda kid. She’s a “sit and stare at a screen” kid. When she’s not narrating and commenting on her Archie comics. Or planning her outfit for the next day. Or breaking down into tears because suddenly all of her underwear are too small.

There are many guesthouses in maldives for the celebration of different type of occasion. One of the most surprising locations to offer cheap hotels is the Maldives. Well once you think about it probably not.

Tonight, though, Red has a slumber party to attend. There will be no underwear breakdowns, no Moomintroll reading at bedtime. It will be strangely quiet.

You have opened the doors to the Atlai Passages to find a device that will carry you down below the waves. Only enough room for 10 people at a time and virtually no vehicle can fit inside. Once the Key was inserted, and remains in place, the doors will remain open and keep Atlantis from sinking again.

Tomorrow, Dusty and I will make a voyage to purchase a number of items. First, while Dusty will be a Cadette and remain in Girl Scouts, she’s enrolled as a Juliette. An independent scout. She’ll begin working on her Silver Award but won’t be doing it within a troop. This means she won’t be selling cookies. I’ve stepped down as Cookie Mom. Turned in my imaginary badge and credentials. It’s gonna be the homeschool version of scouting. Luckily, she’ll be on the distribution lists for the two local troops and will be able to participate in all the things she likes best about scouting: camping and trips and outdoor activities.

Though once down the passages you finally see the Ancient lost City of Atlantis. A marvel of both the most advanced technology and magic, which no civilization has come close too both past and present. But it’s empty and not a soul can be seen.

Then, we’ll head to the music store and get her a flute which will be her instrument in band. I’m hoping we can do that locally and not have to travel into the city. I need to make that phone call today.

The people of the place all dead and gone there remains are drying coral as the water drains from the city.

In two weeks, Red’s school has a Back to School night which will much less confusing. One teacher. One. No, dodging masses of people, trying to find Dusty in the crowd as she does her best to lose us in the hallways as we go from one end of the school to the other and back. One teacher. It’ll seem like a vacation after last night!

Wow, marvelous blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy.

We’ll end the month with a nighttime trip to the State Fair. Dusty and Red (esp Red) are finally old enough to stay up late (in my estimation) and see the Fair the way fairs were intended to be experienced: all lit up in the dark. The ferris wheel should be extra fun this time. It’s the perfect way to end September.

The overall look of your site is wonderful, as well as the content!

31 Aug

Thursday In The City With Dusty

Posted by freshhell in Dusty, gardening, Red, summer, Uncategorized. 6 comments

Well, this is it. The last week of summer. The Final Friday. I’m both sad to see summer go and also restless for our new “normal” schedule to kick in. Dusty’s ready for whatever middle school will bring. Red’s met her nice new (very fresh!) teacher. I’m ready for lots of NOT driving people places, particularly these crazy, “bring your kid to work half-day and then drive her into the city for an art class” days. I want to get back to the novel, to Vein of Gold tasks, to walking, to autonomy.

Yesterday, we left the office early and strolled around in Richmond’s Carytown, the shopping district of my youth. It wasn’t much when I was a kid but now it’s THE place to shop if you are cool, hip and have money to spend on things.

Dusty and her dad had walked around earlier in the week and Dusty had taken some photos. All but the wall stencil were taken in a vintage clothing store.

We bought some birthday presents for upcoming birthdays and strolled around.

She got some frozen yogurt in the new funky place NEXT DOOR to the *other* local frozen yogurt shop. It was a bit like being on an Austin Powers set but it was certainly more spacious and quiet.

Before I took her to class, we stopped in at the new artisan donut shop and bought a dozen. Because I’m afraid I can’t not buy donuts now if I’m in Carytown. Forget the fancy cupcakes and even the hoity toity chocolate shop. There’s something about the donut shop with it roller derby-tattoo’d lady donut makers that makes me say “Yes, please!”

Today, Red has her last day with the babysitter. They will be making cupcakes together. How sweet is that? The babysitter brought her own supplies (including eggs, one of those staples I rarely have on hand). I glanced into the bag and saw copious amounts of frosting. Red should be in heaven. She seems to need a certain amount of sugar every day to keep the system running properly.

We’ve got a fairly low key weekend planned. Friends coming over and some lying around. I need to start dismantling the garden which, I’m afraid, has been a bit neglected lately. Long driving hours and evening chores have meant I haven’t had much time back there lately. Tomatoes are still ripening. Peppers still growing. Lots of happy bees at work in the basil. Soon, it’ll all have to come up. Guess I should take some end-of-year photos before I do that. I’m already planning for next year. So, the work, in one way or another, never really ends. Like summer. This one’s fading but the next one’s just around a long, cold corner.

« Older Entries