Pack Up Losers

Even though I frequently worry about giving you only pithy updates, it sure has been a long time since I highlighted the majestic mundanity of life. 

As is frequent, I will accompany my musings with loosely unrelated photographs. 

We had this great weekend back in September around Mom and Lee's birthdays. Ellen, Mom, and I had a Girls Day where we went out and painted pottery and followed it up with a little tea party. The pottery painting really struck us all as funny. I was huddled over a square trivet painting octopus tentacles cascading down one side, Mom was using a stencil to paint a hot air balloon on to a ceramic ornament, and in the time it took us to work on these, Ellen splatter painted two different pieces, and used her free time to test out paint pens and travel-inspired sponges. 

The funny bit was the different levels of dedication to the task, as well as the outcomes despite the dedication. You see, we foolishly planned our tea time, not allowing for the precious time it takes to paint a masterpiece. We were rushing and slinging paint, cackling and franticly adding details and smudges. 

"Hurry up man!" Ellen would say, "We gotta leave in 5!"

"Raahh!" Mom would growl as her second layer blended into the first.
"But I'm only on the 6th leg!"

Ellen watched impatiently, her pieces long since behind the finish line, sharing a cigarette. "We gotta go!" she'd shriek.

Yaaahh!" Mom would emit again, never looking up from her balloon.

"Just let me add the suction cups!"

"I'll go pay!" Ellen took hasty little steps up to the register while Mom's and my hands trembled with laughter as we worked to finish our masterpieces. 

"Let's go! Let's go!"

Mom, and Ellen's "Leisure Club" inspired art.

We finally abandoned our pieces, grabbed our sweaters and purses, and hustled into the parking lot. We piled into Ellen's car and headed for Downtown. "Out of my way!" she'd growl at slow-moving vehicles. "People just don't know how to drive!" We tore through town, flew over the bridge, and came to a screeching halt in the parking garage. Purses and sweaters. Move move move. We swiftly shuffled into the hotel, down the long echoing corridor, and rounded the corner to the tea room. 

"Yes," Ellen said with an elegant, feminine voice, "We have a tea reservation for Union?"

"Right this way." We gracefully glided into our seats and fanned our napkins across our laps. 

"Thank you," we said, as the calm and refined women we are. 

Eisenhauers at Golden Hour

The next night we had a big family dinner out at a restaurant Downtown to celebrate all three of our September birthday family members, and while we were there, we saw Brett's brother, out celebrating his September birthday. That sort of thing is great fun. 

The following morning, Brett and I set out for coffee and breakfast and wound up stumbling upon a little furniture store having a moving sale and we surprised ourselves by purchasing a bookcase. We were both oddly thrilled by it and dared suggested haggling for it. We went home to mull it over and work out a haggling plan. Neither of us are the type, so this took mental prep and the larger car. We both hope we age into people who are comfortable making other people uncomfortable. Unfortunately the store owner already possessed this skill, so Brett and I wound up purchasing it for more than our bottom line. "We still got a discount," we reassured each other.  In any case, it's called a "chubby cubby" bookcase, and we left one lined with a small blanket for Ferguson. 

Since I was already feeling wild, I followed Brett to the gym, (my first time in one, ever!) and I had the best time in there, dangling from the machinery and swimming in the pool. I have not since gone back, and I think it's best to leave it as a positive memory. When we came home, I painted our bedroom, we took the dogs to the park, and then we ended our day by making just the best soup for supper. 

It was one of those weekends that are so uncommon for the lack of things that must get done as well as the presence of mystically-timed good spirits of all the people at once. Usually, someone has at least one burdensome thing to take care of, but this weekend was like the breeze tickling the tops of the marsh grass. No obstacles or restrictions, just floating along from one good moment to the next.

I'm ending with Halloween pictures because Ethan and Owen with their pumpkins is just the best thing.