Back to Reality

We spent the morning doing back-to-school shopping. The girls were really excited to go. They each held onto their own lists and went exploring on their own, while I served merely as cart-side consultant and wallet.

J’s supplies. Ticonderoga only, baby, because that’s how Nisky rolls.

Honestly, the whole outing was fairly pleasant, but we ended up popping into a couple of stores, and I’m pretty shopping-averse, so I found it exhausting. I’ve been pretty sleepy since returning from vacation, and I can’t decide if I need more exercise, more sleep, or both. Something’s off kilter.

We thought that we’d relax at the pool, but there wasn’t a single friend at the pool. For any of us. Even though I’d packed dinner, we left early, all of us feeling a bit crabby.

Then friends had dropped off mountains of hand-me-downs. Which is lovely, but it mean a monster sorting job.

Sorting piles of clothes all over my living room

I’ve said before that the whole trying-on-the-clothes process involves quite a bit of drama. Here I haven’t even delved into what we already had stored away. That’s for tomorrow. Or maybe the next day. Even though they rejected plenty (some with good cause, but other items were adorable in every way and I am still a little bit bitter but I just have to breathe that bitterness out. Here I go: Hooooooo. It didn’t help), they also found some new exciting treasures. Funny, Katie’s idea of treasure rarely match M’s and J’s ideas. For a little while J was wearing a long t-shirt as a dress and, coupled with the several-sizes-too-large, high-heeled shoes she’d found, she looked like she was ready to go out pole dancing or partying with Paris Hilton (or who is partying skankily these days? I can’t keep up). She kept striking poses, hip thrust out, and she was adorable and appalling in equal measure. Later, she came up with this fashion “Don’t”:

PJ pants too loose over your bathing suit? Just tighten it up with that Vera Bradley binder clip you & Grandma found on sale! Who says you can overdo patterns?!?!

M, meanwhile, had turned her hat into the perfect game accessory.

She and J played Talk Blindfolded M Through the House. For those of you who remember our Girl Scout outing, at least a hat beats duct-taping the kids’ eyes!

By the end of the evening both girls were begging for a bit too much tv, and both parents were lazy enough to grant it. So when they didn’t get the amount of reading that they usually get at bedtime, there was an uncharacteristic amount of sobbing and stamping (J) and sighing and eye-rolling (M). All in all, a poor ending to a day that was far more productive than pleasant.  Sadly, Cute W’s going out of town tomorrow and not returning until Friday. So please, if you have any patience to spare, send it to me via psychic powers. Thank you.

 

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