Spring Not-Break

So, it's Spring Break! Only it's not! Because I have to work four out of five days (we do get Friday off, thank you University). In addition, I'm trying to sew 50 drawstring bags for our upcoming school fundraiser because I volunteered to do that, because I am insane. Also, Rocket Boy is trying to get ready to move to St. Louis in six weeks, which in his mind means sorting through boxes of junk and cleaning up the back patio.

But other than that, it's Spring Break. The kids are off school, which is nice because it means we don't have to get them up early and shove them out the door. However, they are naturally early risers (every day except school days, that is), so they wake up before we do, and even if they try to be quiet, the sound of the toilet flushing, a lot of whispering, and four feet loudly thumping down the hallway tend to disturb our sleep. Also, they make the cats think it's time to get up, which causes more noise and more thumps, as the cats jump on the bed (one at a time -- they don't like to be on the bed together) and come sit next to our faces and purr loudly. So then I get up, because what the heck, and anyway I have to get ready to go to work. And eventually Rocket Boy gets up too. So it's not like a normal Spring Break where you really get to sleep in.

In the past, I often signed the kids up for a camp or two during Spring Break, but this year we simply can't afford it. Before Rocket Boy can start receiving paychecks, we have to get him moved, and that's going to cost a lot of money, particularly renting him some sort of place to live. So for now we must continue to be frugal, even more frugal than usual. (I'm ignoring the shorts and pajamas I just ordered for the boys -- they have to have clothes, right?) In lieu of camps, we are making them do some schoolwork each weekday in order to earn some computer time. Yesterday they each wrote a book review and today they practiced their musical instruments. Tomorrow we'll read -- no, I must not think of myself at their age, reading obsessively every chance I got. They are not me, they do not like to read. So tomorrow we will read and then they will have computer time.

Yesterday and today I worked at home, but the next two days I need to go in to the office for meetings. Other than work, I've mostly been sewing little cloth bags. This photo shows what they look like. Cute, no? Counting this one, I've made 16 so far.

Sixteen is a long way from 50.

But I've already cut out six more, so by Thursday night we should be up to 22 (I try to do three per day), and then by Saturday night maybe 28, and that's how you eventually get to 50. It's a lot of work, though. The bags are pretty easy, but my sewing machine is, I think, 43 years old (I've had it about 35 years?) and it's a little cranky. And then there's me, 58 years old and even more cranky. Together we're quite a team. The cat considers itself part of the team too (see photo above). I'm trying really hard not to get cat hair on everything.

Not much else to report -- we don't have any great plans for the Spring Break week, on account of me having to work. Maybe Friday. My reading pace has slowed down, but as we near the end of the month my total for the year is 36 books, with probably one or two more to go by the 31st. My "classic" book this month was from category #2, "20th Century Classic," A Passage to India by E. M. Forster, which I've had on my to-read list for decades. I found it very interesting, though it took me a long time to read. I have the movie out of the library and hope we can watch it this week. Next month I am moving on to category #4, "Classic in Translation," but I don't know what it will be yet. Probably something off my bookshelves that I've never managed to read. I also need to start reading the biography of Franklin Pierce that I just checked out of the CU library.

My main activity will continue to be sewing little cloth bags, as we continue to prepare for the giant school fundraising dinner on April 26th (and Rocket Boy's departure soon after). April is sounding like a barrel of laughs -- the cruelest month, right. But first we have five more days of March, which I'm going to try to enjoy.