Friday in the Park...

I know, its supposed to be Saturday in the Park, but waddayawant? I've not had more than two hours sleep in any one night for, oh, five or six days. With Rob gone now for five days (?) I'm feeling more than ragged. I've been encouraging the kids to go outside and not come back. she's kidding, right?

Field Trip
Today, for the first time ever, I chaperoned a school field trip. Anna's first grade class went to Glen Echo Park which is absolutely lovely. Many, many years ago it was an amusement park and they do still run the beautiful old carousel in the summer months. For the last 30 years or so, its been managed by the National Park Service and has provided entertainment of many sorts; some of the buildings are being used as artists' studios. The ballroom is lovely and they offer a wide variety of dance opportunities: contra dancing and squares, swing, ballroom. All that stuff. But today we were there for a puppet show. We saw Jack and the Beanstalk which was really well done.

But the real thrill were the kids. First graders love Mommies---doesn't matter whose Mommy you are; mothers might be rock stars in a first-grader's mind. I was greeted with a smile so big from Anna that I was afraid her cheeks would cramp. On the other hand, when I popped into Haley's third grade class, I was greeted by that now-familiar "what are you doing in my life" look. Nice. I chaperoned five kids; all very sweet. One Chinese boy who reminded me so much of my nephew Daniel, I could hardly pay attention to anyone else from wanting to know him better. I miss me some Daniel. An adorable little (tiny) Korean girl was so sweet; admiring my pin and hair, shoes (which were in fact, lovely; summer wedges, maybe 4 inches tall!). At length she said, "you're chubby!". Yes, yes; that I am, little girl. Then she wanted to know if I was also soft. First graders---gotta love 'em. Built for comfort...that's me.

Late night diversions
So what do I do between the hours of 11 pm when I try to go to bed and 4 am when I fall asleep? Hmmm. There's been some knitting while listening to podcasts; that's not such a good idea as I kind of like it and that doesn't help get me to sleep. I also spent some time ripping audio content off of the YouTube video posted below since I couldn't find that track anywhere. Productive, but also too damned fun for winding down. Two nights ago, I think I finally found the right thing: sitting in the living room, mostly no light, plinking on the guitar. I can (and have) done that for hours, but its very soothing.

Ask me how much I've learned in nearly five months of self instruction? Oh, just about nothing. I think I need a new teacher. But I do love it. I just suck.

Sushi Countdown
Thursday night sushi with Dave is about to come to an end... last night was great; the shumai were to die for, the yellowtail completely completely yummy and who doesn't love a good California roll? In the 11 years or so I've been a loyal customer of that joint, I've never ever had avocado that wasn't EXACTLY perfectly ripe. Mmmmmmm. Afterward, we walked across the street to grab a cup of tea and ran into the cool rastafarian dude who helped us find Noodle back in December; he totally remembered me. Instead of driving a Mercedes this time, he was in a lovely white Jaguar....hmmm. Something about those Rasta guys makin some money. Wonder what that's about....oddly enough, the last time I saw him was just outside a St**bucks as well.

Dave and T are planning to move the last week of June. I'm planning a visit for September/October. Having a firm plan for our first visit is about the only way I can deal with this. I guess the people at the sushi place will think we've divorced.

I'm hoping to sleep, Kittens. If you find a post over at Tracks for the Day, you'll know it didn't go well.