Spring Break Staycation

The highlight of last month’s spring break staycation was taking a daytrip to Ann Arbor! Thrifting, gaming, shopping, and eating. And walking.

Our first stop was Salvation Army, on our way into town. Connor found a telescope for cheap — all it needs is a bolt and locking washer for one of the tripod legs.

Our next stop was Pinball Pete’s. Connor had never been to an honest-to-goodness arcade before (Chuck E. Cheese doesn’t count). All the machines still take actual money, not tokens or cards, which was refreshing.

Luckily, there’s no visual documentation of me playing DDR Extreme — although it was OMG SO FUN and took me back to my college days, I really don’t need to see what I looked like jumping around to my favorite DDR song. I assure you, I looked nothing like this guy.

After an hour or so at Pinball Pete’s, we walked across the Diag to the other side of campus, for virtually everything else we wanted to do.

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Status: Annoyed

Today’s reminder to double-check all the things: While machine-darning my husband’s shorts, I sewed the pocket lining to the leg. Real good, too, I might add. My only option was to cut the pocket away from the darning, which made for another hole to mend.

A Solo Evening In

On one Friday each month, the karate dojo hosts a Parents’ Night Out. Sometimes it’s a video game night. Sometimes they plan a Pokemon trading party. Sometimes it’s a Ninja Ball tournament. But sometimes — like tonight — it’s a Nerf War, where kids bring their Nerf guns and the dojo supplies a massive amount of standard Nerf bullets.

Connor’s not always interested, especially as he’s now one of the older kids — but he’s always up for a Nerf War.

For the price of our usual “Fun Friday” pizza delivery, Connor gets to hang out at the dojo, shooting his Nerf gun and eating pizza, while I get two and a half hours of “me” time.

As drop-off time approaches, I always daydream about how much I’ll accomplish during those two hours alone. Maybe I’ll do some sewing, or declutter my storage spaces. Maybe I’ll do some weeding, or catch up on all the things I’ve been meaning to blog about. Maybe I’ll do an evening of digital detox — no phone, no laptop, no TV.

That never happens. None of it.

First, what happens is dinner. Sometimes I order out, or sometimes — like tonight — I scare up something simple for myself from the freezer or the pantry. My iPhone keeps me company while I eat, and continues to keep me company for a while after that.

Then the realization dawns on me: two hours is not as much time as it seems, especially at the end of the day, and even more so at the end of the week. If I’d planned a little more carefully, I could have knocked off a few tasks — as it is, though, it might be a better use of my time to sit in the sunroom and enjoy the sounds of spring. Feel the breeze. Watch the sunset. Calm my judgmental inner voice.

Yeah, that sounds good.

By then, the sunset has reached the cotton candy phase of blues and pinks, with a turquoise backdrop. It’s time to put my Mom hat back on and go pick up my Nerf warrior.

Deer Sighting

Deer sighting in my back yard! Mama and four adolescents, for a total of FIVE deer in my yard just now. At least one of the kiddos had cute little antler nubs.

They ate some weeds, munched on the yew a little, and sampled the grape hyacinths before Mama saw us watching and sauntered away from the house.