Kismet

An update.....kinda

 

~K! 

They grow up so fast

Mason is coming down with a cold. His voice is kind of raspy and he has a deep rumble in his chest that croups out now and then. Typically when when he has any kind of virus running through him it shows up in other ways also and this morning I noticed a little skin eruption below his bottom lip. Just a little red chapping. I wondered if it bothered him so I asked, 

"Mase, what do you have going on there below your lip?"

He put his hand to his face and looked me in the eye and said in all earnestness, 

"I don't know. I must be growing a beard." 

I still can't get over the fact that he has 2 front teeth!

~K!

Chore chart

I've been feeling over-whelmed lately. And really, it is things that have accumulated over time but all seems to fall on us all at once because we've let them go. I love my house and we try to keep up. But man it is work. The exterior needs to be painted again and it seems like we just did it. The window frames are peeling down to bare wood in some spots. The roof needs to be redone and especially our detached garage. We live in the Pacific NW so the moss factor is huge. Embarrassing, really.

The basement needs attention because it not only leaks but is covered in toys that are too young for anyone to be playing with and need to be boxed up and taken to the Goodwill. And on that note, I have 3 boxes of books and 4 or 5 boxes of clothing and household items already boxed that I just need to stick in the back of my car and drop off at the reception site. I actually had the books in my car at one point but ended up taking them out cause I needed the room for a trip or something and they migrated back to the basement!

We moved out of our cozy little tv room nook back to the living room in order to make the nook into a school room. I need to get in there and strip wallpaper in order to make the school room what I want it to be.

 

 We need to do all the Fall stuff that has to be done, clean gutters, mow one last time, edge, sweep, weed, pull out the dead stuff. You know, the uush (how DO you abreviate 'usual'?).

When I was lamenting my woes to my husband, who is feeling the pressure as much as I am, he gave me his tip for accomplishing the list. His advice?

 'Pick one thing and do it'

We have different days off from one another (by choice, for Mason coverage) so we do our chores independently as a rule. Last week he mowed and took down the pool. This week I texted him everyday,

"My one thing, I moved the bookcases"

"My one thing, I did the laundry and cleaned the laundry room"

"My one thing, I did the big grocery shopping"

I doubt he'll be getting a text, "My one thing, I roofed the house" but it's a start.

What's on your list?

~K!

Where have all the flowers gone?

Recently my sister and I took a drive through the small town of our youth. We were on a mission to find Peanut Butter Mt Bars. We tried all the small corner groceries that we could remember. We wandered up and down long forgotten streets, calling out memories to one another.

After a bit my sister said, 

"Let's go down to Vic's Tavern and have an iced tea!"

"Oh hey, that's a great idea!" 

When we were kids there were three places we were likely to find Daddy when he got off his night shift at the plywood mill; the American Legion, Mac's Pit or Vic's Tavern.  Usually it was Vic's. Daddy was well known about town and everyone called him Yogi. He always wore a hat when he went out and when he was a younger man he rode a scooter.  When we were very young (school aged) we'd call around looking for Daddy and have to scream to be heard over the bar noise,

 

"Is my daddy there?"

 

We soon learned to just ask for Yogi.

 

 

 

Daddy was hard of hearing and couldn't discern our girlish little voices over the phone on his best day. Mostly we just wanted to track him down and know where he was. Usually when we called Vic's Tavern Vic himself would answer. He was a good ol' boy and loved Yogi's little girls. I can remember standing in line outside the Victory theater waiting to see the newest Disney movie (Swiss Family Robinson!) when Daddy and Vic would come strolling  by, pat us all on the head and give each kid in line a quarter. After the movie we'd walk down to Vic's and Daddy would haul us each up to the bar and order us Shirley Temples. We felt so grown up.

 

Some mornings we'd wake up after Daddy had fallen asleep on the couch after his night shift and there'd be 3 packs of Dentyne gum lined up and 3 cool tiny little swords or flags or flamingos, one for each of us next to our gum. We had no idea what a swizzle stick was but we thought they were pretty great.

 

 

 

Vic's was located in a lovely old brick building over-looking the river. At one point Daddy lived in a walk up apartment above the tavern. It smelled like natural gas and was kinda grimy. But it was convenient. I am sure Vic gave him a break on the rent.

 

On my 21st birthday I went to Vic's and let him serve me my first legal drink. It only seemed appropriate.

 

As my sister and I made our way to Vic's after our futile search for the Mt bars we chatted about the role Vic had played in our lives and our memories of him. We were pretty excited to once more hie ourselves up to the bar of our youth, even though neither of us are drinkers. We drove through the heart of town, passing the candy store where we'd go in and ask for samples, the Victory theater, now a triplex, past the Legion hall and the Rexall drug store and turned down the well remembered street.

 

Vic's was gone. The whole building had been razed and now a pocket park provides an unobstructed view of the river.

 

It's only logical I guess, both Daddy and Vic are long gone also.

 

But it is hard to bury a piece of one's youth.

 

~K!