Friday the 13th, part 2

For the record, I love Friday the 13th. My mom was born on a Friday the 13th, so it has always been a good day for me, no superstitions here.

So, the rest of our day went pretty smoothly, too. The zoo was great! Because of the rain, there was hardly anyone there. Just gotta love that. We spent the entire 2 hours in the reptile and nocturnal houses. There was a keeper going from window to window, cleaning and checking the animals, and the kids just followed him, enrapt. They were fascinated when Mr. Zookeeper used the long snake stick thing to gently hold back the rattler when he was cleaning the enclosure. They loved it when he lifted two lizards out in one hand, and watched intently as he examined the pond turtle as he removed it. They also loved it when he sprayed water towards them and made faces at them occassionally.

I had an interesting converesation with a zookeeper who was telling me all about the recent illness and then recuperation of the tree kangaroos, a pair about 17 yrs old. She also told me that the little armadillo we are all so fond of watching is named Edward. Edward is hillarious to watch- he runs around and around and around and around. He crawls through tubes, digs into the underbrush, then digs back out again, then runs around and around and around some more.

When we went into the nocturnal house, they were enthralled once more. They found Edward and watched him for some time. I had fun watching the porcupines (they don't call me Needleroozer for nothin'!), and was, as usual surprised by thier agility and climbing ability. We spent a long time looking at the bats, as they were the focus of our visit today. We all did semi-blind (very dark in the nocturnal house, ya know) contour drawings of them, and just sat there in awe at how beautiful they are. They look so fluffy and soft, and then there are those wings! When they stretch out, you can see the veins, and get a good look at their fingers!

Then we went to the cafe, and ate dried fruit, strawberries, and carob-covered raisins. We looked at each others' drawings, and found them quite impressive for having been done in the dark. A few minutes of at the playground time for the kids, while we two moms talked curriculum (but of course!), and a few more minutes in the zoostore, where the girl bought a stuffed komodo dragon, and then we were off.

We found a used bookstore near the zoo, and spent a delightful 45 minutes checking out their entire collection. The kids and I reminisced about books they loved as toddlers- they even made me read Jamberry by Bruce Degan to them. As many times as I read it over and over again when they were little, I never get tired of reading that book! And did you know Alexandra Day has a new Carl book out? Carl's Sleepy Afternoon. I will have to get that one some day- yes, I still have all the kids' board and picture books. I am saving them for the future grandbabies! Anyhow, it was a fun way to spend some time. The Boy used all his spending money to buy a 4 book series that I can't remember the name of, but that he has wanted for some time.

By now, we had used up enough time that we could stop by and pick Papa up from work. We stopped by the store to pick up a bag of salad, and came out with $60. worth of food!! Funny how that works! Headed home, fixed salads using leftover chicken from last night, and plopped in front of the tube to watch Heaven Can Wait with Warren Beatty. We had watched Here Comes Mr. Jordan a couple of months ago, so we thought this remake would be fun to see as well. It was. It is so cool to be able to watch movies with the kids that aren't always animated or juvenile in nature. I also love to be able to use the library system to check out movies- when your budget is tight, it is very convenient!

The kids are tucked in now, they need to get up at our regular time tomorrow. Remember when I was so sick after Thanksgiving and we had to cancel our plans with the Godparents? Well, they called this week and said they have this weekend free, so we are going to drive out there tomorrow to spend the day with them. I bought sandwich makings tonight, and will take the rest of the strawberries and make a pie there. We will also take some of the new games Santa brought us for Christmas. Should be fun!


Okay, new topic. You all know I lost my respite care job at the beginning of December, and I have been adjusting to not working for the last month. There have been some definate advantges to being completely home. I miss the challenge, and I miss the little bit of money I made doing it, but all in all, I don't miss the stress of the job. I thought I might just throw myself into teaching, momming, and maybe throw some art time in there too. Well..........

I found out at the beginning of this week that there is an opening for a library page at the local library, just about 5 minutes from our house. It is for 8 hours a week, and is just about the same hourly wage I made at respite care- with far fewer responsiblities and I think, less stress. Duties include shelving books, tidying library, helping patrons occasionally. This is the job I wanted two years ago when we first moved to this house, but this is the first opening for a page there has been in hat time. That is why I took the respite care job in the first place.
I tried to put it out of my mind, but it didn't seem to work. I wasn't sure how Papa would react, but I told him about it tonight. He encouraged me to apply. The deadline to apply is the girl's birthday, the 23rd of this month. I have a couple of days to think about it. It would most likely be 2 to 3 evenings a week, from 6 to 9 pm. I would miss dinner and storytime those nights, but Papa would be home to watch the kids.

I don't really want to work, but you know, the Girl wants to go to Interlochen music camp this summer, and Boy wants to take those summer classes at the UW. Boy needs his own french horn, and Girl wants a cello. I know it isn't much, but $300. a month would really help out with things like that. I have musical kids, and there are things they are going to need.

What do you guys think? I have enjoyed not working, and wonder if it has had an impact on the kids. Boy just seems so much more willing to do his schoolwork lately, and we have had a few less discipline issues. But this would be working in the evenings, not during their school hours. Hmmmmmmm.

Well, I promised myself I would start reading Count of Monte Cristo tonight, and I also need to get to bed at a reasonable time (I am actually already there, snuggled in with my wonderful laptop), so I will sign off. I am not checking for typos, so there! Have a great day tomorrow!
LB