When I had a toddler - who wanted to pound on my keyboard when I was writing, my husband brought home a used keyboard from my workplace and so I set the toddler up beside me., on the floor, 'typing' on her own keyboard while I sat at the real keyboard, writing.
And everyone was happy.
Every day I take a one mile walk (as measured by my iPhone. )
Every summer I spend days in the pool swimming 12 laps - backstroke and side stroke.
And yet. Two days ago I finally got into the pool to begin my summer swimming. Only swam 6 laps. And yesterday I couldn't' walk anywhere without a cane. (usually it's just an outside thing and I walk inside my house just fine.) (usually it's just one leg, but yesterday and today it's both legs - and not just a muscle problem because of swimming. I've never had a problem with swimming before, ever.) The rules have changed again. grrrrr.
on the plus side - the pool was warmer than usual - nice.
And don't get me started about spiders in my car. What is it about me that they are sneaky and bite me? Am I a tasty treat to them? Plus - I can't find them but occasionally do see webs. They must be tiny, tiny, tiny.
When we moved, I took several things along with me that my mother in law had used to extend her reach.
A Grabber.
A folding three step stool.
A folding five step ladder with extended piping above it so you can hang onto it and balance while reaching for high things.
All of which I use constantly.
And there's this memory:
There's something about going through college with your best friend and marrying right after graduation.
Although, one of my children was very disappointed with us. "all of my friends have several parents and lots of brothers and sisters and half brothers and sisters and.... and you're still married to the same person?"
Well, that's another way I failed my child.
Another ALA experience last weekend:
The lines were so long for the various author signings that I didn't know which line was for what book, so I probably missed a lot of good experiences.
On the other hand, I was just standing by an empty table talking to someone and the publisher staff asked if we were in line. We looked at each other and asked, "what line." When the staff member explained who would be signing at that table we nodded and told her that 'sure. We'll be in line" (we were first in line for Dan Santat !!!)
My grandson will love that book.
L ong ago, when we lived in Towanda, PA, my mother let me walk home by myself from kindergarten, so a friend and I took a shortcut that was an hour longer than our regular walk.
We hiked through alleys and people's back yards. We collected empty pop bottles and turned them into the corner store for two cents each. (considering that recycling plastic bottles these days only earns us a dime, that sort of income stream hasn't risen much.)
Yes, mom did panic when we didn't show up on time and forbade us to ever take THAT shortcut again.
We don't forget those teachers who believed in us. But we do forget to go back and tell them so. By the time I decided to find my sophomore high school teacher (who thought I was a good writer) to show her some of the many books I had written that got published, I couldn't find her. She's probably long dead.
Mrs. Schroeder who taught at Parkersburg High School, I'll never forget you.
