One Sixteenth

Scooby Doo Day

I put a link to the Frodo/free will discussion over on the left, if anyone would still like to contribute. Thanks all of you for a great discussion.

Today is a Scooby Doo day. So I am here, on the computer.

We've been out a lot this week. Children's Museum again, shopping. We figured out how to get to the grocery store. It's amazing how my sense of distance changes. I looked at the grocery store on the map right after we got here and immediately deemed it to far to walk to with the kids. Not so any more. It was a snap - probably a mile and a half away. And depending on how we go, Borders can easily be on the way. I can walk to Borders. Two of them, actually. And a Barnes and Noble. And an independent children's bookstore. Yes, be jealous.

You know, I can walk to a Starbuck's and the grocery store from my house in Texas. It's not much further than I've been walking here. But one doesn't, in suburban Texas. (Of course, in the summer, it's medically advised to not walk like that outdoors.) Here, the kids grouse about walking and keep asking to take a taxi. But no, mean mom that I am, we walk. I figure it's good for them. I will use a taxi if we are just really beat, but for the most part, I'd rather walk. Walking is the best way to get to know a city.

Side note: oh, look, I found a way to combine weight loss and walking for fitness with Lord of the Rings (I see you rolling your eyes out there! I didn't go looking for something like this, I just happened upon it). The Eowyn Challenge is a site for walkers and folks trying to lose weight/get healthy; keep track of your miles on the site and they'll tell you how many more miles you have to go to Rivendell, or Mordor, etc. Why not? I have about 450 miles to go to Rivendell. My current goal is to walk 12 miles a week, which should be very doable. If it is, I'll up that goal a bit to make it a challenge.

School is ... sort of happening. We have managed to get math and handwriting and phonics in every day. Not much else. Jeff tells me I should ditch the "schooling" and just go to museums and around the city. He's probably right. We can always catch up on academics back in Texas. But once I'm in the groove with academics, it's hard to let go of that.

Then there's socialization. I joined a Yahoogroup of local homeschooling moms with small children, with the idea of getting my kids to some playdates with other kids. As it is now, they're only seeing friends about once a month, although they do interact with other kids at the museums, and the playground we found this weekend. But now I'm thinking that it's not important. We're already pretty busy with the museums and exploring and what school we do; I'm resistant to the idea of fitting in playdates as well. Do they really need these playdates? Is it that important to make chunks of time just to socialize? We're not going to form lasting friendships with these people; it's all temporary. I'm thinking they will not be warped if they don't play with other kids every week for a few months.

Last Friday we went to visit friends in Gurnee. We had a great time. Later on I found out that on that day Sting was at the Borders up the street, and Nicholas cage was filming a movie across the street from our apartment. Now doesn't that just figure?

The Johnny Depp movie of this week was "From Hell." I wasn't sure about it at first, as I do not watch horror movies, or even terribly suspenseful movies, usually. I enjoyed it, though. It was weird, but pretty good. I didn't remember that Ian Holm was in it; he was wonderful.

I am not reading anything right now. I am out of book. (Yes, even after the Borders trip.) Amazon should fix that shortly, though. I have plenty of Tolkien that I haven't read, yes, Precious, we do; but I am taking a Tolkien break. I finished the first Aubrey/Maturin novel and am waiting for the second to come in. I'd like to reread the Hornblower books as well, but those are all at home.

Boy, do I ever miss library access. It's killing me. I wonder if my passport would be acceptable photo ID to get a card here. Must check into that.

Posted by Steph at March 4, 2004 11:22 AM