Oh, Fridays

Today I...
Did not want to get up, but I did. I went to work and toasted a load of bagels for the kids, with the help of eight-year-old Alec. I played Blokus with six-year-old Maddie and five-and-a-half-year-old Melina... which actually just consisted of making designs with the colorful geometric shapes.
At 9:30am I went home and worked on "The Greatest Songs of All Time" playlist that Stacey and I have been trying to compile for over a year. It's a pretty big endeavor. We'll probably win a Noble Prize for it. We have currently decided on which Bowie song to include-- which was SUCH a hard choice. "Young Americans" won out. There's just something about "Fame" that is so over-opulent, you know? I just had to say no.
We went out to lunch with Britta and ended up talking about... men. Well, a few particular ones. I think it's funny that we try to figure them out and reduce them to a formula-- "all men are just afraid to grow up and take responsibility"-- which I have done, and said, and in retrospect its completely unfair. How would I like it if I overheard a man say, "all women are paranoid that they will end up old maids"... this is actually a valid statement, but still, I wouldn't want to hear some asswipe say it.
I went back to work at 3, serving a snack of cheese and pretzels. Then, I attempted the ambitious: for craft, I set up SpinArt. The kids went nutso. They wore me out, spilling paint all over the place, fighting over who got to use it next, crowding around, yelling in my ear... I tried not to care because I believe that children need to have the freedom to create whatever art they want. But I found myself saying things like, "only three colors per person," and "do not squeeze the paint bottles too hard because too much paint will come out and your art will be ruined." But whenever they were done with their piece I would try to say something encouraging like, "ooh, I love the way that red splatter looks, Sadie!" and "Jaylu, look how awesome your paint turned out!" Then they dumped glitter on top of their SpinArt. Awesomely sparkly.
I trudged home, and none of my room-mates were around! I had the whoooole house to myself. I ate some chips and drank some lemonade as I indulged in one of my favorite movies, "Ratatouille." It makes me miss Paris soooo much. It also makes me crave wine. So I paused the movie, and walked to the Ballard Market and bought a bottle and had a couple glasses. Now I feel tired, and dreamy, and smiley, and it is good to reflect on my random, priceless, individual day.