Thursday in the Life of an Uzzie

You have been waiting for this one, right? 😉

I awoke at three, mind in high gear for some reason. There were about five things I knew I simply could not forget if I wanted to have a successful morning. I could either lie there and run them in a loop in my head, or get up and make lists. All right. Fifteen things. Maybe twenty, if I counted the children’s lessons and chore lists.

I went back to bed once I had it all squared away on paper and I slept a few more hours. Gabe had an early school board meeting, so I fed the children cereal. I knew I had about a 75 minute drive to a book party and decided to leave early since it was snowing fuzzily. Addy was going along. The rest got careful instructions as to lessons and jobs that I expected them to be responsible for. Suddenly it was time to leave, and Addy couldn’t find her furry boots. I asked Alex, who is my right hand in so many ways, to help her find them. He had loaded my boxes and supplies earlier, but in the mornings he is just not speedy.

He couldn’t find the boots either and sat down resignedly on the recliner. “Just get other shoes. And socks.” Addy was fussing because she didn’t like his selection and I saw that he had one purple sock and one blue. “Not those socks! And you have got to notch it up a bit!” I did not say it kindly. We got out the door, put our destination into google maps, and it said 1 hour, 40 minutes. Whoa. What? I was going to be late for that 10:30 party. And the snow… But we were excited to be going together, Addy and I. I get into my happy place when I get to show books.

We weren’t driving long until I felt the sting of regret for my hastiness to my son who had, after all, been helping me. Sigh. I will have to apologize when I get back. I practiced my book speech on the way, and Addy said, “Mama, I don’t think anyone is listening.”

A few minutes before 10, my hostess called and wondered if I had trouble finding her house. Suddenly it washed over me. The party was supposed to start at 10! I made all those lists and still got the crucial information wrong in my head. Thankfully we discovered that the GPS was taking me to the wrong spot, and I was only 2 miles out. Some of her guests were already there when I spread my purple tablecloth and arranged the two boxes of books that I had along. They all knew each other and were happy to chat while they waited on me.

The thing I like the most about doing book parties is getting to meet new friends, hearing about their children, helping them find just the books they need for their families. I get a high from it. For real. 😀

We concluded the party with a snack. I packed up my stuff and set it outside on the patio, then collected Addy who had been having a grand time with the other little preschool girls who were there. Just as I was driving away the hostess came and motioned to me that I had left my boxes of books on her patio. Whatever other impressions she may have gotten of the Usborne Lady, “methodical and coordinated” did not likely enter her thoughts.

We drove close by my sister-in-law’s house, so we detoured a few miles and dropped off a late birthday package for her. I hugged the sweet little nieces, ruffled the nephew’s hair, had a cup of tea called Joy, looked at my talented sister-in-law’s latest projects, pulled Addy away from her Indian play (she was Squanto), and headed home.

It was early afternoon. The Bigs (what I call the older 3) had done all their lessons and were sitting around reading. My husband was working on a writing assignment. The living room was in good shape, except for K’nex scattered to the four corners, and they had cleaned up the kitchen as well as they could with dirty grey water backing up alarmingly from the drain. I had a session with Drano, but it is still not quite fixed. Someone whose identity I shall withhold poured grease down the drain yesterday. “I didn’t know!” was the wailing confession.

Addy and I had a lie-down and a story by Patricia Maclachlan. She was soon snoring, because she was definitely not tired. I got up and fried 6 pounds of hamburger to make chili soup for the school’s open house tomorrow. It was what was for supper as well. Times like this I am so happy for my quart jars of tomato juice and black beans.

I remembered my apology to Alex for my hurry this morning, and all was forgiven. The boys finished up cleaning the basement after supper and the little girls again did the dishes as well as they could. It requires a bit more finesse when the sink isn’t functional.

I entered the books into the online order form and contacted my hostess with the amount for her rewards. That is also a lot of fun! I like when companies funnel their advertising dollars into programs that encourage word of mouth recommendations. 🙂 You don’t need commercials and billboards if you have enough very happy customers. And these books make people, especially children, very happy. So that’s why I do it. That’s what I like about being an Usborne lady (she said for the tenth time). It is also good to get out every once in a while.

This being Thursday, it was movie night for the children. We watched Paper Planes and enjoyed the neat Aussie accents. It is rare that we hit a happy medium with something that interests both the Bigs and the Littles, but this one worked for ours.

Well, my husband just submitted his writing assignment. Time to call it a day. A day in the life of a part-time Uzzie.

And here, for your edification, is one more parting shot.