Of Rummage Sales and Fall Delights...

I had forgotten just how much fun a rummage sale could be when you are a child! As adults, we tend to love the bargains that are available, as well as the possibilities of finding treasures in someone else’s junk... but we tend to look things over with a critical eye. Erin and Bethany were in their element at our church rummage sale... poking through the piles with a five dollar bill clutched tightly in their fists.

Bethany found a giant ziplock bag of assorted plastic farm animals and equipment (though there was also a hippo, a cactus, a palm tree, a stop light, two construction workers and a few road signs... so that sounds like a pretty neat farm to me!) Erin had seen a small plush kitten last Sunday in the piles of stuff waiting to be sorted for the rummage sale. When I brought my own boxes of stuff in to donate (does it ever feel good to clean out some closets!) and told them that Erin had her eye on that kitten, the plush toy disappeared into the kitchen to keep it safe for her. Erin also found a rose pin and a small wooden chest with 3 drawers that is also a music box... and her eyes just shone as she brought everything to the cash. Bethany has still not grasped the concept of how much “monnies” really are, but Erin was just thrilled when the lady at the cash told her that the prices of things depended on your age!! She charged a dollar and a quarter for all of Erin’s treasures and so Erin was thrilled with the amount of change she was able to keep.... then she turned to Nick and I and announced “Well, you’ll have to pay a lot more because you are both so OLD!” (Hmmmmph!)

After all our workouts, swimming lessons and gymnastics this morning, we got the laundry on the line in the crisp fall breeze and I made myself a big mug of tea to stave off the urge to have a LONG afternoon nap. I have finished all of the English layouts for the School Milk pieces and the teacher’s newsletter, but it was time to squash and squeeze all of the French translations into place. While the basic layout remains the same, you often have to really play with the type sizes and move things around to get the longer sentences to fit in the same amount of space and still look nice.

Erin has been studying apples in her French Immersion class and had a recipe for microwaved apples to make, so I tried to find that fine line between letting her do it all and helping her learn how to do stuff like cream margarine and brown sugar together without sending the sugar everywhere. I must call my Mom tonight and thank her for all her patience in teaching ME how to cook.

Now that the girls are down for the night, it is time to assemble the 300 chartpacks, whose covers printed out in batches on the other computer while I worked on the Milk stuff this afternoon, while we watch a DVD.