Cathy in the Wright

I Do More Before 9 AM...

My computer is still misbehaving, the laundry room floor was flooded this morning, and The Senator threw up because he was coughing so hard. That means I have been fiddling with the computer (unsuccessfully), mopping floors, carrying rugs outside, scrubbing the bathroom trash can (my son, next time aim for the toilet), and cleaning up various drips and spills. All by 7:30 a.m. Damn if I don't feel accomplished.

Want to know why this isn't getting me down? Nothing could quell...well, I shouldn't set myself up like that...almost nothing could quell my high spirits because yesterday I found these:

Can you say "Suck the fun out of a birthday party?" Bwah ha ha ha ha! I can't wait to give these to someone.

I found them at The Science Museum of Minnesota. My mom treated me to a day out for my birthday, so we headed to St. Paul and checked out the sites. We saw the ice sculptures, or what was left of them. While we were perusing this fine collection of stalagmites, we notices a small crowd in one end of Rice Park. We headed over.

A press conference! The article doesn't mention that Patty Wetterling introduced Ms. Bancroft. My mom was very excited to see Patty in person. She would have voted for Patty but the nuisance of living in the wrong district prevented it. As the speaker before Patty started talking about "caring" and "concern for others" (I may have the phrases wrong; as a good Republican, I tuned it out), I put my arm around my mom. "These are your people!" She smiled. Life isn't easy being the only confirmed Democrat in the family. I suspect my sister, but she's rather evasive.

After the park, we ate at The St. Paul Hotel and headed over to The Science Museum. We watched the Omni Theater show (Kilimanjaro) and checked out the mechanical T-Rex skeleton on display in the lobby. For a buck, you get two minutes to press buttons that move various parts of the skeleton. I had a great time swinging the head down low and snapping the jaws at a little boy who wandered over to watch. He loved it too. Once he was sure his mom was right behind him.

It was a great day. We finished up with a trip to IKEA. It was facinating to go there, but definitely not my kind of shop. Lots of furniture and household goods with clean lines and a limited choice of colors. Sweden, apparently, has never heard of the jewel tones. Not the place to go if you want cherry wood cabinets, but if you're going for the doctor's office look with white and stainless steel...this is your Eden.

I'm now listening to The Senator. The coughing has subsided. He's giggling at a cartoon. I think it's time to go and break the bad news that I can still get him to his classroom. He'll only be an hour behind.

If you think he's going to be unhappy when he hears that, wait until he opens his Albert Einstein action figure for his birthday.

Posted by Cathy at February 4, 2005 08:13 AM