Today was the very first day in my life where I forgot to eat a meal. I’ve heard people (like my husband) talk about having forgotten to eat, but I personally have never experienced such a phenomenon…until today! I woke up excited to go to cooking school, and by the time I’d read scriptures, run and showered, it was time to go. I just barely had enough time to hunt down my wallet and run out the door. On the way to school, I realized what a momentous day this was; not only is it the first day of my new program, but it’s also the very first day I’ve forgotten to eat breakfast. Wow.
During orientation, I felt nervous, excited, and anxious to get learning. But since it was just orientation, I mainly got a good talking-to from a variety of directors on the importance of going to class and paying my bills.
I did, however, like the director of the culinary program. She happened to go to Kendell College, which (at the time she attended) was located in Evanston, Illinois–my hometown! I felt a kinship over that.
While I was listening to the financial aid director explain the difference between grants and loans, Abe was home teaching preschool to Lydia’s little co-op. He had a lot of fun, and the house was in surprisingly good shape (considering what had just happened) when I returned.
When I got back, I grabbed a piece of challah and then loaded the girls into the car for Mary’s doctor appointment. Today was her year appointment, so she had to get seven shots. Poor little thing. She charmed everyone by being adorable and easy going…until they jammed her little legs full of needles. After that, she was so sad and tired that she napped at home for the next four hours (she’d skipped her morning nap on account of preschool).
During two of those hours, Lydia played imaginary games with her animals in her room while I practiced the piano. I don’t know if I’ve lost my mind to think I can raise two kids, go to cooking school, and enter a piano competition, but the practicing is soooooo fun. Besides, I am certainly NOT entering the competition to win or even medal; please note previous winners have full-blown international performing careers on the side of their primary occupations. No, I am entering this with the mindset of someone running a marathon; I assume most people consider it a victory simply to finish the race, and I feel the same. If I get my pieces up to a point where I can compete with them, that will be my victory.
With that–and a promise I’d made earlier to Lydia–in mind, after dinner, I drove the girls to the main library. There I checked out a ton of CD’s with various artists playing the pieces I intend to compete with, and then we went down to the children’s section for more books.
By the time we got back home, Lydia was so sound asleep that I just put her straight to bed. Mary was so tired that I skipped her bath too and just read to her until her bedtime. She loves books with textures on the pages, and she can turn pages and feel the different textures for indefinite amounts of time. She snuggled, read, and snuggled some more. What a love.
And then I folded laundry and cleaned the house for the next hour. All that drudgery was eased by the joy of listening to the CD’s I got from the library.
And now I’m going to get a start on The Paris Wife. I didn’t take a single picture today, so I’m done with blogging much earlier than normal. Wow, I have so much time left before bed…maybe I should skip the pictures more often!