Friday, September 4, 2015

7 Quick Takes about Seasonal Confusion, Fun with Water Blobs, and a Party in the Woods at 2 A.M.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! That's 7 quick thoughts for the last 7 days.

—1—


I was pretty confused when I walked into CVS on Saturday and a big plastic ghost with a motion-sensor said "Boo!" to me. The date was August 29th.

Can corporate America please just allow me to finish my back-to-school shopping before peddling their Halloween, Valentine's Day, and Easter wares?

I already get confused about what day, week, and month it is. Trust me, this is not helping.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

—2—


But I guess I'm not really one to talk, because I'm working on organizing our family's camping supplies for next year. Here's a beautifully stocked bin of all things meal prep-related for our next camping trip:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Just needs someone with OCD to stick a laminated list of contents to the lid and we're in business!

We also bought this sweet little camping lantern, a purchase we've been meaning to make for years.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Emphasis on the "little."

This was the Amazon review that pretty much convinced us to buy this lantern.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

—3—


Not sure what possessed me to gather up my children and go to Wal-Mart for school supplies, but it turned out to be a mistake.

The aisles looked like someone had peeled back the roof, tipped the truck with all the school supplies upside-down, and shook it until everything fell out.

Nothing was where it was supposed to be. The shelves were decimated. You couldn't take four steps without running into a crying child or a frazzled parent rending their garments and wailing, "But it says '8- to 10-pocket accordion folder' and there are only 7-pocket ones here!"

We didn't end up getting everything we needed, but I was just glad to get out alive, honestly.

—4—


Our first day of school was this week. I spent the first day, as always, feeling totally weird. Feeling like I forgot someone (three someones, actually) every time we get in the car, thinking that it's too quiet, making way too much food at lunchtime... I'll get used to it, though. Eventually.

—5—


On the last day before school started, we decided to finally make a water blob. It's basically a mattress-sized piece of plastic sealed all the way around and filled with water to play on outside.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
I remembered how to turn on the iron! Yay me, I'm such a good homemaker.
It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Spreading the finished sheeting out in the yard. This is approximately the moment I remember that our yard is not flat.

A while back, I read this blog post on a DIY water blob and bought some plastic sheeting. (It was probably in the spring when I harbor all these elaborate fantasies about having a summer vacation full of enriching activities that don't involve the kids fighting each other on the kitchen floor for the last English muffin in the package.)

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

We couldn't really fill the blob up all the way because it started leaking just about as fast as it was being filled. I choose to believe this was because of our uneven yard, not my subpar ironing skills.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
No idea why Phillip has a roll of hot pink duct tape in his workshop, but it helped stave off the hemorrhaging for a little while.

Anyway, we made do with what we had and it kept the kids busy for about an hour. Not a bad afternoon, and at the very least it was better than watching the kids battle to the death over bakery products.

—6—


The kids were sleeping with the windows open and got thoroughly freaked out by a loud sound outside, in the direction of the woods behind our house, at about 2:30 AM.

We've heard this same sound on and off since we've lived here but have never really known quite how to describe it in order to find out what it is. We'd narrowed it down to some pack of animals, possibly dingoes, zebras, or drunk sports fans.

Anyway, we finally found out it was this.


(We didn't take this video, by the way. We hear the coyotes but rarely see them, except for one time when my mother-in-law watched one from the window peeing in the leaf pile my kids used to jump in last fall.)

—7—


Finally, we got a new camera! We went with a cheap camera again and in some ways I'm regretting it, but at least it won't be a big deal when someone drops it in the toilet 4 months from now.

As a thank-you, my daughter left this selfie for me to find as I was writing this post. Apparently she likes the new camera, too.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

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8 comments:

Amanda said...

You have to get that school shopping done in July when the shelves are neat!

Anonymous said...

Jenny, of course it had nothing to do with your ironing skills. I've been worried about your yard's homicidal, blob killing tendencies for a while now.

Jenny Evans said...

I knew it!

Jenny Evans said...

I tell myself that every year on September 1st...

Unknown said...

Maybe as soon as your camping supplies are organized you can buy a bin for school supplies and fill it up for next year.

Jenny Evans said...

Actually... that's not a bad idea.

Unknown said...

Im so impresed with your water blob!! That looks like so much fun, and tricky to get made without any leaks, so way to go!

Jenny Evans said...

The "without any leaks" part is key...