Happening: Today I had to go to the DMV to renew my license, which had expired six months ago. The sad thing is that I didn’t even realize it – I had to take the girls to urgent care a few weeks ago and the lady checking us in told me. I finally got my act together and dealt with it (hello, procrastination) and resigned myself to spending the afternoon waiting for my number to be called. As it happened, I only had to wait for half an hour — but in that span of time no less than 4 older men failed the eye test. I know this isn’t a scientific sample but I found it disturbing anyway. By the time it was my turn I was convinced *I* was going to fail, because awhile back the baby pulled my glasses off my face and they broke, and I’ve been wearing my back up ones because again, procrastination. It turned out the eye test was really easy and so the fact that ANYONE failed the test after clearly driving themselves to the DMV just terrified me more. Kind of like all the people at the grocery store who reek of pot and clearly drove to the store stoned. Also, I got the same clerk that I had when I registered my car last year and he is super nice, which is a refreshing change from years ago when the clerks were surly and just glared at you. Then I went to the toy store downtown, and they didn’t have what I was looking for (a stuffed alligator, admittedly a bit of a niche item), and the lady looked shocked and explained she had just sold the one she had not an hour beforehand. She recognized me from the (many, many) times I have been in before, and called to some of their other locations to see if she could track one down. Alas, no luck, but then I had some time to kill before picking the girls up from school and went into the candy store and lo and behold, they had a stuffed alligator. Actually they had 3, of various brands and sizes. Why the candy store had stuffed alligators is beyond me, but I can cross one more thing off the Christmas to-do list.
Music: For some reason I’ve been listening to David Gray on repeat. As the Eras Tour winds down, maybe my brain is finally moving on from my own Taylor Swift era? I’ve pretty much listened to nothing but Taylor since her Folklore album came out, so after 4 years it’s probably time for a change. (oh the irony…). I’m 53, for crying out loud, and also the 7 year old yells at me when a Taylor song with a bad word comes on in the car. With her best eldest daughter tone she hollers from the third row of the car: MOM SHE SAID A BAD WORD WHY ARE YOU LISTENING TO THIS? *sigh*
Why David Gray? I heard “Please Forgive Me” somewhere, maybe the grocery store, a song I used to love that I had completely forgotten existed, and that turned into listening to Spotify playlists. Oddly, I have a very strong memory of driving around Brewer sometime around 2005, I don’t know why I was there but it must have been work related and I had his White Ladders album playing in the car for the whole trip. I don’t know why that memory sticks with me, but it does. He also has an album called Skellig, which I assume is named after the island off the coast of Ireland, which is featured heavily in the last Star Wars movies. While I haven’t been to Skellig, I have been to the Skellig Experience visitor center. And while it was interesting, I confess that their slogan “Ireland’s Most Exciting Visitor Attraction” is a bit of a stretch…but to be fair, we didn’t do the boat trip. We also skipped the Guinness factory tour – I was with my BFF Diane for our 40th birthdays, and I spent the majority of the trip chugging cold medicine and Irish coffees. It was also on that trip that I discovered Smithwick’s, and honestly prefer it over Guinness even though several native Irishmen have told me that is tantamount to sacrilege. Over the years Ancestry continues to lower the percentage of Irish blood in me (overtaken by the Scots), so maybe this explains it.
Books: I have been reading a number of foster care and adoption books from the library, none of which have so far impressed me. I feel like no one addresses the proverbial elephant in the room, which is the prevalence of substance use disorder causing kids to come into care and how that has turned the system on its head (in my opinion). That’s a whole other rant for another time, though. I am supposed to be reading The Anxious Generation, in fact tomorrow I have a school parent group discussion about it, but I am dragging my feet because I just know it’s going to make me regret a significant number of parenting decisions I’ve made over the years. But mostly I’m reading bedtime books to the 6 year old. My current favorite is about an alligator with false teeth, because it’s fun to read out loud. (And yes, this book is why I was trying to find a stuffed alligator.)
Watching: The Great British Baking Show, of course (Nellie should have won!). The second season of The Diplomat. Old Warehouse 13 episodes while doing laundry and cleaning the living room.
Wearing: a wool dress and my winter coat. Mother Nature seems to have realized it’s November in Maine, and I’ve finally had to stop wearing my summer dresses and shoes.
Mostly, I’m clinging to the idea that we are almost at the end of the darkest days (ie, the winter solstice approaches). Even though we’re in Maine, by February I start seeing a shift in the light and I start to feel like myself again. Liturgically, it’s almost Advent and this time of year always has me in a weird headspace. Kathleen Norris, one of my favorite authors, has called this season “a challenge to begin again”, which I feel gives it a nice set-up for the inevitable New Years resolutions and goals that follow the Christmas season. Honestly this year has been one of the hardest ones I’ve had in awhile, at least since my dad died, and I’m really looking forward to putting it in the rear-view mirror.
