New year, new me. Or something like that.

Today ended up with a lot of special events. And I like to say that "every day is special" when it comes to scheduling and routines. There's almost always something that's a wrench in the normal routine. We don't remember routines so much as what departed from that; that's what makes a day or week or year noteworthy. And today was full of departures.

Starting with me meeting some new friends at 7 a.m. for coffee. It's an understatement to say I'm not a morning person. In fact, I'm so much not one that I more than occasionally do things like I did yesterday: oversleeping until 10 a.m. when I needed to be somewhere at 10:30. I turned over, opened my eyes, looked at the alarm clock, and oh shit! But today, I was up before 6:30, showered, and out the door. It was really lovely being able to talk without worrying about the kids. And I have a sense of possibility and optimism about the day when I'm up early that just gets off to a rusty start when I don't face the day until after 9. So I'm going to see what I can do about shifting my days downward. Oh, who am I fooling! But it's worth a try.

Then it was off to Virginia Eye Institute, with the total hottie opthalmologist, because my eyelid has been blowing up to three times its normal size and sprouting an odd white pimple on the underside. Turns out that it's nothing big--an inflamed oil duct--and it has probably already taken care of itself when it exploded and left an icky flap of skin having over my eyeball yesterday. But it's good to know that I'm not going to have to keep wasting my precious disposable contacts and that I'm get back to wearing them in a few days. I hate wearing my glasses because they fit poorly and I am not fond of the way they look. My glasses are for nighttime use at home while watching TV before falling asleep, not for greeting the public.

No sooner did I set foot in the house than we had to pile in the car for Latin class. Tests came back today, and Walter is the most improved in the class, essentially going from a 33% to a 79% since the last test. Woohoo! He's finally getting it! Ollie got a 91%, which is also a vast, vast improvement. I don't care if they've been "failing" the tests in the past, because what matters to me is that they come to understand the material and master it, and we're making huge, huge strides in that direction. The past is the past--we know it now. I'm proud, and they're proud of themselves.

And then I moved on to my hair appointment. I haven't had my hair cut in several months, which is a big deal when you have short hair. I haven't had it highlighted since last spring. Which is also a big deal when you are getting closer to 40 and used to be a blond and now your hair is a flat, lifeless, very unspectacular used-to-be-blond-but-now-is-mushroom-brown. I always find myself in a quandary with hair appointments because the place I like to go costs too much, especially for services beyond the basic haircut, and so it's hard to commit to always going there with my frequent short-hair haircut needs. But the bargain places are so hit or miss on quality--one time it feels like the best value out there, and the next time I think, "Gee, I could hae gone to 13 Barbers if I wanted to look like this."

Today I went to the good place, and I went for the whole shebang--full highlights, toning, and a cut. Next thing I knew I had added in an eyebrow shaping (something I had planned anyway, but still, new person, new tip), and then I was sucked in by the makeup lady offering the free makeup. Only of course it's not free to get the mini-makeover, and it definitely wasn't free for me! I walked always with toner, moisturizer, and cleanser, foundation, eye shadow, eye liner, concealer, lip color, and blush. And probably even more than I'm forgetting. My wallet is a lot lighter!

I did sort of intend to replace my makeup soon, and I had been planning to perhaps go to Ulta, a store I've never set foot in and find intimidating because I know absolutely nothing about makeup and care even less. It's not a body of knowledge I'm dying to delve into, and I'm awful at making decisions. So today was pretty easy for me. Let someone choose stuff, put it on me, I like the way I look, and then I purchase the whole set of whatever she put on me. Done. I have to say, I've never worn purple eyeliner before, so this is a new comfort zone for me, but I really loved the way it brought out the color of my eyes. I just hope I can replicate at home what she did so adeptly. I was missing from class the day they taught How To Draw With Pencils Around Your Eyes and Finding Your Cheekbones and Coloring Inside the Lines with Lipstick.


I barely had any time at home when I had to head out for an evening with the author Lois Lowry. Awesome, awesome talk. We just read Number the Stars for co-op this week, so her work is fresh in our heads. And she spoke about her experiences growing up during World War II, with a father in the Army Dental Corps and her mother concerned and alone with three children. It fit so incredibly well with what we have been studying and talking about lately. Then her anecdotes about writing, sources for stories, her family experiences, what life was like in the 40s and 50s--priceless. I could not have asked for better. The boys sat with rapt attention for an hour and a half, which is really saying something about how captivating a speaker can be, even when you have lousy seats. And even more, I'm dying to read many of her books now that I hadn't heard of before. And I can see that her newest little series would be perfect for Frances. I cannot wait to get hold of them.

Meanwhile, in this most busy of weeks with many extra morning activities that we don't normally have, we have had lots of difficulty with our regularly daily routines and activities. Tuesday was the Aviation Museum, Wednesday was orienteering at Pocahontas, today was my eye appointment and then Latin. It all converged in one week to make us have little time at home. We need to take a breather! I miss our leisurely "normal."