Cool enough to not quite see it

Johanna has a friend coming over today around 1 p.m., which means that I have been on a cleaning spree for the past three hours.  I tell you what, we should have people over more often because then the house would always stay clean.  Or I need to quit reading, but obviously that is just crazy talk.

Or I could just clean regularly, I guess, but that seems sort of like overkill.

Lo and behold, though, things are looking pretty good.  The upside of having a 12-year-old is that you can unload some of your chores.  So Abby cleaned the guest bath, which is practically a science experiment at this point, and she did a good job, although who cares because I didn't have to do it.

Her solution for cleaning her room?  Shutting the door.  Can't argue with that logic.

Johanna organized the coat closet.  She was pretty ticked that I picked that as her chore because "no one even sees this!"  Um, not the point.  I'm just trying to keep you occupied, kid, so you'll quit asking when you're friend is going to get here.

Noted: The coat closet does, in fact, stink, just as Johanna claimed (loudly) the entire time.  Well, shoes and all.  That explains that.

Also noted: Seven-year-olds have little in the way of time perception.

So that's been our morning.

Last night, just FYI, we went to watch our nephews play basketball.  The frosh game was in the upper gym, where Eric tried to teach me how to spike a volleyball back in '89, and the varsity game was in the lower, where Eric could have thrown me out at first base but chose to throw the ball to second instead.  We weren't dating or really even talking at that point in our lives, but I did have a crush on him, so I remember these things.  It's too bad he was our PE aide my junior year.  Having him witness my physical humiliation every day was not as fun as you'd think it'd be.

Wait, what was I talking about?

Oh, right.  So anyway, both boys lost their games because the other team was amazing, but I think the real point here is that I didn't break out my Kindle AT ALL, but actually watched them play.  Maybe because basketball is really the only sport I understand.  Or maybe because Johanna was jumping around like a maniac and I was trying to sort of keep her on the down-low, which, if you've ever met Johanna, is not something she's terribly familiar with.

I noticed that the kids in the band were either reading books, or playing on their phones, or talking to each other between rousing variations of our fight song.  Eric pointed out that I probably should not be judging, what with me being me and all, but I was like, no!  I'm ever so proud!  What I could have done with an iPod back in the day!

Oh, and I'm still paging through my favorite parts of The Hunger Games series, and I still haven't downloaded the second and third e-books to my Kindle yet, but I'm pretty sure today is the day.  Well, I'll need something to do now that the house is clean and the blog is updated, right?  My public (hi, Mom!) has had the flu since Monday, so I haven't even gotten in trouble for being lax lately.

P.S. Quick Johanna story: She filled out her Valentines Thursday evening (apparently you can't just get a basic box of Valentines anymore--you have to buy boxes of individually-wrapped candy.  What the hell?), and she ended up with a few left over.  She made one for her best friend, who isn't in her class, and then one for Eric and Abby.  Since I cannot eat that sort of candy, she just made me a card, which I thought was sweet.  Anyway, then she's all, I have an extra one!  And I'm going to make it to my instincts!  

Okay, then.  More candy for you, I guess.

Smashing Pumpkins, Mayonaise.  Um, because Abby is making herself a sandwich RIGHT NOW.  And also, I really love guitars.  "Fool enough to almost be it / and cool enough to not quite see it / and old enough to always feel this / always old, I'll always feel this."  Now that I'm THIS CLOSE to 40, I gotta tell you, that sort of stings a little.