Although I almost did today.
The coffeemaker is usually programmed to begin making its magic elixir right before Daddy gets up in the morning. By the time I stumble incoherently and bleary-eyed out of bed, the pot is full and greets me like a long-lost friend. I have never been much of a morning person and when you add the chronic sleep deprivation that comes with young children, I NEED that warm cup of love to shake the mental cobwebs and help me function. I don't think of myself as a coffee snob - I'll drink anything. But...in a perfect world, it would either be Caramello from Second Cup or anything from Dunkin' Donuts. I'm sure they'll strip me of my Canadian citizenship for not professing Tim Horton's as my true coffee love. I mean, I like it, there's nothing wrong with it and fortunately, it is available everywhere, but I only like it as a friend. A friend who has lots of convenient drive-thru locations. I have always loved flavoured coffee but when I first discovered Dunkin' Donuts (on vacation in Indonesia, ironically enough), I vowed to cheat on the flavoured coffee whenever I could. I wish Starbucks would leave Canada and Dunkin' Donuts would replace it. And open up a branch at the end of my street.
But I digress.
As you have probably surmised, we didn't have coffee this morning. And I was sad. But we had to go run an errand to help Grammy out, so I figured I could acquire coffee along the way. Grammy had lent a book to a lady who runs a knitting store near us and she needed it back. She asked if we could go pick it up. No problem. I decided to load the LP into the stroller and take the shoelace express to fetch the book. They've never been to a knitting store. A New Thing would present itself along the way.
It had been pouring rain earlier in the morning. The rain had stopped and the sun was trying to decide if it wanted to come out. It seemed like the perfect time to head out on our errand. The LP were more than happy to hop into the stroller.
Are those grey skies gonna clear up? No matter, I had two happy little faces, entirely unconcerned about the weather, to keep me company.
As we walked down the street, I was stuck by how utterly silent our neighbourhood was today. It felt like the world had ended and we were the last three people left. Nobody was out. No cars passed us. We could hear every bird singing, the breeze blowing and the cicadas making their cicada sound. It was very tranquil. We completely destroyed that as we chatted about what we were seeing, sang songs and made random noises. It was also incredibly humid out. By the time we got to the corner that led to the main road, I was a sweatlodge.
We made it to the knitting shop and browsed about while the owner was taking care of some business. The LP were fascinated with all the yarn. They wanted to touch it and I let them. We looked at knitting patterns and needles. We talked about the things Grammy knits for them. We looked at some jewelry on display and admired how sparkly it was. I don't think they understood that balls of wool and yarn become sweaters and blankets, but I know they liked the bright colours. Little Miss Tactile particularly enjoyed the different textures.
If I owned a knitting shop, I would call it "Wool You Knit With Us?" But first I have to open my religious-themed cheese shop, "Cheeses of Nazareth".
We retrieved Grammy's book and left. Now to figure out a way to get it to her by tonight. Worry about that later. The no-coffee crabbiness was starting to set in. I was planning to go to the corner store for some essentials, a treat for the LP and coffee (they actually make pretty good coffee there). As we were walking towards the store, we saw Grandpa drive past us! He had Auntie J and Uncle M with him. We knew we might be getting a visit from them today, but we weren't sure when. I sent Auntie J a quick BBM and it was only a matter of minutes before they were turning into the parking lot of the store to meet us.
The LP were so excited to see Grandpa, Auntie J and Uncle M. We decided to go to the nearby Tim Horton's and with that decision, I was able to accomplish my three goals for today: to do something with the LP, to return Grammy's book, and to desperately get some coffee in me. This was LP2's first coffee date. He enjoyed eating bits of a plain bagel while LP1 had her usual chocolate milk. We had a very nice visit with everyone. LP2 was beaming mega-watt grins from the highchair while LP2 alternated between sitting with Auntie J and Grandpa, showing us her dance moves and playing in the stroller. They were very well-behaved.
A lovely cool breeze had kicked up by the time we left so the walk home was much easier. Full and happy, the LP began to doze in the stroller. Once we got home, I was feeding LP2 in his room when I noticed that LP1 was uncharacteristically quiet. After he had been put down for his nap I went to investigate. LP1 had put herself to bed and was softly snoring. Unprecedented! I closed both of their doors and tiptoed upstairs. It seems today was the kind of day where nothing was planned but everything worked out perfectly.
Little things that make both LP1 and myself very happy.
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