Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Catch-up

I keep putting off my Happy Jewish New Year post because I want to download photos of my mother's Rosh Hashana feast, and yet I don't have the patience for downloading photos. It's all too much I'm afraid. Meantime, I'm forgetting what I've been meaning to write and share with you. Generally, I think things are very different this year. My commentbox runneth over with different stuff this year.

So here is a list of some stuff:

I felt absolutely no guilt this new year, I enjoyed my mother's beautiful and delicious food without (for even one moment) feeling that I should have cooked something.

The above may well be connected to the fact that I have reached my maximum meal preparation capacity. Yes, that's right, I have a low cooking threshold, what can I say. Ever since I left my parents' home I have been cooking my own meals, and that has continued to be my unofficial role as wife and mother. That would probably add up to...I don't know...a million meals or some such. It certainly feels like that. So, anyway, I just can't go on any more. In fact, this has extended into a terrible allergy to supermarket shopping. I can't tell you how many times I have driven to the local shopping centre, only to be physically unable to steer my car into the parking lot.

I'm spending a lot of time at the moment working with my dad and writing in the local library. I'm also putting together an application package for a course I want to take next year, and there's a lot of work involved. The librarians all know me, and some are friendlier than others. The friendliest one is a middle-aged man who is clearly somewhat mentally handicapped. He cheers me up every day because he greets me with such gusto, "You're here already! Earlier than yesterday! I love it when you're here because I can come and chat." He gets distressed when I don't sit at my usual desk, and on Thursdays he arrives with a bottle of Spray'n'wipe and a rag and he cleans my desk for me. He says to me, "You sit and you type so much, all that typing." He's an absolutely gorgeous man, you'd love him.

I'm working on some script evaluations, and last week I finally met a writer whose work I've admired from afar. Half way through our coffee meeting he took out what looked like a very large purple fountain pen, I was delighted, until I realised it was an injecting pen, he's diabetic and he injected himself right there in front of me.

Mr. Commentbox and I decided last week to start walking together on Wednesday mornings. We started this morning and left so early that it was still dark, we continued walking for an entire hour as the sun rose and we were completely oblivious to the orange dust-storm around us. We honestly thought it was just a strange orange mist, and it was only when we got home and noticed our clothes were orange that we realised that, yes, we are indeed the most stupid couple in Sydney.

This is Miss Commentbox's last week in school. How did that happen? I have no idea. I thought it would be very exciting, but actually it is mostly just confusing. So I won't be buying her school uniforms any more? No more packed lunches? Obviously no more after-school activities because, ahem, there's no more school!! There won't be any more homework, lifts to and from school, parent/teacher meetings. I cannot comprehend how this is going to work out, it's just so strange.

The good thing is that now that Miss Commentbox will be driving, and the boy across the road who was in my carpool for 10 years will be driving, I reckon they owe me about a gazillion lifts. I will demand they drive me to all my appointments, and I will always be late, because I will always remember at the very last minute that I forgot something, something very important. I think I might call them throughout the day to alert them to changes in my plans, and request lifts from far-off locations, late at night, for myself and my 3 other friends whose children refuse to pick them up. Yes, I'm going to have fun with this.

I discovered two weeks ago, when shopping with my daughter for shoes for her Graduation Dinner, that I'm not the type of mother who likes shopping with her daughter. We spent 4 hours looking for shoes which ended up being a half size too small, and so needed to be exchanged the following day. It got ugly, I spat the dummy, and now Miss Commentbox insists on going shopping with Grandma Commentbox. I don't blame her.

There's more to tell, but I think that's enough for today. Hope you're all doing well, I think of you all the time and send you my love. Exxxx

15 comments:

RW said...

Eleanor,
Thanks for the update. I keep checking here to see what is happening as I sense that much is changing over on your side of the world. Life keeps going hey? I am intrigued by the package you are putting together. I wonder what course you are applying for. I am thrilled that you are still writing and I am envious of all your time in the library.

Pax
and Happy New Year.

Anonymous said...

LOL at the being driven by children! What does "spat the dummy" mean? Never heard that one before.

Badger said...

Well goodness, you ARE busy. And it sounds as if you may never have to drive, cook or shop again if you play your cards right. Well done, you!

Julia said...

I was wondering about the sandstorms - is it still very dusty out and how long do they think they will last?

So glad to hear what you're up to! What will Miss Chatterbox be doing now that she is graduated? And is she excited about the changes?

KPB said...

Well, it strikes me Miss Lovely, that you are at a time in your life called a Watershed Moment. YAY YOU!

fifi said...

oh, Eleanor, you're just wonderful!

I'm so heartened by your comments and your dummy spit...now I don't feel quite so guilty in my hatred of cooking, shopping and purchasing shoes for daughters.


But as to walking in that dawn???I was too terrified to go out! I thought it was the end of the world, sat in bed bewildered at the scene out the windows.

Frogdancer said...

hI SO hear you about the cooking...

and I laughed about your 'stupidist couple on Sydney' comment. That dust storm was on the news here; it looked massive.

Unknown said...

Eleanor, My daughter has only a few weeks left of school too...then what ???
it is all very confusing isn't it?
I do love your idea of the taxi service but our daughter has yet to master driving (and why would she when she has such a reliable and cheap taxi service on hand).
It feels odd.......

Janet said...

Sometimes it is hard to keep up with ones blogging isn't it? Especially when life keeps on happening.... I love going to family celebrations where I don't have to cook and I go through a similar aversion to supermarkets. Sometimes I go for weeks on end avoiding them and getting G to do shopping trips (badly, sigh) and picking a few things up at our little local where it's friendly and smells like food and sometimes involves a coffee and always a chat, so it feels less like a chore.... can you just eat dips, bread and cheese for a while? We do that a lot over summer...

Anyway Eleanor, Hello and belated Happy Jewish New Year!

Anonymous said...

I love the phrase 'low cooking threshold'. I think I have one too.

Aww, I did repay my parents a little bit driving-wise, usually by picking them up after they'd had too much to drink -- what a role reversal -- but I admit I only repaid them a fraction, really.

Suse said...

I had a major dummy spit the other day about the provision of meals on a daily basis, year after year, and children having the gall to argue over whose turn it is to take the dirty dishes FROM THE TABLE TO THE DISHWASHER.

I'm glad to hear you throw tantrums too. Makes me feel better.

Happy belated jewish new year to you!

eurolush said...

Hello Eleanor! I hear you on the aversion to super markets. While I love to eat good food, I HATE to plan, purchase and prepare any of it. That's why going home every summer is such a pleasure. Mom is the BEST cook ever...I mean, besides YOUR mom, of course!

Mwah!

PS-I could add my name to Suse's comment abve and literally say word for word what she just wrote. My kids fight over whose turn it is to SET the table and whose turn it is to CLEAN OFF the table. The table is about 10 feet from the kitchen counter...and they DON'T EVEN HAVE TO WASH THE DISHES.

Oh, AND they get AN ALLOWANCE for it. Which makes it all the more pathetic!

blackbird said...

I can imagine K and me not noticing the dust storm - truly. We once woke up to what we thought was a huge firestorm, but it was the sunrise and our clock had died.

Duyvken said...

Sounds wonderful. I go through pahses with cooking, mostly on because there's not much option but I won't miss it at all if at some point 'not cooking' becomes a viable option. G has mastered salad making so I'm hoping that if the others also learn 1 dish each it won't be too long before I am out of the kitchen!!!!
Am I dreaming?
Congrats to Miss Commentbox! Graduating is a very special and exciting time. I remember the few months between school finishing and uni starting very well. I slept in, I worked and I contemplated life without school. It felt like the horizon was endless and fringed with adventure. I hope Miss CB feels the same even if shoe shopping with mum is not on the adventure list :-)
xo

Stomper Girl said...

I laughed at you not noticing your dust storm, the media coverage from Melbourne made it look like the apocalypse and there you were, gently strolling hand-in-hand. Well, I like to think of you hand-in-hand. I too have a low cooking threshold.