Today was the official first day of Mason at school and for the second time it hit me that we will be doing this every August for the next 16 years...taking that new-outfit-for-school photo before being shipped off on a bus (which I'm still a fan of despite the recent trend for parent drop-offs), packing a backpack of supplies, and wishing him an eager and open mind. We got his school supply list and, of course, I waited until this week to go out and get supplies and found every store sold out because every other parent had the same supply list for their kids - this is what is will be like. I had to go to three stores to find crayons, cups, and the right glue stick (no, NOT Rose's Art).
We had our own orientation meetings and 'Meet the Teacher' night prior to school starting. We are very excited that he is enrolled in the Swannanoa Valley Montessori School, which is barely 5 minutes from our house (vs. the 20 minute drive to his school last year). We love the teachers (I went to high school with one of them and the director of the school was, coincidentally, my youngest brother's 4th grade teacher and counts him as one of her all-time favorite students). They have a pet rabbit, Lola, in the classroom and plenty of trucks in the sandbox in the playground. Mason is in heaven.
Although this time last year, I admit to being a bit teary eyed on Mason's first day because he had been with me almost every day, all day, for the first year of his life. This time around - well, I wouldn't say I kicked him to the curb, but it was easy. I knew he loved school and needed school. I needed him to need school for my own sanity and productivity at work, so it was an easy transition.
But not only was today his first day of school, but it was also the first time we ever purchased a major piece of furniture....new. As you may have figured out, I'm a big fan of Craig's List and eBay and Screen Door and am proud to list all of the deals I have scored on our house full of furniture. The Robb & Stuckey leather top desk I'm typing at was one such Craig's List find (we were actually getting a leather side chair for $50 and the seller mentioned this desk and we thought, why not?) that is worth over $1500 and we got it for $150. But the problem with bargain hunting, is you never really know what your going to get and when you are outfitting a house that sometimes requires specific sizes, styles, and necessity, it's harder to wait and see what pops up that might work. We realized a while ago that we may have to do the unthinkable....we may have to buy something new purely for the fact that we needed something very specific.
Since moving in, we have had a few areas that have been incomplete and, in my Virgo sensibilities, has been slowly etching away at my psyche - calling to me, taunting me with their un-feng shui-ness. Like our guest bedroom that lacked a bedside table and lamp, or the built-in bookcase in the front room that has become the depository for books, papers, change, recipes, art, glass vases, bumper stickers, glasses, etc. Or our "media console" (i.e. the bedside table that is supposed to be in the guest room that holds our DVD player, receiver, and cable box under the TV and looks entirely out of place). So finally, after moving in 6 months ago and searching for the perfect "thing" to go under our TV (that was also utilitarian, relatively kid-friendly, we both liked, and semi-affordable), we found a great little glass door bookshelf from Crate & Barrel that is the right size, height, color AND can hold all of our books that had been sitting in boxes in the basement.
At last - THREE of my problem areas were magically solved and everything in the world seemed right again. We had a real-looking family room, a complete guest room (even bought a lamp at Pottery Barn...ok, it was on sale), and a cleaned up bookshelf in the front room that didn't look like a junk corner. I really could not stop staring at the bookshelf for a few days because it just made the whole house seem so balanced, so beautiful, so perfect. But now about re-upholstering the living room chairs and finding the perfect rug....
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