Back to the Old Grind
Monday, January 8, 2007
It was back to what might be called a typical week.
Over at the house that morning, the air was full of coffee candles and the outside air was bitterly cold.
And Carrie-Bri was definitely in a global mood that day. Just having returned from Egypt with Australia presently on her plate, she was also entertaining the idea of visiting Morocco in the fall. It seemed as though that was the way to do it while young and single, if the funds were available – travel the world. Perhaps twice a year or so, while putting away some for savings, or whatever else was necessary. To visit the exotic places in the world, to go where fewer people went, to see things that maybe not many people knew about…
Later, Carrie filled out a form to apply for her masters degree and worked on her resume in the evening in preparation to apply at NAWS the next day. After three and a half years at The Columns, it seemed to her about time to call it a day. Elizabeth and Lucia were also considering the idea of applying at the currently ever-expanding company.
At eleven o’clock in the morning at the Bread Company, OLeif and Collette met with their jovial loan officer, with whom they had decided to work – a gal this time. She was a friendly sort of person with a “junior high girl-ness” about her, as OLeif put it. She chuckled about how she was so bad about what she ate. After purchasing lunch for OLeif and Collette, she had ordered herself a large soda and a bag of chips.
They signed the paperwork that needed signing, and then OLeif hustled back to work – busy weeks at NAWS those days.
Later in the day, Linnea walked outside in the cold with Collette for a bit and asked her questions about the war and what the sun was made of.
Inside, Carrie was painting the pantry doors for Mom. After getting part of the primer brushed on, while listening to Turkish music, Carrie was getting tired of the job.
“This is so boring!” She exclaimed, tossing aside the paint brush on the counter. “I can’t take it anymore!”
But then she picked up the brush and continued to paint. She had been up since three o’clock in the morning, still adjusting back to a St. Louis clock. And she had just begun to realize that in Egypt she got on average, three to five hours’ sleep every night, in attempt to soak in as many activities as possible. In the evening, however, she set aside the brush and took a break to walk with Mom for an hour up at Frances’ basketball practice.
Meanwhile, Rose was back to her own academic grind, preparing for exams in United States history and psychology. She also signed herself up for madrigals with Mrs. South (having missed the official sign-up during choir while she was still abroad) and lugged up several Medieval dresses from the basement, used at former madrigal dinners. Carrie’s old Spanish gown and Collette’s old white Russian gown made the cut to be used yet again. Rose had not decided on what she would wear. Having been offered to play the part of Lady Macbeth in Magnus’ traditional Shakespearean play for the dinner, she decided that she would borrow a dark robe to wear over her gown during the skit, if all went as suggested. She had decided not to audition for the role of queen, having decided that it would not be as interesting as participating with activities down on the floor.
OLeif was late coming to pick up Collette that night, as he had been distracted talking with one of his coworkers about demons and such for an hour.