Maybe Cats do Like to Paint After All
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Collette spent her Tuesday morning over at the house. Things were in a bit of a rush upon her arrival (at least on Mom’s and Dad’s part). Their job that morning, it seemed, was to roll each child out of bed, stand them up on their feet, sit them at the kitchen table, open their mouths, and feed them scrambled eggs and raisin cinnamon toast. This would at least revive them well enough to stand on their own two feet and prepare themselves for their day.
Carrie-Bri, of course, was already walking out the door upon Collette’s arrival. Nine hours of desk and phone fondly called her away from leisure and relaxation. Although, as they all well knew, the effects of one day of sheer boredom with Carrie, equaled the effects of ten days at a desk job. Boredom was not one of her closer friends.
Once Francis and Linnea had finally dressed themselves (presentably enough for Mom’s satisfaction) and had eaten their breakfast, Dad carted them off downtown to Powell Symphony Hall for a kids’ concert.
This gave Mom time to work on giving the tired old television cabinet (which her grandfather had once owned) its first ever coat of paint – white paint.
Pumpkin was intensely interested in watching Mom brush on the paint. She had curled her fat self under a chair in the living room near the cabinet and her head followed each brush stroke. Rose had fastened a shamrock handkerchief around Pumpkin’s neck, which barely fit, she was so plump. And somehow, in Pumpkin’s eagerness to be a part of the painting experience, she had managed to walk close enough to the painted surfaces to give herself a small white spot under her nose and a white stripe on her back.
“Skunk!” Rose pointed at her and laughed.
Collette recalled the book in Carrie-Bri’s collection: Why Cats Paint. Perhaps animals of a feline nature actually were drawn to paint, out of curiosity.
This transpired during the morning hours while Collette tutored Rose, and Joe spent half of his own morning searching for his choir folder around the entire house with a blanket thrown across his shoulders like a cape against the chill. He still hadn’t found his folder at noon when he, Rose, and Francis took off early for choir.
Rose had to be at choir half an hour early to be scrutinized (with Magnus and several others) in their skit to be presented during the madrigal dinner, which still required Rose to wear some sort of facial hair.
“Mom!” She had hollered from the couch that morning. “I need to go get a big old beard somewhere!”
Just where she might obtain such a beard, Collette was uncertain.
Dad served up some stroganoff for lunch (which Mom had left for reheating). She was off to the same church where choir was being held that day, to listen to auditions for various parts in the high school graduation in May (i.e. musical pieces, speeches, introductions of important persons, etc.). And as sensitive as some of the parents of these students were, she and whoever else was on the ceremony committee, had the difficult job of selecting students based upon talent and presentation, rather than upon who (parent or child) would be more offended if not awarded the certain part. It was the same thing every year…
After Mom had left, Linnea amused herself through the lunch hour, sorting through the old toy drawer from Great-Grandpa’s cabinet, which Mom had set on the counter to get out of the way. Linnea organized little brightly colored rubber animals, Playmobile cups, tiny silver beads, dominoes, plastic candy bars, and other novelties.
Rose spent her late afternoon study session with Collette at home. This was after she drove all the way from Liberty to the house. She was quite pleased with herself for this accomplishment – that Mom had allowed her to do so in the first place – and, that she hadn’t run into anything on the way over.
“Ooooh…” Rose was looking in the freezer. “Pizza!”
Collette put one in the oven while they finished up psychology.
“Look what I found,” Rose came into the living room carrying a handful of mini Reeses peanut butter cups.
Capping this off with more candy from the vending machine at choir and an soda from the fridge, Rose managed to put together just about the worst meal she possibly could think of for herself.
Come evening, Collette had finished another round of psychology studies with Rose. Mom picked her up just in time to get her to Ceramics. And Dad, OLeif, and Joe lugged over the new big red couch from the furniture store in the old slug. Collette was happy with their red couch.
“I learned how to juggle today,” Joe dug three knit balls out of his coat pocket.
He proceeded to juggle a round here and a round there. Collette had to continue backing up as he tossed them in the air. But he didn’t drop any of them.
“Lollipop loaned me these,” he said, throwing the colorful balls up and down.
Impressive for his first day on the job. OLeif went back to the study and brought out his juggling book.
“I want it back when your done,” he called to Joe, who was hurrying back out to the big old van.
“Chuck Norris once roundhoused kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earnhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean!”
– Joe’s IM away message (Collette had to wonder if that was Joe’s own quote)