Hanging Around

Lily's just left with Papa Ray to take a flight to England leaving Oli and I to enjoy this holiday week and celebrate our anniversary. There was a little quivering lip at the moment of getting in the elevator to leave with Papa, but a reminder that she had to take care of her blanket Diti did the trick and here's a picture of Papa and Lil plodding to the station next door to catch the airport bus:

I'm wondering what to do with myself now....and am tingling with the thought of all the things I could do. The house is in the state in which one finds a house after waking a 2-year-old up early to catch a flight, but it shall all sit for a few minutes here. I've made tea, sat down at my computer, and put on Hanging Around by the Counting Crows, regressing in sentiment to the carfree singledom of summer 2001 (the summer-of-Angela during which my time was divided between reading poetry and writing essays by an in-ground pool and working at the Champaign mall) and winter/spring 2004.

See this post for thoughts from a previous relapse into singledom.

The house is a wreck and I will give it a thorough reorganization today as it has been feeling cluttered and we need to prepare for the TEFL trainee teacher that will likely move into our spare room in the coming weeks. I will also go to IKEA for a new light fixture for our family room, then maybe to Home Depot, but I'm not sure; there may not be enough time*.

I also want to watch the Maisy DVD we got from the library for Lily before I go return it. Kids' books and films are ever-useful in that you can learn all kinds of Spanish body and movement words/phrases. These are everyday concepts you learn as a kid but that don't get taught in a foreign-language classroom. Learning them makes me sound much less immigrant when I speak....Also want to pick myself up a book at the library. Usually can't do this with two-year-old companion in tow.

Tonight I have a language exchange and then will meet with Oli and Eddie in Gracia to watch the Champions League Barca-ManU match. I put up an ad to find people to do exchanges with and met with three on three separate occasions last week and will meet more next week. All three were good, but the third (Victor) was excellent. We greeted one another and then talked non-stop for 2.5 hours that whizzed by. Looking forward to meeting up again. He's Catalan but has mostly Italian friends and I've been commanded to join them out some night in the near future.

Tomorrow Oli and I will be going to H&M after he gets home from work (we desperately need clothes!), and will then go out for a meal. Funny how whenever we have free time without Lil we're like, "Let's shop! IKEA! H&M! Please Scandanavia, take my money!!!!!" And that's a quote.

Today and Wednesday Oli's at work so I'm back to singledom in the days. The only reminder of my family is their laundry....and the toys that decorate our home. Thursday and Friday are holidays so Oli and I'll have some mini-adventures together in the city and surroundings, and remember what it is to hang out together and not talk about coordinating meals with Lily's schedule or whose turn it is to do bath and bed.

Otherwise, I miss my girl.

~

* For aunts and uncles, this is a reference to the movie Old School.