We will not be hostages to be bartered, Dooku.

“We will not be hostages to be bartered, Dooku.” – Mace Windu, Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones

There are a few things that could make me feel like a hostage around here, if I let them, but overall I think we’re settling in nicely after our trip.

• Laundry was kicked to the floor immediately post-trip and was begging for mercy within hours of being home, if only because I don’t have too many clothes and was in danger of having to wear my jogging gear full-time (shudder) for lack of anything else if I didn’t get to it ASAP upon arrival.
• I still have a shameful amount of trip-related clutter strewn around the house, but it’s getting put away bit by bit. The kitchen isn’t pristine, but it’s usable – which is an improvement from two days ago.
• We began a few mini-lessons again on Saturday, after pretty much dumping our regularly scheduled homeschooling routine after just one attempt en route - just little “meant to do that” stuff that we’d begun and then dropped from the week before – with our normal routine again starting this morning. It went far better than I was anticipating. You know how it is coming back after vacation. Algebra was still Padawan Learner’s least favorite part of the day, but I think it’s beginning to dawn on him that his pre-Algebra dread is playing more havoc on his ability to do the work quickly and easily than the actual math problems assigned. Let’s hope(!) anyway.
• I finished knitting and fulling (or felting, if you prefer) the camera cozy and slippers that I began while traveling. The slippers ended up too big for me by a long shot (a bulky yarn that didn’t tighten down as much as I had expected, even after multiple extra trips through the washing machine). Despite the pink color, PL and DW are having a good time “fighting” over who gets to wear them so at least the wool didn’t go to waste. If one takes them off, I find the other one wearing them within moments. Score one for guys secure in their masculinity. I’m going to try another pair for me again with a more traditional weight wool – in purple this time. We’ll see how the next pair goes. I’ve got a huge cross-stitch piece to get started on, but it’ll have to wait until I have a little more time. Since I only get the urge to do this stuff in the colder months, it’ll very likely still be waiting for me come next fall.
• The cats are settling back into more of a normal reaction to us being home. Bobbie, our Ocicat stray, followed DW around from the minute we got home until yesterday afternoon. She’s very dog-like in her devotion to DW. She wouldn’t even stay at her bowl to eat if he walked out of the room for the first couple of days. She seemed convinced that he was going to disappear long-term again whenever he left the house. Poor thing! Stretch has been extra social these past few days, which is nice. Generally she’s more cat-like in her ability to take or leave us. She also has her full winter coat now, so she’s extra plush to cuddle. Double score.
• PL is glad to be getting back to his trampoline class again this coming week. He’s lost a little of his 6-pack abs in the past couple of weeks and was commenting on feeling less limber than normal. It’s amazing how quickly our bodies lose fitness if we give them half a chance. DW began soccer last night, so let’s all keep our fingers crossed for an injury free season. Yes, you too. Get those fingers crossed now. I need all the help I can get with that one!
• Dad Windu is making his list of things that he wants to do while he is laid-off (in addition to his job search, that is) such as get back to drawing again and learn Spanish. We even found a nice starter program for $5 at the local bookstore yesterday. Should he get bored or run out of ideas, I also have a good-sized list of honey-do activities to keep his days filled productively. What can I say? I’m a giver.  :-)

What about you? Got anything that’s holding itself over your head at the moment, just waiting to be done?