Everything about today was refreshing except the temperature, which topped out at almost 100 degrees. But none of us cared, because there were no belligerent customer service people to deal with and instead, as Maya said, “It was a day of awesome-ness!”
Why awesome? Probably depends on who you ask in the family, but for me it had partially to do with the fact that for the first time since around June 26th or so, we had nowhere we had to be, no driving to do or running around to different activities. The kids had Spanish class at 10:30, during which I went to Starbucks and did some reading and writing along with my drinking of coffee. After the class was done we walked to Best Buy and got Maya a camcorder with amazing zoom and macro functions, replacing the Chinese model that was partially to blame for yesterday’s stress.
As a quick aside; A camcorder is no small thing – not like a pack of Silly Bandz for $2 – but making videos is not something Maya was into for a week and then dropped. Instead, her interest has grown and developed to the point that the digital camera with video function that she was using was becoming a source of frustration instead of inspiration. I read an article recently by a guy who makes his living building high tech gadgets, and he said that when he was a kid, he loved to build with blocks and Lego, and that somehow his parents always made sure he had the necessary materials available. He credits that for his success in his career, doing exactly what he loves to do. That’s how we see the purchase of this camcorder for Maya. She will carry it around as she did the camera, always prepared in case the opportunity to shoot a good or funny video presents itself. She loves editing, and just this evening mentioned that in a few years she wants to purchase an editing software system she has heard about, because of all the amazing things it does.
So, camera in hand we went to lunch and then returned home. Maya spent the afternoon working with the new camcorder, messing with functions and making an introductory video for her friends. Ben got very involved in his Lego and a new DS game, and I spent almost two full hours sewing!
The really fun part was WHAT I was sewing. “Shirtbags”. This is an idea I borrowed from my Dad’s cousin, Martha Brougher, who makes and sells them in Indiana, although she calls them market bags. They are made from tank tops, and I love them. I made 6 or 7 of them today and plan to give them to all my friends. Next project is to find a place that will make custom “Shirtbag” labels that I can sew on….
Joshua came home and just before dinner Ben unlocked 4 new games on MarioKart Wii!! For ages we’ve been wondering how you do it. The Wii will ‘unlock’ new games if you reach a certain level, but we’d never been able to do it on MarioKart. But Ben has gotten good, almost always finishing races in first place, and suddenly there it was. High fives all around.
At dinner Maya offered to make a video of the shirtbags I made today; any excuse to use the new camera, and of course I said yes. I was expecting maybe a minute-long video where she panned across the bags and described their use, but when she showed it to me it came in at well over six minutes!
So nice to have a day when everyone is in a groove, doing things they love and appreciating each other. Especially after yesterday. Ahhh.
So in appreciation of Maya’s enthusiasm for her new camera, here is the “Shirtbag” video she made this evening. (Her comment upon watching it? “Geez, I say ‘ok’ an awful lot in this thing!”) Enjoy.