Fixations

The past week, Reagan & I spent a lot of time indoors as I began my yearly struggle to cope with the pollen.  Green grass & flowers are nice & all, but they come at a price, & I pay through the nose (literally) every year.  Reagan & I filled the hours in the house with our fun new fixations - small appliances for her, The Hunger Games series for me.  

Between my sinuses & my full fledged obsession with The Hunger Games novels, I've neglected my blog.  I typically blog when I happen to be online doing other things, & between blowing my nose, nursing a hacking cough, & spending time with Katniss & Peeta (*sigh* . . . how I love the boy with the bread), my MacBook has taken a backseat.  

That's right, the line for Team Peeta forms here.

While I followed her around the house, book in my hand, Reagan amassed quite an impressive collection of small appliances.

Below, the first coffee maker I bought myself:

It's a 4-cup coffee maker that I don't really use anymore since becoming acquainted with my friend Keurig, so I let Reagan have it.  She's also laid claim to my curling iron, which she drags around the house by the cord like she's walking a pet. 

We did briefly leave the house Thursday to go see our friends at The Hilton Garden Inn.

Reagan cooperated, largely because she was handed her absolute all-time favorite small gadget, a phone.

Saturday was a big day.  We made up for the lack of activity all week by spending the day with my mom, Aunt Jessica, Aunt Donna, Aunt Kathy, & cousins Will & Lea Ann while my Dad, Uncle Heath, & cousins Aaron & Austin played golf.  First, lunch at Newk's.  

That's Will peaking over the edge of the table at the far end:

Dueling high chairs:

After lunch, a visit to Spoiled Rotten where Reagan did a little shopping:

And then decided the real fun was underneath the clothes racks:

Next stop, Papaw's house in Bastrop, where the finest Azalea's anywhere grow:

The afternoon was quite blissful for Reagan as she discovered not only was she in a house full of people who all have cell phones, Papaw has several large phones (with cords!) unlike any she'd ever encountered: 

She spent a good while with this model.  So long, in fact, that she managed to dial 9-1-1 on the large push button numbers, & then apparently hung up on the operator.  When the 9-1-1 operator called the house to ask if anyone needed help, my Mom kindly explained the situation, & then we unplugged that phone.

Not yet fully mobile, Will hung out with his great-grandfather:

While we all clapped & took pictures:

And Reagan continued taking important calls:

Some calls required the privacy only the outdoors afforded:

Their round of golf concluded, my Dad, Heath, Aaron, & Austin joined us in Bastrop, just in time for Reagan to take another important call:

 My mom made a run to Dollar General so we could make Quick Chocolate Oatmeal.  Have you ever had this?  It's easy to make, requires no baking, & is perhaps the best thing possible to enjoy with coffee.

I took a moment to point out my Papaw's Rolodex to Reagan (pictured below, on the right) because it's likely to be the last one she sees in her lifetime.  

Reagan had a few minutes between calls to play:

She moved on from the older model phone when she confiscated someone's cell:

She fully anticipated having it taken away:

Her final phone of the day, a throwback rotary dial model:

Not only was Reagan able to indulge her phone fixation Saturday, I was able to vent some of my many emotions regarding The Hunger Games in discussions with Heath, who has also read the entire series.  Have you read these books?  I've never read anything that left my mind so busy & me wishing I was in college & could sit in a literature class & babble with others about these novels.  At some point, I may blog more about this series, but at present I don't think I fully have my mind wrapped around these novels (which is why, after speed reading through them because I simply had to find out how it all ended, I am rereading them).  

I am sure soon enough Reagan & I will both find new distractions to occupy our time & our thoughts, but for now, she keeps herself busy with phone calls, & I continue to reread & rethink the content of The Hunger Games, almost wishing someone would give me an essay prompt or a set of discussion questions to answer.  No really, I'm serious.     

AZ