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Yesterday was a busy day. We went to the library about 12:30, getting back just in time for Cordelia and me to go to Girl Scouts. That lasted an hour and a half. Then we had a soccer game at 3:45.

The Girl Scout meeting went pretty well. There were a lot adults hanging out in the doorway, so perhaps I need not have worried that I'd be the only adult besides the troop leader. Of course, none of those other adults did anything to contribute toward the meeting. They just watched and talked with each other. The girls brainstormed some ideas for things they'd like to do. Some of those ideas are feasible, some not so much. The troop leader had a craft project-- She had the girls take largish washers and decorate them with nail polish and then hang them on ribbons as necklaces.

I have difficulty with craft projects both on a practical and a philosophical level. On a practical level, I never have any ideas for projects and, when faced with one, never quite know what to do. On a philosophical level, I tend to view this sort of craft project as busy work. It never produces anything useful. In most cases, the product is just more clutter that we can't throw out but have no use for. I try to suppress this attitude because I know that kids have fun making things. I don't want to detract from that. I just wish that craft projects weren't so central to Girl Scouts.

It was about 55F and windy during the soccer game. When the wind died down and the sun came out, it wasn't horrible to be sitting there, but most of the time, the sun was behind clouds, and the wind was blowing. Cordelia's team won the game. This was the third game in a row where they played a team called the Cheetahs. Out of seven teams playing in the league, three are named the Cheetahs. (Cordelia's team is called the Leopards.)

I was glad of my winter coat during the game. I think I've waited too long to get the dratted thing dry cleaned, however. I'm going to need it for the rest of the soccer season. Then again, there's no game the weekend of the 18th. That would give me nearly two weeks to get the stupid thing to the cleaners and to retrieve it again.

We stopped for bubble tea on the way home from the soccer game. Usually, we'd get it right after going to the library, but I didn't feel that we had enough time for it, given Girl Scouts.

Scott grilled chicken for dinner. I made pasta and steamed some pea pods. We heated up some Alfredo sauce, and mixed that with chicken and pasta. Cordelia didn't even complain that Scott put her chicken and Alfredo sauce on top of her pasta. Normally, she likes to keep that separate.

Cordelia has started doing something, and I can't decide if it's cute or annoying (it's definitely unsanitary). She will open her mouth and 'kiss' my nose, getting spit all over me. She thinks this is great fun and will keep trying to do it even when I ask her not to. I probably don't help because, as I fend her off, I start laughing and laughing. She's probably doing it just for that. She does object strenuously when I wipe my nose on her shirt after she slobbers on me. I really need to get her to stop, though. It's getting into cold season, and doing this will guarantee that she gets what I get and vice versa.

I almost did something that would have Cordelia really, really mad at me-- She needs a booster for the HPV vaccine (apparently she was due in September. My understanding was that the doctor's office would let me know when she needed to come in. They didn't). I scheduled it for tomorrow and then realized that Cordelia would kill me. The book she's been waiting a year for, The Blood of Olympus, comes out tomorrow, and I've pre-ordered a copy from Book Bound. Cordelia plans to walk over there after school to pick it up. Going for the vaccination would mean she wouldn't be able to get the book tomorrow. I've rescheduled for a week from tomorrow. (They don't do vaccinations on Mondays or Fridays, and Wednesdays and Thursdays, she has sports practices. She's going to be pretty sore from this one, and I don't want to send her straight to practice afterward.)

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I tried a second steeping of same leaves of the pu ehr hazelberry. It didn't work very well. It was quite weak in scent and flavor. I don't know if that's true of pu ehr in general or just of the hazelberry.

I had more of the Thai chai. I steeped it for three minutes instead of the recommended five. It was considerably less bitter. The other flavors were weaker, however, so I'm not sure that three minutes is a better steeping time. Then again, strong lemongrass isn't really my thing, so maybe shorter is better.

I've got a mug of pu ehr Tahiti right now. This is another one that doesn't have ingredients listed on the packet, so I have no idea what it contains besides the tea. I think I smell coconut, maybe. There's a flavor of something that's not tea, but I'm not sure what it is.

This means I've tried all of the samples I got from Adagio at least once. I haven't fallen in love with any of them, but I do think I like the pu ehr better than the chai. Unfortunately, I've never seen pu ehr in the grocery store, so this probably means either ordering online or going to a specialty store. Ann Arbor has one or two tea shops. I have no idea what they might carry. I'm a little afraid of getting sucked in to an expensive beverage habit when I started out looking for occasional caffeine without sugar or honey.

I do think that, for the next little while, I'll focus on getting through the bagged chai that I've got. We bought that, and it needs to be used. I'm the only one in the family who'll drink it. Cordelia only likes the stuff from powder, the Pacific Chai vanilla chai latte, and that only occasionally. She's tried each of the supermarket chais we've gotten and has disliked them. After I finish off the bagged chai, there's vanilla coconut white tea to deal with. Scott has been drinking the peach blossom oolong, so I'll leave that to him for now. (Though I like the peach blossom oolong better than the supermarket chais or the vanilla coconut white, so maybe I should grab some oolong while I can.)

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I just tried to clean our library bag. We bought it several years ago and had never washed it because I was certain it would shrink if run through the washer and dryer. It had been getting steadily dirtier and more stained. It started out that not quite white that undyed, unbleached fabrics can be. Now, it's got streaks of dirt and some rust stains (I have no idea where those came from), and the handles are a nasty gray/brown.

I tried some bleach first, and that had no effect at all that I could see. Either I didn't use enough, or stains of that sort are impervious to bleach. I haven't messed around much with bleach, so I have no idea which. Then I tried Woolite. I think that softened some of the streaks of dirt, but it did nothing about the handles or the rust spots.

The bag is still perfectly sound, so I don't want to replace it. I'm not sure the library sells that particular type of bag any more, and I don't feel like searching around for something similar. I just want the bag to look a bit less like something one shouldn't touch. Unfortunately, I don't think I succeeded in that.