Chalk-Aholic!

Finally – the great driveway chalk mural HAPPENED! We had a blast, but I must say that it  didn’t turn out at all as expected for a variety of reasons. I had pictured everyone working on it en masse, but Tyler, our seven year old grandson, wanted it to be a project for him and me only, which as it turned out, was a very good thing. The two-year old dynamo required the undivided attention of the remaining three adults just to keep him from heading off to Akron!

The real downside though was the glow-in-the-dark chalk. I expected a much better product from Crayola, so was very disappointed on every level. Not only do you have to mix this stuff up (it’s rather lethal looking), but it also has the glow life of a lightening bug which means you have to make it right before you want to use it while still allowing 25 minutes set-up time. It comes with shallow plastic trays in ridiculous designs for drawing and doesn’t even provide enough gunk to fill them to the top. For $10 we wound up with five pieces of crumbly chalk (it promised eight) that disappeared almost immediately. Had I not bought regular sidewalk chalk too this project would have been over before it began. As it stood, after the fireworks Tyler and I drew three bombastic roman candles at the end of the driveway and were rewarded twice by passersby who commented on their neon-quality. But to tell the truth, Tyler’s hands glowed more than the driveway did which didn’t exactly send me into paroxyms of joy.

But I still loved crawling around on the concrete with this funny little kid who provided nonstop running commentary, as well as great design ideas. During the fireworks a long single line of geese paraded right next to us across the yard and into the lake where they huddled in terror until the sky stopped exploding. Right afterward Tyler drew the lake and suggested I make some geese. By the time we covered all available space the Fourth of July had been faithfully captured in chalk and my knees looked like two ripe tomatoes. Unfortunately, the glow chalk also failed to show up on camera, so you can’t see the finished product.

Believe it or not, I hardly gave more than a glancing thought to books this whole weekend (okay, so there might have been SEVERAL glancing thoughts), but both online and mall sales hummed along nicely in the background despite my inattention. To my surprise, the mall outstripped online, but online wasn’t bad at all. Here’s the big news though. Remember the chair I bought for the booth a couple weeks ago? I mentioned that I’d priced it, but didn’t care one way or the other if it sold. Well, guess what? It sold! So now I’m back to having nowhere for people to sit. I must say though that this was one really cool chair. I wish I’d snapped a picture while I had three chances to do it, but I didn’t, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. I’m beginning to think that if books really do go belly-up someday I may have a hidden flair for antique furniture! Who knew?

But as good as all that is, the important thing is we had a satisfying weekend with our family -- perfect weather; cute kids; great food, especially an east Indian blackberry and watermelon compote in ginger syrup; a trip to Medina’s Big Toy which Moira helped build back in 1993 when she was a senior in high school; wonderful Medina fireworks; a wide-eyed baby who LOVED them; and the fanciest driveway in the neighborhood.

But the very best gift of the holiday was what my daughter said as we climbed the stairs to bed with two tired little boys.

“You may not have gotten $10 worth of chalk, Mom. But you more than made up for it in Gran-worship!”