Momma and Catherine together again…

on another whirlwind adventure!

fff|ppp|Off on an adventure!|ppp|fff

I had a few errands to run around town today. I thought about bundling Catherine up and hopping in the car and zipping out to get them done. Then I came to my senses! With the time it would take to get the baby in and out of the car at each stop–never mind the hassle of finding parking–I would be out all afternoon! And what a waste of gas!

I decided the best plan would be to walk. So I packed up the things we’d need to take with us, fed and bundled Catherine and grabbed a coat. I checked the outside temperature and quickly swapped my warm, puffy coat for my spring windbreaker! I popped Catherine in the Back pack and we were ready to go!

fff|ppp|Back door|ppp|fff

One look out the back door of our building will show you why we decided against taking the stroller. All of the sidewalks around here were partially shoveled and walked through during last week’s storm. Then they froze over. We walked with the stroller to Church last Sunday and it was more of an off-road obstacle course than a sidewalk! With the backpack I had to
maneuver only myself over the ice and snow, not a stroller as well! Once we headed out I wished that I had worn boots instead of sneakers. There were tons of puddles on our path caused by the 49degree temperatures!

fff|ppp|Beverly Historical Society|ppp|fff

Our first stop of the trip was to the Beverly Historical Society in the Cabot House on Cabot Street. I had some books that I wanted to donate to their library and since they were heavy and the Cabot House is just across the street from our apartment, it was a logical first stop. We had a nice chat with some of the men who were working there. They admired Catherine’s perch up on my shoulders and she pulled out some flirty smiles for them. We also scored a couple passes to the museum. Looks like plans for another visit are in the making!

fff|ppp|Cabot Street|ppp|fff

After the Historical Society we headed down Cabot Street towards Ann’s Fine Consignments. I had a dress that I thought I might consign. Unfortunately, the woman (Ann?) was not interested in it. “Come back around April 1st,” she told me. “That’s when people start going to weddings.” I guess she knows best, because she’s the one that works there… but it was a simple, classic black dress. I would have thought that a dress like that would be easy to sell in a consignment shop. I guess not. Back into the bag it went. Catherine did make a new friend there, though. There was a small dog in residence in the shop. “Ann” lifted her up for Catherine to see. All of a sudden the backpack started shaking and I heard the greatest little laugh erupt from Catherine. That reaction was priceless!

As we left the store I was approached by four young men (maybe in their mid twenties). They appeared to be on lunch break from work, judging by their attire. One of them said to me, “Excuse me, are you aware that there’s a kid on your back?” I quickly replied, “Y’know, I was wondering what kept pulling my hair! Thanks for letting me know!”

fff|ppp|Family Dollar|ppp|fff

Next on the agenda was a stop at Family Dollar. We’ve had a couple of difficult nights lately trying to get Catherine to settle in for the night. I finally realized that the bulb in her night light had burnt out. With the hope that a new lightbulb might buy us a little peace and quiet, we headed into the store. Along with new lightbulbs we picked up some saftey pins, some baby hair barrettes (badly needed as evidenced here) and a Cherry Coke Zero. The Coke was pretty good. I’m a sucker for Cherry Coke! All in a all a pretty good haul from the Dollar…and the price was certainly right!

fff|ppp|Ford Dealer|ppp|fff

We kept walking and were excited to see ourselves in the window of the local Ford Dealer. It kind of looks like I no longer have legs, but a wheel instead! You can see in the picture my newish “Stop and Shop” grocery bag. I rarely shop at S&S, but I like their nicely sized, reusable bag. I wish it didn’t have their logo plastered on both sides, however. I’d much rather promote Market Basket!

fff|ppp|Thrift Shop|ppp|fff

Since the consignment shop didn’t want my dress, and I didn’t want to bring it home, we made an unscheduled stop at the Beverly Bootstraps Thrift Shop. If I wasn’t going to be able to make any money on the dress I wanted someone to. It was a quick stop that hopefully the organization will be able to benefit from. I like donating to this local charity better than donation to the Salvation Army. I like to think that I’m helping those who live in my neighborhood specifically. Bootstraps is doing a great job helping those in need in Beverly.

fff|ppp|Post Office|ppp|fff

Our final stop was at the Beverly Post office. For the past week we’ve had a package all wrapped and addressed and ready to go sitting by our door just waiting to be mailed. Today was finally it’s big day. Catherine got a lesson in using the self service postal machine and we sent the box off to her new friend Jeffrey. Hopefully it will have a good journey courtesy of the USPS.

fff|ppp|Heading Home|ppp|fff

Heading up the street towards home we were forced to walk on the street. The sidewalk was too icy and the pitch too steep for us to safely climb the hill. Luckily the road is not too heavily trafficked! We made it up the hill and back home with no incident. (insert readers’ sighs of relief here!)

When all is said and done, we had a wonderful adventure around town. It’s too bad you weren’t able to come with us! Maybe next time?

4 thoughts on “Momma and Catherine together again…

  1. Ken F

    (spelling corrections from previous post!)
    Help!!! We’re being “cute-ed” to death by so many cute pictures!!
    I do say we enjoy Catherine’s photos more than the mini-mac videos. (BTW- we’ve noticed a significant decrease of such photos on this blog. Does this bode well for Apple and it’s stock holders?)
    Keep up the cuteness and photos.
    Oh yes, I could have used you here last week when we had 6″ of snow. I would have let you enjoy all the shoveling you wanted!!!!!

    Reply
  2. Jenny R.

    Sounds like a great afternoon out! It wasn’t nearly as warm up here, but still better than it has been. And I’ll talk with Mr. Rainville about plastering the MB logo on some reusable bags 0=)

    Glad you two had a grand adventure!

    Reply
  3. Kirsten

    Sounds like a fun day! I wish I could have joined you! I am sure Catherine may like Waldo more after the way she reacted to the doctor. Luke enjoyed Waldo while we babysat him and seemed very frustrated that Waldo could just get up and walk away when he would grab for him!!
    We look forward to seeing you all in the spring 🙂
    Love Aunt Kirsten

    Reply
  4. christine

    oh the backpack was always an essential tool for us. jessica NEVER was in a stroller — ever. We carried her everywhere. C looks like she loves the ride. i love her peeking over your shoulder in the post office. she totally knows what the camera is all about. whee!

    anyway — your entry brought back memories of when we lived on bridge street in beverly when jess was the same age as catherine… good times. a good city to walk around with baby.

    Reply

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