I planned out a half dozen or so adventures for Flat Matthew, and today we had planned to take him on a history lesson. We would start with Tom's stuff from his Vietnam Green Beret days and the shell fragment from the Civil War Battle of Vicksburg where his great-grandfather was wounded. Then we would visit a nearby cemetery where the only known American Revolutionary War veteran in Wisconsin is buried, then the cemetery where Tom's great-grandfather is buried and finally end up at Belle Boyd's tomb in Spring Grove Cemetery on the other edge of town. We would combine this with a trip to the post office for me to mail a couple of books and pick up stamps for a mailing to the Carmelite monasteries about the book, and then go to the library to return a bunch of books.I went off to Reedsburg for an early meeting, planning to head out with Tom and Flat Matt when I got back about 10:30.
That was the plan. But Rich needed to take a car to Madison and needed someone to go along with him and give him a ride back. So Tom went with him -- taking Flat Matt for a spontaneous Mad City adventure -- and I took care of the other errands. I got the postcards printed, labeled, stamped and mailed out; went shopping at Walmart to pick up supplies for Tom to cook tomorrow (in case we get snowed in and can't get over there); and made dinner. I thought I would clean my room up if we do get snowed in. I have piles of papers and things lying around with research and stuff for projects I am working on. But I got started this afternoon and made a good dent in the mess. There is still some to do tomorrow, but the back of it is broken.
When Tom got back just before dinner, he said they had not managed to do anything with Flat Matt, so that was a bust. They did buy some stuff at an Asian market, though, so we are now set for all sorts of treats down the road.
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And yes, the title of this post is the original version from "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns. [Full title, for you true trivia freaks: To a Mouse. On turning her up in her nest with the plough, November 1785]
3 comments:
Lame, Tom. LAME! :P Just joking. The Flat Whoever project is definitley a hassle...but its fun for the kids.
I am intrigued by the Flat Matt project, too, because it seems like it expects a lot of work from the people who agree to help out the kids. We are enjoying it, but I imagine it can be a challenge for some of the kids to find someone willing to take it on. Matt's class, at least, had to send it out of state. Tom and I have a lot of free time compared to lots of folks, we have a variety of interests and activities of our own and we live in an area where we can do different things with Flat Matt. I assume the kids all share the stuff when it comes back in. I wonder if some of them wind up feeling bad if their Flat Me didn't get to do as much just because they sent him (her) to grandparents who don't get around as much.
I worry too much! The kids will probably just have fun and move on.
We sent pictures, post cards, pencils, shirts for Vince's niece (the girl who sent it to us), and a teddy bear with an I *heart* NY shirt on it. All in all, it cost us well over $100. Not to mention, a day in Manhattan when the Palestinians were protesting everywhere.
Not fun.
She was very happy and the teacher & class so impressed with our effort. Everyone else had grandparents who (if anything at all), sent a post card. It made his niece the star of the class but I too thought about the lone child whose family probably didn't do anything for the project.
Vince's niece was lucky her uncle lives next to NYC.
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