one
Pinterest has a lot of really cool ideas for things that I will probably never try.
Like this:

This:

.

And this:

.

I tell myself that I’ll make all these lovely and/or useful things someday, but truth be told…
I probably won’t.
Just looking at them makes me feel like I’ve accomplished enough.

two
Saturday night, Walt and I planned a double date with some friends. This is notable for two reasons: a) We have not spent social time with other people, on purpose, without kids, in a very long time. b) We chose not to get a babysitter.
Walt has been apprehensive about leaving our daughter home alone ever at night. I both understand and appreciate his feelings. He is our protector. He double checks the locks and keeps an eye out for suspicious looking people. I used to tease him for it until that time, several years ago, when his constant vigilance! stopped someone from breaking into our house.
Even so, a couple of weeks ago, when Walt asked me to get a babysitter so we could go on a date, I put my foot down. Enough is enough. Newt no longer needs a babysitter; in fact, she has begun babysitting for others. Sure, her own babysitting jobs have all been during the day, but I knew she could handle being home alone after dark. Walt was still nervous, so we compromised. We did not get a babysitter, but we did go out early and were home by 8.
Fast forward to this past Saturday. We met our friends and went to the movies. Although Walt seemed to be enjoying watching Tom Cruise accomplish impossible missions, he was a little preoccupied with his phone. Every few minutes, he’d double check it to be sure that he had not missed a call from Newt. And then, during a particularly exciting fight scene, somehow, he dropped his phone… under the seat of the lady in front of him.
He tried to retrieve it and couldn’t reach. There was no way he could leave it there. What if Newt called? I pictured him getting down on his hands and knees and trying to use stealth to get his phone back. I also pictured the lady who was sitting over his errant phone misunderstanding his intentions and laying him flat.
Heidi to the rescue! I learned forward and quickly explained the dilemma. The lady and her male companion jumped up and joined Walt in the search. The man next to them got on his hands and knees and began feeling around in the dark recesses. My friend lent her cell phone to use as a flashlight. Tom Cruise did something. What? Who knows, we all missed it.
The phone was found. Newt had not called.
When we got home, we discovered that she had eaten half a box of graham crackers (stale from about a year ago), played hours of wii and put herself to bed (when she heard us drive up). Pretty much what we expected.
Look out world! We have moved into a new life phase…

three
On Saturday, before our date, we drove over an hour to our nearest Ikea, successfully navigated our way to the self-serve furniture department (without a map!), and placed on our cart the shelving unit we had pre-selected from the internet. Boom! Ikea almost done in under 30 minutes!
And then I realized that Ikea’s idea of white is really cream.
In and out in 30 minutes! Without buying anything.

What’s on your mind today?

What are you thankful for today?

I spent last evening writing up my post for this week’s the reading chair, but something strange happened and it reverted back to an earlier draft. Sorry – I may recreate it for tomorrow, but in the meantime here’s something else to look at:

It rained today. Great drops poured from a gray sky.
Without warning, it stopped. The sun broke through the clouds and shone as brightly as if the rain had never come.
However, it wasn’t long until the rain returned. This pattern continued throughout the entire day. At one point the rain poured down in bright daylight from a cloud that just couldn’t cover the sun.
Rain.
Sun.
Rain
Sun.
Rain-sun.
It was a confusing jumble of weather that refused to make up its mind.

Today was a sad day at our house. Bob, the biggest and best of Newt’s pet stick bugs, died. She had been my girl’s favorite: the one she carried around on her arm, read to and watched movies with.
I know that Bob was only an insect, but she was Newt’s insect and she was loved.

We buried her under the lilac tree between cloud bursts. Newt cried for Bob. I cried for Newt.
I tried to speak comforting words to my little girl as we worked together to find a suitable rock to mark the tiny grave.
“You loved her so much, sweetie. And you took really good care of her.”
Great tears rolled down both of our cheeks.
“Mom, stick bugs are easy. You hardly have to do anything.”
At that point the ridiculousness of our bug funeral set in and the laughter came. We wrapped our arms around one another and giggled through our tears.
Laughter.
Tears.
Laughter.
Tears.
Laughter-tears.
We returned to the house just as the rain began to fall again.
On the way to the kitchen for a snack, we passed the cage that holds Bob’s sisters, also all named Bob.

“Bob is dead”, I said. “Long live Bob.”