the fruits of my labors

xo

one of those days

salty : sweet

xo

hurry for sale : 10 cents

I am [still] reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I try to sneak a little bit of it in whenever I can. I just read this really fantastic part that I thought I'd share with you:

"... whenever the religion of time-saving pushes me to zip through a meal or a chore, rushing everybody out the door to the next point on a schedule. All that hurry can blur the truth that life is a zero-sum equation. Every minute I save will get used on something else, possibly no more sublime than staring at the newel post trying to remember what I just ran upstairs for. On the other hand, attending to the task in front of me - even a quotidian chore - might make it into a part of a good day, rather than just a rock in the road to someplace else."

I think I'll put my hurry up for sale. Any takers?

xo

table for one

This may seem ridiculous but would it be too much to have a small library in my bathroom?

This seems to be the only place where I get to read anymore. Besides in bed at night but that puts me to sleep in 2 seconds flat and I never remember what I just read.

My grandparents have a large bathroom in their basement, in which there is a huge floor to ceiling bookcase filled with old books. I don't know if that was always the shelves' purpose but I love it. I always try to visit this bathroom at least once while I'm there. I currently have out on loan an old Alfred Hitchcock thriller, which someday I will finish.

Anyway, I find that on some days the bathroom is my sanctuary. I can take a long hot shower and shave both my legs or I can sit and read, I've even been known to bring my laptop and just zone out on the web for a little while (don't laugh, you know you do it too) and all this without the pitter patter of little feet. Of course that's only when Daddy's home, otherwise I have to leave the door open. 

Did I mention that Ray learned how to take the caps off of pens last week? That was a fun bathroom visit. I had squiggles and lines all up and down my thighs...

Well, whether it is a porcelain throne or a soft downy armchair I believe each of us deserves our own space from time to time.

xo

same tune, different song

We're on a new nap routine lately. It's called the "damned-if-I-will-ever-sleep-again" plan. I'm not sure where Ray picked it up but he sure learned it quickly. The poor guy is dog tired and he would rather do anything instead of sleep.

This is all curious because for 2 glorious days I actually had him taking 2 naps a day. Yes, 2 naps. One in the morning and one in the evening. It was lovely. Not because of the free time it gave me but because when he was awake he was outrageously wonderful and cute. Happy and bubbly, not a frown in sight.

Today, not so much.

Here's a new little ditty momma made up while trying to put him down for his morning nap:

little monkeys need to rest

so that they can play their best.

little monkeys need to sleep

not to scream and shout and weep.

little monkeys need to nap

so that mommy doesn't snap.

(repeat, like a mantra, over and over and over and over...)

xo

and we're walking...

and we're walking..., originally uploaded by whitney leigh.