Preparation

Tonight I am officially bushed. Wiped. Got nada. While preparing dinner I realized that I had forgotten to take my iron pill yesterday and this morning. Oops. I took two pills with dinner and hope to pull myself out of this downward slump sometime tomorrow. I'm not only sleepy but my extremities are heavy feeling. Slugish to the max.

These pics of tile are the old third floor kitchen flooring. We've been in our new kitchen, on the second floor, for a little over a year and a half. Cesar happily demolished the kitchen cabinets once we moved downstairs, but left the tiled flooring as is. With my mother coming for an extended stay once the girls arrive, we decided we needed to get our acts in gear and work on a new guest room for her. The old guest room will transform into the girl's nursery, the old kitchen, which was to be my craft room but really turned into my disaster room, will become the new guest room. So we've got some room switcherooing a happening here at our place. It is all developing very slowly because I am so slow and Cesar is so busy and Hugo, well, he sorta gets in the way discovering this and that becoming all excited and wanting to discuss... he gets that from me poor thing. We've got doors to be hung, pipes to be capped, painting, painting, painting, furniture to be rearranged and curtains to be sewn. Most of it is pretty exciting stuff if you ask me! I feel constrained though. I know I shouldn't be lifting or moving anything, but I do have a great pointer finger plus family and friends who would love to help but Cesar said "No." He wants to be in charge. But he really isn't here. I could've painted this week. Shhhh! Maybe I still will! (We'll see if he is reading this blog of mine or not!)

Summer to My Ears

I have been very slowly working on turning my past year of blog posts into book form on Blurb. Creating photo books is completely addicting for me. I love it. It's been fun to reread my words and see what we were up to one year ago. Things have changed. I was in the garden like mad by this time last year and this spring finds me quite the slow poke. Seeing the flowers out my windows and here and there on our short walks has been great - but I haven't done more than that. My flower garden is still one giant weed pit with bits of color here and there wishing for attention. I also remember that this time last year I was on the phone a bunch to my mother wanting advice on how to keep tabs on Hugo in the yard. I was terrified that he'd disappear on me down the drive and out onto the busy road. He did, once. The faze was short lived, thank heavens. Now Hugo is my shadow. This season I am searching out advice on how to deal with all the questions and non stop chatter in my ear from the short one. I am a person who likes my quiet. My husband on the other hand, is the opposite. Cesar needs to be plugged into his laptop, radio, and or pod casts all - the - time. He is the King of Info. He and silence don't mix well with one another. I like being alone with myself, the sound of the wind, rain, the birds singing... One of my favorite sounds is when I'm sunbathing and all relaxed and I'll hear a small plane buzz past high in the sky above me. Love it! That and a little Eric Clapton in the background, is summer to my ears.

Chasing My Blues Away

"I had an early morning run in the woods before the dew was off the grass. The moss was like velvet, and as I ran under the arches of yellow and red leaves, I sang for joy, my heart was so bright and the world so beautiful. I stopped at the end of the walk and saw the sunshine out over the wide "virginia meadows." It seemed like going through a dark life or grave into heaven beyond. A very strange and solemn feeling came over me as I stood there, with no sound but the rustle of the pines, no one near me, and the sun so glorious, as for me alone. It seemed as if I felt God as I never did before, and I prayed in my heart that I might keep that happy sense of nearness all my life."
Louisa May Alcott