Light Pockets

I really like crystal chandeliers. The current chandelier (if you can call it that) in our dining room is really funky, and not quite as dressy as I'd like. This one is pretty funky too, I'll admit, but I really like the iron with the crystal.

I'm starting to get really antsy about moving. We close on the house two weeks from today. This weekend we're going shopping for kitchen cabinets and appliances. I CAN'T WAIT. And, I can't believe we're going to be home owners so soon.

I wonder if I can convince Blake that we need to order this for our dining room. Actually, I wonder if I can convince myself that we need to order this for our dining room. I can't really justify throwing around the word need when we've got such light pockets.

Let the Wild Rumpus Begin

I really want to see Where the Wild Things Are. Maybe this weekend.

I loved that book as a kid. I still love that book.

I loved that and Blueberries for Sal, Make Way for Ducklings, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Goodnight Moon, The Chronicles of Narnia, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

My parents would read to us every night before bed. Which gave me an internal reading-time clock. In junior high (and thereabouts) I would get into bed every night at 8:00 and read for and hour or and hour-and-a-half, then turn out the lights and go to sleep. Every night. Without fail.

I would also eat crackers in bed while I read. Probably not the most hygienic, but I do love Saltines.

When my Mom got to the end seventh book in the Chronicles of Narnia, she would cry when she read it to us. I didn't understand why until I re-read the books during the summer after my sophomore year at college. Then I cried too.

My Dad read to us from Lord of the Rings. He's a Tolkein expert, if I haven't mentioned that before. He's loved the books since childhood (my favorite story of him as a kid is that he got in trouble for sneaking his LOTR book into Sunday School by putting it in his scripture case and reading it all during class). He'd read at a hurried pace during the chases, in a somber voice at the sad, and in a thoughtful voice at the final scenes. We'd always beg for just one more chapter, or, if that failed, just one more page.

I think that's why I can't wait for lunch time every day...when I can return to my current adventure/biography/history/dramedy/personal essay and spend a blissful hour eating the equivalent of grown-up crackers.

This is the Place

It's impossible to look at this photo and not get at least a little bit homesick.

 

Photo from Nie

Just Blake it Down

Blake makes my lunch every morning. Neat. That makes me so happy.

I had a Korean friend in high school that would pronounce my name "Lacher," because L's and R's are hard in Korean. So, sometimes I call Blake, Brake.

Then, when he's talking about something really complex, I can just ask him to Blake it down for me. Or, if he feels like Blake dancing, that's cool too.

Morning Acoustics

Blake and I were walking to work together (yes, we walk to work together in the morning...it improves my morning substantially and also makes me sure to be on time to work) and my favorite trumpet player was in our metro station.

There are always musicians in our metro station because it has wonderful acoustics. Wonderful acoustics in a metro station? Yep, somehow the three tunnels coming together at one point makes for the perfect place to perform. Usually there is rather rotund man chillin' out and playing his guitar in combination "praise Jesus"/"Jack Johnson" style. I like him, but sometimes get tired of hearing prayers being sung surfer-style.

This morning the trumpeter was playing Praise to the Lord, which is a song I love, and also was probably the most beautiful rendition of it I've ever heard. I wish we could have stopped to listen, but we were in a hurry, the air was stale, and we were collectively feeling very claustrophobic.

Anyhow, the song got me thinking about how my life is exactly what I always dreamed of. But better.

I love the city. I love my husband. I love public transportation. I love street performers. I love my job. I love our new house. I love the fall (and the weather). I love living near family (but hate living so far from my parents, brothers and grandparents). I love the Indian food we ate last night.

So, even with the claustrophobic stale air, and the enormous woman coughing at my side and trying to elbow her way past me, I'd say it was a pretty glorious morning.

My Favorite Time of Day

I love this time of day.

Namely, 3:25, when it has been exactly 4 hours from my last dose and I can now take another two capsules of Sudafed Severe Cold.

In 15 minutes I'll be able to breath through my nose again. Hallelujah.