If you want to descend to the depths of childhood depravity, have a second child and a fourth child who cannot stop themselves from deliberately irritating each other. No matter how far apart you separate them, and how much you command them to Stop It, they are compelled by a wellspring of sinful desire to sing on the one hand, whistle on the other, drape an arm back, or carefully place a foot, so that the one will always know... Read more
Just to help my own self out, because I’m feeling the pressure of time and forgetfulness, here’s a summary of the swirling tempest of my mind. One–Packing Laundry basically done. Neat rows of children’s clothes, organized by day for the journey south, ready to be put into some kind of receptacle. I guess that would probably be some kind of suit case, or something. My own bag packed. Matt’s clothes in near order. Shoes scattered far and wide of the... Read more
Matt was away for a couple of days. I would have said before but I didn't feel like telling the Internet that I and the children were here all by ourselves, because I'm a coward. I mean, I know the boys have had a month of MMA and I've got Matt's trusty Tuareg sword here under the bed, and, as the children daily remind me, his replica of some famous sword. The little girls like to explain to all and... Read more
Everyone slept till 8:30, including me. The true sleep that comes at the end of a cold when you actually conk out and don’t wake up every five minutes to regain your breath. Well, I woke up breifly at 6am and pushed play on the bible and then, for what seemed like hours, dreamt that some device was playing something and that I was going around in an endless circle trying to turn everything off but no matter how... Read more
So much rain. It's good for the garden, of course, but it makes getting a picture of the bird more difficult. The mother yells at me now when I come near, which I think is a good sign. I suppose the longer the investment the more the fretting. In the beginning she didn't seem to care at all what I did. I must say, I'm sort of envious of the bird mothering life. You lay some eggs. They hatch, or... Read more
Three nights of weird Nyquill induced nightmares have not improved my capacity to cope with reality. It's too bad, me feeling so rotten, but still having all the work of life piled up ever before me. If I do the tasks I've allotted to each day I should be able to move calmly and majestically through the week, order spreading out from my fingers like a wave that over takes the house and garden. That's been my working paradigm. Unfortunately,... Read more
The sky is gray. The teapot is chipped. !? Not by me was it chipped. Someone has been meddling. Probably Elphine. She comes in what feels like every few minutes and announces in apologetic up talk, “I’m going to boil myself an egg and make a pot of tea and lie on the couch and read my book.” I usually just nod, because I’m not really listening, so it could be that she is doing this ten times, or only... Read more
Survived Shepherd's Bowl, thanks to amazing and most unexpected help. Soup turned out ok, even though I made it. In fact, it was pretty well all eaten. The whole of Binghamton seemed to turn out to eat soup on what felt like a pretty hot day. And now here I am, still in bed, trying to contemplate what it would take to get up. Not sure if it's worth it. Probably going to stay here for a few more times... Read more
If you're at all inclined towards prayer, my parents are going from one end of the country to the other today. So amazing that you can just go all the way from one end to the other. Of course, it does take the whole day. You have to get up in the dark, at like 4, and you won't arrive until probably midnight, and you will shove yourself into various kinds of means of transport. A bus, perhaps, and then... Read more
I try to stay away from news I don’t want to know about, when at all possible, because I am evil and I want to be able to sleep through the night. But some things are just unavoidable and people, including my husband, insist on telling me about them even when I keep muttering that I really don’t want to know. This is one reason I hate Facebook more and more. The click baiting ensures that I never ever click... Read more
Preventing Grace
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