Morning Ritual

I wake up at 5:30 on school days, because I need some silent time, some coffee, and some blog reading on the couch in the dining room before I can contemplate waking up other human beings, making lunch or breakfast or tea for them, or even putting clothes on my body and brushing my teeth. I'm so lucky to have a dog who likes to sleep at least until 6:30 or 7, and a cat who is particularly affectionate in the dark, dark morning before the household is stirring. Almost every day, Mark and I drop Isaac at The Learning Shack before 8 and take Gus to the beach so he can run in circles, chase sticks, wrestle with his pals, and wade in the icy water. Weekends are a different story: I turn into a lazy morning sleeper-in, and I usually wake to the sound of Mark closing the door behind him as he and Gus head off to the beach.

Mirror, mirror.

It's funny how sometimes the person you see in the mirror is exactly who you expected, and sometimes you don't quite recognize her. Or is that just me?

Slant of Light

I looked for light all day, but the sun stubbornly hid, the sky was gray. It drizzled and drazzled. I picked Isaac up early at The Learning Shack and we went book shopping--and it was at Yes Books that I finally spotted it.

After, there was a doctor's appointment (the pediatrician's waiting room is...funny when your very youngest baby is going on 18 years old), falafel, and a lovely chat with my boy before I dropped him off at Blunt for tonight's show.

Make a List

1. I remembered part of my dream when I woke up--I haven't been, lately. I had a little boy, a toddler, a sort-of-Isaac child. I kept forgetting and losing track of him. We were trying to find a place to settle down for the night, wandering from room to room in an office/academic building lit with bright fluorescent lights, often full of people. I kept saying, "It's fine, but I do have to get up at five thirty..." The little boy said his first words, a full sentence, something to the effect of, "I could decide to be a fire fighter when I grow up." I was so proud.

2. I'm feeling determined to enjoy every second of this month, to set aside worrying about money or making things perfect, as much as I can. I look forward to baking, to pine cones and evergreen and candlelight and, ultimately, to eating with (most of) my entire extended family at a long table.

3. There will be fourteen humans at Christmas this year (we are missing our girl), four dogs, and one cat, although we are thinking we'll set him up at Jason's apartment rather than let him be overwhelmed by canine admirers.

4. We stained the bathroom floor last night before bed, Mark and me on our hands and knees spreading dark brown on the old mismatched boards. I think it's going to look great, and I know that six hours later it is incredibly stinky.

Rabbit rabbit!

Happy December, lovey doves!

Thirtieth

Gus, not at interested in a modeling career as it turns out. It made him very sad to pose with my scarf.

The bathroom progresses! Ahh, it's looking lovelier with every passing hour. This photo shows both paint and tile as darker than they really are--they are both just a little creamy colored. The trim and beadboard is bright white. We are leaning toward staining the floor instead of painting it. We need to hem the fancy shower curtain we bought. Everyone who's ever taken a shower in this bathroom is going to be filled with delight when they see it in person, just you wait! It's not gross at all anymore!

This is a somewhat unceremonious way to end my month of blog posts every single damn day, but I have to go put a second coat of paint behind the toilet so Mark can put the back of the toilet back on so we can have a fully functioning bathroom again. Adiós, gatos!

Twenty-ninth

Wow, this month is really careening forward, isn't it? Tomorrow's the thirtieth, and thirty days has...November. And then, friends, it's December, and there's baking to be done. We spent Thanksgiving playing games and reading and watching Dallas Buyers Club at the Nick and eating Indian food with David M at Hi Bombay because Tandoor was closed, if you can believe such a thing. Today we talked to Zoë on the phone--she flies to Budapest in just a few days, is packing up her life in Madurai and saying goodbye to her host family and friends.

Now I am listening to my Cab Calloway holiday Pandora station while Mark braves Home Depot in search of holiday lights. I spent all day painting! Yes, still the bathroom! We are seriously nearing the home stretch, especially if you don't count the floor. We haven't quite decided what to do with the floor yet. Ahh, but it's going to be such a pretty little bathroom!