April Inventory

Reading: Last week I lost myself in The Girl on the Train for two nights.  It was part Rear Window part Gone Girl and definitely a page turner.  The unreliable narrator intrigued me. Then I picked up Cutting for Stone for the 4th time.  I have started and quit this novel 3 other times so now I've read the first 100 pages 4 times.  I am committed to seeing it through this time, and I really can't explain my resistance to doing so in the past.  I like the story and the style. Of course, I have 3 books in transit to my library so it's going to take willpower.  Lily and I are reading A Long Walk to Water together with heavy hearts.  I think she's going to insist on picking our next book, and it's probably a good idea.

Wondering when I'm going to feel like writing again.  I don't fret like I used to when words evade me because I know it's a process...there is ebb and flow, but still I don't like it.  I don't like it because something important to me is missing in my life, and I feel a little less like myself: off kilter, top heavy, wishy washy.

Noticing that what you give is what you get, the power of intentions and that we are all made up of energy.  Holy energy.

Watching the usuals.  Lily and I have to get caught up on Dancing With the Stars.  Are we the only ones who still love that show?  My Mom used to watch it, and I didn't understand her affinity for the show.  Now I'd give just about anything to sit beside her with a glass of Conch on Monday nights to watch it.  Coach and I tried to watch Going Clear last weekend, but it put us to sleep.  I plan to try again soon.  Cults Scientology fascinates me and have ever since Jim Jones was the Monday night movie.

Listening to The Longest Ride when I walk and still not feeling the chi.  The battery keeps dying when I'm mid miles and I'm starting to think that I just need to give it up.  I'm heading to the library for new audio books today.

Eating my new favorite apple.  It's called the Lady Alice and I highly recommend it if you like tart crisp apples.  I made a delicious cream cheese pound cake for strawberry shortcakes last weekend, and I think I've found the secret to the perfect egg salad: a tablespoon of  chopped fresh jalapeno and a dash or two of white wine vinegar.

Drinking PBRs last Saturday night at the Jackson Blue Ribbon and not remembering a time when beer tasted so dang good.

Wanting to keep crossing things off my eternal and never ending to do list.  I've eliminated some big ones this year and I plan to continue the streak.

Wearing flip flops by day and wool clogs by night.  It's day by day here, but we've had a beautiful stretch of 60 degree, mostly sunny days.

Hoping that our manny can come back this summer.  Maybe even praying.

Thinking that the school year is winding down, and knowing that summer will go fast and then we will have a freshman and a 6th grader.  Sixth grade is when my sharpest memories start.  It was the best of times.  Ninth grade was pretty stellar too.  I'm excited for my two.

Enjoying opening windows, cleaning out closets and drawers, purging and simplifying our surroundings, Susannah Conway's April Love challenge, my breakfast bowl: shredded wheat with a little granola and flax seed topped with berries (preferably raspberries) and coconut milk, getting out for long walks in the fresh air and more daylight and birdsong.

Loving all of the possibilities the present holds.