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Today is a great day. Why is that? I don’t know really. It started with a major tickle fight between HT and I last night before bed. And that’s not code. We were really tickling. And only tickling. Wrestling. All over the living room. Over the couches and ottoman. On the floor. Laughing the whole time. It’s really mostly me trying to get at him, and him blocking and occasionally landing me on my butt, but occasionally I get him good. It’s like sparring in martial arts, which by the way is totally fun with a well matched partner.

Then, somehow I slept ’til 8:30 this morning. I will never take sleep for granted. Then, a book I pre ordered, just miraculously landed in my Kindle without me doing a blessed thing to put it there(other than ordering it months ago). And the book is one that is a spirits raising, good feeling, ah….that’s the reason for the whole blessed Universe, thanks for clearing that up kind of thing. It’s the third in a series and I knew it would be good, and it is. It’s old, but I’d never read the third and I guess it is new on Kindle, thus the wait. Anyway, you’d be hard pressed to read it and not feel good. Did you know we’re all angels in human suits? You did? Well…did you know that when we breathe, there is this infinitesimal space between breaths (  breathe   ) in which we go back to Source, dipping into that Creative space a zillion times a day, so fast we don’t even know it is happening. We’re not consciously aware of it but we’re not really here half the time because we’re pulsing in and out back to Source, back to Source, back to Source. I love it when that happens. If that doesn’t make you want to take a deep breath, I don’t know what will? According to my Kindle, I’m only 10% into the book and look how much I’ve learned already!

Then, Carrie and I had an email discussion of Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild, which I just finished two days ago and LOVED. So much to chew on with this book. SO MUCH!

And I’ve been studying for my nursing boards today. I’d been procrastinating, because I feel studying for my nursing boards should be totally awful. But here’s the thing… I actually kind of like it. I am firing off neurons in another part of the ole noggin’ which have not been fired in a while, and it feels good. I like to study. Sue me.

HT just wrote to say he’d be late, claiming he has a meeting, and I took the opportunity to lambaste him, for the alleged affair he surely is having, and asked for names, and threatened to kill her, and signed off

-Vivian

It’s 5:30. I don’t have a plan for dinner but that’s okay because we just ate copious amounts of cheese popcorn. I buy boxed mac & cheese and then steal the cheese packet for the popcorn, man. To hell with the macaroni. It’s what I do.

Five or six more hours before bed. I can’t even imagine the fun that’s still in store.

And no, I’ve not been drinking.

The library is one of my favorite places and always has been, as a child, and as an adult. No matter where I’ve lived. It’s been a place of respite. It was where I hung out in college, reading while waiting for my boyfriend to meet me behind the stacks. It’s where I would go to study and then get distracted by all the other things to read which I found far more interesting than my assignments.

I’ve been reading to my babies since before they were born and both kids have spent many, many hours at the library. We’ve rarely gone a week without a visit. I’ve never forced them to read. No timer setting to make sure they get it in. I learned early with Riley that being coy was the way. While at the library, they’d play with puppets and I would fill up my big bag with books I thought might be of interest to them. Then, when we’d get home, I’d set that huge pile of books on the living room floor and walk away, acting like I couldn’t care less if they read them or if they didn’t.  It worked like a charm.

Our library system here in Cleveland is so good! You can get your hands on anything you want. If they don’t have it, they get it. We live just a friendly little mile from our library, and we love, love, love it.

Riley recently, in an effort to break my heart,(not really, she’s not manipulative) informed me she’s not really a reader. “I’m not a chapter book girl,” is what she said.

I’m not buying it.

She’s into graphic novels these days. That counts. She also can’t get enough of the Smart Girl’s Guide to……. (pick a subject) kind of books.

She’s a reader damn it.

Anyway…it’s National Library Week. Shout out to *M*elissa and all the other awesome, helpful, friendly, smart librarians who make our lives easier and keep our libraries functioning.

You are a blessing to your communities.

Thanks to The Daily Good  for alerting me to the fact that it was National Library Week. You might want to sign up for their newsletter. It’s, well, “good.”

About 8PM last night I was inspired to go to the store to buy my kids a toy for their Easter Baskets. It was either Wal-Mart or Target, and I needed oil for the lawn mower as well, so I went to Wal-Mart. I despise Wal-mart for so many reasons, and rarely set foot in the place, but it was one of two choices that were open and well…I went.

It was crowded. I found what I needed and got in line. A long line. A line in which I was fortunate enough to be in because you see, Kristi was in a cart in front of me. Kristi was four years old. Brown skin. Huge eyes. Braids. Round cheeks. Pink frayed tutu over her sweat pants. She batted her long lashes at me for five seconds and then decided I was a friend and after that she never stopped talking. I was in line for at least 20 minutes.

Kristi, showed me her new glow ring. She introduced her brother, who was five. She grabbed a battery operated hand sized fan, (which also had candy in it) off the impulse buy check out rack and fanned herself, then fanned me, and asked, “How do you like it?”

She looked at the gender specific toys in my hand. “You got a girl and a boy?” she asked. I told her I did.

“Just like us,” she said, nodding at her brother.

“The Easter bunny be coming to my house tonight,” she said, wiggling with joy in her seat, eyebrows lifted in anticipation.

Her brother pulled some spicy potato chips off a rack and asked if she wanted some. She said, and I quote, “I don’t want no spicy chips. If I did want spicy chips, I’d say it. But I’m not saying it, because I don’t want spicy chips. If I did want spicy chips, I’d be having some spicy chips. I don’t like spice.”

Her lips were covered in glitter, and I told her I liked her glittery lipstick.

She looked at me incredulously, “Girl, please. I am not old enough to wear lipstick. It is lip balm. And I got it for Christmas from Santa.”

Then earnestly, she lowered her eyes and said, “I just wish Santa had given you some. I really do.”

She fanned herself, held the fan out to her brother, and when he tried to reach it she pulled it back. She looked at me slyly and grinned. Her harried mother kept pushing the cart forward, herding the brother back into line.

During lulls in the conversation she sang, “God is goooood. God is goooood.” Sounds like God is Guuuuhd.

At the check out, Kristi took advantage of the opportunity where her mother was distracted and began to bargain about how many TV shows they could watch before bed when they got home. Mom said one. Kristi said two.

I’m betting they got two.

I’m betting Kristi is having a happy Easter. She seems to take the happy with her.

May she always.

Our house is about fifty, sixty years old. Solid bones, but lots of outdated areas. We’ve done a lot in the four years we’ve lived here but there is still plenty to do. The kitchen is a galley, with an L shape that wraps around to an eat-in area. There was nowhere in this kitchen to put a dishwasher. So, we had to reconfigure the existing cabinets. The first contractor who was here said it could not be done.

Never listen to people who say it can’t be done.

The second contractor said the first contractor probably was trying to sell us a whole new kitchen. But I didn’t want a whole new kitchen. We have really great solid cabinets. No need to replace them (though I would like to refinish them and add new hardware, maybe next year).

Like most renovation projects it is adding up to more than we expected. We needed to cut the counter top and cabinets, so we of course would replace the old severely outdated counter tops. But the new counter tops we chose do not go with our current back splash. So we either had to rip out the existing tile/drywall and start over, or paint the current tiles. I chose paint. It’s a cheap alternative to a $1500 new drywall overhall. I’m having fun with it. Chocolate back splash. Cappuccino walls. And green accent. The color scheme will be something like this, but with the beige being the walls and the chocolate being the smaller backsplash.

My back splash looks like a giant Hershey bar. And the walls will look like a cup of coffee (with cream) next to it. And the counter tops will be a light, brownish granite. I hope it all works.

Reconfiguring the cabinets allows us to fit a dishwasher, and also mount the microwave on the wall. So I am somehow ending up with more counter space than I had. We previously had a wall oven and a separate cook top, which took up a lot of counter space. My galley now has more room to move in since I can get rid of the stand I had the microwave on which jutted out a few inches into the galley. The kitchen already feels more spacious. 

The counters have been cut. The dishwasher is in, but not mounted to anything yet so we can’t use it. Our house is a total wreck. All of the kitchen stuff is displaced into the dining room. I’m in the middle of painting the tile. It will be a couple of weeks before the counter tops are here. It’s a little unnerving to have everything everywhere for such an extended period of time. But soon, this phase of kitchen renovation will be done.

Bye-bye salmon counter tops with the metalic piping. I’m sure in your day, you were mighty purty. Bye-bye butane lighter needed for igniting the gas burner on our cook top stove. Bye-bye old tile. You’re chocolate now.

Change is good.