white picket fence

it could be worse

(the morning light in our kitchen is pretty, don't you think?)

In the past few days Norah and I have been battling a pretty gross virus. You know the kind of sickness that makes you feel like your soul is trying to escape your body via any orifice available? Yeah... that kind. 

When you spend a lot of time laying around doing nothing and not leaving the house for days, it makes a lot of time for thinking. And I just wanted to share a few of my thoughts/observations.

5 things:

1. It's always good to take the long view: there are people in history and in this world currently that have it a lot worse. Sure, I got puked on about ten times Saturday night. But! At least I'm not some pioneer woman alone in the middle of nowhere during a month long blizzard! At least I'm not a homeless third-world person after a natural disaster! I still have a house and clean water and a washing machine. It might be not very much fun, but I know this will not be my fate:

2. I'm starting to think there are some kind of immune system-weakening properties in Norah's shrill, whiney scream. She's in that pre-2 phase when they figure out that being REALLY LOUD gets them noticed quickly. But I swear, anytime she starts in, I just feel like all the energy immediately exits my body. 

3. I realized I have nothing to wear while sick. My wardrobe is pretty much just nice clothes, or workout clothes and pajamas, with not much in between. If I have to run out for bleach and ginger ale, I'd like to have something to wear other than skinny jeans or my roller derby tights. What do you wear when you're sick?

4. As soon as I'm feeling 100%, I'm going straight to Dunkin Donuts to reclaim all the calories I've missed. 

5. And last but not least: being a stay at home mom can be really lonely and discouraging. I know I've tried to be funny here, but the past few days have been a struggle. Just wanted to put that out there in case anyone needed to hear it. I'm doing fine. But it's hard. 

february

Hi. 

So it's February, and cold, and I gave up drinking for Lent. And we put our dog to sleep yesterday. (it's really okay, she was so old and it was time.) There are piles of laundry, always, no matter how much I seem to do. Am I repeating myself? I think I always talk about laundry here. If it's not laundry, it's sweeping the floors. Every day is like a little circle: coffee breakfast school gym cleaning cooking playing dinner stories drawing bedtime. Aaand repeat. 

I know all that stuff sounds like a downer, but I'm actually doing pretty good. Having a rhythm is a fine thing. Eating huge salads and quitting Twitter have been 2 healthy changes in my life lately. Keeping it all balanced. The story of my life. 

love makes a family

OK: back story. My friend Kimberly is one of those "online friends" where eventually you just drop the "online" part and count it in the real life category. We've known each other for almost 8 years (that seemed like forever but then I checked my gmail archives, and yes, emails date back to 2006!). I've appreciated her kindness, her strength,  her wonderful parenting advice, and of course her beautiful photography; and I feel so lucky that our paths crossed way back then. 

When she asked if I would help her brother and sister in law with their adoption fundraiser, I immediately responded yes. I remember when I first read Tony and Emily's story in this post. The enthusiasm and sweetness that Kimberly captured in her photos had me in tears. 

And the story has changed since then. Not only are they adopting one little girl, her older sister will also be joining the Gould family. Between the adoption process and travel, there are numerous expenses, and this month they're hoping to raise money to cover the airfare to Africa (for 2) and back to the USA (for 4!). 

I'm always extremely humbled to think about couples that choose international adoption. It isn't always easy, but the difference that can be made for these children is absolutely life-changing. I hope you'll consider helping Tony and Emily this month. 

To donate, visit here. And for more information and stories about the couple and their adoption journey, visit Tony and Emily's blog.

slowly, slowly

I added a few new things to my Etsy shop today. I'm not lying when I say I've had these packs ready for months and just not taken the time to photograph and relist them.

It's part of a personal initiative to Finish What I Start. I have an embarassing amount of projects in various states of not-quite-readiness. I know I can do it, I just need to DO IT. 

But! They're there now. And guess what? If you use the coupon code "FRIENDSHIP" you get free shipping. Good news for you, good news for my art closet, which desparately needs some free space.