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right now
So here’s a lazy, fill-in-the-blanks post for a lazy, low-effort afternoon. I stole this directly from Lindsey, who, by the way, sells lots of great handcrafted items that I’ve had the pleasure of buying.
right now, i am…
watching: the rain fall outside my kitchen window.
eating: for lunch, i had the pioneer woman’s chicken spaghetti, which is delicious and, even better, I didn’t cook. my great pal and neighbor made too much and brought me her leftovers.
drinking: bean traders coffee (when am I not?) and my ever-present camelbak bottle of water.
wearing: my husband’s sweater, black leggings, and the slippers that I got for Christmas (quick! somebody call clinton kelly!). oh! and white shoulders perfume–a classic and my new fave.
avoiding: the laundry, the inbox, the tumbleweeds of dog hair rolling across the kitchen floor.
feeling: excited about the progress I made this morning on my next book, and about the fact that I’m having dinner tonight with my best friend.
thankful: for a husband who sent me to the mountains last weekend with a bunch of girlfriends, and for the girlfriends themselves. i’m so lucky to live in a place where I have such an incredible network of women going through the same stage of life.
weather: rainy and cold, which is exactly what I’m in the mood for, though I’d love some snow.
needing: to go for a good, long run after my comfort food lunch. a nap would also work.
thinking: about the fact that the main character in my next book is still named “X” because I can’t commit to anything. and about how increasingly anxious i’m going to get over the next several months as the launch of the first one approaches.
loving: emails from my very oldest friend, a stack of new recipes to try this weekend, the way that my 17-month-old mimics me by patting my back when I hug her, the way that my big girl sings “the bare necessities” by saying “the bear mah-sesames,” the possibility of a cape cod vacation this summer, making new writer friends over the past couple of days, the golden retriever snoring next to me.
Read Morea friday list
1. what do you have planned for the weekend? we’ll pick out our christmas tree and I’m hoping to hit this shop to knock a few gifts off of my list. i also like the idea of this.
2. this song has been stuck in my head for nearly twenty-four hours. it’s okay. it’s one of my all-time faves.
3. do any of the other writers out there ever switch between working on the computer and writing with pen and paper? i find that when i’m having trouble, i can work out the kinks by getting away from my desk and sitting somewhere un-officey with a legal pad and pen. and when that doesn’t work, i sometimes make more coffee, like i did just minutes ago. i’m off to see if that helps.
have a lovely weekend, friends.
Read Moreold red pickups
someday, i will have one. in the meantime, i snap a photo whenever i see a good one.
i took this one years ago, in tybee.
this was at the farmer’s market.
excuse the crappy camera phone quality.
giving thanks
‘ello!
So, with Thankgsiving last week, we’ve been talking a lot about gratitude around here. My big girl’s preschool class focused on it for several days, and every day in the car ride home, or while she was coloring at the kitchen table, or at night while I tucked her in, she’d bust out with a random moment of gratitude: “I’m thankful for mommy and daddy.” (I died.) “I’m thankful for glitter.” (Naturally.) The World’s Greatest Babysitter also made a “thankfulness tree” with the girls and wrote little notes on construction paper leaves about things that they were thankful for–school, sparkles, milk, Dora.
And then there’s me.
Counting my blessings is not something that comes naturally to me. I’m ashamed to admit that I get hung up on the minutiae of my life and don’t often stop to realize how good I have it. The goddamn pile of laundry that needs to be folded, needing to stop unexpectedly to put gas in my car on the way to pick up the kids…these stupid, stupid eensy little things can momentarily derail me, spoil my mood, and make me take every other wonderful thing in my life for granted. It’s so silly. And really kind of selfish when you think about it.
I was talking about this with a friend of mine recently, and she mentioned that she once attended a mass where the priest advised the congregation to put five dried beans in one pants pocket at the start of each day, and each time something happened that they were grateful for, they were to transfer a bean to another pocket. I was thinking about it while I was getting dressed a few weeks ago, and having only canned beans on hand (er…wouldn’t work), I shoved five pennies in my pocket. I’ve done it nearly every day since. Some days, all five pennies are moved by lunchtime. Other days, it’s not until I’m getting ready for bed that I realize I’ve only moved one. But overall, I’m telling you, it’s made me notice things that I would have otherwise missed, and having established the habit, it’s almost like a sort of radar’s gone up. This is a very good thing. Try it.
In other news, the Big Girl has decided that “nap” time is the ideal time to try out new outfits. Some recent ensembles:
Have a good (and grateful!) day, friends!
Read Moreart therapy
I’m no child psychiatrist, but by the looks of the family pictures that my big girl’s been drawing in school, someone might be having trouble adjusting to the fact that her little sis is here to stay.
Hello!
Welcome to my website. I’m a veteran magazine writer and author. My debut novel, HOW LUCKY YOU ARE, will be published by Grand Central Publishing in 2012.
