Sunday

Patience with watching a pile of feeding progress being chucked up on the floor. And, being surprised with the volume of effort lost.

Tackling the pill swallowing issue. Fingers crossed for tonight.

Lara visits for an hour of distraction for both of us.

Staying just slightly ahead of the learning curve as my tax return filing gets more complicated each year. And, wondering: how do people who are less patient, less literate, less determined, and less savvy than I do it? What about a tax code, a legal code (as I see in my work life), etc., that is so complicated that the average person is completely disenfranchised by it? It ain't right, I tell ya.

Phases I and II of the living room re-do are done. Phase III is optional, so does this mean I can take a break now? Not sure about the 'why' of all of the nesting behavior right now.

Thinking of others, positive thoughts for: replacement renter for CP, relief for DPC, focus for LS, health for family.

Healthy Garrett

 

Thankfuls - Garrett

Instincts that tell you when he really just needs to see the doctor.

Flexible work situation, huggy coworkers, and kind, supportive words.

Bodo's chat with some of the most cat-fanatical friends around.

Clinic co-therapy, probably being more helpful for me than it was for him.

Helpful doc, staff, brother-in-law, friends, sister, parents, etc.

Bringing him home a day earlier than expected.

Outdoor exploring gives us hope for the future.

First front-porch chat of the spring.

Sleeping on my pillow now, right where he belongs.

Words that I like, a work-in-progress

snarky
Intelligently witty, in a way that elicits respect for one's gutsiness.

wonky
Off balance, skewed, but somehow all the better because of that.

nefarious
Especially when referring to something that you're secretly happy about but hate to admit to.

dockle
(As in: "Don't be a dockle, Johnny. There's a time and a place for everything and this isn't the time." (From A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith)

soothing rhythm
(As in: "Francie found that no two bricks were alike when she looked real close. It was a soothing rhythm the way they were put together with crumbly thin lines of white mortar. They glowed when the sun shone on them." Ibid.)

hip
(As in: "Swing me way down south/Sing me something brave from your mouth/And I'll bring you pearls of water on my hips/And the love in my lips" Lyrics by Patty Griffin. Or: "Come revenant, come, come ye gentle host/To my patient hip and across our sleeping coasts...." Lyrics by Devon Sproule.)

Have any you'd like to share? Feel free to add a comment.

Spring is here!

Late Week
Dave sits down for a little chat with Jiminy Glick at the Paramount. What a hoot!

Realizing that the best part of the office with a window view is proximity to good people.

A soulmate visits from out of town. Friday night splurge at dinner, and late night chatting.

A too-busy week, with too many plans, too many late nights, and too little sleep means running out of steam too early and not being happy at all about the consequences of that.

Weekend
Saturday morning 4 mile run with chatty Betsy, and afterwards, imagining that we're in the Carribean for a few sun-warmed, sprawled out minutes at the park. Bodo's breakfast sandwiches. The soon-to-be DVM helps me troubleshoot Garrett's food related behavior(?) problem.

Out of town visit with two more soulmates and to meet new pup, Lucy. Italian food, good talks, sharing pictures and memories, lots of laughter. Talk about love and why, even after being hurt, we keep coming back for more. My hypothesis is that it's because pain, as a feeling, once it has passed, becomes impalpable. It's a fortunate and brilliant device. I decided long ago (thanks to DSF) that love is always worth the risk of losing it.

Early morning drive home so that I can wake up in my own bed. Sleeping in. Lazy until the afternoon. Setting aside time for A Prairie Home Companion. Short run, and lovely dinner.

Jen's Birthday

Happy Birthday to Jen!

I had a dream this morning where someone was leaving me signs - like an open window and an object left on my windowsill - that they had entered my house, but I didn't feel afraid, even though I knew it meant that I was now vulnerable. Hard to not read into that, huh?

Mid-day errand running, and an unexpected little crazy-cool feeling.

Reading the transcript of Barack Obama's speech gives me chills.

Amanda and her menagerie host Supper Club, and I get to bottle feed the cutest little white lamb! So neat!

Coming back to edit the blog after remembering something I'd forgotten to mention.

Currently reading: A tree grows in Brooklyn.

Home Sweet Charlottesville

Easy-ish flight, but the whole trip still takes about 5 hours. For the most part, the traveling isn't bad and it was probably one of the most enjoyable visits I've had in a while.

To the Corner for new running socks, which are really one of life's small pleasures. And Butter Chicken Curry.

Spontaneous 3 mile run and catching up with Christie.

Little bit of concern about some noticeable weight loss in Big Kitty.

Plans for a respectable arrival time at work tomorrow.

Thankfuls - Atlanta, cont.

The day of never ending meals.

Chauffeuring the family in the too-high-tech-for-us Odyssey.

Meeting 6 month old Baby Ethan for the first time - he's a blue-eyed cutie too, and crawling already.

Beth's stories. "We made it all up! And we placed third at the Regional Science Fair! Me and Melinda Bell!"

Another movie night with the 'rents: Blood Diamond. Reminds me of What is the What, and that I've been meaning to read Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.

Making a deal with Dad about moving to Cville. It's conditional, but it's official - we even shook on it.

Thankfuls - Atlanta

Staying up late Friday night for good cause, but not so late that I overslept and missed my flight - although my arrival at the airport was a closer call than usual for me (that is, when Beth is not involved...).

Requests from Sister for a blog entry, and wishing I had a picture of something fun to attach for her right now.

Swearing Hailey's grown 3 - 4 inches since Christmas, and being really impressed while watching her play with the wooden stack toy. And, damn that girl has some long eyelashes!

Homemade dinner by Pa, nice dinner conversation with the parents, team-cleaning the kitchen (an unusual event!) and comforting company while watching bloody No Country for Old Men, a movie I've been looking forward to, but was too scared to watch alone.

Early-ish to bed and some more reading: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, already impressive and I'm only 4 chapters in.

Oh, and sweet, harmless secrets.

Sweet Saturday/Lazy Sunday

Saturday evening power outages on the north half of the Downtown Mall send us across the way to TEN instead of Zocalo for a lovely girls night. Making connections with Whitney about exchange studenting.

Sunday’s spring forward time changes leave me feeling a little sleepier than I’d care to be, but we head out for Circa shopping and a Cville Coffee lazy afternoon. Enjoyable team crossword puddling and a welcomed guest visitor.

Quick, late afternoon 2 mile run at Riverview. Thankful that the sound of the rushing water drowns out the sound of my rushing thoughts.

Falling asleep with Garrett curled up under the covers pressed against my belly.

Waking up thinking of the lyrics to Paul’s On the Fiddle, the song that I love, but can never remember the name of.

Some thoughts on Grace

"I understand that [he] meant grace in the theological sense, meant it as the force that infuses our lives and keeps letting us off the hook. It is unearned love--the love that goes before, that greets us on the way. It's the help you receive when you have no bright ideas left, when you are empty and desperate and have discovered that your best thinking and most charming charm have failed you....I do not understand the mystery of grace--only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us."
--From Traveling Mercies: Some thoughts on faith, by Anne Lamott.

Free weekend

Long morning talks with the brother (we both salivate thinking about supper at the Smith House next weekend!), and with the Pa (and this priceless moment, where after I make an innocent comment, he pauses, and declares the score Love - 40. (Who knew I could be so profound on a Saturday morning?!).

Loving this Live Streaming WXPN Public Radio.

Updating some of the captions and adding new pics to my slideshow.

Wild wind blows in a dramatic little storm front, me thinks.

Looking forward to Girls Night!

Advice just given to me by my favorite co-workers

"You know, Cat, it would help things out around here if you weren't so damn happy all the time. Would you mind acting a little more disgruntled? A little more unsatisfied with your job?"

Plugging a little

Glen and Marketa are appropriately rewarded at the Oscars, see this NPR story to hear a tune.

And, while I'm at it, a little plug for NPR in general, and NPR Music, including World Cafe (which featured Devon Sproule here) and the live streaming music.

And, while I'm at it, a little plug for public television, where you can catch cool shows like Bob Dylan: Live in Newport 1963-65.

Kallie has a very comfortable relationship with the camera...

 

Here she is showing all of her teeth. She loves taking pictures with the camera, and then looking at them afterwards.

Anne Lamott shining brilliantly

"Mostly things are not that way, that simple and pure, with so much focus given to each syllable of life as life sings itself. But that kind of attention is the prize. To be engrossed by something outside ourselves is a powerful antidote for the rational mind, the mind that so frequently has its head up its own ass -- seeing things in such a narrow and darkly narcissistic way that it presents a colo-rectal theology, offering hope to no one."
From: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.