There is Work to Be Done.

Today’s list: (and what became of it)

Finish second cup of Dancing Goats coffee [in preparation for work.] done
Make bed. done
Late breakfast. Early lunch. done
Plant seeds in tiny painted pots for the window ledge. pots still empty
Wash sofa slipcovers. still dirty
Tomorrow’s grocery list...find recipes. almost done
Cat box. um, always last priority...can wait till tomorrow
Feed Eli oatmeal and pears. peaches. done
Buy: baby vitamins, organic 1% milk, something chocolate. milk and chocolate bar = done
Begin paper collage project. tomorrow
Write thank-you notes. tomorrow
Make chicken tacos Go to Baja Burrito for dinner. done
Squash Carrots and peas for Eli. ate them all
Read “If You Give a Pig a Pancake” "When the Moon Smiled" as bedtime story. done
Doze. soon...

heatwave.

it is scorching. suffocatingly hot. the kind of hot that sucks every ounce of energy straight from your body and leaves you feeling like a dusty tumbleweed. we just cannot seem to get a break from the hundred degree temperatures.

i have never wished so earnestly for rain. our garden is brittle. leaves once green are now crumbly and brown and our willow tree is drooping from exhaustion. we're staying relatively cool [inside] with the help of a few box fans to supplement the air conditioning, but yesterday i actually put on a bathing suit and hopped into the bathtub with Eli for an afternoon swim. he loved splashing around and watching the rubber duckies float by. i got the feeling even they were thankful for a plunge.

oh, if only we could all get away with wearing nothing but a diaper, how much more bearable August would be.

but since i can't, a few things that are helping me make it through the days:

-drive-thru iced coffees and french music on the car stereo

-afternoon naps under handkerchief sheets

-a chicken curry recipe cooled with coconut milk

-homemade strawberry ice cream and opening the freezer to get another scoop


-bare feet on kitchen tile

-rocking Eli on a soft chair in a darkened nursery (blinds closed, curtains drawn) and concentrating on his tiny breaths as he drifts off to sleep

-letting wet hair air-dry

-early evening family drives around town. [for no reason.]

-Shiner Hefeweizen in a frosty mug with a slice of lemon (i'm not really a beer drinker, but lately an after-dinner brew with Jeremy is pretty tasty)

-a clawfoot tub, a few plastic toys, several gallons of lukewarm water, and one happy baby with droplets on his eyelashes

cookie monster.

Learning to crawl.

today, so far, is feeling a lot less like a saturday than i'd hoped. we did sleep in till 9:30 which i guess is saturdayish, but then there are always tasks to be done. lately, i find myself looking forward to weekends even more than i did when i was "working" full time. the craving for family-time and a break from routine has intensified now that we have eli, and jeremy is tied to his computer weekdays from eight to six.

this morning, jeremy is cleaning the garage, and i paused from simultaneously writing a grocery list, emptying the dishwasher, and brewing iced tea to sit down and compose a blog while eli naps. the forks reminded me that it's been too many days since i've written.

eli has his first two bottom teeth emerging, and has begun scoot-creep-crawling, which i find both exciting and worrisome. now he is at eye (and hand) level with the dog, cat, my not always clean kitchen floor, and a variety of cords, water dishes, and various other hazards soon to be baby-proofed. i will admit that it is very nice to be able to put him down now, to let him scootch across the floor on his belly, feet tromping the tiles in a mermaid-like motion to get where he wants to go. this buys me a little more time to prepare dinner or fold a load of laundry while he's captivated by the toy-buffet of colorful plastic spoons and lids within his reach.

last night i dreamt that jeremy and i went to Europe, twice. we packed, flew across the seas to look at ruins and cathedrals, then came home, re-packed, and flew to Europe again. the second time, eli was with us. awake now, i can see that my quest for adventure and creative inspiration has been redefined. this side of pregnancy, adventure looks a bit more like chasing a curious six month old as he scuttles across the house. it means finding mystery through his perspective, as i squeeze the upright shampoo bottle during his bath and watch his eyes widen at the tiny bubbles that float into the air.

i completed a painting last week (after eli's bedtime) using many shades of intersecting blues and greens. honestly, i hadn't thought much about any meaning behind it until jeremy noticed that the design seems much less simple than paintings i've done in the past. usually i paint a singular object: dog, tree, olive. i'm not sure if his interpretation is what i subconsciously intended, but i can agree that life has become a good bit more multi-focused. definitely less simple. still, we are navigating our way through it happily and steadily, scooting along on our stomachs to get where we want to go.