This Week's Pennies

     The days are filled with shiny pennies. Each little token of simple pleasure adding up to an overflowing cup. Over the weekend we cooked an amazing corned beef dinner. This is a meal that Steve prompted us to cook, which I otherwise might neglect. It was fun because it was a joint effort, we shared ideas for methods and we shared pots. (His brewing pot, my canning pot.) The pièce de résistance are the sticks of pepperoni added to the simmering stock along with the corned beef. This was my mom's Italian twist on corned beef and cabbage and the pepperoni is hands-down my favorite part. 
     Spring is seeping up from the ground and blowing in on the breeze. Walks are a little bit muddy and the fields have come alive with flocks of robins and red-winged blackbirds. Their flights are frenzied in the spring, just when they settle down, they rise back up again. I walked past the lilacs and those buds are beginning to open with tiny green leaves. I've also heard the sound of birds chirping over the front door intercom at school. Our building is secure, like most are these days, and guests must ring a bell and announce themselves before they are admitted. The first sound to come over the speaker when the doorbell rings is the sound of birds chirping under the portico. It makes me smile every time I hear it. It was a similar sound Steve and I heard when we walked into the hardware store last Saturday. We heard the clear sound of chirping in the store, but it wasn't songbirds we heard, rather it was baby chicks! Now that's a cute sound. They were being kept in a large water trough with straw, a feeder, and a warming light. They were already grown past the super-cute stage and were at that lanky, in-between stage, but their chirps were adorable. I looked at Steve and said I wanted chickens. Only it came out in the same way a young wife might longingly say to her husband, "Oh, I want a baby."
     For rainy days, I added a bunch of books to my library list and we'll see how they go. I already know that I'll like The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis. I also picked up, Lissette's List by Susan Vreeland and Someone by Alice McDermott. I've also started French lessons in order to better understand our friend who calls me, Madame D. The beginner lessons have served as a refresher for all those years of high school French that I forgot and now remember! It's so much easier to read and write the language than to speak it. We'll see how far my good intentions take me.
     So, spring is doing that "rushing" thing and I wish to do so many things! I'll start this weekend by painting the living room. Audrey will not like my boring choice of color, or lack thereof. I'll be happier in my neutrally freshened walls and I'll add something lime green or purple to the room to please her and prove that I can be a little bit daring. After all, it's spring and something exciting needs to happen!