Preparing, Preparing, Good News

1. Daughter #2 phoned last night just to say thank you for being supportive.
2. All the talk is of the snow storm forecast for tomorrow. I don't care whether it snows. Right now it's more fun to see the activity and excitement leading up to the storm. At this point, it will be a letdown if nothing happens.
3. I gave an elderly someone the good news that their bank account wasn't depleted, but in fact had plenty. I shared in their elation and relief.

Sending Love, The Crow Conspiracy, Finding Fun

1. I was at the post office to mail a pound cake to my mom. The clerk asked the, "Anything liquid, fragile, perishable..." question and that led to a discussion about the best way to eat pound cake.
1a. A friend came in to mail a Valentine to her far away son. She put a Starbucks card in his.
2. The parking lot was silent except for the chattering, clucking sound of some crows. I drove two miles away to another parking lot and more crows were there, making the same crow talk. I suppose two miles as the crow flies isn't all that far, but I thought it was coincidental that all the crows were making the same unusual chatter.
3. I found amusing things while wasting time: most-perfectly-timed-photos-ever One of them made me laugh out loud. Can you guess which one?

The Eighth, Craving, Have Some!

1. While holding my mother's birth certificate I am overcome with emotion. On that Good Friday of nineteen twenty-two, a child was born...a mother cried with joy...one small teardrop of a child added to an ocean of history.
1a. The document is hand written in that beautiful, old script that is practically illegible.
2. When Steve is away, dinner is a fly-by-night affair. For tonight, I ask myself what would be a fun, indulgent meal if Tess and I could eat whatever we want? A fruit salad! Organic strawberries and blackberries, pineapple, kiwi, and grapes are topped with a sweet dressing and served with a loaf of bakery cinnamon bread. That was a good splurge.
3. Oops! He came home early. He liked the fruit salad too : )

Oldies But Goodies (I Hope), A Good Night's Sleep, For Morning

1. I picked up a stack of books that were on hold for me at the library. Miss Librarian and I both took note of their obvious old age. I said they must be good if the library has kept them around.
2. In a desperate attempt to soften my mattress, I folded a super thick feather comforter under me at bedtime. It was like sleeping on a cloud. My quest shall be to find a more permanent solution just like this...
3. I'm back to grinding coffee beans and they smell so good.

Smiling, Curiosity, A Lively Gathering

1. Ha! I love the "meatloaf" comments. You all make me smile : )
2.I learned tons of new things on our accounting software by simply poking around and exploring. Granted, it took me hours, but it was a great investment of time. I'm an explorer as in this opening passage from a White House pamphlet titled, Introduction to Outer Space published in 1958, "The first of these factors is the compelling urge of man to explore and to discover, the thrust of curiosity that leads men to try to go where no one has gone before."Maybe it's not exactly "where no man has gone before", but it is where I've ever gone before.
3. I dropped Tess off at Mill Mountain coffee shop this evening. The place was packed with at least a dozen people playing banjos and fiddles and who knows what else.When I returned two hours later, they were still playing away. There was an added bass being played right in the doorway, which I had to squeeze around. These people know how to have a good time on a cold and windy night.

Dark and Damp made Cozy, Famished, From Separate Corners of the House

1. It's not possible for the morning to be darker or wetter. I feel like I'm on a brightly lit stage when I stand in front of the wall of office windows, looking out. My reflection in the glass hovers over the dark gray parking lot and the fields beyond.
1.a. M. brought a floor lamp to work and set it next to her desk. That little bit of lamp-shaded light made the entire space feel homey.
2. I wasn't particularly excited about our humdrum dinner when I prepared it this afternoon. (It auto-baked while we were out on late afternoon errands.) By the time we got home, we were hungry and tired and this dinner was very exciting.
3. How fun for all three of us to sit together in the living room, watching a movie like this! It's ironic to think that a TV has brought us together.

A New Song, Some Old Songs, Classier Entertianment Than Previous Years

1. We're singing a new song that I like. It stays in my head all day and I hum it or sing it as I go about the house.
2. Steve played all the Electric Light Orchestra albums we have. I never would have thought to put those on and it was a lot of fun. Familiar songs, the music and lyrics that never leave your brain but are merely buried deep down in there somewhere. You hear one or two notes and the song pops right back up to the surface and off the tongue. (I wish I could recall all knowledge like this.)
3. There was a football game on the TV tonight and a few guys came over to watch with Steve. N. came with her husband and we made our own little party in a different room. At halftime, the guys and girls switched places.
3a. N. is a professional baker and she brought amazing cupcakes, each one different. I looked and thought a long time before I could decide which one to choose.