i welcomed my familiar rhythm  (a word i have to misspell several times before googling it and then getting it right) of eating lunch alone…with my dog and my computer. thanks to a friend’s posting on facebook, i did a 3 minute chakra test one day.  my, i find any personality/temperament/etc thing really fascinating.  kind of like the quizzes in the teeny bop magazines when i was little (do they still have those?  do kids buy them?).  and today i was delighted to meet with a friend to uncover more of who i am via another model.  good stuff.

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this boy of mine has a wealth of physical stamina.  he’ll come home from school and often stay outside, no matter the weather.  i’ll take a turn playing ball most days.  if you know me, you can imagine how this might look.  if it is catch, i ask him to throw gently and i apologize a lot for not throwing it close enough to him  (though i AM getting way better).  if it is basketball, we play OBAMA (our version of HORSE) with an intricate point system. i won one game this day.  score.

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i burned beans.  most were salvageable and these few left actually had a nice smoky taste.

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if i hadn’t made the self promise to use my big camera every day, i wouldn’t have taken these.

oh, the fleeting moments of life.

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i wore rainbow leg warmers to preschool (sweater sleeves cut off)…it was L week.

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i saw a former preschooler who is about to turn 18.  she did naomi’s make up for a big cheer performance.

this was crazy on all different levels.

naomi was way up high as a “flyer” several times. i saw strength in these girls that i hadn’t before.  and when the same dj as when i was in high school started playing def lepard in the same exact gym, it was bizarre worlds colliding.

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eliza and i volunteered again at the et cetera thrift shop.  she got a “splintew fwom some piece of clothing that had stwong thwead.”  she got it out on her own.  that time with her is precious.

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walking up and down the stairs the bread basket from austria filled with old match books is passed.  one of my favorite tokens from my oma and opa this christmas were some new match books.

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merry christmas, eliza, replacement chicks arrived.  sadly several died.  in order to make sure that everyone saw them, eliza positioned them on the kitchen counter. good morning.

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and we’ve started the week here with christmas slowly leaving our home.  in fact, right now i sit by a tree ablaze.  if it is in the house, i will turn on the lights.  i’m not sure why i’m not as eager to reclaim that corner of our home as i am some years.  the rituals of christmas felt firm in our family somehow. the kids are recalling the past for us more than before. no one seems to be rushing away from that out-of-time season.  but the boxes are upstairs now, the tinsel is coming down, so soon we shall move on.