Rainy Afternoon

There were thunderstorms all afternoon.
So we made brownies.
Together.
Luke’s first time
as kitchen help.
He poured in the
water and oil
all by himself.

They are delicious.
In an act of self-preservation
we delivered brownies to
our neighbors.

And yep,
I totally ate the missing
brownie while he was asleep.

Contents

I love my purse.


















I’m not one of
those women who own
thirty different handbags.
In fact, I own this purse
in green and orange
and have been using them
for the last three or so years.
I’m currently lobbying to
add the purple one to my collection.
It would be fabulous.
Anyway…
I’ve been in need of a serious
purse excavation for weeks.
During Luke’s nap I
dumped
sorted
and
tossed.
Here is what I’ve been carrying
around for weeks:


















3 loose keys
1 fortune cookie fortune
2 one dollar bills
1 nickel
20 pennies
3 quarters
12 dimes
1 eye glass cleaner tissue
1 business card holder
1 cell phone
1 old Economist
4 plastic bags of old snacks
17 loose peanut butter pows
2 loose jelly beans
1 tissue, used
1 chocolate candy wrapper
1 thank you note
2 lists of notes
25 receipts
5 shopping lists
2 wallets
1 hair brush
1 plastic bag with
1 lip gloss
1 lipstick
1 chapstick
1 2009 moleskin calendar
1 moleskin notebook
1 purple pen
2 notes with addresses
1 bib
1 barrette
1 handout of signs and symptoms of pre-term labor
1 hand sanitizer

Morning Shopping

We made a semi-quick run to Ikea this morning.
I didn’t realize what a little playground it would be for Luke.

There was a girl younger than Luke
and Luke put his hand on her tummy
and forcefully said NO.
For no good reason at all.
Which I thought was funny.
But loving correction was in order
so this is what ensued…
I leaned down and gently
told Luke he was not allowed to touch
other children and that he was to be kind
to others, especially little girls.
And you know what?
All afternoon he has been saying,
“Mama. Kind to babies.”

We were caught
in a serious thunderstorm
on the way home.
Hard to see but in the lane
to our left in front of the car
is a motorcycle.
On the highway.
In a thunderstorm where
visibility is poor.

Playground

Monday morning we made our
early morning playground run.
Naturally.
Luke loves the playground.
I love taking him to the playground.
It’s our Monday morning routine.
We get to the playground early enough
that there are only one or two other kids,
usually around Luke’s age.
Older kids usually start arriving just as we
are taking our leave.
Practically perfect.

This morning two moms arrived with their older kids,
elementary school age kids.
The lone little girl declared Luke her
best friend
and tried to get him to play with her.
She carried around a little basket
with this and that in it.
He sort of followed along behind her,
never doing anything she asked,
just sort of watching.
And naturally, I was hovering
and
kindly but firmly saying things like
“Don’t Touch”
“Don’t Pull”
“Luke is not big enough for that”
“Oh, he doesn’t need his hair combed.”
The little girl crawled into one of the tunnels.
Luke waited a moment and then crawled in.
See the tunnel behind him?
See those windows that allow a mother to sneak a peek?



















I made my way to the windows and
Then this exchange took place:
Me: “Let go of him”
Me: “What is that?”
Girl: “We are going to be blood brother and sister”
Me: “Get Away From Him.”
Me: “Now.”

I gathered up my child
and headed to retrieve our bag.
The mother of the offending child
was sitting right next to our bag
so I mentioned to her that
her little girl had a sharp object
and was going to make my son
her blood brother.
The mother looked at her child
and told her to mind her own business.
Quietly the girl made her way back to the playground.

And at that moment I felt sorry for that little girl.
Her mother didn’t care enough to teach her
that was not an appropriate thing to do.

Saladpalooza

Saladpalooza is so much fun.
Yesterday my mom made this yummy salad,
Bibb Salad with Tomato Crush.

It is my second favorite salad of the season.
Scrumptious.
I would have had two helpings
but there was fresh fried okra on the table.

Monday Morning Routine

We dash to the park to swing, climb, and jet about.
We zip to the grocery store and always go in Vic’s checkout line.
We saunter (actually, Luke does the sauntering) to see Darda, our dry cleaner.*
We happily split a small pizza before heading home to pass out.


*Luke loves Darda, our sweet dry cleaning lady. He hollers her name as we approach the glass door (she can hear us coming so she almost always meets us at the door) then plays shy with her. When we leave he throws himself against the glass door and windows screaming “Bye, Darda” over and over again. He leaves many many smudges.

Water Park Love

I think the water park just
might make my summer.
It makes a 22 month old boy
who has learned to say “outside hot”
and his pregnant mother very happy.

Summer Goodness, II

I think summer corn will be a summer staple in my house.
Luke and Faris l o v e it.
Tonight we had Cheddar Corn Chowder,
courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa.
Fantasticdelicious.

Summer Goodness

Fresh Thyme
+
Fresh Oregano
+
Fresh Basil
+
Thirteen Summer Tomatoes
+
Garlic
+
Olive Oil
+
Sugar
+
Salt & Pepper
=
Summer Goodness, Pasta Style

Jumping

Old friends of Faris and new friends of mine
kindly had us over for play and dinner.
Fun and Yum!
It was great fun for Luke and we enjoyed the adult conversation.
Oh, and we also delighted in an awesome dinner and dessert.
Guess what they had in their basement?
An indoor jumper thingy.
I wish they made one adult size.

Horse Play

This morning we visited a friend who has a horse farm.
It was awesome.
Next time I think Luke might get to ride the pony.

Holy

Each night Faris puts Luke to bed and
among their nighttime rituals is hymn singing.
Tonight’s song was Holy, Holy, Holy
and I couldn’t help but record their joyful music unto the Lord.
I think I recorded for about 3 minutes but I pared down a version just for you.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!God in three Persons blessed Trinity!

Water Friends

After dinner we went for a quick walk out back.
We spotted a few Chesapeake Bay friends.
A large crab.

Two jellyfish.
Two of many actually.

Hypnosis

I had my regular doctor appointment this afternoon
and I saw the doctor who delivered Luke.
I’m far enough along that there were a few delivery questions I needed to answer.
Like an old pro I politely snapped yes, no, yes, no to the questions
until this question…
Doctor: Are you going to have another hypno birth?
Me: What?
Doctor: Hypno birth, are you going to do that again?
Me: Hypno birth? I did not have that.
Doctor: Hypnosis birth, didn’t you do that?
Me: NO. I had a doula and did a natural birth.
Doctor: I remember you and I thought you did a hypno birth.
Me: NO.
Doctor: Really? Because for me to remember your delivery is pretty rare. You are my standard for natural births. You were awesome and I would have sworn you did hypno.
Me: NO, no hypno. But I was pretty awesome. I called myself a rock star for at least three days after giving birth. And I’m having a doula again.

To add to my rock star image, I almost told the doctor that I left the hospital in high heels. But I didn’t want to brag.

Picking Blackberries With Tata