One blog post and two days later, I have moved past “beginning to plan” and have three pages of references for an Italian adventure. No, I haven’t booked flights yet. It’s not time to book flights. I am, however, in dreamy travel mode. A heady time when everything is possible, every piece of art can be admired, every church walked through with hushed tones, every meal delicious. It is fun to indulge fully. I haven’t found the dinosaur possibilities yet. I will take travel books out of the library. I take out a stack. Later, I will buy one or two to carry, but first, I will abandon myself to the stack. Continue reading
Tag: Italy
journeying
I know I’ve announced this before, at other noticeable stopping points, but once again—ta-da!—I am coming more into myself.
The self that I am coming into?
I am chatting up more wait staff and baristas— this morning at the Target Starbucks, I noticed that Oprah has a chai but not a coffee and we, the barista and I, bantered.
I notice that I am grumpy. It’s not the grumpy part that is notable but the noticing.
I am feeling oppressed about falling behind, way behind, responding to email and I actually realized that all I have to do is to answer a bunch of emails to feel better.
A code appeared just today on the dashboard of my car and I noticed it and called the folks who service the car. I remembered that it was not there yesterday and I acted in a timely manner.
I want to buy show tickets for next fall and see touring musicals.
There is also the travel thing. In the last few years, I have insisted that I wanted to travel far and yet have not done it. Yes, we did travel to Mexico last summer but I corralled Cheshire and another young friend to go with Julia and I. Cheshire is fluent in Spanish and so was an excellent buffer between me and any semblance of un-touristy Mexico. We went to a rather touristy part of Mexico. It was a beach vacation, not the exploration vacations that I most enjoy. And so, Mexico almost doesn’t count as traveling far.
And now, today, and for this whole week, I’ve begun planning a trip to Italy. Continue reading
small steps
Julia put a new roll of toilet paper in the holder on Friday. A small gesture but one of the “one small step . . .” kind of things. I know that for any 13 year old to actually notice that some household chore needs to be done and to do it without being asked is pretty incredible. For Julia, the noticing of the world around her in that way and to reach out to contribute to it is a “giant leap.”
Is the the vision therapy and probiotics at work? Or is it just maturation? Certainly, it can’t just be being 13.
Brunch yesterday with friends and talk about middle school and their coming sabbatical. The middle school talk was interesting. I got to vent which I seem to need to do with ever increasing frequency these days. My friend talked of how much she likes the school that I decided not to send Julia to. I cannot say that Julia would have been better served there. The change of principal seems to work in that school’s favor but it was big and crowded and at least last year there was no possibility of asking for an art class each semester. But my friend talked of the near magical teachers, welcoming community and her son absolutely beamed talked about HIS school. Oy!
Chasing Joy 