Lovelihood

The best thing about having finished The Iliad on the bus today is knowing I don't have to do it again.

The Boy, not understanding the concept of elasticity as it relates to slingshots, tried to improvise one using my granny-seamstress measuring tape and the bottom rung of my chair. It was a worthy effort, one afforded by his newly-acquired shoelace-tying skills.

I've got a jarful of hexagons, which is far from a full quilt's worth. But it's enough to start piecing together. By hand. And because trying to figure out a sustainable plan and pattern just about did me in, I just decided to reach in the jar and blindly pull out pieces to attach. I'm ok with this.

Old-ish houses have their quirks. The overhead light in the bedroom will decide, sometimes for a few hours, other times for a couple of weeks, to not come on. No amount of fusebox jiggling or switch flipping or bulb changing will coax it prematurely back to illumination. It's a condition that would likely be remedied with a call to a trustworthy electrician, but why bother when you know it will eventually come on again.

Faced with some scheduling challenges of the work/ school/ volunteer gig/ partner out of town realm, it made the most sense for me to haul The Boy into the office with me for a couple hours this afternoon. My entertainment arsenal stockpiled with books and snacks and homework, he, of course, opted to spend the entirety of his 2-hour work stint boning up on his iPad chess skills. His candy-blue headphones spared us office-folk from the clamor of it all.

Last week's introduction of homemade gyoza (or potstickers or dumplings or whatever you choose to call your meat-filled pocket of goodness) to the family table repertoire went so gut-bustingly well that The Boy demanded a repeat on this week's menu. When your kids cram that much food into their mouths without threat of demerits, you know you're on to something good.

In the fall we tossed bulbs into the dirt by the fistful. After the great thaw (should all be gone by the morning) we discovered some early risers popping up. And I'll be damned if I can remember what varieties we planted where.