Lovelihood

We're in the midst a two-wheeled frenzy here. Training wheels have been removed. Scooters are clamoring back and forth. Commutes are executed via the urban trail network. Yesterday Bear went down for her nap just before the UPS guy came up to the door with the pedal-less plywood bike (of sorts) meant to develop our pre-bike rider's sense of balance. Bear, excited, mounted it, promptly tumbled to the side, and we're still trying to talk her back on it. Baby steps.

Miraculously, the afternoon walk to retrieve Bear's brother from school took only 15 minutes. It may have had something to do with the cookie I placed in her charge and threatened to remove if she dawdled. Am I proud of myself? We doubled our usual time. You betcha I'm proud of myself.

Some days, the only thing I manage to make is The Boy's lunch. Most days I'm a responsible parent, and lunch does not include a cookie and a gummy worm. Other days, I'm confident that the peach I sliced up into the top compartment affords me some wiggle room in the well-rounded meal department.

Yan Yan, piled high with chocolate cream, is one of those cutely packaged Japanese treats I grew up with, that can now be found in such exotic like the ethnic aisle of our neighborhood grocery and Target.

That school supply list called for a dozen glue sticks. The ones we found came in sets of eight. So we sent the requisite number to school and tossed the remainder into a drawer for our rainy day adhesive needs. Turns out occupying a toddler with a glue stick and a bag of shredded fabric scraps is a pretty easy thing.

All of my crafty spare time has been spent sweltering under a quilt while I stitch its layers together. So it was nice to sit at a coffee shop with a latte, donut and a managable swatch of sashiko, small enough to tuck into my purse. Gray thread on gray fabric. Going for more of a tonal, textural effect this time.

The seven-block walk from school offers up countless route possibilities, some more direct than others, all with sights heretofore undiscovered by us. Backyard chickens. All manner of grown edibles. Dahlias in the deepest burgundy shades. A Buddhist meditation center. Today's find was a toy soldier fire hydrant. Also spotted today on my solo walk out for some lunch was some Bill Gates-themed graffiti.