I’ve
learned that I have to focus on all the little things that are good
and simple and joyful right now, whatever keeps my head down at work
and my impatience from crawling out and taking over. Yesterday,
another Monday, was a really shitty day. I’ve searched the English
language for a better description for yesterday and haven’t found
one. So, to combat the shittiness, we hit New Seasons on the way home
for some supplies.
When
we got home, I rummaged through three (clean) laundry baskets for my
workout gear, cajoled Kade in the jogging stroller, leashed up the
pathetically happy dog, started my timer, and ran. Mostly downhill,
mostly “wogging” which is where technically
I’m moving faster than a walk, but most people in Portland wouldn’t
really concede that it’s actually running. I was at least moving
and pushing that damn stroller (WHEN did my kid get so heavy?) for 30
full minutes in a light sprinkle, and did exercises at the
playground.
Got
home and the kid immediately stripped off all clothes except for his
shirt and curled up with his current favorite, “My Little Pony”
after I salted my steak and got said kid to eat some dinner (he has
discovered that toast dipped in olive oil is the best thing ever). I
scrubbed my little red potatoes, cut them, stuffed them with butter
and herbs and dribbled with some olive oil, wrapped in tinfoil and
set in the oven to crackle. I cleaned up the house a bit while
waiting for my steak to be ready, entertained the kid by chasing him
around the house and tickling him (a favorite pastime). I pan fried
the steak after letting it sit for 40 minutes with the salt on it,
following the directions posted on WikiHow, of all things. But it
totally worked. If I’d had a meat thermometer, it would have been
perfect. As it was, the smaller cut was a tiny bit chewy while the
bigger cut was nice and red in the center still. Paired with a local
white wine I love, it was a good way to end the night, cutting tiny
bits of steak for Kade to devour.
These
past few weeks, I’m not quite sure what it’s been; a combo of
more daylight, more time outside, new friends, a mommy who has a tiny
bit more patience than normal, and/or less time spent at a
construction site, but sunny, delightful, joyful Kaeden has been my
mainstay. There’s hardly been a fight or a tantrum over anything,
barring one epic one he spent on arguing against bedtime, hollering
at the top of his lungs that his life was awful for about 20 minutes.
But the majority of the time, no matter what we are doing, errands we
need to run, increased time spent in the car, naptimes and bedtimes
disrupted, I’ve had a sweet partner in it all!
I’ve
learned over the past few weeks that it’s been daylight when my
(first) alarm goes off at 520 that I’m slowly becoming a morning
person. I get more done to the quiet sounds of NPR and the coffee
dripping while full dawn arises out my back door than to my current
top 40 blaring after work. Showering at night not only relaxes me
into sleep after wogging, it gives me an extra 20 minutes in the
morning to do dishes, pack a lunch, put laundry away, general house
pick up, and of course, sit in the hammock in the backyard with a cup
of Joe and the dog’s adoration to start the day. It’s fortunate
that this gradual transition is happening, since I seem to be setting
life up to require early mornings. Kade can sleep in a certain
amount, but dogs can’t and I have to be to work early anyway.
