Around here

What a day we had around here. This morning I didn't have to work until early afternoon, so I was at home with Coco and Theo. Coco was playing quietly in the living room. She comes up with the sweetest games and is always making something for me, or J, or Theo, or all of us. I overheard her saying, "Daddy is the best artist, so I'm making this for him." Cue hand to heart. Oh how I love her so. I hadn't seen Theo for a few minutes, so I went looking for him and found him all snuggled up in the big bed. He looked so cute that I grabbed my phone to snap a photo, but there wasn't enough light, so I opened the curtains and he reached out and smiled and exclaimed, "Morning time!" and I honestly thought my heart would melt. He is the most incredible boy. And Coco is such a wonderful girl. I love them more every single day which I never would have thought it possible. But it is. Being a mother is absolutely magical that way.

The morning slipped away from us and soon we were on the way to Coco's school. We got her all set and then Theo and I had coffee with my uncle Cyrus. After I dropped Theo off, I went to put some air in one of our tires that has had a slow leak for a while. It had been damaged on the side wall and couldn't be repaired, but happily a sealant got us through the winter no problem. With all the melting, we think the sealant unfroze and that's why it started leaking again. Boo. So l pulled up to the air thing at Les Schwab, grabbed the pressure gauge and when I got around to the passenger side, noticed that the tire was practically flat! The Les Schwab guy ran out to see how I was doing and four new tires later, I drove away. Ouch. Having a car and driving every day sucked already, but four new tires?! Just painful. Give me back my city life! On a side note, those Les Schwab guys really do run. All the time. They never walk! They're running to the cash register and running to the shop. Run, run, run. When you're in a hurry, it really does make you relax while you're waiting, because clearly they're getting you out of there as fast as they can.

Let me just say that the car drives like a dream with four new tires. And thinking of our road trip to California, I'm glad that there is not a high likelihood that we'll find ourselves in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire, or worse, in an accident due to a blow out. It's expensive to get new tires, of course! But so worth it.

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The news is making me feel more than a little crazy lately. Even just scanning headlines makes me want to bury my head in the sand. I talked with a friend about it today and she mentioned how she was getting involved in local politics. She joined a few groups and feels more empowered and surrounded my like-minded people. I'm curious, what are you doing to get involved? What is making you feel engaged and active lately? I hate the feeling that I just read the news and feel terrible and don't do anything. I don't have a ton of time, but I think it's important to make it. I would love to hear your pointers, particularly for local level involvement. Grassroots efforts really are all about affecting positive change right where you are, and acting from the bottom up. Postcard parties and calling senators are important moves (I've done both) but coming together within our own communities and speaking with a collective voice on local issues is critical. I can't honestly say that I feel that settled or integrated into our community in the first place, but I want to do more to change what I see happening on the national level and it starts at home.

I'm off to bed. Today was such a strange day. It had all the trappings of a horrible, depressing day, and yet I felt good today and focused on the positives. I'm making so much effort to savor the small, everyday pleasures after reading the piece On Final Things in The Book of Life. It's so easy to get caught up in problems, or stress about things that really don't matter all that much (like new tires! Will I think of those and wince in twenty years? No way!) and when we do, we miss out on the beauty right in front of us. Like gorgeous, happy children and their hugs and snuggles and stories, or rushing waterfalls, or light streaming in through the windows, or birds singing, or even just how pretty our soaps and perfumes look on a vanity tray. I had a strange day, but a good day. Read On Final Things. It will change your day tomorrow, guaranteed. And probably the day after that, and the day after that, and hopefully it will get you into a new, beautiful, life-affirming habit. Goodnight. xo