I haven't died..

Just been very, very busy in real life :)

What a week!

We visited my parents from thur-sun, due to our shower/tub needing to be replaced.  When we got back on Sunday afternoon, we were pretty glad we hadn't been here, because even though it had been airing out, whatever they had used (some sort of acid) was still pretty pungent.

However, it was nice to get caught up with my folks.  My husband and I even got to use the grandparent babysitting services and go out to dinner *alone* for the first time since LW was born.  What a huge treat that is when you haven't done it in over a year!  We went to a local Italian restaurant, and lingered over dinner, and seriously enjoyed being able to just focus on conversation with each other; we've decided we should get back into the habit of doing so at least once a month.

The rest of the visit was very relaxing.  I love not having to make dinners or worry about cleaning or the dishes for a few days, and my family likes seeing us and our daughter, so it is sort of win-win.

Then we returned to our usual routines on Sunday night.  Yesterday was a bear of a day - at the end of it, all I could think of was what Ms. Stacy says to Anne, "Tomorrow is another day, with no mistakes in it." It wasn't so much mistakes as just being thwarted at every turn!  I optimistically ran two loads of laundry in the morning, and then it proceeded to be cold and rainy on and off.  LW was in a mood, I had errands to run that took much longer than anticipated, I kept running into objects (and am all bruised up to prove it).  At the end of the day, I wasn't even surprised to discover that the stopper for our tub had been busted (and not fixed) somewhere in the middle of the "replacing", because it had just been that sort of day.

But, there is a peace in surrendering to "one of those days"and knowing it can only get better from there. Today dawned sunny and bright; the laundry is now clean and dry (and another load is running); LW is in a much better mood (which will probably be ruined by her doctor's visit and shots this afternoon, but such is life).  We're doing another trial with the cloth diapers (BumGenius pocket diapers this time), so we'll see how that goes.  And it just feels good to sit with a cup of tea, and turn my back on to-do-lists and stresses for a few minutes...

Anyway, I'll leave you with food for thought from the book I am currently reading:

"But is work something that we have a right to escape?  And can we escape it with impunity?  We are probably the first entire people ever to think so.  All the ancient wisdom that has come down to us counsels us otherwise.  It tells us that work is necessary to us, as much a part of our condition as mortality; that good work is our salvation and our joy; that shoddy or dishonest or self-serving work is our curse and our doom.  We have tried to escape the sweat and the sorrow promised in Genesis - only to find that, in order to do so, we must forswear love and excellence, health and joy." 

- Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace

More substantive posts to come as I settle back in after my little hiatus :)