Potatoes, Piano Lessons and the Post Please Me

It's been a good day. This morning was relaxing (maybe too much so, I never did take my walk). I talked on the phone with some friends, I picked Sarah up from the airport and we went and had lunch at Cafe Rio before she headed off to work. Then I got some organizing done and cleaned out our coat closet downstairs (can you believe it was already horribly in chaos after only three months of living? Games everywhere, wrapping paper shoved in, vacuum parts hidden in corners). That made me motivated to hang some more pictures on my walls. Nothing earth shattering, just more reminders that we actually live here, and it's not just some motel we're staying at for awhile. I like seeing my boys above the T.V. The frames are too small for the wall, but I'm going to have to deal for a year.

It's time for a new picture of Sam and Henry. Henry still has his long baby hair in the picture!

A weird thing about living here, is that I forget about getting the mail every day. I have to walk down a street and use a key and there are many days where it simply does not register on my "to-do" list. I remembered today and inside my small, metal box there were a couple of keys to the bigger boxes which means there were packages (it's kind of like Let's Make A Deal - except I get to keep the small stuff too. Yippee....credit card offers and job offers for radiologists in Florida!). Inside the big box There was an envelope full of homemade cards from my super-talented sister-in-law, Tara. She has been making cards with stamps for years now, and hers look completely professional. I LOVE them. Additionally, an old friend proved a kinship with me by mailing me a late birthday present! Thank you Rebecca! It's a perfect smelly candle, all warm and cozy and yummy smelling. And I totally would still have an unsent birthday present for a friend months later. I love that you sent it.

I never posted a picture of this, but as I was reading tonight, I was using my bookmark that RoRo sent me a few weeks ago. Very thoughtful and it added to my pleasant mood.

I love hand-made stuff! Why don't I like to hand make stuff????

What really contributed to my pleasant mood, though, was my sister Maureen coming by after her class at the U and playing with my boys. We had just gotten back from the park, so I felt like I had done sort of o.k. by my boys...getting them outside and such, but she took them back outside and played catch with them for over half an hour while I picked up and thought about dinner.

Afterwards, inside, she gave them their second piano lesson. Seth really takes to it. It's not like he's a prodigy or anything, and he seems to struggle with the rhythm a bit, but he loves the structure of it. When he was done, he clapped his hands together, and said, "Well, mom, I just had my second lesson. It's coming along!" Sammy followed and was really frustrated but Seth went over to reassure him that he had thought it was hard too, but he just kept trying and it turned into a really fun time! They've both practiced several times already this evening, in the spirit of mastering their tasks for next week. Maureen is a great teacher and I love that she is willing to do this for her nephews.

We had Nuke Potatoes (a la Staggering Ox for my homies) tonight for dinner, which, for us, is the equivalent of spaghetti or mac-n-cheese. Nice and easy. Microwave the potatoes, cut them up in bowls and cover them with onions, green peppers, ham, pepperoni and cheese. Then broil them until the cheese is bubbling. We top ours with a little ranch dressing and it's the perfect easy dinner.

I got in half of a great book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and went on a soda run with Maureen before she went home. My downstairs is clean (I'm not saying anything about my upstairs) and I'm feeling content with my day.

Who knew piano lessons, potatoes and the post could have me feeling so at peace?