random friday things:
~ getting the kid to take a nap is a total chore now that she’s in a “big girl bed” and can just get up at will… trying to introduce the concept of “quiet time” wherein a two-year-old understands that they can stay AWAKE but silent in their room, reading or daydreaming (or sleeping! yes!) for this precious afternoon hour.
~ singing a cool French opera (Le Roi d’Ys) tonight at Lincoln Center. it’s fun to pretend i can speak French; maybe this will be the year I actually learn it for real.
~ I’ve been in “the middle” of cleaning the bathroom for hours. Everything’s soaking in scrubbing bubbles and clorox, waiting for me to come back and do the actual scrub-work. blah…this is my self-imposed every-friday chore, but I’ve found a million excuses to avoid it today.
~ it’s crisp and autumnal and sunny outside. we need to run away for an apple picking photo-adventure!
~ is there some magic recipe to make the big cat stop eating the houseplants and the little cat stop licking the photographs? it’s just not right.
~ i’m on a knitting-kick again. sweaters and scarves and even little blankets…. i went through my yarn stash a few weeks ago and was literally embarassed at the number of unfinished/unstarted projects and mountains of materials i have. luckily the weather change makes it easy to re-addict myself to the craft.
~ happy weekend, y’all.
on our way to the playground, we ran into an old friend (”old” in this case = “3 years old”. this is Mia, who Em’s known most of her life). we quickly detoured from our playground plans and followed Miss Mia to the laundry room and then to her apartment.
…where we found Pwincess dresses, a magic wand, and slippery puwple slippers…
…and even a magic mirror to inspect our own princess-ness (and Mia’s perfect green fairy-ness).
we stayed all day, playing on Mia’s cool inside-slide…
over-accessorizing and pretending to talk on the phone, riding elephants…
watching Noggin instead of taking a nap, and playing some rocking tunes on the accordion. we ate dinner there and Em had her first-ever chocolate milk, and by the time we got home…
…em was too exhausted from a full day to even make it to bath time.
what did the mommies do during this 6-hour playdate? we had a little wine, and she taught me how to make lambchops and really-good-pasta…i took lots of pictures, and we mooned over Mia’s 3-month-old brother…but mostly we just talked. and talked. and talked. and i cried a little, and she set me straight, and gave me advice, and made me feel stronger and more brave, and i remembered once again how lucky i am to have her; dear “Tia Sonia” who treats us like family (in all the good AND tough ways) and is such a true friend. she makes me so happy to be right where i am.
[emma & mom: week 34/52]
five random things [tuesday]:
~ i’m itching to paint and (re)decorate the apartment; wondering how to do this on a budget of $0. i’m also itching to get rid of (very nearly) all our “stuff”, start over without the clutter, and just live with less. every time i think about it, though, i get overwhelmed at the prospect of “making a giant mess” before it’s through… maybe this weekend i can carve out some time to just purge it. even better, maybe just maybe i’ll find something with resale value hidden in the clutter and make some money off the junk.
~ another long rehearsal week is underway….last week was Beethoven’s Ninth, this week is a French opera by Lalo.
~ every morning emma brings me a little plastic teacup and says “mom, here’s you pawfee! [coffee]” i’m glad she already understands the important things in life (you know….morning caffeine and making mama happy)
~ seems like sooo many people we know are leaving or planning to move away from NYC. i wonder if this is just part of an inevitable cycle (we’ve been here 10 years…), or if it’s because we’re getting older and realize this isn’t really an affordable city to grow old in? hmmmm.
~ our neighbors are looking for a new nanny for their son; i’m wondering if i should take the job for a while, make some extra cash, stop complaining (or fretting as much) about money. there will inevitably be conflicts with my singing schedule, but even that’s looking a little lean over the next couple months…. on one hand, i’d miss the freedom of my days with emma, but on the other hand, photography and singing aren’t rolling along quite as solidly as i’d like at the moment. but, umm….did i mention that they need their nanny to start at 5:45am? yeah, i need to get the photo-biz really rolling instead, huh? (this economy terrifies me….)