Nice Things

Yesterday for one reason or another was a really rough day. It seemed everything was going wrong in unimportant, but very annoying ways. So I was in a pretty sour mood yesterday, but today has already started out to be a thousand times brighter. Anja slept until 7:00, which is the PERFECT wake time for her. Last night she had a very tough night of sleep, not because of her bad sleeping habits so much as because she had a stuffy nose, and so she was having a hard time breathing through her nose. But I have to say... she is SO CUTE when she can't breathe. She would fall asleep with her mouth hanging open and was making all these cute snorty noises in her sleep. It was really adorable. I mean, kind of sad, but so cute. This morning the stuffies went away pretty much right away, so we figure maybe the bedroom air was just too dry for her last night, or something.

Aaaanyway... she and I set out for a walk over to Vienna right after Martin left for work and on the way home I was thinking about all sorts of nice things. Among them:

-Daughters. This opinion might be slightly biased, but I think daughters are the absolute best.

-Thugs & Hipsters who offer to help me get my stroller up the pedestrian bridge stairs. They are so nice to offer, but I always explain that it really is easier to do it by myself, and it isn't heavy at all.

-Vienna. Even though they've given it a facelift over the summer, it still feels like home.

-Lafayette. I think it's the greatest town ever with the BEST old buildings.

-Fall. I'm planning a trip to River Knits today to pick up some yarn and start a fall hat for Anja since all of her hats from last winter are (obviously) too small for her this year. I'm going to see about their organic cotton selection.

-Theodore. He is my one true love.

Those are just a few. I can't really remember the rest now that I'm home. Anja and I always have such a nice time when we make it up to Vienna in the morning. We share a scone and I get a chai and there's hardly anyone there so early in the morning. Most of the customers are in-and-out until lunchtime. Anja loves the whole wheat scones... I give her the soft bits of the middle and she can't get enough and she always cries when it's time to leave, then falls right asleep in her stroller. That's where she still is now. Today we saw our friend Jackie, mommy to Aria, who is one of those babies who should be featured on the cover of every baby magazine because she is so classically cute. And she has these perfect blonde curls. She's about a month and a half older than Anja, and Jackie said she's just now starting to change from a baby into a little girl and it's really depressing. I think it'll take awhile for Anja to make that change... mostly because she's so short and bald.

I have TONS of laundry to do today. I've been putting it off for waaaaay too long.

I'm getting really excited for fall. I realize it's a little premature... but I remember wishing last year that Anja would come early enough for us to enjoy the last bit of fall together, all bundled up outside in the crispness... of course then she was born the day before winter set in and we never took her outside because we were afraid she'd die. However, she is much older and sturdier now and I intend to have a lovely fall with her. On the very cold days we might not take walks all the way to Vienna, but I plan to still get out for our daily walks. That's why I'm going to make her a hat!

There is a spider living on our porch. I detest spiders, but this one actually has captured my interest. She (it's the girls who spin webs, right?) started out having a perfect National Geographic style web between one of our hanging flowers and the porch swing chain. She'd sit right in the middle of it from evening till morning, and then all day would perch on one of the links of the chain and sleep. It was pretty cool looking, but I still didn't want her around. Then on Monday when all the kids were playing on the swing, her web got torn down. I didn't really care because I wouldn't mind if she moved out. However, the next morning it was back, and bigger than it had been before. Then yesterday afternoon Anja and I went out to sit on the swing, and I noticed the web had come down again. I couldn't find the spider, so we didn't sit on the swing; we went back inside. But later last night when I was driving Anja around 10:00, the web was back, was flawless, and HUGE. And there was the spider, spread out dead center. Talk about a tenacious arachnid! She still freaks me out, but she seems to just mind her own business for the most part, so I can't hate her too much. But Martin reminded me that she'll probably lay eggs soon... yikes!

And another picture for you that I forgot to post yesterday... Anja very generously offered to clean out my pantry one night while I was making dinner! How sweet of her!