update

today is one of those days where the weather decidedly makes me childlike. i just want to go out to play! i did, in fact, eat a pre-lunch lunch so that lunchtime didn’t have to be about lunch. but anyways.

i have been meaning to string together the highlights of weeks gone past and have, thus far, failed to do so. due to laziness and lack of creativity, i think i will begin this process today in list form. sorry.

to begin:

* embracing the real spirit of spring, this month has been peppered with baby and bridal showers – one every weekend in fact. mostly, this has been great. it is quite an amazing thing to watch dear friends move close to milestones such as marriage and family, to talk and whisper with them along the way, to relive the excitement and nervousness of a bride-to-be, and to muse with others about the mystery and miracle of becoming parents. i’m so glad that there are all these babies springing from wonderful wombs into wonderful homes with awesome parents and it has been a sweet blessing to wonder about and pray for these new lives as i stitch (and stitch and stitch) their gifts together. so far little saskia in estonia is the only one who has made her formal appearance, but the other mothers are nearly done cooking as far as i can tell.

this all makes me very happy.

* my excitement about new lives was boostered by our recent trip to st. louis to visit the wonderful scheer family and their baby, wendy. it’s hard to put into words just how great it was to get out of chicago, away from work, school, (and all work and school related stressors) and into a city, a little farther into spring than ours, and one that houses such great friends. its a beautiful, yet also foreign, sort of thing to see your friends become parents. we enjoyed lots of concentrated time together, worship at two different churches, and the museum of westward expansion. mark even managed to woo wendy from her initial posture of hestiation and fear/amazement towards him to “best friend” status. it was a good time had by all.

and, well, now the afternoon has run out. only 2 items in, with a definite theme. ah well. maybe tomorrow.

grow.

i have started about six different blog posts over the last several weeks and then lost heart and deleted them…i really want to enjoy blogging. i guess i just don’t always.

with the weather slowly turning around, i’m finding it harder and harder to love this desk and thus, harder still to occupy myself with anything at it. i don’t like computers. my hands just itch for activity that doesn’t involve pressing buttons.

at any rate, i’m glad that friday is almost over, glad that it still looks sunny outside (even though i know it will be cold), glad that i have a beautiful weekend ahead of me. i’m lots of glad.

i have some gifts to finish up this weekend, some friends to see, some husband to love, some baby shower to go to, some cardinal to meet. i also get to pick out my garden plot tomorrow morning which makes me so very happy!!! there simply aren’t enough typed exclamation marks in the world to convey how excited and pleased i am about that. after lots of waiting, we finally got accepted to the prettiest garden in hyde park, if i may say so myself. it has been a lovely blessing to walk to the bus each morning past the pursed lips of little flower buds and the green stalks standing upright like dutiful soldiers. can’t wait to generate some growth myself.

happy friday.

medicinals.

ah, it has been a spell since i’ve written.

in a moment of honesty, i will admit that the last week was filled with some degree of disappointment as mark and i began to realize in a more concrete way how we have been existing in a form of limbo for awhile now – not at all sure what next year will look like. i guess we knew that but…i guess you don’t really embrace that understanding until doors start closing. true to italian form, i neatly plunged into despair for a day or two but have since emerged and learned to balance on this “waiting” beam…watching to see what the rest of these doors will do. in the mean time, mark and i have been experiencing that sweet nearness to God that mild suffering and disappointment affords and which is something to be deeply grateful for.

and that’s enough complaining.

no wait, there’s more.

i’m fairly certain i am getting sick after having nearly made it through the whole winter unscathed. after debating for a long time on the edge of my bed this morning, i decided to come into work. i figured – what’s the difference between laying motionless in my bed all day versus sitting motionless at my desk all day? well, worlds of difference it turns out. but the clock is nearly at 5 and i’m still going. walked over to the apothecary during my lunch break and the distinctive “feeling of spring” in the air raised my spirits considerably. i felt like i was able to look around the city for the first time since this dead winter and actually enjoy myself. in addition, i was able to procure some really amazing tea that has got me feeling quite well. if i could find a way to constantly have it running down my throat i’d be in business, boy.

ok, now i’m done complaining.

but really, that complaining was not done with a dampened heart. i’m doin’ ok.

i meant this post to be a lot more than…well than what it was. but what do you know my day of uninterrupted sloth was intruded upon by afternoon work. ah well.

until tomorrow, friends…