WHAT I'M READING AND LAMPLIGHTER COFFEE

I've been feeling out of sorts for the past few days. A little drained, a little muted. It happens, and these moods, more than usual, make me want to curl up and read a good story. 

A few days ago, I was almost done with "Eleanor and Park", and wanted so badly to put everything else on pause to finish it.  But because I'm a grown up now and drive a car to work (fun fact: when I was younger, in 4th or 5th grade, I mastered the skill of reading while I walked to school. It's a thing I might still do to this day if I lived walking distance from my work) so I squeezed in pages here and there where I could - while in the bathroom, while standing in front of the microwave waiting for leftovers to heat up, while brushing my teeth. 

I've since finished it and I'm not going to spoil anything but I was a little deflated by the ending. It felt abrupt like I had even turning corners rapidly through a maze and then came upon a brick wall that announced, ok that's it! We are done! 

Come to think of it, I just read another book called 'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt. It is so well written and the characters are interesting, but I had that same sort of disappointment when I got to the end of it: wait... that's how this is ending? It made me go poignant for a moment, thinking about things like how maybe this is a metaphor about enjoying the journey of life more than whatever goal I'm supposed to reach, and so on. 

(let me interject here in parenthetical form to say that since getting the kindle, three weeks ago, I've finished three books. THREE! Usually with my schedule it takes me 3-4 months to get through 3 books...but that's how handy this thing is and why I am no longer a luddite about this)(also, if you are wondering, besides 'Eleanor and Park' and 'The Secret History', the third book is 'Notes from a Blue Bike' by Tsh Oxenreiter.) 

Anyways, you probably noticed already but none of these photos are about book reading or strange moods, but I've been meaning to post these from a few weeks ago, so here we are! This was a few days before my parents left when we had a quick breakfast at Moore's Cafe, followed up by coffee at Lamplighter. 

Why yes, that IS teddy bear donning Sloane's swimsuit from last year.

When I was feeling particularly tired the other day, Sloane was climbing all over me and singing songs to herself that she made up.  All of a sudden, she grabbed my face, held it close to hers, and sang, "My mommy.....cute, sunshine."  It gave me the attack of the giggles. 

Hey, while we are at it, some other things I want to write down:

I was yelling upstairs to Ken for him to come down one morning, "Keeen! Ken!"

I turned around to see Sloane looking squarely back at me. 

"Ken's changing." she informed me knowingly. 

"Oh, right." I said back. 

A few moments later,

"Mom! A fly," she cried, as she pointed out a fly buzzing in the corner of a window.

She watched as I smacked it down and then picked it up with a napkin. 

"Fly went away? " she asked. "In a napkin? Fly is going to come back soon? Fly go home?" 

Her eyes were round and concerned.

"Uh..yes, honey. The fly went back home." 

We stared at each other for a few moments. 

And then, "Mommy, I wanna dance."

Sloane remembers all of my family and Ken's family's names now. She incorporates them into songs, asks if we are going to see them again soon, and recalls random things that she did with each of them. It makes my heart full.

Alright, that's all folks. Now go forth, grab a book, a good cup of coffee and enjoy that weekend.