The Shortest of Holidays

Mama made a break for it this afternoon.

Papa came back from his errands and took over the kid duties after nap. Mama grabbed up her boots and ran out the door with her coat-tails aflying. Oh, all right, no coat tails, but I grabbed on to my purse and went as fast as I could to the subway, lest someone call me back to tend a crying babe.

I spent a few, non-custodial hours in Barnes and Noble, reading magazines, flipping through writing books and sipping my latte.

Ahh. Just a few moments living a life that I once took for granted. I never thought about it at all when I was single and fancy free. I jokingly called the book store "my office," and was often found there. I would write and write and paint and read and research and sit and stare off out the windows overlooking Union Square.

Today, I only had the energy to read the magazines for free and eat a lovely orange-cherry loaf. And I had the little ones at home to return to. Bedtime, you know. I didn't even bother to buy a book to read, since I have been reading the same book for a month and am only a quarter of the way through. So I cut my afternoon short and came home.

Made a call to Papa before getting on the subway back to Brooklyn. Papa put the boy on the phone to talk to me, and all he could say was, "Mama!" and then broke out, "Waaahaaahaahaa!" He wailed and wailed.

Heart broken boy. Did he get scolded by Papa? Did he miss his Mama? Not quite sure, but when I hung up the phone, I laughed pretty hard.

Oh, heartless Mama.

The Winter of this Warrioring

Right now, it's a cold and wintry semi-industrial Brooklyn that we're warrioring away in. But in a mere couple of weeks, it will be the warm and semi-tropical state named for flowers.

That's right, Warriorfamily will be off on a warrior adventure for a time still to be determined. We're packing up our Brooklyn apartment, storing what we can, tossing what we can, and hauling the rest of it off to Florida. We like to think of it as an extended working vacation.

The thing about being a warrior is that sometimes, you have to retreat. Re-evaluate the situation. Regain your strength.

Is there a better place to do that than on the beach? With Grandma down the street?

There are so many things to reconsider right now. One of the big ones is where we actually want to settle. Do we go back to New York City, or do we head out for the Pacific? I am drawn to both options. There are so many possibilities in each.

I also want to take the time, while I am down in Florida with family about to watch the kiddoes, to pay some more attention to my own writing and art. I want to build up my writing practice again and finish my novels. I want to start painting again. I want to work on my blog, which has been so neglected in the winter of this warrioring. I look forward to sharing projects and stories and photos of all the adventures we will be going on.

Oh, and I wanted to thank elsita for adding me to her roster of blog friends. I find her blog and her art so inspiring. You can find her here http://elsita.typepad.com/elsita/

Cuddles and Reading

Spent some time at bedtime in bed with G cuddling and talking about his day. I was asking about his favorite cartoons and asked if Scooby do was his best friend, his favorite. He said “Mine!” which I thought referred to Scooby, but then he said, “Ivy!” and I realized he meant Ivy was his best friend, his favorite. And then he said “Mama” and then he said “Papa!” And I hugged him and said that he was my favorite too, and so was Ivy and Papa.

Then Ivy started screaming. Usually, I cuddle G then I take Ivy out of the crib and cuddle her in the glider, but she was having none of it. So I took her out and the three of us cuddled on G’s bed. That’s what I want. All of us cuddling in the same bed. And soon, I will be able to read to them both at the same time. Ivy is difficult to read to because she usually gets up and wanders around, so I’d have to get her to go down again… but I think it’s starting to work, she’s getting older and now and won’t just squirm and try to get up while I’m trying to calm G down. I’m really looking forward to the time when we can all read together. I remember when my sister and I used to sit in bed with my mom and read not just picture books, but chapter books and classic fairy tales. That went a long way to foster my love of reading.

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