Daily Delight, Volume IV: February 7 - 18

February 7

I've been doing the stay-at-home-mom thing for about six months now.  And I absolutely love it.  I love the amount of patience and focus I can bring to it that I don't have to share or compartmentalize with working full-time, and I remind myself daily what a luxury that is.  But today was one of the very few days that felt hard.  I didn't really get any minutes where I wasn't needed, and immediately.  There was no shower, no real meals eaten, hardly any water consumed, and I was generally running on fumes.  It was just one of those whiny, needy, tantrum-y, exhausting days that, when you're in the middle of one, feels like it will never end. 

But this picture was taken early in the day, before I realized that it was gonna be that kind of day.  After our stressful doctor and cardiologist appointments of last week, it was refreshing to see him joyfully pretending to give his teddy bear a checkup.  My cue to move on officially from the stress, since clearly he has done so.  

February 8

My husband started incorporating surprises into our relationship from our second date (it was dinner and a movie, but I knew of neither when he picked me up at my condo).  He's planned surprise evenings out, weekends away, winter and spring break adventures, our two-week honeymoon, and more.  It works for us, but we realize not everyone likes being surprised.  I happen to love it.  

Today I got to reverse roles and do the surprising.  With the help of Matt's parents who were willing to come up and hang out with Arthur, I found a lovely bed and breakfast in DC (https://www.birdhousebnb.com/) and we went to Lincoln Theater to see Fred Armisen do his latest comedy-for-musicians thing.  I took a chance when I bought the tickets and was relieved that he updated most of the material from when his tv version of this show aired.  Some was the same, but most was more spontaneous and more the "him" we are used to.  My favorite moment of the evening was a teeny-tiny reference that he made to DC as a city.  I enjoy Fred's comedy for his ability to get right at something - he's very keen on describing the vibe of things pretty accurately.  So his itty-bitty portrayal of DC folk was spot on, in my opinion, and I felt validated and connected.  

February 9

We had an adventure day in DC.  We started at Eastern Market, which neither of us had ever visited before.  I had an amazing cranberry-peach muffin and daydreamed of buying all produce from small farmers markets.  From there we went to the Hirshorn for their latest exhibit "Pulse".  It is all about connecting heart beat (pulse) to motion, sound, energy and was just as "woo-woo" (as my beloved friend Sue would call it) as it sounds.  Things like putting your finger on a sensor that is connected to a shallow pool of water and watching how your heartbeat starts ripples in the water.  It's an interesting, worthwhile half-hour.  

The National Gallery of Art was our next stop, and I always forget how beautiful the fountain in the west wing is...such a peaceful spot with seasonal flowers and plants.  

We also took some time in between wings to visit the art museum children's gift shop (always a delight of mine!) and had hot chocolate in the Espresso & Gelato Bar.  This particular hot chocolate was listed in the "Where To Find The Best Hot Chocolate in Washington, DC" so...we got that going for us.  

Our last stop was a $1 tour of Tudor Place, home of Martha Parke Custis Peter - granddaughter of Martha Washington.  There were numerous artifacts and Washington family heirlooms from Mount Vernon, and our guide was a wealth of information.  There are also beautiful gardens and grounds that I'm sure will be even lovelier in the spring.  Matt loves historical sites and tours, and I enjoy them enough to make them part of the surprise.  Bonus: tours are only $1 in February (normally $10), in honor of Washington's birthday.  Here's a picture of what guests would see upon entering the home.  

Kinda makes me wanna step up our windows.  Or at least clean them.  

February 10

I've been doing a "cooking for confidence" experiment since last summer, trying a new recipe every week, sometimes two a week.  My original goal was to de-mystify cooking, to make it something I no longer thought difficult or only for certain people.  I've had many successes and only a few what I'd call mild failures...things that were just okay or that I just wouldn't be interested in having again.  

This evening, during dinner, I had what I'll certainly remember as my greatest success yet.  Arthur, while eating orzo with steamed broccoli and mushrooms and chicken parmesan, spontaneously said, "dis food is berry, berry GOOD!"  Mission accomplished.  

February 11

Every once in a while, I can get out for lunch by myself.  I try not to do this too often for financial reasons, but I decided today was a great day to take advantage.  I went to Ted's Bulletin, I sat alone at the bar, and I had unlimited sweet tea, a grilled cheese sandwich, and wonderful tomato soup, while reading The Count of Monte Cristo.  (By the way, Roxanne, I'm so close to the end...)  I also caught the showcase showdown on the Price is Right in its last ten minutes.  It was every bit glorious.   

February 12

In the spirit of doing nice things, I decided to embark on one of those adventures where I make cookies with a toddler to give away to friends and neighbors.  I settled on the easiest thing I saw on Pinterest...dunking Oreos into melted white chocolate (me) and decorating with pink/red/valentine's sprinkles (Arthur).  All things considered, it went pretty well - especially once I let him finally try one.  We only had to sweep 2/3 of the floor afterward, and it was a fun way to spend time together.  

February 13

I solved a problem today.  Without getting into specifics (which aren't worth it long-term), it was one of those problems that felt like a mini-crisis at first.  But now that I've solved it, it only seems medium.  And I solved it by doing something I'm not usually good at doing - reaching out to others for help.  So...progress!  Growth!  Peace!  Less conflict!  Better sleep at night!  Onward and upward! 

February 14

It's the big day!  Hearts, arrows, Cupid, roses, pink, red, candy!  I love Valentine's Day.  I used to be sulky and overly-critical if the day wasn't some Hallmark version of perfect (and it never was, because nothing is), but then I met Matt.  And from 2007 on, we have done the same exact thing every year for Valentine's Day:  go to Arby's.  That's right - roast beef and curly fries.  If you watched Seinfeld, you would get the joke.  Feels like an Arby's night.  Honestly, it's perfect.  There's hardly anyone there so we get FIRST PICK of a table!  There's usually little flower arrangements on the tables so, flowers....check!  From 7:00pm on, they play that radio show "Delilah" where people call or write in with requests, usually about relationships, and she drones on with advice and a sappy song.  It reminds me of Casey Kasem and the American Top 40, of which I was a faithful listener.  

Several years ago, a neighbor casually asked me what we were doing for Valentine's Day.  So, I told her.  Her response still makes us both laugh to this day...clearly she didn't know the Seinfeld reference, nor did she know me or Matt at all so it's somewhat excusable but she said in a sympathetic voice, "well...maybe next year he'll take you somewhere nice."  Um...I mentioned the curly fries, right?  

February 15

It was in the 60s, so this meant two trips to the playground.  During the first one, we sat down to share a few chips I had brought with us.  Arthur dove his hand into the bag, looked at me with big eyes and said, "we having a PICNIC, Mama!"  Why yes.  Yes, we are.  

February 16

Our cat Gioia does this quirky thing that used to sorta scare us but now we just kinda laugh at it.  She gets in a loop where she walks to the same few places in the same order, always circling back to one of us to aggressively bonk her head against us.  We pet her, she purrs, then she does the loop all over again in the exact same way.  She has a downstairs loop and an upstairs loop.  It's strange, but I suspect other cats do this too.  

We did another playground trip today, and Matt came with us this time.  Arthur got into what Matt called a "love loop".  He kept doing a wide circle from where I was sitting on the swings, over to the basketball court, then back to me, while shouting as loud as he could, "I LOVE YOU TODAY, MAMA!"  I managed to get a little of it on video, after it started to get predictable.  I know one day he will stop shouting things like this in public (or private for that matter), so I gotta hold onto these little treasures of moments.

February 17

Having a toddler means you get to completely rework your thinking on communication.  I find myself trying to say the fewest, most clear words possible, as calmly as possible.  Except when he takes off running around the car in the parking lot...less calm then.  But I did manage only a few words - they just weren't very calm.  Sometimes I feel like this pays off in how he interacts with us, and of course other times it's almost as if he's.....a toddler.  :-)  Lately, if he gets upset or disagreeable, he'll often immediately say, "wanna talk bout it" through tears and run to (usually) me to climb into my lap.  He'll give me a summary of sorts, "Ar-tur was SAD.  'Cuz wanna get DOWN play with his CARS."  We talk about it for a bit until he is calmed and ready to move on or move back to the previous situation and try again.  Today though, about ten minutes after one of these little conversations, he came over to me, gave a little side hug and said, "tank koo fer talking bout it".  

These are the moments when I look around, half-expecting some heralding trumpets or some confetti to blast through the heat vents in celebration of what feels like leveling up.  For a few minutes, I wasn't quite as exhausted.

February 18

Today's delightful moment was seeing a friend in line with her sweet toddler at the Rocknoceros concert at Jammin' Java.  If you're gonna squeeze hundreds(?) of tiny children and their parents and their parents' bags into a tiny performance area...you should have a friend there to distract you from how chaotic it is.  It was such a nice surprise to run into her and made the whole thing even better.  I mean, Rocknoceros is great and all, but it's funnier to sing-count your fingers and toes with someone else whose feet are also falling asleep from the contorted position we were forced to sit in on the floor with our kids bouncing all over us.  Thanks for the spontaneous catch-up over musical mayhem, Sara!