Soul Good

Things I did this weekend to counteract the Edge of Sanity (aka: going off Zoloft):

1. Cleaned our house. Which makes my brain feel clearer, too.

2. Ate a (couple) swiss cakes rolls. Yes, self medicating via overly-processed foods that have the same nutritional value of glugging back a few dozen swigs of Crisco... what of it?

3. Watching this girl fall in love with this kitten (poor kitten):


(The other girls are also in love. Um, we all are.)

4. Planned a date, and found a sitter, the very last minute. Thanks to our teen-aged niece, we left for Bigger Town at 4pm! On a Saturday afternoon! It was so lovely to have no agenda, no time-line, nothing to answer to at all. We explored a new thrift store (loved), ate a nice dinner, over-analyzed David's challenging business partner (very satisfying) (why can't everyone be as perfect as we are?), and spent over 2 hours loafing around Barnes and Noble. Ahhhhh.

5. Slept in while the kids Lord-of-the-Fly-ed it downstairs, alone. By the time I got up, they had even fed Marin breakfast!

6. Tried to photograph the kitten* in various cutesy ways, such as:

7. Watched a HA-uge bald eagle in a tree across the street. I am enthralled with bald eagles, so this was quite the treat. (Though not so enthralled that I'd want one pecking at my head or anything. From my yard to the neighbors' tree is close enough, thankyouverymuch.)

8. Re-potted a bunch of plants. In my t-shirt. And felt sweaty.

9. Walked to a nearby restaurant/bar that overlooks Tiny Town Lake, where I sat outside with Beautiful Neighbor and had a child-free, uninterrupted conversation while sitting outside. (It was unbelievably gorgeous). And did I mention sitting outside? By the lake? At that it was gorgeous? Because we sat outside, and it was so lovely. Outside!

10. THEN, as if all of those things were not enough soul food for one weekend, Beautiful Family came over for dinner. It was chaotic and messy and loud and full and sticky... and a great way to top off a weekend. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend an evening with this gorgeous child?:

(Well, you can't. Because I ate her. Whole.)

(All of the other children in attendance were equally gorgeous, btw. Just not as palatable. Squishy babies do not stand a chance over bony children.)

*We spent Saturday calling her "Bean", which is adorable but refuses to roll naturally off any of our tongues. Today we tried out "Piper". This is the name we keep coming back to, but the "Awesome Human Name" aspect is still bugging us (ok, FINE: ME). We have decided that whatever name we choose needs to be two syllables.

Beautiful Family suggested naming the kitten Posey- er, Posie (as in "Pocket Full O')... and I really love it. It's easy to say, easy to "call the lost cat" as Shelly pointed out, and isn't a human name. So Posie? Yes?

(Posie Piper Beany Beaner? Yes, I think that's what'll go on the birth certificate.)

(Well, at least for tomorrow. Naming the kitten! The Neverending Story!)