Thursday 13: Daybook musings

t's been a while since I've done a Simple Woman's Daybook for Thursday 13, so I thought I'd trot it out... imagine my surprise that they have mixed it up a bit, and there are more than 13 items to fill out. Oh dear. Not to be deterred, I've edited it down to the 13 that I want to answer, with a bonus picture. Welcome to MY version of the daybook, I guess...

FOR TODAY

1. Outside my window... I am ready for earlier sunrises. It's 6:42 a.m. and still dark. Not a fan.

2. I am thinking... that some weeks fly by, and some weeks don't. This is one of the fly weeks.

3. I am thankful... for so much. Health and happiness, the ability to see the glass half full. Having a glass that actually IS half full most days.

4. In the kitchen... I made a rockin' s'mores recipe this week--will post soon-ish--and my sourdough starter is on its last day of bubbling. Excited to see what develops there! Other than that, and some hummus I made earlier this week, we are very much on a tacos-homemade pizza-pasta-lentil soup rhythm around here... The weekend is a good time to bust out of that!

5. I am wearing... work clothes! A dress! Boots! How's that for a different take on the usual "fuzzy robe and slippers?" Ah well, I do enjoy the productive feeling of work-work.

6. I am creating... some Valentine-y things... for here with my men, and for a couple of packages too. Oh, and there's the languishing crochet. Need to finish one thing, and continue on with another...

7. I am going... to lunch at a new local restaurant today. It's breakfast food all day, apparently. I am looking forward to checking it out. Called Bacon and Eggs. Sounds good, anyway, right?! We have had a couple new local joints open lately, makes me feel like there's some hope for the economy, right?

8. I am wondering... when I will be back into the rhythm of the work day enough that I'm not completely tuckered at the end of each day. And I'm not even working full days. But the interactions with people are way more than I'm used to, usually, and I have found my energy drained by the end of the day. End of the week too... While I don't think I've become an introvert in the classic sense, I have certainly gotten used to my quiet home rhythms. But I know I'll get used to these other rhythms too, it will just take a bit of time. (At least I haven't picked up some nasty bug yet, knock on wood!)

9. I am reading... Floor Sample and My Year of Wishful Thinking. It may be just a touch too memoir-y... may need to mix it up a bit. Seth and I just finished The Reason for God (highly recommend! Timothy Keller again. Big fan.) started Mere Christianity and Searching for God at Harvard... read the intros to both, now we'll decide which to read first, then maybe follow up with the other.

10. I am looking forward to... the weekend. Kind of an obvious answer (especially after #8 above), but it really works for me right now. Peace, quiet, napping, crafts, husband time. What more could a girl wish for? Also, before the weekend, coffee with a girlfriend Friday morning before work. Definitely looking forward to that.

11. I am learning... a lot, in regards to the project I'm working on at work. Lots to learn, but so far it's been the good kind. (Not sure what the bad kind is... maybe when it's slow going on actually processing the information?) I am also learning bits and pieces (I'm a little slower here, I'm convinced) about parenting a teenager. It's a whole new (brave) world. I had a couple of years of being lulled into thinking "attitude" wouldn't happen around here. Ha. I'm learning.

12. A favorite quote for today... This one came across my desk just yesterday, and it resonated. Pema knows how to get to the heart of things:
Don’t worry about achieving. Don’t worry about perfection. Just be there each moment as best you can. When you realize you’ve wandered off again, simply very lightly acknowledge that. This light touch is the golden key to reuniting with our openness. -Pema Chodron

13. One of my favorite things... right now, this very moment? It's Downton Abbey. I'm just plain hooked. I know, I know, so is the rest of America, we poor Anglophile fools. Nonsense! I say. Just like rainbows and owls and cupcakes (and how ridiculously popular they've become), I liked BBC productions long before this particular one. And this one? Crazy good. Entirely soapy. Fabulous drama. Angst and happiness and unrequited love. Yep. Be still my heart.

Bonus: A peek into my day... 

What is there NOT to love about this picture? A little fig tree that, until recently, had appeared to be gonzo, now in full leaf... in the SUNSHINE. Such is the bliss around here. OK, so that heat register... not so much love that I didn't move the fig to get THAT out of the picture. But it is what it is--that heat is a big reason the fig is doing so well. On the other side of the heat register is my plumeria... still in its winter hibernation mode, but I trust leaves will sprout there soon as well.

Hope your Thursday is going well. Thanks for taking a peek at my somewhat random, but a wee bit ordered, life!

To see other Thursday 13 participants, go here.

To play along with the Simple Woman's Daybook, go here.