Best gift ever

I felt really rotten on Sunday. I basically just laid around being pathetic while Sam and Jed enjoyed a gorgeous fall afternoon. They went grocery shopping late in the afternoon and Sam did the sweetest thing EVER! I was laying on the couch in the den when they got home. As the front door was opening, I heard Jed say "Gentle, Sam. Gentle." I couldn't figure out what on earth he'd given Sam to carry that he'd have to be gentle with. And the way the door swings open, I couldn't see anything. Then Sam ducks around the door into the den holding a bunch of tulips ... coral/orange with yellow tips (my favorites!). Jed swears it was Sam's idea, that Sam picked the color and okay'ed the bunch that Jed pulled out of the rack, then insisted on carrying them out of the store, all the way home and into the house to me. I almost cried!

Bck to the future

Sometimes I feel like I live in another century. For the past few days, I've been baking furiously to use up the last of this season's zucchinis ... there are already half a dozen loaves of zucchini bread in the freezer, and I'm thinking of trying to freeze the grated zucchini so I can stop baking. Then, today, I picked 25 pounds (!!!) of tomatoes at Coonamessett Farm. I've spent a good part of the afternoon and evening parboiling and skinning them for freezing and canning ... all so we can have tomatoes in the dead of winter without resorting to plastic-lined cans. Meanwhile, we had two cords of wood delivered to fuel the high-efficiency wood-burning fireplace we're installing. Are we taking self-sufficiency and eco-mindedness too far?

How far we have fallen

I knew parenting would change my life, but I surprised even myself with my pathetic-ness on Monday when I realized there were five loads of laundry in the basement waiting to be folded ... and got excited! FIVE loads of laundry!?! That will take me at least an hour! I'll be able to drink a glass of wine, watch an entire CSI, and not feel guilty about sitting still for an hour!