Hello! Happy Friday!

It’s been a long, busy week. First, I’m helping with our school auction this weekend. I’m helping organize games, and it’s getting down to crunch time, so I’m running errands and emailing and calling and figuring out final details and trying to teach myself how to play Liars Dice. (Anyone? I’m so confused.) On top of that, due to a change in policy regarding volunteer requirements in our state for parents attending field trips, I’ve been running around like crazy getting a flu shot and TB test and finding immunization records and getting a titer (didn’t even know what this was) because my immunizations from our last doctor never made it to our new one. And in between, a million other little things that need to done this week (kid flu shots, birthday cards, parent conferences, we needed a new carbon monoxide detector). It’s all felt a little nutty.

But with all this time in the car, it’s given me time to pause and be grateful. For vaccines that keep us from getting terrible diseases. For my children being healthy enough to GET a flu shot, as there are many who cannot. For being able to go on field trips with my kids. For finding ways to support our school while helping families connect and build community with one another. For being able to help out friends who feel like family. Even as I’m typing these moments of gratitude, I can feel the calmness taking over the nuttiness in my mind. May I continue to be mindful of the fact that things that might feel stressful to me are things that others are longing to experience.

Here are a few (other) things on my mind this week:

1.Ready for Rain. It’s supposed to rain most of the weekend, which is something I would typically love, but not for the weekend of an outdoor auction. The author’s words here really resonated with me. I don’t live in the PNW, and while the amount of rain we get in our stretch of Northern California is minimal and decreasing every year, I do crave the end of summer for many of the same reasons – the coziness, the slower pace, the feeling of home as a refuge. (Also, I just gave away the little rainboots pictured above. We’ve had them since BB was tiny, and BG wore them a couple of years, too. I might have gotten a little teary over them leaving our house for good.)

2. Maya Jankelowitz’s Beauty Uniform. This was a fun read, and I love her style!

3. This quote. I have this on a clipboard in my little workspace. An appraiser came by this week, and as he was stepping into our garage, he said, “It’s true. At 46, I feel like I’ve gotten there. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s worth it.”

4. This book. I’m reading it every night before I go to bed. I would never have guessed that I would read a cookbook like I read a novel – under the covers, with a reading light, staying up way too late because I wanted to read “just one more page!” seventeen times. I love the way Jenny Rosenstrach writes, her recipes are so approachable, and her cookbooks are just beautiful. (I also read this one cover to cover.)

5. This made me laugh.

What are you up to this weekend? For me, it’s all auction all the time. But hopefully Sunday will be gloriously rainy, and we can snuggle under blankets and soak up the quiet. 

And sometimes I forget to say it, but thank you thank you thank you for reading. It means the world to me.