Its Thursday. I felt like giving a random poll. Bring me all your thoughts, good and bad, long and short.
1. Is your dining room/kitchen table clear or full of things? What’s on top?
2. What do you really enjoy about your life right now, this season of it?
3. Which makes you feel better at the moment: an evening away from home or an evening in?
My answers:
1. Its full, and I wish it weren’t. Per the picture, here’s what’s on top: my yellow purse, a red cup full of goldfish crackers, canned tomatoes for tonight’s fried rice, Jones’s new (and already dented) SIGG water bottle, a blue hydrangea from next door in my favorite antique vase, a coffee mug from “The Pantry” where we ate breakfast after we were engaged, my glasses, the “Rules of the Road” book for my Japanese drivers test, Bryan’s worship music folder, kleenex, my passport/visa (what’s THAT doing out??), an ancient tape player for Japanese listening, Japanese listening tapes, an electronic dictionary, a pile of books, my day-planner. That’s much more than I thought when looking at it.
2. Stimulating my mind with Japanese lessons, and that I’m finally out of the pregnancy/baby brain-fog and I can actually enjoy reading books again — and I feel freedom to peruse to my liking without the self-imposed pressure to finish one book before starting another. I like to have my hand in five things at once, and I’m learning that’s OKAY!
3. Right now, an evening out. An afternoon out. A day out. Anything for new sights and sounds, a little change of scenery. Perhaps its a culture shock thing, maybe a mommy-of-a-toddler thing. Every once in a while, B and I will drive to downtown Shizuoka (maybe comparable to St. Louis? Chicago? Shiz. city has close to 1 million), pay a ridiculous amount for parking in the cheapest lot available (200yen/hour), and walk around with Jones in the stroller, always having a Starbucks visit somewhere in between our window shopping and park-playing. Last time, Bryan showed me an area that has all sorts of water fountains in a line, perhaps 6 blocks long. Very fun.
highcountries.wordpress.com 
Love the new look of the DLB! I like your idea of changing things seasonally.
Let’s see…kitchen table is actually fairly clear. Latest edition of the Lincoln Journal Star, sports section on top because Matt, our 10 year old, ALWAYS reads the sports section. He keeps me up on my current sports trivia (“mom, did you know that Alex Gordon hit a home run last night?”). I’m figuring if his dream of playing professional sports doesn’t pan out, he will probably work for ESPN, given that he was even interested in the sport of curling at the last Olympics.
Enjoying having kids old enough that I don’t have to entertain/schedule/watch them every second of the day, so that I have more time to pursue relationships and reading.
Usually, I am more of an “evening in” girl. But my husband is an “evening out” guy–so we tend to balance one another.
Where did my comment go? Ah well.
1. Dining room table holds placemats and the Sunday paper. Surround surfaces are filled with all manner of items, all of which have other homes.
2. I’m enjoying watching Livia learn. Specifically, I’m enjoying her language skills. “Mom, what “downpour” mean?” And then she went on to quote the section of Strawberry Shortcake where “downpour” was referenced.
3. Evening out! Without kids involved! Does this girl’s heart good.