Week in the Life™ | Thursday in Photos

That one time I forgot to set my coffee pot timer…

But thankfully it didn’t take long.  Carry on Warrior.  #firstworldprobs

For breakfast, I made Tripp some scrambled eggs with ham.

So much ham, so little time. 😉

I went upstairs to upload my photos from the previous day.  This is my new favorite coffee mug…My friend Suz and I got matching mugs from Anthropology when I went to visit her last summer.  A lovely reminder of a lovely visit.

Daily unmade bed shot

This is where I found Daisy when I came back downstairs…one of her favorite spots.  She can see out the front door from here.

As I have been taking photos this week, it dawned one me that we are a one-pet family for, I think, the first time since we’ve been married.  And I get the feeling that Daisy senses this too.  I think she misses Riley in her own way…he was sort of the alpha dog around here.  I’ve always joked that Daisy is a shameless and will do just about anything for a good belly rub or a kiss on the nose.  But now I see it even more so…she seems a little needier and a bit more clingy.  So I try to indulge her in a little more attention these days.

Trying to get myself in more pictures.  Love that I can jeans to work everyday.  Plus my favorite necklace.  Plus getting one more day without washing my hair.

As I walk over to the garage, I stop for a minute to admire how my new cutting garden is coming along!

A cloudy commute…rain and storms are on their way.

At work I open the window to listen to rain.

Also listening to the 80’s rock station on Pandora.  I don’t always listen to music at work…some days, when I need all my available critical thinking skills, it’s too much distraction.  But on Thursday I was importing data all day…so I enjoyed having it on in the background.

After work, I stopped by the wine shop.  On the drive over, I was thinking to myself how great it will be when we can start buying wine at the grocery store next year.  How convenient it will be not to have a make a special trip.  But then, after the nicest conversation with one the owner of the shop (who also shares a love of Zinke Rosé) I sort of changed my tune.

Next stop, grocery store.  I usually wind up going to the grocery store a couple of times a week…I’ve never been one of those awesome planners (like my friend Ann) who plans out her menu for the week, makes a shopping list, shops for groceries, and then fixes said menu during the week.

This time I went to Trader Joes because I also wanted to pick up some flowers for a special photography project.  They didn’t have what that I was looking for, but I managed to get everything else I needed.  Lastly, I drove over to Whole Foods down the street to see if they had any white ranunculus…which they didn’t.  I briefly contemplated running over to my favorite flower shop to see if they had any, but in the end I decided to switch gears and went with one bunch of white stock and one bunch of seeded eucalyptus.

Back at home, it was a happy mail day.

After I unloaded the groceries, I finished up my Wednesday blog post.  Tripp got home around 5:30 and was complaining that his ankle was bothering him…probably from golf the day before. He changed clothes then went out back to play with fetch with Daisy.

He also made the rounds in the ‘hurt locker’ as he likes to call it.

Meanwhile I was taking pictures of my roses.  Which seemed totally fair to me.

Tripp comes back to get ready to go run.  I can see how swollen his ankle is…an old injury from back in his high school football days. It flares up occasionally if he strains it doing too much shoveling or lifting too much heavy stuff. I suggest that going for a run might not be such a great idea…he agrees, but decides to attempt it anyway.  Because he’s a dude.  And because he is, without a doubt, the physically toughest person I know.

While he’s out, I start dinner.  Looking forward to seeing my girl.

I decided on sausage and peppers for dinner.  I love this spicy chicken sausage from Siegi’s.

Trader Joe’s had bags of Cara Cara oranges on sale.  I love them so much and I thought they were out of season….I **may** have actually gasped out loud when I saw them.

I made a simple salad with them along with the greens I picked earlier this week.

Kelsey came over after she finished her bootcamp.  I think Daisy was as happy to see her as I was.  #shameless

Kelsey saw my peonies when she pulled into the the driveway and wanted to get a closer view.  She was amazed by their heavenly scent…from her experience in making floral arrangements, she told me that the peonies they would get actually smelled quite awful.

More chores for Tripp.

Once again, I’m being incredibly helpful.

While I finish up dinner, Kelsey shares an Instagram video update on Fiona….she’s always had a thing for hippos and now we are completely obsessed with her progress.  (Truth be told we’re pretty obsessed with all the cute baby animal videos on Facebook these days).

After dinner we hang out for bit in the basement watching TV.

Then it’s ice cream for three.

Kelsey left around 9:00 p.m. and then Tripp got in the pool.  It’s his quiet time to unwind from the day….”defrag” as he calls it.

I get the coffee pot set and then head upstairs.

Daisy, who isn’t usually much of a cuddler, came upstairs and kept me company.  For a day that started out so traumatically (<<insert sarcastic, eye-roll here>>) it was a nice way to end the day.

Before I wrap up this blog post, I would just like to share an observation and conversation that I had with my girl from earlier in the evening.  She was sitting at the bar, reading my blog post from Wednesday.  She smiles at me and says, “Please don’t take this in a bad way…I know how you feel about this…but you and Daddy just have the perfect little life together.”

Sigh…there’s that word again…perfect…in context with my life.  It’s such a prickly thing for me.

Now i am the first one to admit that I am terrible about talking about my problems. {seriously, just ask my mom.} It’s one (of many) of my critical flaws. I know this…and I am really working on it. But at the same time, I’m not sure that putting all my dirty laundry here on the web is answer. My blog has always been, for me, a place to celebrate the good in my life and a place to share the joy and beauty that I see with others.   ~April 4, 2013

These words are every bit as true now as they were four years ago.

But fast forward to this evening…I was actually not offended at all by my girl’s comment.  One because I know that she knows that our life is not perfect.  She is privy to all of the stories of my life that don’t get published here on my blog.  And two, she made the comment, not in a derogatory way, but rather (as she shared with me) it made her happy to see Tripp and me happy.  Which touches my heart so profoundly…she’s such a great kid…a wonderful child who has endured some very difficult, very unhappy times, both personally and as member of this family.

In the same conversation Kelsey and I also talked about how different my Week in the Life must look compared to that of others (especially those with young children)….how different our Week in the Life would have looked when she was younger.  Back when we were in the thick of daily school drop-offs and pick-ups.  The after school activity hustle. The school projects. Chicken nuggets for dinner. Packing lunches, matching socks.  Nightly flash cards, bathtime/bedtime routines. The morning rush.

Because I did all of that…that was my life back then.

But this is my life now.  And I try to not think too much about how my slow, quiet mornings and evening garden walkabouts must look to an outsider.  As Kelsey said, “You’ve earned your nightly rose walk!”

The truth is that I don’t know if I’ve “earned” anything.  I often wish I could go back and do some things over – only with the wisdom that I’ve gained over the past several years.  But since that’s not possible, all I can do is the try to continue to learn and grow and try to be the best version of myself.  And I honestly believe that projects like this help in that journey.

As always, I am so honored and grateful to you for letting me share that journey with you.

Love, Kelly