For A Tuesday

I meant to get this post up yesterday but, I did not. Just a few thoughts from the weekend.

1- Our weekend was full with loads of grown up activities: cleaning the house, tidying the yard, detailing the car. Just lots of cleaning in general. We did manage to spend some time outside which was lovely. 

2- Cole developed a new routine this weekend. After waking, she now likes a bit of alone time with her books. We'll greet her then she'll ask for books and take 10-15 minutes to peruse her in-crib library.  It's very endearing. You've got to respect the introverted child who needs a bit of me time before taking on the world.

3- This weekend I received my first purchase from Very Jane and I learned about Brickyard Buffalo. I'm not a shopaholic but these websites are trouble! Are you familiar with the sites? If I just introduced you, you're welcome and I'm sorry.

4- Finally, I read this opinion piece on Loving the Midwest that was in the NYT on Saturday and found it wildly relatable. While many of the details are different, the range and sequence of emotions is quite parallel to our lives in Memphis. You could replace "St. Louis" with "Memphis" in the following excerpts, I'd be none the wiser: 

For one thing, it’s so easy [living in St. Louis]. If I complain that I had a hard time parking, what I mean is that there was no space waiting for me directly in front of my destination and I had to drive another 50 feet to find one. If I say a restaurant is hard to get into, I mean that when I called on Thursday, they had no reservation open for Saturday night at 7:30... My husband’s commute is 20 minutes in “bad” traffic and 10 minutes otherwise. 

WHAT I like best of all is that the size of St. Louis means we now run into people we know at the playground and the post office and the farmers’ market. In several instances, we’ve developed friendships after we bumped into the same people in more than one setting — the mother and son duo my daughter and I took a baby music class with, then saw again two years later when the children were in the same preschool, or the couple we met through my college classmate before we all happened to move onto the same street. 

The Ball Game

Peter got box seats to the Redbirds game on Thursday night through work. Initially, we didn't know whether spouses could attend so we didn't arrange for a sitter. When we heard spouses could go we decided to forgo the sitter and take Cole to the game. It was her first baseball game and she loved it! It certainly didn't hurt that we were in a box so she could roam or that there was a boy her exact age also with our group she could play with. She got a bit of a hotdog with some ketchup as a second dinner which seemed appropriate.

As we were leaving, Cole found the in ground speakers. Upon the discovery, she paused then decided to dance. To our amusement and the amusement of a handful passing strangers, she bounced to a few songs before we headed home. It didn't hurt the music was both catchy and familiar.

Photography for Friends

One of the benefits of owning a decent camera and being a hobbyist photographer is that, on occasion, friends will invite me along to snap pictures of significant events in their lives. Last Sunday I was honored to take pictures of Will's baptism at a gorgeous church less than a mile from our house. Will is the first grandchild on both sides of his family so everyone showed for the event. He was such a pro!

Last weekend I also snapped some family pictures for my dear friend and neighbor who just welcomed her third baby girl.  If you can believe it, the wee babe is just nine days old in these pictures. Doesn't that sweet girl just looks like she belongs?!