lately

lately I've been loving...

* Jupiter and Venus keeping that pretty little crescent moon company, while Mars shines brightly across the sky

* Listening to Eli's reading get smoother and more confident, having him tell me he likes books better when there are fewer pictures, because then "I can make my own inferences."

* One-on-one dates with my boys. Getting icecream with Owen and watching the sun set over Lake Mendota, pointing out my office to him from across the lake, and making him belly laugh by jumping make-shift hurdles in the park - in my flip flops.

* Axel's artwork. "He's prolific!" his teacher tells me. He paints and colors and creates and he tells me it's all for me.

* Watching the boys' rediscover old toys and invent new games together while video games are on hiatus.

* A Roald Dahl kick with the older boys, rediscovering Madeline L'Engle, and introducing Meg Murry and friends to Owen. About A Wrinkle In Time, he tells me, "It's not like in other books... you can actually feel what they're feeling! It's like you are the character!" I told him that's what good writing will do for you. I'm glad he's discovered this at 8 years old.

* Less time online and more time reading my own novels. My most recent favorite is Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. (Are you on GoodReads? Come find me there.) There's a line in there about all the lives we've never lived and the people we've never met and how that's life, and that was just one of many times throughout the story that I recognized a line I'd never read before - like seeing your reflection in a mirror. I wish I could quote it for you, but I've already passed on the book to a friend. It's so good, you guys. Go read it.

* My husband.

* Playing my piano with the windows open and hearing the sound travel out into the spring evening.

* Working my body until my heart is pounding and sweat is pouring off into little puddles on the ground. I'm finishing the Insanity workout, and I have never felt stronger or more healthy in my life. And I'm not going to lie - it feels good to drop a couple sizes and have an excuse to buy some cute new clothes.

* This stage of life. Kids. School. Working and family balance. Time with friends, time for myself, rediscovering my hobbies. Giving myself permission to take care of myself - however that might look.

* Ignoring my blog for months and then popping back in with no explanation or apologies, not worrying about or really even caring if most everyone has gone. I'm getting it down as an exercise in gratitude, as a reminder and mile marker for myself. I'm still here, just quieter. Some chapters of life are better written in a notebook, so for tonight - I keep it at bullet points of gratitude.

Hope you're all well. I'll be back again, sooner or later.

xo elizabeth