good tired Saturday

Longish day, but life feels purposeful and rich. Started The Road by Cormac McCarthy, so bleak, yet the man's love for his son glimmers through the ash coating everything after some yet-undescribed catastrophe, I guess nuclear annihilation. After reading The Pesthouse by Jim Crace, I'm not sure if I can slog through this one, but it is oddly compelling. Still wrapping up Suite Francaise, amazing book that. Finished reading The Hundred Dresses to the kids tonight, that book gives me a lump in my throat every time. I don't think Sophie totally got it, but the boys did. So that's it for tonight, no personal insights to be had due to fatigue. Next time I will give a description of life right now, more for my own record/posterity than for anyone else...who would want to read it anyway? Oh, one last thing, two actually: this morning Sophie told Joe that she was going to be a scuba diver when she grows up. They talked about it for a few minutes, then she added casually, "But only in the bathtub, just to be safe." Then tonight, I was lying down with her and she looked at me and said, "You are a beautiful girl." The one I clash with the most...

ok, ok, i'm blogging

Narcissistic? Maybe. Satisfying conversations with myself when nobody else wants to hear it? Definitely. 4 kids running around post-meal, pre-bath-reading-bed. DH playing guitar pretending to be oblivious. My quick task at hand: why "books and kids"? Because they both define me and shape my life in meaningful, ongoing ways. They are not my identity, but a big part of my life, and I would not want to be living life without either. Of course I feel the same about other facets of life - marriage for one - but our marriage is not for web posting, it's just us and it is more private and somewhat less interesting to discuss. I look forward to growing through these talks with me; it occurred to me today that talking to myself is almost as beneficial as talking with a friend as far as feedback, discovery, unveiling hidden thoughts and habits of mind, and so on. And so, on to the laundry piles to be put away, the kids to love on and read to, the glass of Trader Joe's vino, the quiet time with DH.