Yesterday's List, Tomorrow's Adventure: In the Interim...

making: kale salad; an overdue birthday present; tomorrow's work lunch; plans for the winter  

cooking: vegetables with much impatience and an ample helping of adventuresome forbearance  

drinking: Good Earth lemongrass green tea, every day, steaming in an oversized Eeyore mug   

reading: Tori Amos: Piece By Piece; Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar, by Cheryl Strayed; the gospel of Matthew 

wanting: confidence in hope; the solution by which to fix my camera's nonfunctioning memory card

looking: for ambition, my copy of Elements of Style, and the perfect hula hoop 

playing: counters in lieu of the piano; the live-action anniversary version of The Game of Life 

deciding: to uncurl my fingers and let go of what I shouldn't be holding, bits and pieces at a time; to be more open and at the same time more closed  

wishing: that tomorrow could be postponed just twelve hours  

enjoying: a Starbucks venti blonde with steamed soy milk, always

waiting: for time to heal open wounds; until I get the chance to sit down again with Madeline and the Bad Hat; for the second season of Call the Midwife to be returned to the local library

liking: Tumblr humour worth saving  

wondering: how many people actually care about truly living life and how many just think they do  

loving: people for being refractive glass; people for being so alive and warm and real 

pondering: the difference between a god who demands ascent to his level for salvation and a god who descends to ours in order to level the playing field; Ian's theology in respect to popular regard of the blood of Jesus, from The Highlander's Last Song  

considering: finances; educational and work options for the next handful of months; strategies for spending time with my siblings  

watching: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, over again from the beginning; the airing season of Doctor Who; the skies change with the season  

hoping: for thawing as the earth freezes over; for new understanding; for faith even now uncomprehended  

marvelling: at being alive

needing: reassurance, a hand in the dark; the departure of this persistent head cold; to clean out my car; to actually stop eating gluten, for good  

smelling: something suspended uncertainly between frosty air and an upset stomach 

wearing: clothing and a very fuzzy blanket

following: impulse, as usual, with a dash of sense haphazardly added after the fact; her Tumblr and her art  

noticing: the way the moonlight fractures the clouds; how biting my nails makes my fingers feel clumsy 

knowing: the philosophy of Good Earth tea bags and fortune cookies, while compact, is too aligned with simplistic platitude to be deeply applicable to life  

thinking: that lying on the booth bench in the hotel bar in Eugene wasn't such a bad thing to be doing or a bad place to be after all, and maybe someday time will carry me back to it  

admiring: the white socks on the black cat that crossed my path this evening  

sorting: old papers, old notes, and a host of squirming ideas that just want to be put into words already 

buying: dull necessities such as floss and toilet paper; car insurance  

getting: into the swing of the holiday season (namely, Christmas)  

bookmarking: eggless cookie dough; a reminder; a blog post discussing winter health 

disliking: the way technological white noise disrupts clarity of focus  

opening: tiny missives from two of my dearest girls; the eleventh volume of Library Wars 

giggling: at ridiculous plans for future social anarchy and small-town rabble-rousing  

feeling: a little bit lonely, a little bit sick, and vaguely content  

snacking: on organic strawberry ice cream and baked potato wedges  

coveting: presence, and the chance to cuddle with Rye  

wishing: for the cozy corner of the leather loveseat and someone else's midnight breathing and Arrietty playing quietly in the dark  

helping: tomorrow drag longer by staying up late now; children in grocery stores stop crying and settle for bewildered staring because yes, full-grown people can be just that weird 

hearing: the skin-grinding hum of electronics in a room empty but for myself

inspired by jodi at practicing simplicity