Thank you

I started out having an exceptionally crummy day.

I guess sometimes crawling out of the wrong side of bed happens.

I did not put on make-up
 nor did I take usual care in my attire.

I only managed time for one cup of coffee;

I usually enjoy two or three.

I woke up at seven-twenty.

I am usually rocking and rolling at six.

I was five minutes late for work.

My students knew I was a mess,

they have an awesome ability to sense a teacher in a frazzled state.

Vampires and blood.

Still dragging by lunch time,

I took off for the nearest Starbucks and my favorite coffee treat...

I deserved it, the lousy day owed me.

When I tried to hand my card to the cashier,

he told me the woman in front of me paid my tab.

Suddenly, my day was a little bit better

all because of the kindness of a stranger.

Scarlett

Our dog Scarlett might be the sweetest pup on earth.

This morning when I went to wake Lucia,

she was cuddled up beside her bed.
I have a feeling that if bars were not surrounding my little babe,
princess pup would have been cuddled up beside her.

Scarlett does not always sleep beside her, but she often checks on her

during the dark hours that she sleeps.

Throughout the night, I hear the pitter-patter of dog paws scamper across bridge of tile
that separates one side of the house from the other.

I find it sweet.

And comforting.

It is love.

Saturday Brunch

baby and mama.
met with the sweet keim family: shane, alison and briar.
then we all went to the zoo.
love them.

Thankful

Last night, without even connecting my gratitude to Thanksgiving, I found myself sitting in my living room thinking how blessed I truly am. 

I have a kind and handsome husband.

I have a beautiful baby girl.

I live in a lovely home and go to bed every night full and warm.

Everyday I wake up to my favorite coffee,

to sweet  noises down the hall,

and rummage through my bin of scarves and pick the perfect one.

I have parents that love and care about me.

I have rooms full of students that appreciate me.

I have a little family that adores me just as I am.

Deep.

Deep.

Deep.

Deeply blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving.

What are you most thankful for?

Have I told you lately...

that I love you?

Two

My cousin had two babies.

One of each.

Kenadee & Grayson.

Look at that sweet newborn goodness.

I wish I could hold them.

Love from across the way.

Blog Front: Construction

Hello people,

grandmas,

dads,

friends and family.

I am trying to reorganize my little place here on the internet.

Links might be broken,

my header might change and

things might be a bit off for a few days.

Be back soon.

SG

Antique Mall Adventure

Being in the house for the last two days - this is the third - has made me a bit stir-crazy. Since Lucia seems to be on the up-and-up, we went to my favorite antique mall this morning. This picture makes me laugh for many reasons:

1) Any time that I have put "real" clothes on in the last seventy-two hours, this has been my go-to outfit. Nothing else has existed in my closet.

2) In effort to get Lucia to smile for the camera, I was making the goofiest of faces. As it turns out, she was not even looking into the mirror, but watching me.

3) There was a toilet seat in the photo until I cropped it out of view.

4) I took a picture of the two of us in a bathroom at an antique mall.

New Address

Sorry for the inconvenience,
but my blog address has been changed.
You can find me at www.sarthreads.com.
For a while joyfullygray will redirect you to the new location,
but please update your RSS or your bookmarks.

Thank you!

Post-Rearranging of the Heart and Other Things

My living room has fallen together quite nicely.

I am really proud of myself for not purchasing anything new

and only using what already existed in previous corners of my house;

all my little happy objects that I have collected here and there.

Like the heart of my home, things seem to also be patched up with my family,

for now anyway. I hope another blow-out is not soon around the bin.

Husband says that the true mark of family is how they move forward.

"She lay back, and all was light and warmth. Life, she thought, is sometimes sad and often dull, but there are currants in the cake and here is one of them." 

--Nancy Witford, The Pursuit of Love

Sad Day Three

Baby girl has a sinus infection,
a viral throat infection,
mucus and slime,
and a case of clingy.
I love her!
L, Mommy Needs You to GET WELL.

Sad

My poor little baby is sick.

She has been throwing up for the past seven hours.

I have been washing sheets, towels and anything else that is in her path.

I am home from work and

sad that my wee-one is not well,

even more sad that there is not much I can do for her.

For the Love of Snail Mail

Recently I started a new hobby with the help of PostCrossing. I send a post card out into the world and receive one back in return from some other location. I dropped my first in the post today - on its way to Moscow, Russia.

Current Reads

Skinny Bitch: I greatly enjoy the no-nonsense approach of the authors, Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin - they definitely have the "tough love" thing down. And, at times they are quite funny with their not-so-lady-like language, like when they inform the reader that yes, "You need to exercise, you lazy shit." (Yes, I do).  I also appreciated their information about the American meat industry, the marketing of gross food that has no nutritional value and is chemically fortified. It has given me reason to pause and think about what I am putting into my body. As for not drinking soda, liquid satin they claim, done. Coffee, however? I'll think about it as soon as I am not up at four am with a toddler, trudging through a day of eleventh graders and ending it all with a sea of tattle-telling cheerleaders.

Luxe - a guilty pleasure. If you are a fan of Gossip Girl, then this nineteenth century series of scandal and glamor will be right up your alley.

Water for Elephants - Just beginning it, but have heard good things.

Sunday Shorts

And the missing face!

Top: F21

Shorts: Charlotte Russe

Tights: Hue

Wedges: Thrift

While I Cook

Baby begs for me to hold her,

chicken screams,

microwave beeps,

garage door opens,

husband is home.

If tired did not start with T

It would start with some other letter. It would be a different word, but there would still be the need for the meaning of the word, even if that very word did not exist. Tired.

It is November tenth. Three of my surrounding neighbors have their homes decked in Christmas lights. Oh suburbia, how I love you, how I hate you, all at the same time. We dropped the ball by only having three baby pumpkins in our yard, I know. We will try our best to live up to your expectations for the winter season. Would a Nativity lawn scene suffice? If we just outline the front of our house with lights, and save the high scary roof pitches, we hope you will not mind.

Tonight when I walked my baby down the street and to the park nearby, she ran immediately to the tire swing. She would hardly do play with any other big toy tonight. When she tired of sitting on it she said, "underneath" and went through the middle and out from below. Underneath.

What's the word on the street? No, not underneath, tired.

I am sitting in the guest room while Matt gets Lucia ready for bed. I take off and hide while he performs bath duty, book duty and has a possible showing of Elmo. If I put her down, she throws a fit and cries "mama, mama, mama!" If he puts her down, she quietly drifts off to sleep. She has my number; so she knows I am a sucker.

But what she has yet to learn about her mama...obsessed with clothes, Sweden, Czech, France, Grammar Girl and all things old and gold.

Happy almost Friday to you.

And me.

Today I needed to read this:

Thank you to my source, Dressed Up Like a Lady

.a  good day and a bad day.

Monday has too much power over me.

Could it be that I had too much sleep because of the time change?

Could it be that those students were freaking energized and loud?

Could it be that my tights were too much?

My mom did call at seven am just to say I looked pretty yesterday.

My husband did send me a love-text during first period.

My cheer girls did give me an edible bouquet.

Somewhere in-between a good day and a bad.

More good than bad.

Just a Monday, after all.

Love, me and my tights (the tights that I changed out of during my plan because I felt they were too much for high school and maybe a little more date-night-ish?!)

Somewhere in-between...

...a  good day and a bad day.

Monday has too much power over me.

Could it be that I had too much sleep because of the time change?
Could it be that those students were freaking energized and loud?
Could it be that my tights were too much?

My mom did call at seven am just to say I looked pretty yesterday.
My husband did send me a love-text during first period.
My cheer girls did give me an edible bouquet.

Somewhere in-between a good day and a bad.
More good than bad.
Just a Monday, after all.

Love, me and my tights.

Sunday Best

We are on the hunt for the perfect-for-us-church.
Wish us luck.
xoxo
Sarah

The Go Away Days

For a while it was "Tickle, Tickle,"

then it was "Peek-a-boo,"

"No, no, bad doggy,"

"I said so,"

"I hungry, I eat."

Sometimes, when she plants her face into the tub of water,

she smiles and says, "I drink it."

And then came the "Go Away"...
about a week ago and going strong ever since...

Last night when I wiped her nose she said "Go Away, Bad Girl."

Tonight, when the dog drank her bath water, she said "Go Away, No, No."

Just now, as I cuddled her ... "Go Away."

"GO AWAY,"

as she walks away... 

A little fall fashion...

Scarf: Thrifted and colorful.

Gray top: GAP from my mom.

Cardigan: Charlotte Russe - love her sale rack.

Skinny Cargos: Old Navy, not a fan of the fit.

Gray Socks, apparently my new must with wedges: Old Navy.

Red Dancing Shoes: Thrifted.

Braids: Consequence of Wet Hair at 7.30am.

Quote of the Day:

"How is it possible that you completely don't match, 

but still look totally fly?" 

Asked a lovely student.

Walking into Friday

Polka-dot happy.

Wee Small Hours

I like to wake up earlier than everyone in the house.

I  tip-toe around like a kitty cat on silent paws

and sip coffee the way I remember my great-grandmother sipping her's -

but she drank from fine bone china and rested her cup on a saucer in-between sips.
She read the paper at the kitchen table.
I sit on the couch with a computer on my lap,
coffee mug at my side.

Right now the only noise I hear is the faint hum of the refrigerator

and the jingling of the dog's collar as she scratches her ear.
The fridge noise actually is not that soft and is rather annoying now that I think of it.
Pretty sure that bad boy is on its last leg.

I have about thirty minutes left before I must get ready for work.
I do not want to go today - not a bone in my body wishes to walk through the doors
and smell that school smell and hear those school noises and ask kids to be quiet.

Swooning: Tights & Socks Oh MY!

Sources: J. Crew & Anthropologie