Dear Candace,
My recent weekend in Chicago reminded me that, due to my laziness in the exercise department, I have gotten very winter-weak. My legs are sore from all the walking I was ill-prepared for. I ate doughnuts and dumplings while in Chicago, which cheered me considerably, but something must be done about my muscles. They just WILL NOT tone themselves.
I’m writing this outside on the back deck at my patio table which sits out in all weather because a) nowhere to put it and b) if it survived the last 50 years I’m not about to coddle it now. It’s a 74 degree day in February! I decided to wear shorts today-even though it’s not sunny, the warmness is wonderful. It seemed a safe thing to do, since I’d be home all day and scandalizing no one but my children with the whiteness of my legs. I jumped on the trampoline with Drew for a few minutes. “Your toes are really white, Mom, whiter than mine.” I’m going to paint them soon.
Beside me on the table is a snakeskin. This weekend Caleb’s corn snake, Mango, shed his skin and the children are quite proud of the result. Caleb says it indicates how healthy his reptile is, how well he takes care of it, and is using this fact as leverage to wheedle for another snake. Drew picked up the intact shed to drape it lovingly around my neck. “No!” I exclaimed, extricating myself. “Always ask someone for permission before you drape a snakeskin around their neck.”
The things I catch myself saying in this household.
This is random, or maybe it’s the feeling of spring in the air, but I want to do something fabulous with my front porch. I don’t know what, or how, but it needs a makeover. The old, stained concrete floor is impossible to clean and a past experience with painting concrete makes me leery to paint it. Right now I have a couple rugs out, which help, but I’d love to completely redo this space. Having a covered porch on a small house feels like an extension of our living space which I want to capitalize on more.
This desire is probably also influenced by my reading of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and the work of the architects, landscapers, and designers who made such a remarkable event come together. I’d like to Grand Exposition my front porch.
Spring dreams,
Rachel
I generally avoid the topic of exercise. Guilt, probably. But there’s this podcast that hit my feed this morning, cake How Exercise Can Ruin You, which I should probably listen to. We must be informed.
Have you considered red velvet and snakeskin as porch decor? I feel like it could solve your door to door salesperson problem.
Congratulate Mango and Caleb for me. They’ve done well together.