Big, big love for a tiny girl

That heat wave I wrote about? Oh, it lasted all of 36 hours. That's fine - the heater guy came yesterday and worked some magic. And yes, we routinely use our heater in August. Brrrr....The downer of all this is that Ada and I were stuck in the house all day waiting for the magician-slash-heater guy.

We made the most of it.




Ada got hold of the camera and did a wee self-portrait




And my Heart... Wow. Something is different about her this week. Tim noticed it too. She isn't bigger but she is cognitively just a different child. Again! She is running everywhere, she wants to be chased, she makes little subtle jokes and then laughs at herself, she insists on feeding herself, she is an organizing machine: the unused cat food cans in the recycle bin, the reusable water bottles in the refrigerator, and the cat toys in the shredded paper bin (which is where I found her other mousey shoe that was misplaced last week).

It lays me flat to feel this giant love for her. Just when I think my heart can't get any bigger or fuller with love for her she smiles and my heart stretches a bit more to make space for the swell of adoration. She is hysterical and I love her. sometimes I have to pinch myself - this kid is my kid.
Imagine that.






Today we went to the Trader Joe's south of town. There is a World Market there too. Following the great purge of 2007 - we sold everything we owned when we left Jacksonville - we had to buy new dishes. They're sold only at World Market and they are so easily broken. 20% off today so off we went!! On the way we happened upon this scene, which made me smile.



and then I took a picture of this one because she is so adorable even when she's just sitting back three humming to herself.




World Market was like that trip to Joann's 2 weeks ago but amplified! She ran through the throw pillow aisle begging me to chase her. She found some cool little owl baskets and the LemonHeads. She was drawn to everything remotely breakable - and there's a lot of breakable stuff there. The bangle bracelets were just at her reach like some brilliant display person put them there just to keep a tiny girl squealing in delight.




All the displays worked on me - shameless. I'm embarrassed that I'm so susceptible to the in-store advertising. Sigh. Nevertheless, I am ready for the next season. I've always loved fall - my favorite of the seasons. Ohio does it right - sweaters and boots, the new crispness in the air, and how the shadows grow long as the light of day tapers to the long winter nights. San Francisco captures some of that. Hey, at least our pumpkins don't rot in 24 hours like they did when we lived in FL. I'm ready to carve pumpkins, light spice-scented candles, make butternut squash soup, and enjoying all things apple. The first of the apple harvests showed up a the farmers market last week so I'm looking forward to the chard and squash that come in the fall. To quiet some of this anticipation  I left World Market with a maple bread mix and pumpkin butter and some flowers to invoke the spirit of fall. Mmmm....can't wait!