What I Am Into - April 2014

What I Am Into :: April 2014
April has been lovely. Our weeks have been peaceful and quiet, the weather has been a nice mix of warm days and rainy days, the boy turned seven, and of course there was Easter as well.

This weekend the husband ran in a 10K race; the picture above testifies to the long, chilly wait the kids and I had while the participants were released in waves. Once he began, we warmed up in a coffee shop for a while, then hiked 5K around downtown to cheer him on at the midpoint and the finish line. Between the baby on my back and the one growing in my belly, I rather felt like I'd participated in quite an event myself. The husband and I are still bemoaning our various aches and pains, while the boys were ready to do it again by the time we got back home. Apparently I'm not nearly as in shape as I'd like to pretend I am.

Our Easter:

Good Friday was filled with frustrations: hot cross buns that failed to rise, buttonholes that refused to do as I wanted them to on baby girl's new dress, a lackluster dinner, nothing turned out quite right.

Easter Sunday was beautiful. The church service was full of promise that maybe, maybe, this is the home for us. There was joy on the kids' faces as we held our own celebrations at home afterwards, baby girl gathering up her armfuls of eggs and then opening them all, one after the other, shoving raisins in her mouth and hair clips in her hair. The boys were more judicious but no less excited. The bread rose beautifully and dinner came together well.

It was a fitting contrast. Only the weather did not bend to expectations, dawning bright and sunny on Friday while the clouds stubbornly refused to yield on Sunday. The days after Easter, though, felt lovely and fresh and new.

On My Nightstand:

After finishing Cannon's Just Spirituality, I went on a brief fiction binge. I devoured Cynthia Voigt's A Solitary Blue over the course of two evenings, then picked up Emma Donoghue's Room from the library and spent another couple of days glued to the pages of that book as well. The narrative was absolutely fascinating and I was sorry when it was finished.

Next up was Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success. It was an interesting read - all of the cases were engrossing, and it certainly provided a unique perspective on things - but I felt dissatisfied when I put the book down. I think that, ultimately, I simply disagree with Gladwell's very definition of "success", which led to me bristling at a few points as I read through his accounts.

Now I've picked up Jennifer Worth's Call the Midwife again. I hadn't been able to get into it last time I opened it, but I have not had that same trouble this time at all. I'm thoroughly enjoying it and glad to have two more waiting for me when this first one is finished.

On the screen:

How I Met Your Mother is - mercifully, at long last, thank you thank you thank you - over. The husband and I enjoyed the first seasons of it, but eventually it lost a certain something and it's kind of ridiculous that we even continued to watch it, but we did because could we please just see how the story ends? Please? Anyway. It's over, and there's only relief about that here.

Now that Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, and Sherlock are all on pause, we're feeling a bit lacking in options for those evenings when we just want to veg in front of a show. So we're going to give Foyle's War and Parenthood each a shot, see if we can't find a new series to binge-watch for a while. I also intend to watch Miranda when I next have some evenings to myself; it will be something to look forward to while the husband is away for a couple of weeks.

In My Kitchen:

Easter weekend was a bit of a bread weekend for me. There were Earl Grey hot cross buns on Friday, rosemary olive oil bread on Saturday, and a delicious french bread loaf on Sunday; I felt like I spent a great deal of the weekend with my hands in dough. It was quite nice, actually, particularly on the last two days when I used a jar of yeast that was still active. That's what I get for not proofing my yeast the first day.

In My Ears:

I have most recently been captivated by Sandra McCracken's Thy Mercy, My God, and when it's not playing on repeat, I'm listening to the rest of my Hymns playlist. In the evenings, the husband and I have been alternating between The Beatles and Doctor Who albums (Series 5 and Series 6).

What I'm Looking Forward to in May:

I'm very excited about the beautiful temperatures currently forecast for the first days of May. There are few things I enjoy more than being outside in the warm sunshine. I avoid the cold and the rain when I can, but I'm all about those soaring temperatures. Bring on the lawn chairs and the iced tea and the picnics; I'm so ready.

Well, friends, that is What I've Been Into this past month. What about you?

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