A laugh, a smile, a hug.

Source: meggielynne.tumblr.com via Julie on Pinterest

So, there's this boy.


And he's so cute.


For the longest time he called me ha...ha...HA! with a smile and a sparkle in his eye. I didn't realize that I laughed enough around him for him to associate that with my name. Now he calls me by my name and I love to hear the way he says it. He's the kind of kid that you just want to hug and not let go. And send a hug with him for good measure. But he doesn't really like to be touched. He likes to do things in his own, unique way. That gets messy but you realize you don't know how to fix the messiness without making him very upset. Then you wonder just how much of the messiness needs to be fixed. He has no idea how big of a smile he gives my heart. Even if he did just manage to get ricotta filled lasagna on top of my freshly washed hair.


I got used to him not wanting me to hug him as much as I wanted to give him a hug.


Then today as I was sitting in a rocking chair it happen. He came up and crawled up into and curled up in my lap. And it was just me and him and the ABC song as he sang broken pieces of it to himself. Then after a short few minutes passed he, content, walked away still singing the ABC's and I sat there with a heart more shocked and thankful that he was willing to share a little piece of himself with me than he will ever know. 


He decided that he needed a hug so he took one, and I had no idea how much I needed a hug, but received one. 

Source: tumblr.com via Julie on Pinterest

rain rain

It's raining and raining and I'm finding that I quite like listening to it when I don't have to worry about it seeping into our kitchen from the open air laundry room that we had. But the rain is very fitting to my mood for the day. It's just one of those days. There's not really anything that stands out that makes it bad, just one of those days. One where I'm missing Trujillo and friends and one of those days that I didn't realize I was going to have... where I am missing Zanax so much. Is it selfish to say I hope she misses me too? We hear lots of updates about her, she has become a great butterfly hunter. 

But today the tapestry went up. On a day like today, I needed "the tapestry". I should really come up with a name for it. 

I was never really one for antique malls, thrift stores I was down with, but antique malls? I just never really got into it. But for some reason several years ago now on a trip from WV to SC on my way back to college, I decided to stop at an antique mall. It could have been the several billboards beckoning to me that made me curious. And there I found something that has taken up the space where shirts could have gone in suitcases, ever since. A $25 fabric that was made by who knows who and who knows when, became mine. It has been put up everywhere I have lived since its purchase. And I just realized today after Julton put it up on the wall for me, and agreeing to move the Peruvian flag we had had there to a smaller wall so there would be space for it, that "the tapestry" kind of represents home to me. I feel that Julton and I have been in transition since we got married, and for that matter I feel that I have been that way since long before that. Going to Peru was supposed to be where I "figured out life" then came back home to do it. After we married we never really settled down, because we knew we shouldn't since we were planning to come to the US for a while. Now in WV... there's still a sense of "don't get too comfortable" because we don't plan to stay... after we know where we will go for school. 

So, today after Julton pinned up the tapestry to the wall, I felt a strange sense of relief and comfort. All from a piece of fabric. Kind of weird for a person that doesn't consider herself very attached to "things". But in soon or not so soon future when we find ourselves in another city going to school, in a city where we may or may not settle down for a while, "the tapestry" is going to be there. 

basketball and poetry

I have really been looking forward to Saturdays. Not because the weekdays are so bad, they are actually quite pleasant, but because however pleasant weekdays are... Saturdays are still without compare. On Saturdays Julton and I get out and explore. Figure out that I don't know my hometown as well as I thought I did. Find hopefully inexpensive ways to spend time together. I've mentioned I don't like buying gas... well after traveling 50ish miles to get to somewhere ... so that you can go somewhere ... let's just say there aren't many pennies left over to play with. 

Thankfully they advertise even free things to do in the newspaper! So even though we think we were the only ones not family members or teachers there, we went to "Poetry Out Loud" a poetry contest for high school students. Mostly because it was free. And there was supposed to be a couple of celebrities there. But mostly the free part. 

Verdict? It was fun! (Julton might tell you otherwise since I caught him falling asleep.)

But even Julton liked the part where Amber Tamblyn (who we both recognized from House) and here mother came out and did a skit of poetry mixed with singing and guitar playing. 

Overall we enjoyed it, even though we almost didn't go in because everyone else we saw going in had on suits. 

They did not list a dress code in the paper. 

We also went to a basketball game to support/surprise the son of a friend. They were 4 years old. I think you know where this is going. Hilarious! Julton enjoyed that more than the poetry. My favorite part was one little boy, the smallest of all, spinning in the middle of the court as though he didn't have a care in the world... or anybody watching him.