Dispatches from a happy Hullian

I've been thinking a little bit about chores that usually leave me in a better mood than when I started. Maybe this sort of counts as a gratitude journal, of the sort I've seen floating around lately. Here are some fun tasks that come to mind:

• Driving: I should be careful not to enjoy this gratuitously, but I do like driving, for the most part. For now, it's one of my unique powers in the household, and because we rent whenever we need a car, it's often with a new-to-me vehicle (although I do have my favourites in the local Communauto fleet). I like driving reasonably well, and focusing on the task, or having that slow-paced driving conversation when Elizabeth can make it to the front seat.
• Hanging laundry: Especially outside — it's going to be breezy, sunny or both and dry if it's hanging-outside weather; it can be quiet or I can eavesdrop on or converse with the neighbours or just be alone with my thoughts or a sleeping baby in the carrier. There are just enough finicky details I like to get right that it's not drudgery.
• Cooking supper: I've sort of adopted this task most nights. I love improvising with what's in the fridge, riffing off something tasty I've had or read about. I like cooking with the radio on.
• Carrying sleeping toddler: I seem to have the touch for this one, and getting Oscar to sleep on purpose is still often a bit of a battle, so when he's passed out en route somewhere, this is satisfying and useful. I'm losing the touch for carrying sleeping toddler during the day, though.

Elizabeth and I read really differently. Whether it's a book or a magazine, I tend to read stuff straight through; I at least have to take a crack at a chapter or article and give up on it before moving on to the next one. She moves around the volume and picks out what appeals to her. With good books, we both read the same amount of stuff.

( good/blah )

Two tests this afternoon... but I’m slow to tie up the loose ends are still out there. Well, here's my surrender to not getting a grammar written today.

Very much looking forward to it.

Celebrated Mother’s Day last weekend with as many mothers from my mom's side of the family in one place as possible. There was lots of food, and us older kids kept tabs on the younger kids as we took a constitutional walk around a farm my cousin has put an offer on.

This week so far, I've debriefed with Matt on this year's run of 256, programmed, met with Emily about Lies revisited (watching the other programmer work is like having an out-of-body experience: we have the same cycle and rhythm, narrate debugging the same way, gesture the same... all he needs is more hair and no glasses... that's ME you're being there, except in PHP instead of ActionScript! Stop it!), practiced yoga, tried to straighten out a two month overlap between leases, and talked and kissed and stuff.

I also did the traditional failing of the first road test last Wednesday (on the first snowy day of the season!). The roads are safe from me for another month or so.