March 18, 2019

Spent a morning on Arab street as I helped a friend visiting from New Zealand find fabric for her first child's wedding. It was a long wait for the children as she took hours to choose between two or three different shades of raw sink... I am a very decisive person so I distinctly felt their pain. We would leave my friend in the shop and take walks down the street only to return and see she'd pulled another bolt off the shelf and couldn't decide. We took maybe three different "field trips" up and down the street before I left my final opinion and told her I'd meet her at a Lebanese restaurant for lunch. Amazingly, she showed up before our food arrived and we all were thankful to be done with the task. This street is filled with fabric shops, dress makers and imported rugs and lamps. It really is a beautiful street and smells distinctly of olives and shawarmas. The entire neighborhood surrounds a huge mosque, I took the cutest picture of Scout as she tried to squint up at me in the bright sun. During lunch we could hear the Imam sing- the call to prayer that comes 5 times a day, such a beautiful thing.  I love the call to prayer.

Rearranged the living room/dining room. Surprised? What's that phrase- A change is as good as a rest? It's true! Moving the couch seemed to give the room more energy and brought life to some stagnant activities. For some reason the piano, now behind the couch, has been played daily. And we didn't move the couch for the piano! When mom and dad/ grandma and grandpa came, we swapped the kitchen and dining rooms so we would have room for the Christmas tree downstairs. (In the past we've always put it upstairs.)  And it was so nice having the extra seating space... but it also meant you had to walk through the living room to get from the kitchen to the dining room. So we were never eating at the table but trying to peck bites of food as our children squished around the kitchen island. It's nice to sit at the table for meals and not feel so rushed. (Just goes to show how lazy we were.)

My children have different talents and interest than my own. Which is stretching. As I sit to be with Mary, she wants to draw or paint. So, I'm drawing and painting more than I ever have before. It's so relaxing, who knew! Same for Abe, he is interested in mountain biking or boardgames... we went mountain biking twice last week and on Sunday morning when he woke up late I said, "Oh shoot, I thought we'd have time for a board game before church." (Trying to encourage more timely behaviour in the future.) Instead, he bolted back up the stairs returning dress and with a game. We played.