1. I really try to write these on Fridays but yesterday was just packed. Jane woke with a croupy cough so she came with me to the bookshop (she did so well, I was both proud and a little surprised). The rest of our new counter was also installed yesterday and we were in such a complete mess. I will take more pictures this next week once we get completely settled (and I get over the shock and awe of how beautiful everything is now) but first! 80 years in business! Nate, my tireless brother-in-law, designed it and it looks so nice. I think I have said this before, but we are only the fourth set of owners in eighty years and all of the previous owners have been women.
2. One of my most favorite things to do is walk this dog. George is such a good walker. I love walking in Olympia during all the seasons and weather. It just does not does get old or less beautiful.
3. At Ikea last weekend, we got the girls two little tables to put in the guest room (replacing a really small orange table). Our hope is to contain all of the art supplies and resulting mess in the guest room. So far this week this has not happened – the mess is in the guest room and in the dining room – but the picture is very cute.
4. Telfer and I sit down weekly, usually on Sunday afternoons, to go over our respective weeks. Telfer has a complicated call schedule and quite a few other commitments so the more we talk about our week – the details to the dreams – the more intentional we tend to be. The conversation is full of logistics – “so you might be able to pick up the girls on Tuesday?” – but we have the props – red wine and lit candles – to make it all seem more romantic. Somehow, it works and we really do feel like we connect even if it’s over really mundane stuff.
5. I just finished The Storied Life of A.J. Fikrey by Gabrielle Zevin this morning. The first book off my new shelf project. It’s a really sweet bookseller story. I just fell into it – if you want something easy and bookish with a lot of heart, totally pick this one up.
And I can’t help it. Two more quick pictures of the girls. This is Jane on her way to the bookshop with me. She brought some color stuff, her marbles and we stopped on the way for a morning roll. Then, last night, Cate had her yellow belt ceremony for tae kwon do. We all went and it was so cool to watch what she has learned in two months…
Telfer is in Portland for a class today and then working tonight. Chris and Mendy took Cate and Jane on the train with their cousins to Centralia. So I have six hours to myself today. I took George for a long walk, finished a novel, am writing this, and then the debate within is heating up. Do I conquer the mess that is my house, go to the bookshop where projects continually await or do I just take a bath? Knowing me, I will probably try to do all three which means nothing will quite get done fully but I am so thankful for these hours of quiet…
Andrea Y. Griffith 