Free-day it is!

1. "Do you even see it is sunny outside?" And I see my friend is right to draw my attention away from life's unimportant small issues.

2. "If you take time, you can find many interesting things." Jay is referring to the stones she found someplace, and I am thinking intangible things.

3. "Do you have plans after Em's dancing class tomorrow ?" And I say yes because my day and my daughter's is planned out.

Thursday's 3

1. I wanted to pay just gas but then I pick a sandwitch to take along  which I haven't done in months, and the lady behind the counter checks my card and says it's free of charge because I have 5 stamps already.

2. Jay brings her notebook home from daycare and she shows me all her beautiful drawings. She tells me she has joined the choir, for the very first time. Yep, she is a big girl now.

3. There is a young man at the castle cafe, he's a cook actually with great skills in decorating food, who makes wonders out of pumpkins... There, what a sunflower!

Dancing Wednesday

1. Human nature never fails to amaze me. Which is good. Even when it's about power.

2. The girls' dancing is like watching butterflies. So fragile and beautiful. Jay's first performance with the group.

3. Buying tickets to a puppets' show.

Active Tuesday

1. I have a to-do list. The lines in red really bug me because they have a deadline in October and they are just calling for immediate action. So action it is. Stopping by to schedule my car service.

2. Last time Jay and I went for a walk in the woods we saw trash lying around and we promised to each other to pick the empty bottles and wrapping paper next time. Today I would have forgotten all about it if Jay hadn't reminded me to take the trash bag along.

3. Crushed walnuts on our dining table.

Monday’s heights

1. Jay tells me she got a star from her teacher for singing a song at daycare. She’s got happy eyes.

2. It’s the first time I hear Em play piano accompaniment to flute.

3. It’s late and I have a slight headache but my energy level is surprisingly high. My investment into a wristband is paying off already.

Saturday morning in Ljubljana

Star Park, at 8 a.m.

 

Old Square, oh, where are thy people...

 

Shoemakers' Bridge, still asleep

Thursday at home

1. The good thing about having to stay at home is… being at home.

2. A magazine with articles and posters of her favorite musicians waiting on the desk calms down her teenager temper.

3. In the evening Jay's forehead, at the usual body temperature.

Wednesday's unexpected

1. The printer broke down. No way can we print out any photos for Em's school project. Thanks goodness I didn't toss away that pile of old National Geographics. Good old paper vs. high tech.

2. At some point I feel like I am going to walk out of the house and just keep walking. But the feeling goes away just as swiftly as it came.

3. One vanilla pudding at 11 p.m. can do wonders.

The Tuesday’s old and new

1. I cut some flowers and make a bouquet. I use my late Grandma’s ceramic jug. I love this jug.

2. Two old acquaintances stop by while I work in our vegetable garden and we have a good laugh together.

3. Jay says there is a boy at daycare that gives her many hugs. “He says he likes me! Why can’t he just look at me?!” I guess realizing we can have something just by looking at it, comes with age.  

Monday cozy

1. It is warm and cozy at our local library. And I find three new storybooks in English!

2. The desks in the music classroom are really classy. I wish I had one at home.

3. I sneak under my bedcover and indulge in the hike descriptions in the book.

Comfortable Sunday

1. The luxury of stretching in bed on a Sunday morning.
2. I spot visitors in our driveway just at the time I make rooibos tea.
3. We thought there weren’t going to be any after seeing people walk under those chestnut trees. But it’s a great harvest and Jay keeps saying “we don’t have enough!” because she will take a pot full of chestnuts to her daycare centre.

Refreshing Saturday

1. It’s morning, 6 degrees C. After harvesting vegetables for lunch I walk up and down the lawn to get the mud off my garden flip-flops’ soles. Then I take them off and continue barefoot. Refreshing!
2. I encourage Jay to walk up to two strange ladies and ask to borrow a candle lighter. And she does it without hesitation. I remember her being a shy 5-year old but not anymore.
3. I am ready to leave but then I wait till they are finished listening to the audio story The Mishmash Bakery, one of my favorites, too.

Friday's gone

 

The view from our Saturday's Dwarf's Hike, a gorgeous Indian Summer day

1. There has been so much talk about the Indian Summer ending on Friday, and I was expecting 5 degrees and rain, and there is the sky, breath-takingly wild with colors and clouds, and the air at 15 degrees. (Which drops to 5 in the afternoon.)
2. My friend calls in the morning to ask about my girls' condition (both home with high temperature and a headache) and it is perfect timing because I remember to call the school to report on their absence.
3. I drift away while the gongs play.

Thursday's harvesting

1. I find some great website with English exercises and I don’t even blink while doing some of them during work time.
2. It's almost dark when we leave the garden with a pile of red carrots pulled out of the ground and two handfuls of dried blossoms to be used for next year's seeds.
3. Bedtime with Pippi Longstocking,  »Pippi goes to a coffee party«. Pippi makes a promise to Annika and Tommy:"... I have noticed several times that people don't think I know now to behave even when I'm trying as hard as I can. At sea we were never fussy about things like that. But I promise that I'll take special pains today so you won't have to be a ashamed of me.« I like it that she says »people don't think I know hot to behave« and not »people think I don't know how to behave«. Because Pippi knows. And she will only make extra effort for her friends’ sake.  

Wednesday’s favorites

1. Jay's new favorite color is red. »I think it is the strongest among colors«. She is wearing all red to her daycare today.
2. I read a great poem by Janez Menart on the net, and I just love the last two lines: »…it's a fortune to have a path in front of me and a delight to take it.«
3. Em’s class has been on a school excursion to the north-eastern part of Slovenia. I am happy she thought a particular site was so interesting that she took notes.

Interaction on Tuesday

1. She uploads my photos to her computer and then e-mails them to mine. It takes at least 5 minutes and I really appreciate it. 
2. I print-out the application and close the computer. I am mailing it, definitely.
3. Our girls' afternoon out is more about sharing stories than about watching the movie.

The unusual Monday

1. An unusual but expected new situation makes me feel slightly awkward, but I get through the day, somehow.
2. I start the car and there is Amy's music in the air instead of the usual 3.30 p.m. news. 
3. As soon as I walk through the door Em shares details about a school project she has been assigned to and has to do with interviewing a writer, and another one that she is planning herself and is all about dancing.

Sundayssss

1. Sun. 
2. Sore muscles, still, reminding me of my Friday bliss.
3. Coming to an agreement with Em about her afternoon plans.

Dwarf's Hike on Saturday

The children have been so looking forward to the Dwarf's Hike organized by the local daycare centre! They followed Bear Zdravko and SnowWhite and learnt why it is dangerous to light a fire in the wood, and why it is important for mushroom pickers to carry their trophies in a basket and not a sack, and who brings food to the animals in the woods at winter time... They did some jumping and dancing, and had pencakes and roasted potatoes and popcorn... What a glorious day in the sun!