Small Luxuries

Ok, so maybe it is still early in the day for an escape--that usually happens after 8pm. But after teaching 4 classes today instead of my usual 1 on Fridays, and now that Aspen has sustained her tantrum for about 60 minutes, I have traded slacks and heels for yoga pants and Justin's athletic socks (they work like slippers for me...) and am about to wrap one hand around of mug of hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows while my other hand holds a piece of almond biscotti ready for dipping. Spaghetti will be ready in about 15 minutes and I don't care if I ruin my appetite.

Usually Aspen is awesome, but the Banshee hasn't entirely grown out of her infant nickname. As I was just thinking about how unusually grumpy my sweet girl with the soft little curls is right now I remembered a poem by Longfellow:

There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
And when she was bad she was horrid.

Well, her curls are in the back, brushing her kissable neck, but I think it pretty much fits--good thing we love her.

Creative Writing

(No time for excuses for my long silence from the blog-world, I'll try to highlight bits later)

I couldn't help but share some of Ilana's most recent journal writing from school. Apparently they had a few prompting questions about food to answer:

"I have a craving for meatloaf. I find pizza in a city. My favorite food is meatloaf. I am getting sick of spagetty (sic). I flick off my peas. Peas have evilness inside."

What can you expect from the daughter of a woman who still asserts that melons are evil? By the way, the meatloaf to which she refers is Grammy Chapman's meatloaf; which is a wonder of goodness that puts all meatloaf jokes to shame.