Snow all day today. Lyli up early with grandpa to eat cereal before he walks to his bookstore. Scarleht and i cuddle in and dream a bit more before rising. Gramma runs off on some appointments and errands while my girls and I hang out: count snowflakes, eat cornbread, read books. I finish a book in two days! Granted it was just a short novella (Green Angel by Alive Hoffman)... but it still acted to boost my self-esteem a bit after slogging through these past months subsisting on one or two books per, rather than my requisite twelve to twenty. Oh, how to evolve without losing past passions?

We set off a small showering fountain of a firework on the porch for chinese new year/fat tuesday/mardi-gras/presidents day/the hell of it. Toddler eyes bulge and mouths stutter attempts at sentences as colored lights dance down the drive in their eyes. My girls get a little bratty at Grandpa and Grandma's house, which I attribute to the differences in environment, attentions, schedule, diet, etcetera. But then again, they like being spoiled and I think it's important for them to learn that it doesn't happen all the time.

Fast-forwarding a bit, Rob and I work our hands to a dusty sheen on boxes of books, eventually retiring to my mother's house to read, write, watch Marx Brothers. Make plans to eat with friends tomorrow night, would imaigne pictures will ensue. Excited to see my old friend Cary and for him and Rika and Carly to spend time with my children. Sometimes I can hardly bear to watch my old friends interact with my kids, a surge of emotions like water rushing downhill.