But for this last month I'm spending a lot of time in my office. It's not as cozy as I'd like it to be because most of the time it's been overtaken with the chaos of research. But these are some of the images I see the most:
The candy that's supposed to be for my students, but on really long days just goes to me. Also, why are there never enough pink Dots? They are the most delicious by far.
The skylight over my office mate's desk. It helps me tell whether it's day or night. You can't actually see the sky, but it does make the room less gloomy.
Books! This is the stack I reference the most frequently. And so many more articles. Also, I realize there are two of the same book there...a mistake in ordering online, oops.
The carpet and my feet. My feet get cold a lot so I sometimes put on my office slippers, which are not pictured here.
The dots on the ceiling I begin to count when I'm already going crazy. Also that box keeps the cold air from blowing directly on me. Hey, it's a system that works.
Really, I didn't mean to write for so long about school. New topic, promise.
Neal and I have been trying to cook together more often, instead of going out. I remember now how I love to cook and how I don't have to cook gourmet all the time. Sometimes Ramen or Spaghettios is acceptable. It certainly takes less time and creates less of a mess to clean up. All around Neal and I are simplifying. The tv finally kicked the bucket. It was taking longer and longer to turn on and one day I turned it on at 1:30 and by 5 it still hadn't 'warmed up' so we just gave up. Now we watch on out laptop, and we watch less television altogether. We wanted to spend less time with tv, so I guess this was a grand opportunity to make that happen sooner rather than later.
None of these thoughts really fit together today. But there was a reason I wanted to blog today. It was because I woke up with Neal at five and decided I wasn't going to campus today. So I went back to bed. Well, sort of. I sneezed for a half an hour. It's this strange new habit I've taken up. For the last few months every morning I have to sneeze as soon as I wake up. Not just once, but several times. This morning it was snowing, not exactly allergy season, but still the sneezes come. As soon as I get about four out of my system I'm usually fine for the rest of the day. Weird, I know. But also hilarious. When the sneezing finally settled down Neal was about to leave and let me know it was snowing!
Now I'm no winter fanatic. I guess I'm just more of a seasons fanatic. Each time there's a change in the way the breeze feels or the sound of crunchy leaves under my feet, I just get excited. this morning's snow was one of the first, and the first I really got the enjoy from home. So I started the day with some dishes to warm the house up...and because there were a lot of dishes. The steamy water really made the place feel homey. Then I made some cider and sat on the porch watching the snow fall while reading the scriptures. It was early enough for silence and the snow actually made it warmer than the last few mornings.
It was peaceful.
That's a big deal, because so little of life has felt peaceful as of late. Too many deadlines and responsibilities have filled my hours and minutes. Even when I try to relax I've felt guilty for doing something other than homework. This morning was the exception. For those few minutes, I just breathed in the steamy smell of apples and listened to softly falling snow. Just writing about it makes me miss that moment. But if I can find those kinds of moments, then I know life is alright. I'm going to be okay.
This morning, much later than my morning reading, but still beautiful. I had to just enjoy it some more through my front window and play, yes, Christmas songs, on the piano. Hey, if I'm 'practicing' it's totally acceptable.
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