Quick Takes: Edition 5

It's Friday again!  (Wow, where did that week go?!)  Back again with Quick Takes, and linking up to Jen, of course.

1) When I was organizing the den this week, I found the box of letters I wrote to Justin.  Most were from our two years of long-distance dating, when I was working in Harrisburg and he was already here in Ithaca.  When I pulled them out to start reading, I was prepared to roll my eyes at the sappiness of the whole thing - but in fact, I was pleasantly surprised.  The two biggest lessons: first, I love him far more now than I did then.  Second, a reminder of the little things that I may take for granted now, but so longed for then - seeing each other every day (then, we were lucky if we saw each other once a month!), sharing the little moments of day-to-day life.

I also had written a lot about wanting to take care of him - his first semester of grad school was very intense, and I was frustrated that I couldn't help to alleviate some of the additional stressors (cooking for himself for the first time, for example).  Despite writing them at the time when I had an excellent career (aspects of which I certainly miss), the underlying message was a longing for the life I have now.  That was a great reminder.

2) Speaking of mail, did you know that you can print postage for packages at home?  Not only do you save the time of waiting in line, they'll come pick up the packages, and the prices are always less expensive (I think 10%?) than at the counter.  Win-win-win.  I did have to buy a postage scale (which I anticipated would be far more expensive than it was), but it will soon pay for itself in postage savings.  I've been having a great time mailing small little care packages to my sister in college and others, and it's also handy when I sell old clothes or things on eBay.  This is in no way an official advertisement for the USPS, just a very pleased customer :)

3)  The whale dress.  As I expected, showing the fabric here on the blog has been incentive to finish the project (or at least work on it).  It just needs sleeves and a hem, and then it's ready for the big reveal.  My goal is to have it done for her to wear next Friday, so stay tuned for pictures next week.  Spoiler alert: it's even cuter than I imagined it could possibly be, and that's without Anna even in it yet.

4) Why next Friday, you ask?  It's our first story-hour at the library!  They're starting up for the year with "Babies, Books, and Bounce," and given her affinity for all three of those things, I think she'll love it!  I've been so excited to take her that it's reached first-day-of-school status in my mind; thus my desire to finish the dress for that day.  Because I clearly never have enough projects going, I also decided that I should make her a little tote bag for library books.  Anything to foster her growing love of reading!  (Speaking of which, she's currently sitting on the floor surrounded by a pile of books, paging through them and pausing every once in a while to bring me "I Am a Bunny" for another read.)

5) Remember on Wednesday when I (less than adequately) was trying to define "home" and the difference between a house and home?  Later that day, John and Sherry at Young House Love posted this video on their blog.  Young House Love is the first blog I started reading, and still at the top of my list.  Even if you've never read their blog, or even if home improvement blogs (other than mine!) aren't your thing, check out the video for a very sweet way of taking about home:

6) (We just had a fifth reading of I Am a Bunny - since I started the 2nd quick take).  This has been Anna's clear favorite book since birth (it would captivate her attention for impressive periods of time as a newborn).  I'm thankful that the one she requests on repeat ("gin" again) is at least one that I also like.  So, if you're reading this and you are a baby, have a baby, or know a baby - this book is definitely worth buying!  I'm thinking of listing some of our other favorite stories next week.

7) Just a final, quick note that I really do appreciate the comments/emails/messages that I've gotten in response to my blog resurgence.  You can also consider this a strong hint (or maybe just a beg) for more - it keeps me highly incentivized to write when this is a two-way street of communication :)