"It is nearly too warm," I think as I sit, back to the rain just beyond the plate glass window. Computer on my lap, I attempt to find peace and quiet despite the activity and noise of the young boy restlessly waiting to join the adult yoga class.
The screen of the lap top goes black.
I am stunned. "Did I hit a button?"
I hit the power button to watch and spring back to life...Only to have it go black again a few minutes later.
Sitting back, I decide that it just needs a few minutes rest. This new computer has just returned from the shop so it is unlikely to still have issues... right?
After a few minutes, I hit power again, check the battery, find that there is 50% left, and do a proper "shut down."
I know that within a few hours i will be back on the phone setting up an appointment to have this issue addressed.
And I once again am grateful for the purchase of that long term service package - You just never know with new technology!

Together we sit
My crochet hook weaving colors
Her head propped on her hands
Completely absorbed in the stories drifting from the computer.
Unaware of time passing Minds captivated by the words, tones, and talent of these story tellers.
We were listening to The Moth podcast – a non-profit bringing the art of storytelling back to life in many ways.
Story telling isn’t a lost art – it is, for us, a newly found treasure!

She says nothing as we walk. Not a morning person anyway, her silence is as gray as the clouds overhead. "I am mad. I just want to hit something." "I have nothing for you to hit. Why not try running?" "No" I thought for a minute. There is no way I am going to spend the morning with this mood. "Try making a funny noise." "No" "Oh, Come on" "No" "A funny bear noise. No one can stay mad when they make a funny bear noise. GRRRRRR" I demonstrate as loudly as I can "No" "What about a dinosaur noise" "No" "A funny cow?" I am laughing now as I illustrate each noise as loudly as possible. After all, no one can stay mad when making such noises. "No" I give up... Hours later we return to the conversation with her explaining that she couldn't make those noises as they were "embarrassing" and me suggesting that sometimes people find it rewarding to just make a loud noise as it releases their frustration. "What about a funny cat noise?" She does a cross between a growl and a yowl... and laughs... "See, you just can't be mad if you are making funny cat noises..." We laugh our way down the sidewalk - me not caring who hears and her still not sure that she isn't a tad embarrassed, but she is laughing. She must feel better.

7:15, we are out the door. Even though it is the first day of springbreak, there are things that require our attention - like the 8:30 dentist appointment that must be kept. Drops fall from the sky - of all the days to be sprinkling and gray, I would have prefered Mother Nature had picked another but... we are okay. It is pouring and it isn't freezing. We are on the move. Thirty minutes pass - we have walked over a mile and have no idea how much farther we have to go, but we are on the move. The kid decides she is "not" in a great mood... *sigh* 8:26, we have four minutes to get to the dentist. We are going to make it!! We walk through the door. The receptionist looks at me "Your appointment isn't until 10:30." "What?" She says my daughter's name... "Yes, 10:30, but I can get you in at 10:00" "10:00 is great" I comment as we consider the opportunities. We are two girls with 1.5 hours for a nice breakfast... Bagels and coffee, here we come!

17 steps from bottom to top
17 steps from the landing behind the security door to the door that opens into home and love and all that comes with it.
17 steps she climbed, by herself, in her skates, tears pouring down her face.
17 steps to the door
1 step into the house
And then she sat on the floor in tears.
She sat before I could get to her.
Questions tumbling through my mind as I verbalized nothing and sat down with her to finally discover what was upsetting her.
As I unlaced her skates and listened, she told me of the fall from the car, her hurting elbow and shoulder, and her arrival at that moment in our house.
Skates off, she stood and I held her, sobs working through her body - was it only about a fall? Was there more as the tears seemed more heavy than those resulting from a slight scrape?
I just held her, rubbed her back, and let her cry.
It was only later that I realized that she requested me, but I was not notified though I sat in the house twenty feet away and that she ventured from the car, through the parking area, up the outdoor stairs, and then up the hall stairs on her own.

Silence...
My house fills with silence.
I drift from room to room unsure what to do with myself in this silence. There is much I could do but not much that draws my attention.
My daughter is out.
Nonna is at the airport.
The hustle and bustle of the last week have drawn to a close leaving silence.
There was a shared movie (Diary of a Wimpy Kid).
There was shopping... and wonderful shopping it was.
There were shared meals, shared laughter, and shared time together.
Nonna and the kid shared "Notes from the Dog" finding the two adults in the room in tears at its close.
And now -
Silence