January 18

• Poppy’s “Hallooooooo” when she woke up.
• Kung Pao Scallops.
• P’s entusiasm over crab wantons.
• Talking about the Wii with Rockford.
• Tom and Genia getting coupons for free Pictsweet veggies.
• A suggested name for my sister-in-law’s next child: Honey BooBlossom.
• Marsha cuddling with me at naptime.
• Marsha sitting on the loft’s farthest outcropping.
• “I miss Dwight. Universe, you win.” (Jim, “The Office”)
• Kenneth on “30 Rock”

January 19

• Doing my silly little photoshoot.
• Getting so many nice comments on Flickr.
• Shocking Amy with the revelation that I read John Mayer’s blog. (What? He’s funny.)
• Poppy kissing the camera.
• Sitting outside, grilling a steak. (Rockford called this my Hank Hill moment.)
• Going out for milkshakes.
• “Monk.”

January 20

• Watching “Sesame” in bed with Poppy.
• The Fed-Ex stakeout.
• Wi!
• Spending the day with my buddies.
• The Ed Emberely fingerprint book.

January 21

• Opening our eyes at the same moment in the morning when Marsha crazy-jumped onto the bed.
• The idea that we might have found a church.
• The joyful guy in the brown suit and the sweet little baby at said church.
• A successful new recipe: Kung Pao Shrimp.
• The Colts!

January 22

• Poppy waking up from her nap and saying, “Poop!” (Although the ensuing cleanup wasn’t too much fun.)
• Reading with Poppy.
• Horatio Caine.
• Skinny Cows fudge bars.

January 23

• Rockford coming home a little early.
• A fresh “Gilmore Girls.”
• Bean nachos.
• Art time with Poppy.

January 24

• Going to Barnes and Noble with Rockford & Poppy.
• Finding a new sweater for $10.
• Stevie Wonder’s “Happier Than the Morning Sun.”
• Rockford ordering a filet mignon for me for dinner.
• Rockford spilling mango chutney on his shirt and not finding it until hours later.
• Dwight Yoakum at Sea World.
• Today’s self-portrait came out nicely.
• Poppy picking up rocks and saying “Bye-bye” to them when she put them back down.
• Poppy saying “dee-shush” (“delicious”).
• Poppy picking up the cat food bag, saying “ki-ki foo, baaf” (kitty food, bath) and putting the cat food in the bath tub.
• Poppy telling me my necklace is “nice.”
• Finding a few new photostreams on Flickr.
• Watching a bad movie with Rockford.

. . . . . the end . . . . .

Love Thursday
Originally uploaded by nichole_e.

January 11

• Getting Poppy to eat peaches, blueberries and strawberries via smoothie.
• “Earl,” “The Office,” “Scrubs” and “30 Rock.”
• More nice thoughts here and on flickr.
• Poppy sitting on Marsha and Marsha hardly noticing.

January 12

• Strawberry cheesecake milkshake from CookOut.
• getting excited about reading “The Children of Men.”
• the Serpico joke on “Inside Man.”
• going back to CookOut for a milkshake for Rockford.

January 13

• Scrapbooking all day long.
• Poppy dancing in the booth at Longhorn.

January 14

• So much good family time.
• Watching Rockford and Poppy play at the park.

January 15

• In retrospect, being terroritzed by a mouse and a maurading goose gang at the zoo.
• Poppy’s tiny pants.
• Rockford unexpectedly buying me a Dove ice cream bar.
• Poppy putting her toes in her nose.
• Poppy laughing when I shake my head and then prompting me to do it again and again.
• The arctic fox. So cute.
• Horatio Caine.

January 16

• Milkshake for dinner!
• Poppy eating waffles in her “office.”

January 17

• Poppy requesting “V” (from They Might Be Giants’ “Here Come the ABCs”)
• Winning a print in the Cool Mom Picks drawing.
• Getting through the first tough leg of my jogging project.
• strawberries and vanilla ice cream.
• Chloe: “Island Girl, what you wanted with your white pants world?”
• Marsha getting stuck in the litter box.

. . . . . the end . . . . .

Rockford’s sister Phoebe gave me a handmade book for Christmas, and I’ve been trying to decide what to do with it. I’ve never been very good about consistently keeping a journal — although I suppose this site would count as a journal, and I’ve been pretty consistent with it lately. But anyway …

I wasn’t sure what to do with my new book. So it sat on our dining room table for a few days. Then it moved over to the kitchen counter. And then someone insinuated that I’ve been a big ol’ complainer lately. My first reaction was to cry. This particular person means an awful lot to me, and it made me feel like he wasn’t enjoying my company. And that hurt. A lot.

After the crying, I thought about what he said. And I guess I have been complaining a lot. About not being in Columbia anymore. About not meeting anyone here. About living so far away from everything.

So I decided to try to be more positive about where we are.

Now my Christmas book sits next to my bed, and every night before I go to sleep, I write down a few things that made me happy that day. And every night, I’ve gone to sleep content.

So here it is, my very first Love Thursday entry.

January 4

• Poppy’s post-bath curls
• Poppy’s smiles as “Your Personal Penguin” starts to play
• An extravagant number of marshmallows in my Lucky Charms
• “Born to Run” on the shuffle as I’m finishing my running stint for the day

January 5

• Dancing to “Sunny Sunday Mill Valley Groove Day” with Poppy
• Marsha’s goofball expressions as she looked from from the loft
• Rockford asking me to sharpen the pencils
• Poppy’s excitement in front of the wall of “milp” at Target
• Rockford jammin’ while he makes a CD for me
• Making the bed with Rockford

January 6

• The gleeful look on Rockford’s face when he watches the “Dad got hosed” ad
• Having a few hours to myself
• Poppy’s laughs when Rockford sings “Do the Rubber Duck” at bathtime

January 7

• Playing “Get Mommy” with Poppy
• Rockford telling me I’m beautiful
• the talent scene in “Little Miss Sunshine”

January 8

• Building Rockford’s new “closet” (a free-standing garment rack)
• Going out to take pictures with Poppy. Her smile when I turn on the camera.

January 9

• Lunch with Rockford at PF Changs
• Poppy loving her dinner (mac ‘n’ cheese … “noodle? noodle?”)
• The puff pastry on sweet potato pot pies actually puffing
• Minute 24 of my work-out … almost done 🙂
• The day’s last glow on Poppy’s hair
• A nice comment on my “Rust” photo

January 10

• Rockford telling me my hair looked nice
• Poppy’s long post-nap hug
• A nice, long chat with Laura
• Very kind comments on the Web site*
• Rockford: ” ‘D‘ is for something that you play with steaks. Whump whump.”
• Target
• Our futile search for a Wii

*I wasn’t really fishing for compliments on that last post. I was just wondering how you found this site. But I appreciate them nevertheless. Thank you!

. . . . . the end . . . . .