"Hey, I have an idea!"

It's 8:06 pm, and I'm here in the girls' dark bedroom, Old Testament stories on (we're in the middle of Elijah right now). But it's anything but quiet. Polly decided that she wanted to rearrange her bedroom so she could be closer to the portable DVD player, so for the past 10 minutes, she's been wrestling her mattress off the box springs and hauling it across the room. I'm actually very impressed with this feat. She asked me for help, and I said, entirely remorselessly, "Nope! I'm doing my computer work!" She didn't need my help after all, as it turned out. And as she tugged and pushed and shouldered it around, she'd punctuate her efforts with "Hey, I have an idea!" and then she'd run over and throw a blanket or a pillow on the mattress. Funny girl. I like that she's getting to know that wonderful feeling of having an idea and having the power to carry it out--and having that confidence boost of having done it.

This is apropos of very little, but I've been recently thinking about the fact that Polly's physical build is like mine--tall for her age, and strong and solid. Cici is built like Dave, tall and skinny, with a lot of natural grace. I've wondered if Polly will ever wish that her body were different--more like Cici's, perhaps, or more like one of her friends or cousins. I certainly went through that, wishing that I were shorter, more slender, had a different shaped face, had different colored hair. Polly has already wished that she had "golden hair" so that she could be in the "blond hair club" on the bus (that's a subject for another night). As Polly grows up, I want her to come to value her strong, capable body. I have been grateful for the ability to pitch right in and move pianos with the best of the men. Being strong and able to bear a lot of physical stress has become an important part of my identity, and I wish I'd arrived at that place much earlier, in my insecure teens. We'll have to see. In the meantime, I'm glad that Polly now knows she can move her mattress wherever she wants in her room. Now to convince her to move in back in the morning...

Today was a normal day. Rainy, which I always like. Although I've started using cloth diapers again, and yesterday I hung a load out on the clothesline, then neglected to bring them in before the rain started. Ah well. They'll just smell extra fresh, I suppose.

Our line-up today was doing morning work, going to the gym (yes, we've become a gym membership family. It feels like the height of luxury to drop Joshey off at the kids' club and then go use a bunch of expensive fitness equipment for as long as I want), playing with little Sebastian after his grandma dropped him off, lunch for two little boys, naps for two little boys, a very little bit of bill-paying and mail-opening for me, then getting Cici off the bus and, for once, giving myself over to playing with her. Cici is such good company, I love her dramatic intonations ("Do you want to be CROCODILES with me?" she'll sing, her voice going up and down the treble clef), and she is so very easily pleased. She also put herself down for a nap in the afternoon, which meant that she was good company all the way till bedtime :). Which was a good thing, because we spent most of the afternoon in the car, dropping off Sebastian and then taking dinner to a new mom in the ward. If I were my neighbor, I would take a seat by my front window and just laugh every afternoon around 4 pm, when I'm loading up the car to take Sebastian back. First, Joshey gets strapped in, a look of resignation on his face. He always is the first in and the last out. Then back in the house for Cici, inevitably followed by a sprint back to the house to bring out handfuls of apples for the kids. I badger Polly in, and finally, I bring out Sebastian and his bags. Efficient I am not.

Tomorrow...I'm going to New York City! Dave gave this trip to me for my birthday in July. I'll be visiting Benjamin and Shayla, arriving on Friday evening and leaving Sunday afternoon. I'll have over 6 hours on the Megabus to read any book of my choosing, and I can even sleep in! This is going to be wonderful. The country mouse going to the city, with the best of city mice to show her around.