Nesting

How can you not have hope when you see something like this? Two mourning doves have built a nest on top of our fence. These are the unattended eggs. The mama bird went crazy when she found me, some sort of avian paparrazzi, taking this unauthorized photo.

I am still reeling from last night. The reading was incredible. A.M. Homes was so funny, acerbic. I bought her newest novel, This Book Will Save Your Life. Now, that's a title. But afterwards, as I was pulling out of the parking lot the most horrendous thing happened. I heard a thumping sound on the back of my car, and I stopped. A man was glaring in through my window at me. "You hit me!" he yelled, and I rolled down the window. I was falling all over myself, apologizing, offering to call 911. He said his wrist hurt. And then he started talking about insurance, and settling things, and said he'd go to the doctor later. Then I start thinking that maybe I didn't hit him at all...maybe he hit me, and was now trying to get something out of me. So, I start fumbling around in my purse for my insurance card, and then I thought, I am alone in the dark in the parking lot with a man who claims I hit him with my car. I felt like that Mama bird, all fluttery and frantic. So, I offered again to call the police, an ambulance, but he refused, still talking about "working with me." Finally he took my insurance information and left...without giving me his name. I drove home rattled and confused. I am still a little rattled...the power of guilt is something else. My initial reaction was a horrific sense of remorse, and to have that gut instinct manipulated by a stranger is so unnerving. I've also never had anyone think that I was someone they might be able to get money out of. (This certainly never happened when I was driving my '63 Bug or the Volvo wagon.) Anyway, the insurance company said that he likely won't actually try to make a claim...but still, my head is swimmy with last night.

As for the book, Henry said that he hopes to read the latest version this weekend...maybe we can get things started next week. I am ready.

Precipice/Precipitation

I am feeling so damn ambivalent today. I think it's a reflection of the weather. All morning it's been alternately sunny and verging on a storm. I feel the same way, though I can't quite get at the source.

I'm reading The Great Gatsby for the first time in 20 years. The last time I read it was in Mr. Tavares' American Lit class at Lyndon Institute when I was a sophomore. We all had such a huge crush on him...I don't remember much about Gatsby (or The Crucible, or The Scarlet Letter, or The Old Man and the Sea for that matter), but I do remember spring, and Mr. Tavares sitting on a desk at the front of the class talking about books while we melted. Anyway, the book is so small. I don't remember it being so short. It's lovely though, and it makes me want to buy Patrick a pair of white flannel trousers...

Tonight I am going to see A.M. Homes at Politics and Prose. I feel like I'm going to see a rockstar. I've even been trying to figure out what to wear...

Hunting.

I am a terrible mother. I allowed Kicky and Esmee to eat so much candy on Sunday that Kicky actually threw up. In the middle of the night. All over her bed. The walls. Other than that, we had a great weekend. Company over for a barbeque on Saturday, and the egg hunt on Sunday. Kicky swears she saw the Easter Bunny's tail through her window. Esmee can say "treehouse" now. I made a mosaic stepstone for the flower garden (one down, nine to go).

I am getting antsy to start a new book. I'm waiting until I hear from Henry that the book is ready to go though....

School ends at GW in two weeks. Though I hate to see my students go, I can't wait to have my time back.

The reading corner.

The porch is finally almost done. It's unbelievable that so little money and time could turn a crappy junk room into an awesome place to hang out. (I should probably have posted the before pix: wood paneling, indoor-outdoor carper, broken windows...) I am also going to add a poster print of the treehouse at Newark Pond above the couch.

Kicky asked me yesterday if we can get a bookcase for the porch. Now, that's my girl!!!

Done with the novel, for now, just waiting to hear back from my agent to see if it's ready to shop. Finishing up the semester too. I have got my arms wide open for spring and summer.

Our new porch. 

Cherry Blossoms.

This weekend we went to see the cherry blossoms. So did everyone else in the entire world. It was the most claustrophic I have ever felt outside. They were beautiful though, and the idea that a zillion people came out just to look at a bunch of trees was pretty life-affirming.

The latest round of edits are almost done. My goal is to get things off to my agent (my agent!) by Friday. I am fighting a nasty cold though that has gotten to both P and E. Kicky and I have been okay until yesterday. It probably didn't help that I spent TWO HOURS at Home Depot this morning trying to buy tiles for the porch and a sconce for the hallway. Do you realize that a price check on a sconce at Home Depot can take upwards of 45 minutes??!! Needless to say that by the time I started lifting the one hundred pound boxes of tiles into my trunk I was about to pass out. Good news is that the porch remodel is coming along wonderfully. The contractor is a sweetheart, and they are working like madmen to get the new windows, ceiling, and floor in. I can't wait to paint and make my little writing corner. I'll post pictures when it's done.