Good Things

Good Things In Jess' Stay-at-Home World:
1) Adam. In the morning, starting me off well by kissing me and praying
with me and telling me he loves me.
2) Adam. During the day via email and phone.
3) Adam. In the evening, making the whole stay-at-home thing worthwhile.
4) BRIGID ELIZABETH!!! All day long.
5) Parents who live close by.
6) Parents who live close by and have a washer and dryer they let us use.
Not to mention free diapers, run of the pantry, a TV, and a DVD library we
have a card to.
7) A mother-in-law who lives close by and offers free babysitting and
cross-stitch patterns.
8) Even more relatives that live close by, whose virtues are too numerous
to mention.
9) A job for Adam that keeps him close, so that Brie and I can have lunch
with him at least once a week.
10) Other friends close enough to have lunch with.
11) Friends who live on our street (wow, who can say that anymore?) and
are close enough to lunch with, walk with and borrow a cup of sugar (or a
copy of Mystery Science Theater 3000) from.
12) A library that will loan me practically anything, whose catalog I can
peruse online from the comfort of my own home.
13) Coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. My own coffeemaker to make it in.
Instant access to coffee, good coffee, and not the brown water that
pretends to be coffee, you know, the stuff you find at the places that
change your oil, at church and at work.
14) Bookshelves. No bookshelves at work, especially not ones filled with
Bujold, Donne, Tolkein and the like. Along with, of course, Bibles and
prayerbooks and hymnals. (Hymnals are almost as good for babies as the
next item, if you sing through them while holding a baby who loves to be
sung to.)
15) Books-on-tape. Borrowed from the aforementioned library, and perfect
for listening to while walking a fussy baby.
16) Exercise DVDs. Also borrowed from the library, and perfect for
getting in a workout in the comfort of my own home and easily tailored to
the length of Brigid's morning nap.
17) A kitchen! I'm loving this whole cooking thing. (Adam is too. This
week's discovery was fresh ginger-root, and how much it perks up
stir-fried rice.)
18) A computer! For all those keep-in-touch and writing-my-heart-out
needs.
19) Indoor plumbing, thanks be to God.
20) Our church. Mass is a good thing to look forward to all week; it
anchors the time in between and gives weekdays their purpose.


*Honorable mention:
A Starbucks and Blockbuster within walking distance, for great,
baby-compatible cheap dates in the evening. High Fidelity was one of our
latest good picks, and Empire Records wasn't bad. (No, you do not sense a
theme.)