This morning could have been rough, as Mondays can be. Isaac was already gone, rising super early for work.

I had stayed up waaaaay too late, writing & then awake, nursing at the computer.

Just me & the kids, so I’d take K to school. And today is the day we put clean sheets on her futon at school. Coffee first, breakfast of walnut bread (kurumi pan), that cloudy, wonderful apple juice, & glistening, juicy Florida oranges. (I swear they are even better here than when I lived in the Sunshine State).

Brushing teeth, changing clothes, gathering up pigtails, piggybacks, diaper changes throughout, Kariin’s potty breaks (convincing her that she is not “merely happy” as she suggests, but doing a pee-pee dance), and so on. Oh, we fed and walked the dogs, too, even watered plants. Kariin held the double lead and said, “I’m directing you here, dogs.” We saw tulip beds and irises.

AND, because I like to aim high, even on the slippery edge of Monday, I told Kariin she could ride her scooter all the way to school, her first time. She could have overestimated her strength, her endurance. It is sort of a long way. Nah, not her. She is a rough, tough rider. A pleasure & a gem. Our Monday morning kicked grass.

And then, as some spring reward, this is our view from the foyer, or genkan. The Taiwanese sakura is teetering on the precipice of blooming; this is the weather of dreams. Sayonara thick coats, so long you bulky outerwear. Hello to freedom in movement, to skipping a bit lighter than in February or the start of March. The sakura are slated to bloom this week, on the 26th. Hanami, that lovefest of blooms and joy camped out on tarps with lots of drinks, in almost here.

xoxo I’m a happy girl in spring.