c'etait.....un jour

When I was 15 years old, I participated in a cultural exchange of sorts. A girl, Emilie, came to live with me and my family for two weeks, and then the two of us went to live with her family in Paris for three weeks.

She had a certain expression that she used in French, and she translated it into English as well. When someone asked her what she thought of a certain something, say, a movie....

"C'etait.....un film."

It was.....a movie.

It meant that neither was it great, nor was it bad. It simply was. So in light of Emilie, and my distant memory of her, I name my post "C'etait....un jour." It was....a day.

I planned on going for an early morning walk with Plava. Didn't happen. Why? Because I'm so dang tired from getting up early in the past couple of days. Why? Because I'm finally doing that big thing that sounds so maternal to some, so dreaded to others, and to yet others, strange, as little Plava is 18 months old.

Weaning.

Yes, the inn is now closing. The restaurant is putting up the chairs, mopping the floor, and calling it a day. The first-thing-in-the-morning-feed-in-order-to-keep-on-sleeping-in is now being replaced with the it's-six-in-the-morning-and-I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-myself-except-lie-down-and-fall-asleep-on-the-couch.

I can't chalk it all up to wanting to sleep in though. If I'm honest with you all, it's been a good little relational thing that Plava and I have had. It's been a nice bond, if not a sleepy one. But the time has come. Plava is now ripe and ready to graduate to a new level of Independence.

And so I yawn, and doze, and wonder all day long how I'm going to catch up on the missed sleep.
I also talk to myself a lot. I think I do it more when I'm tired. I noticed today that I have a habit of just suddenly starting to speak out loud in the middle of an imaginary conversation I'd been having in my head. Out of nowhere I say, "but the cheese in the middle is the warmest...." or "...but that's exactly why I didn't start beating the heck out of my washing machine...."

Really, it's funny to take a step back and listen to what I've just blurted out.

I was caught today talking to myself - obviously another sleep deprivation thing - letting my guard down. I was pushing Plava in the shopping cart through Superstore and chatting about who knows what to myself, under my breath, when I noticed an older woman standing next to her cart, watching my lips move. I cooly kept talking (can't stop once you've been caught!!) and as I passed her I made an effort to say, "....and now we need to go get some cheese, Plava...." trying to make it seem like I had been chatting with the kid the whole time. Smooth eh?

I'm not sure she believed it.

As for the rest of my day, it was....the rest of my day. HAH! I made a delicious dinner - thanks again to my recent love for cooking and trying new recipes. A full roasted chicken with apple-thyme stuffing, mango salsa, and mashed potatoes. What a domestic little thing I am! It was good too.

After dinner, Ryan and I gave Plava a bath, brushed her teeth, read her some books, and tucked her quietly into bed. She didn't make a peep, but snuggled down into the covers and closed her eyes. Bliss.

And for those of you who have been talking to me in the past couple days about her sleeping habits, you know that it REALLY IS BLISS. Yes. Wonderful.

Well, it's now time for me to retire. Or expire. Whichever you prefer. I'm just going to bed.