easter enthusings

I had fondly imagined that with Husband away I would spend lots of time blogging all the bloggy posts which've been running around inside my head for some time now. Turns out that flying solo with a toddler and a puppy is far more time-consuming than duel parenting - duh - and so I've 5 incomplete drafts, each started in a moment and a thought process which I've not been able to pick up again once the moment passed. I still like to believe I'll get back to them but in the meantime, a little lazy, a little slurry, a little chocolate-ified after a raucous family dinner, all I can manage is a list (another list) of all the things I'm deeply grateful for on this different, but lovely, Easter weekend.

1. my family (again!) ~ that I have mine so close. That Frieda is growing up knowing them all and securely encircled in the love and devotion of grandparents (and a great-grandparent!), uncles, aunts and wonderful friends (which I count as family).

2. my home ~ that I feel warm and safe here, even when flying solo. That although it's not the Ultimate Family Home I dream of, it's large and spacious and interesting and most importantly, ours.

3. my home town ~ that I can walk on a wide open beach with my child and my dog and my parents and laugh and run and see a Cape Fur Seal up close and taste sea salt in my hair in the bath hours later.

4. my girlie ~ that I can lick peanut butter off her fingers and dance wildly with her to the Basement Jaxx and cradle her in my arms as she drifts off to sleep murmuring '(a)mazing', her new favourite word.

5. myself ~ that I'm comfortable in my own skin and can drink a few too many glasses of wine on my own and sneak an illicit ciggie and eat a couple of Frieda's Easter eggs (she's too young for all that chocolate ok) and lovingly fondle my new Skermunkil necklace (a little pressie to myself ...)

and bonus point, and dare I say my favourite:

6. my husband ~ who's been off having a crazy adventure and will be home to tell us all about it by this time tomorrow. As much as I've missed him I'm so glad he's had this time out by himself, and I can't wait to see the expression in his (no doubt) tired eyes tomorrow.

This feels like a list I keep replicating, but it's also a litany of gratitude I can't help but express over and over. I am, as we say in Cape Town, truly kak lucky!