Dear Josh,

You left at 6:15 this morning, and I’ve been missing you ever since.

This morning, Jude and I ate oatmeal for breakfast. He did a bang up job of eating. I trimmed the cats nails and scooped the litter box. After picking out some clothes to wear, he and I got the bike trailer hooked up to my bike, and we headed out to shop at The Harvest.

After huffing it home from the co-op, Jude and I put on our bathing suits and headed to Jarvis Beach to play with Dash and Stella and their families. Jude rode in his wagon and ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich on the way. Atena gave me a beautiful dress that I think you would love to see on the floor me, but sadly, it’s just a touch too big.

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Boo. My dear husband left today. He’s leading his youth group’s mission trip to Kentucky, and he won’t return until next Saturday evening. I am sad and a bit overwhelmed. While Jude and I had a lovely day together, I know it would have been even more lovely to have enjoyed it alongside my partner in crime.

This week, I’m eating simply. Some leftovers, lots of sandwiches, and a surprise dinner of enchiladas from my friend upstairs, Tracie! I have great friends, and I’m very, very grateful for them. Here’s what cooking (or reheating!) this week:

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Eh. I’m feeling down today.

Jude and I have been having some great days together lately. I’ve been more present and connected with him and have started saying “yes” more. He thrives when I’m in the thick of life with him. He laughs and pretends and has full-on conversations with his toys; he responds to me, helps me, and offers me many kisses.

And then, this morning, he flat out refused to go shopping at the farmers’ market and co-op with me. I was happy Josh was home so that I didn’t have to force him to come with me, but I’ll be honest: I was hurt and sad.

I pressed on–headed out into the muggy heat of this Saturday morning and made my way to the train station. I rode the train to Evanston and shuffled my feet on the way to the market. Then I got there and saw all the amazing fruit for sale, and I just got so much sadder. I wanted my sweet boy by my side. I wanted him to sample all the fresh fruits that were available. I wanted to dance with him. I wanted to share the experience with him. As I left, all I could think about was how nice it would be to have him sitting next to me on the train, eating our entire blueberry purchase before we arrived home.

Here’s my husband:

Handsome devil, isn’t he?

I consider myself to be a very, very lucky woman. When I met Josh, I instantly knew that I had found an incredibly special man. I knew he would be an amazing husband–one who would love me and put up with me for the rest of our lives. When I found out we were expecting, I had no doubt in my mind that Josh would end up being the most wonderful father this world has ever seen.

I wasn’t wrong.

Josh, from both Jude and me, I say thank you. Thank you for being a present and involved father. Thank you for being kind and gentle and for keeping a even temper. Thank you for loving us. You are more than either of us could have asked for, and I think more than we both, at times, deserve.

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For blogging sporadically, that is. Yesterday, a neighbor-friend who works at the Apple store, gifted me a power cord for my laptop. If he didn’t have a girlfriend, I would have tongue-kissed him. Josh might have, too.

Chicago has had a ton of wet, dreary days lately. The sun finally made an appearance yesterday, but is only slated to stick around through today before it retreats behind the clouds to make way for MORE RAIN tomorrow. *sigh* At least we’ll have a good excuse to take Jude to see Toy Story 3.

For Fathers’ Day, Jude and I registered Josh to participate in the 17th Annual Artists of the Wall Festival at Loyola Park. Josh will get to design and paint a section of bench, and that painting will stay up for a year–until next year’s festival. Jude and I have a few more tricks up our sleeves for the best Papa in the world; check back early next week for a full account of the celebration!

I recently discovered Green and Crunchy, a blog written by Sheri– a vegan, (mostly) raw food eating, homeschooling, attachment parenting (etc., etc., ) mom of FIVE (with another one on the way!). I’m so, so super impressed by Sheri’s family way of life–how they live simply, eat fantastically, parent gently; that’s how I strive to live.

After reading through a bunch of Sheri’s post of what she and her family is eating, I started making a wish list for myself. It started off with things like a dehydrator and a yogurt maker; you know, things that would help me cook more from scratch, and then it kind of spiraled into an all encompassing “Household Items” wish list. Now, I get that wanting all this, eh, stuff is kind of in direct opposition to living simply. BUT! In my defense, not much of this list is really frivolous (okay, maybe the waffle maker is frivolous). And, this list will likely go unfulfilled for the next ten years or so. It’s a wish list. I’m certainly not going to go out and blow our next few paychecks on these things. Anyway, here goes:

Kitchen
Excalibu 9 Tray Food Dehydrator
Yogurt maker with glass jars
Waffle maker (Cast iron, perhaps? We don’t use any non-stick cookware any more.)
KitchenAid Stand Mixer
Grain mill
Immersion blender
Cotton napkins
Reusable sandwich bags
Reusable snack bags
To-Go Ware for family
Stainless steel/Glass storage container
Cotton napkins

Bathroom(s)
Matching bath towels, hand towels, and wash cloths
Bathroom accessories for both bathrooms
Fabric shower liner for second bathroom
Bath mat for second bathroom
Towel rack/over-the-door rack for second bathroom
New shower head for second bathroom

Bedroom
King-sized comforter
Bed linens
New lamp shade for bedside lamp

Living room/Dining room/Jude’s room
3 Rugs (one each for the living room, dining room, and Jude’s room)
Dining room chairs
Ceiling fan for living room

Outdoors
Patio furniture
Tall stainless steal trash can for porch

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I had a hard time planning this week’s menu. I don’t want to be stuck inside cooking everyday, but I also don’t want to eat sandwiches day after day. The two soups on my menu should come together pretty quickly, as long as I get the chopping/bean cooking done before hand. Any suggestions for yummy, quick, and nutritious vegetarian meals for these hot summer months?

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Even though it’s June 8th, today’s temperature is slated to top off at 69 degrees. Weather.com tells me it’s going to be rainy and windy all day. Hey summer, what happened?

I’m hoping that Jude will consent to relaxing all day with movies and popcorn and books. Since he’s been begging to watch The Wizard of Oz multiple times a day for the past three days, I don’t think this will be a problem. (Side note: Jude got an awesome stove-top popcorn maker for his birthday from our neighbor-friends, the Lashleys. That thing is incredible. I love using it!)

I’ll be MIA from the interwebz for most of today. Josh has to take the power cord to work with him, and my laptop won’t hold a charge for more than five minutes. Boo. So, on this deary, rainy day, I’ll leave you with a picture of happier, warmer times. Cheers, friends!

Since I know you’re all super excited about our newly usable porch and our rain gutter planters, I thought I’d share a few before and after (or almost after… we still have a bit to do) photos with you.

Before: (Please excuse the poor quality. These were taken in a hurry.)

As you can see, we live underground. I call our apartment “The Dungeon.” (Sorry there aren’t any pics of the mess that covered the patio floor. I simply could not document that.)

And now, the After:

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Josh and I finally took the plunge: We started a container garden. I’m not sure if what we planted will thrive, but I’m really, really excited about the whole thing.

Our porch, up until very recently, hasn’t been really usable. We live in a garden apartment, which means our apartment, and porch, are below ground level. The porch is right next to our building’s parking lot and is bordered to the east by two dumpsters. It has been impossible to keep it anywhere near clean. Recently, my twitter friend SnarkyVegan gave me a great idea that would not only give us space to plant in, but would also help keep dirt and debris from getting onto our porch: rain gutters.

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