Month: January 2015

feelings

an M3 original

abby mumford

niece M is uber talented. she painted this when she was 8.

M3 cat 2010

and this when she was 12.

M3 cow 2014

so you see why i requested an M3 painting of my own, right?

well, finally, finally, MY WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. my very own M3 original!!!!!!!

M3 books

while i’m obsessed with her work with animals, this is so very me. i mean, BOOKS. they’re my lifeblood. animals and me? we don’t really get along. and, as luck would have it, there has been a spare nail in the wall since i moved in (three years ago) which is the perfect place to hang this priceless piece of art.

i am so happy.

feelings

hugs and thank you notes

abby mumford

in the battle to capture and keep a 4yo’s attention, i told her when it was my turn for a goodnight hug, i expected 12. she obliged and then asked for 17 more. i requested her assistance in counting. she obliged and asked for 25 more. we counted and snuggled and giggled. she asked for seventy-ninety more. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 hugs in rapid succession, a long 7th one, 8, 9, 10, 1112131415163059867 blurred slurred blended 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 plus a good night kiss to seal the deal.

my west coast family sends the most amazing thank you notes which makes my word-loving self warm. my name appears in a bold splash of crimson at the top and within each of the hand folded parts, a family member’s handwriting appears. my niece and nephews’ ages are unveiled by the size of their letters. the truth of their thoughts bleeds through from the heavy weight of their pencils (plus brother G and sis in law M detailed their kids’ reactions).

re-reading the letters and remembering the seventy-ninety hugs will keep me cozy these frigid winter nights.

feelings

electricity

abby mumford

a tall empty box plus some screws and washers plus bits of plaster and dirt awaited me upon my arrival back to the day job. the search for more information led me to look up. two brand new light fixtures greeted me. it’s not just my office, there are new lights everywhere at work. my office lights throw off the same color light, but they look so much more glamorous now. the lights in the bathrooms are smaller in size, but project the same intensity so the only difference there is the holes in the wall from the bolts and screws that held up the old lights. the hallway lights, however, are wildly different. they’re circular instead of rectacular and instead of being powered by a switch, they’re motion-sensored. as you walk down a hallway or up/down a flight of stairs, the lights brighten one by one as you pass them. it’s a little odd and it’s a lot bright. as one coworker quipped, “you could do surgery in that hallway now.”

we are not surgeons.

i keep getting mini shocks whenever i get up out of my chair or touch my filing cabinet or the wall or the doorway. oh, winter air, you cackling crackling fool, you.

the wind is on overdrive today. i guess that’s what happens when the temperature starts out at 47 and by day’s end is 17. the cold air has to arrive somehow. happy january.