Nesting Impulse

I had the urge to clean today, and that doesn't really happen very often. I mean, we keep the house clean, but it isn't every day I have the urge to scrub the floor on my hands and knees like a scullery maid. But today I did feel like it. I'm also getting the urge to change things around, to get a new rug and sofa slipcover for the living room, or. . . or something. I don't know why. A belated nesting impulse perhaps. I think it might be time to finally visit Ikea, where I have -- gasp! the horror!! -- NEVER been! One opened about 5 minutes from us a year or two ago and we've yet to go and check it out. It's not really my style, but I'm curious about it. I hear it is an experience.

How to satisfy this impulse? I think cleaning, rather than shopping is probably the way to go for now. Cheaper! And we still want to slip away to Mexico some time this spring. I was just perusing tickets and they're so affordable. My passport renewal is underway; food and hotels down in Chiapas cost practically nothing. Time to go to the jungle, I think! Just for a short trip, though I admit I do have a persistant fantasy of a long trip like I mentioned before: renting a little pink house in a pastel-colored colonial city, or perhaps a cottage in a snug beach cove with sea turtles drifting in with the waves, writing a first draft of a new book long-hand, in a polka-dotted notebook, while sitting on the terrace. Sigh.

On another subject, today I found myself back at the hospital but for an unrelated reason -- I was there for a friend, for Alexandra, who had a terrible mammogram scare, followed by a not-great ultrasound experience, topped off this morning by an MRI. It was a solemn thing, going into the brand-new Cancer Center on such an errand, and since she didn't get her results right away, the day continued solemn, until the evening when, bless him, a radiologist finally responded to her many calls and told her the good news: NO CANCER. PHEW!!! Alexandra wrote more about it here. Thank God for good news! Seeing as how it was one week to the day since I had checked into that same hospital under different circumstances, I was very, very glad to get the good news! Yay, Alexandra! She was a little freaked out by the MRI machine but handled it very well, and we picked up Jim and celebrated with pancakes right after -- well, it wasn't really a celebration, because she didn't have her results yet. It was more of a worry-fest. But that is one worry averted, thank God.

I have to say, I was really excited about 2008 at first, but it seems to be off to a rather sucky start. I didn't mention it before, but my brother and his girlfriend also lost a pregnancy last month, and my parents' cat died last week, and our dog Leroy has cancer -- diagnosed almost exactly a year after we lost Shiloh to cancer. And then there was this awful week for Alexandra, filled with the dread of cancer, and several of her friends coping with personal tragedies. It's only March -- a lot of good things could still happen this year. With luck, I will be pregnant again by summertime. And then there's a new book to write, and a trip or two, and I did just get the nice news from my editor that Blackbringer has been selected as a Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year, as well as receiving a star on that list! I haven't seen it with my own eyeballs yet, but it is nice to hear some good news. I feel certain there will be more good news as the year progresses. Share any good news with me here -- I'm hungry for it!

Thank you again for all your words of support, and for the beautiful camellia bush and the herb garden, the flowers and lemonade, cheesecake and chocolate, and other sweet thoughtful things that have arrived at our door, in addition to all your comments and emails. {{{HUGS}}}