Tiny Treasures.

I have always been so fascinated with tiny items--Mom's fairy roses, a tiny set of blue speckled dishes (bowls the size of my thumbnail), and miniature M&Ms.

I remember having three tiny porcelain animals from a glass case at Hallmark. I have a fawn, a tiny duckling, ...and maybe a Siamese kitten (I'm not sure). I rubbed the fawns smooth ear to calm down. The fawn wasn't much bigger than a quarter.

I love tiny beads, sequins, and rhinestones. Star rhinestones are my favorite since Mom sent me to school witha blue one and the hope that a fairy lived in the star, so I wouldn't feel alone at school.

Sticky flags are satisfying in their smallness, especially if they come from Girl of All Work.

I love charms, especially interactive ones, like purses that open. I like wearing tiny earrings (when I'm not wearing dangly ones), especially seahorse ones.

I love tiny gel pens. When I was small, I went wild over a set of tiny colored pencils from Sanrio Surprise. The whole set was about the size of a book of matches.

I get especially excited when makeup samples look just like the full-size versions, just tiny. Benefit does this with Porefessional primers. Fresh does it with Sugar lip treatment. Urban Decay does it with eyeshadow primers. The reality is probably just that I want to play with dolls!

Have you had petite fours? They are tiny, frosted cakes. Harris Teeter made some for one of my birthdays at home.

I have a set a shot glasses that look like mason jar mugs. I don't know exactly why since I don't drink...I guess they were just so cute.

Doll clothes and accessories are just exhilarating. Tiny snaps on tiny faux suede shoes. A plaid green coat with hat and mittens. A nib pen smaller than a match.

I don't know why I continue to love tiny objects so much. But I think I will always love them.

Nourish/Challenge: Week 9.

I struggled with my pages this past week. I wrote little. I don't know why. Maybe more reading (perhaps concerning writing practice?) with nourish me enough that I can meet my weekly 15 pages (not counting prompt responses) challenge.

I did keep up with my blogs! I'm challenging myself to write weekly in WWG. 

I finished Louise Gluck's book of poetry House on Marshland. Those bath times with poetry bring renewal. I began Cluck's next book of poetry, Descending Figure.

Bruce and I started Vox, a novel in part about a time in which women may only speak 100 words a day. It's scary in the way Handmaid's Tale is scary, just not as bad (yet). We're flying through it, adding chapters to the number we've set for our next visit together. So the book is both challenging and nourishing in that it makes me think in new ways, and it makes me feel like a more capable reader.

For my movie of the week, I watched Lobster with Collin Farrell and Rachel Weisz. The cast caught my attention. The premise and content are bizarre. I don't know if I'd actually recommend it, but I'm glad I watched it.

The craving for Caesar salad continues. I went to Food Lion and bought a ready-made salad and a salad kit bag. That got me through a couple of days. Physical nourishment is a challenge for me right now, so I have to follow my cravings.

A piece of good news: I subscribed to Curology months ago, but I've been awful about remembering to use it...until this past week! And already, I have a more even skin tone, and my skin is clearer. I just have to keep up with the challenge of remembering to use it.

In so many ways, keeping up is one of my biggest challenges.

Best Compliments.

• When I was a child, I told my grandfather that kids had been teasing me about my long neck. He said that my neck was like Audrey Hepburn's.
• Josh said that I show little girls that they can still love glitter and mermaids when they grow up. 
• After much singing together in the car, Bruce said I have a beautiful voice. That's a big one.
• My mom tells me that my blogs, especially Water in a Wine Glass: Learning to Live with Bipolar Disorder, help others deal with their illness.
• Druella, my mom's angel of a friend, said that WWG helps her understand others with mental illness.
• My mom once asked me how I got my hair so shiny.
• A former apartment complex staff member referred to us as "the couple with the cool apartment."
• After Oliver was born, my OB said that she had rarely seen such heart and courage.
• An employee at Ulta called me a makeup ninja.
• My former office mate told me that I was a great storyteller. I've thought about it far too much since.
• My nanna says that Josh and I have a special love.
• After seeing Josh and me together, my dear aunt Brietta said, "You look happy." It came from a place of kindness, acceptance, and grace.
• Bruce says that I have great taste.
• Bruce also told me that I have "storybook hands."
• Josh has called me magic.
• When James was tiny, he said I was "prettier than a duck with a blue bow." I'll cherish that forever.

A Tiny Bookclub.

When Oliver was a baby, I read Never Let Me Go, which became one of my favorite books. I lent Mom my copy. She loved it too, and talking to her about the book was awesome, even though we hadn't read it at the same time.

A book club doesn't have to have five+ members and a weekly tea-time discussion.

Bruce and I began our tiny book club (just the two of us!) five years ago, and we have finished 19 books together in that time. We chose the first, Every Day, from a catalog we were flipping through at work during our lunch time.

A tiny book club is nice because if I fall behind, I'm not letting down a whole group. We also sometimes decide to read more than we originally said; Bruce and I can be flexible. We also don't have to find a book that pleases a whole group. Bruce and I usually take turns choosing the next book. We've read a sci-fi trilogy, a huge collection of short stories (LeGuin), several non-fiction books on mental illness (we've learned so much!), young adult hits, smaller short story collections, and more.

It's been so fun, and it provides some structure to get me reading. And I think we get closer with each book we read together. It's a great way to strengthen a friendship.

My Most Inspiring Places.

Botanical gardens inspire me. I'd like to sit in one on a cool day and write. I used to do that as a child; my mom loved Cheekwood in TN. I've been to the gardens in my city two or three times. Maybe I should try going by myself.

At the Opera House in Paris, I learned that "weak-in-the-knees" was real. The place felt like one gilded and tiled masterpiece. I'd love to sit in the center of a mosaic there and write poems.

Any good library makes me want to take down coffee table books and write down my reactions to every page.

Water changes me. When I'm swimming, especially in a warm lake, my mind clears, and my body relaxes even as I tread water. I feel strong and capable as I stay afloat. But even a bath (preferably with a ring-toting bath bomb) calms me down and warms me up. Access to a hot tub would be amazing.

Our guest room changes my mood. I can feel diligent or whimsical. I have furniture I love. I write letters to my brother at my antique desk. I play with stickers in journals on my chaise. It seems quiet and somehow apart from the rest of the house.

My armchair in the living room holds me while I read or scribble.

Barnes and Noble inspires me to read wildly. Michaels nudges me to find or create beauty wherever I go.

What places inspire you?

Nourish/Challenge: Week 8.

This past week, Bruce and I finished reading Bird Box. It was so good. The book and the movie complement each other well. The book was a bit scarier. Now, our tiny book club is ready for book #20!

I have a goal to watch at least one movie a week. I think it enriches my mind, gives me something new to ponder. This past week, I saw two movies! I watched Loving Annabelle on my own; I didn't much care for it. Bruce took me to see Glass at the theater. I really liked it! It was exciting. James McAvoy impressed me, and the movie had some sweet moments. I've read a couple of books about DID, and I may look for more. I found it fascinating (though tragic) that a trauma could cause one to create a new person to handle it. That's oversimplifying it, of course.

I've been reading a DK Eyewitness book on ancient Egypt bit by bit. Wow. Anything that makes me say "Wow" (in a positive way), is probably good for me, expanding my mind.

I've also been reading American Girls Felicity's Story Collection. I want to finish it before spring begins (and the children's literature focus time ends). I'm not doing well with my seasonal themes. I have less than a month left. But I'm challenging myself to make progress.

I went to Target twice. I always feel inspired there, even if I'm just picking something up for the boys. I found three new kinds of vegetarian soup for Josh. I feel good when I do something thoughtful. It makes me feel like a worthwhile person. So I've been challenging myself to be kind in new ways.

Josh made a fire one morning, and I fell asleep beside it. I love memories like that.

My main challenge for this coming week: read more!

What I Most Want to Know about You 2.

Play along!

1. What are your favorite professional voices?
2. What qualities do you admire in a celebrity?
3. What is your favorite kind of mail?
4. What's the easiest way to make you feel loved?
5. What is a loss that would make your life dull?
6. What is your favorite jewel?
7. With which Wizard of Oz character do you most identify?
8. What is something beautiful for your day?
9. What are your should-be-guilty-but-aren't pleasures?
10. What's something really weird about your life right now?
11. What's something odd you just love?
12. What can been a recent, unexpected luxury for you?

1. What are your favorite professional voices? Musically, Michael Crawford, Ramin Karimloo, Dennis DeYoung, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Billy Joel. In general, Alan Rickman (shed a tear).
2. What qualities do you admire in a celebrity? I love celebrities who will be good sports and make fun of themselves. I also admire their stamina, and I'm impressed when they are kind and gentle with fans.
3. What is your favorite kind of mail? I love my Stitch Fix, but a used $4 book from Amazon is really awesome.
4. What's the easiest way to make you feel loved? Probably just a sincere, firm hug. But a fun question (like one of these) can do it too. Any kind of tiny gift lights me up.
5. What is a loss that would make your life dull? Glitter. Really. I would be so down if it disappeared. I always try to incorporate glitter into what I wear and what I do.
6. What is your favorite jewel? That's tough. I love amethyst...I also love emerald, opal, tanzanite, and ruby. I wear a lot of costume jewelry rings, and they can be beautiful.
7. With which Wizard of Oz character do you most identify? Maybe the Cowardly Lion. I feel anxious and panicked much of the time, yet I've proven (to others) my courage many times.
8. What is something beautiful for your day? Hmm. Oliver's dancing. The bubbles in my wine glass of Sprite. Josh's reading.
9. What are your should-be-guilty-but-aren't pleasures? Mixing baby blue glitter drops into my foundation. Drinking a Cherry Coke. Watching scary movies by myself (with Josh nearby). Binge watching American Horror Story with Bruce.
10. What's something really weird about your life right now? Our lives revolve around magazines. Oliver is obsessed with tearing them up. I look at my magazines and then give them to him--which is kind of good since I have a lot of magazines clutter. Mom and Bruce save magazines for Oliver too. He carpets the floor with magazine shreds. Clean-up is pretty constant. This phase has become long-term.
11. What's something odd you just love? I love journals that are made to look like books, with the title on the decorative cover and spine. The most recent one I found is blue and claims to contain love stories.
12. What can been a recent, unexpected luxury for you? A box of 200 lens wipes. Now, I can really clean my glasses thoroughly once a day or so.