Change Is Hard, Change Is Beautiful

Above: Beauty in a bath bomb. Faerie Queen Bath Bomb, $8.50, from DollyMoo, a local Montclair business that ships nationwide.

Those papery brown bulbs we tuck in the ground--what force of nature, what power and grace within, enables and allows the stalks and then the blooms to push their way up and out, toward the sun, after a long winter?

My voice has been quiet here on my blog but life has been improving. Day by day, I:

• Fit in beauty care. I love DollyMoo bath goodies (cute shop in town) and usually make makeup time: concealer, black mascara, and, from Jones Road Beauty--flagship store in Montclair, since Bobbi Brown lives here-- brow pencil and dab of Shimmer Face Oil. That’s on the good days. TBH, some days, I drive to Newark and back in my sleep cami, throwing a shirt and skirt on top. My white sneakers are dirty and need a spin in the wash. Still more progress to be made. Yay, getting hair colored and cut today for first time since my stylist, Christina, left for maternity leave in November. She has returned.
• Eat better--and enjoy it. Oatmeal for breakfast sometimes, like today. Instead of decadent sweets or daily dark chocolate, a treat might be a weekly 3.5 ounce round of creamy French Le Pico cheese from Dry Goods Refillery, split two or three ways with Dan and Skipper and eaten with a small baguette from Le French Dad on Church Street or good rye crackers.
• Catch up on doctor visits. Finally made appt. for ob/gyn visit. Can’t get lost entirely in the shuttling of Skip to her many varied appointments. Have to leave energy to take care of myself, too.
• Fall asleep without night eating. Usually 7 to 8 hours a night during the week, sometimes more on weekends. I listen to bedtime sleep stories on the Breethe app (thanks to my friend Rach for recommending). A roster of readers, men and women, British and American, fascinating. I’m generally asleep within 10 minutes, I think, though I don’t check the clock. I have listened to The Great Gatsby, Peter Pan, Cinderella, The Velveteen Rabbit, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, Alice in Wonderland and The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale). Love it. Look forward to it. Treat, and not food eaten frenetically.
• Fit in work and earn more money. I have two new writing clients. 
• Communicate more calmly and clearly.

Would like to write more but have to get Uber to 10 a.m. salon appt. (Dan has the car this morning and I didn’t make time to walk the 25 minutes there.)

                                      The Messenger Bath Bomb.