1. I love to rub Alec's sleeping back. It has the same firm aliveness that I feel when I lie on an August hillside under a hot sky that goes up and up.
2. When the house is empty apart from me, to take a bath with Christmas present bubbles and a Christmas present book. It is good to remember that gift receiving goes on after the thank yous.
3. Our household accounts have been sadly neglected since November when I started feeling too tired to manage anything. While the men are napping I pull the bank statements from their roosts (they end up in all sorts of places if I don't deal with them quickly) and pair them up with the receipts that have burst like ripe seeds from the boxes we store them in.
