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Nightstand

I snapped this picture this morning, Mother's Day 2006.

It's my nightstand.

I am in a ridiculously sentimental and cheesy mood which is prompting me to want to remember this scene at this very point in time.

What is it about this little table?

The tulips.  When Aaron and I were staying with his parents before we moved into the House In Progress, I noticed that they kept fresh flowers in many rooms of the house.  I kept wondering what the special occasion was until I realized that this was a habit, not an infrequent practice.  I began to adopt the practice for myself and realized how many times a day I look at the flowers and feel my spirits lift.  Small price to pay for such thrills.

Blue Lavendar linen spray.  Scents are such strong memory cues.  I can smell certain things--coffee, lavendar, fresh laundry from the dryer--and get goose bumps.  Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses has such a poetic chapter about smell that just reading about scent makes the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my knees feel all melty.  Hmm.  I just noticed that the small print on the bottle reads, "Brides in Italy perfumed their wedding clothes with lavendar in order to calm their pre-nuptial jitters."  Heh.

Sudoku Book.  I'm good at training my brain to recognize sleep cues.  I figured this out when I used the soundtrack from Out of Africa to fall asleep every night my entire first year in Chicago.  Now, I can never listen to that music without passing out which is a shame because it is one of my favorite collections of music.  Anyway, when I was pregnant, I used sudoku as my sleep cue.  Starting a puzzle makes me nod off in no time.  The harder the puzzle, the faster I drop.

Jewelry box.  I'm not really a jewelry person.  So I'm more likely to keep beach glass, a guitar pick, and an old Comedy Central Indecision 2000 Election pin in there. 

Three books on motherhood which reflected my fears about it before Grace was born.  Babyville, New Mom's Companion, and Mothershock.  Yes, the reading list for an anxiety-riddled obsessive person.  Reflects my unintentional life philosophy of "Prepare for the worst and you will never be unpleasantly surprised."

My heart coffee cup.  An old housemate gave me this cup before she moved to Ireland.  I have only one and it doesn't match any other cups.  In my salad days, I was fueled 24/7 by caffeine and have many memories attached to this cup.  When Aaron and I were consolidating our kitchen things after we were married, he mistakenly put this cup in the "pitch" pile since he likes things to match.  I have forgiven him since I rescued it.  :)

What's on your nightstand?

Posted by jeanne on May 14, 2006 at 3:24 PM (3)

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