These weekends come and go and, just when I think I’ve reined in my expectations and remember that, in reality, the weekend is only 2 full days to ourselves (not 6, as my mental project calendar likes to assume), Sunday night sneaks up on me again!

I’ve been busy folding down pages for some custom albums and guestbooks, and also for three 7″h x 10″w albums that I’ll finish up in the next week (in between cutting down more gorgeous Crane’s paper than our apartment should really contain, and printing invitations, RSVP cards, and return addresses on envelopes, of course!).

My usual (often unspoken, except to Matt) mindset when I have this many projects going on at once is to freak out. I’m an organized person, but I set the bar pretty high for myself when I do anything, whether for the first time or the thousandth time, and I want to live up to a lot of expectations (those of my own and of three lucky couples, in this case). As my dad would remind me, though, “If you keep your expectations low, you won’t be disappointed.” The constructive approach I’ve been taking to everything going on is something along the lines of: just do your best and when you’ve done everything you can, there’s nothing more you can do (especially since being this busy is a great sign of things to come). In short, “Worrying won’t make it so!” (to quote another dear friend).

So far, this attitude is allowing me to take things far more in stride than my usual self would, and I’m enjoying the times in between bouts of paper- and printing-related activities, rather than worrying about what I should be working on (we’ll see how long this lasts!). This weekend, when I wasn’t ordering paper or ink, or tearing down pages, or planning my printing schedule for the week, we managed to have a great time of things, just doing our usual circuits here in our neighborhood (plus a poorly timed dash into Manhattan for paper in the middle of yesterday’s downpour), and our usual projects. We made it to the greenmarket yesterday morning and, in addition to picking up a few new heirloom tomato plants and 4 types of basil to try out in pots on our roof, we also got 3 containers of wheat grass for our little wild animal to chow down on. Our windowsill has turned into a lively little 24-hour buffet.

(Note the gorgeous piece these plants are all resting in - compliments of Prof. Beckelman himself!)

We also watched The Savages last night, which is a fantastic movie, but very sad and difficult to watch if you have a single sentimental bone in your body and happen to still - despite technically being an adult - not quite have come to grips with your own mortality, or your family’s. It was tough to watch, but those sorts of things always remind you that you’re lucky to have things going so well right now. The moment’s all we can ask for, right? Everything’s beautiful right now, it’s June, and I have more good work going on than I’ve ever had in my life, and I wish for the same for everyone.

Finally, as we start a new week in a new month, a sad but beautiful quotation that just kind of brings it all together from a former professor of mine at Grinnell:

“This, I think, is one of the truths at the center of beauty: that we love the world despite our certain knowledge we will lose it; that we will lose all those we love and eventually the world itself, and knowing this and choosing to love anyway makes that love miraculous, and makes our courage in allowing ourselves to feel it, despite our fear, truly heroic, one of the reasons the Angels envy us.”
- Mark Baechtel