Paused Today

Today has been an excellent day. Johnny and I made some homemade potato dill soup and then some peach cobbler together (Miles has gotten obsessed with peach cobbler and comes running and meowing when we open the fridge, hoping for some, so we made some more for him...).
Then we decided to watch Kenneth Branaugh's Hamlet. It's about 5 hours long, but never boring! John hasn't heard the story of Hamlet before, so it's been fun to watch it with him for his first time. I have always loved when the ghost of Hamlet's father comes to him and says, "I am thy father's spirit." It gives me goosebumps every time, reading or watching. I am always freshly amazed with the talent Branaugh has for Shakespeare's lines. They are so easy to understand when he's acting them, with his crisp diction and his clear emotions. Also Derek Jacobi is in the cast, playing King Claudius. I fell for Jacobi when I saw his portrayal of Cyrano de Bergerac. His lines ring out in honeyed tones that leave me spellbound and hanging from each word. Even as an oddly blonde villain, I love the guy. :) We didn't get a chance to finish it before John had to go to work - we took a couple of breaks - but I am so excited to keep watching together tomorrow.
Finances have been tight lately, but we decided to live dangerously tonight and went through the drive-thru at Burger King. I got a kids' meal and John got a sandwich and we headed off; John knew about this little street that just ends in the middle of a field at the edge of a busy part of town. So, we turned around and parked at the end and ate our food and watched the sunset. Little tiny bugs played on the windshield and we talked about nonsense and laughed and listened to mellow tunes. We stopped at the store on the way home to use the last of the cash we had to pick up a bottle of Sangria - one of the drinks we adore - and headed home to some leftover peach cobbler and a little more Hamlet before John had to leave for his graveyard shift.
Though life can be stressful, in the hardest of times it's like we'll suddenly find this plateau of happiness where we realize God does remember us and he gives us this perfect day where we can just be together and just be us. A day that just swells with cozy. :) As if we were able to pause a movie at the best part. I needed a day like that today.