Emotional Soup

I am an emotional soup right now.

Last night (and the night before!!) Ethan was up - I forget how many times and for how long - pulling on his ear saying, "Mommy, ouch!" Why is it always at night and why is it always on weekends? I'll be home from church again today, but that' ok. So, I'm tired, and for me, being tired leads to one thing...crying and randomness (actually, that's two things. See, I'm just not thinking clearly.)

I think I'll share some of the little things in life that make me happy...

Funny commercials - I love the cheese commerial where the bull goes up to the cows and tries to hit on them by speaking with a French accent, then the cow, who actually does speak french, starts saying all these things he doesn't understand, and he's busted. Sometimes (since we got a free DVR when we signed up for sattelite) I will DVR commercials and play them back for Michael.

My pan flute CD. Mason gave it to me for my birthday. It's called "Endless Love" and it has various ballads performed on the pan flute. And yes...Endless Love is one of the ballads. It's from the Dollar Tree, and you can't go wrong there.

Cinnamon rolls - the kind that come from the tube with the little packet of icing.

Reconnecting with old friends - this past week I was so blessed to have several conversations with people I haven't talked to in a while. I LOVE that! It feels so good that I just want to go through my address book and reconnect with everyone. The best kind are the ones you can go without talking to for a year, but when you finally do it seems like you just pick right up where you left off.

My under-the-cabinet CD player - this is where I enjoy my pan flute CD.

And while we're on the subject...I'm also thankful for Rick and Bubba - they are a little piece of home, and Rick's recent loss of his 2 year old son (same age as Ethan) made me hold my kids a little tighter and a little longer.

My brother - He is wonderful, and so funny. He makes me gut-laugh every time I talk to him. He is raising his 2 girls and doing a wonderful job. I'm very proud of him.

Photographs - If my house were on fire and I only had time to save one thing (with the understanding that my family was safely outside) it would be my photo albums. I attempt scrapbooking, but the photo albums are always current and in order.

Coffee - If there weren't a beautiful world to show us God's creativity and love for us, but there was only coffee, wouldn't that be enough? A good cup of coffee is a gift from the Lord.

and with coffee goes...

Books - Just the feel of a book in my hand makes me smile. Especially if in the other hand, there is a cup of coffee to go with it.

The smell of other people's fresh laundry - I know that sounds weird, but I often get my kids' clothes returned to me, washed, after they've left them at someone's house. When they are clean inside that Target bag, they just smell so much better than my fresh laundry. Maybe it's that their combinations of detergent/fabric softener are different than mine? Maybe it's the Target bag? I know that the Gain/Downy combo is the best frangrance-wise, but even if I use them myself, my clothes don't smell like that. Maybe it really is the Target bag...maybe it's like a "curing" crucible or something. Hmmm...food for thought.

The way Michael makes the kids laugh - No matter how much tickling I do, I can't bring forth the same response as Michael. They laugh so hard that it sounds like "kkkkkkkkkkkkk". Do you know what I mean when I say that?

Giving up the warm side of the bed - I have this really silly thing I do for Michael. I love the feel of the coolness when you first slip into bed, and then when things get warm, putting my arms and legs in different spots so they can feel cool again. So, I hurry and get ready for bed and crawl to Michael's side. Michael would rather the bed be toasty warm when he gets in. So, I enjoy the coolness on his side and, in the process, warm it up for him. Then, when he gets into bed I just roll over to my side where I get to experience the cold again. (one thing...this is not as great a feeling when it is super-cold. I like the cold, but I eventually want it to warm up. Summer is optimal for this effect. Honestly, I can be pretty selfish with the warm-up-his-side-first thing in, say, December, January and February).

Family recipes and french white corningware

Rainy days and nowhere to go

Reading the blogs of my friends

Looking at my children's lost baby teeth

Contemporary Christian music

The sound of a clicking tock (I mean, ticking clock. That actually was a real typo, but I thought it was fun enough to leave like that)

Little House on the Prairie reruns

Silence

My Wednesday/sometimes Thursday women's group

The sound of my girls singing songs they have made up themselves


I guess that's it for now...

Bless ya!