I have my sister-in-law's OK on sharing this email that she sent out today. Her husband is in Afghanistan for a few more months (left in March) and I did promise her that names would be left out to protect the innocent. Her children are 2 & 5 years old. She's pretty excited at the prospect of becoming an urban legend!
let me tell you what happened to me & the kids yesterday...
I, being of very distracted mind, decided I needed to put gas in the
van and filled 'er up at Holiday. I was all happy to use my 3
Cub/Holiday coupons, too! I went to the purse to get them and GOOD
GRIEF! I had forgotten that my wallet was at home in the shopping bag
the vet had put the dog's medicine in. I had thrown it in there the
night before and told myself at least 5 times to put it in my purse.
So I grab the kids and head into the store (with my son asking me
if he can have a banana and I'm holding Miss 2 year old who is pretending to
be a princess in her purple Barbie sunglasses), only to have them
confirm what I was thinking: when you are so dumb as to forget that you
forgot your wallet, they won't let you leave. They asked me if I had
someone to call to bring me my wallet, and I blurt out, nope, he's on
deployment. Next thing I hear is the guy in line behind me asking what
the damage is, pulls it out and pays for it. Restraining myself from
kissing his feet, I ask him for his name & number so I can mail him
a check to pay him back. He looks me dead in the eye and says, "Don't
worry about it, you tell your husband thank you. I've been there."
Well, I do know how I got it, but really it was an accident. I was just going to blog to cheer myself up by sharing some silly photos that I took of the 4 girl cousins on one side of the family. I'm just out of sorts!
BUT, I could not figure out how to get the pics into my blog! So, then I decided to upload them to my page, but I kept screwing that up with one picture and THEN I uploaded the "Severe RedEye Photo" of another instead of the fixed one. . . . by the time I got through that process, I had given up on trying to get them into the blog - I mean, you can't even see them yet and I have to get productive for afternoon meetings!
And then . . . . . . there it appeared: The Full Star on my page. It actually made me smile. I feel like I accomplished something. How did that work? My mood is getting better. Huh. Well, if you've read this far, go see if our silly closeups have showed up on my page yet.
I am always amazed at people who can keep their houses in perfect order. Things are always where they belong. Laundry is seemingly all caught up. Children's rooms have floors that you can see. Windows are spotless and dust is non-existent.
We, alas, are not this way. We still live as perpetual college students - with 4 children and a dog. Laundry is caught up once a month or so. I trip on things in every room, all of the time. Books and papers can be found everywhere, no matter what kind of systems I think that I have come up with. And the dishes. OH, the dishes!
When I visit other homes I am always checking out the clutter level and comparing it to our own. I think "Oh, wow. They've really got it together. I'd better think twice before we invite them over." or "Hey, they have crap all over their main kitchen counter too!" This does nothing to change my home, but sometimes it gets me motivated into thinking I could make our house look that good, or just let's me see that I am not alone in the fight.
The other day, my 8 year old son & I were trying to locate his other soccer sock. As he and I dug through a pile of laundry I said, "Oh, buddy. Are we ever going to have an organized house?" His reply was, "Well, it's not organized. But it is filled with a lot of love."
I went to my first Rush concert Sunday night. Fun & interesting. I sat next to a woman who was at her 5th concert & informed me that I am a "Rush Spouse" - she believes that the only women at Rush concerts are those married to Rush fans; that there are no women that just go to the concert on their own. A woman sitting in front of us was definitely with her husband & not having fun. She was texting somebody on & off the whole time - one message was "This is taking too long. We'll be home soon."
It's too bad that she couldn't go and just have fun, get caught up in the moment. Now, I do know my share of Rush tunes - but am not a fanatic, so maybe I can't relate on her level. But I really enjoyed watching a live band (lead guitar, drums, bass w/occasional keyboard) entertain me with their talent, people watching through the crowd and dancing my heart out to songs whether I knew them or not.
So, everyone: go to a live show. Small or large venue; rock, country, blues, classical . . . any genre. Go out and enjoy real music played by musicians who love what they are doing and bring some joy into your spirit.
