Ordinary Things...

It's hardest to love the ordinary things, 

she said, 

But you get lots of opportunities to practice. 

Before I begin blathering on, I have to admit that this quote, along with several others that I use for inspiration, come from StoryPeople by Brian Andreas. Amazing quotes for pretty much any situation/emotion you might encounter. I really recommend it. 

This week has been busy, but fairly average . Getting back into the swing of school & classes, figuring out how I am going to organize my life. I came home one night this week, exhausted from classes. Just drained. I thought all I had in me was enough energy to shove my face with whatever Andrew was going to put in front of me for dinner & then go to bed. 

  But when I got home, I found Grace & Andrew playing on the living room floor. Peek-a-boo, tickle-fighting (well, it was more tickle-abuse..Grace can't quite defend herself), you name it. My fatigue rushed out of my body as a sank down to my knees to join them. And we played. Giggling, until our giggles turned into full-bodied, tears-streaming laughter. It was one of those moments I tried desperately to hold onto, to remember how Gracie's round belly hangs practically over her knees and how her smile takes over her entire face and how I thought I knew what loved looked like in Andrew's eyes but now it has been completely reinvented when I watch him looking at his daughter.  This is a moment I want to store in my mental catalogue, to be replayed whenever life seems life becomes a little too much. Our play was interrupted my the timer on the stove. As I went to  take out the rolls Andrew had made, I delighted in the fact that one of the rolls distinctly looked like a heart. Andrew said "I know. I made it for you".  I've never been so touched by an unconventionally shaped carbohydrate in my life. And it hit me...it's so easy to forget to appreciate everyday, ordinary experiences. I complain constantly about my house being messy, but it's a home. Our home. Filled with laughter and love, and on that night, heart shaped food items. I get to wake up every morning with my two favorite people on the planet. I complain about going to school..but I have the opportunity to educate myself. You get the idea. Point is, I'm blessed. And sometimes, I forget to remember that. 

Grace had her first embarrassing moment this week, something I am sure she will uncover years from now in therapy. As I went to put her in the cart at the grocery store, somehow, her pants fell down, exposing her diaper-clad bottom to all of Market Basket. I immediately started laughing. Grace immediately started screaming. If she had the avaliable vocabulary, I'm pretty sure the dialogue would have gone something like this "MOM I'M PANT-LESS. I HAVE NO PANTS ON. MY FAT ROLLS ARE SHOWING. AND IT'S COLD IN HERE.  I'M SHOWING MY DIAPER TO THE ENTIRE WORLD. AND THESE AREN'T EVEN CUTE PAMPERS, NO, YOU & DAD HAD TO BUY THE BARGAIN BRAND SO THESE STUPID DIAPERS HAVE SHREK ON THEM..MOM! WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ME..STOP LAUGHING AND PUT ON MY PANTS. HONESTLY WOMAN MOOOOOOMMMM oh hey your cell phone is shiny."  And honestly, I did stand there laughing at her for a full 2 minutes before I pulled her pants back up. And when I say laughing, I don't mean just a quiet, subtle chuckle. There were tears involved. And I can only imagined how this appeared to other people, my laughing at my screaming daughter while her pants remained around her ankles. But I couldn't even help myself.

Oh right! Favorite Things Friday...a few of my favorite things this week:

• Blogs. Seems fairly obvious, I know. But I could read various blogs, about all sorts of topics, for days. Heather Armstrong of It Sucked and I Cried: How I had a baby, a breakdown and a much needed margarita fame has a fantastic blog at Dooce.com. For a highly inspirational blog, check out the NieNie Dialogues (Thanks Renee for this find)
• My "Tighter Assets" class that I've been taking at the UNH gym. The title alone makes me giggle every time I think about it. And the class is pretty fun too...more on that later. 
• Black beans. I could eat them with every meal. Seriously. 
• Progress happening on our addition. Soon we will have more than one closet and our own bedroom and little miss princess can have room for her expansive wardrobe to breathe and not wrinkle. 
• The fact that my laptop spell checks as I type. Saves me a lot of precious brain-power.