Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Today I'm thankful for . . .

1. My organized spice cabinet.  I bought these turny-table things the week we moved into this house.  That was over SEVEN months ago!  Just tonight I FINALLY put them in the cabinet and organized my spices!  Have I mentioned how it takes me FOREVER to unpack and get organized??  It's such a relief to have all my little spices in a nice, neat place.  They were falling all over the place before and it was a horrible mess.  Now I can breathe when I look at it...and I can also find what I'm looking for without having the garlic powder tumble over and land on my head. I should've taken a "before" picture for comparison...

2. Feeling thankful.  Gratitude is a blessing.  It makes life more pleasant, enjoyable, and worthwhile.  It's not easy to be grateful all the time, though...it certainly takes practice and hard work.  I try really hard to have a thankful attitude, and I empathize with those who find it difficult.  I know that when I'm dealing with depression it's really hard to feel truly thankful.  During those times I know that I am thankful, but I don't feel the deep-down gratitude that brings joy and relief into my life.  I'm thankful that I'm going through a period in my life when my heart is filled with so much gratitude and happiness.

3. Friends.  I went to a baby shower today.  I had to bring all three kiddies with me because Bobby was stuck at the hospital waiting for the cardiologist to show up and give the approval for a patient to go to the OR to fix a broken hip.  Lillian and Sydney immediately split to go play with the hostess's daughter who is 4 and just as spunky and fun as my girls are.  Liam, on the other hand, started wandering around begging for food and looking for trouble.  My friends immediately swooped in and got Liam some yummy banana chocolate chip bread to eat, they guarded the basement door so he wouldn't tumble down the stairs, they grabbed him off the upstairs staircase each time he started to climb up, they cleaned up the cup of water he knocked over on the floor, and they carried him down to the basement so he could play with the girls.  My friends are awesome!

4. Phone calls.  My sister-in-law called today, just to chat.  We don't normally do that over the phone.  It was nice to talk about random stuff--mostly our kids--and to get caught up on how she's doing.  Miraculously, her kids were napping and Lillian and Sydney were entertaining themselves nicely while Liam was napping, too.  It was the quietest, most attentive phone conversation I've had in a long time!  My mom called me yesterday morning just to see how I was.  After Lillian took the phone from me and talked to her for 15 minutes I got some time to talk to her, too, which was nice.  This evening my sister called from the airport to say good bye and to schedule a Google Chat session while she's abroad.  And not too long ago a friend messaged me on Facebook to say she missed me.  It's nice to know that people are thinking about me, and that they take the time to keep in touch.  I think about my family and friends all the time, but I'm horrible at contacting them...something I would like to improve.

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Field trips to the Please Touch Museum. I chaperoned my very first field trip today with Lillian's preschool class. There were so many parents who went that Lilly and I were our own group. We tagged along with a few of the other girls and Moms some of the time and we also got some one-on-one time together. We turned it into a date day. After the museum we got water ice together, then looked at a prospective new house to rent, and then we shopped for shoes and groceries at Target. It was quite a fun day and it made me appreciate the individual time I so rarely get to spend with her. I hope she always thinks it's cool to hang out with her mom. I'll enjoy it while it lasts, anyway. :)

No better way to start a day than with a carousel ride!

Lilly and Friend K

Friend B serves homemade soup in Alice and Wonderland's tree house. Lillian called it "Alex" and Wonderland!

I love this picture because it shows how Lillian is always on the go.

Road trip with girlfriend J!

Workin' it at McDonald's...Lillian's first job. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

Co-workers. Pretty cute!

Mommy is a happy customer!

Then Lillian had a career change and decided to try her hand at being mail carrier.


But that wasn't exciting enough so she became an ambulance driver.

And then she worked her way up to being a doctor!

And finally she decided she was tired and she'd had enough so she became the patient. A whole team of doctors administered their care. She must have really good insurance.

2. The airplane that brought G-ma and G-pa back to Philly. The day that they flew in, Lillian and Sydney said they would look for their airplane way up high. Every airplane we saw they would say, "Maybe that's Grandma and Grandpa's airplane!" They came over last night to read the girls bedtime stories (during which Grandpa learned that he can not get away with changing the words to well-known stories that Lillian has memorized- and that her vocabulary is more advanced than he thought. "It doesn't say 'cry' grandpa, it says 'weep'!") :) Today Grandpa watched Sydney and Liam so I could have my date day with Lillian. We're going to take full advantage of the time we still have them so near!

3. Pretty flowers.

And pretty flower girls.

4. Bathtub photos. Tonight they all took a bath together for the first time!

5. Desire. Sometimes life gets so crazy that I feel like I'm hopelessly falling behind and I'm struggling to barely keep my head above the water. Nothing is enjoyable or joyful, despite the fact that I know I should feel joy and happiness. Instead I'm just trying to survive each day and trudge through life. That sounds pretty depressing, right? Well, it is. When I hit lows like this, which I have recently, the only thing I can do is hold onto desire. The desire to feel differently and for things to get better. As long as I still want to be happy, I know I can be. Somehow, someway, the happiness and the normalcy come back. Desire is a powerful thing. Sometimes it's all we've got. So hold on tight to it and don't let it go, even when everything else flies out the window.

6. Blogging. This is therapeutic for me. Good thing it's free. :)