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old red pickups
someday, i will have one. in the meantime, i snap a photo whenever i see a good one.
i took this one years ago, in tybee.
this was at the farmer’s market.
excuse the crappy camera phone quality.
giving thanks
‘ello!
So, with Thankgsiving last week, we’ve been talking a lot about gratitude around here. My big girl’s preschool class focused on it for several days, and every day in the car ride home, or while she was coloring at the kitchen table, or at night while I tucked her in, she’d bust out with a random moment of gratitude: “I’m thankful for mommy and daddy.” (I died.) “I’m thankful for glitter.” (Naturally.) The World’s Greatest Babysitter also made a “thankfulness tree” with the girls and wrote little notes on construction paper leaves about things that they were thankful for–school, sparkles, milk, Dora.
And then there’s me.
Counting my blessings is not something that comes naturally to me. I’m ashamed to admit that I get hung up on the minutiae of my life and don’t often stop to realize how good I have it. The goddamn pile of laundry that needs to be folded, needing to stop unexpectedly to put gas in my car on the way to pick up the kids…these stupid, stupid eensy little things can momentarily derail me, spoil my mood, and make me take every other wonderful thing in my life for granted. It’s so silly. And really kind of selfish when you think about it.
I was talking about this with a friend of mine recently, and she mentioned that she once attended a mass where the priest advised the congregation to put five dried beans in one pants pocket at the start of each day, and each time something happened that they were grateful for, they were to transfer a bean to another pocket. I was thinking about it while I was getting dressed a few weeks ago, and having only canned beans on hand (er…wouldn’t work), I shoved five pennies in my pocket. I’ve done it nearly every day since. Some days, all five pennies are moved by lunchtime. Other days, it’s not until I’m getting ready for bed that I realize I’ve only moved one. But overall, I’m telling you, it’s made me notice things that I would have otherwise missed, and having established the habit, it’s almost like a sort of radar’s gone up. This is a very good thing. Try it.
In other news, the Big Girl has decided that “nap” time is the ideal time to try out new outfits. Some recent ensembles:
Have a good (and grateful!) day, friends!
Read Moreart therapy
I’m no child psychiatrist, but by the looks of the family pictures that my big girl’s been drawing in school, someone might be having trouble adjusting to the fact that her little sis is here to stay.
quotable
“I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house, so I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.”
– Nathaniel Hawthorne
Read Moregrrrr
Joanna Goddard, over at A Cup of Jo, posted her pet peeves today. It’s the perfect weather for whining here, too, so thought I’d follow suit. (And, for the record, I’m totally with her on the accent thing.)
1. grown women saying that they “heart” things
2. being called “honey” or “sweetie” by anyone who isn’t old enough to collect social security
3. the sound of flossing
4. when someone calls and then asks me to hold on a second (just call me when you can talk!)
5. grammatically incorrect and/or misspelled billboards (though I don’t mind a creative church sign)
so, what irritates you?
Read Morehappy weekend
what do you have planned? for us, it’s ballet class, car shopping (!!!), softball games, college football, and (please God) relief for my little one, who’s teething, teething, teething.
Hello!
Welcome to my website. I’m a veteran magazine writer and author. My debut novel, HOW LUCKY YOU ARE, will be published by Grand Central Publishing on September 4th.
